A greater fear gripped Andre as soon as the door opened. But strangely, he felt as if he didn't need to be afraid. A maid entered, holding a baby bottle. She took him in her arms and began to feed him the milk.
Andre was astonished. "They say breast milk is important for the first six months. Are you giving formula to a newborn baby?" he thought to himself. After he finished the milk, the maid began to pat his back, waiting for him to burp. However, this situation was so embarrassing for Andre that he couldn't do it.
He was not allowed to wander around the house. For the first three months, he couldn't even step out of his room. Some maids looked at him with fearful eyes, while others treated him just like a baby.
When he reached his sixth month in the House of Verblade, Andre started to walk. This was considered strange by most of the maids. "I wonder what they would do if they knew I was conscious?" he thought.
At six months old, he saw the butler again. The butler looked at him with a pleased expression and said,
"I knew I could expect this much from you, young master. You were the first among your siblings to start walking."
Andre thought the butler knew he was conscious. Because the man seemed to respond to his every move. He had managed to communicate with the butler just by his actions. The fact that the man was so intelligent frightened Andre, but he didn't seem like a bad person. He decided to trust him and listen to what he said.
On his first birthday, he learned to speak, but he couldn't form full sentences yet. Two months later, he could speak fluently. This ability caught the attention of the head of the family. The butler told him that the family head wanted to see him in person and that he had to be ready for this meeting in three months.
Andre didn't know what to do. What was expected of a one-year-old child anyway?
The butler gave him a list. On this list were the things he had to learn in three months. His daily schedule was set: six hours of reading, two hours of ethics and etiquette training, and the remaining eight hours were for sword training. He worked every day of the week; he was not allowed to rest, only to sleep. Sometimes, he couldn't even sleep.
"If we're not going to follow the schedule, why did we make one?" he grumbled to himself.
Three months passed this way. On the day of the meeting, the butler allowed him to rest. Andre didn't get out of bed for a whole day. When he woke up, the butler was waiting at his door. He got ready and they rode in a horse-drawn carriage together.
The Verblade family's estate was too large to travel even by carriage. When the carriage stopped, he got out and was met with a massive door. "Who passes through a door like this?" he wondered. The butler led him inside. After passing through several corridors and rooms, they stopped in front of another giant door.
As soon as the butler opened the door, Andre knelt. The being before him was so terrifying that his survival instinct had brought him to his knees. He looked at the butler, who was standing with ease. "Is this pressure only affecting me?" he thought.
As he had read in books, he tried to activate his mana. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. The air he drew in felt like it was burning his body, but he didn't give up. He couldn't even move his knee, but he was starting to see the world differently. Fear was slowly giving way to thoughts of resistance.
Just then, a voice came from the end of the room:
"Mana, huh?"
Had this voice noticed what he was doing? The laughter that followed filled the entire room, and Andre felt the pressure on him lift.
"Andre, come... sit next to me," said the terrifying voice.
Ten people were sitting at the table; Andre was the eleventh. At the very end of the table sat a giant of a man. To his right was a woman of indescribable beauty, and the seat to his left was empty. The butler led Andre to the chair and sat him down.
The people at the table looked at him as if they wanted to kill him, except for one woman. She looked at Andre with affection.
The man across from him was most likely Lord Cauron. He wore a red robe and carried a large sword. His hair and eyes were completely black. Andre couldn't even look into his eyes.
Lord Cauron spoke:
"Andre, I know you can talk."
Andre, remembering his training, replied,
"Yes, head of the family."
Lord Cauron laughed at this answer:
"Don't be so formal, you're only one and a half years old. You can use mana at this age, and from what I hear from the butler, you're also talented with a sword. You will be my strongest son!"
These words sparked fear in Andre, especially with the angry glare of his eldest brother, Cadeon Von Verblade, sitting next to him.
Lord Cauron shouted harshly:
"Cadeon! If you don't stop that, I'll send you to the Verser Sang Desert for a year!"
Cauron's words were a threat. Andre wondered how strong Cadeon was.
Lord Cauron turned to Andre:
"You will no longer stay in that prison-like house. We will put you through a ten-year training program. You will learn the sword, mana, and even how to turn your mana into an aura. I see this potential in you."
Andre was surprised. When turning mana into an aura was mentioned, Cadeon and his second older brother, Kaedor Von Verblade, froze.
Andre couldn't help but ask:
"Is it hard to turn mana into an aura? Why did my brothers get so tense?"
Lord Cauron laughed again:
"I'll explain later, son. Now eat your meal, the butler will show you to your room."
After the meal, as Andre was leaving, Lord Cauron turned to his wife and said,
"How lucky we are that the summoning ritual failed! Look what a son we have."
As Andre thought about these words, he became confused. "Summoning ritual?"
The butler took him to his room. His new room was as big as the previous house. He didn't know what to do in it. He didn't remember if he slept or not, but he found himself in that white void again.
The shadow was in front of him again. He asked it:
"Will I come here every time I sleep?"
"No. This is the last time I will see you in your mind, Andreas. The darkness in your eyes will be the nightmare of the Verblades. Find me in ten years at the Genocide Union's exam. On that day, I will tell you the truth."
When he woke up, it was dark outside. He wanted to examine his room. When he stood in front of the mirror and opened his eyes, he saw his blood-red hair and pitch-black eyes that had no reflection. He had small facial features, but his gaze held a darkness that did not belong to a child.
This darkness in his eyes would not disappear. The shadow had said this darkness would consume the Verblade family. However, for now, Andre decided to trust the Verblade family.
He planned to stay awake through the night but fell asleep while reading a book. This time, he was not in the white void. When he woke up in the morning, his theoretical training began. It would last for six months, and when he turned two, he would move on to practical training. This plan made sense to Andre.
The training was given by the butler himself. Every day, he eagerly awaited the training time.
One day, the butler said to him,
"Young master, remember, theoretical training will not only be for these six months but will continue throughout your ten-year process."
Andre expressed that he did not want this. It seemed more logical to learn everything in six months and spend the rest of the time on practical training. However, he received this answer from the butler:
"Lord Cauron determined your training program. It is not my place to interfere."
Andre realized that Lord Cauron wanted him to specialize in every subject.
In theoretical training, he learned how to activate and use mana. The butler asked him:
"Take a deep breath and think of your subconscious. What do you see there?"
"A... a shadow. In a human silhouette."
The butler was surprised:
"Can you speak with it?"
"From time to time."
"So you have met with it before?"
"Yes, a few times."
The butler was even more astonished:
"Your power lies here. The purer your subconscious, the stronger your mana, but it is difficult to control. Now tell me, young master, what color is your subconscious?"
"An endless white. A white so pure I can't even see my own hands. But the shadow is so clear in this pure white that no matter how far I move away, I can see it."
The butler stood up:
"That is enough for today."
And the training ended.