The next morning, Ethan in a three-piece suit that probably cost more than most people's yearly salary, walked through the vast space of the living room downstairs while heading towards the door.
In front of him was Eduardo leading the way, since he was going to be the one driving Ethan to the Academy.
But right before he left, Francesca, a woman above middle age with gray hair, approached quickly and greeted with a slight bow of the head. "Morning, Master Ethan."
Then she turned towards Eduardo and made a face like she'd just smelled expired milk before adding, "Hope you're not expecting a greeting too, rust bucket."
Eduardo's eye twitched as he shot back at her almost instantly, "Like I'd expect anything from you, old hag."
Francesca's face went red. She was going to retort, "You this…"
But then Ethan got in between by simply saying, "Good morning to you too, Francesca."
Eduardo and Francesca always had it out for each other, never seeing eye to eye on anything at all except matters that concerned Ethan's wellbeing.
Honestly, watching them go at it was like watching two cats fight over a single sardine.
If Ethan had not gotten in when he did, this would have been another full hour round of insults like the morning of the previous day.
And frankly, he didn't have time for the "Eduardo vs Francesca: Dawn of Pettiness" sequel this morning.
Francesca's fast-rising temper simmered down, and a warm smile returned to her face as she bowed again and said, "Master Ethan, would you not have some food first before heading out?"
"And have him puke on the way?" Eduardo scoffed.
"Why you…" Francesca began, raising her clenched fist forward like she was about to start throwing hands right there in the living room.
Then Ethan raised both hands to his sides, as though coming in between, before saying "please, for the love of all that is holy, stop you both."
The rising tension dropped again. Ethan sighed before turning to Francesca and said, "I'm sorry, but not today, Francesca. I'm already running late. But I'll have your lovely pancakes tomorrow. Is that alright?"
Francesca's smile returned so quickly, as if someone had flipped a switch. "Yes, Master Ethan."
There was nothing she loved more than hearing sweet, kind words from him, and Ethan, who knew that, had no shortage of those for her.
It was like a cheat code really.
With that, both Ethan and Eduardo continued on their way outside. They reached a sort of garage where about three vehicles were parked side by side.
One was a steam-powered vehicle that looked like it belonged in a museum. The other beside it was a black vintage one and the better upgrade to the steam-powered.
The last… well, not sure you could really classify that as a vehicle. It was a four-wheeled carriage that was usually attached to the horses, which were currently in their stables at the back of the house.
They both got into the black vintage vehicle, with Ethan sitting at the back.
As they moved towards the large gate, Eduardo clicked something on the screen of his Arcphone, which automatically pushed the gates open, letting them pass through before automatically closing back again.
The vehicle drove through the roads of Grayfort City, with Ethan looking through a set of invisible screens before him.
[You have completed a self-imposed objective: Understanding your new body and the skills in your possession]
[Reward: +600 exp]
[Total Experience Points: 800 exp]
[1000 exp required for Summoner Level 2]
Apparently, these rewards had come right after he slept yesterday. Then he said to the system through his thoughts, "Why do you only show the exp requirements for my summoner level? What about the others that require experience points as well?"
[The system is prioritizing the lowest Exp requirement available]
[Should I reveal to you the other exp requirements?]
"No, not until I ask," Ethan replied back in his thoughts, deciding that was a worry for later.
His attention drifted through the windows, and from a near distance, he could see a few more vehicles like his, carrying in the backseat the nobles who seemed to be heading in the same Academy direction as he.
However, his truest attention wasn't on the nobles but on the brand logo imprinted at the back of the vehicles. It bore the name "Roysten"
The Roysten family and industry were the makers of most of the engine-powered vehicles in the country.
Without needing anyone to spell it out, Ethan immediately realized that there was a lot of monopoly in this country.
Just like the Roystens, the Starks had no real competition when it came to airships.
And it seemed everyone tried to keep it this way, if anything for the peace. The littlest competitions could lead to a full-blown escalation between families or industries, and then before you know it, you'd have Grayfort City tainted in blood.
Basically, "stay in your lane or get dragged" seemed to be the unspoken motto.
However, Ethan asked, "Eduardo, what else do the Stark Industries take the lead in aside from airships?"
"Nothing much, Master Ethan," Eduardo answered. "Although we are in partnership with the Arcorys, it's their name on the product, not ours."
The Arcorys were the ones who named the brand "Arcphones."
Ethan replied, "I see," but said nothing more after. There was no need to rush into anything yet, at least until he resumed CEO duties at Stark Industries later this week so that he might understand things properly for himself.
Not long after, they arrived at the gates of Belsorth Academy. "Have a good day, Master Ethan. I'll be here during closing hours."
Ethan nodded, and without saying anything more, he left the vehicle. Eduardo watched him proceed towards the gates before diverting away towards Stark Industries.
The brief conversation he had with Ethan about the industry reminded him of what the young master had tasked him with the previous day.
Ethan took in the view of the academy as he crossed its gates. It wasn't just any academy. It was the No. 1 academy in the country, especially as the prizes and awards they had won over the years against the others suggested so.
The academy had an extremely large compound with massive buildings on every side. It had within it different tall trees and flower beds, with a mechanical fountain at the center made of brass pipes and different other gears.
This place was new to Ethan but at the same time it wasn't. He knew some of the faces here, at least the ones from his class.
First, the ever-jovial Lucy Hargreeves to his far right, who was laughing about something with a few others. The human magi-engineer would never bother to put on a proper dress like most of the other females.
Nothing in this world would ever separate her from her goggles and whatever gear she loved to always have on.
Ethan was pretty sure she slept with those goggles on at this point.
To his left, the Adlars. Rydel Adlar was human, and one of the few reasons one would believe he was a blood sibling to the elf Ena Adlar was because they had a matching clothing sense and the same green eyes.
Both were casters, although Ena had the elven advantage of having more mana and naturally more magic talent than her brother.
Her talent as a caster was at A-level, and Rydel was B-level.
Just as Ethan turned his sights away from the Adlar siblings, "Clumsy Bettie" ran past, nearly hitting him.
"I'm sorryyyyy!" she yelled without turning back to even see who she nearly made stumble.
She held a huge box with her right hand and held the hat atop her head from falling as she continued running through the grounds for God knows what reason.
The human with the caster class was called Clumsy Bettie because she was, as the name described, clumsy.
She would do the most random, unruly things without even realizing she was breaking a rule. Like right now, she had just run through the flower paths she shouldn't have been stepping on in the first place, as they were against academy rules.
Most of those flowers were used to brew healing potions at the very least.
Ethan sighed as he stopped for a second to readjust himself. He also stared at Clumsy Bettie for a moment longer and muttered to himself, "That is one person I have to meet today," before continuing on his way.
Most of the others in the compound were vampire cliques or werewolf packs.
Both divisions of races loved to keep to themselves the most in Belsorth.
The vampires in this world did not burn under daylight, but the further the day peaked into noon, it would cause them a little bit of discomfort if they were under it.
Different vampires had different reactions to being under the sun at high noon.
Some got a few skin rashes. Some just became more irritable and angry, like someone had stolen their lunch. And some felt so dehydrated they'd have to find the nearest water source to fill up on.
Of course, as vampires, they still craved blood, but they weren't exactly crazed about it if they couldn't find any.
The pure bloodline vampires had the most control over their need for blood, as they could even go days without needing to take any.
There were also lots of blood banks in the country, and even this academy had quite a few at different access points.
Like vending machines, but a tad bit morbid.
Ethan made a certain turn that would lead towards the building block for the final years.
That was when he heard a murmur between two students.
"I heard one of the Princesses is coming to Belsorth, starting as a first year," one of the girls said.
The other looked astonished and simply said, "Wow!" and added a few more things Ethan didn't care to pay attention to.
Whatever princess King Tudor decided to send to the Academy was not of any importance to him.