Culmination Records 13 To Start Afresh 2 12

['User' successfully rebooted. System resetting... ]

Eddra remained his eyes shut, quietly and patiently holding back like a predator waiting for its prey. Once he would hear the signal, Eddra needed to wait for the right time, at the right place, for him to be able to move and charge for the attack, just within the split second.

"Hehe." The signal was on, and what Eddra had to do was to move simply before it launches.

In an instant, Eddra opened his eyes and was followed by sitting straight on his bed and the sudden thrust of his hands as he grabbed the prey from her waist.

"Kya!" Allie squealed when Eddra raised him and lowered her down on the floor. "Brother, do it again!" she beamed.

Smoothly pulling himself off his bed, standing beside the small figure around his waist, grasping her hands in the air, asking for another raise. Granting her youngest sibling's wish, Eddra took her up in the air for the second time, and once again, she squealed loudly, unable to control her happiness.

As Eddra stopped and brought her on his arms, he walked near the window for the third time, watched the servants as they place the white table cloth on the wooden long table.

Ding!

[Location: Town of Piethe]

"... Allie," he called her name.

"Yes, brother?"

"Am I dreaming?"

Allie t.i.tled head to the side. "Why did brother think he is dreaming?"

"This felt so surreal..." Certainly, his three years of age sister must be confused about what he was saying. How dumb of him to ask her?

Shortly, her sister then opened her short arms and hugged his head. "Is your head warm now, Big brother?"

"Yes..." was his answer, closing his eyes as he felt her little sister's warmth from the hug she just gave him.

"You are not dreaming because I woke you up already," she whispered behind his ear. "Congratulations on becoming a... an..." Allie pulled off her arms on his head.

"Adult," he corrected, facing to her sister.

"Yes⁠—an adult!"

Ding!

[You have attained the Hidden Interface!

*Hidden Interface(s) may contain (Hidden) Side Quests.]

A foreign color of a plate showed before his eyes. It may be also translucent with the silver border, however, the color was gold of the plate, unlike the white ones that were appearing to him before.

[Scanning the Hidden Interface(s)... ]

A sudden cough sounds were heard coming from behind, which stopped Eddra from surveying the plate's contents any further, revealing the butler in all smile as he stood by the entrance door of his room. "I see. The Lady impatiently wants to greet her brother first," he beamed, "I hope the Lady would not mind joining the family members downstairs while her older brother prepares for the celebration."

"Okay!" Allie answered and Eddra put his sister down from his arms. Soon as her tiny feet set on the floor, she ran away through the door that the butler opened for her.

Ding!

[Side Quest: Birthday Celebration! (1/2)

Stop the servants before they finished preparing the table and bring it back inside.

Time Duration: 00:19:58

Reward(s): 10 EXP u0026 (1) White Dry Table Cloth

Warning: Failing the Quest will bring death to the User.]

When he noticed that the time duration of the plate was divided in half, before Gale would even move from his position, Eddra commanded him, "Gale, order the servants to move the table inside at once. I'll give you ten minutes to finish the task."

The force to reset, the changes in his status, and the time duration that was divided in half. Certainly, the [System] wanted something from him, but what is it?

"... Yes, Milord." The butler left immediately and closed the door behind him.

Ding!

[(Hidden) Side Quest: Inspection!

Check the people of the Orhom Clan's status.

The number of individual(s) inspected: 0/7

Time Duration: 01:29:56

Reward(s): 60 EXP

Warning: Failing the Quest will bring death to the User.]

'All of my family members?' Eddra shook his head to the impossible task that was given. He wandered to how could he check his father's status if he was a few hundred miles away from his location⁠—for an hour? That would be impossible. He at least needed to arrive at the Centre of Glenmore, the place for aspiring people who wanted to become mages and the place that had the nearest teleportation circle. Even that place was a hundred miles away from their residence. Is he going to reset again? Well, that might be the case⁠—again.

He took a deep breath, Eddra was neither convinced nor had a hard time believing his circ.u.mstance anymore. "... [Status]." Eddra commanded, the least he could do was to check the family members living in the house, and he was the nearest of all.

[Name: Eddra Isaac t.i.tle: Son of a Baron

Family Name: Orhom

Age: 18 (21) s.e.x: Male

Job: None (None)

Level: 1 EXP: 0/1000

HP: 120 MP: 15

---

Strength: 19 (-/+)

Agility: 12 (-/+)

Vitality: 11 (-/+)

Intelligence: 10 (-/+)

Dexterity: 11 (-/+)

Luck: 3 (-/+)

---

Remaining Stat Point(s): 0]

"What?!" Eddra belted.

He blinked and squinted his eyes, examining the plate once again. No doubt, the [EXP] was multiplied ten times the previous one, and that amount last time was also doubled the amount of the original, which was supposedly 50.

"For f.u.c.k's sake. What is wrong with this?" Every time the [System] would reset, something would change: the shorter time duration and the [EXP] kept multiplying. "What will happen if I fulfill the thousand? More importantly, how can I fill it besides doing the [Side Quest]?"

Getting annoyed with the sudden shorten the duration, Eddra watched Gale's figure standing outside, pointing a finger to the table. Who wouldn't be irritated about it? Eddra did not even know why he should obey the [System], and if he wouldn't, it was simply forcing him to obey it.

Glancing at the time duration, Gale, the butler, had completed what he was asking for in four minutes prior. When he was ordering the servants he could hear his fierce command. As always, he was the stern and composed butler.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[You have completed the Side Quest (1/2)!]

[You have received 10 EXP!]

[You have received an item!]

[Do you want to begin the Tutorial? Yes/No]

Eyeing the last plate, Eddra wanted to do something that happened to him from declining the [System] the previous time. He asked himself if it would respond just like the last time when he did not press any b.u.t.ton. "[No]."

Ding!

[You have declined the Tutorial.]

Yes. It was clear to him that the [System] could respond to him even not touching anything. However, Eddra still had a question in his mind that might be not possible but he would want to try it, too. He would never know, maybe it would help Eddra whenever he would interact with people without scaring them as he would mumble words that were entirely foreign to them.

'... [Tutorial],' Eddra stated in his mind.

Ding!

[Do you want to begin the Tutorial? Yes/No]

"Wow. Does this thing have any limits?" Placing a hand below his nose, Eddra hid the creeping smile in his lips. "Did I do something to acquire such a thing?"

Eddra fought the urge to roar a laugh. Perhaps the [System] might not be that bad after all. Although he had p.i.s.sed the thing off and it had changed in a drastic way, maybe, Eddra should give it a... try?

"Milord, it is Gale," the butler announced his arrival after he knocked and opened the room's door. "I have done the task and moved the venue in the dining area. Now, shall we prepare you for the celebration?"

...

[(Hidden) Side Quest: Inspection!

Check the people of the Orhom Clan's status.

The number of individual(s) inspected: 5/7

Time Duration: 00:51:09

Reward(s): 60 EXP

Warning: Failing the Quest will bring death to the User.]

It was not difficult to examine his siblings' status, commanding the [System] with his mind was so convenient that it made everything much easier. In addition to this, Eddra felt relieved that he did not see any unusual from their statuses, especially to Everette.

The times when he was in military and Everette had his adulthood celebration, obviously, Eddra could not have a vacation leave for the general knight wanted him to train more because he was still known to be weak. However, Eddra was aware there were others who were much weaker than himself at that time...

A week later, from the letter Eddra had received from his mother, Everette had agreed to enter the academy. And what was more to this was, the first seven months of Everette's entree, he had already excelled in knowledge far from the others in the academy. Eddra remembered he was so proud of his brother that he invited his peers in the military along with the stingy general knight for a toast.

Eddra hoped he would not pursue to be a part of the military this time since, foremost, Everette was more suited to become a scholar.

"Oh, my eldest and second child. You guys are the only ones normal in this chaotic household," his mother moved her hand and brushed away the cascading on her cheeks. "Happy birthday, my eldest son," she drew a soft smile on her lips.

"... Thank you, Mother."

Eddra was lost, unable to understand what he was supposed to feel, whether he should be happy or not from resetting thrice, hearing the same words and phrases, seeing the identical expression painted to their faces, and experience three kinds of deaths, although he did not know what happened to him in the inn. How did the people vanish from thin air? He could not see a single soul or living, even when he went outside to check for the coachman.

His mother raised her arms and said, "Come, Eddra. Kiss your mother's forehead."

Obeying her wishes for the second time, Eddra stood from his seat, walked near his mother, and kissed her on her forehead. Undoubtedly, after this, his mother would ask him about signing him up in the academy so he did not move an inch when he kissed her forehead.

"Now that you're an adult, we should enroll you in the academy immediately."

After hearing her words, Eddra started to doubt his confidence. Maybe he should not tell his mother that he would have plans on entering the military? Because basically, the general knight would visit him three days prior, and... that would be the only day he would see his mother's wrath once again for a very long time.

'Should I do it? I think I can just say... no?' Was he scared of his mother? Of course. After all, to Eddra, the mother's wrath was something to fear more than death and war. '... And I'm even scared to check my mother's status.'