Darius
The gates stood tall and proud: a sturdy titanium gate painted black. I always hated those gates, they were so obnoxiously there, like they had to be seen by everyone and acknowledged. My family had owned this estate since before I was even thought of, let alone conceived, and in all that time they had never given up on tradition and appearance. Everything was a symbol of our family, from the black gate and fences to the black roses that we grew on the front lawn. The gates presented our family crest, the headshot of a hooded figure with no facial features, with two daggers either side of them, encased in a black shield with a gold rim. I slid on my black glove and presented it to the large crest, prompting the gates to open for me since it recognised my artefact as me. I never truly enjoyed coming home, since all they did here was discuss contracts for killings and legal business. It was so terribly boring, but it wasn't that that truly bothered me the most. It was the expectations.
I continued my thoughts as I began the long walk down the central pathway that led up to the front door of our grand house. Tall trees loomed over me, neatly trimmed into spherical shapes of varying sizes and black roses grew in clusters between the trees, very masterful work done by our house butlers and maids. I'll make sure to go see Mr Irving, he'll probably be greeting me at the front door anyway though, since he's our head butler. A small smile curved my lips at the thought of our head butler, Irving. He was a kind man, and had served my family for a long time now, definitely since before I was born, as both an assassin and as the head butler. Not only that, but he was a very intelligent person, having taught both me and my sister, Jessica, how to read and write when our parents couldn't be bothered too since they were busy with 'contracts' and 'official state business'.
Of course, I was eventually expected to follow that path, since my parents forced me to take Artificial Combat and Law and Politics in Aurora University. They put me in there to test my skills against what they like to call the 'Elites', and make sure I also knew how to handle politicians and court cases, should I ever need to defend myself or someone else within the family from being caught in an international assassination. Naturally, since I found them boring, I hated being at university as well.
Well, that was until a certain boy turned up to combat class, defeated me and then choked me while he threatened me and Jessica. Despite the abrupt introduction between myself and Lough, I valued him and saw him as my best friend both in and out of university. Not that it meant much coming from me since I didn't have many friends anyway, but it meant a lot to me that he wasn't affected by the fact I killed people. Then again, he was in the military, so he's probably killed as much if not more people than I ever have, so it makes us kind of even. I thought with a wry smile as I approached the front door of our mansion.
Mansion would be an understatement for this house, though. Spanning 120,000 hectares of land, or equivalent to 1,200 square kilometres, the Black household owned the largest amount of land in the empire, alongside the Zsigmond family. The estate contained the main house which was too big for even my brain to fully comprehend, and I had lived here my whole life. The mansion was a grand, dark and gothic building that was over triple the size of a regular house even in central Nova. It was built out of a dark grey stone that stood tall and imposing with its high reaching chimneys and dozens of ornate windows. The central section of the house contained a giant clock tower that loomed over the gravel drive in front of the main door. The left-hand section of the house was where all the magical and alchemical labs were located, along with the servants quarters. At the very far end was a high standing tower where our court mages worked on studying artefacts and trying to replicate them, essentially doing what my sister is doing at university. On the right, however, was where the family resided, and below that, underground in the cellar, was the forge, armoury and display room. The house stretched further back where the dining room and library were downstairs and upstairs respectively, but it felt smaller inside given how much furniture we had. Windows were dotted all over the front, and some were even curved and placed from floor to ceiling to allow a sitting space on the windowsill of the room they looked into.
The land we owned contained stables with a full sized national racetrack, a fully kitted training area that was almost the size of Nova's arena, a designated field for training powerful artefacts. That field had an artefact of Alteration class which would repair the grass and land should it be destroyed by a powerful spell. It cost my great-grandparents a fortune apparently, though it couldn't have been that expensive since they could still afford all this other stuff. Personal chefs, a huge team of butlers and maids, our own knights and guards as well as tutors.
I knew my family was powerful and influential, but that didn't mean I liked them all that much. Of course I loved them, they were family, and I would do anything to protect them, but sometimes they really pissed me off. Especially when they started laying on the expectations for Jessica's future, that really pissed me off. I wasn't completely sure if she wanted to be an assassin like the rest of our family or not, she had never explicitly told me, but I knew that the constant pressure from our parents and elder siblings was wearing her down. If she wanted to follow their path, that was fine with me, so long as it was her decision. She was the only sibling I tolerated at all, which was partially my fault for being closed off to the rest of them, but mostly their fault for either being annoying or putting pressure on me and Jessica.
Steeling myself for the unpleasant conversation I was likely to have with my family, I walked up the door and unlocked it with my key, stepping into the house. It was warm, which was unusual, but I didn't mind. I shut the door and locked it behind me, making sure to take off my shoes before I stepped onto the carpet that my mother was always yelling at us for being dirty.
Before I could even have a moment to myself in my own house, my little brother, Troy, came out of nowhere with his Strength based artefact, slamming the hammer down towards me. I evaded swiftly with minimal effort since my younger siblings hadn't quite reached the level of grace that me and my older siblings possessed.
"What are you doing, dumbass." I said sternly as I walked over to him and flicked his forehead. He reeled back with a pout before huffing.
"You always dodge, you never let me hit you or fight you," He replied as he rubbed his forehead and put his hammer down. The weapon was bigger than him, and that was saying something since the guy stood at 6 foot 1 and was fairly built. While he was the strongest physically among us siblings, he had the youngest mentality and no grace whatsoever.
"I wonder why, maybe it's because you are a child and I don't hit kids."
"I'm not a kid, and you're only two years older than me!"
"That is plenty of time for me to walk and run, hence I do not need to prove my point any further," I retorted before walking off and deeper into the house. I passed through the entryway into the main staircase part of the house. A huge staircase that split off into two directions led up to the second layer of the house, and on the ground floor either side of the stairs were two doors that led into the back of the house where the diningroom and kitchen were.
"Troy, where are Mother and Father and the rest of the idiots?" I asked, turning my head to glance at my younger brother.
"Do not call us idiots, you asshole," he huffed before folding his arms and nodding his head towards the top of the stairs, "They are upstairs in the Grand Library, don't ask me why, I don't know, but Jen is in her room like usual and Edith is cooking up some toxic shit in the lab. Don't know where Elder Brother is but you can probably find him quite easily since he's always sucking up to Mother and Father."
I nodded and left to head upstairs to the library. As I walked to the Great Library, I thought about my eldest brother who was largely considered the prodigal son of the Black family. He started training to be an assassin when he was around 8 or 9, and since then has been getting stronger and stronger. Even though he couldn't use mana or sense it particularly well, he was not someone to underestimate because of his uniquely strong artefact called the 'Katana of Shadows'. It was a physical Stealth class S-rank artefact that let him seamlessly interact with shadows as though they were there. He couldn't control them, but he could vanish into them and travel between them so long as they were connected together, no matter how small that connection was, before jumping out again. Alongside this already broken ability, if his opponent was in the shade or standing on the shadow of something, his attack range was limitless and the timing between cut and wound was instant. There was only one exception to the ability, and that was that the shadow couldn't be another persons, the shadow used also had to be created through sunlight or moonlight. This meant that he couldn't just go around cutting any and everyone just because they had a shadow themselves and were stood on it. Despite the one weakness it had, I could never hope to reach his level when I was younger. Even since I got my Stealth artefact, I had been training hard to reach him, but it never seemed to be enough.
As soon as I opened the door to the library, I felt the wave of mana radiating from my parents and washing over me like a dam releasing its water. I had forgotten what it was like to constantly be surrounded by this power. I glanced to my left, Mother, and then to my right, Father. My brother, Warren, was sure to be in here since he was never far from the two of them, always beside them to soak up their praise as their 'prodigal' son.
"Warren, I know you're here too." I said, my tone a little impatient, as I looked at the darkest spot in the room and glaring at it. Just like I had expected, Warren emerged from the shadows, his sword cloaked in a black mist that showed it was being used.
He was no sight for sore eyes, his blonde hair that he inherited from my mother was messy as usual. His 'dead-fish' eyes were fixed on me and narrowed through his glasses, which looked stupid on him in my opinion. I was also pretty sure he didn't need them, but I couldn't care less. His outfit consisted of the only thing I had ever seen him wear: a black shirt, black trousers and black shoes. I had never seen an ounce of colour on that man's clothes, given he was 6 years older than me. Just what kind of demonic baby was that guy? I thought with a small chuckle.
"You're getting better at that, Brother." He said calmly and coldly, his eyes scanning my face. I hated his tone, it pissed me off more than anything. That tone like I was beneath him, like no matter how hard I tried, I would never be his equal... ever. Nothing pissed me off more.
"That's just because I've never seen a lapdog more loyal than you to our parents," I sneered as I spoke, and even I was shocked for a moment.
"Watch your tone, Brother, I will not allow you to insult me and my honour."
"Honour? You've never heard of the fucking word."
A few tense seconds passed before he shrank back into the shadows. I knew what was coming next so I leant back as the black blade of the Katana of Shadows whipped past my head. If I wasn't careful, he would kill me. I wouldn't put it past him.
I activated my glove and disappeared, turning invisible as I weaved and dodged his slashes. It seemed he could still sense me, so I used a new skill I had learned, {Nullification}, erasing my presence entirely so he wouldn't sense me at all now. Now it was an equal playing field, and I was more than ready for this.
Not wasting time, I rushed toward him, sliding under his blade and locking my legs around one of his. It was easy from there to drag him to the floor and lock him up, his arm between my legs and across my chest. I lifted my hips, pressing on his elbow in an armlock that I made sure he would feel for days.
"Yield, Brother." I said icily as I applied more pressure.
"Never," he grunted as he fought to get out of the hold. It was impossible, however, as I slid one leg over his throat and pressed harder, turning his head away from me.
"Yield!" I roared as I pushed him harder. I was fighting with all my strength now as he struggled relentlessly against the hold. It felt like I was actually about to snap his arm until he gave up.
"I yield."
As soon as I heard the words, I let go and stood up, deactivating {Fade} and {Nullification}. I turned to face my parents, who had now sat down together to watch the fight with interest. I could sense the faintest hint of surprise in their gaze, and I felt the urge to snap at them rise up, but I pushed it down and bowed to them.
"Greetings, Father, Mother, I am home."
My father remained silent for a moment before standing up and walking up to me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and nodded.
"Welcome home, Son. You fought well." He said as he turned to look at my brother, "You know the rules, Warren, you owe Darius whatever he may ask."
I heard Warren's tongue click before he bowed and exited the room, leaving just me and my parents in the room. Releasing a breath of relief, I turned to my parents and looked between them.
"It is good to see you both again, Mother, Father." I said politely, keeping calm despite the heavy and critical presence of these two powerful people before me.
"Darius, how go your studies?" My father asked, showing no indication of being happy to see me. Typical.
"Fine." I replied dryly and curtly. His eyes narrowed at my tone and for a moment, I believed he would be furious. However, he just sighed and continued, "And what of your sister?"
"She's fine." I responded calmly as I thought about my sister. I did not like the way this conversation was about to go.
"Stop playing with me, Darius, do you think your sister has what it takes to be an assassin?!" He snapped sharply as he went and sat down next to his wife, my mother.
"That's up to her, not me and certainly not either of you." I replied, staring my father down.
"You're right, it is not up to you, but you're also wrong, because it is up to us." He said as he interlaced his fingers together, peering at me over his hands.
"You're wrong," I shot back, stepping closer to them. My steps were halted by his pressing aura as his artefact manifested beside him. Another unique S-rank artefact, the Bow of Death. While I had seen some powerful artefacts since becoming involved in elite society, none compared to his and my brother's. The Bow of Death and Katana of Shadows, were by far two of the most powerful artefacts in the empire, only behind the Sword of the First Dragonlord, Drakerender, that belonged to the Zsigmond family.
My Father's artefact was an Alteration class artefact that gave him skills such as breathing under water, seeing perfectly in pitch blackness and inflicting paralysis and poison effects on his arrows.
"I am not wrong! She has the right to decide for hersel, not me, not you, not anyone else!" I roared back, getting increasingly annoyed by mat father's consistent mentality that his children are just things that he can use to keep the legacy of the family alive.
"She will become an assassin within this family and will marry the first son of the Zsigmond family, just like how you will marry the noble girl of house Durward!"
My jaw clenched and my hands curled into fists with my rage, but before I could reply, I heard a breathless gasp behind me. Whipping around, my eyes widened as I was faced by my sister, Jessica, staring between me and our father.
"Wait... what? I'm getting married to Finlay?"