Chapter 18: Upper Wing
The warm morning sun breached the horizon and cast brilliant streaks of golden light across the towering spires of the Sterling estate.
Leon stood in front of a polished silver mirror in the lower servant washroom and critically examined his own reflection.
The forty five points of Charisma had fundamentally altered his bone structure over the past twenty four hours completely erasing the hollow malnourished cheeks and replacing them with a highly chiseled jawline and piercing dark eyes that practically radiated magnetic confidence.
He quickly splashed some cold water on his face and made his way toward the upper servants wing to officially begin his highly dangerous promotion.
The transition from the rough cobblestones of the lower courtyard to the pristine polished marble floors of the noble corridors was incredibly jarring.
The walls here were lined with beautiful silken art and glowing runic lamps that hummed with highly concentrated magical energy.
Leon arrived at the Head Maid’s private office exactly at dawn and knocked confidently on the heavy mahogany door.
Beatrice granted him entry and he found her standing beside her massive oak desk with a neatly folded uniform resting in her hands.
The icy Aura Knight looked incredibly strictly professional this morning but Leon instantly noticed the faint hesitation in her movements. Her passive Lie Detector aura flickered with a small burst of nervous heat the moment his newly refined handsome face stepped into her line of sight.
She was desperately trying to maintain her cold authority but the memory of his hand gripping her thigh was clearly still actively burning in her mind.
"You are surprisingly punctual Leon," Beatrice stated coldly while thrusting the folded fabric toward his chest.
"This is your new Upper Wing Attendant uniform. It is woven with minor durability runes and lacks the embarrassing stains of the kitchen staff. Put it on immediately in the adjoining changing room."
Leon offered her a highly respectful bow and stepped into the small side room to change.
The new uniform consisted of a fitted black tunic with silver embroidery along the collar and incredibly comfortable dark trousers tucked into high quality leather boots.
When he stepped back out into the office the perfectly tailored clothes combined with his massive Charisma stat made him look significantly more like a visiting young noble than a common servant.
Beatrice actually stopped breathing for a fraction of a second and violently adjusted her glasses as a faint pink flush rapidly crept up her pale neck.
She aggressively cleared her throat and quickly averted her icy blue eyes to study a completely random inventory report on her desk.
"Your primary duty will be maintaining the Grand Library located in the eastern tower," Beatrice explained briskly while refusing to look directly at him.
"It is a highly restricted area utilized strictly by the noble daughters and their personal magical retainers. You are to clean the archives completely silently and you will absolutely never speak to anyone above your station unless directly spoken to. Do you understand?"
"Perfectly Lady Beatrice," Leon replied with a smooth confident smile that only made her blush darken.
She quickly escorted him out of her office and led him through a series of increasingly opulent corridors toward the eastern tower.
The ambient magical pressure in the air grew significantly heavier with every step they took reminding Leon that he was currently walking into the absolute epicenter of the noble family’s power.
He passively activated his newly acquired Aura Sight skill and the world instantly transformed into a highly detailed pathway of swirling colorful energies.
He could clearly see the dense freezing blue aura tightly coiled inside Beatrice’s body perfectly regulated by her masterful discipline.
They finally arrived in front of a pair of massive gilded doors that stood completely open to reveal a breathtakingly enormous library. Towering bookshelves stretched hundreds of feet into the air perfectly illuminated by floating orbs of soft golden light.
Before Leon could even appreciate the majestic scenery a sharp and highly arrogant voice completely shattered the quiet atmosphere.
"What is the meaning of this Beatrice?" a young man demanded while aggressively marching toward them holding a glowing wooden staff. "Why are you bringing a filthy commoner into my sacred workspace?"
Leon utilized his Aura Sight to evaluate the loud newcomer.
He was a young man around twenty years old wearing incredibly expensive silk robes bearing the crest of a minor noble house. His magical core was glowing with a volatile and highly undisciplined orange light indicating an affinity for basic fire magic.
This was clearly Julian the magical squire who had been purchased by House Sterling to assist in cataloging their vast collection of spell books.
Julian stopped directly in front of Beatrice and completely ignored Leon as if he were nothing more than a piece of dirty furniture.
The squire had a highly punchable face and an incredibly inflated sense of his own importance simply because he possessed a microscopic drop of noble blood.
"This is Leon the new Upper Wing Attendant," Beatrice replied coldly completely unfazed by the squire’s arrogant tone. "He has been assigned to clean the library and you will kindly let him do his job Julian."
Julian let out a highly exaggerated scoff and violently slammed the base of his wooden staff against the marble floor.
"I will not tolerate a magicless rat breathing the same air as the ancient grimoires," Julian sneered viciously while suddenly turning his angry gaze toward Leon. "Get out of my library this instant you pathetic trash before I personally burn that pretty new uniform right off your back."
[DING!]
The familiar crystal bell echoed beautifully in Leon’s skull and completely paused the escalating confrontation.
[Quest Issued: The Arrogant Spark]
[Objective: Provoke julian into an attack then catch Julian’s magical attack barehanded and completely crush his casting focus while forcing him to apologize to Beatrice for raising his voice.]
[Reward: +10 Mana, Skill ’Mana Skin’, 80 Shameless Points.]
[Failure Penalty: The Host’s hair will permanently turn blindingly neon green eliminating all of your hard earned Charisma and making you look like a highly radioactive clown.]
Leon stared at the highly specific and utterly horrifying failure penalty before letting out a soft sigh of pure amusement.
The system really knew exactly how to motivate him.
He casually stepped past the highly intimidating Head Maid and planted himself directly in front of the arrogant squire.
His forty points of Strength heavily rooted his leather boots to the marble floor while his Piercing Gaze locked onto Julian’s intensely furious eyes.
"I highly suggest you lower your voice in the presence of Lady Beatrice," Leon stated in a deep resonant tone that completely lacked even a fraction of fear. "You are being incredibly rude Julian."
The arrogant squire turned completely purple with pure unadulterated outrage at being casually addressed by his first name by a lowly servant.
"I am going to incinerate you!" Julian screamed wildly while aggressively thrusting his wooden staff forward.
A highly concentrated burst of searing orange flames violently erupted from the tip of the catalyst and rushed directly toward Leon’s face. Beatrice immediately raised her hand to summon a protective wall of ice but she was entirely too slow to intercept the close range attack.
Leon simply utilized his Aura Sight to perfectly track the flow of the volatile orange mana.
He raised his right hand with terrifying speed completely enhanced by his thirty five Agility points and casually completely ignored the blazing heat.
He reached directly through the center of the fireball and violently clamped his fingers around the top of Julian’s wooden staff.
With a simple squeeze of his monstrous forty Strength Leon completely shattered the expensive magical focus into a thousand useless splinters.
The blazing fireball instantly sputtered and died leaving the arrogant squire standing completely frozen with a broken stick in his hand and absolute pure terror painted across his face.
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