Chapter 2: Becoming a Prince – 2

It's nighttime. The stars and the moon shines brightly. I'm sitting at the dinner table, waiting for the food. Beside me is my younger sister reading a book. Father hasn't returned yet.

Our home isn't anything special on the outside, nor is it special inside. The space is double compared to the outside. The floors, walls, and utensils aren't made of shiny marble or pure gold as it's all plain wood and stones. The only important detail here is that they are all clean, neat, and tidy. Combined with some valuable and eye-catching artifacts displayed here and there, it forms some sort of "humble yet noble" feeling.

In the dining room, lamps that don't conform with the dark ages light our home, illuminating the portrait of my late mother yet I do not feel any familial feelings towards it.

I then checked my status panel. I was 7 years old when I finally recalled the existence of the system that appeared before I died. It was also at that time that the system taught me how to use the [Status] ability and gave me my very first quest.

I thought it is a simple quest until I realized how vague the quest is. What determines if I finished it? I'm already a crown prince at birth, so why is it still unfinished? I recalled its title, "Becoming a Prince". What is in there? Maybe I should learn stuff about nobility, form connections, dress nicely, and meddle in politics? It sounds great at first until reality informed me that no one would seriously consider the words of a kid, and so, anything about connections can only be postponed for 2 decades. From time to time, some powerful families try to bring their kids for them to approach me, and yes, they are kids. They act like kids and have no sense of being noble. It appears my mature mind is too much for kids. The only progress that I made when I was 7 to me today is when I learned to dress nicely and studied relevant disciplines... at 23%. That's it.

Unlike RPG games, XP cannot be earned from grinding even though it stands for Experience. The only time I earned XP is when I learned my first magic spells - Heal and Light, granting me 15 XP. Yes, they aren't categorized into Elementary, Skilled, or anything like that. If anyone wants an extremely powerful healing ability that can save anyone from the brink of death, they are free to do so after learning Heal... they have to spend an equal amount of mana though. Ah yes, mana, it's your typical blue energy that spawns inside one's heart, or what the sages said "culmination of extracted world energy by our soul" or anything silly like that. It is universal. It is transferable under the right skills and tools, and they regenerate over time. There is only a limit to how much a body can store mana according to what level a person is. There are also levels. Yes, yes, those typical levels that grant power after earning a sufficient amount of XP... except for one thing. Leveling up is a ridiculous and extremely arduous task. The highest the majority made, with a few exceptions, of course, is Level 4. My father who is considered the strongest in this tiny Kingdom is also level 4. Sophia who is beside me reached level one a year ago when she was 7 years old. XP can't easily be earned, and the majority of XP can only be obtained through quests, which I will talk about later. Thankfully, each level up is a significant increase in physical and magical ability plus a bonus ability or an upgrade of an ability that I would still consider the path of leveling up my way through... Oh right! The most important detail, leveling up is common knowledge here. Nearly half of the people do that. With the right tools, anyone can see their status and their quest log.

Okay, let's stop the info dump for now.

"Big brother! Look! Look!"

Sophia showed me a page of the book she was reading. It was a picture of an armored knight carrying a princess and escaping from a dragon.

"Beautiful, right?" She showed me a beaming smile.

"Yup, the picture is beautiful!"

"Hehehe, don't worry brother! When the time comes, I'll rescue you too from the dragon!"

"... You're supposed to be the princess and I'm supposed to be the knight."

"But you're weak! Knights are strong! Plus princesses heal and cast light! You are a princess!"

... I did not bother arguing again. I just don't want to face danger and carry a sword. I am also curious about magic and decided to acquire healing and light abilities.

"Hug!" Sophia hugged me. It is filled with love and affection for fellow family members... Ow ow ow. It hurts.

"Stop, stop, stop. Let go."

"Okay, princess."

Sophia is smiling and is clearly showing affection to me.

"Brother! Look!"

She then lifted a side of the giant oblong table with her bare hands. If it were an ordinary child, it would be impossible, but when she reached level one, she obtained her father's most powerful ability, [Berserk]. It grants an exponential increase in strength for a short amount of time. Add into that the permanent +50% strength one received through leveling up, she is now stronger than me by a wide margin.

"Look, brother! I can now push these big wooden boxes!"

She is as happy as ever to show off to me. Her innocent laughter and playfulness melt my heart so much. She then ran off and held a giant axe displayed below her late mother's portrait.

"Hey, stop! Don't take that!"

... Right... kids. Even if she leveled up, she is still a kid.

"Calm down. We have to wait for papa to arrive."

*******

"There's no chicken here."

"What did you mean? It tastes like one!"

"It's snake meat."

"Hahaha, come on! Our friends won't come back until the middle of spring to sell chickens! Wait for three months from now."

"... You promised me chicken."

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"Now, now, I thought there are extra chickens left. We have to wait until they lay eggs first. Plus I found this snake on the way and thought, I can't waste food!"

On the way? Didn't you go to the castle? Plus it's extremely large the meat barely fits on the large dinner table.

"... Where would they come from?"

"The sewers, son. This giant snake has killed a dozen people already. It is my surprise it attacked me. Look, it bit my arm!"

Similar to Sophia's Look!, my father showed me his gigantic right arm. There is a shallow bite on it.

"Hahaha! This strong father of yours won't falter! As long as I am alive, our kingdom will be safe!"

"Papa! Papa! Look! Look! I'm also strong now!"

Sophia then raised the other side of the table. As she is placed in front of me, the large snake meat slid into me. Thankfully, my father quickly responded to her.

"My princess, stop it! The food is going to fall!"

Sophia then drops the table resulting in a startling sound.

"Papa, I'm not a princess! I'm a knight!"

My father then touched his beard. He's pondering Sophia's words.

"Knights protect the people. Can you protect the people?"

"Mmhmm! Papa!"

Sophia then raised her tiny arm and attempts to form a muscle.

"I'm strong, Papa!... Papa! Papa! One day, I'll protect Princess Brother!"

My father then cracked up. Thanks to my weak physique and inclination to magic which are traits of a stereotypical princess, rumors about me being a princess are spreading throughout the tiny kingdom. Whenever my father heard that I am a princess, he can't help laughing at it. At first, he can't help but annoy me because of it, but lately, he seems quiet about it. It's like he no longer cared about it.

The father-daughter conversation lasted for an entire hour. That same hour, I'm thinking about how can I progress my first quest that has been stuck for 7 years... Could it be that I have to be stronger? Princes in this world are known as mighty and brave... There's nothing to lose by trying...

As Sophia appears to be tired and my father appears to be full, I decided to finally interrupt them.

"I want to learn how to wield a sword."

My father paused for a moment, eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Ah, eh, umm, okay! Let me digest first. Wait for an hour. Sophia, go to your room and sleep, okay?"

"Yes, Papa!"

Sophia weakly nodded and slowly go to her bed.

The snake meat on the table is only 20% eaten. It was originally chopped and put into smaller plates before serving it to us.

"Ah, first, servants! Take it away now. Put it into the freezer."

The servants who are standing at the corner accompanying us all cleaned up the dinner table.

"My son, go to the armory and pick up a wooden sword. I'll wait in the courtyard... I do not know what you ate but... let's talk about it later."

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