NEXT MORNING…

KNOCK ​​

KNOCK

KNOCK

“Who is it?”

“Mr Arnold, the head of the family wants an audience with you. I have brought the family attire for you to wear as well.”

“Just a second.” Arnold got up from the bed and opened the door. “Good morning.”

“Good morning sir. You have a meeting with the head of the family at 12 pm. Please be ready by 11:45 am so that you could reach the lunch hall on time. And here’s your breakfast.”

“Got it.” Arnold nodded.

“I’ll take my leave then.” The Butler quietly closed the door and left.

“It’s 7 am, I’ve got lots of time to kill. Better finish the daily quest in the meantime.” He finished his breakfast then took a shirt and went towards Nicole’s room.

The Black estate was divided into 5 buildings which were spread across an area of 25 square kilometers. The mansion in the centre belonged to the main family and was the biggest among the other buildings, no one apart from the branched family and the servants was allowed inside until and unless they were invited by the head of the family. The building behind the main mansion belonged to the branch family members. Nina lived here with her dad and mom, the building had similar design like the main mansion, but it was smaller. No one was allowed to enter this building either. The armoury and the forge were located inside the building on the right of the main mansion. This building was accessible to everyone. Servants, chefs, drivers and other personnel lived in the building on the left, which was the closest to the main mansion. The building in front of the main mansion was the place were those who were ‘adopted’ by the family stayed. Arnold and Nicole were given their rooms in this building. There were many guard stations built across the estate with 24×7 security. Everything inside the estate was well connected with each other through various roads.

“Nicole you up?” Arnold knocked on the door.

“Brother is that you? Come on in!”

Nicole was sitting on the bed, with the bedpost supporting her back and a woman was spoon feeding her.

“Good morning brother! Meet Ms. Miranda, she’s the one taking care of me since yesterday.”

Arnold quietly used his [PROBE] skill on Ms. Miranda, he wouldn’t take any risk after what happened with Nikki. Ms. Miranda had a kind and caring persona and didn’t had any special abilities or powers… she was quite normal. After checking her info thoroughly, Arnold smiled at her and expressed his thanks for taking care of his sister.

“Sorry for the trouble but you can leave now, I’ll make sure Nicole gets her fill of food.” Arnold smiled at Ms. Miranda.

“Oh it’s not an issue sir, but I’ll take my leave now. Eat well Ms Nicole, you need the energy.” Ms. Miranda patted Nicole’s head and left.

“I will!” Nicole smiled back as Ms. Miranda left the room.

Arnold sat down where Miranda was sitting before and started spoon feeding Nicole. Back before all this happened, he used to feed her like this almost everyday. Both of them felt nostalgic and were happy that they could do it once again.

“Now since that’s done, I’m heading out to exercise do you wanna join in?”

“Of course! I’ll watch over you and protect you while you exercise.”

“I’m sure you will. Haha…” He lightly pinched her red cheeks.

*****

OUTSIDE, THE SOUTHERN PART OF MANSION

“Everything is so… BEAUTIFUL! Isn’t it brother?”

“Yeah it is.”

Arnold and Nicole were strolling outside. Nicole was in her wheelchair and Arnold gently pushed it around. The entire area around them was covered with finely trimmed grass. Arnold left Nicole under the shadow of the building and started with his exercises. After three and a half hours, Arnold was done with his daily quests. He dumped all the attribute points he had into his newly acquired mystic stat. His intelligence was high enough, right now he needed to focus on increasing his battle prowess.

Unknown to him, a lot of people had their eyes on the newest member of the family, and seeing him so disciplined confirmed that their decision about ‘adopting’ him was right. Furthermore they knew about his unranked potential so they were looking forward to see him in action and hopefully they’ll get to see it soon enough.

Arnold and Nicole chatted for a while before going back inside. After all, Arnold had a meeting to attend to.

After showering, Arnold wore the ‘attire’ that the butler had given him, the attire was nothing but a plain black tuxedo with black pants and shoes. Even for Arnold who liked to wear black clothing, the love which this ‘family’ had for the colour was pretty extreme and disturbing. Most of the things inside the state were covered in black, from cars to walls. Everything.

Right at 11:45, someone knocked on his door. He opened the door and saw a Butler waiting for him outside.

“Shall we proceed?” The Butler asked.

“Lead the way.”