As soon as I returned to my room, the first thing I did was take a bath to clean the blood and grime off of me. Lumina didn’t have indoor plumbing. However, it had something just as good, if not better: elemental crystals. These were magical items that used mana to create the element they were attuned to. Fire elemental crystals created fire, Water elemental crystals created water, and so on.

They could even absorb their respective elements to replenish their mana reserves. So, if you had a Water elemental crystal that was low on mana, you could just soak in water for a while.

Elemental crystals were also used in the creation of enchanted items. Magic stoves, airships, magic carriages, etc. It was because of them that the standard of living here on Lumina wasn’t that far off from Earth’s.

When I finished with my bath, I changed into a fresh set of clothes and started training. While I had been confined to my room for the foreseeable future, that was no excuse for complacency. There were plenty of exercises I could do while indoors. I focused on ones that increased my stamina. That way, I could exercise for longer without running out of breath.

After I finished training, I took another bath before I settled down to read. Honestly, being confined to my room wasn’t that bad. I had several ways to keep myself occupied. During mealtimes, servants delivered food to my room, so I didn’t have to worry about going hungry. It annoyed me that I couldn’t just leave without arousing more suspicion, but it could’ve been worse. At least my parents hadn’t imprisoned me.

Despite my situation, I wasn’t worried. I was confident in making it through all right. I mean, I was Gabriel Sturm. I just needed the priest to arrive and prove it. There was no reason for me to be worried.

Rather, I was more concerned about my mother’s display of strength earlier. I wanted to know more about how she achieved that. However, I couldn’t satisfy my curiosity right away, so I shelved it for now. Instead, I made plans for the future.

Unlike on Earth, monsters on Lumina didn’t come from Gates, liminal spaces where other realms intersected with Earth. Instead, they were native to this realm, bringing about death and destruction in their wake. Similar to the hunters of Earth, Lumina had a profession that specialized in hunting monsters: adventurers.

This was a common profession, since there were so many monsters on Lumina. Not only that, but adventurers dealt with all sorts of problems. So much so, that there was even an Adventurers Guild. This guild offered bounties for monsters, took commissions to hunt down bandit gangs, explored old ruins, and so on. The Adventurers Guild also provided a variety of services to adventurers, including legal support. There were times when clients refused to pay adventurers for their work, but the Adventurers Guild forced their hand.

On Earth, I lived as a hunter. A good one too. While I wasn’t the best in the entire world, I was certainly within the top one hundred. Since that was the case, I saw no reason not to become an adventurer. The two professions were similar enough. 

There was just one problem.

On Earth, hunters were celebrated and praised for their work. The more powerful ones were even celebrities in their own right. Luminian society held adventurers in low regard. Most of the Houses and minor noble families regarded adventuring as a vulgar profession. To them, adventurers were little better than thugs and ruffians. If I wanted to convince my parents to let me become an adventurer, I had my work cut out for me.

Oh well, I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

Hours later, after evening fell, someone knocked on my door while I was reading a book about the Adventurers Guild. When I opened the door, I found a muscular woman standing on the other side. She was about my height, which made her tall for a woman, with tanned skin, short brown hair, and brown eyes. All in all, she looked like a female version of Leroy. She even had the same brutish features.

Caitlyn, my mother’s bodyguard and Leroy’s mother.

Like my own mother, she looked younger than her actual age. I wasn’t sure how old she was, but I believed she was in her late forties, early fifties. Despite that, she looked like she was in her early thirties at most.

Instead of the blue and silver uniforms most of House Sturm’s retainers wore, Caitlyn wore a red and black outfit that revealed a distracting amount of skin. This included her cleavage. It took a good amount of my willpower not to stare.

“Come on.” Caitlyn said as soon as I opened the door. She spoke in a brusque manner. “The priest is here. Lady Sturm ordered me to escort you to Lord Sturm’s office.”

I blinked at her in surprise.

“Already? That was quick. I thought it would take longer.”

Caitlyn shrugged.

“Not my concern.” She said. “My job is to escort you to Lord Sturm’s office and make sure you don’t do something stupid on the way there.”

I found Caitlyn’s way of speaking refreshing. It reminded me of the people from Earth. Despite being a commoner, or maybe because she was a commoner, Caitlyn didn’t care much for manners. However, lack of manners didn’t mean lack of respect. From what I recall, Caitlyn always treated me well, which was more than I could say for most of House Sturm.

“Let’s go then.” I said.

Caitlyn gestured for me to lead the way. I left my room and headed towards my father’s office, while she followed me from behind. As we walked, I decided to test the waters, so to speak.

When my mother grabbed my throat earlier, showing that she had more strength than I realized, a thought came to mind. I wanted to probe Caitlyn, see if I could get some clues from her. She had served my mother for decades, and even followed her when she married my father. If anyone knew the secret to my mother’s strength, it would be Caitlyn.

“How many stars?” I asked.

“Excuse me?”

I glanced back at Caitlyn.

“How many stars does your mana core have?”

Like magic circles, mana cores were ranked from one to nine, which determined a martial artist’s general power. When a martial artist first formed a mana core, it contained a glowing point that resembled a star. Each time they reached a new rank, a new glowing point, or star, appeared in the mana core. Thus, mana cores were ranked by how many stars they had. First Star Core, Second Star Core, etc. A high-ranked core resembled a constellation.

In other words, I just asked Caitlyn how powerful of a martial artist she was. I watched her to gauge her reaction. Either I was right and she was a martial artist, which opened up a whole new world of possibilities, or I was wrong and, well, nothing. I didn’t have anything to lose here.

Caitlyn scowled at me.

“Keep your eyes forward and stop asking pointless questions.”

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance, before following her words. However, on the inside, my heart pounded in my chest. Caitlyn didn’t seem surprised or confused by my question. Either she had a good poker face, or she knew exactly what my question meant. If it was the latter, this meant that Lumina had martial artists after all. And if that was true, then it was possible, just possible, that my mother was also a martial artist.

Regardless, things were bound to get interesting. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. With a spring in my step, I continued towards my father’s office.