James, Melissa, and even Laurene tried to ease the tension. In the end, James had no choice but to fulfill Lucas's request, because a noble promise isn't something that can be broken on a whim, and duels aren't exactly a rare occurrence in this world.
Once he felt it was enough, James called off the dinner and told his family to rest, especially Eric and Lucas, who would be fighting tomorrow. Eric returned to his room and lay on his back on the bed.
Eric thought about tomorrow's duel. Actually, he himself didn't mind not becoming the heir to this family, but what made him hesitate was how to act toward this new family of his.
Should he act indifferent? Suddenly become affectionate and caring? Or stick to previous Eric's nature aka becoming a jerk, perverted man? Most of the time, he'd been using the same personality as the previous Eric plus his past life, foul-mouthed and rude, but on the other hand he didn't want to keep putting on a show and lying to himself by pretending to be someone else.
He doesn't care about what outsiders or strangers say to him, but what about his current family? He feels a little torn, especially seeing how wholeheartedly Melissa cares for Eric.
"A mother's love for her child knows no bounds… what would 'she' do if 'she' were in my position?"
Eric dismissed his jumbled thoughts about 'that' person and tried to sleep, but was disturbed by a screen he hadn't seen in a long time.
Time remaining before the power of [Kageyama Shigeo] is lost... 1 minute...
"Wait, what!?"
Time remaining before the power of [Kageyama Shigeo] is lost... 55 seconds...
"Oh! You've gotta be fucking kidding me! Why now of all times!?" Eric was shocked by the notification that his power was about to disappear. He tried desperately to stop the process in every way he could.
"Cancel the timer! Damn it...! What else, uh... Abort! Close! Fucking hell!"
Time remaining before the power of [Kageyama Shigeo] is lost...31 seconds...
He kept tapping the screen to cancel or slow down the countdown, but it was all in vain. "Come on...! Come on...!"
Time remaining before the power of [Kageyama Shigeo] is lost...5 seconds...
He braced himself, sensing something bad was about to happen, "Not agai-"
A painful sensation overwhelmed him, causing him to lose control of his body. Fortunately, he was already lying on the bed, but the pain remained.
He clenched his teeth to keep from screaming. Slowly, he felt something slipping away from his body. The pain kept intensifying until he decided to give in.
At the edge of his consciousness, he faintly saw the screen again, counting something down.
Generating random power...
Time remaining...23 hours, 59 minutes, 50 seconds...
***
Eric jolted awake and sat up straight on his bed. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his stiff body. Opening and closing his palms, he then directed his hand toward the glass on the table across the room.
He struggled to try to move the glass before finally giving up. He clicked his tongue and let out a heavy sigh.
"Damn it. It's really gone..."
Eric regretted losing all of Kageyama Shigeo's psychokinesis ability. He repeatedly tried to sense the power that had previously been within his body, but his efforts were in vain.
He sighed, scratching his head. Without that ability, he was at a loss as to how he could face his younger brother, Lucas, in today's duel. He then willed the screen to appear before him.
Generating random power...
Time remaining...12 hours, 19 minutes, 47 seconds...
He was really annoyed with this system, "Why did you have to start the countdown suddenly yesterday! If only you'd told me earlier, I would've postponed Lucas's duel challenge until I had new power!"
Eric grumbled at the system, but the esoteric thing just remained silent and displayed the time. He slapped his forehead after looking closely at the timer. "Did I sleep for almost 12 hours? Damn, that's not sleeping anymore!"
He remembered that the duel was scheduled for midday, and now the sun was already high in the sky. He just realized that the old Eric didn't allow servants into his room without his permission, so no maid or butler had come in to wake him up.
Opening the closet and changing into lighter clothes, he hurried out of the room. The servants he passed greeted him stiffly, and a few moments later he stepped out of the mansion.
The duel site was a detached building not far from the mansion, commonly referred to as the training ground. Eric walked quickly and found the building through a large entrance.
As soon as he entered, all the eyes already present turned to him. James, Melissa, Laurene, Sebastian, several nobles he didn't recognize, many servants, and even Rudy and Emilia were present.
In the center of the field, Lucas was already standing in light clothing just like him, holding a staff. He calmly stared at Eric, "I thought you were going to run away, Big Brother."
Eric ignored his taunting. "Nah, just overslept." Eric took one of the magic staff provided by the butler and stood in the center of the field. James watched his two sons from the edge of the field and spoke loudly.
"With this, I, James Ostheno, authorize this duel for the right of inheritance in our beloved homeland, the Aldeno Empire. May the victor be humble, may the defeated be fair-minded!"
Eric and Lucas took their positions. Both were Mages, so naturally they would battle with spells. But honestly, the winner had already been decided before the duel even began.
"Begin!"
"Ice Arrow!" Lucas quickly chanted the spell and fired his magic at Eric. Meanwhile, Eric calmly replied, "Fire Ball."
The two spells collided, and a loud explosion echoed. Smoke billowed, obscuring the view. Suddenly, Lucas had taken aim with his staff. "Ice Ball!"
An ice ball the size of a basketball flew swiftly, Eric dodged and cast his spell again. "Fire Arrow!" The fire should have melted the ice, but since Eric was a pitifully weak mage, it was the ice that consumed his fire instead.
Eric dodged the ice fist still hurtling toward him to the right. Lucas didn't pause and cast his next spell, "Ice Bullet!" A barrage of super-condensed ice flew rapidly.
What Eric did was cast another fire spell. "Fire Wall!" A wall of fire as tall as an adult appeared as a shield, but it failed to stop the ice bullets. Eric was hit repeatedly by the freezing cold.
"This brat is no joke!" Even though it was just ice, the force generated was enough to send Eric flying backward. He composed himself and cast another spell. "Fire Lance!"
"Frozen Earth!" Lucas tapped his staff into the ground, and his ice magic covered a wide area of the training ground. Before the Fire Lance could hit him, Lucas encased his hand in ice, which casually grabbed the flame and dispersed it.
His display drew gasps from the audience, with some nobles who had come to watch clapping and cheering him on.
"Way to go, Sir Lucas!"
"You can win this, Lucas!"
On the opposite side, no one was supporting Eric. All he received were scornful and hateful glances. Eric only realized Lucas's intent when he tried to walk on the ground that had become slightly frozen.
"Limiting my mobility... clever brat."
The Fire Lance had been his last fire spell. His young body was so weakened and contained little Mana that he could only cast a few spells, in stark contrast to Lucas, who still looked strong and had abundant Mana.
"I advise you to give up, Big Brother. You ran out of Mana, right?"
"Yeah, you're right." Eric tossed the staff aside. "But I haven't run out of options."
Eric took a boxing stance and dashed toward Lucas. The audience were surprised that Eric suddenly chose to fight bare-handed after running out of Mana. Lucas was also surprised, but he composed himself and aimed at Eric.
"Ice Lance!" The sharp ice hurled toward Eric, he tracked its trajectory and dodged it at the last second, his body wobbling slightly due to the slippery frozen ground. Now close enough, he swung his right fist toward Lucas.
But Lucas didn't waste time and quickly cast a spell before the punch landed. "Ice Armor!" A thick layer of ice manifested around him, and Eric's punch slammed hard into the ice layer.
"Ouch! Fuck! That's cheati-" Lucas cast another spell right in front of Eric. "Ice Blast!" A point-blank ice explosion sent Eric flying backward. When he came to, his body was shivering from the cold. A thin layer of frost had formed all over his body, making it difficult for him to move his hands and feet.
The audience watched the fight in stunned silence, but seeing how difficult it was for Eric to move, they assumed the fight was over. Eric repeatedly punched the ground to shake the numbness from his hands and shatter the ice frost, "Shit! Shit!"
Lucas felt disgusted looking at his older brother, assuming the fight was over. Dispelling his magic, he turned around and started walking back to the sidelines.
"Wait, Lucas!"
A warning from one of the nobles present startled Lucas, and he suddenly felt a chill. Before he could fully turn around, a punch landed perfectly on his right cheek.
"Never turn your back on your opponent, brat!!!"
Eric stood there panting and trembling, then collapsed to the ground. The audience were once again startled, especially Lucas, who fell to the ground, his eyes wide with shock.
Seeing that Eric wasn't getting up, and as Lucas began to stand slowly, James announced the result of the match. "The winner is Lucas Ostheno!"
Cheers and clapping rang out from the crowd, almost everyone wore expressions of joy except Rudy and Emilia. They looked puzzled, but still clapped. Laurene hugged her twin sibling, and Melissa also took turns hugging Lucas before approaching Eric.
The medical staff approached Eric to check on him, and once again he groaned inwardly as he looked up. "What a shitty day..."
***
Before he knew it, night had fallen. After the match, Eric spent his time in his room, pacing back and forth, thinking about the power he was about to receive.
Generating random power...
Time remaining...00 hours, 1 minute, 11 seconds...
He didn't want anyone else to see him receive the power, so he chose to lock himself in his room. To be honest, he didn't have high hopes for his new power. The important thing was that it could help him survive in this world.
"It would be nice if it were martial arts power or sword mastery power..." he murmured softly. He thought about the many fictional protagonists he'd seen, wondering if he'd end up with that kind of power. Then the countdown neared its end.
Generating random power...
Time remaining...00 hours, 0 minutes, 6 seconds...
Seated on his bed, he waited with anticipation.
2 seconds...
1 second...
0 second...
Generating random power...success.
Chosen random power...:... Mahito.
Eric blinked and rubbed his eyes, and then the truth dawned on him.
"Fuck me."
Once again, the painful and excruciating process assaulted his entire body, and he pitifully passed out.