James and his father's senses were hit with a sudden wave of jape?o scents as they entered the dining room.

  "It seems your mother—" cough "— has made her signature salsa to go with our breakfast," Alexander could barely muster as he fought back tears.

  "It's been ages since I had a sniff of mom's salsa."

  Alexander gave his son a curious look.

  Cough, "I mean it's been so long that we had it with our breakfast." James straightened his tie as he sat down at the dining table.

  Alexander sat at the head of the table—the rightful position for the head of the household. Across from him sat Scarlet Von Dinniman, Alexander's first wife, who was the dy of the house responsible for keeping the matters of the house in check as well as keeping the other wives in line.

  Scarlet took a drag of her cigar and looked at James.

  She exhaled, releasing smoke before she spoke. "Are you ready?"

  James looked his stepmother in the eye. "Good morning, Mother." The young man gave Scarlet a smirk and nodded. "I'll make sure to make you and Father proud."

  Scarlet Von Dinniman ran her calloused hand through her red hair and gave her stepson a once-over. Scarlet was responsible for training James and the other children in the house. This allowed her to spend countless hours with the young man and get to know the type of man he was. James was a quiet kid, the kind who stayed away from trouble whenever possible, like a lone hyena waiting in the tall grass. But there seemed to be something different about him today; she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was a glint in his eyes. The same look she had seen on countless battlefields.

  Scarlet dug into her brown cargo pants and pulled out a small box, and tossed it to James.

  James caught the box and opened it. The small box contained ten cigars and an ornate cigar cutter.

  "I got them through a contact within the Von Goldstein family; they made them with a special type of tobacco from a dungeon they control. You should've learned about the Von Goldstein family and their rise as the most prominent merchant family during your studies." Scarlet let out a puff of smoke and smirked, "Make sure to use them on special occasions only."

  James was left dumbfounded as he stared at the small box.

  This didn't happen during my st life. What changed?

  Scarlet was never the motherly type, even with her kids. She was never strict with them, except when it came to training - it was the only occasion when she raised her voice. James had always viewed her as a drill sergeant, training James and his siblings as her future soldiers.

  This idea was further pnted in his mind by the way she dressed. Scarlet had the same set of clothes every day: brown cargo pants, combat boots with a small boot knife, a tight bck midriff shirt that showcased her abs, and a green military jacket. She would roll up her sleeves when she was angry, revealing her scars and burn marks.

  James put the small box away in his suit jacket, smiled, and nodded to his stepmother. James tried to wrap his mind around the small gift Scarlet gave him. The bzing berserker gave me a gift; what's next? Pigs will fly. The very same woman who gained notoriety on the battlefield was acting like a mother for once.

  I guess I've already made a change to this timeline. James closed his eyes for a second and tried to remember a story his father once told him about his stepmother's past.

  …

  When she was younger, she was captured by a rival family during a raid on a dungeon and tortured. She was chained up and treated as a hostage for weeks; she never gave up any information. Just staying silent as the men cut up her body, hoping to break her. As a final attempt to gather information, the leader of the men took a dagger and dragged it down her lip until it reached her chin, leaving a bloody mess.

  The young woman started to tear up and hunched forward, hiding her face from sight.

  "Why are you doing this to me—" Scarlet could barely muster as tears and blood made it hard to speak.

  The young dy sat there for a while as the men started to gloat and share their pns with her, driven by a blind sense of victory.

  Hunched over with her face hidden, Scarlet smiled.. She had gained all the information she needed from these idiots and flung her arms outward, breaking the chains that bound her.

  The men must've gained their positions due to nepotism because these fools made one of the biggest mistakes a Pyer could make: never turn your back on a Pyer with a < Berserker Css>, and especially never reveal your pns because you think you've won.

  Scarlet Von Dinniman was one of the fiercest women in her generation, blessed by her bloodline with the most potent fire magic her family had seen in generations. Breaking free from dragonsteel chains was a piece of cake; channel enough magic within yourself to crumble the magic that fueled the dragonsteel. It sounds easy enough.

  Scarlet ughed like a madwoman as she stared down her captors, who looked at her in fear as she lit a small blue fme with her index finger like a lighter and ran it down her lip until she reached her chin, cauterizing the wound in the process.

  She made quick work of the men, leaving behind a bloody mess and a room filled with the smell of burning flesh. With the information she gained from the idiots, she was successfully able to wipe out the enemy's stronghold from within.

  Once the members of Von Dinniman who had entered the dungeon with her at the start of the raid finally found her, she was sitting atop a pile of bodies, munching on a leg of a giant beast that the enemy had brought with them.

  This was the start of the legend that would become known as the Bzing Berserker.

  …

  Cck

  James's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of Heather's heels ccking on the floorboards as she entered the dining room.

  Heather took her seat next to Alexander and greeted the other people at the table.

  James greeted his stepmother with a smile and noticed she had changed her outfit since he st saw her that morning.

  Heather had always dressed like she was for a ck of a better term a stuck up bitch, now she seemed more carefree. She wore a floral midi dress with blue block-heeled sandals.

  "Mother, are the twins not joining us?"

  "Oh… Monica and Marco left early to get a head start on their morning workout. "Heather was cut off guard once again by James, addressing her as mother.

  "It's a shame I won't get to see them before I leave for my coming-of-age ceremony. Can you let Marco know that I have some books on my desk so he can borrow them? They should help him with his studies. "

  James turned to face his father, "Dad, can you have the servants move the things from my room into storage, and have it cleaned so Monica can move in. "

  The adults at the table were caught off guard by James's words. The twins have made James's life miserable since they beled him weaker than them.

  "Hey, there's no need to be so surprised. I know my retionship with the twins wasn't the best, but they're still my siblings. I don't view them any less for their actions, we're family at the end of the day."

  Heather was the first to speak. "James… I should've stopped the twins from bullying—"

  James cut her off. "It's fine, the twins were brats at best. They never went too far with their pranks. To tell you the truth, I'll miss the two of them when I leave home. I hope by the time their ceremony comes in two years, they will be mature enough, and we can meet up on better terms."

  "That's all fine and all. But giving up your room is—"

  James ughed, "Trust me. Monica would be furious at you if she heard you ruining her chance of having a room to herself. I understand you had her share a room with Marco because you didn't want to separate the twins, but Monica is a sixteen-year-old girl; it's time she had her own space for once."

  "Thank you, James… I'm so sorry–" sob "-I was a terrible stepmother to you."

  "It's fine, we're all family," James smiled at Heather, Scarlet, and Alexander.

  …

  While Heather was fixing her makeup after crying, a group of servants entered the room, holding trays of food and drinks.

  As the servants left the room, the ughter of a small child filled the room. Alexia Von Berkshire, the youngest child of Jasmine and Alexander, stormed into the room, finding her seat next to her older brother.

  The young child's feet swayed back and forth as they hung down from her chair. The rambunctious child's silver hair became a tangled mess as the young dy moved like a hurricane, waving at everyone at the table, helping to ease the tension in the room without even realizing it.

  James couldn't keep his eyes off Alexia; in his st life, today marked one of the st times he saw his whirlwind of a little sister. The young child lost her smile once her brother was exiled from the family. Eventually, that sadness clouded her heart, causing her to perform worse in her ceremony.

  Poor girl, once heralded as the flower of the next generation, destined for greatness … James closed his eyes, my fate caused you to fall. Lucky she was able to become a FULL PLAYER unlike me, but unfortunately, she was stuck at the starting line forever.

  James patted Alexia on the head and smiled as the young girl turned to face him.

  I'll make sure you have all this world has to offer. I swore my life on it.

  Alexia just ughed as her beloved brother pyed with her hair.

  "James Von Berkshire, what did I tell you about pying with your sister's hair?" Jasmine's voice boomed as she entered the room, holding a tray of her signature salsa.

  "It took an hour to get her hair just right," she sighed, "For once, I wanted her hair to be nice for one picture as a family before you left home."

  "Sorry, Mom. It won't happen again," James ughed as his mother pced the tray on the table and sat down beside him.

  Jasmine could only sigh and kiss her baby boy on the head. "It's okay, sweetheart, I know it was ruined long before you got your hands on it."

  Grumble

  "Can we eat now?"

  Everyone at the table was caught off guard by the sound of the little one's stomach.

  …

  After a nice family meal for once, everyone sat around the living room and had some small talk.

  Heather and Jasmine were looking at the pictures the group took, and they seemed to get along, ughing and smiling.

  Scarlet and Alexia left after a short while to meet up with the twins at the training site that belonged to Alexander's household.

  It seems that my actions during breakfast are improving my mom's and stepmother's retionship.

  Cck

  Mary, the personal servant assigned to my mother, entered the room and walked towards her mistress after greeting my father, the head of the house.

  It seems everything has not changed.

  Jasmine bolted off her seat and headed towards her husband.

  After a quick exchange, Jamsine hugged James and left the room.

  "Heather, would you do me a favor and help Jasmine pack? She will be away for a while."

  "Has something happened?" Heather asked as she headed towards Jasmine's room.

  "It's best if you ask her directly."

  James got up and followed his father as he headed for the front door.

  Alexander was silent as they made their trip to the dock. Once again, James's father decided to keep the household's troubles to himself.

  It seems that my grandfather also colpsed from exhaustion in this timeline.

  As the pair reached Alexander's personal dock on the isnd, they saw a group of fifteen kids or so, all around James's age, waiting in front of the rge boat docked in the harbor. All of the 'young adults' consisted of the new, potential full-fledged members of the family, as long as they had passed their coming-of-age ceremony. The group members were all the children who had reached the age of 19 and some servants that the family saw as having potential. The servants who passed and gained FULL PLAYER status would be allowed to become members of the family, the SEMI-PLAYERS would be treated slightly better than their fellow servants.

  There was not a single adult among the crowd, besides the captain of the ship, who seemed to be arguing with a young dy.

  As Alexander and his son made their way towards the crowd, the argument between the captain and the young dy became clear.

  "What do you mean I can't bring an escort? Do you know who my grandfather is?"

  The poor captain sighed. "Like I told you before, young dy, only direct retives of elders belonging to the council are allowed an escort to the ceremony—"

  "And I told you my grandfather is an elder of the Assassination Hall!"

  Snap

  With a single snap from Alexander, the air grew colder, causing everyone to shiver.

  "Young dy, I believe the captain has expined the rules already. So, enough with your chattering and take your seat on the boat."

  "But–"

  Alexander gave the girl a sidelong gnce, and the brat decided this was one argument she was never going to win.

  The young dy went up the ship's ramp and looked for a seat. "Wait till my grandfather hears about this," she mumbled as she sat down.

  Alexander could only sigh, "What can a mere elder of the Assassination Hall do?"

  …

  After a short conversation between the captain and Alexander, the ship made its way toward the ritual site located on the main isnd of the archipego, where the rest of the family's vital buildings were located.

  James was seated at the back of the ship alone; his father was sitting up front with the captain, answering any questions the other kids had.

  The young dy who had a heated exchange with the poor captain was staring daggers at James. "Why can that bastard get to bring an escort?" she mumbled as she bit into her lip, causing blood to gush out slightly.

  James just smirked at the brat.

  If my memory serves me correctly, that brat should be Holly von Berkshire; her grandfather was one of the first family members to turn tail once trouble reached our shores.

  James didn't get much information from the family and its full-fledged members due to his rank as a SEMI-PLAYER. It became even less once he was exiled, but for some reason, the news of Holly's death reached all pyers within the family.

  The death of a bitch like Holly was a wouderfull news to the members of her generation. She was known for beating servants to death if they "looked at her funny." The treatment of her squadmates was a far worse fate; every Von Berkshire child belonging to the assassination hall was given a group of sves they were responsible for training.

  The goal of raising a group of sves was to test the children's management skills and how well they could lead a squad into battle. The stronger the team's skills, the higher the rank the child would gain once they passed the coming-of-age ceremony and returned to join the full ranks of the assassin members.

  Well, it was no shock to anyone in the assassination hall on the way that the little monster treated her "toys." Who in their right mind would reprimand the "little princess of the assassination hall," as the youngest granddaughter of one of the elders of the Hall, who ran wild with unlimited power?

  But that all changed once Holly and her squad were tasked with conquering a dungeon near an enemy stronghold, with the hope of creating an encampment to unch an attack in the future.

  After years of suffering and having to follow the commands of an idiot, the sves rebelled against their master and killed Holly. The sad part was the curse seal the family engraved onto every sve that belonged to the Von Berskshire; it caused them to suffer the same pain they inflicted on a member of the family. The death of Holly meant the girls died as well, but at least they took down that heartless excuse of a human.

  James stopped his reminiscing as the ship came to a stop. Alexander and the captain headed down the boat and waited for the kids to follow before heading towards the ritual site.

  These will be my first steps on my path to revenge. James repeated in his head as he followed the group towards the ritual site.