If you were to ask someone to describe the Bravehearts in one sentence, they would probably call them 'peculiar folk'. They were eccentric at best and dysfunctional at worst, with an almost two-hundred-year-old patriarch as the head of the family. If it weren't for Bernard, the house would have probably fallen into ruin long before the twins came to this world.
Before he became the Marquess, he was a promising officer in the Royal Corps, well on his way to getting a promotion and retiring at the ripe old age of 35. His plan of a peaceful retirement was unfortunately squashed when his older brother suddenly went mad and slaughtered all their older siblings and cousins in a vain attempt to get his hands on the title. Obviously, Marchioness Braveheart was not impressed by her son's murder spree and disowned him soon after, leaving Bernard — the youngest — as her only heir.
That's how the most unlikely person became the head of the march, without even meaning to. When his mother named him the heir, he thought he was the luckiest person alive. When she died, and people started calling him 'Marquess Braveheart' for the first time, he knew he made it in life.
But now, looking at his offspring's he doubts it more and more every day. Maybe his brother was right, and killing half of the family was the better choice for the prosperity of House Braveheart.
His first son had no interest in ruling or politics. He wouldn't make a good leader, anyway. His passive nature made it basically impossible for him to be a reliable ruler. His only interest was in things he was hyperfixated on. Everything else was worthless.
Fabian spent his days studying bugs and the flow of mana in their bodies, deluding himself that he could find a way for people to live without relying on the blessings to protect them from toxic miasma. A heretical thought, that's for sure. The royals already took half of the total mana stones and cores supply just to breed and survive. If people stopped needing them and their dragon magic, then what was even the point of keeping them around? It's better if Fabian and his research stay within the family, or the consequences would be devastating for everyone. He already did his duty anyway by having two children with women of Bernard's choosing. What's more, a father could ask for? Bernard spent decades trying to mold him into an heir, but everything he said went in one ear and out the other.
Then there's the second son. He was always the more impressive of the two brothers. Hailed as a magical genius, he got his Path early and joined the academy when being barely 14 years old. Intelligent, strong, and very talented. It would seem he was the perfect heir that every noble could only ask for.
That was until Arnold found out about moonshine. An alcohol for high Grades, but with more similarities to a drug. When a person with a high mana pool drank it, their circuit slowed the flow of mana, and as a result, it gave a feeling as if the Mind Stat had suddenly halved. The brain, unable to handle such a drastic change in its processing power, flooded the body with dopamine. Naturally, it was highly addictive and ate through the brain like a parasite until there was nothing left. Making matters worse, he soon became addicted to card games, often involving enormous sums of money, chasing the rush he got when he was still competing in school. His father tried to pull him away from this lifestyle, but it was already too late. Arnold would gladly take the title, not because he cared about ruling the march, but because it would give him access to its almost unlimited assets.
Needless to say, the Marquess was in a pickle. On one hand, he had an apathetic heir who would bring the house to ruin with his incompetence, on the other, an unreliable drug addict. The choices did not look good.
Luckily, there were eight promising individuals only waiting to be groomed into shape. He will get his perfect hair if it's the last thing this old sack of bones will do.
"Grandpa, how much longer do we have to wait? I want to go play already." Lilian whined, trying to get her grandpa's attention, who was currently distracted with cleaning stoneworm juice off his shirt after it sprayed all over him when he tried to open it.
"In a minute, love. We still have the ceremony before us."
With the patriarch occupied, it was time to go back to Kirian.
On the outside, she looked completely relaxed, smiling and nodding when someone asked her a question.
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On the inside, though, she was completely terrified.
Her poor language comprehension reared its ugly head again, and for the last two and a half hours, she had to listen to everyone at the table talk about some kind of 'ritual'.
Her first thought? She was about to be sacrificed. No wonder her cortisol levels were through the roof.
To everyone's joy, except Kirian's, Bernard finally gave up trying to clean his shirt and announced that it was time for the 'ceremony'.
When her family shuffled from their seats, Kirian tried to make a run for it, but at the last second, her grandpa's higher Speed Stat sullied her plans, and he caught her by the shoulder. He took both twins into his arms and walked behind his chair, where there was an inconspicuous door built into the wall, leading to the inner part of the patriarch's quarters.
Kirian wiggled in his arms, still not giving up her escape. Bernard, not knowing about his granddaughter's inner turmoil, frowned at this sudden change of attitude.
"Mai, what's gotten into you? You were so well-behaved at dinner." He paused for a moment, trying to rearrange the fussy toddler in his arms so that he wouldn't drop her. "You don't like to be carried? Just wait a minute longer, I'll put you down when we get there." Kirian did not heed his call and still tried to escape her would-be murderer, at least in her mind.
After walking through the long corridors, they stopped at another inconspicuous door. When Bernard reached for the handle, Kirian prepared herself to see a room full of candles and pentagrams, maybe even a bath full of blood. What she did not expect was a spacious living room with fluffy carpets and comfy sofas waiting on the other side. She was so perplexed that she didn't even notice when Bernard put her and Kai back on the ground, too busy trying to wrap her head around the fact that she would probably live to see another day.
She did react, though, when Kai suddenly ran past her and threw himself at one of the spongy chairs. Seeing her brother having fun made all her pent-up anxiety vanish like it never even been there, and she followed after him, screaming in excitement.
They played for a while, jumping from one chair to another, playing "the floor is lava" without even knowing the other one also knew this game from their previous world. At the same time, the rest of the family prepared for the ceremony.
"Alright!" Bernard stepped forward and clapped his hands. "It's time for the thing you've all been waiting for." He waited for any reaction, but only the children looked interested. That did not discourage him, and he added even more enthusiasm to his tone. "As we all know, the first birthday is a very special day in which the Gods allow us to glimpse a possible Path the child might be granted after they turn 10." Lilian almost vibrated from excitement. It was her first time participating in this event as a spectator.
"Of course, there are as many Paths as there are Gods, and it wouldn't be possible for me to get an item symbolizing every single one." He chuckled at the absurdity of it. "So, I got the ones that are most likely to be granted. There's one for a [Warrior] like Ariana." He pointed at the woman in question, and she rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, to 'get on with it, already'. "Another for a [Mage]." He did not say who it represented. They all knew anyway. "A [Healer], like your late grandma, may she rest in peace." Bernard put one hand on his chest and closed his eyes as if to reminisce. The moment did not last long, because he soon gave a goofy smile and went back to talking. "I threw one for a [Scholar], like your uncle Fabian." The man in question was nowhere to be seen. He probably dipped the first chance he got. Bernard did not comment on the absence of his oldest son. "And lastly..." He paused, trying to create an air of anticipation. "An [Artist], for all Braveheart's need to have a heart of courage and a head full of imagination." He started to laugh maniacally. Everyone in the room looked like they were already over this, even the toddlers who stopped their game to listen in on the adults shuffled awkwardly in place.
As Bernard started to unroll the bundle with prepared items, the rest of the family chattered about what each of the children would choose. The ceremony was normally held only for one individual, but in this case, they would split their attention and do it at the same time. The patriarch took the twins and sat them so that they would be back-to-back with each other, and wouldn't try to copy the other's choice.
Before Kirian laid 5 unique items. A stick with a warm gem at the top, emitting mana. A knife that was probably supposed to represent a sword. A brush with dried ink on it, or maybe black paint. Some kind of glowy cloth that looked silky to the touch. And a piece of blank paper.
"Wow, what a diversity of choices. I wonder what each item means." Kirian thought sarcastically. The brush and paper might be interchangeable, but she wouldn't pick either, so there was no use worring about it.
"Now, what should I choose? A mage, a warrior, or a healer." She contemplated for a moment, but then caught herself and almost laughed at her naivety. "There's no use thinking about it so much. It's just a silly tradition that even people on Earth did. There's no way it actually means something. If it did, there would be more than five choices." With that in mind, Kirian grabbed the first thing that caught her attention.
She picked up the wand.
