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The Nightborne Estate

Chapter 3

The Inheritance

The small study chosen by Gregory was quite the normal room just as Gregory had stated; the only view of any magic present was just a single moving picture. There were plenty of books, but just looking at the titles, it appeared that many of them were just quite reading material as far as Xaoto could guess from the titles.

Drydon had accompanied them as well as they moved over to a table on the side, Gregory pulling out his suitcase and opening it up, revealing a small number of files, as well half a dozen tablets which he pulled out and spread over the table as he started them up. From there, Xaoto's day was mostly filled with talk of what all Gregory knew that he now owned on the human side of the world. Despite humans being limited to just the single super continent on the planet and some surrounding islands, located in the western hemisphere, they had colonized the continent quite well, and the Nightborne master appeared to have a hand in everything. From shipping to medicine, agriculture to infrastructure, the Nightborne somehow made money out of it as he watched over, even if he did farm them from time to time.

As Drydon explained, the Nightborne Master bartered many things to keep the two major super continents, and their inhabitants separated to his liking. Through the use of vast business ventures and trades, the Nightborne Master easily controlled the expansion of the human's off shore exploration and development. Magical forces, often in the form of storms and other vicious weather phenomenons played a central part in both the hunting of humans who traveled to far, as well as keeping them to their land.

Gregory was quick to point out that the Nightborne must have been playing both sides of that as well, recalling several instances where he had to fill certain orders for vessels planning to explore the great oceans, often loaded with scientific equipment. This point quickly revealed that the Nightborne Master had vast influence among many leading research companies as well, as two of the tablets Gregory had pulled out were filled with just lists of various transactions that he had worked on shipping out for many of the companies. This quickly lead to Gregory recalling several letters that had been handed to him, many groups having sent letters to request a meeting with Xaoto now to discuss the future of their so called partnerships.

A pattern was quick to form, with each new major company name that showed up, another letter was added to the pile requesting a meeting. The pile grew soon enough, Reshara filling the letters into some sort of groups that Xaoto was too busy to try and learn as he just continued to listen to Gregory and Drydon. In the end, the only thing that it turned out that the Nightborne did not have an active interest in was the newest craze of gene-splicing, which both Drydon and Gregory had thought was most unusual as his magic continued to make deals in the Nightborne's name long after he had been killed, even producing a new contract for a new kind of aircraft a few weeks ago.

-xXx-

Dinnertime came soon enough as Xaoto tried to wrap his head around things in the mansion. As distracted with Gregory as he was alongside his other thoughts though and all that was going around him, he had forgotten his initial thoughts on dinner when Luna had come in to alert him that it was ready and guided him down to a smaller dining chamber.

Xaoto smiled a bit, the smell of good food in the air overpowered everything else, especially the smell of fear for once, something that he was most generous for... at first.

In a very short and quick manner, Reshara had dragged him out of the room and into the small courtyard next to the smaller dining chamber. She just barely had time to help him out of the room before Xaoto quickly let what little was in his stomach out over the edge of the railing. It took him a few before at last, he had slowly regained himself, standing mostly on his own, but still holding hard onto the railing as he thought about what the so called head chef had tried to serve him.

The appetizers were the first thing to start upset his stomach, a pair of fairies. Xaoto had been assured that they weren't human, they only looked like such since their wings had been removed and their flesh had been cooked so he couldn't see their naturally green skin and insect like eyes. From there, things got worse, as Malmort introduced other such dishes such as a centaur, a pair of harpies, and finally a mermaid all on the menu.

Xaoto couldn't help but be disturbed by the meal, so many of the dishes looked human, and worse, Malmort seemed to have a very specific taste for cooking up female creatures and putting them into very indecent poses as he finished with them. Xaoto nearly lost his lunch from that bit alone, but what really set him over the edge however was how Malmort had gone into such great detail on how he cooked the mermaid's human like torso, after turning her tail in a ready to serve sushi platter. Malmort was so eager and enthusiastic as he went into detail about how beautifully she begged for her life, the wonderful music her screams made and how he so very much wished he had the magic to record them and listen to them again and again.

It was at that point that Reshara seemed to know exactly what he needed and helped him, mostly dragging him out of the room to where he was now. "Reshara... please tell me that ...that was not the normal meal... that my grandfather enjoyed... on a daily basis." Xaoto looked to Reshara still panting some as he held his stomach.

Reshara only turned away some, a dark look on her face. "He did not eat on a daily basis as you humans do, but those were common meals for him none the less. This large style of feasting was normally reserved for his frequent gatherings and negotiations as shows of his power." Reshara told him quietly, only to hear Xaoto nearly puke once more.

Xaoto merely remained there on the railing for a few more, before he heard a voice calling back out to him. "Master? Is something wrong with your dinner?" Malmort called out walking balcony, but Xaoto was extremely quick to respond.

"Go, get out, just leave." Xaoto stated not even looking at him.

Malmort merely stood there confused. "Is there something wrong with the meal?"

"Take it all out, and get rid of it." Xaoto stated. "I'm not eating that shit."

"Shit? You dare compare my food to such filth? You have not even tried any of the courses." Malmort countered, quickly growing angry. "I saw you're mouth water when you entered the room, do not lie to me that you do not desire a proper meal. I spent hours in that kitchen working so hard and diligently, studying the cook books of your human kind, cooking everything to the perfection of human standards." He cried out. "All of the courses I have presented before you were made with passion. I took my time with each of the ingredients, making sure they remained alive as long as possible, ensuring that they were properly cooked and cared for."

Xaoto eyes shot open at Malmort's words now, quickly turning to face him and cutting him off before he could continue. "You kept them alive as you cooked them?"

"Of course. All of my ingredients are served as fresh as possible, I make sure that all of them suffer the greatest pain I can give them, ensuring the best taste of their flesh for the master to enjoy." Malmort smirked rather proudly, raising his head a bit.

Xaoto remained silent for just before obviously trying to keep his head before he lashed out. "You're nothing more then an insane psychotic piece of shit yourself." He screamed out. "I can understand that not being a human, you obviously have different tastes, but this... this isn't cooking. This is just murder. No, not just murder. You intentionally make everything you try to cook suffers and screams."

Xaoto's words were meant to show his anger, but to Malmort, it was nothing but praise. Having worked for Nightborne for so long, Xaoto's cries of rage were welcomed, raising his head higher with pride.

Malmort's high and mighty feeling was quickly lost though when Xaoto almost lost his temper and nearly made a move to deck the dread elf where he stood. Reshara took several steps back hoping to avoid his rage now as Xaoto just barely stopped himself. "Get out of it, and take all that crap with you." Xaoto screamed, very much a command as Malmort found his spellbound collar appearing around his neck.

The flesh around his neck turned a charred shade of black as the collar returned to its proper place, choking him a bit, quickly forcing him to comply to the new master's wishes as Xaoto quickly turned and started walking down the balcony, doing his best to contain himself.

Reshara took a few to catch her breath, before slowly starting to follow him, but keeping her distance.

-xXx-

As Xaoto walked down the halls, just taking random turns obviously letting his feet guide him in whatever direction they so chose, it was obvious to all who could see him that he was clearly angry, frustrated, and still hungry despite the last meal he had been presented with.

A pair of invisible eyes watched for a while, making sure to keep their distance as their owner finally remained silent and breathless, leaving no trace of themselves open. When Xaoto finally neared the unseen figure, it finally spoke.

"You are definitely different from the previous master." The voice stated in a smooth and quiet tone. Had Xaoto not been recently made aware of magic, he would have sworn that the voice was nothing more then the wind playing tricks on him.

His nose quickly picked up on a scent and turned to search for it. "Who's there?" Xaoto growled, not caring for any games right now.

"Unfortunately, a servant." The voice sighed as it dropped its spell, revealing the figure, a heavily tanned lean man with dark green hair and yellow eyes, dressed in some kind of medieval like suit. "You are the mansion's new master, there is no doubt there, but its clear that you have a long way to go." The figure stated. "But, you definitely have the potential to be greater then the previous master."

"You mean that asshole that I'm related to?" Xaoto asked leaning up against the wall.

"Well, that's already one thing we can agree upon." The figure chuckled. He then looked on as Xaoto's stomach growled once more, needing something to eat.

"I take it that you did not enjoy Malmort's choices for dinner?" The figure asked.

Xaoto bared his teeth some as he took a few more breaths to keep himself calm. "That thing is no chef, just a mad man."

The figure chuckled once more, before moving down the hall some. "Alright, let's get you some decent food in ya then." He stated leading Xaoto through the halls. "I'll explain to you what I know as we go, fair enough?"

Xaoto nodded as he followed along. "You can start with name." Xaoto stated as he just followed him.

"You can call me Xent. I've been watching you ever since you entered the mansion, or at least as much as the Master's spells allow me to." He sighed. "And I've decided that I want to help you as best I can, seeing as you have the chance to be a morally decent person." Xent stated. "As the gryphon has told you, he was basically the man behind curtain keeping the world in balance so to speak, but that doesn't mean he wasn't hated by pretty much everyone. While his goals and ideas were 'noble', the methods and means he used to make it happen weren't. As of right now, I've been under his enslavement for over eleven-hundred years, and I've been forced to do things I would never do otherwise." He grumbled.

As Xaoto listened, he merely looked around, getting just another version of the usual talk concerning his grandfather. When Xent mentioned the length of his servitude however, Xaoto quickly looked to him. "Wait, you've been serving him for over a thousand years? You've got to be kidding..."

"I wish I was." Xent just grumbled once more. "Giving an extended life to mortal beings was no trouble for him, so long as they stayed under his service, whether by choice or by enslavement. I was caught in a trap that I never saw coming and now I'm paying the price for it. Many of the creatures and people you'll see are in the same boat as I, some willingly, others not so much. He had me do stealth missions, whether it was gathering information, stealing, or framing. I usually did the extremely hard missions, but he left the others to the shadow runners. He has so many servants, it makes it easy to leave us out of the loop, should they somehow turn against him or get captured." Xent continued to explain as he led him down yet another hall, finally coming to a large wooden door and pushing it open.

A warmth quickly filled the hallway as the smells of seasoned meat rushed to greet Xaoto. As delightful and tasty as the smells were however, Xaoto only had a few choice words. "I swear, if there's a centaur, or mermaid, or anything else that that elf tried to serve me in there..."

Xent just smirked and walked in further, Xaoto slowly following after him. "The staff chef is called Juro, and he's a rather nice fellow. He will always take criticism in his cooking, so long as it's not over the top." Xent continued as he moved into the room, the place set up similar to a bar.

As they walked in, Xaoto heard a small gasp, turning to face another maid, not an elf, and thankfully more properly dressed this time. "Is...is this..." The maid asked, very worried, doubly so when Xent nodded.

"Yes, this is the new master, Xaoto, as he chooses to be named." Xent stated.

She was a bit slow to come to, but she was quickly at the table that Xent had led Xaoto to and quickly bowed down.

"So, far, he seems to be much then the previous master, so no need to be so stiff." Xent continued chuckling a bit once more.

"M-m-mas-sster Xa-xa-aoto." The maid stuttered as she kept her gaze down, trying not to look right at him.

"No need to call me master either." Xaoto added as he looked her over, thankful that the smell of good food continued to overpower the maid's fear.

"O-oh, alright. Wh-what d-do you n-need?" She asked.

"Go get Juro. I don't think Malmort's cooking was to Xaoto's liking. I think he could use something not so ... unique." Xent stated as the maid nodded and quickly went into the next room through a set of large swinging doors. "Juro is a pretty damn good cook, I've seen what he does in his kitchen and I have to say, it is quite a show just to watch."

It didn't take long for the doors to swing open once more, an orange skinned humanoid running through in simple clothing, the strangely colored elf running up and panting as he tried to catch his breath in front of them.

"P-pleas-sure to... to meet you, M-master Xaoto. Sorry... about my state... cleaning up after dinner is not... that easy." Juro stated finally standing up.

Xaoto looked him over for just a few seconds before his hunger won over his curiosity about the elf in front of him. "It's fine, just call me Xaoto, none of this master crap. If its not too much trouble though, Xent says you're a good cook. I don't suppose you could make up something like a cheeseburger with french fries?" Xaoto asked.

Juro just tilted his head, blinking a bit in his own confusion. "Umm, forgive me for asking... but what are those?" Juro asked biting his lip, obviously worried some, hoping that he wasn't going to get beaten.

Xaoto just blinked, then remember where he was. With that thought in his head, he guessed that it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise given how so much of the place looked to be a combination of the medieval and early iron ages. He then gave Juro a quick explanation of what he wanted, as Juro quickly pulled out a small scroll, which seemed to fill itself in on the recipe that Xaoto just gave him.

"Hmmm, that... that sounds like a most interesting dish... I shall give it my best shot." Juro smiled, before running back through the double doors again.

As they waited, Xent pulled out a small case, opening it and pulling up what Xaoto could only assume was their version of a cigar. He then snapped his fingers while he holding the cigar over the top of the case, and it lit up in a quick burst of fire as he took a few puffs.

"Alright, while we wait, I have something to ask. Do you want the clean and pretty version of the position you're in? Or the ugly truthful version?" Xent asked.

Xaoto growled a bit, yet more things that needed explained as he looked to Xent. "The ugly version if you don't mind." Xaoto responded. He needed as much information about what he had gotten dragged into as he could get. Gregory had explained a lot of things to him, but all of the stuff that he could explain was more on the side of humans and what kinds of resources that the Nightborne had gathered from them.

Xent grinned, flashing his pointed teeth to him. "I'm liking ya more already. Alright then." Xent leaned back some. "In short, everything you see and have, is on the line. Your very soul as well. The old master made deals, bargains, and contracts that had shifted the balance of power in this world. With you here, many will seek to take advantage of you, hell even try to take the mansion. While taking the mansion is impossible, others could take control of you as you are now."

Xaoto listened carefully, as he came to realize the costs of all of this power and wealth. "Even my soul?" He grumbled some. "Seriously?"

"Especially your soul. The old master used fear and spells to get his servants to obey him. And he wasn't the first to soul bind others, he adapted the art from a different group, even if he nearly perfected it. You however, you're a clean start. We can teach you all we know, and if you're able to use what we teach you, then your chances for survival will be that much greater." Xent explained. "Others in the mansion hate you already, that I have no doubt of, but if you're able to show them your different, they will come to respect you. Their spell of enslavement can probably never be broken, but having their loyalty is better then having their fear." He stated, taking a sip of his drink.

Xaoto nods once more, biting his lip some before sighing a bit. "I'll do what I can about that."

Xent looked him over for a long moment, studying him before nodding. "You're wary and nervous, it's understandable. Hopefully you can rid yourself of that, in time of course. For now, I'll just give you the basics of what I believe you should be able to understand at this point regarding what all you have inherited in the magical community."

Xaoto merely nodded as he let Xent explain things to him. He had a general idea at last of what all he had access in his world for now, but he knew that hardly began to cover things. "Obviously, you have inherited this mansion. From what I do know of the place, there are over 400 rooms. I can count up to 391 rooms from personal experience, with well over a hundred square miles of floor space just in the estate. That does of course include all seven levels of the estate alongside the tower and both major vaults. In total however, there are fifteen vaults across the estate grounds. Fourteen of them I have been in or know others who have been, the last one being the Nightborne's personal vault where he kept all of his most important possessions. The Nightborne would have denied all claims to this vault, but somehow I doubt he kept his most personal and private possessions alongside everything else. I believe the elven maids created by his hand may be the key to entering that vault, but as for where that vault is, I cannot say. These vaults fill and empty themselves regularly as well, magic ensuring that all expenses are paid and new funds are deposited." Xent started with the basics going slow enough for Xaoto to make comments as he so chose.

"Additionally, the other major points of the estate include his tower, a library of vast arcane knowledge and hundreds of thousands of books among other things. The door to the tower rests on the back end of your main portrait, the tapestry acting as a portal to take you there. Of course, there are other ways to get there as well, although I have not found them. The mansion also plays host to a number of various guest chambers, designed to deal with and make negotiations with the various races. The rest of the estate is mostly fairly common however, well... common for those of us familiar with magic, just tailored to the Nightborne's tastes." Xent continued as he started to go into the smaller details now, including the staff wing, the stables and forest, as then coming around to finish with a general description of the rest of the mansion.

Before they could continue though, the double doors swung open once more as Juro walked in with a cart. Juro had done his best with the new dish as he wheeled it over to them, the burger looking somehow of a medieval nature and with a slightly heavy amount of vegetables, not that Xaoto minded. The fries however, looked a bit more akin to home fries, rather then french fries. Either way, it smelled delicious as Juro placed it before him.

"I am terribly sorry for the w-wait... I did not have many of the spices that you requested on hand and had to track them down. F-forgive me if it isn't to your liking, this is my first time cooking up this dish." Juro stated with a very nervous gulp recalling the last time he had failed the master with a dish.

"There's no mermaid or centaur or anything else in it, just beef right?" He asked, to which Juro quickly nodded. Xaoto just gave one quick look at him before trying it however.

Xaoto took the 'burger' in his hands and took a large bite, his eyes going wide as he slowly chewed the meat and gulped it down. "Now this... this is a burger." Xaoto quickly smiled before going after the rest of the burger, chowing down like an animal, his hunger getting the better of him.

Xent just grinned and looked to Juro. "Looks like we have a winner, mind just grabbing some cake?" He asked. Juro nodded before once again running back to the kitchen with a big smile on his face.

Xaoto was quick to finish the meal, just in time for Juro to walk back in, with another cart this time. This cart was filled with various slices of cake however as Xent looked over the selection, finding his favorite as Juro looked to Xaoto for his piece. Xaoto just shook his head though. "No thanks, I don't really have a sugar tooth, and besides, the burger kinda filled me up for now."

Juro grinned some glad to hear more praise as he wheeled the cart back away.

"So, now that I've gotten something to eat, why not answer me a few more questions. Hell, a quick tour might be nice as well." Xaoto stated. "While your quick guide to the place told me a bit, I hardly thinks that begins to actually cover the place."

Xent nodded as he got up after finishing his treat. "So, what other questions do you have in mind?"

"Let's just go back to simple right now while I try to wrap my head around the big stuff." Xaoto stated as he started walking down the hall looking around, only to take note of a few things. "Wait..." He looked back down towards the small tavern like area they were just in, then back down the hall. "This wasn't..."

"No, it wasn't the same hallway we took to get here even though we did enter from that doorway." Xent finished the comment for him after Xaoto paused. "This mansion is built entirely on magic. There are numerous short cuts to allow easy access, as well as restrict many of your servants from certain rooms."

Xaoto shook his head lightly. "So, this place... it just... moves around or something?"

Xent paused for a few, obvious thinking about the answer. "Think of the mansion like a giant puzzle. Some pieces, or rooms and doorways, have sides that are interchangeable. The mansion itself doesn't move exactly, it just moves others around in it."

Xaoto merely sighed as he dropped his head a bit. "Does this happen on its own, or did you make it happen this time? I really don't want to get lost."

"I have no control over such things, and neither do any of the servants. When we are needed, the mansion merely makes sure we end up where we need to. As I told you before, you are the only one who can control the mansion. I was going to lead you through the estate to this room. It would appear that in your state of hunger as you followed me, you merely cut out unneeded passages at the time." Xent explained as he started to walk down the hall, motioning for Xaoto to follow as they quickly came up to a massive indoor garden. "The mansion is certainly not alive, but it does know things. You will never get lost in the sense that you cannot find your way, even if you don't know where you are. I'm not entirely sure if the Nightborne knew every room in the estate, all he seemed to care about was whether he was in the room he wanted to be in or not. It should work the same way for you as well."

"Well, that is certainly a relief." Xaoto looked around as they walked down the passage beside the garden, seeing the occasional flicker of eyes, and shift of leaves in the garden as they walked along, knowing that he was being watched once more, but nothing dared approach him. "Well, I know next to nothing to about magic, just some mismatched things from some fantasy novels I've read. What kind of creatures inhabit the estate?" Xaoto turned to Xent as he asked the question, after seeing a large shadow in the back of the garden that he couldn't make out, but saw that it did move rather fast, despite appearing to be nearly the size of a car.

"The Nightborne Master kept just about everything here in some form or another. Everything from fay to centaurs, chances are that if it was on this plane, he had some form of it as a servant at some point."

Xaoto just looked at him. "Okay, what is with that phrase. Fay to centaurs, I keep hearing that phrase. What does that even mean, it hardly even tells me what to expect."

Xent just turned to look at him slightly confused. "You do not use the phrase, even in these... fantasy novels you spoke of?"

"No, we don't." Xaoto repeated. "Would you mind giving me a better description of what all to expect here."

Xent stopped and thought about it for a few. "Well, as I said, we have everything from fay to centaurs. The master made sure to keep several various fairies and sprites, even some pixies around, as well as enlisting several of the different elven descendants, and many kinds of beastmen. There are not that many of the were-clans present, but they have their place, and of course he was quite found of binding elementals all over the estate. And I can't forget to mention the numerous rock dwellers, demi-humans, scaled and winged beasts, and finally, the planar creatures as the Nightborne seemed to label them."

"Planar creatures. Drydon gave me a quick explanation of them, creatures that aren't from earth." Xaoto said slowly, trying to recall the exact words that Drydon used.

"Not from this plane is the more correct phrase. Demons, angels, most elementals and even some undead fall under the category of planar creatures to my understanding, or outsiders as some call them." Xent stated.

Before Xaoto could give any other comments or ask another however, Reshara came from around the corner, in a bit of a hurry, obviously out of breath as she ran up him panting a bit. "M-master..." She panted a bit, before quickly holding up a rolled up piece of parchment. "Master, the first scrolls have started to arrive. A few are requesting the date of the ball to announce your arrival, but one clan has already prepared an envoy to come here." Reshara explained as she hastily stood up and presented Xaoto the scroll.

"Oh come on..." Xaoto growled. "I haven't even been here two days and people already expect me to know everything. I don't even know the hell is going on in this mansion yet, much less know a damn thing about their society."

"Well, they certainly wasted no time." Xent sighed. "So much for the decency of allowing you to get settled in before sending someone to inspect you. So, who is it then? The pig skins, maybe those walking pile o'bones, or was it that group of wanna be neck biters?"

Xaoto opened the scrolled as Reshara turned to face Xent now. "The Kyubi Elder Clans." She responded. "Their queen has made arrangements for one of her younger daughters to arrive along with a full escort. Sey Leo Maya is coming to make first contact with the new Nightborne and already asking to open negotiations."

"Sey Leo Maya?" Xent repeated. "The last I was aware of, it was merely Sey Maya."

"The scroll strictly named her as Sey Leo Maya." Reshara stated as Xaoto merely handed the scroll back to her.

"Would you mind reading this?" Xaoto asked. "I don't what its written in, but its definitely not one of the common tongues."

Reshara took the scroll and merely tapped it twice before opening it again and handing it back to him, Xaoto giving her a questioning look until he saw that the scroll had changed, now written in an entirely different pen, and easily readable.

Taking it, he looked it over, deciding to read it out loud to hear Xent's comments on it when he was done.

"Greetings to the new Heir, Xaoto to the Nightborne Master, Born of Blood and Bound by Soul, Grandchild to the Darkness, Heir to the Estates and Contracts of Old, Wielder of the ..." Xaoto quickly went quiet looking over introduction. "Okay, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... nine..." Xaoto quietly whispered the counting to himself before looking back up. "Seriously, do that have to address me by nine different titles, before finally writing my full name in what appears to be solid gold ink."

"Well, at least they are showing some respect." Xent shrugged.

Xaoto just sighed before looking over the scroll once more. "We of the Kyubi Elder Clan, Goddesses of the Foxes, and champions of the many tailed magicks, due hereby extend our tails..." Xaoto shrugged himself before continued. "To honor your rise and claims to power. I, Goddess Lalu of the Elder Fires, have sent my beloved daughter of seven tails, Sey Leo Mara, holder of my Sacred Amulet, to greet you to the new world about you, and welcome you with open arms to the ways of magicks. Please, accept our many gifts that we have sent with Sey Leo Maya, may she be of use to you in many ways as you see fit in your ascension to power. We are blessed that you have taken the form you have, and accept the great honor you have presented us with. May my child be of great use to you in many ways and forms through your rise to power. We have chosen to send one of our own so soon in the hopes of earning your good favor by bringing many gifts and other valuable items to your estate. We are eager to make friends with you and wish to help you in any way as we can.

With great wishes, and many blessings

Goddess Lalu of the Elder Fires."

As he read through the letter, skipping over many of the extra titles and what he couldn't even begin to make sense, he couldn't help but go from annoyed from the overly formal greeting, his tail flicking some behind now just like his ears at his annoyance from the letter. Before looking up at Xent, the last thing he notices a paw print near the name also that it looks like it was made of also made of gold, not just some ink like his name on the letter. With that letter read though, Xaoto looked up to Xent and Reshara to see their comment on the letter, while desperately hoping that this so called goddess of the Kyubi, whatever they just so happened to be, did not send one of her daughters to be his slave like Reshara and the others.

Seeing that Xaoto was going to remain silent, Xent spoke up first. "One thing we are going to have to practice Xaoto, is learning to keep those ears of yours from moving. Your tail can be hidden easily enough, but its not the same with your ears. It's rather easy to read you so to speak. If you are going to be dealing with this society with as much power as they expect from you, you need to at least appear emotionless." Xent told him.

As if just to prove his point, Xaoto's ear once again twitched in annoyance at the comment. "Okay smart ass... just tell me what the hell this letter means by 'May my child be of great use to you in many ways and forms through your rise to power.'" Xaoto growled using his finger to underline the text as he read it. "And for that matter, just what the hell is a 'Kyubi' anyway?"

Xent was quick to answer him. "A Kyubi is a mythical fox." He explained. "I do know not much of their ways, but I can tell you that they are all female, although they do have some kind of male counterpart, though I've only heard rumors of it. Most of the time, they prefer to take the body of a human female, with their tails out in the open, and their ears exposed as well. Many of them like to keep their fangs out to some degree, and they have varying degrees of fur over their body. As for what they are, they are creatures of great power, power measured by the number of tails they have. Most only ever earn their sixth or seventh tails. Those few that do earn their eighth are said to be extremely powerful. The only four I know of who have earned their final ninth tail, are the Elder Goddesses of Fire, Ice, Wind, and Earth. In truth, goddess isn't that far of a stretch for the power they hold. Of course, our definition of a god and what most humans consider a god is something of a debate. In any event, as their power grows, so does their beauty, and seduction is one of their arts in negotiation at times."

"Well, that explains the part about how and why they feel 'greatly honored' with the form I have chosen..." Xaoto growled ignoring the last part of Xent's explanation. "Now, what about this little detail right here." He once again pointed to the line he had done so once before, about how the goddess's daughter would be of great use to him.

"If I had to guess, it's their political gift to you, giving you one of their clans for your personal use." Xent stated. "I can't say much more then that until I witness the exchange."

Xaoto growled once more, this was definitely not looking good at all. He already had enough slaves to deal with, he didn't want any of them in the first place. "I'm not going to accept one of them as a gift, I don't need another slave in this place."

"I would highly recommend against taking that action and rejecting the gifts before you even know what they are. I assume that much of what you are to be given are mere magical trinkets, but if Sey Leo Maya is in fact part of the gifts themselves, then denying them could be seen as an act of war in the long run. At the very least, it would insulting to the clans, and be treated as a sign that you have no interest at all in dealing with them." Xent explained taking the letter and returning it to its original written dialect to see if it made a difference in written form. "In the same way that you have no understanding of our world, everyone else has no understanding of you and human customs. Slavery and the act of giving one's children as gifts are common among our world. They will treat you as though you mean to pick up exactly where the Nightborne Master left off, following the same customs of their cultures they had applied when dealing with him."

Xaoto once again shook his head a bit. "Is there anyway I can at least at 'respectfully' turn down anything living they might send me?" Xaoto asked rather agitated as he took a spot leaning up against the wall.

"Hmmm, well there's something I thought I would never say." Xent stated. "I would actually consider taking a few notes from the Nightborne Master in this regard." Xent didn't even have to turn to feel Xaoto giving him quite the death glare, his own magical seals burning up a bit to show his anger at the comment. "Before you try to kill me, you could at least allow me to explain myself." He stated rather calmly, having actually expected Xaoto to possibly assault him outright when he made the comment. "The Nightborne Master hardly used many of the things sent his way. Most of the living gifts sent his way were merely dismissed to the magic of the mansion, allowing the spells he put into the place to judge and grade them, finding them a proper role to fulfill while they were here."

Xaoto looked him over for a few, Xent still keeping his back turned for a few, Reshara having once again taken a few steps away from him before he sighed. "Its better then nothing until I can make the point I don't want anymore slaves." He may have had a short temper at times, but he still did his best to let logic run his life in the safest manner. He already had enough things to worry about, and starting a war was probably not the best course of action as much as he hated what he had to do to avoid it.

"I may suggest that you return to your room for the evening." Xent stated. "I shall talk with Drydon about how to best approach this visitor, he knows much more of the clans customs then I do. I will also look into starting to help set up this ball people expect from you. The Nightborne Master would hold a very special event every five years, shortly after the mid-point of the year, on the day he declared himself as the Nightborne in the first place. It would make a fitting ceremony to announce yourself officially as his successor. It is certainly not my area of expertise, but I've gained a certain amount of respect among the inhabitants here. I'm sure that some of us can make this event happen in a proper manner."

Xaoto sighed as he looked back at him. "So, in short, I have about one month to learn everything I need to know."

"You don't need to learn everything, just enough to show you are knowledgeable of the world around you now." Xent countered. "I would suggest that you start spending the next several days with Drydon, learning the customs set in place by the Nightborne Master. If nothing else, you can bluff you're way through most little things and people shouldn't bother with major events that have no direct relation to you if you at least make it look like you intend to continue some of his work, namely keeping this balance in place." He continued as he finally handed Reshara back the scroll.

Xaoto once again started to rub his head as he tried to wrap his mind around things.

"At the very least, you should be thankful that things here move much more slowly then what I'm told is the standard for most humans. Most groups are very slow to form alliances, and slower still to make enemies. With nearly all of the clans living in excess of a few hundred years, they are no where near as fast paced as I've heard and seen humans to be. Just being here in the mansion, I'm rather confident that your own life span has been extended as well. You'll come to learn everything you need to in time." Xent added as he waited for Xaoto's response.

Xaoto merely looked up at Xent once more concerning the comment of his own life span, but Xent seemed to be debating himself, too busy to notice. "I shall send assist Drydon in the morning searching for the proper tools to assist you in learning the ways of many of the common races that you shall learn to deal with while here. I've observed that most humans learn best through reading, and the Nightborne's library has books on every topic. Reshara, would you mind seeing that the master makes it back to his room for the evening, and have Luna prepare some more tea."

Xent couldn't argue that he was a bit stressed, as well as tired, it had been a long day hands down, and he could certainly use something to take his mind off things. "Okay, before I go and try to find someway to relax, tell me this. Is all of the food grown here on the estate? Or is any of it ordered? I'd rather know this know and think about making some arrangements for things I'll eat and not go through another dinner incident like with that psychotic thing my grandfather had cook for him."

Xent smirked a bit, at least what appeared his first official plans seemed to be simple. "Most of the food is grown on the estate, although some of it was hunted and a few items were... specialty orders."

Xaoto thought about for a few before sighing some. "Okay, you seems to really have your finger on the pulse of things around here. In addition to finding those books with Drydon, I would like to ask you to do one other thing if you can find time for it. Find a pair of people on the estate who look the most human and know at least something of human culture, that they can function without my having to explain everything for them. At some point I'm going to need to make a few stops to pick up things so that I'll know I always have something to eat without having to ask what's in the meal all the time."

Xent gave a small laugh as he nodded. "I can do that. And don't worry too much about your meals. Juro doesn't like cooking in the same ways as Malmort. He's been forced to cook certain dishes before, but he always makes sure that its quick for them, it's the least he can do for them knowing how badly most of them are treated in the long run."

"I'm sure he can, but if I'm going to be living here, then I'd rather have some things that are familiar to me and not have to wonder about my new surprise my next meal or activity will be all the time. And besides, if everyone here is going to be living with a human as the one in charge, then they might as well get to know about human culture in general. It sounds like I've got plenty of human people wanting to see me and I'm sure not all of them are as accustomed to this as Gregory seems to be." Xaoto added as he looked to Reshara. "Let's go back to my room them. Would you please lead the way." He sighed a bit still trying to take him mind off things.

Reshara nodded lightly as she led the way back for Xaoto, Luna having already prepared a nighttime tea for him as Xaoto choose to take the last bit of the evening to practice his martial arts before finally going to bed.