NOVEL WEB Chapter 9: Bastard Permission
"Sigh… I want to go outside. I want to see the world," Ty murmured wearily, his gaze fixed on the ceiling above.
Four months in, and training had gone remarkably well. Everything was progressing at its steady rhythm, perhaps not overly fast, but at the least deliberate and promising enough to look forward to.
Ty had continued with his force absorption practice, and his EP had risen impressively.
EP: 2,005 | 10,000
Compared to where he began, this was a massive leap.
Yet, Ty had noticed something strange. His EP didn't only rise when he was actively comprehending Force Fundamentals. Even on the days when he made no effort to meditate or channel energy, it still ticked upward every single day. The precise point by which it adds however is what remains unknown, a variable if you will.
He'd tested it multiple times. There was no mistake.
'So I just exist and grow stronger?' he thought, half in disbelief. It was as though merely breathing in this world allowed his EP to evolve.
This revelation was a blessing. It meant he could allocate more time to other pursuits instead of obsessively focusing on EP accumulation.
With that knowledge, Ty shifted his attention toward more foundational improvements, specifically, refining his walking posture and mastering speech.
He'd finally managed to shape coherent sentences. No longer was he stuck babbling gibberish. His words held structure now. Meaning. But for reasons of his own, he hadn't yet told Greta that he could talk like a proper human.
Not yet.
"Sigh… I really want to go outside," he muttered again, eyes drifting to the sealed doors.
Since birth, he hadn't once stepped beyond the threshold of his room. Nearly a year and a half confined indoors was enough to wear down anyone's patience, especially someone who knew what freedom once felt like.
Now? He burned with desire. He wanted to breathe air that hadn't been filtered through his walls. See faces that weren't Greta's. Catch a glimpse of the sky that he was convinced had forgotten him.
He endured. Quietly. Patiently.
And finally, when he turned four years old, the day came.
Greta celebrated his birthday as usual, bringing in a cake that was noticeably grander than the previous year's. They sang, played games, and cut the cake. It was sweet, for what it was.
But when the celebrations ended, Ty made a request.
He wanted to go outside.
Greta hesitated before answering. "Young master, I can't give you permission for that. I'll have to ask the lord."
Of course. Everything had to pass through him.
After some waiting and plenty of wondering whether he'd be denied again, Greta returned with an answer.
Permission granted.
"To think I needed someone's permission just to step outside my building," he muttered. "What's the difference between a bastard and a prisoner, really?"
As far as he could see, there wasn't much.
But still… he was free now.
"Well, it's water under the bridge," he sighed, a crooked smile on his face. "Freedom, baby."
Greta approached him with a gentle smile. "Come now, young master. Let's go to the library first."
"Right. Lead the way."
He wasn't familiar with the layout of the Arkwell residence, not beyond the four walls he'd been trapped within. The library was his first choice for one simple reason: knowledge was power, and Ty needed all the power he could get.
As a bastard child born into a noble house, he had little to no influence. But if he could understand how this world worked, the laws, the families, the factions, he could navigate it with finesse. Survive. Thrive.
Knowledge was the absolute weapon, and for him to survive he needed to be able to wield the weapon to its full potential.
"Stick close, alright? You might get lost," Greta warned.
"Uhm… okay," he replied, though he doubted it was that big.
She could have said that due to his current age as a four-year-old being that kids are prone to easily get lost in familiar places much less an unfamiliar one.
Still! It's just going from the library and forth. Ty doubted if it was enough for a four-year-old to get lost in it.
Then he stepped outside.
And froze.
Magnificence didn't begin to describe it. The Arkwell residence was more than noble, it was regal. Towering spires that looked like it was touching the clouds, walkways of carved stone gleamed under the sunlight, and the very air seemed cleaner out here.
He gawked.
'Holy hell… my family is rich. Like royalty rich.'
Palace grounds. That's what this was. Not some noble estate. It felt like a king's domain, sculpted from wealth and ambition. It stirred something deep inside him, desire, ambition, maybe even greed.
'If I could succeed the current lord… all this would be mine.'
Ty wasn't naïve. He was no saint and certainly not some uptight moralist preaching about building success from scratch. Or taking the notion, wealth best worked for is wealth best deserved.
That was the words of a fool, the belief of a close-minded man with wretchedness stuck to him like an unending stigma.
No. Or perhaps it was neither of the cases.
Ty felt the only circumstances that could make a man utter such statements are if they haven't witnessed the presence of real wealth, true wealth. The kind that left a full-grown adult man drooling, or the sort of wealth that has a man committing suicide out of jealousy.
The Arkwell? Or at least the buildings in the Arkwell compound connoted those very forms of wealth described.
And Ty, being the sort of person he was, believed that if life handed him a silver crown, he'd take it, polish it, and wear it proudly.
'If it comes my way, I see no reason not to claim it.'
Right now, this was that moment, the silver crown in the making.
And just like that, his goals shifted. He would stand out. Prove himself. Be recognised.
He was going to earn the merits to ascend as a lord.
So that one day, all of this… would be his.