Colen snapped his fingers.
Every ice sculpture shattered—not violently, but elegantly—bursting into snow that glittered like diamonds under the candlelight. The flakes danced in the air, caught in lazy spirals, basking in the warm light as if praising their creator for his artistry. The entire library seemed to exhale in awe.
Maxi nodded slowly, eyes wide with wonder. He gave a soft, respectful clap, like one would after watching the greatest film ever made. And in a way, it was—the greatest story he'd ever witnessed, told through the language of ice. His voice was light, admiring, but a tinge of jest still lingered in his words.
"Everything was wonderful and amazing… except for that monster," Maxi said, adjusting his glasses. "But other than that, thank you, my dear brother."
Colen's cold eyes met his, the faintest nod acknowledging the praise. "You're welcome. I can't have my not-official student be as uneducated as his tutor."
Maxi's lips twitched, fighting a smile that threatened to curl. He pushed his glasses up to hide the expression. Colen smirked, barely.
"Right. Passive blessings. I didn't really explain them that much since I just wanted to answer your question and get it out the way quickly because i hate unanswered questions. They bother me too much." He took a breath, snow puffing from his lips. "So, let me explain it properly."
"Passive blessings are abilities granted automatically the moment you're blessed by a god—or gods. They're always active. Usually not built for direct combat, but for subtle enhancements to aspects of the self. Rarely, though, they can be devastating in battle… like mine."
Maxi nodded, already too familiar with Colen's breath—cold enough to freeze thought.
"Yes," Colen said, "that's part of my passive blessing. I don't feel cold. I once lived on the planet of Forever Frost—where temperatures reach absolute zero—for years. It made my immunity to cold… well, absurd. These days, I struggle to feel heat unless it's at least on the Rainbow Sun God level. That's the bare minimum."
Maxi blinked twice. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"
Colen sighed, halfway through rolling his eyes before catching himself. Right—Maxi hadn't grown up in the main castle. Hadn't been exposed to its archives. It wasn't ignorance. It was withheld knowledge.
He sat down with a frosty exhale. Maxi inwardly wept as the temperature dipped with him. Even Angelina, unconscious and halfway across the library, shivered slightly from the cold seeping through the walls.
"You don't know about the ranking of fire, do you?" Colen asked.
"Nope," Maxi admitted.
"Well, I'm not explaining it. Ask Dalles or Mōkō. They're the fire experts in our family."
"Okay. Can I ask something else?"
Colen gestured for him to go on.
Maxi took a deep breath, chilled by the lingering frost. "How are the gods that blessed you?"
Colen's eyes flickered red. For a moment—just a breath—they burned like embers, before returning to their usual deep ice-blue. His expression didn't change, but the room felt heavier.
"Oh? You want to know that? I can tell you."
Maxi's heart nearly stopped. That flicker of red had screamed death sentence. He shut his eyes, half-resigned to becoming a frozen statue in the Library of Truth.
But then—Colen agreed.
Maxi's red eyes shot open. "Really?"
Colen nodded. "The gods who blessed me: the Blood God, the Archangel of Ice, the Demon Emperor of Ice, and the Goddess of Ice."
Maxi's eyes went wide. "Isn't that a little unfair?!"
Colen raised a brow. "Whatever do you mean?"
"You're basically an Ice God yourself. Blood is mostly water—so it's just frozen blood at that point! And how are you blessed by both an angel and a demon?!"
"Ice God is a bit much," Colen said coolly. "Though your reasoning is sound. As for angel and demon—who knows? They each have different goals for me, but apparently, those goals align. In the end, I'll inherit or rule with the Goddess of ice in a 'realm, supposedly."
Maxi stared blankly at the ceiling of the library for a moment, his face caught between frustration and a growing, bitter laugh.
How does everyone sound more like a protagonist except me?
He was reincarnated—with no system. When he was supposed to get his powers, his loving mother delayed his blessing ceremony. Why? Because she thought—no, she knew—he was too weak. That one decision caused him to fall behind. And not just in strength.
He was always being forced into situations he didn't want. Like that damn Tengen incident, which not only angered his gods but spiraled into a massive fight between Tengen and Techxin. And of course, he was the only one who got punished, somehow, being forced to choose Colen as his new magic teacher—just in time for Colen's test, which involved fighting one of his siblings.
Maxi sighed, dragging a hand down his face.
He felt like a side character. A background extra whose only purpose was to die tragically to motivate the real protagonist.
Wait… what if I really was a side character? Reincarnated into some game or book I'd never even heard of?
But that'd be stupid. The whole point of reincarnation stories was that you knew the world—like a gamer or a reader with insider knowledge, changing the story using meta-awareness.
But I don't know anything here. Not the story. Not the world. Nothing.
And for what? He had no great trauma in his past life. No reason to desire a new world. He wasn't broke. He wasn't lazy. He had a wife. Two kids. A dream life for most men.
So why was I sent here? Maxi thought bitterly.
He shook his head to clear the thoughts. No, no. Maybe this isn't some kind of story. Maybe this world is just… real. It's not fiction, it's not fate. Just madness in motion.
Maxi sighed and said
"Well, you're lucky. My gods apparently aren't that great, according to Tengen, but Techxin says they're respectable."
Colen's brow rose. "Who are yours?"
"Didn't your gods tell you already?"
"No. I prefer hearing it straight from the source—unless we're in battle."
"Alright. But can you do something for me after?"
Colen nodded.
"Can you tell me what my passive blessing abilities are? I… don't know them. You don't need to awaken your blessing to access them, right?"
"No. You don't. And yes, I'll tell you. It's fairly easy to guess once I know your gods' names."
Maxi nodded. "The Demon King of Pride, the Demon Queen of Lust, and the God of Secretive Planning."
Colen's eyes lit up. His face stayed cold, but a rare glimmer of interest passed through them.
"Those are very famous gods."
"Yeah. Techxin says that's not necessarily a good thing."
Colen let out a sound—half laugh, half scoff. "indeed he is right. Alright. First: your ability to eat anything without consequences. That's from the Demon King of Pride."
maxi asks perplexed"…Isn't that more of a gluttony thing?"
"Funny story," Colen said, almost smiling. "Demon king of Pride and the demon king of gluttony had a fight a long time ago and the demon king of gluttony.The demon king of gluttony ended up eating and absorbing the demon king of prides power but the demon king of gluttony somehow still lost. In a fit of anger, the demon king of pride, having his pride hurt by the demon king of gluttony. Due to his powers getting eaten, he eats the demon king of gluttony as some kind of payback. Due to that, he got the demon king of gluttonys power mixed with the remnants of his power."
"Wow," Maxi said. "He out-gluttoned Gluttony."
Somewhere distant, yet close, Maxi could feel the Demon King of Pride smile. He smiled, too.
Colen continued. "Second: is that people just naturally like you and are drown to you and if people hate you for something insignificant or small they will forgive you more easily—unless they have serious reasons to hate you. That's from the Demon Queen of Lust."
Maxi nodded. he can't quit grasp her reaction as good as he can with the demon king of pride and the god of Secretive Planning presumably because she doesn't really react that much.
"And lastly," Colen said, "you can think faster and make plans more easily then other people and maybe you can read faster I can't really tell when you use it take 3 or 2 days to finish any main library books…"
Maxi laughed. The God of Secretive Planning laughed along with him, subtle and pleased.
"No, no—I can read faster. I just… like to take my time. These books feel like a luxury."
Colen nodded. "That's fair."
Maxi added, "Also, you said passive blessings get stronger the more we do what they're meant for, right?"
Colen nodded again."Over years, yes."
Maxi thought about it. His reading? Definitely faster now than years ago. His sparring matches with Techxin definitely did make planning for strategies on how to defeat him faster to the point he can start making plans on the spot sometimes. him not eating much my be putting his gluttony powers to waste but then he thinks again about how his taste has seemingly enhanced. He can taste more flavors how things he used to hate now, just taste as normal as the bland leaves that supposedly add flavor to soup
And as for being likeable… well, maybe he should start using that. Interact more. Maybe even meet more of his siblings. Maybe… maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they liked him just a bit more. That could help him grow stronger. Maybe even convince his mother to let him have his Blessing Awakening Ceremony earlier.
Yeah, like that's going to happen, Maxi sighed. His mother was dead set on him turning ten first.
But still. Just two more years.
He turned back to Colen. "Okay. Thank you, Colen. For being willing to teach me."
Colen nodded. "Okay. You can wake your maid now."
Maxi glanced at Angelina—still unconscious.
"Oh. So she passed out, too. Good to know I'm not the only one."
He walked over, tried to pick her up… and failed. His fragile body couldn't lift her.
"Can I get some help?" he asked hopefully.
Colen shook his head.
Maxi sighed. "Alright then…"
He wrapped Angelina's tail around his arms, bracing himself.
"You're really going to drag her all the way back to your little castle?" Colen asked.
"What else can I do?" Maxi said.
"You could call a maid."
"Naaa, gotta be independent."
Colen gave a slight nod, silently watching as Maxi began dragging Angelina through the halls.
Once they were gone, Colen blinked. A distant book on a high shelf caught his attention. He flicked his fingers—and rainbow dust shimmered in the air, glittering like stars.
The lights condensed, forming a translucent, purple hand made of the purple starlight of the rembow stars and illusory shards of memory's from a magic creature or realm.Within it were shifting specks of color—miniature universes glowing like constellations and the rest of the stars from the rembow stars not a single star going to waste each starrt helping to hold the shape of the hand. The hand reached, plucked the book, and brought it to him.
Colen caught it without a sound, opened it gently, and began to read.