Boundless Family Upgrades For The Deadbeat Lord

Night had completely fallen over the Althoff Barony. The freezing northern winds howled fiercely against the thick stone walls of the castle, but inside Raymond’s newly assigned bedroom, the hearth burned brightly, casting warm orange shadows across the room.

Outside the heavy oak door, the three towering Silver Rank knights stood at absolute attention, ensuring no one could disturb their lord.

Raymond stepped out of the adjoining bathroom, steam rising from his skin. He was now dressed in a pair of clean, comfortable black silk pajamas.

His physical body still felt somewhat heavy and sluggish due to the lingering effects of the alcohol and the foreign poison, but his mind was sharp and completely focused. Tonight was the night he would finally use his premier system rewards.He walked over to the center of the spacious room, bypassed the large bed, and sat down cross-legged directly on the hard stone floor.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, he closed his eyes and accessed the system inventory with a silent command.

”Extract the Divine Grade Mana Heart,” Raymond muttered.

Instantly, a soft chime rang inside his head, and a brilliant, pristine light materialized right before his chest. The light slowly coalesced into a physical object, floating gently in the empty air between his hands.

Raymond opened his eyes and stared at the artifact, completely captivated by its appearance.

The Divine Grade Mana Heart didn’t look like a gory, fleshy biological organ at all. Instead, it resembled a flawlessly polished, translucent crystal artifact carved into the perfect shape of a human heart.

It was about the size of a fist, completely clear like pure diamond, but deep within its core, a swirling vortex of deep celestial blue energy pulsed with a rhythmic, steady heartbeat.

With every single pulse, a tiny ripple of pure, high-density mana expanded outward into the room, making the ambient air hum with mystical pressure. It was beautiful, sterile, and radiating an ancient, absolute authority.

”Initiate integration,” Raymond commanded.

The floating crystal heart immediately drifted closer to his chest. The moment the outer edge of the diamond-like crystal touched his silk pajamas, it didn’t pierce his flesh; instead, it dissolved into a liquid stream of pure, burning blue light that surged directly into his chest cavity, heading straight for his biological heart.

Raymond’s eyes snapped wide open as a sudden, intense wave of heat exploded from the center of his chest, rapidly spreading through every single artery, vein, and capillary in his body.

A spectacular phenomenon instantly erupted within the bedroom. The ambient mana in the air, which was usually thin and stagnant in this barren wasteland, suddenly grew dense and violent.

A localized vortex of wind kicked up inside the room, rattling the window shutters as high-density mana from the surroundings was forcibly dragged toward Raymond like metal filings to a massive magnet.

A glowing blue magic circle manifested on the floor beneath his crossed legs, illuminating the dark stone walls with complex, shifting geometric runes.

Inside his body, the changes were even more drastic. The Divine Grade Mana Heart settled into his chest, its celestial blue energy instantly clashing with the dark, stagnant impurities that had accumulated over twenty years of degenerate living.

Most importantly, it targeted the Void Water Poison, the stealthy, toxic substance that had been systematically shutting down his organs.Raymond gritted his teeth, letting out a low grunt as a burning sensation tore through his pathways.

The pure, divine mana acted like an absolute cleansing flood, aggressively scouring his internal walls. From the pores of his skin, a thick, sticky, black slimy liquid slowly began to ooze out, accompanied by a sharp, metallic tang.

This was the chemical structure of the Void Water poison along with years of cellular waste being forcibly expelled from his bone marrow and musculature. As the toxins left his body, the crushing fatigue and heaviness that had plagued him since he transmigrated began to lift, replaced by a strange, hollow lightness.

Just as the internal cleansing reached its peak, a series of glowing blue system notifications popped up in a neat waterfall directly in front of his eyes, freezing the chaotic mana around him.

[ Ding! The Divine Grade Mana Heart has been successfully integrated. Your internal pathways have been thoroughly purged of the ’Void Water Poison’ and all biological impurities. ]

[ Ding! System Warning: The Host has reached the evolutionary threshold for a supernatural pathway. Based on your current system framework and the high-density mana available, you must now select your foundational core class. ]

[ The System offers two distinct evolutionary paths for the Host. Please choose wisely: ]

[ Path 1: The Mage ]

[ Path 2: The Knight ]

Raymond, still sitting cross-legged and covered in a faint layer of black sweat, looked at the two options. ”System, explain the explicit operational differences and the growth requirements for both paths.”

The mechanical voice responded instantly, splitting the screen into two detailed data text blocks.

[ Ding! Path 1: The Mage. Mages utilize the internal mana pool to construct complex external spell structures. Growth requires the intensive study of elemental runes, manual spell configuration, geometric calculations, and the constant mental research of magic circles. Cultivation is heavily dependent on academic intelligence, manual spell comprehension, and time-consuming meditation to expand the mental sea. ]

[ Ding! Path 2: The Knight. Knights utilize mana to directly augment, temper, and reinforce their physical musculature and bone structure. Growth focuses on the mastery of physical combat, weapon resonance, close-quarters tactical movement, and raw kinetic output. Mana is absorbed directly into the flesh to break through physical limitations, turning the body itself into an indestructible weapon. ]

Raymond stared at the screens, deeply weighing the pros and cons of both options. As a veteran webnovel reader, his immediate instinct was to lean toward becoming a cool, mysterious Mage who could rain down meteors from the sky.

However, he wasn’t just a solo adventurer; he was the lord of a bankrupt territory with a ticking clock over his head.

”The growth of a Mage is ridiculously slow, Raymond analyzed, his brows furrowing. ”According to the system’s explanation, even to advance a single minor rank, a Mage has to sit down and manually study all sorts of complex spell parameters and rune structures. Even though I have a kingdom-building system that can technically accelerate my attributes as my territory grows, the system cannot magically inject spell comprehension into my brain. I would still have to spend hours every single day reading ancient magic books, memorizing circles, and practicing incantations just to cast a basic fireball. Being a Mage requires a massive amount of uninterrupted, dedicated study time.”

He shook his head, tossing the Mage option aside. ”I don’t have that kind of time. I am tasked with managing an imminent famine, expanding a frozen barony, building defensive infrastructure, and dealing with hostile neighboring lords. My hours must be devoted entirely to developing my territory. If I lock myself in a library to study spells for six months, my peasants will starve to death.”

He turned his gaze toward the second option. ”The Knight path is completely different. It is much more straightforward. As long as there is an abundant amount of dense mana available for my body to absorb, my physical muscles can simply temper themselves. With the system’s explicit assistance, my physical strength will automatically scale up at an astronomical rate whenever the territory hits a milestone. I won’t need to waste months memorizing complex calculations or skills. I will still need to train my reflexes and basic sword handling, but the time commitment will be vastly lower compared to a Mage. And besides... I genuinely prefer the idea of fighting in close combat with absolute, destructive physical power.”

Having thoroughly evaluated the logistical constraints of his situation, Raymond made his final decision.

”System, I select Path 2. I choose to become a Knight.”

The moment his mental command locked in, the blue interface flashed violently, and a flood of transparent notification screens popped up in rapid succession, accompanied by a rapid series of sharp, digital chimes that rang out like a barrage of gunshots.

[ Ding! Selection confirmed. The Host has officially entered the Knight Pathway. ]

[ Activating the Core Multiplier... Syncing with current loyal population metrics... ]

[ Congratulations Host! Your physical strength has broken through to: 1-Star Bronze Rank Knight! ]

[ Congratulations Host! Your physical strength has broken through to: 2-Star Bronze Rank Knight! ]

[ Congratulations Host! Your physical strength has broken through to: 3-Star Bronze Rank Knight! ]

[ Congratulations Host! Your physical strength has broken through to: 4-Star Bronze Rank Knight! ]

[ Congratulations Host! Your physical strength has broken through to: 5-Star Bronze Rank Knight! ]

Raymond’s eyes bulged as he was completely stunned by the rapid notifications filling his vision. Before he could even process the text, a massive, roaring torrent of dense mana erupted from the crystal heart in his chest. The energy didn’t stay in his heart; it surged outward like a tidal wave, slamming directly into his muscles, bones, and tendons.

He felt a sudden, intoxicating rush of raw, unadulterated power coursing through his limbs. His muscle fibers tightened, his bone density condensed, and his senses sharpened to an extreme degree.