Lord of Charm

Gale opened his eyes and recalled the weird encounter he had in his sleep.

"Was it all true?"

He got up and went to the mirror. After all, if it was true, the most prominent proof would be his new looks. Standing in front of the mirror, he gaped.

"Is this the blessing of the God of Charm? I'll be attracting any woman's attention with this weird gift!"

In front of him was the reflection of a young man in which he saw a little resemblance to his former self. He looked now more like a much more successful brother of him rather than himself. His red hair turned smooth and glossy as if he had been nurturing it for years with top creams enhanced by the greatest magicians the country had to offer. His face turned sharp; his jawline had sharp chiseled angles with no extra fat anywhere. His green eyes seemed to have hypnotizing effects on whoever tried to look at them.

"It's amazing! No, I'm amazing!"

He kept admiring his well-toned muscles, no trace of his skinny former self remained. His lips were full, his nose straight, and his posture screamed power and allure. Even his height has increased by 15 cm, making him 183 cm tall.

"It's the moment of truth. I must check it."

Gale inhaled deeply and exhaled. He tried to calm his mind from excitement and mentally prepare himself. When he felt ready, he held his pants and pulled them down at once.

"IT GREW! IT GREW!"

"Lord Gale, why did you scream? Did anything happ- wait who are you? Where is Lord Gale??"

Nina came in curiously after hearing Gale's loud exclaims only to be shocked by his new look. Luckily, Gale already pulled his pants back up when he heard her footsteps.

"Hahaha, it's me, Gale! time for me to go out and enjoy my new life." Then he added to himself quietly "that being said, is it really the whole gift? Impossible, right?"

A few days passed, yet Gale felt nothing different except for all the stares he was getting from men and women alike. If until now they were reverent, now they also contained passion and even lust.

"Lord Gale, Lady Atress will arrive this evening for dinner, your father has requested your attendance."

Lady Atress was a Viscount heir who practically already did all the duties of a Viscount instead of her mother. She was quite a talented young mage at the age of 22 and has taken a liking to Gale, despite being 3 years younger than her, at the age of 19. He didn't particularly like her but also didn't dislike her, so when his father brought up their marriage as an option he decided to agree if he can't find a better solution for his impending decline. While he got the gift from the God of Charm, he still didn't notice any change in his magic or powers. Thus, he felt like nothing has changed in his overall situation.

"Please accept the invitation."

"I've already done it. I was told Lady Lena and Lord Donne will also be there."

Donne was his big brother and the heir to the Earl title. They've never had any special relationship, making Donne willing to toss him aside for his lack of skills. It was quite a given he will be present at the family dinner as he lived in the main mansion.

Lena, however, was under the tutoring of one of the Fire Witch, the rank 3 mage in the kingdom, and lived away from home, making it quite surprising she was there as the last time she came to visit was a few years ago. She was the eldest sibling in the family and the oldest of the three of them, and have always spoiled Gale, her favorite brother, whenever she came home.

Gale kept trying unsuccessfully to cast his first spell, from any type of element, yet nothing happened other than Nina's failure to hide her amusement from watching Gale.

"Only because you're a pretty boy now, it doesn't mean you can also cast magic. Come, it's time to dress up for dinner."

Gale wore his formal clothes, elegant black breeches, a white waistcoat, and a black coat decorated with silver that reached his knees, and Nina helped him straighten his clothes and close the buttons.

"All set to go. Good luck, Lord Gale!"

Nina wished him with a sweet smile and sent him off. As Gale arrived at the main mansion the servants bowed and announced his arrival to his father.

"Good to see you, son. I hope you can impress… Wait, how did you turn so muscular and handsome? Even a duchess would snatch you now! I was worried she would change her mind after seeing how sickly and thin you were, but I guess I have nothing to worry about."

His father's stupefied look was quite a rare sight, and Gale enjoyed seeing it.

"Thank you, father. I've been training lately, and I have seen some results."

He felt like he shouldn't tell about the God of Charm without his permission first. He looked around expectantly but couldn't find the person he was searching for.

"I'd hope you're excited to see Miss Atress, but Lena is getting ready, she will be here soon. Remember to do your best to impress Miss Atress, she is already a stage 2 magician at such a young age, she could provide you with a good life after I'm gone, my life span is almost over."

His father knew he was looking for his big sister as their relationship has always been good.

"Is it really impressive? Lena was already stage 3 a year ago when she was 22."

"Don't compare them. Your sister has one of the greatest talents in our kingdom, even the young generation of the royal family can't compare to her. While Miss Atress might be considered average in the most powerful families, she is considered a genius anywhere else in our kingdom."

There were 10 known stages in the world. A magician in the pre-stage, before one becomes a true magician, is called a Novice Magician. When one gets to the next stage, stage 1, he is called a Magician. Stage 2 was an advanced Magician and stage 3 was called Expert Magician. In their Kingdom, Miyena, in order to be a noble of the Viscount rank or higher, one has to be a stage 4 Mage.

When one ranks up to stage 4, he enters the Mage phase, which follows the same naming sense as the Magician phase – Mage, Advanced Mage, and Expert Mage. Among nobility who had the means and resources to nurture their young generation, the average age of stepping into the Magician stage, which was called True Magician sometimes to be differentiated better from the Novice Magician stage, was 18.

The next rank-up would take 5 years on average, and each rank-up took double the time as the stage before. However, as one went past age 30, he would normally have to start to work to help his family, which would slow down their rank-up to become a stage 3 Expert Magician, making it longer than 10 years on average.

Atress, who ranked up to the Advanced Magician rank right after her 22 birthday, was above average. While a year might not sound impressive, it is 20% faster than 5 years, which would have an impact in the long run.

Not only that, but she also already took on much of the workload from her mother already, which most don't do until the age of 30. If Gale could take off some of her workloads for her, she'd surely get to the third stage before 30, and maybe even the fourth before 45.

"Lady Lena and Lady Atress have arrived!"

A servant's announcement has interrupted Gale's thoughts.