The family castle of the Ivan Manor, day after day, year after year, stands on the banks of the Moro River outside Kyoto City, since the time of Little Ivan, more than 700 years have passed, generations of people in the Ivan Manor have been born, old, sick and died, and generations of Ivan family owners and tenant farmers have lived and died in this manor.

The manor and castle, from the very beginning of the new construction of the exquisite beauty, in the end did not withstand the invasion of time, gradually dilapidated, the courtyard wall also due to the wind and sand blowing all year round, become potholes. Over the centuries, the plants in the manor gradually grew taller and taller, and finally surpassed the courtyard walls and the main fort, and large green vines covered the tiles of the roof of the main fort.

The current head of the family is called Ponov Ivan, who is the 32nd direct descendant of the old Ivan, the founder of the manor, and the 30th direct descendant of Little Ivan.

In the main castle of the manor, there is a rotunda, which was built by a certain Ivan, in a certain year. The hall serves no purpose, only to hang oil portraits of countless ancestors. The first is the old Ivan, the third is the little Ivan, and in turn, they are all Ivan of all generations. The difference is that from little Ivan onwards, the heads of the families on the oil paintings no longer wear ornate noble robes, but each wears a mage robe covered with runes.

Yes, the Ivan family, nine hundred years after the fall of the Magic Empire, has become a real magical family. Like many ancient families on the continent, they silently guard the inheritance of magic. The countries of the continent and the adventurer's guild don't care too much about the secret inheritance of these families, as long as they don't openly promote magic and don't use magic to do evil, they can pass it on within the family.

Like his countless ancestors, this family's bloodline seems to have hidden the gene of space magic, and Ponov likes to hide in the family's secret spiritual space when he has nothing to do, studying what he likes.

Unlike little Ivan at that time, after many generations of inheritors, the spiritual space of the Ivan family has long been stable, and the successors of the past generations like to move their usual living materials into this space, and some capable successors can even expand the space. And for the hedonistic Ponov, there is nothing more wonderful than taking refuge in mental space and spending a day of leisure.

Here, there are fine wines from the merchants, beautiful furniture made in San Jose, delicate furs from Desik, and he has used his mental power to expand a small swimming pool in which Ponov can show off his body when he is fine. There are also many materials, books, remnants of magic spells, etc., that the Ivan family has collected over the years, all of which are in this space.

And here, there is not only Bonov, but also two very young magic apprentices, both of whom have beautiful blonde hair and turquoise pupils, about ten years old, and one of them looks a little taller. Lying on the sofa with a tequila glass, Ponov looked at the two children, "Okay, Hypnos, Tanatos, tell me how you can enhance the connection with the sensor in spiritual magic." ”

The older of the two children raised his hand, "Teacher." Ponov smiled, "Hypnos, tell me about it." ”

The child, who was called Hypnos, lowered his hand and glanced at the other child beside him, "Or, let Tanatos say it, he actually knows it, but he is not too embarrassed to say it." ”

"No, I—" Tanatos tried to retort, but he was choked back with only a single sound, and his face flushed.

"Alright, Hypnos, just say it!"

"Okay, teacher. Enhancing the connection with the sensor is nothing more than increasing one's mental power, so that there are more magical elements that can be controlled, and the sense will naturally be closer. ”

"Oh, is there anything else?" Ponov turned his glass, waiting for the child's answer.

"And, and—" Hypnos couldn't go on.

"Then there's the use of a more skillful way of capturing elements, in other words, using a more clever and concise spell. Suddenly, a boy named Tanatos opened his mouth.

Glancing at Tanatos in surprise, Ponov nodded secretly.

Time flowed forward again, and when our eyes returned to Ivan Manor, the two young children, already handsome young men, were both dressed in rune robes that symbolized the status of magicians, and on the sofa, Bonov, who was no longer young, was still lying lazily, still holding a glass of tequila in his hand.

"Teacher, we both successfully passed the magician trial, and from today onwards, we will be an official court magician!" The excited young man was Hypnos, who couldn't suppress his feelings, and his face was already smiling. Another young man, Tanatos, was much more steady, and there was not much emotion on his face.

"We, the people of Ivan Manor, what's so strange about passing the magic trial. However, beginner-level magicians are not bound by the organization, what are your plans in the future, and where are you going to choose as your cultivation ground?"

Hypnos said excitedly, "I want to be a good court magician, and a person like me who is proficient in space magic is not too many court magicians, so I want to stay in the big library." ”

"But, Hypnos," said Tanatos, "I still want to stay at Ivan Manor." The teacher told me before that he was working on a special magic array that could locate the person he wanted to locate, which I thought was particularly interesting. ”

Hypnos didn't refuse, "Then you just stay here, didn't the guide (Note 1) say that beginner magicians have the right to freely choose the place of cultivation." I'm interested in the materials of the big library, so you can stay in the manor. ”

The peaceful life is often broken because of an inadvertent trivial matter, and under the power of the nobility, an ancient family that has been inherited for hundreds of years sometimes seems very fragile.

Hypnos and Tanatos, although they are two of Ponov's favorite students, they have a bright future, but the Ivan family is different. When the elder Ponov was over half a hundred years old, a manor cook gave birth to a young son, who was very favored from an early age, and showed a good talent for magic at a young age.

However, before this little Ivan could learn something, he was still favored by his wealthy family, but he had a quarrel with a big nobleman in Kyoto City, and the quarrel was incredibly out of control and developed into a fist and kick. Relying on his magical talent, little Ivan made a move, and the uncontrolled magic flew into the sky of Kyoto City, cutting off a fleet of carriages that were moving on the King's Road. The power of space magic was so great that the upper part of the carriage was swallowed up in an instant and disappeared, along with the disappeared boy in the carriage.

No one could have imagined that a casual verbal conflict would affect a prince of San Jose who was about to visit abroad, and he was originally a strong contender for the crown prince, so he died of space magic for no apparent reason.

For a time, the angry Emperor San Jose vowed to uproot the Ivan family, even if he had a good relationship with the court magician, at this moment, no one in the Ivan family, who had no aristocratic background, was willing to help speak. So, the wolf-like San Jose soldiers rushed into the Ivan Manor, captured and killed all the people in the manor, whether they were masters or servants, including the already very old Bonov, and the youngest son who caused the trouble had long been branded as a dark mage and burned at the stake.

Things happened too quickly, and before the two promising magicians, Tanatos and Hypnos, could react, San Jose's ancient magical family, the Ivan family, disappeared from the Emperor's wrath. Their beloved teacher, Bonov, lost his head in such a daze. The Ivan Manor, with a fire set by the soldiers of San José, was burning, and the portraits of the generations of Ivan in the hall of the main fort gradually turned into a char in the fire.

Fortunately, the spiritual space created by little Ivan could not be injured by the fire, and the magic materials of the Ivan family were all kept in this spiritual space. Even though the manor outside has been burned to the ground, this spiritual space is still the same as before, and even the favorite swimming pool of Ponov is still very well preserved.

Hypnos and Tanatos, although they grew up together, their personalities are completely different. Hypnos was more sunny and cheerful, while Tanatos was taciturn and stoic from an early age. The two who lost their homes broke out into a huge quarrel for their future goals and directions.

Disillusioned, Hypnos took off his court magician's robes, and left Desik in a fit of rage, not wanting to stay in this sad place for a moment. As for Tanatos, he has not said a word since the accident, except for the quarrel with Hypnos, and in his heart, a raging flame is burning, "One day, I will burn the golden book coupons above the Red Keep." ”

As the fire at Ivan Manor faded, the two magicians disappeared from the court magician's custody, and no one knew where they had gone or what had happened to them.

For more than 100 years, in San Jose, there has always been a story of twin magicians, that is, two powerful space magicians, but because of the change of their home, they never returned. The court magicians had gone to look for them, but there were no clues, and the two magicians were determined not to let outsiders find them.

And the Ivan family, which has bred since the era of the Magic Empire, has disappeared into the long river of history. As for the survivors of the family, Hypnos and Tanatos, their stories are another story. Only the sturdy Iwan's spiritual magic space remains, which still exists in the ruins of the manor.

Until one day, a group of men in black wearing pointed hoods came back to this ruin.

Note 1: For details, see the previous section on the legacy of court magicians.