OWMTC Chapter 1: The Lord Of The Living Manor

When Jonah awoke his right arm felt stiff. It was common enough at this point for the bizarrely flexible prosthetic limb to feel stiff that it didn’t particularly alarm him, but it was an annoying way for him to wake up. He has only had the prosthetic limb for a few weeks, and overall he’s happy that he sacrificed his arm for it but it’s still more than a bit frustrating to wake up and have to deal with its attitude, since the limb itself is the one deciding to get stiff rather than the metal that made up the limb sometimes needing a polishing or to be lubricated somehow.

Despite his arms stiffness he continued to lay in the bed for a few moments before truly awakening and getting out of bed. It was early in the morning, that awkward time when his mobile mansion would be still and his servants would be for the most part sleeping since the sun was just over the horizon (which kept the majority of his undead servants at bay and was thus when they slept given that they lacked resistance to the sun and would be rendered lethargic at best when it beat down upon them or exterminated at worst if its deadly rays touched their skin unshielded by the moon’s mercy) but not yet high enough for its lights to make it through the blinds that each room had on its windows (and thus awakening his servants soon were immune to the sun’s rays.).

Jonah’s room was stunningly bare given its impressive size which gave Jonah the air of a minimalist but the few pieces of furniture he owned were masterfully crafted. He had a few mannequins on which he kept various outfits, most of which covered Jonah’s muscular body completely whether it was in metal, fur, or cloth. He had a lavish bed, truly befitting his status as the master of the living mansion. He also had an ornate desk where a single regal chair was placed to mark to anyone new that this was the desk of the mansion’s master. The final piece of furniture that hinted at the wealth and resources of the mansion and its master was a metal table placed at the heart of the room which was surrounded by chairs crafted out of volcanic rock. The table and the desk served different roles, because the table was for when Jonah called a meeting of crafters or of warriors to give them their tasks, and the desk was for more intimate meetings when Jonah needed to speak directly to a single individual or when he wanted to organize whatever paperwork he needed to organize or examine whatever contracts he and his servants had acquired.

Jonah reflected on his accomplishments as he began to move and warm up his still drowsy body, practicing basic martial arts with both his biological left arm and his artificial right arm. Jonah was the master of the living mansion,something which surprised many visitors given its diversity of occupants most of whom were medium to high level monsters and inhumans. He was also the “lord” who ruled over the very tiny territory that was the living mansion (and thus often conflicted with other, more conventional lords whose territories weren’t mobile). Unlike many other lords he wasn’t originally a noble but rather had been elected (against his will) to rule over the living mansion and its inhabitants by both the mansion and its inhabitants. Jonah himself just wanted independence and the power to maintain that independence. He had spent a few years building the living mansion to its current size by recruiting various types of followers and convincing them that he was a leader worth following and someone who had the sort of “power” they needed to accomplish their goals. The sort of “power” Jonah needed for each of his followers to deem him worth following varied from follower to follower and in each case it had been something distinct. One of the first followers Jonah had acquired was a strange demon priest who had agreed to follow Jonah after witnessing him protect and then heal a man who had been attacked by ravenous plant monsters. A few of his followers were goblins who decided to follow him after he won a fighting tournament in a kingdom not far from Albatross and asked them to accompany him on a worldwide journey. When they voted for him to be the master of the living mansion they explained quite simply that it made sense for him to be the master of the mansion given that he was the one they all looked up to even in a group composed of wildly different species.

When he was finished stretching and warming up his body he quietly activated one of his skills, an ability named “Introspection” to examine his statistics.

[Jonah McFadden]

[Class(s): Monster Tamer/Party Master]

[Level: 75]

[HP: 750/750]

[Danger Level: S]

[Intelligence: 6,000]

[Physical Skill/Strength: 1000]

[Skills: Introspection, Skill Synthesizer, Skill Giver, Skill Copier, Forcible Transferrer, Party Creator, Party Destroyer, Empath, Monster Taming (Level 9), Gifter Of Sentience, Contract Formation, Contract Destruction, Slaver, Destroyer of Bonds, Borrower Of Skills, Skill Enhancer, Analyzer, Manor Manipulator, Manor Dominator, Building Editor, Magical Architect]

[Species: Human]

Jonah was a unique being in that he possessed two active classes, both of which made him a gifted tactic-type being whose primary role in battle is giving orders to more capable combatants as well as providing critical support in the middle of battle. He favored being behind his allies and analyzing the scenarios he found himself in before moving from behind to turn the tables and sow chaos among his enemies. He could turn enemies on each other with his malicious “Destroyer of Bonds” skill, or even free slaves of his enemies mid-battle by forcibly attacking enemy slave-owners and striking them with “Contract Destruction” to liberate their slaves and enable them to either turn on their former owners or flee and make the battle easier for his side. Jonah had also never made use of his “Slaver” ability because he thought it’d be hypocritical of him to deprive someone else of their freedom given how highly he valued and treasured his own independence. His role in battle is to lead his servants and provide critical guidance that keeps his own side safe and speedily takes down his foes, and he prided himself on that.

After Jonah examined his own statistics and contemplated his battle tactics he wandered down to the bottom floor of the living mansion. The bottom floor of the living mansion was composed of various common areas designed to inspire residents to mix and mingle and also inspire a sense of cooperation among groups of residents including a collection of sprawling dining rooms designed for the mansion’s inhabitants (a few dozen beings and individuals) to be able to easily eat in the same proximity, often buffet style (which annoyed Jonah because the mansion wasn’t yet at such a high level that it could spawn entities capable of cooking the food itself and thus Jonah was typically one of the lead chefs, assisted by a small number of individuals who had talent cooking), although it depended on the day and how the mansion felt and at times the capricious mansion preferred a less crowded eating experience. Today unfortunately the mansion appears to feel like it is worth messing with Jonah given that it had decided to make breakfast buffet style instead of a more conventional method of serving and eating breakfast which meant Jonah knew that he needed to start cooking as soon as he got to the massive and modern kitchen located beyond the many sprawling rooms which the mansion had created for its denizens.

Jonah spent over an hour cooking by himself for the various residents of the manor before the first of his servants appeared, a young cowgirl with bright blonde hair and a habit of walking around with her eyes closed opting instead to rely on her sense of hearing to navigate the world around her. Jonah immediately ordered her to go back outside to the specific facility she lived in (like some of the other beings who were considered akin to livestock she lived in a large barn, which was something that she wanted to do not something that she was ordered to do) and thoroughly search it for any ingredients they could use in today’s breakfast. The cowgirl immediately obeyed her master, running off to not only fulfill his command but also to recruit another of her companions who (unlike Jonah) genuinely enjoyed cooking to assist him in his early morning preparations. The cowgirl moved quickly and with purpose because she was one of the few who realized that despite being the master of the mansion Jonah was not someone who pushed tasks off to others but rather took an active hand in everything from gathering materials to hunting monsters to creating remarkable items and delicious recipes by hand. Jonah wasn’t a master of any particular skillset but instead worked very hard to be a talented jack of all trades who stood out from behind with his flexibility and his understanding of the capabilities of those who followed him.

By the time most of the daylight servants were beginning to gather in the buffet style dining rooms and consuming their breakfasts Jonah had been cooking for 4 hours, aided by the cowgirl, her friend a male centaur (and one of the few who saw Jonah as a chivalrous lord and believed in Jonah’s might as a soldier on his own and not as a mere tactician), and an orc woman who was one of the few servants who didn’t live indoors at all but rather lived in a stable until she “proved herself” (which was something she herself wanted to do, not something anyone expected of her).

When he realized that enough food had been prepared for the rest of the inhabitants Jonah served himself and quietly sat down at one of the tables the mansion had generated for the buffet style breakfast. He was careful to sit by himself at a table where no one else was sitting, but he knew better than to believe that his table would remain otherwise uninhabited for long. Before he had finished eating even a quarter of his own food he found himself surrounded by the mansion’s inhabitants. Some of them were newer faces such as the centaur who had cooked alongside him, and others had journeyed with him for a few months now such as the demon priest who decided to serve Jonah after seeing him protect and treat an old man. Jonah didn’t particularly mind being surrounded by servants but he wasn’t a big fan of it happening while he ate, since he found them distracting. That of course didn’t stop his rather forceful followers from accompanying him, with or without his permission. Jonah quietly grinned while finishing off an omelet he had made specifically for himself and listening to the centaur describe the ways of his tribe to a fascinated goblin who was interested in harvesting centaur sweat to use as an experimental ingredient in his potion-making trials.

[Cornelius Thorne]

[Class: Knight]

[Level: 35]

[Danger Level: C]

[Intelligence: 200]

[Physical Skill/Strength: 1,000]

[Skills: Natural Armor, Quadrupedal Charge, Knight’s Determination, Fusion Of Armor And Skin, Weapon As Extension Of Body, Knight’s Thrust, Lord And Knight Connection (Unused), Devoted Servant]

[Species: Centaur]

#Isekai #Fantasy #Leader #WorldTraveller

A/N: A light-hearted and friendly introduction to our protagonist the mysterious but skilled Jonah McFadden, a human with a plethora of potent skills and a magical prosthetic limb who explores the world while acquiring followers and empowering a living mansion. Other chapters will be considerably darker than this one is but I wanted to lightly introduce our protagonist instead of introducing him in a battle. Jonah isn't just a fighter, he's a true leader who supports his followers in a variety of capacities. This is as I mentioned in its introductory chapter a light-novel that I've been working on for quite some time so feedback is appreciated as is sharing with your friends and readers if you enjoyed it!