Rise of the Darkness Tycoon

Chapter 4- The Family of Light and Shadow

By the time Calvin woke up, he’d already been checked by doctors, and his condition was confirmed to be relatively stable, especially compared to how he’d been when he was brought in.

The impact from the metal pipes hitting his head had been enough to make him bleed heavily, and the doctor’s initial diagnosis had been grim.

But now, seeing him, the doctor was so stunned he had to call a colleague to examine Calvin again to make sure he wasn’t mistaken.

They then prescribed some drugs to deal with his blood loss and the swelling on his head, then left, leaving Calvin alone with his mother and her twin.

Looking at the woman who had a faint red tint in her eyes that was very different from her twin’s brown eyes, Calvin was 99% sure of his hypothesis from earlier.

‘She’s definitely an elementalist! A dormant one that hasn’t even awakened her affinity.’

It seemed that his being reborn in Calvin Carter’s body wasn’t as random as he’d thought. Calvin likely had his own innate elemental powers, as elementalists were more likely to have children with elemental powers too.

This special class of humans who wielded the elemental powers of nature all had superior physical capabilities to allow their bodies to withstand and contain the powers within their elemental cores, their hearts, and even when dormant, their bodies would already be stronger than the average person.

‘Martha Carter works as a cook, has a high body temperature, and a faint, unnatural red in her eyes. How hasn’t anyone figured out this woman has dormant fire elemental powers yet?’

Calvin felt this was ridiculous.

He knew that information about certain traits of elementalists wasn’t well known in rural areas, but Dand City wasn’t some backwater city. It had several hundred elementalists and even had guilds, so he expected that Martha should have been suspected of having elemental powers at least once.

‘But I don’t have any memory of anything like that happening. And I don’t think she knows either.

If she did, there’s a high chance she would have jumped on the chance to join a guild to earn money.’

Just as he had that thought, he paused for a moment, then shook his head.

‘No. Even if she needs money badly, she may not have what it takes to be an elementalist. Fighting elemental beasts and monsters is dangerous work that not just anyone can take on.

What’s more, one would have to be more careful of other elementalists than one would have to be of monsters.

Humans can be even worse than monsters when benefits are involved.’

Calvin had first-hand experience of that, having been betrayed and nearly killed because of the Dark Elemental King’s Core he possessed.

Martha stepped in right at that moment, carrying a tray with several plates releasing hot steam, a strong aroma instantly filling the ward.

Calvin’s stomach immediately grumbled, and Irma, following behind Martha with some bottles of water, chuckled and spoke.

“Someone is clearly very hungry.”

Martha smiled softly as she set the food down in front of Calvin, picking out some cutlery from her bag as she spoke. “Eat well, my boy. The doctor said you need a lot of nutrients to heal faster and regain the blood you lost.

I took a leave so I’d stay and cook a lot for you, okay?”

“…thank you,” Calvin muttered absentmindedly, his full attention on the food before his eyes.

‘As expected of a professional cook…’

When he picked up his fork and took a bite, he nodded silently and repeated the thought.

‘AS EXPECTED OF A PROFESSIONAL COOK…!’

Calvin finished the meal with gusto, repeatedly thanking Martha afterwards.

As for Irma, she didn’t stay long, as unlike Martha, she hadn’t taken leave from work, so she had to return to her workplace.

Martha saw her sister off and then returned, spending a little time talking with Calvin before telling him to rest.

Calvin, however, knew that this woman had not had any sleep in over a day. She had been at work all night, and had come home to hear that her son was in the hospital, then rushed over, and had, after that, been trying to gather as much money as possible to pay for the surgery he was supposed to have.

‘If not for her stronger body, she would have likely collapsed.’

With that thought, Calvin used the oldest trick in the book to get Martha to rest.

“If you don’t rest, then I won’t rest either.”

“…”

It was safe to say that Martha was completely dumbfounded.

Then, she laughed lightly and, to placate Calvin, decided to lie on one of the empty beds in the ward, saying she’d rest. However, her mental exhaustion won over her very quickly as she soon fell into a deep sleep.

Calvin just stared at her in silence, then reached out to move the hair that had fallen over her lips before raising his gaze to the ceiling.

He couldn’t sleep at all, his thoughts occupied by everything that had happened in his past lifetime.

Calvin had tried so hard to impress the Osborn Family Head and stay on his good side, but in the end, it didn’t even matter.

Warren Osborn hadn’t hesitated to turn on him the moment he feared Calvin’s power becoming too great.

Regardless of his reasons, he had condemned Calvin to death, and Calvin was not going to let that slide.

He would have his vengeance!

But to do that, he had to be powerful.

His enemy was the Osborn Family of Elementalists, one of the most powerful and influential families across not just the country of Edgard, but across the entire world.

They had hundreds of billions in liquid wealth and assets, and every one of the family’s high-ranking members was a powerful elementalist.

They were often called the ‘Family of Light’ due to their innate affinity for the light element, and they had produced generation after generation of expert elementalists for hundreds of years now.

Many elementalists from across the world who awakened to the light affinity often strove to work under the Osborn Family, which was known as a haven for all light elementalists.

But this family of light had a secret known only to its core blood members.

The Osborns didn’t just have the elemental power of Light running in their veins, but the opposing element of Darkness too!

In fact, it could be said that they searched for darkness elementalists more than they sought light elementalists.

After all, to keep up their pristine reputation, there were many things they couldn’t afford to dabble in.

So they used darkness elementalists in the shadows to do their dirty work and illegal deeds. They either hid anyone born with darkness elemental powers from society or publicly named them as powerless, while secretly training them to become part of the family’s clandestine forces.

Calvin was the leader of those forces before he died, the literal Shadow of the Family of Light.

He was a darkness elementalist born to the youngest son of the family head, and his affinity for darkness matched the family head’s affinity for light.

If it weren’t for Calvin’s mother, who fought tooth and nail for his sake, Calvin would have never been revealed to the public as the young CEO who served as his public face.

The woman had been dying, but she made sure to leave behind many assets and wealth for her son, and forced the Osborns to give him the same kind of education they would give a normal light elementalist of the family, so Calvin had been able to go to school and graduate with degrees, creating a resume with few gaps when investigated by others.

‘All of the assets she left behind had come from her maiden family, and not the Osborns, so the Osborns had little control over them until they were passed to me when I came of age.’

Calvin silently placed a hand on his chest, muttering a small thanks under his breath, something he did every time he remembered how his mother had always smiled and reassured the young him after his father’s death, while fighting battles with the Osborns.

Glancing at the sleeping Martha beside him, he silently swore to, on behalf of the original Calvin Carter, repay her for all she had done to raise him, despite the struggles she went through.

‘For that, I need to become rich and powerful!’

Neither of those things was easy, but Calvin had already walked those paths before. He wasn’t daunted by the prospect of having to do so again.