Starting with One Piece, a Multiverse Simulation

However, compared to Wood, Claire has a wealth of combat experience. Leaving aside her swordsmanship, Wood is definitely no match for Claire in terms of magic and spell usage.

Therese originally believed that her little nephew was capable of fighting her mother to a standstill, or even defeating her.

However, to Therese's surprise, her little nephew admitted defeat so readily.

"Did Mother show mercy? Why can't I tell at all?"

The moment Therese uttered her untimely voice, her old butler beside her coughed repeatedly as a warning. Soon, Therese also noticed that her mother was looking at her with a rather dangerous gaze.

Wood looked at Therese, who was still in a daze, and couldn't help but feel sorry for his fourth aunt.

Why did Wood concede defeat? Was it because he was truly outmatched in skill, or was he simply not in good physical condition?

Of course, it wasn't for those reasons, but rather because, as a junior and with other outsiders present, his actions were the most correct.

Claire Latorrea had already roughly figured out Wood's personality from Therese's previous descriptions and their brief contact.

Since the other party is a stubborn and competitive person, it would be a shameful thing for him to lose to his twelve-year-old grandson in the presence of outsiders.

Especially because she was worried about Wood getting hurt, Claire had invited two mages who were skilled in healing magic in advance. If the people who were originally meant to heal Wood ended up healing her instead, where would Claire, the head of the Latoria family, put her face?

Wood was there to improve his image and mend the conflict between his mother and grandmother, not to deepen the hatred. So he knew exactly what to do.

Aunt Teresa, being a bit of a simpleton, clearly didn't grasp the implications and humiliated Claire with a single sentence.

“Aunt Teresa, I am indeed no match for Lady Claire.”

If Lady Claire hadn't warned me about the danger behind me, I might have already been caught in the crossfire.

Moreover, I have very little magic power. Condensing the water blade and using the fire saint-level magic I just used have already depleted most of my magic power.

For a mage, the consequences of excessive magic consumption are severe, so I lost this match.

Wood's analysis was logical and well-founded, and even the others present felt there was nothing wrong with it.

After all, Wood is only twelve years old. Reaching the "Fire Saint" level is already quite amazing. Magic power varies from person to person. Wood is still young, so it is normal for his magic power to be insufficient.

Another key point is that even if others have doubts about this, they would never say it directly like Therese did. How is that any different from undermining the Claire family head?

"Motil, thank you for your help. You can go back to the temple now. This is a family matter for the Latorea family, and it is not appropriate for you to get involved."

Upon hearing Claire's words, the temple knight, who had been relegated to the background for so long, quickly bowed and turned to leave. He showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever with Claire's attitude.

Putting aside the status of the Count Latorrea family, who possess such position and strength, Senis and the others' father was once the captain of the sword squad of the Temple Knights.

"Madam, if there's nothing else, then I'll take my leave."

Seeing the temple knight turn and leave, the old steward also bowed and retreated with great understanding.

After all the bystanders left, only Wood, Claire, and Therese remained in the backyard, which had become an exceptionally mess due to the competition.

"Now that you're officially working for the Knights Templar, you need to learn to be independent. Don't even think about getting a single extra penny from me anymore."

Upon hearing Claire's words, Therese's expression immediately wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.

Although members of the Knights Templar receive salaries, those salaries are simply a drop in the ocean for a rich young lady who is used to spending money lavishly.

After imposing economic sanctions on Therese, Claire turned her attention to Wood and, unusually, showed a kind expression, saying, "Child, you are far more outstanding than I imagined."

What's even more remarkable is that, in addition to your exceptional talent and strength, your character and wisdom are equally outstanding.

“I even started to wonder what kind of environment you were in to grow up to be so outstanding.”

Don't tell me it's all thanks to her mother's upbringing. No one knows Senis's personality better than I, her mother.

Although I hate to admit it, I must say that none of my children are particularly bright.

Good grief, Claire's words have completely destroyed all her children. Did she even consider Senis and Therese's feelings? Well, based on what Wood knows of these two sisters, their IQs aren't exactly high.

Let's leave Therese aside for now; Senis was almost sold into slavery before...

Besides Senis and Therese, do the Latoria family have any other siblings?

Of course they exist. Senis is the second daughter in the family, while Therese is the fourth. As for the eldest and third daughters, Wood has never met them.

They might have died fighting for their country, like Senis and her father, or they might have been assigned to work in other areas.

But overall, the children of the Latorea family are really not as good as Claire in terms of talent and strength.

Of her previous children, Claire favored Wood's mother, Senis, which is why she raised her to be the "model of a rich young lady."

But no one expected that Senis would enter her rebellious phase and become dissatisfied with the formalities and arranged marriages of the nobility. As a result, she broke with her mother and left home for many years.

"Lady Claire, you flatter me. I just enjoyed reading more when I was a child, so I learned more than others."

As for magic and swordsmanship, it was due to good fortune that I encountered excellent and responsible teachers, which led to my current achievements.

Wood's humility and politeness made Claire even more satisfied with the child in front of her, although she still showed a slight dissatisfaction with how he addressed her.

What does that mean? When you address Therese, you call her "Auntie," but when you address yourself, you call her "Lady Claire"?

Chapter 293: Wood is adopted into the Latoria family?

"Ahem, since you have passed my test, and you do indeed have half of the Latorrea family blood in you, then you can just call me Grandma."

When she said those words, Wood could clearly sense that Claire's tone was somewhat fluctuating, indicating that it was quite difficult for her to say such a thing.

"Your magic and swordsmanship were taught to you by your parents?"

"I noticed this when we fought just now; you probably weren't using your full strength, were you? Besides your fire saint-level magic, you must have other things you were holding back."

Claire was overjoyed and filled with curiosity as she met her grandson for the first time.

So far, even though she is usually extremely strict with everyone, she can't find any fault with Wood.

He has perfect aristocratic manners, perfect character and intellect, perfect physical attributes, and his talent and ability are absolutely perfect.

The more demanding and strict a person is, the more they will cherish and love a perfect being. Clearly, for Claire, Wood in front of her is such a being.

"Seneca and Paul, my parents, were indeed my mentors, but I also had other excellent teachers."

Without their help, I wouldn't have been able to grow to this level.

As for what my grandmother said about preserving strength, I did indeed preserve a tiny bit.

Actually, aside from fire-based Saint-level magic, I've mastered Saint-level magic in water, earth, and wind attributes, including healing magic.

Even though she was somewhat prepared, Claire was still taken aback when Wood revealed a portion of his strength.

As for Therese, she was completely numb; she felt that her little nephew was simply a beast raised on grass.

When she thought Wood was about the same level as her, she was surprised to find that he was actually a "sword saint".

Just when she thought Wood was just a "sword saint," Wood revealed his identity as an SS-rank adventurer.

Then, just when she thought Wood was a swordsmanship genius with extraordinary talent, Wood drew his magic wand and showed her with his actions that he was not only a swordsman, but also a "fire saint-level" genius.

Finally, when Therese was amazed by Wood's incredible talent, that he could rival her mother at such a young age, Wood revealed that he was still holding back his strength and that he was a Saint-level mage with all attributes.

He's only twelve years old! When I was that age, I was just a novice swordsman, dreaming about wonderful things every day and taking it for granted that I would ask my parents for pocket money.

However, her beastly little nephew already possessed multiple super halos at the age of twelve: "Sword Saint", "SS-level Adventurer", and "All-Attribute Saint-level Mage".

"I've already had the housekeeper prepare your rooms. It's really undignified for the Latorrea family to stay in such a small hotel. You can bring your sisters over as soon as possible."

As for Senis, she can come back if she wants, and if she doesn't, so be it.

After saying this, Claire left alone. After witnessing Wood's amazing talent, she suddenly had some immature ideas.

As for whether Senis will return to the Latorrea family, Claire knows her daughter well enough that once all the children live in the Latorrea family, that girl will come back even if she doesn't want to.

Furthermore, through the matter that Wood had just asked her to investigate, Claire also learned that the territory of Fituia, where Wood and the others originally lived, had been destroyed.

If that's the case, it's not entirely impossible for Wood and his group to settle in the Kingdom of Milis.

Even more importantly, through her conversation with Wood, Claire learned that Wood was only the second son of the Grellat family!

According to the tradition of the Kingdom of Asura, if there are multiple legitimate sons in a family, the eldest son will usually be chosen to inherit the family business.

This means that Wood, as the second son, is not eligible to inherit the Latorrea family fortune.

For this reason, Claire suddenly had some ideas, such as having Wood adopted into the Latorea family so that he could inherit the Latorea family!

Although the Latorea family is now a prominent count family, the situation within the family is quite awkward.

Claire's husband is dead, her children are disappointing, and other collateral branches are eyeing the family business covetously.

If Therese and her family fail to produce outstanding offspring and their souls return to the god Milis, the entire Latorea family will inevitably collapse, or be usurped by a collateral branch.

Claire absolutely could not tolerate this, so when Senis and her child appeared in the capital, Claire was not only happy that her daughter was still alive, but also saw a glimmer of hope.

Especially after learning that Wood was a "sword saint", he specially arranged the previous match.

Senis's child also carries half of the Latorea family bloodline, and even if Therese's future husband marries into the family, the situation will remain the same.

Therefore, rather than looking far ahead and pinning her hopes on the unknown future, Claire felt that it was more prudent to seize the present moment.

Even more importantly, Claire was extremely pleased with Wood.

As the first grandson to meet her, coupled with his long-standing guilt towards Senis, and Wood's own outstanding character and strength, Wood had already gained a very high level of favor with Claire in less than a day.

As for Wood officially moving into the Latorrea family, there were no major incidents. Since Wood moved into the Latorrea family, Norren and Aisha, the two little followers who always looked up to Wood, naturally followed suit.

If Wood, Norren, and the other two all moved into the Latorrea family home, Senis, just as Claire had predicted, would ultimately have no choice but to return to her home, which she hadn't visited in over a decade.

At first, Senis was worried that her mother, Claire, might scold or ridicule her after seeing her.