《In Another World With a God》


 General Happenings

    Disclaimer: This chapter contains spoilers, please only read it if you have already read everything up to date. This chapter compiles important or notable happenings or information in each chapter, with some additional jokes every now and then.


    Prologue


    Kyle Adley, the MC. Has a mother, a dead father, and a dead friend. Studies computer engineering and is a lazy genius, with no friends and a difficulty to change his facial expression. His reaction to unusual things is as unusual as the unusual things that happen to him, he relates his abnormal reaction to seeing too much anime and reading too many web novels.


    Sixth is the omnipotent being that transported Kyle to another world. He almost always has a mocking or smug smile on his face, but it changes when he''s alone to a gloomy expression. Sixth has some sort of purpose that required him to summon many different beings to other worlds many times, yet his aims are unclear.


    Chapter 1: Arrival.


    Red Stone is a town that seems to be at the edge of a kingdom. It has many civilians, but its infrastructure is closer to that of a village than that of a town, to the point nobles and literate people wouldn''t want to come to this place. It seems to have a heavy focus on mining the mountains that surround the city and producing grains. The lord of this town is a Magus, Lord Baron Angus of Red Stone.


    Kyle used to be a sedentary person, but his body was recovered to peak health when he was transported, so his body would adapt to the new structure it should have in this world.


    Sixth followed Kyle to this world, which he seems to know nothing about. He denied helping Kyle, which angered him.


    The social structure seems to be mainly feudal, Kids work as adults would, however, the living conditions seem to be better than on feudal Europe.


    Kyle was confused with a scholar and thus discovered there was a need for a scribe in the Baron''s household. The job seems to be mainly copying tomes, so he decided to apply.


    Chapter 2: Kyle the Scribe.


    Kyle is brought to meet Baron Angus. Angus suspects that Kyle might be a fugitive slave or the bastard son of a noble since he has no surname, but Kyle manages to bullshit his way through that and convinces Baron Angus to hire him.


    Aqua, Mil Aqua, and Anti Mil aqua are the weight measures for this world.


    Kyle possesses a Yellow Magus soul, which enables him to become an Initiate Magus in his lifetime.


    Kyle seems to be psychologically affected by the transmigration and feels lonely in the new world. Sixth seems somewhat empathetic by Kyle''s loneliness.


    Chapter 3: Learning: It''s hard to seem intelligent when you don''t know the name of your country.


    Arledge of Flower Forest is a Scribe under Baron Angus and Kyle''s roommate. He''s a seemingly friendly old man, even if his sexual orientation is bent both ways. He seems to have taken a liking to Kyle¡¯s healthy body but maintains a respectful relationship. Whether he did something to Kyle while he slept is up to debate.


    Enki is the head of Baron Angus'' guard. There isn''t much more information aside from that.


    Kyle is currently on the Eastern Argent Kingdom that neighbors the Western Argent Kingdom, that were separated by a civil war centuries ago. He''s inside the Golden State Duchy, in the Red Stone Barony that is ruled by Baron Angus.


    Kyle learned about the kingdom''s history and general geography through one hour of tedious study, before he discovered he''s too lazy to study using books.


    Chapter 4: Learning: Why is magic so biased?!


    There are ten grades of Magus souls: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Silver, Gold, and White.


    Each soul above Orange represents a maximum threshold for Magic practice, that threshold cannot be broken.


    Magic Circles are the basis of casting spells, and they are used to record the non-memorized spells of Magi.


    Chapter 5: Sorry mom, but your son will become Evil!


    There are three categories of non-orthodox magic: Foreign Arts, Strange Arts and Dark Arts.


    Foreign Arts and Strange Arts depend on the Core.


    Dark Arts are considered evil but can be practiced by anyone. They are incredibly OP and dangerous as well.


    Copy Magic is stupidly high-level for unknown reasons.


    Chapter 6: Dread Trial I: Who would have guessed that watching a movie can help you raise the dead?!


    Mana Essence dictates the level of a spellcaster.


    A Core is an actual muscle that vibrates to generate mana essence and restore mana.


    Kyle thinks his younger mother is hot.


    Sixth feels a little empathy for Kyle, although he doesn''t know why.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. PS: Shota Kyle is cute.


    Chapter 7: Everyone is the MC but me!


    The Polar Dread Core ritual spell creates a second Dread Core in the Dread Lord''s body that can be used to channel and exchange Necrotic Energy for Mana and vice-versa.


    The Crystal Fiber Flower is the main ingredient for the Polar Dread Cores spell.


    Kyle was challenged by Sixth''s brothers to kill five people with cheat abilities. If Kyle completes the challenge, he will be granted one wish without restraints. The five other challengers only need to kill him and will get their wishes granted; their identity is unknown.


    Kyle has the ability to negate plot-armor.


    Kyle thinks punching a rock is a promising idea.


    Chapter 8: You have no shit on you, so you''re a noble!


    Not being covered in shit means you aren''t a peasant.


    Kyle''s battle skills rely a lot on not wanting to die and instinctual reactions¡­ As of now.


    Gestures are necessary for casting magic.


    Vortexes appear when casting magic, they won''t be described usually since it is really boring to do so and it will free a lot of space.


    Ghouls look like humans, but paler. Their blood becomes gray mist and their flesh becomes black, they retain intelligence but not their memories or personality. Natural abilities or dispositions still remain, such as a habit or compulsive behavior, the talent for creativity and technical knowledge. Their personality recovers over time, while their memories are forever lost.


    Albert used to be the leader of a small bandit group and was killed by Kyle becoming his first ghoul warrior. Kyle thinks he''s stupid since he called Kyle a noble, however, Albert knew he wasn''t but deduced he may have been a peddler because of his bags. He knew it would be impossible for a Peasant to simply walk away from their birthplace without any reason. His behavior became stoic and formal after becoming a ghoul, always referring to Kyle as Lord Knight.


    Chapter 9: This world looks too much like an MMORPG¡­


    Kyle doesn''t feel too bad when killing people but does feel bad about not feeling bad.


    Raise-type necromancy spells don''t need to be cast multiple times; a single cast can raise as many undead as possible by the current maximum capacity. Since the Necrotic Energy acts as a beacon for another type of higher form of energy to act upon the corpses.


    A first level Necromancer can learn five first-level Spells.


    Normal Undeads can be converted into cores and be stored inside the caster''s body.


    PS: Bandits aren''t XP nor trash mobs, they are human beings and should be slain as such, NPCs also have feelings.


    Chapter 10: Vrygewig, your Friendly Neighborhood Necromancer.


    Sixth''s brothers were once mortals but ascended afterward.


    Sixth''s first brother created a unified timeline among many realities, that made it possible for a linear ascension, making Sixth the youngest seventh brother.


    Kyle got used to Sixth''s antics after one year with him. He''s not as easily angered as before.


    Kyle believes that people can accept him even if he is a necromancer, as long as he doesn''t act rampant and crazily like most Dread Lords.


    Kyle nicknamed his necromancer self Vrygewig. He presented himself as a friendly neighborhood necromancer. Even though no one in this world knows what a neighborhood is or would understand the reference.


    PS: For some reason, even though I depict Albert as stoic and fearsome, I can''t help but see him as a cute big uncle¡­ I may just be weird though.


    Chapter 11: Merchants are greys, so if you give them a profit you will never be treated badly!


    Artmer of Black Gold is the grandson of the chairman of the Bosta Merchant Guild, and the son of the most likely successor to the position.


    The Bosta Merchant Guild is one of the four biggest Merchant Guilds in the Eastern Argent Kingdom. It deals mainly with Large-scale trading of mineral, which is it¡¯s strong point when compared to the other three guilds, while also having a moderate influence on the Kingdom¡¯s black-market trading, although not specialized in it. Because of it¡¯s influence in the black Market, it has an uneasy relationship with another big guild who is preeminent in the black market, the Pica Merchant Guild.


    Artmer wants to have a good relationship with Kyle, on the account of him being a reasonable Necromancer, which is rare. As well as him mistaking him for a bastard son of a noble, which heightens his status beyond that of a commoner, as Artmer has prejudice against peasants. (As is common with all nobles and big merchants.)


    Kyle learned how to speak in a roundabout way like politicians and merchants while in Lord Angus¡¯ Manor, although he¡¯s not proficient in it.


    Kyle decides to escort Artmer to Golden Estate City, at the heart of the Duchy.


    Ghouls can regenerate by eating flesh and can passively regenerate Necrotic Energy while battling.


    Chapter 12: I''m Actually A Talented Wizard?!


    Magic Circles work like computer programs. They must be written and executed in a specific way to achieve a certain result. Which is why casting a spell as a Magus requires knowledge of the theory behind the spell, accurate control of mana and knowledge of the activation method of the spell.


    The Dread Core is essentially the Cold core, and it does not vibrate and is unable to generate mana. But it can transfer energy to the Hot Core which will transform it into mana.


    Every breakthrough as a Magus will be aided by the Dread Core, so the Dread Lord level as a Magus will always be the same as his level as a Dread Lord.


    A Magus can learn twenty spells each level, that can be activated through normal casting. In later levels, they can learn double that amount for spells one level below their own, and there is no restriction on quantity for spells two levels below their own.


    PS: Magic powers aren''t gained by staying a virgin for thirty years unless that is caused by a specific training method.

 Prologue

    My name is Kyle Adley. I am a twenty years old computer engineering student at a big university. Even though I¡¯m not the best, that¡¯s only because I¡¯m too lazy to finish most assignments, and usually only do the bare minimum to pass a subject. I¡¯m something of a genius, even though most people call me dumb for whatever reason¡­ But I¡¯m sure it is completely unrelated to me wasting most of my time playing games, listening to music and watching anime¡­


    Surely that¡¯s not it.


    I have a mother that¡¯s alive, while my father died before I was born but left a sizable amount for us, so with my mother¡¯s job and the inheritance I was able to live an economically stable childhood.


    Now that I¡¯m studying, which I didn¡¯t do previously since High School was dumb and working hard is dumb, I moved (was thrown out) to somewhere nearer to where I study, since my mother said I needed to get some independence and experience life by living alone.


    However, that was just a waste since I¡¯m still in the same city and I just need an hour to get to my mother¡¯s house. So, I still visit every weekend.


    Today is a normal weekday, I¡¯m walking home from class and it¡¯s already almost evening and the sun was setting, the streets aren¡¯t crowded and I¡¯m relatively alone aside from one or two people that are doing random NPC stuff.


    I¡¯m kind of a loner, since I¡¯m that kind of guy that gets everything I want easily since life is easy, though the repulse people feel towards me is increased by the fact I hardly change my facial expression from the state of ¡®absolute indifference¡¯. It¡¯s not by choice, it¡¯s just the way it works, can¡¯t help it if it makes people think I¡¯m a cold and arrogant guy.


    I had one friend, during High School. In the last year, however, he died by lead poisoning (heavy gunfire) and I¡¯ve been a complete loner ever since, though I sincerely miss my one and only friend.


    As I thought those random things, which I think about every other day that I¡¯m feeling particularly gloomy, I got a little distracted from my surroundings¡­


    It was when I heard a ¡°Look out!¡± shout, that woke me up from my thoughts that were heading towards anime girls.


    When I heard the shout, the usual Isekai protagonist reaction would be to look to the place the shout came from, but I instead noticed it came from above me as a normal person would have noticed, and reacted involuntarily by jumping back clumsily and falling on my butt.


    And thus, a flowerpot appeared where I was, and broke into a million pieces of death-inducing ceramic¡­ Who the hell still keeps flowerpots by the window? And ceramic? Really?!This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    However, as I looked at the splashing shards and dirt of the flowerpot, I noticed it¡¯s rebelling ways of giving gravity a big ¡®Fuck you!¡¯ and staying in the air.


    Go flowerpot! Fight the Man!


    As much as I wanted to have a normal reaction, my head is just full of BS lines and that¡¯s usually how I think, probably the anime and web novels I read are to fault.


    ¡°Welp. Now either I am seeing things in slow-motion or that flowerpot is the most rebellious thing in the universe¡­¡± I said out loud, laughing inwardly at my own remark.


    ¡°Nope. Time stopped you idiot. Slow-motion can be considered close enough though.¡± Said a voice coming from behind me.


    As I looked back, I saw a young man standing behind me. He was taller than average, had white smooth skin, as well as k-popper-like white hair and red eyes to match.


    His complexion was western, however, but one bending more to German with a mix of femininity in it. His hair and eyes didn¡¯t seem out of place with his overall appearance, and he looked like the standard handsome/beautiful boy.


    ¡°I can hear your thoughts, and If you call me a boy again, I¡¯ll do things you won''t like.¡± He said, with a mocking smile on his face that somehow seemed threatening, but still looked as if he was just playing around¡­ A smile nuanced to the extreme.


    ¡°Okay, so what are you? God? Jesus? The admin of this reality or many realities? The guy who created everything, but I have been inside a game the entire time?¡± There were really many more options since if some guy can stop time, there are seriously many things he could be, none of those which is normal.


    ¡°Close in the first, too Christian in the second, I¡¯m too lazy to admin stuff, and no this isn¡¯t a game.¡± He said, his mocking smile unchanged. ¡°But you can get the first option and increase it a few times, be sure to add omnipotence on that and add the extent of it to everything there is and the rest beyond that. This way it would be more accurate¡­ You can call me Sixth, don¡¯t ask why, you wouldn¡¯t understand.


    As I looked at the guy that basically said ¡®I¡¯m like God but better¡¯ I got the gist of the situation.


    ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m being reincarnated? Transmigrated? Summoned?¡± I asked the most likely options, as I got up from the ground and cleaned the dust on my ass.


    ¡°Yeah, summoned. Another world, a magical world, a wondrous world!¡± He said. ¡°But you have no choice, you have no particular aim aside from surviving and stuff and It¡¯s just cuz I¡¯m bored.¡±


    As he said that, he snapped his fingers and I disappeared in a puff of smoke, like the ones that aren¡¯t even used in low-budget trash movies nowadays.


    ¡­


    After sending that guy to another world in another reality, I thought about the number of times I already did this¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s not even a number anymore¡­¡± I said, the smile on my face fading and a serious expression appearing.


    ¡°At least it wasn¡¯t a random cell this time¡­ The farthest that ever went was that one little guy that became a world-devouring virus¡­¡± I sighed, as I spoke to myself.


    ¡°It¡¯ll take a while to finish my plan¡­ I hope this human at least conquers his planet for a change. It¡¯s been a couple of sextillions of attempts since I had a world conqueror¡­¡± As I spoke, my mood became gloomy.


    ¡®I just hope this guy manages to do it¡­¡¯ I thought to myself.

 Chapter 1: Arrival.

    As a puff of smoke appears in a vast grassland, my figure materializes on top of a small hill.


    I stood on the top of the hill, gazing at my surroundings which were completely foreign. The air was purer, and the wind seemed stronger, a weird feeling entered my body as if my insides were constantly in contact with something.


    In front of me was a town or city. I saw many people walking around the town, either with sacks full of grain crops or riding carriages full of stones and ores. The fields in front of the town had many children of various ages tending to the crops, sowing seeds and plowing the fields. It was already late night and myriad blue fires covered the town and turned the night into day, aside from the glowing fires there were also many circles surrounding plots of lands, shining with a green light. The circle seemed to transmit visible energy into the plants, which seeped into their stems. Peasants rode back and forth to the mountains at the back of the town, those who came back brought ores and stones.


    Seeing that town, it wasn¡¯t anything like a medieval town. It was much bigger than a village but didn¡¯t have a wall or even many stone buildings. It seemed most wooden houses were for the peasants to live; I saw families of citizens entering the wooden huts with exhausted complexions.


    ¡°This is truly another world¡­¡± I said, not visibly surprised, even though my heart was burning with excitement.


    I looked at the sky and saw the position of the moon, by the position it was moving towards, the town should be situated towards the south.


    After checking the surroundings, I confirmed that to the west there were more grassy plains, to the east there were more mountains and to the north, there was a small lake.


    ¡°If I weren¡¯t able to read your mind, I would have said you aren¡¯t surprised by this scenario.¡± A voice said, coming from behind me.


    Turning around, I saw the same man that sent me to this world.


    ¡°You followed me here? Most importantly, where is here?¡± I asked him.


    That man was indeed the God, Sixth.


    ¡°I did follow you here. Watching from a distance would be too boring, so I tend to follow those I summon. As for where you are¡­ I have no idea.¡± He said, his mocking smiled seemed to intensify by the end of his phrase.


    Seeing his mocking smile started to get me angry. This god didn¡¯t seem to want to cooperate with me, and his smile remembered me of those villains that I always wanted to see die in animes.


    ¡°YOU summoned me here! How can you not know where this is?! At least help me if you¡¯re going to follow me.¡± I said, raising my voice.


    Sixth glared at me with his mocking smile, which now seemed to be more of a sneer.


    ¡°Firstly, you don¡¯t seem to notice that as an omnipotent being, I can erase you with a thought. Secondly, I used a randomized algorithm to send you to a magical world, so I won¡¯t know where we are unless I want to know. However, I made sure that some things would be guaranteed. Such as you spawning next to conscious beings that speak English or something close enough to that, and that won¡¯t kill you at sight. You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    Even though I was angry at this God that namely transported me to some random world for seemingly no reason at all, he did have a point. Angering someone that can insta-kill me isn¡¯t a smart decision.


    ¡°Okay¡­ But what did you give me after I came to this world? A system? A cheat item? Special Physique?¡± I asked, eager to know what kind of cheat I would get.


    Hearing my question, the god started chuckling as he looked at me.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°A cheat? Did life ever have cheats, boy? Use your wits if you want something, I¡¯m not gonna give you help for no reason at all.¡± He said as he started laughing loudly. His laughter got me angrier, and I wanted to scream:


    You took me away from my planet! Took me away from my family! Threw me somewhere I know nothing about! Aren¡¯t those plenty of reasons to give me some help?!!


    I couldn¡¯t bear to look at this god for another second, so I walked away towards the town¡­


    ¡­


    I had walked for a few kilometers, and surprisingly, I wasn¡¯t as tired as I thought I would be.


    Back on earth I was an otaku and programmer than did nothing but stay at home sitting on a chair, so I would sometimes get tired just from taking a bus to my mother¡¯s house, not to mention walking a few kilometers.


    A while back, I noticed that my skin wasn¡¯t as oily as before and my acne had disappeared. I lost some fat and my muscles weren¡¯t flaccid as they were before, they were instead firm and healthy, even If they weren¡¯t like those thick muscles of the Gym Rats, they were still as good as those of a healthy person.


    The shitty God had already caught up by now and was walking behind me. When he saw that I was checking myself, he explained.


    ¡°After you transmigrated your body was synchronized to the parameters of this place and re-initialized. That doesn''t make you stronger, but it gives you the ability to wield the magic of this world and restores your fitness to perfect health. At least for now, you are as healthy as you can be.¡±


    His explanation seemed to make sense since my body structure would hardly be the same as that of someone from another world. At least he did this right, I¡¯m now looking good and can run without feeling exhausted, my mind also seems clearer¡­ Now I think I should have exercised more in my previous world.


    I had walked for a long time, and by the time the sun was rising, I had already arrived at the fields outside the town.


    Plowing the fields, was a young boy covered in sweat. His clothes were a neat tunic, and aside from being covered in shit and dirt as well as looking old, it was better than I imagined for a peasant in a feudal world.


    ¡°Greetings my little friend.¡± I said, trying to lighten the coldness of my face to the bare minimum I could out of my own will¡­ It looked like I had to take a dump.


    The boy looked at me and then at my clothes, that had become ragged clothes of crude leather after I transmigrated, for whatever reason. But then he looked at my black hair and back at my clothes, as well as my healthy white skin and noticed the fact that aside from the dirt, there was no shit or dried blood on me.


    ¡°Greetings mister Scholar.¡± The boy said with a deep bow.


    Seeing the respectful expression on the boy¡¯s face, he probably thought I was someone of higher status¡­ At least he didn¡¯t think I was a king.


    ¡°Little one. Would you be so kind as to say what town is this one? I''ve been wandering and seem to have lost my direction, as well as my belongings.¡± I said, trying to smile¡­ And failing miserably.


    I should really consider not smiling anymore.


    However, the boy was respectful even after seeing my constipated face.


    ¡°This is the town of Red Stone. The ruler is Lord Magus, Sir Angus of Red Stone, who is a baron of the Kingdom.¡±


    I nodded and asked again.


    ¡°Is there any position for someone such as me in this town?¡±


    The boy thought for a while, before remembering something and nodding.


    ¡°Yes, sir. In fact, Lord Magus needs a scribe to copy his tomes. This region is so remote, it is hard to find more people that know how to read and write, people from larger towns refuse to come here.¡±


    I nodded and left towards the town again. It seems I¡¯m at the less developed edge of some kingdom, or at least an extremely backwater place.


    ¡­


    Reaching the town, I saw that there were many communal dwellings and few stores, most of the buildings had signs that were just images carved out of wood and none had any writing on them.


    I was a little afraid since even though the spoken language was English, there was no guarantee for the written one.


    But reaching the center of the town I sighed in relief.


    There was a plaque with a coat of arms painted on it, and words written in normal English that read: ¡°Red Stone Household¡±.


    The words were exquisitely carved and looked like a piece of art, not that I would be able to tell it''s worth anyway, it just looked pretty in my eyes.


    There were two guards with spears in front of the iron gate, one of them took a step forward when I approached and yelled.


    ¡°Halt! Who goes there?!¡±


    I stopped after hearing his warning.


    Taking a deep breath, I said.


    ¡°My Name is Kyle; I am a scholar that seeks a position as the scribe of this household.¡±

 Chapter 2: Kyle the Scribe.

    After introducing myself, the guard looked at me up and down. He then looked at the other guard.


    ¡°Henri. Take him to Lord Baron.¡± He said, and the turned to me. ¡°You may enter.¡±


    The other guard, Henri, approached me and stuck out his chest in a forced way, then gestured for me to follow.


    I nodded and walked behind him, passing through the gates and into the garden before reaching the front door of the mansion.


    Henri opened it and revealed the interior of the mansion.


    It had white walls and floors, the walls made of wood and the floor of a plain stone that was almost reflecting my figure. Further, into the main hall, there was a small fountain with two stairs, one by each side of it, a big rug extended all the way from the front door to a few meters before the fountain and each stair had a rug like that one, all three rugs were red with golden embroidery.


    There were two halls to the right and to the left, each had three doors. The upper floor has three doors as well, with the bigger one in the middle. The entire scene was symmetric and gave off a feeling of luxury.


    I was going to remove my dirty shoes before stepping on the rug, but before I did that, I saw that after the guard passed through the door, the dirt and grime that covered his body flew from it and into a jar by the side of the entrance.


    I did the same and stepped into the room, the dirt on my body and clothes also flew into the jar.


    Even though I was surprised by the show, I maintained my poker-face expression, but my own inner eighth-grader was releasing a loud ¡°Kya!!! Magic!!!¡± scream after seeing the scene.


    Henri led me upstairs and opened the door, letting me in.


    He entered the room and kneeled, so did I, even though I don''t know if I did it correctly.


    "Lord Baron. I bring the scholar Kyle, that wishes to become a Scribe of the Household." He said, introducing me.


    "Scholar Kyle greets Lord Baron." I said, trying to be polite, and hoping I had succeeded in my attempt.


    Getting along with the common folk is easy, but I know from prior experience that people with status and power are either eccentric or elitist or both. It was like that with the God I just met, and it was like that with the rich guy from my class back on earth, and those that were sons of politicians.


    The Baron nodded.


    "You say you want to be a scribe, but you have no family name. So, you are either a bastard or a fugitive elite slave. If you are a liar or an assassin, know that you won''t get out of this room alive." He said in a grave tone.


    Hearing that, especially the last remark, I shivered.


    "My Lord, I am truly a scribe. Indeed, I am a bastard, but I would dare not say the name of my father, nor where do I hail from. I am not welcome with my family and am only literate because of a benefactor from my father''s family that taught me. I have nowhere to go, Lord, please allow me to stay in your service."


    I wanted to touch my forehead on the ground to show subservience, but I didn''t want to be mistaken as a slave. Instead, I put my other knee on the ground and bowed my head lower, clasping hands as a signal of begging... Now that I think about it, I feel ashamed of literally begging for a job. Where are my values?!


    Lord Angus seemed to think for a second before nodding. Sixth by my side was smirking seeing my act, even though I didn''t see it.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "Come forward!" He said in an imposing tone.


    I nodded and stood up, walking to the front of his desk.


    "Read this." He said turning a sheet of paper in front of him so I could read it. "Out loud."


    The paper was like our modern paper, but a little yellow instead of white. I looked at the words that used the same English I am used to, and recited.


    "Soy grains: Two hundred Mil Aqua. Cotton: Fifty Mil Aqua. Red Stones: Eighteen hundred Mil Aqua." I said, reciting a list of things, some of which I knew and some I didn''t. But all the items had a number and then the words ''Mil Aqua'', or ''Aqua'', or ''Anti-mil Aqua'', which I guessed is their weight unit, even though I have no idea how much an Aqua weighs.


    The Baron nodded, apparently satisfied.


    "Good, now write in this paper what you just read." I took the paper and wrote it down with an ink pen.


    The Baron nodded again and looked at me.


    "You are now a Scribe of the Red Stone Household. You shall be assigned to a room in the Manor and will receive three meals a day and Two Silver coins each week in wages. Tomorrow you shall head to the library and start your service." He then paused for a moment, as if remembering something.


    "Mister Kyle, what is the grade of your Magus Soul?" Lord Angus asked curiously.


    I was stumped since I had no idea what a Magus Soul is, hesitatingly, I replied.


    "I do not know. I have no knowledge of that since I was exiled from my household and my benefactor wasn''t able to tell me such knowledge."


    Everything I said was a shoot in the dark, I have no idea if that is common sense or something like that is privy only to the nobles, but I went for the latter.


    "I see¡­ I shall test your Magus Soul then." He said, a little doubtful, but still took out a sphere from a box on his table.


    With such a close call, that is a perfect example of bullshitting to save one''s ass, I almost sighed in relief. This acting has made me really stressed since any misstep would probably kill me.


    After taking the sphere he put it on top of his table.


    "Put your hands on the Magus Orb."


    I did as he told and instantly felt something inside me moving, it was a weird sensation as if a giant worm was crawling on my body and shaking, but at the same time it felt like an involuntary movement that only now I had noticed. It was slightly unpleasant, but not unbearably so, and eventually it started to even feel good... Too good.


    The orb then shone with a yellow light, and the baron nodded.


    "Indeed, you are from the nobility, a yellow Magus Soul. You should be able to become an Initiate Magus in your lifetime, so use your coins to buy some resources to improve." He said and then took the Orb and placed it in the Box again.


    The baron looked at Henri.


    "Take him to his room, and if Scribe Arledge is present, introduce them to each other." He ordered.


    "Yes, Lord Baron." Henri said, standing up and bowing.


    "Thank you for your Kindness, Lord Baron." I bowed in the same manner.


    Both of us left the room, and went to the right hallway, then entered the third door.


    ¡­


    Henri introduced me to my room and gave a quick briefing on the staff of the manor and the town, then he left.


    My room was neat and had two writing desks and two beds as well as two nightstands. Two bookstands also stood in the space between the two beds, the items were all symmetric to each other, so it was a perfect place for two people to live in.


    The other Scribe that was mentioned, Scribe Arledge, wasn''t in the room when I entered.


    After Henri exited, I sat on the bed and looked at Sixth in front of me.


    "So¡­ You are invisible." I said.


    Since I met that boy, I noticed that even though Sixth was really eye-catching, no one even glanced at him.


    "Yes. Unless I don''t want to be." He said, with that smug smile still plastered on his face.


    While looking at him, I reviewed the things that happened in these few hours.


    I transmigrated, entered the service of a Baron from a kingdom I do not know, and became a Scribe.


    As well as meeting this annoying God.


    But most importantly, I was far from everything I knew.


    Only now that I thought about it, I realized that I would never see my mother again. I would never visit my father''s or my friend''s tombstones again. I would never see my bedroom again. I would never meet anyone that knows what I''ve been through, another human from Earth...


    I have never been a sensible person, but the exact opposite. Nonetheless, I felt a deep void inside of me. That deep loneliness of being the only one of my kind in the world...


    I ended up laying on the bed and crying myself to sleep...


    Sixth saw my condition, he didn''t have any expression on his face, as he quietly sat by my side.

 Chapter 3: Learning: It鈥檚 hard to seem intelligent when you don鈥檛 know the name of your country.

    It was dusk, the sun was about to set when I woke up in my new bed. I sat on the bed and saw Sixth by my side.


    Wait¡­


    That¡¯s not Sixth?


    It was an old man sitting on my bed. When I sat, he leaned towards me and locked his eyes into mine, his face was so close to mine we could kiss if I leaned forward a little.


    Seeing the old man, I jumped from the bed without thinking twice. I was extremely frightened and a little worried about my chastity.


    ¡°You are really energetic. Oh, the youth! I wish I was myself back in the day, able to take on five woman and ten men. Sigh¡­ A pity my time has passed.¡± Said the old man while caressing his beard with a sad expression.


    I was looking at the old man with a rare dumbfounded expression, unlike my usual poker-face. While thinking ¡°Why the fuck is my roommate a bisexual old man?!¡± and wondering whether I had lost my innocence while sleeping, I tried my best to calm down.


    Facing the old man, that didn''t seem like the kind of old man that would do such things to me while I sleep (Or at least I hoped so), I returned to my usual Poker-face.


    ¡°You must be Scribe Arledge¡­¡± I said, looking at him while trying to contain the shivers running down my spine whenever I looked at him.


    The old man got up from my bed and smiled.


    ¡°Indeed, young man. I am Scribe Arledge of Flower Forest, from the western duchy of Whitewood. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet a young lad with such fair skin and healthy body.¡± He said, looking at my body with a wider smile.


    Seeing that an old man was ¡®checking me out¡¯, I felt my entire body tremble as I answered.


    ¡°I am Scribe Kyle, a pleasure to meet you, Sir Arledge.¡± I said.


    The old man shook my hand in a friendly way. He had a happy smile on his face that would make him seem like a kind old man, and I don''t think he isn''t but for some reason, I felt a slight pain on my rear while looking at his smile.


    After getting acquainted, the old man extended an invitation to me.


    ¡°Are you busy tonight? Although the nightlife in Red Stone Town isn''t that rich, there is a tavern I know with plump wenches and good ale. Would you like to accompany me? My treat, of course.¡± He said, with an emphasis on the word plump.


    ¡°I am thankful mister Arledge, but I would like to go to the library to study. My scholarly knowledge has become rusty after the long trek I took here, so I must abstain.¡± I said, still being polite, and using words I wouldn''t usually use like ''trek'' and ''abstain'', which made me feel as if I were speaking like an aristocrat. Later I would realize that¡¯s a weird way to speak when in a normal conversation.


    Old Arledge seemed disappointed at my refusal, but he still didn''t push it.


    ¡°Okay, I''ll be going then. If you get tired, go to the ''Red Peach Pub''. I''ll be there until late at night.¡± He said before exiting the room.


    After he left, I looked at another part of the room, towards Sixth.


    ¡°I need to ask¡­ Did he do something while I was asleep?¡± I asked, my heart filled with worry.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Sixth laughed out loud, in a really exaggerated way.


    ¡°Hahahahahaha! Yeah! He definitely abused your poor young body and made the flower on your backside bloom! Hahahahahaha!¡± He exclaimed, uncontrollably laughing at me.


    I knew he was being sarcastic, and I can¡¯t really be angry at him, even I would have been laughing at myself in this situation.


    Am I just that unlucky? Is that the Isekai Protagonist effect?


    Ignoring the laughing deity, I walked out of the room.


    In the hallway, I saw the guard from last night that was on the morning shift with Henri. His name was Enki.


    He''s from the south it seems¡­ I don¡¯t know what is there, but it is beyond the mountains, and he''s the head of the guard of Baron Angus.


    I nodded at him before going straight to the second Floor.


    The door to the left is Lord Angus'' Bedroom, while the door to the right is the Library.


    As I entered, I noticed It was a little bigger than it should have been. Probably because of magic. It wasn''t much bigger in length, but it was higher than the roof should have been.


    It was much like those old libraries, wood bookstands filled with enough books to bury a house. But there weren''t any stairs to access the books on the higher shelves.


    However, by the side of the entrance, I saw two round and small tables. One had a thick book and the one by its side was empty.


    I looked at the book and, on its cover, there were the words ''Library Index''. Opening the book, I realized that it was the listing of the names of all the books in the library, organized by categories such as history, geography, arithmetic, and magic theory.


    There were many things I recognized, but things like magic theory were completely new to me.


    I looked at one title in the geography session after reading the titles, the ''Geographic Compendium of The Realms'' sounded like what I needed.


    There was nothing in the book saying where in the library the compendium was, but as I touched the name, a book came out of the bookstand and flew to the empty table. It was the compendium I needed.


    The book was so thick it could probably smash a car''s window just by accidentally letting it fall on it. I could lift it, but it was hard. I took it to a table and then started reading.


    I read through the book and saw that it had information on the known kingdoms and countries on the charted lands, and extremely specific information on the kingdom I am in now.


    The name of the kingdom is the Eastern Argent Kingdom. It seems there was a civil war a few centuries ago, and there is now the Western Argent Kingdom to the west of this kingdom.


    I kept reading the book, only reading the information on this kingdom for now.


    I first read about the Red Stone Barony, then the duchy that houses it, the Golden State Duchy.


    After that, I read about the other Baronies, Counties, and Marquisates of the Golden State Duchy.


    I took a different book to read about the Kingdom''s history.


    After an hour studying, I learned many things since I am a stupidly fast learner, learning a great deal in a brief time is easy for me¡­


    But that was it.


    I am innately intelligent and learn things quickly, plus I was excited since there were many things I didn''t know to learn.


    However, my fatal flaw is my laziness...


    It wasn''t too obvious back on earth, since listening to lectures is easy, I just had to sit back and absorb knowledge like a sponge while answering questions if the professor asked me, but I am too lazy to learn by reading books.


    I got unbearably bored after studying for one hour and my focus and excitement disappeared like dust after a whirlwind.


    That was when I wondered¡­


    How the hell will I be a Scholar if I just learned the name of my kingdom an hour ago?!


    I tried to study more since my life depended on it¡­


    But I was too bored.


    "It seems like even though you are from the information era, you are having a tough time being smarter than even a child here! Hahahaha!" Sixth said, mocking me. As much as I wanted to punch that smug face, that would be useless.


    Still, I didn¡¯t give up on learning!


    I took the index book again and called a book.


    Seeing it land on the table like the previous ones, a satisfied and excited smile appeared on my face.


    "If my lazy college-self can''t study. I''ll let my otaku eighth-grade-self do it."


    I took the book and put it on the table I was sitting.


    Its name was ''Basic Magic''.

 Chapter 4: Learning: Why is magic so Biased?!

    I opened the book and started reading the summary.


    As expected, it was a book about the workings of magic on the continent. Information about the Magi and other spellcasters, the ways of magical practice, the divisions of power and styles, and other miscellaneous information.


    The book was thicker than the Geography compendium, and it was just the first out of three volumes. The complexity of magic was clear to see, just by the sheer amount of content from the basic book.


    I opened the book and read through the first few chapters, faster than I did before with the other books, my excitement was clear to see.


    But after reading those few chapters, my excitement faded into my growing frustration.


    Not because I got bored, but for two reasons.


    Firstly, because it was complex, and it used many terms I have never seen before without explaining them.


    The second reason¡­


    Aptitude is more important than I thought it would be!


    I didn''t know what a ''Magus Soul'' was when Lord Angus assessed me, and when he said I had a yellow soul and could become an initiate magus in my lifetime, I thought it was a good thing.


    At the second chapter of the book though, I discovered the Ranking and meaning of Magus Souls.


    There are ten rankings, that from the worst to the best are: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Silver, Gold, and White.


    The stronger the soul, the easier it is to bend mana and cast spells, as well as move it through the Magic Paths of a spell circle without much practice.


    My soul is a Yellow Magus Soul, the third lowest, and it indeed means I can become an Initiate Magus in my lifetime¡­


    But there is a big emphasis on the word LIFETIME!


    Most people with yellow souls, after training to become a magus, take fifty years on average to reach the level of Initiate Magus! And they can''t advance after that!


    That is not a matter of effort, it is an iron-clad rule. Yellow souls can''t advance further than Initiate Magus level.


    That threshold increases with each soul rank. A Violet soul can reach the peak of magus power in their lifetime, and the further ones are considered geniuses.


    A silver soul can advance to initiate level a few weeks after starting to practice if slow, two days if fast.


    That speed became even more absurd in Gold and White souls.


    There are also some special kinds of souls, like the Azure hued souls that have an affinity to the water element, but all souls followed these grades.


    Red and Orange souls couldn''t even become spellcasters at all, and most commoners have souls of these grades.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Improving the grade of your soul is impossible, and only legendary items from fairytales and novels are said to be able to do so, but they don''t exist.


    Which means that I can''t improve my soul and can never achieve a power bigger than the Initiate Magus level.


    "Fuck you God! You gave me such a shit soul!" I yelled at Sixth that was by my side, visibly showing my anger.


    He shrugged and smiled smugly as always.


    "I didn''t do anything. That is just your bad luck."


    I was incredibly mad at Sixth''s nonchalant answer. However, I shouldn''t despair because of something like that. Being an initiate magus is already a good thing, and enough to become a noble.


    "That''s alright. Being a great powerhouse isn''t for me anyway, so I will only have to study and become a low-leveled Magus. That''s already much better than becoming a peasant."


    I was getting comfortable with my future. I''ve never been someone with many ambitions, so whether I become a great king or just another small figure doesn''t matter, if I stay alive and well.


    However, Sixth''s next words put me down again.


    "Yeah, becoming a noble would be great... But you must learn everything from scratch and without tutors, daily lessons and other privileges." Commented Sixth.


    "Adding to that, it would be hard for you to keep your job for fifty years... They''ll probably fire you tomorrow."


    When Sixth said that, I looked at him, again unable to contain my anger.


    "Why is that?! I know how to copy stuff! I know how to read and write!" I yelled.


    I''ve never lost my composure as much as often as since I met Sixth. I swear that I get angry just by looking at his face now.


    "Yeah, you know how to read and write... But can you draw a Magic Circle?" He questioned, and then flipped the book in front of me.


    When I looked at the book, I saw a circular drawing that was filled with runes and weird lines. The entire drawing seemed extremely complicated, and the fine lines in it ranged from a few millimeters thick to a few centimeters. The crisscrossing lines that seemed like a child''s drawing didn''t look like anything intelligible.


    I read the text in the next page and discovered what exactly that was.


    It seems like a Magus has only twenty spells that they can cast at will, while all the other spells need to be cast by drawing a Magic Circle. Magi have developed incredibly advanced memorization techniques for that purpose, but the human brain can only go so far, thus there as a need to record Magic Circles in their spellbooks.


    Scribes are tasked with record-keeping, and contrary to my guesses, that mainly pertained to copying Magic Circles.


    But how can I, that can''t even draw a dog, draw this goddamn devil''s work of a drawing?!


    When I realized that after today, I would probably be fired, despair finally appeared.


    My legs felt weak and I stared blankly at the book in despair. I couldn''t believe, that after being transmigrated to a magic world, I would be unable to learn magic.


    I already knew for sure that I wouldn''t be able to follow the path of magic, and I wasn''t even qualified as a scholar.


    Overflowing with desperation, my brain was rushing to think of an alternative.


    Magic was real!


    Magicians were real!


    But I couldn''t become a Magus!


    ...


    Wait? I can''t become a Magus?


    It was when that last thought appeared in my head, that I noticed that not all was lost.


    I am an otaku and a fanatic for novels. I''ve spent basically my entire life only reading novels and watching anime, my studies were secondary to all of that.


    Regaining my motivation, I glossed over the book''s index as if my life depended on it, I was searching for something...


    It was then that I found what I needed on one of the last chapters of the book.


    "Foreign methods and other magic arts¡­ This is it!" I said looking at that line with glee.


    There were many ways to practice magic, and the one I just read about was the Traditional one.


    If I couldn''t become a Magus?


    I''ll practice magic in another way!


    Who needs that biased ''Traditional Magic''?!

 Chapter 5: Sorry mom, but your son will become Evil!

    While reading through the chapter, I discovered that among the non-orthodox magic paths, there are three categories.


    The Foreign Arts, that are the magical paths used by people from other continents.


    The Strange Arts, that are the magical paths from this continent that stray from the traditional path.


    And the Dark Arts, dangerous and evil magical paths that are shunned and hunted down, in this and every other continent but the Western Continent, that is also called the Dark Continent.


    There are three known Foreign arts, respectively:


    Druidic Piety, practiced by Druids in the north. It preaches the worship of what is natural and the fusion with nature, enabling the druid to control nature around them and unite with it.


    Qigong Cultivation, practiced by the Daoists in the far east. It turns mana into Qi and uses it to strengthen the practitioner''s body and the powers they may gain beyond that depends on the ''Sutra'' that they practice.


    Beast Ritualism, practiced by the Beast Lords of the southern tribes. They tame beasts and use them to battle, having no effects beyond that. Although, since magical beasts are usually stronger than people of the same level, it is considered a strong art.


    There are many strange arts, but the most widespread are three:


    Martial Arts, which uses the mana acquired during the Resonance meditation to defend and release it to attack others. It is known as the weakest form of practice, but it is much easier than becoming a Magus. Those that find traditional magic too complex to learn, usually train in Martial Arts, it is normal that commoners with Yellow souls or better train in Martial Arts.


    Warlock Arts, which fuses the Beast Cores of magical beasts with the practitioner''s body, giving them the powers and characteristics of the beasts. It is much stronger than Traditional magic, but extremely expensive to practice, making it a form of magic only available to higher nobles.


    Divine Pledges and Demonic Pledges, which means you would give your soul to either a powerful god or demon to gain power. The power you gain varies depending on which god or demon you serve. The Divine and Demonic Servants strength varies depending on the grade of their Magus Soul. The moment they pledge their souls, the Servant''s power would instantly peak to the maximum their Magus Souls can handle, meaning that they wouldn''t need to train to become strong, but at the price of their soul.


    Seeing so many options, I got extremely happy. I should be able to practice at least one of them, and have the talent for at least one of them¡­


    "Fuck this! Bullshit Druid Spirit! Bullshit Qi Seed! Bullshit Beast Crown! They are all the same shitty Magus Soul I have!"


    After screaming that, I threw a tantrum out of anger and flipped a chair that was by my side. (Because flipping tables is for noobs)


    It seems that the same restrictions I have with becoming a Magus apply to everything else, I can''t go beyond the first level of practice!


    Each one of the foreign arts called the core from which they drew mana in a unique way, but they were all the Magus Soul, there was no difference beyond the names. The Strange arts all depended on the Magus soul as well.


    Seeing me flipping chairs and tables everywhere in the library, Sixth took a step back while giggling, he seemed to be mocking me again, but I was too angry to hear.


    After seeing that I almost broke one of the chairs, I managed to calm down lest I had to pay for the damages. I threw my weight on the chair I was before and slammed my head against the table.


    I was exasperated, but still managed to stay calm. Raising my head from the table and sighing I rubbed my temples, to alleviate a headache I caused to myself.


    "Sigh¡­ If the foreign arts and strange arts aren''t any better, I just hope the Dark Arts can help me." I said, trying to get my hopes up, and started reading about the Dark Arts.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Besides the two categories, there are two Dark Arts, those that practice them are undoubtedly the strongest and fiercest of all magicians, but the Dark arts are incredibly dangerous as well.


    The Demonic Arts are one of the two Dark Arts, it requires the practitioner to summon a Demon using the Resonance Meditation technique, and defeat it in physical combat and mental combat.


    Those that practice Demonic Arts can absorb the Demonic Core of the demons they defeat and use it to produce Demonic Energy, by doing so they receive the Title of Demon Lord. They keep the Magus Core in the process as well, which gives them numerous advantages like being able to harness more mana than normally and practice faster as well. A Demon Lord can fight someone one level stronger than them with their demonic powers.


    But if a Demon Lord ever loses a battle against a Demon, that demon will take over his body and descend upon the Realms. Demon Lords are frequently hunted down exactly for this reason, and many disasters happened in the past because of powerful Demon Lords that lost control.


    The other Dark Art is Necromancy.


    To practice necromancy is extremely simple. When using the technique of Resonance Meditation to acquire more mana, the practitioner needs to mentally state their desire to learn the secrets of Death, and by doing so, a Dread Trial will start instantly.


    The Dread Trial is a mental challenge that only the Necromancers understands, and after completing it for the first time they become a real Necromancer, whose proper title is Dread Lord.


    After completing the first Dread Trial they will acquire the powers bestowed by Death itself, being able to raise the dead and use Necrotic Energy to cast various spells, much like a Magus. Their Magus Soul will become a Dread Core, but it seems that there are ways for them to become Magi as well. If they fail the first Trial, however, death comes instantly, and their bodies become dust.


    The requirements for a Dread Lord to advance are unknown, but after they meet these requirements, they must pass through another Dread Trial.


    Failing any of the subsequent Dread Trials doesn''t result in death, but the Dread Lord instead becomes an Undead themselves and lead their army to slay the living.


    Each time a Dread Lord loses control, a weak one can purge a town at least. The strongest Dread Lords were known as the biggest calamities that could walk through the earth, making the Continents unite to end them. The church and the secular powers still send troops to contain the Dark Artists in the West periodically.


    Both of those Dark Arts don''t require any magic knowledge beyond the Resonance Meditation technique, the power they acquire become innate, and the knowledge on the workings of Demonic Invocations and Necromantic Spells, as well as magic in general, are automatically assimilated by the practitioner.


    And since they create separate cores¡­


    "Dark Arts don''t require talent¡­"


    It was convenient and powerful, as well as extremely fitting for my situation and that of every other commoner.


    The risks were high, but the payoff was huge¡­


    "Even still, I have to take the risk. If I stay the way I am now, I can''t even remain a Scribe."


    I can copy books that have only words and numbers, but that isn''t enough since I know nothing about the ''Magic Circles'' that are required to learn spells.


    Copying magic tomes requires extreme precision since the formulas to spell diagrams were extremely complex and looked like those nonsensical magic circles from my world''s animes and manga. It also used a rune structure I didn''t understand.


    When Lord Angus noticed that, he wouldn''t keep me anymore. What use is having a scribe that can''t do his job?


    Even if he did keep me to copy only normal books, that wouldn''t last forever. Lord Angus has an Indigo Magus soul, and that makes him able to ascend to the fourth rank as a Magus and become a Count. While he''s currently only at the second rank, he''ll soon reach the third rank, probably in another five years. By then he won''t need a scribe since water magic can copy books or tomes freely, I would be unemployed anyway. Thankfully the copying magic is at the third level for some reason.


    If I get fired, I know that I won''t be able to get another job even if I understand magic circles. It was already a miracle that I got this one because I wouldn''t have been accepted if there was an alternative.


    "So¡­ Are you going to do it? Or will you take a shot at farming?"


    Sixth was looking at me, he wasn''t smiling like usual. He had a serious demeanor, his serious self made me remember he is a powerful God.


    I looked at the book again, it wasn''t like I had a choice. Being a commoner would be a harsh life and the life expectancy was just a little better than our own middle ages, so I would die either way. At least with the knowledge from the Dark Arts practice, I can still be an Initiate magus with some more practice and become a noble.


    "I''m sorry mom¡­ Your son needs to become Evil." I smiled wryly as I said so, not really believing a magic practice could make me evil.


    Not hesitating anymore, I sat cross-legged and started using the Resonance Meditation technique...


    Seeing me starting to meditate, a smile appeared in Sixth''s face.


    It wasn''t the usual smug smile, instead, it brimmed with excitement.


    "It seems it won''t be boring with this fella... What luck I have!"


    As he said that in satisfaction, I was already in a meditative state, completely oblivious to Sixth''s remark.

 Chapter 6: Dread Trial I: Who would have guessed that watching a movie can help you raise the dead?!

    The Resonance meditation technique isn''t anything amazing. Everyone uses it, and it''s not something you need to learn.


    The Magus Soul in your body isn''t a sphere in your body, or even in something like your sea of mind like many novels use.


    It is a thin string-like muscle that has nine protuberances and connects the forehead, thorax, navel, both hands, both knees, and both feet. It is a voluntary muscle that can vibrate at will, and through vibrating it, it can resonate with the natural frequency of the mana in the planet, making the mana from outside the body transfer energy to the Magus Soul and making its own mana stronger.


    When a spell-caster uses his mana, it gets depleted and can be restored by using the Resonance meditation technique.


    The more the Magus Soul vibrates while full, the more Mana Essence is generated, making it so the upper limit of energy increases. That is how the spell-casters increase their levels.


    The grade of the Magus Soul dictates how much it can handle in its peak potential, which is why talent is something so crucial. It is also how nobles can almost surely have kids with a Magus soul with a grade around their own. It can be inherited through the genes, which is why nobles usually marry other nobles of equal power as well.


    I started to vibrate my own Magus Soul and instantly felt something tickling my entire body. It was a funny sensation and gave me a little pleasure.


    I couldn''t help but compare it to the thing every man does alone behind four walls when they need to relieve some stress, it was pretty much like that but across my entire body.


    After entering the meditative state, I thought:


    ...


    I wish to learn the secrets of death¡­


    ...


    If I wasn''t focused, I would cringe only by thinking that. It was something only a third-rate necromancer villain would say proudly.


    I decided to learn necromancy since I doubt that someone that never fought would be able to beat even the weakest demon in combat.


    After thinking that, I felt as if my body stopped existing for a moment, before starting to feel it again.


    Seeing that the vibrations had stopped, and for some reason, I couldn''t start them again after trying a few times, I decided to open my eyes.


    ¡­


    ¡®Am I dead?¡¯


    Was the first thing I thought after opening my eyes and seeing nothing but complete darkness.


    I wasn''t in my cross-legged position anymore, instead, I was floating.


    Obviously, I started panicking.


    "Could It be that I am so pathetic I died instantly?"


    While I was starting to have a mental breakdown, even to the point of crying with snot running down my nose, a white light appeared in front of me.


    It was a rectangular square of light, and it looked like a television.


    Seeing that, I felt relieved. That probably has something to do with the trial and I didn''t die yet.


    Calming down again, I returned to my usual poker-face, the rectangle started to get brighter and brighter until I was completely blinded by it.


    That blindness only lasted for a second, and I opened my eyes...


    ...


    I was back on my parent''s house, where I lived before going to college somewhere else.


    "What the hell is happening..."Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I touched my body to check if I wasn''t dreaming, and was able to feel everything normally, even when I pinched myself on the face.


    Feeling excited I jumped from the couch, but instead of landing on the ground immediately after, I stayed in the air for a second before falling face-first on the rug.


    "Ouch! What the hell?!" I exclaimed after feeling the pain all over my face.


    When I put my hands on the ground to get up, I noticed that they were much smaller than they should be.


    Noticing that, I touched my face and my skin was smoother, way smoother even compared to my new non-oily skin.


    My nose and mouth were also much smaller¡­ Everything was smaller.


    "I am a kid again¡­ Crap, this is still the trial!"


    As I realized that, I got up from the ground and looked around warily.


    While I tried to look around to see if there was a monster or something like that, I heard a voice.


    "Little bean! The popcorn is ready." Said the voice, a female voice.


    I looked at the source of the sound¡­ It was my mother coming out of the kitchen, with a bowl of popcorn.


    She was much younger, back to her youthful self. With her big breasts, round bottom, black hair and¡­


    ¡®Damn you, Kyle! That''s your mother!¡¯


    Removing those devilish thoughts from my mind, I looked at her with my usual poker-face and sat down on the couch again.


    "Thanks, Mom¡­" I said, a tinge of sadness and caution in my voice.


    My mom smiled and sat next to me, putting the bowl of popcorn between us.


    "Okay, let''s start the movie." She said, still smiling.


    She took the remote control that was really outdated and for an equally outdated DVD player.


    The player turned on and after the title menu appeared, which gave me a heavy sense of nostalgia, she started the movie.


    I remembered that movie. It was the one with the spartan warriors against the Persians, I really liked that movie, but only watched it once.


    ¡­


    The movie continued as I remembered, and I was interested in it, and with the sense of nostalgia, I got even more interested and didn''t turn my eyes away from the screen.


    During the movie, I didn''t forget about the trial. But since everything was normal and nothing happened, I couldn''t do anything about it.


    The only idea I had was to kill my mother, but even if this is a trial, I would never kill my mother!


    So, all I could do was keep watching the movie.


    Since I missed my mother very much, I put my head on her thighs while I watched. If I didn''t control myself, I would have cried right there and then.


    When I did that, my mother was startled for a few moments, since I was never someone that liked physical contact and rarely hugged her, even as a Kid.


    After that final moment when they showed the corpse of the Spartan King, I felt darkness flooding my vision again¡­


    I lost all feeling on my body for a moment, and when I opened my eyes again, I was back to my body.


    I felt that my Magus Soul was being encroached by some weird energy, which separated from it before stabilizing.


    Soon after recovering my consciousness, knowledge flooded my mind, even the meaning of the trial was included in the bundle of knowledge.


    It seems like the trial''s objective was to remember the moment where I saw the most deaths in my life, and not feel fear or happiness or hatred or disgust towards the corpses, only interest.


    The movie had a lot of dead bodies, but it was just a movie. It seems that it counted even still.


    "Congratulation Kyle. You are a Dread Lord now."


    I looked to my side and saw Sixth, he was standing by my side like always.


    I had just achieved something that should have been hard and dangerous, something only one out of ten thousand people in this world could achieve¡­


    ¡­


    But I didn''t feel any happiness.


    I could only remember the warmth of my mother''s embrace that I felt mere moments ago. I only felt longing.


    Seeing my lost face, Sixth shook his head and sighed.


    Surprisingly, he took a step forward and leaned towards me.


    He wrapped his arms around my body, hugging me as he patted my head like a father.


    "It''s okay¡­ Even Gods cry, there''s no way a mortal wouldn''t. Let it all out." He said in a soothing voice¡­


    This was a side of him I never saw before, he looked like a father instead of a sadist asshole.


    Feeling his hug, I somehow saw the shadow of my own father which I¡¯ve never met.


    Seeing even a god was emotional, I could do nothing to keep my emotions at bay. Pressing my eyes on his shoulder, I let out a wail and cried¡­


    That was the first time, when somehow, in this foreign world where I had no family nor anyone I knew¡­


    That I didn''t feel alone.


    ...


    As I hugged this little mortal ant, I asked myself why I had done so.


    Empathy? That shouldn''t be it.


    I knew that feeling, of being out of place and alone in the world. Being misplaced by a mere coincidence, coming into being for no reason...


    But I''ve seen other beings that are the same as me, even though not the same circumstance, the feelings aren''t too different, nonetheless.


    Why then, did I care little for those beings, but had a different reaction for this random human?


    I wished for an answer...


    ¡­


    But no answer came.


    Why didn''t I receive an answer? GM blocked it for some reason? No, that wasn''t it...


    How can I not receive an answer?


    This situation... Is truly curious.

 Chapter 7: Everyone is the MC but me!

    After that cringy moment with Sixth when I formally became a Dread Lord, an entire year passed.


    Thanks to the innate knowledge granted by Necromancy, I was able to understand and write magic circles. Which was useful when Old Arledge finally reached the Initiate Magus level four months ago, being granted territory in our Golden State Duchy. Since it seems he was in charge of copying Magic Circles before that.


    Usually, old Arledge should have be granted territory in the Whitewood duchy, but he was already more than sixty and had no hope of becoming stronger and advancing to the rank of Baron, having to remain a Baronet for his entire life. Sadly, he would never be able to inherit the Flower Forest County with his strength, so he accepted to stay here.


    He still spent most of his time in the Baron¡¯s Mansion though, since his territory is just a large village in the westernmost part of Red Stone Barony. He stayed on the mansion at night, sharing a room with me.


    Old Arledge also did the work of a scribe as a pastime, my old work to be precise, since it''s easier. We chatted as we worked, so my days weren''t boring.


    After spending much time together, we both grew used to each other. Even though I still had my usual poker face most of the time, he already got the gist of reading my emotions, something only my parents and my only friend had ever been able to do after a long time handling me.


    I never used necromancy after becoming a Dread Lord, nor did I imprint any necromancy spells on myself, until today.


    Being only a weak Dread Knight, as the initiate level of Dread Lords is called, if any random Divine Servant of a Life God attacked me, I would be dead before knowing it.


    Instead, I focused on gathering materials for a necromancy spell called ''Polar Dread Core''.


    That spell made my Magus Soul share the characteristics of my Dread Core, transforming it into a ¡®Hot Core¡¯ whilst my Dread Core would be a ¡®Cold Core¡¯, allowing me to practice magic without caring about my Magus Soul¡¯s grade, while depending on my Dread Core¡¯s growth.


    A hot core is a great advantage for a Dread Lord, since with it I can turn my Necrotic Energy into mana, and my mana into necrotic energy. Since they operate separately, that means I get to have the combined amount of mana of a Magus and a Necromancer. Necrotic Energy is two times as powerful as mana, so overall, I have three times more mana than a normal Magus.


    I managed to get all the supplementary ingredients for the Magic Ritual Circle and already asked for a month-long leave from Lord Angus, which is within my rights, to go look for the core ingredient, the Crystal Fiber Flower.


    This flower is generally used to repair broken Magus Cores, but it is also a supplementary ingredient in body-strengthening and regenerating ritual spells, so it is on high-demand and is also slightly expensive.


    I was already packing in my room after saying goodbye to Old Arledge and Lord Angus, Sixth was still by my side, with a phone on his hand, reading novels.


    After putting the two big bags with my stuff over my shoulder, I was ready to go when a message sound came from Sixth''s phone.


    "Hey, Kyle¡­"


    When I looked back at him, he was smiling wryly, and his face was slightly red.


    After a year with him, I got used to his behavior and learned to read his expressions. His current face said two things, "I am angry" and "You are in deep shit" the latter which is the expression I feared the most.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "What is it¡­? Please don''t tell me someone will try to kill Lord Angus again! Last time I had to hide on the hole where the servants shit!" I said, remembering an unpleasant experience from a few months ago.


    But Sixth shook his head and said.


    "I have good and bad News to tell you¡­ Which do you want to hear first?" He said with a grave face.


    Hearing him say that, I was scared and startled.


    One thing I know about sixth is that he never helps me or reveal information without something in exchange, he just stands there and sees how I react to situations, and even when Lord Angus was an assassination target, he only made his "You are in deep shit face" instead of warning me. The biggest help I ever received from him was that one time he advised me that I couldn''t remain a Scribe forever.


    What is it that is so important for him to directly tell me?


    "Okay¡­ The good one first." I said calmly, but inwardly scared.


    "You need to accomplish a task, and if you do so, you will be granted a single wish that can be anything. From immortality to power and money and even to ascend to the same level as me and become an omnipotent God. Anything goes."


    Hearing that, instead of being happy, I got even more scared. It was obvious that this task would be anything but easy.


    "What about the bad one?"


    "You have to kill five people that were chosen as champions by five of my six brothers, all of them have cheat abilities as well as ''plot armor'', so literally nothing below our level can kill them." He said with a complicated expression as if considering many things at once.


    "Six brothers?"


    Sixth nodded and explained.


    "You should know that there are Gods in this world, but they aren''t Gods like me or my brothers who hold unrestrained omnipotence. My six brothers and I are a group of omnipotent beings, and it seems they got interested in you, so they sent these five champions here and challenged you. Even though I say it''s a challenge, you have no choice since their champions are already bound to come here." He said with his mocking smile.


    When I heard that, I got shocked, but still had some hope.


    "But since they were granted cheat abilities and plot armor, I can have those as well can''t I?" I said looking at Sixth with pleading eyes.


    "Yes, you can." He said with a sigh. "You now have the power to breach their plot armor and kill them, so they have to rely on their own abilities when fighting you."


    Thud


    With a dull sound, I fell to my knees on the floor with a despairing expression.


    What kind of bullshit cheat ability is that? How can that even help me?


    Seeing my expression, Sixth sighed and shook his head with sadness imprinted on his face.


    "Don''t underestimate that ability. Against them, who will be used to things going right all the time, that difference is enough to kill. You can also make them surrender if they accept, they have no choice but to kill you though." He said seriously. "And do you think getting that wish is easy? They must kill only you, but their rewards'' limitations are much worse than yours! You can literally become omnipotent just like me! That''s not something that can be easily acquired by killing just five people!"


    "Also, you already don''t have a choice. It''s either you or them. At least, they don''t know who you are, but you will be able to identify them first easily!"


    "You read so many novels and watched so much anime, how can you not recognize a cheat character with plot armor? But for them? They would look at the current you and think you are one of those people that are described along with the background on a regular novel. You also have advantages!" He said, trying to help me get out of my despair.


    Even after hearing him, I was still panicking and didn''t get up.


    I am just a normal person... I realized that when those assassins came time and time again. I can only run and hide in my current state, the mere thought of dying made me afraid, and having to face five Main characters coming straight from a novel is a death sentence to me¡­


    But then I realized, Sixth was right!


    Main Characters are Main Characters because of their plot armor, even though the Main Character may suffer for a while they will always come out unscathed and stronger because of their plot armor¡­


    But that was useless against me.


    Slowly I got up and straightened my back, tightening my grip on the two bags over my shoulders and walking out of my room.


    If I keep lamenting myself, it would just be waiting for my death. Even though I was still afraid to the point my legs shook while walking, I had to keep going.


    If I''m between a rock and a hard place, then I will slam my fists against the rock and try to break it!

 Chapter 8: You have no shit on you, so youre a noble!

    I exited Red Stone Town and walked west towards the plains, to the center of Golden State Duchy.


    My destination is the Arvilgen Forest on the northwestern part of the duchy, that has some places where Crystal Fiber Flower grows.


    I had to walk there, and the center of the duchy was far away. My first stop is at Argent Heart City, that is the heart of the county where Red Stone Barony is located, the Argent Heart County of the Argent Heart family. I plan on taking a caravan from there towards Arvilgen Forest.


    Argent Heart city is a hundred and thirty miles from here, or a little more than 200 kilometers. With my new healthy body, I can walk twenty-one miles in eight hours. It will take a little more than six days to get there.


    I have no horse since those are expensive and I have gone bankrupt after buying the supplementary ingredients for the Magic Ritual Circle. So, my two bags were still over my shoulders, and not on a horse or a mule.


    For the first two nights, I camped on the fields with the tent I bought in the town, nothing bad happened until now, which is normal.


    It''s hard for bandits to attack single people with no horses, carriages or retainers since they are hard to spot. Even if some bandits do see me, I would be ignored since I don''t wear fine clothes or looked like a noble or merchant in any way. I am only cleaner than I should be because Lord Angus let me borrow a bottle with a Clear Water spell for bathing, drinking and washing my clothing... Which is good since I am not used to be without bathing for a long time.


    But¡­ Something happened at noon of the third day.


    "Looks like you have company." Said Sixth chuckling, ready to watch a good show. (And literally creating popcorn to watch it.)


    I was resting when he said that, that''s when I saw a group of twenty-three people coming towards me wielding either swords or daggers and donning thick fur clothing.


    The twenty-odd people stopped in front of me, and a tall man with big muscles came forward with a big sneer on his face.


    "White-faced noble pig! Hand over your stuff or face me and my boys'' blades to your neck!" The man threatened.


    Getting up, I looked at him with my usual poker face.


    "I am not a noble. I''m just a commoner traveling towards Argent City in search of a job. I have nothing on me but rations and my clothing." I said.


    I really have nothing else. Every bit of silver I had was already spent on the materials I bought, all of which I left stashed in my room.


    The bandit looked at me and snorted.


    "Hmpf! You aren''t a noble you say? How the hell are you so clean then you motherfucker?! Do you take me for someone stupid?" He said.


    He was indeed stupid for trying to rob a noble, even a bastard noble with no inheritance, but I wouldn''t say that to his face.


    Also, how the hell not having shit covering me instantly heightens my status?! Although, now that I think of it those small peddlers at Town didn''t stink nearly as much as the peasants... They aren''t nobles even still, it''s too far-fetched that a noble wouldn''t have a single bodyguard.


    "No, sir! I really am just a peasant!" I said, still not showing my fear.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Seeing my poker face, the big bandit took it for arrogance and said nothing, only swinging his sword towards my chest with monstrous strength.


    Startled, I fell backward and landed on my butt. Thankfully, the sword didn''t hit me, and because of that I successfully avoided death.


    But when the sword swung past me, I could feel a gush of air that sent me rolling backward for two meters, making my body ache all over.


    When the dizziness passed, I looked again at the big bandit that was smiling in satisfaction. My face now showed true fear, and I almost peed my pants from the shock.


    "Uh¡­ What bad luck!" Sixth said.


    He said that because the man was able to form that gust of air with a swing of his sword, so even though he wasn''t a martial artist, he was surely training to become one and already had some mana.


    Out of pure reflex and fear, I waved my hands in the air forming three weird motions.


    When I noticed that nothing happened and that my hands were trembling, my fear increased even more.


    "Calm yourself! Those trembling hands can''t even hold a paperweight, much less weave mana."


    Sixth was referring to the gestures I was attempting to execute. They are necessary to cast a spell but needed to be precise and with the right intensity, the force control is extremely important for casting...


    The bandit looked at my attempt to cast a spell while laughing, he probably thought I was trying to beg for forgiveness but was too scared to do so.


    Calming myself, I repeated the gestures again, slowly this time.


    When I completed them, three vortexes formed, one on each of my hands and another on my forehead.


    Those vortexes became three white shadows that flew towards the big bandit in front of me with the speed of a crossbow bolt.


    Spurt!


    Blood gushed from the bandit''s chest as he fell to the ground.


    "Seriously?! Not killing a caster before they can use a spell is such a basic error!" Sixth jeered, mocking the bandits.


    Both, me and the bandits were stunned because of the sudden fall of the big bandit, but my hands didn''t stop even though I was scared and shocked, they moved involuntarily in the way I had prepared to beforehand, regardless of my shock.


    That was a big stroke of luck since I am too afraid to think, and that involuntary reaction saved me. The gestures now were taking longer to execute, since this is a more complex spell.


    When the other Bandits managed to react, I had already finished my motions and two vortexes appeared from my hands, sending a grey mist into the air, making the bandits stop their charge in fear.


    The mist entered the Big Bandit''s body through his pores, and his skin turned pale, his muscles convulsed, and his body trembled in constant spasms for a few seconds before stopping.


    Right before the eyes of the shocked bandits, the corpse of the big bandit got up.


    "You forgot to say: RISE MY CHILDREN!! Like a necromancer would¡­ Even though it''s just one."


    Ignoring Sixth''s remark, I looked at the rising bandit.


    He looked exactly like when he was alive, but the three things on his chest, which looked like white arrows, were still stuck on it; but the wound wasn''t bleeding, only the bloodstains on the fur clothes remained.


    The Bandit took hold of his sword and ran towards the bandits, swinging ate the nearest one and beheading him¡­


    But that wasn''t all.


    The swing was followed by a black wave of energy that could be seen by the naked eye that beheaded all the other bandits. The energy continued for a few meters, killing the last bandit before dissipating.


    "OP! There''s really an enormous difference between people who can use mana and those that can''t." Sixth said, slightly unsatisfied with the fast fight. I never paid attention to his remarks, since until now, I was afraid of dying.


    After killing his previous companions, the bandit sheathed his sword and walked towards me. He was a head taller and I immediately felt pressure from him.


    But that towering figure suddenly lowered its height, kneeling in front of me with his hand on his chest, lowering his head in subservience.


    "Ghoul Warrior, Albert, pays his respects to his liege Lord Knight." He said, not looking at me directly in the eye.


    This man, Albert, was a Ghoul Warrior raised from a martial artist in training. He completely entered the level of Apprentice Martial Artist after becoming a ghoul.


    His skin was pale from the blood that was replaced by necrotic energy, the wounds that revealed only flesh, leaked a black mist¡­


    He was the first man I ever killed, and my first undead.

 Chapter 9: This world looks too much like an MMORPG...

    After throwing up, I looked at the bandits with conflicted emotions.


    I was surprisingly unaffected by their death. I once thought that the first time I killed someone would feel like shit, but It just felt disgusting because of the gore, I didn''t feel anything beyond that.


    "I think I saw too many gory movies¡­" I said, cleaning the rest of vomit from my mouth.


    "Yeah. Your generation is really something, but I''m sure most people your age would feel bad when killing for the first time." Sixth corrected me. "You are probably like that because of your lack of social interactions."


    What Sixth said really made sense, it felt like when I saw the corpses of those children that died in a terrorist attacks. I never knew them and could care less about their deaths, so it was at most disgusting; but I silently felt guilty for not caring. The difference is that this time I had killed them, and It was a bunch of grown-up bandits.


    "But yeah, you were lucky back there. If you hadn''t avoided the first attack, you would have died for sure. On the bright side, you got some combat experience and the chance to test two out of five of the spells you learned." He said, looking at me with a smile. Sixth seemed genuinely happy that I got out of that battle safe, his occasional human moments still feel kind of weird.


    The spells I used just now were the Bone Arrow and Raise Ghoul spells. The former created sharp bone arrows that can pierce the enemies with the speed of a crossbow bolt, as well as sap the life out of their body, making even a single shot lethal if not taken care of soon, since the arrow would keep sapping life force while it was still in the enemy''s body. Raise Ghoul can raise a person that is able to wield mana, it can even raise a Magus if one is found but they would only be able to cast magic after getting a Hot Core. A ghoul''s body also becomes immune to rotting, being able to pass themselves as living people. They also retain their intelligence, while losing their memories, being classified as a special undead. A Dread Knight can only raise ten ghouls since they are much more powerful than normal undead.


    The other three spells I learned were Death Restoration, that healed undead. Raise Lesser Undead, that raised fast but weak skeletons and sturdy but slow zombies. And Dread Mantle, that created a black mantle that covered my entire body, and enabled me to suck the life of those that died by the hands of my undead, healing myself. The limit of raised undead is a hundred zombies and a thousand skeletons, but zombies and skeletons aren''t useful against people who wield Mana or normal people with good armor and skills, since they can only follow my orders and have no intelligence¡­ Unless they have big numbers.


    Seeing the still kneeling ghoul, that was constantly leaking black mist from his chest, I made three short gestures with my hands, followed by a longer gesture.


    A single vortex appeared on my right hand and formed a gray mist, that entered the Ghoul''s chest.


    The thorn flesh that was punctured by the arrows started recovering, even pushing the arrows out of the ghoul''s chest.


    The ghoul was completely rejuvenated, and the previous holes on his chest had disappeared.


    Sixth looked at me with a smile and said.


    "Okay, what do you do after you kill bandits? That''s an easy question."


    When Sixth said that, I remembered something important. It was the most common thing that anyone should do after killing a bandit group.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Looting!


    I had to loot the corpses, but my heart was still too weak for that. I am probably the first necromancer in this world to be disgusted by corpses, but even still, I ordered Albert to loot them for me. One day I will be able to take someone''s guts in my hands, but that day is not today, nor tomorrow, nor in a few years¡­ Maybe never.


    After looting the corpses for valuables, Albert returned with twenty-three pouches, including his own.


    "Yeah. Even though it was somewhat dangerous, It''s still a lot of money for little work." I said, nodding after counting how many coins were in the pouches.


    There were twenty-eight gold coins and seventy-nine silver coins, most of them were in Albert''s pouch. One gold equals to five silvers, and my wages at Lord Angus'' mansion was two silvers a week, so what I received from this one group was equal to more than two years of my wages! It was an astronomical amount for me!


    "As expected from a bandit group with a boss that is almost a Martial Artist, they can''t be compared to normal people." I said with a dejected sigh.


    These bandits probably lived from raiding merchant caravans that passed through the fields. A normal caravan needed to have at least ten armed men with at least leather armor, but It was rare for them to have a martial artist or even a martial artist in training. People like that usually guarded the caravans of nobles or the merchants from guilds, all the guards of Lord Angus were Martial Artists of at least the first level, Enki who is the head of the guard is a powerful third level Martial artist.


    "Hey, Kyle. Why don''t you raise those sacks of meat and go kill some more bandits? Even though it is unlikely for you to find any other band that has a boss that''s almost a martial artist, you can at least get some money and increase your corpse count. It''s good to have your minion capacity capped."


    Sixth''s suggestion really did make sense and having the minion capacity at the limit will really help when I''m in a pinch.


    "Okay, why were you useful?" I asked, looking at Sixth suspiciously.


    The latter shrugged, looking at me with a look of innocence.


    "Simply because it is fun to watch this... And knowing you, I was sure you would have ended up doing that in a day or so." He explained.


    He was right. I''m the kind of person that would start farming for loot and XP as soon as I get bored of the main quest.


    So, I cast Raise Lesser Undead on the twenty-two bandits. I turned the fifteen dagger-wielding bandits into skeletons and the six sword-wielding ones into zombies.


    The raising process was a lot faster than the Raise Ghoul one, and only one vortex was created. The skeleton''s flesh quickly rotted to reveal white bones and the zombies got up with empty expressions, but their flesh didn''t regenerate, and they had some spots that were already rotten, revealing black flesh.


    A single cast of the spell can reanimate as many undead as I want, since it isn''t my Necrotic Energy that raises them, it just summons some sort of higher power that does that for me.


    I had just acquired a small undead squad, the smell was insufferable and nauseating, but I grew used enough to it, and didn''t vomit... More than two or three times.


    Usually, it would be stupid to walk around on open plains along with undead, since a Dread Lord would usually be hunted the same moment it is spotted, but that wasn''t the case for this world''s necromancy.


    For non-special undead, that are summoned by Raise Lesser Undead and its higher forms, they can be reduced into cores and summoned at will. A single core can store all the undead of its own kind, such as the Skeleton Core that stores skeletons and Zombie Cores that stores zombies, it also stores whatever they are wearing, so it is incredibly convenient. That doesn''t work for undead like ghouls though, since they are something between undead and living, closer to a True Undead, a mythical being that denies death, a legend that is imprinted in the very soul of every necromancer, as the pinnacle of Necromancy.


    After transmitting my will to the undead, they all coalesced into two small balls that could fit between my fingers. Those spheres then got increasingly smaller and entered the palm of my hands, then into my body, the two balls were now the size of a cell, and were stored in my left hand''s Dread Channel, the protuberance of the Dread Core. (For Magus Souls it would be called Magus channel.)


    After that, Albert and I started searching for more bandits.


    For some reason, I could only think that I was going to farm coins and XP from trash mobs in the starting area from some RPG.


    "I need to treat this world more seriously¡­ It still looks too much like an RPG."

 Chapter 10: Vrygewig, your Friendly Neighborhood Necromancer.

    After I had encountered Albert¡¯s group, I found six other groups of bandits. I killed every single one of them and looted their corpses. My corpse count increased until I had all the zombies I could, and my skeletons reached two hundred or so, I was closer to the capacity of a thousand skeletons.


    Their loot wasn¡¯t as good as Albert¡¯s, they were all bigger groups but without a leader that trained in Mana, so I just got little more than two golds and thirty silvers from them¡­.


    We had already spent the entire day walking; I was extremely tired and at the same time envied Albert¡¯s undead constitution. We had stopped for the night and set up camp, it was already dark by the time we finished.


    We had cleared a small place in the overgrowth where we put our camp. By now, Albert had already lit the fire, and was stoking it, putting some small dry branches every now and then so the fire would burn brighter. We were quite conspicuous, anyone in hundreds of meters from us or who had an advantage point would be able to notice our camp.


    That was on purpose though, since I hoped some bandits would attack, which didn¡¯t happen, unfortunately.


    Instead of my usual scholar¡¯s robes, I wore my dread mantle that wasn¡¯t conspicuous-looking, it would be hard to differentiate it from normal black robes. I also bought a cheap mask with a smiling expression back in town, and I had it by my side. Hiding my identity is important and caution is never enough. (Says the guy trying to attract threats¡­)


    Albert was still the same, but I covered his face with a hood and a piece of brown cloth I found earlier. He looked like a ferocious warrior, sworn to die on the battlefield¡­ Even though he''s already dead.


    Sixth was by my side, ceaselessly typing on his phone. I guess he was speaking to his brothers or something.


    ¡°Hey, Sixth¡­ Who are your brothers? Are they known Gods on earth or here?¡± I asked, curious about their origin.


    "My brothers are ascended mortals; each became omnipotent through different ways and circumstances.¡± He answered, not looking away from his phone. ¡°None of them but my second brother is worshiped anywhere¡­ But three of them came from planets that resembled earth in many ways.¡± He said, putting his phone on his pocket. For some reason, he looked sad when he talked about his brothers.


    "So¡­ You are the youngest one? Wait¡­ Do you guys even perceive time as important?" I asked, getting more curious, I didn¡¯t even notice Sixth¡¯s changing mood.


    "In a way, I am indeed the youngest one. We don''t perceive time as you do, actually, we weren''t even supposed to be affected by any type of chronology.¡± He explained, now looking visibly proud of himself and his brothers. ¡°However, my first brother decided to make a unified timeline throughout different realities, so we ascended in chronological order, making me the youngest." He added, with a look of admiration when he spoke of his first brother.


    I was going to ask whether his first brother was the most powerful among them, but Albert interrupted me before I was able to do so.


    "Lord Knight. I am sorry to interrupt the Lord''s conversation, but it seems a large group of enemies is fighting northwards." He said, looking towards the north, where I could now see a bright horizon in the middle of the night... I wonder how I didn¡¯t notice this before?


    "Yes, there does seem to be people there¡­ Wait, you can see Sixth?" I asked, surprised that he noticed I was having a conversation with someone, anyone that looked at me now would see me talking to myself.


    Albert nodded, seeming to find the question weird. Albert was starting to show opinion after living for a few hours, so he was already able to change his mood and have truly independent thought.


    "I think I said before that I am invisible only if I want to be. Your minions can see me like you, so there''s no need to be surprised." He said, returning to his usual mocking smile.


    When we had just met, I was always angry at his antics, especially at his smile. But now I notice that''s just the way he is, and since he''s a companion that''s with me 24/7, I grew used to it¡­ You tend to get more familiar with someone that sees you taking a dump.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Albert, we are going to see what is happening... Covertly." I said while putting my mask.


    "Yes, my liege!" Albert answered, getting up and standing ready, his right hand ready to unsheathe his sword at any time.


    Both of us started walking towards the lights, Albert stood in front of me for protection...


    The further we walked, the brighter the lights became, and after a little while we started hearing screaming noises.


    When we reached a distance where the screams were extremely clear, and we could already hear metal clashing, I gestured for Albert to scout ahead.


    He walked towards the source of the noises, and after ten minutes he came back.


    "There are two parties, one has fifty-odd people and the other has more than a hundred. The former has two apprentice martial artists, the other has four apprentice martial artists. The first party is losing and one of its experts is heavily injured. The losing party is a merchant caravan, probably from a small-sized guild, while the other is composed by more than one major bandit group of the region." Albert reported, explaining the situation in a single breath.


    "Okay. We are helping them." I said matter-of-factly.


    When I declared my intention of helping them, Sixth looked at me as if I was some kind of mentally challenged person.


    "Why the fuck are you helping them?! You are a necromancer, so you shouldn''t be exposing yourself easily!" He jeered, scolding me for my idiotic idea.


    "You are wrong." I retorted. "My reputation is already bad for the simple fact that I am a necromancer, so everyone will try to kill me when they discover me anyway, and it''s just a matter of time before they do... But if I build my personal reputation to be good, I will have fewer enemies, and maybe I even acquire allies."


    This decision came from the knowledge acquired in my previous world. That only the weak people know good and evil. The elite people of society know no eternal friends or enemies, only eternal benefits. It''s not far-fetched that some people already befriended necromancers, especially since they can provide exclusive services. It is even more unlikely that secular powers would be keen on obeying a church, which I already know they aren''t.


    When Sixth heard my line of thought (Literally, he read my mind.), he acknowledged that while risky, it really had its own advantages. Fighting the world is a difficult thing, after all, so he ended up agreeing with me.


    Making twelve short gestures and two longer gestures, the two cores flew out of my hand. When the cores came out, they floated in front of me and started dissipating into black mist, becoming my undead minions.


    "Charge at the Bandits! Protect the Merchants!" I said with a loud yell, declaring my stance.


    Like the starting shot from a race, my scream started the charge of the undead, the hundreds of skeletons charging in front, followed by the slower zombies.


    The bandits were caught by surprise and were flanked from both sides by the undead and the guards. The skeletons stabbed many bandits and killed them instantly before retreating and letting the zombies attack, the zombies took damage before letting the skeletons behind attack, the zombies that retreated were healed by me before going back to the fight. That was the battle strategy I created after seeing the undead perform in the other battles.


    The man that was being attacked by three Bandits had much more leeway after two of them were attacked by Albert, and they were able to defeat their opponents in little less than ten other moves before moving to help the other one that was battling the bandit Martial artist, killing him instantly.


    They were of the same level, but it seems like the skill of those guards was much better than the bandits. Albert himself was far from them in swordsmanship, even though he made up for that with the extra strength and the power of necrotic energy, which is greater than mana.


    After that, the experts joined the guards to kill the remaining bandits before emerging victorious. It was a one-sided massacre with so many against so few, and with three experts helping it was over amazingly fast...


    However, none of them celebrated.


    They separated into two groups, my rotten undead army looked at the merchants, exuding a naturally menacing momentum. The guards, on the other hand, looked at the undead warily, none daring to sheathe their swords. All of them were afraid, something the undead could not feel.


    The Merchant Experts were also ready to attack Albert at a moment¡¯s notice but waited for our actions first.


    "Stay your weapons! We mean no harm!" I exclaimed, going through the undead and walking towards the guards.


    Like the red sea in the Bible, the guards opened the way for me. That was the deterring force of the title ¡®Dread Lord¡¯, a name that was equal to calamity in the hearts of many.


    I reached the wagons of the caravans and stood by the side of Albert, looking at the experts.


    "Who¡­ Who are you? Why did you help us?" Asked the martial artist with light injuries, obviously suspicious and afraid of me.


    I looked at him through my mask, with cold eyes that made my figure even more menacing along with the added effect of the blood-stained black robe. The man started shivering after I looked at him but was surprised by my next action.


    Lightly, I bowed towards him, showing my friendly disposition.


    "My name is Vrygewig, I am just a friendly neighborhood necromancer."


    I hope master Lee doesn''t get angry at this pun in heaven¡­

 Chapter 11: Merchants are greys, so if you give them a profit you will never be treated badly!

    The guards were wary of me, but when they heard the word ''friendly'' they eased up a little. But I''m sure they didn''t understand the pun, and they surely didn¡¯t understand what ''neighborhood'' means.


    "If your purpose was to help us, we are thankful¡­ Do you require any rewards? We can provide you with some gold coins for your aid." Said the martial artist guard, trying to be polite. It¡¯s as that saying tells, only crazy people would punch someone smiling at them¡­ Even though I wasn¡¯t smiling, nor could they see my face.


    Hearing that, I started stroking my chin, as if in deep thought.


    "Well¡­ My primary intention was to kill bandits to get their corpses and money. I just helped you because I wouldn''t have to go out of my way to do so¡­ Well, but if you insist, I shall accept."


    After saying so, I waved my hand and the undead behind me disappeared into my hands after going back to their core-form.


    Seeing the undead disappear, only leaving Albert behind, the guards visibly showed some relief and sheathed their weapons as well.


    "Please wait for a moment. I will ask Sir Artmer to give you some gold coins as a reward." Said the martial artist with a solemn demeanor, also sheathing his sword.


    He then went back to the main carriage of the caravan and came out with a young man soon after.


    The man was tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing fine clothes adorned with jewelry, the man possessed a noble bearing. He seemed to be a noble, as well as a merchant, but being so young he was surely not a Magus yet.


    "Thank you for your help Sir Vrygewig. Were it not for you, we would have lost all our merchandise." He said with a bow, showing a dashing smile.


    Seeing the young man, I remembered a portrait I saw in one of the books that I copied for Lord Angus. Fortunately, drawing a portrait is much easier than a Magic Circle, otherwise, I would have been fired if I drew it as I did on earth. However, I was surprised since I knew this man¡¯s identity isn¡¯t simple¡­


    "It was just proper for me to do so. Building a good relationship with the Black Gold family is helping myself." I said, bowing back respectfully.


    Hearing that, an astonished look appeared on the young man''s face.


    "You know who I am?" He asked.


    Yes, I knew exactly who that man was. In Golden State Duchy, and the lands of the eastern Argent Kingdom, one of the four biggest merchant guilds was the Bosta Merchant Guild, that was responsible for Large-scale trading across the duchy and possessed many mines, they also dealt with black market trading, but weren''t specialized on that. Even though the Black Gold Family was a family of Barons, they were as powerful and influential as the Dukes because of the huge amount of money they possess.


    Seeing that I knew him, a strange glint shone on his eyes, that was the same weird glare of the guy that wanted to sell me my computer for three times its worth had when I told him I didn''t know anything about computers (Obviously a lie, ended up getting a discount.). That was the glare of someone seeing a huge profit.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "Sir Vrygewig is indeed an uncommon Dread Lord to be able to recognize someone like me, you aren''t an uncouth ignoble peasant like most. It seems that you can truly be reasoned with." He said, obviously inferring that I was of noble origins.


    "You are too kind in your assessment sir Artmer. If I were of high status, I wouldn''t have to resort to becoming a Dread Lord. My background is just slightly better than most peasants, and I don''t even have two pennies to my name." I said, feeding him information. With that, he would surely understand I am a bastard son that needs money. I had gotten used to this kind of exchanges after watching Baron Angus dealing with nobles, it is roundabout but that¡¯s how politics work, pretty much a different language altogether.


    Hearing what I said, a big smile appeared on Artmer''s face.


    "Even still, someone such as you is definitely exalted now, with your current power." He said before pausing. "I think we could form a profitable relationship indeed¡­ if Sir knows what I mean."


    When he said so, he took out a pouch from his waist and threw it at Albert.


    After opening, he counted and verified that there were fifty gold coins inside, which along with the money I have, was enough for me to buy the Crystal Fiber Flower instead of hunting for one.


    Looking at the money, I smiled underneath my mask.


    "You really are something boy! You managed to get some big fish to be interested in you? You seem to be better than expected indeed." Said Sixth, patting my shoulder with a smile on his face.


    Ignoring Sixth, for now, I continued listening to Artmer.


    "Sir Vrygewig, we are currently in need of an escort to get to Golden State City. But for some reasons, we need to do It covertly, so we couldn''t get our best experts to come along or have more people to guard the caravan, which is why we were disadvantaged against those lowly bandits.¡± Artmer explained, many things were implied in his words and it seems their cargo is extremely important. ¡°But with you Sir Vrygewig, we can surely go unnoticed and arrive at the city without any problems. I wonder if Sir would accept to come along for another hundred gold coins?" He proposed.


    "If Sir Artmer insists, I will be happy to oblige, as long as sir keeps my identity as a Dread Lord a secret during the trip¡­ I would also like to buy a Heart Fiber Flower in Argent Heart city, if you would be so kind as to stop there for me to buy it."


    Artmer smiled and brought me to his carriage where we chatted.


    We traveled for two more days before arriving at Argent city, we were attacked by another two bandit groups on the way, however, they were instantly slain by the five ghouls, adding another forty-two skeletons to my horde.


    The ghouls'' abilities were much better than a Martial Artist''s since Ghouls never tired and could regenerate by eating flesh, their necrotic energy was also passively regenerated while fighting and hardly ran out of energy like Martial Artists, the rate of regeneration was not that big though, so big attacks in succession would exhaust it.


    We arrived at Argent Heart city without any major happenings. I had removed my Dread Mantle but kept a hood over my face to hide my facial features, there were many people with deformed features they couldn¡¯t afford to fix, so that wasn''t too conspicuous.


    Artmer noticed I was probably young because of my voice but was still surprised when he saw I looked about the same age as he did, after all, most Dread Lords are at least middle-aged and many of them are old men.


    It is said that the younger the Dread Lord, the bigger the possibility of them getting to higher ranks. It is rumored that the Dread King of the western continent was twelve when he became a Dread Lord, and now he became a Fourth level existence, which is the highest a necromancer ever reached since the Dread Emperor that ravaged the world on the Dark Ages. Though no one knows what relation age has with necromancy since that''s something only a necromancer would know, and the answer is that there is no relation at all.


    After arriving at Argent Heart City, we stayed in a big Inn where I got my own private room that was by the side of Artmer''s room.


    I bathed and then slept, still with my mask on, while letting two ghouls stand watch outside my room, and another two by Artmer''s room, while Albert stayed with me.


    Closing my eyes, tiredness embraced me before I fell asleep.

 Chapter 12: Im Actually A Talented Wizard?!

    After I woke up, I saw Albert with his eyes closed, sitting on a chair in a corner of the room. He wasn¡¯t sleeping, but he still had some human habits which included closing his eyes to rest, even though he needed none.


    As for Sixth, he was playing a dance game in a console at another corner¡­ Even though I don¡¯t like dance games, I would play anything right now.


    "Lord Knight. Sir Artmer''s men came earlier and delivered the Cristal Fiber Flower.¡± Albert said, opening his eyes the moment I sat on the bed. ¡°They said it''s another token of gratitude for the help yesterday, and there''s no need to pay for it, I also asked some of the newcomers to go buy the rest of the materials since the Lord¡¯s are still in Red Stone Town. Sir Artmer also said that he has to deal with some small business here, so we shall only leave the City by tomorrow.¡± He reported.


    I was pleasantly surprised when Albert gave me a big pouch with the materials, which included the flower. Albert did well to act without my orders, it seems he¡¯s already something like the leader of the ghouls, probably because of seniority.


    After getting the pouch, I started putting the materials on top of the room¡¯s table. I had to create a special mixture for the ritual spell, and these materials where what I needed.


    There were a few flasks with weird liquids, herbs, and minerals, as well as a big mortar to ground them.


    I took out a piece of black chalk and drew a Magic Circle, then proceeded to put the Mortar on top of it, before putting my finger on the Circle and sending mana to activate it.


    There was a great amount of theory that needed to be understood to activate a Magic Circle. Magic Circles were like computer codes, that needed to be written and executed. If it was executed incorrectly, an error would occur and the mana wouldn''t achieve the correct effects, which is potentially dangerous.


    The Circle was activated correctly by me, since I acquired the innate knowledge of Magic Circles when I became a necromancer, and the mana flowed through the black chalk and into the mortar.


    After activating the Circle, I put the herbs and minerals in the mortar and crushed them.


    Those minerals, that shouldn''t be broken easily, were crushed in the mortar and became a grey powder along with the herbs. After crushing the minerals, I threw the liquids in the flasks inside, and mixed them with the powder.


    The mixture inside the mortar became a grey gel-like substance, and after it was completely gray, I deactivated the Circle and took the mortar in my arms.


    Using a brush to paint the floor of the room with the gel, I drew a big Magic Circle that was much more complicated than the one I used in the mortar. After putting the mortar aside and stepping on the Circle, I sat cross-legged and started waving my hands to cast the ritual spell.


    While casting the spell, the flower floated in front of me before entering my mouth. I ingested the Flower and focused.


    The Gel-like substance glowed with gray light, and I started feeling the changes inside my body.


    The flower inside my body was decomposed and became a series of tiny threads that wandered my body in different directions, I could clearly feel those threads moving on my body like little worms, and It gave me an uncomfortable feeling while also being a little painful.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The process lasted for half an hour before stopping completely.


    To test whether the spell had worked, I started meditating to create Necrotic Energy, which is usually only used to restore energy, since Necrotic Essence is formed only by slaying living things.


    The Necrotic Energy I restored was divided into two after being formed, one part stayed in my Dread Core while another part went towards my Magus Soul by the side of my core, the Necrotic energy then became mana.


    When that wave of Mana entered the Magus Soul, I could feel it¡­ My mana was growing exponentially!


    I stopped letting half of the created Necrotic Energy on my Dread Core and started sending all of it towards my Magus Soul (Hot Core).


    Suddenly, the speed of producing Necrotic Energy Increased a hundredfold and It kept pouring into my Magus core. Necrotic Energy was better than Mana in quality, so any quantity of Necrotic energy was equivalent to two times the same amount of mana.


    The process continued for three hours before my Dread Core turned back to normal, producing the same amount of Necrotic Energy as before.


    Feeling the huge amount of Mana coursing through my Magus Soul, I knew it¡­


    I became an Initiate Magus!


    Now I could use the same amount of mana as a Magus just by increasing my necrotic energy, and If I transferred all my mana to my Dread Core, I would be able to replenish half of my Necrotic energy at any time!


    After becoming a Magus, I erased the big Magic Circle and threw the used gel in a trash bin on the room. Then, I took the black chalk and drew twenty small Magic Circles on the table.


    A magus, differently from a necromancer, can learn twenty spells each level. The twenty spells must be divided into four groups of five by element, respectively: One Core Element, One Major Element, One Minor Element, and one group could be any kind of spell.


    These elements were set from the first level and couldn''t be changed under ordinary circumstances. The Core, Major and Minor elements would be the three elements that a Magus would be proficient in.


    A magus that has an Ice Core element, in one cast he would be able to summon Ten Ice Arrows on initiate level, while a magus that majored on ice could summon five, and one that minored in it could summon three. If you didn''t have any proficiency towards this element, you would only be able to summon one arrow.


    The Elements I chose were Ice as a core, Illusion as a Major and Enhancement as a minor, as well as five convenient spells of different elements. After inputting my Mana into the first Circle, an illusory image of it entered my two hands.


    To learn a spell, a Magus would need to imprint a Circle in their Magus Soul through this method, and from then on, the spell can be cast by simply using the correct gestures. Spells were all cast through gestures, and there was no chanting required. However, the more powerful spells were harder to learn since their paths were more complicated, and intricate mana control would be needed to learn those spells. The reason is that if you take too long to activate the energy paths, the spell would be too unstable to be put inside the Magus Soul.


    I imprinted the other nineteen spells in my Hot Core and formally became a Magus.


    I then cast one of my new spells, Lesser Disguise, and removed my mask.


    My hair was originally black, and my eyes were of the same color. My skin was slightly tanned as well.


    But when I removed the mask and the hood after that, not only were my features changed, my hair became silver and my eyes red. This appearance was the same as Sixth''s. Lesser disguise could change my features as much as I want, but I couldn''t change from a humanoid disguise, and people would notice that it is an illusion if they touched me, since the illusion wasn''t material. But it couldn''t be seen through normally, only dispelled or seen through using a specific spell.


    "Looking good, huh? I only noticed how handsome I truly am after seeing it from my own view, but your bearing isn''t as divine as mine, so you don''t stand a chance of being a player like me." Said Sixth after noticing I had copied his appearance.


    "I wouldn''t be able to be a player really. I am incredibly awkward when speaking to cute girls." I said, acknowledging my weakness as a true man would.


    "But¡­ It seems I was able to become a wizard before thirty. Which means I am a really talented virgin."


    I wasn''t sure if I should be sad or happy about that¡­