《A Chuunibyou's Life in Another World!》


 The Prologue

    Hiro was coming back from the supermarket with a few plastic bags, distractedly listening to some music in his phone. The wind was comfortable against his skin and his slightly rebellious asian black hair.


    He was woken from his daydreaming about his life being a music video as the music ended. He looked around, realizing that he was near a park where some kids were playing, and that''s also when he saw the little ball rolling to the street. And of course, the speeding car that was coming to meet it.


    "Such a cliche scenario, is it insulting This King?" Said youth grabs his face while looking between his fingers. Suddenly he realized that the car wasn''t going to stop. Cursing out loud, he ran as fast as he could to try and save the kid that was going after the ball.


    Perhaps it was not to be. In his mind it went all flawlessly, like a plot worthy of a King. But in reality, he barely managed to push the kid away before the car hit him full force. He didn''t even managed to let go of the child, his arm still in the motion of pushing the kid.


    You might have heard of some cases where a person was still awake in the floor for a few seconds after being in a car accident like this. But that was not the case. Hiro didn''t even felt a thing. He was pushing the kid away and suddenly, he knew no more.


    As his still open black eyes slowly became dull, Kujisaki Hiro was already dead.


    But as life shows as time and again, the end is never how we expect it to be.


    When Hiro came to, he was in a vast expanse of darkness. There was black as far as the eye could see. It didn''t appear to have any light at all, but he could still see himself perfectly.


    "What happened? Who brought This King to this realm of darkness?" He said looking around before crossing his arms.


    "Hah, This King is the bane of all darkness! You can''t even hope to defeat me with this."


    As his slightly mocking voice faded in the darkness, he kept still with his arms crossed while waiting. Slowly, a few veins appeared in his forehead.


    "Show yourself already! This King may be patient, but it shouldn''t be kept waiting!" As the scream echoed around in the darkness, a few motes of light began appearing and gathering together in front of him.


    It tried to take the form of a person, ending in a sort of stick figure made of golden light. "%!S%@#¡§)%#%$%&@@#" As it tried to spoke, all that could be heard was some kind of screeching noise, like the grinding of nails in a blackboard. At best it was a mockery of verbal speech.


    Hiro clenched his ears as the sound send chills down his spine and he fell to his knees as the feeling of dread and agony overwhelm him as well as the pain. Seeing that, the figure stopped and dissolved back into light, slowly reforming back in a square shape.


    As the sound stopped, the youth gradually recovered his senses and panted as he stood up again and looked at the light, some drops of sweat could be seen at his face. There, floating in the darkness, was a square shape made of light, and inside that square, were words.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "You have died. Your karma will be counted.


    Notable feats:


    Gave money to the homeless. + 1 Positive Karma


    Saved the life of a loved one. + 5 Positive Karma


    Inspired someone to be a better person. +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 Positive Karma


    Saved the life of a stranger by sacrificing youself. +100 Positive Karma.


    Caused the suicide of a loved one. +50 Negative Karma.


    Final karma: Positive karma (112) Negative karma (50)"


    That doesn''t sound right. Hiro wondered the veracity of what he saw. This King is magnanimous and would never cause someone to suicide! And then he sighed. It seems This King has died a cliche death. Is what happens next the legendary transmigration to another world?


    As he thought about his death and future life, or after-life at any case, the words written rearranged themselves, making him focus back on it.


    "The Karma Shop is available. Reincarnation is ready. Choose the parameters of your next life."


    And as the words were read, they faded and opened a game-esque shop, with diverse tabs to see. Firstly it was divided in three categories. Positive Karma, Negative Karma and Neutral Karma. And then were further divided in other categories, but the positive and negative categories were the same.


    "Positive Karma tabs: Talents, Features and titles, Powers, Miscellaneous


    Negative Karma tabs: Talents, Features and titles, Powers, Miscellaneous


    Neutral Karma tab: Powers, Miscellaneous


    Karma currency: Positive(112) Negative(50)"


    With a rough overview of the tabs, Hiro saw one thing in the Neutral miscellaneous tab that he would absolutely choose.


    "Memories of a previous life.


    Allows the person to keep his memories of his previous life after being born.


    Note: Memories will only be available after four years of life.


    Cost: 80 Karma points."


    Making his mind, for a King shall always be decisive and righteous, he paid all his 50 Negative Karma points and 30 more Positive Karma points for this.


    He stopped for a while and pondered and what should he choose as something worthy of a King of his stature.


    There were diverse options. In talents there were cheap things, like "Running" "Jumping" "Playing Soccer" and things like that, most costing 5 to 10 points. But it also had things like "Augmentation Magic", "Elemental Magic" or even "Swordsmanship", "Archery" and other possibly combat-related talents. The cheapest of those were Swordsmanship with a price of 20 points. Magic had a steep price of 30 points and a note in it that said: "Choosing this will automatically reincarnate you in a world with Magic." There were also other talents about Cultivation with a similar note. In his understanding, talents was simply a thing to make progress easier, like getting double the result for half the effort.


    In Features and Titles, things like "Touched by the Heavens", "All Seeing Third Eye", "Holy Fire Constitution" and so on were available. The price was steep, with the most cheap costing 40 points, there were also similar notes in the kind of world you would reincarnate if chosen.


    Under the Powers tab, there were countless options available, ranging from ten points to a thousand. From "Slippery fingers" to "Matter manipulation" and "Telekinesis". Most of the powers were neutral, but there were a few exclusively for positive and negative karma. Like "Holy Water Manipulation" and "Hell Fire Manipulation". But those were all excessively expensive, with the cheapest costing an astounding 200 points . While the neutral powers had more accessible prices.


    As for the miscellaneous tab, it mostly was comfort choices. Like the wealth of the family you would born in, if you wanted a loving family and basically the conditions of your birth and childhood. As a King, he is of course, a Noble, so he bought the "Noble Heritage" without thinking twice for 20 points in the positive tab. The difference between the different miscellaneous tabs was mostly nothing, really. It seemed completely identical in the surface.


    Seeing that he just had 62 points left, he thought for a while in what kind of world he would like to reign. For he is a King.

 So its magic?

    As the cute blonde 4 year old Hiro was being lectured by a strict looking old man, his bright blue eyes opened wide and he fell into a trance.


    Yes. That was the memories he had of his past life. His memories of Earth. He suddenly remembered everything.


    "Are you listening Young Master?" Said the old man, but even though his tone was polite, there was some disdain hidden in his voice. A disdain a normal 4 year old wouldn''t notice, but the reincarnated Hiro could hear clearly!


    "Yes teacher." Hiro said as he slowly merged his memories of both worlds.


    I see, it seems This King ended in a world of magic. Furthermore, This King clearly bought a noble heritage, why is it that my family is only a fallen noble one? Ai, it''s really disgraceful.


    That''s right! Hiro''s noble family, Fuji, was a really old noble family, so old, in fact, that it is older than the empire itself! Unfortunately, it has been losing its wealth and prestige for the last generations. It has become so bad, that it might even lose it''s title of nobility!


    It doesn''t matter, This King will certainly make this noble family shine again. This King''s splendor it''s unlimited.


    "...and as the 19th Emperor of the Arcane Blue Empire declared, magic became an exclusive benefit for those of noble blood. In time, the commoners desenvolved their own ways of becoming stronger, but magic it''s still feared throughout the Empire as the supreme power that no one can match." The history teacher finished his lesson about the history of magic as he put away the book that was on his hand. This old man had a clearly plain face to go with his short white hair and beard. It gave the impression that he was nothing more than a side character that would soon be forgotten. "That''s the end of it for today Young Master. Next week you''ll have the afinity test to know which branch of magic is most compatible with you."


    As the unimportant side character said that, he was already walking away, leaving the thoughtful main character still seated in the small room, which was clearly an impolite thing to do to a noble, since he didn''t bowed or even nodded before he left.


    "What disrespect must This King face. Sigh." The young noble stood up after stashing his books in a beautiful bag that hangs at his hips. It looked like a pouch normally seem in fantasy worlds.


    As he walked back to his bedroom, he started to think about this world''s magic system. It seemed a lot like one he saw in a certain game in Earth.


    First, there was 5 types of magic, 5 branchs or schools, you could say. Destruction, Illusion, Alteration, Conjuration and Restoration. The name pretty much said everything about them, except Illusion, who could also be called Control in his opinion.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Of course, Hiro wasn''t worried about his afinity with any of them, as a King, it was obvious he would be outstanding in everything he did.


    His house wasn''t as big as a noble''s should be. It didn''t even count as a mansion. So the walk back to his bedroom was relatively quick.


    He put the pouch in the small desk that had in the room and decided to look for his mother.


    His mother was the only other person of his family that was still alive. And furthermore, she was sick. That made all the pressure of having the future of the family at his shoulders. If he didn''t became an outstanding and extraordinary youth, his family was doomed to failure.


    As he walked into his mother''s room, he could see her reading a little book while laying down in the bed. She was really pretty. She looked to be in her early twenties and had a beautiful face, with graceful blonde hair and big green eyes. Her body was covered by the bed sheets, but it was clearly full of beautiful curves.


    As the reincarnated toddler saw her for the first time after remembering his past life, he couldn''t help but become a bit dumb.


    As expected of This King''s mother. Truly beautiful! That''s the reason i will become the most handsome of all.


    As she noticed him entering the room, he put her book down and turn to look at him, her eyes were soft and she had a small smile in her face.


    "Hello, my child. How was your lessons?" As she spoke softly, she patted the space at the edge of the bed, indicating for him to sit down. He smiled and walked over quickly, jumping to the bed to talk with his mother.


    "It was fine. This King is outstanding after all. Next week my magic afinity will be tested and i will shock the world with how awesome i am. It won''t be long until i make our family become the most famous and powerful of all nobles." His voice was full of confidence that made others want to believe in him.


    However, her mother made a strange face as she looked at him with a frown. "This King? Who? Why are you calling yourself that?"


    "Because the most outstanding person is the King. A King has to be the most powerful, the most righteous and the most capable person! Therefore, it means that This King can only be a King, for anything else can''t describe This King''s capability." He said with a big grin in his face.


    "To me, you will always be my cute little child." His mother couldn''t help but smile a little at his antics as she answered him while pinching his cheek. After that, she sighed and reminded him. "Soon you will have sword lessons, as a noble, you have to learn well, you must be absolutely dilligent in learning. After your afinity is tested, you must also dilligently study magic. Don''t forget that you''re the only one capable of making our family rise again!" In the end, she softened her tone a bit and smiled. "But don''t worry, my child, mother will be here for you when you need her. Mother loves you very much."


    After her mother hugged and kissed his forehead, Hiro had to leave to the courtyard for his sword practice, which has been going for the last 2 months, when he became 4. It consisted mostly of learning the correct posture and how to swing correctly, and nothing else. In a few more years, he would start training on where and how to strike and physical training.


    In the courtyard, a middle-aged man with sharp features and a barely shaven beard was waiting for him. The big sword in his back made him look imposing, like he could cut you in two and you could do nothing to stop him. This man was the Sword Instructor Kira.


    "Welcome Young Master, grab a wooden sword at the side and get in posture. We''ll start immediately."


    "Yes sir!" Hiro screamed back with a resolute look in his eyes.

 My overpowered life in another world is wrong as expected!

    As the week progressed, Hiro realized that him knowing his past life didn''t really make that much of a difference. And that beside the novelty of this world and practicing swords, being a child is actually really boring. He can''t leave his home. He can''t strike things with a sword. He can''t practice magic. He can''t reach high places. Being a kid honestly sucked.


    But that was soon to change! Because today was the day he could test his afinity! After his afinity is tested, he will practice his magic until he became 7, when he would go to the Five Stars School, a prestigious school of magic, which is obviously for nobles. He couldn''t wait for the time where he could call thunders with a snap of his fingers, or making his skin as hard as steel while letting others attack him, laughing of the futile attempts. Or even summoning strong creatures to fight for him, as the King.


    With his mind full of his future achievements, he reached the room where he would be tested, which was the same room he had his normal lessons. The only difference now is that there was a crystal ball in the teacher''s desk, dull and grey. It was probably the device that would test his affinity. Standing in front of the desk, was the old man who was clearly an unimportant side character.


    "Welcome, Young Master, please enter and stand in front of the measuring sphere." Said him gesturing to the crystal ball.


    "Yes teacher." With a small smile in his face, he walked to the crystal ball.


    "Put both of your hands in it and concentrate, the ball will gather your mana and project your results."


    "Yes teacher."


    Lifting his arms slowly, he gently put his hands in the ball. Immediately, the ball started to shine a little, looking as if the ball was actually white instead of a dull grey.


    "That''s it. Now concentrate."


    Hiro didn''t answer, he closed his eyes and concentrated. He could feel a foreign feeling invadind him. A suction force coming from his palms, sucking what he realized was mana. It came all the way from his heart to the palms of his hands. Slowly flowing, no, sucked into the crystal ball. He could sense the core of his mana, like 6 bright lights glowing in his heart, making the shape of a star if they were connected, a six point star.


    But then he realized something was odd. While most of the mana was sucked into his palms and to the ball, one of them wasn''t. The ball refused to absorb the mana and it went back into his palms and disrupted the mana flow from one of the lights in his heart. Making it so only five streams were absorbed. The ball started to shine brighter as he started actively trying to send his mana to it. And soon, the orb stopped sucking and he couldn''t send more mana either. Then he opened his eyes and saw that the crystal orb was projecting the light into the wall in a set of text.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Affinity Test Results:


    Alteration (18)


    Conjuration (16)


    Destruction (34)


    Illusion (9)


    Restoration (38)


    Total result: Poor


    Mana quality: B


    Final Rank: F"


    Are you mocking This King?!


    Hiro couldn''t help become a little bit nervous at his results. He was supposed to be the main character that had cheat powers! This plot wasn''t right. Isn''t he supposed to be special? But as he was starting to despair, he was brought back to reality by his teacher''s voice.


    "I see, so that''s your afinity. I will explain it. The number beside the magic branch''s name is your afinity with that branch. There isn''t a limit to how high it appears. A result of 0 means you can''t use magic, and a result of 50 means you can use is the average. That means that you have no talent for magic. But you could at least try Destruction or Restoration magic, but you would still be worse than average. Perhaps Young Master should give up learning magic and focus on something else. For example, you could continue your sword lessons and be part of the army." He started explaining with a slightly mocking voice that hid a bit of derision in it. "Of course, the total result means all your afinities average being tested. ''Poor'' is the worst possible result, with the best result being ''Extraordinary''. And the rank is your final evaluation. F is also the worst with the best being S. Mana quality is the density of your mana, it''s also the only thing that can be trained, as affinity will not increase."


    At the end of the long and boring info-dump the white-haired side character gave, Hiro remembered that if there were 5 affinities and he had 6 sources of light, that could only mean that as the main character, he had to have a new type of mana! Certainly, his future prospects are endless, after all, he is a reincarnated main character.


    But as he thought the info-dump was over, the old man began talking again!


    "As the core of the mana, the heart normally have sources of mana numbering from 1 to 6! One kind of source for each kind of magic and one extra for noble bloodlines! Noble bloodlines are indeed an incredible thing. It''s a power passed in the blood of a family. Most families have them. But alas. The Fuji family doesn''t have a bloodline anymore. It has long been forgotten, as the last four Patriarchs weren''t born with 6 sources."


    At that moment, Hiro''s eyes shined bright. Here it is! This King''s cheat! It isn''t a new kind of magic but it''s certainly an overpowered bloodline, This King''s Fuji family is after all, the oldest noble family!


    He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had found his life-straw. After listening to the boring teacher speak a little more and subtly saying he should give up magic, he left to talk with his mother.


    Reaching her room, he again found her reading calmly in her bed, looking serene. He quickly ran to her side smiling.


    "What is it, dear? How was your test?" She asked amused with how excited he was. His answer, however, shocked her a little.


    "I have it mom! I have the sixth source of mana! I have our family''s bloodline!" His little body was jumping excitedly while speaking, but then he stopped and thinked a little before asking a very important question. "What is our family''s bloodline?"


    His question woke her mother from her shock and she smiled brightly, happy for her son. "Our family bloodline is a bit simple. It''s called Bloodmana. We can use our blood as super dense liquid mana. It isn''t really that powerful, it''s mostly a support ability."


    And as he heard that, Hiro despaired again.


    How can it be this useless to This King?!

 Training montages are actually infodumps

    After getting over the fact that he is indeed talentless in magic,  Hiro didn''t gave up on it. ''If This King gave up, who would give hope to the talentless?'' Were his thoughts. So he studied. And studied and studied and studied some more. He was sure there had to be a way to progress in magic regardless of talent. After all, he was the one who disdained talent at the karmic shop. Talent is just a word those who can''t achieve something use to justify their incapability.


    As he studied, he came across an interesting theory of magic. It said that mana isn''t naturally aligned to any branch of magic. So it didn''t matter if you had 1 or 6 sources in your core, as long as you learned to manipulate it correctly to do what you wanted. The only difference was the potency of your magic. The lower the number of sources, the less mana you had. That also made sense to him, since his blood couldn''t be aligned to any branch of magic naturally and could be used in all of them. So the theory was probably true.


    However, since the split of sources was a natural evolution path of humans, it was, in fact, disciplined to act that way. Like your heart is disciplined to beat in a certain speed. If you could control the rate at which your heart beats, wouldn''t that make you able to go into an adrenaline-like frenzy and back to normal whenever you wanted? Come to think of it, isn''t there some stories in Earth that some people could slow down their heartbeat at will?


    That meant it was possible to discipline his mana. And even if it wasn''t, a king is a person who can create miracles. So as he readed the book of magic theory, he started to laugh loudly with a hand covering his face.


    <hr>


    Meditating was hard. He couldn''t stay still for long or keep his thoughts in control. His chuunibyou imagination worked against him, so it took days before he could get in a meditative trance.


    Even though he managed to do it, all he could do is watch his mana flowing, no matter what he did, he couldn''t make it flow one way or the other. So he kept watching, memorizing with dilligency the paths of mana in his body.


    While he focused, he realized that the speed at which mana flowed was directly connected to his thoughts. When he was thinking, it slowed down, and while he just watched it with a blank mind, it sped up.


    As the days and months passed by, Hiro dilligently trained swordplay in the morning until lunch, after lunch he practiced his meditation and mana control until evening, where he studied magic theory and learned ettiquete with an old lady that was hired by his mother.


    As days became weeks and weeks became months, the young boy slowly but steadily progressed in his magic. He could already use mana of two different sources of light to flow in any one path. Which meant he could precisely control the mana in the spell and compensate for his lack of talent with control.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    What he didn''t know, was that a person was never born without talents. It doesn''t matter if you chose yours or not in the karmic shop, a person was always born with random talents. His talent, unknown by him, was exceptionally big in control. Be controlling his body, his mind or his energy, he was a prodigy, and what he did in months, would take a talentless person years to master.


    Talent added an instinct. People talented in a branch of magic, had the instinct of knowing how to control the mana in a way it had the desired effect. Be it healing people or protecting for restoration, or becoming forces of nature like flames for destruction. It was natural and easy. But that was only control. Instinctive control, but control nonetheless.


    And as a prodigy in control, he could be considered a prodigy in all branchs of magic!


    The downside, however, was that he took longer to cast a spell. That was because the control wasn''t instinctive. It was conscious control, he had to think in what he wanted to do and the desired outcome. So he was slower in casting.


    But he couldn''t have known that. He kept training as hard as he could, thinking that other kids with talent were easily above him. And he couldn''t tolerate that. So he kept training and training. His magic progress was not faster than a prodigy, but it wasn''t slower either.


    He managed to learn the apprentice spells of all branchs of magic by the age of 6.


    And of course, his sword training also progressed spetacularly. He was a born swordsman. His talent in swordplay far surpassed his talent in magic. It made the servants in the house sigh with pity. "If only he had this talent in magic. Ai, looks like the Fuji family will keep falling."


    As his training progressed, so did time, and soon, it was his seventh birthday. He refused all festivities and stood by his mother''s side in bed. Steeling his resolve and preparing mentally for the Five Stars School. The school year would start in a month. His mother smiled gently at him, as he returned with a soft smile of his own.


    "Mother, This King won''t disappoint you. I will be the most powerful mage in the history of the Five Stars School by the time i get back. Please wait for me." His mother kept her gentle smile as her eyes watered a bit. She nodded and embraced him.


    "Make mother proud, my little king."


    The next day, he started his travel. If he wanted to get there in time, he had to leave soon. The Five Stars School was located in the capital of the empire. It was a neighbour city, called Magehold. It was a 2-week travel by feet and half-a-week by horse. The reason why he had to leave so early, is because the school will have an entrance test, so that only those qualified can enter.


    As he readied his carriage in the west gates of Blue Iron City, his home town, he grabbed his face and a small smile graced his lips.


    "Prepare for This King''s greatness, Magehold! This King will shake your foundations with its power!"


    It was an interesting scene if there were someone to see it. A 7 year old child wearing noble clothes and a short sword strapped in his hip covering his face with a hand, his eyes between his fingers, laughing loudly.


    His bodyguard for the travel, Kira, wondered if the kid might be crazy.

 Magehold, the capital of the Arcane Blue Empire!

    Turns out that traveling for days is kind of boring. Specially since internet didn''t exist. As Kira drove the carriage, Hiro tried to meditate to pass the time, but he couldn''t. The carriage jumped every now and then, disrupting his concentration. Those weren''t like modern cars.


    Giving up the thought of meditating, he tried to strike a conversation with his temporary bodyguard.


    "Instructor Kira, This King shall ask. You are very strong, right?" That was a question that he never was sure about. He heard that there was a way for commoners to become strong as well, instead of using magic, but he never asked what was it. He was pretty curious about it, so with a curious face, he asked again after receiving a nod in response. " Since you can''t use magic, how did you became so strong? What is the commoner''s way of power?"


    "Cultivation." The instructor''s rough voice sounded like lightning bolts in his head! ''Wasn''t this supposed to be a world of magic? How can it have cultivation as well?'' "We gather the energy present in everything around us and absorb it in our dantian. This energy is called Qi. With Qi, we can do a big variety of things. Cultivations also has many realms. The only reason magic is still the most powerful, is because cultivating simply takes too long." As he shaked his head while explaining a bunch of generic stuff, Hiro was busy thinking to himself.


    ''Could it be possible that This King''s path to his throne isn''t paved by magic? Was choosing to be a noble the wrong choice? No, that''s not right, This King can still do the legendary dual cultivation! If This King cultivate magic and Qi at the same time, how strong will This King be? Could it be possible to fuse Qi and Mana?''


    "How does one start cultivation?" He couldn''t help but ask. Even if he had to tolerate another infodump, he needed to know where to start.


    Kira looked at him for a second, wondering if he should answer or not. In the end, he sighed and took a book out of his pouch and gave it to him through the window in the front of the carriage.


    "This has everything one would need to know to cultivate. You can read it on the way." Kira was not a talkative person, it seemed.


    But since Hiro had something to do with his time, he gladly started reading. It was an interesting book titled "The secrets of Cultivation", it told tales of cultivators and the known realms, as well as how to cultivate and breakthrough said realms.


    Through the journey, nothing else of notice happened. During meals, he would talk with Kira about his cultivation and how did he became his sword instructor. Turns out that he was an old friend of his father from when they were kids.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Hearing about his father made him interested in the subject, so he kept asking about it during dinner. His father was a capable mage, stronger than average, but not higher then that. His father rank before death was B.


    His father died during a mission. A mission is where a mage gathers companions to hunt monsters or take care of problems somewhere. He used to do B rank missions before Hiro was born, but after he got his heir, his mind was more at easy, so he decided to go for broke in an A rank mission. If he could become an A rank mage, his status would soar to the heaven!


    Except for a few monsters, no one was able to reach rank S, so rank A is where the elite was! But the only way to be recognized as rank A is to fulfill a mission of that rank.


    Hiro sighed hearing stories of his father. The man was a fool. He ran out to kill himself just after his heir was born. No wonder the family was in tatters.


    "That''s enough, This King will be going back to the carriage, don''t mind me, This King will sleep there. It''s more comfortable than a tent." He stood up and walked away, leaving Kira to take out the campfire they made to cook and warm themselves.


    "Tomorrow we will reach our destination." Was the only thing the middle-aged man said before throwing dirt in the fire, putting it out. Hiro turned back for a moment and nodded. He was not in the best mood.


    <hr>


    The sun shined in the morning, and by afternoon, Magehold was in sight. And what a sight it was. It was marvelous. It had stone walls as high as a giant, making it look like a fortress, but it was simply too big. If Hiro had to say, it was almost as big as skyscrapers back in Earth!


    The big wooden gate was open, and it had at least a dozen guards guarding it. As they walked by, Kira showed an emblem of some sort to the guards, and they nodded to him, letting them past.


    And then it was the city. There was people everywhere. The ground was paved in stone and the houses and stores were all around. The houses were made out of stone as well. Making him wonder if it was all constructed by magic.


    People of all kinds talked all around, making background noise he knew well from Earth. Everyone was clothed different as well. He could very well notice who was a noble and who wasn''t. It was not that commoners had bad clothing or ugly clothing. It was just that nobles were simply too colored! That made him remember of something of Earth''s history.


    When dye was hard to produce, it was used as a show of wealth and nobility, the more colors your clothes had, the more wealthy you were. So that''s how it is!


    To be honest, he would prefer to use commoner''s clothes, all those colors he saw in other nobles just made him have a ''fantastical'' feeling. His clothes were not that colored, perhaps because his family couldn''t afford too much dyed clothing. They were royal blue with little details of silver.


    As he was looking like a country bumpkin in the street, looking everywhere in fascination, Kira tapped his shoulder and started walking ahead.


    "Let''s go, Young Master, we have a reservation at the Moonlit Inn. We have 3 days until the Five Stars Exam begins. After we get our rooms, i''ll go register your name for the exams."


    Hiro nodded with a smile. That meant he had at least 2 days to explore the city! He had a bit of money to spend, although he couldn''t tell if it was a lot or not. He never bought anything since his birth, so he didn''t knew the value of money yet. His pouch had the grand total of 5 gold coins.


    ''Side quest, explore Magehold city!'' He really was a chuunibyou.

 Meeting Mio

    The Moonlit Inn was not the best inn you could find in the city. The Fuji family wasn''t that rich anymore. However, it was above average in the capital, which made it better than most "best inn" of other cities.


    It gave a homely feel as you walked in, with beautiful decoration that gave a sense of wealth, without being excessive. The walls on the inside were Altered to look like wood, which made the enviroment give a more natural feeling.


    With that said, Hiro didn''t looked at it for more than two seconds. He went in with Kira, who talked with the beautiful receptionist and got the key to their two separate rooms, made his way to his own, dumped all the baggage in the bed, and proceeded to walk back out to the streets.


    He didn''t even stopped to take a shower after the trip.


    Walking through Magehold, Hiro got a kind of mystical feeling, some nobles were using magic to take care of daily things, like using the Destruction magic, Frostbite, to cool their drinks, or the Alteration spell, Telekinesis, to float things around while they talked. It really made obvious how this was really another world.


    People with swords, axes and maces walked around in undyed green tunics, commoner cultivators, most likely, and most nobles had a rapier at their waist. There was, however, a few who had heavy weapons and colorful noble clothes. Giving him the impression that he wasn''t the first noble to think of cultivating as well.


    Hiro had a grin in his face as he walked around the beautiful town. Taking in his surroundings, he was a bit disappointed that there wasn''t anyone flying in the sky, like most novels he read on Earth. Hopefully it was just because the city forbid it or something like that. He really wanted to fly.


    As he was turning a corner, he ended up bumping in a shy looking commoner girl, making them both fall to the ground. She was a bit older than him, probably 9 or 10 years old. Her hair was bright red and reached her back, with bangs covering her forehead and a bit of her eyes which were a dull but beautiful green.


    "Do you not see the way ahead of you?" Hiro said as he got up with a frown in his face.


    "I''m sorry! I... I was in a hurry... And didn''t see... It was my fault, sorry!" The girl seemed a little panicked as she got up and noticed his colorful clothes, her face flushed as she apologized while stammering a bit.


    "This King is magnanimous and shall forgive you. But it will come at a price." Hiro spoke with a solemn face, putting one hand at his hip and another at his face, the act had a natural feeling to it that made one think how many times he rehearsed it.


    "A... price...?" When the little girl heard that, she became a little bit more flustered and panicked, her eyes were clearly worried as she fidgeted a bit. "What price...?"


    Hiro looked right into her eyes, making her gulp as she fidgeted more, clearly uncomfortable with being stared at.


    "Name." He said clearing his solemn face and smiling a bit at her. The girl suddenly stopped and cutely inclined her head in confusion.


    "Huh?"


    "Your name. Tell me your name, that is the price This King is demanding. Give me your true name and This King shall give his, so we can sign a contract of fate."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "... Did you hit your head just now? Are you okay?" Her worried voice was like a fatal blow, making him lose his posture a bit and sigh.


    "This King is asking you his name." His tone of voice was a bit despondent, like someone just kicked his puppy.


    "I don''t really get it... But i''m Mio, nice to meet you." She said as she bowed. By now, she wasn''t nervous anymore, she thought that this cute kid in front of her was simply amusing.


    "Yes. This King''s name is Hiro, but you may call me Majesty." He said with a nod as he lifted his hand, in a way that clearly waited for a hand shake. "Come, give This King your hand and sign our contract of fate."


    "...What?" She thought him amusing, but she couldn''t understand most of what he said. This made him a little impatient and he couldn''t help but give a low shout.


    "Shake my hand! I''m becoming friends with you!" As he realized what he just said, he blushed for a moment, before coughing a bit. "Er... I mean... This King means... Sigh... This King just arrived this city. I do not know the interesting places to go. Would you mind showing This King around?"


    As Mio finally understood the whole bullshit he was spitting, her eyes lit up a bit in understanding, she smiled a bit at his antics as they shook hands.


    "Okay. I just need to go deliver this thing to my uncle and we can walk around a bit." Hiro finally noticed the bag she was carrying in her hands, it was about the size of a shoes box.


    As he asked what was in the box, they started walking together to whatever was her destination. During this conversation, Hiro learned that Mio''s uncle was an Alchemist. A potion and poison maker. They had an interesting status, as they messed around with magic, but they were not mages. They messed around with pills and elixirs, but they were not necessarily cultivators. They were respected regardless of their strenght, because they had knowledge.


    Being an alchemist paid really well. But it was also really hard. If you don''t like the boring work involved, you won''t be able to become an alchemist, and because of this, most Alchemist aren''t really rich. Because they spend all their money buying more ingredients to experiment with.


    That goes back to what was on the bag. It was actually alchemy ingredients. To be specific, ingredients for healing potions. Which included Wheat and Cyclops toes. Weird combination, but whatever works, right?


    As they talked some more, she told him that the reason she was a bit worried when she bumped him, was because there were some nobles that liked to make things difficult for commoners. The way the law worked, nobles are not punished if they bully commoners a bit. Of course, the opposite was not true. And there was a limit to how much a noble could bully a commoner, but it happened frequently.


    <hr>


    As they reached their destination, Hiro saw a little house that was actually made of wood. There were some plants growing by the windows and door and the whole place gave you a feeling of ''nature''.


    As they walked inside, Mio yelled "Uncle, i''m back!" as he took a look at his surroundings. It was an alchemist''s store, there were bottles with labels everywhere, some had pills in it, some had liquid, and other had a cream. Different names were written, as well as the effects. The prices were varied, the most cheap cost a few coppers, while the most expensive more than 10 gold. Those were really well protected though.


    "Ah, Little Mio, you''re back, did you bring everything? They didn''t cheat you out of anything did they?" A rough but at the same time smooth voice was heard as a middle-aged man walked out of the door behind the balcony. His hair was already greying and his features were soft. He looked like an uncle you would find drinking beer in a random bar.


    "Huh? Who is this little fellow?"


    Realizing he was being spoken to, Hiro crossed his arms, with a hand covering his mouth and and a few fingers reaching around one of his eyes.


    "This King has come to Magehold city to enter the Five Stars School. This King is a prodigy of the kind you have never seen before!"


    "He''s Hiro! A kid i bumped on the way back and became friends with!" Mio jumped in with a big smile, making Hiro stop and drop his arms depressed. You could even see a small cloud hanging over his head. No, really, he used magic to make the small cloud.


    The man was clearly amused by his little show.


    "Is that so? Well, i won''t hold you back anymore, you''re free to go play."


    With a hurried ''thank you'' and ''goodbye, uncle'', she grabbed his hand and ran out of the shop with him.


    Wasn''t this loli supposed to be shy? This script is a bit wrong!

 The first step in cultivation.

    Going around town with Mio was a nice experience. Hiro felt a bit refreshened by finally spending time with someone ''his age''. Ever since he was born, he never got to play with other kids. It was training all the time, studying all the time. Because he was a noble. And a noble from a fallen family. Other nobles didn''t want their kids to play with him. Commoners were afraid of their children playing with him, what if something happened, who would dare say they could deal with the consequences?


    That made Hiro a bit lonely. The only person he could really talk to was his mother. But she would just smile gently to him. They couldn''t go out to have fun, eat together, or do anything together. Because she can''t get out of the bed. She can''t exert herself, or she would get even more sick.


    His time chatting with his mother was nice. But it wasn''t ''fun''.


    Hanging around town with Mio, though, was a lot of fun. They walked all around Magehold, finding holes that felt like secret passages through walls, a horned pet bunny the size of a dog, frogs who could speak (He said he was human, but a mage did this to him), and all sorts of oddieties that could only be the result of magic.


    He even heard from Mio that there was a rumor that dragon were coming back. When he heard that, he just stopped walking for a second and looked at her with a blank look.


    ''What is this? Is this really Sk*rim? Is this a coincidence? A realistic version of Sk*rim, with a bit more fantastical setting? Or maybe an alternate future where magic became mainstream?'' Even though he thought that, he didn''t say anything and just resumed walking.


    However, time is ever flowing, and soon, the sun was going to sleep.


    "I think is about time we should go, Hiro." The cute redhead said as she looked to the darkening sky.


    "Yes. It is. This King needs to rest properly everyday. Soon the school exam will be upon Us." Hiro said with a face that tried to be dignified, but failed completely and was plainly funny.


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    Mio laughed a bit as Hiro started walking back to her home with flair. After taking her back home, Hiro walked back to the inn himself. As he entered, he noticed that the inn was relatively full, and Kira was sitting in one of the many tables in the reception, eating a delicious looking meal. There were some french fries with onions, a vegetable soup, and meat stew. Noticing he was hungry himself, he sat down next to him.


    "So? How was it?" Kira was the first to open his mouth, as he made a gesture with his hand, to show the girl walking around the tables, probably the waitress, that he wanted more food.


    "How was what?"


    "Magehold, how was your little trip around town? What do you think of it?" He clarified.


    "It''s weird. This town looks like a mess, but somehow it works. It is a fun city to be at. This King approves." Hiro had a thumbs up as he smiled a bit.


    "Good. The school examination this year was scheduled for tomorrow. It''s sooner than last year. We almost didn''t make it. Eat well and rest. Tomorrow morning will be when we set out. Be serious. Don''t forget what''s on your shoulders." After saying that, he went back to eating. It was at that time as well that the waitress arrived with Hiro''s food.


    ''Don''t worry. This King is always serious.'' As he ate, he was thinking about what kind of exam could it be. He was a little upset of not having more time to play around with Mio, it was unlikely for them to meet again when school started. He sighed. ''As expected, the path to greatness is filled with loneliness.''


    As he finished eating, he went back to his room and finally took a shower. Taking his baggage off the bed, he sat in the bed and started meditating.


    ''Let Us see, how far We have come. This King is eager to see if i''m still considered talentless.'' As he controlled his breathing, he remembered about the book he read on the way to the capital. A book about cultivation. According to it, you had to spread your mind outside your body, instead of inside, which is the case with mana. Control your breathing, slowly gather the energy around you into your body by your breathing, gather it in the dantian, expel the air and little impurities, repeat.


    And so, the first day Hiro reached the Arcane Blue Empire capital, he started cultivating.

 Fantasy worlds have exaggerated sizes for everything

    As the energy of nature was brought into his body by his consciousness and breathing, he could feel it slowly changing his body from inside. Little impurities were being driven out by it, together with sweat.


    Not only that, he could feel his mind changing as well. Even though he could feel it changing, he couldn''t pinpoint exactly how it was changing.


    ''It seems cultivating nourishes everything related to the body. But i can''t seem to notice how my mind is changing. I feel the same, yet different.'' He frowned as he ponders for a while. Not realizing how this time, he didn''t called himself a king in his mind.


    Cultivation is a way of maturing, growing. It matures your body, helping it get it''s full potential, as well as your mind. It slowly cleanses the impurities from everywhere in your body. Including your mind. Things like mental illnesses or obsessions will slowly be cleansed, making your personality be at its most refined. It will slowly turn you into your real self. No masks, no pretending, no lies. You will know yourself fully by cultivating.


    Like the name itself says, you''re cultivating yourself. You''re growing. Maturing. It does not change your personality, it only refines it. Breaks the shackles of your insecurities and fears, and shows your true heart.


    A lot of novels he read in Earth showed cultivators being ruthless or uncaring. That was not a result of cultivation itself. Because even tough some were ruthless, some were also righteous and caring. That''s because their heart is like that as well.


    Every person is different, and cultivation makes that difference appear. In Earth, most people were very much alike each other. There was hardly any big differences, in the surface. That''s because people don''t cultivate, and let masks and insecurities and other little things interfere with their way of thought, with their Dao. Like how a extreme psychopath lets their mental illness overcome their reason. The Dao is also reason. And the Dao is also heart.


    The Dao is ruthless, and yet, it is not. The Dao is gentle, and yet, it is not. The Dao cleanses, yet, it darkens. The Dao darkens, yet, it cleanses.


    If you never heard of it, it may sound confusing. But simplifying it, the Dao is everything. But is also nothing.


    By cultivating, Hiro''s insecurities and fears are being cleansed and purged. His way of lying to himself by saying he is a king and that he is able to do everything he wants is fading. But at the same time, he is becoming more capable of doing those things he wants to do.


    The unnecessary is thrown away. The core remains.


    And yet, it would take quite a lot of time for him to realize that he didn''t refer to himself as King.


    <hr>


    When he woke up from meditation, it was already morning. His body was sticky with sweat and he felt refreshened and slightly tired at the same time. Getting up, he noticed how just one day of cultivating made his body more easier to move. Like the effort to move was lessened. But that''s just how cultivating works. The first time it''s the most noticeable change. The second it lessens, and it keeps lessening forever. And before you notice it, you became strong.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Stretching his sore body, consequence of being in a meditating position all night, he went to take a bath, slowly cleaning his body in the warm water. As he finished, he went back to the room and dressed himself in his noble clothes.


    At the same time he finished, his door was knocked. As he opened it, he could see that it was Kira.


    "Good. You''re already ready to go. Go down and eat breakfast. We''ll leave in half an hour." As he said that, he turned and walked away to his room, presumably to get everything ready.


    ''Who is the young master again?'' Hiro thought helplessly. He ended up shrugging and going downstair to eat breakfast.


    His breakfast was simple and without anything of notice happening. After eating, he checked if he had everything he needed with him and waited for his sword instructor to come down. It didn''t take long and they were soon heading to the Five Star Schools.


    Magehold was located right by the side of a mountain, so if you think that the center of the city would be the imperial palace, you would be wrong. It was the Five Star Schools. The Arcane Blue Palace was located right infront of the mountain. The farthest place in the city. And also the highest. It was strategically put there in case of invasions, it was impossible to reach the palace without going through the whole city first.


    As they reached the school, Hiro saw how huge it really was. He already suspected it was big, since it could be seen from afar, but it was really too much. This is simply exaggeration! Why would a school needed to be this big? It looked more like a palace! It seemed almost 2 squared miles!


    As they walked in throught the large metal bars gate, they entered the building, and the first thing it had was a kind of waiting room, with a receptionist working there. She seemed like a gentle lady. She had the charm of a gentle older sister.


    "Hello, are you here for the exam?" As she noticed them, he started talking with a smile. As Hiro nodded, Kira put a hand in his shoulder.


    "That''s as far as i''ll go, Young Master, good luck." He nodded at Hiro and just walked away. What a straightforward guy.


    "Then little guy, tell me your name, please." She said politely.


    "Fuji Hiro. This King is a genius out of geniuses." He said solemnly with his head held high. The girl lifted an eyebrow for a moment, before looking at a paper at her desk.


    "Let''s see here, Fuji... Fuji... Ah, here it is. Mana quality  B, total rank F, is it?" She said looking back at him amused.


    He had the decency to at least look a little embarrassed.


    "That''s an old thing, This King''s talent cannot be measured by mortal means." Although he said that, his tone of voice was low, and he was looking at the ground with red cheeks. It made him look really cute. Just like an embarrassed kid.


    "Right." She got up after that and started walking through a long corridor. "Follow me, i''ll bring you to the place of your examination."


    As he followed her, they walked through a lot of corridors. All of them were filled with doors with little signs telling what they were. There were simply too many rooms. The school looked like a maze.


    Finally, they reached their destination. A door with the sign "Examination Room 107".


    "Inside this room is an Illusion magic array, which will bring you to your examination, an Alteration array will write your results after you finish it." As she opened the door, she started explaining the test. "Just meditate in the middle of the array and the test will begin. You will have two hours to finish it. The faster you finish it, the higher your score will be. Good luck." As she finished, she was holding the door open for him to enter.


    With a look of determination, he walked in, it was a small square room. Different runes and lines were written in the ground and walls, it looked complex and gave head ache just thinking about what they could mean. As he entered, the door was closed. With a deep breath, he walked to the center of the room and sat crosslegged.


    As he started meditating, he felt a tug in his mind, and then blankness for a while. When his senses returned and he opened his eyes, everything changed.

 Final Evaluation

    It was a wasteland as far as the eye could see. Everything was rocks and sand. In the midst of this wasteland, Hiro opened his eyes. He was sitting right in the middle of a path made of reddish gravel. Everything had a red tint in it. The sand was a reddish orange, the rocks was the color of blood. There was no sun in the sky. The sky itself was dark orange. It made one feel a chill creep up their spine. The silence was absolute. There wasn''t even any wind.


    Hiro''s first choice in the test was the way he had to go. In the distance, was possible to see endless desert in one of the paths. In the other way, the same could be seen, but it was possible to see in the limit of his vision, the five stars school. This time in red as opposed to it''s normal blue.


    As he stood up and looked around, he quickly made up his mind and started walking away from the school. His path was not to end at some Five Stars school. His path was longer. Harder. It lead to power. Glory. The path of the King was not one where you could see the end of.


    As he felt like he was walking for a while, writing appeared in the sky in front of him.


    "What is magic? Write your answer with mana." It seemed like a quiz. A written test of sorts.


    Concentrating, he focused on the mana in his heart and guided it to his right index finger. Letting the mana leak slowly, he wrote his answer in the air.


    "Magic is a tool. Magic is knowledge and magic is power." As he stopped the mana from his finger, his mana faded away with his answer. Together with it, the writing in the sky went away as well.


    Resuming his path, he came across the first noise not made by himself. A low growling coming from behind rocks in the sides. A mechanical voice sounded out, looking like it was from G**gle Translate.


    "Combat simulation started. Death is equal to failure." As soon as the voice faded, a pack of dire wolves jumped in his path.


    "All right. This King will dance with you a bit." Hiro said with a frown while he readied his mana in his hands, ready to use destruction magic.


    All schools of magic had a way to get past this combat simulation. Destruction was the most straightforward. Illusion could cast rage or calm in the wolves, to let the student walk past unharmed. Alteration could harden your skin or manipulate the terrain around you to trap the wolves. Conjuration could summon a mana wolf to fight for him and Restoration was a bit tricky. It could make wards, barriers, to let you pass unharmed. And destruction, well...


    Hiro dual-wielded two different magics. One in each hand. His left hand was casting a freezing spell, like a frost breath, and his right hand was casting a lightning spell, expelling electricity in a beam from his hand. Those spells were called Frostbite and Sparks.


    The wolves tried dodging around as they split and tried surrounding him. Not one to let himself be surrounded, he kept moving around and evading the wolves who tried jumping at him. It was an easy battle. All he had to do was run around. The longer it went on, the easier it got. The cold was slowing the wolves and the electricity was paralyzing them. Soon, they were all dead.


    Taking a deep breath after the fight, he resumed walking ahead. Right as he started walking, a bear walked from behind a rock and stood in front of his path.


    "Damn. Now comes the boss fight." Hiro frowned. But then he grinned as he lifted his hands as the air around them slowly heated and little flame sparks appeared. "Come on, you''ll be barbeque in no time. This King will cook you up nicely."


    As if the bear could understand his words, he charged after roaring furiously. As the bear charged in a straight line, Hiro entered a Kameh*meha position, with a small ball of flames being created between his hands, enlarging every second.


    As the bear was just three meters away from him, he released his kameh... I mean, his magic. A flamethrower was fired right in front of the bear. Unfortunately, the bear kept the charge and ran right through the flames, headbutting Hiro in the head. It couldn''t be helped. He was a kid after all, if he was as tall as an adult, it would headbutt his stomach.


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    Hiro fell to the ground as the bear tried mounting on top of him to munch his face off. But he couldn''t allow that, so he rolled to the side and got up quickly.


    "You''re a difficult fellow, aren''t you? Fine, This King will bring out the big guns." Even though he said that, he does not, in fact, have any stronger spells at the moment. What he does have, though, is his mana control. By taking more mana from his heart than what the spell needs, he can overcharge it. More fuel makes more fire. The heat keeps going up with the amount of fuel you give it.


    With that said, he not only took the most he could from one source of mana, he fused it with what he could take from another. Tying them together, he dumped everything in this one spell.


    The result was one hell of an overpowered Sparks. A lightning bolt that could not be dodged, when the spark was made, it took less than a second for it to shoot out, and after it shot, it was instantaneous. The lightning bolt of an overpowered Sparks was as thick as an arm. In comparison to it''s normal counterpart, which is just a few finger-thick electricity bolts, it was huge.


    As soon as it hit the bear, it stopped. His muscles were paralyzed, his fur was charred where the bolt hit, and he dropped to the floor. It''s hard to say if he was dead. Probably not yet. He should be unconscious though. The amount of electricity in that spell was big enough to kill a human. The more resistant and less conductive bear should at least black out with it.


    So, with a dignified look in his face, he approached the fallen bear.


    "Looks like you''re just this much. This King shall remember you as the first person... Wait, no. First animal to make This King a bit serious." After he said that, he used an overpowered Alteration spell to bury the bear as deep as he could. If he was dead, it was a sign of respect. If it was not, it was a way to make sure it died.


    As much as he wanted to keep going and walk, he stopped for a while to rest. Overcharging a spell was not easy. He was mentally tired and something about fusing mana from different sources took a lot of him.


    He rested for a few minutes before resuming. The test had a time limit after all.


    As he kept walking, more questions appeared. Things like magic history, magic theory, questions related to the different branchs of magic, etc.


    There was no more battles. Soon he reached an oasis. In the middle of all the red, the water was a beautiful blue. It shined in the dull ambient. As he approached, he realized that it was not water. It was mana. The tree at it''s side and the single patch of earth it was growing out of, was also blue. It was purely infused with mana. It was beautiful.


    As he approached the oasis to take a better look, he opened the eyes he didn''t realize were still closed. He was back at the classroom. That mechanical voice sounded out again.


    "Time has ran out. Calculating test results, please wait."


    "Test results is as follows. Combat test, B. Knowledge test, A. Theory test, A+. Mana quality found is higher than in the records. Mana quality overwritten. Mana quality, A. Calculating hidden parameters..."


    "Final result: A"


    "Numerical value: 189, Checking test ranking. Fuji Hiro is placed as number eight at the top test takers at the moment."


    "Please wait in the room as someone will be called to guide you to your new dormitory. Congratulations, you have been accepted at the Five Stars School."


    As the voice finally stopped talking, Hiro had a strange look in his face. ''Is this thing a computer? Isn''t this simply too advanced? This is simply breaking the immersion.'' Hiro shook his head helplessly and waited for said guide.


    ''My mana quality improved, huh? Looks like This Kings method of training is the best. It really doesn''t matter if This King has talent or not. I went from rank F to A in just a few years.''


    That rank was, of course, a kid''s evaluation, but it was a start.

 A walk around the school

    After being guided to his dormitory by a youth who seemed like a student,  he was standing in front of the door that was supposed to be his room for the next few years. He was told his belongings were already inside. The important fact, however, was that he would have a roommate.


    ''How cheap can this people be? Placing students in shared rooms? How big was this school again? How can it not have space for single rooms?''


    He took a deep breath before opening the door.  It was a simple room, big enough for two people. Two beds, two wardrobes, it was nice enough. It also had a single bathroom. As he walked in, he noticed that his belongings were on his bed with the addition of a little booklet.


    Puzzled, he took it in his hands and gave a brief reading. It was the schools rules and systems. Apparently, the reason he was guided by a student was the school''s mission board. Every year this same mission was posted. It was a way for the older students to get easy contribution points. With the contribution points you could get a lot of things from the school. Supplies, spell tomes, enchanted items, like robes or swords, advanced theory in magic and a bunch of other things.


    Most noticeable though, was that you needed contribution points to pay for your lessons. Each class had its own price, it was up to the student to choose which one to pay for and listen to. Your numerical score in the entrance exam multiplied by ten is the amount of contribution points you would begin your first year with.


    So that meant 1890 points for Hiro. When the school year began in a few weeks, he would go and check what he could get.


    He put the little booklet in the nightstand by the side of his bed and the clothes in the wardrobe. As he sorted his bags, Hiro found a note from Kira, saying that he would have a monthly allowance to buy clothes and necessities.


    At that time, when Hiro was thinking his roommate wasn''t in the room yet, the bathroom door opened and out was... A plain looking girl. Her wet hair was a dull dark brown, her eyes were also a dark brown and she didn''t had any particularly beautiful traits. It was obvious she just took a shower, thankfully, she was already clothed in purple noble clothes.


    "Hello. You must obviously be This King''s roommate. Say your name out loud for This King to hear it." Even though his words were arrogant, his tone of voice was sincere and not a bit conceited. His face was amiable and in the inside he was cursing the school staff. ''What kind of school staff is this? Placing girls and boys in the same room? This King is speechless.'' What he did not know, was that the room was designed according to the ranking you got at the entrance exam. So it was safe to say that the girl was also in the top 10. To be precise, she was ranked seven. One rank above Hiro.


    "Hanna." The now named Hanna had a deadpan expression. It felt like she was emotionless. "You?"


    "This King''s name is Hiro. This King hopes we can get along." After a nod, Hiro answered.


    "Yes. Hanna too." Even though she said that, her face was still an emotionless deadpan. Then, without saying a word, she walked to her bed and took a book from her nightstand''s drawer. She sat on the bed and began reading. On the cover of the book was the words "Love between worlds". ''What is this flag all of a sudden? This King is indeed from another world, but please don''t set strange flags so suddenly.''


    "Right. This King will also take a shower before going out to familiarize himself with the school grounds." She gave a small nod without taking her eyes off her book.


    True to his words, he grabbed some clothes from the wardrobe and went to the bathroom. After coming out, Hanna was still reading. ''This creature is really the legendary kuudere. Sigh. Earth didn''t have a lot of those. I wish i could catch it with a Mast*rball.''


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    Shaking his head to get rid of useless thoughts, he went out and started looking around. Even though the school was huge, it was organized and made sense. Right now he was the dormitory section. He walked around until he reached the academic section. Here were the library, the classrooms and the teacher''s lounge, where the teachers could talk and eat snacks. A quick trip around and he left for the the next section.


    The cafeteria was big. Like, ridiculously big. It had hundreds or maybe thousands of tables with chairs all around. There were at least 4 different places where you could get your food from an attendant. This simply seemed like a five star restaurant. Not to mention the food was free.


    Even at this time, there were a lot of people in the cafeteria, groups from different years were talking and eating together. As he noticed it was approaching lunch time, he decided to eat as well. Hiro went to one of the 4 balconies and got some food from the attendant, he looked like a commoner worker.


    He sat at a random table and started to eat without hurry.


    ''This food is really worthy of a king. It''s delicious!''


    Although he ate alone, no one came to talk to him and the older students just ignored him, so he finished quickly and left to keep exploring. By that time, the cafeteria had a lot more people than when he walked in.


    The next section he visited was the shopping. The school had a freaking shopping. Things were bought with contribution points and there were different stores to shop at. All stores had enchanted merchandise. There wasn''t anything normal. The clothes had enchantments, the toys had enchantments, everything was enchanted. If it wasn''t, it was because it was already extraordinary by itself. Like mana conductive steel swords. Those kinds of swords made it easier to use Alteration spells in it, strenghtening and sharpening.


    He did not spent a lot of time there, and soon he went to the next place. The mission lobby. It had a big board in the wall with many different papers sticked in it. Each paper was a mission, it also had different requirements, most were to do with your year. Like missions for first years and up, second years and up etc.


    The missions were diverse and went from helping a teacher in an experiment to killing a beast in the wilderness outside the city.


    Most first year missions were helping teachers with miscellaneous stuff, and the reward was pitiful. Just a trifling 100 points.


    After nodding his head, the next section was the class schedule board. It had a big board with printed papers sticked in it. It told what time the class was held, how many points it costed, which school year could watch it and a lot more. Each branch of magic had a general class, and each element from destruction had a specialized class, which specialized further into basic, intermediary and advanced. So everyday there were at least a hundred different classes.


    After he took a quick look, he went to the last place in the school, not counting the restricted places. The courtyard, it was a big open area with beautifully trimmed grass. It had a water fountain in the middle and some training dummies in one corner. Probably to practice magic. It would be a problem if students started practicing destruction spells in their dormitory. What if they exploded their bed or something like that? It would also disturb the other students, so it made sense that they had an open area for practical lessons and solo practice as well.


    He went back to his room and decided to cultivate until dinner. Meditation was a surprisingly relaxing way to spend the time.


    Hanna was still emotionless reading her book.

 The talentless in the top ten

    After the first day, Hiro went into a simple routine. He woke up in the morning, cultivated until lunch, ate in the cafeteria, went back to his room, studied magic until dinner, ate in the cafeteria, and cultivated until sleep.


    That routine was broken once in a while. When other students tried to learn more about him, or he tried to talk a bit with Hanna. However, when the students learned that he was from the Fuji family, they only disdained him, and soon, he was alone again. But Hiro didn''t care, they were shallow people, or in other words, just side characters.


    Well, Hanna didn''t seem to care, but again, she didn''t seem to care for anything. Except her books. There was this one time where Hiro wanted to give the book a look, but when he took the book from the nightstand, he saw Hanna expressing emotion for the first time. It was a little glare that looked cute, but there was a strange aura of darkness behind her that made him faulter a bit. He apologized and went to cultivate that day to calm himself.


    The time passed by in the blink of an eye. The school year was about to begin. Tomorrow was the first day of classes. So that meant that today, Hiro had to choose what lessons he would take for the week. Taking a quick look in the class schedules, he wrote his name in a little list by the side of Destruction class.


    It was as simple as that. He memorized the schedule and went back to his room. When he arrived, he saw Hanna meditating for the first time since he arrived a few weeks ago. Not only that, her mana was calm and slowly filling up the whole room. Small objects around her were being lifted and carried around by her mana without effort. Hiro''s eyes shined as he took the scene.


    ''This is a real genius.'' He couldn''t help but think that. Looks like her mana was floating objects around her out of instinct. Her affinity with Alteration magic should be through the roof. Not that he couldn''t do what she did, just that if he did, he would be tired of the effort, it would take his conscious effort to do it. She was doing it unconsciously.


    Hiro went into a trance as she watched her silently meditate with objects floating around. He sat by her side and started meditating as well. With the nothingness that came with meditating, he manipulated his mana and spread it around. All six sources of it. Soon, he could feel his mana and hers mingle together.


    As this happened, he made his mana try and lift the objects around them. Those which were already floating. He easily took control of half of the objects from her. It was a beautiful scene. Their mana was slowly mingling and fusing together, working together to do what they wanted or to follow instinct. There was an intimate feeling slowly growing in his heart. When the feeling started, he could feel the mana that was mingling stop and slowly fade in the air, the objects Hanna controlled fell to the ground, and only his mana remained. That must mean she woke up.


    He slowly guided the objects to the places they belong and opened his eyes. He looked to the side, where Hanna was sitted and she was at least one meter away from when he sat. Her cheeks were slightly blushed.


    "What are you doing?" Her tone was slightly faltering, but her expression was still an emotionless deadpan.


    "This King is sorry. This King didn''t knew he wasn''t supposed to do it. It just happened on it''s own." Hiro had a dignified expression as he explained himself in a hopefully dignified manner.


    "Get out."


    "But This King already said he''s-"


    "Out."


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report."But this is my room..."


    "Out."


    "Fine, This King will walk around a little." With what dignity he could muster, he stood up and walked out with his head held high. ''What the hell did i do wrong?'' Poor Hiro didn''t knew that what he ended up doing was a technique only used between couples.


    In the room, Hanna gave a sigh of relief as her face finally couldn''t remain stoic. She blushed even harder as she pouted and layed in her bed, hugging her pillow.


    "Jerk. Pervert. Stupid."


    In the meanwhile, Hiro decided to go to the courtyard to hit some dummies. He was almost able to use a Novice level spell in Destruction.


    After reaching the courtyard, he noticed that there was a lot of people there. Older students, students in his own year. All of them doing something or the other, some were just having fun together, others were dueling for practice, and others were training in the dummies.


    When he walked throught the doors, people soon began noticing him.


    "Look, is the talentless son of the Fuji family. I wonder what he did to enter the top 10."


    "Right? Just a unlucky fellow, could it be he used some underhanded means to get top 10?"


    "It''s impossible, he must have studied a lot and know a lot of theoretical knowledge, so he answered everything correctly and got a decent score." As this one youth said this, everyone felt like it must be the truth, so they nodded.


    "Hey, but today a little sooner, i saw this guy write his name in Destruction classes. What this untalented fellow would do with Destruction magic? Talentless people like him should go to Restoration, where talent doesn''t matter as much, since he could become a doctor and his life wouldn''t be threatened in battles."


    Hearing this, everyone was a little speechless. It''s okay to be talentless, but aren''t you a little bit greedy? One has to know, Destruction magic is one of the most dangerous branchs of magic. Not only because it was made to destroy everything, but also because it could harm the user if not talented enough.


    Hiro of course, could hear most of what they were talking, and he simply didn''t give a damn. He went to the dummies and started practicing the next level spell of fire, Firebolt. In this spell, instead of making a stream of fire, you had to slowly condense it and then shoot it out. It was the beginnings of Fireball, an Adept level spell. He concentrated in the feeling of making flames and condensed the flames with his mana. Slowly encapsuling it and holding the fire together, as he felt it was enough, he sent it to a dummy. Unfortunately, it didn''t had enough strenght behind the spell to reach the dummy, so it disappeared in the air.


    "Haha, look at this little fellow, trying to use a Novice level spell, even though he''s talentless and a first year!" The mocking soon began when the people who was gossiping before started to mock him.


    Hiro didn''t take it to mind and took a deep breath. ''So it needs to be more powerful? It seems a bit like the way i overpower my spells.'' With that said, Hiro took mana from two different sources again and tried the spell. This time, the spell condensed easier. He used one stream to make the fire, and another to hold it together. It was smooth and easy. So now comes launching. He aimed in the direction of the dummy, and launched the spell.


    BOOM!


    Everyone stopped laughing. Because what Hiro just did wasn''t a normal Firebolt. Firebolt was not supposed to explode. The explosion was a sign of another magic. Fireball.


    "Can you not see the greatness of This King? What is talent? This King doesn''t need it."

 Looks like a timeskip is in order

    As soon as Hiro said that, he started to walk back to his room. Actually, he wanted to practice a little bit more, but it was an epic exit, and he was going to take it. What is getting a little bit of practice in front of being cool? The moment he left the courtyard, the voices began.


    "Did you guys see that?" Random student A said.


    "Is this for real?" Random student B.


    "Not even i can cast Fireball..." Random student C was grumbling.


    "That should be a fluke right? There''s no way a first year could cast Fireball."


    "Is that so? Have you ever cast a Fireball by fluke? Is Fireball a spell that can so easily be cast by fluke? Stop dreaming."


    "The test score said his affinity with destruction didn''t even reached 50..."


    "What affinity, didn''t you just saw what happened? Not only it wasn''t a fluke that he was in the top ten, he probably should be even higher than his present spot!"


    <hr>


    As that heated conversation was happening between some of the older students, Hiro was almost back to the dormitory. ''I wonder if that girl calmed down?'' When he reached the door, he took a deep breath and... knocked. He knocked his own room''s door.


    "Can This King come in?" This is a phrase you will never see an actual King use. Probably.


    After a few seconds of silence, the door opened and Hanna didn''t say anything as she went back to her normal self and began to read.


    "This King is sorry. This King don''t know what he did wrong, but is sorry nonetheless." His face was solemn as he bowed his head a little. Hanna looked at him for a moment, then nodded and went back to reading.


    Hiro gave a breath of relief and took a shower before sitting in meditation in the bed. This time, he just cultivated, going from the books he read, he was already in the Qi Gathering Stage 3. And it was only a few weeks of cultivation. The energy went into his body by breathing, it went to his lungs and traveled to his gut.


    <hr>


    The next day came fast for Hiro, after waking up in the morning, he took a brief shower and left to his first lesson of the day. The first year Destruction class would be the first one of the day.


    When he entered the classroom, it was already half full. He chose a random seat, and sat down waithing for the teacher. All around him, students were gossiping about what he did in the courtyard yesterday. The gossip spread around after just one day.


    There were strange and odd rumors about what happened going around. Going from the Fuji family giving an item enchanted with Fireball to him, to him lying about his talent results. It all went quiet when an old man with a long white beard walked in. He had a wise look and just walking in inundated the room with mana. His mana was so thick it almost felt like water in their skin. Hiro frowned and shrugged, soon the mana that touched him, was subjugated and absorbed. The funny thing is that as he tried to reach his heart with the mana, it refused. It wouldn''t fuse with his sources of mana. So he fused with his blood. All the outside mana, thick as it is, went to his blood. That was probably the best way to cultivate his bloodline. When he left the school, he would experiment more with his blood.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Hello first years. My name is Maximillian. I am the resident Destruction Master of the Five Stars School. Today i will tell you all the unknown little facts about Destruction that should be obvious, but actually isn''t." His voice was soothing and wise. And his look gave him a kind of Dumbled*re or G*ndalf feeling.


    "While some of you might say that Destruction magic is simply magic that destroys, you would be wrong. Destruction spells doesn''t simply destroy matter. It controls the world around you. Unlike Alteration, it doesn''t mess with the physical components of matter. But it controls the energies of nature. Fire and Ice, or specifically, temperature, and electricity. Have any of you wondered why you could create ice with Destruction, but couldn''t make water?" Some of the students hands came up. "That''s because you don''t create the ice. You''re gathering the particles in the air with your mana and cooling it down to ice. That ice will not become water either."


    Hiro''s eyes shined as he heard this explanation. Indeed, magic in this world is a kind of science, with its own set of rules. In this medieval world, who could compare to him in science? So even if he left the school, he probably could do well alone training. Unfortunately, he is too young. He had to plan for a few years.


    That would be how Hiro would spend his first year. Every week he would change his classes, Rotating between all five of them. Since the price of the classes was for a week, that was the best deal he could get. He advanced his magic and cultivation side by side.


    The only friend he think he had was Hanna. She was slowly talking more with him. So that must be a good signal. The gossip about him was going up as well. Every practical lesson he would do even better than the last. He would do even better than the person in first place in the exam. Later on, it was agreed upon that he was actually a monster with an insane growth rate.


    The year ended, and he could easily cast all the Novice level spells. And somehow, Fireball. An Adept level spell. This time without overpowering a firebolt. Turns out that to cast a Fireball is mostly the same as a firebolt, it just needs more concentration and condensing. You had to actually encapsule the fire in a ball of mana, like a grenade, and then it would explode in impact, because the ball of mana would break, and the fire would rush out. He learned how to do that with only one individual source of mana. He also could now use three sources simultaneously.


    ''I wonder what would happen when i can finally use all six of them.''

 Hiros death

    Hiro''s second year was not that different from his first. All first years took a test to rank them in the end of the year. This time, Hiro managed to get first place. No one thought it surprising with the rate at which he improved. Unfortunately, that meant he would change rooms as well. Going to second year, he would to the second floor of the dormitory. And this time, Hanna wasn''t his roommate.


    His roommate in second year was a boy who managed to get second place. He was a little arrogant because his family was powerful, but he was smart and understood that Hiro was a genius that could lift his family status, so he befriended Hiro. This boy''s name is Kevin. He had long blond hair and green eyes.


    Second years marked the year that Hiro started doing missions. However, it wasn''t any exciting mission, mostly helping around the school for points. He started doing a few of them when he was almost out of points. Hiro didn''t mind not celebrating his birthday. But he received an enchanted ring from his mother and a more advanced cultivation book from Kira. Surprisingly, Hanna also gave him a present. It was a novel book. He appreciated it though.


    At the cafeteria, he would hang out with Kevin and Hanna. They eventually became a little group of sorts. Hanna even became second place in third year, becoming his roommate again in the third floor.


    Third year was when they started to learn Adept level spells. Hiro focused on learning every Adept spell he could. Which he only managed to learn at the end of fourth year. He became a once in a century genius by mastering all Adept level spells being an 11 year old.


    Fifth year was when he had a lot of free time, so he started taking a few hunting missions. They normally would take a week to complete, which helped to make time go by faster. He found that he really liked the wilderness. That made him start to make a few plans in his head.


    When sixth year started, it was when students could start to learn the basic of Expert level casting. That was also the highest the school would teach. Master level spells were too dangerous in the hands of teenagers. With sixth year, Hiro started to hunt magical beasts to get points more quickly, there was one item he would absolutely get before he started his plan. The storage ring.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.Sometimes he would do missions in group with Hanna and Kevin. That''s why in his seventh year, after learning the basics of Expert level spells, but still not being able to cast them, he took a mission with them to hunt one of the most dangerous beasts in the Arcane Forest. The Arcane Forest was a big forest that surrounded the mountain next to the city, it was unbelievably large and it had all kinds of magical beasts and beasts that could cultivate.


    Speaking of cultivation, Hiro found out that while Magic was indeed stronger at the start, cultivation had no limits. He didn''t knew much about Master level magic, but it seems that master cultivators were absolutely stronger than magic users. He wondered if the nobles were just puppets to big monsters of the cultivation world. Well, that didn''t mattered to him. As a King, he would become the number one regardless.


    As they entered the forest together, Hiro explained his plan to his friends.


    "Hiro, buddy, i think we went through this before, but... Are you nuts?" That was Kevin, after he heard Hiro''s plan, he couldn''t understand his reasoning.


    "Okay." And that was Hanna. After all those years, Hanna from being cute, became beautiful and started developing some curves. She was still rather plain though.


    "You can''t be serious, Hanna, you want to go along with his plan?" Kevin sighed, he knew he was defeated. "Fine, let''s do this."


    "This King is grateful. This King will not forget this moment." Hiro had a solemn and dignified expression. "Now let us go, we have a death to fake."


    With that done, they found the dangerous beast and managed to slay it together. They purposely wound themselves after the battle, to seem like it was a ''difficult'' battle. Hiro splashed his blood around their clothes, it was impossible to not notice his blood, since it was super saturated with mana.


    After doing that, the plan would be to let them go back to the school and spread news of his death. He would have a hero''s death, trying to save his comrades and dying in the last ditch effort of the beast. His blood would give them enough mana to finish it off.


    So Hanna and Kevin went back together. But as they walked away, Hanna stopped for a second.


    "Take care." She had a complex look in her eyes, but soon she resumed walking, expressionless.


    "This King is free from earthly troubles now. First, i should go visit mother." Hiro was slowly rubbing the ring in his finger. The ring his mother gave him years ago.

 Back to Blue Iron City

    Having made up his mind of where to go next, he cast a simple illusion spell in himself, making him look like a middle-age man wearing commoner clothes.


    "With this, This King should be fine walking back home. I only fear This King''s aura of Kingness will make others recognize me." He gave one exaggerated sigh before starting to walk in direction of his hometown which i totally didn''t forgot the name and had to go back and read again. "Blue Iron City, This King is returning."


    Turns out that walking back was not a great idea. At all. It was too far. It took two weeks. Two weeks. He did nothing but travel for two whole weeks. Thankfully, he didn''t had to stop to hunt for food, the storage ring he bought in the school was packed with rations for the time he would train in the mountains. He had the perfect plan in his head. Train awesomely in the mountains and killing beasts like in all the novels he read, then go back to the city at graduation. Everyone will be saying "Oh my god, isn''t that the awesome King of Kings that everyone thought died?" and "Of course he would''ve survived, his awesomeness couldn''t be erased by some random beast." It was truly perfect. At least that was what he thought.


    After reaching his house, he cast Invisible and sneaked in. Making a straight path to his mother''s room. She was peacefully reading a book with the smallest of smiles in her face. Seeing that, Hiro realized that the news of his death didn''t reached his mother yet. He closed the door and dropped his spells.


    "Hello mother." His mother was startled and looked at him confused.


    "Hiro? What are you doing here, my child? Did something happened?" Worry was clearly visible in her sickly features.


    "Don''t worry, mother. This King is awesome after all." Saying that, Hiro made a pose normally seen in a superhero back on Earth, specifically, one that wore his underpants over his pants. Did that made them overpants? After his mother shook her head with his antics, he kept talking. "I just faked my death. I just came here to tell you first. I didn''t want you to do something unsightly after hearing the news."


    She frowned and looked displeased.


    "My child, what the hell were you thinking?" Yep, she was pissed. "You faked your death? You''re telling me that you faked your own death? Do you know what could be the consequences of your actions?" She took a deep breath. "You could''ve doomed the Fuji family. What if some of the old enemies of our family decided that''s a great opportunity to wipe out our family? Sigh. Son, you turned out to be a genius, i know. That''s also what''s stopping all the other families from attacking ours. But if you died, that means that the Fuji family would be over. I''m already too sick, i don''t have much time left. Thankfully, Kira is strong enough to protect the family for now."


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Hiro was shocked. He didn''t thought in any of that. He just wanted to do something epic. He tightened his fists and sighed.


    "Sorry mother. But now it can''t be undone. I''ll be dead for a few years. I was thinking on going back to Magehold during graduation to shock everyone. But with what you said, i don''t think i''ll be strong enough by then. So i''m regretting it a little. I am really sorry."


    "It''s okay my child. What happened, happened. I would''ve grounded you, if i could, but it''s okay." She had a gentle smile in her face as she softly put her hand in his hair. "The capital has a graduation tournament  every year. That''s how they set the final year''s ranking. You could try to participate when your year graduate."


    "Thank you mother." Hiro finally had a soft smile in his face. His mother was really kind.


    They talked for a while more, about his years in school, his friends, everything about his life in general. And he gladly answered, exaggerating all his good deeds. Soon, he decided it was time to leave. So before he went, he overpowered a Ultimate Healing spell from the Restoration branch with four sources of mana, the amount he could presently control. Technically, that was a Expert level spell, but Hiro could use it by overpowering it. Just like he did with Fireball in his first year. His mother took a more healthy look, but it was possible to see that she was still sick. They said goodbye, and Hiro became invisible again.


    Time to go back to the mountains and a serious training montage.


    ''Dun, Duh duh dun, dan dan daan...'' That was the Eye of the T*ger playing in his head.

 Traveling creates secluded masters

    After restocking in his hometown, he set off to the mountains. It would be at least a month of travel, two weeks to reach the Arcane Forest, and two weeks more to walk deep in the mountains.


    While traveling back to the forest, he met a few merchants traveling. Taking the opportunity, he decided to buy a few things. Clothes, mostly. He didn''t think about where he would sleep before, but now that he saw the merchant, he decided it was a good idea to make some kind of bed out of clothes. Funny thing was when the merchant started talking about news and rumors. It''s a strange feeling when you hear news of your own death.


    Nevertheless, that only confirmed the fact that his death is spreading. So he made haste to the mountains, he didn''t want to bump into a mage who could see past his illusion.


    After two long weeks of travel, he finally reached the Arcane Forest. After so much traveling, he felt like he would never get out of his training place until the last day he had to go to the city. Or maybe he could be one of those secluded monsters? So powerful, but away from everything and everyone. Maybe they''re so far away from everything because they hate traveling as well?


    Nevertheless, entering the Arcane Forest means that there will be Magical Beasts attacking. Even though the level of those beasts were rather low, it was best to keep cautious. After a few days traveling in the forest, he met a magical beast. It was a Fire Tiger. Which is basically a Tiger who can use fire magic.


    Magical beasts were honestly kind of weak. They didn''t have strong bodies, just some magic. Their magic was strong, sure, but they died easily. Just like real mages in games, where they''re glass cannons. Savage Beasts, on the other hand, were cultivating beasts. They could use Qi to attack at a distance, so they were strong and had resistent bodies. They were the true threat to the human race. That was a funny thing to notice. Because the humans thought magic to be stronger, but the beasts showed us otherwise. This was other thing that made Hiro suspicious about the true leaders of the world.


    As the tiger threw a fireball at him, Hiro simply put up a Greater Ward from the Restoration branch. The only branch that had defensive spells against magic. Sure, alteration could make your skin as tough as steel, but that would be better against physical attacks.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    The fireball was simply dispelled in the ward, taking a bit of the ward''s mana with it. But otherwise, it was harmless. Hiro kept the ward up with one hand and started a spell in the other. Cold air gathered in his hand as he prepared Ice Lance, an Adept level Destruction magic. As the little ball of mana condensed and was ready to be launched, it was possible to see various runes etched in the floating ball of mana. It was roughly the size of a tennis ball. When the Tiger took a jump to try sending magic from another direction, Hiro took the chance to snipe him from the air. The ball was aimed at the tiger, and out of the ball came a lance of ice flying at it. It was fast and around one meter and a half long. It went right through the defenseless tiger.


    As the tiger whimpered before death, Hiro finished him off with an Apprentice level spell, Sparks.


    "It''s been a while since This King last had meat. Thankfully, this little cat delivered himself to me." Hiro said as he promptly began taking the tiger apart. Magical beasts like these, normaly had a Core Soul in their body. Something like the human''s heart is their core. But in magical beasts, it''s a kind of gem. Their energy could be used to enchant items with the right runes. It could also recharge enchantments from an unpowered enchanted item. That makes them mildly valuable.


    Finishing up with the tiger''s meat, he took all the washed meat, courtesy of conjuring some water, and stored in his ring. It didn''t have anything as convenient as time stasis, but that simply meant that he should eat it soon and hunt regularly for meat. As for the tiger''s core, he used it instantly in his ring. It disappeared when he channeled his mana through it into the item.


    With a little smile, he kept going deep into the mountains, with all beasts that dared block his way, mercilessly became food and fuel.


    After all, even a King doesn''t have the patience to deal peacefully with attackers.

 A King commands everything around him.

    Reaching the mountain was tiring. After a full week of walking through the forest, eating magical beasts meat and storing the cores in his ring, he finally reached the beginning of the mountains, just one more week to go deeply into it.


    The sad part about illusion magic is that it had limited effects in beasts. They didn''t need to see you to rip you to pieces. So, when savage beasts started appearing, Hiro kept as far away as possible as he sniped them with magic. Nothing less than Adept level spells worked on their leather, fur or skin. He had a few close calls, but finally managed to reach a good place in the middle of the mountains, it was a place he could use to rest when necessary.


    So with that said, he immediately sat down and started to cultivate. Over the years he managed to reach the first bottleneck of cultivation, Qi Gathering stage 10. While that wasn''t really impressive, since his magic could easily enough kill beasts at the Core Formation stage, that made his body more tough.


    Sucking in the rich Qi of the mountains, he breathed in a profound rhythm. All of the Qi gathered at his Dantian, trying to form some kind of image, but it couldn''t and it ended up going back to a simple ball of energy.


    When the Qi gathered and formed an image, that meant you broke through to the Foundation Building Stage. That image was also your future path. If it was a sword, you would be a sword cultivator. If it was a beast, you would take the characteristics of that beast. For example, if you had a panther as your image, you would become more agile, fast and stealthy.


    Now you would ask, what kind of image Hiro was trying to create? Isn''t that obvious? Of course is a crown! He walks the path of a King, his cultivation should go along with it as well!


    However, he couldn''t breakthrough yet. Something was wrong, something was blocking him. Going deep into meditation, he realized that his mana was spread all over his body, making difficult to make any breakthrough with Qi, since everytime you broke through, the Qi would spread throughout your body and cleanse the impurities. So that''s why he couldn''t maintain the image with his Qi.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Enlightened, he started to practice controling his mana. Since he could already control four sources simultaneously, he should just practice until he could control it all! If he could lock his mana up in his heart with its source, what would happen? Would that be cultivating with mana? Would he also make an image with it? Could someone become a mana cultivator?


    Even if someone were to tell him it was impossible, he would still do it! A King is someone who must be looked up to! If no one becomes the first, there''ll also be no seconds! The King''s job is be that first unattainable position. The strongest. The impossible.


    The impossible is only weak people limiting themselves to what they think it''s the ''truth''. To them, Hiro''s existence itself would be impossible! A reincarnated person from a world where magic didn''t even exist? There were no nobles? Are you high or something? That was impossible to the ''truth'' of this world. But since Hiro itself is impossible, why couldn''t he break a few rules and make his own? No, that''s not right. Since he''s the King, he makes laws! The king commands himself. With those enlightened thoughts, he naturally became able to control five of the six sources of mana. Just one away of controlling it all.


    After this small breakthrough, Hiro kept his seated position as he contemplated on those thoughts. He is The King. The King commands himself. The King commands the laws. The King commands the impossible. The King is the impossible! As he thought about this, he remembered something that he had forgotten. Of course he is The King. After all, with what he bought in the Karmic Shop, he can''t be anything less.

 Hiro vs Pack of Wolves

    Hiro didn''t stop practicing until he went out of food. He kept insisting on trying to control all his mana, but kept failing. Still, he kept trying. When his food ran out, he had to go hunt for a beast every two days.


    Having to fight the beasts with his magic, his casting was getting faster. His aim was also improving. While the savage beasts were stronger overall than the magic beasts, it was still easy to dispatch them at this level. Magic was practically bullying to low level cultivators. They could only take it with their body or try to evade, but that already kept them on the defensive, so it was hard for them to get close enough to attack.


    However those were only the weakest of the savage beasts. Their cultivations was merely at Foundation Building. Their body was absolutely stronger than humans of the same level, but they hadn''t learned how to wield Qi at a distance.


    With that said, Hiro didn''t run into many problems while hunting for food. He only attacked strays and did his best to sneak around unnoticed by more than one beast at a time.


    That, of course, meant that something was bound to eventually happen. And it did, when his fight made too much noise and alerted a pack of Horned Wolves nearby. Soon enough, he was surrounded by the pack of around a dozen beasts.


    Immediately, Hiro went serious and started casting a few alteration spells to make his skin tougher than steel. The wolves jumped at him, surrounded and virtually helpless, Hiro dashed to meet one of them before they reached him. For the first time in a good while drawing his sword. A quick alteration spell made the rapier sword to extend. Another one made it unbendable, and as the wolf roared and prepared to bite him, he thrusted right into his mouth. With the extended thin sword being also unbendable or inflexible, it went straight trough his insides and could be seen going out of his upper back. The wolf was as good as dead already, so he quickly dispersed the mana in the alreation spells and the sword went back to normal. Taking it out, he ran in the direction of the dead wolf, the only side where there wasn''t a wolf anymore.


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    However, the wolves were fast. Obviously faster than him. The only way he knew to get out of this was to overpower a particular spell that never seemed to work with him. An Expert level spell, Chain Lightning. It''s a spell that bounces between all enemies, extremely good for going against multiple enemies.


    He started concentrating, controlling all the five he could into making the spell simultaneously, while he was also running with all his might, the spell was starting to condense in his hands. But he wasn''t fast enough, the wolves reached him and started to attack, but thankfully, his skin wasn''t being penetrated by their claws or teeth, his spell was holding on, leaving only scratches.


    Hiro knew that this wouldn''t last for long, so he used all his concentration to ignore the wolves and focus on charging the spell. When it was completed was also when his skin went back to normal. A wolf still managed to get a bite on his arm while he launched the spell to a random wolf.


    This, in turn, made a chain reaction happen. Chain lightning is basically a lot of condensed electricity that seeked all nearest possible conductors while ignoring the caster. It was a powerful spell by itself, but by being overpowered, it wasn''t surprising to say that it was a lot of electricity. And when it reached the wolf that was still attached to his arm, Hiro was electrocuted as well.


    While he didn''t get the full power of the spell back at him, he still couldn''t keep awake with this shock. All the wolves around him went down, dead. Hiro would also be dead if it wasn''t his own mana, so it immediately stopped attacking when it went into his body. But it wasn''t fast enough, and his consciousness faded to black.


    "What an interesting kid." A voice that sounded ominous and amused was echoed through the place.

 The Mighty Bob

    When Hiro woke up, he was laying in a soft bed made of leaves. He was in a little wood hut, it looked like.  He sat up in the bed and looked around, frowning. The little hut had few things of notice, mostly just basic things, enough to live in the wild.


    ''Where am i? How did i got here?'' Hiro was thinking. Suddenly he remembered the fight he had before falling unconscious. ''Someone brought me here?''


    His wondering got interrupted by the sound of the wooden door opening, the person responsible for this act walking in. It was an old man with a very long white beard, in contrast to that, his head was completely bald. It was even possible to see it shine with the ambient light.


    "I see you''re awake." His old voice sounded weird. It was made frail by age, but it held a lot of power beneath the surface. Just the air around this old man was enough to suffocate a normal person to death. But at the same time, everything around him seemed to be peaceful, like an aura of tranquility. It felt like he was part of the background, a mountain that could not be moved, a force of nature. "Dangerous thing, that you did. Just a little more power in that spell, and you would end up with a fried brain."


    Hiro''s eyes shined as he looked at this old man who was clearly a perfect picture of a powerful master.


    "Who are you?" That was the first thing Hiro wanted to know.


    "Huh? This old bones? I''m Bob, nice to meet you." The old man was saying very amicable while approaching the bed. "I took a look at your injuries, but it''s only superficial scratches, so you should be already healed up."


    "This King understands. You have This King''s gratitude." With a nod, he continued his questions. "Where is this place?"


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    " ''This King'' you say, what an interesting kid. Haha, we are at the tallest mountain in the Savage Beasts Mountains. Right at the peak, where i lived for the last hundred something years."


    Hiro did a double take, hundred years? Clearly, he looked old, but hundred years? How old was this man?


    "Understood, you are one of the famous secluded masters of this world. Then, why did you bring This King here?"


    "I thought you were amusing, and you have potential. To be honest, you are an impossibility. There should not be a way to Qi and Mana to work together flawlessly. But somehow, you achieved it. I think it has something to do with your strange blood. Your blood isn''t only rich in mana, but it''s full of Qi. Or, to be more precise, it is neither and both at the same time." Bob took a look at him and Hiro felt that everything about him was seen through immediately. "I took you here because i wanted to research this strange phenomenon. So, basically, i will guide your training from now on."


    Hiro had a strange look in his face. ''It really looks like This King has a protagonist''s problems. Becoming an old master guinea pig? Check.''


    "What if This King refuses?" As soon as the words left his mouth, the air in the hut became cold. It was peculiar, because he was sure the temperature stayed the same, but Hiro felt really, really cold. So cold, that he couldn''t even breathe. He was slowly suffocating in that atmosphere.


    "I am not asking. Be thankful that i did not simply killed you and experimented with your body, that would be enough for me." After Bob said that, the air went back to normal just as quick. "When i''m done with what i want to know, i''m kicking you out, you find your way back on your own."


    ''Is my fated master a tsundere, or is he perhaps just a bastard?''

 King Chimera Energy

    After that bit of talk where Hiro didn''t have any choice, the first thing Bob wanted to teach him was what was mana and qi.


    "You might think that mana is a natural resource of heaven and earth, but it is actually not." The old man had the expression just like that of a sage as he explained everything with his arms behind his back. "What you need to know is that the only true energy born from heaven and earth is Qi. When one cultivates to a higher realm, it is possible to create a myriad of things. Mana was made by one such cultivator."


    Hearing all of that, Hiro couldn''t help but be shocked. How strong would a person who made mana be? He could only imagine it and think that one day, he will be even stronger than that.


    "While cultivation has a lot of stages, we don''t know a lot of realms. This world we live is what we call the mortal world. After one reaches the second realm, immortality is achieved and the cultivator must make a choice to remain in the mortal world, or advance to the immortal world. Furthermore, the third and last known realm, is the deity realm!" Talking to this point, his eyes had a trace of madness and longing. "And mana was something created by one deity! It is an unnatural resource, made to serve as way to entice others to take a shortcut in cultivation. And every person that uses mana, strenghtens this deity."


    After saying all this he looked right at the youth''s eyes.


    "And that''s where the impossibility starts. How could you be able to fuse Qi and Mana together? Your blood gives you an important opportunity, and i want you to take it and see the consequences." Hiro had a really bad feeling about this. "I''ll leave you to your cultivation. But now you know the path you need to take. Hahaha, this old man is really too magnanimous, too kind." Bob went out of the hut to do whatever, leaving Hiro''s thoughts stirring.


    It took a while for Hiro to come to terms with all that was said. Mana was just a tool of a deity. But if he understood it correctly, mana should be able to be used to cultivate as well. Then, if that was the case, wouldn''t he get a huge power up if he mixed up both of them? That was good enough for him, even though he was being forced to it, he didn''t mind it.


    So for the next days, he stayed in the hut meditating. He found out that he wasn''t able to fuse it together no matter what he tried. So first, he thought he should be able to keep all of his mana under control. If he could control 100% of his mana, it would be easier. And that was something else he wanted to try as well.


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    Unfortunately, he once tried to leave the hut, only to discover that he was unable, he was really stuck here. The old man Bob would sometimes appear to check his progress and bring some food to last him a few days and disappear again. Helpless, he kept at this routine.


    After a few weeks, he had the idea to try to manipulate his blood, that was because he thought it should be harder than simple mana, and that it help him have a breakthrough. Since it was rich in mana, it should be able to be controlled as well, right? So with that in mind, he focused on it and tried to control the mana in his blood. But what he found in his blood was not mana, nor was it Qi, like the old man said, it was something else.


    Hiro decided to call this new energy "King Chimera Energy". He had a very satisfied smile as he named it, as if he thought that only him was worthy of such a thing. Taking a feel of this King Chimera Energy, he suddenly felt enlightened as he studied it, making him actually make a breakthrough when he managed to move a bit of it. His mana could 100% be controlled now!


    Not taking any time to bask in it, he immediately went for another breakthrough, gathering all his mana in his chest and compressing it in a crown''s image. He knew that the higher the details, the better, so he focused on it for hours before he was finally satisfied with the crown and made one last compression, sealing it together in that form. No longer was his mana separated in six different sources, it was now a mana core.


    Suddenly, just after the breakthrough, he felt as if a world opened up in his mind. He could see two rivers running through it, one was a bright blue, while the other was shiny golden. The blue was flowing fast and was big while the golden was a bit slower and smaller. That should be his mana and qi. Floating above the blue river was a shining blue crown, it emitted a strange aura and it simply majestic to watch.


    "This phenomenon should be the so called sea of consciousness This King read in so many cultivation novels. To think my mental energy became so powerful after making this mana core, This King is indeed a genius!"


    Hiro was very happy.


    Except when it came to Bob.


    Bob was a jerk.