《Lord Grayson》


 Chapter 1

    Chp 1


    You know? If you think about it, life is pretty unfair from the moment you¡¯re born.


    Some people are born with silver spoons in their mouths and a crown on their head. They were simply lucky enough to be born in a rich family. While the majority of us were born in either middle or lower-class households.


    While the majority of us were born in middle or lower-class families a small amount of babies that are born are given special gifts or talents. This gives them the opportunity to jump over the status quo to obtain wealth and fame.


    In my previous life, I was an average man in my mid-twenties working nine to five every day in a job that hated for a measly salary that wouldn¡¯t be enough to support a family. That was when I realized that life is absurdly unfair.


    I wasn¡¯t born into a rich family, and I had no special talents or skills. Was I doomed to live a mediocre life, living day by day, paying bill after bill?


    Well, I would never find out because I died in a car accident.


    Either through fate or luck I was somehow reincarnated into a new body with all my memories of my previous life. Maybe God heard my pleas and complaints and answered me.


    And so, here I am as Dominic Grayson, eldest son of Count Henrik Grayson in the Morin Kingdom.


    Apparently, poor ten-year old Dominic Grayson caught a rare disease and was about to die, but my soul came and entered his body and a disorienting fusion of our memories occurred which left me quite bewildered for a while before I came to my senses.


    Of course, my parents were ecstatic that I was mysteriously improving in health but I spent most of my time reorganizing my memories.


    Ten-year old Dominic was a young boy so he didn¡¯t really know much except kind of read and write, but he knew much of the basic information about the kingdom because he was a noble.


    His father, Henrik Grayson was an influential noble in the Morin Kingdom with the title of Count. There is a structure to the titles that nobles have and it goes as follows: On the bottom were knights. Knights were barely considered to be part of nobility and they are usually in charge a small village or something. Then comes Barons and Baronesses, who are a cut above knights. Barons have about a dozen knights serving them and they take part in governing towns and the like.


    Viscounts are above Barons. Viscounts are typically in control of a city or two and a few barons that they order around.


    Counts are above Viscounts, which is what my father is. My father told me that he is currently in charge of four viscounts, who govern six different cities. So he is quite the busy man as he¡¯s always in his office or traveling to the different cities that he¡¯s in charge of to make sure that everything¡¯s running properly and rarely has time to have a family meal.


    Above Counts are the Marquis and Marchioness. They are basically like governors of a state in the kingdom. The Morin kingdom is separated into different provinces and a Marquis or Marquess is usually in charge of that province.


    I found out that there are 12 provinces in this kingdom, each one ruled by a Marquis or Marquess. And above the Marquis are the Dukes.


    The title of Duke can only be obtained by doing many meritorious deeds for the kingdom and the title cannot be passed down to their children. A king from previous generations made a decree that there will only be four dukes in the kingdom because of the limited amount of land available to the kingdom.


    So if the king wants to give a new noble the title of duke then he would have to reorganize all the territories and take some land from other nobles, especially dukes, which they won¡¯t be happy about. Or the King has the option to invade other kingdoms and take their land to give land to the new duke which is unlikely to happen.


    Therefore, each duke governs three provinces and they report directly to the king. Also, I forgot to mention about the archduke. He¡¯s basically the leader of the Dukes of the kingdom, appointed by the current King, but the other dukes usually quarrel with him on decisions so and go against him a lot of times.


    The real reason for an archduke is because that person is the king¡¯s most trusted advisor and usually goes to him for counsel.


    And finally, above the dukes is the King who rules the country. The current ruler is King Timothy Morin IV.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Now, enough about the social structure of the nobility. The thing about this world that got me the most excited was the fact that there is magic! And species of other races like elves and dwarves exist in this world!


    My inner geek/nerd freaked out and was excited to meet one, but I found out that elves and dwarves are quite hostile to humans because the human kingdoms next to their territories constantly wage war on them because they are greedy for their resources.


    This pissed me off because is significantly lowered my chances of getting to meet them.


    ¡°Young master, it¡¯s time for your tutoring lesson.¡± My personal butler Hans told me.


    I walked out my room and my butler followed behind and I walked toward the room where my tutor was waiting for me.


    I have four tutors. One is for mathematics which is quite easy for me. The math tutor was very surprised at how much I improved at math after my illness and he started to run out of things to teach me.


    Another tutor teaches me language arts, history and politics. Language arts is mainly proper grammar usage, going over how to correctly spell and appreciating classic written works which I found kind of boring. The politics side was where I found it more interesting because I learned more about how the government in this country works and how I would impact it in the future as the heir to the title because I¡¯m the eldest son.


    I also had a foreign languages tutor where I was forced to learn two different languages of the neighboring kingdoms where this kingdom has friendly relations with.


    And finally I have a sword instructor who teaches me how to properly wield a sword and fight.


    I¡¯ve had the math and history/politics tutor since I was seven years old and only recently got the foreign language and sword tutor after I turned ten.


    Now you might think that this is quite a huge load for a ten-year old child but apparently it¡¯s quite common for children of nobility to be tutored like this.


    And because my real mental age is in that of the mid-twenties it wasn¡¯t that difficult for me to learn and I did my best to learn all of the subjects that were taught to me and I learned fairly quickly which surprised my tutors because I knew that all of this knowledge would be useful in the future. Also, I¡¯m pretty sure that commoners don¡¯t have the privilege of getting private tutors so I¡¯m using this opportunity to further my growth to have a more successful future.


    My tutors were filled with nothing but praises for me as they eagerly flattered my parents about how smart I was.


    The only problem that I had was with my sword instructor he was a complete brute. On the first day of training he told me to swing the wooden sword 5,000 times. The man is absolutely crazy, who in the world would tell a ten-year old child to swing a sword 5,000 times?


    I couldn¡¯t even make it to 500 as my arms were too numb and sore to life up. And he began to berate me and call me a pathetic weakling which make any child cry. But I have to admit, I began tearing up a little because although my mental age is in my twenties I¡¯ve never went through any sort of situation like this in my previous life so it was quite traumatizing for me.


    I think he would be quite similar to those drill sergeants back in my previous world where he takes great pleasure in making beginner soldiers cry.


    After the first day, I asked my father I wanted a different instructor but my father told me to stick to it because a real man never quits. And he also told me that sword instructor David was a former captain in the kingdom¡¯s army and was a 6-star adventurer after he retired from the army.


    Apparently, my father was joined the army when he was 18, right after he graduated from the Kingdom¡¯s academy and he and sword instructor David were good friends back in the army. My father was in the army also before he settled down with mother and inherited the title of Count from his father, my grandfather.


    I think that father hopes that I join the army too. He thinks it¡¯ll be a good experience for a man to have military background. But I think that¡¯s complete bullshit. I don¡¯t want to go through all of the strict military rules and annoying regulations that they go through.


    I complained incessantly in my mind as I was on my 800<sup>th</sup> swing of my wooden sword as sweat was dripping down my back and my arms were already sore. My arm strength improves daily but all I¡¯m doing is swinging this damn wooden sword all day. This isn¡¯t what I want. I want to learn magic.


    But I quickly found out that I can only begin to learn magic when I enroll into the Kingdom¡¯s Royal Academy located in the capital when I turn 13.


    I think it¡¯s because the adults don¡¯t think that children are mature enough to handle magic, which I completely agree with.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Instructor David shouts at me and I flinch.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to do this do you?¡± He asks.


    I looked down at my feet and timidly nod my head.


    ¡°Hmph, then what do you want to do? I don¡¯t want to waste my precious time teaching an ungrateful brat that doesn¡¯t want to learn from me.¡±


    ¡°I- I want to learn magic!¡± I shout as I look him in the eyes.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ everyone wants to learn magic kid, but not everyone can. Only one in ten people have the gift of mana and being able to learn magic. So it¡¯s highly unlikely that you¡¯re able to learn magic in the future.


    And magicians have to spend a long time when casting spells and so if you¡¯re able to interrupt them before they finish chanting then they¡¯re as good as dead.


    ¡°Here, let me give you an example.¡± Instructor David said as he took out his sword and faced the wooden dummy 20 meters away from him.


    Suddenly I felt the atmosphere change and the mood around him become more tense, for some reason I felt like he became much more dangerous.


    In the blink of an eye he dashed 20 meters in less than a second and slashed down at the wooden dummy and sliced it in half. This speed far surpassed what a cheetah or an Olympic athlete could do.


    I was absolutely dumbstruck at what I just witnessed. This physical ability goes beyond the logic of my brain. But I quickly came to my senses and realized that in a world with magic anything should be possible.


    ¡°Woah! How did you do that? Was that magic? Did you use magic?!¡± I asked excitedly while running up towards him as he put his sword back into his scabbard.


    ¡°No, that wasn¡¯t magic, I can¡¯t use magic anyway. I used aura.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s that?¡±

 Chapter 2

    Chp 2


    ¡°Aura? What¡¯s that?¡± I asked with a confused expression.


    ¡°Aura is the energy that warriors can release in order to exhibit superhuman strength and speed in battle. Of course, it has other uses but that¡¯s pretty much the gist of it.¡± Instructor David replied.


    ¡°Oooh! That¡¯s so cool! How do you use it?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, now you¡¯re enthusiastic about learning from me? Well, first off let me tell you some background about aura.


    It was has been in use for thousands of years but the common folk don¡¯t really know about it. It is used by expert warriors and soldiers who specialize in combat and are only able to use it after years of intense training.


    Everyone can use aura, unlike magic. If you¡¯re willing to go through harsh training and overcome your limits, then you will one day, inevitably be able to use it.


    Aura is something everybody can use and no one really knows why, but there are a lot of different theories out there. Some say that it¡¯s the manifestation of a person¡¯s will and others say that it¡¯s the embodiment of a person¡¯s soul.


    I mean, I guess both kind of make sense. Because of the intense training that warriors go through in order, and that strengthens their mental fortitude, which is their will and that allows them to activate their aura.


    I¡¯m more prone to believe that aura is a person¡¯s will mainly because I have no idea how a person¡¯s soul works, I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s kind of the same as a person¡¯s will and that having a strong soul allows you to activate aura but I don¡¯t know, I just use it.¡±


    ¡°But how do you use it?¡± I ask, starting to get impatient.


    ¡°You¡¯re definitely not gonna get it on your first try but I¡¯ll try to explain it to you as best as I can with words. I just use it instinctively.


    So first you have to be calm and look deep within yourself and find you will find a mysterious energy and you have to force that energy to submit to your control and release it outwards.¡±


    ¡°Like this?¡±


    ¡°What the fuck!¡± Instructor David exclaimed in surprise as he saw me emit my aura which was a sky blue color. The aura I emitted was very small it was probably only a centimeter from my skin and not that very noticeable.


    ¡°You¡­ are you a genius?¡± he muttered as he stared in shock.


    I felt absolutely amazing. I felt like I could run five miles without breaking a sweat. But suddenly my aura disappeared and heavy exhaustion hit me like a truck and my legs wobbled before Instructor David held me up.


    ¡°Woah, there steady kid. I seriously didn¡¯t expect you to be able to use your aura. It usually takes roughly three to five years of intense training before anyone is able to use it.


    Haha, because it¡¯s your first time you¡¯re not used to it and it drains your stamina quickly. The only way to keep it activated longer is by practice and continuous use of it. Well, we can end training early today, be sure to eat a lot of food and get plenty of rest. It puts a lot of strain on your body to use your aura so from tomorrow we¡¯re going to start building your physique and laying a solid foundation so that your body can endure the power of your aura.¡±


    I wearily agreed and my butler took me to the kitchen and I devoured the food given to me.


    I went to sleep early that night and was woken up by my butler Hans. ¡°Young master, it¡¯s time for breakfast.¡±


    I was still feeling kind of exhausted from yesterday but felt excited at the prospect of becoming stronger and quickly ate my food and went to my private tutors for lessons.


    By the time I got to the training field where instructor David was waiting for me I saw various heavy looking equipment and my mood instantly went down as I realized what I was going to do.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna put you through hell today kid. Tomorrow you won¡¯t even be able to sit down to shit.¡± Instructor David gave me a sadistic smile.


    I shivered with fear and he began to instruct me on what to do.


    He brought over a small cart with wheels and told me to put large stones on it. My back was aching by the time he told me to stop.


    He told me to run while pulling the cart. This is absolute sadism. I¡¯m just a ten-year old boy and he¡¯s making me pull a cart that has roughly 300 pounds of rocks on it.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    I was moving at a snail¡¯s pace and I was sweating bullets within five minutes.


    ¡°C¡¯mon ya brat! How¡¯re you ever gonna be able to use your aura effectively if you can¡¯t even do this?!¡±


    I grit my teeth and cursed instructor David to hell.


    Suddenly I felt a painful smack on the back of my head and I fell down.


    ¡°You just thought something bad about me didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Instructor David gave me a threatening glare and I furiously denied his claim.


    He¡¯s scary as fuck. I thought as I continued to give my all to push the cart.


    My shirt was soaked in sweat after about an hour and I fell to the ground gasping for air as I felt soreness and pain throbbing in my legs and couldn¡¯t get up.


    I felt someone pick me up but I passed out after that.


    ¡°Hmm.. it seems like you¡¯re putting my son through quite the ordeal aren¡¯t you David? Hahaha.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. If he can¡¯t even take this much then it¡¯ll only be harder for him in the future. Your sons a fucking genius Henrick don¡¯t you know that? He was able to activate his aura when he¡¯s ten years old! You¡¯ll be wasting his potential if you don¡¯t discipline him now. He¡¯ll become an arrogant little fuck that just boasts about his talent but won¡¯t have any skills.¡±


    ¡°Like you? Hahaha!¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Don¡¯t remind me. I can still kick your ass even though you¡¯re a Count now.¡±


    ¡°Haha! I¡¯m sure you will David. I¡¯m sure you will.¡±


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    When I woke up I found myself in my bed in a new pair of clothes that weren¡¯t wet with sweat.


    I went through the same routine every day except for the weekends. On weekends, I just had extra-long training sessions with Instructor David.


    I even tried begging my dad to let me get a different instructor or to convince him that I was strong enough and don¡¯t need a teacher anymore because I could use aura but he wouldn¡¯t listen to me and said that it was for my own good.


    I came to the conclusion, that aura is a part of a person¡¯s soul. Because I reincarnated with my past life¡¯s memories I think that my soul is stronger than the average person, which is why I was able to use my aura on my first try.


    I occasionally skip training with Instructor David because his training exercise are too harsh and I hate going to them. Or sometimes when he¡¯s not paying attention I am able to sneak away and go into the city and hang around there until dinner time.


    My father gives me an allowance of 10 silvers a week. I found out that an average family can life off of five silver coins a week. But I guess that¡¯s the perk of me being the son of the Count.


    Whenever I sneak away from practice I usually go to my friend Quintin¡¯s house. Quintin¡¯s father is a Viscount that is under my father. Apparently, we were friends since we were toddlers and I still had memories of the old Dominic and so it was easy for me to still be friends with him.


    But it was weird for me to adapt to being friends with a ten-year old boy because I had the mentality of a person in my twenties but I got used to it.


    ¡°Hey Quintin! Let¡¯s go and play in the market!¡± I called outside of his window and I could hear screams of his instructor yelling at him to come back.


    The doors of the mansion slammed open as a blonde-haired boy came running out with a smile on his face.


    Although Quintin was still young he had the face of an angel and I knew that when he got older he would be a lady killer.


    ¡°Hahaha! Come on! Before my dad comes and gets me! We have to get out of here! Hahaha!¡± Quintin said as he grabbed my arm and we both ran to the market place.


    After five minutes of running he stopped.


    ¡°Whew, boy am I glad you showed up. I was about to fall asleep from the tutor¡¯s boring lesson about how great the first king was.¡±


    ¡°Sigh, history¡¯s important you know? You should pay more attention to your lessons I said.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. You¡¯re like my dad. Anyway, what are we gonna do today?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s why I came to you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ How about we go to the pier and go fishing?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    The city that we live in, Tilinth, was a port city, and it was one of the major trade cities in the kingdom so there were a lot of merchants that were selling their goods on the streets and yelling about how good their merchandise was.


    We bought a fishing pole, line, hook and bait and went by the pier and began fishing until the sun began to set.


    We caught nothing.


    ¡°Man, what a waste of time. I¡¯m going back home.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Okay. I¡¯m gonna stay here for a while longer and see if I can catch anything.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t get your hopes up. See ya tomorrow!¡±


    We said our goodbyes and I sat there on the pier just reminiscing about my past life and my current life and what I was going to do.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Honestly, I don¡¯t really have any ambitions for the future. I just want to live an easy going life and be happy. I don¡¯t see the reason why my dad keeps on forcing me to go through that hellish training every day.


    ¡°You sigh like an old man for a young kid.¡± Suddenly a voice behind me spoke up.


    Surprised, I turn around and see an old man with a bald head and a white goatee standing behind me.


    This old man isn¡¯t that simple.


    Ever since I was able to use aura my senses have become far more sharper than before and am able to react to things quicker.


    I think that using aura more changes a person¡¯s body, fundamentally improving it.


    *Tug*


    Suddenly, I felt something tug strongly against my fishing line.


    I reacted quickly and after a few seconds of struggle I was able to bring out the fish that was caught in the hook.


    ¡°Hoh! Not bad. Tell ya what kid. Give me the fish and I¡¯ll give you something nice.¡±


    Without waiting for me to respond the man deftly took the fish off the hook and put it into his bag.


    ¡°This will make some tasty fish soup. Oh, here¡¯s your present.¡±


    The old man acted too quickly for me to react and his fingers touched my forehead. Suddenly, an influx of information was sent to my head and I fell down.


    I felt disoriented from the information that just entered my brain. It was a breathing technique, and it¡¯s specific use was to help me be able to improve my control over my aura and be able to increase the strength of it.


    Who the hell is that old man? He just casually gave me something that I possibly couldn¡¯t imagine the value of such a technique.


    When I came to my senses the man was already gone and the sun was barely there and so I quickly ran back home.


    My mother scolded me for being late and I didn¡¯t get any dinner that night.

 Chapter 3

    Chp 3


    I¡¯ve been practicing the special breathing technique that the mysterious old man gave to me and the effects were amazing. Every day I could feel my aura get stronger, my control getting better and the duration getting longer.


    Instructor David seemed to have noticed it as well and he pushes me even harder during training. Every day I am covered with bruises from the wooden sword he uses to hit my body because of my weak defenses.


    ¡°Instructor, why is both of our aura¡¯s the same color?¡± I asked one day while taking a short break.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but everyone¡¯s aura is a light blue color. That¡¯s why some people theorize that the aura is the physical manifestation of a person¡¯s soul. But I¡¯ve heard of rumors of some people whose auras are colors other than blue and that they¡¯re freakishly strong.¡±


    ¡°Break time is over. Pick up your sword!¡±


    I groaned and reluctantly picked up my sword.


    ¡°Hah! Hah!¡±


    I could hear my cute younger brother Daniel swinging a small wooden sword while learning from his instructor.


    He¡¯s seven this year and he¡¯s so cute. He has black hair like me and has huge, adorable eyes that make you want to just cuddle with him.


    But one thing about him is that he¡¯s really shy with strangers. It took an entire week and with a lot of coaxing from my mother to get him to start meeting up with his sword instructor.


    I also have another younger sister who turning five this year. She¡¯s like a porcelain doll that looks so fragile. She has silky black hair and adorable dimples whenever she smiles, so I try to make her laugh as much as I can. I can tell that she¡¯s gonna be a real beauty when she grows up. And I¡¯m not just saying that because I¡¯m her older brother.


    The afternoon¡¯s training was finished and I noticed some laborer¡¯s coming inside the mansion with equipment and materials and my father was overseeing them work.


    ¡°What are they doing father?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, Dom, you¡¯re finished with your training? These people are here to install a new invention that I recently invested in from an inventor. It¡¯s called a toilet. I believe that with enough resources, we can replace those stinky chamber pots and have a toilet in every household in this city!¡±


    My father said with bright eyes and an enthusiastic tone.


    But what I was most excited about was hearing the word ¡®toilet¡¯.


    The technology in this world is something that is far behind my previous world¡¯s and as you might have already inferred, there are no toilets in this world.


    Nobles and the rich had chamber pots in their rooms and had servants get rid of the waste after we do our business.


    But commoners and peasants use the public restroom which is basically a huge hole in the ground covered by a large piece of wood with a hole and people just sit down and poop in there. It¡¯s really smelly and I never go there to do my business.


    One thing that I really miss from my previous world is the hygiene. People don¡¯t bathe too often and they are quite smelly. Luckily, I¡¯m a noble and have access to a personal bathroom and I bathe every day. The servants think I¡¯m weird that I bathe every day because they don¡¯t know about the bacteria that grows on their body but because I don¡¯t have any scientific evidence about that I probably won¡¯t waste my time trying to explain to them.


    My father is a very lucrative business man. As a Count he is in charge of governing a few cities and so he is mostly in charge of setting up the laws of the city along with the other nobles. And the city that we live in was a major trade city with a port. Therefore, my father comes in contact with various merchants from across the sea on daily basis and so he is quite business minded.


    He has made a lot of money from investing into merchants¡¯ businesses and even started up a few profitable businesses on his own during his spare time, when he is not busy managing the cities he is in charge of.


    The laborers took a while before they finally installed the pipes and the toilet. But my father plans on installing a completely new pipeline in the mansion to install new sinks and bathtubs and a new sewage system for our personal use.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    It will probably take a while before everything is completely installed but I seriously can¡¯t wait to have a working toilet. By the looks of it, it is pretty old schooled but hearing the nostalgic flushing noise of the toilet almost brought me to tears.


    Come to think of it, it will probably take large amounts of money to create a new sewage system for the entire city. I have no idea how father will deal with that enormous project. He¡¯s gonna have to have tons of man power to dig holes in the city to put in the pipes. And most of the citizens probably won¡¯t be able to afford a toilet inside of their homes.


    Well, that¡¯s none of my business so I spend the rest of my day trying to stay out of site from instructor David so that he doesn¡¯t drag me away for more training.


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    I no longer have a math tutor because he ran out of things to teach me. This made my mother quite happy so she got me a new tutor to teach me about the surrounding kingdoms and various races of the world.


    Apparently, I will be learning more advanced mathematics in the royal academy, which I will attend when I turn 13. The highest level of math that my tutor taught me was up to around mid-level algebra.


    The new tutor taught me a lot of things that I never knew before so I was rapt in attention.


    First, he had me get familiar with the neighboring kingdoms and the geography of our lands.


    Our Morin Kingdom¡¯s territory is located on the south-eastern point of the continent next to the ocean the several islands near the mainland.


    Our kingdom is well known for our strong economy because of our many port cities which allows us to trade quickly by the ocean.


    Above us, to the north is the Vitia Kingdom who we have quite friendly relations with because of trade. They are known as the kingdom of magic because they have the highest population of wizards and magicians which they boast quite often about.


    And above the Vitia Kingdom is the Tronia Mountain range where the three dwarven kingdoms reside. The Vitia Kingdom and the dwarven kingdoms have quite the hostile relationship because the Vitia Kingdom who has many mages are greedy for the magic crystals that the dwarfs are able to mine easily in their mountains.


    The mages from the Vitia Kingdom had tried numerous times to either steal or trade with the dwarfs but they were bluntly refused.


    To the west is the Rezia Kingdom. They are the smallest kingdom. Well, I guess they don¡¯t really count as a kingdom because there is no king. It is basically a territory where there are different nobles who declare themselves as kings and are warlords who constantly wage war on each other to gain more land and power.


    Apparently, it¡¯s been like that for roughly 40 years ever since the last king died and his three children and five illegitimate children all made their own factions and destroyed the country.


    To the north-west of us and north of the Rezia Kingdom is the Cilon Empire. They have the largest amount of land. Their first emperor, Westley Cilon I, conquered five different kingdoms and created a vast empire with his nigh invincible army 500 years ago.


    But currently they have a lot of internal conflicts because their crown prince and the third prince are currently in a huge battle with each other to decide who becomes the next emperor of the vast empire.


    And I learned about the five other kingdoms in the Great Plains that are to the far west of us. And past those kingdoms resided the elves in the Elven Forest. The elves are also somewhat hostile to humans because the humans capture the elves and use them as sex slaves because of their beauty.


    Most humans who enter the Elven Forest usually never return. No one really knows how large the Elven Forest is because of the sheer size of the forest.


    ¡°Are there other races too?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°Well of course! There are many races that we haven¡¯t even gotten to, like goblins, orcs, demi-humans and dragons!¡±


    ¡°Demi-humans are humans with animalistic traits. They leave peacefully in the Elven Forest alongside the elves. Demi-humans also dislike us humans because we consider them to be savage animals.¡±


    I found out that the prejudice that the humans have in this world is a lot worse than in my previous world.


    In my past life, we didn¡¯t have magic creatures and elves and dwarves. We only had people of different skin color and sexuality whom we discriminated against.


    But here, in this world, humans discriminate against practically every other race that isn¡¯t human. I guess it¡¯s human nature?


    Sigh¡­ I was seriously starting to get depressed. I mean, how am I ever going to meet these various races if humans are such dicks to everyone around them? Can¡¯t we all be nice to each other?


    My tutor told me that dragons are the apex predators and that you¡¯re lucky to get out alive if you ever see one. Dragons are reclusive creatures who like to live alone, so you will rarely ever get the chance to meet one.


    My tutor gave me an encyclopedia about all the various races and monsters on this continent and told me to study it and that he will test me on it soon.


    I absorbed the knowledge from the book like a sponge and gathered as much information about other races as much as possible.


    ¡®Sigh¡­ I really want to see other races¡­.¡¯


    And like that time passed by as I tried to avoid as much training as possible from instructor David, played with my best friend Quintin.


    I am now 13 and it¡¯s time for me to head to the Royal Academy.


    I was surprised as time passed by so quickly. My younger brother and sister were crying as they saw me enter the carriage. It was quite funny yet sad to watch. I promised them that they will come to school with me when they get older but they still didn¡¯t want me to leave.


    After my mother scolded them she gave me words of encouragement and said how fast I¡¯ve grown and tearfully said goodbye.


    I was heading to the capital with my father because he had some business he had to do there.


    My father gave me a lot of information about the Royal Academy because he¡¯s an alumni of the school.


    I have to attend there for five years and will graduate when I¡¯m 18. All of the noble¡¯s and wealthy children attend and learn from the best teachers so that they are well equipped to serve the kingdom.


    It¡¯s also a great opportunity to make good connections which my father stressed about. He still has good friends from the academy who are now influential figures in the kingdom today.


    After two long and boring days in the carriage we finally arrived in the capital.

 Chapter 4

    Chp 4


    The capital was beautiful. The architecture was huge, yet elegant. The aqueducts running through the city gave it a very Roman-like feel. Whoever designed this city deserves a cookie.


    My father and I had some quality father and son bonding time as he gave me a tour around the city and bought me a lot of souvenirs, cool stuff and books.


    We had lunch together in a fancy restaurant before he took me to the Academy.


    ¡°Well son, this is where we say goodbye. Take good care of yourself, focus on your studies and make good friends. I¡¯ll come stop by every couple months or so when I have business in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Thanks dad, you take care too.¡± We hugged and I realized that I¡¯m a lot taller now than before. I think I¡¯m roughly five foot five. At 13 years old I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a bad height to be. My father is roughly six foot and I think I¡¯ll be as tall as him when I grow up.


    I saw a lot of other nobles with their children saying their goodbyes. I found myself at the counter where a receptionist gave me the key to my room and had someone guide me there.


    The school was pretty big. It was probably the size of a small-scale university back in my previous world.


    My servants and I followed the guide as he led us to my dorm. I entered a small building and my room number was 8.


    I entered the room and saw that it had a queen-sized bed, a couple of pairs of the school uniform on the bed, books, a desk, a list of my classes, closet and a chamber pot.


    God. Why have you forsaken me?


    After my family installed those new toilets we got rid of all the chamber pots, but now I have to go back to using these horrible things.


    My servants dropped off all my belongings in my room and left. Students at the academy are not allowed any servants, we have to do everything themselves so that we learn to be self-reliant.


    After organizing all of my stuff I decided to go on an adventure around the school.


    I went outside my room.


    ¡°Oh, hey there, you must be the new resident of room 8. I¡¯m Charles Norton, I¡¯m a senior and am the residence advisor for this dorm. If you ever have any questions or need help with school work you can always come to me.¡±


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Dominic Grayson.¡±


    Charles had one of those charming faces that made him seem like a genuine friendly guy, so it was hard not to like him.


    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re going to have a dorm dinner where you will get to meet everyone tonight at dinner time so make you¡¯re there.¡±


    We parted ways and exited the dorm.


    As I wandered around the campus looking at the various buildings trying to find my classes I bumped into Quintin.


    ¡°Dom! You¡¯re here!¡±


    ¡°Hey Quintin! When did you get here?¡±


    ¡°I arrived yesterday. What classes do you have? I¡¯ll help you find them.¡±


    We¡¯re both 13 now and Quintin is certainly growing up to become the pretty boy that I knew he would be. We¡¯re roughly the same height but he¡¯s definitely more handsome than me.


    I notice that some of the girls are giving glances at Quintin when we¡¯re passing by.


    Turns out that Quintin and I have three classes together. We had fun exploring the school and it was my idea to talk to some cute girls because ¡°we were lost¡±. So we spent some time chatting up those noble girls.


    Honestly, they all seem like children to me. We¡¯re all in a new environment so it¡¯s easy to chat people up. It¡¯s kinda like I¡¯m back in college again.


    That night I had dinner with my hall. There were roughly fifty of us gathered in the dining hall. The resident advisor, Charles gave a charming speech about starting the new year together as friends and encouraged us to get to know each other as we are going to spend the entire year together.


    Most of the residents in this dorm were first years like me but there were several supper classmen also.


    I socialized with my dorm roommates and went to sleep after practicing the breathing technique that mysterious old man gave to me.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The next day we had an assembly in the auditorium where the headmaster who was an old man that¡­


    ¡°Holy shit!¡±


    I cried out loud and everyone turned their heads and stared at me.


    ¡®Oops.¡¯


    The headmaster is the same old man that gave me the breathing technique!


    The headmaster looked in my direction and saw me. He gave me a friendly smile and began his speech.


    He gave a short and simple speech about how we should all strive to study and work hard because we are the future of the kingdom and that our actions will represent the academy so we should be good students.


    After that, the teachers split us first years from the upper classmen to send us to check our magic potential.


    A lot of us including me was excited to find out if we had the potential to use magic.


    We were led to a room with a crystal ball in the middle and we stood in line, going one by one.


    There were about 200 first-year students all excited and whispering to each other about how they wish they are able to use magic.


    One by one the students went up and put their hands on the crystal ball. Sometimes it lit up with a beautiful light but for the majority it didn¡¯t light up.


    The light that shined for each person was different. Let¡¯s say, for example, if a student went up and touched the crystal ball and the light that shined was red then they are more suited towards fire magic.


    Of course, it¡¯s not that they¡¯re limited to fire magic. They can use other types of magic as well, but it is much easier for that person to utilize and learn fire magic because that¡¯s what their affinity is more in tune with.


    Some people have multiple color lights shining while others have only one. The brighter a light shines the more magic potential they have.


    ¡®Oh? It lit up for Quintin. His elemental affinity is for water. The crystal ball shined pretty bright so he must have good talent.


    I¡¯m next. I nervously walked up to the crystal ball and placed my hand. The ball shined dimly in a light green color. That meant that I have affinity for wind magic but I don¡¯t have too much potential.


    I was slightly disappointed but as long as I¡¯m able to use magic I¡¯m still happy.


    Quintin started to laugh at me for having less magic potential than him but then I reminded him that I¡¯m going to beat him up during training and he quickly shut up.


    In terms of martial prowess I¡¯m vastly superior to Quintin and he knows it. We¡¯ve had a couple spars in the past couple years and he¡¯s never won.


    I guess it¡¯s because I¡¯m able to use aura and he isn¡¯t but I¡¯m still able to beat him even when I don¡¯t use my aura.


    Out of the 200-ish first years only about 40 of us were deemed to have the potential to use magic.


    Now they added an extra basic magic class to our schedules, we were sent to attend our classes.


    Each class period is roughly an hour and a half long and I had seven classes as followed: math, etiquette, politics, governing, weapons training, foreign languages and finally basic magic.


    The classes were pretty boring as it was the first day. What I was more excited for was magic class.


    Weapons training class was kind of interesting. The first thing the weapons teacher had us do was run three miles around the track. This was a piece of cake for me and Quintin but I saw that several of the noble children were having a hard time.


    Because they¡¯re nobles they were probably spoiled a lot and so several of them were quite overweight. Plus, we¡¯re only 13 year olds. It¡¯s kind of harsh to expect children of our age to be running 3 miles.


    Quintin and I and several other classmates have received training since we were young which is why we¡¯re able to do so.


    He had those that couldn¡¯t finish the three miles run for the rest of the class period while he had the rest of us that passed pick up a wooden sword and swing it 500 times.


    I¡¯ve done this hundreds of thousands of times and I was kind of annoyed that I had to go through with this so I was just half-assing it. And suddenly the teacher called me out.


    ¡°Dominic Grayson. What do you think you¡¯re doing? What¡¯s with those half-hearted swings? Do you think you¡¯re too good for this class?¡±


    ¡°N-no sir.¡± Damnit. How annoying.


    ¡°Come up here and spar with me a little. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something that you can teach all of us.¡±


    ¡®This bastard is using me as a demonstration to keep the other kids in line¡­¡¯


    I slowly walked up to him and took my stance.


    ¡°Be careful kid, I¡¯m not gonna go easy on you.¡± The teacher said as he rushed towards me with his practice sword swinging down.


    I was able to easily block him and counterattack by sending a kick to his side. But he saw it coming and blocked with his arm.


    ¡°Hoh. Not bad.¡±


    He came at me again and this time his swings were much faster and stronger but I was able to keep up with him. The teacher was honestly a strong opponent but he¡¯s not as good as instructor David who¡¯s a complete monster.


    So, I didn¡¯t have that much difficulty fending him off. I saw an opening and thrusted toward his stomach.


    The teacher abruptly activated his aura and gave me a kick to the side and I was kicked several meters away.


    ¡°Oh crap! I overdid it!¡± The teacher came rushing towards me to check if I was okay but I was pissed. I mean, who the fuck kicks a 13 year-old with their aura?


    As he got near me I activated my own aura and sent him a punch which he was not expecting right to his face and sent him flying several meters back.


    All of the children had expressions of disbelief.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Quintin roared with laughter as he saw my actions.


    The teacher got back up and spat out some blood to the side. His expression was one of fury and he activated his aura.


    I was pissed of too and mobilized my own aura to show him that I wasn¡¯t intimidated.


    Of course, none of the other students could see that we were using aura but the teacher seemed genuinely shocked that I could use aura.


    In fact, the size of our aura were comparable. The aura we emitted was able to reach roughly half a meter away from our bodies.


    The thing about aura is that the farther away it goes when you activate it, the stronger the person is, usually. So, if a person is able to emit their aura one meter from their body and their opponent is able to do two meters, then their opponent is going to win because they¡¯re able to use their aura for a longer duration and their aura has more strength.


    We stood off, facing each other for a few breaths before we both rushed towards each other and covered the distance of a dozen meters in the blink of an eye and we were both in mid-swing when suddenly I felt immense pressure and fear press down upon me like a mountain and slammed to the ground.


    The same thing happened to the teacher and we were both drenched in sweat.


    ¡°Ho ho ho! You youngsters sure are hotblooded!¡±


    I turn my head and see the headmaster standing, looking at us. The man who gave me the secret breathing technique to improve my aura.

 Chapter 5

    Chp 5


    I have never felt this fearful in my entire life. The pressure exerted by the old man was like a mountain crashing down on me. But the other students didn¡¯t feel a thing.


    Suddenly the pressure disappeared and the headmaster walked over towards us.


    ¡°A student and teacher fighting isn¡¯t very appropriate don¡¯t you think Mr. Werik?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, headmaster sir! I apologize for my actions.¡± The teacher apologized.


    ¡°Good. Now it seems like younger mister Grayson here is much more advanced than his peers so I would suggest that he move up to the fourth-year training classes wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir! I will arrange that immediately.¡±


    The headmaster left without a word and the first day of training class ended early that day.


    Next up, was my magic class which I was extremely excited about. I¡¯m finally going to be able to use magic!


    The magic teacher, Mr. Bogle taught us the basic fundamentals of magic how we should first begin practicing. He had us first feel our mana and then summon a ball of light.


    Some were fast, others were slow. I was slow. I was one of the last few who were able to summon a ball of light with my mana. I guess I really do have low potential to use magic. But I won¡¯t give up.


    The teacher gave us homework to memorize all of the basic elements and to practice summoning the ball of light.


    I practically spent the rest of the day practicing magic.


    The next day, all the students were giving me stares because apparently a rumor was spreading that I beat up the sword instructor.


    Quintin came up to me and laughed at me.


    The classes passed by slowly and it was finally time for me to head to the training area for the fourth-years.


    Apparently, the third-years, fourth-years and fifth-years conduct their training together and so there were a lot more people than I expected. Students are only required to take the weapons training classes up to their second year, they can then choose to opt out of training in their third year.


    Roughly half of the students stay and the majority are males whom aspire to join the army and achieve merits there. Some of the students come from military backgrounds and so it¡¯s expected of them to keep on training and getting stronger.


    I entered the training field and a handsome male brunette came up to me.


    ¡°Hey, you must be Dominic Grayson the first-year right? I¡¯m Vince, I¡¯m the class monitor, so you can come to me if you have any questions. We¡¯re just warming up right now so pick a place to stretch and also, you¡¯re going to be in my group okay?¡±


    ¡°Ehhh? How come you get to have the first year who beat the instructor?!¡± A loud voice came from behind Vince.


    ¡°Hehe, first come first serve Andrew. And besides you already have Tristan and Tristen on your team.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s different! He beat the instructor!¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ what¡¯s this about?¡± I interrupted.


    ¡°Oh right, you don¡¯t know. Students from third-years and above form teams of ten and we compete in a capture the flag tournament that occurs twice a year. The winning team gets amazing rewards and benefits when they graduate.¡± Vince filled me in.


    ¡°But you got 2<sup>nd</sup> place last year!¡± Andrew said.


    ¡°Yeah, exactly! That¡¯s why I need all the help I can get.¡± Vince replied.


    The teacher and teacher¡¯s assistants came in and told us to get into our groups and begin sparring.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    It was a lot better than the first-year training in my opinion because this class was more suited toward the advanced students.


    It was mostly just intense sparring and battle simulations followed by long cardio circuits intended to imitate how your body would be if you were in an actual battle field.


    The instructor mostly went around correcting the students¡¯ techniques and yelling at us to work harder.


    Each spar lasted for three minutes and the loser had to go and complete the obstacle course which was extremely long and tiring. Then, you had to face your next opponent. While the winner of the spar kept on fighting until they lost or until class ended.


    The loser of the spar was determined by the teacher¡¯s assistants who gave points to each student depending on how well they fought in the spar.


    Aura was not permitted in the spars. The spars were all about technique and endurance. So, I had to go to the obstacle course more times than I¡¯d like to admit. I got cocky because I was able to hit the first-year instructor but because I couldn¡¯t use aura I found out that there were a lot of talented upperclassmen that could easily beat me in a fight without aura.


    They had a lot more experience and a physical advantage than me because they were older, stronger and faster. But I bet that I could kick all their asses if I were to use my aura.


    Apparently, about half of the fifth-year students in the weapons training class awakened their aura and are moving onto high military positions after they graduate.


    By the end of class and the beginning of magic class, I was thoroughly exhausted and tried my best to pay attention.


    The first week quickly passed by as I immersed myself in the studies of magic and the exhaustive training that I had to go through, keeping up with the upperclassmen.


    <ul>


    <li>- - - - -</li>


    </ul>


    *Headmaster¡¯s Office*


    ¡°So, how¡¯s our young troublemaker doing these days?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s able to handle himself quite well, but the thing is¡­ he doesn¡¯t seem too motivated about martial arts. He seems to have much more enthusiasm for magic, which is a pity because he would be quite the warrior if he put more effort into his training. I caught him practicing magic while he was sparring and I scolded him for it.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.. don¡¯t worry about it. He¡¯ll soon come to realize that he¡¯s not fit for magic. Give him time and he¡¯ll come around.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡±


    *Back to Dominic*


    After the first week of school passed that was when the commoners enrolled in the academy. Commoners are usually not allowed to enroll in the Royal Academy unless they¡¯re children of rich people who pay a lot of money for their enrollment or they have high potential for magic.


    During the first week of school magicians from the capital are sent all across the kingdom to every single city, town, and village in search of children who could have the potential to use magic.


    Because magicians are in high demand but are low in quantity, the kingdom is doing their best to catch up to their neighbor in the north so that they don¡¯t fall behind in magical advances.


    The days passed by quickly as I was so immersed in studying and training. I made new friends with the upperclassmen. They were all kind and nice to me, probably because I was the youngest.


    But I had difficulty making new friends with children my age except for Quintin. They were all scared of me because of the huge fiasco I caused during the first day of school with the sword instructor. And more rumors spread that I¡¯m now beating up the upperclassmen during class, which is completely false.


    A lot of the noble children look down on the commoners because they are from different social classes. But I¡¯m not like that because of my previous memories so I¡¯m quite polite and nice to them. Especially because most of the commoners enrolled in the academy have high potential for magic and they can probably tutor me in magic in the future.


    Being nice to the commoners further ostracized me from the noble children in my year but I didn¡¯t mind because my best friend Quintin was always with me anyway.


    We practically did everything together, eat, study, and practice magic.


    A month passed by and the test results came out. My grades actually scored within the top five of my entire class. The only reason I wasn¡¯t first was because of my magic class. I have a hard time learning about the theories and all that stuff about magic which brought my grades down.


    My father visited me after the first came and we head a nice dinner at a famous restaurant in the capital. We spoke of my classes and my friends.


    ¡°What! You¡¯re friends with Vince?!¡± My father asked in a shocked expression.


    ¡°Y-yes. Why are you so surprised?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Do you know that he¡¯s the crown prince of the kingdom?!¡±


    ¡°W-w-what?!!¡± I exclaimed.


    Vince?! The kindhearted young man that is friends with almost everyone?


    Well, now that I look back I guess it makes sense, everyone seems to fawn over him and treat him courteously wherever he goes, even the teachers.


    He¡¯s quite talented too. His grades are top notch and he¡¯s charismatic and has a lot of people willing to follow him as the leader. I think he¡¯ll make a great king in the future.


    My father and I spoke for a while longer and he reminded me to have good relations with the prince and that it would be good if I became good friends with him despite the age difference.


    I wholeheartedly agreed with my father in the regard.


    My father gave me letters that my mother and younger siblings wrote to me and we parted ways.


    The letters were about how they missed me, what their daily lives were like and how I¡¯m doing.


    I guess I should write letters to them too.


    The next day, during weapons training class we were informed that we were going on a training exercise outside of the royal capital to do a small monster subjugation in a nearby forest with the army.


    We would be gone for a week and so we had to get all our classes organized and inform our other teachers so that we don¡¯t get behind in classes.

 Chapter 6

    Chp 6


    The day of the training exercise arrived and we the students traveled alongside a battalion of the army to the eastern forest in the kingdom which took three days.


    We set up a large camp at the edge of the forest and we got into our groups.


    The person leading this training exercise was Lieutenant Colonel Meyers. The villages surrounding this area having been voicing worries about more recent monster sightings so the army came to dispatch their fears.


    The Lieutenant Colonel came with his battalion which numbered roughly 500 soldiers which would work together with us 200 students to get rid of the monsters.


    The ranks in the army are a little confusing at first but I was able to learn it during class. First, we have the regular soldier in a squad. A squad typically has soldiers which is led by a squad leader who usually has the title of knight.


    Then, there are second lieutenants who are in charge of two squads. Then there are Lieutenants or First Lieutenants who are in charge of two second lieutenants so they are in charge of roughly 40 to 50 soldiers.


    Above lieutenants are captains who take care of two lieutenants, which means they lead roughly 100 soldiers which adds up to a platoon.


    Above captains, are majors who are in charge of two captains so they control a company.


    The lieutenant colonel rank is above major and they command battalions. Battalions have a range of 300 to 800 soldiers. Lieutenant colonel Meyers who is leading the training exercise with us today has a battalion of around 500 soldiers.


    Then, there are Colonels who are the superiors of two to three lieutenant colonels, so they command regiments which include roughly 1000 or more soldiers


    And then, there are Brigadier Generals who command brigades that have about 3000 soldiers under their leadership.


    Above them are generals who command two or three brigades which turn them into divisions so they can command up to 5000 to 10,000 soldiers.


    And finally, there is the Field Marshal or the Grand Marshal, which is the highest rank in the army, where there is only one person occupying that seat and is a position granted by the king and must have the support of two other generals.


    The hierarchy in the army is quite complex and takes a while to memorize but this system of ranking is necessary or else it will be quite chaotic as there would be no order.


    I think I remember from one of my class teachers saying that our entire army has roughly 70,000 soldiers currently in active duty.


    The majority of the army is situated in the east border next to the Rezia kingdom who is ruled by warlords and has no real king. Because of their chaotic situation there are frequent attacks by bandits who try to cross the border and pillage our own lands and sometimes other warlords from there attack us so, it¡¯s necessary to have soldiers stationed in that area.


    But, the army has been doing well defending the border for many years now, so people don¡¯t usually worry about it too much.


    The lieutenant colonel gave orders to his subordinates and we were placed into groups of 30. Five of which were mages. Three of the mages were from the academy and the other two were part of the army.


    ¡°You nervous Dom?¡± Vince came and asked me.


    ¡°No, not really. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve never seen a monster before.¡±


    ¡°Haha, they¡¯re ugly bastards, we¡¯ll probably mostly be seeing goblins and hobgoblins. You¡¯ll be fine you¡¯re plenty strong. As long as you remember your training and follow orders you¡¯ll get through this without a scratch.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, the leader of our group is about to speak.¡±


    We both headed to where the rest of the group was and someone caught my eye.


    She was the most beautiful girl I¡¯ve ever seen. Platinum blonde hair, beautiful grey eyes and mesmerizing lips. I couldn¡¯t help but stare with my jaw open. She certainly didn¡¯t look like a young student. I think she¡¯s at least a fourth or fifth-year student.


    ¡°That¡¯s Alina Castlin, second year student. She¡¯s the granddaughter of Duke Castlin. She¡¯s a beauty ain¡¯t she?¡± Vince said with an admiring look towards her.


    I got out of my stupor as the captain began talking about our formation. The mages were going to be in the back with the archers, providing support to the group while the rest of us would be going in a semi-circular formation in the front.


    But I couldn¡¯t help but keep on staring at Alina. Our eyes met briefly and I quickly turned my attention back to the captain.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    My heart was beating so fast I could hear it beating rapidly in my ears. I was embarrassed. It felt like I was a young teenager again¡­ which I was. But my mentality was that of almost a 30-year old man so I couldn¡¯t help but be embarrassed with myself.


    We all set off into the forest and Vince was teasing me in a low voice the entire time.


    The forest covered a lot of land, so there were many groups setting off in different directions in search for monster camps.


    Each group had two scouts that went ahead of the group searching for tracks. We were always within half a mile range of the other groups so that if we ever ran into a large group of monsters reinforcements would be somewhat close by.


    We came across a herd of deer and some wild forest animals but no monsters.


    It was mid-afternoon where we were taking a short lunch break when the scouts came back informing us that there were five goblins roughly a mile ahead of us.


    The captain told us to get ready and that we were going to maneuver around that area so that we can surround them.


    We had to be careful to be quiet and after about 30 minutes we had the goblins surrounded and they were completely unaware.


    The goblins have keen noises so after we got around 50 meters around them they became alert to our presence.


    ¡°Alex, Edward, Kyle, Simon and Dominic! You students each take care of one goblin each!¡± The captain shouted out.


    I was surprised that he called out my name. I didn¡¯t expect that as a first year, I would get a chance to partake in this training exercise. I expected to just stand in the sidelines the entire time while the upperclassmen did all the work.


    I unsheathed my sword and approached the group of goblins with my upperclassmen.


    The goblins were, put simply, ugly. Green skin, unclean, sharp teeth and nails and they only wore loincloths that covered their privates. They weren¡¯t that tall, probably 4¡±5 at most and they were holding poorly crafted spears and one of them held an old rusty sword.


    The goblins rushed towards us baring their teeth and yelling out a bestial cry. I didn¡¯t expect them to be so quick.


    I activated my aura and the movement of the goblin rushing towards me slowed down in my perspective. I could easily see the flaws in its defenses as it thrusted its spear at me and I dodged its attack easily by sidestepping and with a swift swing of my sword decapitated the monster.


    Edward and Simon knew how to use aura so they were able to easily dispatch the goblins. While Alex and Kyle took a little bit longer but they finished the job.


    The archers and mages were ready to attack in case anything happened to us, which luckily, nothing did.


    ¡°Great job Dom!¡± Vince came up and clapped my shoulder. ¡°You seemed like a natural born killer! That was great!¡±


    I didn¡¯t know how I felt being called a natural born killer but I accepted his compliment.


    Some of the soldiers whispered while looking at me, apparently surprised that a first-year like me was so calm and collected.


    My attention turned to Alina but she didn¡¯t seem to care about what happened.


    I honestly, don¡¯t know how to feel now that I killed a monster for the first time. I didn¡¯t really feel anything except that it was really easy to slice the head off and felt disgusted by seeing all the blood.


    We burned the corpses and moved on in search of more monsters.


    There was nothing eventful that happened that day, other than spotting a mother bear with her three cubs and see stayed clear away from her.


    We set up a small makeshift camp because the sun was setting and began to prepare dinner. The captain gave out orders for people to set up a rotation watch just in case we were attacked during the night.


    I saw Alina eating alone on a log. I mustered up my courage and told myself not to be little bitchy teenager and to go up and talk to her. So what if she has the looks of a beautiful goddess?


    I walked up to her and gave a confident smile while I asked, ¡°Hi, do you mind if I sit here?¡±


    No response. She just stared at me and continued eating.


    I took that as a yes and sat down.


    ¡°My name¡¯s Dominic, nice to meet you.¡± I said as I stretched my hand out for a handshake.


    ¡°I know who you are. You¡¯re the first year who beat up one of the instructor¡¯s right?¡±


    She had a lovely voice.


    ¡°Uh¡­ ha ha. The rumors are greatly exaggerated. I just punched him lightly and he just kind of flew off on his own.¡± I hoped that she didn¡¯t think I was some sort of undisciplined underclassman.


    She gave out a small laugh. ¡°Yeah, a light punch that sent off an instructor who could use aura.¡±


    ¡°Why are you sitting here alone and not with the rest of the group?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ it seems you still don¡¯t know the intricacies of politics. Vince is the crown prince, therefore, those who are with him are naturally those that support his claim to the throne. But my grandfather is in support of his younger brother, prince Vaughn. So, if I¡¯m seen mingling with the crown prince and his posse then it would pose a problem for my grandfather.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I didn¡¯t know that politics still played a huge role in the academy. What type of magic do you use?¡± I tried to change the topic.


    ¡°I use wind magic, what about you?¡±


    ¡°I use wind magic too! Well, I¡¯m still in the beginner class so I haven¡¯t really learned much on how to cast spells but I¡¯ll be able to do it sooner or later. You¡¯re good at magic right? You wouldn¡¯t be here in this training exercise if you weren¡¯t. Will you be my private tutor?¡±


    ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh pleeeaassse! I bet you¡¯re a star student in the magic class. Truthfully, I don¡¯t have much talent in magic but that¡¯s what I¡¯m passionate about! I would be really grateful if you would teach me!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    Well, the fact that she didn¡¯t chase me away by now means that she kind of likes me so I just changed the subject to what kind of hobbies she has and what she likes and we just simply got to know each other.


    You know? She wasn¡¯t as intimidating as I thought she¡¯d be.


    The next day a scout from another group contacted us, saying that they found a monster camp and that we were to head to their location.


    We headed there and most of the other groups were already there.


    The lieutenant colonel gave out orders and we marched to the monster camp. Soon the monster camp came into view in the middle of the forest.


    There were a couple hundred of them bustling about, mostly goblins and hobgoblins and I spotted a few ogres in their midst when suddenly a war horn from their camp resounded because we were spotted and they prepared for battle.


    The lieutenant colonel had the mages prepare their spells and unleash them upon the charging monsters. It was practically a massacre.


    The monster had no way to resist the magic that was being fired upon them so they retreated. We then charged into their camp and attacked them.


    Pretty soon most of the monsters were killed. We went around the camp making sure that all the monsters were dead.


    I searched inside a poorly constructed tent and looked around and found a small bundle of furs. I took a look and saw a baby goblin.

 Chapter 7

    Chp 7


    The baby goblin appeared to be asleep as I saw it softly breathing.


    Honestly, I didn¡¯t think it was cute at all. Pretty ugly. It reminded of those small pugs back home.


    I knew that if I took it outside the soldiers would kill it. But¡­ it¡¯s a baby. I didn¡¯t want to be the cause of death for a baby no matter if it was a monster or not.


    I made the decision to take it with me.


    I gently held the baby and placed it in my bag. It was a snug fit and now I just hoped that it wouldn¡¯t wake up. I tore off a small piece of bread just in case it woke up and placed it next to its hands.


    I closed my bag but made sure that it had enough room for air and left the tent.


    We piled all the corpses of the monsters into the middle of the camp and set it on fire.


    Then we set up camp a few miles away and prepared to leave the forest. I knew that the baby goblin woke up when I felt movement inside my bag. I broke out in cold sweat and hoped that it wouldn¡¯t cry out. Luckily it didn¡¯t.


    That night I didn¡¯t speak to anyone. I gave an excuse that I wasn¡¯t feeling too well and took my food and stayed inside my tent all night. When I opened my bag to take out the baby goblin I saw that all of the bread I put in was gone, so it must have eaten it all.


    The baby goblin woke up and examined me curiously. I was prepared to knock it out by cutting off its oxygen but again it didn¡¯t cry out like I expected it to. Do baby monsters not cry? Or is this one special?


    The baby seemed hungry so I fed it the stew that was cooked for dinner and it ate all of it without leaving my any and went to sleep. So, I had no dinner that night.


    The next morning, I was able to get breakfast early and fed the baby goblin who continued to stare at me curiously without making a sound.


    I¡¯m curious was to why this baby hasn¡¯t made a single noise yet. I felt something wet on the bottom of the fur cloth that was wrapped around the baby. I took it off and saw that it peed and pooped.


    Sigh¡­ what a pain.


    I sneakily threw away the dirty fur cloth and was able to find a new one to use as a diaper. I wrapped the goblin baby in a soft blanket and-


    ¡°Dominic, what are you doin-¡° Alina¡¯s sentence was cut short as she saw what was in my hands.


    I know that she was about to tell me that we were to pack up quickly so that we can return to the academy.


    Her eyes widened and I could tell that she was about to let out a scream. Out of instinct I activated my aura and in the blink of an eye covered her mouth with my hand. I was in close proximity of her and could smell her scent. She smelled good.


    ¡°It¡¯s not what it looks like!¡± I said urgently said in as low of a voice as possible.


    She stared at the baby goblin for a long time and the goblin stared at her too in silence.


    When I felt that she calmed down enough I removed my hand from her mouth.


    I explained to her as quickly as I could about what happened yesterday and that I panicked and brought the baby with me.


    She gave me an incredulous look and sighed.


    ¡°Well, this is your problem now. It seems like you have everything handled so I¡¯ll leave it to you. What do you plan to do after we get back to the academy?¡± Alina asked.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?!!¡± She gave me a look as if I said something stupid and I looked away from her stare.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Alina wordlessly left the tent and I quickly got to packing my stuff up. I put the baby goblin inside of my bag and made sure to put in plenty of hard bread so that it has something to do in the long trip.


    The baby goblin did not make a single noise throughout the entire journey back to the academy. In fact, Alina was also surprised about how quiet it was. It was so quiet I almost forgot that I had it with me until I felt it moving around in my backpack and remembered to give it some pieces of jerky or bread.


    I think that I was extremely lucky that no one questioned my strange behavior but I¡¯m just glad that I was able to make it back to the academy without anyone finding out about the goblin.


    I unpacked everything and laid the baby goblin on my bed.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ what am I going to do with you? Don¡¯t look at me like that. I could get in a lot of trouble because of you. It¡¯s not like I can just throw you out into the sewers. You would probably die out there. Sigh¡­¡± I was talking to the baby goblin which couldn¡¯t understand a word that I was saying and just stared at me wordlessly.


    ¡°You know? The fact that you haven¡¯t made a single noise is creeping me out. Are you possibly mute?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Again, no response.


    ¡°Well¡­ you might as well stay here until I figure out what to do with you and-¡°


    ¡°Hey, Dom! How was the training exerci-¡° Quintin stopped his question mid-sentence as he saw the baby goblin laying on the bed.


    The baby goblin and Quintin stared at each other for a solid five minutes.


    ¡°Aaah!¡±


    I had to slap Quintin in the face to shut him up and get him to come to his senses.


    ¡°W-what¡¯s that thing doing here?¡± Quintin asked.


    I told him the long story about what happened and he began laughing at me.


    ¡°Hahaha! You-you¡¯re so stupid!¡± Quintin laughed till tears were coming out of his eyes.


    I let him laugh it out.


    ¡°So, you have no idea what you¡¯re going to do with this baby goblin?¡± Quintin asked.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh! I have a great idea! Just register it as your pet!¡±


    ¡°What? Can I even do that?¡±


    ¡°Of course you can! Plenty of the other noble children have their pets around with them.¡±


    ¡°But none of them have a goblin!¡±


    ¡°Minor details. Just say that it¡¯s a special breed of goblin or something. You can figure it out.¡± With that said as Quintin was about to leave the room someone knocked on the door.


    I quickly covered the baby goblin with blankets and yelled out, ¡°Come in!¡±


    It was Alina. She came in with a bag and tossed it over to me.


    ¡°Here¡¯s some diapers and food for the baby.¡± She turned around and left after that.


    ¡°Wait! What about my magic lessons?¡± I called out from behind her.


    She turned around and replied, ¡°Tomorrow at five in the library.¡±


    ¡®Yesss!!!¡¯ I mentally cheered inside my head.


    Quintin just stared at the back of Alina with his mouth gaping open in shock of what had just occurred.


    It took a while before he finally looked at me and barraged with endless questions.


    ¡®Why do I know one of the academy¡¯s four beauty¡¯s? How does she know about the goblin baby? Am I getting private tutoring from her? Can he join the tutoring lesson? How did I get the balls to talk to her? Am I going to make a move on her?¡¯


    By the end of it he began calling me master and begged me to teach him the ways of conquering beautiful women.


    I rolled my eyes and kicked him out of my room.


    I made the decision to just keep the baby goblin inside my room and wait to see how things progress.


    Basically, I¡¯m procrastinating in taking action but if I have no choice, I¡¯m most likely going to do my best to try to enroll the goblin as my pet and hopefully the academy will approve.


    The next day, I woke up early and fed the baby goblin and cleaned its dirty diapers and went to class. During lunch I had to rush back to my dorm to feed the baby goblin and change its diapers again.


    The baby just lied in bed all day and didn¡¯t do anything really, which relieved me.


    After my classes were all finished I went to the library where Alina was already there waiting for me for our ¡®private lessons.¡¯


    Alina was really smart. Like really, really smart in magic theory and answered all of my questions regarding magic and some of the things that I didn¡¯t understand in class.


    Smart and beautiful. I think I¡¯m in love.


    Other than tutoring me we had a fun conversation and I found out that after getting to know her, she had a very kind personality.


    At around seven I asked, ¡°So, do you want to grab dinner together?¡±


    To my great joy, she agreed and we went to the cafeteria together. I got a lot of envious stares from the other boys and they whispered to each other about me eating together with Alina.


    We had a pleasant dinner with each other and I ordered a small extra serving of food to take with me for my baby goblin.


    ¡°Is that for your ¡°pet¡±?¡± Alina asked in a whisper.


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    Alina decided to come along with me to my dorm to make sure that I was properly taking care of the baby goblin. Not that I¡¯m complaining. I¡¯m thrilled to have such a beautiful girl following me to my dorm at night. *wink wink*


    Alina wanted to feed the baby goblin herself and played with it for a while.


    ¡°You know? I think it¡¯s kind of cute.¡± Alina said.


    ¡°Huh?....¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. What does it matter if I think it¡¯s cute?¡± Alina blushed which made her even cuter.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not judging you.¡± I lied.


    ¡°By the way what are you going to name it?¡±


    ¡°Hm, I never thought about naming it. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°How about we name him Augustine? Isn¡¯t it cute?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± I disagreed with her. I mean, it¡¯s just a goblin. I think that it should be given a much simpler name that Augustine.


    We got into a long discussion about what we should name the goblin and I finally submitted to her decision and went along with Gordon.


    Gordon the Goblin.


    It was pretty late so I offered to walk her back to her dorm but she refused and left after saying good night to Gordon.


    ¡°Oh, and before I leave, Dominic, we¡¯re going to meet at the same time at the library tomorrow.¡± And with that said she left.


    Yes!!!

 Chapter 8

    Chp 8


    Everyday, I met up with Alina for tutoring lessons in the library where I received help from her. She also occasionally came back with me to my dorm to play with Gordon. I think she really likes him.


    Gordon, the baby goblin is getting growing every day. He learned how to crawl yesterday and almost fell off the bed.


    The curious little fella began crawling all around my room and wouldn¡¯t stay still so I had some hesitation on whether or not I should just leave him here and go to class. But I had no choice but to go to class.


    When I stopped by during lunch time to feed him with Quintin following behind me. Gordon was sleeping on the floor. I woke up him up gave him some food.


    Gordon is quite the messy eater. He eats quite large amounts for a baby too so he¡¯s gotten a bit chubbier since I picked him up.


    Alina brings all sorts of snacks for Gordon whenever she visits which is probably the main cause.


    I seriously have no idea on what to do with the little guy. Gordon pretty soon was trying to stand on his own two feet and attempted to walk but he failed every time which was pretty funny when he fell. But I was always there to catch him.


    He¡¯s actually pretty smart for a baby goblin. Not that I have other baby goblins to compare him to. I was able to teach him how to signal by tapping me three times when he has to go pee or poo so that I can hold him over the chamber pot.


    He¡¯s still really quiet. Other than the few times he laughs when Alina and I tickle him and when he makes some baby noises while asking for food he doesn¡¯t make any noise which doesn¡¯t bring any suspicion to the other people living in the dorm.


    One day, during lunch time, while I was getting lunch Quintin came to me.


    ¡°Dom! Dom! Hurry! Gordon is missing!¡± Quintin huffed as he was out of breath.


    *Clang!*


    I dropped the food I was holding and ran out of the cafeteria as fast as I could.


    I ran halfway across campus when I saw a small crowd of people surrounding someone.


    I pushed my way through the crowd and saw a fatass student kicking a small green creature. It was Gordon.


    ¡°Haha! What¡¯s a filthy goblin doing on campus?¡±


    I shoved the fatty down and held up Gordon who was beaten and bleeding.


    ¡°Who the hell are you? Do you know who I am? I¡¯m the son of Marqui-¡°


    I punched the fat fuck¡¯s face with my fist imbued with aura. I was barely able to restrain myself from killing him.


    The fatty flew over a dozen meters and blood and teeth could be seen flying out of his mouth as he fell to the ground unconscious.


    I held up Gordon in my arms and was about to rush him to the infirmary to get help but suddenly another blocked my way.


    ¡°Do you know what you just did?! He¡¯s-¡°


    Because my hands were full I had to use my legs and I kicked the next fucker on his side and you could hear a loud snap coming from his arm where my kick landed and he also flew off several meters away into the air.


    No one stopped me as I ran to the infirmary.


    I got there as fast as possible and the doctor seemed really confused as to why I would bring a goblin.


    I threatened the old doctor I would kill him if he doesn¡¯t do something to help Gordon immediately and when he saw the murderous look in my eyes he knew I wasn¡¯t playing around.


    He immediately got some equipment and began to work on fixing up Gordon.


    He first force fed some type of liquid potion into his mouth and began rubbing ointment on his bruises and wounds.


    After about a quarter of an hour the doctor told me that he should be fine and would be completely recovered within a couple days.


    I sighed in relief.


    Quintin and Alina rushed inside of the infirmary and they saw me next to Gordon. Seeing that Gordon was treated already they both seemed relieved.


    ¡°Dominic! Do you have any idea who you punched back there?!¡± Quintin asked.


    ¡°Um¡­ no. Should I?¡±


    ¡°You punched third-years! They are the second son of Marquis Ewis and the eldest son of Count Damin! They are both influential people in the kingdom! This is going to cause huge ruckus!¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°What¡¯s done, is done. No point in worrying about it.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ I¡¯ve never seen you so angry before. The most I¡¯ve seen you angry before. You must really care for the little fella? How did he even get out of your room anyway?¡±


    That really got me thinking. Maybe I really do care a lot for this small child goblin.


    ¡°So, what are you going to do about them? There¡¯s definitely going to be consequences for your actions.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know¡­ I acted on impulse.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll handle it.¡± Alina said as she left the infirmary.


    ¡°Maaan. I wish that I could have a beautiful female upperclassman like Alina take care of me like she takes care of you.¡±


    I blushed but said nothing feeling happy that Alina cared for me, or at least Gordon.


    The next day, I was called to the headmaster¡¯s office on recount on what happened. I was extremely scared and nervous about what was going to happen.


    The headmaster is probably the person I¡¯m scared of the most in the entire academy. I¡¯ve heard rumors that he¡¯s an old monster that¡¯s been the headmaster for the past hundred years and that even the king has to be respectful when speaking to him.


    I knocked on the door and was told to come in.


    The headmaster was sitting in a large chair that seemed way too big for him but I didn¡¯t say anything and stood in front of him.


    ¡°Take a seat and tell me everything that happened.¡±


    I recounted the events that led to me saving Gordon as a baby goblin and how I beat up the two students.


    ¡°The Marquis and Count have already heard of what happened to their children and they demand that you be expelled from the school. But I don¡¯t like letting go of young talents like you. So, in exchange for me handling those affairs you will, in turn become my student.¡±


    ¡°Huh? But why me?¡± This was not how I expected things to turn out. Becoming the headmaster¡¯s student?


    ¡°Haha, you see, I love finding young talents and helping them blossom. You remember me from a couple years ago giving you that special technique that improves your aura, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve been meaning to talk to you about it but I¡¯ve never had the chance.¡± I said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the only young child that I¡¯ve given that technique to. I spread that technique to many children throughout my life and you¡¯re the fourth one to actually come this far in your training. Your natural talent is quite good in training aura, therefore, I want you to be my fourth personal disciple.¡±


    ¡°I accept.¡± At that time, I didn¡¯t know what I was getting into. I thought that this was just a good opportunity to get out of trouble and not cause any problems for my father.


    ¡°Perfect. From now on you will meet me at five in the morning every day to receive personal instruction from me, and I will also be changing your schedule to fit with the training. Oh, and bring your pet goblin with you, I already took care of the problem and enrolled it as your pet. I hope you won¡¯t disappoint me. You can leave.¡±


    When I got back to my dorm Gordon was sitting around covered in bandages but he was still able to move. His rate of recovery was pretty fast.


    I decided that from now own I will take some time out of my day to teach Gordon the human language. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll actually work and he¡¯ll be able to speak but I¡¯m going to give it a try.


    ¡°Gordon, come sit here.¡± I pointed at the chair next to my desk and I took out a paper and pencil.


    Gordon was a lot more intelligent than I thought. He grasped the meanings of simple letters and words quickly and was a diligent learner. He already knew several simple words and phrases that Alina and I used to communicate with him.


    That evening I decided to go to the cafeteria with Gordon and eat with him there. He was enrolled as my pet so the other students can¡¯t do anything to him.


    We got a lot of stares from the other students but rumor got around about how I beat up those two upperclassmen and people stayed away from me but whispered to each other about Gordon and me.


    Gordon seemed frightened by all the stares that he was getting and constantly hid behind me while we were walking which was annoying but I put up with it. He¡¯ll get over it sooner or later.


    Once Gordon, saw all the food laid out, all his fears dissipated and he stacked his plate with lots of meat. But I tried to explain to him that he needed to eat his vegetables but he refused.


    ¡°Gordon, you really should eat your vegetables.¡± A beautiful voice came from behind us.


    We turned around and saw Alina standing behind us. Gordon seemed happy seeing her and jumped up and gave her a hug.


    I felt murderous intent from the males in the cafeteria. Heck, even I wanted to kill Gordon for a moment there so I quickly grabbed him off of Alina.


    To my surprise, Gordon actually ate a little bit of vegetables because of Alina, though he didn¡¯t seem to like it. I retold Alina the story of what happened in the headmaster¡¯s office and she was genuinely surprised that I became a personal student of the headmaster.


    ¡°The headmaster¡¯s personal disciples are all famous figures! Although not much is known about his first disciple the second disciple is the Grand Marshal of the Kingdom! The third disciple graduated two years ago and he already made a name for himself by creating one of the top mercenary bands in the kingdom!¡±


    Wow, I didn¡¯t know that the headmaster had such excellent students. That made me nervous. I bet he put my seniors through hellish training.


    I was starting to regret already about what I was going to have to go through.


    Waking up in the morning was a real struggle. I¡¯ve never woken up this early in my entire life since being reincarnated in this world. It was also difficult waking up Gordon as well.


    The headmaster instructed me to come into his personal office and when I arrived there he pulled a lever disguised as a book in his bookshelf and it moved revealing a hidden entrance.


    He led us down and I saw a large brightly lit room that was filled with all sorts of weapons and training dummies.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s get started.¡±


    The headmaster or I guess I should call him master now. First, started off with Gordon. He just had Gordon pick a weapon of his choosing and he chose to pick a saber. He first told Gordon to get familiar with the weapon and to my surprise Gordon seemed to understand what master said.


    It was quite funny, seeing a small goblin wielding a saber that was almost the same size of it.


    Now, back to me.


    Master told me to attack him with all that I had while all he held was a wooden cane that he normally used to help him walk.


    I knew that if I didn¡¯t go at him 120% then I would regret. Also, I remember the enormous pressure that he exerted on me before so I knew that he wasn¡¯t just a frail old man.


    I unleashed my aura to its fullest. My aura hasn¡¯t really improved much since I started school, mainly because I was too focused on learning magic which is my passion in life aside from Alina.


    The next ten minutes were a series of painful cries coming from me and Gordon looking at me with pity. What surprised me was that he didn¡¯t even use his own aura to block and counterattack me. He seemed to be able to tell the future as he could read my every move.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ we¡¯re going to have a lot of work to do. Your foundations are horrible. You don¡¯t even know how to properly use aura. I guess that¡¯s my fault. Well at least your more talented than my first disciple. The other two are a bit more talented than you.¡± My master said as he proceeded to beat me with a cane.