《Ragna》 PROLOGUE Author''s Note: Hello guys. First of all I want to tell you that due to my previous work having a resemblance to Mushoku Tensei, I decided to scrap the original content and write a new one. *** PROLOGUE Outer space; the final frontier for mankind. It took a lot of effort and time to finally realize our ancestor''s long awaited dream. From there, we began to expand across the galaxy. Exploring new worlds, changing the habitats of some planets to match to our own, populated nearby star systems, and creating new innovative technologies that would help us in our search for new wisdom and understandings. But outer space is not for the weak heart. Why did I say this? I think it''s very understandable. There are many unprecedented anomalies and events lurking in this vast darkness. Cosmic radiation, engine failures, super massive black holes, among any others. And there''s competitors. Dozens of them. One of this ''competitive players'' in the game of interstellar expansion are the Lorax. The sole humanoid civilization from the galaxy''s Gamma Quadrant to achieve interstellar flight capabilities, they are one of the first races to developed a working warp drive reactor. We called them the Pioneers. If there''s one fact that every technological advanced species knew about them, it''s that they are very aggressive and are power mongers. And they hate us Solarians, they hate us humans. Why? I''ve got no clue either but most experts on our side agree that they feared us. Us younger generations of space exploration pioneers because of the speed of our expansion and technological growth. The technologies that took them fifty years to create only took us three to five years to complete. With this fact alone, it seems that in terms of technological prowess we''re superior. Another thing is the morals and ideologies that are present in our advance society. Unlike them who slaves other civilizations that are inferior to them, we on the other hand helped this underdeveloped worlds by guiding them to the right path even taking the mantle of protecting this worlds. They use might. We use diplomacy. Because of this a rift between both our species had emerged. ------ After a hundred and two years of cold relationship between two parties , we reached an agreement. A reconciliation between the Lorax Imperial Monarchy and Solarian Federation was reached. In our end it was a victory that should be celebrated. After experiencing three world wars, two interplanetary wars and one interstellar war, we hated the notion of resolving conflicts by war itself. The President of the Federation, together with us, the crew of SFS-58Z Voyager were very confident that the other people involve would hold true to their words. We were very confident. After all it was just peace talks. It was a grave mistake. The Lorax outwitted us. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The notion of establishing a non-aggressive pact between the two was a just a farce. The truth was that they wanted to annihilate us from the very beginning. And since we who advocated the dialogue of peaceful expansion only brought a handful of military battleships, we were outnumbered. They assassinated the President and the Foreign Minister in a whim and launched out an all out attack against us. Even the neutral factions that were attending the summit as observers were also slaughtered. Which currently led us to my situation. A shot from a beam cannon took down our engine. As a part of the ship''s Engineer and Mechanic Department, I headed directly towards the engine room. We need to fixed the damaged warp coils so that we could escape from this horrible predicament. I don''t want to die in this situation, in this unknown place. I''m still too young and a virgin. There are many things that I still wanted to do. I want to have married life. I want to have kids and grandchildren. I want to see the faces of my loved ones again. That''s why I don''t wanna die here. "Not today!" As I approached the door, I found myself bathe in an extreme red incandescence. I felt my body being toasted inside a toaster or on a grill. I could feel my life fading in a fast pace like a ticking clock. Damn, beam shot. You''re so mean. ------ After that incident, I found myself in this weird and eerie place. Darkness. All around was just pure pitch black. Everything. Where am I? Is this the purgatory or the after life? I wasn''t sure myself. Ah, what am I thinking? Even how much effort I put into it, there''s no point. I''m dead anyways, so let''s just move on. I decided to walk straight forward, without any goals in my head. What''s the point? I can''t be revive. There''s no such things as reincarnations. It''s only a belief. Not a scientific fact. Hmm? What''s that? I saw something weird from a far away distance. As the distance between us lessened, I could make up the figure in front me. The figure was somewhat similar to a four year old kid. What is a kid doing in such a place like this? Could this mean that he''s also dead like me? If that''s the case then this means I would not be alone in this shit hole anymore. We finally met each other face to face as we stopped both in front. As I looked at him, he looked back at me. His childish azure eyes against my adult black eyes. I felt a spark as our eyes met. As if are souls are connected. I could see myself in him as if he could see himself in me. Without any reason I reached my hand to him. He also reached his hand to mine. As both our hands touch, I felt pain, shivering and quivering all over my body. Then a bright light came in front of me. CHAPTER 1 - REBORN IN A NEW WORLD CHAPTER 1 - REBORN IN A NEW WORLD When I woke up, my eyes felt hurt as if the light never touch them for a long time. The vision in front of me was all in a blur. I tried blinking my eyes several times in discomfort. Still, my vision is still blurry. Once my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I found a young woman with blue hair gazing at me. A beautiful woman... Her azure eyes were filled with tears. Beside her was a man of a similar young age with brown hair, giving me a stiff smile with tears flowing from his crimson eyes. A strong and arrogant man and a beautiful woman. I never knew these people yet I could recognize them. But I could see it from their faces that they were hurt for a very long time. There''s a hint of sadness and longing from their expressions. Just what is going on? "You''re awake! You''re awake! Thank goodness!" The woman cracked a smile from her sorrowful face as she blurted out those words while holding my hand tightly. Really, I couldn''t understand the meaning behind those words. "The Goddess Unera heard our prayers!" The man said with a joyful expression. Really, what is going on? I couldn''t grasp the entire situation. " He should need a proper rest." Another voice came from somewhere. I couldn''t see them. I tried to turn my head sideways to find the location of that voice. But I wasn''t able to. My entire body felt weak as if I wasn''t able to eat a year worth of food. Even so, I still wasn''t a complete failure in communication. I could still move my mouth. "Ah, Ah-----" But I couldn''t tell if what came out from my lips was just a groan or heavy breathing. Though my body couldn''t move, I could still felt some sensations in my hands and fingers. Yet I couldn''t move my entire body. "Take some rest." The man said to me in a caring voice as he kissed my forehead. I felt uneasy when he did that but this silly body of mine doesn''t want to listen to my mind, so I''ve got no choice. Just what the heck is going on? Am I dreaming? Or did someone rescue me? On that day, these were my thoughts. ------ A month passed by. It looked like I was reincarnated. Not as a baby but as a four year old kid. I confirmed it when I looked at myself in front of the mirror after I regained some strength, enough to move. I didn''t know why I still had my past memories, but there was nothing bad in retaining them. Retaining memories upon reincarnation----anyone would have entertained such delusions at least once. What shocked me the most was that the reflection in front me was the image of the young kid I''ve met and made contact back at that dark eerie place. Another thing was that there''s another set of memories that didn''t belong to me stuck in my head. After pondering for some time, I finally realized one thing. His soul and mine merged. It''s the only credible explanation that I could think of. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Basing on his memories alone, it seems that he was in a coma for almost two months for unknown reasons and the blue haired woman was his mother and the brown haired man was his father. Apparently, they were his parents. Or should we say my parents. They were in the earlier half of their 20''s. From the perspective of a 29 year old, it was alright to call them young. It really made me envious that they had children at that age. I already knew that this place wasn''t Earth. The language was different but thanks to the soul merging event I could understand it. My parents were clearly not Asians, and their clothes seemed to be that of an RPG character. Electronic devices and light bulbs were not existent in this world. Seeing and knowing this made me shiver to the bone and restless. I can''t imagine myself living in a place deprived of advance technology. My hands are itching to use a computer right now. ------ A year passed by. I was able to regain my full strength. Not only that, I was able to find valuable information about this world thanks to my parents. In this world magic does exists. Hearing only that notion made me excited. How couldn''t I? To think that a world based on fantasy and RPG elements really exist is quite a shock to me. To the people living here magic was a blessing given to them by the gods. In this world called Hicara, there are seven continents which are populated by seven different races. The seven races are: 1.<> A race that possess the greatest population and have establish many kingdoms and composed of two tribes; the Highlander and Midlander Tribes. 2.<> A race that possess longevity and an ability to sense danger. They live in forests and caves and composed of two tribes; the Woodland and Duskwight Tribes. 3.<> A race that possess great physical strength among other races and have establish empires. Composed of two tribes; the Redblood and Blueblood Tribes. 4.<> A race that possess the second greatest populations and have established unions. They composed of two tribes; the Sunseeker and Moonkeeper Tribes. 5.<> A race that possess the ability to take humanoid forms and one of the strong and long lived races. They composed of two tribes; the Dawn and Dusk Tribes. 6.<> A race that possess the most longevity among races and are very proficient in magic. They composed of two tribes; the Earthfolk and Seafolk Tribes. 7.<> A race that possess great skills in craftsmanship and sailing seas. They composed of two tribes; the Seamen and Mountainguard Tribes. All of these species were once scattered throughout the world but after the Great Purge, all of them reside in the Ufora Mainland, living alongside together in harmony. I also learned that job classes, something that can be found on most RPGs, also exists. They are the Fighter Class, Mage Class, Ranger Class, and Rogue Class. All of these classes are then divided into several sub-types. Hearing about them makes my blood boil. Alright! I''ve decided. I will live on this world surpassing the previous me on Earth. To live without any regrets. CHAPTER 2 - UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCE CHAPTER 2 - UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCE Having decided to live on this world, I started to consider what should I do. In order to learn more things about this world, I need more information that I could ever find. Since there''s no Internet here, the most appropriate medium to gain knowledge aside from asking my parents, was from published literature. Books. Since dad had so many books in his study room, I decided to immersed myself in there. The study was filled with simple, but practical wooden furniture that was kept clean and tidy. The shelves here were filled with sorts of various literature, including picture books for children. My dad was primarily a sword instructor in the country''s academy. But he was involved in other fields as well so having this kinds of books seems normal. Rather than reading picture books, I quickly searched for written works about magic and geography. To my surprise there were tons of them. After reading every publications, I learned a lot. Especially the guide book for skills. To me, who came from a world without magic, the things recorded here got me interested. Reading through all of them, I understand some basics. 1. First of all, skills can be broadly classified into three categories. [[Active Skill]] --- Needs activation [[Passive Skill]] --- Always active [[Support Skill]] --- Increases or lowers attributes. Three types. Very easy to understand. These three are then divided into several classifications. Very much like any role playing games that I used to play back on Earth. 2. To use skills, you must have mana. Conversely, as long as you have mana, you can use any skills. There is only one way of using mana. [[Use the mana within the body]] What about using mana from different source other than the body? Seems like it doesn''t exist here. Oh well since everyone here are born with mana. There''s no point in concerning myself about it. 3. Incantations are needed to activate skills. You don''t need chants to activate skills. Saying the name of the skill is enough. A very convenient way I must say. 4. A person''s mana is set when they are born. A normal RPG increased your MP as you level up. But this doesn''t look the case in this world. Hmm, what about me? Apparently, the amount of mana one possessed was hereditary. The fact that my mother was capable of teaching and using magic skills meant I could have a certain amount of innate mana. This worry me though. Even both of my parents are talented, I don''t think that my genetic makeup is capable of that. ------ In any case, I began to try the simplest skill. The skill book contained different elementary skills. Fire Ball: A fire bullet that can be shot. Ice Blade: Forms a sword of ice. Safety Wall: Creates a safety wall. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.Lightning Bolt: A bolt of lightning that can be shot. Since I''m a person who loves pyrokinetic powers, I started with my obvious choice. With the book in my left hand, I raised my right hand in front of me. "[Fire Ball]!" After a few seconds nothing happened. I tried again. Still nothing happened. After a few attempts, I stopped. Maybe one needs to have an affinity of fire to use this skill. Like in the anime and games. But the problem here is that this a real world with a RPG setting. Alright let''s try another skill. Hope that I can pull off this one. ------ After two hours of trying, the results were still the same. I can''t use any skill in this book. I''m certain that I followed all the instructions correctly, so why is it that I can''t activate one? From the other books that I''ve read, once you use a skill, you will feel your blood gathering and squeezing out from your body. This symbolizes the movement of your mana within your body. I don''t feel anything like the book stated when using a skill. Does this mean that I don''t have any mana in me? "Ridiculous!" There''s no way, ever, that would happen. After all my body was born in this world so it sure have mana in it. Since I don''t want to be a failure, I tried again using skills. In the end the results were still the same. I need to resolve this issue as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling about this. ----- It was almost noon, me together with dad and mom were eating. After eating our lunch, I called out to mom: "Mom, mom." "What is it, Ragna? She tilted her head. "Can you teach me how to use a skill?" After I let those words escaped from my mouth, she revealed a bitter smile. On the other side of the table, dad looked at me with a forced smile. Is there something wrong with what I said? "Eh, why does Ragna want to learn how to use a skill?" "Because I want to be like dad and mom!" I answer dad with an honest and lively answer. Both of them fell silent. Mom then burst into tears as she covered her mouth. Seeing this, dad came to me. He carried me and rest me on his lap as he stroke my unruly brown hair. "Dad, is there something wrong?" He didn''t reply. He only looked at me with a teary eye and dejected expression. As he opened his mouth and spoke, the words that came out from him wasn''t what I was expecting. CHAPTER 3 - FINDING A WAY CHAPTER 3 - FINDING A WAY It turns out that I don''t have the ability to use mana. Or more precisely I won''t be able to use any skill, in my lifetime. As dad explained it to me, the main reason was that the Magus System within my body was severely damaged after being in coma for two months. He said that when I was in coma my body would emit insurmountable amount of mana everyday, making every Magus points in my body exhausted to the point that it became so brittle that it won''t allow any amount of mana to be stored. Magus system refers to a path inside the body through which mana flows. The concept of the system is somewhat similar to the Chinese meridian system used in acupuncture and acupressure on Earth. My parents consulted help from various experts hoping that they can treat my condition. But to no avail. Every expert that they consulted only said the same thing. That I will be crippled for the rest of my life. The only thing that was still in good condition is the Magus catalyst. As the name implies, it is a virtual organ located in the brain that allows an individual to use skills. It is also the heart of every Magus system. Actually, thinking about my condition, my parents were very concerned about my future. I too, am concerned about my future. How would I face this world in the next few days? In the following years? When dad explained everything to me, I could see the concern in his eyes. Mom too. As a parent, to see your child being deprived of any capabilities that would help him or her to face the world is very painful. Because of my condition they decided to give all of their attention to me so that I won''t feel inferior. I won''t deny it. After hearing what dad said to me, I felt bad. To think that I would be reincarnated in this world only to be useless? Nope, uh-uh. I won''t accept this. Not a single chance! Right! There has to be a way around this predicament. I just need to find a way how to use skills in a different way. With that goal in my mind, I began searching a cure for this so-called curse. ------ A week passed by. After spending hours of reading books in dad''s library, I still couldn''t find a way to reverse my condition. If there was only a hint of some sort, it would help me a lot. Even so, I found few interesting knowledge. For example, the mana that can be found in the body is actually a refined form of ''ether'' found in the air and the surroundings. In other words, mana is converted from ether through the Magus catalyst. The way I see it, it looks like raw petroleum being refined into cleaner petrol by the means of a certain device. So in a sense the Magus catalyst would be the ether converter. And the Magus system would be like a refined ether collector. Surely, my Magus catalyst converts ether everytime. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The only problem is my mana collector, my Magus system, is damaged beyond repair. However, even if I could find a substitute mana collector I still can''t use any skills. What makes the Magus system unique is that it allows you to use skills that you intended to use. For a substitute collector although it isn''t impossible, it''s way, way too difficult. If only I could use the converted ether without going it through the collector... Wait... In my world, you can use mana by drawing it out from something that contains it. Of course, this knowledge only exist in pagan beliefs and mostly from games... Hold on for a minute! Ether in a sense is mana only not refined. That''s it! If I treat the air and the surroundings as my personal mana collector... Nah, there''s still a problem. The reason why the people here can use skills was because the collector and the converter were part of the same body. Basically: Internal Converter + Internal Collector = Compatible Internal Converter + External Collector = Incompatible And the list goes on and on. So in order to use external mana(ether), I would need an external catalyst. The problem is that there are no external catalyst in this world. You can''t even use a dead person''s Magus catalyst. When a person dies, the Magus catalyst would disintegrate even if you forced it out from a living person. There''s got to be a way. Oh, right. From the games and animes, there are two ways to activate magic. 1. Incantation 2. Magic Arrays Okay let''s substitute magic with skills and in order to use skills we need Incantation to activate it. So where does Magic Array come in to play within this situation? Hmm... If it could only act as a bridge... Oh! That''s it! If I could make the Magic Array act as mediator and at the same time an assist between an internal catalyst and the external mana, then that would make it possible to use skills. Okay, okay. Now the problem is what should a Magic Array look like. Let''s try the scientific approach. If I add the Magus catalyst and ether together, it would only result in an unbalanced equation. So to make it balanced, I would need to add another equation. If only the Magic array could be programmed... Programming. Hah, I knew it. There''s always an answer to every problem. To confirm my solution, I would first need to do an experiment. CHAPTER 4 - FRUITION CHAPTER 4 - FRUITION I went to my room to conduct my experiment. It''s unsafe to perform such test inside dad''s library. I don''t want those precious source of knowledge destroyed. I also don''t want to see dad''s expression when his office went ''poof''. I just don''t want to be careless. After locking the door and making sure the windows are tightly shut, I prepared a small parchment paper in front as I sat on the floor. Since there were no Magic Arrays in this world, I opted to use some from Earth. Now the problem is what kind of array should I draw? If remember correctly back on Earth, there were hundreds of arrays used by Neopagans and Wiccans before the modern age. Hmm... This is quite a headache. Maybe I should use something that exist in virtual games like Valkyrie''s Warriors or Legend of Mana: A World Reborn... Let''s try those. Using an ink pen, I inscribed the magic circle with fire attribute on the parchment paper. Since every time I played any VRMMORPGs, I would then choose fire attributed skills to my game characters. I like them because they symbolize power and ferocity. Not to mention explosiveness and such associated characteristics. After drawing a small array on the parchment paper, I gently placed my hand on the edges. I decided to draw just a small portion of the array. After all, the energy that I will be using is limitless... If my theory about Ether as an infinite fuel were true then, I have the initiative to take safety precautions. I don''t want to blow up the house and caused a ruckus. After placing my hand, I began to concentrate. In an instant the sigil glowed a bright orange radiance. Above it, a ball of combustion, just a size of an apple floated above radiating heat. "A [Fire Ball]!" I was amazed at the sight in front of me. Looks like the concept from games that were considered ''fiction'' on Earth are actually ''reality'' in this world. I withdraw my hand from the paper and the ball of fire disappear. Because of the discovery, I tried several skills but in the end I fainted. ------ "Oh really, Ragna if you feel sleepy just go to the toilet and then sleep on the bed." When I woke up, I was treated as if I''d fallen asleep when reading a book, and wet the floor. Damn it... Damn it... They mistook it as if I had wet the floor when the water was actually from a water magic skill that I used earlier. I could see it from mom''s face that she was holding back her laughter. Wetting on the floor is unforgivable when you reached the age of five. It looks like my body can''t keep up with such limitless energy... I needed to conduct more experiments. The more, the better. Still though this is embarrassing. ------ The next day, dad was smiling at me during breakfast. Seems like mom told him about what she saw yesterday. Damn it... Well I should ignore them and act as if nothing had happened. Back to business then. After conducting several experiments, I have come to a conclusion. It seems like I can use skill with the aide of Magic Arrays. But there''s a problem. Since every skill is unique, I would need to create arrays that corresponds to each of them. I have no problems with elemental magic skills but I find it hard using skills without any elemental attributes like sword skills and support skills using arrays. Seeing this, question marks began sprouting in my head like blooming flowers on the field. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Still since this is a cause for seeking answers and understanding of this world(in a scientific way), I must persevere. Even though the people in this house sees me as a five year old wetting on the bed. The downside to pursue knowledge is real indeed. ------ Two months later. After some trial and errors, not to mention also enduring embarrass comments from my parents and housemaids, I have succeeded in making a finalized system in using skills. Since every skill needs a unique magic array, I spend two months developing them. I was thinking that if I ran into a fight, I would surely lose. Of course, you can''t ask a time out from your opponent while busying your self making some arrays. Though you can prepare some in advance, it would be a hassle to carry loads of paper with them around you. And I don''t want also to cover my whole body with arrays. It doesn''t suit me well. Although it took me sometime to revised my methods, it surely paid off. The skill system that I made was like this: Ether (External Mana or ''Etherion''/Source) | | Magus Catalyst (Internal Converter) | | Magus Sequence (First Array;Information Body using Psions or ''Thought Particles'') | | Eidos (Skill Array Information converted into Psions) | | Magus Processor (Processes converted Psion arrays) | | Primary Magus System (Second Array; Inner Structure for processed Psions/formation) | | Secondary Magus Sytem (Third Array; Outer Structure for maximizing Psion effects/substitute for Magus System) | | Incantation (Activation) | | Skill (Result) With this, I included other elements like creating an array that would extract the converted energy from the Magus Catalyst and adding library of skill arrays which I called Eidos. I added a Magus processor, responsible for processing information converted into Psions. I also added two other arrays; one is for forming and programming processed psions into structures and the second as a structure replacing my damaged Magus system where the formed psions flow into while also maximizing it''s effects. This the best solution I could come up so far. All of this is actually stored in my mind. To be exact I treated my mind as a domain for this system. Anyways, I headed to our backyard to finally perform the last experiment. Without any further ado, I started with performing my favorite basic magic skill. "[Fire Ball]! Around my two wrist, three ring-like orange lights appeared with runes on their surfaces. In an instant a ball of fire was summoned in front of me. Unlike from the previous experiments, this one is huge. Seeing the unfathomable result, I let out a maniacal laugh. CHAPTER 5 - ASTONISHMENT Author''s Note: Sorry for the delay! Since I was busy with other things so here goes the update. CHAPTER 5 - ASTONISHMENT Seeing the [Fire Ball] in front of me, I was overwhelmed. My heart was beating faster and my blood was boiling. Since when was the last time I felt this excitement to this level? Ah... Right. I remember feeling this surge of emotion when I was in my previous world. It was the time when our team discovered a new star system. It was a very good news for us that we began to celebrate to our heart''s content. Then we began naming it''s planets and satellites. The Federation has a law that whomever discovered a new star system has the privilege to name the entire system. I remembered our names became famous and also engraved in a large monument in the Federation capital. Now seeing this large ball of fire, this is very nostalgic. Hmm, but why is it that I''m feeling a bit dizzy? It''s like my vision is spinning. Aarrggh! What is this stinging sensation inside my head? I can feel my knees shaking. Like it can''t longer support my upper body. Before I knew it, I passed out. ------ A minute earlier... -- Yufa''s POV -- I let out a sigh as I closed the book that I was reading. There were other five thick books in front of me but I have done reading all of them. All of these books were borrowed by me from the Alliance''s grand library. A popular place known by everyone who is acquainted with the Alliance. Since I''m a Cleric Mage, I''m also one of those people associated with them. But these books doesn''t seem to hold the answer to what I was looking for. The cure for Ragna''s condition. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. That child of mine... Ever since Ronan told him about his current situation, he''s been secluding himself in his dad''s study room. Every time when I look at him, I could only see determination in his eyes instead of sadness and bitterness. At that time I realized, he''s strong. Never yielding to fate''s dictation. That attitude of his got into me. Since I''m his mother, I decided to help him no matter what. Speaking of Ragna, where is he? I never saw him inside Ronan''s study room. Maybe he went outside to play. After all he''s just a child. It''s just normal for kids to play outside. "Madam! Madam!" Our head maidservant, Ethel came rushing to me in the living room with a cold sweat on her face. Basing on this its like there was something wrong. "What''s wrong Ethel?" "Madam... Ragna... At the backyard!" Hearing the name of my son, I quickly leave the living room and went straight ahead to the backyard. Did someone invaded our home? Did someone try to kidnapped my child? If I saw them I won''t be polite to them! I would kill anyone who dares to lay a finger to my precious son. But once stepped out on the backyard, I was speechless. In front me was this big and huge ball of furnace. It was like a scorching sun face to face and below it was... "Ragna?" I was dumbfounded. My child was there... laughing. His hands have this weird round-like lights encircling them. Just what are those? And why is that he seems to enjoy himself? Then suddenly I saw him somewhat staggering, like a swaying branch. The big ball of fire began to waver as if it cannot maintain its form. *PAM* Ragna collapsed in an instant. I rushed toward him by instinct and held him in my hands. I healed him immediately with my [Heal] skill. As I looked at his face, there was a small hint of fulfillment on his face. Just what on Hicara is going on? CHAPTER 6 - OLD MELSTRAN CHAPTER 6 - OLD MELSTRAN When I woke up, I was in my room. Beside me was mom, sitting on the bed and stroking my head. Not far from us was dad, talking to some old fellow. The old man had a long beard and white hair. He wore an elegant white robe made for people who were affiliated with Discipline of Magic and the Mage Guild like mom. On his hand was a long wooden stick that looks like a staff. There''s no mistaking it. He''s a Mage. And a strong one. Every time I looked at him, there''s this mystic feeling surrounding him. Much more stronger than my mom had. After done talking with dad and realizing that I had woken up, he walked towards us. As he came near, I could see his blue colored eyes looking at me from head to toe. It looks like he was evaluating me. "Ah, you''re awake. Are you okay?" "I''m fine mom. Just a little headache." I replied to mom as I try to get up from my bed. My body felt somewhat a little tired, maybe I used up too much ether than my body could handle. It looks like my brain had a magic overload due to the skill system''s complexity. Looks like there was a flaw to the system but nonetheless it worked. Now the only thing I needed to do is to make some slight adjustments and a few tweaks. I also need to address my physical condition. From what I read, the Magus system exist so that it could distribute mana to the other parts of the body like skin and muscles. And this process of distribution doesn''t exist on my self created system. If I would make a conclusion right now regarding with the test, the only thing that I could say is it needs improvement and far from perfection. This raised some concern from my part but what I''m more concerned right now was the gazes that the three adults that were giving me. "Umm, why are you looking at me like that?" I couldn''t help but feel nervous. From the way they were looking at me, they wanted some answers from me. "Ragna, did you use a skill?" Dad asked me with a stern voice. He crossed his arms as he patiently waited for me to respond. "Skill?" "Yes. You''re mother and the maids saw you playing a large ball of fire at the backyard that looks like an enlarge version of [Fire Ball] skill earlier." I see. Looks like they found out what I was doing and the one witnessing my genius prowess was my mother alongside with the housemaids. Hmm. What should I do? Should I told them the truth? Would they believe it? If I could only make a credible lie... No, there''s no point to it. They already saw me. The only option that I could do right now is to tell the truth. Nothing but the sole truth. "Yes." I replied with a soft voice as I lowered my head. They look at me as if I was joking. I''m not joking, really. Hey, I''m maybe a five year old kid but my mind is of an adult enlightened by science and experience. "Could you care to explain everything?" Now the old man was the one to asked me. Explain everything? Of course, I can! But can you really understand an explanation done in a scientific manner? The answer is quite obvious. By the way, who is this old geezer? I looked at mom with a curious look and she nodded, telling me that I should talk. So with an approval from my mother, I told them what they wanted to hear. I hope that they could handle it... ------ The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. After I explained to them everything, all of their faces portrayed disbelief. So in order to cast their doubts out, I exhibited my skills to them. I quickly took a piece of parchment paper from my pocket and began to draw a magic array affiliated with water element. As I place my hand on the paper, the sigil glow with a bluish white radiance and a ball of water emerge on top of it, hovering in midair. Seeing this, all of the adults in the room were dumbfounded. All of their eyes were glued to the [Water Ball] skill in front of them. After that, the old man called my parents and walked towards the other side of the room. Looks like they were discussing some very important matters. Five minutes passed by, they came towards me. I noticed that my parents had a worry face as they looked at me. On the other hand, the old man had eyes that glistened like stars in the night sky. Uh-oh. Something''s telling me that I got into a mess. ------ Turns out that the old man was my grandfather, mom''s father. His name was Melstran Crestlustre, a Conjurer Mage and one of the most influential figures in the Alliance. He was also the Head of the Mage Guild. Hearing that info left me starstruck. To think that my grandpa is one of the leaders of the anti-undead forces... How lucky I am. So that''s why that he gives me these vibes of mysticism and power. He also told me not to tell anyone about my discovery. He explained to me that for thousand years, various experts including his colleagues had been doing some research in Ether as a source of power but all of them failed. If they knew that I created something like this, my life would be in jeopardy to which my parents were very concerned of. Although they didn''t explain everything to me in detail, I think I have the rough draft of the situation if i was exposed. The balance of power between the four temples; Fighter, Mage, Archer, and Rogue, would become unstable. Not only that, there are also threats coming from the Dark Guilds. These are guilds that are made of wanted criminals who were deemed outlaws by each member countries of the Alliance. If the Dark Guild knew about my breakthrough, they would kidnapped me and used me to strengthen their forces to which my grandpa was very worried. He doesn''t want someone to monopolized me including his temple. For my safety, he suggested that we moved to his house in Alvatere Commonwealth as soon as possible. If I remember correctly, Alvatere is a multiracial nation located at Southern Hicara. Its location is somewhat pretty safe unlike here in the north. At that moment a decision was made. Tomorrow we will depart for Alvatere. CHAPTER 7 - NIGHT OF REVELATION CHAPTER 7 - NIGHT OF REVELATION That night, I''ve prepared my belongings and packed all things that I needed for departure. It will took us approximately 10 days by carriage to reach Alvatere, passing through four principalities and two kingdoms. The transportation systems in this world isn''t as developed as those of my previous life. According to my grandpa, the Commonwealth of Alvatere is actually a multiracial country ruled by ten aristocratic families. From these families, a leading member called chief representative will be selected. Although the country is a commonwealth, it is still an absolute monarchy though an elective one. Anyone who just reincarnated here from another world like me will conclude that there is no democracy present here. But since slavery in this world is outlawed, I could give them three out of five stars for that. Okay. Now that I''m done packing my luggage, what should I do? Hmm... Right, I need to make some slight adjustments to my skill system. But it''s night time. Maybe I should create something that would help me. Something that would let me see my growth... Something like a game interface or akin to that. A brilliant idea flash in my mind. "If its this world, maybe it''s possible." ------ I closed my eyes and began to concentrate as I plunged my consciousness inside my Eidos. From there, I searched different kinds of arrays inside and made a copy of them. I began to modify the copied versions of the selected arrays by deconstructing and reconstructing their structure. Unlike from the common arrays portrayed in games and animes, mine is somewhat unique. It is a combination of inscription patterns, number coding and advance scientific mathematical equations. A very complex design I might say. After completing the needed procedures, all I needed is to execute the command. "[Status]!" A small azure ring-like circle with runes appeared on my forefinger and a thin box of bluish white emerged in front of it. Then I began to read the contents of the box,
STATUS WINDOW
Name: Ragna Windsor
Age: 5 Gender: Male
Race: Human Level: 5
Spirit Energy: 200,000 Vital Energy: 15
Titles: The Reincarnated One, World Traveler, The Accursed Fellow, Innovator
Fame: 15 Infamy: 0
Alignment: None
Experience Points 410
Health: 360
Mana: Unavailable
Agility:30Stamina:26
Strength:27Dexterity:27
Vitality:25Endurance:15
Intelligence:35Wisdom:35
Luck:35Leadership:0
[tr]
Affinity:
None
Abilities:
Etherkinesis Scientikinesis
Status Effects:
"The Reincarnated One" - +10% base stat increase, +20% fame gain "World Traveler" - +5% base stat increase, +100% health regeneration "The Accursed Fellow" - -100% mana regeneration "Innovator" - +10% luck increase, +100% crafting success rate, +10% fame gain
"Say What!?" I let out a terrible shriek as my eyes glanced the "The Accursed Fellow" Title and its effect. Is this a joke? What''s with this weird title? In great disbelief and confusion, I clicked the "The Accursed Fellow" title to see its contents--
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The Accursed Fellow
Description: A curse given by the gods of Hicara. By crippling the Magus system of the cursed fellow, the person is unable to use or store mana inside his body. It cannot be repaired even with the highest purification or healing skill.
Effects: -100% Mana Regeneration
Duration: Lifetime
I quickly punched the status window with my fist in rage. Why am I cursed by the gods of this world? And they given me a curse that cannot be uplifted. Really? To hell with them! I never done something wrong when I came here. Why are they doing this to me? Are they mad about my existence in this world? The heck...! Anyways, this shed some light about my condition. Even its really bad, it felt somehow a bit good. Now I know who were responsible for my curse. Though I felt cheated deep inside. Yeah. If I saw one of these so-called gods, I''m gonna give them a good beating. Literally and abusively. To relieve my anger and frustration, I checked the other titles,
[tr]
The Reincarnated One
Description: A title given only to those who crossed the river of death head on yet somehow was able to step back in the world of living.
Effects: +10% base stat increase, +20% fame gain
Duration: Lifetime
Oh, this is pretty good.
[tr]
World Traveler
Description: A title given only to those who crossed the border of two or three universes by the way of reincarnation.
Effects: +5% base stat increase, +100% health regeneration
Duration: Lifetime
This one is also good too. Okay my mood is better now. Let''s see the other one.
[tr]
Innovator
Description: A title given only to those who have the abilities to craft certain materials. Person must have extensive knowledge of advanced craftsmanship of any works. Can create things that is way too advance for any civilization.
Effects: +10% luck increase, +100% crafting rate success, +10% fame gain
Duration: Lifetime
Limitations: Depends on the availability of the materials needed.
Oh, boy! This is way too damn cool! I rubbed both my hands while drooling. This one really suits me. Hehe, I can''t wait to do some "advance craftsmanship". I can feel the engineer spirit within me going wild. Wait, I need to calm myself a bit. The people inside the house are currently sleeping and resting. Okay let''s check my abilities--
[tr]
Etherkinesis
Description: The ability to generate and manipulate Ether, the unique essence that flows through most of existence.
[tr] [tr]
Scientikinesis
Description: The ability or power to manipulate laws of Nature or Science.
I almost died trying to hold back my laughter. Hah! To think that I was cheated earlier, now it felt like I''m the one whose cheating. Unable to hold back my increasing excitement, I quickly looked at the skills associated with my two abilities. As I saw the list of skills, I began to grin like an evil man silently. The possibilities are endless! That night I wasn''t able to sleep and by the time I knew it, it was dawn already. CHAPTER 8 - ROAD TO ALVATERE CHAPTER 8 - ROAD TO ALVATERE Nine days passed since we began our departure. Within this timeframe I was able to fully analyze and tried my newly discovered skills and surprisingly, all of them have structured arrays. What''s more surprising is that all of them followed my methods of creating Magus Arrays. That finding alone made me wonder. Did someone other than me had created magic array based skills in the past? Though it was a thought that kept swimming inside my mind for sometime, still I don''t have any proof regarding with this. Maybe I should research more once we arrived at Alvatere. I heard from mom that Alvatere had a big library. That would be my first priority once we get there. Back to skills, I''ve also found out that there were some skills that needed to be unlocked by getting the prerequisite skills in a specified level. For example, in order for me to unlock and use [Teleportation] I need to get its predecessor skill [Spatiokinesis Mastery] up to three levels. There are other skills that requires two prerequisite skills for them to be unlocked. Example of this is [Elementalism], which requires two levels up of [Evocation](Etherkinesis) and [Chemokinesis](Scientikinesis). For someone like me, the temptation to unlock this skills immediately is real. However, I need to take it slow. Rushing things can ruin everything even the most gifted ones. What I need is patience. And a lot of it. During our travels, we''ve been gone through six different countries already. There I saw different kinds of people and their livelihood. There markets were filled with many things such as jade sculptures, pots and etc. Most of them I''ve never seen before or doesn''t exist in my previous world. With this travel alone, I''ve learned a few things. Even if a person is reincarnated, learning will always be at his or her side. ------ Currently we were just only a few kilometers away from Alvatere. Inside I was sitting right beside mom while enjoying myself from the view. Sitting on the other side was dad and grandpa, talking with some important matters. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Is the situation in Zelmya still in the balance?" "Yes. The Allied forces are currently engaging the Undead army near the country''s border for three consecutive weeks. We never have this kind of attack before. Looks like those living dead creatures were very eager to broke the stalemate. Although we lost a lot of good men and women, many of them were still young..." After grandpa said that, he stroke his beard while closing his eyes. Maybe he tried to remember the faces of the fresh recruits whom he had train personally. They were talking about the current situation of the country of Zelmya. It is a country located at the northeast part of Uforan continent. The country also serve as the frontline against the relentless Undead army. Every year the Undead army would try to break through the Great Wall, the only wall that divides the living''s realm from the dead and corrupted lands owned by the enemies. Because of their location, the country turned to be somewhat militaristic. Almost all of its citizens served the country''s army or joined the Alliance''s Monster Hunt Squads. If someone could describe the place, they would say its a gruesome battlefield. As both mom and I listen to them, our carriage suddenly stopped. "Is there a problem, Tyel?" Dad peeked his head at the window as he asked the coachman who happens to be his old friend. Curious, I also took a peek from the window. "Sorry sir, but it appears that there is a broken carriage blocking the way." Indeed, there is a broken carriage in front of us and there were some men. Dad then give glance towards mom and grandpa. Both of them just nodded. With his sword at his waist, dad went out to look. Grandpa accompanied him as they try to approach the men wearing with black hooded cloaks while mom and I remain inside. Wary of the situation, I try to focus my attention in front. At first it seems like the men were friendly people until I noticed one of them, a man with a big and bulky build making furtive glances towards the forest. In an instant my passive skill [Ethereal Sense] activated. Within the woods, I could sense forty to fifty people hiding. At that moment, I knew we ran into trouble. CHAPTER 9 - DARK GUILD CHAPTER 9 - DARK GUILD -- Ronan''s POV -- As we approached the men, there face was somewhat stiff. Four of them were outside, while the other one was inside holding on to something. Is it a sack? Anyways, father walked in front me and talked to them, asking if they needed help. Of course, at one look they looked like they need a ride but them being stuck in this road kinda felt a little weird. It made me more vigilant. After father asked them, they never replied. They were glancing at each other. Seeing that, it made me very uneasy. I firmly grabbed the sheathed sword at my waist. Suddenly the skinny guy plunged towards me with a dagger aiming at my chest, but I blocked with my sword, still sheathed, and push him back. On the other hand, the other two guys tried to lay a fist on father-in-law''s face but their movement came to a halt. The ground below them began to swallow them as if it appears to be moistened. Father was very quick to cast [Quagmire]. As expected from the head of the Mage Guild. "Hmph. Trying to hit an old Samaritan, where are your manners?" He just let out a cold snort towards these men. Really, father? Sometimes you can be cruel and grumpy. On my end, the skinny guy muttered some words and disappeared in front of me. The fourth guy with a mustache and thick brows charged towards me with his twin axes. I evaded his strike as I slide to the right. I unsheathe my sword and swing it at my back, managing to deflect an invisible attack from nowhere. "[Sword Break]!" "Gaah!" The guy who attacked me at the back let out a slight shriek and step backwards as my sword was engulfed in a swirling vortex of fire. Before I can gain my fighting stance, the thick brow guy activated a skill [Twin Fang] towards me. A skill I know that can only be used by Knights and Warriors who specialized in two one-handed weapons. In retaliation I cast [Penta Strike] as I intend to clash head on against his attack. Five consecutive and aggressive sword strikes covered in flames against four vicious axe strikes covered in green hue. The outcome clash created sound of metal barrages in quick succession and sent out a shock wave in the surroundings. The impact made both us pushed back few meters from each other. I can see some blood dripping from his left shoulder. Right beside him the skinny guy reappeared and let let out a loud whistle. In response, I heard some shouts within the woods. ------ -- Ragna''s POV -- As both dad and grandpa engage the enemies, from the woods a large number of black hooded people came rushing towards us. Seeing this mom placed both her hands on my shoulders. "Ragna, I will give you permission to use your abilities. Just today." After she said that, she immediately got out from the carriage and took a battle stance. She blew the incoming enemies from the left with her [Light Ball]. After that she invoke [Grand Chasm] which slowed the movements of most enemies. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I know what mom was trying to say to me. By saying "permission to use your abilities" meant I need use my powers to defend myself. Mom you should know, right? I don''t intend to use my powers to protect only myself. I want to use it in order to protect people whom I cherished. Though I''m a five year old kid, this sight of battle is not new to me. In my previous world I was also engaged in this kind of situation. I leap out from the carriage and activated [Multi Lock-On]. After targeting all possible hostiles, I raised my left hand. A rosy white ring-like circle appeared, seemingly rotating clockwise. "[Binding]!" All of the black hooded guys that were unknowingly marked by [Multi Lock-On] skill cease to move. I immediately raised my right hand and another rosy white ring-like circle appeared. "[Levitation]!" In an instant all hostiles floated in the air, unable to move or flex a muscle. This also included dad, mom and grandpa''s enemies which made them quite shocked and dumbfounded but they regain their composure. Witnessing this, grandpa uses an advanced skill [Infernal Flame] and burned all the black hooded guys in one snap. Somehow he left out the one who is currently inside the broken carriage. Damn... Grandpa is sure a monster not to be mess with. Maybe i should asked him to teach me that awesome skill. That was awesome. "Ragna pulled that thug outside." Grandpa, please watch your language. As you can see I''m still a child you know. I followed grandpa''s request and pulled out the remaining black hooded man. I brought him closer to grandpa just enough so that he could question him. "Why did you attack us?" Grandpa''s voice was like an executioner who wants to behead a criminal. Really grandpa, you''re scaring your grandchild here. "T-That''s none of your business, old man!" In a second the man''s neck snapped. Grandpa used his staff with full force. Crap. Looking at his face, he seem didn''t like the attitude of that man. "I''m still young you bastard." Grandpa, language! He ordered me to release the body so I comply. Then he began to search the body of the deceased fellow. From the guy''s shoulder, there was an unusual mark. A mark that is known by the Alliance. "Dark Guild... Huh?" Dad clicked his tongue in disgust. While they were busy searching for clues, I quickly went inside the broken carriage and saw a sack. It''s end was tightly tied. Is this what those guys were protecting? Due to my curiosity, I untie the sack. Maybe there is gold here. But to my surprise, what I saw was not gold. Not even silver. What I saw was a girl with blonde hair, sleeping quietly. A sleeping beauty. CHAPTER 10 - GOLDEN EYED CHAPTER 10 - GOLDEN EYED I stared at this pretty girl that still sleeping. Her face was lovely and gentle and by just looking at her, it made me blush... a little. I quickly yet calmly pull her out from the old rugged sack and saw her clothing. She wore a knee-length white dress with blue sleeves and blue fur trimming at the hem and blue embroidery at the bust. She also wore a blue bolero, a blue cinch belt, and knee-high white boots with pom-poms. Just by looking at her outfit, I''m certain that this girl belongs to a noble family. Maybe from a high ranking noble family. Anyway, I started to check for some bruises on her body. I left out the delicate parts since it felt inappropriate. I felt relieve when there were none to be found. Accidentally, my eyes fixated at a single point; her lips. It felt soft and alluring. Those curved mouth somehow felt persuasive to me. It makes me want to kiss her... I slapped myself when the thought entered in my head. Damn it, me. You''re still young for this, well I meant physically, and this is not the time for that way of thinking! "Mom, there''s a person inside. A little girl." Hearing the words that I blurted, the three adults who were busy talking turned their heads to my direction. Mom came to me and saw the girl inside the carriage. Her brows furrowed instantly as she went inside. She placed her hand on the sleeping beauty''s forehead and from it, a white light emanated. If I''m not mistaken, mom''s currently performing [Mending] on her. It is a skill used by Clerics to look for internal injuries and ailments that are invisible to the naked eye. While looking at mom tending to this unknown individual, it made me smile. The scene remembered me when I was a little kid in my previous world. There, my mother was a doctor, a pediatrician. Everytime when I got sick, she would stay at my side and would sing a lullaby until I sleep. Reminiscing I frowned silently. Sigh, I couldn''t help thinking what would be her reaction when she learned that her son had died during an interstellar peace talks. She would surely wept in grief. So does the other members of my family too. Although the appropriate action that I would do is to moved on along with this world, somehow inside it felt... I was duped. That feeling that you were cheated before you can accomplished what you had intended to do. I shook my head. There''s nothing I can do about it, can''t I? Reality check, I''m currently alive in another world inside someone''s body... That doesn''t sound right. His soul and mine merged so technically, it''s also my body. This is also my body. And for this, I''m grateful. From the bottom of my heart. I went closer to them as I carefully watch mom''s [Mending]. This skill would be helpful if I could learn it. Even if mom would taught me of this wonderful skill, I still need to create some arrays inside my skill library, Eidos. "Mom, why is there a girl inside here?" Though I already knew the answer to it, still I only know a little about how this world works. Even if people and literary works said that slavery was abolished some 250 years ago, there are still some people practicing it, right? "Those bad guys maybe kidnapped this poor girl for money or worst, sell her to the brothel..." "Brothel?" "That''s an off-topic for now for you young man, but when you grew up you will know." Ransom and child prostitution, huh? So problems like this are also plaguing this world and here I am thinking that my world is the only one having this kind of social problem. I could accept the former one but child prostitution really? And sending this little girl to a "disorderly house" where old men with fat belly''s with or without STD''s, could let out their lust into this fragile build... Pathetic. Really pathetic and disgusting. "Hmm, it looks like she was put into deep sleep." "Deep sleep?" "Yup. Maybe they forced her to swallow a sleeping pill or used a sleeping status skill." A skill that can inflict sleep on someone? Hooh, learning it would be a great thing. "So how do we wake her up?" "Just watch your mom do a little trick." As she said that, a boasting smile appeared on her face. I know it already mom, you have some hidden skills under your sleeves. That''s the reason why I love you mom. Under that gentle face of yours is a person with great abilities and talent. Unlike grandpa who''s both from the inside out. Sometimes I wonder if grandpa is really mom''s father. From mom''s hand, a white light emerge. Then it began to envelop Sleeping Beauty''s entire body. The light was serene and majestic. "[Dispel]." The light radiated a warmth brilliance and suddenly dispersed. After a few minutes, Sleeping Beauty slowly opened her eyes. "Wow..." I let out a word of amazement and admiration. This girl had... golden colored eyes? Even in my world I''ve never seen any humanoid species with this kind of irises. In order to shook the doubts in my heart, I put my face up close to hers. I stared through her eyes and she stared back at mine. Very fascinating and lovely... At that moment, a force somewhat akin to a thrown hollow block hit my lower jaw. ------ "Oww, oww..." I repeatedly massage my swelling jaw as our carriage continue to trek the unpaved and rough road. Currently, I''m seating in between dad and grandpa. My previous seat was occupied by our new guest no other than little miss Sleeping Beauty. And she''s clinging to mom like a leech-worm, tightly hugging her while burying her face to mom''s bosom... From the looks of it, mom is sure enjoying herself as she caress the little girl''s head. Really this girl... But the seating arrangement were decided by the adults, so I have no say to it even deep inside I want to protest. After all, Sleeping Beauty is sitting in my favorite spot. I noticed her giving glances at me. As she attempted to glanced at me for the tenth time, I reciprocally glanced at her making our eyes met. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. She quickly withdraw her eyes with a blush and hid her face on mom''s bosom. Really this girl... is quite very cute! Okay seeing her like this, I forgive her for hitting me unintentionally. Although I admit I was the one at fault. Since the time that she woke up, she would run behind mom''s back every time she saw opposite genders in front of her. Her reaction was quite understandable. Maybe it registered in her mind that male beings are very dangerous after she was kidnapped by those Dark Guild members. Speaking of Dark Guild members, I thought that they were a force to be reckoned with but they seem to be spineless. But grandpa said that the ones we had faced earlier were only henchmen who didn''t even reach the first stage of Disciple rank. In other words, they''re craven. The lowest of all Dark Guild members, although they were three of them who were at the pinnacle of Disciple rank. Even so, they are no match for grandpa who already reach the pinnacle of Grand Master rank. In this world the cultivation of an individual are determined by ranks and levels. Although the ranks are the same for everyone, their levels differ base on what discipline and class they choose. If I would to draw an illustration, it would be like this: For Fighters specially Knights, Warriors, Vanguards and Lancers, Knight: Disciple rank - Knight level ---> Practitioner rank - Lord Knight level ---> Master rank - Royal Knight level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Knight level ---> Saint rank - Sword Saint level Warrior: Disciple rank - Warrior level ---> Practitioner rank - Brute Warrior level ---> Master rank - Heavy Warrior level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Warrior level ---> Saint rank - Weapon Master level Vanguard: Disciple rank - Vanguard level ---> Practitioner rank - Retribution Vanguard level ---> Master rank - Heavy Vanguard level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Vanguard level ---> Saint rank - Shield Hero level Lancer: Disciple rank - Lancer level ---> Practitioner rank - Lord Lancer level ---> Master rank - Noble Lancer level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Lancer level ---> Saint rank - Spear Saint level For Mages, especially Clerics, Conjurers, Thaumaturges, Summoners and Orators, Cleric: Disciple rank - Cleric level ---> Practitioner rank - Revered Cleric level ---> Master rank - High Cleric level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Cleric level ---> Saint rank - Arch Bishop level Conjurer: Disciple rank - Conjurer level ---> Practitioner rank - Wizard Conjurer level ---> Master rank - High Conjurer level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Conjurer level ---> Saint rank - Warlock level Thaumaturge: Disciple rank - Thaumaturge level ---> Practitioner rank - Scholar Thaumaturge level ---> Master rank - High Thaumaturge level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Thaumaturge level ---> Saint rank - Sorcerer level Summoner: Disciple rank - Summoner level ---> Practitioner rank - Noble Summoner level ---> Master rank - Master Summoner level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Summoner level ---> Saint rank - Arcanist level Orator: Disciple rank - Orator level ---> Practitioner rank - Enchant Orator level ---> Master rank - Hymn Orator level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Orator level ---> Saint rank - Songstress level For Rangers, especially Archers, Hunters and Trappers, Archer: Disciple rank - Archer level ---> Practitioner rank - Combat Archer level ---> Master rank - Master Archer level ---> Grand Master - Grand Archer level ---> Saint rank - Wind Sneaker level Hunter: Disciple rank - Hunter level ---> Practitioner rank - Sniping Hunter level ---> Master rank - Master Hunter level ---> Grand Master - Grand Hunter level ---> Saint rank - Arrow Pelter level Trapper: Disciple rank - Trapper level ---> Practitioner rank - Strategic Trapper level ---> Master rank - Master Trapper level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Trapper level ---> Saint rank - Night Watcher level For Rogues, especially Assassins, Scouts and Shadows, Assassin: Disciple rank - Assassin level ---> Practitioner rank - Fade Assassin level ---> Master rank - High Assassin level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Assassin level ---> Saint rank - Guillotine Cross level Scout: Disciple rank - Scout level ---> Practitioner rank - Eagle Scout level ---> Master rank - Acrobat Scout level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Scout level ---> Saint rank - Operative level Shadow: Disciple rank - Shadow level ---> Practitioner rank - Nightblade Shadow level ---> Master rank - Deadly Shadow level ---> Grand Master rank - Grand Shadow level ---> Saint rank - Avenger level Aside from this ranks and levels are also divided into nine stages, so it would be safe to assume that this system of ranking and leveling of cultivation is somewhat complicated Knowing this from dad, it made me stunned for a bit. It''s true that all of this job classes are powerful and at the same time very unique. But I have already made up my mind on what job class I wanted to be in the future. Something this world have never seen before, something that would blow all common sense in this world...hehehe. While I was laughing silently, Sleeping Beauty glanced at me again for the eleventh time. As I looked at her, she quickly averted her eyes like always. I stared at her for a moment and a sound of lighted light bulb rang inside my head. Looks like I found my first subject for my extravagant experiment. CHAPTER 11 - VELTHOENNE VON STRAUER CHAPTER 11 - VELTHOENNE VON STRAUER When we arrived at grandpa''s manor, I was astonished. It was quite big. Twice as big as the one that we had at Lireo. The servants greeted us with big smiles on their faces and carried our luggage to our corresponded rooms. I was thinking of exploring the entire manor but I felt tired from our travel so I decided to get some rest. As for Sleeping Beauty, mom had to carry her since she felt asleep as we entered Alvatere''s territory. Mom then carried her to the guestroom. It looks like that mom and dad had been here before from the way how they were so familiar about the place. As for me, I quickly went inside my room, thanks to the maid who showed me the way. I was a bit surprised, when I entered the room. The room was, how should I say it, somewhat... spacious. The bed is also quite big and large for a person like me. Maybe this is a queen size? Anyway I like it. Unable to resist, I hurriedly undress myself leaving only my shorts and jumped on the bed. From there, I closed my eyes. ------ A land full of bountiful natures and thriving community. A land that symbolize harmony between races. The scene was serene and uplifting. The sun shone brightly as it nurture the evergreens and the wind blew smoothly as if breathing life across the land. Suddenly, dark clouds covered the yellow sun and the fertile land was transformed into a wasteland. Water reservoirs became a bog of toxic and the earth crack opened. Unknown beings emerged from the ravines, ravaging each community and killing all living beings. Men, women, children and even the elderly, they never showed any regret. In their hollowed eyes was only madness. The fourteen communities united all their forces and counter-attacked. The entire scene was filled with blood and gore. Pain and grief. Despair and suffering. As the war continued for months, the infertile land became the land of the cursed. Snow began to fall heavily and great ice emerged. The people were shouting for help, kneeling and praying to the heavens for their salvation. "Gods helped us!" "Save us!" "Allow me to endure this pain and grief but I beg you oh gods from the heavens, please spare my children from this tragic fate! I beg you!" But their prayers became a malignant sleet as they were frozen solid. Everlasting coldness trapped each and everyone souls in a never-ending stasis. The malevolent beings then crossed the land''s surrounding cold waters, their eyes aiming for the fertile lands across the vast sea and oceans. As soon as they left, no life was spared. The land that was known for bounties and harmony ceased to exist. From the freezing and barren land with heavy blizzards, a girl with silver hair stood still. Shivering and quivering, she embraced herself as she feel to her knees. Ice and snow began to encroach her entire body as her flowing tears turned into a droplets of crystal. From her freezing lips, she tried to spoke with her last strength-- "R-Ragna, save me..." ------ I woke up drenching myself in cold sweat. What was that weird dream? A chill was sent from my spine making me hugged myself. Such an eerie feeling! That aside, was it only dream? It felt real to me. Why? And who was that silver haired girl? And why does she knows me? As I try to remember the last scene, it felt somehow she was talking to me as if I was there. Do I know her? I wiped my face with the palm of my right hand, there was blood on it. As instinct, I wiped my nose and saw a drip of blood. Looks like I''m suffering from a nosebleed. I quickly searched for a clean cloth and wipe my nose and nostrils for good. My eyes then shifted from the cloth to the window. Outside the light from the sun become more dimmer and dimmer. It was almost night time. But really, what''s with that dream? ------ After I dressed myself up, I went downstairs. "Good evening, Young Master." "Good evening to you too!" Everytime the maid servants in this manor saw me they would give a warm greeting. Honestly, I''m not comfortable with this treatment. Maybe because from the my previous world, I never had such this kind of conduct from my house. Though I had robots who do the chores, their greetings felt somewhat monotonous. Like how most call center agents talk to you on the phone. Anyways, I walked myself to the living room and saw dad and grandpa talking. Their faces were stoic and serious as they stared intently at the map spread widely on the table. I pulled out a chair and climbed on top of it, standing, and looked at it with curiosity. The map showed two great landmasses that looks like a continent. The one located at the west had a name ''Ufora'' written over it with various names that denotes every nation. On the other hand, the landmass located at the east had a name ''Darklands'' written and color of the landmass was black. The two continents are somewhat linked to one another like how Africa is linked to Eurasia or Asia. What separates these two was a single line that is somewhat arc to the left with the name ''Great Wall'' printed on it. Stolen story; please report. The Great Wall huh? The line that separates the realm of the living between the realm of the dead. Looking at the map, grandpa let out a sigh. "The enemies'' forces are getting stronger and stronger every minute while our manpower is dwindling significantly. Only time could tell how long we can hold the line." "Father, I together with the Order of Red Lions, will be going to Zelmya next week. Though it''s a bit sudden, I would be there for an entire month." Dad then looked at me as he stroke my unruly brown hair. "You don''t have to worry. They will be safe here. That aside, let''s talk about this one..." I listened carefully as the two adults devise some plans on how to bolster the Alliance forces. Currently the population of men is surprisingly decreasing in a rapid state. It is not surprising though, men were mostly the ones who were sent to the front lines. Although they were some women involved, their numbers can only be counted with fingers. As the three of us were busy, me listening carefully, mom entered the living room. Behind her was Sleeping Beauty, still hiding. The three of us looked both at them. "Okay, honey introduce yourself to everyone. Don''t be shy they''re good people." After hearing mom''s reassuring words, Sleeping Beauty shyly walks in front as she perform a curtsy. "G-Good evening, my name is Velthoenne Von Strauer. Nice meeting you all!" As she finished her introduction, she hurriedly hid herself behind mom. Seeing her like that, I couldn''t help myself but smile. Really this girl is cute and lovely at the same time. Surprisingly her voice is very angelic. For grandpa and dad''s reaction, they were dead silent. Their eyes were gazing at this little girl with golden eyes. Mom just nodded at them while mildly scratching her left cheek with her left forefinger. There was something from their reaction. Before I can probed them, a maid called out telling us that dinner is already served. ------ That night, I found out Sleeping Beauty, I mean, Velthoenne''s identity. Unexpectedly, she''s a royalty. The daughter of Duke Nelke of Strauer Kingdom from his deceased wife. Currently, the country is engulfed in a succession war. The deceased king named Duke Nelke as his successor but the elder son did not approve of this. So when the King died, a war between brothers erupted. And poor Velthoenne was caught in the crossfire. The adults unanimously deduced that the elder brother sought help from the Dark Guild to capture Duke Nelke''s daughter. What a joke. Really, the elder brother should die a painful death. After dinner, mom came to me and spoke to me on the ear, "Ragna, mom wants you to be friends with the princess so that she doesn''t feel alone. Can you do that for me?" As she finished that, a sound echoed inside my head. *Diring*
MOM''S REQUEST
DESCRIPTION:YOUR MOTHER IS WORRIED ABOUT VELTHOENNE. SHE ASKS YOU TO BEFRIEND THE PRINCESS.
DIFFICULTY:E
REWARDS:UNKNOWN
DO YOU ACCEPT THIS QUEST?
YESNO
I stared at the window at me. So this is a quest and unexpectedly a low rank one, huh. I pondered for a while. After putting much thought about it, I decided to accept it. Though the rewards being labeled as unknown is somewhat fishy to me, there''s no harm in taking this right?
YOU ACCEPTED THE QUEST
This will benefit me after all. The princess is an integral part of my extravagant plan. If this will succeed, it will also help her in the near future. I quickly went to my bed and began planning my approach. Before I can create a concrete plan, I fell asleep. CHAPTER 12 - FRIENDS CHAPTER 12 - FRIENDS The next morning, I woke up very early. Realizing that I never created a plan, I stayed at my room for awhile. "How should I approach her?" When it comes to conquering the hearts of different types of maidens, I know the basics. Thanks to the galge games that I played several times in my previous world. Though I suffered many game overs and restarts from that due to the wrong choices that I made... The problem is Velthoenne is a little girl, not a woman. So conquering her is out of the question. Okay let''s start by evaluating her. She''s a shy girl and speaks only a handful of words. Also avoids physical contact when it comes to males. Moreover, she''s experiencing anxiety, thanks to those bad hoodlums and his power seeker uncle. Hmm... A verbally and physically shy girl with anxiety problems. This is quite a headache. Luckily I know how to handle a person with this kind of attitude. Wait. Is what I''m doing now is also the same as conquering a bishoujo? Ahh, whatever! Oh, mother of psychology, help this disciple of yours! Umm, okay maybe I was overacting. ------ Like a predator hunting for his prey, I scanned the entire manor looking for Sleeping Beauty. I''d searched the entire house but she was no where to be found. It seems that she''s not inside the house. Entirely thanks to me wandering around, I found something very special about grandpa''s manor; there were a handful of hidden passages and a secret basement. It was actually like a maze. Each passages are connected with each other and would led you to some hidden entrances or exits while others would led you only to dead ends. What ticked my curiosity is the secret basement. It had the appearance of an hundred year old structure with cobwebs hanging on its doors. "This door seems suspicious..." Really it was very suspicious. I tried to opened it but it was tightly locked with chains that had some kind of enchantment. Did grandpa locked this door on purpose? Using [Divination] I tried to analyze the enchantment bestowed on the thick and rusted black chains, it looks the enchantment is a restriction type and a very strong one. After done analyzing, I used [Spell Destabilization] to negate the enchantment. Though it took me lot of time, somehow I manage to erase the spell on the chains. I went inside the basement and unfortunately there was nothing inside. "Maybe I''m just overthinking things..." As I walked outside, my [Ethereal Sense] seems to picked up something. I looked at the direction where the passive skill is pointing. On the ceiling, there was something bluish white shining. Using [Levitation] I tried to get a closer look. Glued to the old bricked ceiling was some kind of azure gemstone. I tried to take it by hand but somehow it was stuck firmly onto the surface. I resort on using [Telekinetic Maneuver] to forcefully gain this bewitching artifact. As this mysterious thing came into my hand, a familiar sound reverberated inside my head. *DING*
YOU GAINED A DIVINE ARTIFACT
NECKLACE OF DIVINITY
Description:A necklace made by an unknown being. It is said that the gemstone came from an unknown object that fell from the sky.
Restriction:Can only be worn by people with high affinity to both Holy and Light Element.
Grade:SSS+
Effects:When equipped, gained +500% health regeneration, +500% mana regeneration, +350% base stat increase, + 200% physical resistance, +200% elemental resistance, +200% status ailment resistance
I face-palmed myself as I saw the effects of this thing. This is very neat. Excited, I tried to wear the divine artifact but somehow something was restricting me. Everytime I tried to push it down to my neck, something or some force is blocking me. Hmm... Ah, crap. I forgot that I don''t have affinity to both Holy and Light Elements let alone the other ones. I quickly deposited it into my <>. Maybe someone other than me is suitable for this thing. But really this basement, if tidied up a bit would be a great base of operations. Hmm... Got it! From this day forward, this would be my R&D room. I quickly gleamed while rubbing both my palms softly. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Can''t wait to see the release of the Engineer spirit within me. ------ As I exited, I hurriedly went back to my main objective. Luckily, I found my target in the courtyard. She was seating alone. Wait, why is she alone? Anyway I should begin my mission. "Good morning, Princess Velthoenne. Can I sit?" After doing a majestic bow, I quickly pointed towards the opposite chair. "Mmm..." After nodding, I took a seat opposite to her. After that neither one of us initiate a conversation. If she''s a bit older I could initiate some sweet talking but no she isn''t. She''s still a child... That means a child is a curious fellow. I should do something fantastic that would ignite her curiosity as to overshadow her anxiety. From my <> I withdraw a parchment paper and a ink pen. While I was doing this, I placed my right hand inside my pocket as if making an illusion that it came from inside it. While I was busy writing on the desk, I could feel that she was somewhat looking at me. That''s good. Keep looking her missy. After done doing some adjustments, I placed my hand on the top of the paper. The array that I had written glowed in a white radiance, above it dozens of speck of white light appeared and hover in the thin air. "Wow..." Seeing her reaction it looks like I got her attention. That glistening eyes of hers told me. "Actually princess, this is magic. If you like, I could teach you one or two skills..." "Really!?" I was shocked with her reaction. She stood up from her chair like a child seeing a brand new toy. What am I thinking? She''s still a child of course! "Yes but first, I wanted to be friends with her highness!" "Friends?" "Yes." "...Okay." *DING*
YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE QUEST: MOM''S REQUEST
REWARDS
Gained a new friend, can be a potential lover if chose to strengthen the bonds between both persons in the long run, +5 fame gain, +10 exp gain
Seeing the rewards, I furiously scratch the back of my head. Let''s pretend that I didn''t see the second reward. I mean seriously. Damn it... Are the gods making fun of me? Or are they screwing my life? Anyways, I withdraw the <> from my <> and put it on the table. Upon seeing the necklace, Velthoenne''s eyes glimmered brightly. "What''s this?" "A gift for a friend." "A gift? For me?" "Yes. Umm, you see I found it when I was wandering around the manor. Since this looks like a female accessory, I was thinking that this should fit you perfectly." Let''s face it. If someone witness this scene, it would look like I was giving a betrothal gift. I''m doing this only for the sake of strengthening our friendship. Nothing more, nothing less. That aside, I wanted to know if this girl can wore this divine artifact. I wasn''t able to because I don''t have any affinity towards the required elements. I know what I''m doing is a kind of reckless thing to do but-- "Thank you for the gift." She wore it with ease. With ease!? My mouth formed a big and wide ''O''. Does this mean that this girl had high affinity to both Holy and Light elements from the beginning? If I recalled correctly from the books that I had read, people born with affinity towards Light element are very rare and people born with affinity towards Holy element are even rarer. So does this mean that this girl, Velthoenne Von Strauer is a rare gem? Anyhow, I gained my first friend. I''m happy about it. But really, that divine artifact should be mine. I envy her. EXTRA CHAPTER - MELSTRANS CONCERNS EXTRA CHAPTER - MELSTRAN''S CONCERNS -- Melstran''s POV -- "Geez... Come on Ragna, try a little harder!" "Easy for you to say, Vel!" Seeing these kids playing at my courtyard somehow felt that they are the pots of gold in my life. It gives me a second chance of being a parent. A few years had passed by and many things had occurred in my life. Most of them were weird... Let''s start from Velthoenne. Ever since she came here, it felt like we have an additional member in our family. She is smart, beautiful, and funny. Her shyness fades away as time goes by. The current her would now open up to us adults. Currently she is living with us, Duke Nelke give me the permission to shelter his daughter after receiving the report where we manage to save the princess from the hands of the criminals. The situation in Strauer Kingdom is still in the balance, with war between successors still going on. My daughter Yufa is very fond of her. Somehow I could see how she wanted to have a second child, a daughter of her own. But because she''s having difficulty of getting pregnant, Ronan and her can''t beget another child. It scarred my daughter deeply but seeing her how she put much attention to Velthoenne, it made me feel at ease. Speaking of the princess, I don''t know why but she was spouting about becoming a Crusader every time I asked her about what she wanted in the future. When I ask her about it, she would answer me with-- "It is a class born from the marriage of a Knight and a Cleric, a Magic Knight so to speak. One that could combine the effectiveness of a Knight''s melee capabilities with a Cleric''s healing, range and support abilities." "Really? That looks like a weird person to me." "Not really grandpa. Actually I like the idea, it felt like a powerful existence to me." "Where did you get this idea?" "Ragna told me. He said that class would suit me very well." Haa... that grandson of mine, putting nonsense in the mind of Duke Nelke''s daughter. Really, a class with both capabilities of a Knight and a Cleric... I never heard such a thing. Now speaking about the culprit, that grandson of mine. Strictly speaking, he''s the one that brought change and wonder not only to me but also to the people living in this manor. Where should I start? When I heard that he pry opened the basement''s sealed door, I was shocked. Ever since I discovered that room I tried every means to disable the restriction spell but couldn''t yet he manage to disable it in his first try. Really what is this kid? Also there was this specific day when he introduced this so-called ''solar-ethereal panel'' thing to us. As he explained, it is a tool that absorbs both the sun''s rays and ether as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating. At first I was dumbstruck, to tell you the truth I wasn''t able to understand every single bit of it. When I asked about electricity, he said that it is a small version of lightning. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Small version, huh. "Don''t worry grandpa, this will lit up our house during night time." Or so he said. Because I was curious what this weird rectangular pieces of metal would do, we helped him mounted it on the rooftop. From above, one could tell that we have an otherworldly rooftop design. After that he mounted a huge cylindrical thing at the backyard which he called a ''power collector'' which would, as he explained, store excess energy for later use. Then inside the house, he placed a small rectangular metal box he called ''circuit breaker'', some ''switches'' and a handful of ''fluorescent light tubes''. The people living inside the manor began to think that Ragna become an ill-minded child. I thought so too but... When night time came, the house was lit up with these thing called ''fluorescent light tubes''. Every corner inside the house had light. That event made everyone of us dumbfounded. Everyone of us looked at him with eyes asking ''how is this possible?'' or something similar to that. It made everyone of us unable to sleep for some time due to the shock. After a month, he introduce a few of his so-called ''inventions''. Even I don''t know where that word came from. First off, was this ''pressure cooker''. He said that it is similar to a cooking pot but much convenient and advance. At first I was hesitant about it. It looked like a weird cauldron used for alchemy to me. But what surprise me is that it took only 20 minutes for this ''pressure cooker'' to tenderize a lump of meat that ordinarily would took 3 hours in firewood! Aside from that it can be used to cook almost all of foods. Second, is this ''refrigerator'' or ''fridge'' as he called it. It''s purpose is to ''refrigerate'' or store food by refrigeration or using ice. When I heard its uses, I was shock. Really, how could this thing create ice inside? Although my grandson explained it to me in detail, I couldn''t grasp the entirety of it. Then they were others like the ''stove'' and ''oven''. Because of this weird phenomena happening in my life the words would came out from my mouth everytime he introduce strange things to us was, "What kind of sorcery is this!?" Aside from this, he introduced also this strange foods like pizza, donuts, leche flan, halo-halo, hamburgers and other foods that we never heard or seen before. But I could attest that every food that he introduced to us were very delicious, especially that pizza. One time I confronted him where did he get his ideas, "It came to me by a dream." He calmly said that to me without flinching. I was lost for words for a second. I really wanted to crack his head open and see how his mind works. It''s like his an entity that is hard to comprehend and understand yet not. Really does his knowledge came from the gods? Or during that time when he was in a vegetative state? Maybe he is blessed by the gods... I don''t know the answer myself very well but one thing I''m sure, Ragna would bring change to this entire world. What heights would he achieve after ten years? twenty years? I could only help myself by daydreaming and guessing. I hope that I''m still alive when that time comes. CHAPTER 13 - PARTING CHAPTER 13 - PARTING -- Ragna''s POV -- Five years passed. Both Vel and I are now ten years old and our friendship become tightly strong. We would train swordsmanship and magic at the same time. Sometimes she would sleep together with me for company everytime she would have bad dreams or nightmares. Looks like her bad experience haven''t flushed out entirely. I also introduce to her the notion of hybrid job classes. Somehow she was very intrigued with the idea. Introducing hybrid job classes to this world is one of my extravagant plan alongside technology and science. As the way I see it, this world''s progress became stagnant. There were many factors that I could attribute with this condition but I''m sure about one common denominator of this situation. Magic. The inhabitants of this world heavily relied in magic. A phenomena which could portray someone''s expected results without thinking the process. And that''s the problem. Anyhow, I managed to introduce technology first in this manor. At first I gained a little infamy because of this but after the people in here saw the result, I gained a lots of fame. A lots of it. I also introduce foods from my previous world. Actually grandpa keeps nagging me about making dozens of pizza for him. As he describe it, it felt heaven in his mouth. As for mom and Vel, their hearts fell for every sorbet flavors that I created though I told them to eat in moderation while dad was keen on eating all of them. As the creator of this gadgets in this world, I taught every person inside the manor on how operate this things. So far, they were getting the hang of it. I couldn''t done all of this without unlocking my new skill [Nanokinesis]. Using my new acquired skill I reinforced my body, muscle fibers, organs, and skeleton with nanomachines and to my surprise all my base stats except for INT and WIS gained +190 increase. But what amazed me was that my Vital Energy jumped from 15 to 170,000. That revelation almost give me a heart attack. Anyway, I need to find a way to gain some new skills. ------ While Vel and I were busy practicing, grandpa waved at us as if he wanted to talk something. All of us gathered inside the living room when grandpa stood up, holding a piece of paper. "Today I have receive a message from Duke Nelke..." Upon hearing her father''s name, Vel stared at grandpa intently. I too stared at him, so does mom and dad. "He wanted her daughter to come back home since the matter regarding with the succession is over." Turns out that Duke Nelke eventually became the new king of Strauer Kingdom. Learning about this all of us felt lonely. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. I''m sure Vel felt the same way too. But she''s got to go home. After all, she had also family there that longed for her. That night before I was going to sleep, I heard a knock on my door. As I opened it, I saw a familiar face. Way too familiar for me not even to recognize. "Can you accompany me just for tonight?" "Umm, sure." She meant that she would like sleep together with me for comfort. As we laid down in bed, she quickly hugged me and began to cry. I just patted her blonde hair. Honestly, this night is very painful. ------ "We''re still be friends, right?" "Of course! You will be my best childhood friend." "Remember our promise!" "Don''t worry, I will and always will." After we said our goodbyes, Vel accompanied by grandpa, went on their way to Strauer Kingdom. That day, our morning were lifeless. I spent most of my day in the basement where I turned into my personal R&D lab, creating a few things just to dissipate the sadness inside my heart. When I looked on to my newly developed wristwatch, it was almost night time. So I decided to went back upstairs. Maybe I should visit mom, she''s hurt that I could attest. Even dad felt the same way. How couldn''t they? They treated Vel like their own daughter, I even treated her like my younger sister. "Man, this sucks..." After tidying my desk and putting some things in my <>, I left the room. As I step out from R&D lab, the atmosphere became suddenly cold. Like I was experiencing winter first hand. Wait... Why are the field in front of me are white? I turned around to where I came from but there was no door. All I can see is a vast plain filled with white surface that looks like snow... "What the heck..." I bent over and touched the ground. It is snow indeed. Before I can ponder and processed all of this information and absorb all of it, my [Ethereal Sense] activated. I can feel a tyrannical aura emanating behind me. When I turned around, my face turned ghastly pale. CHAPTER 14 - DEATH AND ICE CHAPTER 14 - DEATH AND ICE A seven foot four legged creature with a body made of rotten flesh and ice shards. Its eyes were glowing bright red as if it smoked a dozen bags of weed. From its mouth, bubbling saliva dripped. Its claws were huge and its build is somewhat wide. The vicious look on its face, smiling, as if it found something delicious to chewed on. It made an eerie howl like a laughing man high on drugs. This creature at first look, is like a wolf yet somehow it felt like another creature that cannot be comprehended. No, this is a wolf. An undead one! "RARRGGHHH!!!" Without warning the creature plunged onto me with its salivating mouth wide open. Somehow I manage to avoid it as I dived to my right side, burying my entire face in thick snow. As I try to get back on my feet, the undead wolf attacked me for the second time. Blinking, I quickly used [Force Field] to block its assault but I ended thrown out several meters away, landing on the ground with my head first. As I turned around, I saw this creature already in mid-air as if trying to jumped on me with a destructive jaw bite. "[Levitation]!" Though I managed to stop him in mid-air, somehow it felt that my skill can''t hold it any longer. Seriously, this undead is very heavy! Gritting my teeth, I used [Telekinetic Maneuver] to push it away from me with all my might. The creature was thrown out a few meters away from me. I quickly stood up as the undead was also getting up. "The hell is going on!?" Really, what''s with this ugly predicament? I even didn''t have enough time to comprehend how in the world I got into this place and now a vicious beast suddenly appeared in front of me and starting to bite my head off. Seriously man! Can someone explain this to me!? "RAARRRGGGHHH!!" The wolf made an awful noise as it shook its head left and right. Did its head got hit very hard? The creature then looked at me with its glowing red eyes. As the way I see it, it seems pretty angry. Really angry! When the being regained its stance, it let out an awful shriek. From the soles of its feet a black miasma emerged and covered the beast''s entire body. It looked like a some kind of protective barrier of some sort. Seeing this I strengthened my resolve. If I want to find the answer as to how did I got here on this place, first I must survive. I must live! "[Enhanced Condition]!, [Hardening]!" From my left hand that I raised up, pink and green ring-like circle lights appeared and rotated around my arm. [Enhanced Condition] allows me to enhanced my mental and physical abilities while [Hardening] makes my body hard as iron. Both of these skills are supportive skills, buffing up my capabilities. Before I can invoke my next skill, a sudden and abrupt force rushed towards my left arm. "GAH!" The undead bit my whole arm! Even though I had enhanced my reflexes and senses, it wasn''t enough to predict its next attack. I could felt its teeth pierced deeply into my skin even though my body was reinforced with nanomachines and [Hardening] skill. Such a powerful biting force! The creature tried to waved me in the air like a rag back and forth. From where I am, I could smell the very foul odor from its body. Even though I wanted to vomit, my will to survive kept that worrisome feeling in my stomach in check. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. When I heard an uncomfortable crack in my left arm, I groaned in agony. ------ At the Crestlustre''s manor. Though the night had arrived, the people in the big house were very restless. "Have you found him?" "No, still we haven''t. We checked the basement but he was not there." "Okay check the other areas, maybe he''s there." The people inside scrambled like fighter jets getting to sortie but their faces portrayed discomfort. They were looking for someone. Someone that shook their souls to the very core by his wonderful and breathtaking marvels. Someone named Ragna Windsor. After three hours, the sound of a wailing mother echoed throughout the household. ------ In an unknown place... I lied on the snowy ground screaming in pain, grabbing my ruptured shoulder. From that severed part, black malevolent essence were gushing out. Blood colored the white fluffiness with stain of red. Damn it... Looking at this bastard chewing my arm, really, really made me burst into anger. I could tell it''s happily eating my beloved left arm. I cannot forgive this thing! Both hands are sacred to an inventor like me and this creature chomping my treasured... I will kill this guy!
YOU HAVE BEEN INFLICTED WITH DEATH PENANCE
TIME LEFT BEFORE TURNING INTO AN UNDEAD: 20 MINUTES
"Like hell I would allow that to happen!" As I shouted in rage while standing up, I activated [Heal] and [Dispel] in succession. Though I healed my severed shoulder, the status ailment inflicted on me wouldn''t dematerialize. "[Psionic Healing]!, [Spell Destabilization]!" In desperation, I called out other status ailment dispersing skills yet none of them worked. As I felt my [Ethereal Sense] warned me, I tried to push myself sideways but I was too late. My lower body was covered in thick spiky ice shards. In an instant I felt a blur of speed on my right side. Really it was very fast! Even my enhanced vision couldn''t see it. In front of me the undead wolf was staring at me while holding my left arm... Wait whose arm is that lying beside that creature? I looked at my right shoulder... Then I felt an intense pain surging across my entire body and mind. "ARRGHH!!!!" I shouted violently as the pain was very distressing and unpleasant. Tears were flowing in my eyes while looking at my right ruptured shoulder, blood still gushing like a water fountain. I stared at the undead wolf with killing intent. That thing put down my right arm and grinned... That thing is grinning at me while I''m suffering in front of it. "I''LL MASSACRE YOU BASTARD!!!!!" CHAPTER 15 - CROSSING RAGE CHAPTER 15 - CROSSING RAGE As my anger and rage reached at its critical limit, I felt an unknown energy from my mind exploded and surged throughout my entire body. The ice that covered my lower body shattered as a colored pink aura flowed around my body, circulating clockwise and enveloping my very being. The snow under my feet began to whirl around me like crazy and evaporated like steam. From my eyes just in between both of my irises and pupils, two converging pink ring-like circles appeared. *DING*
SPIRITUAL ENERGY IS INCREASING
I didn''t bother to looked at the notification window as my sharp gazes were looking past beyond that blue transparent thing. To that bastard creature who ripped both of my precious arms. Without warning I threw a powerful [Telekinetic Maneuver] onto the enemy, pushing it away with an invisible force. Its head flung upward together with its body as it rose up in the air flipping rapidly.
SPIRITUAL ENERGY IS INCREASING
The telekinetic force inside my head were rampaging violently. I could felt every brain cells and neurons running amok, back and forth, sideways, up and down in every corners of my brain, as if they wanted burst out. "RAARRGGHH!!!" The undead wolf tried to regain its balance in the mid air, opening its mouth as it tried to compress a black ball of energy but I pushed it on the ground very hard with my mental powers. "Take that! And that! And that you filthy bastard!" I didn''t give it a chance to stood up as I smashed the undead on the ground repeatedly with my [Telekinetic Maneuver], dragging its head on the ground left and right then smashing its wide body left and right simultaneously. "GRAAGGHH!!" I don''t wanna stop... I won''t stop until this thing is beaten to a pulp! I wanted this thing disintegrate in the air with my anger!
SPIRITUAL ENERGY IS INCREASING
With one final strike I smashed it with all my mental energy on the battered ground, creating a four meter wide crater. I gasped for air as I fall on my knees on the ground, my eyes still fixed on the monster. "GRRR!!!" "Get your face on the ground!" That thing tried to stood up but I smacked its head with an invisible force, burying it on the damaged ground. I tried to shove it deeply as far I could. "Gah!" I bent over, forehead touching the ground, as I threw up some blood from my mouth. My throat felt painful. My mind was melting very fast. Then an insurmountable pain ran across my body as if thousand of needles were piercing me. In front me the undead wolf didn''t move a muscle. It seems I finally killed it. But my assumption was wrong, very wrong. ------ The undead''s body was then covered with an eerie black energy accompanied with innumerable icicles, circling around. The malevolent energy then began to formed a sphere. The scene reminded me of an horror movie I saw in my previous world. The hairs on my entire body stiffly stood up, my heart beating fast. That time I knew, my heart was swallowed by fear. No... I mustn''t succumbed to this terror... I must fight! I must live! "Stand up... Stand up goddamit!" Using my head as a support I tried to get up even though my body was bathed in discomfort and agony, I pushed myself. Like hell I would die here! Like hell I would die again the third time! Like hell I would left mom, dad and grandpa! Like hell I would left Vel! The black and ice sphere began to shrank, little by little. As it couldn''t compressed any further, it rapidly expanded and a burst of energy bombarded the area. I used [Force Field] to block the malevolent and suffocating energy. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The collision of both different energies send me stumbling back a few meters but I regained my stance thanks to the aide of [Levitation]. As the black smoke dispersed, the undead wolf before now had an appearance somewhat like a crossbred of a lion and a cerberus. Its three heads have protruding horns each, around its neck, spikes of ice surrounded it like a lion''s mane. Every joints of its body have these overarching ice shards with black miasma flowing and oozing like a volcano flowing out with lava. Seeing this it felt that the undead wolf undergone some evolution. The creature then appeared at my blindside. It tried to swat me with its sharp claws but I was able to blocked it with my telekinetic powers but, "Ughh!" That strike threw me very roughly at the side, my body bent sideways as if it was the one who received the blow. I could felt each of my bones cracking but I endured it as much as I could. As my bent knee skid on the snowy ground, the evolved creature appeared at my back with its three mouth opening wide. But unfortunately for this fiend, I have already prepared a Magic Array on my back. "[Explosion]!" A burst of explosive energy emitted from behind me, propelling me forward. My back then suffered an intense heat, as if scorching my skin outwards. I hit myself on the snowy ground face first. i flipped several times before coming to a halt. On the other hand, the three-headed undead wolf lost one of its head and a left forelimb. From its damaged part the black miasma were gushing out violently. "RRRAAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!" The fiend roared in anger as it opened its twin mouth. A lump of malignant energy sphere began converged. As seconds passed by it became larger and larger. So it wants me to obliterate in a single blow huh... "Then fine! I got one for you!"
SPIRITUAL ENERGY IS INCREASING
I forcefully manipulated the Ether around me and compressed it in my Magus Catalyst, as many as I could. Then I fused it with the unknown energy in my brain. The process was unbearable and harrowing but I don''t care. I just wanted to murder this being in front me!
SPIRITUAL ENERGY IS INCREASING
SPIRITUAL ENERGY IS INCREASING
SPIRITUAL ENERGY HAS REACHED MAXIMUM THRESHOLD
More... I need more power!
WARNING
SPIRITUAL ENERGY IS BREAKING THRESHOLD
From where the undead being was standing, layers and layers of Magic Arrays surrounded it. Below, above, from all sides, small , medium and large. I threw out all my arrays at this guy. I won''t let it escape unscathed!
SPIRITUAL ENERGY HAS BROKEN MAXIMUM THRESHOLD
NOW ENTERING OVERDRIVE
My eyes then began to glow. I could felt the heat that it radiated. The heat also enveloped my body as if I was thrown into a lava pit. When the evolved undead launched it massive black ball at me, I also unleashed my wrath on the creature. It will be the first being to witness the power of the atomic power first hand. "[Nuclear Fusion: Explosion]" A bright and intense light swallowed both of us. CHAPTER 16 - A FAMILIAR VOICE CHAPTER 16 - A FAMILIAR VOICE An intense shock wave expanded in all the surroundings followed by an acute force. I managed to protect myself with [Force Field] fortified with layers of Magus Arrays, using all of my remaining power. I don''t really want to use a nuclear based skill but my mind went blank due to my unceasing rage and overflowing emotions. Yet I didn''t regret any single bit of it. Inside I felt happy about it, killing that bastard. After the raging dust and shock wave had passed, I lied down on the ground, my back leaning against it. From where I am, the sky became dark and hazy due to the nuclear fallout. I try to mustered an ample amount of energy so that I could create a protective layer for my body against radiation but couldn''t. Damn... I let myself be exposed to radiation. I tried to move my body but couldn''t even lift a single part. Blood were flowing out from my mouth and nose. My sensations were getting numb by a second. All that I can do was to stare blankly at the darkened sky.
TIME LEFT BEFORE TURNING INTO AN UNDEAD: 1 MINUTE
Huh? I forgot about this one. Looks like I''m turning into one of those foul creatures... Though I wanted to stop this malevolent process, my body won''t listen to my mind. Even I don''t have the appropriate skill to stop this ailment. All that I could do was to prepare myself for the worst, though my will was strongly against it. Black colored snow began to fall. Maybe what I''m seeing is actually the residual radioactive material from the nuclear blast. Damn it... Is this it? My vision started to blur. I tried to blink but my eyelids won''t even move an inch. My mind was starting to lose its sanity and my body began to deteriorate. Am I going to die without both arms? Such a pity... ------ Before the young boy lost his consciousness, everything that were moving in the surroundings stopped. From the hazy and radioactive gray sky, a figure descended and landed beside him. Although his vision was blurry, Ragna could the see the feet of this being. From there he traced the figure of an unknown being in front of him. "A woman...?" Ragna thought as he glanced on the person standing beside him. This person, a woman, wore a form-fitting full-length white dress with an ornate golden crest around the waist and had a long blonde hair with blue eyes. Yet the boy could not see the female''s entire face, as if it was covered with a mask of light that only her eyes could be seen. The blonde haired woman then approached the armless and bloody Ragna and carried him on her arms. "You must live, after all you are my..." The mysterious woman in white muttered some words in a tender loving voice. Ragna could only hear the first few phrases as both of his ears were bleeding fast. After the woman finished speaking, she kissed Ragna''s bruised forehead. A fleeting and warmth feeling surrounded the boy''s entire body, making him lost his consciousness. The woman raised her head up then a blinding white light surrounded her. In a second, she disappeared together with Ragna. The wind, dust and everything in the surroundings then began to move as nature dictates. ------ --Ragna''s POV-- When I woke up, I found myself lying inside a cave. As I tried to get up, I feel a familiar sensation on both of my shoulders-- "My arms..." There back! My precious arms! I began to cry in happiness as I hugged both of my precious arms. I started to caress my hands with my face with a snot dripping from my nose. I felt like a weirdo doing such crazy things. Hurriedly, I checked my body for any open wounds but surprisingly there were none to be found. Also, my clothes were fully cleaned. All in all I''m perfectly fine. Just in case, let''s check my status--
STATUS WINDOW
Name: Ragna Windsor
Age: 10 Gender: Male
Race: Human Level: 46
Spirit Energy: 200,005 Vital Energy: 170,005
Titles: The Reincarnated One, World Traveler, The Accursed Fellow, Innovator, Nanocrat
Fame: 75(+4) Infamy: 0
Alignment: None
Experience Points 3772
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Health:3722
Mana: Unavailable
Agility:220(+1.5)Stamina:216(+1.5)
Strength:217(1.5)Dexterity:217(+1.5)
Vitality:215(1.5)Endurance:205(+1.5)
Intelligence:48(+1.5)Wisdom:48(+1.5)
Luck:225(+2.5)Leadership:0
[tr]
Affinity:
None
Abilities:
Etherkinesis Scientikinesis
Status Effects:
"The Reincarnated One" - +10% base stat increase, +20% fame gain "World Traveler" - +5% base stat increase, +100% health regeneration "The Accursed Fellow" - -100% mana regeneration "Innovator" - +10% luck increase, +100% crafting success rate, +10% fame gain "Nanocrat" - +190 stat increase except WIS and INT, +10% fame gain
I''m currently a level 46 person. It seems that undead wolf is a high level monster. I have also many unused stat points. Maybe I should increase my INT and WIS stat... And I''m still a human. Lucky me. Beside me there was a bonfire already lit up and a weird looking wooden chest. Curious, I looked up at the contents of the chests. Inside was a pair of winter fur cloak, some vegetables and meat, and a note. Seeing this, I stepped back from the chest. Something is fishy in here... A bonfire and a chest with items in a cave, lumped together with me. Something is not right, but my [Ethereal Sense] didn''t activate or warn me of any danger. So that means this place is safe, huh. Who could left this here? Then I remembered the woman in white from before. Could she be the one who left this chest? Could she be the one who carried me at this place? Could she also be the one who regenerated my arms and healed me? If so, where is she? "Hello? Anybody in here?" I shouted yet no one answered back. I could only hear my voice bouncing on the cave walls. Where did that woman go? There were so many things I wanted to ask her like how did I got transported into this foreign place away from home or the words that she spoke to me. Although I only heard the first few phrases she spoke but I was certain what I just heard. She spoke to me in English. A language that should not exist in this world. And her voice... It felt that I heard her voice before but I couldn''t remember where or when. But I''m certain it was very familiar. Really, what is going on? Looks like even if I put much thought into it the whole day, I couldn''t find any answers that kept fluttering in my heart and mind so I decided to pick up the items in the chest. I wear one of of the winter fur cloak and store the other one in my <> together with the vegetables. I took the note and carefully read it, Eat and rest well for there are many hardships to come. Yours truly, Your Guardian Angel Umm... I don''t know how to react to this one but I''m pretty sure there are no angels in this world. Or maybe I''m just making an assumption? Really man, I couldn''t help myself thinking who is that woman. If we would meet again, I would give her my thanks for saving my life. As I looked around my surroundings, I decided to explore this underground chamber. In the end, I didn''t turn into a zombie. Thank goodness. CHAPTER 17 - LORD VARAM CHAPTER 17 - LORD VARAM At the heart of the snowing and freezing barren land lies a majestic castle that emits terror and eeriness. That castle was built from ice and bones of the living. It''s structure was very subtle and complex. With its height that could almost scrape the clouds, it gives off the vibe of dominating supremacy in the hearts of everyone gazing at this evil construction. Yet this so-called ''Ice Bone Castle'' had no windows and only had one huge door. Etched on this door''s surface were corporeal bodies that were once alive and breathing, with each of their faces portrayed pain and agony. The insides of this humongous citadel were very plain, with floors covered in ice like skating rinks and had only an odd looking throne as its furnishing. Sitting on the weird yet large ceremonial chair was a being clad in shining black armor with icy blue linings on it and wearing a black and red cape. His head were made of deadly vapor with its hollowed eyes glowing with white brilliance. One look in his eyes could petrify one''s soul. On his large hands was a giant greatsword which he always gripped ever since he was summoned on Hicara to bring terror and grief on every living beings. Although he was sitting silently as if he was asleep but in reality he was patiently waiting for someone. As he felt a familiar energy gathering , he moved his gaseous head and directed his unfilled gaze right in front of him. Within a few meters away from his throne a pitch-black gas started to become visible, trying to build its own shape and structure. As the dense gases tightly held onto each other, a form could be seen. A creature wearing a tattered black hooded robe and a head of a rotten skull. After the creature finished materializing itself, it made a solemnly bow. "Myyy lieeegggeee, yooouuu... awakeeennneeeddd..." "Kultos, what new tidings did you bring?" The creature clad in a shining black armor spoke in a domineering and eerie voice. Although he had no mouth, a slight cold vapor could be seen expelling right below his hollowed white eyes. "Pleeennntttyyy myyy lieeegggeee..." "How are my fellow comrades are faring?" "Otheeerrrsss... sleeepppsss... Ufooorrraaa... intaaacccttt... Peeerrrbuuusss... maaaddd..." "Hah! That miscreant couldn''t subdue those low lives up until now. Such a disgrace to the King!" The liege laughed in belittlement. His laughed made the interiors of the castle to fidget. As for the black hooded skull, he kept on hissing as if taking part on his lord''s happiness. "Shaaalll... heeelllppp?..." If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "No. Leave him be. Rather I want you to foil his plans further. His failures would be beneficial to our own agenda. I want him to look miserable in front of the King." "Byyy... wiiilll..." "There''s another matter that I''m concerned of. I felt a living being has set foot on my beloved realm, disturbing my slumber! Who dares to awake Lord Varam, shall feel my wrath!" The liege stood up as he nudged his greatsword a little on the ground but that tiny action caused to surge a violent invisible energy that made the black hooded skull Kultos cower in fear. At the same time, it shook the the entire area making few ice shards above to fell on the icy ground like spears. "Kuuultooosss... haaannndddllleee..." "Don''t fail me. If you ever found the intruder, you know what to do." "Yeeesss... lieeegggeee... Kuuultooosss... faaaiiillleeeddd... wooonnn''ttt..." The black hooded skull made a dignified bow and then disintegrated in the chilly air out from sight. The black armored creature with a vaporized pitch-black head who called himself Lord Varam sat again from his weird looking throne made of ice and bones as h tries to resume his sleep. The castle then was filled an everlasting silence. ------ Outside the castle. Kultos materialized himself on the harsh environment. His black hooded robe swayed harshly as the tremendous wind blew. The coldness didn''t bother him. Rather, it made him felt at ease. The fear that his liege stirred was still inside of him, reverberating the sole of his very existence. For him it was a symphony that would shook everything. "Fooorrr... lieeegggee..." He hissed like a venomous snake and a sinister wind. As he raised his left skeletal arm, the snow around him began to revolve. From the ground, a black miasma emerged. Several skeletal warriors appeared in front of him, with clubs made of reinforced osseins sharpened with death auras. "Fiiinnnddd... intrruuudddeeerrr... kiiilll..." As he commanded, his skeletal minions were covered in deathly smog as they sank into the ground and started moving. The harsh wind blew much stronger than before. The snow that fell began to increase in volume. "Fooorrr... lieeegggeee..." He hissed again for the second time as his jawed clicking in rhythm with his undying loyalty to his lord. His body then began to break up and was scattered by the blowing wind. Before he can disappear, he made another hissing sound, "Kiiilll..." CHAPTER 18 - SPELUNKING CHAPTER 18 - SPELUNKING -- Ragna''s POV -- I picked up a piece of flaming wood from the bonfire, acting as a torch, and started my way to explore this wide cavern. Although I''m still confused about all that had happened to me recently, securing this place must be my first priority. I don''t know if I''m the only one in this underground chamber. Better be sure and prepared than say sorry later. The flaming torch flickers in an orange glow as I began to walked deeper in the tunnel. On the ground were some stalagmites in an unusual variety - they appear to be made of rounded, irregular, hollowed cones, which concave upwards. I''m not a spelunker for life in my previous life so seeing this majestic work of nature fascinates me. The rugged and weary yet dampened walls surrounded me. Cold air filled every corner and warmth seemed to of have never tried to crawl its way in here for a long time. Although the darkness swallowed everything and seemed to make worries come into my mind of something unseen, the torch on my hand somehow give me a feeling of security and easiness. "Why there''s no dripping water in here?" I asked myself in a soft voice as I looked up at the stalactites on the cavern''s ceiling. Naturally, there would be tiny droplets of water dripping from the cave''s ceilings which you would hear but, there were none. Since the ceiling was too high, I used [Levitation] to float towards the upper interior of the cave. "So this explains it..." Upon inspecting, the stalactites'' surface were covered in a layer of thin ice. I tried to scrape it off using my fingernail but the exterior was too hard. Resorting to pounding tricks, I used the bottom edge of the torch to strike the surface but damn the ice was too hard. Not even a single piece came off. "What''s with this ice?" I brought the torch near one of the frozen stalactite, just enough for the flame to touch it. However, after a few minutes of waiting there was no result. I touched the frozen stalactite and to my surprise, it was chilly cold as if it was never touched by a blazing flame earlier. Seeing this I scratched my head as my brows furrowed. This is not just an ordinary ice. Something is not right here. Since it seems that I can''t obtain even a few shards of this icy material, I went back to the ground and went on in my not so merry way. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ------ As I went deeper in the tunnel, the colder the surrounding gets. The echoes of my footsteps were reverberating the entire place. After a few minutes of walking, I found myself in a place like no other. The entire surroundings were covered with this weird and odd looking frozen waters. As the I walked nearer, the entire area lit up as it reflected the torch''s light. It felt it was alive and breathing. At the center of this big and wide glistening room was a single, big pillar of ice that sprouted upwards, kissing the ceiling. The surface of this breathtaking wonder varies. Some were smooth and shiny, some were jagged, and others were rough and edged. From afar, it looked like a crystal tower that grew from the cavern''s ground. I took the liberty to examine this awe striking structure as how something like this grandeur found its way inside this gloomy and cold underground chamber. After I took a few walks around it, I made a sudden stop as my eyes spotted some peculiarities on the structure, at the same time my [Ethereal Sense] responded on it. "That''s odd..." I went closer at it as I leaned my face near on the surface. Inside of this thick layered ice pillar, I could see a figure, a silhouette. Squinting, I focused my eyes on this strange thing but couldn''t see more clearer. To aide myself, I used [Enhanced Condition] to enhanced my eyesight. "No... It can''t be..." I stepped back a few steps as I was shocked from the image that I saw. There was someone inside the pillar, someone trapped. A female figure with long silver hair. She had a face of someone I saw before, someone I recognized. It was the girl from my dream. The one who called out to my name as she was turned into a lifeless crystal cocoon by the freezing blizzard. "R-Ragna, save me..." As her weak voice echoed through my head, something unknown came to me. Without hesitation I desperately punched the pillar with my bare hands. CHAPTER 19 - UNBREAKABLE CHAPTER 19 - UNBREAKABLE I tried to punch this pillar of ice with my physical strength enhanced to beyond peak levels yet so far, there has been no progress. Technically, I could punch a hole on this frozen watered tower like structure with a single strike. What kind of sorcery is this? Seeing that I made no progress, I stood back with both of my hands on my hips, clicking my tongue as I gazed at this fortified tower. Should I use a fire type skill? It would be the most appropriate choice at first since fire can melt ice, obviously, but after I encountered this... strange thing... back at the tunnels, I''m not so sure myself whether I burned it in a crisp or blast it with high temperature flame. What am I doing? This is not the time for second thoughts. I need to save the girl trapped inside! On my wrists, four red orange light ring-like circles appeared together with two small ball of fires on my palms. the flames were burning very violently as the light emanated by them reflected on the casings of ice covered area. The two small flames dance around each other as they got closer and closer to each other. In a second, the two ball of fires fused together, creating a single entity. I then began increasing its size by fusing more refined ether into it. As it grew larger and larger by an inch in every second, another ring-like circles emitting yellow light emerged from my wrists. I activated [Activation], a skill that allows me to induce and improve the efficiency of any type of activity which in this case, the flame''s intensity. As it grew large enough to my taste, I quickly find a suitable area where to release this miniature sun. Like I would release this type of energy where the trapped girl is placed. I don''t want to burned or blast her into pieces just because of my carelessness. Now where should I aim this thing? Hmm... I was looking at the upper part of this crystallized pillar. "That should be a perfect spot. [Great Fire Ball]!" I threw the great ball of fire towards the upper part of the ice pillar. As my fire skill came into contact with the pillar''s surface, it created a loud noise that reverberated around the surroundings. The impact made the crystallized room to shake. "Eh?" To my surprise there was no explosion of some sort. Instead, the [Great Fire Ball] that I threw shrank and dissipated very quickly upon contact. From the target area, several large icicle spikes began to emerge like bean sprouts on steroids. I gaped for a moment with my arms drooping on the ground. An ice that assimilates flame upon contact... This is awesome! Wait. Why am I rejoicing!? ------ I tried again to land my [Great Fire Ball] which I enhanced further from the one that I used previously, yet the results were still the same. Now the upper part of the tower were filled with large icicle spikes growing on its surfaces. But this time, the spikes were more larger and bigger than before. Looks like the stronger the fire based skill I use, the larger and bigger the icicles sprouted on its surfaces would become. I sat cross-legged on the icy floor as I think of another way in dealing this flame eating ice pillar. Hmm... Aside from melting it with fire, what are other factors that could destabilized ice''s structure? If I could only shatter it from the inside... Shatter... Inside... Shatter? Vibrations! I do recall from one of my science class teachers that sound waves with higher intensity and speed could cause the ice to shatter. Okay let''s do that! Using my <> window, I searched for any sound based skills under both of my <> and <> abilities. Luckily I''ve found it under the <> ability diagram. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Sonokinesis
The ability to manipulate sound and sound waves
Under [Sonokinises], I''ve found some cool skills: 1. Sonic Stimulation - enhance one''s physiology using sound waves. 2. Sound Nullification - negate sounds. 3. Sonic Construct - create objects using sound waves. 4. Sonic Flight - fly by using sound. 5. Sound Absorption - absorbs sound. 6. Sound Amplification - increase strength, duration and potential of sound. 7. Sound Sculpting - sculpts/shapes sounds and ambient noises. 8. Sonic Healing - heals using sound waves. 9. Sonoportation - teleport using sound. 10. Sound Aura - surround oneself in sound waves. 11. Sound Vibration - vibrates sound waves. With no time to waste I activated [Sonic Stimulation] on myself. In an instant, it felt like my whole body become stronger and invigorated as it was bathe in sound waves. Not to mention that [Enhanced Condition] is still in effect. Man, this felt good. Okay now for round three. "[Sound Vibration]!" The sound waves covering my frame then began to tremble in a sudden pace as it produce a shivering noise. I walked nearer the pillar and placed my vibrating hands on its surface. *RRRRRRR* As I stood there while placing my hand, I could hear some creaking sound on the ice pillar. Hah! It''s working! In due time this flame eating ice pillar will bow down to me. "Let''s make this quick. [Sound Amplification]!" The vibrating sounds around my palms and body began to shake violently as the energy that they emitted began surged around the room. The ice pillar''s structure began to show some signs of change but its appearance... "The heck!?" I was infuriated when I saw the drastic change of the tower. Somehow its surface began to glow more and it surface become smoother. The jagged and uneven edges that it had before were now long gone. The icicle spikes on its surface looked like a polished ice swords... more glossier... The structure went under a major appearance enhancement! Once again, I stared at it with mouth wide open and in disbelief. The thing used my sound based skills to beautified itself like a skin care product. What''s with this thing? I tried again but it appeared to glow more in vibrant radiance. It felt like I''m watering a greedy plant... Damn it... Looks like I''ve got no choice but to fight fire with fire. If I can''t break this thing using sound vibrations and fire blasts then I''m going to manipulate this frozen bastard. CHAPTER 20 - WEIRD CONDITIONS CHAPTER 20 - WEIRD CONDITIONS Inside my mind, I opened up my <> window. Under the <> ability, I searched for a sub-ability that can control and manipulate ice. A tons of lists of sub-abilities then appeared in my interface. It took me awhile to find what I was looking for. In fact, I was busying myself trying to sort any abilities that had popped out randomly without my knowledge. For example, the last time I checked my <> window was last month. At that time four kinetic abilities had been added, namely: Botanokinesis, Electrokinesis, Technokinesis, and Sonokinesis. When I first discovered about my abilities originally I have five sub-abilities under both categories but additional abilities suddenly to appear out of nowhere randomly. Suspicion aroused me so I decided to observe this weird phenomenon. Days, weeks, months passed by and nothing popped out again. When I decided to abandon my observation, two additional sub-abilities under <> ability appeared out of nowhere without any notice. I only found out about it when I reviewed my skills while taking a bath. These bunch of sub-abilities have specified skills under them and all of them have structured arrays implemented using my own formula. Honestly, I didn''t make any single array for these skills! I realized at that moment that someone or some being is helping me. It made me wonder if the gods who cursed me are helping me by giving me some awesome powers that would considered by everyone standards as "overpowered". Really? Helping a person you have cursed for eternity by giving him overwhelming abilities? Ridiculous! What nonsense. Are they out of their sane minds? Do they really think that I won''t bite back at them just because their giving me this skills? Hah! Good luck to them. I am sure, 100% sure that they are plotting something and I am an obvious piece to their own chess game. How do I know? Just a hunch. "Found it!" Finally I found the one that I was looking for. Now the only thing that needs to be done is to unlock it, hoping that it won''t require any weird rituals... ------
Cryokinesis
The ability to manipulate ice
Unlocking Condition/s:Must have Hydrokinesis up to Level 1, Perform a grovel 10 times, Perform a planking for 1 day, Perform a ballet dance for 30 minutes.
Sorry Frozen Lady. You''re on your own. I won''t embarrassed myself just for unlocking this skill even if this will help you from your condition. There''s no way I''m going to do it. Nah-ah. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Damn this weird conditions. I remember the time when I went to unlock [Botanokinesis] last year. Just like this one, it had also some conditions; planting 10 kinds of plants and going naked with only a single leaf covering your private parts for 2 days. I don''t wanna remember that last part. I''ve suffered too much humiliation because of that. Those maids'' grinning faces... Ugh. There are also others that doesn''t need weird rituals or performance, it only requires you to be in a specified level to use those sub-abilities'' skills. An example of this is [Sonokinesis] which you could unlock if you raised up to level 30. Since I am now a level 46 person, thanks to the undead wolf''s abundant EXP gain, I can now use skills under it. By the way, the texts that are highlighted in green are the ones that I have accomplished while the red ones are the conditions that''s needed to be fulfilled. Seriously, who''s the troll who implemented this bizarre conditions? But can I really abandon this girl here? Forever trapped in an unbreakable ice pillar with no present nor future... "Fine, I''ll do it!" I''m not that kind of person who abandons someone who are in need of help. This girl is so lucky to have me here in this place. ------ I began to grovel ten times on the icy ground. I picked this one first since it was the easiest task to handle. After performing that ritual, I began to prepare myself for the second act; ballet. Umm, this kinda felt awkward. I''m not a dancer by nature. Anyways, better keep trying than doing nothing. Around the towering ice pillar, I began my performance. I tried my best to be graceful as I execute The Swan Lake ballet performance. Well it''s the only one I know since I saw it once when I visited Paris in my previous world. Keep it together Ragna. You just need to endure this for her sake! After doing a ballet painstakingly for thirty minutes, I shouted in rejoice as I have accomplished the other task. Thank god there was no one here to witness my terrible performance. For that I''m relieved. Now comes the last part. I searched for an appropriate area to conduct my planking. Not far from where I was standing, there''s an area beside the frozen room''s wall that looked like a ledge. From my <> I withdraw the spare winter fur cloak and laid it on the icy ledge and lie face down. After a few minutes, my stomach began to grumble. Unable to endure it any longer, I stood up and prepared some meal. Planking can wait. CHAPTER 21 - SUCCESS CHAPTER 21 - SUCCESS A day passed. At last after performing a whole day planking while fighting the temptation of sweet slumber, I was able to unlocked [Cryokinesis] with my eyes under the spell of periorbital puffiness. Seriously I really wanted to sleep but there''s something that should be done and I can''t afford to postpone it for the next day. I quickly checked the list of skills under [Cryokinesis]-- 1. Cryokinetic Invisibility - make oneself invisible near ice 2. Cryokinetic Regeneration - regenerate using ice 3. Ice Augmentation - increase amount and power of ice based skills 4. Ice Healing - heal using ice 5. Cryokinetic Construct - construct weapons of ice 6. Cryoportation - teleport using ice 7. Ice Transmutation - transform matter and object into ice 8. Ice Aura - surround oneself in ice 9. Cryostasis - place oneself in stasis 10. Ice Absorption - absorbs ice from the surroundings 11. Ice Storm - creates storm of ice. 12. Cryokinetic Maneuver - control object made or covered with ice Seeing this list of new acquired skills, my heart was in a state of frantic. I first tried to use [Ice Absorption] on myself. Once I activated it, the ice around me within a 3 meter radius turned into a stream of bluish white light as it entered in every pores of my body. The converted energy made my nanomachines inside excited as if I was experiencing a rush of adrenaline. "Haha, this is great!" It felt as if I was bathe in an essence similar to the Elixir of Life that could only be found at Shangri-La. My skin became smoother and my body felt it was strengthened by a fold. The effects were astounding! It also made my eye bags disappear in an instant. "Let''s try another one. How about this one?" As I activated [Cryoportation], a bluish white ring-like circle appeared below my feet and a just in a nanosecond I found myself on the area''s frozen ceiling. Suddenly I quickly fell towards the ground but thanks to my quick thinking, I activated [Cryokinetic Construct] to create a large ice hand to caught me. "That was dangerous yet exciting at the same time." I beamed as I get off from the ice hand that I just created. Okay now, back to my main goal. I stared at the silhouette of the girl trapped in the unbreakable ice pillar with determination. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ------ "[Cryokinetic Maneuver]!" The ice pillar began to create a cracking sound as soon as I activated the skill. In my mind I pictured an imaginary force prying out the exterior of the ice tower. The walls that encased the poor silver haired girl began to crack open. I tried with my utmost best to carefully maneuver pieces of the pillar''s broken shards as not to harm the girl. I knew that a body under cryostasis are susceptible to external forces and are very delicate from my knowledge of my previous world. When I finally removed any obstructions from the girl''s body, I used [Telekinetic Maneuver] to drag her outside the cocoon. From my <> I withdraw the extra winter fur cloak on the ground and laid her on top of it. I was stunned for awhile when I saw her face to face. Her appearance is very accurate from my dream. She had a long and straight silver hair up to her waist and pointy ears. Her complexion was somewhat white as snow yet pale and had a slim physique. Her lips even though was crisp from being encased in cold had a trace of smoothness. She wore a dark green jacket with some odd looking wavy designs on her left chest and a wood brown colored skirt. She also had, surprisingly, a quiver with a few arrows and a bow on her back. Looking at her I could tell that she''s an Elf Ranger and the same age as me. I quickly checked for her pulse and heart beat using [Mending]. They were weak but somehow it seems she''s breathing. If I left her alone in this condition, she would die eventually. I can''t let that happen. "[Heal]!, [Enhanced Condition]!" Her body glowed in two layers of white and yellow light as I performed my buffing supportive skills on her. After that I created bunch of mini [Fire Ball]s around her to keep her warm and put around my winter fur cloak over her body. I just sat right next to her so that I could monitor her condition. The radiating warmth would allow her blood to circulate much better. All I have to do now is wait. A few minutes passed by. To relieve myself from the encroaching boredom, I trierd to play with my [Cryokinesis] sub-ability but it didn''t suffice. My eyes then glanced at the girl''s face and somehow I remembered Vel on her. I really wanted to go home. I really, really missed her. CHAPTER 22 - UNKNOWN ELEMENT CHAPTER 22 - UNKNOWN ELEMENT While I was submerged in a fleeting feeling of deep longing for my loved ones that I left at home, a thought occurred to me when my eyes glance briefly at the now hollowed ice pillar. How could an ice such like this manage to absorb heat and sound? How could I overlook such a thing? I quickly picked up a piece of broken ice shard as curiosity enveloped my whole heart. My mind was so occupied on how to save the elf girl that I neglect to investigate this thing. "There must be something in here..." An ordinary ice would melt upon contact with fire or shatter when applied with vibrations. Even if one would to argue that this frozen water is imbued or enchanted by magic, the same could also be said to its counterparts since both are also magic related. Does this mean that this ice is influenced by something that is not related to magic? There''s only one way to find out if my hypothesis is correct. "[Chemical Diagnosis]." A holographic window popped up in front of me, hovering in mid-air as it displayed some data regarding the inspected material. [Chemical Diagnosis] is a skill under <> sub-ability which allows one to identify an object''s chemical composition. One might say this is a one hell of skill that every scientists or chemists would salivated for.
CHEMICAL DIAGNOSIS COMPLETE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
HYDROGEN ATOM2
OXYGEN ATOM1
UNKNOWN ELEMENT ATOM1
YOU HAVE DISCOVERED A NEW CHEMICAL ELEMENT
Gain +50 Fame
"Are you kidding me!?" I almost jumped out of shock and disbelief when I saw this. How could you still call this ''a solid form of water'' when there''s a third element bonded to it? This is simply just ridiculous! This revelation defies the law of chemistry that I knew so far! But if you think about it, this world had already defied science by the existence of mana and ether in the ecosystem. I bit my lip as my eyes were glistening with a powerful desire to know more about this unknown element. Discovery of the century, here I come! ------ After three hours of non-stop studying and experimentation, I''ve gathered some great findings regarding with this unknown element. 1. It solidifies any liquid, plasma and gaseous matter that is bonded to it. 2. It liquefies any solid matter that is bonded to it. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.3. It absorbs kinetic energy. I laughed like a mad scientist as if I discovered a holy grail in the field of chemistry. I named this new element <> from the name of the discoverer which happens to be me of course, and just added the suffix -ium at the end so just to sound Latin-like. Pretty impressive, huh? I have already extracted a certain amount of <>. Now the only thing that''s needed to be done is to create something using this element. Hmm, what should I create? Oh! That would be great. Okay let''s do that. I invoked a Weapon Creation Magus Array on the ground as I placed all the required items on each sections of the magic circle; a hilt, a portion of <>, a ball of fire, and a collar. Without further hesitation, I sat cross-legged on the ground and began to meditate. Inside my mind I pictured myself inside a workshop with all tools at hand. As I began creating a weapon inside my head, the Magus Array began to glow as it enveloped all of the materials. In my imaginary workshop, I quickly took the [Fire Ball] and poured some <> on it forming an orange red ore with jagged edges. Then I began to mentally forged the ore in an elongated shape simultaneously. *Peng* *Peng* *Peng* I repeatedly hammered the thing until it was in a shape that I desired. I used the Japanese method of forging. After that, I attached the other parts to the proper areas and used [Sound Vibration] to polish the blade. After long hours of imaginary smiting, I slowly opened my eyes. In front of me the Magus Array was encased in an extreme white light. I stood up, took a deep breath and willfully entered my right arm inside the light shell. When it felt that I grabbed something, I quickly pulled my hand out of the magic circle. Several glowing ember-like particles flew outwards. Held with my hand is a single, curved blade that glows brightly with bright orange incandescence. A katana made of pure hardened fire.
YOU HAVE CREATED A NEW WEAPON
WHAT WILL YOU CALL YOUR NEWLY CREATED WEAPON?
"Kagutsuchi."
IS KAGUTSUCHI THE NAME YOU WANT TO BESTOW ON THE WEAPON?
"Yes."
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY CREATED KAGUTSUCHI
Gain +120 Fame
I chose the name Kagutsuchi after the kami of fire in Japanese mythology since upon seeing this katana that I made, the words ''to shine'' and ''power'' echoed throughout of my head. But I did not stop there, I made a few weapons out of lightning, water, ice and wind. That day I was happily forging different kind swords. As I was able to finish my final product, I noticed the hand of the silver haired girl twitching not far away. CHAPTER 23 - TENDING TO HER CHAPTER 23 TENDING TO HER When the girl woke up, the first thing that she did was to scan the entire area. Though her eyes were only half open, those green eyes of hers told me that she was conscious. I decided not to approach her abruptly just to avoid the same fate that I had with Velthoenne when she woke up. She stared at me for a moment, move her head from left and right as if she was evaluating her surroundings. In a second she tried to get up but couldn''t due to her weak state. "Hey, hey. You shouldn''t push yourself. You''re body isn''t on the right shape to move." I reprimanded her as if I was her personal nurse. She looked at me for a moment then rested her head against the winter fur cloak as she mumbled something-- "...gry..." "Hm?" "Hun...gry..." Ah, shoot! I was busy with creating weapons that I forgot to prepare some food for the sick. Some Samaritan I am. "Rest for a bit. I''ll go and prepare something for you to eat." I patted her forehead as I withdraw some ingredients in my <>. This girl is lucky though. Aside from being a professional engineer, I''m also a good cook. A graduate one. In my previous world where knowledge is the sole and top priority in the society, there were so many competitors. Although having or obtaining a degree in a certain field could be called a great achievement for everyone, that won''t do if you are living in the 27th century. From my <> I withdraw a pressure cooker which I tweaked to use ether directly as a source of energy, converting the raw energy into electrical energy. Now then what should I cook? I have some meat and vegetables, a soup should be fine. Yup, that would give warmth to her cold stomach. Then what kind of dish should I make? Hmm... Oh! That soup should be good. Using [Cryokinetic Construct] I created a chopping board made of ice. I also created a <> using [Sonokinetic Construct] to cut down the meat and veggies to the appropriate cut sizes. After done with cutting the ingredients, I started cooking. ------ After ten minutes, my soup is done. Hmmm, the smell that is giving it off somehow reminds me of home from my previous world. I poured some on a bowl made of ice while blowing to it, trying to cool it off a bit. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "Sorry for the wait, here''s your soup." The girl was looking at me with her green eyes fixed at the bowl that I was holding. Her nose was twitching as if the soup''s aroma had invaded her senses while her ears were flapping like a bird''s wings. From her mouth, a hint of water substance fell down. She''s very hungry alright. She tried to lift her upper body by herself but her slim and weak arms were trembling while supporting her weight, struggling. Unable to take it what I''m witnessing, I bend over and put the bowl of soup on the ground. I helped her lift her body and let her back rest against my left chest acting as a support. I put my left arm around her body with the bowl in my left hand. I could tell that her body was stiff as a log as her hair touched my face. Her cheeks were blushing red as her eyes averted my gaze. Her hair smell like it was immersed in a field filled with blooming scented flowers. Girls really smell different... What am I thinking!? Umm, let''s be clear. I''m not a pedobear or something related to it. Not even the slightest! I''m just feeding her, right! Just helping her to eat. "Here, you need to eat to regain your strength." "Mmm." She began to eat slowly as I fed her. We were in that awkward position for almost ten minutes. It felt like we were doing some sort of PDA. Somehow, I felt uncomfortable but I need to endure it for her sake. I observed her as she was eating, it looked like she liked the Sinigang that I''ve made. She would ask for another bowl after sipping its broth down to the last drop. In truth, she ate all the soup without leaving me a single bit of it. "Pahh..." Maybe the sour and savory taste of the soup was to her liking. She even made a sound of delight and fulfillment. I then laid her back on the winter fur cloak. As I carefully rested her head onto the soft fur, her green eyes were staring at me with solemness, her cheeks were redder than before. I quickly averted me eyes from her. Somehow that gaze of hers felt like it entered my very soul, which made me uncomfortable and uneasy. I was ready to leave her at rest to cook something for myself when I felt a slight tug on my shirt. "Umm, may I know your name?" Her voice was calm and relaxing even though it felt frail. I sat beside her as I put the empty bowl on the ground, smiled and answered back, "My name is Ragna." Upon hearing the words that came out from my mouth, her eyes widened. CHAPTER 24 - NOT WHAT SHE WAS EXPECTING CHAPTER 24 NOT WHAT SHE WAS EXPECTING -- Ragna''s POV -- She was looking at me intently as if she couldn''t believe what she just heard. Is there something wrong with what I said or did my introduction was off the charts? I was frozen solid as her green eyes looked at me from head to toe as if she was evaluating me and my looks. She then resigned as she put her hand on her forehead and mumbled something-- "To think that he''s just a kid..." "E-excuse me?" "Please don''t talk to me!" She turned around her back towards me after she blurted out those words. Huh? What with this sudden mood change on her? Did she just expect something more from me? "Did I do something wrong?" I asked her yet she only covered her ears with her hands as a reply. Really, is this how you show gratitude to someone who save your life? Her parents maybe didn''t teach her some manners. Well whatever, I need to cook some food for myself. I''m really famished. After done cooking, I eat alone by myself as I stared at the hollowed pillar. Now how should I get out from here? I never had the chance to explore the entire cave and searched for an entrance. I don''t want to end up being a caveman alongside with her. I took a glanced at the elf girl who just throw a tantrum at me and what do you know, she was looking at me with her eyes squinting. Really what''s with her? "Leena..." "What?" "I said my name is Leena!" She then turned away her face after shouting her name at me. I tried to talk back at her but I restrained myself. The way she was acting reminded me of a kid who is throwing her tantrums at everyone. I won''t allow myself to engage in to that kind of thing. I looked at my watch, it''s almost 9 p.m. After done eating I went to sleep. Since Leena, the elf girl, hugged all the fur cloak for herself, I cast [Ice Aura] on myself so that I couldn''t feel any cold even the slightest. Tomorrow I will gain some answers from her. ------ -- Leena''s POV -- I was the child of the village chief of Cailana, a small community settled by elves and fairies. The village was filled with happiness and joy. Though there were some disputes, all in all the place was peaceful. Flowers of different colors bloomed endlessly. The breeze that made the tall trees sway was refreshing and the sky was very forgiving. But one day, all of it change. The undead army invaded our lands, ravished our homes and converted the people that they had captured into one of them. The leaders of both human, elves and fairies made an agreement. And there an alliance was created, huge army was formed and a force was awakened. A feat that no one ever dream of seeing or witnessing during their lifetime. "Brother, I want to go with you!" "You can''t Leena. You''re still young. I promise you though, I''ll come back alive." That was the last conversation I had with my elder brother after he joined the coalition army. After that I never saw him again. The only word I got was that the division he was in was completely wiped out. Mercilessly. But it didn''t end with him. Many members of my family entered the coalition hoping that they could stop the invaders but all of them were unable to stop the enemy until one day I was the only one left behind. "Father, mother. Brother, sister. I will avenge your death. I will avenge our clans death!" After I made that promise, I trained in becoming a ranger under the Acher Guild. At first they were very hesitant on accepting me since I was only ten years old back then but, "Little girl. I like the look in your eyes." "Umm, Guild Master are you sure about this?" "You rascal, we''re at war here. If there''s any young blood that is willing to die for her land, we should accept them with open arms without any hesitation." "But..." "If you want to keep this girl alive, we should train her hard and eagerly." Soon after that, I trained with determination for two years. When it was time for me to enter the battlefield, I was full of confidence. In my mind I could defeat any enemies blocking my path but that illusion of mine was shattered. "M-monsters... Why?" My anger and hatred for the enemy quickly turned into an overwhelming fear as they turned my comrades into their underlings and have us fought with each other. Others were frozen to ice statues. I fled the battlefield, crying, shaking, shouting in desperation and agony. After three months, a third of the continent had fallen to the enemy''s hands. Together with the rest of the coalition forces, we took shelter inside the cave and made it our hideout. In that moment, an Oracle revealed a prophecy-- "A brave and gallant knight from an unknown land will come and help us vanquished this evil plague!" This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Do you know his name?" "He''s name is Ragna." I memorized that name from that moment. As the days passed by, the people began talking about this brave and gallant knight making good impressions of him. The kings of various countries swore an oath that they would only bow down to this individual. "Leena, what do you think about the knight from the prophecy?" "I don''t know... I never met the guy before so I couldn''t say anything about him." "If I met him, I would marry him!" "M-marry!?" "Of course! They were many females who were vocal about this. Old and young, all of them wanted the same thing as I do." "T-then, that makes you my rival Myrrh." "Oi! Leena!" "I will be the one to marry him, so stay put will you?" "Like I would! He will be my husband!" "Nope. I will be his wife. Period." The female populace began to wonder if the knight in the prophecy was handsome. Most of them began to fell in love with him even though they didn''t ever met him. I too, felt the same way as them. Overall, we placed all our hopes in him. Then when I was busy daydreaming how him and I made a family, the enemy discovered our lair. The soldiers although injured and some of them lost a limb or two, fought bravely. Seeing them, I cast out the fear inside my heart. I retaliated with arrows raining all over the enemies as I joined them. "Leena!" "Myrrh, you need to escape now when we fend them off!" My bestfriend heed my call with reluctance. I''m now not afraid. There is not even a single trace of fear in my heart and mind. What I had was only... hope. As we desperately fought with our might, an unknown being clad in black armor wiped out the men in front me with a single wave of his hand. I was blown away by the surge of energy that black armored had released. Coughing with blood, I tried to stood up but my entire body was swarmed with an endless chill. In front me I saw the face of the enemy. He had no face. As the the overwhelming ice began to seethe beneath my skin and bones, with my final breathe I cried out, "R-Ragna, save me..." ------ After that I woke up as if I was awakened from a deep sleep for a long time. In front of me was a boy with unruly brown hair. It seems that he saved me from that faceless enemy. The boy helped me eat. He even used his body to support my weak frame. I was never been so close to an opposite gender before that it made my whole body stiff. He fed me with a soup with a sour and savory taste. This is the first time I have tasted something like this. When I looked at him, he was smiling. There was no ill intent reflected on his face. "Umm, may I know your name?" "My name is Ragna." When I asked for his name, he replied with a beam. But the name he uttered made me dumbstruck. I stared at him from head to toe. No way... To think that he''s just a kid... My hopes were crushed. My dream becoming his wife diminished as if it was washed away by a flowing river. No this can''t be true. The portrait of a brave and gallant knight in my mind faded as my heart began to waver. That oracle lied! I was angry at myself for believing such prophecy. I even let myself drowned into my delusion but, "He''s weird..." I looked at him as he was sleeping. I couldn''t feel any mana in him and yet he was able to use some skills... How did he do it? This guy is full of mysteries. What I did to him was wrong. I knew in my heart that she saved me but the other part of me was still in denial, unable to accept the reality in front me. "I wasn''t expecting this." CHAPTER 25 - GRANDIA CHAPTER 25 - GRANDIA -- Leena¡¯s POV -- When I woke up I felt slightly better, albeit my body was still weak. I quickly looked at the entire area, expecting someone would greet me. The boy who was with me yesterday is not here with me today. It seems that I was left alone in here So he left me, huh¡­ I clenched my fist as a sour feeling emerged in my heart. Maybe he left because I was rude to him yesterday. It¡¯s my fault, my entire fault! He saved my life. I know it from the bottom of my heart but instead of giving him my gratitude, I gave him an ill-mannered behavior. My mind was in a total denial back then. I know. I wasn¡¯t in the position to show some rudeness to him but knowing his name and thinking back about the prophecy stated by the Oracle, I can¡¯t help myself but be in emotional disarray. To think that our savior is just a boy¡­ And slightly younger than me¡­ But the Oracle didn¡¯t state if the Knight is a man or not. Wait¡­ Could it be that boy is a young Knight? Could he be a prodigy that would only appear once in millennia? That thought occurred to me last night so I decided that I would apologize to him today and asked if he was a Knight or not but, ¡°He¡¯s gone¡­¡± A droplet of tear ran down from my left eye. I was going to burst into tears when suddenly I heard a hissing sound coming from somewhere. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± It¡¯s the weird thing that the boy used to cook some food. Steam was gushing out from its head while a red light was flashing, blinking from it''s frontal surface. When I saw that, a sudden happiness flooded my lonely heart. ¡°He didn¡¯t leave me! He didn¡¯t leave me!¡± I wiped the tears from my face as I was exclaiming in reverence. Somehow I misjudged him. I will apologize to him no matter what! I glanced again at the steaming weird-looking pot. How can this thing cook food without using any fire or wood? Curious I approached it slowly, my bow loaded with an arrow in my hand. I slightly put my finger on its shiny head¡ª ¡°Ouch!¡± I retracted my finger as I backed away, sucking my burned finger. Furious I quickly shot an arrow skill towards it, piercing its body. Hot water then began to flush out from the holes. How could this thing be so hot without any fire to heat it? Is this some kind of magic? Could this be a product of alchemy? I have no clue what on Hicara this thing is. Sucking my forefinger with a painful expression on my face, I glanced again at the weird-looking pot. It¡¯s completely in a mess¡­ ¡°Umm, what are you doing with my pressure cooker!?¡± A familiar voice echoed behind my back. I quickly turned around facing him with a bright smile on my face but his expression was filled with horror while staring at me and the weird pot alternately. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± All I could do was apologize while groveling on the floor. ------ ¡°So you shot at my pressure cooker because it bit your finger?¡± ¡°Well, you could say it like that¡­¡± ¡°Like that would happen. I never heard such a thing!¡± I bowed my head as I stir the warm soup with a spoon, averting my eyes from his squinting gaze that he throws at me. I messed up, I really messed up. I¡¯m really leaving a bad impression in front of him. It¡¯s the fault of this presu-, presyur-, whatever that weird pot is called! ¡°But that thing burned my finger!¡± ¡°You touched its lid while it¡¯s hot, of course, that would burn your finger.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I made my plea to him, explaining my side trying to convince him I was the victim here but somehow, he was siding with that odd pot like his own child. As if it had more value than me¡­ What are you thinking Leena! Why would you expect such a boy like him to treasure you? You just met him and now you¡¯re acting weird in front of him. No! Why am I like this? Right. I need to know him more and what he¡¯s like and where he came from. Even if he¡¯s just a boy, if he¡¯s a knight, then maybe I, no, we and this land have still hope. Oh, Goddess Unera! Please let this boy be the Knight in the prophecy, please heed my utmost prayer! ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Ah! Nothing! I¡¯m just giving my thanks to the heavens for this delicious food.¡± I made a horrible laugh as if trying to convince him. I¡¯m pathetic¡­ ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the trouble that I had caused you.¡± ¡°No, I should be the one to apologize to you. I left the pressure cooker with you while I was wandering in the first place. So as an apology, can we be friends?¡± I looked at him with astonishment. Does he want to be friends with me? He was beaming at me like he was expecting that I would accept his offer. Should I reject him? The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. No, that¡¯s impossible. That smile of his is so captivating; I could only nod in acceptance. ¡°By the way, Leena, right? Can I ask you something?¡± The boy stopped eating as he focused his eyes on me, solely on me. I feel weird and flustered as our eyes met. That gaze of his somehow was melting my heart and soul to the very core but I stood my ground and courageously gaze back at him. Why is it that my cheeks are burning hot? ¡°What is it?" ¡°What is this place called?¡± ¡°It would be a long story if I told you¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± I quickly took a spoonful of broth and sip the sour and savory water, trying to calm my heart that was beating faster without any reason. Why am I like this? ¡°This cave is called The Cavern of Light. If you¡¯re referring to the whole land then, the mainland is called Grandia, named after the beautiful and mighty queen who ruled the entire land in the ancient times.¡± After that introduction, I slowly recounted to him everything that had happened; the day the undead came to the continent, about the prophecy, everything that I have witnessed from my experience. I tried to hold back my tears as long as I could as I was telling him everything. I could not afford to cry in front of him. After hearing my explanation, his face portrayed a shock. Well everyone would be in the same state as him after hearing my story. He put his hand on his chin while pondering. Maybe he was trying to absorb all the shocking revelation that I just told him? He shook his head while clicking his tongue¡ª ¡°To think that I¡¯m here, on the land where it all started¡­¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± What is he spouting? I didn¡¯t understand the meaning of those words. Did something bad happen? ¡°Well, you see¡­¡± He then began to narrate to me about how the enemies here invaded the other remaining continents and how every scholar concluded that this land was the origin of the calamity that struck the entire world up until now. But what shocked me the most was his next statement, ¡°We¡¯ve been fighting the undead for almost two hundred years.¡± What? Two hundred years? That can¡¯t be right. No. It has to be wrong! ¡°Two hundred years? You must be joking, right? The year is still 1099!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say this but the current year is 1299.¡± My ear wasn¡¯t ready for this. My heart wasn¡¯t ready for this. My entire being can¡¯t accept this harsh reality! ¡°It seems that you were trapped in that ice for two hundred years.¡± I looked at his face to see if he was messing around with me but I could see it from his eyes that he was not lying. My tears began to fell on my soup even I tried my best to hold it back. To think a large amount of time was denied to me¡­ ¡°Then R-Ragna, are you a knight?¡± I asked him unintentionally. The only thing that I could hold firmly in my heart was the prophecy but, ¡°No. I¡¯m not.¡± He replied to me on a whim without hesitation. So the prophecy was all but a lie. I began to weep and sob as I heard those words. I can¡¯t accept this! Why!? Why is the reality so cruel? As I remember the faces of the people whom I cherished, I cried louder and louder. I wanted to scream. I wanted to know the whole world that I¡¯m in pain. ¡°My plan was to go back home as soon as possible but since I¡¯m here, might as well try and undo the curse on this land.¡± I looked at him for a second. Is he trying to stir some hope inside my despairing heart? ¡°I may not a Knight but I have the capabilities of a Knight, so stop crying will you?¡± ¡°Are you making fun of my suffering?" ¡°Of course not! What I said is true. My father was a Knight so somehow he taught me everything that he could.¡± ¡°T-Then what are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m an Engineer. But I need your help if you want to see this land bloom with flowers again.¡° Hearing those words, an unknown feeling began to emerge from my heart. I don¡¯t know why but hearing that unfamiliar word somehow struck something inside me as if the despair in my heart began to diminish. ¡°So you¡¯re going to help me?¡± ¡°Well, I also wanted to investigate the origin of the plague in the first place, so yeah¡­ Oh here¡¯s another bowl for you. That¡¯s my apology for being harsh on you and also please don¡¯t eat the one with tears okay?¡± I accepted the bowl of soup as I began to calm down and wipe the tears from my face. Undoing the curse of this land with only you and me? What is he thinking? We¡¯re both kids! But why is that he is brimming with so much confidence? I ate the bowl of soup silently while doubting this boy. There¡¯s no way he could be a prodigy or genius, right? AUTHORS NOTE AUTHOR''S NOTE Hello guys, Bisdak here. I just wanted to inform you all that for the time being I can''t submit any updates for Ragna. The truth is that my family encountered a very unexpected and tragic event in our lives, leaving me emotionally stress up to now. Though I wanted to write an update for this story but I just can''t even if I forced myself. I just need time before I could get back to myself. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Don''t worry though, I won''t abandon this work! I just need some space, that''s all. P.S. Anyhow i wanted ask your opinion if I should write this in 3rd POV or just continue in 1st POV. What do you guys think?