《A New World》 Chapter Zero Today is the 25th anniversary of our marriage between Mary and I. I was on my way back from the backery when I got killed by a drunken dirver. How do I know who killed me you ask? Well, currently standing in front of me is a being that has no human traits whatsoever and is instead a humanoid without a face nor reproductive organs and is filled with an ever moving image of galaxies moving about. The humanoid calls itself "God". And it also says that it was also the one who created the god of my world. I call it an it because it refers to itself as if it were genderless. And also I''m currently dressed in my work clothes and standing inside a white featurless void. "Wait, you want me to be born into a world which you''ve just created because the balance between good and evil is crumbling?" "Yes, you may not know this but I''m also a god of light and my sister is the goddess of darkness we both work together to keep a balance between universes." It replied with a gender neutral voice. "This world that you will be born into has a certain element which your world did not have and its called magic. The element magic will open up opportunities not seen before in your world so use it well. Also, I will grant you immortality but in return I will get rid of your desires." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I got a pretty decent idea on what he is hinting at. "A wise man once said this ''Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.'' Is that the reason for you to take away my desires?" The being called "God" looked at me and I could feel its gaze despite it being eyeless. "It looks like I was right at choosing you." "The world is based on the concept of aristocracy. I will birth you as the illegitimate son of the ruling king left out to die in the wild. If that''s not alright with you I can change it." I understand what "God" is trying to do. If I were to be born as a commoner I will have to spend time trying to climb my way up to nobility and if I were to be born as a noble I will have to deal with people who will be trying their damndest to stop me from getting a higher rank than them but if I were to born as an illegitimate son of a noble I will have a legit reason to rally nobles unhappy with the current regime and rebel against the loyal nobility and that if arguements about who should succeed the throne arise I''m a legitimate candidate. As if reading my mind "God" let out a praise and told me to get ready for my reincarnation. Rewrite well... gonna rewrite chapter one and two since you guys are saying that I''m moving too fast. Chapter One It was a cold stormy night when a nun found a baby crying in its crib outside her church. It was covered in thick woolen blacnkets and on top of the blankets was a small note with its ink smudged and on it it read "Please sweet servants of god have mercy on this poor child''s soul, take him in and be known that his mother was a whore and his father the Duke of Arlington. This child''s name shall be Paul." The nun after reading the note quickly brought the baby inside the church and presented the baby along with the note to the head priest. The head priest having read the note sent the nun away and looked at the child "So it looks like Duke James Arlington has again dumped his problems onto me huh?" The priest may have not noticed it but the baby understood what the priest was saying. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was covered in a blinding flash and afterwards I felt water dripping on my face. At first I just thought that the ceiling was dripping I mean after all houses back in the middle ages aren''t really drip proof. I opened my eyes and saw myself looking up at a dark gloomy sky with rain drops falling down and realised that it was raining. I tried to stand up, move my legs and move my arms around but strangely enough I can''t. I then remembered "God" telling me that I will be born again and trying to not believe what he meant by that I slowly looked down to discover myself wrapped in flea infested blankets and that I was lying in a baby crib. Knowing what that meant I cried out in surprise. Being used to the deep voice of an adult I got surprised again by my own voice which made my cry out even louder which makes me sound like I''m wailing. It wasn''t long before a lady dressed in what looks like a nun outfit lifted the crib up and read the note on the top of my blanket. She read the note out in a strange language with an accent. When the nun was done reading she carried me into a church where I saw a priest dressed in the recognisable black robes and white collar of a priest. I was almost happy to see that the priest in the new world wear the same attire as the ones back in the old one but on his neck hung a cross with a circle in the middle. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Once the nun and I were inside the church safe from the rain the nun put me down softly on one of the benches and handed the note to the priest. The priest then dismissed the nun who went to a door located to the left of the raised stage at the front of the church and promptly disappeared behind it with her steps echoing as she climbed up the stairs located behind the door. While the priest was reading the note I look around the church to find how the churches of this world are like to the ones back in the old one. The chruch''s interior looks startingly similar as the ones back in the old world. It has a stained glass potrait of an old man sporting a long flowing beard which reached down to his chest. The diety has a forgiving, all knowing look on his face and is dressed in red and white robes. In his right hand he held a staff with the same religious symbol the priest is wearing. As the priest finished reading the note he then began to mutter "So it looks like Duke James Arlington has again dumped his problems onto me huh?" When he said that I felt something was wrong and then realised that I understood what he was saying. The priest then looked at me and then muttured under his breath again about how I''m the bastard son of a noble and a renown noble in fact. Once he was done with his mutterings he then turned to me and picked me up. "Come my child, I will show you where you will be staying for the most of your childhood." He spoke to me in a soft and soothing voice before carrying me up to the door where the nun was and climbed up the stairs. Once upstairs I saw kids of various ages but none above 16 sleping in their cots all lined up neatly alongside the wooden walls of the church. The priest then laid me down on one of the empty cots located at the far side of the room and slowly changed my blankets with dry ones. Once I felt comfortable in the dry blankets I began to feel my eyes droop and fell asleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Gonna rebuild the story a bit and I''m gonna slow down. Chapter Two Six years has passed by since I was last accepted into the church. Life here has been pretty good to me. It has been peaceful and slow paced and the air around here is clean unlike back in the old world where it is polluted. The astronomy here is pretty weird for there are two moons in the sky one is red in colour another blue in colour and if you know your science the light from the moon is just reflected sunlight. The church here operates as an orphanage and a church at the same time. The nuns here, especially the nuns, will always try to make us as busy as possible with our lives. On the weekdays the nuns here will try to teach us language, maths and life skills for when the traders comes the orphans in the church can show case their skills and hope that they get apprenticed to a traveling merchant. Of course, there some who aren''t able to be apprenticed to a merchant and so they tried their luck in the military but most never make it back after their first campaign. And on the weekends we have prayer and foraging the nearby forest for herbs. The church is located in the village of D¨®rsk. It is near the border of our "Friendly" neighbour the Nordic Kingdom who will sometimes pay us a "visit". The Nordics are grown and raised on the harsh and barren cold North and that is the reason why they sometimes raid empires and kingdoms filled with rich plunder. The "visits" that the Nordics gives will depend on how low they are running on supplies. But over time the "Visits" became more and more cilvilised, back in the past before I was born into this world they used to rape or pillaged villages like mine but now they simply come and we pay them "Taxes" in addition to the taxes that we give to the Romus Empire. And now let''s move on to the good stuff Magic. Magic is available here. It needs an energy called mana and it has different variations or elements. There''s the four basic elements air, water, earth, fire. And then there are three special elements, lightning, light and dark. Those three special elements can only be obtained by being a priest or priestess of the religion related to that element. For the lightning element you must be a priest/priestess of the Tais religion. For the light element, a priest/priestess of the Serion religion. For Dark element, a priest/priestess of the Hados Religion. The church that has taken me in is of the Serion religion which is the most widespread religion on this continent. There are four major powers on this continent and they are the Nordic Kingdom, Romus Empire, Hadin Empire and the Serion Theocracy. There is not much I can say about the four powers as education isn''t given out to commoners but only to the nobility but I can tell you some from what I''ve heard from the travelling merchants passing through the village. The Nordic Kingdom is comprised of beastmen who are often demonised and looked down upon by the Romusian. The Nords believe in the same religion as the vikings do back in the old world but the religion is called Tais instead. The Nordic Kingdom is made up of various warlords controlling different parts of the kingdom. The next country is the Romus Empire and as the name suggests it has a Rome esque like society. The Romus Empire believes in human supremecy and you will most likely to find slaves of non-human origins in its cities. The Romus Empire is located at the West of the continent and is the largest and powerful of the 4 countries. After the Romus Empire is the Hadin Empire. The Hadin Empire is made up of beings from all walks of life. From Humans to dwarfs to the Elves to the beastmen. It believes in equality for all and it often has issues with how the Romus Empire treats non-human beings. Despite it believing in "equality for all" it is an aristocracy. The final one is the Serion Theocracy. The serion Theocracy is located to the south of the continent. The Serion religion is mainly a religion made of countless gods and above them all is Serion the king of gods and godesses. Now on to the daily life of me, Pual. For the most part my daily life is pretty boring. It consists of me waking up at 7 in the morning due to the damned roosters the farmers keep. After waking up I went down from the second floor which is the dormitory and headed down to the dining hall located behind the kitchen. Breakfast in the orphanage usually consists of hard bread, dried meat and cheese. Not that I''m complaining aince it could be much much worse. After getting breakfast I went to the front porch of the church to get lessons on mathematic and on language. After language was lessons on magic which I usually skip due to the fact that I''m really really bad at it. There was this one time when I went to check on how high my mana was and what affinity it was when it came back that I don''t have any mana not even a single drop. In this world your mana level can be determined by a special crystal which usually shine in a colour of your mana affinity brightly or dimly based on your mana level. I remembered back then when Lily tried to comfort me. Lily is a half elf half human and with how the Romus Empire is mostly pro human you can imagine the insults aimed at her but when the church took her in her life became peaceful. With her origins of an elf she naturally of course has a high affinity with magic and it has been whispered among the nuns that Priest Andrew--who was the priest in the first chapter--- wanted to send her to the Arcangulus Academy which is located in the Serion Theocracy and it has a high prestige and high requirements on accepting students. Social standing in this world aparently depended on one''s magic and so for me a man who doesn''t have any magic will probably find myself in the gutters. But since I''m a bastard child of an influential noble perhaps not, but we will see. When I skip my magic lessons I usually head to the nearby forest. Overtime it became a second home to me. I knew where every ditch is, which plants are edible and inedible, which herbs are best for making potions and which herbs are best at making poisons, which tree makes the best spot for sleeping under and which spot is best for catching animals. That is also where I usually secretly trained on my swordsmanship. After all being a sword fighting nerd back in the old world has left me some form of habit which I followed religiously. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another three years passed by without me having any magical talents and well I sometimes find myself isolated from the rest. Only Lily will come and accompany me and for that I''m grateful. Lily as I''ve mentioned before is a half elf half human and she has traits from both sides. She has silver hair and long ears charateristics of an elf and a slim body. Her face is kinda well cute I guess? It has this soft look on her face which makes you want to protect her and her eyes are of emerald green another trait of the elves. "Pual, come here. I need your help with a little errand." A red headed nun, sister Collins, beckoned me to approach her. Standing behind her was Lily. "Yes sister Collins?" " I need you to go to the blacksmith together with Lily help get the church get some metal tools." Sister Collins dug inside her nun outfit and produced a pouch filled with bronze coins. "Here are the coins needed." I held out my hand and she dropped the pouch of coins onto them. The currency system around here works like this: 100 bronze Denari coins = 1 silver Denari Coin 100 Silver denari coins - 1 Gold Denari coin. " I understand sister Collins, shall we go now?" "Yes please." Sister collins made shooing motions at us. With that Lily and I stepped out of the church grounds and went to find the blacksmith. The village where the church is located is pretty small its population is 200 people and the buildings are made of stons and tiled roofs. The village''s paths were at best stone paths. At the middle of the village was a dirt path which cuts through the village. The dirt path is often travelled on by merchants and travellers alike. Being a small village it had best only a small stone wall only about the height of a grown man''s chest. At the outskirts of the vilalge were the fields which the farmers harvest and grow wheat from. So far, I haven''t seen them growing vegetables yet but oddly enough merchants travelling past us tend to have carrots or lettuce for trade. Maybe the reason why they aren''t growing any vegetables may be due to the conditions of the soil. I thought to myself. After 10 more minutes of walking through the village we''ve arrived at the village''s blacksmith. The blacksmith was quite easy to spot due to having his store''s chimmey spewing out black smoke. As we entered the Blacksmith greeted us. "Ohh, what''s this? It''s rare for you to bring someone else along." Said the blacksmith in a gruff voice. The blacksmith has a face and greying hair stained with soot, beefy and thick arms as well as callused hands Ah right, when I skip my magic lessons I tend to go to the blacksmith to learn how to make swords other than going to the nearby forest. "Is she your sweetheart?" The blacksmith said jokingly. Strangely enough Lily''s cheeks were tinged in red but after a few seconds I realized that she was embarrassed and decided to give her a helping hand. "She ain''t, old man." It feels weird calling someone younger than me old man but respect ya know? "Hahaha. Well, nice to meet you young lady, my name is Brad, what''s yours?" Brad greeted Lily who still has that red tinge on her cheek. "Li..Lily." Lily replied in a shy voice. "Ohhh, Lily eh? That''s a good name." "Anyway, what are you kids here for?" "Sister Collins send us here to collect the tools which she ordered last week." I stepped up and handed over the pouch of coins. " Keep it Paul." Brad waved the pouch away. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "You have a family to feed don''t you Brad? Besides I will feel guilty if I don''t pay for your services." "It''s alright Pual, I bet that money coud help the church in another way. Wait here kids, I''m gonna grab the tools." As Brad said that sentence he went to the back of the store and went to grab the tools. After a minute or two he reappeared from the back with the tools as well as a pack of smoked meat. "Here are the tools as well as something extra from me. Make sure you guys don''t finish it on the way back to the church and share it with the other kids, alright?" Brad then drop the tools in my arms and the pack of smoked meat to Lily. "Yes, sir. We promise that we won''t finish the meat." I promised Brad. We then got out of the store and head back to the church. After that incident my impression of Brad just went up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few months have passed by and the local lordof this area came to inspect our small and humble village adn it was also on this day I did something which I never thought I wil haev to do again but did. The day started out normally, wake up, do my morning business, ate breakfast, went for my lessons and skipped my magic lesson. And when I went to the nearby forest I felt that something was wrong that something was misplaced. It didn''t take long though as I found out what was "misplaced". What I foundw as a trail of broken branches and flattened grass which led to scene that it is fucked up and beyond fucked up at the same time. What lay before me was the son of the local lord sitting on top of Lily whose clothes were shredded and had a knife to her throat. Seeing that I shouted at the son of the local lord. "Oi Pretty boy! You best get off her lest.." I left the threat silent hoping that the silence will make him think of what I''m gonna do to him but it had the opposite effect. Hearing my threat Pretty boy turned his head whilst sitting on top of lily and spoke back to me. "Do what? You commoner. Lest I cut off your tongue and stuff it down your throat?" He sneered. "And my name is not pretty boy, its James, you commoner filth." "Hey come on now pretty boy. There are plenty of wenches out there who are willing to whore themselves out for your pretty face unless your preference is in men." That seemed to insult him pretty good as he stood up from Lily and slowly strode up to me. "Well,well,well. you think of her as your friend? She''s an elf, a half breed even. She''s filth not even worth wasting your precious food and time on. So, you can either stand back and watch or stop me, little boy." James calling me little boy was the last straw as I held him by the shoulders. Feeling that, James looked at my hand in disgust and looked back at me. "Get your hands off me filth lest..." James left the threat silent hoping that it will un nerve me. "Lest what pretty boy? Lest I cut off sausage and stuff it down your throat?" With that insult James exploded and turned around trying to stab me with his knife. As he tried to stab me with his knife I grabbed his arm and pressed down on a nerve located in his joints causing him to drop his knife. As I did so I punched him in the guts, hard. With the punch to guts James slumped down to the ground clutching his stomach and puking out contents of his lunch. While James was writhing down on the ground I told Lily to get the guards from the village. Of course that will bring the highly trained knights of the local lord as well after all they need to see what was causing a stir in the militia and see if it threatens the safety of the local lord. I watched as Lily ran past us in her torned up clothes and towards the direction of the village. Once I was sure that she was out of sight and ear shot of this place I bend down and picke dup the knife which was dropped. I then examined the knife as I spoke to James. "Wow, this knife is worth a fortune isn''t it? Is that a gem that I see there? Seriously you need to spend more of our tax moeny on hiring more militia." "Go.. Screw yourself, Filith!" James shouted while staring at the knife. "Oh, this? Don''t worry I won''t kill you. The only thing that I hate more than rapists is killing people who aren''t fighting back." I tossed the jeweled knife towards James and took out my own knife which actually belongs to the church''s kitchen. "Go on, pick it up. Let''s settle this like the gentlemen that we are." I indicated to the knife on the ground. After a moment James got back on his feet and grabbed the knife and settled into a stance probably taught by his instructor while I stood adopting a sloppy stance making him think that I''m an amateur. Seeing that James put on a smirk convinced that he was facing off with an amateur totally forgetting what happened to him a moment ago. With a shout James launched himself at me. Seeing that I side stepped and slashed his fore arm. Seeing blood dripping down from the wound that I''ve inflicted upon him. James immediately pulled back. "Come on Pretty Boy I know that you can do better than that!"I taunted him. "Don''t make fun of me!" While shouting out that sentence he lunged at me again but with the help of magic. What James did was that he enhanced himself with wind magic and so when he lunged at me this time it was faster than I anticipated but still slow enough that I managed to avoid it. "Even with magic you still can''t hit me! What kind of noble are you Pretty boy!" "GRRRRAAAAHHH!!" I guessed I mad him much more mad this time as instead of pulling back he continued slashing at me with his jeweled knife. It wasn''t long before I could hear the sounds of armour clanking against each other and the shouts of other men. "Looks like help is already here huh? I''d better finish this up." I decided that this was the time for me to get serious. Feeling the change in my atmosphere James tried to pull back but before he could I slashed my knife down and cut off his right arm from the elbow onwards. "Huh? Why can''t I feel my arm? What''s this? Is that my arm? No way, I mean it was there a moment ago right?" At first James was confused but soon realised that it was real when pain washed through him. "Arghh!! You goddamn commoner filth! How dare you, how dare you." As he said that an overpowering aura came from him. Sensing that something dangerous was about to come from him I strafed backwards to gain some distance. Without any warning James dashed forward towards me whilst at the same time picking up the dagger still clutched tightly in his right hand. He was so fast that he left a sonic boom in his wake. Within seconds he was already in front of me knife in a stabbing motion towards my head. As he did so I rolled side ways and felt a sensation I haven''t felt for in a long long time. It was the rush of adrenaline and that woke up the beast inside me which I''ve kept locked up in the darkest deepest pit which I could imagine in my mind. As the beast woke up I could feel a smile creeping up on my face. "You just woke the beast up from a long long sleep boy and you''re gonna regret it." I said with a feral smile which is now showing my teeth. And what I justs aid was true. For when the beast wakes I can''t control what happens to the man who does it. My vision begins to be clouded in red and I lunged towards James who lunged towards me as well. From then on it was me sitting in the sidelines and watched as the beast takes control of my body. We traded blows with each other. When I managed to get a hit in on James he will get a hit back at me. But instead of flinching in pain the smile on my face grew bigger and bigger until my cheeks started to hurt. One thing that I can''t explain is that even though I can''t control my actions I still can feel the pain inflicted upon me. And with each blow I grow more and more excited. It wasn''t long before James finally went exhausted. Kneeling down on one knee in front of me and wounds appearing all over body. It was at that point when I realised that it was more than enough for a lesson on him treating Lily like shit but I watched on in horror as the beast in me just slowly walked towards him and stood in front of him. I knew what the beast is gonna do but all I could do was just stared out of my eyes. As I stood in front of James, he looked up at me with eyes pleading mercy but I replied with me raising my knife. The expression on his face changed into one of horror, one which I will probably have nightmares about for a few nights, I then proceed to cut open his stomach and watched on with a feral smile on my face as his guts spilled out onto the ground. He watched in confusion then soon realised what was happening as he tried scooping his guts back into his stomach and I just stood there laughing at his futile efforts in scooping his guts back into him as the guts themselves kept on sliding out. He kept on repeatingly scooping his guts back into him until the moment he died. The moment he died my vision returned back to normal and I just stared back at the reflection of myself in the pool of James'' blood. I stared at my reflection for a good minute or so before looking down at the knife I held in my right hand. I merely sighed and sheathed my knife. I then sat down on a nearby stone and reminisced about my past while I waited for the guards to come. After all, they are quite near now probably 20 meters away and even if I were to run away from them where will I go? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: So uh, another chapter I guess? I did a six year time skip as I wanna avoid having a MC who is walking at the age of three and stuff. So yeah, MC pretended that he was a normal healthy kid the past six years. Now then, next ch will be interesting parts. Chapter 2.5 - The Past On my way back to the Imperial court of Romus I had plenty of time to reminisce about my past. I used to be in the army, I was in the 101st airborne, went through Normandy, Sicily, Market Garden, the Korean War and finally Vietnam. It was during the Vietnam war when I realised that it was time for me to call it quits when I found out that I''ve enjoyed killing. And during my time in service I''ve developed a second personality of sorts which I''ve taken to calling, Beast. It only appears during moments of extreme danger and well, let''s just say that personality is very very violent and the word "mercy"is not found in its dictionary. Of course, the countless times spent in combat had always left me a broken man but luckily I''ve met someone who helped me go through it,. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. We met each other in High school. At first we started out as friends, but then slowly our relationship started to become more intimate and we found ourselves married to each other. With me constantly coming back home a broken man and her healing me back into one piece had caused me to develop another personality which I reserved for fighting and not for civilised matter which I called the Beast and my normal personality which I called the Gentleman. And even though "God" had gave me a new life it still couldn''t wipe out the personality problems that I had. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This short chapter is to explain what the beast is and how it was born. Chapter Three As I stepped into the Imperial Court of Romus jeers began to sound out around me. I am currently escorted by two guards wearing plate armour and carrying spears. In front of me was a man wearing high class clothings representing me in this hearing. Strangely enough the justice system here is similar to the one back in the old world As I stepped into the court I looked around and took in my surroundings The court is mainly a rectangular room filled with seats on all four sides. The people coming here to witness my prosecution are either citizens of the Capital or nobles. In the middle were three raised platforms. The first raised platform was the lowest which is the one that I''m gonna be standing on. The second was neither high nor low it''s "just right", the judges seating in the second platform were the judges elected from the lesser nobles and the the third was the highest and the ones seated there were the judges from the high court, the very judges who judge the nobles. Since I''ve killed someone who is of noble blood my case is pretty huge. "The defendent, Pual of D¨®rsk, is present. Your Honorables." The man wearing the high class clothings announced my arrival to the high judges. High judges in this world are addressed as "Your Honor". While the normal judges are called "Mr. or Ms/Mrs." The judges around here are normally dressed in a white robe. "The Defendant, Pual of D¨®rsk, what do you have to say about your actions? The only reason why you are not yet executed without trail is your claim of being related to nobility. Is that true?" One of the high judges asked me. While I was travelling in a prison caravan I made a mess of the fact that I''m related to nobility. Fed up with me making a mess of things the guards decided to do a blood test on me to humour me. What they did was that they took out a peice of paper with a magic circle drawn on it. They then pricked my figner with a knife causing blood to to drip onto the magic circle. If the magic circle shines I''m nobility, if it doesn''t I''m a commoner "filth". Hearing that claim numerous gasps and loud whispers sounded around me. "Order! Order in the court!" A judge sitting below the high judges slammed a wooden mallet against a peice of wood producing a loud noise which could even be heard over the gasps and loud whispers. The sudden noise cut through the court which caused the audience to be quiet. "Yes, your honor. I am indeed nobility. In fact, your honor, I''m a bastard." That proclamation caused a ripple throughout the crowd. Again one of the judges hammered the wooden mallet against a wooden pad while shouting for order in the court. "The evidence?" "Here, your honor." One of the guards stepped up and offered it to one of the attendants standing beside the judges who then passed it on to one of the high judges. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Hm... How long has it been glowing now?" the judge asked the man wearing high class clothings. "For at least a day now, your honor." "Hmm... And who''s aura is it?" "....." The man hesitated. "Well?" "His Royal Highness, Duke Leon Francis of Arlington. Your Honor." Gasps went through the crowd again. After all my biological father, Leon, is a very influential man. Heck, he is even seen as a flawless man around here and him committing adultery? That''s like thinking that pigs could fly. After about thrity more minutes of negotiations and questioning I got my verdict. "Pual of D¨®rsk, for your crime of murdering James Wright of D¨®rsk, the Imperial Court of Romus finds you..." The judge announcing my verdict paused and looked around at the other judges before nodding his head. While he was doing so I''m just standing on the raised platform just wishing that he will hurry up with my verdict soon. "Guilty, and you are hereby sentenced to 20 years in the labour camps." At first I was shocked at what I''ve heard but soon I recovered from the shock. 20 years doing free labour? Hell no. I began to protest but as I was about to do so a man from the audience stood up and shouted out soemthing quite puzzling. "Your Honorables! If I may." The man gestured to the high judges. "Continue" One of the high judges gestured with his hand. "I would like to take the the defendant under my wing, your honorables." "You may not, Lord Edward Francis. I am aware that you are the cousin of Duke Francis." Hearing that my eyes went to the man''s face. He looked a little bit like me. Blonde hair, a sharp face, ice blue eyes aand a skinny figure. "But the defendant stated that he fought in a duel with the victim. Your Honor." "A duel which no one saw." "A duel which I fought fairly your honor." I decided this was the perfect opportunity for me to interfere. "That''s utter nonsense boy, Lord James is a capable fighter and magician as well. There''s no way a boy like you who had no training in fighting and someone who is not versed in magic is able to kill him. You either had a dirty trick behind your back or you had an accomplice." "Well then, your honor, would you like a first hand demonstration?" I put on a cold stare and stared straight into the high judge''s soul. Feeling the gaze the high judge hesitated and then sighed and conceeded to the demands of Lord Edward Francis, my uncle, and handed me to him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Now that the MC is going to be living with his relative there''s going to be a little of bit politics going on in the next chapter. Chapter Four As Edward and I left the court waiting outside was a carriage pulled by two black stallions. As we approached the carriage I noticed something particularly different than the other carriages which the nobles had was that Edward''s carriage had a spring system under his carriage. Catching me looking at his device he told me what it was. "That is something which I''ve thought of while travelling on a bumpy road and what can I say? It works, it virtually felt like I was travelling in the air. Even though it works so perfectly I stil haven''t think of a name for it yet. What do you think it should be called?" And it looks like my uncle is a mechanical genius. "What about calling it the "Suspension device"? Lord Edward." Since it looked so similar to the same device back in the old world I thought it be fitting to name it after the one back in the old world. Hearing my suggestion Edward''s eyes began to grow big. "That''s a great suggestion Pual! And please, do call me Uncle. it feels awkward being addressed by my tittle by a fellow family member." "Come on let''s get inside." Saying that. Edward and I got into the carraige. "Oh, before we go to my fiefdom I want to show you something." Knocking against the wall of the carriage to signal the coachman sitting in front of the carriage that we are in. Before long the carriage started to move forward. As we travelled deeper into the capital city of Romus I took in the numerous sights by looking out of the numerous window panes which Edward has installed onto his carriage. All around us were buildings made of bricks and tiled roofs standing up to at least three stories tall with smoking chimneys on top of them. While taking in the sights Edward told me the layout of the city. This city is arranged in a circular like arangement which is then further divided into three zones. The outer zone is where commoners live and it is also where most of the trading and businesses are conducted. In the middle zone is where rich merchants and nobles live and in the inner most zone is where the Emperor and his blood relatives live. Currently we are in the outer most layer. Fashion in this city is pretty modern with people wearing different clothings and the odds of having someone wearing the same clothes are low. As we closed in on the city''s plaza square which is located near the main entrance I noticed that the crowd of vibrant colours started to get thicker and that there was a gigantic building filled with men and women dressed in armour and holding dangerous looking weapons. The building is at least two stories tall but don''t let its height fool you as it''s size is immensely huge like, cathedral huge and it had a triangular roof. Outside, it is a building made up of bricks which are different from the red bricks seen around the city. Instead, the bricks are stone grey like the ones that are found in the city walls. Catching me staring at the building Edward explained to me what it is. "That building right there is the adventurer''s guild hall. It''s where adventurers receive quests and get their rewards from. It also serves as an inn and provides tired adventurer''s food and lodging but at a price. You''d be surprised by the fact that the most powerful people in this continent are affiliated to the adventurer''s guild rather than a country." "Why do the bricks look different than the bricks seen in the other buildings around the city? Uncle." "Hmmm?" Edward said while squinting trying to see what I am talking about. After a moment Edward realised what I''m trying to ask him. "Oh those bricks that are greyish in colour?" Edward said while pointing to one of the stone grey bricks. I nodded my head, "Those are Mana bricks. They are able to absorb magic better making them great against magic based attacks and are also much more resilient than normal bricks but they are expensive to produce. The very fact that the Emporer is able to line city walls with mana bricks is a proof of how rich the Empire truly is. Of course, rich individuals could also indeed have their houses be made in mana bricks." "Ohhh." I said imitating a child who is excited by hearing the knowledge. While talking to each other the carriage stopped and Edward gestured for me to get out. As we did so a loud trumpet sounded. And as it did so the crowd in the plaza spilt up like the red sea and formed up in two lines. At first I thought it was royalty visitng the plaza but I was soon proven wrong but what I saw next. Shackled and wearing clean white clothes ,prisoners from the various non-human races, marched down the space formed by the crowd. As the slaves marched down human valley jeers began to sound out and rotten eggs and vegetables were thrown at them. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "You see those peope Pual?" Wait, people? Non-human races are normally addressed as demons in the Empire and Edward addressing the non-human slaves as people might mean that he doesn''t agree with the ideals of the Empire. I nodded my head in response. "These people are slaves. You may not know this Pual. But my fiefdom is located right next to the great chasm." The great chasm? I thought I heard it somewhere before in church. Seeing my confused expression Edward explained it to me. "The Great Chasm is a chasm where an unusal amount of mana occurs. And you know what happens when a corpse is exposed to a high amount of mana right Pual? I believe you learn what happens to the corpse in church." I nodded my head. "The Corpse becomes an undead. Depending on the amount of hatred the recently departed harbours determines the type of undead borned." "As expected of my nephew." Edward said while rubbing the top of my head. It sure as hell feels awkward being patted on the head by someone younger than you. "With the unnatural strength and mana capacity of the undead they are no match against us humans. Determining that the undead are not worth sacrificing regular law abiding troops of the empire, the high nobility established a penal battalion of sorts where slaves are allowed to choose between serving their new masters or risk their lives against the undead in exchange for freedom. The same goes for condemned prisoners of the Empire." "Why is the promise of freedom given so freely uncle?" "Well, that is because the promise is rarely needed to be kept." Edward answered grimly. I merely nodded my head in response to his answer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We waited in a nearby tavern watching the rich nobles and merchants buying slaves and as we watched I kept an eye on Edward seeing how his reaction to this whole slave trading business is like. As I observed him for the next five hours I sometimes noticed him grasping his cup of ale so tightly that his knuckles grew white or when he clenched his teeth. After the whole slave trading thing is finished we approached the plaza and standing in front us were a group of 50 slaves still shackled willing to risk their lives for a chance in freedom. "So you guys are choosing the slim chance of freedom eh?" Edward spoke to them. The slaves all looked down at the floor not answering him. "First things first let''s get you all out of those uncomfortable shackles." Edward said while gesturing to the shackles that the slaves wore. "Are you not worried about them escaping Uncle?" I asked Edward. "I am not worried at all. Even if they do escape, where will they go?" "Oh." Edward then gestured to the coachman who then produced a ring of keys. The coachman then proceeded to unlock the shackles of the slaves one by one. "While we wait for the criminals to come why don''t you guys take a seat in one of the carriages?" Edward pointed to a convoy of carriages which belongs to him an had arrived while I was observing Edward. How do I know those carriages belonged to Edward? Well, they all have his signature Suspension Device. Unlike the carraiges that the Empire uses to transport prisoners the ones the slaves went into were normal arriages used to ferry passengers throughout the Empire. By now some of the slaves had a confused look on their faces. After all, they are slaves and why would someone treat them so well, a noble even. After thirty minutes of waiting a caravan filled with criminals approached and unloaded the various criminals on board. There were a total of a hundred criminals that were unloaded and made to stand in three rows. But unlike the slaves Edward didn''t release the shackles on them. When I asked him why he said that criminals usually are organised and belong to the various criminal organisations within the Empire so they have a place to escape to. After loading up the criminals into the carrraiges belonging to Edward Edward and I went back to our carriage and moved off towards his fiefdom. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Well then, in the next chapter we get to see Pual''s new home. Chapter Five Six months has passed by since I''ve settled down into Edward''s fiefdom. The town of Nutra. Nutra is located right next to the chasm and is also right next to the ocean which at the opposite side is the continent of demons which you should know by now is a continent filled with beastmen and other non-human creatures the Empire deemed impure. True to his words of the town being right next to a giant chasm filled with overwhelming mana and undead the village has a gloomy feel to it, the skies are always cloudy looking like its going to rain but never does, the trees and plants around the town are all sticks and branches with barely any leaves growing on them. Despite all of those aforementioned depressive descriptions the inhabitants of this town are happy and content. When asked why, they will answer back with the fact that this town doesn''t discriminate against them unlike the Empire and promotes the various non-human species to interact with each other. When I first got here I was impressed by the diversity of the cultures present in the town . An example is how the dwarven citizens will contribute their works to the rest of the population. I was told by one of the inhabitants about how normally dwarves in this world will not share their works and even if they do it will be sold at a high price. While I was satying here I''m surprised by the fact that they were able to grow food despite there being barely any sunshine. When I went to take a look at what they were harvesting or how they did it I was surprised. What the town citizens were harvesting were wheat and vegetables despite it always being cloudy and there being very litle sunlight and how they did it was even more impressive. What they did was that they made a green house of sorts. After the green house was done they then proceed to use fire magic to create artificial light for the crops to grow and when the time comes for the plants to be watered they used water magic to water the crops. With this kind of system in place the town has a wierd combination of buildings that are of Romusian architecture to Elven architecture to buildings made of glass and always shining brightly at its outskirts. Despite their ingenuity for producing crops and diversity of thier culture their military might is lacking. But that is mostly due to the fact that warriors killed by the undead tend to resurrect back as the undead and depending on their remorse they could resurrect as intellegient and powerful undead such as a lich or a vampire. Due to this I''ve developed a weapon for the conscripted soldiers to fight with at a distance. That''s right, I''m talking about firearms. However, the equipment available in Nutra doesn''t allow for me to create firearms with rifled barrels or repeating mechanisms, such as a gas blow back or a bolt action so I have to make do with making a musket. With that in mind I presented this idea to Edward who was at first skeptical about it but then relented and delegated a couple of mechanical geniuses who were mostly dwarves to help me with my endeavours. So, after the six months that I was here the dwarves and I made our first musket after testing countless other models. It isn''t anything fancy, just a tube of metal encased in wood with a ramrod slung underneath it by a series of metal loops and the gunpowder is activated by a flintlock mechanisn. With the lack of understanding of chemistry in this world the chemical compound needed for smokeless gunpowder was unavailable but with the huge amount of rotting bodies and buried faeces we made the first batch of gunpowder this world has ever seen. With the gunpowder and the musket ready I presented the musket to Edward and showcased it to him. "Oh, if it isn''t Pual? I see you have finished with that ''musket''project of yours." I approached Edward while he was gardening the front porch of his manor. "Yes, uncle. The musket is finished." I then presented to him the musket, the ball bearing and the gunpowder. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "So, how this thing works?" While Edward said that he pointed the barrel at his face which made me cringe. "Uh... You put in the gun powder first." I handed him a pouch of gunpowder. "This?" Edward siad while receiving the pouch of gunpowder. "How do I put in the ''gunpowder''?" "You do that by pouring the gunpowder through the opening in front of the barrel." I instructed Edward. As Edward was about to pour in the gunpowder he stopped halfway through and looked at me with a questioning look on his face. "How much should I put in Pual?" "The gunpowder in the pouch is enough for a single shot Uncle." Hearing that Edward nodded his head and began to pour the contents of the pouch into the musket barrel . While he did so a sudden gust of wind blew some particles of gunpowder into his mouth. Tasting the sourness of the gunpowder Edward immediately started spitting. "My gods this ''gunpowder'' tastes horrible. What is it made of Pual?" Edward cursed while still pouring the gunpowder into the barrel. "It''s made of rotting bodies and faeces uncle." Hearing that Edward started cursing and spitting out his saliva more. "Okay, now that that''s done what should I do next Pual?" Edward said after pouring the gunpowder into barrel and also spitting out a jug worth of saliva. "Next, you put in the ball bearing which will act as the projectile." I then took out a ball bearing out of a pocket in my pants. "Here." I presented it to Edward. Edward then took it and dropped the ball bearing into the barrel. "Is this thing ready to activate?" Edward asked with a look of anticipation. "Not, not yet." I shook my head. "You still have to seat the whole thing together by using the ramrod located here." - I indicated to the ramrod slug under the musket.- " And ram it down the barrel." Listening to my instructions Edward took the the ramrod and and shoved it down the barrel seating the gunpowder and ball bearing. "Is it ready now?" "Not yet." "How many steps does it take to activate this bloody thing?" Edward again cursed. "After these few steps it is ready for fring." "Quick, tell me." "Erm... All you need to do now is just pull the hammer back which is this thing here."-- I showed Edward where the hammer is.---" And then once that''s done you pull the trigger. Which is this lever down here." Following my instructions the musket is now primed and ready to fire. "Okay uncle, the musket is ready for you to shoot. Oh, before you do that put these in your ears." I handed him a pair of ear plugs fashioned from wood. "What are they for?" "When the musket fires it''s going to emit a loud crack uncle." Hearing my explanation Edward put on the ear plugs. Once he was done Edward raised the musket via the way which I taught him so as to prevent the ball bearing from rolling out and stabilised it on his shoulder. With a big grin on his face Edward fired the first shot from the first musket this world has ever seen at a wooden target set up 5 meters ahead of us. With a thud the ball bearing landed right at the center of the target. Seeing the power of the musket Edward couldn''t help but exclaim. "My gods Pual! This ''musket'' will really help us in defeating the undeads!" Edward then hugged me in a tight embrace. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: YAY! First musket to be ever built in the world Pual''s in. Anyways, next chapter is going to be more talking before the next fight which will be BIG! So, stay strong and push through the boring chapters. Chapter Six The way militaries work in the Empire is it has standing armies but they are mostly based around provincial capitals and so they won''t be able to respond quickly to threats of monsters and undead which is why there is the adventurer''s guild. Why am I saying all this well... You will get it later. Since standing armies are usually based around provincial capitals villages at the outskirts of the Empire''s reach usually have militias made up of farmers and the like. But for Edward who''s territory is at the very very end of the Empire''s reach his case could be considered special as his militia is made up of convicts and slaves who refused to work under a master. Due to that his militia is always getting new recruits every once a month. But the similarities stop there. Since Edward''s militia is made up of the criminals and slaves his militia received poor training and equipment from the Empire. Militias in villages tend to receive training from officers called "Commisars" sent by the Empire and receive equipment from them as well. Since Edward''s milita is a penal one they received scraps that are called "weapons" and receive little to no training for they did not receive a commisar to train them since the emprie deemed it "a waste of resources to train slaves convicts who are about to die anyway." Edward''s milita is made up of around 9,000 men which he then proceeded to split up into two groups of 4,500 men each. One group will then stay near by the Chasm while the other group stays in reserve and rests. An action which I approve of. But being an enginner by heart and not a military man the training regime he has set up for the militia is bad. After waiting for three months for enough muskets, gun powder and ball bearings to be made I requested Edward to allow me to handle the matters of the militia to which he readily agreed to, which is a surprise as I was expecting more resistance on a six year old boy like me to take over the militia but oh well. With the matters of the militia handed over to me I made changes to the regime and told Edward to gather the group of militia men currently stationed in town to the front of the manor. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey, you know any idea why Sir Edward has called us here?" A demi-human who looks like a cross between a human and a tiger asked a man beside him. "No idea. I just hope it''s something that is worth waking me up Rol''kuth." The man, who''s face is missing an eye and filled with scars, a stubble, black hair so long that it''s tied up into a ponytail and pale white skin, answered back. "C''mon don''t look so pissed Pete. Arent you glad that you chose to serve in Edward''s militia instead of that sick bastard Johanson?" Hearing that Pete shot a cold look at Rol''kuth. "I..Uh.. Guess I should shut up now." "You better." After a few more minutes of waiting Edward appeared from the front doors of the manor. "Guys it''s Sir Edward!" "It''s Sir Edward." And other countless mutterings holding Edward in the realm of godhood are muttered. Feeling irritated by the mutterings Pete shouted out at them to shut up. "For the love of Syrion, all of you shut your bleeding mouths up!" Within seconds the courtyard packed with 4,500 men was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. "Ahem, thank you Pete." Edward thanked Pete who is standing in front of the crowd distinguishable by his lack of a left eye, a ponytail and pale white skin. Pete nodded back in acknowledgement. "Right, on to the reason why I called you all here today is because I want to introduce somebody to you." Hearing that the 4,500 men gathered at the courtyard of the manor started muttering again only to be shutted up once again by Pete. "Pual You can come out now." The two front doors of the manor opened up to reveal a child of six years old stepping through. The child has similar features as Edward. The same blonde hair, the same blue eyes and the same shape of their cheek bones. But the similarity ends there as Edward''s body is skrawny while the child''s packed full of muscls despite being six years old. Seeing the similarities the milia men began muterring for the third time and to be quieten down by Pete. "As you can see, this child over here is six years old and is my nephew. And from this day onwards he will be in charge of you men." Hearing the statement that Edward just said the men began muttering for the fourth time and to be shutted up by Pete. "My gods! Are you woman for Syrion''s sake! No? Then stop muttering at every single statement Sir Edward makes! If Sir Edward wills us to obey some six suns old kid we will! Is that understood?" Pete shouted at the militia men. Fearing his anger the militia men all nodded their or replied with a "Understood Pete." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While I stood by the door way I focused my attentin at this "Pete" as he shouted at the militia men to quieten down. The way he acts and talks is reminiscent of a certain NCO. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The way the militia men react and look at him is also the same as that certain NCO. This guy is definitely a natural leader is what I''m thinking. "Listen up!" I shouted at the militia men. They all looked at me sizing me up. Seeing that I couldn''t help but taunt them. A habit back from my army days when I used to taunt recruits to see how aggresive they are. "I may be only six suns old but I bet I could wipe the floor with you guys without even sweating! So don''t let my age fool you!" Hearing my taunt a majority of the militia men started getting worked up and drew their blunt brittle swords. Oh, they sure are an aggresive bunch. "What did ya say ya brat?" One of them shouted out. "I said that I could wipe the floor with you guys and not even sweat." I taunted again making sure to drag out the words to make them sound like I was doubting his masculinity. Reaching the end of his patience a man so ripped you can seee his muscles through the shirt that he was wearing stepped forward. The man has short cropped brown hair, a face which has seen too much sun, brown eyes and tan skin. "That kid is so dead." "Damn, isn''t that Chuck?" "They say that he fought against a pack of Wind Wolves bare handed and that he even tore their heads from their bodies through pure strength only." "Seriously?" "Seriously." Mutters of the various deeds that Chuck has done surfaced. But my eyebrows raised at the wind wolves part. I''m not so familiar with monsters but I''ve heard that a wind wolf''s strength is equal to that of a squad of magus which is equal to a company of foot soldiers. "Stop it Chuck. That kid is just six suns old. He may not know what he is sayng." Pete stepped forward to block Chuck''s way. "It''s alright Pete. Let him come." I told Pete. Pete while sighing stepped aside while shooting me a look which says "If you find yourself living a painful life kid, remember it''s your own fault." To which I shot him back a look which says that I''m fairly confident in taking on Chuck. Seeing that look Pete merely sighed again. "Kid, you sure have a death wish if you are thinking of taking me head on without any weapon or armour." Chuck said with a sneer. Chuck and I stood about 50 centimeters apart. Our hands in front of us. I took up a south paw stance gambling on the fact left handed fighters are rare and it will take him by surprise while Chuck merely raised his arms up like a street brawler. Since Chuck is bigger and taller than I am I have a feeling that he is going to rely on his reach and brute strength. Whereas I will have to rely on the nimbleness of a six year old''s body. "Oh don''t worry. You are still not yet at a level where I must use a weapon on you." I taunted him. "Don''t talk shit about me brat." "YARGH!" After finishing his sentence Chuck shouted and threw a fist at my direction. Deflecting his right fist with my left fore arm I ducked down just in time to avoid a punch from his left fist. Which caused him to lose his balance. Seeing that he had lost his balance I kicked him with all of the strength a six year old body could produce right where the sun don''t shine making him kneel down on both knees. With him kneeling down on both knees Chuck is now at the same height as me. "That was a dirty move kid!" Chuck cried out. "Like I said you aren''t even worthy enough for me to use weapons." I taunted before knocking him out cold with a kick to the head. "Anybody else?" I turned back to the militia men who were all shocked at what just happened to Chuck. After all, a six year old kid had just beaten someone who is feared throughout the militia. "No? Good. I want you all to gather your belongings and gather back here again after two days." I was expecting a reply but got back none. Which deeply angered me as I was used to recruits replying back to me instantly. "Well!?!" I shouted at them. "Yes, Mi''lord." They replied but the reply was scattered like rain drops and not one in unision. Which made me much much much more angrier. In fact I was so angry I could feel my cheeks becoming red. "You shall address me as ''Sir'' and you will all reply together is that understood!" Seeing that I am about to explode with anger and knowing that they are weaker than me they answered back in the way that I wanted them to. "Yes Sir!" This time they answered back in unision but not loud enough to satisfy me but that is enough scolding for them today. That problem could be fixed again when I begin my "Basic Training" . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A/N : Sorry for not posting past week and the late post as real life stuff are happening and have a feeling I will be busy again so chapter releases may not be on time.