《The Mad Magus [LitRPG, Dark Fantasy, Progression]》


 Chapter 1 - The Mad Scientist

    ¡°No! Don¡¯t kill me, please I¡¯m begging you!¡±


    A voice called out, crying for help. It belonged to a gruff, stoic middle aged ¡®Macho¡¯ man, who at this moment was not exhibiting any one of those traits. Mostly because he was strapped down to a table, unable to move and unable to process what was going on.


    He had just awoken in this place, confused and disoriented, only to look down and find that his left leg¡­ His whole left leg was missing. But he strangely couldn¡¯t feel a thing, it was both odd and strangely confusing to him. This only added to the horror of the whole situation though.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I severed your spinal cord from the rest of your body, so you won¡¯t feel a thing.¡± A cold, emotionless voice responded to the man. The lack of any regard or emotion for the man sent phantom chills down his paralysed spine.


    Standing nearby, with many different tools and other devices at his disposal, stood a handsome, suavely dressed man with a lab coat covering up his stylish clothing. He looked like your typical scientist, the types who spent all day in the lab and barely ever socialised. The only difference being this man was almost too handsome¡­


    ¡°P-Please¡­ I¡¯ll do anything!¡±


    But no matter what the terrified and confused man on the table said, the handsome man never even flinched or hesitated. It was like he had no emotions at all ¡ª which wasn¡¯t that far off from the truth. In fact, it was as close to the truth as it could get.


    This mad scientist was, in fact, what was commonly known in this world as a sociopath. Sociopaths are commonly misunderstood and misrepresented. It¡¯s become a common ¡®fact¡¯ that they lack the ability to feel emotions, which is factually untrue. It¡¯s more like they lack the ability to feel ¡®strong¡¯ emotions like the average person can. Which is why a lot of sociopaths often turn to things like crime, murder or become top business elites ¡ª because the adrenaline rush from seeing their victims beg and cry, or seeing their company succeed was enough to actually make them feel something.


    ¡°My head fucking hurts¡­¡±


    Suddenly the man on the table started feeling dizzy, with sweat beads pooling up on his forehead. He tried to resist the pain, but nothing he did could alleviate him of the throbbing headache he was now experiencing.


    ¡°Ahh¡­ That would be the hole I drilled in the back of your head, the acid should be working right about¡­ now!¡± The suavely dressed handsome man spoke, as if it was just casual conversation.


    Right as he finished his sentence, the man on the table fell unconscious, with blood starting to pool and drip down the back of the table onto a conveniently prepared bucket underneath. This blood was strangely colored, with a mixture of ghastly green and black mixed within.


    ¡®Test subject 08 ¡ª lasted 00:32:12 before succumbing to the acid¡¯s effects. It seems we need to adjust the ratio for subject 09.¡¯


    The scientist noted some words down on his notepad before turning away to focus on his computer screen. Data flowed across it like the ocean¡¯s tide, it all looked like garbled numbers to the layman, but the handsome man understood it all fluently.


    He wasn¡¯t like those murder/serial killer types of sociopaths, he found his thrill from doing scientific research, and because of his ¡®unique¡¯ traits, his superiors had assigned him to a more discrete, not so legal division of the company that others who actually had morals were more adverse to.


    And as a result, he excelled in his role even more.


    ¡°They¡¯re ready to see you now, Lucian.¡±


    But the handsome man, better known as Lucian Verdan, was pulled out of his thoughts by a sudden voice from the doorway of his laboratory.


    ¡®Ahh, that¡¯s right.¡¯ He thought to himself, still absorbed in his own mind.


    He had almost forgotten that he was pitching a new research topic to the higher ups. Lucian was just so engrossed in his current research that his mind had completely filtered that out. Thankfully he had an assistant to remind him.


    ¡°Thank you, that¡¯ll be all Sylas.¡±


    Lucian nodded at his assistant, Sylas, in the doorway and made his way past, ignoring the disgusted look on Sylas¡¯s face as glanced at the scene inside Lucian¡¯s laboratory. The laboratory itself was impeccably clean, it was only the scene on the centre table that disgusted Sylas. The sight of a limp corpse with brains still dripping out the back of its head would be enough to make any mentally stable person queezy.


    ¡®It truly takes a special kind of person to do this job¡­¡¯ Sylas thought.


    As he was walking through the maze-like hallways, Lucian practised the pitch he had prepared for his new research project. It was something he found particularly interesting, even before he became a scientist. Souls. This was always something that had eluded not just Lucian, but the entire human race ever since the concept first came about all those thousands of years ago.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    That was the direction of his project. Not much was known about them, or whether they existed at all, but that was exactly what Lucian intended to find out. The prospect of finding an answer to a previously unanswered question was the very reason he became a scientist in the first place. Scientific research was one of the very few things Lucian could feel any emotion from.


    ¡°Sir, you can¡¯t go in there.¡±


    Elsewhere, near the entrance to the lab, a man covering his face with a hood barged his way past the main desk of the laboratory. The receptionist, a petite and small woman, would never be able to stop him with her small frame, so her next best option was to shout for help.


    But even though this did manage to gather the attention of other workers nearby, none of them actually took action. They were all like the young receptionist ¡ª skinny, not very built and frankly cowards. They weren¡¯t security, most of them were normal research assistants, or scientists. Risking their lives for their job was not something on their agenda for the day.


    ¡®There he is!¡¯ The hooded man exclaimed inwardly, as he spotted the very person he had been looking for this whole time.


    He ignored all of the gawking onlookers as he increased his pace to a sprint and chased after the handsome man in the white lab coat, Lucian. Meanwhile, Lucian was completely engrossed in his thoughts, unaware of what was happening around him. But that wouldn¡¯t last for long.


    ¡°You killed my wife, you son of a bitch!¡±


    Out of nowhere, the hooded man pulled out a knife and leaped at Lucian. He wasn¡¯t quick or aware enough to dodge, so he could only look on, confused, as the man, who¡¯s hood had long fallen backwards, revealing his dishevelled appearance, lodged his knife in Lucian¡¯s chest.


    *Cough*


    Lucian let out a cough and a groan as he fell to the ground, the dishevelled man still on top of him, holding him down. Lucian himself was well built and quite lean as he liked to take care of his body, but that couldn¡¯t help him win a fight against the laws of physics. The man holding him down had to weigh at least 150kg, and that was a conservative estimate. That much weight was too much even for Lucian to handle.


    ¡®Who is this man!?¡¯


    Lucian started to feel some emotions he had never felt so vividly in his life. Like a torrent, they all came rushing into him at once, as if his brain was releasing one last ditch effort to try and save itself.


    Anger.


    Frustration.


    Fear.


    They were all bundled up together, raging through him for the first time in his 35 years of life. It was both the most excitement Lucian had felt ever since he was born.


    ¡®Is this how I die?¡¯


    Lucian couldn¡¯t even feel his body anymore, as the disgruntled husband of the wife he had supposedly killed continued ramming the knife into his chest without end. He had long lost count how many times he¡¯d been stabbed, but it was well into the dozens, and his internal organs were probably a mushy, bloody mess by now.


    ¡®Shit, I didn¡¯t even get to finish my research.¡¯


    As expected of someone like him, Lucian was more concerned about his unfinished business in this world than the fact that his own life was being taken away from him. But that was just him, and it was the way he had always been.


    ***


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    Lucian let out a groan of pain as he awoke. He felt as if his head was splitting apart, a headache like he had never experienced before took over all of the pain receptors in his head. The resulting headache made him want to smash his head on the wall in hopes of taking it away.


    ¡®I thought I died¡­?¡¯


    The scene that opened up before him was not something he was familiar with. At first he thought he was hallucinating, as his eyes were still taking a while to adjust. Everything was blurry, and his ears felt fuzzy. Overall, apart from the splitting headache, he felt like he had just woken up from a very long nap.


    Then out of nowhere, an irritating voice in a language he didn¡¯t understand started grinding in his ears, only worsening the effect of the headache he was experiencing. Lucian almost wanted to just reach out and grab for whoever was uttering such ear-screeching words, but he held himself back.


    He opened his eyes, disoriented. Half of him still believed he might be hallucinating, but things started to feel way to real to be fake.


    ¡°Where am I?¡± He muttered to himself, ignoring the irritating voice completely.


    His vision was filled with walls made of wood, looking like they came straight out of the 17th century. The room was of a moderate size, with a row of windows to his left side and another wooden wall to his right, provided with a few doors on either side. At the front stood a podium looking object, with a chalkboard directly behind it.


    ¡®A classroom?¡¯


    Even more confusing was that there were quite a few youths with eccentric hair colours sitting around him with their heads buried in their work at each of their individual desks. They all looked quite young, some around 14 or 15 years old, with others looking closer to 17. Most of them were giving him some strange glances though.


    ¡®Is this a classroom?¡¯


    Lucian felt his head become clearer as the pain from the headache started to lessen slightly. His eyes started come into focus as well, allowing him to get a more thorough and detailed look at his surroundings. He was sitting at a desk, with some papers and books filled with some squiggly lines and other such symbols dotted across them. He looked around to find that it was the same case with all of the other students in the class room.


    ¡®It¡¯s clear I¡¯m some sort of student he-¡®


    ¡°Arrghhh!!¡± Lucian let out a blood-curdling scream, startling himself and everyone else in the classroom.


    Just as he thought the pain from his headache was actually going away, a sharp and intense sensation assaulted his head, like everything he had previously experienced all came back at once. The pain arrived suddenly, bringing with it some unfamiliar memories, as well as filling his mind with all sorts of knowledge and languages he was forced to accept against his will.


    All Lucian could do was try his best to resist fainting, but even that seemed like quite a challenge for the present him. He was still somewhat disoriented after waking up, so trying to stay awake through all of this was like trying to set a world record in hurdles while simultaneously running through swampland!


    ¡°@#!{#@¡±


    ¡°Hey.. @~@#¡±


    However, after 10 seconds passed, it seemed the pain had finally gone away, hopefully for good this time. Lucian was more concerned about the fact that he could now somehow understand the words on the paper in front of him though. Even weirder was the fact that he was beginning to understand the person speaking to him. It was all very strange for him. He could understand what the person was saying, but it still felt foreign to him?


    ¡°Is something the matter, Lucian?¡±


    ¡®Did I transmigrate?¡¯ This was his first thought upon seeing the smartly dressed middle aged man in front of him.

 Chapter 2 - Muddled Mind

    Lucian heard this voice in a daze, and couldn¡¯t help but open his eyes to look up at who was speaking to him. He was wearing clothes that would normally be shown in pre-industrial revolution exhibits back where he came from, so it was quite odd to see someone with such a stern expression staring at him in such a costume.


    ¡®Does this mean souls exist? If this were in my previous world, this would be a ground breaking discovery!¡¯


    ¡®If only I could have continued my research¡­¡¯


    ¡®No, wait, Maybe I could continue my research in this new world¡­¡¯


    Now that his head was clear, Lucian remembered very clearly that just moments ago he was getting stabbed repeatedly by the husband of a woman he had killed in one of his experiments. It sent some shivers through his body involuntarily, as the memory of the blade entering his abdomen still lay fresh on his mind.


    In the time he was from, the year was 2175, and technology had advanced so far that everyone received their own AI implants right after birth, and medicine had even reached a point where limbs could be regrown and cancer could be cured. But even with all that progress, Lucian wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive such a brutal attack before the doctors got to him, nor could his fellow lab geeks save him either. They were specialised in dissecting humans, not sewing them back together ¡ª good as new! The damage to his heart and all his other organs was just too severe.


    But the obvious giveaway that he had transmigrated, was the very room he was inhabiting, as well as the fact that his body felt very different. He felt like a foreigner in his own body. His hands weren¡¯t quite the right size, his arms not the right length, and his legs didn¡¯t even fully reach the floor!


    This place would be considered a museum exhibit in his previous world, it all seemed so backwards and behind the current progress that he almost wanted to believe he had fallen asleep and woken up in some sort of renaissance festival, but that just couldn¡¯t be the case. It would answer one question, but it wouldn¡¯t explain why he was in a completely different body!


    After organising the memories he received when that sudden, sharp pain assaulted him, Lucian finally had a better grasp of things. The people of this world were at a developmental stage equivalent to the European middle ages. With Knights, chivalry and all the romanticised history still being the main focus of this society.


    His current body was also named Lucian Verdan, the son of a Knight. His father, Knight Robert Verdan, had him tested and found that he had the gift to become a Knight as well, and so he asked some of his old buddies from the academy to pull some strings and allow entry to Lucian, even though he was officially too young to enter.


    Lucian was currently in the preliminary classes, with the actual academy being in another location. And all this time the teacher was still standing in front of him, waiting for an answer, he also happened to be the owner of that grating voice that annoyed Lucian so much right after he awoke¡­


    ¡°No sir, I just had a bad headache, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Lucian tried his best to imitate the actions and words of the previous occupant of this body to the best of his memories. From what he recalled, he was a timid child, afraid to speak too loudly, while also too afraid to speak up for himself. But he was most afraid of getting into trouble or bringing attention his way.


    Lucian felt like he gave a pretty solid performance, he¡¯d rate himself a solid 8.5/10 if he were auditioning for a show.


    ¡°No ordinary headache causes a reaction like that one. Go to the nurse to get yourself checked out.¡±


    It seemed like the teacher was a responsible one though, as he wouldn¡¯t just forsake his duties and take a 12 year old boy¡¯s word for it when he said he was fine after letting out such a blood-curdling scream. Lucian just nodded and stood up from his seat, following the instructions of his teacher as he left the classroom.


    This was what his predecessor would do, so he had to follow due course to not bring any suspicion or attention to himself.


    ¡°Now, where was I¡­¡±


    The class carried on as usual without him, like nothing had even happened. The teacher still had a class to teach after all ¡ª he couldn¡¯t give all the attention to one kid and cause everyone else to fall behind on their studies.


    Meanwhile, Lucian silently slipped out of his seat and made his way to the back of the classroom where one of two doors out of the room was located. He chose this one because out of the two, it was the one that brought the least attention to himself. The other door was at the front near the podium and chalkboard, and following the same actions the old Lucian would have taken, Lucian kept his head down and walked out of the room.


    He decided to actually visit the nurse to confirm that nothing was wrong with his body. While he may feel fine now, he had no idea what sort of ailments or illnesses he could be carrying that might have caused him to have such a bad headache. Though he suspected this was just the side effect of his soul performing a hostile takeover of this new body ¡ª but it wasn¡¯t exactly like he could prove this, nor would he voice this theory to anybody either.


    He didn¡¯t know what kind of after effects could be caused by transmigration, but one thing for damn sure was that he wasn¡¯t willing to be thrown back into the loop so soon after he was given a second chance.


    ¡°Where are you off to, Lucian?¡±


    Lucian looked over at the voice that just called out to him. Surprised and annoyed that someone would stop him again while he was mid thought.


    He saw that the boy who spoke was a large, tall young boy. Or would he be considered old now that Lucian himself was 12? He had vibrant, blue eyes, a well chiselled face and golden yellow hair. He looked far older than he actually was, with his body being well muscled, looking like a bodybuilder who had been working on his physique for decades.


    ¡°The Nurse.¡± Lucian just gave a short answer.


    He was struggling to remember the name of this particular youth. His mind was quite foggy still, and his inherited memories hadn¡¯t quite settled in yet. It was best to play it safe and just give short replies while he figured things out.


    ¡°Haha¡­ Lucian, don¡¯t you know you have to pay the hall tax before you get my permission to go anywhere?¡± The boy continued speaking to him though, looking as if he had zero intention to stop.


    ¡®So he¡¯s one of those types.¡¯


    Lucian originally thought he must have been one of the previous Lucian¡¯s friends, but it seemed not. It was clear that the old Lucian¡¯s timid and cowardly personality would be completely incompatible with this brute, which was only made glaringly obvious by the way he was speaking to him.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡®Hahh, trouble¡¯s already found me and it hasn¡¯t even been 10 minutes since I inhabited this body¡­¡¯ Lucian kept his thoughts to himself, instead taking a secret glance at his surroundings and making note of everything.


    He looked to see if anyone else was nearby, whether to help or to hide suspicion. But it turned out to just be him and this new boy. The hallway itself was quite long and wide, causing their voices to echo quite far ¡ª Lucian noticed this and made sure that for the next few moments, he kept his voice down. The less people who heard him speak, the better it would be for the both of them.


    ¡®Why does trouble always find its way to me¡­¡¯


    To be quite frank, Lucian was already in sort of an odd mood after finding out he had not only died, but had now transmigrated into this odd world. He was already still experiencing some residual effects of transmigrating, and he barely even managed to get used to his new body.


    It was hard to readjust to this new life, he had spent 35 years getting used to his old body in his old world, so taking on the role of a 12 year old was difficult, to put it lightly. All this, while simultaneously having to try and appear normal, like he was still the same person they thought he was. But after hearing this rough looking youth speak, his mood quickly changed from odd to sour.


    ¡°How¡­ interesting,¡± Lucian muttered to himself.


    ¡°What was that?¡± The rough looking youth said, unsure if he was hearing things or not. He was probably thinking something along the lines of, ¡®This brat dares to speak back to me??¡¯


    However it seemed his old habits were coming back to bite him already, as he had spoken his thoughts aloud unknowingly. But it seemed the brawny youth wasn¡¯t that interested in what Lucian actually had to say, as he glossed over it in only a matter of moments.


    ¡°Here I thought you¡¯d never show your face again after what happened last week.¡± The boy, at least twice Lucian¡¯s own size, sneered. ¡°Thought you could hide away forever, huh?¡±


    Lucian¡¯s mind shifted through the lingering memories of his predecessor. It took a great deal of effort out of him to go sifting through his memories with his mind still groggy, but he felt like he needed to know more about the boy to understand what was going on in this current situation. As a scientist, Lucian liked to have all the facts before he made a decision on things.


    Eventually, after thinking hard and long, a vague recollection started to form. This was Roderic, a constant thorn in the side of the previous Lucian. He was twice Lucian¡¯s size ¡ª in both height and girth, as Lucian himself was actually quite short and skinny for his age. He was the sort of bully who thrived in places like these, where the weak willed were gathered for easy pickings to the stronger kids.


    But instead of fear, Lucian felt something quite different. Amusement. It was like watching an insect crawl across a perfectly laid experiment guideline, thinking itself significant. When in the grand scheme of things, it was just a tool for a greater mind, a higher being to observe and understand concepts it could never even begin to comprehend.


    ¡°Roderic.¡± Lucian called out to him, testing the name on his tongue.


    ¡°To what do I owe the pleasure?¡± Roderic sneered, clearly amused with Lucian¡¯s sudden bravery and willingness to talk some smack back to him.


    The hint of sarcasm in his voice wasn¡¯t subtle at all, and it must have struck a chord. It seemed Roderic wasn¡¯t used to the previous Lucian responding back to him like that, and he tried to hide his anger with his amusement. The cover up was clear as day for Lucian though.


    Roderic¡¯s expression darkened, and he took a threatening step forward, fists tightening at his sides. ¡°Don¡¯t play games with me, runt. I said pay the hall tax.¡±


    Lucian tilted his head, feigning ignorance. ¡°Hall tax? I don¡¯t recall such a thing being in the academy rule book?¡±


    Of course, Lucian was just mocking Roderic again, Roderic just didn¡¯t know it, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say he was too stupid to realise it? In truth, the memories of past encounters with Roderic had flooded Lucian¡¯s mind now, with the faint memories clicking into place.


    The old Lucian had indeed been squeezed dry by this brute, giving up whatever allowance he¡¯d been given by his father every month to avoid confrontation. But the old Lucian was gone now. The notion of parting with currency, of being coerced by such a pitiful child was laughable to the new Lucian.


    He let out a soft chuckle, almost a giggle since it came out of his prepubescent, 12 year old mouth, before meeting Roderic¡¯s gaze directly.


    ¡°You believe you have leverage over me because of a few coins?¡± Lucian asked mockingly.


    Roderic blinked, momentarily thrown off by the sheer audacity in Lucian¡¯s tone. He obviously wasn¡¯t expecting this rebuttal from little old Lucian.


    ¡°What¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Fascinating¡­¡± Lucian stroked his chin with a snide remark.


    His eyes narrowed as he regarded Roderic as one might a particular specimen under a microscope. While Roderic may seem like the typical school bully, this was exactly what interested Lucian. The similarity in behaviour between Roderic, a human from this brand new world Lucian was just beginning to experience, and bullies from his previous world, could probably created a nobel prize winning social study.


    Lucian wasn¡¯t interested in sociology though, so he moved on.


    ¡°What drives you I wonder? A sense of entitlement? Power? Or perhaps just a base craving to dominate the weak?¡± Lucian mocked Roderic outright.


    At this point Roderic¡¯s face had flushed with anger. He stepped forward, raising his fist threateningly, acting like he wanted to bash Lucian¡¯s face inwards. And Lucian had no doubt that he fully intended on following through with this act.


    ¡°You little¡ª!¡±


    But before he could finish, the door along the hallway behind Lucian swung open with a heavy creak. The atmosphere shifted instantly as Lucian gazed at the newcomer, and Roderic turned around to catch a glimpse of this new party. When he did, his fist, which had been halfway through its arc, froze in mid air. His face twisted into a mask of frustration and confusion.


    The man who emerged was striking ¡ª a solidly built figure with a presence that seemed to command the air around him. He was dressed in a dark robe-like garment, somewhere between the simplicity of a martial arts Gi and the elegance of a scholar¡¯s robe, cinched at the waist by a broad leather belt. The garb was adorned by some faint lettering of this world¡¯s language, that spelt out the words ¡®Combat instructor¡¯.


    His hair, long and tied back in a simple knot, was streaked with silver despite his youthful face, and his eyes were a piercing shade of blue, the kind that seemed to see through every layer of a person.


    A subtle aura of power radiated from him, nothing like what Lucian felt from Roderic¡¯s stocky, bodybuilder-like figure. Lucian could tell that he was the type of person that, when stepping into a room, brought all of the attention naturally onto himself just from his presence.


    ¡°Is there a problem here, kids?¡± The man spoke with confidence.


    Lucian straightened, with his interest in this person piqued. He glanced at Roderic, who had immediately shrunk back, all of his intimidation vanishing as if he had been doused in cold water.


    ¡°N-no, Professor Kaldor!¡± He stammered when he spoke, with his face on the verge of turning pale. ¡°Just¡­ having a chat with my friend Lucian here!¡±


    ¡°Friend?¡± Professor Kaldor questioned.


    His gaze shifted between the two of them, settling on Lucian with a faint, almost imperceptible frown. His eyes seemed to carry a sense of questioning in them. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware the two of you were on such friendly terms.¡±


    Lucian offered the professor a disarmingly innocent smile, knowing that a zero tolerance policy was in place at this academy. If one went down, they both went down. It didn¡¯t matter who was on the receiving end or not. Lucian didn¡¯t intend to be punished so early into his transmigration. Considering this place seemed to be around the middle ages in development, he didn¡¯t want to find out just how strict those punishments were.


    ¡°Oh, absolutely. Roderic here was just asking me to contribute to the welfare of the academy.¡± Lucian stated confidently, despite knowing that he had to maintain an air of cowardice if he wanted to blend in with the original Lucian¡¯s actions. But he felt that even though this was a bit different, it still fit in with the stereotype of a quiet kid being bullied. After all, even bullied kids tend to have a moment of realisation and stick up for themselves every once in a while.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The atmosphere quickly grew awkward. It was clear neither person expected this sort of response out of Lucian. The corners of Kaldor¡¯s mouth twitched, as if suppressing a chuckle of his own.


    ¡°I see. Quite the philanthropist, aren¡¯t you, Roderic?¡± He turned to Roderic and questioned him, following along with Lucian¡¯s ruse.


    It didn¡¯t take an idiot to figure out what was going on between the two of them, and Kaldor was no idiot. It was obvious that Roderic was in the midst of bullying Lucian before he stepped in. But with both sides denying anything had happened, what was he supposed to do? Make it up? Then that would just cause even more problems not just for the two of them, but himself as well if they decided to report it.

 Chapter 3 - History

    Roderic opened his mouth, but no words came out. He glanced desperately at Lucian, as if pleading for some kind of support, but Lucian merely tilted his head, pulling a facade of obliviousness. Why would Lucian help him out, when he was just moments ago trying to extort him for money?


    ¡°Well, regardless, I¡¯m sure Lucian is perfectly capable of deciding where to place his generosity, if he so chooses.¡± Kaldor¡¯s tone hardened slightly, his playfulness vanishing.


    ¡°Yes, Professor¡­¡± Roderic mumbled, slumping his shoulders in defeat.


    He shot Lucian one last, baleful look before shuffling down the hallway, his steps no longer as heavy or confident as they used to be. He was mentally defeated, not only did he not get his hall tax from Lucian, but he¡¯d also been reprimanded by one of the scarier professors of the academy. It seemed he¡¯d have to keep a low profile over the next few days.


    Silence reigned in the corridor as Kaldor watched the boy¡¯s retreating back, his expression was unreadable. Not even Lucian could guess what he was thinking at that moment. Then, he turned to Lucian, still with a blank look on his face.


    ¡°You¡¯re different.¡± Kaldor suddenly blurted.


    He stated plainly, as if he were just commenting on the weather. His eyes gazed over Lucian imperceptibly, like he was dissecting him with just a look. This was a skill Lucian quite admired, but it wasn¡¯t pleasant to be on the receiving end of such a gaze.


    ¡°Not the same meek boy I remember.¡± Kaldor spoke again, doubling down on his suspicion.


    Lucian blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the man¡¯s perceptiveness. He wasn¡¯t expecting to be suspected so early into his transmigration.


    ¡®Have I been caught out as a transmigrator already?¡¯ He thought to himself, unsure whether to reveal the truth or not. It would be a huge risk if he did so.


    For a split second, Lucian felt the urge to break into a full smile at Kaldor¡¯s comment, and he almost broke under his own pressure. It was amusing how quickly people noticed changes when they actually paid attention. He could almost see the gears turning behind the Professor¡¯s piercing gaze. Like there was an intense and complex clockwork going on behind those piercing eyes of his. But it wouldn¡¯t do him any good to reveal too much.


    He might have inhabited the memories of the previous Lucian, but as was evident from his encounter with Roderic, he actually had to focus hard enough to be able to recall them. Lucian instinctively had a feeling that things would mesh together as time went on though, with the previous Lucian¡¯s memories becoming his, with no need to siphon through them or decipher their meaning.


    And in the current moment, he didn¡¯t quite understand enough about this world to go around revealing such a big secret. For all he knew, it could be like the middle ages in Europe where people even suspected of magic or heresy were executed. In fact, judging by the architecture and manner of speaking these people had, he had no doubts this might be the case.


    The distinct lack of anything electrical, or industrial was all the evidence he needed to see that this world was far, far behind his previous on. Right now, he didn¡¯t know the customs of this place, so it seemed he had to tread carefully with his words and actions for a while, at least before he understood the laws of this land a bit more. But that was only while he still got a grip on things. His momentary lapse with Roderic would have to be the only time he could slip up for the foreseeable future.


    Once he learned more, understood more about this world and educated himself enough to call himself knowledgeable about this place¡­ Well, he had no doubt that he¡¯d continue his experiments from his previous life, just like they had never ended in the first place. And his job in his previous life wasn¡¯t exactly¡­ legal.


    So for the time being, he decided that he should start to act more like the previous Lucian would, and gradually make changes to his outside persona over time, rather than act like his real, old self, out in public.


    ¡®This time with Roderic will have to be the last, a one off until things settle down.¡¯ Lucian reminded himself.


    He mulled over his options, swiftly crafting up a response that would hopefully convince Professor Kaldor. He wasn¡¯t particularly willing to out himself so quickly after transmigrating. He had plans ¡ª things he¡¯d like to accomplish, and he wouldn¡¯t let a small hurdle like this stop him.


    ¡°Changed?¡± Lucian questioned.


    He shrugged lightly, sculpting his expression into a mild, uncertain face that his predecessor might have worn. For someone with so much control over their emotions like him, it wasn¡¯t a difficult thing to put on an act like this.


    After all, he put on an act every single day for the first 25 years of his previous life ¡ª a few more years in this place was not a big problem.


    ¡°I suppose I just¡­ got tired of being a doormat.¡± Lucian finally spoke, revealing his reasoning to Professor Kaldor. He offered a lighthearted chuckle, like it pained him to speak about it.


    ¡°I guess it was more like¡­ a wake up call.¡± Lucian added on.


    Kaldor¡¯s gaze lingered on him, uncomfortably sharp, as though it were peeling back each layer of his mind to examine it under a harsh, unforgiving light. He seemed suspicious, rightfully so, but he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on why¡­


    Lucian swallowed, allowing his body to tense just slightly. A trickle of nervousness, something Lucian hardly ever felt, could sell the story.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He had to appear vulnerable enough to match the expectations of the people who were in regular contact with his body before he inhabited it, while showing just enough of his new resolve to satisfy the Professor¡¯s curiosity.


    ¡°A wake up call you say¡­¡± Kaldor muttered, more to himself than to Lucian directly.


    Kaldor¡¯s tone was neutral, but there was something beneath it that Lucian was unable to place. It was almost like a spell, or a trick. In fact, Lucian started to feel like his mind was slowly starting to loosen up a little, and his eyes gazed into the deep abyss of Kaldor¡¯s own, seemingly sinking deeper and deeper within the longer his gaze lingered.


    ¡®What¡­ is this?¡¯ Lucian questioned.


    For the first time since he found himself in this place, this body, Lucian felt genuine confusion. Something was taking control over his own mind. Something he couldn¡¯t contain. Something he couldn¡¯t control. He had no idea what was happening to him ¡ª whether it was related to his transmigration, perhaps another influx of memories or knowledge was about to hit him ¡ª or if it was related to Professor Kaldor.


    One thing he knew for sure though, was that this was not a good moment for such a thing.


    ¡®Get¡­ the¡­ fuck¡­ out!¡¯ Lucian screamed internally, pressing both his hands against his temples.


    Eventually, taking all his willpower, he managed to force whatever it was out of him. He was once again engulfed in a mind-pounding headache, but he was free of that controlling, deluding feeling that had just taken hold of him.


    It was hard to tell. But it seemed to have worked.


    Kaldor loosened up his piercing gaze, and a smile creeped its back onto his face.


    ¡°Well, good for you then Lucian. You are dismissed, you can go back to class now.¡± Kaldor smiled. He walked away with his hands behind his back, not taking another glance at the short boy.


    ¡®What in the world was that?¡¯


    But he left a rather confused Lucian behind.


    Even when he awoke to find himself in a new world, with a new body, it wasn¡¯t confusion Lucian felt, but curiosity. However, this time was different. Something had happened to him that not even his wealth of scientific knowledge could explain, and it annoyed him the more he thought about it.


    He knew he didn¡¯t hallucinate what just happened, and he suspected that Professor Kaldor had something to do with it. It didn¡¯t quite have the same feeling like he had when he transmigrated. But there was no way to go about asking about it, or searching for answers. For one, if he went back over to Professor Kaldor and asked what he had just done to him, how would he react?


    Would he simply just explain exactly what Lucian wanted to hear? Would he react with surprise but explain calmly? Would he reel back in shock at the fact Lucian was able to not only detect such mental stimuli, but also defend himself against it? Would he report him to the principal, or whoever was in charge? Or worse, just dispose of him himself right then and there?


    The answer was unclear, and that was precisely why Lucian did nothing. At least he would keep it that way for the time being. What he experienced was odd, and an uncomfortable experience even for him, who was so open to trying new things and gaining new knowledge. Preferably, he wouldn¡¯t like to experience such a thing again, unless it was for his own experiments of course.


    When he learned more about that mysterious phenomenon that took over his mind, he wouldn¡¯t mind taking another crack at it or two to satisfy his own curiosities.


    [Analysing external stimuli¡­ Analysis complete! A strange existence was found to have invaded the host¡¯s mind, but the host quickly took care of it himself.]


    ¡®AI?¡¯


    ***


    Lucian was rather startled when walking back to the classroom, as something he never expected to see again, let alone in this world, had appeared inside his mind after his encounter with Professor Kaldor. It was something he knew quite intimately, but he was also quite wary of it. The AI Implant.


    Back in his previous world, everyone had one of these, and if they didn¡¯t, they simply couldn¡¯t function as a normal human in modern society. The best way to describe them would be the next generation of technology that came after the handheld computerised devices, commonly referred to as ¡®Phones¡¯, ¡®Smart watches¡¯, ¡®tablets¡¯, ¡®Laptops¡¯ etc in the late stages of the fourth industrial revolution.


    They could do everything, from surfing the internet, analysing basic data, speeding up thought processes, enabling a deeper control and understanding of the host¡¯s own body and much more unfathomable feats. But one of the things they specialised in was the analysis of the human body. This was why Lucian was so shocked when the the thing first appeared, as it could be the closest thing he could get to an answer of what just happened to him.


    The fact that it appeared after that strange appearance gave him more confidence that it would help him with this. Lucian found it a little hard to believe though, and even began to suspect that maybe he was hallucinating all along? He was 100% sure he wasn¡¯t after that first strange encounter with Professor Kaldor, but this was not only the second strange encounter he was having that day, but also the second time he was genuinely confused in one day.


    ¡®How is it here with me in this new world and body? Is this another unexplainable phenomenon, just like the fact that I transmigrated?¡¯ Lucian racked his brain, but was unable to find an answer.


    ¡®Interesting¡­¡¯


    However his confusion and surprise at its initial appearance quickly turned into excitement. He was always welcoming to more interesting topics he could research. He fully intended to explore his previous research topics from his past life in this new world, but he wouldn¡¯t mind some more new additions.


    ¡®That¡¯ll have to wait though, right now I have a class to attend.¡¯ Lucian reminded himself, putting on his usual face.


    Pushing his rather exciting but distracting thoughts aside, Lucian strode back to the classroom, mimicking the movements his predecessor did after skimming through the memories a little. Walking was something people did daily, unless they were disabled, so he didn¡¯t exactly have to search hard to figure it out.


    ¡°Ahh Lucian, welcome back. I trust things are all sorted on your end now?¡±


    The teacher stopped his lecture and turned toward the back of the classroom where Lucian stood in the doorway. The moment he heard the door hinges start to creak, he turned to look at the returnee. Ever since Lucian¡¯s little¡­ episode in the middle of his class, he had been rather peeved with the boy for disrupting him mid speech.


    But as a good teacher, he was more concerned with whether Lucian was okay or not, and seeing as he was already back in his seat now, eyes facing the front and ears perked up to listen to the lesson, he assumed he was correct in this assumption. The nurse wouldn¡¯t have sent him back already if he wasn¡¯t.


    Unknown to him though, Lucian never even made it to the nurse¡¯s office. First he was stopped by an old nemesis of his predecessor¡¯s, and then Professor Kaldor directly after. Although his head still throbbed slightly, after the combined effect of his memories being reinstated, and his mind being invaded, some instinct inside of him told him that he was fine, and didn¡¯t need any external help to recover.


    If there was something Lucian could place 100% of his trust in, it would be his instincts. Not even his AI could have his full 100% trust. At best he would only place 99% of his trust in it. On the other hand, his instincts had never failed him in his 35 years of life before, so he had no reason to suspect that would start now.


    Well, it was a new world and a new body, so maybe he would place 99% of his trust in his instincts instead of the full 100%. Even now, if that remaining 1% distrust turned out to be right, he was in the classroom, with the teacher at the ready to help him or call the nurse for him at any moment¡¯s notice, so things weren¡¯t all that bad.

 Chapter 4 - Mages?

    Lucian wanted to find out what else his AI could do in this world, in his current body, but he had to focus on the class for the time being. As far as he was concerned, he had all the time in the world to figure out the specifics later, as he had to continue fitting the persona of his predecessor, and that meant adhering to his schedule like normal.


    ¡°Now where was I¡­?¡± The teacher continued speaking, but couldn¡¯t quite manage to pick up where is previous memory trail left off.


    ¡°You were just about to introduce to us the political outlook of the world¡­ sir.¡± It took a student sitting in one of the front seats reminding him for his thoughts to come back to him. And once they did, it was practically like he never had to pause at all.


    Yes, Lucian wanted to go back to his dorm or somewhere private to find out more about his AI, but it turned out this lecture was actually quite interesting. Learning about the politics and geography of this world was something he was very keen to do, so this was perfect timing for him.


    His headache was all but gone now as well, and his mind had cleared up, so this was the perfect time to absorb some new knowledge.


    ¡°Oh yes! That¡¯s right. Ahem, so the lands we occupy, as I¡¯m sure most of you are aware of already, are called the Barren islands. We are but a small place, with no established kingdom to rule over us. Right now the strongest ruling power is Count Nessus, who¡¯s child sits right amongst us as we speak. Anyway¡­¡± The teacher rambled on.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t know that¡­¡¯ Lucian muttered inwardly, crossing his arms as he listened to the lecture.


    Lucian had a frown on his face as he pinched his chin and pondered over what he had just heard from the teacher. The smartly dressed man said that everyone should know about the Barren islands, yet there was no recollection of such a place in his inherited memories. It wasn¡¯t like there was a missing piece to the puzzle either, it was simply that the knowledge was never there in the first place.


    ¡®How the hell did this kid Lucian manage to weasel his way into this academy without first knowing such a basic fact?¡¯ He questioned himself.


    Even for someone with such lack of emotion like Lucian, it was almost laughable. It was clear that his father didn¡¯t raise him to be a smart boy, which was evident enough from the fact he was sent to a knight¡¯s academy, rather than to normal school to become a scholar ¡ª a much more respectable occupation in these ¡®Barren Islands¡¯. But to not even know this? Things were clearly dire in the Verdan family.


    ¡°¡­ Outside of these Barren Islands, many other islands and continents exist with established powers dominant over each one of them. Compared to each of them, we are nothing but ants standing under an elephant¡¯s foot. At any moment this elephant could take a single step and crush us all to smithereens!¡±


    Some of the young student¡¯s faces turned pale white after hearing what the teacher had to say; it was clear that this information was too much for their young and inexperienced minds to handle. Yet, to Lucian, this was all fresh and interesting knowledge that he was fully absorbing.


    Learning about the outlook of this world was one of his primary goals after finding out he had transmigrated into this place. It seemed his choice of returning back to the classroom instead of following the teacher¡¯s advice and heading to the school nurse was a good one.


    ¡®Once I¡¯ve learned all that this academy has to offer, I should get out of this backwards place before it¡¯s too late.¡¯ Lucian silently set himself a goal.


    He¡¯d already started to make plans in his mind regarding his next steps. Learning that he was placed smack bang in the middle of nowhere wasn¡¯t exactly what he wanted to hear, but he could find ways to make it to these so called ¡®elephants¡¯ the teacher was talking about.


    ¡°Though, many speculate that the lack of future prospects and resources on our Barren Islands is due to our lack of Mages. For those of you who don¡¯t know what Mages are, go ask your parents. They¡¯ll probably remember the last time they came to visit this place¡­¡± The teacher continued his lecture, maintaining the same mysterious air he tried to hard to put on.


    ¡®Mages?¡¯


    Lucian¡¯s ears perked up when he heard this word. It wasn¡¯t an unknown word to him, but it was to his predecessor. Back in his previous world, Mages were something of fiction ¡ª a type of scholar similar to scientists who study the magic arts rather than the real, fundamental laws of reality that make up the universe.


    Mages were a rather popular concept among the youth of his world, and there were countless video games created surrounding that concept worth tens of billions, but as a scientist he was never interested in the world of fiction.


    So, why was something known only as fiction mentioned here in this world, and spoken about with such reverence and fear like these made up concepts were real enough to haunt them? Lucian had to dig deeper into this. He had to learn more ¡ª to satiate his ever growing curiosity. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he had to continue living the persona of his predecessor, he would have ran straight to the library to read up on this topic.


    ¡°This world is filled with all sorts of energies and laws, but unfortunately for us the Barren Islands with which we occupy are the place where they are the weakest, and least dense. It¡¯s said that for one to become an Apprentice Mage here, it would take up half the wealth of an entire County to succeed! And that¡¯s just the Apprentice stage, you can forget ever becoming a Mage here!¡± The teacher continued enthusiastically.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    He was very exuberant in his rambling, it seemed like telling stories was his passion, and working as a politics and history teacher was his medium of fulfilling this passion. Though, it was unfortunate he worked in a preparatory Knight academy, where most of the students couldn¡¯t care less about the stories and histories he told. Though, this particular class where he discussed Mages was always the exception to this.


    The young and energetic students always loved to hear the tales about the far away lands and the feats of the elusive Mages. For them, these were more than just stories ¡ª they were myth, ones they could relate to. It was the goal of every noble child on the Barren Islands to become a Mage one day. But for one particular child named Lucian, he felt entirely out of place in this classroom.


    ¡®Just what is a Mage in this world¡­?¡¯


    ***


    Lucian continued listening intently to the lesson, waiting for the teacher to speak even further. His mind was churning, practically begging to learn more about these so called mages. But no matter what, it seemed the teacher had no intention of mentioning them any further than just that brief introduction to the political landscape of this world.


    He continued listening for the remainder of the period, but found that nothing else the teacher spoke about was of interest or use to him. He didn¡¯t even get to learn the names of the surrounding islands or continents, with the second half of the lesson being a complete and utter waste of his time.


    But, he had to keep up appearances as ¡®Lucian Verdan¡¯ the cowardly and timid son of Knight Robert Vernon, so he made no verbal complaints or efforts to skip out on it. Instead, he took the opportunity to return back to his dorm as soon as possible to learn more about this new life, and more importantly the things he had brought over with him from his previous world.


    He was known as the failure of his father, with his older brother and sister taking the limelight all away from him. The best thing the original Lucian could have hoped for was to be sent to the Knight academy and become a normal, average knight to at least satisfy his father.


    The original Lucian was quite a sad child, even the new Lucian could acknowledge this. He had no real friends, no girlfriends, he was bullied by his older siblings, his father didn¡¯t pay any more attention to him than he needed to and his mother died giving birth to him, which might explain some of the resentment his father and siblings felt. Quite the tragic backstory indeed.


    ¡®Tsk, no wonder this boy¡¯s body is so frail and useless. He was underfed by his family, and even here in this academy he was too scared to go to the cafeteria to enjoy some food, only going out after the other students had already eaten their fill and left.¡¯ Lucian ridiculed. He wasn¡¯t a fan of cowards, so it was safe to say he felt some disdain for the original Lucian.


    Walking across the grass, Lucian looked around for the building his dorm was located in. Thanks to his memories not fully integrating yet, it was hard to distinguish what was what, especially when the architecture of this place wasn¡¯t all that special, so the buildings largely looked the same.


    However, one thing he did notice was that the architecture of the buildings fit the image of the Medieval style world he imagined this place to be even more. There were also many youths of all shapes and sizes wandering about the school, whether in groups or alone, and they all had bright smiles on their faces. The only difference compared to Earth being that these students all had some eccentric hair colors.


    *Rumble!*


    However while he was mid walk back to his dorm, Lucian¡¯s stomach decided to make a great cry for help. The lack of any nourishment seemed to be getting to him, and Lucian couldn¡¯t help but scowl at his predecessor for not taking proper care of his body.


    He deviated from his original path and walked over to the cafeteria building, pushed open the doors, ignoring the stares and walked over to the buffet area. He picked up a few pieces of bread and some soup before finding an empty seat to sit in.


    As more and more people spotted him, they looked over in his direction with smug smiles and disdain in their eyes. Their despise for him was obvious. Lucian thought himself to be quite uncaring, but this was still somewhat annoying to endure. However, he still had to eat.


    ¡°Chop chop! I don¡¯t have all day! Hurry the fuck up!¡± However, mid bite Lucian was interrupted by a somewhat high pitched shout, clearly belonging to a woman. But to his satisfaction, it wasn¡¯t directed at him this time.


    ¡°S-sorry, L-lady Sofia!¡± A familiar looking boy frantically apologised and ran away, forgetting to take his fair share of food.


    ¡®Interesting¡­¡¯ Lucian thought amusingly.


    He cracked a slight smile at this scene, as he recognised this boy to be Roderic ¡ª the very same child who attempted to extort him for a few coins earlier in the day, right after he found himself transmigrated into his new body.


    [Alert! Danger is nearby! Recommend action: Maintain a distance of at least 100 metres!]


    ¡®Oh?¡¯


    But the surprises kept coming, with this being the second time his unlikely accomplice, the AI implant, activated.


    Lucian¡¯s eyes slightly widened when he heard the familiar voice ring in his mind once again, but his reasons were different this time. The source of danger his AI was talking about happened to come from the direction of the young girl who just scolded Roderic a few seconds ago.


    ¡®I¡¯m curious about this thing. How did it transmigrate with me? Or is it even the same AI that I remember? Because I don¡¯t seem to recall it having the same features this thing has back in my old world?¡¯ Lucian recalled. As far as he knew, his previous AI implant had no such ability to detect nearby danger. That was something only the military grade AI¡¯s had.


    Lucian found it incredible that something could be brought along with him from his other life ¡ª if it even was from his other life. He decided to test his hypothesis now that he had the chance.


    ¡®AI¡­? Scan the source of danger in front of me!¡¯ He took a wild chance and sent a command to the AI.


    Using the same prompts he remembered from his previous life, altering them a little to suit this new ability it had, he sent a command. First informing the AI you were actually speaking to it by calling out ¡®AI¡¯ whether verbally or with his internal voice, and then voicing said command.


    A few seconds passed where nothing happened, and Lucian began to suspect that perhaps he was wrong, and his AI implant didn¡¯t transmigrate with him after all. But just as he was about to give up and go back to eating his soup and bread, the mechanical voice of the AI returned to his mind once again.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Sofia (Last name unknown). Age: 15. Sex: Female. Vitality: 2.4, Agility: 2.2, Strength: 2.6, Mind: 0. Status: Angry, Hungry. Bleeding from below, seems to be her time of the month.]


    A mental image of this girl, Sofia, projected itself into Lucian¡¯s mind. It displayed not only a naked projection of her body, but also the various different parameters pertaining to her physique.


    He may be in the body of a 12 year old boy, but Lucian was unbothered by the sight of a naked female, and instead was intrigued by the figures and statistics he was seeing.

 Chapter 5 - The first night

    ¡®Isn¡¯t the average human¡¯s stats supposed to be 1.0 for each individual one? And that¡¯s for a strong healthy adult male. If I recall correctly, the world record for a stat in any section was 1.8, so this means this 15 year old girl has surpassed the world record for the strength, agility, and vitality that has stood strong since the beginning of time in my previous world? And what¡¯s this Mind stat?¡¯


    Lucian was very intrigued upon seeing Sofia¡¯s stats, and couldn¡¯t wait any longer to find out what his own were. The very idea that such a young girl could possess those terrifying figures gave him some hope. Perhaps his own stats could be quite abnormal for his own age?


    ¡®AI, Scan my own physique!¡¯ He commanded.


    A few seconds passed just like it did with the young girl, only the time required before Lucian received a reply was shorter than the girl¡¯s.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Name: Lucian Verdan. Age: 12. Sex: Male. Vitality: 0.7, Agility: 0.6, Strength: 0.5, Mind: 0.1 Status: Curious, Hungry. In a state of slight dehydration and starvation.]


    The same mental image appeared in Lucian¡¯s mind, this time of himself. But there was one thing Lucian noticed immediately. The scan of his body indicated that while he was starving and a little thirsty, other than that there was nothing wrong with it. No injuries of any kind, with any that may have been there from beatings from Roderic and associates having already healed.


    ¡®No foreign bodies?¡¯ He questioned.


    But there was also no detection of anything inside his body that shouldn¡¯t be there naturally either. This was concerning to Lucian, as the AI implant should have definitely come up on the scan. He knew this for a fact, as he had performed countless tens of thousands of self scans and external scans before, as his job as a scientist required him to, and every time his AI implant showed up in the scan.


    ¡®What could this mean? The AI implant is a material object, subject to the same laws of mass preservation as everything else in this universe? It can¡¯t just not be there or not exist, especially when I confirmed its existence inside my mind already!¡¯ Lucian was quite baffled.


    He  thought to himself, thinking how fascinating of a discovery this was. If this were his previous world, this would at least warrant him a whole new research project with millions in extra funding!


    Lucian¡¯s lips gradually formed to create a mesmerising smile, creeping out the other students who were nearby to him. In a world like this one where there was little to no technology at all, having something as advanced as his AI implant to help him was akin to holding the future of this world¡¯s scientific advancements all in his mind.


    If he wanted, Lucian could probably speed up this world¡¯s development by centuries! However, the excitement soon wore off, as some realisations soon dawned upon him. Mainly, the fact that his own stats seemed so pitiful compared to that young girl Sofia.


    ¡®How did the Original Lucian allow himself to become this weak¡­¡¯ He was almost speechless when looking at the abysmal stats of his predecessor. He didn¡¯t know what to think, other than ¡®weak¡¯. The difference between himself and that Sofia girl should just be an anomaly. But just to make sure he decided to collect the stats and information of a few more students who sat around himself.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Name: Unknown. Age: 14. Sex: Male. Vitality: 1.6, Agility: 2.0, Strength: 1.8, Mind: 0. Status: Intrigued, Entertained. Body is in peak state.]


    [Scan complete!]


    [Name: Unknown. Age: 16. Sex: Female. Vitality: 2.0, Agility: 1.9, Strength: 1.9, Mind: 0. Status: Bored, Tired. Body is in peak state.]


    After half a minute, Lucian had scanned two more students and obtained their data in his mind, scanning their bodies and displaying their stats. But what he found left him even more dissatisfied with his own data.


    ¡®Not as absurd as Sofia¡¯s stats, but their stats are still definitely abnormal compared to my previous world. The people here are definitely stronger. And these are all only children, I have yet to scan an adult. My predecessor seems to be the only outlier though¡­ Even the weakest of students here has stats slightly above 1.0¡­ I¡¯m starting to feel embarrassed for this kid.¡¯ He wondered to himself internally.


    Lucian continued scanning the cafeteria. There wasn¡¯t a single adult present except for the cook who was serving and handing out the food to the students, but even he had an overall physique above 1. He didn¡¯t seem like he went through the same training these kids did either. In fact, he didn¡¯t seem like he went through any training at all, yet he still held such stats!


    The rest were all students around the same age, between 14-16 years old. But Sofia¡¯s stats remained the highest he had scanned out of the lot, and she gave him the greatest sense of danger.


    As a scientist, Lucian knew what high stats meant ¡ª Vitality represented the body¡¯s ability to heal, defend, and resist outside forces. Most common are viruses, infections, but also physical injuries like stab wounds and burns.


    Agility represented the body¡¯s reflexes and speed, measuring how fast they were and how well they were able to control their hand eye coordination, as well as maintain control over their bodies at speed.


    Strength was the most straightforward ¡ª it measured both capacity to hold weight under stress, but also to exert force. It wasn¡¯t necessarily about muscle mass but about muscle density.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    But it wasn¡¯t just that simple. Stats weren¡¯t a simple case of 1+1 = 2. A person with all round stats of 1.0 across the board could lift 100kg, run 100m in 13 seconds, and had a general good resistance to viral infections, penetrations to the skin, and a good recovery time.


    But a person with all round stats of 2.0 could theoretically lift up to 550kg, run 100m in 8 seconds, be able to resist most viruses and infections, and had triple the recovery time from wounds as someone with 1.0 in vitality.


    While these figures were all estimations, and would require the person to exert their entire potential to pull off, it still gave a good representation of what was possible with certain levels of stats. To put this into perspective, a big portion of the students gathered in this cafeteria were faster in a 100m sprint than the fastest human in history from his previous world, and could dead-lift more weight than the strongest bodybuilders in history.


    This world was clearly not normal, and Lucian intended to find out why. He also intended to find out why his own stats were so low in comparison, with the primary goal in mind being how to fix that¡­


    ¡®A person with those kinds of stats could only be created with some sort of scientifically advanced genetic modification. Even back in my previous world, we had over two and a half centuries of research behind this topic, yet we couldn¡¯t produce such perfect physical bodies¡­¡¯


    Lucian ruminated over the stat difference between humans in this world and his old one, and couldn¡¯t quite wrap his head around why they were special. Nothing about this place gave him the feeling that they were an even more advanced civilisation than even 2175 Earth, where they had already colonised half the solar system!


    Let alone advanced, this place didn¡¯t even seem like they had discovered the most basic of basic medicinal advancements yet. Heck, all the books he had taken a peak at during class looked handwritten, so it wasn¡¯t even clear if the printing press was even invented yet.


    ¡®This world is definitely not a simple at all!¡¯ Lucian seemed sure of it.


    On the surface Lucian¡¯s transmigration seemed like his consciousness had returned maybe a few hundred or thousand years into the past, but it was clear that this was not a case of time travel at all. The fact that they had completely different names for the locations here, as well as the only crudely drawn map he¡¯d seen looking nothing like any place he recognised from Earth. He¡¯d sure as heck never heard of a place called the ¡®Barren Islands¡¯ in any history books.


    Lucian continued thinking to himself as he scarfed down his food like a starving street dog, before looking over at the terrifying young girl who possessed those stats. Normally, seeing such figures without seeing the actual person who possessed them would create the image of a perfectly sculpted 7 foot tall bodybuilder in one¡¯s mind. Yet, they actually belonged to this petite, barely even 5 foot tall teen girl. She was clearly some sort of noble, as evidenced from her attitude towards Roderic earlier, but also from the fact she had a servant following her around wherever she went, keeping his head down and not daring to utter a single word in her presence unprovoked.


    ¡®Wait, she has a servant?¡¯ He did a double take, confused.


    In fact, Lucian was surprised, because he failed to notice this servant¡¯s presence until now. Originally, he thought the only adult present was the cook, but things were getting interesting¡­ Lucian quickly developed a strong interest in this man after finding yet another mysterious phenomenon occurring around him. He was quite an observant person, thanks to his scientific nature, so for something to slip past his notice was quite the achievement.


    Looking at him, he appeared rather normal. He wore a black robe, keeping a hood over his head constantly so only his face was visible, and his eyes looked despondent, like he was only half present in the moment, with his mind elsewhere.


    ¡®AI, scan this guy¡¯s stats!¡¯ He commanded.


    Without hesitation, he initiated a scan on the unnoticeable servant with almost maniacal eyes, eager to dig into his secrets and all he had to offer.


    Interestingly, the AI was silent for longer than it took to process the terrifyingly strong girl¡¯s stats, only further intriguing Lucian. But he was a patient man, or rather a child now, considering he was technically 12 years old? Regardless, around 10 more seconds passed before he received an answer from the AI.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Name: Unknown. Age: 31. Sex: Male. Vitality: 5.2, Agility: 5.5, Strength: 6.5, Mind: 0. Status: Obedient, Observant. Body is in peak state.]


    Lucian examined the stats as soon as they appeared, and his eyes practically widened out of their sockets. He almost couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing, but considering all of the other weird and strange stuff he had witnessed in this world already, he suppressed his surprise for the time being.


    ¡®Average stats around 5.5? What is this guy, a monster? He can probably lift well over a ton with that kind of strength, and with his extraordinarily high vitality, his body would be able to withstand it! Incredible!¡¯ Lucian could hardly believe what he was seeing. ¡®This guy could probably classify as a superhero in my previous world if he dressed up and went out solving crimes!¡¯


    Lucian thought to himself as he looked at the terrifying person who possessed these stats once again. ¡®No wonder the AI¡¯s alarms and warnings went off when I stepped into the cafeteria. They weren¡¯t because of Sofia, but because of her servant!¡¯


    His dinner was soon finished, as the portion sizes weren¡¯t too big and he practically vacuumed his food down in seconds. Lucian stood up and started walking back over to the counter to return his tray, but as he did so, a voice from behind stopped him.


    ¡°Oi! Who¡¯d have thought that Lucian would be brave enough to come to the cafeteria today!¡± That same, high pitched and arrogant voice that scolded Roderic earlier spoke out once again. This time, Sofia directed her ridicule towards Lucian. It seemed he was her new target.


    ¡°Hurry up and take your food!¡± The cook over the counter shouted, suddenly scaring the two gawking students who were in the process of taking quick glances at Lucian and Sofia.


    His great shout scared one of them quite badly, making him drop his tray on the floor and creating even more of a ruckus. But unfortunately for him, the school wasn¡¯t kind enough to give him second¡¯s, so he either had to suck it up and eat the now dirty food, or throw it away and go to bed with an empty stomach.


    Lucian ignored the ruckus from his one side, and instead turned around to face Sofia, who was now staring at him with a face that screamed ¡®Look at me, scum!¡¯


    ¡®Am I, or rather my predecessor, really so unpopular in this place that I have to be picked on everywhere I go?¡¯ Lucian was starting to get a bit annoyed at this point. His predecessor really did set him up with a poor beginning to his new life.


    Regardless of his slightly irked thoughts, Lucian quickly performed a deep bow towards Sofia and her servant, closed his eyes and strained his face.


    ¡°I am really sorry, Lady Sofia!¡± He shouted with fear evident in his voice, before turning tail and running out of the cafeteria in embarrassment. This was the best course of action he could take. It resulted in the conflict being resolved instantly, shortened the time he had to interact with her, and enabled him to make a quick exit. All it took was a little bit of embarrassing himself publicly.


    But with his reputation already at rock bottom, could a few more ridiculing stares really make a difference? Lucian didn¡¯t care much for that anyway. Things would change in due time.


    ¡®That should satisfy her childish tendencies for now.¡¯

 Chapter 6 - Knights and Mages

    Back in his room, Lucian took in his surroundings and made mental notes of everything he saw. This was the first time he was seeing his dorm for himself since coming to this place, only taking a brief skim through his inherited memories after leaving the cafeteria to find out exactly where it was.


    He had to say, it fit the whole loner persona he had going on really well. Despite being a Knight¡¯s academy, there was a whole bookshelf stacked with all sorts of novels, instruction books, and other random media. But interestingly, none of them seemed to be about Knight training or the like.


    ¡®Looks like this kid wasn¡¯t too happy with the idea of becoming a knight like his father was¡­¡¯ He noted internally.


    Lucian only affirmed this thought when he found his training gear buried under a bunch of dust and old items, containing both a sword and some basic leather armour. The sword was in a bad state, covered with rust and too blunt to actually penetrate through skin. Though this was probably intentional on the school¡¯s behalf, considering it was just training equipment. As for the armour¡­ well it was just covered in some dust. Leather lasts, as the people in this world liked to say.


    Putting them aside, Lucian lay down on his bed, noting how stiff it was, before a gloomy shadow formed in his eyes.


    ¡®Even with my transmigration and AI implant somehow miraculously following me, I am still ridiculously weak in this world.¡¯


    His eyes snapped wide open, turning over as he gazed outside of his window at the bright stars in the night sky, ¡®I guess one positive of not having any electricity is the lack of light pollution,¡¯


    Being weak just meant that he had more to accomplish! Lucian wouldn¡¯t be so easily unmotivated by such a small setback. He rolled back over and began to undress himself, taking off his school jacket and trousers and laying them at the edge of his bed, until eventually he was fully naked.


    Attached to his room was a closet sized bathroom, housing a single toilet, sink, and a bathtub ¡ª which looked more like a big bucket than a tub. Despite its not-so-satisfying look, this was actually considered a luxury for households in this world.


    For most commoners, baths and toilets were communal places they had to share with either a whole neighbourhood, or town. Thankfully, Lucian came from a Knight family like pretty much every other student in this academy, so with their influence they were able to afford such luxuries. The school would be pretty hard pressed to cheap out and force them to use communal toilets and baths, as the pressure each family could bring down on them was far too much for the administrators to endure.


    Lucian turned the tap and let water flow into the tub, quickly filling it up with steamy hot liquid. On the side, Lucian found a closed container and opened it, finding a mixture of herbs and flowers inside, and poured some of the mixture into the tub. Instantly, his nose was filled with a sweet and pleasant scent, a variety of aromas blessing his senses. It was extremely pleasing to his nose, but it also invoked some nostalgia in him.


    ¡®Smells like home¡­¡¯ He reminisced, sinking into some memories of his past life. The smell of the herbal bath was very similar to some of the products he used on Earth. He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, realising he was already becoming nostalgic of his previous life despite only being gone for less than a day.


    ¡°My journey in this world has only just started¡­¡± Lucian murmured.


    He tilted his head back over the edge of the bathtub and closed his eyes, falling into a daze. After some time, he was out like a light.


    ***


    Some hours later, Lucian awoke, feeling mentally refreshed, but physically like a wet sponge. Falling asleep in the bathtub wasn¡¯t exactly what he had planned for the previous night, and as a consequence his entire body felt wrinkly and dry.


    ¡®Well, I guess it beats sleeping on that thing.¡¯ He shrugged and glanced over at the empty bed, remembering how stiff it felt to lie on.


    But he quickly noticed how his body strangely recovered rather quickly from the effects of sitting in water for hours on end. It barely took even 30 seconds before his body was back to normal! Usually it took him around 5 minutes out of the tub before his wrinkles disappeared. Not only did he recover quickly though, he strangely felt even better afterwards!


    Clearly noticing something strange had happened, Lucian consulted the one thing that could possibly give him an answer.


    ¡®AI, scan the mixture in the bathtub.¡¯


    Last night, he might not have thought about it or realised it thanks to his drowsiness, but hidden amongst those aromatic scents were some herbs his expertly attuned nose didn¡¯t quite recognise to be from Earth. It didn¡¯t take long for him to get an answer from the AI either.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Discovered unknown herbal mixture. Beginning scan of effects.]


    [Unable to scan individual components, beginning simulation.]


    [Simulation complete!]


    [Name: Unknown herbal mixture. Effects: Stimulates growth of the body, recovery, and vitality.]If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Lucian muttered aloud, intrigued by the results of the scan.


    ¡®This thing is actually a medicinal remedy?¡¯


    He looked over at the unassuming pot containing the remainder of the mixture that he had yet to use up, feeling somewhat glad he didn¡¯t just pour the whole thing in the tub the previous night.


    ¡®The scan says it stimulates growth, but specifically mentioned vitality¡­¡¯


    An idea popped into Lucian¡¯s mind and he asked his AI to pull up his own stats once again.


    [Name: Lucian Verdan. Age: 12. Sex: Male. Vitality: 0.8, Agility: 0.6. Strength: 0.5, Mind: 0.1. Status: Intrigued, refreshed. Body is in recovery.]


    A mental image of his own body once again appeared in his mind, but Lucian ignored that and instead focused on the stats themselves. Immediately, he noticed one very big and obvious change, which also explained why he was feeling so good.


    ¡®My vitality has gone up by 0.1?¡¯


    Yesterday, his Vitality was at 0.7, but now it showed 0.8. If he remembered correctly, something like this couldn¡¯t just happen overnight thanks to some mixture of herbs. But he kept an open mind, as this world already made it crystal clear that it was different.


    Lucian couldn¡¯t quite wrap his head around this mysterious phenomenon. Even with the advanced technology of his previous world, they had the ability to artificially increase someone¡¯s vitality by 0.1 like Lucian had just experienced, but it was extremely expensive, required very specialised equipment and it wasn¡¯t just an overnight process. Not to mention some ghastly side effects came with artificially increasing a stat as vital as vitality, such as nausea, frequent vomiting, and consistent unrelenting migraines. However, Lucian had experienced none of those.


    Lucian studied the mixture of herbs in his hand, thinking curiously to himself. This place just kept getting more and more mysterious the more he learned about it and experienced what it had to offer. Even his everyday life provided some surprises just like this one.


    ¡®It seems while quite backwards in some areas, this world has managed to advance quite far in certain fields.¡¯ He took note of this, since it could be quite important to know. While he thought this though, his mind also came to other conclusions.


    ¡°Maybe with this, I can catch up to the others with my vitality stat at least, but that would just create an unhealthy imbalance in my stats¡­ What to do? How do I increase my other two stats to the same level? This mixture looks like it might give me another 0.3 or 0.4 vitality points if I use the whole thing up.¡± He thought aloud.


    His body was far too weak, unable to compare to the other students near his own age! Although he was the youngest student there by far, only being enrolled earlier than normal thanks to his father¡¯s connections, the gap was still far too wide to consider normal.


    ¡®This is not adequate¡­¡¯ He was unconvinced, unsatisfied with what he had been given. His weak stats were not a result of his own negligence, but of his predecessor¡¯s negligence! He wasn¡¯t about to let some random kid with no goals in life ruin his future.


    Lucian soon began to waft through his inherited memories, but he was still not quite fully assimilated with them, so it wasn¡¯t as natural as going through his own memories from his past life. It was hard to describe, but if he only had to rely on his instincts and subconscious to access his own memories, then it would require a manual effort through his conscious mind to access the memories of the previous Lucian this body belonged to. Over time, the two would eventually blend together though, making Lucian¡¯s two separate sets of memories one in the same.


    ¡®What is this¡­?¡¯ Soon, it seemed he found something.


    While sifting through his memories, he came across something quite interesting. Something that intrigued him greatly. The memories he accessed came to him like chapters of a book and he began searching through them like a moth to a flame.


    ¡®Every few years, some ¡®Mages¡¯ from outside of the Barren Islands on their mysterious, enchanted ships to select a few Prospects for their magic academies. Specifically, they come every three years, and the last time they came over was nearly three years ago¡­ Meaning in the coming weeks they will be coming back!¡¯


    Lucian¡¯s eyebrows perked up when he recalled this, surprised by the great timing of things. It was almost like his death and reincarnation was planned so that he would arrive here in time for this. But he didn¡¯t let it get to his head ¡ª he didn¡¯t believe in things like fate, or destiny, or even a higher being that presides over everything in the universe. If anything, the only higher power he believed in was the universe itself. He didn¡¯t believe that his coming here was planned, but was just a set of mere coincidences that caused his soul to cross over into the new Lucian¡¯s body.


    But, as quickly as his intrigue rose, his face fell into a frown.


    ¡®These mages come to the different Knight and scholarly academies across the Barren Islands to recruit these Prospects, whatever ¡®Prospects¡¯ are exactly my predecessor didn¡¯t seem to know ¡ª only the name.¡¯ He frowned in thought.


    This was a big problem to Lucian. Ever since he had heard about Mages and noticed how everyone became fearful and frightened whenever they were mentioned, he was full of a desire to research more about them ¡ª only he hadn¡¯t found the time to do so as it had still only been a day since he crossed over.


    He fully intended to be selected by these Mages and whatever organisation they were representing, the only problem right now was that he wasn¡¯t qualified. The Mages only went to the official Knight and Scholar academies, disregarding the idea of going to the preparatory academies entirely. As a student of the Knight academies, Lucian didn¡¯t know exactly what the process of going through the scholarly route was like, but he assumed it was similar to the Knight route.


    A certain threshold had to be met to be enrolled into the official academy. And for the Knight academy, Lucian did not meet this threshold. In fact, he was the student with the lowest prospects of ever meeting this threshold in the entire preparatory academy!


    The requirement to enter the Official Knight academy was to become an Official Knight. Lucian hadn¡¯t done much research on the subject of Knights yet, as he just assumed they were skilled fighters and soldiers much like they were back in his previous world, but after finding out about the abnormality of the stats of the people in this world, as well as the existence of Mages, he knew things couldn¡¯t be that simple.


    And a short search through his memories confirmed it. ¡®I see, so becoming an Official Knight means to surpass a certain threshold of stats. This threshold being at minimum 2.0 in all physical stats.¡¯


    ¡°Interesting, so becoming a knight in this world isn¡¯t actually about the skill of the individual, but the stats of the individual¡­ While odd, it does make some sense.¡±


    Speaking his thoughts aloud again, Lucian realised just how much of a difficult situation he was in if he wanted to be selected by the Mages that were coming over.


    He checked the date on the calendar on his wall, and saw that there were just over three weeks until the Mages arrived from abroad, and they would spend 5 days touring the Barren Islands past that point to look for ¡®Prospects¡¯.


    That meant that he had just three weeks to try and become an Official Knight to enter the Official Knight academy, or else he wouldn¡¯t meet the deadline and he¡¯d miss this chance, having to wait another three years to receive the opportunity again. Lucian was a patient person, but he wasn¡¯t willing to delay his plans for an entire three years.

 Chapter 7 - The Verdan Method

    However, while he fully intended to achieve this, it was a huge hurdle for Lucian to cross. Not only was he not an Official Knight yet, but he hadn¡¯t even met the requirements to become an Apprentice Knight!


    To become an Apprentice Knight, one had to have at least 1.0 across the board in all his Physical stats. Right now, Lucian was the only student in the entire preparatory academy who had yet to cross this threshold. In fact, most of the other students met this threshold before even enrolling in the place.


    ¡®It¡¯s no wonder my predecessor received so much bullying.¡¯


    The constant teasing and harshness towards him made sense to Lucian now. This world operated on the principal of Survival of the Fittest, the strong rule and the weak cower. With this ironclad law in play, the other ¡ª stronger ¡ª students could do and say what they liked to Lucian without repercussion as long as they didn¡¯t kill him or permanently injure him.


    ¡®This world is much harsher than Earth!¡¯


    However, despite all this a devilish smile started to creep its way onto Lucian¡¯s face.


    ¡®But that just makes things so much more interesting!¡¯


    ***


    After finishing up his breakfast in the canteen ¡ª ignoring all the scornful and ridiculing stares ¡ª Lucian spent the rest of his morning coming up with a plan of action. Today was Sunday, the only day off the people of this world had of the week, so it was perfect for him to devote all his time to researching and devising strategies.


    From what he knew, his predecessor really didn¡¯t like the idea of becoming a knight. So much so that he completely neglected his training entirely, which resulted in him becoming so weak in comparison to the other students in the academy. Instead, he chose to focus on fictional stories and books which had no meaning to him whatsoever other than to entertain and distract him from the real world.


    Naturally, Lucian found such pitiful and weak behaviour a complete waste of time, and couldn¡¯t help but join the other students in ridicule of the kid. Lucian wouldn¡¯t have had such a big problem with the kid reading books all the time, if they were actually constructive and educational instead of just fantasy and fiction.


    In fact, Lucian¡¯s first destination after breakfast was the library. He intended to find out all that he could about Knights and their training methods through the various books available, and considering this place was an academy specifically designed to create Knights en masse, there were quite a few of them.


    Books on training methods, books on knights famous in the Barren Islands¡¯ personal experiences in battle, even some books on the history of knights.


    Whatever the book, if it had the word knight in the title, Lucian picked it up and skimmed through them page by page, not actually reading more than a couple of words himself from each one.


    ¡®AI, scan the contents of each one of these books and store them all in a file called ¡®Official Knight training plan¡¯!¡¯ He issued a command, one that left him feeling quite happy that he had the AI to assist him.


    Others would have to spend hours reading a book, making sure their entire focus and concentration were on it the whole time if they wished to actually add the knowledge inside of it to their brains. But not Lucian ¡ª he could have the AI do all of the heavy lifting for him, and when he needed some specific information, he could just ask the AI and it would provide it straight to his mind! It was all very efficient.


    In the end, by the time lunchtime came around, he had scanned probably over 50 different books, garnering a few confused and curious glances from the librarian and the other students in the library during this time. But what seemed nonsensical and a waste of time to all of them, was the complete opposite to Lucian.


    ¡®That should do it. There are no more books related to knights in this place ¡ª none that are useful at least.¡¯ He noted.


    Lucian put down the final book, returning it back to the same spot on the shelf he took it from, and promptly returned back to the canteen, picking up his lunch and scoffing it down in a heartbeat before immediately running back to his dorm.


    Time was of the essence, and even spending a minute longer in places that he didn¡¯t need to could be the difference between spending another three years here or not.


    ¡®If this were my past life, I could probably put myself through some intense and excruciating genetic engineering to bring my stats up, but with no alternative here, I¡¯ll just have to go at it the old fashioned way!¡¯ He seemed determined to go through with this.


    Lucian¡¯s plan was simple ¡ª if he couldn¡¯t rely on methods from his old world to help him essentially boost himself all the way to the level of an Official Knight, then he would follow what this world had to offer.


    It clearly worked, as everyone wouldn¡¯t be so absurdly strong otherwise.


    ¡®AI, I have a task for you. Scan the ¡®Official Knight training plan¡¯ file for all mentions of training methods, and find as many methods possible to increase my strength in a short amount of time!¡¯


    This was the very reason Lucian didn¡¯t bother reading each of the books himself, as that would have taken up the entire three weeks if he wanted to finish all fifty or so of them! On Earth, the idea of ¡®forgetfulness¡¯ and diseases such as Alzheimers had long been eradicated, thanks to the invention of the AI implants.Stolen story; please report.


    These AI implants essentially housed super powerful, instant access computers that the host could store near limitless amounts of data on across their lifetime, essentially acting as a second brain to store memories in. It didn¡¯t need to be said how groundbreaking and useful this technology was, as Lucian¡¯s use of it in the library was already example enough.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Results - 67 training methods found!]


    ¡®That¡¯s quite alot!¡¯


    Lucian paused for a second, before speaking to the AI again.


    ¡®Now filter these for those with the most effectiveness, and highest rate of success. Oh, and I also must be able to begin the training immediately!¡¯


    [Scan complete!]


    [Results - 1 training method found matching the filters!]


    ¡®Send the training method directly to my memory!¡¯


    Lucian¡¯s idea was simple but also something this world might have never seen before. Unlike the other students, he would circumvent the need to go through months of learning and training before becoming efficient with these training methods. Instead, the AI could send the knowledge to his mind directly.


    The moment he sent his request, a pain similar to the one he endured when he first crossed over to this world and took over the previous Lucian¡¯s body assaulted him. Only it was much more tame this time.


    ¡®Perhaps it has something to do with my 0.1 in the Mind stat, but that¡¯s something to research at another point!¡¯


    After the minor pain died down from the memory transfer, Lucian quickly began to understand what a Knight was exactly. It turned out that in this world, there existed mysterious forces and energy that would be unexplainable with his previous world¡¯s science.


    There were two main forces though, and the common people ¡ª aka those from the Barren Islands with little contact with the outside world ¡ª mainly knew about one of them.


    Inner force! Also known as life energy, or life force. Whatever one called it, it existed within each and every living person, and it was what enabled people to live long, healthy lives.


    However, if every person had this life force, then what differentiated Knights from normal people one might wonder? Well, the answer to that was simple. Knights are the equivalent of soldiers from his previous world, going through rigorous training to temper both their bodies and their minds to specialise them for combat situations. In essence, in this world Knights were people who trained and trained until they had activated their life force, which is the very thing that boosted people¡¯s stats so abnormally despite their normal looking physiques and young ages.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t just life force that could do this, but external items could too. Lucian¡¯s mixture of herbs was the perfect example ¡ª as it turned out, plants, animals and various sorts of fauna existed in this world that had natural healing and strengthening effects on the body, far more effective than were available on a planet like Earth.


    Lucian found out this was because of the other energy that also happened to be the most powerful and mysterious. It was known as Mana, and it was what Mages primarily researched and used. Not much was known about Mana from what Lucian could learn from the library¡¯s books, but that wasn¡¯t just because this was a Knight¡¯s academy and not a scholarly or mage academy, but because not much information about it was available to the public at all!


    All he could find out about it was that it was in everything, living and non living, in the world. It was everywhere, but people couldn¡¯t interact with it as easily as they could their life force.


    ¡®This is probably another drawback of being transmigrated to a place as empty as the Barren Islands¡­ I can see where they get their name from now.¡¯


    Lucian was unsatisfied with the amount of information he could gleam about this energy source ¡®Mana¡¯. But he was happy to learn that Mana enabled the use of abilities and strength that almost seemed impossible to achieve, but was in fact very real.


    It was said that Mages could spit fireballs from their hands with but a single chant of a spell, or even summon great gusts of winds that could sweep even an elephant off its feet! The kinds of stories that were spread about Mages were in the realm of fiction and imagination, it was almost hard to fathom that they were all actually real!


    Despite the lack of information about them, Lucian was extremely pleased with what he  found, and even more determined to strengthen himself to become an official knight in time for the selection.


    However there was one thing that worried Lucian slightly. To be a Mage it required more than just hard work and training like becoming a Knight did ¡ª it required a special kind of talent, one that only one out of maybe a thousand or so people could claim to have ¡ª The ability to detect Mana. Lucian wasn¡¯t quite sure if he had this ability or not, but for the time being he could only dampen his feelings on this and focus on actually being able to qualify for the selection.


    ¡®It turns out I was wrong in my assumption earlier ¡ª Knights aren¡¯t just brutes with strong bodies, they actually do have some fine tuned talents with weaponry. Though, this is  only natural to happen when their training methods combine both skills training and body training.¡¯ Lucian could admit when he was wrong.


    Going through the memories sent to him by the AI, Lucian quickly became accustomed with the training techniques of the Knights. And to be honest he was quite¡­ disappointed.


    ¡®This was the best they could offer?¡¯


    Out of 67 total training methods he had scanned from the countless books he read in the library, the AI had deduced this one to be the best suited and most efficient for him. But from just a quick glance over the materials in his memory, Lucian himself could pick out many flaws in the methods.


    If he relied on the method the AI had picked out for him, let alone three weeks ¡ª he wouldn¡¯t even be able to become an Official Knight in two months! And that was with constant training every day.


    ¡®I wonder¡­ Could I make use of my AI for this?¡¯


    An idea quickly popped into Lucian¡¯s mind after finding out how lackluster his training method was.


    ¡®AI, is it possible for you to compile the best bits of each training method to create an entirely new one? One that better matches my requirements?¡¯


    [¡­ Simulating experiments¡­]


    The AI quickly responded to him, beginning a multitude of simulations which probably involved a virtual version of Lucian practising each of the 67 training methods at an accelerated pace in a virtual space, and analysing the data outputted by each one of them.


    Contrary to all the other times he had tasked the AI with something, he received no response even after 5 whole minutes had passed by.


    With nothing else to do while waiting, Lucian decided to do some basic stretches he had learned from his previous world. These were just some Pilates and yoga techniques he took upon himself in his spare time to keep his body in good shape.


    It was important to maintain a healthy body if he wanted to keep up with his experiments after all.


    [Experiments complete!]


    [Results: New unnamed Knight training method - Please choose a name for this method!]


    After another 5 minutes passed and some stretches completed, making his body feel slightly better, the AI finally finished its task and responded.


    ¡®Name the technique you say? Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll choose¡­¡¯

 Chapter 8 - Cultivating Life force

    ¡®The Verdan Method.¡¯


    Lucian didn¡¯t want to wrack his brain too much for something as useless as naming a new training method, so he just picked out his last name for it and left it at that. He wasn¡¯t expecting it to be anything special anyway. All he wanted was something he could use to become an official knight within a three week time limit.


    Past that point he didn¡¯t even plan on working on the knight side of things at all. From what he could gleam through the small tidbits of information that was actually useful from the library, the difference between Knights and Mages was just that big.


    Even a Grand Knight, which is the level above Official Knight, wouldn¡¯t be as strong as just a level 1 Apprentice Mage. That was how pitiful Knights and their life force training methods were.


    Although, Knights still made up the dominant forces of the backwater places like the Barren Islands, and even those surrounding it. The Kingdoms of this world, as well as the duchies, counties and the like, were all made up of Knights and Knight families. It was very rare for Mages to get into contact and involve themselves in the world of the ¡®Commoners¡¯.


    To Mages, even Nobility were commoners in their eyes.


    Lucian¡¯s own family was a Knight family. It wasn¡¯t just his father Robert Verdan that was a Knight, but his Grandfather, his uncles, and even his Grandfather¡¯s Grandfather was a Knight too when he was alive. His family had a long tradition of being Knights, which was primarily the reason Lucian was sent to the Knight academy despite his young age and complete lack of interest in becoming a Knight.


    As long as he could just become an Official Knight, not even a grand knight, his father and Grandfather wouldn¡¯t have to call him a disgrace to the family tradition. The moment the previous Lucian even mentioned becoming a scholar in passing, he received many lashings from all his father and Grandfather.


    Right now his family was a minor noble family, with his father being a Baron, and his Grandfather the same. They all served under the Count their Barony was located in, and had to come at his beck and call whenever conflicts arose with other nearby counties.


    ¡®Whatever, I have no connection to them anyway.¡¯


    Even in his old life, Lucian never really felt any attachments to his family. They were just the people that brought him into this world, nothing more in his eyes. His mindset was just like that ever since he first developed his own thoughts and ideas. This was something that wouldn¡¯t change even when his soul had crossed worlds and dimensions to land in this new body.


    Besides, Lucian didn¡¯t ask to be brought into this world anyway ¡ª how could two emotionally immature people make that decision for him? Nobody asked to be born.


    ¡®AI, show me the details of this new training method.¡¯


    Without further adieu, Lucian allowed the analysis of this new ¡®Verdan Method¡¯ to appear in his mind. After seeing what the AI considered the ¡®best¡¯ of the other 67 methods had to offer, he kept his expectations low. He was still expecting an increase in efficiency though, as he had something valuable that the people of this world didn¡¯t. His AI implant.


    [Name: Verdan Method.]


    [Verdan Method: Forward slash, Piercing attack, Downward slash, Upward slash¡­]


    [Footwork: Dodge, Advance, Counterattack, Sideswipe¡­]


    [Breathing technique: Enter a state of meditation within 60 seconds of activation.]


    All of this appeared quickly in Lucian¡¯s mind, like a list of ingredients for a recipe. It was all quite new for Lucian, who had never trained in something like this before, which only made it all so much more interesting.


    This was the first time he was coming into contact with a training method from this world (One that was actually useful for him¡­). However, there was one very intriguing aspect of this new training method that wasn¡¯t available with any of the other 67 that he had found in the library.


    ¡®A breathing technique?¡¯


    His mind instantly picked up on this, and he focused entirely on it. None of the other training methods had something like this attached to it, and Lucian wondered just what its use was.


    ¡®AI, What is the use of this breathing technique?¡¯


    With nothing to reference from the library to provide him an answer, he decided to ask its creator, his AI implant.


    [¡­]


    It took a while for the AI to answer.


    [Insufficient information available¡­ Additional data had to be collated.]


    ¡®Well, that¡¯s not much to go off.¡¯


    The AI wasn¡¯t exactly what could be classified as ¡®Artificial General Intelligence¡¯ which could be summarised to be a computer with capabilities to think for itself. The AI implants popular back on Earth were more like ¡®helpers¡¯, mini computers that could do calculations and experiments if you were a scientist, but they couldn¡¯t really act like a search engine when asked questions.


    However, Lucian was a smart man and gleamed what he could from this non-answer the AI had given him.


    ¡®My guess is¡­¡¯


    ¡®When simulating each different training method, they all seem fundamentally flawed ¡ª they lack something critical. This must be why I felt so disappointed when I first checked the method the AI picked out for me. But with not a single one of the 67 techniques having this flaw fixed, the simulation had to improvise and assimilate information from elsewhere...¡¯


    ¡®On Earth there are many martial arts techniques that mention the use of controlling one¡¯s breathing while training, and so this was implemented into one of the experiments, and resulted in the creation of this breathing technique. This is my best educated guess.¡¯


    For the time being, Lucian couldn¡¯t get a definitive answer so this was all he could come up with. However, considering this technique came from the AI and matched his parameters, Lucian wasn¡¯t worried that this brand new training method might be harmful to him.


    ¡®AI, using this training method, how long will it take me to reach 2.0 in all of my physical attributes?¡¯ Lucian asked the AI one last critical question before beginning the process of training. Without knowing the answer to this, he wouldn¡¯t know whether spending the next three weeks fully devoting himself to training would be useless in the end if he had to wait three years for the next selection.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Estimated time required to reach 2.0 with all attributes: 2 weeks 3 days.]


    [Training required to reach this: Practising all sword techniques for 6 hours every day, practise all footwork for 2 hours every day, exercise breathing technique for 8 hours every day.]


    ¡®It seems my goal is possible!¡¯


    However, while it was possible to achieve, Lucian had his work cut out for him. Adding up all the time he needed to allocate to each of the tasks the AI had set out for him, he would need to spend 16 hours of every day training. This left him with just 8 hours for sleeping, eating, and all his other necessary daily tasks.


    ¡®Luckily this academy doesn¡¯t care about attendance, only about the final exam results, otherwise I would be in quite a spot these coming weeks.¡¯ Lucian thought to himself, thanking whichever administrator came up with this rule.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    With his new schedule, he would be hard pressed to fulfil it if he also had to attend classes every day.


    ¡®Hmm, since it¡¯s so early in the morning I guess I¡¯ll start with the least intensive task of the bunch.¡¯ Lucian summoned the details of the breathing technique provided with the training method, and examined it carefully. His gaze gradually began to become ablaze with interest the more he read into it.


    A deep analysis of the technique revealed that just like he had suspected, the moves required of practising the breathing technique were almost identical to that of the breath control methods of his previous world, but at the same time it was much more detailed and in depth, and contained a lot more theory.


    The theory combined the practicality and efficiency of controlling the breathing to minimise energy exertion mid fight, and the mysterious forces behind life force. The act of entering a meditative state enabled a person to have a much deeper connection to their inner self, loosening the channels which the life force flowed through and making it much, much easier to cultivate it.


    However, even with all of this, there still existed barriers that blocked each person from fully allowing their life force to flow freely. It¡¯s said there were only two ways to break through those barriers ¡ª either through sheer talent and understanding of their life force, or through pushing themselves to the limit their bodies could handle, with the easiest method of achieving this being during battle, when adrenaline and stress levels were at their highest.


    ¡®At the most basic level, it takes 60 seconds to enter a meditative state and the host¡¯s concentration and body cannot be disturbed during this time, or else their cultivation will break and they¡¯ll have to start over from the beginning¡­¡¯ Lucian thought to himself.


    It¡¯s a good thing he was a loner in this place, or else he might have other students coming over and knocking on his door all the time. This was one thing Lucian actually praised his predecessor for. He contemplated hanging a ¡®Do Not Disturb¡¯ sign on his door, just to make sure there were no odd disturbances that might break his concentration during this time, but he was already sitting down, eyes closed and arms crossed, so he decided to just take the risk.


    It was his first time attempting this anyway, so he didn¡¯t exactly think things would go as smoothly as he¡¯d like ¡ª discrepancies always occurred whenever he attempted a new and unexplored experiment for the first time, it was something he had long become accustomed to.


    Lucian took a quick glance over the mental instructions of how to begin the breathing technique in his mind, and immediately prepared himself. ¡®Deep inwards breath¡­¡¯ He inhaled long and hard, just as the instructions reminded him.


    ¡®Now exhale, slow and structured. Like a calm breeze on a warm summer day¡­¡¯ Lucian wouldn¡¯t exactly use those words to describe how he would breathe out, this was just how the AI described it in his memories. He suspected this was perhaps due to the inclusion of some memories of his predecessor being added into the mix when doing the simulated experiments to produce this training method.


    ¡®Repeat the process, keeping strict control over the breathing the entire time. Do not stray from any step¡­¡¯ He followed the instructions to the tee, maintaining an steady rhythm of breathing for a good 55 seconds.


    Whoosh!


    Then, just as he took his final exhale, it was like a floodgate had been released in his mind. His thoughts became clearer, flowing gently and naturally like water, and his senses gradually faded away as they gave way for his whole concentration to be focused internally. It was an entirely new feeling for Lucian, who had never experienced something like this before.


    ¡®It took me 5 seconds less than the stipulated time required, does this mean I have some talent in this department?¡¯ Lucian thought to himself, but quickly pushed it aside. Whether he had talent or not didn¡¯t matter to him in this moment.


    Like previously mentioned, he did take up pilates and yoga in his spare time to keep his body in shape, but never had he ever thought meditation would be of help to him. Before now, he was of the mind that things like meditation, relaxation and prayer were all placebos, as there were no scientific explanations to back up any theories related to them.


    But now, coming to his familiar yet entirely different world, his mind was opened. Both literally and metaphorically. For the first time, he finally got a grasp of what people meant when they talked about ¡®life force¡¯ as an energy, rather than a concept.


    Right before his eyes, or more specifically his mental gaze, he could ¡®see¡¯ the various different pathways and channels inside of his body that would otherwise be hidden not only from view, but from any scientific instrument¡¯s view as well. In the past, he had performed various dissections of all kinds of different people, but never had he encountered something like this before.


    However, in the midst of the whole thing, a wild but exciting idea suddenly came to him. ¡®AI, scan by body and record every change in data in real time!¡¯ Lucian was so engrossed in marvelling at this spectacular phenomenon that he almost forgot the very reason he had opened this pandora¡¯s box. But once again, he had one trick up his sleeve that could potentially make his journey to becoming a Knight much, much easier than other people of this world.


    With his AI scanning his body and recording every change in real time, he could gain much more accurate results from his first ever attempt at channelling his life force!


    ¡®In a world where everyone has one, you fail to realise just how helpful these AI implants really are! But in a world like this where only I have one, its abilities really start to come to light!¡¯


    His AI carried out its task and even provided a live projection of his body inside his mind for him to check at any time, but Lucian ignored that as looking at it started to break his concentration. He was mindful not to cause too many distractions for himself after all, as he didn¡¯t really want to have to start this whole process all over again. Time was limited and he couldn¡¯t afford to waste it because of stupid mistakes like that.


    A familiar word Lucian had ¡®read¡¯ in one of the many training books in the library earlier popped into his mind. ¡®Enlightenment¡¯, this word was mentioned a few times across the many books, and every time it always had some mysterious and unknown connotations attached to it, like ¡®It is only when one reaches a state of enlightenment that their full potential is realised¡¯ and other poetic and philosophical terms similar to it.


    Lucian ignored each and every one of them at first, as he was never one to enjoy reading poetry, but it was at this moment he realised just what this word meant in this world. It was hard to put into words, but he felt like his current state closely matched the idea. His mind was fully opened, he could inspect and feel each and every inch of his body like some sort of ¡®mind¡¯s eye¡¯, but most importantly he could feel his life force beginning to stir.


    However, it was at this point of the technique where he was lacking the most information. As the breathing technique was built off the foundations of the breath control methods of his previous world¡¯s martial arts, where no such thing as ¡®life force¡¯ existed, he had no foundation or research model to point him in the right direction after he had reached this point. He could only proceed based on guesses and assumptions, and he started with what seemed like the most prominent gathering of life force.


    He focused his inner gaze on the largest and most concentrated area of inner force, located right smack bang in the middle of his chest, slightly offset to the left a little bit. Lucian recognised instantly that it was exactly where his heart was.


    ¡®It makes sense. The heart is often referred to as the epicentre of life in medicine, with many religious facilities also stating that the soul is stored in the heart.¡¯ Lucian muttered to himself internally, making sure the AI was noting down every one of his thoughts. However, he soon began to hesitate. Was this really what he should start with? He was already basing his judgements on assumptions and educated guesses, since he had nothing else to rely on.


    His heart was one of the two most important organs in his body, so if something went wrong then there was very little chance he would be coming back from this. Lucian didn¡¯t want to waste his second chance at life so early after being granted it, and there wasn¡¯t any guarantee he¡¯d be given another one after this. He had to treat this life like it was his last.


    ¡®Let¡¯s think carefully about this, I should perhaps start with one of the smaller concentrations of life force.¡¯ Eventually, he convinced himself out of experimenting and practising with his heart right off the bat, and instead opted for a much smaller concentration located in is little toe. This was a much safer option ¡ª if something were to go wrong there, then worst case was that he¡¯d lose a toe, rather than his life. This was a risk he was willing to take, compared to the previous one.


    Very carefully, Lucian focused his entire concentration onto that one small spot of life force, willing it to start moving. He could see the visualised channels which it would flow through, and noted that they were like a central nervous system and veins combined into one, all eventually ending up at the same place ¡ª his heart. If he wasn¡¯t so concentrated at the moment he would probably be affirming his decision to lay off starting with his heart for the time being.


    Gradually, his face started to get redder and redder as his body forgot to breathe it was so focused on this one task! Sweat gathered on his forehead and soon spread to the rest of his body. After nearly another 60 seconds passed, his face started to turn blue from the lack of oxygen, and his veins were protruding from his skin due to how strained he was.


    ¡®¡­ Come¡­ On!¡¯


    His head throbbed at this point, and his body was practically screaming for him to give up, but Lucian instinctively felt he was on the very cusp of success. He could feel that the tiny concentration of life force was about to shift from its spot, even if it was only a minute amount.


    ¡°PUHA!!¡±


    *Huff* *Huff*


    Lucian opened both his eyes and mouth to take in some desperate breaths as his body could no longer hold it anymore without passing out.


    *Cough*


    But along with his exhalations came out a foul, black colored substance that splattered all over his wall and bed sheets.


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    And it stunk up one hell of a storm! Lucian had to immediately cover his nose to stop himself from regurgitating his breakfast! But even that failed to stop the incredibly disgusting smell from penetrating his sinuses. He had to run to the bathroom and open up the window just to get some fresh air.


    ¡°Fucking hell what is this abominable smell!¡± Lucian cursed with all his gut, taking great care not to breathe any of the toxic fumes back in. The very thought that this substance came out of his mouth made him nauseous.


    Only after spending 10 minutes carefully and thoroughly cleaning his wall, and giving up on his bed sheets, having to resort to throwing them out, did his mind get back on track.


    ¡®Did I succeed?¡¯

 Chapter 9 - Results of Cultivation

    ¡®AI, display the results of my first cultivation session!¡¯ Lucian tentatively asked his AI to show him how his first time meditating and attempt at channelling his life force. He had an inkling that he might see good results from the fact that he had expelled that ghastly substance from his mouth, but he¡¯d only know for sure once he checks the results directly.


    A few seconds passed before the AI sent the data directly to his mind.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Life Force cultivation session complete! Time spent cultivating ¡ª 3 hours 58 minutes. Successful channelling of life force caused 1 whole revolution of life force through host¡¯s body. Calculating effect of 1 revolution to host¡¯s stats¡­]


    [Calculations complete!]


    [1 full revolution increased host¡¯s stats by 0.04 vitality, 0.05 agility, 0.05 strength. The improvements will gradually lessen the more revolutions are completed. Suggestion for future meditative sessions: Target different areas of the body each cultivation session to maximise the benefits gained through a successful revolution.]


    ¡®4 hours! Did so much time really pass while I was meditating? Now I see why so much time had to be allocated to cultivating my breathing technique ¡ª so much time used for what felt like a simple task.¡¯ Lucian shook his head.


    If it took him four hours to finish 1 session, then he could only cultivate his breathing technique twice per day. Though he hoped the more he became accustomed with it, the less time each session would take out of his day. This would be the ideal case, as it would free up more time for him to practice his other training.


    ¡®If I cultivate twice per day, for the next 21 days, then that¡¯s 42 successful revolutions of life force I can achieve at max. That means I can gain¡­¡¯ Lucian did a few mental calculations.


    ¡®I¡¯ll gain around 1.68 Vitality, 2.1 Agility and 2.1 Strength, assuming all goes well and I continue to receive the same amount of stats from each revolution!¡¯


    Lucian smiled. With this, he would just about be able to achieve his goal of becoming an Official Knight well before the three week time limit. Though, he still stayed vigilant and kept in mind to keep his options open. The AI had already warned him that the more he cultivated, the less he would gain. After a certain point it was likely that he¡¯d just gain nothing from circulating his life force.


    Lucian had zero expectations to be able to achieve 42 successful revolutions ¡ª failures were always bound to happen. But even in the odd case that he did, it didn¡¯t mean he would achieve the results he was hoping to achieve. He had no doubt that by the time he reached his 42nd revolution, the stats he¡¯d gain from it would be pitiful in comparison to this first time.


    This was obviously why the AI not only suggested he cultivate the breathing technique, but to also keep up with his training of his sword techniques and footwork alongside his breathing technique. It was a no brainer that cultivating his breathing technique wasn¡¯t the only method of increasing his stats ¡ª intense physical exercise was also another one, so Lucian expected to at least gain a few more decimals in each from spending another 8 hours practising his footwork and sword techniques.


    With this in mind, Lucian didn¡¯t want to waste any more time thinking. There were only so many hours in the day and he had to spend each minute sparingly. Having spent nearly 4 hours on one cultivation session, he still had another to cover before he was finished for the day. He took a quick bath to wash any residual black substance off his body and out of his mouth, before resuming his meditative stance on the floor of his dorm room.


    ¡®Breathe in¡­¡¯ He once again followed the instructions the exact way they were laid out in his mind, making sure not to make any deviations throughout the process.


    After less than a minute, he was once again engulfed by that same, mind opening phenomenon that he experienced during his first bout. It was something that would take quite a bit of getting used to, and Lucian felt refreshed just from allowing himself to sink into the feeling.


    ¡®Let¡¯s not lose track of the goal now.¡¯


    Lucian emptied his mind of any distracting thoughts and once again focused on his body ¡ª specifically the multitude of different channels his life force ran through. Unlike his first attempt, he wasn¡¯t going to make the mistake of choosing an area of high concentration to try and circulate. Instead, he opted to mirror his first time doing this.


    On the opposite foot to last time, he decided to choose his other little toe to begin his cultivation with. It was proven to already give him some results from last time, so Lucian decided to play it safe. He was sure it fit in with the AI¡¯s suggestion of making sure to choose a different part of his body every time he cultivated to ensure maximised results, so he saw no problems with choosing it.


    Like last time, he accumulated his entire focus and concentration onto this one, tiny spot on his toe where the life force congregated. The process went a little smoother and quicker than last time, as he now had the experience of already doing this once before.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ***


    4 hours later, on the floor of Lucian¡¯s dorm.


    ¡°Hahh¡­ Huff¡­¡±


    *Cough*


    The process after his first cultivation session repeated itself, with Lucian waking up from his meditative state and immediately regurgitating that horrible, disgusting black substance. Thankfully, he foresaw this happening this time so he prepared accordingly ¡ª propping up a bucket in front of himself to catch all of that sticky, disgusting substance.


    He still didn¡¯t receive a decent idea of what it was, but if he were to hazard a guess it would probably be impurities from his body being purged. The previous Lucian wasn¡¯t exactly a healthy young man, so it was only natural that there were many impure substances hiding in his body.


    ¡®AI, show me the results of this cultivation session.¡¯


    Lucian already knew he succeeded in another successful revolution, as he paid close attention to any changes in his body immediately after waking up, and found himself slightly stronger, faster and his body slightly more robust. He just wanted to check and see if there were any differences in stats between his first cultivation session and this one.


    [Time taken to enter Meditation: 54.9 seconds.]


    ¡®Hmm, it seems I¡¯ve improved since my first session. A decreased time of 0.1 seconds. While it may seem insignificant now, if this trend continues, the time it takes me to enter meditation will be in the 40s by the time I¡¯ve achieved my goal.¡¯ Lucian made note of this slight and somewhat insignificant change, then switched his focus to the other data his AI was sending him.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Changes to the host¡¯s body: An increase of 0.05 vitality, 0.04 Agility, 0.05 Strength.]


    ¡®The amount received from vitality has gone up by 0.01, and agility has gone down by 0.01, while strength stayed the same. I wonder what caused this?¡¯


    Lucian had some guesses, but none of them were significant. Instead, he decided to check his overall stats this time to see how he fared compared to when he first came to his senses in this body.


    [Scan complete!]


    [Name: Lucian Verdan. Age: 12. Sex: Male. Vitality: 0.91, Agility: 0.69. Strength: 0.6, Mind: 0.1. Status: curious, refreshed. Body is in peak state.]


    There were a few changes from the last time he had checked his stats after taking a herbal bath. Mostly that the stats he had gained from his two cultivation sessions had sent his own stats closer to the threshold of becoming an Apprentice Knight! His vitality was the closest, with only 0.09 more stats before reaching that elusive 1.0. He could likely reach this milestone after tomorrow¡¯s cultivation sessions!


    As for his other two stats, while they had increased, they were still lacking compared to his vitality. He¡¯d need a little over a week before they also reached this milestone. When this happened, he would no longer be the only non Knight in the preparatory academy, this was something he looked forward to.


    However the likelihood was that Lucian wouldn¡¯t have to wait that long before becoming an Apprentice Knight. Depending on how much improvement he saw from practising his sword techniques and footwork, he might be able to reach 1.0 in all his stats a few days earlier.


    Lucian nodded and freed his mind of the endless lists of data. He looked down at his body, while he managed to save himself from having to clean up another mess caused by the black sticky substance, his body itself was still covered from head to toe in sweat. He felt sticky and dirty, and every movement he made with his drenched clothing made him feel uncomfortable.


    ¡®Looks like I¡¯ll have to take another bath before beginning training with my sword techniques and footwork.¡¯ Lucian frowned, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do about it. It was a natural part of the process of cultivation and training. If he wanted to increase his stats, he would have to deal with the cleanup afterwards too.


    It was around 2pm now, and all of the other students would either be in class. Only the odd few like Lucian would skip it to focus on training or cultivation. Not many people had hopes of being able to meet the requirements of becoming an Official Knight before the Mages came over for the selection, so they simply decided to take things slow and wait for the next opportunity three years later.


    They didn¡¯t really have high hopes of being selected anyway, so they weren¡¯t that bothered. If anyone found out Lucian had ideas of becoming an Official Knight within 3 weeks, they would laugh themselves into a seizure. The idea was just that ridiculous, but only Lucian knew for a fact that he could achieve it. He had no doubt that many students would be in for a shock in the coming few weeks¡­


    Lucian headed over to the bathroom, and once again poured himself another tub full of water. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that his utility bills were already paid for the whole duration of his stay as part of his contract, he wouldn¡¯t know how he¡¯d pay for his constant use of the bathroom¡­


    ¡®Wait!¡¯ Suddenly, an idea came to Lucian¡¯s mind while he waited for the bathtub to fill up.


    ¡®Maybe I can push my vitality to 1.0 today?¡¯


    He glanced over at the container holding the herbal mixture he used the previous night, and couldn¡¯t stop a smile from gradually making its way onto his face. He didn¡¯t know if there was a specific time limit he had to wait before using it again, but it had already been over 16 hours since he used it last, so he deemed it a risk worth taking.


    The worst case scenario was that there was a time limit and it wasn¡¯t over yet, so he¡¯d receive nothing from this batch. But in the end that would only result in a potential loss of 0.1 vitality ¡ª it wasn¡¯t a big deal to him in the end, and he only wanted to see if it actually worked again. This would essentially be a test for him. If it did indeed work, then he¡¯d use it after every two cultivation sessions to give himself just that little bit more of a boost to his vitality. If it didn¡¯t work? Then oh well, there¡¯s no use crying over spilled milk.


    With his resolve hardened, Lucian grabbed what he judged to be the same amount of the mixture he used the previous night, or very close to it. He didn¡¯t wait long to throw it into the tub and start mixing it in with the water using his hands. He had no idea if the herbs involved would have an adverse reaction after being exposed to the air for too long, so he was quick with it. Lucian was used to dealing with such chemicals in his past life, so this was nothing new for him, apart from the crude equipment of course.


    When he was finally finished, he unclothed himself and submerged his body into the tub, letting the water wrap around him tightly. He held his breath, and finally felt his senses muffle when the final part of his body ¡ª his face ¡ª became engulfed by the water.


    Lucian had no idea how long he had to stay in the bath to receive the full effects of the herbal mixture, so he decided to just lay in there for an hour, only coming back up to take a deep breath of air every now and then.

 Chapter 10 - A challenge

    An hour after setting in, Lucian emerged from the depths of his bathtub once again feeling fully refreshed. He pulled the plug and let all the water drain out before stepping out, making sure to dry himself off thoroughly before getting into any of the good stuff. While his dorm was considered quite good for the conditions of this world, the insulation and ventilation weren¡¯t exactly top notch so he had to cover up quickly if he didn¡¯t want to catch a cold.


    ¡®Now, let¡¯s see if that was enough time to fully receive the effects of the herbal mixture!¡¯ Lucian gulped down a glass of water as he thought to himself.


    He wasted no time in pulling up his stats, checking through them thoroughly.


    [Name: Lucian Verdan. Age: 12. Sex: Male. Vitality: 1.01, Agility: 0.69, Strength: 0.6, Mind: 0.1. Status: Satisfied, reinvigorated. Body is in peak state.]


    ¡®Yes! It actually worked!¡¯ Lucian had a rare moment of emotion when he saw his vitality surpassing the 1.0 mark. This was something to be celebrated after all, as it meant he had just officially taken his first step towards becoming an Apprentice Knight!


    After this, all he had to do was push his Agility and strength to the same point, and he could confidently call himself A knight. Though, he wouldn¡¯t be a very strong one. But this didn¡¯t matter to Lucian ¡ª he wasn¡¯t interested in the strength the Knight training could give him. Instead he was much more interested in what he could learn and gain from becoming a Mage!


    After all from what he had learned during his short tenure in this world, it was that Knights paled in comparison to Mages. They couldn¡¯t even be compared on the same level, it would be a disrespect to the Mages to even consider this. And this was including the fact that Mages didn¡¯t even focus on strengthening the physical body ¡ª to them this was just a side effect not even related to their main path!


    ¡®I mustn¡¯t waste any more time here though. Taking such a long bath meant reducing the amount of sleep I¡¯ll get tonight by an hour. I can¡¯t sacrifice my time spent training, so I¡¯ll have no choice but to cut back on sleep.¡¯


    Now that Lucian had confirmed his suspicions and taken a big step toward his goal, he set his mind on his next task ¡ª practising either his footwork, or sword techniques. He thought it through for a little while before settling on footwork though, as the time he¡¯d have to spend on it was shorter, and it would be easier for him to focus on getting the techniques and movements right while there was still some daylight above.


    If he left footwork till last, then he¡¯d have to practice it in the dark, well into the night. He¡¯d much rather choose to practice his sword techniques under such conditions than his footwork. He wasn¡¯t yet at the level where he could control the movement of his feet to such a degree required for the technique without keeping his eyes on where he was stepping, after all.


    ***


    *Cough*


    ¡°Hahh¡­ haahh..¡±


    A few hours later, a sweaty and sticky Lucian stood out on the open grass, away from the hustle and bustle of the main areas of the academy. He¡¯d just spent the last two hours going over the footwork provided by the AI improved Knight training method, and quite frankly¡­ he was horrible. He kept tripping over himself, missed multiple steps and had to start over again, and even nearly tripped backwards onto the nearby path, potentially risking a serious injury if his neck or head slammed into the ground.


    However, this embarrassing performance wasn¡¯t entirely Lucian¡¯s fault. Well, not the new Lucian at least. The easiest way to put it would be that his body was too frail and weak to keep up with the training methods described in his memories. They were designed to be used by people already above 1.0 in their stats, so it made sense why he struggled so much. That didn¡¯t make it any better for Lucian though.


    However, he could feel that his body did improve from this intense workout, and his wet, sticky and frankly foul smelling clothes were evidence of that. Despite his best efforts turning out to be the worst he could have imagined, it didn¡¯t stop him from working his hardest. For as long as he could remember, this was how his brain worked. No matter the outcome, he had to put his best effort in.


    Lucian moved over to the side after taking a few moments to catch his breath. There, a few metres away from him, lay his old and rusty training sword. This thing was heavily neglected by his predecessor, along with the rest of the equipment he was wearing. Lucian was even annoyed to find out that they weren¡¯t even used at all ever since he was enrolled into the academy. He spent a good 5 minutes or so during a short break from his footwork training to check through his memories, and found no recollection of ever having used them.


    Scowling, he picked up the sword and patted some of the residual dust off. His actions when training his footwork earlier had already removed the dust and dirt from his leather armor. He didn¡¯t exactly need to wear the armor when training, but he wanted to get used to the feeling. Not only would it make it easier for him to manoeuvre during battle if he was already used to the flexibility allowed by his armor, but he would also know exactly how his sword techniques and footwork paired together. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    There was no use training in his normal everyday clothes if when he actually encountered any danger out in the wild, or found himself caught up in a battle one day, and he had to get used to the feeling of moving with heavy equipment on the spot. That would only put his life at unnecessary risk.


    Step.


    Step.


    ¡°Oho! If it isn¡¯t everyone¡¯s favourite Lucian!¡± An annoyingly irritating voice interrupted Lucian while he was mid preparation.


    Lucian glanced over at the approaching voice, and saw a fully kitted up Sofia sauntering over his way, this time without her servant by her side. However, Lucian wouldn¡¯t be deceived by such an appearance, as he had no doubt that he would be hidden nearby somewhere Lucian couldn¡¯t detect him.


    He frowned when he saw the sword in Sofia¡¯s hands, as well as the spotlessly clean armor that coated her body. It was clear that not only were they both of higher quality than his own, they were also much more taken care of. But the main concern for Lucian was that they were real ¡ª not just training equipment.


    Sofia¡¯s sword looked sharp enough to slice a man¡¯s arm clean off, and he had no doubt that she could perform such a feat effortlessly with her level of strength. She was an Official Knight already, so it probably wouldn¡¯t take much effort for her to do so either. Lucian just wondered why she was approaching him so late into the evening, with the sun already starting to set.


    As far as he was concerned, nobody rarely ever came to this place, which was the exact reason he chose it as his training spot. Who¡¯d have thought he would end up in this kind of situation though? Not him, that was for sure ¡ª or else he would have avoided this place entirely. Lucian wasn¡¯t exactly in the mood for crossing other students at the moment. In fact, his idea was to ignore them all completely until the Mage selection came around, but it was clear that the universe had other plans for him.


    ¡°What does the esteemed Lady Sofia want from me so late into the evening?¡± he questioned in the calmest tone he could muster.


    ¡°Nothing much, you just happen to be occupying my training area.¡± Sofia replied matter of factly, maintaining her stride towards him the whole time.


    ¡®Her training spot? How come I didn¡¯t know of this?¡¯ Lucian queried to himself, but his memories held no answer for him.


    In fact, there was a good reason he didn¡¯t know of such a thing. It had much to do with the reason this place was known to be empty at this time of day. The very reason it was empty was because it was common knowledge among the masses that Sofia used this place to train. And there was one very simple reason Lucian wasn¡¯t aware of this. It was spread through word of mouth. For Lucian, who kept to himself and rarely ever left his dorm except for when he was required to, how was he supposed to learn of this fact?


    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, I didn¡¯t realise this! I¡¯ll leave now.¡± Lucian gave his sincerest apologies and picked up his sword before making his way past Sofia. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so before being stopped mid stride.


    ¡°Not so fast,¡± Sofia spoke, holding her shining silver sword in front of Lucian, acting as a barrier between him and his way out of this situation. She made it very clear that she didn¡¯t intend to let him off so easily.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re already here, I could use a training partner.¡±


    Lucian watched her for a moment, trying to judge her reactions as she kept her sword in front of him. He hoped he could spot a glimmer of humor or sarcasm in her eyes, but it quickly became clear to him that she was deadly serious about what she said.


    He let out a begrudging sigh. Lucian had been meaning to avoid meaningless fights during his remaining tenure in this academy, but he couldn¡¯t control the thoughts and wishes of others, especially when they far outclassed him in both strength and status.


    Lucian had already done his research after his encounter with her in the canteen the previous time. She was the child of the Count the teacher was referring to during his lesson, and her father, Count Nessus, was the man Lucian¡¯s own father served. It was quite a difficult situation for Lucian at the moment.


    If he refused to accept Sofia¡¯s request to be her training partner, then she 100% had the pull to have him removed from the academy entirely. If this happened, then forget becoming an Official Knight in time for the selection, even if he somehow became a Grand Knight during this period he wouldn¡¯t be able to even attend the selection!


    ¡°Sigh, Alright then. As you wish Lady Sofia.¡± All Lucian could do was sigh and accept this fate.


    Shing!


    The moment the words slipped out of his mouth, Sofia didn¡¯t even give him a moment to prepare before her sword met Lucian¡¯s, sending him reeling backwards and nearly knocking him to the ground.


    The clashing of the swords created a crystal clear sound that could be heard from a good distance away from the grassy area. A few curious eyes nearby even turned to look at what was going on. They laughed in amusement when they saw Lucian being unwillingly pulled into a spar with Sofia.


    ¡°Hmph! As I thought, you¡¯re exactly the weakling everyone made you out to be!¡± Sofia held her sword with one hand and laughed as she watched Lucian nearly trip over his own feet.


    Lucian remained silent and instead asked his AI to send the training of his sword techniques straight to his mind. The process took less than a second, and he frowned as his mind struggled to process the large intake of information. Sofia took his struggling expression as annoyance towards her, which only fuelled her laughter even more.


    Whoosh!


    Suddenly, her sword thrashed through the air towards Lucian once again, aiming directly for his shoulder this time. She didn¡¯t intend to deal a mortal wound to him, as that was against the rules of the academy, which even she had to follow despite her status.


    But that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t injure him somewhat!


    ¡°Hrahh!¡± Lucian shouted, and his legs moved in a strange formation, allowing himself to barely dodge the incoming attack by a hair¡¯s breadth.


    ¡®Oh?¡¯ Sofia had a momentary lapse of surprise after seeing Lucian pull such a move off, even stopping her mocking laughter midway.


    ¡°Pah!¡± Lucian took this opportunity to launch a counter attack back at Sofia, aiming directly for her sword, rather than trying to deal a flesh wound to her like she intended for him.


    He had absolutely zero intention of taking any chance at injuring her, despite the low likelihood it would even happen. If it even entertained the idea of getting him into trouble with the academy and perhaps even resulting in him being expelled, he was having none of it.

 Chapter 11 - Sofias Surprise

    A bout of swords ensued between Lucian and Sofia, although only one of the two parties were willing participants of the fight. Sofia was relentless in her attacks, and she made it abundantly clear that she wasn¡¯t pulling her punches. The full force of her 2.6 strength bared down on Lucian, and he could barely hold out.


    To Lucian, it felt like he was facing a grizzly bear in terms of disparity between the power of the two of them. Each strike he parried with his own sword put intense strain on his arms, and he quickly felt his body becoming worn down. If it weren¡¯t for his recent increase to 1.01 vitality, he had no doubt that he would have lost already ¡ª perhaps succumbing to injury even.


    ¡°Hrah!¡± Sofia swung her long silver sword at Lucian, bringing with it the heavy whooshing of the wind as it split apart the very air molecules that blocked her path. Lucian swept his rusty sword upwards in an effort to block it, and succeeded.


    ¡°You¡¯re technique isn¡¯t so bad! But it¡¯s clear you have little to no experience in using it in a fight!¡± For the first time since the spar began, Sofia actually spoke to Lucian in a manner that wasn¡¯t either a direct insult, or just entitled. It was clear that Lucian¡¯s successive attempts to fight back against her had surprised her enough to gain a tiny, minuscule amount of respect for the boy.


    However, the difference between 0.6 strength and 2.6 strength was not something that could be overcome with just the willingness to fight back. Lucian hadn¡¯t been counting but he guessed around 5 minutes had passed since the fight started and he could feel his body was about to give out at any moment of time. This was something he wanted to avoid, as the threat of injury when he did eventually give in was not something he wanted.


    Becoming injured would massively impede his plans for the next three weeks, and he might actually miss his goal of becoming an official Knight before the Mage selection began. If that happened, Lucian wouldn¡¯t care for any further pretences ¡ª maintaining a grudge against Sofia until he got his revenge one way or another.


    He was willing to be rather passive when it came to minor things like bullying or teasing, but when things crossed a line and directly impacted his goals¡­ Lucian wouldn¡¯t just let that go.


    ¡®The most important thing for me right now is to maintain a healthy body. I need to find a way to stop this fight without becoming injured.¡¯


    With his mind settled, Lucian decided to take a bold action.


    ¡°Come at me!¡± He pronounced valiantly to Sofia, as if he were suddenly coming out of his shell and decided to put his all into this spar. This caught her attention, and she smiled as if praising his actions for the first time. She, just like Lucian, despised cowards ¡ª so seeing the infamous weak coward of the preparatory academy suddenly growing some balls amused her a little.


    Obliging his wishes, she tightened her grip on her two handed shining silver sword and made a strikingly beautiful sprint towards him. If Lucian were any normal man, the sight of such an undoubtedly beautiful young woman running towards him like this would put him in a trance. But Lucian was no normal man, all he saw at the moment was the equivalent of a charging bull.


    She reached him in mere moments, closing the gap to just barely a under two meters. The moment her sword came within range, she cleaved it through the air towards his abdomen. She knew this was where his armor offered the most protection, so she was doing him the mercy of not injuring him too badly. But she applied her own logic to this; she failed to realise that Lucian¡¯s armor was no where near the quality of her own. Even if she struck his most protected point, it would still penetrate through.


    Lucian arched his body backwards in a desperate attempt to dodge the incoming sword, but it was futile. His agility was no where near high enough to match Sofia¡¯s, so the speed with which her sword came in was far faster than Lucian¡¯s mismanaged attempt to dodge it.


    With nothing left to lose, he could do the only thing that could possibly save him in this situation. He didn¡¯t want to run the risk of injuring her, but that was the only choice he had now. Sofia called him inexperienced within a fight, but it was clear that she too wasn¡¯t used to fighting in such a serious manner either.


    Her right side was wide open thanks to her grip on her sword being so tight, and with the speed at which she swept it his way, she wouldn¡¯t be able to suddenly switch her stance in time for what Lucian had prepared for her.


    Claaaang!


    A loud sound of metal meeting metal round out through the empty field, and Lucian bounced backwards onto the ground before rolling a few times, dirtying both him and his clothes in the process. However, he managed to catch a glimpse of Sofia digging her feet into the ground and being forced around three quarters of a metre backwards before she stopped moving.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Her swing met the empty air thanks to the absence of Lucian, and she just barely managed to save herself from stumbling, but that didn¡¯t stop the astonished look on her face from showing.


    Sofia¡¯s armor was made up of a chain mail-leather hybrid, so his rusty sword couldn¡¯t even penetrate through it, let alone cause any harm of flesh wounds on her. The kinetic force behind his attack was the only thing that could possibly hurt her a little bit, but he doubted that would be the case since her vitality was so much higher than his, and his strength itself was so low.


    ¡°That¡¯s it, I¡¯m totally all out of steam! No more!¡± Lucian pleaded between heavy breaths, but Sofia¡¯s expression didn¡¯t budge one bit. He was unsure whether she heard him or not, so he repeated himself a second time after catching his breath a bit.


    But yet again, nothing. She seemed to be in some sort of trance as she kept her eyes locked forwards, staring into the empty air. As far as Lucian could tell, she was completely out of it. All he could do was pick himself up off the ground after he felt he could stand on his own, and look at her, puzzled.


    He waited and waited for an answer from her, but one never came. Instead, he decided to take his chance and slowly started walking in her direction, making sure to stay vigilant as he came closer to her. Until he walked right past her, and continued walking. He started moving towards the main area of the academy, and didn¡¯t dare to look back.


    ¡®She really seems to have been affected by that last move.¡¯ Lucian curiously reflected on that final part of the fight. He knew that she probably wasn¡¯t expecting for him to actually be able to match her in that final bout.


    Lucian made his way to the main path after a few more seconds, but right as he turned the corner, a sense of deja vu came across him. He looked behind him, with the hairs on the back of his neck tingling, but found nothing. But when he turned his gaze back to the front, he met a familiar yet not so familiar face.


    ¡°Not bad, kid.¡± Sofia¡¯s servant spoke in a soft tone to Lucian, casually giving him a complement. This was the first time Lucian was hearing the man speak, and he couldn¡¯t help but notice the subtle hint of something¡­ different about him. It was like his every word carried a hidden weight behind it. It was difficult to describe, as it was something that could only be felt.


    Lucian wasn¡¯t surprised that this man was watching his and Sofia¡¯s spar, as it only made sense for her protector to be near to her at all times, especially in a moment like that one where it was just the two of them and a few daring onlookers a few dozen metres away.


    If Lucian wanted to, or had the ability to, he could have seriously harmed her or injured her. This never crossed anyone¡¯s mind though due to the impression Lucian had on everyone, and it was clear Sofia hadn¡¯t considered this either, evident by her current state of surprise even as Lucian was approached by her servant.


    For all anyone knew, he could have laced his rusty sword¡¯s edge with some poison or something, and all it would take was a small nick on the most minor places of her body that she would usually overlook, and she could have been six feet under within minutes.


    As a scientist, Lucian had no doubt that he could find enough chemicals and materials somewhere in the academy to make a poison that could achieve this ¡ª only he had no such need for a thing.


    Lucian gave a curt nod to the mysterious servant before passing by him too, intending to make his way back towards his dorm. He was supposed to spend a little under the next 6 hours practising his sword techniques, but thanks to Sofia¡¯s sudden request for a spar, he felt too tired to carry on. However, he felt like he had gained much more out of that short bout than he would have from practising sword techniques for a few hours, so it was worth it in the end.


    He had the next three weeks ahead of him to put his all into training anyway, and he had already achieved so much in this one day. He felt he deserved a rest before he really busied himself in the coming weeks.


    ¡®Now that I have felt the power of an Official Knight for the first time, I can only imagine what kind of power Grand Knights, or even Mages hold!¡¯ Lucian pondered to himself with a bit of anticipation running through his veins.


    Facing off against a powerful Official Knight like Sofia had given him many insights, not only into just how strong they were in comparison to the humans of Earth from his previous life, but also in comparison to his own strength. He was satisfied to find out that even with the severe gap in strength between him and an Official Knight like Sofia, he could still fare generally well.


    This was with very little to no training as well, as he basically relied on pure instinct combined with the memories his AI had sent him of the sword techniques during the fight. A little bit of his footwork came into play as well, but it only had a minor role, thanks to how clumsy he felt whenever he tried to put it to work.


    But in a real battle, he knew that his chances of survival when facing off against an Official Knight would be slim to none. They wouldn¡¯t pull their punches or show mercy like Sofia did, and every attack would be a kill shot.


    ¡®If an Official Knight is this powerful, I look forward to seeing the kind of power Mages hold. I have to do my utmost to make sure I am selected when the time comes!¡¯


    Above Official Knights, were Grand Knights, which was also the highest level a Knight could push their power. They were one level higher than Official Knights but the disparity between them was even higher than between Lucian and Sofia. From the knight training manual¡¯s he had read, and the vague hints of memories he had from the previous Lucian, he knew that a Grand Knight was about the equivalent to a platoon of about 40 Official Knights! This was essentially a 1 man army!


    Back on Earth, that would be the equivalent of a super soldier, which didn¡¯t even exist yet without the use of something like a super advanced exoskeleton. Meanwhile, the Grand Knights over here could do this with just their bare bodies ¡ª completely naked if they really wanted to!


    ¡®I wonder if Sofia¡¯s servant is a Grand Knight¡­¡¯ Lucian pondered, but he doubted it. He¡¯d already scanned his stats, and while they were in the realm of impossibility for humans from Earth, it didn¡¯t seem so much higher than Sofia¡¯s that he could defeat 40 of her alone¡­


    As for mages, Lucian had no idea how strong they were. He just knew that a Grand Knight stood very little chance against even an Apprentice Mage!

 Chapter 12 - A week of progress

    Regardless of what Lucian wanted to know about Mages, he suppressed his desires and made his way back to his dorm, exhausted and wanting nothing more than a good night¡¯s rest to recuperate after such a tiring sparring session. His path back to his room was much less eventful than he expected it to be though, as the students who would usually heckle him and throw some shade and ridicule his way were unusually quiet this time around.


    ¡®It seems word has spread quickly of my spar with Sofia.¡¯ He mused to himself. This could be the only reason why things were so normal for him at the moment. Other than that, he couldn¡¯t think of any other reason.


    It seemed the news of him not only accepting Sofia¡¯s ¡®request¡¯ to spar, but also taking it seriously and not cowering like nearly all of the student populace expected him to was enough for him to slightly improve their image of him. While it was a small improvement, for the time being it was better than nothing.


    Lucian couldn¡¯t care less for the sudden changes in the way he was treated ¡ª it only reminded him of the hypocrisy that plagued this place, and most of the rest of the world in fact. The way people¡¯s opinions could change so quickly and easily over something as small as this was only made it clearer to Lucian that he could rely on nobody but himself.


    In a way it was similar to the way society worked back in his previous life. The people on Earth at least pretended to hide their selfishness behind good deeds or false pretences, but deep down everyone knew that if an opportunity presented itself, with the catch of having to throw someone else under the bus, the large majority of people would accept it in a heartbeat.


    That was much like this new world Lucian found himself in, only the people of this place didn¡¯t even try to hide it. Strength ruled all, so Lucian showing just a modicum of potential and change in his behaviour and temperament was enough for other people to start judging him differently.


    Soon enough, he found himself back within the confines of his dorm, allowing him to at least relax a little after that exhausting spar with Sofia. He removed his clothing and threw it into his bathtub, before collapsing onto his stiff bed, taking a quick glance at the clock on the wall.


    ¡®Oh? It turns out our little training session lasted longer than I originally thought. A whole hour has passed.¡¯ Lucian was surprised to find that his fight with Sofia didn¡¯t last 5 minutes or so like he originally thought, but much longer. Realising this, he was curious to find out whether he had actually gained anything from it or not. Originally, thinking it was just 5 minutes, he didn¡¯t expect to even see a single budge in his stats, but with it actually being much longer, his expectations were raised a little.


    Without much further consideration, he checked his stats.


    [Name: Lucian Verdan. Age: 12. Sex: Male. Vitality: 1.02, Agility: 0.7, Strength: 0.61, Mind: 0.1. Status: Exhausted, tired. Body is in need of rest.]


    ¡®They actually rose!¡¯ Lucian¡¯s keen eyes spotted the changes instantly, recognising that all three of his physical stats had risen by 0.01 each. While only a minor increase, it came from just 1 hour of sparring with Sofia! The ratio of gains from training this way was much, much better than when he trained his footwork, or even cultivated his breathing technique!


    He hadn¡¯t even seen a single increase from his two hours of footwork practice, and he only really saw gains of a similar level from cultivating his breathing technique. Knowing this information, Lucian could only hope for more students to approach him for some sparring sessions in the future, but he didn¡¯t make any changes to his training plans to accommodate it. He would only accept the requests of others to spar; he wouldn¡¯t go out of his own way to find other people to spar with.


    Knowing this information, Lucian fell into a deep sleep with a slight grin on his face.


    ¡®Everything is going according to plan¡­¡¯


    ***


    A week soon passed, and a lot had happened. Firstly, Sofia didn¡¯t turn up at the Grassy field a second time. Lucian was a little surprised to see the field empty after glancing over it the following day, since Sofia had made it abundantly clear that she had claimed it as her training spot. However, seeing such a good place being unused, he naturally had to take the chance to get some more Sword technique training in. Even after 7 days, Sofia didn¡¯t show back up at the place for whatever reason. But Lucian didn¡¯t really care to know either.


    Secondly, Lucian had kept to his training regimen diligently during this time. He spent every morning after waking up cultivating his breathing technique, following the same movements he had been told to do by the AI. He took things slow, not wanting to commit any mistakes or blunders that could affect his progression in any way shape or form.


    Following the previous pattern that seemed to be working for him, Lucian focused his efforts on smaller parts of his body, and over the last 7 days had worked through all of his toes, and had moved onto his fingers. Within the next two days, he would be finished with his fingers as well, leaving him with the difficult choice of what to move onto next. However, this decision was for the future Lucian in two days time to make, right now, he had other things on his mind.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    The last 7 days had been quite fruitful for him. The increases to his stats from his breathing technique had steadied out, decreasing slightly from the first two revolutions he made with it. In total, he received a clean distribution of 0.04 in each physical stat after 1 successful revolution, a total increase of 0.12 over all. This was a little lower than the 0.14 total he had received from his first two revolutions, but Lucian had been expecting this ever since his AI had warned him about the effectiveness of his breathing technique decreasing after each successful revolution.


    However, he had also gained some insights and experience over the last week. His instincts told him that if he focused on bigger targets when cultivating, he would see higher gains when completing a revolution. As an example, if he focused his concentration of circulating the life force accumulated in his entire hand, rather than just each individual finger, he speculated the gains from that would be much more worthwhile. But with each increase in rewards, came greater risks.


    Lucian knew he wasn¡¯t yet ready to move onto attempting his luck with larger accumulations of life force. Instead, after he finished with his fingers in the next two days, he would find himself at a roadblock in his breathing technique cultivation. His fingers and toes were the smallest clusters of life force in his body, and the next item slightly above them at the bottom of this list were his hands and feet.


    However, he had already established that he wasn¡¯t ready to move onto them yet, so how else was he supposed to proceed with his breathing technique cultivation? Well, quite frankly, Lucian didn¡¯t know either. Whether he liked it or not, he would have to unwillingly put a pause on training his breathing technique until he figured out the solution to this problem, though he suspected the answer could be something as simple as becoming stronger.


    ¡®This just shows that I can¡¯t fully trust everything the AI says, as it is just as new to this world and its customs as I am. It is bound to make mistakes every now and then. The only thing that matters is whether it can learn from them or not.¡¯


    However, he had thought about this enough. Instead, it was time for him to check his stats. He had been holding off on doing this ever since his spar with Sofia. He wanted to surprise himself a little, only asking the AI to feed him the data on what he had gained from each cultivation session, but not actually seeing how his actual stats themselves had increased.


    There was no particular reason for this, he just wanted something to look forward to after a long week of painstaking training, and while seeing immediate results after each training session would be satisfying, seeing those results all collected together at the end of the week and the new level his body would be at would feel much more satisfying.


    He only just waited until he had finished his final sword technique training session of the week before the big reveal.


    ¡®AI, show me my stats.¡¯


    [Name: Lucian Verdan. Age: 12. Sex: Male. Vitality: 1.75, Agility: 1.36, Strength: 1.27, Mind: 0.1. Status: Exhausted, tired. Body is in need of rest.]


    ¡®So I¡¯m officially an Apprentice Knight now.¡¯ Lucian didn¡¯t know what he was expecting to see when he opened up his stats, but his expression remained rather indifferent. His emotions were unperturbed.


    Something deep inside of him was half expecting to experience some sort of ¡®breakthrough¡¯ phenomenon the moment his lowest phyical stat, his Strength, approached that major milestone of 1.0. But no such thing had occurred actually. Lucian was pretty sure he would have noticed such a thing earlier in the day. Instead, it seemed the title of ¡®Apprentice Knight was actually more of a formality than an actual rank, like Mages were separated by.


    ¡®Perhaps you only really experience such a thing when becoming an Official Knight?¡¯ He considered, but didn¡¯t really pry more into it. The academy didn¡¯t really tell them much about what really entailed becoming an official Knight, and they especially didn¡¯t teach them anything about becoming an Apprentice Knight either, considering everyone there was already one before even entering the academy.


    Lucian could go and ask one of the few students who were already Official Knights for some insights, but he wasn¡¯t close enough with any of them to bother going through such a thing. He suspected he¡¯d find out himself when he approached the 2.0 mark in his stats anyway.


    Other than that, Lucian started running some calculations through his head.


    ¡®Discarding the 0.56 I¡¯ve received in each stat over the last 7 days from my breathing technique cultivation, that leaves an increase of 0.1 from my other training, and an extra 0.07 in my vitality from the remainder of the herbal mixture, which has sadly run out now.  Hmmm, not bad I guess.¡¯


    Lucian didn¡¯t really know whether this was good or bad, as he didn¡¯t really have a second set of data to compare his own to. But one thing he did know was that if the other students¡ªor even teachers¡ªfound out about his speed or progression, they would be incredibly shocked. His time over the past 7 days wasn¡¯t just spent idling around and training, but he had also gleamed a few facts that he found interesting.


    Firstly, it seemed either the students were unaware of their Knight training methods lacking a crucial factor (a breathing technique). Otherwise, most of the students there would already be near to or already surpassed the threshold to be an official Knight. This was something Lucian didn¡¯t quite understand at first, but it made sense when factoring in this new information.


    The teachers and professors might know a thing or two about it, as they were the ones in charge of supplying these training methods to the library, but for some unknown reason it seemed they were keeping very tight lipped about it. Either they were just as unaware as the students, or there was some secret that Lucian had stumbled upon.


    Lucian was convinced of this fact, as he himself could now be considered a part of the middle ranks with his stats. He was already stronger than many of the students there, who were far ahead of him only a week prior. Their slow rates of progress made sense when realising they only had their footwork and weapon techniques to train with and increase their stats.


    A rate of 0.1 per week was abysmal compared to what Lucian had achieved with his breathing technique. Alone, it was nearly 6x as fast as their training, but since Lucian was also keeping up with his footwork and his sword techniques, he was closer to 7x as fast as the rest of the student populace. In fact, that figure was likely higher, as he was using an improved version created by his AI, so they might be seeing lower increases to their stats compared to him.