《Human Fantasy [Fantasy/Cultivation]》 0. My Eulogy ¡°If I knew life wasn¡¯t as great as advertised, I would have turned around, tucked my tail, and killed myself.¡± That was the last thing he said to me. He¡­ was a very, very close friend to me. My best friend. He¡­ was a very stubborn man to the very end, never letting go of his hatred for humanity and life altogether. This statement may be a huge shock to a lot, especially to his parents¡­ but, ma¡¯am and sir, that was how your son was, that was who he truly was. I have been there with him from the moment we were just a child, to the moment he first went to school, graduated, got a job, and even on his deathbed. It was like¡­ I died along with him. That was just how special he was to me. You could even argue I was practically his gay husband¡­ hahaha¡­ well, jokes aside, at least he survived past 18¡­ that¡¯s the goal¡­ right? He¡­ always wanted to be a writer. In the end, he did become one. Though, not a successful one, he still completed multiple stories. That¡¯s enough to call him a writer. He may not have achieved his true goal and dream, but at least he got over the need for success, putting away the fake author that threw every story left and right. When we reached the age of 30, that was the moment depression really hit the deepest. Being in an office job, a slave for money and just wanting to survive another day. The moment he realized he hadn¡¯t even been working on his dream for the past 20 years changed him. I was proud, proud to watch him finally do something¡­ it was the greatest achievement of his life, and I don¡¯t think that¡¯s an overestimation. Working for your dream will always be one of the greatest highlights of one¡¯s life.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. However, look at him now, dead. Worked his ass off for absolutely nothing in return. Maybe if he had been a child and had the support of his parent''s house and care, that determination could have been better shown at that age. Not when he even quit his job because he really wanted to focus on writing. It was useless. Pointless. Okay, I¡¯ll stop. I¡¯m not here to scorn his life. It wasn¡¯t all that bad, his sheer will can build an entire mountain if it was tasked to do so. But because of his age, it really was just the wrong time. Well, maybe not the wrong time, but just¡­ it just wasn¡¯t right okay. Stupid sentence, I''m sorry. He was one of my greatest inspirations in life, and hopefully to others too. Despite always being at the lowest point he could be, his ambition to live, and his will to succeed, cannot be ignored. Maybe life wasn¡¯t great for him. Enough for it to be his greatest enemy, but¡­ just as the phrase I said at the beginning, it wasn¡¯t all about wanting to die. He wanted to live. He really, really wanted to live, no matter what. I don¡¯t know where that determination was from, but a lot of humans want to live, including me, so it¡¯s not really anything special. Life offered a lot of things¡­ and that¡¯s his greatest inspiration to me. He showed me that life has more to offer, even if I cannot reach it right now, the offer will never disappear, it will only get easier or harder, just based on my own self. This eulogy is already reaching lengths beyond what is needed, so I¡¯ll end it shortly. I just have one last thing to say. Thank you to everyone who has attended. He probably would love to see just how many people cared for him. He was one of the greatest men I know. Never letting his shit life get to him, to the very end, he dreamed¡­ dreamed¡­ that someone would have at least written me a eulogy. What a pathetic life, I was meant to die. 1. A Battle Already? ¡°Your Highness! Wake up! Wake up!¡± A man yelled loudly, with the first coming from somewhere outside, then the second came after the sound of a wooden door opening. My entire body bounced up and down as someone grabbed my shoulder and shook me; yelling one last time. Just a few moments ago I sat in front of my overly bright screen with my eyes battling sleep deprivation. Where am I? My head hurts. Ughh. It¡¯s like I drank for a whole day, but that couldn¡¯t be right, the last time I drank alcohol was years ago. ¡°Shit!¡± The man yelled close to me again, followed by some thumping sounds. I couldn¡¯t see properly what was going on in front of me, but my body was bouncing up and down like I was on a malfunctioning carousel. With the few bits of color and imagery that managed to pass through my half-open eyes, I could see a very tight room with a metal-like armor chest piece in front of me. ¡°Your Highness! Please get your shit together!¡± Ughhh! The man yelled again in front of me, his constant yelling wasn¡¯t helping with my headache. The backlash wasn''t this painful even when I spent an entire week with no sleep. I couldn¡¯t even think properly anymore. ¡°Your Highness!¡± When the man yelled again, I instinctively tried to yell at him too- ¡°Sh-!¡± Then, a loud bang of metal clashing passed through my ear. I automatically blocked my ears as my head rang like thunder. ¡°Commander!¡± ¡°Harry! Carry the prince out of the carriage immediately!¡± Huh? Carry!? My eyes were closed shut, I was in so much pain that I couldn¡¯t even fathom how I was still conscious. Hands slid through my back and lifted my thighs until I felt like I was being carried by a forklift. What stiff arm- Ughhh! ¡°What are you doing Harry!? Get going!¡± ¡°But the prince doesn¡¯t seem to be well.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what he¡¯s feeling right now, jus-!¡± ¡°Shit!¡± My body was once again being disturbed in ways that just made my headache worse. As much as I wouldn¡¯t wanna admit that I am being carried like a princess as of the current moment, I realized it wasn¡¯t really as comfortable as how romantically portrayed the scenario was. I was like a spring endlessly being thrown around. ¡°Sorry Your Highness, I can¡¯t really carry you comfortably in this situation.¡± Ughhhh¡­ It was a different man. I was sure of that, but I don¡¯t even care what he is saying, or what anyone will say anymore. I just want to pass out from pain, exhaustion, or whatever, cause this fucking head hurts! *Zing. ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Your Highness! You¡¯re finally awake! Are you okay!?¡± ¡°My headache¡­ it¡¯s gone¡­¡± I immediately opened my eyes and stared at the face of a young man with green-colored hair. At that moment it was made instantly clear in my mind, I died and was reincarnated into another world. There was no need to question the why or how in the current situation. For some unknown reason, my headache disappeared like it was never there in the first place. Not a single linger of it remained in my head, I felt like my brain was placed in a blender and thrown back into the ocean. ¡°Prince Daniel¡­ you really think you can go and covet my daughter and run away like that?¡± ¡°Shit!¡± While I was trying to assemble my thoughts, I was dropped back down directly on my butt. ¡°Ow!¡± ¡°Sorry!! I thought you would stop your fall with your hands. Ahh! Don¡¯t mind that! Please run away Your Highness!¡± I shook my head quickly and looked in front of me. I sat on dirt in the middle of a lush full forest where the sun passes openly through each leaf. Other than the man who was carrying me, there was someone else blocking our path. The man stared at me intensely. The first thing I noticed was his fit build badly covered by ripped clothing, along with multiple scars scattered across his entire body. Then, I saw his messy hair that looked like he just woke up from a really long sleep. However, there was one thing I couldn¡¯t look away from his face¡­ ¡°Ughhh¡­ what the fuck¡­ is going¡­ ooon~¡± I held the back of my neck and spun my head. ¡°You disrespectful prince!¡± The man before me was needlessly enraged. He placed his sword forward and held it tightly with both hands, charging in an instant. ¡°Wo- Wo- Whoah! Wait!¡± As my face widened further than the universe, I closed my eyes and lowered my head. The sound of metal clashing once again rang through the air, it made me remember that a moment ago I heard the same sound much closer. ¡°Run!¡± Shit! Shit! What the fuck is going on! I opened my eyes and immediately jumped away from the man who was just carrying me like a princess, and a beggar who had no teeth fighting with swords. I tried to question things in my mind while being in awe at the display of swords in front of my eyes. Okay! Shut the fuck up! Get your shit together! I slapped my face with both my hands and looked ahead. ¡°Stop!¡± I remembered the first line the beggar said when he appeared. ¡°How dare you accuse me!¡± Then even if it is a surprise, if it is true, this is a life I probably wouldn¡¯t want to immediately die in. ¡°A prince of this country! To coveting the daughter of a beggar like you!¡± ¡°What!¡± The man¡¯s face squished, he was looking more like a zombie than a human. ¡°How dare you call me a beggar! You son of a bitch prince!¡± The man charged forward, facing Harry¡¯s sword without fear, pushing him down to the ground, only leaving a small cut on his shoulder. How brave¡­ The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The man continued to charge straight at me. Oh shit! No time to be in awe! What the fuck! Do I run? Or do I face him? Run? Or? What? Fuck? Decide! My body won¡¯t move! His sword was coming straight at my face. Sweat covered my eyes, my mouth constantly breathed heavily, and my hands couldn¡¯t stop fidgeting. At a moment¡¯s notice, my head turned to the left, then I watched as the sword ran past in front of me. It¡¯s slow¡­? I slowly moved my gaze to the man¡¯s face. Along it, his hand held the sword tightly, and then he turned it, making the sword¡¯s sharp edge, face me. Wait¡­ face me? I ducked down and jumped forward to the ground, grazing my arm through dirt, turning over causing bitterness to enter the crevices of my teeth. ¡°Pleh! Whacha fak!¡± As I turned back to the man, a sword pierced through his left calf, and it swung upward to the right, severing his right leg from the thighs. Blood spurted out from his legs like a broken faucet. The man fell to the ground with a loud scream. He caught his body up with his hands and turned it upward. ¡°You bitch knig-!¡± Before he could even finish his sentence, a sword went through his chest, slicing it up, and splitting his head open. ¡°Are you okay Your Highness?!¡± Harry yelled with a high shift in his tone. I sat there on the ground, staring at the blood coming out. The man¡¯s severed leg, his split open head, I couldn¡¯t move my eyes away. My heart tightened and my gaze fixated, I couldn¡¯t point out what I was feeling. My blood was burning hot from the adrenaline, but at the same time, I was fighting my own demons who had imagined such scenes before. Harry then walked up to me, blocking the body with his ironclad armor. ¡°That was a really close one, thank you for that Your Highness, but you could have endangered yourself by provoking him like that.¡± Harry inserted his hands through my armpit and raised me like a newborn baby. My eyes, despite not even seeing the body anymore, still printed the dead body connected through the river of blood going down the road. ¡°Why are you smiling Your Highness?¡± Said Harry. ¡°Huh?¡± I raised my hand and tried to squish my lips, but no matter how much I tried, my smile wasn¡¯t disappearing. I¡¯m smiling? Oh God, did I¡­ no, I was¡­ already¡­ ¡°We should get going Your Highness, Commander might have already died and the others are probably chasing for their leader already.¡± ¡°What?¡± There were so many things to process, but I didn¡¯t have enough time to let every thought find its seat for the amount of time I had. Harry held my arm and dragged me along as he ran. ¡°There is a nearby village just a few Zoa away, Your Highness.¡± While I ran, I began to digest what just happened. However, the one I started on was something I should have just left at the end. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we go back for the Commander?¡± ¡°No, Your Highness, your safety is more important than anyone.¡± Is that really how a prince¡¯s value is? I thought to myself. ¡°But with your skills, you can definitely fend off everyone, is the amount bandits really that much?¡± ¡°Bandits? What are you saying Your Highness, this is no time for jokes, your provocation may have worked earlier but there is no need to keep it up now.¡± ¡°What? Wait, are you saying I did fuck that man¡¯s daughter?!¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s a direct way to put it, but yes, Your Highness.¡± I have read and watched many reincarnated and transported in another world stories, but for some unknown reason, I don¡¯t remember any of this body¡¯s memories. Is it something that would come later? My hand jabbed down subconsciously. ¡°We need to go back!¡± ¡°What? But, Your Highness!¡± Harry yelled with his face shocked. ¡°What are you saying right now?¡± Harry said, however, at the same time I don¡¯t know what I was saying either. I¡¯m not some nice man, even in my past life I don¡¯t think I was ever someone who would go and save someone like some oblivious hero. Based on my memory of coming here, the Commander and this Harry knight were the only two soldiers with me. Whatever the reason was for someone as important as me to only have two people guarding me, that didn¡¯t really matter more than what in the fuck was coming out of my mouth. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± My mind was imagining the battle that was happening from where I woke up. ¡°You¡¯re smiling again, are you okay your highness? Did you take another weird drug again!¡± Harry slapped his face. ¡°I know I¡¯m in no position to say this, and you may beat me up again, but please stop getting yourself in trouble! Now that the commander is dead! Who else would protect you but me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I said we should go back!¡± I had no idea what was going on, or what he was saying, but the words just came out of my mouth. Whether it sounded natural or was the feelings of the original soul of this body, what¡¯s important was¡­ actually¡­ I really don¡¯t know anymore. ¡°That¡­¡± Harry clicked his tongue and walked past me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what is happening to you right now, Your Highness, but all I can say is¡­¡± He stopped. ¡°Even if it is just some after-effect of some drugs, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever get into a situation to say it, so I¡¯ll say it now, I wish you¡¯ll be like that forever, Your Highness.¡± He turned around with a bright smile on his face, his eyes showed more humanity than I have ever seen in my entire life. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Your Highness, we can¡¯t waste any time!¡± Harry grabbed my arm again and ran in the direction where we came from. Uhhh¡­ Aren¡¯t I gonna die¡­ wait! Wait! ¡°Just how many bandits, I mean, enemies, are there again?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact amount, but based on what I saw earlier, there are around 20 of them.¡± In an instant, my mouth was drained of every bit of saliva that rested inside, gulping so much I almost choked. Wait! Wait! I don¡¯t wanna go! Say it! Say turn back! You were able to talk just now! So why won¡¯t you say it?! We then ran past the dead body my eyes couldn¡¯t even turn away from. As my head locked onto the river of blood, almost snapping my neck from the fixation of my eyes, there and there I understood. My body felt like I was flying in the sky, above the clouds where nothing was on my path. From the left and right, I had an infinite world I could run. I lived for almost 40 years, but it was weird, that was the first time I had ever seen a dead body with my own two eyes, no less, that much blood. I¡­ didn¡¯t even know there was something I still haven¡¯t seen after living that long. Just a few minutes into this world, and I¡­ I¡­ already feel free. 2. Deaths Beauty A breathtaking sight lay before me as I hid among the trees, blending with the grass and leaves. The ground was painted with crimson red, reflecting the rays of the sun. In the middle of the road was a pillar of death, a carriage surrounded by corpses; not a single color of dirt was beneath it. A man lay before the center, with his sword stabbed on the ground. He hung his body with dignity, tightly gripping the sword with both hands. ¡°He did it¡­¡± Said Harry, like his soul left along with those words. The air was colder than a night breeze. ¡°We should go, Your Highness, the commander had served you well.¡± My mouth was left open, I was shocked yet amazed. I wanted to say something along the lines of, we should bury him, but that¡­ that scene¡­ that field¡­ was a grave I wanted to be in. ¡°Stop smiling your highness¡­¡± Harry looked at me with his face back to how it was, a face with no life, eyes that looked just straight ahead, void of a future. I don¡¯t know what he is thinking in his mind right now, but I know each and every word was an insult, I have no idea what our relationships are, who he was, who I am, what we have gone through, what else he had done to me, but I wouldn¡¯t want the person I sacrificed my life for to look at my corpse with the biggest smile on his face either. ¡°Let¡¯s go, you¡­¡± Harry shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s go Your Highness, we need to get you checked by a doctor soon, before the aftereffects cause more damage to you.¡± What aftereffects though, I get it now, I know why I only have two knights, but¡­ there is no aftereffect, right? That¡¯s not why I¡¯m smiling¡­ I¡¯m smiling¡­ I¡¯m smiling¡­ because I¡¯m insane¡­ because death is so beautiful! As I gazed over the totem of death, my totem of life, I grew further yet closer to it. Harry dragged me along, and I walked on my own, I had gone through so many things as soon as I died, I wanna believe I had not even been transported or reincarnated, I just wanna believe that this was the afterlife, this would be the end, and it will be¡­ beautiful¡­ like they promised. Heaven should be beautiful.
After a few minutes of walking, maybe it was an hour, I couldn¡¯t really accurately count the time. I was quiet the entire time, it was awkward yet at the same time I was used to it. It was not something I wanted to talk about, or think about, but¡­ I really do suit awkwardness, or it really just loves me, loves me too much. We arrived at the front of a small village. It had walls made of chopped-down trees with the top carved into a sharp point. Two guards were stationed at the front, but unlike my knight, they were more similar to the bandits; simple leather clothing, long pants, and boots, along with a wooden spear. Having my ironclad knight who looked like he came from a fantasy novel face a village that looked like it came from the Stone Age, was a really weird picture to digest. However, without the wooden walls, it would probably just look like cosplayers hanging out on a film set. ¡°We would like to stay for a few days,¡± Harry said to one of the guards, putting his hand into his pocket and pulling out a small coin that made mouths open. ¡°We greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince!¡± The two repeated. Eh, Crown Prince? So I wasn¡¯t just a normal prince huh¡­ but still, how shit of a person am I to have only two knights when I will soon be the king. As soon as I entered the village, I became one hundred percent sure that this was either a fantasy world or a medieval one. Other than the out-of-place wooden walls that made it feel like I was walking into the village of monsters, the houses were all made of stone bricks with straw roofs. The longer I walked inside the village, the more I realized just how clear it was that I was someone of high status. I wore such colored clothing that I could be the sun of this village. The village was far bigger than it seemed outside, with houses widely spread among each other, and each door we walked past closed before I could even look at them. However, it wasn¡¯t all that big, it was like the size of 10 supermarkets. A few minutes later, we arrived at not only one of the few two-floored houses in the village but also the biggest. I did not even expect this village to be this big or have such a huge house. ¡°Can I request 28 Mer, Your Highness?¡± Harry reached out his hand. Mer¡­? What is Mer¡­? As I stared at his eyes with my blank stare, I pondered at the many possible definitions of the word Mer in my knowledge of the English language. Which inserted the thought of how I could understand the language of this world, was it actually English, or can I truly understand it through the original¡¯s memory, however, if I can remember the language through that memory, why couldn¡¯t I remember anything else? ¡°And¡­ where is that¡­?¡± I said slowly, tilting my head with my mouth open. ¡°In your pouch, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Ah, of course, wait a second.¡± Pouch. I thought. My clothing consisted of colorful fabrics and long dresses meant for a princess. I didn¡¯t pay much attention to it until now, but I was inside multiple layers of clothing, making me question how I am still yet to sweat. I dug into my thick fabric prison and happened to touch a much thinner and smoother fabric holding multiple circular objects. As I pulled out the pouch, I realized what a Mer was. ¡°Okay, so how much do you need again?¡± ¡°28 Mer, Your Highness.¡± I opened the pouch, revealing an array of bronze, silver, and gold coins. Like any normal wallet, the more the single currency is, the lower its value. I pulled 28 of the silver coins without even thinking much of it. ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Ughhh, Your Highness, those are Cen, not Mer.¡± ¡°Huh. But.¡± I looked into my pouch, and based on the amount, silver had the most quantity, with gold coming next, and the bronze only had 3 pieces, which I then pulled out. ¡°Oh, well you can just give me the right amount, Your Highness.¡± ¡°The right amount?¡± I had zero idea what he was talking about. Harry reached into my pouch and placed all the silver coins back inside. ¡°The conversion, Your Highness, I¡¯m sorry but I still have yet to learn even basic arithmetic.¡± Oh, he means¡­ oh¡­ but I have absolutely zero idea what the fuck the conversion rate is. I paused, staring blankly inside the pouch. I mean it could just be the normal 10 to 1 ratio¡­ but¡­ what if it isn¡¯t¡­ ¡°So, what is the conversion again? I forgot.¡± I said with much confidence, hidden through my emotionless tone. ¡°Well¡­ if I remember correctly¡­¡± Harry rubbed his chin. ¡°1 Cen is¡­ 25 Mer.¡± ¡°Ohhh¡­¡± What an odd conversion. I thought. After looking at the coins for a few seconds, I gave Harry 1 Cen and the last 3 Mer from my pouch. ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Harry went inside the inn, leaving me standing outside on the side road, while multiple people tried their best to avoid me, even covering their children¡¯s eyes. Well, the guards did know I was the Crown Prince¡­ so if there were a chance there are more Prince in this country, they already know which one I am. Just what did this body do? I remembered the reason why I was attacked and the reason why one of the only 2 knights I had died. At that point, he was probably not the only life I killed with my stupid antics. Why doesn¡¯t Harry even harbor anger enough to kill me? Harry stepped out of the inn. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Your Highness.¡± I stepped inside the inn, barren of a single soul, not even one at the desk. The inn was filled with multiple tables scattered across the ground floor. At the edges were two straight stairs that went up to the second floor. ¡°Our room¡¯s on the second floor, Your Highness.¡± The entrance of the room was placed directly in the middle, adjacent to the window encompassing the streets of the village. Two beds were placed at each corner, leaving a small path to the window. There were also two small desks at each side of the door facing the beds, with a lamp above. ¡°What else would I expect from a village.¡± I scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re back to normal, Your Highness! I¡¯ll go look for a doctor to check on your health quickly!¡± ¡°What?¡± Harry ran past me, his steps rocked the entire inn. ¡°He would break the stairs with those steps, also, I was not on drugs. Ughhhh.¡± I closed the door with my beck bent over and my face filled with the bitter taste of ignorance.
¡°Ahhh¡­ finally¡­ some time alone¡­¡± My body fell to the bed on its own and I let out a long sigh that lasted for more than a minute. ¡°Now¡­ I can ponder on what has even happened. But¡­¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡°But I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Another world, that¡¯s something.¡± ¡­ ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a single magic, so¡­ I¡¯m.¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Anyway, not like death affects me that much. I didn¡¯t really have ¡°much¡±.¡± I quoted in the air. ¡°Hahaha¡­¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ I wiped away the tears from my eyes and leaped out of my bed. From the first layer of my clothes to the second, to the third, to the fourth, I took every piece of my clothing off. Apart from just actual clothing, there were other things inside that prison. Other than my pouch full of riches that could probably buy this entire village, there was also a giant circular coin with a peculiar carving on it. ¡°This probably proves that I¡¯m royalty or I¡¯m the Crown Prince, right? Yeah, I need to keep that.¡± After examining all my clothes, there was only one that had a pocket¡­ and¡­ I was trying my best to find something that was as less appealing as possible, but unfortunately, it was the color purple. ¡°Is this a medieval world or Asian? Why is this the clothes of a prince!!!¡± I yelled at the top of my lungs, immediately exhausting all my energy. For some reason, once all the thick layers of clothes left my body, buckets of sweat started to fall on every inch of my skin. ¡°Okay¡­ you know what¡­ at least, I know, that there is magic. Whatever it is, one of these clothes has some anti-sweat magic, or anti-heat, ahhhh whatever!¡± I hurriedly wore every piece of my clothes back on. I wanted to escape this place and venture into the village even for just an hour, but not having clothes that weren¡¯t in the color of the rainbow, not like I had a choice either. ¡°Or maybe¡­ I can go out.¡± I opened the windows of my room and jumped out. It was the coolest moment of my life, without hesitation, without thought, why would I care what I wear, what people think, despite the stares they gave me when I arrived in this village, that feeling, it never disappeared. My arms are like clouds and the wind protects my skin. The world is an open canvas and I am the brush, with these colorful clothes, with my title as royalty, I will do whatever I want and create an abstract masterpiece. ¡°Oh wait, I probably should have thought about it a little bit.¡± It was stupid, jumping out of a window on the second floor, and then acting like I made a mistake as I looked straight in front of me. That was something that can only happen in cartoons, children''s fantasy, but, that¡¯s it, I¡¯m doing that children''s fantasy, I¡¯m living it. I embraced the air, the shortfall I was about to take, and I accepted the pain the fall would deliver, I accepted it all. My feet landed first, the impact bending it, shoving my face to the ground. Without fear, nor pain, I stood back up. ¡°I don¡¯t feel an ounce of pain, bitch. Now, where should I go?¡± Immediately, a giant explosion erupted from outside the village, and dust formed high like a skyscraper. It was like a meteor fell down from the sky. Without hesitation, I started to run. It was also a good help for the citizens, as long as I walked on the path of danger, everyone would avoid me, saving them from the danger. An unknown hero? Useless fact? I did not care. As I reached the end of the wooden wall, I jumped, trying my best to scale over. The walls were all scraped smooth like butter and all tied together by three lines of rope, evenly spread at separate heights. I peeked into the small crevices that the walls provided through the gaps made by the thick ropes. Then blood spurted into my eyes, making me jump back immediately. ¡°Wha-¡± I stopped speaking. What the fuck was that. Shit. If I jump out of this wall, I might actually die. At that moment, I didn¡¯t need someone like Harry to tell me, but I was smiling, smiling brighter than in my entire life. Me, crazy? Me, insane? Me, on drugs? You know what! Might as well. I stuck my feet on the lowest line of the rope, pulling myself up with my grip. Then I moved on to the next layer, making my way up slowly until I reached the top, grabbing the tip of the wooden wall and pulling myself up into horror. Not a single human being was alive beyond the walls. The grass was painted red, dancing from the wind like raining blood. Every body was cut in the middle, split evenly with their guts stretched like cheese. In the middle was a giant hole made by the explosion I saw. It was deep like a grave, meant for the dead. But rather, it was filled with blood, squished out of every human. I stared into the sea of blood, every inch of my sight was filled with the color of crimson, like I was looking through the gates of hell. Blood- the left, right, top, and the walls, every corner. I wanted to live where I was free, where I could do whatever I want, to see what I want to see, to achieve what I want to achieve, to make decisions without control. Life is beautiful, you could achieve anything you want as long as you put your all into it. There is an opportunity for everyone, one just has to take it, grab it, strangle it by the neck and kiss it. It was love at first sight, that¡¯s what a dream is, a goal, the final destination. Everyone has a motivation that drives them to live. And mine. It¡¯s the beauty of death! 3. The Village ¡°I¡¯m back, Your Highness! The doctor¡­ is¡­¡± ¡°Ughhhh.¡± I raised my body from the bed and spun my head slowly. ¡°Sorry for waking you up, Your Highness.¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s okay.¡± I yawned and stretched my arms and legs as far as my bones could. ¡°So where is the doctor you said you would bring?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Harry scratched the back of his neck. ¡°The doctor of the village is kind of away right now, I mean we can maybe try for the branch of the church in this village, but that would be wrong...¡± Why? Ah, you know what I don¡¯t care, I¡¯m not on drugs. At least not now, or anymore. After speaking to myself, staring blankly at Harry like some idiot, I responded. ¡°Yeah, yeah, now go and get another carriage so we can leave as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Well¡­ about that¡­¡± ¡°What? Don¡¯t tell me they don¡¯t even have a single carriage in this village or even just horses, I can ride a fucking horse!¡± I paused for a second and thought to myself. Actually, I can¡¯t. Then I continued. ¡°What is this a ghost village? What?! Did everyone di-¡± I paused again. After staring at the beauty of hell¡¯s entrance, I jumped back down the walls and walked back to the inn. When I arrived at the village, I saw every single citizen immediately hiding as soon as they saw me, but when I was heading into the scene of an explosion and when I was heading back, there was no one. Even the inn. It took an embarrassingly long time till I realized that the reason there were no people was because they were all ¡°-dead.¡± ¡°Huh? What are you saying, Your Highness?¡± Harry asked, tilting his head. ¡°Were you about to say that there was no one at the stables either?¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± His head pulled back and his eyes widened. ¡°Well, we can just go steal their horses, can¡¯t we.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s illegal, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Everyone¡¯s dead already. If no one sees, we never did anything.¡± I smiled and jumped out of my bed. ¡°What? Well, I¡¯m glad you''re back to normal, Your Highness, though a little scarier than usual, but why do you keep saying that everyone is dead?¡± ¡°Did you not hear an explosion earlier?¡± ¡°An explosion?¡± Harry¡¯s eyes wandered to the sides. ¡°I did hear one, but I was at the stables looking for the stableman.¡± ¡°Well, see, everyone died. That explosion killed everyone, did you see any human coming back from the stables?¡± ¡°Yes, though, I did only see the innkeeper below.¡± ¡°The innkeeper?¡± My stomach immediately grumbled, hitting me with a hollow stomach eating me from the inside. ¡°Ughhh, okay, if the innkeeper is there, let¡¯s eat first, and uh, I wanna go and investigate this incident.¡± Harry and I walked out of the room and went downstairs. Just as Harry had said, the innkeeper was alive, standing behind the front desk. ¡°Can we get early dinner please?¡± Harry said in the middle of the flight of stairs. The innkeeper nodded and he disappeared before I could even reach the ground floor. Seriously, are they in such a hurry to hide from me? You could have nodded twice. That¡¯s what they do in front of royalty right? Separate bows of respect? From the medieval era to the modern one, with the many advances in technology and many different aspects, wooden chairs and tables have never really changed, well also the school system. Other than the rough texture of the wood, lacking polish and inhabiting possible insects, there wasn¡¯t much of a difference. I lived for almost 40 years, but I still don¡¯t really know anything about having a conversation. It was awkward to sit there, as Harry stared at me constantly, without batting an eye, but that was me, incarnate of awkwardness. That was definitely why my writing career never prospered. An author who doesn¡¯t even read books and hasn¡¯t had a single friend for over a decade would never succeed. After a few minutes of awkward waiting, our food finally arrived. It was medieval time, so I didn¡¯t really have much of an expectation, but it was not something I expected. Bread, chopped potatoes, beans, an unknown paste, sausage, and a cup of water? This was a meal? I mean it is, but still, you know what, my parents ate rice with just oil and salt, it¡¯s cause I¡¯m Asian and there isn¡¯t any rice, that¡¯s just it. I have no right to complain. The meal was unexpectedly worse than I thought. Despite being in a different body, my taste palettes had unfortunately stayed the same. I stood up with my face upside down and snailed my way outside the inn. ¡°Where are you going, Your Highness.¡± ¡°To¡­ investigate¡­ hopefully it cheers me up.¡± My stomach grumbled once more. Wait a second; I know only one person in the village. Harry jumped out of his seat immediately, following me as I turned to the right of the inn¡­ and turned back, bumping our heads. ¡°Ow! Fucking hell!¡± ¡°Sorry, Your Highness!¡± Harry bowed, slamming my stomach. ¡°Shit!¡± I groveled back, bent while hugging my stomach ¡°Sorry, Your Highness!¡± Harry ran, reaching his hands down to me. I¡¯m glad this knight has no helmet, or I would have died two times, but that strength, what the fuck! ¡°Are you okay, Your Highness?¡± I slowly raised my head to face Harry¡¯s eyes. A disappointed sigh left my mouth. Holding the pain in, I scaled the inn¡¯s wall. ¡°Go,¡± I said. ¡°Sorry, Your Highness.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve said that, three fucking times, shut up.¡± I walked around Harry and walked back to the inn, seeing no one once again. ¡°Harry, gut up from there and come here.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± I shook my head at his response. ¡°Can you stop saying your highness in every sentence?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°That is treason, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± I squinted my eyes, cyphering through my memories for every sentence he had ever spoken. ¡°I remember you talking without saying¡­ Your Highness.¡± Scoffing afterward, striking with a smirk. ¡°That must have been an urgent situation. Please kill me, Your Highness!¡± Harry instantly dropped, kneeling with his head touching the ground. ¡°Ah, whatever, stand up. Let¡¯s not waste time, you go and get the innkeeper and make him sit in front of me.¡± ¡°What? Your Highness?¡± Harry looked up into the air confused. He looked back into the inn as I sat on a chair smiling at him. ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± He bowed, even if it banged his head to the ground.
¡°Hello, innkeeper. I wouldn¡¯t wanna waste time, so I¡¯ll just call you that. Don¡¯t speak, unless I ask you a question. Are we good?¡± The innkeeper was much younger than you would expect someone who would own an inn. I was a writer in my previous life who had a really bad memory, worse than an 80-year-old, not like I¡¯m a masochist, but I¡¯m very honest, even to myself. Writing many fantasy novels, I know full well that the mortality rate of this time was quite high. Being here now makes me more mad at my younger self. The man in front of me didn¡¯t even look past the age of 20, he wore simple clothing a long sleeve shirt and pants. ¡°Yes, your highness.¡± He said wearing a sorrowful expression. ¡°I quite don¡¯t feel your respect. Are we good?¡± I repeated. ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± His body shook from head to toe. ¡°Now, tell me, is there anything, any- what¡¯s the word¡­ ah, folklore in your village?¡± ¡°Folklore? I¡¯ve never heard of it before, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ well, just any story that has lingering death in it.¡± ¡°Ummm¡­ are you talking about monsters, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Yes, precisely.¡± ¡°Well¡­ there is a monster in the forest, Your Highness.¡± ¡°A monster, is that right?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Well then, what type of monster is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a forest beast, Your Highness.¡± Piqued by what he said, I leaned forward on the table, making only an inch away from each other¡¯s eyes. ¡°What does it look like?¡± My eyes widened. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know, Your Highness.¡± He replied. I immediately sighed, sitting back on my chair. Then I scoffed saying, ¡°So, it¡¯s fake?¡± ¡°What, no, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Then how can you be sure of something you¡¯ve never seen before?¡± ¡°Because¡­¡± The innkeeper looked left and right, looking for his answer like an idiot. At that moment, I already knew this investigation was a disaster. If a monster was able to do that to so many people, that is the only real definition of dead men tell no tales. People may have a chance to see such a sight, but as usual, humans would always make stuff up, accusing made-up monsters. Blaming something imaginary because they lack the ability to think otherwise. ¡°... that monster always kills more than half the village every year, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, and why would I believe that? You don¡¯t even know what it looks like.¡± The innkeeper looked left and right again, he was clearly lost. ¡°Because the monster has the ability to manipulate people outside the village, killing them.¡± My head immediately jumped up. I kicked my chair away and held the innkeeper''s shoulders, ¡°You just answered all my doubts, good job, okay! Harry! We¡¯re going to look for this monster!¡± ¡°What? But, Your Highness, it¡¯s too dangerous!¡± ¡°This is an order! Get up from your seat, and let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Wait, it¡¯s nighttime¡­ turn around!¡± My hand raised to the sky, pointing back to the stairs. I gritted my teeth, inching eminent death. Marching to the stairs, with no hesitation, I buried myself in bed, sleeping away my first day into this world like it was just another Tuesday. A lot had happened, but the adrenaline just wouldn¡¯t let me alone, I wouldn¡¯t stop here. I repeated in my head till I fell asleep. It was just one day but I had the most fun in my entire life going around mindlessly seeing ¡°death¡± to it¡¯s literal definition.
When the sun struck my closed eyes, opening the lamps in my mind, I jumped out of bed instantly. ¡°Harry! Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He rubbed his eyes. I looked at him, naked to his pants, with his armor tightly arranged on the floor along with his clothes. My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. I turned away as fast as I could, while my jaw was left in time. ¡°Fuck! Wear your shit and let¡¯s go.¡± I shook my head and forced myself to forget the scene I just saw. Never having friends, such an experience never really happened to me. ¡°Stay safe, Your Highness.¡± The innkeeper bowed as we left. The first time he was actually there when I went down. The forest, home to many different animals. I walked through the village once more, in the same direction where the gate of hell was placed. As soon as the wooden wall blocked my path, I ordered Harry to cut it down. ¡°Huh? I can¡¯t do that, Your Highness.¡± ¡°What do you mean, you can¡¯t? Ah, okay fine, let¡¯s just climb up.¡± It was the second time, it wasn¡¯t that hard. While I was climbing, Harry had his arms open, ready to catch me if I fell. My eyes were burning looking at Harry, I¡¯m a man, not a fucking princess. When I made it to the top, Harry jumped once and scaled the walls over, landing his feet on the ground drenched in blood. ¡°Don¡¯t jump down Your Highness!¡± Harry¡¯s face was swollen. He wailed not to come down, but I paid his plead with air and jumped down either way. ¡°Are you okay, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s just go.¡± At the end of the red-colored scenery, was the forest behind the village, stretching further than the eye could see. I walked around the pond of blood, staring at it as I walked by. I entered the forest. I looked forward. Walked with grace on my feat, excitement in my heart, and a shining glow in my eyes. Oh, bringer of death. Beast of the forest. Opener of the gate of hell. I wonder how beautiful you are. 4. Forest Beast A world of true fantasy lay before me when I stepped out of the blood-drenched land. The rays of the sun shyly hide behind the leaves. A pathless ground full of grass, each step marked a print, pioneering this forest of mystery. Every tree stemmed awkwardly apart from each other. Grasses stood high to my knee. After diving a few minutes into the forest, I found a long, never-ending path on which the sun just became dimmer along with the passing of time. Small trunks of trees lay on the ground, surrounded by multiple twigs fallen from trees. From many different films and stories, using Harry¡¯s sword, we marked the trees to not get lost. But like many different films and stories, the trope of marking was always useless, either due to it being cut, illusions, hallucinations, or just random teleportation. However, there could also be an instance where we have to run, preventing us from putting any mark. ¡°Your Highness,¡± Harry called. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°There¡¯s something over there Your Highness.¡± I peeked over Harry¡¯s shoulder, somewhere around a few meters away was a piece of the forest where the sun hits the hardest. There were no trees and a few patches without grass. I ran as fast as I could, hoping. ¡°Oh¡­ finally¡­ a giant fucking clue. Literally.¡± A long path of the forest was cleared like a giant lawn mower was running through the forest. The path was 5 meters wide. ¡°This beast isn¡¯t small¡­¡± I smiled. Beneath my feet were multiple bald patches of earth in the shape of feet. By observing the distance between each mark, it was easy to conclude that the monster was four legged. If it was just two feet, I could have tried to guess what monster it is easily. But four feet? There are way too many animals, fantasy animals, mythological animals, or whatever source it is that has four legs. Well, if it¡¯s none that I know, the better. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Harry.¡± ¡°Wait, Your Highness!¡± ¡°Why are you so slow? You¡¯re much stronger than me!¡±
¡°Fucking hell! How long is this path! Fuck!¡± My lungs were exhausted to their limit. The sun was going down at an alarming rate. For many hours, the end of the long path, even just a glimpse of the light of heaven, never appeared. I fell to the ground without even realizing it. It was ironic I thought of heaven when, for the past whole 2 days I¡¯ve been obsessed with death like I had 8th-grade syndrome. Maybe I do have it, maybe I was on drugs, maybe I¡¯m acting too immature for my age, but what do I care? For years, no, decades, every person I¡¯ve met even after I became 30 only ever said one thing to me. ¡°You¡¯re too immature.¡± So what if I wanted to be insane, escape responsibility, be a kid forever, and run away from all my problems? It¡¯s my life, so fuck you. You don¡¯t like it? Who told you to watch me¡­ I don¡¯t have a mirror, and I don¡¯t like having my devices closed inside a bright room¡­ Ughhh¡­ I stretched my arms and legs, claiming the whole land as my bed. Sleeping on grass¡­ wow¡­ I lived under a rock¡­ I lived such a shit life¡­ they say, life is all about growing. So, I didn¡¯t live a life, did I? ¡°Your Highness, we can¡¯t rest here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to be in the forest at night, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Hey, is this world a fantasy?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get what you mean, Your Highness.¡± ¡°I meant, can you use magic?¡± ¡°Well I can¡¯t, Your Highness, I can only use aura.¡± ¡°Hahaha! So it is¡­¡± I slowly took a glance at Harry and turned my gaze back to the amethyst-like sky. ¡°How old are you¡­ again, Harry?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ I think 27, Your Highness.¡± ¡°You look good for your age. Let¡¯s sleep, we have a lot more running to do in the morning.¡± ¡°Your Highness! I told you it¡¯s dangerous.¡± I shoved my hands at Harry, and closed my eyes, embracing the cold and dry land. I¡¯ve always been picky with beds, but I feel like growing that side of mine today.
Sheltered in my deep sleep, I was oblivious to the outside world. The tickling grass on my skin, and the cold breeze of the night, felt like I was on sleeping pills. ¡°Your Highness! Wake up! Wake up!¡± Harry yelled loudly, with the first coming from afar, and the other one closer. My entire body bounced up and down as someone grabbed under my back and lifted me; yelling one last time. Like a bolt of lightning, my eyes jolted open. The fuck, this feels like deja vu. But, unlike before, above my eyes was not the leaves of trees blocking the blue sky, rather it was the dark night with an infinite array of stars blinking all at the same time. ¡°It¡¯s still night, why the fuck are you¡­¡± I said, itching to look behind Harry, blocking a magnificent figure. ¡°There is no time to explain, Your Highness, it¡¯s here!¡± ¡°I can see that¡­¡± A smile slowly formed reaching the edges of my eyes, opening my mouth and cackling like a crackhead. ¡°Put me down!¡± ¡°No, Your Highness!¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.¡°We went here to fight it! So let¡¯s fight it!¡± ¡°Are you insane?¡± ¡°Huh! Did you just call me insane? Without even uttering any respect!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness! But this is urgent! There is no way we can beat that monster!¡± Harry jumped into the forest, the ground behind his track raised like a wave in the ocean, launching him on top of the trees. Harry dropped me off to the ground, a millisecond after he was launched, landing me on a spiked rock. ¡°Ughhhh!¡± I moaned in pain. ¡°Waaragrahhhh!!!¡± My eyes glued onto the monster. Harry dropped in front of me and immediately picked me up to his shoulder, carrying me like a bag of money running away from a bank. I raised my head up, staring at the monster as it grazed upon the forest. That thing was something no human could ever truly describe the horror it sends down one¡¯s spine. Its eyes that hang like ballsacks sending uncomfortable chills throughout my entire body. The uneven lengths of it¡¯s purple fur along with multiple bald patches. It¡¯s tongue hanging and drooling off a dislocated jaw made its howl into incomprehensible terror. All of it burned my eyes. At the shape of a poor giant dog, towering above the trees, the torture it had gone through to reach such a point of disgusting physique, made me pity and happy. The ground shook once more, but this time there was no wave on the ground coming from the monster''s feet. ¡°Shit!¡± Harry yelled and stopped. I looked back to the front and a half-circle tall wall of dirt blocked our path. ¡°I told you, get me off. This is an order!¡± Harry gently placed me down on my feet. ¡°Harry, you know right? We have no choice but to fight it.¡± ¡°We can just go around, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Harry¡­¡± I had a speech etched into my mind, ready to declare the stupidest reason to fight, but then the ground began to shake. Harry tackled me along to the side while the floor broke into a hole. ¡°Stop!¡± I yelled. Harry dragged me to the side of the walls, allowing us to hide from the monster and run away. But then, Harry dropped my hand and turned around. He rushed to the monster with his sword raised up high. ¡°Huh. That was rather easy. I mean no sane human would actually fight that monster. It¡¯s like 20 feet tall. The bald patches of hair also revealed a lot of scars, I mean¡­ unless you''re inhumane, you can¡¯t even reach that monster¡¯s head-¡± A blue cloud formed under Harry¡¯s feet. He jumped to the sky, passing the head of the monster leaving a faint blue wisp beneath his feet. When the blue dispersed, he struck down his sword as it erupted in blue flame. The monster couldn¡¯t react to the sudden attack and took the blade head-on. After the impact, Harry dropped down and didn¡¯t even look up on his damage. The blue flame on his sword disappeared with his strike. Beneath his feet, the same blue energy formed again along with his sword being enveloped in the same blue flame. This time he jumped forward. Whether it was confidence or the common sense of not wasting time and letting the enemy react, as Harry launched himself, I stared at the head of the monster. There was not a single hint of damage. Wielding his flame-coated sword, he sliced above him, landing to the other side of the monster. It did no damage. Then without wasting time, Harry was once again ready for another attack. He swiftly turned around, releasing a crescent shape of blue energy targetted on one of the monster¡¯s feet. That all happened in the span of 10 seconds. It stood like an ant was scratching its back. Despite all the flashy movement, and power I could only imagine, the monster was also included in that imagination. While Harry was in the middle of the air, the monster had enough of playing statue. In its mind, it had already understood the people it was hunting were nothing but insects. ¡°Raggraggggggaaaaaa!¡± The monster screamed. Even the sound that comes from its mouth is as unique as its appearance. Like an invisible energy dispersed from the monster, Harry flew to the trees, taking two whole trees down before stopping from the impact. In just another second, that energy that threw Harry away reached me. I held onto the wall of dirt the monster created. However, that wall was just made out of dirt after all, the power from its scream broke a piece of what I was holding onto, launching me back to a tree. Blood immediately spurted out of my mouth. Fuck! What the fuck! It was so painful all I could ever think about was cursing it away. My throat felt like it was burning from the blood I threw up. My back was constantly aching from the pain, but thankfully the amount of clothes I was wearing cushioned some of the impact. Stand Up! You bitch! Stand up! Humans grow, that¡¯s the basic concept of life. Everything ages, and through that time, everyone changes. That change can be big or small. Some people go through horrible moments in life, swearing an oath to change themselves for the better. Then, once those changes bring them something good in life, it¡¯s an amazing relief brought upon by one''s effort to change. To those people, life is an amazing journey of improvement and joy. Everyone ¡°should¡± change. However, that line isn¡¯t that easy to be true. There are people who no matter what happens have already given up, change to them was something they''ll just decide in the afterlife. To those people, life was just the long wait for death. Well, there are always reasons for a person¡¯s actions. A human is made up of what the world presented them, no, a human is made up of what they perceived of the world. It makes humans such complicated creatures, full of beautiful mysteries. You act so high saying you can even endure an arm being cut! Stand up! The pain in my back had already disappeared. Just some phantom pain and the effects of coughing up blood were left. I slowly lifted myself, opening my eyes to a sight covered by bright purple. Despite the sight before me, I kept my eyes open. My body wouldn¡¯t move, my feet were numb, my mind was blank, and fuck, something felt off. There was no feeling of death. ¡°Your Highness!¡± Harry pushed me away from the kick of the monster, taking the hit himself. I rolled to the ground, forcing myself to stand up. ¡°Run!¡± Past or present¡­ you¡¯re a fucking idiot *****. 5. Lone Mission Maybe I¡¯ll try to fight it¡­ fucking shit that¡¯s the stupidest thought any human had ever thought! I hastily stood up from the ground, looking back at Harry¡¯s unconscious body stuck inside a tree. The monster stared at me like time had frozen. My body stood still, my eyes couldn¡¯t blink, my mouth wouldn¡¯t open, and I felt as if I had already died without me realizing it. It was an uncomfortable feeling of immobilization. Like I was inside a coffin perfectly in the shape of my body. Shaking my soul inside, forcing myself to move at this ground-nailed statue. A few seconds later, I finally came back to my senses and immediately turned around. ¡°Come chase me, you bastard!¡± I began to run, making the monster chase me as much as possible. I was stupid, I knew I was stupid. Run by some stupid drive of 8th-grade syndrome, no, it was the drive of self-validation. Forcing a purpose on living through death. A cry for help that no one would ever hear. Starting a new life doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll immediately change. I¡¯m 37 yet still an idiot. Still immature. Still, a piece of shit who can¡¯t do anything but create trouble for everyone around him. Not knowing what¡¯s better, not knowing how life should really be, I should¡¯ve just lo-. I slapped myself, stopping my thoughts from continuing. My body was sturdier than I was in my past life. Though it was obvious to have a strong body being the crown prince in a fantasy world. Because of me, Harry could have died, or maybe he already was dead, but on the off chance he was alive, all I could do was run away. Make a cat-and-mouse chase to lead the monster far from Harry, far from the village. The forest may not be dense, but the roots of each tree blossom from the ground. It wasn¡¯t noticeable when I was walking, but running as my heart beat faster than I could perceive, with a smile that conflicted with my entire belief. My body was in confusion and panic, and so was my mind. Each jump made my momentum slower, and each trunk hanging made my balance askew. Each one of these caused the monster to get closer and closer. I can¡¯t think about my life choices right now, the most important thing is to survive. Even if dying right now is the easy choice and what the owner of this body deserves. However, this is still my second life, and I wasn¡¯t going to let it go that easily. Whenever a stem was ahead, I prepared to jump. When a trunk blocked my face, I was ready to evade. The ground beneath my feet began to shake. I knew exactly what this meant. However, based on past events, the ground shaking didn¡¯t result in just one thing. It resulted in 3. The first one was a wave of dirt, ready to lunch me to the air or grab my feet crippling me. The second one was a wall, stopping my tracks and enough for the monster to catch up to me immediately. Lastly, making a hole beneath my feet. I don¡¯t know how smart the monster is, but by risking everything to it not being smart enough to understand some strategy, I¡¯ll remove the last one from the possibilities. Two seconds had already passed and a wall still hadn¡¯t popped up in front of me. That only leaves the first one, the ground was chasing after me. I didn¡¯t want to look behind me, in case I tripped, but I had no choice. I observed every obstacle in front of me as fast as possible, identifying the safest route. It didn¡¯t take long, or like, I didn¡¯t have long. Once I turned my head around to look behind me, the wave of ground had already uprooted all the grass and bent all the trees, it was just a meter away from me. There were no trees to my side, and so by forcing all my strength to my legs, I jumped to the side, rolled my entire body, and stood up as fast as I could. The sound of falling trees and the silent steps of the monster made its presence much scarier. Despite its size, it was extremely quiet. Sound was the thing chasing me. After its first attack failed, just a few minutes later the ground shook again. I was sure walls would block me this time. Keeping my eyes closed to the ground and clearing my mind for utmost focus, I waited. In a split second, a half-cylindrical shape erupted from the ground by an inch. As soon as I noticed it, I jumped forward, it didn¡¯t matter if I was caught up in it or not, what mattered was that I made it through. There were two solutions to the wall, it was very simple, either just go around it as soon as you notice it, or jump over it. Of course, both ways would result in the same thing, but successfully going over the wall saves a few seconds which is more important than anything. My hands fisted like they were going to break. My face squished till my jaw cramped. In that jump, I placed all the strength I could muster. ¡°Ahhhhhhh!!!¡± The ground immediately shut up, catching my feet and flipping me forward. I groveled on the ground for a second, lifting my body as soon as I got control. With the amount of damage I had taken the entire day, I haven¡¯t gotten a single fatal injury other than scratches that sting like hell.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. It felt like my entire body was being smashed by a wooden bat impaled by multiple nails. The more I ran, the more it didn¡¯t feel like a chase but a beatdown of my body. Even if this body had more capabilities than I have ever experienced, my mentality cannot handle such a thing any longer. The monster broke through the giant dirt wall, bumping his ground, wasting him a good few seconds. At that moment, I realized I could just hide behind a tree. It was already too far for it to clearly see me, even if the trees were clearly open to the sky, that monster was too big to notice someone like me. But, I didn¡¯t. Because I didn¡¯t want to. Run, run, run. I ran. My legs kept moving despite the fears, the exhaustion, and the pain, despite everything, I went on. Ever since I was a kid, I was never able to run even more than a minute. I wanted power and physical abilities beyond normal beings. But that was just it, I just wanted it, I didn¡¯t have the effort for it. I was ambitious but lazy, that was the best explanation for me. Like every other human. At the end of my left eye, I spotted a hill behind trees. It reached the dark sky, observing the vast forest. Then by looking at the mountain for a split second, there was a hole beneath it, a small entrance to a cave. Behind me was a monster bigger than a tree at a height of 10 meters. There was no conceivable chance of ever defeating such a monster or at least, I don¡¯t. My only option from the very beginning was to run and escape this chase. I took a quick glance at the distance between me and the monster. It was around 20 meters. That¡¯s enough for me to run into the cave, hide, and wait till the monster wanders away. I changed my direction instantly and hugged the trees, hiding my presence. Without looking back or listening to the noise, I focused on my obstacles, running as fast as I possibly could. I ran not realizing just how fast this body was. In just a few minutes I arrived. The monster was nowhere to be seen in my tracks. Only its purple fur was barely visible above the trees. The entrance to the cave was just small enough to perfectly fit a human being. It was immediately dark, hiding from the outside world as the became narrower and narrower. My body was squished inside, sliding every part of my body sideways, inching deeper. I could have just stayed in the uncomfortable position for an hour till the monster disappeared, but with my body already in pain, I didn¡¯t want to risk pressuring it any longer. Without being able to see, or move effectively, I continued deeper. Every move of my body got me an inch closer. The thickness of my clothes had probably screwed me over. Each second I heard the sound of tearing fabric. But I kept going, either way, they were just clothes. Sooner than later I was tired, so tired that I stopped and I didn¡¯t like that. When I was a kid, because of my family''s numerous problems, my mom told me something that I never realized the significance of until I became like that as well. ¡°I don¡¯t like thinking when I¡¯m not busy, because it makes me remember all of my problems.¡± At the time, I always wondered why she just couldn¡¯t ignore it. She functions normally when doing things, so why couldn¡¯t she do the same when she doesn¡¯t do anything? It was hard to understand before, but when I entered adulthood, I realized that¡­ our problems are so heavy we can¡¯t just simply ignore them. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Idiot! Couldn¡¯t you just live a comfortable life in another world? You¡¯re a prince. A fucking crown prince. Why did you have to go and fall in love with death and do this to yourself? Why?! Why?! Fuck! You are not young anymore¡­ ¡­ Why do I keep doing this to myself? ¡­ Validation? A goal? ¡­ I pride myself in being able to read others¡­ but why can I never understand myself? ¡­ I released an agonizing sigh along with tears from my eyes. I can¡¯t even remove it. My eyes way too fucking itchy now and I can¡¯t even. I. I. I blinked my eyes multiple times to scratch. Forcing my eyes closed and my mind blank, I continued on. Never in my life did I like facing my problems, nor did I ever solve any. I¡¯m a coward. After a few more minutes of inching sideways, my hand left hand felt free. I waved it in enjoyment, hurrying the rest of my body outside the dark spacious room. Once I arrived in this cave I just realized it was stupid to even squeeze myself in the first place. There was no guarantee an area was actually located on the other side. Believing blindly helped me. I was lucky. ¡°So¡­ what do I do now?¡± My face was eventually faced with a moderate gust of wind. Splashing my face with a cozy breeze that neither stretched my skin nor only hit a specific part of my body. The cave was showering me with cold wind that made me want to sleep. It moved like it was coming from every direction. I relaxed myself, enveloping the wind as it weirdly relieved my muscles. But soon, it stopped. Then a barrage of multiple short bursts of wind entered my ear. My eyelids became brighter and brighter. ¡°What? Is this actually a¡­¡± I opened my eyes, laying before a straight path. The end had a small raised patch of dirt with a corpse sitting on a lotus position on top of it. On his lap was a ragged brown book. ¡°This is what they call plot armor huh? No, this is what they call cheating.¡± I¡¯ve seen such scenes many times. It was obvious. 6. A Book I walked along the cylindrical hall, brushing my fingertips on the cold walls below the burning wooden torch. The corpse directly looked forward, cuffing my eyes to his hollow stare. In this warm hall leading to the gates of hell, that book stayed alive, burning light into my eyes. The wind constantly lapped the hall, grazing my skin. Yet the fires atop these metal sconces were unmoving loyal guards, ready to protect their master to the death. I would like to believe all these torches are just mere imaginations. Dead men tell no tales, so how can dead men perform magic? That was my lingering thought. Reaching the end of the hall, I kneeled and bowed. ¡°I pay respect to my deceased master. May I spread your teachings?¡± I looked up, the corpse staring at me like death was to attack and deliver me to the afterlife. I chuckled at my foreplay and accepted my own plea without hesitation, taking the book for myself. I wiped the dust off the book, flying down to the ground, and blowing a white mask to my face. ¡°Pweh! Pweh! Pfff!!!!! What the fuck!¡± I scrubbed my eyes and wiggled my head like a happy dog¡¯s tail. ¡°Fucking hell, I did not expect the bones to turn into dust.¡± I tore a piece of my clothing and wiped my face with it. Because of the extremely narrow path I had to take, my already torn clothes were easily ripped. ¡°Seriously,¡± I sighed. ¡°What magic is this huh?¡± I sighed again. The phenomenon happening not only in front of me but along the unmovable torches behind, the constant wind around, and the vast forest holding a beast was just fantasy. That was my verdict on the situation. After clearing the book of added piles of dust, I was finally able to read, and I already expected what the book was about. ¡°Records On Cultivation¡± It was painfully obvious, a skeleton inside a cave just meant some type of hermit dying of old age. There were no swords, nor any writings on the walls, so it was an easy guess when I first saw that a book was the only one around the dead body. ¡°Okay, time to read whatever this shit is, I mean, I saw some aura today, I am quite interested in Cultivation too. But I wonder, can I cultivate?¡±
My name is Pifan, a reject of magic. Since I saw magic as a kid, I was captivated by its beauty. After coming of age to enter a school that teaches magic, I was punched in the face, realizing how expensive it was. I was just a child of a farmer and a tailor. At that moment I learned that magic was only for the rich; the nobles. So I worked hard. I took on multiple jobs just for one day, even if it was just for a day, I could learn magic. Days passed quickly and 10 years had already gone by. At that time, I got married with kids, took my mother¡¯s shop, cared for my parents and I couldn¡¯t save for a magic academy anymore. I was already too old anyway. Magic was just a dream, a faraway dream I could never reach. But no matter how much time passed, I was never able to forget that dream. Looking for it every single day, wanting the day I get to experience magic myself. However, I lived in a small village, and that scene of magic in my mind as a kid was getting blurry. I was even beginning to doubt the existence of magic or why I was even captivated by it. Why was I looking for magic so much? I don¡¯t get it. Because it looked beautiful? What was it? What made me fall for it? Then one day, the opportunity to escape my obscure life appeared, in the form of the worst disaster in my life. War. Unbeknownst to my small village, the entire world was burning to death. We didn¡¯t know it. I didn¡¯t know it. The world was at war, the entire world was being pulled around on who really owned it. But that type of grand scale even had nothing to do with me. I was just a simple commoner who didn¡¯t even know how to fight. Well, I wished my country cared about that. Without even having a choice, I was thrown into the middle of death¡¯s playground. Separated from my family, I was scared, I couldn¡¯t even move a single finger, much less fight. Then, I saw it. I saw it again. I realized. I realized the reason why I fell in love with magic. The creation of beauty out of nothing. That feeling of creating, that feeling of beauty, the graceful dance of magic in the air. That was the reason I fell in love with it. My dream became clearer and in the middle of a battlefield, my aspiration to use magic once again sparked. Years once again passed quickly. Surprisingly I was able to survive in the war for a really long time. I was even able to become a knight. Someone similar to a mage. If I wanted to use magic as a kid, some others wanted to use aura, or well, be a knight. However, I was different because I never really wanted to be a mage, all I really wanted was just to use magic, even just once, just for a second. I wanted it. I reached the age of 60 and retired as a knight. Even if I had a high position in the army, magic was still far from my reach. Even in the 40 years I experienced on the battlefield, not once did I ever get to talk to a mage. Basically, they were all arrogant about their power. But, after retiring, I had already amassed enough fortune to live gallantly to the end of my life, so, I was open to doing something I have always wanted. Of course, it wasn¡¯t to join a magic academy, I was already too old for that. Instead, I hired a mage to teach me about magic, wishing, even if I had no talent in it, I could at least do the bare minimum, just to touch my dream. Well, if the result was much different, I would have never created the greatest discovery in humankind. I was incapable of using magic. Not just untalented, but incompetent. I couldn¡¯t accept it. There was no way that for my entire life, even if I knew I couldn¡¯t ever have the chance to try it, but now, after 60 long years, I finally had the chance to achieve my dream, but it was all for nothing. At that moment, I declared myself to be selfish. I ran away from home, left my family, left my village, and secluded myself inside a cave. Bringing enough food to last me my entire life. Knights and Mages were the same. I thought that if I became a knight, being a mage was entirely obvious. I didn¡¯t wanna show it but I was so confident that day. My control of aura was so good I became a knight. Aura was just magic, but named differently to get a distinction for knights. Why was I unable to use magic? Aura and Magic were just the names of powers that were derived from the energy of Mana. Knights use mana on their entire body, enhancing physical activities to their maximum capabilities. Mages use mana outside their body, releasing it to create infinite possibilities. For years to no end, I don¡¯t know how much time passed, but forcing myself to release mana, to create something from nothing, dying from exerting too much of my old body, I discovered another way to handle mana. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Instead of gathering mana to the heart, I gathered them from three different locations. In the stomach, between the lungs, and in the mind. I simply call it the lower, middle, and upper. The principle of this process never really mattered to me, after realizing that gathering mana at the center of my body was more focused and balanced, I just believed in it. It was the riskiest moment of my life, much more than a battlefield. The heart was the only place mana was believed to be stored. Anywhere else and you will just die from the rampaging energy inside your body. But I was already going to die soon, there was no risk to doing what I wanted, even if it meant death. Now, enough of my long backstory. Whoever is reading this, I apologize, I am an old man, alone for a very long time. It is only through this ink and paper can I express the words I have suppressed for years. To my successor, this is not a method in which talent matters. Unlike a heart that needs to be compatible with mana or talent to turn mana into magic, this ¡°Cultivation¡± I had discovered needs none of that. Though I cannot guarantee the truth to my words, because of my obsession to use magic even in this newfound process, I died without even passing my discovery. The next page details everything you need to know, forgive this rambling old man once more, if the formation I had set up, if this cave had chosen you, then I believe you to be my perfect successor. I don¡¯t need you to revolutionize the world with this method nor do I need you to spread it. All I want is for my successor to not be like me. If you have a dream, I hope the method I spent my entire life on, at least helps you even just a little bit. Good luck on your journey, my unknown disciple.
¡°Well, at least I know he is an old man right? Only old people can ramble on for that long and you don¡¯t even get that much out of it¡­¡± ¡­ ¡°It was¡­ kind of touching though. I¡¯m sorry my master, after shortly arriving in this world, your unknown disciple had already almost died. Your successor might be the stupidest in the world, but, because of you, I will, I will chase my dream.¡± By reading the first few entries of the book, I was randomly hit with a mountain of motivation. I didn¡¯t exactly know what to do after all of that. Thinking about my dream? Changing into a better person? I never really had a concrete dream in my life other than the collective desire to live a life where I can buy and go wherever I want. I¡¯m the crown prince of the country. So long as I change as a person and show I became a better human being, that dream I have always longed for feels like a waste. Oh¡­ it felt like a waste. My mind was agitated with myself. I shook myself back into reality and focused more on the book and less on myself. That was when I actually got the chance to show I became a better person. The place I was at was for me to become stronger, to protect my ideals, and to achieve a dream. ¡°However, I don¡¯t really know anything about mana¡­ umm, is it just. I know all about cultivation and magic, and I know full well that to do either of them I need to be able to sense the ¡®energy¡¯ for them. Right now all I feel is this wind that really feels like a living being.¡± I looked at the last part of my master¡¯s story once more and noticed the mention of the next page. So, as it should have been an obvious procedure, I turned the page to learn more. ¡°The start of Cultivation is just like being a Knight and a Mage, you just need to sense mana. Well, not helpful as I can¡¯t sense mana, though I do think this body did before, I mean I am the crown prince.¡± The book continued upon it¡¯s explanation of sensing mana. Just like any process of meditation, I sat on a lotus position, surprised I could even sit like that. My thighs were too thick to be able to raise both my feet at the same time. [To be able to sense mana, either you maintain absolute focus in your surroundings or bring your body to death''s door. Hopefully, you choose the start, however, if you don¡¯t have enough ability to focus, the second one is sadly your only option.] I took a deep breath in, and then out. My mind entered a blank slate and my breathing stayed in a constant cycle. The wind was still grazing my skin every single second, rendering my focus futile. It was like a cat was constantly yearning for attention, scratching my skin until I yelled at it. Even if I couldn¡¯t focus on my environment at the moment, I still had a chance. Mana may exist from outside the body, in the universe itself, but because I am a crown prince of a country, I wholeheartedly believe that I already have mana inside my body. All I needed to do was sense it. After that, it was game time. Reading the book, I realized that the concept of this world¡¯s mana or magic is centered around the heart. I can also speculate that it is in the form of magic circles, though I can''t guarantee it. Well, whatever it really is, that wasn¡¯t something I needed to know. With all the pain I had already felt, ignoring the wind annoying my body was easy. I placed all my attention on my skin and bones, into my heart. Imagine mana as an emotion. The feeling of uncontrollable joy, raging anger, crippling fear, excruciating pain, agonizing embarrassment, and awkward nervousness. All those moments in life where your emotions run rampant. That is the clue to mana. An energy coursing through your body that you cannot and cannot control. My heart contained this energy. This unknown anomaly. A secret to power I so desire. I sense a chill in my heart. It felt like a river was running in circles. Rain tickles my heart with its ice-cold aura. My heart was being enveloped with a thick rampaging body of water. There it is. I can sense it. My body suddenly felt cold. The warm wind had changed. No, the thing I have been feeling the entire time was not wind. The reason the fire wasn¡¯t being blown. It was all rampaging mana from the very start. The entire cave was covered with incredibly thick mana. I could only think of this as the mana that had scattered from my master¡¯s body when he had rotten to bones. I can¡¯t waste this opportunity. At the same time, the outside wasn¡¯t the only one that had thick mana. My heart was being powered by such rampaging mana. I never thought about it, but no normal human being could outrun a 10-meter-tall dog. I quickly led the mana from my heart out of my mouth, releasing it to the mass of mana. Then I inhaled the mana down to my stomach, leading them into my lower abdomen. I didn¡¯t read far enough to see if the book mentioned the exact location of the lower dantian, but I have also written cultivation stories, I know that it was located two to three inches below a person¡¯s belly button. Soon the mana inside my heart was completely dispersed from my body. Slowly, but surely I inhaled and inhaled. My body was burning from my stomach. Like the energy was going to burst. I didn¡¯t notice until it started to burn but inside my body was a beautiful dense ball of energy. In just a short amount of moment, with the amount of mana around me, no, Qi, it didn¡¯t feel right, my energy core was forming. I couldn¡¯t stop there, even with the pain. Even if my body felt like it was exploding. Like my insides were being blown like a balloon. There was no stopping until I exhausted every bit of mana in my surroundings. More! More! Create a better core! A brighter core! ¡­ Almost there! Just a little more! ¡­ Time flies so fast! But it¡¯s here! Just a smidge left! ¡­ Finally! I¡¯m done! Something immediately erupted above me. My eyelids shone like the sun and it was like small pieces of hail were falling on my body. I opened my eyes and looked above the blue sky. A giant purple dog was drooling in front of my eyes. 7. Next What the fuck! How did it even find me?! ¡°Graggaragahhhh!!¡± The beast shouted in front of my face, splattering its disgusting cluster of saliva around. Before I could even react and process the situation, its feet were already facing me. It was traveling fast in the air. The mana inside my body was burning me with passion. A core amassing this much power was feeding me with a mountain of pride and arrogance. I had no idea about the real value of my strength or my standing in the world, but at that moment, I had enough confidence to consider myself above this monster, no, this beast of the forest. I fisted both my hands and pumped my chest forward. With my teeth gritted, waiting for the perfect moment, my hand moved and met the beast¡¯s paw. ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± I underestimated it. The bones in my arm sounded like they cracked. The beast had sent me flying to the entrance of the cave. My body dug halfway through, causing me to release twice the amount of blood the first time I was blown to a wall. What? Wait! Idiot! With the impact of the beast¡¯s attack, my brain was racked like a thief. I realized that I didn¡¯t even concentrate my energy on my fist. My survival was no less than a miracle. But the beast wasn¡¯t going to let me complete my thoughts and understand my power, though he didn¡¯t know I was doing such a thing. The beast attacked me again while I was stuck on the wall, blasting me outside of the mountain, pulverizing any tree in my way until I stopped. I continued my thoughts by ignoring the slightest pain in my body. In the current situation, my mind was racing my ambition. When I was about to conclude, the beast jumped into the sky and landed on top of me, burying me in the ground. It raised its feet, leaving a crater slightly bigger than its paw the size of a car. My body was perfectly all right, other than the bruises from the first two attacks, I was smiling with a psychopathic nonending laugh. After seeing me stand up, the beast wailed again, releasing another giant wave of air, blasting the trees like an angel descending from heaven. Unlike last time, I wasn¡¯t going to get blown again. I stood with conviction. While I was being played around by the forest beast, the most basic use of Qi, or any energy was to cover my body with it to protect me as the shield of my body, an energy-coated dress. While waiting for the beast to settle down it¡¯s crying, I confidently ignored it as I undressed all the padding of my clothes. Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to throw my bag of riches and place it inside my pants. The people of the old times always wore tight clothing. Even if the outward appearance may be Eastern, the inside was still what I expected. It was weird but what do I care about this world¡¯s fashion sense? That will never matter. As I perfectly completed my stripping, the beast¡¯s face was filled with anger. It slowly walked above me and raised its paw, ready to pummel me to the ground once more. I closed my eyes for a short moment and took a deep breath. While I opened my eyes, I pulled my right arm to the back, then launched myself to the sky, uppercutting the beast right down his chin. ¡°I am the king of the forest! Bitch!¡± I dropped down with a smug on my face, rubbing my nose until everything went dark and I was facing the floor covered with my blood. The beast was completely fine. There was not a single damage just like when Harry attacked it with a sword. It even took me by surprise, making my qi armor openly unstable. Shit! Arrogant! I slapped my face hard enough to leave a red imprint and a lasting scar on my hand. Bitch! This is it again! I was repeating the same reason I was even here in the first place. The arrogance of a son of a bitch. Truly unlikable. Once the beast had completely stopped striking me, making a crater big enough for a pond, I immediately jumped out of it, going under its stomach. Qi was a delicate power. Just like magic or aura, it was an unnatural power that I had never tasted in my entire life. Of course, no matter what I ever did, such a fantasy would have never been true. Humans are filled with so much knowledge, only hindered by their greed and pride. I was no different. At that moment I reached what they call enlightenment in cultivation. I understood the concept of cultivation in this world. If magic uses mana to create something outside of its body, aura uses mana to strengthen one¡¯s body. However, cultivation was not only the combination of the two, but much higher. Purifying the soul, creating power to bend the laws of the world. I don¡¯t know anything about martial arts, but I atleast know how to punch. I guided qi from my core into the tip of my arm. Energy enveloped my hand till it felt like a car was implanted into my body. All in a second, I struck above me, not even touching the beast¡¯s stomach. Once I opened my eyes, the beast was flying in the sky, it had become just as big as my two hands. That was me? I did that! After being entranced by my own power for a few seconds, I was not ready to stop. With the giant beast dropping at any second, I distanced myself from the landing point and began to fill my legs with qi. The monster dropped causing an earthquake and flattening the remains of the small mountain, forming a plateau in the forest where a mountain once resided. The power to change the world. That was once again eating me alive. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Wasting no time, I jumped into the sky. Neither having learned gymnastics nor parkour, I launched the top of my body and hugged my legs. The entirety of my being became a spinning globe in the sky. With the momentum of my spins, I opened my body and struck the beast with the heel of my feet, clawing its back deep. The ground fell down deeper. The beast was stunned by the amount of constant pain it had been dealt with. Though with the lack of visible damage, the beast wasn¡¯t moving. I didn¡¯t stop there and immediately went to its most vulnerable part. The weakness of every being. It¡¯s eyes. More so the beast that had dangling eyes that was close be as vulnerable as a snail. I jumped down to its flattened cheeks and stared at its closed eyes. From the very first moment I saw this giant dog I thought the eyes were like testicles. But now that I had gotten closer to it, I was a hundred percent sure it was a pair of testicles. The eyelids looked like dried skin, with multiple folded strikes. My mouth was about to release the only food I had eaten in this just from the sight of this beast''s eyes. With my only saving grace, I closed my eyes and grabbed the eye. Fuck! It even felt like actual balls. I didn¡¯t have the energy to even fathom the sensation my hands were feeling. With my entire body covered with my qi, I just pulled the balls and emptied my mind like a zombie. Every fiber of my body was being stretched to its limits. The body that had endured all of my attacks proves the difficulty of pulling this beast¡¯s eyes. It was like nailed to its skull in every possible space. ¡°Argggg!!!!!!¡± The monster had begun to wake up from my screams and disturbance. Now that it was moving, I believed that what I was pulling was finally coming off from it¡¯s screws. I yelled more and more, pulled more and more. While I was pulling, I was dragging as much of my qi to my arms as possible. Why is it not even budging?! Then I heard a slight tear of paper. The eye was launched to the sky, dragging me along its feet. I flew to the sky and landed with the eye as my cushion while it rained blood into the forest. Fuck! Then the monster once again dropped to the ground. With that second I felt a sense of immense relief. It took all of my strength but I had finally defeated that son of a bitch. Though a little anti-climatic, it was done. ¡°I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°Gragggggggggg!¡± ¡°What?¡± Shit! The beast began to stand up while its socket flooded with blood. Fuck! Guess it wasn¡¯t over yet. I said in my head. But when I tried to stand up, my body wasn¡¯t responding. Once again I had frozen. No, it wasn¡¯t like the last time when I was scared. My entire body was feeling such excruciating pain until it just instantly disappeared. It was like my entire life had just been my imagination. That all the things I had done were a dream. I was dead, no limbs, no head, no life. It was all just the sight of my dream life. This was hell, to witness my dream shatter, that was hell¡¯s biggest punishment The beast yelled sending a much bigger shockwave than ever before flattening the entire forest. I was blown as far as the beast turning into just a small equivalent of my fist. Everything around it was rid of trees, not a single thing was left standing up. It had made a battlefield for itself. It¡¯s mouth was fizzling and howling. The beast was spinning around, looking for me, until we locked eyes and it began to run. My entire body was lying on the ground pathetically. I couldn¡¯t move nor even change where I was looking. The last scenes of my life were the screen of a laptop and an artificial plateau in the middle of a forest. At least, this time, I was gonna die in a fight. The death of a warrior, I at least worked for my death. Not some overwork type shit, you know? I had never once feared death. From the moment I turned 12, I had accepted death as something that happened to every human being. Inevitable, that was the word that described death the best. But why? Why right now I feel like I don¡¯t wanna die! I didn¡¯t even regret not finishing my novel, being the best writer, or getting a movie or an anime, or even atleast a comic! So why?! Why?! I lived the same in these two days as I did for so many years, so why?! Why do I not wanna die now?! In the face of death, life didn¡¯t flash in my eyes. Not anything of those bullshit. All I saw was a wasteland with my killer approaching me. The beast jumped in the sky, reading to slam me to the ground, making another of its grand craters. It knew I wouldn¡¯t be affected, right? Or will I? When the beast disappeared from my eyes, my body stood up on its own and ran. I stood still, looking in front of me as the ground shook from the beast landing behind me. But I didn¡¯t care, there was no point in looking at it. None. I just wanted to find my life in that distant sky. My reason. The reason I was given another chance. However, I already knew the answer to that. There was none. I believed in a creator, a God. But I never believed in the ¡°everyone was born with a purpose.¡± That isn¡¯t true. We were born to find our purpose. That was our freedom. There is never a real reason or right definition for something that happens in someone¡¯s life. It was all just up to that person how they would interpret it. That is the reason for my existence. The beast charged at me with its mouth open, ready to eat my unguarded back. At that moment I felt something close behind my head and acted based on feeling, grabbing the beast¡¯s tongue with both my hands. With all the remaining energy in my newly developed core. I pulled the beast up and slammed it to the ground. Then I raised my hand into the sky, draining the last bit of qi inside my body, smashing its head to the ground. The impact delivered a giant crater. The beast was flattened, revealing its foul-smelling brain. I had succeeded in causing an injury on this monster¡¯s skin. Relieved of my pain, my burden, my memories, everything, I was determined to start anew, to be a human being who was rightfully recently born. Onto the next journey... of my new life. 8. The City The warm and bright sun purifies my cold body while every tip of my skin rests on wrinkly skin. Skin?! I jumped away immediately. By looking at the position of the sun, it seemed like I slept for a whole day on top of the beast¡¯s eye. My entire body shivered uncontrollably. At the same time, it wouldn¡¯t stop shaking. ¡°Ughhh¡­ Ahhhh!!!!!¡± I couldn¡¯t remove my clothes, I¡¯ll be naked if I do so. After that thought, there was only one solution. The village. It must have clothes! I ran as fast as I could, not even looking at the dead beast. It was so disgusting and horrifying, such strength had probably made it into some blacklist of an adventurer guild. Then before I entered the forest a thought came to my mind. Does this beast have a monster core? Like does that exist in this world? But the money. Wait, do I need the money? I don¡¯t but¡­ it probably will be useful¡­ I let out a long sigh and slowly turned around with my eyes closed. Even just thinking about that ball sack and resting on it so comfortably, I would throw up just looking at it. It was like sleeping on top of poop, but it was odorless and worse. Once I began to climb the beast, I could feel its skin as hard as metal. Just standing on top of it feels like I was on a mountain. My Qi core has already drained every last bit of energy I could exhaust. But, it doesn¡¯t feel like my qi is completely gone. It felt the same shape and density from the beginning, however, I can¡¯t seem to release any of it. Without my qi, there was no way I could even pierce through the beast¡¯s skin. It already took all of my power to, if I wanted to look for it, I¡¯d have to go from inside. The imagery of the exposed brain entered my thoughts. ¡°Well, it is possible to enter from the brain, but, I don¡¯t wanna go and enter this body at all,¡± I said, contradicting the entire process of achieving my goal. With that line out of my mouth, it was clear I would rather leave the core behind than do anything to get it. I sat in a lotus position and began to gather qi from the air. Unlike when I was just inside the cave, the amount of qi had significantly dropped. Before, it felt like eating a four-layered cake in one bite, and now it was like eating cupcakes in two bites. After absorbing the first half of a cupcake I understood what had happened. At the current moment, my ¡°core¡± is just a container. The size or density of it didn¡¯t define my strength but only the amount of qi I could contain. I probably never noticed it from when I started, but accumulating this much mana and filling my core back up from before would take me years. Then, I began to absorb qi, just to fill my core up a little bit. There was no tactic, nor proper breathing method, I just inhaled and took everything I could in.
¡°Your Highness! Is that you, Your Highness?!¡± A familiar voice yelled from afar. My eyes stared at the endless darkness, with tiny stars flying like fairies. I opened my eyes to the dark canvas. It¡¯s already night?! What? It felt like I just started a few minutes ago. ¡°It is you, right? Your Highness?¡± The one behind me talked again and after coming back to my senses, the familiar voice could only be Harry. I carried my body up and turned around, shocked at what I could see. Once I started to sense mana, everything felt different. It was cold, constantly cold, weirdly cold. However, that was only inside the cave. After I got out, staring back at the sun, only by coating my body back up with this cold energy could I endure facing the sun. Well, that wasn¡¯t the main point. I could not see mana, no matter what happens, I will never try to see something comparable to wind. But, I could sense it. It was vague, but I feel it. Then as I look at Harry, I can even feel his amount of mana. It was fascinating. Wait, if I can sense mana inside a living being, how come there was no mana coming from this beast? ¡°It is you, Your Highness!¡± Are you telling me that this beast was that powerful without even relying on magic? Not a single ounce of mana? Just pure physical strength? What the fuck! ¡°Are you alright, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Yes, how about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve recovered Your Highness! This armor is not weak!¡± He knocked on his chest piece. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good.¡± I jumped down the beast, forgetting about the ball sack. I immediately covered my mouth, almost throwing up on the spot. ¡°So, where is the one that defeated the beast, Your Highness? We need to reward him greatly for saving you.¡± ¡°I defeated it.¡± ¡°Wha- what? Wa- wa- wa- wa-¡± Harry¡¯s head jiggled like a vibrator. ¡°What?! But, it¡¯s a forest beast! Are you lying to me, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Why do you think I was sitting on top of it? I¡¯m not crazy.¡± ¡°You are, Your Highness!¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s rude. Anyway, if you don¡¯t have anything else to say, let us go back to the village, I ain''t in the mood to sleep in the middle of the forest again.¡± My body shivered from the image of a giant testicle.
Finding our way back to the village was much harder than I thought. Not only was it dark, it wasn¡¯t like we entered the forest from the path of the beast. We entered it from the middle, I didn¡¯t even know where the path began or ended. But thankfully, Harry was much smarter than he looked. After only a few hours of walking, we were able to spot the marks we had done to the trees. Making our way back from that point on was easy. Once we arrived at the village, it wasn¡¯t like our inn was paid until the current day it was, and at the same time, I wasn¡¯t really all that tired. ¡°Harry.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness?¡± ¡°You fainted from being knocked down by the beast right? ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°That means you slept a really long time, you know, being knocked out makes you incredibly weak, causing you to be asleep for a long time.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go the stables, you ain''t sleeping until the sun sets once more.¡± ¡°What? But. Your Highness.¡± ¡°This is an order.¡± I had no idea if declaring things as orders is a custom in this world, but as Harry follows anything by command, I do not need to question it. After stealing a horse and a carriage from a village that felt like it was filled with ghosts, we had gone and went to our next destination. I don¡¯t know where that was, but I didn¡¯t care at all. Unlike the royal carriage that I saw when I went back for the dead commander, this carriage is a huge downgrade. Made entirely of wood, with only a cloth as a roof, it didn¡¯t even have a door. I had seen such carriages before from multiple stories, but I wouldn¡¯t want a comfy couch to sleep on more than after the last time I slept. Ughhhh. ¡°Are you okay, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, don¡¯t take your eyes off the road.¡± In that entire night, I had closed my eyes and only cultivated till the day once again changed without me noticing. ¡°Your Highness! Here¡¯s your breakfast.¡± Harry said, staring as I sat with my eyes closed with no attachment to the outside world. ¡°Your Highness?¡± He repeated, now with a much lower voice. ¡°Your Highness!¡± Harry yelled directly into my ear. ¡°Ahhh! What the fuck!¡± ¡°I was just giving you your breakfast, Your Highness.¡± I looked at the cloth beside me having a single loaf of bread on it. ¡°Bread?¡± ¡°Sorry, we don¡¯t have anything better than that. I just traded some of our missed meals from the inn for bread before I looked for you in the forest.¡± I wanted to be a bitch and question his loyalty by not even looking for me first, but food is food. However, I wasn¡¯t really hungry. Is this how cultivators only eat pills? Without moving, I don¡¯t exhaust any energy, and as long as I have qi, I¡¯m not tired at all. ¡°Well, thank you, go back now. Don¡¯t waste any more time standing on the road.¡±
¡°We have arrived at Numinity, Your Highness!¡± Not repeating the same mistake as before. Even though I wasn¡¯t tired, this time I slept, just to avoid being yelled at in the ear. Once I finished rubbing my eyes off the gounds in my eyes, I looked outside the carriage, and tears started to drop from my eyes. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Okay, unlike before, I ain''t gonna fucking say I¡¯m changing and won¡¯t. This shit is another world, I¡¯m changing, it doesn¡¯t matter what happens. From the tall medieval housings to multiple people with varied clothes, I stared at everything. It felt like I was country bumpkin seeing the city for the first time. But, even if this is smaller and much less advanced, it is much more beautiful than skyscrapers filled with poisonous gas. The feeling of that fresh air sprinkled with the delicious aromas of restaurants. Carriages of multiple banners of nobles and merchants. Paved road. Ragtags of people that were probably adventurers. Multiple shops. It was the city alright. ¡°We have arrived at the inn, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s a gold coin! Get the most expensive and best deal you can, I¡¯ll go explore the city!¡± I threw a gold coin to Harry and jumped off, running as fast as I could. ¡°Your Highness! Please don¡¯t get drunk on drugs again! Also, it¡¯s a Nar! Not a gold coin!¡± Okay, first place. Clothes! I already saw one, and it had glass. I didn¡¯t think glass existed in medieval times, well historically at least, just in fantasy they do. Well, this is fantasy. So, I¡¯m rambling nonsense in my head again. After running for a few minutes, I arrived. ¡°Galina. What an interesting name for a clothes store.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Said a female voice. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Shit, who the fuck says uhhh???? ¡°Hello.¡± I waved my hands with a bright smile, covering my embarrassment. ¡°Is this your first time in a city? Wanna come in?¡± Once I turned around and looked at her, it was like a fallen angel. Her hair glistened like the night sky, and her skin was smoother than butter. Sharp brows, blue eyes, and a smile brighter than the sun. She wore a brown dress and stood taller than me. How old am I exactly? ¡°No, and yes!¡± I was so excited to buy new clothes, however, there was not a single customer in the store. Was it expensive? At this time, I don¡¯t really believe window shopping exists. Only the rich shopped and the poor had no rights. Maybe that was why. My thought process sounded kinda harsh, didn¡¯t it? Well, I was poor too, I have the right. The girl entered first, carrying a bag of groceries. I said I wanted to change, but being a gentleman. Does a gentleman ask a person they just met to help carry their grocery? Yeah no, that¡¯s psychopathic. What the fuck. I followed her and a certain row of clothes already caught my eye. In this period of time, even suits had already existed. Those suits, I wanted all of them, well I just wanted them, there was no way I would wear such things at this time. ¡°I¡¯ll just put these down, please look around first.¡± My eyes followed the girl until she went and disappeared from the back of the store. It wasn¡¯t because of infatuation from her beauty that I was looking at her. Actually, it was the opposite. Seeing such a woman who almost met my depiction of perfection, there was not a single interest in my body. Did I become an asexual¡­? This body is an asexual? I was so happy that I smiled lightly tapping both sides of my cheek while releasing the squeal of a little girl. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I quickly turned back to my normal smile and placed both my hands behind my back. ¡°Yes, there''s no problem.¡± ¡°Thank goodness. Sorry for the wait.¡± She walked closer to me from the back and continued. ¡°So what are you interested in, dear sir.¡± She chuckled. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± I said, still keeping my smile. Even though I wasn¡¯t that used to it. ¡°Sorry, I just laughed because it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve called someone younger than me a sir.¡± Then why call me one? That is what I wanted to say. But that wasn¡¯t anything close to being appealing. It sucked that I had zero experience with actual proper conversations. That made me sad based on how long I¡¯ve lived. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so respectful to me,¡± I responded, based on my attempt to understand the reasons for her concern. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re not thinking I can¡¯t pay right?¡± ¡°No, no, sir.¡± She waved her hand in concern. I chuckled to lighten the mood. ¡°Well, I would like to just get a few sets of good clothes, enough for a few days of traveling till I get home.¡± I still didn¡¯t clearly know that I was going home, but I would love to believe I was. I should really ask Harry about it next time. ¡°Oh, then no worries sir, we have a lot of good quality clothing for nobles like yourself.¡± ¡°You know I¡¯m a noble? How?¡± She hummed before answering. ¡°If you are hiding it, sir, It¡¯s not really that effective, considering your clothes are made of pure white silk. At the same time based on the mana surrounding it, it even has a Stainless blessing on it.¡± Stainless blessing? I looked down and inspected my suspiciously clean clothes. ¡°Oh, hahaha! Sorry, this is kind of.¡± I leaned to her ears. ¡°The first time I sneaked out from my guard.¡± Then I chuckled after leaning back out. ¡°It¡¯s okay, sir. It is also my first time seeing such a kind noble.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°If it was anyone else, they would have barged into the store and yelled at me without reason!¡± She punched into the air, mimicking the villain of her story. ¡°Hehehe.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you try this sir? It is engraved with the highest quality of mana layers to keep you warm any time of the day.¡± She handed me a thick multi-layer set of dresses that looked eerily similar to my old clothes. ¡°Uhh, I¡¯m kind of not looking for those types of clothes,¡± I said. So that is the reason why I first felt hot without my stacks of clothes. ¡°Oh, I totally thought you wanted something to keep you warm, sorry.¡± ¡°I am an aura user, so I don¡¯t really need such things anymore.¡± ¡°Wow! An aura user at such a young age?! You must be a genius sir.¡± ¡°Hahaha! Not really, I was just blessed with parents obsessive with power.¡± She chuckled again. ¡°Oh, sorry, it¡¯s just, that you don¡¯t seem like a noble at all.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ve just never seen one like me then.¡± ¡°Then because of that, follow me sir.¡± She grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the back of the store. ¡°Wait a second, sir.¡± After a minute, she came back carrying a sea-colored smooth leather tunic connecting to a kilt, brown pants, high black boots, and a fur coat matching the tunic. ¡°This the only noble set of clothing in this store. But please don¡¯t report me okay.¡± Well, that¡¯s interesting. A long process of medieval procedures went into my head. It¡¯s probably because noble clothes are made by specific tailors for those nobles. So having one is illegal huh? ¡°I¡¯ll buy it, also don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t. How much is it?¡± ¡°Two Nar!¡± I reached into my pouch and took out two gold coins that I just believed were the Nar everyone had been talking about. While I was taking out my money, I asked the girl something I should have from the very start. ¡°By the way, what¡¯s your name?¡± I then took the clothes and placed them on the next beside. After which, I placed the two Nars directly into her hand. ¡°Ga-Galina!¡± Her cheeks turned slightly red and stuttered her name. What? Am I that handsome? ¡°Nice to meet you, Galina.¡± I took my hands off hers. ¡°Oh, by the way, do you have a place to change?¡± She directed me to the back of her store, which was her home and I quickly changed, embarrassed enough to be naked inside her living room. I came out and thanked her with a bright smile on my face. I finally had a proper pocket in this set of clothes. ¡°Thank you, Galina.¡± ¡°Uhhh, sir, if you wouldn¡¯t mind me asking. What¡¯s your name?¡± I chuckled once and placed my index finger in front of my mouth. ¡°Secret.¡± I had already spent far too much time inside the store, after cringing myself to death, I hurriedly tried to escape before my heart exploded. But then I remembered a crucial thing about that ¡°Secret¡±. Before I exited the door, I stopped. ¡°Oh, by the way, if you ever learn who I am, can you trust me that I¡¯ve changed?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Never mind.¡± There was no point in telling her. She was just a normal person, and I¡¯m a prince holding the legacy of cultivation. Also, not like I wanted to hide my name, I really just don¡¯t know my full name. 9. Adventurer Guild ¡°Now, where to?¡± I inhaled slowly, absorbing the aroma of the afterlife. It was a beautiful war fighting for victory, yet in the process made a glorifying abstract masterpiece. When I was sitting on the carriage, a lot of different restaurants caught my eye, but there was one thing that stood out the most. From the two-story conglomerate towering over everyone to a restaurant with so much glass, you would mistake that you were in the modern world. There was a lot of variety, a lot to trick you into curiosity. Beautiful women, well-crafted greenery, addictive aroma, eye-catching signs, yet out of all those, in the middle of angels, a normal human stood in the middle. A wooden sign with bad writing, a restaurant made of entirely wood with no windows, squished between an alleyway, caught my eye instantly. Surrounded by beauties, who wouldn¡¯t be curious about the ugliest one. To stand side by side with beautiful appearances, the thing inside could probably answer my questions. Once again, I entered a dark, tight tunnel. Thankfully, this one didn¡¯t take more than four steps, and I didn''t need to make out with the wall while my entire life was falling apart. After going in, the alley became larger, revealing a single outside dining with the butts of trees used as seats. ¡°Okay, I think this might be a dangerous place. Why have a table outside when there is no light?¡± I looked up. ¡°Oh, I guess when it¡¯s in the middle of the afternoon.¡± My body shivered for a second and then I entered through the wooden door, creaking with each tick of push. As soon as light slipped out of the hole made by the door, a large pub was inside. The screams of joy and broken wood instantly entered my ears, and I knew that the place I just entered was fascinating. Multiple barbarian-looking men and women filled the restaurant if I could still call it one. ¡°Welcome sir! Aren¡¯t you a bit too young to be here?¡± A young-looking lady with a black ponytail dressed in an extremely revealing two-piece. Wait¡­ is this a brothel? ¡°I think you''re the one that¡¯s too young to be here, lady. I¡¯m just extremely handsome.¡± I still had no idea how I looked. At the same time, being dressed like a noble probably made me the brightest dung beetle in the room. As soon as I answered the lady, everyone became silent, staring at me like they wanted me gone from the world. Heh¡­ My heart pounded in excitement. This time it wasn¡¯t some feeling of death that excited me, rather it was the feeling of power. I wasn¡¯t being arrogant, but just by the smell, the mana that these people exuded, it wasn¡¯t even half of what I currently had. So, with power, I smirked and walked passed the girl, making my way to the front desk. I sat and said to the bartender behind, ¡°What food do you guys have?¡± Man, that doesn¡¯t even sound cool. Well, I¡¯m under pressure I can¡¯t think of anything else. ¡°Kid, the fuck made you think you can just enter in here while we were having fun?¡± Said a rough voice behind my back. ¡°Why do you own this place?¡± I turned around, facing a man standing twice as tall as me. His entire body was so shredded to the point his pants looked like it was being strangled to death. He was completely shirtless, having a long brown beard and multiple scars on his face. ¡°Yes.¡± He said, then grabbing a glass cup. ¡°Oh, then could I please get a menu? I¡¯d like to try some of your most delicious delicacies.¡± He crushed the glass with his hand. Then blood started to drip on the floor. ¡°Wait, you might not know that word. It means food by the way.¡± While I was talking, the man had extended his arm to the top of his head, and the crowd had begun to cheer. ¡°What you all being so loud abo-¡± The man punched me in the face, blocking my mouth. I didn¡¯t have much of a reaction to his attack, not like it would deal any damage to me. However, with that punch, I realized that even if I had incredible destructive power, I sucked at fighting. His fist moved so fast I didn¡¯t even realize it had moved until it was in front of my face. The man removed his hand. His eyes widened and the crowd went completely silent. Then I sighed while thinking of a much different thing. ¡°I¡¯m still so weak.¡± I turned back around to the bartender dropping my smile. ¡°Can I please get a menu?¡± ¡°Everyone attack him!¡± Yelled a much younger voice followed by the drop of a broken table immediately stopping everyone. ¡°Let him be, none of you can defeat him.¡± Said the man who had attacked me. Then just a second later, he sat beside me and pointed at the bartender. ¡°Bring him the menu.¡± The bartender immediately ran to the back. ¡°Nice to meet you. Name¡¯s Gard, you?¡± He reached his hand out for a shake. ¡°Daniel,¡± I replied and reciprocated his handshake. ¡°Sorry about earlier, you know how it is in this world.¡± I ignored him, but then after a second, he wouldn¡¯t let go of my hand until mana started to gather, tightening his grip. I sighed. Seriously? Before I thought that such dumb people didn¡¯t really exist, but I guess they do. Is it because of stupidity? Or the pride of looking weak in front of his people. It¡¯s the latter, but I would love to think it¡¯s the former. After a few seconds of his struggle, his face started to wrinkle and turn red. Then in the spurt of a second, I concentrated half of my mana to crush his hand in the split of a second. ¡°Ahhhh!!!¡± He screamed, falling down his chair. ¡°I don¡¯t want to cringe, so just get out of my sight. I thought you would be sensible, but I guess not. Learn how to bow, you shithead.¡± Then after the commotion of a dung beetle, the bartender came back with the menu, etching a smile on my face. I quickly grabbed the menu while the people behind me tried their best to attack me, only to be stopped by their pathetic leader. Even if he did try one more time despite being beaten the first time, it seemed like he wasn¡¯t that stupid to try a third time. I¡¯ll just hope he doesn¡¯t go and call some boss or something. Well, if it happens, I¡¯ll just never enter any suspicious places ever again. I sighed again. With a series of sighs filling my day, I first looked at the drinks offered. As the place was a bar, it had an entourage of beverages, which were obviously mixed with alcohol. I was never really a fan of alcohol so I just asked the bartender to not waste my time. He was standing at the far back edge of the desk, directly in front of the kitchen door, shivering in fear. ¡°Come here,¡± I said. He immediately runs, almost tripping. ¡°What can I do for you, sir!¡± ¡°Do you have any non-alcoholic?¡± ¡°Uhh, Yes Sir!¡± ¡°...¡± I stared at him, waiting to say the list. However, it seemed like he didn¡¯t understand it until I stared at his soul. ¡°Ah! Sorry, uhhh.¡± He rubbed his nose. ¡°We have an assortment of milk and juices.¡± He stared at me for a second, he immediately understood he wasn¡¯t getting a word out of me. ¡°Then, starting with milk. We have cow milk, deer milk, dranken milk, balatan milk, siton milk, wyvern milk, minito-¡± ¡°Stop! Just get me cow milk and your finest medium-rare beef steak.¡± After hearing so many unknown species of milk-producing animal, I didn¡¯t even want to listen to it anymore. ¡°Is that all sir?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± As the bartender left the counter, heading to the back kitchen, I heard a voice yell at me from behind. ¡°You will regret this!¡± That was the same voice of the man who first dared to attack me. He was probably the right-hand man of the group, a weakling who was the first follower of their leader and was highly incompetent, thinking his leader could do anything while dick-sucking to the top. ¡°What a son of bitch.¡± I gathered back all my pent-up emotions and calmed down my frustrations. That was the first time I had ever done such a thing. The feeling was exhilarating yet at the same time, the constant foolishness of people to fight those stronger than them can really be rendered from bravery or stupidity, depending on the case. ¡°Well, not like I¡¯m saying me fighting that forest beast was also not stupidity.¡± After a few minutes of waiting, my food had finally arrived. With all the wait and commotion it took to get there, the food was alright. It wasn¡¯t the best I have tasted, but the quality is commendable for the time. My time was a hundred percent wasted and I acknowledge that. When the ragtag group of insects left the bar, there was not a single person left, and some of the female attendants were just scared shitless. Once I left, walking back to the daylight from the bar, I spotted Harry from just across the streets. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Your Highness!¡± He yelled, crossing the street. I immediately slapped my face, my identity was definitely exposed. Now I wasn¡¯t just a noble, but royalty. Thank you, Harry, thank you. ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡± ¡°I was just looking for you, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Lower down your voice.¡± ¡°Sorry, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Now why were you looking for me?¡± ¡°Well, because I am now your only guard and there has been a lot of cases where we have dangerously faced life and death, I thought we should hire adventurers to escort us and leave as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± The adventurer guild. A famous group of people that are used as the number one center for a lot of stories. Not a single human being in the market has not heard of it. Every single person had always dreamt of being an adventurer when they get transported into another world, including me. I definitely would not have thought I¡¯d be the employer, not the employee. ¡°Sure. No complaints, let¡¯s go. Oh, wait. Remind me again¡­ we are going back to the palace right?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness. Why? Do you need to go somewhere else? Because I won¡¯t allow you, Your Highness. You should not cause any more problems!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I was just asking. Lead the way, lead the way.¡± On the way to the guild, every single person who crossed us stared at me for longer than ten seconds. Harry was not helping either, with his constant ¡°Your Highness, where did you buy new clothes? It looks amazing. But, where did you buy new clothes? Did you meet the tailor of the lord of Numinity?¡± ¡°Secret, also no. I have not met a single other noble since coming here.¡± ¡°Well, I never expected you to wear such an outfit, Your Highness. Are you not feeling hot, or did a sage engrave that piece of clothing?¡± ¡°Are you stupid Harry? I defeated a forest beast, do you think I¡¯m not capable enough to protect myself from the sun?¡± After a long annoying session of questions and my bitchy answers, we had finally arrived in front of the guild. Placed at the far edge of the city, costing a long walk that had exhausted not my feet but my mind. It was your typical fantasy guild, the tallest building around, having 3 floors and as wide as three normal houses. The first thing I saw as we arrived was a group of adventurers walking out of the guild with ripped clothing, holding onto their weapons like possessive spirits. Well, not like I¡¯ll be the adventurer. We walked into a wide ceiling as high as the second floor. In the middle was a giant chandelier made of gold. While the floor was your usual wide arrangement of tables, just like a modern fast food restaurant. Facing the door, was the front desk. A small area where 3 different receptionists were arguing with lines of people. Adjacent to it were stairs leading to the second floor. Well, this place is more chaotic than I expected. Harry didn¡¯t even pay attention to the fighting at the sides or the yelling at the front desk and just lined up on the shortest line. Valid. After a few minutes of waiting in line and a lot of disappointed faces walking out of the guild, including a lot of beat-up faces at some sort of gambling session to the left of the room. I wanna check it out, but at the same time, I don¡¯t wanna repeat the thing that happened at the bar. While refraining myself from getting into more problems, I had just tried to observe the quality of adventurers. I thought that when the guild would be in view or at least when I walked in it, I would feel a surge of mana that would just make me hallucinate a dragon. However, that wasn¡¯t the case at all, everyone looked normal, and there were even some who didn¡¯t have an ounce of mana at all. Suppressing mana was definitely a possibility. If that was the case, then there was no point for me to even look around. My body also shivered at the thought of being captured spying on a very powerful person who would annoy me for the rest of my life. A few more minutes later staring into the abyss, we were finally on the front desk, then I asked Harry. ¡°Harry, couldn¡¯t we have just shown a sigil and gotten in the front immediately?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t work with these barbarians, Your Highness.¡± He whispered as low as possible. Speaking of sigils, I also have one of those that I placed inside my pouch of money. It just looked like a golden coin though, hope I didn¡¯t accidentally give it to the lady from the clothing shop. ¡°Who are you calling a barbarian huh?!¡± Oh no, they heard Harry. Fucking son of a bitch. ¡°Hey! Someone here is calling us a barbarian!¡± A different person yelled through the entire guild while Harry just ignored it and gave his request to the receptionist. ¡°How much should we offer?¡± He said calmly. ¡°Your Highness.¡± He whispered much lower than before to the point I only understood ¡°Yo¡± and an ¡°s¡±. ¡°Uhhh, 10 of the third one.¡± ¡°You mean Nar?¡± Then he whispered again. ¡°Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Oh look! Rich noble here! You acting so calm! Is it because you have the backing of a noble?! I¡¯m impressed!¡± An adventurer yelled at Harry¡¯s face. Also, even I was impressed, to look so composed in such a situation is remarkable. Now that I thought about it, Harry had never been nervous unless it included my life in it. Only at the times where my life is concerned that he acts like a cartoon mom. But on the other times he always looked nonchalant. ¡°Well, the request is done, let us go.¡± He began to lean again until I stopped him. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll let you this time.¡± Thank goodness they didn¡¯t pay attention to the your highness part. As soon as we turned around, we were already surrounded by the entire guild. ¡°You ain¡¯t leaving until you are taught a lesson.¡± ¡°Bring that knight out! I¡¯ll face him!¡± Said a man from behind the crowds, just his voice was enough to open a path. He was covered in complete iron armor including his head. As I read Harry¡¯s and the adventurer¡¯s mana, Harry wins by more than half. These adventurers don¡¯t know who they are facing. ¡°Safari! Go beat them up!¡± ¡°Safari! Safari! Safari!¡± The crowd chanted. ¡°Are they this disrespectful? Do adventurers really have this much power?¡± I whispered to Harry. ¡°Yes, Your Highness. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll face him.¡± Harry immediately unsheathed his sword without even a change in his expression, but I wasn¡¯t going to let these adventurers away easily. ¡°No, let me.¡± ¡°What? Your Highness, it¡¯s incredibly dangerous.¡± Just like I suspected, it was only at times when my life was at sake does his expression even change. Whether that was impressive or creepy, I don¡¯t even know. ¡°It¡¯s an order.¡± I walked forward as the crowd made a larger circle. ¡°Stop barking at my dog. As the owner, I¡¯ll face you!¡± I yelled. ¡°Hahaha! Imagine being a knight and called a dog!¡± ¡°You trash nobles!¡± ¡°Worthless knights! You''re a disgrace!¡± The crowd threw insult after insult. I completely understand them, even the image I was showing was exactly what they wanted. Well, I was just going to be a better person after arriving at the palace. At this moment, I¡¯ll be a bastard if that¡¯s what I feel like. ¡°Get out of here you piece of shit noble. I don¡¯t want to beat a spoiled brat. I at least want some challenge you know.¡± Safari said. ¡°Just come. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re scared?¡± Safari pulled out his sword and the crowd immediately turned silent. I didn¡¯t even know his rank, but this should be easy. At the same time, I wanna test out how brute strength pairs with arrogant skills. Safari began to run with his sword held high up while I stood still, waiting for his attack. Not like I was just standing to be arrogant, it was also a provocation tactic, and once people are enraged, they tend to perform badly. The tip of his sword struck into my heart while my qi armor destroyed his sword into pieces. In that split second, with his face stretched, I grabbed his head and dragged it to the ground. ¡°Who¡¯s shit now?¡± 10. Harry (Rewrite) ¡°That was yet another exhausting day. Isn¡¯t that right, Harry?¡± I opened the door to our inn. ¡°Your Highness, I told you it was too dangerous.¡± ¡°Stop repeating it, it¡¯s been an hour since I¡¯ve defeated that son of a bitch with a single strike to the ground.¡± After entering, the bed was my number one destination. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Ahhh! It¡¯s okay, not like you know I was that strong.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about that, Your Highness, I was talking about the small room.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Ye, ye, oh, by the way, I wanted to ask, Harry. Why do you keep doubting my strength? Can you not sense my mana?¡± I mumbled with my face shoved into the bed. ¡°Sense mana? Your Highness, only mages can do that using mana detection spells.¡± ¡°What?¡± That was a surprise. That just meant cultivation is incredibly impressive in this world, however, that made me question the world much more. If even Harry couldn¡¯t sense the mana within people, how could they ever circulate mana in the first place? This world¡¯s power system seems much more complicated than I thought. ¡°Unless I get a mage to detect your mana or use a scroll of mana detecting, I wouldn¡¯t be able to sense just how strong you¡¯ve become, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ okay. Trust me though, I¡¯m not weak anymore.¡± ¡°It¡¯s still dangerous, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Just go to sleep, you''re annoying.¡± My eyes closed, and instantly, my mind drifted far away into the world of dreams. *** While I rested sound asleep, the wooden floors began to creak out of nowhere. As I ignored such noises, it just continued until the door creaked. I turned around once the door had quietly shut closed. ¡°Harry?¡± It seemed Harry had left the room, sneaking away even with his armor on. What¡¯s going on? I was incredibly curious. Just a few inches off the wooden floor, made me chase and catch Harry wherever he went. But before I could even achieve a proper stalking, I needed to be careful of mages around this city. Certainly, a nobleman sneaking into the dark streets of the cities is incredibly eye catching. How do you conceal mana though? I pondered until I remembered an easy principle. ¡°I just have to be a normal person.¡± Then with all of my qi compressed into my core, not letting an ounce of qi get away, I marched onward. It was not a sure way to hide my presence, but it was worth a try. ¡°I trust you plot armor, also known as bad writing!¡± After yelling provocative words to the sky, I quickly trailed Harry. After a few minutes of looking, I heard Harry¡¯s voice inside an alleyway. The conversation started in the middle of a sentence. ¡°-aid, here is the money.¡± Said Harry. ¡°Just a single Nar?¡± Said another man, along with a hissing sound similar to a cigar. ¡°It¡¯s just the installment, once you finish the job, I¡¯ll give you the rest of my money.¡± ¡°And how much is that?¡± ¡°The entirety of the prince¡¯s carried riches will be entirely for your group.¡± ¡°If it isn¡¯t to our liking, we¡¯ll have to squeeze you to death.¡± ¡°I was prepared to die the moment I chased for this moment,¡± Harry remarked. ¡°Killing the crown prince, now this is an interesting request. Hehehe.¡± Said a different voice. After hearing the last voice, I immediately ran away, my eyes frozen and my lips straighter than a line. That was absolutely absurd. The man who has been concerned with me since the moment I arrived in this world. It was an order from a man I thought was my biggest ally. Harry wants me dead. Wait, why would he hire a group to kill me though? Couldn¡¯t he have just done so when I was sleeping? Is this all real or is he being threatened? What exactly is going on? *** 6 Years Ago. Inside the capital Kakin, an unsuspecting knight stood before the imperial palace¡¯s lotus-shaped gate. His palms were full of sweat. The hair on his skin stood frightened. To stand not only in front of the country¡¯s most beautiful infrastructure but to also stare upon it freely. Seeing it was just a dream, and now he was about to go inside, to meet a person more special than the castle¡¯s presence. Behind the gates was a long path, splitting before the tall garden. Then an unexpected group emerged from the left, a carriage, carrying the banner of the royal family. The gates immediately opened, and the man jumped back from shock, just barely avoiding the gate. There was no other person behind the walls. The gate opened by itself. It was magic, another detail for the man to adore. He walked to the side, letting the carriage have an open road outside. However, the carriage didn¡¯t plan to leave just yet. It stopped in front of the man. It was a gold-plated carriage, with two banners above its back. The royal family''s mark was etched upon its door. Two men acted as coachmen, but with their attire, they were nowhere near ordinary. They carried fully covered iron armor, brilliantly shining under the sun, it was no doubt knights of the imperial family. But the carriage wasn¡¯t the only one to leave the palace. Seven other knights followed on top of armored horses. The door of the carriage opened, followed by the tender voice of someone young, yet carried a heavy tone. ¡°Hello.¡± He wore thick layers of dresses all made of silk, there was no mistaking that was the crown prince. However, the man wasn¡¯t given the time to even react to what was in front of him. On his first day, he was already out on a mission. ¡°You¡¯re Harry, right? No time to explain or follow certain traditions. I am your master, the crown prince, get on the horse immediately and follow suit.¡± One of the knights held a horse on a rope, walking by Harry. ¡°Get in, his Highness is in a hurry.¡± Said a knight. His face was covered by a thick iron helmet, blocking most of his words, but Harry easily understood what he wanted to convey. He got on the horse without even thinking and the carriage had already left, leaving him behind of everyone. In just a single moment, he came from standing in front of a palace waiting to be let in, to being out of the capital and entering deep into the forest. The carriage and the knights were at maximum phase the entire day. They didn¡¯t take a single break nor even slow a single second until the night had fallen. Once the moon had hit the middle of the sky, the prince had finally stopped. Tired of his arms constantly controlling the horse, Harry had arrived a few seconds behind the rest. When he arrived, a knight stood in wait for him. ¡°Well, that was taxing, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Harry didn¡¯t wanna complain on his first day, but the words just left his mouth out of exhaustion. ¡°Just what is going on? I followed you- his highness till the moon got up, what is this!¡± He yelled. ¡°Calm down, you¡¯ll disturb his highness.¡± ¡°Here. Bread and water.¡± Another knight came. Harry got off his horse, landing on the ground with his entire body. ¡°Hahaha! Sorry kid, his highness was in a hurry, we couldn¡¯t tell you much of anything because of it.¡± ¡°Just what is his highness going to?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know.¡± Said the man holding bread and water. He bent down and placed the wooden cup in his hand. ¡°What?¡± Harry jumped up. He poured the water on top of his face. ¡°Get used to it, this is just how it is serving the crown prince.¡± ¡°Well, also, never speak of anything. Got it?¡± ¡°He ain''t gonna be able to soon. Poor kid, he¡¯s so young too.¡± The man crouching down stood up and padded Harry¡¯s shoulder as he walked off into the camp being built incredibly fast. ¡°Don¡¯t even say that. You never know, he¡¯s way too young.¡± ¡°It¡¯s his highness, don¡¯t keep believing, Gan.¡± ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± Harry asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. By the way, how old are you?¡± ¡°I am 19 this year.¡± Gan scoffed and then smiled. He grabbed onto Harry, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. Then he rubbed his hair. ¡°I¡¯m the only commander rank in His Highness¡¯s group, so now you¡¯ll be my youngest junior. You have talent, I can see it.¡± The camp was finished in just a few minutes. There was a set up of 2 big tents and a small campfire in the middle to keep warm in the cold. Though the only person beside the campfire was Harryy. Wearing a single piece of clothing, completely unprepared for any events, and lacking any equipment and materials, he was basically naked in the middle of the forest. Stolen story; please report. ¡°You still not gonna sleep?¡± Gan asked behind him. ¡°No.¡± He took a short pause. ¡°By the way, is the pr- his highness just gonna stay inside the carriage?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Harry stayed silent, thinking about the cold and cramped space a crown prince must be sleeping in. ¡°You might not know this, but while we have our armor to sleep with, the prince has magic spells to keep his body warm at all times. Also, that space isn¡¯t cramped for a 10-year-old, you know.¡± Harry was caught off guard by his lack of insight. While he kept quiet, questioning himself, Gan sat beside him, taking off his helmet. ¡°You nervous?¡± he asked. ¡°Hm?¡± Harry looked at Gan. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re now a knight of royalty.¡± ¡°If you say it like that¡­¡± Harry chuckled a little. ¡°Just a little bit.¡± He smiled. Then his body shivered from the cold. ¡°Go sleep, you have another long ride tomorrow.¡± ¡°Just where exactly are we going to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The night went fast and the morning came almost instantly. Harry was awoken by the movement of everyone inside the tent. Once the tent was removed, even the sun joined in to annoy his sleep. The moment he was able to stand up and get rid of his sore body, everyone was already prepared to leave. At the sight of this, Harry immediately stood up and went to his horse. Thankfully he had no stuff to really look after for. Once he had gotten on, they went off to the unknown. The forest was a dangerous place. Filled with monsters and unknown creatures, one could die in an instant. That was no joke. But the forest near the capital was much more dangerous. Known as the ¡°Great Forest¡± it stretches farther than the eye can see. However, even inside the Great Forest, cities still exist. Holding the most powerful magic and strongest people in the country, it was a dangerous yet bountiful forest. The deeper they went into the forest, the monsters eventually began to show up, ambushing them at every chance they could get. With just a sword at his waist and nothing but plain clothing, Harry was able to fend off the monsters easily. It wasn¡¯t much of a problem, having multiple knights qualified to hold the life of royalty. Harry wasn¡¯t that far off from their strength either. Despite being young, he held the highest potential in the entire kingdom. ¡°You¡¯re good, Harry.¡± Said Dan, slowing down to level with Harry. ¡°You too, commander.¡± ¡°Hahaha! Just call me Gan.¡± ¡°No, to reach such a status, you deserve everyday praises.¡± ¡°Even if I am a commander rank, Harry, you know, I¡¯m not the strongest in this group.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, someone here could also reach the rank of a commander. Well, with you here, I guess that would be two.¡± Harry stared at Gan. He was speechless, embarrassed at what he heard. No word could come out of his mouth, it was just silence and gratitude he couldn¡¯t express properly. Harry bowed and just moved away from Gan. ¡°Hahaha!¡± The destination of the prince wasn¡¯t that much further than Harry would expect. It didn¡¯t take another day until they arrived. It was just halfway past the afternoon. The crown prince immediately went out of his carriage and assembled his knights. ¡°Listen! There is a great artifact in this cavern! It is not a deep cave! But I don¡¯t know what abomination guards this place. As my knights, you know what to do.¡± Everyone got off their horse, even Harry. The words of the prince were vague, but even Harry knew what it meant. With the risk of their lives, they were to go and fetch what he wanted inside the cave. It was a small cave entrance placed on the outskirts of the mountain range. Covered by multiple trees, it was a hard place to spot. Harry questioned what was going on, but he couldn¡¯t dare question a royal¡¯s decision. Though he thinks it was a harsh order, the prince was a kid, raised in such a place, it was obvious to him that he wouldn¡¯t really be as great as his title. After tying the horse to the trees, everyone went inside the cave. Gan was at the front, while the crown prince was at the back, protected by stacks of meatshields. ¡°Harry, nice to meet you. My apologies for making you go through such lengths on your first 2 days. Just that if I didn¡¯t go here, someone would have gotten it other than me.¡± He smiled brightly. The prince was only ten years old, and it was evident in his short height. Harry couldn¡¯t be more surprised that the prince could even speak in such a way despite his age. ¡°It¡¯s okay your highness. Umm¡­ can I ask something, your highness?¡± The prince¡¯s body flinched. ¡°Oh, you wanna know something about me.¡± The prince smiles with his mouth open. ¡°Sure. Go on. What¡¯s your question?¡± ¡°Umm, it¡¯s just about what you said. Is the reason I was urgently recruited, because you needed me for this, your highness?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± The prince was left speechless. He covered his gaping mouth with his hand and whispered. ¡°That¡¯s why that bastard Gan was getting close to you.¡± ¡°What did you say, your highness?¡± ¡°Sorry, I just recently heard that Gan has been taking good care of you.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t necessarily say so, your highness. He just occasionally talks to me.¡± ¡°Hmph, well, to answer your question, it¡¯s because I can¡¯t get out of the palace unless I have 10 knights with me.¡± ¡°Thank you for answering, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Finally!¡± ¡°Huh, did something happen, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Nothing, sorry, I was just, it was nothing.¡± ¡°As you say, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Oh by the way, Harry, I heard you were called the greatest talent of the country because of your astronomical amount of mana.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit embarrassing to agree, but yes, Your Highness.¡± Harry was beet red, scratching the back of his neck. ¡°It¡¯s good to know I have the country¡¯s biggest talent with me.¡± Time passed and they reached a wide space inside the cave. Everyone immediately took their weapon, and the crown prince tucked behind Harry. ¡°Your Highness?!¡± He didn¡¯t know yet, but that was not just an interesting empty cave. Hundreds of spiders dropped down from the ceiling. A knight threw their torch into the sky, revealing an array of webs full of eggs and webbed cocoons. ¡°It¡¯s Vipirs! Get ready! Go all out!¡± Left, right, front, and back. Harry was caught in his first fight with monsters. At the same time, behind was the second most important person in the country. A spider charged at him. With a single swing of his sword, the spider was split in half, showering him with blood. Then came from the left. He killed it again with one attack. Again at the right, then the left, then the front, it repeated until Harry was so fully drenched that he swung his sword relentlessly with no aim. ¡°Harry, let¡¯s escape to right!¡± ¡°No, Your Highness! You should go back outside! This place is too dangerous!¡± ¡°This is an order!¡± Harry rubbed his eye and turned around. He picked up the crown prince and ran to the right, where the knights had perfectly taunted the spiders away. It was like they had planned a path for the prince in the first place. Without hearing anything from the knights, they had managed to form such a plan. Harry was immensely impressed. To his right was Gan, fighting at the edge of the crescent formation that they had formed. At the same time, they even had their arms tied together. Whatever the reason for that was, Harry had no time to think about it. Despite finding a place to run off to, spiders were still chasing them. The two ran until they were caught in a cliff, surrounded by dozens of spiders. Harry fought as hard as he could, protecting the prince from any possible attack. Seconds turned to minutes, and the spiders were just increasing. Harry was being pushed back, and then the prince screamed. ¡°Harry!¡±. The crown prince was hanging on his dear life. Harry turned back despite the monsters behind him. He was lying on the ground tightly grabbing the prince¡¯s hands. Harry was getting bitten and pierced by the spiders until they were all split in half in one swing. It was Gan. Did the prince ever feel this heavy? Or did I just lose all my strength? Gan grabbed Harry¡¯s arm and guided his mana to his hand, releasing it from the prince. Then Gan jumped down the cliff, grabbing the prince and throwing him back up. ¡°Fuck you! Gan!¡± The prince yelled. ¡°Take all the pests out!¡± The prince carefully landed on his feet. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you shitheads to keep your powers hidden from the very beginning I took you all in?! Yet he still found out? But even if he did I told you to hold onto him no matter what! You useless piece of shit! Tsk. This is why I hate my father''s gifts." Harry was lying on the ground, looking deep into the abyss. Huh? Did I just hear that right? Wait. Is that¡­ Gan? 11. Unforgiveness ¡°Well.¡± I sighed while falling down to my bed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t I¡¯m surprised, I¡¯ll just say, I should have known.¡± From the start, there was a lot of suspicious moments even if it was just in the span of 2 days. I raised my hand in the air and dropped it to the side. My eyes closed, while my heart ached from anxiety. But he hasn¡¯t killed me while I was asleep, there is probably a reason for that. I just didn¡¯t know yet, or maybe I¡¯ll never know. The original body was not normal. There has been no sight of any other backing, any other materials, or any other tricks that could reveal the original body¡¯s past. It was something I just had to let go of, that wasn¡¯t me. It will never be me. I don¡¯t know his crimes, that means I never did it. ¡°Harry¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I think I have to kill you.¡± My mind slowly drifted away as I fell asleep. The next day would mark my second battle since arriving. This time it isn¡¯t a giant beast who¡¯s only real threat was its enormous strength. Now I was gonna fight humans, they are entirely different. The night passed by and morning came. I hadn¡¯t realized Harry coming inside the room, but I was the first to wake up. With his unconscious self, killing him wouldn¡¯t be hard. For a man to sleep completely naked, whatever history of that wasn¡¯t gonna be part of me. As I picked the sword on the ground, Harry woke up from the sound. ¡°Do you wanna get a new sword? This isn¡¯t going to last long anymore.¡± His sword was chipped from the attacks he had blocked from the forest beast. That was a close call, thankfully lying is easy in a world of fantasy. ¡°I¡¯ll just change it when we arrive at the palace, Your Highness.¡± Harry stared at me with a stern face. It seems reaching for the sword was far too suspicious. For some reason, I am feeling immense pressure. I am positive that the original body was no means stupid, yet all this entire time the events were far too suspicious. Yet, I couldn¡¯t even gauge it. In his point of view, that was suspicious. ¡°But, if something like the forest beast appears again, you can die!¡± My eyes were warm. I left my mouth open a little, trying my best to appear sincere. A second passed, but his reply didn¡¯t come. That definitely meant he was suspicious of me. ¡°What are you looking at? I¡¯m not on drugs! You saw me yesterday, I was just, you know, getting out of the alley. I just thought it was a restaurant.¡± Then more and more thoughts came to my mind, rattling my brain about everything that could and have happened. Even just the way I spoke was probably different from the original. But he might have just thought of this as me being high, but then, why wasn¡¯t he suspicious before? Is he staring cause he was? Or is it because this was the day he planned to truly kill me. ¡°Sorry, Your Highness, I was just lightheaded.¡± ¡°Well, put on your clothes, thankfully that you''re still in your blanket.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean by that, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Nothing, just, don¡¯t be naked. Alright?¡± I said. However, it wasn¡¯t like there would be a next time. If Harry was going to kill me, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not the original body, I¡¯ll live. Once Harry had finished putting on his clothes and armor, we left the inn and headed to the adventurer guild immediately. Wow, I was overthinking so much that I forgot about the adventurers. It¡¯s probably the guy Harry talked to last night, aren¡¯t they? Wow! Wait! Why am I acting so normal when my life is literally on the line today? Is it confidence? Stupidity? Acceptance? ¡°Ah! Knight Harry! The adventurers that have accepted your request are at that table.¡± She pointed to the second table at the left of the entrance. There were four men, all with their arms over the back of the chair like thugs. They wore simple leather armor with multiple scars all over their body. Beside them were four scabbards leaning on the chair. We faced the adventurers and one of them stood up, introducing themself. ¡°You must be Harry! I am the leader of this party, Darren.¡± That was exactly the same voice last night. It¡¯s them. No mistaking it. My smile immediately disappeared and my eyes stared at their every gesture. ¡°I am your employer.¡± I climbed up the chair and reached into their ear. ¡°The crown prince. Show some respect, okay.¡± Then I jumped down, stumbling on purpose, distancing myself. ¡°By the way, you don¡¯t have to use honorifics, I just wanted you to know.¡± Darren didn¡¯t twitch a single bit of his skin. If I didn¡¯t know already, I probably wouldn¡¯t even notice their lack of response as if they already knew. ¡°Your Highness, why did you tell them?¡± Harry leaned in to whisper. ¡°Just cause.¡± I clapped my hand and moved to the other side of Harry. ¡°Anyway, should we go?¡± ¡°Oh, we have one more person in our party, she is just taking a leak. How about we introduce ourselves first while waiting?¡± Darren said. Another one? Well, six versus one is definitely something. ¡°Okay, nice to meet you, Darren.¡± I reached out my hand and shook his. Following this, the others got out of the table and lined up in a line, introducing themselves. ¡°Kaken.¡± He said coldly. Once I reached my hand out, he shook it once and shoved it off. He clicked his tongue and looked away. ¡°Talon.¡± Said another, doing the same thing as the last one. ¡°Kirin.¡± The third was no different, he didn¡¯t even shake it nor he lifted his hand. Then he went on circling me and whispering something to Darren¡¯s ear. ¡°I am so sorry, there are usually nice guys, but we couldn¡¯t eat breakfast, so they are a little angry.¡± Darren bowed with a smile and shoved Kirin to the side, then also whispering to him. They weren¡¯t even trying to hide how suspicious they really were. It seemed Harry never warned them about anything. He wasn¡¯t reacting either, was all this a ploy? Confidence, maybe. However, that confidence, I don¡¯t know where it could come from. The forest beast was a clear sign he couldn¡¯t beat me. Even if I don¡¯t have even a fraction of that power, with mana alone, I win. ¡°Oh, there she is. Harry and¡­ employer. That is Elene, our party¡¯s greatest member, a B-Rank adventurer, and a three-ring mage.¡± Behind Harry, from the far left wall. A woman was walking, her hair flowing like a river, her eyes fluttering like butterflies, it was a fairy covered by a blue cloak. Why is every woman I get to, quote and quote, meet, all so weirdly beautiful? Still don¡¯t feel anything though, so hell yeah! I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m so fixated about being asexual, but uhhhh. Okay. Waiting for her to walk was like a frozen fountain. Time froze for Harry, his hands, face, and everything about him looked like love. It seemed Elene wasn¡¯t in the alley when they met up. Just to make things more clear, I had to ask. ¡°Is she a permanent member?¡± ¡°Yes, she joined us just a month ago.¡± Even while Darren talked, his eyes didn¡¯t sway. A woman so beautiful every man would fall in love with her. Interesting, she doesn¡¯t seem to know what¡¯s going on. But these people already had her for a month, she should have seen such a thing before. Or else they wouldn¡¯t have made her come. Was it Harry? Did he try to make sure there was a mage? I can¡¯t even detect her mana, other than a grain in her heart. It was definitely a mage if she could conceal mana that much. That was just common sense. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Said Darren. We immediately left the city as soon as we rented a carriage. I sat beside Harry, on the front, manning the horse. He didn¡¯t accept at first, but just a simple throw of the word order, he followed immediately. I didn¡¯t wanna be inside where I could be surrounded and killed. The destination was the capital, a few days away from the past city. The attack was definitely going to happen at night. There was no need for them to spend more time with me. We left the city at a time when no incoming merchants nor any other people were leaving. Driving me into some protected area was useless. A simple assassination or a quick battle of 6 vs 1 wouldn¡¯t last long enough to catch anyone¡¯s attention. And I plan that too. I don¡¯t want anyone to see anything either. Spending my time awkwardly at the front while the men at the back bickered at random things till the sun went down. Friends. I never really understand it. No matter what, I don¡¯t know how human conversation works. That¡¯s the most deeply rooted flaw of mine. I tried to listen to it. But no use, no point in trying, I¡¯ll just study it next time. I¡¯m not human. At least I hope this life will make me not one. Night came and my heart started beating with excitement and fear. It was the mix of the thought of death and the unknown power of a mage. With the equipment inside the carriage, they were able to set up four camps. One for me, Harry, the four, and the female mage. It was a basic discrimination of commoners. But the most surprising thing was that the woman was separated. In such a time, gender equality shouldn¡¯t exist. Well, based on her prestige as a mage, maybe even if it didn¡¯t, power balance does. Of course, as the night dwells on the side of the road, at the edge of a nearby forest, I don¡¯t sleep. While I was manning the carriage, I had already thought of many different ways on how I could fight in the middle of the night, but there was one solution to avoid fighting at night. With my ability to read people¡¯s mana, the mage probably had that too. The verifiability of my thoughts was of course nowhere near being guaranteed. However, there hasn¡¯t been any reaction, so I was probably safe. Luck, plot armor, bullshit world, I don¡¯t care what the reason is. I¡¯m just thankful. Around an hour passed with me lying inside my tent. A few noises came from outside, it was a bunch of footsteps coming closer and closer. I stood up slowly while they walked, making sure to avoid making even a blade of grass make a sound. Once their sword was dared to be pulled out of their scabbard, I walked out of my tent, yawning. It was perfect. Their sword wasn¡¯t even out yet, if they just acted like nothing happened, my entire plan would have worked. But then, unlike what I was expecting, they didn¡¯t stop with my presence. A sword immediately slashed underneath my chin. If I didn¡¯t react fast enough I would have died. Thankfully I had already allocated qi into my feet in case of this. I jumped, flipping backward to the back of the tent. ¡°Shit! What the fuck was that!¡± One of them yelled. I couldn¡¯t care less about identifying who. They would probably either circle around or go straight inside and just cut through. But I couldn¡¯t take any chances of choosing wrong. So with the slightest hint of sound, I dash forward, trying my best to sharpen my hand using qi. The cloth of the tent blocked my eyes, but my hand felt a hot sensation of liquid and a feeling of something moving around my hand. Once I pulled the cloth away I had hit directly at the heart of Darren, their leader. It was that easy. I killed a human that easily. Ecstasy was filling my entire being. In a split second, the shout of the others struck my ears. Then on the hand of the mage, mana formed into an icicle, firing at me at an incredible pace. It hadn¡¯t even been a week since I had used qi, so even if I could have directed qi into my sides, my natural instincts moved into covering it with both my hands. My left over the right. Once the attack hit, my left hand had a hole in the middle of it. Then a gust of wind came from the direction of the mage and I was blasted away into the forest. The other three adventurers went to Darren, cursing with their mouths and then launching at me, while the mage stood still casting a spell. I didn¡¯t have much time. In reality, fights with people, or more specifically, fighting multiple people is as fast as an ad. There was not gonna be an opening for me. I covered my entire body with half of my qi. Then I sharpened my right hand, biting my lips for the pain of my left. It was based on pure pain, but I stopped the bleeding by blocking the hole with qi. I jumped at the three, slicing their sword up to their head. Their sword touched my body, but on contact it broke, stunning them for a second and letting me kill them in less than ten seconds. The mage was the only one left. She wasn¡¯t attacking, sweat started to fall from her head and her eyes twitched along with her shaking mouth. The spell was not gonna be faster than my speed. It was a win. But halfway to the mage, Harry appeared, blocking my attack with his sword. I wanted to talk to you before killing you, but it seems it wasn¡¯t going to happen. His sword broke upon contact. But then his mana suddenly burst, increasing twice the amount. He grabbed my wrist using his right hand and struck me to the stomach with the other. ¡°That isn¡¯t gonna do shit, Harry.¡± Even if his mana did increase, I wasn¡¯t slacking. Nor does this body seem to be less talented than a genius. I may have lost all of the qi from fighting the forest beast, but just collecting the remnants of mana in the air at the corpse of the beast was enough to surpass you by more than three times. ¡°That small fucking ball ain¡¯t shit to me.¡± Pushing through the pain of my left hand, I grabbed his right hand and crushed it. Then I raised my knee, hitting his balls with as much power as I could. I pushed Harry down to the ground and stomped on both his legs, leaving him crippled on the ground. ¡°Wait for me.¡± ¡°I thought¡­ you didn¡¯t¡­ have any more tricks. You bastard.¡± I still wanted to apologize to him even if it wouldn¡¯t matter. For me, it just felt right. I don¡¯t know why, but it does. Once I had taken down Harry, unluckily, he had bought enough time for the mage to cast her spell. A giant blade of mana formed into the sky. It went down fast, so fast I couldn¡¯t even think about anything else but dodge. Harry was caught and sliced in half. I didn¡¯t try to make any more time for the mage to cast another spell, and so using all of my mana I jumped straight at her. The ground formed a crater, and the wind blue everything into the air. I sliced the mage¡¯s head like butter, flying to the air, and dropping to the ground with her body. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± I stared into the sky, holding my left hand. ¡°Wait, that¡¯s it?¡± I looked back, to the remains of Harry, his body split and scattered around because of me. ¡°I wanted to apologize. Well. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not the real body anymore, so my apologies really mean nothing. But.¡± My body fell to the ground, my consciousness fading. The amount of qi I had used once again drained my body. Not only that, but my muscles had reached their limit once again. Though, what muscles? It was never damaged before. Why now? To the fleeting moment of mind. I continued what I had to say. It was pointless, but my entire life was made on pointless decisions. Plans that are made too late. Actions that should have been done before the consequences. It seems, that trying to change has once again brought me back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Harry.¡± 12. Palace The grass felt sticky to my skin, and the awful stench of blood coursed through my lungs. It was an uncomfortable environment. I opened my eyes to the bright blue sky with its scattered clouds. The wind blew swiftly through the trees, covering my vision with my hair. I stood up, looking around. The corpses lay all around me. Most of them were on the floor, surrounded by blood. In contrast, some bits were hung on trees from when I sent them flying. That was the first time I had ever killed a human. Yet my hands, my heart, and my mind felt no different. It was like a natural activity. Well, I don¡¯t really have the time to be thinking about such things, I¡¯m standing alone on a land with corpses. Then, while I tried to get myself and leave the scene, the body of the mage exploded, filling the air with pure mana and scattering the ground with pieces of organs, skins, and bones like it fell from the sky. ¡°Just a few minutes wouldn¡¯t hurt, gotta do this quick.¡± After a few minutes of gathering back some of the mana I¡¯d lost, I quickly headed into the carriage, thankfully the horses were far into the other side of the forest and they weren¡¯t at all affected. As disgusting as the scene was, I was able to get enough mana to recover all I¡¯d lost at that fight. It was surprising that the mage had that mana because it didn¡¯t really show that much. However, I do think the rings around her heart had something to do with it. Either way, now I know I can at least kill mages of that level as long as I don¡¯t let them finish casting. On the carriage, my right hand was the only one handling the horse. My left hand has a hole in it that I don¡¯t even know what to do with. Obviously, it was painful, so painful I was constantly flexing my hand open. The magic that was displayed last night was much different from what I would have expected. First of all, the mana had no element. Unlike the fantasy worlds I know, it was just pure mana shaped into what she liked. Even the last attack didn¡¯t have anything other than mana in it. Second, the mana was rough. Rough in the way it lacked any sense of refinement. It was like the first time I witnessed aura from Harry. The mana was like a ghost, just flailing around his feet and sword. It had zero sharpness. That was the same with the girl¡¯s magic. As much as it did take form, it was like the sun, shaped like a sphere yet has an amalgamation of rampaging strings. With that type of magic displayed, I don¡¯t even know if healing magic can exist in this world. Though I did hear the church, but, it is generally advised not to associate with Gods in another world. Or atleast, that¡¯s what I felt, I¡¯d like to think that it would be the worst decision of my life. But even if the lack of information and choices puts me in a bind, I won¡¯t just give up. ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll just solve it when I arrive.¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡°This road does lead to the capital¡­ right?¡± There were¡­ some difficulties on the way, but after realizing how to read, don¡¯t ask, I was able to arrive at Kakin, said at the sign. From afar I could already tell that the city was far larger than the last one. It stretched far past my peripheral vision. In the middle, standing like a giant was a castle trying to reach the clouds. The city was built around an ascending plateau, where the middle was the highest point. The walls were thicker than taller and they were filled with multiple outposts. With just a city, I was so dazed that I never realized I had arrived until I heard the words of the guards. ¡°It¡¯s the crown prince!¡± A guard yelled. Both the guards in front of the gate ran inside, yelling every second. It was so loud to the point you would think a monster was invading the city. However, that wasn¡¯t actually the case. Instead of shoving everyone away, across the road in front of me, people started to gather. They all lined up on the streets, filling every corner. I was surprised at such a tradition, but I kept my face straight. Then a few seconds later, the guard came back, along with him was a man towering over the horses with a sword on his waist. ¡°Welcome back, Your Highness. Your road has been paved. His Majesty is waiting. Once again, welcome back, Your Highness.¡± The man bowed ninety degrees. He then lifted his head and moved to the sides. At that moment I was curious about something very simple. If I was that important, why was no one questioning how I have no one accompanying me and that I am the coachman? But, it would make sense if I was just someone who is at a status that no one would dare question my decisions. Once the tall, rugged man had slid to the sides, I began on my slow throttle. The crown prince was definitely a despicable human, but what I have understood in this situation, every single one of those crimes is hidden from the public¡¯s eye. The moment I entered the city, I saw some people tear up with a smile on their faces. They all began cheering and their praises all jumbled together. There were many words of encouragement like ¡°You can do it! Your Highness!¡± and some with ¡°We will love you either way! Your Highness!¡± or even some ¡°Get well soon! Your Highness!¡± It was praise, not a single hate. I was not a hated prince, but a beloved one. While I thought of everything, I rode the carriage with a huge smile on my face. I wanted to wave, but I felt like showing a hole in my hand would have consequences, whether good or not, that I do not currently know the effect of. I had only been in this world for four days, I still couldn¡¯t fully grasp the people in it. Now that I think about it, the people in the village feared me. But, maybe it wasn¡¯t me they feared, but Harry. I couldn¡¯t ask him about everything but I knew full well what was happening. From the very start, with just the first few minutes of my arrival, he failed to kill such a simple bandit that couldn¡¯t even use aura. Then the village obviously wasn¡¯t massacred by the forest beast, the trees were all attached to their roots. If it was the beast, there would have been a giant gaping hole in the forest. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Everything was part of his plan, I was just far too naive to realize. However, I still don¡¯t know why he couldn¡¯t kill me in the first place. That was a mystery I can only guess. Now that I had finished thinking about my days, I was brought back to reality when I had to turn my horse to the left, where a lot of people were also lined up. I thought this world would be hard. That maybe I¡¯ll have to go to the top by regaining my reputation through sheer hard work and charity. Now that I have a life where people don¡¯t hate me. My peaceful life would definitely work peacefully. Finally, I can just laze around the palace, and reap all the riches that the heir to a kingdom would have. My ass. There was no fooling myself. Everything felt fishy. Actually, it wasn¡¯t stench, nor was intuition, it was just the truth. I was diving into the palace as a prince who had his last knight who hated him die. That just meant one thing. My current destination was the coldest, most brutal world there is. I¡¯m entering the world of succession alone. No backing, nothing. I know absolutely nothing. There had been not a single mirror nor lake in this place. There was blood, but I didn¡¯t really get to stare at it closely to the point I could see my face. I¡¯m going into hell. Naked. After a few minutes, I finally arrived in front of the Palace¡¯s entrance. It was a beautiful garden, where at every corner were mansions sparsely scattered. Unlike the city buildings crowded upon each other, the middle of the city was a paradise home to the most prestige and important people of the country. There were no more people guiding me, but inside were knights spread amongst each other wearing iron-clad armor with their hands on the hilt of swords. This feels like they are going to kill me any second. Soon, the main palace came into view. The castle trying to reach into the clouds. I subconsciously got off my carriage and walked the rest of the path. Climbing up the stairs, crowded by knights and then nobles, wearing fur and silk clothes etched with their family symbols. I stood upon a giant arched door, catching my breath. The doors then opened, and right after was an announcement ringing throughout the long chamber. ¡°Entering the Crown Prince!¡± Everyone stood at the sides, with pillars reaching high into the ceiling. There was not a single knight inside, only nobles with their mix of ugly and beautiful faces. At the end of a smooth red carpet, was a golden throne were the King sat upon. The man had a long white beard, wearing a golden crown and a golden fur coat surrounding the red hue of his clothes. That was my father. His gaze sent shivers down my spine. Despite not being able to even see his eyes clearly, I could feel the pain in my heart. This was not an ordinary welcoming hearing. I was brought back from somewhere for a very delicate reason. As I took my first step, my heart burst, making me instinctively hold it with my hand. There was mana surrounding the entire chamber, sending pressure down to the ground. This was definitely normal, and so I continued. I limped slowly on the carpet, not letting go of my eyes at his. I don¡¯t know how you were able to assemble this many people when I just arrived randomly. But this definitely meant someone was watching me. No, it was definite. I was being watched. They knew I killed people, and they knew I used mana. Based on my heart being filled with mana, yet having not a single circle like the mage from before who looked like she was just in her 20s, I was definitely not allowed to learn magic. The small relief I gained from walking the street and hearing praises from the masses was immediately crushed by my piles of crime. I trod across the carpet made of my blood and shame. Staring into his eyes allowed me to witness all my mistakes and all the history of my life. I barely made it to the end, with my best effort to not even let out a single mana out of my dantian. ¡°The crown prince begins his audience with the King!¡± Said the same man who announced my entrance. Then after him, I was surprised to even hear him. ¡°Everyone else. Leave.¡± There was no loud tone. It didn¡¯t feel like a yell, nor a voice that felt like it was increased in volume. Yet I heard it even from the back of my ear. His word carried the forces of a mountain. The man in front of me was befitting the title of King. Everyone then left to the sides and the arched door behind me closed. A few seconds later, it was only me and the King left in the chamber. The giant corridor meant for an audience with the King was empty other than two people. It was like an ant on a plate. Then like a landslide, his deep voice echoed the entire room. ¡°Daniel. I do not only speak as the King, but also as your father.¡± However, despite the pressure, his words felt assuring, comfortable yet dangerous. ¡°I was all aware of your mischief. All your tricks. Yet. Did you really have to go that far? Drugs, selling commoners, and even murder. I ignored everything because of your potential. You know full well I did not care of your nature, but only your ability.¡± The King¡¯s mouth was left slightly open. He stared deep into my soul. After a second he stood up and began to walk down from his podium. ¡°Daniel, why go so far? You have all the riches you could ask for. Attain the power you could never get tired of.¡± He paused, standing in front of me. Then I naturally yielded, kneeling on the ground. I should have kneeled earlier, but at that moment I was just given no choice but to lower myself. ¡°When did you become so greedy?¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. There was not a single memory of the original body in my mind. The only thing I can remember was my life on Earth. What was I supposed to respond to his question? Will apologizing even be enough? Would truly begging for forgiveness for a crime I didn¡¯t commit be the right thing to do? ¡°I won¡¯t punish you, as usual. You are not allowed to leave the palace unless I say so. Oh, and also, I permit you to continue honing your mana. Though it seems you¡¯ve been exhausted from it from your last fight. Daniel, you are my heir. Don¡¯t ask for more.¡± The King turned around and climbed back up to his throne. I knew there was nothing more he wanted to tell me and so my body naturally stood up and left as soon as I could. My entire body was shaking. The smile etched on my face could reach the sky. It was incredible. The power of a King. The standing of a King. Sorry, father. But I get why the original body ¡°Wanted more¡±. Cause, I want more. 13. Ill Change My entire life was filled with a bleak atmosphere. Adding my bad memory it really was my entire life. More than half of my age was spent alone, working like a zombie. Then a quarter of it was spent alone, but, without even human contact. Now that I have the opportunity to change. It really hasn¡¯t dawned on me yet, that I have so much in me that can make me change. I¡¯m in another world, not carried by my sins. I¡¯m in a body, free from all the weight I gained lazing around. I¡¯m in a world of responsibility as an adult. I¡¯ve said it before, but I failed. So, I¡¯ll say it again. I want more, so I¡¯ll change. Maybe I¡¯ll fail again. But I¡¯ll say it again. I¡¯ll keep saying it till my mind is tired of it. I¡¯ll keep thinking about it until my body moves on its own to follow my will. This is a chance I¡¯ll never get again. There¡¯s not even any more what if. This is my final chance. If people say the impossible only happens in fantasy, then if I, a human who had no talent in anything, I can only change in this world of fantasy. I can only change inside a human¡¯s fantasy.
Outside of the chamber, into a long corridor, a doctor was waiting for me. While I walked out, I was just wondering how to heal my hand, but it seemed that thought wasn¡¯t necessary. ¡°Can you please lend me your hand? Your Highness.¡± While I was reaching my hand out, I fell into a deep realization. I was just going out of the chamber filled with so many thoughts. Then, now that I was outside, there was not a single person in the corridor other than a single man wearing a white robe who looked like a priest. Yet he didn¡¯t wear a single cross or any symbol of faith, so that could just mean he was a healing mage or a doctor. I would like to think he is the latter. But that entire thing wasn¡¯t the main problem. The existence of the doctor itself was the problem. Why was he here? Why is there even a doctor waiting for me? I was hiding my left hand the entire time by covering it with my right and always having it pressed on my body. Yet a doctor was here? Just like that? I wanted to ask why a doctor was here, but I had a different idea. Suppose I was the crown prince. Suppose I was a man who the king saw like that. A being who he recognizes as the sole heir, then the original body really isn¡¯t some simple. ¡°I thought the one monitoring me was far on some mountain, but it seemed it was inside the forest.¡± ¡°You¡¯re hardly mistaken, Your Highness. I just have really good eyes.¡± I raised my eyebrows. ¡°Huh.¡± I scoffed. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be your personal doctor from now on. At the same time, I would be guarding and monitoring you for your entire life unless the King tells me to stop. No harm letting you know.¡± It was shocking to talk to the doctor. Not because of his calm demeanor, but just of how much context clues are being thrown in such a simple exchange. That made me wonder if I could even handle talking like that. Thinking about things and speaking in such a way as to not reveal the truth. It was so stupid. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t lie it looks cool on the outside. Well, only for a few seconds until you die of embarrassment. However, it might just be because my thoughts inside and how I talked outside are conflicting with my heart. It is completely polar opposite that it¡¯s, well, cringe. But I know that if I don¡¯t talk this way, I will be seen as a complete idiot, someone who lacks the ability to ¡°read¡± and someone who can¡¯t even realize the intentions of others in just a single look. Well, I wasn¡¯t anything like that. But¡­ I was in another world. If the world is like this. Fuck my modern world standards. Why would I care about another world? I sighed slowly as mana started to escape his body and engulf my palm. Just as his mana was about to touch my skin, I forgot about the ki that I had placed to stop the bleeding. It was only then that I retracted it. ¡°Hahaha! No need to fret. The King already told me. He allowed it, did he not?¡± I was about to reply to what he said, but then he continued to say something I was not expecting. ¡°Either way, it seems you¡¯ve also learned how to hide your mana.¡± Hide my mana? I thought. My mana was not hidden. As I felt the inside of my body, it was clearly radiating a ton of mana from my dantian. That sentence just made it clear that storing my mana in my abdomen, not my heart, completely makes mages ignorant. I simply didn¡¯t reply, there was not really anything that came to my mind. At the same time, if I were to speak arrogantly like before, I would throw up. However, now that I think about it. Acting cute like a little girl doesn¡¯t sound worse than right now. His mana sipped into my entire hand, only stopping at the entrance of my forearm. Then in such a fast pace that I couldn¡¯t see clearly, his mana erupted and dispersed along with the hole inside my hand being completely healed. My eyes jumped at such a sight. Sadly the doctor wasn¡¯t looking at me, so I couldn¡¯t gain any more information from his reaction, but is a good thing I don¡¯t have to overly analyze into something so simple again. Well, that¡¯s not so bad, though. Once my hand was healed, the doctor, introduced himself. ¡°Oh, I forgot, my name is Orfield, Your Highness¡± His bright smile became bigger and stayed like a statue. Other than all the other features that I already observed, he also looked quite young despite being much taller than me. ¡°Oh.¡± A thought immediately struck my mind. ¡°Are there any mirrors in my room?¡± Orfield was taken aback. His head bounced and his eyes looked left and right on the empty corridor. ¡°Why do you need a mirror, Your Highness? That.¡± ¡°Just answer the question.¡± Does every word have to have a meaning to you? What is this guy? ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s go, I don¡¯t think Father changed my room by any chance, right?¡± ¡°Yes, why?¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Actually, I don¡¯t even know why I said that either. So the only thing I could think of to reply to his question, was simply, ignore it. ¡°Lead the way, I don¡¯t like people standing behind me.¡± Orfield chuckled and he went along as I followed. The entire palace, including the outside, was incredibly large. Unlike what I saw outside the city, it was less than a fraction of the size. Just the hall itself took a few minutes to get out from. Then once we reached the backend of the palace where many other mansions lay, it took another few minutes of walking on a path to reach my place. Unlike what I know of in other fantasy stories, it seemed every family member of the royal family had their own mansion. They were filled with beautiful gardens and many servants. It was like the suburbs, houses that all looked alike placed evenly with each other. Though, if the suburbs are like a row of houses that feels like a maze, the palace just had such huge mansions that it could pass as the residential homes of giants. Then, at the end of the palace, bordering the gates to the city, was my mansion. I was greeted by a long line of workers whose faces were filled with so much sweat that it looked like they just got out of the pool. I walked the laid path and smiled brightly at each one of them. Every stare I gave made their body shiver. While the outside people treated me with such respect, the people greeting me now were full of fear in their eyes. Just what did I do to these people? I hurried inside, just ignoring everyone else. Then I followed Orfield as he went to my room, ignoring every line he threw at me. ¡°Well, you can go in, I won¡¯t be following you though, the King at least told me I should give you a little privacy.¡± His huge smile never wavered. I entered my room and immediately closed it before even looking inside. The halls in the palace were huge, and the gaps in each door were just as wide. When I was living on earth, my room was a single-bedroom apartment where I only slept and ordered food. Now I was about to look behind me into a room fancier than anything I¡¯ve ever eaten, wider than my parent¡¯s home, and grander than any drawing I¡¯ve seen. At the edges of my eyes, I had already witnessed that the room was about 10 meters wide, which was just absurd. Like opening a gift on Christmas, I savored every reveal, so then I looked up. My room was on the first floor of the mansion. Just looking from outside it was at least 3 floors. But as I looked at my ceiling I got why it was so big. A whole golden chandelier the size of a bear was on my ceiling. It stretched up to the second floor. My room itself not only extended like a classroom but even to another floor itself. Just what is inside this room? I took a deep breath and inhaled slowly. There was no time to wait, I had to look behind me immediately. The tension and expectation can¡¯t keep me waiting. So I did, entering freedom. The middle of the room was a spacious place with a small 2-meter-length sofa in front of a tiny circular glass table. At the same time, the table was placed in the middle of a circle detailed with intricate patterns that stretched to walls filled with half-cylindrical pillars. To the right were a few desks and chairs along with cabinets all etched with gold and marble. Finally, to my right was my bed with white bedding and golden silk layered on top with a lot of pillows, while the bed frame was made of gold. Then another small chandelier was placed on top. I don¡¯t know if this is soundproof or monitor proof! But I wanna just jump up and down on the bed! As I smiled in the direction of my bed, there was a handsome young child who looked like a model with dashing white hair smiling at me. Wait. That¡¯s me! My jaw dropped. If I could rate my past self out of 10, I would rate myself a generous 5/10. 10/10, I definitely would make anyone fall in love with me, what the fuck kid! Why the fuck are you looking so handsome at a time when bathing every day wasn¡¯t even common! Fuck you! Fuck you! I hated good-looking people if you couldn¡¯t notice. Well, now that I was a ¡°good-looking¡± person¡­ I still hate them. For me, people who had good looks and amazing talent were the worst of the bunch of humanity. They were far too blessed while I wasn¡¯t. It was due to blatant envy. I wouldn¡¯t advise people on them, not because I am one, but because. Never hate people who look good and have talent. They don¡¯t have it easy, okay? Take it from me, I have experience. Then I slapped my face. After a slap imbued with mana, I thought that that act was definitely noticed by Orfield. It would make him confused about my antics, so that gave me an idea. First I raised my hand, then flipped them off. I don¡¯t care if it meant wanting to have sex in this time, Fuck you! I just made sure to do it with both hands and dragging it across all directions then I just have to smirk after a few seconds, so I don¡¯t include it into the wanting to fuck and confuse others that¡­ I¡­ do¡­ I made a grave mistake. That I would happily jump about! After a few seconds of deep regression, I jumped happily, spreading my mana in the air and absorbing it after landing just to add more confusion if someone was really watching me. Once I reached the bed, I jumped one last time and buried myself into the soft silky bed of the royal prince. ¡°Ahhhh¡­ this is the best shit.¡± I flipped myself up and looked at the chandelier. This is my fifth day in this world, though I¡¯ll consider it four days too, whatever actually, I don¡¯t care. Days? Who the fuck gives a shit, I¡¯ll change. I will. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll change.
The door came knocking on the King''s room. He waved his hand and turned the knob as Orfield walks in. "Why report this early?" "I know it for sure." The king stared at him intently, closing the book he held and shutting the door. Then a field of magic surrounded the two in the form a tube, blocking any sound to come in and out. "The Crown Prince is dead." "I told you to find out who he is, not tell me that." "He''s not from this world, Luther." The king''s eyes glowed and the magic barrier shattered. Orfield immediately turned around and left the room. 14. Servant Covered by my comfortable fur blanket and submerged in my soft bed, I abruptly woke up in distress. A specific phrase was inside my head. ¡°You are not allowed to leave the palace unless I say so.¡± What the fuck! I just want the benefits of a prince! Not a fucking caged animal! I tried to get out of my bed and open the door to ask Orfield, who, I am one hundred percent sure of, was standing outside my room. Well, that was what I planned to do, but my bed was just far too comfortable. It was like glue was preventing us from being set apart, and I do not mind that. The forest, a wooden bed, this was so much better than even my past life¡¯s bed. With my small body, I could even roll three times and not fall off. It felt majestic. This is all I wanted from being the prince. My smile dripped on the side of my lips and my eyes were barely open to view the world in a blurry reality. ¡°Fuck!¡± I forced my body up and I shivered, immediately slapping my arms and my face. It was just last night that I planned to change and yet I¡¯m now forgetting about it. Is it me? Or is this just how humans are? I questioned my every being, but I was used to it, so it really meant nothing. But I am given another chance. I mean¡­ unlike before, my body doesn¡¯t feel sore. My head doesn¡¯t ache either. The only thing keeping me from moving is a good bed and nothing else. Not held down by an unhealthy body and spiraling mental health. I sighed at myself. The giant blanket over my body was heavy yet warm. The air in my room was so hot I could feel it from just the air I breathed. Thankfully mana was cold, which allowed me a wonderful sleep. Once my mind returned back to its level-headed state, I was now standing in front of my drawers. For days, my clothes were the same, and today marked the two and a half days I wore this blue cloth. The crown prince should have multiple arrays of clothes. And for my expectations, that was true. Just a single cabinet held more than 20 clothes, though calling them ¡°individual¡± clothes was, kind of a stretch. However, unlike the clothes I was currently wearing, they had something more similar to the ones I had in the past. There was a detail in the clothes that I really did not pay much attention to. Actually, it was all over the palace itself, but I already understood what they were, and being someone who was cultivating and not really studying magic, they aren¡¯t that useful to me as of right now. Sigils were placed on the clothes. They were magic circles that looked complementary to each other part, completing a certain feature to the wearer. However, such a matter didn¡¯t matter to me. So, I picked the best clothes for me. A simple white shirt and black pants. I never said they actually looked good. Unlike what I first wanted to do, I didn¡¯t instantly barge out of my room, instead the window caught my eye. There were beautiful flowers outside, fluttering like beautiful butterflies. I opened the window, letting the refreshing wind brush onto my face along with the tantalizing aroma of flowers. ¡°Hah¡­¡± I took a chair and placed it directly in front of the window in the middle of the room. With the curtains flying in the air like a superhero cape, I placed my chin on top of both my hands, smiling at the view. There was a possibility of me being watched, but, that is precisely why I feared what the King said. If you think about it. Living a life where you are in constant observation, it¡¯s quite horrifying. The original body went against the King? Maybe, being evil is valid in this case. I would be stuck in a rebellious phase too if I knew my own father was always watching me. I don¡¯t even have the time to act freely, always needing to be serious and alert. That must be exhausting. No, it is exhausting. I¡¯m going through it right now. My mind was completely blank as I stared at the garden of flowers. There were a few people working, but it seemed they were too far to notice me. After realizing and truly facing the problems I must overcome, giving up seemed so easy. However, I knew I couldn¡¯t give up. Not because of some will to live but just that I don¡¯t feel like dying again. ¡°When life gives you problems, just die.¡± I stood up and closed the window. The curtains then covered my entire body as the wind stopped coming in. It was a bright morning and my stomach began to ache. Once I left my room, Orfield wasn¡¯t there. I thought he would be waiting for me or guarding me for my every move. His not being here makes his remarks of always watching me absolutely pointless and stupid. Maybe my father made him stop watching me. I don¡¯t know the reason, but if I was in his situation I would have cringed from all the words I¡¯ve said. While standing still in front of my room, a servant came to me. ¡°Good Morning, Your Highness.¡± His face was expressionless. Void of emotions. The man was wearing a black suit and held food in his hand. ¡°I was just here to bring you, your breakfast, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Huh. I just noticed, Orfield never always said Your Highness.¡± I said, instantly realizing I said that out loud. ¡°I¡¯d like to eat outside.¡± I said, brushing the previous sentence like it never existed. ¡°I¡¯ll ask the maids to clean the garden, Your Highness.¡± He bowed then turned around. ¡°No need, just take me there.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± The servants from yesterday were all afraid of me to the point some would cry, but this man was different. There was not a shed of fear in his eyes. His entire body was moving without an inch of shaking. It was like a robot. I tried sensing the mana inside him, but there was nothing in his heart. Then, after a few more seconds, a small source of mana was inside his heart and there was something inside his brain too. Before I could completely think of what was inside the servant¡¯s body, I was shown the reaction I expected from the very beginning. Multiple maids carrying clothes on a basket greeted me a good morning with their bodies shaking. Once they said their greeting, they immediately walked away. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.Oh well, I¡¯ll care when I¡¯m faced to care. I¡¯m not a hero. But, I did want to increase my reputation a little bit. While walking to the back of the palace into the garden, I constantly stared at the servant in front of me. But whatever happened, I just couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. Mana was constantly going around his brain and heart. They were so small yet so fast that it was hard to detect if you didn¡¯t think of looking for them in the first place. ¡°We are here, Your Highness. I apologize for the lack of cleaning in the garden¡¯s dining table.¡± I was so engrossed with my thoughts that it was only when he talked that I realized we were here. He placed the food on a small square glass table with four glass chairs on each side. The table was in the middle of a small patio made with marble and designed like Greek architecture. It was a round base with pillars supporting the half-spherical roof. The patio was placed in the middle of the garden, surrounded by all the flowers. I sat at the glass chair and the servant bowed and was about to leave. ¡°Stop, come here.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± He walked up inside the small patio. ¡°Kneel.¡± Then he followed my order with his head looking at the floor. Perfect. I placed my hand on his head and directed my mana inside his brain. With my eyes closed I tried my best to sense what my qi could feel inside someone else¡¯s body. It was like walking on an empty road on a dark night with not a single star or the moon. It felt extremely cold. If I wasn¡¯t careful, I would enter deep depression with just the feeling of this emptiness. After going deeper, I don¡¯t exactly know where I am without having my eyes look at where the qi had already gone, but then soon a beam of mana dashed in front of me, appearing and disappearing instantly. I stopped the qi from moving and waited. That was the same mana I saw moving around his brain and heart. After a few more seconds, the mana passed again, then again, and again. After a few more times, there was nothing more special than just a single orb of mana rotating around the brain. Without knowing what else to do, I decided to simply take the mana from the brain and absorb it. Then I went ahead and did the same thing to the one inside the heart. Once I opened my eyes I ordered the servant to stand back up. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me, Your Highness!¡± His hands immediately grabbed onto my shorts. Tears started to fall from his eyes without even a second passing. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me, Your Highness!¡± He repeated again. This time much louder. But after a few more wails, he looked around and went into silence. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you, so calm down.¡± His eyes were swollen and tears filled his cheeks, making ponds for ants on the ground. After looking back at me, he stared at his hand for a split second and immediately took it out. In the process of being shocked he was about to trip and he stood up, bursting his entire body off the patio and then bowing on dirt. ¡°I am sorry, Your Highness!¡± Based on his face, he was incredibly confused. It wasn¡¯t just the simple fear the servants had at me, but it was more. It wasn¡¯t the fear of me, but the fear of death. ¡°Stand up.¡± The servant jolted up with both his arms glued to his sides and shoulders stiff like a rock. His entire body was shaking and I could see from his cheeks that he was trying his best to stop his tears. ¡°Stop biting your teeth.¡± I sighed, it wasn¡¯t just him who was questioning what was going on, it was me too. Before I continued, I tried to look around for Orfield if there was any chance that he was hiding. The mage I had in my party before was able to conceal her mana but not to the point it was invisible. However, I truly believe Orfield could make it invisible. From the moment I met him, there was only a small amount of mana in his body, yet his prerogative to not address me as ¡°Your Highness¡± in each sentence, proved all that mana was just a lie. Maybe my thoughts were all for nothing. Just a useless rumble, but that is the whole point. All this overthink is how the people in this world can survive. Fuck! I tried to remove the thought of being exposed away at the current moment. So what if Orfield sees I¡¯m not acting like how the Crown Prince really acts, I was out right? I don¡¯t know where, but I was definitely gone from the palace for a long time. I could have changed. Personality at the very least. After being done with my wasteful thoughts, I asked the servant his name first. ¡°I don¡¯t th-¡± ¡°I know what you''re gonna say so shut up. Your gonna say you''re not worthy for me to know your name? Then how dare you think you¡¯re worthy of talking back to me.¡± He flinched, then immediately shouted his name. ¡°Rits, Your Highness! My name is Rits!¡± I chuckled. Of course, I want to increase my reputation. The reputation has to be of good nature too, but just playing boss is such a fun time. However, acting like a good person is just as fun. It was like that time I talked with the girl from the clothing shop. Well, that one was kind of embarrassing, but if I was a woman and I saw my face, I understand her reaction. Though a little pedophiliac, hey, this is the time were people get pregnant at the age of ten. After covering my mouth with my laughter, I stood up from my chair and walked towards Rits. ¡°Rits, I am sorry,¡± I said calmly, with my eyes shaking and my lip lightly smiling. ¡°But, some circumstances had made me forget some things, and¡­ so¡­ can you tell me what I was going to do with you? Why are you begging me not to kill you? Can you tell me what you remember?¡± His eyes were still trembling from fear. But with a little tug of his shirt, he started to speak. ¡°It¡­ was¡­¡± Though his words struggled to come out. ¡°Jus¡­t yes-terday. You. Told me. That. I would be turned into those things¡­¡± Those things? ¡°When I came. To. The du-du-du¡­ngeon. I met you. Then. I woke up here.¡± 15. Dungeon A mansion is huge. It can hold many rooms of different types. It had been a day since I arrived at my home. The first thing I learned when I arrived was insane after a few more explanations from Rits. It seemed my mansion wasn¡¯t only filled with maids and butlers, but also mindless beings all made for the purpose of whatever the original body wanted. Inside my home was a dungeon filled with everything the original body created. The moment I even heard the word dungeon, I wanted to know where it was immediately, however, there was no one who knew where the dungeon was. It was only me who knew. But now that I was dead, there was no way I would know. At the current moment, I have no other things to do. The mana around the palace is much more abundant than outside. If the king told me I was not allowed to leave until he said so, then I¡¯ll use the time I have to cultivate and practice. Of course, I don¡¯t really wanna be a King. Well, at the moment. Well, I don¡¯t really have a clear goal right now. ¡°Thank you for telling me everything you know, Rits. Go fetch me a wooden sword, I wanna dance in this field of flowers.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± He bowed and then turned around, but before he went off, I remembered something. ¡°Oh, then also get me ink and paper. Also, bring the Head Butler and Head Maid alone with you. Well, if they were also like you, just bring the representative. They weren¡¯t turned mindless, right?¡± ¡°No, Your Highness!¡± He was caught off guard and shouted. Then he continued with his voice lowered with the lingering fear. ¡°From what I remember at least, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Okay, go on.¡± From where I was, I had a clear view of the palace walls and the gardens of the other mansions. At the edge of each garden were just an uneven plain of grass leading to the walls. It was a peaceful sight, beautiful and tranquil, all ruined by a stone wall taller than the mansions. I took a deep breath and walked out to the garden. Inside the tall flowers, I dug myself in and sat, hiding from the outside world only exposed to the bask of the sun. From the deep pockets of my clothes, I pulled out the diary of cultivation, opening the first few pages. Unlike what I had discovered on my own, it was completely different from what I knew. I cultivated through the absorption of mana into my dantian and compressing it as much as possible until it changed color and depth. However, the diary had more than just that. It included a breathing technique and a proper process of condensing qi inside the body, then much much more. The amount of information I was reading was about to explode in my mind. After reading when my eyes just looked at the text without absorbing any text, I stopped. The only thing that my comprehension could reach was the breathing technique. It was simple, so simple a baby could do it. So, for now, that is what I would do. The diary had a lot of different ways of breathing, including terrains and the vastness of mana in the air. Mana was rich in the air. Not as abundant as my first encounter, but more than the outside. Mana is absorbed in the body by inhaling it along with the mix of air. There is no manipulation of mana, nor any filtration of it. You just had to inhale, take the mana in, then exhale the air out. It was the process of oxygen to carbon dioxide, now with just mana. I spent the time waiting for Rits to come back cultivating. Taking a deep breath in, holding for 5 seconds, then releasing. There were more aspects to just terrain and mana that affected your breathing, it also had something to do with your own talent. Cultivating isn¡¯t at all complicated, however, it does take incredible focus that would leave your whole body vulnerable if you aren¡¯t too careful. Just as I was thinking that I only heard Rits calling me halfway through his sentence. ¡°-uo, Your Highness?¡± That scared the living out of me and I jumped out of the garden immediately. My entire body felt exposed and naked. Just thinking about being dragged inside cultivation and losing my senses, then that happening immediately made me thankful they were not enemies. I could have actually died there. ¡°Ahh!¡± I said, playing off my flimsy jump. ¡°Head Maid, and Head Butler.¡± In front of me were two old men and a woman. They looked like they could be my grandparents. The head butler had a long white beard and long white hair in a ponytail behind his head, wearing a completely black suit. The head maid on the other hand was wearing a long oversized black dress that blocked her feet with curled white layers at the end and white vertical stripes all around. . ¡°We greet His Highness.¡± They said in unison. ¡°You can go now, Rits.¡± I struck my hand forward. ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± He bowed before leaving. Then I walked to the table and sat on the glass chair, laying my arms on the table. ¡°Why have you called for us, Your Highness.¡± Said the head maid, just as I was opening my mouth to talk. ¡°There is only one reason I called you guys here, but beforte that, give me the paper and ink.¡± Just as I was handed the paper and ink on the table, I began to think about what I was planning to do. Will I, the crown prince, a noble, really have to write in paper an order that I wanted to say? Couldn¡¯t I just tell the two people in front of me to do it, for me? At the same time, if writing that request, signing it in a way I don¡¯t even know, then getting everything wrong, I would be criticised and I may even be exposed. However, if I just ordered these two, they can¡¯t refute that, that¡¯s just how it works. So in the spurt of a moment, once they had gone back to their normal posture after placing the ink and paper, I made a decision. ¡°Go and process for all the servants to leave the mansion until I say so, also, give everyone an early 6 months of payment.¡± The two reacted in surprise. There faces exuded a reaction of disbelief. But what came out of their mouth was not the part I was expecting they were shocked at. The head maid said, ¡°Sorry for my disgrace Your Highness.¡± She lowered her head like it was wrong for her to speak her thoughts. The moment she did that I realized just how rude Rits had been to me, or maybe these two have been here for so long that they fear me more. ¡°-but are you sure about 6 months of payment?¡± She continued. Her hand was on her heart and her breathing came to a split halt. ¡°Yes, is there a problem.¡± ¡°No, Your Highness, we will proceed with it immediately.¡± The head butler replied. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Then, you may go.¡± Just as they left, I was thinking through my head about the many tropes of such situations where you can hear some things from the words of others. Like for example, I could go inside the mansion secretly and hear the servant''s reaction to my orders. But, I didn¡¯t feel like it. Whatever they feel, they will feel. Of course, I don¡¯t really plan for them to be away for more than 6 months. Just right now I need to do something without anyone¡¯s interference. ¡°Hmmm, what do I do about food, laundry, and house cleaning though¡­?¡± *** Having cultivated till the sun set from the sky, I finally went inside the mansion to get a good rest and maybe even look if there was a bathroom. Just like before, when I went out of my room, there was no one inside, not even a single person greeted or met me. It was night, so they might all just be asleep. As I hold a plate in my hand I ponder where the kitchen was. I didn¡¯t really need dinner anymore as just cultivating, also known as, sitting in a single place for an eternity, won¡¯t really hunger anyone. The food wasn¡¯t that delicious to yearn for more either, which was questionable as I was inside the palace. The mansion was vast, having two floors and the size of a three-story house and clearly having the label of a mansion as its width was more than 100 meters. I went around my house and entered every door I could see just to find the kitchen. Then, I was able to find myself in the hall of the servant''s bedrooms. Each time I opened a door, there was not a single person inside. Then that made me think. Could they have already left? Already? Already?! It was an order and I didn¡¯t really specify a time, but they couldn¡¯t just move out in a day. That¡¯s what I expected, but they exceeded my expectations by a long shot. It had really come down to it, I was alone inside a giant mansion. Thinking that, made my skin shiver and my hair stand. The lighting of this world was very dim, every corner was a shroud of darkness and the light was just a small fraction of the paths. I knew that I could probably kill a normal ghost, but it was still horrifying. I¡¯m not scared of ghosts though, okay, I¡¯m not. After a few more doors, I was able to find the kitchen at the end of the servant¡¯s hall. It was a downward stairway into the underground supported by wooden beams. The kitchen was massive. It was double the size of a fast food chain¡¯s kitchen. Tables were scattered everywhere, cluttering the room. Cups, spices, and many other utensils were on top of the tables. At some intervals, giant ovens made of mud were beside tables with a huge pile of logs on the other side. I looked for the sink with my eyes and then I was hit by my laziness. I placed my plates on the nearest table and left. I¡¯m unlikable, unhygienic, and a piece of shit. What could I say, if people hate me, do so, just don¡¯t make every living being hate me. Which was why, I still had to change my reputation inside the palace. Once I was out of the kitchen, I didn¡¯t stop exploring the mansion. The main purpose was obviously to find a bathroom, but at the same time, there was no harm in trying to find more things. I could also find the dungeon that Rits talked about, though it probably won¡¯t be easy. It could just be me over-exaggerating the original body¡¯s capabilities, but if expecting too much from people in the modern world didn¡¯t work, in this world, just the existence of the King and Orfield was clear evidence that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to overthink a little, if not, a lot. ¡°You gotta expect something to know something.¡± The kitchen was at the end of the corridor, so I went back into the main entrance. Now, I decided to go behind the stairway just to see if there were any hidden secrets. Behind the stairs was a single inconspicuous door in the middle of the back. There was no light at the back; just the chandelier light edged the sides. I entered behind the stairs, casting away the light on my body where only the beating dim hue of brown formed a door. Opening the door led me to see a small stairwell leading into a ray of light stuck at the bottom. The stairwell was only lightly lit, as most of the light didn¡¯t even breach the first step at the bottom. Filled with sweat, I took a short first step inside. Then once my second feet left the ground floor, the door immediately slammed and a pain gushed over my head. There was a constant ringing like a rock was being shaken in a metal box. A few seconds passed and the ringing stopped. The pain disappeared like nothing even happened. I gained back all of my composure like I just hallucinated. Just from that shock I wanted to turn around and leave the room, but it just closed on its own, this place was definitely not normal. There was no way I would just let it pass. Because of what just happened, I made sure to walk down the stairwell slowly at each step. Once my second foot landed on the next step, I heard the sound of metal rubbing against stone behind my back. Horizontal metal bars covered everything behind me from the shape of the step until it reached the top. I wondered if that was a trap or a mechanism. Should I run or continue the same way? I hastily made the decision and took another step down, the same thing then happened. Then I continued again and again till I was at the last step staring at the vast underground surrounded by marble walls. The floor was made of smooth dirt with a large rectangular white line highlighted in the middle. There were racks made of wood laid across the left wall, where various weapons were placed. A sword, an axe, a bow, a blade, a spear, a halberd, a mace, a dagger, and any other weapons that I could not even think of. The entire ground stretched further than the entrance, estimating a length of 50 meters and a width of 10. On the other side were barrels stacked on each other. One of the caps of the barrels was slightly tilted revealing a bread-like texture inside. Once I had deduced that the underground was a training ground or a bunker to train when the world entered an apocalypse, I turned my attention to the thing behind me. The entire stairway that I just walked on was filled with metal pipes that probably had sharp endpoints that pierced through the wall. I could barely see the wooden door through the small gaps. After coming down the stairway, it was only in the middle that the light had highlighted the walls being filled with multiple holes. I took my final step and jumped down, turning immediately. Metal pipes once again jumped out of the walls and after a single second, all the metal retracted and the stairwell turned back into normal. 16. Meeting It was night, but I wasn¡¯t tired. Now that I was inside a training ground, I might as well do something inside. However the fear of going outside after such a dangerous entrance was probably contributing to my motivation. Cultivation wasn¡¯t only by sitting on a lotus position, it is actually much better doing something because Cultivation is to cultivate, to enhance something. As much as I want the powers of internal cultivation I¡¯ve seen on the internet, I haven¡¯t encountered such variation here so why not just do whatever I wanted? The ground was a light brownish dirt, it looked clean and smooth like it was just powdered wood. The heels of my feet sinks a little at each step. I moved closer to the racks of weapons and looked at everything. ¡°Sword is definitely the basic one¡­ as much as I don¡¯t want to be basic, what else could I even use?¡± The lack of memories was still pretty daunting to me. Having zero basic knowledge about the world basically makes me a baby in a child¡¯s body. It was hard, incredibly hard, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ve even survived this far. Great luck and plot armor definitely had to be the reason. ¡°Yes, I am saying this cultivation bullshit is plot armor, I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m the main character, or maybe I¡¯m not, but, still, plot armor or not, I can¡¯t accept I¡¯ll survive with just this. I know my life, it¡¯s shit.¡± I picked up the sword like some basic bitch and headed past the white line on the ground, entering the inner square. There was not a lot of mana in this room. As I observed closer, the bits of mana were probably one¡¯s that I was seeping out naturally. The entire room had no mana of its own. ¡°Well, my entire reason to practice just vanished.¡± However, that lack of mana was probably the thing that gave me a weird feeling. Standing inside this room felt like I was caged in a thick cube. Just being here felt suffocating like any second I would die of loneliness. From the way the stairway released a trap at each step, the ringing of my head as soon as I entered, this place wasn¡¯t a simple training ground, it was an isolation camp. Inside this place, even Orfield might not be able to find me. ¡°No, that¡¯s not correct, inside here, no one can find me. I don¡¯t know about that door, but it probably has other ways to kill intruders. This is a secured area, for me and only for me. It¡¯s just shit that I don¡¯t know a single thing about this place. Based on the purpose of this place, I¡¯ll never be able to find out either. If the original body was this smart, I wonder if he placed any hints for me, if he planned all of this.¡± I swung my sword, removing my fleeting thoughts. There was nothing more important to think about than getting stronger. Now that I was alone in the mansion and Orfield was doing something else other than observing me forever as he said so, I would be having a great time. There was no need for swordsmanship, beauty, elegance, or any of those bullshit. I swung my sword freely. I swung it as much as I wanted. Used my qi or not, I just shuffled like a lottery machine. The wind gushed and my muscles jumped. My body danced like a kid discovering the outside world. It was beautiful, it felt amazing, it felt free. In this entire vast open space, I could jump, run, roll, throw, do whatever I wanted. My dream house was just like my mother''s. A bungalow with a vast open garden. Even just those small ones are perfect if I was a kid. Spinning in circles then laying down on that smooth itchy grass. I jumped up and then fell to the ground. It wasn¡¯t as hairy as grass, but it still felt soft and relaxing. Perfectly what I wanted it to be. ¡°So this is what achieving your dream is like. I¡¯ve been having so much fun in this place I called hell. I wish this entire feeling lasts forever. I want it to, I wish it could. I really wish it would.¡± Even with my eyes closed, I couldn¡¯t really sleep. After a few minutes or even hours laying on the ground with my mind completely blank, the first time I could ever do such a thing, I then stood up. The use of a training ground was to train. I took off my clothes and only left my pants on. My body was incredibly scrawny. Yet this small and skinny body was able to kill a giant beast and even overpower adventurers. Cultivation was just that busted, no, this body¡¯s talent was just busted. The royal family has a rule that doesn¡¯t allow the children to learn magic at an early age. It was bullshit, whatever the reason was, they are hurting talent way too much. I put aside the problems of the royal family and picked up the sword once again. This time I swung properly, imagining a person in front of me attacking, and then I blocked or parried. That was gonna be my routine until I felt like I need to stop. *** Under the veil of darkness hovering over a dome of light coming from the line of bright candelabra a group of people sat on a long rectangular wooden table. A large array of wooden chairs are arranged at the length of the table. At the two ends were tall chairs etched with engravings. ¡°Official meeting number 256 of the Second Prince Faction.¡± Said a man sitting at one of the engraved chairs. He wore a dark hood covering most of his face with a shade of darkness. ¡°Representative of the Prince, present.¡± He continued. ¡°Secretary, present.¡± Said a man directly to the left of the Representative. He wore a monocle at his left eye dressed in a black suit. A booklet is placed in front of him, opened halfway, to the left was a wine glass filled to the brim. ¡°Administrator of Strategies, present.¡± Said a man at the middle of the table surrounded by empty chairs, the furthest from the Representative. He wore an open red coat over a navy blue vest and white shirt. ¡°Manager of Finances, present.¡± Said a man at the right of the Representative. He wore a single white shirt and black pants. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Supervisor of Members, present.¡± Said a man far from the Secretary but closer to the Manager. He wore a black top hat and a black suit. ¡°Executive of War, present.¡± Said a man with dark red hair affected by the darkness close to and at the opposite of the Administrator. He wore a golden open coat reaching the floor and spreading a bit further. His clothes consisted of a white vest with gold trims filled with badges of honor and sets of golden sigils. ¡°Head of the Servant, present.¡± Said a man just beside the Supervisor. His white hair reached out to his waist and his wrinkles were even visible through the darkness. He wore a brown capote with the hood down covered by his hair. ¡°Now that everyone is here except the President, let us start the official meeting upon the event of the Crown Prince¡¯s arrival.¡± Said the Representative. ¡°Time of the Crown Prince¡¯s presence, 34 hours.¡± The Secretary flipped his notebook. ¡°Upon the arrival of the Prince, his last knight, Harry, was not present. Upon the report of the Administrator, Harry was killed by the Crown Prince.¡± Said the Representative, his smile wrinkling to the edge of his eyes. ¡°The Crown Prince? I don¡¯t believe it, that shithead doesn¡¯t have the power to fight a knight and then a group of more people.¡± The Executive spoke without notice. The quite room echoed his words until they disappeared without a single response. Once the echo had dispersed, the Administrator spoke. ¡°May I explain the situation, Representative?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°As ordered by the President, I convinced Harry, the last knight of the Crown Prince to do anything with his power to kill the Crown Prince.¡± His smile exposed his teeth while his right hand was crushing his chest. ¡°It was quite easy to convince him. Everyone on his side loathes the demon hiding inside his body.¡± Every word elevated into his eyes twitching and his body shaking more and more. ¡°Stop getting sidetracked, Administrator.¡± The Representative Interjected. ¡°My apologies. As I was saying, once I had convinced Harry, we had planted someone to track every movement of his, including the Crown Prince.¡± He dropped his hand down. ¡°After successfully dragging the Crown Prince out of the city of Penalgum under the guise of it being chased by a syndicate whose the women he had intercourse with the previous night.¡± His voice gradually became slower and calmer with a smile being carved on his face. ¡°By quickly moving, Harry had successfully made the Crown Prince leave a lot of his belongings, only bringing the carriage, his seal, and a mall pouch of his money.¡± ¡°Speed it up.¡± Said the Representative ¡°After the syndicate plan failed, luckily a forest beast was beside a nearby village. However even after that, the Crown Prince¡­ still survived. By whatever other tricks he had up his sleeve, my men couldn¡¯t observe further under the protection from being discovered by the Crown Prince¡¯s backer. Once they had arrived at Numinity, I was left with one choice, hire red markers. However even that failed, this time, my men saw the Crown Prince use magic to kill the party and his knight.¡± The Administrator said his last words with an open smile and a groan. ¡°What a waste of talent.¡± Said the Executive. ¡°As you have heard, the Crown Prince has learned magic. The King even let this be. The King is clearly underestimating us.¡± The Representative leaned forward, laughing afterwards. ¡°Well, we were beaten by a kid multiple times.¡± Said the Executive, waving his hands and lifing his feet. ¡°One more time! If you talk one more time without permission, I will not hold back!¡± He stood up immediately and smashed the table. After a few seconds, he took a deep breathe and sat back down. ¡°Anyway, the Crown Prince learning magic doesn¡¯t really matter. Something much more important has shown itself that even disobeying a generation law of the royal family can be treated as a measly problem.¡± He looked at the Secretary. ¡°Just a short 3 hours ago, the Great Sage Milan, a fourth-class mage, the strongest mage that has come from our country has returned and is preparing to set up a magic tower.¡± ¡°The King isn¡¯t just telling us that we are no threat, he even dares¡­ to guard his door with a ferocious traitor.¡± He bobbed his head with emphasis on his words. ¡°We cannot let the King and the Crown Prince be anymore.¡± He stopped for a second. ¡°With the year the Crown Prince was gone, I was not letting the peace just fly by.¡± He leaned back. His eyes were circling everywhere and his body couldn¡¯t rest on a single spot. Filled with frustration, anger, hatred, ¡°If that stupid prince didn¡¯t fucking dare to trade such bullshit, I would have taken over the palace in just one more year!¡± ¡°Administrator, I¡¯ll let your failure pass by, let the plan Cuircus commence.¡± He straightened his back and smiled at everyone, getting back his composure. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but hear that Milan had come back.¡± A man said behind the darkness. ¡°President!¡± The Administrator immediately stood up and bowed. The others followed instantly. ¡°President, present.¡± 17. Alliance Swords can be used in multiple ways. The variations are as endless as the universe. I had swung my sword for hours. I knew it from the beginning, but I had no talent for the sword. Actually, it wasn¡¯t even talent, I just knew nothing about the sword itself. Despite my past being that of a writer, not like I ever trained for the sword. All I did was make a character swing and the other swing in ways that could look cool and thrilling. The ways on how to swing, how to hold a sword, or where you even correctly place a sword around your body. Everything just felt awkward, I even tried imitating animals because that was how the first type of martial arts was made, however, even that was useless. ¡°There is only one way to fix this. Kidnap a knight, feed him the same thing the original body fed that servant, and make him teach me swordsmanship.¡± After the words left my mouth, I immediately withdrew my body. I was either happy, shocked, or disappointed. The original body, there is a chance I can gain back its memories. ¡°Or maybe I really am just as heartless as he is.¡± Staying silent surrounded by my words, I came to a conclusion. ¡°I¡¯m just gonna have someone properly teach me swordsmanship. But¡­ how¡­ I should be notorious in the palace, who would even teach me swordsmanship? Actually, if I expose myself openly, I don¡¯t know how many people would try to kill me! Though, Orfield did nothing to me, will someone actually try to kill me?¡± As I pondered about my plans for the day, the ground suddenly shook. The ground cried a horrifying sound like mountains were toppling against an eruption. The earthquake continued violently, tripping my balance and making me fall. There were no dust nor cracks on the walls, but the ground shook violently and it felt like I was on a boat fighting a huge storm. I pressed the ground hard, holding my embarrassing position tightly from collapsing. My arms and legs were spread like I was birthing a child. I could have just let go of my body and fell on the pressure but just as a person can¡¯t immediately stop running once they have gone all out, I just continued for stupid reasons. The shaking eventually stopped a few minutes later and in that span, I had decided to go back up. I fixed myself from the ground and rubbed the dirt across my shirt. However, after all the rollings I¡¯ve done, the white shirt had already turned brown. If I ripped my shirt and pants a little I would easily be a handsome and smooth-skinned beggar. After putting back the sword, I walked up the stairs until I reached the door. Surprisingly the metal spikes didn¡¯t activate and I was able to open the door without being surprised. Once I had gone outside and shut the door, I heard the sounds of metal multiple times, stopping after a few seconds. I simply brushed my shoulders and ignored it. Before anyone could see me in my attire and tarnish my reputation more into not only a heartless prince but also a lowly beggar, I hurriedly returned to my room. I installed qi onto my legs and jumped two times. First was to the ground vertically adjacent to my room and the second jump was to land at the front of my door. I quickly changed my clothes into the same outfit but just cleaner and headed outside of the mansion through the front entrance. Once I had walked out of the mansion, I first looked to my left seeing nothing but the encompassing wall across a large grass plane, but just slowly gliding my head to the right, I saw something that made the main castle seem tiny in comparison. To the left of the main castle¡¯s back was a giant tower almost twice as tall as the castle. It was a single long and thick cylindrical tube going into a cone-shaped roof. ¡°A magic tower? Orfield?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± The hair of my skin jumped and I almost screamed from the surprise. A voice similar to Orfield''s replied beside me. I got back my composure and didn¡¯t even look, just as I assumed it really was him. ¡°So it was true.¡± I already expected from the very beginning, but he was a powerful mage to be able to heal my injured hand. As I recall my memory, magic towers are extremely special. Only the most powerful mages in the world can even own a magical tower. As I slowly gazed upon the tower, golden-colored letters started to appear along with the plain wall turning blue. If there were ranks in mages, he would definitely be the highest. ¡°You really are a rank-¡± ¡°-four mage. I expect no less from the crown prince.¡± I hid my head from the eyes of Orfield as my eyes grew as large as they could. Thankfully he cut me off or I would have said rank 1. What the fuck, that was incredibly close. I think I just used all my luck at once. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t mean to deceive you, the king just tasked me to confirm something.¡± He paused a little and then continued. ¡°As you have learned, I am the Great Sage Milan. However, I was not lying about my name, Milan is just my family name. So, you can still call me Orfield, if you want.¡± ¡°It seems you completed what my father wanted, so why are you still here?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I¡¯ll keep watch on you? Making my home just took a little bit of time, but now I¡¯ll be here watching you.¡± I didn¡¯t have to look behind me to imagine the creepy face of a man who never stops smiling but only grows more happy by the second. I was lost in thought about how a mage like him is only a fourth rank that I glossed over the fact he just said he needed to confirm something. What is the thing the King asked him to confirm? What is it? There is nothing I can think of other than. But that can¡¯t be. They can¡¯t know that fast. There is no way. A story like this can¡¯t be revealed that fast! But if it did¡­ am I screwed? No, Orfield hasn¡¯t killed me nor has the King ordered him to. They are sparing me, I¡¯ll just take this as a chance. ¡°Put up a barrier,¡± I said, turning to Orfield. Magic forming a circle appeared from the ground until they met at a single point making a dome. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid Orfield. But I guess I do lack some things, I was just a little reckless.¡± His smile grew even bigger, it was like the devil was staring at me. ¡°Hahahahahaha! I don¡¯t know who you are, but it doesn¡¯t seem like you are any different from the original.¡± He hugged himself tightly, bending his upper body front and back like an inflatable. ¡°What else do you know about me?¡± ¡°What? Nothing else.¡± He covered his mouth with a single finger. ¡°Yeah I never expected you to answer that, so what else are you here for?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just here to watch you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Yeah, why? Want more?¡± I paused for a little, pondering on why the King hadn¡¯t ordered to kill me. I wasn¡¯t really his son, he knows that, so then why? Does he love the original that much? No, there is no way he could love the original. ¡°No, but it seems like my father doesn¡¯t want me gone yet, huh.¡± I walked off a little. ¡°A crazy person will love a crazy person.¡± I don¡¯t love you. ¡°So that means you¡¯ll protect me?¡± ¡°No.¡± I looked back at him. Nothing inside my head could follow what was actually going on, but by channeling my hidden thoughts, also known as the, it will be my death if someone with a sensible mind sees me, I could follow by pure improv. ¡°It isn¡¯t of the contract.¡± ¡°Then is making the tower part of it?¡± ¡°No, I just felt like I needed a home.¡± As his smile fell by an inch, he was about to raise his hand. ¡°Put down your hand.¡± ¡°What, not like you have anything else interesting to say. I have never met you prior than recently, but after coming back, I¡¯m quite disappointed to miss the Crown Prince who was the proud jewel of your father.¡± I really didn¡¯t. I was stuck, but I had to get something out of this guy. Whatever it is, I have to get something. If not, I would be a dog on a leash inside a cage. However, in the last line he said, there was something I could get there. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Orfield, I don¡¯t plan to be the King.¡± ¡°So, what does it matter to me?¡± For once, his smile had completely disappeared. It didn¡¯t stem from anger or irritation, but boredness. After talking to me, not as the Crown Prince, but as the man inside his body, I extremely let his expectations down. ¡°Let¡¯s make an alliance.¡± ¡°Alliance? What am I even going to get from you? Let me remind you, fake, you have no power. I have assessed that you don¡¯t have it in you. Unlike the original body I¡¯ve heard, you have absolutely nothing.¡± ¡°How about you enter the royal family?¡± ¡°This royal family?¡± He scorned. ¡°There are dozens of royal families better than this one, and you think that was going to convince me? What? Are you gonna make me marry one of your sisters? What type of fucking offer is that?¡± As his hands began to remove the barrier, I just vaguely said something to get more information, however now I was about to enter something I can not escape from. ¡°I¡¯m not talking about that type, I was talking about¡­ if you wanted to be the King.¡± His smile erupted. The hole at the top of barrier was immediately fixed as he began to cast something else. ¡°And how will you even achieve that? Hahahaha! Okay, you made me actually laugh, that was the best joke I¡¯ve ever heard in my entire life! A child like you! A fake! Expect to make, me! The King!¡± The outside of the magic dome began to turn darker as fogs of mana blocked everything. Sound then eventually disappeared from the heels of my feet. I shrugged my clothes as I acted to walk a little, however, even my clothes emitted nothing. After observing from my feet, as my eyes led to the ends of my mouth, I could still hear myself breathing. There was not much more time until I had to say something or I was going to fail and this time I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get any other chances. I couldn¡¯t even think properly and just trusted myself to say what I needed at the current moment. ¡°I know, it sounds absurd. Not only is your reputation horrible, but I have no political power either. At the same time, not like you can gain any power by joining the family through marriage. That¡¯s why, the only option left is to kill my father and take over the palace.¡± ¡°Hahahaha! Kill your father!¡± ¡°You heard it, my father allowed me to use magic.¡± His eyes rolled up and down, staring down at my insides. He smirked and then scoffed until it led to another frenzy of laughing. Once he had stopped, ¡°You don¡¯t even have an ounce of mana.¡± Orfield laughed at me. Even now it seems like he couldn¡¯t see the existence of my dantian. That meant that the way mages detect mana through a person isn¡¯t efficient. Despite being a rank-four mage, he doesn¡¯t even have anything special. I took all of the qi inside my dantian and released them all throughout my body. ¡°What? What! Where are you hiding all that mana from!¡± I then placed a finger in front of my mouth and said, ¡°Secret.¡± Then I immediately took all of my mana back to my dantian so he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to look any further on the off chance he might figure something out. ¡°No-no-no-no. There is no way.¡± He grabbed both of my shoulders and shook me. ¡°You have to tell me how you did that!¡± ¡°Calm down Orfield. But isn¡¯t showing you something even you don¡¯t know, enough proof that you can trust me.¡± ¡°Hahaha! That definitely makes me believe in your ability, however, that doesn¡¯t mean I trust you. Do you think I don¡¯t know that anyone who ever worked with you is dead?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s an alliance.¡± ¡°Even then, anyone who associates with you, no matter who has died. You think I don¡¯t know that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m different. Don¡¯t you already know that?¡± Orfield finally let go of my shoulders and turned around. ¡°Maybe you were influenced by the original¡¯s body? How would I be sure you''re not?¡± ¡°Just trust me, not like I have the ability to betray you. You''re not that weak, right?¡± ¡°Hahahaha! Fine! Fine! I¡¯m not gonna lose anything by working with you either. Let¡¯s do a mana oath.¡± OH SHIT! After all of the things I had gone through, my lack of knowledge about mana was about to make me meet my downfall. No! I have a chance, there is no way I know how to do a mana oath, I¡¯ll just say a verbal agreement is better. And if he doesn¡¯t agree, with his personality he would just. Well, it will work out then. ¡°I think a verbal agreement.¡± Orfield quickly grabbed my hand and mana entered inside me. ¡°We¡¯re doing this by an oath, or else I won¡¯t agree.¡± Without knowing anything, I just did the same thing he did. I moved my qi out of my dantian and met his mana. Once our mana had touched, he started to recite. ¡°By the power given by the world, a gift of miracles to reach dreams, I lend my faith to you.¡± Before I could forget it I recited the same thing. Then he began to declare his demands. ¡°I will not harm the other, no matter the condition.¡± ¡°I shall do the same,¡± I said, even adding the word shall just because it felt fitting. While Orfield was reciting his demands I got to thinking. We didn¡¯t even talk about what the deal was. He just decided to do an oath out of nowhere. I never even told him anything. What the fuck? ¡°Until I have become the King of Zan, my life will be put on the line under this oath of the gracious path.¡± He stopped? Is it my turn? Is that how this works? ¡°The other will serve me as my master for learning magic.¡± ¡°I object.¡± What? I couldn¡¯t think of anything and said that, but he dared object. ¡°The other will act as my master for learning magic.¡± Okay, he said nothing now. Was it because of the word serve? ¡°The other will provide me a single favor of anything in the future, excluding a favor that harms the other.¡± Okay, that works too, I should probably stop with the demands, he didn¡¯t even ask anything out of me. Now I have to say my condition to end this, is his becoming King is way too controlling of this agreement. ¡°Until I have escaped the duties of a Crown Prince, my life will be put on the line under this oath of the gracious path.¡± Shit, that was hard to say, thankfully I remembered it. Then once I had said those words, Orfield¡¯s mana disappeared inside. Right after, he fell to the ground and screamed. He held his chest tight and looked at me with a smile. ¡°Hahaha! It seems you really don¡¯t feel any pain.¡± Was there supposed to be? But I do feel pain. ¡°You monster. Well, it seems like I made a deal with a cub.¡± Orfield stood up using his knee and reached out his hand. ¡°To the path of your arrogance, fake.¡± Then the mist blocking the sun disappeared along with the barrier. I didn¡¯t even reply and just laughed at his remark as I shook his hand. Just now I got a way to survive in this world. Maybe I¡¯m still overreacting from the real dangers of the palace, however, being too safe is never a wrong thing. I just hoped nothing bad would happen to me soon.
¡°Now that my brother is home, maybe I should visit him a little. He even lost his favorite knight.¡± 18. Daily Life ¡°I can finally rest.¡± An alliance with the most powerful mage in the country, though at least that¡¯s what I think. No one who was out of the country for longer than the Crown Prince was born could brazenly build a magic tower beside the castle and even overshadow it. I have no idea about the importance of image between royals and nobles, but based on everything so far, it must be huge as fuck. Once the conversation with Orfield was finished, my body screamed for rest. There wasn¡¯t really any exhaustion on my body, just mental exhaustion. It was morning, but I felt like sleeping. My eyes slowly closed as I tried to entertain my mind. Then in the blink of a second, I woke up at the sun slowly setting. As soon as I woke up I stretched my entire body, yawning and moaning in satisfaction. ¡°Ahhhh¡­ I have protection in this palace now, right? I can basically train until I want, forever.¡± ¡°Well, of course, I do want it to be over in less than 6 months, hahaha. I¡¯m in a fantasy world, there¡¯s no way I¡¯m spending it rotting in this shithole.¡± The sun was shining at me with a dim yellow hue. It was neither bright nor hot, just a light shining through my window. I got up from my bed and jumped over the railings down to the first floor. For a good whole day, I haven¡¯t eaten a single thing. I entered the kitchen, down the hall of the servant¡¯s room. My dirty plates were still on the table in front of the stairs. There were no insects nor any other creatures crawling around. Such a thing is a surprise looking at how this place wasn¡¯t as finely made as the training ground. ¡°Well, I¡¯m here to eat, not to critique. Oh, that rhymes. Cool.¡± The ceiling had many strings that hang across the entire kitchen with some having meat hanging on them. It was a weird way to preserve food or even just a place to place them. However, I was here to eat, and not to critique. I took the meat hanging above and moved onto one of the ovens. It was a long pillar that stretched near the ceiling with a hollow bottom where charred woods were placed. This was the first time I had seen such things in real life. The oven interested me for a few seconds until I realized I didn¡¯t know how to light fire properly. Being a writer, of course, I know the principles of how to start a fire, but I¡¯ve never done it, so I actually have no experience with it. ¡°If only I could make fire with qi.¡± I pondered it a little bit. From the novels I¡¯ve read, cultivators could obviously create fire, however, the only explanation that I¡¯ve ever found is that it was caused by their natural spirit root. ¡°Or something¡­ maybe I should have written at least a single cultivation novel rather than simple fantasy.¡± Even then, the first mage I¡¯ve seen in this life used pure white magic which could also be called non-elemental magic. Then there is Orfield, who created a tower out of nowhere, that can¡¯t be made without using earth magic. That means there is a way to create fire using mana. There must be. There should be. ¡°Well, I give up. I¡¯m a simple person, if I won¡¯t die, I won¡¯t think too much about it.¡± I dropped the meat on the ground to free my hand of some space. However, just because I gave up on thinking about making fire from mana, doesn¡¯t mean I gave up on making fire. There was no way the servants would roll wood together every time they wanted to make fire. I searched every nook and cranny of the oven to find something, anything. Then after a few minutes of looking, behind the metal plates placed on top of the oven, neatly hidden, I was able to find a box filled with papers engraved with a circle and markings inside them. ¡°Oh¡­ so a fire talisman paper, or fire magic circle paper, or¡­ ah whatever, uggghhh¡­ my head is already hurting from having to think of other things.¡± As the metal plates and pots stayed in view while taking a single talisman, there was a thought that came to my mind. I stood in front of the oven. Without knowing how it actually worked, once the paper was ripped a small blazing fire at the size of a bean fell from the bottom of the paper. My instincts reacted quickly and jumped backward before the fire touched the wood and erupting. ¡°Well, I got fire. I thought it would have exploded though, hahaha.¡± The fire danced on the wood while it slowly devoured the surface that I could see. A few seconds ago, I didn¡¯t even dare to take a single pan out. I raised my hand and coated it with mana. With my eyes fixated on the hot glaring fire, I placed my entire arm inside. ¡°As I thought.¡± My skin wasn¡¯t getting burned, however, it does feel like a warm bath. Out of a little more curiosity, I coated my entire body with qi and slowly fit myself inside. Because of the child¡¯s body, I was able to fit myself inside the oven. It was like a sauna without the sweat. The sensation I was feeling was something I¡¯d never felt before. No one in my past world has even felt this before, well, no one that¡¯s alive. It felt so warm and cozy, other than my position, it was like a perfect sunny day. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s stop this.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. After almost losing myself from laughing and squeaking like a dying rat, I picked up a piece of meat and cooked it in the middle of the fire. While my hand acted as a pan, I looked around for any spices that could give any taste to my pure raw meat. There were some placed at some of the tables¡­ however¡­ they didn¡¯t really look familiar. ¡°You know what¡­ too lazy to.¡± It didn¡¯t take more than 3 minutes until the meat looked cooked. Once I took it out I had my doubts. There was no way meat could be cooked for less than an hour. ¡°It¡¯s an inch thick though, maybe it is cooked, hmmm¡­ would raw meat really harm me though?¡± Just to be sure, I coated my entire body with qi, including my insides before putting the meat inside my mouth. I chewed on the meat like it was air, tasteless, and absolutely felt nothing. It could have been because of the qi layering over my skin or that the meat actually had no taste. I filled my stomach with the most disappointing thing in my entire life. Just a second later I left the kitchen and won¡¯t come back unless I actually need to. ¡°How funny is it, that I was a really fat man before because I loved eating, but now I just don¡¯t feel like it? Is it because the feeling of cultivating is more pleasurable than eating?¡± There was no point thinking about such baseless things. As my morning started, I led myself to the garden and sat around the tall flowers, hiding myself from the world. Beneath the cozy embrace of nature, I cultivated till the sun had its rightful rest. Like an unexpected event, just a second ago I was at the mansion, then outside, and once again I was back. That was going to be my life from now on. Filled with the endless training of self-power till the point where only my strength spoke for me. However, there was something this night that I had to first do before I could enter my long repeating cycle. ¡°The library, hmmm¡­ I didn¡¯t think there would be a library in this place.¡± Saying that I stood in front of the library. It was placed opposite my bedroom, just to the other side of the second floor. As I opened the door, I was greeted with the smell of wood and paper. The first thing I saw were the sides of a long shelf filled with books. These shelves stretched to corners of the room, only having enough gap to fit almost three people. Seeing a place like it was an actual library, I looked to the left and right of the entrance expecting a librarian desk, however there were only a few tables. There was a considerable gap between the shelves and the entrance where it was completely empty. I walked inside, yearning to learn for the first time of my life, I didn¡¯t even dare shut the door, if I just walked to the end of this place, no one would find me, it was a maze. ¡°A maze of knowledge.¡± The shelves were sectioned by category, from history, culinary, many more and most importantly, weaponry. There were many entries of many different weapons, the entire shelf was filled with so many techniques that it boggled my mind. ¡°How can these things just be here? For free? Piercing Spear Arts. Cleaving Axe. Moonlight Dancing Blade. Boulder Crushing Star. I don¡¯t know what any of these means. Hahaha! Now for the first time, this fantasy world gives me something other than my cultivation to remind me of murim.¡± I removed my gaze from the books entailing many grand names, all that was important to me was the most basic of basics. After reading every title of every book from my right till I almost ran out of space, I was able to find the book I wanted. ¡°Beginner Swordsmanship.¡± It was properly sectioned, along with many beginner books for other weapons. ¡°Now this is what I want.¡± As I grabbed onto the book to pull it, the qi spread throughout my entire body due to my weird liking for the feeling it gave me, it reacted to the book as soon as I touched it. I didn¡¯t pay much attention to it as I pulled the book, however, it didn¡¯t budge at all. Mana was entirely encasing the book. The others didn¡¯t even have a single ounce of mana on them, so why does this specific book have? ¡°Trying to learn?¡± Said a cute yet sharp voice to my right. I turned immediately. It was a small girl, smaller than me surprisingly, wearing a red dress and red bow tying her black hair. She had a pretty face, her skin glistening and smoother than marble. Her hand was pointed outward in my direction, having clear mana at her fingertips. ¡°Hah. Just kidding, you never study.¡± Her voice sounded cheerful, however, her stern and expressionless face shows otherwise. ¡°You already know everything, why would you study?¡± She bent her head and lifted her shoulders. ¡°Who the fuck are you?!¡± 19. Party The moment I turned to the voice, the mana surrounding the book moved onto my body, locking my arms and legs to my body. I let my guard down! I was having a good time worrying about nothing. Making the deal with Orfield had made my stupid brain stupider. With just a simple deal, I had already gotten so relaxed, I was so paranoid the entire time I was in the palace even if nothing was happening, but once again, I had been paranoid with my thoughts, not my actions. It was another showing of all talk no actions. For now, I need to get whatever is tied around me. I exerted my strength and tried to break it off with the mana circling around my entire body. ¡°Trying to break out? Yeah, seriously, who the fuck are you?¡± Just because I¡¯m breaking out I¡¯m fake? I stared at the girl, gritting my teeth. Then after a few seconds, I realized I was getting mad for what reason exactly. Wait, wait, this is why I suck at pressuring situations, I panic too fast. I need to calm down. First, who is she? From what I currently know, the palace has the main palace in the middle and the mansions at the back. For a person to break into my mansion and openly show herself and even talk to me like this. Adding her height and her age being younger than me, it was obvious that she is my younger sister. Now, for the words she had said so far. There were two lines that had more significance than anything. For her to already know I¡¯m a fake just because I was in the library, or no, maybe it¡¯s even just because I picked up a book about basic swordsmanship. Another one was just because I was trying to break out. The latter made a lot of sense after a split second of thinking. After I get out of this situation, I need to set in my mind that the original body was so smart and sly that he could literally be the crown prince despite his personality and having absolutely no one on his side. My little sister being in front of me is not exactly that bad of a thing, for her to know me so much on just those things, even if they may be basic, still says something. The way that I act all serious and things in front of Orfield and him saying nothing. No, wait, Orfield had never met until that day. Shit, I got stuck! ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Not even calling me by my name?¡± She rolled her eyes and turned around, walking to the chairs and desk. ¡°Just tell me who you are.¡± Despite our distance I could still directly hear her voice through my ears. It was magic. At that moment, I was contemplating the most useless things twisted and twisted until nothing even mattered. She knows me. So I can just tell her right. Wait, I should reply fast to show I¡¯m not weak. Wait, but if she knows me already, can¡¯t I just think about it for a while? Wait, no, what? What? No, but what do I actually say? While thinking about what to answer I stared blankly at the floor with my body still. The girl in front of me, sitting on a chair with her legs crossed looks like a little doll placed as a display. She sighed, ¡°Oh well, I¡¯m glad that piece of shit died. But¡­ don¡¯t you seem unfitting to be a crowned prince? I¡¯m surprised Father hasn¡¯t killed you yet. That cold-blooded bastard. No, you were cold too, you two are just the same. Oh, wait, you''re different now. Eh.¡± She brushed her shoulder. After that, she released the magic tying me and my heart had calmed down. She looked around 12, other than her magic, she shouldn¡¯t be that harmful. I took the book off the shelf and walked to her slowly, while twisting my empty hand. ¡°Acting like everything was part of your plan? By the way, you reacted earlier, I know you¡¯re not someone crafted to be royalty¡­ well¡­ this royalty.¡± ¡°Okay, fine, what do you want from me? Based on your current actions, it¡¯s not like your here to kill me.¡± ¡°The one I hated is already dead, why would I kill an innocent man? I¡¯m not you. Oh wait, you¡¯re not him.¡± She said with a smirk. ¡°Can you stop insulting the original? I don¡¯t even know him.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ so it wasn¡¯t soul transfer. Guess he really is dead. You know, I guess it makes sense. After feeling his first failure, that arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic bastard would have definitely killed himself just cause he felt like it. So you¡¯re from another world. How was it there?¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Before I could sit down in front of her I paused with my hand on the chair. How could she know that? How could a child so young know so much? Should I just ask, she¡¯s already showing so much comfort, there should be no harm. Though, it¡¯s stupid to think every person I encounter is someone I could make an ally with, it¡¯s his little sister, and nothing could go wrong. Yeah, everything could go wrong, but who cares? ¡°How could a young child like you know so much?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re not hailed as a genius in your world, you¡¯re not fit to be royalty.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ is that the basic requirement to be the offspring of a King?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How blatant, I love it.¡± I pulled the chair and saw mana randomly floating to my direction. As I tried to sit down, the chair slipped from my hand and I fell to the floor.¡± ¡°Hahaha! Well, that¡¯s my greeting to you, otherworlder, see you on second brother¡¯s birthday.¡± She stood up and before I could even see her leave, she was already gone. ¡°Okay, if children are that scary, what about adults? What the fuck! I don¡¯t wanna see my father ever again. Wait, did she just say, the second brother? Oh, I don¡¯t wanna see that guy either!¡± I said everything out loud, only realizing right after that she could have heard me. While looking outside, she immediately popped back in and said, ¡°Oh, I¡¯m Missy by the way, your younger sister, and one of the people who hates you the most! In the whole wide world!¡± She stretched her hand out and then immediately disappeared again. My jaw dropped in silence. I was utterly speechless. There was nothing more in the entire universe that could ever make me feel like I was an ant in some garbage. Knowing Earth was just one planet out of infinite planets, and I was a single human out of 8 billion feels better than being played by a child. A genius? Am I even fit to be the main character of my story? No, I¡¯m not. So that¡¯s not gonna make me go into depression again. No one is a main character, everyone¡¯s just people playing in God¡¯s palm. That¡¯s it, that¡¯s all there is to it. Once I was able to regain my sanity, I sat back down and laid down my book on the table. ¡°I don¡¯t know when my other sibling¡¯s birthday is, but I feel a bit itchy about it. Anyway!¡± I opened the first page of the book and ate everything inside whole. The first thing I noticed after cultivating was that my focus had increased immensely to the point that I felt I was a different person. Maybe it was the original body rubbing off me or maybe it really is because of cultivation. Whatever the reason was, I read the book with no pauses, not a single time until I heard something at the entrance. After Missy was able to sneak inside the mansion without me noticing, I was able to figure out how to heighten my hearing. ¡°What¡¯s happening outside?¡± I stood up, closing my book. I peeked off the second floor¡¯s railings and saw armed guards holding flags outside. I¡¯m not being arrested, am I? ¡°What¡¯s the ruckus here?¡± I jumped down in front of everyone in my really unfitting clothes. ¡°We are here to pick you up for Prince Arthur¡¯s Coming of Age ceremony, Your Highness.¡± Already? Was that why Missy said, ¡°see you¡±. It was this early? Why did no one even say an update?! What? Why didn¡¯t she even tell me it was today already? Wait¡­ but could I have¡­? There¡¯s no way. Even if it was a stretch, there could have been a possibility that I was so engrossed at reading that I didn¡¯t notice the time at all. ¡°When was Missy last seen coming in and out of my Mansion?¡± The guard was surprised at the question for a second. ¡°Four days ago, Your Highness.¡± What??