The Awakening. That's what we called it. As we lay in the water, it penetrated deep into our muscles, healing our new bodies and cleansing impurities that soul mana had somehow missed. No, it was better to say that soul mana couldn't touch it. Whatever it eliminated was in our spirit veins, and when it left, power flooded through our veins with ultimate sensitivity.
After that, our inability to move or swim immediately disappeared. Far from lacking energy, we were flooded with it, giving us the ability to swim with vitality.
This caused the same serious problem but for a different reason.
"I don't want to get out," I muttered, watching an hourglass that was only viewable from the pool countdown. "I feel like all this power's just going to waste."
"Same…." Thea smiled wryly.
Over the hours, it felt as if we were reborn, getting the power to change the world. So, when the last grains of sand fell into the jar, we were left bitter.
"Let's get out," I sighed when the last grain of sand fell.
"It did give us a grace period, right?" Thea grumbled. "We could spare an extra five minutes."
"Yeah… you're right…." I said, feeling a state of warmth over my body. It was the feeling I'd get when I was younger, and I wanted another five minutes of sleep. "Okay…." I closed my eyes and took a breath before opening slowly and looking at the hourglass. "NO!"
Without waiting for her response, I grabbed her body and pulled her through the water. "There's no alarm. We'd have no measure of time!"
Her eyes snapped open as if she was in a trance, and realized I was right. Once the last grains of sand fell, five minutes and an hour would look the same. We had to escape that trance-like state before it collapsed!
When I pulled her out of the water, the bright turquoise water turned red and started boiling. We gulped and looked at one another with wry smiles as we watched the water boil.
"I don't want to know what that would've done to us," I gulped.
"I-I'm sorry, Ryker," Thea whispered.
I laughed and hugged her. "Why? We helped each other. Let's keep going."
She turned and saw a warping gateway that appeared in the stone wall. "Is that safe?"
"We walked down the hallway that didn't lead to certain ruin and got power. I doubt whoever built this place would casually kill us after that."
After pursing her lips and calming her heart, she nodded hesitantly. "Okay."
Grabbing her hand, I led her through the portal.
On the other side, we froze when we saw mountains of gold, silver, and magical crystals.
At the entrance of the room was a sign: Trial of Greed. Only take what you need.
I smirked when I saw it and then looked around. "This is the size of my treasury," I shrugged, walking through the mountain. I picked up a strange magical stone.
I picked up a magical stone, and it was identified as [Lilith Crystal].
Furrowing my brows, I checked my status.
-
Unique magical crystals (774/1,000)
-
"Wait, that counts?" I muttered. In a haze, I put down the crystal to see if I got credit for finding a unique magical crystal without owning it. Grabbing another one, it read [Liza Crystal].
I checked my status.
-
Unique magical crystals (775/1,000)
-
"Jackpot. I do need these, but I don't need to leave the room with them. What a boon!"
Thea watched in a haze as I picked up a rainbow assortment of crystals while cackling maniacally. "Ryker… we can't be greedy."
"Greed?" I laughed, turning to her and throwing a handful of crystals over my shoulder as if they were junk. "I'm just looking at all the things that won't leave this room."
She giggled, I grinned, and I spent a half hour picking up every crystal I could find until I got a chime in my mind.
-
Unique magical crystals (1,000/1,000)
-
After a satisfied sigh, I smiled. "It's a good thing this spell doesn't tell me what these do. Otherwise, I'd be tempted—" My eyes widened in shock when I looked at an inconspicuous corner of the room. "There's no way—"
A dusty bookshelf lined with books bound in leather and gold stood proud in the corner. "Whatever those are, they're extraordinary…." I gulped. "This is the true trial."
Seeing my face, Thea swallowed and brought up the issue subtly, "How do we know what we need?"
I kept looking at the books as if in a trance. "I bet you there's a key that allows us through that door," I said, pointing to a black iron door on a wall. There was a massive key slot in there that was too conspicuous to ignore. "So I'm guessing that's all we need, but…."
"There's nothing saying that we can't stay here, right?" Thea asked. "It just says 'take.' It didn't imply we couldn't try, right?"
"Or read…." I gulped.
Thea gave me a wide grin. "Absolutely."
I walked up to the shelf and turned to her with a pounding heart. "Are you sure? It could mean that we took a spell with us."
She gulped. We almost died a moment ago, so it only made sense to wonder about the severe consequences of not following the rules. "But if you don't read it, how do you know whether it's vital?"
That was a good point.
"There seems to be conditionals in this room, but… the word ‘take’ implies physical. It never said we couldn't swing the weapons or bathe in this gold. Who knows, we might need ten gold to save our families. So long as we’re not greedy…. Still…."
Thea gave me a serious look. "Ryker. I'll follow you everywhere until the day I die. If that happens today, I'll accept it."
I took a sharp breath and then looked at the dusty shelves. "Let me see the titles."
The moment I read the first, I swallowed hard.
[Magic and Weather]
'What the hell does that mean?' I thought. 'Does that mean that I can affect the weather…? Wait. That’s a….'
Calamity spell. The spells are known for changing the entire environment around them.
While I had never seen one, I had heard that they could turn a slightly cloudy day into a hellish rainstorm that could flood a group of people with enough magical power.
'Even if I gain access to the Royal Library, there's no way King Redfield would allow me to learn a calamity spell. In fact, I'm fairly certain that the only people who could use them are archwizards, and archwizards are… Wreaths.'
"I genuinely need this," I mumbled. "This is the power to fight back against the bastard who's using this power to repress my attempt to save this fucking world!"
Whether due to my emotions or the room itself, my spirit veins flooded with energy, leaving me feeling vindicated for my interpretation.
"Are you also…." I muttered.
"Yeah…." Thea responded, looking at her arms.
"Then it's settled," I said, picking up the book and cracking the cover.
The moment I looked at the pages, I grinned. "There's no way this is a normal book."
There was very little writing on the pages. Instead, there were a few infographics per page. Magical circles and flames in the second image. Words and then pictures of clouds.
I flipped through the pages carefully.
Then I put down the book once it was memorized and then picked up the next book.
[Magical Crops]
I greedily grabbed the book. However, I froze when I picked it up, developing a pit in my stomach. It was just an ominous feeling, but those feelings never did me wrong over the years.
Running my hand across the cover, I gave it a wry smile. "I don't need this." Then, following a deep wince, I put it badly, and the mana in the room seemed to react as if it were telling me it was a good choice. "Perhaps this room can sense greed…."
If that were true, then it meant that maybe we could get weapons, too—if we needed them.
"Thea. Genuinely look around and think if there's anything that would make a significant impact in helping us save this ungrateful world from itself."
"Are you sure?" Thea's lips pursed into a straight line. "Isn't it better not to risk it?"
I thought about her words and then gave her a slight smile. "You're the least greedy person I know. I doubt you could trigger this place even if you tried."
"That's because I only want you," she beamed, hugging me.
"I could do the same." After hugging her again, I returned to reading and found extraordinary works I could use.
[Creating Domains]
[The History of Solstice]
[Gravity Magic]
[Extracting Mana Crystals]
[Use of Mana Crystals]
[Secrets of Barrier Magic]
[History of the Five Greats]
[The Eight Wonders of the World]
[Advanced Mana Manipulation]
[Binding Magic to Physical Objects]
[Developing Persistent Spells]
[Spatial Magic]
[Targeting Spells]
[Mass Healing Magic]
[Purification and Dispelling Curses]
While I chose more books that I felt comfortable with, there were over a hundred books detailing everything from mental manipulation to bodybuilding. I cringed every time I put one down, but I had a simple mindset: I’ll only take what I give to others in preparation for war or build myself to protect my loved ones. Once I did that, it was only hard to look at gravity magic and determine if I needed it. However, I could genuinely find thousands of things for gravity magic, from lowering the costs of transporting war goods to stabilizing troops on a battlefield.
As for the hardest choice:
"Thea…." I swallowed. "Come over here, please."
"Hmmm?" Thea hadn't picked up a single thing, so when I called her over, she was confused. "What is it?"
I handed her the book, and her eyes widened.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
[Symbiotic Beast Taming]
"I feel this is necessary for you, but…."
"But what?" Her eyes locked on me, scrutinizing my every motion.
"But I'm not sure if I should look through it," I replied. "I don't need it—you do. And while I could recreate it later, that's the same thing as taking it."
"And so you're worried that maybe you'll only get away with this because you're not actually taking something with you?" Thea asked.
"Yes. So please hold this in your hand and see if it feels… like you need it."
Thea hesitantly grabbed the book. The moment she did, her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as she read the cover with it in her hand. "I feel like it's calling to me…."
"So I'm not the only one," I said. "That's how I feel with most of these books."
She gulped. "I think… it's not greedy to take one thing in a room full of treasure, but…."
"Thea. This works both ways," I said. "You're risking your life to let me look through this many books that call out to me. I'll risk my life for you."
Thea bit her lip, and I lifted her chin. "Thea," I whispered, "You're my loved one. I won't risk my life to save some strangers or some people I barely know. However, you're my family, and I protect my family. What point is there to power if you can't protect those who you love?"
Her eyes glittered, and she nuzzled the leather-bound book in her bosom. "Then I'll cherish this until I die. And by that I mean, hopefully never."
I chuckled and hugged her before looking up. "Let's go find that key before I'm tempted."
As if to validate our every suspicion, a giant key was hanging on a hook next to the door.
"All you need…." I gulped, looking at the book. It felt natural after bathing in the water that healed us that this place was designed to build our strength. Still, it was nerve-wracking.
"Should I…." Thea gulped.
I shook my head and grabbed a book myself.
[The History of Solstice]
This was the book that I felt was most important of all.
Knowledge is power, after all.
"This was my decision," I said, gripping the book and taking her hand. "A man stands behind their actions and words."
Learning from the Trial of Confidence, I walked through the door with her.
As soon as we did, we found ourselves in a hallway leading to another door with a simple handle. We approached it cautiously, our hearts pounding in our chests. When we reached the door, a massive magic circle lit up beneath us, and I felt a strange magic probing my mind as if searching through my memories and intentions.
I gulped, and after what felt like an eternity of having my mind probed by an invisible force, the power dissipated, and a new door appeared to our left. It became evident that this place was protected by a powerful illusion or spatial magic.
"Should we enter this new room?" Thea asked nervously. "I'm afraid it might have sensed that I didn't really, really need the book."
"Nonsense," I replied, squeezing her hand. "We're here to save this world. We need that book."
After a hesitant nod from Thea, she let me turn the doorknob and lead her into the room.
Inside, we found a simple chamber without any chests or additional hallways. However, a blood-red magic circle with a diameter of ten feet dominated the center of the room.
"That's ominous," I muttered, feeling a sense of déjà vu. "Confidence..."
Before Thea could protest, I guided her to the circle's center. "We don't have a choice."
Suddenly, a single streak of crimson light circled the magic circle twice, and then a red light pulsed through the geometric patterns on the floor. "What's happening...?" I began to ask.
Thea abruptly cried out in pain, and I dropped to my knees as a bombardment of images flooded my mind. They were memories, but they lacked any coherent message. I could hear voices from various people, and it felt like I was watching a disjointed movie depicting people throughout the ages.
These memories seemed to focus on different individuals, likely Earthian reincarnations, all struggling against a general—the holder of the memories—who fought to suppress their strength and power.
"The calamity..." Thea muttered.
"...will be caused by humans," I finished her sentence, my eyes trembling. "We need to talk to Edikus."
2
The trip out of the labyrinth was extremely offensive—to the person who built it.
A door opened, allowing us to leave the labyrinth, but our path led through a long hallway illuminated by magic crystals that imbued us with various powers. Each time I passed through one of these wards, I discreetly used Molecular Separation to extract a magical stone from the wall, effectively reducing (or disabling) it. I didn't bother checking if my actions had an impact; my focus was on escaping the labyrinth.
By the time I reached the end of the hallway, I received a notification.
-
Magical minerals mined: (100/100)
-
As I stepped out of the cave and into the sunlight, I took a deep breath, feeling the rush of power within me. "We finally have the strength we need."
Thea smiled wryly. "But Edikus... are you really going to talk to him?"
Her words carved a deep frown on my face. "I have to," I sighed. "To save this world, I need to modernize it, and that requires oil and cooperation. If we remain isolated from Antigua, the moment I set foot on the continent, I'll break the treaty and spark an intercontinental war. It's complicated."
Thea nodded. “That’s true.”
“Luckily, I know how to get their attention,” I frowned. “I’m just hoping it doesn’t piss them off like the French.”
With nothing else to do in Nightshade Forest, I looked at Thea. “I have magical stones, crystals, and power. Let’s go home.”
Thea nodded and then looked at me. “I’ll take us back to the Griffins,” she smiled. “I need more crowls anyway.”
With a mischievous smile, she turned into her panther form and searched through the woods until she found a nest of crowls (the massive nightmare birds that could kill everything under a sage with ease), and she made contact.
The next thing we knew, we were flying on one of the deadliest creatures in the forest, dodging rapid-fire ballista arrows as we entered Elderthorn. “We need machine guns…” I noted. “Elderthorn wouldn’t survive if there was a real attack.”
Logging the defensive problems, I started an amplification circle and announced it was us.
Things got awkward after that.
But it was amusing to see the terrified people’s faces as the massive birds flew into the stables like docile kittens who happened to screech at other avians (you know, just to show them who’s boss).
It was endearing.
After two days of feasts, we returned to Sundell and got a welcome that we didn’t expect.
Rema ran out to the private stables in Lockheart Castle with genuine (and I mean genuine) panic. “King Everwood! We need you in the council chambers—now!”
‘She’s calling me by my title. That’s not a good sign.’
Disembarking, I promptly followed her into the council chambers, where an unwelcome guest greeted us.
“Hello, Maximilian,” I greeted, looking at the French man sitting beside a muscular man with a curled mustache. It wasn’t a villainous curled mustache—it was an 18th-century fashion-style mustache. It immediately dropped my opinion of the man by ten points.
“Are you not going to address his excellency, King Bouchard?!” Maximilian asked.
I looked at the emissary with an appalled face. “I had no idea who this man was until this very second,” I scoffed. “If I knew anything about you, we wouldn’t be embroiled in conflict.”
As his face turned red, I bowed to the king with a sincere expression. “Forgive me. I didn’t know you were coming here. Otherwise, I would’ve delayed my trip.”
The king’s face was cold as ice from my snapping at his diplomat. “Hello, King Everwood. I believe you’ve kept us waiting long enough. Sit. We have much to discuss.”
My eyebrow twitched at the man’s demeanor and attitude.
“I haven’t kept you waiting.” Rema’s heart nearly stopped at my declaration. However, I didn’t hold things back because this type of relationship was what kings had to avoid—one side feeling superior and entitled. With that mindset, they’ll continue it, which would cause problems almost immediately. After all, I was also a king. “Please rescind your statement.”
Maximilian jumped up from his seat and released intense magical pressure that dropped the people in the room other than Thea, Rema, and me to the ground.
“If you do not restrain your man, I must ask you to leave.” My eyes locked on King Bouchard. “You came to my home unannounced and demanded things from me while I was away. Such an action is unreasonable.”
“Do you have any idea what type of trouble you’re bringing upon yourself, small man?” King Bouchard warned. “Do you think your toys can save you from real power?”
I looked him in the eye with a vicious expression. “Does this mean you intend to involve the Wreaths in this?”
A wave of shock spread through the King’s face, making Maximilian turn to me. “You dare to threaten our—”
I released magical pressure that cut the man off, freezing in his tracks and slightly choking. Then I turned to Rema, taking labored breaths. “Leave us. Take the others with you. These two do not seek diplomacy.”
“What?!” King Bouchard roared, standing up and slapping his hands on the table, making Rema jump back.
“Go!” I yelled at her, making her rush out the door, pulling out two people with her.
The second Rema shut the door, King Bouchard released his pressure, passing King Redfield’s but significantly lower than Edikus’. ‘So that’s why these people don’t mindlessly attack the Wreaths,’ I casually mused. ‘The only people who can fight them are kings who don’t want to risk their lives.’
Noticing that I wasn’t breathing hard, King Bouchard’s face turned red and released more power, making Thea take sharp breaths while Maximilian choked on the ground. I had half a mind to let the king strangle the pompous asshole for causing this problem in the first place, but Thea was also uncomfortable.
“You’ve officially hurt one of my own,” I said, turning to Thea. “Apologize, or I will see this as a sign of war.”
The king’s face turned bright red. “Are you—”
I released all the magical pressure I had. The moment I did, the improvements to my spirit veins from the Water of Cleansing (as I began referring to it) exploded with energy. The resulting power strangled the king and made Maximilian faint, leading Thea to fall to the ground, heaving.
‘I need to end this soon!’ I thought, seeing her. I immediately walked around the table and looked King Bouchard in the eyes, giving the strangling man a gaze that pierced his soul. “In a short time, I will be contacting the Wreaths to discuss the value of war with Antiguan countries, if necessary,” I declared. “If they agree—and you’re still threatening my people—I will take my ‘toys’ and magical might and slaughter your people—big man.”
Any hope of retaliation had dissipated from the pressure I earned by eating over 100 pounds of Rosaka’s meat, half of That Fucking Beast, absorbing half of Archwizard Roman, and healing in the Water of Cleansing. I was now stronger than Archwizard Roman (I estimated). It wasn’t enough to kill Edikus, but it was vastly stronger than King Redfield and these clowns.
“Do you understand?” I pressed.
King Bouchard gasped for air in response.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” I released my magical pressure and picked up Thea, gasping on the ground. With her in my arms, I looked at King Bouchard. “Follow me. I will personally see that you leave my continent.”
The king got up with shaky eyes, shocked that a nineteen-year-old upstart had suffocated him with magical pressure. He finally understood that he'd be dead if I wanted to shatter my reputation by killing a king without warning. He also understood that the only reason that I didn’t declare war was that there was a bigger fish in the ocean that I didn't want to swallow me.
Unwilling to show weakness, he grabbed his hat and gloves with a forced scowl.
“Pick up your man,” I ordered, looking at Maximilian. “Without his rude demeanor and threat of war, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”
King Bouchard looked at the unconscious man and complied. “War or not, I’ll never forget this.”
“I hope you don’t,” I declared. “That way, your people don’t have to die for your paranoid mentalities and bold arrogance. Now, let’s go. You can scorn me in Antigua.”
With a threatening gaze and a thin yet constant pressure that dropped regular people on the way out, I saw him to his royal skywhale. Then, I followed that skywhale to his ship in Bringla on an azure wyvern that had only gotten more intimidating after she ate Rorsaka’s meat.
Once they boarded and left, I stayed on the wall with the siege cannons to watch their basic steamship sail away. ‘It shouldn’t surprise me that people from the 18th century would have steam-powered goods. It could have been two hundred years since their arrival….’
“Y-Your majesty!”
The troops saluted me when they noticed who was on the wall with them. However, I wasn’t interested. I just waited until the ship was out of sight. Then I walked up to one of the cannons, pulled out some gumlaud, a sticky plant when mashed up in a mortar and pestle, and slapped a magical crystal on a cannonball. Then, after charging the stone to an unstable degree, I put the cannonball into the siege cannon and lit the fuse.
BOOM!
The cannon went off. Once it hit the water, the water froze.
It was insignificant, but I immediately checked my status.
-
Unique magical creations (99/100)
-
“Good, the wards counted,” I muttered. I created the magical spell combinations that protected our tent. Since I created them, it counted as a magical creation.
“What are you saying, Your Majesty?”
“Nothing,” I replied, pulling out more gumlaud and stapling a Heartbeat Hibiscus crystal on it. It wasn’t militarized, so it made me curious. What if I could spread love through artillery? It was common on Earth. Chuckling, I lit the fuse.
BOOM!
The moment the crystal hit the water, I got the ding!
—
Skills:
Molecular Separation
Description: Magic that separates and isolates molecules.
Usage: Silent cast by touching what you want to separate, internally declaring what you’re separating, and then thinking “separate.”
Stage: 4
Requirements for the next stage:
- Unique minerals mined: (149/100)
- Minerals quantity [lbs] (493,284/5,000)
- Magical minerals mined: (100/100)
- Magical mineral quantity [lbs] (1,824/100)
- Unique magical crystals (1,000/1,000)
- Magical crystals accumulated (4,268/5,000)
- Unique magical creations (100/100)
- Gold accumulated (3,01,832,013/100,000)
- Become a political or military leader (2/1)
- Prevent a catastrophe (198/1)
- Lead and win group battle (201/1)
Rewards:
- Molecular Fusion - Synthesize compounds directly
- 20% Memory Reduction (for memories post-reduction)
- Minor Forgiveness Spell
- Two omnipotent tools
- Scribe spell (self-writes from your memory)
- Athena’s Blessing
- Spirit Cleansing (Already Completed, Reappraising… Appraisal Complete). One hearthstone.
Stage: 4 → Stage: 5
Requirements for the next stage:
- Unite kingdoms (Lowers if you lose alliances): (4/50)
- Win Wars (1/10)
- Weapons created (7,382/80,000)
Rewards:
- Magical Fusion - Directly Synthesize Magic Compounds into other Molecules
- 10% Memory Reduction (final)
- ???
—
“Wow, that’s blunt,” I chuckled. “My goal is to prepare for a war. That makes sense.”
My troop’s faces paled when they heard my words and saw me walk away. I ignored them. I had other things to worry about.
“What’s wrong?” Thea asked, seeing me looking around in confusion.
I took a deep breath. “It’s just that… I finally completed the next stage, and don’t feel like I’ve forgiven anyone. I feel equally pissed off at King Bouchard and his henchman.”
Thea’s eyes lit up when she heard my words. Naturally, I told her about my system, how it worked, and why my personality changed slightly. Now, I confirmed it, and she was confused, trying to study my expressions to determine whether it was good or not.
“Perhaps,” she offered, “it’s because those unforgivable cretins are unforgivable, and they’re the only thing on your mind. But…."
I turned to her and saw her nervously biting her lip. “I don’t feel any different toward you, either. So I think that means that you’ve done nothing to me that has warranted a need for forgiveness?”
Thea’s eyes glittered, and she pounced, hugging me. “I love that!”
“Me too.” I rubbed her cat ears slightly and then looked at the sky. “Let’s start mass proliferating information and get ahold of Edikus. I need to figure out how good my memory is now. Then I’ll look at my new blessing when I get a chance.”
Thea nodded, and we met up with Zenith.
When I found her, she was eating grapes fed to her by a dozen people. The sight made my eyebrow twitch. “You know, Zenith. When I first saw you, I thought, I forgive this woman for all the walls she’s broken. But this? Feel free to exploit your power at will, but don’t terrify my people.”
Zenith blinked twice and looked at the skittish people who were sweating. They were normal shopkeepers who somehow got roped into feeding her grapes and were afraid to offend her. “But they volunteered to do this,” she huffed.
“Learn nuance,” I huffed, chuckling at the end. This woman—she was extraordinary. “Now, let’s go. You can go back to your servants who get paid ten gold a month to feed you grapes.”
Her eyes widened, and she grinned. “When you put it like that…."
The next thing we knew, we were soaring through the air toward Sundell.
“So? How is it? With forgiveness?” Thea giggled, seeing me brooding.
“Worse,” I grumbled. “Every time I see someone I know, I'm slightly more understanding of the things that they’ve done in the past, but they instantly remind me why I was disgruntled.”
Thea giggled some more and squeezed my waist, making me develop a slight smile.
3
Instead of entering Sundell, we landed near it and flagged down an inconspicuous wagon to get us there. The last thing I needed was to forgive Rema and then have it snowball into something wild and unnecessary—I had shit to do.
Namely, I had to use Scribe to recreate those magical texts—lest I ever forget them somehow—and start transcribing textbooks.
So that’s what I did. After getting into Sundell, I stayed with Thea in the Ellington (after firmly threatening the staff not to tell them about my presence). Then I pulled out a massive stack of blank paper I brought to Elderthorn in anticipation of my level up.
Laying them out on the table, I opened a dozen ink bottles, threw out twelve ink pens, and closed my eyes, visualizing an important book. “Scribe.”
Thea watched in amazement as all twelve quills levitated, dipped themselves into ink, and went to the nearest papers, writing down the words:
[The Farmers’ Almanac
By David Young]
When I opened my eyes, I grinned. “And so it begins….”