Raderius

To defeat the nobility, save Holst and create prosperity within the Duchy of Avantine I will need to be powerful. A one man army. It was with great excitement that I left Holst to train with a purpose. There was a tinge of regret at leaving Sandy behind.

"Take care of yourself!" she had said while giving me a goodbye hug.

"I'll miss you." I told her.

"I'll miss you to, I hope you come back and visit us some time!" Sandy exclaimed as she released the hug.

"I will, I promise. I doubt I'll be gone for more than two years, but there's something I want to accomplish." I responded, my resolve ready.

"Well I hope you'll tell me all about it when you get back, the next time you see me I'm going to be big and a proper lady!" She pushed out her chest as if her pride could suddenly make her grow bigger.

"Ha, I'll be looking forward to it. See you!" I turned to walk away.

"By!!!" her cute voice warmed my heart.

I returned to Remire. My training would take place mostly within the forbidden forest, but Remire has plenty of space, resources and comfort to it. A soft bed when I need it is something i'd always appreciate.

Right, first is Rert. I've had time to improve my fundamentals in it but now I need to devise more advanced magic than mere enhancement, something of my affinity.

I focus on my aura surrounding me and contemplate what I could use to boost myself further. I then think about the spell I made that aged the priest into bones. Proper use of Rert could drastically reduce or even outright nullify the effect of such a spell, especially if I stopped focusing on it, but if I increased the risk of the spell, by putting my body on the line then I could boost its power!

I wrap the surface layer of my body in aura and imbue it with the same aging spell. Touching me would age the individual who did so, similar to me forcing the spell onto them, my aura would infect the individual and unless dispelled with Rert would end the persons life within a matter of seconds.

At the moment, this new spell is worse than just using my Jin to inflict the same result on a distant opponent. However, I had an idea.

Why limit it to flesh and life? Metals, I could age them exponentially and turn any successful struck blow into a opportunity to disarm my foe! I can use this in conjunction with another spell.

Regeneration.

I've already learned how to reconstruct an entire person, from a rotting corpse to a pristine and perfect impression of how they were in life. If I used my Rert to apply the fundamentals of that Jin using spell to instead be onto my body, then I could make it that so long as I'm not outright instantaneously slain, I should recover from any supposedly mortal wound.

The process of learning these two spells and being able to use them took two weeks. I had roughly two years remaining to prepare.

Previously, when my attempt to resurrect my mother was prevented, it was because I could only focus on three spells at once. I devoted no energy to even a arcane enhancement spell, while I focused on the three spells to bring my mother back. I need to increase that amount.

Training to maintain four spells was a painful exercise, the sensory overload I thought would kill me, but with time it became as natural as breathing.

Attempting to maintain five spells forced me to reexperience that pain, but again with time I mastered the art.

Eight months, alongside my 16th birthday had passed. I thought about my current capabilities, my spells and proficiency in combat, the tools I had at my disposal.

Arcane enhancement. A fundamental spell utilizing Rert that any mage can perform to multiply their strength and speed. I'm not certain if its commonly recognized by other mages, but I believe the cognitive enhancement and ability to accelerate your thinking process is its best benefit. Rert also lets you see your enemies aura as they manipulate it.

Wrapping my entire body in aura and using my Rert to reconstruct my ideal self, or in other words, regeneration. I put it through the test lighting myself on fire, running myself through with a sword. The wounds could be reversed instantly, though admittedly it still hurt. Sensory overload, an unlikely possibility with my unnaturally high pain tolerance and instantaneous death are the only ways to overcome it.

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Curse of years, a spell utilizing Jin, I wrap my opponent in an oppressive aura of death that prematurely ages my opponent out of their prime or even to death. Focusing on your own Rert can mitigate the effects to be neglible or if countered by a skilled mage, entirely nullified. A quick way to defeat non magical, or non magically resistant opposition at a mere touch.

Curse of Fatigue. A spell that also utilizes Jin. Much more subtle, requiring a immediate deliberate attempt to dispel the worse of its effects all while not immediately apparent that those effects are to come. Of course, once discovered magical opposition can remove it with their Rert or from their allies with Jin, however I've made the curse complex enough to require more than a few precious moments of concentration to properly unbind. I would make more it complicated to dispel, but I prefer the instant casting speed. It can be delivered through touch, the preferred method do to its subtlety or as a short, twenty meter range attack of aura. If i'm delivering the curse at range, I'd be more inclined to focus on it to break through the enemies Rert.

Animate dead, a combination of one to three spells, a different application of my regeneration, 'corpse reconstruction' is one of these spells, it allows me to change the appearance of the deceased as well as restore missing organs and undo the decomposition of death. The return of the deceased's spirit, 'Soul Anchor' and a animation spell 'Corpse puppetry' are the other two. Focusing on these three spells and utilizing different ratios of power in them, can result in different undead. I require further experimentation, but I believe the type of undead I can create are not just based on the ratio of power within those spells, but on the deceased themselves. Mothers regret at her early passing and the ignorance of the village enraged her soul, it made the excess power in Soul Anchor result in a banshee. Its likely if I were cruel enough to raise her again, she would be a different type of undead.

My last combat spell, a Rert application of the curse of years spell ages and rusts non living matter that comes into contact with it. Rot body. Combined with arcane enhancement I can suffer minimal damage while I disarm the opponent and regardless of the damage suffered I'll have regeneration to keep me in the fight.

Combined with my ability to focus on five spells at once and I believe that magically speaking, I'm prepared for combat.

However, physically, I believe, I am lacking. I'm fit, securing my own meals off game and was told that in Holst I'm strong for a boy my age, my stature is also larger than most at a height just over six feet, but I lack training. Embarrassing attempts at training with weapons from the Remire blacksmith has shown me something that should have been obvious, I have no technique. Additionally, it seems that no armor was in production, so I have nothing to protect myself except my Rert.

Should I travel to another village and hope that their blacksmith has something usable? The time spent travelling could be spent training. Is the opportunity cost of that training worth the gain of obtaining armor?

Unlikely. The time spent moving I could focus more on my arcane enhancement if my defenses are what i'm worried about.

However, the weapon that I should wield is another matter entirely. A sword while beautiful and elegant is a weapon that requires training and practice that I don't have the resources to obtain. Battle axes, flails and many others require no less training to be a destructive force. I'm to face knights, they are likely armored. A mace or Warhammer to crush them with, or a piercing weapon to go between the joints of their armor would be preferred.

A piercing weapon...

A spear.

All villages are expected to be able to form an impromptu militia if needed. The training the adults go through uses spears because they're easy to learn and easy to use.

I admit it isn't very cool, but I want to win my upcoming battle, not lose stylishly.

So for the first time, I decided to train with a weapon I can use and to properly train my body. Arcane enhancement is a multiplier after all, boosting its effectiveness can be done in more ways than just the magical.

Chasing wild game, not just hunting, a patient sport that I previously won through cleverness was part of my training, without arcane enhancement to be able to persist and catch my prey. That was my objective.

Honing my body, lifting the heaviest objects I could find and putting them back down. Piles of lumber, an anvil, boulders.

Swinging my spear, a thousand practiced strikes a day. Looking to create a perfect thrust.

Take a breath. Focus. Look at where you want your spear to pierce. Thrust. Withdraw. Take a breath. Focus. Look at where you want your spear to pierce. Thrust. Repeat ad naseum.

Entering the forbidden forest. Wolves that stood on two legs, giant humanoid creatures with one eye, a bat that changed into a person and attempted to drink the blood in my veins. Monsters that I slew one after the other. Monsters that were to difficult, for some reason would not exit the forest, allowing me time to rest, recuperate, train my body more and get stronger then return.

I killed and I killed, I pushed my body to its limit.

Time passed, at seventeen years old I stood taller and more broad shouldered. I'd enhanced my physical capability to its limits.

Now to combine my magical and physical training.

One thousand perfect strikes were completed in what felt like no time at all. I wasn't even remotely fatigued and wondered if I could go a full day without.

Another month passed.

I felt strong, stronger than anyone. My animate dead had also become more powerful, practicing on the monsters of the forbidden forest, I built a small force. One to take on what I saw years ago.

Finally, the taxman was due soon. I prepared my strategy and waited for the moment to come. A moment of triumph, the first step to rulership. The moment I declared war on Count Silos and Duke Avantine. My ascendance into rulership. My power that would turn that burden of responsibility into freedom for all my subjects. A purpose I could be proud of!

My training is complete and my time has come. All that was left for me to do was sit, and wait. Glory and victory, the first time that my hard work will translate into something I can be proud of.

Finally. My freedom will mean something.