Chapter 1, Student_Reborn at the end of the World

A world in which magic is being persecuted, not much different from the world I come from, if one would compare it to religion or race. I can't believe that these simple ideas are present everywhere.

I'm not sure what to do. It's been almost ten years since the old man said he would return, and he has never shown up even once. The name Volkher, which apparently he gave me, is slowly growing on me.

I have been trying to harness my innate magical abilities. I have been able to produce small sparks and drops of water on command. Doing all this in secrecy put quite a strain on me. Learning fast, on the upside, I learned to read the script of their language. The books in the orphanage are quite useless, mostly children's picture books with monsters being depicted as long-eared tall people or green-skinned with teeth that protrude forward. You would call those monsters Elves or Orcs. I still can't believe they exist here, and it seems the Empire has been at war with them. Obviously, it's about control over a resource they call Zom, a green glowing rock that creates steam without the need for fire.

Status Page:

Race: Blueblood

Age: 9

Class: Legionnaire Captain

Magical Affinity: Water, Fire

Skills:

{Commanding Presence} [F]

{Indomitable} [F]

{Tactical Planning} [F]

{Inheritance} [C]

{Mana Flow} [E]

I haven't learned any new skills. It seems like the {Inheritance} skill only allows me to copy one skill at a time. After all the deaths I have seen, it didn't give me the option to learn a new one, even when a guard died in front of me after being dragged from his horse by a crowd of people and ripped apart for all he had on him.

The slums are truly dangerous places. The poverty here is horrible, and the only thing that is off-limits are the hundreds of orphanages in them. Yes, you heard right, hundreds. The war seems to be taking a great toll with it. I heard from people that it has always been going on, the mages needing Zom to power their cruel magic, and the Empire to power all the machinery they have, even their weapons.

I wish I could explore outside the boundaries of the orphanage a bit more, but this body is still too fragile. I could be taken and killed, and I would have no chance of stopping them.

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I can't believe it. It's the old man. He came back on my 10th birthday, but he seems much worse for wear. He is missing an arm. It looks like he replaced it with a prosthetic with a claw on the end. It shines with a red-brown spark.

"Volkher, you have grown." I had to act confused. I knew who he was, but drawing suspicion is not what I wanted. "Of course, you have no idea who I am," he sighed. "I am here to adopt you." Well, that was an obvious lie. Kids come to the orphanage, sure, but they are never adopted, never.

He put me on his horse, a brown stallion with one of its eyes missing, looking like a giant claw mark. It's a fast horse. We left the slums after two hours. I was right in my assumption that this misery stretches through all corners of this tumorous growth they call the slums.

There is nothing here, only charred trees and broken land, giant canyons and crevices making up the landscape. "They call it the Barren Lands," he said as he looked at me. "Your new home and where I shall train you to become Withered Rose." Withered Rose? I have read a few children's books, and they were always depicted as monsters killing more evil monsters. They were mutilated and deformed on the drawings. One could not distinguish them from the monsters they hunt.

"I'm sorry for being too excited. Having a student after all these years is quite something. My name is Kurt," he said. I nodded and asked, "What will you train me in?" He just laughed and said, "Survival, the only skill you will ever need."

After riding for the whole day, we finally stopped at a cave. There was nothing around us except for burned down trees and giant canyons everywhere. I couldn't help but wonder what had destroyed the land so badly that people chose to live in a slum where people died daily instead of out here. It seemed peaceful, but then I noticed that I hadn't heard a single bird since we left the slums, nor had I seen any other animals.

The cave where Kurt lived had a cooking station and two beds, but nothing else - no food storage or additional furniture. "We will start training in the morning. There have been sightings of a few loose demons by a few Druids, perfect for your first task," Kurt said. Druids? Demons? Is he mad? Even if demons are real, how am I supposed to kill them in the body of a 10-year-old child?

Before I could ask him anything, I noticed that he was already asleep, his arm clunking on the hard stone as it hung off his bed and created a morbid rhythm I stared at my status page as I fell asleep.