Sitting on the edge of his bed with his legs crossed, Rylan closed his eyes. Behind him, standing up, Gerard touched his back. Instead of circulating his mana as he usually did, he let it flow through his body as if he were about to cast Magic Missile, the only spell he knew. After some time, Gerard pulled away and spoke.

“You’re still some distance away from the Second Circle. However, something’s off. I’ve never seen a Circle like yours; it isn’t just an ordinary First Circle. Your Mana Core is also different. Is this because of the mana empowerment you came up with?”

Rylan nodded, turning around to face his father.

“Yeah. I adapted them into something more similar to an Aura Heart.”

“…I should have stopped to do this earlier. How do you know it hasn’t affected your spellcasting abilities?”

“I’ve tried casting Magic Missile, but it’s hard to compare. My stats have increased, so the spell is now stronger than before anyway.”

Rylan had no standards when it came to magic. He didn’t know if the change in his Circle weakened his spell because he didn’t know how powerful it was supposed to be in the first place. Even after learning Magic Missile, his past self had barely ever used it. In short, he didn’t know if there was now something wrong with his Circle or Mana Core. It was too different from an Aura Heart, at least for now. That was why he had asked his father to do this analysis.

Gerard frowned heavily.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

“Neither the Circle nor the Mana Core seem to have affected my fighting ability, so I concluded that they were fine. I was busy training by myself, so I only asked you to do this now. Besides,” He looked deep into his father’s eyes, “You wouldn’t have cared. Not before. I needed you to believe my story before truly showing my secret.”

As his words reached the end, a bitter smile adorned his face. Gerard went silent for a few seconds, then shook his head.

“I’ve always cared, Rylan.”

In a way, it was true. His father had been the last one to give up on him. Rylan realized the mistake of his words. It had been too long since he was last in contact with a father’s desire to help his child. Neither of them spoke. After a few seconds, Gerard’s voice resounded.

“…What value has your Intelligence stat reached?”

“Thirty-nine.”

Gerard waved his hand. A heartbeat later, a thin layer of red mana appeared above his skin. He walked to the middle of the room, which Rylan had already cleared to practice swordsmanship beforehand. Then, he pulled a wand out of his robes and threw it towards Rylan, who caught it.

“Cast Magic Missile against me.”

Rylan nodded. He understood that this was the most effective way to test his spell’s power. Gerard was experienced enough to be able to tell if something was wrong. Rylan waved the wand, drawing symbols in the air according to his knowledge of the only spell he could wield. It was only after three seconds that the chanting finished.

“Magic Missile.”

A reddish arrow of mana shot out of the wand’s tip. It flew towards Gerard, crashed against the Shield, and unceremoniously crumbled, disappearing. Honestly, it was pathetic. Rylan resisted the urge to scoff, looking at his father.

“So?”

Gerard had a pensive expression before shaking his head.

“It’s average for a First Circle Mage, but given your Intelligence value, it’s a subpar result. As you also don’t have experience in spellcasting, I can’t tell if the lack of power is because of a defective Mana Core or Circle or just because you’re barely a novice. I’ll need to keep a close watch on this. We’ll keep testing it.”

Rylan looked down at his hands. It was a novel feeling, to need to build his prowess from the ground up. It was something that Roland hadn’t felt for many, many decades. No, Rylan’s starting point was even worse than Roland’s. At the very least, Roland had possessed the Prodigy Trait from the start and had been somewhat familiar with swordsmanship when he began training. Rylan was different; he had nothing but a negative Trait and lacked too much knowledge. His fighting ability was only because of his past life’s memories.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

He grinned. It was strange. The road ahead was long and unforgiving, but instead of being disheartened, he felt anticipation instead. At the same time, a small flame burned within him, one that didn’t exist before. It grew bigger with each passing second.

I’m Rylan, not Roland.

His past life wasn’t the person he was now. So far, he had completely relied on his memories and the changes brought by the Reincarnator Title to fight, act, and even think. Almost all of his Skills had been learned because of his memories. At this moment, he was filled with a strong ambition.

I, too, need to become someone great.

Roland had reached the peak, despite his regrets. At the very least, as the one who had inherited everything that Roland had been, Rylan needed to become better. And there was a way to do it; there was a path that Roland hadn’t walked before. He looked at his father, flames burning within his eyes.

“Father. How can I get into a Magic Academy?”

Magic. An arcane practice that even Roland hadn’t known much about. Of course, that didn’t mean he would throw away Roland’s memories or refuse to develop his swordsmanship; he wouldn’t discard his past life out of vain pride. He merely felt the desire to stand on his own two feet, to achieve something that he hadn’t in his past life.

Gerard shook his head. His expression looked as if he was carefully weighing his words.

“It’s better to have a more immediate goal. Your spellcasting abilities are still very far from the standards of the Magic Academies, especially the greatest ones. Focus on becoming better than you were yesterday.”

His words attempted to curb Rylan’s expectations, but that wasn’t the kind of thing that could shake a Sword Saint’s mentality.

No, I’m not just a Sword Saint.

He was Rylan.

“No, I can do this. What do I need to do?”

His father sighed.

“You’re beginning your training extremely late. The formation of Circles isn’t just a matter of increasing the stats on your Status Window. You need knowledge and an understanding of mana. That alone is enough to hinder you.”

“It doesn’t mean that I won’t become a powerful Mage.”

“But it does mean that you’re unlikely to pass the entrance exams. There are plenty of younger people who have achieved much more. What is your Trait?”

“Weak-willed.”

Gerard stared at him with a sad expression, hesitating. A look of dejection appeared in his eyes.

“Rylan… It’s better to have a different goal.”

Simply put, he was telling Rylan to give up. His tone was low and deep, as if he were being forced to say something he didn’t wish to. Traces of warmth appeared in Rylan’s heart. He appreciated his father’s unwillingness to say harsh words. He shook his head.

“No. I won’t give up.”

“Your Trait will hinder every step you take. If you had a Trait like Talented, it could have been possible, but not with something like Weak-willed.”

“That just means I need to change it to Hard-working or similar.”

Gerard sighed.

“Changing a Trait is much harder than you think. There’s no—”

“Father.”

Rylan stood up, facing his father. His expression was calm, sustained by steeled determination. His desire to become greater than even Roland had been had consolidated. He continued to speak.

“I will become powerful enough to protect all of us. I will reach the peak. I already have the memories of my past life and I will become stronger with them. But to become even greater, I need magic.”

He was no Mage, but he could support Roland’s memories and abilities with his current life’s magic. If he could unite the two paths and if he managed to acquire all of Roland’s abilities, he would become something new. Greater.

Gerard looked at him with a conflicted expression, as if he were weighing his words carefully. Another small sigh left his lips.

“…I’ll teach you about magic for now. You’ll need to reach the Third Circle to join a good Magic Academy, or at the very least the Second Circle. As soon as possible.”

Roland had reached the peak of swordsmanship and Aura manipulation. It meant that Rylan wouldn’t need to spend decades – or even longer – mastering the blade. He could focus on magic as he digested his past life’s memories. To become greater. He spoke.

“Even if you don’t believe I can do it, I want to try. At the very least, I must become familiar with what Mages are capable of to fight and defeat them. A Magic Academy would be the best place for that.”

Gerard nodded.

“That, I can agree with. I’m unable to teach you every possible magic fighting style. There are too many spells and Skills in the world.”

As he spoke, his voice became firmer. He donned a pensive expression. Rylan smiled; his father was beginning to see the logic in his desire to learn more about magic. Gerard continued to speak.

“To do this, we’ll restrict your learning about the theory to this room or my study. The fewer people who can know about it and interfere, the better. I’ll think of something for your actual practice.”

Rylan nodded. They couldn’t keep fighting in the area behind the mansion. There were too many eyes in the estate. He spoke.

“First, I’ll deal with Evenon. Then, we can focus on my training.”

Gerard looked at him. The man’s expression carried several different emotions, including sadness, confusion, and… Pride? Rylan blinked as he heard his father’s voice.

“…I wish Regis and Lillia could see you now.”

A bitter smile made its way to Rylan’s face.

“My siblings gave up on me long ago. You were the only one who didn’t, Father, at least not completely.”

It was true. After a succession of lies, cheating, and deceit, his two older siblings had turned their backs on him. They had tried to save him for a long time, but in the end, couldn’t keep doing it. His father was the only one who still nurtured hope, while Aelfric simply followed him blindly, no matter where he took the two of them. In the end, right after Rylan remembered his past life, even Gerard had been forced to punish him with the removal from the line of succession. His father spoke.

“Prove that you’ve changed. It will take a lot of time and effort to regain their trust, but so long as you don’t give up…”

Rylan nodded. His voice was completely firm.

“I won’t.”

Regaining the trust of his family and protecting them the best he could was his greatest desire.

He would act for his family, no matter what he had to do. It was the only way to atone for the mistakes of his past life.