Name: Heath Frost Everclear VII
Species: Human
Age: 15 Years Old
Title: Regent of the Frost Duchy
Rank: 2
Class: Water Mage
Class Level:99
Class History: Noble, Beginner Water Mage
Attributes:
Agility: 32
Intelligence: 61
Mana: 1,990
Stamina: 19
Strength: 12
Vitality: 19
Passive Skills:
All Language Comprehension: Level 10
Arithmetic: Level 10
Etiquette: Level 6
Knowledge Retention: Level 10
Politics: Level 3
Mana Control: Level 3
Active Skills:
Water-Attribute Magic: Level 2
No-Attribute Magic: Level 1
Dancing: Level 6
CURSES:
Unable to Progress to Rank 3
Unable to Live Pass 25 Years Old
Unable to Reproduce
Experience Gained Reduced by 99.9%
Stat Gain Reduced by 99.9%
Using his second life's memories Heath brought up his reader, In his past life he knew about Fantasy Novels/shows but was a bit far removed from them. ‘If my Daughter were here this would probably make her excited but I’m a little confused.’
‘The first four lines are self-explanatory, while Rank seems to be my overall “Rank” of existence on this planet. The Higher your rank the more powerful you are, to the point that existences above Rank 6 are nothing more than walking strategic missiles.’ Excitement washed over him as he thought about the future possibilities until the last section.
“What the fuck is this shit!” He said out loud, the maid who came to bring refreshments and clean up the mess was at the door. Her legs trembled as she gathered the courage to knock on the door.
Realizing the series of orders he gave Anderson earlier Heath straightened up and adjusted his attitude, “Come in.” the childish voice said.
As she walked in holding a tray with a new chalice and a bottle of wine she locked eyes with the Regent. His eyes were the color of Rain Clouds, his black hair was cut short with curls on the top, and the sides were faded. He had a small beauty mark on the left side of his chin, the light eyes, and dark skin combo made his gaze appear piercing as if he could see through your very soul.
The maid's heart rate quickened as her gaze lasted longer than it should have, lowering her eyes she curtsied before placing the tray on the desk, filling the new chalice with wine, cleaning up the mess, and making her exit. ‘The Regent is quite handsome,’ was the only thought that went through her head.
‘So this curse is why the original owner of this body killed himself.’ Heath took a deep breath, rubbing his hands on his thighs as he tried to calm himself down. ‘So I have ten years before I die….wait.’
On Jarqez a year is 767 days, a day or 1 rotation on the planet's Axis is 48 hours, an hour is 120 minutes, and there are 120 seconds in a minute. There are still more or less 30 days in a month but there are now 25 months. Realizing this as he looked into his memories, his panic lessened substantially. ‘A year here is more than double what it was on Earth, The days are longer and even how that time passes is longer. So despite this child being 15, he is far older than I was in my last life….well not exactly but still around 30 years on Earth, I'm still slightly older but damn my entire life on Earth doesn’t even match up to the prepubescent years here?’ Gulping wine from the chalice subconsciously this revelation changed everything for him.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Mmm!” He almost spit out the wine but he didn’t want someone to come clean it up again. The wine was disgusting, it was gritty as if there were fine particles of sand in the cup and the aftertaste was similar to sugar that was burned until it was nothing more than a hard puck.
“Woooooo” Forcing the wine down Heath exhaled as he scruched up his nose. ‘The technology of the duchy is around the 1300s on earth but with the inclusion of magic I thought things would be a little better. Fuck, I'm gonna have to jump-start the industrial revolution…..’ Grimising from the aftertaste of the wine, Heath stood up and headed to the door.
A stench that was so foul he thought he would pass out assaulted his nose, the smell of human waste, body odor, and rotten food. ‘I forgot that castles were so disgusting in the old times, with no indoor plumbing, people don’t bath regularly, and food storage is poor, I was hoping with magic there would be more technological advances but it seems magic is only used for battle and other very minor utility like lighting. After I see this body’s father I must rectify this situation as soon as possible.’ Holding his nose he walked briskly toward his father's room.
The Frost Castle was beautiful despite its smell. The Hallways were large and carpeted, well-lit by the tiny orbs of light magic that floated at a standard interval. The Stone walls were meticulously carved to provide not only a feeling of security but the designs were aesthetically pleasing as well. Too bad it smelled like a dump. Moving quickly he arrived at his father's room on the opposite side of the Castle.
Not bothering to knock he entered the room to escape the stench of the hallway just to be assaulted by an even more unpleasant environment. The room was stuffy as if the air was stale, the smell of medicine, body odor, and excrement was overwhelming burning Heath’s eyes and causing him to tear up.
At the far end of the room opposite the door was a large bed with beautiful canopies engraved with dragons, laid there was the current Duke. His body was so frail he looked as if a strong wind could blow him away, hearing someone enter he opened his eyes which matched his son’s, “You’ve come, my son.” His voice was hoarse, and scratchy, but still had a remnant of the strength he once held.
Not allowing his face to show the discomfort of his current environment Heath walked towards his father, “Of course I would, you are the only family I have left.” Upon reaching the bed he kneeled, and grabbed his father’s large but bony hand. “I wanted to ask you ab-”
“The Curse.” His Father’s eyes closed as pain was apparent on his face, “It was cast upon our family 5 generations ago, killing off our ancestors despite their vast strength. Limiting that generation's level of existence and number of children, for me, I was only allowed to have 1 Child, I could not go beyond Rank 3 and I would die at 150 years old.” He paused to look at his son whom he knew had it far worse than he, “There are 2 ways to break the curse, find the castor and make them undo it, or Get the Blessing of a Rank 10 Existance.”
‘What the Fuck is this difficulty.’
“Curses are said to only last as long as the Shaman that cast it is alive, or if a powerful being sacrificed its life essence to make the curse exist in perpetuity. That makes the first option the most unlikely. If the Shaman who cast such a Curse is still alive after this many years their power is at least of the 10th Rank. His Grace, the First Duke of Frost is the only being in our kingdom who is said to reach such a height. Unfortunately, our ancestor left this Island long ago to explore the world. This means the second method is all we can rely on, luckily our Frost Duchy is rumored to have Magical Beasts of such power hidden in the Forest of Death. However, it is called the Forest of Death for a reason. It cannot be underestimated.” At that last line, the old Duke looked at his son with a warning gaze. His matching gray eyes conveying that meaning clearly, enter the Forest of Death, expect death.
“I understand Father, I will try my best to live up to the hopes of those before us.” meanwhile internally… ‘I wasn’t planning on touching that ridiculous-sounding forest yet anyway, no plan survives first contact but I want to at least has out some of the living issues and go from there, that reminds me.’
“Father, why don’t we use magic for more mundane tasks like building, or washing?”
“What?” The Duke looked at his son puzzled by the sudden topic change, once the information was processed he tried to find a genuine answer. “In Short tradition, Magic has only been used for battle for as long as we have been able to harness it. Sure some people use fire magic to like a campfire, or how we use light magic to illuminate the castle, but otherwise it's mostly used for survival. Maybe in other territories closer to the capital, they use it for other things like that, but the Ducial territories are more like separate entities that do not need to heed the Royal family too much so information spreads to the 3 Duchies very slowly. However, I do know the current head of the Royal Family is 6 years old, and the last Queen went out to achieve Rank 10 leaving her young Daughter and Son behind. I digress, the point is it has just never been an idea for us to use magic like that.”
‘Wow these people are sitting on a treasure, magic can do all the things it would take extremely precise machinery to do.’ Heath looked at his father, “Well I plan on making a few changes to the way all this is done. We have been sitting on this vast expanse of land for a little over a thousand years yet our progress has been moving at a snail's pace. Our people are too worried about survival to create anything. We have everything we need to create something this world will envy,” Standing up Heath bowed to his father and walked out of the room swiftly.
“Haha, he's a passionate one eh? Well, it's his time to shine now, I’m just the old tree that's withering away.” closing his eyes with a smile the duke tried to rest his battered body.
----------------------------------
The next day all the administrators of the capital gathered in the great room. Count Andrew Clearbrook Haddix, the vice lord or Prime Minister of the Frost Duchy was seated below the throne looking at the people who strolled into the room and found their seats. A taciturn man who has served the Frost Duchy for 500 years. He is a Rank 7 Paladin, one of the few powerhouses of the Duchy his bright golden eyes contained power which gave a sense of security.
Suddenly he stood up causing the rest of the council to stand as well, “His Grace The Regent, Heath Frost Everclear, 7th of his name, Lord of the 12 territories, and Protector of the Duchy!” All eyes snapped to the double doors hearing the announcement of the attendant, upon hearing who was entering they all kneeled. Heath was in his formal attire as it was his fire time sitting before the council as its Lord. He wore black slacks which were bloused above dark griffon leather boots, his shirt was white with a dark blue double-breasted jacket. He wore a mantle embroidered with the Great sigil of the Frost duchy, the ice dragon, as the dark gray mantle passed by the kneeling Nobles they all bowed lower to show their reverence for the House of Frost.
‘Oh my god,’ Heath’s heart was beating rapidly, he was nervous. ‘I have been in charge of people for nearly two decades but this is a different level of capitulation. These people see my Family nearly as gods, one of them even kissed the mantle as it went by…Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Father!!!! What did you do!’ Slowly he took his seat on the Throne, it was large, far larger than he thought it should be. Carved from what seemed to be a single piece of a tree that definitely couldn’t be found on Earth as the energy radiating from it was palpable. What Heath didn’t know was that only those of his Family’s Blood Line could sit on it, all others were crushed by the ego still within the wood.
“You may all rise.” The voice while young contained the authority they were used to upon seeing the Regent sitting on the Throne his Father once sat on there was no sense of uneasiness or feeling that it was out of place. “I have summoned you all here today after talking with His Grace the Duke. We have a problem. This Duchy has not progressed much for one thousand six hundred and thirteen years. Whether that's in Technology, Population, or even in reclaimed land.”
Your Grace, th-”
“I speak you listen. Rebuttals, comments, concerns, or anything else can happen when I finish speaking. I will extend the same courtesy to you however, I abhor being interrupted.” Locking eyes with that noble heath continued, “Yesterday I took the time to outline the problems we have and offer various solutions all in these booklets that are being passed around right now. I would like everyone to read them and we can have a discussions about it once you are all done.”