He shook his head slightly, dismissing the disappointment from his face. Whether he'd be an Augmenter or Conjurer he'd be a force to be reckoned with.

The fact that his core had already advanced a stage, and how quickly he grasped mana manipulation, made his talent obvious.

The instructor turned away from the young lord Wakefield and walked a couple steps toward the center of the arena. Imbuing mana into his right leg he stomped on the ground and another weapon stand shoot out.

In it was stored an exact copy of the weapon Elric had chosen, but it was sharp and made with better materials. A masterfully smithed weapon.

He turned around and casually threw it at Elric who awkwardly stumbled forward to catch it.

Elric unsheathed and took a closer look at the sword he held in his hands, there was no pommel or anything that indicated that it was from the Wakefields.

Despite no knowing much about his previous life, he was sure that all the knights from noble houses he met had either a pommel or something inscribed into the sword that indicated their house.

The instructor noticed it. "That's just a transitional sword, once you prove yourself you'll get one specifically made for you, according to your wishes."

Without saying anything else, he disappeared. Elric's eyes widened slightly, he had just blinked and the next moment he was gone.

He put the sword he had just received back in its sheath and then attached it to his waist, as he did the disappointment of being a Conjurer came back into his mind.

It would stuck with him for the rest of his new life.

There's no point in thinking about this.

He slightly shook his head and walked off the training ground. Just as he took the last step he heard shifting sounds from behind.

He turned around to see that where the stone ground was replaced by a grass field and the weapon stands made way for a fountain at the center. It was a beautiful scenery.

He let out a surprised breath and smiled slightly.

So that's why all the furniture is here.

Without giving it any other thought, he left in search for his room. He had dismissed the two maids who accompanied him earlier because he felt bad for dragging them around. The head maid, Bernadette, was reluctant, while Lara almost jumped at the few hours free time.

Even as a maid in training, she had many responsibilities and task to tend to which wasn't very beneficial for her private life. So she didn't hesitate to follow her lord's order.

Now as he walked around the many corridors of the castle, he regretted his choice. Without having someone to navigate him he often found himself in rather unfortunate situations.

One time he thought he had finally found the door leading to his room, he opened it and without much thought marched straight into the changing room of the female servants.

No need to say, they screamed and one even threw her shoe at him. When she realized who she threw her shoe at, she feverishly apologized, but Elric was too embarrassed and quickly ran away.

Not that any of them would tell on him anyways. One of the many benefits of being a noble!

It took some time and a couple more unfortunate encounters, but in the end he found the door to his room. When he pushed the door open he heard something.

The sound of someone weeping in the far distance.

He stopped in his tracks and thought for a second, uncertain. He had already acted out of character when he started talking. The original Elric was a mute.

That alone must've already raised many questions and maybe even suspicions. He didn't know much about how the real Elric spent his day's nor how he acted.

Would the real Elric go? He asked himself.

Of course, if the real Elric would've gone, he could just pretend that he overheard it and with that the matter would be resolved. However, he was curious.

And for that simple reason, he went against his own reasoning. Pulling the door back close he followed the sound. As he got closer he made out that the one crying was a girl, not long after which girl it was.

He arrived in a long, distant corridor in the farthest corner of the Wakefield castle. At the end of the corridor Elianor was sitting on the windowsill of a dusty window, her face turned away from it.

Her arms were wrapped around her legs that she had pulled to her upper body, her face was pressed against them.

She didn't want anyone to see her.

Tears were falling from her eyes, soaking her light blue dress. Her weeping had turned silent and been replaced by quiet sobs. Her fiery red hair was made into a crown braid.

She was beautiful, even with her teary face.

Elric looked at her, unsure how to approach the crying girl. For a moment, he regretted coming there and thought about turning around, but his legs didn't move.

Elianor seemed to have sensed someone watching her as she slowly lifted her head. When she saw Elric she quickly wiped away her tears unsuccessfully, instead watering her entire face.

Her striking brown eyes locked onto him with the slightest hint of a frown.

"What do you want, why are you here?" she asked quickly, her fierce tone not hiding her annoyance.

"I just heard someone crying and wanted to check on them, turns out it was you" he answered truthfully, with a slight smile.

"Check on me?" she snapped. As if she flipped a switch, her annoyance had turned into blatant anger. "Mock me, is what you wanted to say!"

"What? No, I really just wanted to see what's going," he said, obviously surprised.

Was the real Elric such a scumbag?

Her face grew even more irritated at his words. "Must be funny, right? Watching me get sold off for something you refused to do."

I should've been engaged to one of the Tudor's and I openly refused the marriage…? no that can't be right.

He didn't believe that he would just refuse. He came to that conclusion not only because he didn't talk but also because of how the guards he met earlier treated him.

They had openly blocked his way, just because his older brother, who wasn't above him in status, had told them to. One of them even called him a disgrace.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Because of that he was almost certain that the real Elric was a pushover. And a pushover wouldn't go against orders, or be daring enough to openly oppose such a matter.

"I didn't refuse," he said with confidence.

"Yeah, of course not," she sneered, with an almost amused expression on her face. "You just didn't talk and when you met your fiance, you avoided her! And you know what, maybe I should do that too just avoid Lendor and don't talk to him."

Elric was caught off guard for a second, he had not even thought of it that him being a mute might've been the cause of the annulation of the betrothal.

Elianor didn't even give Elric a chance to respond, and even if she had, he didn't know what to say.

"But you know what, to some of us siblings this family means something. Over a thousand years of history mean something to us, to me. Which is why I'm not going to run! I'll let myself be used to solidify our alliance with house Tudor, mock me if you want, but the words of someone like you mean nothing to me!" she lashed out at him and a tear dropped from eyes, with each word she said she grew more emotional.

She got up from the windowsill and stormed off, leaving Elric behind to process everything that he had heard.

He couldn't refute herm even if he wanted. Of course it wasn't 'him' who did all that, but he couldn't really tell her, could he?

And even if he had made up some plausible reasons that would explain why he didn't want to get married, he wouldn't have been able to say them.

He felt bad for the girl whose life was decided by her parents, just for some alliance with another house. And he respected her love for her family, that made her go through with this.

If it made her feel just a little bit better that she was better than her useless brother who didn't care about their family, he wouldn't argue against her.

That was the only thing he could do for her.

***

In the grand library of the Wakefield castle, in a cozy corner a boy sat at a table. The table was filled almost completely filled with books and a candle.

The library had no windows, making a single chandelier and a couple torches that hang from the wall the only light source. But the library wasn't exactly small, and the chandelier and torches didn't suffice to lighten the room enough to ensure a comfortable reading experience.

Because of that, most that came brought a candle with them. Or so the librarian did. The library in itself didn't have many visitors.

Many noble houses only had a library to flaunt their collection of rare books and scrolls, which correlated to having a lot of money. But in this case, their overinflated pride often proved helpful. Having a huge collection of knowledge at one's disposal always was always good.

And so the knowledge seeking boy delved into books.

The boy had curly black hair that went to his chin, his eyes were a striking azure blue, and he had a face that radiated kindness.

It was the young lord Elric Wakefield.

After the encounter with is sister he wanted to use his time productively, no matter how weird it sounded, it gave him motivation.

And so he chose to learn more about magic. The instructor who was sent by his father to assess him had told him about the basics of Conjurers and Augmenters, but even Elric knew that the explanation was lackluster.

Naturally, the library was the way to go. There was only one problem, he didn't know whether they had a library and if they had one where it was.

So he akwardly stood in the hallway in front of his door and patiently waited for a maid to appear, since he had dismissed Laura and Bernadette earlier he had lost his guides.

When he finally saw one coming into his direction, he acted as though he had just come out of his room and ordered her to guide him to the library. Even though confused, she didn't ask where his personal attendants were.

When he got into the library, it took some time to find books he was interested in, or rather one's he understood.

'The Dynasty of Alaric the Golden'

No…

'Remembrances and where they stem from'

What the hell is a remembrance? Do they mean remembrance as in memories? Not interested.

He browsed through a couple more books until he finally found something worth reading.

Now that's more like it!

'Magic theory for beginners'

The first few pages described mana, and its practitioners.

'The ability to manipulate mana is highly genetic. Unless one has at least one direct ancestor who was able to manipulate mana, it was very unlikely that they would gain the ability.

'Though there are recorded cases where people without a background of mana manipulators, were able to form a mana core.

'According to famous academic Olivier Blackwood, the inherent ability to manipulate mana is a mutation that is recessively passed on from generation to generation. But it can also show up in any person, which is why even those without ancestors who were able to, might gain the ability.

'But nothing is confirmed yet, until further research is done this remains a mere theory, although a widely acclaimed one.'

On the next few pages were more theories on the phenomenon, but Elric wasn't very interested in them. He had already awakened, of what use could they be for him?

He skimmed through the pages until he came across a deep dive into the awakening process and mana core.

'The mana core, that allows mages to manipulate mana, is formed naturally. The process, even with elixirs, beast cores, and other methods to absorb mana cannot be fastened.

'If one is meant to obtain the ability to manipulate mana, immediately on the day they are born, their infant body starts absorbing mana particles. How fast or many they absorb at a time, is genetic and often hints towards talent.

'Which is why it is a common believe, that the earlier one awakens the greater their ability to absorb and store mana is after the awakening. Though this has been debunked multiple times.

'Most humans awake in their late pre-teen to early teen years, elves and dwarves generally awaken earlier.

'But this doesn't mean talent can't be measured. Instead of paying attention to how early one awakes, you should pay attention to the awakening itself.

'An Augmenters awakening is announced by a shockwave that origins from the forming of their mana core. A Conjurers when they start floating.

'For an Augmenter, the stronger the shockwave the higher their inherent mana capacity. For a Conjurer it's if not only they but also objects around them start floating.

'High mana capacities can be equated to more potential, as it dictates how many spells one can cast.'

This was interesting to Elric, because with this information he could roughly make out his own situation. By the fact that his instructor didn't know whether he was an Augmenter or Conjurer, he made out that his awakening wasn't necessarily very impressive.

He believed that if his awakening was something special new would've traveled far. After all noble families liked to flaunt what they had.

But that played to his favor, he wasn't very keen on being an outstanding prodigy that stood at the center of attention.

With a satisfied smile Elric flipped to the next page, which was the start of the next chapter.

'There are many ways to utilize magic, but the two most common ones are Conjuring and Augmenting.

'Conjurers are experts at long range combat. They channel their mana to cast spells either directly to their target or to affect their surroundings. For example an experienced earth mage Conjurer, instead of throwing a stone at their enemy, might disrupt their enemies balance with an earthquake right under their feet.

'This ability is given to them by their more developed mana veins, only with them can they influence ambient mana enough to cast such spells. They also absorb mana faster than Augmenters.

'But a Conjurers abilities also come with downsides. For one, their spells need ambient mana to be effective, if an unexperienced Conjurer gets caught in a surprise attack it's likely that because of the shock they aren't able to do so.

'Secondly, unlike Augmenters, Conjurers lack the ability to freely -at will- distribute mana throughout their body which means they have to rely on external barriers for protection. The bodies of Conjurers at the early mana core stages aren't too different from that of regular people.'

Elric's brows rose slightly, this indicated that once his mana core advances the differences between Augmenters and Conjurers might lessen. Meaning he could fight with the sword!

'Augmenters on the other hand have more developed mana channels, which allow them to freely distribute mana throughout their entire mana. They often use their mana to strengthen their bodies, giving them superhuman strength, durability, speed, and agility and also to imbue their weapons in mana.

'Augmenters excell at close combat, but lack the ability to enter long range combat.

'Because of their not very developed mana veins, they almost completely lack the ability to influence ambient mana. And they take longer to replenish their core with mana. Their spells also rely completely on the mana from their mana cores, and once they run out it's over for them.'

The next couple pages were filled with more details on how Conjurers and Augmenter utilize mana, how they fight, and how they circulate mana through their bodies, though Elric decided to skip that, he was more interested in mana cores.

'The mana core functions like an additional organ, that spreads mana through the entire body to strengthen the other organs.

'The more the mana core advances, the stronger the effect it has on the users body.

'The process of advancing the stages of the mana core is relatively simple. One just has to meditate and gather mana into their core. There it will be purified, the purified mana will be used to form an additional layer around the core.

'This process has three stages, the first is when the additional layer has been first formed. The layer is dark in color and has some cracks, that stage is referred to 'dark' and the number of stage one is at.

'For example, a person who has just formed the first layer around their core would refer to themself as 'dark second'.

'In the next stage the cracks in the layer will be slowly mended but it still remains dark in color. To use the example of earlier a mage at that stage would refer to themself as 'solid second'

'During the last stage, the layer brightens, adapting the same color of the mana core. That stage is called 'bright.'

'Mana cores can have up to nine additional layers, but only rarely does one ever reach that stage.'