As mentioned earlier there are those who pursue power with their physical prowess. The way of the Battlemaster is laid out in great detail. According to dad’s notes the stages are divided into Fledgling Fighter, Pawn, Knight, Blademaster, Grand Blademaster, Duke, King, Emperor, and the legendary Saint. Fledgling fighters are your average person beginning their training. Pawns are your average foot soldiers who have bodies somewhat stronger than the average person.
Knights are those with physical strength which rivals 100 Pawns. Blademasters are those who have awakened a lifeforce energy known as Aura and can slay a thousand Knights with a single sword stroke. Grand Blademasters are able to infuse their Aura into their swords, armor, and other objects. They also have the strength to raid and destroy a heavy fortified castle the size of the Hoover Dam by themselves in a matter of minutes.
Dukes on the other hand, can level a city-state housing 3 Hover Dams by themselves in minutes. Kings can destroy kingdoms the size of Texas in minutes and Emperors are believed to either destroy or create entire continents when they fight. However, all of this pales in comparison to the legendary Saint Battlemasters.
Saint Battlemasters are fighters who have reached the height of power! They can slay mages with just a look! If they will it, it will happen. Saints are no doubt the embodiment of will and physical might! Every young fighter dreams of being a Saint, but no one in this world has ever become one as far as we know. And yet, with every country treating strong Battlemasters lavishly, who wouldn’t want to be one!
Currently, my family is a noble family in the southern country known as the Monarchy of Duxley which is one of the four major powers on the continent of Eliador. The other three are the Principality of Papos in the center of the continent, the Merchant's Republic to the east bordering the neighboring continent known as Frontanium, and the northern Monarchy of Gallan surrounded by active volcanoes and never-ending winter. Duxley’s ruler, King Lawrence Aldahazar too is a Battlemaster, albeit at the Initial King stage.
In this country, the ruler is not succeeded by their blood descendants or other relatives but decided through the battle ritual known as the Divine Tourney. In this competition, the minimum requirement is for contestants to be at least a King stage fighter and have fought in the military for at least 5 years. The current king has been in the Duxlian military since he was 15 years of age, since one was an adult at the age of 15 apparently.
For 10 years, the king fought on battlefields all over until the tourney was announced given the previous king had decided to abdicate. King Lawrence’s tourney was considered the quickest tourney due to there being only 16 King level Battlemasters in the military, some of whom were in the last tourney which was 20 years prior. Yet not a single one stood a chance for the young Lawrence.
Anyhow, it has been 30 years since King Lawrence ascended to the throne and for some unknown reason has not advanced to the Emperor Stage yet. This caused many to doubt him. In the 30 years of his reign, there had been 125 duels issued to the king, 48 small scale skirmishes and 4 international wars; all ended in King Lawrence’s victory with minimal casualties and injuries.
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His record had earned him the moniker, Solar dragon of Duxley given his undefeated battle history and strategic prowess. After proving his dominion, King Lawrence later announced the policy to allow well trained and honorable Battlemasters to become nobility, albeit the title was not hereditary unless the individual signed a soul contract with the country and swore eternal fealty to Duxley.
Further, Duxley is divided into five provinces in which a King level Battlemaster is the military leader alongside four ordained dukes. The dukes are not necessarily Duke Battlemasters but are nobles with the title of Duke. My family lives in the southwestern province towards the country’s border called Evenshade. The land here is for the most part forest with little to no towns or villages.
This area unlike the other four provinces, has only two dukes alongside a King Battlemaster given the southwestern border leads into a land of death known as the Salandir Wastes. Of course, the Salandir Waste is not a wasteland but a never-ending forest void of magoi and is filled with a deathly energy. Of all the adventures and caravans which have entered the wastes, few return. Those who have are withered lunatics whose only salvation is death.
Moving on, my dad is currently at the peak Blademaster level and earned the noble title of Count. However, he did not swear eternal fealty to Duxley given his connections to the Engelberg ancestral land and the Arcane Institute known as the Tower of Infinity. The Tower also made non-mages sign a soul contract which restricted anyone from swearing eternal fealty to any entity including the Tower!
Odd the Tower would restrict such a thing, but it’s the truth since dad too signed a soul contract. It was the only way he could get a mage to provide knowledge and supplies mom needed since she is known as a Roaming Arcana, or free mage. Roaming Arcana are mages would do not want to be bound by the soul contracts devised for mages since all of them required eternal fealty except for a few special contracts.
Like most Roaming Arcana, mom was self-taught using the surviving knowledge and ideas of our ancestors. In her case, Ancestor Yuriy Markov was known as Grand Enchanter Yuriy of Primal Force. According to mom, Grand Enchanters are mages who are a step away from godhood! Sadly, all knowledge of these powerhouses is either lost or sealed by the current mage organizations. Nonetheless, the knowledge left behind by the ancestor was enough for mom to reach the peak Journeyman stage, although not as a primal mage, but as an Alchemic craftsman.
Alchemic craftsmen are mages who do not specialize in combat arcane arts but focus on creating artifacts, and formation arts. Alchemic craftsmen make a variety of goods depending on which sub-class they choose. Mom decided on the sub-class known as MagiTech which focuses on the creation of golems, magic enhanced armor, and architecture. She may not have made any magic defense towers, but her gargoyles are enough to make thieves take the long way around our homestead.
As I read through the books found in the study, my imagination always gets the better of me. Sometimes, I recall the many games, novels and comics from Earth which have this type of vibe. The main characters are born nobles with a silver spoon up their butt, and are unnecessarily OP. Or I imagine the main characters like my favorite game by Macrohard, The Master tomes 5: Cloudvale.
In this game, you start out in a near death situation and have the ability to do anything and be anyone given enough grinding. Now that I think about it, my third life awfully reminds me of that game. Even how I was in a life and death situation almost identical to the game (Only I died…DAMN NPC!!). Oddly, I had a similar appearance (albeit a woman) as my very first character who was a beastman from a distant land.
Whatever, I’m here now. I will make the most of what I have in this life! While I was buried in knowledge, my mom called out for me using the voice receiver artifact in dad’s study,
“Yuriy! My little Yuyu! Come out of the study!”
-End of Chapter