Gideon stares at the ticking clock within the botanical garden.
[5:03 P.M.]
"Shiiiii-I went overboard again…' while he stares at the low-grade Sunwick in the pot before him, the tome describes the flower as something that could passively generate small amounts of mana from its petals from the Sun during the day and wilts during the night.
But here, he had some limited success as the early evenings of the Tsardom, where the Royal Academy of the United Empires was situated, could enable him a few things.
Gideon carefully adjusts a knob to a strange contraption made out of various metals… connected to one singular light bulb, Gideon begins double checking.
"Batteries dry and in the correct polarities… resistors and conductors not gnawed off this time… knob showing no abnormalities… alright, let's see…"
The soft ticking and ominous weight of a knob turning left, followed by the soft buzz and fizzle of the light then bursts forward. The Sunwick flower rises to the light.
"Holy mother of Chernobog…" Gideon's smile turns wicked, and he gets giggly, immediately maintaining 10 more minutes as the knob locks.
[5:13 P.M.]
The lightbulb then turns off, and the Sunwick beneath irradiates a strange neon glow that signifies that it was ready to evolve, having absorbed enough "Mana" to begin the process.
"W-w-wait! No please don-" The flower splits into two, and then wilts immediately.
"Damn it! Just when I was so close!" Gideon isn't disheartened, but rather enraptured, the plan worked. Gideon reviews the academic thesis he had been working on for months as part of his near to final year of this wretched place.
It was a simple, modest, and almost sure fire technique of presenting an evolved Twin-Sunwick, which was a rare sight indeed amongst the idiotic curriculum.
The Royal Academy of United Empires put a lot of emphasis into nurturing and growing talented sons and daughters of the Allied Empires, making extremely powerful rulers who were not just capable of leading powerful people, but also powerful people themselves.
Of course… not all of these people deserve to be at their "talented" ranks, such as someone named Anthony Brightsteel.
He was a silver haired stout teen whom the ladies young and old fell for, accompanied by a thick necked muscular brown-haired student named Giono and a lanky but incredibly tall blond-haired student named Maurice. The three were known as the Three Blades.
Known for their little successful adventures to Dungeons, and coming back with not just a successful streak, but as well as their own riches and power.
Gideon on the other hand knew what Anthony was, a reincarnator.
…
'Where am I?'
Darkness, there was no sound, smell or even sight. But he was awake, there was… a feeling, that said so.
["Greetings, Gabriel Amanth, You have died in your old world as a result of a freak accident at your College where a suicide bomber terrorist exploded in close proximity to you."]
'Is this like a reincarnation? Do I have awesome powers?!'
["Correct, you are going to be reincarnated into a New World as our apologies to you, a bystander, while we reincarnate, transmigrate, and summon the other heroes as part of this process."]
'That's so wordy, ick. So what powers do I reincarnate with?'
["However, the system has detected your incompetency in your previous life, unfortunately we cannot grant you special system abilities, magic, or powers or enable fixed SSS-rank grade stats upon reincarnation. It is our sincerest condolences."]
'Oh for fu-'
Before he knew it, he was born to a lowly baron's house.
The Grimsly's, who died at a younger point in life, gave their sole heir the courtesy of a name, Gideon. The father of the house was too busy living life like a loan jumper, one who used loans to pay off another loan, and eventually… the house and all of the Grimsly's possessions were repossessed by other nobles.
The mother had to work as a seamstress and chef, and came home everyday to a drunken brawl of a crazy spouse. Gideon on the other hand was driven by one thing.
Spite.
The sound of crashing furniture, the desperate pleas for reason, the arrogant grunting and growling of a drunken baron of a father, it was almost like hell if Gideon hadn't already experienced a similar life before.
Went to a private school, almost managed to get through with college, proceeded to drop out of that college because of low exam scores, worked in part-time jobs he couldn't afford to pull through with, came home exhausted to a family who placed no value in him for his academic failures.
Gideon wasn't going to let that be his life, so the boy made sure the Grimsly's died and was the sole successor to the name before enrolling himself using an academic scholarship grant on account of being at least Top 300 in terms of student body ranking.
If that wasn't enough, joining the Royal Academy just at the same time as he did are 40 special cases, 40 other people who reincarnated into this world. How could Gideon tell?
Well it's not like any other country he's heard of so far speaks in abhorrent Internet slang, so that made it incredibly obvious, if not their "once-in-a-lifetime" abilities.
And this is where Anthony Brightsteel, son of the Brightsteel Viscounty, comes in. The reincarnator was an incredibly crass kid who chased after pretty drill-haired ladies whenever he wanted, and threw his weight into weaker students with his lackeys when they tried to "save the ladies".
He would've just ignored it if it were just Anthony, but shortly later several incidents throughout the academy begin happening, and now… a resolve and promise to just himself.
Gideon made quite a vow when he realized that these arrogant children were beginning to encroach in his life, that so long as they were here, every second could be his last if every one of them were just as disgusting as Anthony.
Spite, it was who shoveled all of the fuel into him creating the very first successful prototype of a non-magically induced evolution.
Just enough glitz and glam but serious research of a thesis to secure his graduation, and return to his barony with a pedigree as a genuine Royal Academy graduate Baron!
'I can practically smell the biscuits and coffee already-' Gideon stops his steps while he takes a glance at the clock.
[5:32 P.M.] as Gideon looks at the door out of the garden, and sees a pair of feet casting a shadow at the bottom.
'God damn it-'