Chapter 1
It had been fifteen years since his reincarnation and in one week, on his fifteenth birthday, he was expected to awaken
Tak!
Hadrian's wooden practice sword was hit off his hand and clattered on the concrete ground some distance away.
"You aren't focused." the instructor said.
Everyday it got closer, his past life memories he'd long pushed down would flare up once in a while.
Hadrian looked away from his fallen wooden sword, the wind making his black strands of hair restless, "I was doing well. Then you started using your abilities." A smile crept up as he spoke.
"If I used my abilities…. " the instructor said with a chuckle, "best outcome is I demoralize you. Worst case outcome; I accidentally kill you."
"Good thing you are my bodyguard, then." Hadrian said, right hand on his hip while his left scratched his nose with a finger.
The instructor shook his head with a laugh, "a Knight guard of your father's house. Not your bodyguard. And a Mage at that, you should respect me more."
"Right. My apologies. Captain bodyguard it is, then." Hadrian said with that smile of his, walking past the captain, tapping him on the shoulder twice as he went for the water.
Pouring some into a wooden cup, the Captain gave Hadrian a glance and passed it to him, "you shouldn't be too excited. Your parents might be mages, but that doesn't mean you are guaranteed to become one."
Captain, I'm a reincarnator, no way I get back to back worthless shitty lives.
Hadrian thought as he drank from the cup the captain handed him, he felt it wash over his chest in a cool embrace.
"I know." He waved the captain off, taking the wooden jug and pouring himself another cup.
"Tell me what it's li-..... " Hadrian's words cut off, the wooden cup in his hand fell making hollow cluttering sounds.
His vision shook at the edges and an ache built up somewhere behind his eyes. He blinked in quick processions, then shut his eyelids tight, staggering back.
"Hadrian.... " he heard the captain's muffled voice. Wincing, he brought his hands to his temples, veins bulging on his sweaty forehead.
Vum.
A low hum reverberated in his skull, his face twisting into a painful grimace.
Am I awakening early?
Awakening had been described as many things but never painful.
He felt an opening to some vast indescribable centre within him and something tugged at him. He resisted at first, scared, but the more he did the stronger the pulling force became until he sank into its embrace.
The ache behind his eyes and reverberating hum ebbed away, and in the next moment he found himself in a dull white space. White dense fog chaotically flowed in a vortex beneath him up to his knees which, when looking down at himself, he realized he was naked.
Stressed, he twirled in the mist looking in every direction. It looked like an ocean of white waves which he could not see the horizon.
Indeed, I must have awakened early, and this must be my soul though not as my parents and captain described theirs.
He managed the stress that was stimulated by the sight and smiled with excitement, "see captain. The perks of a reincarnator." he had waited fifteen years for this moment, training and getting in the right state of mind for it.
Now, all I need is to focus.
Closing his eyes, he calmed himself, and the fog vortex calmed down as well until its flow became gentle and barely noticeable.
Opening his eyes, ghostlike fog tendons rose from the fog beneath and formed into misty information in front of him in the air. Well, there wasn't any air here, technically.
The moment of truth. Hadrian had a stern look on his face. His fate was about to be determined.
Looking at the mist in front of him twirling into textual information, his brown pupil eyes widened and his lips parted.
What is this?
He'd done a lot of studying in his early years, taking advantage of the developing baby brain, and he had never heard of anything like this. It read;
[ Name: Hadrian vale.]
[ Authority : Unity ]
[ Authority attributes: ]
[ 1. I, uniqueness; take over the mind, soul and body of another existence. ]
[ 2. Chain; All vessels are one. ]
[ 3. Substitute: Mind. Essence. Flesh.]
[ Current vessels: 0 ]
[ Vessel categories:]
Basic lifeform
Sentient lifeform
Mutated basic lifeform
Ascended sentient lifeform
[....]
Hadrian's eyes repeatedly scanned the information for a long moment of time in silence.
Everything I studied and researched was useless?
Life Mages, Force Mages, Death Mages, Fate Mages, Space Mages, Order Mages.
These were all the categories Hadrian had ever heard of.
But this world is huge, all the continents on earth combined would be equal to the smallest empire here, and that's in the human domain alone. I should not be surprised, with that scale, there's bound to be magic I've never heard of.
And what of my soul core? He saw none.
Mages used their soul cores to determine their rank. A rank one mage would have one soul core.
Am I a new discovery? An anomaly? I am reincarnated after all. This is an opportunity. This is the grand reincarnation perk I've been waiting for!
This world is dictated by power. This unrecognisable magic will be a great advantage.
I cannot live this life like I did my last. Up until my death, my old life was dictated by my environment and other people, all because of my weakness. Now, I have the means to shape my future.
I absolutely cannot lose this life. This reincarnation is a heavenly gift I must abuse. I love everything about this world, and now, with this….
His hand reached to grasp the misty information but it simply passed through and the mist dispersed into wisps that flowed back down.
Ahahahaha!
Hadrian's laugh reverberated throughout the entire space.
Even fate won't decide my life.
Looking at the vast expanse of his soul once more, Hadrian twirled and fell into the mist below, disappearing into it.
"Master Hadrian! Master Hadrian!"
Small hands shook him. He felt the soft mattress and pillows he'd been laid upon, and the familiar flowery scent of his private quarters.
His eyelids pinched tightly before opening, his eyebrows rising. His sight met the ceiling of his room, on it was a painting of a folklore hero of this world who he had been named after.
"Master Hadrian!" He was shaken again.
Hadrian grabbed the thin hands that shook his shoulders, "Edith, can you not see my eyes are open?"
The maid's eyes widened and a shaky smile formed on her face, "oh!" She exhaled, "we were worried, Master Hadrian."
Hadrian did not like being called "Master" but over the years correcting Edith, he had given up. His eyes went from Edith to the two other people who stood above him beside his bed, the Captain and another maid.
"I apologize you had to carry me," he said to the captain, letting go of Edith's hand and rolling himself off the bed.
"Should you be getting up?" The captain asked, his voice stern.
Hadrian chuckled, "it's already embarrassing you had to carry me, will I stay in bed off of a faint?"
Being carried by another man anywhere else other than the battlefield was considered a sign of weakness or submission in this world.
Even an older brother could only carry their little brother up to the age of fifteen. That was the age one was considered a man.
"As you will." The captain said with a thin smile. Looking at the Captain, Hadrian's brow furrowed. He could see past his physical body and into his soul body, at least that's the first thought that came to him.
In a centre of bright light, the Captain's ribs silhouetted, a foggy sphere spun. The mass was a light shade of grey.
His soul core. I can see it.
Indeed the Captain was a rank 1 mage, and as such, he had one soul core. Clearly not saturated and from the looks of it, far from it.
"What exactly happened?" Edith asked, straightening her long maid's gown.
"Weren't you listening? I fainted." Hadrian said, as he walked to his balcony door.
"If your parents ask…. "
"My parents won't ask because they won't hear of it." Hadrian cut Edith off, his hands pushing the red and grey layered ceiling to floor curtains aside.
He unlocked the double doors and the wind blew in, making the curtains and his black hair restless.
"Well then, we shall make our leave." The captain said, already on his way out. Hadrian gave them a nod with a grunt without turning to them.
Edith and the other maid gave each other a glance and followed the captain out.
Hearing the doors closing behind him, Hadrian took a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling down with an exhale. He walked out to the balcony, supporting himself with his hands on the railing.
He had one week before he had to let anyone know he'd awakened. That would be at the Viscount's son's ceremony, whom Hadrian shared a birthday with, along with other Barons children.
So until then he'll be getting a proper hang of his strange abilities or "authority" as it had been named in his soul. For this one week he shall still be the normal Hadrian Vale. Son of a Baron and rich merchant Mother..
His eyelashes were dark and long, his eyes almond shaped, his features soft and pretty. He'd taken more from his mother in appearance than he did his father.
His gaze fixed into the distance, past the property, a wide grin plastered on his face.