Chapter 1 – Part 1: The Secret of Explosion Magic
"Art is the big explosion!"
"Rumble!"
In the forest behind the hills of Augustus Village, a dazzling red light shot into the sky.
As the smoke dispersed.
A circular crater, two meters deep and one meter wide, appeared where it had erupted.
"Phew… the power's not bad! It's improved again!"
The maker of the crater a black-haired, fine-featured youth lay on the ground panting, looking exhausted.
He had run out of mana.
Even so, excitement still curled at the corners of his lips.
Looking up at the sky, a trace of reminiscence glinted in Lu Fei's eyes.
"It's been 16 years since I came here."
His name was Lu Fei. He used to be a down-and-out web novelist who, after staying up late one night to update chapters, accidentally ran out of breath and died suddenly.
Before dying, he thought about how he was already in his thirties and still hadn't found a girlfriend, and with grief and indignation shouted:
"Reality, explode!"
Then he croaked.
When he opened his eyes again, he found that he'd been reincarnated.
He had arrived in a world of swords and magic.
Unfortunately, he was detected to have no mana, thus lacking the talent to learn magic.
However.
In an accident, Lu Fei discovered he wasn't talentless at magic.
He had mana and could even absorb the elemental forces around him, slowly increasing his total mana pool.
So, following his own approach, he began training his mana.
Then he was astonished to discover that he could use magic.
But the magic he released had only one effect.
Explosion!
Now that he knew his talent, Lu Fei naturally wouldn't let it go to waste.
For 16 years, day after day, year after year, he secretly trained his explosion magic.
Now he could create a two-meter-deep crater with a single blast.
Hitting a person with it would be comparable to a missile's power.
Although one shot would consume all his mana, firing once a day, after his mana recovered, actually increased his total mana slightly.
That way, as long as he kept at it, he would eventually become a master of explosion magic.
Incidentally, this world had never seen a magic like his; at most, there were some explosive fireballs or lightning balls and the like.
His explosion magic had greater power, and the places struck by it would have their elements consumed entirely.
Therefore.
If explosion magic were developed to the extreme, it might become destruction magic capable of annihilating everything.
Lu Fei's current identity in Augustus Village was that of an ordinary villager.
He also had a beautiful older sister, Anna, who seemed about five years older than him.
Lu Fei was adopted.
According to Anna's father, he had picked Lu Fei up from the magical beast forest.
Five years ago, Anna's father an adventurer had his chest pierced by a magical beast's horn; his body was brought back by his teammates.
Thus, the family was left with only Lu Fei and Anna, depending on each other for survival.
Lu Fei didn't tell Anna about explosion magic.
"The tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind."
Lu Fei had deeply internalized the path of lying low; he kept training his mana, exercising his body, and increasing his magical power.
If possible, he hoped to become the strongest in the world before going out to adventure.
Glancing at the sky, Lu Fei pushed himself up from the ground and patted the dust from his clothes.
"It's getting late. Time to head back. Looks like Sister Anna is coming home today."
Thinking of that woman's visage and smile, Lu Fei couldn't help but smile himself.
On the way back, Lu Fei passed a river. Feeling that a bit of his mana had recovered, he tossed a mana orb into it.
With a bang.
Accompanied by the sound of an explosion, a few fish rolled over with white eyes and landed on the shore.
If nothing else
Explosion magic was perfect for blasting fish one blast, one catch.
Carrying a few fat fish, Lu Fei walked toward the village in high spirits.
"Sister Anna's coming back today, she'll surely be tired, so I'll make something delicious to reward her."
She was, after all, his designated future wife, so Lu Fei cherished this beautiful older sister greatly.
However.
It seemed she only treated him like a younger brother?
But that wasn't important.
What mattered was that Lu Fei had confidence in himself!
"Yo, little Lu, went fishing again? Those are real fatties."
Uncle Lacey, who was passing by, couldn't help swallowing when he saw the fat fish in his hands.
The magical beast forest he didn't dare enter it.
No one knew how this kid Lu Fei had such luck; every time he went in, he came out with a haul.
Lacey had tried going in himself.
But each time he would encounter aggressive magical beasts and could only slink away.
"Oh, Uncle Lacey. I caught a bit too many fish today. How about you take one home to try?"
Lu Fei kindly handed him a fish.
"How can I accept that?" Uncle Lacey rubbed his hands, his face glowing.
"Haha, it's fine. My sister and I can't finish them. Take it and I should thank you for teaching me swordsmanship!"
"Alright then, I'll accept it!"
Uncle Lacey gladly took the gift, then leaned to Lu Fei's ear.
"Listen, little Lu, be careful. When Anna came back today, there was a blond lad by her side. From the look he gave her, he seems to like her."
"Huh?"
Lu Fei's expression instantly stiffened.
Sister Anna does she have a boyfriend?
"Uncle, I'm heading home!"
Lu Fei immediately ran toward home.
That wasn't something he could accept.
He trained so hard to protect Sister Anna, to give her a happy life in the future.
If Sister Anna ended up with someone else what would be the point of it all?
Lu Fei sprinted nonstop into his little wooden house.
He casually dropped the fish.
"Sister Anna… are you here? Sister Anna!"
"What's the matter? Xiao Fei, why are you so worked up?"
A graceful figure, hearing his voice, came out of the kitchen with a smile.
She had light brown hair with straight bangs. Her hair, tied into a simple braid at the ends, fell naturally to her waist.
Her face was exquisite, her wheat-colored skin paired with the faint dimples that appeared when she smiled she looked both gentle and alluring.
She wore a fitted, chest-binding light cuirass her full bosom pushed the leather armor up.
Her figure was curvaceous and tall.
A gentle and charming great beauty in every way!
"Sister Anna!"
Lu Fei lunged forward and hugged her.
He buried his face in her chest and rubbed against her.
"Sister Anna, I missed you so much."
In the face of his intimacy, Anna simply smiled and ran her hand through his hair, gently hugging him back and comforting him: "Don't worry, silly little brother. Your sister inherited mother's wind-attribute magic. This time, I only took a simple escort mission from the adventurers' guild and Uncle Kate was on the team."
Because of her father's death, Anna had to train magic from a young age, then started going to the adventurers' guild with her father's former teammate, Uncle Kate, to do commissions.
Only that way could she earn the money they needed to live.
Uncle Kate had ability.
He knew swordsmanship and could even use fire-attribute magic, serving as the team leader in their adventurer party.
Lu Fei didn't care about Uncle Kate. He hugged Anna's slender waist tighter and cautiously asked, "I heard there was a man who came back with you? Where is he?"
"Are you looking for me, little brother Lu Fei?"
Just then, a figure came out of the kitchen.
Lu Fei's eyes narrowed.
A handsome blonde?
He'd been in the kitchen just now too?
Before Lu Fei could ask, the blonde reached out his hand: "Hello, little brother Lu Fei. I'm Kyle, Kate's son, and I handle logistics in the adventurer party."
"Uncle Kate's son?"
"That's right. Logistics means supporting team members and handling medical care and cooking."
"What are you doing here then?"
Lu Fei made no effort to hide his hostility.
Any man who approached Sister Anna was his enemy!
Kyle just smiled like a spring breeze and said, "Your sister invited me."
"Is that true, Sister Anna?"
Lu Fei felt a stab in his heart, but perhaps he cared too much about Anna so he was overly sensitive and rejected men around her.
"Yes, Kyle's right. He helped me a lot on the journey, so I wanted to invite him over for a meal to show my gratitude."
Anna's eyes flickered as she spoke, while Kyle's smile grew brighter.
Lu Fei sensed the insincerity and stilled his breathing.
He said nothing.
"Alright, come help out, Xiao Fei. We have a guest don't be rude."
"Oh."
Lu Fei nodded gloomily.
He planned to watch more carefully before making a decision.
From Kyle's look, it seemed he really had taken a liking to Sister Anna.
But Lu Fei would not sit and wait.