It was in the middle of the night as I sat alone in the room. My wounds had healed a bit, allowing me to move a bit more. My inhuman regeneration was mostlikely related to my draconic bloodline. Either way, I did not spend much time pondering its implications. Instead, my focus was on my internal world. I wanted to see how the awakening of the system had affected my source. And what I saw was beyond my own assumptions. Two different coloured rings rotated around the source as if it were a planet.
One ring was a light blue, while the other was a dark red. I studied them intensively as I had never thought such a thing to be possible. My studies were not for naught as I soon made some discoveries. The rings looked to be absorbing the excess prana from my source. Transforming it into two different energies. The rings seemed to act like purifiers. Which did not make much sense to me because prana was like a primordial soup of sorts. It was pure, unfiltered life essence.
Hope bubbled in my chest as I thought of the implications. The biggest limiter of my sickness was the fact that I could not use prana without a grave cost. But, considering that these energies were formed from the excess. Therefore, never touch on the required amount of prana the body needs to function. The possibility that I could use it without repercussion was intoxicating. I had been dreading the fact that my body would be my greatest limiter. Inspiration struck as I was observing these energies. With a bit of effort, I guided a minuscule amount of prana towards the blue ring. To my surprise, it worked without problem, converting the prana into this new energy.
Instead of doing more experiments to find the limits of these new energies. I opted to wait until I was fully recovered. With that in mind, I returned to bed and allowed myself to drift to sleep. As the days turned into a week, while waiting for my body to fully heal. I started to become restless. I had never been one for inactivity, so all this waiting was tearing my patience thin. When the day finally arrived, the healer gave me the okay. I was almost bursting with energy, ready to take on the world. But reality often has a way to crush expectations. Where I was prepared for adventure and training. I was instead met with mind-numbing bureaucracy. This was the exact reason I had allowed my brother to become king in my first life. Even if the odds had been in my own favor, I just could not picture myself in that kind of life.
I found myself sitting at a table in the village's town hall. In front of me sat the entirety of the town's council. Calling it a council was a bit of a stretch as there were only three people present. At the head of the table opposite me sat Ivan, the giant mayor. To his left sat a wizened man with long white hair and a beard that reached his chest. To Ivan's right sat a man who looked like he was doing his best impression of a stick. The man was impossibly skinny with a pencil mustache being his two most prominent features. "So, tell me exactly why a prince of the kingdom has come to our humble town." Ivan's voice boomed with a slight resentment in his voice. His eyes were squinted as he studied my features.
I rolled my eyes at his display before responding. "Trust me, nothing of my business will concern you or your people… Well, most of it anyway." The last part was said offhandedly, but it did not escape Ivan, judging by the small amount of bloodlust that radiated from the man. His outburst brought a frown to my face as I matched his bloodlust with my own.
For the first time in my new life, I was capable of truly witnessing what that entailed. My bloodlust was almost physical as an almost imperceptible red mist smelling of blood radiated from my body. The reaction was almost instant as Ivan tensed in surprise while the man's stick of a man began to pale. "Know, know, no need to get hasty." The stick man spoke with a shaky voice as he dabbed his head with a handkerchief to clear the sweat from his forehead.
"Speak plainly, boy, the mayor's head is too thick for all this subtlety." The old man spat with a dry laugh. Ivan shot him a glare, while I laughed in return. I could already tell that I was going to enjoy the old bastard's company.
Lionel was standing by my side, ever vigilant as always, only reacting when Ivan overstepped his bounds. But a single look from me was enough to subdue him. "What I was going to say if you had not interrupted me," I shot a glare at Ivan before going on. "I am not here to change the order of your little town. My missions are simple in principle. The first is that I was sent here to deal with your little bandit problem." Ivan snorted in response. "The other two are basically connected. I need to make a squad that will join me in the First Legion." A shocked silence followed my statement. But instead of giving them a chance to ponder my words, I finished my statement. "The last is to close a few wild shards." My eyes traveled across the faces of the three gathered before me.
Ivan was deep in thought, but I could see relief written all over his features. I could understand him; nothing good ever comes from a noble showing up at a little town like theirs. The old man was completely indifferent to my words, while the stick man was completely flabbergasted. "Now you could either help me, or you could just stay out of my way. The choice is yours."
The three men looked at each other, sharing some words before Ivan spoke. "We need some time to discuss your proposal. What say you return here at the same time tomorrow?" I looked towards Lionel, who gave a barely visible nod.
"So be it, gentleman. But now you will have to excuse me. I have much to do and too little time to do it." With that, I got up from my seat and made my way to the exit. Lionel trailed behind me like a shadow, always close but not close enough. We walked through the streets of the village, enjoying the scenery.
The houses were mostly made of wood, with some having cobble in the mix. The rain had abated a few days back, leaving the area mostly cloudy. Sometimes the clouds would split for a while, basking the area in sunlight, but even then, not for long. A light drizzle fell from the heavens as we walked further and further from the center of the town. We saw as the villagers went about their daily lives. The clang of a blacksmith's hammer came from somewhere up north. That reminds me, I need to commission a new sword. However, the falchion Lionel brought for me is adequate. Yet I have always favored larger swords. Either way, it was another thing to add to my to-do list.
The closer we got to the edge of town, the more hunter households we came across. The woman was sitting outside tanning hides and cleaning carcases. While the men were either getting ready for a hunt or returning from one. They all gave Lionel and me a wide berth and suspicious glances as we walked past. I took it all in stride as we left the town and walked further into the woods. Up until the point where we found a clearing, only then did Lionel finally speak up. "This is good enough," he turned to me with an observing gaze. Before throwing a wooden training sword at my feet. "Pick it up." He said while nodding towards the sword.
Slightly taken aback by his bluntness, I complied. The second the sword was comfortably in my hand, my instincts screamed at me to block. Without even thinking, I brought my sword in front of me, defending my chest. Nothing could have prepared me for the sheer amount of force behind Lionel's swing. Even though I blocked the blow, the strength behind it was enough to smack me hard against a tree. The impact knocked my breath straight out of me. I looked up at Lionel with confusion while struggling to gain my breath. Gone was the ever-vigilant knight who had always been by my side as long as I could remember. In its place was a warrior radiating so much danger that my hair stood on end.
"Weak," Lionel spat while looking at my winded form. "Get up, how do you expect to survive the First Legion when this is all you can offer?" Anger bubbled in my chest, but I ruthlessly suppressed it while getting up. I held my sword at the ready, activating Blink. I felt the energy from the blue ring move through my body, activating the skill. The energy was cold and had a feeling of sharpness as it moved through me. I could not allow him to control the pace of the fight. A quarter of my mana was exhausted from using the skill. But within two seconds, I found myself behind Lionel. My sword was poised for a downward slash aimed directly between his shoulder blades.
It was all for naught as Lionel's feet burst forward with fire trailing behind them. My slash missed its mark, forcing me to overextend and hurt my arm. Frustration built in my chest; if this had been a bout of pure swordsmanship, then I would undoubtedly have had the advantage. Yet it was not; he had far greater physical capabilities and far higher-level skills. The disparity in our abilities was visible, but my competitiveness would not allow me to give in. Readjusting my stance, I feinted an attack to his head, but at the last second, I changed trajectory towards his midsection. The attack landed, but it felt like I was hitting a concrete wall. I felt the backlash of my strike, almost causing me to lose my grip on the sword.
Lionel looked at me with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Do you see now? You are nowhere near ready for what is to come. Now stop holding back, nothing you can do can harm me." With that, he stepped forward, and an orange glow surrounded his blade as he dashed to my side in a second. His blade was aimed at my neck like a guillotine ready to claim its prize. Activating Blink once more, I tried to teleport as far away as possible, but I could only make it within a 1.5-meter radius. I only had half my mana left, but I threw caution to the wind, activating Lightning Bolt the second I appeared. Power coiled in my fingers as red crackles of electricity coursed through them. Before releasing a powerful blast of red lightning directly at Lionel. I watched as his eyes widened slightly before he smacked the bolt away with his hand.
Fire burst from his feet as he appeared in front of me again. His hand grabbed my throat in a vice grip. No matter how much I tried, I could not escape his grip. His eyes were slightly unfocused as he was deep in thought. "To think that you will have the will of battle…" He muttered to himself before dropping me to the ground. "That is enough for now. I have to go make a report." Even while saying that, his mind was far away as he walked back towards the village. Leaving me alone on the ground, catching my breath.