Evander flicked a finger and five orbs of light appeared above his head, clearly illuminating the chamber with an azure glow. In front of him, a small mirror made of water magic appeared. Evander stared at the figure reflected. Short silver hair, blue eyes, ivory skin. Although tattered, his clothes appeared gaudy, with golden patterns embroidered on the chest. The frills at the hem reminded Evander of dresses usually worn by women.

A young man?

His mind was filled with various thoughts and questions. He was sure he was dead. After resisting the curse by sheer magic strength alone, his mortal body finally crumbled and turned to dust. There was no mistaking that.

A snarl broke Evander out of his stupor.

“What are you?! There’s no way the incompetent son of the Marcus Family’s capable of silent magic!” The Boss took out his sword from the scabbard. At the same time, his men did the same. Numerous sheathing sounds were heard inside the quiet chamber.

“Grab him!”

On command, four men shot towards his direction. After getting a feel of his body, Evander realized that the mana pool of his current shell was low. The magic he had just performed consumed almost half of his entire mana. Compared to his previous self, the magic capacity of this body was like a drop in a lake.

“I still have some questions I would like to ask,” said Evander. “But the leader should be more than enough.”

Evander flicked his fingers and the orbs of light vanished, the flames on the torches dissipated, and darkness permeated the room. Inside the darkness, he dealt blows towards the assailants one after another. The Boss could not see anything, but he knew that his men have been knocked unconscious. He shivered upon this realization.

The Boss felt a hand grab his neck. In that instance, all of his strength left his body. He could not move. He wanted to scream but no sound came out.

“It’ll be a waste of time to ask,” said the voice within the dark. “I’ll just read your memories.”

Read memories? There was no such magic! The Boss felt that what the young noble just said was absurd, but his instinct was screaming at him otherwise.

“Now, sleep.”

Upon the utterance of those words, the Boss lost consciousness.

 

***

 

Evander Alestaer still couldn’t get over his shock. After reading the relevant memories of the leader of the group, he found out that the current body he possessed belonged to a young noble from the House of Marcus. This young noble was well-known for his hedonistic lifestyle. A conceited, invidious young man that would sexually harass every pretty woman he met along the way.

Memories read by magic were usually fragmented and incomplete, that’s why Evander was surprised that despite the limit of this spell, he was able to see so much information about his current shell’s notoriousness. It seemed that the previous owner of his body was someone hated by everyone. A noble that used the name of his family as he pleased.

Most probably, the true owner died in the hands of these guys, and for some unknown reason, his soul took over the body. It was a phenomenon he had never expected before. After all, Evander did not believe in the afterlife. It was the same reason why he kept seeking the elixir of immortality when he was young.

Who would have thought that there was really a life after death? A retake? Evander chuckled.

“Amusing,” he said. “So, this is the Kingdom of Lukas, huh?”

He could not remember a Kingdom with such name. Was this the same world but a different continent? A different timeline? Or maybe, a different world entirely. He shivered as he smiled in glee. His current shell was young, probably fourteen or fifteen years old. He would have a lot of time to explore this whole new environment.

Evander sat on a wooden box. Near him, the unconscious bodies of the five men laid on the ground. It was dark, but his eyes had already adjusted to it. He summoned a pebble-sized orb of light on his palm.

“Just as I thought,” sighed Evander. The magic capacity of his current body was small, almost nonexistent, definitely the same as that of a common person. The series of simple magic he had cast before almost consumed his entire mana pool.

If he were to explore the secrets of this world, he would need a stronger vessel. He decided that he would first train this body in order to achieve his goal.

The sound of numerous footsteps was heard outside. Evander estimated that there were more than two dozen of them. Immediately, he dispersed the pebble-sized orb of light on his palm and darkness once again filled the chamber. Using what remained of his magic, he amplified his senses. He soon heard the hushed voices outside.

“He’s still alive, right?”

“Of course! He should be! Lord Drakus will kill us if he finds out that his son died!”

“Be ready to charge on my signal.”

Evander realized that these men must be the ‘magicians’ mentioned by his assailants. They must be here to rescue him.

“This is really amusing,” said Evander. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

He stood up from his seat then laid on the ground, pretending to be unconscious. He did not know why he was suddenly given a second chance in life, but he might as well enjoy it. For now, he decided to see where things would flow.

BAM!

The sound of the door breaking into smithereens reverberated. Splinters of wood flew in all directions as the metallic lock clanked. Although his eyes were closed, Evander could feel numerous presences enter the chamber. And they all halted at once.

“What the hell…”

“Who did this?”

There was momentary silence. They were probably surprised to see the enemies that they were supposed to fight unconscious.

“The Young Master’s here! Over here!”

Evander felt two large hands lifting him up. His eyes remained closed as he waited for things to unfold. In his heart, he could not help but grin in anticipation. He got to admit, this was exciting.

“How’s the Young Master?”

“He seems fine. No injuries too!”

Ah! Damn it.

Evander almost bit his lips. He forgot that he healed his entire body. It would definitely be suspicious that there was not even a single scratch on him. He inwardly reprimanded himself for being unable to think of such an obvious thing.

“Thank God. Lord Drakus would kill us if something happened to his son!”

Evander could feel the heartfelt relief from the owner of the voice. He felt someone gently slapping him.

This is it. I can finally play that role.

Slowly, Evander opened his eyes. He blinked thrice then looked around him.

“Young Master!”

Surrounding him were relieved faces of men and women. Unlike the guys from before, these group were wearing cerulean cloaks. On their chest was the emblem of a rose and a shield.

Evander pretended to be dizzy as he slowly sat up.

“What happened?” said Evander.

“Young Master, I’m really glad you’re safe!” said an old man with monocles. He was wearing a brown chaleco and a matching bowtie. His ashen hair was neatly combed to the back. “We’ve been searching for you for days!”

He pretended to be familiar with the old man. “You finally came. I’ve been here for so long…” He looked at the unconscious men on the floor. He widened his eyes in an attempt to look surprised.

“They’re unconscious,” said the old man, his brows creased, eyes grim. “Young master, what happened here?”

Silence befell them. Evander shook his head. “I don’t know.”

The cloaked figures looked at each other.

The old man with monocles was frowning. “But young Master—”

“—Stop.” Evander placed a hand on his forehead. “I’m feeling dizzy. Take me back home.”

The old man closed his eyes and eventually bowed his head. “Of course. You must be tired. As you wish.” He turned to the cloaked figures. “Escort the Young Master to the carriage. Ask the Healer to examine his body.”

Five cloaked figures assisted Evander in getting up.

After Evander left the chamber, he amplified his senses. He heard the words uttered inside the room.

“Sir Gaston, what should we do with these men?”

“I’ve spoken with Silver Hand. They’re unaffiliated small fries,” said the old man. There was not an ounce of empathy within his voice. “Make them spill it out. All of it. The method doesn’t matter. Make them talk. You can kill them afterward.”

“Understood"