Somewhere in the ducal house of de Leon, duchy of Leon.1"de Leon" literally means, "of the Lion", this country is not based on Spain , it was just the first thing that came to mind.
A young-looking boy was seated in the library; his golden eyes looked focused as he indulged himself in a book entitled “On the Origin of Mana Crystals”.
This boy was the first son of Duke de Leon.
14 years.
It was 14 years since Dai Gengrui had been reborn in this strange world. The people of this world were very much unlike that of his previous world. First of all, the fashion sense was a bit weird, since most people did not wear robes. It took a while to get used to wearing shirts and pants, but he had to admit the synthetic materials people made from the products of magical beasts were very comfortable.
‘Right, my name is Louis de Leon now. What a dishonorable way to put names, family should always come first! Whatever, it’s not worth changing thousands of years of tradition for a name.’
There were numerous things that bothered Louis, but nothing bothered him as much as this world’s version of cultivation:
Magic.
As one at the apex of his world, Louis understood a lot about Qi. Not only did he know what it did, but he knew exactly how it worked. He knew how every technique affected and controlled the flow of Qi to produce the desired effects. He knew why exactly the five elements reacted to each other. He knew that formations were a way of “translating” a one’s command to the world while using ink and Qi as a medium.
But, then, magic came along and ruined that all. Louis could no longer absorb Qi.
He still had a vast reserve of Qi within his soul, and it was sustainable enough that he could somehow keep it in a closed system within this world.
But as soon as he uses it, the Qi would quickly dissipate in the air, going to all sorts of directions, he had no way to efficiently absorb it back. If it dried up, perhaps there would be enough qi in the air for him to use weak techniques, but one man’s Qi cannot fill the entire world.
Not when the world ejects the man’s Qi into space.
In fact, the “magic” of this world was sort of inefficient, the techniques they called “spells” require the aid of a mana crystal and material components.
For example, the spell “Fireball” required a mana crystal the size of a finger and bat poop.
Why did it need bat poop?
What’s more, the “mana crystals”, simply dissipated, and according to studies, they don’t even leave a trace in the air!
That’s why humans cannot absorb mana,
This was absurd to Louis, Qi could not be created nor destroyed, only converted.
Yet this weird “Magic” thing could somehow destroy mana crystals.
What’s even weirder is that “Mana Crystals” randomly popped up in the world, seemingly out from nowhere. In fact, scholars say it’s “the blessings of the world”.
Did they not consider “How the hell does the world give this blessing?”.
Magic research wasn’t the main interest in this world, so research was slow.
It still annoyed Louis greatly however. It was as if the universe scoffed at all his logic.
It’s like practicing sword techniques all your life, and then suddenly some sort of tube that shoots consumable projectiles became the norm.
‘Well, no need to complain, I can still do alchemy and control World Energy.”
Louis used alchemy a lot in this world; he studied the various effects of plants and compared them to his original world. From there it was the matter of putting them in a custom furnace and heating.
Granted, alchemy could only be performed at a lower level, but he had a bunch of useful pills and incenses that were considered low level.
World Energy should be used sparingly, this planet was small for him, so he was afraid he could quickly eat away at its lifespan.
He was thinking of the word “weird” a lot, that was pretty much the perfect word for this world.
Sighing at another day of fruitless research, he turned to the pouting blonde girl next to him.
She looked to be as cute as a doll, which made sense because her yellow one-piece dress was enchanted to make her more charismatic.
‘Enchantment huh, unlike spells I’m very interested in learning it.’
This girl was his younger sister, Lucia de Leon.
She was currently tugging at her brother, with her golden beady eyes having an expression of “Talk to me!”
Louis smiled, as a heir, it was generally better to have a good relationship with everyone in the family. Not only did it make it less likely for him to be stabbed in the back, it made it easier for them to overlook the more suspicious of his actions.
Not that he was plotting world domination again, this time… he had no clue what to do.
Instead of wandering aimlessly though, he may as well set things up to make it more convenient for any future plots.
“What is it Lucia?”
“Big bro, why don’t you practice swordsmanship instead of reading all these books? Tomorrow is the entrance ceremony at the academy, if they find out my big brother is a weakling who buries himself in books all day, it would be bad for our reputation!”
Louis gently patted her head.
“Lucia, my soul weapon hasn’t even manifested yet, if I practice swordsmanship only for it to be a spear, I wouldn’t be able to use it effectively. It’s better to read books and have good knowledge for a better foundation, besides strength is not everything. Not everyone is muscle-headed like you, Lucia.” He joked.
Lucia playfully hit her brother in his chest,
“Mother has a sword, father has a sword, and grandfather has a sword! It would be weird for you not to! And I am NOT muscle-headed, hmph! I’ll tell you were a big meanie to father.”
“Wait, wait, please no! I was joking of course, my little sister is cute and elegant, nothing like a muscle head.” Louis quickly responded
Besides, his little sister was actually quite good at poetry.
Lucia smiled smugly, making a weird pose of victory.
‘This girl has a weird fascination for swords, well I understand her passion. I swear she knows the favorite food of every swordsman within the duchy. Well, the best way to deal with her is to act the part of an older brother that spoils his younger sister too much.’
Personally, he was more interested in those who manifested non-orthodox weapons; his butler literally slaps people with a handkerchief.
Suddenly the door to the library opened.
Walking in, a man who looked like the older version of Leon entered, he was much more well-built than him however, and he was wearing a purple suit that was the color of house de Leon.
He had a big frown and a tired expression in his face, which came from a very long and annoying day of court.
He looked at Louis and opened his mouth.
“Louis, Lucia.”
“Yes, father?” The two said in unison
The man was actually his father, Arthur de Leon.
Arthur suddenly disappeared into the wind, only to reappear suddenly behind Louis and Lucia, patting them on their heads.
“Haa, your father had such a long day at work today. There was this one peasant complaining about his cow growing mushrooms…”
Arthur continued to talk about his day to his children. Why would they talk about his day to his children? That was because they were good listeners; they always comforted him every time he complained, even more than his own wife. Of course, he wouldn’t talk about serious matters with the two, but he found it nice to vent about the little annoyances in his day.
His daughter Lucia, obviously admired him very much because he was one of the top swordsmen in the country. As for Louis, he would sneak in some comments that flattered and calmed his father greatly, the combination of the two did wonders for his stress.
After complaining for half an hour, Arthur inquired about Louis’ other two siblings.
“Louis, I know Paul is probably holing himself up in some dark corner researching magic again, but is Carlos not with you?”
Lucia sulked and responded.
“Hmph! He’s probably studying for the entrance examination again. I wonder why he’s so obsessed about surpassing big bro.”
Arthur could only scratch his head.
“The examination literally only consists of doing first level spells and awakening the soul weapon. They aren’t even ranked yet…”
Carlos is only 9 months younger than Louis, so he considered himself his brother’s rival. It’s not so serious however; it’s just that Carlos is just naturally so hardworking, that he used his brother as an excuse to work even harder.
Although he is only 13, since his birthday is 2 months away from the first day of class, they allowed him in.
Lucia is 2 years younger, and Paul is the youngest being only 7 years old.
A gentle knock came from the door to the library, and a soft voice resounded from the other side.
“Dear, are you complaining to the children again? It’s dinner time. Father-in-law is eating with us today.” This was Louis’ mother, Diana de Leon.
Arthur eyes widened a little.
“Come in. But really, that old man? Hasn’t this region’s guild been dealing with that dragon for a while? As a guild master he should have a headache dealing with all the high-ranking requests.”
The “Guild” was a government organization, but unlike the army they didn’t have very high standards and focused more on monstrous threats than humanoid ones.
The door opened, revealing a woman with black hair in a regal purple gown, she looked quite different from Lucia as the latter took more traits from her father. However, she also had golden eyes despite not being originally of the de Leon family. It was not surprising, however, as most noble families in this region had golden eyes.
“Well, he wouldn’t miss saying goodbye to his two sons, right?”
Arthur nodded.
“Good point, Lucia, Louis. Did you hear that? Your grandpa is coming home today! Come; let’s head to the dining room.”
“Grandpa! Yaaaay! I wanna see him shoot his sword beams again!” Lucia exclaimed, clearly excited.
“Hmm, I’d like to ask him more about how the guild operates.” Louis was actually genuinely interested in how the guild operates. He saw them as a band of rogue cultivators at first, but weren’t they more like a sect?
Arthur picked up his son and daughter while laughing boisterously.
“Haha! Don’t get your hopes up you two. He’s only here for the night; your grandpa has a dragon to slay.”
He was not very worried; a single dragon was troublesome but would be dealt with by the guild in a couple of months.
Diana stopped him however; she had a dangerous smile on her face.
“Honey, a bath first, you smell horrible.”
Arthur reluctantly nodded and put the kids down, reluctantly heading to the bath to quickly get cleaned up.
Diana, Louis and Lucia meanwhile were escorted to the dining room by a bunch of servants. The meals were ready, but obviously they had to wait for the head of the house to be present before stuffing their mouths with food.
Seated already, however, was an aged man, he wore the same casual clothes that Louis wore. Despite his white hair and long beard, he had a muscular frame free of scars. Advanced healing magic treated scars very well; in fact, the old man had once received an entire ballista projectile to the knee, and continued being an adventurer.
Also seated on the table was a young boy that looked very similar to Louis, except his face looked a lot more energetic. There was also another, even younger boy who had a similar face to Diana, despite being so young; he exuded a very scholarly aura, which was even more enhanced by his glasses.
They were actually safety glasses so his eyes don’t melt from acid.
These three were Juan, Carlos and Paul.
Louis sat right next to his grandfather.
“Grandpa! It’s nice to meet you again, how’s the campaign against the dragon going?”
In that instant, Juan’s expression grew really bright.
“Louis, my boy! That dragon will be gone by the Winter Festival, but today is not about me, it’s about you! You’re enrolling in the one and only Great Leyline Academy! The most prestigious academy in Invicta, with this, you’re sure to be able to pick any career you want.”
Louis coughed.
“Grandpa, Carlos too.”
Juan coughed even louder.
“Yes, Carlos too.”
Louis made sure to have a close relationship with Juan, since the man was the guild master of the Leon region; he was a great source of information about the world.
Lucia in the meanwhile was also very close to Juan, talking a lot to him and Louis.
Carlos and Paul were surprisingly close to each other despite the difference in temperament. That was because Carlos was very interested in Paul’s magic experiments, even going as far as to personally have some tests be conducted on his own body, although Diana scolded them a lot about those.
Eventually, Arthur arrived and everyone could get to eating dinner.
Everyone ate slowly, with proper table manners, usually, they did not. But this day was special; Louis and Carlos were leaving for the capital.
Arthur, the head of the household, spoke up first.
“Louis, Carlos. You two have stayed here with your family for about 14 years, you have even made friends with some of the servants. However, a bird cannot stay in their nest for their whole life, they must soar high into the sky in search of their purpose. Just know that whether you become an adventurer, a magical researcher, a solider, a court magician, a royal advisor, or even that new alchemist job, you will always be welcome here no matter what you are. Of course, I expect my children to take reputable jobs.”
Louis and Carlos nodded, eyes full of conviction
‘Purpose, huh.’ The two thought, albeit for completely different reasons.
Diana laughed.
“Dear, why do you speak as if the two won’t be seeing us. We’re still accompanying them until the entrance ceremony.”
Arthur scratched his head a bit.
“Well uhh, it’s good to say it in advance.”
Juan meanwhile, pulled Louis closer to him.
“Don’t worry boy, I get called to the capital a lot, make sure to see me there monthly. You too Carlos, I know you’re interested in getting a career at the guild.” He winked at Carlos.
Louis showed a wide grin “Of course, grandpa!”
Carlos also grinned.
“Grandfather, thank you for the offer, but I’ll get a good position under my own power.”
The Guild worked a lot on trust, the more trusted an adventurer, the higher their rank. Obviously, power help a lot, but a nobody who could slay dragons won’t automatically be given a high rank.
Juan continued.
“And remember you two, the strength of a soul weapon is not based on what it is, but on how you can use it.”
He took out his soul weapon, a glowing sword of light that looked like a training sword, but it was far from that.
Lucia’s eyes were glowing even more brightly than the sword.
Juan then proceeded to use the sword as a fork to eat a piece of meat.
Which earned a remark from Diana.
“Father-in-law, that was not a very good example.”
Juan held his stomach in laughter.
“It got the point across.” He put extra emphasis on the word “point”, and even presented the tip of his blade.
The dinner table erupted into laughter; some of the servants around them even chuckled lightly.
The conversation continued, everyone making jokes and talking about their daily lives. Even the normally timid Paul was quite noisy. That day, the family didn’t look like a noble family, but a normal peasant household.
It was a night for Louis to remember.
'If only I had a family like this… they would have died quickly with that personality though’ His world did not demand kind and loving imperial clans, but ruthless and calculating ones. Perhaps this one was different? Only time will tell.
Dai Gengrui was not as apathetic as people thought he was.
Eventually, dinner time ended, and Louis was now in his bedroom.
The bedroom was very spacious, and even personalized by Leon, he had his own personal library and even some tools to practice magic and the recent hot-topic, alchemy. That one was mostly due to him though.
He lied down on his bed, with nothing to do but wait for the big day that was coming.
Well, that is if he wasn’t the owner of the organization that started the whole alchemy profession.
He took out a circle, blue pearl, a communication pearl. It was this world’s equivalent of a communication talisman.
The one his family gave him obviously did not have the contacts this one has.
The pearl glowed and vibrated, meaning someone was trying to call him.
He answered it, in a deep voice that he shouldn’t have.
“Rufus.”
“Mysterious Benefactor, our preparations for creating a base of operations in the capital is complete; will you be overseeing the operation?”
Rufus was originally the leader of a small-time criminal organization; they dealt with smuggling an illegal drug called “Kokune”. Louis ran into them while exploring the city in an alternate identity.
He originally planned to kill them, but after taking the ‘Kokune’ in curiosity, he found the effects similar to an Enlightenment Pill!
It put the user in a state that made them susceptible to enlightenment.
And he was indeed enlightened
He decided to take over the organization, and distributed the Enlightenment Pill. Apparently it was illegal, but Louis could not comprehend why such a simple yet useful alchemical compound could be illegal.
Higher level pills such as the Bone-Refining pill could not be taken directly with no cultivation, but by diluting them with water, it was weaker and more temporary, but worked wonders.
Eventually, they produced more legal concoctions, Louis made sure they all could be made by a mortal using simple spells, alchemy was pretty much a gold mine for a lot of people, thus, the industry grew fast.
That was how ‘General Alchemy’ was formed, with Rufus at the top.
“No.”
‘Activate Flag.’
Suddenly, a translucent flag appeared in front of Louis
Louis reminisced about one of his friends, and old scholar who spoke so little words that people got used to him, making it so no one further questioned his actions.
He decided to make the old man a spy for his Empire, and despite not being charismatic, he was never caught.
As a high-level cultivator, this was Louis’ divine ability, ‘Flag raising’.
By reminiscing of the past, be it a person, a place or an event, he can achieve results related to it. Of course, he had to know the topic fondly, and not just through hearsay.
“Ok.” This flag caused people to not question his words to much.
If someone from a planet called Earth were to hear about this, they would describe it in two words.
‘Plot Manipulation.’
i can’t wait for how the story will progress! I am guessing he will be overpowered but the concept of a soul weapon intrigues me. Can’t wait for how you take this story forward!
Wow! My first comment that's not made by me
. Yes, he will, I forgot to add OP protagonist tag, but he can't really stomp dragons unless he wants to drain away the world's life force. And yeah, soul weapons are a big deal here, bigger than magic, think stands but less punchy. I hope I can meet your expectations!
@Anon_Y_Mousse lol i’m sure if you keep going the way you are this story will become huge with 20 comments per chapter. Just keep up the good work!
@22jgeorge Thanks, I hope what you say can be true. I intend for this story to be a taste test for me and the readers before I move on to the stories that only exist as drafts rn because I'm not confident enough in writing them.
will ever master magic and et soul weapon?
Istg, his soul weapon better be some weaponized flag or I'm going to hurt my wall with my mighty fist of- nevermind, the wall will do more damage
Something like Jeanne D'arc's flag? (From the fate series)
Glossary done, you all should check it out. There's some nice facts about the characters that won't be written directly in the story lol. it's all spoiler-free.