Arghh!
´My head...´
Clutching his head, Vincent Sutton grit his teeth in pain as he trashed around on the floor of his lavishly decorated room.
Feeling like a hot knife had been pushed through his brain, his thoughts slowed as unbearable pain swept over him, crashing down on him like a storm, wave after wave.
Eventually, as he laid gasping on the floor, the waves of head-splitting pain subsided bit by bit, leaving a throbbing headache in their wake. Vincent rose to his feet, staggering and nearly collapsing back onto the floor as he made his way to a chair.
Massaging his temples, his eyes clouded as he recalled the cause of his previous suffering.
'I… have new memories? Whose are these? Ki… Kim Dongsoo?'
Sorting through his newfound memories, he fell into confusion as he struggled to comprehend what had transpired.
Reincarnation?
Yes! I must have been reborn after my death as Kim Dongsoo. Have… have i reawakened my memories?
Raising his head, he stared at his reflection in the mirror mounted on the opposite wall, feeling unsure of his identity.
Am I Vincent? Or am I Kim Dongsoo? Or… am I both?
Feeling a sense of order reassert itself in his mind, he sighed to himself.
"That's right, I'm both Vincent and Dongsoo. I have both sets of memories."
Finally understanding his identity, he began to take stock of his surroundings with a renewed perspective.
Sweeping his gaze across the room it was in, he found it to be rather opulent. With a lavish decor and expensive handcrafted hardwood furniture, coupled with a balcony, the room screamed wealth and nobility in every aspect.
Indeed, for Vincent was a noble. The only legitimate child of Viscount Harry Sutton, he was the heir to the Viscounty of Northwind, vassal of the Gryphon Kingdom. As such, he lived a life full of luxury.
As a child, he had grown up pampered under his fathers careful sheltering. At the age of 12, he had displayed talent in swordsmanship and as a result, was sent to Arthia, the capital of the Kingdom.
Being pampered and showered in praises from a young age, Vincent had grown to be spoiled, bratty young noble, leaving those who interacted with him with a sour taste in their mouths. After being sent to Arthia to study at its academy, he had been negligent in his practise, resulting in his skill in swordsmanship remaining at a standstill, wasting years of opportunities, until he had recently been recalled to his father side due to his father deteriorating health.
Looking back on his life, Vincent sighed as a storm of regret swept over him, despairing at the missed opportunities he had.
Shaking his head to clear away the depressing thoughts clouding his mind, he focused on his newly reawakened memories, searching for differences between his previous world, Earth, and Yore, the one he was currently residing in.
The first key difference he noted was the time period and technological advancement. From what he knew, he equated the world around him to be equivalent to that of the medieval period in his past life. The current state of human technology was limited to cold weapons, using waterwheels for power, and sails to traverse the seas.
The second was the size of the world itself. From what he could remember of his lessons in the academy, only two continents, the North and the South, existed, with a variety of islands scattered about the main landmasses. The Gryphon Kingdom was situated at the tip of the Northern Continent, with the Northwind Viscounty at the very top, sandwiched between the Northedge Forest on the South and West, the Darkedge Mountain Range which bordered the sea on the North, and the Barbarian Tribes on the East.
Another difference he noticed was the class system. For most of the nations on the Northern Continent, they were usually monarchies, such as Kingdoms or Empires. The Monarchs then appointed Nobles, such as Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Counts, Viscounts and Barons. These nobles would then be given a fief according to their rank, which they would rule over. These Nobles could form a hierarchy among themselves with those of higher rank lording over those with lower ranks. Under each noble, there would be Knights, those who had received formal knight training, Peasants, who served their lord and paid taxes, and Serfs, who were essentially slaves.
Finally, the key difference Vincent found was the existence of Spiritforce. Discovered centuries past, spiritforce allowed users to wield superhuman powers.Traditionally, spiritforce has awakened when a person stimulates their talent, either through life-and-death battles, or intensive training coupled with gargantuan talent.
After awakening their spiritforce, the spiritforce produced would be reddish-brown, commonly called Copper spiritforce. When a person utilises their spiritforce, their control over the spiritforce and the power of the spiritforce increases, causing their spiritforce to rise from the Low-Copper level to the Medium-Copper level, followed by the High-Copper Level.
Following that, spiritforce would undergo a fundamental change, adopting a white sheen, signifying Iron level spiritforce. Similarly, the spiritforce would progress from Low, to Medium, to High, before once again experiencing a qualitative change, turning silvery-grey, representing Silver spiritforce. After the various levels of Silver came Gold, with a dark gold colouring, and Radiant, with a bright gold sheen. Beyond Radiant, existed Saint, a mythical level unattainable to most, the stuff of legends, where one's spiritforce gained 'attributes' from its wielder.
Currently, due to his life of debauchery during his time at Arthia's academy, Vincent remained at the Medium-Copper level of spiritforce, having barely improved at all from when he first awakened his spiritforce at age 12. As such, he struggled to even manipulate his spiritforce to strengthen various parts of his body at will, while some of his peers had already managed to inject their spiritforce into their weapons, such as spears, axes and even bows before he left the academy to return home.
Silently lampooning to himself, Vincent wanted to break out into tears as he noticed how sorry his current state was. Cursing his past, addle-minded, cow brained self, he had to hold himself back with large amounts of willpower to prevent himself from slamming his skull against the wall in frustration.
Just as he settled back into his chair, he hardly even had time to breath out a sigh of relief before his door burst open.
Staring at the maidservant, who stood panting in his doorway, he nearly jumped in fright when she shouted, "Young...young master! The Lord's condition has abruptly declined! Sir Donovan sent me to tell you that he might not have much time left. The Lord has requested your presence!"
"Wh… What? I'll be right there!"
Within a minute, Vincent was striding through the halls of the Sutton residence, maidservant in tow, mouth set in a grim line.