"Raine."
"Wake up, Raine."
I felt nudging from two sets of hands. From the sounds of their voices, it seemed to be Cassandra and her twin, Casey. They weren't shaking too hard, so I guess I could just sleep here for a bit. Although I felt a bit bad for doing this to them, I had other important matters to attend to which requires sleep.
First, I was dying to test out one of the abilities received from Mitchell. I kept my eyes closed and focused on the darkness. More specifically, I focused on the innermost part of my eyelid. If I could look at a part of my body, the ability I received, 'Eye of Absolute Certainty', would be able to tell me the stats of myself. I continued to focus until a status window finally appeared within the darkness of my left eye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Raine Knightford]
Age: 4
Race: Human
Title: Genius Youngest Prince
Class:
Universe Mage- Rank 6
Light Mage- Rank 6
Earth Mage- Rank 6
Water Mage- Rank 8
Wind Mage- Rank 8
Fire Mage- Rank 8
Swordsman (dagger)- Rank F
Stats:
Strength- 2
Perception- 10
Endurance- 1
Charisma- 10+
Intelligence- 10+
Agility- 4
Luck- ∞
Mana Capacity- 1,100/1,100 mp
Skills
'War God's Perfect Arsenal'
'Perfect Causality'
'Time Barrier'
'Time Alter'
'Teleport'
'Eye of Absolute Certainty
'Eye of the Reader'
'Goddess' Charm'
'Double Aura'
'Spell Merge'
'Quick Learner'
'Perfect Memorization'
'Expanded Brain Capacity
Description: Reincarnated into this world as a prince while keeping his memories. He has a strong desire to protect what is close to him while also having the capability for sympathy toward the unfortunate. Favored by many.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was surprised to see how good my stats were this early on in the story. I was so excited seeing my skills that I nearly let out a yelp. This was the first time I was able to see just how strong I was. Of course, my physical abilities were garbage as I was only a child. However, the time I spent practicing magic and mana recovery paid off immensely. Obviously, at this stage, I couldn't compare myself to a second-class mage, but this is still impressive considering my age.
Besides that, the number of skills I have gained since my birth are insane! Novel accurate Raine could never! I wanted to take a bit of time to view some of my skills in more detail. I was curious about the 'Goddess' Charm' skill I had and was about to continue viewing the window until I heard a loud yell in my left ear.
"RAINE! WAKE UP!"
The loud voice rang out through my ear and I was forced to stand immediately. My ears were ringing and it felt as if my eardrums would burst. I held my left ear in pain and looked toward the source of the obnoxious noise in mild irritation. The source, Casey, immediately ran to hide behind Cassandra, who was folding her arms and glaring at me with a stern expression.
"Don't get mad at him, Raine. It's your own fault for not waking up the first time."
"Yeah, yeah. I understand." I sighed.
I did not understand. Why would you think it's a good idea to scream into a four-year-old's underdeveloped ear at the top of your lungs? The minds of young children will forever be a mystery to me. Although I was mildly irritated, I brushed it off.
"Anyway, what did you want?"
"The class has ended and we wanted to go to train our mana together!" Casey stepped in front of Cassandra and took the initiative to speak, "We went and spoke with father about it as you had said, and he agreed!"
"Ah, that's good." I had told the twins to ask the king for permission to train with me for the foreseeable future. If the twins could manage to double or even triple their mana capacity, it could increase their chances of survival greatly.
"Let's go then."
"All right!"
I passed the two and we started walking to the courtyard together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When we arrived at the courtyard, Everett was sitting in the center with his legs crossed and eyes closed. He looked completely different. His face, which was usually covered with scruff, was clean-shaven and his complexion was a lot brighter than usual. The dark bags below his eyes had almost completely disappeared and the wrinkles on his face were non-existent. His brown hair which was normally messy was combed and neatly pushed back, with one strand hanging out in front of his face. The first to speak on his drastic change was not me or Casey, but Cassandra.
"Wow! Mr. Everett, you look so handsome!"
Everett opened his closed eyelids to reveal a stunning pair of jade green iris'. Gah damn! I can see why so many women fell for this man, his beauty is blinding! I averted my gaze and took a deep breath. This might actually be a success.
"Heh, thanks, Cassandra. I really cleaned myself up yesterday."
Everett stood up and brushed the backside of his dark-blue coat. He clasped his hands together and energetically proclaimed, "Okay kids, let's get training underway."
Everett had me and the twins get into position and begin training our mana. While I was training mana, I decided to get used to using my 'Eye of Absolute Certainty' contained within my left eye. I looked throughout my surroundings for items to view. Small status windows appeared on nearly everything at a glance. I looked around for a bit before my eyes stopped at Liara and another maid observing from the corner. I decided to observe the stats of those two, starting with Liara.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Liara Cross]
Age: 34
Race: Human
Title: Lightning Flash
Class:
Fire Mage- Rank 4
Wind Mage- Rank 6
Swordsman (rapier)- Rank SSS
Stats:
Strength- 10
Perception- 8
Endurance- 10+
Charisma- 3
Intelligence- 6
Agility- 10+
Luck- 4
Mana Capacity- 130,500/130,500 mp
Skills
'Angel of the Flash'
'Lightning's Embrace'
'Lightning Flash Step'
'Semi Aura'
'Blitz'
'Quick Learner'
'Peirce'
'Aerodynamic'
'Quick Thinker'
Description: Trained and developed into a peak warrior from a young age. Liara passed the top of the school at Knightford Academy and became an adventurer with two others. After an accident, she quit being an adventurer and opted to become a royal servant. Favored by few.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Woah, she has the same 'Quick Learner' skill as me, that's neat. I admired Liara's incredible stats and numerous skills, she must have trained hard to get to this point. She seems to have mastered a few magic spells to help her fight.
I nodded to myself and looked at Esther, who was beside Liara.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Esther Rothschild]
Race: Demi-Human/ Demon
Age: 22
Title: Astaroth's Last
Class:
Light Mage- Rank 4
Dark Mage- Rank 3
Swordsman (dagger)- Rank S+
Stats:
Strength- 6
Perception- 10
Endurance- 4
Charisma- 9
Intelligence- 8
Agility- 10+
Luck- 1
Mana Capacity- 600/600 mp
Skills
'Death's Blade'
'Aura'
'Quick Step'
'Backstab'
'Cloak'
'Disguise'
Description: Born as a hybrid and the only child of the Astaroth house, she was loved by her father unconditionally. After her father was killed during the war, she was taken in at a young age by Stella Leviathan and grew up working for the castle as a royal maid. Favored by many.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, looks like Esther was never a generic maid after all. As it turns out, she was a demon hybrid who could rival a royal guard in terms of strength? You learn new things every day, but aren't her skills a bit characteristically murder-based?
A thought flashed within my mind, could Esther be involved with Stella's death? That shouldn't be possible, right? The author made it abundantly clear that the Azure Kingdom was responsible, they would never hire a half-demon. Wait, doesn't she have a disguise skill? She could easily pose as a human if she wanted! No no, didn't it say that she was saved by Stella? Why on earth would she want to kill her?
My mind flashed to the warm image of Esther that had always been a loyal caretaker for me. I shook my head, brushing the thought of her doing something like that completely.
I closed the status window, there was no point in worrying about stuff like that when I have Everett and Liara. Even if Esther were to attempt to assassinate Stella, she would be quickly dealt with. It wouldn't matter if she could theoretically "contend" with Liara because Everett could simply vaporize her.
I shook my head and continued scanning the yard for one more individual. My eyes finally set upon the newly reformed and rejuvenated Everett Maxon. I prepared myself to be absolutely crushed when his stats would undoubtedly be better than mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Everett Maxon]
Age:35
Title(s): The All-Rounder of Knightford
Class:
Light Mage- Rank 1
Wind Mage- Rank 1
Fire Mage- Rank 1
Water Mage- Rank 2
Earth Mage- Rank 4
Universe Mage- Rank 8
Swordsman (hands)- Rank B
Stats:
Strength- 6
Perception- 10+
Endurance- 7
Charisma- 8
Intelligence- 10
Agility- 8
Luck- 3
Mana Capacity- 3,300,000/3,300,000 (31,100,000) mp
Skills
'Reflect Impact'
'Impenetrable Shield'
'Impenetrable Armor'
"Full Restoration'
'Supreme Barrier'
'Layered Barrier'
'Merge Magic'
'Double Aura'
'Magic Eyes'
'Quick Learner'
'Boxing'
'Perfect Memorization'
Description: Born into the Maxon house, he was an incredible talent that eventually gained the title of S-rank adventurer. After losing a party member, he fell into despair and drove those closest to him away. This drove him deeper into despair and, lacking money, began taking jobs tutoring young mages of the future. Favored by few.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow! His stats were more incredible than I had anticipated! So many skills and magic classes too! I was especially impressed with his mana capacity, which managed to reach the millions! While I had already heard about his fabulous magic power, seeing it up close is even more impressive!
Although I hated him, I could not deny his qualifications and strength. I couldn't have asked for a stronger teacher to train me. I felt proud to have such strength backing me up, proudness that immediately vanished as I saw him flirting with a distant Liara.
Liara's receptiveness toward his attempts at flirtation has improved considerably compared to last time. I wondered if my interaction with her had anything to do with that. I thought about how my exchange could have possibly affected her attitude toward Everett, then it hit me. I opened my status window to check on my skills and sure enough, I found exactly what I was looking for.
Goddess' Charm: Your chance to persuade someone is exponentially higher than normal. Charisma boost +100.
Aww, I was hoping that it truly was because of my looks that people liked me. It seems that I had a skill that boosted my charisma, no doubt due to the author's meddling. Not that I mind, when I do end up finding the author, I'll just have to thank them.
Come to think of it, won't the author already know me if we do meet? I could end up talking to the author without even knowing, or worse, they could avoid me entirely! That wouldn't be a very nice thing to do to your only reader, so I doubt that will happen. In any case, I'll probably end up meeting them at the 'Geas Ceremony' since it would be more logical to become a noble in this world than a commoner.
I decided to leave it be for now. When I was about to look away, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my mana capacity had been increasing considerably faster than normal. What started as 1,000 just an hour ago increased to 1,150, then 1,300, then 1,500! It increased more and more as I kept training. By the end of the session, my magic power had already moved close to the ten-thousand range!
How in the fuck? I was absolutely flabbergasted by the drastic improvement in speed that I almost let my thoughts slip out. Everett was the first to notice my sudden change in magic power. As he turned away from Liara to look at the three of us, he let out a loud gasp.
"Woah, Young Prince! Your mana has increased tenfold in this session alone! Did something happen overnight?"
"Uhh, I don't think so."
I calmed myself down a bit. This has to be due to one of the skills I obtained. I browsed through the skills I had received until it finally dawned on me. It was the 'Quick Learner' skill that had been causing my mana to increase so much. But it wasn't only that skill that had been in use. 'Perfect Causality', a passive ability to increase the chances of success for anything I do. While by itself, it wouldn't have done much to increase my strength. However, if I had a skill that helped me grow, my luck would make it to where how much I improve would be increased. Not only that, but as I continue growing, causality would keep bending to increase my power.
If I were to keep growing in strength like this, I wouldn't need the full power of Everett and Liara, is what I would like to say, but I already knew better than anyone else…
"While this is an incredible development, Young Lord, if your magic capacity were to keep growing like this, you run the risk of a 'mana overload."
Ah yes, a 'mana overload'. It occurs when one's own body can no longer support their own magic and explode. It was mentioned a lot in the novel, mainly because Aaron was praised for never having one. Along with the endless buffs the author gave to Aaron, they also made it so that his body would never have trouble with his own power.
It'd be nice if I had that skill. I sighed in exasperation knowing what would happen as a result. As expected, Everett spoke once more, "Young Lord, unfortunately, you will be required to wear a mana inhibitor from now on."
"Ah, so that's how it is, I understand." I nodded at his words.
Everett opened his bag and pulled out a pair of black gloves with circles inscribed on them. He leaned down and gave the pair to me. When I held them in my hand, they quickly shrunk from that of a grown adult to the size of my tiny hands.
"Here it will grow with you as you age. Wearing this will hold back about 70% of your mana back. While you will not be able to use your full power, it will also prevent you from overloading." He looked at me with eyes full of sympathy. Sympathy huh, from this guy?
"I'm truly sorry for this, Young Lord. I know I promised to train your mana, but I just hadn't expected this much growth! This should be beyond humanly possible!"
Yeah, it's to be expected. I'm not the true protagonist of this novel, so it makes sense that I wouldn't be able to surpass Aaron at this age. Maybe this is how it's meant to be. Perhaps I'll just never grow to be stronger than him.
Bullshit! Ha, shitty plot! Do you really not know who I am? I'm the ultimate nobody, the greatest loser! I've thought of ways to exploit this situation many times while reading through the novel!
The truth behind mana inhibitors is that not only do they hold back your mana growth, but they absorb and store the magic power you release indefinitely. The reason behind its infinite storage is a loophole in this world's logic. Normally, a little inhibitor like this would only be able to hold so much due to its small size. However, it is because of its small size that the magic absorbed by the inhibitor gets continuously compressed into its small storage capacity. This results in a phenomenon that is known as the 'World Hole', also known as a black hole on earth.
However, the effects of a world hole and a black hole differ slightly. As opposed to sucking in whatever is in its path infinitely and growing larger, a world hole absorbs infinitely and remains the same size. And, unlike a black hole, whatever enters a world hole is capable of returning with the use of a little magic.
Ironically, the discovery of this incredible innovation is due to none other than the original Raine Knightford. Looking to maximize the usability of both his teleportation and time magic, he utilized his brief knowledge of scientific principles and experimented with mana inhibitors. After hours of work, he eventually made a breakthrough that resulted in the world hole. With his latest invention, he would later be able to utilize his full power in the fight against Aaron Leonhart. Of course, his magic power at that time had not been nearly enough to beat Aaron, as he had only cultivated his magic for a month.
I wonder just how strong I may become after a decade of cultivating? I might only be able to use 30% of my magic power, but as I gain more and more strength, and as my body becomes more resistant to my magic power, I can reabsorb and redistribute my lost mana. So, this is technically a win as I could essentially store infinite mana within these gloves.
I gleefully put the gloves on and immediately felt the strength flow out of my body and into the gloves. This resulted in the glove's capacity being filled up to halfway. Looks like I'll have to start releasing mana nonstop from now on to build up strength. Everett, totally oblivious to my happiness, began talking and explaining his history with mana inhibitors.
"When I was about Casey's age, I almost had my first mana overload. But, thankfully, my parents covered me with a mana-inhibiting coat, the same coat I wear today!"
He posed with his blue coat. Little does he know that if his parents had given him something as small as these gloves, he'd be an even stronger mage than he is today. I chuckled inward. Thanks, Everett. Thanks to you, I'll actually have a chance against that monster of a protagonist.
I felt my attitude toward Everett shift from discontent to mild acceptance. I used to think that he was simply some heartless playboy, but he turned out to be capable of change. I thanked him. For the first time, I thanked Everett. He nodded lightly.
Training had ended and the twins and I had begun getting ready to leave. Everett pulled me over the side for some advice on advancing toward Liara. He had been concerned that Liara would reject his advances, but I assured him that right now, apologies and comfort were in order.
"While she may have rejected you previously, the current you are more likely to invoke a sense of nostalgia within her. You have the air of a younger version of yourself, and this will give her a sense that she is with the you from the past. Do your best to make her feel the same security that you gave her during that time while keeping your advances slow."
Although I had just given him some basic information and advice, he had brought out a notepad and began jotting down my words. He was so invested in rekindling this lost relationship with Liara that my heart had nearly been moved. It made me feel great pride to know that I'm rehabilitating the future's scummiest individual.
I was permitted to leave after that exchange and I made my way back to my room. I no longer had any activities or hobbies I could participate in. I loved reading, but I had already devoured all of the knowledge within our palace's great library, a feat that took me my entire 4 years of life. I had a frail and small body, so physical activities were out of the question. It was technically the middle ages in this world, so there wasn't much technological development, at least on this continent.
"I miss my phone." I sighed.
I continued to my room where I spent the rest of the day and night training my mana, which would allow me to eventually succeed in making the 'world hole'.