*BOOM*
My ears rang continuously from the explosion of a mortar dangerously close to where I was taking cover.
Where am I? You might ask.
Currently, I'm being shot at by a bunch of bastards who can't hold a gun straight if their lives depended on it and suicide bombers. Yes, suicide bombers.
Nearly all of my convoy was wiped out due to the suicide bombers jumping off the cliffs to our side and blowing up our APCs and transport vehicles.
"*Khh* …vate. PRIVATE! Status Report!"
"Private First Class Ryan Willis reporting Sir! All of the 31st Battalion has been wiped out, survivors undetermined besides me, Sir! Requesting evacuation at my approximate location. LZ undetermined."
"Request for evac denied, Private! Those fuckers are equipped with FIM-92 Stingers, all air evac is out of the question. you must make your way out of that canyon and travel at least 900 meters opposite of where the convoy was travelling to, otherwise you'll either be caught by them or get caught up in the bombing!"
"…Understood."
I gave my confirmation, but it was useless, I was surrounded by terrorists on all 3 sides, with me facing a cliff so tall I couldn't even imagine climbing or scaling somehow.
Optimism had not always been a very prominent quality of mine, but god was it needed today.
There was no hope.
Peeking my head over the partially destroyed boulder I was sitting behind, I took hold of my AR and tried to see if I could perhaps take down a side where the enemies did not number too greatly, they were still very far off after all.
And just as I raised my head ever so slightly a bullet whistled right past my head. I was centimetres away from dying.
"Haa… Haa…"
Taking deep and steady breaths I tried to calm myself. There had to be something I could do.
Trying my chances, since I was going to be dead anyway if I sat there like a sitting duck, I tried dashing to my right, the opposite direction of where the convoy was going.
Perhaps due to the adrenaline, it was only now I realized I was having difficulty walking, let alone running, my ankle seemed injured.
The pain was, frankly, unbearable, like walking on a floor of rusty nails. However I grit my teeth and ignored it, to the point I felt light headed. All my training had not been for nothing.
Sprinting, I could hear the loud shouts of the terrorists signaling I had left my hiding spot. It was now or never, this was my only chance.
After sprinting for a few more seconds and hearing the gunshots coming from the distance, I saw a ray of light, my last hope. Ahead was a massive, no, massive was an understatement, it was essentially such a huge rock that it separated the expansive canyon into a small secondary path.
My path to salvation.
Or so I thought.
*Bang*
"Ghrr… Fuck!"
I growled as I looked at my chest. I had been hit. I had already dropped off my equipment so it would not slow me down.
Although stumbling, I made my way into the path, yet my legs didn't seem to listen to me any longer.
'Run.. RUN! I need to run, or else I'll have a fate worse than death, being captured as a POW.'
I commanded my legs but they did not seem to have any plans of listening, panting heavily I laid down on the ground using the huge rock as support.
Staring at my dog tags, I let out a bitter smile. They had never seemed so, sentimental, until now.
I took out my radio.
"…Haa.. This is.. Private Ryan.. khh.. please respond."
"Soldier, what's your location?!"
"Haa.. Dad, that's not important.. khh.. now… I'm dying."
The man I was talking to, my commander, and at the same time, my Father. I had joined the military to follow in his footsteps, to make my hard to please but kind and loving father proud.
It was my only wish in life, to see my father off with a smile on his face, as he looked proudly at his son. Yet that wish would be unfulfilled.
"Ryan? What do you mean? What happened?"
"I.. khh… got shot in the chest, I'm bleeding out dad.. those fuckers got me good."
"Don't worry Ryan, they're sending an evac soon! You're going to make this son, don't leave me now, stay on the radio."
"It's… grah… too late for rescue now… dad, listen to me… send the order through, carpet bomb this whole canyon, it's crawling with those bastards… for my sake… kill them."
I could feel my father's heavy heart as he answered, I knew he wished he could give his life so I could make it out safely.
"…I love you, son."
"I.. love you too… Dad."
Muffled cries were all I could hear from the radio, and with a stuttering voice he soon answered.
"Y-You've made me proud, Soldier."
"Haha… I'm proud of you too, Da-"
*BOOM*
Continuous explosions were heard on the other side of the radio, as the callous man, known as Commander Tom Willis, cried his heart out for the first time in front of his men.
And that is how my story should've ended.
God, it should've ended.
———
Pain. Indescribable pain. It felt as if my soul was
getting torn apart and put together again for ages and ages.
I didn't know if I truly spent an eternity experiencing that pain but, after a while, it was gone as if it had never existed in the first place. What came after that was simply void, drifting.
Until I found it. A light, a pathway, a chance.
I felt myself getting sucked towards that place.
———
"My head hurts like hell… huh?"
I slowly opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Normally what I would be expecting was either the familiar camo pattern of the military infirmary tents or the hot, scorching sun and cloudless sky of that god forsaken land I was deployed to.
No, what met my eyes was a finely decorated ceiling with what seemed to be gold engravings. Standing up, I slowly stumbled my way out of the, comfortable yet massive bed I was laying on.
'It really is like a royal bed… the hell?'
The bed was extravagant and lavish, to say the least.
Walking ahead, I felt as if everything had become a lot smaller.
It was then that it clicked in my mind, shouldn't I have been on the verge of death? How am I walking?
I pondered as I took a step back. It was odd, even if I had been in a coma, such injuries would have caused my body to become extremely malnourished, if not paralyzed.
Walking forward I carefully observed the details around the room, although it seemed normal, it would've been so if not for the fact that the decorations seemed like something out of medieval Europe and there were… no power outlets. How could there be no power outlets in this day and age?
Taking notice of a full-body mirror on the corner of the room, I walked towards it.
It was then that I felt my heart start speeding up.
"Who.. am I?"
Staring back at me from the mirror was not my auburn colored hair self with blue eyes and battle hardened face. What stared back at me was a youthful figure with a tall stature, around 190 centimetres, with long black hair and dull grey eyes that seemed to make anyone who looked into them entranced, or more so, mortified.
It was a handsome face, if not for the fact a small scar traced down from the upper lip to the lower lip/chin area.
'Is this my body? What? This doesn't make sense.'
It was then that it started coming back to me, the explosion I went through shouldn't have left anyone alive, no matter how well protected they were.
Which meant only one thing, I died, and somehow came back.
I was not an unintelligent person, if not for the fact was hellbent on following my father's footsteps, I could've joined one of the major intelligence agencies in my country. Yet, I couldn't make heads or tails of this situation.
I had come back to life, for some reason.
*Tak-Tak*
Someone knocked on my door, looking back at the door, I froze, what do I do? Pretend I'm still asleep or answer? Think, think!
"Come in."
Without hesitating any further I answered, it wouldn't benefit me even if I pretend I was asleep. Although I was a bit surprised at my voice, it was deep yet sounded.. profound.
Soon after I answered the door opened and what seemed to be an old man came in. I would of course consider it a normal sight had the man not been wearing a butler's attire.
"Good morning, Young Master Wyle, shall I tell the servants to prepare hot water and your breakfast?"
The man softly, yet clearly spoke after bowing down a bit.
'Hmm.. a bit odd, but still manageable.'
"Yes… please do so, uh…"
Fuck.
I don't know his name!
Sighing softly, the butler curtly replied.
"Young Master, you have to take care of your health, you need to keep in mind how much you drink, last night was too much, my name is Thomas, do you not remember?"
"A-aah, that's right, Thomas, sorry Thomas, yes, go ahead and prepare breakfast."
"Understood Young Master."
Soon after the butler left, a skull piercing headache took over me as I sprawled on the ground. It felt like someone was shoving something inside my brain.
Soon after it happened, I started remembering things, memories came to me as if they were always there.
That's right, I was… Wyle von Miradet, Young Master of the Miradet Barony located within the Solis Empire.
At least that's what those memories told me. My name is clearly Ryan Willis, so that must mean… this body possesses that name.
Wyle, from what my memories told me, meant deceit and trickery. An odd name for the sole child of a noble.
To be precise, it was now obvious to me I was not anywhere on Earth. At least not within the 'current' time period.
And that raised the question, why was I here?
'I'll leave the existential questions for later…'
Right now, my hunger was killing me.
"Alyssia."
Calling out loud to a maid whose name I somehow knew, I took a look at my body, I was dressed in pyjamas, which even I could assume were not exactly fitting attire to eat in, as the master of a Barony.
And I say master because, right now, my 'father' is dead, this body's father. From my memories it seems he died on the frontlines of war just 3 days ago. How ironic.
While I was thinking, a young girl soon came in, bowing slightly.
"How may I assist you, Young Master?"
"Please prepare a bath for me and something for me to wear."
"As you wish, my lord."
The maid said calmly, yet I could feel hints of feat from her, odd.
Soon after, 2 servants carrying a large wooden tub for bathing came in, it was filled with hot water.
The only thing that came to mind however was one thing. Strong. They were extremely strong. Carrying that large of a tub, filled with water to the brim and not spilling a single drop, it was inhuman strength.
After the 2 servants came in, 5 maids followed after with a large selection of clothes for me.
What I did not expect however was for all 5 maids to undress me and wash me in the tub. To them, it seemed completely normal, to me, it served as a huge embarrassment. Regardless, they were soon done and led me to pick a set of clothes. Out of the, wide, WIDE arrangement of clothes presented to me, I picked out what I could only describe as the most simple attire I could select.
Why did I choose that?
Simple. The other outfits were too fucking embarrassing for me. I mean, who in their right mind embeds rainbow gems in clothes? And sell it to people no less? Scam, I say, it's a scam.
Nevertheless, under the guidance of a young maid, I made my way into what I assumed was the dining room. Surprisingly, the food was really tasty and not so extravagant, unlike the clothes.
After satisfying my hunger, it was now time to properly think.
Based on my memories, today would be the day I officially inherit the Miradet Barony under a witness of the Royal Court, in simpler terms, I basically had to receive inheritance with the presence of a state official, that would make the succession legitimate.
Normally, this would be no matter for worry, however this was far from a normal matter. Wolves surrounded the Miradet Barony, greedy wolves who would devour this estate at a moment's notice. Namely, they were the Loville territory, under Baron Loville, Stonefist territory under Lord Stonefist, Clestine territory under Viscount Clestine and the Pyronum territory under Baron Pyronum.
Although normally I would have no idea how these nobility ranks go, this body knew very well.
All Nobles within the Solis Empire were ranked based on their family's history and war achievements, and thus of course, different ranks had different levels of power.
At the bottom were the Lords, honorary nobles that were promoted into 'nobility' for their outstanding war efforts. After Lords came Barons and Viscounts, Baron being the first legitimate noble title, while Viscount only possessed slightly superior power, which was essentially meagre compared to the other ranks. After Viscount is Count, the first rank that could be said to have real power. Even the execution of a knight is no problem if a Count orders it. After Count comes Marquiss, with a larger power yet not having true influence upon the Royal Family, and finally, Duke. Dukes were the peak of all Nobility, the pillars that support the Noble Faction. And the Solis Empire had only three of such Dukes, that possess power beyond common sense.
However all of this is not the only special thing about this world.
Etherium.
A special kind of energy that dominates this entire world, according to this body's memories. An energy that makes the impossible, possible. Cutting boulders with a simple slash, smashing mountains with your fists and turning a field into a sea of flames, all of it was possible with Etherium.
Etherium is divided into three main branches.
Mana. Aura. Spirit.
Although all three, in the end are still Etherium, what separates them is the way they are utilised and processed.
Those who use Mana utilise something called a Mana Core, located inside their skull, in order to shape mana to their will and cause supernatural phenomenons.
Aura users utilise something called Aura Channels, which are spread throughout their body to augment their physical abilities and fortitude, making them walking human tanks.
Spirit users… well, the common concept is that Spirit is something that originates from the Soul, a special kind of Etherium usage that makes it possible to influence the laws of causality and energy exchange.
In my world, in my past, it was a well known concept that energy, no matter the type cannot be created from nothing, it can only be transformed, although Spirit users can bend those laws and create energy, or rather create what they will from nothing, call upon phenomenons from nothing. At least that's what the theory is because no actual Spirit users have emerged for voluntary research for the past three hundred years. That's how rare they are.
Of course, with such superhuman tools in hand, Empires and Kingdoms have waged wars for centuries on end, and thus the status of what are called "Awakened" has risen to a point of absolute power.
And it is by these exact people that my soon to be Barony, is threatened, each of the territories surrounding me has their own trump card to use in a time of crisis, a powerful Awakened.
The Miradet Barony lost its only strong Awakened the day my father died. Thus, you could say I'm like a lamb waiting to be eaten by 4 hungry wolves.
"Lord, an important message has arrived!"
"Huh?"