Free Web NovelChapter 3: Completely Reborn
"I need to train my muscles, study, and socialize..." Priam murmured to himself while looking at the mirror in his room.
Looking at his reflection, he saw a young man with a delicate and androgynous appearance, marked by long silver hair that framed a face with fair skin and fine features. His eyes had a hypnotic, different color. One was light blue and the other violet. A striking detail of his anatomy was his long, pointed ears.
He was only 14 years old, and although he was a bit feminine and too similar to his mother, he was not at all unpleasant.
"Hmm... I look pretty handsome, don’t I? I hope the culture of the women in this world isn’t too different from my world."
Priam nodded and left the room, moving toward the exit of the main building of the clan where he lived.
Looking around, he saw that there were two large main buildings and half a dozen smaller ones around them. It was already past noon, but, unexpectedly, there were very few people on the enormous Ylisse clan property, giving the impression of an extremely deserted place.
This clan actually had sixteen side branches spread across the planet, while the main clan stayed at the center of everything, very far from where he lived. Priam and his family were just one of those side branches and lived in a simple countryside city.
Priam was an only child, and he and his mother lived in one of the two main buildings. In the other one lived a family of his father’s distant cousins.
Priam’s father was the leader of that branch. He was also a talented Alchemist who constantly worked for the main family. It was quite common for him to travel and spend many months away from home, leaving the entire branch under his wife’s command. Because of that, Priam barely had any memories of him. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
As for the current situation of his wife and son... even though they held the position and leadership of a very powerful clan in that city, they were currently living in misery. That was because the true leader of that branch of the clan hadn’t returned home for over five years.
No one knew whether he was alive or dead.
Priam’s mother had only entered the clan because of the marriage, and the people from the main clan didn’t even try to hide the contempt they felt toward her. Even after asking many times about her husband, she was never given an answer. Then, a little less than two years ago, the main clan stopped sending resources to her... only the other clan family living next door kept receiving them.
Because of that, she had to work as a hunter to support her side of the mansion and her son while waiting for her husband to return. She was an exceptional hunter and managed to keep everything going through sheer hard work.
But the blame for that situation was, in large part... Priam’s.
When Priam tried to become a Mage two years ago, the main clan sent people to evaluate him.
Even if he had only been mediocre, they still would’ve sent him resources. But... two years ago, he displayed unbelievably pathetic talent. His Jade Core wouldn’t condense, and he couldn’t even be called a Mage. So, they simply ignored him, since it wasn’t worth wasting resources on useless people.
Basically, on every living planet in this world, there were small, relatively rare treasures called Ether Crystals. Inside those crystals existed a gaseous essence called Ether, which was the key to becoming a Mage.
It wasn’t difficult to acquire some basic knowledge on how to form a Jade Core using Ether. That was because the six Sovereigns had spread that knowledge everywhere.
Yes, Priam now knew that those 6 evil stars that imprisoned him were actually the supreme rulers of the place where he lived.
After creating the proto Jade Core, a person needed to choose one Mage class among the six available and permanently solidify it, after choosing the class, in theory, it was impossible to change it.
But even though the old Priam had worked hard, and his mother had burned through all their savings to provide him with what he needed... he still couldn’t even achieve the bare minimum. He felt like a failure as a son, and there was almost nothing he could do to help his mother.
His mother was only an irrelevant Mage, below even the ordinary people in this city. Because of all this, the other clan members in the city chose to completely ignore them.
That was the savage world Priam lived in. If you aren’t a Mage or don’t possess real strength, you deserve nothing except crawling around to survive.
Since Priam was so deplorable, he became the target of ridicule throughout the city. Countless people mocked him all the time, but Priam always pretended not to care.
However, a few days ago, the son of another noble clan in the city, Othon, ridiculed Priam, saying that he wasn’t his father’s son, and that this was the reason the clan had abandoned them and even why his own father never came back.
Priam’s anger reached stratospheric levels. Othon was clearly insulting his mother, calling her unfaithful! His fury was so intense that he recklessly challenged his opponent to a duel.
However, his opponent was a level 2 Fighter Mage Acolyte, while he was practically an ordinary person. Basically, he was asking to be humiliated... and he succeeded.
Priam was beaten until he lost consciousness and nearly died. After being sent back home, the news caused him and his mother to become the target of even more ridicule throughout the city.
Fighter Mage was one of the six Mage classes. Meanwhile, the title Acolyte represented his Rank. There were three Mage Ranks: Acolyte, Disciple, and Master. Each Rank had nine power levels.
After breaking through the ninth level of the Master Rank, a Mage would ascend to a whole new realm. They would become known as a Sage.
Sages were legendary figures, impossible to find on Priam’s planet. There were rumors that they could fly, didn’t need to eat, sleep, or breathe. They controlled the sky, the land, and the elements, living for thousands upon thousands of years. They were true Gods.
...
After leaving his property, Priam headed toward the center of the city.
’I remember that the Alchemists Guild has a library with a lot of knowledge about herbs, besides a training field and plenty of people. Maybe I can complete the three daily missions there... or maybe I’ll find something even better along the way.’
Priam’s father was named Boey and was seen as an Alchemist God by the people of that small city. Having him as an inspiration, Priam tried to become an Alchemist in the past. But now, he definitely wouldn’t follow that path.
Along the road, there were many people; whenever they recognized Priam, they couldn’t help pointing at him behind his back.
Despite all that... Priam was actually feeling very, very excited and energetic inside.
’Sun! People! I can walk around freely... and now I can finally live!’
...
’Alright, even I am starting to think of myself as annoying. Yes, I can live. Good. Let’s focus on what matters from now on.’
Priam, who had lived two absurdly catastrophic lives and spent thousands of years as a slave, now felt like he was living in a dream, even though he only possessed what most people had always had.
Unfortunately, he knew he couldn’t relax. Those six figures certainly knew he had escaped, and they would hunt him down with all their strength.
’I need to get strong fast... but at the same time, I’m going to enjoy as much as I can. There must be so many magical and incredible things for me to experience! As for those six idiots... fuck them! What is this, some cliché moment from the animes I watched back on Earth? Live for vengeance? The hell I will! I hope I never see them again instead! Hahaha!’
Revenge against those six figures sounded good, but Priam couldn’t care less. Soon, those six figures completely vanished from his mind.
As he observed the people, Priam was fascinated. He saw men and women with all kinds of appearances. Some are very tall, short, with green, black, or red skin. Some looked like terrifying creatures, with horns, claws, and fur, very different from the humans of Earth. Others, however, were beautiful in a different kind of way. frёewebηovel.cѳm
It was a truly magical world, where every person was very different from one another. Besides that, the architecture looked like a mix between Earth’s medieval era and magical elements everywhere. Every single place Priam looked awakened curiosity and the urge to stop and study.
He had always been curious and loved studying back when he was James. Now, he felt like a kid in a candy store.
"?"
At that moment, his path was suddenly blocked by a group of people.
"So it’s really you, Priam? Did you get beaten so badly that you can’t even recognize your own mother anymore? Then how are you so excited that you’re running around outside today?"
Standing in front of Priam was a sixteen-year-old teenager wearing flashy clothes and mocking him, accompanied by two guards.
Priam raised his eyes. It was Othon.
He was standing right in the middle of the street; if Priam wanted to pass, he would have to go through him.
If it were the old Priam, he would’ve turned around and gone back home. But the current Priam looked at Othon, shook his head, and calmly said: "Move aside. My time is far too valuable to waste on you."
"Hahaha..." The young man and the guards burst into loud laughter.
Othon’s expression changed before he mocked Priam once again. "Looks like you don’t remember the lesson I taught you last time! If you want to get beaten half to death again, then let’s fight in the magic arena."
Priam shook his head. He truly didn’t want to waste time with this kind of person.
’Fuck! I just left one cliché behind, and another one comes knocking on my door! I’m out!’
Priam thought and lightly frowned. He glanced to the side and turned around, ready to take a long detour, but...
"Othon, you’re the one asking for it! Who do you think you are to dare threaten my Cousin?"
Coming from behind him, a loud female voice echoed out, making him stop in his tracks.
’Fuck...’ Priam turned around.
The person who had arrived was an intimidating and eye-catching young woman, marked by deep ebony skin, long black hair, and hypnotizing golden eyes. Despite being only fourteen years old, she possessed a colossal height of over two meters and an imposing figure, adorned with a pair of reddish horns protruding from her forehead.
"Flaris, this has nothing to do with you! You’d better not interfere!"
When Othon saw Flaris, all he could do was act tough despite being weaker. Flaris was also an heir of the Ylisse clan, being part demon on her other side.
But she was the complete opposite of Priam and possessed above-average talent. She was the same age as him and was a fifth-level Physical Mage Acolyte. Even at such a young age, few people in the entire city were as strong as her.
On top of that, she had inherited the innate strength of her demonic race along with the abilities of the Vanculari race, which meant she possessed the ability to fight even figures of higher levels, much less someone weaker than herself.
"Cousin, I heard that bastard Othon beat you up. How about I help you vent your anger?" Flaris looked at Priam, and her expression turned indignant.
Priam looked at the imposing figure before him and felt a comforting warmth in his heart. His cousin was the only person besides his mother in that city who truly cared about him.
’How can I call myself a man if I run away now? Damn... now I’m obligated to look cool...’ Priam snorted, but internally he felt somewhat excited.
These two had always gotten along very well since childhood. The two clan families also used to get along in the past. But when Priam’s father disappeared, and later Priam proved himself absurdly pathetic, the other side of the family began ignoring him, along with his mother.
That other side of the family received resources from the main clan, but chose to leave Priam and his mother in complete misery. As for Flaris, even while showing great talent as Priam became an insect in comparison, she never treated him badly and tried to protect him as much as possible.
On the other hand, the old Priam kept avoiding her, ashamed because he felt bad about being taken care of like that.
Priam smiled lightly. "No, thanks. My enemies are something I’ll deal with myself. Just don’t worry about it."
Hearing Priam say that, Flaris bit her lips, certain that he was still worried about his own image.
"Come on, take a walk with me," Priam said while lightly gesturing to her, and the two started walking away.
She sighed and followed him, walking by his side.
Seeing that the two of them considered him insignificant, Othon couldn’t help but curse furiously: "Priam, you little bastard! If you’ve got guts, fight me in a duel!"
They had only taken a few steps when Othon said that, making them stop. Priam slowly turned his head.
"You want to duel me?" Priam’s voice was extremely calm.
Internally, however, he was quite nervous. He had never fought in his past lives and, in this life, he also never received proper training. But... for some reason, he felt immense confidence in himself at that moment.
Othon suddenly became tense. Somehow, he felt that today’s Priam was a little different. But his words had already been spoken, so if he acted like a coward now, he would become a laughingstock throughout the entire city.
Besides, he was already used to intimidating Priam over and over again. So, relying on those experiences, he ignored the trace of fear that had appeared in his heart.
"Not bad, you actually dare accept the duel?" Othon mocked loudly.
Priam snorted. "I already said my time is valuable before, right? Why would I accept dueling you for nothing? What are you betting?"
"Bet with you? Haha, you and your mother can barely feed yourselves, so what are you going to use as a bet? Want to use your family property or... maybe you want to become my slave?" Othon mocked coldly.
However, what he failed to notice was the faint smile appearing at the corner of Priam’s mouth. He turned toward Flaris. "Cousin, could you lend me your sword?"
"Take it." She didn’t hesitate and handed her short-bladed sword to him.
Priam nodded and silently engraved that favor into his heart. Then, turning toward Othon, he said, "This sword isn’t top quality, but it’s still worth twelve thousand black gold coins. For today, I’ll count it as six thousand black gold coins. If you win, you can keep the sword, but if you lose, you’ll have to give me six thousand black gold coins. What do you think?"
Othon’s heart trembled. Flaris’s sword was made from the highest quality demonic steel and forged by a master. It was definitely worth at least twelve thousand black gold coins.
Today, that idiot Priam had decided to use something like that as a bet; Othon was already laughing joyfully inside.
He mocked once more: "I don’t know... what if someone loses and backs out of the bet?"
"Don’t worry. I’ll guarantee it." Flaris spoke seriously.
"Great, then let’s head to the magic arena and sign the contract." Othon couldn’t contain his excitement as he spoke enthusiastically.
Priam’s face remained calm; however, internally, his nervousness was intense.
’Seems like I can’t back down or run away. Well, cliché it is.’
On the other side, Flaris was internally shocked because she sensed an extremely abnormal fluctuation coming from her cousin, whom she had known since childhood. She had never noticed anything like this from him before.
Thus, the three of them walked directly toward the magic arena on the outskirts of the city.
