Chapter 1 - Prologue

As I cross the street I hear a loud screech, I twist my head violently to look, a truck? My world goes black.

I awaken to the sound of a piercing cry, where the hell am I? Maids rush around in an enclosed wooden interior, looking down, a woman lies bloody in crimson sheets. I get bobbed up and down comfortingly as I hear the cacophony of sounds and witness the utter mayhem. Not too long later I’m taken out of the chaotic room and brought through long hallway before being settled in a crib, I’m a baby?

3 years later, I trod through the hallways as a maid directs me by the hand. For the past three years I’ve mostly just learnt the language and practiced walking. There’s not much for a baby to do and I’ve basically been confined to my room, no parents in sight. While my mother certainly died at childbirth, I’m sure my father still lives, why else would I be living in such luxury, so I assume he’s someone of import. Moreover, I seem to have been transported either back in time, or to some other world with lacking technology, made apparent by the poor amenities. As I trudge along the unfamiliar hallways, in a quiet little voice I ask, “Lilian, where are we off to?”

She stops and crouches down to me, smiling she says, “Oh Agnes, you are finally going to see your father.”

My face twists as I fall into melancholy, I’m three yet my father hasn’t been to see me once, although I have been extraordinarily bored lately so I suppose something new to spice things up is appreciated. The maid doesn’t mind my expressions as she continues along. We arrive at a dining room, an intimidating man sits at the head of a long table. His hair black with silver streaks at the temples, a stern nose, and a clean-shaven face with a well-defined jawline, handsome but menacing. Three children sit at the table with him, a girl and a boy of about 10, and a younger boy of about 5. Everyone intently stares at me while the maid bows, “Master, I have brought Agnes.”

He focuses his gaze upon me, a shiver runs down my spine, he nods, saying, “Good, why don’t you join us, Agnes.”

I nervously readjust myself, feeling frightened by the uncalled for hostility in the young girl’s looks, what on earth did I do? I climb onto a seat next to the young girl, inciting her to weakly grimace as she shouts petulantly, “Father! I don’t want to sit next to a gross bastard.”

Wow, I’m a bastard? That certainly explains a bit. My father shifts his eyes to my half-sister, impassively saying, “Justine, don’t be rude, she’s my daughter as much as you are.”

You say that, but your expression says otherwise, Justine pouts as she swings her head away from me, as if looking at me will taint her. My father turns his head to my eldest half-brother, asking, “Edmond, how goes your sword training? I expect you have progressed further in the imperial sword art.”

Edmond nods his head vigorously, enthusiastically saying, “I have father, I’ve almost learnt the enhanced cut skill. You should’ve seen me when I fought Frederick, I kicked his ass!”

“Language,” my father says as he nods approvingly, a small, satisfied smile forming, continuing, “Very good, I have already enrolled you in the Farel academy, should you keep up your hard work you’ll certainly be attending next year.”

Our breakfast arrives, freshly baked pastries arrive on silver trays, the food looks delicious. Seeing everyone take their preferred pastry, I follow through, grabbing this fluffy puffball. I take a bite, relishing in the flavour, a divine treat for the tastebuds, incomparable to anything I’ve eaten in the last 3 years. After my father swallows down his bite, he looks at my younger half-brother with a stern frown, chastising, “Fabien, your tutor informed me that you have not been completing your required readings.”

Fabien fearlessly fights my father’s glare, earnestly replying, “Father, reading is so boring, I just want to fight with swords, why would I need to know how to read books, it’s dumb.”

Leaning back in his chair as he chuckles, amusedly saying, “Oh Fabien, the sword is as much about the word as it is the body. Many great sword masters sought out enlightenment through words, you would be wise to remember that.”

Fabien just keeps glaring back at father stupidly, clearly not taking his words to heart, or probably not even understanding them. Well, I would certainly be interested in reading so I timidly ask, “Father, may I make a request?”

He interestedly looks over at me, replying, “Of course Agnes.”

I sweetly reply, “If possible father, I believe I would benefit from learning to read and write.”

He frowns ever so slightly, saying, “You’re only three, what purpose would there be to learn reading at that age, I doubt you’d retain anything.”

I cough awkwardly, replying, “Ahm, father the fact I’m even asking for such a thing, likely means I’m capable.”

His head tilts ponderingly for a moment before he slowly nods in agreement, “Hmm, I suppose so, you are oddly well spoken for someone of your age, though I have certainly seen odder… Very well, you will share classes with Fabien, it’s not as if he’s using that time productively.”

A man runs into the room, saying breathlessly, “My lord, there is a matter the requires your immediate attention.”

My father sighs as he wipes his mouth with a handkerchief, “Ah, children, it appears I have matters to attend, chat amongst yourselves.”

He raises, revealing his height of at least 6 feet, he then strides out the room in long steps. When he leaves, Justine’s pout transforms into a scowl as she looks down on me, “You shouldn’t be allowed to share this table with us.”

My brows furrow in confusion as I ask simply, “Why?”

“Why?” She shouts, however her face turns to blankness as her thoughts move at a snail’s pace, she talks anyway, “Because, because you’re a disgrace, a complete…”

Edmond loudly interrupts, “Justine! Stop being annoying, can you be quiet for one minute? Sorry Agnes, Justine can be a bitch for no reason sometimes.”

I smile thankfully at Edmond as Justine’s face of surprise twists downwards in red embarrassment. Edmond kicks up from his seat, saying, “Now that you’re part of the family for real now, why don’t I show you around.”

I jump off my chair while saying “Thanks Edmond, I’d love that.”

“I’m coming too!” Fabien gleefully yells as he rushes over to Edmond, we leave Justine to glower all by her lonesome.

He shows me around the lavish interior of the noble estate, notably a meeting room with a long table and chairs, a ballroom with beautifully tiled floors, and a rather large library with dusty old books and an ancient librarian with a comically wrinkly face, “Ooo, can I look through some books?”

Edmond turns to me, gravely saying, “I’m not sure, make sure you ask father for permission.”

He concludes the tour outside in the garden with its tall hedges and colourful flowers growing in artistic arrangements. Gaping at the magnificent garden I excitedly say, “Wow, this garden is beautiful, it must’ve taken ages to grow.”

Edmond simply nods as we continue our paced stroll through the garden, Fabien dumbly running around behind us, jumping in and out of bushes. I take a closer look at Edmond, he’s charmingly handsome with his rather strong features and long light brown hair that flows freely, he’s quite fit for his age, his clothes struggling to contain his growing bulk. As we turn past a cute arrangement of flowers so that I can stop gawking, I ask in curiosity, “Our father said you were learning the imperial sword arts, what’s that?”

He looks down at me in surprise, saying, “I didn’t expect someone at your age to pay attention to that... well it’s a collection of skills most knights learn when they just start off, some houses have their own styles, but we aren’t like those martial houses, I’m just learning it to get into a martial academy.”

We walk onto a gravel path, our steps scrunching against the ground unpleasantly, I say, “Ohh, that sounds interesting, would I be able to go?”

He laughs heartily, “Haha of course Agnes, should you have the talent for it, although you seem rather smart for your age, maybe you’ll go to one of those fancy mage academies.”

I stop walking, my eyes widening in surprise as I ask heatedly, “Mage academy!? Magic is real?”

He looks at me weirdly, saying, “Agnes, don’t be such a dunce, of course it’s real, how do you think anything in world would work.”

Now I stare weirdly at him, stating, “Don’t assume I know such things, I’m still only three.”

His face lightens in realisation as he says, “Ah, of course I’m such a fool haha.”

Our stroll finishes up as we return to the entrance of the estate, Fabien runs past us like a lunatic, we both look at Fabien with a smile before Edmond departs while saying, “Well I’ve got some training to do, see you soon Agnes.”

“Can I learn?” I ask suddenly as I reach out for his arm to stop him from leaving.

Shaking his head he explains justifiably, “No, not yet, you’re too young, when you’re older I’ll show you the ropes.”

I pout as I let go of his arm, saying, “Ah ok, well bye.”

As I wander the residence with Fabien a middle-aged man approaches us, in long flowing grey robes, a long head of dark brown hair and a particularly intense stare, he looks at Fabien with a frown saying, “Ah lord Fabien, our classes start now.”

He stops running around and eyes the man aggressively, “Don’t wanna!”

The man drops his face into his hands resignedly and sighs, when he looks back up, he turns to me says, “And you must be miss Agnes, I heard from the viscount that you will be joining our classes, quite unusual for someone so young, but who am I to stop a curious mind.”

I nod timidly, saying, “Yes sir, it would be most appreciated.”

His head leans forward slightly as his gaze turns assessing, suddenly he jolts back saying, “Excellent, come right this way lord and miss.”

I start following, noticing that Fabien wasn’t coming along, I impolitely grab him by the arm and drag him along, “Fabien, come on!”

He obediently stamps along, we end up in a study of sorts, a desk with scrolls littered on top of it and an inkwell, bookshelves line the walls with a wide assortment of books ranging from bland historical books to obscure philosophical texts. He sits in his chair behind the desk as we climb up onto the chair across from him. Directly looking at me he says, “Let me introduce myself, I am Scholar Jean-Pierre, but you may call me teacher, I am an accomplished master of knowledge, so while swordsman master the sword, I master wisdom. Now I intend on teaching you how to read and write, should your father deem it wise, I may teach more, but that is for another time. I have graduated from the scholar’s guild in our dukedom and found employ under your father, so I am more than qualified to teach you child, hence! Let us get started.”

For the next few hours Jean-Pierre was rambling on, feeling bored, but curious about magic, I wait for him to finally take a breath, asking, “Teacher, Edmond mentioned a magic academy.”

He stops talking as he peers at me closely, saying, “Ah, you wish to become a mage? Well don’t get your hopes up, only 15% of people are eligible for practicing magic, and of those people, not many reach great heights. However, mages are still all grand people, wielding power of unfathomable depths, a magic academy is merely the first step on an incredibly long road.”

I frown slightly, a little downcast at my low odds but also excited at the idea of mages, I ask, “So how would I got about finding out if I have talent for magic and how would I get my hands on a technique?”

He smiles knowingly as he reclines back in his chair, “You would need a talent grader, your father doesn’t have one unfortunately, generally only mage families and the academies will have their hands on such an expensive artifact. As for a technique, well they are rather rare, mostly only obtainable from an academy, though a noble family may have one in their archives, a mage family would certainly have their own unique technique.”

I nod my head as I try to resume my study, but my thoughts drift to magic, as someone from a world of science, the notion of a system of magic existing fascinates me greatly, I should check out the library, but I’ll have to ask father first. After that lesson I hurry through the hallways until I reach my father’s study, an intimidating man in full armour walks out, a weakness comes over my knees as the man glances at me. He smiles while walking off, I enter the luxurious room seeing my father hunched over the desk while writing on parchment. Noticing my entrance, he looks up, a curious smile draws on his face, “And what brings you here Agnes?”

Deciding to be fully transparent, I directly ask, “Father can I enter the library?”

Without hesitation he responds, “No, you cannot Agnes.”

My brows furrow in confusion, “What, but why? It’s to further my learning.”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you Agnes, no means no, now begone, I have work to do!” His head droops as he resumes his work on his desk, preventing any further conversation. Why the hell is he being so unreasonable, is it because I’m a bastard? Well, I’ll try have Jean-Pierre convince him…

“Aaand, thththeee, swword,” suddenly Fabien just throws his book against the wall, raising from his seat he angrily shouts, “This book is dumb, dumb people read books because they aren’t strong enough to become heroes, like me, I’m going to become a hero, like Henri the Bulwark.”

Jean-Pierre has his usual facepalming moment, after he escapes his intellectual dismay, he turns to me saying, “At least we have your talent to offset your fool of a brother, I’m very impressed Agnes, only two months to properly read and write, not to mention you’re three years old who is so well spoken, a genius in the making. The Farel scholar’s guild would love to get their hands on you, I would be sure to write a glowing recommendation.”

I feel kind of bad for Jean-pierre, considering that my interests are not of the scholarly sort at all, I say, “I’m sorry teacher, my interests simply don’t align.”

He sighs, despondently says, “Hah, very well, I can only implore you, nothing more.”

“On a better note I managed to convince your father to let you have full access of the library,” he leans forward intently in his chair as his face grows expressive, heatedly arguing, “To think he’d even make it restricted at all is ridiculous, knowledge should be free to all!”

I nod vehemently, more to the good news than his political inclinations. Would having knowledge free to all be a good thing? I don’t think I know enough to speak freely on the matter, but I have read about some magical catastrophes due to knowledge getting into the wrong hands. One such example, was 400 years ago a peasant stumbled upon a necromancer’s tomb, and it didn’t take long for a quarter of the Austri empire to be overrun by undead, the necromancer apparently still lives today by the moniker ‘Lord of Death’, spooky. I have read many books on historical magical events, and it has frankly enamoured me in the prospect of becoming a mage. Mages learn to manipulate the mana of our world and can cause untold destruction should they become powerful enough. Being powerful isn’t what appeals to me though, it’s the mystery that seems to hide in magical endeavours, how mana is in all living beings, how mana can cause unique phenomena and how we can use magic to alter the physical state of our bodies, it just all seems too interesting.

Saying my goodbyes to Jean-Pierre, I walk through the long hallways unfortunately stumbling across Justine, she twists her body around comically to my steps, scowling, “What are you doing here?”

Coughing awkwardly as I try to silently walk around her, she scoffs at me as she walks off, what is her problem. Arriving at the library, I spot the old librarian slouching in his chair, somehow snoozing made apparent by his obnoxious snores. Before treading into the grand library, I decide to get some assistance, I poke the old man, his body seems to reactivate function as it shivers a bit before his eyes shoot open. The man looks angrily at me, but noticing my small form, his gaze softens as he asks, “And what does this little lady want?”

I consider the question, what do I want, what should I read about? Isn’t it obvious! Magic. Breaking from my pondering I cutely ask, “Mister, I would like to read magical texts, also do we have any mana cultivation techniques?”

The old librarian rubs his chin pondering, after a moment he says, “I’m not aware of any cultivation techniques in this library, however I can show you to some interesting magical texts, I’m just not quite sure you’ll be able to comprehend the content.”

“That’s for me to worry about,” I curtly reply.

Nodding the old librarian raises from his seat, his body creaking like a rusty metal as he stands. He directs me to a portion of the library where the books were titled on vaguely magical topics, the old librarian croaks, “I admit, the content here is rather superficial, we’re no mage family after all, you will learn some preliminary topics on magic, enjoy yourself child, not understanding is half the fun.”

I hear his slow steady steps grow quieter as I look through the shelf finding simple magical books titled, ‘Mana and it’s Working’, ‘A Mage’s Capabilities’, ‘Theory on When to Harvest Greenroot for Highest Yield’ and many other obscure topics vaguely magical related. I can’t seem to find any cultivation techniques, as that was within expectation, I decide to get reading, not like I have anything better to do.

3 months later, I’ve spent most my time in the library, most of the stuff I have learnt is rather useless or simply incomprehensible, I’ve almost finished most of the books in the magical section. I reach for a new book, this one archaic and torn, moreover it’s untitled so it could easily be overlooked, as I begin reading, I feel my heartbeat speed up, an uncontrollable smile creeping on my face. This is no theoretical text, this is a true magical technique.

‘Nameless Book’

The mortal form is weak and petty, easily toppled by the forces of nature, how does man transcend his original form? Through mana. Every being already contains mana within, however this passive mana is generally weak if we look at non-magical beings, humans a prime example. However if mana can be drawn into oneself, compressing it, then a non-magical being can grow beyond their base potential. Yet before man can manipulate mana, man must sense mana, a being must focus their mind through meditation to open their third eye and see the true form of the universe. Only beings with adequate magical potential will even have the ability to unlock your mind’s eye, yet if you obtain mana sense, magical cultivation will then be possible, this following mediation technique will unlock your mind’s eye should you have the potential then allow for future magical cultivation.

Translated by High mage Daniel Dimont in 454 Imperial

It’s 3880 right now, so this book was written quite some time ago. I intently read through the rest of the book, even though nightfall falls, I light up a nearby candle. Once I complete the book, I can’t help but feel palpable excitement at my future prospects, if I have the talent for magic who knows what I could accomplish! I follow through with the meditation technique, trying to pull in mana of my surroundings and form a mana pool in my body. Obviously, it didn’t work, but I must follow the routine to unlock my mana sense. When I finish my session of meditation, I notice it’s daytime already, feeling exhausted I rush to my room to get some sleep, hopefully teacher won’t be mad at me.

1 year later. My father invited me to his study to I am standing in front of his study as he discusses matters with some stranger. The door is currently open, so I unceremoniously listen in as an unknown gruffy voice says, “My lord, Duke Harold Farel has requested 1000 of our troops.”

My father pauses, then angrily says, “And why would that be? Is it the war?”

The unknown man replies, “Indeed, the war in the west seems to be straining the imperial army more than expected, so all northern dukes are expected to contribute at least 6000 troops.”

My father sighs, “If Duke Farel didn’t initiate that unnecessary war with the Duke of Val’hal, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Very well, I will send him a letter, don’t worry yourself over it Anton, dismissed.”

That scary man that I saw last year walks out, my father then yells out, “Agnes! Enter!”

Obliging I step it, he focuses his gaze on me intently, then suddenly says, “I’ve heard from Jean-Pierre that your performance has been well beyond expectations.”

I bow, robotically saying, “Thank you father.”

Nodding he says, “He says your astuteness is appropriate for a mage or a scholar should you lack the talent, hence, when you’re of age I will be sending you off to the dukedom of Tian, should you have the talent, you may enrol should you wish, I just want you to know that I will not be baring the costs of enrolment, you will need to be self-reliant.”

My face begins to fall as I feel rather distraught, I could read between the lines, he’s kicking me out when I’m 13, I respond, “But father, even though I’m a bastard I’m still your daughter, how could I afford schooling, Jean-Pierre mentioned the exorbitant costs of any academy, particularly magic academies.”

He waves his hand forward to direct me out, “That is not of my concern, the only reason you’re still here is due to your uncanny intelligence that Jean-Pierre has taken a liking to, I can’t afford funding a mage which isn’t legally inclined to me.”

Shouting in protest, “But!”

He roars back, “Enough! Now leave.”

I shuffle out sadly, my eyes slightly teary, what unnecessity cruelty, even though I reside in this house, I’ve never been truly part of it, no matter how accommodating Edmond it will mean nothing in the end. I sombrely drift over to my room to perform some cultivation. I heard from teacher that scholarships are common for talents, maybe I will be eligible.

It’s been a year of ceaseless meditation, and I’ve yet to feel anything, it’s rather disheartening thinking that I don’t have the talent for magic. I sit and perform meditation, however this session immediately feels different to my previous attempts, I seem to glimpse at something deeper, after a few minutes of focusing on that feeling my mind suddenly falls into a strange ecstasy as an underlying truth of relating reveals itself to me. I can ‘see’ mana, I feel a sort of energy around everything, I can sense the mana’s presence but not see it, like a sixth sense. I can’t help but laugh, this is it, I’m sure gaining mana sense at my age is rare, maybe I can achieve greatness even without my father’s support.