Chapter two
Sunlight peered through the curtains and woke me up with a jolt, I jumped out of the bed frightened I patted myself down "Still alive, still human" I said in realization "Was it a dream?" I asked in relief. I looked around. It was my room… but, not really. I remembered everything with Sirach and after that but… everything before that feels sealed off. I know I had a life before that, I could remember everything about earth, but I can't remember what my life specifically was. "Cassius, are you awake yet?!" a young female voice called out. Unexpectedly, memories of my family or rather the family of this body, and this world surfaced. He lost his dad to what seems to be this kingdom's military when he was three and lived with his mom and big sister ever since in the virtual outskirts of the city, for 16 years since then.
This world is divided into over 250 kingdoms ruled by a… Queen and a Grand knight. The Queen rules over the government and law-making, while the Grand knight rules over the military and enforces the rules the queen makes, usually a couple but there have been cases in which they were just close friends.
Although, the known kingdoms are well over a fifty on the mainland and two-hundred smaller kingdoms at sea there are only ten main kingdoms known as the ten great dragons, and their grand knights all bearing insanely exaggerated titles and- "YO BONEHEAD YOU UP YET?!!!" His…or rather my sister screamed on the top of her lungs "Yeah, I'm up, I'll be right down" I replied on basic instinct. Yeah, they seem like good people no need to make them think they've lost their brother/son in addition to their husband/father.
I decided to get ready as fast as I could. I brushed my teeth in the mirror I looked in the mirror to see an athletic looking 19-year-old with dark black hair and red flame-coloured eyes staring back at me I had a distinct scar on my left cheek that matched with one on my hand that I got from playing with knives as a kid I was around 185cm. My bedroom was on the second floor so ran down the stairs at breakneck speed and jumped the last two steps which landed me right in front of my sister "Whoa, you want to take my head off, Mr. speed demon." She said irritated "Next time move out of the way turtle-breath" I replied mirroring her tone exactly. He… or well I really didn't hate my sister but we got on each other's nerve every three nanoseconds so we chose to avoid each other when we can and only come together if in the interest of our mother.
"Cassius, Victoria quit fighting you two." A mature woman's voice called out calmly. Speaking of the devil, "Fine, whatever" we reluctantly chorused. She was a mature woman in her early forties with long flowing brunette hair tied into a bun she had deep emerald green eyes that showed youth despite her age, she was around 160cm she had a relatively curvaceous figure hidden by a long cobalt flowing dress and a grey apron with a few food stains on it. My mother was a very popular cook in this part of the city and one of the only reasons why we were able to keep this house after my father died. And my sister was the near carbon copy of my mom the few differences were her eyes which were a coffee-brown and the darker shade of her blonde hair she wore a short black tank top with a navy-blue skirt that reached a few centimeters past her knees. She also had an apron because. In this world it is expected for a child to follow in the footsteps of their parents. Well career-wise at least. For example, my mother is a cook in her restaurant close to the center but still slightly at the edge of the city and as her only daughter my sister Victoria is expected to do the same. And my father was a knight in the military and I am expected to do the same. It helps to create more skilled professionals as they are trained from childhood and curb unemployment, it's not mandatory but when done otherwise society portrays you as a meritless, impractical fool. I kept on eating for a few more minutes savoring the taste of my mother's home-made food in pure bliss she really was one of the best.
We sat at the table in comparative silence as we ate until we were done and my sister left the house a few minutes after I put the dishes in the sink and put on a black jacket over a gray shirt and pants before deciding to head out as well after a few minutes of contemplation. I acted out of sheer instincts when I spoke to them and even if I didn't give anything away I'm ninety-five percent sure that any longer form of interaction would give me completely away.
I headed into the town square after breakfast, I tried to remember anything I could, and squeeze every ounce of knowledge about anything that came to mind whether useful or not, it was like writing a test in which the question was "with the aid of a diagram, write everything you know about everything INDETAILS" to put it short unbearably difficult. So far the only thing groundbreaking that differs from our world is… well a lot.
Firstly, magic exists, it's divided into six main branches which are fire, water, ground, wind, lightning, and healing. There were other branches but they were formed by mixing the essence of these six main branches for instance, mix water and ground magic and you get wood. Mix fire and ground you get magma but this requires a high level of mastery in both forms of magic and enough magical energy to basically cast two branches of magic at once it's basically a trade extreme power for incredible talent. One can then utilize this power in three paths. The warrior path which uses magic to boost physical attacks, the mage path which focuses on using powerful long-range spells to defeat opponents and the crafting path which uses magic to enhance magically compatible items. Not to mention that divine and demonic essences, which reminds me of what I saw on the game like random skill machine. I turned off and headed for a path which leads to the forest. As I continue bringing up what came to mind.
Next, came the ruling system, in order to prevent a tyrannical overlord-esque take over power is kept in both the hands of a queen and a grand knight the queens basically handle all the behind-a-desk jobs while the grand knight handles the military and any enforcement like organization. the kingdom where I lived, Draconea, was a member of the ten great dragons it was located in the heart of the mainland and the third most powerful in the main land the third dragon. I'm lucky this body's past owner was a nerd. In a world with barely any educational system, it's far better than being reincarnated into someone who lived under a rock their whole life.
Finally reaching the main gate. I walked onto the part set for pedestrians until I reached the guard post, "Halt!" the guard called in a deep gruff voice, he was covered head-to-toe in armor with two swords strapped to his left side, which told me one was a spare. "To where?" he asked politely but firmly, probably avoiding the scenario of offending the wrong person, he probably had decades of experience under his heavily armored belt. "To the forest outside the village, for firewood" I replied. He stepped aside and I walked through of course you can get firewood in the village but a lot of people chose to go outside the village to avoid paying for it.
I walked deeper into the forest until I reached a surely secluded place I set my sights a big sturdy tree "Target acquired." I said confidently. I pulled my fist back and focused my will power "FLAMING DRAGON PUUUNNCCHHH" I screamed at the top of my lungs and stopped my fist a millimeter away from the tree and unexpectedly… or rather expectedly no fire came out not even a spark. Hours passed and I was starting to doubt the existence of my abilities completely. Maybe it would come later… or maybe I should try to focus my will… that's what my instincts told me and they haven't led me astray yet. I closed my eyes and imagined my house… no the kingdom in ruins family dead, everyone slaughtered I was cornered in an alley by twenty deadly mercs I focused on my extremely limited knowledge of martial arts from questionable sources and swung my fist. In a split second I felt my body heat rising and when my punch connected on the first bulky merc. 'CRACK, CRASH' the tree snapped in half and fell, charred exactly where I had punched it. I opened my eyes to see. "So, my body heat rose enough to scorch it but no flames I focused again and punched kicked jumped and my body heat soared until 'WHOOSH' my fist burst into flames "Amazing" I said in pure unadulterated awe.
CHAPTER END