Chapter 5 - The General Learns About the Human Empire

  We had been on the road for a few days, traveling deeper into the Kingdom of Teresia to stay in the region of the Duchy of Evenhart and take refuge in my family's mansion. My hand was itg to grab a sword; I wao keep any on close to me for prote. Even though I was a child, I wanted something to use if we were attacked.

  Now that everything about my family's truth had been revealed, my mother allowed me to learn about this kingdom and this world. She didn’t wao open a history book and notice my family's name in it, as we are important and have held our position sihese nds were wild.

  I discovered that the Kingdom of Teresia is divided i Duchies, each ruled by a Duke. Above the Dukes are the frand Dukes, who have some blood retion to the royalty, and above these Grand Dukes is the Royal Family. I am from the Kingdom of Teresia, which borders the Kingdoms of Renesia and Nemesia. The names are simir because each kingdom was named in honor of the founding family. The Founding Emperor divided his empire into three kingdoms and hem after his daughters. The Founding Emperor didn’t want a majht for the throne when he died, so he divided the Empire before his death and gave it to his daughters.

  The old empire existed at least two millennia ago, so a lot has ged sihen. Each daughter defehe supremacy of her own species... It seems that the Emperor had many wives, and over time these species divided and occupied these kingdoms.

  The Kingdom of Teresia is the home of humans and where I live, governed by the Royal Family, the ‘Asalons,’ desdants of Teresia. Their surname remains Asalon, and the name of the kingdom is added at the end for the royal family.

  The Kingdom of Renesia is the home of demi-humans. From what I’ve heard, they are simir to humans. The difference is that demi-humans have more animalistic features. I didn’t quite uand what animalistic features meant, but my mother expihat their ears are those of the animal representing their tribe, and they also have a tail. It seems that the Emperor was a true rogue and to ‘seal the peace’ he took a wife from each tribe. So the Kingdom of Renesia is where all the demi-humans live.

  Part of me was trying to uand what a half-human, half-animal would look like, but since my mother told me it was just some features, I tried to imagine myself with cat ears.

  bined with my cat-like eyes, I would be uable i of iating with my mother.

  It was fun to unwind listening to their stories. The st kingdom is the most mysterious and reclusive.

  The Kingdom of Nemesia is the home of elves and high elves. I uood that elves are humans with pointed ears, and high elves are their purest form. It seems that when the Founding Emperor married a high elf, his half-human desdants had slightly less pointed ears. In the old empire, everyone was one people, so the pure elves became high elves to distinguish themselves. The division occurred due to some internal dispute at the time of the creation of the Kingdom of Nemesia. To seal this dispute, the royal family of Nemesia married the representatives of the high elves. Nowadays, it’s hard to notice the mix since elves and high elves have united into a single kingdom, but experts distinguish the thiess of an elf's ear tip in terms of ‘purity’... I don’t know why that matters; to me, they are all elves.

  Not everything is rosy. Even achieving pea the internal dispute, some high elves decided to tinue only ‘breeding’ among themselves. It seems that high elves have fewer emotions than normal elves, who are mixed with humans. In the end, the division was made betweewo types of elves. So, wheioning the Kingdom of Nemesia, it has to be said that it is the ‘home of elves and high elves,’ although elves with human ary use other elements that high elves ot.

  At the ter of all this, right on the border betweehree kingdoms, lies ‘Apsalon,’ a city within a rge circur wall. The city of Apsalon incorporates parts of each kingdom, and it is a pce where the diversity of species is evident. In Apsalon, you live on a street and have an elf or a demi-human with dog ears as your neighbor. To prevent disputes like those in the past, the three kingdoms created this city a few turies ago to symbolize their unity.

  All nobles from the kingdoms have houses there to show they agree with this ‘union,’ although each prefers to live in their main home in their respective regions. The city of Apsalon has no ruler and is sidered a ral region. The governance of this city is a partnership among the noble families inating from that pder the dominion of the Apsalon Magic Academy, where there are teachers of all races. One day, I will have to go to this Academy if I want to deeply learn about magic... I am also obligated to go due to the ‘atus I will receive when I am officially decred the heir.

  I ended up reag the part of my topic, "how did my father die?"... I had to ask. My mother told me that first, I had to uand that outside the three kingdoms, which together represent the old Founding Empire, there is the ‘Human Empire’ and the ‘Theocracy’ that live far from us on their ti.

  The Human Empire sists of the ‘true humans,’ who are humans without any affinity for mana, pletely blocked from it, making it impossible for them to produce a mage. It seems that the racial mix from millennia ago created a hybrid species, my species, which they call ‘false humans.’ We are born with a mana gem inside us. Even those who do not beages still have mana affinity; the only difference is they ot use it. However, even non-mages are somewhat more resilient than on humans, able to bee warriors and adventurers who ve, fag dungeons and iigating the famous ‘floating isnds’ that hold treasures from a civilizations.

  The ‘Theocracy’ is simir to the ‘Human Empire,’ with the difference being that it is a religious try. Both see us as a threat.

  Once I uood this, my mother expihat my father died in a war that took pce six years ago, where the Human Empire and the Theocracy were defeated by es and soldiers. Unfortunately, the Human Empire remains a problem, bang their agic with teology, numbers, and other inhumahings. My mother doesn’t like to talk about the Human Empire, so I didn’t delve muto it.

  My mother told me that my father died in a great battle where he, my uncle, and a few others killed the Human Emperor, who even ensved mages to help him in bat.

  With the Emperor dead, the Empire is undergoing its own crisis, while disputiories with a Theocracy that saw this as an opportunity to expand its influence, aiming to absorb the Human Empire into itself.

  As ex-General Icarus and now just Nathan, the son of Katherine, I am surprised to find myself embroiled in a great noble problem. It seems that the Dueeds to resolve its own dispute, and the Royal Family will not intervene, as it would be seen unfavorably by the other Dukes. It’s as if the Royal Family wants to favor its own bance of power by pg some kind of ‘pawn.’ Things in the kingdom operate uhe Royal Family’s rule, but the internal administration of families is their own responsibility. However, if the king orders something, everyone will obey because he is the absolute ruler.

  I wonder how powerful the human king of this kingdom must be. In my previous world, not even Ares dared to challehe ‘Empress’ Athena. Although he was the God of War, that title applied more to Athena. We could say that Ares was the God of Battles because if Atheered the war, it meant she had you in her hand and had already defeated you. Everyone feared Athena, especially when she expanded her Empire, ruling over humans. She was so powerful that not even Zeus dared to challenge her. The Gods were just one divine being; they wouldn’t survive a fight against Athena and her entire Empire with its vassal gods. That was the power the Goddess of Strategy had; she won the chess game by capturing all the pieces.

  In the end... I killed her and avenged myself...

  The only way to kill an emperor... was for me to bee one.

  The time of ruling is eneral Icarus, Emperor Icarus, or... Sn Icarus is dead. He died before I even came to this world. I killed the Sn Icarus within me when I destroyed my own divine essend became human again, without the powers of the gods, with only the Aura... and after that, I killed myself.

  “Are you okay, Nate?” my mother, who had been sleeping in the fro, asked.

  “I’m fine, just... thinking a little,” I replied.

  She got up and sat o me, sharing the b with me.

  “Don’t worry, my son, everything will be fine. I’m here with you and I will never leave you,” Katherine said, thinking I was worried about the Evenhart issue. But her words had the same effe dealing with the emotions I had inside me. I am not afraid of dealing with the nobility; I am afraid of losing my mother... I am afraid of falling bato the cycle that created General Icarus. I don’t want to be an avenger... I just want to be my good mother’s son.

  For that, I will need power! I am in this situation because I do not know how to use mana. The only way I ehing happens is to bee the most lethal on in this world. That is what I will do. From today on, I will unify the knowledge of both worlds... if anyone es after what is precious to me... they will feel the weight of fag a Sn. I will be the Sn of Mana.

  I made my promise: I will not bee aool again. However... I will be the on that will exterminate anyone who dares to touch my family. I won’t leave even the ashes of the fug bastard.

  ***

  We were getting further from the region of Flikthen, where I was born and raised alongside my mother in the vilge of Detthos.

  On the first m, I took my old wooden sword from the chest and began practig while we were camped. In the Spartan system known as the ‘Agoge,’ all boys from a certain age were taken from their homes... or the streets, as was my case. There, the training began, both physical aal, to build endurand fe the inner warrior. Unfortunately, a rge part of the training involved the use of Aura, which I had lost. It would be like a mage going to a world without mana; he might be a badass in his world, but without the fuel that gees his power, his teiques are useless.

  There’s no use pining.

  What I will do is relearn in this body to use the training given during the Agoge period before starting to use Aura, as this body does not have the capacity to withstand the physical regime I trained with using Aura.

  I will adapt all my teiques to the human standard and train my body to the peak that this world allows.

  “Do you like swords, Nathan?” Hugo asked, approag.

  It was hard to vihis guy to stop calling me young master, but in the end, it worked out.

  “I’ve been practig a bit since I was little...”

  Hugo ughed, and I uood why—I am a five-year-old child... of course, I am still little.

  “Would you like me to teach you some teiques? I am not a powerful mage, but I pensate for that with the sword. It's always good to know a bit of both, and your family... let’s say you will learn to use swords because of your status.”

  “I would love to train with you,” I said, putting a genuine smile on my face. It would be the first time I had a training partner in a long time.

  “Have you ever held a real sword?”

  “Yes, I have...”

  I’m not even ting my previous life; I’ve really held real swords in Clyde’s shop.

  "Hum... let's see then. I'll teach you some basics," he said, gng at the carriage and probably thinkier of it not to make noise and wake my mother. "Better not wake your mother; I would hate to get scolded by her..."

  You’re afraid of her too? I uand...

  Hugo and I moved a bit away from the carriage but stayed close enough to keep an eye on it.

  “Nathan, there are basidamentals reted to posture that you o know.”

  I looked at him, imagining what he was going to say. Holy, I didn’t care much; I already knew most of it. I just wao learandard teiques of this world and see if they were simir to mine.

  “Don’t worry, I learned some things from a on shop owner and have been training since... I was younger, by some figures in books.”

  Hugo scratched his head a bit.

  “Do you want to skip to the strikes then? Every boy loves that, but I’ll keep an eye on your posture and correct you ter. e on, give it your best.”

  Hugo pointed his sword at me and got into position while tossing a real sword to me to cat mid-air.

  As soon as I caught it and faced him as my oppo, images of my past fshed through my mind. I no longer had the muscle memory to help me or a developed body, but I could feel my soul screaming for this again.

  “I’m ing,” I said.

  ‘A warrior for a thousahs...’ I repeated the mantra in my mind that I learned in the Agoge.

  Advang towards Hugo, I had to raise my line of sight a bit to focus on his eyes; that’s how I liked to fight. I would stare at the oppo while paying attention to their eyes. The eyes are what betray humans in a fight.

  Unfortunately... I’m short and ’t reach his neck.

  Hugo parried in surprise, but my free fist automatically went to his stomach.

  “WHAT?” he excimed, startled by the blow, and dodged back.

  Damn child fists...

  I advanced, striking with my sword, and he defended by pushing his weight onto me, using a teique that smothers the oppo by leveraging the size difference. Knowing the dead end of being guided by an oppo with su advantage, I locked my sword bde with his and forcefully twisted it in the opposite dire. Hugo’s sword, which he ushing down to suffocate mine, went fully to the right, and I spun my body to strike him with the sword on the left.

  Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach because my arms were too short. Hugo jumped bad returned with his sword aimed straight at me. I lunged and tried to thrust the tip of my sword into his stomach, but as he moved to push my sword away, I brought the bde down towards... let’s just say if I were taller, it would have hit his stomach. Being short, I ended up aiming for his ‘dots.’

  His swlowed red, and he deflected mine, sending it flying from my hand.

  “Alright, kid... but what the fuck was that? If I hadn’t used mana, would I have lost my dick?”

  I stopped, feeling embarrassed fetting too carried away.

  “Sorry...”

  “Sorry? Sorry for what? That was terrifying, I broke out in a cold sweat... I still pn to have more kids and enjoy my toy. But that was impressive, just a bit dishonorable for all men...”

  I ended up sitting down, ughing. It was the first time I had versed with a training partner in a long time.

  “You scared me. What was that look? For a moment, I broke out in a cold sweat, feeling like you were fighting very seriously. Did your mother teach you to fight? Ihan a minute, I was dominated in the fight.”

  “My mother didn’t teach me to fight with swords; I didn’t even know she was a warrior.”

  “Your mother was a dangerous warrior. If she didn’t teach you to fight... who did you learn to fight like that from?”

  "With a God of War."

  Hugo burst into ughter.

  "You definitely have your father's pyful nature in you. Now I'm even more excited to take you to the old Sifu," he said.

  "Sifu?"

  "He's a monk who is with your family and was saved by yrandfather from the Human Empire. Maybe one day... I'll tell you the story of yrandfather and great-grandfather, but I'd better not risk getting scolded by your mother. You'll uand everything whe there."