《Legacy of a Scholar》


 Prologue

    Who would¡¯ve guessed that Herold Trugle would have gone out like this. Herold was younger than he should¡¯ve been for this to happen, in his 60s, but time has a cruel way of throwing a curve ball at you. He had developed a disease from being in dusty old libraries and spell scroll storage facilities.


    This disease caused the organs to slowly eat themselves. First it was the pancreas and then came the gallbladder, on and on, until it started to affect the major organs. The worst one was the second to last, this is where Herold was now, the brain. It affected the brain, and once nearly complete it finally went to the heart.


    Funny enough it never touched the lungs, this disease made sure you knew you were dying until right before the end when you started to become feral. Herold was approaching that point; he could feel it.


    His thoughts were more muddled than they should be, and his desire to continue consciously fighting was disappearing.


    Suddenly, Herold started to fall, his legs wouldn¡¯t hold him anymore. Why he had been standing, he couldn¡¯t remember, all Harold remembered was his scholarly life and achievements leading up to the moment the disease was found in him.


    All Herold¡¯s life had been devoted to the study of magik. Whether it be old spells or new. Herold always tried to make them better. He could see from his studies that something was missing in the arcane symbols that someone constructed to make magik work. Herold was trying to devise an iteration of the arcane symbols that made the magik work the quickest and most natural.


    This seemed like something that should be easy, but, alas, Herold had been working on it throughout his entire career as a scholar and he still hadn¡¯t found the answer. Drawing the symbols was an exercise in concentration, each had to be drawn separately and held in the mind¡¯s eye separately just to activate magik. It was so unnecessarily difficult; he didn¡¯t know why people even decided used magik.


    However, something that Herold did figure out and reveal to the world was the use of less symbol magik. To create magik phenomenon that was extraordinary, one would have to create the diagram of individual symbols and hold it in their mind¡¯s eye while using another part of the mind to summon the intent of what you wanted to happen.


    Herold figured out that, instead of conjuring the full 12 symbol diagram, one can reduce the number to create lesser versions of the spells. The less symbols, the easier it was.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The one thing Herold managed to do was adapt his body to the feel of the substance of magik, ambient mana. Herold had asked around and figured out that no one else seemed to know how to do this. Not that it would help him much, Herold¡¯s mana stores were almost non-existent. The most Herold had been able to do was create a one symbol fingertip light, the Finger Light, he called it; not very intuitive he knew, but Herold knew he wasn¡¯t good at naming. He could only hold it for about a minute, but, nevertheless, it helped find his way in the dark.


    Herold had a pitiful mana storage in his body and the time it took to get it back was far longer than anyone else he knew. The one symbol fingertip light didn¡¯t last very long and the time until he could use it again was somewhere around 3 hours.


    The only other major discovery Herold found was the ability to strain the symbol. The easiest way to explain it was symbols were abstract concepts given life for a short time. They constantly fed on your mana to stay grounded in our reality. Herold figured out you can increase the amount of mana flow to them to increase the effect made by the symbol. However, too much and the symbol could explode, sometimes staying grounded long enough to cause physical harm.


    But the effects were awe-inspiring, to say the least. For one symbol constructs, one could funnel up to 400% normal mana consumption. Well, at least, for the fingertip light. Curse the gods for not giving Herold more mana to be able to work with, not that Herold believed in the gods.


    The numerous times Herold funneled 400% to the Finger Light caused it to shine so bright that Herold couldn¡¯t see without spots in his vision for a number of minutes. And the one time, only one time, Herold funneled more than 400% into it, it exploded, burned his finger and opposite arm, and set the small book storage on fire. Thankfully there were no books of real import in that storage.


    Herold got to see the world use less symbol magik for a long time before he became a relic in the eyes of the world. And then, after being a hermit for years on end, contracted this disease, he dubbed Page Mold.


    During his time as a hermit, all Herold did was study other topics. He studied war tactics, magik theory, arcane symbol delineation, arcane symbol swapping and replacement, firearms, and ways to expand mana storage in the body.


    Herold would like to say that he learned a lot about all the subjects, but besides war tactics and everything about firearms, there were just tidbits here and there to most of the others, especially magik theory, and all the arcane symbol topics. One thing that was a theory on expansion of mana storage was the use of crystalized mana storages from recently dead mammals. It was a brutal practice in theory, but, thankfully, as far as Herold knew, it was only a theory.


    Herold¡¯s life ended the day he got Page Mold. He gave up on everything except trying to live. And, in the end, it didn¡¯t even matter.


    Herold¡¯s ability to think disappeared right as his body lost the ability to move and he hit the ground. And his heart stopped, blessedly, from the quill, lying on his bedroom floor, as it pierced his eye and went into his brain. How it happened, Herold¡¯s brain couldn¡¯t even comprehend how it could be possible a quill could stand on end. That was Herold¡¯s last thought as he died.

 Prologue Part 2

    Herold never did believe in the afterlife, or godly entities, or anything of the sort, but something was different. Herold remembered not being able to think and a feral sense of mind consume him, and then pain, and then more pain, and then nothing¡­ Until now.


    Herold opened his eyes, or tried to, it was pitch black, until he remembered things¡­ He remembered things! He remembered everything! Everything in his life before now. Herold could think again.


    Herold tried to move his arm, and it responded to his will! He grasped at this face until he found that a piece of cloth had been tied around it. Herold yanked it off to see his ornate bedroom. Herold took stock of himself and found that he was wrapped in bandages. Herold took all of them off and found pristine unblemished white skin underneath; healthy young skin.


    Herold looked around for a mirror, couldn¡¯t find one, but found a shiny metal plate. He turned it over and saw a youthful face; maybe 12 or 13 years old. Herold was amazed at what was happening, but he didn¡¯t know how to describe what was happening. It was so unreal.


    Herold heard voices calling a name, someone¡¯s name, his name? ¡°Felix, Felix, is that you? Are you awake? Do you need something?¡±, someone yelled as they ran into the room. Herold looked at her and saw a middle-aged woman will graying tips in her hair and a lithe body in an expensive looking dress.


    Herold looked at her and she, practically, screamed, ¡°Felix, don¡¯t strain yourself. You¡¯re sick and need to lie down.¡±


    Herold hadn¡¯t realized that the room was dark, but it seemed that whoever this was couldn¡¯t see him clearly yet. Once she was up closer to him, Herold saw her turn sheet white.


    ¡°Felix, why have you taken your bandages off? You know that makes your wounds worse. I¡¯ve told you this. And why have you taken your blindfold off? You know your eyes can¡¯t take the light.¡±, she said, as she got closer. ¡°Wait, your skin¡­¡± she pulls my face closer to hers, ¡°Your eyes¡± ¡°Can you see?¡±


    Herold, no Felix, nodded his head.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°And your skin; And you¡¯re standing. Tell me everything that has happened.¡±


    Felix didn¡¯t see the harm in giving a brief version of things to this woman so he retold what he knew, or most of it, at least, ¡°I woke up suddenly, as from a nightmare, and found myself able to move and think again. Next thing I knew you were here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all you remember? What was the last thing you remember¡­ before you were¡­ like this?¡±, she asked.


    ¡°Nothing. I guess I have amnesia.¡±, Felix lied.


    ¡°Hmmm, okay. Let me inform you on what has happened since you became sick and some other important information. First off, I¡¯m your mother. My name is Emma Thorne and this is our house. The kingdom has been at war for years and you volunteered for service in the king¡¯s army. Ours is a small house, but a wealthy house. Your father, the earl, governs and owns this small village. His name is Francis Thorne and he has been an mediocre earl to this town, but people are not happy with him. There has been a rebellion in the surrounding area stirring and the war in the kingdom as well.¡±, my mother said.


    My mother took a deep breath and continued, ¡°Your father, for the good of the kingdom, sent you to the capital to enlist in the king¡¯s army. It was his duty to send someone, and as your brother, Arthur, is already a corporal in the king¡¯s army, it came down to you. As far as I know, you joined the army, got sick somehow, and was returned home. The army said they didn¡¯t want the other soldiers to get whatever you had contracted. You came home escorted by a servant of the king, blind and had black pustules over your entire body. There was even scarring on your skin where some had burst and burned you. Whatever it is we have never seen it before, nor has the kingdom. I brought you inside, as the servant left and gave you a bath and wrapped you in bandages. That was a little over a year ago. You¡¯ve been laying in this bed for that time with me praying to the gods and waiting on you.¡±


    My mother suddenly started crying, ¡°I gave up praying for the gods to save you in some way. It seemed hopeless and you were just getting worse. Your father gave up on you months ago of ever getting better. But here you are, healed and, seemingly, better than ever. It just seems you can¡¯t remember. That seems to be the only effect remaining.¡±


    She continued once her crying abated slightly, ¡°I, We, are just so glad that you are better.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, mother¡±, Felix said. ¡°If it¡¯s okay with you, can I walk around and try to fill in some blanks?¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course, honey, just don¡¯t stress your body too much. This is your first day walking again for over a year, you¡¯re bound to be weak.¡±, Emma responded.


    What his mother didn¡¯t know was that, as Herold was reincarnated, his body had a transformation back into optimal condition. But his mother didn¡¯t need to know that right now.


    ¡°Do we happen to have a library?¡±, Felix asked.

 Chapter 1

    Our house did, in fact, have a library; a large one. I started searching, specifically, for the history of this world, the year I¡¯m in, what world I¡¯m on, and what sort of technology they have here. I roamed around the library and found 36 different books on various topics. The most interesting ones were: History of Ascazar, The Disappearance of Magic, History of Technology of Ascazar, Modern Tactics of War, Ancient War Tactics, and Swords and Bows. The last one being the most uninteresting of the ones he picked up.


    Felix was disappointed that this world didn¡¯t have firearms. But, first thing being first, what was the year in this world called Ascazar? Felix flipped through the first couple pages of the book looking for a published-on date. ¡°No, no, no, no, no, yes. 1413. I wonder if that is this is the current year or not. For all I know this book could be 20 years old.¡±, Felix said to no one, as he was the only one in the library.


    Felix sat down at the table in the library and started to read. The Disappearance of Magic was an interesting one, and they didn¡¯t spell magik the same way. Well, that was something Felix would have to learn to accept.


    Apparently, in 502, magic just disappeared from the world. The central vein that this world¡¯s magic came from was, forcefully, sucked dry. After that time people were born without mana storage in their bodies. And something else happened, in conjunction, people started to forget about magic. That¡¯s why this book seemed incomplete; that was the only knowledge that the author knew, or remembered.


    Felix read the History of Ascazar next. Besides a lot of law and order, this book barely touched on the real history of Ascazar. ¡°War in 503¡­ Ended in 513¡­ Another war in 786¡­. Ended in 823¡­¡±, Felix whispered to himself. ¡°What were these wars trying to accomplish?¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°AHHH¡±, Felix screamed as he rustled his hair. ¡°Why can¡¯t these books be more specific?¡±


    ¡°Felix, is everything okay? You screamed and I thought maybe something was wrong.¡±, his mother said.


    ¡°No, mother, everything is okay, these books are just frustrating. They don¡¯t tell me what I want to know.¡±, Felix responded.


    ¡°Oh, okay. We can get more books for you if that is what you want. But, honey, when did you learn how to read books like that? You used to read fiction books that were designed for young adults, but these books are dry scholarly books. We have them because of the gifts people present to the earl from their studies. Plus, you were never really one for reading before. You were always the go out and live life sort of kid.¡±, his mother said.


    ¡°Oh¡­ really? Well, I guess, a second chance at life has me doing things a bit differently. Say, mother, have you read this book? There are some interesting things written here.¡±, Felix asked proffering his mother The Disappearance of Magic.


    Felix¡¯s mother reached out and took the book. She looked at it questioningly and shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t have the scholarly mind to read that even if I could understand it.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®if you could understand it¡¯?¡±, Felix asked.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s written using strange symbols in an alphabet wholly different from our own. Honestly, I thought you were joking when you asked me if I had read it.¡±, Felix¡¯s mother responds.


    ¡°Joking? You mean you can¡¯t even understand this? What does this word say?¡±


    Felix¡¯s mother looks at it and shakes her head, ¡°It is just lines and shapes to me. I don¡¯t know how you can understand it.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, okay. That¡¯s quite interesting. Thank you, mother. I¡¯ve got a lot more I want to read. I¡¯ll come down for dinner later, okay?¡±, Felix said.


    ¡°Yes sweetie, I¡¯ll send a servant when dinner is served. The servants said roasted boar today.¡±, his mother said as she closed the door.


    ¡°Interesting, I think it is time to learn some more about what I can do.¡±, Felix said excitedly.

 Chapter 2

    Felix sat at the table and focused on the world around him with his eyes closed. He reached out and tried to feel the ambient mana in the world, if there was any. Felix couldn¡¯t feel anything except cold heat all around him. It was comforting, like a hug. He opened his eyes and saw¡­ nothing. Well, nothing special that is, ¡°Wait, what is that?¡± Felix reached out and touched something in front of his body. Or he tried to. His hand went right through it. Then Felix willed it to come to him.


    It came to him and he felt¡­ better. Felix didn¡¯t know how to describe it. He just felt more whole. Felix tried a one symbol Finger Light and his finger shone vibrant white. As his mana started to drain he could feel energy leaving his body. Not by much, he must have a large mana storage.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ the stuff that is floating in the air. That¡¯s ambient mana then? I wonder what this world¡¯s magic system was¡­¡±, Felix pondered. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see how much I can get then.¡±


    Felix willed the other coagulations of mana he could see to come to him; And come they did. So much so that he felt like a dam had been opened. His body just kept absorbing more and more mana. When was his storage going to be full? Was he going to drain it dry? There was so much ambient mana in this world, and Felix¡¯s mana storage much be huge.


    Suddenly, Felix felt the mana coalescing behind his eyes. Then the burning started. His eyes felt like they were going to go up in flames any second. Felix suppressed a scream as the pain racked his eye sockets.


    Felix fell to the floor and curled up, thankfully the carpet here was thick. Even through all the pain, he didn¡¯t want his mother coming up here and checking on him.


    Time passed and the pain receded. When Felix could finally open his eyes again, everything was brighter, clearer, just overall crisper. Felix went over to one of the silver goblets that were decorations throughout the room and looked at his eyes. He couldn¡¯t remember what color his eyes were before, but now they were amethyst colored. And another strange thing happened, his hair had turned a deep crimson red. Felix swore that it was a brown before this. Felix hadn¡¯t seen a mirror, but a year without a haircut made one have long hair.


    Stolen story; please report.


    The other, and most important, thing that Felix noticed was that he understood mana now. He could feel the ebb and flow of it throughout things and what it could do; what its potential could be. It wasn¡¯t as though every particle of mana had an affinity it wanted to be, it was more that they all could become anything given enough convincing, almost like it was alive and waiting to be convinced.


    Felix found the most stubborn of particles floating in the air and convinced them to become a fingertip flame. Almost instantly it heeded his call and became flame. The feeling Felix was getting from that particle was that he was the master and what he said goes, no matter what.


    Hours went by and Felix tried one symbol, two symbol, all the way up to twelve symbol spells. Everything was easy. Felix found the reason why symbol magic was so hard in his old world. You needed a connecting line for the mana to flow through. Once all twelve symbols were connected the spell became more powerful and the mana cost substantially reduced.


    Felix tried to create spells and found that easy as well. Everything was easy. He just willed it and it happened. Felix was overjoyed, nothing had ever been this easy for him, especially when it concerned mana.


    Felix¡¯s mana storage, his mana pool, was shrinking. It wasn¡¯t that it was draining from usage, it was refilling fine in this world filled with mana, it was shrinking. It shrank until it became that of what he would suspect a ¡°normal¡± human child would possess.


    Maybe this was a side effect of his ability to understand the mana; Felix truly didn¡¯t know. Felix cast one last spell as his mana pool stabilized and told the mana to hide all books on magic from those who couldn¡¯t understand. His mana pool drained dry in an instant and his body got very weak, but a ripple was sent out as far as his eyes could see.


    The initial weakness didn¡¯t last long too long, but Felix wasn¡¯t sure what exactly he had done. He really needed to research more what he could do with mana in this world.


    Felix walked to the door and opened it just in time to hear his mother calling that dinner was prepared.


    ¡°What fortuitous timing.¡±, Felix mused to himself.


    A final thought came to Felix¡¯s mind as he walked to the dining hall, he wondered what it would be like if magic was released to the world, or even if it was. The mana around him responded excitedly and, without consent from him, the world changed in that moment.


    ¡°Alright something to remember, intent may, or does, cause initiation of magic. I¡¯ll have to figure that out.¡±, Felix said to himself.

 Chapter 3

    Felix arrived at the dining hall to see his mother, father, and all the servants and staff on the ground, seemingly in agony.


    As Herold was a scholar, in his previous life, Felix looked at this clinically. He supposed he should run over to his mother, but as he didn¡¯t really know her, as this was only the first day that he had met her, that maternal connection wasn¡¯t formed.


    Felix watched as the earl, his father, died from the pain, of whatever was happening, became too much for the earl¡¯s body to handle. Felix observed as the some in the room grew grotesque protrusions from their bodies and, in some of those, the protrusions exploded, while others just pulsed. His mother¡¯s long brown hair turned a shade of auburn and crystallized before her eyes exploded violently and something resembling crystals seemed to take their place.


    His mother¡¯s pain receded and her breathing seemed to stabilize after that. She looked up, wearily, and stared in Felix¡¯s direction. ¡°Felix, is that you? Why can¡¯t I see? Why does my hair make sound when I move?¡±, she asked.


    ¡°Your eyes are gone and have been replaced by something I can¡¯t explain just yet; and your hair changed color and, if I am guessing correctly, you¡¯ll be able to hear much better. If that¡¯s correct, you¡¯ll, we¡¯ll, have to work on filtering out sounds. You may still be able to see, but I¡¯ll need to inspect what it is your eyes are made of. I should be able to give you some information after that.¡±, Felix responded clinically.


    ¡°Okay, can you do that now? And why are you being so cold toward me? You were never like this before; you were always so nice. What have I ever done to you?¡±, Felix¡¯s mother asked dejectedly.


    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t realize, it must be because I just woke up. I feel so strange and I just don¡¯t know how to react to the world just yet.¡±, Felix responded. ¡°Let me come over and take a look at your eyes now.¡±


    Felix walked over to his mother and inspected her eyes, quickly figured out he was going to have to look into them further, as a preliminary inspection would not be enough.


    Felix cleared a portion of the massive table in the dining hall and instructed his mother to lay down, helping her to transition to laying.


    Felix told his mother, ¡°This will be potentially uncomfortable and I don¡¯t know how long it will take. But give me some time and I should be able to figure out how to get you to see again, or, at least, where to go from here.


    His mother laid down on the table, food moved all around her, and let her son look at her ¡°eyes¡±.


    Felix inspected his mother¡¯s eyes and started to prod at them until his mother told him to stop.


    ¡°Mom, I can¡¯t try to fix this if I can¡¯t do what I need to.¡±, Felix said knowing the sentiment might convince his mother.


    His mother whispered something Felix couldn¡¯t hear, but then acquiesced with a slight nod.


    Felix¡¯s gambit worked, calling his mother mom got her to listen quickly and without much effort. He¡¯d had to remember that the next time he needed something from her. It¡¯s not that he wanted to take advantage of her, it was just easier right now to get her to go along with it when he didn¡¯t know her that well. Felix thought about it, ¡°Hmmm, I guess that would be taking advantage of her.¡±, Felix said out loud accidentally.


    ¡°What was that?¡±, his mother asked.


    ¡°Oh, nothing. Let me get back to it.¡±


    Felix searched a little longer and found nothing else he could do without the proper tools, which he wasn¡¯t even sure this world had, and considering it would be invasive he wasn¡¯t sure his mother would approve. So, Felix moved on to the more magical side. Felix opened his eyes to the mana around him and looked at the eyes; they shone brightly in his mana vision, emitting mana profusely.


    ¡°Okay, I think I know what you can do to see.¡±, Felix said after a time of staring at the eyes. ¡°Just convince yourself that you can see and your sight should return.¡±


    Felix¡¯s mother, reluctantly, tried it and was amazed at how quickly she could perceive the world again. Surprisingly the first thing she said was, ¡°How could you know these things? You were never this type of kid, a brainy one I mean, and now you just know things. What has happened to my son?¡±


    Felix answered cautiously, ¡°I will tell you all about that in the future, I just need you to trust me for now. The first chance we get I will tell you everything.¡±


    His mother nodded her head solemnly and replied, ¡°So it¡¯s true¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡± She shook her head and smoothed her hair, ¡°Why is my vision shades of red?¡±, she asked.


    Felix answered her question, completely skipping over the other part, ¡°The objects that replaced your eyes are red so you are seeing like you were before, but with a bit of a change. Given some time, or some effort, or both you should be able to see just like you did before, maybe even a little better.¡±


    His mother nodded her head and concentrated feeling her vision change color a little bit. After a bit of time she gave up on it.


    Felix said scholarly, ¡°Give it some time, it will happen, this just happened to you and you probably need some time to adjust anyway. I suggest a nap in the meantime.¡±


    Felix¡¯s mother got up and walked toward the bedrooms not saying a word to Felix on her way.


    Felix could tell that if she could cry, she probably would be crying right now. She just realized she, definitively, lost her son and her eyes on the same day.


    Felix decided to take some time to check on the townsfolk to see if this had happened to them as well, or if it was just localized to this manor.


    Felix walked to the front door, which was larger than it needed to be, and opened it. A surviving servant ran up to try to open it for Felix, but was just a little too slow to get there. Felix turned around and asked the servant¡¯s name.


    ¡°My name is Roger. I am rank 2 number 4 servant. My duties around the house are cleaning, maintenance, and making sure everything is in stock for any scenario the earl desires.¡±, Roger stated.


    Felix¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Roger, I am now temporarily, contingent on performance, promoting you to rank 0 servant.¡±


    ¡°Sir? Rank 0?¡±, Roger asked respectfully.


    ¡°You will be my go-to servant when things involving me need to be done. I need you to promote someone to your old rank and update the rank to be only about keeping items, such as food and water, in stock. Then I need you to set up a triage area for all the potential injured that I bring back. Use your judgment on the best triage area.¡±


    ¡°Yeesss¡­ yes sir.¡±, Roger answered


    Felix left Roger and went to the town square.


    Once Felix arrived at the town square, 5 minutes later, he realized how much of a poor town this was. His family appeared wealthy, but compared to the townsfolk he was royally wealthy. If Felix was now the leader of this town, he wouldn¡¯t stand for that.


    Felix could see that a marketplace had been set up in the town¡¯s square and were just a mismatched jumble of food stalls put side by side. Felix was going to have to do something about the state of the town if he was going to get any loyalty out of his people.


    Felix could see from the food stalls, the vendor stalls, that not a lot of food was left out. Maybe it had been sold already, but, more likely, there hadn¡¯t been much there. After the spread he had seen on the dining hall¡¯s table, Felix was starting to see why the people barely tolerated his father.


    As his father was now dead, the burden came down to Felix to fix it now; Felix was the earl now. Felix thought more about how all this had fallen to him, when a soft voice tickled his brain.


    This voice was a soothing ¡°voice¡± that came to Felix halfway through the thought he had; it cooed to him to command the wood from the stall in front of him to come to him. Without thinking any further on it, Felix said, ¡°Come¡± and the ¡°core¡± of the wood came to him. It streamed into him and strengthened him to a degree he didn¡¯t think possible. The integrity of the stall disappeared as he took the ¡°core¡± from the wood. The wood turned to dust in front of his eyes and fell to the ground.


    Felix decided he was going to have to do some research on what he just did. It seemed to him, without any evidence besides what he had seen, that he had taken the integrity of the object away, the core, for lack of a better word. He had taken what had made the wood what made it wood away from it.


    Felix heard that same voice as before come to him and show him something. It was just a flash, but that flash contained worlds of information. Felix saw what the voice wanted him to do next.


    Felix obeyed the voice, he was hoping this wouldn¡¯t be an ongoing thing, it was like a siren¡¯s call, he just had to obey. Felix used the power he had just gained to summon a seed, a seed like no other, a seed of destiny and destruction. He forced it into a tree seed and planted it in the middle of the town square. It would grow feeding on the mana in the world until it became an adult, then it would use its roots to feed instead. This tree should provide protection and guidance to the town.


    The cooing voice receded and Felix was once again ¡°in control¡±. Felix had no idea how to describe what had just happened, but something he did realize is that he could make things happen, he could take something to use it for something else. More research would have to be done.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    The residents of the town, the ones who¡¯d recovered, came out to see the sprout in the ground and the son of the earl standing in the town square. It was an unlikely sight to see, unless there was a hanging, the people of the manor didn¡¯t come down off their manor property.


    Felix looked around at all the gathered people and said, ¡°I need you to gather everyone in this town square, there is something that I need to talk with you about.¡±


    Felix waited about 10 minutes for everyone to be assembled and asked one of the residents if that was everyone. He answered, ¡°Yes, that is everyone we could find, 5 are missing, and 4 are dead and grotesque looking.¡±


    Felix asked, ¡°What is your name?¡±


    The man responded, ¡°My name is Kob.¡±


    Felix nodded and said to the man, ¡°Nice to meet you Kob, I¡¯m Felix.¡± Then Felix turned to the gathered crowd projecting his voice, ¡°Nice to meet all of you. Some events have happened that will change this town. Henceforth I am changing the name of this town to Keitsu Village. Have any of you experienced something you can¡¯t explain? Anything at all. Don¡¯t worry about being reprimanded for your answer. I need to know.¡±


    Kob was the first to answer, ¡°Yes, I feel a warmth within my belly that wasn¡¯t there before, before it turned into an excruciating pain that racked my body; once it receded the warmth was there.¡± Kob turned to the other villagers gathered, ¡°Does that sum up anyone else¡¯s experience?¡±


    Nods and affirmatives were heard all throughout the town square.


    Felix nodded toward the assembled crowd and projected, ¡°Some events have happened that I want to make you aware of. First, this change you all felt was because of me. I did something, something I don¡¯t quite understand that changed something. That something is unknown to me, at this time, but I will be looking into it. Second, this change caused many to die within the manor, including the earl. As my elder brother is not here, the earlship falls to me. If any oppose that, please come to the manor and speak with me personally about it. Tertiarily, Keitsu Village is about to have some sweeping changes if you decide to keep me as earl. I know, normally, being an earl is just about family lineage, but I want to make this village more of a democracy than what it is. All of these changes will be for the betterment of the village. Workers will be needed, food will need gathered, and fields will need plowed, but I will help this village prosper. If you don¡¯t have to requisite knowledge, but would like to learn, give me time and I will find a teacher for you. I need to check in with my second, but he should know the information I need. If anyone is hurt and needs checking on, please follow me to the manor. If not, tomorrow I will be explaining more at the manor gates. Everyone is welcome. Food will be provided for those who are hungry. Now can anyone tell me the state of the village¡¯s food supply?¡±


    After Felix¡¯s speech he didn¡¯t expect the reception he received from them. Claps and comments were thrown about, half-heartedly, as the recent experience was most likely draining, but all of them positive. It seems that a lot of what he covered was received well enough that he received a positive outcome.


    Kob turned toward Felix and said, ¡°Coincidentally, I am in charge of the food stores of the village, and we are running low on most types of food.¡±


    Felix nodded and turned around to walk back to the manor. Someone in the crowd said, ¡°What is that sprout in the middle of the square?¡±


    Felix turned back around and said, ¡°That will be a symbol of the village in the future. It will grow swiftly and give us what we need.¡±


    That got murmurs from all around. Felix didn¡¯t know what else he could say so he turned around and walked back to the manor reminding those that wanted to come now, that they could.


    Felix arrived back at the manor with 10 others Kob and two other leaders and 7 injured villagers. The leaders consisted of Kob, one male, and one female. Felix looked at the two other leaders he didn¡¯t know and asked, ¡°What are your names and what do you do in this village?¡±


    The female was the first to answer, ¡°My name is Abigail, but I go by Abbi, and I am the gatherer of the town¡­ village, as you have renamed it, I want to talk about that decision, I think it¡¯s a bad one. Oh, I guess that¡¯s all I wanted to say on the matter.¡± Felix nodded, not seeming put out at all. Then Abbi continued, ¡°I have been having more and more trouble find herbs, vegetables, fruits, and general edible food in the surrounding forests. Something is going to have to be done soon or we will run out and have to rely solely on the farm to feed us. That is not a viable option with winter approaching.¡±


    Felix nodded and turned to the unknown male, ¡°And you?¡±


    ¡°I am Henry and I am the foreman of this village. Foreman is not the right term, because I am not skilled in construction, but I am the head of the workers in this village. And I also think changing the name of the town was a bad idea.¡± the unknown man, Henry, said.


    Felix nodded and gestured for him to continue, which he didn¡¯t, while also gesturing that they should follow him to the ballroom where Roger had decided, and told Felix when they arrived, to set up the triage area.


    When Felix, Kob, Henry, and Abbi arrived at the ballroom they saw a state-of-the-art triage set up. Felix had no idea that his family had the money like this. With the state of the village Felix would¡¯ve guessed they had less money than this. This triage was one of the most stocked and prepared triages he had ever seen; there was even a recovery pod and a doctor.


    The other villagers were getting checked on by the doctor as the doctor quickly went over the body trying to fix what was wrong. As far as the doctor could tell with most of the people, they just had bruises, bumps, and scrapes. But the doctor did admit that something was different about them. There was a certain vitality there that he had never known before.


    Felix found what the doctor said very interesting as, apparently, the doctor to sense mana. Maybe not see it, but sense it. That could be very helpful indeed. Felix nodded, ¡°Do what you can do.¡±, Felix told the doctor.


    After a while the doctor finished with all the assembled villagefolk and moved onto the leaders, who waited patiently.


    Felix gestured to Kob to be the first one to get checked. Kob sat down and the doctor looked into his eyes, checked his pulse, and every other various medical check he had performed on the others. Then the doctor pulled a stone out of his pocket and said, ¡°Young sir, if I may?¡±


    Felix nodded his assent and waited for the doctor to continue.


    The doctor continued, ¡°I, well my family, has had this stone in our family for many generations, since my great-great-great grandmother. This stone, so I¡¯ve been told, is to check to see if someone has an affinity for mana. The stones that were meant to check for the amount, the quality, or which affinity have been lost to time. Just so you know, this stone has never worked before so I don¡¯t know if it will even work, if this is what happened to everyone in the town, if it causes pain, or if anything else untoward may happen. That being said, I would like to try it on myself first. Is that okay with the young sir?¡±


    Felix answered, ¡°What is your name?¡±


    The doctor answered, ¡°My name is Jereme. I¡¯ve been with your family my whole life and I¡¯ve devoted myself to your well-being this whole time. Your amnesia must be bad if you don¡¯t remember me. Excuse me, I shouldn¡¯t have said that. I apologize young sir.¡±


    Felix looked at him questioningly, wondering what he thought he said wrong, and responded, ¡°Jereme, it is fine. I apologize that I do not remember you. My memory has been affected a lot more than you may think from what happened to me. I would like to see if this stone does what it is meant to though. You may proceed.¡±


    Jereme answered, ¡°Thank you, young sir, for your kindness. This man will place the stone near my abdomen and, if mana is present, it should start to shine.¡±


    Jereme held it near his navel and a dim shine began in the stone. ¡°Oh wow, I didn¡¯t think it would actually work.¡±, Jereme intoned. ¡°I was assuming it was a myth. It has been so long since mana has been present in this world.¡± Felix didn¡¯t correct him and tell him that, in fact, mana had been present, just the ability to sense, use, and store it wasn¡¯t possible. ¡°If it is okay with the young sir, I would like to use this on all the townsfolk.¡±


    Felix nodded and asked him to use it on Kob, Abbi, and Henry since they were already here. Jereme proceeded to use it on everyone but Felix and the stone glowed for all of them. Henry had the strongest glow, which probably meant he had the most mana, then Kob, and Abbi.


    ¡°Would you, also, like to see if you have mana young sir?¡±, Jereme, hesitantly, asked Felix.


    ¡°Oh, no thank you Jereme. I have something I need to be getting onto, but maybe in the future. For now, I would like you to check all the villagefolk and see if they have mana as well. I have a lot to do. Funerals to plan, and mothers to see, including my own.¡±, Felix responded.


    ¡°I will leave you four here, but I would like to see all of you, 4 days from now. I have a lot to do before I see you again. I implore you to come to the gathering at the front gates of the manor tomorrow though. If you need a servant to find your way out I can call for one, but if you know the way, or decide you want to use one of the guest suites to stay, feel free. I will talk with Roger about it. I will see all of you in 4 days, if not tomorrow.¡±, Felix concluded.


    Felix got nods of understanding from all four of them, knowing that they understood what to do and what they were expected to do, in the case of Jereme, he left to go find his mother.


    Felix started searching for his mother. He finally found her in the reading den in her bedroom.


    ¡°Mother, is everything okay?¡±, Felix asked, hesitantly.


    ¡°Felix, I need you to tell me what has happened. You haven¡¯t been completely honest with me, have you?¡±, his mother said and asked.


    ¡°No, mother, I have not. I have not been completely honest with you because the act of telling you to truth scares me. Who knows what may happen once I tell you. But I did say I would tell you and I will. But I need you not to tell anyone else, can you promise me that?¡±


    His mother, reluctantly, nodded and said, her voice starting to break, ¡°Okaayyy¡­ I will hear you out.¡±


    Felix started from the start, well from the start of waking up in this world, he planned to go backwards after telling her about his reincarnation. ¡°I woke up in the body of your son moments before you came into the room to check on the noise. I had just died, and if my guess is correct, your son had just died as well; his soul left and mine took its place. That¡¯s the hypothesis I have come to so far. I need to do more research to see if it is possible to bring him back or not, even at the cost of my own life. However, if I can manage to bring him back, he will be back like he was in the bed before, crippled and doomed, with no idea how to save him. Given enough time I might have been able to figure out what he had and how to cure it, but I won¡¯t be here for that. That means, it will be longer until he can come back and less likely that he will be the son you remember. Memories degrade over time when alive, and I¡¯d imagine as the soul drifts too. That being said, I couldn¡¯t even fathom what happens to them after they die.¡±


    Felix looked over at his mother and saw that she had started crying. Felix didn¡¯t know that it was even possible to cry with the type of eyes that she had. As he looked closer, he could see that, in fact, it wasn¡¯t possible; those weren¡¯t tears but something else. Felix picked one up and analyzed it; it was a Tear of Desolation. They were very rare and something that was hard to find back in his world. They made for great crafting material, but that being said, 50 to 60 were already present and he didn¡¯t want his mother crying forever, so he asked her, her thoughts.


    His mother responded slowly, crying all the while, ¡°I knew my son was gone once the earl, your father, had died. You had always clamped onto him so tightly, even though he was a bad influence for you. He was making you hate all the townsfolk all the more over time. How they were taking from the family and just general siphons on all the money and power that you could have had provided weren¡¯t they there. What he never seemed to teach you was that money and power is an illusion. Without the townsfolk, no money would come in, and there would be no power to rule. I hate to say this, but honestly, him dying would have been the best case for you¡­ if my son still lived. The hedonic lifestyle you enjoyed before getting sent to the king¡¯s army would have gotten you killed if the disease you came back with didn¡¯t¡­ did; it did, didn¡¯t it? My Felix is gone, and you have taken his place. I don¡¯t know what you are and I want my son back. Is it possible? You said it was possible.¡±


    Felix didn¡¯t flitch from the words, much harsher had been told to him in his previous life, but he responded, ¡°I believe it is possible, but it may take years, if not decades to bring him back, are you sure you want that? If so, I will do everything in my power to bring him back, no matter how long it takes out of my lifespan.¡±


    His mother, still crying, said, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I want. I want my son back. With his old hair color, this auburn frightens me. You¡¯re even more a stranger with that hair color.¡±


    Felix, saddened by the sudden realization that he had a death sentence now, replied, ¡°Okay, I will do what I can. I hope in the meantime that we can have an amicable relationship.¡±


    Felix turned around and left after saying that, hearing his mother say under her breath, ¡°Probably not.¡±