“… I won’t stand back.”
“Br-brother.”
“That bastard, I will never stand down!”
Alf ruffled his hair and mumbled.
He had never been beaten by the Count. It was probably because his father wasn’t interested, but that was still good.
No one had ever hit him. That was the source of Alf’s confidence.
The boy that Jamie Welton knocked down.
And he couldn’t stand it.
Fortunately, the disgrace he suffered today was invisible to others, but it still crushed his pride.
‘I need stronger magic. Magic that makes him beg for his life.’
His current amount of magic was impossible for it.
It was a fact he found out after suffering under Jamie.
Although he was younger than him, he was in 4th class.
‘Damn it. Had I known that, I wouldn’t have approached him that way… but a wizard in the Welton family?’
He couldn’t understand it. Weren’t the Weltons swordsmen?
Count Welton was the only Sword Master in the kingdom. The previous ones were the same too.
However, from such a family, a magician was born. And not just any ordinary magician, but a 4th class magician at the age of 7.
‘genius.’
Alf was praised as a genius when he was growing up.
At the age of 8, he became 1st class, and by the age of 9, he reached 2nd class, and just at the 13th year, he entered the 3rd class.
Considering that ordinary people reach 3rd class at the adult age, it was regarded as pure talent.
But Jamie was in 4th class at the age of 7.
It was shocking that a child of the sword family learnt magic at that young age. Alf’s head couldn’t comprehend it.
‘I can’t forgive him.’
His hands were trembling.
The greatest magician family in the Seldam Kingdom had to always be the Simon family.
It was unacceptable to lose that to a sword-oriented family.
‘Right. This is unacceptable.’
Jamie’s talent had to be broken.
So that he can never use magic again.
He was careless before. And if he didn’t act now, he would get pushed back, so he should prepare thoroughly and subdue that child.
‘Let’s go to my father’s office.’
The great magician, Count Simon, who was known to be 7th class but actually reached 8th class, had lots of magic artefacts.
4th class. At his age, it was a great level, but on the level of broader sense, it was nothing.
Alf smiled.
The two boys who were following him gulped.
“B-brother?”
“Everything’s fine, right?”
“Yes. I am alright.”
All that was left was revenge.
It was then.
“Brother.”
A familiar voice.
The two boys flinched at the owner of the voice.
Alf looked at the source.
“What are you doing?”
“My older brother is hurt. How can his younger one be quiet?”
Count Simon’s second son and Alf’s only younger brother.
Lenon walked over and smiled.
He handed a red stone with a bird engraved on it in a gold casing.
“This will do,”
“… where did you get it from?”
“Get that Welton jerk with this.”
Alf wondered how his younger brother got it but still accepted it.
“Haha… hahaha!”
Alf burst into laughter as he looked at the red stone in his hand.
The bird’s eyes began to glow.
Late at night.
A carriage entered the Regen lord’s mansion.
The guards identified the owner and sent him in.
Count Simon looked at the stalled carriage with crossed arms.
As the carriage door opened, his lips turned into a smile.
It was shocking that he, who always had a cold face, showed emotions.
Count Simon had a great interest in the carriage’s owner.
He was bound to be.
“It’s been a while, Count Welton.”
“Same here. The Count is out to greet me? Maybe the sun will rise in the west.”
It was Count Welton who got off the carriage.
He was one of the few people that Count Simon liked.
With a smile on their faces, the two hugged each other lightly.
“How are you?”
“I have been well. Let’s head in.”
They entered Count Simon’s office.
“Did the ball go well?”
“The same as always.”
The ball was an annual event for the unity of the eastern nobles. There was nothing special about it.
Count Welton knew what it meant, so he didn’t ask anymore.
“By the way, I saw your son.”
“How was he?”
Count Welton’s expression changed at the word ‘son’.
“I see that you aren’t blind to your son.”
“Haha.”
“You don’t even deny it.”
“Well, they are the reason I live.”
The Count smiled.
“I am jealous. How affectionate you are.”
“Is it the same for you?”
“It is the Simon bloodline way of life. Anyway, we don’t need to talk about that. It is a waste of time.”
As he dismissed family affairs as a waste of time, it showed how meaningless family was to him.
“Your son, he’s amazing. No, not just that, he is shocking.”
He was expressionless, and he didn’t show it, but the moment he saw Jamie, a storm raged within Simon.
“I have never seen, maybe no one did, a human with such a talent.”
“You are talking the same as Marquess Linmel.”
“Hm? Has the Marquess seen Jamie as well?”
Count Simon knew Marquess Linmel too.
Officially, he was the only 8th class magician in the Seldam Kingdom.
“I’ve known about Jamie’s talents for so long, but I didn’t expect him to be that great. So I asked Marquess Linmel. I would’ve been grateful if he walked the path of the sword, but if he is gifted in magic, becoming a magician will be helpful for him and the world.”
“He is exceptional.”
“Wha-the Marquess said that.”
“Not just that.”
Count Simon agreed.
Count Welton grinned as both people were saying the same thing. Maybe the thoughts of the magicians who reached the heights were the same?
“Jamie is an undisputed genius. He will develop his talents on his own, and he will rise to higher levels on his own and challenge the 9th class which only existed in legends.”
9th class, the supreme state, which is believed to be unattainable by humans.
Count Simon, whose pride reached the sky, was saying such stuff.
Marquess Linmel said the same thing.
Did Jamie really possess such a talent?
“I am jealous that he was born with greater talent than me, but on the other hand, I want to see him grow.”
Count Simon spoke his honest feelings.
“How far would the power of a supreme magician go?”
“Count?”
“We humans are so weak. Although we achieved a great civilization, we are insignificant compared to other monsters. Fortunately, there were Sword Masters like you to keep them in check.”
“Count is an 8th class Great Magician.”
“I never said that. You saw through me? Right. I broke the wall this time and reached the 8th class. However, compared to other magics, there is a limit to touching 8th class. Compared to dragons, high elves, human magicians lack a lot. It is different from Sword Masters.”
8th class magicians are called superhumans, but the true superhuman was talking about how great the Sword Master is.
They had the power to not be defeated by the strongest opponent.
It was no exaggeration to say that the biggest reason the human world stood still was because of the power of the Sword Master.
“But if a 9th class magician was born.”
It was just one level higher than the 8th class, but everyone who learned magic knew about it.
“Even the dragons wouldn’t be able to stand in front of them.”
Because the 9th class was exclusive to dragons.
“I hope that we humans become the masters of this world.”
“That is arrogance.”
“It is okay to be arrogant. You know better than anyone. About the history that lies dormant in this land!”
“…”
Count Welton didn’t answer.
Because he knew what Count Simon was talking about, the forgotten history. The secret that only a few people on the continent knew.
About 10,000 years ago, due to an unknown event, the previous history had disappeared.
No one knew what the event was or what history existed before that.
It was because those things weren’t shared, which was why Count Simon insisted that humans had the power to not be pushed back by other beings.
A brief silence reigned between the two.
Count Simon was the first to speak.
“Let’s stop it here. You must be tired from the journey.”
“Count too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sure.”
Both of them got up.
With that short talk, the two went to their rooms.
“You are here?”
“You must have got up because of me. Get some more sleep.”
“Hm… good night.”
Sears wasn’t the kind to wake up once she slept. She wouldn’t even remember what happened.
Count Welton looked at his wife in a loving way and changed his clothes before heading to Jamie’s room.
Jamie was sleeping soundly, so he decided to look from afar.
The eldest son with overwhelming talent.
The Count didn’t like it. He should be enjoying that moment, but was it because the child was born with great talent? It wasn’t just Genius.
Even the expression genius was insufficient.
‘Jamie. I hope you just grow up normal. This father will do his best.’
He knows what happens when a genius takes the wrong path.
Count Welton sighed as he returned back to his room.
And Jamie opened his eyes.
The fact that Count Welton had arrived, he knew that.
But what was with the mood?
Jamie shook his head and raised himself. He couldn’t read other people’s minds unless he looked at them. And he couldn’t just use mind control on the Count because he was curious.
It was impossible to even attempt.
“Black,”
Kik!
Black popped out of the air.
Jamie took off his blanket and crossed his legs.
“I can’t sleep. Let’s meditate all night.”
Kik!
Black flapped its wings and sat above his head.
It was challenging to grow a body that reached its limits, but through meditation, controlling the flow of Mana would be easier.
He started the meditation in the hope that the ball would finish without any problems.
The second day of the ball began.
Count Welton and Sears danced first.
The other couples took their seats and then slowly danced.
Jamie was looking at the hall with a bored face.
The only thought was that he wanted to go home.
“Hey!”
The familiar voice.
This time, she didn’t hide her presence, so Jamie knew who it was.
“Are you alone today too?”
It was Ash Balle.
She smiled and sat next to him.
Jamie looked at her and shook his head.
“I have nothing to say.”
“But I do.”
“Don’t care.”
“Sister!”
As soon as she called, someone came.
A sister. Come to think of it, she did say that she was the second daughter of the family, so that meant this one was the eldest daughter.
As if one wasn’t annoying enough, another one arrived.
Jamie wanted to be alone, so he got up.
Unable to let him go, Ash held his arm.
“Where are you going! Since our families are close, we should greet each other.”
“What greeting?”
“Sister, come on!”
This time she yelled.
“Ash, sorry.”
The voice was low.
Jamie turned towards the voice.
There stood a pretty girl, half a span taller than Ash.
She looked like a well-made doll with a little upset face, slightly drooping eyes, a tall nose, and long thick lips.
Jamie couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Looking at that, Ash chuckled.
“Huh, I guess you are a man too? My sister is so pretty.”
Ash playfully hit Jamie’s arm.
But Jamie showed no reaction.
It was the time when Ash thought Jamie was in love with his sister.
“Jane”
He called Ash’s sister.
Jane.
The woman he loved all his life.
However, a woman who sacrificed herself to the Gods.
Jamie. No. Diablo Volfir castrated the emotion called Love and became a Monster.
The reason for that was now in front of him, as a child.
It was then.
“Found you!”
The silver beads made a clear sound.
The space shook, and an illusion took place.
“From now on, call me brother!”
The ‘Phoenix Wrath’ in Alf’s hand blew out flames of rage.
Flames engulfed Jamie and Ash, who was next to him.
“Ash!”
Her sister Rebecca shouted and leapt.
“Do not disturb.”
Phoenix’s Warth disappeared like a lie.
The illusion shattered, and all the eyes turned towards them.
Alf looked at Jamie in disbelief.
“No way!”
The artefact was a 6th class fire magic created by Count Simon. Jamie shouldn’t be able to stop it.
“DIE.”
The words that sounded like a whisper.
His palms dyed blue.
Alf said nothing and looked at it.
Light shone.
Alf ran as he tried to wipe away the blue thing.
“That is enough.”
The light vanished.
Jamie saw a thick hand gripping him.
Hard calluses were felt on his tender skin.
“Father.”
“Yes. Everything will be fine.”
Count Welton held his son carefully in his arms.
Old memories filled his mind.
Jamie lost consciousness.
At the end of the ball, maybe his Jane was smiling.
