2.

After pledging to me, Wilhelm got up and told me to rest my body since my body is seriously bad.

Seeing him leave, I sighed deeply.

'Now then... the contract has been establishe...d?' I thought as I felt something unique coursing around my body and then digging itself deep into my bones. A stream of information rushed to my head and I bit my lips as they started bleeding to help me numb the pain I'm experiencing.

'Lucifer... what a gift.' I thought as I started grinning from ear to ear, ignoring the fact that my lips were bleeding.

What I received from Lucifer was a unique skill.

'Shadow Path' was the name of the skill. It allows me to connect to a random world, be it a fiction, fantasy, etc. Meaning, a completely new world.

'Its just like the shadow world but instead of past histories... its a new world.' I thought as I calmed myself down.

I never thought that Lucifer would give me a gift like this after the contract was established.

'Well... considering the things I have to do in return... its a fair trade, I guess?' I thought as I looked out the window.

I sat down and started meditating. I wanted to check the status of my body. Using my accumulated experience from my past life about mana, I started feeling the mana inside my body.

Normally, a magic item would be used to check your magic circle and start learning everything from there. Unfortunately, my magic is something unique and unusual. The original Protagonist of the story, Desir Arman, has the ability to analyze a magic circle and reverse engineer it, effectively cancelling the magic being cast. He was deemed as the greatest Anti-mage by everyone in the party.

Although Desir and my magic is kind of similar, it also isn't.

Checking the inside of my body by using the mana in the air, I was not surprised that I'm already a 2nd circle mage.

The Magician's rank starts from 1st circle magician up to 6th circle magician. The only exception was the greatest magician of the party who managed to achieve the 7th rank. Even I, in my previous run, only managed to reached 6th circle magician rank.

Seeing nothing wrong inside my body despite me being thin and weak made me smile. I rang the bell above my bedside table and a maid immediately came to serve me.

"Help me find a cane, my body is weak at the moment and walking is a bit hard." I said and the maid heeded my orders and came back with a cane. I used the cane to stand up and the maid tried to help me but I waved my hand. The maid looked at me with uneasiness and worry of me falling.

The moment my feet stood still, my balance was affected and almost fell down but I used the cane to stabilize myself.

"Young Lord, please, don't push yourself and rest." The maid anxiously said. If something bad happened to the young lord while she was in charge, the head maid surely will be scolding her.

"It's fine. Its a little hard but I can manage." I said as I started getting used to my weak muscles.

'Damn, I need to train this body from scratch.' I thought as I slowly got used to walking with the cane.

I tried going down the stairs myself but this time the maid insisted on helping me. I knew why she was anxious so I let her help me get down the stairs.

As I went down, Wilhelm saw me and became slightly surprised with a hint of anxiety.

"Young Lord, don't push yourself too hard." Wilhelm rushed to my side and signaled the teary-eyed maid who got his message and left.

"Is she new here?" I asked while chuckling softly.

"Yes, indeed. The death of your parents caused an uproar in the noble circle, so I did a major clean-up of the staff serving the manor." Wilhelm said and I nodded.

Although Wilhelm didn't tell me the full details, I could already tell the rest from his words. With the clean-up, he probably found out about the spies from other noble families and probably killed some of them.

"No wonder she's anxious all the time." I said to Wilhelm beside me while Wilhelm just smiled.

"Bring me to 'their' graves." I said to Wilhelm and he solemnly obeyed. He helped me as he held one of my hand while we walked to the garden slowly.

Under a big Oak tree, was a small hill. A stone tablet was erected with the name of my parents engraved into it.

'Fahrein Alastair Blackwood'

'Penelope Adelaide Primrose'

I knelt down and stared at my parent's grave and uttered a silent prayer for the deceased.

After a few minutes, Wilhelm tapped my shoulders as he helped me up and brought me to a small gazebo and sat down.

Feeling the silence, Wilhelm spoke first.

"I apologize, young lord. If only I was by your side when the rebellion happened..." I stopped him from continuing with a raise of my hand. I know that Wilhelm was sent to quell a rebellion that happened at the edge of the territory by my father. It was a trap by the revolutionaries made and when they made sure that Wilhelm was out of the place, they stormed in and quickly assassinated my parents.

My father with his wits, immediately sent me to a hidden room and told me to stay there and never come out at all cost. It was Wilhelm, who found me in the secret room, starving and slowly losing my consciousness. The rest was history.

"It's fine Uncle Wilhelm. What's happened cannot be changed anymore." I said which greatly surprised him. Who wouldn't be? A child my age would surely throw a tantrum after not seeing their parents for a few days, let alone finding out, they were dead.

He didn't show it on his face but I could see the surprise in his eyes. The eyes are said to be the window of the soul. Your face might be emotionless but your eyes can convey 70% of your feelings most of the time.

"I know the incoming danger, Uncle. Please lend me your strength. Those hyenas won't ignore the smell of blood and will surely make their move against me." Wilhelm was startled at what he was hearing.

'Looks like young lord spending all his time reading, wasn't for naught. Master, Milady, can you see it? Young lord has now started walking his own path.' Wilhelm closed his eyes full of emotions.

"Of course, Young lord. This old bones will surely help you." Wilhelm said and I smiled.

"Thank you, Uncle Wilhelm." I slightly bowed my head in gratitude.

"Please, young lord." Wilhelm was slightly embarrassed by my actions.

"First of all, can you take care of the territory, at the moment. I need to regain my strength. I don't want to be a cripple." I said as I raised my thin arms while chuckling.

Wilhelm chuckled after seeing that the young lord still has the time to make some jokes, considering the dangerous situation he's in.

1 month later

In the garden, a young kid is stabbing continuously without stopping. Of course that would be me.

'9,995 , 9,996 , 9,997 , 9,998 , 9,999 , 10,000' I stopped myself and an old man came close with a towel. I used the towel to wipe my sweaty face.

"Young lord, I told you not to overdo it." Wilhelm had a strict look all over his face.

"Sorry Uncle Wilhelm. Using a spear excited me, that's all." I said with a bitter smile.

Its been a long time since I swung a spear. In my previous run, I am capable of using aura as well as magic at the same time, a rare type of class.

"Still, you shouldn't overdo yourself, you've just recovered after all." Wilhelm said to me.

"I'm fine uncle, I know my body best." I said but it still didn't erase the trace of worry written on his face.

Its been a month after my return, it took me two weeks of eating and resting to turn my thin body into a somewhat acceptable state. I then started training my body from scratch. Running to increase my stamina and build my lower body, push-ups for full body training, squats, and other basic trainings.

What I'm aiming at is perfect control of every single muscle of my body. Never underestimate perfect control of the body as it was one of the main reasons why I gained my title.

[Aegis, the Mage Slayer]