Chapter 2: New World

In the world of 'Swordmaster King', there was a long time war with the demonkin. A demon lord tried to take over the world and human tried to stop his advancement. A prophecy came to the high pope of Astelan that an individual will raise among the people, mastering the sword like no one else, will defeat the threat of the world and becomes the king adored by many and brings peace and prosperity to the world. That was the prophecy about the Swordmaster King, the main character in this story.

Astelan was the kingdom where the main plot started. It was where the swordmaster was found and gathered all of his companions and then ventured into a long journey in order to defeat the demon lord. The main character was Aeros. His main characteristics were like those typical handsome attractive male leads. Blonde hair that would shine whenever he used his aura. Strikingly bright blue eyes that would send any girls screaming in awe. A sword prodigy and mastered the sword at the age of 15. An overpowered main character.

And also me. I was a side character. Owens. He was actually a member of Aeros' party. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, Owens died. His death wasn't even that great. He fell into a dark pit and died because of the fall. The pit was a trap planted by the demon armies. Owens' role in the party was only an enhancer. Well, basically he was a support that made sure everyone else in the team was extra strong. He barely had any lines in the novel and had a very few scenes. Readers even forgot he was even there. And when he died in the novel, it wasn't even impactful. It was sad honestly.

However, when I came into this world, the gods bestowed me a power. I could feel it brimming within me. When I thought about it, if this power was known, I would never able to live peacefully. I would be send to fight in the war alongside with all the other main characters. However, I would still be scouted as an enhancer. Apparently, I was the only one that have enhancement in the entire continent.

This world was harsh. It was more like survival to the fittest. Not exactly like my previous world where logic and science became the foundation of everything. Magic existed in this world. It was almost ridiculous in my opinion because my mindset was used to the previous world where magic and power were only in fantasy and fairytale.

"Hey!" A voice called out behind me. I knew this voice. It belongs to the most bratty kid in this orphanage. The biggest among the kids here and he thought he was the strongest and the leader of every kid. He demanded that everyone called him Mighty Ken. A delusional too.

"Y.. Yes?" I replied with a quivering voice. I was stuttering a lot without wasting any effort to fake it. It came naturally. That was why most of the kids made fun of me.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the mass just now?" He barked, approaching me with both of his fists clenched tightly.

"I... I'm so.. Sorry.."

"Sorry?! I had to do all the duty on my own! Do you want a beating?!" He really liked to scream. Remind me of a monkey.

"I.. Sorry.. I h-had stomachache.. It.. It was pretty n-nasty in the t-toilet.. Do you want to see?" I looked down on my feet. If I gazed at him for too long I might burst out laughing.

"Ew! Why would I want to see?!" He shoved my shoulder harshly.

"Y-you can hit my hand.." I held out my hand toward him. "Bu-but I didn't wash m-my hand yet."

"Ugh, you're disgusting. I don't want to touch you!" He took a step back from me. I fought back a smile. I stepped closer to him.

"J-just hit m-me.." I pushed my hand closer toward him.

"Get away from me freak!" He looked at me disgustedly and ran away.

'That's easy.' I grinned.

Having a grown up mind was really helpful to live here. I wasn't that affected by the mocks and bullies. Because I knew those bullies were just a bunch of immature children. If I started to fight back, I didn't think they would ever recover from it. So I held back. Well, I was mostly having fun. Well, sometimes those brats didn't even have creative words to insult me with. They have limited vocabulary.

This orphanage didn't even have an official name. It was looked after by the church. We depended fully on charity and donations from the town folks and the Mayor. However, over the years donations were scarce. We became poor and poorer. Not everyone cared about the orphanage. We had to ration our food and only had 2 meals a day. I bet a meal per day would come true in a several months.

It had been 7 years since I came to this world. I learned how to write and read from sister Jane. I was the only child that was interested in learning. I was the favourite among the sisters and probably that was why I was the target of bully. My body was smaller compared to the other children of my age. From the outside, I was seen as weak and fragile. It was better that way, I guess. I might be able to stay hidden from the main characters. I really didn't want to be involved in the war. Growing up in the orphanage and when I hit 18, I could go find a job and lived peacefully.

"Owens! There you are!" Sister Jane called out to me. She smiled warmly at me. She was a kind and gentle old lady.

"W-what is it, sister Jane?" I replied sheepishly.

"The tester is here. Come, you need to get tested." She urged, taking my hand and pulled me slowly toward a direction.

"Tester?" I echoed.

"Yes. It's the person that can check your class." She explained. I stayed quiet because I knew she wasn't done. "Each one of us has our class that we were born with. This class will decide your unique ability. The common class are mage, swordsman, farmer, scholar, fisher, archer and a lot more."

"I-I see.. Th-then, what is yo-yours, sister?" I asked.

"I'm a scholar class." She smiled down at me. I could tell. Sister Jane was able to read so fast and remembered every book she ever read. That was probably her unique abilities as a scholar class. "I hope that you're a scholar class too, Owens."

"M-me too." I knew what my class was but I didn't tell her.

We arrived at the dining hall where all of the other children already gathered. There was a group of adult there. I've never seen them before. They wore long grey cloak and a special crest sewed on it. I guessed that crest belong to the Magic Union. The main organisation that took care of everything about magic. From rules and regulation, to research and development about magic. They were also the law enforcer that kept the balance. Due to the war with the demon lord, they focused more on seeking high potential people to help with the war.

"Your class is Warrior." The tester announced. Ken was a warrior class. His face lit up and looked so smug. The sisters clapped for him.

"Your unique ability and overall strength are not fully developed yet. You need proper training to awaken them." The tester continued. He turned to look at Father Alfred, the one in charge of everything in the orphanage. "He's old enough to enter Astelan Academy. He will definitely do well there. We need more warrior like him."

"I will go to the academy?!" Ken exclaimed. I swore his eyes sparkled like there were stars in them.

"Erm, how about the expenses?" Father Alfred asked, putting a hand on Ken's head to calm him down from jumping up and down.

"Don't worry about it. He will be fully sponsored by Magic Union."

"Oh, praise the Lord!" Father Alfred shouted happily followed by the other sisters. Ken looked like he was on top of the world. Good for him.

Astelan Academy was an elite academy that was built to nurture and produced powerful and outstanding people that would soon contribute to the society. Heroes, renowned knights, genius scholars, warriors and leaders. It was really difficult to enter the academy without noble background. So, it was once in a lifetime chance if any commoners to enter the academy. From the age of 13 until 17. 5 years of study, and they would graduate from there and followed the path they trained for. Well, those with class that could fight would always be sent to the front lines to fight the war. The academy focused more on those classes.

After the excitement died down about Ken, the tester continued to check the other children. I was last in line. Some of the children became mage, farmer, hunter, fisher, alchemist, healer and even scholar. Then, finally it was my turn. I could tell by the way the tester looked at me. He didn't expect much from me. Good. That was what I wanted.

"What's your name?" He asked with a kind smile.

"Owens." I murmured.

"Okay, it will only sting a little okay? It'll be quick, don't worry." He told me. I just nodded. He put a hand on my head. "Are you ready, Owens?"

"Y-yes.."

His hand glowed in a green light. He was telling the truth, it stung a little. It felt like a needle prick my head. It wasn't so bad. It felt cold afterwards. I heard his gasp as he looked at my class and also my overall stats. I knew what my stats looked like. I've been able to see them eversince I could read.

"An enhancer! What a rare class. This is my first time seeing one!" The tester claimed. Words and numbers were floating above my head. My stats became visible for everyone there to see.

"Look at his other stats.. That's.." A woman pointed out, eyes widened in shock.

Class: Enhancer

Mana: 0

Strength: 0

Stamina: 0

Endurance: 0

Dexterity: 0

Agility: 0

Intelligence: 1

Luck: 0

Unique Ability:

-Enhancement

-Diminution

~~

When Ken left for the Astelan Academy, it was probably the most peaceful the orphanage could be. When his tyrant rule gone, the other kids didn't have motivation to bully me anymore. Well, actually they pitied me after that assessment with the tester. I was already in a pitiful stats, they didn't want to worsen it by making me miserable.

My overall stats was the worst but it was fine. I wanted it to be that way. Hence, they won't even think of recruiting me to go to the war. I could live peacefully in the orphanage and continued to learn more about this world. I needed a plan to survive this world in the future.

I spent my days being the most unproductive child in there. Well, I spent 12 years working my ass off everyday in that shitty company in my previous life. I never had holidays. Hence, I wanted to take advantage of this chance. I could laze around everyday and no one would question it. Besides, I was the weakest with no visible talent, what even could I do? The sisters were adamant to let me do chores after the assessment. They thought that I would break a finger if I tried to hold the broom. It was a big blow to my pride but I didn't care. This was my dream lifestyle.

One of the things I noticed about this world was the stars. The stars were colourful, brighter and bigger in this world. It was like a proof that I was totally in a new world. A totally different one from my previous one. I never really thought about it but maybe I missed my previous world sometimes. What happened to my family, friends and everyone in the shitty company? There was no way of knowing but I could only wish the best for all of them.

I had to stop thinking about my previous world eventually. I needed to focus on what matters in this world first. Well, for sure, my existence as the only Enhancer in this continent was already known by the Magic Union. They would be back when I turned 13 years old. I would eventually be sent to the Astelan Academy and met the main characters.

There was more to the prophecy; The swordmaster king, a saintess, an archer, a mage and an enhancer will journey together as one and defeat the enemies one by one until they are face to face with the demon lord. The result of the great battle will depend on the winner. Should they win, prosperity and peacefulness bestowed upon the world, should the demon lord win, the world will be his.

It wasn't hard to guess who was the enhancer in the prophecy. It was me, Owens. There was no other Enhancer in Astelan aside from me. So, they needed to recruit me too. Plus, if I was already found, then, it was a sign that the swordmaster king would soon appear. Aeros would show up when he won an open swordfight competition in the capital. That was how he'd be scouted and entered the Astelan Academy. Then, they would soon know that he was the swordmaster king that was mentioned in the prophecy.

The female lead in the story was the soon to be saint. The youngest princess of Astelan. She had a really strong light and holy magic. Her beauty was unparalleled to anyone and anything in this kingdom. Kind, gentle and simply perfect. She had silver hair and golden eyes, fair flawless skin and simply the perfect saintess. Her name was Floria Erina Dahlia. She first showed in the novel when Aeros went into the academy. They were in the same class and also seatmates. What a wonderful setting.

The Archer... Well, all I knew that it was a she. I forgot her name because she was one of the supporting characters. Honestly, I forgot some of the details in the novel. That was why I needed more information.

As for the mage, it was a male. The brightest and powerful mage of his age. He didn't attend Astelan Academy because from the beginning he was already working with the Magic Union. He became the youngest mage that entered the Magic Tower. He would show up eventually but I wasn't sure when.

This was troublesome. I didn't have all the knowledge about the story. I didn't remember all of it. Still, I knew it was a happy ending. Well, after all the hardship, death, pain and suffering, they would achieve the happy ending eventually. For sure, I didn't want to die that early. I needed to find a way to not be sent to the war.