Experimenting.

A silver-haired child could be seen sitting down with his legs crossed, a pondering expression on his face as he held his right hand on his chin intensely looking at the fist-sized magic stone that lay in front of him. Eldric was alone in the familiar magic training room, or the reinforced magic resistant box would be a more apt description for it.

Eldric was doing something quite stupid, he held his hand above the amethyst magic stone as a stream of what little magic he could output appeared in front of him. A few minutes must have passed with nothing happening, but that soon changed.

*Shine*

A happy smile made its way to his face as the familiar hue that signalled the activation of a magic stone filled the dimly lit room.

*Boom*

"Cough… Cough…" What he thought quickly proved to be wrong, however. The magic stone blew up in his face. Luckily, it didn't shatter, or there could have been rather grave consequences... Besides the slap on the wrist, he got. Likewise, he got off rather lucky with just a bit of smoke that hit him in his face. What he was doing was frankly a very dumb endeavour, after all.

"Just why won't it work…." questioned Eldric all the while frantically waving off the wave of smoke.

Of course, it wouldn't work… Not just any mage could ignite a magic stone. You would need extreme fine control of your magic output. Never mind being a certified Magic institute graduate, and with the proper licence. Otherwise, smoke would be the least of your concerns... There was a reason people would go to the capital to ignite those magic crystals, instead of stupidly trying to do it themselves.

"What do I do now?"

Eldric picked up the smithereens of the magic stones that rested on the stone floor. It was his last one. He didn't think to 'borrow' more.

He was hell-bent on studying those stones. They were nothing short of impressive in his eyes. The residents may not see their true potential; you can't truly appreciate something you always had. Sure, they knew that they were convenient— especially the commoners. But Eldric knew better.

Eldric was no scientist nor was he some super-nerd, but he had a very well-rounded knowledge of science. He didn't know everything there was to know, but he could surely get his way around the early level inventions; more so with enough time. It would only be a matter of trial and error until he would get it right.

He was excited about the future. He couldn't wait to see what it would be like to mix science and magic together.

There were even some rather disturbing thoughts going in his mind. Topics like hydrogen bombs, in theory, would be easy to make with the help of science. Heck, just the concept of a grenade or a claymore would only get more lethal with the use of magic. Just imagining a grenade+claymore magic sent shivers down his spine.

Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, Eldric had no access to such high mastery of elemental magic. That was why he was so envious of Aldora, his magic instructor. She weaved all sorts of magic like none other.

The things Eldric could do with her particular set of skills were literally endless. Magic was innovative that way.

Make no mistake, there is no chance of him teaching Aldora, or anyone else for that matter, about such concepts. Going by this world's history, this world wasn't entirely innocent, not by any means. But Eldric couldn't help but think that it couldn't even hope to reach the cruelty that was exercised in his old world.

The humans of his previous world had a much bloodier and dirtier past, and even by the time, he died while multiple countries were still actively at war with each other. Not caring for any civilian casualties in the process.

On the other hand, there were no large scale wars ever since the Robert crusading human supremacy mission. There were only skirmishes and small battles at best. Perhaps the most notable one was just next to the Armsworth border. The Alabax kingdom had multiple small scale battles with the Coryza 'Kingdom'. The people of that region, further up the north, were known to be tough and sturdy.

James wasn't wrong to call them barbarians, as even their king was decided by a battle-royal Esque tournament. Only the river of pungent and putrid crimson red blood that would replace the white snow would mark the victor. Thus, he would be crowned King.

The other Kingdoms were rather tame, having rather good relations with each other. On the surface at least. Perhaps that was due to the holy Autocracy, led by the Pope, he also went by the nickname 'Apostle of Irdros.'. The holy autocracy held the chains as the top dog of the food chain, as all the strongest individuals rested there, if only because this world's faith was extremely prevalent...

There was no other religion other than the worship of Irdros, the human god or sometimes also called the god of Hope, quite ironic as he was the same god that dispatched the other races' gods... They also honoured Robert Alabax as the hero and messenger of humanity, just like the other world's residents.

The way wars were held in this world was rather simple... There were no starvation tactics, poison gazing or scorched grounds tactics. There were only simple tactics of brute force, with basic formation where mages were the main damage dealers and stayed in the back. That was all the books Eldric read showcased. This world simply didn't have that much experience warring. Therefore, the extensive human killing knowledge Eldric had in his head would sooner go with him to the grave, as it would disturb the delicate balance achieved.

Although, there was no shame in being prepared in case some falling out happens... It was better to be a wolf among sheep than to be a sheep among wolves in the end. That was why he was experimenting with the magic stones. There had to be another function to them besides being simple fuel...

Maybe he could even turn them into batteries that would hold the elemental magic he couldn't access. Or maybe he could even use them as simple high-powered explosives when he gets the hang of activation... But that is very much down the road.

It was natural to assume that the people of this world were not entirely ignorant. Throughout history, or maybe even at this time, there had to have been someone that would have at least thought of different applications to magic stones.

But there were no documented successful attempts so far… And Eldric wouldn't need to start from scratch. He already got a foundation to build on; albeit a shaky one.

Great people never started from greatness. There was always a journey towards it. That much is sure to Eldric. Eldric wrapped up his ramblings about weapons of mass destruction. Surely anyone would be surprised should they learn about the inner thoughts of such a seven-year-old.

Eldric got up, dusted his pants and headed out of the box. As soon as he exited it, the figure of Epine entered his vision.

"Count Armsworth is calling for your presence. Young master." Epine bowed her head subserviently.

Eldric looked weirdly at her. He always got confused by the seamless transition from the ruthless trash-talker and physiological attacker that she was during training to this— perfect maid persona she would assume right after that. Frankly, he didn't know which one was her true self.

'I suppose only time will tell… or her.' thought Eldric in his mind.

Naturally, as the day go by, Eldric knew that there were still many secrets that Eldric didn't know about Epine. But he was also keeping a lot from her... So it was fair.

Besides, it was a little exciting to slowly uncover this tangled up mystery. All that matters is that he was a hundred percent sure that she was on his side.

'Father is calling for me…' he paused. 'I don't think there should be a reason for that. Unless… but he couldn't have known. Are there some special tools that could have let him realise my situation…'

He shook his head just after, however. 'He wouldn't be sending Epine to me if it were that.'

Eldric was not sure if he could ever treat James as his true father, but he had never been bad to him. The opposite, actually, he has been nothing but good to him so far. It was only natural that he would start getting more comfortable in his presence with the love he showed him.

"Lead the way, Epine. I have never been to my father's office before," said Eldric after he had composed himself.

"Of course, young master." monotonously answered Epine. "I would suggest you change, however."

Eldric put his index finger on his cheek and made a wiping gesture. He looked at his finger, and it was covered in ash.

He sighed, 'I can't believe I forgot the smoke...'