2 Chapter 1

Erik's POV:

My vision of everything shifted from pitch black to a blur of dark red as environment's sounds assaulted my ears.

'Oh yeah, it's happening. I'm waking up from my "drug high".'

When I tried to say something, the only sound that came out seemed to be a cry....of a toddler.

'What?'

The muffled voices became clearer as I could hear a grown up man's voice: "Congratulations my Lord, my Lady, he's a healthy boy."

'...Nooooo.'

Next, after slowly and painfully opening my eyes, my retinas were bombarded with different colors and figures.....

People!

The doctor in front of me had characteristics of a young intellectual individual with thick glasses and holding a notebook to write down essential information.

'No....no....nooo.'

While lying in the position of being held like a baby (well, obviously), I looked up and saw the face of the female who I believed to be my mother in this world. Taking a few more seconds to see what she looked like, there was no doubt that she is an exceptional beauty. A beauty of elegance and grace with a perfect ivory skin tone that makes every woman jealous along with shiny golden hair and brilliant blue eyes.

I peeled my face away slightly to the well-built muscular man standing next to my mother, who I assumed was my father. He was a very masculine man with a bearded chiseled jaw line that complimented his features. His hair was just simply black while his eyebrows were strong and fierce. Moreover, his eyes held a majestic gemstone green color which seemed to be thoughtful and filled with pride after witnessing the birth of me - his.....son.

'Everything....was real.....

My last deploy to the battlefield...

My death....

The Achangel, God....the reincarnation....all of them were real!!', I was in absolute horror as I comprehended the situation... though I wouldn't expect that my new....baby....newborn's tiny face can express any emotion apperantly.

'None of them was caused by me snorting drugs! THEY WERE REAL!!'

"His name will be.... Vigor. I want him to always be in good health, always filled with determination to live, to fight for himself and the ones he loves, and to never give up, no matter what." My father named me and smiled happily while I received a gentle kiss to my cheek from my mother. His voice was calm and deep.

"Hmm, he isn't crying. Doctor, I thought newborns were supposed to cry when they are born." I heard my mother's voice.

'Ma'am, I wish I can tell you how actually terrifying I am right now to get reborn.'

By the time I finished observing my new legal parents who I hope won't sell me in the future like my previous ones, the wannabe doctor simply excused himself saying, "There are cases where the infant does not cry. Please continue resting for a couple of days my Lady, and let me know if anything happens to Vigor, my Lord."

'.....Crossed fingers did not work well huh?'

-Time skip to 1 year later-

I learned that my mother, named Selena Kinsteel, my father, named Benjamin and lastly my uncle, named Trevor Kinsteel . Surprisingly they happened to be nobles in the human's kingdom.

My family was in fact one of if not the most prestigious power houses in Sapin. Members of Kinsteel and their ancestors were specialized in merchandise, made rich by producing weapons and armors for military and Adventurers with top notch quality, from sharpest swords to impenetrable armor plates.

Furthermore, another business of my family was related to selling a bunch of elixirs and potions for mages from noble families to adventurers via practicing Alchemy.

To be more specific, my family's manor located in Valden city is divided into 2 main sections. On land area will be the main giant castle-like building surrounded by walls which is the accommodation for my family, guards, and servants. In addition, the bailey was spacious enough to contain dozens of blacksmith forges owned by my father. Every time mother carried me out of the main building to observe forgers doing their work, I could always hear the ear-piercing sound of the iron hammers bonking against hot steel to shape them into weapons, they were non-stop, from the earliest time in morning to the latest hours of evening. The one in charge of everything here was father, he checked every product as clearly as possible until he decided which ones were qualified enough to be sold.

Moving on to the underground area - the basement of my family had a ridiculously big size that can be compared to an actual small dungeon in Beast Glades. This is where my uncle and his team elaborated their Alchemy activities from researching new materials, ingredients to brewing tons of concoctions and numerous experiments, testing on captured mana beasts.

Welp, the Azrael did his job well I guess.

This is a golden opportunity. Needless to say , I will be a total bitch if I let it slip away. My reincarnation have turned my into an individual with all necessary factors to aid my promising process of grinding for powers. The amount of resources from my family I can utilize as well as the blessings of Azrael.

But first, a proud moment from myself. A moment so great that it should be written down by historians so the future generations can be acknowledged that:

I. Can. Walk. Now.

"Yesss! That's my sweetheart! Come on Vigor, come here, I have a candy for you~", My mother, Selena, were enticing me to walk to her by using candies and her soft motherly tone. And I had to be honest, those candies were so good that I would kill for them, even if I was currently a baby.

I forced all of my infant legs' muscles to work at their maximum power with the aim of approaching my mother who was reaching her holding candy hand to me. As I was close to grabbing the candy, she caught me by surprise when she pulled back her arm, preventing me from taking it.

"Hold on, what's the magic word?", my mother teased me, tricking me to practice my verbal communication.

"mama", I said with a baby's tone so high pitch and innocent that I felt a little cringed whenever I heard my new voice. Yes, a 28 year-old man pretended to be a 12 months old baby.

The feeling of utter shame?

Totally.

Was the candy worth it though?

Yes.

Hardest choices require the strongest wills.

"Aww Vigor!!", Mother immediately went for a tight hug as she smooched me.....

Moments like this made me feel....REALLY GUILTY. How would she react when she knew that all this time she was doing so with a grown ass man???? Not count her husband, or my father.....Welp, silence indeed should be the best answer.

For a year living with them, my new family seemed to be good people. They were not the type of greedy, selfish and arrogant nobles like many others. Although my father and uncle were often busy with their jobs, they still managed an ideal amount of time to spend with me. And my mother, who took most of the responsible in nurturing me, she was kindhearted and tender. A clear opposite compared to my former ones.

And hell, I was kinda chilling and enjoying this new life. Except for the tedious parts of being an useless baby who couldn't eat anything but milk and porridge, couldn't go to the bathroom and had to shit in the diaper and... basically lying on the bed sleeping for most of the time.... everything else was.....great.... probably the first time I could use this word to describe my existence....

Let's see how this new life process and how would I prevent myself to not die again by war as I have 2 maniac homicidal power obsessive Asuran tyrants to kill before this entire world collapses.

Speaking of which, it's grinding time.

Later that night, I pretended to fall in deep sleep when my mother stepped outside and closed my room's door. I waited for around few more minutes to make sure everyone in this house went back to their rooms after finishing a day..

I began my meditation. Closing my eyes, I sensed the present of small light particles which are mana fragments that spread all over inside my body. Just like in the novel. Control those fragments, direct and gather them to the solar plexus. Slowly, steadily, the fragments coming together, shaped into a form of spherical orb called mana core.

'Nailed it!--

*BOOM!*

Third person POV:

The Kinsteel manor's backyard, where there once a beautiful garden with all types of gorgeous flowers as well as decorative tree lines on clean landscape, now was in ruined. Partly destroyed.

Hearing the explosion, Vigor's parents rushed quickly to the room, along by their side were guards and servants. By the time they came, they saw no intruders nor mana beasts, except for a floating Vigor in the center of a crater with a glowing translucent barrier formed around his tiny figure, signifying that he has awakened.

Selena Kinsteel , who was witnessing the miraculous scenery right in front of her, fell down on her knees, covered her mouth with both hands, tears filled her blue eyes. No words can describe her happiness right now. While on the other hand, her husband, Benjamin kneeled beside and hugged her tightly to celebrate their son's unreal achievement.

________________________________

After few days, the news of the Kinsteel house's first born son becoming the first natural prodigy, or many people even called him "The Blessed" of Dicathen to awaken at the age of 1, which was 9 to 11 years early compared to average human mages, even the talented ones. It caused a stir in the Sapin kingdom and maybe the whole continent in general if the news reached both the land of the Elf and the Dwarf.

Immediately, King Blaine Glayder directly went to the house to congratulate Vigor's parents. But, of course, that was all on the surface, only for formality between nobles. This king's main goal was of course to recruit him into his side. And maybe even potentially turning him into a Lance in future.

Blaine Glayder's POV:

Sitting inside the royal carriage, I locked my gaze at the overall view of Valden city through the window of my seat. It was indeed a long time since my last visit to this place. From my child hood memories, this city was once a poor area, degraded considerably due to severe influence from the Second War occurred between elves and humans. The rate of poverty and hunger was so high, the people at that time would usually only have two outcomes: one was to be sold into slavery, the other was to wait for the scythe of death to save them from suffering until those people showed up.

After the war, the Kinsteel family decided to move their residence here, at that time the other nobles thought the Kinsteel family head was paranoid because there was no reason to choose to live in a desolate place of hell instead of the prosperous Xyrus.

But who would have thought that, in just a few years, the Kinsteel family had completely saved Valden from the fate of becoming a dead city. They have not only received and saved hundreds or even thousands of families and homeless people but also recruited them to work for them. As a result, despite the loss of a large investment, thanks to Kinsteel's genius strategies in regards to business, their number of human resources became the most abundant in Dicathen. Since then, more and more people have come here to trade magic necessities such as weapons, potions and elixirs with this talented family. As a result, not only the Kinsteel family but also the citizens benefited, Valden's economy has recovered strongly and then rapidly growing. The amount of dwellers increased back to normal and of course, the rate of poverty and hunger have been almost completely wiped out.

"My king, we have arrived to our destination. The Kinsteel's manor.", my servant informs me.

I saw a great stone structure rising in the distance, blocking its overall view is a giant granite wall heights about 20 feet with guards standing on it. In the middle of the wall was a heavy vertically-closing gate - a portcullis. As the gate keeper walking to the carriage window to clarify my identity, I simply showed my face and he hastily greeted me in formal. He hurrily ordered his men to open the gate to let me pass when I demanded him to let me meet his master - Benjamin Kinsteel.

My wagon continued to move on the grey-stoned path leads right to the Kinsteel's manor built on a small steep hill. The manor was no ordinary noble houses. It was more like a military fortress strongly reinforced with sturdy building materials instead of a fancy looking mansion. Not to mention, there also must be over a hundred guards in there that can be considered as a small army, readily to protect this place from any invaders.

The moment we came closer to the Kinsteel's manor, what caught me in surprised were blacksmith workshops, a lot of blacksmith workshops. The quantity must have been over 20 workshops. Even with the carriage's interior made from external sound-reducing wood, I could still hear the sound of hammer hitting metal parts of the forgers all around.

Stepping outside the wagon, accompanied me were my servant and 4 royal guards coming out from the second wagon following us. I saw an old gentleman with a thin build, dressed in a proper black tailcoat tuxedo, approaching me.

Then, he stopped and dropped down to show polite:

"Welcome king Glayder to my lord's humble living place. I was informed that you will have a meeting with him, is that right, your highness?", the old man asked me.

"Correct, you must be the butler of the family then, can you lead us to him?"

"Of course your highness, please follow me. Master Kinsteel has been expecting your arrival." The butler replied as he stood up and made a hand gesture for us to come inside.

Vigor Kinsteel's POV:

I was sitting in the meditation position in order to keep developing my core while mother was not watching me. Closing my eyes, I observed my inside mentally. The brand new formed black mana core of mine was mixed with a bunch of impurities inside my body. Breathing in rhythm, I manipulated the flow of mana surrounding my area to purify my core. I have been repeating this progress for a couple days since my awakening and I must say it exceeded my expectation as there are few cracks started to appear on my core now.

"Oh Vigor my sweet boy. You are definitely a weird one." a motherly voice startled me, distracting me from my unfinished purifying process.

"Why do I always catch you sleeping in sitting position? It's really bad for your health.", my mother questioned me.

Still having my both eyes shut, I pretended to still in deep sleep while my mother came close to me, kneed down to pick me up.

"Madam Kinsteel, our majesty, the king of Sapin has arrived.", A maid appeared at outside of the room to inform us, or actually just my mother to be more specific.

"We are coming down in just seconds."My mother.

I instantly opened my eyes after receiving the information and could somewhat guess the king's intentions when visiting my family's estate. And mother immediately noticed.

"Wait a minute, Vigor, did you pretend to fall asleep the whole time?" my mother started to see me as a suspicious one.

I kept quiet and made the default baby's face of innocence, "brainwashing" her to believe that I was a baby who couln't understand the context of conversations.

My mother let out a sigh in defeated: "Maybe I was overthinking. You're lucky that you look too adorable for me to doubt you." then she ended up with a tease.

Going to the first floor and entering the living room as mother held my hand for me to walk by her side, I confronted an elderly man with long deep - red hair that was aged with streaks of grey sitting on the sofa opposite to my father . His back was ramrod straight with broad shoulders that took off years in his appearance. The man's eye were stern with harsh, sword-shaped eyebrows. He was wearing a red robe lined with white fur around the collar, typical fancy looking drip for medieval kings. Yup, this was definitely the king Glayder, and I could see that he was having quite a conversation with my old man earlier. Standing behind him was a young male servant along with 4 armored guards armed with swords on their hips.

"Ah yes, my king, you remember my wife, Selena right?" my father asked him as my mother lowered both herself and me to introduce to the king. I could feel his daily friendly tone disappeared completely, instead, it was a tone of utmost respect when communicating with the ruler of human kingdom.

"No need to be stiff , I'm just here to have a talk with you." He gestured for us to stand."

"And I want you to meet the newest member of my family. My first son, Vigor Kinsteel." my father happily introduced me.

"Say your greetings to the king, Vigor." My mother told me as I reluctantly kept my bow to him and said:

"Gree- Greetings...king."

That was the best I could do with the current infant tone of mine.

"Hahahaha, you raised the boy too well. Say, Benjamin, I have heard the news, is it true that he has just awakened recently?"

"Yes, that is true my king, he almost blew up his own room."

Blaine started to lock his eyes to me, then a impression of shock could be seen on his face. He was observing my mana core stage to tell that if my father was lying or not. Now I just remembered that Blaine was also a mage, but he was stuck at red core for like his entire life.

"Impressive, very impressive I must say. Benjamin, and also Selena, I can have a discuss with you in regards to Vigor's future?"

'Wait..what?'

"Of course my king." my father gestured my mother and me to sit next to him.

"What would you say if I told you that I am willing to sponsor your child to raise him into one of the strongest Dicathen future mage?

'Son of the---', I shook my head mentally.

"My...my king. Is it too soon for my son's career orientation? I mean, I'm acknowledged that the possibility for Vigor to serve Sapin as a mage is high but still, he is just only one year old." My father responded.

"As his father, you must already knew that your "one year old son" is currently in the black core with cracks Benjamin. It wouldn't be wise to underestimate this kid."

The eyes of my father and mother widen as they both looked at me in disbelief. Both of them shocked even more when they checked my core.

"Impossible, how in the world did your core already had cracks Vigor?" My father questioned me.

'Aaahh...fuck.' I pretended to be innocent, didn't answer him.

"Hold on, you're saying that it's only until now you realised that he gained cracks on his core? I thought it was because you two have started to train him?"

"No my king, we haven't taught him anything yet." my father clarified.

" Hahaha, this is just incredible. Seems that his interactions with mana are just pure natural progressing. Truly the Blessed. Benjamin, let the kid to me. I promise you that he will become so powerful that no one can be compared to him.", Blaine offered my father as I could feel the aura of his greed.

My father was reluctant for a while, preparing to make the right choice.

"Come on Benjamin, imagine what your son can achieve. Not only Sapin but any kingdom always aspires to have geniuses for their national development regardless of age, backgrounds. Your son is clearly one of them."

'That greedy-ass bitch is going to turn me into one of his fucking puppets!!!'

I screamed internally as I kept looking at my father.

"Thank you for your precious offer my Majesty. But I believe this important matter isn't to be decided by me but should be my son instead. He will choose to be whoever he wants to be." my father politely declined the offer.

'Yeah!'

While seeing the king's glare of little annoyance due to disagreement , my father continued:

"We will raise out child until he's capable of making his own decision that can change his entire life. For me, I do not see it is a good idea for a good parent to impose ideas on your children. When the time is right, we will discuss again about this offer of yours. Your Highness." although my father didn't let out any disrespect, his tone hold seriousness and maestro in front of the king without fears. Moreover, I could feel some of his mana emitting directly to Blaine.

Eventually, the conversation ended in Blaine accepting my father's opinion. He went back to his carriage to return, couldn't risk fucking up the relationship with my father due to the importance of my family's business regards to his kingdom.

My father on the other hand was quite bad ass I gotta say.

"Now, we have quite a lot to find out about our boy's outstanding talent, right Selena?", Father looked at me with studying eyes and amusement.