Chapter 2 - The Monarch's Cave

As soon as I delved into the cave, I felt the cold around me enveloping my body, making me shiver slightly. There were water droplets falling to the ground, the sound reverberated before the cave going back to it's eerie silence. I made my way through the cave, the was fairly normal aside from the ominous shivers I'd get every now and then.

I had to squeeze through certain areas every so often to get to the next part of the cave. Then I cane across a stone pedestal. There was nothing on it, but it seemed to give off this feeling of importance, I looked around before realising that this is the end of the cave. I went to the stone pedestal to see if there was anything on it.

Then I felt it, horrible, icy pressure that gripped by heart. It felt as if my very soul was being domineered by the presence of whatever it was that was causing this. I has to pour every ounce of my concentration to stay conscious.

"Who are you to enter this place?"

The voice was one of sovereignty, it made me want to kneel out of instinct. The pressure had lessened, and I was able to face the source of the voice. The source of the voice was a young man who seemed to be in his mid twenties. The voice spoke once more, this time it sounded irritated but at the same time the man seemed somewhat amused by my lack of response.

"I shall ask again, who are you and more importantly what do you want?"

I opened my mouth but no sound came out at first, it took a few seconds before I could properly speak under the immense pressure the man was exuding. "I came here for a skill-"

The pressure increased, then I felt my body fold in on itself and I found myself on the ground. I used my hands to hold myself up, I forced myself to make eye contact with the man. I didn't know why, but every fiber of my being was telling not to yield to him. I released my own pressure, it was the pressure of an [F] rank, to the man it should've been nothing worth noticing. But contrary to my thoughts, the man smiled. He retracted his pressure, I took a breath. It felt like it was the first breath of fresh air I'd taken in years.

"I knew you came here for a skill, that pressure I gave off was the trial. Normally it would've been far more difficult but you're current state is so pitifully weak that even the easiest challenge would kill you. So that's why I resorted to test your pride and mental strength. My skill is that of ruler, if you bowed your head down I'd have killed you immediately."

'Wait there was a test? In the original work I just wrote that he entered the cave and and came out a few hours later with a Unique skill'

The man walked towards me, the way he held himself made him look completely ethereal. It felt as if his lofty existence wasn't simply a part of his world, but above it. It felt as if he transcended everything that had ever existed, that is the kind of man who deemed me worthy of his skill.

The man raised his arm and poked my forehead, "Don't do anything unseemly with my skill, I've also implanted some of the basic knowledge I had back when I was alive. Things like posture and etiquette, they are of course at a standard befitting someone inheriting my skill"

As he was about to walk away, i finally mustered the courage to ask, "Who are you?"

"Who am I? I am the first human to ever use Mana. I am he who used to rule over the human realm, I was known as Arthur Pendragon. Now adays I am remembered as a hero, but u did more than merely kill demons. It was I who lead humanity in to this era. Although most people seem to forget about that, and prefer to think of me as a hero. But alas, right now I am a mere memory fragment born from my power and my will to pass on my Unique Skill to someone befitting its power. Ah, it seems this body can no longer remain within this world. I bid you farewell, I'd love to say something like 'May we meet again' but honestly I don't think we'll ever see each other again, so this is goodbye."

The man started going see through, his body started fragmenting until there was nothing left. I couldn't move as I was still in shock from the whole ordeal.

'Well that was fucking scary, who'd have thought I'd meet Arthur Pendragon. And what kind of sick trial was that? I nearly died from shock. Well at least I got my Unique Skill'

Name: Reinhardt Umbridge

Race: Human

Age: 15

Rank:F

Strength: F

Speed: F

Stamina: F-

Intelligence: F

Mana Capacity: F+

Charm: C+

Class: Swordsman

Fighting style: N/A

Skills: [Unique Skill, Monarch's Wrath]

I couldn't hide my excitement when I saw the skill on my status, now that I had received the skill I felt my like my stamina was coming back. It was as if the Mana around me was giving me a hand, something like a retainer aiding his lord. I also noticed something else, the way I stood was different, It reminded me of Arthur's posture and demeanor. I then recalled that he said something about giving some basic knowledge? Well I suppose it won't hurt to have a fancier way of doing things.

I murmured to myself, "Monarch's Wrath"

Instantly I felt relaxed, it was a strange and indescribable feeling. But I also felt detached from the world, it was as if I was looking down upon everything there was. As if I was above it.

'I wonder If this skill made Arthur give off that ethereal feeling, or of it was just him. Regardless of that, I can somewhat comprehend Mana as well, thanks to the "Basic Knowledge" , the next thing to do is to go home and rest up.'

I checked the date and time, it was the 29th of December, and it was already 3am. I then felt the Mana around me jumping about and then I felt some nausea before arriving near Albard.

'What? Spacial magic? Arthur probably set that up so people would leave his little cave.'

After going to the train station I made my way back home, by the time I got back it was already 4am. I changed into some night wear I found the drawers, and hopped into bed. I fell asleep the instant my head made contact with the pillow.

* * *

I woke up the warm rays of sunlight enveloping and the sounds of birds chirping, I would have loved to stay here forever but I couldn't. Because today was when I was going to a certain place to acquire a certain. The weapon was named 'Rangarok' after the event that occurs in norse mythology that leads to the deaths of the Gods. The weapon was Ragnarok because of it was capable of slaying God Beasts, what are God Beasts? Well, they're things like Dragons, Phoenixes and Angels. Beings who are closer to God's than they are mortals, certain people possessed their bloodlines and are named God Bloods.

God Bloods are far stronger than normal humans, to the point of the bearers of the Dragons' being able to tear monsters in half without Mana. But the sword I was looking for, would be able to slay God Beasts and the God Bloods, most weapons wouldn't be able to pierce the body of a Dragon unless the user was exceptionally strong. And I'm not sure on how strong I'll get, so I'll be using Ragnarok to make up for any weaknesses I could have.

Ragnarok was originally used by a Demon Blood, but it destroyed itself due to how much it loathed its user. Ragnarok was a sentient blade, it was a weapon that was created during the origin of existence.

I didnt know wether the blade would accept me, but if it didn't I'd be fucked. I wasn't a particularly logical person like those genius main characters who know what to do all the time that you see in novels. I was a greedy person, and I wanted to be strong but I really don't want the protagonists' responsibilities.

After finally getting up I noticed that I could feel the Mana around me now, I didn't know wether it was from my Skill or the gift that was in the form of basic knowledge, from Arthur. Either way, I still need to learn how use magic and then apply it in to swordsmanship. Arthur taught me some useful stuff, the main things were etiquette and things that would just make me look fancier. I needed to learn how to use magic, and I needed to figure out what magic I'd have affinities with. It was possible for anyone to use any magic but most people excel at a slect few kinds. For example, Angelica Godhart, one of the main harem members was a descendent of the Angels. She excelled at light magic along with healing, this was mainly due to the Angels' bloodline, but it was also partly to do with her own talent and affinity with light magic. But I don't know why I made her the type of person to enjoy listening to her enemies howls of pain, she also had healing magic, and later down the line. It was so powerful that it was capable of bringing someone on the brink of death back to full health. So if she hated someone enough she could simply destroy them and heal them over and over.

I got a bit sidetractched there but whatever, today I'll try and get my sword. And hell, if it likes me enough it might not try to kill itself.

As I chuckled at my own joke I got out of bed and got dressed, I found some food in the fridge and then went to look at myself in the mirror.

'C+ charm looks kinda good doesn't it? Especially since most people are only at C or D ranked Charm, with B ranked charm or higher being considered very good looking. Mow that I really think about it, if the original Reinhardt's father wasn't a villain I wonder how much better his life would be? After all having an S ranked dad would make life pretty convenient. And in this world where people could live till their 300s due to how advanced medicine was along with existence of Mana. He could've lived 3 centuries of pure ease'

I decided not to think too hard about it since it wasn't as if I could change anything now.

'I had made this world. And as far as I'm aware it's real, there's going to be a lot of death, and it's all my fault since I am this world's creator. I wonder if I should try and minimise the deaths? But if I did that the plot would change?'

I wasn't able to finish this novel so I couldn't be sure of what would happen if I was to greedy and took something the protagonist would need.

Well whatever, I think I've spent enough of today talking to myself, I glance at the time.

'It's the 30th of December, and it's 2pm? I'll need to get back by tomorrow at the very latest. With [Monarch's Wrath] I should be fine, since I won't need to fight lower ranked monsters as they'll probably run away from my pressure. But if I came across anything that was ranked [F+] I'd be screwed. It might seem like [F] and [F+] were very close in power, but they aren't. It's possible for an experienced [F] rank to beat an [F+] rank, but I'm not experienced. Honestly it was difficult for me to move in this body until yesterday, mainly because of the weight and height difference with this body and my original one.

'Wait how much money do I even have?'

I went on my phone and checked my balance via online banking,

Balance: 130,000C

'Holy shit I'm rich? Well not rich, but I'm fine for now. I'm guessing this is the money that the original Reinhardt's father gave to him so that his kid could at least survive.'

130,000C was equivalent to 130,000 dollars. I'm guessing I own the property. Shadow is a pretty decent father considering he's a villain, leaving his son with enough money to survive along with a 2 floored, 5 bedroom house. The house had 2 bathrooms as well which was off considering Reinhardt would lived alone. Maybe he left this house so his son could live with other people in the future?

I tidied the house a little bit before I left, I made my way to the train station once more.

'This time I'll need to go to somewhere a bit closer than last time.'

I made my way to the train station once more, having memorised the route yesterday. Yesterday I was rather focused on getting the skill but I had noticed that people looked my way quite a lot. [C+] ranked charm sure was amazing.

When I bored the train and paid for my ticket,I sat down on the nearest seat and fell asleep.