abcnovels
Book 1: Chapter 1
Book 1: Chapter 1
Book 1: Chapter 1
Thanks to the warm and gentle light showering Kyles face, he awakened.
This place is?
He pushed up his body, and looked around as he muttered these words in a daze. The reason for his confusion was not because he found himself in an unfamiliar environment by any means. Rather, his surroundings were too nostalgic that it left him bewildered. On the wall hung the fake training sword he had received from his father during his younger days, and the bookshelf was riddled with books he was given to by his mother. Not to mention that his thoroughly-used desk and chair still stood at the location he remembered, and the bed he found himself in was the exact same which he had slept in a long time ago.
Theres no way he would be mistaken. This is the same place he spent the greater half of his life at: His own room, located in his hometown which had been annihilated a year ago during the demons Great Invasion.
Why am I?
Kyle tried to understand the situation he found himself in with his sleepy consciousness, when the door opened at great momentum, and an energetic voice reached his ears.
How long are you going to sleep? Hurry and get up already.
A girl that seemed to be between 15 and 20 years old. Her reddish-brown curly hair was her trademark, and her actions were overflowing with vigor and energy, to a level where you cheered up just watching her.
Lieze
Ever since the day he was born, Kyle had seen her face on pretty much a daily basis. She was his childhood friend, and a person he should not have been able to meet again.
What, you were awake? For crying out loudStarting today, youll be 16, so pull yourself together, will you. She put one hand on her hip, as she complained.
She had always been like this. Even though they were practically the same age, just because she was born a few months prior to Kyle, she treated him like a younger brother. Kyle gazed at Liezes face in bewilderment, but eventually realized.
Ah, a dream He smiled, devoid of any strength.
It was a kind, yet cruel dream. Being able to have such a dream during his last moments, as a reward for having saved the world, it was such horrible irony. These days nothing happened, this peaceful and irreplaceable daily life, which Kyle only started to miss after it was gone, he could experience it one last time. However, it didnt matter if it was a dream, or a hallucination. As long as he could return to this time for a few more moments
Kyle? Lieze let out a dubious voice as she observed her childhood friend, but eventually approached Kyles bed. Whats wrong?
She approached him to a distance where he could feel her breath, as she narrowed her eyes even more. Without answering her words, Kyle merely jumped up to embrace her.
K-K-K-Kyle!?
Lieze! Lieze! Lieze!
He continued to call out her time, hugging her stronger and stronger, as if he frantically begged for this moment to continue even another second.
W-W-W-Wait a second, what are you doing!? Lieze started twisting and turning inside his arms, but she couldnt bring up the strength to break free. U-Ugh
Eventually, her resistance ended entirely, as she calmed down, her face beet red. Once a few seconds passed, Kyle realized that something was off. He could feel Liezes warmth on his body, the flowery scent coming from her hair tickled his nose, and her voice, muttering W-Where did that come from or I need to mentally prepare myself, sounded oddly real. Soon after that, his head cleared up fully.
Huh?
For a dream, it felt far too realistic. The left hand he had placed on Liezes back slowly moved down towards that place, and grabbed it fiercely.
Eeek!? Liezes body twitched in shock.
Hm?
Since Kyle received a warm, soft, and comfortable sensation on his hand, he continued groping it.
Eh? Ah? Nos-stopMm! Lieze let out a panicky voice.
Oh right, I always thought that she had a thick bum despite her ageis what Kyle had in his head.
However, at that time, Kyle failed to realize that, as a natural phenomenon, a certain one part of his had gotten quite energetic. And, through groping the erotic behind of a member of the opposite sex, who even was his age, this very part turned even more energetic. In their current position, namely Kyle passionately embracing Lieze, it made sense that she could feel his energetic part. If anything, said part was directly pressed onto her.
!? Immediately, her facial color changed from red to blue. N-Noooooooo!?
With a sudden influx of strength in her arms, she broke free from Kyles hold, slightly lowered her hip, and swung her land like a whip at him. This slap not only used her arms strength, but her entire bodys force, like it was one smooth motion, and slammed right onto Kyles jaw. As a result, his body danced through the air like a comet, and was slammed right into the bookshelf.
W-What are you doing out of the blue like that! Idiot! Lieze screamed, tears in her eyes, as she stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
Kyle was leaning against the wall upside down, buried in books, as his brain finally woke up enough to catch onto the pain assaulting his jaw.
Huh? Its not a dream?
At the same time as he muttered these words, he opened up his right hand, which had been clenched tightly even after he woke up. The sound of something dropping to the floor rang out, and when Kyle looked down, he was greeted by the crimson-colored blood-red gemstone he picked up from the altar.
Soits not a dream, huh. Kyle sat down on his bed, and gently rubbed the still-stinging jaw of his. There shouldnt be a dream where I can feel painBut then, what exactly is going on? His consciousness had fully returned, but this reality was hard to accept.
If his memory served him correctly, he should have bested the Demon Lord in his castle, and suffered lethal wounds as a resultHowever, if this right now wasnt a last dream before his death, then what in the world?
Its not some hypnosis or hallucination, as that doesnt work against meAlso, I doubt that a demon would use such a technique on me during its last moments
Going along with that train of thought, he looked down at his left arm. It should be riddled with wounds, fully unusable.
Its healNo, thats not it.
With the wounds he had suffered, not even high grade healing magic should be able to fully heal it with no scars remaining, not to mention that it didnt feel numb at all. Speaking from experience, Kyle could tell. However, as far as his eyes didnt play any tricks on him, it looked like it was brand new, and he could even move it freely. Its like he never suffered any wounds to begin with.
The same was the case for the countless wounds that should have riddled his body. After testing it, he realized that he was in perfect shape, and the pain he had felt before, as well as the sense of fatigue, were gone.
After thinking about it for a second, Kyle made up his mind, and left the room. As he expected, the outside of the room was exactly as he remembered. And, after confirming his own appearance in the large mirror in the reception room, he was certain.
Figured as muchI look younger now.
Because of the endless fighting, he had fully forgotten about his own birthday, but he should have been around twenty. Contrary to that however, the Kyle reflected in the mirror was much younger than that, and all the scars he earned through the fighting had vanished without a trace.
His hometown that should have been destroyed, his childhood friend that should have died, his younger body, and Liezes previous wordsThere is only one conclusion that could explain all of it.
Is this the past? Did I travel back in time?
He took out the red gemstone out of his pocket. As before, it held beauty and eeriness unbefitting of this world, but the mana1 had vanished from it.
No, that shouldnt be possibleI dont remember there being any magic that could help you travel back to the pastBut, theres no other explanation Kyle held his head for a while, but eventually gave up on thinking as his stomach complained loudly. I guess theres some things that never changeBut, that only proves that this is reality.
Wondering what he could eat, Kyle made his way towards the kitchen, only to find a breakfast prepared already. Standing on the table was freshly baked bread, together with some soup containing dried meat and vegetables, scrambled eggs, salad, a fruit desserta nutritious breakfast.
Did Lieze make this?
Since Kyle and his family werent the greatest cooks, she would often do the cooking for them. Thinking about how nobody could compete with her, Kyle put some food into his mouth. A nostalgic taste tickled his tongue. It was an unforgettable taste he hadnt gotten to eat the entire last year.
Gotta eat thisbefore it grows cold, huh
As if to ride the urge to cry in the face of this nostalgic taste, Kyle gulped down the food like a wild animal.
I guess I ate too much, huh. Kyle said with a wry smile, as he looked down at the empty plate in front of him.
There had actually been a good amount of food on it, but it all vanished.
Its a bit late for me to say that, but that amount wasnt just for one person, rightHm?
At that moment, Kyle heard the sound of the entrance door opening, with someone entering inside. He was wary for a second, but he could tell who it was a second later. All too familiar footsteps slowly but surely approached the kitchen.
Sup~
Entering was a man with short blonde hair, looking like the delinquent neighbourhood kid grew up without changing. He wore clothes that allowed for easy movement, a sword at his side.
Seran
Just as Lieze, he was Kyles childhood friend, and one of these rotten connections as you would call it. And, this connection stayed intact until Serans last moments.
Rare to see you awake this early. Considering how youre bad at getting up in the morning.
Y-YeahS-Sowell, how are you doing lately?
We met yesterday, what are you on about? Seran said with a confused tone in his voice.
Kyle got his breathing under control, and took a closer look at Serans face. It was different after all.
Your idiotic face is still the same, but the Seran Ive known was overflowing with experience. The way you are right now makes you look like a moron with a bit of talent at best
I got no clue what youre talking about, but I can at least guess that youre insulting me, you bastard.
He was young again, most likely the same age as Kyle. Because of his previous confusion, Kyle didnt pick up on it, but Lieze had grown younger as well.
Aint got time to bother with you right now. More importantly, breakfastbreakfastgone!? Seran screamed in disbelief as he looked at the empty pot. Did you seriously eat all of that?!
Was pretty delicious, you know?
Oh right, this guy often stopped by for food, didnt heKyle thought to himself.
God damn it, Lieze seemed busy all day yesterday so I figured Id come over and maybe snatch some food for myselfShes as violent as a gorilla, but her cooking is great so I was actually looking forward to it. Seran complained, as he ran his finger along the pot, getting a taste of the last bit of soup inside.
Watching this, Kyle made up his mind.
So~ Let me ask something weirdWhat day and year is it right now?
Hm? That sure is a weird thing to ask. Its the 24th of the 5th month, year 2823.
It really was the date four years in the past.
Are you sure about that?
Why are you this shocked by that? I dont think Im wrong Seran spoke that far, and clapped his hands together with a Ah. That reminds me, todays your birthday, right? Not like Id care about the birthday of some bastard like you, thoughSo what, you wanted me to congratulate you?
No, I dont enjoy receiving blessings from a bastard either.
Seran finished scooping out the last bit of soup, and shrugged his shoulders.
Aye aye, then your birthday present was todays breakfast. Arent you happy.
That? Really? Also, that food wasnt yours to begin with.
Seran didnt bother responding to Kyles words, and walked towards the door.
Where are you going?
If Im not getting any food, then I got no business being here. Ill look for Lieze and get some from herWas delicious after all. He muttered that last part. If I slam my head against the ground and beg really hard, she might just make me some. After all, shes got some sweet spots as well. Seran said, not hesitating at all.
Ever sinceNo, as always, you never choose the method to reach your goal, huh. Not to mention that you immediately throw away your pride.
Dont praise me like that, Im gonna blush.
Nobody is praising you.
Ah, my birthdays in the 8th month, 2nd day, so I expect some good money, or a great woman, aye? Seran waved his hand, as he stepped out.
He sure didnt changedoes he ever, I wonder. Kyle watched off Seran, and showed a bitter smile.
Its been a while since he exchanged such casual words with Seran. Before, it had been part of a dull and never changing daily life, but now Kyle treasured it even more.
Now thenwhat should I do.
Kyle had to accept the fact that he travelled back to the past, but he hadnt the foggiest as to how that even worked. Whatever it may be, pondering about it alone would most likely not give him an answer. He would have preferred to consult someone, but he had to be careful as to who.
Guess theres only one person. Just hope theyre awake. Kyle scratched his head, and headed towards the location of the person in question.
Kyle and the Lenard Family he belonged to lived in the outskirts of the town Rimarze, which was located in the Kingdom of Zilgus. Though not rich, they possessed a sort-of mansion, which offered three floors and a wide garden. Kyle moved to the corner of this garden. At the end of the stone-paved way stood a robust bungalow, which possessed no windows, and the second you opened the door, you were greeted by stairs leading underground.
Once he opened the bulky door on the underground floor, Kyle was welcomed by a dense and nostalgic scent which filled the room. The entire place was riddled to the brim with bookshelves, and even they couldnt contain all the books that were scattered across the floor. On the windowless wall hung a semi-permanent magic item, imbued with [Light] magic. This was a safety measure so that the books wouldnt suffer any damage, with adjusted light strength, as humidity was a books greatest enemy. It looked simple, but setting up the magic was this was quite difficult, and cost a large amount of money.
Even the collection of books offered a great variety itself, reaching from picture books aimed at children, to prohibited books that had been around during the Ancient Magic Kingdom era. In the center of the room stood a table, with a mountain of books on top of it. The woman sitting in the middle of that, half buried by books, picked up on Kyles arrival, and showed him a smile.
Ah, Kyle-chan, its rare for you to come here. Not to mention at this time.
There she was. Kyle imagined that she would be there, but being able to see her like this made his heart race in joy. He however hid these feelings, and calmly spoke up.
Its morning already. Were you reading books all night again, Mom.
Eh? Ah, its morning? I really cant tell the time when Im in here. Kyles mother, Seraia, let out a yawn as she responded.
She possessed a childish face with shortly-cut hair, and through her small body, she looked much younger than she actually was. She surely passed her thirties already, but with Kyle together, they looked more like sister and brother, rather than mother and son.
I got a question. Do you have some time right now?
Listening to Kyles words, Seraia looked at him with a bit of puzzlement.
My my, what is this, asking me somethingAh, if its about my first meeting with your Father, then I dont mind telling youIt all began twenty years ago
Another time, please. Kyle immediately cut off his mother before she could say anything unnecessary.
The story when his parents met would always go on for hours, and hearing it to the very end induced a trauma inside young Kyle.
I wanted to ask something about magic.
Magic? Are you sure about asking me?
I dont know anybody whod be more proficient about magic than you, Mom.
With magic, there are generally three types: Holy Magic, which borrows the strength of the Gods to cause miracles; Spirit Magic, which allows you to use magic responding to the spirits residing in this world, generally split into the four elements of Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. And finally, there exists Ancient Language Magic, which was developed during the period of the Ancient Magic Kingdom. Out of these types, humans generally used Holy Magic and Ancient Language Magic, and Seraia was an Ancient Language Magic user.
Ancient Language Magic is split up in six grades, which consist of lower grade magic, common grade magic, intermediate grade magic, advanced grade magic, high grade magic, and finally supreme grade magic. At the same time, there exist ranks corresponding to the magic they can use. To be precise, those who can use lower grade magic are called Magician, common grade users are Sorcerers, intermediate grade means youre a Wizard, advanced grade magic corresponds to Mage, and high grade magic users are Archmages.
Since there exist only a handful supreme grade magic users in the entire human folk population, they generally receive individual titles. An example would be the Queen of the Holy Kingdom Shura, [Glorious2] Sakira.
As for Seraia herself, she was one of the few Archmages existing in this nation. Rumours say that she was even recommended to the Galgan Empire as a court mage. However, through the money she earned in her younger days, and the inheritance she received from Kyles grandfather, who passed away right before his birth, she is now living in peace, spending her days gathering and reading books. Not even Kyle knows what brought her to this remote location, and his ears would probably fall off if he asked. However, when looking into anything magic-related, she was probably the most reliable around Kyle.
Sois there a type of magic that lets you return to the past?
There is, yeah. Seraia said like it was nothing special.
R-Really!?
Indeed, its not well-known by any means, but there exists magic that can interfere with time.
I never heard about such convenientNo, rule-breaking magic.
Which makes sense. Even if it exists, nobody can use it. Giving you the detailed logistics behind it would take me days to explain, but I can confidently say that magic that can influence time has been found. The reason that its impossible to use however is the amount of mana it requires.
Mana is the source of energy needed to activate magic, and those who use magic generally hold a certain amount inside of them.
If you were to put a grade on time magic, it would be ten ranks above supreme grade magic. Let alone humans, not even dragons or gods can use it. If you were to see the flow of time as a large river, us humans would be ants at best. Do you think ants would be able to influence the flower of a river? Even if the greatest Archmage in history were to use their life to generate mana, they would only be able to influence time for a moments length, at best.
That is why people dont even know that it exists, Seraia added.
I seeThen, what would you need if you wanted to revert time back to a few years ago?
Years? That would need immeasurable amounts of magic. I wouldnt even know how to gather such an amount. Seraia said as she shook her head.
So thenwhat if you used a magic item?
Ahh. Seraia raised a voice at Kyles words. That sounds interesting indeed. With a magic item, you would be able to store manaIt does take time, but eventually, you might be able to use time magic. Seraia seemed like she was pondering about it, but eventually shook her head. No, I doubt that. Theres way too many problems with that. Even if you could store the mana, it would take a single Archmage a thousand years to store enough of it.
What if you were to use the forbidden ritual?
Hearing that word, Seraias face grew grim.
Indeed, with that forbidden magic, you might be able to gather enough mana, butHow do you know of that?
The forbidden ritual is a ritual of sacrifices. By exchanging life essence into mana, you can gain amounts of it that wouldnt be possible otherwise. Not to mention that the sacrifices dont even have to have any mana inside of them. There was once an incident where a wizard fell into darkness, and sacrificed an entire village to experiment on evil magic. As a result of that, this forbidden ritual is known as prohibited magic, and is hidden as much as possible.
I only read about it in a book, but I dont really know the details.
During the closing years of the war Kyle experienced, humans had no other option but to refer to this forbidden ritual in order to fight against the demons.
I seeBut, even if you were to use that ritual, it would be impossible. If you wanted to deal with a few years of time, you would need the greater half of all humans living on this continent as sacrifices.
Right, theres no way someone would do that.
That being said, if you were to sacrifice so many people, you would indeed gain the amount of mana you needed. Kyle remembered the mountains of corpses littered around the Demon Lords castle. They were all human folk who were abducted and forcefully taken to the demons territory, and as proof of them having their mana sucked out of them, they looked like withered tree branches.
The other problem is the catalyst. With any other magic, you would need magic stones or gemstones or the like, but I doubt any catalyst exists that could carry this vast amount of mana.
If the catalyst couldnt carry the amount of mana stored inside of it, it would break apart, and cause an explosion with the mana growing rampant.
The only item that would make this possiblewould probably be the legendary Heart of the Divine Dragon.
With these words, Seraia took out a single old book out of the mountain she sat inside. It seemed to be chaotic from an outsiders perspective, but apparently Seraia herself had marked down all the locations herself.
Ah, this is it. The Heart of the Divine Dragon.
Shown inside the book she opened was an anecdote of the Heart of the Divine Dragon, as well as a rough illustration of the object itself.
Legends say there existed a dragon stronger than the gods themselves. The remains of this dragon harbored more strength and power than the gods who had lived for all eternity. The ones who managed to salvage this item were the human Ancient Magic Kingdom Zaales3. And, this Zaales succeeded in extracting the mana inside. Thanks to this unfathomable amount of mana, Zaales has prospered for a thousand years and more.
However, after being used for this supply, the Heart of the Divine Dragon eventually used up all of its mana stored inside. This incident eventually led to the ruin of humanitys greatest and longest prospering Ancient Magic Kingdom Zaales.
And, because it ended up completely empty, you can store new mana inside of it. If I had to guess, it probably would be the best container for that amount of mana needed. But, now that Zaales is gone, and we dont even know where its ruins could be, this item stayed in darkness for the past thousand years. Does it even exist anymore? Maybe its already in the hands of the demons, we have no way of knowing.
Isee Subconsciously, Kyle grasped the object currently located in his pocket.
It looked identical to the drawing in front of him.
Basically, to return to the past, you would need the legendary Heart of the Divine Dragon, and sacrifice about half of the entire human population on this continentright?
Thats what it boils down to, yes. Impossible, right?
Yeah, that sounds like nonsense Kyle muttered, without looking Seraia in the eyes.
Its rare to hear you ask about something like this. Its almost like you came from the future, Kyle-chan.
Haha what are you talking about theres no way that would be the case Mom.
Right, what was I thinking.
The two were smiling at each other (with Kyle forcing out an awfully awkward one).
Still, its been quite some time since I got to talk with you this long, Kyle-chan.
Isthat so?
Of course. As of late, youve been avoiding me after all.
Ahh, I didnt mean for it to seem that way
I remember something like that, Kyle thought to himself. Right around this time, he started avoiding his mother, despite there being no major reason. It probably was a choice influenced by his adolescent growth, but thinking back on it, he didnt understand it himself.
I was really lonely, you know. I thought Id be a failure of a mother, since my own son started to hate me.
Wellyour looks and attitude really arent doing it, I think. Youre sloppy, a homebody, and you dont really care about anything but books. Since youre even bad at housework, you really arent the image of a perfect mother I have in my head.
Ive been aware of that for a while now, but hearing it directly from my own son sure hurts
Even so, youre the only Mom I have, and I wouldnt want anybody else.
More than anything, he didnt want to lose her a second time.
Really, you say the cutest stuff at times~ Seraia embraced Kyle with a smile.
Since Kyle was bigger than her, it looked more like she was clinging to him. If it was the former him, he would have pushed her away by now, but now he was fighting hard to hold back the tears, as he was overwhelmed with nostalgia, happiness, and bashfulness.
Now Ive gotten hungry from all the talking. I think Lieze-chan made breakfast today. Her cooking is great~
Im looking forward to it, Seraia said as she headed towards the stairs on light steps, when Kyles expression tightened up.
Ahsorry, I already ate all of it.
Hearing these words, Seraias face froze up.
I see, then it cant be helped. Guess your Mom will munch on some snacks instead, hehehe.
Im sorry, really.
No, its okayOh yeah, todays your birthday, isnt it. As for your present, you can have the breakfast today thenHehe.
Again, isnt that a bit cheap as a birthday present?
1 Originally Magical Power but for the convenience of the manga readers, I kept it as mana.
2 Written as [Radiance], in this volume shes called [Glories], but the later volumes call her [Glorious], so Ill go with that here
3 Apparently its Zeeles according to the manga tl, but the raws here say Zaales/Zares/Zales. Having checked, the manga raws called it like that as well, so Ill be taking that instead.