Post-death Chivalry

[Volume 1] Chapter 2: Early Years

My cries bellowed throughout the house, alerting Rosina that it's another case of time-to-change-my-nappy. I sucked on my thumb while adoring the lush green meadow surrounding my house, beautiful was an understatement, it was enchanting. The grass was green, the exuberance of the flowers were getting carried with the wind, the village's maidens doing laundry, everything was amicable and harmonious. 

"Alright! Your nappy is fully replaced, my little prince." Rosina said with a smile. 

I cringe at the compliment but it seemed to her that I made a puppy face as a way of saying "thank you", in which she responded with an 'aww' and kissed my forehead. Her love warmed my heart, it reminded me of my mother. The affectionate aura enveloped my little toddler body, I couldn't resist myself to start closing my eyes shut. I slowly fall asleep to a soft, pleasant lullaby. 

I wake up to a swallow knocking on my window. I slowly but surely stand up with the help of my crib railing and climb out of my crib. Rosina was probably doing laundry or cooking at this time so I had time to venture into my dad's study room. 

Whelp, there goes the thought of finding any useful information about this world; Lancelot's study room was locked. I stare at the door in disappointment. I was stupid enough to think that something as important as that was left unlocked. [Hmmm, I need to compose a plan.] I thought to myself. My train of thought was interrupted by Rosina who immediately picked me up and asked "Aww, are you interested in daddy's work?" 

I tried replying with "yes" but only a cluster of gibberish managed to escape from my mouth.

"Hehe~ well, I don't think daddy will allow you to go inside~" 

This woman is teasing me. As a result, I threw a tantrum before she calmed me down by breastfeeding. Although my pride diminished, this toddler body couldn't help but enjoy it. After I was full, Rosina went downstairs and took a leather-bound book from one of the shelves. It was gathering dust before Rosina blew it all away. I looked at what I thought was the title of the book in which it said: "Te Sto f Crea" Huh? what does that mean? Looks like my brain doesn't fully understand this language. "Res Whma" was written below the title, which was probably the name of the author.

She flips open the book and starts reading it to me, although I could understand some of what she's saying, I couldn't understand the weird squiggles which I presumed was to be the written language. 

"There was nothing a long time ago. You cant explain 'nothing' because, well, it's nothing. In a flash, the 'nothing' was replaced by a white entity and soon followed a black entity. Hence they were called: Light and Dark. Light and Dark were like twins, supporting each other for centuries, continuously bouncing off each other. They were still in an infinite equilibrium, with neither side able to overpower the other, resulting in an everlasting harmony. Light wanted to make something one day. As a result, she sculpted the Earth, a world that would sustain all of her creations, including animals, plants, the sun, and, most importantly, Man.

Light had given man a dangerous gift; intellect. A brain, to be exact. The ability to critically think about oneself. She shaped them from the ground up, making her 'happier' by each creation. The result of this 'happiness' was the development of 'emotions,' a quality shared only by her and humans. Light is said to be the source of joy, love, optimism, and hope. Dark was Light, and Light was Dark, hence, he felt these 'emotions' the law of infinite equilibrium affected him, and so, he started to make creations of his own. He crafted the moon, the night, weapons, and worst of all: corruption. The 'emotions' now had an ugly side: jealousy, hatred, anger. A vice humanity has to carry forever.  

With weapons and unfortune, humans could bring out their corruption. The outcome was war, bloodshed and inexplicable murder. Around the same time, though, humans cherished, cared for and supported each other. The eternal equilibrium was invincible.'

I barely managed to decipher something she said, but to my understanding, I believe she explained something about Darkness and Light. I decided to concentrate on literacy and arithmetic after that story, since I found it to be useful at a young age.

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Three years have passed, my ability to read and write 'Zueshouvian' has greatly improved, and I hope to be able to hold discussions on my own. The book I wanted to know about is called "The Story of Creation," and the author is named "Resulatt Whitemaw," probably my great-grandfather, who most likely told my mother the same story. My body has also developed enough to allow me to walk again. I feel as light as a feather compared with my other body. I can sprint across the house three times before being pinched in the ear. In my 80+ kilos body, I could hardly sprint, so being able to run without gasping for air in the first few seconds is a revelation.

Anyhow, I can finally read the dusty books that were put on the bookshelf after gaining the characteristic of being literate. I dragged a wooden stool across the planked floor in front of the towering bookshelf while mother was busy doing laundry, with the sole purpose of being stepped on.

"Hmm.." The leathered books I saw were abundant: 

Tales of the Magic Knight Zetrios>

Tales about an imperial magic knight who has slain countless beasts.

An Apprentice's Guide to Sorcery>

A grimoire that explained the simple concepts of magic as well as how to use basic to advanced magic.

Radybell and the Golden Harp>

A tragic tale about a princess who died while playing her instrument. 

Certitude of Dragons and Mythical Beasts>

A madlad's journal explaining his encounters with numerous mythical and legendary beasts.

Guide through the Kingdom of Citadel>

A guide about everything you need to know as well as some tips and tricks about the Citadel Kingdom.

Out of all of the books, I decided to start with 'An Apprentice's Guide to Sorcery ' I barely managed to pull it out of the bookshelf, let alone carry it to the second floor. But as soon as I reached my room, I plop down the bulky book and flip open the first page. 

I understood most of the content stated in the book, and learnt that there were 7 types of magic:  Basic - Advanced - Royal - Ancient - Origin - Emperor - Calamity.  However, there were certain requirements for a person to wield these types, like how Royal magic is unique to people with royal blood. Elements also exist in this world. Surprisingly, only quite few of them are used; Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, Lightning and Nature. 

Using magic, however, require mana, and the more advanced the use is, the more mana it consumes. It's stated that your mana pool is hereditary, and can't be changed. [Hopefully my mana pool is large.] Apparently, there are many ways of using magic: Conjuration [Using mana to create something, spell-casting, mainly for attack] Abjuration [Using mana as a form of curse to neutralize other's spells, although, it comes in the form of a magic barrier.] Transmutation [Using mana to change/enhance one's physical capabilities; strength, speed, etc.] 

Humans are flawed, and the consequence of that is the inability to fully control the stream of mana throughout your body, hence, people 'Chant' certain words to help flow their mana into their desired spell. Having said that, there is a small chance that people are born with the ability to fully control their stream of mana through their entire body. These people are called 'Wizards'. They don't need to chant spells, although the reason is unknown, it is said that the change of someone being born with this ability is 1/10000. However, natural selection soars that number to 1/1000000, since most of the people born with the ability has a relatively low mana pool. 

I continued flipping the pages until I heard my mom's demand bellow throughout the house. 

"Reyn, sweetie! time for lunch!"

"Okay mom coming down in a minute!" 

I close the book by grasping the leathered cover with my palm and moving it towards the page. I sprinting downstairs to be met with a pleasing aroma brewing from what I saw as my mother's scrumptious vegetable stew. I run to a chair to take a seat as I wait for my portion to be served. A bowl of vegetable-mixed-meat stew was set in front of me by my mother, enticing my nose. I grab a spoon on the table and exclaimed, "Itadakimasu!"

Post-death Chivalry Chapter 2 END.

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Author's notes

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Hello! sorry for the late upload, I am here to say that my upload schedule now will be pretty s**t if I say so myself, assessments are creeping in and I have a truckload of due assignments. Until then, sayonara!