1 Drake Moonfall

In the North of the Dalian Kingdom, countless monsters roamed through the plains. Be it tribes of orcs, maiden ghosts or worse still, packs of dire wolves, these beasts made it hard for anyone to travel safely without a guide or an escort.

Thankfully, there happened to be safe havens in the North: fortresses built next to Magus Towers. Magi were strong beings who had overcome spiritual limits set by Gods by studying the secrets underlying magic. Unfortunately, as time passed, they were becoming extinct.

Over the years, a city had been built around the Moonfall Tower, in which trade was blossomming. Taxes made the Moonfall Household wealthy, and merchants earned protection from the Magus Family.

In the tower, a youth, no older than 15, was training with an iron sword. Despite the apparent cold and snow, he was only wearing a shirt. His pupils were red, a colour that could not belong to that of a human. Rather than a pure-blooded human, Drake Moonfall was a descendant of a bloodline path Magus. His ancestor, seeking strength, had transplanted blood of a Demonic Raven into his own body while retaining his sanity and reproductive ability.

Over the years, his ancestor founded a family, which survived through the ages until now. Even though there had not been a single Magus in the past three hundred years, the Moonfall Household still held a lot of influence in the Dalian Kingdom thanks to their economy and military strength.

Drake, however, was not a direct heir of this noble Household. He was only part of a secondary family branch.

"AHHH!", Drake shouted as he cut through the air.

[Heavy Vertical Strike Activated...Completion: 88%. Correct your strike angle by 0.8°.]

[You have completed a set of the Moonfall Knight Training Cycle]

[Estimated Gains: +0.02 Strength, +0.01 Agility, +0.02 Vitality]

Covered in sweat, Drake nodded in satisfaction. As always, his biochip was reliable. Anyone who trained as much as him would stop altogether at some point, as they would hardly feel the progress they made. However, Drake's biochip could monitor his progress and even analyse his moves to further enhance his skill growth. Over the years, Drake had surpassed most preparatory knights defending the ancestral keep.

As he returned to his room, a bath was prepared. Though he was not part of the main family branch, he still had the status of a nobleman and was treated accordingly. He even had a personal butler attending all of his needs, from food to errands.

He did not have high status in his family, though. His parents had betrayed the family decades ago to save his life. Little did they know, for the stillborn baby still died, only to be replaced by the current Drake, who came from modern Earth. Growing up, he received scorn and harsh treatment by his caretakers, namely his uncle and aunt. Still, unlike his parents, he had not been sent to the dungeon. After all, he possessed grade 2 magical talent and 16% of bloodline purity.

Even though it was not extraordinary, out of the 28 acolytes affiliated with the Moonfall Household, only 6 possessed a bloodline purity above 15%, two of them being his own parents. Though it could be raised artificially through rituals, they required extremely rare materials like blood stones. Bloodline purity meant everything in the family.

Closing and locking the door behind him, Drake took out a small pouch full of medicinal herbs, and started to put them in the hot water. Unclothing himself, he then entered the medicinal bath and started to meditate.

Just like physical training was needed to grow physically stronger, meditation was necessary to increase magical powers. The process was just as difficult, as it required tremendous will and focus. The worst part was the time it took. As a grade 2 talent, he had to meditate two hours to complete one revolution of his family breathing cycle.

Medicinal herbs not only healed his muscles and bleeding skill from his knight training, it also increased the effects of meditation. Though the effects were very small, few actually believed in them. However, Drake possessed an advantage compared to his peers: his biochip.

It possessed the ability to mechanically analyse his movements while training his swordsmanship, tell whether certain types of food and regents would increase his growth, whether herbs were detrimental or beneficial to meditation and healing his body...And more importantly, it possessed the ability to memorize scenes to the perfection.

Drake did not have access to a knight mentor, and anyone below this standard of strength was of little use to him, who had already surpassed most preparatory knights in terms of skills and bodily strength. However, Drake had witnessed several knights training in the soldiers' barracks in the path. Replaying these scenes in his mind like a video with the help of his biochip, Drake had thus integrated their movements and moves in his mind.

[Name - Drake Moonfall | Age - 15 Years Old

Race - Human / Wereraven

Demonic Raven Bloodline (Stage I) - 16% Purity

Attributes:

Strength - 2.6 (+1.5) | Agility - 2.0 (+0.5) | Vitality - 2.4 (+1.5) | Magic Power - 4.6

Perks: Demonic Raven Bloodline (Stage I: +0.5 Strength, +0.5 Agility, +0.5 Vitality), Knight Physique (+1.0 Strength, +1.0 Vitality)

Skills: Moonfall Knight Swordsmanship (76), Magical Knowledge (43), Etiquette (40), Archery (35), Horsemanship (30), Cartography (26)...

Spell: Demonic Raven Vision (35)]

An average human in his prime would have around 1 point in each stat. However, in this medieval world where famines and wars were common, the average farmer would only have 0.7 or even 0.6 point in each stat.

Magic Power was different. Though all living beings possessed it to some extent, only a handful could awaken it. Those who could had the potential to harvest the mana in the air, and if they attended a magical academy, they would eventually become 'acolytes', individuals who walked the path of Magi.

From beginner, intermediate, advanced to peak acolytes, the path to become a true Magus was long. Talent was an important factor, but dedication and resources were just as important.

After entering a deep meditative state, he started to follow the family's high-grade meditation technique.

Meditation techniques were special breathing and mental exercices developped to better stress the spirit. It was the only way to significantly increase magical power over time without suffering from side effects.

As a bloodline path acolyte, the meditation technique was a necessity to keep his sanity. Otherwise, his demonic raven blood would overtake his mind and he might be 'corrupted', which was yet another word to mean demonized.

This was the cost of possessing the blood of a magical beast. It provided an increased growth rate, the ability to develop innate spell such as demonic raven vision, but there was always a risk of becoming corrupted. Thankfully, the Moonfall Household's heritage and experience almost nullified that possibility as long as he diligently practiced the high-grade meditation technique.

[You have completed a revolution of the Demon Raven Eye Breathing Technique]

[Your magic power has increased by 0.02]