Chapter 2 "The Magic Cube"

Lige Brighthart was a genius.

This is not because he had great intelligence, nor because he had exceptional talent, but simply because the world had favored him a little more, giving him a natural advantage over many others.

Lige Brighthart did not come from a privileged background. On the contrary, he was from an obscure countryside where his family had been farmers for three generations, with his grandfather even being a slave. It is easy to imagine how humble his origins were.

But Lige Brighthart was undoubtedly lucky.

This was because he was born with an unusually large amount of magical power.

Realizing this, he was unwilling to live as a mere farmer or slave. He escaped from his homeland and his grandfather, who had intended to give him as a gift to their master, and fled to the territory of a wealthy aristocrat. There, he participated in the entrance exam for the national magic academy, which happened to be taking place.

His innate and formidable magical power immediately caught the attention of the high-ranking officials at the magic academy, and he was accepted as a gifted student, sent straight to the highest institution of learning in the land, becoming a newcomer to the renowned academy.

Lige Brighthart's reputation as a genius was born from this.

His intelligence was not particularly outstanding, and his magical talent was not exceptionally high, but because of his extraordinary natural magical power, he became a genius whom everyone envied.

This was all because, in this world, although everyone possessed magical power, the amount of magical power one had was determined by innate talent and could not be changed by external factors.

In other words, when a person is born, the amount of magical power they have determines their entire life.

This has resulted in many people being unable to become magicians no matter how hard they try, simply because they lack the innate talent for it.

Conversely, this has made it possible for some people to become magicians with ease, without much effort, simply because they are blessed with an unusually large amount of natural magical power, capable of using high-level, powerful magic that others cannot.

Lige Brighthart was one such person.

Therefore, he was praised by many people.

Many people gathered around him, and even many prominent figures wanted to please him, throwing olive branches to him. Even the kingdom valued him extremely, and it was said that the king remembered his name.

So, the question arises.

What would happen to a country boy who originally lived a lowly life with little knowledge, but was praised, supported, and admired by everyone after coming to the big city and being tempted by the worldly pleasures?

Would he be like the protagonist in some novels, work hard and strive for success, resist all temptations, and finally become the strongest, completely changing his own destiny?

No.

At least, Lige could say with certainty, "In this kind of environment, the possibility of people becoming bad is countless times greater than the possibility of becoming good."

The original owner was like this.

Under the praise, compliments, flattery, and support of the people around him, the original owner also smoothly forgot his efforts and perseverance, and fell into the sugar-coated bullets of others, unable to extricate himself.

As a result, the original owner became a person who was ignorant and lazy, relying on the name of "genius", immersed in pleasures with some noble children all day long. Although he did not reach the point of bullying and intimidating others, he gradually became arrogant, thinking that he had become an upper-class person and was unwilling to associate with people from poor backgrounds, spending his days hanging out with a group of noble children.

Finally, the disaster that woke the original owner from his beautiful dream came.

On a night just a month ago, after hanging out with a group of noble children, the original owner was attacked on his way back to the academy, not only suffering serious injuries but also having his "gate" destroyed, making him unable to use magic anymore.

From here, the genius will fall from the pedestal.

Understanding this, the original owner felt sad and died.

His final thought was not regret for what he had done so far, but he was unwilling to accept the future of returning to his life as a lower-class person in the past.

In this situation, Lige arrived and replaced the original owner, and was taken back to his villa by Yuli, who thought he had successfully rescued him.

For the original Lige, the current Lige had no sympathy or pity.

"This outcome can be considered as a self-inflicted punishment."

In his previous life, Lige's environment was somewhat similar to that of the original owner, filled with all kinds of sweet words and flattery. However, unlike the original owner, Lige saw through the true intentions of these people and the environment, feeling disgusted and repulsed by these insincere people.

Now, leaving his original world and coming to a sword and magic fantasy world, this was also a kind of liberation for Lige. With this idea in mind, Lige originally had no intention of investigating the attack on the original owner.

However, it seemed that the problem was not as simple as Lige had imagined.

"I have ordered an investigation."

As she mentioned this, Yuli's brow furrowed slightly.

"Have you not found anything?"

Lige immediately guessed the result upon seeing this.

As expected, Yuli nodded.

"The perpetrator was very well hidden. Whether it was the attack that left you severely injured a month ago, or the assassination attempt half a month ago, the attackers were hired underground figures. Following these people, we cannot find out anything."

Yes.

Just half a month ago, Lige was attacked again.

Initially, Lige thought that the reason why the original owner was attacked was simply because he had offended someone or was disliked and envied by someone. However, while recuperating with Yuli, someone infiltrated this mansion under false identity and attempted to assassinate Lige while everyone was asleep at night.

Fortunately, although this mansion is only a villa under Yuli's name, the protective measures are in place. Not only are there people patrolling and guarding around the clock, but there are also magic alarms set up. Yuli was able to rush to the killer's room at the first moment of their intrusion and take them down.

Otherwise, Lige would not be lying in bed now, but should be lying in the cemetery.

This is obviously abnormal.

"It's not normal to be able to hire assassins who can sneak into this mansion. The other party is not only deeply hidden, but their identity seems to be complicated," Lige said calmly, making Yuli feel somewhat surprised.

However, Lige's statement is also correct.

Even if it's just a villa, the fact that someone was able to infiltrate here indicates that their ability is extremely strong.

After all, this is where she, "Yuli Franzerl," lives.

Anyone who can hire assassins of this level, regardless of their background or means, cannot be too bad.

"I really want to know what reason would make such a big shot keep an eye on me," Lige said, smiling at Yuli, seemingly unaffected.

Yuli took a deep look at Lige before speaking.

"I will continue to investigate. Before that, you can rest assured to recuperate here. Although rare, there are methods to completely heal the 'door' that has been completely damaged. I will keep an eye out for them temporarily and hope you don't give up on yourself."

"I will," Lige nodded noncommittally and said, "Thank you."

"No need," Yuli smiled lightly, beautiful and moving like an orchid.

After chatting for a few more sentences, Yuli stood up.

"I won't disturb you. Rest well."

After speaking, Yuli took light steps, leaving Lige's room with a faint fragrance.

Lige watched Yuli leave, and his heart was not as calm as it seemed on the surface.

"Who could it be?"

Lige tried to recall the memories of the original owner, suspecting one person after another that the original owner knew.

Not only those noble children, but also the common people that the original owner usually despised and even the old villagers in the countryside when Lige was still there, he suspected them all, but there was no result.

"The clues are still too few."

The original owner's memories may not be reliable.

Perhaps, the mastermind behind the scenes was just someone who the original owner had ignored, or even someone who had not been remembered.

If it were Lige, he would never let such a thing happen.

The experience of his previous life has long made Lige develop the habit of suspecting anyone and he would never deliberately ignore anyone.

It's also because of his past experiences that Lige deeply understands one thing.

"The other party definitely hasn't given up and will continue to target me, sending people to kill me."

As a person of high status, Yuli is in an exceptionally sensitive and important environment. The fact that the other party is willing to send people to assassinate Lige just to get rid of him proves their determination.

This makes Lige, who has also suffered from similar situations in his past life, feel very insecure.

"What kind of person will they send next time?"

"Will they be more difficult to deal with than the last one?"

"Will Yuli be able to save me in time when that happens?"

These questions are all telling Lige how unstable and unsafe his current situation is.

Moreover, the reason why Yuli will save him is not unfounded.

Otherwise, with no connection between the original owner and Yuli, even to the point of having an unattainable relationship, the other party would never have sheltered Lige for a whole month, let alone saving his life when he was almost dying.

Lige doesn't want to entrust his life to someone else.

He must protect himself.

He must find a way to get out of this powerless situation.

Obviously, this is a difficult thing to do.

Lige can't even use the most basic magic since the door is completely damaged. In this world of swords and magic, how can he protect himself?

Fortunately, Lige is not completely helpless.

Closing his eyes, Lige sinks his consciousness into his mind.

In a trance, Lige seems to see something in a sea of consciousness.

It is a shining, dazzling, and transparent magic cube that radiates brilliant light.

Lige touches it with his consciousness.

In the next moment, a thought is directly perceived by Lige.

"Activate the Dimensional Magic Cube."