Banished

"Looks like he finally got banished by the patriarch."

"Well, he was tested with a zero potential for magic and this is the Ashford Household where magic is a great part of it."

"But just how is someone tested with zero magic potential? It's the first in history!? And from the prestigious house of mages at that!"

"Right? It's a mystery in itself."

Two guards stared at the parting back of a young man. They whispered among themselves about the banishment of the youngest son of the Ashford Patriarch who was only 15 years old this year.

This former young master was tested with zero potential for magic. And he was born in a household of mages so getting zero magic potential is a shame for the family.

The boy could still hear them albeit not much. He has a calm expression on his face even though he was just banished by his father.

"I finally got out of that house," The boy muttered. He has always wanted on leaving that house as he can't fulfil his dream otherwise.

He clenched his fist and stared at the horizon, and saw the vast plains. His ash grey hair danced with the wind. And his sharp blue eyes shone with desire.

"In this life, I will reach that stage!" He swore under his breath.

Excitement boiled inside him at the thought of finally reaching that stage that he couldn't reach in his previous life.

'For now, I should prepare some things. Though I wonder if this world has the things I need? Unfortunately, they focused on magic in this world so it'll probably be hard to find those.' He thought

He then looked back at the grand gate of the city, his family ruled over. He still remembers how his father banished him.

.....

"You are no longer a part of this household, you are a disgrace to the name Ashford. Leave! Don't you dare show yourself here ever again? And don't even dare use the name Ashford or else be prepared to get killed!"

A middle-aged man glared at the young man standing in front of him. His gaze contained disgust as if staring at filth. His sharp and indifferent blue eyes gave off a cold feel to them. His raven black hair swayed a bit as a bit of wind got in from the window.

The young man stayed silent at the scolding he got. After which, he turned around and left the room.

.....

He shook off those thoughts before walking into the horizon. A small bag of necessities hung over his shoulder and a sword hung at his waist.

This was the start of his journey towards the peak. But, every journey has obstacles along the way.

Aldrich, who had been walking half a day now, arrived at a nearby forest. He rested under a tree to camp out as the sun was setting soon.

"This place should be far enough, I've already built my mana heart when I was still in that house. Now I need to start creating my mana pathways..."

Mana heart, warriors who trained in using mana need to build it to officially start their training. Building it was not easy as one needs to accumulate enough mana to build it. One may even need to accumulate mana for years before a mana heart can be built.

.....

Aldrich slowly concentrated and felt the surrounding mana. The mana around slowly converges in towards Aldrich. Strands of it slowly seeped under his skin and formed what seems like blood vessels.

Slowly, one was formed then another but it stopped when six were created.

Aldrich also stopped meditating and stretched out his arms.

Those blood vessels formed by mana are called mana pathways. As Aldrich already built his mana heart some time ago with the help of his family's resources, he was a tier 1 warrior. After he built some of those mana pathways, he stepped inside tier 2.

"I've reached Tier 2 initial stage," A smile bloomed on his face. "Fortunately, in this life, I was blessed by mana...Surely, with this blessing, I can reach that stage."

*Rustle* *Rustle*

"Hm?"

Aldrich glanced towards some nearby bushes and immediately draw his sword. He threw the sheath to the side and took a stance.

Not long after, a large shadow hovered over him, it was a two-meter large board with a hardened shell protecting its body.

'A magic beast!'

Aldrich was alarmed by this sudden appearance of an enemy. Worse yet, it was a magic beast that is troublesome to fight.

'So a boar type huh...'

*Growl...!*

The beast dashed towards Aldrich with its large tusks.

He, on the other hand, waited before simply jumping to avoid the attack. His body was enhanced with mana which gave an ash-grey aura around him.

'So my first kill in this life is a magic beast...'

*Swish*

He clad his sword with mana, before slashing down his sword toward the boar. It easily cuts through its hide with the help of mana enhancement.

*Bam* *Tap*

Aldrich landed at the same as the beast's head rolled from its neck. Blood gushed out creating a pool of blood.

"It seems like, I will need to keep moving..."

He muttered as he stared at the corpse lying in its blood.

With the smell of blood, many beasts would soon gather here. So he can't camp out at this place, he would need to find another location.

"Though, I could use some of its meat..."

Aldrich then proceeded on cutting some parts of the boar. Magic beasts at this level are edible as it's not yet formed a magic core. Low-level beasts are still okay for consumption though high-level ones aren't except for a few.

After cutting some meat, he wrapped it in some large leaves from the plants nearby before setting off.

His journey hasn't been that smooth though, along the way, he encountered low-level magic beasts which blocked his path.

He couldn't concentrate much on his mana training due to the disturbances. This lasted for about a week until he finally reached a town.

His journey took so long because he only walked or run the whole time. And he doesn't have money on him for transportation or a magic portal.