2 Who I've Become

Circulating what little mana he had, Druak began examining his body. As his mana flowed through his mana veins, the veins used to circulate mana throughout the body, something quickly became clear to him… He had not only lost almost all of his mana but he had also lost spells and skills from the classes he trained himself so tirelessly in. 

This was extremely concerning to Druak as classes along with their skills would almost never be degraded. This meant that in the span of him falling to his death and him waking up here he somehow managed to lose everything he had worked for.

The most concerning matter was Druak's lose of his main class, as classes were basically the route in which you took to become stronger, some people were more limited than others but you could learn most classes as long as you had the knowledge to do so. 

The problem for Druak was that due to him being in a coma for so long he had only managed to reach the 3rd stage of his class and now he had lost even that. It could take years or even decades to increase your stage with your class so this was equivalent to losing everything to Druak.

Most high-born would learn classes from books and teachers that already knew the class and often ended up going into more than one class, unlike commoners who only went into normal classes.

Druak was infuriated, ignoring the people surrounding him Druak slammed his hand against his bed. "Damn it. I'm not a noble. How am I going to get a class now without any money to my name."

However, just ass Druak spoke he realised something that he hadn't expected. All the scars which had covered his arms were now gone. Not a single one could be seen. Not only that there was also barely any hair on his arm. Seeing this Druak leapt out of his bed and rushed over to the closest mirror.

As Druak approached the mirror he looked at the reflection . The mirror showed a rather tall individual, around 6ft tall, but despite his tall stature he was rather skinny, barely having any muscles on his bones. 

He had dark brown, long wavy hair that was tied back with a small tufted of it left on the right side of his face. Despite having a well defined face that would be considered attractive, it was also clear that people would avoid Druak as due to his angular facial features he looked like the type of person that would be aggressive if you approached them.

Druak had his suspicions when he woke up, as he remembered his surroundings from when he was younger. But now that he saw his face he was certain. 'I'm in my 17 year old body. How's that possible.'

Just as Druak was busy thinking about his current predicament, he suddenly felt a stinging sensation across his face. Durak's face contorted in anger as he quickly realised what had just happened… Someone had slapped him straight across the face.

Shifting his gaze towards the man now standing in front of him, it finally dawned on Druak that without a doubt he had gone back in time. Here was no other explanation. Since his dead father was now standing alive as could be before him.

Druak was transported all the way back to his 17-year-old body and it seemed like it was not too long after the experiment he had performed which led to his coma.

When Druak was young he had aspired to become a mage and at the age of 16 he finally found a way to do so and decided that even if it was risky he wanted to be a mage far more than a warrior like his father, the only problem was he had no Mana Core.

This led him to perform an experiment he had researched himself and caused him to be in a coma for almost 4 years and end up missing out on joining the Griffon academy in his past life. This was an academy that was extremely prestigious and hard to get into and due to his experiments putting him into a coma, he was unable to enter the academy.

At the moment there were two things that confused Druak. First was the fact that he woke up far earlier than what he did in his past life, and the second thing was that he could get this feeling out of his head that he wasn't the only being that was residing within his body.

For now, he couldn't focus on this as his father began yelling in front of the rest of the villagers that surrounded him.

"What the hell were you doing creating your own Mana Core. You've been in a coma for 6 months now and could have died. You almost missed your enrollment to the Griffon academy which could affect your entire future." His father kept yelling, telling Druak all of the consequences that could have happened because of his recklessness.

Druak's father was very well built and always had this intimidating aura around him that would send shivers down the spins of anyone he passed, so when he started raising his voice it caused almost everyone within the room to leave almost immediately.

It was clear that Druaks father was worried for his safety and wanted to make Druak understand just how dangerous the experiment he had conducted was, but Druak couldn't take it anymore, he walked straight up to his father, stared dead into his father's eyes.

This was something Druaks father hadn't expected, as his son had never had such fierce eyes before. Druaks father stopped talking,staring straight back at Druak. The pause in Druaks father's gave Druak the chance he needed to explain himself.

"I understand that what I did was extremely dangerous and I'm sorry for worrying you but we aren't rich and I know you couldn't afford a high-stage mage to help me get a Mana Core so I had no choice but to create my own. I've wanted to be a mage ever since mother passed, and this was the only way that I could accomplish that goal."

Due to them not being rich their home wasn't very pleasant inside but it was good enough for Druak so he never complained about his home, especially when he got older and learned more about their current situation.

Druak however had always wanted to be a mage, ever since he was young and no amount of nagging from his father could change this.

Druak's father made sure to listen to every word his son had spoken, trying to understand why his son had done something so reckless. After Druak finished explaining himself Druak's father continued speaking. "I'm proud that you followed your dream, but you were reckless and could have died." 

Druaks father couldn't hold it in anymore, a tear fell down his cheek as he approached his son embracing him in a massive hug. "You scared me so much, I don't want to lose you like I did your mother. Please never do anything reckless like that again."

Druaks father hugged his son, squeezed so tight that his own shirt was torn, but all Druak could think about was. 'I'm sorry dad, I never meant to hurt you.'

Druak began to recall his past life and all the struggles his father had to go through for him. Yet despite this, his father never gave up, even managing to find a class for Druak to learn. No matter what Druaks father had to do and what struggles he had to go through, he would have to do anything for his son and Druak knew this.

Druak's father then pulled away speaking in a stern voice. "You were lucky enough to wake up before the academy started their recruitment. As long as you leave soon you should be able to make it there with more than enough time to spare. I know you have the capability to be accepted into the academy, but….If you can't handle it there, know that I will always have a place for you here, don't think that you are stuck there."

Druak approach his father and gave him one last hug before walking away saying. "Thank you dad. Don't worry , I will make sure to not disappoint you… I'll definitely get into the academy no matter what."

DrUAK had never seen his father so angry and upset at the same time, not even before his last death. It made Druak realise something he didn't even know in his last life. Thought began flooding into Druak's head. 'I messed up, I should have thought about your feelings more before I made such a reckless decision.'

He knew that he needed to prepare for the journey ahead so he left this thought in the back of his mind as he shook his head.

Saying goodbye to his father Druak exited his house carrying everything he needed. With a small pouch of money, some food, a sword, and the clothes on his back, it was finally time to set out towards the academy.

While walking Druak check the condition of his weapon, he knew it wouldn't be great but it was better than nothing. Druak only managed to afford a rusty steel sword from what he picked up in the past before going into a coma, but it was better to have something rather than nothing.

As Druak approached the gate of the village a sudden sharp pain rushed to his head, as memories he never had rushed into his head . Druak couldn't handle the pain anymore, dropping to the floor as strange images of a battle rushed into his head.

For now, Druak ignored how he got this information and decided to just focus on delivering it to the village leader. Quickly turning around rushed toward a rather large building that was in the centre of the village, this was the village centre where the leaders had their meetings.

As Durak approaches this building two guards approach him grabbing him by the shoulders."Sorry but no villagers are allowed inside, there is a meeting that can not be interfered in."

This aggravated Druak as he was trying to assist the village but he also understood that the guards were just trying to do their jobs. "I apologise, I will come back once the meeting is over."

Durak had, of course, lied to them but he couldn't tell them that so he quickly thought of a suitable lie to trick the guards into believing he was leaving.

These guards were only around the 1st or maybe 2nd stage of their classes due to most people not going past that unless they were able to join the army and be properly trained.

Most villagers couldn't get into academies due to lack of money so they ended up staying in quite low stages, Druak was lucky to have his father and mother that were both old soldiers in the army and got a free invitation to members of their family.

This wasn't important, however. What was important was that it gave Druak a chance to trick them. He didn't have nearly as much mana as when he was 27 but he still had enough to do what he wanted.

Druak walk away from the guard, going into a small alleyway that wasn't far for where the guards were stationed.

Once he was out of view of the guards he began to put his plan into action. 

While Druak was putting his plans to work the guards were busy talking to each other. One was leaning against his spear while the other was sitting on a wooden box drinking some alcohol.

"So did you manage to get together with her" The guard leaning on the spear asked.

"Naa, when I asked her out I got a fist to the gut and got left on the floor." The one drinking responded in an annoyed tone.

Both laughed at each other, one being annoyed because the other had started laughing first but he didn't want to seem pathetic so he just played along. The other just found what was said funny so he decided to laugh at his guard partner.

As they continued talking the one sitting down suddenly saw something.

"Hey you over there, I can see your shadow stop hiding." He had noticed a suspicious shadow that seemed to be holding a knife.

Both of the guards began to approach this strange figure as it didn't seem to respond to either of them. Using this chance Druak snuck around the guards and was now standing in front of the entrance of the village centre.

He had used his magic to conjure up a simple shadow with his mana, this was enough to distract and trick them though. As he approached the door he bashed through it and entered the village centre, finally in front of the five main leaders of the village. Druak could now tell them the important information that he had somehow gained knowledge of.