Going Out

That afternoon William asked Laura to bring him a couple of books about geography and history after finding out that the marquess had his own personal library in the castle.

It did not take her long to bring him what he required, so after thanking her, he politely dismissed her while assuring her that should he need her services, he would not hesitate to call.

After making sure that she had closed the door behind her after she had left, William finally relaxed on his bed and picked the first book that was titled "An overview of the history of the kingdom of Kellor".

"I see. Not only can I apparently understand what is undoubtedly a foreign language, which I stupidly did not even realize while I spoke with Laurel, proving that my IQ is lower than the selection of cheeses at my local supermarket. I can even read this country's language as well" William said while looking at the book's cover.

"The only explanation I can think of is that I more or less took over the previous owner of this body's memories, from basic skills such as language to memories about locations and people. Now that I think about it, the poor guy was only fifteen years old and was killed by a horse, what a tragedy. I guess that's how life works, it could be as random as pregnant women's mood swings.''

William continued with his pointless reflections for a few more minutes before opening the book.

Id did not take long for him to be deeply engrossed in the book between his hands even as he had gained some of this body's memories; that was because they were not as extensive as what the book provided him.

By the time he put it down, it was already dark outside and while he was reading someone had delivered his lunch without him even noticing, no doubt Laura's doing.

"Fascinating, so according to this book, this world was once full of magic, dragons, wizards, witches, monsters and so much more. The whole package that any self-respecting magical world should have, used to exist a long time ago; You name it they pretty much had it. But one day, magic somehow disappeared all of a sudden, more precisely around one thousand years ago, plunging the world into chaos and leading to the collapse of the then-established order. After a while though, multiple kingdoms started popping out like mushrooms left and right, the Kellor kingdom being just one of them''

William summarized while talking to himself.

William was a university student specializing in history before he found himself here, trapped in a fifteen year's old boy's body that "coincidentally" shares the same name he has.

So even though this whole "I am all of a sudden in another world" situation terrified him to no end, it also intrigued him; especially now that he had calmed down since yesterday's game he titled ''how many world toppling revelations does it take to stop a man's heart''.

William took a break; he called for his personal maid and asked her to go to the kitchen to heat up his dinner. After quickly consuming it, he went to sleep.

Reading at night using candlelight is like getting a first-class ticket on a Concord to blind town. It's quick, efficient and most importantly, so god damn stupid.

So William decided to make the right choice and save himself a lot of trouble and never do any kind of reading at night unless it's an emergency, after all, who knows when will he come back home; that is if he can in the first place.

During the next couple of days, all William did was eat, sleep, read and occasionally go to the balcony to get some fresh air and watch the city, which fascinated him to no end.

He was eager to explore it, see the sights, the culture and the food. He wanted to get out of his room and experience this new world.

"You know what!!! this is not so bad after all, I am now the son of a freaking noble, a marquess no less. I am also five years younger than I used to be and there is a whole freaking fantasy-like world out there while I find myself with enough resources to explore it comfortably and safely.'' William exclaimed out loud while looking at the city from the balcony.

Deep down he know that this was just his subconscious trying to look at the less shitty side of the massive dump that life took on him, but he didn't care, it's either fooling himself or moping around all day.

The next morning William woke up in tip-top condition, ate his breakfast and went to see his father, who was at the training ground honing his swordsmanship against one of the guards.

From what he "remembered", the castle had a training ground for the lord as well as his personal guards.

When he reached his destination William found two men training at a section of the training grounds surrounded by a small crowd of spectators.

The two opponents were wearing light armor and held wooden swords that were for practice. They were exchanging blows as if they were fighting for real and it seemed to William that neither of them was holding back.

You would think that a lord of a somewhat prosperous and relatively peaceful marquisdom in his mid-forties would be quite out of shape.

Well, you would be quite surprised, lord Ulric moved like a cheetah and fought like a tiger. Precisely and methodically parrying and counter-attacking with extreme prejudice. The fight ended a few minutes later with the guard disarmed and on the ground while Ulric's wooden sword rested against his neck.

"Holly breasts of Aphrodite. My father is a freaking beast. I would have loved to have been able to see him at his prime; it would have been a sight to behold.''

William thought to himself. Even though he had the memories of the original William, most of them were still quite foggy.

Shortly after, the marquess spotted William and called to him "William!!! it's good to see that you finally came out of your room, come here and greet your father. I assume by your presence that you have recovered back your strength''

William walked into the huge training ground until he reached Uric. "Good morning father I see that you're in great shape. To answer your question, indeed I have made a complete recovery and I am here to start my horse riding lessons as you told me to"

Lord Ulric laughed at his son's compliment about his physique, which he works tirelessly to hone.

"Compliments will not lessen the training's intensity William, you better prepare yourself, since you're not going to stop until I am satisfied with the skills that you will have to display. Oswin!!!!''

At the marquess's call, a well-built young man that looked to be in his late twenties stepped forth from amongst the small crowd of about ten or so guards that were watching the lord's battle.

William immediately recognized him as the captain of the lord's personal guards; he looked fit and in his prime, with black hair and eyes as well as a horizontal scar on his left cheek that gave him a manly as well as a handsome look.

Oswin came from a martial family that has loyally served the Blackwell household for generations. He was a fine warrior and an even finer captain.

"My lord, how can I be of service'' answered Oswin, saluting his liege by putting his right fist over his heart, something that William knew was a military salute.

" Take William here and teach him how to ride a horse, trotting, galloping, jumping or anything in between; once you're done with him inform me so that I may see what will he be capable of" commended Ulric.

Oswin said nothing; he merely saluted once more, looked William in the eyes, turned around and started walking away.

William was speechless by this guy's manners.

"Damn it, now I know why father warned me about the training, this guy does not mess around, I better prepare myself for the hellish mornings to come; I feel like a no-nonsense man here is not going to go easy on me at all."

William quickly followed his new instructor, cursing the previous owner of his new body for screwing up and dying, leaving him to deal with the consequences.