002 - Dark Past

[Warning: Mature Content – Gore]

"Set Mission," Alex whispered, his eyes gleaming momentarily.

Before him, a black, translucent screen materialized, faintly glowing in the dim dungeon light.

[ Set the Parameters ]

"Gain house points from Snape in Alchemy class." Alex whispered in a hush voice as his quill floated in front of him, writing on the parchment by itself as it listened to Snape.

[Setting up Mission...]

[Calculating Difficulty and Rewards...]

[ Objective: Earn house points for Ravenclaw from Professor Severus Snape during the Alchemy class.

Mission Rank: E

Reward: The Tales of Beedle the Bard ]

'Still an E-rank...' Alex sighed mentally, pushing away the mild disappointment.

His focus returned to Snape's droning lecture, though his thoughts wandered to the origins of his strange new life.

FLASHBACK

"Was it worth it, Alex?" The voice was guttural, almost a snarl. An aged yet muscular man stood before him, racking the slide of a pistol with casual menace.

Alex, barely 18, was chained to a cold metal chair. Titanium shackles cut into his wrists. Blood dripped from his swollen, battered face. His vision was hazy, one eye punctured with a rusty iron nail, a slow trickle of blood pooling on the floor beneath him.

"Fuck you man, just... get it over with, I'm pretty tired already" Alex muttered, lips curled in a broken smile, his teeth missing and breath shallow.

He was barely recognizable – yet this ruined youth had become the most wanted man in the world.

Not because of his age, but for the unspeakable acts that brought the mighty Federation to its knees.

He had killed the seven heads of the Federation, led a successful rebellion that shattered their iron-fisted control over the planet.

How had a boy not even twenty achieved what entire nations could not?

Traits.

On his world, traits were a magical ability, awakened at the age of six.

Fortunate ones find it within days while ones that are unfortunate spend their lifetimes searching for it, but Alex's trait had come early – and it had come with a cost.

"Your trait... it's something else, isn't it?" the man, Tyson, sneered, pressing the barrel of the gun to Alex's temple.

Tyson was the Federation's most feared enforcer, his own trait allowing him to drain vitality and strength from every person he killed.

But Alex had a trait even more formidable. He smirked internally, recalling the bloody lessons of his past.

Under the ruthless guidance of the rebellion's leader from a tender age, Alex had mastered his talent – Taking initiative.

His trait – Mission Maker – allowed him to set verbal objectives, transforming them into missions with tangible rewards. The harder the mission, the greater the reward.

The difficulty of missions ranked from F to S. F being the lowest while S rank being the highest

But, after years of using his trait, mastering and honing it's use, Alex had realized that the power to even calculate missions meant that somehow, his trait could scan the outside world, maybe even the entire world to collect data.

Not only that, the rewards that he gets are turned into physical form, meaning that his Trait could even create or rather, manipulate matter and reality at some scale.

Alex smiled; his head shaking in discontent as there was no benefit in mulling over that right now

"I've had enough of this..." Alex's smirk widened.

"Tch… enjoy hell, asshole" Tyson pulled the trigger.

Bang.

Warm blood and brain matter sprayed across the chamber's cold, metallic walls as he died in an instant.

[Congratulations! Trait Maker 42069 is the first to reach Mythical Trait status! Commencing Divine Evolution...]

END OF FLASHBACK

"Mr. Du Lac, if you would be so kind as to join us," Snape's voice cut through Alex's thoughts, the professor's dark gaze fixing on him. "You will demonstrate today's lesson."

Snape's sinister smile didn't faze Alex. It never did. 'You'll have to try harder than that', Alex thought, rising from his seat with an inward smirk.

Alchemy was a notoriously difficult subject, reserved for NEWT-level students. Few dared to take the course, especially under Snape's icy, unyielding gaze.

Yet here he was, a 5th year, commanding the respect – or at least fear – of his older peers.

There were only a dozen or so students registered for the elective and except from Alex and Victor, most were 7th year students belonging majorly to the Ravenclaw house.

Rest of the students were from Slytherin as Gryffindor and Hufflepuff folks did not even try to bother learning anything about the subject after they learned that Snape was the one going to teach it

Despite the complex nature of the course and the high technical background requirement, Alex, who had exploited his trait even in this new world for years, such a task was not that hard.

As Alex approached the professor's platform, he tapped his wand against his palm, focusing.

The tip of the wand glowed with a deep green glow as he began drawing a complex magic circle in the air.

The sigils made up of magic shimmered as they formed, suspended in midair like ethereal glyphs.

For a student to perform such a feat, especially in front of Severus Snape, was unheard of.

Snape's expression tightened, though he concealed his surprise.

"Five points to Ravenclaw," he muttered, his tone begrudging.

Alex allowed himself a small smile as he returned to his seat, the magic circle still hovering where he'd left it, glowing softly.

[ Objective: Earn house points for Ravenclaw from Professor Severus Snape during the Alchemy class.

Mission Rank: E

Status: Completed.

Reward: The Tales of Beedle the Bard ]

He had done it. Another mission accomplished.

As the class droned on, Alex's mind wandered again. This life – the new life – was surreal, yet strangely familiar.

He was no longer the nameless orphan who had clawed his way through the brutal dregs of society.

Here, he was Alexandre Du Lac, scion of an ancient and noble family.

His first ten years in this world were a blur, as though his mind had been submerged in a deep and dense fog. Only when his magic had manifested had his true consciousness – the one that remembered his other life – awakened.

That was when it all began to make sense.

His reward for overthrowing the Federation had not been something as mundane as wealth or power.

[Reward: Mark of Reincarnation.]

He had been granted a second life, and more importantly, he had retained his trait—Mission Maker.

With it, he had carefully crafted his rise in this world, exploiting every opportunity the magical world and Hogwarts had to offer.

Now, at just 15, he was not only at the top of his class but possibly the most powerful student across all seven years.

Alex's thoughts drifted back to the future, to the mission ahead. The game he was playing was only just beginning – and this time, he was determined to win it all.

- - - - - - - - -

A/N : Those who give power stones be blessed with big PP.

Updates will be a little slow, 2-3 chapters a week at most, and for those who want to read up ahead, I have a Patreon for those who want to support me, there will be 7 early chapters there. Updates will be same up there, 2-3 chapters a week.

Patreon.com/Imperial_Writing

Peace.