Chapter 1: Renouard Zephyr

Renouard woke up in a daze to see the unfamiliar wooden ceiling of the carriage he was slowly getting used to.

"Ah… That's right, I transmigrated" a bitter smile emerged on Renouard's face.

Yes, he was a transmigrator. But he didn't really want to be one. After all, he had a perfectly good life back on Earth; even if he was lonely, things were slowly looking up for him: a promotion, a car, meeting a girl he liked, his own house, and finally fitting into society. But in an instant all that was taken away from him as he was suddenly thrown into a strange, unfamiliar world.

A world where supernatural forces existed: Knights of this world could punch through walls, effortlessly twist a bar of steel into a bowtie, and stronger ones can be strong enough to battle a hundred men with nary a scratch. Therefore, the strong held the say in this world. Then there were the mysterious Mages that hid away from the world, confined in their Towers and Dungeons where they pried into the mysteries of the world. Or so it was rumoured.

And here, in this strange world was an boy named Renouard Zephyr: the third son of the Earl Zephyr of the Aelon Kingdom. Unlike his first brother - Reginald, who had great talent in the way of the Knight, or his second brother - Marcus, who had great talent for management and not-too-bad a talent in the way of the Knights, Renouard was utterly normal. Other than being intelligent, nothing else stood out about him - average talent in pretty much everything. Thus he wasn't really all that noticeable despite being the third son of a prestigious Earl. No, he was not looked down on, mocked, ostracised or hurt in any way. He was, however, labelled as someone normal; not destined to be anything extraordinary in this life. Thus, he was not paid much attention to. He was not truly loved: he was merely taken care of.

At least, that's how it was until just a few months ago, by some strange luck he was found to have a mage's talent. Instantly, everything was turned on its head. He suddenly became the most loved child of all! His parents, uncles, aunts, peers all wanted to be his friends.

Why was this? Quite simple, really. Mages were the strongest beings known to the people. To the commoner, they might be myths and legends. But the ones in power knew. This small group of people were ones who could rule the entire Aehnna-Terra Continent and its countries. They just couldn't be bothered. Any country with a mage was guaranteed to last for a very long time.

Anyway, back to Renouard. Despite having suddenly become the favourite child of the Zephyr Household, he didn't really care. Years of neglect had shaped him to be someone who just couldn't bring himself to give a sh*t.

Thus, burning with passion for the novel, the 14 year-old set off to learn Magic at the Titus Academy of Magic as soon as possible. A week into the journey, he died. And cue in, Matt: a thirty-year-old, slightly unlucky man, whose life was finally looking up, before it came crashing down around him.

"Master Renouard, did you have a pleasant rest?" the voice of the manservant, Kane, came over.

"Mhm. How long until we reach?

"We will reach Titus City by sundown, Master."

"Good."

Renouard couldn't be bothered to remember anything about the manservant other than his name.

***

Quite uneventfully, they reached the city called Titus. Titus was a city between the borders of three countries of Aelon, Werera and Soneri. It was also neutral because the city was ruled by the Titus Mage Faction which was the parent Faction of the Titus Academy of Magic. The three countries did not really have an amicable relationship with each other. In fact each was completely hostile towards the other two. It was to the point a war could start at any point, but it never did. None of the countries wanted to piss off the Mages, so there was a strange situation where there were constant small scale skirmishes that somehow never escalated into a war.

It was this reason that old Renouard was driven with passion to learn Magic. He was enraptured by the fact that entire countries had to suppress themselves and prevent a war just because the Mages might be enraged.

New Renouard inherited that drive perfectly.

Determination flashed in his lilac eyes as the carriage made its way to the massive gates of the city.

***

Entering the city after paying the absurdly pricey toll of 7 silver coins, the first thought that Renouard had was, 'Did I transmigrate again?'

Looking at the tall buildings that were quite similar to the multi-storied buildings back on Earth, Renouard felt very confused. While it didn't look like the metropolises back on Earth, it looked much more modern than the world outside.

Despite the shock in his heart, he didn't want to look like a country bumpkin, so he kept his expression neutral. As he faced towards the centre of the city, he saw seven incredibly tall cone shaped buildings, with the tallest in the centre and six others surrounding them.

"Those are the great Mage Towers of the Titus Mage Faction, Master Renouard. That is where the great Mages study and train in their Magic!" exclaimed Kane, with reverence apparent in his voice.

'I can tell, you dunderhead!' Renouard wanted to roll his eyes, but refrained. Instead he asked, "How much do you know about Titus Mage Faction, Kane? What is the general situation there?"

Kane reigned in his enthusiasm and paused for a few moments to gather his thoughts.

"I honestly do not know much about them. I know that this is the only Mage Academy for several surrounding countries. The other Mage Factions are way too far, the nearest one being the Griffith Faction that is separated from the Titus faction by at least six countries.

"As for the Titus Faction itself, it is a Mage Faction that is more reclusive even compared to other Factions. They are also known for their disdain towards non-mages. Their alignment is roughly neutral and are unbiased towards both Black and White Magic, and please take this with a grain of salt, I suppose they are also slightly ostracised in the Mage Community."

"Hm? How so?" Renouard was quite surprised at that.

"An acquaintance of mine lives in the west and his daughter is apparently very talented and was accepted in the Griffith Academy, which I believe strictly adheres to White Magic and despises Black Magic. They also apparently have regular exchanges with other White Magic Factions. I have, however, never heard of anything similar in regards to Titus Academy."

"... I see."

Renouard frowned, 'I hope this doesn't get in the way of my learning Magic.'

He shook his head. 'It's not like I can do anything about it. '

After finding an inn - which was actually more like a hotel - he rested for the day.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-