Weed Boy

Ren abruptly jolted up from what seemed to be a deep slumber. His head was throbbing with pain as an intense headache assaulted him.

Holding his forehead as a response to the intense headache, Ren uncontrollably groaned. Unfortunately, his erratic action made him a target.

"Hey! Weed boy, do you have a deathwish? Why the hell are you disrupting Miss Nightwing's class?"

"Weed boy?" Ren was confused. The use of the familiar nickname, coined by his bullies a long time ago, surprised him. It had been ages since he last heard it.

He remembered meeting his demise in the battle against the Angels. Pierced from all sides by numerous light spears hurled at him, he drew his final breath with intense regret engulfing his heart.

It was a one-sided slaughter. A humiliating defeat.

In the end, the spell he took immense pride in proved ineffective against the Angels' armors. It failed to even penetrate their armors, barely making a dent.

"What is going on?"

Enduring the pain in his head, Ren slowly opened his eyes. When he saw the unbelievable scene before him, he couldn't help but feel perplexed by the nostalgic sight.

"Where am I?" Ren mumbled in his mind.

He found himself in a classroom with young students. Judging by the surroundings, there were around thirty students seated.

Most of the students in the classroom were chatting amongst themselves with their gazes on him. Amidst those glances, he sensed a few cold stares as well.

Ren turned his attention to the source of the cold stares. The disdainful glares were primarily coming from a cluster of students grouped together. 

The leader of the group, a young brat who was exuding arrogance, sat with his clique. He was the individual who had earlier insulted Ren in the classroom.

"Is that Donovan Acker and his gang?"

Unexpectedly, Ren could recall the faces of every individual in Donovan's group. 

How could he forget their faces when they were the ones subjecting him to torment every single day in the academy back then?

"Did I travel back in time? Is this reality, or am I dreaming? This was Zenova's academy ten years ago, wasn't it?" Ren was extremely shocked and tried pinching himself on the thigh. 

Upon realizing that the hands he attempted to pinch himself with had become smaller, an indescribable shock coursed through Ren.

He had really gone back in time! He was brought back to the time when he was fifteen years old, attending Zenova Junior Academy!

Ren tried to stay calm. After spending a while carefully observing his body and the surroundings, he finally accepted the reality, even though he did not know the reason for the regression.

"So be it."

"Since the Heavens have given me a second chance, I will stop the apocalypse and save everyone this time! With strength above all others, I will crush all those that threaten my peace!" Clenching his fist tightly, Ren vowed in his heart, his gaze reflecting his steel resolve.

Instantly, plans to utilize his future knowledge were plotted in his mind. 

His heart pounded loudly at the thought of reaching greater heights and even attaining the pinnacle of magic with this second chance!

"Ugh! This is why I hate attending classes. I can't believe those lowborns and commoners are allowed to study alongside us. Don't they realize they bring a foul odor into this place with their filth? Why are they even allowed in the academy in the first place?"

While Ren was brainstorming, Donovan interrupted his thoughts and openly ridiculed him in class. To emphasize his point, he even pinched his nose and spoke with a scornful tone, eliciting laughter from his companions.

As the heir of noble families, Donovan and his clique of bullies frequently targeted individuals of lower status. In addition to humiliating them, they would also subject them to physical torment, all in the name of amusement. 

Given their nobility, they had free rein within the academy. As long as no one lost their life, they did not have to face any consequences for their actions. 

In his past life, Ren was a frequent target for them. 

Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to retaliate against them, he could not. He had neither the family background nor strength to make a stand for himself against the son of a local Viscount as an orphan.

Thus, Ren waited patiently for his time.

In the world where individuals would awaken their magic core at the age of fourteen, Ren saw it as an opportunity to change his fate. 

A magic core serves as the foundation that enables mages to cast magic, and the kind of magic a mage can wield is determined by their core's potential and affinity. 

It could be anything and if Ren could manifest a potent magic core, he believed it would completely transform his life.

That was honestly what he believed in. But it was merely wishful thinking on his part.

He was unaware at that time, but a mage's potential was predetermined by their bloodline. Like blood, the properties of a magic core were transmitted through lineage. 

If an ancestor possessed a powerful magic core, their descendants' cores would inherit and display similar attributes, albeit with minor variations.

The sole method to enhance a magic core was through marriage, which explained why nobles exclusively intermarried. Although a child had an equal likelihood of inheriting either properties of their parent's magic cores, it was a risk that the noble families were unwilling to take.

That was also the rationale behind the nobles' disdain and condescension toward commoners and lowborns. They could not allow their esteemed lineage to be tainted by what they considered impure blood.

In the end, the magic core that Ren awakened when he turned fourteen was classified as G-Rank with an extremely low affinity with the Earth element. 

Regrettably, his magic core could only grant him the ability to spurt the growth of plants. It was a magic perfectly suited for a farmer, and he became the laughing stock of the entire academy with his inferior magic, earning him the nickname 'Weed Boy.' 

In the world where strength was revered, it was undeniably a death sentence for his future.

After dropping out from Zenova Academy, Ren continued to waste several years of his life away at the slums, committing crimes for the underground organization in Zenova. 

His life was spiraling downward, and had he not joined the military family of the Empire and met the daughter of Duke Montville, he could envision himself ending up in the gutters someday.

Fortunately, the meeting with her in the Montville family helped unlock his potential. 

Immersing himself in magic research, he made a groundbreaking discovery—the very discovery that propelled him to become the youngest Magic Lord of the Empire!

Magic cores can be evolved!