Chapter 1: The Hated Son

—

I sat up on the bed, looking around in shock and distraught.

Looking at my very own hands and feeling my body, I had come back, back to the past.

I stand up, my naked feet touching the cold marble floor of the luxury room.

It had been a while since I'd been in this room.

After practically being turned away by my own family, they didn't even care to lend me a room and made me live as a guest in my own home. I slept in the shed of our home.

A mirror rested on the wall, I slowly stepped near it. Hoping to see the younger me.

And there I was, a young Lance Maxwell.

Sleek blonde hair, emerald green eyes, and a nonblemished face. I was around 8 years old at this point.

And it was by this time, my family started treating me differently when they realized my magic power was weak and I had no attributes.

The Maxwell family was a magic swordsman family. But, most of us inherited the element of wind. My younger brother had multiple elements, which made my parents focus on him much more than me.

My magic power is low, extremely low. I can barely cast a single spell before tiring myself out. And I had no attribute, meaning I couldn't use a single element.

Even though I had returned, I didn't how I could get stronger.

"Why are you so down?"

I shrieked, shifting my body and whipping my head around to find the person speaking.

"Relax....it's me."

"Demon...of Destruction?"

"Who else? didn't I tell you I'd see you soon?"

A man came out of my body.

He was tall, around 190 centimeters. His eyes were pitch black and his iris a crimson red. He had small cracks in his face, and I had no clue as to why. His hair was decently long it stretched to the ends of his neck and was jet-black as well. 

"Well?..." He looked proud to finally be out of that sealed place he was in.

"I never asked, but why were you in that place?"

The Demon of Destruction looked at me, "10000 years ago, I massacred the entire world royal family. They were people who ruled the world as one singular family, how obnoxious. They were horrible people. They made the poor pay taxes, they let the rich and noble do whatever they wanted, and they even owned slaves and destroyed towns and villages just because most had no people of high class in them. Nobody questioned their orders and nobody rebelled."

I listened to him talk, I never knew such a family and world order existed back then, why wasn't it in the history books?

"I was human once. After making a contract with a demon for power, I grew stronger and killed every last one of them. I was given the name Demon of Destruction. And every strong mage and world leader gathered to seal me."

"I see, so you were human once? and you made a contract with a demon and became one as well?.....does that mean—"

"They used the divine chains of Grand Emperor Drake Van Magince VII. They are made out of pure divine mana, and made with an unknown steel. I was kept there for over 9999 years. And here I am now."

I disregard the story a bit and ask, "About the contract. Since I made one with a demon, will I?"

"Most likely, and I also felt like you were wondering how to become stronger. Who do you think I am?...I'll be here to help you from now on."'

I smile before putting my fist out, "Friends?.."

He connects his fist to mine, "Friends."

"Also, my real name is Yves," The demon of destruction said.

"You already know my name, it's Lance. Lance Maxwell."

—

"There he is again, doesn't he know it's futile to try to train like that?" Whispers and faint voices are heard as I stand in the middle of the training grounds.

"I guess they can't see you." 

"Not at all."

I pick up one of the wooden training swords.

"I have something to reveal to you, Lance."

I look back at Yves.

"What is it?"

"When I heard your cries of anguish, back when I was sealed. I saw something in you, like chains around your heart. It was a man-placed curse. It's not that you were weak all those years or that you didn't have talent. That curse was restricting and preventing you from using your full potential."

"W-What?.... You're telling me all that time?....and a person placed the curse on me? who could have?..."

"I don't know, but I already removed the curse. You're now as you should have been. That latent ability and talent that couldn't be brought out due to the restriction will be revealed. Swing that sword a bit and see."

I grip the handle of the wooden sword, I swiftly perform sword strikes and movements. The blade felt like one with me, everything felt perfect, and every move I made felt natural.

When the curse was on my body, every time I tried to use magic or even swing a sword it felt unnatural. Like something was purposely holding me back from progressing.

I couldn't help but grin, and keep grinning. I could do it, I was swinging a sword! 

I instantly thought of magic use.

"I can.....I can use my magic to its fullest now too...right?"

Yves nodded.

I jumped up and down, I tried to jump on Yves before I fell directly on my face.

"Oh yeah..."

2 maids watch as I perform the sword movements.

"I...I thought Master Lance couldn't use the sword well?"

"Me too—maybe he's progressed?.."

"No, that's impossible, the head clearly stated he was incapable of using the sword like that."

"Maybe they were wrong, it may just be his magic. They said he can't even use an attribute and his mana reserves are so low he can't cast a single spell before nearly fainting."

"Wow...master Lance is that weak? even I can defeat him then."

"Shhh! he might hear you!"

I glare at them a bit, "Damned...."

Yves stopped me, "Don't let it get to you. Just focus on stuff that matters."

I drop the sword and walk back to my room.

—

"I can't feel anything.....not a lick of mana."

"You idiot, you're doing it wrong," Yves scolded.

"Mana absorption can only happen in 2 ways. Through your breathing or your core."

"W-What?...I thought you could only absorb mana through breathing you mean there's another way?"

"Seriously?...you people don't bring in mana with your core but rather through breathing? It's much faster and efficient to do it the other way."

"I didn't even know that existed, I don't think anybody else does either."

"Well, looks like you found a cheat kid."

I grin mirthfully. 

"Well, tell me how to do it."

Yves sighs and gets ready to walk me through it.

—

So basically, it's pretty easy. But requires a bit of practicing to get it down.

First, you get in the gathering position and breathe slowly.

Next, slow your breathing as much as possible and focus all your strength and energy on your core.

Then, allow the mana to circulate in your body and down to your core.

This method was indeed much faster than regular mana gathering.

The breath method requires you to get in the gathering position and breathe slowly but a lot. You then focus only on your breathing, and bring in the mana with just breathing alone. This method was slow but worked. And now, I have a method to grow even stronger and faster.

"Wow, you in the mana-gathering position? Just give it up, you'll never be able to be a magic swordsman."

It was my older cousin, just 2 years older than me. He was pretty praised on his side of the family for being "loved by mana". At a young age, his mana reserves were off the charts, and now he was already on track to become a magic knight by the time he reached 15.

"Shutup....I'm trying to focus," I told him.

He chuckled in a mocking tone, "Focus on what? nothing?..." He walked closer and closer, I could hear each footstep. 

He put his hand on my head, "Hey. Are you ignoring me, you bastard?"

I glare at him, a chill runs down his spine. He felt the pure hatred in my eyes.

'This....this guy.'

"H-How dare you look at me like that?! I'll pull your eyes out!"

I grab his arm, pushing it off of me.

"Let me go Mirth. I don't need filth like you touching me."

Mirth backed up a bit, a nervous laugh seeping out of his lips. "H-Haha....you think you scare me?....you talk big for a no magic-using punk!"

I look at Mirth as he lunges at me, I quickly try to dodge but we are both stopped by a butler.

"B-Butler Yoru." Mirth is shocked, this bulter was no ordinary butler. He was already a 6th Realm Magic Knight.

In this world, something called realms, circles, and stars exist.

The first realm means you have a single circle with 5 stars in it.

The second realm means you have 2 circles both of them completed with 5 stars in each.

The third realm means you have 3 circles with all of them completed.

The fourth realm means you have 4 completed circles. Meaning you'd have 20 stars in total.

And it goes on like this again and again.

You must have 5 stars in a single circle in order for it to be completed.

There are 8 realms in total. Each one is far stronger than the last.

200 years ago there was a man named, Vincent The Conquerer.

He was the only man to reach the 10th realm and even go from peasant to royal.

That man was none other than my ancestor.

His real name was Vincent Maxwell.

He was also the first man to become a magic swordsman.

Back then, magic and swordsmanship were said to never be able to mix. But he became so strong that the world had no choice but to accept it. And now our family makes it their mission to constantly produce magic swordsmen.

"Master Mirtha, what are you doing? You should be with your sister, training! And yet...you are bothering this meaningless boy! Stop wasting time and come on."

Mirtha looked at me with anger and before fully stepping out of the door he mouthed the words, "This isn't over.."

I lay back on my bed, "Finally. He's gone. Also, I'm eager to try some magic."

I sit up, extend my hand, and try to form a ball of wind. 

Slowly but surely, it forms.

"Haha...Ha...It..It worked!~" I was just brimming with glee, after years of not being able to do this without either fainting or failing I did it.

"I have no choice but to thank you, Yves." I smiled at him.

He scoffs, "Stop it, you're making me embarrassed...I don't take praise and thank you's too well."

"Well, you're probably going to receive a lot of them. So be ready."

"I'll be sure to remember that."

"Also, to make your mana pool grow even stronger than just with the gathering is to deplete it all. Isn't that right?"

Yves agreed, "The more you use your mana and nearly empty it out the more your knowledge of it grows and the more your pool does as well. So yes, I think you should focus on using your mana every day and gathering every day."

I nod.

—

for about 2 days straight I worked on gathering mana using the core method and also worked on depleting it until almost empty. 

I noticed a great increase of mana inside of me. It would take 2 hours just to empty my mana completely and after becoming accustomed to the core-gathering method, it felt as easy as breathing.

Today was the first time I would see my family for dinner after regressing. They were celebrating the return of my older sister, Silva.

It would kill me to see their faces again, but I had to do it.