Wake Up Call

*COUGH COUGH COUGH*

I rolled over while gagging. Watery vomit flew out onto the floor, but I didn't stop even when it began to pool. Finally being able to breathe, I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling.

"W-Where the fuck is this?"

I sat up. Looking around, it felt like I was in some sort of private club room, as there were alcohol bottles scattered around. I looked down at my body.

'Who's clothes are these? They look kind of expensive... Ah shit, I just threw up on them! I hope I don't have to pay it back.'

I looked around again, and noticed there were small piles of powder on the tables, which made me narrow my eyes.

I knew it must be some sort of drug.

That, mixed with how I was in a strange room, and no memories made me start assuming the worst.

'I might have been drugged and kidnapped... What was the last thing I remember?'

I began to walk around the room, looking for my phone or even my wallet.

'I don't know how I could have ended up here... The last thing I was doing was finishing a business report at work, then I boarded a train to go home... I would never stop at a club in the middle of the work week... I don't even go to clubs in the first place.'

Having not been able to find any sign of my personal belongings, I headed towards one of the two doors in the room, but when I opened it I found it was simply a bathroom. I was about to turn to leave, when I caught wind of the vomit on my face still.

"I better wash this off... So embarrassing for a 40 year old man to wake up in his own vomit.."

As I splashed water on my face, and rubbed the residual liquid off my face, I looked up casually to look at myself.

However what looked back at me wasn't my reflection.

It was a handsome young man, with pitch black hair, and incredibly captivating green eyes. I raised my hand slowly, and reached out to touch my face.

And affirming my worries, the man in the mirror reflected my actions. I ripped off my shirt, and noticed a body that wasn't mine. I was an overweight office worker, and my body should have matched that of someone who sat at a desk all day.

However my body was now a skinny, but healthy physique. I looked back up at the mirror, and this was when I realized I was somewhat cramped in this bathroom. I stepped out, and noticed I was almost as tall as the door frame, which didn't seem small by any means. However the room's proportions might just be different than normal rooms, making it seem small.

'But who am I?'

As I was thinking of this question the door flung open, the one I hadn't gone through yet, and an imposing man walked in. Scanning the room quickly, he finally landed his gaze on me, and walked forward assertively.

Grabbing my neck, he lifted me straight off the ground and spoke through gritted teeth.

"You useless fuck... If you weren't the Duke's son I would snap your neck right here."

I desperately clawed at his hand, but his grip was air tight. His fingers were like steel bars that bent to his will. As I was gasping for air, he threw me to the ground as if I were trash, and pulled out a handkerchief to clean his hand.

"Your father summons you immediately. Follow me."

I was still coughing, but my body moved instinctually to follow the man. Perhaps my years in the military still offered me the basic instincts of survival, because as I followed the man I increasingly felt that if I hadn't followed him immediately I would have suffered a severe beating.

As I followed him, I took in the building I was in.

It was a typical night club, and it seemed that I was in one of the VIP rooms. We walked through the, now, empty night club all the way out the front doors.

Once we stepped outside, the sunlight struck me like a taser, causing me to stop and have to let my eyes adapt to the light before being able to continue. When they finally adapted, I saw a large black SUV with tinted windows, and through the opened rear door I could see the man glaring at me.

"Hurry up. It's already bad enough I had to waste my time finding you."

I hurried inside. Closing the door quickly behind me, and sitting furthest away from the angry man. The car began moving, and I noticed there was another man sitting in the driver's seat. I had a lot of questions, but I held them in for now. My immediate concern was what was going on right now.

'My father? It must be the father of whoever's body I am in, but he seems to be a powerful person... This brute is stronger than a normal person. Even if this body is skinny, he lifted me up with one hand with ease. Also this looks like a luxury car... But it's not one I've seen before.'

As I finished looking around the car briefly, I turned my attention to the window to try and find some indication of where I was. Yet all I was met with was more confusion.

The landscape outside was vastly different than any city I had ever been in. It was incredibly beautiful. The sky was so incredibly clear, and with a glance I couldn't see any sky scrapers. Instead, I saw a large expanse of buildings that carried a medieval European influence, and large walls in the distance. Along the walls were guard towers, and eventually I saw a large drawbridge.

I was filled with awe as I looked at the city. However, even that was quickly overshadowed when the car stopped, and I was told to get out.

Stepping out of the car, I looked up only to find an enormous manor standing before me, and men in armor were walking around the grounds.

The large man walked forward straight towards the front doors of the manor. Two armored men saluted him, and opened the doors for us to walk in. I followed behind, while inspecting the men's armor as I briefly walked by, raising more questions.

'They are wearing armor, and have swords by their waists... If this is what I think it is...'

I was once again shaken from my thoughts as the man suddenly stopped in front of another set of large doors. The doors were opened again by two men in armor, and at the end of a luxurious carpet was a man sitting on a large throne. He had the same midnight black hair as me, so I made the deduction that he must be 'my' father. The man walked forward with uniform steps, much like how we would have to walk in the military, and knelt before the man on the throne.

"Thank you for finding him on such short notice, Sir Kliener. You may stand at ease."

The man nodded, and stood up quickly. He walked to the side of the carpet, not saying another word.

While I was looking in stunned silence, at how someone was able to pacify this brute, a cold voice entered my ears.

"Gideon."

At first I didn't react, but when I noticed a chill run down my spine, I turned to face the man on the throne. His eyes were devoid of any emotion, but his presence bore down on me heavily as if it was palpable.

"You have even forgotten how to greet your father... Then that makes my decision that much easier on my conscience."

He gestured for the woman sitting beside him, and she stood up while gently running her hand over his shoulder. I looked at the woman. She had beautiful blonde hair, and smooth pale skin. She looked like a model from my past life, and she carried herself with a dignified aura. She approached me, and stopped directly in front of me.

She raised her hand gently, and caressed my cheek. The look in her eyes were clearly showing signs of heartbreak.

"I'm sorry Gideon... This is the best I could do for you, but I should have done more... Please forgive this pathetic mother of yours..."

"..."

The man on the throne said nothing, his expression didn't change, but I could tell he was restraining himself. When I felt the change in pressure, I looked up at him and saw a fiery anger burning in his eyes. His knuckles white from clenching his fists so tightly.

However I looked back at 'my' mother. She had a trail of tears flowing down her eyes as she looked at me. She must have also smelled me, because she covered her nose, however she continued to stay close to me. Gently grabbing my shoulder with one hand, before sliding it down and opening my hand up. She then reached into her pocket and placed a letter into my open hand.

"You... This is your last chance Gideon... If you fail, even I cannot stop what is coming as a result, so please."

She reached forward with both hands, grabbing me head and embracing me tightly.

"Please pull yourself together. I love you."

After an overwhelming hug, she finally let go and went back towards the man on the throne. She had her back turned towards me, but I could tell from the rapid rising of her shoulders that she was sobbing. The man stood, and wrapped his arm around her, before whispering something. The woman then nodded, and slowly made her way to a door off to the side. Finally, once she left my father turned back towards me and strode up to me. However a gentle embrace was not what I was met with, like with my mother.

Instead a harsh slap hit me. I flew to the ground, and quickly looked back up at him.

"If you make your mother say those kind of things ever again."

He strode up to me again, glaring down at me with the same cold eyes.

"I will kill you."

He then walked back to his throne, and sat back down, before exhaling roughly.

"The letter is an admission letter to the Academy of Star in the capital. Your mother fought for you to be given one final chance. Fail out there, and you will be disowned from the family line. You will be given nothing, and thrown out onto the streets."

He looked me in the eyes, but this time the emotion was gone completely.

"Get out of my sight."

Rising slowly from the ground, I held the letter in my hand and turned to leave the hall. I didn't know everything that just happened, but I knew I was on the verge of being disowned in this world. However, even though I wasn't the original owner of this body, even I could recognize the pain my new mother expressed.

As I walked out, I saw a bunch of trunks and suitcases being loaded into a carriage. The carriage had horses at the front, which was surprising since I was in a car just moments ago. A servant walked up to me, after noticing I had come out.

"Young Master Alabaster, we are finishing loading the carriage now, so please feel free to board and wait comfortably."

I glanced at him for a moment, before quietly nodding and climbing into the carriage. I had a lot to think about, and thankfully this carriage ride was going to be a long one.

****

A convoy of armored men on horses escorted me all the way to a new city. The whole trip took almost a month, three week to be exact, which gave me enough time to gather my bearings.

Over the past few weeks I had spent my time talking to the people within my convoy, to gain an understanding of who I was in this world. At first I tried talking to the knights, that's what the men in armor were, but they quickly turned me away.

They didn't like me, probably because they were incredibly loyal to my father, but that left me with only the servants who came along. However, what I began to hear from them was incredibly grim news. Making it easier for me to understand why everyone disliked me.

As I walked past some whispering students, I heard the things I had been hearing on my way here, but I didn't falter on my way to my dorm.

"Look! It's Duke Alabaster's son, the drunk!"

"Haha, I heard that he's spent a fortune on drugs and women. Must be nice to be from a duchy."

"Shh! Look at how he doesn't have any servants with him, I heard he is being disowned! They sent him away to the academy to keep him out of trouble."

Yes, I was a piece of scum. At least the old Gideon was. Now I had to deal with all the problems that were left behind.

But first I needed to get to my dorm.

****

A week ago on the way to the capital, where the Academy of Stars is, something caused me to jolt out of my sleep.

An oddly androgynous voice entered my ear.

I sat up in a fright, and looked around the tent. However there was no one to be seen, but instead of soothing my worries they made them worse. I looked outside my tent, but again found no one. I climbed back into my sleeping bag, and was about to close my eyes when something happened.

[Relic Creation System has been bound to host.]

[Would you like to create your first relic?]

[Yes][No]

"What is this..."

[This is the Relic Creation System. As a reincarnator you have been given this privileges.]

"Can... Can you hear me?"

[Yes.]

Taking a deep breath, I organized my thoughts.

'Are you able to hear my thoughts?'

[Yes.]

I nodded without saying anything. I had read a few novels as a child, so I knew a little about the type of situation I was in, which led me to ask my first question.

'What does the system want from me?'

[This is going to be a long story.]

****

To summarize what the system told me:

There was a Outer Realm God that was trying to take over the world. Most Gods would coexist, but this one seemed intent on pushing the others to the periphery, becoming the only god seemed to be it's motive.

It was blessing it's believers with incredible power, but that was causing other issues.

Receiving power from a god does not come without drawbacks. In this case, the mental states of these people would collapse, and they would become mindless abominations.

However, even knowing that one mistake could turn them into monsters, the Outer God's influence was still growing.

Now, about the system, this was the work of the natural gods. They had chosen random people to bring over to this world, to battle the Outer God. When I asked if I had even died, the system said it wasn't able to answer my question.

This bothered me, but I couldn't do anything about it for now. Instead I focused on asking about what the system could do for me. It told me that I could create relics, which were items with incredible abilities. Magic items existed, and many were even man made, however relics were even greater. They could grow.

Although it had been a week since I was first offered to create a relic, I hadn't yet made one. I was waiting until I had more information on this world. Over the past week I had spoken to a lot of servants, asking about things that they thought were common knowledge, but they looked at me weird.

Nevertheless, they still answered my questions, allowing me to find out more about magic in this world. There were two types of magic. Meta magic, which was magic that everyone could use, but it didn't have any attribute attached to it.

Then there was Personal magic. It was the type of magic that defined a mage. My father was known for his command over Ice magic. He was also the Duke who guarded the Northern borders, so it was fitting that his magic matched the climate as well. However that gift wasn't guaranteed to pass onto me. I would have to discover what kind of attribute my magic had, if it even had any at all.

Not everyone had an attribute, which meant they could only use meta magic, however that wasn't always a hopeless situation. I had been told about a general from centuries ago who pushed meta magic to it's limits. He was incredibly gifted at using Magic Missile, and won countless battles with that spell. Anyways, I had delayed my first relic until I got to the academy, and was able to conduct a test.

I had thrown my coat onto a couch, and walked towards the small personal kitchen in my dorm. It had basic amenities, but I wouldn't be eating at home much. I took a tea cup and filled it with water from the sink. After that I carried the cup to the coffee table in my living room. I placed it down, and then sat on the floor. I cupped my hands around it, and closed my eyes. I tried my best to will the mana in my body to spread to the cup.

It was easier said than done, since I had not used magic before, and from the things I heard from the servants the past me didn't ever practice using magic either. He had no talent. I was worried that this might also apply to me, but that was soon dispelled. 

With an electric rush, I felt a strange energy spread from my chest, and slowly expand throughout my body. Realizing this must be mana, I began to direct the energy with my mind, willing it towards my fingertips. After it got to my fingers, I forcefully pushed it from my body, and into the cup. When I opened my eyes, I looked at the cup of water, but I didn't see any discernable changes.

If I had my father's talent, the water would be frozen or at least cold, but it wasn't either. It wasn't warm, which meant I wasn't a Fire attribute mage. I smelled the water, but it smelled the same. Which meant I wasn't a Transmutation mage. Sighing deeply, I realized I must be attribute-less.

"Haaahh... That's a little disappointing, but it can't be helped. I guess the first relic I make should be something that can boost my meta magic, or something to increase my mana. That way I can still make my magic formidable..."

Feeling thirsty, I decided to drink the water, before I wash the cup and head to bed.

While drinking the water, I still tasted no change, and confirmed for the last time that there wasn't any change in the water. While the test wasn't 100% accurate at testing for attributes, it covered all the major ones and was the most widely used. Perhaps I would discover an incredibly niche attribute later on, but for now I would operate my life like I didn't have one.

As I stood up to put the cup away, a wave of dizziness assaulted me, and I collapsed onto the floor. As I was fainting, I oddly had a smile on my face.

"Ahaha... So that's what it was..."

My eyes became incredibly heavy, and I felt my consciousness fading. Unable to open my mouth, I finished my sentence in my mind.

'Poison attribute.'

****

The next morning I woke up groggily, and my entire body was sore from passing out on the floor. However I couldn't complain too much, because if it was any stronger, I might have died to the poison. Thankfully it only made me pass out.

The semester had started a month ago, so I was going to be behind slightly, but I hoped it wouldn't be too difficult to catch up. Today was a Sunday, so classes wouldn't start until tomorrow, and I would have to finish all my preparations by tomorrow.

After a short shower, I tied my hair back into a short pony tail and changed into casual clothes. I closed the door behind me, and entered my code to lock the door. With that, I made my way towards the administrations building.