Ethan's POV
"Are you sure that's your answer?" Inside a classroom, Professor Zane crossed his arms and stared intently at me as I stood before the whiteboard.
I sighed, then put the marker down and looked at him. "Yes, I'm sure."
On the board, for some reason I couldn't understand, I had to write down the formula for infinity.
Professor Zane sighed, then dropped his arms and spoke with a cold voice. "You may take your seat."
He didn't hide his disgust, his irritation at me, after all my appearance wasn't something anyone could digest with a straight face.
It was clear.
Professor Zane didn't care if my answer was accurate or not.
All he wanted was me out of his sights, and I caught on, but I didn't care.
If it was the old Ethan, he probably would be shaking in embarrassment, wishing with all his heart he never made the mistake of showing his face in school.
But me? I wasn't that Ethan.
I am Li Yao, or was Li Yao.
Now.
I am Ethan Kaiser.
And I was a transmigrator.
Today marked day ten of me living in this new earth.
Ten days ago, all the clans united against me with one goal — to kill me. But given my immortality after consuming the heavenly divine pearl, they had no other option but to seal me, and they did.
They trapped my soul in purgatory, but thanks to the heavenly divine pearl's influence, I was saved from purgatory's erasure.
But I became trapped forever.
An eternity in silence wasn't that bad if you thought about it, but just for a moment, I wanted to be reunited with my family, and I harnessed the full powers of the pearl to crossover to the afterlife.
But I somehow ended up in this world... In this body.
At first, it caught me off guard, but as time passed, I completely absorbed and learnt everything about this world.
For starters, this world was completely similar to my previous world, but there's only two things that changed.
The first, there were no traces of magic in this world.
It's laws and principles, it was nothing like my previous world.
To make matters worse, there was nothing ordinary about this world.
Not only was it more technologically advanced than my earth, but now it was far more dangerous.
Centuries ago, a comet most thought to be a gift from the heavens, became humanity's worst nightmare.
No one knew where it came from, and it wasn't even detected by the planet's satellite until it struck the center of the earth and released an energy wave that altered the earth.
For a while, humanity thought it was over.
Until they came along.
Creatures never thought to exist
Creatures that should have only existed in fantastical settings.
Spirit-Beasts.
They were given this name because of their unique abilities, the ability to grow stronger by devouring human souls.
But that wasn't the only thing the comet brought along, after a prolonged exposure to the energy wave released by the comet, several resources fused with the energy wave and created a new element scientist referred to as Talent stones.
These rare stones became humanity's breakthrough, and now with enough time and money, anyone could harness the power of these stones and become a Spirit Tamer.
..
As Ethan walked back to his seat, one of the boys stuck out his leg and tripped him, and he stumbled forward and hit the floor face-first with a loud thud.
Murmurs arose.
His classmates gasped, and placed a hand over their mouths.
They looked terrified, and to them, the boy had guts.
"What's wrong Kaiser? You can't even walk well without falling to your face." The boy said confidently, feigning innocence.
Ethan sighed, then pushed himself right back up to his feet.
"You did that on purpose." He said calmly.
This wasn't the first time it happened, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
"Huh?" The boy stood up. "You blaming me Kaiser? It's not my fault you can't watch where you're going."
"If you don't stop, I'll—"
"You'll what?" The boy took a step forward, and closed the distance between them. "You'll send me to the hospital like you did Terry and Conan?"
"Watch your mou—"
"That's enough!" The professor's voice turned icy. When Ethan looked back, he saw him standing behind the desk, his hands trembling and his eyes wide.
From his perspective, Professor Zane believed Ethan would actually hurt him.
He didn't want to press the issue any further, so he returned to his seat with his head down.
But whispers followed behind him like a parasite.
"I can't believe they still let him stay in this school even after everything."
"What if he does something worse?"
"They should have expelled him."
"How can we not feel safe in our own school?"
Their voices followed him like a swarm of flies, and honestly? He couldn't even blame them.
Hours after his transmigration, he discovered something that made him drown in despair.
He transmigrated into one of his favorite stories he read in his previous lifetime.
And this character?
Well..
He was the bastard son of the king of the Dreyar continent, but not everyone knew this.
What they knew him as, was a psychopath who nearly killed his classmates after they made fun of him.
And he absolutely did not have a good track record.
Society always had a way of being preferential. The kids of the wealthy were revered like deities, and adored like goddesses.
While kids of the poor were treated like commoners, like trash forksaken by society.
Because of that, the kid who always dreamed of assimilating with a talent stone, who dreamed of helping people as a Spirit Master, was gone.
Taken over completely by arrogance, cruelty and hate.
And now... That character was him.
At least that's how he remembered this character in the beginning.
The final bell finally rang through the school, and classes for the day were over much faster than expected.
Several chairs scraped back, books were snapped shut, and Professor Zane dismissed the students almost immediately.
"So what talent did you assimilate??" A group of boys formed a circle around the boy who tripped Ethan over. He sat comfortably like a prince in his chair, then stretched his legs out on the table.
Stephan Ashford.
He was the son of one of the wealthiest families in all of New Eden. But because of his family's wealth, he was also one of the most arrogant student Eden high had to offer.
"The B-Tier Talent - Flaming Lion's Heart." He said with a smug smile, and got up from his seat before strolling out of the classroom.
"Whoa..." All his worshippers whispered in unison.
To them, he was a godlike figure, and knowing this only made his grin widen as he walked away.
He had every rights to, because assimilating a talent earned him the rights to attend one of the most prestigious academy in the four continents.
The Spirit Tamers Academy.
Ethan's eyes followed the rest of the boys as they strode behind him like a pack of loyal dogs, bound to trail after their master to the very end.
And it became clear to him.
Talent Stones.
They were the life-changing result of the energy wave that reshaped the Earth centuries ago.
They were extremely rare and difficult to obtain, and even when one was found, it was always an FF-tier stone, but even that was difficult to stumble upon.
These Talent Stones followed a ranking according to their power levels and the amount of energy fused within them.
Their ranks ranged from the weakest — FF-tier, F-tier, E-tier, D-tier, C-tier, up to the most strongest — SSS-tier.
But in this world, being filthy rich was a hax. With the right amount of resources and connections, anyone could purchase a Talent Stone.
But it came with it's risks.
The minimum bid price for a talent stone was one million crystals, and that was just for an F-tier talent stone.
The price shot up ridiculously as the tiers climbed higher, but the problem wasn't in the price of the stones, it was with the assimilation.
To obtain the powers within the stone, it was necessary to assimilate with it, but assimilation wasn't as easy as it sounds.
You had to be accepted by the stone.
It was almost as if the stone itself were alive, choosing to bond only with those it deemed worthy.
The powers granted by the talent stone rested on the entity that resided within it. It was similar to how beast taming contracts worked, but not exactly.
For Stephan, because of his bold nature and commanding presence in front of his peers, he managed to assimilate the flaming lion's heart.
That talent gave him a 50% boost in his physical strength, a 10% boost in his stamina and an additional 20% boost in his speed.
He also gained a proficient control over the elemental nature of fire.
With proper training and the right cultivation method, he had a chance to grow his talent and possibly evolve it from A-Tier to something beyond.
Ethan held his bruised nose gently.
It felt like several needles penetrated his skin at once, after all he fell on it with his full weight, but he hardly thought much about it, and brushed aside as if it were nothing at all.
The classroom was nearly empty, and the moment the last student left the class, he slumped back into his seat with a sigh.
"This is... Tiring."
The pretence, the pointless interactions he had with his classmates, even if they didn't like him.
In truth, he didn't really care.
All he ever wanted was revenge, and now that he achieved that, he just wanted to rest.
After all, the hell the former Ethan thought he went through, was nothing compared to what he suffered in the hands of his patriarch and his clan.
But fate played a cruel joke on him, sending him to another world instead of the afterlife, and now, he had to find peace here— in a world that hated him.
..
The sun dipped low over New Eden, and it painted the skies in soft shades of gold and red. Flashes of light lingered on the rooftops before slowly fading away, and the city grew quiet in its glow.
As evening settled in, Ethan returned home, to his small cottage that rested just at the outskirts of New Eden.
"Mom, Uncle Reginald, I'm home." Ethan said with a smile as he closed the front door behind him.
"Ethan? It's that you?" His mom stepped out of the kitchen with a spatula in hand. "I'm so sorry the food isn't done yet, I came back home later than I anticipated."
"What are you apologizing for mom?" Ethan's brows arched. "I know you're busy trying to make ends meet, by the way, how was work?"
His mom stared at him in silence. She was... Confused?
"Erm, it was fine? But enough about it, welcome home. Go freshen up, dinner will be ready in a minute."
"You got it."
It was a long day, and what better way to end it than to enjoy his mom's homemade delicious recipes?
He went to take a bath, then changed into a fresh, clean clothes before heading downstairs to the dining area.
The moment he walked into the dining area, a delicious aroma filled his nose, making his mouth water.
His eyes landed on the table, piled high with an array of tempting dishes—steaming rice, tender pork, savory chicken, and a warm bowl of soup.
All steaming hot, fresh from the pot just moments ago.
"Hmm, smells delicious." Ethan drew in a deep breath, and the hypnotic aroma made him salivate.
Reginald and his mother froze, and they had their forks hanging right in front of their mouth.
They exchanged quick glances, then fixed their gaze back to Ethan.
They were shocked, and for a good reason too.
He changed.
The Ethan they knew was completely different from the Ethan that complimented his mother's cooking.
In fact, he'd never compliment her cooking.
He hated them, both of them.
He blamed his mother for all the bad things that has ever happened to him.
After she had an affair with the king of the Silvercrest Kingdom and after his death, his eldest son took the throne.
From that moment on, they were hunted for the rest of their lives.
They fled from country to country just to survive, and it left a scar overtime that stirred a silent hatred for them.
"In that case, join us Ethan! Your mom went through a lot of trouble to cook this dish! Two months of supplies down the drain, HAHAHAHA!"
Reginald wasted no time digging in. His eyes welled with tears of satisfaction as he ate.
"Two months??" Ethan couldn't believe what he was hearing.
He was the bastard son of the king of Silvercrest.
A child born out of the King's drunken mistake of sleeping with one of his maids.
He tried to cover it up, but his second eldest son found out.
As the King's former mistress, she could easily be taken care off, but it was her son—Ethan, who became the problem.
In him flowed the blood of royalty, a bastard child that became the first son of the king, and by all rights the heir to the throne, and for that alone, his sons believed neither of them deserved to live.
So they placed a bounty on their heads.
Luckily for Ethan and his mother, the King's right hand butler — Reginald, found out about their plans to kill them.
And with his aid, they fled the Dreyar continent, and laid low in New Eden.
But they weren't rich.
Infact they barely managed for themselves. It was an act of kindness he had never experienced before, and it made living in this world worthwhile.
He understood their situation from the way and place they lived, yet they chose to waste their supplies so carelessly.
"It's like I said, today's a special day, so we have to celebrate."
"Celebrate?" Ethan sat down with a smile stretched across his lips, picked up a piece of chicken, and began to eat.
Despite his confusion, it didn't change the fact that he was hungry, malnutrition had already started to take its toll on his body.
"What are we celebrating?"
His mom and Reginald exchanged a brief glance, a knowing smile passing between them, before turning their eyes back to Ethan.
"Ethan, me and Reginald had a talk, and we decided that the time has finally come for you to enroll into the Spirit Masters Academy, isn't that exciting? You can finally have a chance to claim what's rightfully yours."
As she spoke, both her and Reginald smiled brightly, their eyes full of hope as they waited for Ethan's response.
Ethan on the other hand, glanced at the two of them, taking in the joy shining in their eyes.
He let out a quiet sigh, knowing very well the weight of their expectations settled on his shoulders.
"Enroll in the Spirit Masters academy? Nah."
Huh?"
"What do you mean no!? Me and your mom have been saving up every bit of crystals we got over the years so we could buy a Talent Stone, you have the chance to claim what's rightfully yours, and you are really going to let those bastards get away with it? After everything they've done!?" Reginald stood up fast and slammed his hands on the table, his face full of disbelief.
"Calm down, let's hear him out first. Ethan, why don't you want to enroll into the academy?" His mom asked, curious to hear her nephew's point of view.
"That smile." Ethan said simply.
"Huh?"
"That smile just now, how long has it been since you smiled like that?" His question left the two stunned, and Reginald sat back in his chair.
"In fact, I don't remember the last time I smiled like this." Ethan looked up at the ceiling.
Ever since his mother's death, his mind had been consumed by one thing—revenge. He couldn't even remember the last time he smiled from a place of true happiness.
It was the same for them.
Up until ten days ago, the previous Ethan never smiled, he never talked to them, he despised them. But as Yao took over, everything changed.
"You know just how costly a Talent Stone is, even if you saved up to buy it, it'd only be an FF-tier stone. We both know a talent stone like that can only get you so far. So even if it means giving up on that future, I don't mind it, as long as we all can smile like this."
"I see, so that was your game all along." Reginald let out a quiet chuckle, arms crossing over his chest as he locked eyes with his mom. "Damn Linda, I must admit, you raised one hell of a kid."
She had no words for what she felt.
Part of her was disappointed that he gave up his birthright, yet another part swelled with pride.
He sacrificed what was rightfully his just for their happiness.
"Ethan.." She mumbled softly for a moment, then a bright smile lit up her face.
She opened the box and lifted out a necklace. It was a simple black crystal, not flashy but decent, tied to the end of a rope.
"This was your father's, he gave it to me just before you were born. It's the only thing that remains of him, and now I want you to have it." She said, handing it over to him.
If it was the former Ethan, he would have smashed the necklace without a second thought.
But Yao? No not really.
The fact that his mom kept the necklace all this while meant something, it meant that deep within her fragile heart, his father had a space there.
So he took it, and hung it over his neck.
"Thanks mom."
Linda smiled brightly, then reached for her chopsticks. "Let's eat."
..
"What a day." Ethan sighed as he slumped into his bed, completely drained.
It has been ten days since his transmigration.
Yet, the stamina the Heavenly Divine Pearl sapped while restoring his body to its normal state hadn't returned.
And it took a while for it to, especially since he has been surviving on rations these past few days.
"At least now... I can finally rest." A faint smile touched his lips as he closed his eyes, sinking into a quiet, and peaceful sleep.
But.
That peace did not last long.
BOOM!
A loud explosion shook their cottage, tearing through the quiet night.
The walls trembled, dust fell from the ceiling, and Ethan shot up in bed, wide awake with his heart racing.
"What was that!?"
He looked out the window and saw a thick cloud of smoke rising from below, curling into the night sky.
"Mom! Reginald!"