*This is my side project. It will be uploaded rarely but going to be extremely good in quality
:D
I hope you enjoy my story
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Prologue
House Wyrmgrave protected the southern border of the Empire Ashmore for three generations for a good reason everyone.
No sir, they didn't have enough scholars or honorable knights or even novice magicians in their military. But when it came to monster hunting, they were the best in that field no matter who you ask in Planet Midkan.
Apart from their bloody ways of hunting things, efficiency of abominal trickeries and questionable army system their most famous thing was the libraries.
Lots of lots or research and records of everything killable on the known continent!
Their archive held horrors and weird mutations that never showed up in the Human territories before. The Wyrmgrave family would bathe in abomination blood every day coming from the south. And deep down, it made them prouder with every new generation.
And one day that same proudy mentality shattered with the sound of a "bang!"
A gunshot came out from a small garden area next to the Dukedom House Wyrmgrave.
None of their monster-hunting instincts prepared them for that evening. Their eight-year-old heir of House Wyrmgrave, the little lord of the whole territory put a hole in a wild boar from fourteen meters away without touching it.
He didn't do it himself obviously. They used a gardener for for weapons testing but the alien weapon was made the little lord himself!
A three-meter-long animal was forced into a cage of black iron. It kept ramming the bars until its breath turned into angry white foam. The boar wasn't even a Tier One danger but so close to that dangerous level.
..
The household watched from the balcony while the small family army was around the test field and the whole house hold workers and all the visitors from everywhere was here. The publicity was because Duke Armand wanted witnesses for his son as the tiny troublemaker demanded this event for a month nonstop!
It wasn't the first time the boy had begged for things. Most of the time it was all about sweet candies or cakes. But one month ago, little Gustave's polite voice changed suddenly and he started asking weird things from everyone.
Duke was sure if the boy didn't stop eating sweets like before, he would be tested for a mind controlling monster's influence. They still tested him of course but it was because of the security measures and rules of the Wyrmgrave Family.
They had to follow some rules that written with the blood of thousands of soldiers and family members from multiple generations.
But the boy was okay and the same little one. He just started messing with metals, dusty chemicals and some weird fluids.
What normal eight-year-old wants to test the power of fireball magic on his arm? Or demands alchemy products with smiting forge by by dwarves?
The boy went crazy all of a sudden!
After a month of pestering the whole household, his father finally agreed to his heir's little "demands." The boy kept muttering strange words about metals and powder but he looked serious so Duke Armand didn't stop him for his new toy.
He invited two Baron Lords from close towns to this dinner as he wanted his heir to show whatever idea he'd been cooking for so long. The Duke didn't have high hopes for something revolutionary but still humored this lovely day and the testing began.
Little Gustave stood out on the garden path.
Old Marten- the gardener stood a few steps in front of him with his arms out, holding a metal rod as if it might bite. A single sheet of paper lay on the gravel near Marten's boot in case the wind blew it away.
The poor man shook with fear of ruining whatever expensive looking treasure they gave him. He took a deep breath and used the powder and tools on the metal rod like his little lord showed him.
Reloading the weapon was the most important according to the paper and he had to do every step himself.
His little lord said something like "Proof of Competence..." but Marten didn't understand what that meant. He tried to do his best and followed every command with care. Then fired the weapon..
BANG!
Nobody in the Wyrmgrave garden could agree on what to call the sound that came next.
Thunder?
The knights reached for their swords on instinct. It was even louder than monster screams but even their best reaction was too slow to react that fast strike!
"What was that?" A commander of the family army and one of the best hunters of the Southern Regions muttered. He didn't show his shock, just tried to analyze this new weapon.
It was so fast. Too damn fast for even Adept Soldiers to react!
Gardener Marten's finger tightened on the crude trigger. He was frozen with shock and the recoil of the basic old school rifle in his hands. It was just a finger movement then the boar screamed and the voice was too frightening.
The animal kept screaming as it bleed under the watchful eyes of everyone in the back garden area. Pig like monster threw itself against the bars in blind panic, shrieking with blood pouring out of its thick neck.
"What was that?"
"Did you see how the weapon attack?"
"I can't see any aura or magic..."
Soldiers that used to the ways of this world were confused, because most dangers from an abomination or a magician gave you a warning beforehand. Even monsters followed the same rules as their abilities wasn't almighty like the rest of the empire believed. No! They were Wrymgrave soldiers and hunters and knew the reality before the monster and power balance better than everyone.
Nothing was too absurd in the ways of Monster, Aura and Magic triangle.
For example when a magician used a magic, it would always create signs of mana heat in the air before it was shot or permutated into a form. Or when a warrior tried to use a aura filled strike with their swords or fill their attack skills with aura, this strengtening would grow over a few seconds as nothing was instant with basic biology involved..
Even the most absurd monsters that even horrified the house Wyrmgrave, wasn't almighty. They still had some rules in their environment or other kind of balancing issues. No matter what it is, power took time and effort to show itself even if it happened in different forms or colors.
At least everyone trained in this world learns to read the signs when they are young.
But the new weapon in the shape of a metal rod gave no warning for the strike.
It was like..instant damage that defied the distance and time. No aura buildup, or mana signature and something completely common like an tiny metal arrow was shot and it was much stronger than the common bows with aura enchantment.
While everyone was thinking about this new weapon, the eight-year-old boy stood with a satisfied smile as new texts appeared in front of his eyes.
[Test No. 10: Complete]
[Range 14.3 m | Deviation Negligible | Mana Cost 0]
[New Experiment Data Recorded]
Just as Gustave was about to speak with his new father, he heard a new voice.
[Congratulations! Missions Completed 10/10
-Average Finishing Score: 10.00
Rewards:
1- Access to the Main Interface and Market Page
2- 5 Stat Points
3- 100 Market Coins
√ Perfect Score Reward: Mana Analysis Module Blueprint (Crude)]
Gustave's eyes focused on the text that nobody else could see.
His skin prickled because the text looked like the kind of writing style artificial intelligences used on Earth. A moment of hatred flashed across his face but he suppressed it and instead started thinking about the rewards.
They were outside of his expectations for to be honest. Gustave was much more of a tech guy and this mana, magic and warrior stuff was bull*shit in his book.
While he was making his own plans, Duke Armand von Wyrmgrave jumped down from the balcony with a single step.
This was supposed to be a noble gathering of the southern region and his way of getting down wasn't proper etiquette. Duke Armand didn't care as long as his wife didn't see it.
Everyone in this household was a warrior. Even his wife and daughters and little pet dogs behind the garden were trained hunters. Two Barons as the dinner guests were also both his vassals and former students. So, nobody would judge his antics in his house.
Duke Armand jumped down with a classy landing and walked toward his son with his right hand inside his pocket.
His son's drawing paper was still under the rock the old gardener used. Duke took the paper and brought it close enough to see the complicated drawings and numbers.
"Gustave," he said in a voice kept low for the boy alone. His eyes never left the child's face after the name. "How many of these can we make?"
He waited for the answer without blinking.
Little Gustave held his gaze against the lord for a moment. Then he reached into his coat and pulled out one tiny sheet. He pressed it into his father's hand with careful fingers. The gesture looked cute in his father's eyes.
It was a funny story actually.
Yesterday, his wife forbade Gustave from speaking for a whole day as punishment. Duke didn't know the details but he heard something like "no sweets for a month if you talk." And this little devil was so serious about eating candy as he still didn't talk in this tense ambient.
Duke Armand held the tiny paper and looked at the small, neat letters as the the message was short and clever:
"We can make as many as we want. But I want access to the alchemy room and the forge. And two chocolate cakes every day!"
While the Duke of the Wyrmgrave House was thinking about his son's weird antics about sweet, he also worried about his teeth.
While the Duke was thinking about how to convince his wife about this deal, a memory surfaced in Gustave's head as usual. Seeing the system messages always brought up those bad memories.
He lived another life in a different distant place. Gustave theorized his old world to be in a different alternative universe but the data wasn't enough to make a certain claim on this. And that life on Earth was very different from this new one.
That disgusting world had a particular smell he would never forget.
It was mostly burned plastic under acid-rains with a lot of metallic life forms all around everywhere you see all day. Even now he could remember it and it was disturbing even thinking about the memories.
There was a small workshop that reeked of chemical smoke and a very tired middle aged man.
Gustave also remembered a special memory in the workshop he lived for the last period of his life. This memory was too important to him for some reason.
It began with the same bloody purple ceiling on the lower grounds of the worker floors. He asked the most senior colleague beside him a question;
"Do you know how to kill an immortal?"
The words came out flat in that filthy shop.
His colleague laughed under his breath and shook his head like Gustave was crazy. "You can't," he said. His smile didn't reach his eyes after the answer. "That's the whole point of them." He shrugged like it was settled.
"Immortals, literally.."
But Gustave still remembered how stubborn he was in his last life. He still pushed one last sentence as a last word.
"No! There must be a way and I will find it. Nothing in life can be unending. Everything must end at some point!"
Gustave replied as he slid a paper of strange draft back into his coat. His fingers left a streak of ink on the paper's edge. "Maybe we should stop asking how to persuade them and find their weak points and their gimmicks. Like those stories..."
"That's not how it works," his colleague finally snapped. He looked away as if the idea offended his whole belief. "They must change and everything will be good again. No need of ending them as the whole civilization is centered around the immortals. You know it man.."
"I don't believe that. They are manipulating us," Gustave said with certainty in his eyes. He watched the man's jaw tighten with anger but still muttered. "We just haven't found how..." He turned down the corridor toward his sleeping capsule after that.
That colleague joined a civil protest with the dream of revolution of the whole system, civilization, worth of living and immortals. Gustave heard the crowd of protestors from his window, shouting slogans like "Rise up brothers and sisters, they can't hang us all!"
He knew that they meant every word of that slogan as their shouts were loud enough to rattle the glass in his workshop.
But the reality was different and they were all hanged by morning. Including that one work friend he had and argued before the bloody event.
Nothing changed after that, except he was alone in the workshop until the day he died.
"Emotional idiot..." he thought as he remembered the scenes of his old life. They weren't like best buddies but still had some moments and friendly nights getting drunk. Losing someone you knew in such an event was difficult, even for someone as emotionless as Gustave.
Also, he couldn't find an actual answer to that question before running out of time and dying from cancer. He didn't know how to end immortality or gods.
He just died with many unfinished projects, untested theories and so many questions.
One life ended on Planet Earth as a nobody.
Another began here on Planet Midkan as Gustave Von Wyrmgrave
He was eight years old with a noble identity in a world of magic and sword.
He stared at his small hands, still struggling to process the sheer absurdity of his second chance.
..
A few seconds later, one of the barons walked closer to the place the rifle was used after jumping from the balcony like his lord.
And everyone followed after him.
Before that the soldiers couldn't come closer to the weapon no matter how much they were curious. They needed a proper reason and now they had one.
They had the duty of covering their lord from all danger and this also included protecting the Duke from all foreign people even if they were vassal barons of the region or personal students of the lord.
Soldiers knew they were much weaker than the Duke but still got the chance and came close to the testing area and inspected the rifle with great wonder.
The first person to come here, Baron Neville asked the Duke. "Where did young lord learn to make something like this, My Lord?"
The duke looked down at the schematic paper for how to create the rifle but it looked too complicated for his taste. He was a beginner level enchanter and blacksmith but this looked way too out of his league. Then he looked at his son and answered with a deep voice. "Little Gustave says he worked it out himself."
He looked proud of his son and added one last word at the end. "He invented it himself!"
Nobody in the garden of the lord's manor said anything after that. Under everyone's interested eyes, Gustave reached into his bag on the floor and brought out a second rifle. It was already loaded and ready to use.
He raised it and took aim at the far end of the garden. The motion looked too steady for a child. Like he was a seasoned soldier with a lot of military practice before. But nobody here understood the implications of his strange behavior.
Gustave drew in a slow breath and fired at the head of the screaming boar. Smoke came from the muzzle and the smell hit his nose with the same familiar bitter edge.
He missed this smell.
"How do you kill an immortal?" The question was still inside his head as he lowered the rifle.
He didn't have the answer for his weird obsession for this question. Maybe he'd lost his mind somewhere along the way but the desire to solve it had survived death and rebirth. And if this was some kind of madness, then so be it.
Gustave would gladly accept that he was a bit crazy..
He had a plan before which didn't work no matter what he tried. The plan was sketched on a stolen paper in his old workshop through too many sleepless nights with too many variants and unknown factors.
Even with the lack of information, he could make it the the end but it failed for the simplest of the numerous possible reasons.
Poor old Gustave never had the means to build it.
Fu*king hell..
But not this time.
I won't feel the same despair and powerlessness this time!
He'd step off the fields they had already won and make something new that Immortals never had to fear before!
Gustave lifted his rifle to the already dead monster and felt the ambition in his chest and all the plans he could begin today.
They shouldn't have let me touch magic.
Fools...