Lucen wore a thick coat over his newly forged armor. Strapped across his body were several powder horns, and his pockets held lead balls and revolver bullets, along with two compact iron spheres and a lamp. In his bag, he carried more ammunition, a map of the area, rope, and enough rations for several days.
At his side hung the latest model of the arquebus, now upgraded with Robert’s shardstone ignition system. And on his hip, a newly forged short sword gleamed with clean edges, untouched by battle but ready for it.
Several people had gathered to see him off.
There was his stoic father, Duke Vardon. The always composed Vahn, retired knight and ever-loyal butler. The muscle training-obsessed Sir Thalos. The eccentric alchemist Robert and, to Lucen’s surprise, his younger brother, Cael.
It was the first time Lucen had seen Cael since regaining the memories of his past life.
That familiar silver hair, those sharp icy blue eyes, Cael Thornehart, the genius of the house.
This little brother of his would one day become the heavy tank of the protagonist’s party. But right now, Cael hadn’t even held a sword.
Based on the game’s backstory, that moment would come a year from now, the day he would first grasp a blade and awaken his Aura. Not only that, he would immediately form his first Mantle.
In this world, if mages possess a mana core that forms circles, then aura users are cloaked in energy, their strength measured by the number of Mantles they wear.
Just as each magic circle grants a mage greater control and the ability to cast stronger spells, each Mantle represents a new threshold of mastery, a deeper, tighter control over one’s Aura.
"Young master, may you find victory in the battles ahead," Vahn said, lowering his head in a dignified knight’s bow.
"Of course, there’s only victory for the young master," Thalos chimed in, grinning broadly. "He’s been training with me, after all! That little scrawny boy is slowly becoming a weapon forged from pure muscle!" He flexed unnecessarily, as if to prove his point.
"I have gained so much inspiration because of you, Lucen, and you have surprised me numerous times. Every new thing we make is such a thrill, an excitement like no other. When you come back, it’s going to be my turn to surprise you. So don’t you dare die out there, since there’s going to be so much more exciting stuff we’ll create!" Robert spoke, giving his own way of encouraging Lucen.
Then Vardon stepped forward. His expression, as always, was unreadable. He looked Lucen over from head to toe.
"No matter where you go," the Iron Duke said quietly, "always remember that you are a Thornehart."
He said nothing more, but for Lucen, that was enough. His father’s presence alone was already more than he ever expected.
Cael’s icy blue eyes met Lucen’s without a word. Lucen’s throat tightened. Years of silence, cold shoulders, and unspoken blame hung thick between them, heavier than any other.
Lucen swallowed, memories flashing, how he once blamed Cael for everything that went wrong, their mother’s death, his failure to awaken his aura, all the bad things were never Lucen’s fault, but his little brother’s fault. That version of himself seemed like a stranger now.
He forced a small, shaky breath, then knelt beside his brother. "See you later, little bro." Lucen smiled softly while patting his little brother’s head. Cael looked up at his brother and showed a surprised expression.
Cael didn’t say anything, but he didn’t pull away either. There were no dramatic goodbyes. No sudden reconciliation. Just a silent nod and a pat on the head. But that small gesture felt heavier than all the gear Lucen carried. That was good enough for now.
"See you later, everyone."
Lucen bowed his head and gave a knight’s salute. The others returned it, surprisingly even Robert, despite being the farthest thing from a knight.
Then Lucen turned around, looking at the road ahead. Despite the continuous snow, the sun still shone overhead, as if smiling down on him. Lucen smiled back and took his first step into his first real adventure.
Hours have passed, and by now, the tall iron fortress could no longer be seen behind him in the snowy distance. He felt excited as he was heading toward the base of the Ashpeak Mountains, where one of the best items in the area was hidden.
He remembered how, in the game, this area had several powerful items that boosted stats, unlocked unique skills, or acted as hidden quest keys. But back then, the story had already begun. Now, in this prelude world, many of those treasures likely hadn’t yet changed hands, been lost, or ended up in monster dens.
Take Vardon’s longsword, for example. In the game, players found it buried deep in a gigantic monster’s corpse within the northern forests, a legendary blade left behind after the Iron Duke’s final battle.
But now? His father still carried it at his side, where it rightfully belonged. Of course, there were items that have always been there. One of those items was the thing Lucen wanted to get.
’Damn, this would’ve taken minutes in-game, but in reality, it’s so f*cking far away. It’s a good thing I have more stamina now... Tsk, come on, Lucen, one of the rare items in the area is waiting for you there. If you’re still a gamer, you need to get it before anyone else does.’
Now that he was alone, he felt more comfortable thinking like he did in his past life. He did this while trying to encourage himself.
’The Heart of Embers, an item that came from a dead young fire dragon’s heart. That was quite a memorable item since it was talked about in the community a lot. There had been many fan theories as to why a dead young fire dragon was found in the icy north. There was also the question of who could kill a young dragon, one of the apex creatures in the game?’
Lucen remembered the dragon race in the game. Young dragons were considered killable, but only barely. They were high-level enemies usually found in endgame dungeons. Unlike adult dragons, they were more beast than anything, driven by instinct rather than reason.
Adult dragons, however, were an entirely different story. More intelligent than most mortal races and second only to the deities in power.
One adult dragon even served as a hidden boss, stronger than the main story’s final enemy, though not quite at the level of the game’s true final boss. Lucen remembered how powerful that boss was and could only sigh.
While he was remembering this world as a game, Lucen spotted two glacier hares, and they also spotted him. Unlike the hares back on earth, glacier hares were as big as a large dog, and they had a long horn with which they used to skewer their prey. Their long horns glinted like ice picks under the sun, steam rising from their nostrils in the biting cold.
This was the first time Lucen had encountered a monster. One of the hares hissed, lowering its body and tensing its legs. Lucen felt his heart beating so fast.
"Come on! Damn it, don’t be afraid of a low level monster!"
Lucen shouted, encouraging himself, as if that was a signal, the glacier hares that were a few meters away started hopping toward him at incredible speed. Lucen knew that he could not load his arquebus fast enough, and he was unsure if he was good enough with a sword to finish off the hares without damage.
Lucen gritted his teeth and used gun creation to create a revolver while backing away. In his hand, the familiar shape of a revolver began to manifest from mana, but it was taking some time to form.
While that was happening, he took out the bullets from his pocket and tried loading the gun. The glacier hares were now a few feet away from him. One hare leapt, and Lucen stumbled as he fumbled with the bullets in his hand, but as he was falling, instinct took over, or more accurately, the skills, marksmanship, and gun knowledge kicked in.
Despite him falling to the ground, his skills corrected his body as he fell. Lucen pointed the revolver and shot one of the glacier hares. The sound of the revolver echoed in the snowy plains, killing one of the glacier hares and stunning the other.
His hands were trembling, but he knew that he could not stop. Lucen quickly fired at the second hare, just like before, another clean shot, another hole, another corpse in the snow.
Lucen stared at the twitching corpses of the monsters, his breath fogging in the cold air. His hands were trembling, not from fear, but from adrenaline. He had taken a life with his own hands for the first time ever. It might not be human, but it was alive. A grin appeared on his face as his shaking hands formed a fist.
"YES! Do you see that you f*cking monsters! This is my power, the power of civilization!"
Lucen was happily celebrating his first-ever victory against a monster when he heard a notification sound.
[System Level unlocked.]
The second Lucen heard that notification sound, he was stunned for a few seconds, but then he suddenly shouted.
"F*ck yes!" Lucen opened up his status window to see what had changed.
Name: Lucen Thornehart
Mana Core: First Circle
• Bullet Creation – Active (Novice)
• Gun Creation – Active (Novice)
• Gun Knowledge – Passive (Novice)
• Marksmanship – Passive (Intermediate)
• Gun Kata – Passive (Novice)
• Alchemy – Passive (Novice)
• Thornehart Lineage (Dormant)
• Foreign Soul (Unique)
• Training Adept (Rare)
• Ashen’s Vow – Duration: 23 Days (Varkun)
• Flame Forged Wrath – Duration: 38 Days (Kalderos)
• Veil of the Silent Moon – Duration: 28 Days (Velmira)