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A place he did not belong to, a different world.
This world had no name, the people had not completely explored it. They thought the continents they lived upon encompa.s.sed their whole world, and one such continent in this world was Zetterlund.
The Zetterlund Continent was split into an eastern and western region by the Aubigne mountain range. Divided by the mountain range, each region contained its own unique environment. The west was ruled by several countries controlled by humans, known collectively as the Western Union. To the east was the Bocuse sea of trees ruled by powerful Demonic creatures ― the nest of Demonic Beasts.
However, the eastern region of Zetterlund was not totally devoid of all humans. There existed a solitary human nation, known as the kingdom of Fremmevira. Because this country was on the border of the sea of trees, it was also the first line of defence in the war against the Demon beasts. To counter the roaming Demon beasts, the nation raised an army of knights and has maintained it to this day. They were proud of their role as the s.h.i.+eld of humanity and the Western Union became known as the 'Nation of Knights'.
In the year C.E. 1268, the story with this continent as its background began.
At the base of the mountain Aubigne, which reached up to the clouds, was the Capital of Fremmevira, Känkänen. If you travelled east for half a day on carriage, you would then reach a large town. This town was unique because more than half of its s.p.a.ce was taken up by a single facility. It was a fortified building made with bricks and stones, yet it didn't feel intimidating and was not meant for military use. This building was an educational inst.i.tute for children known as 'Laihiala Pilot Academy'.
Knights defend the people against Demon beast attacks. As part of the glorious nation of knights, they were popular in Fremmevira, and it was a highly respected occupation. As a country p.r.o.ne to attacks due to its geographic location, they needed the support of a large army. Training knights was then made a priority for the nation, leading to the expansion of the educational organization for knights, Laihiala pilot academy.
A low thud reverberated within the building crafted of stone masonry.
This place had a wide stone floor, surrounded by stone walls and seats. This oval shaped training ground was situated in a corner of the academy.
In the centre of the ground were two knights facing off with their swords. They were both heavily armoured, one with a sword and s.h.i.+eld, the other wielding a 2-handed sword. The training ground was used for mock battles. The two knights were going through all sorts of drills, and the swords they were using were blunt to avoid injuries.
The two knights took the exercises seriously, even though it was only practice. They pointed their swords at each other, carefully gauging the distance of their opponent. A gust of wind blew sand into the air. The powerful stare down ended, and both of them launched their attacks simultaneously, closing the gap between them in an instant. They moved into combat range so nimbly that it was unbelievable to think that they were in full battle armour.
But there was something off about this scene, the ground was shaking with each of the fighter's step, emitting a low and heavy thud into the air. Normal humans shouldn't make such heavy sounds with their footsteps, even if they are fully armoured.
The answer lies with their surroundings.
There were people in the audience seats watching the knights' duel, but their figures were much smaller than the knights. No, the opposite was true; it was the knights that were too big. If the size of the knights and the size of the audience were compared side by side, the knights would be at least 6 times larger. It was only natural for them to be heavy, and it was not an exaggeration to call them giants.
These giant knights were not human. They were actually Silhouette Knights, around 10 metres in height with metallic frames known as 'Inner Skeletons' and 'crystal tissues' acting as its muscles. Fuelled by mana, it was a hybrid robot sp.a.w.ned by magic and machinery, a giant knight. They were weapons made to fight against the magic beasts, the strongest fighting unit known to mankind.
A short distance away from the battling Silhouette Knights, several figures were watching the fight, one of them had an exceptionally sharp gaze.
He was one of the battle instructors. In other words, his duty was to instruct the pilots battling with the Silhouette Knights in order to train them to protect citizens from the demon beasts. He took in every single movement of the trainees, giving off a serious air.
"It's... Robots..."
The demonic instructor, whose face was feared by all, showed a rare smile. People who knew him might have been shocked, but it would not be surprising if you were in the warm presence of the lady.
"Tina, what brings you here? It's really rare to see you visiting the academy."
"I just wanted to let Eru see his father's workplace, so I made a detour from our usual stroll."
"I see. Eru, what do you think of dad’s job?"
The man asked the child held by his wife, but was completely ignored. The child kept waving his short limbs about, staring intently at the Silhouette Knights sparring on the training ground.
"Eh, he doesn't seem to be listening..."
The man smiled as he patted his 3 year old son's head. Their son had inherited his mother's adorable features ― silver hair with a touch of purple, an oval face exactly like his mother's when she was young, and a pair of bright blue eyes. His sharp gaze showed a hint of his paternal heritage.
"Ara, Eru, you are paying more attention to the Silhouette Knights than your own father, just like a boy. Do you really like the Silhouette Knights so much?"
"I heard that a lot of kids dream of being a knight, Eru seems to think so too."
Both parents smiled as they watched Eru display his curiosity for this boyish interest. He was so cute. The little boy watched the scene excitedly while waving his arms and legs, unfazed with being the centre of attention. He focused on the training ground without blinking, displaying his exceptional concentration. The man rubbed his son's soft hair for a while but gave up after getting no reaction.
"You really like it, huh. How is it, Eru? Those are Silhouette Knights, gigantic warriors that defend our kingdom."
"Silhouette... Knight..."
The child seemed to acknowledge the words of the man for the first time, repeating his words with a slur unique to toddlers as he fell deep into thought. The man smiled bitterly after seeing his child behave this way, and returned to his post after conversing with his wife for a while. On the training ground, the gigantic knights finished their match and were preparing to leave.
"Right, let's return home. We need to prepare dinner and wait for daddy to return."
The lady coaxed the child who kept looking back, reluctant to go. They were going home.
"Silhouette Knight..."
The child in her arms watched the gigantic knights on the training ground until they were out of sight.
The child's full name, referred to as Eru, was Ernesti Echevarria. He was the son of Mathias Echevarria, instructor of Laihiala Pilot Academy, borne by his mother Celestina.
It has been three years since his birth. This was the age when a child forms his sense of self, a period when they become playful. But Eru was very sensible. He understood his parents from an early age and was well behaved. Everyone felt that he was a bright kid, but his intelligence came from another source.
Ever since becoming self aware, and developing his own character, he became conscious of memories he had never experienced before ― the memories of his past where he lived in another place. A place called j.a.pan, the civilization of computers, and the name Kurata Tsubasa.
A theory known as reincarnation.
Reincarnation describes the phenomenon that occurs when the spirits of those who have died are reborn into the world over and over again. It is mentioned in Buddhism, and all j.a.panese would have heard about this theory, whether they believed it or not. Kurata was no exception, but he didn't believe it at that time and never expected to experience it himself. He had even retained the experiences from his previous life, a successful reincarnation.
But including himself, no one truly knew what happened. The only thing he was sure of was, that he was Ernesti in this world and Kurata Tsubasa in his previous world. That's why, compared to children around his age, he had an 'experienced' mind, and a calm and matured a.n.a.lytical ability.
Because of his mother's whim, he visited his father's workplace. The impact of this visit inspired him to devote his second chance at life to this.
When the sun started to set in the west, a lady and a child walked along the streets of Laihiala academy.
The boy kept asking about the gigantic knights that he had seen, and his mother answered him gently and patiently. Looking at her excited son, his mother cheerfully replied:
"You really like Silhouette Knights, don't you? Does Eru want to be a knight in the future?"
"Knight... Okay! I want to be a knight!"
"Ara, such a dependable child. Let's ask daddy to teach you when you get a little older alright?"
"Okay!"
No one knew what would happen because of this dimension travel. But he was certain that his second life as Ernesti Echevalier was developing beyond his control.
The Echevarria residence was situated near Laihiala academy.
Apart from this family, the people in this nation awaken early. As the sun was rising in the east, the young mother, Celestina, got up to prepare breakfast. When she was done, the whole family ate together as usual.
The only child of the family, Ernesti, awoke the latest.
"Silhouette Knight!"
Eru seemed to have dreamt of something, as he kicked off his blanket and leapt up from his bed. He was unaware of his mother laughing because of his shout. Eru looked around him, realising he was in the bedroom, he climbed back into bed.
He was too excited last night and couldn't sleep. Instead, he laid in bed daydreaming, with a smile on his face.
Those are robots, and humanoid in shape, gigantic humanoid robots...!
Ernesti ― or rather the j.a.panese Kurata Tsubasa shed a tear of joy in his heart for this unexpected blessing, and couldn't stop smiling. Retaining the memories of Kurata Tsubasa means he inherited similar interests and hobbies from his previous life. In Eru's previous life, he was Kurata Tsubasa, a heavily addicted robot nerd.
As a working adult, he spent almost all of his income on his hobby, browsing modelling magazines and games, even searching for visual works at times. He put double the effort into his hobby compared to others, and it wouldn't be wrong to say that he was obsessed. But despite his obsession, he was still an ordinary man. He didn't have the pa.s.sion to join the self-defence force just for the chance to operate a tank. But the situation was different in this life. That's right, gigantic humanoid robots ― Silhouette Knights actually existed here.
When he 'awakened', he was disappointed to find himself in a world with no models or computers. But he was grateful from the bottom of his heart for this miracle, be it by chance or by the will of a mysterious force, allowing him to reincarnate in this world, his disappointment changed when he had discovered Silhouette Knights. This was not a joke, gigantic humanoid weapons 10 metres in height actually existed. For a robot nerd like him, seeing the Silhouette Knights had enough impact to completely change his life. In other words, he believed the reason that he came to this world was to pilot these gigantic robots. He had no basis for it, but he still strongly believed this.
He had the resolve, but his tiny body lost to his sleepiness, and he napped a bit more before breakfast was ready.
It was almost noon, Celestina and Eru were in Mathias's study room.
The study was filled with simple, but practical wooden furniture that was kept clean and tidy. Mathias was primarily a sword instructor, but he was involved in other fields as well. The shelves in the study room were filled with all sorts of literature, including picture books for children.
Tina sat on the couch in the room, resting the tiny Eru on her lap, reading the picture book slowly to him. She spoke clearly and calmly. Eru, who was enjoying this yesterday, listened for some time before he started to fidget. He called out to his mother:
"Mum, mum."
"What is it, Eru? You don't like this book?"
Tina tilted her head, but Eru's next words dispelled her confusion.
"I like books... But, I want to know more about Silhouette Knights!"
Tina set the book aside and studied Eru's expression. Looking at his bright eyes filled with curiosity and joy, she couldn't turn him down.
"Ara ara, I see. Although it is still early for you, Eru, if you want to pilot the Silhouette Knights, you have to first become a knight."
"Knight... how do I become a knight?"
Eru had a fixed goal in mind, but he was still a 3 year old toddler body-wise. Even with the intellect of a grown man, his actions were still restricted, including the most crucial part, information gathering. How does a toddler, with limited access to resources, obtain information? He has to rely on his parents.
"Let's see, you need to read many books and practice swordsmans.h.i.+p. Right, let your daddy teach you about swords. Your father teaches swordsmans.h.i.+p at the academy anyway. How about reading your favourite book, where Silhouette Knights make an appearance okay?"
"Okay!"
Eru finally focused back on the book. Tina rubbed his head, took out a book related to Silhouette Knights, and read it to him slowly. Eru listened to the story that was simple enough for a child to understand excitedly.
Eru imagined himself piloting the gigantic knight, standing before humongous demon beasts in order to protect those in danger. He reforged his mind once again. He wanted to pilot a Silhouette Knight no matter what, and the sooner the better. To achieve this, he needed to use his mature mindset to his advantage and achieve all he could with his power. He prepared a schedule for the future in his mind, but for now, he listened quietly to the story.
"Dad, do you have a minute?"
Mathias Echevarria, who was resting in the study, heard the sound from behind him. He turned and saw his son, Ernesti Echevarria run towards him. Eru, who was now 5 years old, had a bowl cut, with his hair just above the eyebrows. He had bright silvery purple hair just like his mother; the resemblance to her cute appearance remained the same. Even the strict Mathias, with his merciless face smiled often in front of Eru.
"Oh, I have time. What is it, Eru?"
"I want to ask you a favour, dad."
Eru was young, but he spoke clearly. His slightly slurred speech when he was three, was now smooth at the age of 5. This child had always been polite to everyone since he was young. As his speech grew clearer, this became more obvious. But this didn't feel weird, and actually complemented his cute and small appearance. Mathias smiled happily, as he looked at Eru's pleading face. His 'doting' towards his son had been getting worse over time.
"Dad, I want to be a knight, please teach me swordsmans.h.i.+p."
It's finally the time. Mathias was troubled, but he didn't show it on his face. He knew his son had been keen on being a knight ever since he was really young, and there was no problem with his goal. If he had the motivation, that would be great. But Eru was only 5 years old, so it was still too early to teach him swordsmans.h.i.+p. If they rush it and start before Eru's body develops, it would be detrimental to him. Also, Eru looked more similar to his wife with every pa.s.sing year, and was smaller in stature than children his age. To be honest, Mathias wondered if his son could even handle a sword.
But Mathias still faced his son firmly. Since Eru was showing his resolve, he couldn't ignore this as an instructor or as a father. Mathias advised his son not to rush, and start by building up his physical strength first. He also informed him that aside from swordsmans.h.i.+p, knowledge in magic would also help him in his quest to become a knight, encouraging him to study it.
"Magic... I understand dad, I will seek your advice on swordsmans.h.i.+p in the future.
Looking at the unwavering face of his son, Mathias nodded, promising to teach him swordsmans.h.i.+p one day.
".. That's what happened mum, so please teach me magic!"
After making the promise with Mathias, Eru immediately went to Tina and asked her. Why was he asking his mother? Because Tina's father, who was Eru's grandfather, was the current dean of Laihiala Pilot Academy ― Lauri Echevarria. Tina accepted gladly, gathering the necessary teaching materials within her means.
― Magic.
It goes without saying that in Eru's previous life ― back on earth, magic did not exist. It only appeared in stories and fairy tales. Most people only heard about magic when playing role playing games, like dungeons and dragons. But this powerful force existed in this world, and knights used magic often as support when fighting.
Under the guidance of his mother, who was doubling as a teacher, Eru read textbooks related to magic.
From the moment Eru decided to pilot a Silhouette Knight, Eru had started taking action. What he had been doing was the very basics, simply learning to read. Learning to read at the age of 3 was a very early start. Even the privileged cla.s.s of this country ― the aristocrats ― didn't start so early. Because of this, Eru could handle materials that were quite advanced.
It was natural for kids to detest studying, but Eru was not a normal child. All of his effort was for the goal of becoming a knight. When he thought about piloting a Silhouette Knight, studying was no ha.s.sle in comparison to the reward. He could even read through textbooks from cover to cover. Because the contents were so stiff, it was better to treat it like a game, and enjoy it instead of thinking of it as studying. With the fast learning pace unique only to children, Eru learned the contents at an incredible pace.
― In simple terms, magic in this world refers to the skill of manipulating mana to perform physical phenomenon.
All living things in this world has the ability to convert the 'ether' in the air into mana, and store a certain amount of it within their body.
"Mana is something like fuel, magic will be used in accordance to the content of the magic script, to do things in the physical world through a catalyst."
Tina explained to Eru who was sitting down obediently.
"There are two types of living beings in this world; they are divided into those who can use magic independently, and those who can't. The difference lies in the existence of a catalyst within their body. For beings that can use magic, they have a crystal within their body that acts as a catalyst. For example, the strongest creatures known as dragons possess a catalyst, and their dragon breath is created using this catalyst."
"Humans don't have a catalyst inside us, so we are a race that can't use magic."
Since humans didn't have a crystal catalyst, they couldn't use magic. Based on the laws of this world, this was a natural and undeniable fact. But people had learned of a way to use magic. This was the result of using their weapon called wisdom. As living beings of this world, humans could make use of mana and external catalysts to develop scripts gradually to use magic, successfully overcoming their weakness.
With this breakthrough, humans, who were always the weakest in this world, developed gigantic magic-powered weapons after years of research - the Silhouette Knights. This made the humans one of the most powerful races.
"Mum, since the Silhouette Knights are so powerful, and we have such a huge army of knights, we can build a bigger country right?"
"Maybe it can be done, but it is difficult."
Silhouette Knights may be powerful weapons, but they were tactical weapons that required large amounts of resources to build and maintain. It was practically impossible to prepare a force capable of dominating the land. Humanity used the Aubigne mountain range as the border to maintain peace on the western side of the continent. Fremmevira remained behind it as a barrier to protect their foothold in the east. The stalemate had been going on for centuries.
"I will leave the details for history cla.s.s. You will learn about it in more detail when you start school."
Tina was talking about practical applications of magic. As mentioned before, magic had to be conjured through scripts, and the construction and usage of scripts was performed by a virtual organ in the brain known as Magius circuit. In this world, all beings that are self-aware has the potential to use it.
"And Eru, scripts are sigils that perform specific phenomenon. First, are the 'Architect' sigils that perform basic phenomena, followed by the 'Control' sigils that coordinate and use Architect sigils."
By combining Architect sigils and Control sigils, the picture created was something similar to magic summoning circles on earth.
For beginners in magic, the part they will have trouble with is the construction of the script. Most people can manipulate Architect sigils immediately, but using powerful spells by using more complex scripts requires a great amount of practice. As humans can't use magic naturally, creating high level magic requires the acc.u.mulation of experience. Apart from perseverance, it also requires natural talent.
Architect sigils that determine the phenomenon and the control sigils that maximise its effects. Combining both of them by using a set of fixed laws... Right, I have seen this before, this is just like...
Eru's occupation in his past life ― programmer, helped him understand this part. In simple terms, the sigils and their interactions in the form of a script followed similar logic in programming code. The operation of the script by the magius circuit was similar to a virtual computer. Since the magius circuit was built within the brain, activating it didn't take time, performing better than computers in his previous life.
After Eru grasped the logic behind it, he 'extracted' the architect sigil and control sigil from the textbook and started using his magius circuit ― which was within the human brain ― to start coding. With such a large amount of codes, even a veteran programmer wouldn't be able to organise it within their head; they would need the help of software editors. To counter this, Eru used the magius circuit domain as a software editor to plan and compile the scripts.
Because he was a beginner, he had no idea how much magic the people in this world could use. He didn't consider his ability to easily build and control the complicated programming language to be special.
Eru held a tiny wooden wand and focused with his eyes closed.
A small crystal was fixed onto the tip of the wand. That was the crystal catalyst, a miraculous item which allowed humans to use magic. For humans using magic, they prefer to wield wands with the crystal catalyst affixed onto the tip. The wand in Eru's hand made a gentle 'Pashu' sound, and a line of fire shot out, leaving a scorched mark in the middle of the target board. He just activated the fire architect sigil with beginner magic ― 'Fire torch'.
"Wow Eru, that's great. Although it is just the architect sigil, I never imagined that you would be able to use magic so quickly."
"But mum, the textbook says that this is the basics of the basics, anyone can use it immediately."
"It is true that anyone can activate it, but to hit the target so accurately requires practice. Eru has talent for magic."
No matter how good Eru was in programming, it was useless if he only studied the theory without putting it into practice. A simple target board in the backyard and Tina accompanied Eru for practical training. They practiced all types of architect sigils one by one, allowing Eru to get used to the feeling of using magic. After casting spells repeatedly, Eru started to feel weird... it felt like energy was gradually draining from his body. It was like the fatigue you feel after exercising, but different at the same time. This unique experience confused him, but this was the natural result of expending mana. He panted heavily and breathed in the ether from the air around him, attempting to replenish his mana.
... I didn't know it was this tiring. If I used advanced spells, I would have probably fainted because of the shortness of breath.
Tina who had been supervising him, walked over with a gentle smile and rubbed his head.
"This is how it feels when you expend mana. If you don't experience it now, it will be troublesome in the future."
"... I can't catch my breath, it feels painful. My mana is empty after using just a little magic, so depressing."
"Don't be discouraged. You are still young, lacking mana is normal."
"Will I have more mana when I grow up?"
"Hmm ― Let me think. It's a bit different, but just think of it as something like stamina. The growth of mana is not solely dependent on your physical growth. It will also get stronger as you train your psyche."
"I understand. Mum, since that's the case, I will be doing special training to increase my mana pool!"
Tina gave a bitter smile, rubbing the head of the spirited Eru.
"Ara, what a hardworking child. Don't be too impatient, going too fast might be bad too."
Eru reflected upon this and felt that he was being too rash. Tina was right, rus.h.i.+ng wouldn't be good for him, and he didn't want his mother, who was accompanying him to worry.
"Yes, mum. I will take it slow and steady."
Eru promised his mother with a straight face. Tina nodded and hugged him tightly.
Eru started his special training the following day.
With the promise with Tina and the future in mind, he needed to improve his physical and magical abilities steadily. Constructing scripts was Eru's strength. He would be able to find a way to advance if he made use of his previous life's knowledge. The rest would depend on the mana he needed to use the magic. He persisted in his routine of jogging, physical exercise, depleting his mana, and recovering it. As he was going through his fundamental training, he found an interesting magic in the textbook.
He was looking up physical boost spells. Physical boost means literally strengthening the capabilities of your body, including strength, stamina, and speed. Eru's plan was to incorporate this spell in his physical exercise, training both mind and body at the same time for efficiency.
The spell physical boost was a high spell, a spell that was difficult to use. The effects of the magic were dependent on the script. The simpler the structure, the closer it would be to the architect sigil, and conversely, the easier it would be to control; the more targets there are, the more complex and difficult it would become.
The high level complex spell physical boost had the ability of enhancing 'every muscle fibre', strengthening 'all of the bones' to absorb the impact, and the improvement of the durability of the skin. There was a need to control the target of the spell, which changes rapidly with every movement. To use these effects, the script needed to be activated constantly. This was why the boost spell was on a higher level than big, flashy spells, which did not require constant upkeep to maintain.
Normally, Eru would have given up at this stage and would have chosen a more practical spell. But he knew how to solve the problem because of his unique skills ― programming concept. He had experience in designing and coding software to handle multiple variables. That's why he skipped the beginner magic phase and jumped straight into the 'modified magic' phase. Reviewing the structure of the physical boost script, Eru compressed the structure to minimise the number of variables, creating subscripts that would automatically extract the status of the body. After compiling it, he just needed to design the user interface to make it easier to control, so as to lessen the burden.
Complicated projects like the improvement of scripts was not something that could be done easily by anyone. Eru, however, was not aware of this, completing the improvement shortly, and the patch was a big enhancement. But even so, it was still difficult to control magic that strained the mind heavily. But with his extraordinary processing ability, it was not much. No one realised that a historical revolution had occurred, but for Eru, this was just a small step in his journey.
Everything was ready. Eru held a wand in his hand, activated the improved physical boost spell, and began his daily training regime excitedly. But his high spirited trip ended in tragedy, he didn't even have time to feel moved by his enhanced physical attributes before collapsing a few hundred metres away because of mana depletion.
As expected of an advanced spell, the controls were complicated and the mana cost was tremendous. Eru felt down because of this basic mistake and returned to his normal training regime for quite a while.
Even with the efforts he put in, he still needed 3 years before he could activate his physical boost magic for a sustainable amount of time. Eru was fuelled by his pa.s.sion, moving towards his goal day by day.
This world had no name, the people had not completely explored it. They thought the continents they lived upon encompa.s.sed their whole world, and one such continent in this world was Zetterlund.
The Zetterlund Continent was split into an eastern and western region by the Aubigne mountain range. Divided by the mountain range, each region contained its own unique environment. The west was ruled by several countries controlled by humans, known collectively as the Western Union. To the east was the Bocuse sea of trees ruled by powerful Demonic creatures ― the nest of Demonic Beasts.
However, the eastern region of Zetterlund was not totally devoid of all humans. There existed a solitary human nation, known as the kingdom of Fremmevira. Because this country was on the border of the sea of trees, it was also the first line of defence in the war against the Demon beasts. To counter the roaming Demon beasts, the nation raised an army of knights and has maintained it to this day. They were proud of their role as the s.h.i.+eld of humanity and the Western Union became known as the 'Nation of Knights'.
In the year C.E. 1268, the story with this continent as its background began.
At the base of the mountain Aubigne, which reached up to the clouds, was the Capital of Fremmevira, Känkänen. If you travelled east for half a day on carriage, you would then reach a large town. This town was unique because more than half of its s.p.a.ce was taken up by a single facility. It was a fortified building made with bricks and stones, yet it didn't feel intimidating and was not meant for military use. This building was an educational inst.i.tute for children known as 'Laihiala Pilot Academy'.
Knights defend the people against Demon beast attacks. As part of the glorious nation of knights, they were popular in Fremmevira, and it was a highly respected occupation. As a country p.r.o.ne to attacks due to its geographic location, they needed the support of a large army. Training knights was then made a priority for the nation, leading to the expansion of the educational organization for knights, Laihiala pilot academy.
A low thud reverberated within the building crafted of stone masonry.
This place had a wide stone floor, surrounded by stone walls and seats. This oval shaped training ground was situated in a corner of the academy.
In the centre of the ground were two knights facing off with their swords. They were both heavily armoured, one with a sword and s.h.i.+eld, the other wielding a 2-handed sword. The training ground was used for mock battles. The two knights were going through all sorts of drills, and the swords they were using were blunt to avoid injuries.
The two knights took the exercises seriously, even though it was only practice. They pointed their swords at each other, carefully gauging the distance of their opponent. A gust of wind blew sand into the air. The powerful stare down ended, and both of them launched their attacks simultaneously, closing the gap between them in an instant. They moved into combat range so nimbly that it was unbelievable to think that they were in full battle armour.
But there was something off about this scene, the ground was shaking with each of the fighter's step, emitting a low and heavy thud into the air. Normal humans shouldn't make such heavy sounds with their footsteps, even if they are fully armoured.
The answer lies with their surroundings.
There were people in the audience seats watching the knights' duel, but their figures were much smaller than the knights. No, the opposite was true; it was the knights that were too big. If the size of the knights and the size of the audience were compared side by side, the knights would be at least 6 times larger. It was only natural for them to be heavy, and it was not an exaggeration to call them giants.
These giant knights were not human. They were actually Silhouette Knights, around 10 metres in height with metallic frames known as 'Inner Skeletons' and 'crystal tissues' acting as its muscles. Fuelled by mana, it was a hybrid robot sp.a.w.ned by magic and machinery, a giant knight. They were weapons made to fight against the magic beasts, the strongest fighting unit known to mankind.
A short distance away from the battling Silhouette Knights, several figures were watching the fight, one of them had an exceptionally sharp gaze.
He was one of the battle instructors. In other words, his duty was to instruct the pilots battling with the Silhouette Knights in order to train them to protect citizens from the demon beasts. He took in every single movement of the trainees, giving off a serious air.
"It's... Robots..."
The demonic instructor, whose face was feared by all, showed a rare smile. People who knew him might have been shocked, but it would not be surprising if you were in the warm presence of the lady.
"Tina, what brings you here? It's really rare to see you visiting the academy."
"I just wanted to let Eru see his father's workplace, so I made a detour from our usual stroll."
"I see. Eru, what do you think of dad’s job?"
The man asked the child held by his wife, but was completely ignored. The child kept waving his short limbs about, staring intently at the Silhouette Knights sparring on the training ground.
"Eh, he doesn't seem to be listening..."
The man smiled as he patted his 3 year old son's head. Their son had inherited his mother's adorable features ― silver hair with a touch of purple, an oval face exactly like his mother's when she was young, and a pair of bright blue eyes. His sharp gaze showed a hint of his paternal heritage.
"Ara, Eru, you are paying more attention to the Silhouette Knights than your own father, just like a boy. Do you really like the Silhouette Knights so much?"
"I heard that a lot of kids dream of being a knight, Eru seems to think so too."
Both parents smiled as they watched Eru display his curiosity for this boyish interest. He was so cute. The little boy watched the scene excitedly while waving his arms and legs, unfazed with being the centre of attention. He focused on the training ground without blinking, displaying his exceptional concentration. The man rubbed his son's soft hair for a while but gave up after getting no reaction.
"You really like it, huh. How is it, Eru? Those are Silhouette Knights, gigantic warriors that defend our kingdom."
"Silhouette... Knight..."
The child seemed to acknowledge the words of the man for the first time, repeating his words with a slur unique to toddlers as he fell deep into thought. The man smiled bitterly after seeing his child behave this way, and returned to his post after conversing with his wife for a while. On the training ground, the gigantic knights finished their match and were preparing to leave.
"Right, let's return home. We need to prepare dinner and wait for daddy to return."
The lady coaxed the child who kept looking back, reluctant to go. They were going home.
"Silhouette Knight..."
The child in her arms watched the gigantic knights on the training ground until they were out of sight.
The child's full name, referred to as Eru, was Ernesti Echevarria. He was the son of Mathias Echevarria, instructor of Laihiala Pilot Academy, borne by his mother Celestina.
It has been three years since his birth. This was the age when a child forms his sense of self, a period when they become playful. But Eru was very sensible. He understood his parents from an early age and was well behaved. Everyone felt that he was a bright kid, but his intelligence came from another source.
Ever since becoming self aware, and developing his own character, he became conscious of memories he had never experienced before ― the memories of his past where he lived in another place. A place called j.a.pan, the civilization of computers, and the name Kurata Tsubasa.
A theory known as reincarnation.
Reincarnation describes the phenomenon that occurs when the spirits of those who have died are reborn into the world over and over again. It is mentioned in Buddhism, and all j.a.panese would have heard about this theory, whether they believed it or not. Kurata was no exception, but he didn't believe it at that time and never expected to experience it himself. He had even retained the experiences from his previous life, a successful reincarnation.
But including himself, no one truly knew what happened. The only thing he was sure of was, that he was Ernesti in this world and Kurata Tsubasa in his previous world. That's why, compared to children around his age, he had an 'experienced' mind, and a calm and matured a.n.a.lytical ability.
Because of his mother's whim, he visited his father's workplace. The impact of this visit inspired him to devote his second chance at life to this.
When the sun started to set in the west, a lady and a child walked along the streets of Laihiala academy.
The boy kept asking about the gigantic knights that he had seen, and his mother answered him gently and patiently. Looking at her excited son, his mother cheerfully replied:
"You really like Silhouette Knights, don't you? Does Eru want to be a knight in the future?"
"Knight... Okay! I want to be a knight!"
"Ara, such a dependable child. Let's ask daddy to teach you when you get a little older alright?"
"Okay!"
No one knew what would happen because of this dimension travel. But he was certain that his second life as Ernesti Echevalier was developing beyond his control.
The Echevarria residence was situated near Laihiala academy.
Apart from this family, the people in this nation awaken early. As the sun was rising in the east, the young mother, Celestina, got up to prepare breakfast. When she was done, the whole family ate together as usual.
The only child of the family, Ernesti, awoke the latest.
"Silhouette Knight!"
Eru seemed to have dreamt of something, as he kicked off his blanket and leapt up from his bed. He was unaware of his mother laughing because of his shout. Eru looked around him, realising he was in the bedroom, he climbed back into bed.
He was too excited last night and couldn't sleep. Instead, he laid in bed daydreaming, with a smile on his face.
Those are robots, and humanoid in shape, gigantic humanoid robots...!
Ernesti ― or rather the j.a.panese Kurata Tsubasa shed a tear of joy in his heart for this unexpected blessing, and couldn't stop smiling. Retaining the memories of Kurata Tsubasa means he inherited similar interests and hobbies from his previous life. In Eru's previous life, he was Kurata Tsubasa, a heavily addicted robot nerd.
As a working adult, he spent almost all of his income on his hobby, browsing modelling magazines and games, even searching for visual works at times. He put double the effort into his hobby compared to others, and it wouldn't be wrong to say that he was obsessed. But despite his obsession, he was still an ordinary man. He didn't have the pa.s.sion to join the self-defence force just for the chance to operate a tank. But the situation was different in this life. That's right, gigantic humanoid robots ― Silhouette Knights actually existed here.
When he 'awakened', he was disappointed to find himself in a world with no models or computers. But he was grateful from the bottom of his heart for this miracle, be it by chance or by the will of a mysterious force, allowing him to reincarnate in this world, his disappointment changed when he had discovered Silhouette Knights. This was not a joke, gigantic humanoid weapons 10 metres in height actually existed. For a robot nerd like him, seeing the Silhouette Knights had enough impact to completely change his life. In other words, he believed the reason that he came to this world was to pilot these gigantic robots. He had no basis for it, but he still strongly believed this.
He had the resolve, but his tiny body lost to his sleepiness, and he napped a bit more before breakfast was ready.
It was almost noon, Celestina and Eru were in Mathias's study room.
The study was filled with simple, but practical wooden furniture that was kept clean and tidy. Mathias was primarily a sword instructor, but he was involved in other fields as well. The shelves in the study room were filled with all sorts of literature, including picture books for children.
Tina sat on the couch in the room, resting the tiny Eru on her lap, reading the picture book slowly to him. She spoke clearly and calmly. Eru, who was enjoying this yesterday, listened for some time before he started to fidget. He called out to his mother:
"Mum, mum."
"What is it, Eru? You don't like this book?"
Tina tilted her head, but Eru's next words dispelled her confusion.
"I like books... But, I want to know more about Silhouette Knights!"
Tina set the book aside and studied Eru's expression. Looking at his bright eyes filled with curiosity and joy, she couldn't turn him down.
"Ara ara, I see. Although it is still early for you, Eru, if you want to pilot the Silhouette Knights, you have to first become a knight."
"Knight... how do I become a knight?"
Eru had a fixed goal in mind, but he was still a 3 year old toddler body-wise. Even with the intellect of a grown man, his actions were still restricted, including the most crucial part, information gathering. How does a toddler, with limited access to resources, obtain information? He has to rely on his parents.
"Let's see, you need to read many books and practice swordsmans.h.i.+p. Right, let your daddy teach you about swords. Your father teaches swordsmans.h.i.+p at the academy anyway. How about reading your favourite book, where Silhouette Knights make an appearance okay?"
"Okay!"
Eru finally focused back on the book. Tina rubbed his head, took out a book related to Silhouette Knights, and read it to him slowly. Eru listened to the story that was simple enough for a child to understand excitedly.
Eru imagined himself piloting the gigantic knight, standing before humongous demon beasts in order to protect those in danger. He reforged his mind once again. He wanted to pilot a Silhouette Knight no matter what, and the sooner the better. To achieve this, he needed to use his mature mindset to his advantage and achieve all he could with his power. He prepared a schedule for the future in his mind, but for now, he listened quietly to the story.
"Dad, do you have a minute?"
Mathias Echevarria, who was resting in the study, heard the sound from behind him. He turned and saw his son, Ernesti Echevarria run towards him. Eru, who was now 5 years old, had a bowl cut, with his hair just above the eyebrows. He had bright silvery purple hair just like his mother; the resemblance to her cute appearance remained the same. Even the strict Mathias, with his merciless face smiled often in front of Eru.
"Oh, I have time. What is it, Eru?"
"I want to ask you a favour, dad."
Eru was young, but he spoke clearly. His slightly slurred speech when he was three, was now smooth at the age of 5. This child had always been polite to everyone since he was young. As his speech grew clearer, this became more obvious. But this didn't feel weird, and actually complemented his cute and small appearance. Mathias smiled happily, as he looked at Eru's pleading face. His 'doting' towards his son had been getting worse over time.
"Dad, I want to be a knight, please teach me swordsmans.h.i.+p."
It's finally the time. Mathias was troubled, but he didn't show it on his face. He knew his son had been keen on being a knight ever since he was really young, and there was no problem with his goal. If he had the motivation, that would be great. But Eru was only 5 years old, so it was still too early to teach him swordsmans.h.i.+p. If they rush it and start before Eru's body develops, it would be detrimental to him. Also, Eru looked more similar to his wife with every pa.s.sing year, and was smaller in stature than children his age. To be honest, Mathias wondered if his son could even handle a sword.
But Mathias still faced his son firmly. Since Eru was showing his resolve, he couldn't ignore this as an instructor or as a father. Mathias advised his son not to rush, and start by building up his physical strength first. He also informed him that aside from swordsmans.h.i.+p, knowledge in magic would also help him in his quest to become a knight, encouraging him to study it.
"Magic... I understand dad, I will seek your advice on swordsmans.h.i.+p in the future.
Looking at the unwavering face of his son, Mathias nodded, promising to teach him swordsmans.h.i.+p one day.
".. That's what happened mum, so please teach me magic!"
After making the promise with Mathias, Eru immediately went to Tina and asked her. Why was he asking his mother? Because Tina's father, who was Eru's grandfather, was the current dean of Laihiala Pilot Academy ― Lauri Echevarria. Tina accepted gladly, gathering the necessary teaching materials within her means.
― Magic.
It goes without saying that in Eru's previous life ― back on earth, magic did not exist. It only appeared in stories and fairy tales. Most people only heard about magic when playing role playing games, like dungeons and dragons. But this powerful force existed in this world, and knights used magic often as support when fighting.
Under the guidance of his mother, who was doubling as a teacher, Eru read textbooks related to magic.
From the moment Eru decided to pilot a Silhouette Knight, Eru had started taking action. What he had been doing was the very basics, simply learning to read. Learning to read at the age of 3 was a very early start. Even the privileged cla.s.s of this country ― the aristocrats ― didn't start so early. Because of this, Eru could handle materials that were quite advanced.
It was natural for kids to detest studying, but Eru was not a normal child. All of his effort was for the goal of becoming a knight. When he thought about piloting a Silhouette Knight, studying was no ha.s.sle in comparison to the reward. He could even read through textbooks from cover to cover. Because the contents were so stiff, it was better to treat it like a game, and enjoy it instead of thinking of it as studying. With the fast learning pace unique only to children, Eru learned the contents at an incredible pace.
― In simple terms, magic in this world refers to the skill of manipulating mana to perform physical phenomenon.
All living things in this world has the ability to convert the 'ether' in the air into mana, and store a certain amount of it within their body.
"Mana is something like fuel, magic will be used in accordance to the content of the magic script, to do things in the physical world through a catalyst."
Tina explained to Eru who was sitting down obediently.
"There are two types of living beings in this world; they are divided into those who can use magic independently, and those who can't. The difference lies in the existence of a catalyst within their body. For beings that can use magic, they have a crystal within their body that acts as a catalyst. For example, the strongest creatures known as dragons possess a catalyst, and their dragon breath is created using this catalyst."
"Humans don't have a catalyst inside us, so we are a race that can't use magic."
Since humans didn't have a crystal catalyst, they couldn't use magic. Based on the laws of this world, this was a natural and undeniable fact. But people had learned of a way to use magic. This was the result of using their weapon called wisdom. As living beings of this world, humans could make use of mana and external catalysts to develop scripts gradually to use magic, successfully overcoming their weakness.
With this breakthrough, humans, who were always the weakest in this world, developed gigantic magic-powered weapons after years of research - the Silhouette Knights. This made the humans one of the most powerful races.
"Mum, since the Silhouette Knights are so powerful, and we have such a huge army of knights, we can build a bigger country right?"
"Maybe it can be done, but it is difficult."
Silhouette Knights may be powerful weapons, but they were tactical weapons that required large amounts of resources to build and maintain. It was practically impossible to prepare a force capable of dominating the land. Humanity used the Aubigne mountain range as the border to maintain peace on the western side of the continent. Fremmevira remained behind it as a barrier to protect their foothold in the east. The stalemate had been going on for centuries.
"I will leave the details for history cla.s.s. You will learn about it in more detail when you start school."
Tina was talking about practical applications of magic. As mentioned before, magic had to be conjured through scripts, and the construction and usage of scripts was performed by a virtual organ in the brain known as Magius circuit. In this world, all beings that are self-aware has the potential to use it.
"And Eru, scripts are sigils that perform specific phenomenon. First, are the 'Architect' sigils that perform basic phenomena, followed by the 'Control' sigils that coordinate and use Architect sigils."
By combining Architect sigils and Control sigils, the picture created was something similar to magic summoning circles on earth.
For beginners in magic, the part they will have trouble with is the construction of the script. Most people can manipulate Architect sigils immediately, but using powerful spells by using more complex scripts requires a great amount of practice. As humans can't use magic naturally, creating high level magic requires the acc.u.mulation of experience. Apart from perseverance, it also requires natural talent.
Architect sigils that determine the phenomenon and the control sigils that maximise its effects. Combining both of them by using a set of fixed laws... Right, I have seen this before, this is just like...
Eru's occupation in his past life ― programmer, helped him understand this part. In simple terms, the sigils and their interactions in the form of a script followed similar logic in programming code. The operation of the script by the magius circuit was similar to a virtual computer. Since the magius circuit was built within the brain, activating it didn't take time, performing better than computers in his previous life.
After Eru grasped the logic behind it, he 'extracted' the architect sigil and control sigil from the textbook and started using his magius circuit ― which was within the human brain ― to start coding. With such a large amount of codes, even a veteran programmer wouldn't be able to organise it within their head; they would need the help of software editors. To counter this, Eru used the magius circuit domain as a software editor to plan and compile the scripts.
Because he was a beginner, he had no idea how much magic the people in this world could use. He didn't consider his ability to easily build and control the complicated programming language to be special.
Eru held a tiny wooden wand and focused with his eyes closed.
A small crystal was fixed onto the tip of the wand. That was the crystal catalyst, a miraculous item which allowed humans to use magic. For humans using magic, they prefer to wield wands with the crystal catalyst affixed onto the tip. The wand in Eru's hand made a gentle 'Pashu' sound, and a line of fire shot out, leaving a scorched mark in the middle of the target board. He just activated the fire architect sigil with beginner magic ― 'Fire torch'.
"Wow Eru, that's great. Although it is just the architect sigil, I never imagined that you would be able to use magic so quickly."
"But mum, the textbook says that this is the basics of the basics, anyone can use it immediately."
"It is true that anyone can activate it, but to hit the target so accurately requires practice. Eru has talent for magic."
No matter how good Eru was in programming, it was useless if he only studied the theory without putting it into practice. A simple target board in the backyard and Tina accompanied Eru for practical training. They practiced all types of architect sigils one by one, allowing Eru to get used to the feeling of using magic. After casting spells repeatedly, Eru started to feel weird... it felt like energy was gradually draining from his body. It was like the fatigue you feel after exercising, but different at the same time. This unique experience confused him, but this was the natural result of expending mana. He panted heavily and breathed in the ether from the air around him, attempting to replenish his mana.
... I didn't know it was this tiring. If I used advanced spells, I would have probably fainted because of the shortness of breath.
Tina who had been supervising him, walked over with a gentle smile and rubbed his head.
"This is how it feels when you expend mana. If you don't experience it now, it will be troublesome in the future."
"... I can't catch my breath, it feels painful. My mana is empty after using just a little magic, so depressing."
"Don't be discouraged. You are still young, lacking mana is normal."
"Will I have more mana when I grow up?"
"Hmm ― Let me think. It's a bit different, but just think of it as something like stamina. The growth of mana is not solely dependent on your physical growth. It will also get stronger as you train your psyche."
"I understand. Mum, since that's the case, I will be doing special training to increase my mana pool!"
Tina gave a bitter smile, rubbing the head of the spirited Eru.
"Ara, what a hardworking child. Don't be too impatient, going too fast might be bad too."
Eru reflected upon this and felt that he was being too rash. Tina was right, rus.h.i.+ng wouldn't be good for him, and he didn't want his mother, who was accompanying him to worry.
"Yes, mum. I will take it slow and steady."
Eru promised his mother with a straight face. Tina nodded and hugged him tightly.
Eru started his special training the following day.
With the promise with Tina and the future in mind, he needed to improve his physical and magical abilities steadily. Constructing scripts was Eru's strength. He would be able to find a way to advance if he made use of his previous life's knowledge. The rest would depend on the mana he needed to use the magic. He persisted in his routine of jogging, physical exercise, depleting his mana, and recovering it. As he was going through his fundamental training, he found an interesting magic in the textbook.
He was looking up physical boost spells. Physical boost means literally strengthening the capabilities of your body, including strength, stamina, and speed. Eru's plan was to incorporate this spell in his physical exercise, training both mind and body at the same time for efficiency.
The spell physical boost was a high spell, a spell that was difficult to use. The effects of the magic were dependent on the script. The simpler the structure, the closer it would be to the architect sigil, and conversely, the easier it would be to control; the more targets there are, the more complex and difficult it would become.
The high level complex spell physical boost had the ability of enhancing 'every muscle fibre', strengthening 'all of the bones' to absorb the impact, and the improvement of the durability of the skin. There was a need to control the target of the spell, which changes rapidly with every movement. To use these effects, the script needed to be activated constantly. This was why the boost spell was on a higher level than big, flashy spells, which did not require constant upkeep to maintain.
Normally, Eru would have given up at this stage and would have chosen a more practical spell. But he knew how to solve the problem because of his unique skills ― programming concept. He had experience in designing and coding software to handle multiple variables. That's why he skipped the beginner magic phase and jumped straight into the 'modified magic' phase. Reviewing the structure of the physical boost script, Eru compressed the structure to minimise the number of variables, creating subscripts that would automatically extract the status of the body. After compiling it, he just needed to design the user interface to make it easier to control, so as to lessen the burden.
Complicated projects like the improvement of scripts was not something that could be done easily by anyone. Eru, however, was not aware of this, completing the improvement shortly, and the patch was a big enhancement. But even so, it was still difficult to control magic that strained the mind heavily. But with his extraordinary processing ability, it was not much. No one realised that a historical revolution had occurred, but for Eru, this was just a small step in his journey.
Everything was ready. Eru held a wand in his hand, activated the improved physical boost spell, and began his daily training regime excitedly. But his high spirited trip ended in tragedy, he didn't even have time to feel moved by his enhanced physical attributes before collapsing a few hundred metres away because of mana depletion.
As expected of an advanced spell, the controls were complicated and the mana cost was tremendous. Eru felt down because of this basic mistake and returned to his normal training regime for quite a while.
Even with the efforts he put in, he still needed 3 years before he could activate his physical boost magic for a sustainable amount of time. Eru was fuelled by his pa.s.sion, moving towards his goal day by day.
