Chapter 11: Rankings

A loud scream was what woke everyone at the break of dawn. Leon’s mother. Her scream caused guards and maids to rush over as fast as they could to see what was happening.

When everyone came in and saw the body on the floor with a dagger next to it, they froze. Someone had tried to assassinate them in their sleep and had somehow failed.

Leon watched as people trooped into the room one after the other with a careful look in his eyes. He wanted to ensure that he saw the emotions of everyone that was there. Not long after, his stepmother walked in, her eyes immediately going to the man on the ground. She managed to keep her composure and feign shock, but Leon saw through it.

Being born to two people in his last world that loved to study human behavior, he knew how to catch even the most subtle behavior. He noticed the twitch in her eyes when she walked in, the clenching of her fist to portray her frustration. He saw through it all very quickly.

’So it was you. You are the one that wanted me dead,’ he thought as he looked right at her.

She didn’t see him look, but he did not care. He knew who wanted him dead, and that was the most important aspect of this. Everything else could be handled later.

The guards took the body away, and it was taken for a full autopsy to get any sort of information that they could from it.

Leon had overlooked one crucial part of all of this, the fact that he had now shown that he or his mother was at full risk of assassination. His mother very quickly poured her resources into ensuring the manor became more secure, and then she went a step further to get a guard to always follow Leon.

Roger. He was a young knight under the age of thirty. He was in the Sword Adept realm, and one step away from entering the Sword Mastery realm.

In this world, mages and warriors were set into two parts. Using realms, they helped rank them and ensured a power was properly understood.

First, there was the Iron Body realm and the Mana Apprentice. This was the starting point for all warriors and mages alike. Then came the Steel Warrior and the Mage realm. For mages, this meant they had started handling one-star spells properly and could use them easily.

Then came the Mana Blade realm and the High Mage realm. For a warrior, it meant that they could now start incorporating mana into their attacks and weapons.

Then came the Sword Adept realm and the Great Mage realm. This was considered a powerhouse realm, and someone in this realm was well known for sure. You became a true knight when you managed to step into the Sword Adept realm. And as for the mages, a Great Mage was someone with much research and commanded power over spells up to the fourth-star realm with ease, and could probably go higher.

Beyond that came the Sword Master realm and the Archmage realm, one of the strongest realms that existed. People in this realm were considered the peak of humanity.

You did not just reach these two realms and relax, but rather you began to grow even more, because inside these realms existed subclasses, like the Sword Grandmaster and the Grand Archmage.

Beyond this realm came one that very few people in their life could ever dream of seeing, and that was the Sword Saint and the realm of Sage.

[...]

Leon was stunned when a Sword Adept was asked to be his guard. This was someone prestigious and quite powerful. It showed what kind of authority a count wielded in this empire, to have these sorts of people under him.

Roger was diligent right off the bat, which meant never leaving the side of Leon, which Leon found pretty exhausting. He had to tone down the kind of spells he cast and his training sessions with Ash. He had to live on the very low and avoid suspicion.

Even after a year passed and no one had attacked him, Leon was still stuck with him and never allowed him out of his sight.

[...]

Day 12th, 6th month of the Empire Calendar, Year 1009.

Today was the day that Ash was meant to leave, heading to the capital to further chase her magic. She was not alone on this journey, as the eldest daughter, who was now 14, was leaving for the Crimson Academy, one of the magical academies at the capital.

Scarlet had been a magical prodigy since she was born. She had a blue magical core and was currently at the realm of High Mage. Her future was very bright, and now it was time for her to go after it.

Ash, who was a recognized Great High Mage, had said she would be her patron and ensure that all went smoothly. It spoke to her way of thanking the family for all that they had done for her.

The carriage was prepared, and everything was set for them to go. Ash and Scarlet faced the family. Ash was in a new robe that she had gotten, and she looked stunning inside it.

She no longer held a wand in her hand, but rather a staff that had been sent to her by her master. It was a twisted wooden staff with a curved head and a magical crystal inside the curve. Scarlet had on the uniform of the academy. It was a black uniform with golden trims and edges, and on the chest was a golden flame.

’I guess this is where we part ways for the first time,’ Leon thought as he looked at the two of them. He knew it had been coming for a while now, but even then, it still took quite a hit for his heart to handle it.

Ash stepped forward, and then she bent a knee before Leon. She pulled out a large book and her wand.