Inside the big gate of Zutopia there was a big market. Colorful stalls lined the cobblestone streets, their awnings fluttering in the gentle afternoon breeze as merchants called out prices for fresh bread, gleaming trinkets, and bundles of herbs that filled the air with a mix of sweet and earthy scents.
All the Zutopians looked happy, buying and selling their products with easy laughter and the clink of coins, until they happened to see Kael guiding Hsuya towards the Noxford Manor. Watching the fear on the faces of the Zutopians, Hsuya realised how Kael treated the common folk—the way their cheerful chatter died instantly, replaced by hurried bows and averted eyes.
Some of them also stared at Hsuya with confusion because of his unique clothes, the strange cut and fabric that screamed "outsider" , but they didn't dare to question him since he was walking with Kael.
After a 25-minute walk they finally reached the Manor. It was a big house built in the middle of a flower garden, where vibrant roses and lilies swayed lazily. It looked like a palace, but the size was a little smaller than a real palace. It had empty grounds, a stable , a carriage parking space lined with polished wooden posts, and everything else that showed Kael had used all the tax money that came from the citizens on his own fantasies—marble fountains that probably never ran dry and ornate lanterns that gleamed even in daylight.
After Hsuya went inside the manor, Kael introduced him to all the workers and maids, saying that he had recruited Hsuya as his new assistant manager. The servants lined up quickly in the grand foyer, their uniforms crisp but their postures tense, eyes flickering with unspoken questions.
Actually, Hsuya had ordered Kael not to leak his identity to anyone, and he knew that Kael would not dare to speak of it as Kael also knew that his very life was now in the palm of his master—Hsuya.
Of course there were mutterings from all around, low and hurried behind cupped hands as the group dispersed:
"Who is that weird-looking guy?"
"Why would someone like Kael keep an assistant manager?"
"Why is Sir Kael acting that way?"
"I think Sir Kael is scheming something again."
But Hsuya didn't give a thought to it because he knew that it was bound to happen. After that he directly went to the Head's office with Kael and sat on the head's chair. Then he asked Kael about his mother and told him to show the way towards the underground prison of the Noxfords.
Hearing that specific order, Kael's expression changed completely upside down, his usual smug confidence draining away like water through a sieve.
"Sa… Sir, your mother's situation is not good so… I suggest you avoid seeing her until I cure her by assigning the greatest healers available on the Noxford Estate."
"It's not like I am forbidding you to see her ba… but it is ja… just a suggestion," Kael said with a half-assed smile while shaking with fear, his voice cracking slightly in the dim light of the office lamps.
Hsuya immediately realised that there was something wrong about his mother and threatened Kael by saying,
"So you don't cherish your life, huh? I see…"
Kael then immediately showed him the way towards the underground prison. The stairs spiraled down into cool, damp stone that echoed with every footstep, the air growing heavier with the faint smell of mildew and old iron.
There, when Hsuya finally saw his mother, his blood boiled like lava. His mother was in such a pathetic condition that bruises covered her skin like clothes, her once-vibrant hair matted and dull under the flickering torchlight.
Even though Hsuya was completely a cool-headed person, the sight he had just seen made him so angry that he tortured Kael until he was close to death, the nobleman's gasps filling the narrow cell. After that he said to Kael, "If my mother Jennifer is not cured as soon as possible then you are as good as dead, Kael," with not an angry but a cold tone that seemed to chill the prison air even further.
After that , to clear his mind , Hsuya went to the house's library. The room was lined with towering oak shelves heavy with leather-bound volumes.
There he first picked a book that explained about the entity of this world (Alexia) and found out that this world only had one God—"Nodin". Not just humans served Nodin, but other different races like elves, orcs and so on served the same God.
While reading all the information about Nodin available in the book, Hsuya kept thinking, "If I defeat Nodin and take his place, will I then be able to satisfy myself?"
On Earth he had been powerless. Beaten for homework, looked down on for being a scholarship kid from a broken home. He had trained in secret, learned to hide his strength, but he could never fight back without losing everything. Here in Alexia he had infinite mana, but he still wasn't truly free. Only by defeating Nodin and taking his place could he make sure no one would ever make him feel small and weak again.
Normal people may not even think about facing Gods, but Hsuya was completely different.
He thought:
"If Diomedes can wound a war God like Ares with assistance from Athena and Sisyphus can even outsmart the God of death not just once but twice, then why can't I defeat a single God like Nodin?"
But Hsuya was also aware that defeating a God single-handedly was impossible, so he decided to make his own army — a secret organisation that would help him gather all the information about reaching Nodin while supporting him from the back.
While thinking about how he would create his organisation, a book named "Current Affairs of Dian" piqued his interest. The book explained the current situation of the Kingdom of Dian and the Noxford Estate. On that book he found out that Alexia also had academies like Earth, but in those academies, in addition to traditional academics , students were taught Magic ,swordsmanship, battle sense and so on. And the most prestigious academy available in the Kingdom of Dian was "The Dian Academy" aka TDA.
In that academy people from every race were allowed to enter and the rules were the same and simple for every student to avoid discrimination between nobles and commoners—though the polished halls and training grounds probably still whispered of old rivalries beneath the surface.
"The Dian Academy, huh… interesting," he thought as he closed the book. And then he went into his room that Kael had arranged for him.
It was a big room with expensive paintings hanging on the walls, their gilded frames catching the soft glow of candlelight. The room had a bed so big that even if three people slept on it there would still be space for a child to sleep, piled high with silk sheets that smelled faintly of lavender.
On the left corner of that room there was a luxurious chair which looked more like a throne, its velvet cushions deep enough to swallow a man whole.
Seeing that, Hsuya went there and sat on it. Then he called Nox slowly with a cold and boring voice.
**Ding**
[Yes master]
[How can I help you]
"Open my status window."
[STATUS]
NAME - Hsuya (Nickname not given)
TITLE - N/A
HP – 100 / 100
MP – [ INFINITE ]
STATS :
-- STRENGTH :35
-- STAMINA: 39
-- AGILITY: 36
-- INTELLIGENCE: 88
-- ENDURANCE: 43
-- SENSE: 50
SKILLS:
Martial Arts (C)
Poker Face (A)
Master of Self-Defense (B)
[Normal skills could only be improved through physical training]
[SPECIAL SKILLS:
-- Mana sharer (SS)
-- Mana matter (EX) ]
"So after the fight with Kael, my strength, agility and sense grew by only one point, huh. Well... I think it's reasonable as I had only depended on mana up until now"
"Hey Nox."
[ YES ? ]
"As long as I can recall from my memories, this world has dungeons, right? Then can you find the dungeon close to me?"
[Yes master, the closest dungeon from here is inside the deep forest of the faeries.]
[It will take at least thirty minutes if you go with your current capable speed.]
"Thirty minutes, huh. Well if it is that close then I can probably go there later "
He then thought about going back to Earth again but then he remembered the time difference between Alexia and Earth once more and calculated immediately:
"When I passed through the portal, it was around 2 pm on Earth and after coming here I spent a total of 7 hours. That means it's only around 5:30 pm on Earth."
Even though Hsuya could open the portal to Earth infinite times a day from Alexia, he could only open the portal from Earth twice a day. So he decided to stay here in Alexia for the night.
But due to the itch of curiosity he knew that he could not sleep with comfort, so he decided to raid the dungeon in the forest on that very night. But the only problem was his identity; he couldn't just reveal his identity to anyone. So he decided to use his brain again.
He used mana matter to create a solid but also soft slime-like material, the energy shimmering faintly in the air like liquid starlight before it settled over his skin. Then he covered his entire body with it and gave it the shape of a Black bodysuit which also had a robe, the fabric whispering softly as it formed.
And to hide his face he also created a mask with mana that covered half of his face from forehead to nose, cool and weightless against his skin.
Then he jumped from the window and went towards the dungeon, the cool night air rushing past him as the manor lights faded behind the trees. The deep forest of the faeries loomed ahead, its ancient trunks glowing faintly with bioluminescent moss under the moonlight.
But..., when he reached the dungeon and headed inside, he didn't expect to see something like that on the first floor…