Two more years have passed. As of the moment, Kris has gotten a handle on his magic, and about half of his core’s capacity is available for him to use. As expected, the same rules for conjuring magic apply to today’s era, however, there are differences.

For one, Kris noticed that since ambient mana is stable now compared to previously, the raw power and output of spells has decreased to about 30%. It wouldn’t be such an issue for Kris if it weren’t for the fact that he’s still at half his capacity. Even then, in order to create phenomenon as powerful as he could back then, he’d need to exceed his capacity now.

Another is that, well, he has no access to the void. This impacted Kris much more than how he thought it would, as a lot of his magic from back then stemmed from the void, such as his teleportation ability.

Thankfully, the fact that he has acquired scientific knowledge from Earth helped with his magic without having to rely on the void. Though he knew that he needed to come up with ways to make the ambient mana, at least around him, be chaotic to an extent. Though the ambient mana today were perfect for utilizing all sorts of spells and effects, what Kris needed most was magic for combat and emergency applications. For most of these situations, chaotic mana would suit it best.

As expected, he forewent learning chants, runes, and circles as he had enough knowledge to be able to conjure most standard to high standard spells, but he knew that having knowledge isn’t a free pass to be able to wield any magic.

For one, mana itself becomes a factor that he needed to address: speed of spread, the ratio of ambient mana to innate mana, and things like that, well, things that were more or less instinctive to him back then.

Around a year before, he found out that anyone who had the capability to be a mage could become candidates to be students at the Riz Academy for Magic. However, everyone, with no exception, needed to have two graduates from the academy to recommend them to even be considered and then there would be practical exams.

It wasn’t surprising then to realize the reason why mostly nobles are enrolled at the magic academy. Nobles began their journey into magic way before they awakened, so unless you were a commoner of really valiant efforts, none would take time off their hands to recommend you.

While thinking about his problems, the carriage he was sitting on rocked as it hit a bump on the road. Currently, Marian was in front of him, slightly slouched and sleepy. She wore an elegant dress and lavish silver jewelry and had sported a business-like make up that added some pinkish color to her porcelain face.

They were traveling towards the inner wards, where they’d meet a prospective client. A military nobleman and general named Jack Einsworth. Kris just recently found out that what made the Raven family so rich was their weapons trade.

Of course, it isn’t knowledge available to the public, but Kris figured that it meant that the Raven family was far more powerful than he first thought it was.

As Kris looked out the carriage’s window, he noticed the huge difference between the homes of those from the middle ward and the inner ward. Stone buildings painted in hues of creamy white were lined up in rows. Soldiers from Dragnir’s standing army marched in platoons of twelve men each, patrolling the paved streets of the inner wards.

At times, he’d notice large manors with lavish obsidian gates tower over his view, guarded by heavily armored men in pairs. Apart from the soldiers and occasional guard, there weren’t any other signs of population.

That was the biggest difference in Kris’ opinion. Though the middle ward where the Raven manner was located had its abundance of stone buildings and its own mansions and manors, the streets are almost always populated with merchants, socialites, knights & soldiers, and the occasional commoners exploring it.

The fact that the inner ward is strictly off-limits to non-noblemen and those who weren’t invited or weren’t on official business certainly helped cement that fact.

“Oh, it seems that we’re close by,” Marian said after she woke up. She lightly scratched her eyes. She took out a mirror from a leather knapsack and began inspecting her face. Satisfied, she did a brief nod before looking at Kris.

”Are you nervous?” Marian asked.

“Not really, I’m more curious, mom. You didn’t exactly inform me that the Ravens were involved with weapon trading,” Kris casually remarked.

“Oh, come on. It’s not something that a 16-year-old kid should know anyway,” Marian playfully shrugged before grinning. “Besides, you did find out so I don’t see the reason to complain.”

Kris sighed. “I guess you’re right. Though, what I’m nervous about is why I have to come with you,” Kris scratched his nose while in thought. “Seems like there’s more to me accidentally finding the weapons’ manuscript than meets the eye,” Kris stared at Marian accusingly.

“Shushh, little one. You’re going to find out anyway, aren’t you?” Marian beamed before looking out the window.

Kris, a bit annoyed and mostly perplexed, shut his eyes as he crossed his arms.

“We’re here,” Marian said as she touched Kris’ leg. “Wake up and don’t forget to wipe that drool off your face.”

Kris hastily wiped the sides of his mouth before scowling. “There wasn’t any.”

“You weren’t going to wake up if I didn’t say something like that,” Marian chuckled, her way of covering her mouth slightly as she did gave her a refined edge to her laugh. “Come now.”

The carriage rocked to a stop and as soon as it did, Marian and Kris alighted. As Kris did, he stopped in his tracks. Up front was a large mansion, about four floors in heights. It’s neutral, grayish painting made Kris think that he was actually looking at a natural wonder.

Its walls were adorned with intricate, wavy stone carvings at intermittent widths, and four marble pillars half as tall as the building towered over and in-front of its thick, wooden double-doors. Around the mansion were large looming trees, isolating the noble’s home.

A few moments later, the doors opened to reveal another natural wonder. A man with slick, brown hair that evened out his big muscular frame exited and walked towards them. He walked with a straight posture and steady gait, and his tall figure seemed to make the previously humongous mansion shrink and be swallowed in his presence.

As he got closer, Kris noticed the man’s brown, round eyes scrutinizing him. The man’s bearded jaw relaxed and his eyebrows raised as Kris felt a kind of prodding inside his core. He was immediately able to exert the external influence, and Kris felt that he was at least able to hide the extent of his mana.

While it’s true that Kris had no intention to hide a bulk of his abilities, that didn’t mean he’d just allow anyone to investigate him like that. Especially because of the chaotic nature of his mana. He needed to be cautious. Though truthfully, he knew.

He’s powerful… but…

Kris almost couldn’t hide a smirk. If this was the extent that the General, the feared earthen Major General of Dragnir’s forces could do…

Kris shook his head to blanket his thoughts. No. He’s not the same person anymore. He needn’t forget that.

The man air around the general suddenly relaxed as he smiled and waved his hand casually as he was close enough to hold a conversation.

“Greetings, Marian. I’m glad you could make it.”

“Of course,” Marian bowed. “It’s best for our business to not leave our best client wanting,” she said with a smile.

“I truly am thankful,” the General said before moving his eyes towards Kris. “Who might he be?”

Kris bowed. “I am Kris Raven. The adopted son of Robert and Marian Raven. Pleased to meet you, good sir.”

“Ahh,” the General nodded. “I’ve heard about you from Robert. I didn’t think I’d meet you so soon. So you’re the heir to the Ravens?”

“At least until Claire is big enough to lead it, sir.”

“Charming,” the General smiled. Kris looked over to Marian and saw her gently smile too.

”Well, it’s best that we make our way inside,” the General gesticulated before turning.

Kris sat beside Marian on the far-side of a fairly long table. Parallel to them was General Einsworth. The room was a bit plain compared to the highly decorated and nature-themed halls and rooms of the Einsworth Mansion, apart from the crystal chandelier that illuminated the room at the top of its high ceilings.

“Then, Marian. As you might know, the attacks from our unknown enemy have been easing up somewhat, however, the entire army is now preoccupied with frequent mana-monster attacks from both inside and just outside of our borders. We need this month’s batch of weapons soon,” the General explained.

“I have figured out that much, Jack,” Marian said before pulling out a single piece of paper from her bag and skimming over it. “We can deliver them as soon as the following week, with another month’s worth of weaponry as a token. We expect that as part of this deal, the Raven household will still be responsible for 20% of Dragnir’s arms deals in the near future.”

Kris bugged out his eyes.

20%?! That’s no joke.

The General smiled as he waved his hand. “Do not worry about it. The consistency of the weapons we procure from you have pleased our generalship greatly. In fact, we should thank you for even bothering to give a free batch.”

Kris internally scratched his head. For one, the manuscript he saw was just a vague summary of the income from some clients of the previous month’s deals. He had no idea about the actual weapons being traded, the quantities, and just for how long this deal has been going on.

Granted, he knew about the monster attacks. As someone from the previous era, he has experience about the dangers of any attacks from those beasts. Still, at the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but think that the Dragnir generalship was at least exaggerating the hazards of those attacks.

Mages from Kris’ era had frequent bouts with these monsters, but for the most part, they were fodder for them. He concluded that judging from the overall mana capacity and weight of General Einsworth, mages in this era have dwindled down in terms of raw power. Is that why they developed more utility and support magic? He doubted that such monsters could pose a problem, at least to him.

“Think of it as a way to secure future business, Jack. Just us being involved in the arms deal itself is a great risk, so we expect greater rewards,” Marian said.

“Well then,” the General relaxed his posture. “Enough business for now. We’ll let our assistants handle the bulk and we’ll smooth out the details later. Tell me about yourself, Kris,” The General said as he slowly looked towards Kris.

Marian relaxed her posture and pinched Kris’ leg underneath the table, urging him to do so.

“Oww,” Kris coughed. “Excuse me. Well, for the most part, I’m still getting acquainted with the political landscape of Dragnir and especially its economy. I’ve only been training roughly three years ago, so I can’t paint a general picture of things. As for-”

The General shook his head, prompting Kris to pause.

“I’ve heard about all of that from Robert, I can assure you that. Since you aren’t directly involved with the businesses yet, we can put that off for now. What I’d like to find out are your plans. Like, when do you plan to enroll at the academy?” The General asked.

Kris hunched down as he grabbed his chin. “Well, I haven’t even awakened yet,” Kris said before realizing his mistake.

The General raised a brow. “Haven’t awakened? Is this true, Marian?” He said as he shifted his line of sight towards Marian while squinting his eyes.

“It’s true, Jack. Usually, awakenings should be… destructive. If he’d awakened, we’d at least have repairs at the manor to worry about…” She paused to think for a moment. “Though, I’m guessing that he’d awaken anytime this year, 6 months at the soonest.”

Now Kris felt that he made a blunder. Shouldn’t he have said that he’d awakened?

Kris was still feeling a bit cautious about the General after the man’s mana prodding, but maybe that’s why the General was so suspicious of him. Kris shouldn’t have been able to block him out if he hasn’t awakened.

Also, the fact that he was trying to act like a kid is maybe a stupid idea. There was no point to it unless he had a sort of twisted preference to hide his true nature. He does not.

It might just be because Kris was surprised by the question but…

Shit. Shit. Stupid-ass move. Wait… I need to fix this.

“Well, um…” Kris interjected. Marian and the General waited.

“Actually, I’m not sure if I’ve awakened yet,” Kris said.

The General heaved a breath before placing his arms on the table and leaning towards Kris. “What do you mean?” the General asked.

“You see, I’ve been able to use magic from long ago…”

“What?!” Marian shouted.

Kris, a bit startled, addressed Marian.

“Well Mom, I wasn’t sure. I could use magic, but as you said nothing destructive happened. I could just sort of, do it, you know?” Kris explained. Deep inside, he was cringing. It was such a lousy excuse.

But I need that fucking recommendation! Dang it. Why the hell am I so reserved now of all times?

“So I thought that maybe I haven’t awakened yet really…” Kris’ voice trailed off at the end.

Silence engulfed the room for a few moments before a knock was heard on the door.

“Come in,” The General, shook out of his thoughts by the knock, prompted.

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!”

“Have you confirmed our targets?” Asked a purple-robed man hovering a few kilometers above Riz. Beside him was a shorter, black-robed man.

“Yes. I have confirmed both their presences.”

Flight magic. It was magic that the scholars of today were experimenting on using wind magic. The grand stories of the mages of old galloping in the air had been a frequent inspiration and frustration for magicians. For the purple-robed man, however, it was all in a day's work.

“Then, go back now. I’ll summon the beast,” The purple-robed man ordered so before a distortion around the black-robed man swallowed him as he disappeared.

“Call forth the power of the void, singe the space and replace…”

“Summoning…” A larger, more menacing rift in the void was slowly forming above the purple-robed man. It emitted a heat uncharacteristic of today’s season as if the very space itself was rubbing each other and creating friction.

He concentrated as sweat trickled down his cheeks. He had a sinister smile in anticipation to the death and destruction that he was about to conjure.

Summoning magic. It was a lost art that could only be rivaled by the beastmen’s contract. The difference was, the beastmen could only summon their contract, but real summoning magic involved summoning just about anyone, and anything.

The Cult knew that void magic is the only way to do both. By distorting the space around the vicinity of its caster, he could mimic flight by placing void foothold’s or leverages, or summon something simply by knowing the coordinates of both his target and the location he wishes to summon it.

That is why the Cult of Rizale studied the lost ways of the void. They worshiped Rizale, the King of Demons. The King was popularly known as a powerful mage, but what others didn’t know of was the existence of void magic, and that Rizale was feared because of his mastery of it.

Void magic is a powerful magic that could manipulate space, time, and gravity. They knew there was more to the void than that, but that is why the cult was formed in the first place: to revive Rizale, and for that, its members needed to master the Void.

What better way to master it than to wreak havoc on unsuspecting victims? Just like how Rizale did in the past. Void magic, though costly by today’s standards of ambient mana, was something that they knew could grasp the peak of power in Ensfell, perfect for Rizale’s return.

Knowing this secret, the purple-robed man gave his most honest effort in today’s large summoning. It would probably incapacitate him for about a week, but for today’s targets, that is just a minor setback.

Their victims? Major General Jack Einsworth and Marian Raven.