Rampant Memory Of Klaus: The Vespian Heartland is a very strange place geographically speaking, but the same can be said for much of Terravest. It is a mostly flat, fertile plain surrounded by both mountains and ocean. While the northern continent is usually completely covered in ice and snow, the heartland itself is protected by the Worldwound mountain range in the north from the frigid touch of the Jaw, as well as the less inhospitable winds originating from the western fjords by the Vestilander mountains.

The ocean shows an entirely different tale, as most of the heartlands coasts are completely frozen over, boasting glaciers the tallest of which may as well be considered small mountains themselves, which also serves as a heat barrier for the fertile inland.

Despite the quality of the soil being tremendous and generally better as one goes towards the middle, actual farming in these lands takes great amounts of effort as the mountains and glaciers do not completely block out the cold and even the best harvesting season has to deal with a lack of sunlight over the year. Only the hardiest crops can be grown in this land without magical aid. Farming magic is considered one of the easiest to use which has, alongside other factors such as starvation and the long, repetitive wars between the former human nations of the Heartlands, caused an immense spike in the general popularity of magic, despite the fact that most of the leading nobility, be they knightly or members of the church, despise all magic.

Some aspiring mages are even said to be making a fortune selling rare, tropical crops such as tomatoes by growing them inside of magical hothouses and with the magic of artificial sunlight.

Neither living, nor dead.

Not light, not dark.

Gray is it's color

As its march continues on, ever forward...

"Phew..." A deep, audible exhalation left my body, carrying with it at least half of my soul.

However, a soft smile etched itself on my expression, as I finally reached my long-desired bedchamber.

The royal room has many expensive adornments, from beatific silken drapes, to rugs made from fantastical animals. Scented candles glow in the dark, perched atop golden candlesticks, a crystalline chandelier gently sways in the wind as the gigantic windows of glistening glass creak with age, despite looking as if they're brand new.

Everything here is ancient and considering who my father is, likely stolen from somewhere.

I felt my smile lessen. A glorious bedroom such as this is far too opulent for me. There's too much useless shit around in this otherwise wonderfully large space.

There's not enough containers for my work.

But then again, I shouldn't do too many changes. Prestige is a very important factor for me right now, especially if I want to keep myself safe.

Hmm... People will pester me to choose a bride soon unless I can prevent it by somehow getting younger.

Thirty seven years... What a waste of time!

Building my own laboratory is my prime occupation, but for now, I'll settle for a night of restful sleep...

Several hours later...

"-ake up you fat pig!" Mhmm... What's this?

My eyes are still hazy... There's no way that this was a full, healthy twelve hours of slumber.

I'm just gonna close my eyes back and welcome my beauty sleep back~.

Or so I thought, as something roughly kicked me out of the bed, sending me spiraling to fall off the other side of the bed. "Ow! What the hell?! Wh-who dares?!"

A young redhead man that reminded me of Katrin came into view. His frame was furious and teeth gritted.

Ah fuck. This guy is probably her brother, here to defend the family honour. "Are you properly awake now you piece of shit?! How dare you dishonor my sis-*crack*."

A terrific sound echoed from his foot as a red tendril pierced his right one from the ground, then twisted every bone, muscle and nerve painfully enough to force a soundless scream out of his body as torrents of blood were squeezed out.

Then, as I rose slowly from the ground, so too was he lifted off of it and then promptly sent flying out of the window.

Both the horrified servants and myself turned to follow his flying body as he screamed comically before a loud crashing sound replaced it, followed by many pitiful cries of pain.

Feeling a bit bad for him now that the adrenaline died down, I walked over to the window and looked down to find the man sprawled across the ground with what looked like a dislocated shoulder. Hmm, did he manage to make it absorb all that damage with one hand? I threw him from quite far away..

Is this Xiao Lee?; or however else they call that Chinese martial arts technique. That thing about relaxing yourself before receiving damage in order to minimise and/or absorb it. Hmm, this is the first time I've seen it in effect, though looks like he isn't the best practicionner of the art.

Still, this is rather impressive, so finishing him off might be a bit of a shame. With a sigh, I commanded the gathered servants. "Send him a healer."

The servants dispersed, revealing behind him none other than Asmodeus, the insufferable grand wizard, staring blankly at me in my nightwear and crooked back. "You.. of fucking course. Who else would orchestrate this shit other than you." I groaned and grabbed my forehead painfully.

"Y-your majesty... That power! What was that amazing power?!" His expression burned with excitement of unbearable intensity.

... My power, eh? "Get out of my room, Asmodeus. Lest you experience it yourself."

"Yes! Yes! Please! Let me feel your Arcana upon my flesh your majesty!" His excitement suddenly got even greater.

Hmm... I shouldnt reveal too much.

Let's just scare him a bit!

With that thought, I reshaped the black tendril into the shape of a scalpel and sliced the back of his neck!..

Or, I tried at least. The man slapped the back of his neck in shock, even if some kind of barrier prevented me from causing any actual damage. "Amazing! Remarkable! An invisible power that requires nothing. No chants, no physical movement! It does not even produce any soun-."

Getting rather irate from all this early morning activity, I reformed the black scalpel into a sledgehammer and smashed his abdomen from the front, causing him to lose control of his bladder as he fell to his knees, gasping for air and clutching his stomach.

Grimacing at his half pained, half euphoric expression, I commanded the servants to act. "Get him out of here while I dress myself... And someone, clean that up." I pointed towards the blood and piss that now stained my perfect slate tiles.

With a sigh, I turned around and opened up my drawer. As expected of a man, there wasn't much in there, just a couple suits and other regal clothing.

It didn't take me long to find something simple yet splendid to wear.

As I was trying on different clothing, I couldn't help but notice my own reflection in the mirror. This body was.. strange. Most of the skin appeared to be a healthy shade of white, pretty much what you could expect of a young caucasian man, but my face was whiter than death and there were even black spots that seemed to be dead skin, but that's probably just due to oversleeping.

My grey hair didn't help my appearance at all, thought it seemed to be lively enough for a thirty seven year old man.

A clanking sound caught my attention as the servants worked on the remainder of my experiment just now. Hmm...

Invisible.

Soundless.

Efficient.

A smirk etched itself onto my frame.

These are the traits I had always been fond of, especially back when I didn't spend half of my time running from detectives.

A doctor must always be invisible and humble, take only the silent pride in their actions, lest the public gets a bad view of you or a higher up notices that you are someone with ambition and plot your downfall.

Another exasperated sigh escaped me as the maids hurried out if the room with embarrassed expressions.

Ah. Right.

Maids.

I just casually threw my clothes off as if they didn't even exist.

Shaking my head out of my stupor, I threw on a fashionable overcoat to protect myself against the winter cold and promptly walked out of my room.

Hmm... It seems like it's almost noon.

Perfect time for a bath!

Looking around, I pointed towards the nearest maid and explained with glee. "You there. Go prepare the baths."

The young woman looked horrified for the briefest moment before she bowed and complied. "As you wish, your majesty."

Hmm, wonder what that was all about? Wait, should I call her out for showing such an ugly expression to ting King?... Nah. Fuck it.

Who even cares~.

Turning my head back around, I walked aimlessly down the hallways of the castle, pondering upon the nature of my powers.

My... Arcana, I believe is what multiple people have called it, seems to be the manifestation of my inner desires, the power of a wish that awakened alongside my reincarnation.

According to my observations, the red tendril appears when I want to influence someone from the inside and even if the tendril itself is placed inside a body, it can't deal any damage of its own.

Only when I commanded it to twist the leg of that redhead bafoon did anything worth of note actually happen.

Best of all, the skin on the outside was left completely intact, despise the inside being absolutely destroyed.

The black tendril seems capable of switching forms into a limitless variety of tools, so long as it's shape is capable of it. In fact, while the scalpel didn't require anything more than a forethought, the sledgehammer needed the complete imagination of its trajectory and expected outcome before it actually struck...

Hmm... Inside and outside influences of the body. Yes, these are clearly meant to be the tools of a doctor!

I felt myself blink as I turned the black tendril into a scalpel again and then tried to summon the red one, only to get a headache in response.

Damn... Looks like it's not a perfect power after all.

Not yet, at least.

Gripping the scalpel in my hand, I slashed at the wall in rage, causing the worked stones to rupture along as if I just struck against some ancient molecular lineup. My eyes went wide as I subconsciously let go of the scalpel, causing it to disappear as I looked into my open palm in surprise and glee.

"Y-your majesty?! Did.. did you just cut the wall with your hand?!" A knight exclaimed in shock and awe.

I just shook my head in negative. "Nay. I used my Arcana."

Truth is the best, especially when it explains nothing at all~.

"O-oh. So his majesty has magic that grants superhuman might?!" He seemed excited beyond belief, so I just shrugged at him and moved on.

Hmm, I wonder what sort of wonderful rumor will this adorable guard create?

Well, it's surely going to be intensely amusing to hear soon enough~.

Ahh, unknowing pawns are just the best!

It is said that with great power comes great responsibility...

Nay! I say, nay!

With great power, comes absolute personal liberty!