Author's Preface
The first year in the new world moved quickly. Ryan began to understand the language little by little. His name was unchanged, thankfully. Some resemblance of normalcy. Everything else was different. He worked every day to gain control over this frail body. Every irritation came out as a cry. "Fuck me, this is exhausting. Every time I cry... she comes and picks me up, bounces me and pats my butt." He stared at the floor as his head bounced up and down on his mother's shoulder. "It is relaxing though," he thought as she placed him back on the floor as he stopped crying. Ryan looked up at his mother as she went back to the iron pot hanging over the fireplace. Smoke and the smell of whatever stew she was making filled their small wooden home. There wasn't much to it, a few pieces of handmade furniture, three bedrooms, and a fireplace that served as both their stove and their heat. They didn't even have running water. Their water came from a freshwater river that ran through the forest behind the village.
"Honey, I'm home!" his father said as he walked through the door. Just like he did every day at the same time. Ryan looked over at him and smiled. "I don't know what he does, but he is always happy and always covered in soot." Ryan tried instinctively to crawl to his father. Jacob saw Ryan get on his hands and knees and start to crawl. He ran to him, picked him up and spun him around. "Old man, would you fucking stop. I'm going to get si-" Ryan spit up all over Jacob's shirt. Jenny ran over and grabbed Ryan from Jacob. "Goodness, he's only one. You can't fling him around like that."
"That's right, you tell his ass, Mom."
Jenny grabbed a cloth and wiped Ryan's mouth. As he began to look at her, he realized something. "I just referred to her as Mom. Oh, this is going to be weird. I didn't have a mother or father back then."
Ryan's thoughts flashed back to the past. Since he could remember, he was always on his own, moving from house to house. Family to family. No one wanted him. When he was 13, he finally ended up in a group home for kids who'd been abandoned and no one wanted to adopt.
Another year passed by and his parents came home with another baby, a sister named June.
Ryan crawled over where Jacob and Jenny had placed June on the floor. She looked up at Ryan and smiled.
"A sibling? Yeah... I'll protect you no matter what, June." Ryan put his tiny hand on his sister's chest as Jacob and Jenny both gasped. "Awww... how sweet."
Three more years flew by. Ryan turned five. His mother taught him the basics of this world. Reading, writing, arithmetic. Reading was simple once he learned the language. Arithmetic was the same as on Earth. This world used different units of measurement, but one plus one still equaled two. His family lived in one of the villages on the outskirts, a small village of blacksmiths positioned outside of the walls of the capital city. The sound of hammers striking metal started shortly after sunrise and didn't stop until well after dark. Smoke constantly drifted from the forge chimneys, and wagons passed through every day carrying ore into the village and finished weapons toward the capital. From outside their home, Ryan could see the massive stone walls of the capital in the distance.
As the years passed, Ryan would learn more and more about the world he lived in. There were 7 kingdoms on this planet. 3 were on the continent to the east, 3 on the one to the west. The kingdom he lived in, Isvale, was a huge island in the middle of an ocean. It was one of two kingdoms of men on this world. His parents were commoners, not poor, but not rich either. His parents both had talents. Not the talents you accumulate from hard work and dedication to a craft like on Earth. No, talents were blessings from the gods you received when you turned 15 years of age and officially became an adult here. The strength you carried with those talents was directly correlated with your mana pool. That was decided when you were born. There was nothing a person could do to increase their mana pool. You were either born with a big one or you weren't. The more Ryan read, the more he realized how different this world was. By the time he was 12, he understood a commoner could almost never become a noble unless they were blessed with an amazing talent or massive mana pool. Most nobles kept their status with interbreeding like the royal family, or marrying their kids off to other families. You had a better chance to have children with higher mana pools if both parents had one as well. Jacob and Jenny had neither. Jacob's talent was blacksmithing and he had a small mana pool. Jenny's talent worked with crops. Her mana pool was slightly bigger than her husband's. She had the ability to raise crops three times faster than if they grew on their own. She also had more yield from each crop than a normal farmer. Jacob crafted weapons for the royal family's military, from staves to swords, to magical enchantments. Both of his parents' talents allowed Ryan and June to live a little better life than most commoners, but at the expense of his parents clearly being taken advantage of by those royals and nobles in charge.
"Brother! Your ceremony is coming up next week. Aren't you excited?" June rushed to the table while Ryan sat reading books. He turned his head and looked back. "I mean, I guess. But I'm not excited about my talent being exploited by the rich. We have a one percent chance to have a mana pool that elevates our status."
Jacob walked in the room as he said that. "You know, sometimes you speak as if you are older than I am. The only way to change things, Ryan... is to become a noble yourself and make the changes you wish to see."
Ryan sighed. June lifted her hands in the air. "I'll make the changes for you, brother, don't worry. I'm going to awaken a talent as a kick-ass warrior and I'll pummel those nobles until they change their ways!"
Ryan smiled and shook his head. "Sure, sure... whatever you say, June-bug."
"Hrmph. You wait and see, big brother." June turned and walked out.
"Any plans for after the ceremony? You will technically be an adult afterwards." Jacob sat down across from Ryan.
"I'll use whatever talent I'm given to hopefully make sure you and Mom can take a break, Dad."
Jacob smiled and stood. "We just want you to be happy, son, whatever that looks like to you. Tell your mom I'll be late tonight. We got a huge order for the commander of the Knights. See you later, son." Jacob turned and walked out.
A week passed and Ryan stood in the church. It was located in the center of the royal capital. Its steeples stretched into the sky. A statue of a woman dressed in cloth that flowed like a river stood in the center of the massive hall. Stained glass windows lined the walls. They depicted epic battles, blessings, and the story of how this religion and their goddess came to be. Ryan stood among a hundred other children who just turned 15 this year. This was the only place where your status didn't matter. Ryan stood among nobles, commoners, even those children whose parents were talentless and lived more like beasts. Sunlight poured through the stained glass and painted the stone floor in patches of red, blue and gold. Every whisper from the hundred children and their families echoed through the massive hall.
Among the children also stood the royal crown prince. His clothes were spotless. His jewels glistened off the sunlight that shined through the windows. His blonde hair flowed down his back. A robe, black with gold trim and the symbol of the kingdom stitched into it. The symbol was a giant snake wrapped around a sword. Ryan stared at it a little too long. "A snake... that's fitting."
The prince felt Ryan's stare and turned. "Soak it in while you can, commoner. This is as close as you'll ever get to royalty."
Ryan shook his head and sighed. "Kids these days," he muttered.
The chief priest, dressed in green robes, took his place on a platform. "Today is the day each of you becomes an adult. It is also the day our goddess Vesha will bestow her blessings upon you and grant you a talent. I pray your talents will benefit this kingdom and everyone in it. Dark days are coming. If the prophecy holds true, the world will be plunged into eternal darkness. Though we do not know the day or time this may happen, you must commit yourself and your talent to the kingdom. So that when the day comes, we may fight back against any evil that washes up against our shores."
The priest looked to his left. A man stood with a staff larger than himself. A large hat that covered half his face as it drooped down. A long gray beard, and red robes. He stepped forward and spoke. "I am Aldric, the leader of the Flame Hall. I will explain what will happen here today." He slammed his staff down as flames gathered around his feet and he was launched onto the platform. He put his hand on a crystal ball that floated just above a table. "When you step up here, you will kneel and pray to our goddess. She will bestow unto you a blessing. You will hear the name of your blessing in your mind. You will then tell the priest the name of your blessing and place your hand on the crystal. This crystal will activate your dormant mana pool and light up a specific color, which will tell us the amount of Saels of mana you possess."
Aldric went on to explain the tiers. For each color, the darker the color, the more mana within that tier you possessed.
Black - No mana
Purple - Up to 50 Saels worth of mana. (Bottom tier.)
Blue - Up to 200 Saels worth of mana. (Most common tier.)
Green - Up to 500 Saels of mana. (Enough to join a hall or the Knights.)
Yellow - Up to 750 Saels of mana. (The minimum to become a Noble.)
White - 1000 Saels of mana or more. (Never been recorded.)
"Prince Cedric, please step forward and be the first to receive your blessing," the priest yelled.
The prince turned his head and looked at Ryan... scoffed and flicked his robe as he walked on stage. He stepped in front of the table, got down on both knees, folded his hands together and recited the prayer.
"Dear goddess, please hear my prayer. Grant your lowly humble servant a talent that allows me to protect this kingdom from evil and bring glory to your name."
As he finished, the words flashed into the prince's mind. "Lightning mage."
The prince stood with a huge grin now showing as he approached the crystal. He looked at the priest and spoke. "Lightning mage." As he placed his hand on the crystal, a moment later a dark yellow light flooded the hall from the crystal. Gasps spread through the church. Even the nobles began whispering among themselves as the dark yellow light reflected across the stained glass windows.
"Wonderful," Aldric said. "A mage with a yellow-tier mana pool, dark yellow at that. That means you are in the upper echelon of the yellow tier. You will accomplish great things for the kingdom, Prince."
Cedric bowed his head toward the priest and Aldric, turned and walked down the platform. As he passed by Ryan, he looked at him and grinned. "Good luck, shit stain."