"Tobias Archibald?" asked Taichi, who was now called Tobias.
He looked at his palms carefully. He was already totally different from Taichi. Now, he had to live a new life, not as Taichi but as Tobias.
Occasionally Tobias glanced at the large mirror as tall as an adult. From the mirror, the young man could see his reflection clearly. The only thing he didn't like about Tobias' body was how thin and muscle-less he was.
Suddenly the maidservant started running out of Tobias' bedroom. She walked quickly in order to tell the rest of the Archibald family about Tobias' recovery.
Tobias got up from the bed and walked towards the window. Both of his hands opened the window's curtains and saw an expanse of green areas in front of the Archibald residence, ranging from gardens, parks, and the agricultural regions, to forests.
"What kind of world have I come to?" asked Tobias.
One by one, the Archibald family members arrived. The first to arrive was a 23-year-old adult woman. She had long hair, fair skin, and a beautiful face. Her lips were thin, her nose was sharp, and both eyes were quite large.
What caught Tobias' attention was her body shape which was taller than most women in general, probably reaching a height of 178cm. She ran over quickly and hugged Tobias' body tightly.
"Tobias!" the woman greeted, sounding emotional as she held Tobias' head in front of her chest.
"I'm glad you're awake," she continued.
Tobias, who didn't know who she was, was silent as he was treated like that. She looked at his body from the bottom to the top of his head, ensuring there was nothing unusual about Tobias' appearance.
"Do you remember what happened before you fell into a coma?" the woman asked. Tobias shook his head.
"It's okay. There are some cases of amnesia in coma patients. You seem to have that symptom as well," the woman said, smiling broadly as she rubbed Tobias' cheek.
Not only she but many members of the Archibald family came into Tobias' room. There was a 30-year-old adult man, a 10-year-old child, and two older adults who Tobias assumed were his parents.
They took turns hugging Tobias' body, including his parents. The young man was silent, as he didn't recognize them.
"D-do you remember who I am?" asked a middle-aged woman, pointing at him.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember," Tobias replied, bowing his head.
The woman smiled widely. She had expected that Tobias wouldn't remember her. This was based on the length of time Tobias had been in a five-year coma. One would despair if their family had been in a coma for that long, but not Archibald. They were sure Tobias would wake up in time.
The long-awaited day arrived. They joyfully welcomed Tobias's awakening; even Tobias's father intended to arrange a party to welcome Tobias's consciousness.
But before that, all members of the Archibald family began to introduce themselves one by one. Tobias' parents were Lussie Archibald and Thompson Archibald. Tobias is the third child of the Archibald family, his older sister is Giselle Archibald, and his older brother is Darwin Archibald.
Tobias also has a younger brother, the last child of the Archibald family, Luke Archibald. In total, the Archibald family had four children, and Darwin would be the one to inherit Thompson's authority in the future.
While Tobias was listening to them, he suddenly felt sick and vomited right into his right hand, which was trying to cover his mouth. Seeing Tobias' poor condition, Darwin immediately helped Tobias to lie back down on the bed.
"Don't think too much. You should get a full rest for today," Darwin pleaded as the servants of the Archibald residence rushed to serve Tobias food and drink.
Tobias' father then said goodbye to the people in the place, followed by his wife, Darwin, and Luke. Unlike Giselle, who was still in Tobias' room, the woman intended to help her younger brother recover.
"What happened to me?" asked Tobias, curious.
"At the magic academy, you were seriously injured during a battle with another student," Giselle replied, telling him why Tobias was in a coma.
"You won the fight, but that student didn't accept it and started attacking you physically. Your head hit the hall wall causing you to fall into a coma," Giselle continued.
"But I hope you haven't lost your magical abilities, Tobias," Giselle said, smiling broadly as her right hand rubbed Tobias' head.
Tobias was confused. This was the first time he heard the word magic, as the Japanese term for such things was ninpo. What surprised Tobias even more, was that Giselle said he could use ninpo.
If asked whether Tobias could use magic, he would say that he couldn't at the moment. The only thing Tobias still remembered was his sword skills, the Myurajin mountain moon sword art.
"I cannot use ninpo," Tobias said, trailing off.
"What did you say?" asked Giselle, squinting, confused.
"Magic. I cannot use that," said Tobias, correcting the word ninpo to magic.
"Haha, that will only be proven by practicing magic when you get better," replied Giselle, still not believing that Tobias had lost his magic ability.
Tobias stared at Giselle closely, full of seriousness as if he wanted to know what kind of world Taichi was in. In the end, Tobias started asking basic questions, what kind of world is this? Then how many kingdoms are there, and how about the job distribution of the kingdom's people?
He asked such things to discover and minimize people's suspicions of him, considering that the current Tobias was different from the previous one.
"How bad is your memory that you don't know many things?" asked Giselle, looking sympathetic.
Tobias didn't reply to Giselle. He was still looking at his sister with curiosity, evident in the young man's expression.
"All right. I'll explain everything in detail," Giselle said, sitting back in the wooden chair.
Giselle began to describe the place in this world. People called this world Iuthania, a place identical to the green and black areas that divided this world into two places, the human and forbidden regions.
"The human areas are far more abundant than the forbidden areas. Some people in the past started to build kingdoms to protect them and their people," Giselle replied, turning her head towards the room window.
"Until now, only three kingdoms have managed to survive. You, me, and everyone here are in the Kingdom of Equestria," Giselle replied, smiling as she grasped the back of Tobias' hand.
Not only about Iuthania's territory but also about titles of nobility. Giselle explained that the Kingdom of Equestria was a small kingdom, so the number of nobles was limited according to the royal fund.
Archibald became one of the important nobles in the kingdom. The King of Equestria appointed Archibald as the Marquis. Giselle explained what the duties of the Marquis were.
"Archibald's territory includes Mount Gargantuan, Langdale Town, Stratham Town, and Llyne Town. The location of Archibald's territory is in the northwest, bordering the Gargantua mountains and the Valcke Kingdom," said Giselle, pointing to the southwest where the Gargantua mountains were.
Giselle didn't forget to explain that the Gargantua Mountains were the border between human and forbidden territories. No one was allowed to enter the forbidden area because it was said that no human had ever returned from there.
"Are there swordsmen in this world?" asked Tobias, curious.
"Swordsmen? I don't think so," replied Giselle.
"Why are you asking that? People stopped using swords to fight because of magic, except royal soldiers," Giselle continued.
"So, there wasn't a non-military person who used a sword to fight?" asked Tobias. Giselle nodded.
The servants of the Archibald residence arrived with a tray of food and drinks. Seeing their arrival made Giselle leave immediately to Tobias, of course, so the servants would not feel awkward because of her presence in Tobias' room.
Giselle stood up and rubbed Tobias' hair tightly. She told him she would visit him again when he finished resting. Tobias nodded his head as he watched his sister leave.
"Is she that close to me?" asked Tobias, one of the young maids nodded.
"She's very fond of Young Master. When Lord Tobias fell into a coma, Lady Giselle was the first to punish the person who hurt you," the maid replied. Tobias was silent as he looked at the menu the maid had brought.
"Lady Giselle' also came daily to see how you were doing. She's been doing that for five years, " the woman beside Tobias continued.
Tobias was saddened. He hadn't expected Giselle to wish for his recovery so long ago. He felt guilty for not knowing anything about the Archibald family.
"I don't remember them at all. All I remember are Taichi's memories," Tobias said.
The maid was silent as she stirred the rice porridge she had brought for Tobias. She began slowly feeding Tobias, the young man taking mouthfuls from her.
"You should get better soon because we've been hiding for a long time waiting for you to wake up," the maid said, which confused Tobias.
"Hiding? Hiding from what?" asked Tobias, curious.
The waiter was silent. She knew that even though she spoke to Tobias in a low voice, the Archibald family's magical abilities were not to be underestimated. They could hear with the help of ultrasonic hearing system amplification.
The only thing the servant could do was to provide information with a piece of paper. He hoped Tobias could remember what he was trying to do in this region.
"Finish your meal, Lord Tobias. You'll find the answer later," the waiter replied.
About twenty minutes after eating the porridge, The waitress placed the empty bowl on the table. Tobias must have been confused because the woman had arrived here with a bowl but left without it.
Tobias picked up the bowl and saw a light blue pill at the bottom of the bowl. The man opened the capsule and saw that Tobias could easily read the text in this world.
The small paper explained the rebel forces and the moment of awakening. It said the rebel forces were hiding, waiting for their Lord to awaken.
Tobias compared the writing on this paper to what the maid had said. With both eyes squinting, it was certain that Tobias was the 'Lord' they were referring to.
"What the hell is going on?"
***The next day.Tobias was able to walk well after resting all day long yesterday. Tobias took this opportunity to go to the city center of Stratham. He went accompanied by a maid who he assigned to take him to a place.Not a library or a restaurant, but a blacksmith shop. The maid was initially confused, considering Tobias was not good at using physical weapons. However, she carried out the order without denying it.There was only one blacksmith still operating in the whole of Stratham City. He was the supplier of high-quality swords for the soldiers in the region of Atrea -the region that Archibald ruled.The name of the blacksmith shop was Jason Stone, named after the shop owner. Tobias looked at the signboard with the name of the blacksmith shop outside Stratham's business center."Is this the shop?" asked Tobias, raising his head."Yes. This shop supplies high-quality swords to Archibald's noble warriors," said the maid, stopping in her tracks and standing beside Tobias.Tobias
Tobias eventually took the other man's katana sword, but he still asked Jason to make him another sword with the best materials he could use. Tobias made it clear that he wanted Jason to put his best strength and skill into making the best katana in the world."Your wish will be carried out well, sir," Jason said, accepting three gold coins in return for his work."I don't know your name yet, am I allowed to know it?" asked Jason.He was behind on such important matters; knowing the name between the seller and the customer was important enough to maintain a good relationship. Tobias smiled as his left hand seemed to be gripping the sword tightly."My name is Tobias, Tobias Archibald," Tobias replied."Archibald? You're from a noble family?" asked Jason, surprised to hear Tobias' last name.It was an honour for him to make a special sword for the Archibald noble family. So that his reputation as a sword maker would not be bad among the nobles, he was determined to make the sword Tobias
[Sacred Sword Skill: 24-Rib Piercing]Tobias pointed the tip of his sword blade forward, similar to a fencing technique, in contrast to Giselle, who was already doing her best to withstand Tobias' sword attack.The young man stabbed into Giselle's defensive wall, the first stab was at a slow speed, but it increased until the 24th stab. Tobias' fast hand movements overwhelmed Giselle to the point that she created more than two defence magic to stop Tobias' attacks."What the hell is this power you have, Tobias?" asked Giselle. She, who had been trained in magic, could be pushed into a corner like this just because of Tobias' sword skills.Tobias smiled. The two had practised several times, and Tobias had won almost all of them. It came to the last thrust of his Sacred Sword Skills, the 24th piercing.He drew his sword again and took a short stance. The blade tip was pointed forward, with Tobias' eyes squinting strongly. Giselle, behind her defensive magic wall, saw a white dragon figur
The fight was over. Tobias re-sheathed his sword as he reached out his right hand toward his father, Thompson. Tobias' sword skills were different from the usual sword techniques; one of the powers Tobias possessed was the ability to neutralize any kind of magic.Giselle, Thompson's second child, did not feel sad to see her father lose but was happy as she walked closer to Tobias. She congratulated the young man while praising his sword skills."If you can beat Father, then I'm sure you can beat every magic user in this world," Giselle explained, hugging Tobias' body tightly."What was that?" asked Darwin as he stepped closer to Tobias."It sounds crazy, but the power of Tobias' sword can neutralize any kind of magic," Giselle replied.Hearing this made Darwin and the rest of the Archibald family gasp in shock. There was no record of a swordsman having the power to purify people's magic. The Atrea Border Guard Commander stepped closer to Tobias, he initially doubted the young man's sw
Giselle was the one who led Tobias to the frontier north of Atrea, where the black smoke continued to rise. The two rode on their own mounts through the country dirt roads to reach the location; Tobias hoped the smoke was not caused by the Valcke forces' attack."What are the chances of Valcke's forces attacking Atrea?" asked Tobias, speaking to Giselle."There's a chance they might attack, considering Equestria doesn't have a treaty of truce with them," Giselle replied.Hearing Giselle's explanation made Tobias sceptical. He was already grateful that the smoke was caused by the fire, but even so, Tobias was prepared for the worst.From a distance, Giselle had clearly seen the border between Equestria and Valcke. What she suspected was true, chaos was occurring on the northern border. Dozens of houses were burned down by fire magic attacks from Valcke territory, and not a few villagers were injured by the attacks.Tobias was shocked while still riding his horse. His right hand spontan
Tobias stopped his mount when he realised something was happening to him. He stopped at a house quite a distance from the two villages attacked by Valcke's troops as border troops passed by with a note for Tobias to be careful."Amu? Who Amu?" the young man asked, confused.[I'm your system. You can ask me anything]The panel continued to appear in front of Tobias, the same shape as the information panel that told him about the Divine System. The similarity made Tobias convinced Amu was part of the divine system."What is Cultivation?" asked Tobias; such terms were completely unknown to Tobias.[Cultivation is a method to extend one's life to the limit of immortality by learning specific techniques]"Techniques? Are Myurajin Moon sword techniques included?" asked Tobias.[Yes. Your Myurajin Mountain Moon sword skill includes techniques to activate basic physical techniques. There are two different paths to gaining immortality; the Basic Physical Technique path or the Basic Qi Gatherin
***The tiredness Tobias felt made him sleep so deeply that he didn't realise it was already eight o'clock at night. He opened his eyes and saw it was already dark outside the window. The room lights had already been turned on by the maid who entered Tobias' room.Sleeping for six hours made the young man's head feel so heavy; his body was even quite sweaty due to the room temperature. His eyes shifted to the wooden table with plates, bowls, glasses, and a kettle.Everything seemed to be neatly enclosed using a flat tool made of glass, except the kettle, which already had its own lid. Tobias sat on the edge of the bed with his right hand, trying to open each dish."They must have served it while I was asleep," Tobias said, seeing that his food and soup were already cold.Tobias tried to taste his food. It was good and savoury, but it only lacked a cold taste on his tongue. While enjoying his meal, Tobias' attention was distracted when he heard the sound of an explosion from outside Ar
As they got closer to the burning area, they heard explosions and cries of pain from the soldiers. It made both of them continue to pace their horses to reach the battle area quickly. "TAKE BACK THAT BRIDGE!" shouted Ronald. He ordered his remaining troops to do their best to retake Stratham Bridge. Ronald did it for a reason: to prevent Valcke's troops from crossing it. Tobias and Giselle finally arrived at the battleground. They saw many border guard troops injured, not minor injuries, more like serious injuries. Tobias pulled out his sword and dismounted, as did Giselle, who attacked with magic power while still sitting on her horse. [Magic Skills: Rain of Fire Spears] Right after casting the magic spell, a red coloured magic circle appeared above the sky where the battle took place. The circle's size was huge, covering all of them. Surprisingly, hundreds of fire spears shot out from the magic circle, striking anyone underneath. Darwin, who fought near Thompson, realised the o