Light Novel Volume 1/Summary

Note: The following article is under reconstruction

Prologue
On the day of his parents' funeral, a thirty-four-year-old NEET was kicked out of the house by his siblings. For the past 10 years, he has been an unproductive shut-in leeching off his parents' wealth; when he didn't show up at their funeral his siblings barged into his room, wrecked his computer, brutally beat him up. and finally forced him out of the house.

For three hours, he wandered the streets wondering how he can get a job only to find out he had no money on him to even buy a résumé paper and gave up on the idea.

As he lamented over his deplorable year in high-school where his life took a turn for the worse and wondering what he could've done to not turn out the way he is now, he heard people arguing near him. Three high-schoolers - one girl and two boys - were in a, apparently, lover's quarrel. The girl and a tall boy were in an argument while the other boy interplaced himself between the two to placate them.

Just as he was about to leave them, he saw a truck speeding right towards the group of students. Not wanting to see the students die in front of him and put another thing to regret in his mind, he rushed in to help them as his wavering shout didn't reach them. The tall boy who had been in a verbal spat noticed the truck and pulled the girl away with him but the other boy still hadn't spotted the truck yet.

The NEET rushed in and yanked the boy behind him and ended up bodily switching places in harm's way. He was struck by the truck and thrown against a concrete wall. As he was spasming from the shock, the truck was still moving towards his direction; it pinned him against the concrete crushing his whole body.

There, he died.

Chapter 1: Is This Another World?
When he opened his eyes, dazzling light encompassed his entire field of vision. When his vision had adjusted, he saw a gorgeous blonde young woman gazing at him warmly, and a muscular young man of the same age, his smile also directed towards him. The woman and the man exchanged words in an "oddly indistinct" language. As he tried to speak to them he came to realize all he could muster was garbled whining and moaning. When the young man reached out to him and picked him up he assumed he lost weight after the truck accident and had probably also lost his limbs as he couldn't move properly. He thought his life was doomed.

After a month, he was able to confirm he had been reborn and confirmed the first two persons he saw when the dazzling light lifted was his parents. He also realized that he wasn't in Japan anymore - his parents didn't sport Japanese facial features and spoke a totally different language. He was able to deduce they weren't in a developed nation due to the old-timed clothing and housewares; apparently a medieval-level country. He initially thought his parents were poor and that the maid in their house was one of his parent's relatives.

After half-a-year of listening to his parents conversing, he began to pick up some of the language. He believed that he owed his unusual knack for remembering things to his young body and brain. Around the same time, he started learning to crawl as well, he considered being able to control and carry his own body as a marvelous thing. Being able to crawl around freely, he was able to learn a lot of things. He was first able to determine that his home was definitely of a well-off family from the structure.

Second, he came to know their house was located in the countryside. Outside the windows stretched a peaceful, pastoral landscape, and just two or three houses nestled amidst the wheat fields. No telephone poles or streetlights could be seen, and no electricity in the house.

The third thing he learned was what intrigued him the most. When he fell down a chair, his mother came rushing in with worry and chanted an incantation; to his bewilderment, his pain was instantly gone. It was magic.

After he saw his father pulling moves with his sword in the yard, his mother casting magic, and the unfamiliar names of countries and regions he heard, he came to a conclusion - he wasn't on Earth anymore but in a completely different world; a world of swords and magic. It occurred to him: if he lived in the same world, he could do the same things they did.

With his former life ending in regret and frustration of never accomplishing anything, he felt this was his second chance. He finally felt this time he could live his life right.

Chapter 2: The Creeped-Out Maid
[Llilia's POV]

Lilia used to be a royal handmaiden for the Asura Palace harem. In addition to her usual duties as a lady-in-waiting, the role also called for her to act as a guardswoman. She, however, wasn't so much of a competent fighter; her skill with the sword was average at best. As a result, when an assassin was sent for the newborn princess she was outmatched, the opponent's poison-coated dagger caught her in the leg. It resulted in her no longer able to run.

Due to being severely handicapped at her duties, the palace immediately discharged her from her position. Lilia felt that the palace set her free to lure out whoever was behind the assassination plot. Wanting to get away from the palace and the war of succession as far away as possible, she arrived at the Fittoa Region looking for a new job.

After a month Lilia finally came across a job posting from Buena Village that caught her eye. The posting specified for someone with experience in raising children and could also act as a midwife. She perfectly fitted the specifications. The message, however, that immediately caught her eye was the employer: Paul Greyrat, a former swordsmanship acquaintance of her. She sensed she definitely had a chance of getting employed there.

Paul welcomed Lilia with open arms. His wife, Zenith, was due soon. Apart from her expertise, the familiar face made the family happy to have her on board.

(Enter: The peculiar child)

When the child was born, Lilia broke into a panic - the child looked like he might have been stillborn. But there was warmth and movements of his breathing. She was able to confirm the child was indeed alive.

The child's name was Rudeus and she conjectured the child to be unsettling. He was a very peculiar child - he never made a fuss, he made his way anywhere and everywhere around the house safely. She slowly developed an instinctual fear of the child, he was always smiling and his unsettling grin that appeared from time to time, similar to that of a perverted old man, was the kind that viscerally repulsed Lilia. She thought the unusual behaviours Rudeus exhibited was due to a demon possessing him and attempted to exorcise him but ended in vain.

Lilia lived in fear of Rudeus for the first year or so but at some point, his ever-unpredictable behaviour changed. He was always holed up in Paul's study looking through books, at times it seemed he actually comprehended them. The unsettling oddness in him had abated a fair bit and gotten a sense of earnestness and diligence from him. Lilia no longer got chills from him and from that point on, she figured it was best to leave the boy be.

[Lilia's POV - end]

Chapter 3: A Textbook of Magic
It had been two years since he had been reincarnated into the fantastical world, and he could finally speak the world’s language. Having resolute to live a life without regrets this time, he made an arrangement for his daily life – study, exercise, and develop skills and techniques.

Their home housed five books, namely: Wandering the World regarding the geography and culture of different countries; The Ecology and Weaknesses of Fittoan Monsters about the monsters of the Fittoa Region; A Textbook in Magic a manual on Beginner to Advanced level attack spells; The Legend of Perugius concerning the famous summoner - Perugius and his companions saving the world; The Three Swordsmen and the Labyrinth on the subject of the adventures of three master swordsmen.

He was particularly drawn towards ''A Textbook in Magic. ''He discovered various things about magic. First, he came to know magic came in three types: Attack magic, Healing magic, and Summoning magic. Second, that you need magical power in order to utilize magic. Third, that there were two ways of performing magic: incantation and magic circles. And fourth, that the quantity of magic power in a person was determined at birth.

Eager to learn more, he decided to try his hands on magic. Waterball was his first spell. On his second try at producing Waterball he accidentally succeeded without an incantation. But on his third try, he ended up passing out due to exhaustion of this magical power. During the practice on the next day, he became conscious of his new limit - six Waterballs. He theorized, by exhausting his magical power every day the maximum quantity increases twice the next day. He practiced until he was able to cast up to twenty-six Waterballs a day. Discerning his rapid growth in magical power he thought if he was special or something but immediately got rid of the idea since it was primarily the cause of the failure of his former life.

Next, he came across how spells were broken up into seven levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Saintly, Kingly, Imperial, and Divine. He hoped to be a Saintly level magician.

After two months of practicing how to make his spells fly, the complicated process of it finally became clear, and was finally able to cast attack spells. Having learned the fundamentals of spell-casting he began to experiment on various types of magic till exhaustion of his magical power every day.

**Note:  Rudeus is only referred to as 'he/his' so far in Chapter 1 and 3 sections because he announces his own name only when the story gets into Chapter 4. Since the story is told in first-person perspective, it is summarised correspondingly.**

Chapter 4: Master
Three years have passed since he had been reincarnated; he had recently learned his parents’ name. His mother’s name was Zenith Greyrat, and his father was Paul Greyrat. And he was their firstborn, Rudeus Greyrat.

For the past year Rudeus had been glued to A Textbook in Magic, the book and him were inseparable, and even tucked it under his arm while eating. However he made a point never to read in front of his parents for he wasn’t sure of the world’s notion on magic – whether its usage was conventional or considered it as witchcraft or heresy (like his previous world). On that note, he also decided to keep his magical aptitude a secret.

In spite of his efforts to hide his magical flair, one afternoon he accidentally blasted a massive hole in the wall with Water Cannon, and his parents were shocked to learn their only three-year-old son had successfully cast a spell. Zenith, in ecstasy, immediately made plans to hire a magic home tutor for Rudeus however Paul refuted by saying the boy needed to be a knight. They got into a bit of a spat until Lilia chipped in to suggest Rudeus practice magic in the morning and swordsmanship in the afternoon and thus his training regime was decided.

The magic tutor came. Contrary to Rudeus’ image of the standard wise, old master magician, a sleepy-looking young girl of seemingly junior-high age showed up. Her name was Roxy; her whole appearance radiated unsociability. She inaudibly gave the impression that Rudeus’ parents were mistaken in thinking their son was as talented as they said until she saw him invoke a spell with voiceless incantation. Impressed, Roxy finally felt it was worth training Rudeus.

On afternoons, Rudeus would be practicing swordsmanship with Paul. Paul mostly centered the training on physical work out since Rudeus was young. They usually finished mid-afternoon due to Rudeus’ lack of stamina.

Rudeus spent the time between sword-practice and dinner working on spells. While experimenting with different methods of exhausting his magical power, his magical reserves had grown to a point where he couldn’t make out where it tapped out. Even so, he convinced himself to never slack on his daily practice.

Four months had passed and Rudeus became an Intermediate-level magician. He felt rather clear that his swift progress was wholly due to Roxy being a good teacher. Her teaching style resonated with him and got quick results. During their Q&A session, Rudeus was able to expand his worldview and deepen his knowledge quite a lot. Roxy especially lectured and warned him about a group of extremely dangerous demons called Superds.

Roughly another elapsed, and Rudeus was now a perfect Advanced-level magician. When he decided to call her ‘Master’ instead of just ‘Miss’, Roxy shot him down quickly and said their positions weren’t fit to call herself his Master. Regardless, Rudeus genuinely still thought of Roxy as his Master.

Chapter 5: Swords and Sorcery
In this world, birthdays weren’t an annual event but only celebrated on the fifth, tenth, and fifteenth year (by 15, one was considered an adult). Rudeus turned five-year-old and there was a small party in the house. Paul gave him a pair of swords; a real one and one for practice. Zenith gifted him with a botanical encyclopedia. And Roxy offered him a wand, which was a customary present from a master.

The next day, Rudeus began actual training in swordsmanship. He discovered the art of the sword was far more advanced than his former world, capable of performing unimaginable feats; he sensed some kind of magical power was imbued on the blade produced by the wielder. He came to know of the three primary schools of swordsmanship: The Sword God Style, the Water God Style, and the North God Style. Paul decided that he would teach Rudeus the Sword God and the Water God Style, marking the North God Style as a ridiculous style.

When Paul asked Rudeus if he preferred magic more than swordsmanship, Rudeus cleverly replied he wanted to be good at both of them making Paul content even though he wasn’t that enthusiastic; Rudeus wanted to establish a good parent-child relationship, unlike his former life where he was a burden.

While Rudeus was taking his first steps in actual swordsmanship, his magical studies with Roxy were taking on a more technical and practical bent. They were studying Combined Magic to produce natural phenomena’s. When Rudeus asked about magic schools, Roxy recommended her alma mater – the Ranoa University of Magic – if he wanted to pursue higher education.

Conversely to Paul, Roxy felt Rudeus didn’t like magic enough and offered him the path to be a knight. In their recent classes, Rudeus had come to comprehend most of the theory behind the art and was frequently restless. While Paul saw in him talent for magic, Roxy saw in him passion for the sword. With differing ideas, Rudeus felt they were pointing him towards a middle path.

While discussing that topic, to his shock Roxy suddenly said she was running out of things to teach Rudeus and his graduation was coming up very soon!

Chapter 6: Reasons for Respect
The graduation ceremony was to take place outside the village. Rudeus was afraid; he was a shut-in who was afraid to step out of the house in his former life. And his memories of the day he was forced out in the chilling rain was still fresh. The instinctual fear of the outside still remained even after he was reincarnated; he had never gone as far as beyond their yard. He tried to meekly protest against Roxy but in vain. He himself knew exactly someday he needed to venture into the world beyond. Contrary to his anxiety, Roxy actually thought he was only scared of the horse they were about to ride on. She nonchalantly put Rudeus on the horse and immediately ventured beyond their yard.

People bowed to them as they rode through the village, but there were also sharp stares. At first, Rudeus thought the cold stares were directed at him but then realized it was actually for Roxy. He knew for a fact that demons were discriminated against and the villagers actually bowed to Roxy, a demon; Rudeus came to a realization, Roxy was truly trustworthy and she would most likely stand up for him in a bad situation. For the first time outside, he was able to loosen up.

They galloped for an hour till they reached their destination – a wide grass plain. Roxy then informed she was going to cast the Water Saint-level spell Cumulonimbus and the test was that he should attempt the same himself. She chanted and then slowly their surroundings swole dark, black clouds flickered with purple lightning, and then a downpour came. She then instructed Rudeus to do the same and keep the clouds for an hour. Rudeus started to chant the incantation but then feeling that having to continuously expend his magical power and hold his pose is tiring, he applied scientific methods from his previous world to keep the clouds steady for an hour. Roxy was so taken aback by his genius feat that she immediately told him he no longer needed to keep the clouds for an hour. She then commended Rudeus for his graduation and bestowed the Water Saint title to him. For the first time since coming to this world, Rudeus felt he had truly taken his first step with this accomplishment.

The next day, Roxy was at their doorstep about to leave, saying her farewell to the family. She said she would travel around the world to hone her magic more. She gave Rudeus her amulet of the Migurd tribe as a present and finally went on her way. Before he knew it, Rudeus was crying for Roxy had given him so much: wisdom, experience, technique, and more than anything she took him outside - his greatest fear. He overcame that fear with her comfort; not even his current parents nor his previous parents, but her.

With their parting, Rudeus found the most profound sense of respect for Roxy.

Chapter 7: Friends
Rudeus decided he was going to go outside and study as much as possible about where he lived. He had asked and received permission from Paul to go outside. With his botanical encyclopedia in one hand and his wand at his waist, he headed out.

Several days went by and Rudeus wasn’t frightened of the outside world anymore; he succeeded in greeting people perfectly and people properly greeted back. His main objective in going outside was to go exploring to get the lay of the land and find out which plants were edible and which were not. He was finding ways to survive if he ever got kicked out of the house.

After a few days, he decided he’d expand his search radius and cautiously made his way closer to the forest because the village didn’t have any notable flora. To confirm the layout of the village area he made his way up a small hill. Just then he heard the sounds of kids bullying another. Three boys were hurling mud at another boy, calling him a ‘demon’. The boy being bullied was clutching a basket to keep its contents safe from the mud. Being a former victim of bullying, Rudeus sympathized with the boy and felt like helping him. Rudeus jumped in and made some mudball with magic and hurled at them. He succeeded in driving them off. Rudeus felt victorious for driving off bullies for the first time in two lives.

He went on to check the boy and decided to wash the mud off with warm water heated with fire magic. He saw the boy had a pretty face, elf-like ears, and emerald hair. Just when Rudeus was alarmed by the emerald hair he noticed there was no red jewel on the forehead. Relieved, he concluded he was not a Superd. The boy revealed that his hair colour didn’t actually match his parents’ and had ears longer than his half-elf father. He was bullied for only having born with such features. With a sense of pity, Rudeus decided he would be his first friend and stick with him. The boy introduced himself as Sylph.

Sylph was delivering his father’s lunch, who stood guard at the watchtower. He was a very attractive man and seemed like a good person. Rudeus politely introduced himself and took his permission to go play elsewhere with Sylph. When they got back to the small hill, Sylph confessed his amazement on how Rudeus previously heated the water with magic to wash away the mud and begged him to teach him magic. And so, Rudeus and Sylph’s magic training began and played until the sun went down.

When Rudeus got back home, Paul was furious. He had been informed by one of the bullies’ parents that Rudeus had punched their son. Paul was demanding an apology for a thing he had not done and absolutely refused to hear out Rudeus’ side. Pissed, Rudeus snarled back at him with words only to end up getting hit in the cheek. Rudeus was enraged; he threatened he would never use the Greyrat name again and he downplay his family’s honour because Paul “condoned bullying and abuse”. Confused, Paul realized the bully’s parents must have made a mistake and apologized for hitting him. He asked for the full story and Rudeus, relieved, explained the details of the situation. Paul sadly apologized again for getting ahead without knowing the details. However Rudeus didn’t take advantage of it, he naturally consoled Paul. To Rudeus, Paul was only an immature parent, and thought it wasn’t right for his own child to let him feel miserable about himself.

[Paul’s POV]

It was an afternoon, one of the villagers came to Paul and complained his son, Rudeus, had punched their son. Paul assumed his son playing outside and gotten into a bit of a fight, and his son being a talented magician ended beating them up. He decided he would need to scold his son properly on how he needed to be very careful with the power he wields.

But that evening when Paul demanded an apology, Rudeus had no intention whatsoever of apologizing. When Paul tried to ask what actually happened, he only responded back with condescension and sarcasm. It galled him as a result, and out of reflex struck Rudeus. Suddenly, Paul came to a realization, while he was trying to get his son apologize for his wrong usage of power, he himself had hit him in the heat of the moment; he was now in the wrong. Paul’s wistful apology came out naturally, Rudeus seemed to took it and with a softened expression went to explain the whole story.

It turned out Rudeus was helping another kid who was getting bullied and the other bully has misinformed his parents. Rudeus was actually in the right! Paul recalled when he was young, his father too never listened to his side of the story and always felt miserable when he scolded him. The same thing happened to him now and ended up hitting his own son when he swore he would never be a parent like his father. Whatever lesson he had been trying to teach to Rudeus, he himself had failed at it. But in spite of it, Rudeus didn’t blame Paul. He even consoled him in the end and learn this experience. Paul felt his son was almost too good to be his.

[Paul’s POV – end]