A boy named Drake, with short, spiky snow-white hair and blue sapphire eyes that dazzled like jewels, woke up in a giant room adorned with silk sheets, expertly crafted furniture, and gemstones lining the walls.
His eyes gently fluttered open as he sat up and turned his face to the window, bright sunlight shining in his eyes.
He squinted and blocked the sunlight with one hand.
"Oh, it's morning. Hahaha, wonder if Nova's up yet?" Drake chuckled as he made his way out of bed.
Drake made his way to a giant closet on the opposite side of the room, taking out a suit of light iron armor, putting it on, then grabbing his long sword from beside his dresser.
As he picked up his sword, he got a glimpse of his reflection. His handsome, prince-like face would have surely gotten him attention back in his past life, he thought.
The memories of his past life were a blur after living in this new world for so long, but he could remember a few things.
He remembered that he was a weeb, watching anime and playing RPGs. He wasn't a social person, but he was physically active, learning things like MMA and swordplay to feel more like his favorite video game protagonist.
His obsession with these fighting styles and years of training made him a bit overconfident, which led to his downfall.
Three bullies at his school were picking on some younger kids. Drake was disgusted at this behavior; the strong picking on the weak was a familiar sight. He used to be bullied himself for being a nerd back when he was also a lowerclassman. Back then he was far weaker and inexperienced but now he could easily beat a few bullies.
Remembering his time being bullied made him act irrationally and attack the bullies to defend the younger kids.
Throughout most of the fight, Drake had the upper hand. Even though it was three on one, he beat two of them to a pulp, with the last bully pulling out a knife and stabbing him in the back while he was fighting the other two.
The knife hit an artery, causing Drake to bleed out before anyone could get him help.
After the accident, Drake was reincarnated into this world as a baby born into the prestigious Starline family.
The Starline family was a family of powerful magic knights loyal to the kingdom of Lunaris. This made Drake's parents raise him along side his younger brother, Nova, to be weapons for the kingdom, training in swordsmanship and martial arts ever since they were eight years old.
His knowledge of martial arts from his past life was one of the things that stuck with him. This made his instructors regard him as a prodigy.
His younger brother respected his skill and control. They grew close, Drake being more of a father figure to Nova since he was more involved in his brother's life than their parents, who only cared about status.
They only had children as a gamble. Maybe they could have a powerful son who could raise their family name to new heights, they thought. Luckily for them, Nova's magical ability was revealed to be celestial dragon magic, an extremely rare and valuable ability.
Celestial dragon magic gave Nova the ability to control all magic elements.
While Drake only gained fire and earth magic, the most common elements.
This made his family only respect Nova. They could care less about Drake's talent with a sword or hand-to-hand combat. His magic elements weren't known to be strong, and in this world, magic was everything.
Back at present day, Drake was getting ready to go on a hunt in one of the dungeons close to his family's mansion.
He made his way downstairs, walking past the servants, greeting them with a wave and telling them good morning.
All the servants returned his polite gesture enthusiastically. They were always happy to see him; he was the only one in his family to treat them with respect.
As he was about to leave the house, one of the maids called to him and slowly made her way over.
"Young Master Drake!! A minute of your time before you leave."
A tall woman with long, flowing silver hair, caught up in a ponytail that reached her lower back, dressed in formal maid attire kept in pristine condition with no folds or wrinkles, made her way over to Drake, her expression pleasant and friendly.
"Ah, Marybell, good to see you as always. What's up?" Drake replied with a smile.
Marybell giggled slightly; she always enjoyed his compliments, no matter how small they were. "I would like to remind you that your parents will be back from their trip later this evening, so don't stay in the dungeon for too long."
"Oh, don't worry. I shouldn't take too long," Drake replied with a pleasant smile.
As Drake and Marybell were talking, Nova overheard their conversation from upstairs. He heard his brother was going to the dungeon and was immediately interested.
"Drake, wait! You're going to the dungeon? Give me a minute, I'm coming too!"
Nova shouted as he put on his light adamantium armor and grabbed his adamantium sword his parents had gotten them as a gift, a testament to how much they valued him, although it was as an asset and not a son.
Nova ran to the railing over the living room and leapt off, landing in front of Drake and Marybell.
"Young Master Nova, jumping off the railing like that is reckless. I must insist you use the stairs next time," Marybell replied, her voice stern.
"Shout it, maid! You don't tell me what to do!" Nova shot a glance at Marybell, pointing his sword at her as he shouted.
"Nova! I thought I told you to speak to the servants with respect!" Drake shouted at Nova, his voice echoing through the hall, his expression filled with disappointment.
Nova looked away from Drake; he could barely look at his brother when he raised his voice. "But she "
"No excuses. Speak to her with respect next time, and look me in the eyes when I'm speaking to you."
Drake's reprimand made Nova feel ashamed. He looked Drake in his eyes. His death stare sent terror down his spine.
"Apologize, Nova."
Nova dreaded to hear those words from Drake. His pride wouldn't allow him to apologize to a lowly maid, but disappointing his brother was even worse in his mind.
Nova turned to Marybell, gritting his teeth and whispering, "I'm sorry, Miss Marybell."
Drake put his hand on his shoulder, staring daggers at him. "Speak up!"
Nova raised his voice. "I'm sorry, Miss Marybell."
Drake and Marybell were pleased to hear Nova apologize, even if it was a fake apology.
"I accept your apology, Young Master." Marybell bowed slightly as a gesture of good will.
"Good. Now that that's over, wait outside. I'll bring you along to the dungeon," Drake replied.
Nova opened the door, then dashed outside, excited to join his brother's hunt.
Drake was ready to follow behind him when Marybell stopped him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Wait, Young Master. I don't think it would be wise to bring Master Nova with you. If your parents find out, they'll be furious."
Drake placed his hand on Marybell's. "Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it."
Drake made his way off the estate with Nova following close behind him. After a short journey through a small field, they reached a dungeon known as Val Gaia.
It was a giant forest filled to the brim with monsters ranging from C-rank to A-rank. The forest was known to claim the lives of even experienced adventurers. Most only ventured through this forest to claim high-valued monster parts from the few monsters they managed to kill. Most adventurers entered these areas in parties of four, but Drake, on the other hand, would usually come here alone, occasionally carrying his brother along.
To him, this place was just a nice area to sharpen his skills, practicing martial arts, swordplay, and magic on monsters. He even began creating spells and techniques never seen in this world before.
The boys made their way through the forest. Every step Drake made was deliberate, avoiding fallen branches or bushes that made noise.
Nova, on the other hand, didn't move as carefully.
CRACK
He stepped on a branch, making noise that alerted monsters and nearby animals, causing them to be attacked by a group of goblins.
"Dang it!" Drake screamed as he pulled out his sword.
SHING
He swung his blade, taking off one of the goblin's heads. Another goblin leapt at Drake, only for him to throw a kick into the goblin's chest, sending it flying into a nearby tree.
More goblins appeared, surrounding the boys. Nova fired a barrage of fire and lightning spells at the goblins, taking out a few but not enough. The goblins began overwhelming Nova in seconds.
"Drake! Help! Help!" Nova screamed as he continued to fire spells rapidly in panic.
He had never fought this many goblins before.
"Earth Magic: Fire Dragon Statue!"
A giant serpent-like dragon made of rock burst from the ground, charging through the goblins and sending them flying.
"Get on the dragon!" Drake screamed.
Nova leapt onto the dragon statue as it lifted its head out of the reach of the goblins.
"Fire Magic: Fire Dragon Blast Breath!"
FWOOOOSH!!!
The dragon statue opened its mouth and began breathing fire onto the goblins, incinerating them all. Leaving nothing but bones.
"Nova, you good up there?" Drake shouted as he made the dragon statue lower its head.
"Yeah, I'm alright," Nova replied as he jumped down from the dragon statue's back.
Drake sighed in relief, then grabbed both of Nova's shoulders. "You need to be more careful. You can't just step through this forest without watching your every step."
Nova nodded while looking to the ground, his fists clenched. He couldn't believe he had let something as pathetic as goblins overwhelm him.
Drake noticed Nova's clenched fists and instantly understood his frustration. "Nova, don't take it personally. There were too many of them, that's all. Trust me, I know you would have handled them without a problem otherwise."
Nova released his grip, finally calming down..