“An unfamiliar ceiling.”
I muttered the promised line as I sat up in bed.
After rubbing my bleary eyes and looking around, I confirmed it really was a room I had never seen before.
Hold on, why am I sleeping here?
I pressed a hand to my forehead and tried to recall.
The village where lightning never stopped for a whole year.
The lightning rod on the church roof.
Ure, fully charged.
And the Infinite Thunderstone in the fountain.
My memory stopped the moment I swallowed it.
“I must have passed out.”
In the original work, there were several cases where characters who consumed S-grade elixirs fainted, unable to contain the overwhelming power.
Anyway, let’s check the character sheet.
<Aiden Stroke>
[Level: 24/50]
[Stamina: 08]
[Strength: 08]
[Agility: 08]
[Mana: 14]
[Spirit: 05]
[Perception: 11]
[Divinity: 02]
[Traits: Thunder God Physique (S), Swordsmanship Genius (A), Reverse Veins (A), Serene Clarity (A), Magical Prodigy (B), Spirit Affinity · Weak (C), Mana Control (C), Lung Capacity (C), Adventurer (C), Alchemy Prodigy (C)]
[Skills: Alsigima Resonance Shatter Art (A), Alsigima Heart Method (A), Tranquil Heart Method (A), Brandish Harmony Heart Method · Extreme (B+), Stroke Heart Method (B), Stroke Swordsmanship (B), Spirit Step (B), Northern Advanced Swordsmanship (C), Itanga Tribe Weapon Arts (C)]
[Description: 15 years old, human. Once infamous throughout the principality as a notorious wastrel. Currently married out and has left the principality.]
The very first S-grade trait, 「Thunder God Physique (S)」, now proudly sat at the top of the trait list.
One of the key effects of Thunder God Physique is that it constantly generates and emits lightning aura from the body even without conscious effort.
In other words, as long as I carry Ure on me, it will charge itself without me having to perform lightning-type breathing or supply lightning-attribute mana.
I have literally become a walking charger.
Modern people who live with smartphones glued to their bodies would be insanely jealous of this constitution.
Next, my level had also jumped dramatically.
Current level rose from 16 to 24—an increase of 8.
Potential level rose by a full 10 in one go.
Once I fill the current cap of 50, even ignoring flashy traits and techniques, I would be at the level of the weakest member of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes.
In terms of density, the single day I swallowed the Infinite Thunderstone was far more productive than the half-year I trained like a madman and barely raised my level by 5.
I was grinning at the sheet in satisfaction when I suddenly heard faint, regular breathing beside me.
Shhh… shhh…
Linia?
Thinking that, I turned my head without much thought—and my heart nearly stopped.
The person sleeping with her face buried in my bed was none other than Chesa!
Did she nurse me or something?
That’s actually kind of touching.
While I was having various feelings, Chesa frowned slightly in her sleep and then abruptly opened her eyes.
Our gazes tangled in midair.
Feeling awkward, I spoke first.
“Hey.”
“…Yeah.”
Looking closer, there was drool at the corner of her mouth.
Realizing it, Chesa’s cheeks flushed faintly, and she carefully wiped the saliva with her sleeve.
Then she asked,
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Completely fine. In fact, I’m so full of energy it’s almost a problem.”
“Good…”
Chesa let out a relieved sigh and patted her chest.
Thinking she had been worried about me made my heart flutter for some reason.
“Did you see that stone overflowing with lightning in a prophetic dream too?”
“Ah… well, something like that.”
Chesa gazed at me quietly.
Finally she spoke.
“I believe everything you do has a reason… but if you’re going to keep doing such dangerous things, at least give me a heads-up beforehand. We… we’re engaged, aren’t we? I think it’s okay to rely on each other a little more.”
Her voice grew smaller toward the end.
Then she averted her eyes from me.
What is this?
I’ve read Reca Chronicles countless times, but I don’t remember the original Chesa ever expressing affection this proactively.
In the original timeline, she was drowning in the despair of her mana sensitivity disorder, so by Part 2 her emotions were completely dried up.
The girl in front of me never suffered that ordeal, so perhaps her girlish sensitivity is still alive and well.
In short—is this a green light?
Just as I thought made me flinch.
No, there’s something more urgent right now.
“I’ll keep that in mind. By the way, how long was I out?”
“About fifteen hours.”
I felt relieved.
Less than a full day—good.
The plan won’t be derailed.
“I was going to visit the lord’s mansion first to collect the reward… but it looks like I need to prepare to greet a guest first.”
“A guest?”
Chesa tilted her head in confusion.
The “guest” I mentioned to Chesa arrived exactly two days after I woke up.
“You’re the alchemist who stuck that thunder-attracting iron lightning rod on the church roof—Pedro Tieres, right?”
“…Seems the villagers told you my name. And you’re the noble brat who swallowed the stone in the fountain?”
Pedro Tieres, an alchemist from the Alpanium Library, was a very gloomy-looking man in his thirties.
He was also the one who consumed the Infinite Thunderstone in the original novel.
But after swallowing it, he failed to suppress the energy and rampaged, turning into a monster that caused casualties around him.
He was then beaten senseless by the protagonist Epio, who happened to be passing by, and dragged to a laboratory in the Alpanium Library—that was the end of the Infinite Thunderstone episode.
An S-grade elixir wasted into thin air in Part 1.
Pedro glared at me as if he would kill me and shouted,
“That stone was something I was researching first! Just a little… a few more months and I could have safely claimed it!”
A few months my ass—he’s full of crap.
In the original story, he only managed to approach the stone well after Part 1 had begun—meaning at least six years from now.
I shrugged.
“The lightning problem in Mirsen village is solved, so isn’t that a good thing? I heard you’re from the Alpanium Library. Why not go back and write a paper about your research results? You could earn yourself a nice position.”
“I’m not interested in titles like that! All I want is the power inside that stone!”
Knew it.
“In that case, I have no choice but to kill you and recover whatever fragments remain in your body! Men, cut that brat’s head off right now!”
Pedro ordered the heavily armored mercenary warriors.
Watching this, Maximilian could not contain his anger and roared,
“You curs! The person before you is the eldest son of His Highness the Grand Duke of Stroke! If you fear the consequences, drop your weapons and kneel at once!”
“It’s no use, Maximilian.”
“Yes? What do you…”
I raised an arm to stop Maximilian, who looked ready to charge, and he gave me a puzzled look.
Normally, flashing a high title or background would make most people back off out of fear of reprisal.
But the mercenaries Pedro had kept for a long time were no ordinary men.
I asked the mercenaries who looked ready to pounce,
“By any chance, is there anyone among you from the Fiddlin clan?”
“Human, you recognize our origin?”
The moment I heard that awkward speech—
One of the armored mercenaries, standing a full two meters tall, removed his helmet.
Green skin, pig-like snout, and ivory-like tusks protruding from his mouth.
The classic appearance one imagines when hearing the word “orc” was revealed.
“What is that? A strangely built person.”
“Are you an idiot? That’s a Pigman! One of the southern subhuman races.”
The villagers of Mirsen, who had been watching quietly, were also shocked speechless.
As you can see, every single mercenary is a subhuman.
According to the setting book, they belong to the “Quentaltin Subhuman Mercenary Clan” in the southern part of the continent.
Because they all lived together in a building Pedro had prepared, the villagers never realized their true nature despite half a year passing.
In the original story, they were massacred by the rampaging Pedro after he consumed the Infinite Thunderstone.
But since I ate it instead, that won’t happen.
The Pigman warrior said to me,
“Ishaga of the Fiddlin and friends do not know human high-low. Contract made, fight for money received.”
“…Oh dear.”
Maximilian and the other two elite knights all showed despair at the sight of the Pigman warrior.
The Quentaltin Subhuman Mercenary Clan.
A top-tier mercenary group on the continent that gathers subhumans curious about the outside world and gives them work.
The subhumans here are not so low in intelligence that they cannot communicate, but most are ignorant of human societal structure and are unimaginably straightforward and brutish.
Having lived in the south where nobility is either nominal or nonexistent, authority derived from status means nothing to them.
But I already knew Pedro would bring subhuman mercenaries.
And I had prepared a countermeasure specifically for them.
I held something out toward them.
“Look at this.”
“Human, that…!”
It was none other than the Seal of Struggle.
The symbol of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes.
The current master of the Quentaltin clan, the Lizardman warrior “Kubri Rendi-Rollango” of the Stonecheek tribe, is also one of the Twelve Heroes.
The subhuman warriors, who knew very well how strong Kubri was, involuntarily stepped back.
Then they began talking among themselves.
“Clan master said be careful of opponent with that!”
“Friends, run!”
“No. Honor falls.”
“But we cannot fight on our own.”
To them, dukes and barons are all just “high-status humans.”
But the authority carried by the seal of the Church of Struggle is universal, transcending race and nation.
Turning one of the Twelve Heroes into an enemy would be troublesome even for the foremost subhuman clan of the south.
Feeling the situation turning strange, Pedro gnashed his teeth.
“So you’re that wastrel second son of the Stroke Grand Duke. How dare a snot-nosed brat carry the seal of the Twelve…”
This mad scientist—no, mad alchemist.
Anyway, the lunatic obsessed with elixirs now knows my identity, but there’s no way he’ll give up the Infinite Thunderstone.
“You useless lesser creatures! Fine! I’ll cook that brat myself!”
Pedro roared in rage and began gathering mana.
Immediately a violent storm of mana swirled around him.
“Aiden! That man may not be on Father’s level, but his mana is close—be careful, he’s a mage!”
Chesa, having measured the opponent’s power with her 『Analytical Mana Eye (A)』, shouted tensely.
<Pedro Tieres>
[Level: 34/37]
[Stamina: 08] [Strength: 06]
[Agility: 07]
[Mana: 21]
[Spirit: 08]
[Perception: 14]
[Divinity: 00]
[Traits: Ultra-Precise Mana Control (A), Alchemy Prodigy (B), Magical Prodigy (B), Lightning Affinity (C), etc. 3]
[Skills: Alpanium Secret Alchemy (A), White Tower Extreme Lightning Magic · Extreme (A), White Tower General Magic (B), Mage Combat Arts (C), etc. 4]
[Description: 36 years old, human. A renowned mage from the Count Tieres family of the Empanha Kingdom and an elite alchemist who studied at the Alpanium Library.]
He definitely looks strong.
Let me think about our side’s forces.
A level 17 half-baked mage.
A level 7 half-elf maid.
Elite knights of levels 20, 24, and 27 respectively.
And finally a level 24 jack-of-all-trades.
If the subhumans had joined the fight, we would have had zero chance.
But with just Pedro alone, we have more than enough.
Of course, that is under the premise that I know most of his tricks and cards—this novel’s setting favors the one with more knowledge, and to me that is never a disadvantage.
Pedro turned both palms toward me.
Lightning flickered around him.
Considering this is a one-against-many situation, the spell he’s about to fire is probably—
<Chain Lightning>
The instant something flashed in my vision, I kicked off the ground and charged straight forward.
Zzzzt-zzzt!
And I took a bolt of lightning that would instantly electrocute even most elite knights—alone.
“Y-Your Highness!”
“Young Master!”
“Aiden!”
Near-screams came from behind.
But even though I was hit by Chain Lightning, I felt no pain at all.
In fact, I felt power surging through me.
This is not an illusion.
It is one of the functions of Thunder God Physique.
“You idiot! Did you think you’d be fine taking my lightning magic head-on…!”
“Seems I’m perfectly fine.”
CRACK!
Using intensified aura, I instantly closed the distance to Pedro and smashed his jaw with the pommel of Ure I had drawn from my bosom.
“Gahk?!”
Two white teeth flew through the air.
My movement was far faster and stronger than before.
Even while being beaten, Pedro could not hide his shock at my transformation.
Having confirmed the power of my new trait, I smiled in satisfaction.
[Thunder God Physique (S)]
- Greatly increases lightning attribute dominance
- Complete immunity to lightning-type status ailments
- Constantly generates and emits lightning aura from the body
- Body’s mana inherently carries lightning attribute
- Absorbs external lightning energy and converts it into mana
- Unique spell: <Infinity Shock>
From now on, any specialist lightning mage is nothing more than my portable battery.
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