━━━━⊱༒︎ 『Golden Messiah』 ༒︎⊰━━━━
Rank: Unique [First Evolution]
Effect: The golden messiah, blessed with his ancestor's mastery in alchemy, can weave gold into mana and arcane understanding.
Flaw: "Gold is thy currency, but payment will be made in suffering and pain."
Conversion efficiency: 1 gold coin equates to a thimble increase in the user's mana pool, or a single paraphrase of arcane understanding.
━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━
Gian read the description several times over. His mind couldn't wrap his head around it.
'I can... increase my magical strength with gold?' he thought. The concept was unheard of... insane even.
As far as he was concerned, one was born with a fixed amount of mana, no amount of practising or use of techniques... forbidden or otherwise could increase it. One's mana core only evolved to use the mana it contained at birth in more intricate and sophisticated ways.
This was... groundbreaking to say the least.
A mage who could grow infinitely.
He was beginning to believe those people back at the sanctum. Perhaps there was a way to make a new god. And perhaps, he would be it.
His mind raced at the possibilities, his blood growing hot at the mere thought of all the magic he could potentially wield.
'But wait. This flaw... yes, if they're giving me such a strong blessing right from the start, then the flaw must make it useless in some way,' he thought.
However, he didn't quite understand what; 'payment in suffering and pain' meant. If he needed only gold coins, and those came from quests, then where did this come into play?
'Plus, this talk of alchemy, I've never heard of something like this before.'
Even as he searched his memories, no reference to it came up. He assumed that it was part of the section he had rejected to maintain his original memories.
'The first thing I'll do once I reach the academy is read up on this world's magic.'
"Oi, look who it is," a voice called out, disturbing Gian's focus. He opened one eye, annoyed.
A boy with brown hair stood over him; chubby, but in an athletic way.
'Friend of Gian?' Gian thought to himself, looking for the boy in his memories. But again, nothing came up.
The boy gestured towards a group of other kids at the front of the bus. And soon, everyone was turning to look back at them.
"Damn, Gina, your mother looked even prettier with tears on her cheeks," the boy said. This gained a round of laughter from some of the other kids in the bus. "A pity that I couldn't put some of my—" The boy gestured to his crotch. "—on em rosy cheeks."
The children in the bus laughed louder. "You're gonna make him cry, Jeffrey."
Gian remembered his mother mentioning that name. 'So these are Gian's bullies, huh?'
Jeffrey had a smug look on his face as he grabbed Gian's hair and pulled him off his seat. "Didn't I tell you to come sit with me and the boys when you came on the bus?"
The pain was nothing that Gian hadn't experienced in his old life. And the insult didn't quite hurt, as he barely knew this body's mother.
'Do I play along? Or do something?' he thought to himself.
He'd faced bullying all his life back in Enquath. The only difference was that he hadn't been as meek as Gian. Biting, kicking, spitting, he did whatever it took to fight back. 'No, not here,' Gian thought, trying to hold back a smile.
There was an additional level of difficulty that the previous owner of this body never had to consider. Manipulation.
In the long run, it was 'he who could keep a good face in public, and do as they pleased behind closed doors' that truly won.
"Th—that hurts," he said out loud, as Jeffrey dragged him to the front.
As he was pulled through the aisle, he looked to the other students, to see if anyone would be willing to help. Perhaps Gian had allies who could be useful. However, it seemed that he and Gian were alike in that no one cared about them.
Even the bus driver avoided looking through the rearview mirror.
'Cowards.'
He was plopped down on a seat close to the aisle, with Jeffrey taking the window seat.
"Guys, meet my new butler," Jeffrey said, talking to the other boys at the front. They hollered in response, laughing and smiling at all the stupid jokes he started making at Gian's expense.
Gian acted scared, staring at them with wide eyes. However, beneath that, he was struggling to contain a smile. 'You call this bullying? Just be patient, Jeffrey, a world of wonder awaits you.'
***
By the time they reached the bus station, Gian had grown more bored than annoyed with Jeffrey's jokes. It seemed that he was just a bad kid, nothing like the scheming, cunning nobles he had fought against.
However, that would not spare him. Gian already had a few ideas in mind to repay his bully. He wanted to know more about magic before making his choice. Perhaps there were a few spells that needed live targets.
"Oi, what's your seat number?" Jeffrey asked as they stepped out of he bus.
Gian reached into his academy robes and pulled out a ticket. It read: 553.
Jeffrey sighed at that. "553? You couldn't even get a good cabin seat?" he groaned. "Whatever. Find me once we arrive at Hargreeves," he said, tapping Gian's face lightly. "I'll need someone to carry my bags."
The boys in his group laughed at that before following along as Jeffrey went to find his seat.
"Finally," Gian whispered. "Wasn't sure how long I could keep that act up."
He took a moment to look at the scenery. In Enquath, trains had been replaced by blimps, so this was going to be his first time in one.
The platform he was standing on stretched wide beneath a canopy of green-tinted glass overhead. The walls and floors were made of obsidian stone, Cocatum; a mana conduit.
Even though none of the trains had started moving yet, steam curled around their iron wheels and vanished into the shadows beneath. The train itself waited with quiet patience—sleek, black, and impossibly long—its windows dark like still water. Somewhere deep inside the train, a low chime echoed, as if the train was breathing.
Uniformed conductors stood by with gloved hands behind their backs, their eyes flickering gold as they stared at the students getting onto their cabins.
'So they even have mages working here,' he thought, approaching one of them.
"Can you tell me where 553 is?"
The conductor's eyes flickered silver, right before he pointed towards a cabin at the very back of the station.
"Thank you," he said, looking at his ticker number, then the cabin.
The station was packed, so he had to hold his luggage right next to his chest to squeeze through. By the time he had made it to the end of the station, there were fewer students.
"Gian?"
He turned around.
"Gian, it's really you."