A misfit, that's what I am, no more, no less. Well, according to me that is. But other people seem to disagree. They keep calling me names, things like 'The Kingdom's Future' or 'young sage'. But the only title that I really deserve is 'The Seventh Prince'.
Hello, my name is Soren Willbeck. I am 17 years old and am the seventh prince of the kingdom of Ceavaria, the biggest kingdom in the continent.
As I said before, people call me 'The Future', that is due to the fact that ever since I was able to read, I revolutionized entire industries.
I am not going to deny that I am intelligent, maybe even a genius. I have a learning ability unheard of in the continent. But that learning ability only matters when talking about the mechanical, non-magical industries. So far, I have yet to even form the base of my magic path.
Although I guess you probably don't know what a magic path is, so let me explain.
In my world, no spell is the same, you can't learn spells like 'fireball' or 'earth wall', well you can, but that's besides the point and is something we will get to later.
In this world, each person lives and experiences magic by their own standards, using the morals and rules that they believe in. Let us take the first king for example, his name is unknown, but his nickname and magic path are renowned. He was known as 'Noah'.
His magic path was called 'Genesis'. The will he lived by was 'Before there was light, someone had to shatter the dark..'
Noah's magic revolved around creation, he believed that while nature has brought us here, it is up to us to improve it and push it forward.
The legend says that he was the first living being to walk the face of the earth. But at that time, earth was but an endless, lifeless meadow. And that he alone has brought up the cliffs of Drex-Clarr, filled the Ocean Of Phern and pulverized the stones that once made up the Mountains Of Mr'ar into not but fine sand now known as the Desert Of Mr'ar.
Ever since then hundreds if not thousands of people have tried to obtain Noah's world.
However, none succeeded. not because they were 'not worthy' or didn't understand Noah's path, but because just like how no 2 people look the same or act the same, or how no 2 snowflakes are the same. no 2 people have the same magic path. Or as we call it, a world.
So going back to what I said earlier, people can learn spells that seem to be the same, however, first of all, they do not learn them, they developed and earned them in their own personal world.
Secondly, each of those spells was derived from a different part of the respective mage's mind and mentality.
For example, 2 people can cast a spell that emits a ball of fire, however, while one of them uses the fire-ball to scorch their enemies on the battlefield, the other might use it to forge weapons for their comrades, or cook a meal for their family.
Okay, now that you understand what a magic path is, let's go back to me. Like I said before, I haven't managed to form my magic world, I don't even have a slight idea as to what I want to do, not just in magic, but in life.
Most people have the principle for their world at 12, and have started using it at 16. And yet, I have not done either of those yet. And I have a hard competition as well.
My eldest brother, Thoren, has chosen the path of war, his world is named 'The Forge of Endless Strife' and his world's principle is 'Only that which endures the storm deserves to stand. In it's eye' Now he serves as the lieutenant general of the army and rose to the rank of marquize using nothing but his military achievements.
My eldest sister, Reina, Thoren's twin, has decided to walk a path of academic development, her world is called 'The Codex of Endless Inquiry' and her world's principle is 'To cease questioning is to cease growing.' She has founded the institute of higher learning for all mages that is called 'The Arcanum of Living Inquiry', it has a high school, a university and an institute for mages who seek knowledge that is called 'The Library Of Shifting Stars'.
You see? And this doesn't end here! My second sister Audrey has become a stargazer who studies the sky and outer space.
My second brother Samuel is now the king of mercenaries and is respected all over the continent.
My third brother Lucas has become a wandering saint who walks the continent helping the poor and those in need.
My third sister Agnes has chosen the path of machines, she single handedly revolutionized the automated travel industry, inventing the internal and external combustion engines, which are used in what you might know as trains and cars.
But the worst one is my father, Darius Willbeck, his path is 'The Crown of Willed Eternity' ugh, how befitting… Right! Sorry, back on topic, his magic path's principle is 'True power is not taken—it is carried. My crown is not worn on my head, but borne on my soul.'
And now, all of my siblings have found their calling, only I have yet to leave and set off on my journey.
Though, I guess you wonder who will be the heir to the king? In all the usual 'medieval' fantasies, the fight for the position of heir is always an endless, bloody mess between the offspring of the reigning king.
In our kingdom, the next king is not decided by blood, but by power. Once the current king has decided to retire, a nationwide tournament begins, where the only requirement to signing up is being a citizen of the kingdom.
The winner of which will duel the king. If said individual wins against the king, they become the new ruler and are to be known as the strongest of the kingdom.
However, if they lose the duel, the king remains in his place, and the tournament will take place a year later, on the day before the new year will come into place.
The last thing you have to know before starting the story is that there is a ranking for each world.
However, not many bother getting ranked. Firstly, because it's an expensive procedure.
Secondly, because it's a long and tedious process, the evaluators have to examine and discuss every world and its potential separately.
And thirdly, because some just have no need to do so. Only knights, mercenaries and kingdom officials are required to do so due to internal rankings within the guild or the platoon or simply to be registered in the kingdom's archives.
All other people have no reason to get ranked, of what help would that be?
Although, much like everything in the world, there are exceptions. People who choose to keep their world in disguise for various reasons, be it privacy or a tactical advantage.
Those people are known as The Unbound. They are usually freelancers who act like private mercenaries or investigators. They only work when the task fits their morals and ideas.
The former king used to be one, he was an Unbound who's real name is not remembered, but rather, he was known as "David".
He was named that after he single handedly won a battle against 2 other empires. The story tells that this nickname came to fruition after the former hand of the king came to inspect the results of the battle, where he found David standing atop a giant mountain of fully armored knights and mages, missing their head. The legend tells that the hand mumbled to himself: "David of the thousand Goliaths".
His world was later found to be "The Unyielding Tempest", its principal being "One Will Never Fight A Fair Battle", the main ability of his world was that the more enemies he fought, the stronger his strength got, like a wind that gets stronger the more you fight against it.
David was another example to show the citizens that the Unbound should not be disrespected by them, because usually the ones who choose their privacy over fame, are the strongest.
Before David, it was Calum "The Last Thunder" who doubled the size of the continent by pushing the sea back 2500 kilometers, and before him it was Jason "The Aegium of Unwritten Truths" who founded the largest library in the eastern hemisphere. The list goes on and on.
This story I'm about to tell you is the story of how I became history's strongest mage. And was named "Adam Of Eden".