Chapter 3: Valthera
The room remained silent.
Malrik stood before the mirror. Eliza carefully adjusted the final details of his formal attire.
The black uniform fit him perfectly. Its silver embroidery formed the emblem of House Vesperion across his chest. Every stitch reflected the wealth of one of the Empire’s greatest noble families.
Yet, Malrik’s attention wasn’t on the uniform.
It was on Eliza.
The initial shock of transmigration had begun to fade. His mind finally had room to observe the people around him.
The moment he focused on her, he instinctively sensed the flow of mana inside her body. It wasn’t violent. Nor was it unstable. Instead, it flowed calmly. It circulated through her body with remarkable precision.
Even without understanding mana completely, Malrik could tell truth. It had been refined through years of training.
His surprise only deepened. She was only a maid.
Back on Earth, someone capable of controlling mana at this level would’ve easily become an elite Awakener. They would be respected wherever they went.
Yet, inside House Vesperion, such a person merely served. She was the personal attendant of the family’s youngest son.
Just how terrifying was this family?
Eliza noticed him staring. "Is something wrong, Young Master?"
Malrik quickly looked away. "...Nothing."
She simply nodded. She continued adjusting his collar.
The original owner’s memories were becoming clearer with every passing minute. Her name was Eliza Hartwell. She had served Malrik for years. She was among the few people he interacted with on a daily basis.
Although she held the position of a maid, her strength was immense. It was enough to defeat most trained soldiers with ease.
The realization made him rethink everything. This world was fundamentally different from Earth. Not simply because mana existed. Everything was influenced by it, directly or indirectly.
As more memories surfaced, Malrik gradually pieced together the history of this unfamiliar world. Its name was Valthera.
Unlike Earth, monsters didn’t appear through dimensional gates. There were no sudden dungeon outbreaks. Valthera had never experienced an invasion from another world.
The creatures humanity fought weren’t invaders. They were natives. They were creatures that had existed since ancient times.
The Morveth.
According to history, everything changed thousands of years ago. It happened during what later became known as the Age of Mana.
No one knew where mana came from. Some claimed it descended from the heavens. Others believed it had always existed beneath the world, waiting for the right moment to awaken.
Whatever the truth was, its arrival transformed everything.
Mountains shifted. Forests expanded. The oceans became home to unimaginable creatures. Even ordinary animals evolved into monsters.
Among those countless new lifeforms, one race eventually rose above the rest. The Morveth. They were powerful, adaptable, and endlessly evolving.
Since that era, humanity and the Morveth had shared the same world. The same continents. The same skies. The same resources.
Naturally, conflict became inevitable. Neither side could completely destroy the other. Thousands of years later, that endless war still continued.
The memories continued flowing. Soon, Malrik understood how strength was measured in this world.
For humanity, power wasn’t determined solely by talent or mana. Every individual followed the same hierarchy recognized throughout the continent:
Mortal → Awakened → Ascended → Transcendent → Sovereign → Sacred → Divine
Each realm consisted of fifty levels. However, reaching Level 50 didn’t guarantee advancement.
To step into the next realm, one first had to fulfill their Advancement Requirements. Those requirements weren’t universal. Every individual possessed different requirements depending on their Class, Talent, Bloodline, or chosen path.
Some advanced almost immediately after reaching the peak. Others remained trapped at Level 50 for decades because they couldn’t satisfy the conditions required for promotion.
That was why talent alone wasn’t enough. Luck mattered. Opportunity mattered. Comprehension and determination could determine whether someone progressed or remained stagnant for the rest of their lives.
Most people never surpassed the Mortal Realm.
Awakened experts were common enough. They formed the backbone of cities, guilds, military forces, and noble households throughout the Empire.
Beyond them stood the Ascended. Crossing into that realm marked the first truly difficult obstacle on the path of power. Those capable of doing so often became elite officers, commanders, or trusted retainers of influential noble families.
The next realm was Transcendent. Individuals of this level were regarded as true powerhouses. Most Elders within major noble houses belonged to this realm. They rarely showed themselves unless their family faced genuine danger.
Above them stood the Sovereigns. They were the rulers of kingdoms, the heads of great noble houses, and the strongest military commanders. A single Sovereign possessed enough influence to determine the fate of an entire nation.
As for Sacred, very little information existed. Even among the memories Malrik inherited, there were almost no reliable records. Whether Sacred experts still walked the world or had disappeared long ago remained unknown.
Then came Divine. It was the highest realm known to mankind. A legendary existence.
No one knew whether anyone had ever reached such heights. Perhaps they existed somewhere beyond the known world. Perhaps they had never existed at all. Humanity simply didn’t know.
The Morveth possessed a similar hierarchy:
Mortal → Awakened → Fallen → Corrupted → Great → Cursed → Unholy
Although the names differed, the two systems generally mirrored one another.
An Awakened human could usually contend with an Awakened Morveth. An Ascended expert was considered capable of fighting a Fallen Morveth. A Transcendent matched a Corrupted one.
Beyond that, the battles became far too rare for ordinary people to understand.
Even then, rank alone never decided victory. Experience, talent, and equipment played huge roles. Mana, combat instincts, and compatibility between abilities mattered.
Countless factors influenced the outcome of a battle. A weaker opponent could still emerge victorious under the right circumstances.
One final memory caught Malrik’s attention. Unlike ordinary beasts, the Morveth continued growing intellectually as they evolved.
Low-ranked Morveth relied mostly on instinct. They hunted. They fed. They survived.
However, as they became stronger, so did their intelligence. The stronger Morveth weren’t mindless monsters. They planned. They commanded. They established territories. Some were even said to possess wisdom rivaling humanity’s greatest strategists.
A world where monsters evolve alongside humanity...
This place is far more dangerous than I imagined.
The memories continued flowing. Valthera respected one thing above everything else: Strength.
Wealth came from strength. Authority came from strength. Status came from strength. Even noble titles ultimately depended on strength.
A weak noble house would eventually decline, no matter how glorious its history had once been. On the other hand, a powerful commoner could rise through military achievements or extraordinary accomplishments. They could earn titles and lands from the Empire itself.
Power wasn’t merely respected. It was the very foundation upon which society had been built.
House Vesperion perfectly embodied that principle. The family wasn’t feared because they possessed the title of Duke. They possessed the title of Duke because they had proven, generation after generation, that they were strong enough to deserve it.
That distinction mattered. One represented inherited authority. The other represented authority earned through overwhelming power.
The original Malrik’s memories painted a clear picture. For centuries, House Vesperion had stood as one of the Empire’s greatest military families. Countless Morveth had fallen beneath their banners. Every generation produced warriors capable of shaking the battlefield.
It was also why the expectations placed upon every Vesperion descendant were so high. Failure wasn’t tolerated. Weakness wasn’t accepted. Each child born into the family carried the weight of countless predecessors on their shoulders.
Malrik finally understood why the original owner considered himself a disappointment. It had nothing to do with lacking talent. It was simply because everyone around him was absurdly gifted.
His eldest brother had awakened one of the family’s strongest sword Classes. The second did too. The third, the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth as well. Every single one of them possessed extraordinary talent and achievements that ordinary nobles could only dream of.
Compared to them, Malrik appeared average.
Outside House Vesperion, a mana reserve of this magnitude would be considered extraordinary. Inside the family, however, raw mana meant little if it couldn’t be translated into strength with a sword. The standards here were simply too high.
No wonder the original Malrik constantly lived under pressure. Anyone born into such a family would inevitably compare themselves to monsters.
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
I would’ve given everything for this talent in my previous life...
Yet, in this family, it wasn’t enough. Life certainly had an odd sense of humor.
"Young Master." Eliza’s voice gently interrupted his thoughts.
Malrik blinked before looking toward her. She had already stepped back. She had finished the final adjustments to his uniform.
The black formal attire fit him perfectly. The silver serpent-dragon emblem of House Vesperion rested proudly over his chest. Even without speaking, the uniform alone radiated dignity.
"It is time."
Malrik glanced toward the mirror one last time. The person reflected there still felt unfamiliar. The face. The body. The name. None of them truly belonged to him.
Yet, they would. Sooner or later.
Whether he liked it or not, he was now Malrik Vesperion. He was the youngest son of one of the Empire’s greatest noble families.
And today... his future would be decided.
The Awakening Ceremony. It was the most important day in every young person’s life. On this day, one’s Class would awaken.
Some would awaken as Sword Masters. Others as Mages, Archers, Assassins, Priests, or countless other Classes.
For nobles, however, expectations were much higher. A powerful Class could determine the future of an entire family branch. A weak one could condemn someone to a lifetime of mediocrity.
Fortunately, Malrik wasn’t particularly worried. He had already spent ten years chasing an impossible dream. He knew exactly what it felt like to possess no future at all.
Compared to that, even the worst possible outcome today would still be better than the life he had left behind. He refused to believe his story would end there.
His gaze gradually sharpened.
This world values strength above everything else.
Then I’ll simply become strong enough that nobody can ignore me.
Eliza opened the bedroom door. "Everyone is waiting for you, Young Master."
Malrik took one final breath before stepping forward. His second life was finally about to begin.
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