A pair of blue eyes opened slowly.
"Is this heaven?" a boy muttered. "Where... where is this? I remember detonating the bomb."
This was Adam.
He looked up. A ceiling he’d never seen before met his gaze, white, polished like marble, with a golden crystalline chandelier hanging above. It felt unreal, like a sculpture brought to life, gold lines engraved along its facets. The floor below was cream colored marble, cool and smooth.
"Just where the heck am I?" he questioned himself.
A sharp pain shot through his head.
"Ugh!" He clenched his skull as memories not his own flooded in like a bullet train.
A boy, seventeen years old, white hair and blue eyes, standing at an awakening ceremony. A woman he called mother, blonde hair, blue eyes, smiling as she wielded magic fluidly. A man with white hair and almond eyes, broad shoulders and a fierce presence, swinging a sword with breathtaking precision, energy coating the blade. The word father passed through his mind.
A sister one year older, blonde and almond eyed, hugging him with a smile. A little boy and girl riding on his back like a horse, laughing as they played.
An insignia: a dragon with two crossed swords behind it. The name Lyon written beneath.
Magic. Monsters. A world of breathtaking history and beauty flashed through his head.
The pain continued.
Texts the boy had read. History of this world. Then the boy vomiting blood after breakfast. That was the last thing Adam saw before the pain disappeared completely.
The boy’s chest heaved as he gasped for air. Slowly, he sat up.
He looked at his hands.
"I... actually..." The words stuck in his throat. His blue eyes widened in pure disbelief. "Reincarnated into another world?!"
Adam was stunned beyond belief. Before the Nexomorphs, he’d been a high fantasy fan and a webnovel reader. He’d read countless transmigration and reincarnation novels, dismissing them as fiction.
But now here he was.
"This can’t be real." He stared at his hands, then at his body. He wore a white garment. Then the last memory came crashing back, and Adam’s eyes widened.
"Wait, the former owner of this body died from poisoning!"
The name of this body was Lukas Lyon, second child of Valeric Lyon, first son of House Lyon. Seventeen years old. At the awakening ceremony, he’d awakened a low tier talent and class, unlike his father, who was among the strongest in the kingdom, known as the Sword God.
But there was one problem: despite Lukas’s low awakening, he’d still resolved to follow his father’s path. And yet he was poisoned to death.
"You can’t be kidding me. Lukas was basically murdered." Adam sighed. There was only one reason he could think of.
This was a world where women dominated: politics, military, economy. Men were looked down upon, deemed weak, unable to awaken decent talents. But Lukas’s father had broken all rules, becoming the strongest man in history, creating House Lyon in the process.
He was the kingdom’s strongest warrior.
"It clicks. In this kind of world, they fear him. They oppose him. No wonder Lukas was poisoned; they feared he might turn out like his father." Adam quickly pieced it together.
Men were what women were in his old world.
"Just the thought of it makes me kinda pissed off." Adam, now Lukas, frowned.
Lukas had been dead for a day before Adam took over his body.
Lukas’s family flashed through Adam’s mind as he thought about it.
"Looks like my wish got granted, but I didn’t expect this outcome." Adam sighed in helplessness. He was definitely a target to be eliminated. The former Lukas had been killed, and now he’d taken over the body.
He’d just be killed again. Worst of all, Lukas’s talent was low tier, including his class.
"When I finally got what I wanted, a family, but with the threat at my neck, I’ll just lose it again." Adam’s fists curled. "If there was a way out of this situation..." He felt hopeless.
[Given a second chance at life and you’re already giving up without even trying?]
A soft, mechanical feminine voice echoed before Adam.
He jolted, startled.
"Who’s there?!" Adam took a defensive stance, looking around.
[Above you.]
Adam looked up slowly.
A ball of white light floated above him. It looked solid yet soft in texture. A pair of dark dots, like an AI’s HUD screen, were plastered on its front. The dot eyes blinked.
Adam stared, stunned.
"What the hell are you?" He was already on guard.
[The Adam I know never gives up.]
A black line curved into a lip on the floating blob’s face.
Adam was awestruck. Whatever this thing was, it knew his actual name instead of calling him by the body’s name.
[No need to be scared, Adam. I’m happy to be by your side again.]
"Eh?" Adam was confused. He couldn’t understand what the damn thing was saying.
[Welcome to this second chance at life in another world, Sergeant Adam. Or should I say... Lukas Lyon?]
A sly smile curved on the entity’s face.
Adam froze. He didn’t want to believe it, but he couldn’t deny it.
"Ava?" Adam voiced out.
[Seems like your memories are still intact.] It smiled as it hovered closer.
"But... how is this possible?" It was surprising to him.
[Anything is possible, Adam. Or I mean, Lukas. I’m still Ava to you, but I’ve gone way beyond that.]
"How?"
[I am the Reincarnate System, your guide in this world and your path to growing stronger in this women dominated world.]
The system introduced itself.
"A system!" Lukas’s eyes lit up. He’d read of systems in novels as a way for characters to escape their situations, growing through missions and rewards.
"If I’ve been granted a system, then all hope is not lost." Adam smiled.
[Detected defective class and talent.]
[Processing new class and talent...]
[Changing class and talent...]
A holographic screen appeared before Adam as blue light glowed from his body.
"What’s going on?" Adam was taken aback.
[Class Update]
Previous: Mage (Common)
New: Close Combat Mage (Divine)
[Talent Update]
Previous: Blue Tier (Minor Affinity)
New: God Tier (Omni Elemental Affinity)
[Attribute Gained]
All Elemental Manipulation
Caution: Multi element casting increases strain on mana and core.
A huge golden light exploded from Lukas’s body instantly as a bang echoed in the room.
Adam just stared at the holographic screen before him, frozen solid on the bed.
A maid passing by Lukas’s room suddenly heard the bang. It startled her. She paused, then turned back.
"That... came from the young master’s room." Cold sweat filled her face. Her voice trembled as her eyes laid on the door. She approached.
"Divine class?" Adam was stunned.
From the former Lukas’s memories, Divine class tier was second to the highest tier, clearly called a myth.
[This should give you a head start.]
Adam regained his composure from the shock.
"I can’t believe it’s literally a divine class." Adam smiled faintly, but then something clicked in his head.
"Wait, having such a class and talent, isn’t this just speed running my death?!" Adam looked at Ava.
[I understand your concerns. But because of the former Lukas’s awakening, his class was Mage (Common tier), and his talent was Blue tier. This already serves as cover for your present class and talent.]
Ava said to him as she hovered beside him.
"It’s true, but now I’ve taken over this body. One thing is certain: if I’m seen alive, Lukas’s killers will be baffled and might really try to take my life again." Adam pondered.
[Lukas’s killer is definitely not an outsider. It must be one of the servants or guards, with external help from outside, someone who ordered it.]
Hearing Ava’s words, Adam pondered about it.
"You’re right, Ava. Someone is pulling the strings from outside the Lyon house, while the person who poisoned Lukas has been implanted in this house."
[No doubt about it.]
Ava affirmed.
"Although I want to fish out the person, the priority right now is keeping my head on my neck and growing stronger to defend myself." Adam clenched his fist. "I am not losing a second chance at life in another world."
Then the door opened.
Adam turned towards the noise of the opened door sharply, his combat alert instincts flaring.
Frozen still by the entrance was the maid, her face pale white with fear, sweat beading down her face.
She tried to speak, but words refused to come out of her mouth.
"He... is alive!!" she suddenly screamed in fear.
"I guess coming back from the dead does spook people." Adam sighed.
A guard in metallic armor came running towards Lukas’s room as he heard the scream. He approached the maid frozen still by the door entrance.
"Why did you scream like that, and why are you here?" the guard asked her, but she did not respond.
"You know the young master’s dead body is kept here, so why did you approach?" He asked, a sad look appearing on his face.
But she pointed forward while trembling. The guard just followed her hand. When his gaze landed on Adam, now Lukas, who looked at them blankly, his eyes widened.
"The... yo... young ma... master..." his voice shuttered.
Lukas just smiled at them both.
"The young master is ALIVE!!" the guard said at the top of his voice, then he ran, shouting that the young master is alive in the hallway.
Adam just smiled.