It was an extremely quiet modern city. Looking down from above, there were no traces of biological activity to be seen. Aside from the occasional rustling leaves and swirling dust, the entire city was as still as an exquisite model.
The only thing out of place in this tranquil "model" was a youth in swimming trunks. He sat under a sun umbrella by a sparkling outdoor pool behind a massive villa, looking utterly miserable as he sipped a cappuccino and flipped through a book. His brows were furrowed so tightly it seemed as though he had encountered a matter of life and death.
*Magic Introduction - New Edition of the 427th Year of the Kaya Empire Royal Mage Academy*.
That was the title of the book in his hands, which also served as the basic textbook for his first semester at the Mage Academy. The text detailed the "simple" knowledge required to become a Mage Apprentice, as well as the "simple" methods to achieve it.
Thanks to his solid basic education, the youth was familiar with every single word in the book. However, when those words formed sentences and the sentences combined into paragraphs, his mysterious, deep eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.
"Oh, Magic, you are like a girl in a sheer dress hiding behind the hazy morning mist—making it impossible for me to see clearly or obtain you!" After this elegant complaint, the youth in swimming trunks furrowed his brows and continued his bitter studying.
In fact, as far as the basic knowledge of Magic was concerned, *Magic Introduction* was considered extremely straightforward. Although Magic was indeed a profound subject, the knowledge pertaining only to a Junior Mage Apprentice was not all that complicated. For an ordinary noble with a good basic education, the difficulty of this book was roughly equivalent to a college freshman on Earth tackling advanced mathematics. By reading more, asking more questions, and putting in the time, anyone could eventually learn it.
As for why the youth acted as if he were facing a formidable enemy... it was simply because underachievers always behaved this way when exams approached. Because he had not studied properly on normal days, time was now running out. Skimming the material naturally only provided a vague understanding. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
By this point, it was already the end of the semester. There was only one week left until the final exams of his first term at the Mage Academy. Because he had squandered a massive amount of free time indulging in his "special talent," the transmigrator, whose ambitions had been sapped by idle play, now had to face the ultimate boss known as the final exam!
***
About half a year ago, Mr. Wu Ming, who had been pushed to the limits of his dissatisfaction with his company due to endless late-night overtime, received the blessing of the transmigration gods. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in an unfamiliar fantasy world.
Brand Holland was Mr. Wu Ming’s new name. His new identity was the second son of Viscount Holland, residing in the Holland Viscount’s Domain of Tolle County, in the Southern Province of the Kaya Empire, situated on the Fains Continent.
After transmigrating and merging his memories, Wu Ming—or rather, the brand new Mr. Brand—managed to "arduously" integrate into the extravagant lifestyle of an Empire Noble descendant: living in a castle, having meat to eat, and being attended to by numerous servants. When he first encountered this lifestyle, he was a bit unaccustomed to it. Over time, however, he accepted everything about his current reality.
Although this technologically backward world had no mobile phones or internet surfing, the sheer variety of Magic Items and the obedient, docile maids made Mr. Brand feel that such a noble life certainly had its wondrous perks.
If there was anything about this life that consistently dissatisfied him, it had to be his incredibly self-disciplined and ambitious older brother. Jelson Holland was Viscount Holland’s eldest son and Brand’s older brother. He was two years older than Brand and had just celebrated his eighteenth birthday this year.
As Brand’s older brother, although Yelsen was young, he had already reached the level of a Senior Knight Apprentice, making him second to none among his peers.
According to Empire Law, a hereditary noble’s title was inherited by the eldest son. Therefore, barring any accidents, Yelsen would inherit the Holland family’s domain and the Viscount title after their father passed away.
Yelsen was a man of ideals. From a young age, his goal was to revitalize the family, and he constantly strove toward it. As for where this goal came from, one had to mention their father, Elder Master Holland.
"The Holland family once had a glorious past, but we have since fallen from grace."
That was what Viscount Holland used to tell his two sons when they were young.
Hearing their "omnipotent" father speak such a bleak truth in a desolate tone deeply moved the young Yelsen. From then on, restoring the past glory of the Holland family became his lifelong mission.
However... despite Elder Master Holland’s inspiring words, the truth was that the Holland family had no such glorious past. The ancestors of the Holland family started as Pioneer Knights. After pioneering their territory, they were granted the title of Baron. Through the continuous development of successive generations, the Baron’s Domain eventually evolved into the current Viscount’s Domain, and the family’s power continued to grow. Therefore, the present day was actually the absolute peak of the Holland family.
On that day, Elder Master Holland had merely been caught up in the moment while teaching his sons and had casually bragged. Who could have expected Yelsen to take it so seriously? Still, taking it seriously wasn’t a bad thing. Elder Master Holland was more than happy to see his eldest son’s ambition. Seeing how effective his teachings were, he couldn’t help but repeat the tale a few more times in the days that followed.
Every time Yelsen heard the tales of the family’s past glory, he looked completely fired up. This greatly satisfied Elder Master Holland’s vanity, though Brand often expressed doubt about the whole story whenever he was present...
"This is outrageous! How can you question our family’s glorious history!?"
Hearing Yelsen defend their family’s honor so fiercely, Elder Master Holland’s face would flush with a rare look of "gratification." This was the very origin of the conflict between Brand and Yelsen.
Since childhood, Yelsen had been strictly disciplined, aiming to revitalize the family. He could often be seen sweating profusely during his training. In stark contrast, Brand’s lifestyle was famous throughout the Viscount’s Domain for its sheer extravagance. His Beast Milk had to be fresh and sweetened with just the right amount of refined sugar. His white bread had to be fresh out of the oven and evenly spread with a layer of golden Honey. His clothes had to be handcrafted from the finest fabrics, embroidered with shiny golden edges using Magic Gold Thread.
Growing up, Yelsen had always been extremely dissatisfied with Brand—his useless younger brother who did nothing but seek pleasure, lacked any ambition, and even questioned the glory of their ancestors. It was one thing for Brand to be unmotivated and not work alongside him to revitalize the family, but what was with this extravagant squandering of the family wealth? This would severely delay his future efficiency in revitalizing the Holland family!
As a result, Brand, who was immersed in his "extravagant" days and constantly seeking the "art of luxury," would periodically be dragged aside and lectured by a sour-faced Yelsen. This annoyed Brand quite a bit.
In truth, Brand had gone through a brief period of ambition. However, the final results proved that aside from being excessively handsome, he was a thoroughly useless person!
He was nearly sixteen years old now, yet he had only just barely grasped the basics of the Knight Cultivation Method. Although he possessed the Talent to become a Mage, he was a poor student who hated studying—and merging his memories from Earth hadn’t changed that in the slightest.
Of course, calling him a complete failure was a bit biased. After all, not everyone who was literate eventually became learned and knowledgeable. Brand was simply more on the ordinary side.
All in all, he had ultimately decided to just let things rot and embrace mediocrity. Only an extravagant lifestyle could bring a shred of comfort to his wounded soul.