Chapter 3: The Dark Side of Kingdom

A few days had passed since Jack established his grand "Plan B," and so far, there was zero progress. The daily grind of reading theoretical magic textbooks was mind-numbing.

Jack sat in his lavish study room, bored to death. The sun was shining outside, but he was stuck looking at charts of mana veins. He slammed his book shut.

"I'm not born for this kind of lifestyle," Jack complained out loud, stretching his small, ten-year-old arms.

He looked out the large, arched window at the sprawling kingdom below. A mischievous grin slowly crept onto his face.

(I think I've been a good boy for a long time now. Time for some me time, hehehe.)

Moving with the silent precision of a seasoned Special Forces operator, Jack slowly slipped from the second-floor window of the castle. For a Tier 0 kid, his mana was weak, but his physical stealth was purely muscle memory. He dropped into the royal garden, rolling to absorb the impact. He stealthily avoided every royal guard patrolling the perimeter, moving from shadow to shadow until he finally reached the outer wall.

When he jumped over the gate and landed softly on the other side, he was completely amazed by the beautiful scene of a vast and lively city in the Middle Ages. He ran around the cobblestone streets, his eyes wide as he looked at the bustling stores, the colorful merchant stalls, and the small stone bridges connecting the districts inside the large city. Being the capital city of the Aethelgard Kingdom, it was prosperous, loud, and incredibly well-maintained.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. A cold, sweet scent wafted through the air.

"Wait, is that ice cream? They have ice cream in this world too?! Why did I never have some back in the castle?" Jack muttered, his mouth practically watering.

He walked towards the wooden stall and eagerly asked for one. The old man behind the counter smiled warmly, scooped a large portion into a wooden cup, and served him.

"That will be two copper, young master," the old man said.

Jack blinked. He reached into his fancy silk pocket and pulled out the only coin he had. He didn't know the currency exchange rate in this world yet.

"I only have one silver," Jack said, holding out the shiny coin.

The old man’s eyes widened in shock. "Oho, that's too much, young boy. Don't you know how to count?"

The vendor leaned in closer, his eyes catching the brilliant, unmistakable golden blonde hair of his customer. In this kingdom, that hair color meant only one thing. The old man’s face went pale.

"Wait, are you the prince? I'm sorry for my rudeness, take this as my apology!" the old man said, his voice shaking. He was scared out of his mind, bowing repeatedly after knowing he was talking to the crown prince.

Jack quickly shook his head, pushing the silver coin onto the counter. "No, no, take this. I don't want to take things for free just because I'm the prince."

The old man still insisted, waving his hands defensively, but eventually, he accepted Jack’s payment with trembling fingers. Jack happily took the ice cream and waved to the old man as he walked away smiling.

(I never imagined our prince to be this kind and understanding,) the old man thought, watching the boy disappear into the crowd.

As Jack was wandering around aimlessly, enjoying his sweet treat, the scenery slowly began to change. The clean cobblestones turned to muddy dirt paths. The bright shops faded into broken-down shacks. He eventually reached a shady area full of poor people and rough-looking criminals.

As he went deeper into the slums, his military instincts flared. Something was wrong. The air felt heavy.

He peeked around a corner and saw a horrific sight. Some small children, bound in heavy iron chains, were being dragged into a black carriage by three shady-looking guys.

Without hesitation, Jack stepped out into the open. He immediately confronted them.

"HEY! What do you guys think you're doing!" Jack shouted, his voice ringing out through the alley.

The skinniest of the thugs jumped, dropping his end of a chain. "Eeeek!!... Oh, it's just a kid."

The bald guy next to him cracked his knuckles. He looked at Jack’s fine clothes and sneered. "A noble kid? It's none of your business, kid! Go home to your mama!"

The thugs laughed and continued to drag the crying children into the carriage, ignoring him completely.

Jack gritted his teeth. He knew he couldn't win against three adult guys with his ten-year-old, undeveloped body. But his morals couldn't let this scene slide like it didn't happen. Cap never left people behind.

Suddenly, the wooden door of an old, shabby house burst open. The skinny guy walked out, roughly dragging a beautiful blue-haired girl by the arm.

The huge, muscular guy who looked like their leader crossed his arms and whistled. "Wooh, that's a nice catch."

The skinny guy who was holding the girl nodded eagerly. "Yeah, some corrupt noble would pay a lot for this one, hehehe."

Jack’s eyes went wide. (Blue hair? Tragic backstory? Slave traders? This is it! The classic isekai heroine rescue trope!) That triggered Jack to act.

Jack stomped his foot, channeling his weak mana into the dirt. He used earth magic to launch a fist-sized rock straight into the skinny guy's face.

CRACK!

The rock hit perfectly, sending the skinny guy flying backward into the dirt. He was out cold.

The bald guy drew a rusty iron sword, his face twisting in anger. "I guess you have a death wish, kid!"

The bald guy charged and slashed down with his sword. Jack didn't panic. He used his Special Forces close-quarters combat training, dodging by squatting down quickly. In the same motion, he used earth magic to cover his tiny fist with a hard layer of rock and punched the bald guy directly in the groin.

The man let out a high-pitched squeak and fell to his knees, dropping his sword. Jack didn't stop. He jumped, spun in the air, covered his foot with rock magic, and delivered a brutal spin-kick right to the bald guy's face. The thug collapsed in a heap.

Two down. One to go.

The muscular guy smirked, stepping forward. "Not bad, kid."

He reached behind his back and took out a massive, terrifying long spiked mace. "I guess you'll sell well as a combat slave. That's enough payment for interrupting us."

With a roar, the leader swung his long spiked mace at Jack with overwhelming brute force.

Jack instantly pushed himself backward with a burst of wind magic, barely dodging the heavy weapon. The mace smashed into a nearby brick wall, completely shattering it into rubble.

"Is he a gorilla? What kind of strength was that?" Jack gasped, wiping sweat from his forehead.

The muscular guy didn't give him a chance to breathe. He continued to attack, swinging the heavy mace over and over. Jack dodged every single time, flipping and rolling through the dirt, but he couldn't find any opening to attack. The physical gap was just too huge.

(I'll be dead if I get hit once,) Jack realized, his heart pounding.

He needed to blind him. Jack quickly used water magic as a distraction, throwing a wave of water at the thug's face. But considering his weak Tier 0 mana core, it didn't hit with any force. It only poured water all over the enemy, soaking his clothes.

Jack tried to use earth magic to throw more rocks at him, but the huge guy just casually deflected them with his mace. Jack realized the huge gap in their strength, so he needed to be wise in his movement. He needed a tactical advantage.

(What if I can use electric magic as a stun gun? But wait, is there such a thing as an electric element in this world?) Jack thought frantically as he dodged another deadly swing.

(Well, whatever, I'll just try... how hard can it be?)

Jack focused his mind, trying to manifest electric magic from his omni-elemental core, but nothing seemed to be working. There was no spark, no lightning.

Then, he made a mistake. His foot slipped on the muddy ground.

The enemy caught up with him, bringing down a huge, overhead swing that Jack couldn't avoid. In a split second, Jack covered his whole arm with thick rock magic and crossed his arms to use it as a shield.

SMASH!

The impact was devastating. The rock shield shattered instantly. With a child's body, he was easily thrown away by the sheer force. He hit a brick wall really hard. The air was knocked from his lungs, and he threw up blood.

He felt so numb and barely awake. His vision was spinning. He sat up slowly and laid his back against the broken wall, breathing heavily.

"You should have just minded your business, but no, you had to act as a hero to save a lady! WAHAHAHAHA!" the enemy mocked him as he walked slowly towards Jack, dragging the spiked mace on the ground.

Jack heard the enemy's wet boots squeak against the dirt as he approached him.

(I guess I'm not the main character I wanted to be... my body feels numb,) Jack thought, his eyes half-closed. He accepted his fate.

But then... his military brain clicked.

Wait. He realized the numb feeling in his hands wasn't just pain. It felt like electricity. Static. Raw mana trying to convert. He looked up at the enemy and saw him completely drenched from the weak water magic earlier.

Water. Conductivity.

Jack grinned, blood staining his teeth. He focused all that static, numb feeling into his palms. He didn't need to shoot a lightning bolt. He just needed to make contact.

He pushed his hand onto the wet, muddy ground that touched the thug's boots. He tried to manifest the numb feeling into magic, pushing it outward.

BZZZZT!

A bright blue spark! The electric current shot through the puddle and straight up the drenched thug's body. The big muscular guy let out a choked gasp, his eyes rolling back in his head. He dropped to the ground, twitching wildly after taking a massive electric shock.

Jack let out a long, painful sigh of relief. He let his head fall back against the wall.

The children in the carriage were looking at him in total awe. The carriage door slowly opened, and the girl with blue hair stepped out. She walked gently up to him, her eyes shining with tears of gratitude, thanking him over and over for saving them.

Jack managed a weak, goofy smile. (Mission accomplished. I totally triggered the event.)