Chapter 1:
Ernest, the Mad Lad
Secretive Guild
How did you deal with a mad lad?
A short young lady, Bertha Hubert, read a scientific journal about magical caves. As a charming noblesse, she had a bit long black hair and wore a white ruffle blouse with a black skirt. She didn’t wear a crinoline because it was very bad idea for her job.
The wind was nice that morning. Bertha felt relaxed, and she was happy that her curiosity was answered whenever she turned the journal's page. It was a great day, a great time to do every day deed.
Until that man broke silence.
“Have you become stronger?” the man with a black trench coat near Bertha asked. He was Ernest Howard, an upper-class man who was known for his countless fights with criminals in slums. He didn’t fight for justice. He just wanted to beat others and meet stronger opponents, so he was a mad lad.
Bertha understood that Ernest was looking for a fight with that question. Thus she was shocked, and she dropped her journal. “Chief, I’m a fragile lady with inoffensive powers - like your typical charming noblesse - and I need to be polite. Thus I don’t want to raise my voice and say, ‘Are you out of your mind?!’”
“A fragile lady would just tremble in this situation, but you didn't, and you raised your order yesterday,” Ernest replied in a cold manner with his deep voice.
“Yes, I raised my order and got an offensive power, but that supernatural power isn't strong. If it's sparring, then let’s go. But you wouldn’t be satisfied with that, right?”
“A fight without thirst for survival won’t be that hard. Fight me like you fight a monster, Lady Hubert.”
Bertha was speechless for a while. “You see, chief. One reason that I stay with you is that you don’t mind if women pursue knowledge. I know well that you are a bloody gentleman - no, how you could be gentle and bloody at the same time - but I never thought that you would ask me, a fragile lady, to fight you,” Bertha complained, “forget it, let’s fight.” Bertha left Ernest's guild hall and went to practice field.
A few years ago, magical caves appeared in Titan Kingdom out of nowhere and sucked its surroundings. Titan Kingdom was another world kingdom which resembled Britain in early Victorian era (1820-1850), so it was before the rise of modern physics. In those caves, there were monsters, minerals, and ponds of magical water, therefore they were magical. Then the government made a guild system in Magical Caves Act to deal with it.
If one drank a magical water, he or she could gain supernatural powers. But if he or she lacked knowledge in certain disciplines, he or she wouldn’t gain any powers. Thus people in Titan Kingdom, called Titans, established a few magical disciplines.
Ernest was adept in mechanics, one branch of physics, so he was able to gain Mechanical discipline's supernatural powers (or one might say that he was able to gain magical skills from Mechanical class). However, one also needed to experiment with certain illogical ideas about nature to use those powers because the powers were supernatural.
Ernest got order 3 Energy Manipulation. With order 3 Energy Manipulation, after he repeated an attack pattern, let’s say straight punches, he could have and feel more potential energy that flowed in his body. According to physics, potential energy could transform to kinetic energy, kinetic energy was mass with speed, and a greater speed meant a greater momentum so it could cause a greater force and injury. In other words, due to order 3 Energy Manipulation, Ernest could cause a devastating force and injury even with a light touch.
Bertha took five meters from Ernest in the practice field. The field was just dirt that was surrounded by walls.
“Fight,” Ernest said, and then he drew out his revolver from his coat. He needed to immobilize Bertha fast, but of course Bertha wouldn’t remain silent.
“Sit!” Bertha shouted.
Ernest sat against his will, and he couldn’t do any offensive action like using his supernatural power. This was the effect of Bertha’s order 2 Psychological discipline's power, named Dictator’s Order. Whatever that she instructed, would be executed without a failure for two minutes. Dictator’s Order had limited instructions. She could not instruct someone to commit a suicide for example, and she could not instruct someone to do any impossible task within two minutes. Thus supernatural powers and magical disciplines could balance each other (like in a video game), so there wasn’t an overpowered magical discipline.
Titans established that supernatural powers had an order, order 3 to order 1 (or tier 3 to tier 1). Order 1 powers had a stronger effect. One could raise their order through practice and more research of their magical discipline.
Bertha also had a revolver. Thus she took out her revolver and pointed it at Ernest’s heart. She was hesitant to shoot Ernest, but Ernest would be disappointed if she wasn’t serious. "Love is crazy," they said, "or dumb."
“Good bye, chief,” Bertha said.
Hm? Bertha was surprised. She couldn’t pull the trigger. It was stuck. Chief is at order 2 Mechanical discipline. Order 2 Energy Manipulation of Mechanical discipline could control energy of touched inanimate object for three hours. Could it be that he made the trigger has zero kinetic energy for three hours? So the trigger cannot be pulled, or my gun is just broken.
Ernest curled up his lips. He did use his order 2 Energy Manipulation to break Bertha’s revolver beforehand. In supernatural fights, there were buildup and execution steps. Both were equally important. For example, Ernest needed to build up more potential energy in his body with order 3 Energy Manipulation before he could release a strong attack with a light punch, and Bertha needed to buy time before she could use Dictator’s Order again. The time interval (or cooldown) of Dictator's Order was fifteen minutes. The targets of Dictator's Order also had to be aware of the user's presence.
Both were equally important because buildup or accumulation step could be the decisive factor in a fight! In Bertha’s case, she didn’t have a strong body, and her only weapon was her revolver. She also hesitated to do a gruesome thing like stabbing someone’s eye with her revolver after he or she was immobilized. Thus her broken revolver put her in a very disadvantageous situation.
Bertha approached Ernest and took Ernest’s revolver. Ernest's gun trigger was also stuck. “So taking your gun was just your gimmick,” Bertha said. “Chief… did you do something weird to me when I slept in the hall? You had to touch my gun after all.” Ernest was a gentleman, so he wouldn’t do any weird thing to Bertha. Thus Bertha's question was rhetorical.
Bertha smirked. She sat and put her left hand on her chest. It was her begging pose. “Please be gentle…,” she said. Bertha became not serious and teased Ernest to stop the fight. Bertha knew well that Ernest wouldn’t beat people when they surrendered after a serious fight or when they didn’t deserve it. Ernest would also give a funny reaction when Bertha teased him.
Ernest clicked his tongue. ”Indeed, you become stronger. What do you call that control power?”
“Dictator’s Order. It can also be used on monsters. The target must be aware of my presence, but I can only use it once per fifteen minutes, chief.”
“Very good,” Ernest stood up and left with a little disappointment.
Pfff, you are weak to a fragile lady like me, aren’t you, chief? No, bloody gentleman. Bertha curled up her lips and avoided the worst outcome.
***
Beneath Blackfrost's surface, in a large room.
A wooden doll sat on a long table with a smartphone on his hands. That creepy doll was Dunno, a reincarnated person from another world. He was from a country which spoke Japanese.
A smartphone was a chaotic existence in Titan Kingdom because the technology in early Victorian era couldn’t create it. But smartphones were possible in the future, so Dunno was able to create it with his order 1 Chaos discipline's power, named Chaotic Existence.
Another world was considered as a fiction, but in Dunno's case, it came true. Thus a fiction like a castle in the sky could also be created with Chaotic Existence. However, to balance it with supernatural powers from other magical disciplines, Chaotic Existence could only be used once per week, and it couldn't create anything grand. For example, Chaotic Existence couldn’t create a fictitious planet from manga in Dunno's previous world.
Dunno watched the fight between Ernest and Bertha through his smartphone. He also created security cameras with his power and put it in a few places beforehand so he could watch the fight. Ernest Howard… he practices hard every day and isn’t a bad person. Well, although something is a bit off from his brain, Dunno thought.
Dunno tapped his index finger on the table. He can be the strongest in Titan at the future. Alright, I choose you, Ernest Howard! Be stronger, and conquer those sh*tty dungeons!
Oh, he is handsome, but I don’t think he fits to be an idol and have Idol discipline's powers. Well, let’s find one more person for that purpose. I hope I don't need to kill them in the end.
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