Chapter Text
Aureus hadn’t expected to survive at Camp Vynair for as long as he did. Angry and bitter, he had stopped trying to gain his fathers approval, or anyones, for that matter. He had worked hard to use his measly Mana skills to become knighted, and as a reward he was sent to the most deadly camp, right at the borders of Etril and No Mans Land, where he was sure to die a painful death within the first few days of being stationed there. Despite being given up on, Aureus had not been ready to die. So he fought on, barely managing to survive each day as the Wisps attacks grew worse. The only reward he was given for being able to survive for several years was being stationed further into the camp, where the stronger Wisps, monsters with only a sliver of their souls, inhabited the land. Surviving had become all that more difficult, and Aureus wasn’t sure he could go on much longer.
He cried out in frustration, cutting down a Mourn spawn, the large wolf’s ability to make its victim feel a sense of dread affecting him, despite him having years of dealing with the beasts. He twisted his blade, making sure to destroy the brain of the wolf, before ripping his sword out of its skull and turning to face the smaller Mourn Hounds circling a group of young Knights. He grunted as he held a hand to his bleeding abdomen “Archers! Twelve o’clock!”. A rain of hundreds of arrows befell the land in front of him, the Knights ducking and taking cover. He charged forward, ignoring the growing pain and aches in his body. Aureus threw several throwing daggers, making sure to aim for the Hound's brains. Hitting each one spot on, he dropped to his knees, sliding across the loose dirt and decapitating another Hound before it could react. He shot up and threw a Hound off of an infantry soldier, who was about to get their neck severed by the Hounds vicious dagger-like teeth.
The boy froze in shock, watching Aureus take out several more Hounds. “Snap out of it! Laoth forbid you get eaten!” Aureus ground out, furious that he appeared to be the only one focusing on the task ahead of them. Many of the younger or newer soldiers became overwhelmed in a battle like this, but he didn’t have time to baby them. The boy shook his head and focused on the task in front of him, allowing Aureus to turn his back on him and take out several low level Dwellers surrounding another Mourn spawn that was attacking the soldiers. He had been focusing on the Mourn spawn in front of him when a deafening roar split the very earth he stood upon. His eyes widened a fraction as he searched the sky for any sign of a Drakon, one of the highest level children of Einar and most destructive.
“Ein! Fall back!” He cursed his luck and turned around in time to see a giant black scaled Drakon land. Aureus spotted a fellow Knight hiding in front of it behind a boulder before the Drakon did, and he began to sprint towards the Knight. “You Fool! Watch out!” He threw his weight into the other man, successfully throwing him out of the path of the Drakon. He ducked as the Drakon snapped its jaws near his head. “Fall back! Run!” He pushed the other Knight once more, desperately trying to get out of the way of the Drakon. The knight cursed “Einar!” and scrambled to run back towards the reserve. Aureus ran like never before. The only chance they had against a Drakon is with the cannons, and Aureus had a feeling he would be a part of the barrier made up of Knights trying to block the Wisps from the heavy artillery.
The Knight running in front of him tripped and stumbled, so Aureus deftly caught him and supported his weight as he ran towards the canons. He spared a second to look behind him, only to see the Drakon had caught up, leaving barely any space between them and death. He could feel himself slowing down due to the bleeding and clawed wound on his abdomen, and he knew what he had to do. “Find and horse and ride out to request backup! We need more manpower!” He yelled above the sounds of panic. He looked back once more and had barely managed to dodge a round of Drakon fire. He looked ahead, only to see they were still too far from the reserve line. He cursed and yelled “Keep running!” before pushing the soldier forwards and grabbing his bow. He leaped and rolled across the ground, landing behind another large boulder.
He aimed for the Drakons eye, knowing they’d have a better chance against a blind dragon. He fired, successfully hitting one of the Drakons eyes before another ear splitting roar came from the beast. He cringed and began to run further away in order to hit the other eye. While he had fantastic aim, fighting against a Drakon and winning was unheard of. In his haste to get away from the Drakon, Aureus tripped on a dead branch and crashed to the ground. He cried out in pain and looked up, only to be instantly crushed by the weight of the Drakon’s claws. Aureus wheezed as his organs ruptured underneath the weight. He slowly began to shift out of consciousness. He couldn’t believe he would die here, stuck fighting the Wisps because his father had given up on him the moment he displayed signs of having low Mana.
He had done everything, trained himself to the bone for his fathers approval, and yet, he would die a lowly commander Knight, far away from the capital and all alone on the battlefield while his family sat comfortably on their wealth and power. At least he could say he was killed in a battle with a Drakon, he thought as his eyes closed. Aureus slowly began to be conscious once more, his senses overwhelming him. He felt as if he was still in his body, only he must be in Laoth’s realm, because he felt no pain, and was laying on something soft. Opening his eyes to a familiar roof, he gasped and sat up, clutching at his chest as if expecting a blinding pain. He was alive?! He cried out, not understanding how he was alive. He blinked several times, trying to adjust to the light of wherever he was.
His eyes adjusted and focused on the room he appeared to be in. He paused. He hadn’t expected to be in his old home under Duke Caballero. Maybe he was in Einar’s realm? Was he being punished? He looked down to his hands and was shocked to find them small and uncalloused. He hesitantly raised his hands and placed them on his face, shocked to feel smooth and unscarred skin. Confused, he got out of his bed and searched for a mirror. He entered through the door he remembered as the one to his bathroom and froze in shock at the sight of his younger self in the reflection. He couldn’t be older than ten, he was so young. Aureus scrambled backwards, only he wasn’t used to his smaller limbs, causing him to fall and land awkwardly on his arm. He winced and supported his arm against his chest. This couldn’t be possible. How was he back? Was it all just a dream? This had to be some cruel joke. He wouldn’t subject even his worst enemies to reliving this hellish past.
Aureus panicked when he heard soft footsteps coming closer. Having gotten too used to fighting for his life on the front lines, he swiftly hid behind the great door, preparing himself to bite his way through tooth and nail whatever this was if he had to. “Young Master Aureus? Are you in here?” Aureus paused, trying to remember where he had heard this voice before. His eyes lit up with recognition. His old maid, Angelique, whom he called Angie in his youth. She was the only one who ever cared for him. She knew what it was like to be a noble child that no body wanted. She herself was a fallen noble, having to sell off her title in order to survive. He remembered her gentle hands as she cleaned his wounds. Her soft voice as she hummed a lullaby to help him sleep. This woman was the only reason he had not lost faith in all of humanity. She was a safe person.
He slowly moved out from behind the door and watched her as she continued to search the room. He stayed silent, simply observing her as if to ensure she was the same Angie from his past. The clumsy woman tripped on his rug, but caught herself just in time. This caused Aureus to be in her field of sight. She gave him a beautiful smile and soothed the wrinkles in her uniform. “Ah! Master Aureus! It’s time to prepare to meet with Professor Alfonzo- what happened to your arm?” Her smile was replaced with a frown as she looked over Aureus’ entire form, searching for anymore injuries. “Um” Very eloquent, Aureus. While he took the time to chastise himself she had come closer, grabbing onto his arm. “Did Master Zenon do this?!” Aureus looked up at her in shock. He hadn’t remembered Angelique being so hostile towards his family. Though it would make sense, since she was the one to mend all of his injuries his so called family inflicted upon him.
He yanked his arm back. “Brother Zenon didn’t do this. I fell down at an odd angle, that’s all.” Angelique glared at him, obviously not believing him. “There is no need to lie for him, Aureus. I cannot believe your own flesh and blood would do this to you. Shame on them!” Aureus sighed and looked away from her. He knew she was bound to realize he was different than the true ten year old Aureus, but he didn’t want to make it so obvious by glaring at her when she was only trying to care for him. “You said its time for my lessons, can you prepare my clothes for today and leave the room?” Angelique paused “But I always help dress you. Why would-“ she paused “Oh I see, you’re too old for that now, right?”
Truthfully Aureus felt embarrassed with a woman seeing his body, since he was still mentally a middle aged man. He was glad he wouldn’t need to come up with some ridiculous reason. “Yes, precisely.” Angelique winked at him and left the room after pulling out a simple black dress suit with shorts rather than pants. Aureus scowled at the pristine outfit. He hadn’t had such luxuries since before being Knighted and shipped off to the hellish camp. He despised feeling so trapped. His father only allowed him such luxuries because he was still technically the Duke's son and potential Heir if anything happened to his first born, Zenon. He knew from experience his father and elder brother would never accept him. His mind was whirling from having woken up in the past, but what was there to do other than wait it out? Perhaps he would wake up from this nightmare.
Aureus sighed and got dressed with practiced ease. The moment he got back he would need to sort out his thoughts. Whether he really was back or it was all a dream, his memories would be useful and it wouldn’t be smart to discard them so easily. He spent another couple of minutes tying his hair back with a simple green ribbon. He hadn’t had long hair since he was in his late teens, so it would take some time to get used to the frustratingly long strands once again. He left his room and began to make his way to the library to meet with his tutor. While his father never bothered to treat him as a son, he was still second in line to inherit the Dukedom, so he had always had lessons, albeit separate from Zenon’s. He entered the library and walked towards the older man with a pair of wiry spectacles, sitting between stacks of books.
He remembered Mordecai Alfonzo as being passionate in his studies, a true scholar. Maybe he could get some useful information out of him. “Young Master Aureus. Today, Duke Caballero has instructed me to remind you of the structure of our Kingdom. You are to take this lesson seriously and do your best to remember what I explain to you. I expect the Duke will want to test you on your knowledge by the end of the week.” Aureus struggled to keep his face clear of emotion. In his past life, he had always been an open book, pathetically vying for his families attention only to receive scorn. He was going to change that from now on.
He nodded and moved to sit down in front of the man. Of course, he already knew about the structure of the Kingdom, having been a Knight himself. Before their studies began, Aureus asked for the date, confirming that he really was ten years old and back in the past. Aureus sat back and listened with a passive expression as the man droned on about the beginning of the Etril Kingdom. “The Goddess of Judgment and creation, Laoth, and her two children Etrilo, the god of love and compassion, and Loenai, the god of learning and intellect, who later becomes Einar, the sickness of the world and creator of the Wisps, created humanity. One human stood above the others as a savior, Hendrick Wishmiar. He was said to have been blessed by Etrilo, gaining healing and protective Mana that founded the Kingdom, which he named after his god, Etrilo.” Aureus took notes in silence, letting Alfonzo speak.
“From then on, humans were blessed with Mana. The mortals use of Laoth’s blessing. The few stronger Mana users fought with the King to protect their people from non-believers, forming the nobility we now know. The wars humanity went through infected Loenai, whose wisdom could not comprehend the cruelties of humanity. Loenai separated from Laoth, wanting no part in humanity and even creating Wisps in an attempt to wipe the earth clean from humanities influence.” Aureus zoned out, instead writing down books he would need to find and read in order to get a good understanding of this times affairs. Several hours passed when Alfonzo suddenly closed the book he was reading out of and stood up, declaring that Aureus’ studies were finished for the day.
Aureus couldn’t help but sigh in relief. He bid the gentleman goodbye and began the long walk back to his room. He went to his desk, pulling out some parchment and a quill. If this was really time travel, he would need to begin with training his Mana reserves to prepare for the future. His senses had always been above average and he didn’t have to put any effort into having near perfect reflexes and marksmanship, but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t train and adjust to his new, younger body. He would also need to train his muscles and gain back the strength he once had. That would be the longest part of his new training regime. He grinned like a mad man when he realized he would be able to make some of the weapons he planned to create in his past.
He spent that evening copying down plans for the prototype in perfect detail and creating a training regime that he would follow. Soon enough, the day passed onto night and it was dinner time. Aureus was expected to eat with his father and brother, though he was trying to come up with any reason not to. He steeled himself for a tense dinner environment and made his way to the dining hall. His father looked up as he entered the room and Aureus felt his eye twitch in annoyance with the unimpressed glare he received. “You are late. Sit down.” He ignored the sneer his brother sent his way and walked over to the left of his fathers place mat. He sat down and stared at the table in silence as he waited for the food to arrive. Knowing he would need the Dukes training grounds to get further in his training, Aureus sat up straighter and turned towards the Duke.
“Your grace, might I be able to use the training grounds from now on?” His father looked away from his newsletter and down at him. “What use would you have for the training grounds? You have never shown an interest before. With what little Mana you have I doubt it would make any difference.” Aureus kept his face expressionless, though he was close to scowling. “I would like to begin training myself, I think it would be beneficial to our family name if I became stronger.” He hoped that bringing up his fathers reputation would do the trick. It wasn’t like he couldn’t train in his room, he could, but the training grounds had much more room and equipment that he could use. Zenon tended to train with spell fire anyway, so he wouldn’t be bothering anyone by using the old training dummies and equipment. “I suppose you should be able to use the training grounds. I expect you to spend your evenings there from now on. If you’ve shown that you are truly dedicated, then I will assign you a tutor to help you along.”
Aureus bit back a snide remark and simply nodded his head. He had to take a moment to remember the proper etiquette for eating, rather than quickly and sloppily eating like he had on the front lines. Dinner droned on, with Zenon explaining all that he had done that day to their father. Aureus sat back in silence, knowing he had already had his moment to speak. He finished his meal and asked to be excused. His father barely spared him a glance before dismissing him to his room. He quickly left the dining hall, heaving a deep sigh and stretching his arms out in front of him. He was exhausted. The day had gone by too fast with little preparation accomplished. He would need to work hard to prove to his father that he was capable of using the training grounds to ensure his plans succeeded.
Aureus walked back into his room, hoping to go over everything he wrote down and possibly add to the list. He wrote down the name of the man responsible for his weapons in the past, Lenard Hoffsman. The man was a smithing genius and had created precise and deadly weapons for the camp. Aureus would need to somehow get into contact with the man, who could only be around twenty years old at the moment. Aureus cursed his luck. He hadn’t truly had time to process being stuck in the past. He scowled as he thought of playing the part of a Duke’s son. Despite his father and brother hating him and believing him to be a pathetic waste of space, they required him to attend noble functions and act the part. Aureus would have to add etiquette to his studies. He barely knew enough to get by with family dinner at the moment, all those lessons forgotten in the years of his fight at the camp.
Aureus quickly got dressed in his night robes and lay down on his too soft mattress. He had grown used to sleeping on a cot or even the floor in the barracks of the Camp, not some soft and high quality bed that only the richest could afford. He sighed and stared up at the canopy, imagining sleeping in the barracks with Ian and victor. His two best friends who had been in his training regime during the first few months at the Camp. Aureus remembered being terrified and convinced he would die within the first week, when brothers Ian and Victor Crowle approached him. They were sons of Dame Victoria Crowle, a woman known for her strategic mind and formidable fighting style. She was also one of the higher ups at the Camp, and so the Crowle brothers were already well informed about the inner workings of the Camp. Aureus had trained alongside them, and had fought with them in battle.
They were his true brothers. They couldn’t be more than eight years old at the moment, a fact that caused the deep pit of despair in the back of his mind to strengthen. He would need to train hard so that the next time he met them, he would be able to protect them and guide them, as they had done for him. Aureus blew out the last remaining candle on his bedside table and closed his eyes, wishing for a dreamless sleep. Of course, he was never that lucky. He woke up with a scream building in his throat, sweat dripping from his face and muscles tense. He had dreamt of his first days in the Camp, when he had seen the horrors of battle for the first time. Pictures of half eaten corpses flashed in his mind, and Aureus had to blink for several moments. He felt disoriented and confused, before he realized he was somewhat safe in the Dukes Manor, far away from the Camp. For a moment, he questioned his choice to return to Camp Vynair, though he knew that with his past experiences, he wouldn’t be able to leave the men there to die.
He knew that the Drakon would show up once more and decimate the front lines. He thought of his true brothers, and knew he would go back no matter what. He could face the horrors of Vynair if it meant his family would live another day. Aureus looked around his fancy room and debated with himself how early he could leave for the Camp. He knew they accepted men and women of any age, oftentimes recruiting young soldiers to build up the reserve lines. They trained as they grew and supplied backup and tools to the front lines. They were expendable, but at least they didn’t have to fight in the front lines. If they did, they would surely die. Aureus himself had been a part of the reserve line for several years before he got scouted and sent to the front lines.
He got up and grabbed some clean clothing before making his way to his bathroom. He knew the maids would have prepared a bath for him, since in the past he had always gotten up rather early. He had been plagued with nightmares for as long as he could remember. At first, it had been night terrors about his father and brother abandoning him, or beating him bloody in training. But the moment he arrived at Camp Vynair, it had been about the men he lost along the way. Aureus shook himself out of his thoughts and stepped into the tub. He quickly did his morning routine and dressed himself in simple clothing that he could wear while training. He never had felt comfortable in his dress clothing, and now that he would be training every afternoon, he had an excuse to wear more simple clothing. He spent several agonizing moments combing through his shoulder length hair.
He wished desperately to cut it short again, though he knew it would not go over well with his father. He was to appear as any noble would, and the fashion of this time was longer hair. He tied it back and huffed out a sigh of relief when he was finished. He might be able to cut it shorter if he provides a good enough excuse. Short hair wouldn’t get in his way with training, and he wasn’t the Heir of Duke Caballero anyway, so it wasn’t like he had to look perfect like his elder brother Zenon. He left his room shortly after, choosing to take breakfast in the library. His stomach wouldn’t settle, but he knew if he was to begin his intense training regime that he would need to eat his fill.
He silently entered the Library, thanking Laoth that it was empty, and walked off in search for books on etiquette, finance, and running a Manor. He doubted he would ever get the chance to be the Heir, but it couldn’t hurt to prepare. He had neglected his studies in the past, an action that only brought him pain later on. At Camp Vynair, he had been given a higher position and had needed to learn how to command others within a very short time period. This had cost him the lives of many good men in the past, and he wouldn’t make the same mistake again. He knew that being a Lord of one's own house was probably much different than commanding soldiers, but he figured it couldn’t hurt. He did want to escape his family, after all. Any skill that he could use to build up his own finances and abilities to live alone would be necessary.
He spent the morning reading through a book on finances. When he lived in Camp Vynair, he was given a measly allowance from the King for the days that he was allowed to leave camp and enjoy a night in the nearest town. Only enough for room and board for the night, along with a warm meal. It wasn’t much, but it had given him a much needed break in a time of war. Later in the morning, He sat through another lesson with his teacher and quickly worked through a quiz on all that he had learned that day. Alfonzo was impressed with his ability to retain information, though he had already known what the lessons taught, and had awarded him with the weekend off from lessons, claiming he would inform the Duke of his improved learning ability and dedication.
Aureus would have told him not to bother, if it weren’t for the excited gleam in the man's eyes as he explained all that they would go through the following week. He might have created a monster out of the scholar. He used his walk to the training grounds to warm up his body and made sure to avoid eye contact with his brother as he was training in the Mana room. Aureus would have no need for that room, seeing as the little Mana he possessed was mainly incorporated into his senses rather than magical ability. He made his way over to the training dummies and weapons and tested out a few in his grip.
Even a simple rapier was much heavier than it used to be for him. He practiced shooting for a bit, and was relieved to find it as easy as he had before. Besides the resistance from the bow string, he could still hit the middle of every target he set his eyes upon. He practiced moving as he shot the targets, and stumbled a bit through the exercise. He cursed his small and weak body. Aureus spent some time practicing moving with a sword and hitting the wooden dummies with it. He was breathing deeply and dripping with sweat after only a few minutes. Despite his body's apparent weakness, his form was strong and just as good as it had been in his last days at the camp.
His body’s muscle memory was doing its job, and he couldn’t be more grateful for it. He knew his brother was watching him, though he did his best to ignore him. After a bit of practicing with the weapons, he decided it was time to work on his muscles in a more direct manner. He remembered the drills he went through when training for the Camp and did his best to replicate them. He grabbed a big rock and did as many squats as he could with them, giving himself breaks in between repetitions. He was only capable of doing a few push ups, though he ended up pushing himself further and doing them on his knees. He did a few core exercises and nearly collapsed from his exhaustion.
He made his way to the training grounds well and drank several goblets of water. He grabbed a towel from the maid that had been assigned to watch over him and wiped off his sweat. “Finally decided to stop being useless, have you? You can train all you want, you’ll never beat me with how little Mana you have.” Aureus did his best to keep his expression blank. He wouldn’t let his brother get the reaction he was desperate for. He drank one last goblet of water before turning and staring his brother down. “Have a good training session, brother.” He ignored the scoff and filthy remark his brother gave him and went back to training with some weapons. He found that using a simple dagger was easiest for him, and decided that carrying one or maybe even several on him at all times was a good idea.
With that in mind, he grabbed a small one to stash in his boot and strapped another on his forearm, hidden away by his shirt. He finished up training, noting that his fathers advisor and head butler was watching him from afar. He quickly made his way to his room, deciding to work on his Mana reserves for the rest of the evening. He requested dinner in his room, claiming to be too exhausted to leave it, and grabbed a pillow to sit on. He went to the corner of his room, the darkest part, and sat down, trying to calm his breathing and focus on the flow of Mana within him. For most people, it would take years to improve the flow of Mana in your body.
While people were born with the amount they would have their entire lives, they often needed to train their Mana flow to be more effective. Aureus was grateful he would only need to spend a few months on training his Mana flow, since he knew exactly what to do. He meditated for several hours until he could feel the Mana around his heart flow out to his fingertips. He groaned and stretched as he stood up. Maud, his maid for today, had brought him his food and left it in the reception area of his room. He quickly ate, doing his best to continue his etiquette training despite being alone, and went to call for a maid so that he could wash himself.
The hot water was provided and he was left alone once more. He washed all of the sweat and grime away and braided his hair back so that it wouldn’t frame his face. Remembering to ask his father about cutting his hair, he wrote a simple letter saying that he found it got in the way of his training and went off in search of the head Butler to give him it. With that out of the way, he went back to his room and began to read more of the books he took from the library. He never liked reading, though now he was determined to read every damn book in the library if it helped. He was grateful he still had his adult mind, otherwise some of the books would have been difficult for him to read. He closed a book on etiquette and the language of Nobles and did some stretching before heading to bed.
The next morning, Aureus dressed in his training outfit once more and asked a maid with haircutting experience to cut his hair. He had gotten a simple letter replying to his request that allowed him to cut his hair and he planned to do it. The maid from the day before, Maud, cut his hair, leaving it longer on the top than he wanted. She refused to cut it close to his scalp, claiming a Noble man would never have such an unruly haircut. He shrugged it off, figuring it was better than nothing. He spent a few hours meditating, figuring it couldn’t hurt to focus on that on the days his tutor had given him off.
He tested his abilities and found that his Mana gave him sharper vision and slightly faster healing. When he focused, he could direct it towards his limbs to have better coordination. After his morning meditation, he met with his father and brother to eat lunch, which had been a quiet affair. His father was giving him a displeased look, his eyes landing on his shorter hair with disdain. He kept his blank mask on, knowing it was unnerving his brother. Once lunch was over, he spent the afternoon training and then spent another hour horse-riding on the smallest horse they had. He knew he wasn’t supposed to have any knowledge on horse riding, since technically he had ‘never shown interest’ before, though he didn’t care at the moment.
It had taken him the entire hour to get used to his small body while horse riding, though by the end of it he was able to shoot at targets while riding with no problem. He knew his brother was shocked with his sudden ability to fight, and he fully expected him to throw a fit over it. That being said, he was pleasantly surprised when his brother left the training grounds without saying a word about it. The head butler was watching him once more, and once more he ignored him, not showing any signs of having seen him. Several weeks of this had passed, with Aureus training for several hours every day.
His Mana was currently focused on healing his muscles so that he could see results faster. He couldn’t see any visible change in his physique, though he knew his form with a sword was improving and he was able to push himself further in his training. His father had praised him for his dedication, and demanded that he continue for a few months before he would assign a tutor. As expected, Zenon had gone to their father to complain. What was unexpected, however, was that their father scolded him and told him he needed to work harder, since even his pathetic younger brother was outshining him. It was obvious that Aureus was nowhere near “outshining” Zenon, though he figured his father used him for inspiration. His heir had to at least be able to outshine a Magic-less younger brother, after all.
Aureus had gotten further in his studies and his tutor was excited to have a “genius” student. Alfonzo constantly praised him and gave him free reign of what he would be taught from then on. This turned out to be an incredible boon, and Aureus found himself excited for his tutoring sessions. Perfecting his etiquette had impressed his father, not that he wanted it to, and had made using a blank mask and manipulative language almost second nature to him. He easily got away from his brother's harassment by continuing to be civil and was able to get his maids and tutor to adore him. He had checked his savings, which had been building and found himself pleased with the large sum of money he had stashed away. He had no doubt that he would be able to leave and start his life with the amount he had now, and anything more would only add to that.