Syracruse

My parents live in Syracruse.

It's part of a world that is currently in the early stages of industrialization. Due to the massive blowback from the public, progress has been slower than a snail crossing the road.

Therefore, the absolute Monarchy doesn't show any signs of dissolving anytime soon.

The feudal system surrounding it is a massive pain to deal with. Eventually, I will have to either dissolve it by myself or change it to better suit my needs.

But why, you might ask.

Under the current system, the wealth distribution is a disaster. And the benefits that come with wealth are so insane, that the hereditary aspect of the nobility makes certain to never allow a disruption. Meaning that no one born poor can ever get rich. Since everything costs money, this practically disables poor families.

The weirdest part about this is that only the nobility, or the rich, are allowed to have a family name. I guess it's one way to ensure the poor and less fortunate can't work together to improve their situation.

Although, it isn't necessarily the nobility's fault that things turned out this way.

This world, or at least, this country revolves around the use of a person's life force.

People born with the necessary talent, can use this force to strengthen their bodies beyond the realm of possibility. A teenager can easily crush a boulder. An adult can crack the ground. A 'Hero' can blow away a mountain.

The First King of Syracruse, Oeagrus Alder, coined the term 'Spirit' to describe this life force.

Spirit can only be used to strengthen our body from the inside. In rare cases, this can extend to the weapon we hold.

Essentially, Spirit can only work internally, and cannot be exerted externally.

Despite this, talented people in history found various uses for Spirit. The most notable one is using it to fight wars.

Wars against monsters.

Oeagrus Alder awarded the five soldiers who survived the First War with the title of 'Hero'. The perks of being a Hero were even greater than being a noble.

People who made it to the military but were too weak to be worshipped as a Hero were called Knights.

Your talent for Spirit manipulation was determined at birth, and would never improve throughout your life. Meaning that Knights and Heroes could only be born, not made. You could work hard, but in the end, all that did was improve your control over a measly amount of Spirit. To become a Hero, you needed both control and access to a ridiculous amount of Spirit, which you would only receive at birth, or you wouldn't.

Now, I come back to why I said it isn't the nobility's fault.

Most of the Knights born after the initial five heroes, were born to a couple in high standing. The average talent for Spirit in those born into a commoner's family was so low that even if they wanted to pursue that path, they could only go into very specific professions, excluding the military.

This led to researchers regarding talent in Spirit as hereditary.

Since only the nobles produced offspring capable of protecting Humanity from Monsters, Kings were forced to cater to their wishes.

The tax exemptions and business opportunities for a noble are nothing to scoff at. Coupled with the fact that most of them have a small military force of their own...

Even if a talented citizens emerged from the common masses, they would be crushed mentally and physically before ever becoming a Knight.

If a child shows they can use their Spirit, then they are enrolled into a Central Academy. It was founded by the First King shortly before his death. There are no monetary fees, and the child is taken care of until it is time to choose a career. It is supposed to be independent but is secretly managed by the children of higher-ranking nobles.

A noble's child is taught well by the teachers and will make tons of friends on day one.

Meanwhile, a Nameless will be discriminated against. Most of the teachers didn't want to be associated with someone like that.

Under the reign of the Third King, Calliope Alder, the Central Academy was divided into two different courses.

The Knight course for the nobles, and the Common course for the Nameless.

By the way, Nameless is how they refer to a person without a family name.

The course division further promoted discrimination and the Academy became a joke. Instead of a place to nurture future Knights and bridge that small gap that some students would encounter....it became a placeholder. A leisure park, to spend a few years of your life at while you prepare for adulthood.

Perhaps if the delusional God, Z had intervened earlier, the situation would not have escalated to today's standards.

My father's name is Athan, and my mother's name is Iris.

We have no family name.

Athan, despite having the least talent possible in using his Spirit, was as strong as anyone in his class. He compensated with his unnatural physical composition and talent in weapon arts, which earned him praise from even the stubborn professors. In the end, the Common course offers nothing compared to the Knight course. There was talk of moving him with the nobles, but it was shot down quicker than an annoying fly.

Despite all that, he gained immense popularity during his teens. The noble kids, especially the males, were jealous of him and had him expelled a month before graduation, accusing him of assaulting the then 'princess' of the Academy.

Ignoring the humiliation that had brought, Athan garnered attention wherever he went. His stern looks scared off malicious people, and his kind personality attracted more kindness. Using his strength to assist in all sorts of manual labor, he settled down in the city of Anastasios, named after the 4th Hero.

He met Iris there. It took Iris, and the townsfolk, over two years of convincing to get Athan to marry her.

Anastasios had founded the Adventurer's Guild, and its roots ran deep, originating from this city. The popular Hero wanted people with a drive for adventure to go on expeditions and act as 'scouts' for the Knights. You didn't need to utilize Spirit to work as an adventurer. Most adventurers just briefly learned a weapon art to defend themselves and ventured into the outside world.

Since several wars have left the Monster populace nearly extinct, adventurers today encounter next to no risk when on an expedition.

After Anastasios' death, even this organization wasn't immune to politics and suffered greatly. But it was able to maintain its core purpose throughout the years, which is why Athan joined.

Athan went on a total of 12 expeditions spanning over 20 years.

He quit shortly after the last expedition because he wanted to spend more time with Iris.

...

Anyway, that's all the information that just came flooding into my head. Or at least, the summary.

Z is mentally ill....this would've overloaded and killed any normal baby.

However, thanks to my parents being frozen at a baby speaking fluently, I was able to process the information.

Speaking of a baby speaking, I can speak the language of this world, and understand it as easily as breathing.

Although, father and mother are still frozen...so I'm not sure telling them to keep my name was a good choice anymore.

I looked around and saw our house.

I realized that the rags on Athan and Iris weren't reflecting their financial situation, but rather just something they wore for the pregnancy.

The house was decent. Made of wood and concrete, it was everything short of luxury.

We were on the 2nd floor. This room had random carvings on the walls in places even an infant could reach if he stood up. Maybe Iris did herself to make this a baby room.

I want to tour the rest of the house, so I hope they wake up soon.