Chapter 3
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Becoming the Master of Lightning
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“Young Master. A letter has arrived from the main house.”
“A letter?”
It was one day, three months after he had started staying at the villa.
Johann had just finished his early morning meal and was about to head out for training when Willard handed him a letter.
After tearing open the seal and checking the contents, Johann handed the letter back to Willard. Willard looked curious.
“May I ask what it says?”
“It's a summons. My confinement's over, so they want me to come back home.”
“What?!”
Willard shouted in surprise, then realized his mistake and hurriedly bowed his head.
“S-Sorry. I got carried away...”
“Even if you're happy about it, at least control your expression.”
“It's not that. I'm just sorry to see you go.”
He wasn't just saying it.
Ever since Johann had changed, the distance between him and Willard had grown much closer. Or more precisely, it felt like Johann had come down to their level.
The maids and soldiers felt the same way.
The old Johann would have exploded in rage at the slightest mistake, but these days, he barely even glanced at minor slip-ups.
He often covered for them quietly or turned a blind eye when no one was watching.
And every now and then, he'd offer the servants warm encouragement and comfort...
At first, they had been uneasy and struggled to adjust, but after three months, everyone had grown comfortable with this new Johann and went about their work with ease.
And because the atmosphere was so relaxed, the kinds of mistakes born from tension had started to decrease.
Who would have ever imagined Willard exchanging casual banter with Johann like this?
“Sorry to disappoint, but I'm staying here for the foreseeable future.”
“Really? You, who was counting the days more than anyone to return to the main house?”
'Yeah, right. If it were the clueless me from back then, I'd have jumped at the chance...'
Johann chuckled softly.
There were plenty of upsides to returning to the main house. Above all, there were so many more ways to have fun. But with the fun came prying eyes and people he had to watch out for.
'Especially since I still don't know who's in the Empire's Shadows. Drawing their attention recklessly would be dangerous.'
Right after the continental war broke out, civil wars erupted in most kingdoms as if by some prior agreement.
The kingdoms, forced to focus their strength on internal strife, crumbled easily before the Empire.
In the end, they became the key to the Empire's unification of the continent.
He later learned by chance that it was all the work of the Empire's shadowy division called the Shadows, but their makeup and plans remained a mystery to the end.
'I can explain away any change in my appearance. But the other things I need to do? No excuses for those. If I'm caught midway, it could all be over.'
What Johann needed most was 'power'. Personal ability mattered, of course, but the greatest power was an army.
House Crimford, where he was born, certainly boasted a fine force of private soldiers. Including the vassals' troops, they commanded over 30,000 strong, making them a great noble house.
'But that's the family's army, the patriarch's army—not mine.'
Besides, House Crimford's forces were surely under constant scrutiny from the Shadows lurking in the kingdom, their eyes burning with intent.
If the family's troops mobilized, word would reach the Empire immediately.
'I need a strong army they don't know about—one that moves at my command.'
But before assembling such a force, the first requirement was his own ability.
***
The villa where Johann was currently confined was a place even family members rarely visited, staffed minimally with one butler, three maids, and ten soldiers.
In short, staying here meant he could ignore prying eyes and the Shadows.
'Plus, my bad reputation comes in handy here.'
As the notorious playboy young master of the house, if he stayed longer at the villa, no one would complain—deep down, they'd be thrilled.
After all, he'd just cause trouble if he returned.
Thanks to that, Johann was free to push himself through grueling hellish training without a care.
“Huff... huff!!”
Having finally shed his heavy layer of fat, Johann now strapped sandbags several times heavier all over his body and dashed up steep mountain paths.
He was chasing a mountain hare.
With a bow in hand and quiver on his back, the reason he pursued the hare was to adapt his pre-regression instincts to his current body.
'Damn, the disconnect is too big. My mind knows it, but my body won't follow...'
A mere 0.1-second lag felt like falling 100 meters behind in a race. The gap between his current body and senses was over three seconds.
That was like controlling a puppet that controlled another puppet—a disconnect that left him helpless.
The only solution was training: first, training; second, training; third, training.
Johann trained relentlessly every single day without rest. To others, it looked like he'd drop dead, but he pressed on like a madman obsessed.
Even with that effort, narrowing the gap from three seconds to 0.1 took a full year.
Without it, it might have taken years more.
But it wouldn't go below 0.1 seconds. Not without the next step...
'Finally...'
Johann sensed the moment had come and steeled himself.
***
Shwaaaaa!
Rumble... Boom!
On a day when rain poured like a hole had opened in the sky and lightning ceaselessly lit up the heavens.
Confirming the time was right, Johann stepped out of the villa.
“Y-Young Master? You're not going out now, are you?”
The soldiers, steadfast at the door despite the downpour and wearing raincoats, were stunned to see him emerge.
“Just heading out for a bit. Don't tell Willard. I'll be right back. Carry on.”
“Wait! Young Master! Young Master!!”
Before they could stop him, Johann bolted off, vanishing in an instant. No exaggeration—he was now too fast for any soldier to catch, even at full sprint.
The place he reached by running was a massive boulder atop a wild hill he'd scouted beforehand.
The rain made the treacherous path even slicker and deadlier, but Johann ascended nimbly like a deer and reached the rock.
Rumble, Boom!!
Atop the peak, thunder roared louder, lightning flashed brighter. Danger was a given.
But this was exactly what Johann had been waiting for.
He climbed onto the barren boulder, settled into a comfortable pose, and—defying all reason—raised both hands toward the sky amid the storm?
It was utter madness.
Even Johann, who thought himself resolved, let out a hollow laugh as fear made his body tremble.
'Fuck, I thought if I died, I'd never endure that pain again...'
Suddenly, memories from his younger days flashed before him like a montage.
Unlike his brother Howard, a prodigy praised for his talent in swordsmanship and mana, Johann had shown not a speck of mana aptitude.
Or so it seemed. In truth, he did have talent for mana. It just required a... unique awakening method.
Then it struck.
Flash!
Lightning blazed, a bolt surging through Johann's upraised palm and racing across his body.
Rumble!
Thunder exploded deafeningly, but Johann heard nothing.
Agony engulfed him, his brain frying.
'Ughhhhh...!!'
Ants by the billions marched through his veins, shredding everything. He blacked out and snapped back countless times.
His fluids boiled away, organs charred, bones split. He wished for death.
'S-Snap out of it! Lose focus now, and you're really dead!'
But this was the only way.
Back as a battle slave on endless fronts, a stray bolt had changed his life.
Rumble, Boom!!
More bolts hammered him.
Johann clenched his teeth till his gums bled, clinging to consciousness. He desperately guided the lightning into his mana circuits.
'Last time, I took it blindly and passed out. Only half the circuits activated—but even that gave me immense power! If I can fully activate them all this time...!'
With that resolve, he endured dozens of strikes before finally collapsing unconscious.
***
“Ngh...”
When he came to, a clear blue sky greeted him. Then a pounding headache gripped his skull.
It faded quickly. Only then could Johann assess himself.
'Should've stripped first...'
Dozens of direct lightning hits had reduced his clothes to ash long ago.
'Alive, at least...'
Survival wasn't the point. Mana circuit activation was.
Closing his eyes, he probed inward—and froze in shock.
'My god...'
Before, twelve impurities had clogged his mana circuits.
He learned later that they were why he couldn't sense or handle mana.
In his past life, battlefield lightning shattered them, activating the circuits and granting power.
Only six impurities destroyed then—half activation. Yet the power was tremendous.
He'd tried again later, risking death.
But resistance had formed; the rest wouldn't budge. Just pointless agony.
This time, he went all-in to purge them all at once...
'This much?'
All twelve gone, circuits perfectly complete—not just twice as good, but beyond.
Fully activated, mana flooded in like a waterfall with each breath, racing through the circuits.
Circulating mana filled him with vitality.
This complete opening dwarfed his past incomplete power—several times over.
But it wasn't over. One crucial thing remained.
“Long time no see.”
Crackle, snap!
Johann grinned down at the lightning sparking wildly in his palm.