Tsuyokute New Saga (LN) Book 1: Chapter 1

Thanks to the warm and gentle light showering Kyles face, he awakened.

This place is?

He pushed up his body, and looked around as he muttered these words in a daze. The reason for his confusion was not because he found himself in an unfamiliar environnt by any ans. Rather, his surroundings were too nostalgic that it left him bewildered. On the wall hung the fake training sword he had received from his father during his younger days, and the bookshelf was riddled with books he was given to by his mother. Not to ntion that his thoroughly-used desk and chair still stood at the location he rembered, and the bed he found himself in was the exact sa which he had slept in a long ti ago.

Theres no way he would be mistaken. This is the sa place he spent the greater half of his life at: His own room, located in his hotown which had been annihilated a year ago during the demons Great Invasion.

Why am I?

Kyle tried to understand the situation he found himself in with his sleepy consciousness, when the door opened at great montum, and an energetic voice reached his ears.

How long are you going to sleep? Hurry and get up already.

A girl that seed to be between 15 and 20 years old. Her reddish-brown curly hair was her trademark, and her actions were overflowing with vigor and energy, to a level where you cheered up just watching her.

Lieze

Ever since the day he was born, Kyle had seen her face on pretty much a daily basis. She was his childhood friend, and a person he should not have been able to et again.

What, you were awake? For crying out loudStarting today, youll be 16, so pull yourself together, will you. She put one hand on her hip, as she complained.

She had always been like this. Even though they were practically the sa age, just because she was born a few months prior to Kyle, she treated him like a younger brother. Kyle gazed at Liezes face in bewildernt, but eventually realized.

Ah, a dream He smiled, devoid of any strength.

It was a kind, yet cruel dream. Being able to have such a dream during his last monts, as a reward for having saved the world, it was such horrible irony. These days nothing happened, this peaceful and irreplaceable daily life, which Kyle only started to miss after it was gone, he could experience it one last ti. However, it didnt matter if it was a dream, or a hallucination. As long as he could return to this ti for a few more monts

Kyle? Lieze let out a dubious voice as she observed her childhood friend, but eventually approached Kyles bed. Whats wrong?

She approached him to a distance where he could feel her breath, as she narrowed her eyes even more. Without answering her words, Kyle rely jumped up to embrace her.

K-K-K-Kyle!?

Lieze! Lieze! Lieze!

He continued to call out her ti, hugging her stronger and stronger, as if he frantically begged for this mont to continue even another second.

W-W-W-Wait a second, what are you doing!? Lieze started twisting and turning inside his arms, but she couldnt bring up the strength to break free. U-Ugh

Eventually, her resistance ended entirely, as she cald down, her face beet red. Once a few seconds passed, Kyle realized that sothing was off. He could feel Liezes warmth on his body, the flowery scent coming from her hair tickled his nose, and her voice, muttering W-Where did that co from or I need to ntally prepare myself, sounded oddly real. Soon after that, his head cleared up fully.

Huh?

For a dream, it felt far too realistic. The left hand he had placed on Liezes back slowly moved down towards that place, and grabbed it fiercely.

Eeek!? Liezes body twitched in shock.

Hm?

Since Kyle received a warm, soft, and comfortable sensation on his hand, he continued groping it.

Eh? Ah? Nos-stopMm! Lieze let out a panicky voice.

Oh right, I always thought that she had a thick bum despite her ageis what Kyle had in his head.

However, at that ti, Kyle failed to realize that, as a natural phenonon, a certain one part of his had gotten quite energetic. And, through groping the erotic behind of a mber of the opposite sex, who even was his age, this very part turned even more energetic. In their current position, naly Kyle passionately embracing Lieze, it made sense that she could feel his energetic part. If anything, said part was directly pressed onto her.

!? Imdiately, her facial color changed from red to blue. N-Noooooooo!?

With a sudden influx of strength in her arms, she broke free from Kyles hold, slightly lowered her hip, and swung her land like a whip at him. This slap not only used her arms strength, but her entire bodys force, like it was one smooth motion, and slamd right onto Kyles jaw. As a result, his body danced through the air like a cot, and was slamd right into the bookshelf.

W-What are you doing out of the blue like that! Idiot! Lieze scread, tears in her eyes, as she stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Kyle was leaning against the wall upside down, buried in books, as his brain finally woke up enough to catch onto the pain assaulting his jaw.

Huh? Its not a dream?

At the sa ti as he muttered these words, he opened up his right hand, which had been clenched tightly even after he woke up. The sound of sothing dropping to the floor rang out, and when Kyle looked down, he was greeted by the crimson-colored blood-red gemstone he picked up from the altar.

Soits not a dream, huh. Kyle sat down on his bed, and gently rubbed the still-stinging jaw of his. There shouldnt be a dream where I can feel painBut then, what exactly is going on? His consciousness had fully returned, but this reality was hard to accept.

If his mory served him correctly, he should have bested the Demon Lord in his castle, and suffered lethal wounds as a resultHowever, if this right now wasnt a last dream before his death, then what in the world?

Its not so hypnosis or hallucination, as that doesnt work against Also, I doubt that a demon would use such a technique on during its last monts

Going along with that train of thought, he looked down at his left arm. It should be riddled with wounds, fully unusable.

Its healNo, thats not it.

With the wounds he had suffered, not even high grade healing magic should be able to fully heal it with no scars remaining, not to ntion that it didnt feel numb at all. Speaking from experience, Kyle could tell. However, as far as his eyes didnt play any tricks on him, it looked like it was brand new, and he could even move it freely. Its like he never suffered any wounds to begin with.

The sa was the case for the countless wounds that should have riddled his body. After testing it, he realized that he was in perfect shape, and the pain he had felt before, as well as the sense of fatigue, were gone.

After thinking about it for a second, Kyle made up his mind, and left the room. As he expected, the outside of the room was exactly as he rembered. And, after confirming his own appearance in the large mirror in the reception room, he was certain.

Figured as muchI look younger now.

Because of the endless fighting, he had fully forgotten about his own birthday, but he should have been around twenty. Contrary to that however, the Kyle reflected in the mirror was much younger than that, and all the scars he earned through the fighting had vanished without a trace.

His hotown that should have been destroyed, his childhood friend that should have died, his younger body, and Liezes previous wordsThere is only one conclusion that could explain all of it.

Is this the past? Did I travel back in ti?

He took out the red gemstone out of his pocket. As before, it held beauty and eeriness unbefitting of this world, but the mana1 had vanished from it.

No, that shouldnt be possibleI dont rember there being any magic that could help you travel back to the pastBut, theres no other explanation Kyle held his head for a while, but eventually gave up on thinking as his stomach complained loudly. I guess theres so things that never changeBut, that only proves that this is reality.

Wondering what he could eat, Kyle made his way towards the kitchen, only to find a breakfast prepared already. Standing on the table was freshly baked bread, together with so soup containing dried at and vegetables, scrambled eggs, salad, a fruit desserta nutritious breakfast.

Did Lieze make this?

Since Kyle and his family werent the greatest cooks, she would often do the cooking for them. Thinking about how nobody could compete with her, Kyle put so food into his mouth. A nostalgic taste tickled his tongue. It was an unforgettable taste he hadnt gotten to eat the entire last year.

Gotta eat thisbefore it grows cold, huh

As if to ride the urge to cry in the face of this nostalgic taste, Kyle gulped down the food like a wild animal.

I guess I ate too much, huh. Kyle said with a wry smile, as he looked down at the empty plate in front of him.

There had actually been a good amount of food on it, but it all vanished.

Its a bit late for to say that, but that amount wasnt just for one person, rightHm?

At that mont, Kyle heard the sound of the entrance door opening, with soone entering inside. He was wary for a second, but he could tell who it was a second later. All too familiar footsteps slowly but surely approached the kitchen.

Sup~

Entering was a man with short blonde hair, looking like the delinquent neighbourhood kid grew up without changing. He wore clothes that allowed for easy movent, a sword at his side.

Seran

Just as Lieze, he was Kyles childhood friend, and one of these rotten connections as you would call it. And, this connection stayed intact until Serans last monts.

Rare to see you awake this early. Considering how youre bad at getting up in the morning.

Y-YeahS-Sowell, how are you doing lately?

We t yesterday, what are you on about? Seran said with a confused tone in his voice.

Kyle got his breathing under control, and took a closer look at Serans face. It was different after all.

Your idiotic face is still the sa, but the Seran Ive known was overflowing with experience. The way you are right now makes you look like a moron with a bit of talent at best

I got no clue what youre talking about, but I can at least guess that youre insulting , you bastard.

He was young again, most likely the sa age as Kyle. Because of his previous confusion, Kyle didnt pick up on it, but Lieze had grown younger as well.

Aint got ti to bother with you right now. More importantly, breakfastbreakfastgone!? Seran scread in disbelief as he looked at the empty pot. Did you seriously eat all of that?!

Was pretty delicious, you know?

Oh right, this guy often stopped by for food, didnt heKyle thought to himself.

God damn it, Lieze seed busy all day yesterday so I figured Id co over and maybe snatch so food for myselfShes as violent as a gorilla, but her cooking is great so I was actually looking forward to it. Seran complained, as he ran his finger along the pot, getting a taste of the last bit of soup inside.

Watching this, Kyle made up his mind.

So~ Let ask sothing weirdWhat day and year is it right now?

Hm? That sure is a weird thing to ask. Its the 24th of the 5th month, year 2823.

It really was the date four years in the past.

Are you sure about that?

Why are you this shocked by that? I dont think Im wrong Seran spoke that far, and clapped his hands together with a Ah. That reminds , todays your birthday, right? Not like Id care about the birthday of so bastard like you, thoughSo what, you wanted to congratulate you?

No, I dont enjoy receiving blessings from a bastard either.

Seran finished scooping out the last bit of soup, and shrugged his shoulders.

Aye aye, then your birthday present was todays breakfast. Arent you happy.

That? Really? Also, that food wasnt yours to begin with.

Seran didnt bother responding to Kyles words, and walked towards the door.

Where are you going?

If Im not getting any food, then I got no business being here. Ill look for Lieze and get so from herWas delicious after all. He muttered that last part. If I slam my head against the ground and beg really hard, she might just make so. After all, shes got so sweet spots as well. Seran said, not hesitating at all.

Ever sinceNo, as always, you never choose the thod to reach your goal, huh. Not to ntion that you imdiately throw away your pride.

Dont praise like that, Im gonna blush.

Nobody is praising you.

Ah, my birthdays in the 8th month, 2nd day, so I expect so good money, or a great woman, aye? Seran waved his hand, as he stepped out.

He sure didnt changedoes he ever, I wonder. Kyle watched off Seran, and showed a bitter smile.

Its been a while since he exchanged such casual words with Seran. Before, it had been part of a dull and never changing daily life, but now Kyle treasured it even more.

Now thenwhat should I do.

Kyle had to accept the fact that he travelled back to the past, but he hadnt the foggiest as to how that even worked. Whatever it may be, pondering about it alone would most likely not give him an answer. He would have preferred to consult soone, but he had to be careful as to who.

Guess theres only one person. Just hope theyre awake. Kyle scratched his head, and headed towards the location of the person in question.

Kyle and the Lenard Family he belonged to lived in the outskirts of the town Rimarze, which was located in the Kingdom of Zilgus. Though not rich, they possessed a sort-of mansion, which offered three floors and a wide garden. Kyle moved to the corner of this garden. At the end of the stone-paved way stood a robust bungalow, which possessed no windows, and the second you opened the door, you were greeted by stairs leading underground.

Once he opened the bulky door on the underground floor, Kyle was welcod by a dense and nostalgic scent which filled the room. The entire place was riddled to the brim with bookshelves, and even they couldnt contain all the books that were scattered across the floor. On the windowless wall hung a semi-permanent magic item, imbued with [Light] magic. This was a safety asure so that the books wouldnt suffer any damage, with adjusted light strength, as humidity was a books greatest enemy. It looked simple, but setting up the magic was this was quite difficult, and cost a large amount of money.

Even the collection of books offered a great variety itself, reaching from picture books aid at children, to prohibited books that had been around during the Ancient Magic Kingdom era. In the center of the room stood a table, with a mountain of books on top of it. The woman sitting in the middle of that, half buried by books, picked up on Kyles arrival, and showed him a smile.

Ah, Kyle-chan, its rare for you to co here. Not to ntion at this ti.

There she was. Kyle imagined that she would be there, but being able to see her like this made his heart race in joy. He however hid these feelings, and calmly spoke up.

Its morning already. Were you reading books all night again, Mom.

Eh? Ah, its morning? I really cant tell the ti when Im in here. Kyles mother, Seraia, let out a yawn as she responded.

She possessed a childish face with shortly-cut hair, and through her small body, she looked much younger than she actually was. She surely passed her thirties already, but with Kyle together, they looked more like sister and brother, rather than mother and son.

I got a question. Do you have so ti right now?

Listening to Kyles words, Seraia looked at him with a bit of puzzlent.

My my, what is this, asking sothingAh, if its about my first eting with your Father, then I dont mind telling youIt all began twenty years ago

Another ti, please. Kyle imdiately cut off his mother before she could say anything unnecessary.

The story when his parents t would always go on for hours, and hearing it to the very end induced a trauma inside young Kyle.

I wanted to ask sothing about magic.

Magic? Are you sure about asking ?

I dont know anybody whod be more proficient about magic than you, Mom.

With magic, there are generally three types: Holy Magic, which borrows the strength of the Gods to cause miracles; Spirit Magic, which allows you to use magic responding to the spirits residing in this world, generally split into the four elents of Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. And finally, there exists Ancient Language Magic, which was developed during the period of the Ancient Magic Kingdom. Out of these types, humans generally used Holy Magic and Ancient Language Magic, and Seraia was an Ancient Language Magic user.

Ancient Language Magic is split up in six grades, which consist of lower grade magic, common grade magic, interdiate grade magic, advanced grade magic, high grade magic, and finally supre grade magic. At the sa ti, there exist ranks corresponding to the magic they can use. To be precise, those who can use lower grade magic are called Magician, common grade users are Sorcerers, interdiate grade ans youre a Wizard, advanced grade magic corresponds to Mage, and high grade magic users are Archmages.

Since there exist only a handful supre grade magic users in the entire human folk population, they generally receive individual titles. An example would be the Queen of the Holy Kingdom Shura, [Glorious2] Sakira.

As for Seraia herself, she was one of the few Archmages existing in this nation. Rumours say that she was even recomnded to the Galgan Empire as a court mage. However, through the money she earned in her younger days, and the inheritance she received from Kyles grandfather, who passed away right before his birth, she is now living in peace, spending her days gathering and reading books. Not even Kyle knows what brought her to this remote location, and his ears would probably fall off if he asked. However, when looking into anything magic-related, she was probably the most reliable around Kyle.

Sois there a type of magic that lets you return to the past?

There is, yeah. Seraia said like it was nothing special.

R-Really!?

Indeed, its not well-known by any ans, but there exists magic that can interfere with ti.

I never heard about such convenientNo, rule-breaking magic.

Which makes sense. Even if it exists, nobody can use it. Giving you the detailed logistics behind it would take days to explain, but I can confidently say that magic that can influence ti has been found. The reason that its impossible to use however is the amount of mana it requires.

Mana is the source of energy needed to activate magic, and those who use magic generally hold a certain amount inside of them.

If you were to put a grade on ti magic, it would be ten ranks above supre grade magic. Let alone humans, not even dragons or gods can use it. If you were to see the flow of ti as a large river, us humans would be ants at best. Do you think ants would be able to influence the flower of a river? Even if the greatest Archmage in history were to use their life to generate mana, they would only be able to influence ti for a monts length, at best.

That is why people dont even know that it exists, Seraia added.

I seeThen, what would you need if you wanted to revert ti back to a few years ago?

Years? That would need imasurable amounts of magic. I wouldnt even know how to gather such an amount. Seraia said as she shook her head.

So thenwhat if you used a magic item?

Ahh. Seraia raised a voice at Kyles words. That sounds interesting indeed. With a magic item, you would be able to store manaIt does take ti, but eventually, you might be able to use ti magic. Seraia seed like she was pondering about it, but eventually shook her head. No, I doubt that. Theres way too many problems with that. Even if you could store the mana, it would take a single Archmage a thousand years to store enough of it.

What if you were to use the forbidden ritual?

Hearing that word, Seraias face grew grim.

Indeed, with that forbidden magic, you might be able to gather enough mana, butHow do you know of that?

The forbidden ritual is a ritual of sacrifices. By exchanging life essence into mana, you can gain amounts of it that wouldnt be possible otherwise. Not to ntion that the sacrifices dont even have to have any mana inside of them. There was once an incident where a wizard fell into darkness, and sacrificed an entire village to experint on evil magic. As a result of that, this forbidden ritual is known as prohibited magic, and is hidden as much as possible.

I only read about it in a book, but I dont really know the details.

During the closing years of the war Kyle experienced, humans had no other option but to refer to this forbidden ritual in order to fight against the demons.

I seeBut, even if you were to use that ritual, it would be impossible. If you wanted to deal with a few years of ti, you would need the greater half of all humans living on this continent as sacrifices.

Right, theres no way soone would do that.

That being said, if you were to sacrifice so many people, you would indeed gain the amount of mana you needed. Kyle rembered the mountains of corpses littered around the Demon Lords castle. They were all human folk who were abducted and forcefully taken to the demons territory, and as proof of them having their mana sucked out of them, they looked like withered tree branches.

The other problem is the catalyst. With any other magic, you would need magic stones or gemstones or the like, but I doubt any catalyst exists that could carry this vast amount of mana.

If the catalyst couldnt carry the amount of mana stored inside of it, it would break apart, and cause an explosion with the mana growing rampant.

The only item that would make this possiblewould probably be the legendary Heart of the Divine Dragon.

With these words, Seraia took out a single old book out of the mountain she sat inside. It seed to be chaotic from an outsiders perspective, but apparently Seraia herself had marked down all the locations herself.

Ah, this is it. The Heart of the Divine Dragon.

Shown inside the book she opened was an anecdote of the Heart of the Divine Dragon, as well as a rough illustration of the object itself.

Legends say there existed a dragon stronger than the gods themselves. The remains of this dragon harbored more strength and power than the gods who had lived for all eternity. The ones who managed to salvage this item were the human Ancient Magic Kingdom Zaales3. And, this Zaales succeeded in extracting the mana inside. Thanks to this unfathomable amount of mana, Zaales has prospered for a thousand years and more.

However, after being used for this supply, the Heart of the Divine Dragon eventually used up all of its mana stored inside. This incident eventually led to the ruin of humanitys greatest and longest prospering Ancient Magic Kingdom Zaales.

And, because it ended up completely empty, you can store new mana inside of it. If I had to guess, it probably would be the best container for that amount of mana needed. But, now that Zaales is gone, and we dont even know where its ruins could be, this item stayed in darkness for the past thousand years. Does it even exist anymore? Maybe its already in the hands of the demons, we have no way of knowing.

Isee Subconsciously, Kyle grasped the object currently located in his pocket.

It looked identical to the drawing in front of him.

Basically, to return to the past, you would need the legendary Heart of the Divine Dragon, and sacrifice about half of the entire human population on this continentright?

Thats what it boils down to, yes. Impossible, right?

Yeah, that sounds like nonsense Kyle muttered, without looking Seraia in the eyes.

Its rare to hear you ask about sothing like this. Its almost like you ca from the future, Kyle-chan.

Haha what are you talking about theres no way that would be the case Mom.

Right, what was I thinking.

The two were smiling at each other (with Kyle forcing out an awfully awkward one).

Still, its been quite so ti since I got to talk with you this long, Kyle-chan.

Isthat so?

Of course. As of late, youve been avoiding after all.

Ahh, I didnt an for it to seem that way

I rember sothing like that, Kyle thought to himself. Right around this ti, he started avoiding his mother, despite there being no major reason. It probably was a choice influenced by his adolescent growth, but thinking back on it, he didnt understand it himself.

I was really lonely, you know. I thought Id be a failure of a mother, since my own son started to hate .

Wellyour looks and attitude really arent doing it, I think. Youre sloppy, a hobody, and you dont really care about anything but books. Since youre even bad at housework, you really arent the image of a perfect mother I have in my head.

Ive been aware of that for a while now, but hearing it directly from my own son sure hurts

Even so, youre the only Mom I have, and I wouldnt want anybody else.

More than anything, he didnt want to lose her a second ti.

Really, you say the cutest stuff at tis~ Seraia embraced Kyle with a smile.

Since Kyle was bigger than her, it looked more like she was clinging to him. If it was the forr him, he would have pushed her away by now, but now he was fighting hard to hold back the tears, as he was overwheld with nostalgia, happiness, and bashfulness.

Now Ive gotten hungry from all the talking. I think Lieze-chan made breakfast today. Her cooking is great~

Im looking forward to it, Seraia said as she headed towards the stairs on light steps, when Kyles expression tightened up.

Ahsorry, I already ate all of it.

Hearing these words, Seraias face froze up.

I see, then it cant be helped. Guess your Mom will munch on so snacks instead, hehehe.

Im sorry, really.

No, its okayOh yeah, todays your birthday, isnt it. As for your present, you can have the breakfast today thenHehe.

Again, isnt that a bit cheap as a birthday present?

1 Originally Magical Power but for the convenience of the manga readers, I kept it as mana.

2 Written as [Radiance], in this volu shes called [Glories], but the later volus call her [Glorious], so Ill go with that here

3 Apparently its Zeeles according to the manga tl, but the raws here say Zaales/Zares/Zales. Having checked, the manga raws called it like that as well, so Ill be taking that instead.