Chapter 2: "The Magic Cube"

Lige Briaud is a genius.

This is not because of his exceptional comprehension or outstanding talent, but simply because the world has favored him a bit more, giving him a head start over many others from birth.

Lige Briaud is not a powerful figure with a grand background. On the contrary, he comes from an obscure rural area, where his ancestors for three generations were farmers, and his grandfather was even a slave. One can easily imagine how humble his origins are.

However, Lige Briaud is undoubtedly a lucky one.

Because he was born with an unusually large amount of magic power.

Realizing this, he was unwilling to remain a farmer or a slave. He abandoned his grandfather and family, who planned to offer him to their master, and fled from the rural land where he grew up, all the way to the territory of a noble, where he participated in the national magic academy's admission test.

Thus, his innate powerful magic power easily caught the attention of the academy's upper management, and he was directly admitted to the continent's highest institution of learning, becoming a renowned new student at the academy.

Lige Briaud's reputation as a genius stems from this.

His comprehension is not particularly good, and his talent in magic is not exceptionally high, but because of his innate abundance of magic power, he became a genius envied by all.

This is because, in this world, although everyone has magic power, the amount of magic power is determined at birth and cannot be changed through any means later in life.

In other words, the amount of magic power a person has at birth is the amount they will have for the rest of their life.

This means that many people are destined from birth to be unable to become mages, no matter how hard they try.

Conversely, this also means that a few people, who are particularly favored by nature and have a large amount of magic power from birth, can almost effortlessly become mages, casting high-level, powerful spells that others cannot, and easily becoming so-called geniuses.

Lige Briaud is such a person.

Therefore, he is praised by many.

Therefore, he is flattered by many.

Many people gathered around him, and even many prominent figures tried to curry favor with him, offering him olive branches. The kingdom also placed great importance on him, and it is said that even the king remembered his name.

So, the question arises.

What would a humble, uneducated boy, who had always lived a lowly life, become after coming to a big city and being flattered, supported, and praised by everyone, and being tempted by the allure of the world?

Would he, like the protagonists in some novels, strive hard, resist all temptations, and become the strongest, completely changing his fate?

No.

At least, Lige can say this with certainty.

"In such an environment, the possibility of a person becoming bad is countless times greater than the possibility of becoming good."

The original Lige was like this.

Under the flattery, compliments, and favor of those around him, the original Lige easily forgot about hard work and perseverance, falling into the honeyed words of others and unable to extricate himself.

As a result, the original Lige became a lazy and uneducated person, relying on the name of a "genius," spending his days in pleasure with noble children. Although he did not go as far as to bully or oppress others, he gradually became arrogant and conceited, considering himself superior and unwilling to associate with those of humble origins, spending his days mingling with a group of noble children.

Finally, the disaster that woke the original Lige from his dream arrived.

One night a month ago, after spending the evening with a group of noble children, the original Lige was attacked on his way back to the academy. He was severely injured, on the brink of death, and the "Gate" inside his body was destroyed, rendering him unable to use magic.

From this point on, the genius would fall from his pedestal.

Realizing this, the original Lige was overwhelmed with sorrow and died.

His last thought was not regret for his past actions, but an unwillingness to accept the future of returning to his lowly life.

In this situation, Lige arrived and took the place of the original Lige, being brought back to his own mansion by Yuli, who thought he had been successfully rescued.

Lige had no sympathy or pity for the original Lige.

"This outcome can be considered self-inflicted."

In his previous life, Lige's environment was somewhat similar to that of the original Lige, filled with flattery and sycophancy.

However, unlike the original Lige, Lige saw through the true faces behind the smiles of these people and deeply detested both them and the environment.

Now, having left his original world and come to this world of swords and magic, it was a form of liberation for Lige.

With this mindset, Lige originally had no intention of investigating the original Lige's attack.

But, the problem seemed more complicated than Lige had imagined.

"I have already ordered an investigation."

Mentioning this, Yuli's brows furrowed slightly.

"Nothing found?"

Lige immediately guessed the result from her expression.

Sure enough, Yuli nodded.

"The attacker was very well hidden. Whether it was the attack that left you severely injured a month ago or the assassination attempt half a month ago, the attackers were hired underground figures. Investigating through these people yields nothing."

Indeed.

Half a month ago, Lige was attacked again.

Originally, Lige thought the original Lige was attacked because he had offended someone or was envied and resented by someone.

However, during his convalescence at Yuli's, someone infiltrated the mansion as a servant and attempted to assassinate Lige in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep.

Fortunately, although it was just a secondary residence, the mansion had excellent security measures, with constant patrols and magic alarms. Yuli was able to arrive in time to apprehend the assassin as soon as they entered Lige's room.

Otherwise, Lige would now be lying in a grave instead of in bed.

This was clearly abnormal.

"The person who could hire an assassin capable of infiltrating this mansion is not only well-hidden but also has a very complex background."

Lige spoke in a calm tone that made Yuli feel somewhat surprised.

However, Lige's statement was correct.

Even as a secondary residence, being able to infiltrate here indicated the person's strong capabilities.

After all, this was where "Yuli Franzel" lived.

A person who could hire such a level of assassin would not have a simple background or lack the means.

"I really want to know what reason could make such a powerful person target me."

Lige smiled at Yuli, seemingly unaffected.

Yuli looked deeply at Lige and then spoke.

"I will continue the investigation. In the meantime, you can rest assured and recover here. Don't be discouraged by your current condition. Although it is rare, there are methods to repair a completely damaged 'Gate.' I will keep an eye out for them, so don't give up."

"I will." Lige nodded indifferently. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Yuli smiled lightly, like a blooming orchid, beautiful and charming.

After a few more words, Yuli stood up.

"I won't disturb you. Rest well."

With that, Yuli gracefully left Lige's room, leaving behind a faint fragrance.

Lige watched Yuli leave, but his heart was not as calm as it appeared.

"Who could it be?"

Lige tried to recall the original Lige's memories, suspecting one person after another.

Not only the noble children but also the common people and even the villagers from his hometown, Lige suspected everyone, but found no results.

"The clues are still too few."

The original Lige's memories were not necessarily reliable.

Perhaps the mastermind was someone the original Lige had overlooked or even forgotten.

If it were Lige, he would never let such a thing happen.

His past experiences had already made Lige suspicious of everyone, never deliberately ignoring anyone.

Also, because of his past experiences, Lige deeply understood one thing.

"The other party has not given up and will continue to target me, sending people to kill me."

Yuli's status is noble, and her environment is extremely sensitive and important. The fact that the other party sent someone to assassinate Lige despite this clearly shows their determination to kill him.

This made Lige, who had also suffered from such things in his past life, feel very insecure.

"Who will the other party send next time?"

"Will they be more troublesome than the last one?"

"Will Yuli be able to come in time to save me next time?"

These questions all told Lige how unstable and unsafe his current situation was.

Moreover, Yuli's willingness to save him was not without reason.

If not for this, given the lack of interaction between the original Lige and Yuli, she would not have taken in Lige for a whole month, and saving him when he was near death would have been enough.

Lige did not want to entrust his life to others.

He must protect himself.

He must find a way to escape his current powerless situation.

Clearly, this is a difficult task.

With his "Gate" completely damaged, Lige cannot even cast the lowest-level spell, making it impossible to protect himself in this world of swords and magic.

Fortunately, Lige is not completely helpless.

Closing his eyes, Lige immersed his consciousness in his mind.

In a daze, Lige seemed to see something in a sea of consciousness.

A cube, shining with a brilliant light, radiating a dazzling glow, and completely transparent.

Lige touched it with his consciousness.

In the next moment, a thought was directly perceived by Lige.

"Dimensional Magic Cube, activate."

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(End of Chapter)