The Weakest to Strongest

Martial arts and magic.

A lifestyle and path that encompassed both of those aspects: the Magic Swordsman. In order to become a magic swordsman, Ruya was prepared to shoulder any hardships.

'If it were me… I would never have let my enemies steal and eat my phoenix's heart.'

Phoenixes were immortal beings that would be reborn even after death. Even if one were killed by an enemy and had its heart stolen, it would revive 200 years later in nature.

Nevertheless, 200 years was a long period of time. The phoenix's original summoner would've died by then.

"You mustn't forget to thank Lady Lily the next time you see her, Young Master."

"Yeah, I won't."

The Phoenix Heart was ready. A strong and rich fragrance began to spread throughout the castle.

"I must go prepare your meal, so come down in a little while, Young Master!"

Gilly exited the room, humming and skipping in joy as the door remained ajar. Once she left his field of vision, a deep sigh escaped Ruya's mouth.

"Stop loitering around me. It's annoying."

"Ah, o-okay."

"Sure…"

His brother had been dawdling outside the room for a while ago. Once Gilly had left, he stood by the entrance, close to the door, and shot glances towards his youngest brother.

Ruya let out a light snicker when he noticed Datoany drooling from the smell.

'Geez, look at these cute, little brat…'

When he gestured to them to get closer with his finger, his brother dashed inside the room.

"Why are you here?"

Ruya asked them coldly despite knowing full well that he was here for the Phoenix Heart. His brother was squirming awkwardly, as if he desperately needed to head to the bathroom.

He wanted to ask Ruya to share some of the Phoenix Heart, but was too afraid to do so. The beating from last month and their father's scolding had traumatized him.

Ruya found this situation quite entertaining. In his previous life, his brother would always steal something from him or beat him up if he bumped into him in the hallways. He could never have imagined that he'd be the ones being cautious of him now.

'He was probably ordered by Anne to convince me to share some Phoenix Heart with them.'

Anne Kristia.

Just like Gilly, she was a nanny living in the Tempest House. She was in charge of the 12th brother's growth. However, unlike Gilly who had died a gruesome death during Ruya's first life, Anne had been living lavishly thanks to the well-off Brother.

Despite becoming a crazed murderer, Datonay never forgot about Anne and took good care of her. But that was all part of her plan.

If Gilly was the type to raise children with love and affection, Anne was the type to raise them using the carrot and stick approach. She never taught his brother concepts such as selflessness or morality.

Truth be told, both of those concepts weren't very useful in the Samsory Family, as one's enemies could take advantage of them. But Ruya still believed that Anne's teachings were distorted.

She was the biggest influence upon His brother' upbringing, and was the cause of his twisted character.

"Um… you see… the Phoenix…"

"That… isn't there… a bit too much to eat… on your own?"

"What was that? I can't hear you."

"The Phoenix Heart soup. Could you share a bowl with me? Otherwise, I'll get scolded really hard by Anne."

"Do me a favor, brother."

'Seems like he's more afraid of Emma than me.'

Ruya snickered as he thought to himself.

"I don't want to."

"Ah, please…"

"I'm begging you!"

His brother is on the verge of crying, but Ruya had not a speck of sympathy for him within his heart.

Ruya already knew that his brother is used to the carrot and stick approach, so he planned on making him do some physically exhausting work in return for the Phoenix Heart soup.

"If you're willing to go that far, then I won't refuse. But I have a condition."

"Oh, what is it? What is it?"

"Remember that grave I made?"

His brother shuddered and turned pale at the word 'grave'. The memories of being pummelled and left out in the rainstorm in front of the grave had resurfaced.

"If you look carefully, there's a small hole behind that grave."

"A hole?"

"Yeah. Like a burrow. I want you to dig into that hole and make it deeper. You have until nightfall. Of course, you can't rest at all."

The task Ruya had given to his 7-year-old brother was, quite literally, a waste of time.

"Why… Do I need to dig there?"

"I want to bury the bird you killed in a deeper hole and give it a better grave."

His brother lost strength in their legs and felt him wobble.

However, if he didn't have to face their terrifying brother in another fight, and could eat the Phoenix Heart soup with such a trifling task, then he had no complaints.

"How deep do I need to dig?"

"I told you to dig until nightfall with no rest, didn't I?"

"Alright. So if I dig until then, you'll share some Phoenix Heart soup with me?"

"Of course I will. But you need to do your best. If I'm not satisfied by the depth of the hole, this agreement is invalid. Oh, by the way, there are plenty of shovels in the warehouse. You should use those."

"Sure!"

"And this is pretty obvious, but you can't order someone else to dig for you, alright?"

His brother nodded vigorously and immediately departed to begin their work.

***

While his brother was shovelling in the backyard, Ruya was eating the Phoenix Heart soup at the dinner table.

"Is it that tasty, Young Master?"

Gilly asked as she watched Ruya gleefully slurping down the meal. She thought that Ruya was joyful because of the delicious soup.

"Yeah, it's so tasty!"

"There's more than enough to last you for 3 days, so don't hesitate to ask if you want another serving."

With each spoonful going down his throat, Ruya could feel his bones and skin becoming sturdy. If he ate the soup for 3 days, his affinity and resistance against fire would increase substantially.

However, Ruya wasn't smiling from ear to ear because of the Phoenix Heart.

'Within a few days, I'll have access to the secret tomes…!'

The spot where his brother was digging, behind the bird's grave.

Despite being only 7 years old, his brother' physical abilities were still far above the world's average as they were of the Samsory bloodline.

The Samsory had special bodies as if they had been blessed by the heavens.

So if his brother continued digging until nightfall using their blessed bodies, the hole would reach the 'underground wall'.

'He won't be able to tell if it's a wall or just a hard boulder, though.'

Below the Tempest house was a secret underground area where some of the Samsory Family's 'wrongdoings' were hidden.

The secret tomes of other Family.

The Samsory had subdued and destroyed other families throughout their history. During these wars, they would steal their enemies' secret books, scrolls, and records.

It goes without saying that Jin wouldn't be able to easily infiltrate the underground area just because his brother dug until the wall. He would have to deal with the two protective installations that repelled outsiders first.

But Ruya already knew how to disable them. He had technically lived in the Samsory family for 25 years during his previous life, despite being treated worse than bugs. He had picked up some information and a few tricks here and there within the family.

'I'll just study those books until the day I leave the Tempest House.'

Ruya had emptied two bowls of soup for dinner.

"Nanny Gilly."

"Yes, Young Master?"

"Could you share some of the Phoenix Heart soup with my brother when night falls?"

"Ah, how much should I give them?"

"One spoonful each."

"O-One… spoonful? Why bother sharing some with him in that case? You should eat it all on your own instead."

"I must keep my promise. If he complains about it and asks for more, tell them I said this: 'I'll show you how kind and gentle Anne is compared to me'."

Gilly smiled awkwardly as she bowed to him.

'Young Master Ruya… Has the ruthlessness of the family already started to affect him? He's still too young to be acting like this.'

As her wry smile turned into a bitter expression, Ruya cuddled into Gilly's embrace.

"Elder sister Lily gave me the heart for my sake, and Gilly carefully prepared the soup for an entire month with dozens of sleepless nights. I don't want to share such a precious meal with those idiots."

"Young master…"

Shcrrt, shcrrt.

Despite being drenched from the rain, his brother continued shovelling the earth.

He reached the underground wall around midnight, which was when they finally stopped digging.

"One spoon?!"

"One spoonful only? That's just unfair! I dug the ground for the entire day!"

His brother belatedly realized that he hadn't decided upon a proper 'amount' during their agreement with Ruya , and was enraged by their so-called 'reward'.

However, he couldn't voice out his frustrations for too long, as Ruya glared at them, as if to tell him to savour the spoonful gratefully.

'You brat… If one could earn a spoonful of Phoenix Heart soup with one day of shovelling, most people around the world would come running to me.'

Ruya truly believed that his brother should be extremely grateful to receive a spoonful of the soup from him.

The next morning, Ruya went to the hole his brother had dug.

It appeared that his brother hadn't resorted to petty tricks. He had dug the hole quite seriously. Inside the deep hole, Ruya could see a goldish stone wall on the side at the bottom.

Currently, there were 5 guardian knights, 2 nannies and a dozen servants at the castle. Of course, his brother was here as well.

Nobody would come here looking for Ruya or suspect him of scheming something.

'Telling him that I wanted to come here to pray for the dead bird was a pretty good excuse.'

Recently, the members of the Samsory family residing at the Tempest House were wary of Ruya. The youngest child of the Head did not behave like a young child, and was eerily mature.

In fact, some were more than just wary. Many were afraid of the 5-year-old boy. The servants gossiped about him, saying that he was a perfect copy of his cold-hearted father, and the guardian knights obeyed him as if he were their superior.

But when Ruya said that he would go pray for the bird, they were all relieved. They thought that despite being Kaizen Samsory's son, a child is still a child.

'I pray that you'll find happiness in your next life.'

Ruya hadn't lied when he said he would pray for the bird. He truly did pity it.

Once he finished moving the bird's grave to the bottom of the deep hole his brother had dug, Ruya approached the stone wall on the side. There were scratches made by the shovels on its surface.

The wall itself wasn't very solid. There weren't any metal bars or wires inside to increase its durability, so Ruya could easily destroy it with a punch wrapped in shadows.

However, breaking it like that would definitely create a loud explosion.

The constant rain outside would somewhat muffle the sound, but the 3-rank knights in the house would most likely catch the noise.

"Hahaha."

Ruya suddenly laughed as he couldn't hold himself back. He then spread out his arms and placed his hands against the wall. Immediately, the stone wall began to vibrate ever so slightly.

Wroooom!

It was the 1-star earth magic spell, 'Resonating Earth.

Resonating earth was a spell that magicians often used while camping outside or exploring the wild, but its lethality was nigh-zero.

"I've been dying to use magic!"

The practicality and pleasure of using magic!

He hadn't felt this liberating sensation for the past 5 years. Because he had retained his memories and knowledge from his past life, being unable to use magic since he was born was like a punishment to Ruya.