Chapter 8: If Only I Had Known Back Then

— The Republican Era…

After the Demons, the protagonist of the continent shifted to the Humans. The process of the protagonist alternating between Humans and Demons was one of the two bloodiest transitions in the history of all protagonist changes… The other was the transition between the Orcs and the Humans.

Bloodshed, slaughter, loyalty, tragedy, sacrifice, and perseverance. The “Republican Era” rose with the great “Iron-Blooded Emperor” Rize Ding in a blaze of passion and unyielding fighting spirit, and departed with brilliant flames. The sixth generation of protagonists on the continent forged their position with blood. They created a new era… This was the era of Humanity, the strongest voice in the hundred thousand years of the Amelia Continent, and also the one and only discordant note in the long river of Amelia’s history!

As mentioned before, each generation of protagonists on the Amelia Continent ruled for about ten thousand years, with the difference between them never exceeding two hundred years. But Humanity was the sole exception… Their position as protagonists lasted a full eighteen thousand years.

No one knew whether this was a coincidence or some other reason. In fact, around the nine thousand eight hundredth year of the Human Calendar, Humanity had already begun to show signs of decline. The next generation of protagonists, the Orcs, were gradually rising to power. Everything seemed to be running on a “normal” track.

But strangely, at that very moment, Humanity suddenly burst forth with new vitality. Within a mere hundred years, new Martial Arts, new magic, new alchemical products, new skills of all kinds, and even new systems sprang up like mushrooms after rain. No one knew what the “turning point” was, but the Orcs were inexplicably subdued, and Humanity’s position as protagonists continued for another eight thousand years.

A million empires, tens of millions of heroes. Throughout the entire eighteen thousand years, Humanity established millions of nations both great and small. They formed the “Continental Parliament” to jointly govern the continent. There were rises and falls, births and deaths. In those eighteen thousand years, countless nations rose and fell. The original founders had long been lost to the annals of history, but the “Continental Parliament” continued to thrive without end. This was the one and only “Republican Era” in the history of the Amelia Continent!

Until the “Orc-Slaying King” Emperor Bai Yu Dong appeared…

That was yet another bloody “Struggle for Protagonist”!

The Protagonist After a Hundred Thousand Years — Walking Beneath the Wheels of History

…

Learn magic? Faced with this unexpected request from Luo Yan, both Luo Pei and Sophie were momentarily stunned!

“Hahahaha~~ Learn magic~~ My precious son, you have such ambition! You truly are the son I sired!” After a moment, Luo Pei suddenly burst into a long laugh. First, he “excitedly” praised either Luo Yan or himself — it was hard to tell — and then turned to Sophie and said, “Honey, why did Luo Yan suddenly think of learning magic? Did you teach him that?”

Sophie was quite surprised and shook her head, saying, “No, I’ve never mentioned magic in front of Luo Yan…” As she spoke, she frowned and said with a playful pout, “…It’s all because you keep telling him stories about Wizards, swordsmen, and knights. I guess he just remembered those!”

Seeing his wife’s playful pout, Luo Pei quickly put on a fawning smile and said cautiously, “Hehe~~ That’s no problem either. It’s not a bad thing that our son wants to be a Wizard!” Before Sophie could respond, he quickly turned to Luo Yan and teased, “Son, wanting to be a great Wizard is a good thing, but do you know what magic actually is?” Women are always moody, and Luo Pei didn’t dare argue with her. His son was much easier to pick on.

But upon hearing this, Luo Yan rolled his eyes in speechless frustration. I only said I wanted to learn magic — when did I ever say I wanted to be a great Wizard? Don’t twist my words! My dream is to be a talented, idle-rich Wizard, okay?!

Because he wasn’t in a good mood, Luo Yan didn’t bother being polite. He casually said, “Isn’t magic just throwing fireballs, throwing lightning, and throwing smoke? Dad… I want to learn magic!”

Luo Yan’s “childish babble” immediately drew laughter from everyone around. Luo Pei was especially amused, laughing so hard he rocked back and forth. After laughing for a good while, he shook his head, hugged Luo Yan, and said, “Throwing fireballs, throwing lightning, throwing smoke… Please! That’s stage magic, not real magic! Son, magic is a very hard and serious thing. It’s not something a little kid like you can learn. Wait until you’re older!”

Upon hearing this, Luo Yan immediately squirmed and protested, “No~~ I want to learn magic!”

Luo Pei’s face turned stern, and he said seriously, “Luo Yan, why are you so disobedient? Do you think magic is that easy to learn? If you keep fooling around, I’m going to spank you.”

Hearing this, before Luo Yan could say anything, Sophie on the side wasn’t having it. Women are always unreasonable, after all. Just a moment ago she was teasing Luo Yan along with Luo Pei, but now she was like a protective mother hen. She rolled her eyes and said irritably, “Luo Pei, what did our son do for you to yell at him like that? He just wants to learn magic. It’s not a bad thing. Since you have nothing to do this afternoon anyway, why not take him to Old Strom’s place for an Elemental Affinity Test? It’s not much trouble. Besides… Luo Yan is already five years old. If we were back in our hometown, he should have had his Elemental Affinity Test last year!”

Hearing Sophie say this, Luo Pei couldn’t help but scratch his head. Thinking about it, Sophie did seem to have a point. Although common folk only did the “Elemental Affinity Test” at age twelve to check whether a child had magical talent, among nobles it wasn’t uncommon to start at eight, or four, or even from birth, testing once every year. Taking Luo Yan to Old Strom’s place for a test now wasn’t a bad idea… Of course, the more important reason was that Sophie had spoken. If he dared to disobey the mistress’s arrangement, the consequences would be (awkward).

Thinking of Sophie throwing a tantrum, Luo Pei felt a chill run down his spine. He nodded very readily and said, “Alright, since Luo Yan has asked for it, after we finish eating I’ll take you to Uncle Strom’s place to see if you have magical talent. If you do, our family will have a little Wizard!”

Hearing this, Sophie smiled. Seeing his wife smile, Director Luo also smiled “spinelessly.” Even Isaiah Thomas smiled. But none of them noticed that Luo Yan had also lowered his head and was secretly smiling.

— This was exactly the effect he wanted!!

Whether he actually went to learn magic didn’t matter. Whether he took the Elemental Affinity Test didn’t matter either. What mattered was that Luo Yan was going to the Strom household, to meet Old Strom — Old Strom was not just a low-level Professional Tester; he was also the only Wizard in Talim Village, even if he was only a first-level Magic Apprentice.

[The Pinecone Bear was nominally only a second-level Magic Beast, but it was naturally thick-skinned and immensely strong. Its melee combat ability was more terrifying than some fourth-level Magic Beasts. Ordinary third- or fourth-level combat professionals couldn’t do anything to it. However, the Pinecone Bear’s magic resistance was almost zero, so even a first-level Magic Apprentice could easily deal with it… Of course, the prerequisite was that this first-level Magic Apprentice could at least cast a few first-level spells.]

But Luo Yan going to Old Strom’s house now wasn’t just to ask him to help his father. He also genuinely wanted to pay his respects to Old Strom. More specifically, he wanted to find a way to build a connection with Old Strom!!

Old Strom’s name was Earl Strom. He was slightly older than Luo Pei. At his age, still being a first-level Magic Apprentice meant that unless he had incredible luck, his path of cultivation had basically reached a dead end. But one must never look down on Old Strom because of this. This Magic Apprentice was not some rootless, self-taught Wizard.

— Although the Strom Family had declined now, they had once been the imperial court Wizards of the Davoma Empire throughout history, and had even produced a ninth-level Archmage. It was only in recent generations that successive descendants lacked talent and luck in cultivation, which led to their gradual decline. Finally, in the previous generation, they were driven out of the capital and became Professional Testers in Talim Village…

Of course, all of this family history came entirely from the oral accounts of the previous generation of the Strom family, and every time he finished telling it, it would draw loud laughter. No one in the village ever took what he said seriously!

Are you kidding?! A family that produced a ninth-level Archmage would end up as Professional Testers in a small village?!

The job of a “Professional Tester” was to help people conduct Elemental Affinity Tests to determine whether they had talent in magic or Battle Aura. They were hailed as “the guides of humanity’s future”… This title sounded impressive and arrogant, but in reality, starting from the first Human sovereign ten thousand years ago, the “Iron-Blooded Emperor” Rize Ding, countless sovereigns of countless nations born in Human society over the past ten thousand years — whether wise and mighty or foolish and incompetent — had all persistently worked to unearth talent among the common people. With the various guilds also pushing things along, after ten thousand years of such persistence, “Professional Testers” could be found in every corner of the continent. Even in the territories of the Orcs, the Elves, and even the Sea Race, their figures could be seen.

With such an oversupply, “Professional Tester” had naturally become the most ordinary of professions. In people’s eyes, their status was at best equivalent to that of blacksmiths, tailors, or bricklayers — nothing much to be proud of.

[A so-called “noble family” — and a “Wizard lineage” at that — with its only Direct Lineage Disciple ending up in this state, it was simply a joke!]

Actually, regarding the Strom Family’s situation in Talim Village, Luo Yan hadn’t known much before his rebirth. He had only heard the tales told by the Village Elders of Talim Village. The Strom Family kept a low profile, and the residents of Talim Village treated them with equal indifference. Calling them “Mr. Strom” was mostly done in a teasing, mocking tone.

They were just a “fallen noble family” — why should anyone care?

People all harbor envy toward the wealthy. True nobles were too intimidating to provoke, but “fallen nobles” like the Strom Family were the best targets for mockery. Talking about the unhappy things in their family to amuse everyone else — no one felt any guilt about doing that.

But what no one expected was that in the world before Luo Yan’s rebirth, this fallen noble family that showed no signs of ever rising again would, five years later — when Luo Yan was ten years old — suddenly make a miraculous and high-profile comeback. They rose steadily, first becoming Minister of Finance, then Imperial Chancellor, wielding immense power for nearly forty years without falling.

In the local saying, they “suddenly got rich and famous”!

In fact, for a long time before Luo Yan’s rebirth, the most common saying among the people of Talim Village was: If only we had known this would happen, we should have curried favor with the Strom Family when they were down on their luck. Then when they later rose to prominence, even being a servant or a gatekeeper in the Strom Family would have been far better than toiling away in Talim Village.

The problem was, who could have known back then that the Strom Family would one day rise again? If we’re talking about “if only we had known,” there were plenty of things worth knowing in advance. The most worthless thing in this world was actually “if only we had known.”

— But now things were different. Luo Yan happened to be the one who “knew in advance”!

This “knowing in advance” was absolutely crucial. As long as he handled it well, it would be a golden path laid right at his feet. Truly, knowing three days ahead brings wealth for ten thousand years!

Recalling the glory that the Strom Family had once enjoyed before his rebirth, a “pure” smile appeared at the corner of Luo Yan’s mouth. At that moment, he seemed to see the happy “idle-rich life” lying before him…