Another two years had passed by, he was four now, and fortunately the village Rudeus was born in hadn't been destroyed by the invading Demon or Beastkin armies.

Or rather, the small tribes fighting each other.

Calling those forces the armies of their respective races was oversimplifying it to the highest degree.

Andromalius, a Devil Demon, was leading his own personal battles against Gettan, a Great Wolf Beastkin. And neither of these individuals represented neither the High Demon Empire, nor the Great Beast Nations. Both of those were located across the Crimson Sea on the Hades Continent, far south of the Wastelands they were battling in.

Andromalius and Gettan simply acquired loose tribes under their rule and declared their respective dominions. And yet they barely managed more than a few acres of the Wasteland, not even close to a tenth of a fraction of the total landmass.

King Nicholas of Balland, far north of the border, had apparently hoped to forge an alliance with the victor. For the sole purpose of using them as a disposable meatshield in case any Disaster-Class monster appeared in the Wasteland.

The king had already apparently provided relief funds to the Marquesses of both the Gerakkan and Mallorca regions. So the people of the destroyed villages were able to find homes and jobs rather quickly.

Gerakkan was situated to the northwest, it was on the coast so it had a large port, and was able to effectively take in refugees and manage them. It had no struggle supporting them without the sudden influx of citizens collapsing the economy. Not that a few hundred people could've done any major damage to its well functioning society.

However, Mallorca, situated to the northeast was a different matter altogether. Built near the base of a tall rocky mountain range, its economy couldn't handle suddenly shifting. So over a quarter of the refugees died of starvation, and another quarter to diseases, drugs and monsters.

And rumors also spread that the nobility over there had embezzled the relief funds.

Rudeus didn't know if that was true, but that was certainly the opinion of the refugees that escaped from there to Gerakkan and Tremaine.

Oh yeah, since his village hadn't been destroyed and was now the current closest settlement to the border, it had been granted an official name by the king: it was now Tremaine.

This ordeal hadn't been the first time something like this had happened. The border to the Wasteland was never the same for more than a decade, Gerakkan used to be right on the border, but after a few good decades, humans managed to push it back and build more villages. The current outcome only placed their progress back a good fifty years.

As for the reason it hadn't been destroyed, it wasn't because they had successfully repelled the invaders, but rather the major forces and both of the leaders were unceremoniously wiped out in a single night. The only thing that lingered after their demise were large craters that gouged the ground.

The only hints to a culprit were whispers of a golden fairy descending from the sky with death at its back. Over the times, bards exaggerated and now claimed it was an Angel, or even a Goddess. Some hushed whispers were shared that maybe it was a Hero, but for some reason people were more likely to accept the other options first.

With his village, Tremaine, now on the border, and the remains of the scattered forces lingering about, Adventurers and Merchants flocked here. Where people could make a coin, they could spend a coin. More and more people migrated here to make a quick coin.

It transformed from a humble village to a frontier town. The soil around the town wasn't that great for farming, so it couldn't produce enough in time to sustain the new villagers, so the newly elected mayor established a deal with Marquis Halls of Gerakkan for supplies.

The farmers struggling to grow their crops, traded in their tools for swords and spears and became Adventurers. The same went for the farmers that had lost their fields and had been forced to flee, a desire for revenge called them back.

The influx of monsters from the Wastelands, their births, their deaths, their mere existences, brought with them new Mana that altered the ecosystem. Transforming and mutating the local plants and animals. As the Mana settled, it even turned abandoned mines and caves into new Dungeons. Magical Herbs, Beasts and Ores, called even more Adventurers.

Glory. Necessity. Revenge. Hope. Greed. Adventurers driven by emotions flowed through Tremaine as its lifeblood.

Redeus sighed as he closed a book about fairytales and placed it back in the bookshelf in his room.

During the first few weeks as destruction approached, Zenith did not have an excuse to ignore him and had actively taught him to read. And then after the destruction had missed them and Adventurers flocked here, she suddenly became very busy healing them.

As months passed by, a decision was made to combine the now abandoned orphanage with a nearby abandoned restaurant and turn them into a bar and inn.

And so with that, the church became an attached clinic and Zenith was slowly amassing a fortune. Injured Adventurers would flock here to get healed for cheap and then spend the rest of their money on food and wine.

Rudeus had lost the wind from his sails that came from his encounter with the two odd girls, now he mostly just read books that he had managed to get his hands on.

The world was full of dangers, from Evil Gods, Demon Lords, Witches, Calamites, and the various tensions between the races and kingdoms. Most of the books didn't have in-depth details, but he got the gist of it, that this world wasn't safe for the weak.

He was reincarnated, and yet he didn't have a cheat, so all he could rely on was the simple fact that he had the mind of a thirty year old man. Still, he didn't have the best memory, so he had mostly forgotten the small details of his previous life.

With only his mind as an advantage, he had decided to try and learn as much as he could. But, well, he probably would've had all this knowledge in a few years even if he hadn't been reincarnated. He didn't learn anything special, he probably knew as much as the average teenager here. His book supply was limited.

His only other source of information were the shouts and whispers of the drunken Adventurers downstairs. He had pieced together what had occurred to his town from the conversations he had overheard from them. And still, he didn't learn anything special.

Attempts to use magic still hadn't gone anywhere, he could chant as much as he wanted and still he couldn't conjure any elements. On the upside, his Mana Capacity had probably increased.

Laplace Factor, it was something he didn't really understand because he hadn't read the novels, but just skimmed some spoilers. All he knew was that when canon Rudeus exhausted his Mana it would grow and that he couldn't use battle arts or something.

Since he couldn't use any spells, all that really changed was how long it took until he got dizzy and wanted to throw up. And per his routine, he practiced casting spells on an empty stomach before collapsing and dry heaving, and then he went down stairs for dinner.

He didn't immediately spot his mother in either the clinic or bar, so he just navigated his way over to the back of the kitchen. A small meal sat in the corner, still warm. With lethargic motions, he ate. His stomach was still a bit upset, but he managed to hold in his dinner.

Rambunctious cheers echoed form the bar area, and drunkards chantet the name Ralph. From what he could gather, this Ralph guy had managed to lead a party to exterminate a Devil Demon that had taken root in a Dungeon somewhere in the western forest.

Rudeus had read a few fairy tales about them. Devil Demons possessed a certain demonic charm that allowed them to influence other Demons and Magical Beasts with just their Mana, so left alone they could build formidable forces.

If one had decided to occupy a Dungeon near a frontier town, it either had to be incredibly foolish, or a very poor gambler. If it was smart or lucky, the possibility of secretly growing in power right under the noses of Adventurers wasn't zero. Regardless, it was dead now.

Rudeus rejected the urge to slam his head against the small table he just ate at, he simply slumped over. His new life was incredibly boring, and unbelievably slow. 'What moron decided that slow and uneventful lives were good?' He had no excitement.

Reincarnated and given a second chance to do it right, and yet he hadn't done anything with his life yet. He couldn't do magic and he couldn't learn battle arts. He possesses no advanced knowledge in any field of work or art. At the rate he was going at, he was just going to end up either exactly the same as his old life or more likely worse off.

He had no concrete goal to strive for, and no driving force pushing him forth. He wanted power, but he couldn't attain any. The only thing he could do as a four year old child was wait until he physically grew up, then he would become an Adventurer or some such.

"Are you feeling okay, Rudy?"

He straightened up and turned his head, a dark-skinned waitress was placing down a tray filled with empty mugs and plates. "I'm fine, Monica, just a bit dizzy." He didn't really know how a four year old should sound, so he just made sure he didn't speak too fast or use any unfamiliar words.

"Rudy, you didn't drink anything you weren't supposed to, right?"

Monica was someone that had lost her farm and then came here with a newly formed party, but after they got ambushed by bandits, and then her party leader died while making sure the rest of his party could escape. She gave up on being an Adventurer, and settled down as a waitress.

"No, I think beer smells gross, and I never want to drink it." He stuck out his tongue as he emphasized how gross he thought beer was. In reality, he didn't mind the smell or taste, he didn't really find any flavor particularly bad or good, but he was currently playing the part of a young boy.

After giggling at his response, Monica felt his forehead with her hand. Rudy jerked his head back at how shockingly freezing her hand had felt against his flesh. The sudden motion caused a wave of dizziness to almost send him tumbling out of his seat.

The jovial smile flicked off her face in an instant, and her eyes widened in a panic. He heard her gulp as she almost tripped over her now heavy feet. "S-stay calm, Rudy. Everything's fine."

He was definitely calm, but he couldn't say the same about Monica, in a barely contained state of panic she fled from the kitchen. But before he could ponder too long about her odd state, she returned with Zenith in tow.

Even though his mother smelled like a brewery, her face was surprisingly sober. And with meticulous movements, she reached for his forehead as well. Even though he expected it t9 be cold, he still jerked back a bit before resting his head against her palm.

The color drained from her face as she felt his fever for herself. She suddenly casted an intermediary Healing spell, and went that didn't get rid of his fever, she casted an intermediary Detoxification spell, and when that didn't work, she looked a little bit lost.

"Is everything okay?" Rudeus wasn't exactly sure how he should be feeling after suddenly experiencing spells to heal and cure him.

"Rudy," Zenith spoke in the clinical tone she used for her severe patients, "Rudy, has anything odd happened? Did you ingest something strange or find anything weird?"

After answering a few more basic questions, mostly denying anything happening, and being dragged into the bathroom so his body could be examined, he finally received a diagnosis.

"Rudy, when someone has too much Mana, their body's… hurt really badly. You haven't experienced any of the more worrying symptoms yet, but if we don't do anything you might… get hurt real bad."

Reading inbetween the lines was a cakewalk, he could die if he had too much Mana. 'Great, just great, now I can't even rely on having a large Mana Capacity.'

Mana Overload, it occurred primarily in children of a singular Mage parent, and basically a mundane body couldn't support a Mage's constitution, so it starts to break down.

He had to gather information about the symptoms from people who were friendly yet unaware of his condition. Shortened lifespans, stunted development, sudden fits of fevers and high emotions, low stamina and endurance, temperature sensitivity, fainting and even death.

There were various ways to reduce one's Mana, certain herbs and crystals, but the most common way to treat it was simply training. A rather pleasant outcome of his diagnosis was that he was allowed an Adventurer's Status Card a decade early.

[Name: Rudeus Latreia - Race: Human - Job: None - Level: 0]

[HP: 26/30 - SP: 18/18 - MP: 339/300]

[STR: 5 - AGI: 4 - CON: 3 - MGI: 22 - LUK: 30]

[Skills: Magic Affinity LV1 - Mana Capacity Growth LV1]

The small card with a small blue gem was now a valuable treasure to him, and he was surprised to find out he actually had Skills, and that the one Skill he knew he had, n%I=WX, wasn't listed here. With a concrete view of his own being, he was now able to clearly see his progress.

He had been issued a Status Card so he could clearly see his Mana Points, and it was his responsibility to keep it below his maximum amount. For every ten Mana Points he was over the limit, he lost one Health Point. For every ten Mana Points he used, he lost one Stamina Point. His SP recharged far slower than his MP, but not enough that it was unmanageable.

His MP was impressive for his age, and that was mostly attributed to his Skills. Magic Affinity was an Uncommon Skill, and it meant he used less MP than normal and it increased the rate at which his MP replenished. Mana Capacity Growth was a Unique Skill, and it simply allowed his Mana Capacity to grow with use.

It wasn't obvious, but he was certain that he wasn't as broken as canon Rudeus. The rate at which his MP Cap grew was clearly slower than canon. He had already known, but the Status Card made it abundantly obvious that this wasn't the same world he was familiar with. So he couldn't even rely on his knowledge of events, which sucked.

More importantly, Zenith decided to actually try teaching him some magic. She was actually happy he had some magic related Skills, and their rarities surprised her.

After some light questioning, he managed to figure out that she didn't expect him to ever explore magic, and she thought he would eventually take up a sword. Her melancholic expressions almost made him want to roll his eyes. He didn't understand her thought process, and he wouldn't unless she explained herself, which was unlikely.

Still, even though his life could be in danger if he slacked off, he was happy that he actually had something to do.

AN: I uploaded the first three chapters together in batch, so hopefully reading all of them made you want to read more.

I've put a lot of time and thought into this world, so I would appreciate it if you would leave a review about what you would like to see in the future. First person to leave a review gets VIP rights.