Brigadier General, Hans von Zettour stared at the file in front of him with a contemplative look on his face. A couple of months ago, a young boy, one Markus Adler, took his mandatory Magical Aptitude test and broke every record in the books. Not only that, but it seems like he was a budding genius, one that was likened to a young Schugel. If that was true, then the Empire was truly blessed by God.
The paper he just finished reading was a report given by Captain Otto V?lkner. It describes his interactions with the kid over the last two months. From what Zettour could see, the kid was a shoo-in for the R department. The higher ups were already kissing Admiral Adler's ass because of it too.
According to the report, he was just shy of what one would call a genius, but had a remarkable intellect all the same, seemingly picking up on concepts faster than anyone the good Captain has ever encountered. As terrible as it might have been, this young boy getting into an accident may have been great boon for the Empire.
"Still reading the day away you old fuddy-duddy?" spoke a voice from the doorway. Zettour looked up, a small smile gracing his face at the sight of his old friend standing there.
"Well, one of us has to be able to read. How else would anything get done?" Zettour asked, getting a snort from his friend, who made his way into the office. The man in question is Brigadier General Kurt von Rudersdorf. Unlike his friend, Rudersdorf was what one might call, brawny, and his personality matched his physique, preferring to handle everything as straightforward as he could.
"If you ask me, you do too much damn reading. It'll ruin your eyes, you know," he said, sitting down in front of Zettour, pulling out a case of cigars from his pocket, before selecting one for himself and offering one to his friend.
"I'm afraid that's a risk I'll have to take," Zettour replied, waving it away. With a shrug, Rudersdorf lit it, savoring the rich taste and aroma. Smoke filled the room as he happily puffed away, Zettour returning to the paper in front of him.
"What's caught your attention this time? Not like you to be so fixated on a single scrap of paper," Rudersdorf questioned, a curious glint in his eyes. After all, if it was good enough to catch someone like Zettour's eye, it must be interesting.
"Would you like to read it for yourself?" Zettour asked, holding out the paper for Rudersdorf to take.
"Just give me the highlights," he responded, making Zettour chuckle.
"Very well. I was reading up on Frank's kid. I'm sure you know the one," Zettour said, making Rudersdorf grunt in agreement.
"Yeah, hard not to with the howling of the upper brass. The next Schugel they're calling him. Don't tell me you buy that tripe?" Rudersdorf questioned, a disappointed frown on his face. But Zettour wasn't detoured, not in the slightest.
"I wouldn't say that. This is the firsthand account of Captain V?lkner, who's been helping the kid access his magic to hasten his recovery. According to him, while the kid may not be on the same level as Schugel, he's remarkably brilliant all the same. Talent like that shouldn't be squandered," Zettour calmly stated, learning back in his chair.
"Well, you're not wrong there. And even if he isn't Schugel's equal, with the results he got from the Aptitude test, there's no way they'll leave him alone," Rudersdorf mentioned. He felt a bit bad for the kid. Just out of a coma and the whole military is clambering to get him to sign up. The boy's balls hadn't even dropped yet!
"That's true. According to V?lkner, the kid's also been requesting books on engineering. Mostly weapons and other military gear. Not exactly the normal reading material for a child," Zettour stated.
"Putting it mildly. Is he just putting on airs, knowing he's being watched, or do you think the kid can actually read that stuff?" Rudersdorf questioned, taking another long puff on his cigar. "If he can, kid's got me beat, that's for damn sure. Can't make heads or tails of those things. As long as they work, that's good enough for me," he continued, making his friend chuckle.
"Only time will reveal that answer, I'm afraid. I did hear his mother is quite… objectionable to the whole thing," Zettour said. That got another snort of amusement from the bulky general across from him.
"Hah, never get between a mother and her child. Especially when that kid just woke up from a damn coma. If those idiots upstairs keep pushing too hard, they could cost us a valuable asset," he said.
"My thoughts exactly. Perhaps we should set forth a proposition. A kind of… youth program. One aimed at fostering the growth of our nation's children, fast tracking them to an officer's position when they are older," Zettour proposed, getting an interested look from Rudersdorf.
"Not a bad idea. I can certainly see the merits of something like that. Especially with the growing tensions," he muttered. Both of them could only sigh at that. Things weren't looking too good on the international stage. Both feared it was only a matter of time until they were forced into conflict, so they'd better prepare now, while they still had time.
An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure, as they say. And if they could foster some talented officer's before the bombs started dropping, that would give them more of an advantage.
"I'll work on drafting a proposal. I know how afraid you are of paperwork," Zettour said, a smirk on his face. Rudersdorf couldn't help but laugh at that, knowing how true it was. Just because he had to do the scourge known as paperwork, didn't mean he enjoyed it.
"Right you are. But I suppose I could at least read this one, considering it's you who wrote it," he said, getting a chuckle from his friend.
"Well, I certainly appreciate your consideration," Zettour said wryly. After that, the two began hammering out the basics of the idea, interspaced with a good amount of small talk.
*Line Break*
It's been a few months now since Markus was first visited by Otto, and he's been making remarkable progress since then. At least if the doctors, nurses and his parents are to be believed. He wasn't sure if he would call his progress remarkable, but he has certainly been steadily improving.
After completing his first magic lesson, he received another 5 points, bringing his total up to 10. That gave him just enough to purchase something from the first Tier of Talents. Part of him wanted to wait until he could afford a Perk that would reduce the cost a bit more, but then again, if he waited that long it would only stall his recovery that much longer.
And he really wanted to get out of the hospital already.
So instead, he opted to purchase the first Tier of the Medical Formula Talent. With it being Intelligence based, the cost was also reduced by 25%, so he only had to use 7.5 out of his 10 points.
Looking at his list of Perks and Talents, he couldn't help but frown at how barren it all looked.
Perks
Higher Education: Reduces the cost of all Intelligence based Talents by 25% (Obtained by earning a master's degree)
Programmer: Reduces cost of Programming Talents by 25% (Obtained by earning a bachelor's degree in Programming)
Expert Programmer: Improves the effectiveness of Programming Talents by 25% (Obtained by earning a master's degree in Programming)
Gamer: Your body is now that of a video game character, allowing you to surpass the limitations of normal humans. (Obtained by divine gift)
Magical Prodigy: Increases the Tier of your Magic Stat by 1. (Obtained by divine gift)
Talents
Programming: Tier 3
Running: Tier 1
Cooking: Tier 1
Mathematics: Tier 3
Gaming: Tier 2
Gunsmithing: Tier 1
Driving: Tier 2
Military Strategy: Tier 1
Marksmanship: Tier 1
Survival: Tier 1
Medical Formula: Tier 1
Gardening: Tier 1
Drawing: Tier 1
Was that all an entire lifetime's worth of accomplishments? "Was my life really so dull?" he questioned, frowning. He didn't really think much of it at first, having other things to preoccupy his time with, but now that he was actively looking at how to improve, he couldn't help but notice.
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Perhaps he could take solace in the fact that his second life was sure to be filled with excitement. Naw, screw that! He'd take the boring old him over the one that was going to be blowing people apart in war. Even if his past life was rather drab all things considered, he was still content with it.
Regardless, if he wanted to win this game and shove it in those damned aliens' faces, he needed to consider the best path forward. That's why he was currently going through the list and checking it twice, looking for Perks and Talents that would prove useful.
The Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics Talents were two of his top priorities, figuring they would be his best bets into figuring out how the Computation Jewels worked. If he could prove how valuable he was as a weapons developer, they might not send him to the front lines.
At least not for a while. He knew the chances of him never seeing combat were slim to none, given his apparent prodigious magical talent, but he might be able to delay it until there was no other alternative than to deploy him.
Now, to make them as cost effective as possible, he needed perks that would reduce the amount of point expenditure required to level them up. Thankfully they were both Intelligence based Talents, so the cost was already lowered by 25%, but if he could get that to 50% before enlistment, and raise those Tiers up a few levels, that would greatly improve his chances.
After that was the Gunsmithing Talent, which he was already a Tier 1. Probably due to his research for the game he was making and his upbringing. But being able to make more effective, deadly and reliable weapons was a nice backup and boon to his first plan.
He idly remembered about the weapons malfunctions on the first and second World Wars, such as the Italian Red Devil hand grenades, as well as issues with torpedoes. If he could produce more effective and reliable solutions towards things like these, that would cement his place in the R department.
After that, he next plan was as a Medic Mage. While current military doctrine would put them on the front line with any other mage unit, given the rarity of having a talent towards Medical Formulas, they were rarely sent off with their units, typically staying in camp unless they were needed.
While it wouldn't keep him from the front lines, it would keep him from being in the thick of the fighting. Theoretically, anyway. It was a good backup plan, but the chances of it backfiring on him were too great to ignore. Option 1 was still leagues better.
After that, his focus would be on furthering his abilities to survive while in the thick of combat. No matter how many plans and contingencies he made, if he didn't account for the very real possibility of combat, he would likely die. So to that end, he was making sure he had a pretty good idea about what Perks and Talents would help in that regard.
Talents that increased his ability to shoot accurately, such as his Marksmanship Talent, or anything that aided his magical abilities as well were to be considered. There were talents for about every Magical Formula there was, not to mention one's for hand to hand combat, swordsmanship, knife fighting, etc. He'd have to be somewhat picky with his selection, as there were quite a few to choose from.
After more than a month of looking through his catalog of choices, he felt fairly confident about his choices.
Priority
Photographic Memory Perk: Allows the user to remember everything he has seen in vivid detail. (Cost 100 Points)
Architect Perk: Reduces the cost of Engineering Talents by 25%. (Cost: 75 Points.)
Ordinance of Ordnance Perk: Reduces the cost of all Weapon Crafting Talents by 25%. (Cost 75 Points.)
The Numbers Don't Lie Perk: Reduces the cost of numbers related Talents by 25% (Cost 75 Points)
Inventor Perk: Improves the parameters of all inventions of the creator by 25%. This applies to improvements of items already in production. (Cost 100 Points.)
Mechanical Engineering Talent: Tier 4
Mathematics Talent: Tier 4
Gunsmithing Talent: Tier 4
Bladesmithing Telent: Tier 4
Artillery Engineer Talent: Tier 4
Explosives Engineer Talent: Tier 4
Armor Engineer Talent: Tier 4
Mechanics Talent: Tier 4
Naval Engineer Talent: Tier 4
Automotive Engineer Talent: Tier 4
Drawing Talent: Tier 3
Secondary
The Doctor Is In Perk: Reduces the cost of all Medicine related Talents by 25% (Cost 75 Points)
Time Heals All Wounds Perk: Reduces the time it takes to treat someone by 25% (Cost 80 Points)
Field Medic Perk: Reduces the cost of the First Aid Talent by 50% (Cost 50 Points)
First Aid Talent: Tier 4
Medical Formula Talent: Tier 6
Medicine Talent: Tier 4
Tertiary
Survivalist: Reduces the cost of the Survival Talent by 50% (Cost 50 Points)
Toughness: Increases the user's Health and Stamina. Reduces the amount of accumulated fatigue from strenuous acrivities. (Cost 75 Points)
Improved Toughness: Further increases the user's Health and Stamina. Greatly reduces the amount of accumulated fatigue from strenuous activities. (Cost 350 Points)
Deadeye: Reduces the cost of the Marksmanship Talent by 50% (Cost 80 Points)
Insomniac: Reduces the amount of time required to gain the benefits of a full night's sleep from 8 hours to 6 hours. (Cost 150 Points)
Ambidexterity: Allows the user to use his non dominant hand as well as his dominant hand. (Cost 35 Points)
Magical Attack Master: Reduces the cost of all attack magical formula Talents by 25% (Cost 150 Points)
Magical Defense Master: Reduces the cost of all defensive magical formula Talents by 25% (Cost 100 Points)
Magic Swordsman: Reduces the cost of the Magic Blade Talent by 50% (Cost 50 Points)
I Don't Need a Plane Perk: Reduces the cost of the Flight Formula Talent by 50% (Cost 50 Points)
Survival Talent: Tier 3
Marksmanship Talent: Tier 4
Pugilist Talent: Tier 3
Knife Fighter Talent: Tier 2
Military Strategy Talent: Tier 3
Running Talent: Tier 3
Driver Talent: Tier 2
Flight Formula Talent: Tier 4
Explosive Formula Talent: Tier 3
Penetration Formula Talent: Tier 3
Homing Cluster Formula Talent: Tier 3
Optical Formula Talent: Tier 3
Guidance Formula Talent: Tier 2
Interference Formula Talent: Tier 2
Magic Blade Talent: Tier 4
Optical Decoy Formula Talent: Tier 3
Observation Formula Talent: Tier 3
Heat Detection Formula Talent: Tier 2
Passive Shell Formula Talent: Tier 4
Active Barrier Formula Talent: Tier 4
Markus felt fairly good about his choices, but even if there were some Perks and Talents in a lower priority, that didn't mean he wouldn't purchase them before his top priority choices. Things like Toughness, Insomniac, I Don't Need a Plane, and Ambidexterity were just all around good.
That being said, if he could get his top choices anywhere near those levels before or during his time in the Military Academy, or more specifically, the Officer Candidate School, he would be sitting pretty for that posting in R .
Thinking over the list, he didn't understand why every damn magic formula had to have its own Talent. Couldn't they just be grouped together or something? That would have made his life an awful lot easier.
Deciding it was best not to think about, Mark reached over to the end table by his bed and picked up the newspaper. He remembered when he asked about getting it, his parents were sure surprised that he wanted to read a newspaper of all things. But without t.v, it was the best way to be kept abreast of the happenings in the Empire and abroad.
Sure there was the radio, but they were even more propagandistic than the papers, as hard as that was to believe, so he preferred to get his news from marginally less biased sources. Not only that, but he also asked for the papers of neighboring countries, which shocked them even more.
The Empire itself was analogous with Germany from his old world, at least to some extent, and the surrounding countries also mirrored his old world's counterparts. Like the Francois Republic, which was basically just France. He had never been so glad to have taken French lessons in high school. Thank goodness for teachers with huge tits, else he wouldn't have considered it.
He was a bit rusty, but he was able to get the gist of what they were saying. The biggest takeaway was that the Republicans, which was a weird thing to say considering he used to be a U.S citizen, did not like the Empire.
Shocker.
According to them, we were just a bunch of war hawks who wanted to take over the world. Mark knew a thing or two about propaganda, but that was laying it on a bit thick. Although, considering the demonstrations in the streets and their own news articles that demanded the destruction of the Fatherland's enemies, he could see how they would believe that. But those were clueless citizens, not the higher ups in charge.
And it wasn't just the tensions with them either. The Legadonia Entente Alliance, which was made up basically Norway and Sweden, claimed that the Norden mountain range belonged to them, and there have been increasing calls for military action to take it. Supposedly they had a treaty of some kind that would prevent them from doing anything too aggressive, but at the end of the day, that was just a piece of paper.
And according to their papers, which required him to have a dictionary to translate, their economy was in the tank. The people will only tolerate a bad economy for so long before they start a rebellion, and Mark feared that the government would do something foolish to switch the blame. Like invading Norden, for example.
But that seemed a little far-fetched, considering the strength disparity between the two nations. You'd have to be a real idiot to do something like that, but their civil unrest was something to look out for. Desperate people do stupid things.
To the East lies the Russy Federation, in other words, Russia. This is the country that made Markus the most nervous. Communists weren't like normal people, especially the ones who genuinely believed in their utopian vision of the world. They were the most radical, and the ones most likely to instigate a war all in the name of worker revolution.
Something which already took place in their country, supposedly. It was only a matter of time until they came after the Empire, as their monarchy was antithetical to their own beliefs. They needed to be watched carefully.
But not every country nearby was hostile. Illdoa, this world's Italy, was friendly enough with the Empire. He didn't know if they were fascists in this world, and their papers didn't reveal much either. Another country to watch. Nothing worse than being stabbed in the back by someone you thought was a friend.
That's how Mark spent the next few hours, trying to get an idea of the current political landscape of the world to plan for the future. It seemed everyone was sitting on a powder keg, just waiting for the spark that would ignite it. Mark knew it was coming, he just didn't know from where.
Placing the paper down, he sighed as he looked out the window. He needed to get better, and soon. His physical therapy was going along well, but it was still agonizingly slow. He could walk up a flight of stairs now, which was good. Wore him out something fierce to do it, but he could.
Looking over at his accumulated points, he couldn't help but frown at the low number, 12.5. He was able to increase it a bit every time he completed a new task in his physical therapy, thankfully, but it was still so damn slow.
Oh well, nothing he could do about it. He just needed to continue on the path and hopefully be able to get some more points later. He imagined he'd get a good amount for making a full recovery, but he had no proof of this beyond the points he's already earned.
Looking at the clock, it was about time for his parents to arrive for his next session. His father couldn't come by much, but it was always nice when he could, so Markus could get a better idea of what was happening beyond the propaganda. His mother frowned whenever he asked about it, not wanting her baby boy to concern himself with such topics, but he needed to be prepared.
War was coming.
