TRT Chapter 1: Twice Reborn Transmigrator (Patreon)

(AN: I will also post this chapter on RR to give my readers there a taste of what's to come.)

“I can’t believe you, Gabriel,” my father said to me in a cold and dispassionate voice.

That was Lord Bryce Sturm for you. He never yelled, he never raised his voice, but he always made his anger and displeasure quite clear. Take now, for example. His eyes were narrow, his brows were furrowed, and the air around him felt heavy and oppressive.

That wasn’t a metaphor either. My father, Lord Sturm, released a little of his wizard’s aura and pressed it against me. It was a light touch, compared to what he could do, but it felt like the weight of the world was pressing down on me. It took a considerable amount of willpower to remain sitting upright. If I hadn’t been who I was, I would have ended up on the floor. No one would have blamed me if I slouched a little under the weight of my father’s aura.

Well, my father would. He would take it as a further sign of how far I had fallen. And he would be right to. I had fucked up. I had fucked up big time, and I had only myself to blame.

Before my fuck up, I had been able to handle this much pressure with ease. Now? I could barely keep myself upright.

“After everything we did for you,” my father continued in that cold voice of his. “All the resources we poured into your progress, all the time and effort we spent on your training, all the sacrifices we made for your sake. You were our best and brightest hope to revive our family’s fortunes. You were the future of House Sturm. And what did you do? You threw it all away. For what? A petty grudge born of jealousy and envy.”

I remained silent. There wasn’t much I could say in the face of my father’s words. He was right. My father summarized the problem succinctly. My family, House Sturm of the Solarian Empire, had pinned their hopes on me to reverse our house’s fall, and I had pissed it all away over a stupid fucking grudge. Two-thirds of me found my behavior appalling and reprehensible, since I had failed my family so spectacularly. The other third thought I had been an idiot who needed some humility beaten into me.

Which is exactly what happened. Kinda.

“Bryce, dear,” my mother said, speaking up for the first time since I entered the room. Her voice sounded watery. “Please, don’t be so hard on Gabriel. He’s still recovering.”

My father turned his gaze to my mother, and his eyes softened just a touch.

“I have to be hard on him, my dearest Claire,” he said, before glaring at me again. “Otherwise, how else will I impress upon the gravity of his mistakes?”

Oh, he had nothing to worry about on that front. I learned my lesson quite well. So much so, that I couldn’t wait to leave so I could apply everything I had learned. However, I needed to sit through this lecture first and convince my father to go along with my plan. It was the only way I could make up for my mistake, while also furthering my own ambitions.

I couldn’t tell him everything I had planned of course. Oh no. If I did that, I would have to explain everything else as well. If that happened, he would think I was crazy and have wizards from the Tower of Magic examine my mind for mental damage.

Or worse, he would think a demon had possessed me and have inquisitors from the Church of the Sun come take me away. That would be the worst possible outcome for someone like me. The inquisitors would examine my body, mind, and soul for demonic taint, possibly finding out my secrets in the process. If that happened…Well, I shuddered to think of what would happen then.

Even if the inquisitors didn’t find out my secrets, I doubt I would enjoy their examination. I mean, they were fucking inquisitors. The name alone inspired fear.

The three of us were in my father’s study. It was a large room filled with antique wooden furniture, plush rugs, and massive bookshelves that lined the walls. While there was plenty of space, the massive wooden monstrosity my father used as a desk took up a good third of it. A map of the Solarian Empire hung on the wall behind the desk.

The scent of dried tobacco filled the air. My father didn’t smoke, but he liked the smell. He had a little bowl filled with dried tobacco leaves on his desk. Tall windows overlooked the grounds of our family’s estate. Unlit brass magelamps protruded from the walls.

Under normal circumstances, I found the study a warm and comforting place. Many of my fondest memories, in this lifetime at least, were of me spending time here as a child while my father worked. His presence always made me feel safe and protected, or it used to.

Now, however, I found it a cold and gloomy place thanks to my father’s anger and my mother’s distress. The weather outside was cloudy and overcast, further contributing to the chilly atmosphere. Instead of safe and protected, I felt angry and ashamed in my father’s presence. My feelings weren’t directed at him, of course. They were directed at myself. I was the fuck up here.

Yet, beneath all that, I felt a burgeoning hope. I had fucked up big time, but my greatest mistake could be the seed of my greatest triumph. No. It was the seed of my greatest triumph.

If I hadn’t failed as hard as I did, I would have never remembered my previous lives.

My father stood behind his desk, too angry to bother sitting down. He was a tall and stern looking man, with aristocratic features, pale skin, and the trademark Sturm white-blue hair, a sign of our draconic heritage. His eyes were storm gray. He also wore an outfit that looked like it came right out of a fantasy role-playing game. Since this world, called Lumina, was a fantasy world when compared to Earth, one of my previous homeworlds, that made sense.

While he wasn’t the most muscular of men, he was still in pretty good shape. Most wizards tended to neglect their bodies in favor of training their minds and their magic, but not my father. He always believed that a healthy body resided in a healthy body, and made sure to keep up with his physical exercises. Oh, if only he knew how right he was.

Lady Claire Sturm, my mother, sat off to my side. She was a small and dainty woman, with a beautiful face and delicate features. Like my father, and the rest of our family, she had pale skin. However, instead of the white-blue Sturm hair, my mother had a mane of fiery red hair. Since she was a fire wizard, that made sense. Not every wizard’s hair matched their elemental affinity, but most did. It was the easiest way to tell what kind of wizard a person was, though it wasn’t always accurate.

My mother wore a black dress, as if in mourning. Unlike my father, who wore a cold mask to hide his emotions, my mother was an open book. It was easy to tell what she was feeling. Tear streaks stained her cheeks, and she wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

No one had died, but as far as my father and my mother were concerned, my actions had doomed the future of our family. I intended to prove them wrong, but first I needed to convince my father to send me north, to one of our family’s more remote properties, so I could begin my cultivation in peace and privacy. Otherwise, I might draw unnecessary attention to myself, which was the last thing I wanted.

That meant I needed to keep my plans, my true plans, a secret from my parents. I would tell them the truth, when I had something worth showing. Until then, it was best to keep silent.

Perhaps I should provide some context.

My name is Gabriel Sturm, First Son and young master of House Sturm.

In my previous life, I had been Brandon Norwood, a high schooler from Earth who died in a car accident when some dipshit ran a red light.

And in my life before that, I had been Immortal Celestial Thunder, an immortal cultivator who fought in a war that raged across the heavens and died when my best friend stabbed me in the back.

I was a reincarnated transmigrator, twice over, who managed to recover the memories of his previous two lives. How? Simple. I died for a brief moment and came back to life. In that brief moment, where I hovered between the boundaries of life and death, the memories of my past lives were unlocked.

That had been an intense experience. My mind had felt like a water balloon attached to a fire hydrant, as the knowledge and experiences of my previous two lives poured into my head. Honestly, I thought it was a miracle that it hadn’t exploded.

If it had just been my life back on Earth, that wouldn’t have been so bad. However, as an Immortal, I had lived for millennia. Not only that, but I had accumulated countless lifetime’s worth of knowledge, experiences, and techniques. That was all a bit much for the mind and body of a seventeen year old boy. A smart seventeen year old, who was considered a genius among his peers, but still just a teenager.

That wasn’t even taking into consideration the power of my soul. Stuffing an Immortal’s soul into the body of a mortal teenager would normally end in disaster. It should have, in my case. If I hadn’t been a reincarnation, if my soul hadn’t been born into this body, I would have exploded. Somehow, that had been enough to keep the power of my soul from obliterating my body and forcing me into the cycle of reincarnation once again.

“Well?” my father asked, looking down at me. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?

I shook my head.

“No, Father,” I said in a low voice. “Only that I am sorry. I know words are inadequate, especially considering what I did, but I truly am sorry. This might not mean much now, but I fully intend to rectify my mistakes.”

It was obvious from my father’s face that he didn’t believe me. Rather, he didn’t think I could do it. No matter how hard one might try, some mistakes couldn’t be fixed. Or so he thought. If he knew who I was, who I used to be, then maybe he would think otherwise.

“Oh, Gabriel,” my mother said from beside me. “Why did you do it? Why did you challenge the Otherworlder to a duel?”

I lowered my head, playing the part of a fool who regretted his actions. It wasn’t difficult, since I was a fool who regretted his actions, though not as much as I should have. After all, my foolishness allowed me to remember my past lives.

“It is as Father said,” I said. “Jealousy and envy.” I paused and lifted my head. “And arrogance. I had been a fool. Believe me when I say that I learned my lesson in that regard.”

“Why couldn’t you have learned your lesson without ending up crippled?” my father said, almost raising his voice. The smell of ozone filled the air, a sure sign of my father’s anger. “If you had, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Unfortunately, I had needed to be crippled in order to learn my lesson. More importantly, it had been necessary for me to unlock the memory of my past lives.

I wasn’t crippled in the physical sense. Oh no. My body was fine. Like my father, my past self had kept my body in fine shape, though not to my current self’s satisfaction. I would rectify that soon.

I was crippled because my mana veins, or meridians as the cultivators in my previous life would call them, had been damaged beyond repair. This meant that I couldn’t channel mana, or spirit energy, and use magic.

For most wizards, this would be the end. Even if they survived, they would never be able to command magic again, no matter how hard they tried. They would spend the rest of their lives as regular mortals.

I was not most wizards. I was a reincarnated Immortal, one who had the full knowledge of my previous life. Not only that, but I also had the soul of an Immortal. With my power, repairing my mana veins and restoring this body’s previous level of power would be simple. It would be a tedious and tiresome process, but I could do it.

However, that wasn’t enough for me. I didn’t intend to just restore the power this body previously had. I intended to become a full fledged cultivator, as well as a wizard, and follow the path of my previous life. I intended to defy the heavens again, and become an Immortal once more.

Viewed from that perspective, dying and reincarnating was a blessing. After all, with the knowledge from my previous life as an Immortal, as well as this world’s knowledge on magic, I could follow the cultivation path best suited for me. I would build the perfect foundation, with no flaws or weaknesses that could lead to problems later on down the line. If I was being honest with myself, I looked forward to it. The challenge of it would be fun at the very least.

“Oh, Bryce,” my mother lamented. “What are we going to do?”

Before all that, however, I needed to deal with this situation first.

“I don’t know, Claire,” my father said, in a weary voice. In an instant, he went from the cold and stern Patriarch of House Sturm, to a tired man whose life was crumbling all around him. He finally sat down and slumped into his seat.

Guilt stabbed me in the heart. While I had my own ambitions, I needed to make things right with my family first. They were in a tenuous situation thanks to my actions, and it was up to me to fix it for them. It was the least I could do.

Thankfully, I could fulfill my ambitions and help my family at the same time.

“What am I going to do with you, Gabriel?” my father asked.

He said this more to himself than to me but I answered anyway.

“I have a suggestion,” I said.

My father glared at me for that.

“Haven’t you done enough?” he asked.

“Bryce,” my mother chided.

My father sighed.

“What is it?”

I gestured to the map of the Solarian Empire.

“Send me north, to our estate near Icefall City.”

At this, both my father and my mother frowned at me. I could understand their confusion and concern. Icefall City was located near the Icefall Mountains, which marked the northern borders of the Solarian Empire. Beyond the mountains was an endless icy wasteland.

It was the ass end of nowhere, as far as most of the nobility were concerned, which made it perfect for my purposes. The fewer eyes I had on me, the better.

“Why would I do that?” my father asked, taken off guard by my suggestion.

“Gabriel, why would you want to go to that place?” my mother asked, immediately afterwards. “Icefall City is as far from proper civilization as you can get, while still being a part of civilization.”

“And that is why you should send me there.” I glanced at them both. “I know that House Thorne has called for my punishment because of what I did. I may have spent the past few weeks recovering, but that didn’t mean I was idle. I also know that you have been shielding me from the worst of it, Father.”

That was the kind of man Lord Bryce Sturm was. Even though I fucked up royally and ruined our family’s prospects for generations to come, he still protected me because I was his son. Despite the cold mask he liked to wear, the man had a warm heart. I would not be a selfish ass and leave him, or the rest of my family, to suffer for my actions.

I could, but I wouldn’t.

“Of course,” my father said with a snort. “While you endangered the Otherworlder’s life, you did nothing illegal. They have no right to demand your punishment. We are House Sturm. We may have fallen far, but we still have our pride as one of the Solarian Empire’s founding Houses.”

I nodded at this.

“Yes, but that won’t stop House Thorne from expressing their dissatisfaction with me.” I pointed to myself. “If you send me to the estate near Icefall City, they’ll see it as you exiling me. That should be enough to quiet all but the loudest voices.” I sighed. “Besides, I do deserve it. My actions demand some kind of punishment, even if it’s just exile to the furthest reaches of the Empire.”

My parents stared at me as if I had grown a second head. I didn’t blame them. Before I regained my memories of my past lives, I would have never suggested such a thing. As Lord Gabriel, I had been a preening, attention seeking ass who enjoyed a robust social life. Sending me to the estate near Icefall City was one of the worst kinds of punishments for someone like that.

Now that I had regained my memories, the idea of spending time in the countryside, away from the bullshit that was House politics, sounded like heaven right now. Even without taking my plans into consideration, I could use the peace and quiet.

“Your words make sense,” my father said slowly, after giving it some thought.

“I know, but Icefall City?” my mother said in disbelief. “There’s nothing there. The only reason we have any property up there at all is because your Great-Grand Uncle Coleman liked to hunt and spend time drinking in the woods. The only thing we have up there is his hunting lodge.”

If you wanted to call a two story manor a lodge, sure. It was a small manor, yes, but it was still a manor.

Man, it was weird having the memories from three different lifetimes. Lord Gabriel thought the lodge was a small run down place, Brandon thought having a house at all was pretty fucking awesome, and Immortal Celestial Thunder didn’t see what the big deal was. Then again, as an Immortal, it wouldn’t have been that difficult to turn an entire mountain into an immortal abode; a flying immortal abode at that.

Perspective was weird like that.

“I think it would do me some good to get away from everything,” I said, giving them both a small smile. “If nothing else, it would give me a chance to reflect on my actions and figure out a way to right my wrongs.”

My parents stared at me again, before my father sighed.

“If nothing else, at least you gained some wisdom from this debacle,” he muttered. “Some good came of it.” He then straightened up. “While I can’t give you an answer right away, I will take your suggestion into consideration, Gabriel. Now, leave us. Your mother and I have much to discuss.”

I nodded and left the study. My parents were likely going to talk about my younger sister, Kaylee, and what to do with her. Since I was no longer a wizard, and never would be again as far as anyone else knew, my parents would now turn their attention to Kaylee. She was our best hope of reversing our family’s fortunes, though my actions had lowered her chances.

I would have felt hurt by this, except I already had my own plans for dealing with my circumstances. Besides, my parents were just being pragmatic. They had to consider the welfare of our House as a whole, not just myself.

Due to our House’s circumstances, our family’s ancestral home, Sturm Manor, was a little worn and shabby. Our servants did their best to mitigate this, but it showed in the little details. A crack here, a stain there. Despite this, our home still stood strong and so did our family.

The walk back to my rooms wasn’t an easy one for me. My body still ached, and too much movement exhausted me. It would take a few more weeks for me to fully recover from the duel. Weeks I would have, assuming my father sent me north, since the journey to Icefall City took about a month by carriage.

I sighed, wishing I could fly there instead.

While flying objects, and using flying creatures as mounts, were a thing here in Lumina, they weren’t all that common. That was one thing, out of several, that I missed about the world I originally came from. It was also called Earth, so to avoid confusion, I started calling it Spirit Earth in my mind. In that world, flying objects were much more common. Even those in the Energy Condensation stage, the lowest cultivation level, could use a flying sword. Here, only those at the Third Circle and above tended to use flying objects.

As for vehicles from Earth, I would always prefer a flying sword over them. A flying sword was more eco friendly, faster, and just looked cooler overall. Hey, aesthetics mattered. Flying swords also didn’t rely on existing infrastructure.

As I headed towards my rooms, I passed by Kaylee as she headed towards the library to study. My sister took after our mother in build, being small and dainty. However, like our father, her features were proud, stern, and aristocratic. Like the rest of House Sturm, her long hair was white-blue.

In terms of looks, I was the opposite. I was tall and built like our father, but I inherited our mother’s beauty and delicate features. This made me a pretty boy. There was no other way to describe it. Back on Earth, modeling agencies would have killed to represent me.

I nodded to Kaylee in passing and gave her a smile. She responded by glaring at me and turning her head away.

I sighed. My parents weren’t the only ones upset with me. At least Roland, my little brother, still thought the world of me. Then again, at three years old, he was too young to understand the direness of our situation.

When I arrived at my quarters, I collapsed onto my bed. It wasn’t even noon, and already it had been a long and tiring day. I just wanted to head north already, so I could put my plans in motion. Well, it’s not like I needed to head north. It would just be ideal.

For a brief moment I thought about repairing my mana veins with my divine sense and divine energy, or at least get started, but decided against it. My body still needed to recover first. All in good time. Patience was a virtue after all.

As I laid on my bed, I thought back to the events that led to my current situation and the reasons why my family was pissed at me.

House Sturm was one of the oldest Houses of the Solarian Empire. As my father mentioned earlier, we helped found it. That was why we had been one of the Great Houses, the most powerful noble Houses in the Empire, for thousands of years. While the Sun Emperor ruled the Empire, he didn’t bother with the petty details. He left that to the Great Houses, which afforded them great power and influence.

House Sturm had been a Great House. However, about two centuries ago, our family’s fortunes started to wane. Nobility and status was determined by one’s magical aptitude and magical strength. The more magic one possessed, the more status and influence one had. Even the weakest wizard was leagues above a commoner with no magic.

In short, those with magic ruled, and those without served. Since one’s magic and magical aptitude was determined by one’s lineage, this created a sharp divide between the nobility and commoners. While a commoner with no noble blood could be born with a high aptitude for magic, this was rare.

The founder of House Sturm, a legendary figure who wielded great magic, was said to have been the son of a storm dragon, powerful magical creatures that ruled the skies. Because of this, his aptitude for magic was quite high. He passed this on to his descendants, who were all mighty wizards in their own right. As time went on, however, the dragon’s blood in our family grew thinner and thinner. While we still produced powerful wizards, they were lesser than our ancestors.

Two centuries ago, our House found itself in a feud with another Great House. Several of our most promising wizards died in that conflict, and we ended up losing. That started our slow, but inevitable, decline. Our influence and wealth waned as our magic grew weaker and weaker, until we ended up losing our status as a Great House. In our current state, we were second rate at best.

Magical aptitude didn’t translate to magical power, at least not directly. Instead, it determined the upper limit one could reach. It determined one’s potential. My father, the current Patriarch, was a Fourth Circle wizard, which was his limit. Our founder reached the Ninth Circle of magic, which was the peak one could reach in the mortal realm, and so did his children.

We had fallen quite far over the millennia.

Things changed, however, with my birth. By some miracle, I had been born with the potential to reach the Sixth Circle of magic. While it couldn’t match the level of power our ancestors achieved, it was the highest aptitude my family had seen in generations. My siblings, Kaylee and Roland, had the potential to reach the Fifth Circle of magic. As such, our entire generation was considered a miracle for our family.

Because of this, my family even managed to arrange a marriage for me with a girl from a more powerful House, resulting in an alliance. That had been a great boon to us.

Due to our potential, our family poured every possible resource into training my siblings and I. While I received the lion’s share, due to my higher potential, they didn’t neglect my siblings. Even so, they pinned all their hopes on me, believing that I would reverse our family’s decline and raise our fortunes once more.

I received the finest education and the best magical training available. As a result, my progress was fast when compared to my peers. I was considered a genius. Magic in this world worked similar to cultivation in that one had to start at the bottom and work hard to reach the top. Also like cultivation, reaching a new Circle of magic increased one’s lifespan.

In fact, magic could be seen as a form of cultivation, just not spiritual cultivation. Magical cultivation? Thoughts for later.

I formed my First Circle at the age of thirteen, a year after I started training in my magic, when it took most people three or more years. Three years after that, a little after I turned sixteen, I formed my Second Circle of magic. It took most people a decade to reach this level.

My progress, combined with my upbringing, resulted in me becoming a spoiled and arrogant asshole. While I treated my family and those of equal or greater social status with courtesy and respect, I treated those I viewed below me with contempt. To my eyes, they were nothing more than ants to be crushed beneath my feet should they get in my way.

It made me cringe to think back on it. Even as Immortal Celestial Thunder, I hadn’t been so arrogant.

My attitude didn’t improve when my House sent me to the Solarian Imperial Academy, the premiere learning institution for the children of nobility within the Solarian Empire. Even there, among the best of the best, I distinguished myself. In the process, I accrued a gang of cronies and sycophants, yes-men and suck ups. They only fed my ego and made it worse.

Things took a turning point when an Otherworlder joined the Academy.

It turned out that it was possible for people from Earth to end up here in Lumina, though this was rare. These people were called Otherworlders, and they were always gifted and special in some way. No one knew if they were born that way, and needed the right environment to show it, or if the process of arriving here on Lumina changed them somehow. I suspected it was both.

At first, I hadn’t paid much attention to the Otherworlder. Why would I? She was beneath my notice. When she arrived on Lumina House Thorne, a Great House and former rival of House Sturm, adopted her. They sent her to the Solarian Imperial Academy, where it became clear she was as gifted and special as her predecessors.

I thought I was a genius, but compared to her, I was a frog in a well. In a single year, she reached the Second Circle of magic. Jealousy and envy consumed me. I began to bully and demean the Otherworlder. I tried to tear her down to raise myself up. It was petty and cruel. Looking back on it now, I feel nothing but disgust for my past behavior, especially since the Otherworlder was someone important to me from my past life as Brandon.

What a small multiverse. That, or fate was fucking with me.

Despite that, the Otherworld persevered and prospered. She thrived. Not only that, but despite my actions, she never stooped to my level. At all times, she acted with dignity. This drove me mad, and my behavior grew worse. It was a bit sad, really. Even my hanger-ons thought I was going too far.

It all culminated when I challenged the Otherworlder to a duel. I don’t remember the exact reason why I did it, over some supposed slight I guessed. It didn’t matter. It was just an excuse anyway. My real goal had been to teach the Otherworlder her place. Everyone told me it was a bad idea. My friends, my family, the professors at the academy, everyone. Despite all that, I bulldozed on ahead.

It was a slaughter. At the time, I was still ahead of her when it came to magic. The difference was slight, but I felt confident in my skills. She proved me wrong. I came nowhere close to defeating her, though I did manage to get through her defenses a time or two. It ended when she hit me with a powerful lightning spell that damaged my meridians and shattered my Circles. Healers repaired my body, but could do nothing for my destroyed magic.

That was two weeks ago.

I spent the first week after the duel in a coma. Not because of the damage I received, but because I was adjusting to the memories of my past lives and my newly remembered Immortal soul. When I woke up, I learned more about the consequences of my actions.

House Thorne exerted its influence to have me expelled from the Solarian Imperial Academy, my supposed friends had abandoned me, and my betrothed broke off our engagement. I also learned that the rest of my family had suffered as well, though not to the same degree.

Thanks to a single reckless decision, I had become a cripple and a social pariah. It was as close to rock bottom that someone of my station could get.

Yet, none of that bothered me. While I wanted to restore my family’s fortunes and make up for my mistake, I could do without the rest. I had been a toxic person in a toxic environment surrounded by toxic friends. Good riddance to all of it

I had the opportunity to make a new start for myself, and I would make the best use of it. Crippled, friendless, and soon to be in self imposed exile. I couldn’t wait to start.