Guys, I've been thinking about a few things for the rewrite...
One idea that keeps popping into my head is introducing a ring system alongside the wizard ranks. You know, different ranks having a certain number of rings, maybe even different colors depending on the level.
Nothing set in stone yet, just me throwing ideas around... I think it could be a pretty cool visual way to show a wizard's strength at a glance.
I've also been considering reworking the wizarding rank names. While the current ones get the job done, I feel like they could sound a bit more unique or you know, cooler. Maybe something simple, easier to remember.
What do you guys think? Too cheesy... too cringe... or does it actually sound like a good idea?
If you have any suggestions, feel free to throw them my way. I'm really curious to see what everyone comes up with.
Here's Chapter 1 of the rewrite, for instance. You can see the difference between this and the current version.
And before anyone starts dissecting every sentence, this isn't the final draft.
...
Inside an office filled with the sound of typewriters and the smell of ink and paper, shelves sagged under scripts, folders, and old videotapes. It was a typical late-80s media office, where man and simple machine worked in harmony.
The editor's room was perhaps the quietest compartment of the office. Its owner was buried in paperwork when he suddenly lifted his head as the door opened and a young man walked in, looking a little anxious.
He crossed the room straight to the man behind the desk and pushed a paper toward him, "Mr John, I'm resigning!"
John, the man behind the desk, was momentarily taken aback by the sudden declaration. Before he realized it, he had already pulled the paper closer, slipped on his spectacles, and started reading.
"Is this some kind of joke?" He set the paper down and fixed the young man with a raised eyebrow.
The young man nodded firmly at him. "I know this sounds odd, Mr John… but I've suddenly got new plans for my future." As he said, he slid his hands into the sides of his long coat, appearing relaxed while actually trying to hide the slight tremble in his hands at that moment.
"But you just started this morning." John's face showed pure disbelief. He genuinely could not tell whether the young man in front of him was serious or joking. Who quits their job on the very day they start?
"I know… I'm really sorry, but my mind is made up." The young man tried to sound as reluctant as possible. Perhaps there was a hint of it hidden deep in his eyes, but more than anything else, he was struggling not to let the bubbling excitement show on the surface.
John sighed, searching for the right words, but in the end he only nodded. It was not as though he could stop an employee from quitting anyway.
"Fine. Just make sure you speak with your parents." He sighed again. "And good luck with… whatever you're planning... just, good luck."
"Thank you, Mr John. And I will speak with my parents, don't worry. I'll explain that this was entirely my decision," the young man said with a grateful expression, then immediately turned around to gather his things, though there were not many, considering it was his first day.
A minute later, he was already out on the street, heading straight for the coffee shop across the road.
His name was Maverick Caesar. A young man in his late teenage years, born in London, who had started his first job today, only to quit moments later.
However, there was another identity he carried, a secret he had never told anyone, and it was the reason he had walked away from the job on his very first day.
Simply put, he was a transmigrator.
In his previous life, up until the moment of his death, he had also been a teenager. Borderline ordinary. He had finished school one day, returned to his apartment, opened his laptop, and the next thing he remembered was a goddamn truck crashing through his window and sending his soul into another world.
Of course, as a man of culture, he was not unfamiliar with the legendary truck kun. But still, he had not been crossing any roads, nor trying to save a little girl in danger. He had been inside his apartment. More importantly, eighteen floors above the ground.
Anyway, details aside.
The next thing he knew, for reasons he could not explain, he woke up as a newborn in Manchester, England, in 1970.
In this new life, however, his background was far from average. His mother, Ariel Caesar, led one of the nation's foremost publishing houses, while his father, Michael Caesar, served in Parliament at the time of his birth. In other words, he was born into a wealthy and influential family.
But then, as the years went by and he slowly grew up, he soon realized that things were not as simple as he had first thought them to be. This new world he was reborn into, at a glance, was indeed the same. The broad strokes of history unfolded as he remembered.
But there were discrepancies, subtle at first glance, but for a transmigrator who was also a man of culture, they were not difficult to spot.
He had seen names appear in history books where they should not have. Events still ended the same way, but how they happened was different. Most importantly, he saw names he remembered as fictional characters now existing in the real world around him.
It both exhilarated and terrified him at the same time. He had always been a devoted fan of comic books and fantasy as a whole, and witnessing in reality what he had once known only through ink and film felt like stepping into a dream.
On the other hand, in such a world, ordinary people were little more than bystanders, or simply put, mere background characters.
It took him years to come to terms with it, anyways, what other choice did he have?
All he had was, fortunately or unfortunately, his new background as the son of an influential and rather affluent couple. Oh, and his foreknowledge of the future.
Still, he did not want to be just anybody. At the very least, he wanted a front row seat to witness the spectacular futures he remembered from his previous life.
So he took his time. With the resources at his disposal, he first set out to make a name for himself, and given his mother's background, the entertainment industry was the most natural starting point.
As he grew up, he excelled at every level from primary school onward, graduating from high school with top grades. It was nothing to brag about, he was simply repeating what he had already learned.
Afterward, he shared his interests with his parents, hoping for their support, and they gave it without much hesitation. They arranged for him to take a position at a London film and television company as a management intern so he could learn the ropes.
Maverick's plan was to recreate the "cinematic masterpieces" from his memories, of course, those that had nothing to do with this universe, partnering with his mother's publishing company and eventually turning both into industry giants.
Moving on, his first day at John Foster Film and Television Company began smoothly on July 4, 1988. Everything was falling into place. A solid foundation through school and college, followed by the perfect job.
Then the Fire Nation atta… no, wait… then on that very same day, he suddenly decided to throw everything he had planned straight down the drain.
Back to the Present.
After gathering his few belongings, he left the television company and headed to the coffee shop on the corner. He settled into a window seat with a cup of coffee, appearing calm, as if enjoying a quiet moment. Inwardly, though, his heart was pounding hard enough to power a truck.
In a universe filled with every kind of extraordinary power, what could a transmigrator possibly desire above all else? Yes, knowing the future was useful. But beyond that, there was only one thing that truly mattered. A cheat.
At this moment, his gaze was fixed on a transparent blue screen that only he could see. It was the very reason he had suddenly made such a drastic decision, why he had thrown all his ambitious plans out the window just like that.
His cheat. The so called hack for transmigrators. The legendary system. It turned out he had one too, and had only just discovered it.
It felt like a lifetime of hunger and cold flipping upside down in a single night. Or like growing up homeless, living off scraps you found in dumpsters, only for an old man to show up out of nowhere during a thunderstorm while you are soaked to the bone, shivering beneath a cracked bus stop shelter that leaks in three different places.
Then he calmly steps in with a spotless umbrella and says, very casually, that he is your father. Who also happens to be the richest man in the world. And apparently he finally remembered you exist.
Then take the rush of emotions that would follow, excitement, joy, disbelief, even anger, and multiply it by ten thousand. That was how he felt when his cheat finally came online.
---
Inside the coffee shop, sitting near the window, a familiar screen hovered in his field of vision like a virtual display. It looked exactly like the interfaces he had seen in countless comics, manga, and games in his previous life. His very own character panel.
[ Name: Maverick Caesar ]
[ Class: Wizard ]
[ Rank: Mage Apprentice ]
Progression: Novice → Mage Apprentice → Magus → Great Magus → Arch Magus → Warlock → Supreme Magus
[ Magical Energy: 10 + ]
[ Points: 10 ] (Increases by 10 points per day)
[ Extraordinary Characteristic Points: 1 ] (Increases by 1 point per year)
[ Extraordinary Characteristics: None ]
[ Talents: None ]
[ Spells: None ]
---
Staring at the "data," he felt a mix of emotions as he thought it over. First of all, it really was a cheat, one that granted him powers, or magic, cliché as that sounded.
Thinking about it, this universe, which he was ninety-nine percent certain was Marvel, or at least one of the countless multiverses within it, should also have magic. Many different types... variants, spells, sorcery, or just another power system, whatever it was labeled.
So then, he thought with a hand on his chin, is my cheat a shortcut to becoming some super wizard? Or Mage Supreme, according to the system.
Well, that was a very far-off picture. Baby steps first. According to the data, he was only at beginner level, which made sense, with a measly 10 points of something called, "Magical Energy."
Next to it was a small "+" sign. He studied it for a second before tapping it. I mean, why not?
To anyone watching, he probably, no, definitely looked stupid, poking at thin air like an idiot. But he couldn't care less.
Because the instant he tapped the "+," a surge of power, or energy, whatever it was, had burst through him, filling him with what could only be described as strength and clarity.
Like the feeling after finishing an intense workout and stepping straight into an ice cold shower. It was exhilarating. Never in both his lives had he felt something like that so suddenly.
The corner of his lips had already curled up when he saw his Magical Energy had climbed to 11. In other words, these "points," which the system was apparently giving away ten units of every day, could be used to increase magical energy.
Should I add a few more? He gave it some thought, then shook his head. Having played enough games, he knew it was always best to save free attributes, or points in this case.
Then he eyed the section titled "Extraordinary Characteristics" and poked it. Nothing happened. He tapped it again, but still nothing. Even intense staring failed, and he finally decided to give it a rest, lest people start thinking there was a lunatic sitting alone in the coffee shop.
Perhaps some conditions needed to be met, he thought inwardly. Either way, the system had only just awakened, so there was no point rushing things.
To summarize, he leaned back in his chair, absentmindedly staring at the interface. The system seemed fairly basic, yet at the same time full of mysteries.
For now, the only thing he understood was that he could increase his Magical Energy every day if he wanted to. What that magical energy was actually used for, however, he had absolutely no idea.
As for the rest, he had tried focusing on skills he already knew, like driving, programming, and writing, hoping something would be triggered under the sections for Talents or Skills, perhaps appearing beneath them, but nothing had happened.
Both under Talents and Skills were empty, as if the system was mocking him that he had neither.
Bah… whatever. The interface, or system, only needed a thought before it was brushed out of the line of his sight and his focus returned to normal. He leaned back, took the cup of Americano that had already gone cold, and took a sip.
For eighteen years, he had lived this life thinking the best he could hope for was becoming a wealthy tycoon. At most, he might someday get the personal numbers of the extraordinary figures who would appear in the future, their contacts stored as acquaintances.
But everything changes now. His goals and ambitions were back at the drawing board.
That said... it was best to stay under the radar until figuring everything out. He looked out the window at the bustling streets of London outside. The last thing he wanted was some people in suits knocking on his door. Was S.H.I.E.L.D. even established during this time?
Thinking back on his impulsive decision earlier, a twinge of regret hit him. He sighed. In his excitement over the system, he had quit his job on the spot. It was too late to go back and ask Mr. John for his position again. That would be humiliating.