Rhett leaned back on his office chair, hand going for the crick on his neck. Stacks of paper lay on top of his table, all containing information and images of various people. He had finally finished reviewing the information about the people assigned to care for Aleron. What he found made him more furious than he already was.

Half of the people had sick family members and were being paid an exuberant amount of money aside from the generous salary they were already receiving. Rhett could guess that they were either forced or threatened to accept the money and most of them did the bare minimum in caring for Aleron.

The other half of the people were formerly connected to two of the vassal families that firmly supported Roran's position as heir. The nanny was one of them, and the information Herard brought forth witnesses of her abuse of Aleron the last few months. There were even reports of these people taking turns to go out of the castle to report to their "true masters."

From the information that assimilated with his mind, he found that these two particular families did not support Roran out of loyalty. They believed that they could control the Valtoria heir into doing their bidding, seeing as the late Grand Duchess passed and the Grand Duke had been on the verge of death. They did not even try to hide their blatant treatment of Aleron. It was as if they believed Roran would not care enough to punish them for it. If it was the real Roran, then maybe. But it was too bad for them that Rhett currently inhabited his body.

What to do with this?

He was the Grand Duke, but the official succession ceremony was a month away. It meant he could not deal with the staff as he saw fit as of that moment. It would only make people think that he was arrogant and was overindulging in his power and authority before he was officially titled. It was also ill-advised to cause a large commotion so soon after the late Grand Duke's passing.

He would not have usually cared. But it was important for his succession ceremony to not have any flaws. He had to bear with it for now.

He had to build up his power too.

With that thought, his hand went to his chest. The two balls of mana still circled his heart, now having grown to the size of a baseball. In his mind, he reached for the more familiar flame of the two.

He was in a different body, but since the power traveled with him, then maybe he could still use it. Having done it thousands of times in his world, he managed to come in contact with the mana of the flame. It flared up, flowing from his chest down his arm and into his hand. White flames appeared on his palm and covered his entire hand. Rhett smiled as he admired the familiar fire that had accompanied him for over a decade.

Hellfire was the name of his ability. It gave him the power to control flames that would never go out until he ordered it too. It was the reason he got nicknamed Demon King by everyone in the world. He was immensely grateful that whoever brought him here also included in his most powerful ability.

It turned into a ball, shaped into a whip, and a small tornado of fire before letting it settle back to its natural appearance. His new body had no problems utilizing his previous power. However, the output and power behind it were still far from the level he had reached before he was brought here. He theorized that his current body was not strong enough to manifest the complete level of Hellfire. He would need to find some way to strengthen his body as soon as possible.

Next, he reached for the second ball. Like what he did with the first ball, he came in contact with the second flame. But unlike the first flame, it did not flow anywhere. It remained in its ball, not moving at all. He tried pulling at it and failed. He tried to coax it gently, but the result was the same.

It was a stubborn little thing.

Rhett sighed and gave up for now. If his guess was correct, then that stubborn ball of flame was another ability of Valtoria that was passed down from their dragon ancestor.

Dragon Flame.

A minor and weaker version of the Eternal Dragon Flame that blazed in the center of Ember City.

However, from what he read in the books and the assimilated information, there was nothing about Roran Valtoria having the Dragon Flame ability.

In the books, Roran Valtoria became Grand Duke without having manifested Dragon Flame. Because of that, his position was threatened when Aleron manifested Dragon Flame at seven years old.

Of course, Roran did not care and continued doing whatever he wanted. It eventually led to the inevitable collapse of the Northern Wall which let tides of magic beasts ravage the Thalassia Empire.

It became clearer to Rhett that Roran was not just a simple bastard who did what he wanted. The more he read into his actions in the books and sifted through the information in his head, he noticed how every one of his actions purposely ruined the Grand Duchy...

Something clicked in Rhett's mind.

Roran Mikael Valtoria of House Flamecrest loathed his family enough that he wanted to destroy everything they had.

Maybe, he was planning on ending himself too after he had accomplished his goals.

With a flick of his wrist, he summoned the first flame once more and let it playfully cover his hand. As he stared into the flames, he fell into a trance as he contemplated.

Whatever Roran Valtoria's goals were in the novels, it did not matter in the long run. He was Roran now, and he would never allow the destruction of the Valtoria Duchy. The only way to stay safe from disaster was to keep the North standing.

Rhett...was his name.

But it looked like he was not going home anytime soon. So, he did what he always did best.

Adapt.

For now...I will be Roran Mikael Valtoria of House Flamecrest.

He felt himself go still.

Pain flared in his heart at his resolution and acceptance of his new life. The mand of the Dragon Flame that had been stubborn as a rock flared. Instead of flowing down his arm like Hellfire, the power spread throughout his body, permeating every single cell with the hottest fire he ever felt. He closed his eyes as they too felt like they were burning. A scream of pain tried to get passed his gritted teeth as the temperature went passed the threshold he could withstand.

He refused to make a sound, wishing that no one tried to enter his office.

The Dragon Flame continued to burn, leaving his mind at just the brink of consciousness. If he fell unconscious at this point, he felt that he would never wake again.

Damn it all! I am not going to be bested by my power.

He willed his mind to grab hold of the source of the Dragon Flame. The thing had been quite stubborn until he accepted his new identity. Now it was like an excitable child running rampant all over his body. It reminded him of the time early days when he started using Hellfire. His mind went back to the conversation he had with his teacher.

------

'Did you know that the magical elements have some form of collective consciousness? It's where elements settle when you don't call on it. It's called the Primordial Source,' said his teacher.

'Like some kind of memory bank?' Rhett questioned.

'Every single magical fire essentially comes from the same place, no matter how different their property is. Sunfire, Hellfire, Healing fires...they are all the same once inside the Primordial Source. So no matter what flame you encounter in the first place, it will have a memory of you."

'...You're not good at explaining this are you?' Rhett smirked.

'I'd like to see you explain it better?" his teacher retorted, veins popping out of his temples.

'The Primordial Source is like our company, and the different types of fire abilities, the people. If you work with some of these people, they will form an impression of you. When they return to the company, they will then share this impression with others as well. That way, when you go out with a different team, they will already have an idea about who you are. Thus, it makes it easier to cooperate with them.'

"That is exactly what I just said, you bastard! Are you trying to give me an aneurysm?"

------

Clenching his jaw, he reached for the Dragon Flame and inserted his will into it. He hoped that the Primordial Source also extended into this world instead of just his own.

You are hurting me. Stop it. You won't be able to go rampant like this again if I die! We have so many enemies to defeat in this world like on Earth.

The Dragon Flame actually faltered, its movements slowing down. It eventually fell still, before it gave a short burst of power. It did not hurt...and felt almost like an expression of joy and excitement.

Rhett sighed in relief. It wasn't often, but he would sometimes receive similar feedback from his Hellfire ability. Looks like the world he was in was within the reach of the Primordial Source.

The Dragon Flame began to move, but this time in a slower manner. It was still painful, but it was at a level that he could handle. Because the pain was muted, his mind was finally able to notice what the Dragon Flame was doing to his body.

It was purifying all the toxins and impurities in his body. It was burning it all away.

He remained still on the carpeted floor of his office, taking deep breaths to power through the process. Minutes passed and the Dragon Flame had begun moving back into its core, and he felt relieved that it was all coming to an end.

If he had to go through so much pain to awaken Dragon Flame, he began to grow worried for Aleron who would undergo the same a year from now. The novel only mentioned that he suffered through days of high fever, but it never mentioned how much pain he went through. It took him days because he was so young and had never encountered a flame ability before. Thankfully, he would be there to guide Aleron through the process.

A minute later, it was all over.

Even with shaking limbs, he pulled himself off the floor and into the soft padded leather of his office seat. He leaned back, letting his body slack like a wet noddle.

Closing his eyes, he took a look at the situation of the two flames. Revolving around his heart were two crackling cores of mana. One was the bright white mana of Hellfire. The other was the blue mana of Dragon Flame.

The most notable difference was their size. If before it was the size of a baseball, the two cores had grown to a size a little bigger than a basketball. He tried to understand how it happened, brows furrowing as he tried to find the answer.

His mind led him to a knowledge that had silently assimilated into his brain.

During the first manifestation of Dragon Flame, it would purify all toxins and impurities and improve the physical limits of his body. Now that he was aware, he noticed how quickly the pain was disappearing. Through the ash-like filth on his skin, he could feel how strong and flexible his muscles had become.

His clothes were a bit tighter than they were before. When he flexed his arm, he got the feeling that his physical strength was a lot greater than his previous body. If he was not careful, he could accidentally crush objects that he held in his hand.

He instinctively knew that if he trained consistently, he would reach a level far higher than his former body before the succession ceremony happened.

His brows furrowed.

Did the entity who brought him here know that this would happen? Had he intended it to happen to help him speed up the recovery of his abilities?

A second later, he shook his head. Whoever or whatever it was, it did not matter for now. It was always good to get stronger quickly.

He had planned to meet with the Valtoria Family's Knight Order two weeks from now. But it looked like he could shorten that timeline.

To the knights and soldiers under the banner of Valtoria, power was everything. There were already rumors of the new Grand Duke being a sickly person and thus had never stepped into the training grounds even once.

It was clear that his reputation among the people responsible for defending the North was not very good at the moment. He had to change that quickly.

Spotting the magical bell on the corner of his desk, he reached for it and rang once. A moment later, there was a knock on the door and he let them in.

Herard came inside with two maids in tow and bowed. "You called, Your Grace?"

Rhett...no.

Roran stood from his seat, his body already feeling much better compared to before. Their eyes widened at the sight of the filth covering him, his chair, desk, and carpet. He ignored their shock and ordered.

"Prepare a warm bath and have people clean my office."

With that, he began walking towards his bedroom. But before he could leave, Herard boldly stepped forward before him. The old man's brown eyes were wide and glowing with fervent hope and expectation.

Herard had been the family steward since the previous Grand Duke was a boy. He could probably guess what transpired in this room so Roran did not hide it from him.

Raising his hand, he flicked his wrist and manifested both Hellfire and Dragon Flame. It danced around his hand, the white and blue colors of the flames enchanting not only Herard but the two other maids.

A sigh of relief and joy escaped Herard's mouth as he fell to his knees. "This servant offers his heartfelt congratulations to His Grace for manifesting his Dragon Flame," he said, voice tight with emotion. "May your flame ignite new embers in this land."

The other two fell to their knees as well. "May your flame ignite new embers in this land."

Although caught off guard and embarrassed by their actions, Roran kept his face neutral and left his office.

Out in the hall and far from anyone's sight, he let out a sigh of relief.

He did not like showing off his power to anyone. It reminded him of his early days as an ability user where he...

His entire body shook at how cringy he was all those years ago.

Never again!

-----

YEAH! INSTANT POWER UPS ARE THEBEST 😂😂😁😁