Why Didn't I Get a Cheat Ability as a Transmigrator?

After bidding farewell to the enthusiastic Delton, Edward turned and arrived at the door of his old home. It was a completely Wooden house with only one floor and a tall chimney on the roof. The Redwood planks on the outer walls had turned grayish-black from years of smoke. The windows were broken, and the front door had long since shattered. Edward stepped forward and gently pushed open the splintered Wooden door. The door panel fell to the ground with a crash, kicking up a great cloud of dust. Edward took a step back, covered his nose and mouth, and frowned. He removed the leather Gloves from his right hand and traced a simple gesture through the air. A speck of light flew from his hand. In an instant, the swirling dust and the year's worth of dust accumulated inside the house were all drawn toward that light. In the end, they became a ball of mud, which Edward casually flicked into the dirt outside. This was a Zero-Level Trick, the Cleaning Spell.

As he entered the now-clean house, he could make out the layout of a Blacksmith Shop. Against the West Wall stood a blacksmith's furnace, the kind built from mud. There had originally been a Wooden counter by the East Wall, but it was gone now, leaving only a square imprint in the dirt floor. Several iron nails remained in the walls, suggesting that all sorts of tools had once hung there. The Morning Sun had not yet risen above the city walls, and the house faced north, making it rather dim. The smoke stains on the front walls had built up over the years and could not be fully removed even by the Cleaning Spell, leaving them mottled and patchy. Edward let out a long sigh and muttered to himself:

"Good that they cleared it out. Peace and quiet..."

Then he strode through the shopfront and headed toward the Backyard.

Edward was a transmigrator. His soul came from a blue planet that had no supernatural powers, only technology. The memories of his Previous Life had awakened three years ago, when Edward had been studying at the Magic Academy of the Ayrland Empire on Middle Earth. He had gone to study on Middle Earth because no Magic Academy had been established on the New Continent during its more than one hundred years of immigration.

Edward had been asleep when his memories awakened. There was no headache or discomfort whatsoever. When he woke up, he possessed the memories of a forty-year-old Chinese man from the blue planet in his Previous Life. The two sets of memories were clear and distinct, without the slightest sense of confusion. He could switch seamlessly between his two mother tongues and always knew which language he was speaking. He would not accidentally say the wrong thing unconsciously. It made Edward feel that perhaps he had not transmigrated at all—the Meng Po Soup he had drunk might simply have expired.

After awakening, Edward became much more composed. After all, he had lived two lives, and his combined age was nearly sixty. Yet deep in his heart, he still eagerly awaited the arrival of a cheat ability. After all, systems were standard equipment for transmigrators on Qidian these days. But no matter how he called out in his heart, neither a system nor an old man in a ring answered him.

After many fruitless attempts, Edward gave up. He honestly began studying whether the memories of his Previous Life could be of any help to his current self.

Edward had not received a higher education in his Previous Life. However, he had especially loved reading technology-themed transmigration novels on Qidian. What he envied most were those transmigrators who relied on the science and technology of their Previous Lives to see through the truth of the world and reach the pinnacle of life, even God Life.

Unfortunately, he was neither a Mage who carried both a library and arcane music in his head, nor a scientific cultivation researcher who could recite the entire history of human science backward. Though he had gotten a huge thrill from webnovels in his Previous Life and clearly remembered names like Newton's Three Laws, Mass-energy equivalence, and Maxwell's Equations, along with grand titles like Scientist Qian Xuesen, Physicist Erwin Schrödinger, and Physicist Max Planck, he drew a blank when he tried to recall the actual formulas. Edward, who had never attended university or even high school, could only say that this humble servant could not do it.

Following the principle of being bad at something but loving it anyway, he began recalling the methods from his Previous Life that could help ordinary people get rich.

Perfume? This world already had it. The method of purifying perfume essence through distillation had long been discovered, and strong liquor existed as well.

What about gunpowder? He still remembered the old rhyme: one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal. It had already been rendered obsolete... Because this was a world with magic, firearms had been replaced by Steam Crossbows and Steam Cannons, which combined magic with steam technology, since their power was insufficient.

What about making glass? The glassmaking technology in this world really was not very advanced. But Alchemists could use Transmutation Circles to perfectly extract glass from quartz and make Vessels of all shapes.

The moment he thought of the Alchemy of this world, Edward became interested. To begin with, he had become an Alchemist Apprentice not because of interest, but because his magical aptitude was too low. He did not even have the aptitude to become a Mage. Alchemists did not have high requirements for magical aptitude; one merely had to be able to enter meditation and communicate with the Free Magic Elements outside.

Alchemists were a branch profession of Mages. No reliable record remained of who founded it or when it began. Some scholars speculated that it originated during the era of the Great Cataclysm before the current epoch. Becoming an Alchemist required a specialized Meditation Method and an initiation ritual. After becoming an Alchemist, one could not directly cast any magic above Zero-Level Tricks. However, one could cast magic by inscribing Magic Arrays and crafting or using magic scrolls. One could also use magical items of the same level or lower.

The Alchemy of this world differed from the Alchemy Edward understood from the fantasy novels and online games of his Previous Life. Instead, it somewhat resembled the anime Fullmetal Alchemist from his Previous Life. One inscribed a magical Transmutation Circle, arranged the necessary materials, and injected Magic Power to activate the circle and obtain the desired item.

After two years of tireless research, Edward had finally uncovered some of Alchemy's Secrets. Two years of accumulation had given him the confidence to establish himself on Middle Earth. Yes, in the eyes of people from the former Home Country, the Ayrland Empire, those from the New Continent—especially people from the White Hawk Duchy—were synonymous with bumpkins, hooligans, exiles, and the like. It was much like the relationship between America and the British Empire at the beginning of America's founding in his Previous Life. Immigrants from the New Continent who returned to Middle Earth to seek development suffered severe discrimination. The relationship between the New and Old Continents in this world also resembled the Age of Exploration from his Previous Life.

When the New Continent was first discovered, most immigrants were adventurers, landless farmers, or exiled criminals. As the population of Middle Earth swelled and land annexation grew severe, more and more people who could no longer survive in their Hometowns chose to venture to the New Continent. The New Continent's main industries were still agriculture and mining. Though there were no Original Residents as enemies, there were more and fiercer magical beasts. Meanwhile, the Various Countries of Middle Earth benefited from their overseas colonies, accelerating urbanization. The capitals of Various Countries became the political, economic, and cultural centers of the world. Every commoner from the New Continent struggled to return to Middle Earth in glory and become a respectable person.

After making some money from his discoveries in Alchemy, Edward wrote a Letter to his Parents in this life, asking them to come to the Anland Continent to retire. After receiving his Letter, his Parents did not even wait to sell the shop they had struggled for years to build. They eagerly packed their valuables and boarded a ship bound for Middle Earth. But heaven did not grant their wish. The ship encountered a storm during its voyage. The great vessel capsized, and only a small number of people survived. Edward's Parents were not among them. By the time the news reached the Ayrland Empire, two months had already passed.

When Edward received the news, he was heartbroken and even sank into a deep depression. Yet even more miserable events lay ahead. As the final year's graduation season arrived, the Magic Power that had previously grown rapidly due to his discoveries in Alchemy entered a bottleneck. Edward, who had once been expected to break through from Alchemist Apprentice to Full Alchemist, might never become a Full Alchemist in his lifetime.

However, on the eve of his graduation, a full-scale war that swept across Middle Earth broke out. Due to the tense fighting at the front lines, large numbers of professional practitioners were conscripted and sent there. All the students heard the rumors: if they failed to obtain the requirements of a formal-level profession by graduation, all of these Apprentice Level practitioners would be sent to the front lines. For a time, the academy's graduates were gripped by panic.

This news also made Edward reach a decision. He knocked on the door of his Mentor's office.

"Oh, Mr. Smith. Come in." Mentor Wilson was a man in his fifties with a balding head. He had taught at the academy as a Full Alchemist for twenty years. With calm eyes, he greeted Edward and invited him to enter and sit down.

Edward entered his Mentor's office, bowed, and sat across from his Mentor. After clearing his throat, he said:

"Mentor Wilson, please forgive my presumptuous visit. But there are some urgent matters I would like to explain to you."

"It's fine. I'm not busy here. Speak freely." Wilson put down the document in his hand, shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, and spoke.

"Well... you know that my Parents died in a shipwreck. There are many matters in my Hometown in the White Hawk Duchy that urgently need handling. I would like to... apply for early graduation and return to the New Continent." Edward's inner actor emerged in full force, perfectly portraying a student who was anxious and unsettled, desperate to return home.

"Mr. Smith, if I remember correctly, the unfortunate incident involving your Parents happened a year ago. Why were you not in such a hurry then, yet now you suddenly are?" The Mentor looked at his student with an amused expression.

"I..."

Just as Edward was about to speak, the amused Mentor continued:

"I know that little rumor has spread throughout the entire academy." At the same time, the Mentor raised the document he had just put down. "The Academic Affairs Office has already sent a notice. The rumor is true. This year, all graduates who have not become formal-level practitioners will be assigned to the Army Department as a priority. But are you really so afraid of going to the battlefield?"

"Mentor... I..." Edward looked conflicted as he continued his performance.

"Our Alchemy Department graduates will most likely be assigned to artillery units, maintaining and charging the Magic Arrays on Steam Cannons. You will not be fighting on the front line. According to records from previous years, the probability of an Alchemist Apprentice being killed or wounded while serving in an artillery unit during war does not exceed five in a thousand. It is even less dangerous than taking a ship back to the New Continent."

Mentor Wilson began smiling as he patiently tried to persuade him. At that moment, his gleaming scalp reflected the gentle light of the indoor Gas Lamp, seeming to shine with a benevolent glow. What he did not let Edward see, however, was the line clearly marked at the bottom of the document in his hand: "Recruitment quotas must be fulfilled. Not a single Deserter may appear—Parliamentary Army Department."

"I think highly of you, Edward." The Mentor changed to a more intimate form of address and continued persuading him. "You are like me when I was young: talented and energetic. There is no need to rush. Even if you cannot advance to Full Alchemist now, that does not mean you will never advance in your lifetime. Look at me—I became a Full Alchemist at the age of thirty. As long as you get through this period and put down roots in Ailande, your future will be infinitely bright and wonderful..."

Edward glanced at the Mentor who claimed to resemble him, especially that shining scalp, and cursed inwardly, MMP, he wants to trick me into dying on the battlefield. I'm not going. It's not like I'd be fighting for my own country. Then he lowered his head and said weakly:

"Mentor, I still want to go home. Even if the storms at sea are more dangerous than artillery shells on the battlefield, I still want to return to the Hometown where I was born! Mentor Wilson, I beg you!" As he spoke, he rose and gave his Mentor a ninety-degree bow.

Mentor Wilson's expression darkened. He looked coldly at the student before him and said:

"I personally am very willing to help you, but you must understand that you did not attend the Royal Magic Academy at your own expense. You signed a contract with the academy and obtained a Student Loan. The contract clearly states that after graduation, students must serve in imperial institutions designated by the academy for ten years in order to repay the Student Loan. If a student commits Breach of contract, they must return the full scholarship and all grants received during their enrollment, along with a penalty equal to double the amount."

Mentor Wilson paused, then asked coldly:

"So, Mr. Smith, your tuition during your time at the academy was one hundred Gold Pounds, and your accumulated Student Loan was approximately thirty Gold Pounds. Including the doubled penalty, you must return a total of two hundred and sixty Gold Pounds to the academy. Or, based on the exchange rate, roughly four hundred and forty Eagle Dollars. Have you prepared those funds?"

Edward utterly despised the Ayrland Empire's base-twenty and base-twelve currency system, but the White Eagle Federation's three-tier gold, silver, and copper currency was very clear. In the White Eagle Federation, one thousand Copper Yuan equaled ten Silver Yuan, which equaled one Gold Yuan. Judging by purchasing power, one Copper Eagle Dollar was roughly equivalent to one yuan from his Previous Life. After calculating carefully, he realized that he had to repay the equivalent of 440,000 yuan in Student Loans from his Previous Life, calculated using price levels from the 1990s. The little money he had earned over the years truly was not enough. Fortunately, he had another card up his sleeve.

He immediately straightened up, put away his pitiful expression, and pulled a stone roughly five centimeters in diameter from his clothes. He handed it to his Mentor and smiled as he said:

"Mentor, could you please see whether this might be enough for you to help me? After all, this sum is an astronomical price to a Little Apprentice like me, but it is insignificant to someone as wealthy as you."

Mentor Wilson took the stone with a puzzled look. At first, he thought it was some uncut gemstone. Upon closer inspection, his expression first became dismissive, then he nearly laughed, and finally he became uncertain. He looked up at Edward in shock.

"Could it be...?"

Edward continued smiling. "Yes, it is exactly what you think."