–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—

Darrow Leffert

Human Lv. 1

Class: Fighter (No subclasses)

Strength: 2 

Dexterity: 1 

Defense: 1

Intelligence: 16 (+3)

Wisdom: 12

Magic: -

–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—

When I returned to my mortal plane, the first thing I noticed was the tar-colored ink drawing a series of runes around my forearm.

I put aside the huge amount of text on my arm, as if someone had written a scroll on me, and pay attention to those. I'd be lying not to say that it took me by surprise, but what was most impressive was the fact that it looked like it was in a videogame. Aside from the tattoo on a baby's arm, it really did look amazing.

"So, this is what it feels like to have a core of vital energy?"

 * * *

A year had passed since that day. Awakening my mana core before eight was certainly something of importance, as my parents were elated in not letting anyone outside of the caravan know about the event. Fortunately, everything remained in the social circle of the circus and today, we led a somewhat different life than before.

My mother spent more hours teaching me how to read and write, Daageo taught me the basics of vital energy manipulation, along with theory into actual practice, and Odard was overjoyed every time our sword training began. Although I could barely hold a wooden stick the size of my arm, he would guide me verbally and create exercise plans that suited my body.

In short, a life of torture had begun for the helpless little Darrow.

 * * *

—You know the rules, champ. If you manage to touch me with that wooden stick, either to my clothes or to me, you win a wooden sword —said Odard, pointing a branch at me and smiling.

Odard and I were far from the caravan, more specifically deep in the forest.

—Young Darrow, remember to time his breathing with his movements. If possible, focus the vital energy on his legs as I teach you —Daageo said, not looking up from his book. He was sitting at the base of a tree.

Since he was my teacher in the area related to magic, he had come here to see if I had really grown, and if I really listened to his lessons...

In any other case, the ease with which these two spoke to a baby would make them look crazy. But the people in the caravan were used to weirdness, so it wasn't particularly uncommon to see someone treat me like I was over five years old.

But having the mind of an adult didn't mean that, like in any fantasy story, I was going to be the chosen one and have the abilities of a superhuman prodigy. In my other life I was working as a pawnbroker, dealing with old people crying over their late payments in my office... I was not a protagonist, I was not a hero, nor a villain; I was nobody but me. 

I wasn't going to fool myself into thinking I was here because some divine force saw the will of a savior in me. And if that was the case, they should have asked before, because I was a coward without extraordinary desires. I'm a normal guy. With a common life and who was lucky – or unfortunate – to be reincarnated.

The point of all this is that I didn't understand half of the things I read, that's why my position as a baby helped me, since generally those who explained things to me did it as if I were mentally retarded...

The vital energy core was another organ in my body and I had to treat it as such.

When I was ready I closed my eyes and bent my knees, lowering my body. Then, I raised my elbows to the height of my torso and the wooden stick was pointing to the sky. I could feel the vital energy flowing through my veins, but in my impatience, I made the mistake of attacking without first letting the energy from my core flow to my legs...

My momentum was slow, but the attack went as expected.

*THWSK*

Our swords collided, sending out sparks in the form of bits of wood.

*SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING* *SWING*

—Huh? I think an insect is circling around me...

"Damn self-centered old man!" I thought to myself.

I felt humiliated when every one of my attacks was deflected with one hand and without rushing. I was sweating and biting my lower lip, he was smiling and looking at the nails on his other hand.

"Hah, there's nothing that annoys me more than the face of a guy full of ego..."

(Flashback)

—Darrow, you're doing it again.

—Uhm?

Daageo approached me with his wooden staff and began to draw the earth.

—This is you —he said, drawing a little ball—, and this swarm around you represents your emotions —he said again after drawing careless lines on the ground—. When your emotions are out of balance, you lose efficiency and, above all, concentration. What can you do to avoid it? Find balance within yourself, allowing your soul to be in harmony with your spirit. How can you achieve it? —Daageo gave himself two gentle taps on his head with the tip of his cane— With this... blank. From what I've been seeing, you tend to get carried away by your emotions in a confrontation, and although you will find many Prana users with the same emotional problem, it does not mean that you will be the same as them. What unbalances your mind is a single emotion, anger. Remember, Darrow, the opponent who can make you angry is your master.

(End of Flashback)

"Daageo was right. The only reason I got angry was because there was no emotion easier for humans to feel than hate. But if I could get past that hate... No."

At that moment, while I was processing my teacher's words, something occurred to me.

Why instead of putting hate aside, I didn't use his force in my favor?

I withdrew from the range of my father's sword with a small jump back, then when I took up my position again, I thought that the piece of wood in my hand didn't represent a sword, actually, it didn't represent anything; but my eyes closed and my brows knitted together and my grip felt like my nails were digging into the flesh of my palm.

In a flash, I cut Odard's sword in half.

—Can I go now?

—Eh? A-ah, yes... You can, Darrow...

I made a mistake that day that I would regret for the rest of my life...

 * * *

—Odard, you petty bastard! Please, Jane, tell him something.

—Odard, darling, think that this is a celebration for our son.

—Hah? And? Is my little Darrow going to drink my most expensive liquor? Do not listen to the manipulations of that lying lizard!

Amidst the chaos of everyone in the gathering, it was impossible not to hear Ilit's gruff voice demanding alcohol and my father, Odard's constant refusal. Even though they were all setting up the long wooden tables, setting out the beer mugs for the adults and the squeezed orange juice for the kids, they were all paying attention and laughing as they watched them argue.

—Then I'll take out my personal reverse... —Ilit said.

—That's my good friend Ilit to everyone! —my father snapped.

But Ilit cut him short.

—But I'll share it with certain individuals —saying this, he turned as if he didn't know my father had been there all this time—. Oh yes, Odard, friend. You... are not among those individuals.

—HUH?!

Hearing them, I lean back in my seat and smiled. I can see everyone else laughing. I bit into my apple slowly, knowing that I would need a half-empty stomach for the feast we were about to have.

That's right, this is the celebration for the awakening of my core. And yes, I know I said my parents didn't want to make a fuss about it, but this could be considered a family reunion. Since everyone in the caravan is that, family.

It was night, but when I looked up at the sky, a complex system of lights in jars hung illuminating every corner of the improvised garden they had created next to the path. Carbonite lamps, was their name. Daageo's gift when I made an attack against my father. I didn't know their value, but when my mother covered her mouth and my father apologized over a thousand times saying that he couldn't accept them, I could get an idea that it wasn't common.

—Darrow, your young damsel searches for you.

As I turned around in my seat, I see Cilzill. She was from the Quartum Nomen, just like the rest in the caravan. Like me.

—Eve? —I asked with an incredulous voice, without realizing my mistake.

—Jo, so you accept that you love her? —Cilzill tells me, smiling warmly.

—Huh? No, no! I mean, uh, I just… —I hastily corrected myself. I felt stupid.

—Young love. Go, run —she tells me, encouraging me—. Before she sulks all night.

Ignoring my embarrassing performance, I reviewed Cilzill's suggestion with open arms.

I head to the back of the garden, entering a man-made alleyway created by the larger wagons of the caravan, and make my way to a section well away from the edge. When I see a wagon smaller than ours, one story and colorful, I go over to knock on the door.

—Don't you dare... go in there! —the scream I receive from inside makes me value my life. Maybe I'm being daring, but I would say that I was more afraid of the owner of that voice than of my mother's...

—To the order.

I counted thirteen minutes until the door handle turned to the left and she appeared. 

Her crimson red hair gleamed radiantly under the fire of the torch, her skin-colored freckles seemed to mark a starry constellation above her small, pointed nose. But her lips curved up from her in a shy smile that made her cheeks red, telling me that she had really taken her time getting ready.

—Eva, do you need assistance? Your mother...

I was cut halfway.

—Urgh! My mother this and my mother that! —she complained, going down the stairs of the car— And you, why are you so stupid as not to understand the needs of a lady?

I accepted her outstretched hand and helped her down to the ground. Despite my height as a seven-year-old, I was beginning to have the qualities necessary to serve.

Yes, serve...

—Oh, Im sorry...

"I don't really know what I'm apologizing for, though."

Eva was the daughter of Cilzill, a single mother. Eva had inherited much of her mother's qualities from her, so if one met Cilzill and then saw Eva knowing this, it was inevitable not to think that her daughter was going to be exceptionally beautiful. She was the same age as me, but she was born three months later. 

Due to his nasty and aggressive personality, she didn't have any friends because she didn't know how to deal with people. His mother knew that and instead of telling me about the traditions of her ancestors, she just wanted me to be her daughter's first friend.

Like any normal child, she hadn't awakened her core, but considering that her mother was an adventurer, it was possible that she also inherited the quality from her.

—Let's go before they start without us.

As she tells me this, she takes my hand and intertwines her fingers. I know doing it gives her an overdose of shame, but because of her betrayals, she believes it's a necessary sacrifice.

We walked back hand in hand all the way back. I can see my father play one of her songs on her lute, accompanied by Ilit. I watch my mother serve drinks alongside Pelith as they talk to other mothers. Children run around under the lights, playing with sticks while pretending they are swords. Everyone does something and enjoys doing it.

It's the first night in this world that I genuinely feel a part of it. Feels like... home. 

No, it's absurd to think like that. This is not my world. It never will be.

—What's that incredulous smile? —Eva tells me, pinching my side.

I shrugged but the smile didn't leave my face.

—Looks like the lovebirds are here —my mom says when she sees us arrive.

—Seems? —I asked arching an eyebrow.

—What do you mean, Leffert? —Eva's tone is complacent, she is happy. That means one thing: she is very angry.

She was actually very good with her intuition, maybe she had +10 wisdom. Because in fact, I was implying that I came here out of obligation, considering that she took my hand and dragged me down the path. But admitting this out loud was like shouting in a hive that the Emperor is a heretic.

Mother caresses my cheek, but my field of vision allows me to see her arm. She is thin, she looks weak and fragile. When I follow her shoulder, it comes up to her face and I see her skinny jaw.

"She has lost a lot of weight while she was teaching me..."

The books I had did not fall from the trees. I also couldn't ask Daageo, not because he wasn't going to lend me, but because he didn't have magic books for beginners as he was an advanced one.

Seeing the decadent state of this woman who had given me so much, who had sacrificed so much to please the whims of a brat full of caresses and stupidity, caused a short circuit in my brain on any given night. I realized that as I learned more about magic and this world, I was ignoring those around me, thinking only that only I mattered.

In my past life, these characteristics were something that I was aware of, but in my work, I needed to think about the interests of the company, which translated to my own interests if my performance was remarkable. Therefore, I learned to be selfish because I needed to survive. But here everything was ironic, because between swords, monsters and magic, I didn't need to survive. Yes, my parents gave me everything, but with my experience of two lifetimes, I was able to fend for myself by taking advantage of the injustices of this society's system.

But that was for another story, because when I walked to the end of the long table, stood up on the chair and pretended to cough, all eyes fell on me.

—Attention, father has an announcement to make... —I said, returning my hands behind my back as if I were an old man but seven years old.

Odard smiled at me, then looked fearfully at Jane.

We both knew the reaction she was about to have, but we had also both realized her physical and mental exhaustion, and the decision we had made with Odard was ultimately the best for all of us.

—My dear, what does this mean? —asked Jane's quavering voice.

—Ahem —Odard cleared his throat, avoiding her gaze—, as you may have heard from my son, I have... We have a statement to make and we have chosen this occasion at his request.

Odard looked at me before continuing, as if he would seek my approval. I nodded firmly, returning my anxious mother's gaze.

—Darrow has decided to go to Marsonia to learn magic at an Academy.