It was a cloudy and windy day, though the wind blew only in moderation, the tight ropes on his neck were hanging dangerously close on the edge of an abandoned building. Just a slight nudge could tighten the rope like a noose, closing his airways effectively strangling him to death and the heavy cuffs placed on his hands would certainly speed up the process.

“Are you enjoying the view Mr. Assistant?” A deep voice mocked him, followed by a couple of snickers. He assumed that they were the lackeys of the one who just mocked him.

“Who the fuck sent you…” He said out of spite to his kidnappers.

“Why would I tell you that? All you need to know is that today is your lucky day.”

Although he was blindfolded, he could still tell the direction of where the sounds were coming from. 

His gums were bleeding profusely, it mixed with his saliva then as if to retaliate, he spat the disgusting blob of crimson out.

Ptew!

He assumed that it landed somewhere on one of the bastards, but it only ended up staining the shoes of the one who mocked him. 

“Hey, I’m being nice over here, tell us where the fine print is and maybe we’ll let you off the hook.” 

Having no clue at what they meant, he tilted his head in confusion.

“Fuck, did I hit you in the head too hard? Maybe this will help.” He heard the footsteps coming near him then the sound of rotating cylinders, the solid steel sliding against each other created a horrifying sound that sent shivers down his spine.

It was a gun, a revolver to be more precise but inside the cartridge, no bullets were loaded in. But just the cocking of the gun immediately told him what they were after, if he had known that it’d come down to this. He’d have strapped himself with weapons in preparation for a situation like this.

He felt the cold steel right beside his ear and then with a click—Hing!

The ear on his right was blown away, not by a bullet, but by a strong explosion of high pressurized wind in a concentrated trajectory. Tearing the exterior apart, leaving the canal all exposed. His ears were sensitive, so he couldn’t help but recoil, thankfully his pain tolerance was strong otherwise he’d faint.

Besides, he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of defeat.

“You’re a feisty one, but that’s to be expected for a resilient low life. It’s a shame really, if only you’d keep your head down and didn't touch anything, then none of this wouldn’t have happened.”

Bruises and cuts were littered all over his scrawny body but behind that, a small ounce of strength still remained. He’d be damned if he just died here over some confidential information that may incriminate a certain Institute.

With that thought of defiance, a surge of anger mixed with the will to live forced his already battered body to move. 

“Don’t even bother to struggle, you wouldn’t be able to use your mana anyways.” It might seem futile but who says that he was going to utilize his mana in the first place? No, he already has a card up his sleeve, one that they won’t be expecting.

“Uh, Boss, is the cuff meant to glow?” Having already determine that the carbon steel cuff belonged to someone he knew. It didn't take long for him to know what its flaws are.

A cuff meant to inhibit the wearer of its mana, what they didn’t know is that other forms of energy would result in destabilizing the effect. 

By now the chains have been brittle down and with minimal effort, it broke off. Now that his arms are free, he immediately snapped his fingers to form a spell but that was broken apart as the air got knocked out of him by a sudden punch.

“Drop him!” A lackey's boot made contact with his abdomen.

He was going to dodge the kick that’ll push him off the edge, but he instinctively stepped to the side as a blast whizzed by, he lost his footing and accidentally slipped—The noose tightening his neck in quick succession.

He was dangling on the tight rope and no matter how much he crawled and wailed, the noose was unfortunately too heavy and constricted on his neck.

Was he going to die? When he was still in his 20's? To die as a poor assistant to a shitty professor from the Institute?

“A shame that we didn’t have the document but either way, we will find it. For now, our employer would be satisfied with this result.”

Time was running out for him; he couldn’t focus on creating any intricate spells.

As a last-ditch effort, he chanted a simple spell that’ll wipe them out.

If he wasn’t going to get out of this alive, neither are they.

“T-that’s a self-destruction spell—

—Boom!

That was his last moments before dying.

 

---

 

Fuck, my head hurts…

There was a stinging pain at the back of my neck, and my eyes are itchy as fuck. I tried to massage it, but I found myself barely moving. Hell, I can’t even twist my neck around—It’s like I’m a crippling vegetable.

Then I heard noise, but my vision was unclear and blurry. For some reason I felt extremely weak and drowsy, like I’ve just recovered from a freak accident that left my entire body crippled. 

What the hell is going on? 

I felt my cheeks being pinched and—Did someone just poke my face?

Someone was chatting, I could hear it clearly but whatever they were talking, I had no clue whatsoever. Or rather, I didn’t understand a single word they just uttered. A foreign language I presumed but by the accent and the sound of it, I’m sure it was somewhere in the western continent. Just judging by how laidback and carefree it sounded, I was taken aback.

They sound as if they were delighted, did something good happen to them? Is there a celebration happening right now that I don’t know? What the hell am I rambling about, I can’t even take in my surroundings clearly let alone be aware of what my situation is right now.

Suddenly, my whole perception was cleared up and I could now perceive what was around me. 

Two women and a man. They all wore strange and quaint clothing like from the past. Is there a costume party going on? And what the hell is this woman wearing a Victorian maid outfit doing—Why is she taking off her upper clothes?

Wait…woah—Woah! She just took off her bra! 

As a virgin male who barely ever talks to females, this was pushing it too far. Am I having a lucid dream? Or is this perhaps—Plop!

Her breast was on my mouth and as if instinct drove me, I felt myself sucking her nipples. I would find it perverted but for some reason, it just felt natural.

Then realization dawned upon me.

I was a fucking baby and that…Explained jack shit.

 

---

 

For the first year, I spent most of my infanthood dozing off and doing what they usually do.

Crawling like a koala, crying whenever I'm hungry, sucking for breast milk, burping the gasses out, shitting myself and sleeping like a rock. All of which is repeated every day until I finally took full control of my body.

Right now, I am around two years old since last week was just my birthday, my crawl has progress to a waddle around. But it felt like I was mimicking a penguin which my caretaker finds adorable and cute I guess, now she wouldn’t stop doting on me. 

Well, I didn’t mind the affection and attention but sometimes it gets annoying. 

There was a knock on the door and as I watched my caretaker open it, a gray-haired old man that looked like a butler entered and said something to her. She then turned around and scooped me up in her embrace, I was like a piece of paper being picked up effortlessly.

When I looked down on the ground, the height was apparently too much for me and I couldn’t help but bury my face deeper in her chest.

Whilst I was burying my face between the caretaker's breast like an ostrich whenever it is threatened, we were moving.

For a while I just enjoyed the comfort of being embraced by someone, it was only until we stopped that I decided to turn around to see what’s up but as a baby, my attention span was pretty terrible, and I ended up just taking notice of what the elephant in the room was.

She looked elite, the way her hair was tidied up just speaks aristocracy. Even though I was holed up in a room for a year, I could tell that the woman I’m currently looking at is my mother. 

My caretaker walked forward and transferred me to her embrace. When I was in my mother's arms, she nuzzled her nose against mine, and I couldn’t help but let out a playful yet incoherent sound.

A bright smile beamed at her face; it was like the bloom of a sunflower.

The sight of her portrait-like face reminded me of my previous life. 

I was an orphan back then but instead of living in a typical orphanage, I was housed at a factory where child labor was being exploited. Having slaved away for most of my childhood, I managed to escape with a group and fled to a homeless shelter. 

An estate mansion that belonged to a nun, I was able to live properly until I was old enough to transfer to the institute, but it all ended shortly with me being dying as a potential whistleblower.

I was like a lizard's tail being cut off.

“August.” I heard her say that, but I didn’t understand what she meant, so she pointed at me and said it again.

“August.” By now I was able to comprehend the meaning behind it.

August is now my name. It is a cool name, and it wasn’t a mouthful compared to my previous life.

She looked at me warmly before handing me back to my caretaker.

It was giving me butterflies in my stomach and I couldn’t help but feel happy.