Ethan opened his eyes, realizing that he was alive—or so it seemed.

With a low visual perspective and small hands, it was evident that this wasn't his body. The immediate memory integration made him feel sick, yet oddly relieved.

Where am I?  In a dimly lit room, Ethan, now inhabiting a three-year-old body, sat on the floor. A magic circle surrounded him with six small pillars bearing clear crystals. Several people stood behind him, engaged in a faint incantation. The magic circle glowed slightly, indicating an ongoing spell.

Ethan hesitated, contemplating whether to flee. However, the memories of the body he occupied revealed nothing negative. Therefore, he chose to be patient to avoid suspicion or getting into unnecessary trouble.

A deep voice could be heard as an incantation was preached, brightening the magic circle and surrounding crystals with its power. As the crystals illuminated, there were different colors: red, yellow, green, blue, white, and purple.

The sight left the onlookers speechless, breaking the tense atmosphere. An angry shout erupted, shattering the silence.

"WHAT?!"

Turning towards the source of the noise, Ethan's curiosity heightened.

"Calm down, Damian. There's no need to get angry over the results—"

"How is this half-blooded twerp able to use all six elements? This must be a mistake!" Damian scowled, turning to the mage who performed the procedure. "I demand a do-over!"

"That's not how it works, Lord Damian," the mage replied sincerely. "Examining magical affinities rarely backfires. I've never seen someone possess all six elements in my lifetime." Damian's face twisted, convinced it was a lie.

"Fabian, please take Damian upstairs. His tantrums are unnecessary during this examination," commanded a deep, authoritative voice, momentarily halting Damian's unruly behavior.

"As you wish, Father," Fabian said, grabbing Damian by the collar and dragging him upstairs. Despite Damian's attempts to resist, Fabian remained unyielding.

The focus shifted to three individuals: two slightly older children named Damian and Fabian, and a man in his prime. Approaching the now-dim magic circle, the man cracked a smile.

"Fenris has extraordinary magical power. Beyond my wildest expectations."

Fenris. That was Ethan's name in this life, apparently. It felt familiar from the body's memories. 

However, more questions than answers remained. What made him extraordinary? How did he reincarnate? What was this new world he was born into?

It didn't seem like he could cast any spells, perhaps due to his small body and lack of experience. In the end, he decided to take it easy and leave the hard questions for another time.

Later, returning from the basement to the magnificent mansion above, Fenris looked up at the night sky to check the constellations.

Two moons? Yeah, this is definitely a different world.

There was no way Earth's moon would suddenly multiply without a violent collision and millions of years of formation. Fenris's cosmological observations confirmed this was another world.

Over the next few days, he listened attentively to his family's conversations but never heard familiar names of places or countries. Gathering more information, he discovered his full name was Fenris Tonelico.

House Tonelico was a prominent family, known for producing a long line of powerful mages. With magic running in their bloodline, it was expected for all children to have their magical aptitude examined early.

Fenris's results bore fruit; at least, one would think so.

Damian, Fenris's older brother and two years his senior, harbored a deep-seated resentment, which he couldn't fathom.

Every day, Damian hurled insults, mainly directed at Fenris's appearance or being 'half-blooded.' Fenris merely tilted his head in response. Initially irritating, the insults became repetitive, and he stopped reacting altogether. Jeez. Is this what brothers are like?

In his previous life, Fenris never had a brother. He eagerly wished for one as a child, but as he grew up, he accepted it would never happen.

Curious, he headed to his room and looked into a mirror to check for anything out of the ordinary. Fenris noticed that his hair and eyes differed from his family's, dark and almost devoid of color. Strangely, his appearance resembled his past self, except for his eyes.

"Huh... strangely feline."

Checking his body for other features, he discovered pointed and slightly elongated canines. This raised questions about his genetics. "Am I a vampire? Or a demon?" he asked himself.

"Well...I don't feel any blood-sucking urges, so I'm probably a demon. But that still doesn't explain my origin story in this body..." Fenris concluded.

Regardless, Fenris knew that his inhuman nature would only give Damian more reason to bully him, so he would try to be as inconspicuous as possible. From what he can tell, it seems like nobody knows of his inhuman blood, or do they?

Fenris recalls the moment he first woke up and Damian called him a 'half-blood', which could mean that his cover had already been blown. The thought was nerve-racking, to say the least.

"In this world, I'm sure if news got out about a demon child in a noble family, shit would be hitting the fan. Now I know what it feels like to be a part of the Kardashians."

Suddenly, Fenris hears the sounds of a baby crying in the distance. "Oh, great," he says in a slightly annoyed tone.

He exits his room and heads next door to the source of the noise. Fenris sighs as he recalls being told by his father that today, he'd be the one to take care of the baby.

"Isn't this a bit much pressure to put on a three-year-old child?" he says in frustration as he struggles to reach up to the crib where the baby was inside. When he finally got enough height to look down at the crib, the baby had stopped crying, instead looking at Fenris and giving a warm smile.

"Oh, you like having me around, don't you Lily?" Fenris affectionately tickles Lily, which makes her giggle. The joy she seemed to be having alleviated some of the frustration Fenris had, as his heart melted at the baby's cuteness.

Lily, or Lilianna, her proper name, was Fenris's little sister, born two years after him. Currently, she is barely a year old, so she should be at the age where she could start walking now.

Lily's room was filled with lots of cute things: dolls, toys, a stylish bed, etc., in stark contrast to Fenris's room, which was more ordinary but, as expected for a noble child's room, its furniture was finely crafted. Fenris preferred his room over Lily's because it wasn't so focused on style, instead being more simplistic.

However, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

After a little while, Fenris's curiosity got the better of him, and his desire to learn more about this new world resurfaced. While wandering through the Tonelico mansion, he stumbled upon a massive library with towering bookshelves filled with books on every subject imaginable, including magic, history, mathematics, science, geography, and the arts. Everything Fenris needed to know was located right here.

But he had never been here before, so navigating the library would turn out to be a hellish task.

"God, can't there be labels for these sections?! For such a vast collection, one would think that it might be a little better organized!"

After what felt like an eternity navigating through each of the bookshelves, Fenris found books on history, geography, and magic. With his short and scrawny body, he heaved the books onto a table and pried them open.

The text on the books he was reading was somewhat hard to make out, but after giving it a closer look, Fenris found that the language and script were actually similar to Greek, which he was fluent in.

"Hmmm...so it seems I'm living in some kind of medieval society. That explains the different clothing and architecture. Thank god I wasn't born a commoner," Fenris expressed relief. Despite being the third son of a noble family, his fate could've been worse.

The kingdom in which he lived was known as the Kingdom of Asura. It was one of the world's most powerful nations, boasting a strong military and economy. The way its government was run resembled that of real-world medieval kingdoms, such as England or France. It was known for its abundant farmland, which was said to ensure that nobody in the kingdom starved. This was especially true when considering its gargantuan population of over fifty million people.

The Asuran Catholic Church was the state religion and played a large role in government affairs. The Church had an uncanny resemblance to the Roman Catholic Church, something which Fenris recognized from his previous life.

The capital of Asura was known as Asurand, located in the western part of the country. It alone boasted a population of over 1 million, which was outrageously high for a medieval city.

"Must be filthy there..." Fenris commented as he read.

With a greater understanding of the world's history, Fenris naturally gravitated towards learning about magic since the opportunity was offered to him. He took a book of spells upstairs to his room, where he was eager to practice his newfound abilities.

The text explained that within every living being existed a "gate", or magic apparatus, which allowed the passage of mana throughout the body. It acts similar to other organs and muscles, and can be trained to become reinforced or broken down from overuse. A non-functioning gate meant one could not release mana and cast spells.

"So according to the book, I just need to say the name of the spell while letting my instincts guide the rest," Fenris read aloud as he prepared to cast a water ball spell.

"Huma! " Fenris exclaimed as he felt a surge of energy rush into his hand. Particles of water began to form in his palm, taking the shape of a ball before quickly falling to the floor in failure.

Fenris felt both shocked and disappointed that the spell did not work as intended. "Wha...? What did I do wrong?"

He double-checked the incantation but continued failing. After multiple tries with no success, Fenris concluded the issue lay with his ability to channel intent rather than the words themselves.

"I suppose channeling my instincts to use superpowers isn't as easy as they portray it in manga. Welp, trial and error is the only way I'm going to learn how," Fenris sighed.

This time, Fenris decided to throw out the incantations altogether, as it simply wasn't doing it for him. The book he was reading said nothing about incant-less spells, so does that mean it's some kind of taboo secret art? 

Well, I don't care. 

Closing his eyes, Fenris focused his mind on the spell he had now committed to memory. In his mind's eye, particles of water began taking the shape of a ball.

I want to make the water ball fly... Fenris repeated with a growing passion. The intensity of his focus and intent allowed the water ball formed in his palm to launch forward, splashing against the wall.

This small success triggered excitement in Fenris. A wide grin spread across his face as he performed an impromptu victory dance, celebrating this pivotal first step in mastering his newfound abilities. While rudimentary, being able to cast even a basic spell showed promise for his magical training. Fenris' joy and curiosity to learn more had only been fueled further.

---

For several months, Fenris steadily progressed in his training, finding the mental processes became easier with each passing day. He experimented with manipulating other elements as well, such as earth, fire, and wind. Taking care to avoid more advanced or destructive spells, Fenris kept his practice inconspicuous from the rest of his family, who remained unaware of his magical studies.

Two years after first beginning, Fenris's father Marcos unexpectedly entered his chambers to discover his son immersed in spellwork. Caught off guard, Fenris froze as if caught doing something wrong.

"Fenris...? Is this what I think it is?" Marcos asked as he examined Fenris's spellbook. Fenris's body tensed with fear as he struggled to respond. After a moment, Fenris gave a small nod, confirming Marcos's suspicions.

A heavy silence fell between them. Fenris braced himself for a scolding, but to his surprise, Marcos smiled warmly.

"You've been practicing magic without telling me? My, you've grown quite skilled for your age," Marcos praised, inspecting the book with intrigue. "I must say I'm impressed. You have a gift, Fenris."

Fenris blinked in disbelief. "You...you're not angry?"

Marcos chuckled. "Why would I be? Magic runs in our blood. I'm proud to see you embracing your talents."

Relief washed over Fenris. It seemed his secret was out, but with his father's blessing rather than ire.

"Thank you, Father," Fenris replied, returning his smile.

"I knew you possessed talent, as the examination when you first arrived showed—" Marcos began, before Fenris interjected. "I know, Father."

"I see," Marcos replied in understanding.

"Well, if you wish to walk the path of magic, you'll require a tutor. With your clear promise, I can no longer ignore your growing power."

Fenris sighed internally. There went his plan to remain discreet. But he maintained a calm façade, thinking optimistically. Well, I'm hoping the tutor is at least entertaining. That'll make this more bearable.

Marcos reached down to reassure Fenris with a pat on the shoulder and smile. "Don't worry, my boy - we'll spare no expense to find you a suitable magic instructor."

Looking up at his father, Fenris offered a grin in return. Despite his disappointment, he chose to remain hopeful for what the future may hold.

---

Fenris had grown accustomed to Sara's daily visits, as the young servant girl was often sent to clean his room. With her ashen hair and light blue eyes, she caught Fenris's attention, as her exotic looks set her apart from others he had seen in this new world.

Though just a maid, it was clear Sara lacked confidence. When entering Fenris's bedroom, even the slightest things seemed to startle her. Yet Fenris treated her kindly, hoping to ease her worries.

He wondered what troubled her mind so. Though she tried appearing happy, Fenris knew from experience that something deeper distressed her.

Strangely, Sara felt most at ease around Fenris. She treated his room as a safe haven, often lingering longer in conversation than her duties required. He proved unlike the haughty nobles she knew, instead showing humility, understanding and care.

Today, Fenris left his room tidy for Sara's visit. She smiled, grateful for the light task.

"Thank you, Fenris," she said softly. "You always make it so."

Fenris grinned, truly happy to see her. "It's nothing, Sara - I'm just glad of your company."

Sara felt her cheeks flush at his words, never daring to dream he might feel as she did. Though she knew he valued her visits, it had not occurred to her that his regard ran deeper.

With cleaning done, Sara jumped as Fenris's hand touched her shoulder. Relaxing at his familiar face, her sigh concerned him.

"Is all well, Sara?" he asked gently.

"Oh no, i-its's nothing!" she insisted, though Fenris saw through her words, eyeing her knowingly.

Retreating inwards, Sara's timid expression showed once again, as she seemed uncomfortable sharing what was bothering her. However, something in Fenris's eyes persuaded her to reveal her troubles.

They sat together on the bed as Sara fixed Fenris with a serious look. "I have a secret I've kept from all," she whispered for his ear alone. "Something hidden from every soul."

Fenris listened intently, anxious to help in any way he could. Sara took a steadying breath to share what had long festered inside...

Sara took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. She knew that this could change everything, but she also knew that she couldn't keep it bottled up inside any longer.

"I'm being bullied," her voice quivered with emotion. "B-b-by..." she started to name the culprit but Fenris halted her gently with a finger to her lips.

"Hush now, all will be well," Fenris soothed, embracing Sara as tears flowed freely.

This girl makes my heart ache. She's so young, yet so troubled. There's not much I can do to help her though, since she's a servant and I'm a bastard child.

I mean, what can a five year old do? The best option seems a hug and reassurances. Or...

An idea came to Fenris and he summoned Earth magic, crafting a golden necklace set with an emerald gem. Presenting it to Sara stopped her tears as she gazed in wonder.

She was in disbelief. Was this gift really for her? Or was he just teasing her? Regardless of what she thought, her hand instinctively reached for the necklace as Sara held it and put it on her neck. "You made this for me?" she asked, her body still shaking from the crying. Fenris grinned as he nodded to her question.

"B-But you shouldn't have!" Sara protested. "I don't deserve such lovely gifts from you..." her face fell in sorrow.

"No! Keep it!" Fenris re-assured her. "It's yours to keep, Sara. And don't talk like that about yourself - you deserve far more than your station."

Sara's face beamed as she was touched by Fenris's reassuring words. He said just what she needed to hear, relief washing over her as a smile spread across her lips.

"Thank you, Fenris," she said joyfully. "It's a lovely necklace, and I'll treasure it always!"

Fenris smiled, feeling a sense of happiness and contentment at Sara's reaction. He knew that their friendship was special, and he would always cherish it.

Sara reminds me of Alice a little, even though she has a completely different personality.

"You're welcome, Sara," he said.

Soon, they parted ways. Fenris laid on his bed as his mind was filled with thoughts about Sara and her troubles. She was the first person he truly cared about since entering this world due to how kind she was. 

"Maybe there is hope, after all."

Meanwhile, lifted by Fenris's kindness, Sara skipped down the hall in high spirits, humming merrily. But rounding the corner, she bumped into another: a figure half a head above her own. Gazing up, Sara's heart sank - for it was Damian before her. He seemed less than pleased with her, as he gazed down to find the necklace that Sara was wearing.

"Who gave you that necklace?" Damian demanded, his voice stern.

Sara's body stiffened, hesitating to speak until Damian's footstep echoed. "F-F-F-Fenris..! Fenris gave this necklace to me!" she stammered fearfully.

A few veins protruded from Damian's body as his face contorted into a scowl. "So, you were shirking your responsibilities again, weren't you?!" he growled.

"I want you to cease visiting Fenris's bedroom, you hear me?" he continued.

Sara, with Fenris's heartening words still fresh in her mind, began to edge away from Damian, which only fueled his anger further.

"Know your place, wench!" Damian, enraged, struck Sara in the eye. The blow was loud enough to rouse Fenris from his bed, while the ensuing sobs that followed were instantly recognizable.

Fenris sprinted down the hallway, following the punch's echo to find Sara on the floor in agony. The sight of her body ignited memories of harm, and he clenched his fist in response.

"And no more accepting gifts from that worthless twerp!" Damian descended upon Sara, yanking the necklace from her neck.

Fenris's outburst propelled him forward, closing the distance between him and his brother in a blink. He struck Damian in the face, sending him flying across the hall. The impact and landing reverberated through the mansion, drawing everyone's notice. In that instance, Fenris was fixated on protecting Sara.

Normally, a five year old like Fenris wouldn't possess so much strength. But due to the fact that he's a half-demon, it provided him with power unlike any human child.

He retrieved the necklace and reattached it around Sara's neck. Fenris felt sickened by her injury - the area around her left eye was reddened, and her cheeks were swelling.

"Are you all right?" Fenris inquired, concerned.

Sara shook her head slightly, attempting to hold back tears. "N-No...I'm not," she sniffled.

"Let's see to your injuries," Fenris said as he hoisted Sara over his shoulders. Just then, Marcos and Lilianna arrived.

Marcos's eyes widened at the scene, seeing Damian in pain and blood spilled across the floor. His gaze locked onto Fenris, whom he began to suspect.

"What transpired here, Fenris?" he asked, his tone serious."

Me and Damian got into a scuffle," Fenris explained. "Damian struck Sara initially, so I retaliated on her behalf and hit him back."

"So you were protecting Sara here?" Marcos confirmed.

"Mm-hmm," Fenris affirmed.

"Well, she appears to be in grave condition based on the injuries - I'll dispatch healers to care for her immediately," Marcos stated, looking over the damage done to Sara's face.

"That won't be necessary," Fenris countered instantly. "I'll care for her."

Marcos shifted his expression to a warm smile as he trusted Fenris's good heart. When he turned to Damian, however, he was less than pleased.

Marcos gripped Damian's shirt collar, holding him immobile as he stared directly into his eyes. "Damian, you're coming with me."

"B-But he started it! I only hit her because she wasn't doing what she was supposed to!" Damian tried to make excuses for himself. Marcos's stern expression hardened further as Damian tried to justify himself.

"And neither were you. Making excuses for yourself won't get you anywhere, Damian," Marcos replied.

Damian screamed and struggled as Marcos dragged him across the carpet. "This isn't over, you twerp! I'll get you for this!!" he yelled at Fenris, who stared at him dispassionately.

Filled with relief, Fenris returned to his bedroom and laid Sara's body on his bed. He used water magic to heal her wounds, reducing the swelling and redness around her face.

Sara lifted her head, giving a warm smile to Fenris, who had gone out of his way to gift her a necklace, defend her and heal her. For that, she could not thank him enough.

"Thank you for defending me, Fenris," she said softly.

"You're welcome, Sara," Fenris replied, returning a smile at her. "No one deserves to be treated like that, especially not you."

Sara felt grateful for his good heart, and she was glad to have him as a friend. As they sat there, talking and laughing afterwards, they both knew that they had each other's backs, no matter what.

---

After weeks of searching, Marcos finally found a suitable magic tutor for Fenris. She was a beautiful elf with flowing hair and piercing green eyes. Marcos had heard that she was one of the best magic tutors in the land, and he was eager to introduce her to Fenris.

As they sat in Marcos's study, the tutor listened intently as Marcos spoke proudly about Fenris's outstanding magical prowess.

"He has a natural talent for magic that I have never seen before," Marcos said, his voice filled with pride. "He can control all six elements with ease."

The tutor was intrigued, but she was also a "seeing is believing" kind of person. "I will have to see it for myself," she said skeptically.

Marcos nodded, understanding her skepticism. "I assure you, he is quite remarkable. I have seen him perform feats of magic that should not be possible for someone his age.

"The tutor raised an eyebrow, impressed by Marcos's praise. "Very well, I am willing to give him a chance. However, I must warn you, I am not easily impressed.

"Marcos smiled, confident that Fenris would be able to impress her. "I have no doubt that he will exceed your expectations," he said.

As they made arrangements for the tutor to start teaching Fenris, Marcos felt a sense of excitement. He knew that Fenris was destined for greatness, and he couldn't wait to see what the future held for his son.