Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have unlimited power?
The endless potential a person could have if they weren't limited by their bodies… I thought about it every day in my previous life.
I was born Inept, with no aptitude for the thing I craved the most, so as a researcher, I tried looking for ways to combat the very injustice that was dealt to me.
It was impossible though.
Just like the law of gravity and motion, it is trite that for magic to occur, there must be mana. To use mana, one must possess a degree of it. As such, no inept person could ever use Magic, nor even activate a magic tool or artifact, since they required the injection of mana to work.
But, I discovered the next best thing. If one had even the tiniest fraction of mana, they could achieve even far greater feats than their current limits. By using the surrounding mana through the attraction of your own mana, you could make even more powerful and efficient magic than normal.
I dubbed this technique SPELLCRAFT, one of my most coveted and prized magic inventions.
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"Urghhh…" I groaned as my eyes slowly opened.
I felt my ears ringing loudly, and my entire body aching. I could hardly move my body, making me wonder what caused such an absurdity.
"H-he's awake, Milady!" I heard someone yell.
Their voices sounded feminine, making me even more confused. I indeed had a lover, but… no, that couldn't be her. Besides, my mind was so sharp that I would recognize the voice if I knew the owner.
Yet, I didn't know who was speaking.
'W-what's going on…?'
"My baby… ohh, my baby!!!" I heard another woman say.
My eyes were still blurry, so I couldn't see her face clearly. In fact, my entire head was buzzing and foggy. It felt like I was forgetting something important, but I couldn't point it out clearly.
I blinked and struggled to try regaining my sight and stop the loud ringing in my ears. Even though my body wasn't moving as I wanted it to, I had to focus and get a grip!
Upon opening my eyes, I could see clearer. From my position, it appeared I was lying on a bed and the strange woman who called me her baby was looking at me with tears in her eyes. She looked awfully attractive, but her sad face nearly ached my heart.
'Why is she looking at me with those eyes…? Who is this beauty?' I asked myself.
Instantly I felt a little shame wash over me. The lady in front of me was young enough to be my daughter, yet what was I thinking?
Suddenly, the woman stretched forth her hands toward me in an attempt to lift me. I felt puzzled, seeing such an action. I tried protesting, but my lips wouldn't respond, no, it felt like I was not even capable of speech yet.
Instead of hearing my voice, I heard a baby mumbling
'Who the hell is that?'
As her hands touched my back, I felt a warm tingle on my skin, it felt good. But, the strange thing about this was that her hands seemed to touch a wide area in my back, but before I fully grasped the situation, I slowly felt myself being pulled up.
'W-what the hell?!' My mind rang.
"Ah, you're safe… my beautiful baby boy!" The woman cried in laughter as she drew me close to her bosom.
Upon hearing those words, a sharp sensation seared through my brain, and slowly all the confusion I had vanished instantly.
The truth sunk in, as well as the memories of the past couple of days I had spent in my new form. A smile formed on my face when I thought of the events of the previous night, as well as the absolute truth that governed my life at the moment.
I had been reincarnated!
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A few days passed after the incident, and to be honest, my time after that was very eventful.
Even though I realized that my family was important and rich, I didn't know to what extent, until after the deed had been done.
Apparently, my parents are high-ranking nobles in this Empire, wherever this was… making me a very important figure, even as a baby.
The reason I hadn't yet seen my father was due to his busy life in the Capital, and it appeared he wasn't going to be coming home anytime soon.
As for the most puzzling part, the assassin, it turned out had disguised himself as a servant and was able to blend in for weeks unnoticed, waiting for the household to let their guards down before making his move.
I often wondered why the assassin didn't use magic to finish me off, but after spending the rest of my days actively investigating from my baby's cot or my mother's very comfortable laps, I discovered a mechanism in the house.
A Magic Detection Artifact!
I hadn't noticed it when I first reincarnated, since I was occupied with more important things, plus the model looked very different from the one I was used to. However, when I started my active investigation, I found it.
Anti-Magic is only a theory, since all magic comes from mana and involves various formulas to cast. Therefore, to protect their household from dangerous magic-users, Magic Detection Artefacts were made.
Simply put, they allowed the user to detect the use of magic within their immediate vicinity.
*[A/N] Think of it like a fire alarm*
So, if anyone were to use magic in the vicinity, it had to be sanctioned. Unauthorized use of magic would be instantly detected and the culprit would be apprehended instantly.
The assassin approached me with a knife to finish his job in order to avoid the detection of magic. However, the alarm still rang… and that was because of me!
I remember using magic to kill that man, and while the rush and thrill remained with me even till this moment, I couldn't possibly replicate it again. Doing so recklessly would cause the alarm to ring and I would be found out.
Even now, the maids and servants look at me with peculiar and curious expressions. My mother often mentioned it was a miracle that they found the dead body of the assassin right next to my cot and wondered what could have happened.
I could only imagine the shock on their faces if they realized that it was a seemingly harmless, 'barely a week' old baby that drilled the hole they found in the corpse of the man.
But, that would never happen. So far, I had escaped suspicion because it wasn't reasonable that I could do such a thing in the first place. So, everyone chalked it down to an 'Act of God.'
Plus, ever since that night, I had been put under 24/7 surveillance. My freedom had ended up being further restricted.
However, that was no issue for me. Why? Because… being stationary was exactly what I needed at the moment.
'It's time to begin forming my core!'
Lewis takes a new step in a new world. What awaits him in the future?
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"On this day, I hereby name thee Jared of the house of Leonard Alphonse Sereth."
Yep, you heard that right!
At this moment, I'm currently at the cathedral within my family's estate. The pews are well arranged, and my dearest mother, being the only parent around to witness this historic day is standing on the altar, holding me in her bosom.
The priest was facing me directly, wearing his blindingly white robe and golden scarf. Two of his assistants, who bore an uncanny resemblance with each other stood a couple of distance behind him, while staring at the clergyman with hope and adoration in their eyes.
As for the audience, many strangers were currently piercing me with their gaze. One would think that I would be used to attention, given the nature of my past life. However, as a baby who was just two weeks old, it was a little nerve-wracking.
Why? Because… in the presence of so many witnesses, this priest was about to perform something known as the 'Quickening' ceremony, where he would inject his mana into me and activate my latent mana.
Yes, it's a method I developed in the past to help form a mana core early. It has received a lot of popularity, and even in this age, it appeared that they still used this method, though it has now become an elaborate event.
Still, the reason I'm so nervous is because of one crucial fact…
I have already 'Quickened' myself!
[Let's rewind a bit]
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I began forming my mana core 10 days after I was born, some days after the whole attempted assassination issue.
Of course, since I was stuck and constantly watched, I had to pass the time.
Usually, after a child receives a 'Quickening', it takes them a few years for their mana core to develop. This is because, though the latent mana has become active, they automatically begin to converge in a single spot to become a core within a magic user's body.
Babies, and even little children, who have no experience in sensing their mana or directing the flow have to wait for years while things take their natural course, and after this occurs, they Awaken.
The usual time for a core to fully form is five years, though I have heard cases of geniuses who formed theirs at four, even three years old.
How scary… I envied those lucky chumps!
'Hehehehe, but now… it's my turn to shine!' I grinned internally.
You see, I had already Awakened mere days after my birth, way faster than most children, and I also possessed the ability to sense my mana and direct the flow since I had my awareness intact.
The perks of being a brilliant mind, I suppose.
Though my mana capacity seemed to barely qualify, there didn't seem to be too much of a problem. If I began guiding my mana particles to form a core myself, without waiting for them to gather on their own, that meant my speed would be way more than others.
'I might not have talent, but by using this method, I won't be left behind!'
So, at 10 days old, I began my first trial.
Ah, it was difficult. It was hard enough sensing the little fragments of mana that dwelled within my body, but gathering them in a single spot was another thing entirely.
For a child, whose mental strength was incomparable to an adult's, it took quite a monstrous amount of concentration to gather 10 particles in an hour.
When considering the fact that there are nearly infinite number of particles within a person's body, and it takes a minimum of a hundred thousand to form a stable core, 10 particles an hour was a far cry from what I had in mind.
Even in this new life, it appeared that life would not be easy for me.
Still, I persevered!
On my first day, I managed to gather 50 particles before losing strength and drifting to sleep.
My second day was better since I had somewhat gotten the hang of things.
'70, uh? Not bad, not bad!' I thought to myself, smiling excitedly.
It seemed the more I practiced gathering daily, the more I improved.
By the third day, I was already able to gather 120 particles, nearly two times the amount of the previous day.
'At this rate… maybe…'
However, my hopeful thoughts were dashed by the sudden realization I had after hearing the conversation my mother had with her handmaidens.
"Is everything set for tomorrow?"
Tomorrow? I had no idea there was anything special going on during that time.
"Yes milady. The guests will be arriving very early, as stated in their letters, but we are nearly done with all the preparations." One of the maids answered her.
Guests? Now I was even more confused.
'What in the blazes is going on? Why doesn't anyone tell me anything? Oh, wait…' I grumbled internally, hoping someone would shed more light on the commotion.
"Tomorrow is my baby's naming ceremony. Ah, I can't wait till I hear my sweet child's name for the first time." My mother finally said, beaming with pride and excitement.
"… E-eh?" I let out with my baby voice.
Apparently, a baby was supposed to undergo a naming ceremony two weeks after birth. I didn't know anything of the sort prior to my mother mentioning it.
Perhaps it was because of my commoner heritage in my past life, where no such practices were held. Noble culture differed from that of the masses, after all.
But, if that was the case, wouldn't I have noticed it at later points in my life?
I had many noble friends, after all. And a lot of them had children, yet I never saw anything of the sort.
'Welp, it could have been as a result of my fixation on magic that I failed to notice such details…' I laughed in embarrassment.
Or, the more reasonable option would be that it was a new trend in whatever era I was reincarnated into.
Of course, based on the slight difference in the language everyone spoke, plus the dates I saw around, as well as the books my mother read to me, I already deduced that quite a few hundred years had passed since my death.
528 years to be exact.
During that time, quite a lot had changed, such as the Magic Detecting tool I saw in my parent's room. It looked more advanced than what I knew of in the past.
Since many things weren't the same as what I knew, the naming ceremony was no exception.
'Now that I think of it… I don't even have a name yet. Everyone just calls me the young master, and my mom calls me her baby… it won't be bad getting a proper name…' I had thought to myself with a bit of anticipation.
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How could I have known things would turn out this way?
A 'Quickening' Ceremony after hearing my name… how was I to get out of this predicament?
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