“So, Uhm, Mom?” I stammered nervously.

“You can see other people’s memories?” I felt my heart jump into my throat at the mere Idea. As if sensing my nervousness, mom sighed softly. She reached out a hand and rested it on the top of my head, looking down at me.

“I can.” She stated in a matter-of-fact tone, leaving no questions in my mind. “And I want you to think about something for me sugarplum. Do you think there’s anything I could see that would change anything?” She continued speaking as tears welled up in my eyes.

“I’d still be your mother, and you’d still be here, my boy. The way I see it, having a hard life just means you need a second chance.” Mom confirmed my suspicions out loud and I collapsed into tears. Yes, I wept. The sudden relief of the moment, and the stress of two life times suddenly got the better of me. To be accepted and comforted in that instant is more than I could handle.

At that moment though something dawned on me that I hadn’t fully considered before. I did actually care for these people. Even in my previous life I had cared for people. It wasn’t that I disliked socializing with others, or even that I disliked other people. As loathe as I was to admit it, I had loved Vincent like a brother. Vincent Gildea, not New-Vincent that’s part of me. The years we spent journeying together had been a chore at first, but he was my closest friend.

I was afraid of getting hurt. Neia and Daniel were my parents now, and they had spent years helping me, taking care of me, and giving me unconditional love. I had been so afraid of them rejecting me if they found out, and once Neia. No, Once Mother, let me know that it was okay I couldn’t hold myself back anymore.

In my distraught state, mom got up from her seat at the table and moved over to wrap me in a comforting hug. The only thing in the world that could help in that moment. “It’s okay, I promise, It’s okay” She kept reassuring me as I gradually calmed myself down.

“Do we need to talk about it?” I asked sheepishly, only getting my own question thrown back at me in response. “Do you think we need to talk about it?” and a raised eyebrow let me know it was entirely up to me.

“You don’t hate me?” was my only follow-up.

“Of course not dear. I’ve lived with you for ten years and if I hated you, you’d know by now.” Mom asserted. “I saw plenty of pain in your past, and many hard decisions, some that I disagree with. However, you’re your own person and as your mother, it’s my job to make sure you do as best you can this time around.”

I had joked in the past that Neia was a divine saint, today though, I felt it truly. Decades of struggling to survive, loss, and betrayal had all hardened around me like a ward spell. I hadn’t stopped to consider what damage I was doing to myself by trying to avoid getting hurt in the first place. Letting go felt good, it was freeing.

So many people had called me evil that after a certain point I started to believe it. I’m not evil though, I did what I needed to do. That’s all I’m ever going to do. Hard choices require hard spirits and so forth.

Those difficult decisions didn’t mean I had no room for love though. I think I was finally starting to understand that.

“I know that’s a lot to take in all at once hun, so why don’t you go play outside until your dad gets home? I’m sure you’d like the privacy right now” Mom interrupted my thoughts with a soft word, pulling back from the embrace and letting me sit on my own. As good as that sounded though, a fire burned in my chest, a flame of curiosity.

I could gather what the [Keeper of Memories] class did based on mom’s description of [Memory Weaver] but I wanted desperately to know more about her final class. [Retired Immortal]. So I asked.

“I’ll do that, but what’s your last class about before I go?” The tone of my words made it clear that it was a request she could say no to.

“Oh, that?” Mom giggled, waving a hand dismissively in my way. “It’s a jack-of-all-trades class for Elves. It has low stats but allows me to pick up and level skills much faster” She explained, pausing for a moment as if recalling something. “I got that class shortly after I married your father, and right now it has most of my household skills like cooking and mending in it.” was her final thought on the subject.

With my curiosity sated, I got up and began to move outside, pausing in the doorway when I remembered my manners. “Hey mom? Uh, Thanks?” I stammered awkwardly, waiting to leave until she gave me a polite smile and nod.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Gods above that was a stressful conversation. When I turned away again, I heard mom call out one last time. “Oh, and Andras? I left my homeland because Elves wouldn’t stop living in the past. I want you to try and focus on the future my dear.” I couldn’t look back at her without crying again, so I kept walking until I made it outside.

When I arrived out into our garden I immediately sank to a favorite seat of mine against the wall of the house. From here I could look out the gate and see a few of the other village houses, and all of the hearth smoke rising up in the distance. I let a few deep breaths roll through me, hearing my old name had more of an effect than I expected.

For a few moments, I just basked in the peace of it all, allowing it to sink in. That got boring after a half hour or so.

Realistically, I had a few hours before dad got home since he usually followed the sunset. Mom suggested I calm down, and one thing that remained constant across both my lives, magic calms me. I alternated between focusing my eyes on my hands trying to activate [Mana Sight] and forcing it to pool in my fingers with [Mana Forming]. Of course, being locked of the system meant I had no actual way of leveling the skills up. The parental override gave me skills, but it didn’t unlock the system for them.

As such, I could activate my limited magical capacity at the level 1 equivalent and accrue a sort of xp buffer. At the rate I’d been going, and with the buffs from my class skills, I would have more than enough saved up to max out the skills by the time the system unlocked. If I was lucky that xp would carry them to at least the level 10 cap, if not further. I fully expected any saved class xp to run out before the level 25 class cap. That would be above what was expected for someone of my age.

Eventually, I ran out of mana in my pool, and had to switch to [Mana Command]. My regeneration rate was pretty prodigious thanks in part to my boosted mental stats. However, the mental fatigue from using external magic did not recover nearly as quickly as the points themselves. That same fatigue was perhaps the only reason most spell casters prioritize the Vitality stat as high as they do.

The fatigue would catch up with me eventually though, and before I even noticed I had dozed off in my spot against the house. I don’t know how long I was out, but when my eyes blinked open sometime later, the sun was slowly setting. The fires in the village had been stoked, and several more plumes of smoke were billowing up.

No, that smoke’s too black. Too much ash.

A cry cut my thoughts, distant and quiet, I couldn’t quite make it out.

It repeated again, this time I heard it. Father’s voice. “Vincent! Get in the house right now! Run!” He was screaming. I bolted to my feet and just barely caught a glimpse of him in the distance, running towards the village, having already passed our house. His spear was clutched in his hand as he ran, the end glistening crimson. The order was punctuated by a roar overhead, and a jet of flame following my father from the sky.

A shadow passed over, large and winged, but with only one set of legs. A drake.

Panic coursed through my body as I scrambled into the house calling out for mom “Mom! Mom where are you?”. Drake’s are class B monsters. In a swarm of three or more each individual is considered class A. This was bad.

“Mom?!” No answer.

My blood ran cold. If she wasn’t in the house there was only one other place she could be. I felt my feet starting to run before I even made the decision to look for her. I tackled through our flimsy garden gate, the latch thankfully breaking with just a bruise to my shoulder.

I felt detached from the world as I ran, heat building in my face, but calm in my mind. Like I was watching someone else run. Was this what fear felt like? Another drake flew overhead with a roar, toasting a field of sheep in the swoop.

Two drakes. Maybe more. Possible mating pair? If they’ve been pushed out of their territory and found the village, what could possibly have scared them off?

I knew the answer but I didn’t want to consider it. Drakes would run from most Class A monsters, but only one creature was in actual contention for their hunting grounds. The only beasts that ever made Andras Grigori feel fear in his first life. Dragons.

That was a concern for a different day. A different time hopefully. My mind was snapped back to the present as I reached the edge of the village. Dozens of villagers were fleeing in panic, some were hiding under wagons or behind corners, and more still lay burnt in the streets. The smell hit me first. By gods the smell! Then the sound of screaming overcame my adrenaline rush. Mass panic.

I stood stark still, racing with thoughts on what to do next and panicking each time I thought one would fail. Mother’s voice cut me out of my stupor.

“Vincent! - Vincent! - ANDRAS!!” her use of my old name carried more weight, I looked up to see her beckoning me towards the blacksmith’s forge, Leigh’s father behind her. Good, the forge building was mostly stone, less likely to burn.

A dreadful roar, half burbled by steam, drew my attention from behind. I glanced back, not stopping, just in time to see my father, Daniel. He was ten feet off the ground, his spear thrust through the neck of the largest drake, a fountain of fire, blood, and steam spewing from its maw. The beast struggled to angle its neck to snap at him, even as its wings began to falter. Both fighters crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust and smoke.

I felt hands grab me from the other side as I collided headfirst into mother in my blind run. I’d reached the forge, good. Something wasn’t right though. I’d felt it since she called out to me, but the thought was slow, everything was slow.

It hit like a meteor. Where was Leigh?