The hag and I were still in my not-so-special training ground. She had just said some pretty inspiring stuff that made me warm and fuzzy on the inside.

"Are you ready to start your training?" she asked, pulling me out of my daze.

"We start now?" I asked.

"There's no better time than the present. At least that's what I would like to say, but we need to talk it over first." with that said, she disrobed.

Not exactly what you were thinking, perv. She just took off the oversized navy coat - that made her look like a cartoonish witch - she always wore.

My jaw dropped.

I always called her a hag, internally that is, but she did not look that old. If anything, the hag looked much younger than my mother. I called her a hag because of the aura around her. It spoke of years of experience under her belt; of the countless battles that forged her into the type of woman she was.

So I was pretty accustomed to her rather youthful face, but not what lay beneath the coat. Well I was somewhat accustomed to what lay underneath since we shared a bed sometimes, but she always wore baggy sleepwear, and my room was always dark, so it was never easy to tell. It was easy to tell she a collosal of a well-built woman, but it was hard to actually make that out at night.

PS: I always woke up to her gone from the bed.

The hag was rather tall for a woman, even taller than my mother, standing at about 190 cm.

Her height alone was intimidating.

She had charcoal black hair that was woven into a neat bun. Her yellow eyes gleamed with arrogance and she had a smirk that was on the same wavelength plastered on her face, giving her brown skin that extra glow.

She stood tall, her modest chest puffed out and her head held high, towering over me. Looking at her, it was easy to tell that she was built even more sturdier than my mother, if the hag being twice as bulky and having more muscle definition than my mother was anything to go by.

A large necklace of black and white beads lay around her neck, over a sleeveless leather armor, with a center piece that started from her neck, trailing vertically and ending over the belt of her black pants. Her black pants were simple in design, worn underneath a white loincloth that had a black line running at the bottom. She finished her attire with bare feet.

All in all, she looked awesome and ready for battle.

"I look amazing, don't I?" her rhetorical question told me that she caught my stare.

"Can't say I disagree." I had to admit.

She did look amazing. So amazing that I was speechless, and I was a difficult man to please mind you.

"Putting aside my good looks." she pointed at her bare feet. "Why do you think that is?"

I honestly couldn't say why she was walking around barefoot. Her coat had covered her so well that you couldn't see her feet, so I was surprised she was barefoot. In my previous world, walking barefoot was largely criticized by society.

I, my handsome self, enjoyed walking barefoot indoors so I was not going to judge her preference of her natural footwear.

"You enjoy walking barefoot?" was all I could think of.

"There's that,"

So she does enjoy walking barefoot.

"but the real reason is that it is easier to interact with Mana this way."

Oh?

"While there is a beauty about shoes, their rubber soles actually block our connection with the ground, where we interact with mana more naturally."

She went further to explain that the races were electrical creatures, and keeping contact with the ground helped them interact with the mana accumulated by the planet's surface easier.

As a science major in high school in my previous life, I was aware of what she was talking about. The term for what the hag was talking about was called "earthing" or "grounding" in my previous world.

Mana was the energy of creation and destruction, comprised of both spiritual and physical energies, which meant that the races of this world had literally unlocked the soul.

The hag described Mana as condensed energy that often appeared as lightning, and possessing different charges and different frequencies. That meant that as a natural element, mana itself was fire.

So while the textbooks were convinced that fire as a natural element did not exist in the world, the hag called mana itself fire. As the brain used electrical charges to send signals and commands to the body, grounding helped maintain spiritual and physical connection with the mana flowing in the ground.

Which would mean that Elementalists of Earth, Water, Wind were adapt to a type of fire that created their natural affinities. It was confusing.

"The biggest example would be your rare affinity."

"You keep saying that, but what is my Rare Affinity?" I was starting to get annoyed with her dangling the information in my face like this. Seriously. Just tell me dammit!"

"Before we get to your rare affinity, I want to touch up on something you have, that is even more spectacular.""

"Huh?" there was more? How powerful am I?

"The eyes that are said to hold the secrets of life itself, the All-Seeing Eyes."

"Well that's a pretty literal name." I retorted, the name sucking the wind out of the sails of my ship that was sailing towards OP-ness. The name really did not give me that OP vibe she was implying.

"Hey don't blame me kid, I'm not the one who came up with the name."

"Fair enough." I guess I could let it pass since the name did not come from her.

I'll take what I can get.

Anything to have it easy. Hey I know what you're thinking but I don't care, I was not going to let this opportunity slip through my fingers.

The hag coughed into her hand before she continued. "Ahem, getting back on topic. These eyes were only seen once, from our ancestor 1000 years ago."

"Huh?" a vein pulsated at my temple at her utterance. "Then what makes you so certain I have those eyes if they were seen only once? We are talking about twenty generations give or take. Information tends to get muddled the more it is shared, ya know." I was right too. You could start a rumour and find that when it reached the fifth person, it would be completely different from what you said.

"Just stop being a smart ass for once and believe me brat!"

Yeesh. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

I was skeptical before, but now I was even more skeptical. A part of me wanted to call the lie, but another part of me - the one of greed and desire - was hoping that I had the eyes. After the life I led in my previous life, I deserved to have it easy.

Okay I know the whole sad backstory thing would not be convincing coming from me because I came from a rich family, I threw my siblings from the second floor, and had everything I presumably wanted, in my previous life, but not everything that glitters is gold okay? And I was not even making excuses.

I deserve this dammit.

Before I get judged, who wouldn't say that they deserve a life of leisure? I know no one would ever do that. I only seemed selfish because I was brave enough to be honest about it. So take that you closet selfishers!

The hag's smirk turned sinister all of a sudden. "Now I'm going to walk you through unlocking those eyes, the easiest shortcut to giving you the ultimate power that you want without working too hard, hehehe."

My smirk followed suite, adopting an evil glint. "I'm liking the sound of that grandma, hehehe." I was sure she had skipped explaining something else to me, something important too, but whatever, since I couldn't remember it either.

United in my love for having things handed down to me and the hag's love for handing things down to me, my training with the hag began in earnest.

Kidding. My training would commence the following day. I was just so excited that I couldn't wait. I mean, I was about to become all powerful, and godly and stuff. I won't lie, I had a god complex, and it was being tickled pink in that moment.

"So tell me brat, what made you start meditating?"

The hag's question pulled me out of my ego washing.

"Urhh... What?" It wasn't that I wasn't paying attention, I just didn't know how to reply to her question.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Why did you start meditating?" the hag did not mind repeating herself.

"... Erm..." I did not know honestly. I mean, I had never even thought to meditate in my previous life.

Someone had suggested it to me once, and I laughed in their face for it. So this was not making any sense. The fact that it started making sense to me after the hag asked was fishy.

"I guess I was just frustrated about not being about to use my mana that one day I just sat down and closed my eyes. I did it so often that it became a habit too." Weird. It felt like the idea was mine, but at the same time it wasn't. It was like a programming.

"Don't look so shocked brat. It's your eyes that guided you to that."

I looked up at the hag with a gaze that told her to continue explaining.

"Three months after you were born, you unlocked the eyes."

The hag went on to explain about the day father spilled boiling tea on me. Lucky for me, I did not feel it. Well if anything, I have never really felt hot or cold. Come to even think of it, it has never been cold here. The only way I could keep up with the months was because of how long it took the sun to rise or set. Weird.

"You had them activated for a solid four minutes, which was quite impressive for a baby."

Yeah, and let's not forget about the fact that y'all want to push some brainwashing seal on me as quickly as possible because of said eyes. No grudges really.

"That is not telling me anything about what I want to know."

"Keep your big pants on boy, I'm getting to that." The reply was crisp, the hag probably irritated.

Okay I probably deserved that. I was coming on a bit too hard. "Sorry." I murmured.

She sighed before she continued. "The eyes aren't flashy or anything. They just unlock the secrets of anything and everything. They offer information, if you would. So if you were able to use them for that long, the information of how to unlock your mana is probably locked in there somewhere at the back of your mind. The reason why you cannot remember why you even started meditating means your brain took the decision to remind you itself through action."

There were cases that explained that some people ran away from trauma so much that the memories were locked away at the back of their mind. The defense is so strong that the mind convinces itself that the traumatic event never even happened.

Information though, huh? That did sound overpowered in the right hands. Information was power after all. As for the secrets of everything and anything: In this world, I guess that would mean I would know all that was to know about mana and how to use it. I liked the sound of that. Come to think of it, I could solve the mystery of where all life comes from. That was the biggest mystery of all in my previous world. I could imagine the same applied here.

As I was pondering this, the next words the hag said to me seemed to stop time.

"Oh and by the way, an ancestor that had your rare affinity 500 years ago was not of this world. Is it the same with you?"

She dropped the bomb so casually, and followed up with a casual question so normally like I was not keeping all of this reincarnation stuff a secret.

"..." I had no words.

Huh. was all my mind could come up with.

......... Shit. I was caught. What do I do? I trembled, my eyes darting around the forest instinctively: searching for an escape route. My heart was racing and, conveniently, my mind forgot to remind me about the blink-of-an-eye show of speed the hag pulled off earlier. Talk about betrayal. What's a guy gotta do to find decent organs anyways?

My breaths were coming in short.

Depending on what I said next, I may even die. What if she started thinking that I stole the body of her real grandson? If she branded me an impostor, then I would die. I may have been trained by mom and the hag for a year now but I did not fancy my chances of surviving against either of them when they were serious. That, and I did not fancy having my head lopped off when I knew exactly how she would do it.

Wait a minute. What did happen here? Am I even supposed to be inhabiting this body or did I steal it? I had no way of knowing, which meant that none of this was my fault. That's right, even if I killed her real grandson it's not my fault.

Sorry dead Sebastian, but I deserve to live too.

The more this life was progressing, the more I did not feel the protagonist trope from it, at all. Never in the reincarnation novels I read did a relative of the reincarnated character know about the character coming from another world when the character was born anew.

This felt like a planned trap by a trickster god. Maybe it was a character development arc of their lives where Emilia and Bel grow stronger together over the loss of their child. No, I did not want that. I mean, they could grow stronger over the loss of a child but I did not want to be that child.

My mind was racing, danger alarms ringing in my mind relentlessly. What was making me even more nervous was that the hag had been gone for three months without word. If she killed me now, she wouldn't even be a suspect.

I don't want to die. It was as simple as that, and the slimmer my chances of survival became, the more I wanted to cry at my helplessness. I have to escape somehow.

As I resolved myself to run for the hills. Well run for the forests in that instance, a hand landed on my shoulder. By reflex, I slapped it away.

"!" Eyes wide, I looked up in shock. I may have very well screamed at her that I did not belong in this world. I was further surprised by the look of confusion on her face.

"Yeesh relax, would you? I'm not going to eat you or anything." she said.

Seriously, what was up with this woman? Did serious situations not register with her? I was having a heart attack dammit! Or maybe she was just that good at playing otherwise? I found that highly unlikely. For as long as I knew her, she seemed less the talk-things-out type and more the I'll-solve-everything-with-my-overwhelming-power type. And why did she casually drop a bomb on me like this?!

"!" the sound of a palm meeting a face echoed in the forest.

My left cheek stung.

With the new sensation to focus on, my brain slowly rebooted itself. I felt more calm and in control after the reboot.

"Better?" she asked, having waited patiently for me to calm down.

"Yeah." I murmured, nodding limply.

"Good. So?"

"So?"

"Are you from another world or not?" she asked, prompting with a casual shrug.

I kinda got the feeling that my slapping her hand away already gave it away, so I guess she was the type that liked to hear things being said. I could try running but I couldn't imagine even managing to stand up still alive. Guess I had no choice but to take the leap of faith.

"Yes, I am from another world." then I hurried to clarify. Maybe I'd get to keep my life after I explained myself. "I don't even know how I even got here. I did not steal the real Sebastian's body by the way. None of this is my fault."

"Yeesh, of course I know it's not your fault." she said it like it was obvious.

"You do?" I squeaked out, my voice coming out like I had taken a gulp of helium before I spoke. Her casual reaction was hard to take in. Is she purposefully making me let down my guard so that she can kill me when I'm unaware? She has never struck me as that intelligent though.

"Indeed." she nodded sagely.

I could feel it coming from her. She really did mean what she was saying.

Overcome with the elation that I would not die, I clung to her.

"Thank you so much grandma! Waaaah!"

"H-hey calm down, w-would you! Snort, you're getting your snort all over me! Hey, calm down dammit!"

It took a while, but I did manage to calm down. Albeit, the hag was annoyed by being covered in snort."

"Seriously, what is up with you?" she unceremoniously wiped herself off with water she created from her palm. It was a glob of sparkling clear water, that she ran over her skin where it collected all of the snort.

Not one of my proudest moments, I have to admit. But I was still alive. Hooray to that! But-

"What is up with you though?!" I bellowed. "Why are you treating any of this like it's normal?!"

Her nonchalance was, I don't know, sorta anticlimactic. I was starting to feel like an idiot for panicking so much. In fact, I was starting to get a bit ticked off. I was struggling between a heavy dose of anxiety and panic that I did not know how to let out.

"Like I said, the ancestor-"

"Like hell!" I snapped. "First it was someone from 1000 years ago, and now it's a guy who died 500 years ago! It's starting to creep me out how casually you're drawing these big numbers!"

I could not make sense of her reaction. It was suspicious. No way this was normal. Guys with power tended to babble about some dumb stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if this ancestor's power was so great that he started saying that he was not of this world in the concept that he was born different than any of its residents. A GOAT so to speak. It's possible that they took that the wrong way.

The hag chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the side of her cheek with her index finger. Her youthful face made the gesture adorable.

No! Wait, don't get distracted. "Answer me dammit!"

"Okay, okay, yeesh. You may find this hard to believe but the ancestor from 500 years ago was my father, that's why I'm sure you have the same rare affinity."

"..." I stared blankly at her. "The Hell he was! the dude died 500 years ago,don't mess with me!" What the Hell was this woman playing at?

"I know I do not look it but I'm 650 years old!" Panicking all of a sudden, the hag rushed to explain.

"............................................................... Huh?" was my smart reply. "...? What the fuck?" I started smacking the ground in protest, "I thank you not lie to me! That's a lie! A bald-faced lie! You're a liar! Stop lying!"

"Hey! I don't lie!"

"I can tell that's also a lie!"

"F-fine, if you don't believe me," She stood up, grabbing my shoulder. "Then we'll ask your mother. Emilia!"

"................................................................. Huh?"

We were back at the house.

From about four kilometres deep into the forest, and back to the house in an instant. I didn't see, or even feel us move. Safe to say I felt like an idiot for trying to run away from her. Chances were, she could kill me before I could even realize I was dead, if that made any sense.

"Sebastian, there you are. I've been looking all over for you. Mother, I have not seen you in a while. Where have you been, both of you?"

"Forget that." The hag waved off the question. "Emilia, how old are you?"

Unfair how she waved off mom, yet she expected her own question to be answered.

"Huh?!" mom turned red all of a sudden, a rare sight indeed. "Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Do I have grey hairs or something?" at that question, she frantically ran her hands on her head.

I would actually ponder how a mother would forget her own daughter's age. It seemed mom and I had different priorities.

The hag sighed, unamused. "You've had grey hairs since you were born. Now answer the question!"

I was still dangling in the air, by the way, like a cub that hung from his mother's mouth. Didn't look like I would be coming down any time soon too. Also, something about what the hag said was giving me deja vu.

Oh yeah, I did demand answers from her the same way, didn't I? The apple did not fall far from the tree it seemed.

"Okay, okay, yeesh. I am 120 years old. Again, why are you asking? Do I have wrinkles now?"

Mom was really concerned about her appearance, huh. Can't say I blame her. Father was a stud, and the hag looked younger than her. Then there was the cute me at the head of the pack. Competition was high in this household.

Thinking about the hag's flash step moment though, if this was an anime, I would make a dope edit of it for metube or something.

"Hm?" I looked up to see the hag smirking down on me like what mom said proved her point.

"That proves nothing. Mom, how old is this hag?" Crap. I hurriedly covered my mouth. I was already too late, however. The word had left my mouth.

"...""

"..."

Mother and the hag said nothing. The only thing that could be heard was the rustling of the disturbed leaves by the summer breeze. I looked up, my neck creaking as it went up slowly like an unoiled shaft, only to find the hag looking at me like some exotic animal on display.

"Whoa, he said it." came mom, her face looking like she was positively surprised.

The hag smirked. "I know he's been thinking it the whole time but he actually said it!"

They looked amused more than anything. You couldn't force such sincere expressions so I had to consider that that was really how they felt.

"Hunny, Sebastian said it!" mom's scream was directed at the house.

"Yahoo!" Father came running out from the house. "Finally, we can now return home!"

"..." I was at a loss for words.

"You're just excited to see Ruwayda again, aren't you?" Mom was wiggling her eyebrows as she spoke.

"Father coughed into his hand, blushing. "Ahem, I will not deny that that is also fuelling my excitement."

"What do you plan to do, tell me?" Mom was poking him with her elbow. The scene was like best friends sharing a perverted moment together.

Should they really be doing that in front of a child? Wait a minute, "Who is Ruwayda?" The way they spoke so fondly of the name struck me as weird.

"She's my eldest daughter, your mother's older sister, so your aunt, and also your father's first wife, and the mother of your older sister Yasmeen." The hag was quick to clarify.

... Or make things worse.

That did it. When the hag finished her sentence, all I saw was black the next moment.