After having spent a few weeks adjusting to my new life, my new mom decided to give me all the information i would need to live in this new world, she gave me geography lessons as well as cultural lessons, she told me about so many things its honestly ridiculous, this isn't the medieval times, this is a new world entirely, honestly this is awesome, I got isekai'ed, apparently there's magic in this world, I asked mom if i could cast magic and she said that it should be possible as only a few races aren't capable and those races are exclusively monster races, and this isn't a racist thing either, I asked her what races and she said

{races like goblins, certain undead and insects.}

i asked her if she could teach me how to use magic, but she said that she can't as she wasn't able to learn and that it would be pointless to try learning at her age, not to mention that we were poor.

{but if you truly want to learn magic, the only way i can think of in our situation, would be to send you off to the capital to join the knights of the 6}

"knights of the 6? you mean the 6 gods you talked about the other day?"

{yes, the 6 gods,aikesh,arumita,bardul,baiduri,maikez and mikoza.theknights of the 6 are the ones tasked with protecting the entire continent equally, not just the kingdom of bardul}

apparently, every country was named after one of the gods, apparently, it's to show which country adores which god the most, also, apparently if two countries worship the same god they merge together, its honestly a bit weird, I feel like this would cause issues.

{but idon't think it would be a good idea for you to go}

"why not?"

she looks away, I feel like she's forcing her smile.

{i just got you back...i.. idon't want to lose you again...}

ah i see, I understand why she doesn't want me to go. Plus, i don't exactly want to be in the army, I'd rather just go learn magic myself and learn to use the sword myself.

"do you think there's anyone in town that could help me at least figure out how to use magic? or is there anywhere i could find the knowledge?"

{well, there is your father, but I'm not sure if he's coming back...}

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she took a pause, I think she believes he's dead, yikes.

{but there is another way, there's the local alchemist, apparently, he uses magic to help with making his potions, he might agree to help you if you can help him in some meaningful way}

an alchemist huh? that's interesting

"okay, I'll go see him. Oh right, where does he live anyway?"

{behind Emma's house, green door. Staysafe, okay?}

"okay, I'll see you later mom"

Emma is the nice old lady that help's mom once a week, she's nice, I like her. She's always polite and cheery, her pies are nice as well, althoughI'm not really a fan of cooked fruit.

okay, I'mhere, wonder if he's home.

*knock knock*

{hm yes come in}

i go in and smile

"hi, my mom told me that you use magic to help you make potion's, I was wondering if there was something i could do for you to make you give me a bit of your time to help me learn how to use magic."

the old man looks at me, curious.

{what do you know about alchemy?}

well, from video games, alchemy was the notion of taking plants and other ingredients, crushing them and using certain processes to make potions with specific effects, it can make medicine, poison or even potions to increase a person's abilities.

"well, I know that you need ingredient's like specific plants or certain monster parts and that you can use them to make things like medicine and poison and potions to increase a person's abilities, I also know that at the right dosage, poisons can make remedies and medicine. I know that some of the tools are called mortar, pestle, alembic and a retort. thats about all i know"

the old man looks at me in surprise

{where did you learn this?}

"I have memories of a previous life, I learned of it there"

the man turns my way, putting down the vial in his hand.

Page 8

{you're a reincarnation? Well, that is something i would not have guessed, you are quite the knowledgeable person, how old are you in there?}

he was pointing at his head

"um, I was 22, i died in an accident"

{oh, i see, you do seem a lot sharper than a child your age should be, I will teach you magic, but in return, I want you to tell me about the previous world you lived in, it's rare to be able to hear stories of other world's first hand from the source.}

"oh, yeah I'm perfectly fine with that. When do we start?"

{right now, I'm making a potion a customer ordered, so it’ll be in a few hours, come by after you've eaten supper, understood?}

"yes, uh, sir. sorry but can i ask your name? i feel awkward just calling you sir"

the old man laugh's

{heh, very well, my name is nazeel, what is your name?}

"my name is Corvo"

{corvo? hm, that's a good name, not common but a strong name, one of the heroes of old had that name. Have you heard of his story?}

"no, ihaven't, do you think you can tell me when we start my training?"

{of course, of course.}

"great, thank you, anyway, off i go, I'll speak to you soon."

i wonder what mom's gonna make today, ever since i gave her modern cooking knowledge the overall taste has improved drastically. Oh hey, its Emma, smile and wave.

"hi miss Emma"

{hello Corvo, how are you today?}

"I'm doing great, thank you for asking. How about you, how are you?"

{oh, I'm doing well, although im a bit worried about my son, he's been gone a few hours now. He was only supposed to leave for an hour to check on his traps.}

"oh seriously? that's not good, have you tried talking to one of his friends to see if they could see if they could find him?"

Page 9

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

{oh,i did but none of them are in town right now.}

None of them are in town? Seems fishy.

"well, that's not good, umm, I'll see if i can try and find him after I'm done training magic for the day."

{oh please, don’t do that, Idon't want you to get hurt over my account...}

"it's okay, Idon't plan on going in alone."

i mean, it's obviously a lie, I just don't want her getting in my way, I have a bad feeling about the situation, I'm stubborn after all.

"anyway, I'll see you later miss Emma"

{okay, take care}

she's such a sweet old lady, I bet she's worried sick, I want to help her out. anyway, time to see what my mom is making.

"hey mom"

i open the door and close it behind me.

{yes sweety?}

she's passing the broom; she's not cooking anything right now.

"what are we going to eat tonight?"

{I'm not sure right now, I'm running low on some thing's, mainly herb's and meat}

herb's and meat huh? let's look at the pantry, maybe i can figure something out.

hm, salt, lots of flour, some garlic, onions, potatoes, actually i could farm some potatoes in our backyard, although i don't know if the land has enough nutrients. Ill check later.in any case, there's also a bag of broccoli and a few other types of vegetables.

"mom is that flour bread flour?"

{hm? yes, it is, but we already have some bread.}

so that's bread flower, alright, time to see if i can do this.

"hey mom, I'm gonna make something."

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she looks at me, one eye brow raised, the other lowered, her mouth seems neutral. I think she's skeptical

{hmm, okay, just don't waste anything and don't use too much of anything.}

"okay"

alright, let's take some flour and some salt. glass of water, put a small amount of water on the flour, put some salt on that and mix it.

okay, seems to be the right consistency.

"mom where's the rolling pin?"

she grab's the rolling pin and gives it to me.

i wonder how life is going in my old world, must be pretty shitty honestly, the world kept on getting worse when i was alive. I wonder how my family took my death. I hope my family respected my wishes and gave all my stuff to my little brother. Oh well, no point in worrying about it, nothingi can do will change anything, I have to move on.

okay, it seems to be done, let's put a bit more flour.

"mom, can you pass me a knife?"

{what on earth are you making? huff, okay, here}

alright, time to cut this into strands.

as i cut the strands, i notice mom going into the other room and close the door.

is she okay? she looked like she was sad. Ill finish cutting and ill eavesdrop.

done, okay, let's see.

( {sob..sob....mavino...})

oh, shit. mavino is my dad's name, that means..wait, did he end up dying?

i don't know what to do about this. Let's just finish making supper, I'll try to comfort her.

okay, let's start cooking the pasta.

and done.it took about an hour, let's make some stuff to go with it.

broccoli, carrot, vegetable stock.

Page 11

i notice the door open and mom comes out with a smile on her face. I smile back.

"it's almost done ,i just have to finish boiling the vegetables. the broth could be used as soup."

she looks at what I've made.

{what is this?}

"noodles, do these not exist here?"

{no, they don't.}

huh, well then.

i take a carrot out of the water and check to see if its ready.

its soft, great.

i take the noodles and put them in the broth alongside the vegetables and then i take out two bowls and fill them.

"here, take this."

she looks at it and sits down with me at the table. I start eating and notice her looking at me.

"are you going to eat?"

{oh... uh... yes}

she's looking at me, imitating the way I'meating. Her eyebrows rise up and she lets out a sound.

{oh, this is good. You'll have to teach me how to make this.}

"sure, I don't mind at all. Justdon't go telling other people how to make it."

after eating and doing the dishes, I leave to go seeNazeel.

"hi mister nazeel"

he looks my way and smiles

{ahh, hello young corvo. here for your lessons?}

"yeah,i am"

Page 12

i sit down at the table in the corner, nazeel sits down shortly after.

{the first step to using magic is finding your epicenter, this is where your magical power resides. Any damage done to your epicenter is permanent, although doing so without killing the person is impossible.to find your epicenter, concentrate and look deep inside yourself.it should be near your heart.}

i close my eyes and concentrate, I'm not sure how to do this or what to expect, but there's no point in worrying about it.

in my mind, i start seeing shapes, no, lines. as i concentrate more on those lines, they become clearer, it looks like a root system. I start looking for where my heart would be and then i see a big ball of darkness.

"i see something, it's a big black ball, its near my heart"

{a big black ball?}

he goes silent for a few seconds.

{very well, you'll need to incite it to go to your hand's. Simply tell it to go to your hands by using your thoughts}

okay, let's see. hey, black ball, can you go to my right hand please?

{oh, this is unbelievable!!!}

huh?

i open my eyes and see nazeelgawking at my right hand, soi look at it.

"huh oh OH MY GOD MY HAND'S ON FIRE"

pain, unbelievable pain. This is the most pain I've ever felt. almost immediately the black fire stops, my hand is charred. nazeel looks at my hand and then shakes his head and puts his hand on mine, a beautiful blue light goes around my hand and numbs the pain, a few seconds later my hand is healed.

{this is the first time I've witnessed dark magic. it's a rare gift, its only recorded appearance was 900 years ago during the invasion of the raneth.one of the knights from the order of the knights of the 6 had this power, it's estimated that those with dark magic have unique abilities that far surpass those with normal magic. I don't think i can teach you anything, I know too little about dark magic to train you. I'm truly sorry. The only place you'll be able to learn is either with the knight order or with the mage's guild.}

"i... i see...well, thank you for helping me learn how to use magic, this was useful nonetheless."

Page 13

i guess I'll have to learn everything by myself.

i wonder if i could learn healing magic.

oh right, I need to find Emma's son. I remember where he usually goes when he checks his traps, I'll go look.

okay, this is where he usually goes in. lets go.

i walk and walk, staying silent as igo. After a while i come up on a shed. I go up to it and listen.

i can hear someone breathing weakly. Thisisn't normal breathing.

i open the door slightly and look inside.

...

oh god...how is he still alive...

blood is dripping off of him, gashes everywhere, missing his lower jaw, missing fingers, missing eye, leg twisted in an unnatural way. This... this is Emma's son.

there's no way he's going to live much longer, I have to get help. I turn around and see three men. It's his friends, they all look at me, then look at each other.

shit, so i was right. well, time to run. I start running towards the village, going between tree's, trying to stay as fast as possible while forcing them to take detours to give myself some time. i come to one of the many trails I've used when tagging along and run towards the village, its a 200 meter stretch before being able to be seen by the villagers.

i stop breathing as I'm swept off the ground and thrown into a tree.

as i try to get up, a boot comes up and hits me in the face, sending me flying backwards. I land on my back and raise my head to see one of the three men. shit he predicted what i was going to do. he goes to his belt and unsheathes a knife.

oh shit, he's going to kill me. fuck it, nazeel will heal me, i need to keep running, otherwise I'll die.

i throw my right hand forward and think of a stream of black fire gushing out of my hand onto the man.

just as i pictured, black fire gushed out of my hand, causing enormous pain to me but completely engulfing the man in black flames, disintegrating his torso in mere seconds.

TIME TO GO.

Page 14

i run towards the village, right hand still on fire, I break the cover of tree's and head towards the small puddle of water 50 feet in front of me.as i extinguish the flames on my hand, the pain started getting numb. I start running towards the village guards.

"HEL...HELPP!"

the guards look at me, alarmed.

they run towards me

{what is it? your hand is burned, what happened?}

"miss Emma's son, he...his friends killed him and they saw me, they wanted to kill me so i ran, but one of them caught up to me and was about to kill me so i used magic to protect myself. Miss Emma, her son is in the shed in the forest, he's all strung up and bloodied, he's missing an arm and half of his face is gone."

{okay, garmund, bring him to the alchemist, he can use healing magic, BARMID, ZAKERA! WITH ME}

the guard, garmund, picks me up and runs towards nazeel's house and barges in.

nazeel looks at me and starts panicking

{oh, dear lord, what happened?}

the guard tells him what i told the guards while nazeel heals my hand.

{i see, I'm glad you're safe. Are you hurt anywhere else? I'm not at the point where i can look for internal injuries.}

"he kicked me in the face once and threw me onto a tree"

{very well, I'll see what i can do.}

a few minutes pass, and mom comes barging in, tears in her eyes.

{CORVO! CORVO!}

i run towards her and jump in her arms

{are you okay??? you're not hurt, are you?? oh corvo, i heard what happened, I'm so sorry you had to live through that. but don’t ever leave the village without telling me, are we clear?}

"yes, crystal clear."

nazeel looks at me.

{tell me, when you used your flames, did you picture what you wanted to happen or did you do it by instinct?}

i look at nazeel.

"i pictured what i wanted to happen, ididn't want anything to go wrong."

Page 15

{i see, you learn a lot faster than most magic users, you have potential.}

my mom looks at me, wide eyes.

{you can use magic now?}

"yeah, not much but thanks to nazeeli figured out how to use it. i figured out the rest myself."

that night, as i lay in bed, I heard knocking on the door, mom went to answer and then, out of nowhere, I heard her gurgle, theni heard a muffled thump.

no....this... this can't be true....

i get up and open the door.

the two guards that followed the guard that gave orders and the two murderers were inside, they all immediately see me and they all smile.

mom......

"mom..."

i start crying

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY MOM"

my body immediately covers itself in black flames, I point both hands to the animals that killed my mother and unleash black flames on their bodies, immediately incinerating them.

i stay there for a few seconds, enough to put my flames away, and then run towards my mom's body.

"MOM! MOM!"

she's...

i start crying, our house on fire. I drag her corpse out of the house and call for help, no one comes. I go from house to house, looking for people, but everyone... everyone was killed...

i go to nazeel's house to see if he's still alive. I pound on his door.

"NAZEEL! EVERYONE IS DEAD! PLEASE HELP ME"

i hear walking and the door open's, nazeel is in the doorway and looks at me, confused.

Page 16

{what do you mean everyone is dead}

he looks at my house, engulfed in flames.

{what happened? why is your house on fire?}

i tear up.

"the murderers and two of the guards...they... they killed everyone in the village, they killed my mom" i start crying even harder.

he looks at me, and then crouches down. he gives me a hug and takes me in his arms.

{i see...we'll inform the neighboring town in the morning; I'm guessing you've already killed the culprits judging by the blisters all over your body?}

"yes...."

this night...this night will be stuck in my memories until the day i die...