### Chapter One: Turning Back
Marion’s chest burned, his breath shallow and ragged. Blood seeped from his wounds, pooling on the sterile white floor of the laboratory where his life's greatest work had turned into his final battlefield. The faces of his closest allies, the ones he trusted the most, glared down at him with expressions devoid of remorse.
“Did you really think we’d let you keep it all, Marion?” sneered Liza, the woman he once thought of as his protégée. Her voice dripped with venom. “The knowledge, the power, the recognition—it’s too much for one man.”
Beside her, Markus, his lifelong friend and collaborator, adjusted the detonator in his hand. “We owe everything to you, Marion. But genius like yours... it’s dangerous. The world doesn’t need you anymore.”
The others stood silent but complicit, their hands stained with betrayal. Marion’s mind raced, not with fear, but with the cold realization that his brilliance had brought him here. He had given humanity everything—technology to defy gravity, cures for incurable diseases, and a blueprint for sustainable societies. Yet, it wasn’t enough.
"Is this how it ends?" he whispered, his voice barely audible.
“No, Marion," Markus said, his face devoid of emotion. "This is how it begins for the rest of us."
The explosion ripped through the lab, consuming everything Marion had built. He felt his body disintegrate, but something—something deep inside—clung to existence. It was as if the universe itself refused to let him go.
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### **The Tunnel of Light**
Marion awoke in a void, a tunnel stretching infinitely forward, bathed in a bright, beckoning light. His steps were involuntary, his body weightless as he floated toward the end.
He contemplated his life as the light grew brighter.
**"I gave them everything,"** he thought, his voice echoing in the void. **"Was it too much? Or not enough? Did my knowledge make me arrogant? Did my power make me blind?"**
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Images of his past flashed before him—his sleepless nights buried in books, the moments of discovery that defined his existence, the faces of those he loved and trusted. And then, the betrayal.
**"If I could go back... if I could start again..."**
As the light consumed him, Marion’s mind sharpened with clarity. He would take the lessons of his past life and forge a new path. He would use his genius not for himself, but to build something that would last forever, no matter the cost.
---
### **Rebirth**
When Marion opened his eyes again, he wasn’t in the sterile confines of his lab. He was swaddled in rough cloth, the cries of a woman filling the air. His infant body was weak, but his mind was intact—every memory, every calculation, every formula was still with him.
He was reborn.
His surroundings were primitive, a small wooden hut dimly lit by a crackling fire. The woman holding him, his new mother, looked down with tears of relief, whispering words in a language he didn’t understand. Outside, he could hear the sounds of a primitive village—voices, the clang of stone tools, the bark of wild animals.
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### **The First Glimpse of His New World**
Over the years, Marion grew rapidly, his mind far outstripping the development of his young body. The village was small, barely two hundred people, and life was harsh. Food was scarce, and survival depended on the whims of nature. Yet, Marion saw potential in every corner.
The world itself was raw and untamed, but it held something his old world lacked—magic. It coursed through the air, the earth, and even the people, used instinctively by shamans and warriors. To Marion, magic was a new dimension of science, a tool to be understood and harnessed.
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### **A New Beginning**
As a young boy, Marion began introducing small changes. He crafted a simple irrigation system to channel water to their crops. He taught the villagers to preserve food using salt and drying techniques. And he began to decipher their rudimentary language, systematically documenting it in the dirt with a stick.
Each day, he worked tirelessly, blending his knowledge with the raw power of magic to improve their lives. But he knew this was only the beginning.
**"I failed once because I was alone,"** he thought, staring at the star-filled sky. **"This time, I’ll build a society that stands on the shoulders of everyone. No betrayals. No egos. Just progress."**
### **Marion’s Stats (Age 10)**
- **IQ**: 290. Retained from his previous life, allowing him to master complex concepts at lightning speed.
- **Magic Aptitude**: High. His natural affinity is *creation magic*, which enhances his ability to construct and innovate.
- **Knowledge Inventory**: Full spectrum of human knowledge from his previous life, now applied with the wisdom of his past mistakes.
**Civilization Metrics:**
1. **Infrastructure**: Basic. Introduction of stone tools, early irrigation, and improved shelters.
2. **Population**: 200 individuals. Limited roles, but Marion has begun organizing work into specialized tasks.
3. **Language**: Proto-language. Marion is actively systematizing it into a more coherent structure.
4. **Education**: Informal. Marion teaches by demonstration, planning a more structured system.
5. **Magic Understanding**: Rudimentary but improving. Marion is documenting magical phenomena to integrate them into daily life.
6. **Agriculture**: Early-stage. Introduction of irrigation and basic crop rotation.
### **The Path Forward**
One night, as Marion sketched a vision of the village in the dirt—a village with stone buildings, roads, and schools—he realized his purpose was clear.
“I’ve turned back time,” he whispered to himself, “but this time, I’ll build a future no one can destroy.”