By the time I dozed off, I remember having a pretty strange dream. I was floating in a pitch black space when an orb of light, no bigger than a basketball but almost blinding in its darkness, approached me and began to speak. It flickered with each change of intonation, as if somehow trying to make the weird phenomenon look natural.
“Aw don’t sulk on me now, fine I’ll especially give you another chance. You’re pretty lucky you know, its not everyday I get inspired by a piece of mortal literature. I’ll even give you a special gift so you don’t have to go learning whole language systems from scratch again”
“Huh, second chance? Mortal literature? Gift? What the hell are you talking about”
“Hehe, you’ll see. Just promise me to do your best out there. After this, it seriously won’t matter no matter how much you sulk. It will be game over”
—--
—--
“Master, mistress. It's done! It's a boy!”
“Thank goodness. Pass him over here, I want to see my child’s beautiful face.”
“Right away mistress!”
By the time I woke up, I was in a situation I never expected in my life. I wasn’t in the nursing home any longer, heck I probably wasn’t John Perez anymore either.
I was….a baby cradled in the arms of a woman. She looked of European descent and by my guesses, probably in her early forties. Blonde hair, blue eyes, clear skin aside from a few wrinkles that were starting to develop, and a tired but peaceful face. She had this proud look on her as she looked at me like I was a precious treasure to her, but something felt a bit off.
“Adrianna, let me have a look at our son as well”
“Of course husband”
And with that I was passed over to a man that looked like an ogre. He was very muscular, almost to the point that I was worried he’d snap me in half and as if to complete his physique, he had military cut fiery red hair and a stern look on his face that was covered in all sorts of scars. Like the woman, he looked to be in his early forties and like the woman he looked at me like I was a precious treasure. At his gaze, I again felt that strange feeling.
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From this higher vantage point, I was also able to get a better view of my surroundings. I definitely wasn’t in a hospital, that's for sure. The best way to describe the place I was in was like the medieval castles you’d see in movies. Instead of concrete, the walls seemed to be made of stone and in place of wallpaper, tapestries of all kinds littered the walls.
I felt stupid for only noticing it then, but the clothing of these people looked like they were from a time period long past as well. It seems I’ve found myself somewhere in the past.
“Greetings little guy, one day you’ll be raising the banner for our Ronwen family. Work hard and be strong for that day.”
The gruff man said while smiling and tickling my stomach with his large pointer finger. He said it in a playful, joking manner, befitting of a father talking to his newborn son for the first time.
Well it's not like I can answer you sir so please make do with whatever noises I’m making right now.
“Well Lucia, Adrianna will need her rest. Go get Julius cleaned up and settled in his room.”
“Right away master”
With a deferent bow, the old lady took me from the ogre-like man.
—--
—--
As Lucia got me cleaned up, I had one major discovery. I wasn’t in the past. I probably wasn’t on Earth at all.
I expected her to bring me to some riverside or maybe a shower made from something similar to the water distribution technologies, but the reality was something I never could have expected.
She brought me to an empty room in the castle and prepared a wooden basin. She placed me inside it, and then she recited a sort of phrase like those buddhist monks you saw in shaolin temple documentaries, but at a speed too fast for my young ears to properly perceive and then…..
Warm water flowed from her hand. No you don't get it, warm water flowed from her hand.
It seems the surprise was quite apparent on my face, to the point that Lucia noticed it despite my underdeveloped features as a newborn.
“Surprised young master? What I did was a simple application of mana emission. Don’t worry the heir to the Ronwen Dukedom, your bloodline will offer you much more talent than my humble self who only has below average aptitude in mana output. A simple spell like this will be like breathing to you”
She said as she gave my forehead a soft rub with her thumb, continuing to carefully bathe me.
Mana emission, below average aptitude, mana output. Ronwen Dukedom.
I guess I had a lot to learn. Though it seems unlike last time I won’t have to fight tooth and nail for my life, so it seems I’ve got time to learn
Still the disembodied voice’s words seemed quite alarming
“Just promise me to do your best out there. After this, it seriously won’t matter no matter how much you sulk. It will be game over”
Assuming he wasn’t some hallucination, he probably was the reason or at least had a hand in my rebirth. In any case, his words weren’t to be ignored.
Do my best huh? I guess he’s right. It's better to be safe than sorry. I’ve received a second chance to fulfill my long cherished wish, I can’t slack off just because I’ve been given a bit of leeway.