Kael was a delicate child. He was a dark-haired boy whose pale body was always lying down, suffering from a debilitating fever at birth. Many people told his parents that he will not survive for long, but his parents didn’t listen. It happened that the people was right, but Lucien swooped in to live as the new Kael.

However, the second Kael suffered the same fate. After fusing with the body, just the day after, he suffered an intense fever that almost killed him. But he was fortunate that he has two grandparents who cared for him throughout the day, and so his fever became bearable.

He wanted to know what is wrong with his body, but even the people around him seemed to not have any idea as to what was happening to him. He looked at a bucket of water, and his dark eyes examined his whole body. He was hoping to see any hint of the disease, but there’s not much he can gather.

Kael didn’t have an ability to separate from his frail body. He couldn’t allow himself to die either as he didn’t have enough power to be reborn again. If he die in his current state, it’s over for him entirely.

And so, he tried strengthening himself by doing what he’s good at. He started meditating lying down, trying to feel the mana vessel of his body.

As the first step of using magic, one must first feel the mana vessel that exists inside them. Then, it was to be filled with mana scattered around the world, which is also something every mage should be able to feel. Once full, a person’s vessel will extend channels throughout the body, giving anyone the ability to use magic.

No one can absorb mana past their vessel capacity, but if the vessel was always full of mana, the body will try to adapt, expanding the capacity of the vessel. It’s a time consuming and focus intensive task, that’s why most people were not capable to increase their capacity up until a certain age.

Kael was aware of all these things, but he’s a person of excellent focus. He felt his mana vessel just several seconds after meditating, and he unintentionally discovered what caused his body’s illness.

His vessel didn’t have much capacity to hold large amounts of mana. It’s a crucial thing that he has enough mana as to feed his innate magic. He was gifted in his previous life, but now, he experienced what a normal person has.

Kael proceeded to fill his mana vessel, but his innate magic emptied it everytime. He can feel his fever calming down so he continued on absorbing more mana. The fever disappeared after days of concentration, his innate magic was finally stabilized. Kael went on to focus learning about his new life.

Kael’s guardians were his two grandparents. His grandfather was Amos, a wrinkled old man with a friendly smile. His grandmother was Cora, an old woman who barely speaks. His parents passed away from the stress of seeing their son so helpless. They were said to be just as kind as his grandparents, but they became averse to people when Kael was born.

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As for the first Kael, he was a cheerful child despite his grave condition. He wanted to help the people around him, but he’s more helpless than anyone else. All he can do is to make his grandparents smile, with his random antics from time to time. He can see the soul of living beings and so he thought everyone can do it too. He sometimes say something unusual to his grandparents that are genuine, but was received as humorous remarks or his wild imagination doing its thing. He had no idea that, that ability of his was the reason of his death.

After recovering from his illness and integrating himself to his new life, Kael helped the people of the community as he wanted. His grandparents were surprised at his recovery, but they were thankful that he was now well and healthy. His grandparents were initially concerned about his desire to help them, but seeing that he was miles different from the Kael they knew, they allowed him to do what he wanted. So he helped, everyday, and the people loved him.

Some months passed and Kael celebrated being four years old. The community arranged a humble feast. All the old people gave their thanks to him, in the form of little treats they made from the fruits they found. He was thankful that his second life had a good start. The day continued. They eat, and drink, and tell stories of their youth. When the night blanketed the land, the community was satisfied.

The day after however, was a surprise to Kael. While he was doing his morning meditation, his grandfather told him that they will go out of the village tomorrow.

“We will go to Cleron”, Amos patted Kael’s head. “Let’s give thanks to the lord that you are well”

And so Kael spent his time daydreaming, while helping the people of his community. He’s too focused on what his grandfather told him, that he messed up a lot while helping his community. But the old people didn’t get mad, rather, they were worried about him. He eased their worries, telling them what his grandfather told him.

“Maybe I should go too”, an old man said.

“All of us should go”, another old man said.

The discourse developed into a long deliberation, evolving into an agreement that the whole community should go to the town to give thanks to the lord. However, Amos, being the leader of the village, dismissed their requests. He reasoned out that they can’t handle the difficulty of a week long travel. He declared that only a few people can go with them. Kael felt bad looking at the old people’s sullen faces, but he agreed with his grandfather.

At night, Kael couldn’t sleep. He meditated to distract himself. The silent night gave him the best chance to attempt filling the need of his innate magic for mana. He felt the flow of mana going in to his center. His innate magic absorb the mana he acquired like a voracious beast, preventing him to conjure magic as he wanted. His concentration was too intense that he didn’t notice that the sun was about to rise.

“Kael?”, Amos shook him gently.

Kael looked at Amos like he was awoken from a nap. Amos lectured him, realizing that Kael didn’t sleep the entire night. He apologized for his misdeed, and prepared for their travel.

The travelers were eight people including Kael and his grandparents. Kael looked at the village, missing the old people he will leave behind already. As Amos said goodbye to the people, they made their way to Cleron.