Pain like Kai hadn’t felt in a long time enveloped his stomach as he felt himself get sucker-punched while he slept. Groaning and opening his eyes, he could see his assaulter was not a fist like he first believed but a knee. A small knee with mighty power backed by the momentum of a jump.

“Happy Birthday Kai!” yelled a high-pitched voice as if to make a point that if the knee of punishment hadn’t woken him up, her voice would.

Too late to play dead and fall back to sleep now that he had reacted, Kai grumbled and shifted until the offending knee moved off his stomach. As the blanket slid down his body, the morning chill was the first thing he noticed as goosebumps formed on his arms. He looked to his side where his younger sister now sat staring at him with a mischievous smile. At three and a half years old Arielle was the bane of his existence in the mornings for the past half-year. He was certain that his little sister and their mother had some sort of deal, colluding and conspiring to ruin his mornings by not allowing him to sleep in.

Kai reached out and ruffled her blonde hair as he swung his legs off his bed. Stepping onto the wooden floorboards he left his back exposed to the impish three-year-old. Knowing full well what was coming next, he prepared himself and she vaulted herself onto his back wrapping her arms around his neck. Grabbing onto her thighs he hoisted her up into a piggyback position.

“Onwards my mighty steed!” Arielle called out with a giggle, pointing her finger forwards to the open doorway.

Kai ran through the halls following the smell of the cinnamon aroma to the kitchen. His mother stood in front of the large hearth stirring three massive pots of what he knew to be his favorite food Cinnamon Chunk Stew. An odd food for breakfast but they were having dinner with grandfather later tonight so he wouldn’t be able to eat it then. His father had made a special trip to the capital to buy cinnamon just for his birthday meal.

Looking at the mostly empty table, Kai could see his older sister staring at the pot of bubbling stew, a small line of drool escaping her lips.

His mother turned to Kai giving him a loving smile. “Arielle, would you please be a dear and go get your father and your brothers?” she asked noticing Kai’s current situation as Arielle was still clinging onto his back like a baby monkey. He noticed the fire below the stew go out. A layer of ash smothering it.

“Roger,” Arielle said as she hopped off and lightly padded through the house until he heard the front door open and close.

“Happy eighth birthday, sweety,” Rachel enveloped him in a hug.

Kai closed his eyes, letting the tranquil aura wash over him. It felt too good to be true, to have been given a second chance at life and one with a family so doting and caring.

Quite often he found himself doubting, wondering if he should abandon his plans of revenge. Not only was the task of revenge a monumental undertaking, assuming Lucian and the others still lived, but it could possibly put his new family at risk. Even eight years later, the desire for revenge was like a wound in his heart that wouldn’t heal.

Taking a step back, the hug ended. He looked to his left where his sister still sat at the table, chin on the table staring at him with eyes that screamed ‘sit down so we can eat already.’

Getting the message, Kai walked over to the table and took his normal seat. A yellow blur raced across the room and sat down in the chair next to him. Three others followed behind a moment later.

“Finally! Look who finally decided to wake up. I thought we were never going to have breakfast,” his younger brother Jacob pointed out. Unlike his father and older brother, Jacob, who was two years younger, was a lot more outgoing and sociable. Because of their age similarity, their parents often had them spend time together. which ended with them often competing even when Kai was not trying to.

Kai’s older brother Garren strolled across the room, piles of floating ash hovered above his head, his face scrunched up in concentration as he controlled it.

His father Octavian came in last, giving Kai a quick hug. He retched from the smell of his armpits that was right near his nose. Giving his father a small push away he mumbled his thanks while mock gasping for breath. No one laughed because they had all been in Kai’s shoes once or twice.

“Garren, please put your magic away at the table,” Rachel asked. The magic itself evaporated into thin air as if it hadn’t existed.

With everyone seated with food in front of them, breakfast commenced. Kai looked at his father and brother. One had very little sweat, while the other looked worn and ragged. Garren kept his head down as he piled food into his mouth. Their morning workout must have made him famished. As usual, he didn’t look or say anything to Kai. Not even a happy birthday. His attempts at forging a brotherly connection had never come to fruition. The older Kai got the more distant Garren became. He seemed to get along with their other three siblings, however.

Noticing his despondent face, Octavian grabbed a large ladleful of cinnamon chunk stew plopping more down into Garren’s bowl. “Why so sad? Girl problems?” Octavian said with a knowing smirk.

Kai choked a little, his face immediately turned red. “Where did you hear about that?” He hissed while looking around the table to find the one who spilled the beans.

His childhood friend, Shelly, who was the only other child his age in the village that he spent time with had confessed her love to him yesterday. It had surprised him, but he had calmly and sensibly turned her down. Kai had no proof, but he suspected his mother and Shelly’s parents were conspiring to set them up. Needless to say, he felt rotten because he had made an eight-year-old cry.

Pointing his wooden spoon at his mother, his eyes narrowed in a glare. “First off, I’m eight. I’m way too young to be considering such nonsense as love and marriage. Second, I’m aware you are trying to trap me to keep me in the village. My answer hasn’t changed. I want to go to the magic academy as father did and then see the world.” That was his stock answer for wanting to leave the village. The true reason was more... violent.

Seeing her about to make a counterargument Kai spoke. “Please don’t make me use my birthday wish on this.” Kai looked between both parents pleading to let the situation end. His siblings remained quiet as they watched the drama unfold.

Tears threaten to spill from his mother’s eyes, but reluctantly she gave him a nod.

Kai narrowed his eyes again. There is no way she would give up this easily. I’ll have to continue to be on guard.

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Changing the subject his father interrupted. “So... Now that you’re eight years old, you’re halfway to being an adult. As per tradition, you can have a special birthday wish on your eighth birthday. What is it you wish for?”

Kai had long decided to do everything he could to gain strength and power so he would never find himself in a situation like before. He had been too weak to save his parents, but this time he would do everything possible to amass strength and magic so he could never find himself in a situation like before. He had been waiting for this moment for years. Garren had begun sword training under their father when he turned eight. Their father wouldn’t allow them to train before then, claiming it was too much responsibility for a child to begin learning the sword earlier. The fact that his father was willing to teach him at all was fortunate; if his mother, had it her way, there would be no weapon training whatsoever.

“Umm... I want to learn the sword from father as brother has.”

With a beaming smile, Octavian nodded his head, clearly happy to have two sons take after him.

“I want to learn the sword too!” Jacob yelled suddenly.

“Me too,” giggled Arielle. Clearly just wanted to join in the fun of the conversation.

“Jacob, Arielle. If you both want to learn the sword you will need to wait. Not only is learning the sword a huge responsibility, but it requires a lot of effort and focus. You two are too young right now. There is also a better chance at injury and mishap the younger you are,” his father countered the two as he shut down any further arguments.

Jacob shot Kai a sour look. Although it was immature, Kai gave Jacob a winning smile to celebrate his victory while knowing he was adding fuel to the fire of their sibling rivalry. Being treated as a child made him sometimes act like the child he was supposed to be. Not that he minded, having fun and enjoying life was a good change from what he used to do. It was a childhood he had missed back when things were more… turbulent.

“Kai, we can begin your training when I get back from bringing your brother to the academy. I know you want to start immediately but please be patient. His first year of academy starts in five days. My father brought me to my first day at the academy, and I would like to do the same for you both,” Octavian continued.

“That’s fine,” replied Kai nodding his head. It wasn’t an unreasonable request.

A few knocks landed on the front door. Garren who had hardly stopped eating throughout the entire conversation stood up and went for the door. A few moments later, Garren walked back into the kitchen with an army of foxes following behind. There had to have been at least 100. After eight years in the village Kai was quite sure this wasn’t all the foxes in the village at present. They almost never came together, but even when they did, they moved around too much to count. The floor was completed covered by the orange, white, and black furry creatures.

His mother stood up and started to pour the remaining stew into giant bowls. “I wish they could have waited until we all finished eating,” she muttered. She started to lay the bowls of stew onto the floor. Kai watched in fascination as the foxes split into equal groups and waited for a bowl to be brought to them.

The people and chief of the village claimed the foxes were guardians of the village. It was said that the foxes had made a deal with the village chief a thousand years ago. The agreement was that they would grant the residents of Kitsune Village privacy and protection in exchange for food. Apparently, there was more to the deal, but Kai had stopped listening to the obviously made-up bedtime story. Strangely there had never been any danger or attack on the village from either monsters or other sentient beings, so maybe there was a tiny amount of truth to the tale, or the more likely option, that the mists had obscured the village from any outsiders.

Kai spied one of the white-colored foxes on his back, burping. It had already finished its share of the food from the large bowls his mother put out. It couldn’t be more obvious that they were spoiled, domesticated foxes. As if anyone could believe otherwise. Besides the occasional nip when someone got too rough, the foxes had never harmed or attacked anyone.

Even though Kai didn’t yet have his magic, he was sure that even if he had the identify spell, these foxes would only be labeled as creatures in the first realm or the proper title known as the Foundation realm. The Foundation realm was the most versatile and diverse of all the realms of power. It ranged from domesticated animals to baby monsters, and weak monsters. Realms and levels approximated a being’s strength and could not always be judged by face value. Currently, Kai wasn’t even in any realm of power. He was technically in the Mortal stage, better known as realm zero, the time before someone unlocks their magic.

It was a rule imposed by the gods who’d created these worlds. A human could not access their magic until the individual was 16 years of age, while Kai had since found out it varied for other species. Meanwhile, goblins unlocked their magic at only two years of age. The theory in his past life was that it was the age the gods determined a human would be able to withstand the physical and mental burdens of magic.

His past mother, Jeanne, had dubbed what the gods created as the “magic system”. A system, designed for those who use it, to comprehend and grow their magical path. With it you could access the statistic and spell sheets that appeared in one’s mind. To be able to create a domain millions of miles large where everyone had access to their own personalized status sheets was terrifying to think about.

“Kai?” Arielle asks waving a hand in front of his daydreaming face.

Turning to his little sister he could see she had a mess of food on her face. Picking up a napkin he dabbed at her face, eliciting a giggle in response.

“What magic element do you want to learn Kai?” Lyddia asked. He had missed most of the previous conversation about which magic element was the coolest, a common topic amongst the family.

“Hmm... I’m not really sure, maybe blood or metal?” Kai had given this question thought many times. Affinity to certain magical elements was believed to be in part comprehension, bloodline, exposure, and luck. All factors added together when the individual turned of age, granting the opportunity to pick an element if you had an affinity towards it.

“Both are strong elements. Each can be further empowered or complemented by learning the sword as well. If you gain and pick metal, I would be very happy. But I would be happy no matter what element you pick. You will have to be careful if you do choose blood magic. Some cities regulate it, while others ban it entirely,” explained his father.

Too curious not to ask, Kai inquired further. “Why is there such a stigma against blood magic?”

Octavian began, “Well, there are quite a few reasons. The Goblin Blood Shamans of the Serendale Mountains are well known for ritual sacrifices to empower themselves. An empowered shaman could fight above its realm of power. This caused quite a few headaches hundreds of years ago. For humans, the practice of blood magic is generally seen as immoral in nature. There are many stories in which humans abused blood magic, but there is one story in particular that stands out. It’s a bit of an infamous story since it happened shortly after the humans appeared in the Myriad of Worlds. It’s one that I’ve heard quite a few times over the years. The Human Blood Demon.

“A man heralded as a hero. He was one of the human's strongest after their appearance in the Myriad of Worlds. But it turned out he was nothing but a villain in truth. He had used blood magic to further his goals and ambitions of becoming one of the strongest. Valiant heroes and adventurers confronted him only to be destroyed. After a hard-fought battle in which hundreds died and a city crumbled, the Human Blood Demon was finally put down.

“It is not a magic that garners a lot of respect, regardless of one’s position. Other races do not frown upon blood magic like humans, but we are still rather new to the Myriad of Worlds. We still have perceived morals brought from Earth that have been passed down to this day.”

Kai squeezed his fists under the table. He grimaced as the story was obviously referring to him. He was silent for a time as he thought about the story. I guess unlocking blood magic again is out of the question, even if I have an affinity for it this time around. I can’t risk being found out or held back because of blood magic. He felt someone wrap their arms around his chest from behind. He looked up to see his mother glaring at his father.

“Enough talk, can’t you see you're scaring him,” she commanded. “You pick whatever magic you want sweetie. You will always be welcome here.”

He felt tiny hands grab onto his shirt as his little sister Arielle also hugged him. Feeling their love and acceptance, Kai swore he would get powerful enough to protect his family. If he could do it during humanity’s most uncertain and trying times, then he would ascend even further and higher and when he was ready, take his long-awaited revenge.