Shooting out of bed, Kai stretched his arms. He could feel the adrenaline pumping as excitement engulfed him. Today was his 16th birthday. In a matter of minutes or hours, he would unlock his magic element and class, thus leading to his future ascension into the ranks of adulthood and power. More nervous than he ought to be, having already gone through the process once before, Kai padded down to the bathroom to take care of business. Relieved, he walked to the kitchen where his entire family, minus his older brother, waited for him. Their voices stopped the moment he walked in. All their eyes bore into his.

Chuckling at their piercing eyes he said, “Not yet guys.”

With a collective sigh, the family began discussing Kai’s upcoming magic as they ate their breakfast.

“I’ll bet one week of chores he will unlock ash magic. Mom, Garren, and Lyddia are all ash magic users. Ash magic runs strong in our veins. No one has been able to unlock metal magic affinity as dad has,” Arielle pointed out starting the debate.

“I’ll take that bet. I don’t know if you guys have realized he is kind of weird. He will definitely have some weird kind of magic,” Jacob said.

After breakfast finished the family dispersed ending the debate which has been mainly between two main elements of ash vs. metal.

“Kai, the offer remains. If you want to go over things together when your options appear, let me know. I don’t have guard duty today so I will be available all day to help if needed,” offered his father.

Stepping up he gave his father a long hug, tearing up a little at the same time. He was just a tad taller than his father now. “Thank you,” he spoke sincerely.

A few hours later, Kai found himself sitting by a stream he often used to wash himself or his clothes after training. He was inside the dreary mists. When he began his training years ago, it had been creepy and uncomfortable to be inside the mists. Now he felt calm inside the grey abyss. Most of that was because he knew there was nothing truly dangerous inside.

Akane slept by his side as they waited. Practicing his meditation, he closed his eyes and remained still, clearing his mind as he waited for the change to happen. During the next hour, he opened his eyes multiple times, finding it too difficult to sit there and rest. Every few minutes with his eyes closed felt like a few hours. His body and mind were too restless and excited to sit still. Attempting his mediation once again, his eyes shot open. The changes had begun.

His body began to feel lighter as it tingled with newfound energy. A hum resonated within him almost like his body was vibrating. Even his mind felt slightly different, new clarity and possibilities brimming inside. Although the change, in general, was barely noticeable, he understood that his body and mana had started to merge as one. As he would level up, his body would be able to absorb and combine with more mana, enhancing it as it became more enriched with power. It signaled a new beginning as he officially stepped into the Foundation realm of magic.

Kai beamed, grinning with pure unadulterated excitement as a list of magic elements projected into his mind visible only to him. The list was printed in a language he understood with absolute clarity.

Magical Affinities Available – Choose one

[Ash]

[Blood]

[Gravity]

[Metal]

[Mist]

[Void]

Kai was partially surprised, while he truly had no way of knowing what magic he would have an affinity for, he had suspected his knowledge and heritage would play a big part in it. Ash, blood, and metal were some that he had suspected he would have an affinity. Ash and metal were a part of his family’s legacy. His mother’s side used ash magic, while his father’s family favored metal according to him.

Blood magic was obvious, it was the magic he had used before death and the one of which he was most familiar and knowledgeable. In fact, Kai would have been stunned had blood magic not been on the list. Next up was mist affinity, which Kai had an inkling might show up. It made sense since he often spent most of his time inside the mists as he trained for the last eight years. He had studied and acknowledged the mists in that time growing accustomed to them.

What truly surprised Kai was seeing an additional magic affinity for two elements he had not foreseen. Void was a dark horse, unknown and dangerous. He knew nothing of void except that the word meant empty.

The other unforeseen element was gravity. He knew nothing about gravity magic except that it was extremely rare and potentially powerful. His previous father, Mick, had been a physics professor during his time on Earth for some university named after a color. When coming to the Myriad of Worlds he studied and documented much of what he discovered about gravity and other phenomena. He would enthusiastically try to teach Kai about gravity and those other subjects as he discovered new data or founded new hypotheses.

Tears began unwillingly falling from Kai’s face as he thought about his father. The man had done nothing but try and share his passion with his son only to be rebuffed. Mick might be the very reason why he had gravity magic appearing as an available affinity.

Back in the day, it was very rare if someone had three affinities available when they unlocked their magic. While this was technically his second time unlocking magic, Kai had six affinities to choose from making it difficult to narrow down his choices. Even his brother Garren only had two affinities when he turned 16, ash and water magic, which showed that randomness was also a component to which affinity you would have available.

Staring at the list, Kai focused his eyes on blood. Despite his resolution to switch magic elements, his mind and body trembled with familiarity. He knew that even if he were to choose blood magic again, he would have to restart at Foundation level 1.

Magic was produced through the body with the will of the mind. The body acted as a medium that contained the magic inside of it, like a pot filled with water. With his death and rebirth, he was now in a new body, meaning all the progress he had made with his old body was lost, the pot had broken. Only with a new container could he begin anew. Unfortunately, as much as he loved blood magic, it had failed him in his most dire moment.

Kai couldn’t help but think of a quote Lucian said often, “the body is a vessel on which magic is delivered, the mind its captain, and soul holds the vessel’s story.” It fit perfectly with his situation because while he had lost his vessel, his soul remained. Thus, he remembered everything.

Mist magic was out. While it had been rare in the past and even here in the village, he had never heard of anyone powerful using it. He imagined it lacked the overwhelming authority and power he would need. Granted, he could be wrong.

To his side, Akane remained silent the entire time. She had initially perked up during the process of his ascension into the foundation realm, quietly watching him with interest.

“I’ve narrowed down my options to ash, gravity, void, and metal magic. Each powerful in their own right, but all distinctly different. I think I would be happy with any one of them, but I can only pick only one for now,” Kai spoke aloud to Akane.

Not expecting a response Kai continued, “ash is like blood magic, it’s malleable and has many different advantages. It’s an element I’ve imagined using often over the years but something about it doesn’t feel quite right. I hesitate to say, but it almost feels like fate is pulling me away from ash as if that isn’t what I’m destined to use.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

All he received was a snort from Akane as she continued to sit on the ground. With a wry smile, Kai assumed her response meant something like “stop being dumb and pick one already.” Although she couldn’t communicate beyond yapping and other fox noises, Akane always seemed to understand the context of what was being said.

“Alright, alright, I’ll pick one soon,” Kai pleaded with the impatient fox. “Void is interesting and dangerous enough to be viable. But when I think of what I learned using the sword, I’m not sure how to incorporate void magic into that. Of all the void magic users I’ve known, they are all mage types. Not that there is anything wrong with that.” And that’s the style I used to fight with anyways.

There is nothing proving that picking a rarer type of magic would guarantee success, in fact, it could be the opposite. With fewer masters in that element, I would be less likely to receive education and training with it.

A void mage named Ellen Beckett had managed to reach the same realm as him in the past before his death. He was quite sure he had sensed her on the day he died with all the others, but there had been too much going on to be certain.

No… Not void. Not for now at least.

Metal was a very viable option; one he knew would make his father Octavian happy and proud. It would also fit the style of fighting which he had been training with.

As Kai stared between metal and gravity, he couldn’t help but reminisce more about his father Mick. Kai’s eyes began to tear again, thinking about him. He had never shown his parents the appreciation they deserved. They had died because of him, caught as collateral in an attempt to ambush him while his guard was down. Seeing gravity magic on the list felt almost like a parting gift from his father to him. Besides the idea of using gravity to crush or make his enemies submit sounded very, very enjoyable.

He was sure he wouldn’t go wrong with any of these elements. After another hour of debate, he decided to go with the one he couldn't stop thinking about.

“Gravity,” he spoke clearly, despite knowing all he had to do was will the option in his mind.

The element of Gravity has been chosen

With a yap from Akane he understood it as a “good pick.” With her approval, he moved on to the next projection that appeared in his head.

Choose One Class.

Class Options:

Warrior

Swordsman

Rogue

Wizard

Gravity Influencer

Vanguard

Spell Blade

...

...

Enchanter

Blacksmith

With only a certain number of skill slots per realm of magic, there could only be a limited number of skills, so picking the right class was very important to an individual’s future since their class directly influenced what skills were received.

Kai pondered his options, there were quite a few class options available. Although none had to do with healing or priest-like classes, which was fine with him since he had no idea how he would be able to heal with gravity magic in any case. It was very important that Kai pick the right class to complement his chosen element. He didn’t necessarily have to pick a class that would need a sword as a weapon either. Either mage or a warrior class would work well with gravity magic, but so would many others. The true goal was to pick a class that would give him the skills he desired.

When he thought about the past, he had fought monsters both alone and in groups. Kai desired to be a balanced fighter capable of taking on any situation. As unrealistic as that was, it was the goal he aspired for. To do this Kai, had to pick a class that would grant him a balance between offense, defense, and utility skills.

Basic classes such as warrior, wizard, or rogue were very standard in the world and common, giving them a bad reputation. However, some very powerful individuals had started with those basic classes only to have them evolve later into more unique or specialized classes.

What was interesting was that one class even had gravity in its name. Although that didn’t mean much because it was a certainty that he would receive gravity skills in some semblance or another.

Thinking it over more, mage and wizard-like classes were out, he didn’t train with the sword to cower in the back and act as artillery. Likewise, stealth and rogue classes were eliminated. It was hard to be stealthy when your gravity magic crushes everything.

I don’t want to limit myself with pure warrior-type skills either, so that leaves... either Spell Blade or Vanguard. These were the two options that interested him the most out of all the available classes.

Taking a closer look, Kai examined Spell Blade since it wasn’t as self-explanatory as warrior or wizard.

The Spell Blades are a mixture between a warrior and a mage. Potent in sword combat and magic spells, their sword and magic are one. Spell Blades are adept at moving through the battlefield, creating destruction as they use their imbued blade to destroy anyone who would stand in their way. With the help of their magic, they are a terror on the battlefield.

Kai was stunned. Well, I’ll be damned. That sounds incredible. I think we found a winner. Better check Vanguard though just to be safe rather than sorry.

The Vanguard is a specialized force proficient in frontline combat. Swords, bows, magic, it doesn’t matter what they use, their goal is to break the enemy’s defense. With high risk, comes high reward as they charge toward their foes and destroy them. Those who find success on the battlefield as a Vanguard will break their enemy’s will to fight.

Staring at the line ‘With high risk comes high reward’’ Kai couldn’t help but become intrigued with it. Honestly spell blade, sounds amazing, perfect for the style I want to use. While Vanguard is a bit vague and nondescript...

It didn’t take long for him to finalize his decision between Spell Blade or Vanguard. In the end, Kai made his decision. Spell Blade sounded incredible. Something he had been training towards this entire time. But in the end, the description of Vanguard changed his mind.

If I want to catch up to those people who have a 1200-year head start on me and get my revenge, I need to be risking myself against powerful enemies. And that part about breaking their will to fight sounds a lot more devastating than just being a terror on the battlefield. With slight hesitation, Kai selected Vanguard as his class. The changes began once again only lasting a few seconds. It was as if his body was being attuned to his chosen class and element.

Class Chosen [Vanguard]

Vitality is improved by 5%

Negative forces of pressure and gravity are reduced by 10%

Elemental Magic Resistance +3

Physical Resistance +3

Kai’s eyes went very wide. High risk, high reward indeed. The bonuses he received from picking the Vanguard class were staggering. It looks like gravity or pressure that could hurt or negatively affect him would be lessened by 10%. Even his own gravity magic would likely be included in that category. The elemental magic and physical resistance were the same as in his first life. In that they would give an additional 30% of resistance, increasing his natural resistance and skills resistances when those damage types were applied to him. And if he recalled correctly humans received a 10% resistance to both already when in the foundation realm, bringing his total resistance increase to those damages by 40%. Not that his body would resist 40% of the total damage, just that his body was 40% more resistant to those respective types of damage.

Next was the part of this entire situation he was looking forward to the most.

Skill Gained:

Active: Heavy Blow – Use gravity to enhance the strength of your attack.

Active: Gravity Pillar – Select a small area within sight, gravity will increase in that small area. The number of pillars able to use at the same time is based on skill level. Mana cost is determined by distance from the user and size of the pillar.

Active: Domain – Increase gravity up to a distance of 10M around you.

Passive: Burden – All those under the effect of your gravity will have their stamina drain faster. The rate of stamina drain is dependent on gravitational forces.

A wide smile covered Kai’s face as he finally felt back to normal for the first time since his rebirth. The feelings of being without his magic had always felt like the loss of a limb.

Now being in the Foundation realm, Kai would have four skills until he advanced his class to higher realms of magic.

Calling upon his status screen, Kai scanned it.

Name: Kaismo Cineris

Realm/Level: Foundation 17

Aspect: Gravity

Class: Vanguard

Race: Human

Health: 110/110

Stamina: 100/100

Mana: 100/100

Vitality: 10 (11)

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 10

Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Unspent Attributes Stats Available: 85

Active Skills:

- Heavy Blow [1/10]

- Gravity Pillar [1/10]

- Domain [1/10]

Passive Skills:

- Burden [1/10]

General Skills:

- Identify

- Pain Tolerance 1

- Sense Improvement 1

- Soul Presence 4

- Magic Resistance 4

- Physical Resistance 4

Not a bad start to my rise once again.