It seemed this was a village of sorts. From memory, it was called Jule Village, and the capital was far to the northeast from here. They didn’t have easy access to a map, though his family was the lord and lady of the area. It seemed the era hadn’t seen many advancements. It was something he’d have to look into later at a library.

Since it was a small village, students were taught together, regardless of the differences in age. It was inefficient, but there was little to be done about it with such a small population. His parents were kind people, with a good sense of humility. They wanted their son to be taught amongst the masses. He was happy that his new family was such decent people. They never once raised a hand to him. He was their only child, too, the child of a duke.

Father wasn’t a very strong duke, having only a small, far-off territory, but he was well-respected by his people, and that’s what mattered to Alister.

It was a strange thought, being a noble. In his past life, he had been nothing but an average citizen. He had risen in the ranks due to his training and prowess, yes, but he was never a nobleman. Raalin had earned the title of Archmage, one of the highest honors he could have sought out, and it took him many decades to do it. How long would it take him this time around?

As he got well acquainted with his energy, he could sense that his pool of mana was the same. It had even been naturally added to, albeit an infinitesimal amount. It was a bit of a roulette whether or not your mana pool would start out larger or smaller than your last life. From what he knew, it was most common for it to be about the same, so there was nothing odd there. Before he died, Raalin had put in so much work to amass mana reserves. It made him a little proud that he still had access to all his hard work.

He was Alister now, though. It felt odd to use that name. He still hadn’t decided whether he’d keep it. Perhaps he’d take Raalin as a moniker instead of a true name? So many decisions.

One such decision was about his family. He was… conflicted about it at best. His mother and father had raised him, but now he had memories of over a century of life behind him. After explaining the situation to them in private, though without specific details, of his age and his previous status, they were understandably concerned. They worried he would want to abandon the family name, strike out on his own, and whatnot. It was a course of action he considered… but Alister felt genuine love for these people. They were family. He would stick by their side while he learned more of this new life. Eventually, he would leave, no doubt, but it would not be forever. As they were family, he had to protect them.

Once assured he still considered them his mother and father and still loved them very dearly, their worries abated. The two parents smothered him with affection as they fretted for him being harmed, and even for the pain he had experienced in death.

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It was… so touching to have people care about him so much.

Before… his parents died when he was younger than he was now. He went into the care of the orphanage and had a rather difficult upbringing. He wasn’t used to such affection from many people.

“Today you will be meeting the priests and priestesses,” Miss Koll explained to the gaggle of children, netting a disapproving scowl from Alister, who had only been somewhat paying attention, “These holy men and women represent the major temples. They’re here to see if any of you have the potential to be a priest yourself! If one of the gods chooses you, you can use some holy power as well as magic power.”

The six major temples… He didn’t know enough about them. Alister didn't have any interest in the gods, even before he regained his memories. That, unfortunately, meant he was going into this blind. The teacher, thankfully, continued to explain, bridging some of the gaps.

“As you all know there are a lot of gods that grace our lands, but six of them are worshiped more than any others in our kingdom,” she said, smiling brightly at the youngest of the group, “Yeah, that’s as many years as you are old! Now, the six gods are really important. You gotta remember them, ok?”

“First there’s Inyet, the goddess of the harvest. She aids farmers and praying to her can bring good fortune and save crops from dying. She’s pretty popular. She likes to be hands-on compared to a lot of other gods, and though her wrath can be vicious, most people like her for her hands-on approach,” the teacher explained, animated to keep the younger kids entertained.

He didn’t recognize the name from his past. Perhaps she was young? He would save judgment on her for when he learned more about her, but Alister was clearly annoyed at the mention of her wrath. Gods always felt like they had a right to kill people that annoyed them… He wasn’t above taking out a problem, himself, but there was a line. If she was the sort to kill an innocent farmer because they said something negative about her, then he would take issue with it.

“Sanso is the god of wealth and prosperity,” she continued, and he didn’t recognize that name either. Just how much time had passed that new gods had risen to such heights? “Praying to him can give blessings of good luck and fortune. He’s more hands-off than Inyet, though.”

“Temera is the goddess of fertility,” another new name, how interesting, “who we worship to make babies healthy and happy. She has a twin brother, herself, Tessin, but he’s not worshiped very often unless it’s as a pair with his sister. Tessin is a god of war.” Twins? They sounded young too. He wondered how much tension there was that one of them got all the worship while the other didn’t. Gods of war tended to come in two categories: violent gore-happy fiends, and tactical geniuses. There didn’t seem to be much room in the middle.

“Iker is the god of the sun, a lord of gods, and a god of power. He’s one of the most important gods to our kingdom,” Ms. Koll said cheerily. Alister stiffened. That was a name he knew, finally. Iker was one of the bastards that killed him, one of the leaders of that damned group of gods. He’d have to avoid that priest…

He raised his hand, “Miss, is it mandatory to be seen by the priests? If I have no interest in becoming one myself, that is?”