“A spell crafter?” Mother says, giving me an inquisitive look. “Considering your reading obsession, I always figured you’d choose something related to magic. But I have to admit, I thought you’d go the magi route.”

Father wraps his arm around her. “Now, now, dear. Be careful not to spoil anything. The details are for Kip and his master to discuss.”

“Right. My mistake. I’m just so happy for him.”

“It’s okay,” I say. “This idea’s been on my mind for a long time now. I’ve wanted to learn how to craft spells for as long as I can remember, and I want to learn everything there is to know about magic.”

The front door creaks open, and I hear Bren call out, “We’re home!” in a voice far too big for his size. I don’t think the little rascal will ever learn how to keep a civilized tone, but I can’t really blame him. Even at 7 years old, he has the hyperactivity of a toddler experiencing their first sugar rush.

Syra enters the kitchen first, followed quickly by a foot-stomping Bren.

“I hope we aren’t late for dinner,” Syra says in her always-soft voice.

“Not at all,” Mother replies. “We just got some big news. Kip has Awakened!”

Bren snorts. “Big deal. I awaken every morning. It’s nothing special.”

That innocent remark gets a laugh out of the rest of us. Maybe it’s just because he’s the youngest, but Bren has a way of being unintentionally funny.

“That’s great to hear, Kip,” Syra says, reaching her hand out in our direction. I step forward and place my hand into hers, letting her cup it with both palms. The warmth of her smile shines through her all-white eyes.

“I’m sure you’ll Awaken some day soon, too,” I say.

She giggles. “I’m not sure about that. You have a 4 year head start so it might take me a while.”

“I still don’t see the big deal,” Bren says, plopping himself into a dining chair. “So what if Kip awakened?”

“This isn’t what you’re thinking of. It means I can do magic now,” I say with a beaming smile.

Bren’s eyes almost pop out of his head. “Really!? You can do magic!?”

“Not quite,” I say with a chuckle. “I still have to learn how. But first things first, we gotta eat. Everyone, have a seat. I’ll set the table and get the food out.”

“Oh, in that case I wish you’d Awaken every day,” Mother says, sounding a lot like Father. His well-meaning yet teasing remarks are rubbing off on her.

“It’s okay, Mother,” Bren says. “I still do that every day. Oh, I almost forgot!” He jumps out of his chair and grabs Syra’s hand, guiding her to her seat. I don’t know why, but lately he’s been particularly attentive towards Syra’s blindness.

“Thank you, Bren,” Syra says as she sits at the dining table. “But you don’t have to help me around the house.”

“Yes, I do. I’m going to be a knight when I grow up, so I have to learn how to help everyone all the time!”

So that’s what’s gotten into him…

As I set the plates on the table, Mother asks, “Do you have specific plans for becoming a spell crafter, Kip? You’ll need to learn from someone who’s well versed in magic.”

Father nods. “There aren’t many mages in Riledon. Are you thinking of leaving town to search for a master?”

“No, I won’t be leaving. I want to continue helping at the shop while I learn the basics. I’m sure I can find someone here who’s willing to accept me as a pupil.” Finished prepping the table, I start pouring the steaming stew into bowls and placing them in front of everyone. Next I set the small loafs of fresh bread.

“Do you have anyone from Riledon in mind?” Syra asks, brushing her brown hair behind her ear.

“I was thinking of asking Erlin. He’s the best mage in town, and he led the victory over the goblins, so he knows what he’s doing.” Having served everyone else, I take a seat at the table and rip a piece of my bread, dunking it into the stew so it can soak in the flavor. “If not him, I’d like to learn from Marlie.”

“You should go with Marlie,” Father says through a mouth full of food.

Mother shoots him a suspicious look. “Because she’s pretty?”

“Of course not, dear. It’s just that Erlin is always going off on his dangerous work but Marlie stays in town. Besides, no ones prettier than you.” He shoots me a satisfied wink as if to say ‘that’s how it’s done!’

“If worse comes to worse, you can always try Hinrig,” Syra adds.

The mention of that name sends a shiver down my spine. But she’s right, as much as I don’t like him - and really, who does? - he’s the only other mage in Riledon. If it comes down to that, I’ll have to accept my fate as Hinrig’s student.

Dinner flies by as we discuss the pros and cons of becoming a pupil of each of the town’s mages. Father peppers the conversation with his eager jokes, sometimes getting a playful smack from Mother, other times bringing us to full-on belly laughter. Once everyone’s eaten, I offer to clean up and wash the dishes, much to Mother’s resistance. I’m supposed to relax on my big day, but my restlessness will just eat at me if I don’t do anything. My quest to find a master will start tomorrow, and I just wish that time could go by faster.

I spend the rest of the evening with my family - mostly keeping Bren occupied - before retiring to my room for the night and scheming about how I can convince one of the town’s mages to take me under their wing. With so few options available, I have to make them count.

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Unfortunately, selling myself to them might prove difficult. It would be nice if I could go off and selflessly pursue my dream of becoming a spell crafter with reckless abandon, but I have to stick around to help Mother and Father. They’ll never admit it to us, but I know that money is really right, and we’d be struggling without my free labor. Besides, I enjoy helping them out. Maybe in the future I can make enough money from crafting spells to go out and see this great world.

My mind wanders wistfully as I stare out the window of my room at the three moons in the sky. I’ve always had visions and fantasies of myself casting fireballs and summoning magical beasts. Now, all of that is technically possible, and I’m grateful that I even have the chance to pursue such a thing. Some people live and die in this world without Awakening, their Souls for some reason never reaching that stage. To go through that seems particularly cruel.

After reading one of my favorite books for about an hour, I slip into bed and hope to get at least a little rest. Of course, the night crawls by with little sleep, the intermittent rest I manage to get disrupted by my puppy-like excitement. I’ve always been this way for as long as I can remember, throughout this life and the one before.

As the sun begins to rise, I’m the first one out of bed. Even though I barely slept, I make myself a quick breakfast and scarf it down before jolting out of the house. My excitement will be enough to get me through the day.

The morning has a crisp cleanliness to it today, and I hum as I march straight to the town’s armory. That’s where Elrin should be going at the start of his day, and I want to be there before him to make a good impression and show how serious I am about becoming his pupil.

As the strongest mage in town, I can probably learn the most from him, and even though he has a reputation for being a bit of a hardass, I’m willing to put up with anything to begin my studies. Well, almost anything. I still shiver at the thought of learning from Hinrig.

The town is still largely asleep when I reach the armory. I sit down at the stairs of the building and do the only thing I can right now: wait. Things would be so simple if I were to pursue becoming a Naturalist like Mother and Father. If I go that route, one of them can take me in as a pupil, and I can easily become a Woodsman like Father or an Alchemist like Mother. But all three of us know that such a path isn’t for me.

Sometimes I wonder if they suspect anything about me or if, deep down, they know about my past. But that wouldn’t make sense. How could they possibly come to the odd realization that one of their sons had actually been reincarnated into this world, and that he retains all his memories from his past life? It’s not like I told them or anyone else about it directly, though I have asked indirect questions to see if anyone else shares the same experience. In the end, it seems like I’m the only one.

I still remember my old life back on Earth, and I still remember the moment I died quite clearly. My name back then was Jason, and I was just like any other 16-year-old boy with a passion for reading and gaming. Okay, I admit the gaming portion of my life was starting to encroach on the territory of obsession. Still, despite what many might consider an unfulfilled life, I missed it deeply in that moment when I died.

Sure, I’d been lonely all my life and never had a proper family due to constantly being moved around foster homes, but it was still my life. Maybe it’s just a human thing to value something only once it’s gone.

To this day, I can picture the traffic accident that killed me. I’m not sure what I expected to happen to me during the moment of impact, but when I felt myself slipping away, I was blinded by a flashing light then passed through a tunnel only to come out the other side as a crying, screaming baby. I’m not sure if anyone would believe me if I told them that my first thought in that moment was, ‘Did I just respawn?’ Yes, I really was that much a gamer nerd. I blame it on the fact that I never had a girlfriend.

For quite a while after that, I believed that this was all an illusion. A comfortable lie that my brain was making up while it waited for death to take me in full. But that moment never came. Time went on, and I slowly came to accept that I’d actually been reincarnated.

In this new life, I was the first child that Mother and Father had, and four years later, I found myself having a baby sister, Syra. Five years after that, Bren was born, and I was officially the oldest of three siblings.

It’s hard to explain my feelings during the early parts of my second life. I figured that all of this would go away soon, so I tried to not get too attached. At the same time, it felt amazing to have a loving and caring family, something I’d deeply yearned for on Earth. I even had siblings to play with for the first time growing up. Sure, I was mentally too old to fully enjoy the silly games we played, but after a while, I just got used to it. On Earth, I was Jason. Here, I’m Kip, and I’ve now spent about the same amount of time in each life.

Since this second life has happened pretty much as a continuation of my first one, you’d think that I’d feel 32 years old, having spend 16 years in each. But the truth is, I largely feel like the same person who died in an accident on Earth. Of course, I have lots of new experiences, but there’s something about reliving those early stages of life all over again that has kept me from mentally aging. It’s kind of like repeating the tutorial in a video game. Either it gives you so few experience points that you never level up, or it doesn’t give you any at all in the first place. It’s just a repetition with virtually no growth.

Now it feels like I’m about to start an exciting new chapter in my second life, one that’ll change everything completely. We never had magic on Earth, so imagine my excitement when I learned that it’s a thing here. Yet until now, I couldn’t access it. I had to wait… and wait… and wait… But now, no more waiting!

Okay… a little more waiting. Thirty more minutes, in fact. That’s how long it takes Erlin to show up, and I immediately spring to my feet when I see him approaching.

Erlin has a very distinct walk, his stocky body almost wobbling forward like a penguin. He raises an eyebrow at me as a greeting. “Eh? You’re Jed’s boy, aren’t you? What’re you doing here?”

Clearing my throat, I reply, “Yes, sir. My name’s Kip. I’m here to ask something that’s deeply important to me.”

“Eh? What is it, boy?”

The nerves start getting to me, and my stomach to turn, my voice almost cracking. “I-I Awakened yesterday, sir, and I was hoping that you’d bless me with your guidance as my master. You’re the best mage in Riledon, and it would be an honor if you’d accept me as a pupil.”

Erlin strokes his chins as he regards me from head to toe. “Your stats?”

I read my stats page to him.

“Hmmm. Not bad. In fact, that’s really good for someone who’s just Awakened. Your mana pool, in particular, is impressive. Perfect for a mage. My crew’s running thin so I’d be willing to take you in as a pupil, but I got a lot of work that needs doing and monsters that need killing. It’ll take a while to get you up and running as a mage. Tell me, you any good with a bow?”

A lump forms in my throat. “Not particularly, sir. You see, I don’t have an affinity for much else, and I want to become a spell crafter.”

He raises his eyebrow at me again. “A spell crafter, eh? If you wanna learn all that theory stuff that’s required to craft your own spells, you’ll wanna take the Scribe class, and I ain’t the guy to teach all that stuff. I’m a simple Battlemage through and through. If you’re willing to join my crew, I can take you in and teach you how to cast some combat spells, but that’s the best I can do.”

I let out a disappointed sigh. I know he’s primarily a Battlemage, but I was hoping he’d be at least a little versed in the crafting side.

“Look, kid,” Erlin says, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I can tell that isn’t what you wanted to hear, but I’m not gonna take you in as my pupil for the sake of filling up my crew. If I’m gonna become a master to Jed’s son, it has to be because it’s exactly what both of us want. I’d be doing a disservice to your old man if I take you in when your hearts not fully into it. I’m sure you’ll find someone else.”

“I… I understand. Thanks anyway.”

He pats me on the shoulder and walks past me into the armory, leaving me to sit in my resignation. The disappointment sits in my stomach like a heavy meal that you quickly regret. My first option has just failed miserably, and I only have two left. I just hope the next one works out because the last options is hardly an option at all.