I was a regular office worker. I worked overtime for my entire life. Not only that, but I made a salary that most people would kill for. Yet, I couldn’t think of a happier moment in my two lives than now.

I can crawl, baby.

Being able to move is a great thing, and you should cherish it.

I had never felt such greatness for being able to move.

Even though I could crawl, I did so, and I understood a lot of things.

Foremost, this family was relatively well off.

The building was a two-story stone house, and there were three rooms.

Until now, I had to make do with the stories my mother would tell me while trying to get me to fall asleep. I would make noises when she would stop in the middle. My father would sometimes come and lay next to me listening to the stories my mother would read, also telling me stories from his old days, which gave me some hints as to what kind of world this was and what it was filled with.

Mr. Whitlock is also known as Ryan Whitlock. My father, adventure (apparently that’s a job here) had a lot of experience in this field. He was a leader of several parties that went on expeditions to search for lost treasure and fulfilled missions. He decided to stop being an adventure once he met my mother. Not only that, but he would tell me repeatedly about how it was love at first sight when he visited her.

My name, my new name, Quintan Whitlock, now, after getting a glimpse of myself with a glass shard we would use as some sort of mirror, I got my father’s deep black hair and my purple amethyst eyes from my mother. In my past life, you could say I had an average build or size; as long as I don’t turn out fat, I’ll be okay.

After weeks of crawling, but only accomplishing uncoordinated movements, I had finally succeeded in escaping my crib and managed to sneak into my mother’s and Father's workplace which was filled with books and papers while they were busy doing various things like cooking, laundry, and training. Mom protested the day I learned how to move, sighing. “He’ll move somewhere else when I don’t keep my eyes on him. You’re going to be hard to manage, just like your father.”

I closed the book and adjusted myself to be more comfortable while sitting on a pillow that was on the ground… so I was just on the ground reading books, even though I may be an infant I still have the mentality of a 20-year-old.

Thinking over what I had just read, this world is severely underdeveloped. From what I could take from the book, there wasn’t much technological advancement. The only real transportation was horse-pulled things like carriages and carts, as well as ships with sails for rivers.

Weapons were allowed to be freely worn, not regulated unless you were visiting the royal family (wow, there are nobles in this world) or people that held authority. For Christ's sake, it’s still unbelievable that people carry weapons while shopping.

When mom and I went down to town and saw him running off with stolen goods, he was cut down by a guy with a long sword. The weird thing about the situation was that the bystanders were upholding instead of screaming or running while the thief lay there dying. A similarity is that both this world and mine have been monarchy in some parts of my past world. The continent of Atlas has kingdoms, each ruled by a King and Queen. The king is chosen based on lineage; passed down from son to King, etc.

After reading through the book, there wasn’t much information on other continents and kingdoms other than the one we were in. That was a bit strange considering there were ships carrying goods and passengers across the continental seas. I imagined that maybe the technology on the ships isn’t developed enough to sail across seas.

The thing that was going to be hard for me to get used to was the premise of magic in this world. If we’re considering superhuman abilities, sure, the people on Earth relied on them, people.

In this world, instead of training and muscle building, There was something called mana and the more strange thing was that it existed in the atmosphere. Thus, mages would draw the surrounding mana and draw it into their mana core. In this world, mana exists and is formed inside the body.

Even though I’m an infant, I have the mentality of a 20-year-old. I wonder if there was a way for me to open my mana core up at this age.

The next page had answered the questions I had been asking.

While the power to manage/control mana is genetic. There are a lot of cases where kids of magic like me come out, unable to sense the surrounding mana. Everyone has a mana core, but you can only utilize it if you can break through the mana circuits to draw the mana into your mana core. Roughly 1 out of 10 kids can sense mana. A child is tested when their mana core is fully developed as early as an adolescent to late teen years. When a mana core is manifested mana will draw near then be pushed back, this will last a couple of seconds.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

The next few pages had something that caught my eyes

“Mana is split into two different ways, The two most common methods of using mana are: reinforcing the body with mana and using the elements (elemental mage), And the use of magic revolves around spirits (spirit/spiritual mage)...” “Elemental mages are most common in warriors who utilize mana, channeling it through their body to reinforce themselves and their attacks.”

“... The performance of spiritual magic is seen in mages, who, after utilizing their mana, can summon elemental spirits who would then fight for them and or fight with them, they can also cast spells on the surrounding area or directly at the target.”

Weakness and restrictions

“While elemental mages possess incredible strength, defense, agility, and power, their weakness lies in their limited range and the number of spells they can use at once."

“Spirit mages possess unspeakable powers, being able to bend nature to their will because of the spirit’s connection. But with great power comes restrictions. Unlike elemental mages who draw mana from their mana cores, spirit mages have to draw mana from the outside and their cores as well to then supply the spirit (also consumes more mana).

While both mages or mana users for a more accurate term depend on

And are separated by their mana core, elemental and spirit mages also have different ways of measuring their aptitude.”

“Flip”

“Elemental powers are measured by how strong the mana circuits are in their body, which measures the speed and efficiency of how the mana flows throughout their body.”

“A spirit mage’s power is measured by the number of spirits they can summon and maintain at a time and the amount of mana they can draw into through mana cores.”

“Mages are separated into one of these two divisions since attempting to be proficient in both would be time-consuming and inefficient. Most mages are born into one of two.”

“Elemental mages don’t need very strong mana circuits because they use the mana from their mana cores, while spirit mages do, since they have to draw mana in from the outside and use it for the spirit.”

“As the proficiency level rises, the gap between elemental and spirit mages lessens naturally, but only at an advanced level, while elemental mages might have higher potential at first spirit mages have higher raw power because the spirit is the living embodiment of said element.” “Hmm… so the father is an excellent elemental mage and not so good spirit mage.”

That bright healing light… What was it that mother used?

“Flip”

“THERE”

“There are a few, rare cases where two of the four elements will combine into what you would call a primordial element; the two combined elements mother used were Earth and Water.”

“Wow… Is mother stronger than father?”

“The steps of using mana for spirit mages are gathering mana from the surrounding area, drawing it into your body after forming with the mana core to purify the atmosphere diluted mana, you then channel it into the conductor (spirit, wand, staff, or something) with incantations as the guide or control you will then shape the mana into whatever spell you want.”

“The stronger the spell, the more mana it takes and the longer it takes to draw in, store in your mana core where it can be purified and used.”

“Flip”

“Because spirit magic involves exerting focused mana into a particular spirit, spirit mages will notice they have a special aptitude for certain elements (Air, Water, Fire, Air), but with training, can become adequate in the basics of all elements.”

“Flip”

Basics of elemental mages

“Unlike spirit mages, elemental mages don’t need to spend that much time gathering mana. What’s considered being a good elemental mage requires speed and precision in the use of mana from your core and less from the mana outside.”

That’s when I had a thought… Mom and dad are elemental mages. Father has an affinity for Air magic and mother has an affinity for Water and Earth magic, she can also use a primordial element healing magic. Then that would make me a child of magic and my mana circuits should be naturally made. With that, I should be able to natural sense the surrounding mana, so I should be able to open up my mana circuits (perks of having the mind of a 20-year-old).

My gazed focused upon reading

“... Elementals (elemental mages) need proper distribution of mana throughout the body, however, the user sees fit. This is by no means easy, elementals need to have great insight into one's body. Being able to use the mana circuits properly could take years of both mental and physical practice.”

“Flip”

“Elementals have to extract mana in its purest form from their mana cores there are no notable distinctions in the sense of an element at an early age, but elementals have more control over their mana more freely, resulting in different forms of fighting with the elements.”

“Repercussion occurs in both mages. For elementals, it happens when the mana core is depleted, causing body pain, mana core aches, and depending on how strenuous the damage to the mana core is. For spirit mages, the repercussions occur from overfilling the mana core. This is caused by using too many spirits at once beyond the mage’s ability or using too advanced spells for his or her mana core to handle.”

After finishing the book. I sat myself up, trying to understand all the information that I had just read.

Testing my theory, I started meditating, trying to feel the surrounding mana in my 10-month-old body.

“Quintan I’ve been looking everywhere for you, you had me worried sick, I just your crib and you weren’t there.”

NO STOP! I’m on my journey to become the greatest mage this world has ever seen.