"So the name of the kid was Marcus," Isaac said to himself as he looked at his new face in the mirror.

The original Marcus was a tall man, no older than twenty, about 1.85 meters tall, he had high cheekbones, a strong yet delicate jaw, his features were almost feminine in nature. He had perfect eyebrows, blonde hair and a pair of enchanting blue eyes.

I guess I should thank whatever strange phenomenon made me hop in this body from The Grave, Isaac thought before looking at his clothes.

"Yup. I wouldn't have even become a Magus in my old world dressed like this. I would have been killed for my tunic," Isaac said as his eyes inspected his wear from top to bottom before locking themselves on his shoes "and for my boots." He added.

"Time for some quick tests to check the kid's personal might." Isaac metaphorically rolled his sleeves up. Ready to start.

There was not much reason to test the state of the soul, but Isaac decided to do so anyway.

He used the 'introspection' spell and with a quick glance he could tell nothing had changed. The tempered soul of a reincarnator, he thought to himself. 'As tough as before' he concluded, not surprised in the slightest.

Then it was time to check the mana capacity and its saturation in the body. Isaac almost purred at the thought of inhaling and exhaling magic, just like he did before reaching the top in order to reach the top.

Isaac focused on the mana inside as well as the mana outside of him, he then deeply inhaled thus absorbing the mana that was outside of him. He let the mana spread to his every organ, to every fiber of his being, he let the mana seep deep into his bones. He then exhaled letting out the mana he had inhaled as well as emptying himself of his own. This process was called circulation.

Isaac circulated for about ten minutes. The original Marcus had reached the 3rd tier of magic, he was no longer a 0 tier apprentice, nor was a simple Magus, he was a tier 2 Magus. 'Not half bad' was Isaac's verdict about Marcus' magical might, especially considering his tender age, the saturation of the mana is nothing to boast about though. Isaac added to his assessment. After familiarizing himself with the flow of mana it was time to go forth with the tests.

"Alright I guess it's time to check what this body can do."

Isaac circulated his mana empowering his muscles. He extended his left hand.

First to ensure nothing happens.

Isaac knew that as far as summoning was concerned, you never knew what you could accidentally spawn so Isaac went through the, by the manual procedure, to ensure nothing would happen.

Now then.

As Isaac finished the chant a violet, glowing rock appeared mid air. Hmm way bigger than I remember, Isaac thought as he let the pebble fall in his already extended hand. Then… Isaac crashed to the ground under the weight of the pebble.

His pre-cast spell activated.

Isaac slowly got up from the floor, unharmed. He wasn't sure anymore if he was unharmed because of falling from a pitiful height or if it was because of 'Protection.' What. The. Hell. Isaac thought. It's not like he expected much from this body. He just wanted to try crushing a pebble, it should have weighed at most 500 kg, a sensible density he thought.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

An ugly scowl appeared on Isaac's face twisting its beauty. His assessment of the new body: 'pathetic' it was 'absolutely pathetic.' This was the body of someone that probably never even tried to put on shoes by himself.

"Tomorrow we are undertaking the journey to perfection, Marcus." Isaac said to himself already imagining the horrors he would make this body go through, as if it was not his own.

<< Tempus Desisto >>

Isaac heard an invincible voice, it was coming from everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time.

"I see you are already getting used to that body." The voice that had casually just used Concept-Tongue said.

How could Isaac not recognize that familiar voice, the one he had thought to hear before dying. A grin appeared on his face as he turned to face the void "you" he said to the void.

"Me." The voice answered with what Isaac felt was a smile from the one to whom that voice belonged to. Isaac's grin widened and he felt the smile of the being that he could not even see widen itself in return back at him, knowingly.

"So what do you want from me?" Isaac asked. "This is not my first rodeo so just put your demands on the table."

A booming thunderous laughter shook the heavens and the earth. Isaac's eyes narrowed in realization. This is not an ascendant, not a mere god either.

As the laughter subsided the immaterial being spoke as a satisfied sigh escaped his lips "It's been a while since I laughed, so thank you. That said I don't require anything of you" the voice said.

"..."

"..."

Isaac broke the awkward silence that the being's answer had created. "So… why have you made yourself manifest then?"

"I'm here to give a gift and to leave a mark on what's mine" the being answered and before Isaac could ask what he meant by it, a pain that even he found unbearable overcame him.

Isaac's whole body started to burn, he clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as the pain made Isaac almost pass out, but as soon as it came so also did it disappear.

"No need to thank me Aed. Now you should really do something about your eyes."

My eyes? Isaac thought as he regained his breath.

<< Tempus Initium >>

"Also that maid is coming back now, so be quick about it."The being added before all traces of his presence vanished.

Isaac turned to look at himself in the mirror. What was that about my eyes? He thought.

As he looked at his reflection he immediately understood. One of his eyes had turned a golden yellow, the other eye was still blue, but now it was radiating a blue fiery light.

He looked a bit higher, there was a symbol, an empty circle vertically cut by a straight line, between his eyebrows. Unfortunately he recognized that symbol. He trembled slightly, that symbol... He thought. It was the mark of a First One.

"Well… This is quite-"

A knock on the door interrupted him.

"-Shit." He finished the sentence.

----------------------------------------

Claire knocked on the door.

"-Shit." A curse could be clearly heard from the other side.

Claire was stunned for a moment. Shit? She asked herself.

No. Surely she must have imagined that, there is no way the young master would have cussed like that. Her own thoughts were probably just coming out of her head. She knocked once more.

"Young master, it's me, Claire. May I be allowed in?" Claire asked.

"..."

There was no response from within. Claire wouldn't dare enter without permission.

She knocked once more. "Young master!" She called for the young master.

Still no response. Claire was beginning to panic. On one hand she couldn't enter without permission, on the other hand what if something bad happened to the young master? She would be held accountable for not helping him.

As she was about to knock for the last time, with the intent to barge in if no one responded again. The door opened.

The young master had opened the door for her. "Come in, Claire." he said.

He had actually opened the door for her. Claire looked around before entering. Luckily there was no one around so no one had seen what happened.

The door closed behind her as she entered, and that made her shiver. This is not right, was her thought as she turned to face the young master. She looked in his beautiful blue eyes before bowing her head to face the ground. "Young master please, don't do that ever again. If someone had seen you opening the door yourself, I would have been punished for it."

As she finished the sentence she looked back at the young master.

The young master closed his eyes before sighing deeply.

----------------------------------------

No wonder this guy is so weak. He doesn't even open his own room's door. Nobles. Scoffed Isaac in his head as he opened his eyes to look at the maid.

"Alright, I understand." He said to Claire.

"Thank you for your sincere consideration, young master." Claire said as she lowered her head respectfully.

I have no idea of even the layout of this manor, I need someone... Isaac looked in the big, innocent brown eyes of the maid, before continuing his thought. 'Special' enough, someone that will not suspect me and still feed me some information to not look totally out of place.

"Are you one of the new maids?" Isaac asked Claire. "Also call me Marcus when no one is around."

"Young master b-"

"Marcus." Isaac interrupted her. "I'm getting tired of these 'young master this' and those 'young master that' Claire. It's pointlessly long. Just Marcus is fine."

"I understand young ma-Marcus. Also yes I'm one of the new maids." said Claire.

Perfect. Isaac thought. He also couldn't help but notice that 'young master' just got even stranger, but that's not important for now he concluded.

"Alright then. From now on you are going to be my personal maid. You will follow me everywhere like a shadow. Is that clear Claire?" Asked Isaac.

Claire was shocked. She knew what becoming a 'personal maid' entailed. She would be directly promoted to chambermaid, a position technically even higher than head maid.

"I understand young mas-rcus" Claire corrected herself in the middle.

"Alright then Claire. Now I guess it's time to do it" said Isaac as he turned to take off his robe and throw it somewhere in the corner of the room.

As he turned back to face Claire his eyes widened. Isaac was totally confused.

"What." Isaac sighed mid sentence. "Are. You doing. Claire?"