Seito grew like any other child, but unlike other infants, his mind was far from empty. He remembered—clearly, vividly, down to the smallest detail—the pain in his chest, the blows, the darkness, the smell of gasoline and metal. He remembered his death.
In his past life, his name was Light. But now, in this new world, his name was Seito Kagami. And though a child's voice could not utter these words, in his consciousness, they sounded firm, like a vow.
His first months passed in the warmth of his mother's hands and his father's care. They were ordinary people: no noble titles, no wealth, no great magical lineages. His father worked as a carpenter; his mother helped around the house and tended the garden. Their life was simple, but it had a reliability that Light had always lacked in his past life.
Everything around him was unfamiliar. The village where he was born resembled old pictures from books: houses of dark logs, thatched roofs, the smell of smoke from hearths. People lived off the land: some grew grain, others kept goats or chickens. There were no cars, no electricity, no familiar hum of civilization.
And yet—it was a living, real world. A world where alongside ordinary people walked those who could wield magic.
Seito first noticed this one evening when his father lit a lamp without fire. He simply whispered a few words, and a small flame sparked over his palm, jumping to the wick.
"Magic…" the boy realized.
For him, a man from a world of technology, this was a miracle. But here, people looked upon it calmly, as if it were mundane.
...
Months passed. Seito quickly understood that his new body didn't obey him immediately. He wanted to get up, but could only wave his arms helplessly. He wanted to say something meaningful, but only babble escaped his mouth.
Yet, with each day, he tried harder.
One day, lying in his cradle, he concentrated and tried with all his might to roll onto his side. His body trembled, his muscles ached, but he did it.
At that very moment, a familiar translucent window flared before his eyes:
[Quest Completed: «Roll Over»]
[Reward: +0.1 to Stamina]
The child's eyes widened.
He almost laughed, but only a squeak came out.
«The system responds… even to this?»
He tried again. A roll to the other side.
[EXP +1]
Warmth spread in his chest. It was a tiny, insignificant achievement—but it meant more than any reward in his past life. Here, even in a weak body, he could grow.
From that day on, he began to train every day, as much as his strength allowed.
Crawling on the floor.
Reaching for toys.
Trying to get on his knees.
And every time the system answered:
[EXP +2]
[Strength +0.1]
[New Skill: «Crawling (Lvl. 1)»]
It looked ridiculous, but for him, it was the beginning of the path.
...
When he turned one, he took his first steps.
Unsteady, shaky, supported by his mother's hand. But for him, it was like winning a great battle.
[Achievement Unlocked: «First Steps»]
[Reward: +0.5 to Dexterity]
He almost laughed, but again, only childish babble came out.
The world around him began to unfold more clearly. Seito noticed how adults treated magic: with respect, but also caution. Not everyone had the gift. In their village, only one old man, the local healer, could use healing spells. His father could light a lamp, but nothing more.
His mother had no magic at all and didn't seem bothered by it.
Seito listened to their conversations and pieced together a picture: magic existed, but it didn't make a person special. Here, the ability to work and live in harmony with the community was more important.
But for him, magic was the goal.
If the system gave him the opportunity to grow, then one day he could master it completely.
And then—no more weakness. No more helplessness.
He did not intend to waste this life.
Of course, here is the continuation of the first chapter.
...
The days blurred into a sequence of repetitive, but for Seito, priceless discoveries. Each new skill, each microscopic addition to his parameters, made his tiny heart beat faster. He caught every glance from the system, every moment of its appearance, like a drowning man grasping at a straw. It was his anchor, his proof that his past life and this new one were not just a series of meaningless suffering.
His persistence began to bear fruit, noticeable even without the system. By a year and a half, he was walking confidently, and his baby babble gradually began to take the form of words from this world. He wasn't in a rush to demonstrate everything he was capable of—his adult mind suggested that infant genius could attract unwanted attention. But in the quiet of his little room, while his mother was in the garden and his father in the workshop, he trained.
He didn't just stand up. He tried to squat, feeling his weak thigh muscles burn.
— One… two… — he counted mentally, as letters danced before his eyes.
[EXP +1 for repeating physical exercise]
[Strength +0.05]
The numbers were laughable, but there were many of them. Very many. Hundreds of squats, rolls, attempts to lift a pebble or a stick. He approached it with the methodology of an engineer dismantling an engine: discipline, repetition, analysis of results.
One day, trying to reach a mug of water on a low table, he didn't just grab the handle. He concentrated, imagined energy flowing from his body into the muscles of his arm, and pulled. The mug moved, water splashed.
[Hidden attribute discovered: Willpower]
[Willpower +0.1]
[New Skill: «Concentration (Lvl. 1)»]
Seito froze. «Willpower». This was something new. Not just a physical parameter, but something deeper. The very force that made him get up after every fall in his past life and this one. The system responded even to this.
His world gradually expanded beyond the house. His mother, Ayame, began to take him to the market, placing him in a woven basket on her back. For Seito, it was like traveling to another world. The bright colors of fabrics, the smells of spices, dried meat, fresh bread, and… something else. Sharp, metallic, barely perceptible.
Mana.
He didn't know what to call it, but he felt it on his skin. For most people, it was just a warm, barely noticeable glow. But sometimes someone else walked by. A traveler in worn but sturdy chainmail, with a sword on his back. His aura was dense, thick, like engine oil. Or the old healer, Tobasu, from whom emanated a calm, deep light, like smoldering embers.
Seito greedily absorbed everything with his eyes, and his system quietly recorded his observations.
[Skill «Observation» increased to Level 2.]
[Basic information obtained: «Magical Aura».]
He understood: magic here was not just a set of spells. It was part of all living things. And he, with his system, could learn to see it, which meant he could learn to interact with it.
In the evenings, when his father, Kenshi, returned from work, smelling of wood shavings and sweat, the house became especially cozy. Kenshi was a silent but kind man with calloused hands that could rock a cradle with tenderness or carve a funny animal figure from a wood chip for his son.
Once, Seito, sitting on the floor and diligently trying to stack blocks made from wood scraps (another dexterity exercise), caught a fragment of his parents' conversation.
— …heard the guards' squad returned from the thicket, — Kenshi said quietly, pouring himself some soup. — Found goblin tracks again. Closer to the northern farms.
Ayame shuddered, clutching a spoon to her chest.
— Again? But last time they went further north.
— The forest lives by its own laws. They say this winter will be harsh. The monsters are looking for food. Tobas says the aura in the forest has become… restless.
— Should we be worried?
Kenshi placed his large hand over her small palm.
— The elders are convening a council. They'll decide what to do. Maybe they'll hire another wandering blade for patrol.
Seito stopped playing. Goblins. Blades. Patrols. His heart, accustomed to the rhythm of an engine, beat faster. This world was not only cozy and full of magic. It was dangerous. And this danger was creeping up to the walls of his home, to his new, fragile parents.
That night he couldn't sleep. He lay looking at the ceiling, the translucent system window hovering before his eyes. He mentally scrolled through the lines, studying them as he once studied blueprints.
[Name: Seito Kagami]
[True Name: ———]
[Age: 1 year 7 months]
[Height: 78 cm]
[Weight: 11 kg]
[Parameters: Locked]
[Skills: Crawling (Lvl. 3), Walking (Lvl. 4), Observation (Lvl. 2), Concentration (Lvl. 1)]
"Locked." What was hidden behind this? Strength? Dexterity? Intelligence? Why did the system show him only tiny additions but hide the overall picture? It was another mystery, another challenge.
And then his gaze fell on the empty, crossed-out line. True Name.
Why? Why was his past erased? Was it the price of rebirth? Or… someone's design? The design of this mocking system that winked at him with an emoticon at the end of the line?
The thought that he was not just being laughed at, but manipulated, made him clench inside. No. He wouldn't allow it. He wouldn't allow the system, or the goblins, or anyone else to take away the little he had gained.
It wasn't the child who awoke in him, but Light. The mechanic who was used to relying only on himself.
The next morning he began a new training. He didn't just concentrate. He tried to *feel* that very magical aura he saw in others. Closing his eyes, he sat in the corner of the room and tried to imagine the energy flowing inside him. He recalled the sensation from the lamp lit by his father, from the calm strength of the healer Tobasu.
At first, nothing happened. Only slight dizziness from overexertion. But he didn't give up. Day after day, week after week.
And then, after a month of stubborn, unnoticed efforts, it happened.
During another meditation, he suddenly felt not warmth, but… a vibration. As if a tiny motor had started up deep inside. Barely perceptible, but real.
And at that same moment, the system responded not with a simple notification, but with something new.
[Congratulations! Through incredible effort and willpower, you have reached a milestone!]
[Parameter lock partially lifted!]
[Basic stat panel unlocked!]
Seito almost jumped in surprise. A new, more complex interface unfolded before his eyes.
[Strength: 2.1]
[Dexterity: 2.8]
[Stamina: 2.5]
[Intelligence: 6.9]
[Wisdom: 5.1]
[Willpower: 4.3]
[Luck: 1.0]
He looked at the numbers, holding his breath. Intelligence and Wisdom… They were significantly higher than the rest. The memory of his past life. His adult mind in a child's body. The system didn't just know about it—it accounted for it.
And then his gaze fell to the very bottom, where there was another line he hadn't seen before.
[Magic Affinity: Undetermined]
Next to it pulsated a barely noticeable dot, as if inviting him to poke it.
Seito's heart pounded. This was the chance. The key to the power of this world. Without thinking, he mentally reached for that dot.
And the world exploded in pain.
Not physical, but mental. As if every nerve in his body had been suddenly stretched like a string. He felt a current piercing his entire being, burning him from the inside. He couldn't scream, couldn't breathe. Spots swam before his eyes, and a ringing filled his ears.
It was like being beaten to death—only on a soul level.
The system flashed wildly, issuing warnings in a poisonous red color.
[Warning! Attempting forced affinity determination!]
[Warning! Soul instability!]
[Warning! Risk of core destruction!]
Seito felt his consciousness slipping away. The darkness was looking into his eyes again, and this time it was bottomless, final. He had overdone it. His ambition, his desperation to become strong here and now, had led him to the edge.
"No…" raced through his burning mind. "Not this. I can't die again. Not now…"
And suddenly the pain began to recede. It was rolled back by a wave of something else. Warm, serene, infinitely kind. He heard a voice. His mother's voice.
— Seito? Baby, what's wrong? — her hands caught him, pressed him to her chest. He felt her trembling, her fear. — Kenshi! Come here! Something's wrong with him!
Her own, simple, magic-less warmth enveloped him like a blanket. It wasn't as powerful as magic, but infinitely more real. It patched the cracks in his soul, calmed the storm raging inside.
Seito gasped convulsively and began to cry. Truly, childishly, forgetting his past "self." He cried from fear, from pain, from shame, and from powerless rage.
The system calmed down. The warnings disappeared. For a last moment, before he sank into a healing sleep, he saw a single message.
[Magic Affinity: ———]
The line was empty again. But this time there was no mocking emoticon. There was only a dry, lifeless line. A silent verdict.
When he woke up, it was morning. His parents sat by his bed with tearful eyes. The healer Tobasu had just left, having found no physical cause for his "seizure."
Seito felt drained. He had almost destroyed himself with his impatience. He had almost burned his heaven-sent chance for a dubious attempt to gain power.
He looked at his mother, at her tired but loving face. He looked at his father, whose eyes held helpless anxiety.
They weren't strong. They couldn't incinerate an enemy with a wave of their hand. But they were here. They had saved him. Not with magic, but with love.
In that moment, something switched in his mind. The race for power at any cost, born from the pain of his past life, gave way to something else.
Yes, he would be strong. He had to be strong to protect this new, fragile world of his. But he wouldn't rush. He wouldn't risk everything for an instant result. He would build his strength like one builds a house—brick by brick, checking every step.
He was a mechanic. And he knew that even the most powerful engine could be ruined if you rev it too high from a standstill without proper preparation.
The system was silent. But he mentally addressed it, looking at the empty affinity line.
"Okay," he thought with a new, cold resolve. "Undetermined? Then I'll determine it myself. Not now. But I will find out. I will find out everything."
He looked out the window at the green mountain peaks beyond which lay the unknown, danger, and possibility.
His path was just beginning. And now he knew for sure—he would walk it not hastily, but confidently. For himself. And for those who had become his family.