Lucas walked along the main avenue under a thin, constant rain that showed no mercy that night.
Neon lights reflected in the puddles as people hurried past with black umbrellas, but he wasn't carrying one.
Water ran through his dark hair and stuck to his forehead, though he didn't care in the slightest.
He was handsome in a way that created distance: a defined jawline, steel-gray blue eyes almost cold, and an expression that always seemed to keep others a meter away.
At thirty-two, he had accumulated considerable success in finance, but he had no close friends, and his family hadn't heard from him in over a decade.
He wasn't depressed or particularly happy; he simply lived in a kind of comfortable neutrality, and that was enough for him.
He crossed the street even though the pedestrian light was red.
It wasn't a suicidal act, nor a provocation.
He simply made the quick calculation that the oncoming truck wouldn't reach him in time.
But the calculation failed.
The impact was sharp and final, as if someone had flipped a massive switch inside his chest.
There was no time to scream or move.
For a second, he felt a frozen shock, and then everything dissolved into total darkness.
As he fell, he thought: 'Is this how it ends?'
No regret appeared, no dramatic fear.
Only a distant, dry reflection: 'In the end, I didn't do much with the time I had.'
And then… nothing.
Until there was something.
When he opened his eyes, a soft yellow light filtered in through a worn wooden window.
The air smelled of damp straw, dried herbs, and a faint trace of warm milk.
His body was tiny: small hands, legs that barely responded.
He was a baby.
A young woman with reddish-brown hair held him against her chest.
Her eyes shone with emotion, and her smile trembled on her lips.
"Finally opening your eyes, little one…," she whispered softly, her voice full of affection.
"My precious boy."
Beside her, a broad-shouldered man with a short beard rested a large hand on her shoulder and looked at the baby with a mix of pride and seriousness.
"He's strong, Evelyn," he said quietly.
"Look at those eyes. Gray like the iron of the northern mountains."
Evelyn nodded as she gently ran a finger along the baby's cheek.
"We'll call him Nathan," she murmured.
"Nathan Hale."
Nathan… no longer Lucas.
Nathan Hale.
The new name settled into his mind effortlessly, like a piece that had always been waiting for its place.
And at that very instant, as if someone had pressed an invisible button, a neutral, crisp voice echoed inside his head.
[Welcome to the Eternal Ascension System, Nathan Hale]
[Reincarnation successfully completed]
[Current world: Valtherion]
[Initial mission: Survive the first 30 days in this body]
[Reward: Stat panel unlocked + 100 initial EXP]
Nathan blinked slowly.
He didn't scream or panic.
He simply began processing the information with the same cold calm that had always defined him.
'A system. That changes things,' he thought.
And mentally, without hesitation, he commanded: 'Show me the panel.'
[Current Statistics – Nathan Hale]
Level: 1 (0/100 EXP)
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Vitality: 3
Intelligence: 8 (bonus from previous memories)
Mana: 4
Charisma: 2
Luck: 5
Active Skills:
Primordial Tamer (Rank F) – You can attempt to bond with beasts of rank F or lower
Class: Unassigned
Magic Style: Not selected
Nathan reviewed the numbers with the same cold attention he once devoted to financial statements in his previous life.
Everything was at rock bottom, very low, but it had growth potential.
And that was what truly mattered.
Evelyn rocked him gently while humming a simple melody.
Gideon Hale, his father, leaned in and touched the baby's forehead with two fingers.
"May the ancient spirits watch over you, my son," he said quietly.
Nathan felt a faint tingling spread across his skin.
It wasn't powerful magic, just a common family ritual, and he understood it thanks to fragments of conversation he was already beginning to pick up.
But the system reacted immediately.
[Low-level ambient spiritual energy detected]
[Passive absorption opportunity available]
[Absorb? Yes / No]
'Yes,' he answered mentally without hesitation.
A very thin thread of silvery light slid from Gideon's hand into Nathan's skin.
It was barely visible, but the system recorded it.
[+3 EXP]
[Progress: 3/100]
Nathan closed his eyes for a moment.
'Absorbing energy from family rituals. First useful trick,' he thought, without emotion, purely analytical.
The following days were filled with constant observation and absolute patience.
His body was still useless, but his mind worked at full speed.
He learned they lived in Stonefine Village, at the edge of the Ashen Forest, in the borderlands of the Kingdom of Lyrandar.
Most of the population was human.
From time to time, dwarf merchants passed through from the hills, and occasionally a wandering elf stopped by briefly, since the Hales were not a wealthy family.
Evelyn talked a lot while feeding him or changing him.
"They say there are sirens in the southern isles that sing curses… and that the orcs of the Shattered Lands aren't as savage as they used to be. There are even half-orcs living in cities now," she said calmly.
Gideon, always more direct, merely grunted and replied:
"All that matters is that none of them come here. Neither orcs nor cursed wolves."
Nathan absorbed every word.
And in the meantime, he was already starting to plan.
On the eighth day, Evelyn left him in the crib near the open window.
That's when he saw movement among the bushes: a small fox, fur a deep reddish-black, limping on one leg.
The system identified it instantly.
[Target beast detected]
[Probability of successful bonding: 68%]
[Attempt Primordial Taming? Yes / No]
[Warning: Failure consumes 5 mana and generates temporary beast rejection]
Nathan locked his gaze on the fox through the crib bars.
The animal lifted its head, its amber eyes meeting the baby's gray ones.
There was no fear on either side, only a kind of instant recognition.
'Yes,' he decided.
An invisible thread of mana flowed from his chest, thin as a strand of hair.
The fox trembled for a second, then limped toward the window, jumped onto the sill, and slowly came closer.
Evelyn walked in at that very moment.
"Gideon! Come quickly!" she exclaimed, not in fear, but in pure surprise.
The fox curled up beside the crib, licked Nathan's outstretched little hand, and stayed there, perfectly still.
[Bond successful!]
[Tamed beast: Ashen Fox – Suggested name: Ember]
[Primordial Tamer upgraded to Rank E]
[+20 EXP]
[Level up: 2]
[All stats +1 except Luck]
Nathan looked at the fox, then at his mother, now with tears of emotion in her eyes, and finally at his father, who had entered with an axe in hand and stood frozen.
He didn't smile.
He didn't say a word.
He only thought, with that icy calm that never left him: 'This is going to be very useful.'
And the system, as if approving the thought, added a new line:
[Main mission updated]
[Reach Level 10 before turning 7 years old]
[Reward: First Ascension Class + Additional Magic Style Slot]
Nathan closed his eyes once more as the rain continued to strike the roof.
Outside, the world went on as usual.