It had been two weeks since Ares' reincarnation, yet the disbelief still clung to his mind like a fog he couldn't shake.
He had never been a religious person. Concepts like life after death held no meaning to him. As a math major in his previous life, he would only believe in what could be proven. Without concrete evidence, how could anyone expect him to accept something so fantastical?
Well, maybe now he could.
He stared at his tiny hands, still marvelling at the sight. The disbelief hadn't gone away—it had just taken a backseat to everything else.
Being a baby was far harder than he'd expected. Everything was exhausting. Even crawling toward his mother—something she made him do often—left him completely drained. His fragile body had no strength, and his mind, though packed with the knowledge of his past life, would get tired far too easily. Just trying to think too deeply would put him straight to sleep.
Still, that didn't mean he hadn't been learning. Over the past two long weeks, Ares had listened carefully to every conversation around him, piecing together the nature of this strange new world.
His new family lived in a small town in the East Region—a peaceful place, or so his father claimed. The man often spoke to him as if he knew Ares wasn't just some helpless infant, his tone laced with an odd sense of understanding.
It was through those conversations that Ares first heard about magic.
Apparently, everyone here possessed something called a Soul Weapon—a unique weapon tied to the very core of a person's soul. Ares could still vividly remember the day his father summoned his own—a sleek, obsidian katana materialised itself in an instant. He had proudly displayed it to his newborn son, grinning as if it were a trophy he had won at a tournament.
Ares, unable to contain his amazement, had beamed in response—causing his father to launch into a full-blown bragging session about everything his weapon could do.
He had also learnt that his father was an Expert Rank—the fourth out of eight known ranks. Ares didn't fully grasp what that meant, but he could feel the difference.
His father's presence was heavy, almost suffocating, as if the air itself thickened around him. There was a clear contrast between him and his mother.
His father also boasted about his Water Elemental Affinity. One day, he demonstrated it by pulling water from thin air, shaping it into a sphere, then morphing it into a perfect square. The precision and control over the element was truly mesmerizing.
To be fair, anything would have fascinated Ares at this point. Compared to his dull, uneventful life on Earth, this world was a playground of possibilities. After learning that magic was real, how could he not be captivated?
Once, he even managed to watch his father practicing swordsmanship—or at least the parts he could keep up with. A single swing of that katana shattered the sound barrier, the movements so fast they blurred in his infant vision. Just watching made Ares realize how different people in this world truly were.
And then it hit him.
Would he be able to use powers like that too?
Over the past few days, he had been experimenting in secret, trying to "feel" for some kind of magical energy inside him. He had no idea what he was doing, but it was the only thing that made sense.
But no matter how hard he focused, no matter what he attempted, nothing happened.
"Dammit," he thought, frustration simmering. His mind was already tired from trying so hard to grasp something he understood nothing about.
If he could just talk, he'd ask his father directly. But with him being just a newborn, that conversation was a bit premature.
"If only it were as simple as the video games I used to play," he mused. "Just saying something like 'Status Window' would do the trick."
And then—something shifted.
The moment the word Status entered his mind, a faint surge of energy pulsed from within him.
His vision wavered, blurred—and then a translucent rectangle materialized before his very eyes.
It hovered there, seemingly weightless in the air, yet impossibly solid. The window shimmered with a faint glow, its surface like frosted glass under sunlight—almost too beautiful to be real. Lines of bright blue text stood out sharply against the soft background, crisp and clear, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.
Even as Ares turned his head to the side, the window followed. It moved with him—locked to his vision, as if glued to his very eyes. No matter where he looked, it stayed fixed in place, like a heads-up display in a sci-fi game from Earth.
*****
Name: [ Ares ]
Race: [ Human ]
Rank: [ Novice I ]
Soul Weapon: [ — ]
Unique Trait: [ Limit Breaker, Rank: SSS ]
Trait Description: [ You can possess more than one Soul Weapon. ]
Unique Ability: [ Soul Thief, Rank: SSS ]
Ability Description: [ You can extract Soul Weapons from fallen foes. ]
Elemental Affinity: [ — ]
*****
His tiny eyes widened. A grin tugged at the corners of his lips as realization set in.
"Of course!" he exclaimed internally, scanning the words in awe.
"This is just like every reincarnation story ever—get reborn and unlock a system!"
He felt a bit foolish for failing to check sooner. It was such a cliché... he never imagined it would be real.
His eyes lingered on the glowing letters.
SSS-Rank Unique Trait and Ability…
Both his Trait and Unique Ability complemented each other perfectly—his Trait allowed him to wield multiple Soul Weapons, while his Ability let him extract them from defeated enemies.
Not only did they work in perfect harmony, but they were both of SSS-Rank. He stared in disbelief, struggling to accept just how lucky he had gotten.
But one thing puzzled him.
He glanced at the empty slot beside Soul Weapon.
"Is it because of my ability?" he wondered. His father had once said that everyone was born with a Soul Weapon—unless they had a mana deficiency.
Was that true for him? Or was something else going on?
He doubted that was the case, seeing the Rank of his Trait and Unique Ability.
But before he could ponder any further, a wave of fatigue crashed over him.
"Damn this infant body…"
His eyelids drooped, and his newborn body fell into a deep slumber.