I was falling through the abyss—nothing around me, yet I could feel everything.
Time lost meaning. Days? Weeks? I couldn't tell.
Then, suddenly, I saw a light.
Just like they always said: a light at the end of the tunnel.
I never believed in that. I thought they were all crazy.
But here I am.
The light wasn't warm.
It wasn't cold either.
It just... was. Like it existed outside of time, outside of logic.
It pulsed slowly, like a heartbeat—no, like my heartbeat.
I opened my mouth—this time, I could speak.
"…Am I dead?"
I really died, but how? Was I stabbed? Or maybe poisoned? Ah, that doesn't make sense. Why would anyone want to kill me? I never did anything bad.
I wasn't wealthy either.
"...Aiden..."
I screamed my friend's name and suddenly remembered what happened. It was him.
He killed me. He betrayed me.
I always saw him as my best friend, yet... he betrayed me. How dare he do this to me?
I was so angry and heartbroken at the same time.
[Voices]
Huh? What... are those voices? I don't understand any of it.
[Voices]
Ahh, please, stop. What is happening? I tried to cover my eyes, but suddenly, I saw something—or rather, someone.
A beautiful girl, with snow-white hair and eyes like gold.
She held me in her arms.
She looked down at me with warmth, with wonder.
I was stunned. How could she hold me so easily?
I wasn't that light…
And beside her, a man—black-haired, smiling.
They looked... happy. Like parents seeing their child for the first time.
I reached out to the woman, desperate for answers—
but when I looked at my hand...
It was small.
What? Whose hand is that? Maybe...
I got REINCARNATED? So reincarnation is true after all. Huh, that's a bit strange.
Time passed quickly. I grew up happy with my new family. My mother taught me how to read. I hated it at first, but it was useful after all—knowledge is power.
One day, I sneaked into the room where my parents were reading books. I tried to grab one, but I was just too small. Sadly, I spent minutes trying to reach it.
But thankfully, I somehow managed to get it. Ah, victory feels so good! It was a book about this world. Interesting, I thought, and started reading.
I learned about this world—apparently, they have a power called magic. Magic, huh? Interesting, I thought.
Magic needs a power source called mana. You can gather mana from everything. Every creature and creation has mana. To cast a spell, you don't need to say a word—there are different variants of casting spells. One is non-word casting, which is very useful and fast, but it might be hard to master.
Actually, few humans have mastered it. Then there's word casting, which is easy but slow because the spell won't fire until you say its full name. And lastly, there's rune casting. This is still a mystery—the book didn't say much about this method, but it's said to be the best of the three. Though, there might be better and more powerful casting methods out there—maybe they're not in this book. Who knows?
I also found out about this world's territories.
Let's start with the human kingdoms:
There are two. I was born in Valora, the biggest and most powerful of the human kingdoms.
The second is Edrin, a kingdom full of secrets and mysteries.
Next, we have the Elven Kingdom, Sylvaen.
They specialize in wind magic and archery. But don't get me wrong—while they're incredible at magic, they are only second in terms of raw magical ability. They're also skilled swordsmen, though there are better races in those areas.
The Dragon Kingdom, Vyrkal, is the best in magic.
The Beast Kingdom, Raegor, is the best in swordsmanship.
Lastly, we have the Dwarven Kingdom, Grimhold.
They are specialists in craftsmanship.
Man, who would've thought I'd be reading books I hated in my previous life? Speaking of it... it makes me sad, angry, betrayed, and guilty. I trusted people I shouldn't have trusted.
I keep remembering the scene of betrayal every single night. Ugh, it's annoying. But I am thankful—here, people are good. They always help me and cheer me on. I'm really glad I was born in this place.