It has been a week since I found myself reincarnated in this body, and I must say, I'm starting to settle in. Well… mostly. There were a few close calls where I nearly blew my cover, but thanks to my quick thinking (and a bit of luck), I managed to avoid any catastrophic slip-ups.
Fortunately, my new father, Lain, happens to be the owner of the village library. This has been a godsend because it means I can bury myself in books all day without raising suspicion. And let me tell you, the revelations have been wild. You guessed it—just like every other Isekai world, this one has magic.
Over the past few days, I've devoured volumes on history, geography, and, of course, the intricacies of magic. Reading has always been second nature to me (thanks to my past life spent binging novels), so absorbing all this information has been a breeze.
Currently, I'm residing in Norm Village, a small settlement in the western part of the kingdom of Lunavar, nestled right beside Mountain Noss. Sounds majestic, right? Well, it should be—it's the fourth tallest mountain in the country, towering at a ridiculous 7,000 meters. That's nearly the height of Everest. No big deal.
Now, let's talk about what truly matters—the power system. It's eerily similar to those I've read about in fantasy novels. According to the book I'm currently skimming through, every person is born with a mana heart, but only about half of them can awaken it and harness magic. Think of the mana heart as your internal battery for supernatural shenanigans.
Then there are attributes—essentially, elemental affinities like Water, Ice, Flame, and whatever else you can think of. Water is the most common, kind of like the default setting. Apparently, kids often inherit their parents' attributes, but every now and then, someone lucks out and gets something completely different.
And here's the kicker—Lorian's mana heart is already awakened.
How do I know this? Simple. I can feel mana around me. And according to the book, that's only possible if your mana heart is active.
Either way, things just got a whole lot more interesting.
As the book explained, one could only wield their attributes after awakening their mana heart. Since Lorian's was already active, he didn't need to focus on awakening it—but mastering control was an entirely different matter. Fortunately, the book also outlined methods for honing that control.
"Let's see if this actually works," Lorian muttered to himself. But he couldn't afford to test it out in the open. After all, what kind of seven-year-old casually experiments with magic instead of playing with sticks and rocks? That would raise too many questions.
Slipping out of the library, he followed the narrow dirt path that wound through the heart of the village, leading toward the dense forest beyond.
The forest was vast, its towering trees stretching toward the sky, their thick canopies interwoven like an unbroken tapestry of leaves. The sun barely pierced through, casting the woods in an eerie twilight. It wasn't just the darkness that made it unsettling—this place was home to mana beasts, creatures brimming with raw magical energy. Wandering too deep was a risk, but Lorian had no choice.
After trekking for a while, he found a secluded clearing and sat down, inhaling deeply to steady himself.
Closing his eyes, the world around him faded into silence. Darkness enveloped his mind's eye, but as he focused, something stirred within the void. Countless tiny particles of light flickered around him like distant stars.
Then, something changed. The particles coalesced, merging together in one place. Slowly, a familiar shadowy figure emerged—the same entity he had glimpsed once before. But this time, it was different. Now, he could see its head, yet its face remained eerily blank, a hollow void staring back at him.
A chill ran down Lorian's spine. Panic seized him, and his eyes snapped open. His chest heaved as cold sweat trickled down his back.
"What… was that?" he gasped, his breath uneven. The entity… could it be connected to my attribute?
The thought gnawed at him, but he wasn't about to turn back now. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to calm down.
After a moment's hesitation, he shut his eyes once more.
The shadow reappeared, but this time, something was different. Lorian watched, unblinking, as the massive figure slowly began to dissipate. Wisps of darkness peeled away, revealing something hidden within its core.
A sphere—small yet pulsating—floated before him, a ball of pure darkness radiating an ominous purple glow.
Lorian swallowed hard.
"Should I… touch it?" The thought sent a shiver of uncertainty through him.
Before he could decide, he simply imagined himself reaching out—and in that instant, something surged through his body.
A force, raw and untamed, crashed into him like a tidal wave.
"Did I… unlock my attribute?" Lorian whispered, his voice barely audible over the pounding in his chest.
Slowly, he opened his eyes—only to be met with an eerie, violet glow reflecting off his hands. But that wasn't the only change.
The once-dark forest around him no longer felt shrouded in shadows. Instead, it was as if an unseen veil had been lifted—he could see everything with perfect clarity, even in the dimmest recesses where no sunlight reached.
He stood up, flexing his fingers as a strange sensation coursed through him.
Focusing, he willed his mana to gather in his palm. Almost instantly, darkness swirled around his hand, forming a dense, opaque layer of shadow. It clung to his skin like living ink, refusing to dissipate even as stray beams of sunlight pierced through the forest canopy.
Lorian's brows furrowed.
"How is this possible?" he mused, turning his hand over. Shadows weren't supposed to exist in the light—yet here they were, defying logic.
A realization crept into his mind.
This wasn't just any shadow.
It was something else entirely.
Something far more powerful.