Of the four titles, one thing stood out from them. In the Reincarnated One title it mentions the Dao, which seems out of place in a world of magic. For the most part, the Dao is in Xianxia and Xuanhuan novels to a lesser extent. While from what I've seen of this world so far it leans more towards an RPG fantasy similar to Japanese Light Novels. Although Loki did mention in his explanation of Gaia that heroes and legends are found all over Gaia. I assume that also includes famous Chinese heroes like Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang and Sun Wukong.

But the problem is that I have no idea what exactly the "Dao" is. Usually, in stories, it will be something like "The Way" or the essence of the world. How in the hell am I meant to perceive the essence of the world!?

Let's just leave that alone for the moment I guess, not much I can do about it. If only there was a WikiHow of How to Perceive your Dao.

For now, I'll try and see what type of magic Life and Arcane are.

Starting with life. From what I could gather it appeared to be nature magic. To give a comparison it would be like Senju Hashiramas Wood Jutsu in Naruto with medical ninjutsu as well.

Arcane was a doozy. It was split into 8 different categories depending on what you wanted. It was essentially pure magic, able to be shaped into what was needed in the situation.

The 8 categories are:

Abjuration spells are protective in nature, though some of them have aggressive uses. They create magical barriers, negate harmful effects, harm trespassers, or banish creatures to other planes of existence.

Conjuration spells involve the transportation of objects and creatures from one location to another. Some spells summon creatures or objects to the caster’s side, whereas others allow the caster to teleport to another location. Some conjurations create objects or effects out of nothing.

Divination spells reveal information, whether in the form of secrets long forgotten, glimpses of the future, the locations of hidden things, the truth behind illusions, or visions of distant people or places.

Enchantment spells affect the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behaviour. Such spells can make enemies see the caster as a friend, force creatures to take a course of action, or even control another creature like a puppet.

Evocation spells manipulate magical energy to produce the desired effect. Some call up blasts of fire or lightning. Others channel positive energy to heal wounds.

Illusion spells deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, to miss things that are there, to hear phantom noises, or to remember things that never happened. Some illusions create phantom images that any creature can see, but the most insidious illusions plant an image directly in the mind of a creature.

Necromancy spells manipulate the energies of life and death. Such spells can grant an extra reserve of life force, drain the life energy from another creature, create the undead, or even bring the dead back to life.

Creating the undead through the use of necromancy spells such as animate dead is not a good act, and only evil casters use such spells frequently.

Transmutation spells change the properties of a creature, object, or environment. They might turn an enemy into a harmless creature, bolster the strength of an ally, make an object move at the caster’s command, or enhance a creature’s innate healing abilities to rapidly recover from injury.

Because Arcane Magic is so expansive it would seem absurd to be able to use all different categories, from it. Of the eight categories, the ones that appeal to me the most would be Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination and Illusion.

Abjuration is obvious as it would help ensure I continue living.

Conjuration is mainly because stuff like teleportation and summoning sounds freaking awesome!

Divination is more because information is vital to winning. "If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."

Illusion is basically there as a last resort if the need arises.

Either way since Mum isn't letting me leave her side for the foreseeable future I'll have ample time to study my new abilities.

To begin with I'll try and figure out how to make a shield from the Abjuration school.

I began by releasing a bit of mana as a ball in front of me. I then tried to shape it into something shield-like. The basic shape was like a Heater Shield. Then I began to use my imagination to make the mana denser so that it could block attacks. After that, I couldn't think of anything that would make it more effective as a shield. For now, I flipped the shield around and sent it around 5 meters away from me. I then formed a fireball and shot it towards the shield(ward).

I only shot a standard fireball with nothing fancy added in and besides a few flames that went around the ward, it seemed that it was physically sound. To stop the problem of flames going around the sides I could either expand the size of the shield so the flames will just hit more ward or just make sure that the ward is a certain distance in front of me when I cast it.

Obviously, the better option is to expand the ward but with that, the consumed mana is increased while it's simpler to just keep the ward a certain distance away from me. I'll have to see which is more viable in an actual combat situation.

Moving on I began trying to make an Anti-Life Shell. The premise is that it sets up an area that prevents living creatures from entering. I can, of course, let people I want into the shell. But with the shell protecting a wider area it consumes a lot more mana compared to the basic ward so much so that with my current mana I can only have three set up at one time. The idea is essentially to make a big ward dome that if you don't meet certain conditions you can't enter. Though since it is still a ward with enough power it can be broken.

Another Abjuration spell that works well in conjunction with Anti-Life Shell is Alarm as I would be able to set up an Anti-Life Shell, apply an alarm and then I would know if the Anti-Life Shell is broken entirely or just broken into. So the combo is basically installing a lock on your door and if your door is broken then the alarm will tell you your house is being broken into.

My mother curious as to where I had gone came over and saw me practising my Anti-Life Shell she was shocked.

"Honey when did you learn to use magic!? And Arcane Magic at that!"

"Um I ate a weird rock... and that's what caused me to pass out. When I woke up I just had a feeling I could do it. Did I do something bad?" I gave Mum puppy dog eyes knowing she would go soft on me judging from her previous attitude towards me.

"No, No! Nothing of the kind! The opposite actually, you did something really really good! Look at mommy's little genius, already knowing Arcane Magic at such a young age." I underestimated how coddling my Mum was as I was once again in what could be considered as close to an embrace that two dogs, especially one with three heads, could manage.

Trying to keep up the facade of a child I did my best to laugh shyly and innocently.

"Mommy has to go get some food for you and your siblings, when I get back I'll help teach you some magic OK? Now while I'm gone you best behave and don't step a paw outside this cave."

"Yes, Mommy!" After I replied she turned around and headed for the entrance. Now the question is whether I leave against her wishes and get yelled at or be a good little boy? Who am I kidding, of course I'm gonna go out into the forest.