I began my day with a quick brush of the teeth, followed by an even more rapid breakfast before heading downstairs. Afterward, a grueling training session that would put any gym to shame begins. First, I'm physically 'tempered' through the painful procedure of five sets of fifty reps in multiple different exercises such as pushups, squats, and burpees. Then it is followed by the consecutive draw, aim, and fire of two hundred arrows split into five different sets. By the end of it, my fingers and remaining arm parts feel like they've been bathing in water for an eternity. That is, if that water was as sultry as the raging bowels of hell, as well.

That's not the end of it, as, I'm instantly thrust into another strenuous session of unlocking my mana with my mother. For the past week, she's been egging me on so that I'm able to effectively follow the multiple streams of mana originating from my heart. However, the laborious work has been paying off as I'm now able to split my attention between two out of the thirteen streams. It seems like very little. But, hey, any sort of improvement -no matter how small- is welcome here. My training for the day ends and, I find myself lying atop my bed. There is an intense feeling of soreness emanating from every inch of my fiber. From the very bottom of my toes to as high as my ear lobs. Taking the time to finally assess whether all this training has aided my status page at all, I call upon it. With a quick mental command, it appears in the center of my vision. 'Status'

{player number 7089}

[Status ||

Name: Itsuki Abara

State: Child

HP: 72(2/3)

Strength: 50(2/3)

Agility: 57 (2/3)

Stamina: 54 (2/3)

Vitality: 46 (2/3)

Intelligence: 60 (2/3)

Wisdom: 49 (2/3)

Skills: Language(1/57)

- Common: lv 10 (Max)

- Pain Resistance: lv 9

- Writing: lv 10 (Max)

- Novice Appraisal: lv 3

- Intermediate Archery: lv 5

- Magic Infusion: lv 5

- Dash: lv 6 || ]

[Conditions have been met. Skills [Writing lv 10] and [Language: Common lv 10] have merged into a new skill. [Communication lv 1]]

Everything is in the expected range. Due to my daily practice in archery for the past week, it doesn't come as a big surprise that it received a level up. Effectively, applying for my [Appraisal] and [Magic Infusion] skills as well. However, what surprises me the most is that my skills can merge. Hmm, I guess it makes sense. After all, the [Writing lv 10] and [Language: Common lv 10] are both parts of communication. Thus, it isn't that unusual. Although this does bring up the topic of what the system uses to make such judgments. For example, if I had a [running] and [walking] skill. Would that combine to become a skill named [movement] or something of that type? This does raise some questions. I toss these thoughts to the back of my head and prepare for another brutal training session tomorrow.

Another day of physical exercise, archery lessons, and the daunting task of following these mana leylines simultaneously. Then another and another, until six whole months have passed in the magical world that is known as Ainsel. During this time I've finally become able to pursue up to eleven out of the thirteen leylines that flow throughout my body. Oh yeah, another thing I forgot to mention is that that the streams of mana that originate from my heart are called leylines. According to my mother, that is. Supposedly, every living creature is born with them. The leylines differ from race to race instead of individual to individual. For example, the gnome race has fifteen leylines scoured throughout their body rather than the meager thirteen that humans possess.

Astonishingly, father's dark elf race is known to be poor in the application of magic seeing as they only have nine leylines in their body. Mother says that I was lucky to have inherited her talent for magic or else I would've had very low chances of succeeding as a mage. Of course, I knew all this when I was choosing the race in which I would be reincarnated as. The brief overview mentioned the strengths and weaknesses of all the available races in which I could choose. From the way mother explained it, leylines control how fast your mana moves from point A to B. Presumedly, the process of concurrently following the flow of these leylines will eventually aid in my control in their application over time. In turn, this will allow for my casting speed to rise many folds, as well as improve my ability to release mana out of my body.

After that, I'll only need to work on releasing my mana out of my body. Ahhh, that's why my mother had me work on infusing my mana into objects before, thus I can get the hang of expulsing my mana. I guess she's a planner type of person, very fitting for my image of what a mage should be. I quickly wrap my thoughts out and head to the kitchen for breakfast, a mans gotta eat after all! On the way down I notice a few odd things. For one, the window blinds are closed slightly more than usual, this causes the room to have very little light. The front door of our home is also not the same, although I can't quite place what it is though. Hmm, ah, I remember. Since I've been here, there have been very few instances when any of us left the house, the only visits we receive are from Kengen as well.

Every time I've stared at the front door and thought of maybe escaping to go see the magic-filled world only to immediately decline my delusional thoughts, the second lock on the front door of our home has always been locked tight. However, at the bottom of the stairs, staring straight at me. Is the indisputable second lock of our front door... unlocked. Something is not right, maybe Kengen is visiting. Despite that, even I don't believe such a flimsy excuse. If there is anything I've learned from watching anime and unceasingly reading light novels is that it is always... always better to assume the worst first. Going by this principle, I assume that there are most likely intruders in our home. If this is true, then I must immediately inform my parents. After all, my father is a powerful archer and at the very least mother is a capable witch (Males that practice magic are called mages while females are called witches).

My less than thirty seconds of reflection quickly finish. With these thoughts in my mind, my body instantly stops, turns around, and casually begins walking back up the stairs. In the case that they are enemies and they haven't fired yet, it means that they are trying to go for a stealth attack. If they haven't acted so far, it is probably safe to assume that they believe that we are still unaware of their existence. Thus, it would be unwise for me to perform any abrupt movements as this would arouse their awareness and expose the fact that their existence has been revealed. Bdump, bdump. On the outside, my feet are moving in an orderly fashion up the stairs while in reality, my heart is telling a whole other story. Until a few seconds ago, I'd never had to think about how to survive enemy attacks.

I mean, the reality of being in another world hadn't truly hit me as hard before. It's time to wake up now. No matter what, I have to fully accept my new reality and identity in this new world. Enemy attacks are a constant here, thus I must adapt or... die? Wrapping my thoughts, I noticed that I was already halfway to my destination. Currently, it's around 8:00 am. Usually, my father is doing a few rounds of shooting arrows in the basement at this time while my mother is sleeping in for a few more minutes. Instead of going to my already armed father, I made the conscious decision of heading to my parent's room where my mother is at the moment. Although my father could most likely take down a few of the enemies, I'm not sure he would fare well against a large mob. However, my mother once told me that she specializes in fire magic. This element is very good against a large group of enemies.

You may be wondering why I believe there are multiple people, well it's quite simple in fact. When I was coming up the stairs, I heard a few other footsteps 'sneakily' following behind. They might simply be unaware that I'm part dark elf and thus receive a slight boost to all my senses compared to most humans, as well as a not-so-subtle increase in hearing. Thus, it was quite is to pick up on their footsteps. Well, at least this confirms that the enemies aren't that well informed about us. *knock* *knock*, the sound of my fingers rebounds off the sturdy oak-colored door of my parent's chambers. Not so long after I hear a quick reply, not wasting any more time I enter the room only to find...