A sound of an explosion could be heard coming from on top of James. It shook him to his very core and was so loud he lost his hearing for a few seconds. James finally opened his eyes when he got a hold of himself to what felt like a new world while the old beggar Scary Eye was suddenly gone. Realizing it was not a dream he reflected on the beggar’s words. This ended up being the first day of his life completely changing.

The secret James took the grave after it felt like the world betrayed him was that he was never actually a lightning magus. His old body had an affinity for lightning magic yes, but his class was something even superior to that. Manaweavers can use any type of element no matter the level. The mana core is both made of and contains pure mana instead of being changed into an elemental one. He did not realize until later in his past life that he could use any element which he chalked up to his class being the cause. He searched for any type of information about his class but came out with more questions than answers. This did cause him concern that if he was discovered it could end up further corrupting those in power even more.

He only managed to end up at the peak of his second class his last life as he focused on lightning spells before being betrayed but gained an enormous amount of knowledge and experience. This gave James a head start in his new life over others and access to any element when it comes to picking spells.

Other mage classes could be considered a wooden hammer in a metaphorical sense. They will build an average house or could possibly even go above and beyond making it even nicer. James with his Manaweaver class was like being given a metal hammer that moved on its own. The starting point was like others with an empty plot of land, but with hard work he could create the nicest house there was and eventually stand out from others.

The point being that his class opened unlimited possibilities for him but if he did not utilize it like his past life, he would end up like any other mage.

However, until then he will be just as weak as any other mage at his level. Knowledge and potential are the advantages James had but he must also stay motivated, safe, and work hard.

Melee or physical based classes used life energy and were the most popular in the empire for people to take. Mages or spell-based classes used mana while being not rare but also not common for people to gain as a class. Having an elemental affinity made up the deciding factor when someone decided what to do with their future. Some people even with access to elements still picked a class like archer and incorporated spells with their attacks while using life energy.

Done reflecting on the past James took time to think about his present situation.

He could start constructing spells based off memory, but they were all based of lightning element, and he wanted to try to do things different. He could pick one lightning spell for his class before upgrading it and the rest of the spells would be a mix of other elements.

‘This is a good starting point. Next I get my affinity tested and will learn that type of magic in school.’ James thought to himself.

Looking at his little sitter Susy, James felt a tug on his heart. The family from old James’s memory had been good to him showering him with love and affection even though the boy was sick. This was a family not looking to get rich by using their children and was something James did not experience in his past life. How could he betray their trust by just up and leaving? No normal 10-year-old boy could survive on their own anyways, but also no other boy had his past life experience and trauma that came with it. The emotions from old James and his past life already mixed so while he was distrusting of people as Lightning, he viewed his family in a different light. While things may be difficult, James decided to make it work by protecting himself and those he holds dear.

“Good morning, Susy,” James said while he started patting her on her head.

Groggily she rubbed her eyes giving her brother a glance. Her face turned angry ready to berate and scold him, but she was interrupted before she could start speaking.

“Look I am sorry, and I did not mean to scare you and mom. Give me a chance to explain myself first.” James begged causing the angry Susy to nod.

“Do you remember the stories you used to read to me about the hero Grand Fire Magus Julius of house Rion?” he asked coming up with an excuse quickly from the boy’s old memories.

Susy sat still for second with a confused look before responding with “yes.”

“Well while training my body I noticed something in the air that I could not figure out. I remember that Julius when he escaped from the woods from the goblin attack on his village, he did something called meditation to gather mana. Maybe it was just a foolish idea, but I thought I could be like that hero. I sat down and tried to tap into whatever it was like Julius did. I am scared to be stuck in bed sick again you see,” James almost whispered while looking down making his face start to tear up on purpose.

“And let me guess nothing happened and you got sick again,” Susy responded with a snarky tone.

“Actually no,” James said with a grin quickly changing into being upbeat as a he channeled mana to his hand that shined into a blue ball.

Susy’s face had the angry looked wiped off and broad eyed she almost grabbed his hand to touch the mana but was stopped by James as he smirked.

“There is too much I do not know, and I would hate it if I hurt you.” He responds with a sad look to his face.

“But please keep this a secret for now between us. I plan to take the affinity test with you and protect you in school. I will tell mom though I promise,” he said puffing his chest up.

Susy eyes looked to be thinking before they softened, and she agreed but only with the promise if he does not feel well to not push himself.

James was nervous for the conversation with his mother expecting it be extremely difficult. It took a long time to convince her he didn’t relapse into being sick again. So many promises to prioritize health made for a long morning.

It did make James feel warm inside knowing he had others who cared for him. His mother was so protective he even heard her offering for Susy to skip the affinity test and take Tailoring as a class if she wanted. She was shot down with whining and pouting from Susy quickly. It felt good to have family that pushed for his well being instead of milking his potential for their own benefit. Still things took a turn when he showed his basic mana use to his mother.

“What is this!?,” she almost screamed but took a second to calm herself. Emily looked surprised but James was quick to notice a spark run through her eyes as it disappeared. With the same explanation he gave Susy, Emily was convinced a bit easily for him to take the test which surprised him. However, it took some time to go from Susy being his caretaker to a whole bunch more promises of James looking out for his own health. This got even more nods and words of approval from Susy who watched it all transpire between mother and son. Giving Susy a side eye like she betrayed him, he smiled and relented. He was doing this for himself and them just as much. He had promised to look after the boy’s family anyways and trusting them is something ingrained in him at this point from the two souls combining.

The rest of the week was full of more exercises but no rise in stats. He was being monitored by his mom and sister, but this decreased towards the end of the week. The day of the affinity test was when his father would get home and he had to be prepared.