Nobody knows how vast the Hedonia institute really is. Over the years, many great mages have joined Hedonia and made it their home. They possessed incredible prowess in the arcane which allowed the institute to flourish, in more ways than one. Some say there are millions of buildings that are all part of Hedonia, many of them located in pocket dimensions, seamlessly connected to the real world.

Hedonia is more than just an institute though. Although its members are obsessed with acquiring knowledge and power, everybody here understands that power for its own sake is hollow. As such, the goal is creating a utopia.

Hedonia is not a utopia yet, but it aims to be one. And one day that goal may very well be reached. Only through the institute's research into every conceivable field of magic, by unlocking understanding every idiosyncrasy of the arcane, only then can a utopia be achieved.

But utopia comes at a price. Knowledge and power are not free. Every action has a reaction. In order to create a utopia, one must inevitably make use of the Darkness. But the Darkness is the very thing that spreads a lot of suffering and misery in this world.

That is why Hedonia must research deeper and deeper, to find a way to keep the Darkness at bay, while making use of it at the same time. Every school of magic in existence must be researched to its fullest if a utopia is to be created.

The pursuit of power and knowledge is not the only goal of Hedonia however. Happiness, peace, love. It's a huge community of like-minded individuals that want little more than a happy life. But ultimately, that is why the progress of knowledge is needed in the first place, to be able to build a happy life that is sustainable.

Happiness has its cost, but through power and knowledge, Hedonia will erase that cost, and not only defeat the Darkness, but master it.

That is the world where James chose to be reincarnated in.

James was your average introverted recluse back on Earth. He always daydreamed of living in a fantasy world.

After he died in his twenties due to his extremely unhealthy lifestyle as a recluse, he had the chance to reincarnate.

It might've been a trillion years, or merely just a few moments. He had no idea how much time passed between the time he died and when he awoke.

There was no Saint Peter, no God, no angel to greet him.

Just a passionless, almost robotic voice ringing out in his head, explaining his current situation as if it were reading out a pamphlet.

He was dead. And he now had the option to reincarnate. The voice was quick and to the point, giving him little time to ask questions. Any questions he did pose were completely ignored.

Information about billions of worlds flashed in his mind. Even though it couldn't have taken more than a second, he felt like he carefully browsed through each and every single one.

As if to taunt him, he was shown even the worlds he couldn't access. Worlds that were considered heaven were off-limits to him. No explanation, no lesson, just told he wasn't good enough. Heaven just dangled in front of his eyes, everything anybody could ever want, strictly forbidden.

James wasn’t a bad person, he had a good heart and good intentions. But he could see how, as a lifelong recluse, he didn’t exactly do much to deserve heaven.

Most of the worlds were radically different from Earth, each world belonging to a universe with its own peculiar qualities.

Of course, James was immediately attracted to the fantasy worlds. There were millions of options among them, and the more he looked at them, the more options were presented.

He couldn't choose a world too perfect. Those simply weren't available to him, they were considered too close to being heavenly.

So he chose what seemed like the best alternative. A world where a utopia could be formed one day - the world called Beatus. One of his beloved fantasy worlds, a world of skills and levels and numbers explicitly showing progression. A universe where xp and loot are a natural part of life, as normal as eating and breathing.

It may not be heaven, but to him it was pretty close.

It wasn't perfect, he had to put up with certain downsides if he wanted access to such a wondrous world. Like a certain Darkness thing that was plaguing this world, which he didn't pay too much attention to, he was too busy drooling at the thought of leveling up in real life.

But, this world was splendid enough. There was even an institute that wanted to become a utopia, isn't that lovely? Perhaps with his help they may one day reach that goal. Unless he ends up being as talentless now as he was on Earth.

Choosing this world came with an extra perk. Since it was so damaged and threatened by that Darkness thing, he could even keep his memories and his adult body. Which was a huge relief for James, he really didn't want to spend many years as a child.

Although, because of that, when he spawned into the world, he was worried that it would be hard to explain why a 25 year old man was so clueless about everything. He couldn't just come out and say that he got reincarnated, could he?

People in the novels he read usually kept the fact that they were reincarnated a big secret. It was a defining part of their journey, this huge weight on their shoulders. Would he have to do that as well?

But after thinking about it, that just didn't sit right with him. Keeping a secret like that would constantly gnaw at him, he always hated it when they did that in novels.

Plus, being reincarnated is a bit special, isn’t it? After a life of solitude and mediocrity, he is finally special. It would feel nice to talk to people about it, knowing they are truly interested.

So he chose to be open about it. Luckily for James, information about other worlds and universes was very interesting to the curious minds of Hedonia. He was accepted and welcomed warmly to the institute as soon as he spawned into the world.

“So all I have to do is place my hand on this orb and my power will awaken?” James was pretty nervous. He wasn’t talented at anything in his previous life. And he’s not particularly hardworking either. If he doesn’t get a good power now, he might have a tough life ahead of him.

“Yes. Don’t worry, if you get a weak power, you can just learn something else in the future. It doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.” Cadmus was helping James get accustomed to his new life at the institute.

A tall, imposing older gentleman, Cadmus was obviously a figure of authority. But he didn't act like it, he was very nice and welcoming. Even though he was a busy man as the leading Archmage, he had taken an interest in the reincarnated boy.

Being busy wasn’t really a problem for a man like him. All he had to do was channel a skill and he could have a clone take care of some of his work.

James put his hand on the orb and closed his eyes. He immediately felt a strong current go from his hand to his head.

[Innate skill unlocked: Jack of all trades, master of none. Passive: Your mind can grasp new concepts easily, allowing you to learn new skills at a much faster rate]

“That’s an excellent skill! A lot of people have trouble learning new skills, you should have a much easier time. Although you need to be careful about the “master of none” part.

"Your innate skill reflects who you are, and so master of none is a hint. If my guess is accurate, you have a tendency to start things, but not finish them. So in the future, try your hardest to master skills. One very powerful skill is much better than 10 weak ones.”

Cadmus surmised that much just from the title of the skill. Apparently, Archmages are not to be underestimated.

Cadmus was also impressed by James’s skill, a passive innate skill is pretty rare.

Suddenly, floorboards creaking could be heard. Cadmus then rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, that's when a young man entered the room.

“This is my son, Helios. He’ll be showing you around for a few days, since he couldn’t keep himself from eavesdropping.” Helios smiled, embarrassed. A handsome man, he took after his father. But while his father had a respectable aura about him, Helios seemed more like a well-meaning dunce.

“James, I know you just recently arrived to this world, but how about we put that innate skill of yours to the test? Helios can help you out.”

Helios’s eyes lit up. “All right, let’s see how fast you can learn [Fireball]. Let’s try my favorite way of learning spells, I’ll hit you with a Fireball so you can literally get a feel for the spell!”. Cadmus immediately smacked Helios with a rolled up newspaper.

“You knucklehead, he’s new at this, he doesn’t have any defenses. Hit him with a fireball and he dies.” Cadmus then laughed, it looks like he’s used to Helios having stupid ideas.

“Just go to the training room and show him on a dummy. And I don't mean on yourself.” Cadmus laughed.

James and Helios made their way to the training room. Suddenly, there were tens of people watching them. Word spreads fast around Hedonia.

Once somebody hears a juicy piece of gossip, they post it on the Aetherweb, this world’s equivalent to the internet. It uses mana to send and receive data, completely wireless. It’s accessed through arcane devices, although if the person is powerful enough, they can even access it without a device, creating an interface from mana alone.

The people of Hedonia all had one thing in common, their curiosity. The fact that this many people showed up was a testament to how rare a reincarnated person is even around here. If they were less curious, they would’ve just watched a video of the events through the Aetherweb, or even a stream. Showing up in person is a lot to ask of the denizens of Hedonia, who love to just cuddle up with a good book in a cozy bed, or to just surf the Aetherweb.

When they arrived at the dummies, Helios started explaining. “There are many ways to learn a skill. There’s much easier ways to do it than just watching someone and copying what they did, but for you who’s never seen a skill in his life, this is the first step.”

Helios then proceeded to cast a Fireball. It all happened in a flash, he extended his palm and a great, red inferno raged in front of him, turning the dummy into ash. “That wasn’t too bad.” He’s a bit of a show off apparently. The people in the audience clapped, Helios is well-liked apparently.

James didn’t know what to make of it, was that supposed to teach him something? All he saw was Helios extending his palm. This was all happening too fast, what’s going on? James was confused, but then he remembered that he’s at a prestigious institute, surrounded by very talented people who grew up with magic. They probably didn’t even realize how confusing all of this was to him.

But James had to try. He was never talented at anything, but he wasn’t a slouch either. When he really applied himself, he could succeed. Although he never actually tried at anything on Earth, life was too boring. You always had to work too hard, and the rewards were way too little.

But things are different now. He’s surrounded by the very things he used to dream of. Magic, levels, skills. It’s all real. This is something he wouldn’t mind dedicating his life to. He was determined to not be a lazy recluse anymore.

A world with magic and a system like in an RPG, this is what his soul always yearned for. Literally seeing your progress with your very own eyes, your efforts having immediate results. That is even better than heaven.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He saw what Helios did, he saw an example of magic with his own two eyes. Just how many years did he spend dreaming of being able to live in a world of magic?

That's it, that's the answer! He spent years visualizing magic in his head. Back on Earth where magic didn’t exist, his imagination went into overdrive trying to fantasize about all kinds of spells. Not to mention all the time he spent reading and watching works in his favorite genre - fantasy.

He was sure he could do it. He has that very convenient innate skill as well, as if the gods themselves gave him a way to catch up.

James started focusing, recalling every single thing he read about fireballs, regardless of what book he read it from, what game or movie he saw it in, it all blended together and rushed into the forefront of his mind.

He extended his palm and screamed, letting loose a giant inferno that rivaled even what Helios displayed minutes ago. But Helios was very experienced, the son of the Archmage, bound to have plenty of resources and talent. While James a guy that just discovered magic.

However, unlike Helios’s fireball, there was something different about James’s. Unlike the red flames that were expected, James’s flames were … dark.

Everybody was stunned, nobody in the audience made a peep. All you could hear was silence.

After what felt like minutes, somebody stuttered “D-d-demonic flames!”.

[You have unlocked a new trait: Half-demon Soul]

As if all the life was drained from him, James fell exhausted to the ground.