‘Wait, I recognize that. Isn’t that the language I learned from the notebook?!’

Evan was overjoyed. Months of hard work he had put in to learn what he thought was a simple hobby had not been wasted.

‘How is this possible?’ he wondered, ‘Did my family have connections to this world?’

It was plausible. After all, the notebook in his grandfather’s will had an entire dictionary for what appeared to be a chant for magic in this world. There was that lantern too, which started this whole thing.

‘I have to confirm this somehow.’

…

“That was amazing, Wyra. Was that a new spell you learned from Sister Felicia?” Cara asked.

“No, I learned that by myself!” Wyra exclaimed proudly, “She was also surprised when I showed it to her.”

“Really? Then what were you doing during your lessons with her?”

“I- uh-”

“Were you running off by yourself again to learn your own spells?”

Wyra hung her head in shame.

“Sorry mom.”

“It’s alright, dear, but you have to understand that everything has its own process. You can’t just rush ahead and run off when you get bored of learning something, alright?”

“Yes mom. It won’t happen again.”

“Alright, but that was quite impressive.”

Evan started gurgling excitedly as if to agree. Wyra beamed at her little brother and her mother’s praise, shooting another smug look over at Zed who could only sulk in envy.

If only she knew that Evan was only trying to get her to cast the spell again.

‘Damnit, when do babies develop their vocal cords again?’ He thought to himself.

“It’s not fair that you’re a mage,” Zed muttered.

“Yeah and it’s unfair that you’re an augmenter.” Wyra retorted, rolling her eyes, “You beat us every time we play tag.”

“But-”

“Dinner’s ready!” Leon called out as he entered.

“Coming!” the twins replied, silently agreeing on a ceasefire to their argument.

Cara chuckled at their antics and sighed,

“Your siblings are such a handful, huh, Evan?”

…

The house was made up of two floors. The first floor contained the kitchen, dining room, a guest room, and a spare room while the second floor consisted of the living room and the family’s bedroom. As the rest of the family ate, Evan was laid down in the spare room, left alone to his thoughts.

‘So from what I’ve seen so far, it looks like we are a family of five, possibly middle class if we’re in a city. I highly doubt my parents are rulers of some rural village from how those nuns treated my dad.’

‘David, that prick from before, told me to live true to myself and make my story entertaining.

Evan smirked, ‘I have to be true to myself, huh. I guess that shouldn’t be too hard.’

‘Conformity is for the weak who can’t stand up for themselves. History is full of people who stood up for themselves, breaking free from the conformity of society. Some called them heretics, others terrorists.’

‘But most call them geniuses, revolutionaries. All that matters is success.’

‘I’ll learn the rules of the game, and I’ll beat it, no matter what it takes.’

‘First of all, I can’t be sure until I see more about the outside world, but if this is anything like the medieval ages back on Earth, then there would be no standard form of education, at least for young children.’

‘Well I suppose I could always join a church, but that would mean being tied down to the religious order. I’d prefer freedom over my own actions. I guess I could try to find a mentor of some sort from a guild or association.’

‘Damn it, there’s so much I don’t know!’

‘Alright, calm down. This is only your first day. There’s no point in getting worked up over something you have no control over.’

‘I guess what I can do right now would be to learn the magic of this world, or at least I can try. I know some of the words needed to chant the spells from the notebook.’

‘The problem is, I can’t even control my bladder, let alone chant the words necessary for a spell.’

‘Actually, I should probably learn how to sense mana first before actually trying to use it.’

Evan closed his eyes and tried several meditation techniques they taught in the psychology part of the medical course with varying levels of success. Sometimes, he could sense something… odd, floating throughout the room.

Something that was not present in Earth’s atmosphere.

However, his body did not seem to recognize the foreign source of energy. The most success he had, he noted, was when he simply breathed in and out without any thoughts, free of stress and anxiety.

‘Hmm, it seems that mana is most easily sensed when a person’s mind is empty, free of thoughts. In that case…’

Evan closed his eyes again and tried another breathing technique. One that he came up with, combining anxiety breathing patterns with the meditation technique described in the notebook. He crossed both his legs and placed his hands above his solar plexus for warmth and comfort. Then, he relaxed his mind.

‘Don’t focus on your surroundings,’ Evan thought to himself, ‘Let the mana come to you. Simply be present in the world.’

After a while, he could sense the energy permeating throughout everything in his surroundings:

The air he breathed, the moisture in the air, the warmth in his body, the stone on the floor.

Everything had mana, and mana made up everything.

His body slowly became attuned to mana, drawing in more and more energy into his tiny body with every breath. Evan could also feel the changes inside of him. His body began to feel warmer as the mana took root inside his cells, empowering them.

'Alright, Step One: Mana Sensing was a success. Let's try Step Two: Mana Circulation.'

After getting used to the feeling of mana inside his body, Evan tried interacting with the foreign energy, moving it towards his heart. As he did, however, a sudden, stabbing pain gripped his heart.

'Fuck, I’m an idiot! Too much stress on the heart is going to cause cardiac arrest! Time to skip to Step Three: Spell Casting to use up the mana in my body and stop me from having a heart attack on my first day!'

Evan raised his arm, pointing his index finger to the sky. He channeled mana towards it and traced a circle in the air. A golden coloured circle slowly formed then. He could feel the mana leaving his body to form the construct he drew and it brought some relief, yet it was not nearly enough to drain the rampant mana inside his heart.

'Fuck, am I going to die?!’

‘No, I can’t die on my first day!’

He racked his brains for a solution, but none came to mind.

Except one.

‘Let’s hope this works because I only have one shot at this.’

Tears blurred his vision as the pain grew inside his chest, but Evan held in his screams.

Concentrating, he began to draw. Construct after construct formed in the air as he tried to use up all the mana in his heart.

However, Evan could no longer withstand the pain in his heart and screamed, alerting his family members.

‘Damn, I'm going to die on the first day of my second life.' Evan thought

Then everything faded to black.

…

Cara appeared in the doorway to the spare room, out of breath and panting with Leon close behind, stopping at the hallway. Seeing that her baby was alright and was probably just lonely, she sighed in relief and picked him up, bringing him to the dining room.

‘That’s odd, why is his body so warm? Does he have a fever?’ She thought.

Leon, on the other hand, was concerned with the state of the room. Books and ornaments were strewn about the room with the bed soaking wet. There was also blood on the blankets.

‘What the heck happened here? It looks like a tornado passed through the room and the twins never left the table. Also, didn’t we clean the room right after the delivery? Did we miss a spot?’

“What’s wrong with Evan?” he asked.

“I don’t know. His body feels warm, but he was fine just now. Is it a fever?”

Leon placed his palm over Evan’s forehead before shaking his head.

“I don’t think so. It’s probably just a baby thing. Let’s go back-“

Leon then noticed his wife shooting him a dirty look.

“You want me to call the Church?”

Cara nodded while adding, “And Mage Erso”

Leon sighed before giving in, “Fine, anything else, madam?”

“Yeah, stop being a smartass and go.” Cara chuckled.

Leon left with a smile on his face for the church. His wife’s antics might seem annoying to others, but to him, they made his day. In turn, his maturity and care made Cara thank the gods for giving her Leon. Although their personalities couldn't be further apart, they both loved each other.

Leon was twenty-four years old when he first met Cara at the Old Boar, a well-known inn and tavern in the city of Wistre. She was twenty-three at the time. He had heard many stories about her from the local patrons, drunk on a mug of ale, but he had never expected the rumours to be true. In the end his patience and determination won her heart and they got married a year later.

Leon Galien was the son of the owner of a merchant company named after the family. He had inherited the business when his father, Maren, retired due to an accident with several wild monsters. The stress and pressure from running a chain of stores across the kingdom had taken its toll on him so he decided to hand the business to his son.

The old man loved his two grandchildren and often came to visit from time to time. Wyra shared her father's patience and her mother's fire while Zedekiah or Zed, for short, inherited their compassion and gentleness.

When Maren heard that his son Leon had given him another grandchild, he was thrilled. He arranged for a transport from his home in the city of Zyra to the family's house in Wistre.

'I hope he likes this little gift I am giving.' He thought to himself.

…

“David, what the hell is this? How the hell is this fair?! I swear if you somehow rigged the game so that Deo wins I will personally burn all your damn alcohol to ashes.”

“First, calm down. It’s allowed in the rules. Second, why the fuck would I help Deo win a bet.” David replied.

“Good point.”

“Hey, I resent that!”

“Third, you threaten my alcohol again and I will make sure having Deo win a bet will be the least of your worries.”

“Fine, who’s the moderator for this season again?”

David grinned at the question, “Granger volunteered, said he wanted to get some exercise done. Oh, and Seraphine’s actively participating this season.”

At this, Sans began to smile, “At least this season’s going to be interesting.”

“Hey, so am I going to be chained up here the entire time or can I go? I got work to do back at the shop.”

“Yes, you are and you cleared up all your paperwork for the next 3 years so you could watch the early game uninterrupted because, and I quote, “It’s funny to see their embarrassment when they relearn how to walk, talk, and use the bathroom again.””

“Oh, right…”