Chapter 4: Awakening Mana
It's been six months since I was reborn into this absurdly tiny, embarrassingly weak body.
Six long, exhausting, mind-numbingly uneventful months.
Not that I expected action-packed adventures or sword duels right away—I mean, I was a baby. But still, the worst part of reincarnation isn't the shock of a new world, or even adjusting to a noble family's complicated politics.
No, it's diapers. And drooling. And being paraded around like a stuffed toy for every maid within a 5-mile radius.
Honestly, my greatest achievements so far included successfully burping without crying and learning how to fake sleep to avoid overly affectionate cheek pinching.
Then, one rainy night like all cliché origin moments.
a ridiculous idea crossed my mind.
If children in this world usually awakened mana at the age of ten…
Why wait?
I wasn't an ordinary infant.
I had memories from my previous life.
I knew mana existed.
I knew how it should feel, how it should flow, how it should respond.
Theory, yes. Practice? Not so much.
Still, theory's a good place to start when you're desperate and stuck in a crib.
So I began.
Not some earth-shattering ritual or blood sacrifice. Just... quiet focus.
Every night, after Sylvia,my annoyingly sweet commoner mother,sang her lullabies and dimmed the lamp, I'd close my eyes and concentrate.
"Come on, you elusive little bastard... show yourself," I'd think, gritting invisible mental teeth.
Nothing.
I tried to calm my thoughts. Nothing again.
I tried imagining mana as light, as heat, as a flame, as a river—anything.
Two weeks passed. Still nothing.
Frustration built up. There were moments I almost gave up. I told myself I had no core yet, that maybe my body was just too young, too weak.
But then, one night—different from the rest.
The rain had returned. Soft at first, then gradually intensifying, tapping against the window like distant fingers drumming on glass.
I lay there, bundled in blankets, half-asleep.
Then—
Ba-dump.
Pause.
Ba-dump.
A faint thrum in the silence.
My eyes snapped open. That wasn't my heartbeat. Or maybe it was—but it felt like more than that. It was deeper. Like something ancient had just shifted, nudged awake by accident.
I honed in on it, dragging my scattered focus toward the center of my body—toward the place where mana was supposed to dwell. The lower abdomen, the dantian, the core—whatever you wanted to call it.
Focus was hard when your biggest accomplishment of the day had been surviving a diaper change without crying, but I gave it everything.
I searched for that flicker again.
At first, silence.
Then
There it was.
Faint. Like a ripple under still water. Barely noticeable unless you really listened.
I didn't hesitate. I pressed into the sensation with every ounce of concentration I could muster. The pulse responded.
Not with force, but with acknowledgment. Like it was testing me back. Curious. Cautious.
And then—
The world shifted.
Suddenly, I felt as though I had fallen into a deep ocean I didn't even know existed. An overwhelming stillness surrounded me. Cold. Heavy. Bottomless.
I couldn't move, couldn't speak. But I wasn't afraid.
Because in that darkness... was power.
It wasn't grand or blinding. In fact, it was small. Almost laughably small. Like a candlelight in the endless void.
But it was mine.
And it was real.
I had awakened my mana.
Barely a flicker. A single spark floating inside my core.
But that was enough.
For now.
I don't know how long I stayed in that trance-like state, suspended between sleep and awareness, elated by my own discovery.
But what happened next shattered whatever calm I'd felt.
My heart was still pounding from the shock of feeling mana for the first time.
It had taken weeks of mental strain, concentration, and constant failure.
Every night, I tried to reach for something I wasn't even sure existed in this frail body.
But that pulse—
Ba-dump… ba-dump…
It had been real.
Mana. Subtle, barely a thread, like trying to catch smoke with bare hands. But I felt it.
And that meant one thing: I'd succeeded.
Just as I was coming to terms with that quiet breakthrough, something even stranger happened.
In front of my eyes—no, in my mind—a faint glow sparked.
Then, a translucent screen appeared in the air.
---
[SYNCHRONIZATION IN PROCESS]
[STABILIZING IN NEW BODY…]
[LOADING: 1%… 10%… 54%… 69%… 100%]
[SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE]
---
"…What?"
My breath caught. I didn't speak those words out loud—my mouth couldn't even form half the sounds I needed to yet.
But the reaction was instinctive.
Then I heard it.
A voice.
Not external not something echoing in the room but in my head.
[Hello, Host. I am the System designed to assist you.]
I froze.
Was this mana's side effect? Did mana bring hallucinations?
No.
This voice was too clear to be a mere illusion. It sounded like… something artificial, mechanical, yet not emotionless.
As if it were reciting lines it had memorized.
"…Who are you?" I asked, unsure if thinking that even counted as speaking.
[I am the System. I am connected to you now. We are fully synchronized.]
"You're… in my mind?"
[Yes, Host. I exist within you. No one else can see or hear me. Our thoughts are linked.]
What is this thing?
A spirit?
A curse?
Some form of ancient magic?
I'd never heard of anything like this,even in history scrolls or legends.
I didn't remember anyone ever speaking of a… "System."
Was this tied to my reincarnation?
Had something attached itself to me when I was reborn?
"…Fine," I thought cautiously.
"What do I call you?"
[You may choose a name for me, Host.]
A name?
That was... oddly polite.
I glanced at the dim ceiling of my room, unsure why the first name that came to mind was Simon.
"Simon."
[Designation accepted. I am now 'Simon'.]
Still reeling from the absurdity of it all, I whispered mentally again,
"What are you?"
[I am here to assist you on your journey, Host. My functions include guidance, monitoring progress, and issuing tasks to aid your development.]
"…Tasks?"
[Correct. These are objectives that, once completed, will support your growth. Rewards may follow.]
My head hurt.
I wasn't some scholar from the capital or a researcher from the North.
I didn't understand what kind of magic this was.
No incantations.
No scrolls.
No formations.
Just… a voice.
A presence that spoke directly into my mind and somehow knew me.
"Why are you here?"
[This information is unavailable.]
"…Why me?"
[This information is unavailable.]
Of course it is.
I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to calm down.
My tiny lungs struggled, but I made it work.
This might've been the most terrifying moment of my life, but it also might be the most important.
I could feel mana.
I had something—or someone—guiding me now, even if I didn't understand how or why.
"Alright, Simon," I murmured in my mind, settling in.
"What else can you do?"
[You may now access your personal information. Simply say or think: 'Status'.]
"...Status."
As I thought of the word mentally, a new screen appeared in front of me.
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A/N : Guy's if you find the story Interesting please add it to your library and Drop some powerstones....