Something seems to have gone wrong here... everything feels... so strange.
My memories are all fuzzy...
What the fuck is going on!?
Where am I!?
WHO AM I!?
???: [Honey, let's try not to yell in front of our child, much less at the dinner table...]
Hold on...
???: [Right, right, I'm sorry, Martha. It's just work. Just because all those other shitty nobles have zero conscience doesn't mean that I need to be a bad influence on my son.]
Something is seriously wrong here....
Martha: [You just swore again, Hector. And swearing is a no-no, right, Adam? Open wi~ide!]
A warm feeling washed over me when I heard her sweet words and I happily obliged.
???: [Oo~aah!]
Martha: [Nice job, Adam! That's a good boy!]
No-No-NO! Something is absolutely wrong here -- Why did I just do that? What the fuck is going on?
Martha: [They say that the way parents act around infants at a young age has a big impact on how they turn out later, so make sure to be on your best behavior, Hector.]
Wait a second...
It can't be...
Because this is seriously unfunny...
I just reincarnated as a baby. What a fucking joke....
- - - - - - -
Yes, after calming down a bit it seems that I have indeed reincarnated as a baby in another world. I seem to be the son of some sort of noble. Interestingly, the people of this world also speak Basic.
???: [It looks like it's time for you to eat again Adam --not that I would really care if you dropped dead though. I'm just doing this under your father's orders, so don't get attached or anything.]
Ah, it looks like my ever-loving and ever-kind personal maid is here. I see her more often than I do my own parents.
Maid: [Right... apparently I'm supposed to warm up this milk for you before you drink from it. You think I'm your bitch or something?] She paused to look down at me in disgust. [Shit, why am I even talking to a retarded baby?]
Lifting the bottle with one hand and pointing her palm towards it with the other, the maid began chanting something:
Maid: [In your suffocating embrace I flourish] -Warming
A faint glow appeared in the maid's palm, which then embraced the bottle... That's right, I forgot to mention that this world has magic. Maybe this won't be as shit as I thought it would be.
- - - - - - -
Pax: [gabauu]
I think babies have too much free time on their hands. I want to try and read a book or do something productive, but I'm being watched almost all of the time. Only when I'm asleep do they leave me alone. I mean, I don't really blame these people for trying to make sure a 2 year old doesn't accidentally kill themselves. To them I just look like a normal child. I wonder then, how would they react if they knew the truth?
Maid: [It's time for your evening nap, Adam, so be a good boy and go to sleep.]
Pax: [okae]
For now, I have decided to pretend that I don't retain the memories from my past life. I don't know this world's stance on reincarnation, but it's definitely not normal for them either.
Anyways, the plan is to start grinding earlier than all the other guys so that I become hot shit in this life. I already have a head start compared to other newborns just by my birth, but in order to be the best I still need to put in the effort. I will avoid the mistakes I made in my first life and live well.
Hell, or another chance at living --I don't care which it is. This life will be different from my last.
Maid: [Good night]
With that, she left the room. I think her name is... Ash? She has been my main caretaker for a while now. Though she's gotten a little bit better, she's still rather cold to me. My parents are always too busy to see me more than once or twice a day --that, or they just don't care enough to do so.
It's better this way. Anyways, time to enact the plan.
Sitting up in a cross-legged position, I focused as hard as I could.
I've been trying to figure out how magic works in this world for a while now. I'm unable to just call upon it with my mind or will anything into existence. As I expected, I won't be able to do much without any knowledge on the subject. Therefore...
I climbed out of the crib and crawled pathetically over towards a bookshelf located in the corner of the room. Struggling with all of my might, I was eventually able to pull a book off of the lowest shelf.
I've been having Ash read me books as often as possible, so I know how to read a little bit. The words are different even though they speak the same language as me. This particular book seems to be saying something about magic, so I thought it might be helpful. Its title goes, "Theories on the fundamental... somethings of Families of Magic"... I think.
...reading in progress...
Right, so this is what I have gathered so far:
There are three Families of magic, those being what the book calls Creation, Manipulation, and Augmentation. Furthermore, these Families are subdivided into hundreds of specific classes. For example, fire creation magic or wind manipulation magic.
People tend to only have aptitude for one Family of magic, and all other Families are near impossible to learn for them. The book also says that it's better to only use one class because a deeper understanding of the material correlates with stronger magic.
The most common Family that people get is Augmentation, followed by Manipulation, and then Creation.
The rest of the book seems to go into the hundreds of different classes of magic in each of the families, their differences, and some exceptions to the rule. Not particularly helpful to me at the moment, but it seems that magic is much more versatile than I had initially thought.
Putting the book back onto the shelf, I continued digesting all of the information I'd just read.
Apparently, it will be difficult to learn the basics without knowing which Family of magic I was born with aptitude towards. I know there must be magic tools that can tell you which Family you have, but I have no idea how long it'll be until I can get my hands on one.
Well, I didn't really expect my life to be a cakewalk. Maybe I can brute force it.
- - - - - - -
I brute forced it.
One month after initially reading the book titled "Theories on the Fundamental Speciation of Families of Magic" I found out which Family of magic I belonged to and began practicing. Contrary to my hopes, Augmentation (the lamest one) was what I had the best aptitude for.
I guess it's no fireballs for me... Augmentation involves strengthening and changing the properties of materials. It's most commonly used to strengthen your muscles to punch harder or your sword to cut sharper. Definitely useful and practical, but it's just not as cool as the waterbending or Unlimited Blade Works that I'd been hoping for.
Anyways, through my research and studying I found that there are two steps to casting a spell. First, visualize the phenomena you are trying to create. Second, draw mana from somewhere (most likely yourself) and inject it into your conceptualization.
...I think.
It's much harder than I had expected it to be. I can't get a good feel for mana, and I don't really understand the requirements for the conceptualization.
I could really use a teacher or something right now.