He was surrounded by never-ending darkness. He didn't know how much time had passed, nor did he care for that matter. If he could only stay like this for a bit more- Overwhelming light inundated his vision, the difference was too stark. A baby started crying nearby. He panicked, his back was being hit. He was at least able to see again. Speechless. He closed and opened his eyes again to reaffirm he wasn't dreaming. He blankly stared at the bloodied giants in front of him. Wait, their ears were pointy. Was he abducted by a bloodthirsty clan of giant elves!? He thought that until he noticed that they looked ecstatic and relieved. He examined his surroundings, of the five elves in the room only one of them was a male. The room had a simple design, it contained a big bed, where he was being held, and some wooden furniture. Everyone upheld the image of the elven race, they were beautiful. Then, he looked at himself. Tiny hands, it couldn’t be true. He moved his tongue and didn't feel any teeth, he tried to talk but only babbling came out. He was the baby. The male seemed to be in his early thirties. He was about 1,9m tall with a lean constitution, he had short light green hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in brown clothes with leafy motives. The woman that was holding him was in her early thirties too. She was about 1,7m tall, she had long straight light blue hair and green eyes. Even though she appeared to be exhausted she had a radiant smile on her face. They started speaking in a foreign language. The midwives were making gestures, that he interpreted as if they were reassuring the male elf that he was alright, after some unknown discussion, they hastily left to give the couple some privacy. His father approached and tried to hold him, but he refused and hugged his mother to seek some semblance of protection. He was still in shock of his apparent rebirth. She glared at his father and he backed away with a forced smile. They discussed something, he only understood when his mother looked into his eyes. She named him Rydel multiple times, this was his new identity. As time passed, he fell asleep with the rocking motions of his mother. *** When Rydel woke up, it was night-time and he was lying in a cradle. He was in a smaller room, there was a window from where he could see a forest. The moonlight shone directly above him, from his position, the forest didn't seem wild. The trees were enormous with wooden bridges in between, little houses could be seen perched everywhere. He had memories of what he assumed was his past life, but he didn’t remember if he had died. He found it strange, was it because it was a traumatic event and he made himself forget it? He was a baby, so unless his soul was somehow transferred to another body, this was his new life. He didn’t know if souls were a thing though, he’d have to eventually discover it. In his past life, Rydel was a twenty-two-year-old who was unsuccessful in life. He made a series of bad decisions that spiraled into declining mental health and a lack of self-confidence. His family worried about him, but he refused to be helped. He liked going to the gym, playing video games, and reading novels. Maybe this was what he needed, to start from scratch and build himself into someone he can be proud of. Granted, it's a bit too much from scratch, but losers can't be choosers. Also, there are elves here so he couldn’t be on Earth anymore, at least not the one that he knew. He could try to employ some revolutionary idea and strike it rich. His new name had a nice ring to it too, Rydel. Name: Rydel Elphyra Age: 1 day Race: Forest Elf Class: --- Vitality: 0.4 Strength: 0.1 Dexterity: 0.1 Endurance: 0.2 Perception: 1 Spirit: 2 A box with statistics appeared in his vision. He tried looking to his right and left, but the box kept still. He tried to poke it but he hit nothing. Was he being pranked somehow? Trapped in a VR seemed more legit than reincarnation now that he thought about it. 'LOG OUT, EXIT, OFF WITH ME, ARRIVEDERCI!’ Rydel tried, but it didn’t work. He was either like that famous guy with double swords, in an alternative world, or this ‘game’ was bugged as fuck. He investigated the transparent box. Even though he had a character's status, he didn't know how good his statistics were. Considering that he was a baby, they should be nothing to write home about. His race wasn't surprising either, he was an elf that lived in a forest. He tried focusing on each word to glean more information. To his surprise, it worked on both Race and Class. [Forest Elf (F): Perception +10%, Strength -10%] [Class: Locked for [14 years, 11 months, 29 days], become your best self and face The Trial (E).] Forest elves were a perceptive race but didn’t excel in strength. He wasn’t much of a sports guy in his previous life, so he didn’t mind becoming some kind of ranger in the future to make the most out of his advantage. The system seemed to emphasize this Trial too, it even gave some warnings. He will heed its advice, it didn’t seem prudent to procrastinate. He observed the forest through the window, he was able to see people moving about in the dead of the night. He could try to learn the local language and spy conversations without anyone knowing. *** A week later, he was carried out by his mother into the streets, where a parade was being held. The street was filled with elves, with a clear path in the middle, there was a squad of ten warriors armed with long emerald wooden bows. They wore high-quality leather armor and sported proud grins on their faces. Rydel recognized his father on the lead. Behind him, four elves were carrying a cart with a behemoth inside. Its size was so exaggerated that he almost couldn’t recognize the towering mass of flesh as a bear. It was about 12m long and it was extremely bulky too. The bear was tilted and Rydel could see the 2m hole in the bear’s chest. The hit was clean, the wound looked like it was made by a cannonball at great speeds. His father saw them and caught Rydel in his arms. He noticed that they were the focus of attention, every elf present was looking with respect and admiration. His father was the star of the show. His chest warmed with bubbling desire, it was at this moment that Rydel Elphyra's became aware of his true desire. *** The next morning, he was carried to the dining room after being fed. He was still surprised that his mother didn't take any break and was already energetic after childbirth. There was a serene ambiance while his parents ate a meat stew with white bread, probably the bear from yesterday. His mother wanted to grab more water but didn't manage to reach it, so instead the jug just floated to her above a hazy green hand. Rydel was shocked, and his father must have noticed because he started to laugh. His mother indulged him and waved the jug in front of him. He tried to grab it but she moved it away with a teasing smile. He immediately pouted and made his best puppy eyes impression, which was met with more laughter. His eyes didn't move from the jug for the rest of the breakfast, his thoughts were racing a hundred miles per hour. This changed everything. He hadn’t thought about his highest attribute, Spirit. It was the only stat that seemed magic-related. He will train and gain as many attribute points as necessary until he can do what his mother did. Of course, he still lacked information, maybe elves were natural psychics, he had to experiment on that. The next few days passed without much fanfare. He discovered his parents’ names after being repeatedly called by neighbors. His mother was called Thalia and his father Edyrm. His father went out after noon and sometimes came back with some game. Yesterday, he came home with a light injury. He was admonished by Thalia and he limited himself to apologizing and looking ashamed. His mother was currently staying at home looking after him. She only went out to socialize with the other elves and to do home chores. That left him with very few hours to practice. He could confidently say that he has made no progress with telekinesis. He has tried everything, from strongly staring, clenching his muscles, or pleading. However, he hasn't given up, he will persist until something happens. He then remembered a documentary he saw on television about an Indian monk, Meditation is a state where you free yourself of thoughts and evolve your spirit. It was his best bet to train the spirit. He could meditate at night when nobody would disturb him. That same night, he put his thoughts to practice and meditated. He tried sitting and barely managed to lean back on the cradle. He relaxed and formed a pattern, two long breaths, one short breath, and a long exhale. He was bathed by the moonlight, his mind empty of any stray thoughts. He continued until exhaustion reclaimed him and fell asleep. It wasn't until three months later that something happened. He had been trying to raise his spirit with a small amount of success, he didn’t have any more leads, so he could only keep trying. The moon was high in the night sky, he was seated in the lotus position in meditation as usual. He was being illuminated from the window by the full moon. He felt a pleasurable fire from the depths of his soul, he concentrated on that feeling and refused to let it go. Moonlight gathered like a spotlight illuminating the main actor of a play. Twin moons replaced his iris, and a scorching mark was branded on his forehead. The mark was a perfect sphere, with complex patterns of lines inside, the whole construct rippled power and deep truths. As the minutes passed, he started feeling indifferent, like nothing could shake him. Like he will always be dancing in the sky. He was ephemeral. He was moonlight. He opened his eyes and calmly looked at the notification. [Dao of Moonlight (Early): Spirit +10, Perception +5] The brand vanished after a couple more seconds, and Rydel went back to his normal aspect. It was an intense experience, Rydel nearly lost himself, he shivered remembering the situation. He felt like he was moonlight for a second, only wanting to disperse and illuminate everything in his wake. He didn’t want to know what would have happened if the mark hadn’t disappeared. He has heard of the Dao in his past life. He didn't understand much of it at that time, only that it was kind of a fundamental truth of the universe. Maybe there were truly enlightened people back on Earth. He still has only peeked a little in the Dao, so he couldn't say he understood, however, what he saw behind that door was an immense truth calling for him. Tempting him. He decided to stop meditating for a couple of days. He felt that he'd lose himself if he continued this line of thinking. His instincts told him that it wasn’t wise to play with the unknown. He must be careful. Rydel examined his status. Name: Rydel Elphyra Age: 3 months Race: Forest Elf Class: --- Daodrops: Dao of the Moonlight (Early) Vitality: 0.4 Strength: 0.1 Dexterity: 0.1 Endurance: 0.2 Perception: 7 Spirit: 13 The Dao was now being shown in his status, so it was indeed important. He gained two extra stats in spirit, apart from the bonus. He hadn't made barely any progress apart from this in those last couple of months. It was a good decision to focus on his meditation sessions. He was still in early proficiency, so there was room for improvement. For now, though, this baby was going to have a beauty-sleep. Tomorrow, he wanted to check if he could use the moonlight for something else.