The following day saw me waking to the sunlight from the window. I took this time alone to observe my room in its entirety. It was mostly blue, with white accents. The furniture looked to be made with the best materials and the window opened to an expanse of a lush garden.

‘Hoh, they’re quite wealthy then.’

I heard the door open and two servants entered. What followed an uncomfortable experience as I was bathed and fed. I was then placed back in the crib and left alone.

‘I might as well use this time.’ I thought as I closed my eyes.

Usually, I don't have a repeat of my time in a certain reality. I had taken it as a sign that I am to come in with no Knowledge and leave knowing that I could not prepare for my eventual return. Even in those universes where I had achieved immortality either through cultivating it or intaking some elixir, after a few millennia an urge to move on will overtake me. Never failing to send me on my way.

‘Very well then, how did this go again?’

While the flavour of energies that exist in separate realities differ, there is always some form of crossover. Mana(or more broadly magical energy), for instance, is largely similar in most realities; where they differ is in the little intricacies and the extent to which it can be stretched. That in itself does not even take into account the possible derivatives of mana, like aura, and energies that don't find their origin in mana at all, like mental energy and its derivatives.

‘Let’s begin’

I reach for the base mana existing within this body. I smile as I feel its potential, far more talented than my previous iteration here. I noticed the mana responding more eagerly as I stretched my awareness beyond my body. I felt its warmth. I looked deeper within my body to understand my unique peculiarities.

‘Elf then, at least half. That makes things easier for me.’ I thought, as elves are a long lived race loved by mana in this reality. Though not the most loved, that goes to the dragons.

Dragons, in this reality, are the ultimate magic generators. Ancient humans studied the dragon heart, the origin of their magic, and learnt how to enable their heart to build rings, or ‘circles’, that generate more magic exponentially; they called themselves wizards. As they reached higher levels, they noticed that few had the bodies that could withstand that much power and decided to research the use of magic to strengthen themselves like the beasts and other races. Their success saw the birth of aura.

‘No, calling it the birth of aura would be folly, it was the beginning of the standardization of aura usage among humans.’

What I am about to do now is different. I am going to use life energy, a different energy that exists fundamentally within humans, to enhance my body thereby building a better foundation for magic.

‘The easterners called this chi and used it in conjunction with martial arts. At the highest level they can affect concepts and generate phenomena. Well, with aura you can also do something similar at higher levels, but I digress’

The power system of both chi and aura go from tier 1 to 10, with 1 to 3 being apprentice, 4 to 6 being master and 7 and 8 being grandmaster. At tier 4 to 6, you must conceptualize a phenomenon and master it to advance beyond master. Breaking through to tier 9 revolves around taking that concept and using it to spark a divinity with it at its base. Tier 10 revolves around maturing that divinity to a level at which you could theoretically ascend to godhood. Hence, tier 9 is the demigod level and tier 10 god.

I reach down within myself, deeper even than when I felt the magic. ‘Ah, there it is,’ immediately I felt it, I began cycling the chi with a theoretical method I devised when I was last here. It is supposed to build upon what you have been naturally bestowed slowly and not add erroneous powers, affinities, or even bestial similarities like they do in the east. This will take time, but time is all I have now.

5 Years Old

A cool breeze swept the room as I exhaled while I was sitting cross legged on my bed, cultivating my chi.

‘This is sufficient’

My chi had reached tier 3, pridigouse for someone my bodily age. Then I heard a knock on the door.

“Young master, it’s time for your classes.” I sighed. I had been taking private tutoring lessons for quite some time on the basics of being a noble along with necessary additions such as maths and history. There was even some precursor tutoring ro prime us for the learning of magic.

Learning magic necessitates the understanding of magic formulas and how to calculate them in order to have the desired effect. Using magic without such measures implies sorcery, a broad term for using magic instinctively usually passed down by blood. Sorcerous bloodlines are born when an extremely powerful being has children, one of which is Whitefyre, my ancestor.

He was a wizard and warrior of renown who concentrated on fire so hot that it conceptualized into white fire through his aura. This got passed down to his descendants.

I looked to my right hand and felt a rush of mana as the white fire manifested above my hand in the shape of a bird flapping its wings, painless to me but scorching to all others. This is another area of training I had honed to a sharp precision.

I left my room, following a familiar path as I went to find the tutor. I looked to my reflection as I passed it by, my hair was the same blonde as my father, but my face held a certain symmetry I felt uncomfortable with. I was handsome, too handsome. I got it from my mother, the elven slave whore who my father lusted after, ‘at least according to his first wife.’

Such things are why I try to ignore the family I have in this life. They are fighting for the seat of the Grand Duchy, a seat my father currently holds. Among the eight children, of which I am the last, all of them will give anything to ascend to the head. This of course is being encouraged by my father as it fosters competition to build us up strong.

I walk along the hallway and stop in front of a door.

‘Well then, let’s begin.