Reincarnation was a well-known topic in this world. Amanda had almost an entire bookshelf dedicated to the genre, and I’d even had discussions with her and William about the topic. That didn't mean that Roxxy didn't have questions.

“What’s Earth food taste like?”

“What’s it look like?”

“Do they have fish?”

“I can't believe you think a whale is that small.”

“What are the differences between our worlds?”

“So, it's like a dimensional rift?”

“How much magic is no magic?”

“Did you reincarnate because of a bloodline? Sorry if that's a bit too personal.”

The stream of questions was non-stop.

Eventually, she overwhelmed herself with the amount of information I was giving.

“Don’t get me wrong, it's not like I haven't thought about it.” I said. “But there's no way I had a bloodline that caused the reincarnation. There was no magic back on Earth. At all.”

Roxxy sat back, her eyes wide.

“Sounds strange.” She said. “I guess you felt the same way about this place.”

“Like you wouldn't believe.” I said.

Most of my explanations had been quick and brief because Roxxy was a fountain of never-ending questions. It wasn't just me talking. She had her own opinions on reincarnation. With magic being so prevalent in this world the idea of reincarnation being impossible seemed stronger here than back on Earth. After all, magicians worked in making the impossible possible. Since I couldn't help her with that, she wanted to know everything else.

That didn't mean the conversation wasn't fun for me. It was nostalgic and cathartic to finally talk about my old life. Memories that had been in the back of my mind for years were now put to the front and a rush of joy accompanied them. I told her everything I could remember and then some. There was only one thing I kept quiet.

The girl with the golden eyes.

That was a topic that I wanted to confront the Marked of Fue about. Before I knew what had happened that day, I wanted to keep quiet or else telling Roxxy anything about it could put her in danger. The churches weren't a force to be tangled with lightly.

Thankfully, Roxxy was avoiding the topic of my death as a courtesy to me.

“Why do you have the same name in this world?” She asked.

Roxxy glanced at me from the corner of her eyes, but her gaze was unfocused. Even if she had prepared for weeks to talk with me, she couldn't absorb all the information I was giving in a single afternoon.

“I was allowed to choose my own name.” I said. “My parents follow the old traditions.”

My words gave her pause and I saw her tip toeing around her inner thoughts again. Every now and then a topic would come up that she didn't want to talk about for my own sake. My parents were one of those topics.

“Right, so, your old world didn't have symbols like ours. Or a system. Or even magic.” Roxxy frowned. “It's kind of like you guys were born without limbs.”

“To me it looked like you guys were born with too many limbs.” I said. “The system freaked me out the first time I saw it. It took me months to get used to it.”

I could still remember my panic on seeing the first system message appear in front of my eyes during the first night. In my defence, there had been a lot going on at the time, so my freak out wasn't just about the strange blue boxes in front of my eyes.

Roxxy drifted off into a lull as she took in my words. Every sentence out of my mouth was a revelation, and an extremely strange experience. If even half of what I said was taken as the truth, then she could think over it for months and still be confused.

Explaining that all animals on Earth weren't magical was already a hard enough concept for her to picture.

“I'm kind of happy.” I said. “Now that I finally have someone who knows this part of my life, I mean.”

It was my chance to see how people would react to my news.

“What do you think would happen if I told the others?” I asked.

It was a thought that had been nagging at my mind throughout our entire conversation.

She didn't answer my question immediately.

“Who were you thinking of telling?” Roxxy asked.

“Gold and Amanda. William too. Agni definitely had to be there. Oh, and Gerial. All of them are close enough to me that I can share my secret and trust them not to tell anyone.” I said.

All of them knew I was a Marked one. If I compared reincarnating and being a Marked one, the latter secret was the bigger one. It held genuine political ramifications for the world. Religious ones too. People’s entire worldview's that they'd grown up with would change.

“Reincarnating on purpose would be a big deal. There's a reason it's considered impossible, but in my case, it's like I’m discovering a new magic spell.” Roxxy paused and considered her words carefully. “It's incredible, and exciting, but it isn’t a game changer if it can’t be replicated.

“As for other worlds existing… I already knew that. I’ve been through dimensional rifts that have magic and creatures I’d never seen before then. There are even rift colonies that have been separated so long from our world that they've developed their own cultures and kingdoms. There’s also the Nexus world we go through when we use portals. That place is freaky. Far freakier than what you described. Honestly, the idea of having an entire race of humans in another world isn't strange. The lack of magic is what's strange.”

I paused and considered her words. She wasn't wrong in comparing Earth to dimensional rifts. In fact, for all I knew Earth could be in a dimensional rift nobody had discovered yet. Magic was strange.

The holy lands were already the size of continents, capable of holding humanity in times of crisis.

"Huh. I did think about it like that, but I wasn't sure you would as well.” I said.

It made me feel good to know that my story didn't clash with her view of the world at all. It was an extension of facts that she already knew. That meant that the others would probably react in a similar way.

“Maybe don't tell everyone all at once.” Roxxy said. “Or maybe that'll be better for you. Either way, I think it's a huge deal, but I don't think they'll think any less of you.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I couldn't keep the smile off my lips. “This has been really fun, but I thought you'd ask why I'm staying as a teenager.”

“I think you're playing it smart. Strength concoctions are expensive and if even half of what you've told me happened to me, I’d want some stability in my life as well. Not to mention a proper education.” Roxxy shrugged. “I’m surprised you didn't stay as a baby for a while and try to hide it so you could learn everything about this world.”

“I tried. I failed. I was really bad at hiding.” I said.

Roxxy giggled and I joined in with a chuckle. Her reaction to the whole experience had given me newfound confidence. Telling my friends about my former life was no longer off the table as an option. I wasn't sure if it would take weeks or months, or even longer, but they would know.

For now, there were two other people I had to tell.

****

“So, what do you think? Now you know that I'm not who I said I was.”

My words reached the ears of the person in front of me, and I saw him smile.

It was William.

The decision to tell him hadn't been made lightly. Now that Roxxy knew, it felt inevitable that others would too. William was both my oldest friend, and my youngest. He deserved to know now that someone else did. He was also the wisest person I knew and I wasn’t so stubborn that I couldn't see the benefits of having [Wisdom]’s opinion for this issue.

“Knowledge is knowing that you're not the person I thought you were.” His expression shifted, and he smiled. “Wisdom is knowing that you are.”

“That isn't quite the answer I expected.” I said. "I thought you would be asking a whole bunch of questions. Like why I haven't told you until now.”

“You didn't tell me because you were afraid that I would stop being your friend.” William said.

I wanted to hold up my hand in protest, but then I stopped. He had hit the nail on the head. The main reason I hadn't told anybody about this was because I was afraid of losing them. My friends. My family. Each and every one of them was precious to me and I didn't want them to leave me because of my past.

“Andross, I understand.” William said. “People have told me since I was born that I wasn't their peer. They've attacked me for it, or all but worshipped the ground I walked on. You yourself know the dangers I face every day for being different. Making friends with people is a difficult decision for us, and I'm glad that despite your situation you chose to be friends with me. If you hadn’t then I would have been alone for years. And loneliness is a painful existence.

“I can't say I know what you've gone through. I can't even say that I’ve felt exactly what you’re feeling. But I will say this. It isn't a weakness to want to have a friend. Or to fear losing one.”

I stared at William, and he looked back at me.

“Has anyone ever told you that you're wise?” I said.

“Funnily enough, it has come up from time to time.”

William shuffled in place, the gears in his mind turning rapidly.

“I hope you've got a few hours free because I do have a couple of hundred questions—”

****

A single chirp broke through the silence in my front yard.

Okay.

Gold tilted his head, and I could see he was looking drowsy after listening to me explain for half an hour about my reincarnation. I'd made sure nobody else could hear us, and even my parents were out of the house.

The puffer jumped forward, his talons digging into the dirt that littered my room. Then he let out a single chirp.

Treat? For listening.

“You don't deserve a treat for every boring conversation you take part in.” I said.

Despite my words, I fed him one anyway.

I don't think Gold knew where human babies came from. Or how much they knew when they were born. To him I was just letting him know what everyone went through. It was a strange fact, but one that he took in stride with every other fact he learned about humans.

"You do know that this isn’t normal for other people, right?” I asked. “Don't go spreading this around.”

Okay.

Gold gobbled down the treat and hopped onto my shoulder.

You're special. Understood. More treats?

I couldn’t prove it, but I was pretty sure that he was being sarcastic.

***

A week had passed since Roxxy, William and Gold had been told about my reincarnation. To my surprise and relief none of them had reacted badly. In fact, instead of leaving me they had grown more attached to me. Roxxy was endlessly curious, and William was happy I'd shared something so personal with him. Gold was the only one that was normal, but he could sense my stress, so he'd started sleeping in his old nest in my room to keep me company.

I was standing in front of Koshima Academy, alongside several students from various year levels. There were twenty-nine in total, almost ten for each year level, with the fourth year students and above not participating in the excursion. Some looked over at me curiously, recognising the mask tied to the side of my robe. There was no longer a reason for me to wear my mask and hide my identity, but I kept it on me as a mark of pride.

Several teachers were also present. Professor Pernacles was standing to the side with a teacher I hadn't seen before, and to my surprise Wahyu was talking to them both. The church member saw my stare and winked. In front of me Tago of the Earth gazed down stonily at the first-year students and his counterpart Tago of Metal stood in front of the second years.

The headmaster was at the head of the third-year students.

I had the feeling that he was bored now that Gerial was out of the school. He'd gone with his son for a few weeks to the church of Fue, but his duties to Koshima Academy had eventually piled up too much to ignore.

William was at the front of our first-year group, a cocky grin on his face as he looked down on the children around him. He was acting like the spoiled brat the public thought he was, but I could tell that he'd let some real pride through his defenses.

“I beat you.” He whispered toward me.

“I'm going to challenge you to an official duel the moment we get back.” I said. “Enjoy rank one while you have it.”

Before he could respond the people around us broke out into a murmur as the headmaster stepped in front of the gathered crowd.

“Students, the portal to the holy land will be arriving soon.”

His hand rose into the air and the headmaster's words echoed across the lawn. Around me the students fell quiet, and I saw William stiffen.

"Remember to keep the tracking regents on you at all times. The holy land is large, and we don't want to have to chase you down. People have tried it before to avoid leaving and no, they did not find any treasure in the extra time they bought themselves. And yes, I will confirm the school’s policy on items found during the course of your excursion.

“Treasures, materials, or other riches. Once you are inside the holy land all you find will be yours to keep. I wish you all the best of luck.”