Chapter 3  

Finally able to communicate with other people, time moved faster. There were always new things to learn and places to explore.

In his previous life, Mat had been unable to travel for both health and financial reasons. Comfort was taken in having the whole world at his fingertips, to know and see what was happening on the other side of the planet in seconds. Now he had no way of knowing what was going on with the other side of the island he lived on, let alone the planet. It was a new reality he had to adapt to.

It didn’t take him long to confirm magic and spellcasters existed. They shaped the Essence of the World to their desires. Alana didn’t exactly call it Mana, but there was no better translation for magic energy in his opinion. He asked how he could become a mage, but his mother smiled and told the first of a long series of ‘I’ll tell you when you’re older.’ Her smile reminded him of when he proclaimed he would become an astronaut in elementary school.

Oh, sweet innocent times…

He was dying to learn more about magic, it was freaking magic! But showing so much interest in something he should not even understand would be suspicious. He could wait a little longer.

Damn! I wanna know! I should have thrown a tantrum, Mat berated himself. Some people—namely his sister, Keandra—said he cried in his sleep that night. She was lying.

New discoveries caught his attention. His village was called Whiteshore, located on the northwest side of Yatol Island, the third largest of the seven major islands of the Baquaire Archipelago. He had wanted to ask about other nations and their relation to the archipelago, but that would be an unusual question to come out of a toddler.

Mat cursed himself for being such a patient person. Why can’t my stupid brain stop thinking of the consequences? Just why! Future problems should be for future-Mat to worry about.

Despite his sound reasoning, he stuck to his initial plan. He didn’t care if people thought he was a weirdo, he just had no idea how they would react if they found out he had the memories of his previous life. What would they think and say, would they throw him out of the house and burn him at the stake?

That was one thing he didn’t wish to know.

To make sure he didn’t betray himself, he decided to only ask questions about things he could point at, and subjects mentioned by someone else first.

He was walking by the seaside with Alana, looking for seashells brought to shore by the waves, when he pointed to the sea.

“All the water you see is part of the Shallow Sea for miles and miles, further than you can imagine,” Alana explained with a shining smile as she looked at the sea with the same gaze she gave to his father, Rellan.

“What does shallow mean?” Mat innocently asked, staring at the waves sparkling in the low sun.

“It’s the opposite of deep, it means there is little water. If you were to go under the water, it wouldn’t take you long to reach the bottom. Do you understand, Kai?” Alana looked at Mat, who smiled and nodded.

“However, it isn’t called ‘shallow’ only for that, the main reason is that there is very little mana in this region. You don’t have to worry about it, it’s not a bad thing. Thanks to the low mana, most humans aren’t interested in these islands, let alone higher races. And only a few animals become scary awakened beasts. We are safe here, blessed by the guardian spirits of the archipelago.”

Alana kissed him on the forehead. “Now, my smart little boy, let’s go home. You’ll have time to become a researcher like your father when you grow up.”

After such revelations, Mat heard none of this, he was completely lost in his world.

That may explain why I can’t perceive any mana, maybe I’m not completely untalented. More importantly: ‘higher races’? What the actual fuck!

By the time Mat was able to put order to his thoughts, they were already in front of their house and his mother was cooking dinner.

I must be patient. I’ll get my answers…

* * *

Slowly learning about Elydes—as this new world was called—Mat reached his second birthday. It was an important milestone in the Baquaire Archipelago. As they had done with Kaendra, it was tradition to bring every child to the sea for their first ‘swim lesson’, usually a glorified small dip.

The aim was to learn the Swimming skill—the first and only skill for most kids—and introduce him to the workings of the Guide, aka, the interface that showed his status.

It usually took a couple weeks to a month to get the skill if the parents gave consistent lessons and the child was cooperative. Keandra always boasted about how she got Swimming in a week, but with his sister’s stubborn and bold personality, that was only to be expected.

Putting aside his overachieving sister, Mat prepared for the big day. He would finally be able to get some answers.

Name: Matthew James Reece

Race: Human

Profession: None

Body stats

Strength: 1>2

Dexterity: 2>3

Constitution: 3>4

Mind: 6>7

Spirit: 7

Perception: 5

Skills (2/7)

Meditation (lv16>28)

Acting (lv1>7)

The growth in his stats had been frustratingly slow. The most important change was his new Acting skill that popped out five months prior.

Mat wasn’t sure how to feel about that, it was like saying he was good at deceiving his family.

Knowing children were not expected to interact with the Guide before two years of age, he wasn’t too upset he only gained two skills. There were already many things to learn in his everyday life in the village. He also mastered the new language and was trying to teach himself to read.

The first step had been to ask his father to read him something and ask a few questions, while not showing too much interest.

There was a distinct lack of children’s narrative in his collection, but Rellan was happy he showed curiosity in his work and was more than eager to read him a manuscript about some long-lost civilization. He loved those books, even if they were written with archaic words.

They also had an abundance of illustrations—maybe because they were handwritten—that gave him an easy excuse to look at them later. He then patiently went over what his father read and pieced the puzzle together.

While not the best method, he enjoyed it. He was a tiny Indiana Jones, sitting on the floor of his father’s study and deciphering an ancient text to discover its hidden secrets. The unmistakable smell of old paper only added to the experience.

He was sure his parents had a hint of what he was doing after he spent so much time with his nose in those thick tomes. They must believe he imagined himself reading like his father, never considering he would succeed.

Walking down the familiar path to the sea with his family, this place felt like paradise. They were surrounded by palm trees and colorful flowers.

One more detail made this day even more exciting.

Race: Human

Grade: Red ★

Next enhancement ➔ 9,926/10,000 XP

He was so close to his goal, which made the idea of getting a new skill more appealing. The weekly summary was in a few hours. If he got lucky, he might reach 10,000 XP by then.

Rellan and Alana entertained most of his innocent questions, but they were tight-lipped about the Guide. As for his sisters, Mat felt bad trying to corrupt Eleni to disobey their parents. While Keandra refused to answer, saying he was too little to understand—coming from a three-year-old it was truly something. Most likely she didn’t know much either and didn’t want to admit it.

Reaching the beach of white sand that gave the name to their village, Mat enjoyed the warmth under his bare feet. It was early spring and not yet scalding, making it perfect together with the chill breeze coming from the sea.

Most importantly the tide was fair. The six moons orbiting Elydes influenced the sea in complicated ways. Usually, the moons somewhat balanced each other out and the tide was ‘fair.’ When they aligned, they could create extremes of both high and low tide.

Fishing was the main livelihood in the archipelago, which was why each village had a tideseer who studied the moons and predicted the tides. In Whiteshore that was his mother’s duty.

There was no magic involved, just tons of charts and mathematical formulas. Alana had shown them to him, but this time it was he who decided he was too young to understand.

It was still early morning, the only people around were the fishermen, their small boats with white sails visible in the distance.

The day must have been successful, a group of three were traveling in a tight formation. Kai knew it meant they were dragging along a fish too big for their boats. Looking at the darker waters on the horizon, Kai was filled with equal parts of unease and wonder.

Alana had assured him no scary awakened fish came close to the shore, but after looking at the behemoths the fishermen dragged behind, he couldn’t stop being slightly nervous.

Thankfully, for more than a mile the water was clear and shallow, his little legs could barely scratch the bottom. If something decided to swim to shore, he would see it coming.

His mother was the swimming teacher of the day, but before they could start there was one last step. Alana walked to the waves, with one hand toward the sea and one holding the pendant on her neck.

The pendant depicted two concentric circles crossed by a line, a sacred symbol in the archipelago. The outer circle represented the sea, the inner one the islands of the Baquaire Archipelago, and the line the people who inhabited them.

The islanders made offerings to their ancestors and to a number of spirits that were said to inhabit the archipelago. The entities venerated changed from village to village, except for two. The most important and powerful. Today he needed to ask the favor of one of them.

Alana started to solemnly speak, “I ask for the favor of Kahali, the venerable spirit of the sea and protector of our shores. Grant us your favor and accept my son into your waters. May he join his ancestors as a descendant of the sea.”

She continued chanting her plea for Kahali’s blessing, throwing Mat an encouraging glance. She told him what he had to do a hundred times and it wasn’t anything complicated.

He must kneel with his hand stretched forward a palm beyond the waves and wait for the water to touch him first. Only then would he be allowed to dive into the sea.

Unless you were truly unlucky and chose a period of falling tide, it was inevitable for a bigger wave to come, but how long it took varied. If it happened in the first seven waves you were considered blessed by Kahali, but if you had to wait for more than seventy it was a bad omen. The spirit of the sea cared for all the sons and daughters of the islands, but he had his favorites.

Mat found it odd to give importance to something that wasn’t your merit. He didn’t care, it was only luck—or fate if you wanted to be fancy.

Standing with his family watching him in anticipation, he admitted he might care a little bit. Just a tiny bit.

Each wave passing came as an eternity, their slow rhythmic crashing the judge of his worth.

One wave…

Two waves…

Three waves…

Four waves…

Oh, c’mon! I know I’m from another planet, but I promise I’ll become a perfect believer if it takes less than the fourteen waves it took Keandra.

He could already imagine the disappointment of his parents as the waves passed without bothering to go an inch farther.

Suddenly, the cool water touched his fingers, it was the seventh wave.

Without wasting time, Mat ran into the crystal waters, not waiting to hear his family’s exclamations. The water was too cold for his taste, but his elation made him ignore the unpleasant sensation.

Keandra is going to be so jealous.

Turning back to his family, he accepted the praise with grace. His father wasn’t native to the islands, but still looked at him proudly. Alana’s smile was the brightest.

It was nothing, my genius can’t help but shine through. Some people are so exceptional they can’t help it.

Eleni was also smiling cheerfully, while Keandra stood frozen with her mouth closed in a thin line, her little fists clenched at her sides. He almost felt bad for her. Almost. The best he could do was not smirk at her, there would be time for that later.

After basking in the moment, it was time to get started. The rite of passage would not be complete until his first swimming lesson concluded, and the temperature of the water was getting to him. It wasn’t freezing, though not far from it. He had always hated cold showers.

Rubbing his arms, he asked Alana to begin the lesson. Mat wasn’t an Olympic swimmer, but he had learned the basics in his previous life.

“The first thing to remember is that your body floats in the sea, you need to remain calm and let the sea carry you if you are worried.”

She was a great teacher, explaining each step and demonstrating it, remaining patient when he didn’t get it immediately. Naturally, Mat was using his Acting skill to its full potential.

Once he proved to his mother he mastered the art of not drowning, they passed to some simple movements. After half an hour, Mat was left free to practice under his parents’ hawkish gazes.

He was sure most children didn’t have such long sessions, but Keandra insisted on continuing for hours on her first lesson, lasting until hunger won her out. Thanks to his abnormal sister, his parents didn’t even argue when he said he wanted to continue.

Keandra said she wanted to practice her skill and joined in, dragging a reluctant Eleni behind. She was too damn competitive, but it offered the perfect opportunity to act while Rellan and Alana were distracted. Relying on his past memories and experiences, he adjusted his form, taking a few strokes back and forth. It didn’t take long to get the expected result.

*Ding*

New skill learned! Swimming (lv1) – Increases your movement proficiency in the water.

Mat tried to hide his glee, going underwater before yelling his triumph. That had been easier than expected, his past life experience wasn’t useless after all.

He wanted to continue practicing, until he saw Alana glance his way. If he started swimming expertly there was no way no one would notice. Keandra would throw a fit if she knew he destroyed her record. While funny, it would be problematic.

I can never enjoy good things.

He reminded himself she wasn’t even four. Even technically older, he had to be the responsible big brother—at least a little.

Better make the best of the occasion. He hadn’t been allowed near the sea until today, playing around in the water wasn’t half bad. He didn’t need to worry about what people would think if he acted goofy or talked to himself. In this case, being a child meant total freedom.

*Ding*

Weekly Summary: Life Experience: 98 XP – Skill Experience: 200 XP

XP from Swimming, and I must have leveled Acting too…

No profession detected… XP siphoned toward race enhancement.

Red: 10,000/10,000 XP

Congratulations, race enhancement available!

Beginning enhancement from Human (Red★) to Human (Red★★) …

Wait! You mean like right no—

Mat’s next thoughts were interrupted as a pulsing heat started to expand from his heart with each beat. A few seconds later, his whole body felt on fire, the cool water of the sea doing little to help. Wasn’t the worst pain he ever felt. When he broke his arm in fifth grade it had hurt worse, but it hadn’t affected every single part of his body.

He couldn’t avoid moving his arm to ease the pain, even floating perfectly still, the burning was ceaseless. Each beat of his heart caused a new wave of liquid fire to spread from his chest to the tip of his toes and fingers.

Fuck—! Mat screamed underwater.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain started to recede. With each beat it was a little less intense, the coolness of the sea embracing him finally recognizable. He tried to move his fingers to see if it would cause any pain, it didn’t.

His eyes shot open to analyze the situation, he was still underwater. Mat pushed with his feet on the seafloor to reach the surface an instant later. Strangely, there wasn’t a desperate need for oxygen like he expected.

A few deep breaths later he felt fine, better than fine actually. His parents were smiling at him, mistaking his actions for a child’s antics.

It must have been way shorter than I thought.

He was tempted to check his status to see the changes, but the burning pain had given way to a wave of bliss. As if he just received the best massage of his life after running a marathon, each part of his body was relaxed.

Wanting to enjoy the sensation a little longer, he let his body float beneath the waves. The surface was close overhead, yet he could have been in a different place entirely. Rays of light filtered from above. The world was quiet, but not scarily silent. The muffled sounds of the waves and his sisters playing present in the background.

He was at peace and didn’t have to worry about anything or anyone. There was only him, but he wasn’t alone, the sun and sea kept him company, while the waves gently rocked him back and forth.

Mat closed his eyes. No thoughts or worries bothered his mind, he was even more relaxed than after a session of Meditation.

He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so at peace, if ever.

Tiny motes of light appeared all around him. At first, there weren’t many, then hundreds more, thousands, too many to count. The whole world burst alight, yet his eyes were closed.

Myriads of tiny dazzling particles revolved around him in apparent chaos. He could feel there was some underlying pattern. He could almost see th—

A brush movement woke him up from his reverie. He was out of the water, gasping for air. He hadn’t felt the need to breathe a moment ago, now he couldn’t get enough no matter how many breaths he took.

Alana had pulled him out of the water and was still holding him firmly. “Are you okay, Kai? You were underwater for more than a minute. What were you thinking, I thought you’d drown.” Rellan stood beside Alana looking at him with equal parts panic and relief.

Today his perception of time was really shit. There was no need for air before. He didn’t dare think what would have happened had he been alone.

That put an abrupt end to the day. As they walked back home, he took a moment to try and understand what happened. Mat’s eyes fell on a flashing light in the right corner of his vision, showing a notification he hadn’t acknowledged.

The Guide’s messages came and went as they pleased—which frustrated him in no small part. However, he had to consciously glance at them at least once. If he got one while he was sleeping or focused on something else, he would get that annoying pinging light.

Wondering if he got more levels in swimming, Mat willed the notification to appear.

*Ding*

New skill learned! Mana Sense (lv1) – Remove the veil and see what lies beyond.

Now, that explains a few things… There’s still a chance to learn forbidden magic and give a try to world domination.