Like clockwork...

* * *

Today is my 5th birthday in my second life, a total mental age of 27. I get up early and start the daily quest, channeling mana and physical exercise. I go through the usual day of begging for money, stealing food and getting beat up.

I hope I unlock mana soon. In my first life, I unlocked my mana at 13. A year late, but not terrible. The hardest part of the process is waiting. I can't help but think about the whale and God, the threat that the God mentioned lingers inside my mind as well.

Today is my 7th birthday, mental age of 29. I'm hoping I unlock mana earlier in life this time, rather than a year late. I need a good head start, because I won't have a way out of the Cleras slums without mana or money.

I found a mirror today and looked in it, expecting my usual appearance. Instead of what I was expecting, I now have blue hair and purple eyes. I tug at my scalp a moment out of disbelief, doubling back and looking again. Sure enough, blue hair and purple eyes... there goes my hope of keeping a low profile. 

God, I'm so identifiable with this beacon of colorful hair. How am I supposed to steal stuff now?!?! At least I don't have parents that can criticize me for "dying" my hair... actually, I kinda wish my parents were alive in my second life.

It's not like I could've changed their deaths. Dad died before I was born and Mom died giving birth to me, so there was nothing I could've done to change that. I walk down the alley and towards my piece of cardboard, sitting down. If I'm lucky, the only thing that distracts me is rats.

I have all this future knowledge, but I'm trapped in this damn city. Do I seriously have to wait until I'm 13 to unlock mana?!?

Today is my 14th birthday, mental age of 36. I'm pissed. I unlocked mana late last life, now I'm gonna unlock it even later? God, this is bull... I stand up from my cardboard and walk out of the alley. My blue hair is shaggy and shoulder length, blocking my eyes.

I brush the hair out of my face, walking through the street. I'm scum, truly. Smelly, dirty, poor and weak... as always. The Christmas festival should be coming up soon... my once a year glimpse at all those above me.

I open my system, looking at my stats.

[System interface.]

[Name: Vajra.]

[Alias: Pierce.]

[Mana type: ???]

[Titles: Regressor, Prophesied, System Bearer.]

Another day, another lack of change from my status. I unlocked quests, the store and the inventory, but nothing has made me physically or magically stronger. Irritating. Aren't I supposed to be super overpowered by now or something? I'm actually worse off since I haven't unlocked mana yet.

I'm currently walking through the bad part of town, searching for a specific group of rats that I need to deliver something to. I have cloth over my face, only my hair visible. It's dark enough today to be seen as a different color other than blue, so I'm less identifiable.

At least I've built my own little group of thieves, though. Clyde, John, Doris, etc... all younger children with a talent for pickpocketing... and maybe murder in the future, but I don't want them to do that yet. I turn right and walk into a neighboring alley.

To maximize the effectiveness of thievery, I need to reduce the competition... permanently. That's a burden I can't place on these kids... I need to bear this weight alone. I draw my knife and turn a corner, sticking a man in the neck almost immediately.

I with draw the knife from his neck and crouch down so his blood doesn't get in my eyes, darting past him and towards the 3 other men. These crooks have been terrorizing my crooks for days, so it was well past due. The first man swings only to find that he swung for where I was and not where I was going, my knife landing squarely in his neck.

He clutches his throat, but falls over a second later. I dash towards the next man, simply slashing at his neck. He blocks with his hand, half severing most of his fingers. I don't flinch and instead stab him in the center of his chest since he raised his guard too high. I spin around and kick the last man in the face before he can backstab me. I pounce down onto him and impale my knife through his sternum, the sound of bone breaking echoing in my ears.

To think that I was this capable at this age is impressive, even if these men in particular were fairly weak. I stand up and wipe my brow, turning around and looking behind me. There's a guard stood in the alley, but he turns and acts like he didn't see anything. He could easily kill me, unlike these men, but he chooses not to.

Why would you kill the harmless spider that kills all those pesky flies?

Today is my 15th birthday, mental age of 37. Still haven't unlocked mana, but I know it will eventually happen. Why wouldn't I unlock mana if I was this prophesied child? It's simply a matter of patience at this point.

I've determined that, even without mana, I should be able to pass the entry test for Lumin Academy on physical prowess alone... which means I won't have to be a whaler in this life. I can get a background that gives me respect and become something.

I get up from my newly acquired dingy mattress, stretching my back. Today is the day that I wanted everyone in my circle to get together. I walk out the alley, turning right and walking towards the good part of town. I walk for a few minutes before dropping off the side of the road and going into the sewer, descending through the pipes.

It's not a pleasant place, but we're not exactly pleasant people either. I walk through the pipes, knowing the route by hand. It's maybe a mile of sewer before I reach the gathering place, but it makes sense to me. After all, who in their right mind would think to walk a mile into a sewer system to find a gang?

It smells awful down here... I think. Not that I can smell anymore, but I don't think the place where all the shit goes would smell that great. I eventually reach it, a wide open space where the sewage seemingly hasn't flowed to. The design flaw in the Cleras sewage system, a space that doesn't exist on city maps... god, I'm so smart.

I see the inscription drawn on the wall, the symbol of my gang... The Tunnel Snakes.