1 Death and Rebirth

I lived a good life I suppose. I grew up with great grades in school and participated in sports, though I always felt out of place even in team sports. As I got older I withdrew and separated myself from others. Not particularly ugly or handsome, just mundane and plain.

As I withdrew I became fascinated with books, anime and shows. Immersing myself into stories of Sword and sorcery, zombies and demons. Reincarnation and isekai themed stories naturally drew my attention, and I read as many that interested. From slimes, to being locked inside games, transported to new worlds, and then I found fanfics of those novels and consumed them as well.

Not that this is particularly interesting to you I imagine, but it has a purpose. As I find myself in this very situation right now. Recently smushed under the tires of what many would call Truck-kun or Truck-Sama. I now find myself a floating apparition of my past self, with another floating though solid, being in front of me.

He looked like the typical wizard or wise old Sage from all the novels I had read. Long pristine white hair that reaches his lower back, and a beard that reaches even further. Billowy robes that reach past his feet, and splay out as if there was a floor even though he's floating. He finally speaks.

"Welcome young soul, this is my domain. As you've figured out already you are here because you died. A sad fate for such a young soul, and even sadder as I accidentally caused it."

My eyes widen at the revelation, that these beings do exist and meddle with our world everyday.

"So what happens now?" I ask as I stare into his eyes, and see no small amount of pity. However they quickly change to slight joy as his face wrinkles into a gentle smile.

"Because of your misfortune you have been granted the choice to reincarnate into a world of your choosing, with the option of one wish. Though the wish will have many restrictions depending on the world chosen."

I merely nod as I begin to think, there are plenty of worlds I wouldn't mind being thrown into. Rule a village turned country with an all powerful slime, or maybe a favorite tv show such as Game of Thrones, The walking Dead or Pokémon. However I think I'll choose a book series that had caught my attention in the last couple years. The Beginning After The End by TurtleMe.

A fun story with lots of unexpected happenings as more people than just MC seem to come from his original world. While I only made it to book 7, so I'm not exactly sure how all that came to be. But it's a world with many possibilities as long as you don't mind putting in a little work for it, and as long as I get to keep my memory I can get a head start and help Arthur when the invasion begins.

"So you have chosen 'The Beginning After The End' for your next life, a fitting title I must say. Now what is your wish?"

"Can I have instant mastery?" Not really expecting much, mainly just testing what the being would consider "too much"

"No." He instantly replies.

"How about an increased learning speed. It allows me to understand new concepts quicker and apply the just as quickly. Around 2 times faster than the fastest learners."

(AN: I know people are going to be like "weak wish" and all that, but I only even gave him this wish because he doesn't have any fighting experience from his past life, while Arthur had years of 1on1 duels and various trainings growing up. Not to mention an energy similar to mana in his past life.)

"Granted, you will now be sent to the continent of Dicathen and specifically the floating city of Xyrus. You will be born at the same time as Arthur, use your new life wisely and good luck."

I nod back at him as I start to feel drowsy and eventually everything goes black.

When I wake up again it's to the feeling of water droplets hitting my face, as I open my new eyes I strain to look around to no avail. On top of nothing coming to focus like I want it to, it's also dark and rain continually splatters around my eyes. I snuggle deeper into the warm blanket that covers me.

As my vision clear more and more I notice a piece of paper tucked by my side being protected by my blanket. I look around again and notice that I'm inside a box next to a big wooden door. Further up I can make out writing even in the darkness and realize that it's in English. It's says

"Xyrus Orphanage"

Putting aside the embarrassment, I prepare to do the only thing I can think of to get out of this rain.

"Waaaah waah!"

I begin crying like a baby. Luckily my cries were heard as an elderly woman comes to the door and looks down at me in the box. She looks up and down the muddy street to see no one passing by before looking back at me. A mix of sadness and warmth can be seen in her eyes as she bends down and picks me up and takes me inside.

Once inside she take me out of the box and the damp blanket and wraps me in a new warm one. It revitalizes my infant body, but also brings a strong feeling of drowsiness. Right before I fall asleep, I see she found the paper and begins to read it. Though it's doesn't seem like much was on it as she quickly looks over the paper for more writing before looking back at me.

"You're name is Jaron, Jaron Bordran. You shall live here with me from now on. How does that sound?" She says as she rocks me side to side, the feeling of sleep growing stronger and stronger.

"Sleep little Jaron, sleep as you have a whole life ahead of you."

My eyes finally close again and I fall into a deep sleep. During this I dream, but not a normal dream. Never had I had a lucid dream before, but that's the only thing I could compare this to. I was back in body in my previous life and I was looking at a floating amalgamation of particles that seemed to float here and there with no sense of direction.

Though as I thought about it I realized this must be my mana core! I focused on a particle and willed it to head toward the center and imagined a big glass ball for it to be contained inside. To my surprise it stayed in there, so I began doing that for one particle after the next until I was woken up by walking footsteps.

It seems I had been a sleep for quite a long while as now I could see the sunlight shining through the windows, but what I noticed next was the kind old caretaker who took me in last night. She had a few children maybe a 4 to 5 years old following her straight to me.

The inner loner in me loathed the children that now crowded around me, poking and prodding like I was a new toy. Channeling my new found powers, I released another cry, almost on par with the one I used last night.

"Alright children lets leave little Jay alone. All of you go get washed up for breakfast, and Diane please tell Maeve to come here."

""Yes, head mother."" All the children resounded together, as they turned headed out the room. I once again had to shove down my pride as she began changing my diaper and dressing me in a new pair of baby clothes.

Moments later a slightly older child, maybe around the age 13 walked in. She had long fiery red hair, and was lithe and athletic looking. Freckles dotted her cheeks and she had bright green eyes.

"You called for me, head mother?" She ask while sneaking glances at me, sprouting a warm smile i her face.

"Yes, could you run down to the market and pick up some milk and veggies. We need something to feed our new guest here." The head mother said while rocking me once again.

"Of course! I'll be back before you know it!" She said with a cheery expression and she gazed at me. Then promptly turning around and taking off out the room.

The head mother then took me on a small tour around the orphanage, showing me the small backyard we had along with the kitchen and the many bedrooms we had. It's a lot better of an orphanage than I would have expected for a semi medieval type of civilization. Sure they had magic, but I had read in plenty of stories where even with magic lots of orphanages were in disrepair.

However Xyrus proved to be a step above, the orphanage had basic plumbing for toilets, sink and baths. The option for hot water was even available, though only in short supply. The head mistress taught basic reading and writing as well as other subjects to all the kids.

I know this because while she was teaching them, I was once again working on my mana core. Some would think I should pay attention as it might be important, but I have plenty of time to learn that stuff. While with mana the earlier you start the better. Arthur had to wait until he could crawl before he even learned to start forming his, so I have at least a few head months start on him.

Not to mention with the multiple kids that the head mother has to keep track of and give attention to, there is plenty of time for me to focus on bringing my mana together. Arthur was able to form his mana core just a little before his 3rd birthday, so surely with my increased learning speed and my head start I should be able to form at least at the same time. Ideally sooner though.

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Author's Note

Welcome to my fanfic for TBATE. I read the first book of this back in 2018 I believe and have been a fan of the series ever since. Though I didn't know they had a comic, so I'm definitely going to have to check that out.

Anyways I wanted to get the introduction/prologue part of the story out of the way. If you're like me where you've read tons of these type of stories (reincarnation) you really only need to know what world they chose and what kind of advantages they got lol. So I tried to make it short and jump right into the story.

I may spend like 1 or 2 chapters as infant Jaron, haven't decided yet, but it won't be a long time. Also remember just because Jaron will form his mana core before Arthur (spoiler) doesn't mean he's stronger than him. Arthur has decades of combat experience while MC has none, he has ideas and theory but never actually done it himself.

I'm not planning on MC being "overpowered" I use quotation marks because I want him to be at Arthur's level and if you have read then books/comic( assuming since you're reading a fanfic about it) then you know that he's overpowered himself in a lot of ways.

Last thing, MC will not be a Quadra elemental, but he will be a dual elemental deviant. I plan for him to be able to use the Sound and Lightning deviant of wind and fire respectively. No particular reason other than I like them. Also MC won't meet Arthur officially until the academy. Not that I have anything against the fanfics that did meet him right away as I am currently enjoying them on my other account. They are also what inspired/convinced me to want to make my own.

Thanks for reading.

-SocioPhobia