My SI Stash #24 - Life's Illusion by BETAsatchel (Fairy Tail)

-A pessimistic angsty SI that kind of became Fairy Tail's stoic older brother.

*MC with illusion ability. If you like an OPMC that never loses don't read this. If you're not into OPMC, try it out!

(^^ゞ

Sypnosis: Where one life ends another begins. Dead in one world reborn in another. That is what happen to me. I'm now on Earthland, a place full of magic and I get stuck with Illusions. Magic that other mages consider party tricks. Add on that the place is all about family and friendship both things that I am mentally unable to fully understand. I'm screwed, aren't I?

Rated: T

Words: 151K

Posted on: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13275545/1/Life-s-Illusion (BETAsatchel)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1+2 (exceptional)

Do you ever wonder if your life is real or just one big dream?

I wondered this for a rather long hour one night before I went to bed. Then I died. Don't know how the last thing I remember is falling asleep then waking up in a white void that stretched for miles. Lovely place if you have plenty of free thoughts.

Spent a rather long amount of time there before I just blacked out and woke up in the body of a baby. Still not quite sure if I was reborn or just got so bored I made up some dream world in that white void. Still remember my birth, unfortunately. It was squishy, cramped and smelled horrible. At least my new parents were happy.

So now I'm named Bishop Vern. Apparently, my new dad is a big fan of chess. Speaking of new parents, I am now convinced that something tragic is going to happen soon to me considering how ….um…. Supportive they are. Gave off a too good to be true vibe. The kind you feel in a story before a tragedy struck.

"How my little genius doing." Said a woman that look like a poster child for old-style house wife's, with a nice blue dress on, an apron on front, perfect coiled hair and a near inhuman wide smile.

That would be my new mom, Alice Vern. Between her and my new dad, named Derek Vern, they were the nicest parents anybody could ask for and more. A bit too much if you ask me.

I look up from some books I was looking over, moving some light brown hair from my view. "Still looking for magic," I say with a sour expression. I try to ignore how high pitch my voice.

Should probably mention that I'm a 5 years old boy at the moment. Rather glad that my gender stayed the same. I had also decided not to hide my adult-like intelligence and my new parents were quite surprised and happy to find that their new kid was a genius. Felt that trying to hide my intelligence would be too hard and something I would just mess up in the end.

Also turns out that I got reborn in the world of Fairy Tail. Did not take long to realize this considering that the word magic is used in every other sentence here. I had just assumed I had been reborn in my old would until then. A little more digging and questions and the rest of the puzzle piece fell together on where I was reborn. Nice little town in Fiore called Kingston.

The second that I learned what world I was in I set out to learn magic buuuuuut.

I sigh as I look down at all the books I had on the table within my parent's little library. All of them were on basic magic that most common mages used. At first, I tried for some rare and interesting magic, but I soon figured out that I was kind of screwed.

Apparently, my magic core was as developed and deep as an average mage. The magic core is where magic is stored and processed in the body. Very important to mages obviously.

If I had to guess since my soul was that of an adult my core was just as developed as one. The doctor that checked me astonished at this and proclaimed me to be a magic genius on top of being a regular genius. No pressure…

I was ecstatic at first but after spending a few days looking for an amazing magic to learn and after finding a few good ones a rather large downside showed itself. I found that no matter what type of magic I tried none of it would work.

After my parents got concerned they got the same doctor to look at me again and this time he provided some bad news. My channels were not developed like my core.

Magic here worked by having a core where magic is stored and sent out and then there are channels throughout most of your body that carried the magic for use. My core was very developed, but my channels were not.

As a mage trains in magic, their core and channels developed to handle magic, the more they're used the more magic you can pump through them and at a high quality too. My channels were not developed enough for the more potent magic I possessed in my core.

In other words, my magic had both helped and crippled me at the same time. Lovely….

The doctor suggested that I try very simple and basic magic but even that I couldn't quite do. I could feel my magic move slightly when I try the simpler magic but it was still not enough to do anything.

That lead me to my current situation of sitting in my family library trying to find any magic I could use.

My mother's smile dropped a bit before it picks back up. "Well, I'm sure my little genius can figure this out." She said, "Here are some cookies I made and some milk, don't push yourself too hard now ok." She lays some cookies and milk on my table before heading off while humming a song to herself.

Without any hesitation, I dove into the plate of cookies. While my mother chose to not work and instead to stay home to take care of me and the house she was not short any job offers. It seems like anything she touches just tasted of heaven itself and every single restaurant in town knew this.

She turns down offers all the time because dad works as the head manager of the fanciest hotel in town and earns more than enough money for mom not to work. Sadly, it meant that I got to rarely see my dad but considering I was already being drowned in affection with just mom maybe that's a good thing.

Soon the small pile of cookies and glass of milk was gone and for a split moment, I forgot all my problems as I laid back and let out a sigh of contempt.

Sadly, it did not last long as my mind once again turned to my magic problem, and I was once again shifting through book after book. Once a couple of hours had passed I had all but just given up for the day and was lazily just flipping through the pages.

I was just about to call it a night and head to the kitchen to see what mom would be cooking for dinner when I saw something. Most magic in the books were at usually a couple of paragraphs long if not a few pages long. Even basic magic was a good few paragraphs.

With all that said I just stared at one type of magic that barely had a paragraph worth of text to use it, Illusions. In hindsight it made sense, illusions were very simple. Just imagine what you want either an image, sound or both and then let your magic create it.

I had almost missed it in the sea of other words and paragraphs. With a shrug, I read the paragraph and start to try it out.

'Let's see." I mumble. "See an image or sound in your mind and place it. Let your magic flow towards it and guide it with your thoughts." Sounds simple enough and there was no harm in trying.

I closed my mind and half-heartedly imaged a dancing frog with a top hat like in those looney tunes cartoons I watched in my previous life. I open my eyes expecting to see just the wooden floor only for those eyes to widen as a frog in a top hat silently dances on said floor.

I was so startled that I lost my concentration and the frog vanished. I quickly imaged the frog again but this time with sound.

I was meet with a dancing frog blinking into existence with a top hat while it is singing hello my baby. I could only stare as the illusion fade without my mind to guide it.

A small smile broke onto my face before widening to near inhuman levels as the realization of what I had just done popped into my head.

Magic. I had just performed magic. My teeth strained against each other as my smile forced them together. I had found a type of magic I could use.

That smile soon faded as it dawned upon me the only type of magic I could perform was illusion magic. Something that most mages considered a party trick.

In a world where if your magic did not have the word slayer in it or if you weren't some amazing badass, you were near useless.

I am now convinced that this is not some dream I made up in that white void but rather a joke made by some cruel almighty god that is currently looking down upon me laughing.

Fuck my new life.

Chapter 2

I was currently laying in my bed as I contemplated the day I had just had.

The town of Kingston lay quite outside my room as I stare at my ceiling while my lamp on my nightstand stayed on even with all the other light sources turned off. After weeks of trying I had a magic that I could do, and it was considered a party trick by most mages.

Don't get me wrong illusions could be useful. I still remember all the times in my past life I had used illusions to great effect in some D&D games I participated in while at college. The problem was that I either used the illusion to keep a fight from happening or just distracted the enemy until I could use a stronger spell to kill them. Both were not options for me in this world.

At least my new parents were happy for me. Mom showered me with even more affection than usual (How I haven't drowned from it yet I'm still not sure). Dad had a rather proud look on his face as he watched me make an illusion of a man and women dancing in ballroom clothes. Both were insanely supportive of my new magic but that didn't change the fact that illusion was a very bad choice in magic for this world.

At I first I thought I could just use illusions until my channels developed enough for other magics but there was another problem there too. In this world, if a mage used a type of magic long enough then they would Bond with the magic.

The process of Bonding is both very useful and very annoying at the same time. On one hand, Bonded magic was easier to use and uses less magic as well. On the other hand, it became a lot harder to used other types of magic other than the bonded one. There was a reason why most mages had one magic they used and maybe one or two small simple magics to help.

If I keep using illusions sooner or later, I would Bond with it and be stuck with it. It was possible to Bond with two or even more different magics, but it was a very long process that took years if not decades to happen. Time was something I didn't have… at least I think I don't have enough. Not going to lie it's been a while since I saw Fairy Tail and while I remembered the general arcs the little details escaped me. It doesn't help that I never watched passed the Grand Magic Games arc just read some wiki articles.

I'm screwed, aren't I?

With a sigh, I turn to my side as I stare at an Earth Land map in my room. My eyes roamed the map and took in every detail of the rather detailed map. I had got it a few months ago and appreciated it. I knew a war would come to Fiore from an empire whose name I forgot lead by the most powerful dark ever. Also, something about a dragon human thing that was black, ate pure magic and can cause the apocalypse.

Yup, I'm screwed.

I shake my head as I once again focused on the short term. I had to make this magic work. I was given an inch and I'm going to take a mile and then some. If illusions were my weapon, then I would perfect them until they were a force to be reckoned with. All of this was a lot easier said than done.

With another sigh, I start to drift off to sleep with a single thought in my head 'I will survive.'

As I stood in my room staring at my reflection in the full-length mirror only one thing came to my mind 'God I am so skinny.'

I was very thin even with all the food my mother provides me which I just assumed that I got lucky with genetics. I was short and had a very round babyish face with blue eyes and short light brown hair that was slicked back just how I liked it.

After staring at my reflection for a good few minutes I decided that I needed to get into shape. Yes, I'm a five almost six-year-old boy but considering the future I really need to be in shape to help me fight any opponent I would face. I would also like some sword training but that could wait until later.

As ideas about how to gain muscle mass were circulating through my brain I heard a shout from downstairs. "Bishop Sweetie, breakfast is ready!", mom shouts upstairs in a calm and even voice even though she was shouting. Just another question to add to the mystery that is my mother.

I head downstairs and make it to the dining room and notice that dad wasn't here. I take a set and ask, "Where's dad? He's usually here for breakfast."

Mom looks up from the sink where she's putting the dirty dishes in. "He got a call from the hotel and he's needed for a very important guest that going to be there soon." She says with her wide inhuman smile on her face. She soon takes a set as well and starts to eat the pancakes she made.

About halfway through the meal, she asks me a question. "Is something wrong Sweetie? You've got a contemplative look on your face," she says with a tilt of the head.

I pause for a second, then I speak up. "I was thinking of getting some exercise in." I look towards my skinny arm as I talk. "I'd like to gain some muscle."

Mom looks at me in confusion and asks, "Why? You're too young for something like that and what do you need muscle for?"

I look at her face as I say, "I don't want to get buff or anything just to get some power in my body. If I'm stuck with just illusion magic some strength would be a nice thing to have."

Mom just smiles another wide inhuman smile as she lets out a chuckle. "Well", she says "If you just want some muscle for that then I can help."

I look at her with a raised eyebrow. Mom is by no means unfit but I've never seen her work out before. Not to mention that she herself is rather skinny like me too. She notices my look and simply smiles wider (somehow) and she stands up. Then in a moment, I would not be forgetting soon she lift the table full of food and other stuff with one hand like it's nothing.

I let out a "what" as I just stare at her. She's just holding the heavy table with one hand and no sign of trouble at all. Yet another thing to add to the mystery that is my mom. She after about 10 seconds put the table down and looks at me.

"You don't think I just lay around the house all day when I not cooking, or cleaning do you?", She says in a very gleeful voice and a sly look.

After a few more seconds of staring I say, "I really didn't know what you did other than cook or clean. If you can help me mom then I would be grateful for it."

"Oh, don't say that", she says with a far too happy voice. "After we get things done here I have a feeling you not going to be thanking me anymore." As she says that her inhuman smile gains a rather scary edge to it.

'What have I done' was the only thing that I could think of at that time. Be careful what you wish for you might just get it and then some.

Dad was a decently tall fellow that often wore brown leather suit vest with a bow tie and a round lens glasses. He has the same color hair as me that has been neatly combed and somehow makes a handlebar mustache look good. Basically, what anyone thinks of when they think of a 19th-century businessmen.

Currently, he was looking around nervously at the shop me and him were in. I had convinced him to take me to a weapons shop and buy me something for my birthday. Convincing him was not easy as he was steadfast in not buying me a thing that could kill me. In the end, I had convinced him to buy me a training sword instead.

It had been a few weeks since mom put me on that hellish training regimen but considering my arms were starting to get a little mass I guess it's working. Even with the training, I need a weapon to hurt people since an illusion wasn't solid. I doubt that an imagery sword will do little in the stabbing department. I guess if the enemy was laughing at the fake sword it would be a good opportunity to run up and punch them. Going to need to write that down for later.

The shop we were in was small but very well varnish one with all manner of weaponry on its walls and selling shelves. The man running it look like a standard blacksmith except his clothes were not full of soot and were actually very nice looking. Guess the man needs to look good for customers.

"Calm down Dad were just getting a dull training sword," I say with a sigh at how the man looks like he's about to run out the store. I am the scared little child and he's the brave big adult, right?

He lets out a little sigh before speaking. "I know son, but I just don't want you to get hurt." He says while looking down at me. "Isn't your mother already helping you get stronger with that training regimen?"

"She is", I say while trying not to shiver at the thought of the training "but having something that could do real damage would be nice."

He gives me a weird look before shaking his head. "It's like you're expecting to be in a war soon." He mumbles out. Ahhhh the simple thoughts of the ill-informed.

Dad soon starts talking to the owner about training swords and other stuff. I don't pay too much attention as I start to look around the shop. Even if I was in a different world all the weapons look like they could be from my old one. To be fair this world was made by someone from my old world so that might just be expected. Still would have liked to see a unique weapon or something while I was here. Maybe a whip sword or something.

As my thought wondered so did my eyes as I looked around the shop when I stopped on a certain blade. It was a saber. My eyes remained looking as memories flooded my mind.

In my past life, I had a grandfather who fought in World War II. He was in a cavalry regiment. He didn't see battle as he and his horse were mainly used to carry things around when cars were not available or couldn't be used. He was given a pistol and a cavalry saber for defense and was quite proud of both. He would show off both to me all the time when I was a kid and I had always thought it neat.

The saber was nothing special just a simple steel curved blade with a nice handle. It looked like it had never been used a day in its life but was an overly well-made sword from the looks of it. Just looking through brought back memories. I wondered how my old grandfather was doing. Probably still complaining about how the kids of today had no respect or about my grandmother's cooking.

As I stared I heard someone walk up behind me. With a quick glance back, I knew it was my Dad. He had a contemplative look on his face as he looked from me to the sword. After a few seconds, he said, "Come on son the good man is bringing out some practice blades for you to choose from."

With a sigh, I head over to look at all the wooden or dull blades. None were of note. All were basic swords that had little effort put into their making. In the end, I just picked a standard dull-looking basic sword and we were on our way out.

After a short walk through town, we got home but before I could get through the door Dad stopped me. He got on his knee and looked straight at me. "You're growing up so fast and it seems like I am missing all of it." He says sadly.

This rather confused me. Dad was by no means a bad parent. He spent most of his day at work but the time he could spend with me he made sure was nice. While I would say I'm closer to Mom he was by no means a forgotten part of my life. Very appreciated. To be fair we did need money to live. Kind of how the world worked.

He rubs my head a little before speaking again. "I talked them into giving me more hours off work, so you'll be seeing your old man more often." He says with a smile. "Genius child or not you still my son and I want to be there for you."

I'm not sure how to handle the news. Sure, I guess it would be nice to spend more time with him but it's not like he needs too. Mom spends more than enough time with me. Why does he feel the need to as well? Good to know people in this world were just as confusing as my last.

Dad gets back on his feet and moves to enter the house. "Were going to have a great time together so be sure to look forward to it ok." He says with a smile to me before heading into the house.

I just stand outside taking in what he said. I was still confused but if he wanted to spend time with me then I'm not going to stop it. Despite how confusing this was I couldn't help a small smile coming on to my face. With that small smile, I walk into the house and get ready for dinner.

It's a shame that dad died a week later.