Chapter 1 - A New Beginning

"Waaaaa waaaaaaa waaaaaaa"

Stradley's consciousness returned to the sound of a baby crying.

'Ow, my head hurts.'

"Waaaaa waaaaaaaaaa"

'Somebody please shut that baby up, my head is killing me.'

Stradley tried to open his eyes. His eyes felt heavy, like he hadn't slept in days. He finally succeeded in opening them, but it didn't help him understand the situation. Everything was blurry and dark. The room was poorly lit, with wavering orange light like from a fire. He could make out two white things swinging at the top of his vision. He seemed to be looking up at what appeared to be a wooden ceiling. He tried moving, but he didn't appear to have control of himself.

Unable to get the information he wanted he tried something else. 

'System, are you there?' As if by some reflex he posed the question to the A.I. System he had created. He had spent more than the last year of his life developing and conversing with the System, and it had become second nature to him. As soon as he asked the question, he realized that it wouldn't make sense for the system to be working based on his most recent memories.

After a brief delay, he got a response.

[Yes sir.]

'Can you tell me what is happening?'

[Sir, you appear to be a baby.]

'Sorry, what?!'

Stradley attempted to take a deep breath. At the same time, the baby's crying paused for a second.

'System, didn't I die?'

[I believe so sir. I was inactive during the process because something appeared to have interfered with my functions. However, from scanning your memory, you definitely died.]

Just as the System finished explaining, Stradley felt something touch him. He suddenly felt warmer, as if he were pulled into an embrace.

"Shhhhhhh"

He heard a woman's voice and felt his body being tapped on the back. He tried to focus his eyes, and saw an inverted image of a woman's face. She was young looking, likely late 20's, and fairly pretty. Then he heard a man's voice.

"########." The man's voice was gruff, hiding some irritation. The same kind of irritation one would have when they have slept too little, or been woken up too early.

"#################." The woman responded gently as she continued rocking and pacifying the baby, which was Stradley. 

Stradley felt his body getting more and more drowsy. Eventually he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

***

Stradley slowly awakened again, opening his eyes a bit easier this time. This time the room was well lit, with bright sunlight coming through a dirty window. As the fogginess cleared from his mind he started remembering what had happened.

'System, how long have I been out?'

[Roughly 4 hours sir. It appears to be about 8 O'Clock, as the sun rose half an hour ago.]

'System.'

[Yes, sir.]

'Did I reincarnate?'

[That is the most likely possibility. Nothing else would account for you dying and then returning to life in another body.]

Stradley gathered his wits about him, trying to adjust to this new development. At the same time, he felt an unbearable hunger overcome him. As soon as he felt this, his body started moving and crying. 

'I don't seem to be able to control my body yet. That's probably best, I don't think I could act as a convincing baby anyway.'

Not long after, the woman returned, another similar looking woman close behind her. They were clearly close in age and almost certainly related. The second woman was carrying a baby as well. 

'This must be my mother, and I guess the other person is my aunt.'

Stradley began adjusting his mentality.

'This is a new chance at life. I'm not going to waste it.'

His mother picked him up while conversing with Stradley's aunt. They were speaking an unknown language. 

'System, do you recognize this language?' Stradley had heard many languages in his last life, and could recognize most of them even if he couldn't speak them. However, he had no idea what this one was.

[No, sir. This language does not match any known languages of Earth. Sir, it is quite possible that you are no longer in the solar system you are familiar with.]

'Begin analyzing the language being spoken.'

[Yes sir.] As the system responded, a small progress bar appeared in the corner of Stradley's vision.

(1/100%)

'System, scan my body for the A.I. chip'

[Yes, sir. — No chip could be found.]

'Scan my body and display stats, with 10 being an average human male.'

[Yes, sir.]

A status window appeared in his vision.

[Name: Stradley Barnes]

Gender: Male

Age: Less than one year

Stats: 

Strength: 0.1

Agility: 0.1

Vitality: 4

Notes: Host is currently a baby. Estimated age of host's body is 3 months.

No more data is currently available.

After inspecting the status screen, Stradley returned his attention to what was happening to his body. While he was conversing with the system, his body had started feeding on its own. He was currently held tightly to his mother's bosom, and suckling peacefully. The two women had been happily conversing the whole time and the progress bar for the language analysis was progressing smoothly.

(8/100%) 

'System, how long will the analysis take?'

[Estimating time… At current rates, the analysis will take 3 hours. Time could be reduced with more subjects.]

'Scan everyone in the room and display their stats.

[Scanning…]

[Name: Irene (Name gathered from analyzing conversation)]

Gender: Female

Age: 28 Years

Stats:

Strength: 8

Agility: 9

Vitality: 13

Notes: Subject's DNA is extremely similar to that of host, subject is most likely host's mother.

[Name: Stella (Name gathered from analyzing conversation)]

Gender: Female

Age: 30 Years

Stats:

Strength: 9

Agility: 9 

Vitality: 13

Notes: Subject's DNA is very similar to both the host and Irene. Subject is estimated to be the host's aunt.

'Looks like I was right.'

[Name: Lissette (Name gathered from analyzing conversation)]

Gender: Female

Age: 5 Months

Stats: 

Strength: .2

Agility: .2

Vitality: 5

Notes: Subject's DNA is most similar to the host's aunt. Subject is estimated to be the host's cousin.

'Looks like everyone here is family. First things first, I still can't control my body'

'System, help me move my arm.'

[Yes, sir.]

Stradley watched as his small arm lifted from where it was tucked in to grab the thin necklace on his mother's neck. She looked down at him with a gentle smile, before returning his little arm to where it was.

'Well that's a start. I'm still too young, even if I can move, I cannot do very much anyway. I might as well try to learn as much as I can about the world while I'm stuck here.'

'System, scan the environment, try to identify any major differences from Earth.'

[Yes, sir. Scanning…]

[Scan complete - 

Results: 

Atmosphere is very similar to that of Earth. Very suitable for living beings and humans. Gravity is slightly higher than that of Earth. The planet host is on is likely larger than Earth.

Alert! Unknown energy source found. Energy source is unlike any found on Earth. Unable to categorize, more data needed.] 

'A new source of energy, huh? I wonder what that's all about. Those old geezers on Mars would be jealous when they find out that I get to study an entirely new type of energy.'

As he thought this, Stradley began to get drowsy again as he had finished feeding.

'Man, babies really sleep a lot.' He thought this as he fell asleep again.

***

Stradley awoke to a blinking icon in the corner of his vision.

[Language analysis complete, confirmation needed.]

'System, transfer language understanding.'

[Yes, sir.]

Stradley felt a slight pain in his head as knowledge unbefitting a 4 month old baby flowed into his undeveloped brain. At the same time, as if on cue, he began to cry again.

Within moments, his mother entered the room and pulled him out of the basket he had been bundled in. She began whispering to him soothingly, and he finally understood her.

"Shhhhh, hush child. It's okay." She began rocking him back and forth to calm him down. As she did so, Stradley finally got a good look at her features. She had light brown hair and bright emerald green eyes. She had a gentle disposition, which was all too prevalent in the way she was caring for him. As she rocked him, Stradley attempted again to move his body. His little arm moved up slowly and grasped the necklace again.

'Success!'

"You must really like my necklace," she chuckled. "Unfortunately, I can't let you have it."

She gently removed his hand from the necklace. Just as she did so, somebody entered the room.

"What's wrong this time? Is he hungry?" A man's voice sounded through the room. Stradley recognized the voice from the first time he awoke.

"No, he just woke up from sleeping," responded his mother. "He's fine now, see."

She walked over to the man and handed Stradley to him. He awkwardly took him into his arms and looked down at him. At the same time, Stradley got a good look at his face. He had dark hair, tanned skin, and dark brown eyes. He appeared to be in his prime, and his hands were calloused and scarred from hard work. He had a scruffy unkempt beard that gave him a tough look.

'System, scan his stats.'

[Scanning… Scan complete]

[Name: Unknown]

Gender: Male

Age: 31

Stats: 

Strength: 16

Agility: 11

Vitality: 13

Notes: Subject's DNA is very similar to that of the host's. Subject is estimated to be the host's father.

After holding Stradley for a moment, his father handed him back to his mother, then spoke.

"We have to make our way to the city soon. He's almost 6 months old, so he'll have to be tested." 

"I know, I'm just worried about the trip. It'll take a week to reach the city from our village. It's a hard trip for such a young child to make." His mother responded, a worried note in her voice.

"I know," said his father, "but we have to. If we want him to have a better future than us, we have to get his mana affinity tested." His father tried to console his mother, who was still worried nonetheless.

"Why do they have to test him so early? What difference does it make if he's tested now or later?" She complained.

"They test babies this young because that is when their affinity with mana is the highest. As humans grow, mana begins rejecting them unless they train early. At 6 months, we can test a baby's potential in magic."

As he listened to the conversation, Stradley was stunned for a second.

'System, they said "magic" and "mana" correct?'

[Yes, sir. After analyzing the language, these words are the most correct.]

'So, you're telling me there's magic in this world?'

[Exactly, sir.]