Reincarnation

After being passed around for several hours, and being hugged and cooed at, they eventually set the baby Keat down to get some rest.

'This is humiliating' Keat thought, as he still had the mind of an adult.

'Be patient, little one. To me, you are still a child.' A familiar voice rang out in his mind.

'Y-you're still here?' Keat thought, surprised. Clearly believing the goddess would've left after reincarnation him.

'Yes, little one. I will give you an advantage over the mortals of this world, but only one. Not far from here, in the forest, there is a set of ruins from this world's last cycle. When you are old enough to cast your first spell, you must travel to those ruins in order to get what the mortals of this world call Tier Up Material. This world is endowed with a system in order to help the mortals gain power. Through this system, you can gain levels. However, in order to level up, you mortals require a class. To get a class, or improve one, you must get special components that augment your class. That is what you will seek out in those ruins.' Yrosa told him, her voice as calming as ever.

'Wait, I have so many questions! What is the Cycle, and Classes? Like in a video game?' Keat asked fervently, trying to decipher this flood of information.

'I cannot answer anymore questions about this world, little one. I have already meddled far more than I was permitted to. But yes, it is similar to your world's video games. It is a concept that most mortals grasp naturally enough.'

'Permitted? But aren't you a goddess? Who could restrict you?' Keat thought in confusion.

'I am A Goddess in a Pantheon, and I am not the Elder one. He permitted me to lend some degree of aid to this world, after the last cycle's performance. The rest, however, will be up to you, young one. Good luck, I am counting on you to change this worlds fate.'

'Wait! You can't just leave me on a cliffhanger like that! What am I going to deal with?!' Keat thought, desperately hoping for an answer, but receiving nothing. After almost an hour of asking a series of questions, he eventually fell into a deep sleep.

Keat spent the first 5 months of his life training his body to walk, as he listened to the maids read. He would constantly grab the books themselves, as he would recognize the words and letters with what was said. By the end of the 5th month, he could read and talk with a limited vocabulary. By his first birthday, he spoke fluently, shocking the maids and family that surrounded him.

Inside the Library, Keat sat reading various books to try and learn his first spell. However, as far as he could tell, not a single one of these books would be able to help him with that. He remembered Yrosa telling him about magic, but not even the fairy tales the old maids told him contained stories of magic or wizards.

"Mom, I was wondering why there are no books on magic people?" Keat asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. He even broke out the puppy dog eyes to really get some results!

"That's because magic corrupts, sweetie. The Wizards might have good intentions, but it rots the soul, dear. Did the maids tell you about magic?" His mother had a warm voice, but her eyes had turned cold as she questioned her son, slowly moving her gaze to the servants.

"Please, ma'am, we didn't! We have no ide-" The older maid began, but she was quickly cut off by Misses Spyre, her eyes glaring at them a far more telling statement than the warmth in her tone.

"No, mom, really, they didn't! I heard it when we went on cart ride." Keat quickly sputtered, obviously realizing the gravity of his error.

"Well, sweetie, you mustn't even think about magic. Eldir tells us it is sinful to practice it; and many wizards have done some really evil things in the past. There are even demons in the mountains that use it to hurt the people in our kingdom. Paladins are the real heroes; just ask your brother Rogar." He mother said as she relaxed her glare and went back to what she was doing previously.

Later that night, as the maids prepared the young noble for bed...

"Little sir, you must not bring up magic around your family. I'm not sure how you heard of it, but it's very dangerous. It hurts people! And the church has ostracized nobles for using it... You must promise me you'll never do it!" She said, growing more frantic as she went.

"Of course, I wouldn't hurtanyone!" Keat said, in his best practiced childlike voice. Refusing to give up, though, he added, "I just don't understand what makes it bad."

"We need wizards in order to do certain things, little lord, but magic is a sin. You will be a big, strong paladin one day! And you wont even care about their little tricks." Was all he could get from her.