Betrayal

Inaction is action in and of itself. To do nothing and accept the way of life that had been forced upon us was something I saw as a crime. Those who resign to their fate are no better than those forcing the fate upon us.

I wouldn't be like them. So I fought. It was painful, difficult, and lonely, but my suffering was not for nothing. With only one man I could truly trust, one man I could call a brother, we had triumphed. Finally, I had achieved the chance to completely overturn the oppression and defeat of my people. Victory was within my grasp, and yet here I kneel, my vision swaying and a bright light overwhelming my sight. I looked up to my friend, desperate for help, but instead of any worry, confusion, or concern,

I was greeted by a smirk on his face.

I had suddenly regained consciousness, but the bright light didn't seem to be dimming whatsoever. Overwhelmed by confusion, I let out what I believed to be a guttural roar, only to be greeted by the irritating racket of a baby… crying?

"Impossible, I could've sworn I sounded at least a tad bit manlier," I scoffed to myself.

Or so I tried, instead what came out sounded more like, "uwaawaua."

At long last, my vision seemed to be returning. I steadied myself, readying for combat, but was instead greeted with a strange woman patting my head. I instantaneously moved to push her away, but found myself lacking any strength in my arms.

On second thought, lacking arms altogether.

"Congratulations on a beautiful baby boy!" At those words, my mind whirred, finally piecing together all the strange happenstances over the last minute.

I'm a… Baby?

My brain spun. Just a second ago I had been…

Betrayed.

Despite the questions threatening to overwhelm my mind, an intense frustration kept my head from clouding. That bastard. I had it all… WE had it all. And yet—-

"Peekaboo!"

Can you shut the hell up you crazy man? I'm trying to think here—

I did a double take. A man with short black hair and a goofy look on his face was leaning over me. Oh yeah. Seeing his face had snapped me back into reality, though reality wasn't making much more sense than my memories.

I'd been reincarnated. It had taken me a few days to fully wrap my head around that fact, but I was sure of it now. Damn it. It really left a bitter taste in my mouth, the way things had ended. Even so, I realized that dwelling on things you can't do anything about served no real purpose, so I was trying my best to put it behind me and adjust to my reincarnation. After all, I could use a bit of a break. Hey, maybe this is God's messed up way of rewarding me for all my hard work.

I was born into what seemed to be an average family, with a loving mother and father, Hazel and Cedric Velor. I am now known as Ikarus Velor, a name that I find a bit corny. Am I really gonna have to introduce myself to girls as Ikarus? I sound like a superhero! And not in a good way.

My mother was a pretty and gentle woman, with an impressive amount of energy. She radiates a warmth that would cheer up anybody, with long, light brown hair and soft features. My father was a tall, sort of scary looking man, with a small scar running down his cheek. He had short, black hair and a bulky build, like the kind of guy who would carry a battle axe around. He wasn't a bad guy though, and would regularly mess around with me, assuming himself to be some kind of comedian as he repeated the peekaboo game time and time again.

I also have an older sister named Elise, who took after our dad as far as her hair and features, with wavy black hair and a sharp face. She looked to be around sixteen, though she was rather tall with a slim build.

For whatever reason, she regards me strangely and seldom interacts with me. Frankly, it hurt a little. She looks at me like I'm some kind of freak. Though she is rarely home, venturing off to somewhere I lack the developed vocal cords to ask her about. The strangest thing about her though, was the small fox-like creature that I sometimes noticed perched on her shoulders. It was white with teal stripes that looked more like runes than an animal's stripes.

On occasion, I noticed its gaze bearing into me, its golden eyes seemingly teeming with intelligence. What the hell is that? That sure wasn't like any other fox I'd seen. And everybody here just accepted that thing as normal?

From the few glances I had out the window in my mothers arms, I noted that we were not in a particularly urban area, something more akin to a small town. But our house for one, seemed a little too rural. It lacked all sorts of modern amenities that I appreciated, including even electricity.

Luckily enough, wherever I had been reincarnated was somewhere they spoke the same language as I. Unluckily enough, the written characters in this place were completely different from the language I was used to. Despite the few books we had around the house, I couldn't even begin to decipher anything in them. This struck me as strange, because I wasn't aware of any other writing systems for my language.

Anyway, let's jump forward a few months. Was I your average baby, I wouldn't have been able to comprehend anything going on in my surroundings. However, with the knowledge of my past life, sitting around all day everyday doing nothing but crying for food has been…

Driving me absolutely insane.

Which is why I have been especially in a rush to develop my muscles, at least enough to walk. And I am proud to announce, for the first time today, at an incredible six months old, I have stood up!

"This isn't all that difficult," I thought to myself. "Might as well go for a few steps while I'm at it!"

That quickly proved to be a mistake.

Oh sh—

A large thud resounded throughout my household.

I heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, and saw my mothers face laced with worry as she scooped me up from the ground and felt the bleeding bump on my head.

What's she doing? Ow! Stop pushing it, call a doctor!

Then she went silent, as a look of concentration glazed over her face.

A green aura began emanating from her palm, growing brighter and tinting our surroundings.

Her concentrated yet serene gaze combined with the viridescent light glimmering across her face made her look almost ethereal.

The pain I had felt just moments ago had completely disappeared.

I was fascinated. In utter awe.

What the hell was that?

In all my life– including my past one, I had never seen anything like this. My baby self squealed and giggled excitedly, though admittedly I might have done the same as an adult.

In the corner of my eye, I saw my sister with a slight smile tugging at her lips. It was the first time she had regarded me with anything other than uneasiness and agitation, so I felt a strange sense of triumph.

"Whew! How d'ya like that" my mother turned to my father with a gleeful expression. "Looks like I'm still a kickass mage just like back in the day!"

Mage? As in magic mages?

"I'm not sure I remember you being much of a mage." My father said with a laugh. "The only magic you knew was healing and a little bit of water."

"Whaaaaaat? I was too!" My mother replied with a pouty expression.

"Where do you think Elise got it from!"

"That remains a mystery," my father said, nodding his head.

Magic, magic, magic! Are my parents nerds or something? No, sure enough, my mother did just heal my injury with the palm of her hand. So that means…

The corners of my lips rose into a big grin. For the first time since my rebirth, I felt I was ready to let go of the grudge I had been holding against the ending of my past life.

I want to do magic!

"Ohoho! Something's got little Ikarus all riled up!" My mother exclaimed as I wriggled around with excitement.

"He's probably just happy his father is here!"

No, you idiot.

"Think so? I'll let you take him to his crib then. It's already quite late anyway."

That night, I laid down in my crib facing the ceiling, unable to sleep. I couldn't get my mind off of the magic my mother had used. If she could heal an injury like that, what else could you do with magic?

Suddenly I heard a creak at the door, followed by the glow of candlelight spreading around my room. A slim-figured lady uncomfortably shuffled into my room, her long wavy black hair and sharp features illuminated by the candle flame. Huh???? I thought you hated me! Don't tell me… She's come to assassinate me!?

"So, you've taken a liking to magic?" my sister asked in a whisper.

I squealed and shifted about in response.

She briefly eyed me with surprise, caught off guard by my comprehension of her words. She held in one hand a plate with a candle, and in the other a dense book.

"Well, I doubt you'll understand anything I'm about to read to you, but I can't sleep, and I've got nothing better to do." She muttered, more to herself than to me.

"Very well." she said as she began to read aloud.

"The Principles of Modern Magic. Chapter one."

"In every living being, there is mana. It flows through you like the blood in your veins. There are four core elements of mana, being fire, water, wind, and earth. Every person who is magically inclined will have an affinity to one of the four, or in rare cases, many of the four."

"An affinity is the natural form that mana takes for the user. Just because one has an affinity towards a certain element however, does not mean they are completely barred from using others. Their proficiency will simply be much lower. If using magic one has an affinity to is like walking down a flat path, then learning magic one is not inclined to is akin to hiking up a mountain with a boulder tied to their back. The majority of mages will be inclined to only one element, and different races have different probabilities for which element that is."

"There are two key aspects for the use of mana. Mana capacity, and mana control. Mana control can be improved through training and practice. Mana capacity cannot, as it is determined at birth."

She paused. "Huh?" She gave a confused and disapproving look at the book. "That's just not true…" She mumbled. "Ah whatever." She continued.

"It is believed that everyone has the potential and capacity to perceive mana, but many never gain the ability for lack of trying, or whatever other reason."

As she read, her uneasy expression slowly faded away into a more relaxed one. By how she rushed her way through, it seemed she was doing this more for her own amusement, instead of genuinely attempting to teach me.

But I was learning.

"The power of magical attacks are determined by the amount of mana that is condensed into the attack. This depends on both the capacity of the user, and the users ability to utilize that capacity and implement it into the attack. This being said, one can have an immensely large mana capacity, but without proper knowledge on how to utilize it, they could be ineffective in combat. The same goes for one with precise control, but lacking in the capacity department."

She continued into an explanation of how one is initially able to gain familiarity with mana by feeling the mana already flowing around them and concentrating some of it into one place.

"Feel the mana flowing around you and take hold—- alright, I think that's enough for tonight." she said as she let out a laugh seeing me using all my willpower to keep my damned baby eyes from closing. NO! CONTINUE! I can't believe this…

She blew out the candle and tiptoed out of my room as I fell into slumber.

Life over the next two years was simple and quiet, but significantly more enjoyable than my first few months as a baby. I tried my best to play the role of a real baby, slowly progressing through learning speech, reading, and mobility.

Elise continued to read to me at night, with books that she brought from her job. I had attempted to find books I could read throughout my house, but the random ones I was able to read from our bookshelves seemed to be less reliable, so I stuck to listening to Elise. Occasionally my parents would read me fairy tales that while somewhat resembled those of my past world, undoubtedly had an otherworldly twist. There were many stories detailing the triumph of the "Heroes of Light" as they fought off the "Shadow warriors" or whatnot.

Being read different books at night allowed me to learn more and more about the "mana" of this world. The information and techniques for feeling and taking control of mana seemed helpful, but despite my continued efforts, I had yet to sense much of anything. And it was pissing me off. I just wanna do magic, man.

From what I'd heard through my parents' stories and remarks, we lived in a nation known as Debril, in a small town just outside of Camidinne, the largest city in the nation. Debril was ruled by a royal family, which irked me, as in my old world's history royal families tended to end poorly for almost all involved.

This world heavily valued power, though it made sense with all of the magical abilities one could utilize, and how advanced swordsmanship and other forms of combat were. There were some who chose not to focus on magic and stuck to more traditional weapons, it seemed that even without them willing it, if one was talented enough at their trade, mana would come to their aid. Whether through strengthening and protecting the users body, or strengthening the weapon they wielded. My old world had no such mana, at least that anyone was aware of, but was similar in the value placed on combat ability.

"Is it okay if I take him outside with me?" my sister asked, snapping me out of my train of thought.

"Glad to see you two getting along so well now," my mother replied gleefully, though with a subtle complicated expression that was quickly masked.

"Once we finish breakfast, go ahead. Just be back before dinner and don't do anything dangerous," my mother said with an uncharacteristically stern look on her face.

What could be so dangerous that my sister has a reputation for doing?

"Got it."

Either way, I get to go into town! My mother had been awfully protective of me and not allowed me to do much wandering, so I was eager for this chance.

After breakfast, Elise and I set out. My mother insisted that she not let go of my hand, because she was sure I would "run off". Pffff, am I really that untrustworthy? Though I totally would.

The small town we lived in was named Damerel. The streets were filled with children playing, citizens going about their daily lives, and street merchants pestering every unfortunate passerby. A far cry from my old world—- agh, best not to think about it.

There were many children and teens working with their parents on farms or other businesses, so I guess there isn't much of an education system in this world. It seemed that schools for honing magic or other trades were largely optional.

As we walked through our small town down a cobblestone road, I noticed a lot of strange looks being tossed upon us. They went from being happy and almost prideful when they saw my sister, to confusion and disgust when they saw me.

Wait a second here. Am I an ugly ass baby?

In fairness, I'm not a huge fan of babies myself, but the blatant looks of disgust I was receiving was outrageous.

My sister, noticing the gazes as well, looked as confused as I felt.

"Elise, you had a baby!?" a voice rang out from behind us.

Ah, so that's it. Thank goodness, I thought I was ugly!

My sister's face flushed. "Wha– no thats—"

"I can't believe this!" exclaimed a scrawny boy with short green hair and unusually pointy ears. "What kind of a prodigy has a child at 18?" he rambled on. "The council won't stand for this– this whorish behavior!"

Whoaa. Not cool dude.

His ramblings were cut short as the atmosphere grew heavy. A faint mist infused the air, and the simple act of breathing was made an impossible task.

An otherworldly suffocating pressure, like being crushed under the weight of the earth itself, bore down on me. Desperately, I looked up to my sister for help, only to see her now golden eyes fiercely locked on the poor scrawny boy, sharper than daggers. The poor man crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Elise—- I can't—-" I gasped.

After what seemed like years, but was in truth just a few seconds, my sister glanced down, finally noticing my gasps for air. The crushing pressure suddenly dissipated as my sister quickly transitioned to a terrified and worried expression.

As I violently caught my breath, I felt a change in my perception of the world. All around me, and especially around Elise, I felt it.

That was mana.

That crushing sensation, rendering all those in its reach entirely helpless.

That was the power of mana.

It truly was everywhere. Every facet of life contained some form of mana, which was now clear as day to me.

The day my sister accidentally unleashed her aura, it felt like my eyes had been pried open from a nap, only to awake facing the sun. A complete sensory overload, my brain struggling to process this newfound sense, the ability to perceive mana.

However, not only could I perceive it in others, I could feel it in and around myself.

After the incident in town, my sister quickly rushed back home, worried she had hurt me. My mother had given her an earful, insisting she be more careful as to not accidentally kill me.

It turned out that my sister was not your average mage. Deemed a child prodigy, she was whisked off to the central academy of Camidinne, the most prestigious academy in the entirety of Debril and studied until she graduated at only ten years old.

Since then, she had apparently been working closely with the higher ups of the royal family, but she wouldn't tell me much about what she actually did.

Inspired by the knowledge of her great success, I quickly got to work in an attempt to begin mana manipulation. The book had said to envision it like the blood running through your veins, but It wasn't like I could manipulate my blood flow. My first goal would be something simple, perhaps creating a sphere of raw mana. I figured that would be easier than trying to do anything with elements as of yet.

I sat down into a position like a meditating monk. I could feel the mana all around me, floating randomly. I tried to move it as if it was a muscle, clenching and unclenching, but nothing seemed to be happening. I felt, and probably looked, like an idiot. Repeatedly, I tried forcing the mana to at least move, but there was no result.

Frustrated, I tried to at least re-visualize my goal. I closed my eyes, and envisioned the mana all around me coalescing into a compact sphere in the palm of my hand. I got a little carried away with the concept, and began imagining it becoming more and more compact, and glowing brighter and brighter.

Then I opened my eyes.

In my palm was a rapidly spinning, dangerous looking ball of condensed raw mana. Uh oh.

Frantically, I called out for my sister, as the ball began spinning more and more rapidly out of control. She burst into the room, her eyes widening as she witnessed the scene in front of her. She moved with a seemingly instantaneous speed, and she was suddenly on the other side of the room, and had opened the window.

"Throw it out, now!" she shouted, urgency laced in her voice. I tried to do as she said, but it remained just above the palm of my hand, sticking to me like some kind of parasite.

Suddenly, I remembered how I got myself into this situation in the first place. Closing my eyes, I aimed my palm towards the window, and imagined the ball flying outside into the air, and then dissipating.

Only one of those things happened.

The unstable ball of mana flew with remarkable speed into the air, then shrunk in on itself and appeared to disappear, but it was sucking in ambient mana from the atmosphere almost like a black hole. Time stood still for a moment as I saw my sister cover herself in a protective layer of mana, and leap to cover my body with hers.

The last thing I remember was a bright white flash coupled with the sound of a large explosion, before being sent flying into the wall and fading out of consciousness.