Review Responses

Thanks to all the people stopping and leaving a review! I welcome everything except blind hate.

I'll also be responding the reviews before the story was moved too, so don't worry, I didn't forget ya.

Darkoul: Well, I'm glad you liked it! If your warning was to remind me not to rush or be overeager with my story, I'm taking that to heart, don't worry! Thanks for stopping by!

Anonymous: Wah, I was not expecting this large of a review from a guest user. I can totally see where your criticism for the source material of Mushoku Tensei is coming from, and I agree with most of it.

I'll also be honest, it's not like I was planning to leave the 40 years between the end of the story and the epilogue blank, but I really didn't think that anything quite as notable as Rudeus fighting against Badigadi, Kalman III, Gal Farion, and others happened during the rest of his life. I figure he continued doing work for Orsted, stopping Hitogami's minor plots and all that good stuff, while continuing his research and living life to its fullest.

I am planning to have Rudi be quite a bit more mature, given a whole extra life's worth of experience, though. That sort of wise composure that older people give off. This will probably also cause some dissonance, like "Who the hell does this kid think he is?" in terms of hostility or "That's really impressive for your age" in terms of appreciation. It'll be more pronounced than his upbringing as Rudeus, since he was way more knowledge at his disposal.

I really appreciate this kind of review, bringing up some of the reader's ideas for consideration. Thanks for taking the time to write!

darkwolf324: I appreciate the kind words, cheers!

Bane-Existence: Finish it! Haha, if you've made it that far, it's well worth it. Thanks for writing, I'll try my best not to disappoint.

fernando01516: I am so sorry, but I do not speak Spanish. According to Google Translate, you seem to be asking about how I'm setting up Rudeus in Remnant. You'll find out in the chapter! Haha, please enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

yasulong: Wow, another lengthy one! Thanks for writing! Let's get to addressing your points, since you've made some good ones.

I actually disagree with your statement that Rudeus would lack drive simply because he was content with his life before. It might just be the way I view him as a character, but I feel that he can be summed up as a kind-hearted optimist (with a very obvious perverted side) by the time of his death. Sure, reincarnating again is a surprise, and sure, he would've been happy to fade away since he had no regrets. But just because he reincarnated again unexpectedly doesn't immediately mean he goes "Wow, this sucks. I wanted it to be all over with.". What I'm trying to get at is that he wasn't really tired or done with his life per se, but that he was happy enough to let it all go. Also, he's not a very detached person. Receiving love and care from his new family, even if he doesn't need it or he's been through it before, is sure to cause an emotional response of at the minimum, gratitude.

Of course, I'm not going to write that he just jumps in like a maniac like "OH S*** NEW LIFE BABY!". I didn't write out all his thoughts, but he has plenty of time as an infant to think to himself. Not much else you can do at that age, haha.

As for what he would strive for on Remnant...I'd say a good life? Why not make it a goal again? And yes, you could say masquerading as a kid or doing anything like that again would get old, and I would agree with you. But at the same time, people are more comfortable with familiarity, and even if they say "same old, same old" it's not like they'd despair at having to repeat some actions. Plus, Remnant is quite a lot different from his last world, I'm sure he'll find some excitement out there!

And that brings me to your last point, the setting of Remnant vs Rudeus. It's funny, I already addressed that before this review, as you'll see if you read the chapter. I hope you found my idea on the topic satisfactory. I do want to argue against his complete lack of knowledge in Remnant though. I'm not sure you're giving his smarts or his combat ability enough credit. A lot of his knowledge is inapplicable, like you said, due to the shift in technological level, but you forget that he's still an intermediate-level swordsman, an engineer and inventor, and he's just quick-witted in general. He'll have a lot of learning to do, but I'm sure he'll manage.

As for combat, an intermediate-level swordsman is still at the level of the average knight (read: trained officer) in his world, like Luke Notus Greyrat was. And the only reason he was even that low was because he couldn't use "touki", that fighting energy stuff that other swordsman used. Combining his melee techniques and substituting the magic armor for touki made him into the equivalent a saint-level swordsman, if you recall.

That's not even taking into account how much experience he has mixing melee and ranged combat. If he puts in enough effort into learning how to operate non-magical firearms, and he makes proper adjustments for aura and technology, he'll be one hell of a fighter. It's easy to forget that Rudeus was pretty much just below monsters like Orsted, Laplace, etc, because he himself stayed humble and was always surrounded by the few people stronger than him.

Anyways, this response has gotten quite long, but it was fun, so if you want to talk more, please PM me :D.

I truly appreciate the time you took to write this, along with the fact that you've already begun eyeing my story critically. While I do write for fun, I'm always looking to improve. Thanks!

And that concludes my review responses, thank you very much!

Author's Note

Holy-

This ended up being way longer than I intended it to be. Well, it's all about getting settled before the storms start hitting. I hope you all enjoy this setup chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, and don't be afraid to leave a review!

Thank you so much for being here!

Yet Another World

Chapter 1: Infancy Period - Working Hard (Again)

I was abruptly taken out of the darkness, immediately hit by a bright light that blinded me. I screwed up my face in pain, also noticing that my body wasn't responding normally.

What the heck is going on?

The first thing I saw once my vision cleared was a confident-looking woman with dark black hair and sharp green eyes. My refined instincts spoke to me and instantly determined that this woman was indeed very beautiful. She gave off the air of a composed, mature woman. Quite pleasing on the eyes.

However, I then noticed that she looked a bit tired, like she'd just gone through severe physical exertion. And she was smiling very widely at me. But most notably, I noticed that from my perspective, she seemed to loom over me.

Oh no.

I know this feeling. I've had this exact experience before.

As if confirming my thoughts, the woman spoke to someone out of my line of sight, probably behind me. I didn't understand a single word of what they were saying.

"-XXX-XXXXX"

"XXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXX"

Even though she was visibly exhausted, the woman's voice carried a forceful strength with it, but her tone at the moment was friendly. The voice that answered back was a bit softer, in a scholarly way. It was also unmistakably a man's voice.

I was turned around, so I could see the other person. My impression seemed to be right. The man sitting behind me had neat brown hair coupled with a large, but thin beard. On his face sat a pair of circular spectacles. A pleasant looking fellow, but not lacking in any aspect of manliness, either.

"Gaaah. Ugu…" I tried to speak. Of course, I failed.

The woman shifted slightly, and my head tilted forwards a bit. I managed to catch a glimpse of my arm before my position was fixed.

Sausage-like. Small, stubby, and very flabby.

Hah...

I knew it.

I've been reborn again.

Well, there's not much one can do in their first months of life. Not to mention that with or without my consent, my body was set into a rigid cycle of sleeping, eating, excreting, etc.

I remember when I first began my second life, my mind was alive with worries, disbelief, and general confusion. I find that I'm managing to be a bit calmer this time around.

But that didn't mean I didn't have questions.

Why did I reincarnate again?

Concerning my first reincarnation, I was under the impression that some greater force took pity on me and granted me a second chance. But since I then managed to live a life that would be the envy of many, I'd thought it should've been over for me after that.

Perhaps entering the cycle of reincarnation was what happened to everyone? Maybe we're all just born again in different worlds? The only problem with that is that I still have my memories. I know that that can't be normal. No matter how good you become at hiding it, there's no way every single person in a given world would be able to conceal something so life-changing.

So what the hell's going on!?

Huh. Maybe I am still a bit shaken. There's no real purpose in pondering these questions. Once I stopped thinking about why, I began thinking about my current situation.

The couple I saw first are probably my parents, or if not, extremely devoted and loving caretakers. The both of them looked to be in their mid-twenties, older than my late parents were when I was born as Rudeus Greyrat. Older than I was when I had Lucy with Sylphy.

Arghh! It's very strange to think that I'm mentally much older than both of my parents. They were the same age as some of my grandchildren. The thought made me grimace.

Well, at least they appear to be a responsible pair of youngsters.

I was definitely a planned pregnancy that was properly prepared for; not the result of an accidental night of carelessness. If I had full control of my neck, I would've nodded in a very sagely way as I thought that.

...I'll have to make sure I don't act too much like an old man once I'm able to talk.

Without much to do, I passed time by thinking and playing with various tangents like this.

The life of a baby is quite lonely, really.

But later on, I made a startling observation!

It looks like this world has electricity, or at least some kind of equivalent. The lighting in our house appeared to be artificial. I spent hours observing the light from my crib, and I'm now one hundred percent confident in my conclusion. This idea was further confirmed as I saw devices that resembled modern household appliances from my first life. I even saw something that looked like a television.

Wherever I've ended up, I think it might be similar to modern earth. At least on the surface. One of the times I was carried around the house, I swear I saw what looked like a high-tech sword with gun parts. Definitely not something from Earth. The weapon probably belongs to my mother.

Speaking of her, my impression is that she's the "authority" of the house. It wasn't that my father was weak or anything, but their interactions just gave off that kind of feeling. She might be a working mom, or something similar. I also noticed that even though she meticulously cared for me, she would sometimes gaze out of the window longingly, or fidget restlessly when she didn't have anything to do. She's probably a person who likes to be busy.

To my amusement, she was secretly very doting whenever father wasn't around or within earshot. She made all kinds of cooing sounds and funny faces, some of which even managed to make me laugh. I'm sure she'd be way too embarrassed to do this around others. I was reminded of a certain Eris Greyrat I knew and loved with all my heart.

Once I had that thought, the true gravity of my situation hit me.

I would never see my old family again.

The people I loved, they were far away now. Beyond my reach.

That was one of the few times I couldn't stop myself from crying.

I was fussed over by my mother and father until I managed to calm myself down. Since I was mentally mature, I didn't cry often. It must've been quite a shock to my parents.

It was curious, though, I was perfectly content to pass on the way I did. Maybe it's because I thought I would fade away into the void after my death, but now that I've been reincarnated yet again…I wanted so very much to see my family again. It just wouldn't be the same without them.

Stay strong, me.

Moving on, my father, in contrast to my mother, was easygoing and mellow. I didn't really see him too much, and I think he spends most of his time at his desk. He reminds me of the average Japanese office worker. But whatever work he does looks like it's from home.

In general, my parents properly took care of me, and the home life gave off quite a happy impression. Because of my irregular sleep cycle, I sometimes hear my parents getting to work on my siblings.

Ah, it's good to be young, isn't it?

It would appear that my mother is the dominant one. That fact reminded me again of myself and Eris, whom I've never managed to take the lead against. In truth, I might as well have been the innocent maiden in our relationship. Paraphrasing my own words, "I give shoulder pillows to Sylphy and Roxy. But with Eris, I'm the one receiving the shoulder pillow."

Damn it, enough of that.

My parents weren't quite as "active" as my old parents (or me and my wives for that matter) were, but that might be a good thing. Paul Greyrat was a good person, but not a good father. The fact that I had a sister and a half-sister of the same age was a testament to that.

Hmm...now that I think about it, it was Paul that made me resolve to properly love my partner when I grew up. But in the end...I guess I did take after him, since I found myself with quite the large family.

No, I know with absolute certainty that I was lucky. I can't expect to meet such amazing girls like Sylphy, Roxy, or Eris again.

Those lovely, unique, wonderful girls...

Ahem.

Other than those observations, I've managed to determine that there isn't anything jarringly different between this place and the other worlds I've lived on. The day-night cycle is roughly the same, and from what I can see hear the weather is pretty much identical.

Ah, there is the moon though.

I was being carried around at night one time, and I caught a glimpse of this world's moon.

I was greatly shocked!

The moon was shattered, with many chunks floating up beside a permanent crescent moon in the night sky. No one else reacted, so that sight must've been normal. Truly a big surprise, but I won't worry about it as long as no one else is.

But it's a concrete symbol that I'm in another world again, huh?

Before long, I'd finished observing everything I could from my parent's arms or my crib. Now I can only wait until I'm a bit older.

In the meantime, I've also begun to pick up snippets of conversation. It's nowhere near close to even elementary school-level fluency, but I've at least picked up my own name. Or, I believe, my nickname.

It appears fate has it in store for me, because my parents have been calling me Rudi. I wanted to protest that, but of course I had no way to do that. How strange would it be if my full name turned out to be Rudeus again? I'm not sure I could deal with that.

Aside from my name, I've also managed to understand some basic phrases. Most of them were just common things people said to babies:

"Are you hungry?"

"There, there."

"He seems healthy."

"Go to sleep~, go to sleep~."

"Who's the cutest? You are! Yes, you are!"

Well, that last one was from my mother's secret doting.

Unfortunately, I'm not at an age where my parents are actively trying to teach me to speak yet, let alone do things like reading aloud to me, so it's been a bit difficult to pick up more conversations.

It's a bit strange, though, I remember hearing that it was good to read to your baby, no matter the age. Maybe they didn't practice that in this world? In my case, I would've appreciated that very much. Eh, it's not a big deal though, I'll just give it my best in other ways to learn the language.

It's not like I had much else to do locked in this body...

Seriously, the life of a baby is really lonely, isn't it?

Around half a year has passed and…

I've leveled up! I finally gained the ability to crawl!

I made immediate use of that skill and mapped out the house. With my newfound freedom and information gathering capabilities, I've further confirmed that this world has a lot of technology similar to that of modern Earth's. The device I saw earlier was indeed a television, and I've spotted a refrigerator and electric stove in use.

Now that I'm a bit older, my mother has handed over the reins of responsibility to my father. She's begun to leave the house often, almost every other day. Each time she left, she carried the strange sword I saw earlier. Whatever job she had, she was definitely fighting something. To my experienced eyes, it looked like she was trained to fight monsters, or some kind of wild animal. She didn't carry herself like someone trained in the art of killing others.

Once I got my hands on some of the books in my father's study, I found some possible foes. I still haven't gotten a good grasp on this world's spoken language, let alone it's written language, but a lot of the books have pictures or photographs depicting these strange black creatures covered in white bone. There were also some photographs of people fighting those creatures. My mother was probably going out to fight these things.

At least I've identified one of the threats in this world.

Our home was built out of wood, but the wood was definitely manufactured in some way and treated to last. It was less of a "log cabin" and more of a proper house "that happened to made out of wood". When I finally managed to climb onto a chair and look out a window properly, I saw that there were other houses nearby, built in a similar way.

It also didn't look like we had many visitors, which surprised me considering how small the settlement we were in appeared to be.

I was just guessing though.

The reason I had that impression was because the houses here are spaced rather closely together, and I'm pretty sure I could see a wall in the distance. All of this indicated that I was in some kind of protected settlement out in a rural area. I can only assume the wall was meant to protect us against the beasts I saw in the books.

A little later, I finally had the chance to closely observe another person interacting with my family when someone knocked on our door. My mother was out already, having left early in the morning, so my father went to greet the person. I was too far from the front door to hear what they were saying, so I tried my best to glean what I could from watching.

The person that came to the door was an older woman, probably middle-aged. Unfortunately for me, they only had a short conversation which ended with the guest handing my father an envelope. Overall, their body language and tones of voice were friendly. But what caught me off guard was what I managed to see when the guest turned to leave.

She had a tail! It looked like the tail of a deer or rabbit. Just a tuft of fur that twitched as she turned to leave.

Beast Race? No...I can't apply logic from my last life here. I don't have enough information yet. Maybe it was an accessory of some sort? That doesn't seem quite right, it looks too natural. I'll have to wait until I can learn more.

But this was an exciting discovery, for sure.

After all, what self-respecting man does not appreciate the charms of animal ears or tails?

Now that I've mapped out my home, and observed the area around the house, I've once again run out of things to do. The only objective left is to finish learning the language, so I can begin forming more solid conclusions about my new life.

To begin with, I am slowly but surely making progress on understanding more mundane topics of conversation.

"He's always so calm."

"But he crawls around so much."

"That's good, but it's weird that he doesn't cry a lot, isn't it?"

I had some major deja vu after hearing that. This was the same kind of conversation Paul and Zenith had when I was growing up as Rudeus. Listening further, I also managed to learn that we're a financially stable household.

"How's this month looking?"

"It's good, you might not have to go out for a while. Profits are high for now, and we're set for the next few months."

"Hmm...I'll go anyways."

"Haha, of course. That's just like you."

That knowledge did a lot to soothe my nerves. Somewhere deep down, I always had the fear of being a burden on my family. As a child, I wouldn't be able to do anything for my parents if they were in trouble, and they'd be stuck trying to raise me or as a last resort, abandon me. I don't want to bring that kind of pain into a happy home.

Also, it looks like I was right, my mother is quite the busybody. She seems restless whenever she's in the house. I've seen people like her before, the free-spirited adventuring types. It brought a nostalgic smile to my face.

"Rudi makes some strange faces sometimes. It's almost like he can understand us."

"You're just imagining things."

"Maybe. But he's got some spark in his eyes. Maybe he'll grow up to be like his mother?"

"I'm sure he will, dear, I'm sure he will." My mother looked pleased at that statement.

Oops.

I have to be more careful. My new parents are more observant than Paul or Zenith were, and they seem to know more about raising a child than they did. I'm reminded of the maid that took care of most the parental duties for the Greyrat family, Lilia.

I'm sure she'd suspected something was different about me. Such a thing wasn't a big deal at the time, since Lilia was in a position of service to my family, but I certainly don't want to draw attention to myself unnecessarily now. My new parents might start giving me special treatment, or changing the way they're raising me. I believe it's best to grow up in a natural way, so I want to avoid that.

And so I continued onwards, determined to stay on top of things while being a proper child to my new family.

Two years have passed since I found myself in this world.

I can now understand both the spoken and written language of this world. As you can imagine, this has contributed greatly to the understanding of my situation.

First of all, this world is called Remnant. A bit of a strange name if you ask me, but hey, my last world didn't even have a name. Aside from the name, this world notably bears some striking similarities to Earth, more than the fantasy world I lived in before.

There are four major kingdoms: Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, and Atlas. Vale and Vacuo are located on the western continent, called Sanus. Mistral takes up all of the eastern continent, called Anima. And Atlas takes up the northern continent, Solitas. Aside from the four kingdoms, there's an island to the south of Mistral called Menagerie, and an island north of Vale called Vytal.

There are only two races living on Remnant, humans and faunus. It turns out that faunus are similar to the beast race from my old world, in that they look just like humans with some animal parts. But the differences between humans and faunus are very little when compared to the difference between the beast race and humans. It makes me wonder why such a divide between humans and faunus exists.

Anyways, the Kingdoms of Remnant are more like city-states in reality. This is because Remnant is plagued by beasts called the Grimm, the beasts of darkness that I saw earlier in my father's books. Apparently they existed for no other purpose than destroying life.

Uwah, that's pretty frightening.

And it turns out the village I live in is an outside settlement within Vale's territory. The Kingdom does send some support to these frontier settlements, but it seems that most of the time we're on our own. Since life has been peaceful so far, I can assume we're pretty well off.

As I was investigating why we lived peacefully despite being unprotected, I found something new. It turns out that there's a profession that revolves around fighting the Grimm: Huntsmen and Huntresses. My mother is actually one of them. I assume that whenever she leaves, it's on patrol for any Grimm that might be coming too close to the settlement.

Speaking of my parents, I've finally learned their names. My mother's name is Kuroi, my father's name is Ros, and our last name is Lovac. Making my full name Rudi Lovac. Not a bad sounding name, but I'll always have a soft spot for Greyrat.

Because I'm at an age where I should be speaking in short phrases, I've started calling my parents Mama and Papa. It makes me smile when I see their faces light up in delight as I call out to them. It reminded me of my own experiences as a parent. Because it's easy for me to empathize with them, I don't want to deprive them of any of the little joys in watching their child grow.

But to save my sanity, I'll probably start speaking in full sentences soon, maybe in another year. I'll make them think that I'm a pretty smart kid or something.

Back to the names, I'd bemusedly thought that mother's had fit her in a very literal way, but it turns out that it's a tradition in this world to give names derived from colors, though it's not a requirement and some of the names I've seen in books stretch it a lot. Since my mother's hair was black, her name is Kuroi. Following this, I'm assuming my father's name has something to do with his blonde hair. But that didn't explain why I was named Rudi.

As far as I can tell, my own hair color is a light brown, like my old hair. And I inherited mother's own green eyes. To sum it up, I look surprisingly similar to how I did as Rudeus Greyrat. Luckily for me, I overheard my mother explaining my name to one of our neighbors. She said I'd had a really red face when I was born, a face that could easily be described as "ruddy". My parents thought this was cute, and decided to adapt it to "Rudi", which is the way the word is read in mother's home village.

Strangely, it wasn't only my mother's japanese-esque name, or my name being the japanese way of reading "ruddy", there's tons of other names derived from "old languages", which all resemble Earth languages. Yet there's no sign of this world ever coming into contact with Earth. Eh, I guess it's not a big deal. In the long run, these little eccentricities are irrelevant.

What is important, though, is that there's no magic on Remnant. No one has innate magical abilities, and I couldn't feel any mana in the air (might just be my new body, though). Instead, the world seems to run on something called Dust, which is used to power literally everything. I'm not sure how it works yet, but since father has so many books, there should be at least one detailing dust.

I've been spending most of my time reading so that I can continue to expand my knowledge. Father's usually in his study, so I sneak the books out to my room so I can read unobserved or be prepared in case someone comes. It wouldn't do for anyone to see me analyzing books so intently when I shouldn't even be able to read yet.

Honestly though, I wish I had a computer, if they exist. Both my father and mother own this world's version of tablets, called "scrolls", but mother brings hers to work and father is always using his. No luck there.

By the way, there is a television in the house, but there's usually only cartoons or current events being shown. And while watching the news did help me understand some things, I was hoping for more academic information. I guess Remnant doesn't have a Discovery channel or a History channel.

The book I currently had in front of me was titled Choosing Your Future for Dummies: A Career Guide. I wanted to begin exploring the possibilities for my future. My father's actually a writer/scholar, bringing in a bit of money through both his novels and field guides on Grimm. But mother is definitely the breadwinner of the house. Becoming a huntsman looks like it pays well, for good reason. But there might be other good jobs too.

I need to begin planning my path so I could live a good life and support...support my family…

Hah...

...Was I going to start a new family, here on Remnant?

Did I have the heart to devote myself to new people all over again…?

It wasn't just my own feelings that bothered me, I wanted to be sure that I wasn't going to be unfair to the people around me. It would be cruel and unjust to use the people I meet as false replacements for the people I've lost.

I shook my head, shaking off the gloomy thoughts.

I'm only two years old, godammit, I have plenty of time to think it over.

Refocusing, I opened the book and shifted my attention to absorbing its contents. But even before reading, I already had a sinking feeling about my prospects. As I read into common professions and paths of education, I discovered that my fears were well-founded.

In short, Remnant was too advanced.

Allow me to explain. I was largely successful in my previous life due to my skill in magic, and my knowledge of modern technology, medicine, and education. Using this, I made money and provided a living for my family through research, inventions, and other things.

However, my previous world was essentially at a medieval technological level, along with the addition of magic to make the average quality of life higher. In contrast, Remnant was already almost at the level of modern Japan. I couldn't bring anything new to the table.

I suppose they haven't yet discovered some finer things, like the human genome or nuclear fusion. But I'm no geneticist, and I'm definitely not a nuclear engineer. I was a jobless, worthless, piece of crap that was never trained for any of the jobs of modern society.

I almost sighed.

Still, I could always go through a proper education instead of dropping out this time, then get a job, and become a working and efficient cog of society.

But that didn't guarantee stability in a world plagued with monsters.

No, I needed to be able to defend my family, while still providing for them. That left very few options. I could join the military, police force, or become a huntsman. Mercenary work was also an option.

Sadly, that only left me with one real choice.

This is because at heart, I'm a pacifist. The thought of fighting other people is a distasteful one. Even in my previous life, where I did participate in wars and other conflicts (curse you, Hitogami), I just didn't have the stomach to kill easily or readily.

If it was possible to avoid fighting, I would. I know some of my non-admirers called me a coward behind my back, but I didn't, and still don't, really care.

Yes, if I had to pick a job, it would be to fight the Grimm. Hunting monsters is something I'm familiar with, and I know I have a decent head for combat. This was the ideal job on Remnant for a person like me. And while the focus isn't on fighting other people, hunters were still trained in how to defend themselves and others.

Of course, I understood that a choice made this early was in no way set in stone, but at least I had a goal to work towards.

Since it's a combat-based profession...

I need to begin training.

Still, two years old is a bit too soon for physical conditioning, so for now I decided to study. There's no such thing as being too prepared, after all.

I rummaged around father's study when he went out and found two books that were relevant: History: Huntsmen and Huntresses and How to Arm Yourself. Good enough for now. I brought the books back to my room.

I looked around at the various toys that were spread out across the floor. I kept my room messy for camouflage. That way it looks more natural to someone who might walk in on me reading. They'd just see a child playing with toys and messing around with some books without really understanding anything. Both my parents had reacted the first time with a mixture of amusement and pride when they they saw me messing with the books. Since then they've come in a few more times, with no major reactions.

Nodding in satisfaction, I plopped down and began reading.

It wasn't very complicated. Huntsmen/Huntresses tended to use high tech weapons that could serve as both melee and ranged weapons. I'd already seen mother performing maintenance on her sword, so I had a pretty good idea of what I'd be working with.

The books went on to talk about how the more dedicated huntsmen might craft their own weapons. It was a bit surprising, but in a pleasant way. I liked creating things, plain and simple. I wrote books, created figures, brainstormed inventions, created spells, and more in my previous life. More than half the things I did back then involved the creative process.

Of course, I knew almost nothing about mechanical engineering. Keyword being almost, as I have designed magical armor/mecha hybrids before. But I highly doubt that Remnant's engineering was even remotely similar to the magic-based technology I'm familiar with.

Once I finished reading up on weaponry, I moved on to combat tactics. A huntsman normally works alone or in small groups up to around four members when performing standard missions. The training I'll be receiving will probably reflect that. I'll work hard to make sure I perform admirably. But since I'm no stranger to combat, the biggest priority once I manage to get into an academy would be to learn more about the various species of Grimm, and then adapt my knowledge accordingly.

Realizing that more practical knowledge would have to wait until I'm in school, I settled for absorbing general information about how we would be expected to operate, and what duties our positions would entail. Once again, it wasn't very complicated.

The perks of having a common, ever-present enemy.

While I don't doubt that there were complex politics on Remnant, I'm sure they were nowhere near as prevalent as the ridiculousness that is politics on Earth, or even the politics among the kingdoms in my last world. Threats like the Grimm had a way of uniting humanity.

I continued reading until I found something that caught my eye.

Apparently the people of Remnant did have powers of some sort. These abilities consisted of two things: Aura and Semblances. My curiosity piqued, I began reading all I could about aura.

At first, I was hoping that aura was this world's equivalent of mana, but sadly I quickly found that it was not. Instead, it seems aura is some kind of energy that stems from a manifestation of a person's soul.

It's uses are far more limited than mana, but in exchange for that flexibility, it appears to a very formidable power. The most basic use of aura is defense, where it seems to act like those shields from sci-fi games. It absorbs damage until depleted, after which, the user begins taking injuries.

Aura is also used as the catalyst for Dust reactions, information that may be useful in the future.

Aside from its passive defense uses, it also acts akin to the concept of "chi", like a kind of spiritual energy. It can be used and channeled offensively, with the techniques for such are called "Aura Manipulation". I think it might be like the "touki" that swordsmen like Eris used.

As a side note, the reason I never passed intermediate rank in any sword styles as Rudeus is because of my body's natural inability to use touki in even the slightest of ways. That's why Eris was always the better physical fighter than me. It looks like aura might be the answer to my deficiency in melee combat now.

Moving on to Semblances, these are more or less the equivalent to superpowers. They vary between individuals, but some are hereditary. The scope of powers was also exceedingly wide, ranging from physical enhancement, manipulation of one's surroundings, or even effects similar to spellcasting. However, using one's semblance consumes their aura, and it is said that a semblance is the next step in manifesting one's soul. Interesting information, but I was worried more about the practical aspects.

I have no way of knowing what my semblance is, and it looks like I won't be able to find out until I know how to use my aura. I have to find out my own capabilities soon, so I can begin tailoring a fighting style that best fits this body and my new surroundings.

I moved Aura to the top of my priority list and continued reading.

Everyone has Aura, but it must first be "unlocked". This is typically done by someone whose Aura is already activated, using theirs to awaken the recipient's.

I furrowed my brow in confusion. There's no way that's the only method. It's a simple egg or chicken first question. I dove back into the book.

More rarely, one can awaken their own Aura by intense concentration, unlocking their own potential.

What?

What is this, some kind of battle-show? I stared down at the book in disbelief. I briefly entertained some very anime-esque thoughts.

"And this...this is to go...even further beyond!"

I imagined myself standing up and shouting at the top of my lungs, trying to unlock my aura by sheer force of will. I laughed softly and immediately dismissed the thought.

If aura is the manifestation of one's soul...it should be related to spiritual concepts. And the best way to access one's own spirit is…

Meditation.

I grinned. That would have to do for now. Trying to remember what I could about meditation, I cleared a bit of room around me and then sat up straight, cross-legged. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. As I settled in, I began recalling everything I knew about using mana, along with secondhand information on how touki was used.

Some of it should be applicable, I hope.

The first thing I did was try to feel around my consciousness for a source of energy, to find my own "soul", so to speak. I used my memories of what it was like to feel my mana, the power of magic coursing through my veins, so I kept an eye out for something similar.

To my surprise, I found something. It felt drastically different from mana, but it was a powerful pulsing force within me. I was reminded of a bright white light, shining in the dark. Perhaps this was the source of aura, my soul?

I then recalled what it felt like to direct mana through my body, channeling it and using it in my spells. I tried to emulate that. I reached out towards the white light, trying to coax some of its energy into obeying me. The light didn't budge. In fact, it seemed to withdraw from me.

Hmm…

Not discouraged, I tried a more direct approach, "opening" myself up to try and allow the power to rush through me freely. Once again, nothing happened.

Okay, this might be pretty hard.

Before I could try anything else, the door to my room was opened.

"Rudi! It's dinner time." Ros entered the room and looked around, shaking his head wryly at the mess, "Taking my books again? Don't worry, Papa'll read some of them to you later."

In response to his voice, I blinked a couple of times, shaking off the self-induced trance of meditation. Taking my sitting position and half-closed eyes as grogginess from a nap, Ros walked over and picked me up.

"Let's go, champ. Mama's back and waiting. Let's go see her!"

His words made me snap back into focus. Specifically, the content of his words. Mother didn't get back until sunset. It'd been right before noon when I started reading about aura. I glanced towards the windows and saw that the sun was just now vanishing over the horizon.

Seriously!?

It looks like accessing one's soul was not only difficult, but time consuming. I chewed on my lip unconsciously. This was going to be far more of a challenge than I anticipated.

My 4th birthday was celebrated recently.

And I still haven't even come close to "unlocking" my aura. I've at least made some progress...I think. Sometimes when I'm reaching towards my "soul", it wiggles a little. Kind of like when you poke a tower of jello. As you can imagine, this is not the result I'm looking for.

To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. It would've been more helpful if there was even one first-person account of how it feels to unlock one's aura. Sadly, because of the conventional way of unlocking one's aura, there is no such thing.

But of course, my lack of progress is not the only thing that's been going on in the last two years.

To begin with, I think my parents took issue with the fact that I was beginning to spend so much time in my room.

Not like I can help it, this aura business is damn hard…

To remedy this, they've begun taking me with them on walks throughout our village, which I've learned is called Glade. It turns out Glade is larger than I first thought, home to at least a few hundred people, with enough room for them to all live comfortably.

The people were nice, everyone was polite and courteous. In a rural way. It reminded me of my first house, the one Paul and Zenith owned out in the countryside. And that wasn't the only similarity. With my mother being the only huntress in the village, our family is well-respected all throughout. It was a direct parallel to Paul's minor noble title and status as a village protector.

Most people knew my family on sight, and I've made a few friends. For some reason, the other kids in the village seem to enjoy my presence, so I've found myself roped in as a playmate often. I think it's good for my parents too, since Mother's always out and Father needs to focus on his work at times.

All in all, a nice place to live.

I was currently on one of those walks, being hefted around on my father's shoulders.

"Well, if it isn't Ros and his son. Out for another walk?" An older man greeted us as we passed Glade's farmlands. I think his name was Teagan or something.

"That's right! How's the harvest looking this season?" Ros replied cordially.

"It's good, it's good! What with Kuroi keeping the Grimm in the forests, we haven't had to abandon any of our harvests these last few years. We owe you all so much." The man bowed, before smiling at me, "And how are you, mister?"

"I'm well, sir." I replied, looking down shyly. I was throwing in a bit of acting, a skill I've acquired and honed pretty well since my previous life; though the truth is that I'm naturally inclined to be withdrawn from strangers, so I didn't have to try very hard.

"Great to hear!" The man laughed as he switched back to conversing with father, "He's a quiet one, eh?"

"Oh, I don't know about that." Ros gave a half-smile as he looked up at me as I pretended to be interested in the clouds. I knew what he was referring to.

Ever since I'd turned three, as I promised, I'd begun talking. A lot. I asked questions, opinions, anything I was curious about. I did manage to keep up the guise of an extremely curious child, but I still might've gone just a smidge overboard. My parents probably had headaches more than once. I thought back to a series of questions I asked Mother early on. I'd been hoping for some firsthand answers.

"Mommy, what's aura?" I pronounced it like "aww-rah" to give it a more childish feel.

"Aura comes from our soul. It's a part of us, Rudi."

"What does it do?" In hindsight, I feel like I should've asked about what a soul was, but it hadn't occurred to me. I only wanted to hear some answers outside of a book's text.

"It protects us from bad things, and helps us use dust."

"What's dust?"

"We use dust in everything. Mommy's sword has some too." She gave me a watered down answer. She probably didn't think a child could comprehend the idea of a universal energy propellant.

"Where does dust come from?" Now, here was a question I wanted answers to. None of the books I've read had any info on the origin of aura, dust, or semblances. I found it strange that they didn't want to document that kind of thing, since people on Earth were always trying to figure "what came from where".

Kuroi gave me a surprised look.

"Eh- *Ahem*, dust is everywhere, it's always been a part of our world."

Uwah, she doesn't know either. Maybe it's an unexplained mystery?

"How does dust work?" I prodded on, asking another question unanswered by the books.

"By using your aura on it."

I resisted the urge to sigh. We'd gone in a loop.

"What abou-"

"Oh, It's bath time. Let's go, Rudi. I have to get up early tomorrow."

She'd cut me off suddenly. I belatedly realized I'd been talking too much, and obediently followed her.

I really couldn't help it, I wasn't big on alternate modern reality or sci-fi when I was a NEET. As a result, I'm a bit more nervous about Remnant. Before, I could fill in some blanks on my own when it was just the magical fantasy world. Not to mention I don't have a teacher like Roxy to teach me about the world this time around.

God knows I could use one to teach me even just a little bit more about aura.

It'd be even better if she was also short, with blue hair in braids, and very susceptible to praise and/or teasing. I stopped myself from sighing. Reincarnating after a long, full life was much more taxing on my psyche than reincarnating at the age of 34.

I returned my attention to the conversation between my father and the man, only to find that they were already finishing up.

"You have a good day, Ros. Try not to get too lost in your books." Teagan grinned. Ros was an easy person to poke fun at in a frontier settlement, the last place you'd normally find a bookish person like him.

"I won't." Ros nodded, before grinning back devilishly, "Try not to let your wife catch you ogling the other girls again."

We left the older man sputtering in good humor and continued our walk.

"Is there anything you want to do when we get back, Rudi?" Ros asked, looking up at me curiously.

"Read!" I answered cheerfully. Though I've read a considerable amount of my father's extensive library, I still enjoyed having him read out loud to me.

"Again?" Ros smiled at his adorable son, "Oh, but first you have to spend time with Mom, right?"

"Yep!" I nodded.

Now that I've gotten older, I've begun doing some physical exercise in preparation for becoming a hunter. Just some basic stuff, like running and other exercises under Mother's supervision

She doesn't show it, but she's overjoyed that I've taken an interest in her work.

And just a little bit too eager.

The woman had a shocking amount of in-depth knowledge concerning physical conditioning. It's like she knew how much she could push me from the moment we started training. More than once I wondered if what I was going through could be considered child abuse.

I was so sure that a modern world like this wouldn't have many established conventions for training children as young as me. I stand corrected. The presence of the Grimm has a far larger impact on Remnant's culture than I ever imagined.

Oh well. It's not like I dislike physical training.

I did the same thing with Paul since I was three, after all. And I get to read books afterwards. Not bad at all.

Though, one thing that's been bothering me recently is my future choice of weaponry. Without magic, a lot of my former techniques are useless. I did receive sword training as I've mentioned, but I'm unsure about committing myself to using the sword.

Well, until I can begin testing out different firearm/bullet combinations and until I find out what my semblance is, I'll just follow my mother's training.

"Good job, Rudi. Your swings look good." Kuroi nodded as she watched me swing the wooden practice sword (read: stick) she gave me repetitively.

Of course, my wife was among the top three sword fighters in the world. Not to mention my father was an S-ranked adventurer who reached advanced skill in all three sword schools.

I proudly reminisced as I performed the routine drills my mother came up with. Normally such drills would develop muscle memory and condition the student at the same time, but I knew very well how to hold and use a sword already. Still, there are some new movements that come with using a large weapon.

And Kuroi's weapon was a very large one.

If I had to describe it, it'd be a black-orange themed blade about as long as a traditional longsword, but broad and thick like a cleaver. An intimidating sight to behold. As I said before, Remnant's people also have the tradition of incorporating firearms into their fighting style, with transforming weapons being widespread. My mother was no exception, as her sword transforms into a scoped bullpup assault rifle.

With all the possibilities for weaponry, I want to extensively research and experiment before I settle on a combat style.

"Time for a jog. Follow me." Kuroi gave a small gesture for me to follow, and began jogging lightly through the village. I dropped my stick and followed suit. We usually did one lap around the entire settlement, which is no short distance, I might add.

"Rudi, why do you want to be a huntsman?" I was asked as we jogged alongside one another.

I thought about my answer. I couldn't just state that it was a good choice for the future. Instead, I focused on a simple truth: to protect the people I love. It could also be considered a suitably childish dream.

"I want to protect you!" I nodded enthusiastically, "And Papa too!"

"..." Kuroi didn't say anything, but she had a small smile on her face. She reached over and ruffled my hair. Truth be told, I liked it when my parents did that. It was a comforting gesture that also conveyed pride and affection.

"Heheh..." I laughed contentedly.

"Let's finish up and eat dinner, okay?"

"Okay!"

Honestly, I've been content recently. As much as I miss my old life, nothing in my new life has left me wanting.

...I do wish I could be done with unlocking my aura, though.

Ros sometimes wondered about his son. He didn't want to get into a certain mindset, well aware of some of the possible unhealthy consequences, but he was reasonably certain his son was some kind of prodigy.

He hadn't shared these thoughts with Kuroi yet, especially since she was already training and raising Rudi like she expected the best from him. But...there was a certain way Rudi looked at the world around him that surpassed simple childish curiosity. It was like he was analyzing, understanding, absorbing everything he could around him.

Ros was considered by others to be skilled observer. It came with being a former scouting-oriented huntsman, not that he liked to advertise the fact. And he definitely noticed things that were off about Rudi's behavior. Mainly, that Rudi seemed to be aware he was different from the other village kids.

It started when Ros realized something was wrong with Rudi's room. At first glance, it resembled any other toddler's room. Messed up toys, books sprawled all over the place, the usual.

But it didn't change.

The toys didn't move at all. Even over the course of several days, his messy room remained the same. The only thing that changed was what books were in the room. Ros could've sworn the boy was reading the books on his own, and he didn't anyone to find out. The fact that Rudi seemed to be holding the same toy every time Ros walked in only reinforced his assumptions about the boy's odd behavior.

With a start, Ros had realized his son might be afraid of his differences. He seemed keen to learn, but he didn't want to look different or be treated differently from the other children. He'd felt a stab of pain for his young son.

He was too young to be worrying about things like that.

Sure, he was a little smart. And extremely well-behaved. But he was still just a kid. He liked to be read to, he loved being carried around, and he was attached to his parents. He laughed, played, and cried like all the others.

Ros was determined not to make his son feel ostracized. As a result, he proudly observed his son's progress from the shadows, while continuing to do everything a proper dad would do.

He was performing one such fatherly task now: reading with Rudi. The boy seemed a bit tired from his training with Kuroi, but it didn't dim his boundless enthusiasm for books.

Ros had started out reading stories to Rudi, but as time passed he found himself reading other things like trivia books, history books, even some technical manuals here and there. No matter what it was, Rudi listened attentively and followed along.

It took all of his effort to stop himself from beaming down at his wonderfully intelligent child.

They were currently taking a step back, reading a little story about a hunter who fought the Grimm on his own for the sake of his love, a thief that wasn't welcome anywhere in the world. It was a sad tale, but filled with action, which always seemed to make Rudi happy.

"Papa, how did the hunter unlock his aura?" Rudi suddenly asked. Ros was surprised at the question, but dutifully backtracked to see if there was anything said on the topic.

"It looks like he unlocked it on his own. He used his love for the thief in order to awaken his powers so he could fight for her." Ros thought the idea was unbelievable, but it suited the fairy tale. An inexperienced fighter, even with aura, would simply perish in the wilds.

"Eh? You can do that?" Rudi frowned.

"Yes. Normally you would have someone else unlock your aura, but sometimes you can do it yourself." Ros replied, recalling what he knew about aura.

"How?" Rudi was looking at him intently now.

"Let's see...It has to do with your identity. Since aura is a part of your soul, you must reach into yourself and bring a piece of you forward." Ros wasn't sure if Rudi would understand, but he gave the best answer he could.

"Is it like Zen?" Rudi tilted his head questioningly.

"Zen? What do you…" Ros trailed off when he saw the pile of books in the corner. It was the latest set of books retrieved from Rudi's room. On the top was was a book titled Finding Your Inner Self: How Your Soul Can Achieve Peace.

Ros laughed, "I think that's one way. People from Mistral use that method, I think. But that doesn't work for everyone."

"No? Why not?" Rudi was looking at him with wide eyes. Ros quelled the urge to tousle the child's hair.

"I mean, aura is a part of your soul, right? So every person interacts with their aura in a different way. " Ros explained.

Rudi stopped, looking lost in thought for a few moments, before turning back to the story. "Continue!" He declared childishly. Ros chuckled, and returned to reading.

His son really was something else.

I've been foolish. How did I not see it before?

Aura is not Remnant's version of mana.

I thought I'd taken that to heart, but for some reason I didn't think to change my approach. To be fair to myself, it wasn't like I only tried meditating. I tested out every obscure way of channeling mana I could think of, but nothing had worked.

I even took a dust crystal from mother when she wasn't looking. That was probably my most foolish action, thinking that dust crystals might have some latent power in them like mana crystals. Luckily nothing bad happened, besides wasting time pointlessly. That and getting caught. Mother was not happy about that. I've never been hit by either of my parents, but that might've been preferable to the hellish training I received that day. Child abuse, I'm telling you.

My problem had been compounded by the fact that I could really only try to interact with my "soul" once or twice in a day because the process took an amazing amount of time to do. And then I started going on walks and doing physical training, which further cut the time I had to dedicate to learning about my own aura.

Fortunately, I now have some new leads..

After my father and I were done with our reading for the night, I was sent to bed. Of course, I didn't go to sleep. I sat up and closed my eyes, searching for that pulsing power within me. As it turns out, the process to search inside myself and find that power was the lengthiest part. Luckily, I got a bit faster as I kept trying. Once I felt that familiar presence, I stopped for a moment.

Since my previous ideas about meditation didn't work, I began thinking, if it was possible to awaken aura through emotions or feelings, which one would I pick for myself?

A straightforward answer would be anger. That wouldn't be too difficult.

I pictured Hitogami, I pictured the diary that held all of the pain he'd planned to inflict upon me and my family. I felt my breath hitch, the words from the diary playing through my head as clearly as the first time I read them. Pure rage surfaced from deep within me. And then I called out to my power.

To my surprise, and relief, the energy fluctuated greatly, building up until it felt like a container about to overflow. .

Then it stopped. I sighed in disappointment as I felt the "waters" recede.

Was anger not a strong enough emotion for me?

I sat in silence for awhile, pondering my next course of action, before having an epiphany.

Aura is primarily used for defence in its natural state.

So I should try to invoke feelings of...protectiveness? That shouldn't be hard either…

I immediately pictured my family. The smiling faces of my children, the laughter and noise that echoed through my home, the feeling of my wives at my side. I found that this came to me much more easily than directing anger towards something. From there, it was simple to direct feelings of protectiveness to the lightly pulsing power. I would've fought until there was nothing left of me if it meant keeping them safe. Almost immediately, I could feel the energy within me moving. It struggled and thrashed, threatening to break out.

Almost there!

I figured that it would help if I had a more specific goal in mind. I once again thought of the diary, except instead of thinking about how it was filled with things that Hitogami was planning, I thought about how it was filled with things that were going to happen to my family. The slight change in mindset turned all the emotions I felt towards defense, rather than offense.

As if waiting for that moment, power within me burst forth, permeating every inch of my being.

My eyes snapped open, only to instantly squint at a bright light. I immediately became worried that one of my parents had walked in, but then I saw that the light was coming from myself. I glew brightly for a few more seconds before the light faded, but the feeling of energy all throughout my body was still present.

I...I DID IT! FINALLY! Two years of work...showing results at last.

An involuntary face-splitting grin broke out on my face. To any adult, it would look like the face of a child who just received the best gift they could think of. It felt good. Not just the feeling of success, but the also the feeling of my aura itself. It felt like...safety, like there was someone I had absolute faith in fighting alongside me, covering my back.

As the initial excitement wore off, I began to feel extremely tired. I could barely keep my eyes open.

What's going on?

I then remembered that unlocking another's aura left one exhausted, but I hadn't realized unlocking your own would leave yourself in a similar state.

In hindsight, it was fairly obvious.

I didn't even feel my head hit the pillow as I collapsed back into bed.

I've reached five years of age.

My parents were ecstatic to learn I'd somehow unlocked my aura. Though neither of them were braggarts in any sense of the word, knowledge of my achievement spread quickly through Glade.

People were impressed.

It's not rare to have a child's aura unlocked, I heard that some people in Mistral start training their children in aura-related matters from an early age. What was different about me was that I'd unlocked my aura through my own effort.

Apparently that accomplishment was even more rare than I'd first thought.

Regardless of my slight celebrity status in the settlement, life went on mostly unchanged. My training now incorporates the basics of aura manipulation, something I've found myself picking up at a decent pace. And my mother also saw fit to give me an official practice weapon, a dulled blade fit for my size.

My days are spent among family and neighbors, living mostly in peace. There've been a few times I've caught glimpses of the Grimm in the forests that border our farmlands, but Mother and the town guards do a good job making sure no one's in any danger.

In truth, I'm getting a bit restless now.

My first years here were spent absorbing information, thinking deeply about the future, and preparing myself for said future. Now that I've laid the proper foundation for the path I wish to attempt to follow, the daily routines are beginning to grind a little bit.

I sat on top of the wall surrounding Glade. My father was indoors working, and my mother was out on patrol.

The view wasn't too bad, a wide range of nature to take in all around. But I've read that Vale was quite the sight to behold. Unlike the frontier settlements, the four kingdom's capitals are supposed to be very impressive. Modern in design, while still being unique to their own cultural identity.

To say I was curious would be an understatement. But it'll be awhile yet before I get to see Vale, let alone Mistral, Atlas, or Vacuo.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of engines. Looking around, I spotted an airship making its way towards Glade. We didn't get many airships or bullheads (another type of airship) around here. Even when I do see them, they're usually passing by. But this one seemed to be headed straight for us.

The guards around me also noticed and were mobilizing accordingly. They didn't seem panicked though, so it must be a planned visit.

As the airship drew closer, it began maneuvering to land in a cleared space at the other end of the farmlands. As it turned, I saw the symbol emblazoned on the side. It was white in color, with the side profile of some kind of animal's head, surrounded by a circle.

I think I've seen that symbol somewhere before…

I narrowed my eyes, sifting through my memories for a match.

Aha! It was on the news before. The...White Fang, I think. A faunus group.

I went over everything I'd heard on the news. They're a protest group, for faunus rights. Similar to earth's protest groups, they speak out against prejudice and unjust treatment for faunus.

That's a goal I could get behind.

My thoughts flashed back to my first life. There were always tons of protests going on about rights, if not in Japan, then in America, if not there, then in some other country. I was too fat and lazy to do anything, but I didn't disagree with their ideals. Most of the time. There was a period where I spent a lot of time on forums posting pointlessly about "justice" and "fairness", knowing full well that those actions had no real impact.

I sighed. For a life that felt so long ago, some of the memories were just still too vivid. And the shame still burns like an open flame.

I watched as some people disembarked from the airship to meet the guards that were waiting. The interactions seemed amiable, with one of Glade's guards patting a guest on the back as they talked.

I couldn't see too well, but it looked like all the newcomers were faunus, which makes sense. To my surprise, however, not long after the first guests left the airship, a child stepped out. Judging from her size, she must've been around my age. She stood away from the adults, watching shyly as they talked. She had a white shirt on, with a black skirt. On top of her head was a neat little black ribbon that complemented her black hair and cat ears.

In summary, a very cute girl. One that any father would be proud of.

She stood there silently for a few moments, fidgeting in place, before she reached up and undid the ribbon. Perhaps she wanted to adjust it or something, but she picked a bad time to do so. A gust of wind blew through, pulling the ribbon from her hands. She looked at it fly away in shock for a moment, before taking off after it, unaware of her surroundings. None of the adults seemed to notice either, too caught up in their conversation.

Oh. That's not good.

The wind was blowing the ribbon towards the forest. The forest where the Grimm were. The one children weren't allowed to go near. I immediately redirected my aura to my feet and jumped off the wall. Lucky for me this wasn't a castle wall or something, so it was a quick fall.

I dashed towards the ribbon as fast as I could, my training with mother paying off quite well. I managed to reach the ribbon just as it left the edge of Glade's fields, about 30 meters from the border of the forest.

The ribbon safely in hand, I turned around to greet the girl, who was catching up, short of breath. Now that she was closer, I could confirm that she was around my age, and had amber eyes. Despite her plain clothing, she managed to be quite the sight.

Once she's older, I could imagine her being an exotic-styled beauty. She'd at home in a long dress that still allowed for easy movement. Perhaps a more gothic costume would work too.

Not the time, me. Stop it.

"You should be more careful." I said as I handed the ribbon back to her. She blushed a little, looking down at her feet.

"S-Sorry…" She shuffled around awkwardly. She seemed distinctly and utterly uncomfortable with my presence.

She's probably shy around strangers…

"I'm Rudeu- Rudi Lovac." I shook my head internally, this was the first time I was introducing myself to someone. Everyone in the settlement knew who I was since I was a baby, and we rarely got any strangers around. I'll have to get used to introductions.

"Nice to meet you." I finished, holding my hand out for a handshake.

I'm fully aware that young children don't introduce themselves formally and then go for a handshake, but I was banking on the fact that my odd behavior might help her relax a little bit.

The girl looked up at me in shock, followed by confusion, which then turned into a sort of shy happiness. She reached out tentatively and shook my hand.

"Um...I'm...Blake. Blake Belladonna."

Ending Thoughts

That was fun, and very, very long. Whew. I'm rather happy with how it turned out, despite it being a bit lacking in action. I personally found the beginning Mushoku Tensei interesting, and I kind of tried to emulate the style with this chapter. To those of you who desire more dialogue and action, never fear, the story will pick up from here!

Now, now, I can already see some questions. I'll just clarify a few things here.

Just because Blake is the first RWBY character introduced, does not mean this is going to be a Rudi x Blake story or something. In fact, I have no honest to god idea what my pairings are, especially since there will be some additional characters outside the RWBY cast as far as my current plans go. Who knows? They're just kids now, and while Rudi might fantasize about what some girls may look like in the future, he is anything but a pedo.

Also, I'm planning to make time pass slowly here, just like in Mushoku Tensei.

For reference, Beacon's standard admission age is 17. When Rudeus Greyrat turned 17, we were halfway through Mushoku Tensei, meaning around volume 12 or 13 out of 24. That's pretty far in, guys and gals. I probably (most definitely) will NOT write that much, but we'll be cruising for a while before Beacon.

Lastly, before the theories start popping up, I'll talk about what the White Fang is at the moment in the story. As some of you may know, the White Fang became violent 5 years before RWBY, meaning Blake was 12. The fact that she's 5 right now means we're still far from that. Just wanted to get that out of the way. My next chapter will probably focus on the White Fang, so you'll definitely be seeing more about my interpretation of the organization.

So in case you haven't figured it out, this story will probably be anywhere from slight to extremely AU in terms of timeline, thanks to Rudi's impact on Remnant. It all depends on the little ideas swirling in my head.

Ahem. Thank you so much if you've made it this far, and if you liked it, please stick around for more!

See you next time!