Around a year had passed since he had been reborn.

He had gotten the hang of the foreign language early on and was able to learn a few things.

Rudeus Greyrat was his new name, his mother was Zenith, his father was Paul. And the redheaded maid was named Lilia.

They would also mention a few terms that he had no frame of reference for, a clear indication that he was truly no longer in his world.

A useless and annoying bit of information he picked up, was that his new parents were going at it like rabbits almost every night. The occasional shout or scream would wake him up, and then Lilia would sway him back to sleep.

Their talk about Magecraft was extremely limited, and aside from a casual mention they hardly ever brought it up.

On the topic of Magecraft, it may have just been his inexperience, but he couldn't get a single spell he remembered to work.

In his last life, he had spent most of his true free time reading and rereading every book in his family's library, and he had memorized most of them, however, not a single spell worked.

He had considered that his baby body and mind were hindering him, but that didn't mean he didn't consider other factors. He was in a parallel world, odds were that there wasn't a solid Greater Foundation in place, or maybe he just hadn't found it yet.

Even after he cycled through different schools of Magecraft, he still found nothing that worked. Of course, the reason he feared the most was that he was just a failure and could never cast a spell.

Regardless, he didn't let that keep him down; he had magical power flowing through his body, he just had to learn how to use it.

It seemed to him that the Mages here were different from the Magi back home. However, this observation was based on his interpretation of books back home and his body in his new life.

Mana, in his old life, was a magical energy that was as abundant as air. It was the lifeforce of the planet. But here in this world, he couldn't feel anything special in the atmosphere.

And although reluctant, he decided to call the magical power flowing through his blood: Mana.

It would make internal calculations easier if he didn't have to completely rewrite that concept, he could simply snip out the part where it originated outside the body.

Od, his own lifeforce, drawn out from his soul by his Magic Circuits. It didn't seem to differ at all from what he had read about.

Magical Energy, the mix of Mana and Od, the true fuel for spells, was a bit more difficult to form than he imagined.

In most of the books he read, it had been as simple as funneling both of the components into a circuit and letting it do the rest. However, for now he accepted that he was simply unfamiliar with the process.

Magic Circuit, two words that had a place amongst his biggest concerns. It was because of his defective ones that he had been replaced in his own family.

But now he finally had his own working set. And he could now see exactly what had been wrong with them.

They were bundled up and stuck together. Intercepting. Blocking. Sewn shut.

The Matou family specialization was in Absorption and Binding, it was clear to him that these concepts were turned against itself.

The more he forced magical energy through them, the more they tore apart, but as a side effect of activating his Circuits, he would develop something that resembled a fever. Which was when his new mother would use her healing spell on him, which straightened and separated them.

'If only my previous mother hadn't been a complete failure.'

On the mention of his old mother, she had been a Carrier of sorts, but in his last life the trait hadn't manifested. And since it was something that was passed down through blood, he would wager his new body wouldn't have it either.

The healing of his Magic Circuits was something akin to a miracle.

Especially since it allowed him to freely experiment with his limits.

Back to the topic of Magic Circuits themselves, he had about ten of them, and each of them could hold about the same amount as his body could handle.

On an external topic, he had done a light exploration of his new house by crawling about.

His current family weren't rich by modern standards, but considering they were unemployed, living in a two story house with a maid, and appeared to be settled on the outskirts of a medieval village, they were doing well enough.

His new mother was a mage, but it didn't seem like Greyrat was her original surname.

His new father would occasionally swing about a steel sword in his free time, he casually performed near peak human capabilities, so odds were he was some sort of mage as well. His wife had taken his name.

Lilia didn't seem to be a mage at all, but from what he gathered, she used to fight with a sword as well but an injury had permanently handicapped her.

Right now, his father was outside building up a sweat, his mother was cooking a stew, and Lilia was also outside and currently hanging up wet clothes to dry.

So he was unsupervised.

The back of his index finger was brought up to his teeth.

His teething had come and gone pretty quickly, his new mother would use her healing spell almost everyday when he cried a bit from the pain. So he had heard her chant pretty often.

And then he bit down, hard enough to break skin and draw blood.

"Emmphfff."

Pain threatened to make him instinctively cry out, but he forced it down and focused.

'Let this divine power be converted into a satisfying nourishment, and bestowed unto those who have lost the strength to stand once more, [HEALING]!'

The stored up Magical Energy in a Magic Circuit swirled and twisted within himself. He felt his brain buzz as a warmth permeated through his body and wash away the pain.

The bite mark on his finger was gone.

He had finally done it.

He had truly and actually casted a spell.

Warm tears rolled down his cheeks, but he shook off the giddy feeling and shifted his focus.

He bit into his finger again, and once more he casted Healing on himself, he did this about four more times, and each time he patiently analyzed the exact process that was taking place.

After observing and gaining a better understanding of what was happening, he moved on to his second test.

His new father didn't seem to chant anything before he started swinging his sword, so there wasn't much he could replicate.

However, he clearly inherited his mother's ability to cast a Healing Spell, or it was likely he could copy his father too.

There was one spell he thought he might be able to use, even in this world. He hadn't attempted it before our of fear of permanently injuring or killing himself.

Reinforcement, a standard application of Magical Energy. The spell would fill in the gaps in an object and enhance its properties. However, it was a delicate procedure, one where the user should know where the gaps are and how much they can handle, or else the object might break.

He hadn't managed to get Structural Analysis to work, which was a large part in understanding the object before pouring Magical Energy into it.

There was a chance Reinforcement itself might not even work, however, it wasn't truly a spell, it was simply infusing Magical Energy into an object.

Instead of risking breaking an object, which would probably be noticed, now that he could heal his own body, he was ready to take his chances on it.

Since there wasn't a chant, he closed his eyes and pictured the Magical Energy moving as if he was casting Healing once more.

The phantom sensation played out on loop as he attempted to etch the initial build up into his mind.

The principals shouldn't be that far apart. Healing the body, and Strengthening the body, were simply a step away. An advancement from repairing, to enhancing.

He felt some Magical Energy being drained and flowing into his finger.

Once more he placed his finger between his teeth and bit down hard. He couldn't break through his skin.

Before the sensation could fade away, he replayed the sensation and forced the flow into his fist, and once more into his arm, and then into his entire body.

And then once he firmly remembered how to cast Reinforcement, he finally let himself go to his excitement and bliss.

Another year had passed since his birth.

His new family were alright, though most of the time his new parents were a little irritating.

Lilia was still the best out of the bunch, when she read him bedtime stories she would speak in a clear and concise tone. Unlike the young couple who wanted to mess around most of the time.

He also wasn't a fan of being tossed in the air and caught, or being treated like a baby in general.

So whenever he had actual free time, he would stay near Lilia.

As for his free time, that could be divided into two categories: practicing Magecraft and practicing Magical Energy manipulation.

He had gotten the hang of Healing and Reinforcement, he even etched them into a Magic Circuit for quick-casting.

He had even managed to set up a Healing to go off if he suddenly lost consciousness, it came in handy when he had miscalculated a Reinforcement and blacked out from the pain.

Attempts to use Reinforcement on objects not himself, proved difficult. He had found loose debris to test on, and he broke the first two dozen pieces, he eventually managed to not break them but he couldn't do much else.

As a two year old, he found himself with a lot less supervision, but he had just about reached a wall in his craft, so he shifted his focus elsewhere.

Exploring his home some more, he began truly bemoaning the fact that he didn't have a personal library anymore when he found a guide book on magic sitting in a chest and collecting dust.


AN:

Another thing that the characters wouldn't understand, but I want the audience to know: Zenith's Healing Spell had mistaken Magic Circuits for simple nerves. Although it attempted to set them back in their place, an error would occur whenever it tried to find that place and then it would just give up after a second or two.

I don't remember where I found all the interviews I've read, but there's one on Wakame Paradise that really got the ball rolling. I don't know much about Ikuhara's work but it was interesting seeing what Nasu thought about them. Especially when you consider Nasu's Magi in general.

WHAT SHAPES MY SOUL (NASU KINOKO, ON IKUHARA KUNIHIKO)

—What do you think of the Princess of the Crystal's line, "You lowlifes who will never amount to anything"? I think that phrase may have felt like a gut punch to many people aiming to become creators.

Nasu: I see, so you interpreted it as meaning "You'll end as a viewer and never become a creator". I'm in the position of being a writer, so I might have had a subconscious safety barrier there. But if you ask me, I took it to mean "If you can't obtain true love, everything's just for show. If you're never loved and cannot love another, you'll never amount to anything."

Nasu: Creators sometimes choose their own work over love. Just like Sanetoshi-sensei, you might destroy with your own hands the person who might have shared the apple of fate with you, or eat the apple by yourself. That might be what it means to live for your hobbies or your work, but if you look only at yourself you'll never amount to anything—that's how I interpreted it. It's a harsh message.