A blinding light slowly filled his entire consciousness. And when the light cleared he saw a giant young blonde lady staring at him. Feeling loopy from dying, his brain struggled to advance further than his surface thoughts.

"Xx'x xxxxxx xxx!" An indescribable string of babble came from a giant young brown haired girl who came into view.

The blonde lady looked away. "Xxxxxx, xxx xxxx xx Xxxxxx." She also spoke in babble and then she smiled down at him.

'Uh, wait, what's happening? Why does she look familiar? Is this really happening to me?'

The world fell out from beneath him as the blonde lady moved away and the brown haired girl got closer.

"X'xx xx xxxxxxx." After speaking more babble, the girl reached her arms and hands out.

"Aa!?" He suddenly exclaimed in surprise as the giant girl began to lift him up. That was all he needed, he was now certain. 'I've been reincarnated!? Seriously!?'

…

…

It's been about a month since he had been reincarnated in another world. He had most definitely died from his younger brother beating him with a baseball bat, and now he was a baby in a different world.

As he looked around his rustic room, he was pretty sure the world hadn't advanced beyond the medieval age, and apparently magic was real here. So it was a pretty standard isekai adventure.

While being cared for, the blonde lady whom he assumed had given birth to him, would occasionally bring him out his room and have the brown haired girl hold him as she worked.

It seems she was a cleric of sorts, she would stop by a church looking room in the building they lived at and her hands would glow green as she magically healed injuries.

After realizing magic was real, he then began to actively attempt to understand his surroundings, however it was taxing on his infantile brain, so he eventually relaxed and just slept most of the time.

…

…

Around six months after being born, he had just about gotten the hang of the babble language being spoken around him. He would say he was proficient in it, but since he was an actual baby, his understanding was advanced enough for him.

He had learned his own name, it was Rudeus. And his mother was named Zenith Latreia, she was a Healer Mage currently boarding at a church/orphanage in exchange for healing the townspeople. 'I've only seen the anime version of Mushoku Tensei, so I can't say I'm all that familiar with the world, but I've read a few spoilers.'

It was a bit of a shock, but well being reincarnated in the first place was a few magnitudes more unbelievable, so he just accepted his reality.

Anyway, although he was ready to completely toss away his previous life, he decided against it because of what he knew, and instead he thought about all his regrets and his previous appearance.

He was also concerned that his life was vaguely similar to the unnamed NEET's, but it might've just been a coincidence as they were both worthless individuals, or maybe it had been the reason he was reborn as such.

Regardless, it was also obvious that this version of the world wasn't the canon world, as evidenced by his current living situation and Paul's absence.

He probably wasn't in the village from canon, since Zenith and Paul didn't settle down, so he probably wouldn't meet any of the girls from canon. He wasn't in Sylphy's village. His current living situation couldn't afford to hire Roxy. His surname wasn't Greyrat, so there was no connection to Eris. And even Lilia wasn't around.

Also, Zenith was surprisingly cold to him.

The brown haired girl had left before he understood the local language, so he didn't know her full name, just that it started with a K. She was pretty weird, a little off putting would be a gentler way of saying it. When she was left alone with him, she'd whisper to him as if he could understand her and then she'd smile wide with a pair of dull green eyes.

He was pretty certain she would be an important character later, but unfortunately his infant memory of her was quickly fading as time passed.

On the upside of time passing, his body had developed enough that he could barely babble a coherent sentence, which combined with his understanding of the local language, allowed him to try out magic for the first time.

He sat up in his crib and began mumbling almost incoherent syllabes, his mouth was tired, but eventually he managed a sentence with no faults.

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

This was the first time he didn't flub a single syllable of the chant he had overheard from Zenith, but still nothing happened. Not exactly nothing, as he had felt a bit dizzy afterward and his stomach churned a bit.

After a few more exact chants, he threw up without producing any magical results. His failure, the stress that it had placed on his infant body, and the resulting vomit that stained his clothes and crib, led to him wailing like a baby that had just thrown up.

A few minutes passed before Zenith returned to the small room and held him in her arms as she hushed him to sleep.

…

…

A few more months passed, and he was still unable to perform even a basic spell. If he wasn't an actual baby, he might've been more disappointed.

Other background information about this world was just outside of his complete grasp, but he knew enough to understand that this was some sort of fantasy world with knights and monsters. So not much had differed than what he had already expected.

Although he could crawl about now, his options were very limited, he could either stay in his room or traverse the hallway. The other rooms were either locked or for public access. And considering when he peered through the windows or open doors he'd see a bustling village, it was no surprise that there was an almost constant stream of people coming in and out of this place.

'Ugh, why can't all you normies go explode somewhere?' From his spot on the second floor balcony, he was staring down at the three guys who would occasionally stop by and attempt to flirt with Zenith.

Zenith spent most of her free time in the altar area of the church, she seemed to be praying but she had no qualms about indulging in gossiping or chatter whenever someone came by. When she wasn't there, she would be reading storybooks to the orphans or just playing with them. She was also responsible for cooking the meals here.

Overall, he, Rudeus now, only saw his mother regularly during the morning for breakfast, afternoon for lunch, and at nighttime for dinner, then getting cleaned, and finally a bedtime story. Aside from feeding and cleaning him, she never spent free time with him. 'Some mother you turned out to be. What am I? Just some mistake from a one night stand or something?'

He couldn't be sure he was Paul's child, so he couldn't be sure who his father was at all. He didn't think of his mom as some kind of whore; she never reciprocated any attempts at flirting and she never spent the night out, but regardless, she was still a picture perfect example of parental neglect.

His former parents had been an example of caring but passive parents, and although he didn't blame them for not helping him enough, he didn't feel any excess love towards them as a result.

Funny, he was basically confined to his room again but now he spent most of his days crawling around outside it searching for something interesting. His old family probably would have given him a gold star if they could see him now. Actually, scratch that, if they saw how he smiled when he was sucking milk straight from a real nipple, they would probably bash his skull in again.

He had wanted to try this time around, try to live a decent life he wouldn't regret, he honestly thought he could, but it was clear that just wasn't his fate. So he returned to his room and crawled into his crib. He would save his efforts for when he wasn't a baby, for now he would just indulge in his current life and wait for a better opportunity.

…

…

He had stopped keeping track, but he would bet two years had gone by since he was born. Unsurprisingly, his new lifestyle of lazing about waiting for milk and napping had led to him becoming quite the chubby baby.

Anyway, he was a toddler now, so that meant he needed to be potty trained. He had been reluctant to give up being manually changed, but he knew Zenith would give up on him eventually so he pretended to need a week before he was fully trained.

In that week, he had noticed how frail his legs and arms were, a clear side effect of his new lifestyle. Although he would prefer to keep lazing about, he didn't want to end up underdeveloped.

Zenith suddenly rushed to his side after a nun reported he was walking, she was regretful that she missed his first steps. She had the same reaction a few months back when he spoke his first word (in public).

He probably wouldn't have dismissed her if she had actually cared, but by now he was certain she disliked him and only gave birth to him because of her religious beliefs. He had overheard enough of the sermons to understand the basics, and well, they were definitely strictly pro-life. And they also frowned upon premarital relations.

Zenith giving birth to him was probably a complex matter that she struggled with, especially since she was from a noble family, but he wasn't particularly sympathetic. A bitter resentment had developed within himself, mostly because his new life wasn't perfect.

A new start, a second chance, and he was already facing setbacks. He knew she could've been with Paul, and he could've had a father, but he didn't and she neglected him. Still, he was grateful for his birth, and he didn't want to make the same mistakes, so he was trying to bond with her, just not proactively.

Another thing he noticed in that week of walking around, was that most of the other orphans were gone. Actually, most of the people in the village were gone.

"What happened?" Rudeus muttered to himself as he peered through a window to a mostly empty village.

"Isn't it obvious?" A toddler spoke up behind him with a dead calm tone.

He nearly jumped in his skin as he twisted his neck to look at the person who snuck up behind him. It was a girl with frosty white hair and frozen violet eyes. He couldn't speak, his heart thumped in his chest and his lungs were squeezed by his rib cage.

Fear? Anxiety? He wasn't sure why exactly it was that he couldn't think properly.

"Everyone ran." She eventually answered her own question. "You're Rudeus, correct? Since you spend your time isolated, I'll assume you're ignorant of the current situation, would you mind if I explained it to you?" Her words were cold, detached. She almost gave off the impression that she wasn't human.

Through his uneasy nerves, he nodded his head. She didn't speak like a toddler should be speaking.

"Very well. South of here were the other villages that lived closer to the border, however, they all got caught up in the conflict between Demon and Beastkin armies, and they were destroyed. The survivors kept fleeing inwards, and they had to keep moving as the armies also kept getting closer."

'This doesn't sound good.'

"This village is next on the chopping block, and if monsters don't come, then bandits will."

"Doesn't that mean those armies are eating into this kingdom's border? Isn't the kingdom going to do something about that?" By changing the focus away from an interpersonal conversation to one of a bigger scope, he managed to calm down.

"That would seem like the case, however, the current king has taken a neutral stance regarding the war. He wishes to establish an alliance with the victor, but it is unclear who that will be at the moment. He has allowed his citizens to defend themselves, however, he won't allow any soldier to lend a hand."

The more she talked, the less human she sounded. 'What is she, a robot? Or maybe a Kuudere?'

"Oh, forgive me, I have yet to introduce myself. I am Sefiria."

"There you are." A voice laced with steel called out.

He turned his head and saw another toddler, another girl. She had bright fluffy golden hair and striking blue-silver eyes, her skin was a clear white and almost looked like porcelain. And as she walked up, her eyes seemed to scan over his body, but she dismissed him almost instantly.

"Uh, what?" He almost reflexively asked, these two girls didn't seem like normal toddlers, they almost felt like…

"Excuse us." The blonde toddler bowed slightly towards him as she grabbed the silver haired girl by the wrist. "Let's go, Lugh managed to convince Mrs. Echevalier to adopt us."

Rudeus didn't get to hear anything else she said as she dragged away Sefiria. It wasn't until a minute passed that he felt he could breathe properly again. He could still vaguely feel their presence lingering behind, almost suffocating him. The scent of burning blood and frozen death slowly faded away.

He couldn't understand how they were able to just walk through here unbothered, they were definitely radiating off the stench of death. Not even Zenith or the passing Adventurers reeked as bad.

Still, there was one thing he understood perfectly clearly: they weren't just abnormal toddlers. Their speech, mannerisms, and their presence, made it obvious, they were reincarnated individuals. Just like he was, only they had something he didn't, power.

Now, unfortunately, he had a concrete standard. And he wasn't living up to his potential as a reincarnated individual, his own expectations were being betrayed. He definitely felt hopeless, crushed by his despair, but he was still a child, he still had potential.

A fire had reignited his drive, he wouldn't end up wasting his second chance.

AN: Probably contrary to some people's belief, this MC isn't supposed to be a self-insert for me. I don't agree with his thoughts and his actions aren't ones I would take.

He's just a pretty standard NEET who hated his life and wants something better.

This world is a mash-up, if you're familiar with a few of the backstories for some Isekai planets, you'll know this isn't rare, just now you'll also be familiar with them.

Some rules and concepts mesh harmoniously well together, while some clash horribly.

I'll take this moment to mention that I love the late stages of Isekai novels, they truly go off the rails. It's disappointing to know that most of the best ones won't be adapted for probably decades.