"In the same way that there will always be someone better, take comfort in there always being someone worse."
- You can't possible be the worst at something if I still exist!
Chapter 1: Talentless.
When I opened my eyes I found myself being gazed down upon by the worried expressions of a young woman with chocolate-colored skin that cradled me in her arms and a pale-looking man standing next to her, they both had dark-brown hair and neither of them were particularly lookers, but something about them reminded me of my actual parents, a kind of warmness.
They both spoke an incomprehensible language to each other, but I quickly stopped paying them any more attention as something else caught my eye, I looked down at my hands and saw that they were the one's of a newborn infant.
I had died and been reincarnated into a new life.
Considering the events that lead up to my death it was reasonable to assume that I was reincarnated into the six-faced world...
HELL YES! Goodbye old colorless life, and hello magic and adventure! All part of the plan baby! This world believes in polygamy right? As Rudeus I'm gonna have fi- No! Ten girlfriends! And my magic will be so OP! I'll go like pew-pew-pew as I shoot lightning bolts from my hands! This gonna be awesome!
In my elation, strange noises began spilling from my mouth, and what I assume to be my parents smiled as they saw how energetic I was.
Heh, probably thought I was stillborn for a second there huh?
I then came to a sudden realization.
Huh? Who the hell are you guys? wait a sec... if that Homeless-san was the real Rudeus and he reincarnated as usual. That means I couldn't have taken the body of Rudeus Greyrat in the Fittoa region because it has a host now, so then I would be randomly put in a different stillborn baby's body... okay so... where in the world am I? More importantly, Who am I!?
I spent a considerable amount of time raking through my brain to answer these questions, as I realized my fantasy might not be exactly what I wanted.
Hey, at least it can't be worst than my last life right guys? right?
.
.
.
Hey there, it's me again! 3 years have passed since I reincarnated here, and let me just say this life doesn't show much promise.
FOR YOU SEE! These last 3 years, I more or less learned what I can only assume to be Human-tongue and I've been trying to figure out what sort of cards I've been dealt this time around, and to answer my question of whether or not this life is worse than the last and... It is!
Let me give you the rundown on what I've gathered-
-I currently live in a backwater village on the outskirts of the Ranoa Kingdom.
-My father's name is Wilson and he is a former Millis Missionary Knight that is Intermediate-tier in Water god style.
-My mother is called Mermelda and originates from the Begaritt continent, explaining her darker skin. She's probably some sort of warrior.
I have no idea what unusual events led them to the Northern territories to start a family and I simply don't care, so let's continue.
- We live in poverty, which is a far cry from my previous middle-class birth in modern society.
- My name is Kino and my appearance is nothing special, Dark-brown hair like Wilson and Mermelda, tan skin a bit on the lighter side, and an average-looking face with tired, gloomy eyes. It closely resembles my appearance from my previous life, and I hate it.
So in short, I live in poverty with these two nobodies in the harshest area on the central continent. So yeah, an even more worthless life...
But hey! I enjoy playing games on a harder difficulty from time to time so no biggie. All I have to do is just scrouge up some items and get a little stronger, then I'll be set to leave here and travel the world!
Alright then, this is where my training arc officially begins! What should I learn first? Oh, why magic of course! But, uh, there's just one problem, a single foil to my plans, an obstacle to my progress,
we don't own a Magic textbook to learn magic with.
I really should have seen this coming, it makes sense that an impoverished family wouldn't own a book in a world like this one, where they're expensive and most people can't read. I'm illiterate too, so that's also gonna pose a problem. Shit.
You might think this isn't a huge deal as I can always learn magic at a later date, but if I don't start now I'll miss out on some huge benefits like silent-spell casting, and childhood is the only time in which I can increase my mana pool. So the earlier I start the better.
Okay, no need to worry, I'll just convince Wilson to find a way for me to learn magic.
.
.
.
"What? You want to learn magic? Why?"
Will made a perplexed face at my request.
"Yes! I think it's really cool!" I exclaimed with shining eyes.
"Really? I much rather you learn the sword..."
"I want to learn the sword too, but doesn't that also mean we need someone who's gonna teach me?"
"Well, I can teach you!"
Yeah, no...
"Huh? What 'cha talking about?" Mermelda asked, poking her head out from the next room.
"Oh, I was just telling the little one here how I'll teach him how to use a sword like a real knight!"
"Wait no! I only want to learn magic!" I protested with my best impression of a whining little child.
"What!? But you just said you wanted to learn the sword!"
Well obviously not from an idiot like you, that's gonna do me more harm than good, besides, Rudeus got by just fine without sword fighting so I can do the same!
"Oh? Do you want to learn magic? I can teach you a little, I know beginner-tier fire magic as it comes in real handy up here in the freezing North."
"...huh?"
"...what?"
And so I shall begin my fire magic training, of course, it's only up to beginner-tier so there isn't much to learn, but I have plans to obtain more advanced and versatile magic later. I think I can probably learn all the basic spells in one afternoon, then I'll just focus on expanding my mana pool and learning silent spellcasting until the time is right to learn some more magic.
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.
.
"Alrighty then, I want you to memorize what I say and repeat it when I tell you."
I'm currently outside in front of our small one-story house with Mermelda, she is about to demonstrate to me the beginner-tier fire spell "Fireball", which creates a small orb of fire in the palm of your hand that you can then cast towards your target, it wasn't all that lethal so most people simply learned it to light campfires and such.
"Let the great protection of fire be on the place thou seekest..."
As she started to rattle off the incantation, she lifted her arm and pointed the open palm of her hand at the boulder sitting in the clearing.
"...I call the bold heat of a torch here and now..."
Flames started to accumulate in front of her hand now, and a small crowd of 4-6 passersby stopped to watch her perform, guess magic isn't all that common around these parts.
"Fireball!" suddenly a ball of flames 1-foot in diameter shot out from her hand and arced across the air nailing the boulder and leaving scorch marks.
"Whew... that's about as big as I can make my, though I'm sure I could make it a lot bigger if I practice more, but I only use it to light the fireplace so I don't see a point. Anyways, you got all that?"
"Yep," I replied cheerfully as I got in position in front of the boulder.
Oh, the crowd is still here? Then bear witness to my magnificent magic! I probably have a Laplace factor that'll make this all a piece of cake don't I? This'll be the biggest fireball this side of the country! HAHAHA!
"Quit just standing there and do it already!" shouted a boy my age from the crowd.
Shut up brat! I was just getting to that! Okay, let's do this...
"Ahem... Let the great protection of fire be on the place thou seekest..."
I closed my eyes to try to focus better on the spell and the feeling of casting it.
"...I call the bold heat of a torch here and now..."
OOOHHH I'm feeling it now! This gonna be a big one!
"FIREBALL!" I shouted as I finish the incantation.
There was silence, then murmurs spread through the audience, Mermelda stood there speechless for a few seconds.
heh heh... I knew you'll all be in awe of my power!
"Y-You..." she struggled to get the words out.
"You have no talent for this do you?..."
Urk!
"I mean, there wasn't even a spark! I don't get it, you nailed the incantation but produced nothing... Ah but don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Try it one more time."
"I-I can't..." I replied weakly.
"Huh? Why not?"
"I'm out of mana..."
"Oh..."
After the crowd heard that exchange they sighed in disappointment and quickly disperse, leaving only the kid who jeered at me earlier and woman standing besides him who was in a maid outfit. After a while of silently standing with the kid tugging at her skirt as if say to "Come on let's go, the show's over mom!", she finally strolled over and spoke.
"Is your child perhaps interested in magic?" the woman inquired to Mermelda in a dignified tone,
"Oh yeah, he suddenly demanded to learn how to use magic, so I brought out here to teach him some, but unfortunately as you can see he doesn't have any talent for it."
Hey come on! I trying my best here woman! And stop throwing that word around!
"Ah yes, I saw that... attempt at... uh... Well that's unimportant, I simply thought I could offer you a proposal that is sure to interest your son."
I'm not liking the disrespect you're all showing this 3 year old, but go on about this proposal.
"'A proposal that'll interest my son?', and who exactly are you?"
"Ah, pardon my manners, I forgotten to introduce myself, I am servant of Village Chief, Getruna, and this child here is the young master Rendolph Igneous."
As she introduced him the child stepped forward with his head held high, and a smug look on his face as he stared me down.
I've never had such an overwhelming urge to punch a 3-year-old in my lives, acting all high and mighty when he's just the son of some chief in a village that isn't even marked on the map!
"Village chief huh? What exactly is the proposal then that he would offer it to people like us?
"The proposal is for your son to study magic alongside the young master,"
"Excuse me?"
Pardon?
Both me and Mermelda were flabbergasted.
"Allow me to explain, if he wishes to up mantle of village chief, it's vital for him to learn magic, yet even though he has talent for it, the young master doesn't show any interest in it, but as he is very competitive, we believe if he learns alongside someone at your child's skill level this will motivate him to improve and progress his magic into greater heights. Your child fits the perfect criteria we've been looking for and of course he'll be paid for his time."
A smirk spread across Rendolph's face.
Oh I see now, this little brat obviously derives enjoyment from being better than others, so they'll employ me, a talentless nobody, to basically act as a way boost his ego and motive him to continue improving, lest I catch up, though I'm sure they have a plan in place to prevent me from ever actually doing so. All in all, it's still not a bad deal, even if they limit the education I receive, a limited education is better than none at all, plus I'm getting paid which can go to my travel funds.
"I accept!" I blurted out
"Ho? The child is alright with it, what of you madam?" asked Getruna to Mermelda
"Hmm... I'll have to speak to my husband too, but I doubt he'll refuse our son getting a free education, so I think it's safe for me to say that I accept for the both of us."
"Then it's settled, he shall begin in 3 days. We hope to see him then, goodbye."
The servant then grabbed hold of the brat's hand, and started up the path to presumably the chief's house.
So if this pans out well I'll probably out of this village in a couple years... what do I do after that? Of course I want to travel the world, but not aimlessly, if I do that I'll just live another meaningless life... Maybe help out Rudeus? That'll make the most use outta my meta knowledge, but I'm not sure if I want to get caught up in all that... Well I still got plenty of time to decide on what to do with my new life, I'll just take it slow for now and do what I want.
"huh?" Mermelda's confusion brought me out of my thoughts,
Getruna had stopped moving up the trail, she then let go of Rendolph's and suddenly turned around and bolted back to our home.
"Ah I certainly am forgetful today, I almost didn't get your names, so may I have them?" said Getruna slightly out of breathe from going up and down the path so much
"Certainly, My name is Mermelda, my husband's is Wilson, and my son's name is Kino"
"Kino? That's definitely a unique name..."
It sure is, probably because it isn't from this world.
It was the same name I was given my previous life.
Author's Note:
Hello, author here. I hope you enjoyed what I've written so far for this fanfic, if not, no worries. Since it's my very first time ever writing a story like this I would very much appreciate any construct criticism you might have for me. There's a few thing I want to say, so here they are in easily digestible bullet-points.
- First, I intend to update this series at the very least once a week as I have lots of things planned for it. Only time I won't update is if I am very busy or am unable to access a computer.
-Second, this is just the beginning of the story, so if you don't enjoy it as of now, please consider reading atleast a few more chapters, thank you in advance.
-Finally, just to restate, I very would appreciate any complaints people might have, if you believe the pacing is too slow I'll speed it up to the most reasonable degree, if you believe my grammar needs improving I'll be more thorough with proof-reading, please don't hesitate to leave review telling where to improve.
That is all, it's currently 3 am where I live so I going to bed, see yall next week or maybe 4 days idk. Peace