Nathan’s - POV

  My constant casting of Demon Skin and endless practice with Mana Sense yielded mixed results. Mana Sense had finally ticked up to level two, but Demon Skin stubbornly refused to budge from level one.

  Still, progress was progress.

  I could now perceive more than just the ambient mana drifting through the air. Faint traces of mana clung to the ground beneath me, like mist seeping through cracks in stone. Oddly, it shimmered a hazy blue. I had expected brown; earth should be brown, right? But apparently, the world didn’t care about my color-coding logic.

  Curiously, I tried channeling my fel energy into the ground, willing the earth to rise. Nothing happened. Instead, a shadowy tendril erupted from the soil, coiling upward like a serpent. It scooped up a clump of dirt and presented it to me, almost reverently, as if awaiting my approval.

  Then came the familiar ding in my head, followed by a glowing prompt.

  Congratulations!

  You have discovered Shadow Tendrils 1.

  As the first to cast this spell, you are rewarded with +5 Intelligence.

  Recalibrating Rewards...

  Recalibration Successful...

  The system has recognized you as the first warlock in the world.

  As the first to cast the Demon Skin spell. You are rewarded with +5 Intelligence

  I blinked, stunned. That was... unexpected.

  Status:

  Name: Nathan

  Class: Shadow Mage, Warlock Demonologist

  HP: 10

  MP: 1300

  Strength: 1

  Stamina: 1

  Agility: 1

  Dexterity: 1

  Intelligence: 120 + 5 + 5 = 130

  Constitution: 1

  Affinity: Shadow SSS+, Fel Energy SSS+

  Active Skills: Shadow Bolt 1, Demon Skin 1, Immolate 1, Summon Imp, Shadow Tendrils 1

  Passive Skills: Mana Sense 2

  “Whoa…” I whispered, quickly dismissing the tendril before anyone could see.

  Not only had my MP increased, but my intelligence had jumped as well. The system had rewarded me for being the first to cast Shadow Tendrils and Demon Skin. Which meant… every time I discovered a new spell, my intelligence would rise.

  The implications were staggering.

  If I really am this world’s first shadow mage and warlock, then the possibilities were endless. Every time I cast a new spell that this world has never seen... I get a +5 Intelligence. Although I used Demon Skin a few days ago for the first time, the system rewarded me just now. I don’t know what’s happening, but it was as if the system was going out of it way to overpower me. Not that I’m complaining. In fact, I’m very happy with the system.

  It just feels weird. Whoever is in charge of the system, I would have to thank him or her and ask them what’s up. More things to investigate.

  Of course, there were limits. My failed attempt at manipulating the ground proved I couldn’t cast elemental spells like Fireball or earthwall. My path was shadow and fel, not earth and flame.

  Still, the thought of being both a warlock and a shadow mage thrilled me. Yet, excitement was tempered by a sobering truth: mages were notoriously weak against melee fighters. A sword to the gut didn’t care how high your intelligence stat was.

  Unless…

  Unless I became something more.

  A spellblade, perhaps. If my intelligence naturally skyrocketed with each new spell, then I could focus my training on physical stats; strength, agility, dexterity, constitution. A hybrid. Not just a fragile spellcaster, but a warrior who could fight toe-to-toe while wielding devastating magic.

  The more I thought about it, the longer my mental to-do list grew. But one thing was certain: I refused to live as a peasant. If I were going to lift my family out of poverty, I would go all the way.

  Still, I had to be smart. Subtle. I couldn’t afford to draw attention yet. Not until I was strong enough to protect myself...and them.

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  A Few Days Later...

  Mother was unusually cheerful. At first, I thought nothing of it, but later I learned why: it was my birthday. I had turned one year old.

  That night, she gave me extra helpings of soft food; bread soaked in stew, mashed vegetables. Then she brought out a small loaf of bread with a stub of candle stuck on top.

  “Happy birthday, sweetie,” she whispered, lighting the flame.

  I beamed at her, and she blew the candle out for me. To my horror, my eyes stung. Tears welled up. Just a little.

  The honesty, the love...it shook me.

  That night, I swore an oath. I would lift this family from poverty. I would shower them with prosperity and wealth. To the heavens, I swore it.

  Dianne – POV

  My little boy cried his heart out. Strange, for a one-year-old to understand what we were doing, but I brushed the thought aside and wiped his nose.

  Serena and Jack devoured the rabbit stew Jakob had caught, dipping extra loaves of tavern bread into the broth.

  As I fed Nathan, Jakob asked quietly, “How is work? Those men still bothering you?”

  “Yes,” I admitted, “but with Nathan and Serena, they can’t do much. These kids can wail like there’s no tomorrow.” I laughed.

  Jakob didn’t. His jaw tightened. “Dianne, that’s no laughing matter. They’re harassing you. What if… what if...”

  “There’s nothing we can do,” I cut in. “The guards won’t lift a finger. Those men belong to the baron’s son. All I can do is avoid them.”

  “I could confront them,” he growled.

  “You could,” I said firmly, “and then you’d end up in the dungeon. I won’t have you thrown in chains because of me.”

  “What if we ask help from the adventurers?”

  “You know they won’t act without coin. And even if we had the money, no adventurer would cross the baron’s son’s men. Not for us.”

  Jakob’s fists clenched. “Then we’re helpless. Dianne, I won’t stand by while they harass you. I’m your husband.”

  “I know,” I said softly. “But think of the children. What happens to them if you’re gone? I can’t raise them alone.”

  He looked stricken. Any man would be. To see your wife harassed and be powerless to stop it, it was enough to drive anyone mad. But defying the baron’s son would doom us all.

  I reached for his hand. “Listen. I’ll be careful. I’ll never walk alone. That’s why I always come home with our neighbors. And once Nathan grows, I’ll stop working at the tavern altogether.”

  At that point, Jakob’s expression softened.

  “Alright,” he said at last. “But don’t be overconfident. Always be cautious. Never go out by yourself.”

  “I promise.”

  Nathan – POV

  That night, I couldn’t sleep.

  I had overheard everything. The harassment my mother endured every morning, the helplessness in my father’s voice. So far, it hadn’t escalated beyond crude words and intimidation. The one-time Serena and I had wailed; it had startled them enough to back off. But I wasn’t na?ve. They would try again.

  And next time, it might be worse.

  If only I were older. Stronger. Damn this tiny body.

  With nothing else to do, I slipped into meditation. I had been practicing for nights, unsure if it truly benefited me. Tonight, something shifted.

  As I sank into my consciousness, the world around me faded. Memories sharpened. I saw my old self. My family on Earth. The people I loved. The life I had lost.

  I remembered the first time I rolled a warlock in the game, the thrill of casting Shadow Bolt, the chaos of raids.

  Then, strangely, I remembered my chemistry class. Of all things, chemistry.

  It came to me not as a vague blur but with startling clarity, as if I were once again seated in that cramped lecture hall back on Earth. I could almost smell the faint tang of ethanol from the lab, hear the scratch of chalk against the board as my professor scrawled molecular structures with ruthless efficiency. The periodic table unfolded in my mind, each element slotting neatly into place, their atomic weights and valences whispering to me like old companions.

  Why chemistry? Why now?

  The memory didn’t stop there. Physics followed, unbidden. I recalled the elegance of Newton’s laws, the way motion and force could be reduced to simple equations that governed everything from falling apples to orbiting planets. I remembered the thrill of solving problems that once seemed impossible, the satisfaction of watching the pieces click together. Even the dry monotone of my physics professor echoed in my ears, his voice droning about conservation of energy while I doodled in my notebook.

  And then came engineering. Circuits, stress diagrams, fluid dynamics...all of it surged back like a floodgate had been opened. I remembered the hum of machines in the lab, the smell of solder, the frustration of projects that refused to work until, suddenly, they did. I remembered the pride of building something with my own hands, of taking theory and turning it into reality.

  It was overwhelming. These weren’t just scraps of memory; they were entire frameworks of knowledge, intact and vivid. I could recall formulas, diagrams, even the exact phrasing of exam questions I once sweated over. It was as though my mind had been unlocked, the dusty shelves of my old life thrown wide open.

  At first, I didn’t understand why. What use was chemistry in a world of swords and sorcery? What good was physics when magic bent the rules of reality? But then I realized, this was power. Knowledge was power. If I could merge the principles of Earth’s science with the magic of this world, the possibilities were endless.

  Alchemy, for instance. Most people here probably thought of it as mystical transmutation, but I knew the underlying principles of reactions, catalysts, and compounds. With chemistry, I could refine it, weaponize it, and revolutionize it. Physics could help me understand trajectories, energy transfer, and even the mechanics of spellcasting itself. Engineering could give me tools, machines, perhaps even weapons that no one in this world had ever dreamed of.

  The thought made my heart race. I wasn’t just a baby with a strange system anymore. I was an engineer, a scientist, and a warlock. I carried with me the accumulated knowledge of another world, and now I had the means to apply it in ways no one here could anticipate.

  It was terrifying. It was exhilarating.

  And it was mine.

  Ding.

  A blue prompt appeared before my closed eyes.

  Congratulations!

  You have accessed knowledge from your old world, Earth.

  You now have access to information from your past life.

  Because the knowledge is vast, the system has created a search engine for you to manipulate. This prevents your mind from fracturing under the weight of information.

  New Title Acquired: Otherworldly Knowledge

  You have been awarded with +100 Intelligence

  I froze. A search engine. Inside my head.

  The possibilities…

  I could recall formulas, history, strategies, and even technology. If I could harness this knowledge and merge it with magic, I could create things this world had never seen. Weapons. Tools. Systems of power.

  The thought was intoxicating.

  Before I could test it, exhaustion claimed me. I drifted into sleep, the glowing prompt fading into darkness.