A NEW BEGINNING

Author note: the story starts in chapter 1. The prologue introduces the MC and explains his background. Feel free to skip it if you are not interested, but as the author, I recommend reading it.

*"He is alive! I did it! I managed to save your boy's life."* (please, remember that * means words that Derek is not capable of understanding.)

After the midwife triumphantly said those words, the room exploded in cheers and tears of joy. The people in the room were hugging each other and the mother in turns.

Meanwhile, Derek lied limp in the midwife's arms, looking left and right trying to determine how bad his current situation was.

'Well, well, well. What do we have here? The bedridden woman is clearly this body's mother. She definitely needs a bath.' After delivery, the sheets were stained with blood, urine, and feces.

'The crying, rough-looking man should be the father. I wonder if he is crying for my sake or just because he was afraid of losing his wife. I bet the second one. It's likely for me to have an older sibling. This doesn't bode well.'

Suddenly, another woman entered the bedroom bringing with her a little boy and a girl who raced to the bedridden woman.

'Oh dammit! This is even worse than I thought. So far, I only have two possible choices. Option one, grow into this large family, fighting every day for the few available resources. Malnourishment is most definitely a given.

'Then, when I am old enough, I would be forced to work with my relatives, get married, and have children. Option two, wait until I am tall enough to grab sharp objects, put an end to my misery, and take another spin at reincarnation, hoping for a better outcome. I think I'll go with option number two.'

While Derek was thinking, the room had become quieter. The midwife had already finished cleaning the newborn and had wrapped him up in a clean cloth. During all that time, Derek neither moved nor cried.

*"Nana, what's wrong with the baby? Why is he not crying? It has never happened before!"* The mother was so worried that she ignored the pain and tried to get up.

*"Shush child! Don't you dare move. I still have to heal you."* The midwife's tone did not leave space for a reply. *"I've delivered dozens of children. A silent one is rare but nothing special. Do you want to see how strong he is? There you go!"*

She unwrapped him from the cloth, and while holding him gently, she gave Derek a little spanking to make him cry.

Derek grunted a little while staring at her in dismay.

'Do you want to play rough, old hag?' He thought. 'Fine! You just triggered my trap card! Twin Flood, activate!' Derek relieved both his bowels and bladder onto the midwife.

The backdoor attackers splattered all over her feet, while the front door flood struck her on the face and chest.

Derek started giggling loudly.

*"Well, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but as you can hear for yourself, this little imp is breathing just fine."* The midwife handed the baby to another woman to clean him.

Derek kept giggling, proud of his work. After washing her face with warm water and a cloth, the old hag moved her left index finger drawing a circle in the air, striking it through in the middle from right to left. Then she pronounced a single word.

"Ekidu!"

A black energy manifested on her fingertip. She proceeded to point it over her wet dress and then over her shoes. The smell of feces and urine suddenly disappeared along with their source.

With his mouth agape in shock, Derek watched as his poop dried and crumbled, turning into dust. It was akin to watching one of those fast-forwarded videos where in one minute you could see a seed becoming a flower.

'Heisenberg's beard! She is not just an old midwife! She is a real magician, in the flesh! I have never been so happy in my whole three lives to be dead wrong'

Derek was ecstatic, and not only because this world had magic, but also because as soon as he heard the word Ekidu, he had felt something clicking inside of him.

As if something deep inside of him had started taking root, and suddenly he had become ingrained in the very fabric of his new reality.

He started obsessively repeating the magic word in his mind, and tried to engrave every detail of the circular finger movement in his memory.

*"Now that I'm clean, let me stop that bleeding, dear."* The healer approached the mother and placed her hands above her nether regions.

'Is it time for more magic? Show me, please!' Derek begged in his mind.

Nana first spread her fingers wide then started to move both arms in a circular motion, first up over her head. Then she opened her arms as much as she could before joining her hands, palm against backhand, at her navel's height.

"Vinire Lakhat!"

Despite being all wrapped up, Derek tried to mimic all of her movements, step after step, memorizing every single detail he could grasp, no matter how small.

A sphere of light enveloped Derek's mother's lower body and she quickly recovered her complexion. The pale skin reverted to a healthy pink, while all the traces of pain and fatigue disappeared from her face.

Once again, something clicked inside him. After the dark magic, he could clearly feel that simply by hearing the power word, a connection had been established between him and light magic. Derek could not stop grinning.

'If, and I say if I have enough magical talent, it would mean there is actually a third hidden option." He thought. 'I can become a magician and live free for the first time in my life! No shackles, no responsibilities! But it's better not to get overenthusiastic. With my luck I could just have poor talent or…'

His reasoning was abruptly interrupted when the woman who had held him until that moment, handed him to his mother.

*"Nana, are you sure he is all right? He has yet to cry, or giggle. He is too quiet. With all that has happened, I'm really afraid that something is wrong with him."*

After those words, the room turned gloomy. Afraid of being somewhat responsible for the change of mood, and quite eager to explore option number three, Derek did his best baby impression. He giggled, smiled, and emitted raspberry sounds.

Such allegations hurt Nana's professional pride, but it wasn't her first time with an anxious mother.

She knew Elina since she was still a child, and had delivered all her babies. Nana could not deny that this delivery had been one of the most difficult in her career.

The labor had lasted hours and she had been forced to cast healing spells multiple times to stop the bleeding. When she finally could see the baby's head, she knew something was wrong.

Elina was fighting with all of her strength but the baby was limp. So, Nana had rushed and used her hands to pull out the baby as fast as she could, only to discover that he was being strangled by his own umbilical cord.

After cutting and removing it, Nana had tried all of her best spells, but to no avail. For a long terrible minute, Nana had believed the child was lost.

But then the healing light had finally activated, forcing the baby to puke, clearing his airway. Then and only then could Nana afford the luxury of relaxing.

Healing magic was no miracle. It could enhance the life force of the patient, making it easier for them to recover from an illness or heal from an injury, but it could not create life.

Nana was sensitive, so she understood that Elina didn't need a lesson about magic. She just wanted to be reassured about her child's health.

*"Worry not, my child. I can prove to you that all is well."*

Nana caressed Elina's cheek while smiling warmly and took Derek from her arms, removing the cloth as if she was revealing a treasure.

Nana carefully adjusted Derek in the crook of her left arm, then she circled her open right hand around him and said:

"Vinire Rad Tu!"

A small wisp of light came out of her palm, dancing around the baby before penetrating his chest.

The light spread from head to toe, making him emit a dim light.

*"See? If there was even a scratch on his body, my injury detecting spell would leave that area bleak. Your little sun is fine."*

The energy flowing through his body was making Derek feel empowered. During his old life, he had felt like that only a few times.

When he got his degrees, when he finally abandoned his parent's home, when he beat up the bullies. But all those times it had been a fleeting emotion, lasting a few seconds at best.

Now it was different, it wasn't just adrenaline. Real magic, real power was coursing through every fiber of his being, making him feel invincible.

So, when the spell started fading away, he could not accept that.

'No! Come back to me! Give me my power back!' Derek thought.

He focused on the last strands of energy, willing for them to stay. He could not cast the spell on his own, but he could still feel the lingering power and started feeding it with his own.

Derek's light stopped dimming and instead grew stronger and stronger.

Nana was dumbfounded. She had never seen anything like that before. That was not how the spell was supposed to work.

Derek wanted it to last forever, but a second later he fell asleep due to mana exhaustion, and the light disappeared quickly.

Nana wrapped up the baby again and returned him to his mother's embrace.

*"Nana, what was that?*" Elina asked full of wonder.

The old healer had no idea how to answer. Many possibilities popped up in her head, and all of them would require long explanations that would needlessly make Elina worry and maybe even force Nana to repeat the spell.

It had been a long day and she had no intention of prolonging it even a second more than necessary, so she borrowed a line from her childhood's favorite fairy tale.

*"My child, I think the new-born may be blessed by the light. There is no need to worry, only to rejoice."*

Chapter 2A Baby’s dayDerek's first days as a baby were peaceful, but far from boring. He had no responsibilities. All he had to do was eat, sleep, poop, and the occasional baby noise or finger grabbing routine.

That left him with all the time he needed to think about his future.

On Earth, it was no mystery that kids had a greater potential for learning than adults, and since his family seemed human, or at least human-like, he could hope for that to be also true in the new dimension.

From what he could see, his body was no different from a baby from planet Earth. He could hear his heartbeat and see his chest moving while he breathed.

Even the reproductive apparatus was as he knew it.

The same could be said for his new family. If it wasn't for the existence of magic, he would have simply thought to have travelled through time, but things clearly weren't that simple.

Derek quickly dismissed all the "what race am I now?" hypotheses as overthinking.

One of the advantages of being a baby was that ignorance was perfectly fine. When the time came, someone would teach him.

He determined that he had two priorities: number one, learn their language. All babies are supposed to learn their native language, and he had only so much time before being considered a retard, so he could not slack off.

Number two, he had to somehow figure out magic, or at least its foundations. That also had a deadline, since his learning potential was at its peak only until his brain stopped growing.

After that, he would be no different from anyone else with the same talent and disposition for magic.

He set magic as his first priority. Being considered a slow learner was much better than being weak for life and being forced to take another spin at reincarnation.

Derek spent his first day in the new world in bed together with his mother, while his father would sleep and rest in the boys' room.

Whenever someone talked to him, he paid close attention, trying to figure out common words or patterns.

The rest of the time he was not eating or the cloth diaper being changed, he would try to cast one of the three spells he knew: Ekidu, Vinire Lakhat and Vinire Rad Tu.

Every attempt was a failure, he could not feel even an iota of power inside himself. Comparing what he saw with what he knew from Earth's Dungeons & Looting, those spells had clearly a verbal and somatic component.

But that couldn't be all, or at least he hoped so. Otherwise all of his efforts would be useless until he was able to talk, 

Failure after failure, his anxiety grew stronger. Fear of the unknown and of tomorrow started to build up. Also, getting used to pooping and wetting himself wasn't a pleasant feeling either.

Thankfully, his mother showered him with nothing but love and affection, making his day not a total loss. Despite his bias about mothers due to his previous life, Elina managed to make him feel loved and protected. That wasn't half bad at all.

The final outcome of his first day was zero progress in magic and no progress with the language. On the other hand, his mother seemed to be a good parent and he finally learned his new name: Lith.

The second day turned his world upside down.

Elina, showing the strength of a wild ox, decided she was sick of resting and got up to help performing the daily chores.

Lith had the opportunity to see her full figure. Despite giving birth the previous day, she was a good-looking woman in her early twenties. She was definitely well endowed in all the right places, with a fit body honed through hard work.

Her shoulder blades long hair was of a beautiful light-brown colour, with shades of red all over it.

Just the light of the candle made it look like there were flames dancing within.

'Seeing mother with her hair down on a sunny day must be quite a sight to behold.' Derek thought.

Maybe it was because Lith was still a baby or maybe because of the mother-son bonding, but Lith felt deeply proud of her.

He also discovered that she did not use a bra or underpants.

Once she finished dressing, Elina wrapped Lith up, making it impossible for him to move. Then Elina placed him into her sash, using it like a baby cradle so that she could easily hold him with only one arm and minimum exertion.

She walked out of the small bedroom and found her older daughter, Rena messing with the fireplace.

*"What in the Great Mother's name do you think you're doing, Rena? The sun is not even out, you should be sleeping. You know you are not allowed to mess with fire!"*

She said with a hiss, trying to not wake up the house.

*"I'm sorry, mom. I just wanted to make you all a surprise. To make you wake up in an already warm house when breakfast was ready."* Rena's face showed only sincere concern.

*"There is no need to worry, silly bee. Your mommy is a pro with kids."* Elina said while ruffling her hair.

Rena, together with her twin brother Orpal, was the eldest child. She was six years old, and her blonde hair with shades of black was the reason for her moniker.

Elina shooed her away from the fireplace, lighting the wood with a flick of her finger.

"Infiro!"

'Thank heavens!' Lith rejoiced. 'I had that weird feeling I experience when I discover a new type of magic again. This proves that I wasn't just imagining stuff!'

Elina sent Rena to open the window shutters to let the dawn light in while she prepared breakfast.

Elina took several vegetables out of a cabinet and proceeded to chop them with a knife. Some had a familiar look to Lith, like some semi potatoes and odd coloured carrots. The others were all a mystery.

The idea of having such a breakfast made Lith almost cry. In his past life he never liked vegetables, they were all bland tasting. No matter how much of them he ate, within half an hour he would be hungry again.

Elina shoved everything inside a small copper cauldron and with the help of a hook, hung it on a metal bar over the fire.

After that, she conjured water out of nowhere with a snap of her fingers and filled the cauldron.

Both Lith and Rena were ecstatic, although for completely different reasons.

For Lith it meant hope. Spells could be cast without words or precise hand movements. That proved to him that there was a real chance to practice magic while still being a baby.

For Rena it was a reason for pride. Magic was common, but every time Elina cast a silent spell it was like watching a real mage at work.

*"You are so amazing, mom!"* Rena's eyes were full of admiration. *"Will I ever be as good as you with magic?"*

*"Of course you will, silly bee."* Elina replied with a kind smile, while inwardly adding: 'After ten plus years of chores every single day.'

After a while, everyone woke up to have breakfast together. The family consisted of Raaz (father), Elina, two daughters (Rena and Tista) and two sons (Orpal and Trion).

Lith could then establish with depressing certainty that there was no such thing as an indoor bathroom.

From what he could see, the house consisted of a big room used as dining room, kitchen and pantry with three doors that lead to the various bedrooms and nothing else.

The breakfast was relatively quiet, so he had no problems learning the word for water magic when his father filled some jugs.

"Jorun!"

After everyone left for their daily routine, Elina moved along with Lith to a rocking chair. During the morning, he had the pleasure to discover that in the new world the daily chores like washing the dishes or cleaning the floors were all performed using magic.

From her rocking chair, Elina would simply twirl her index and middle finger while reciting "Brezza!" to generate up to three small whirlwinds that she would move all around the house to collect and get rid of the dust.

Whenever someone would dirty the floor with earth or mud, a flick of the wrist and a "Magna!" would send it back through the same door it had been brought in.

Lith was delighted discovering how common the use of magic was. Everyone in the family, even the younger ones, would use magic to make their lives easier.

When bedtime arrived, Lith was dying to try some magic. He had waited so long for his hands and feet to finally be free.

Elina fell asleep almost instantly, yet Lith was impatient enough to have the impression of having waited for hours.

After a full day spent thinking, he had decided to try only air magic, at least until he was confident enough in his ability to control magic.

Fire was too dangerous for a novice, while water and light would easily wake up his mother. Lith could not spot any dirt to control in the dim light of the room, and he was too afraid to mess up with darkness magic until he got a better understanding of it.

So, he twirled his little arm and said: "Eaa." Nothing happened.

Lith tried and failed countless times before giving up. He didn't know how long his baby body would last before falling asleep, so he stopped despairing and started thinking.

Magic was common. Whenever he heard for the first time an elemental magic word, something inside him would click. As if it created a connection between him and the elemental energy.

Those were all good news, but he still couldn't make heads or tails about why he was always failing. He never expected to succeed on the first try, but he had thought that something would have manifested.

A random tiny gust of wind, a spark of light, anything would do.

He started thinking back to when the healer had filled him with power. That feeling was not new to him, but he had never experienced it so intensely.

Lith searched his memory, until he found the answer. It was the same sensation that he felt when he started practicing ju-jitsu, while learning the basic breathing technique.

��Well, I have nothing to lose. Let's give it a try.'

Lith breathed in through his diaphragm while relaxing the anus to draw the world energy in.

Then he would contract the anus, holding the breath for a few seconds, to let the energy settle in before breathing out while he relaxed his whole body.

Back on Earth, he had always thought that the intoxicating feeling he experienced during his first days of practice was just some kind of placebo effect.

His naïve young mind deluding itself that the weak could miraculously become strong just believing and practicing in all that Ki/internal energy nonsense.

But what if he later stopped experiencing that sensation only because his native world's energy was just too thin?

After some time, Lith started to feel a tingle all around his body, and then the energy seemed to move and condense inside his solar plexus.

The more he performed the breathing technique, the more clearly he could sense the energy getting stable.

In his old videogames, mana was always blue. So, he visualized a blue sphere settling inside his solar plexus.

After a while, Lith felt like he was brimming with power. After holding his breath one last time, he twirled his little arm before commanding: "Eaaa!"

The wind generated barely tweaked his mother's hair, whereas he had aimed for the blanket, yet he could not stop grinning.

'This really is a great start!'