After Mother and Father finally exhausted themselves from their playful bickering, the training yard settled into a comfortable silence.
Father let out a small cough, clearing his throat as if nothing had happened, though the faint redness on his ears betrayed his embarrassment.
“…Right,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Enough of that.”
His gaze shifted toward me, and the teasing smile on his face softened into something more serious.
“Come with me, Luke.”
I nodded without hesitation.
Instead of returning to the living room, Father led Mother and me down the hallway toward a room I had only peeked into a handful of times before.
As the heavy wooden door swung open, the familiar scent of old parchment and polished oak greeted us.
This was Father’s study.
Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, bathing the room in a warm golden glow.
Sturdy bookshelves lined every wall from floor to ceiling, each packed tightly with books, scrolls, and neatly labeled documents.
Most of the shelves were filled with texts about rune magic, although from the titles alone, I could tell they focused primarily on the fundamentals and intermediate principles.
There weren’t many advanced tomes in sight, which made sense.
Truly advanced rune techniques were probably too valuable to leave lying around.
Father walked over to one of the shelves and ran his fingers across the spines with practiced familiarity before pulling out several books.
He placed them on the large wooden desk one by one.
“This,” he said, tapping the first book with a finger, “is where you’ll begin.”
The cover read Foundations of Rune Theory.
“If you want to use runes properly, memorizing symbols isn’t enough. Every rune has meaning, structure, and history. Without understanding why a rune is written the way it is, you’ll never become more than someone copying someone else’s work.”
I leaned closer, my curiosity growing with every word.
Father opened another book.
“This one explains rune composition. Read it after you’ve finished the basics. It’ll teach you how individual runes interact with one another.”
Then came a third.
“And only after that should you move on to practical applications. Most beginners make the mistake of skipping ahead because they want to cast spells immediately.”
He looked directly into my eyes, his expression unusually stern.
“Don’t.”
I straightened instinctively.
“I won’t.”
Father gave an approving nod.
“Good. Rune magic rewards patience. The stronger your foundation, the easier everything else becomes.”
He spent the next hour introducing me to the basic concepts what runes actually were, how ancient mages developed them into a magical language, and why precision mattered more than talent.
Every explanation was accompanied by examples, simple diagrams, and stories from his own experiences.
By the end of it, I already had a neat stack of books waiting for me.
“So…” Father said as he organized them into a pile.
“Read these in this exact order. Don’t skip chapters, and don’t try practicing until you’ve finished the theory. Once you’re done, I’ll teach you the practical side myself.”
“I understand.”
Just as Father finished speaking, Mother, who had been quietly listening from the corner with a cup of tea in hand, smiled before adding her own advice.
“And study them thoroughly, dear.”
I looked toward her.
She took another sip before casually saying, “That way you won’t end up like your father.”
Father blinked.
“…Excuse me?”
Mother continued as though she hadn’t heard him.
“He’s wonderful with a sword and frighteningly strong, but ask him to solve a magical problem that isn’t related to hitting something…”
She sighed dramatically.
“…and suddenly every answer becomes ‘just punch it harder.'”
“…Hey.”
“He only knows combat.”
Father clutched his chest as though struck by an invisible arrow.
“That… actually hurts.”
I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Pfft…”
A laugh escaped my lips before turning into full-blown laughter.
“Hahaha!”
Even Mother couldn’t suppress a chuckle.
Father simply looked between the two of us before letting out a long, defeated sigh.
“I can’t even defend myself because she’s right.”
He shook his head with a wry smile.
“So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”
The study filled with warm laughter once more, making the room feel far less like a place of work and more like a home.
Looking at the stack of books resting before me, I couldn’t help but smile.
This was the first step toward mastering rune magic.
After that, Father move to one of the shelves and picked up the thick leather-bound book resting on the shelves.
“Study this as well,” he said as he handed it to me.
“It contains the fundamentals of our world’s history, geography, and the basics of magic. Don’t rush through it. Knowledge is the foundation of strength.”
“I understand, Father.”
He gave a satisfied nod before returning to his work, while Mother gently smiled at me.
“Don’t overwork yourself, Luke,” she reminded me.
“You’re still only eight.”
I smiled back.
“I won’t, Mother.”
With the book tucked under my arm, I excused myself and walked back to my room.
Click.
The wooden door closed softly behind me, shutting out the sounds of the house.
Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, bathing the room in a warm golden glow.
My room wasn’t extravagant despite my family’s noble status.
A neatly made bed rested against one wall, a sturdy wooden desk stood beside the window, and several shelves held a handful of books and decorative ornaments.
I placed Father’s book on the desk before pulling out the chair.
“Let’s see what kind of world I’ve been reborn into.”
Opening the book, I began reading from the very first page.
Hours passed without me realizing it.
The book covered everything from the formation of the kingdoms, the different races that inhabited the continent, to the principles of magic and spellcasting.
I found myself absorbing every piece of information with frightening ease.
I didn’t merely remember the words.
I understood them.
Every sentence connected naturally with the next, as if the knowledge had always belonged in my mind.
“So this world uses ethernano as the source of all magic… Runes act as a medium to shape rune magic into spells. Interesting…”
The more I read, the more fascinated I became.
Just as I reached the chapter explaining magical affinities… Ding!
“…Hm?”
A soft chime echoed inside my head.
I froze.
“…What was that?”
Before I could react, countless blue particles of light gathered in front of me.
“W-What the…?”
The particles swirled together, weaving intricate geometric patterns before flattening into a translucent blue panel floating in the air.
It looked exactly like the status windows from RPG games I used to play in my previous life.
“…No way.”
I slowly reached out a hand.
My fingers passed straight through it.
“A hologram…?”
No, it felt stranger than that.
The screen didn’t exist physically, yet it remained perfectly visible before my eyes.
I instinctively glanced around my room.
“…Can anyone else see this?”
Silence.
There was no reaction from outside.
Taking a cautious breath, I looked back at the floating window.
Name: Luke Valenhart
Age: 8 Years Old
Race: Human
Strength: 6
Agility: 6
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 15
Magic Power: 25
Skills:
• Rune Magic (Basic Lv. 1/100)
Blessings:
Blessing of Perfect Health
Immune to poison, disease, low to middle curses, and slow aging.
Possesses accelerated regeneration and greatly enhanced stamina recovery.
Blessing of Wisdom
Greatly accelerated learning speed.
Perfect memory and exceptional comprehension.
Blessing of the Archmage
Ethernano capacity increased fivefold.
Spell casting speed greatly increased.
Ethernano regeneration significantly enhanced.
“…”
I stared blankly at the screen.
“…A status window.”
A laugh escaped my lips.
“Hahaha…”
Then it grew louder.
“Hahahaha!”
I quickly covered my mouth before anyone outside heard me.
“So it wasn’t just the reincarnation after all…”
The mysterious being I met in that endless white void really had sent me to a gift and a blessing.
And just like those novels I used to binge-read…
I had my own status.
My gaze immediately settled on the bottom section.
Three blessings.
Even without testing them, their descriptions alone sounded absurdly overpowered.
“Perfect Health… immunity to poison, diseases, low to middle curses… even slower aging?”
That alone would make me nearly impossible to kill through ordinary means.
“And this Wisdom blessing…”
No wonder reading had felt effortless.
It wasn’t just photographic memory.
I could understand everything almost instantly.
If that wasn’t enough…
“The Blessing of the Archmage…”
My heartbeat quickened.
“A Ethernano pool five times larger than normal… faster casting… rapid Ethernano recovery…”
Even someone with average talent could become a powerful mage with something like this.
Combined with the Blessing of Wisdom…
“…This is completely broken.”
I leaned back in my chair, letting out a slow breath.
“So this is the ‘gift’ that person mentioned.”
A smile slowly spread across my face.
“In that case…”
I closed Father’s book and looked toward the open window, where the afternoon breeze gently stirred the curtains.
“I’ll become stronger than anyone in this world.”
Not for fame.
Not for glory.
But because in a world filled with magic, monsters, and unknown dangers…
Only the strong have the freedom to choose how they live.
And this time…
I intended to live my life without regrets.
<Hey!
New Author here!
i just want to tell anyone who is reading this, thank you for taking a little time for reading my fanfic, this is just a little hobby for me.
hope you enjoy it and any comment, suggestion and opinion don’t be shy to tell me.
just be kind as much as possible that’s it thank you and i hope you have a nice day!>