After I finished having dinner with my teacher, I went back up into my room. 

I was told to sleep early for a long day tomorrow, but I couldn’t sleep yet. 

‘If I’m going to protect everyone in this life, I need to use my knowledge of the future to my advantage.”

Thankfully, I remembered most of the important events. I walked over to my desk, and opened the notebook that my teacher gave me. Just in case I ever forgot, I decided to write down all the events of the future that I could remember. 

It took me a few hours and about half the notebook was filled.

“That should be about it…”

I flipped to the first page. The first big incident that I had to prepare for was a monster wave. A horde of goblins came out from the dark edge and their path just happened to overlap with our village. Their numbers were so great that even with the protection of my teacher’s magic, the village faced casualties. I still remember the cries that went on for days like it was yesterday.

”This is going to happen three years later, in the spring. Right when the first flowers bloom…”

In my past life, I could do nothing but hide behind my teacher’s back, but this time I’ll fight. 

In order to do that, I had to grow much stronger than I was. 

“Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like it’s impossible to get stronger quickly this time.”

I moved the mana from my heart to my fingertips. 

[Spark]

”ZZSST!”

A bright blue spark appeared around my hand and it lit up the room. It was bigger and more powerful than the one I used on Marco. 

“I wasn’t mistaking it… my mana control has become unbelievably better. It’s even easier to control it than when I was at my strongest. This is almost like… the last moments of my life when I used “Mana Limit Release”…”

I still remember the invincible feeling I had then. Mana moving to my will with no hesitation… it was like I was one with it.

I wasn’t a talented mage in my past life. 

My teacher never gave up on me and I studied hard, but it didn’t matter how much knowledge I had. I had no talent in controlling mana. It was a wall I couldn’t jump over no matter what I did. My teacher tried to find magic items and rare ingredients to help me with it, which was the only reason I was able to reach an average level.

Even then, using magic always felt like lifting a rock 10 times my weight over my head, and throwing it. The wave was always against me, never going the way I wanted it to. 

It felt like I was hated by mana and by magic.

But now it was different. 

[Flame]

A red flame appeared over my palm. It was a calm flame that stayed at the exact size I imagined. 

‘Grow bigger.’

The flame grew and I felt the heat closer to my face.

’Grow hotter.’

The red flames slowly turned into a bright blue, and the heat on my skin grew stronger. I felt a sweat drip down the side of my face, and I smiled. 

‘So this is what it’s like to be loved by magic.’

***

The next day, I woke up early at the sound of voices downstairs. 

Someone was talking to my teacher and I knew exactly who it was.

I came out of my room and stopped at the bottom stair to listen in on their conversation. 

“This is the first time you returned late. I thought something happened to you.”

”Hahaha come on, it was just a day!”

”It’s not just that. You hid it well, but I can tell you’re wounded. What happened out there?”

”…Sigh There’s nothing I can hide from you, is there?”

My teacher sounded worried. The voice of the other man hesitated before he spoke again.

”It’s getting worse out there. The monsters that are coming out are stronger… and their numbers have increased as well.”

”But it shouldn’t have been able to wound you like that. Unless-”

”What you’re thinking is right… but more importantly, it looks like this new student of yours has a bad habit of eavesdropping.”

I flinched and walked all the way down the stairs. 

“Good morning, teacher.”

I decided to play stupid. 

“Haha good morning, Abel. Come sit here, I want to introduce you to someone.”

My teacher didn’t seem to mind that I listened to their conversation, and simply smiled happily. 

I sat next to my teacher and looked at the man in front of me. 

He was a middle aged man in his 40s, with black and grey hair pushed back. He had a long scar down his right eye that gave him the image of a strong warrior, but the aura he emitted was closer to that of a noble.  

He looked at me with a mischievous smile. 

“It’s not good to eavesdrop on adults, little boy.”

I looked at him confused and blinked a few times. 

“But mister and teacher knew I was listening from the start, so doesn’t that give me consent?

The man’s eyes widened as he looked at my teacher for an answer, but my teacher was just as surprised. The man faced me again and asked with curiosity. 

“How’d you know?”

“I’m just a kid, but my teacher is a powerful mage… and since mister is my teacher's friend, you must be powerful as well. I have no chance of tricking either of you.”

The man opened his mouth, unable to find the words. Then he suddenly burst into laughter.

“HA- AHAHAH! What kind of child did you bring in as your student, Kin? Haha…”

The man reached his hand out and introduced himself. 

“My name is Rey. It’s nice to meet you Abel.”

I leaned over the table, and grabbed Rey’s hand and shook it with all my strength. His hand was rough with blisters. 

“Nice to meet you, mister.”

This person was going to be very important for my future and the future of the Northerners, so I had to make a good first impression. 

Where else was I going to find an ex-captain knight to fight for me?

After I sat back down, My teacher cleared his throat and explained the situation to me.

"Rey is my old friend who's been helping me protect this village. We usually take turns leaving, so that at least one of us is here at all times. Now that he's back, we can go out now."

"Where are we going, teacher?"

"first, we'll be going south. While we travel I'll be starting your magic training, so prepare yourself!"

"Yay!!"

I stood up and jumped up and down. I knew my teacher loved magic, so I wanted to show him that I was excited to learn. In truth, I really was happy that I could travel with my teacher again.

Rey shook his head. 

"Now he looks like a normal 6 year old kid... I don't get it..."

***

After my teacher finished packing, we came out of the house. Rey stood by the door to see us go. 

"How many days will this one take?"

"9 days."

"Alright... you watch yourself."

Rey leaned down and handed me a small blade wrapped in a leather case. I could tell from the quality of the leather that the blade was a well made weapon.

I attached the blade to my belt. 

"Thank you, mister."

Rey ruffled my hair, and smiled. 

"You take care of yourself too, Abel."

"Don't worry, mister. I'll protect my teacher."

Rey laughed and my teacher smiled.

My teacher and I walked down the hill towards the square where I saw Ian, Lia and the others. 

Ian was the first to run up to me. 

"You're leaving already?"

His eyes dropped down like a puppy. 

"I'll be back soon, and we can play again."

"Okay... I'll miss you."

Ian gave me a tight hug and I hugged him back. 

"Come back soon, Abel!"

"Let's play when you come back!"

The group of kids all waved goodbye and I waved back at the end of the square.

"I'm glad to see you're getting along with everyone."

"They're all nice to me."

"That's good."

Outside of the square, we were blocked by the tall stone wall that surrounds the village. Just as my teacher was about to cast a spell to fly us over the wall, we heard footsteps from behind. 

"Master kin."

We turned around at the voice, and I frowned. 

"Eli, have you come to see me off?"

Eli shook his head. 

"Please let me come with you." 

It took everything in me not to scream no. I gripped my fists tightly and glared at Eli. 

Something must have changed because this never happened in the past. I was expecting him to show up, but it should've just been to see my teacher off. 

"Eli... It's too dangerous."

"If it's because of my skin, I can hide my face."

"..."

Eli knelt to the ground and touched his forehead to the ground.

"Please... I want to help too."

I looked up at my teacher and I could tell his resolve was shaking. Eli knew my teacher too well. Before I could think of what to say, my teacher let out a sigh and used his magic to lift Eli back up.

"Just this once..."

"Thank you master Kin!"

It was the first time I saw such clear emotion on Eli's face. 

'Eli... is smiling?!'

While I stood there in shock, Eli wiped the smile off his face and walked closer to us. He was glaring at me the moment my teacher turned around. 

But something was different. He usually looked at me with cold eyes, but this time they showed a different emotion. 

His eyes were filled with suspicion.