From Raven's Perspective:

"Makoto, food is ready!" I heard my mother's voice.

Coming down the wooden stairs, I saw my father sitting at the table and sat down across from him.

"Good morning," my mother and father said.

"Good morning," I replied.

"Ayami, dear, do you mind if I take Makoto with me today?" my father asked, looking at my mother who was carefully cooking rice stew, our favorite dish.

Letting out a loud sigh and pausing for a moment, she finally replied with a serious tone and a clear hint of warning in her voice. "Mira, don't you dare leave him more than a step away."

Father just nodded with a light smile, showing he understood.

Ayami had already placed the food on the table when I asked him,

"Dad, am I going with you to work today?" I asked with excitement in my voice. Finally, a chance to learn more about this mysterious world.

"Mako, in two hours we will go to the ruins of the Black Forest with the group. It's time for you to gain your first experience if you want to carry on our legacy," he said calmly.

I was very happy. My father is an Adamantite adventurer, one of the strongest on the entire continent of Tendris. There are only a few hundred thousand like him. I wanted to see him in action, and especially that essence of Vis mother told me about.

"Dad, can you tell me what we’ll find there?"

He thought for a bit and began. "Mako, we will reach the dungeon by cart with the group. There will be monsters, in our case, skeletons. You stand behind me and watch. If someone comes near, just shout and I will help you. You’re almost five now, it’s time to start. We’ve been training with swords for a reason. Once you turn eight, we’ll awaken your Vis." he finished, calmly eating his meal.

After listening to him, I finished my food, went upstairs and started packing, thinking through everything.

After being born in this new world, everything changed, my mindset, perception, and understanding of things. I used to be cold, distant. After reincarnation, I felt like a different person, emotional, alive. I finally had a full range of feelings, unlike in my past life. I became less rational, but more... real.

Since the age of four, father taught me how to fight with a sword, and mom told me about local magic, Vis. The essence, or rather the Vis aura. It exists in everything.

We humans can only sense Vis after undergoing a church ritual, which requires a significant donation. There are five basic elements: fire, water, earth, air, and lightning. And there are also higher elements: nature, ice, ether, lava, and gravity. The higher ones depend directly on the basics. You cannot use a higher element without mastering a basic one.

A person's Vis is limited by their aura node, located parallel to the heart. These nodes cannot be felt physically, but they are perceivable by Vis.

I took some clothes from the drawer and changed. A black hoodie and pants with metallic inserts, which father got specially for this, fit perfectly.

Looking into the mirror, I saw a boy with short black hair and golden eyes, a sword in its sheath behind his back. I was ready.

Going downstairs, I saw my father waiting for me in a chair. A tall, muscular man with black hair and blue eyes stood up.

"Ready?" he asked gently. I nodded.

We left the house and headed toward the village center, to the adventurer guild building. It was crowded inside. People were sitting at tables, and behind the central counter stood a girl who looked about sixteen.

We walked to one of the tables in the back, where a group was already sitting.

"Look who’s here! We’ve been waiting for you, Mira!" said a brown-haired man, around twenty-five years old.

"Hey, guys," my father said, smiling.

"Makoto, meet everyone. This is John," he said, pointing to the one who had spoken. "This is Ralph," pointing to a blond with short hair. "This is Chris," nodding toward a black-haired man. "This is Mia," turning to a well-endowed brown-haired girl. "And finally, Kirima," he introduced the girl with long light hair.

"Mira, is this your son?" Mia asked, looking at me with interest.

"Yes, he is. He’s coming with us today. He’ll stay in the back, and I’ll watch over him. Don’t worry," father said calmly. No one objected.

We left the guild, talking along the way, and got into a horse-drawn cart. Ralph took the driver's seat. I quickly fell asleep while we rode.

In my dream, I saw my fourth birthday. I woke up, went downstairs, and mom and dad were already waiting.

"Happy birthday, Mako!" they said together and hugged me.

A tremble ran through me. It felt like a volcano erupting inside. Memories from my past life surfaced, how my parents died when I was born, how my dojo with my godfather burned, how my friends died in my arms, how I kept losing everything one by one without even having a chance to be happy.

But now, I had everything I had dreamed of. Tears ran down my cheeks when father pulled a real sword from behind his back and said,

"Makoto, now we’ll start sword training. Happy birthday, son. Your mom and I love you very much."

He said it so softly, with such warmth and love... I just couldn’t hold it in and started crying. No one had ever said words like that to me in my past life. These were the words I always wanted to hear but never had the chance to, just because life had taken my right to be happy from the start.

The dream shifted. We were in the yard, father teaching me swordsmanship. I thought I could handle it, after all, I was one of the best swordsmen in my past life. But father seemed to know every move I would make in advance. He was toying with me while I tried with all my strength to land a hit. Eventually, I gave up, and he started teaching me seriously.

"I have the best father in the world," I thought. And then I woke up, someone was shaking me.

I opened my eyes and saw Kirima.

"Makoto, we’ve arrived," she said.

I got out of the cart. In front of me was the cave entrance. The group was already sitting by the fire. I walked over to my father and asked the question I had forgotten earlier.

"Dad, wait. How do you clear a dungeon?"

Father looked at me, then answered, "In the dungeon, there is a heart, a core, that gives life to the monsters. You cannot destroy it, otherwise the dungeon will die and the resources from it will stop coming. Our goal is to kill all the monsters, leave the core intact, and collect as much dust as possible. Got it?"

I nodded.

After assigning roles, we stood up and entered the dungeon.