At Last, My Reincarnation

Chapter IV "A Gift"

{Year 410, 12th of October}

(Six hours after the birth of James' third child, Henry Tudor, our young protagonist was finally allowed to go outside and get to know the village and its residents.)

Mary: You should never leave Aunt Josephine's side, okay?

Alexander: Yes, Mother!

Mary: And Josephine, do not lose sight of him. You must never let him wander off on his own.

Josephine: O--Of course, Mary.

Mary: [hugs Alexander]

Mary: Oh, and before you go, Alex.

[Mary puts her hands on Alex's shoulders]

Mary: I want you to keep in mind...

Mary: ...that the world is full of many wonders that your young eyes have not yet discovered.

[Alexander opens his mouth in awe]

Mary: But the world also consists of unknown dangers that you must avoid.

James: Enough, Mary.

James: He's fully aware of that.

Mary: But is it not necessary for a mother to warn her child of the dangers outside?

James: But why should we warn our children?

James: When we could just teach them how to protect themselves from those dangers.

Mary: You expect our son to protect himself at such a young age?!

James: Not if he knows how to fight and wield a weapon.

Mary: I'd rather teach him magic than to let him injure himself while you train him.

James: But--

Mary: No! James.

Mary: He is too young to wield a sword!

Henry: [starts crying]

[Mary goes to pamper the baby]

James: ...

[Alexander starts getting worried]

James: I'm heading out.

James: Take care of yourself, Alex.

Alexander: [nods]

Alexander: (Why does he keep on leaving after my siblings' births?)

Alexander: (He's not possibly being called into duty...)

[James waves goodbye]

Alexander: (...since he's not wearing any armor.)

[Alexander waves in response]

Josephine: Are you ready to leave as well, Alexander?

Alexander: Yes!

Josephine: We should head to the market first while it's still early.

Josephine: We don't want the place to be crowded.

[At the market]

[Josephine checks her list]

Josephine: So your mother wanted us to buy some onions, garlics, carrots, and--

[Josephine continues to talk]

Alexander: (My parents have been keeping secrets from me lately.)

Alexander: (But I tend to keep my mind off of it and focus on other things.)

Josephine: Sheesh, your mother wants me to buy all of these? [sigh]

Josephine: I'm not just someone's maid or errand girl. [sigh]

[Josephine goes to a market stall]

Josephine: Excuse me, sir?

Josephine: I would like to buy-- [continues to talk with the vendor]

Alexander: Hmm...

Alexander: (Now that I have greatly improved my knowledge, I should focus on making myself physically strong.)

[Alexander touches his bicep]

Alexander: (My body is still very young...)

Alexander: (But I would have plenty of time to train my body--)

[Alexander spots an item glowing in the alley beside him]

[Alexander stares at the light]

Alexander: (There's something over there...)

[Alexander looks over at Josephine]

Alexander: (It wouldn't be any trouble if I just check it out...)

Alexander: (It's only a few meters away anyways.)

Alexander: (It should be no problem. Even though I got reincarnated, I did not lose any memories of my past life.)

[Alexander approaches the light]

Alexander: (I am an experienced and well-trained soldier...)

Alexander: (Whatever pops up in front of me, I'll--)

[Alexander slips]

Alexander: Ouch!

[Alexander gets up and continues to advance]

Alexander: (Okay, maybe my current body has not yet been trained...)

Alexander: (...But f**k it!)

[Alexander touches the item]

[The item glows brighter]

Alexander: Ahh!!

Alexander: (It's too bright! I can't see a thing!)

Alexander: (What the heck is this?!)

???: Number six is glowing.

???: Good!

???: I guess this one is the second?

Alexander: (s**t!)

???: Yes, it is.

Alexander: Ahh!!

[The light dissipates]

Alexander: Ahh!! Ahh!! Ahh!!

Alexander: ...

Alexander: Huh?

[Alexander looks around]

Alexander: The light is gone?!

Alexander: Where did it go?

Alexander: (Wait a second--)

Alexander: (Where am I?)

[Alexander rubs his eyes]

Alexander: (Everything is white...)

???: Hello there.

[Alexander turns around]

???: Hello.

Alexander: (Huh?!)

[Alexander steps back cautiously]

Alexander: H--Hello...

???: [smiles]

Alexander: (Who is this old guy?)

Alexander: (Why am I here?)

???: You might have a lot of questions running through your mind.

???: But let us start off by introducing myself. My name is--

Alexander: [gasps] Am I dead?!

???: [gets annoyed]

???: No, you're not dead.

[Alexander sighs in relief]

???: But please, let me introduce myself first.

???: I want to have a friendly conversation with the person I reincarnated.

Alexander: You-- You're the one who reincarnated me?!

???: Yes, I did--

Alexander: Thank you!! Thank you! Thank you so much!

???: Yes, yes.

???: But listen, we are--

Alexander: Thank you so much!

???: [gets more annoyed]

Alexander: I never thought that I would actually end up--

???: Listen! Goddammit!

[Alexander keeps quiet]

???: [sigh] Never thought I would use my own name in vain.

Alexander: I-- sorry, please continue.

???: Ehem, As I was saying, I am God and it is a pleasure to meet you...

God: ...I think.

God: You are the second hero that Fate has chosen.

God: Among you and your friends.

Alexander: M--My friends?

Alexander: So they got reincarnated too? [smiles]

God: Yes.

Alexander: But wait...

Alexander: I'm second? Who was the first?

???: I'm afraid he can't tell you that.

God: He's right. It would ruin all the...

God: ...surprise.

Alexander: Who was that?

God: Ha! Ignore him.

???: Hey!

God: I'm afraid I can't tell you his name either.

God: But he is one of the people I reincarnated in the past.

???: Nice to meet you.

???: You can call me...

???: "Sensei".

Alexander: (Was he Japanese or just a shut-in weeb?)

Alexander: O--Okay...

[Sensei gives a thumbs up]

Alexander: (I can't tell the difference...)

God: Now that you are here.

God: And I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask.

God: But I want you to answer my questions first.

God: Keep in mind that all these questions must have an honest answer.

Alexander: [nods]

God: Let us begin.

[Several minutes later]

God: [laughs]

God: You are quite right about that.

[continues to laugh]

Alexander: (Ehh?!? He laughs too easily!)

Alexander: (It's like he had never heard a joke in years.)

God: [satisfied sigh]

God: Alexander Tudor.

Alexander: Yes!

God: Have you met any other family members besides your parents?

Alexander: No... not yet.

God: Do you know why you could memorize every single word you have read?

Alexander: I think it's because I'm just young?

God: Are you aware that there is magic and other races in this world?

Alexander: I read about it but I began to doubt it since I saw no evidence...

Alexander: And is there really magic in this world?!

Sensei: Pfft-- [laughs]

Sensei: Well, that's a first.

Sensei: The last person we met was too stunned to even speak.

[Sensei continues to laugh]

God: Ehem!

Sensei: Oh...

Sensei: ...sorry.

God: I will give you all the answers except for the first question. You may not ask why.

God: For the second question, it may very well be related to your young age.

God: But the real reason why you could memorize every little bit of detail is the gift that has been given to you by me.

Alexander: A gift?

God: Yes, I have given gifts to you and your friends at the very moment you were born into this world.

Alexander: My friends also possess these gifts?

God: Yes, but your gifts are all different.

God: I have granted you the gift of knowledge.

God: Although you have to train and work hard to use the skills and spells acquainted with this gift.

God: And it is also up to you to name these skills and spells you have awakened, if you want to.

Alexander: (Are you serious?!)

Alexander: (This is so exhilarating!)

Alexander: I actually get to name my own skills and spells?!

Sensei: It's fun, right?

Sensei: I even named one of my skills "Dragon Blaster"!

[Sensei poses dramatically]

Alexander: So cool!!!

God: For the third question, yes.

God: There is magic in this world.

God: You can take your time in learning more about it.

God: Now...

God: I want you to swipe your two fingers on your left forearm.

[Alexander does as told]

[A blue screen appears in front of Alexander]

[Alexander wows in awe]

God: That, my child, is a "Status Screen Report".

God: A shorter version would be "Status Report".

God: It shows you your stats, skills, levels of your spells, and many more.

God: Every single person in this world has it and only the person himself or herself can see his or her own stats.

Sensei: Unless that person gives permission to other people to see it.

Alexander: Cool...

Sensei: I can sense number eight's arrival.

God: Hm...

God: Understood...

God: I believe it's time for you to leave.

Alexander: What?! Why all of a sudden?

God: You must not see your friends during this time.

God: But soon... you will.

Alexander: Why can't I see my friends again?

God: You are destined to see each other again in the future.

God: Fate has many plans for you and your friends.

God: But for now, you should focus on getting stronger.

Alexander: I'll keep that in mind.

Alexander: Farewell God.

[Alexander bows to God]

[Alexander nods at Sensei]

Alexander: Farewell Sensei.

[Alexander leaves]

Sensei: Bye-bye.

[Sensei waves goodbye]

God: Wait! Alexander!

[Alexander turns around]

God: I have another gift for you before you leave.

God: I will put it in your Status Report.

God: Hopefully, it would help you in your training.

Alexander: Thank you for everything, God.

[light begins to fade]

God: Farewell, Alexander.

God: Until we meet again.

[Alexander waves goodbye]

Alexander: Wait-- we'll meet again?!

God: [smiles]

[light disappears]

Guard: Sir James Tudor has arrived!

???: Let him in.

[Guard opens the door]

[James enters the room]

[James bows to one knee]

James: I have come to bring fortunate news.

[James waits for a response]

???: Proceed.

James: I came here to report that my wife has once again given birth to another son.

???: That is fortunate news indeed!

[Guard closes the door]

???: I give you permission to stand up Sir James.

James: Yes...

James: ...Father.

**TO BE CONTINUED**