C5 New Life has Started

Back to the time when Austin entered the Stone Door. A time vortex tunnel appeared, at the same time, he turned into a speck of light and was immediately sucked by a strong gravitational force deep into the vortex.

It was unknown how long and far the distance Austin traveled. But by the time he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a bed, and he could feel that his senses were heightened.

The night is deep and quiet. But for Austin, it was barely the case. Small noises would startle him. Luckily, they are in the mountains, and the noises are within his tolerance. With his enhanced senses, It will take some time for him to adapt to the new surroundings.

At the same time, Austin also noticed the mists around him. These mists are different from the regular ones. It has a slight glow on the surface, and for some reason, he feels like his body is craving for it. If only Austin knew how extraordinary it is to be able to see these mists, he’d be thrilled. Even for native creatures on this planet could not do it. At most they could feel it, but not see it.

“Body?” Speaking of which, he didn’t bother to further examine the mists, he got so excited and eventually, was preoccupied with checking out his new body. He raised his arms and was surprised to see two cute little hands. “What!? could it be…?” He realized he was reborn as a baby.

Yet another surprise for him. Lately, he was met with so many surprises that he thought he got used to it. But obviously, that’s not the case.

He came back to his senses when he felt someone was staring at him. He saw that a man was standing by his side, shocked while crying. He has a small beard, a straight nose, thin lips, and white hair. Then Austin heard him call out for someone. A beautiful lady, with fair skin, came equivalently shocked. It was Harold and Arya.

Austin thought that the bonus gift pack was taking effect and made him so handsome to shock these people. Truly, his habit of daydreaming is still with him. If he knew that his new body, which he's so happy about, was a corpse before, he would for sure freak-out.

The night passed and morning came. Haily woke up from her slumber, but she did not get up immediately. She only stared at the ceiling absentmindedly. She felt restless and sad at the same time as if something was missing. However, the moment she recalled the incident last night, she jumps out of her bed without any second thought and instantly searches the room. When she could not find her baby, she ran outside, even though she felt a little weak and dizzy, she couldn’t care less. She wanted to find her son badly.

When she reached the common room, she was surprised. Harold, her husband, is laughing with Arya, her cousin-in-law together with the old man, her father-in-law, and her master.

What attracted Haily's attention most was, Arya was holding something wrapped in thin clothing around her arms that looks like a baby. She froze momentarily and could not speak.

Arya saw Haily was standing in the hallway and called. “ Haily you’re awake”. When Harold heard this he turned his head and saw his wife. He immediately stood up and came to her.

“Haily, honey, you're awake. Come sit here”, he said while holding his wife’s hand to support her. Haily followed Harold while staring at the thing Arya was holding.

Before she sat down, she made a slight bow towards the old man and Arya, as a sign of greetings. At the same time, Arya also stood up and approached the couple. She smiled and said, “Haily, you can carry him”.

Haily accepted it with confusion and doubt. But the moment she saw that it was her son, her eyes widened. She could feel her heart beating fast. She was trembling and unknowingly, tears sprung from her eyes coupled with a smile she never wear for a long time, as if all the burdens and grievances she suffered for many years were gone.

She gently hugs her son and closes her eyes. She could not express in words how grateful she was for the second chance that was given to them.

Upon seeing this, Harold and Arya couldn't help but tear up as well. Even the old man, whose emotions were hardened by experience and time, was not exempted, so he tried to hide it by drinking his tea.

It took 30 minutes or so for everyone to calm down. “I don’t know what happened, but whoever or whatever the reasons are, I'm grateful for bringing my son back to life,” Haily said.

It was a happy morning and Haily never let go of her son. Austin, on the other hand, witnesses everything that happened.

Based on what these people said, he found out that this child died even right before it was born. And when he took it over, it was already a corpse. Does this make him a zombie or something?

For the first time, he doubted if this second life of his is a gift? But he immediately disregarded this idea and comforted himself not to have any wild thoughts.

Regardless, Austin is determined to take this opportunity to do what he always dreamed to do and become happy in his second life.

Time passed by and it was night again. Since Haily never let go of Austin, he was able to eavesdrop on their conversations while pretending to be asleep.

He learned that his new family belongs to a noble class. His father is a supreme general, the highest rank in the kingdom's military, his mother is the current royal mage, his grandfather is the retired royal mage of the kingdom, while Arya is the royal saint, counterpart of doctors on Earth.

Another useful piece of information that Austin learned was; this planet, Kepler, is divided into 3 empires. Mortal Empire, where humans reside, Mythical Empire where creatures like the elf, dwarf, centaurs, fairies, etc., reside, and lastly, the Dark Empire where demons reside.

Kepler is twice as big as Earth, so you could imagine how big each empire is.

In the Mortal empire, the hierarchy starts from the emperor, who ruled the whole empire, under the emperor, are the 4 kings, of which each has their kingdom, next are the nobles, as his current family, and lastly the common people.

Mortal and Mythical Empire have no enmity, but they’re not close to being called friends either. While for some reason, the Dark Empire was determined to erase humanity and other creatures on this planet and rule it by themselves. Hence they were branded as some kind of a disease that needs to be eradicated. Though the planet looks peaceful from the surface, war is already brewing between Empires.

Arya and the old man have long been gone. Tonight, Haily and Harold were discussing Austin’s preparation for school enthusiastically.

“Honey, what do you think our son should practice? A Mage or a Knight?”, Asked Harold.

“Honey, you know we need to find out first if our son has aptitude for magic or martial arts right?”, Haily responded.

“Yes, right, right”, Harold said while nodding his head. “So we need to wait until he turns five before we can set plans for our son,” He added while rubbing his chin.

'I see, so there's schools on this planet as well?' Austin thought to himself.

And it turned out that not all humans or creatures for that matter on this planet have the aptitude for magic and martial arts.

In the Mortal Empire there’s only one school exclusive for Magic and Martial Arts. To be able to enter, children have to have an aptitude for either magic or martial arts. But having one is not enough, it has to reach the minimum standard.

Those unfortunate who cannot attend the Magic and Martial arts school can opt to go to Common Schools for non magic folks. They could direct their attention to academic aspects and other things that do not require magic.

Discrimination is still rampant even on this planet . For Noble families, it's a must to possess an aptitude for magic or martial arts. Otherwise they will be looked down upon by others. It's like a silent rule they follow. But Haily and Harold never bothered themselves about it. They even planned which common school they will send Austin to if he has no aptitude for magic or martial arts.

Now that Austin has the general idea of his current situation. He formulated his own plan as well. First, he needs to learn the basics, since he cannot attend any school until he’s 7 years old, he could only optimize what he currently has right now.

His mother and grandfather are mages so he could directly learn magic from them, his father is the supreme general, so he could learn martial arts, sword, fist, etc. through him, and if he wanted to learn the magic of healing, his aunt is within his reach, anytime he could ask her for help.

Austin thought, 'what’s the use of Magic and Martial Arts school if he is already surrounded by great teachers.

And so Austin’s new life started.