"What is this place? "

"Where am I? "

The question that lingered on Tigreal's minds when he regained consciousness.

"It's so dark in here.  I remember that I am in my palace looking at my subjects. Then my best friend came and handed a cup of wine.  After drinking it I felt dizzy and my consciousness slowly fades. I was poisoned. "

"Haha!  What a miserable life I have.  I was killed by my most trusted friend. But I can't do anything now that I died,  might as well go with the flow and submit to faith. "

As he continued wandering in the pitch black world he saw a light.

"There's a light!" Tigreal exclaimed and followed the light.

When he reached the light and exited the dark place Tigreal's eyes was dazzled by the bright light.  He closed and opened his eyes a few times and slowly his eyes are adjusting to the environment. He saw three blurry figures when his eyes gradually adjusting.

"Congratulations! It's a healthy boy. "  a woman in her mid sixties and having white hairs said.

"Wait!  Did I got reborn?" Tigreal exclaimed in his thoughts.

"He's gorgeous " a charming woman said.

" Is she my mother. " Tigreal said in his thoughts.

She is indeed Tigreal's mother in this world. Her name is Angela Travis a beautiful and charming woman in her tender age of mid twenties. Her face resembles an angel with a long red hair that are smooth and shinny and with a pair of eyes that can easily captures a man's heart.

"He got your eyes. " a man beside Angela said.

"and this must be my father" Tigreal added.

The man's name is Roger Travis Angela's husband and Tigreal's father. Roger have a sturdy and built body, a short brown hair and a dazzling smile.

"Do you have a name for the baby? " the old woman ask.

She is the chief of the village and because their village is far from the city the chief is often the one who helps woman in their village in giving birth.

"We haven't think about that till now, chief" Roger replied as he scratches his scalp.

"Then can I name this little boy.  If it is okay with the both of you? " the chief asked as she looked at the couple and smiled.

Angela and Roger looked at each other in a shock and disbelief look.

"It would be our child's honor. " they both replied simultaneously in a happy and exited tone.

"You shall be named Tigreal.  Tigreal Travis. " the chief said as she look at the child on Angela's hand's.

"For you will grow as a brave man with a fearless heart." she continued and tapped Tigreal's head lightly.

"So I have the same name with my previous life. Is it just a coincidence?" Tigreal said in his thoughts.

"gooh-gooh" baby Tigreal involuntarily replied and moved his hands up and down.

"He love his name. " Angela uttered and gave baby Tigreal a kiss on his forehead.

Seeing that the couple are happy with their child the chief slowly turned around and walked slowly towards the door.

Roger noticed that the chief is leaving, he swiftly went to the chief side and brought out from his pocket a small woven bag and handed it to the chief. The bag is the couples payment to the chief's help and also their way of thanking her.  But the chief refused to accept it.

" Put it back in your pocket. " the chief said.

"You dont have to pay me for helping you. " she added.

"Then at least let me escort you out. " Roger said while he put the bag back in his pocket.

The chief didn't refused Roger and they walk out of the room. After the chief and Roger left, Tigreal moved his gaze around and it seems pretty normal just like in Earth, not until his gaze caught something. There are items that are hanging on the wall with a unique feature. After awhile Roger came back.

"Hello little Tig,  I am your father. Can you say papa." Roger said excitedly while holding Tigreal's small and soft hand.

"His just a new born." Angela said with a scolding tone on her voice.

Roger scratches his head and laugh.

Day's trickles by and it has been a month.  Angela is caring and very protective to her child. She always sing a lullaby to Tigreal every night to make him sleep.  While Roger also a protective and caring father, his also like a child when he play with his son. This childishness of Roger sometimes make Angela scold him. With Tigreal's mature mind he feels embarrassed everytime his mother will clean him and change his diapers. But one thing is certain Tigreal is happy that he was reborn into a happy and loving family.

Angela always take Tigreal with her whenever she goes out to buy things that they need at home.  While Tigreal is being carried by his mother he observes his surroundings. He noticed a particular thing, that people in this time wears a different style than when he was on Earth. People also carried weapons casually in the public. Thus our little Tigreal thought that he was reborn in the past far from the modern style and advance living of the planet Earth.

"Little Tig are you tired? " Angela said that interrupted Tigreal's observation.

"We better go back home. " she added.

While Tigreal is laying on his crib assesing all the information that he gathered during the past weeks when Roger came and took Tigreal on his hands. Just like every other father, Roger is exited to play with his son.  He then toss Tigreal up in the air then catch him back on his hands.  Angela who just came in the room panicked and got scared when she saw what happened.  Then she scolded her husband.

"Ha Ha Ha, don't worry I got this I'll be careful." Roger said with assurance on his tone.

"And look our little Tig seems to love it. " he added and started spinning while holding Tigreal up in the air like an airplane flying. Angela watch the father and son for awhile, then she decided to go to the kitchen and prepare for their dinner. After she turned her back she heard Tigreal crying. She then turned around immediately to found out that Tigreal's left foot hit the wall while his father is spinning. It was on that moment that Roger knew he f*cked up.  Angela get near with a furious look on her face and gave her husband a beating, then took her son onto her arms.

"There, There  mommy is here. " Angela said in a sweet and tender voice.

"Stop crying and mommy will take the pain away. " Angela added and raised her left hand and put above the injured foot of Tigreal.  Angela then started talking in a low voice, after she finished talking her hands emitted green light's and Tigreal's injured foot healed in an instant. The scene blew away Tigreal's mind.

In my previous life I was born in a poor family of eight. I am the eldest son, so at a young and tender age of ten I have to work already. Unlike other kids, during the day instead of playing around I went early in the dumpsite that is near our place, to gather scraps and metals that can be sold and also other items that can be exchanged with money. During those time I enjoyed my life with my family even though sometimes we ate one meal in a day. I did not hate my status back then not until a pandemic swept across the globe.  The pandemic lasted over a year, before the government developed a cure.  Many people died in the pandemic and that includes all my family member and I’m the only one that have survived. Since then, I learned to live on the streets begging for foods from people passing by. I also constantly fighting with other children in the street and one of those fights that I am in changed my life.

One fine afternoon, after the sun has set, I am walking alone in an alley going back to the place where I usually stay at night to rest and sleep when suddenly a group of children consisting of four people comes out from the side of the alley. These children are about my age and their faces are very familiar to me.

“They must have been hiding in the bushes waiting for me.” I said in my mind.

These four children and I have constantly clashed because they always tried to take away my food and every fight I always won. But this time it’s different, they have teamed up to fight me.

“Did you wait for to long?” I asked with a smile on my face.

“Shut up!” the biggest of them shouted.

“Hand over your collection today.” He added while pointing his finger at me.

“What if I refuse.” I replied.

“Ha! ha! ha! You’re still acting tuff.” The other kid beside the biggest kid shouted.

“Stop talking to him and lets just get his collection.” The third kid shouted.

“I agree.” The fourth kid replied and started running towards me.

At that time strong gust of wind started to blow and at the same time rain started falling down. We were engaged in a fight at that moment and I know that I can not take them all at once so I first focused hitting their strongest one which is the first kid who rushed towards me. I hold onto his shirt and started hitting him on the face ignoring the other three who are beating me at the same time. When their strongest fainted, my body is already full of bruises from the punches and kicks of the other kids.  Our fight lasted for half an hour and I am lying on the ground drenched and bruise all over my body. But the I am still smiling even though they manage to take my money because I had dealt a lot of damage to all four of them.  I can hardly move my body so I just lied there with my eyes closed, then suddenly I felt that there is no rain hitting my body and as I opened my eyes, I saw a man dressed in black holding an umbrella and standing beside me.  I just stare at him then he suddenly spoked.

“You are brave kid.” He said then looked down on me.

“Do you want to be stronger?” he asked.

“Who are you?” I asked without answering his question.

“Follow me if you want to become stronger.” The man in black said without answering my question back. Then he started walking leaving behind as the rain started hitting my body again.

I gathered all my strength to get on my feet, just to follow the mysterious man. I followed him wobbling an we kept walking more than an hour, then we stopped in front of a large building. He walked towards the front door and another man in black came to meet him they talked for a bit and the man who just came stared at me for quite a bit. He then walked towards me and tap my shoulder.

“Boy what is your name?” he asked.

“My name is Tigreal.” I replied calmly but deep inside I am a bit nervous.

“What a nice name. I am Tony by the way.” He replied with a smile on his face then he took me inside the building leaving the first man in black outside.

They treated my injury first before sending me in a room where children like me is staying. Starting from that day I lived inside that room for more than ten years. The room is spacious and it has small rooms where each of the children sleeps at night. The room also have a food section where we can have our food during meal time. For the first month that we stayed there we lived like rich people but after that we didn’t expect a harsh training and brutal killing inside the room. On the start of the second month there is an announcement that all of the children will gather at the center of the room, so all children flocked at the center chatting and talking with each other asking what is happening. Then a platform emerged in front of us with a man standing in the center. That man explained what is happening to all of us.

He said that “Every first day of the month starting now we will cut your number into half. We will do this by eliminating your opponent”

“Now you will have a one-on-one fight with another kid and the winner will advance and the loser will be executed.” He added then there’s an uproar coming from the children, we are shocked and frightened by the last words of the man.

“ We will determine your opponent using the numbers that were given to you the moment you entered the room, and it will be a draw lots.” He continued ignoring the children uproar.

“So lets start the first match.” He said and a hologram pop up on top of the ring and numbers are rolling until it stopped, showing two numbers.

“ Number 288 and number 50 come inside the ring.” The man said. After a minute or so no one went on the ring. Then a loud sound echoed in the room and two bodies are drenched in blood having half of their body parts missing. Then most of the kids started crying and screaming after seeing the bodies.

“Oh yes I forgot to tell you kids, if no one will enter the ring after a minute the contestants will both die.” The man on the stage shouted then smiled. After that the numbers rolled again then stopped again showing two numbers. This time both of them entered the ring and started fighting, after their fight the loser exploded after exiting the ring. The selection lasted for three days for most of the other kids don’t have experience in fighting. After the selection all the remaining kids started training, we were taught how to gather qi and train our body. After a month another fight happened cutting our number by half this continued until there were only five of us left. All five of us now are best fighter of the organization and I am the leader of the group. My best friend who poisoned in that life is one of those best fighter.

2 years has passed since Tigreal was reborn, he was filled with love and care as he grew up. Since then, he also learned a lot about this world. Drivos, the continent where Tigreal was born. It is comprised of three powerful and major kingdoms. Eglarest the kingdom of elves deep within the misty forest, as the name implies the forest is covered by mist all year round it is located at the southern part of the continent. Antre, the vast underground kingdom and home of the dwarf race, under the silver sword mountain at the western part of the continent. Lastly, the human kingdom Tyron, named after the first ruler and founder of the human kingdom Tyron Bartolome. The human kingdom is the most dense and populated region among the three and also having the largest territory starting from the central part of the continent and expanding to the eastern part. This world is ruled and govern by monarch. Tigreal learned that this new world was very undeveloped compared to Earth his old world. But their lack of technological advancement was due to the existence of magic.

In Tigreal’s past life, they were taught what is ki and how to use it in battle. But in this world where magic rules what they use to cast magic is mana. Mana is like a substance that exist everywhere, and an organism can cast a magic if they could gather enough mana in in their mana pool, but not everyone can gather and use the power of the mana. Mana pool is like a container inside an organism where mana that they absorb are stored, and as the organism grows stronger their mana pool will expand and so as the strength of the magic they can cast. The people who can gather mana in their mana pool and cast spells are called magicians. Mana can be used in various ways. The most common way is conjuring and enhancing. Conjurers manipulates and emits mana into the world. This allows them to bend and control their surroundings at will. When a conjurer supplements their mana pool with mana from the outside world, they can form a spell. Enhancers enhance their bodies with mana that allows them to gain incredible strength, defense and agility. Enhancers are mage that suits and specializes in close rage battles.

To become a magician, one must be able to form their mana pool. When someone first manifest their mana pool it is called the awakening and for humans, awakening can happen starting the age of fourteen for the earliest and the last can happen in the age of nineteen. After the age of nineteen and a person still has no mana pool, they will never be able to manifest mana pool thus this people who can’t form their mana pool are the ordinary people.

After learning about thisthings from the books that he has read, Tigreal compared the mana pool as the ki center of the body in his past life. Where to the ki center people are taught to meditate and feel the tiny fragments of ki that are scattered around and inside the body, then gathering them in a single place.  After arriving to this conclusion Tigreal sat down crossed his legs, hands meet together and forming a circle, this is his posture when he is meditating and gathering his scattered ki in his previous life. After that just like how he tried to feel the ki, Tigreal closed his eyes and tried to feel the mana that is scattered everywhere. In just a couple of minutes Tigreal succeeded in feeling the mana around him. Then he moved onto the next step gathering and guiding the mana inside the body to form a mana pool. Just like that Tigreal slowly tried to gather the mana and guided it inside its body and the process slow and very tiring.

It was a fine morning; birds can be heard singing on the tree’s and Angela is looking up at the clear blue sky thinking.

“It has already been 2 years since Tigreal comes to our life, and I am still learning more about my child each day that passed. Time sure fly pretty fast.” She said in her thoughts.

Then her thoughts where disturbed by the sounds of wood hitting each other.

Pak! Pak! Pak!

She looked around and saw her husband and her son both holding a stick and Tigreal is attacking his father while Roger is defending. This always happens where Roger will teach his son how to hold and use a sword using wooden stick.

” Roger Travis!” scream of Angela that startled the father and son.

They look at window where the scream came from and saw Angela with an angry look. It was at this moment that Roger Knew he f*cked up.

Angela rushed out of the house and scolded her husband ang gave him some beating.

“What are you doing, teaching our little boy how to fight at a young age.” Angela said and took Tigreal back inside the house.

After the family finished their breakfast Angela cleaned the table and went straight into washing the dishes. While Roger and Tigreal is left in the dinning room playing. After awhile Angela came back drying her hands with a towel.

“Do you want to go with mommy downtown?” Angela said to Tigreal.

After hearing what her mother said Tigreals expression change he got exited and then nodded immediately.

Downtown is where Angela and Tigreal buy groceries and shop for other necessities that they need in the house and for their daily needs. But for Tigreal this is where he learns more about Drivos.  Tigreal would often ask someone on the street to perform a spell and he would be amazed on how the magicians cast their spell. Angela would just smile as she watches her child happy and learning new things. When they finished buying and Tigreal had enough fun they both went home.