《Whoops, I Died and Reincarnated.》


 Prologue

    In a stone room decorated with nothing but a wooden table and chair, a young man was sitting and scratching in strange marks after marks into a small crystal card.


    ¡°Do this. . . then this. . . and this, no wait that¡¯s wrong, it¡¯s this. . . and . . DONE!¡±


    He stood up staring at the card as though it was the most precious thing in his life.


    ¡°Finally, with this I should be able to travel through time. I hope. Well, the worst that¡¯ll happen is a small explosion a few hundred miles wide. Probably. Not that it¡¯s the first time it¡¯s happened. Well here goes nothing.¡±


    He begins infusing mana into the card causing the scratches in the crystal to glow with white light.


    ¡°Mana is flowing through smoothly. A good sign. Crystal isn¡¯t cracking. That¡¯s good.¡±


    As the young man constantly checked the card to make sure nothing was going wrong, the wooden door off to the side was smashed open.


    ¡°CROSS! I TOLD YOU TO STOP MESSING WITH TIME MAGIC! HASN¡¯T BLOWING UP THE LAST FIVE CASTLES BEEN ENOUGH FOR YOU?!¡° a beautiful young women with flaming red hair and eyes, literally, stormed in.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Aw crap. Here she come¡¯s again to ruin my fun. And I¡¯m pretty sure that I finally got it this time. Oh well, I¡¯ll just test it out later then.


    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Cross put his hand up in surrender, ¡°I¡¯ll stop. Jeez you¡¯d think that my lover would actually try to support my hobby instead of being against it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I would support you if YOU¡±D STOP BLOWING UP OUR HOME EVERY DAMN WEEK,¡± the fire burned hotter.


    ¡°But I¡¯m sure I got it this time. Look,¡± he shows her the glowing card, ¡°everything is stab-¡°


    ¡°CROSS THE MANA IS STILL ACTIVE! STOP IT!¡± the women started panicking.


    ¡°Fine, fine, ¡°the young man sighs, ¡°not sure why you¡¯re so scared of. All we¡¯d get is a couple of scra-¡°


    BOOOOOM!!!


    The crystal card flashed and small explosion surround the young man, but strangely, the explosion stayed within a small sphere as though there had been a small invisible sphere surrounding the young man.


    ¡°CROSS!¡± the women screamed.


    The explosion then sucked into itself like a black whole and a vanished. The young man nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Cross? Cross!¡± Then women suddenly felt something snap in her, like something attached to her got unstuck and disappeared.


    ¡°Oh no. . . no no no No No NO NONONONONO! CROOOOOSSSS!!!¡± She screamed, crying until she fainted from the excruciating pain stabbing through her heart.

 Chapter One

    ¡°Kira! Are you done yet?¡± a woman called from the doorway of a small house made out of stone.


    ¡°Yeah mom!¡± I called back.


    I dropped the hoe I had been using to plow the fields and ran towards the house to see a women standing by the doorway with her hands on her hips. She had blonde hair flowing down to her shoulders with clear blue eyes. There were small wrinkles around the corner of her youthful looking face showing that she had lived a hard life.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wash up first before I grab a bite to eat. Be right back,¡± I gave her a quick hug around her waist and ran around to the back of the house where there was a well.


    Pulling up a bucket of water I began scrubbing my face and arms as well as I could to wash away the dirt and grime that I had collected over the afternoon working in the fields. After doing so, I stared at my reflection in the bucket of water. Black hair and eyes with pale skin despite working out in the fields for most of my twelve years of life. It was obvious that I would grow up to be quite decent looking, but unfortunately not enough to make every girl I walk by turn their head.


    According to my mother, I had taken after my father who had long since passed away soon after I had been born. Apparently he had been a hunter in this small village I was living in, but around eight years ago his hunting team got ambushed by a pack of wolves leading to a massacre with only one man out of the eight coming back alive.


    Sigh. It¡¯s been twelve years since I reincarnated. Luckily I was born in the same world but this continent is too far away from my original continent, even by using a few teleportation shrines. Ugh, dammit Lia, why¡¯d you have to run off to the Celestial World just cause of a broken heart. Now it wouldn¡¯t even matter if I sent out clues that I¡¯m here, unless I want one of my enemies to find me before you find out somehow.


    Standing up I began walking back towards the house to get lunch while thinking about my future.


    Well it¡¯s fine. Might as well enjoy my time for now. Luckily my soul didn¡¯t go through the underworld for some reason to reincarnate or else she would have used that Soul Calling card she made to drag my soul back from the underworld to punish me. Oh god, I¡¯m getting shaking just from thinking about it. And to think that she spent a year making that card just so she could bring back the soul of that Rabbit Sage or whatever guy she killed for stealing her used undies, just cause she felt like she hadn¡¯t tortured him enough.


    While wondering my disastrous fate if I died before I found my lover Lia and apologized to her with the ultimate apologizing technique, the dogeza, I walked in the house to find my mother setting dishes on the wooden table. Sitting down to eat the simple rice with a little bit of beef dish I looked around the small but comfortable house I lived in with my new mother. There was the small table and two chairs we were sitting in, several small crates filled with random things such as our clothes, cooking tools, and other everyday things, and the small bed made of hay and a layer of cloth in the corner. It was small and pretty empty, but it was a comfortable and clean home.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯ll be going down to the city with my friends today. I promised them that we would go and have some fun while looking around,¡± I told my mom while shoving the pretty bland tasting food in my mouth.


    ¡°Alright, but make sure to be careful of how much you spend. And don¡¯t pick a fight with other kids. And don¡¯t bother the people from Skyfire Academy. And make sure to look after your friends. And. . . And. . .,¡± mother went on and on while I smiled and nodded.


    When she finally finished her 3 minute list of what to do and what not to do as she does every time I leave for the city, I finished my last bite of food, gave her a quick hug again, and ran off towards to village square.


    When I arrived there were already four other children around my age waiting for me under a big tree, resting in the shade.


    ¡°Hey guys, sorry I¡¯m a bit late,¡± I called out to them, ¡°Work took a bit longer than I expected.¡±


    The four children turned their heads when they heard me and smiled. Getting closer to them, you could make out two boys, one a bit wide sideways with short brown hair and eyes and the other looking slightly tall for his age, with a bit longer green hair and crimson red eyes, and two girls who appeared to be twins. Both had azure hair and eyes the color of the morning sky, but one had shoulder length hair, while the other had longer hair that reached her waist.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right. I actually got here a couple minutes ago cause I was helping out on the farm too,¡± the green haired boy pats the brown haired boy on the shoulder, ¡°unlike Fatty Rex here we actually work to get our allowances.¡±


    ¡°Shut up Rin,¡± Rex shrugs his friend¡¯s hand off, ¡°If my mom wants to spoil me, it would be rude of me as her child not to accept it.¡±


    He shakes his head as though he was embarrassed, but anyone looking at him could see the obvious squinty eyed grin that covered his face.


    ¡°Shameless as always Fatty Rex, right Bel?¡± the longerhair girlasks her sister.


    ¡°Well Nel, he IS the son of the village chief,¡± the other girl, Bel, replies, ¡°just be thankful that he¡¯s just shameless and not stuck up like his older brother.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I take pride in being shameless,¡± Fatty Rex complains, ¡°it¡¯s one of my best qualitiesyou know. And why on Lyria¡¯s green earth would I be like my brother, Gale. Even I get sick of just looking at him.¡±


    I laugh at their banter, ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s stop making fun of Fatty Rex. We should get going or we won¡¯t have much time to look around once we enter Skyfire city.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t making fun of him. Just explaining the facts,¡± Bel sticks her small pink tongue out at me. I had to restrain the urge to pinch her cute cheeks when she did that.


    Continuing the banter we all made our waydown the path leading to the city.

 Chapter Two

    Around thirty minutes later, we arrived at a huge gate that led into the city. One of the many guards who were checking people¡¯s belonging walked up and asked what we were here to do and quickly skimmed through our small money bags and pockets. After making sure we did not have anything remotely dangerous on us he gave us a gentle smile, or as gentle as a scarred face can be, and told us to have fun, and to try not to make any trouble inside.


    Stepping into the city you could see how busy it was on the main road with stalls and shops covering the sides of the road to the point you couldn¡¯t even see the space between the buildings, or the gaps between the carts and stalls.


    ¡°Come on guys,¡± Bel tried to push us from behind, ¡°let¡¯s go get some sweets and look at some clothes.¡±


    ¡°No way,¡± Fatty Rex wouldn¡¯t budge, ¡°The first thing you should do when coming to a city is look for fried food.¡±


    ¡°You guys probably already ate not too long ago,¡± Rin sighs, ¡°Let¡¯s go see if there are any Magic Games in the arena that we can watch.¡±


    ¡°¡±OOOOOOO,¡±¡± Rex and Bel¡¯s eyes sparkled.


    ¡°Magic Games? You mean tournaments where mages throw flashy lights at each other that can slice and blow them up, all day?¡± Nel asks, ¡°No thanks. I¡¯d rather not watch something so bloody.¡±


    ¡°¡°Are you serious?!¡±¡± Rex and Bel looked livid. Now that I think about it, the only time those two are of the same mind is when they talk about anything related to magic.


    ¡°Magic Games are one of the most important aspect of any major city and growing small cities,¡± Rex starts his lecture for his poorly informed friend, ¡°Magic Games often takes place at the arenas which are most often in the center of almost any major city, which shows how important they are. Magic Games are also usually hosted by the magic academies that reside in or in nearby cities, which also means that the prizes for winning should be amazing!¡±


    Bel goes next, ¡°Also there are several reasons why schools host these events. First is to give their students actual combat experience in a safe environment. Think about it Nel, compare practicing combat in Arenas where there are trained medics standing by to help, with training out there in Magic Beasts¡¯ territories where you can die any second. Obvious it¡¯s far safer to gain combat experience by fighting in arenas.¡±


    ¡°Another reason is to search for talents,¡± Rin joined in, ¡°It¡¯s not rare that poor people who were taught the basics of magic glyphs by a close relative or wandering mages would participate as well. By participating in the Magic Games there¡¯s a chance that they could impress one of the teachers of a Magic Academy enough to be offered to enroll and attend classes free of charge.¡±


    Rex went again, ¡°There¡¯s also that tiny chance that someone from a prestigious clan would be impressed enough by a contestant to offer them a working contract with many benefits including sponsoring them for the duration of their learning period,¡± then he suddenly made a lewd look. ¡°Or even offer them to marry into the clan. I heard that if they are offered to marry into the clan, the girls who they marry are always beautiful enough to have a line of suitors long enough to circle a city. But it¡¯s extremely rare for someone to be offered to marry into the clan. Last time I heard that it happened was a decade ago.¡±


    ¡°And so,¡± Bel finished off, pointing a finger at her sister Nel, ¡°Magic Games are not simple tournaments. It¡¯s a chance for contestants to get a good turn of fortune, and for viewers to be able to have insights about a new way to use magic.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so~ much so that wonderful lesson,¡± Nel¡¯s voice was dripping with sarcasm, ¡°but I don¡¯t know if you realized this but here¡¯s the reality. We don¡¯t know how to draw ANY runes or how to use ANY magic!¡±


    Hearing this I started laughing. Perhaps they don¡¯t know. But I was once one of the strongest sages in this world. I may not have the strength I had before but I had all my memories. Every rune I drew, every pill formula, every refining method, and every training method to become a mage was all in my head.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Hearing me suddenly laugh, everyone turned to me and stared at me, as though I had lost my mind.


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±What?¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Sorry sorry, just something I remembered from the past,¡± I try to hold it in, and look each of them in the eye before making a decision.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± And I walk off towards a random alley, as what was going to happen next would probably make everyone nearby turn their heads.


    I stopped after several minutes in a random alley and turn to face them, making sure no one else was nearby.


    ¡°I can train you all to be mages if you are willing to learn,¡± I say with the straightest face I could manage and began counting.


    One. Two. Three. . .


    Once I counted to nine, Rin was the first to snap out of it. ¡°Kira, are you joking?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    Nel woke up next, ¡°But how?¡±


    ¡°Study and cultivate, like everyone else.¡±


    ¡°But we don¡¯t have any books on rune drawing or cultivation methods to use mana. It¡¯s super expensive for even a basic rune drawing guidebook,¡± Bel questioned.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you some runes and glyphs, and also give you guys some cultivation methods.¡±


    Rex got excited, probably his imagination going wild, ¡°How do you know? Did you meet some hidden master? Did you find a book in the trash? Did you. . .¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. All I¡¯m asking you is. Do. You. Want. To. Become. A. Mage.¡±


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±HELL YES!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± I smiled, ¡°but there are some rules that you guys need to follow. No matter what.¡±


    Their eyes were sparkling, and I swear that their ears somehow got bigger as they tried not to miss a single word I was about to say.


    ¡°First, do not tell ANYONE that I¡¯m teaching you anything. Even your parents. I don¡¯t want people questioning how I know magic.¡±


    ¡°Second, unless I give you guys permission, do not do anything else with what I teach you than I told you to do. It¡¯s dangerous to mess around with magic until you know exactly what you¡¯re doing with it.¡±


    ¡°And third, give me any money that you get until I say that I¡¯m done teaching you.¡±


    They were nodding at my rules until they got to the third rule.


    ¡°Wait what? Why,¡± Nell asked.


    ¡°Because we¡¯re going to need as much money as we can get for supplies. We may not need books, but we need plenty of other things like mana leaves, magical beast blood, and other things. So that means that unless there¡¯s a good reason to celebrate something, no more snacks, sweets, fried food, or whatever else you guys are always buying.¡±


    Rin and Nel agreed almost right away and thinking about it, but Bel and Rex was very amusing to watch. Bel had sat down and was rocking back and forth muttering something. I think she was counting how many candy balls she would be missing every month if she handed over her allowance to me. Rex though, won the grand prize for acting. He was on his knees and pounding on the floor while crying; yes crying, about how unfair the world was. He was going on about how fried food should be the miracle food that helps cultivate mana in the body or something. Well, not like that¡¯s going to ever happen though.


    After the three of us watched Bel and Rex go through their despairing phase, Rin suddenly turned to me and asked, ¡°Hey Kira. I won¡¯t ask where you got your knowledge from, but I do feel like I should ask you some things.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? What?¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to teach us? And why now, because it looked like you suddenly came out of nowhere asking that. I know we¡¯re friends and all but that shouldn¡¯t be enough for anyone to offer to teach them magic. Not to mention how well known it is that right now should be the best time for people our age to start cultivating.¡±


    ¡°Well for the first question, to make it simple, it¡¯s because I can. And besides, later when I go on adventures, who better to go with than my closest childhood friends,¡± I smiled, ¡°And for why now? You already answered it. Cause it¡¯s the best time for people our age to start cultivating, and not trying to brag, but I¡¯m pretty sure my progress won¡¯t slow down too much while I¡¯m trying to teach you guys.¡±


    I turned to the two comedians who finally got up, ¡°Done? Alright. Hand over your coins so we can see how much we have to work with for now.¡±


    They all handed me their money pouch.


    ¡°32, 49, 82, so we have 102 bronze coins to work with. Not nearly enough. For now I¡¯ll teach you guys some cultivation technique once we get home and try to make more money with what we¡¯ve got so far. Sound good?¡±


    The four of them nods.


    ¡°Alright you guys can go watch the Magic Games like you guys planned. When you do watch, don¡¯t just watch how flashy the spells look. Try to look at the shape, how much damage they look like they¡¯re doing, along with after effects of the spells. It¡¯s a good way to start getting an idea of what kind of spells exists, and the varieties there are. For me I¡¯ll go buy some supplies I¡¯ll need to make something that¡¯s worth selling.¡±


    With that the four of them made their way towards the arena while I made my way back to the busy main street to find some supplies I would need.