mushoku tensei: unplanned reincarnation

Today would mark one year since I was reincarnated.

Ever since I discovered the concept of monsters, I've been paying attention to my parents' conversations. They mention kingdoms and territories with names I've never heard before. Slowly, I started to understand that this world was very different from my own.

And it occurred to me that if monsters exist, maybe magic is also common here.

My curiosity grew day by day until I decided to ask.

"Mom, do you know what magic is?" I'm a man who gets straight to the point with my questions.

"Huh? Are you interested in… magic?"

"Well, I heard Miss Lilia say that monsters can be scary, but she also mentioned that magic can defeat them."

Of course, that was a lie. Lilia never told me anything about magic, but sometimes a man needs to improvise.

My mom looked at me, surprised, then turned her gaze to the plants she was tending in the garden.

"Come here, Rudy," she said, gesturing for me to approach.

When I got beside her, she gently plucked a small piece from a flower.

"Look at my hand and the flower. Pay attention to the incantation."

She positioned her hands over the plant and began to chant:

"Let this divine power be like nourishing food, granting what has lost its strength the power to rise again – Heal!"

Her fingers began to glow with a soft light, and the small stem she had plucked started to regenerate slowly.

"Did you know your mom used to be a pretty famous adventurer?" she said proudly.

"Holy crap, this is better than any anime I've ever seen." The words slipped out before I could stop myself.

"Huh!?"

My mom looked at me, incredulous, her proud expression turning into one of surprise and disapproval.

After a few seconds of silence, she sighed, crossed her arms, and leaned in close to look me in the eye.

"Rudy, don't swear. Where did you even learn to talk like that?"

"Sorry, Mom…" I mumbled, averting my gaze.

She ruffled my hair with an amused smile. "Be more polite, okay? I don't want my son going around talking like your father."

"Right…" I muttered, trying to hide a smile.

She smiled again, now with tenderness, and patted my head lightly. "How about this? When you turn seven, I'll teach you real magic. Deal?"

The possibility left me ecstatic. I knew she had no idea how much her words were igniting a new purpose within me.

Later that day, I went up to the second floor. There was something I had been observing: my dad had the habit of storing all the books he read for me in a large wooden chest in the adjacent room.

When I opened the chest, I realized it was bigger than me.

"Ugh…" I groaned, trying to lift the lid. It was heavier than I had imagined. Maybe I had underestimated it.

After finally managing to open it, I looked inside. "Five books. Maybe my parents aren't exactly avid readers."

I remembered the readings I used to do in my previous world. Books about cooking, electrical physics, and, of course, my beloved light novels.

For a brief moment, I felt nostalgic for all that. Even though I was just a 17-year-old teenager when I died, my interest in electrical physics was always something that set me apart. I wasn't a genius, but I understood advanced concepts like circuits, currents, and electromagnetism—enough to know that this knowledge might come in handy here if I applied it creatively.

The language of this world seemed very similar to Japanese, so I was able to understand it easily. The written characters were completely different, but the grammar was similar to what I knew, which fortunately meant I only had to focus on vocabulary. My dad read to me, and that helped a lot. Maybe my new body was also influencing my learning. It was something to consider.

'Maybe I should ask Zenith for help learning to read…'

She certainly wouldn't refuse my request. But at the same time, it seemed too risky to ask for something so advanced as a baby who was only a year old.

"Yes, it's better to wait…" I decided, crafting a plan. Today was my birthday, so I'd pretend to be tired after the celebration and fake being asleep. That would leave them emotional and distracted. Tomorrow, I could use my childish charm to ask for help with reading.

Sometimes, even I feared my own intelligence.

"Haa… Nn… Hah… Ah…"

Moaning sounds started echoing through the house.

"They know Lilia's here, right?" I murmured. "Am I going to get a little sister or brother?"

With those thoughts, I ended up falling asleep. I only woke up the next day, with no party or surprises.

When I asked my dad about the birthday celebration, he casually replied:

"Birthday parties are only celebrated at ages 5, 10, and 15."

By this point, I shouldn't even be surprised. Different world, different culture.

I'd have to teach myself how to read and write. Being an adult man, I figured I'd be able to learn easily.

---

Another year has passed.

My learning wasn't as fast as I thought it would be, but being a diligent adult, I didn't neglect my studies, and I finally learned to read.

Among the books I read, the contents varied: reference guides about various countries in the world, a tale about a hero named Perugius and his twelve companions, and two other fantasy books. However, what caught my attention the most was the fifth book. It was a manual of magic that covered everything from beginner to advanced levels.

In the manual, I read that a lot of things could be done with magic. According to the book, however, magic had originally been developed for battles, which is why it wasn't used much outside of combat or hunting. For example, magic attacks were created to fight enemies, and summoning magic was for bringing creatures or objects to the field. But what really caught my attention was healing magic, used to treat wounds.

Seeing Zenith use healing magic was simply fascinating. I often asked her to demonstrate, and sometimes she would. On one of these occasions, I asked her to use it six times in a row. She looked visibly exhausted. When I asked, she explained that her mana had almost run out. This made me think: maybe I could also use magic, if I was born with an aptitude for it. That doubt troubled me.

I asked Zenith about it, and she told me that all living beings, including plants, had mana.

Even so, I thought it was somewhat silly having to recite incantations while preparing magic. The manual explained that incantations became popular when a mage learned to shorten their incantations, making the process easier. The book said that the most experienced sorcerers could cast spells without any incantation – or at least reduce the incantation time drastically.

At that moment, I was alone in the garden. I placed the book on the ground and directed both hands toward a plant I had pulled out. I decided to try a magic spell I was more familiar with.

"May this divine power be like satisfactory food, giving to that which lost its strength the strength to rise again – Heal."

I felt as if my blood was accumulating in my right hand. Then, it seemed like all this energy leaked through my palm. The plant began to regenerate.

"I really did that!?"

The feeling was extraordinary. Watching someone cast magic was one thing, but doing it yourself was completely different.

Would it be similar to... sex? Seeing something through a screen was one thing, but feeling it on your skin was something entirely different. Or at least, that's what people usually say.

Oops, priorities, please! Don't get distracted, Rudeus, the future mage.

I decided to try again, but this time without using the incantation. Just thinking about reciting those words out loud, I felt a wave of embarrassment. What if someone heard...? Better not take the risk.

Maybe mom wouldn't mind because she trusted me and knew I wouldn't laugh.

I pulled the plant out again.

I took a deep breath. My blood flowed through my body, from the tips of my fingers to the top of my head, concentrating in my right hand, filling it with power. Then, I felt that power emerging in my palm. Slowly, little by little, with great, great care, my thoughts began to align with the beats of my heart.

It was like a circuit being assembled in sequence. First, the main component: life. Think of it like growing tissue. Then, connect its state to its effect: grow, restore, complete. Finally, imagine the end result: close wounds, renew, regenerate. The concept flowed through my mind like cells dividing and rebuilding an organism, like energy flowing through a circuit to light a bulb.

The feeling grew, and the flow became more stable. I felt my mana aligning with the image I had built in my mind.

When I looked at the plant, I saw it being reconstructed again. However, a moment later, the process stopped, and an overwhelming fatigue took over me. My arm felt heavy, and it seemed like an enormous weight was on my shoulders.

"Ugh... I can do this..." I muttered, frustrated. Maybe I did something wrong by trying to use magic without the incantation as support?

Suddenly, my vision blurred, and exhaustion pushed me to my limits. Before I could react, I collapsed right there on the ground.

When I woke up, Zenith was by my side, visibly worried and a little annoyed. "Rudy, what were you thinking? Sleeping on the ground like this? You're going to catch a cold!" After a scolding, I promised myself to be more careful.

In the following days, I returned to the same spot to test a theory that had come to my mind. During the first week, I noticed something interesting. On the first day, I could only use magic twice before getting exhausted. The next day, I was able to cast it four times. And the day after that, even more.

It was as if my mana was expanding as I used it, as if the previous limit was a base for the next growth. The power of the magic seemed to increase with use. This made me think: was my body adapting? Maybe it was like building muscles – the more I used it, the stronger I became.

Or perhaps, it was like an electrical charge system. When a battery is constantly used, it adjusts to charge faster or store more energy. My mana could be working similarly.

Additionally, I realized that incantations weren't strictly necessary. Magic worked without them, but it required much greater concentration. It was like the words were a crutch, helping to direct the mana toward the desired result. Without them, a complete focus was necessary.

I began experimenting with other magics, like water. To my surprise, I realized that, in addition to mana, it seemed to rely on imagination and will. For example, to create water, I needed to visualize it clearly: its weight, its flow, the sensation of something fresh running between my fingers.

I also thought about the logic behind other types of magic. Fire, for example, could be created by imagining combustion – the initial spark that ignites and grows with oxygen. Tornadoes, on the other hand, could arise from understanding how warm and cold air currents mix. It was as if magic required not only energy but also an intuitive understanding of the elements I wanted to create.

"Maybe the key is understanding how things really work..." I murmured to myself. All I needed to do was observe the world around me carefully and apply what I already knew to shape what I wanted to create.

These small discoveries filled my chest with a sense of accomplishment. Magic, I realized, was much more than simple words or gestures. It was a synergy between will, imagination, and logical understanding.

Today, my focus would be on experimenting with water magic.

'If I can visualize the image of water forming faster, maybe I can cast the spell more efficiently and quickly,' I thought.

All spells seemed to follow a logical and structured pattern: first, the essence of the magic was shaped in the mind, like a raw idea. Then, it underwent adjustments to determine the desired size and range. Next, the flow of magical energy was controlled, allowing the speed of the spell to be adjusted. Finally, the magic was activated, releasing all the carefully built potential.

The process required both intuition and precision, and it was up to the caster to harmonize each step to achieve the desired result.

I took a deep breath and began to concentrate.

A wave of water shot from my hand.

"Uhahaha!" The feeling of euphoria overwhelmed me. I ran through the garden, firing water blasts continuously.

Splosh, splash, shwooosh!

I was so excited I didn't even notice someone was there.

"Shwoosh."

When I finally stopped, there was Lilia. Her maid uniform was completely soaked. She looked at me, then at her clothes, and then back at me. Without saying a word, she turned around and left, her face completely expressionless.

My heart raced.

'Is she going to tell my parents? No, she can't tell them now... My parents are busy trying to make another mini-Rudeus in the room! I have time... I need to act fast.'

I had to think of something.

"Maybe... if I dramatically kneel before her and beg for forgiveness... Yeah, that might work!"

A perfect plan, I would say.

But while thinking about this, I saw Lilia already returning from the door. She came toward me, a cloth in her right hand.

"Lilia, what are you..." I was interrupted by her, who was using the cloth on my head.

"You got a little wet." Her voice was soft, but clear, and she clearly tried to ease the situation without being too direct.

Not understanding anything, I looked at her, confused, not knowing how to react. How could I put my plan into action now?

"Well, hmm... It suddenly started raining today, yes, it was raining a lot, right?" I'm a warrior without pride, I should just kneel and ask her not to tell anyone.

But why was I so afraid of my parents finding out I was using magic? I didn't know... Well, I did know, I just didn't want them to look at me differently. Before, I was concerned about that, thinking about how they would react.

'But those thoughts weren't coming as often as before. They had decreased a lot when I started focusing on reading, and when I did magic, those thoughts didn't even appear.'

"Thank you, Miss Lilia."

Lilia continued cleaning with a slight smile on her face.

"You're not going to tell my parents?"

"What should I say? It was just raining, right?"

'I thought she hated me.'

"Why? I thought you... didn't like me."

"I never said I didn't like you."

"But you looked at me differently, you even did rituals in m—" When I was about to continue, she squeezed my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

"Then, you still remember... Why I looked at you differently? I don't even know why it all started, maybe I just judged you wrong."

"I didn't quite understand, but please, don't tell my parents. I... was preparing a surprise to show them." I could only say that when I saw Zenith doing magic, I got interested, and when I picked up the book, the words started coming to my mind. I could even be considered a genius by them, but that was a price to pay.

After that, I kneeled at Miss Lilia's feet, apologizing for wetting her clothes. I felt a deep respect for her at that moment.