Mage's Rebirth

1. The start of it all.

Jolting awake, It took me a second to realize what was wrong.

I hadn't moved so fast in years. The usual stagnant state of my body was gone. I felt a new source of energy and life flow through me. That should have been impossible.

After all, I had researched it enough to know. My mind came to a halt when I finally came to grips with my surroundings.

The world had changed into something far too familiar to be real. Gone was the dinghy room, my one solace in all the great halls of the Library of Belti.

The surroundings were sinister, the simple room laced with pain and madness. This was the room where it all started. Down below me was my failure of a father. One of the many drunks of the outer ring. Someone who hadn't cared for my presence for far too long.

The despair of it all soon gave way to elation when I saw the state of my body. The youthful hands, fresh and nimble. The skin was smooth, not a burn in sight.

There was no mirror in my room, but what was the need when I could see for myself most of my body.

I jumped from the bed, marveling at my new range of movements. I was no longer limited to a broken body. Thinking along those lines brought me to a new point.

I looked within myself with the same deftness I had grown after many years of trial and error. The raging river of mana that was within my body brought tears to my eyes.

Gone were the slow streams of a cripple. I could become a mage. The path I was always destined for was no longer out of reach.

I didn't know what deity I had to pray to for my resurrection. The memories of my past were crystal clear, my memory being my only strength and solace in the past. Now though, it was blurry. I could remember moving through the forbidden aisles of the library as I usually did. Then nothing.

Yet that meant little to me for the moment as I immediately went down to meditate. I had no idea what time I had been brought back to. That didn't matter. I hadn't been crippled yet. The world was open. I had all I needed.

The euphoria of mana rushing through my body was like nothing I ever felt. I had never learned to tap into my mana before the incident properly, used to the minute amount of mana I could conjure through my channels. The control and finesse I gained through that hadn't gone away.

I was well on my way to making a natural awakening.

All it would take would be a few days of meditation, and I would be joining the rank of mages.

Then I could truly make a difference.

Banging on the door brought me out of my reverie.

"Hey, you little shit. Your mother is outside looking for you."

That was all it took to reveal precisely when I had been brought back to.

Five days before the entrance exam to the Forpus Academy of Excellence.

The banging was constant, so I pulled open the door with equal force. I wasn't above being petty with my father. I had never truly gotten even with the man for squandering away all the help Mom gave us.

He nearly fell into the open doorway as he prepared for another round of knocking. I was surprised he managed to fix himself. He shot me a glare as I strode past.

Whispering under his breath, "You'll pay for that."

I couldn't care less what he was saying as I strolled through the rundown house—the stairs creaking heartily under my step. The door was left ajar as I came down into the hallway.