“B-But Your Majesty, when I prepared for the ritual just moments ago, I tested the crystal ball on myself and everything seemed to be in order…”
“Bring me another crystal ball immediately!”
The old man scurries out of the room on all fours.
Soon, he returns with several other men dressed in robes. One of them is carrying a crystal ball the size of a basketball.
They perform the ritual again.
The result is the same.
I can see my pop’s eyes go dull.
Mine are too, probably.
“My son, Prince Reinhardt…died in childbirth.”
Huh?
“A stillbirth. Isn’t that right?”
My father glares at each of the men in turn.
The look in his eye is terrifying. For realz? I was just reincarnated─and now they’re going to kill me? What about my overpowered skill? Didn’t she say she gave me one? I guess not. Okay, then…
Less than an hour after being reincarnated, my dream of living a new life as a superpowered shut-in has been shattered.
I have no words to express my distress but with baah’s and goo’s.
“Odd, though…isn’t it?” mutters one of the men in robes. “Why does it say 02 and not just 2?”
☆
In some sort of celestial world.
The goddess-y being who was responsible for the boy’s reincarnation is chatting with her other goddess-y colleagues.
“This doesn’t seem to be going well. Did you really grant him an overpowered skill?”
“Yeah…but I forgot to give him an element,” admits the goddess-y person bashfully.
“Uh… Isn’t that…bad?”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. I kinda randomly gave him a super high max mana level.”
The spacey goddess did indeed “kinda randomly” give the boy a very high max mana level and current mana level.
His mana level isn’t 2.
The reason the crystal ball couldn’t accurately indicate his mana level is that it only displays two digits.
His real mana level is…
1002 / 1002
Yep. Way too random.
★
I am sneaked off to another room. There await five older men.
One of them is my father in this world. From what I gather, his name is King Jilq Orteus. The other men appear to be high-ranking henchmen, but they might as well be NPCs.
“My decision is made. If my kingdom were to find out that my son is an utter imbecile, I’ll be a laughingstock!”
“But Your Majesty, if we were to forge the boy’s death as a stillbirth, who among us could possibly do away with his life? It would be out of our place to…”
“Hmm… I suppose it would be problematic for a liege to execute a member of the royal family.”
What a bizarre sight, to lie there and watch a debate over my own execution. There was one man who begged for my life to be spared, but he got thrown out of the room just a moment ago.
My father is scummy enough, but my mother goes as far as to say, “To have this useless garbage for a son would be a shameful blemish in our royal records.”
My past life was full of jerks, but who would’ve thought I’d be subjected to the cruelty of man in my reincarnated life too?
Humans truly are the worst. They must be rotten to the core.
Still, I’m not about to sit around and patiently wait for my death─or lie around, in this case.
I have no emotional attachment to this world I was just born in, but I’m still afraid of death. Even if I’m peon-tier weak, there must be some way for me to thrive and enjoy my life as a shut-in.
In my past life, I was as fragile as glass. As fragile as paper, even. But for some reason, perhaps due to my reincarnation, I’m a lot more daring now.
I’m determined to survive!
So I begin to brainstorm, self-preservation my aim.
I stare up at the ceiling as I ponder.
To use magic, I will need mana.
The amount of magic any individual can wield is determined by their current mana level. That seems to be what the grownups are alluding to as they discuss my circumstance.
Putting the pieces together, along with some guesswork, here’s what I surmise:
The amount of magic a person can use is equal to their current mana level squared. For example, a mana level of 2 gives you four times the mana of a mana level of 1. So, hypothetically, a guy with a mana level of 1000 could use one million times the magic of someone with a mana level of 1. Incredible. But a four-digit mana level would be ridiculous.
Based on what they measured, I’m a total peon with a mana level of 2. What’s more, I can only use Barrier magic because I have no elements.
Ms. Goddess-y whatever-you-are, you are so unreliable. “Granted with bonus powers” my ass. Do your job! But whining isn’t going to get me anywhere. Now that I have a better grasp on the situation, I can try a new approach.
The first thing I need to do is figure out what this Barrier magic is. This is going to take a while.
When I think of a barrier, I picture a finite space enclosed by invisible walls. Something that you’d summon with amulets and charms.
And inside that space, magical things can happen. Like accessing great powers, causing an explosion, or detecting an invader.
Right now, the only chance I have at survival is figuring out how to use this magic.
Guess I’ll give it a spin.
Just then, I am rudely interrupted.
“A mana level of 2, you say? I doubt the boy could even conjure up a single fireball.”
“For starters, he possesses no elements so he can’t use anything but Barrier magic.”
“Barriers make a decent assist, at best. But without any element to accompany it, it is, frankly, useless.”
Great. Just when I was starting to feel motivated.
I’d like to give them a piece of my mind, but alas, I am but a wee baby. The most I can do is lie on my back and babble, “Gaga goo!”
“Yes…and a barrier requires a fair amount of mana. The prince probably wouldn’t even be able to summon a small-scale one.”
A transparent cube floats before my eyes.
I figured I’d try making one on a whim, but…that was kinda really easy, you guys.