From now on, I will refer to Jackson as Jack. His actual name is still Jackson, he just likes to go by Jack.
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Jack's Pov
I feel like I am floating in darkness. It's an odd feeling, like I am in space but I don't feel cold, where I can't see anything. This feeling is weird but it is one I sadly remember quite well—the feeling of dying.
I know I am not dead yet but... I am scared. I am scared of the fact that I am dying again.
I can't help but think about what caused this and how I got here.
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When I first reincarnated I didn't have my memories or previous maturity. I would get them back slowly when I turned 3 and get them all back by the age of 6 or seven. I would remain at the same maturity as my body would be, maybe a year or 2 older but most people would just think I was smarter than Normal.
I was born to a married adventurer couple a powerful fire mage, Alexandra Rondo and a swordsman and blacksmith, Draven Drovas.
From what they have told me I was born in the middle of a battle. Mom was over 9 months pregnant but despite that, she went on a quest from the guild with my father and a few friends to kill a goblin nest. They needed a mage for magic support and she wasn't due for a few weeks still. But in the middle of the battle she went into labour and they had to finish everything fast and help her.
I was born on the 15th day of the 8th month just before sunset.
Growing up we lived on the edge of a small village called Thornbranch. Our property was large but our house was small, yet cozy.
Both my parents had their own areas for them to work. Dad had a forge in a shed a little bit away from the house. Mom had a workshop upstairs next to their room where she could work on her magic. We had a small training ground out back for them both. My room was on the ground floor with a window looking out to a lake not far away.
When I was 3 I started to get my memories back and thankfully my mind and the memories of what was happening came back first so I didn't reveal anything.
Around the same time, we went to my aunt's home. There I learned that my mother was the older sister of twins and the younger twin her sister is the head of a noble family. While there I learned that, like me, my mother didn't like politics and left to become an adventurer so she left and her sister took over the family.
When I was 5, my Dad started teaching me how to fight. I was very good at fighting with polearms and staffs but I was best at fighting with a spear, so he decided to teach me how and even asked a fellow adventurer and friend of his to train me, a green lizard-man spear fighter named Rirki.
Sometimes other friends and adventurers would come and visit. Some were other adventurers that my parents went on quests with, some were friends they made on the way and others were people who had been saved by or owed a debt to my parents.
Sometimes they would bring me with them on adventurers when they would be gone for a few days. They would keep me away from large and dangerous quests but when travelling, I could go with them and they taught me everything I would need to know to become an adventurer.
When I was 6 my mother tried to teach me magic. I managed to cast some minor/weak spells and was able to control them to an excellent degree but couldn't use large spells.
She had me visit a mage in the capital.
While there we learned that my Mana capacity or Mana Pool(the current amount of magical energy my body can store) was abnormally low for being the child of a mage but my Controll was exceptional.
sadly any spell I would cast would be about 4 times weaker than a normal person but I could control it it a much larger degree.
It is something I will have to work on when Brakos arrives with the books.
A few months before I turned 7 I was wandering in the forest while my parents were on a quest. While walking around I saw my first spirit.
It looked like a small tiger but its fur was blue with yellow stripes and yellow eyes, instead of orange with black stripes. It stood at about 2 ft tall and was crouched down near a tree.
When I saw it I froze thinking that it would attack me. We stared at each other for a little bit, not moving a muscle. While looking at it I could sense an energy signature that was similar to Brakos. When I didn't see it moving I decided to take a risk and slowly moved towards it to get a better look and show I was not scared.
When I sensed the energy signature I realized that it was a spirit and if I could gain its trust and respect we could form a contract.
I remembered reading about this in a book in the library, it is a spirit called a lightning tiger. They look like blue tigers but can use lightning magic. They can summon, absorb, control and redirect lightning, and some can even turn into lightning.
They are normally calm but protective spirits who live in forests. They do act somewhat like normal tigers but there are some differences.
To gain its trust and respect I need to show that I was not scared and wanted it to approach or face my fears and stand my ground and not give into fear.
As I walked more into the open I sat down on the ground and calmly looked at the lightning tiger, not directly making eye contact but making it know that I knew it was there and I meant it no harm.
It looked at me and slowly approached. Remaining vigilant of its surroundings but keeping an eye on me. I can understand that, curiosity killed the cat and all.
Soon It got to around 10 feet in front of me, still looking at me and sniffing the air, stopped and sat down just staring at me.
We sat there for a few minutes and after a while, I said in a calm and quiet voice "Hello? I am Jack. You are a spirit, right?"
It sat there and stared at me, tilted its head and let out a small chuff sound. Then it got up and started to walk away but before it disappeared it turned back and looked at me then left.
After that day when my parents got back, I told them about what happened but made sure to not mention I knew it was a spirit. They were surprised by that and decided to talk to me
we sat down and they told me a story about when I was a baby.
They told me that a few days after I was born a strange man appeared before them. He was a tall man with tanned skin amethyst coloured eyes and brown hair, he wore a red uniform and walked around with a blank book in his hands. I knew this to be Brakos but didn't say anything.
He told them that I was blessed by the spirits and had the potential to become a powerful spirit summoner. As my powers begin to blossom spirits will start to appear near me more and more often and some will ask to make contracts with me.
They said I need to be careful as people who learn about this may try and use me for their benefit.
I told them I understood and would keep it a secret while holding a finger in front of my mouth. Acting like a little kid is fun sometimes.
After that life continued like normal, I didn't see the lightning tiger for a while but soon, every so often I could see something blue and yellow watching me from the forest, keeping an eye on me. It felt like it was protecting me rather than stalking me though.
At the age of 7, I was getting better at spear fighting and spell casting and have even seen some more spirits. Life was good and I was enjoying it all.
One day I asked my parents if I could become an adventurer like them. They told me that only when I turned 12 I could become an adventurer as per the adventurers guild rules. They said that as long as I continue my training when I become an adventurer, I could rise through the ranks pretty fast and maybe reach C-Rank by the time I can enroll in the magic academies if I choose to do so.
Soon it came close to my 8th birthday. I haven't seen Brakos once since reincarnating and a part of me has gotten a bit worried. He said he would visit me every once in a while and the books would be done around when I turned 7 but hasn't shown up yet.
I doubt he forgot or decided to give up, his actions when making and planning the books showed true dedication and doing all that work as a trick or prank was illogical and not something I think he would do.
I believe something did happen though as he is taking so long. It could just be that something came up and delayed him or an unexpected problem with the books arose. I don't know what is keeping him but one thing I do know is that I must remain patient.