Part One
"I wish I could've given you a better life."
My mom always worried about others right up until the end.
Even in her dying words she was still not thinking about death or happy times but instead spent her final moments apologizing.
Maybe things could have been different if dad had stayed.
I've never known my father.
All I know about him is he deserted us shortly after I was born.
I'll never forgive that coward.
Part Two
12 years ago I died and was given a second chance at life here in this distant world. At this point I barely remember my old life.
I remember being a 22 year old college graduate when one night after a bar late at night I saw 2 men harassing this woman.
"Won't you come with us" they said as they grabbed her.
I decided that I would step in and finally take some control in my life.
"Can you leave her alone? She clearly wants to get away from freaks like you two."
"You got a problem huh?"
My first mistake was saying a word to them.
My second mistake was not calling the police or someone to help that helpless lady.
The two men let her go and started to chase after me.
Although I used to run track, that was over 10 years ago at that point and I was severely out of shape. The two caught me and proceeded to pummel me and leave me bleeding out.
The woman I saved ran away in fear and did not call for any help. I bled out there slowly until something strange happened. Before my death, I had a sudden flash of memories and everything went dark.
I awoke blinded by the light of a bright sun in what seemed to be spring. I was being held by an unfamiliar woman and I couldn't move.
It took about a day before I realized I was a baby again.
Somehow I was reincarnated.
Thankfully the language of this strange world was similar to the English of my world.
"Come here Luther," my new mother said lovingly.
My name is Luther Arghold.
I was raised in the rural town of Aria in the Louton region of Hygaria. My Grandmother and Grandfather lived with my mother and I as I grew up. My Grandfather passed away when I was four years old but it didn't affect me much. It's not like he was my actual grandfather.
It was around that age when I first awakened my Soulforge. The way it was described in mom's books, was as a person's battery. Each person has a soulforge and it is the root of this world's magic-like abilities. Each person's abilities are created by their soul subconsciously through their lived experience and deepest internal desires.
For me this manifested as the power of creation. I'm not too sure how I was given this power but it's not as powerful as it first appeared.
The first limitation of mine was that I could only conjure one object a day as a child. The effort it took to conjure even a pebble would knock me out for the rest of the day.
Surprisingly my mother never caught me until I turned 6 and accidentally conjured a boulder which destroyed our roof.
Another limitation I noticed was that I could not conjure anything living or organic. I also could not conjure more than one item at once. Lastly, I could only create items out of the materials I could see. For example, if there was stone in front of me I could create a stone spear but I could not create a gold spear unless I saw gold.
By the time of my 10th birthday I had a decent understanding of my power and could conjure multiple objects a day without passing out. I could conjure weapons, armor, and all different things. It was at this age my mother fell sick.
"It's just a cold, Luther."
"I'll be fine in a week or two."
She couldn't be more wrong. By the time she died, it was just me and Grandma. I started to use my ability to make counterfeit currency except I could never get the face of King Iridius correct. I would end up getting caught repeatedly but I'd always escape thanks to my training as a child.
One day, however, when I was doing my usual daily activities: paying for groceries with counterfeit money in the shopping district, an emergency alarm went off. Within a minute, a goblin tribe of about 50-100 soldiers arrived at the town and began to pillage and destroy everything.
"We need to get to the bunker!"
"Where are my children?"
Burning down homes and building everything was being destroyed. I saw this as the perfect chance to test out my training since I was a child. With a lance being conjured in my hand and some light armor I used to protect myself, I dove into the battle. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop I swiftly stabbed and eliminated goblins.
"Please get away from me!"
Just barely in time I was able to protect a crying little girl from the goblins. With about 12 down I still had many to go. Suddenly in the blink of an eye, all the chaos was over. All of the goblins were dead with ice spears and there stood this cloak lady. She looked no older than 20 yet carried herself with the confidence of a seasoned warrior. She was wearing a cloak with an emblem which I did not recognize.
"Are you okay?"
I didn't even see her come over here yet she appeared by my side.
"Yea I'm fine, you should check on the villagers"
She turned to aid the injured but stopped and asked where I got such a weapon. I explained that I created it with my soul. She paused and stared at me for a moment. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.
"How old are you?"
"Well, I just turned 12 years old."
"And you awakened your soulforge at such a young age?"
"No, I awakened it at 4 years old."
Her jaw dropped.
"You're coming with me, now!"
She grabbed me as we jumped from home to home checking on the families and she utilized what I thought was her soul ability. I couldn't really see what she was doing but it looked like she was carrying the wounded without using her hands. Must have been some form of telekinesis.
After taking care of the villagers, she took me to her tent and began questioning me.
"Are you really 12 years old and when did you actually awaken your soulforge?"
She looked at me intensely as if to try and catch any changes in body language.
"Yes, I am really 12 years old and I awakened my soulforge when I was four."
"I don't get why this is such a big deal to you"
"What's your soul ability?"
"Creation. I can create anything from weapons to currency (Not very well) and really anything I can think of. I cannot create anything organic though and I can only create objects out of the materials I can see."
"Fascinating, the power of creation and at such a young age. You're a prodigy."
I always hated that word. "Prodigy" gets thrown around so much it makes me sick. In my old life I was considered a prodigy as a child. I was intelligent for my age and always at the top of my class even when I skipped multiple grades. Eventually, everyone caught up to me and…
"Thanks but, if you don't mind me asking, what's your soul ability?"
"Oh I have the ability to manipulate water. This includes the creation, temperature, and state of water. I also formed a soul contract with Snowe, my Hielwolf."
She began petting the air and I guess I must have made a facial expression because she went on to say, "I guess your soulforge hasn't developed as much I thought."
I asked what she meant but she ignored me.
"With proper training you could become one of the strongest adventurers on the continent. Allow me to train you while we travel across the continent accepting missions that are posted in the Adventurer's Hall."
I hesitated. Of course I wanted to leave this small town and see the world but how could I leave my grandma all alone. We were poor, how could I decide to leave my only family. I would be just like him.
"I need to talk to my grandma."
"Sure thing! Let's go see her."
She grabbed me and put me on the invisible companion she had and I directed her to my home.