Sometimes I thought what would it be if I died. 

Magic, which I loved so much, was beautiful but deadly. Therefore, it was not uncommon to hear someone died while practicing witchcraft, some even died because of their own spells. You could consider those people a little unfortunate. Death could come to anyone who chose this wonderful piece of art.

Especially for me, who had spent hundred of years studying it, I understood that fact better than anyone else. Eventually, I treated death as a welcomed guest. I guessed it could be cold, painful or unpleasant, perhaps.

' But it turns out quite lovely, I suppose.'

I felt as if I had been sleeping for a long time in a dark room, where nothing could be heard. Instead of lying on my bed, I was floating in the air but it was still comfortable. Too good that I wanted to sleep like this forever. 

But then something woke me up, a faint light.

At first it was just a small ray of light, too small that I didn't notice it. As time passed, the light became stronger and stronger, it made my body feel warmer and I could hear some strange noise. Felt like someone was talking far away.

'Is it a girl or a boy?'

'Who cares about that as long as this baby become useful to our guild in the future.'

'So harsh ...'

'Can they talk somewhere else? It's so noisy I can't sleep at all'

I tried to fight back to these unwanted sounds, but they just kept getting louder and the light before my eyes was so bright that I had to wake up from my deep sleep.

'Who dares to disturb me???'

That was what I wanted to say, but the only things that came from my mouth was:

'Woah, woah,...'

...

What just happened??? 

Not only I couldn't speak properly, but also there were 2 giant grown-ups before me. No, they weren't giant but I was tiny? I had never been so shock like this before, I couldn't control my arms or legs, my voice could only give out weird sounds and it was so hard to turn my body over.

While I was in panic, those 2 human went on talking loudly by my side. The man in his late forties with short black hair and a big scar near his chin, spoke cheerfully :

'My guess is correct, she is indeed a girl. Now give me your money.'

'Are you stupid? This is not a bet!' 

Answered  by the woman standing next to him. Compared to him, she looked a bit younger with long curly black hair and some freckles on the face. But she was a hot-tempered kind of person, I could feel it by the way she talked.

Both of them had big figures and wore the same clothes. It was a long red robe covered their bodies, from shoulders to toes. The robe looked quite thick, as if it was made from fur. What made it stand out was the small black patterns on the chest, they were the drawings of "Marking"

It was a signal to show that they were the followers of Black Magic, also it could help them communicate with others wizards like them in a radius of 3 kilometers. Quite useful at first, but it could be a bothersome if someone used that drawings to find their location.

As I was observing these strangers, they continued talking loudly:

'This girl sleeps so much, Jill, I used to believe she was under the curse of "Long Lasting Sleep".'

Said the man, who tried to pinch my cheeks.

It was quite unpleasant. Luckily, the woman, whose name was Jill, rescued me from that filthy hand. She snapped his hand away:

'Knock it off, Bitt. After all, she wasn't born from human, but from that weird experiment so no wonder she functions a little odd.'

'Liam said that she might behave strangely at the young age but later on she would become a complete normal person.'

That man, Britt, didn't give up and tried to move my cradle instead, and again, violently.

'This is all his fault. That rascal spent years creating just a baby by alchemist, and worse, now he's dead, we have to look after her! We are vicious Black wizards, not babysitters.'

'Screw him!'

Jill was too furious to notice Britt's action. The more she talked, the louder her voice became.

So loud that I wished I could use my hands to cover my poor ears.

Like me, Britt found ways to calm her down

'This is the Leader's order, we have to do it anyway. Besides, if we do the job well, maybe she'll promote us.'

And it worked, Jill finally lowered her voice:

'Maybe. But I can't take the risk unless this child has any potential. What if she's a failure? You know the Leader doesn't accept any mistakes.'

She paused awhile as if she remembered something awful 

'Even Liam, her own son, was no exception.' 

In the end, they stopped.

Now I had time to analyze the situation. After hearing their conversation, I could deduced 3 things:

1. I was born from an alchemist's experiment and the person who was responsible for that was called Liam.

2. Seeing these people acting freely in front of me, there was a high chance that I was in their lair.

3. Britt and Jill had to take care of me because their Leader told them to, therefore, I was considered useful. At least they couldn't harm me right now.

According to the information I had knew so far, I might say:

'I didn't go back time, but rather, being reincarnated as an infant.'

Didn't convince you? But that was the only reasonable explanation I had. The way they talked, the way their mana existed in their bodies and especially, that "Marking", everything was so similar to my old world. 

'They are evidence showing that this is the the same world as mine.'

Indeed, there were some high-advanced spells that could turn back in time or could make a grown-up transform into a baby, maybe someone casted those spells on me but I believed that would be impossible.

Because I always had the "Ultimate Protection" spell around me until the moment I died. It was known as the strongest defending spell which can protect me from all kinds of dangers, including some of ancient magic, too.

Therefore, reincarnation was the best answer.

Those were quite disturbed to know, but it was time for the most important things:

 MY POWER AND KNOWLEDGE

I could still remember clearly what I had been through, all the books that I had read, battles that I had fought and people whom I had met for more than 200 years. And a faint memory of dying. Luckily, nothing was missing and I knew it.

'What's use of having the ultimate power when you don't know how to use it properly?'

Next, I needed to check if there were any fragments in my soul. Some people out there might not know this, but actually, the soul was the source of mana. The body itself played a role of a vessel to extract those mana from the soul. Therefore, the healthier you were, the better you controlled your mana.

I closed my eyes and tracked the mana flowing inside my body. Hopefully, being reincarnated wouldn't affect my soul much. And ...

'Yes, everything is still the same.'

My biggest worries had been solved. I opened my eyes again and focus on my next problem, Britt and Jill, followers of Dark Magic. They might look bigger than me but their power was no match for me, I could kill them with just a hand wave.

But not now. I wanted to see what interesting things would happen in this world. I wanted to know which master they served, which country they belonged to, any new opponents I would face, ....

'It will be a big problem if I kill them, so just act like a baby for now.'

I pretended to be an harmless infant for the next 4 years without showing any signs of mana. Still, I paid attention to every details of Britt and Jill, my temporary caretakers. I observed their movements even in my sleep and knew 1 thing for sure that:

'They are the worst at taking care of a baby.'

I couldn't count how many times they forgot to feed me, not until I cried my eyes out. Sometimes they treated me as if I was a toy. They not only spoke loudly but also liked to chat a lot, especially that woman Jill, she didn't care if I was sleeping or not whenever she got a call from the ''Marking''. 

'Do you know that sleeping is very important for a child to develop?'

In the end, I HATE THEM!!!