When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at a dark ceiling, the color somewhere between deep brown and copper. From outside, sounds drifted in through what had to be an open window, birds singing, insects moving, maybe even butterflies passing by. For a brief moment, everything felt distant, like I was watching the world through glass.
Then I realized something was wrong.
I had become a baby.
I wasn't sure how my vision could be so sharp, but it was, clear and precise despite the body I was in. I tried to move, even if just a little, and quickly understood my situation. My body felt heavy and uncoordinated, but not helpless. Judging by my size and limited strength, I guessed I was a few months old, already chubby, already big enough to almost support myself.
Moving as a baby is extremely annoying, awkward in a way that feels almost humiliating.I didn't like it.
After what could only be described as a sigh in my head, I focused and slowly pushed myself against the side of the crib, or whatever I was lying in. With some effort, I lifted myself just enough to look around, taking in my surroundings with careful attention.
It was a bedroom, and a well-decorated one at that. Candlesticks rested on polished furniture, the walls adorned with fine details that spoke of wealth and status. This place belonged to someone important, someone rich, which meant I had likely been born into a good family.
So this is the gift the god mentioned?
Before I could dwell on that thought, something appeared in front of me, a translucent screen that flickered once before stabilizing. Lines of text began forming across it, and at the same time, a calm voice echoed inside my head.
System initializing…10%… 20%… 30%… 40%… 50%…Initialization complete.Welcome.
The voice continued, steady and emotionless.
I am your system.Created by the will of the god who sent you here.My purpose is to assist you.
A system.Cliché, painfully so, straight out of the kind of stories I used to read.
Still, clichés existed for a reason, and this one was undeniably useful.
What functions do you have?
A soft ding responded immediately.
Available functions:StatusInventoryShopGachaMissions
Basic, predictable, efficient. That would do.
Show me my status.
The screen shifted, reorganizing itself smoothly.
Name: Jesse
I paused, staring at it for a moment. A surname was missing, and that wouldn't do. I needed something fitting, something that felt right.
Dark Watch.
Yes. That works.
The rest of the information followed. My age was listed as eight months, along with my height and weight, apparently relevant at this stage of life. There was no traditional level system, thankfully, but instead a magical classification.
Mage Rank: Apprentice Mage
That could evolve later, no need to think about it now.
Below that was my mana.
Mana: 15 / 15 (slowly increasing)
Low, but expected.
There were no skills listed, no abilities either, only basic life indicators. It wasn't a game mechanic in the usual sense, more like a warning system. If I suffered a serious injury, it would drop, not to indicate survival at absurdly low values, but to show how close I was to actually dying.
Simple and practical.
Then another notification appeared.
Beginner Gift available.
Of course there was one.
System, do I have a beginner gift?
Yes, Jesse.Would you like to open it?
Yes.
Opening Beginner Gift…
Ding.
You have received:– Bloodline Cleansing Potion– 5 Common Gacha Tokens– 1 Special Gacha Token– 1 Special Ability Reward
Interesting.
I reminded myself not to react outwardly. I could fake emotions when talking to people, but internally I needed to stay cold, observant, controlled.
The bloodline potion would stay unused for now, anything involving bloodlines tended to have consequences. The gacha, however, could be used immediately.
Start the common gacha.
Initiating Common Gacha…
Ding.
+5 Mana
The value updated smoothly.
Ding.
+3 Mana
Ding.
+5 Mana
Ding.
+2 Mana
On the fifth spin, the screen shifted again, colors rotating slowly. White, gray, then suddenly blue.
Rare Reward Acquired.Talent: Natural Legilimency (Rare)
That was good, better than expected.
The final common gacha spun once more, this time the colors deepened further, settling on purple.
Epic Reward Acquired.Talent: Natural Occlumency (Epic)
I went still.
Legilimency and Occlumency, both natural talents.
That didn't mean instant superiority, only potential. Learning would be easier, faster, smoother, but someone without natural talent who trained their entire life could still surpass me. Talent wasn't power, it was efficiency.
Tom Riddle, for example, would probably have something close to legendary-tier Legilimency.
Now for the special reward.
Activating Special Ability Reward…
Plim.
Congratulations.You have acquired:Eyes That See Mana (Legendary)
That one nearly made me react.
With the ability active, the world changed immediately. Mana was everywhere, flowing through the air, clinging to objects, shifting in density and color. I could distinguish pure mana from elemental traces, see currents where before there had been nothing.
Controlling mana would be far easier like this.
As I observed my surroundings through this new perspective, I heard footsteps approaching. A moment later, the door opened and a young maid stepped inside.
She looked around eighteen or nineteen, blonde hair, green eyes, a pleasant figure with balanced proportions. Visually pleasing. Her voice was soft too, easy to listen to.
She smiled when she saw me.
— Oh, you're already awake. Let me pick you up.
She lifted me with practiced ease.
— You woke up early today. Are you hungry? I'll take you to the lady so you can eat.
As she walked through the house, I observed everything carefully. The mansion was enormous, hallways stretching far beyond what I expected, walls lined with paintings.
One of them spoke.
— Taking the heir to breakfast, are you, Melissa?
So that was her name.
— Yes, Sir Edward. I'm bringing the young master to breakfast.
Living paintings. Fascinating. Another thing to study later.
Eventually, we reached what looked like a massive dining hall. The walk alone took several minutes. When we entered, Melissa bowed slightly.
— Good morning, madam. I've brought the young master.
Then I saw her.
My mother.
She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, truly. Black hair, deep blue eyes like polished gemstones, a gentle smile, and a small beauty mark on the right side of her face just below her lips. Perfect symmetry, far beyond anything I had seen, even among celebrities, and I had researched extensively.
Her presence was overwhelming.
Melissa had mana, a respectable amount, perhaps a four by my rough estimation. The paintings had traces as well. But my mother's mana filled the entire room, compressed so tightly that if she released it, I was certain it would flood everything.
Even thousands of Melissas wouldn't stand a chance against her.
She took me into her arms and smiled warmly.
— My precious child.
The emotions coming from her were strong, warm, and clear, far stronger than what I sensed from Melissa. It had to be her influence.
— Are you hungry?
I won't describe the feeding process.But the food was good.
While I ate, I noticed something strange. My mana increased significantly, nearly ten points from that single meal. Bloodline influence, perhaps, or maybe it was tied to my mother's strength.
I would need to test that later.
Different sources, different results—
Author's note:Yes, at this point the protagonist seriously considered whether drinking milk from stronger women would increase his power as a baby. I laughed, felt embarrassed, and almost deleted this part. Almost.
After that, she handed me back to Melissa and spoke briefly, though I didn't pay much attention. Melissa carried me back to my room, laid me down, and before long, sleep took me again.
That night, I dreamed.
Of space.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, I thought:
I think I'm going to like it here.
Sleep came easily after that, heavier than I expected. Being a baby was exhausting in ways I hadn't anticipated, even when the mind stayed sharp and alert. When I drifted off, my thoughts slowed, and once again I found myself dreaming.
This time, it was space. Endless, silent, vast. I didn't know why that image kept returning, but it felt comforting, like a reminder that this world was bigger than the room I was confined to.
When I woke again, days had passed.
Two weeks, to be precise.
I won't bother describing every moment of those days. Feeding, sleeping, being carried around, all of that became routine quickly. What mattered were the things I learned, the things that stood out, the pieces of this new world that slowly began to fit together.
First, my family.
They weren't just wealthy. They were powerful.
From what I gathered through overheard conversations, subtle cues, and careful observation, my family sat somewhere between a count and a duke in the aristocratic structure adapted to this world. High enough to command respect, low enough to avoid the constant political spotlight that came with being at the very top.
My mother, Elizabeth Dark Watch, was at the center of that power.
It didn't take long for me to understand that her strength wasn't symbolic. She was a high-ranking mage, the kind that shaped decisions rather than followed them. Through observation and a bit of quiet experimentation with my system, I began to piece together how magical rankings worked in this expanded world.
The hierarchy was clear, and brutally unforgiving.
It began with Apprentice Mage, then moved on to Basic Mage, Intermediate Mage, Advanced Mage, and Experienced Mage. That was where Melissa stood, which alone explained her competence and the respectable amount of mana she carried.
Above that came Master Mage, a rank that already placed someone among the elite. Then there was Decade Mage, and that was where my mother belonged, a mage whose power defined an entire generation.
Beyond that were monsters.
Century Mage, a rank so rare it bordered on legend. Era Mage, the level associated with figures like Dumbledore, beings who defined an age itself. Above them stood Legendary Mages, the Founders of magical society, and then Archmage, a title forever linked to Merlin.
At the very top sat a rank no one had ever truly reached.
God Mage.
Understanding this structure made one thing very clear. The difference between each rank wasn't linear. It wasn't a simple matter of being twice as strong. One rank could mean absolute dominance over the one below it. If my mother was a Decade Mage, then even a Master Mage would struggle to survive a direct confrontation.
The god had kept his promise. This world wasn't just expanded. It was magnified.
The land itself was three times larger than Earth, and it showed. The magical population alone was staggering. In the original Harry Potter world, wizards numbered in the millions at best. Here, there were over three hundred and fifty million magical beings, spread across continents, cultures, and magical traditions.
The non-magical population dwarfed that number even further, pushing the total population past twelve billion, which was absurd when you remembered this was still the early twentieth century. And yet, somehow, the world functioned.
Magic filled the gaps.
That was when another realization settled in.
I was born in the same era as Harry Potter.
The Boy Who Lived.
That much was expected. Still, the thought lingered. I would witness everything firsthand. The rise of the Dark Lord. The fall. The war that reshaped the magical world.
Voldemort.
Or Valdemir, as I kept accidentally calling him in my head.
I couldn't say I felt excited in the usual sense, but there was something close to it. Curiosity, perhaps. Interest. The desire to see how things would unfold when viewed from the inside rather than the pages of a book.
Another discovery came soon after.
I didn't have a father.
He had died in the last war, fighting against You-Know-Who. The information didn't make me sad, exactly, but it left a strange, hollow impression. A piece of history I would never experience directly, only through the echoes it left behind.
Elizabeth never spoke of him openly, but the way her mana reacted when his name came up told me enough.
The house itself was full of secrets. Literal ones, too. Behind one of the walls, hidden by layered enchantments, I discovered a private library. I couldn't access it yet, of course, but just knowing it existed was enough to keep my interest burning.
And then there was my sister.
I already had one sister in my previous life, so the concept wasn't new, but this one was… different. She was a year older than me, energetic to the point of being overwhelming, and strangely sharp for her age. When she spoke, her vocabulary didn't match her years. When she thought she was alone, she muttered to herself in ways that made me pause.
The first time she saw me, she was ecstatic.
Melissa mentioned that the young lady had been very excited to learn she had a younger brother. That excitement only intensified when she came to see me herself. She called me cute, which was expected, but the way she observed me felt… assessing.
When we were alone, and Melissa stepped out briefly, I tried something risky. I used Legilimency on her.
I hit a barrier.
Not a weak one, either.
That alone was alarming. A child barely over a year old shouldn't have mental defenses like that. I withdrew immediately and filed that information away for later.
Meanwhile, my mana continued to grow.
Rapidly.
By the end of the second week, my total mana had surpassed 353, a ridiculous amount for someone my age. The system remained silent for the most part, no new gacha notifications or missions. It did explain, however, that I could earn a common gacha daily through exchanges, or a higher-tier gacha weekly.
I made a decision.
I would only use the system once per year.
Accumulating everything into a single special gacha increased the chances of rare or legendary rewards, and more importantly, kept things clean and controlled. No unnecessary gambling, no dependency on luck.
Magic itself was finally starting to feel natural.
Mana flowed through my body like a tool waiting to be shaped. I practiced moving it, circulating it internally, reinforcing my muscles and bones in subtle ways. Because I was still growing, the effects were amplified. My body adapted quickly, and with my Eyes That See Mana, my control was far more precise than it should have been.
Those eyes reminded me of something from another world. Not quite like Gojo's, nowhere near that broken, but similar in function. They didn't give me overwhelming power, but they refined everything I did.
Efficiency over excess.
I planned to keep it that way.
Standing out too much was dangerous. A little brilliance was acceptable, even expected. Too much, and someone would try to extinguish it. I intended to shine just enough to grow safely, nothing more.
This world was bigger. Richer. More dangerous.
And for the first time in my life, I felt something close to genuine anticipation.
I wasn't trapped anymore in a world where stories stayed on paper.
Here, everything was possible.
I would take my time. Learn. Grow. Control my mana. Control myself.
All the years ahead of me promised to be… interesting.