If magic existed, maybe it was hidden in simple things.
I closed my eyes again.
I breathed slowly.
I focused on the sounds around me—the wind brushing through the leaves, the distant song of a bird…
And then…
I felt something.
It was… subtle.
Like a faint vibration brushing against my skin.
My heart began to race.
I focused on that subtle sensation, that almost-feeling… but every time I thought I was close, it slipped away, like trying to hold water in my hands.
It was frustrating.
I didn't know what was missing. Technique? Age? A manual someone conveniently forgot to give me?
But there was one thing that had always been true about me, in any life:
I was persistent.
So I kept trying.
Days passed in an almost comfortable monotony.
Sleep. Eat. Cry involuntarily. Embarrass myself. Repeat.
Meanwhile, I observed. I listened. I tried to feel.
My mother always spoke to me while feeding me or holding me in her arms. Her voice was soft, almost musical. The language was completely different from anything I had ever heard.
It wasn't wrong… but it felt strange.
Like listening to a song in a foreign language and still understanding the emotion behind it.
I understood the context—affection, concern, love—but not the words.
I tried imitating some of the sounds.
"Ah… eh… la…"
The result was a pathetic babble.
She smiled as if I had just performed a miracle.
"You heard that, Aragorn? Our little Erond is trying to speak!"
She hugged me tightly and covered my face with kisses.
Logical conclusion:
I must be ridiculously cute.
Still, there was a barrier.
Not just with the language.
With mana too.
Or ki. Or energy. Or whatever the technical name for that invisible thing was that insisted on existing just outside my reach.
It was always the same.
I felt like I was close…
And then nothing.
Until one day, I had an epiphany.
I was trying too hard.
Trying to dominate it. Control it. Conquer it.
As if it were a skill to unlock by force.
But maybe it didn't work like that.
Maybe I shouldn't force it.
Maybe I should… follow it.
Move with the rhythm.
So that's what I did.
I stopped trying to control it.
I simply observed.
Breathed.
Listened.
And slowly, things began to change.
The sounds my mother made started to make sense.
Not suddenly, but gradually—like puzzle pieces quietly sliding into place.
And the mana…
It didn't appear as an explosion of power.
It appeared as a presence.
Soft.
Silent.
Waiting.
As if it had always been there… simply waiting for me to stop fighting it.
Eventually, I finally learned my mother's name.
Eliria.
It took me several days to gather enough courage—and motor coordination—to try saying it.
"E… li… ri… a…"
Silence.
For a moment, she froze. Her eyes widened.
Then she exploded with excitement.
"He said it! Aragorn, he said it! Erond said my name!"
"Eliria!" she repeated, pointing at herself with a huge smile, tears already forming in her eyes.
I got it right.
She hugged me so tightly that if I were a normal human, I would probably complain.
But in that moment…
It was just warmth.
Pure love.
She almost ran through the house with me in her arms, calling for my father.
Seconds later, he appeared.
Aragorn—the elf with a perfect face and an even more perfect sense of pride.
"Aragorn!" my mother said excitedly, pointing at him and then at me. "Erond spoke! He said my name!"
He looked at me with curiosity.
I looked back at him.
He leaned closer, smiling with hope.
"A… ra… gorn…" he said slowly, pointing at himself. "Come on, Erond… say it. Aragorn…"
I blinked.
He repeated it.
"A… ra… gorn…"
Again.
"A… ra… gorn…"
The expression on his face was so serious, so focused… he looked like a child begging for approval.
I couldn't help it.
I let out a tiny baby laugh.
My mother started laughing too.
"He's laughing at you, dear."
But my father didn't give up.
No.
He kept going.
"A… ra… gorn… say it, Erond…"
"A… ra… gorn…"
"A… ra… gorn…"
His determination was inspiring.
Or stubborn.
Probably both.
After several minutes of that gentle psychological torture, I finally gave in.
"A… ra… gorn…"
Silence.
He froze.
Then his smile grew so wide it looked like he had just conquered the entire world.
"You heard that, Eliria?! He said my name!"
He picked me up and lifted me into the air proudly.
Mission accomplished.
And at that moment, I realized something.
Maybe I hadn't chosen to be born in this world.
But I had definitely been lucky with my parents.