It turned out that I was somehow reincarnated.

  But why did I have to be reborn into the body of a newborn child?

  It had been about a week now since my apparent reincarnation, but to me it felt like an eternity. Everyday was the same and excruciatingly boring. I hated being in the body of a child. Not only was it hard to move, but I couldn't even do anything on my own. But that wasn't the worst part of the whole experience. No, the worst part of this new life I was forced to live was the family that I was born into.

  The family I was born into was poor. They were so poor, in fact, that I figured I must've been born into some third world country. That was the only explanation I could think of for our living conditions.

  The home was made of wood and lit up mostly by sunlight or by candles when it got dark. It was like a hand built cabin, like one I would vacation to in my previous life, but with no electricity. There was apparently no running water and definitely no AC. It made me realize just how lucky I was to be born in the position I had been in my previous life. I wanted nothing more than to go back.

  At the moment, I was going through the most embarrassing part of the day. I was currently in a tub being bathed by my so-called mother, Mira. Every morning she would do this, and every morning it never got any less awkward—especially when she washed my…special parts.

  “There you go, Reyly, all done,” Mira said lovingly as she took me out of the wooden tub and began drying me off with a towel. Though I couldn't really understand the language much, I did pick up a little bit and the names of the people I lived with. Not that I put in any effort. It just happened naturally from repeated exposure. I wasn't going to try and do anything in this body or life. I wanted nothing to do with it.

  My name, I learned, was Reylus, going by what these people would call me. That was another giveaway that I was in a disgusting third world country, I mean, what kind of name was that?

  The towel was far cry from the luxurious plush cotton towels that I was used to. These towels were itchy and uncomfortable. I hated them. I hated everything about the situation I was in, but I especially hated the fact that this woman was treating me like a child—her child. The way she spoke to me was grating.

  Mira carried me out of our tiny excuse for a bathroom and through the modest home. She then took us outside, carrying me in her arms, much to my annoyance. The home was located on some sort of farmland with healthy grass spread throughout and the occasional tree. No other homes were nearby but if I looked far enough, I could see some semblance of a town in the distance. Though I didn't want to admit it, for a third world country, the place looked nice, peaceful even.

  The man who thought he was my father was named Caelen. He was doing his usual farming that he did during the day. When he noticed Mira and I approaching, he beamed. I watched on in Mira's arms. Caelen planted seeds while simultaneously talking to Mira. The two laughed and joked, but also spoke sincerely, like a very in love couple. It really pissed me off, seeing such a young couple in what appeared to be the height of their lives with two kids and a home. But they were poor as hell, why were they so happy? And why did they get to be so in love? I never got to have that even with all my money.

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  While I was lost in thought and making myself more and more annoyed, a little girl ran out of the house holding a pouch in her hands. She was Mira and Caelen's daughter, Liora, which made her my apparent sister. She had red hair and black eyes and she was a few years older than me, around five or so.

  “Daddy, I got the seeds! Can I go play now?” she said with a big smile on her face. She looked disheveled, like it took her a lot to find them.

  “Heh, sure. Just don't go off too far,” Caelen responded while taking the seeds. He didn't have to tell her twice as she eagerly scurried off into the nearby field of grass.

  Mira laughed at her eagerness, then headed inside with me in tow. That was pretty much how my days would go. Caelen would spend the day farming, Liora would spend it playing outside, and Mira would spend it taking care of the house and me.

  It was excruciatingly monotonous, and couldn't imagine having to spend an entire childhood or worse, an entire life here. But for now, I didn't have a choice but to go through the motions. After all, I couldn't even crawl. I would just have to deal with it for the time being.

  ***

  For the next three years things carried on as usual, and in that time, I never ended up feeling any better about my situation. On the bright side, I did learn to walk after many failed attempts. I could also speak and understand the language pretty well thanks to Mira and Caelen teaching me in their spare time as well as repeated exposure.

  About a year or so into being reincarnated, Mira stopped taking it easy and spending so much time with me and began getting back to her life before having me. My guess was that she had recovered from her giving birth. She would be gone for hours of the day going who knows where. She also started doing something strange. Every morning she would go into the front yard and start exercising. That by itself, while I did think it was a waste of time and slightly show-offish, wasn't the strange part.

  No, the weird part was the fact that she would also swing around a real sword as a part of the workout. I knew that it was a real sword because one night, I snuck out of my room and touched it. It was heavy, which could've just been my three year old body, but still, and the edge was sharp.

  I didn't know what she swung that thing around; maybe it was just some weird hobby, but it was slightly impressive how graceful and quick she was with the sword while also delivering seemingly powerful strikes.

  I sat in the grass by the house as I did every morning, watching on in slight boredom as Caelen tended to his growing crops and Mira swung her sword. It was a nice cool morning, but because of the intensity of the workout, Mira was sweating. As I watched on, the front door swung open and liora came running out of the house toward Mira.

  “Mom, can you pleeeease teach me?” she begged, as she usually did. Liora had been trying to get into Mira’s sword hobby recently. Not that I knew why. Maybe it was different in the third-world country I was in, but where I was from, people who played with swords and other geeky things were losers.

  Though i dont really care about any of these people anyways, so why should I worry about how they look to other people?

  “No, Lia, you're still way too young,” she responded, not even bothering to look down at her, instead continuing to swing her sword.

  “Pleease,” she begged more. “I'm already eight! Dad said you started at ten, that’s close enough! And one of my friends, Lili, said her mom’s teaching her magic already and she’s nine. I wanna learn something too!”

  Started training at ten? What did she mean by “training"? And her friend learned magic? Was this some kind of joke?

  Oh, I get it, they’re talking about a little kids game.

  “So because your friend knows a bit of magic, you want to learn to use a sword so that you don't get left behind?” Mira asked, still swinging the sword.

  “Mhm,” Liora nodded eagerly.

  Mira sighed. “Alright, well I guess that makes sense. I’ll teach you a little bit then, but only after your chores are done.”

  Liora jumped into the air, then started bouncing around in victory. “Thanks, Mom, you're the best!” she then scurried off into the house. I didn't really understand what they were talking about. And to be honest, it all sounded so silly. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious to see what would happen next.