Vivian woke up with a singular, driving purpose. Magic was real. His father was a warrior. His world was dangerous. It was time to use his one and only advantage: his knowledge from a past life.

  ?'Okay, isekai 101,' he thought, lying in his crib as the early morning light filtered in. 'How do I figure out my stats? Status. It's always "Status".'

  ?He focused his mind, trying to project the word. 'Status!'

  ?Nothing.

  ?'Maybe it's a different command. Status Page! Open! Profile! Stats!'

  ?He tried for five solid minutes, his frustration mounting. He was a grown man, lying in a wooden box, mentally screaming buzzwords at the ceiling. 'This is pathetic. What if it's voice-activated? I can't even gurgle the letter 'S' yet. This is a massive design flaw.'

  ?Just as he was about to try 'Character Sheet,' a familiar, smiling face loomed over him.

  ?"Good morning, my sweet boy!" Nora chirped, her face bright. "Did you have a good sleep? Let's get you ready for the day."

  ?The "getting ready" involved a warm, wet cloth, a change of wrappings, and a long, boring breakfast of goat's milk.

  ?'My noble quest for ultimate power,' Vivian thought, resigned, as Nora wiped his chin, 'has been utterly defeated by a wet diaper and the breakfast bottle. This is my life now.'

  ?Oliver woke up, stretching his massive frame. He was whistling, seemingly unfazed by the orc battle. He picked up a huge, smoked orc bone from their larder. "Breakfast! Come on, Milo! Time for breakfast!"

  ?Vivian craned his neck. The door was open, and a creature padded into the hut.

  ?'That... is not a dog.'

  ?It had the sleek, muscular body of a Doberman, but it was bigger, and its fur was the color of wet iron. The most glaring difference was the two short, ivory-colored horns that grew from its temples, curving forward along its jawline like a miniature mammoth. It was terrifying. And yet, it trotted over to Oliver and sat obediently, its tail giving a polite thump-thump on the floorboards.

  ?Oliver handed it the massive bone. The creature, Milo, took it with a gentleness that was completely at odds with its demonic appearance.

  ?'Okay,' Vivian analyzed, 'so Oliver is a Tamer. Is that a class? Is he a Beast Tamer? How did he train a nightmare-dog to be so... polite?'

  ?Nora soon had Vivian bundled up, and the three of them walked to the Healer's Hut. Oliver, it seemed, was tagging along to check on his friend and, based on the pats on the back he was getting, to enjoy being the village hero.

  ?When they arrived, they found a small argument in progress. The two men from yesterday, Thomas and Elias, were fully dressed and looking perfectly healthy, though pale.

  ?"...we feel fine, Mistress! My wife is worried sick!" Thomas was saying.

  ?"Fine is not healed," Alicia snapped, her arms crossed. "You both lost a catastrophic amount of blood. You need one more day of observation."

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  ?"Alicia, they look good as new," Oliver chimed in, smiling. Nora quickly agreed, taking the men's side.

  ?Alicia looked ready to argue, but a sharp thwack against the window cut her off. A large, stern-looking barn owl was sitting on the sill, a small scroll tied to its leg.

  ?Alicia’s entire demeanor changed. Her annoyance vanished, replaced by business. "Fine!" she snapped at the men. "Get out! But don't come crying to me when you pull your stitches!"

  ?She stalked over to the window, snatched the scroll from the owl's leg, and immediately began to read, her face grim.

  ?Vivian, however, was vibrating with a joy so profound it almost made him pass out.

  ?'An owl! An actual, mail-carrying owl! It's real! It's all real! Hogwarts is real! Where is my wand? Mr. Ollivander, I am ready! I will fight a troll, I will duel a dark wizard, I don't care! I need to get to the magic alley!'

  ?His magical daydream was interrupted by the arrival of the children, who nearly tumbled over each other in their excitement, followed by Lily and Pete. The kids were bouncing, all of them chattering about the orc attack. When they saw Oliver, they went quiet, staring with wide, awestruck eyes.

  ?"Alright, you lot, into the classroom," Lily said, trying to herd them. "Mr. Oliver is busy."

  ?As soon as they were in the back room, the chaos erupted. The twin boy, Finn, whipped a stick from under his tunic. "I'm Mr. Oliver!" he yelled, pointing it at his sister, Freya. "Prepare to die, you ugly orc!"

  ?Clara, the nerdy, loud girl, cackled. "You idiot! She's your sister! And Mr. Oliver used an axe, not a sword! You don't even know how to play right!"

  ?Finn turned bright red. "Shut up, Clara! You're just... you're just a loud, ugly... familiar! Yeah! If you were my familiar, I'd get rid of you!"

  ?Clara, who seemed perpetually loud, actually went quiet. Her face fell, and she looked genuinely hurt. She mumbled, "At least I could be a familiar. Why does only Mr. Oliver have one, anyway?"

  ?Silas, the quiet boy who was already sitting in the corner, spoke up. "He's not the only one. Mistress Alicia has one, too."

  ?The twins looked confused. "Whaaat? She has a weird dog, too?"

  ?Lily, who was holding Vivian, looked shocked that Silas knew. "He's right. That owl that brings the mail? That's her familiar."

  ?The twins were unimpressed. "A bird? Lame!"

  ?Pete, the calm instructor, decided to turn it into a lesson. "Familiars aren't lame. They are a divine gift from the God of Familiars. When you turn ten, you can go to his church, and they give you an egg. If you can feed it your mana for a full year, it hatches on your eleventh birthday."

  ?Clara, bouncing back, asked the real question. "Then why don't we have a church?"

  ?Lily, her expression turning sad, answered. "Because the churches are only in the big cities. The Dwarves won't let us in, and the human city... it's a three-month walk, and it's dangerous. Most people who go... they just don't come back."

  ?Freya, the twin sister, puffed out her chest. "I'm gonna go! When I'm ten, I'm getting an egg!"

  ?Clara snorted. "And what will you feed it, stupid? You need mana for the egg. You have to have Rings!"

  ?Vivian, who had been listening with rapt attention, giggled internally. 'Rings? Oh, here we go. Is there a Dark Lord? Does Mr. Ollivander sell magic rings now? "This one, 10 galleons, gives you +5 to Fireball..."'

  ?Lily, seeing the twins' total confusion, patiently explained. "Not... not jewelry. All living things have a core. When you get older, you form a Ring of power around it. The more Rings, the more magic you can use. Most humans get their First Ring when they're nine, or ten, or even twelve."

  ?Vivian's world snapped into sharp, brilliant focus.

  ?'A core. Rings. Mana. They're talking about a mana core. The isekai novels were right. It's not "Status Page." It's meditation.'

  ?He suddenly understood the entire puzzle. 'That's why familiars are so rare. You get the egg at ten, but you need mana. Most kids don't get mana until they're ten or eleven, or even twelve. They can't feed the egg in time!'

  ?He looked at the noisy, oblivious children, then at his own small, baby hands.

  ?'But I'm not a kid. I'm an adult. And I can start right now.'

  ?He made a vow, then and there. He would meditate. He would practice. He would form his First Ring years before anyone else. He would be ten years old, he would get that egg, and he would get a familiar. His new life finally had its first, real goal.