Finn woke from a dreamless sleep. His body ached. His veins felt like they were on fire. A slew of interface messages crowded his vision, and he pushed them aside for the moment, wanting to gather his bearings.

  Finn forced his eyes open. He looked around, finding himself on a couch. in what he assumed to be Alastair's office.

  “I’ve done you a grave disservice…” Alistair said.

  He turned, looking at Alastair quizzically.

  Alastair continued. “I wanted to give you time and space to find yourself. To learn who you are in this new world. I have failed you both as an instructor, and as a man.”

  Finn’s eyes widened slightly as Alistair talked.

  Alastair smiled apologetically. “Yes, I knew you were a reborn soul. As I said, I wanted to give you time and space. I had no desire to push you in any direction, so I stood back. But I had no idea just how badly I was failing you.”

  Finn watched Alistair’s expression as he talked. The man he had seen nothing but stoic confidence from was now clearly racked with guilt and even shame.”

  Finn frowned.

  “You…didn’t fail me, Instructor Alisatair. Honestly I appreciate what you’ve done for me so far. Cosmo and his friends have been really helpful guiding me into things. I realize you paired me with him on purpose.”

  Alastair smiled slightly, and gave a small nod.

  They both sat in silence for a long moment.

  Finn, still somewhat shell shocked by his outburst, and his experience with the two gods.

  Alistair seemed to be overwhelmed with regret for not helping Finn, and Finn was unsure how to express he held no contempt toward Alistair.

  Finn actually agreed with Alistair’s decision. Guidance could’ve helped, sure—but the wrong kind, given too early, might’ve broken him faster.

  Finn broke the silence. “I have these memories from who I was, but they’re fragments. It feels…”

  He trailed off, letting the words hang in the air, unsure of what to say.

  Alistair nodded thoughtfully. “Fragments like that can weigh on a person. Especially when no one else can see what you’re carrying.

  another long silence.

  Finn looked trepidatiously at Alistair as he broke the silence again. “Is…is my magic broken? Am I cursed? What happened that made … gods appear?”

  Alistair gave a warm fatherly smile. “No, Finn. I’ve told you in class about most of the basic magic types. Elemental magic is the most common. You’ve seen Cosmo’s constellation magic, which is one of the more rare magic types. I imagine you had a hard time awakening your own magic affinity for several reasons. Firstly, Finn, I think you put far too much pressure on yourself. You’re barely 3 years old. I understand in your mind, you’re older, but your body is young. Being able to utilize magic at such a young age is very impressive. I didn’t want to tell you how rare it is to actually see someone your age use magic and discourage you, which i realize now, may have been a mistake, leading to your loss of control, but it genuinely is impressive that you wielded your affinity, especially arcane, which is one of the most rare affinities to be found”

  “Finn repeated. “Did I really ‘wield’ it? It felt more like I tried to, and instead lost all control.”

  Alistair shrugged. “It’s a matter of perspective, I suppose. Especially when it comes to chaos magic types.”

  Finn recalled the encounter with the god. It had been terrifying, and Finn was barely aware during the encounter.

  Seeing Finn’s expression turn dark at the mention of chaos, Alistair approached Finn, who was still laying on the couch. He crouched down next to Finn, and laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

  “Finn, chaos is a natural aspect of life. There is peace; and there is chaos. I want you to understand that chaos is not inherently bad. but it’s not good either. The truth is that chaos is a powerful aspect of life because it can be good, bad, or neutral. Only you can decide which way you learn.”

  Finn tilted his head in confusion. “Are you saying it’s okay to be bad?”

  Alistair started

  “What? No no. The actual terms are Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, and Chaotic Evil. Good and Neutral are acceptable. People who choose Chaotic Evil are despicable people who have depraved minds, and inflict horrors on this world that the Adventure Guild hunts down.”

  “Oh. That makes more sense”.

  They shared a smile.

  “Are… the other kids going to be afraid of me because of what happened?” Finn asked quietly.

  Alistair shook his head. “No. Some might be cautious for a while, but fear fades fast here. Gods don’t appear often, but most of these kids have seen something divine before. What happened to you was more intense, yes—but they’ve all got their own burdens. They’ll understand in their own way.”

  Finn nodded, contemplating.

  “Do…you know what a User Interface is?”

  Alistair blinked hard.

  ***

  Alistair had seen a lot of strange things in his life, but this one had left him rattled.

  He’d thought giving the boy space was the right call — time to adjust, to find his footing before being smothered by lessons and expectations. It seemed reasonable. The boy was bright, curious, and quiet. And young — far too young to be handling the kind of power that eventually surfaced, even if he was a reborn.

  In retrospect, it wasn’t hard to see where it started slipping. The frustration. The no-doubt restless nights. That quiet desperation to belong. Every instructor saw that sort of thing eventually — the signs of burnout, the pressure that built under a child who wanted too much, too fast. He’d just hoped it would burn off harmlessly for Finn.

  But it hadn’t.

  He remembered the courtyard too clearly, his Silver rank making forgetfulness a thing of the past.

  The first shimmer in the air when Finn tried again. The stillness before everything went sideways.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Arcane magic — raw magic at its core. Rare, but not mythical. Dangerous unless handled carefully. It wasn’t something you drilled into a child. Not until they’d learned control. It didn’t respond to calm, or logic, or structure. It responded to will. And that was the problem. A will without discipline was just fuel waiting for a spark.

  When Finn lost control, it wasn’t a flare — it was a flood. Alistair’s light barriers actually faltered under duress, the raw mana thrashing like a storm looking for somewhere to go.

  He’d been amazed at the sheer force of it. Finn was an incredibly young child — reborn or not — and still Normal rank. The fact that the raw surge had surpassed even Iron rank levels of power was… honestly insane.

  He suspected Finn would struggle to reach that kind of intensity again unless his emotions reached another breaking point. It wasn’t that Finn’s magic posed any real threat to others — Alistair was Silver rank, three tiers above Normal, and could’ve easily protected the children if things got worse.

  The god of Chaos making an appearance, however — that was concerning. Not unexpected, given the circumstances, but still concerning. Chaos-aligned affinities were rare, and that god reveled in instability wherever it appeared. It would almost certainly try to tempt the boy again someday.

  The thought made Alistair shiver. The boy would likely never have a truly normal life — an unfortunate consequence of being reborn, he assumed.

  He’d seen divine influence before, but never this personal. There were records, yes — cases of interference, rare but not impossible. Usually through a priest, or a relic, or a divine mark. But this wasn’t that. This was a conversation between beings on completely different levels of existence, with him standing in the middle like a man holding a bucket of water in a wildfire.

  What irked Alistair most was that he hadn’t been the one to save Finn. Instead, a girl barely older than him had stepped between a boy and a god — and prayed.

  The poor thing had been so terrified she’d clearly wet herself. Yet she’d stood there anyway, defying a divine presence that could have annihilated her with a thought if it wanted to.

  He still wasn’t sure if it was courage or instinct that saved her. When the light answered — when that warmth swept through the courtyard — Alistair recognized it instantly. Peace. The same presence he hadn’t felt since the days he still bothered to pray.

  When it ended, Finn collapsed. The boy’s pulse was faint, his body cold, but alive. Against every law of mana or logic, he’d survived. Alistair didn’t call it a miracle — he’d stopped believing in those. Survival was just probability bending the right way for once.

  Or perhaps his loss of faith was misplaced.

  He’d stayed with the boy all night, waiting for the first twitch, the first sign of movement. When Finn finally opened his eyes, he didn’t scream or cry. He just looked tired. That was the part Alistair couldn’t shake — the quiet, steady way the boy accepted it all, like surviving a divine encounter was something to shrug off.

  “Do you know what a User Interface is?”

  The words didn’t fit. Not in any spell, scripture, or artifact index he’d ever read.

  He blinked once, slow. The phrase rolled around in his mind — strange and alien

  ***

  Finn hesitated. Unsure if he should reveal that he had a strange info box that gave him quests and talked to him.

  He had intended to tell Cosmo about it first, but perhaps Alistair would know how to help more.

  “It’s like…a…” he stopped, trying to find the best way to explain it to a magic wizard.

  “A magic scroll that only I can see. It gives me tasks and information about myself…” Finn said, after some thought.

  Finn watched Alistair intently, and they both sat in tense silence.

  After scratching his chin for what felt like an eternity to Finn, Alistair finally spoke.

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing, but it’s not unheard of for reborn souls or outworlders to possess powers not of this world”.

  Finn let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. So it wasn’t some kind of forbidden magic. That’s good.

  “What’s an outworlder?” Finn asked

  “Ah, Alistair said. “outworlder’s are somewhat like you, but they are summoned to our world, instead of being reincarnated.”

  Finn recalled his first day in this new world, when his UI had informed him he made a deal with the god of rebirth.

  “Makes sense.” Finn said.

  ***

  Finn made his way trepidatiously back to his dorm room that he shared with Cosmo and a few other boys he hadn’t interacted with much.

  His conversation had helped ease Finn's worries about a lot, and Alastair said that the other kids wouldn’t fear him, but Finn knew how kids could be. cruel, picking sides, and judgemental. He knew he would be ostracized, even if it was subconsciously. Would even Cosmo be wary of him and his chaotic power? Would talia? the thought made his stomach churn.

  When he reached the door to his room, he placed his hand against the door, but couldn’t find it in him to open it. anxiety building. After standing there for what felt like an hour, he gathered his composure and pushed the door open. Nothing could have prepared him for the reality of what was on the other side however.

  ***

  Cosmo had watched in horror as Finn — the youngest, newest addition to their little family of lost souls — finally grasped the magic he’d been chasing, only for it to implode inside him and nearly kill him.

  The world went silent as shellshock consumed him. Cosmo didn’t care about gods or affinities or danger. All he cared about was that his friend, who had been clearly looking for a place to fit in to, had been struggling so much that the power he had been searching for all this time nearly killed him.

  He watched as Talia and Alastair both rushed to Finn’s side.

  His vision shook every which way and Cosmo frowned. He noticed someone was shaking him. It was Wren. Wren was clearly saying something to him, but he didn’t hear anything, still absorbed in deafening shock. Cosmo watched as Alistair carried Finn away, towards his office.

  Muffled noise came through.

  “Cosmo! snap out of it. Are you okay man?”

  Cosmo nodded, still feeling dazed, but finally somewhat responsive.

  “I’m- yeah I’m good Wren, thank you.”

  Wren gave a worried nod towards Cosmo’s blank face, and led him to a bench. Cosmo let himself be led, everything feeling like it was slow motion.

  He watched as Wren ran off, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, before heading toward Talia, who was now just kneeling on the ground, sobbing next to where Finn had collapsed.

  Wren knelt down to Talia and they shared a few words Cosmo couldn’t hear, and Wren picked up Talia, carrying her away.

  Things finally started registering for Cosmo. It was his responsibility as one of the older children to help the younger ones. Alastair had left with Finn, but the older children understood it was their responsibility to take care of the younglings as needed.

  Some of the staff had already gathered, working on wrangling children. Cosmo pushed every thought out of his mind other than one thought. Help the other kids.

  It wasn’t until after all the kids had been collected, and calmed down, that cosmo finally was forced to confront his thoughts again.

  He grimaced. “You idiot,” he muttered, slamming his fist into the wall. He barely registered the pain, despite punching it so hard he fractured his delicate bones.

  “What in the gods’ name are you doing?!” Talia asked in horror.

  She rushed to his side and examined his hand. His knuckles were scraped and bleeding, the skin reddening and swelling already.

  She didn’t even think. Just moved, moving her delicate hands around his injured hand. Warm light radiated from her hands as she willed his hand to heal.

  Cosmo felt as the warm light spread through his hand, and the injuries slowly healed.

  “Why in the world would you do that?” Talia asked, her deep caring eyes filled with concern. She had never seen Cosmo act any way other than excited and optimistic.

  Cosmo met her eyes, his own eyes full of pain and regret, swelling with tears he couldn’t hold back.

  She wrapped her arms around him, and he sobbed into her embrace, shaking convulsively.

  For a while, neither said anything. Just the sound of quiet breaths and muffled tears.

  “You don’t always have to hold it together,” she whispered.

  Cosmo managed a weak laugh. “Someone has to.”

  “Then let someone help you next time, you silly goose.”

  They stayed like that until his shaking calmed. When they finally pulled apart, the courtyard was quiet again, the last rays of sunlight cutting through the windows.

  For the first time since the chaos, Cosmo didn’t feel like he was about to shatter.

  ***

  Later that night, Finn stood in the hallway, hand hovering over the dorm door. The wood was warm from the lantern light inside. His chest tightened. He’d spent the walk back picturing every possible reaction—fear, gossip, pity.

  If he’d known how much they actually cared, the next few seconds wouldn’t have surprised him so much.

  It was laughter.

  Cosmo and the others were gathered around the small table, half-eaten bread on plates, a few candles dripping wax onto the surface. Wren was teasing Cosmo about something; Talia was smiling, tired but real. Someone had strung up a bit of ribbon like a banner.

  “Hey,” Cosmo said, catching sight of him. His grin was still a little shaky, but it was real. “Look who finally decided to wake up, Mr. Arcane.”

  Finn froze in the doorway, his throat tight.

  This wasn’t fear. It wasn’t judgment.

  It was a .

  The interface flickered faintly in the corner of his vision.

  Quest: Find Your Place — Progress: 15%]