Before the First Level

Mateo Álvarez spent his first life preparing for whatever came next.

The Army. Paramedic school. Another certification. Another shift. He kept moving forward, always convinced there would be time to live once the work was finished.

Then he died saving a child from a burning building.

Mateo awakens as Leonidus “Leo” Aldercrest, the young son of a frontier noble family in a world governed by magic, classes, skills, and levels. It should be a chance to begin again—except Leo has arrived years before his Awakening.

Children can sense mana and practice techniques, but the System forbids them from earning experience, gaining levels, or casting true spells. Leo intends to use those years to prepare anyway.

The System has other concerns.

It cannot explain the complete soul inside his unawakened body. Ancient artifacts react to his presence. A forgotten power begins watching him. Far beneath the Aldercrest lands, something sealed within the Hollow Root starts to stir.

Leo wanted his second life to be different. He wanted a family, a childhood, and the chance to finally slow down.

Instead, he may have entered this world before it was ready for him.

Before the First Level is a slow-burn isekai LitRPG featuring meaningful progression, family relationships, frontier danger, dangerous magic, dark humor, and a protagonist who will eventually become exceptionally powerful.