“There there~ My little Aella. You were just hungry,” An angelic voice hummed as she gently caressed Aella’s head, making sure she was mindful of the baby’s ears.
Aella had an indifferent expression as this human woman held a bottle of baby formula in her mouth.
‘This tastes awful…’ She complained inwardly.
“There there, drink up and grow up to be a beautiful lady just like Mama.”
Briefly looking up at the woman who called herself ‘Mama’, Aella nearly cringed at the way she spoke, but it couldn’t be helped with her current situation. Plus, Aella couldn’t deny the beauty of this woman.
Her long silver hair seemed to sparkle in any lighting, and her eyes were a light teal, giving off such a gentle and caring atmosphere. Her large breasts were supple yet firm when she pushed Aella against them to hug her, much to her displeasure.
This woman, Anastasia Rossi, was Aella’s biological mother. This entirely human woman birthed Aella, who still retained her name and fox-like features from her previous life.
It didn’t make any sense, but it made more sense than the scene she watched in this nice and large house of hers.
Sitting next to her mother was a small wyrm, a subspecies of a dragon that slithered across the ground instead of flying majestically in the sky.
Subspecies or not, never once had she ever seen something from the proud Dragon Tribe be domesticated like a pet. This Wyrm wasn’t a unique case, though. On her way home from the medical center, which they called a hospital in this world, numerous people had different species of dragons with them.
Many of the more common ones she was used to, but there were ample that seemed more like other animals than dragons, and aside from these supposed domesticated beasts, the only other living beings in this city of glass and steel were humans.
While her thoughts idly wandered about, her mother eventually finished feeding her and even burped her before setting her down and leaving the room, allowing the Wyrm to watch over her child.
As she lay on her back, mindlessly looking at the intricately designed ceiling of her parent’s bedroom, Aella lamented her inability to move.
‘What to do? Cultivating a body this young would be nothing short of suicide. Guess I could check on my inner world if I wanna be productive. If that damned Dragon is behind my reincarnation, who knows what kind of shackles he could have put on me.’
Although she couldn't cultivate her mana at current, the small amount required to check an inner world was something every living thing possessed. After all, Mana, Qi, Prauna, whatever the people call it in her current location, it all circles back to the life force of living beings.
Without further delay, Aella steadied her breath and closed her eyes. Her breaths became nearly non-existent to anyone who wasn’t paying close attention, but for those who noticed the change, like the Wyrm who rested in the room, a different story could be told.
The Wyrm perked its head up to check on Aella, only to see the little girl breathing in a rhythmic, almost musical way. Although the change was a little worrying, he decided to wait a bit before reporting to Aella’s mother. He didn’t want to bother her for no reason.
For all he knew, this was a normal thing that [Naturalis] did.
Plus, as a Wyrm of the life element, he was confident in saving her if something were to go wrong.
What the Wyrm didn’t notice, though, was the infinitely faint amount of mana that Aella circulated around and into her body. The mana slowly moved through her body, giving off a warm sensation until she began to regain her vision despite her closed eyes.
Her vision wasn’t of her family’s ceiling, though. It was a blank white space that spanned far past what Aella could see. There were only a few items in this endless void, which gave a sense of placement.
If not for those items, Aella wouldn’t be able to know which way was up or left.
“Eh? That’s… What is that?” She questioned
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Inside your Inner World, or [Soul World] as most called it, you took the form of your soul to explore a mental manifestation of the body, hence the name.
For Aella, her soul which was like a ball that a child haphazardly placed prop fox ears and a tail on, quickly transformed into a younger version of her previous form. Specifically, a toddler around the age of 3 or 4.
It was unfortunate. You need Mana to interfere with this world, and she lacks the amount required to make any serious changes.
Even with her stubby legs, she quickly made her way to the two items that rested on pedestals that blended in with the surroundings. If she didn’t know any better, she’d assume the items were floating.
The first of the two items was the exact fan that she used in her final battle. An item that she carried around with her for Centuries, her oldest partner.
“Sylph. You came with me?” She let out a sigh of relief.
[Sylpheed’s Whisper] was a magical construct much like the many swords she created, this one holding extra significant value to Aella.
As for the item…
She looked at it and examined it for hours, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
It was a large cerulean gemstone that was slightly larger than a basketball, with sparks flying around it like a lovely dance.
It looked vaguely like an [Origin Core], something you condense later on in life so your body can withstand the force of Divine Energy and high purity Mana, but that couldn’t be it. Never once had she seen an Origin Core have an effect like lightning attached to it, and unlike dragons, this is something she specialized in.
The amount of Cores she’s seen in her hunt for those Gods who betrayed her is unmatched.
This unknown item made a curious smile appear on Aella’s face. It’s been a long time since she saw something that she couldn’t draw a single conclusion to. Even with the smallest amount of information, Aella was usually able to create theories or hypotheses about what was going on or what something was, even if those theories and hypotheses would end up wrong later on, but this hit her with blanks no matter how she observed it.
She could sense life coming from it, but that didn’t narrow it down much. [Sylpheed’s Whisper] also gave off lifeforce, and so did many other aspects of an inner world, so that didn’t narrow the possibilities down by much.
It was fascinating.
Eventually, after another hour of drawing only blanks, she decided to touch it. This was horribly stupid. While she was safer in her inner world, if something shocked her soul enough she would die… Again…
And it’s highly unlikely the body of a baby is durable enough to withstand even a small spark to the soul.
Alternatively, if she let an unknown object rest inside her body, that was equally if not more dangerous, and Aella was all about proactive defense rather than reactive.
With what little energy she had left, she created a rubber glove to give herself that small amount more protection before slowly moving her hand toward the gemstone.
As her hand got closer, the sparks which jumped around full of joy, spread out. They deliberately left an opening for her hand to touch the rock as they danced and jumped and played elsewhere on the object.
‘How kind of them.’ Aella chuckled like the sparks were sentient.
Ding!
Upon her making contact with the rock, the ring of a bell or something similar echoed throughout her Inner World.
=
Aella Rossi | Foxin | Unhatched Dragon
EXP: 0 | Level 1 (0%) | Stat Points: 0 |
Dragon Slots: 1 used, 0 remaining
Dragon Core: Tempest AquaStorm Core | Rank: 0
Health: 300/300 | Mana: 15/300 | Stamina 0/50
Traits: 1 Tail
Dragon Skills: N/A
Personal Skills: [Foxfire LV 1] | [Transformation LV 1] | [Appraisal LV 1]
STR: 1 | DEX: 1 | SPI: 1 | AGI: 1 | MND: 1 | CHA: 1
=
Following the sound, a translucent panel of black and gold appeared in front of her face.
Although the sudden pop-up surprised her, she looked over the information sheet calmly and inquisitively.
‘So this is my Dragon Core? Wait what? Why do I know that?’
Stepping away from the [Dragon Core], Aella held her head in confusion.
It wasn’t just with the Core, though. She instinctively knew all the information about it. Even if none of it was complicated, and she’d no doubt figure it out sooner rather than later, how could she possibly know all of it right away?
“Was the information placed there? How would I not gain it until I touch that thing? Does a technique to seal memories until a certain condition is met exist?”
While not fully trusting these memories of hers, it did give her some answers, notably what a [Naturalis] was.
“Very rarely, humans are born with a rare, never-before-seen breed of dragon within their souls. These beings are known as [Naturalis], huh? I see. Because of their unique constitution, they tend to have inhuman features. Until I can find a better explanation that makes enough sense.” She mused to herself, making sense of the scattered information she got.