Yawn…

Stretch…

"It is morning…"

Corin murmured as the usual morning birds chirped outside his window. They never failed to wake him up, but this time, he did not want to be woken.

The previous day had been stressful. It was the Muric Ritual_ the acceptance of new mages into the Fourth Worship. Although a good sleep should do, he was unusually tired this morning.

Corin groaned and turned away from the sun's rays, continuing his sleep. He would wait for his wife to wake him up for breakfast, for now, he should get some more sleep. There were not many days when he had the luxury to sleep this long. However, he had not slept for up to five minutes when he heard the doors creak open, and footsteps approach the bed.

"Sereia, let me sleep some more; I have had a tiresome day…"

Corin spoke, but all his ears heard were some strange sounds.

'What was that?'

As sleep slowly receded from his mind, Corin experienced an odd sensation, one he couldn't quite grasp. His body felt different, smaller, softer, and entirely unfamiliar.

As he reached out to rub his eyes, Corin's hands brushed against something that couldn't possibly be his own. It was small, delicate, and decidedly unlike him. Panic welled up inside him, and he opened his mouth to scream, but the sounds that escaped his lips were not the commanding voice of a powerful mage, but a helpless, high-pitched babble.

"Oh my cute little thing is awake…"

A woman's voice spoke, and before he could open his eyes and take a closer look at her face, he was picked up from the bed, and his face showered with kisses.

'Hold on… HOLD ONNNN…'

How could a 6-foot-four-inch man be PICKED UP? Did Giant Neanderthals attack the city while he was asleep?

A wave of confusion washed over Corin as he desperately tried to make sense of this surreal situation.

It had to be a dream, an illusion conjured by some powerful magic, but the vivid details of the room, the warmth of the sun on his face, and the gentle cooing of the woman who had picked him up all felt chillingly real.

Survival instincts kicked in immediately, and Corin tried to push away the woman who lifted him up, but as he lifted his hands, he stopped right in his tracks.

Hold on… are these… are these my hands?

What he was staring at were not his long, coarse, hard fingers, but tiny soft things that looked like a baby's. No, this was a dream, he was dreaming…

The woman who had picked him up kissed his tiny fingers and placed him back on the bed.

Corin's eyes grew wide, as his heart banged rapidly against his chest.

"Your diaper is full, let’s change it."

The woman said as she walked out of the room.

'Diaper? Am I perhaps …a baby!!?'

Corin did not have the time to fully digest the thought because in the next second, the door was pushed open, and the woman walked in again. This time she was with clean diapers and with a smile on her chin; she picked him up again from his cot and placed him on a bed next to the cot.

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The woman hummed a song as her hands swiftly undid the buttons of his shirt.

"Don't touch me, woman! I am Corin Sovarl, a commander of the Fourth Worship! How dare you undress…"

Corin screamed, but all he could hear was random babbling. The woman swiftly removed his garment and unfastened the diaper, and a mild pungent odor filled the air.

Corin shut his eyes and breathed out. 'How has the mighty fallen…'

He didn't bother fighting anymore, as he let the woman, obviously his mother, clean him up properly. After cleaning him, she got a wooden bucket filled with warm water and washed him clean. As she washed his body, Corin took in his surroundings.

The room, illuminated by the morning sun, was small and cozy, with walls made of rough-hewn wooden planks. There was a faint scent of earth and wood in the air.

The woman sat on a bed with a handmade quilt on it; the pillows looked old and worn, and the wooden bed stand looked like it had gone through thick and thin. His cot sat a few feet away from the bed; it was the only new-looking item in the room.

Corin breathed out. 'Was he poor?'

Not only did he wake up in a strange baby's body, he was born to poor parents.

'No… This cannot be happening.'

He had known wealth throughout his life. As the second son of the former Prime Minister, his ascent through the ranks had been accelerated, largely due to his family's affluence. Eventually, he reached the position of a commander in the Fourth Worship.

The Kingdom of Erythrea, where he was from, was a vast land mass surrounded by thick um-meltable ice_ The Frosthaven. No one knew if there was anything outside of it as those tried to venture into the ice, never returned.

In Eythrea, there were four mage factions. The Fourth Worship were mages who could control Air elements, the Flame Serpent, were mages skilled in fire control, the Clear Waters, were mages skilled in water control, and the Earth Order, earth manipulation. There were Bi, and triple elemental mages, but because of how rare they were, they are classified by the elements they were more dominant in.

But now, he was a nobody, born to stricken poor parents. Corin prayed to the gods that this was a world where wealth and affluence did not matter because, in his world, everybody was separated by their wealth and affluence; and judging by the interior of the room he was in, if he was in his world, he was in the lowest of clans.

The woman hummed a song, pulling Corin from his thoughts, and he turned to look at her.

His 'mother' was pretty. She looked like she was in her early twenties, but hardship made her look a bit older. She had deep blue eyes, and he wondered if he had them too.

After she was done cleaning him up, she dressed him in clean clothes and carried him to the adjoining room. Corin looked around. It was the living room. A sparse arrangement of faded, handwoven tapestries adorned the walls. A wooden table stood against one wall, displaying a chipped ceramic bowl with a meager serving of oatmeal which looked dense and slightly congealed, with a creamy ivory hue, that suggested it had been left for a long time.

"It is time to eat."

The woman spoke as she sat on one of the only two couches facing each other, a stone-carved table in between them, and placed Corin on her lap.

'Wait… Wait… Don't tell me I am about to suck your…'

Corin's cooing sounds were muffled as the engorged nipple filled his mouth. He unconsciously sucked on it, and warm liquid poured down his throat.

Corin's eyes widened at the heavenly taste. He had thought breast milk tasted bland, but this was out of this world; maybe it was because he was a baby.

He was a baby…

The thought made Corin pause. He could not believe this. Did he die? What happened to him? And where was this? Was this the afterlife, or did he reincarnate? Was this another world?

Corin had a thousand questions to ask, but no one to ask them to, as all his words were just random babbling. No one would understand him. The only thing he knew right now was that he was a baby and that this woman was currently feeding him. He had to find out the rest, but how would he? He was just a baby.

A knock on the front door kicked Corin out of his thoughts. His mother stood up almost immediately and opened the front door.

"You're back early?" she spoke heartily as she pushed the door ajar, and a very handsome man in his early thirties stepped in. Corin turned to look at the man. He towered over the woman, with soft silver hair, and green eyes. He had an overgrown stubble on his chin, and he was dressed in clothes that seemed from Corin's world. 

'Did he reincarnate in his world? They spoke the same language and now, the same clothes?' Corin thought, but he did not want to believe it. It was the worst outcome there could be.

But as a consolation, his both parents were very good looking, so he was sure he looked good.

The man planted a kiss on her forehead and took Corin from her arms.

"How are you, Archer?" the man asked as he ruffled Corin's hair softly.

'Archer? That was his name.' Corin thought.

The man walked to a couch and placed Corin on his thighs.

"Kylo, what happened, why are you back early?" His mother asked again, and this time, the man sighed.

"We will be going to the Capital."

A frown formed on the woman’s forehead, a look of shock mixed with fear flashed through her eyes; "Why? What happened?"

"Commander Corin Sovarl is dead."