Time passed Lucas by in his new surroundings. As his body was slowly starting to form, his mental faculties were improving resulting in longer bouts of consciousness. It felt like an eternity to him being encased in warm amniotic fluid with the only company to drown out his repetitive natured train of thought being the occasional muffled sound and soft touch against his new abode emanating from the outside world.

'I mean there's no way I'm possibly in an egg or some other non-human birthing method is there?' He thought worriedly. 'I ruled out being in my home world due to that weird Card of Rebirth. If crap like that was out there on Earth there's no way some idiot wouldn't have posted about it online. So since I'm most likely in a fantasy world I guess there's a possibility there might not even be anything remotely resembling humans in my new one.'

Eventually Lucas realised his time in the womb was coming to an end as he started to gain full mobility in his tiny baby form. A clear indication to him this pregnancy was well into its third and final trimester. A new occurrence during what he presumed would be his last few weeks began. Lucas had started to feel an all encompassing energy within his surroundings and himself. Its exact nature was hard to comprehend for Lucas as his "pop culture" background suggested it was possibly Mana the energy of magic that he had seen far too many times in various forms of online media. And for someone who had only ever read or watched artistic expressions of what this phenomena could possible be. He found the reality of it absolutely incomprehensible.

'It's not like air which you can feel against your skin as you walk about or when it changes its current from being still to a gust. Mana is... Well it's a sort of vibe I can really only sense it intuitively and the more I try to create a sort of logical framework on its presence the more it eludes me.'

Lucas still in his final trimester of creation status tried his best to furrow his non-existent baby brows at the sheer elusiveness of Mana to his senses when using his contemporary Earth sensibilities. He knew it was there but he couldn't hear, taste, touch, feel or smell it. While he couldn't use his five physical senses he could better sense it using his intuitive natured sixth sense. During the short windows right after and before his periodic bouts of sleep were best for his Mana Sense training. It further proved his slowly burgeoning theory that in order to increase his capabilities to firstly sense Mana as well as his future plans of properly utilising it he'd have to abandon his Earth society thinking of relying on the physical senses and try to improve his more primal senses.

With Lucas finally having something new it to focus on it acted as a catalyst for a fervour of dedicated mental aerobics. For the first time in years he finally had something to fixate on. Something worthy in his mind to put in an ungodly amount of effort. With this realisation that he switch from the physical to instinctual, he discerned that his current state of babydom would work out in his favour for his mana training. His current home address being, a "hopefully" human woman's womb in another world, acted as a great alternative for one of those fancy sensory deprivation chambers Lucas had seen on numerous tv shows. With most of his sense's diminished he started to hone and enhance his more instincts. And with his training in his anti-sensory womb chamber Lucas started to notice he was able to interact with the all encompassing mana around him. As his capability with mana sensing improving day be day he noticed a nearly indiscernible spot within his body that natural ambient mana would coalesce. This led to Lucas trying to actively manipulate the magical energy in the atmosphere. What were thin ethereal wisps existing in the intangible spiritual realm of existence, flowing and floating all around him, started to stretch out into compressed strands and then float through the environment towards what Lucas' guessed was where his body was currently growing an infantile heart. Time moved on its ever certain march forward and Lucas' began to manipulate more and more of these wisps and store it within his heart. He had a vague unfounded premonition that his current path was the right one. Lucas knew once he had completely filled his newly formed heart to its unknown maximum capacity of mana it could hold he would be able to witness an event unimaginable to see in his old world.

However as the days started to pass in a monotonous regime Lucas stopped his exercises prematurely as he started to feel his current abode start to shift and contract.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

'Ah crap that hurts. Oh god is my new mother having contractions. Am I being born right now!? Well how bad could it be I survived it last time surely it'll be fine this time.'

It was fair to say the next few hours were not "fine" for Lucas as his journey out into the real world involved being covered in blood and miscellaneous excrement. This traumatic journey was made even more stressful by the litany of loud noises each individual undecipherable noise creating a symphony of inconclusive noise. After exiting what he assumed or more likely hoped was his new human mother and was grabbed from her loins and hoisted out into his new home world. Lucas could through his blurry eyes roughly make out two female figures and the medieval styled room they were in. Once he had confirmed that his mother, her aide and therefore he himself were indeed of the human species. He started to further investigate and discern his surroundings, he saw himself within an expansive circular room with polished cobblestone for the roof, walls and floor. Within the room he could see three designated areas. A wide wooden desk with a leather top accompanied by a litany of primitive stationary. On each side bordering the desks chair were small drawers the "personal study zone" was located on the rooms eastern side. At the room's west was a crude thick stone bench with an above metal rack surrounded by a single bar were an assortment of different weighted plates and hand held equipment. To finish the room's three zones surrounding the southernly orientated four poster bed was a floor to ceiling mirror and closet.

After he had fully absorbed all the features of this room he stared at the wrinkly hands currently cradling and cleaning him. Turning his gaze upward he saw the face belonging to this elderly hunchbacked woman. He dim brown eyes and sunken features he deduce she most likely was a midwife who'd helped deliver him into the world. He then gaze upon an olive tanned woman weakly laying on the four poster bed. Her blonde hair stuck in messy strands framing her face attached soles by the torrential streams of sweat drenching her face after the exertion of childbirth. As Lucas finished drinking in his mothers features and started to stare into her grassy green eyes. He saw her eyes staring back into his own drawn forlornly to her wriggling child body. Thankfully she would never hear the thoughts he was mentally shouting within his infantile brain as his chubby stumps for legs and arms squirmed. And his doughy face started to wail while in the midwife's arms.

'GODDAMIT THAT WAS TERRIBLE! I'M COVERED IN BLOOD, SHIT AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE. EWW EWW EWW IT'S IN MY MOUTH, MY EYES AND DRIPPING DOWN MY CRACK. I SWEAR IF I SEE THAT DAMN CARD AGAIN I'LL TAKE THE ETERNAL NOTHINGNESS INSTEAD OF HAVING TO RELIVE THIS CRAP AGAIN!!!'

Lucas' screaming session had exhausted the small reserve of energy the newly born infant had as his wails finally cease. The only sound remaining were the subdued panting of his mother and his quiet inhale and exhale as his small body started to slumber.

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– Victoria –

Victoria had suffered through five hours of child birthing her son with her only company being an elderly midwife sent by her Noble lover. But all her isolation and pain was worth it. Her baby had been born healthy if its wailing was any indication. Her wisened aide currently cradling her precious firstborn child placed it within Victoria's weakened arms.

"Mistress Victoria it's a boy. And a healthy one at that. The child's been born with teeth. It's a sign he'll be a fierce warrior I'm certain." Midwife Dalia crowed.

As the midwife gently placed her child within her grasp. Victoria gently embraced her child, her intense feelings of love were almost palpable, as she gazed upon her firstborn baby boy. Sparkling green eyes appeared beneath its flittering eyelids and a small tuft of blonde hair sat atop its head. The resemblance to her own visage was striking. Her son was an almost carbon copy of herself the only feature she could discern of his fathers was a unnatural birthmark smeared across the baby's chest. The small smattering of birthmarks creating the infamous Orion constellation. This birthmark was a staple feature of all children of the Heart Kingdom's Ducal Noble House of Orion's bloodline.

After her eyes had taken in all of her precious child's features Victoria lowered her head and gently started to whisper.

"Oh my precious baby boy. I'm so sorry for bringing you into this vipers nest of a Noble House. But don't worry little one. Mother will protect you. Always"

As her baby's chest started to rise and fall in rhythmic sleep. She started to coo while squeezing her baby.

"I think I'll name you... Orsted. Such a beautiful child deserves a name never given before. My perfect son Orsted Orion doesn't that sound lovely dear."