“What happened to the baby?” the woman asked anxiously, reaching out.
The father’s hands trembled as he passed the baby to her, his gaze darting away. “I… I don’t know,” he muttered, retreating with hunched shoulders and a guilty expression.
"Was he scared by my face?’
The woman said nothing, her full attention on the baby. Ten tense minutes passed before the baby’s eyes fluttered open again.
“What was that?” he thought, a chill running through his heart; he tried to move around but couldn’t.
Suddenly, his pupils dilated as a familiar black flicker of light slowly began to move around him in circles and in this familiar black flicker of light a black semi-transparent screen showed in front of him.
***
Name: Unnamed
True Name: …
Achievement: …
State: None
Chakra Core: None
Nature: [Tyrant Emperor (Sealed)]
Main Rune: [None]
Flaw for the First Trial: Locked
***
"Can anyone see this screen?" he wondered, casting a glance at the woman whose face was etched with worry. She didn’t react, not even as the black flicker of light hovered in front of her, its reflection absent from her eyes.
"So, she can’t see it, huh."
Before he could dwell on it, the black flicker surged forward, slipping into his body again. This time, it wasn’t painful—just an intense warmth radiating from the base of his spine.
"Eh!" He was stunned.
Slowly, he noticed that all this warmth was emanating from the base of his spine, growing increasingly intense as time passed.
"This feels strange, but it’s not harming me," he thought, his unease fading.
His eyelids grew heavy. Darkness claimed him as they closed.
The night gave way to dawn. The moon retreated beyond the horizon, and soft golden light seeped through the delicate paper window, bathing the room in a gentle glow. It illuminated the mother’s weary face as she leaned closer to her sleeping baby.
“He looks so peaceful,” she murmured, glancing up at the midwife. “Will he be okay?”
The midwife smiled gently, nodding as she adjusted the baby’s blanket.
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He didn’t know how much time had passed, but when he sensed a disturbance nearby, he quickly opened his eyes, his brows twitching.
“Here you go, my baby,” the woman called gently as she lifted her clothes, bringing them closer to his mouth.
‘Eh! Eh!’ Stunned, he wanted to protest, ‘Woman, what are you doing? Have some decency!” but the loud gurgle of his stomach betrayed him, leaving him silent.
‘I… I…’
Helpless, he could only open his mouth reluctantly, his face heating up and redness blooming in his ears.
‘I have an adult mind; this feels too strange,’ he thought with mixed feelings. Still, if he didn’t drink his mother’s milk, he’d be weak in the future. Rather than regret it later, he preferred to be embarrassed now.
After being filled to his content, his mother gently placed him in a cart and quietly left the area.
In the corner of his eye, he could still see a woman wearing woollen clothes, but for now, he chose to ignore her and focus on the matters at hand.
The warm energy was still present, gradually strengthening his entire body from the base of his spine over time.
"Hmm, this warmth feels so good.”
As he grappled with the strange sensations in his body, his arms moved instinctively, pushing against the surface as his hips shifted upward. Before he realized it, he was halfway upright.
His eyes widened in shock. Quickly, he lowered himself back down, his movements hurried and awkward. Then his tentative gaze darted toward the midwife.
She stood upright in a poised position.
"Thankfully," he heaved a sigh of relief.
Before he could think further, he grew exhausted again; his eyelids became heavy, and he slowly drifted off to sleep in the stroller once more, peacefully.
The days blurred together in a rhythm of feeding, warmth, and rest. The mysterious warmth seeping in the base of his spine within him grew stronger, threading through his veins like a silent current.
By the third day, he noticed something new—a faint connection to the world around him, as though the warmth were awakening something deeper within.
“I can’t exactly describe this feeling,” he thought as he slowly nibbled. No matter how embarrassed he felt after drinking three times, he was gradually getting used to it.
The next day, he woke up, took his daily dose, and calmly slept in his stroller again.
The woman seemed to be in an unusually good mood today and even appeared to give his nanny some extra silver coins, which had the symbol of wheat on one side and a sword on the other; at least that was what he could discern from their body language.
“Hmm, it’s nice to see her happy,” Seeing his mother smile brought a strange warmth to his chest.
In his past life, he had never seen his mother so happy, especially after their father died with every nibble of food going to him and his sister. His goal was to make her happy, but she had soon passed away from malnourishment.
A lump formed in his throat and he clenched his tiny fists, feeling a hollow ache in his chest. He fought against the urge to wail, but all that escaped was a soft whimper, his eyes dry and stinging.
At that moment, a red bubble appeared in his vision, shimmering softly like a distant star pulling him in like a moth to a flame. As his tiny fingers brushed its surface, it dissolved into a wave of energy, coursing through him and leaving his mind buzzing with questions.
“What is happening?”
The most remarkable aspect was not just this power, but the feeling of connection to something that was growing increasingly stronger.
After this experience, his life settled into a routine of lightly nibbling at the milk, followed by a period of contemplation that yielded nothing, and then sleep.
This continued until he felt it was time to crawl.
The first to show a shocked expression was his nanny. It was amusing to see the usually cold-faced woman, who never seemed to move from her spot.
Her shock didn’t escape him, and neither did the way her hands lingered on the edge of the stroller. Was it awe or fear?