Darkness. Blissful and calming darkness. The best place to be when you are depressed and want to cry your sorrows away. Or maybe listen to music and drift off to sleep. Or maybe you just want to rest your eyes. Darkness provides as such for those who seek it.
But it is also the place where evil love to lurk. Where horrible and unspeakable things occur. It is where a person goes to when they go to sleep. When they are at their most vulnerable. Darkness is all we see when we close our eyes.
And that is all that I can see right now. My eyes are closed shut. I am floating in water. Kept alive by a tiny chord that provides me with all the nutrition needed to live and to grow.
Yes, you guessed right. I am inside a uterus that provides for me and is raising me.
And also yes, I am now a freaking baby. A baby that is yet to be born.
So, you must be surprised. A baby doesn't awaken his consciousness when he is in the womb.
(AN: Maybe? I don't know the details. I hated biology.)
But here we are. Me, as a baby inside the body of someone and leaching off their life and becoming whole. I mean, is that weird? This is more common in the world than some other stuff. Like a mantis eating their partner's head off after mating. I mean, is the intercourse really that bad? Or are the lady mantises that much of a b*tch. Comparatively, this is much less weird. There are many creatures with symbiotic relation with another. Let's just think of it like that. She feeds me and raises me, as compensation, I give her my love, make her life happier and care for her when she grows old. Pretty good deal if you ask me.
Now, I have something to do. What? Even a baby has things he needs to do, in order to grow nicely.
Don't worry, I talked with that god lady about this. Whether this is possible or not. And according to her, it is a fine idea and should work.
So, here I am. Doing the first magic in my life.
Oh, I didn't tell you, did I?
This universe is a magical universe.
Which means that this universe is filled with ambient energy that is present everywhere. If you haven't guessed it already, it is called MANA. Living creatures can tap into this ever-present source of energy that can be converted into almost any other type of energy.
Which has too much to unpack. I'll leave those explanations for later.
Anyway, we will think about that later. For the moment, the target is to access this mana and try to control it.
There is not really that much to do here honestly. I wanted to be able to do something all the time and not waste any. That is a reason why I asked the god lady about this plan. I just simply want to do something productive, and this came into my mind.
I first try to control my mana. And then I will try to make it flow. The god lady said that mana is spread throughout our body.
Remember? This is an ambient and ever-present source of energy. So, over time, or maybe since the beginning, all living beings evolved to be able to incorporate this mana into their metabolism.
Long explanation short, everyone and everything is enhanced or living partially or fully on mana. It is simply a form of energy like electricity that can only (usually) be harnessed by living things.
It is mostly just neutral energy when in the environment.
So, the plan is simple. Increase the mana in my body and become stronger. Well, as much as a toddler can. But that is not the main purpose of this. The main purpose is to attune my body more and make it more conductive.
Why do I want to do that and what I mean by conductive?
You will know soon enough. Keep scrolling. He he he.
......................
In a small border town, inside the house of a landlord, pained cries of a woman in labor can be heard.
"Elena, just keep pushing. Almost there. Just a little more."
"Argh, how much longer? This fuc*king hurts like a bit*h. Aaaaa."
"The head is out. We are almost done." Said the midwife.
And suddenly the cries of a baby filled the entire two-story house.
"Congratulations Elena. It's a boy."
"Give him. Give him to me."
Elena took the tiny baby that was still crying with all his strength. But right after getting to her he stopped altogether. He looked at her with his big amber eyes. It was almost as if he recognized her as his mother. But that's not possible. He is after all a baby. Maybe it's because of his instincts.
Elena was enamored by this child. She felt for the first time in her life how much a mother's love can be. She felt like she could do anything for this little thing.
And that's when a man in a wheelchair came inside the room.
"Elena my dear. How do you feel, is everything all right? Did everything go well?"
The midwife simply got out of the way and let the man come to his child.
The man rolled his wheelchair to the bed and wrapped his hands around the woman and said,
"This is the best day of my life."
Elena quipped back," Speak for yourself. I need a hot bath right now."
"Ha ha ha. Even in childbirth your spunk doesn't lay off."
"Hmph I'll have you know that the greatness of Mighty Elenor will not be tarnished by the likes of you or your grubby children."
And they both started to laugh out loud.
"Ha ha ha , Mighty Elenor? That was more stupid than your last nickname."
"Oh, my dear hubby, how will you know about the greatness of my names. You are simply too ignorant Sir Husbandistine. They are simply a part of my charm."
"True. So, which one have you decided upon. You had too many names to pick from."
"I first though after seeing him about calling him Clandestrone. But then I felt mercy for his social life and then decided upon a more normal sounding name. Rick. That will be his name."
"Wow Elena. Didn't think you had it in you. Always thought our child will have a wonky name that you came up with randomly. Color me impressed."
"Well, he will have those later. But his official name should be at least presentable."
"Agreed. But is it weird that now I am even more worried for him"
"It's just your imagination honey. Ignore it."
..................
Mc pov-
Did you hear that? She was going to name me Clandestrone. I almost had a baby heart attack after hearing that. Missions and revenge be damned. I would rather fade away than live a life being called Clandestrone.
Fuuu, gives me the hibi-jibies just thinking about it.
Anyways, Worst birthday ever. Had to go through really tight spaces, got blasted with light right in my sensitive eyes, start to meet people, and everything an introvert has to go through after getting out of their comfort zone. I mean, floating in water without any concern is the best and most relaxing thing I have ever done so far. It is just too relaxing.
The mission was also quite a bit successful. I am right now highly attuned to mana. As a baby I got the best boost possible. Also, I am quite strong for a newborn as well.
Hmm, all in a day's work, I guess.
..................…..
Two months later.
In a playground, a mother with her baby can be seen. She was there with a friend of hers.
She said to her friend,"Seline, being a mother is such a pain. But also, fun pain. Does that make sense? I mean it's irritating to wash him after he sh*ts but also fun when looks at you and smiles like 'I apologize mama but there's only so much a baby can do. I can't hold it in.' no? that's just him? Ok, how about when he cries a little bit before as if he is warning us that it is about to happen. Selina, did your kid do that too?"
"NO! How can it do that? It's a baby. No other baby ever does that. That must be your imagination."
"Well, I'm pretty sure your kid is stupid. Your husband has three more wives. Maybe after all that, his thing just stopped producing strong stuff. Maybe that's why your kid can't walk one month after being born."
"Ele dear, your kid is just special alright? Stop rubbing it in every time. That is not nice. Gloat inside your mind. That's what we do about Karen's kid. He is outright dumb. Even after all this time, he can't even do a single spell. He is already 13 years old. What is going to happen to him. We all worry about the poor kid."
"Hey, maybe it was something in the water he drinks. Maybe his mother added those oils she sells into his milk when he was a baby. We should check the drinking-well as well. Who knows what she added there."
.
.
"Pft, hahahahah feeding a baby with special oils. She might be a bit crazy, and delusional. But she isn't stupid. Right?"
"Right. For the sake of our sanity, let's hope so."
At that time, a little girl around 10 years old came up to the mother and showed interest to the baby.
"Wow, he looks so pretty. Can I hold him?"
Elena replied, "Sure sweety, just don't drop him."
"I won't. Can I take him to see the kids playing? I promise I won't take long."
"Okay dear. But don't get too close. And stay far away so that the stray balls don't hit him."
"Of course, Aunty sel. I will definitely stay away."
..................….
Mc Pov
Being a baby su*ks.
Did I say that before?
Anyways, when you got to poop, what do you do?
Well, I am not like those other guys. I have shame. No reincarnated baby should have to go through that.
So, I had to do something.
So, like clockwork, I cried every 10 seconds before doing the thing.
They eventually caught on.
It's like training a dog. Remember that test?
If you ring a bell before feeding it sufficient times, it will get hungry and salivate whenever you ring that bell.
This is something like that.
I had to do something like that. Sigh, I am not proud of the things I had to do.
Most irritating thing is when it itches.
What can I do about that?
I mean, do I have to like cry in different manners? Or maybe different frequency?
Oh, maybe I should cry louder if the time comes.
Like an alarm system. Or like a countdown. The louder my cry is the closer I am to shitt*ng.
Although that might send a bad message. They might think that it hurts and that's why I cry like that.
Hmm, maybe it's better this way. Too much of something is never good.
Suddenly I noticed something. The girl was taking me to a secluded place in the playground.
I was confused. What the hell? What does the girl want with me?
An extreme case of pedophilia?
I could've sworn the girl flinched a bit when I thought that. But she didn't react much and fixed her expression right away. Huh, must've been my imagination.
And we are here. No one can see us now. She suddenly turned me upside down. What in the infernal anal is happening here?
She just said, "So, what are you? A devil or a demon spawn? Tell me fast, my hand is too weak to hold you for long. I might just decide to drop you like the devil spawn that you are."