Anthony was currently a human. Thus, it only made sense for him to begin with a method designed for human use. He didn't necessarily have to use one that he was familiar with, but he was sure it would be a better starting point than randomly deciding to start growing a dragon heart.
It was just that his soul, where his vast information about human history and the information about their mana training methods, was still in a mess from the robed mage's spell. It had unraveled enough for his personality to surface. He also knew enough to get by.
But the detailed information, such as the specifics of how humans trained mana and any specific method, was still deeply hidden by the wrinkles in his soul.
'Wait a minute….'
Anthony's soul was that of the mightiest Dragon King. Even if the robed mage had scrunched it up like a piece of paper, it was still massive and held within it incredible power. His soul bore the weight of his strength. It was his source of mana manipulation, and it held all of his knowledge.
An ordinary human would succumb and implode under its pressure.
How the shit was a newborn body containing it?
Anthony couldn't comprehend it. He had analyzed as much of the spell as possible. He couldn't do much in his current state since most of his power was sealed or still in his dragon body.
But from what he had pieced together, the spell had nothing in it about making it easier on the body. Someone had designed the spell for the sole purpose of extracting the soul of Anastrus and, if the stupidly advanced structures in the spell's center were any indication, specifically placing it in his current body.
That meant it wasn't the spell making it possible for his soul to reside in the body of a powerless mortal human baby.
It was the baby's body itself.
Anthony quickly investigated his body with the hair-fine trickle of soul sense he had managed to free from the tangled mess that was his soul.
'This….'
Anthony didn't know what to think. He had already guessed it as soon as he realized his body was special enough to contain his soul. But he had some kind of physique. But his body wasn't developed enough for him to tell what physique it was. That, and the fact that most of his knowledge was still hidden in the depths of his soul, made it difficult for him to figure out any details about it.
But still, physiques that could hold his soul at an infantile stage didn't ring any bells.
Dragons didn't have special physiques the same way humans did. In fact, humans were practically the only race with weird variations in their bodily design. Well, there were races with unique bodies. But every member of those races was unique.
Humans were almost all the same except for the ridiculously few exceptions that were born with something akin to a mutation that altered the way their bodies worked in subtle or not-so-subtle ways. The physiques humans sometimes had were also one of the reasons their overall potential as a race was so sporadic and unpredictable.
And, out of curiosity, Anthony, during his life as Anastrus, had searched and dug up a lot of knowledge about all kinds of physiques and how they worked. So, even if that knowledge was hidden in the wrinkles of his soul, it should still echo back a response if he thought something was familiar.
'A new physique, huh…?'
Anthony pondered on it. His physique, whatever it was, had to be the reason for this body being the target of his forced rebirth. By extension, the robed mage and whoever was behind him wanted something with the combination of the Dragon King, Anastrus, and the human body possessing a physique powerful enough to hold Anastrus' soul.
Well, it could also be a cursed physique that put its owner through unbearable pain.
But it was unlikely.
There were much simpler ways to do that for someone powerful enough to rip his soul out of his body.
The robed mage's words about becoming stronger most likely weren't empty either. The mage also hadn't seemed to have attacked with any kind of malice or ill intent.
'Hmm.'
Anthony couldn't make heads or tails of the why behind his current situation or the forced rebirth. But he was beginning to think that there was a greater reason behind it.
However, the reason behind it didn't matter.
The robed mage was already past redemption, and any inkling of mercy Anthony might have had disappeared straight out of the window as soon as Thomas was overly doting.
But, as things were now, it would take a while before Anthony could get revenge. So, even if the desire for retribution and the knowledge about all that had happened to him was strong, Anthony kept it in check by distracting himself with thoughts on how to train his mana.
Now that he had confirmed the presence of a physique in his body, there might be certain methods that would work better or that wouldn't work at all.
While nursing his craving for strength, Anthony began trying to pry the knowledge regarding mana training methods out of the folds of his soul.
He was desperate for strength, both because he wanted revenge and to know why he had been put through such an ordeal. But also because he wanted to escape his current predicament.
His parents had apparently decided it was time for a bath.
Anthony didn't like it. But he was still far from grown enough to become independent. He couldn't even stay awake when he wanted, much less move or live on his own. And so, Anthony was once again faced with one of the struggles of humanity.
Bathing.
He had somehow overcome the feeding. He was denying reality on things he didn't even want to think of. He couldn't overcome the need for sleep, which he didn't mind that much. It was at least preferable to the other mandatory experiences of being human.
Bathing wouldn't have been so bad, either, if only he could have done it alone.