After a bath and a supervised nap, Anthony woke up, ready to start pressing the wrinkles out of his soul.
He had lived his entire life as a being of solitude. Being forced to wash naked with humans and then sleep next to them was the closest to physical intimacy he had ever had. And he didn't like it. He wanted to free himself of such a queasy human life as soon as possible.
But for that, he needed strength.
So, even if his body was growing rapidly and letting his soul unravel, it wasn't quick enough. Anthony needed to free his soul and the knowledge stored within so that he could use it and devise the most optimal method for his development.
It wasn't easy grabbing hold of the folds in his soul and unfolding them. And it was temporary since his soul reverted to its scrunched-up state just because his body couldn't bear it for long. But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Since he could open folds that would then bounce back, Anthony could glimpse various pieces of memories and knowledge. And if it wasn't what he was looking for, he could just forget it for now and continue looking for mana training methods for humans.
After ardent searching, only interrupted by a couple of naps and Thomas bringing him around the modestly cozy log cabin, Anthony found something.
''Pulsating Core Method.' Hmm.'
Anthony was more interested in the general foundation of core creation methods, but a specific one told him what he needed to know. Well, he still didn't know if it was the best method or the one popular in the current era. But it was a method that was slightly similar to Dragon Hearts.
It was just that instead of growing a physical organ, core methods gathered mana in a semi-physical pearl somewhere in the body, usually the stomach or the heart. It didn't interfere with the human body or move any other organs around since it overlapped with physical matter due to being purely magical in nature.
Humans first needed to develop their senses or train until they could sense mana before they could start absorbing it. That alone could take several years for humans. But it wasn't a problem for Anthony.
As soon as he had regained his soul sense, he had been able to see and sense the mana all around him. If he wanted to, he could start building a core right now.
But he wasn't sure about the Pulsating Core method, where the output of mana pulsated. It would be strong, excessively so, for a while before entering a period of weakness. It would grow powerful again after that before weakening again. And so it repeated.
Anthony didn't like anything that would weaken him, so it was a dud. But the power output of the peaks was worthy of note and remembering, which was why he had the information stored in his soul. He made sure to remember the necessary details that he had gathered from his discovery as he continued searching his soul.
Since he had found the Pulsating Core method, he had hoped he would find more closeby, but he didn't. His soul was a twisted and confusing mess. Anthony was almost worried that it would be permanently deformed if his body grew too slowly. But there was nothing he could do about it right now, even if he knew how to.
It was almost paradoxical. Anthony needed his body to grow and accommodate his soul to get the information he needed to make his body grow quicker. After all, there had to be some methods on how to speed up growth hidden somewhere deep in his soul.
But for now, Anthony continued looking for mana training methods and gathering whatever important knowledge they had. He indulged in his search without heeding what went on around him.
He had resolved to act like a normal human baby so that he didn't raise any suspicions with the superstitious humans. But he had quickly forgotten about that as soon as he found hope about regaining some of his strength and leaving his current life of eating, sleeping, and shitting behind.
Anthony selfishly became a baby separate from the outside world. He didn't react when his parents coddled, carried, hugged, or talked with him. After all, to him, they were nothing but necessary evils that would keep him alive until he was strong enough to start on his quest for strength and revenge.
But to Vira and Thomas, Anthony was their beloved baby boy, and his unresponsive behavior worried them. He had reacted to them in the first couple of days after he was born. It was apparent that he didn't like Thomas' stubble rubbing against his soft skin. He also turned grumpy whenever he was disturbed with meals or baths.
Vira and Thomas couldn't change what Anthony ate since the midwife had told him that breast milk was all a baby needed for the first few months. But they had started using a bottle instead. But it didn't help.
And then, all of a sudden, Anthony's eyes grew distant and glazed over slightly, as if he was caught up in past memories. He didn't become grumpy when they disturbed him or tried to play with him. He still ate, and his body responded almost instinctively when they carried him and played with his arms and legs.
But it was like interacting with a golem or a doll. Anthony was almost like an empty husk of a baby.
Thomas and Vira weren't suspicious of Anthony's identity. The thought that he wasn't their baby boy but a changeling or demon or something else didn't even cross their minds. They were worried about his well-being.
Not crying could be natural, or at least not weird. But Anthony wasn't even looking at what was right in front of his eyes.
Thomas and Vira lost sleep as one of them was always watching over him should his condition worsen.
They had asked the midwife for help, but she was at just as much of a loss as them. They had also asked the village physician for help, but he wasn't an expert in pediatric health. And he didn't dare administer any kind of medicine to such a young baby, at least not until the situation was dire. And since Anthony was still alive and functional, the physician and the midwife agreed that Thomas and Vira had two choices.
Wait and see or find a proper healer or doctor in the city.