Finally, some excitement at last! My grandfather walked out of the room into a long hallway with stairs at both ends. Opposite the room we came from was a balcony that stretched the length of the hallway opening into a courtyard judging by the building I could see on the other side and wrapping around.
I had already known that my parents were pretty rich just from the machinery hooked to me, but little had I known that they were nobles of some kind. I mean, who else could have this extravagant of a house? And it certainly made sense as this world was still in the "Middle Ages" even with magic and technology. The architecture was as I expected with the classical olden feel, but still with some more modern aspects such as what seemed to be plaster and drywall of a kind.
"How's your first breath of fresh air, Alex?"
"goo-goo" Was my attempt to respond to my grandfather's question.
"Good, huh? Well, this is just the first of many sweet child, you'll never have to stay in a box like that ever again, so no need to savor it." Said my grandfather chuckling.
"Let me hold him, Noah. I'm the last of his family he still hasn't met yet." This was a voice I recognized from when I was still in the box. It was my father John talking to Noah, my grandfather. I wondered if my grandparents were Bellmonts too.
"Alright John, here, hold him carefully." Noah gave me to my father.
"Hey there Alex, want me to give you a tour, buddy?" said my father in a light tone of voice.
"Come on, let's go."
The room I came from was apparently my own room and it was on the second floor of this mansion castle. To the right of my room when facing towards the courtyard, directly in the middle of the mansion was the master bedroom with my mother's and father's offices on the right and left respectively. Their offices are both connected to the master bedroom in the middle, where I would probably be spending most of my time as a baby.
I would only get to make full use of my room after growing up a bit, which was understandable. Something to note was that even though my parents were nobles and had maids and butlers waiting on them everywhere, they insisted on taking care of me myself, only taking the maid's help when they were extremely busy.
The rest of the mansion was like I expected, and it was huge. I think the mansion would have fit 3 of my house from my previous life. Upstairs were all the housing quarters with the master and my bedroom at the back of the mansion and staff quarters to the side and front. Upstairs also housed the offices and library that was to the right of the building.
On the first floor below the master quarters was a huge ballroom that could comfortably hold over 500 people. To the sides were the kitchens and dining rooms as well as a guest receiving room and tea room. The whole house was arranged in an O shape as the rectangular building had a courtyard in the middle of it with and + shape walkway cutting through.
But before we could explore the outside, my baby body was getting tired and needed rest so I was retired for the day in my new crib inside the master bedroom. My parents went to their offices to do the work they had to do as nobles while my grandparents and a maid stuck around to look after me when I woke up.
This became a routine as every morning I would be fed, either with a bottle or breastfeeding(thankfully this child body made my mind be used to my new mother, as I don't know what emotions would have flared up otherwise). I was mostly fed with a bottle as apparently due to the premature birth, my mother's body had trouble making milk.
After feeding my mom or dad would play with me and take me around the house, after that I would normally take a nap and then continue to learn the language with Avery and play with my grandparents if they were around. And so, my life became a cycle of sleeping, eating, playing, napping, and learning for a few weeks as my body still needed to grow before being able to crawl much less walk.
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-3 Weeks later-
My body was getting stronger and I was beginning to crawl, albeit barely a couple of steps before collapsing, but progress was progress. By this time I had also mastered this language and could proficiently write and read in my head.
Another function of the system I learned was (Mindspace). It was basically a space inside my head(don't ask me how that works) that I could "go into" and do anything I wanted. It was kind of like a very vivid imagination.
Using this new function I could actually practice writing and reading, and after 3 weeks I was able to write and read in this language, just as well as English. Now finished learning the language, I was practicing my fine motor skills, like balancing and crawling without collapsing onto my face. This was when something very exciting happened.
'Congratulations Alex, your body has finally grown enough to the point where you can start practicing the magic of this world!' Came the voice of Avery.
This was fantastic news as the last time I had asked Avery when I could start practicing language, they had said that with my current body, I would ripped to shreds by the force of trying to control magic. But, now my body was strong enough!
My usual caretakers were out for the moment as my grandparents had some work to be done, and the maid had stepped out to get me my food, so this was the perfect time with no one watching.
'So how do I do this Avery?'
'To my knowledge, it is very simple. You just have to relax and feel the mana around you with your will, then gather that mana in your body at your solar plexus. At first, it will be very tough, but after the first time feeling the mana, you will be able to do it again instantly. It's kind of like riding a bike, if you learn it once, you always know it.'
I laid down and relaxed all my muscles, then I closed my eyes and reached out with my will. For a couple of minutes, I couldn't feel anything and was starting to get impatient, but then I felt it. All around me were little things of mana that kept moving around like excited kids. Remembering the second step, I reached out with my will to capture these things and bring them into my body.
On my first attempt, I failed only managing to catch one particle that fell out of my grasp. My second attempt was a lot more successful as I managed to get 3 particles into my body and gathered at my solar plexus, where some invisible force was keeping them there.
'Now you just need 7 more for a total of 10,' Avery called out.
With 2 more tries, I managed to get a total of 12 in my solar plexus when something unexpected happened. The 12 particles of mana came together and fused in a burst of mana into a grain of a dark red color.
"Congratulations again Alex, you just formed your mana core! Your mana core will now automatically siphon in mana at a very small rate. As it absorbs more mana it will fill up, then it will use the extra to strengthen itself. Currently, your core will draw in 1 particle or point of mana per 30 minutes and can hold 10 points of mana. I will pull up your stats now."
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Name: Alexander Bellmont(Norton)
Age: 3 weeks (23 years)
Race: Human(Can be subject to change with the Story System)
Affiliations: Firstborn and Heir of the Bellmont Family
Job/Class: None
Core: Dark-Red
Strength: 0(0.1), Vitality: 0(0.3), Endurance: 0(0.2), Dexterity: 0(0.3), Agility: 0(0.3), Intelligence: 1, Focus: 1(0.5), Perception: 2, Luck: 10
Skills:
Active: Mindspace
Passive: Mana Sense
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