-1 week later-
During this last week, I had been doing the usual baby stuff, as babies tend to do. Sleeping, eating, pooping, cultivating, practicing magic, napping, eating again, and all that fun stuff.
I had also broken through to the (Pristine-Scarlet) stage. This cultivation thing was really easy when you looked at it. You just had to fill up your mana core which didn't take all that long. Then you just had to set aside a few minutes to gather up enough mana to break through.
Sure breaking through was kind of hard, but you got used to it. One of the reasons that other people didn't advance this fast was that it normally took a lot of training to gather mana with your will.
I was able to master the art of gathering mana with my will super easily due to awakening so early in life. My child brain hadn't acclimated to the world and so didn't have to go through the process of training the imagination and thinking about the world from a different perspective. I guess it was also because I had a different worldview from the people of Euclidiya.
As for my progress in magic, I had learned how to do lots of the rudimentary spells of the different affinities. I still couldn't practice lightning or earth magic though as they would cause some damage to the room I was in.
And being barely a month old now, I wasn't able to go outside. The only time I had gone outside in this life so far was during the house tour. It was a bit sad, but also to be expected. Baby immune systems suck, and even without knowledge of germs, people in this world knew from previous generations that babies tended to get sick the longer they were outside, or at least before they were more susceptible to diseases by being outside, especially in cities where hygiene wasn't a thing.
Save for earth and lightning magic as said earlier, I was able to learn at least one spell in one of each element. For water, I was able to learn a spell that drew in the moisture from the air and created a water ball. I practiced that for a little bit using a water pitcher nearby.
In Dark, I learned a spell that manipulated shadows/created shadows by blocking and manipulating the way light interacted with mana. In Light, it was the opposite as I learned how to use mana to emit light and photons.
For Fire, I learned a simple fireball spell that used mana as both the spark and fuel to allow the flames to burn. In Air, instead of learning a spell I just learned how to manipulate air to my liking by using mana to create vacuums or push air around.
My skills were looking a lot fuller now.
Skills:
Active: Mindspace, Telekinesis(T. 0), Neutral Body Strengthening(T. 1-3), Water Ball(T. 1), Fire Ball(T. 1), Manipulate Shadows(T. 0), Shine Light(T. 1), Manipulate Air(T. 0)
Passive: Mana Sense, Mana Control
I was surprised to see another passive skill I hadn't expected but I figured that it was just due to me doing a lot more stuff with controlling mana. Now I had 3 tier 0 spells, 3 tier 1 spells, and a mixed tier spell that was based on the amount of mana and body parts selected.
I didn't know how I compared to the other mages of this world, but I thought it was pretty impressive for me to be able to get to the stage I am now. In just two weeks! Sure I had Avery and this baby body also helped me, but I was the one who put in the effort and trained hard.
I felt I had a right to feel proud of my achievements thus far. But, in all my excitement about magic, I had forgotten the thing I was doing before. Getting accustomed to this body and learning to crawl.
I had to get back on track to the most important task. I was getting this body usable and walking. For that to happen, time needed to pass though.
Now I was stuck in a dilemma. I was getting bored with magic a little bit and wanted to go outside and truly test it out to its full potential. To do that, however, I needed to grow up. There came the dilemma. I was bored but needed to pass the time, so what would I do?
I would do the only thing I could do. I would cultivate my core to prepare for the time when I could finally escape the confines of this cradle.
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-Near the Gildian Forest, to the southwest of the Bellmont Territory-
"Do you think we'll make it out of this alive?" asked John Bellmont his parents-in-law.
"You know better than anyone that you can never predict what will happen in battle, John," Noah smirked, "After all, you meet your wife on a battlefield."
"Besides, even if things did go sideways, we'd make sure at least you got back somewhat safely. Couldn't have Alexander growing up without a dad now could we?" interjected Mary.
"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that Mary." Was John's only reply.
"Call me Mother, you've well earned that right by now."
"Well then, 'Mother', shall we get the preparations ongoing?"
With that final statement, the three got off the battlements where they were standing and quickly began issuing orders to prepare for the battle ahead.
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On the other side of the Gildian Forest were two hooded humanoids. From afar they would look like human travelers, but as one got close they would realize that these two were far from human.
Under their hoods weren't the flesh and bone of humans, but rather the faces of beasts. One had the face of an owl with an overgrown beak and 3 eyes on each side of the face, while the other had the head of a hyena with the squished nose of a pug or bulldog. But, instead of making the hyena's head cuter like with pugs, the squished nose only served to amplify the horrific features of the demon.
If one looked further down, below the neck of the humanoids, one would realize that instead of the body looking like an animal with the figure of a human, these figures had humanoid bodies with only their skin being like the pelt of the animals' whose faces they had.
These were the iconic features of the race of demons that lived in the far south. As for why they were here one could only guess.
"How's the horde looking?" Asked the hyena-faced demon to the owl-faced one.
"It's very strong." came the reply. "Not many could stand up to this, and the peak (Green) is expected to rise to (Teal) in a couple of years. However, a small problem has occurred."
"Oh, what is it?"
"It's nothing major, but a peak (Lime) has split off from the pack taking a few thousand with it. It's headed to the human's territory."
"That's not that big of a loss, but it might lead the humans back here... I want you to go with the horde and erase its tracks, make it seem like it came from the northeast. You could also make it seem like it came from the Barrens and traversed the Beastmen territory. Just make sure that it can't be traced back to us."
"You got it."
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