Leon opened his heavy eyes, he had been tuckered out for an entire week now.
Birthdays were a little different in Feravon, at the very least in his own family, it was a week-long affair.
He had been thrown around the entire week, having to change outfits multiple times a day and having to be held by everyone in his entire family; the women in his family weren't that bad but the men were nothing but meatheads, multiple times he thought he was going to be squeezed to death.
Today was his actual first birthday, he hadn't ever had a birthday party in his past life but he had grown exhausted at this point.
'Finally.' Leon thought.
He already got more than enough love from everyone but suddenly when his birthday began approaching it intensified multiple times.
Waking up in a large bassinet next to his parent's bed, which was possibly the most comfortable thing in the universe to him at this point, he threw himself around to his stomach.
He had started to walk around eight months, it was quite early but well within the normal range.
So he steadied himself and pushed up until he was standing, grabbing the edge of the bassinet for the little bit of support he still needed.
He'd had a lot of time to think about his situation since his arrival, he still had no idea why Ash said he had needed him in this world.
However, one night when he was thinking particularly hard about it he heard a voice in his head.
'Just live.' It rang out in his head, unmistakably being Ash's voice.
He hadn't had any other 'revaluations' other than that but it was enough to push all those crazy thoughts out of his head.
That didn't mean Leon planned to stand still, he had the unique experience of living a terrible life once before.
He planned to thrive this time and gain all the things he wanted.
"Leon, are you awake dear?" A voice rang out, it was his mother, her name was Marlene and her voice still always gave Krol butterflies in his stomach.
She was a beautiful woman, who was quite a bit shorter than his father. She had green eyes, long brown hair that came down to her waist, and a soft face.
Of course, he had no weird feelings toward any member of his family, as a newborn he had seen a lot more than he had wanted but he saw these people as legitimate members of his family.
"Ye." Leon spoke, but he still had a very hard time with communication, even though it was the same language he had known previously.
He could say a few words well, but most were just the babblings of a baby, it embarrassed him to no end.
When he looked at his mother more closely, he could see that she had both of her hands behind her back.
"I had a hard time getting this for you, I wanted it to be your first gift of the day." Marlene spoke softly, before revealing a rather large-looking black-egg.
Immediately he knew what it was, it was a beast egg, he had once seen his elder brother with one.
Alex was his eldest brother's name, he was sixteen years old and the oldest of all his siblings. He mainly stayed outside the castle, often going on missions to kill various magical beasts when they became too much of a threat to the kingdom.
Leon had learned that not all magical beasts could be tamed, it was quite a tricky process to begin with; you generally needed a magic capacity greater than the beast, needed to be likable enough to form a bond, and be able to control the specific magic that only his family possessed.
That was a quick rundown, it was a complex magic that Leon still didn't quite understand yet.
However, he did know that an egg bypassed the previous requirements, they were just extremely rare.
With a beast egg, even someone outside the family could have a beast companion; which meant it wasn't technically impossible to own one outside the family.
It just cost a fortune to obtain one, so it was limiting in that way; he had once heard from his father that his own family had a monopoly on most of these eggs.
Which initially seemed incredibly unfair, however since his first meeting with 'Alestar' his father's crimson lion beast, he'd seen plenty more that looked physically terrifying.
He thought they were all incredibly cute creatures, though if a psychopath were to somehow get their hands on some powerful beast it could lead to a massacre; so he did understand that it seemed practical for his family, who weren't crazy, to own the majority of them.
Of course, the majority of them were in lockup, so he had no practical access to them at the moment.
He'd never seen one like the one his mother now had in her hands, it was obsidian-looking and was a little larger than the one he had seen his brother with.
'But why would you entrust a one-year-old with an egg?' Leon thought, it seemed a bit ridiculous to him, his confusion clear on his face.
His mother just laughed, she didn't feel the need to explain things in detail to her one-year-old child; even if that child did want to know things, she had no way of knowing.
"You'll have this egg for a while, don't worry about breaking it," she said, before sitting it in the corner of his large bassinet. "Not until you are old enough to make a pact with it."
'A pact?' Leon thought.
He'd never heard of it before, but his lack of knowledge still upset him greatly; he did get to read books but they were mainly for children, when he tried to grab bigger books he was simply told they were too advanced for him.
The books he did read, his family and the various maids assumed he just liked the pictures, they thought it was incredibly cute.
However, instead of getting upset, he bounced on his bed and gave out as many giggles as he possibly could.
Yes it was embarrassing for Leon but he didn't want to neglect his family from the joys of his infancy, it made them happy and that was enough.
He asked for friends and family above all else, even if Ash told him to just live his life; he also told him that he had some kind of need for him here, so he wanted to do whatever he could to live it to the best of his ability, he hasn't had such opportunities before.
His mother responded with glee, picking him up and holding him as tightly as she could; he'd grown tired of being held but he had a particular fondness for his mother, who had taken care of him the most over the last year, so he never protested.
His father, the king, whose name was David, had grown to suspect his son had more fondness for his mother.
This didn't necessarily make him upset but it caused Leon to be bathed in gifts and affection nearly all the time from the King.
If only he'd known that Leon did care deeply for him, he just felt like his life was going to end every single time his father held him tightly.
"Let's get you ready." Marlene said, proceeding to walk Leon over to a dresser many times more fancy than Leon had ever seen in his previous life.
She put him down and pulled out an extravagant-looking outfit, it had all the frills and jewelry he'd come to expect over the last week.
It also dawned on it the colors of his kingdom's flag; red, black, and gold.
She quickly undressed and changed him.
He hadn't grown used to being cared for in such a way but that was the reality of his current situation.
It embarrassed him a great deal but the less he fought with his mother, the quicker it would be over; he often even helped when he could, moving slightly to one side or the other whenever she needed.
She would gush to her friends about how 'smart' young Leon was whenever she had the was; because of course, his siblings were not nearly as well-mannered at his age.
Then she picked him up and brought him out of the large-extravagant bedroom he was currently in, opening the door to an even more extravagant hallway.
He was incredibly embarrassed about the fact he still did not feel like he could navigate his way anywhere within the castle, he used to navigate complex alleyways in his past life but the castle seemed to have even more twists and turns.
The ceilings were high in the hallways, they were also decked out with art, black and gold banners, and a large red carpet that stretched all over the castle's interior.
The entire inside of the castle didn't have a single light source, bare windows.
He hadn't understood how such a large place had lighting until he finally decided it must have been magic, that was his go-to every single time something did not make sense to him in this world.
Walking through the enormous maze that was now his home, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.
He was always awestruck when he looked at himself; he had golden hair, and blue eyes, and was much cuter than he was ever in his past life.
He'd never in the past had any vanity, as he had no need for it and he couldn't say he had it now; he still was incredibly thankful to Ash, as he imagined it might make it easier to make friends in the future.
Oftentimes in his past life, he wondered if he was treated so poorly simply because he looked so unkept, not necessarily ugly but he was a mess; even if he knew that it was highly unlikely his treatment would have been any better.
"Surprise Leon!" A loud symphony ripped him out of his thoughts, he looked over and saw even more people than usual in a massive room they always seemed to use for events.
'I wanna cry.' Leon thought, as he'd surely be passed around the entire day.
He saw his youngest Eli running up to him first, she quickly grabbed him but he didn't complain about it.
Eli was the sibling he spent the most time with, she was six years old and they had a close bond; she wasn't the type to just throw him around once she had him.
She had long brown twin-tails and was a spitting image of his mother.
So he gave a little sigh and began looking closely around the room, what he saw first was a massive pile of gifts, which were stacked higher than even the tallest of guests.
He'd already gotten so many gifts during the past week, that he honestly didn't understand it.
It wasn't out of the ordinary, as he had seen other siblings with the same kind of treasure mountains during their birthdays.
'Where do they store all of this?' Leon thought, as many of his gifts, especially the ones that didn't fit the needs of a one-year-old, vanished off somewhere after clean up.
He would never complain about receiving gifts, as it is exactly the kind of thing he wished for in his previous life but it was an entirely different kind of extreme.
Eli glided in between the guests and Leon continued to take in all the sights, he tried to remember everyone he was introduced to but it was incredibly difficult; only a handful of people he had recognized immediately.
He saw all of his siblings but most only in passing, it was nearly an hour later before Flayn, his oldest sister, had decided to grab him.
She looked much more like his father, who had given Leon his golden hair, light complexion, and blue eyes.
She also was quite a loving sister, who often would play with Leon whenever she got the chance, reading him books that she enjoyed herself.
They were usually romance stories, so he didn't get any good information from them but it was nice nonetheless.
She was a lovely sister, yes, but her grabbing Leon spelled disaster.
Those romance stories were her favorite for a reason, she was obsessed with finding her own 'knight in shining armor', a husband.
She had done it once three days earlier, grabbing Leon and then using him for hours after.
"Have you met my handsome little brother yet?" She would say, using him as an icebreaker to talk to all the men she found handsome.
Leon thought it was crazy, as Flayn was fourteen years old and it seemed rather young to be so obsessed with the idea of marrying someone.
He had been seventeen in his past life and the only thing he was worried about then was finding food for him and Coco; of course, he also knew it was a very different life he was a part of now.
'But these guys are so pathetic?' Leon thought, as she strolled up to someone he hadn't seen before; he looked like an average knight that Leon saw every day within the castle but he suspected was some kind of royalty.
"Have you met my hands—" Flayn spoke, being cut off because the young man whistled like he hadn't heard anything and walked away quickly, which happened more often than not.
Leon understood why, his father had an intuition with these things; he could practically feel the blood lust emanating throughout the room whenever one of his daughters spoke to boys.
He was like a hawk.
Of course Leon thought similarly in some ways, he hadn't been a part of the family long but the fear of someone hurting his siblings was all too real; it made his blood boil, he would do all he could to protect them.
So Leon found his father in the room, giving him a small thumbs up and a sly grin on Flayn's shoulder, which prompted the same response from the father.
Who didn't even think about how strange that behavior was for a one-year-old, his father was rather clueless about such things.
'If you can't deal with a little stress, you'd never be good enough for any of my siblings.' Leon thought, as the game continued and Flayn kept up her constant pursuit until it was time to open presents.
Leon was quite happy with how it turned out, he might have been a little exhausted but he'd only been passed off twice since he'd gotten to the room where his party was being held.
His other siblings were there but he suspected they were just as burnt out as he was about the whole ordeal, so he didn't see them much.
He was gently placed in his mother's lap and the gifts began getting opened, it would take a long time.
One-by-one the presents were opened, many of them were toys that were appropriate for a one-year-old child; which he'd shake around and babble about every time he received one.
Internally he was screaming but he wanted to please whoever in the room had given him the gift; he was sure they were rather expensive.
Others were things that looked like priceless treasures, a lot being jewelry, Leon became very tense holding these things.
'Why would they give a one-year-old something so valuable?' Leon thought again, nearly sweating from the stress, he had no sense of the cost and was always happy when his parents finally grabbed them from his small hands.
Then thirdly some things were not age appropriate.
His father had gifted him a rather ornate-looking dagger; the hilt had an intricate gold design and the blade and handle were completely black.
His father had tried to give young Leon the blade but a sudden blood lust that emanated from his mother stopped him in his tracks.
After that his sister Flayn gave him a gift, when his mother handed it to him he saw the words 'Magic for beginners' written in a stylized font on the leather-bound book.
'I love you sister.' Leon thought, nearly shedding a tear as it was the first time he had held a book that he wanted to read; it was quite heavy but he used all his strength to hold it up.
Soon after his mother had tried to grab the book from him, which caused him to do the unthinkable.
"Wah!" Leon cried out, throwing a temper tantrum.
'This is beneath me.' Leon thought but it was his secret weapon, even though it did hurt his newfound pride.
This was only the second time he had ever used this secret ability of his.
His mother suddenly became quite flustered, along with his father and they both seemed to relent rather quickly.
He was a good baby, so when he did act out they felt a need to relent; he could also see Flayn looking quite smug because he didn't want to let go of only her gift.
Afterwards, it was mainly gifts from his other siblings, Alex had also given him a rather large-looking silver sword, which caused another bout of bloodlust from his mother.
Eli had given him a pink hair-bow, which while he'd never wear it, he appreciated the thought from his youngest sister.
Then his three other sisters; Bella, Rhea, and Annabelle, had gotten together to give him a rather expensive-looking rocking horse toy.
It was painted black, red, and had gold highlights throughout it.
He appreciated it dearly, not because it was expensive but because it was from them specifically, it could have been found on the street for all he cared.
'It also won't kill me.' Leon thought, staring daggers at both his father and older brother.
The gifting was done and he was rather tired; he'd normally fall asleep on his mothers shoulder at this point but he knew the book would most likely disappear if he did.
So he fought sleep and just tried to enjoy the rest of the day.
Once it was over, he finally got to lay in bed after being changed into some pajamas.
His mother relented with the book, allowing him to sleep with it as she didn't look like she had the energy to deal with another temper tantrum.
He would have refused to let it go anyway, so he appreciated not having to embarrass himself again.
He patiently waited for both his mother and father to fall asleep before finally letting the book out of his arms, rolling over, and then quietly opening up the book.
There was a dull light that seemed to hang out over his bed all the time, there was no visible source, so it had to be magic.
It wasn't very bright but it was enough for him to read.
'Water magic' was the title of the first page of the book, he had suspected a few introduction pages but it seems like this particular book didn't have any.
He read every single word carefully, flipping through multiple pages, before realizing he had a major problem.
Basically, this is the summary of the entire section on water magic.
'Have a clear mental image of the way you want the water to materialize, have the required magic power for the spell, release.'
It was incredibly simple, he had suspected it would have been something extremely complex as it had been a completely foreign thing in his other world.
'I've already tried two of those steps.' Leon thought.
He had already tried to manifest magic through a clear mental image of what he wanted, before trying to then release whatever he was thinking about.
It was probably the first thing he tried to do but at the time it only made him incredibly embarrassed.
'Does that mean the only thing holding anyone back is magic capacity?' Leon thought to himself again. 'Is that it?'
It seemed like the only thing holding anyone back from producing any kind of magic was their magic capacity and also their mental clarity.
There had to be more but that was his current assessment of the situation based on his new knowledge.
He flipped through a few more sections but it all said the same thing.
He quietly shut the book and rolled over on his back, he was quite disheartened that the only thing holding him back was his magical capacity.
Something he didn't necessarily have much control over in this young body of his, he had no idea how to increase it.
Putting his hand out in the air, mainly just to practice what he just learned, he closed his eyes and began thinking about a spherical ball of water.
He didn't expect anything but he focused his mind, trying to get as clear of an image as he possibly could.
However, surprisingly he did feel something quite strange, it was an extreme warmth radiating from his chest to his hand.
Immediately he shot his eyes open and saw possibly the tiniest ball of water he'd ever seen; it seemed barely bigger than a raindrop.
This made him almost scream out of excitement, he quickly tried to calm down as he couldn't afford to wake up his parents.
He sat up, moving around his hand as the water droplet followed his palm; it sometimes lagged behind but always caught up to the center of his palm.
It was magical, he had seen other people using it before but now using it himself it was something different; for the first time in either of his lives, he felt powerful, which seemed silly being that the droplet could at best kill a mosquito.
It was some time before he suddenly realized, he now didn't know how to make it go away.
He had steeled himself to practice daily now that he could use magic, even if it was as minuscule as it was; however, he had fought sleep for too long and his young body was more than ready for sleep, he could no longer fight it.
'Release' he thought, pointing out his hand directly in front of him.
However, nothing happened no matter how many times he did it, it seemed hopeless.
Sleep was soon approaching whether he liked it or not so he became more frantic, throwing around his arm wildly and thinking 'release' repeatedly; he looked really silly to an outside observer.
Eventually, he did manage to shoot it out of his hand, it shot out and he was immediately disappointed in the power, it was less than the little that he did expect.
He watched it as it made a lazy trip across his bassinet and it ended up doing a little splash directly on top of the obsidian egg his mother had given him.
'I want to cry.' Leon thought to himself.
He was more than eager to push those thoughts out of his mind now, even if it did upset him, he very much desired sleep; so he plopped back in his bed, his tiredness attacking his consciousness immediately.
However, when he was just nearly gone, he heard a strange cracking sound, which prompted him to slowly open his eyes; he looked around before his eyes became laser-focused on the obsidian egg sitting in the corner of his bassinet.
What he saw were cracks throughout the entire egg, with a particularly large chunk having fallen off at its center, with a large eye staring right back at him.
'Who are you?' Leon thought to himself, both fueled by curiosity and fear.