Whoosh!
Aaron was enveloped in a sense of secure joy as his mother carried him snugly against her back, her movements fluid and powerful as she navigated the dense forest. Barely three hours had passed since his entry into this vibrant, dangerous world, yet Aurora moved with the seasoned agility of a lifelong hunter. He had already begun to accept the extraordinary strength of the woman who had so recently given birth to him.
'If I ever marry,' his infant mind mused, 'I want my wife to be like this. Both courageous, fearless, and powerful... Wait, aren't those last two essentially the same thing?'
"How are you doing back there, Love?" Aurora's voice, warm and laced with affection, drifted back to him.
"Coo," he replied instinctively, the sound surprisingly articulate for his age. The soft noise elicited a gentle chuckle from Aurora as she continued her swift passage through the trees.
'Don't overthink it,' Aaron chided himself. 'I just tried to vocalize, and that sound emerged. I wonder what was so amusing about it that Lilly laughed so hard she nearly tumbled over. Did my attempt at speech sound that ridiculous?'
BAM!
Aurora came to an abrupt halt, her senses clearly picking up something he couldn't yet perceive.
"That is our food," she murmured, her gaze fixed on a point roughly twenty meters ahead. Aaron craned his neck, his limited field of vision finally settling on a deer. But this was no ordinary deer. Its coat was the color of midnight, and it moved with a wary alertness, its head lowered as it gnawed on the carcass of another creature.
'Are you kidding me? Even a deer eats flesh?! Is everything in this forest carnivorous?!' The realization sent a jolt of unease through his tiny being.
"That is a Black-Blood Deer," Aurora explained, her voice hushed. "It's an Awakened-stage Monster. I've heard its meat is exceptionally nutritious; that's why I've been searching for one." She carefully loosened the cloth that secured Aaron to her back.
"You'll have to stay here and watch, learn," she instructed softly.
Aaron nodded his tiny head with earnest concentration. 'Don't worry, I'll learn well. My eyes – all of them, will be fixed on your every move.'
Aurora scanned their surroundings, her gaze sweeping through the dense foliage. "The sun is rising," she noted, her tone matter-of-fact. She turned her attention back to the feeding deer. "I need to end this quickly so we can head back." With a fluid motion, she drew a sleek sword from the sheath at her hip and began to move slowly and silently towards her prey.
'The sun is rising?' Aaron's brow furrowed in confusion. He peered up through the thick canopy of leaves, unable to catch even a glimpse of the sky, let alone the sun. 'How does she know the sun is rising? And why is she worried? Shouldn't rising sun be a good thing?'
The Black-Blood Deer lifted its head from its gruesome meal, its large, dark eyes scanning the surrounding woods, alerted by a subtle rustling of leaves. Finding nothing amiss, it lowered its head to continue feeding.
Aaron watched, fascinated, as Aurora closed the distance with incredible stealth.
'Wow,' he thought, his eyes widening in amazement.
He observed as she approached within five meters of the deer without it betraying any awareness of her presence. Just as the deer began to lift its head again, Aurora lunged, a blur of motion from behind. He followed her every move as she expertly slashed at the deer's hind legs, severing tendons with practiced precision. Before the injured creature could even bellow in pain, Aurora plunged her sword deep into the base of its skull, ending its life instantly. The entire encounter had lasted no more than five swift seconds.
'That is impressive – Huh?'
His attention was suddenly drawn to Aurora, who had knelt beside the fallen deer. He watched, wide-eyed, as she used her blade to slice open the creature's belly. From within the steaming entrails, she carefully extracted a glowing, circular orb.
'What is that?' Aaron wondered, his infant curiosity piqued.
Aurora efficiently stored the deer's massive carcass in what seemed like thin air – a feat that further cemented the magical nature of this world – and walked back towards Aaron, the luminous orb held gently in her hand.
Aaron focused his gaze on the object in her hand and made a small, questioning sound. "Coo."
Aurora smiled warmly and squatted down in front of him. "This is called a Core. It can be obtained from monsters. You remember that Ogre from earlier?"
Aaron nodded his head, the memory of the grotesque creature still vivid.
"Its Core is with Lilly. This one belongs to you." She carefully placed the still-warm orb in his small, outstretched hands.
Aaron looked down at the Core, his single eye wide with wonder. It pulsed with a soft, inner light and felt surprisingly weighty in his tiny palms. 'It's heavy, but I love her gesture,' he thought, gazing up at Aurora with what could only be described as infant adoration. 'Thank you, Mom. It's not bad having such a caring Mom, but how the hell am I supposed to use this thing?'
"Don't worry, Son. When you unlock your Sid energy, you'll know. Only then will you be able to – What?"
Aurora's words caught in her throat, her eyes widening in astonishment as she watched the Core in Aaron's hands begin to glow intensely. In the blink of an eye, it shattered into countless shimmering particles, which then swirled and vanished into Aaron's tiny body.
'That feels… ticklish,' Aaron thought, a small, involuntary chuckle escaping his lips.
{Congratulations on absorbing your first Core. You gain a God-Class skill, known as; All Seeing Eyes.}
Aaron blinked, his eyes widening further in utter shock. 'God-Class?'
Aurora stared at him, her expression a mixture of disbelief and confusion. 'Did he just… absorb the Core?'
Aaron tilted his head, his gaze now fixed on his mother, a strange new clarity washing over his senses.
'What the hell is this I'm seeing?!' He looked at Aurora, and suddenly, a cascade of information flooded his mind, overlaid on her very being.
{All Seeing Eyes.}
{Name: Aurora Maxim.}
{Realm: Heavenly Saint.}
{Class:(Dual) Elite-Assassin and Elite-Warrior.}
{Race: Elf.}
{Strength: 1,000.}
{Agility: 1,500.}
{Defense: 2,000.}
{Endurance: 2,500.}
{Affinity Mastered: Fire, Wind.}
{Attack: 500. Critical - 1,000.}
{Health point: 5,000.}
{Improvement: Eat any spirit plant. Gain an increase in skill: Warrior Spirit.}
'What the hell is this? What is the All Seeing Eye? And what is all this?' His infant mind struggled to comprehend the deluge of data. 'Heavenly Saint? Elite-Assassin? Eat a spirit plant? What in the God's name is a spirit plant?!'
"Come on, let's go," Aurora said, her voice still tinged with surprise as she gently picked him up and secured him back on her back. "You just keep surprising me." She began to walk back in the direction of their home, her pace only slightly less swift than before.
Aaron, however, was in a state of utter mental chaos. Everywhere he looked, his vision was overlaid with text, providing detailed information about everything around him.
{All Seeing Eyes.}
{Name: Green Tree, Poisonous. Class: Common. Info: If swallowed without letting it touch your tongue, increases your poison resistance. Note: If it touches your tongue, instant death.}
{All seeing Eyes}
{Name: Blood red mushroom. Class: Common. Info: When eaten, it increases your bloodlust. Note: You'll lose 30% of your Endurance.}
{All seeing eyes.}
{Name: Death Flower. Class:Uncommon. Info: Increases your Death Magic potency by 50%, but reduces Light Magic potency by 60%.}
{All seeing Eyes.}
{Name: Infested Rat. Class: Common. Info: When killed, it releases a gas which causes its killer to fall asleep for 10 hours. Note: If the killer resists the gas for 1 minute, it increases their Endurance and poison resistance.}
Aaron was completely dumbfounded by the sheer volume of information flooding his senses.
'What is… I can see everything – every advantage, every disadvantage. With this power, I'll be a god! Hahaha… I can now truly live in this world and help my mom and sister. My mom needs a Spirit Plant; they must be rare… because I haven't seen even one yet. But with this power, I'll know everything.' A tiny smirk stretched across his infant lips. If Aurora could see his thoughts, she would surely be more than just surprised.
'He could already absorb a Core? Does that mean he has already unlocked his Sid energy? But still… it shouldn't be possible at his age; he's not even a year old. I mean, one month old,' she mused, glancing down at Aaron, who was now looking around with intense curiosity, his eyes darting from one thing to another. She smiled softly. 'So curious.'
'I looked at her and saw her details, will that also happen to me?' He focused his gaze on his own tiny hand, the next moment his inner thoughts exploded in astonishment.
'ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!'