As the faint light of dawn began to creep through the cracks in the hut, Adrian's eyelids fluttered open.
His infant body, still unused to the rugged lifestyle he had suddenly been thrust into, shifted uncomfortably on the makeshift straw bed.
He blinked a few times, letting the soft glow of sunlight hit his face, warming him.
He rolled onto his back, stretched out his small arms, and yawned, feeling the stiffness in his limbs slowly give way.
'Ugh, why do I feel like I was run over by a bull?' he thought, squinting at the ceiling made of dried reeds and branches.
He rubbed his eyes, yawning again, and glanced over at the little girl.
She still hadn't woken up.
Her body was motionless, and Adrian couldn't help but frown.
"Still sleeping?" he muttered to himself.
'She must be in some sort of deep coma or hibernation or something…'
But just then, a more pressing matter made itself known—his stomach gurgled in an odd, uncomfortable way, and the urge to relieve himself hit him like a slap to the face.
'I need to pee… and poop,' he thought, wide-eyed.
His infant body squirmed with urgency, and he quickly rolled over onto all fours, crawling toward the door.
He grumbled under his breath, half-crawling, half-dragging himself across the floor, feeling utterly ridiculous.
As he finally pushed open the door to the hut, the cold, crisp mountain air greeted him, stinging his nose and cheeks.
He shivered but hurried outside, not wanting to go too far from the safety of the hut.
His small body could barely withstand the elements, and the last thing he needed was to be blown off the peak by a gust of wind.
'Okay, this is far enough,' he thought, finding a spot just outside.
He glanced around, the paranoia setting in.
He didn't want to accidentally roll down the mountain or get caught by some random gust of wind.
'Yeah, no way I'm going far… who knows what kind of animals live up here anyway.'
He squatted, feeling the relief of letting nature take its course, then quickly covered it up with some dirt and leaves as best as he could.
His face scrunched up as he realized another problem.
'Now what? Let alone a way to wash my hands; I don't even have anything to clean my backside…'
While seated there, thinking something, as he sat there in that child's body, he looked around. Before he started to slide, he forced his body forward while seated naked on the ground. As he did, dirt started to rub on his bum, clearly brushing against everything.
'Natural toilet paper...'
He glanced down at his hands, wiggling his little fingers.
Though he hadn't touched the waste, his conscience seemed to make him remember that he was from a very hygienic time period, but honestly, what was he supposed to do?
'Eh, who's gonna know anyway?' he muttered, looking around.
'If no one sees me, then I am hygienic...'
Satisfied with his makeshift cleaning, Adrian made his way back into the hut.
His first priority: milk.
His belly was still bloated from the night before, but he was a growing infant, and milk was the best option available.
He crawled over to the bottle that was still sitting near the girl's sleeping form.
With a grunt, he lifted it and took a few deep gulps.
'Ah, much better,' he thought, feeling the milk coat his empty stomach.
He rubbed his belly, satisfied, and looked around the hut again, his curiosity starting to take over now that he was full and a bit more comfortable.
That's when he noticed something: a small set of shelves, tucked away in a corner.
On one of the upper racks were a few dusty old books, stacked carelessly.
His eyes widened in excitement.
Books? Here?
'No way! If those are books, maybe I can learn something about this world… or magic!' he thought eagerly.
But then reality hit him.
'How the heck am I supposed to reach those?'
He glanced around the hut, searching for anything that could help.
His eyes landed on a long, thin stick leaning against the wall—one of the farming tools used to hang things up.
Perfect.
Grinning, Adrian crawled over to the stick and, using all his strength, dragged it back over to the shelf.
He jabbed at the books, his small arms barely able to control the stick.
After a few tries, one of the books teetered on the edge before falling down with a loud thud.
'Success!' Adrian beamed, crawling over to the fallen book.
It was old, the cover worn and the pages yellowed, but he was too excited to care.
Adrian squinted at the small letters as his eyes skimmed over the pages of the ancient book.
It was written in Sanskrit, and given that it was one of the curriculum subjects of his school in his previous life, he was able to read through it.
Though seeing the language of the text, he found that this world was definitely similar to his previous one where he knew the history of the Mauryan Empire used to use Sanskrit.
Reading this, he found that it was clearly a history text, but it didn't just tell him about kings and battles.
This book explained the world—how things worked, and how people like him could wield power.
His heart raced as he read, absorbing every word.
The text first delved into the origins of those who could use magic—Magus, as they were called.
Not everyone was born with the ability.
In fact, most were ordinary people, stuck living without magic, doing regular things.
But Magi were different.
They were born with the potential to harness Prana, or Prana-Urja as the ancients called it.
'Prana means life and Urja means energy, so is life energy?' Adrian thought as he went through the text, finding some of the words getting his attention.
This Prana coursed through every living thing, but only Magi could channel it consciously.
The book described an event called the Pranic Activation, which could happen at birth or later in life, often triggered by a significant or traumatic event.
This awakening separated Magi from normal humans.