Ciar opened his eyes with a start, his pupils widening as he surveyed his surroundings. Or, at least he tried. Everything outside of about a 30 centimeters was incredibly blurry. Confused, Ciar tried to remember what happened.

'The Progenitor said something about punishment for my actions....living among the mortals...NO!'

Ciar panicked, flailing his arms as he attempted to sit upright. Wait, arms? Looking down at himself, Ciar confirmed what he had feared to be true. He was stuck in the body of a baby mortal. Anger welled up inside him, and he cried out in frustration.

'The Progenitor couldn't have done this! I barely did anything! Giving me a mortal body! This is way to harsh for simply sending a small world into the void!'

Ciar stopped, confused once again. Normally, as he was the embodiment of the void, he did not feel such emotions. Yet, he had felt anger, surprise, and fear all within the last two minutes of his life. A new feeling, despair, clogged his throat. He had become completely mortal. Though he still didn't know if he could die, he now had a fleshly form. He now had the capacity to feel emotion. Worst of all, he now had to live as the most pitiful existence - a baby. His thoughts were cut short by the faint pounding of footsteps. Ciar looked towards the noise, not sure what to expect.

A face soon came into focus. A female of some sort he believed, though he wasn't to sure. When he was the Primordial Oblivion, he hadn't often payed attention to the lives of mortals. Her face was very thin, though not emaciated. Her eyes were a startling blue, and long strands of black hair fell over her face. The most startling feature, however, was the two horns that protruded from above her ears. They curved back and up, then sloped forward, ending in two sharp looking points. The female smiled, and spoke, her voice almost melodic, rising and falling in tone and pitch in a mesmerizing way. Ciar, without realizing it, smiled at the woman. He had heard what she had said, and understood her perfectly, but he knew enough about mortals to know that their babies could not understand speech. The woman reached down and grabbed him, lifting him from his reclining position and pulling him to her breasts.

"Go on, Ciar, you must be hungry." She said, removing a breast from her clothing and guiding his head to the nipple.

Instinctively, Ciar began to suckle, drawing the warm milk from the woman. Despite himself, a feeling of contentment blossomed in his chest. He shook himself mentally, refusing to accept the situation. He was the Primordial Oblivion, yet here he was, enjoying milk from a mortal woman. The woman, who he assumed was his mother, smiled down at him again. She cooed at him, playing with his face, her fingers gentle and warm. Despite himself, Ciar began to feel sluggish. This annoyed him significantly, as he had never needed to sleep before. Ciar struggled to stay awake, but failed miserably, falling asleep in the woman's warm embrace.

Over the next three months, Ciar came to terms with his new situation. He had been punished by the Progenitor for his rash behavior in the void, and now he had to live with the punishment. Deciding to make the best of the situation, Ciar resolved to explore what it meant to live as a mortal. After all, the Progenitor had gone so far as to alter the mortals minds, making them believe he had always been named Ciar. Furthermore, he suspected that the Progenitor had even altered his mind, as he found acting like a baby incredibly easy. Even though he refrained from making the humiliating, primal noises babies often do, he thought he was blending in pretty well. If the Progenitor had gone to such an extent, than perhaps it thought there might be something for it to learn down here. His own thinking slowly began to change from that of a ageless immortal to that of a mortal boy. He suspected his ability to conform to the situation might also be due to the the Progenitor's meddling, but he really didn't mind. Knowing that a part of your mind had been forcefully changed was a little strange, but he knew it was for the best. If he constantly thought of himself as an immortal, with the people around him as lower beings, his stint in the mortal realm would not last long, even by mortal standards.

He had learned that his father was a member of the town watch, and as a result was gone most of the day. While he did return at night, Ciar ended up spending most of his time being carried around by his mother. His family could not afford a baby-sitter, so he accompanied her on all the trips around the village. While she helped the other villagers, he learned a lot about his current situation. His mother's name was Mariam and his father's name was Isaac. The village they were living in was called Noas, and it was part of the Fellnor Kingdom. There was about 40-50 houses in the village, making it a community of considerable size. However, he learned - from a conversation between his mother and the alchemist about the availability of herbs - that it pales in comparison to the size of cities. In the evenings, after his father had returned, Ciar listened intently to his parents' conversations.

"Isaac," Mariam said, her voice full of worry, "I'm concerned about Ciar. He barely makes a noise! The only time he makes a sound is when he is hungry."

"I'm sure it's fine honey. He was perfectly healthy when he was born, and the alchemist said nothing was wrong with him. If you really want to, you can take him to get checked on." Isaac responded, squeezing his wife's hand gently.

'Oh no. I didn't realize that it was unhealthy for babies to not make noises like that. Are they really going to check with alchemist? I really don't like her. Maybe I should start making those noises? Some babies do develop late, I think. Argggh, but they are so humiliating!' Ciar's thoughts were a jumbled mess. He had believed it unnecessary to speak nonsense, but it seemed he had worried his mother. His worries were abruptly forgotten when he heard the next part of the conversation.

"I know, I know. Its just....I worry about him. What if something really is wrong?" Mariam said, her voice shaking.

"Alright, I have tomorrow off. We can take him up to see the alchemist to make sure nothing is wrong. Let's not worry about that for now. I managed to level up today after some monsters attacked the patrol. Maybe some wine to celebrate and take your mind off Ciar?"

'Levels? Then this world has The System that the Progenitor created? I hadn't bothered to check before since I knew most mortal realms did not have The System, but it seems I should have at least looked. I wonder what my status looks like?' Ciar hurriedly called up his status in his mind, and groaned when he saw it.

Status Name: Ciar Race: Primordial Oblivion (Primordial) Age: 3 months 2 days (about 50 million years) Sex: male Fame: 0 Currency: 0G,0S,0C Class: none Subclass: none Subclass: none Subclass: none Level: 1 (0/20) Skill Points: 0 Titles none Attributes Health: 20/20 Void Power: 100/100 Health Regen: 1.0/min Void Power Regen: 1.0/min Strength: 2 Constitution: 2 Dexterity: 2 Perception: 2 Intelligence: 30 Wisdom: 25 WIllpower: 25 Spirit: NA (sub)Physical Resistance: 2 (sub)Magic Resistance: 25 Skills Void Body (MAX) Void Mind (MAX) Void Power (MAX) Void Control (MAX) Primordial Oblivion (MAX) Status Conceal (MAX) none none Spells none

While he was overjoyed to learn that he had retained his race and his racial abilities, he had also lost an incredible amount of attributes, spells, levels, and titles. He assumed his low Strength, Constitution, Physical Resistance, and Health were due to his current body. As a baby, his body was obviously not much to look at. The physical stats, however, did not concern him. Physical attributes grew with the body until adulthood, at which point they could only be improved by Skill Points. He knew his mental stats were so high because, despite his current form, his mind was still about 50 million years old. Ciar's attributes were high for his mortal age, but remembering his previous status, he still despaired. He already missed his near infinite attributes and 350+ spells.

'I can accept my new attributes as another form of punishment, but why does the status look different than in the void? There is no affinities tab for magic, but I know it exists in this realm. Maybe it's a hidden status that can only be checked in certain ways? That is certainly a plausible reason.'

Returning his attention to his parents, he saw them staring at him, a wide grin slowly spreading across his father's face.

"See Mariam! I told you nothing to worry about, that was a beautiful silent noise he just made there wasn't it?" Isaac laughed, drawing his wife to him and shaking her gently.

"Ahhhh, I guess you were right. I wonder why he never made any noises before?" Mariam replied, her smile of relief wider than even Isaac's mischievous one.

'Oh, I must have made a noise when I looked at my status. Well, this can be a good thing, perhaps now mother will be less concerned.'

"Alright! Now that that is off your mind, how about I tell you about how I leveled up! It's an awesome story." Isaac announced, his voice full of excitement and pride.

Ciar focused in on the conversation. Learning how battles are fought and what kind of monsters live in this world would be very useful for his future. While he had a basic understanding of the village, he still knew almost nothing about the outside world, making this a golden opportunity.

"So, we were patrolling south of here, just heading through Galvor's Pass, when a group of Karjas attacked.

They came at us from both sides, leaping at us from behind the rocks. The twelve of us quickly grouped up in a defensive circle. There was about 20 of them, and if it weren't for the commander, someone might have died. Despite being lower levels, those dogs can be pretty vicious. Anyway, so there was this big black one, a variant of some sorts, and it charged right at me. When I killed the thing, all the other Karjas backed off and left, and I leveled up! I guess it was some kind of leader variant. The commander even congratulated me and gave me a bonus for the day!" Isaac explained the battle in a rush, his words nearly stumbling over each other.

"Wow! You guys fought off a Karjas attack without losing anyone? And you even killed a leader variant! My husband must be stronger than he told me." Mariam said playfully, as she positioned herself on top of Isaac. "Why don't we celebrate... a different way..." She added seductively.

"Uhh, with Ciar right there?" Isaac said, though the actions of his hands betrayed him.

"He's just a baby, he won't even understand what's going on, let alone remember it." Mariam said before he leaned in, giving Isaac a passionate kiss.

Ciar quickly turned away from the scene and focused on what he had just learned. While he was curious about how mortals procreated, he still found it strange to watch his new parents perform the act. Soon, Ciar's little body could no longer handle staying awake, and he drifted off to sleep

-------------------------------------------------

A month later, Ciar finally decided to test the limits of his current body. Mariam had set him down on the grass while she conversed with the alchemist about some type of herb used for healing. Left unattended, Ciar attempted to crawl forward. At first, the motion was difficult, as he was still not used to his small, fleshly frame. Soon, however, he had the hang of it. He crawled around on the floor, jubilant at the idea of exploring on his own for the first time. He had only managed to make it halfway to the open door before his mother's hands stopped him. She lifted him into the air, laughing in delight as she turned to the Alchemist.

"Adriana! He's already starting to crawl and he's just four months old!" She nearly shouted at the alchemist, her voice filled with joy and pride.

"Oh my! You have quite the exceptional baby there Mariam!"

The two woman began to excitedly converse about his accomplishments, much to his annoyance. Ciar simply wanted to crawl around, yet here he was, stuck in his mother's arms as she jabbered about him to the alchemist. Resigning himself to his fate, Ciar slowly drifted asleep on his mother's shoulder, dreaming of the day he would roam free in the world, exploring to his heart's content.