After we reached the mansion, I was immediately apprehended by a woman with a beautiful face and temperament. I was not allowed to have my freedom for 2 days before she was satisfied and afforded some independence. That was my mother.

After she heard all that transpired in the cavern about my Awakening, she never allowed me to part from her side, even for a moment. I was not even allowed to sleep in my room. She would lay me in her lap and sing me lullabies in her room, and finally falling asleep with me in her arms. I was happy too, spending these moments that I could never experience in my previous life in my early days.

Time flew by like this. It has been 2 months after my Awakening and these 2 months has been spent with my parents. Currently I am in the garden my mother usually takes care of. It was about 15 days ago that I expressed my interest in the varieties of the plants in the garden. My mother immediately started explaining all the plants and flowers in the garden to me, after she heard my words.

It seems that no one in the mansion shares the same interests as her, not even my father. So, me taking up an interest in the same field as her, made her pretty happy. But what I did not expect was the knowledge she has in biology of this world. It cannot be said to be extensive, but the knowledge she has is far deeper when compared to me.

When I heard that the plants take up Energy in the atmosphere as the nourishment, I was instantly hooked. With each of her illustration of a type of plant or flower, my interest soared. The physical structure of this world can be said to be the same of Earth, but the internal structure has been modified for the absorption and circulation of Energy, a different path from photosynthesis back on Earth.

But this world does not seem to have the knowledge of various vitamins and minerals needed for the nourishment of the body. When I asked about proteins or carbohydrates values of the plants, she made a confused expression, and even asked me what those were. I pondered for a moment and tried to explain to her about the various minerals and vitamins, but it seems that no record of such things exists, not even in the available ancient records.

I gave up after some time, as this discussion seemed to go nowhere. I simply changed my point of view to hers and tried to compare the medicinal or Energy values of these plants to the various vitamins and minerals’ functionalities.

“Look, Azalon. This plant is called ‘Five Phantom Plant’. This plant can be considered a common plant, as this plant can be seen in abundance in the wild. This plant is used as a basic medicine for simple cuts and wounds. But the most important part of this plant is its flower, called the ‘Five Petal Phantom Flower’. Only one plant in a ten thousand will produce a flower, and is more valuable.”

“This plant is called ‘Essence Root’. As the name suggests its most important part is its root, used as a medicine for some basic allergies and flu. But too much of this root will be toxic, as it accumulates clogs in the Spirit Veins. That is the reason why this plant is only used by Alchemists in the process of pill concoction.”

“Now, this flower is called ‘Nine Apparitions Flower’. This flower produces a type of miasma, once a month on a full moon. This miasma has the power to confuse the one who inhales the miasma, by showing hallucinations. Some people collect this miasma and sell them to Alchemists to produce a pill called ‘Nine Apparitions Pill’, a type of bewildering pill generally used as pain killer.”

In a day, she will explain around 20-30 different plants or flowers and even explain their uses and prices. But it’s a shame that LILY is not around to record these illustrations. It seems that during my Awakening, some changes appeared in her too, as she became an integral part of my Soul as well as consciousness. So, I had no choice but rely on myself to memorize them. Thankfully, my cognitive abilities did not diminish even after my rebirth, in a sense they even became stronger after my Awakening.

That day I came back from the cavern, a mechanical voice notification sounded in my mind.

[“Changes in basic constitution detected. Adjusting functions and sensors according to the detected changes. Restart of the system required. Estimated time for reactivation: 76 days.”]

In the night, I will spend some time on studying the Void Ring my father gave me in order to understand the working of the ring. But till today, there has been no progress. I can only speculate some theories but they cannot be verified by my current state of strength. I am impatiently waiting for the day of my restart of cultivation, which provides me some Energy Source for experimentation of this ring.

Recently I have taken up two simple projects, based on my current capabilities, as I still did not find some replacement for electricity in this world.

I asked my father to introduce to a blacksmith, which he did after some obscure explanation from my side. I took some designs to the blacksmith in the mansion, and asked him to produce some gears and springs based on my measurements and the pictures I drew on a paper.

My idea is to make a simple wrist watch and automatic door lock. Measurement of time in this world can be said to be primitive. They measure the time based on the position of Sun, and the calendar is based on seasons. The year of this world comprises of 12 months, each month of 30 days. And each day is further divided into 25 hours.

It only took a couple of days to change the measurements of gears and handles of watches I knew on Earth to demonstrate the time in this world. I had a good laugh looking at the expression on that blacksmith, as I explained the use of these gears to that blacksmith. They will be delivered to me this evening, as the gears, springs and handles should be fine tuned to the millimeter, for better accuracy. It took him 4 days to manufacture them, as blacksmiths are generally used to working on swords or spears, not on fine tuning these miniature things.

I am looking forward to the proud expressions of my father and mother, once I show these two things to them. It has been a long time I behaved like this. My time with Mother LILY came to my mind, but I shook off those depressing feelings as I now have a family who love me deeply.

After I left from the garden, I walked to the smithy to meet that blacksmith. I met with the blacksmith outside the smithy as he too was coming to meet me.

“Ah, Young Master. I was coming to meet you right now. You could have just waited in the mansion for me. It’s not necessary for you to come searching for someone like me.”

“It’s not a problem, Mr. Feran. I had free time after all. By the way, I had another request for you. I came here to talk to you about it as well.” I responded with a smile.

“A request? Then come in, Young Master. Let us talk in my home.”

He turned and led me to a small cottage at the back of the smithy. The interior of the cottage is simple, with a bed, two chairs, a small table and a single cupboard filled with different metals and forging tools. A small section to my left can be considered a kitchen with a small stove and various utensils. All in all, this cottage represents the nature of this simple minded and enthusiastic black smith.

He waited for me to sit in the chair before sitting down facing me. He did not waste any time in pleasantries and directly arrived at the main topic.

“So, Young Master. What is this request you spoke of? Is it another set of materials like before? I have to say, Young Master, I am still skeptical on that… that thing you spoke of. But it’s not my place to talk about it. You asked for it and I made it. So please tell me. What is this request?”

“Then let me ask you directly, Mr. Feran. I want to learn the art of Blacksmithing. Will you accept me as your apprentice and teach me?”

His eyes widened in shock as I spoke these words. His shock suddenly turned into disappointment as his gaze suddenly became dull, which made me somewhat shocked. I did not understand this change of aptitude, so I silently waited for his answer.

“Young Master, please don’t joke with me. You want to learn blacksmithing? From me? Let me tell you, Young Master, I am not a Spirit Blacksmith. I am just a simple blacksmith who directly works on metals without the manipulation of Spirit Energy. If you want, Lord Mayor can arrange for a Spirit Blacksmith to take you as his apprentice, even though your affinity is not known. You don’t have to make fun of me by talking to me like this.”

Ahhh, so it’s like that, huh.

“*sigh* no, Mr. Feran. I know that you are not a Spirit Blacksmith. Even though my father can hire a Spirit Blacksmith to teach me, I want to have a basic understanding of the art of forging with metals in traditional ways, before I test for my qualifications for Spirit Blacksmithing. So please don’t take offense from my words.”

“Please reconsider Young Master. Traditional Blacksmithing is not that easy as you think. It’s not something that can be mastered easily. The difficulties present in this art are not that easy. I have seen some noble children trying to learn this art, before quitting facing the challenges of this art. So, please Young Master, I request you to reconsider your decision.”

He thinks I am a pampered child who wants to learn something as a pastime. It seems that he has seen his share of those types, who quits as soon as something becomes difficult for them to learn. I smile at him and reply in the most decisive voice I could muster in this body.

“I understand, Mr. Feran. I guarantee you that I will never quit once I decide on something. If you don’t mind, you can consult with my father on my request and then decide based on his reply. Is that fine, Mr. Feran?”

“Hmmm… Alright, Young Master. I will consult with Lord Mayor and then reply to your request. Then if that is all, Young Master?”

“Yes, Mr. Feran. I hope you will accept my request as soon as possible.” I bid farewell as I walk out his cottage to my room to assemble my watch and door lock.