Chapter 1 - Immersion

As the white faded, I quickly stole a breath of air and looked around me surroundings. It was day now, but I couldn’t see the woman or the carriage anymore. I was wrapped in a blanket and there was a roof over my head now. Had I been knocked out?

The sound of my stomach broke the silence and a younger girl quickly came to my bedside and lifted me to her bosom. I’m a grown man. This shouldn’t be right, but I’m in the body of a newborn, and I’m hungry. I greedily took the food source afforded to me, and took the opportunity to look at my benefactor. It looked to be a young girl in her late teens, or early twenties, and while she wasn’t as beautiful as what I assume was my mother, she is still quite the visual treat. Her shoulder length hair was a midnight black with a sheen so lustrous it would appear white in the perfect lighting. In stark contrast to her hair, her eyes shone a wonderful array of hazel, with colors perfectly encapsulating an autumn forest at dusk. The slightest hints of violet along the outer edge, and flecks of subdued yellows and oranges are all encompassed by a predominant, but light, chestnut color whose depth loses to no ocean known to man.

Was the standard of beauty much higher here? It must be, because all these women so far have been breaking the scales.

She started to sing a soothing lullaby in that strange language and I felt the same weightless warmth from before. With a full stomach and the cozy atmosphere, I fell asleep to the gentle swaying whilst promising to myself that I’d be more attentive to my surroundings next time I wake up.

—Cheyenne’s Perspective—

I was woken up in the middle of the night by an old man knocking at the door. Normal hours for the orphanage are from 10 in the morning to 6 in the evening, so I cautiously opened the door.

“How can I he-“

“I found this newborn among some debris down the road. Look after him”

The grizzled old man, wearing a viridian cloak and robe, had hardly finished his sentence when he produced the newborn from beneath his woolen cloak.

It was the most precious thing that couldn’t have been more than a few days old at the most. He was covered in soot, mud, and other unspeakables, but he was perfectly proportioned, almost like a doll. He was sleeping soundly despite being wet from the rain.

“This child… I’ve been told that his name is Callum Rennant. Don’t speak of his family name, and do watch over him… carefully.”

I looked up to ask the old man more, but he was already gone without a sound like he had been spirited away. ‘Rennant, like branch family to the King of Biruth?’ Why would such a child be placed in my care instead of the royal midwife?

“…!”

Callum is freezing and his pulse is slowing. He appears to be suffering from mana exhaustion, so I quickly stripped him and dried him off. I’ll clean him later, but I need to stabilize him first, so I cast a beginner class Enchantment magic.

[I, who understands the origin of power, seek the essence of fire to stave off chill and sickness, please protect this child!]

Heat Pulse is a low difficulty detoxification magic meant to raise your resistance to Ice magic, but this version is so weak that the best it can do is fend off a slight chill. Regardless, it’s doing the trick.

I walked back from the lobby into the den, and sat him on the bench by the windows facing out towards the front door as I quickly fetched water and some rags.

Recasting Heat Pulse on the bucket of water this time, I brought it to just above body temperature and went to work wiping him down. He was a mess! How could that old man let him get to this state? I placed a hand on his bare chest after wiping it down and began slowly infusing my own mana into the boy. It’s dangerous to do all at once, so I would have to split it into multiple sessions before morning.

I don’t have very good control of my mana, but I’m good enough to where I won’t harm this child. I imagine a feeling similar to blood rushing to my core and begin collecting mana. I retain that feeling and push it out through my arm and fingertips slowly into the boy. His color returns as his regular beige skin tone blossoms out from where I’m touching. His breathing slows and he lets out a small sigh as he gets comfortable, adjusting himself.

As it turns out, his hair is a chestnut brown, not black.

“Ha-ha… you’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

I spoke to him in the gentlest tone I could eke out. He looks so much like my little Ryner when he was born. The motherly feelings that I had thought I’d lost began welling inside my chest as the tears started flowing. I continued bathing him as memories of the child I’d lost at birth a month ago painfully resurfaced. I noticed a scar, or a birthmark, on his left side; it was a cute little crescent.

After I had finished cleaning him up, I set him down in the nursery, the room just to the left of the window if you’re facing the front wall. He looks so content sleeping there. It almost feels criminal to have to wake him in a few hours. I returned to my chambers with a reignited determination. I will protect this child from any harm that comes his way. I promise, my little Callum.

I woke early that morning and swiftly made my way over to Callum’s side. He was still sleeping soundly, but it was just daybreak. I’ll let him sleep a while longer before I begin his treatment again.

About an hour later, he began to stir and his eyes shot open like he’d been startled by his own stomach growling. Poor thing must be starving. Having gone through child birth recently, I was still producing milk, so I hurried over to him and gently lifted him to by breast. He made an interesting face, but his stomach growled again and his expression quickly surrendered to hunger. As he hesitatingly ate, I pulled him in a bit tighter and began infusing my mana again, but this time I permeated the air around us with mana and allowed it to cover Callum. His body should do the rest.

[I, who understands the source of knowledge, seek the essence of the wind to calm the mind]

I cast a beginner Healing Enchantment meant to calm the mind with my voice as the medium. The magic uses my voice to permeate the air and affect all those around me in a given area and with a good amount of mana gathered, I begin a lullaby.

—Callum’s/Jacob’s Perspective—

The next time I woke up, it was already mid-day, and significantly noisy. I appeared as though I was in a nursery, but there were candles instead of lights, and the building seemed far from the building standards of the post-industrialized world. As a scientist and a teacher, I know I’m supposed to be open to different possibilities, but I can’t quite bring myself to believe that I have reverted to a baby in a different world.

I gaze back down at my body, but I can’t quite muster the strength in my neck to lift my head, but I can still see the telltale signs of baby fat. I lift my arm, and I realize that all the fatigue from the other day is gone. I feel great!

“Uuuaaa~!”

Oh, my tongue isn’t exactly cooperating with this body, so I guess intelligent sounds are a no-go until I get used to it. I’ll take that as a good thing, since I’m not quite sure how they’d handle a talking newborn. Are demons a thing in this world? Probably. I’d better not push it.

Now, the thing that piqued my curiosity the other day… right! I had tried to stop that guy from killing my mother before I was knocked out. Well, it’s not like I can do anything about it now. She was basically dead anyways, so I guess there was nothing I could’ve done anyways. Though I say that, it doesn’t help me feel any better.

“…!”

The black haired woman just walked in again, and I still can’t understand a word of what she’s saying, but it must be something along the lines of, ‘Ah, you’re awake!’ Following quickly behind her is a slew of other kids anywhere from 3-9 years of age.

She picks me up, and it looks like the collective switch gets flipped as they start doing what I assume is asking her questions about me in rapid succession.

Oh my. That’s an interesting smell. Which one of… oh, it seems that I emptied my bowels in the night. That’s unfortunate.

“Uuugu uuumaoo!”

Help, I’m in distress! I’m being stripped against my will! That’s my butt, lady. Where do you think you’re touching? Look, you’ve done your job, now clothe me, woman!

“Cheyenne. *** *** **** ** Chey?”

She was pointing at herself saying ‘Chey’ and ‘Cheyenne’ over and over, so that must be her name. Chey, huh? That’s a nice name. Wait, how about we make me decent first, then you can try and teach me your name.

Yes, pants. I love pants. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a stigma about this later in life, but let’s push it into the recesses of the mind, shall we?

Clothed and presentable to the world again, I examine the other kids gawking at me. It seems like your typical human isn’t the only intelligent biped anymore. At least, last time I checked, toddlers don’t have big bushy beards where I’m from, so I’m just going to assume that he’s a dwarf.

Along with the dwarf boy stood a few other children: a cat-eared boy, a human girl and boy, an elf-girl, and a raccoon girl. Obviously, Chey was human.

I ate, I crapped, and I napped. This is the life… at least, I wish I could continue this lifestyle, but I need to return to my own world. If it’s possible for me to be transported to a different world, then I can believe that there is also the possibility of me being able to go back to my world at the time of my death. Magic seems to exist in this world, so there should be some spell that could help me.

Curse this infantile body. After a few hours, I can’t help but fall asleep. I’m just going to have to wait for this body to develop more.