I was always considered spiritual but not religious. I didn't have a specific belief or faith. My parents were devoted Catholics, but that thing didn't resonate with me. I do believe in an afterlife, or at least I hope there is one.
Just the simple thought that there isn't a place after it all ends, the thought that souls aren't real, and all living beings are just a big mass of meat with nerves is depressing.
Now I know there is one; that is quite reassuring, but...
Reincarnation? I've heard people in Buddhism and Hinduism are into this concept of rebirth, but it usually involves a clean wipeout in the process; everything will be reconstructed completely except the core aspect of the soul. That's all I know from watching those online videos.
The idea of keeping one's memories after the process is unusual; I always thought that only happens in novels and all of those crappy manhwas, the wet dream of countless boys and middle-aged men, including myself.
While I was still deep in thought, barely comprehending the whole situation, I was suddenly picked up. It was by the woman, my mother, I supposed; from looks alone I can guess she is around her mid- to early twenties.
Her hands are warm, and her smile is affectionate. She spoke to me; the words were like honey to the ears, although I couldn't make sense of anything. They sounded French, and I couldn't explain why.
I don't know who this woman is or anything about her, but there is one thing I can assure you: she is a beauty, absolutely stunning, like one of those blondes you see on top-tier magazines. I don't think I've ever seen anybody with those kinds of bazongas before, not even on those dirty sites.
But somehow I don't feel any excitement at all; maybe it's due to a biological link, or maybe my baby brain hasn't developed the part needed to feel horniness just yet. I just recognize a fine package when I see it. Still, what kind of man can pull such a beauty?
There is no need to question that; the man himself is right in front of me, doing silly faces and oversaturated hand gestures, maybe to make the baby—me—laugh. Before, I was too captivated by the woman's looks to even notice him.
After a clear look, I can confidently say that is a man—well, more like a brown bear disguised as one. He acts all excited and jolly whenever I make the slightest eye contact with him, quite contrary to his appearances. To be honest, I feel scared he might crush my fragile body when he gets too thrilled from holding me up.
Judging by these little interactions, I can tell these are decent people, not like they can replace my parents who raised me from the ground up, but I think I can rest easy growing up, being raised in their arms. I'm looking forward to life, once again...
*************
A year passed by.
It has already been a year since I was reincarnated. During that time, I've learned many things about this world, like the possibility that it isn't nearly as advanced. The house still uses candles for lighting, Father uses a horse for transport and doing works on the field, and there isn't really any modern structure nearby either, at least not one that I know of.
But there could be a chance this town or village is very traditional or lacking in times, like some secluded community up on a mountain.
It was quite hard getting used to living like this; I was a technology junkie back then, enslaved to the comfort of the city and all of its modern necessities. But over time I got used to this kind of life. Well, I'm still struggling with some aspects, especially with the bathroom and adjusting my taste to fit the food around here, but like they always say, small steps at a time.
"Feli, where are you?" A woman's voice rang across the hallways; it was from my mother, Liyu.
Heard that I came crawling out from under the dining table. I usually find places to hide where the two of them couldn't find me. I like being myself for a little bit, to gather my thoughts, not worrying about acting like a baby all the time. Liyu always scolded me for hiding. I think she was mostly worried about me hitting my head or hurting myself.
I got used to the language here, well, only to a surface level. From that I learned my name is apparently Phileas Plrivage, and I'm the son of an ordinary farming family living in the countryside.
At first I was kind of disappointed by this; I thought I was going to be in some sort of hotshot household like in those stories I read, but this life isn't so bad itself, by means of getting my ass wiped and being spoon-fed for the time being.
"There you are." Liyu saw me crawling toward her and picked me up. "Look at all this dust; where were you hiding?" She gently wipes the dust out of my hair. She isn't the strict type nor the responsible one. I mean, I don't know what parent would even let their one-year-old run off without supervision multiple times. She always scolded me for wandering around alone but never tried to enforce or prevent it in any way.
"Better get you tidied up, Feli; we will have a visitor later," she said while carrying me to the dressers. "Brother Alista is coming by; he has always wanted to see you, his little nephew." She chuckled a bit. "He has been writing weekly asking us about you, saying you will be his little successor; it's quite adorable of him."
Alista? I've heard that name before in my parents' conversations; they talk about him like he's the pride of this family, especially coming from Father's mouth. He is some sort of knight or whatever. I don't know what that position holds in a world like this; it must be pretty high for Father to always be bragging. I can only wonder what kind of relationship those two have.
I finally got dressed; it took longer than I expected. Most of the time was used to get my big head through a shirt. That woman used so much force; I can still feel my head aching from that. Somebody please teach her about parenting 101 and how baby heads are mushy and fragile as hell.
Just when I got out of my room, I heard a loud crash near the front door. It must be them, the uncle Liyu was talking about. I crawled toward the corner to peek. I couldn't walk just yet; I'm pretty slow in getting the hang of that, maybe due to my big head weighing me down.
There I saw a shocking sight...
A man covered from head to toe in silver plating and a homeless guy singing drunkenly in front of the doorsteps—it was early noon.
Oh wait, the homeless-looking man is my father, Orista. He wasn't that badly dressed himself, but compared to the other, he might as well be mistaken for a muscular beggar on the street.
"This is your house, Oris?" The redhead man took a quick scan of the place. "Looks even more depressed than the last one!" He laughed drunkenly. "If you're lacking in wealth, you should have told me!"
"Laugh all you want, Alis," Orista talked back, not before taking a quick sip from the bottle. "At least I'm not the one who lost his wife to someone with a bigger dick!"
"Low blow!" the redhead, or Alista, replied, slapping my Orista back so hard he fell to the floor, the both of them still laughing like maniacs during all of this.
Well, there goes the image of a noble and righteous knight built inside of my imagination; he acts just like my Orista, a silly goof with an alcohol addiction. The way they treated each other is quite over the top; it kind of reminds me of myself and Gryan, always teasing and making fun of each other. Of course, none of them are taken seriously. I smiled a little when thinking back on those memories; I missed those times the most.
While lying on the floor chuckling, Orista noticed my presence behind the corner. Even when blindingly drunk, that guy still has clear vision of his son. "Feli, my boy!" He yelled loudly in my direction, startling me a little bit, "Come and let Daddy give you a big hug!" He raised both of his gigantic arms, urging me to come close.
I wouldn't dare; normally I'm already scared enough to have that bear hug when sober. In this state, he might actually flatten me for real.
"I'm guessing this must be your little boy." Alista slowly walked toward me; he crouched down to have a better view of my appearance. "Ha! A cute one, looks just like his mother, although nothing like the father of his."
He picked me up and raised me up to the sky; his eyes looked directly at mine as if he was searching for something. "It's true, the boy has eyes of the Slythers."
"You thought I would lie about something like that?" Orista laughed, getting up from the floor. "That's my world you're holding there."
"Of course he is." Alista said, "I just can't believe I would see such eyes in my lifetime and for them to belong to my nephew!"
Eyes of the Slythers? What are they talking about? Not like I haven't seen myself in the mirror before, but I couldn't find anything special about them, just normal dark hazel eyes and a super adorable face.
But more importantly, there is a strange man holding me up right now; he is infinitely more handsome compared to Orista—lady-man material. I can't believe these two are siblings; I don't see the family resemblance at all—well, anything except the personality.
"Ah, Alista, you arrived?" Liyu came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands using a cloth. "How was the journey?"
"It was alright, Sister Liyu, though a little bit too peaceful for my liking."
Liyu smiled gently and nodded. "That is good to hear. Come on now, supper is almost ready; we can do all the catching up on the dining table." After saying that, Liyu went back to the kitchen, not before saying, "Oh, and carry Feli on the way too; the boy always runs off when I'm not watching."
"Yeah, all right, ma'am." He said before lowering me down and putting me on his arm. "A little troublemaker, huh? At least you're just like your father in that aspect."
Orista came up and slapped Alista on the back heavily, seeming like a payback for earlier. "Wouldn't be a Plrivage without the naughty blood, would it?" He laughed proudly. "Hurry up now; I'm starving already!"
The supper itself wasn't anything noteworthy, mainly just two men gambling in drunkenness, all booze and wine, barely touching the food itself.
I tried to follow the conversation, but they were talking too fast and used many big words I haven't learned yet; at a certain point, I just gave up completely and focused solely on being spoon-fed by Liyu.
But one thing that caught my attention throughout the whole time was this long object that Alista brought with him; it was around 80-90 cm in length, wrapped around in cloth, and tied neatly around the top. Is it a weapon of some sort? A sword? A katana? I want to see a katana.
Just like any curious baby would act, I raised both of my arms out toward an object that piqued my interest and rambled.
Orista noticed my little need and chuckled slightly. "Looks like my little Feli took an interest in that package of yours, Alis."
Alista looked in my direction and sent out a small smile. "The boy has good eyes." He grabbed the long object down beside his chair. "This is my most prized possession." He slowly unravels the packaging, revealing a black tube covered in some sort of weird symbols. "A beauty, isn't she?"
"Bloody hell." Orista's jaw completely dropped upon seeing the strange dark object; he stood up and leaned forward slightly. "Can I have a look?"
"As if, I treasure this baby more than my own life." Alista said while hugging the tube like his life depended on it. "Besides, your big dirty hands might leave a stain on the hilt."
"Fine, fine..." Orista sat back down, his face looking completely defeated, like a child getting denied their favorite toy. "But is that really carved in the ancient language?"
Alista nodded. "The one and only, given by Sir Pegasus himself, of course only for his most loyal and worthy knight." He smiled confidently; well, maybe it was more of an arrogant one.
He twisted and pulled out the other half, underneath which was a sword just like I was hoping to see, but the blade itself seemed odd; it was also covered in those strange symbols, even more so than the sleeve it was hidden underneath. A strong aura emanated from the sword, being consumed and engulfed in blue flame, lighting the room in an ominous radiance. It was enchanting; it was a hypnotizing sight to witness.
Saying that my curiosity wasn't even more amplified when seeing that thing would be a lie. I was drawn to the mysterious nature of that piece of craft, all the questions in the world. I want to know it all; I want to learn it all.
Without even noticing, I was staring intensely at the blade itself; this seemed to catch the attention of Orista and Alista.
"You like this pointy thing, boy?" Alista laughed. "Any kid would run and scream once I unpacked her, let alone a baby. You're quite an anomaly." He said then, sleeving back that sword of his, "But I guess that is expected from a child who bears the eyes of the Slythers."
Liyu was, just like me, confused by all of this, even a bit scared and surprised when Alista pulled out a glowing sword mid-drinking; well, that is expected from a normal person. That begs the question, what kind of person is Orista, my father? Knowing about this ancient language, the symbols and having a brother from some sort of knighthood who held such a high position, is he just really an ordinary farmer?
Liyu calmed herself down a bit; she breathed in and out before drawing her attention back to me. "Time for a nap, Feli." She picked me up from the high chair, but I want to stay here a while longer. I want to hear about Alista's stories and about that sword of his, but life as a baby—I don't really have a choice of my own during my first 2-3 years of life. I can wiggle, scream, and cry all I want, but naptime is inevitable.
I was brought to the room next door where my crib is located; there I was placed. Liyu sat next to me on her chair and sang me a lullaby, but I'm currently too thrilled by earlier to even close my eyes properly. In the end, she was the one who fell asleep first instead of me. I was still lying there staring at the ceiling; I could still hear the conversation next door, just barely, but couldn't make out a single word behind the walls. It was quite torturous to know something was so close yet so far away at the same time.
Damn it, I wish to be in that room; I want to eavesdrop on the talk; I have so many questions. Curse this baby life and the limitation of a toddler's ability to speak their mind!