3. Prologue III (Family)

The cries of Hal Estize echoed throughout the manor. His cries were oddly loud; the heavenly essence in his body had yet to settle as it was still mixed with the Phoenix's. A few even fainted as his cries pierced their souls.

It was a sharp cry like the Phoenix's. Thankfully, Arya was there to quell his cries.

"There, there, little Hal. Mother is here. Mother will protect you from any harm."

Hal felt Arya hugged him close to her chest. With his emotions soothed, an inexplicable sense of closeness and reliance rose from his chest.

It was a new feeling for him, yet it was also familiar. It granted him a sense of being secured and protected; it was as though no calamity would befall him if he stayed in her arms.

'My eyes …it's heavy.'

The fatigue of having just been born finally overcame Hal, and he closed his eyes. The last thing he saw was Arya's smile and Daryun's scruffy face before falling asleep on Arya's embrace.

Hal woke up around midnight and feeling his stomach rebelling against him, he cried and demanded to be fed.

Soon, he found it somewhat troubling. He did not expect his demands to be met differently than he expected; Hal was breastfed by Arya, which made him feel conflicted.

At one angle, he was satisfied with feeling full; on the other aspect, he felt conflicted because he was sucking the breast of someone else's woman.

This conflict lasted for three minutes until he found himself accepting the situation as something necessary.

'I'll pass this phase soon enough. Besides, she is my mother. There is no shame in doing this.'

Hence, Hal threw his worries away.

His life as a baby began, other than the Phoenix phenomenon the night he was born, everything else was normal. He eats, sleeps, and poops; that's it.

His clothed diaper will be changed after doing the deed, and he'll reflexively grab the fingers of his parents. That's right, it was all by reflex and not because he wanted to do it.

But unlike the life of other babies, Hal found himself in a banquet to celebrate his birth when the night of the next day came rolling in.

Everything around him was bright, and from the clothing of the people present, it was a gathering of the rich. Their clothes and posture were befitting of people with status.

"Is that Hal? Madam Arya, might I hold him for a minute?"

"What do you mean, Madam? You are the Brother of Daryun, why are you acting so formal? It's annoying me; do you want to get beaten up!?"

"Haha, of course not Big Sis. But Daryun is no longer a Fegalion as he and you have established your own family, so I thought it was proper. Well, moving on, can I hold him in my hands?"

"Just be careful, okay? Daryun may hesitate to beat up anyone, but he'll let you have it if you mess with him, okay, Ditus?"

Arya gave Hal to Ditus, who vaguely resembled Daryun and had a potbelly. Ditus raised Hal to the air and smiled at him, looking like an idiot.

"I can no longer tease him about him not having a son. He has the upper hand now. Damn you, you little creature, why did you have to be a boy!?"

The words of Ditus would have sound offensive if not for the known fact that he had been teasing Daryun, his younger brother, over the fact he had no son. But it was actually still offensive as it sounded like he wished Daryun never to have a son.

However, it was, but a jest and Ditus' eyes showed glee kissing and tossing Hal in the air.

'This is fun.' He casually commented in his mind.

Hal enjoyed being tossed like that, and he reflexively began to laugh. Ditus saw this and held Hal closed to his chest and began to wail loudly.

"Waah, finally, someone from Daryun's line showed me a smile. The two lady brats didn't even show a smile when I picked them up like this. Big sis Arya, do you think he'll like the Southern Gold City?"

"Why?"

"I'll take him there with me to raise, don't worry I'll return him in fifty years. This child is not fit to be raised by the cold-hearted Daryun, the benevolent I will do it…for the sake of this child's future. I Ditus will present myself to take care of him." Ditus said with a smile on his face. He looked at Hal once again and began to feel warmth in his heart, "How can such an angel appear in the Estize family?"

Ditus sounded like a creepy pedophile eyeing a child, but then a figure appeared before him, and Arya simply smiled, saying, "Ask him about it yourself."

Bam!

"Don't sound so serious about it, I'll kill you."

"Ow! Daryun, you bastard, how dare you do that to your older brother!?"

"Shut up, I'll use my sword if you say anything else."

Ditus said nothing any further, he looked at the still smiling Hal and began tearing up. He hugged Hal close to his chest, saying his grievances about his younger brother.

"See that, Hal? Don't ever become like that father of yours, okay? He's a bad person, an evil person, ow, god damn it Daryun."

Arya took Hal from Ditus' hands and watched the two brothers act like idiots. She smiled and cheered; the rest also did the same.

The banquet hall was wide and, in the middle, there was a clear area where the two brothers bickered and fought. It was a good thing to watch, and even the newborn Hal watched it with glowing eyes.

Bam!

"Mother, father! Where's our brother?!"

"Darya, pipe down, don't be disrespectful."

Darya Estize the Tiger of West Mountains and Alri the Reaper of the Kings. The two were twins and have different personalities, but both have their similarities.

Both are geniuses, true geniuses that shook the realm. The two had a beauty that calls for a line of suitors that extends from an end of a continent to the next. But their most striking feature that everyone knows is the fact that they do not care who the opponent is; they are savage, bloodthirsty slaughterers, or so others say.

"Aiya, this little guy is my brother? Hehe, he has my eyes."

"How can you tell, Darya? You can't even see his eyes yet."

"I can feel it through my brotherly bonds, they say blood connects a family, I can feel it through that."

"Fair enough."

Alri didn't want to argue with Darya and just accepted her words. With a sigh, she approached Darya and took Hal away from her.

Hal looked at Alri's eyes and found a unique silver corona etched in her pupils. Alri's pupils glowed a dangerous light, she peered through the soul of Hal, trying to see if anything is wrong,

'I haven't seen that before, how beautiful.'

Hal looked at her eyes and stretched his arms to revel in its beauty. Alri was startled and moved closer to him, and when Hal touched her face and showed her a gentle smile, Alri's heart skipped a beat.

"Isn't your brother very brave?"

Arya placed her hands on Alri's shoulder before speaking. Arya smiled at her daughter before grabbing Alri's hands and putting it on Hal's frail and dainty hands. Hal grabbed her finger, and Alri's expression changed to delight even though she didn't smile.

Alri found her brother as unique. He was exceptional – very much so.

"You're not afraid? That's weird; you're a peculiar baby. Now that I think about it, you didn't even flinch when being handled by Darya."

Hal spent the night being held by Alri, who refused to give him to anyone. She would show a glare to those who will come for Hal and those who saw that chose to leave Alri alone.

Only her family could come close to Alri, resulting in Ditus to become depressed. He can take his nephew away, but an argument with Alri is not a physical but a mental one. Her words are never minced, and she is forward with her thoughts and actions.

'This family is very varied.' Hal wished to stay awake, but the baby in him began to take over. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, 'Ugh, no, I wish to...watch more...'

But even someone with the experience of a thousand deaths could not overcome his primal instincts. Hal closed his eyes and slept, he had a peaceful face with him, and by the time he opened his eyes, it was already around 3:00 in the morning.

It was still too early for him to demand anything, thankfully, he was not hungry, and the 'cry' did not come out of his mouth. He tried moving his body but failed; he still can't sit up with his still frail body.

Lying on his back, Hal closed his eyes once again. He did not sleep and instead began feeling the energy of this world.

Every single world he got transmigrated to had unique energies. But in essence, their way of cultivating that power is the same.

Breathing, that is the way to do it. In the three of the many lives he took over, he managed to gather three different methods, but, in the end, all of these three methods could be broken down into three stages.

Breathing through the mouth and nose, breathing through the soles of one's feet, and breathing through the skin.

Hal did not know what the energy is called in this world, nor did he know what it is, but he could tell it was the same as any other.

Breathing through the nose and mouth, Hal began feeling the energy of the world with much ease.

As an infant, he is at his most sensitive phase. His body has little to no impurities, and his body has yet to develop. This is the perfect time to improve his body.

'If I wish to live, then I must have strength.'

Hal does not wish to become a warring warlord, but he wants to live a long life.

He no longer wishes to return to the darkness that entrapped him for who knows how long.

He does not wish to die after gaining a life, Hal would have abandoned everything to live, but he cannot do that. In this life, he has a family, it might be because he lived hundreds of lives seeing his family die or being abandoned, but countless voices begged him to stay beside them.

Was it the lingering soul of the past lives? He did not know, but one thing is for sure, he cannot leave their side for his sake and remnants that stuck with him after death.

'I have responsibilities now.'

He will live with this family and do his best to keep them by his side for as long as he could.

Hal continued breathing and tried to harness the power of the world's 'breath'. It entered his system and began swirling inside.

Hal's heavenly essence reserve began to swirl and beat with his heart, "badump", "badump", his heart began to pump blood to different parts of his body, and the heavenly essence flowed with it.

He loosened his entire body, his muscles relaxed, and then felt something coming out. Is it the impurities? Hal was unsure; he pushed with everything he had.

'I can feel something coming out...this is it!'

Finally, it came out, and he abruptly opened his eyes. He felt something warm down south. He opened his mouth and cried because of irritation.

Arya came as soon as she could, and the smell reached her nose. She laughed.

"Oh, Hal made a mess."

His first attempt of cultivation achieved in him pushing out the impurities out of the right hole.

He succeeded...