Cleansed?

For the next day, the day after that and for maybe a few weeks, Robert did what any baby would do. An endless cycle of shitting, eating, sleeping and sometimes puking on people when he was a little too bored.

After the second day of his new life, Orion woke up to the new day with a completely refreshed body and a confident appearance. He spent a few days doing nothing but doting on his new son until he started spending less time being an adoring father and more time at a desk or away from home.

As for his mother, she would leave and come home several times a day but would always have a smile on her face. She would also almost always be home for meals and would always talk with a soft voice.

When he wasn't with his parents or sleeping the day away, he was either being stared at by one of his three siblings or using the breathing technique he had used to cast his first spell.

A deep, concentrated breath that was held in, resulting in a warm feeling in his chest, in an area nestled under his lungs. Robert knew that whatever he was doing was more magical in nature than anything he could practically explain, but between the tinge of excitement and the lack of consequences of using the technique, he saw no reason to stop. That on top of his ever increasing casting durations, made it a hard thing to pass up.

He also became aware of magic other than casting lights. Some of the servants would use hand signs or chants while others would use both or neither. Robert noticed that the less notable actions someone preformed before a spell, the more fluid the magical phenomenon would be. This meant that, it was either a difference in ability or experience and Robert sincerely hoped it was because of the latter.

Robert would watch maids use air magic to sweep dust off the floors and a dark watery substance to clean plates. The butlers would light the tips of their fingers with a small flame to light newly replaced candles and would move the earth with a tap of their feet to reorganize the front lawn or to make way for a new garden. He also saw a dark beam of energy used to clean the occasional spill of stomach acid that would sometimes makes its way onto people's clothes.

A mystery really.

Robert had nothing to do other than trying to understand the foreign language and throwing magic from his fingers whenever he wasn't wrapped up in a cloth. He would do it even if he was wrapped up, but the lack of visual confirmation of his actions kept him from practicing all day. Though trying to light a fire under a towel would probably get him killed, Robert wanted to enjoy the feeling of magic for a while longer.

It was the first time in his existence where he did something that brought him genuine joy. He didn't have a reason to do it, nor was his environment forcing him to learn. He was practicing magic out of his own free will and liberty, for simple fun.

If for nothing else, he would stay a little longer to see where magic could take him.

So aside from doing the oxygen intake routine to avoid suffocation, Robert had no responsibilities nor was there any fear of hunger. His new family seemed joyful and the children almost always had a smile on their faces.

To Robert though, he found it hard to feel any attachment to his new family.

'I mean really, I'm a full grown man in the body of their supposed newborn. If they knew the truth, how could either of us care for the other?'

He would ponder his situation every now and then but being unable to do anything about it, the only option left was to wait until he was able to properly talk.

For weeks this cycle continued. After practicing light magic magic for a while, Robert was comfortable enough to try and silently cast the other elements outside of darkness magic. Using it incorrectly or on himself would at best get him killed. If he was unlucky, it might only injure him enough to stay alive.

He would try to conjure a few droplets out of the air, or at times make spit bubbles but instead of on his lips, they would fly through the air.

At night, when he had the most freedom in both movement and personal space, he would play around with barely visible dots of fire. He would make his blanket flutter with wind magic or try to make the ground move with earth magic, which turned out to be a fool's errand.

The longer his session with the elements became, the more control he gained over them. The more he practiced, the more energy he consumed, and in turned the more milk he needed.

Robert was completely unfamiliar with how much a child should eat, especially in a new world where the human looking creatures could be completely different, but he was almost certain that the amount of sustenance he was inhaling was above his weight class.

At first he would drink every two to four hours, but at some point he started eating much more often for longer periods of time. But for lack of a better alternative, after the first three months of his delivery, his mother started feeding him the equivalent of this world's baby formula.

To Robert, it tasted almost the same but was sorely lacking in the comfortable warmth from his mother's embrace and the soothing tune of her heartbeat. Luckily for him, it was also around the time when his siblings could start to comfortably carry him.

'Joious? Joious. Joious Ernas! I kinda like it.'

It was also around the time where he knew the language enough to at least understand basic speech and attach a name to every face minus those that did the chores. From his understanding, his new mother, Jirni, had tasked the servants with helping his siblings to feed him, instead of just doing it themselves. It was a shame too, there was a really cute maid with an ample bosom that Robert was sure would do wonders in helping him fall asleep.

For today though, he was first picked up by the eldest brother, Gunyin Ernas. He had black hair and brown eyes, just like his father. For a boy 10 years of age, he was quite tall, clocking in at a bit over 5', as tall if not taller than their mother. He wore a complacent smile and would often times take Robert outside to the large gardens that complemented the even larger house.

He seemed incredibly mature for his age and had the tendency to stare off into the sky or follow the path of the multiple fish that lived in the garden fountain. At least with Robert, he didn't talk much and their bonding times would never last very long.

They did however last longer than with the next brother, the second eldest, the magnificent, glorious, all powerful Tulion Ernas!

Tulion was in simple terms, a bit rowdy. Framed with a familiar visage of blue eyes and bright blonde hair, this 7 year old was responsible for at least half of the atrocities committed in the Ernas household. He would steal the servants clothes, throw random ingredients into the cooking pots and could sometimes be caught wearing random panties on his head.

Hell, Robert could've sworn he saw his brother trying to hunt for fish in the fountain.

But it was clear from his childish laughs and beaming smiles that the boy thought his actions were all in good fun, but it was incredibly hard not to take it the wrong way. His pranks were fast and lethal in killing the pride of anyone who was caught in them.

With Robert, Tulion would go from tickling him to throwing him in the air to dipping his feet in cold water. Robert's lack of reaction quickly got him tossed aside into the arms of the final Ernas member, Phloria Ernas, the eldest and only daughter.

She was only 3 years old with hazel colored eyes and long black hair that had strands of blue mixed in. Though she was the smallest of the three, she was the one who spent the most time carrying and tending to Robert. To his knowledge, such a thing was only allowed because he was a very quiet and still child, only ever making a ruckus when he was hungry or needed a change of diapers.

Phloria was definitely Robert's favorite. She would do her best caring for him, adamantly telling everyone to let her make the formula or to let her be the one to lull him to sleep.

She gave her best efforts to mumble read through fairy tales. At times she would grab a paper sword and point it at one of the older brothers claiming:

*"I protect Joiees from you baddies!"* as she ran around the house chasing her brothers while a poor maid was made to carry Robert as she follows the energetic girl around.

Her childish joy was like an infectious disease, making it nearly impossible to not be happy when you were around her. Robert had many words to say about his new family but he had narrowed it down to this.

'If I had to save them from a fire, I'd at least try to save Phloria.'