Ch-3 The Birth Of Cid Kagenou

[Minoru POV]

When my eyes fluttered open for the first time since I supposedly entered the light and ascended, I was met with nothing but a ceiling. 

Which did confuse me greatly, making me wonder why in god's name I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. 

But while I was contemplating this, two large figures covered my face. I stared at both of them with widened eyes, unable to believe what was happening. 

I noticed it... I finally found it...! 

Glowing particles in the air around me.

Without a doubt in my mind, I knew exactly what this meant.

Magic! I was staring at magic! 

Does this mean... I really managed to cross the world and obtain magic ? 

I was so ecstatic about this I wanted to squeal happily. I could feel my face scrunch up, my eyes sparkling as I raised my hands to try and grab the particles in the air. 

But as I was doing this, I noticed something. My hand wasn't the same colour or shape it used to be. 

For some reason, my hand looked like it had no flesh, just a white, glowing outline filled with internal colours of varying degrees, all moving randomly and independently like some kind of aura. 

I felt the air around me was different. It was heavier than what I was used to. It was thicker. 

All because of this magical particles in the sky. 

But I I continued to observe the magic particles with fascination, I realised something. They're... Very small. 

So small I'm fact that they can count as microscopic. So small in fact, that it could be measured in Angstroms! 

But wait...! There's more! 

Inside these magic particles were even smaller particles, so small in fact I could mistake them for atoms. I had no idea how I could see them, but I could! 

"Awe~! Looking at how adorable his little smile is!" I heard a female squealing, making my drop my smile and try to pinpoint the location of origin of the voice. 

"Agreed. But I don't understand... Why are his eyes glowing ? What's with that weird aura in his eyes ?" 

As I peered into this magical abyss, my eyesight began to waver for some reason. The colours began to dissipate and the world turned to a colour I recognised. 

The normal vision of a human! The colour I was used to seeing! 

While I was left confused, I looked at my hands, bringing them close to my face, and my eyes couldn't help but widen in shock. 

My hands... They were so small! So stubby! 

What happened to me?! 

I tried to move, but realised I couldn't. As the world became more recognisable, I finally managed to notice the three figures towering over me. 

They were all humans! A male and two females. Both unnaturally bigger than they should be. 

I was being carefully held by the first female, who looked mature enough to be a mother. Her eyes were closed and yet for some odd reason, she was able to still see me. Her hair was a dark, glossy colour and her skin was soft and delicate. 

On the other hand, the older male had dark eyes and was apparently half bald, with only some facial hair to make up for the lack of hair on his shining cranium, which only covered some parts of the back of his head. 

At the corner of my eye, I noticed another girl standing there. She seemed slightly younger younger than the previous woman, but still an adult nonetheless. Except that she was extraordinarily more beautiful than the first girl. Her hair was a pretty hazelnut colour and her eyes matches her hair, with her pupils being slightly darker. Without a doubt, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and the expression on her face was nothing but serene, like that of a caring mother's. 

 [IMAGE] 

But I knew, that she wasn't my mother. Why ? Because she was wearing a maid outfit, signifying that she was nothing more than a worker in this place. 

My eyes then went back to the two before as my situation finally dawned on me. 

I've been reincarnated as a baby in a magical fantasy world! 

I glad! But how though ? I wonder... Did it have something to do with the voice of the world?! 

[Correct. The Voice Of The World has hereby listened to the prayers of the newly born Cid Kagenou and granted his otherwise insatiable wishes.] 

I heard it again! 

Yes! It's all thanks to this voice! 

Thank you soooo much, Voice Of The World! Don't worry, I'm so incredibly grateful to you, I will fulfill whatever wishes I made to make you proud! Even though you probably don't have emotions...

Yeah, that's right! I'll become god, just like I said I will! I'll control everything and reach the very top of this world and then the next! Just like I promised before I died! I think I'll even start a religion with YOU as it's god! Yeah! That's a great idea! 

[Cid Kagenou shall receive {Belief Inducement}, but due to to unique skill {Favorability}, the skill has been integrated into it and become {Belief Manipulation}.] 

[Cid Kagenou has obtained extra skills {Magic Perception} due to the existence of the skill {Metaphysical Comprehension}.] 

...

I stared straight up in disbelief. Is it really that easily to obtain these skills ? 

[No. Cid Kagenou is able to do it because of his bottomless, never-ending desire that surpasses the regular mortal realm.] 

[Cid Kagenou obtained {Magic Perception} because of {Metaphysical Comprehension}, which lead to Cid Kagenou observing the magicules before viewing the real world!] 

Did it just exclaim at the end there...? 

....

Nothing...

Thank you very much, Voice Of The World! I certainly will not disappoint you! Especially not after receiving a blessing from you!

Silence huh...? 

It seems I can no longer heat the Voice Of The World. A shame. I would've liked to talk more. 

But that's fine. The voice in question wasn't an entity, it was an integrated, multidimensional, egoless being without a proper form of any kind. 

So my name was Cid Kagenou... Funny how my last name still remains the same even after reincarnating into a completely different world. 

"Wait a minute... Something's not right." I heard my mother say and looked up at her. 

"Yeah, he's not crying at all." Said my new dad. 

Both of them were staring down at me with worried faces, the former having her eyes closed for some unknown reason while the latter held a bit of seriousness along with his anxiousness. 

On the other hand, the maid standing next to them was observing the child, that being me, with an expression that only spoke on thing— curiosity. 

I had no idea why she was staring at me like that, but she smiled at me. Unlike my worried parents, it looked like she somehow understood something, something neither me nor my new parents could. 

She's been staring at me like ever since I heard her say... Oh...

I get it now... 

If I'm not mistaken, I'm certain I heard her say something along the lines of, "Why are his eyes glowing ? What's with that weird aura in them ?". 

But she didn't seem bothered by it. If anything, she looked a little... proud ? 

But I was quick to realise my mistake. A baby not crying after being born is mad suspicious. 

Quickly, I opened my mouth and made an almost pained expression, before letting out a hearty cry. One that left me feeling embarrassed at myself for this. 

"Waah! Waah! Waah!" I cried. 

My father suddenly gained a small grin on his face. "Oh! What a hearty cry!" 

"It seems I was indeed mistaken." 

On the other hand, the maid opened her eyes and looked at me like I was a delicate flower. 

"It must've taken a while for the shock to go away..." I heard her say this and my senses went beyond what I could have ever imagined. 

Activating my skill, {Metaphysical Comprehension}, I began to peer directly into her while still crying, albeit, a little softer. I then finally understood what she was thinking. 

When she saw my eyes, which had apparently glowed slightly with a weird red symbol in them, she seemed taken back. Almost like she knew what it was, but at the same time, she was clueless. 

But one thing she understood was... I was able to see the magic of the world and perceive it in ways she wouldn't be able to. 

It probably came as a surprise to her when I accidentally activated my skill upon my birth. The first thing a baby usually sees is their parents, specifically the mother. 

But me... The first thing I saw, wasn't even a human. It was magic. 

That's probably why she reacted that way. But I couldn't see any malicious intent as that smile appeared to be as pure as it could ever be. She seemed almost proud of me for it. 

I then heard a bunch of happy, irregular footsteps coming my way. With a side glance, I noticed the happy smile of a cheerful female child, one that appeared to be only around two or three years old. She had dark hair and red eyes, her expression held nothing but joy and fascination. 

Turns out, she's my older sister, named Claire Kagenou. 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Magicules... That's what those are.

It's been about three weeks since I've been reincarnated and as a baby, there isn't exactly much I can do. I can't even so much as talk or walk yet. 

So I spent all this time studying and understanding the phenomena called magic. 

Now, from what I've learnt, there is actually a lot more to magic than what the regular folk of this world know. 

The people believe magic to be a type of energy, just like all other kinds of energy, and to an extent, they are right. 

But nobody has been able to peer beyond the magic that the residents of this world generally utilise. 

But I can. 

I was able to see past the magic and view the structural particles that made it. It's components. 

The Voice Of The World, which I'll just call, VOTW, referred to them as "magicules". A name that sounds strangely similar to the term "molecule", from Earth. 

But rather than molecules, magicules are more closely related to atoms and made up of even smaller particles called Spiritrons, that behave the same way as subatomic particles.

They are invisible to the naked human eye and despite having mass, do not normally interact with most types of physical matter and energy, although they are capable of doing so. They act as a sort of radiation and can be found inside of materials as well as in the atmosphere.

Magicules are a particle highly susceptible to the thoughts and emotions of living beings. At the most basic level, this can be utilized to fill magicules with one's intent and then flinging them at a target, achieving a sort of telepathic communication. At a more advanced level, you can fill magicules with complex images of phenomena by imagining the laws behind them, changing the form of the magicules to match that of the mental image, and performing what is known as Aspectual Magic. 

Spiritrons are the subatomic particles that make up all forms of spiritual matter, lacking any sort of attribute and filling a position similar to that of the neutron. As a type of spiritual matter, spiritrons are normally intangible and invisible to the naked eye, though it possible for them to materialize into a solid state.

Despite spiritrons normally being infused with attributes and compounded to make composite-like particles such as magicules, they are capable of existing in a state all on their own. In this state, spiritrons move erratically through space-time in seemingly random patterns, making them seem to move ignoring time and space passing through all kinds of barriers and slip through physical materials.

I already knew I would have incredible potential with magic. But the introduction of magicules and spiritrons made things so much more complicated and so much more interesting! 

• Mana Core

• Dimensionality 

• Favorability 

• Semi-immortality 

• Metaphysical Comprehension 

• Progressive Evolution 

These are the skills I received and the ones I'm going to use to its fullest. 

For now, I'll ignore {Dimensionality} because I really don't see why I would need to use it this far. I'll probably find use for it later. 

On the other hand, let's look at the other skills of mine, shall we ? 

{Favoribility} is essentially just a weaker, passive version of probability manipulation, able to subconsciously influence things to favour me. It has potential to be extremely powerful in the future, but for now it's not too strong. 

But now, it's become {Belief Manipulation}, the ability to manipulate the faith and belief of other people, increasing, decreasing or affecting it in a certain way depending on how I use my power. 

Semi-immortality meant just about what you might think it means. It just means I'm almost immortal, but not entirely. I can be killed, but I cannot die of old age and it seems I'll be extremely resistant to physical attacks and I'm equipped with regeneration as well. 

How amazing! 

It makes me wonder what kind of things I could do with a nigh-indestructable body. 

Metaphysical Comprehension, by far the most useful and important skill in my small arsenal, allows me to peer into the metaphysical world and see beyond the limits of the normal mortal eyes. In addition to this, it also makes it so much easier to comprehend things around me, allowing me to understand the very functionings and concepts of these phenomena. 

Mana Core. It's essentially just ability to store magic into some kind of metaphysical ball made entirely of spiritrons. Because of its pure and conductive nature, it has the ability to assimilate and absorb the properties of things around it. It's like some sort of singularity. 

It's not the source of my power, not a weakness, nor is it a way to control my magic properly. It is a means to speed up metaphysical processes as well as function as a catalyst of sorts. It can even store spiritual memories and things that are not bound by the physical laws of the world. 

This skill of mine, combined with {Metaphysical Comprehension} and {Progressive Evolution}, makes me a genius of adaptation. 

Speaking of which, my final skill, {Progressive Evolution}, makes it so much easier for me to learn. I'm able to acclimate to the things around me so much faster and better than I normally would. That and the fact that this skill can also help evolve my other skills in ratio to my own growth. 

Combined with the catalysing, conducting and storing properties of {Mana Core}, with the help of my otherworldly perception ability, {Metaphysical Comprehension}, makes me an absolute beast and an unrivalled genius. That and my past knowledge and memories along with my already greatly above average intelligence and skills, I knew exactly what to do in the future. 

My dream would come true! 

To become a mastermind in the shadows and control the events of everything to my liking! And finally become god! 

As I was thinking and plotting all of this, I was just drinking my mother's breast milk... as embarrassing as that is...

But hey! I managed to find an exploit! 

Using {Mana Core} I am able to conduct the magic in the air around me and bring it into the core, which breaks it down to its most spiritual level. In other words... Spiritrons. 

I've been doing this for the past three weeks now. I've been passively absorbing the magic in the air around me and purifying it. It's a very complex thing for a human to do, especially someone my age, who shouldn't even have a properly developed brain yet. 

My magic power is now nearly 1100x greater than it was when I was born. Granted I am a baby, so it's not too much magic, but still far greater than it should be. 

As for how my mother comes into play here...

I don't like breast milk. I'm too old for this shit and it's embarrassing. But I also know that I need nutrition for my infant body to grow. 

So I used this to my advantage. 

Whenever it was time for me to drink, I would latch onto my mother for much longer than normal. Ordinary people might think I'm just very hungry, which is exactly what my mother thought as well. 

But the truth is, when I drink the milk, I'm breaking it down into magicules and then storing it into my {Mana Core} as spiritrons. Awesome, right ? 

In addition to this, I also used my baby hands, which held onto her bare skin, to conduct her magic. By conducting her magic, not only am I absorbing her magic power, but I'm also purifying it, making her absorb more mana and in turn, allowing me to receive more! 

But since I need nutrition, I decided not to turn all the milk into power, only around 65%. 

Now, it may seem like without my {Mana Core}, I cannot do such things. 

Which is simply not true! 

At first I was confused how this thing worked, but because I was quickly able to understand the functionings of my skills and now, I can conduct magicules by myself! So why do I need the {Mana Core} ? 

Magicules behave in the same way radiation does. Top much of it is simply unhealthy, especially for an infant human from a lesser world. 

I'm certain the people or more advanced worlds can handle it, but not this world. They don't even know what magicules are or that they even exist! 

Another reason, is because it's very hard to convert them into Spiritrons. With my {Mana Core} it's relatively easy, but I'm certain I'll be able to do it myself without the skill in the near future. 

But I need a storage unit and a purification system. That's my {Mana Core}. Not to mention it's like a catalyst to make everything easier for me. 

So in short, even without this skill, I would have been able to do all of this. But not as quickly as I can now. 

At this rate, I'll be overpowered by the time I become a proper child. 

I also noticed that maid, who's name is apparently Adelinde, staring at me all the time from the sidelines whenever I do this. It's like she can see me do it. 

It's a little confusing, because she's pretty weak. She is by no means and expert or a fighter. But it seems her magic perception is above average. But overall, she isn't exactly a threat. Especially considering her personality. 

Speaking of which, Adelinde is basically my babysitter. Whenever my parents can't be there, she's the one that takes care of me. Apparently she was also Claire's babysitter as well. She's a trusted member of the Kagenou house and a very likeable person.