First Steps

Andrew's life in the orphanage was ordinary. He lived like any other baby. Sleep, eat and shit. Sometimes Sharlotta would tease him to garner any reaction. Trying all sorts of hilarious things. Making silly faces, tickling him and much more.

He was fed what looked like a liquid porridge. He didn't know what exactly it was made from but he could distinguish some ingredients by tasting them. 

He identified milk, oats, cheese and some others. It didn't come as much of a surprise as he knew that cow-like animals existed on Aria. 

Ordinary animals had a chance to evolve into Magical Beasts when they consume and digest resources that were nourished and filled with mana.

The resources on Azraa Continent were graded from 1st to 6th. Each grade further had 3 levels: Low, Mid, High. 6th-grade resources were those which were useful to Mana Kings when directly consumed. 

Those resources were considered legendary and practically non-existent since no such resource has appeared in the last 100000 years! 

It was largely known throughout Aria that Azraa Continent was practically barren. The reason why it hadn't been completely plundered and invaded by other continents was because Azraa Continent was naturally separated by giant and uncrossable oceans.

It was even rumored that Azraa Continent was the birthplace of Demons and Solaris. Thus, after the suppression of demons, Solar Goddess Scarlett sealed the whole continent and made it impossibly hard to advance past an Initial Mana Lord. 

Some Mana Kings of other continents repeatedly tried to break into Azraa Continent but failed each time. 

They were trapped in a glorified cage that was supposedly made by a God! 

After millions of years of fruitless tries, the forces of other continents labeled this place as forsaken since nothing seemed to be able to break through this invisible barrier. 

The reason why ordinary animals could evolve into Magical Beats by simply consuming magical resources was just a way of balancing all living organisms by the nature. 

It was also tightly connected with the matter of bloodlines. Bloodlines were just memories regarding the magic of other possessors of the same blood. It contained their comprehension of the way of mana, moreover, only knowledge was included and nothing personal. 

Bloodline was just one of the many ways to pass down one's complete knowledge, but it was more secure than any other method. As long as all possessors of the bloodline were alive and kept reproducing, the bloodline wouldn't die out but rather become stronger if possessors of the bloodline attained a higher Evolutionary Realm than the progenitor of the blood!

That's why the bloodline was one of the most defining factors on Azraa Continent. But it was extremely hard to awaken the bloodline as long as conditions set by the progenitor weren't met. 

The conditions might be as simple as being strong enough to withstand the power and influence of the bloodline. 

The majority of the time, when a mage tried to forcefully access their bloodline, they would get a backlash ranging from a minor headache to an absolutely gruesome death! Sometimes, their mind simply couldn't withstand the massive flow of information that their blood provides. 

___

Several days later, Sharlotta barged into the room like usual. By this time, all the babies were awake and idling around laying in their cribs. 

Even if the babies were left without care for a long time Elementary Sustaining Array was going to take care of their needs.

Elementary Sustaining Array was classified as a tier 1 array. Tiers of arrays were directly proportional to Evolutionary Realms. With tier 1 array being used for Apprentice Mages. 

As its name suggested, Elementary Sustaining Array was used to send necessary minerals and vitamins to living beings which were Apprentice Mages or just plain mortals. 

It spaned over the perimeter of the orphanage since sometimes there might not be enough staff to take care of all children in the entire orphanage!

There was only 1 caretaker for 120 children. In short a measly 1:120 ratio. There were about 4800 children of various ages in the orphanage. With 60% of them being less than 2 years old.

Each child had to be given the necessary care and attention to smoothly nurture him or her through their early years.

Naturally, there were also a lot of deaths among kids. A lot of them didn't live to become 16 years old. As magic was the embodiment of evolution and vice-versa. The diseases also were stronger and deadlier. 

Azraa Continent hadn't just survived all-ending plagues just once but many times throughout its history!

Sharlotta went by every single crib and fed the babies their liquid porridges using feeding bottles. She played with every baby and tried to give motherly love equally to everyone.

Until she approached Andrew's crib...

She warmly smiled at him.

"Little Andrew~, don't be so grumpy~, my sweet, sweet chocolate~" Sharlotta teasingly said as she took Andrew out of the crib. 

Yes! Chocolate existed on Aria!

She tossed him around as she swiftly caught him afterwards, but his blank face didn't give off any emotions. 

"Boo~, what a grumpy little scoundrel~" she commented, remembering all the times he inspected her body. It was extremely amusing to her that a baby looked at her this way. 

Naturally, Andrew had nothing else to do besides repeating and circulating knowledge in his head. While his mind was busy, his eyes enjoyed the view. The view being the stunning Sharlotta. Moreover, he could easily multitask so his sightseeing of her melons didn't interrupt him in any way.

As for the fact she might find it creepy? He gave zero fucks. He was just too bored!

He couldn't wait to take full control of his body and start working out!

To become a mage, one has to have a perfectly trained body and mind. Both of them should be in harmonious sync!

He estimated that it would take several months for him to take his first steps!

She played with the babies until it was time for the afternoon nap. 

Andrew discovered that a day consisted of 26 hours in this world! A year consisted of 360 days!

This was mind-blowing since this was extremely close to the timetable of Earth.

Andrew took his sweet nap as usual. He had dreams about events of his past life. The times when he had to brutally murder those that placed their hopes in him. Trampling over countless to reach the very top. Discarding any feelings of anyone as weaknesses and sins. This is what his dreams were.

The indication of his success as a mortal!

He didn't feel a tinge of shame or regret for betraying those whole loved him. He upheld absolutely no morals! His life in the slums taught him well. It caused him to be extremely selfish and egoistical since if you believed someone in the slums, you were doomed on the first day. 

The slums was a place where stealing was necessary, where murder was common, where betrayals were encouraged! He had to overcome everything! Shut down all his feelings as a human and reach the pinnacle. 

He started as a small pocketer. Eventually transitioning into a gangster. In the end, ruling over the most vital companies for humanity on Earth!

His doctrine was: [There are no morals if there isn't anyone left to uphold them!]

Precisely the slums were such a place. Only by adapting could you truly survive in a society of unrestrained and vile criminals!

Eventually, 2 months passed. 

Sharlotta as usually barged into the room with a dazzling smile. She took care of the needs of each baby. When she looked towards Andrew's crib. She was pleasantly surprised! He was standing!

She approached the crib and said with a smile "Aren't you a quick one?".

She took him out of the crib as she placed him on the wolly carpet. It was extremely soft and fluffy.

Andrew stood up using his hands as he swayed from side to side.

He took his first steps! Meanwhile, Sharlotta stood nearby ready to catch him if he fell. She was looking at Andrew expectantly like any mother would.

Andrew carefully took his first steps as he tried to balance himself. Everything was going smoothly until his legs gave in and he started falling. 

Sharlotta reacted quickly as she caught him. Her warm smile conveyed her emotions of happiness.

Suddenly, Andrew felt like teasing her!

He moved his lips as he said "Sharlotta".

Sharlotta went wide eyed as she couldn't believe this stern baby said her name! He repeated couple of times until he decided to make a low blow!

"Sharlotta~" he said as he finally put a smile on his slightly chubby baby face for the first time in this life! 

Sharlotta became even more shocked!

'This expressionless baby knows how to smile?!' her mouth went agape as if she learned world-breaking news!

Andrew kept grinning at her. His smile getting more mischievous with each second.

Andrew wasn't a sociophobe. He just didn't like to talk pointlessly. 

Right now he felt like teasing this woman to get back for all of her pranks. 

He suddenly took a step back attempting to fall head first. 

Sharlotta instantly reacted as she caught him. Her expression turned smug as she understood what he wanted to do. 

With a playful smile, she said "You are a mischievous one, aren't you?".

Today, Andrew took his first steps in this fascinating world!