Knowledge

I was a queen that could have armies kneel before her with a snap of a finger. Many men, young and old, strong and weak, clean and filthy, rich and poor, had pursued me. I was the most powerful woman of my time, outdueling competitors from different countries and my own. I was second to none with my techniques and skills.

It was all necessary, for becoming a king or queen wasn't decided by some vote or handed down, but rather, only the strongest could rise to the top and become the king or queen of their country.

Even in my past life, no warrior, no matter how experienced, could defeat me, someone that used hatred as fuel to strengthen herself. Yet, despite all my achievements, I couldn't think of a prouder moment in my two lives than now.

I can crawl!

Until now, I relied on the stories my mother would tell while I pretended to slowly be falling asleep in order to learn more about this world. If she stopped too soon, I would grumble out noises of complaint. Although, now that I think about it, it was probably more cute than intimidating to hear a baby grumble.

My father would sit me down and idly talk to me about his past, which helped me learn about who and what inhabited this new world of mine. It wasn't much, but it was enough for now.

So far, I've made some progress in gathering those small lights together, but they moved too slowly for me to finish in a few months. Aside from that, my only achievements were crawling and figuring out that those lights are actually called mana.

My mother and father talked about something called a core, and I've heard them mention mana multiple times, so I guessed that those colorful lights are mana. Aside from that evidence, the feeling of those lights gathering together reminded me of forming a ki center. Since this world had mana and something called a core, I pieced two and two together, figuring out that I was creating a mana core.

Aside from my few discoveries about this world, I'm starting to understand my family and my new self. My new name was Artha Leywin, Art for short. I was born a commoner to an adventurer, which I was surprised to hear, and an adventurer guild receptionist.

Both of my parents were retired, with my father occasionally taking jobs as a guard for the local farmers. Unlike what I first thought, Ashber was pretty prosperous, and it was just that only the big towns get any actual attention.

While crawling around, I noticed a mirror in the washroom and decided to look at myself. After studying myself, the insecurity of my man-like name was gone. I was only a few months old, and I had already become a beautiful little girl.

I had a batch of pale wheat-colored hair that looked drained of all color, big and bright brown eyes that almost seemed to have an orange shine in the dark, and pale, delicate skin that made me question my past status as a fighter.

My eyes were a brighter color than my mother's, my pale skin was also inherited from my mother but paler, and my wheat-colored hair was a bit of a mystery, as my mother's hair is auburn, and my father's hair is brown.

Let's hope no one tries to pursue me by force this time. I don't want my family to know what happened to those who did in my previous life.

It took me about a month and a half to finally learn how to crawl. Every day, I sat in front of the mirror and admired myself for a few minutes before crawling towards the study room, where my mother kept a lot of books she got back when she was working at the adventurers guild.

Those books varied in topics from mana, mana beasts, spells, to history, culture, artifacts, and... copulating?! Why the hell is this in a house with a baby that loves to read?!

Putting down a book on my favorite subject, copulati- ahem, mana cores, and closing my eyes, I began concentrating. I took a deep breath and let it out in fifteen consecutive shallow huffs.

The mana slowly drifting towards my solar plexus sped up as I imagined it gathering together to form a mana core. I imagined the black mana particles created from mixing the mana and my blood.

The progress was far from noticeable, but then again, I was only a few months old, so my brain wasn't strong enough to exert its will over mana. Give it a few years, and it would all change.

It's weird, but I hope my breasts grow soon as well.

It was a little uncomfortable not feeling them there when I've been used to them for over twenty years. I would have to readjust all my techniques since my center of mass changed.

I let out a sigh before frowning a little, finding a mana particle that wasn't moving. I focused entirely on that mana particle, and after a few minutes, it eventually moved towards my slowly forming core.

Suddenly, I felt a tug on my stomach, and I could no longer feel the ground beneath me.

"There you are! Honey, are you having trouble taking a poopy?"

Opening my eyes, I saw my mother, whose face was directly in front of my own. She turned me around and sniffed my butt, but didn't smell anything, so she took me towards my crib before placing me down.

I huffed in disapproval, but my mother's incoming words made my eyes lit up. "Do you want some food?"

It's been a few hours since I last ate, and I was understandably starving. Unfortunately, I couldn't walk up to my mother and ask for food, as it would be weird.

I couldn't imagine a toddler walking up to me and staring into my very soul before talking for the first time. "Mother dearest, I, thyne humble spouse, requires nutrients and would be utmost grateful if thee may provide me with sustenance."

Fortunately, my mother took that as an answer and headed towards the kitchen. She started to cook some food for me and or us.

While she does that, I would like to resume my nine-month wish of forming a mana core. I closed my eyes and imagined my core. Seeing the particles slowly drift towards it, I got to work and sped up the process.