Identity (2)

A few moments ago...

Near the raging river, a young woman in regal attire kneeled with a bundle of cloth in her arms.

Carefully, she put the bundle in a basket, and as the cloth unfurled itself, revealing a newborn baby with a few strands of silvery white hair, a golden earring adorned his left ear and a golden armor with sun patterns wrapped around his torso.

"Forgive me for the sin I am about to commit, my son."

Speaking those words into the newborn baby's ear, she delicately lowered the basket into the water, allowing it to drift away with the raging current as tears formed at the corner of her eyes.

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Present time...

'Who, in their right mind, would discard their newborn into a river? At least, put me up for adoption or left me before an orphanage!'

I couldn't help but feel furious and resentful towards my supposed mother who abandoned me, whatever the reasons she might have to commit such an act, throwing an infant into a river to survive on his own was not only cruel but also inhumane.

Sighing inwardly, I tried to not think too much into this matter and decided to go with the flow.

At least, the Essences were with me as they magically appear in my basket, hidden underneath the cloth covering me.

'Also, I don't know if this is common in this world, but my strength, despite being a newborn, feels unnaturally robust.'

I clenched my fist, and to my surprise, I could do so consciously.

With clear intent, I reached out and grabbed one of the Essences, the red one specifically, which I intuitively knew to be the Essence of the Home.

However, as I uncorked the lid and bottomed out the potion, I felt no changes whatsoever occurring and only feeling a little full.

Until a white portal appeared in front of me and swiftly pulled me into its depths, the stark brightness momentarily blinded me.

As I opened my eyes, I found myself no longer in the river, but in a vast expanse of white space with fluffy clouds as the ground and a humble cottage stood in the center.

Not liking the aesthetics, I changed the background to be blue sky with plentiful clouds while the cottage transformed into a floating gothic-styled fortress resembling the Hanging Gardens of Babylon but upside-down and bigger.

Then, a pair of automaton maids, created through the function of the Home, which allowed me to summon servants, or in my case, automaton maids that might or might not have resembled certain robotic twins with atomic heart, emerged from the hallway.

They gently took me and my basket, leading the way to the throne room where I would take the other Essences.

"Welcome home, My Lord."

Arriving at the throne room, I was greeted by a young woman with flowing brown hair, fair skin, and a long dress.

[Image here↓]

She took me into her arms carefully, while simultaneously carrying the basket containing my other Essences, and ascended the stairs leading to the majestic throne.

Sitting on the armrest of the throne, she then uncorked the bottle containing shiny golden liquid with a honey-like consistency inside and gently fed it into my mouth.

The Essence of the Ideal Self allowed me to transform into my very definition of an idealized person, both in body and mind.

For my appearance, I knew exactly how I wanted to look as I began to imagine the kind of body shape and looks I wanted.

As for my personality, I decided to give myself more willpower and motivation to ensure I didn't become too lazy and complacent with all the things I had been handed for free because I knew I would.

After mentally confirming my decision, my body began to glow in a golden light and grow from my baby self into a full-grown adult of 1.85 meters tall with a lean and muscular build, healthy peach skin without any blemishes, eight-pack abs, and above average pole.

[Image here↓]

Locks of silver-white hair fell in front of my eyes as I ran my fingers across them before tidying them into a customary man-bun with a rubber band while my eyes transfixed on the floating mirror, both of which I created using the Home, as I checked my new looks.

[Image here↓]

"Hm?"

I didn't notice them before because I felt nothing, but there was a semi-transparent oval-shaped red gem embedded at the center of my chest surrounded by gold shards in reminiscent to the sun with its shining radiance, while my left ear was adorned with an earring in the shape of wheel of some sort.

[Image here↓]

"How curious. What are these?"

With a glance, I knew these two signified something divine and the first thing, or rather, person that came to mind was Karna from the tale of Mahabharata, to be specific his Type-Moon counterpart, but with a healthier skin tone and was slightly muscular build.

"Abandoned by his mother in a river, check. Have divine armor and earring, also check. Everything checked out, I am Karna. And if this universe is indeed based on Type-Moon, then I'd rather ball, but all versions of Artoria exist here!"

"Wait, I can just go to another world and build my strength. Then, I will join the Kurukshetra War, emerge victorious, find way to go to future timelines, fuck Alaya and her Counter Force, join Chaldea as a Master, live a stable life, and only then we ball."

Well, those were the framework of what I might want to do in this universe, but something was bound to change, and happenstance and accident was commonplace in this world.

Now that I knew my identity and the possibility of being in a world as absurd as Type-Moon verse, I became more determined to gain more power to protect myself and my loved ones, if any.

Turning to look at the woman sitting on the armrest of my throne, I thought, 'Yep, I already have one.'

"Hestia, come here!"

She was the personification of the Home itself I made in the image of the Greek Goddess of Hearth, Home, and Family, and her name, Hestia, reflected that.

"Yes, My Lord."

Hestia's scarlet eyes lit up akin to a flame upon hearing her name being called as she stood up and came before me while I sat down on the throne, she followed suit and kneeled on the floor between my legs as she understood the assignment.