Chapter 2; From toddler to crawler; New life with the Leywin Family
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Inside the wooden house, a cute child gazed at the ceiling with a creepy emptiness in his eyes.
'This is mana...' He reached this conclusion after observing for the past few days, although he was already certain it was indeed mana, but there was a possibility it wasn't.
As he had been sensing something in the surroundings. Occasionally, he noticed dust-like particles floating in the air.
'It's been several days since I arrived in this world.' Alucard thought as he gazed at those particles while lying in the crib. Well, he has nothing else to do besides this.
In the beginning, Alucard thought they were just dust particles, and didn't pay much attention to these particles.
Nevertheless, over the past few days, Alucard observed the floating particles not only present during the day, but also more prominent at night.
Additionally, Alucard noticed he can see better at night than during the day; that's obvious.
'Can I see mana, because I'm a true vampire?' Alucard wondered. He couldn't find any other explanation.
While he couldn't remember most of [Alucard's] abilities, due to limited screen time in anime, and his own memory, also a bit about the TBATE world information, which most were blurry.
However there's a catch, there's a feeling, more likely institutions, that he can see the mana due to one of his abilities.
'…'
'…'
'...'
'...Third eyes, huh?' Alucard remembered. From what he could recall, this ability allowed him to see beyond what normal humans could perceive and even go beyond that.
'A human seeing the mana, not just sense but actually seeing mana—it may cause an uproar. Well, I'm not a human.'
The mana, he was seeing was the raw mana, not his body's mana. He recalled the scene where Arthur tries to awaken someone's mana core. He cannot remember the name or face, but there was mention of seeing this when concentrating inside the body.
'That aside... I can feel, hear, and smell far more than I believe normal humans could.'
Alucard's acute senses allowed him to discern the faintest steps even outside his house; his senses were amplified, increasing his awareness of the surroundings—a trait inherent to vampires.
'The important thing is the mana core. I should start as soon as possible, but given my lack of experience, it may take time,' he pondered, closing his eyes.
While sitting in a meditation position would be better, it's not possible since Alucard's body hasn't developed much; he is still a toddler, after all.
'It's better than nothing.' He took a deep breath, clearing his mind, though there wasn't much to clear in the first place.
Alucard followed what he felt natural, taking deep breaths and letting it out.
Breathe in~
Breathe out~
Breathe in~
…~
He sensed something floating within his body—hundreds, if not thousands, of particles spread throughout his body.
They glowed, and somewhere near his heart, at the solar plexus, he saw there's more of these particles than anywhere else. The other glowing particles moved towards it, though the rate at which they moved was barely noticeable.
'They are slo—'
"Honey, are you alright?" Suddenly Alucard heard someone calling him, he felt someone holding him and lifting his small body. He opened his eyes to see Alice, his mother was looking at him with worry, somewhat panicked.
"Are you sick baby?" She asked, he was breathing roughly, if he had trouble breathing, causing her to worry. She checked him up to down, from side to side.
"..."
"I should change your diaper." She muttered, after calming herself, seeing there wasn't anything wrong. Her child was breathing just normally.
Alucard gazed at her, it's been quite a few days, so he had already gasped about her character. She is an overprotective yet charming woman, full of warmth and love, who would do anything to protect her child just like any other mother.
She is a very kindhearted, and gentle person, would smile warmly every time with him and her other son, and would oftentimes scold her husband for his childish behavior.
"Is something on my face honey?" She questioned, looking at Alucard who stared at her. She touched her face to see if there was something but there wasn't anything.
"Well never mind then…"
…
After changing his diaper, she gently placed him back in the crib before tending to her other son; it seemed like he had also done the deed.
"Arthur, you too. Let me change the diaper for you." She said, smiling at the other crib where her son had awoken, she changed his diaper too.
After waiting for a couple of minutes looking out for Alucard if the problem arose again, but nothing occurred. Alice left the room to do her chores. Both kids again fell asleep or so it seems.
Alucard waited for her to leave.
'I should find another way soon.' He contemplated changing his breathing pattern to be less conspicuous, preventing others from noticing the changes.
'Let's start again…' Alucard once again started
…
…
…
***
Time has gradually passed, and several months have already gone by.
"Rey, make sure Art doesn't hit his head in the corner," Alice said nervously to her husband who was looking at his son, both of his knees on the floor, ready to catch him.
"Okay, you block him from getting near that shelf," Rey reassured her, his focus on Arthur, who with a deep breath took his first crawling step, slowly walking towards the wall.
Both Alice and Rey watched their son in worry, and behind them sat another kid, he looked bored while staring at them.
Alucard was able to crawl already 1-2 months ago, surprising both of them, they went cloud nine just like now.
"Awwww~ look Art is looking at himself in the mirror." Alice smiled in happiness, Rey also seemed happy as he stood proud looking at his son.
This scene resembled his own experience, but when Alucard took his first steps, nobody noticed until Alice saw him. After that, there was sweetness and laughter in this house.
Alice took him in her embrace, as she spun slowly, hugging him tightly.
"Auuu…" Art mumbled, smiling while looking at his reflection.
"…"
'I can move quite easily now.' Alucard slowly crawled towards his crib.
While Arthur may be able to crawl now, Alucard is different. His body may look like a normal human body, but it ended the normality to that. His mind, muscles, and skeleton are developing much faster than humans.
He could have started crawling at 3-4 months old, but he didn't see the need to take that first step. Why, you may ask?
'My core is almost complete now.' Due to heightened senses at night. Alucard has diligently gathered mana particles each night, leading him to sleep during the day.
Since the beginning, Alucard has been accumulating these mana particles within his body, resembling water in a vaporous state. Upon reaching the core area, they gradually coalesce into a spherical structure.
But it wasn't as easy as he thought.
At the start, although Alucard could sense the mana, he struggled for weeks to speed up these particles to lead toward the center.
He experimented with various techniques, including meditation and deep breathing, attempting to piece the mana together.
While his approach to forming the mana core was on the right path, he sensed that the mana particles had become slightly faster. Nevertheless, something was missing, the last piece wasn't getting together.
After days of observation and experimentation, he pinpointed the missing element—an understanding of mana. Although he recognized that the particles resembled mana, he lacked knowledge of their properties.
He knew it's mana and it's there, but then what? What purpose did they serve? How do they function? How will they affect him? Is there something in them? Many questions, yet no answers.
Regardless, witnessing the particles reaching the core and understanding their interactions provided him with insights into the nature of mana.
He likened mana to water, capable of changing form based on the user's perception.
Alucard was thinking of getting this mana particle together, not their interaction with mana itself. Once this realisation hit him, his progress in forming the mana core significantly accelerated
'I should begin compression tonight.' After observing and performing this process throughout the last year, he gained inspiration.
If the mana is working like mana, and these particles are like vapours, he thought, I wonder if I can take it a step further. What if I compress this liquid-like mana in my core to make it more solid? Though he has the idea, he isn't sure if it will work or not.
However, Vapour, Liquid, and Solid these are simple terms. Mana doesn't change its state, it remains the same as it was.
Alucard thought that a way to simplify is to compress the mana, potentially increasing its utility in the future.
"Alu, my man! What are you doing there?" Rey asked him, watching Alucard crawl from the corner.
Alucard stopped in his tracks, turned to look at them, tilted his head, and stared back in confusion. What does he want?
"Play with Art, it'll be great," Rey told him with enthusiasm.
'Sigh' Having known him for a year, the man before him occasionally plays the fool but can be surprisingly earnest when the situation demands.
Despite his childish demeanor, he's a good-hearted soul, albeit a bit of an Ari-head at times. These were Alucard's thoughts, staring at Rey, and then Art.
"Awww Sweetheart, come here." Seeing him not answering, Alice decided she would take the step to create a sibling bond between them.
Placing him in her lap, she got near her other son.
"Now both of you can play together and be nice to your little brother." She said smiling to Art, as the brothers gazed at each other.
Arthur slowly crawled towards him, as Alice smiled.
Alice has noticed Alucard isn't an outgoing or well-spoken baby, but a silent child, while Arthur is more active and the one who wants to go out.
Back to them, once they were near, Art looked at his brother somewhat nervous yet expectantly, placing his hand over Alucard's head and patting him, with a smile on his face. On the other hand, Alucard just looks at the Art expressionless.
"See, Art is acting like a big brother," Rey said with a laugh, seeing his sons like this, not fighting with each other.
…
They interacted with each other before seeing his eyes drooping, and tiny yawns escaping his mouth from time to time, showing symptoms of tiredness.
"Honey, already tired, huh?" Alice noticed this, brought him closer to her, and placed Alucard in his crib.
Arthur felt lost, seeing his brother falling asleep, he wished for more moments together, but Alucard, his perpetual sleepyhead of a brother, had already dozed off.
***
In the following days, Alucard observed Arthur's movements from outside; he would often slip out from the crib when Alice did work or took naps.
'Maybe it's time for it.' Alucard decided to learn more about the world he was in. For the past few months, he hasn't done anything significant except for the progression with his core.
He doesn't have much knowledge of this world, and there is a saying, 'Knowledge is strength.'
Just like usual days, Alice has just left both kids cradling in their cribs, kissing their foreheads before heading out to do chores.
After noticing she had left, Alucard heard a small noise, a series of soft thuds.
Rumble Rumble
Thud
Baaam~~~
After he left the room, stealthily descending from his crib, Alucard trailed Arthur as the little one slipped out of the room. On the way, he heard the humming of his mother's voice.
Taking the chance, he entered what appeared to be a study room. There, Arthur lay on the ground engrossed in a book, unaware of Alucard's approach.
Alucard crawled slowly, being inconspicuous of his actions, 'Crawling' being one of them.
After reaching near Arthur to look at the human's structure showcasing the details of Mana, he couldn't understand the words; however, he gasped at what it conveyed through the picture.
It was showing two different types of mana core: one being able to affect the surroundings, and the other being able to power up the body.
There were other figures which were weird, probably for those who called them 'Deviant' and the other two being conjuring and Augumeter.
"Auww?..." Alucard suddenly heard a random babbling, somehow confused. Lifting his head, he saw Arthur staring at him bewildered.
Arthur looked at his brother, who seemed to like following him behind.
"Couamm hara…" Arthur gestured to him after noticing his curious gaze on the books he was reading.
Alucard got closer and sat near Arthur, who flipped pages.
"Gya @$e#sh" He heard Arthur's rambling, probably cursing.
…
…
…
After reading(?) and looking at the pages, Arthur sat cross-legged, seeming to do meditation.
Alucard, seeing this, slowly crawled out of the room, probably losing interest. He left the room.
Or so it seems so; it was a strategic retreat. He could hear Alice almost done with her work, so easily climbed up in the crib and slept.
***
Night has arrived…
Everyone in the house has fallen asleep, and it's completely devoid of any sound, except for a few howls from some animals. Alucard's eyes flutter open.
'Should I begin now?' After gaining an understanding of the mana, he has been continuously collecting it to form the core.
However, upon realising he could take a step further, he halted the progression to complete the core just before completion.
He is essentially attempting to prevent the core's formation.
In addition to this, Alucard was about to do something quite ridiculous and almost insane, if the world could grasp it. The control of the mana before the core formation is not possible, the progression can be increased through meditation, elixir, and outside aids.
But it's not the case of Alucard's, he has enhanced senses, allowing him to do something no one has tried before, and that is the creation of a Complex Network within the Mana Core.
He has created different necessary steps to ensure this complex network within the core, considering everything from the centre to the outer layer, even though he doesn't know for sure if this will work or not.
'Let's start with the first step.' he contemplated, he took a deep breath, and released it in one go, and continued it for some time, as his breath got gradually in a rhythm while slowly appearing normal.
This is the breathing he has created, following this, he saw inside his body the incomplete mana core which looks complete, yet missing a few parts.
'Let's concentrate…' From then on, Alucard heightened his senses, and focused on his body, to notice any subtle changes, so he could stop.
Afterward, within the centre of his core, Alucard initiates the creation of a mana spiral. It resembles a cyclone, gradually drawing mana particles from all around the core towards its centre.
Though they move in a circular motion, it doesn't seem like there are any changes in the core, but Alucard felt something different.
At the core's centre, Alucard sensed a minuscule shift—barely 1/1000 of a droplet compression of mana, something which no human sense would allow him to see.
The mana particles subtly inched closer to the centre, moving from the middle-centre section by a mere 1/10,000 part. The outer layer of mana remained the same as they were before.
'It will take time, and this is just the beginning…' he thought. However, after so long, excitement and nervousness… Even after getting a new life, he lacked the emotions. This process to do something excited him, also might help in his future journey.
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To be continued…
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[Word Count: 2657]
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Give me Blessings through Powerstones...
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A/N; Another chapter ends here. Tell me honestly How did it go? Tell me your thoughts.
Though I wrote the cannon thing about Arthur for the first time crawling, I did that to compare the difference between them.
Arthur may be a Reincarnated individual, however Alucard is built differently.
This will continue further, as the Fan-fiction goes on.
I did try to avoid writing interactions, because of my lack of creativity towards them, and Alucard's lack of emotions, I want him to be less expressive. Other characters will understand this too.
Also, regarding the Mana Core. Which took up most of the word counts, and I think in the next chapter. I won't pry into it for many chapters. Instead, I'll focus on how it was created, how it formed, its function, and advantages.
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Let's meet Next week for another Chapter...