3rd POV
It has now been four months since Jonas was reborn. However, he only regained his consciousness two weeks ago, so he could only rely on the statements of his new mother and the doctors to determine his age.
It was currently late at night, and Jonas lay in his crib next to Norma's bed, thinking about his current situation. He had not changed his behavior since regaining consciousness, if the statements of his mother to her acquaintances were true.
Norma said that Orion was an extremely calm baby—so calm that she had even consulted several baby experts to find an explanation. However, they could not find anything wrong with him and said that while it was unusual, it did not come with any disadvantages.
Orion—this was the name Jonas had received at birth in this new life.
However, Jonas had not yet gotten used to this new name. This was mainly due to two reasons.
First, he thought the name was far too special and unique, and he did not have the right to claim such a name as his own. Jonas may have been given a second chance with this new life, but his personality, shaped by his previous life, remained the same and caused him to make himself seem smaller than he was.
This led directly to the second point.
Jonas felt that he did not deserve a second chance. He had lived a good life, and he alone was responsible for his death. He also felt strong guilt, fearing that he had taken another child's life and stolen its body.
Because of these thoughts, Jonas had initially considered going on a hunger strike to end his life once and for all. However, he decided against it because he did not want to cause his new mother even more pain—especially after learning that she had lost her husband and that he was the last thing she had left of him. Therefore, he decided to be a good child and only take the bare minimum from her.
Contrary to Jonas's belief, this was not really pleasant for Norma—to have such a quiet and easy child. This was mainly because she constantly checked on him, as he gave no signs of needing anything or being hurt.
She truly wished that Orion would at least occasionally start crying—over things he wanted or disliked. Of course, she liked that he did not suddenly cry at night, but combined with his other traits, it made it difficult for Norma to fall asleep unless she was completely certain that Orion was fine.
Jonas POV
A few days later.
It is currently a sunny autumn day, and I am walking with my mother to a café located between her workplace and our home. We had recently been at her workplace because she had an important meeting.
Normally, she works from home, except when there is a meeting like today. In such cases, she always takes me with her and leaves me with one of her colleagues during the meeting.
Don't get me wrong—the colleagues my mother leaves me with are nice people, but I always get a strange feeling from them when I am near them. And it's not just them—there are many like them at her workplace, and I have occasionally felt this in public as well.
With these people, I feel as if the air around them is thicker and saturated with something else, though it does not appear equally strong in all of them. My mother usually leaves me with those who have less of this "saturated air" around them.
By now, we had reached the café. The stroller was parked outside, and we sat at a window seat from where we could keep an eye on it. My mother held me on her lap while she ordered some cake.
'Mother really has a sweet tooth for cake,' I thought. It was easy to come to that conclusion. Anyone would, if they lived with her for a while.
Just as the waiter left the table to process the order, a young woman with straight, short brown hair entered the café. She wore a suit similar to my mother's and, like many from my mother's workplace, had that "air" around her. She approached our table and sat down across from us.
"Norma, it's so nice to see you! I haven't seen you since you had your child, and oh my god, is that the little one? He's so cute! What was his name again?"
The woman spoke with full energy and without pause, making me worry that she might faint at any moment. My mother chuckled lightly and replied:
"Hello Sandra, it really has been a long time since we've met in person. And you're right, this is my son Orion."
Oh, so this is Sandra, I realized. Sandra is someone my mother regularly talks to on the phone.
"Hello, little Orion," Sandra said in an exaggerated baby voice.
The conversation continued about everyday topics until it reached a point that greatly interested me.
"I understand that you want to spend a lot of time with your son, but wouldn't it be easier to hire a nanny?" Sandra asked curiously.
This was something I had also noticed multiple times. My mother seemed to be an important person at her workplace, which should mean she had many responsibilities. I mean, at home there are piles of documents on the table every day that she probably has to work through.
"Well, I understand your concern, Sandra, but honestly, I'm not very confident when it comes to nannies. It's because Orion is quite quiet, and because of that, he can be easily forgotten. I'm worried that if I hired a nanny, they might only take 'superficial' care of him and might even forget to feed him regularly or only change his diaper once it starts to smell," my mother said, her last sentence carrying a slightly amused tone, which made me feel embarrassed.
The fact that I could not control my bladder or bowels was currently a sore point for me.
"Really? Is he that quiet? That's almost creepy. But then why do you always leave him with a hunter at the office when you have to come in—and especially always those with lower rank or mana reserves?" Sandra asked.
"It's because I want to leave him with someone who could protect him if something happens," my mother replied.
Sandra looked confused.
"But wouldn't it be better to leave him with one of our higher-ranked hunters? I know we don't have many, but there should always be at least one present when you have a meeting."
"Sandra, do you remember the increased occurrence of dungeons in our area almost a year ago?" my mother asked hesitantly.
"You mean when Mr. Andre stayed here because of it? Yes, I remember. It suddenly stopped again. But what does that have to do with why you don't entrust Orion to a strong hunter?"
Sandra was clearly confused—and so was I.
The terms they were throwing around made me think. My mother tried to separate work and private life, so I only ever picked up fragments. The terms "hunters" and "dungeons" came up the most.
However, the way they talked about them made me think it was something quite common, if not worldwide. I couldn't be sure, though, as my mother always made sure I didn't hear or see the news when she turned it on.
The term that intrigued me the most, however, was mana.
Mana is an energy source for magic—that was its definition in my previous life. There were two logical explanations: either the term was being used differently here, as a synonym, or they truly meant mana, which would mean that magic exists in this world.
With that second thought, a realization came to me.
If magic exists, then I am not in the same world as in my previous life—especially since these two women talk about it casually in public, meaning it is something generally known.
After a brief pause, I added to my thoughts that based on my current knowledge, it was probably truly a different world if they were talking about real mana—and not like in Lord of the Mysteries, where the same world changed through a global event. This was because the time system functioned like in my previous life and even seemed to be set somewhat in the past compared to the last date I remembered before my death.
"It comes from some events during my pregnancy. When I'm near strong people, I feel like a being from far away is watching me," my mother said somewhat embarrassed.
'What are the odds that I was just thinking about Lord of the Mysteries, where something like this could be compared to the gaze of a deity?'
Out of slight panic, my thoughts became sarcastic to downplay the situation.
'Good job, mother. Let's stay away from that. I'd rather not get close to beings that are at least at the level of demigods, let alone angels or higher existences.'
After a short pause, my mother—completely unaware of my thoughts—added quietly:
"I also think he can feel it. Recently, when we go for walks, he instinctively looks at awakened people passing by."
Awakened—that's probably what they call people with that saturated air around them. I assume that "saturation" is actually their mana.
At my mother's statement, Sandra's eyes widened.
"Wait! Has your son already awakened?!"
Sandra barely managed not to shout it across the entire café.
My mother quickly denied it:
"No! He just already has a sense for mana."
"If he hasn't awakened yet, then according to our current knowledge, there's a good chance he will in the future," Sandra said quickly.
After both women calmed down, they decided to change the subject and continued talking normally for a while.
I tuned out after they changed the topic to process the information.
Eventually, we left the café and went our separate ways.
Not long after we got home, my mother prepared me for bed so that I would be ready to sleep in a few hours.
I have to say, overall, today was quite positive for me—mainly because of all the information I was able to gather about this world.
That also made my next steps clear:
I would focus on gathering information about this world and understanding it. It was clear that I was fortunately not in Lord of the Mysteries, but that didn't mean I wouldn't encounter powerful and dangerous beings here as well. As they say: "Better safe than sorry."
End of Chapter