The sound of an Elf crying as she held onto her dead baby spread in the surroundings.
Surrounding her were other Elves, who had come to bid goodbye to the child who was supposed to become part of their small village. Unfortunately, the baby boy passed away minutes after it was born into the world.
Lux watched this scene and knew with utmost certainty that the child in the Elf lady's arms was him.
No. It wasn't him.
It was the vessel which his broken spirit had merged with when he came to Solais.
Full moon hung in the sky that night, and through her pained sobs, Lux came to realize how heartbroken the lady was.
"Although I wasn't able to give you love and happiness, I will not forget to give you a name," the Elf lady, whose name was Adeline, said sadly as she finished writing her son's name on the wooden slate.
Lux.
That was the name that Adeline had given her son.
That name meant Light.
A name that was supposed to bring light to her world. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.
Adeline's mother wrapped her arms around her daughter as her husband took the basket holding his grandson's body. With determination, he walked toward the river.
"Let me send you off, my dear grandson," Adeline's father sadly muttered. "I pray that the spirits will guide your soul to the promised paradise where we shall meet when our time has come as well. Forgive us for being unable to give you a proper burial."
Suddenly, a little Elf girl started to sing. It was the song of parting that the Elves sang when their loved ones had departed the world.
Soon, the other Elves joined in the singing as they sent the youngest member of their clan on his journey to the afterlife.
Adeline's father gently put down the basket on the river. He gave his grandson one last glance before finally letting go.
Adeline wailed and her mother struggled to hold her in place. She had a feeling that if she didn't hold her daughter properly, Adeline would jump into the river and bring the basket back to the shore.
"Sleep, child," the Patriarch said as he cast a sleeping spell on the struggling young lady. This was the only thing he could think of to prevent Adeline from acting recklessly.
Lux watched this scene with a sad expression on her face. The grief on "his" mother's face before she was forced to sleep using a spell made his heart ache.
However, this was something that had happened in the past, and no matter what he did, there was nothing he could do to change it.
Soon, Lux found himself floating in the air. He had no control over his body, and he could only watch as the events transpired in front of him.
He saw how the basket steadily floated on the river until it was caught up in a strong current, pushing it farther away from the Elven Lands, where the child should have spent his childhood in the company of his mother and his grandparents.
Several hours later, he saw a blue meteorite trailing across the heavens. As it descended toward the land, it grew smaller and smaller until it merged with the body of the dead baby.
A low yet audible gasp of breath reached his ears as the baby took his first breath after his death.
Little by little, the baby's paleness went away, and yet, he still looked very frail.
If the basket had hit a boulder in the river or had been capsized by one of the river animals that swam past it, that frail baby, who had just regained his life, would have met another untimely death.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
The basket floated peacefully down the river as the baby slept without making a sound.
Many hours later, the baby floated in the territory of the Giant River Crocodiles, who were in their mating season. The Alpha Males of the Group were fighting in order to gain the right to mate with the females.
However, this battle came to an abrupt halt when they heard the sound of a baby crying.
Their gazes shifted to the basket that was floating toward them, and saw the helpless, delicious bite-sized baby, catching all of their attention.
The other Crocodiles who noticed the baby swam toward the basket in an attempt to call dibs on the free snack that was floating in their direction.
At that exact moment, an old lady riding on top of a white hippopotamus jumped over the heads of these Crocodiles and snatched the basket before it was too late.
Angered by the trespasser who had come to steal their snack, the Alpha Crocodiles blocked her way.
"We don't have to make a big deal out of this small matter," the old lady, whom the baby would later call Grandma Vera, said to the two giant Crocodiles, whose bloodshot eyes had locked onto her small frame. "I'm taking this child with me, so get out of my way."
Lux, who saw this scene, gave his Grandma two thumbs up due to how awesome and majestic she looked at that moment.
He had no recollection of how his Grandma had picked him up in the river.
Whenever he asked her, she would just say that she was riding on Sophie's back (White Hippo) and happened to see Lux's basket float past her. Since she couldn't abandon him, she decided to take him back to the Wildgarde Stronghold and raise him as her own grandson.
The two Alpha Crocodiles didn't listen to her and charged in her direction. When they were only a few meters away from the White Hippopotamus, Vera moved one of her hands erratically, and two battle dolls smashed their fists against the two Crocodiles' snouts, which sent them flying backward.
Seeing what happened to the two strong males, the rest of the crocodiles scattered like wild ducks hearing a gunshot, creating waves on the river's surface.
"Don't cry, little one. You are safe now," the old lady said.
She then used her finger to lightly caress the baby's cheeks in order to calm him down.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps it was because of the baby's natural instinct, but the moment his face was touched, his small hands reached out to hold the finger that was caressing his face.
This scene looked very endearing, and Lux could feel something warm spreading inside his chest, making him eternally grateful that the one who picked him up in the river was the kind old lady, who raised him with great love and care.
"Let's go, Sophie," Vera said softly. "Let's go home."
And home they went.
The place where he grew up, the Wildgarde Stronghold, would be his home for the next sixteen years of his life.
Lux watched how the frail baby grew up from a baby, to a toddler, to a boy, and finally a teenager.
Although this process of watching his own journey took years, time seemed to not matter to him.
It was as if he knew on a fundamental level that even if he watched his entire life from the moment he was born, up to the present, it would only be a short span of time in the real world.
With no such worries, Lux laughed, cried, and got angered as he relieved his life all over again.
He even felt his cheeks burning from hearing the cheesy words he had said when he made love to Iris and Cai when he spent nights with them.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, the scene changed to Lux fighting against Lorelei.
He could even see the shocked expression on his face when Dracul had stabbed his chest and crushed his heart without even batting an eye.
Lux saw the anguish and despair on Gaap's face as he summoned Antero in order to avenge him.
Seeing how his Master had offered his life in order to make the Vampire King pay for the crime of killing him, Lux felt heartbroken, and the tears poured from his eyes like rain.
At that exact moment, Lux felt as if a jolt of electricity was running down his spine, triggering changes in his body that he had never felt before.
Suddenly, he felt like he was being drawn back into his body and once again fell unconscious.
However, for some reason, he didn't feel afraid.
His Grandmaster's voice reached his ears, telling him that everything was going to be fine.
Then he heard the singing of angels, which was like a lullaby, making him fall into a deep and peaceful slumber.
However, as he was being drawn to sleep's embrace, he once again heard Hereswith's words that were filled with joy and strength.
"All things are equal in death. Let this be a sign.
But, do not hold thy breath that Necromancy can't be divine."
Those were the words that he heard before he closed his eyes and slept.
He had a feeling that the next time he opened his eyes, he would see the Necromancer's Ancestral Land in a different light.
A land that would soon tremble after feeling his potential might.
