"It's a boy!" A loud voice cut through the darkness.
Modret's memories and everything else were still hazy as he quietly glanced around.
Surprisingly, they were speaking in a language he could understand.
'Why am I so small?' Modret's thoughts formed slowly as he noticed, to his surprise, that everyone around him was as tall as giants.
His vision swayed slightly as he was handed to a woman.
Her face was slightly pale, with thin trickles of sweat coating her forehead.
She had a weary expression; however, despite that, her face held a small, warm smile.
She glanced at him and muttered softly, "My boy…" Her voice was low and incredibly gentle.
Modret was stunned. His eyes stared at the woman in a daze.
She was beautiful—flawless even—the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Her hair was pale blue, and so were her slightly crystalline eyes.
Her face was perfectly shaped, and a thin strand of hair hung loosely, almost reaching Modret.
She carried the faint scent of peach blossoms.
'Is this my mother?' Modret thought in amazement.
Just then, his body swayed gently as his mother rocked him in her arms, humming a soft, soothing tune.
She seemed overjoyed at his birth.
Around them, the caretakers and maids remained silent, standing by the side and not interrupting the rare moment of peace between mother and son.
Just then, the door burst open and a muscular figure stepped into the room.
Modret, who was slowly dozing off to the tune, snapped awake. His curious eyes gradually turned in the direction of his mother and the man.
"Wife…" the man said slowly, quietly approaching.
He was extremely muscular, with a few scars lining his body and faint marks on his face.
His hair was cut short, dark, and neat, and his deep brown eyes peered at Modret.
He raised his large hand and roughly pinched Modret's cheeks.
It felt like scraping lightly against wood.
"You'll damage his skin!" Anna, Modret's mother, said sharply, slapping his hand away.
The man slowly withdrew his hand and asked, "Have you given him a name yet?"
Anna shook her head slightly.
"I was waiting for you, but I thought of something."
The muscular man raised a brow.
"Modret."
"Modret?" Donald's deep voice echoed in the room.
"Yes. What do you think?" Anna stared at her husband, waiting for his decision.
Donald thought for a moment before nodding. The name seemed reasonable.
He raised his large hand toward Modret, then, recalling what had happened earlier, withdrew it.
"Modret Axarel, welcome to the Axarel royal family!" he said in a deep voice.
He smiled faintly.
A small smile surfaced on Modret's face as he raised his hand, hovering it slightly above his parents as though trying to grasp them.
'It seems this name is fated to me in both lifetimes.'
[Yes, I think so too. Truly amusing!]
'Huh?' Modret was stunned to hear a voice inside his head.
'How am I hearing things? Is anyone there?' Modret raised his head and glanced toward the maids standing in the corner. He was startled to see that none of them had moved their lips.
'Besides, for them to hear me, they'd have to be able to hear my thoughts.'
[Smart. That's right, I can perfectly read your thoughts.]
Modret was speechless. 'Who are you, and how can you read my thoughts?'
As though replying to Modret, a figure quietly floated into view.
A fairy.
That was the first word that popped into his mind to describe the figure hovering in front of him.
The figure looked serene, with a pair of crystal-blue eyes. Despite Modret being a baby, she was even smaller, barely the size of a man's fist.
Her blue luminescent hair flowed freely in the wind as she gazed at Modret with a slight smile.
'You… who are you?' Since she could hear his thoughts and he couldn't speak yet, Modret asked curiously.
The fairy flapped her wings and approached Modret, then landed on his nose, making it ticklish.
[I am the Cosmic Shadow System…]
Modret's eyes widened slightly. His mother, noticing his expression, lowered her hand and nudged his nose gently.
Modret's eyes widened once more as her hand passed through the fairy cleanly and landed on his nose.
He felt a warm touch, but he paid no attention to it—his mind was fixed on the creature before him.
'That's right, the Cosmic Shadow System is one of the seven treasures I received from Noctis, that bastard!' Modret's mind swirled with thoughts.
Turning to the fairy, he asked curiously, 'Aren't you supposed to be a panel of some sort? Why do you have a physical form?'
[This is the virtual form of the system, constructed based on the host's imagination of the kind of lady he would love to be with.]
Hearing the fairy's words, a peculiar expression appeared on Modret's face. Surely the system shouldn't know about the tales of a lonely man, right?
[Host, there's nothing to be shy about. It is only right that you—]
'Stop!' Modret immediately interrupted the fairy's words, knowing exactly where she was headed.
'So, you're the system, huh? How do I view my stats? Does the system have a function like that?'
[Yes, just call out "Stats" lightly.]
Modret nodded internally at her words and called out in his mind, 'Stats.'
Although he spoke only within his thoughts, a line of words immediately appeared in front of him.
[Host: Modret Axarel.]
[Status: Injured. While unborn, you were poisoned to death. Luckily, you managed to survive, but you have been crippled, unable to awaken an ability.]
As Modret's eyes scanned the lines before him, one sentence caught his attention.
'What???' Modret screamed inwardly, but only gurgling sounds escaped his lips.
His mother, thinking he wanted to be breastfed, quickly pulled down her dress, brought him close, and warm milk flowed into his mouth.
But Modret was too distracted to focus on the taste or sensation.
'Noctis, that bastard. This is all his fault. Sending me straight to Abyssal Sage-level difficulty… this is just as I guessed…'
…Death.