A lucid dream!

Poor 'innocent Tracy', didn't know that she had been tagged as childish by the 'brat' before her. She just continued voicing her worries after hearing no response from Vivian.

"Can you at the very least first clean yourself up? ...I promise that I won't run away with little Hugo. We can even make a pinky promise." Tracy bantered.

[So, our enemies are some people called the Manroes… and we should currently be in a 'Rafaela residence'. But why did they come here if they knew that the place was not safe?] Hugo deliberated gaining a little bit of awareness about his situation.

After Hugo had learned of his enemies' identity, he felt the same kind of vulnerability that was similar to what he felt when he was ambushed by the Germans in his previous life.

He was like a fish on a chopping board waiting for his fate to be decided in the hands of another. Hugo' did not like this kind of feeling.

In all the 86 years of his previous life, he had never yearned for power and influence, but now he began to have a sense of urgency… An urgency that fueled him to gain more power and influence.

[I need to have the power to sweep away all my enemies in this new world. Otherwise, I will always have some flies disturbing my peaceful life. I can't let those flies disturb my pursuit of knowledge.] The young Hugo set another goal for his new self.

"Okay," …Hugo heard his mother's consent. "Please be careful while holding him. … Are you sure he doesn't need to be breastfed now?"

"No. Since the rank-3 life-spell has already taken effect on him, he will not need any feeding for the next few hours. So, you should relax and clean yourself up." He heard the other woman's reply in her melodic and soothing voice.

Although Hugo was curious about what the words 'rank-3' and 'life-spell' meant, he just passed it off as another mystery of this new world. His mentality had begun to change… and slowly it was starting to merge with his new self.

"Before I go to the bathroom, can you check whether all the dark energy has been expelled from his body."

"I don't have any know-how of how to diagnose his body condition." His mother's voice sounded concerned about this dark energy.

[Is that the gloomy aura that was suffocating me before? … Was it inflicted on me by our enemies?]

[…But I don't feel any trace of this gloomy aura in my body. It should have been dispersed by that green light from before. … That should be the rank-3 spell the other lady was talking about.]

[I need to learn how to wield that kind of power as quickly as possible.] The young Hugo thoughtfully set another goal for himself.

The young Hugo was effortlessly put in the hands of the other lady. What came before his eyes was a beautiful lady with a black shawl worn on her head.

Her deep green eyes were now glittering with a glow that felt both mysterious and invasive to the young Hugo. The invasive green eyes started scanning his entire silhouette to miss no abnormalities.

Hugo felt completely naked in both body and mind when that gaze examined him. At least that is how he felt and thought.

But alas, no diagnostic spells were omniscient as 'Gaia' Herself. Some minor abnormalities in his body were bound to be ignored, especially if the person doing the scan was not careful or his or her mystic powers were lacking.

Hugo soon heard the other lady voicing out her findings.

"There is no remnant dark energy or aura in little Hugo's body. Your rank-3 spell completely dispersed the curse energy from his body. He is now as strong as a young chimpanzee with no defects in his body organs."

Hugo had been worried that there was something wrong with his body because of the dark-energy, but he now felt completely relaxed after hearing the diagnosis.

Although young Hugo's mouth twitched noticeably at the rude remark by the 'childish brat', his mind was now encased by a sense of joy that slowly translated itself into a smile on little Hugo's face. The smile was endearing and so kawaii.

The 'childish brat' - Tracy couldn't help but gently pinch the dollish cheeks of the young Hugo, after seeing such an adorable expression.

The young Hugo tried to protest by moving his arms to block the trespassing hands of the 'mischievous brat', but his efforts were fruitless as his hands were trapped within the warm baby-receiving-towel.

The young Hugo just wore an angry facial expression to dissuade the actions of the 'naughty brat', but his puppy blue-eyes coupled with his sleek black hair made his body language anything but annoyed.

It was at this time that young Hugo heard some laughter from the two ladies for the first time since his arrival in this world. The laughter slowly relaxed the atmosphere within the enclosed space,… and slowly it transitioned into an intimate bond between the parties present.

"Tracy! I will go to the bathroom now. I will take a quick shower and be back in a moment." Hugo could now hear the relaxation in his mother's voice. It was as if she had put down a heavy burden.

"If I move out, will it disturb the functionality of the formation?"

"No. It won't change anything. The formation just conceals the space and isolates it from prying spells."

"… So it only blocks energy and auras. And since the 'word-will' has already dispersed, we have nothing to hide apart from little Hugo." The 'childish-brat' quickly replied while giving another gentle pinch on little Hugo's face.

[I will be in for a rough childhood… I need to advocate for some child rights. Can't this brat stop pinching my cheeks?]

[If my mom doesn't come back soon, I will go nuts.] Feeling dejected, Hugo deliberated after hearing his mother's footsteps go further and further from his location.

"Be good." The 'naughty brat' looked at young Hugo, her eyes filled with love.

She then started humming some sort of childish lullaby while gently swaying and swinging young Hugo who was in her arms.

The combination of these actions had a soothing effect on the young Hugo.

"Little Hugo… remember I am the best of the best aunt. You should always call me Aunt Tracy. I don't like the term godmother."

[Aunt Tracy seems not bad.] Hugo thought his perception of Tracy slowly changing. He didn't even notice that he had addressed her by name for the first time in his mind.

At some moments, Hugo heard his Aunt Tracy mumbling some other words, while gently rocking him to sleep, but his young mind was too tired to register their meaning.

Gradually, he dozed off listening to the humming and calming words of his aunt.

That was how the sweet slumber claimed the tired body of young Hugo for the first time in this new world.

****

In his slumber, Hugo seemed to have seen the mysterious pyramid jewel gifted to him by his mother from the previous life.

In a formless grayish world, a golden pyramid and its golden chain seemed to be shimmering with the colors of a rainbow. Sometimes the pyramid would emit reddish light, at other times golden, greenish or bluish lights.

The deep contrast between the shimmering lights and the formless gray world made the whole atmosphere enthralling and with an ancient feel.

In his dream world, Nikolai stared intently at the pyramid-shaped pendant trying to determine whether it was truly encrusted with diamond rather than plain old glass.

The pyramid-shaped pendant together with its chain-link formed a golden necklace that was entirely different from what he could recall from his previous life.

It had a lobster-claw clasp tangled with the golden chain-link. A golden oval-ball joined the chain-link to the pyramid-shaped pendant.

At the center of the pendant's surface was an eye, made out of an indeterminate material that seemed to follow you around the formless-gray space if you stared at it hard enough. The pyramid-shaped pendant's edge was lined with shiny reflective pieces that emitted rainbow lights.

The whole neckless was simple yet mesmerizing.

He instinctively knew that the pyramid jewelry was very important to him, but his young mind couldn't process why. The pyramid jewelry was shrouded in an air of mystery.

[Is this a dream? Or is something happening to my conscious mind?] Hugo wondered.

In his dreamlike state, Nikolai heard a whisper. … It was ancient and able to extend to all corners of his mind. And then… A voice slowly emerged from the whisper, and slowly… it threw him into a hypnotic and enthralled state… gradually, it crowded out everything but the voice in his entire consciousness.

The voice repeated four sentences… "Who are you? … Where do you come from? …Where are you going? … And what is your greatest wish?"

[One more sentence added by the ancient voice… why is the voice asking me my greatest wish? … Haven't I already reincarnated?] Hugo wondered.

In this lucid dreamlike mysterious state, Nikolai passed his first night in this new world.

****