Chapter 2 Difficult Birth
Ethan was dead, Ms. Hudson was crying and people all around Ethan's body were murmuring in low voices. But while all this was happening, people failed to notice the blue stone in Ethan's pocket shining and resonating with the temple in sync before disappearing in a flash.
Suddenly all the electronic devices and cameras became useless because of some sort of static and a white light suddenly flashed from the temple that was even brighter than any flashbang or perhaps the sun itself.
It was so bright that everyone became temporarily blind. When people recovered from the loss of eyesight and the initial panic and looked back to the temple, what they saw shocked them and later the whole world beyond belief as the temple that was there just a few moments ago had disappeared without a trace.
All that was left was the huge and ancient Banyan tree and Ethan's lifeless body which only Ms. Hudson bothered to care about after what happened with the temple.
***
While all this was happening on earth, somewhere in the other world, Ethan opened his eyes In a dark place.
"So it looks like I was reincarnated and not only that but I also have the memories of my previous life." Ethan thought to himself as he tried to move around but all he could see was darkness. On top of that, he was starting to feel tired every time he seemed to use his brain.
"Dear God, have I become some kind of alien or bug perhaps? Oh, brother... I really don't want to adventure in a dungeon as a spider my whole life." Ethan thought.
It was like his every action was taking a shit ton of energy and every time that happened, he felt more and more sleepy and weak.
Now Ethan would not care if he kept sleeping all day usually but now his circumstances were different. He did not know what was going on with his body and losing energy like this might be a bad omen.
Ethan only had one ideology, To obtain as much sleep as possible, one must finish everything else as fast as possible so the sleep wouldn't be disturbed. And this is why Ethan completely erased all thoughts from his mind and put himself in a sort of hibernating state where his body and mind did not perform any actions.
Now as someone who was pro in sleeping and had a Ph.D. in doing nothing, Ethan was an expert on this topic and it was a piece of cake to him.
Gradually, he began hearing the muffled noise of painful moans and some indistinct clamor that was nearly inaudible.
Ethan finally connected the dots and understood just what kind of situation he was in. He was going to be born into the new world right at this moment.
"Oh this isn't good, me having not much strength even to think is not a good sign," The thought came into Ethan's mind and he felt even more drowsy.
One thing seemed to be certain if he isn't born in time then there was an actual chance that he might die in his mother's womb.
"M'Lady! Hold strong! You must do this for your child!" One of the midwives said with a concerned expression on her face in a luxurious room coated with gold, silver, and jewels.
"Agh, Ahhhh!" The Lady who was lying in bed and was giving birth groaned in pain. She was bathed with sweat and her expression was that of extreme stress, pain, and worry at the same time.
"Calm Yourself, My Lady!" An old man said, judging by his demeanor and clothing, he seemed to be some kind of doctor or a physician of some sort. He had a bowl of fresh water and a clean white cloth with him and he seemed to be the one doing the delivery of the baby.
The expression on the Lady's face was still that of agony but she seemed to be trying her best to not worry and stress herself.
Midwives and maids were constantly cleaning the sweat from the Lady's face and were encouraging her to the best of their ability.
The doctor looked at the baby's condition and became surprised. He frowned and checked again but it seemed as if whatever he found out wasn't anything good.
The old man stood up and signaled the well-built, white-haired, and handsome man who was holding the mother's hand with worry and a troubled smile. It was as if he was extremely worried and perhaps frightened but did not want to show it to his wife who was already in stress.
The white-haired man slowly got up after comforting his wife once again and walked up to the doctor who was waiting for him near the room's entrance far away from everyone's gazes.
"My Lord, I will be blunt as we don't have much time at hand. When I checked the condition of the child earlier, I found that the child is making no movements. For now, I cannot tell if..." The old man stopped and hesitated to say anything further. At last, he decided to not speak further.
The white-haired man narrowed his eyes but calmed himself right after. He turned back and said, "I understand, but you must bring my child into this world whether or not... I cannot see my dear wife in such agony any longer."
The old man looked at the firm back of the White-haired Lord deeply and sighed, "As you wish, the child not making any movements has now made it easier for the Lady to give birth." He said offering some comfort.
"Push! M'Lady! Push!" The chief midwife said while holding the Lady's hand.
"AAAAAA!!!" The Lady made even more effort in her endeavors which brought on more pain.
The old man took charge again and masterfully with the utmost precision, guided the baby out in such a way that the entangled umbilical cord did not make any complications
It was now more easy for him to do this as the 'baby' was not moving and making this more complicated.
"Hold on dear... I am here with you. Just a little more." The supposed Lord held his wife's hand tightly and said with a comforting smile.
It seems to have worked as the mother then used all of her remaining strength and courage to push the baby forward.
The doctor finally got hold of the baby and he carefully brought him out of the mother's body at last.
But instead of everyone cheering, the room was dead silent as the baby wasn't crying after birth. In fact, it was not moving at all giving everyone a foreboding feeling.
The doctor checked the baby's nerve and nose and his eyes shone, "Alive, but very weak at the moment." He said and gave the child to the head midwife who then cleaned the baby first with a soft fabric and got water and then wrapped him in a clean silky cloth.
"O'Goddess Martha, Shed Thy Light And Save This Child, Give Him Blessings For You Are The Holy Mother!" The Old Man said and extended his hand above the baby's small head.
A Pure and White light began enveloping his palm. The light gave off a holy and pure aura that made everyone comfortable and relieved. it was like the soft bells ringing in the background as if the lullaby sung by one's mother. It made everyone relieved on a conscious level as if giving them hope that everything would be fine.
The whole room shone white and got rejuvenated by the calming, comforting, and cozy atmosphere. A few seconds passed and the light condensed over the Old Man's Palm.
"Now, The bead of Vitality!" The Old Man said, the white condensed light took the form of a small bead and dropped from the Old Man's palm and entered the baby's body.
The room got back to its previous state but the baby still wasn't moving. The mother was exhausted and had already passed out. Everyone had lost hope and looked at the baby who was lying in the midwife's arm peacefully with grief.
That's when the Old Man picked the baby again from the midwife's arms and slapped his bum rather harshly, the resounding sound of a slap rang in everyone's ears as they looked at the baby with some hope.
A few seconds passed and everyone's gazes were glued on the baby, in front of everyone and unexpectedly, the baby finally opened his eyes sluggishly and..... Yawned.
After a few seconds of pin-drop silence, everyone burst into resounding laughter and cheering. The White Haired Lord finally showed a genuine smile full of happiness and relief.
While Ethan was thinking in his baby mind, "Oh crap, that was close. I almost passed out of weakness there. But most importantly... I can finally sleep all day as a baby, yay."
Just as he was thinking such nonsensical things, the Old Man was rather still worried that the baby wasn't crying, so he slapped the 'baby' again on his bum.
Ethan whose happy mood was clearly showing through his baby face with the cutest smile ever was jolted by the resounding slap.
But of course, he did not cry because as an adult.. it would just be too embarrassing for him. He instead looked at the old man and pouted in displeasure, it was a natural reaction for someone his age but it looked more like a child throwing a cute tantrum. Just that the child was a newborn infant in this case and should not be able to react like this.
Fortunately, only the old man noticed this and he was caught off guard by what he saw. He looked at Ethan very very deeply with a suspicious gaze.
Ethan realized that he screwed up and made a mental note that he needed to be more careful in the future. He just closed his eyes sluggishly and pretended to fall asleep. He hoped that the old man would not run his horses much further.
"Oh? Sleepy are we?.... You're quite the lazy one, aren't you?" The old man said in a somewhat sarcastic manner and smiled cheekily.
But Ethan did not see or hear this as he had really fallen asleep while pretending. He was just a baby Afterall, and sleeping was the primal task of babies.