Noah didn't believe in the existence of the soul during his previous life, living was after all about empirics and reality, no place for religious or spiritual thoughts. But after he was reborn, he started considering the idea that there was much more than the eye or the advanced machinery could see.
As he was staring at the old man gently standing on the edge of the balcony, seemingly appeared out of nowhere, his mind fell into chaos.
'There was a dragon appearing and going after a sheep. So this world has dragons in it. Then the wall lighted up and hurt the dragon right? Then the dragon got angry and wanted to burn all of us but this old man, which apparently is my grandfather, blocked it with one hand while flying and then stared at the dragon to make him fly away.'
After a brief sum up the previous events in his mind he only had one thought.
'Where the fuck did I end up?!? This guy can literally fly and fight dragons and they want me to protect them?? Is something wrong with their minds? Wait, if they want me to protect them, it means that I should be able to learn a thing or two.'
His line of thought got interrupted by Thomas entering the balcony and slowly walking in their direction.
"Yes, lord Patriarch. This is Noah, son of Rhys and my own son."
Lowering her head, Lily gently exposed Noah to Thomas in order for him to have a better look at the baby. Maybe Lily wanted to use this occasion to impose a tinge of love in Thomas for his grandson so that he could protect him in the future, or maybe she was just scared stiff at the sight of the old patriarch that she could do nothing else but to expose her son with trembling hands.
Noah, in the meantime, was staring at the old man with fervent eyes.
He didn't even notice the passion and curiosity that his stare was displaying.
'People in this world can fly and fight with fucking dragons! Old maaaan, look at how cute I am! Teach me how to fly!'
But only some sounds came out of his mouth, they resembled words but they had no meaning. So Noah stretched his little arms toward Thomas, in order to appeal to his feelings, putting a face of happiness at the sight of the nearing patriarch.
'You fight dragons but you still love your kin, right?'
Needless to say, the whole dragon incident left a deep impression on him. After all, dragons were only legends in his world and were represented as mighty and unbeatable. While their might was up to fantasies, in this world dragons could be fought, and you could win.
"Oh"
Looking at the baby happily stretching his arms toward him, Thomas could not help but show a trace of warmth on his serious face. Then he picked up Noah from his armpits and stared at him with a slight smile.
"Ooh, he seems pretty interested in me, there sure is some smartness in this child. Maybe he will really become a good counselor of the family. I'll keep an eye on him from time to time"
Hearing this, Lily was ecstatic and hurried to say the most respectful thanks she could muster.
"Many thanks, lord Patriarch. I'm sure that his safety can be assured for life with just one gaze of yours"
She bowed saying so, with both hands forming a praying form.
"There is no such being that could do that. Here, take Rhys' son and bring him back to his room. Today's events are not for a child this little to see"
Thomas handed Noah back to Lily and disappeared from the balcony. Lily could not stop her excitement after he left and kept cheering Noah.
"Have you heard? He will keep an eye on you! The Patriarch of the Balvan family will keep an eye on my son. Hahaha, this is wonderful. And he said that you could become a counselor, this is wonderful too. Not only my son will be protected by a mighty cultivator, he might also be away from the battlefield for life."
As a mother of a bastard son, Lily knew that the possibilities of Noah were not the brightest compared to the other descendants' of the main family so she was suddenly relieved when she heard some insurance from the patriarch.
Carrying Noah back to their sleeping quarters in the center of the first floor, she did not notice that the baby in her arms was silent and that his eyes were growing more and more determined.
'A counselor my ass! What's the point in giving advice to people with such powers. Any problem can just be blasted out like the old man did with the lance of flame! To think that a power like this actually existed! I must get my hands on it. I might have to risk a bit though, it seems that the purity of the bloodline is kept in high regard inside the Balvan family so showing some talent might attract unwanted attention from the main family descendants. Yet, I need some information to really understand what's going on'
From all the books he read, he could imagine that the fight for succession or even the envy of someone with a higher status than him might end up in blood.
'I already died once, and it was by accident. I don't want to be put in a political scheme and end up dead again, being powerless about it.'
A never felt determination ran through his little body, while Lily was preparing to put him in his cradle.
'A world where power is not given to men from the society they created. A power that seems to come from the inside of each individual, a power that belongs only to themselves. Lily called him a "cultivator", I must find something about it. I must learn to walk and read as fast as I can so that I can have some form of independence and at the same time show some early talent in the literature field. It might bring me to books that describe what a cultivator actually is and how to become one.'
From that day on he started eating more and more in order to grow stronger and get rid of the skinny physique he was born with. He started to actively try to walk, first in the cradle and then on the ground, worrying the maidservants or his mother every time he fell from his attempts to stand on his feet. Yet, this kind of pain was nothing.
'A bullet in the chest hurts way more'
And so, only 8 months after his birth, Noah was standing upright on the ground, taking his first steps.
'This is so fucking slow, I need to train for this. I should start running from time to time in order to be more healthy and be more comfortable with my body.'
Even though he was disappointed with how slow he was growing up, Lily and the maidservants were stupefied.
"This baby has been trying to stand up for 3 months and now he did it. Most importantly every time he fell he would not cry but try to stand up again. If we didn't stop him every time he could have gotten a big injury by now"
The chatting maidservants were totally ignored by Lily as a sense of pride enveloped her seeing her baby walking at the age of 8 months.
"This must be the patriarch blessing, I knew something good was bound to happen since that day."
Luckily or not, Noah achievement was pinned to the supernatural character that was Thomas Balvan.
Surprises in the first floor of the guests building were far from over though.
After being sure of having a good balance, Noah took slow and careful steps in the direction of his mother. Slowly but surely, and with a bit of sustain given by the wall at his side, he arrived in front of his smiling mother.
"Come to mummy little one, you did a wonderful job today. Mum is happy!"
Saying this she half-kneeled on the ground with spread arms waiting for Noah to reach her embrace.
Noah looked at her and smiled, then moved with spread arms toward her and yelled at the last moment before the embrace:
"Mommy!"
And then he fell in his mother embrace, while Lily and the maidservants stared at him with wide eyes.
'This should be enough to get me an early education.'