Chapter 7: Tiny Steps Towards a Giant Future
The days that followed blurred into a strange, chaotic rhythm.
Bottles, naps, fart noises—this was the glorious life Ray found himself trapped in.
An all-powerful necromancer, once feared across dimensions, now reduced to struggling against his own diapers.
He could hear the voices around him: warm, laughing, teasing.
His mother, Lina, hovered protectively over him like a hawk guarding its only egg.
Her smiles were soft, her touches even softer. Whenever she leaned down, he could catch the familiar, soothing scent of flowers clinging to her.
His father, Drevon, was... something else entirely.
"Who's the strongest baby in the whole damn world?!" Drevon bellowed one morning, lifting Ray high into the air like a proud gorilla.
Ray, half awake and utterly unimpressed, expressed his feelings the only way an infant could.
He vomited—directly into Drevon's open mouth.
For a few seconds, the world went completely still.
And then Drevon burst into booming laughter, slapping his thigh as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"That's my boy!" he shouted, grinning from ear to ear. "Got that warrior spirit already!"
On the side, Grandpa Arnold—grizzled, weathered, and always ready with a sarcastic comment—nearly fell off his chair laughing.
"Hah! Even the kid knows you're a dumbass," he wheezed between cackles.
Ray closed his eyes and sighed internally.
He was surrounded by lunatics.
---
At night, when the house finally grew quiet and the warm glow of magic lanterns dimmed, Ray retreated into the only place he truly controlled — his Domain.
The world shifted.
He stood—his adult consciousness unbound inside the mental landscape—before a barren, empty field under a dark sky.
A prompt echoed in his mind.
[Domain Opened: Welcome, Ruler.]
In the center of the field, a single withered tree stood.
Small. Bare. Pathetic.
But around it pulsed a soft, eerie mist that whispered of hidden power.
He approached, feeling a strange warmth flood his chest.
Skeleton Tree — Level 1
Generates one Basic Skeleton every 24 hours.
He smiled, a wide, boyish grin spreading across his ethereal face.
One skeleton today.
Tomorrow?
Armies.
He wasn't just going to grow stronger.
He was going to dominate.
---
The next evening, Drevon threw a celebration.
Friends, family, and even a few minor nobles from nearby towns crammed into their house, all eager to coo over the 'miracle baby.'
Ray, dressed in a ridiculous frilly white outfit, endured the horror with the stoicism of a dying soldier.
Every kiss on the cheek, every pinch of his fat little thighs, made him want to scream.
If only he could summon a skeleton to throw these idiots out the window.
But sadly, he had rules to follow.
And patience to learn.
At the center of it all, Drevon puffed out his chest like a rooster.
"My son?" he boomed, sloshing wine in his goblet. "Born with mana in his veins! Mark my words, folks, he'll awaken a Mythic class by thirteen!"
From the side, Arnold choked on his drink, snorting so hard red wine sprayed across the table.
"You said the same shit about yourself, dumbass," Arnold drawled. "You barely hit Rank 4 by eighteen."
The room erupted with laughter.
Drevon flushed, but took it on the chin, clapping Arnold on the back hard enough to nearly knock the old man over.
Ray watched all of it unfold, tucked safely in Lina's arms.
He felt warmth blossom in his chest.
It was chaotic.
Messy.
Embarrassing.
But it was family.
And for once in his two lifetimes, he wasn't completely alone.
---
End of Chapter 7Chapter 8: His First Bonehead
The night was still.
The stars overlaid the skies of the continent like scattered silver coins, shining above the peaceful town where Ray's family home sat.
Inside a quiet room, lined with soft blankets and a faint glowing stone lamp, a baby blinked slowly… then grinned like a maniac.
Because the baby wasn't just a baby.
And he had work to do.
---
Inside the Domain, Ray stood tall—no longer in his baby body. Here, he was himself: a young man with messy black hair, cruelly sharp eyes, and a smirk that screamed "Try me, bitch."
The ground beneath him pulsed with energy.
The Skeleton Tree had grown a few inches taller since yesterday, its bark twisting like bone, its branches creaking like old joints.
A soft light pulsed around its roots.
Then the notification hit.
[Skeleton Generated: Basic Bonehead x1]
[Name it?]
Ray stepped forward, excitement bubbling in his chest.
Bones cracked, clicked, and crawled together in the dirt as the pieces assembled from nothing.
A skull. A spine. Arms. Legs.
The whole mess of bones stitched itself into shape like magic—and stood there, trembling slightly, holding a rusty short sword in both hands.
It looked… pathetic.
Its head was too big, its sword was bent, and its left eye socket glowed with a flickering, almost dumb green light.
Ray grinned.
"Welcome to life, you ugly bastard."
The skeleton clattered its jaw. Like a laugh. Or a glitch.
"Your name is now… Bonehead."
[Name Accepted: Bonehead]
Loyalty: 100%
Intelligence: 2/100
Obedience: Like a good dog.
Ray rubbed his chin. "Alright, Bonehead. Let's see what you can do."
He pointed to a training dummy nearby—a wooden target 15 meters away, recently conjured by the Domain's system.
"Attack that thing like it insulted your mother."
Bonehead stared at it for three long seconds.
Then took one glorious, heroic step forward…
And tripped over his own femur.
Face-first.
Sword flying.
Helmet popping off like a cork.
Ray facepalmed.
This was going to be a long journey.
---
Later that night, while Ray cleaned up Bonehead's mess and tried to realign his skeleton's hip bone, he heard a familiar chuckle echo in the sky above the Domain.
"Enjoying yourself, Host?"
A flash of red light descended like lightning, and the air rippled.
A figure formed—lean, elegant, with crimson robes and a lazy smirk on his lips.
System 15.
Ray's uninvited roommate for eternity.
"Fifteen," Ray said dryly, wiping skeleton goo off his hands. "He's dumber than a rock with brain damage."
"True," 15 agreed, floating lazily upside down. "But you're the dumbass who named him Bonehead. The universe heard you and said, 'Bet.'"
Ray groaned. "You got anything useful?"
15 smirked. "Oh, I do. You now have access to Weapon Tree (Rank F) and Frost Wolf Tree (Level 1)."
Ray blinked. "Wait, that wolf tree? It's real?"
"Yup. Starting tomorrow, it'll spawn one adorable puppy per day. Frost-based, mean little bastards."
Ray pumped his fist.
He might've just started this new life in diapers, but now?
He had a skeleton warrior—kind of.
He had a magic domain.
And soon, he'd have wolves.
Undead. Beasts. Weapons. And that was just the start.
Ray looked up at the vast, empty Domain sky.
It still felt too big, too quiet.
But now, it wasn't so empty.
"Let's build an empire," he whispered.
Bonehead saluted—then fell apart again.
---Chapter 9: Puppy Problems and Dumb Quests
Morning in the Domain felt weird.
It wasn't "sunrise" so much as it was a golden glow seeping in from nowhere, lighting the sky like a god had flipped a dimmer switch and whispered "Good luck, idiot."
Ray sat cross-legged in his Domain, eyes closed, trying to meditate like those anime protagonists always did.
Spoiler: It wasn't working.
Bonehead was in the corner trying to slice a rock and somehow missing.
The air shimmered suddenly.
[Frost Wolf Tree Activated]
[1x Frost Wolf Pup has been born]
Ray opened his eyes.
There, beneath the icy branches of the Frost Wolf Tree, stood a tiny ball of fluff.
Silver-white fur. Blue eyes that sparkled with mischief.
And frost breath that already froze a patch of grass under its feet.
It sneezed.
The ground cracked with a gentle frost wave.
"…I'm calling you Snowball," Ray said, pointing.
[Name Accepted: Snowball]
Loyalty: 30% (baby, confused)
Intelligence: 15/100
Potential: S Rank
Ray's jaw dropped.
"S-Rank?! Damn, you might be my new favorite."
Bonehead, nearby, dramatically collapsed like a jilted ex.
Ray whistled and waved Snowball over.
The pup stared.
Tilted its head.
Then launched like a bullet—and bit Ray's hand.
"OW, you frosty little asshole!" Ray yelled, flailing. "That's not love!"
Snowball growled, tail wagging happily. Its breath left frost trails on Ray's shirt.
15's voice echoed above, stifling a laugh. "S-Rank doesn't mean manners, Host."
"Why didn't you warn me?!"
"I like surprises," 15 said innocently. "Speaking of which..."
A new alert blinked into view.
---
[Hidden Quest Unlocked]
Title: Operation: Baby Steps
Objective: Use your current undead (Bonehead) and beast (Snowball) to complete a simulated dungeon challenge.
Reward: Beast Bonding Scroll (permanent loyalty boost)
Penalty: Loss of 1 Domain Tree (random)
Time Limit: 2 hours.
---
Ray stared at the screen. Then looked at Bonehead—still attacking a boulder—and Snowball—chewing his boot.
"You want me to clear a dungeon... with these two clowns?"
"Have faith," 15 said dramatically. "Or don't. Either way, the clock's ticking."
The ground trembled.
A portal opened a few meters ahead—glowing blue, with swirling mist inside.
Ray's eye twitched.
"You're serious."
"Oh, very."
Ray grabbed Bonehead by the skull, hoisted Snowball under one arm, and marched toward the portal.
"Let's go, you damn goblins in disguise. We're doing a dungeon."
---
Inside the Dungeon Instance
It was a basic setup.
Three stone rooms.
Five low-level training dummies enchanted to fight back.
One "mini-boss" dummy that looked like it had been hitting the gym.
Bonehead immediately charged.
Straight into a wall.
Ray sighed.
Snowball, however, lit up.
Literally.
The moment the dummies activated, Snowball growled—and let out a tiny frost bark.
A miniature explosion of ice blasted one of the dummies' legs off.
Ray blinked. "Okay damn, pup's cracked."
Bonehead got up, screaming silently like a toddler with rage issues, and slashed one dummy in the back.
Sort of.
He mostly hit its shoulder and dislocated his own arm in the process.
The battle was chaos.
Ray tried to direct them like a proper necromancer general.
Snowball kept ignoring orders and chasing frost shadows.
Bonehead was fighting like a drunken pirate.
But somehow… they won.
The last dummy exploded into splinters.
Ray stood there, panting, hands on knees.
Snowball sat on the dummy's remains, proudly wagging his tail.
Bonehead fell backward and gave a thumbs-up with the wrong hand.
[Quest Complete]
Reward Acquired: Beast Bonding Scroll (used automatically on Snowball)
Snowball Loyalty: 30% → 85%
Snowball now sees you as "Alpha Idiot" (affectionate)
Ray fell to his knees.
"Victory… is mine…"
15 clapped slowly in the sky.
"I'd say not bad, but honestly? That was like watching two hobos fight a vending machine."
Ray flipped him off with both hands.
---
Back in the real world, Ray the baby giggled in his crib.
He'd spent an hour in the Domain battling dummies with chaos beasts—and now drooled like a sleepy potato.
His mom peeked in.
"Oh? Baby Ray is so happy today!"
Ray looked up at her.
If only she knew he just fought a death battle in magical purgatory with a frost puppy and a bone clown.
------
Chapter 10: Mama's Magic and Murder Lullabies
---
Ray was drooling again.
Not because he was a baby—though, yeah, biologically he was—but because the soup his mother had made smelled divine.
Like, divine divine.
If Gods had a kitchen, this would be the starter course.
Ray sat on his mom's lap, barely keeping his tiny head upright as she hummed softly, feeding him with a small spoon.
"This one's for mana control," she cooed, offering a spoonful.
Ray blinked.
Wait. What?
[System Alert: Your mother is unknowingly guiding your mana roots through maternal mana syncing.]
[You are currently absorbing Passive Mana Threading.]
[Progress toward Mana Sense: 4.8%]
His brain nearly short-circuited.
"You—wait. Are you serious? I'm learning from her... cuddles?"
15's voice popped up with a lazy chuckle. "Welcome to the ancient and mysterious martial path of... Mommy Magic."
Ray mentally screamed.
Out loud, he gurgled like the adorable little bundle of chaos he was.
---
Later That Day
Ray was carried into the garden by his mother, Seris.
Tall hedges, sweet-smelling flowers, and faint shimmering lines in the air—magic protections hidden in the leaves.
He noticed subtle rune markers etched into tree trunks.
His mother wasn't just a high-level warrior; she was trained.
"Look at the flowers, Ray-ray," Seris said sweetly, rocking him in her arms. "One day, when you're older, we'll train you under the sky just like your sister."
Yeah, about that, Ray thought, internally stretching his mental arms inside the Domain where Bonehead was juggling pebbles and Snowball was attacking butterflies made of light.
15 whispered in his mind. "She's humming a lullaby infused with calming mana frequencies. Pretty common among warrior mothers of Pangaria."
"Is it safe?" Ray asked.
"Oh, absolutely. Unless she sings the blood song version—that one makes babies pass out or start killing."
Ray paused.
"…We're not doing that version, right?"
"I dunno. You drool a lot. Could go either way."
Ray sighed.
Then stopped.
Because he heard something… strange.
A crack in the magical wards.
Subtle, soft—like a whisper being sliced open.
He tensed.
And 15 instantly flared to life.
[Warning: External fluctuation in spatial integrity detected within 3km radius.]
[Possibility: Tier 1 Gate Formation]
"What?! Already?" Ray thought. "We're still in fluffball stage! My army can't even tie their own shoes!"
"No time like the present," 15 said coolly. "You might want to notify your dad. Or not. He's out drinking rice beer and flexing for his training students again."
Ray's face twitched.
Just then, a shadow moved through the treetops.
Ray's mother stopped humming. Her hand slid gently across his belly—not to pat, but to shield.
She had felt it too.
"…Stay calm, baby," she whispered, voice sharper now. Warrior tone.
Ray's heartbeat sped up.
She turned, eyes scanning the sky.
The hedge shimmered.
And something fell from above.
A creature—small, twisted, hunched like a malformed goblin with beetle wings. Its eyes were black, soulless pits, and its claws dripped a weird purple ooze.
It shrieked.
Seris moved.
No hesitation.
A single step. A twist of her waist. And her free hand snapped forward like a whip.
A dagger of pure golden mana fired through the air and exploded the creature's skull mid-flight.
Ray blinked.
Blood mist rained down on the garden. Flower petals curled inward as if mourning.
15 whistled.
"Your mom's hot when she's angry."
"I'm gonna let that one slide," Ray muttered. "Because I agree."
Seris glanced around.
Her eyes narrowed.
"That wasn't a beast from around here…" she muttered, voice low.
Ray just made a baby coo.
Internally?
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
---
Back Inside
Ray lay in his crib, but sleep wasn't happening tonight.
He'd just seen a mutated Tier 1 invader get clapped like a mosquito—and it wasn't even fully nighttime yet.
15 hovered silently.
Then spoke. "You know what this means, right?"
"That the danger's coming earlier than expected?"
"That your mother's way more badass than your father."
"…Also true."
Ray sat up in the Domain, where his mental form now lounged in a stone chair surrounded by his tiny "kingdom."
Snowball was napping on a frost pillow.
Bonehead had managed to stab himself in the foot again.
Ray pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need more soldiers."
"Then build the Weapon Tree," 15 said. "You have the Mana Income now. Just barely."
Ray pulled up the system menu.
---
[Tree of War] – Unlocked
Low-Rank Sword Tree → Produces 1x Common Sword every 2 days
Low-Rank Bow Tree → Produces 1x Training Bow every 3 days
Weapon Stockpile (Basic) → Stores up to 20 weapons at once
---
Ray selected both sword and bow trees. They shimmered into existence—glowing outlines that solidified near the edge of his undead training field.
"Good," Ray whispered. "Now we're cooking."
15 added, "Also unlocked: Training Grounds [Basic]. You can run drills for minions here. That'll improve their instincts."
Ray blinked.
"And you're just now telling me this?!"
"You never asked," 15 replied smugly.
Ray kicked imaginary dirt.
---
Nighttime in the Real World
Ray's mother stood outside the house, her sword strapped to her back, eyes scanning the distance.
She hadn't told her husband about the creature. Not yet. No need to panic the city.
But her instincts were screaming.
Something had come through.
Too early.
Too silent.
And definitely too weird.
Back in his crib, Ray slept.
Sort of.
One eye twitched.
In his dreams, a goblin farted fire.
---
End