In the rainy, stormy sky, high above the Great Forest, a curious scene was visible.
As heavy clouds and occasional lightning tore through the darkness, a small point plummeted at high speed.
To the inattentive eye, it might pass as just a random shard, but on closer inspection it revealed something far more intriguing: it was a baby.
A baby with silver hair and dark skin, falling freely toward the ground covered by rivers and violent currents that snaked between colossal trees.
However, contrary to what one would expect from such a small child, there were no cries, screams, or panic.
The infant's expression was surprisingly serene, almost... apathetic. As if the child severely lacked any survival instinct.
This baby was Diana, the firstborn and eldest daughter of the Beast God.
Suddenly, a larger figure appeared beside her, as if having emerged from the thunder and lightning.
It was Rygar. The one responsible for letting his daughter fall from such a height.
Of course, he was controlling the storm with his magic so that no lightning would dare touch the little one.
And he was falling beside her, equally soaked by the rain, but there was a smile on his face.
"How about it, Diana?" he said amid the fall. "Is this still not enough to get your attention?"
His daughter, with an impassive gaze, turned her eyes to him. Without apparent emotion, she extended her little arms, opening and closing her tiny hands, as if asking to be held.
Rygar at first considered ignoring the gesture and letting her fall a bit more, trying to elicit some reaction.
But in the end, he couldn't resist. His daughter's cuteness won over his will, and he finally took her into his arms during the fall.
"Haha! So you were scared!" he teased, squeezing the girl's chubby cheeks.
But Diana only looked at him, puzzled, without showing any emotion.
Until, suddenly, her lips curled slightly to the side, forming a little smile that Rygar was sure contained almost imperceptible mockery.
"Heh."
A vein popped on Rygar's forehead.
"Alright! Then let's see if you stay like this when we're almost on the ground!" he replied in a challenging tone.
It was ridiculous to compete with a baby, but Rygar really became a little stupid when interacting with his children.
Before them, all his seriousness, ferocity, and intimidating posture drained away, giving place to a caring and somewhat silly version of himself.
The little one, however, remained unshaken.
As they neared the ground and the fury of the waters, Rygar could swear he saw disdain in his daughter's eyes.
At the last moment, when collision was inevitable, Rygar sighed. With a snap of his fingers, he reversed gravity.
The accelerated fall turned into a slow float, until both hovered in zero gravity, suspended in the air, with the storm as a backdrop.
Diana's triumphant look almost made him laugh and snort at the same time.
"Tsk, tsk! You've got a strong will, huh?" he murmured, shaking his head.
Holding his daughter firmly, Rygar propelled himself with magic and flew back, cutting through the storm until he reached the enormous tree that served as his family's home.
If he didn't have the ability to sense emotions and intentions, he would certainly have believed his daughter was someone reincarnated, inhabiting that small body.
But she was just extremely hard to impress.
After all, although the little girl maintained that impassive air, he could clearly perceive how attached she was to Ghislaine. With her, Diana always seemed more comfortable.
Magic, impressive tricks, or even falling from an insane height... none of that stirred any emotion in her.
Survival instinct? Zero.
But when it came to food, then something changed. After Ghislaine stopped breastfeeding, both Diana and her brother revealed themselves to be little gluttons.
And, in those moments, it was possible to see genuine joy in the little one — more than in any other situation. Otherwise, she observed everything and everyone as if judging their existence.
Still, Rygar was certain that she was not completely insensitive.
Just... hard to please.
Shortly after, cutting through the rain, father and daughter entered the treehouse together.
The Kingdom of Gaia's seasonal rainy season was once again in full swing.
Rygar had, at first, thought of simply dispelling that rain with magic, but after deeper investigation he discovered something fundamental.
It was precisely that rainy season that made the Great Forest so lush.
The fauna and flora of the entire Continent were enriched and revitalized by those constant waters, which fed rivers, springs, and enormous lakes.
So, instead of interfering with nature, he decided to let it be, allowing the rain to follow its course.
However, he took other measures to improve the region's infrastructure, adapting it to withstand and thrive even amid that recurring deluge.
When he entered the house, he found a calm scene that strongly contrasted with the storm outside.
Verdia was sitting in an animal-fur chair, with a thick grimoire of King-level Healing Magic open on the table.
Her belly was already considerably sized, showing her advanced pregnancy.
She seemed very focused on the book's content, but also frowned due to the difficulty.
On the other side, Eris was lying completely sprawled, snoring. Over her, as if a huge white blanket, lay the Sacred Beast Leo.
The animal seemed to have adopted a life of laziness and coziness, letting itself be carried away by Eris's influence.
It was as sprawled as she was, breathing heavily, much more like a large white dog than a legendary beast.
Eris's belly, in turn, was also already prominent, although somewhat smaller than Verdia's.
Now that Ghislaine had already given birth, Leo's role was to protect Verdia and Eris during this period.
Speaking of her, Ghislaine was near Verdia, also with a book in her hands. But it wasn't about magic; it seemed to be a tale Ghislaine had been reading recently, about a blue demon and a red one.
Surprisingly, little Perseus slept deeply in her lap.
For such an energetic and restless boy, that silence was almost a miracle.
Rygar approached, placing Diana on the wooden table next to Verdia. The little one, impassive as always, watched the elf with her attentive gaze.
"How's it going?" he asked.
Verdia raised her eyes from the grimoire and made a tired expression.
"It's much harder than I thought! Damn! You made it seem so easy when you learned it!" she complained, looking at him with a judging air.
"Actually, anything you do with magic seems easy, but it's extremely complicated! Damn, you even swap the kids with magic!"
Rygar couldn't contain his laugh at his wife's annoyed tone and sat beside her.
"What are you having trouble with? I'll help you."
One of the most unexpectedly useful advantages of being a superhuman with sharp senses went beyond battle: it was knowing, precisely, when his children were about to poop or pee.
Yes, Rygar had always wanted to be a father, even in his previous life, but he never liked the part about cleaning and changing children.
Fortunately, magic had made that ridiculously easy.
Even if, by chance, he didn't perceive the exact moment, it was simple: just float the baby in the air with magic, clean them with conjured water, dry them with a gust of wind, and done.
Eliminated feces, diapers changed, and any occasional wound healed instantly. Although they rarely got hurt, it was a benefit nonetheless.
Rygar thanked the existence of magic daily — the true dream of any modern father.
Of course, he would never admit that out loud.
From the outside, it seemed like mere convenience. But to him, it was the practical fulfillment of a life he had always wanted.
His children, by the way, were remarkably resilient.
Like him, they seemed to carry an innate strength from birth, not on a level comparable to his, but still far above ordinary beast-children.
Therefore, Rygar considered, for some time, beginning to stimulate their mana early, to expand their magical reserves.
However, after further reflection, he gave up. He decided to wait until their bodies were more developed, at least until they turned one year old.
He didn't know what the side effects of forcing such a tiny child in that aspect could be, and had no intention of turning his children into guinea pigs.
While these thoughts passed through his mind, he began helping Verdia understand and manipulate the complexity of King-level Healing Magic.
Diana, sitting on the table, watched everything closely. Her fixed eyes moved from Rygar to Verdia, as if judging every gesture and every mistake.
But after a few minutes, the little one simply lay on her back on the table and turned her gaze to the rainy sky, visible from the balcony.
She stayed there, motionless, just watching the falling water without any apparent purpose.
It was a habit of hers. Diana frequently spent long minutes staring at the sky.
After some time studying, Verdia sighed deeply and reclined in the comfortable animal-fur chair, setting the grimoire aside for a moment.
"Haaaah..." she exhaled, tired. "Is it just me, or does pregnancy make you exhausted very easily?"
Her gaze went straight to Ghislaine, who was still calmly reading her old book.
"And you, Ghislaine? Did you feel anything like that?"
Ghislaine lifted her eyes from the text, thoughtful, and replied directly, without much expression:
"I didn't feel anything like that, no..." she said without much expression. But after a few seconds, she added: "However, my mobility was very reduced. I don't know if that counts."
Verdia's eye twitched. She sighed and waved her hand.
"Forget it... I think I asked the wrong person."
Her gaze wandered around the room until it fixed on Eris, completely sprawled on the couch. Excited, Verdia pointed out:
"See! Eris is much more tired in pregnancy too! You're the strange one here, Ghislaine!"
Rygar laughed at the scene, crossing his arms.
"Well, maybe it's racial. Among humans that's certainly true. But it could be that beasts and elves are built differently in this regard. Scientific advances haven't come far enough for us to be certain."
Ghislaine thought about that for a moment, then simply nodded, returning to the tale in her hands.
"I see..." Verdia said, turning to Rygar with a more curious look. "But then, how do you know more about human constitution than your own race?"
Rygar, who was idly playing with Diana — the little one seemed uncomfortable, glancing sideways at the rainy sky — paused for a moment, thoughtful. He scratched his chin and replied:
"Actually... I guess I never told you this, did I?" he paused.
"Well, it became irrelevant over time. But I'm reincarnated and was human in my previous life."
Ghislaine raised her eyes from the book, a little confused, while Verdia widened her eyes. Soon after, she laughed out loud.
"I knew it!" she said, almost triumphant.
But at that same instant, she covered her mouth upon noticing Perseus stir in Ghislaine's arms. The boy grumbled a little, but kept sleeping.
Eris, for her part, also twitched slightly, but did not wake. Verdia, now more restrained, commented in a low, excited voice:
"Hehe, I guessed it long before!"
Rygar just laughed at the reaction, shaking his head.
"Well, it's not something so important now. The concerns and intentions of my previous life seem very irrelevant compared to what I have now."
He put his hand on his chin. "The advantage is that I have a lot of useful information from another world. I lived there until I was twenty years old... which means that, adding the two lives, I'd be the same age as you, Ghislaine."
She watched him silently for a moment and let out a slight smile. Then returned to her book, as if it were nothing.
"I see."
For her, nothing had changed. Rygar was the same person as a minute ago. Verdia, however, puffed her cheeks and commented, disappointed:
"What a lukewarm reaction..."
Then, suddenly, her gaze shone with mischief.
"Well, does that mean you were already interested in me when you were a child? Pervert!"
Rygar let out a short laugh and leaned toward her, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
"Think of it this way: even with two lives combined, you're still ten times more experienced than I am."
Verdia blinked, confused, and then murmured:
"Huh... is that so..."
Rygar then stood up and stretched his arms.
"Alright, I'll tell more about my previous life later, but now I have to go. I have to train. Jino is getting stronger very quickly... maybe in a few years he'll give me a good fight!"
He leaned over the couch and kissed Eris's forehead as she slept, then did the same with Ghislaine, who only raised her eyes for a moment and returned to the book.
Looking at Eris again, he grew thoughtful.
"Hmmm... I think I'll tell Eris later. If you tell her, she might not believe it."
Verdia pulled Diana closer to herself and said with a smile:
"Alright. Good training!"
Rygar waved his hand, walked to the balcony, and the torrential rain hit him. A moment later, he began to float amid the thunder.
Then, with an explosion of movement, he shot off in supersonic flight, cutting through the stormy sky.
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