The white fox with blue eyes, dropped Baby Beatrix on the doorstep of a rundown hovel. Then she howled up at the enormous crimson planet in the sky and a huge dark stormcloud suddenly formed. Since the temperature was still extremely high from being so close to the sun, rain was able to easily fall upon the burning city and slowly quell the fires. Then the vixen scampered off into the distance, heading towards the citadel again.

After hearing that loud noise and with all of that rain falling onto his face, the infant regained consciousness. He tried to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was incessant whining and babbling.

That door creaked open and an extremely tiny woman poked her head out cautiously. She was only three feet tall, but her facial features were similar to the Northlanders. Her hair was jet black and straight, while her eyes were dark-brown.

“Ah? Umm, huh? Ugh…”

The woman had a pensive expression as she gaze down at the infant that was almost as big as she was, but she couldn’t decide what she should do. However, after she saw those little hands reaching out towards her, she sighed and struggled to pick up the child.

Then she went back inside of the tiny hovel and wiped the baby off with a relatively clean rag. There was a pot of stew boiling over a small fireplace and a skinny old Asian woman sitting cross-legged in the center of the room.

“Master… Someone left a strange baby on our doorstep…”

Although the Gnome was technically a slave, her ‘owner’ raised her more like a daughter or grandchild. That old woman slowly opened her cataract-covered eyes and whispered in a raspy voice, “Linda… I love you, but I won’t be able to stay with you any longer.”

“What?! No, Master! I’m sorry! I’ll get rid of the baby!”

However, when she looked down into the child’s glowing purple eyes, Linda couldn’t help but feel a strange urge to protect him.

The old woman chuckled softly and shook her head, explaining “No, you haven’t done anything wrong… But I’ve reached the end of my lifespan. I’ve been holding on for a long time, in order to shield you from this world. However… It seems as if Karma has decided to grant me a favor after all, hehehe~…” After that, she started coughing violently and her nearly skeletal body was trembling uncontrollably.

“No, you can’t die! Master, what would I do without you?!” Linda rushed over, with the infant still in her arms and hugged tightly onto her ‘mother’.

There was a smile on the old woman’s lips, as blood dripped down her chin. Then her flesh started glowing brightly and emitting a massive amount of heat. The last words that old woman said were “Take the child and escape from this terrible city while you still have the chance… Travel southward, towards the winding mountains… Take care of your little brother… Ares, will protect you in my place.”

Her flesh, blood and bones disintegrated into a golden powder, which swirled around in the room for a few minutes. But then it suddenly started coalescing in the form of a glowing yellow cocoon, which wrapped around the baby’s entire body.

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