Morning arrives with Aren still sleeping soundly. One might think he’ll sleep a little bit longer, but his previous habit of waking up in the moment of consciousness made him rise almost immediately. However, just like his habit, he immediately fell into a state of being half asleep. He looked out of the window, noticing that the sun has barely gone out and it’s not even that bright outside yet. The sky started to spread a light blue color without a lot of clouds roaming around. Birds were chirping and adding to Aren’s annoyance. Everything was fine in the world, or at least he thinks it to be.

He makes his way in the hallway, walking slowly and dully. For an unknown reason the morning dulls his senses, but that might just be his loathing for mornings kicking in and the soreness he currently feels. Despite this hatred and pain, Aren was still able to muster enough strength to actually get himself going like all the other mornings before, in exchange for his motor functions and mental awareness. He dragged his hand across the smooth polished wooden wall, gliding along it as if he were touching tiles. As he walks down the hallway, he is led by the nose by a delicious aroma coming from downstairs. He slowly went down the stairs, subconsciously holding onto the railings as to not fall.

He started to follow the scent towards the dining table after reaching the bottom safely. Norman and Martha were already at the table, stopping their eating when Aren came into view. Aren was still half asleep when he sat on the free chair, leaning on the table to wait for his plate. He sat there, unaware of his current situation.

“Aren? Why are you up so early in the morning?”

Aren didn’t understand why his mother would ask that. He had always woke up early for school. “Aren’s a funny name, who’s that? Wait.” Then it suddenly hit him. The realization snapped him back into consciousness as he fully awakes, eyes wide open. This isn’t his home, nor is this his real body. Thoughts of having to go on an exile mocked him as he mentally panics. Fortunately for him, he has somewhat mastered the art of ignorance and deceit. The numerous times he has to lie about many things in his previous life paid him well before, so he doesn’t see how it could not now.

“I jusht want to wake up eawly. I want to contwinue twaining with dad.” he said, looking at them with innocent, definitely honest eyes.

Aren was once again taking risks here. They mentioned before that the accident was indirectly caused by Norman’s guidance, so he would normally think that Norman was training Aren some time before the accident. However, he has no way of knowing whether it was training or another kind of thing where it was considered “working too hard”. He doesn’t know if it’ll be guaranteed to work. The tears of pride and joy from Norman, nonetheless, was enough of a sign that he succeeded.

“Sweetie, can I?” Norman’s ask of permission made Aren think that his dad is just his mom’s child, more so than their own child.

“Are you really sure Aren? I mean…”

Martha was clearly worried. The last time they trained, Aren almost died. Well, the real Aren actually did die but that’s not a topic that should be talked about. Aren just smiled at her with the most genuine smile he could show.

“I’ll be fine mom. I pwamise it won’t happen awgain.”

Those words couple with how Aren said it in such a reassuring tone, especially for a child, made Martha give in and gave Norman the okay. Norman let out a yell of joy in response and rushed his food to finish early, but ended in him choking. This morning was off to a good start.

Norman and Aren meet up at their backyard. The yard is very open and fenced, enough space for training. Aren could see the forest way out there in the east over the wooden fence, but that place doesn’t concern him right now. At the base of the fences grows a number of flowers with different colors. They are all flowers he hasn’t seen before, then again he doesn’t go out much from his house in his previous life. He wasn’t a shut-in, just not very fond of the outside world.

“Now Aren, we are just going to go with basics because you are still probably not that recovered. Okay? I know you're still sore, so we won't go too crazy.”

Aren responded with a smile and a thumbs up.

“Good!” Norman then showed his palms towards Aren “First thing’s first. Show me how much your punches pack.”

Aren nodded and prepares himself to punch. His strength stat is 9 and he doesn’t know how much that means. It might be really low and appropriate for his body, or really high and stats don’t often reach a hundred in this world. This exercise will provide him a reference material for that, and he’s thankful that he doesn’t have to punch a tree or something else hard to do that.

“Go!”

With all his might, Aren punched Norman’s right palm with right hook and grunting in the process. Norman’s hand felt solid, like concrete. He didn’t notice it before, but his hands are big enough to probably hold his entire toddler skull. If he were to compare his father with anything, he would compare it to a fluffy and friendly bear that could kill him anytime.

Norman cupped his chin to analyze his son’s current strength. He smiled.

“Not bad Aren. I was expecting it to be weaker, but that punch was good. Again!”

Norman raised his palms again. Aren responds with repeatedly punching his father’s palms with each one using every ounce of strength he could muster. He thought he must look cool with his flurry of punches, but he could only be seen as a five your old doing his best in Norman’s eyes. Aren was slow, clumsy, and every punch felt like a punch given by the tickle monster. Norman can’t help but think that his son looks so cute when he tries so hard.

Meanwhile Aren actually tries to impress Norman, but he is only impressing Norman with his cuteness instead. After a fifty or so weak and slow punches, he started to feel the fatigue as sweat starts to leak from his body. He’s only been going at it for five minutes, and he’s already this tired. Then again, he is still sore and recovering and inside a toddler's body no less, so it's only natural for him to get tired more easily than before. Norman pats his son on his shoulder, then brought him closer.

“Don’t push yourself too hard son. If you are tired, we can take a break.”

Aren agrees by falling down on his butt unto the grass, breathing deeply. Now that he knows how much 9 strength is worth, he has a good reference point for any future estimations. Looks like stats like his are usually reserved for toddlers like him, with numbers around 30 or more being achievable when they are about in the age of 8 or 10. Maybe he can reach it sooner than he might think.

General Info Name: Aren Montrea Affiliation: None Level: 6 Age: 5 Gender: Male

Jobs Jack of All Trades Brawler    

Health: 20/20 Mana: 50/50 Fame: 41 Experience Points: 57

Strength: 10 Vitality: 10 Endurance: 11 Agility: 6 Dexterity: 7 Perception: 7 Intelligence: 31 Wisdom: 22 Fortitude: 19 Charm: 10 Faith: 4 Luck: 21

Bonuses: It's Me!

Here's a gift.

Favors: None Discovered

Status Effects: Sore: There will be slight pain in every movement.

Recovering: Take 50% more damage than usual.

Really sooner than he expected. He has already hit two digit this early in his life, granted that Norman did train the previous Aren until he reached 9 points in strength. Endurance, agility and dexterity seems to also go up by one point. This effect may be the doing of Jack of All Trades, and he’s thankful for that. Seems like growth won’t be a problem for him thanks to this job.

“Dad, I’m rweady to train awgain.”

Norman, who was picking flowers in the sides to probably give to his wife, turned around in surprise.

“Oh? Well then.”

Norman laid the flowers on the ground to divert his attention towards his son. Although the status screen doesn’t show his stamina points, Aren feels that he has somewhat recovered enough stamina to continue on the training. At least Norman knows not to be harsh to little children like himself, else he would have already used the break as a gateway for escape.

“Let’s do that again.” Norman then raises his palms.

Just like before, Aren repeatedly punches his palms again. Norman however instantly noticed the change of his speed and strength. The change is subtle, but Norman was able to pick it up easily. Aren just continues on, not knowing the change that is taking place in him. Norman, though he doesn’t know what’s the cause, definitely knew something was off as he again noticed another shift in strength. Aren got tired again after a couple of punches.

“Huff… Huff… can we take a bweak dad?”

Norman kneels before his son, confusing Aren with his serious expression. Did he do something wrong?

“Aren. Are you hiding something from me?”

Aren’s poker face instinctively kicked in. He didn’t think about this one as he didn’t think Norman would be this sharp. One after another, his mind just throws every possible excuse he could use. The whole world seem to go in slow motion as he desperately thinks of a way out of this predicament. Simultaneously, he’s keeping an ignorant and straight face, intending to never raise any suspicion more than this.

“What do you mean dad?”

The excuse thrown was ultimately to feign ignorance. Of course, a five year old wouldn’t know the answer to that question, much less understand what he meant. He looked at Norman with innocent and confused eyes. Norman doubted Aren for a second, but finally sighed knowing that a child like him couldn’t possibly know anything about their own self.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Dad?”

Aren on the other hand was panicking inside his head. Did Norman find out? What’s going to happen to him? One by one he thinks of all the possibilities of what would happen if he was found out. All of them ended with being not in favor to him.

“I guess you wouldn’t know huh?” Norman says, gently rubbing Aren’s head.

Aren was relieved. Norman fell for it. However, now that he knows that Aren’s development is happening at a fast rate, what’s he going to do? Aren once again thinks of the possibilities that could happen, the training getting harder being one of the most probable. It’s likely that Norman’s going to use the best out of Aren’s rapid growth in training. That means Aren will have more bothersome things to do, which sucks for him.

Norman stood up with a smile.There’s no point in thinking about that right now. His boy is rapidly improving in a rate he did not have when he was still a child. It’s not taxing on Aren, neither does it give any other negative effects on his only son. Instead, he must be proud that his child will someday surpass him, giving him joy in the end. There’s no bigger joy for a father than to see his son grow before his very eyes, and no better joy for him than for his son to become a better man than him.

“Alright, let’s take a break.” Norman once again takes off to pick some flowers.

Aren stood there, finally free from the short lived interrogation. He sat down and contemplated. Norman is sharper than he looks. He could notice differences in attributes with as low as a one point improvement, while Aren himself couldn’t. Maybe Norman is much more than what he actually sees in him. After all, there’s also the fact that Norman was the one who single handedly delivered him to the hospital, assuming that it’s true. If he were to assume that he fell on one of the trees from the forest on the east, then it would mean Norman is at least as fast as a speeding car. The city of Rosenvolt is at least a few kilometers away and if Norman had the confidence to carry Aren to Rosenvolt, he must really be capable.

This lead to the conclusion that Norman is somewhat of a superhuman. Who wouldn’t think so if they see this man’s guns? He has the muscles that could put most body builder to shame, granted that his proportions was still acceptable and a little less bulkier than the body maniacs he occasionally saw on the internet. If Aren would honestly voice his opinion, it would be that Norman’s body build is actually pretty close to one of his own ideal bodies. That includes the beard too.

Then he remembers Jack’s Eye. He doesn’t know what it does, much less know what it is. However, he has an idea that he would like to try right now. Focusing on his father’s back, he uttered the words in his head.

“Jack’s Eye.”

General Info Name:  Norman Montrea Affiliation: None Level:  ??? Age:  39 Gender: Male

Jobs  Brawl Master  Berserker Battlemage  

Jack’s Eye allowed him to look at Norman’s status screen. The difference between his and Aren’s is that Norman’s status screen only shows his general info and jobs. There was nothing else that can be seen. It seems that Jack’s Eye is a dumbed down version of Appraisal, which is a skill he often sees in the comics he used to read about people being transported into another world. Whereas appraisal would show everything, Jack’s Eye only seem to show what’s on the surface level. For a dumbed down version of Appraisal, Aren admits that it's somewhat useful. With this he can properly reply to an enemy with a flight or fight.

Although there was nothing much on Norman’s status screen, some things did catch Aren’s eye. One was Norman’s level which is indicated as triple question marks. If Aren learned anything in his previous life, that would be that his father’s level is higher than his. He could kick his ass without a sweat, and he wouldn’t be able to do a thing against his father’s fury. Another thing was Norman’s first job; Brawl Master.

Brawl Master

Description:

Brawl Masters are experts in ruining your day by being extremely physically powerful and being able to use even a tiny pebble as a deadly weapon. They are even much more capable than Brawlers as their raw strength has reached at peak capacity, overshadowing even that of a Berserker's inhuman but unenhanced strength. They are the roughest of any fighter, fighting with unpolished and crude techniques, but their experience and unpredictability makes them very efficient combatants.

Effects:

Access to Brawl Master exclusive skills

Dramatically increased physical efficiency

Can inherently use any weapon adequately

 Greater melee efficiency (expert)

An obvious upgrade of Aren’s Brawler, he wonders about what it's more capable of. The effects are similar, with physical and melee efficiency being obviously superior than his. This makes sense too since Norman as basically a beefed up version of Aren. With it being an advancement of sorts for the Brawler job, there's a high chance that he'll get it in the near future assuming he doesn't die. There's no more doubt that the Brawler job did come from Norman himself.

Berserker

Description:

Fueled with blood and rage, these fools harness the power of wrath that can shatter the earth and make the skies tremble. Using their wrath and injuries, they can go beyond being human and annihilate anyone in their path. Be warned however, as the power of wrath is never an easy thing to control. Berserkers have the highest damage output for melee, but also have the highest risks.

Effects:

Access to Berserker exclusive skills

The emotion [Anger] can be used as an enhancer

Increased physical efficiency

Norman’s second job, Berserker, seems very dangerous as well as ironic to his personality. Never did he see Norman lash out in anger, or did anything rash and irrational like a stereotypical berserker would. Though he’s glad his father isn’t like that, else he’d have to make like a tree and leave. Aside from irony, the Berserker job increases Norman's physical efficiency even further making him the most muscle-heavy person Aren has ever known. If ever anyone gets into a fight with him, he hopes that they'd only have to suffer broken bones.

Battlemage

Description:

They cast spells like a mage would, but fight like a monk would. Battlemages specializes in self-buffs and devastating close quarters spells. They are quite good frontliners, and can take a much more significant amount of hits than a normal mage can. Their strength is handicapped however, since most Battlemages lacks the proper mana reserves to properly cast numerous spells. Just like Mages, running out of mana can mean life or death for them.

Effects:

Access to Battlemage exclusive skills

Increased staff proficiency

Faster self-cast

 Can willingly shift to either Monk or Mage

But the thing that glued his eyes was Norman’s third job; Battlemage. If he has enough experience with the job, then Norman could potentially teach him about it or maybe even gain the Battlemage job. Wanting to get the job no matter what, Aren decides to earn some goodwill points to increase the chances of Norman teaching him about magic.

Aren looks at his father picking up flowers. There were flowers with white and yellow petals, which seems to be the recurring theme for the flowers he is picking. Are the flowers for Martha? He doesn’t know if Martha actually does like the color of white and yellow, but her dress during breakfast seem to lean on that idea. Feeling curious, he approached Norman and asked his father.

“Dad, why awe you picking fowers?”

Norman takes a moment to look at Aren.

“Oh this? It’s for your mother.”

Figured out as much. What bothers Aren though is that he is picking flowers. For someone like him, picking flowers looks a off from a normal viewer’s eyes. Even his dad back at home wouldn’t do this in broad daylight just for mom. Well, maybe he would, but that really hasn’t happened yet so he can’t be so sure.

“Do you love mom?”

Cheesy as it sounds, Aren genuinely wanted to know what Norman thinks.

“I do, son. Very much.”

Norman’s soft tone coupled with his expression full of happiness gave Aren the answer. This kind of love is very normal, and he has no right to judge him for picking flowers for his love. This is very heartwarming for him, specially since he hasn’t seen romance stuff for a very long time. Seeing this as an opportunity, he decided that it was time to mine goodwill points.

“Let me help you dad. I love mom too, sho I want to give fowers too.”

Again, Aren didn’t really like to volunteer for bothersome tasks such as this, but if he is going to earn goodwill points, it’ll be much easier for him to ask favors from his parents in the near future. Half of his intent might be malicious, but half also genuinely wants to help Norman express his love for his loving wife. Even though there are times where he would get a good hit or two from Martha, he still loves her all the same.

“Oh, thank you son. Your mother would really love this.”

“Mhm!”

Norman looks at Aren picking flowers for him. Honestly, he is blessed to have a son like him. Polite, considerate, dedicated, and most of all, compassionate. Even if there are things he still doesn’t know about him, he is still his son. With that thought, the memory of almost losing him was still in his mind. His heart crunched as soon as the memory replayed before his eyes. His will immediately plummeted when he thought he was going to lose his son. He knew if Aren did die, it was going to break him. After all, his son is his everything.

“Dad? Are you okay?”

Aren couldn’t help but get worried for Norman, he was wearing an expression of dread as if he remembered something nasty. Maybe it was from a past trauma? Whatever it was, it was probably triggered when Norman looked at him. He was surprisingly having a good time picking up flowers earlier, now he’s just worried for his father.

“Oh, I.. uhh.. I’m okay son. Haha!” Norman shrugged it off with a chuckle.

He pats the back of Aren with minimal force, which made Aren slightly lean forward from the push.

“Don’t worry about your father too much, my boy.” He says, pointing his thumb at his chest. “Why, this old man of yours is too lively to get down by anything! Hahaha!” His hearty laugh made it more believable than Aren would’ve imagined.

Aren smiles softly behind Norman's back. He may be his father, but the aura he emits is more of a friend than a parental figure. Though there's no complaint at all. He prefers it to be this way, and actually thanked Seto for once for this. For now though, he'll have to stick with hating on him from the very bottom of his heart.

It was already near noon, at least from what Aren can see, when they were done picking flowers instead of training. Aren didn’t mind that much though, since picking flowers was surprisingly calming, therapeutic even. Not to mention with his father helping, it was a good experience and bonding time for the both of them.

“Oh, you’re back! How did the training go Aren?”

Martha asks Aren. She was already preparing food in the kitchen, way far off from the door Norman and him just came in from.

“It went well mom!”

Aren replied. He looks at Norman, who was sweating profusely while hiding the flowers he had gathered behind his back. Looks like he is not that good at being sneaky. Aren on the other hand skipped towards Martha with a bright smile. Unlike his father, he has no trouble at all at expressing his love. Then again, he is expressing familial love, while Norman is expressing a husband’s love.

“Mom, look! I want to give thish fowers to you.” Aren presented the flowers he has gathered that he hid behind him all this time.

“Awww, that’s so sweet. Thank you Aren.”

Martha gave Aren a kiss on the forehead as she took the gifted flowers from him. She looks genuinely happy. Aren is happy too. That’s one relationship improved and goodwill earned.

“Um.. S-sweetie…”

Both Aren and Martha look at Norman, who was acting shy all of a sudden. Aren couldn’t help but giggle at Norman’s maiden-like demeanor. It was not fitting at all for a man of his size. Nevertheless, Norman mustered up his courage and presented his bouquet of flowers. It was three times more numerous than Aren’s, and much more beautifully arranged.

“O-oh..”

Martha was surprised as she receives the bouquet, her cheeks reddening. This is was unexpected of her husband to suddenly gift her something like this. Aren, sure she can handle, but Norman’s shy attitude just makes her heart skip more the longer she looks at him.

Aren on the other hand is getting weird vibes from this scene. The roles are correct, but the attitudes are reversed. He thought this kind of thing would only exist in fiction, but the current situation proves otherwise.

“These flowers are for… Um… For that time… And uh…”

Aren was starting to cringe, feeling as if his chest is going to implode and his face shrinking into a prune. Love is beautiful, but to see a grown up man act like a maiden in love will definitely make that statement questionable for Aren. As Norman was about to say his final words, the front door suddenly slammed open, catching the attention of the three in surprise. Standing in the doorway was a scared Misha as she was held by her panting mother.

“Cecil? What happened?”

Cecil’s disheveled red hair swayed down as she took deep breaths, before opening her mouth.

“Bandits! The Red Hook is here!”