Another 5 months had passed, and I was finally graduated from baby to toddler. My life got so much better these past months, that it's hard not to look back and be happy that I endured it all to get here.

I made tons of discoveries about this world and myself in the meantime. Firstly, I finally saw how I looked. I got insomnia one time and decided to go to the river during daytime, when I would usually sleep. I didn't enjoy trading days for nights, but wolves are nocturnal predators, so I didn't have much choice, I was used to it anyway. When I got to the river, I finally saw my reflection, so much time had passed without a mirror that my mental image was stuck being a generic stock image baby.

Reality was a little more interesting, however. My hair was naturally green, straight, and almost past my ears in length. I was a little shocked at first but considering that one of the first things I saw when I came to this world was a half wolf baby with white hair, it wasn't that much of a surprise. It had a jade looking color that was pretty nice, way different than the green hair you would usually see some lesbians use back in Brazil.

What most caught my attention though, was my body. I was expecting a nice tan, being active all-day hunting and fishing, but I was ghostly pale. At least my muscles were already showing which was nice. All in all, I was a generic stock image baby with a slightly buff body and green hair.

Why black eyes though? It doesn't fit the aesthetic. With black eyes comes black straight hair, a tanned and fit body, a nice red facial paint, curvy hips and perky breasts… Wait, isn't it too soon to be thinking about this? Whatever, I want a cute teen tribal gf and I want her now.[1]

Armed with a renewed sense of self, I started training my body more and more every day. After these 5 months, I could already manage full pushups and pullups with ease, pulling my bow didn't even count as a workout anymore, and I could ride wolves while sitting upright.

Armed with a new bow and fishing rod, all courtesy of Toba's hair, I also started hunting every day. I caught an incredible variety of fish, all from that same river, which made me appreciate just how diverse the fauna and flora of this world truly was.

There were all kinds of different plants and mushrooms in the forest, at every spot you looked, you would see some color, even at night. Fishes also weren't the only diverse species, just from the rabbits you could get 20 or 30 different kinds, some with horns, some with prolonged teeth, and they all had slightly different furs.

I won't risk eating any of the plants though, If I eat a poisonous one it might be game over for me.

Toba still followed me all the time, and he was way stronger than me, so when he started hunting too, we had plenty of food, which we now ate cooked. That first rabbit was not so bad, but if I'm going to eat something raw, I prefer fish. Toba was also getting stronger and stronger, ever since he started imitating my training regiment he'd been growing in size and strength at an incredible pace.

I felt a little bad before, seeing him do so many half-pushups, and that's what motivated me to start trying harder exercises, so he could be at his full potential. Who could've guessed that I would have to die in order to finally get a training partner?

We would also ride wolves almost everywhere now. Ever since we started hunting our own food and giving the excess to the pack, they would let us ride them anytime. Two small filthy creatures ridding wolves reminded me of the goblins in D&D, I hope there aren't any adventurers around.

Life was cozy now; it was a nice enough routine. I do miss talking, but I had Toba to keep me company and it was fun riding around and hunting with him. All that talk some people had back on earth about how hunting, eating good food and living on nature was the path to happiness started to make sense. If I wanted to really live in this world though, I couldn't stay like this forever.

I'm pretty sure they don't speak Portuguese or English, wherever this is, so I need to learn this world's language at the very least.

And so, I decided to set out with Toba on an adventure and explore a little more of the forest, to see if I could find traces of civilization. Hopefully we wouldn't be attacked on sight, I even took a longer bath and made Toba look less ghoulish.

We set out early in the night, two naked 1 year-olds on top of wolves, riding in search of adventure. One with a green head like seaweed, the other with animal ears and a tail.

When did I grow accustomed to this? Shit's getting weirder by the minute

We rode all night and then set out a little camp. It was nice that everyone obeyed me, but Toba was curious to say the least. He had no idea what we were doing, and was staring at me trying to figure it out. I could see cogs turning in his head and smoke coming out of his ears. We hadn't reached uncharted territory yet, but we were about to.

Don't worry dear brother, this journey's purpose is to grant us the gift of language, and we shall be able to understand each other with it. Our days of ignorance will be no more.

Everything went fine so far, but there was one thing I was really worried about. The forest seemed to be divided into territories, and neither I nor Toba had ever left the wolves' area yet. One time, however, we witnessed the wolves get extremely agitated, like they were trying to drive away something hidden between the short trees of the forest, and I am almost sure I briefly saw a tiger's tail, before the creature retreated into his part of the forest.

A tiger wandering away from its turf and into ours is one thing, but if I accidentally bumped onto him in his own grounds, I would be dead for sure. There were only two wolves with us, after all, and I don't know if they're fast enough to run away.

What was worse is I didn't have any clue about where his territory was, or even what other predators resided in the forest, so all I could do was move about very carefully. I was really scared, but I also couldn't simply stay all my life hidden in a cave. I had a feeling that if I chickened out now, I would stay a coward forever.

With that thought, I grilled some rabbit meat for me and Toba, and gave a fish to each of our mounts. I slept peacefully despite my worries, maybe I was overthinking it.

I was in a new world now, and no doubt it was filled with things to be explored, enjoyed, and feared. I couldn't let myself be ruled by any one emotion. I had to be cautious, but I couldn't become paralyzed by fear, I had to be brave, but I couldn't make stupid mistakes.

After I woke up and removed the leaf protecting my face from the sun, we set out into the night again. As we were riding, I finally managed to get a glimpse of the source of the weird cricket sounds. It was an insect the size of a tennis ball, and it had an aggressive red color that I could notice even in the moonlight. Its shape was similar to a regular cricket, only a lot wider, and it made no attempt to hide from me, which scared me a little and made me retreat. Toba was also cautious of it, due to instincts, I guess.

If it's this big and red in color, it almost certainly is poisonous, otherwise it would be easy prey. I'll have to test this out later.

We rode for a couple of hours, and I stayed on alert the whole time, eyeing everything in my surroundings. We were outside our home now, we had to be polite guests so as not to anger the hosts, and by polite, I mean unnoticed.

After some time though, I relaxed a little bit, it seemed we had not intruded anywhere too dangerous. It's a big forest after all, there's room for all of us.

We stopped by a little waterfall, since I was thirsty, but the main reason I wanted to rest there was how pretty it looked. The waning crescent moon was reflecting on the water, and plants grew close enough to the river shore to partly hover above it. This was an excellent place to relax, and with nature being my main source of entertainment, I couldn't pass on the opportunity.

The company wasn't the best, but it was what I had for today, the wolves were laying on the ground after drinking their fill, and Toba was moving in a very weird way. I guess he didn't want to fully stand after having crawled on all fours for so long, but he didn't want to get left behind by me who was walking upright all the time either, so he was moving about with an overly hunched back, almost like a murloc[2], and occasionally he would use his hands to get a boost. Truly hideous.

Now I'm certain of it, if a human spots us we'll be killed on sight.

As I was thinking that, I noticed my wolf suddenly stood up. I tried getting on top of him so he could show me what was wrong, but he didn't budge, he was completely still. I looked to my right to see if Toba had done something, and I saw a terrified expression instead of his normally curious one. He didn't return the look, he just stood there like he saw a ghost. His wolf had also stood up and was acting the same way.

Oh shit, we're fucked, aren't we?

Just as I noticed something serious was going on, I heard the most terrifying sound. It was a slow roar, capable of making even the toughest man completely paralyzed, it was almost like my entire body was programed to be unquestionably afraid of it. There was no doubt about it, this waterfall was the tiger's territory, and if I wasn't completely terrified, I would think this guy had great tastes.

I started looking around to find him, I didn't make any brisk moves and tried moving only my eyes. I wasn't even sure why, but I felt like it was the right move, and then, our eyes met. He was much closer than I expected, and a great shock went over my body as I saw that creature, a little less than 10 meters away. I had to remember that I was still a baby so I wouldn't pass out, because from my perspective, wolves were the size of horses, so that tiger looked like a monster.

It truly was a terrifying sight, that thing could kill me by stepping on me. I was so full of myself exploring near the wolf's territory, but the reality is that anything even remotely hostile in this forest can kill me in a heartbeat, and tigers aren't your average predator. I had truly underestimated the danger, and I was about to pay the price.

He started slowly circling us, keeping up that horrifying roar, and he seemed to smell something in the air. The wolves started moving back a little bit, and I took the opportunity to slowly get closer to mine. If there was ever a situation that required Toba to imitate me, it was now.

Thankfully he did, and we were now in position to mount up at any moment. The tiger started heading towards our campfire while still looking at us, there was some leftover rabbit there, and the cooked meat smell must have piqued his interest. As soon as he stopped looking at us and turned his head down to smell the campfire, I quickly mounted up and desperately kicked the wolf with my heels.

Wolf riding wasn't easy. Unlike a horse, they weren't properly trained and didn't obey very well, I didn't have that much control over it. But I couldn't worry about that now, I needed to escape fast, and thank God my wolf thought the same. He started running in a random direction, and Toba quickly followed. I hoped the tiger would leave us and keep inspecting the little campfire, but it was not to be.

He roared loudly and gave chase, my heart almost exploded from how fast it was beating, and there was enough adrenaline in my body to rejuvenize 10 Hollywood actors. As we ran and the wind kept blowing straight into my eyes, I desperately started looking for a way out of this. I couldn't think of one, and that orange mass of muscle was closing in on us.

I was about to accept my death, when I saw what looked like a wooden hut, hidden between the trees. I shifted my body weight with all my strength and prayed that my mount would follow, he took a second but eventually started heading towards it. I still had no plan, but all I could do was try to get in there.

It looked like a regular abandoned shack, and it certainly would not stop a tiger, but there was nothing else in sight. As we got closer to it, however, I felt my body pass through something like an invisible membrane, like the air around it had more resistance than normal. I didn't have time to react tough, as the tiger roared extremely close to us, and I looked back to witness my last momen- wait, it stopped? Just as I thought that, my wolf suddenly braked. I was sent flying, and lost my consciousness after hitting my back against something hard.

***

I woke up facing the sky, the sun was starting to rise already, which was normally my signal for going to sleep. Being greeted by that orange sky instead of a pitch-black one was weirdly refreshing. I looked around trying to find the tiger, but he was nowhere to be seen. My bow was also completely broken, since it was on my back.

How long did I pass out for?

As I was wondering that, I got up and saw Toba sitting down leaned against a black brick wall, which on closer inspection was part of a huge black tower. It was a shocking sight; a year had passed but this was my first time seeing a building ever since I came into this world.

Wait, where's the shack? Where am I?

I started to slowly walk towards Toba to see if he was safe before anything else, and then I noticed… he was quietly sobbing. I never saw him cry before; I didn't even think he was capable of it. What the hell is going on?

When he saw me, he made a surprised face and immediately rushed in my direction, wiping off the tears. He stopped and waited for my next move, as always. Only there was something off about it, he was trying to hide it, but his face looked troubled.

You were worried about me? Weren't you?

I thought as I gave him a little pat on the head, he was taller than me, so it was weird, but he managed to calm down a little bit.

With that, I needed to quickly find out what happened here. There was this huge tower in front of us, it was straight out of a fantasy book, the sort of tower you'd expect to find a wizard inside. The tiger wasn't around, and neither were our wolves, which meant we were out of our means of transportation.

The shack wasn't nearby either, but this place still felt oddly familiar… I had the feeling that we didn't move much from where we were before. Just to test it out, I walked away from the tower, and then I felt that same sensation of passing through an invisible barrier in the air. I kept walking and passed through another one.

There were two, huh? And I also just realized there's magic in this world. I was so afraid of dying that I didn't even notice, this is getting interesting.

As I turned back, my theory was immediately confirmed. The tower wasn't there anymore, instead replaced by the hut from earlier. Toba didn't even try to understand it, he just kept looking at me for what to do next.

I guess he has a good self-preserving instinct, he doesn't want to fry his brains out all the time.

An illusion huh? I guess the owner must have thought no one would take an interest in a worn-out cabin. That was a little naive of him, someone lost in the forest could have easily headed there for shelter. Then again, the tiger and the wolves were apparently kept out by the barriers. I passed through the first one while riding, though…

Hmm, maybe I'm missing something, thinking is not my strong suit.

We headed back in, and I tried to find an entrance to the tower. We couldn't leave this place on foot anyway, so we might as well explore. There was a simple wood door on the other side, and I stepped on Toba's shoulders to open it. He didn't even flinch, it was like standing on rock.

What the hell is he made of? Is my training routine that good?

Much to my surprise and delight, the door was unlocked! Seems the owner really was overconfident in his security measures. We got inside, and my eyes widened in amazement.

Hundreds of books were waiting for us, stacked on shelves, piled on the ground, and scattered about on a sturdy looking table. The whole place followed a dark color pattern and lacked any sort of polish or ornamentation. It was like it was made on a hurry with the simplest of materials and furniture, but after seeing only trees and bushes for a year, I was in awe.

The tower was two stories tall, with most of the books being on the bottom. Up top there were all sorts of glasswork and materials I've never seen before, nothing too fancy, however. If I had paid more attention to my chemistry classes, I probably would be able to use them. I wanted to explore it all as quickly as possible, but first I had to stop Toba from ripping apart all the books and notes.

I began with the first floor, and quickly realized that this place was abandoned for a long time. There wasn't a lot of dust for some reason, but everything I touched seemed ancient, the books felt especially old. Speaking of that, they were, as expected, written in a completely foreign language to me. I kept fishing for illustrations but there were none, and so I didn't spend that much time on them, only opening ones that seemed different enough to pick my interest.

Apart from books, I managed to find some tools that would prove useful for me, the most important ones being a little skinning knife, a set of silverware and leather pouches. I also made clothes for myself and Toba from random cloth I could find, I was used to the cold already, but we had to be a bit more civilized now. I also found all sorts of writing utensils, but those would only be useful if I managed to learn how to read first.

I was about to move to the second floor, when a little leather-bound book caught my eye, it seemed to be a dictionary of some sort. I opened it and was ready to dismiss it again as unreadable, only flipping through the pages trying to find drawings, but there were some letters that seemed familiar somehow… I was sure that I recognized some of them, mixed between the usual characters I found in the other books…

Yeah, now that I was looking at it properly, there was no doubt about it, this is Japanese! So, there is someone from earth here after all. And it seems to be mixed with this world's language, so maybe this is a dictionary, and I could use it to learn on my own! There is only one problem, however... I couldn't read Japanese.

DAMNIT. Why did I give up on learning it? If I had stuck with those shitty apps way back then, I could be fluent by now.

Stolen novel; please report.

Well, there's no use in crying over it now, I still remember some of it, so if this bastard doesn't use any kanjis, I could learn at least the bare minimum. All that reading comes latter though, I need to check upstairs first.

I'm also getting a bit hungry; will we be able to get food now that we're on foot and that tiger is prowling about?

I signaled Toba to follow me so I could keep an eye on him, and proceeded to climb the stairs, toddler style. I tried my best not to touch anything delicate, my hands were strong but they were small so I would drop something for sure, and I'm certain I would one day find use for some of these things. The lab equipment aside, I found some other books that looked a little fancier than those downstairs, they were high up, so I brought those regular ones to use as a ladder, it was an intense workout.

After wiping the sweat off my forehead, I managed to grab one and bring it down. I also found a little box while up there, I would investigate it soon. This book was especially heavy for its size, it had metal lining every corner of the cover, and the pages were made from a different, darker type of paper. At first it looked like any other book in terms of its contents, no pictures in sight, only letters I couldn't understand, but after flipping through a few pages, there were lots of simple drawings, arranged like a kind of step-by-step tutorial it seemed.

They looked like medieval sword technique manuscripts, except there was no sword in sight, only a man holding a scroll with a red circle inside, doing some weird movements and then… Casting a fireball! There was a chance that it was just fantasy, so I calmed myself and flipped some more pages, but then, my face lit up in a dim red light, and there it was in all it's glory: a magic circle.

Holy shit! This is it, right here. Who cares about reading and writing, my next meal will be charred tiger meat!

I immediately head for the nearest window, book in hand, and start imitating the pictures.

Ok, first I put my left hand on the circle, just touching it with my fingers seems fine according to the picture. Then I raise my right hand on shoulder level, and quickly close it with my thumb facing my face like I'm squashing something, easy enough. Now extend my arm, point my finger where I want to shoot it, and then…

And then I throw up, apparently.

I ended up vomiting all over the book. In a panic I hurried to find some water so I could clean it, but when I placed it standing open near the wall, nearly all the vomit just slid right off. I wiped the rest of it with some cloth and the pages were brand new, they weren't even wet.

So, this really is some fancy paper, huh. Thank God I didn't ruin my…

As the relief from not loosing the magic circle washed over me, I started feeling dizzy, and lost consciousness again.

It didn't feel like I was out for too long, I woke up just as Toba was rushing my way, so it must've been only a few seconds.

What was that? did I run out of MP or something? That nausea too, maybe I don't have enough power to cast the spell yet. That tiger will have to wait, but I will learn this sooner or later.

I pat Toba's head again and remember I still haven't checked that fancy box I was eyeing before. I arranged the books from the window back to the shelf again and laughed as I noticed Toba looking at the magic circle with a scared face, he probably saw me throw up and faint right after touching it.

The box was heavy, but after a lot of effort I managed to bring it down without dropping it on the floor.

I have been wolf ridding and hunting for months, but my best workout in a while started right after I found a library. I feel like there's a message in there somewhere.

Ok, let's get this over with, I hope it's not something useless.

I open the box and my eyes are graced with the most beautiful sight. In my previous life, I was considered a hard guy to please, not because I was ungrateful with the presents I received, but because I didn't really care about most of them. I was also bad at hiding emotions, so everyone could see right through me even though I always tried being as polite as possible.

There was one exception, however, one gift that always got an ultra-rare, limited edition, genuine smile out of me: Knives. I loved knives, swords, guns, and anything of the sort, it was my only "manly" obsession, since I never really liked sports or cars, and always felt awkward talking about women.

And no, I'm not gay, fuck you.

Inside the box there was a beautiful blade, wrapped around a fine red cloth with gold detailing. It had a straight, shiny blade and a golden guard in the shape of a semicircle, the hilt was made of an extremely pretty, reddish wood, and there was a scabbard next to it, made from the same wood and golden metal. It resembled a roman gladius, but it was a lot heavier than a typical one should be, despite being the same size.

I tried picking it up and wielding it a bit, but it was impossible yet, my hands were just too small, and the sword was too heavy for me to effectively use it. But I made up my mind, this is my sword from now on, and I'll train with it every day, along with my usual pull-ups, pushups and squats.

I stood there admiring it and testing it for a solid half hour, I didn't even notice time pass until my stomach made a weird noise. I had to find something to eat, Toba must be hungry too.

We were in a troublesome situation. Our wolves were nowhere to be seen, and that tiger was probably still prowling about. We had to find our way to a river, but I doubt there's another one in this area besides the waterfall, and that place is risky. I could lure some small animals near the barrier, but I had no bait with me.

I decided to finish exploring everything in the tower, in search of something that could expand my options. Just hunting alone would be hard, I had been relying on the wolves for too long, and I had to make a new bow since my old one broke earlier. I needed a better plan, searching for sticks and bait alone in this part of the forest was something I would like to avoid.

After looking through everything, I found multiple other fancy books that could contain magic circles, but I didn't bother opening them just yet. I also found some empty scrolls made from the same darker paper as the magic book, and I was sure I could find one with a circle if I looked enough. That wouldn't help me right now, however, so I got down to the first floor again.

It took me an hour, but I did find something interesting after pushing through dozens of old books. In a small bookcase in the corner of the room, behind a heavy tome with a little yellow dot on the cover, there was a little button, with three symbols above it, as well as a fancy hair pin next to it.

The hair pin was made from a bluish metal, and its head was composed of multiple circles interlinked, it was a tiny work of art. The symbols were really simple though. They were, in order: A human, a dog, and a bird. The symbol representing a dog was glowing, and there was something written near the bird one. It looked like a puzzle from an old RPG, and there was no way I could even begin to understand it.

I pushed it anyway, I was getting really hungry, and my patience was already low to begin with. As I did, the dog symbol lost its glow, and the bird symbol started glowing instead. I tried all sorts of things with the hair pin, but nothing reacted to it, so I pushed the button again, and as expected, this time it changed to the human one.

What the fuck is this shit? Some children's interactive toy? I guess I am a child though, so I can't complain.

I messed with it a lot, until I finally gave up and left it on "bird mode", since it seemed to be special with all that writing near it. I searched the upper and lower floors again, but I wasn't finding anything, sooner or later I would need to risk going to the waterfall again…

I gathered all my courage, grabbed an empty waterskin I found in my search, and signaled for Toba to wait in the tower. I didn't want to risk his life again, although if I died, I had my doubts about whether he would be able to survive alone. Regardless, I set outside.

I must provide for this family, how can I look my hungry brother in the eyes, and tell him there's no food? There is no grater pain a father can endure... Wait, I think I'm getting confused already.

Just as I was about to risk my life, I hit my head against something and fell on my butt.

Ouch… What the hell?

There was nothing in front of me, but I surely hit something, my forehead was throbbing with pain. Still confused, I got up and immediately hit my head again… Now I was feeling really stupid. As I tried carefully extending my hand in front of me, I touched a wall, an invisible wall.

Wait, is the barrier closed now? Am I trapped here?

Just as I was about to head back, I heard a thump, and shortly after, a dead bird dropped in front of me.

FOOD! FINALLY, I- Oouch… I deserve it…

I was so hungry I didn't realize it was on the opposite side of the barrier, if I banged my head any more, I would end up retarded. Maybe the shock was useful however, because I finally realized something, seeing the bird symbol before, and the dead bird now, that button probably controls the barrier! I didn't know how, but there had to be a connection.

I rushed back so I could change it again and test it, but then I saw the hair pin.

Hmm, maybe I should test something.

I didn't press the button, and instead took the pin with me, I slowly pushed the tip of it against the barrier and then… It went through! My hand also passed with it, so I tried getting my whole body across, and like magic (well I guess it IS magic), I crossed it just fine! I knew it was strange that it was hidden so neatly together with the secret button, this wasn't a hair pin, it was a key for the barriers, and the button controlled some aspect of them.

But what does it change, exactly? It shows a bird in there, and surely enough one hit the barrier while flying and died, but I also couldn't get through, and I'm no bird… At least I haven't found any feathers yet.

I was using up every inch of my smooth brain to figure this out, and then I remembered, that tiger had stopped before the first barrier I felt, and I didn't feel the second one before getting thrown off, so the wolves probably stopped before it. Maybe it's size? Considering the different species involved, that would make sense.

"Human mode" blocked only human sized creatures, so large animals and humans would never get through no matter the setting. "Dog mode" also blocked medium sized animals, like wolfs, but allowed small animals (human babies included, apparently). And finally, "Bird mode" blocked small animals too, including birds, babies, and probably everything else.

It was a weird setup, and I couldn't understand it's purpose, but that theory made sense. I couldn't care less about the meaning, either. I'm a practical guy, and my discovery had very practical results: Free food.

I could just turn bird mode on whenever I wanted, and chicken would fall out of the sky. Maybe not chicken, but it was close enough.

The main ingredient of a bodybuilder's diet was acquired, and in infinite supply too, I couldn't hope for a better blessing. Lack of water was a problem, but until it rained, I could drink bird blood, it wasn't that bad.

I could live like this forever. Eating chicken all day, bodybuilding with Toba and practicing with my new sword, eventually I could even try studying that Japanese book so I could learn this world's language.

Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself, I haven't even brought back the first catch yet, I should stop daydreaming so much, I'm the provider after all, and I just landed a new job on the recently founded bird collider.

I walked back to the tower with my catch in hands and signaled for Toba to follow me. I hadn't found a kitchen or even a room to sleep in that tower, so we would cook outside. Cutting it open went much smoother than usual thanks to the skinning knife I found, and lighting the fire was also a piece of cake with a tinderbox I grabbed from the second floor.

I carefully cut open the bird and spatchcocked it, another technique I learned from YouTube, then I skewered it with sticks and placed it above the fire. We were hungry and I didn't mind a little char on my chicken, so I placed it quite low.

We watched the fire lick our food intently, the only sounds we were making were the rumbling of our stomachs. I took the time to sort out some feathers however, since this particular bird had a bluish hue to it that was very pleasing to the eyes.

Our food was done just as I envisioned it, a little charred but not too much, crispy skin, and an incredible smell. I didn't have the courage to test if any of the ingredients in the lab on the second floor were salt, but the fat and char of the skin would no doubt be enough flavor for my starving taste buds.

Every prediction I made was spot on, this was something I missed a lot since being born here. I was a fat kid, so food was always a major part of my enjoyment of life, and now I finally had a proper meal after all this time, it was truly delicious.

Don't get me wrong, the fish and rabbit meat weren't bad, but they couldn't compare to this bird, the rabbit was just too tough, and the fish was too bland.

I patiently enjoyed my half, feeling every bit of flavor, while Toba devoured his share in a couple seconds.

Thank you, mister tower owner, this barrier you made is incredible.

***

I woke up, took off my improvised blanket, and started my stretching routine.

So, Toba's already up as always, huh? Probably practicing with the sword again.

As I finish my little exercises, I head downstairs to make breakfast.

What's for breakfast, you ask? Chicken and rainwater, of course. But don't worry, we boil our water here at BBT hotel, and our chicken is world famous.

As I suspected, Toba was training with the gladius outside, I didn't know much about sword fighting myself, but I at least taught him how to hold it and stand properly.

"Toba, food" I called to him as I left the tower, I was making almost no progress on learning this world's language, but there was no reason why I shouldn't teach him English at least.

Why English and not Portuguese? Well, if there was a Japanese person here, there could be others. It would be more useful for him to learn the closest thing we had to a universal language of my old world.

He stopped swinging his sword, and with great effort, he looked at me and managed to say "Toba… Help… Brother"

After six months living in this tower, that was about the extent of what he was able to say and understand. During this time, I realized I hadn't though of a name for myself yet, but since I already taught him to call me "brother" I didn't want to confuse him.

Still, I really need to think of a name for myself sometime soon, it's not like anyone is going to give me one.

With his help I collected a couple of birds and we started plucking their feathers off. One wouldn't be enough anymore, we were growing up fast, strangely fast, in fact, and our hunger was increasing accordingly.

There were no mirrors in the tower, but Toba already looked 3 years old, and I wasn't much shorter than him, so I imagine I also had about that same apparent age, even having lived only a year and a half.

Our strength was also abnormal, I could do squats while carrying Toba on my back, do pull-ups with him grabbing onto my feet, and even do one handed push-ups. Needless to say, my brother could do everything that I did, with only half the effort.

We trained six days a week just like I used to, and I also started dividing our workouts. We had three training routines that we would alternate between, repeating one each time and resting on the seventh day.

Workout A: push-ups, dips, and sword training

Workout B: squats and split squats

Workout C: pull-ups, abs, and sword training

When we weren't training, I was either trying to cast spells with the multiple books and scrolls that I found or trying to make sense of the book with Japanese letters in it.

The spell casting wasn't going great, every time I had the same result: I felt power gathering in my body as I mimicked each step, but at the last moment there was always a little pause and I would throw up.

Not only that, I also couldn't do it more than once a week for some reason. When I tried, I felt nothing happening, like I didn't have any magic whatsoever, so my training was limited. In the beginning I always fainted for a moment after puking, but as I grew accustomed to the feeling, I started to manage staying up when it happened.

The drawings I found on the books were incredible, however. There were all sorts of spells, not only fireballs and ice spikes, but also clouds of black smoke, huge spiderwebs, and barriers that reflected all kinds of things. I didn't know why I kept failing every time, and why I could only try once a week, but I wouldn't give up.

The Japanese book was going even worse, I could make out some words, but I remembered almost nothing from the time I tried learning it, and even back then I didn't learn much anyway.

After much effort, I learned how to say "I am" and "he is". Just trying to understand which words in this world's language corresponded to the ones in Japanese was almost impossible for me. The book seemed to be intended for teaching Japanese to someone from here, not the other way around.

I'll be honest, the studying didn't suit me, but it was a peaceful life, disregarding the fact that we couldn't leave, or we'd become tiger food.

Ok, all done with the plucking. Now I just need to open these guys up, skewer the offal, roast them nicely, and like I imagine the owner of this place would say: itadaki-

"Ah!"

We heard a voice, and in a flash, Toba ran to the tower, I have never seen he move so fast. He looked desperately at me, not understanding why I wasn't going with him.

But I wasn't going anywhere, because what I heard was a woman's voice. A gentle, surprised gasp of a young woman. I went a year and a half without even smelling another human, all I saw everyday was Toba scratching his ass, no way in hell I would run away.

Sorry brother, I don't care if she'll kill us, I went too long without this.

As I turned around, my eyes swelled with tears. It was a young woman, couldn't be much older than 18 years old, she had pink hair that almost touched her shoulders, with slight curls glistening in the sun. She seemed to be on the shorter side, but I couldn't tell for sure, since I'm a toddler and all.

Her eyes were an almost golden shade of hazel. I couldn't tell much from her body since she was wearing a closed robe and was clutching her pointy hat in front of her, but she couldn't fool me, she had nice breasts, maybe C cup even.

Her dark blue robes, gnarled wood staff, and pointy hat made her the perfect picture of a young wizard from a fantasy manga, and her oversized backpack added an adventurer spice to that.

She was looking at the tower with a curious look, completely ignoring me, and then she started touching the outer barrier with her staff.

Aah, I remember now, she can't see me or the tower, that illusion must override everything with the image of the old shack.

I had also just realized that another bird was lying on the ground, probably fell just before I saw her. My guess is that she saw it fly through the first barrier and disappear, and that's what caught her attention. Either way, I couldn't waste this opportunity.

I used the key to go through the first barrier, but as I did, I started to wonder if it was really the right choice.

Won't she be scared and run away if I just appear out of thin air? I must look really weird right now and I also haven't bathed in a while, since I depend on the rain to do it…

But I couldn't stay idle either, or I would miss my chance, so I passed through the barrier from the other side and went around it, hoping that she wouldn't mistake me for a monster and kill me.

To say I was scared would be an understatement, she was the first actual person I saw in this world, and I had no idea on how she would react. She looked gorgeous and didn't seem like a bad person, but my only experience with people so far was being abandoned in a forest to die, so anything could happen.

Ok, here we go. Please don't kill me, oneesan…

She was still testing the barrier and hadn't noticed me yet, so I tried to put on the cutest, most helpless face I could, and I lightly pulled on her robe to get her attention.

She turned around with a surprised face, and then froze for a moment while looking straight at me.

SHIT! She's going to end me for sure!

My sorry expression changed into a fearful one, but as I turned to run away, she suddenly grabbed me by my ribs and lifted me up in the air. She let out a little gasp of joy while spinning around with me and said something in a language I didn't understand.

What the fuck are you saying lady, put me down.

She paused again while giving me a weirdly pleased look and proceeded to bury my head in her bosom, hugging me tight like a kid who just received her new teddy bear.

Never mind, we can stay like this.

She kept hugging me for a while but then started carrying me away from the tower (or old shack in this case). She must have thought I was a lost child in the woods or something, but while finally getting to civilization was an interesting idea, I couldn't leave Toba alone, so I shook myself off from her beautiful arms and landed on the ground.

Sorry lady, but I have a brother to take care of.

If she took Toba with us, I could accept going with her. If I left him alone, he could probably survive by this point, but he would never learn to read or write, so I couldn't abandon him like that, no matter how good this woman smelled.

She looked startled by my sudden action, I must have looked really pleased before, so I can understand that, but this was about family. I took the key I had with me and showed it to her, before using it to cross the barrier once and return.

She looked amazed; she froze again for even longer this time. Which made me think that whatever she was, she couldn't be an adventurer after all, a reflex like that could kill you in a dangerous situation. "Fight or flight" does not include "freeze in place".

That gave me enough time to realize I should probably introduce myself; it was the only thing I managed to learn from her language after all.

Crap, I haven't thought of a name yet, have I? I need to come up with something quick. Should I choose a warrior name or a mage name? I haven't had any luck with magic yet, and I found a cool sword, so warrior it is.

"I… Am… Cona…"

Maybe I should give up and end myself right here, I can't choose a normal name to save my life, can I? Well, I suppose for anyone outside of Angola or a few people in Brazil, it's just a variation of Conan. Yeah, it should work, but why can't I be serious for once? My brother's name means ass and mine means cunt, I can't go on like this.

She snapped out of her shock but had a puzzled face now.

Maybe I said it wrong? Whatever, she's cute, I'll bring her home.

I extended my hand to her, she hesitated a little, still confused, but she took my offer. While holding her hand, I pierced the barrier again with the key, and we passed through. The illusion still took effect, so she was probably wondering why a wooden shack was so protected, but she would be amazed soon enough.

As we passed through the first barrier, her face lit up with excitement. There it was in all it's glory, our little base of operations. I stopped to grab the sword Toba had left and entered the tower with her. The whole time she was mumbling to herself in that weird language.

Toba was watching us from atop the stairs, he probably won't be so afraid if he sees that I trust her. I let go of her hand for a moment and called Toba closer, my heart was racing.

What if he's so ugly that she runs away? I did my best to make him look "human", so despite his eye and mouth, he looked like a regular animal hybrid to me (well, I say regular but that's because of years and years of anime and manga). Maybe in this world they shunned his race though, whatever race he was.

My worries were evaporated as she gave the most high-pitched scream I ever heard and ran straight to Toba. The poor guy tried to run away with all his might, but he wasn't fast enough. He was now getting the "oneesan treatment" I was given before, while looking at me like he just saw a ghost, begging for help.

Be grateful you little bastard.

She must have seen my jealous face, because soon enough I was also lifted up, and we were now both in her arms.

I have no idea where this is going, but after sleeping on the floor for so long, I now have two premium pillows. You won't hear any complaints from me.

Cona Stats

8 weighted pull ups

6 weighted squats

15 weighted push-ups

30 sword swings

Toba Stats

15 weighted pull ups

10 weighted squats

20 weighted push-ups

More sword swings than I have the patience to count

[1] Search "kuruminha" in google images

[2] World Of Warcraft reference