Clayton and I ended up spending two whole nights out in the country. We ran into a few monsters who attempted to take a bite out of our Shambs, but they failed. A quick Lightning Bolt turned the Yetis into crispy husks, and that was the end of things. In two days, we didn’t lose a single Shamb, and apparently… that’s not normal.

I was told that it was expected to lose upwards of ten to fifteen Shambs per winter. That losing that much livestock falls under acceptable losses for the ranch. Clayton mentioned that last year, during this time, he lost five Shambs to Yetis and another type of monster that we ran into. But, of course, Sylvia and I weren’t going to let that happen.

It was as large as a wolf, but it looked like a white and gray raccoon from Mars. I had seen the animal digging around in the trash way back in my training days, so I was somewhat surprised to see a giant version of one in this world. Unfortunately for this world’s version, it was still susceptible to fire. Who would have guessed?

Another positive note is that these monsters’ furs were worth a good chunk of change. Clayton paid for them outright from me, and we both skinned the monsters together. It was a win-win situation. I never imagined this job would be going so well in just the first few days. Not that I needed the money or anything…

I heard somebody walk in behind me, but I continued tying off the sled and putting it away in a shed for the winter. I wasn’t sure how to deal with this person or why they had suddenly decided to try sneaking up on me. Perhaps sneaking wasn’t quite the right word choice… I don’t think somebody can be very stealthy if they are constantly sniffling.

“What’s the matter, Myla?” I asked, turning around to face the child.

She was wearing her usual white winter coat, and she had her little arms locked out in front of her. A dopey smile plastered on her face as she continued trying to stem the flow of her mucus. Instead of wondering what to do, hopefully, I would be saved by this person.

“You’re back. How was it?” Sylvia asked me while leaning against the doorway.

“Nothing special. Camped out in the cold… killed some monsters. The usual.”

Sylvia chuckled to herself, then looked down at Myla and then back at me. “Aren’t you going to help her?”

“Help her with what?” I asked, confused.

I looked down at Myla, and she was just holding the same pose. She hummed to herself and rocked back and forth on her heels, but I wasn’t following along.

Sylvia sighed deeply and audibly. “Have you never been around children? She wants you to pick her up… or do you think she is holding her arms out in front of herself for fun?”

“Wait… what? Why would she—” I looked down at Myla, who shuffled a little closer to me.

She started making weird noises that only children make… now that I think about it, I haven’t spent much time around young children, have I? So I picked her up from underneath her armpits and raised her high into the air.

“Myla? Is this what you— why do you look like you are about to start crying? Sylvia? Why is she—”

"You are unbelievable… who holds a child like that?!” Sylvia yelled, which only made the tears start rolling down Myla’s face.

“I—uh… ah… then what do I do?” I asked, genuinely confused.

Sylvia’s single blue eye just glared at me in disappointment. “Stop holding her at arm’s length like she is some kind of rabid animal. Instead, bring her closer to you and hold her like a normal person, you idiot…”

“Like this?” I brought Myla closer and used a single arm to hold her. She quickly wrapped her arms around my neck and hung onto me while also falling forward slightly and… rubbing all her snot… all over me.

Myla started giggling while rubbing her face into my chest while Sylvia laughed aloud. I sighed and just let things transpire as they were happening. There was no point in getting frustrated over the actions of a child. A little water never hurt anyone anyways.

“Aww, seems Myla has taken a liking to you, Voker,” Ms. Pruit said with a smile from the doorway.

“It appears so…” I half-heartedly grumbled.

I didn’t particularly mind this. If the Pruit’s children trusted us, perhaps this would help to disarm them a little bit. Not that Sylvia or I meant them any harm or anything. Despite our letter of recommendation and track record, I imagine they still had some concerns about letting two masked strangers into their home. And if I was being honest, Myla was extremely warm.

I had read that children’s body temperatures were higher, but I’ve never experienced it before. Then again I was hot all the time…

Ms. Pruit took Myla from me but not before Myla gave me a small goodbye wave which I returned. Sylvia helped me finish cleaning up the sled, and we locked it up together.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked me.

“Bathe. Eat. Sleep.”

“Fair enough. But before you—”

I waved Sylvia’s concern away. “Yes, we can eat together.”

I retreated to our shared room that would be home for the next few months. Mr. Pruit wasn’t lying when he said this room would fit one adult snugly. I wasn’t sure how we were going to manage this. Maybe I’ll just sleep on the couch… that they don’t have.

I sighed, and Ms. Pruit graciously gave me a washbasin and cloth so I could clean and rid my body of the last few day’s built-up grime. I warmed up the water with a bit of fire magic and locked the door, but the last thing I wanted was for one of the kids to barge in somehow, so I made a small earth wall to block the lower half just in case.

Being clean after a long day of work was indeed one of life’s greatest enjoyments. Now that my body was clean, I set my clothes aside to be washed at a later date and slipped into something a little more comfortable. I heard the young vampire shuffling around outside, so I removed my earth wall and unlocked the door.

Sylvia was carrying a tray of piping hot food and she ushered herself in. “How is sleeping going to work? We shouldn’t be staying up for no reason if we can help it,” I said.

Sylvia set the tray down on top of the dresser and shrugged. “I’ll sleep on the floor tonight.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I said more sternly than I had meant.

Sylvia gave me a dirty look and groaned. “You act like we didn’t sleep on the ground for almost a year.”

Ah, man… the bed really isn’t that big… fine…

“Doesn’t mean it's a good thing. We can just share—”

Sylvia jabbed a finger at me while her ears turned bright red. “I’ll die before I let that happen! I was going to suggest we can just take turns sleeping in the bed! A few sleeping bags on the ground won’t even be that uncomfortable so suck it up!”

When I said Sylvia makes things easier… sometimes she makes things harder as well.

I felt my ears warm up as well as I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. “That sounds like a better idea...”

What the hell was I thinking… who am I kidding? I wasn’t thinking at all.

I brought up the spare chair we had put into the room, took my mask off, and started eating the food Sylvia brought me in awkward silence. Ms. Pruit’s cooking was fantastic, and it’s been a long time since I’ve had a home-cooked meal. Potatoes seemed to be the main staple in this region, most likely since the hardy vegetable can grow in just about any climate. With just a little bit of salt, these mashed potatoes tasted divine, and whatever meat this was, was succulent.

I tilted my head to the side to find Sylvia with her mask off, giving me a sullen look. I had sort of just pretended that she wasn’t here and focused on my food. Doing anything else was… becoming a challenge.

“What did you think of Mr. Pruit?” Sylvia asked, attempting to break the awkward silence.

“From what I can tell, he is an honest and simple man. He cares about his family and works hard. He’s an Intermediate wind mage, but other than that, there isn’t much else to say about him,” I said, thankful to talk about anything else.

“Much the same for Ms. Pruit. She’s a bit more complicated; however, she is educated and can do arithmetic while also being able to read and write.”

“Is that so? Were you expecting her not to be able to do a lot?” I asked.

“She must be a low-born noble, or maybe she was raised in a church or something,” Sylvia suggested with a slight shrug.

“Probably the latter,” I guessed.

“Mhm. Do you think we can trust them, Voker?”

Trust, huh?

“Not to kill us in our sleep? Probably. With our lives… not so much. I don’t want to needlessly endanger them either. The less they know, the better it is for all of us,” I said.

Sylvia shook her head thoughtfully. “Agreed. As long as we keep things as they are, I don’t see any problems arising. I’m getting hungry. Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I need to get some rest.”

—

Time on the Pruit ranch crawled by. Three days became three weeks, and before I could even blink, it had been nearly three months. Time out here seemed to move at its own peaceful pace. Everything from the constant snow and the sounds of the Shambs was just slow.

We still had another two months of winter left. This is because this world’s winters and summers were one month longer on average compared to Earth. This is also the reason why they used a fourteen-month calendar instead of a twelve.

Other than that, guarding the ranch has been nothing short of a breeze. Sylvia and I take turns going out doing regular rounds. Clayton’s surprise ended up being a brand new warning system that used magic to create a small explosion along with a loud noise. It scared the Shambs and forced them to run away from the sound while alerting us to the monsters’ presence. Cleaning the odd monster up after that wasn’t much of a challenge for either of us.

We found signs of bandits that attempted to breach the property, but they never returned. I imagine they must have been staking out the place for some time and then saw either Sylvia or me dispatching monsters and decided against making an attempted assault on the ranch. A wise decision.

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For the most part, I’ve been spending my days training my body and making sure I get plenty of food and rest. Since Sylvia doesn’t technically need to eat real food, I’ve been able to consume her portion of our meals. My growth has been going steady, and I’ve been attaining favorable results.

My muscle mass has grown to the point where I’m slightly above average for a High Elf. Of course, that isn’t saying very much in the grand scheme of things but everyone has to start somewhere.

I’ve also grown a bit taller these last few months, but I believe I still have some more left in me. I went from being a skinny Elven child to nearly six feet tall in just a few months. Of course, most of my growth came from my sudden spurt three months ago.

Today was going to be a bit different. I decided to take the day off from working out to let my body get some much-needed rest and sleep in. Sylvia had the early morning patrol today, so if I was going to enact my plan, today was ideal. There was just one problem.

Somebody managed to sneak into my room without me knowing.

I woke up from another nightmare and noticed the person instantly. My back was turned to them, and I was lying in bed. Their nasally breathing was loud in the otherwise quiet room, and I could feel their hot breath on my exposed back. Usually, people can’t sneak up on me in my sleep. Every time Sylvia tries I jolt awake the second she gets in arms reach. A bad habit from a bygone era…

I was almost afraid to turn around. I couldn’t be sure how long they were standing there, watching me sleep. But I had to get up eventually.

So I rolled over. “Myla…”

The little girl was almost in my face, she was so close. Her nose was running and she was giving me a broad smile that reached her blue eyes. “Good morningee, Vocar,” she said slowly.

Close enough.

“Good morning, Myla. Myla… why are you in my room?” I asked cautiously.

Myla just didn’t stop staring at me with a dopey smile on her face. I’ve realized that toddlers are weird, and they do whatever fancies them. It only brings back memories of when I was Myla’s age… I must have been the most bizarre child ever to exist… I can only hope Mom and Dad don’t have another kid because they might realize just how much of a freak I was.

“Breekfast is readee” she stated simply.

“Myla, I don’t eat breakfast with you…”

She blinked a few times, but her smile never wavered. “It’s readee.” And with that, she ran out of my room, refusing to elaborate anymore.

Well, I guess I’m going to breakfast.

I got myself presentable and headed out to join the Pruits at breakfast. Walking into the kitchen earned me a few surprised stares as this wasn’t typical for even Sylvia or me. The two of us usually let the Pruits have their family time and therefore never really joined them for meals.

“Morning, Voker. Are you joining us for breakfast today?” Ms. Pruit asked me.

“Sorry to intrude, but yes, upon Myla’s request, I shall be joining you,” I chuckled awkwardly while taking a seat.

Myla moved quickly on her little legs running across the kitchen and up to my side. I didn’t even think for a second as I picked the little girl up and sat her on my lap. She turned around and tried feeding me a slice of Shamb bacon, but the greasy meat was just met with cold metal. This didn’t deter Myla, however.

“Myla? Don’t you want to feed daddy some bacon?” Mr. Pruit cooed.

Myla ignored her father and continued trying to find a way to feed me through my mask. Clayton’s eyes glazed off in utter defeat as he let out a sad sigh. Ms. Pruit and Ealric laughed to themselves while continuing to enjoy their breakfast.

I didn’t mind Myla touching my mask. Despite her being a child, she has never once tried taking it off me, not that I would let her. I’m starting to believe that she might assume it’s part of my body, which works out for me anyway.

“Myla has never been much of a talker. But ever since you came around, she has been talking quite a bit. So I hope she isn’t bothering you,” Ms. Pruit said with a wry smile.

“I don’t mind it. I think it’s a good thing that she is talking more. You can just consider it to be part of the job, Ms. Pruit,” I said.

Ms. Pruit gave me a slightly annoyed look. “I said you could call me, Jess, Voker. Are you trying to make me sound like an old woman?”

“No, ma—Jess… that isn’t my intention.”

I should have learned this lesson a long time ago. Mom didn’t like me assuming her to be old either… even though I was just being polite in this case.

Jess gave me a small smile and a nod while reprimanding Myla for not eating her food. The rest of the breakfast was uneventful, and it wasn’t until the end that I decided to ask for a favor.

I gently grabbed Myla’s arm and guided the bacon to her mouth. She crunched the bacon loudly while humming to herself. “Jess? Would you happen to be able to bake something given the necessary ingredients?” I asked.

She pressed a finger to her cheek and looked up at the ceiling. “It has been a while, but I might be able to do something. Did you have something specific in mind?”

“No, not in particular. I guess whatever you are capable of would be ideal.” Jess frowned at my words. That might have been…a poor choice of words. “I mean, we can try whatever you feel comfortable with.”

“Better. I don’t want to make any promises, but I’ll try my best. When did you want to do this baking, Voker? And will you be helping me?”

“Today. Preferably right now. And no… I absolutely won’t be assisting you. I have been told that I have a curse when it comes to cooking. I am inclined to believe it,” I said seriously.

“A curse?” Ms. Pruit mumbled.

Clayton shot up and frowned in disgust at the ceiling like he was reliving some trauma. “The man speaks the truth, dear. He couldn’t even cook a piece of Shamb correctly. I wouldn’t have him even so much as measure out some salt,” Clayton deadpanned.

“This is true,” I reaffirmed, helping Myla off my lap. “My cooking is beyond levels of atrocious. I’m afraid I would only ruin your hard work.”

Instead of laughing, Jess just gave me a look of concern. “Well, if you insist, then it can’t be helped. Let’s go ahead and clean up breakfast. Then we can start right away.”

—

After our little cooking fiasco, we ended up with a passable finished product. It was far from Ms. Pruit’s fault as I had purchased some wrong ingredients that I assumed to be correct. Another lesson learned. It also didn’t help that I had no goal in mind, and we just winged it, but it all worked out in the end.

I went behind the house to the shed to retrieve something for Mr. Pruit and I hear something scuttle underneath some wood. My eyes narrowed and I bent down low to see a pair of beady red eyes watching me.

Eh, just a Barn Rat.

Although technically a monster, it was a threat level of one. In theory, Myla could beat it to death with a stick without getting hurt. If anything, this thing was only considered a monster because normal rats existed, and this one was just slightly bigger. It had two boney protusion-like horns sticking out from its head as well and a dark black coat of matted fur.

I was about to kill it with a simple Earth Lance when I had a passing thought. I recounted my fight with the Wyrm and thought about how it tried to bathe me in its bloodlust. I’ve never really experimented with bloodlust it sort of just happened.

The Barn Rat hissed at me, so I trapped it in place with bindings made of earth magic. The creature struggled against the stone, but it was no match.

Now then…bloodlust…

I’ve never really thought about it. Whenever it leaks from me, it’s a completely involuntary reaction. I just happen to lose focus, and well, at those times, I mostly think about how I’m going to kill the thing in front of me.

For the scant few occasions where I’ve purposely used my bloodlust on living things, all I do is mentally change my intentions to wanting them to feel my bloodlust. There’s no mana or spells involved or anything else really. It’s almost like it’s because mana exists that people can understand each other's intentions, almost like a…sixth sense of some sort. I get the same kind of feeling when someone is watching me. Bloodlust is just a little more tangible.

From what I understand, it’s also more of a mental thing than anything. It can cause physical ailments, but it’s close to fear in that regard. People can become so afraid that they start shaking or even pass out, but it’s all in their heads. People who have experienced a lot of bloodlust can outright ignore it, myself included. Then again, it’s less than I’m ignoring the bloodlust and more that I just don’t care. I’m not afraid of living things. No… I’m scared of emotions more than anything.

Well, even so… I don’t fully understand it. So let’s do some testing?

The rat continued to squirm around, thrashing violently in its bindings. I forced about twenty percent of my bloodlust onto it, and the creature stopped its tantrum. It was shaking in fear, and I could see its fur dampen with sweat. So now the question is, what was twenty percent of my bloodlust?

How do I even know?

If I’m being honest, I don’t have an answer to my own question. It’s just something I understand now. When did I understand bloodlust? Was it when the Shadowlings attacked me? Did I always comprehend the meaning behind it just subconsciously? I’m not sure.

Maybe living things in this world just have a natural-born understanding of the concept? And since I was reborn, I now have that ability. Either way, I don’t know, so there is no point in trying to figure it out.

I decided to increase my bloodlust to about forty percent, and the monster started screeching. It tried biting itself while squirming frantically in my earthen prison. Eventually, the beast finally petered out, and the sickening smell of sulfur hit my nostrils as it passed out. It was at this moment that I realized I had done something horrible.

I… shouldn’t be doing this. Torturing animals is not on the list of things for me to do. Isn’t this how people become murderers or something? Then again… I already am one.

Slightly disgusted at myself, I ended the rat’s suffering, encased it in an earth tomb, and buried it deep. Perhaps some archaeologist will find it one day and wonder what happened to it.

I pretended to forget about Clayton’s item for the time being and decided I would just return for it later. I took a seat at the front of the house and watched over Myla and Ealric while the two children played in the snow.

Observing the pair was oddly peaceful, and I felt as if I could sit here for hours in silence. However, it also cemented just how much of a weird child I must have been. My memories of this part of my life are still vivid, and I can say with absolute certainty that I never did the kind of things these two are doing.

I tried rationalizing my actions by saying it was because I didn’t have any examples to follow but that only drove home the notion of my awkward existence. It wasn’t until I met Cerila and Padraic that I started feeling more my age. And even then, what I was doing was still far beyond what any average child was capable of. What sort of kid has a daily teaching regiment and follows a strict workout program? Only the weird former super-soldier is who…

But at least I tried. That’s all I could have ever really done in that situation I think. But I wonder… would things have been different if I had a sibling? Even an older one like Myla? A sibling…

I mulled over the past while I watched Ealric form a snowball and take aim. From downtown, he arced his snowball perfectly to the point where it hit the top of Myla’s head as she was running. It was a true work of art. Myla fell face-first into the snow pile, then she started crying…

“Myla, you’re okay, please stop crying,” I said while wiping the snot and snow off her face. Unfortunately, this only seemed to make her start crying even more.

Ealric came over with a panic-stricken face. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hit her so hard!”

“She’s fine. Just apologize to her, not me, Ealric. And don’t do it again.”

“Ah! Yes, sir!” Ealric bent down and tried hugging Myla, but she went stiff as a board and continued crying. He attempted to soothe her, but the waterworks never stopped flowing.

I summoned a very special piece of white paper and dangled it in front of Myla. “If you accept your brother’s apology properly, I’ll give you this, Myla.”

Her eyes locked right onto the piece of paper, and she instantly stopped crying. “I forguve you.”

I sighed and relinquished the candy to Myla, much to her delighted squeals. “Ealric, you promise not to do that again?”

“Yes, sir! I promise!” Ealric yelled.

“You don’t have to call me sir,” I grumbled. Is this how Jess feels when I call her Ms. Pruit? “Here, enjoy a piece of chocolate.” I gave Ealric another chocolate and dusted the snow off myself to talk to our newest arrival.

“I take it you had some trouble?” I chuckled.

Sylvia groaned and wiped the string of dark blue blood off her mask. “Two Yetis broke through the barrier… just when I was about to leave, too,” Sylvia groaned.

“At least you didn’t have to backtrack.”

“What’s uh? What’s going on here?” Syliva asked while eyeing the two children enjoying their chocolate.

“Oh, just a little sibling fight. Nothing important.”

Sylvia eyed me suspiciously and joined me on the steps. The two children seemingly forgot what happened moments ago and went right back to playing in the snow, chocolate smeared on both of their faces.

“You’re thinking pretty hard right now, huh?” Sylvia teased from beside me.

“Yeah…”

“What are you thinking about?”

I shuffled awkwardly and stretched my arm over my head. “Just thinking that this is nice. It reminds me of my family somewhat.”

Sylvia turned to look at me, and I could see the sadness on her slumped shoulders. “Is this what it’s like in your village?”

“Yeah… mostly,” I said fondly.

“If that’s the case… then it sounds like a nice place to live.”