Rays of sunlight shone in through the window, bathing the room in the morning glow of the sun. Already awake, Kaden sat on his bed, reading over his newest blue notification box. He was finally four years old.

Natural Growth Cycle 12% —> 16%

Little by little, you tread upon your path.

Your Potential Gives You

+6 Strength, +5 Agility, +4 Vitality, +4 Endurance, +6 Willpower, +5 Essence Power

Your Racial Gives You

+3 To All Attributes

+6 Attribute Points

Satisfied that everything was as it should be, he dismissed it and started getting dressed.

Going downstairs, he entered the dining room where his mother and father already sat at the dining table.

Casey’s eyes danced when they saw him, and she soon swept him up in a hug.

“Happy birthday!” She said.

Kaden almost felt like he was being crushed in her tight embrace.

“Thanks mom,” Kaden said, still far from comfortable with her new mannerisms.

While it was nice to see her more, and spend time with her, it was scary how her mood and behavior had changed so suddenly.

Peeking over his mother’s shoulder, he could see his father in the background, silently watching them with a big grin on his face. Kaden couldn’t help but notice the big rectangular present leaning against the wall next to him.

After finally being freed from his mother’s embrace, Kaden walked over and eyed the present.

“Look all you want, but no touching. The presents will have to wait, we need to eat first.” Camden said, giving him a cheeky look.

“Sure,” Kaden said, sitting down instead of taking the bait.

He wasn’t a little kid; he had no problem being patient.

“Haha… Happy birthday, you little rascal.” Seeing that Kaden just ignored his teasing, Camden laughed.

They chit chatted for a while, waiting for the rest of the family to arrive.

When everyone had finally woken up and come down, they started eating breakfast.

As usual, Kaden noticed that his grandfather was absent once again. He figured that the man was probably off somewhere, far away.

When the cake was finally put away, and the birthday song sung, it was finally time for presents.

In another attempt to annoy him, Camden saved the big present for last.

But Kaden dealt with it in the easiest manner he could, ignoring it. He went through the presents one by one, giving his thanks, and toying with the items for a minute or two.

As expected, he had mostly gotten toys as usual. Though his grandfather had sent him a particularly nice one. It was a toy model of the spaceship the man commanded, decked out in the Democratic Alliance’s colors of white and blue.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It was interesting to see and gave Kaden a little more insight into the world he now lived in.

Amy and Godfrey had also joined forces and given him a nice notebook. Apparently to help with his writing practice.

Though Kaden would just about rather do anything else than practice writing. His hand cramped up just at the thought of having to do any more of it.

And then, finally, there was only a single present left.

Setting it down onto the table, Camden said, “From your mom and me.”

With a thankful nod, Kaden eagerly tore into it, tearing off the childish wrapping paper.

His eyes shined as he opened the box, revealing a long brown staff made of wood.

But that wasn’t the only thing inside of the box. There were also five different spearheads, all made of wood as well.

They were finely carved, and although not sharp, anyone could see that they were made by a master artisan.

Examining the spearheads, Kaden felt his excitement growing. He was eager to test out his new spear right away.

“Thank you,” He said, giving both of them a hug to show his appreciation.

“Don’t worry about it. Can’t teach you how to use one, if you don’t have one, right? Though it’s just a practice one for now, you’ll have to wait until you’re older for the real deal.” Camden said, giving him a pat on the back.

“Mhm.” Kaden nodded and went back over to examine the spearheads further.

“There are many different kinds of spears. I thought that you should have the chance to put together your own.” Camden said, standing right behind Kaden and watching.

Looking at the spearheads, Kaden examined them one by one.

The first was a regular spearhead, as he had seen from depictions many times before. It was basically just a narrow flat triangle. Simple and standard, but it did the job well. It was especially good for penetration.

The second one was the same type, but also had a crossguard. He knew that this could be used to hook your opponent’s weapon and control it, and also to prevent something from going up the spear.

Both were decent options, but when he had taken them all out, he already knew which one he wanted.

When he took a closer look at it now, he was sure that this was the one for him. He didn’t even need to see the rest. Grouped together with the other spearheads, it stood out far more than any other, and one couldn’t help but be drawn to the long length of the spearhead.

Truly, the blade on this spearhead was more like one you would see on a small sword.

With its 40 cm length, and double edge, it could easily be used for both cutting and piercing.

The staff was around 80 cm, so with the blade added on, the spear was just slightly taller than him.

“This one,” Kaden said, picking up the spearhead.

“Interesting choice, let me put it on for you.” Camden seemed like he was quite surprised that he had picked that one.

Kaden handed it over and Camden quickly attached the spearhead’s socket onto the staff, passing the finished product back to Kaden.

“It fits you well,” Camden said.

Kaden gripped the spear tightly in his hand, already excited to start training with it.

But he was soon disappointed when Camden forced him to put it away for the rest of his birthday celebrations. Really, Kaden just wished that he could skip it and start training immediately instead.

Thankfully, it didn’t take too long, and after a few hours, he was finally allowed to go and fetch his spear.

A smile crossed his face as he thought that he was probably the only four-year-old in this world, who always wanted to get his birthday over and done with.

With his new companion in hand, he followed his father out to the training grounds.

In reality, it was actually more of an advanced training facility, housed in a big cubical metal building. Built a long time ago, it had stood the test of time. The entire family still came by to use it, including his grandfather, uncle, and uncle’s kids.

Kaden had often come by to watch Amy and Godfrey train here, back before Godfrey had left.

While it was old, it was still state-of-the art for a home training facility, and had many extra amenities. Like a target range, and a durable sparring room.

They had no need for any of that now, though. Instead, they entered one of the simpler training rooms.

The inside was just plain gray metal walls and a nice high ceiling. But it was more than enough for the simple training they would be doing.

“Let’s start with your grip,” Camden said. “What you’ve got is a 2 handed spear, so you need to hold it with both hands. You’re right handed, so put your left hand further up the shaft.”

“Like this?” Kaden gripped the wooden shaft with both hands, his left one a little higher than his right.

“Yes, but move your hands apart a little further,” Camden said, moving Kaden’s left hand to where it needed to go. “There, that’s the ideal position.”

Camden taught him about more about various grips, and then he went on to teach him the basic stances.

When he was satisfied with Kaden’s display of the fundamentals, Camden started teaching him how to thrust with the spear. They spent a long time on this, but Kaden felt himself improving little by little. The basic proficiency with spears, that his bloodline had granted him, was aiding him a lot.

As the training came to an end, both were happy with the progress made.

There was something about their shared bloodline that just made the whole process easier. It felt like there was an innate understanding between the two of them, which made Camden know just how to teach and guide him, and also made it easier for Kaden to understand it.