“Ngh…” Braun couldn’t resist the urge to gnaw at his bread, his gums itchy from the inside due to his rapidly growing teeth.
Delmore laughed at the sight and wiped tears from his eyes. Seeing him grow up so fast made the man melancholic, as he remembered just how small… well, the boy was never small, but still—he remembered just how small the boy was, how wrinkly he was when he was first born into this world.
“My boy is growing fast.” Delmore smiled. Forking a slab of meat and inching it closer to his son’s face, the man said, “Ahhh.”
“Delmore, are you really planning on letting your son eat meat so soon?” Mina rolled her eyes at her husband’s careless actions.
“Come on, he was the one who kept taking meat from my plate.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Besides, if he could eat meat, why stop him? He seems to like it a lot.”
Then, as if to agree with his father’s words, the young child nodded his head profusely while letting out strange sounds.
“See?” Braun grabbed the slab of meat from the fork before Erna could do anything.
“You… Ugh, fine.” Erna clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes, before relenting to reality. “You’re lucky that my cooking is special, or else I wouldn’t have agreed to your tomfoolery… No, you two’s tomfoolery.”
Erna’s cooking was indeed special, because not only was she a great cook, she was also a Chef.
A green light flickered from Braun’s eyes as he stared at his mother, and a stream of information was presented before him in the form of a green screen.
[Name: Erna Dolus]
[Class: Chef (Uncommon)]
[Skills: Cooking (A), Knife Mastery (B), Tasting (B) …]
A chef who had reached uncommon class for how many years, an expert at cooking. His mother, having become an Uncommon Class Chef with Uncommon Class A Rank cooking, has the ability to make her cooking have mystical effects, from regenerating from wounds to acquiring greater strength or supporting one’s muscle development.
So, if he ate more meat, the more beneficial it would be for Braun. Considering the benefits involved, Erna had decided to let the boy eat all the meat he wanted, since in the end, it would be for the best.
“It’s not fair!” Mina grumbled from the side. “How come he gets to eat more meat than me!” She pointed at her plate where only five slabs of meat were left, along with a generous amount of potatoes and vegetables.
“Shush your mouth, daughter!” Delmore teasingly hugged his youngest child, inciting envy from the young girl. “You have eaten more meat in life than he ever had, isn’t it fair for your brother to eat a little bit more from time to time?”
“No!” Mina clenched her fists and glared at her father. “It’s unfair!”
“Well, I’m the one earning money, so my word is law!” Delmore brought out his trump card by quite literally pulling out a gold coin from his pocket. “Earn your own money and you could buy all the meat you want.”
Mina scowled and clicked her tongue. “Hmph, just you wait… Once I grow up, graduate from the academy, and become a famous blacksmith… I’ll abandon you like a dog in the street!”
“Hehehe, sure, do what you want.” Delmore shrugged his shoulders, apathetic to his daughter’s threat. “By that time, I’ll have amassed untold wealth! Money will flow through my veins like blood, gold coins will rain down from the sky wherever I walk!”
“Just you wait, monster!” Mina stabbed a slab of meat with her fork. “I’m gonna become so rich that you’d weep at the mountain of gold I have amassed!”
“Stop, you two!” Erna sighed helplessly at the father-daugther’s antics. “Your dearest Braun had already stolen your meat while the two of you heated up.”
Alarmed by her words, both Delmore and Mina stared at their missing food, and at Braun who clumsily held a fork where slabs of meat rested.
Noticing their gaze, the boy hurriedly gobbled all the meat in one go, leaving them no chance to reclaim their stolen food.
“N-No, this can’t be!” Delmore grabbed his face in horror.
“You snake!” Mina pointed at her brother accusingly. “Not only do you betray the hand that feeds you, but also take advantage of your own flesh and blood!”
“To think I doted on you, my dearest son…” Delmore stared icily at the young boy who wore a smug grin. “This shall be remembered.”
The young boy laughed, licking his lips. “Bwa~”
“YOU DARE TAUNT ME?!” Delmore stood up, anger flashing in his eyes.
“This disrespectful runt!” Mina snorted.
“Ya ya ya.” The child playfully played with his fork and glanced at them with apathy.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“This is war, you hear me!” Delmore shouted.
“Stop, stop!” Erna glared at her husband. “You’re being noisy!”
“Don’t you see, Erna?!” He sat down on his chair, but the scowl on his face remained. “This is… This is betrayal!”
“You’re influencing our son with your antics!” Erna had enough. “I remember when he was still just a sweet innocent boy, now you’re turning him into the same as you… Into the same as you two! That’s what happened with Mina, and that’s what’s happening with Braun!”
“But… But!”
“No buts!” Erna’s tone dropped. “You three either eat in peace, or we’ll only be eating mashed potatoes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for an entire week!”
“Mama?!” Mina was alarmed.
“Bwuh?!” Braun was shaken.
“You dare?!” Delmore was in disbelief over his wife’s ultimatum.
“I do dare!” Erna harrumphed. “I’m the empress of this household’s food. I hold all of your life at the edge of my knife. Be rowdy once more, and the plethora of food that you had enjoyed… is gone.”
“Gah…” Delmore wore a defeated look.
Both siblings wore the same defeated look.
“Hmph, good.” Erna was satisfied by the outcome and scooped a spoonful of mashed potatoes for herself. “Now, go and eat in silence, you three.”
“Yes ma’am…”
…
After the eventful dinner and his first raid at meat, Braun was feeling extremely pleasant with his new life in another world. Not only was this world your typical fantasy one, with different races, monsters, dungeons, world trees, gods, and possibly corrupt religion, but it even had fucking heroes and demon lords!
It had all the shabang he wanted when he dreamed of getting isekaid, and the future looked bright as fuck.
Turning and tossing on his bed, the boy waited for time to pass by, before glancing at the window in his room where three moons hung high in the sky. Months had passed since he was born into the world, and the more he knew about it, the stranger it became.
Rather than a planet, it was more like a ridiculously large flat plane divided into seven main parts.
First off, the three main lands of this world: the northern lands, the central lands, and the southern lands.
On the northern lands, there existed the elven and dwarven empires. The elves live amidst the care of the World Tree, while the dwarves enjoy the bountiful resources of mountains and mines.
In the central lands are the humans and various offshoot settlements from the other species living in this world. The two main human empires that presided in this land were the Pendragon Empire, a suspicious name with a suspicious royal lineage, and the Solus Empire, an equally suspicious religious place.
On the other hand, in the southern lands were the Great Demonic Empire and the spirits. The Great Demonic Empire, ruled over by the one and only Almighty Demon, is shared amongst various Demon Lords, strong demons who are all at least Legendary Class beings.
Presiding with the demons are various spirits of differing races.
Moving to the bodies of water are the Northern Sea and the Southern Sea, with two radically different mermen empires.
The northern Mermen Empire is what you would expect from typical Mermen in fantasy worlds. Underwater elves with equally enchanting voices and powerful water magic.
Southern mermen though, were a different breed. Perhaps influenced by their close proximity to the Great Demonic Empire, they were a brutish lot, and rather than angelic voices, they had muscles and military might.
Lastly, the most mystical of them all, the Upper Lands, the floating isles, the sky continent.
Inhabited by creatures of the sky, there existed the angels, the dragons, spirits, and also demons who could fly. It was perhaps the most peaceful place on Arte, with barely any wars starting due to the abundance of resources and the distance from each plot of land in the sky.
The angels were a chill bunch. Dragons were an isolated lot that barely interacted with other species. Demons are only focused on comparing dick sizes with one another. Spirits are also like dragons, and they would rather make meaningful connections with other species than aggravate them and start a fight.
So, in a way, Arte was in an era of peace. Most species focused on themselves and had no plans of inciting fights with one another, so all was good.
Braun felt the time was right and stood upright, showing surprising balance for a baby less than a year old. Grabbing the edge of his cradle, he hoisted himself up and landed on the ground silently; he had long adapted to his baby body and could display surprising skill.
He had plenty of old tricks he mastered on Earth, with some transcending the bounds of normalcy and reaching the realm of the supernatural. Sneaking around at night without making a sound is just one of them.
Opening the window and climbing down, he reached the ground and swiftly headed for the underground sewers. Opening a familiar lid and jumping down, the sweet smell of sewers invaded his nose.
His body naturally released a chemical from the inside, inhibiting his sense of smell and neutralizing the scent of the sewers from sticking to his body. This made him immune to being stinky from gaseous sources, a nifty evolution if he had to be honest.
Now all alone, the boy mumbled in the tongue of the Pendragon Empire, a language with sources very close to some European languages he already knew.
“Status.”
[Name: Braun Dolus]
[Class: ]
[Skills: ]
[Unique Skills: ???, Adapt, Evolve …]
He then received a new notification.
[New Class Available]
[Available Classes: Rogue (Common), Martial Artist (Common), Thief (Common) …]
Pressing on the three dots and examining all of the classes he could choose from, Braun laughed at the assortment of choices he could take and sighed.
This was a hard fucking decision. It’s not that he couldn’t change his class if he wanted to, in fact, it should be pretty doable with his control over zenithral power, but that takes the fun out of things; it removes the permanence of his actions, leaving no consequences.
He was fine with cheating here and there if the situation was utter bullshit or he was going to die, but things like this are different. If he kept cheating, he would gain bad habits, and make everything way too easy.
Only if he faced sufficient struggle would his growth be pleasurable.
So, his first ever class has to be just right. A class that holds a great amount of potential, one that would hopefully allow him to try out all sorts of different playstyles, and enjoy everything this world had to offer.
So, things like blacksmiths, rogues, thieves, they’re a big no-no for him. They’re way too locked in with their specific fields, offering him no chance at trying out other things.
Well, I suppose doing random stuff to unlock more classes should eventually nab me one I would like.
Taking out the long stick he had grabbed along the way to the sewers, Braun took on a familiar stance and breathed in deeply. As ridiculous as it may be to see a baby wielding a wooden stick as a blade and performing a sword stance, his next actions were anything but ridiculous.
They were masterful. He perfectly executed a series of sword movements that would even leave sword masters in awe at his mastery over his sword style. Finishing the last move, Braun’s whole body rapidly adapted to the strain while he received a new notification from the system.
[New Class Available: Swordsman (Common]
More and more, till I find the perfect class to be with evermore. Braun threw the stick away and reached out for a random pebble in the sewers, for the night still had plenty of time for him to goof around.