Time for presents.

Lia gave me a bracelet. Lyra gave me a glove. I guess they were hellbent on making me keep the mark on my hand a secret. A little late though.

Zena gave me what seemed like a small magic lamp. “Wasn’t this stuff really expensive?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Derec said from a distance, a large half eaten fowl drumstick in his hands. I guess the present was from him too.

Serec and Xerec gave me one thing. A knife. Slightly longer than what I was used to. I couldn’t call it a machete but it sure looked like one; and damn shiny. “This is too heavy for me,” I said.

At least three kilos! I can cut someone’s neck with this… The mere thought grounded me with discomfort.

“You’ll get used to it,” Serec said.

Xerec gave my back a thump and I almost tumbled over. He burst out laughing along with his brother Serec.

And apparently Derec, Zena’s husband was also technically their brother, albeit from a different mother, or so I’d been told.

Den had already given me a present but he still gave me another one anyway. A set of clothes? No… uniform. Black pants, navy blazer and a tie; awfully fancy. Starting school huh?

And that left Mom who held a packaged box in her hands. I already knew what was in there. So, I opened it up and yup… it was there. A big Honeycrisp. It wasn’t twice as big as a typical one but it was still pretty big and smelled delicious. I took a bite and as I imagined, it was delicious. Looked like an apple, tasted like peach. A very delectable one at that too.

I offered Mom a bite and she happily took one. Followed by Den for some reason and… everyone else too. “Hey, hey it’s mine!” I yelled but they just laughed. This was no laughing matter! I could tolerate them ravaging through our food stock but this, this was a no go!

They only took small bites though and I still had half of the stuff left, which I ate voraciously and almost choked. Almost…

Satisfied, I turned to everyone. “Thank you, everyone. It was fun.” I got some smiles, and even some chuckles. And with that… it was time to say goodbye. I’d be leaving very early tomorrow and I’d probably never see any of them (apart from Den) again. So- “Please do come hang with Mom every now and then,” I spoke to her friends in particular. Perhaps it wasn’t my business to say that but- “And please take care of her.”

“Course we will!” Serec grinned. The rest too.

Yeah…Mom had good friends. I didn’t get to know them that well. And I probably never would. “Alright then. Guess I’ll see you all in about ten years?”

Probably not.

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***

Everyone left apart from Den and Lia. She wanted me to write letters to her for some reason.

People communicated mostly through letters though some rich nobles had faster communication methods which weren’t known to general public. They had light bulbs that didn’t need electricity; I had a feeling they had all sorts of things just running on magic. So, not surprising at all. Did got me pretty curious though. Maybe I’d look into those stuff in the academy.

Knock knock!

Were we expecting anyone else?

Den carefully opened the door and revealed our fat friend, Mack. About six, he was slightly taller than me and basically double my girth.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

He came in, had some stuff to eat and more or less dragged me outside. “This is my first and last request to you,” he said. “Please fight me.”

Okay, I was kind of confused. Dude came in late. Ate our leftover food. Dragged me out and asked to fight me?

“So, a duel?” Den asked.

“Yes.”

“What’s a duel?” I asked.

“The two of you fight on agreed terms.”

I stared at Mack and he continued. “Please use all your strength and defeat me. I need to know your true depth.”

What the fuck was this six-year-old saying to me?

To be honest, I was getting a little sick of the whole fantasy trope. I got reincarnated, things were super fun and I had a mother who wasn’t a jackass and for the first time in my life, I’d found peace. Yet, for some pathetic loser of a god and its followers, I had to leave home and now this… I was sick of this weird shit world.

“Alright.” I needed somewhere to vent my frustration anyway. So why not?

However, I did remain cautious. Last time I got murdered by my friend. But not this time.

“Nothing too serious boys,” Den said. “We’re not looking to kill each other. We’re just here for some friendly sparring and if any of you forget that, I’ll be sure to whack you on your butts, so be careful.”

Den provided wooden knives.

Mack stood before me, his focus primarily on me. The sounds vanished. My breath was so clear, I could finally breathe and my beating heart meshed with the intense warmth.

“HAH!” I swung, he dodged back. He was fast.

He plunged his left fist straight for my head. I ducked, and swiped his legs. But he saw it coming and just ducked even lower, making the move pointless. WHAM! Too bad though, cause now he was open and I punched him on his face.

“Argh,” Mack rolled on the ground.

“Ah,” I shook my hand. “That kind of hurt…” My knuckles stung and swelled a bit.

Mack held his face and groaned. And wait… he was bleeding through his nose. Oh boy… I didn’t mean to hit that hard. I thought he was just going to dodge like the first time but, maybe he was just giving it his all?

I looked at Den and he shook his head. “Looks like you need a little whooping.”

“Huh?”

Den picked me like a potato sack and slapped my butt a couple of times. “AW AW!!” While I screamed in agony and shame.

Mom was watching damn it! And she was giggling!?

Panting, Mack stood up, wiped the blood and glared. “You’re strong. I respect you. And that’s why I’ll stay here, I’ll try my best. And I’ll be strong enough to defeat you when you come back.” What the hell was this guy even saying. “So don’t slack. Cause if you do, I’ll beat your ass and take her…”

Take her? Who? Surely he wasn’t aiming for Mom was he? Then again Mom was a beaut, so maybe-

I traced his vision and… well, not Mom. Rather, Lia. Phew.

Oh, I see. So, he was dueling me for Lia’s hand. It wasn’t like Lia was some sort of item on display that he had to do that though. Not that it mattered to me. I just saw her as a friend. Also, I was five.

“Sure thing dude. That’s the plan.”

He showed his teeth. “This is for you. Take it!” He gave me a silver coin. “My allowance for next three months!”

“I can’t man. It’s too much.”

“Don’t be shy. I consider you my rival. Just take it!” He proceeded to leave, with a hand stretched over his head, waving.

“Well, that was something…” I mumbled.

“Yeah,” Den said. “Kids grow up fast. “

Sometime later Lia’s brother came to pick her up and that’s when we said goodbye. It wasn’t anything fancy. Just a farewell.