Chapter 2: Cute baby Priston and Nina?
'It's so dark. Why can't I see anything? Why can't I hear anything? Did my senses suddenly turned bad due to extreme exercise?' James cannot feel anything. He tried to move his limbs but to no avail, it was all pointless. As pointless as a flat tire.
'Man, did I go into the state of coma? Damnit, I shouldn't have eaten too much chocolate. I'm too unlucky. Well, they're delicious tho. That store offers the tastiest chocolates in town. I heard that they're imported from Korea. Well, damn them chocolate companies. They've put poison in my food'
Still in the dark, James cursed everyone in his mind. He still believes that it was the chocolate company that's afflicted him of this curse. A few moments later, a small speck of light came from the edge of his vision.
'Oh shoot. Maybe it's a surprise party? Maybe they gagged me to make me be surprised more. I guess it's not my family who did this. They don't have that much money. Maybe one of my friends from the loan sharks. Well, they're pretty humble people so maybe I can talk it out with them. I didn't even loan much from them. Just a few thousand and they're this happy to see me? I guess I can't outrun them with their bikes. Hmmph. This life is lonely.'
After a few more hours have passed, everything has been enveloped by the same small light from before. He is no longer in the dark. He can now see that he is in a small house that he is not accustomed to. He saw a few giant people looking at him. He felt like crying but he toughed it up.
"Oh, such a brave child. Well, his mother is such an awesome person. How can her child be anything normal?" A giant wearing a dirty pink dress talked to another giant then looked at James with a pouting face.
"Oooooh. Such a cute baby. What's your name again? Was it Presto? Hey honey. Was it Presto?"
'Who's Presto? I'm James. The very beautiful genius James.'
"It's written in the cloth mom. It is Priston. The baby's name is Priston and not Presto. What the heck is Presto?" A smaller giant with a child's face told the bigger giant. Based on her looks, she's about at the age of 13 to 14 years old. She has a very delicate face in spite of living in poverty for the rest of her life.
'These people are giants. Goddamn, how is it that I have no strength in my limbs. I can only do swimming motions. Maybe I'm a baby right now. Maybe I've transmigrated. Lucky me! Hey, system! Come out! Come out I say!' Nothing responded.
'Damn. What can I do? I just can't talk right away right? I'll wait for two more years. I'll show them how much of a genius I am. Wait for me demon king. I'll smash you into a paste with my holy sword and take the demon queen for myself. Yeah, that's right. I'm born to be a hero. Mwahahahaha.' He's read too much 'Isekai' manga.
"Goo goo gaa gaa. Da da!" James bluffed. Or should we say Priston now? Okay. Priston bluffed.
"Oh, such an energetic child. You wanna play with Nina, right? Hey, Nina play with the baby!" Shouted the giant lady.
"Mom you're pushing the bothersome tasks to me again." She took the baby from her mom.
"You're dreaming. How can I do that? I'm a mom. I do what's best for my daughter."
"Yeah yeah. Peek-a-boo. Blah Blah. Hey baby. Can you fetch? Let's play fetch. I like playing with Sparky before. Well, he got run over by a horse chariot due to playing too much fetch."
'Damn. What kind of family is this? Do they think I'm a dog?' Priston told himself.
"Don't worry. That won't happen to you. I'm gonna restrain myself. We won't play fetch on the road yet. You're too young after all. We're gonna play fetch at the pig farm. You're worth a thousand gold coins after all. When you grow up, get me a prince or a noble's son as a husband okay? By the way, If you don't fetch I'll spank you in the butt. Not as hard as I do with Sparky. You don't have to worry. Sparky is different after all. He is a level 4 Dark wolf by the way." She looks like a little girl reminiscing the past where she played with her loyal dog. A face with no taint of evil. Yep. Her face looks angelic. Well, demons are angels too.
'Lucky me. I think this girl is a sadist' Priston thought to himself. And that's how things began for James.
'Life's gonna be hard. Better grow up faster.'
. . . .
After 2 more years...
"Celia! This is just too much. Buy some new clothes for me. I only wore rags for the past two years. What will you say to my family if they've known this?" James decided to start talking now. He is too fed up by the family's way of 'caring' towards him. He needs a new atmosphere. Even though he is not someone with wealth back on Earth, he still longs for something more convenient. After all, he is still a human who came from a world full of convenience.
Celia is flabbergasted. Horror filled her face as she paled instantly. She stiffened by the sudden occurrence.
"Oh! You look pretty pale, do you even eat enough Meat? Hey Marcus! Take her to the doctor. She doesn't look too good right now. Oh! You too? What happened? Something wrong with your food? Glad I haven't eaten yet." This was his first time to talk after all. He hid it well for the past two years.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
'I'm gonna surprise you more! Mwahahaha.' Priston thought as he starts his plans. Even though he's still at the age of two, he's still a 20ish-year-old dude living in a child's body. He's already made plans for himself. Back when his name is still James, he's a good leader at school. Even though his talents are not at the level of a master, for a college student, it is still something good. Due to him being a genius, he's always the one who makes decisions in school works. He's really good at planning. One time when he is tasked to train the neophytes of the tennis club, he planned the training 'really well' which caused the 'poor' young ones to leave the training camp devoid of any hard substance in their body. Yup, they're beaten into a paste. After the incident, the neophytes trained hard in order to be better than him so that they can exact their revenge. It was all in his plans. They became pretty good and he is rewarded by the club advisor. Win-win for them. They became better and he's got some hard cash.
Back to the topic, Priston has already planned his debut. First is to shock them to death which he has already done. The next step is to tell them about what he knew so that they won't be able to move their hands against him. And finally, control their lives like poor little puppets. Just like how a psychopath does with his targets.
"I knew my parents gave you a thousand gold coins. I heard it a few months ago. Do you think I'm an idiot just because I'm still young? I'll be a good boy and give you time to think this through. Why do you think my parents gave you the money? Do you think they'd just leave a genius of a son here for nothing? I guess they're still in the vicinity. You know how lions are raised right?"
This child. He sure knows how bluff. He's really good at bluffing. It's pretty normal for people to lie but this guy sure is a great liar. After all, he's raised at school and we all know that students are great liars.
"Young master . . . I'm sorry for this treatment. I hope that your parents won't come after us. Your majesty, please appease your anger." Celia went on her knees and bowed her head to the ground. She's too nervous to even move an inch. She knew just how powerful this kid's parents are. After he was given to them, a huge explosion was heard from the place they were at that time. The next day the soldiers were gasping for breath as they saw a huge crater at the edge of the forest. It was a very brutal scene. Everything around it was turned into ash. The whole place is as black as charcoal. Everyone from that village moved away in fear that some overlord creatures might attack them. They're just a normal hunting village with an average strength of level 4. Even Marcus who's known as the leading hunter from the village is only level 6 which is already almost a peak knight level.
"You need not bow down. It's okay that you treat me like a normal family member. We've been together for two years after all. Even though I've not been treated for my birthday for the past few years, it's not a problem. I don't even remember the time when I am born. I don't even mind sleeping on the couch even though Nina is all alone in that 2-meter wide bed. She's a young lady after all and I'm a young man myself. It's all about manners right? Yes, it's about manners. I don't even want to talk about how all of you eat at the table while I eat on the ground. I already understood the logic behind it. I'm still too short to even reach the table so I can only eat in my precious bowl with a brand name 'Sparky'. It's actually alright since Sparky also means light right? Like how my parents brought down 'sparkling' things down to the forest right? You really take good care of me. You even want me to always be reminded of my parents. You really are such sweet people. I know you have cared for me like your own family too. I'm too lucky. I'm not angry at all." Priston said that in a very cute and innocent manner like it's all from the heart. Back then when his name was still James, he tried to become an actor. Confident of his own looks, he auditioned for a leading role. Never would he have thought that it is some kind of erotic indie film. He's got no way to back out and so he tried his best and that's how he found out that he's actually got some talent in acting. Never would he have thought that it may be of good use in another world.
Shocked by what they heard all three of them bowed down to prostrate themselves. They're scared to their wits. They've never heard of any 2-year-old child that can talk like this. Even his memory is flawless. Maybe it is actually true that children below 4 years old have the best learning abilities. They dared not to move. They really think that if they moved an inch right now his parents would send someone to 'take care of them'. They've never thought that the child of a tiger can already be at the level of an adult at the age of 2. Silence enveloped the house. The house they are right now is a white bungalow with a black roof. It cannot be called shabby. It's almost better than his rented house back on earth three times. The house has 2 rooms, a master's bedroom where the two of them reside, and another room for their daughter Nina. It has a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. A standard house for people in the middle class living in this era. Of course, there still is no toilet. There's only a hole in the ground where people dump their feces. Even though this is the case, there is a good sewage system in there as they are outside the empire's walls. They're not poor anymore. They have a good business of buying and selling monster carcasses. They buy them from hunters from remote villages and sell them at the market inside the empire's walls. Even though they are outside the walls, there are still some strong soldiers that are on patrol.
"I'd like you to treat me like a normal person. I don't want any grandeur and whatnot. I have some gold coins here and a few health potions. My parents are alchemists and blacksmiths. I want you to enroll me into a good school for both martial arts and magic. Please stand up." Priston said in a very cute voice. He's still considered a baby so almost anything he does can be deemed cute. He is also too good looking for his age. This cuteness can't be seen much because of how poor his condition is but once he takes a few more baths and dressed well, he might even make the princesses fall for him.
"Yes, your majesty. Do you want me to teach you some of the martial arts I know? Oh and your majesty, it seems that you do not have a bloodline. Maybe your parents are pioneers. They might have made a bloodline after you were born. Those with noble blood all have bloodlines after all." Marcus said that in a self-deprecating manner. If his parents do not have bloodlines, how come they are that strong? That must only mean that they are pioneers. It is hard to find a suitable beast to turn into a bloodline so maybe his parents are still on the look for those monsters.
"Please call Priston as you usually do. And please teach me some martial arts. By the way, what are bloodlines, Mr. Marcus?" Priston said in a cheerful tone. This is his chance. He knew that he is someone talented. A hero. He will wield the 'Holy Sword' and slay the Demon King. That's what all those past transmigrators do right?
"Oh yes, Priston dear. I am taken aback by your intelligence and forgot that you are still an infant and that the world of cultivation is new to you. How may I start this? Uhmmm. Bloodline is the power to make one person stronger than other people. If one's martial arts and cultivation are compatible with their bloodline, they will be a lot stronger than those who are in the same cultivation level. If their martial arts and cultivation deviate with that of the bloodline, their strength will be lower than those of the same level. My father told me once that I must be careful with the martial arts that I choose for it may not only slow down my progress but also make me weaker. I'm also a bloodline user by the way!" Marcus explained while looking smug as if bragging.
"Oh! Mr. Marcus is actually really strong? Are you stronger than my parents? What's your bloodline, Mister? "
"My dear Priston, I would never ever say that I am stronger than your parents. I am but a speck of dust in front of them. I am a level 6 knight and I'm pretty strong against other knight level martial artists but your parents are all above level 21 at the very least. Only a transcendent can do that much damage. My bloodline is nothing prestigious. It's just a Red Leaf Raccoon. It doubles my speed and nothing more. It's a pretty low-level bloodline. Nothing to brag about."