Chapter 3 – A new life?!

When Green regained consciousness and opened his eyes he was looking up at grey stone. It took him a while to recognize it as the ceiling of his current home. His eyes took a while to focus completely but then he could make out small marks on the ceiling, telling him that the  space he was in was created intentionally.

He himself was lying on something soft and when he turned his head he saw that he was lying on top of several fur blankets.

When he shifted his weight he furthermore noticed he seemed to be naked except for his underwear??

He tried raising his head reflexively but his body didn’t listen to him.

‘Huh?? What’s going on?’

“Uga…” when he tried to speak that was the only noise coming out, almost like his vocal cords weren’t used to being strained.

He tried raising his hand and half to his surprise that worked.

He was looking at a pink chubby hand with short fingers.

The words the angel had left him came back to mind ‘It will be hard for you’. Was this what he meant?

‘I mean I… am I a baby? Seriously?’

“uuguuuu….” His protest turned into meaningless sounds and he helplessly raised his other hand as well. It was the same.

Apparently alerted by the sounds someone hurriedly opened the room.

A broad bearded face came into view. It was a dwarf, or so Green assumed.

He smelled of oil and ashes and the ends of his red beard seemed slightly burned. He had kind grey eyes that were nearly hidden beyond his bushy eyebrows and thick potato nose. He was wearing a bandana like cloth on his head, apparently to keep his swear from dropping into his eyes. All in all he seemed quite rough, except for his eyes.

‘If I am a baby… does that mean… he is my dad? Wait, what?? Was I actually born again?’

His suspicion was soon confirmed as his new father bent down and scooped him up into his shovel-like hands.

“Uaa?” he was a bit startled at the sudden action.

“Ahh, Umi! You’re awake!” with those words he spun him around in a circle.

Umi was relieved. He had started to suspect that he’d need to learn a new language as well but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Then his expression grew grave. “We will manage this, right Umi? Even if mommy isn’t around, Daddy will manage. So you be strong as well, okay?” Tears were now dropping from his face.

‘Huh? This setting, don’t tell me…’

“They took her away from us, Umi. Said it ain’t no good to have us 2 together. Lucky we managed to hide ya , but... she’s gone.”

“Aa…” Umi tried to say something but of course his voice didn’t listen to him yet.

“But I shouldn’t be telling ya this, right? Ya don’t understand me yet anyway.” With these words he noisily wiped his nose and tears away and put Umi back down onto the pelts.

“Don’t worry, daddy will take care of you!”

At those words Umi felt really  tired all of a sudden  and his consciousness slowly drifted away. Thus Green’s second life as the Halfling Umi started out with the loss of his new mother, although he didn’t really grasp the situation yet.

[1 day ago, the stonehouse of Ironhand, the dwarf and Irlina, the elf.]

Their baby had been born successfully 6 hours ago and Irlina smiled at her son blissfully. Her beloved Ironhand held the small child in his hands and brought him close to Irlina who was resting on the bed, still fatigued from the process.

She gently stretched out her hands to caress her son’s head. Umi. That was the name they had decided on beforehand. Because they had met at the sea.

The couple exchanged a loving gaze and looked down on the sleeping child. He had cried healthily earlier, now he was sleeping soundly, recovering from the process like herself.

“Let’s let him rest now.” Ironhand finally said and got up to take Umi into his room. It was an improvised room at best, behind his own workshop, but they didn’t want to keep him with themselves in the only room of the house.

They would build a new home soon enough.

He placed his son onto the small mountain of furs that was his baby bed and returned to Irlina’s side. He considered her to be his wife, even if they had never married. Neither race would have supported their love after all.

That was also the reason why they had moved their home and workshop to a secluded area close to a small lake in the mountains. The closest settlement was a few hours away in the north, the elven city Alernon.

Until now everything went smoothly, they hadn’t let anyone know about their love, just that they had decided to move, so they wouldn’t be stopped.

But life wasn’t that easy. The elven council had caught wind of their relationship and became enraged, deciding to take action immediately.

Thus the council sent out a group of 20 elven warriors to retrieve Irlina at any cost.

This was how, just a few hours after their son was born, the elves knocked on their door.

When he opened the door, Ironhand immediately guessed what had happened and turned pale.

“Master Ironhand, I understand that Irlina of our kin has been imposing on you.” The leader of the group got straight to the point. “Thus we have come to retrieve her. Please do not resist, for this is also in your best interest.”

The elf thus tried to walk past Ironhand but he just stood in his way.

“Like hell it is, there is no way I’ll let you take her rom me!”

“Ironhand, please don’t make this harder for yourself.”

The elves had already drawn their weapons at this point, making their intention clear. They would take her even if they had to kill him.

Rage had built up inside the dwarf and he was ready to lunge at the closest one of them when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. Irlina had come out.

“It’s fine, I will go with you.” She said towards the elves. Then she just managed to whisper one sentence towards her beloved before the warriors had approached close enough to hear her.

“No, Irlina, please…!!” Ironhand wailed, but she just shook her head and sent him a pleading gaze.

Then she stepped out the door and inside the circle of the other elves who then bound her arms and lead her away, towards some horses they had bound not too far from the house.

Ironhand could just watch with his fists closed tightly. His tears were flowing freely. But he couldn’t do anything to stop them. Why he didn’t lunge at them with everything he had?

That was because of what she had asked of him. Her last request.

Yes, he knew it well. They would most likely kill her for being together with a dwarf. With him. And so did she.

Thus she had urged him with her last words. ‘Please take good care of Umi, for me as well.’

That’s why… even if it killed him, he would make sure Umi grew up into a healthy and happy boy. Because he was their child, the proof of their love.

He watched them until they could no longer be seen and then he hurriedly started packing. They couldn’t stay here. The elves would soon find out that Irlina had been pregnant. And when they did, they would come back to kill the child without doubt.

Thus the next morning he would leave their old home together with his son. He would go back to him hometown. In the time he had been away it wasn’t unthinkable that he had met another dwarf and had a child with her.

He would say that she had died giving birth and thus he had decided to come back with his son. He could only hope Umi wouldn’t grow to resemble Irlina too much, for his own good.

[Back to the present]

When Umi woke up again he was in the arms of his new father. But they weren’t inside like last time but his father was driving a wooden cart pulled by a sturdy looking ox. He curiously looked around from where he was lying.

They were passing through a dense forest at the moment and the light danced through the leaves.

The house was nowhere to be seen.

When he raised his hands up again he didn’t notice any big changes from yesterday.

‘So I have to grow up all over again? Isn’t this a bit too realistic? Rather, when will I actually get to start playing at this rate?’

“Nnn…” he let out a sigh that sounded quite funny, coming from a baby such as himself.

But contrary to his observations he was actually growing at a very fast pace. He already looked like a 2-year old. His fast growth had thoroughly shocked Ironhand at first, but then he had recalled that the goddess’ prophets had foretold about such an event. His son was one of the apostles of Heka who were sent to help the world against the monsters. It was said that they would grow very quickly at the beginning, but slow down or stop once they reach adultery. He hoped this was the case for Umi, but at the same time he was afraid.

Would his son leave him this soon? Would he go to distant battlefield, leaving him not knowing whether he lived or died?

Unrest had taken hold of Ironhand’s heart as he imagined being alone once more.

On the other hand Umi was unsatisfied because of a different reason. First of all he felt hungry. Really hungry. And also… he didn’t know if he could voice it… and lastly… he felt really helpless in this game, was that normal???

‘Rumble’ with a cute sound his stomach voiced itself out and Ironhand laughed loudly at the sound.

“There, there, you’re hungry, Umi?”

Umi nodded lightly, embarrassed by the sound.

Ironhand then took out a stone box from behind and opened it, revealing a mountain full of mashed potatoes and carrots he had prepared beforehand. He didn’t have anything that could substitute a mother’s milk, so this meal and a bit of goat’s milk would have to do.

Umi tried to grab hold of the spoon his father held but his hands were still too clumsy, so he obediently let his father feed him.

‘This is so embarrassing’ Umi thought to himself as he obediently swallowed spoon after spoon and soon drifted to sleep.

As his character fell asleep like the child it was, Umi blacked out.

When he regained consciousness he found himself above the clouds once more. He quickly looked around and soon noticed he was in his own body again.

‘Speaking of which’, Umi pondered,  ‘I’m still a baby so I didn’t notice but… how will I look like when I grow up?’

While he was lost in his own thoughts he didn’t notice someone approaching him.

*cough*

Michael coughed lightly and watched amused as Umi jumped since he had startled him.

“God, Michael! You scared me!”

“Hahaha, well… I didn’t sneak up on you, you know?”

“That…” embarrassed, Umi couldn’t retort.

Grinning widely the angel finally broke the short silence that followed and asked curiously:

“So what were you thinking about?”

“Ah, that…”, Umi had overcome his embarrassment. “I was wondering how I would look like when my body is grown up, that’s all.”

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“Aaaah!” Michael suddenly let out a shocked and slightly guilty sound.

“Sorry, I should have mentioned that earlier…” Michael bowed before Umi in apology.

“Ah, no, don’t worry about it.”, Umi hurriedly calmed the panicked angel. It took him 10 minutes.

“Right, let me explain it now then.”, Michael quietly said.

“Your appearance is randomized. But some characteristics can be influenced by your actions. For example someone who doesn’t train their strength would not have a lot of muscle mass. You can also get a haircut and similar things.

However, the influence you have on your appearance is limited. It can only vary from the default by about 20%.”

“Hmm, so its basically the same as I’m used to.”

“Basically.”

“I see.”

“Oh, one more thing, since we’re talking about appearance. As you have noticed you were literally reborn into this world. But since you are blessed by the gods like all the foreigners from a different world you will age abnormally fast in the beginning.

But you will completely stop aging at the age of your soul.”

‘I see, so my character will be the same age as me, huh.’

“Then how long will it take for me to grow up? You said its faster than normal, right?”

“Ah, at the current speed you are aging about… 3 weeks? But in that time, actually for 6 weeks the goddess has decided that you and your kin need to stay with your family and be taught about the world some more. After all if you simply wander outside and get slaughtered right away that would be bad.”

“I see… so what happens if I die?”

“Hmm? Well, if you die you are dead, you know? Your body will be lost and you will need to start with a new body all over again.”

*Gasp* ‘What kind of game is this, hey!!!’

“That is unless you receive the blessing of one of the major gods. Then the god will automatically transport you to their closest shrine and revive you. But since this hasn’t happened in a long time and even you foreigners will need to earn this blessing the knowledge regarding any side effects or how long the revival process takes has been lost. Not even I can tell you more about it.”

“May I know why the gods don’t bless everyone if they have such power?”

“Because” the angel smiled “life is precious. If you could return to life that easily people would stop appreciating life. But that’s only one of the reasons. In fact only a limited amount of people can be blessed by each god. All in all I estimate about 100. Also, the revival process does take time, during which the god has to solely concentrate on the body he or she is restoring and will use up most of the divine power. So they can’t do their usual work and it will pile up until their power is restored. You can see how reviving everyone would be difficult now, right?”

“Yea… I kind of get it.” Umi really felt how realistic and complicated this game would be.

“So actually, Michael…”

“Yes?”

“Why am I here again?”

“Aaahhh!”

Umi got a déjà vu-like feeling at the noise and he slowly realized the obvious. The angel was a scatterbrain.

“…”

“Sooorrryyyy, I forgot about thaaat… As I thought I’m no goood” The angel flailed around with teary eyes, ready to fly off somewhere.

Umi spent the next 20 minutes calming Michael don enough so he could hear why he was up here again.

*sniff*

“Geez…” Umi sighed as the angel calmed down again.

“Actually you’re here because I have a message from one of the gods.” Michael was sitting on Umi’s lap now as Umi had been forced to repeatedly stroke the angel’s head and keep him on his lap nearly be force or he’d have flown away and resigned as an angel or something.

“Hm, now that you mention it, I only know about Heka from what you told me before. So there are others?”

“Yea, actually there’s several gods and goddesses in this world, but I’m not gonna tell you about them all, it’d take too long. You can’t leave your body alone much longer. I’ll just give you a few examples, okay?”

“Sure.”

“So, the goddess I serve is Heka, the goddess of Life who created this world. Then there is also Set, the god of Evil. He has a grudge against Heka since she rejecting his marriage proposal and wants to corrupt her creation. There are different gods for each element and gods for crafts, for seasons and several others.

But back to the topic. The deity who sent me today is called Ptah. He is the guardian deity of your father.”

“Hm, wait a sec. Don’t you serve Heka? Then how come you are Ptah’s messenger today?”

“That’s because you’re familiar with me already, so Heka allowed it.”

“Ah, makes sense. Okay, go on.”

“Right. The message is…”

To sum it up Ptah had warned him to take better care of his father. He favoured his dad and warned him that he had caused a lot of trouble even with his birth alone so he should be careful not to get his old man in trouble too much.

‘Great.’,Umi sighed silently. ‘Only my first day and I already pissed off a god.’

Michael smiled sady as he noticed Umi’s mood.

“Its okay, Umi. You’re a good guy, you wouldn’t cause that much trouble. So don’t worry about it!”

“Hmm…”

“Now, our time is over, you need to go back to your body! It’s time to wake up!”

“Okay…” Umi was still pondering and absendmindedly agreed.

“See you next time!”

“Yea, see you Michael, take care!”

With that Umi was back in his tiny body, looking up at his new father with big baby eyes.

“Nya” a funny sound escaped his throat as the cart jumped over a particular big bump in the road.

“Hnng? Ah, Umi. You’re awake!”

“waa…” Umi tried to reply, but his throat wasn’t used to speaking yet so only the senseless babble of a toddler came out.

Ironhand obviously forced himself to smile before his son. Reality had caught up to him as he steered the cart along the bumpy road for hours on end, leaving his thoughts much time to wander. But finally he hadn’t been able to evade his thoughts anymore.

Irlina… she was gone. He would probably never see her again. Was she still alive right now? Did they reach the elven forest yet? Was she having her trial right now? Or… was she shamed and the execution just started? Had they found out about their child yet?

Beautiful, kind Irlina…

Worry upon worry clashed above his head and his mind sunk into chaos.

That was when his, Irlina’s son woke up and pulled him back out of his thoughts with a cute sound.

Looking at the child Irlina had desperately wanted to protect even in the face of her executioners Ironhand renewed his determination and forced a smile upon his face.

He would definitely protect her son. His son.

Seeing that smile Umi was reminded of his grandparents and his hand unconsciously reached towards his father’s face, but he could only reach the beard with his short limbs and slightly pulled on it.

Then, trying to cheer up his father, he started playing with the beard in his hands.

His actions had the desired effect and Ironhand laughed loudly.

‘Success!’, Umi smiled.

Thus their journey towards Ironhand’s birth town continued.

To keep himself from grieving in front of his child the dwarf started to talk. He told his son many things during this time and he had the impression that he somehow understood him… or he just liked his voice. Ironhand found the latter more believable but he still talked.

He told Umi about their destination, a mining town called Rissen. Actually it bordered onto a dwarfen city called Turnus, which was the third biggest city in their kingdom. But the town kept its name despite the fact that it was practically considered part of the city already seeing as it was the best mining location within several miles so calling it by its own name was easiest.

Rissen was also the only area of Turnus that was above ground.

Correct. Turnus as a whole was directly below Rissen. The city was built on the inside of an inactive volcano while Rissen was build atop the thick crust of soil now covering the volcanic opening. The miners travelled inside of the volcano, digging along the inner walls. Millions of years of extreme heat inside the volcano had created hundreds, if not thousands of high purity crystal, mineral and metal veins that were easily accessible from within the volcano chamber. Working in a place like that takes a lot of courage, but after the first brave dwarfes from Turnus had started working there, many joined them and the mining town was founded.

They soon created a spiral path along the volcano walls leading down to the city and broke through the surface on the top, creating a path to the city from outside.

Previously Turnus could only be reached by traveling through several labyrinth-like cavern systems and passing through about 10 other cities along the way.

But with Rissen the dwarves who loved to live underground had created one of their few original towns above ground, also making trade with Turnus easier and more attractive for merchants of other races.

Or that’s how it should have been.

But unfortunately the volcano was in the middle of monster territory. The very top where Rissen was located was luckily only inhabited by weaker monsters, but if you got closer to the bottom of the volcano the monsters grew exponentially powerful.

Meaning Turnus wasn’t visited by any race other than dwarfes, remaining a legendary city in the minds of all the other races.

Why legendary?

Because Turnus was the most renowned city of craftsmen even amongst the dwarfen kingdom. And as you might have guessed dwarves were the best craftsmen in the world due to their high affinity with earth and therefore minerals.

You could find better woodworkers or artists, but dwarfes held the highest position amongst smiths by far.

Umi hungrily absorbed all the information his father gave him, wondering all the while how they would get to the city in that case. Would they spend the time until his body was grown up traveling?

His questions would soon be answered. However, the answer he got would only give birth to new questions.

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Hello everyone, the wannabe author here *makes peace sign*

so yea, i didnt drown or got run over, I AM ALIVEE

just have been quite busy with work and other things sooo... you gessed it...releases will be slowww

and not regularrrr 

sorry about that to the ones who follow my ff

its just a warning :c

OFF TO WAR! with work~

See you next time and I'll look forward to your comments!~

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