By the next morning, Bell felt a little better, and he was back to his usual self for the most part. However, he was still shook from the events of the previous night. It made him question whether he really deserved this second chance at life. Was it really possible for him to change who he was? How did one go about doing that anyway?

Rea and Ella had taken Bell to the village market to buy groceries while Day and Leah went to the mana spring to 'train'. It seemed that while Bell was sleeping the day before, neither Day nor Leah had told their parents about the events that had transpired at the spring, which he was grateful for. He didn't think this was something he should bother Rea or Ella with. He felt that he had to overcome this by himself.

As Bell sat on Rea's head and mulled these thoughts over in quiet contemplation, both Ella and Rea were happily chatting away with the owner of a stall where tools of all sorts were laid out. Rea had already bought a new pair of pruners to replace the ones she had been using for several years.

The pruners had cost six silver liefs, which was the common currency used in the Haven Federation. They were coins shaped in the shape of a leaf, and were made of either gold, silver, or copper. One gold lief was worth ten silver liefs, and one silver lief was worth ten copper liefs. For reference, the income of an average household in Bairan Village was approximately 50 gold liefs per month.

Once handing over the liefs, the owner of the stall had become interested in Rea's gardening occupation, and had started up a conversation about the kinds of tools that she might need in the future.

The owner, named Taka Oakenheart, was a member of the brown-furred, otter-like sapient species that Bell recognized from his picture books as being the Guardian race. Guardians had an otter-like snout, dark beady eyes, round ears, and a long, thick tail, but was otherwise human-like in appearance. Apparently Taka had recently moved to the village from a distant city with his wife and daughter in order to establish his own smithy.

"It's great that we'll finally have a blacksmith in the village," Ella said clapping her hands together. "Rea's pretty careless with her gardening tools, so they lose durability all the time."

"Hey, I'm pretty careful! It's normal for tools to lose durability," Rea insisted, but Ella just giggled.

"The smithy will hopefully be open by the start of fall," Taka said, scratching his belly with his claws. "We have just finished negotiating for the place, so there is still a lot of renovating to do. Getting the furnace installed and such. It is driving my wife quite insane."

"Do you two need any help with physical labor? Our two eight-year olds are home for the summer and they could use the extra physical training." Rea grinned widely.

Taka laughed heartily. "I am sure your cubs would agree with you. Thank you for the offer, but labor is not the issue. My wife is just a stickler for the details, coming from an educated family and all. Our little Kana is all brains just like her. She does not get it from me, that is for sure."

"Your daughter sounds just adorable," Ella said. "How old is she this year?"

"She just turned three last month," Taka said proudly. "And speak of the devil, here she comes now!"

Another Guardian approached the stall from down the road. She had delicate facial features and was wearing a long, flower-patterned robe that reminded Bell of a Japanese yukata. Behind a pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses, her eyes shone with a blazing intelligence. On her shoulder was a small puff of brown fur that Bell was wondering about when a tiny face with a snout popped out from it.

"This is my wife, Miya," Taka said, wrapping his left arm around Miya's waist.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Miya Oakenheart and this is our daughter, Kana Oakenheart," the female Guardian said with a smart curt bow.

"Hello, I'm Rea and this is my wife, Ella, and this here is my son, Bell," Rea said, lifting Bell off of her head and holding him out with outstretched arms. "Say, hi, Bell."

"Ummm, hi. It's nice to meet you," Bell said awkwardly, being just a mere foot away from the Guardians' faces.

"Ohh, he is a polite one," Taka said approvingly. "Kana, why don't you say hi too? It is rude to leave a gentlecub hanging like that."

The Guardian child hid behind her tail for a moment before peeking the upper half of her face out to look at Bell.

"P-pleasure," she said timidly. Taka laughed again and ruffled the fur on his daughter's head. Bell found it difficult to see the color of her face through all of the fur, but he thought he could see the tip of her snout turning a bit redder.

"Why don't we arrange a play date for them?" Miya suggested. "Kana, do you want to be friends with the nice boy?" Kana nodded.

"That's a great idea!" Ella said. "Bell doesn't have any friends his age to play with, so this is perfect. Why don't you all join us for dinner at seven o'clock today, at our place? We would love the company."

"It's settled," Miya said beaming, then looked at her husband. "You'll be closed up by then, right, my love?"

"Aye, of course," Taka answered, giving his wife a wet, thick kiss on the forehead. Kana made a grossed out expression which Bell found slightly amusing.

"We'll get out of your fur until tonight, then," Rea said with a wink. "Here are the directions to our house…"

…

Once again for the second day in a row, a huge pot of pyroroot oil sat in the middle of the dining room table of the Moondrop home. This time, however, the pot was accompanied by several more empty plates littered about, and eight bloated figures sat around it instead of the usual five.

Bell was listening to his parents talk with Taka and Miya while he watched the three-year old Kana stand off against his eight-year old siblings in a chess-like board game, called Dominion.

It seemed that unlike his previous world, where all of the major competitions were sporting events, this world wasn't that huge on physical sports in general. Bell guess that wasn't too surprising, considering that people who were level 5 and above were supposedly strong enough to kick through a wall of stone. A sport like soccer would just devolve into a game of recruiting the highest level players.

As such, strategy games were the choice of sport, and Dominion was at the very top of the list. It was apparently a game that took a lifetime to master, and there were professional players in the Federation that earned a living playing it as national representatives.

Unlike chess, which had the win condition of checkmating the king, Dominion required you to claim more territory than your opponent to win. Moreover, each of the pieces had special abilities in addition to their abilities to move in specific ways. For example, knights could move up to three spaces in any one direction and then provide a two-turn shield to any of the allied pieces around it in a two-tile radius.

In short, it was a vastly more complicated game than chess, but that didn't seem to matter to Kana, who was considered to be a prodigy.

While Bell wasn't renowned for his skill at strategy board games in his past life, he didn't think he was that bad either. He could already grasp some of the strategic concepts of the game, such as the value of keeping your pieces spread out to maximize territory gain while ensuring that you had enough synergy between the pieces to defend the territory you had claimed. The monarch pieces in the game were particularly important, as they had special abilities that could be used to play a variety of roles such as leading a charge, securing territory singlehandedly, or assassinating an enemy piece.

Bell's insight was why he could tell that Kana more than just good. Even at only three years of age, she was constantly thinking of deep, complicated strategies that surprised Bell at every turn. Although she was timid and shy in real life, she was quite the vicious and cunning monster on the Dominion-board.

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However, Bell was only half-paying attention to the game, since his parents had started to touch on an interesting topic.

"It seems that the old dungeon near the spring looks like it's going to reopen soon," Ella said.

"Really? Hasn't it only been four years since it's been cleared?" Rea frowned. "What's the reason?"

"I don't know, but there have been signs of wild beasts in the forest getting more and more agitated. The number of people coming to the temple for healing for beast attacks are increasing. It seems that they're reacting to the dungeon's energy."

"So it's true that wild beasts are naturally drawn to dungeons," Miya said. "Will we be safe here in the village?"

Ella nodded. "Yes, there should be no problems. The village wards are strong enough to hold off any normal wild beasts, no matter how aggressive they get. And once the adventurer team arrives later this week, they'll be able to clear the dungeon before it breaks."

"What happens if it does break, though?" Miya asked worriedly.

"You know, hydras and dragons will come out and eat our faces," Rea joked, at which Ella elbowed Rea in the ribs and caused her to yelp in pain.

"It won't break," Ella reassured Miya. "The hired adventurers are very skilled and should be able to clear the dungeon with no problem. In the worst case scenario and it breaks, there absolutely won't be hydras and dragons." Ella shot a stern glare at Rea who gave her an apologetic smile.

"Do you hear that? We will be fine, my sweet." Taka rubbed his wife's back comfortingly. "We just have to be careful when we go outside the village to avoid these… agitated wild beasts."

"Yes, travel should be fine as long as you use the guarded carriages," Ella nodded.

"Are we going somewhere, dad?" Kana asked inquisitively, looking up from the Dominion board.

Bell found that Kana was on the verge of not just claiming more territory than the twins, but completely wiping the twins' pieces off the board. Not a lot of time had passed since he had last analyzed the board state. Bell was perplexed. How the heck did that happen?

"Yes, we must go pick up your cousin who will be staying with us for a while," Taka said ruffling his daughter's head with his huge paw. "He would like to learn blacksmithing from me, so we are having him help with the preparations in the new smithy."

"Is it Cousin Ryo?" Kana asked excitedly.

"That is the one," Taka affirmed. "He is eager to see you again as well, little cub."

At that moment, the twins toppled their monarch pieces over that Bell figured was a sign of resignation.

"We give up!" The twins gnashed their teeth together in frustration. Bell didn't blame them. Their loss had been brutal.

"Oi, how old are you, kid?" Day asked Kana incredulously, as Leah muttered, "How is this possible?"

"T-three-years old," Kana replied, blushing. Miya chuckled lightly, and patted her daughter on the head.

"Our little cub was the local Dominion champion for her age group before we moved here," Taka boasted proudly. "We are told that she's quite the prodigy, though I do not know how to play the game well enough to say so myself."

"Bell, why don't you try playing?" Miya suggested. "I can tell that you're quite smart yourself. Perhaps you can give Kana a run for her liefs."

"I haven't played Dominion before," Bell protested. "There's no way that I can give her a good game."

"I-I would like to play a g-game against you," Kana stuttered.

"Yeah, Bell. Go on, give her a game," Day encouraged, surely eager to see his younger brother suffer a similar massive defeat to soothe his damaged ego.

"But-" Bell tried.

"You know how I feel about buts," Rea reminded him.

"Fine, fine," Bell said, resigning himself to his fate. "Don't expect anything from me though."

Day lifted Bell from his seat and placed him on the table on the side of the Dominion board opposite Kana. Kana rearranged the pieces to their staring position with speed that only a practiced hand could accomplish.

"P-please," Kana said, bowing her head slightly before turning her gaze to the game board. Bell saw a shift in her eyes that reminded him of her mother's intelligent ones.

Bell sighed.

If he was going to do this, at least he wasn't going to make a fool out of himself. He had learned the basic rules already, and had some inkling of inspiration in terms of the strategies one could implement in the game. It reminded him more of the eastern game, 'go', rather than chess, and he had at least reached amateur 4 dan in that game. It wasn't at professional or even top amateur level, but it wasn't something to scoff at either.

Perhaps, if he could learn some more on-the-fly, he would show this three-year old that some gaps in gaming experience that you couldn't overcome with talent.

…

Almost an hour went by as the Moondrop and Oakenheart families watched the game of Dominion unfold over the dining table. Unlike during Kana's match with the twins, all of the present parents weren't interested in having a discussion amongst themselves during this game. This was because what was happening was blowing their minds. Even Taka, who claimed that he could not play the game well, was able tell that there was an intellectual war going on that should not be possible between two children who were not even teenagers!

At long last, the monarch pieces on one side were toppled, leaving an almost equally divided board of red and blue, save for the central piece of territory that glowed sapphire blue.

"No way," Leah gasped.

"Ugh," Day groaned, pulling his hair in frustration.

"What is happening," Taka exclaimed, leaning back into his chair and putting a hand over his forehead.

"Little cub, didn't you say this was the first time you played this game?" Miya asked.

"I knew our Bell was smart, but this…" Ella said, eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

"That's our boy," Rea grinned widely.

"You guys are overreacting," Bell sighed. "She still won, didn't she?"

"Yes, but that was exceedingly close. Much more than I have ever seen anyone go against Kana," Miya stated, thoughtful.

Kana was staring at the final state of the Dominion board with wide, disbelieving eyes. Her body was shaking all over, and Bell wondered what was going on.

"Hey, are you oka-" Bell tried.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Kana exploded, tiny tail thumping against the table with rapid vigor. "You started out like a complete beginner, but what was that on the 47th move? I didn't see it coming at all! I was sure that I had your monarch trapped but it turns out that you sacrificed it? Who does that?! And on the 52nd move…"

This continued for well over five minutes before Taka soothed the excited Guardian child and got her to calm down.

"It would seem that our cub has finally found a worthy rival," Miya whistled. "I was thinking that we would have to take Kana to the city on the resting days of the week for professional tutelage, but perhaps that isn't necessary if she can just hone her skills with Bell here. Or, maybe it might be better to send the both of them to the city together? What do you think, Rea and Ella?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Ella smiled widely. Rea nodded in agreement. "I never realized that our son was talented in such a way. We have to thank you for bringing this to our attention."

"Har har har, the gratitude is ours," Taka laughed. "Kana has never had anyone her age to play against seriously. This is an excellent discovery."

Bell felt a little tinge of pride, but was unsure of how to feel about the sudden praise.

First of all, he was being praised for playing a game. That had to be a little ironic. Games were, after all, the thing that had ruined his previous life. Well, that wasn't strictly true, he guessed. He had ruined his own life. Games were just the medium he used to do this.

Secondly, he was technically 29 years old (including the two years that he had spend here), so he didn't exactly fit their definition of someone of Kana's age.

Lastly, what about this matter about sending him to the city? To learn how to play a game, no less. It would not only cost money to pay for travel and the learning institution's fees, and he would have to be accompanied by an adult at all times. Bell could only see this is as a waste of his parents' money and time. It wasn't like their family had a lot of money to burn.

"I don't really want to go to the city to play Dominion," Bell mumbled.

"Eh, why?" Ella asked in surprise.

"It's just a game, right? I don't want to trouble you guys for this kind of thing," Bell replied, without intending to say it aloud.

There was a brief silence, which caused Bell to chastise himself. That was going to sour the mood.

"It's okay to trouble us sometimes, Bell," Ella said softly. "This is what being a parent is about."

Bell was trying to think of how to salvage the situation when Kana peeped out a question.

"Y-you don't want to play with me?" Kana asked. Bell saw tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"Ah, no, that's not it," He responded quickly, reminding himself that Kana was just three-years old and probably misunderstood him. "I'll still play with you if you want. We can play anytime if you come over."

"Really?" Kana exclaimed with her ears perked up.

Ding dong!

"Who could that be?" Rea asked aloud, and answered the door. When she opened it, a white-robed birdman wearing a grim expression on his face was revealed on the other side.

"Mrs. Ella Moondrop, your healing services are required at the temple immediately," Bell heard the birdman say.

All curious eyes fell on Ella, who walked over to the stranger and discussed something with him in hushed tones. Bell saw a shadow fall over his mother's face.

"What could that be about?" Bell whispered to Leah.

"Don't know. Probably work?" Leah whispered back.

After a few moments, Ella grabbed her purse from the hanger next to the door and put a hand on the shoulder of the birdman, who snapped his feather fingers and the two of them were engulfed in a flash of blinding light before disappearing.

Rea calmly walked back to the dinner table wearing a weary smile.

"Sorry about that. El was needed at work. It seems that there was another wild beast attack," she said. "Apparently they are getting more serious."

"Oh, there is no need to apologize," Miya said shaking her head. "We understand completely. In fact, maybe this this a perfect time for us to turn in for the night as well."

"Of course, no problem at all," Rea said. "Please get home safely."

"Thank you very much for your hospitality. It was a very enjoyable evening. Next time, we will be the ones to treat you to dinner." Taka smiled, lifting the small Guardian child onto his shoulder.

After some more exchanges of farewell, the members of the Oakenheart family left the house. Before they did, however, Kana glanced back at Bell and waved frantically in a goodbye. He chuckled to himself at this. It seemed that he had made his first friend in this world.

With that, the Oakenheart family exited the Moondrop household.

But it was the first and last time that they would do so.