“It will probably come as no surprise that one of the most common asynchronous Skills people strive to obtain is any variation of the Sex Skill. It is also one of the Skills most commonly reported as being responsible for stalling a person’s Advancement. Even still, more than half of the people we asked said they didn’t regret the decision. Good for them, I suppose.”
~Unknown
“Zaaaa. Zaaaa. Maaamaaa!” The author of those ground-breaking lyrics was one of the meandering children I’d been sentenced to socialize with while most of the village adults indulged in celebration. She spoke with the bewildered confidence borne of youthful ignorance. It was adorable.
It was the first few times, at least. It’s starting to get annoying.
A pair of adults and the occasional bored teenager would be tasked with supervising the three of us before being released back to the festivities. The snippets of coherent conversation I’d overheard since we arrived at the village center earlier that afternoon suggested it was some type of yearly festival to celebrate the harvest. We were in the depths of Autumn and my layers of clothing helped keep me warm even as the temperature began to drop with the setting Sun.
The nearby heat of the fireplace was a welcome addition to my temporary prison. We were in one of the other side rooms of the building that housed Hwan’s office. Blankets had been spread on the floor along with a spattering of toys, including stuffed animals and wooden dolls. Earlier in the day Jusep amused himself by clapping two of the wooden toys together. It was… a lot.
Judging by his size, Jusep looked at least a couple of years older than me and was walking with an ambling surety I found myself envious of. Bella, our resident vocalist, was barely my senior and still hadn’t quite figured out walking. Bella maintained a general babyish look about her, but Jusep was starting to look like a little, chubby person - complete with a seemingly full set of teeth.
I still had a few teeth that needed to come in and I can confirm that teething was a miserable experience. Continuing my rudimentary training routine while parts of my skeleton tried to violently erupt from my gums earned me a solid number of Perseverance Proficiency Points. Speaking of which…
Perseverance Level 1/10
Current proficiency points: 100/100
You have gained sufficient recognized proficiency to advance to Perseverance Level 2.
Perseverance Level 2/10
Current proficiency points: 200/200
You have gained sufficient recognized proficiency to advance to Perseverance Level 3.
Perseverance Level 3/10
Current proficiency points: 98/300
It had been five months since I promised myself I’d seize a slice of agency in my life. Never before had I worked so hard to gain so little, yet the thrill of discovery urged me towards one of my proudest achievements since my rebirth. I could crawl. I know it may sound silly for a grown man to boast of such a comparatively simple accomplishment, but boast I shall. I set a goal and I stuck to it. That was a big deal for me.
Every ounce of muscle memory and coordination was earned through boring repetition. Even with Perseverance I doubt I would have been able to maintain my routine if it wasn’t literally one of the only activities available to me. The Proficiency Points came in quickly, at first, and it wasn’t long before I was able to move with all the grace of a slug. Tina got so excited the first time she saw me inching away from Vigil at the kennel. Conversely, the large dog did not seem at all amused that his charge was suddenly mobile.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Sporadically, when I’d feel my resolve start to shake, that same surge of something would spread from my stomach and fill me with the strength to, well, persevere. As I grew more confident in my motions and crawling became easier the Proficiency Points gradually tapered off, but by then I’d already gained enough to reach Perseverance Level 2.
Reaching Level 2 in Perseverance wasn’t accompanied by anything dramatic, just a new System message and a new goal. I found myself taking pride in every point I earned. Maybe it was my imagination, but it also felt like those surges of perseverance came marginally more frequently when compared to Level 1.
As the months continued to pass I began building the strength to stand, babbled phonetics, and devoted time to desperately delay the decay of my memories. The latter even started to award me the occasional Proficiency Point, but I couldn’t be certain if it was because the activity itself was supported by the Skill or if it was the act of maintaining the routine. I hoped it was the former.
My first word was ‘dog’, since I decided it would be funny and let me maintain parental-favorite-neutrality in the eyes of Tina and Tulos. They were generous in their praise and celebration of the milestone. If there was an issue with my timing, they didn’t reveal it to me and I hadn’t noticed any dramatic change in their behavior since. Basing when to reveal my developmental milestones on half-remembered baby trivia may not have been the wisest way to avoid suspicion, but it was all I had.
This all culminated with my eventual jump to Perseverance Level 3, an ever growing verbal vocabulary, and the ability to move around on shaky steps in limited bursts. Once I worked out the last few balance kinks, the world would open up to me. Yet despite all of that, I was still relegated to a playpen and forced to endure the company of the children who I would no doubt have to pretend were my peers for years to come. Joy.
“Blam. Blam!” Bella punctuated that line of thinking with a delighted giggle.
Alas, we are doomed to never know the wit that inspired such pure laughter.
Sarcasm was one of my many healthy coping mechanisms when forced to deal with exhausting people. I know young children aren’t exhausting in a malicious way, but they are still exhausting. I saw that one of our current babysitters, the woman I believed to be Bella’s mother, was giving me a concerned look. I’d relegated myself to one side of the room to try and avoid getting caught up in the childish antics of my cellmates but a baby content on sitting quietly was probably atypical in her experience if my brief exposure to Bella was any indicator.
One of the wooden toys had been discarded nearby so I pulled myself to my feet and traveled the few steps necessary to plonk down next to it. I grabbed it and started idly bouncing it around, throwing in the occasional amused baby noise for good measure. A shadow fell over me.
“I want that. That is mine.” Jusep made his claim while pointing at the simple wooden doll. Evidently, he decided that the toy he hadn’t touched since getting into the room was suddenly his by right the instant a different child started to play with it. Classic toddler move. It did, however, put me in a bind.
I don’t actually care about the doll, but I really don’t want to let this kid grow up thinking he can boss me around. That’ll get annoying fast if I have to endure the occasional play date.
“No.” My answer was simple and to the point. I spun my body to put my back to Jusep, hoping he’d take the hint. In hindsight, I don’t know why I was expecting any level of emotional maturity from a three year old. I should have anticipated that he’d be a little shit about it.
“That. Is. Mine!”
Jusep leaned over my shoulder to grab at the toy. He got a hold of it with his little sausage fingers and started yanking it backwards. I maintained my grip, relying on being anchored to the floor, but the kid was starting to whinge right in my ear.
Yeah, this is no longer worth the hassle.
I let go.
Jusep continued to yank with all the force he could muster and stumbled backwards when there was a sudden absence of an opposing force. I turned my head just in time to see one of his feet get tangled in a blanket as he fell hard on his bottom, still clutching the toy. There was a pregnant pause. I saw the shock on his face as Jusep assessed the situation and decided he was unhappy. So he began to cry.
Fucking, of course…
Jusep was loud and wailing for his mother. Bella’s mom ran to try and comfort him, but her own daughter started to sympathy-cry at the situation and Jusep wasn’t receptive to her soothing. She sent the young man who was with her off to fetch Jusep’s parents and moved to comfort her own daughter. Jusep’s face started to turn bright red as his tantrum continued. He threw the toy at me right as a group of adults entered the room. Fortunately, his aim was off and I escaped a potential concussion.
Tina and Tulos were among the newcomers and they came to check on me. Tina scooped me into her arms as another woman did the same to Jusep. Presumably, her and the man accompanying her were his parents. Neither of them had been on babysitting duty yet at that point, so I didn’t have a frame of reference.
Jusep’s father had the same solid build I’d seen boasted by most of the men and many of the women in the village. Hauling hay bales or whatever it was the local farmers were doing to stay in shape was definitely working for them. After a hushed exchange with Jusep, he pointed an accusatory finger at Tulos.
“What did your son do to Jusep?” I saw a faint spray of spittle accompany his words and the flush in his cheeks wasn’t born purely of anger. Had I been closer, I suspected the smell of fermented something would have assaulted my nostrils as it wafted through the thin-but-noticeable gap between his two front teeth.
In hindsight, I should have just let the kid have the stupid toy.