"You want me to move all this into the attic?" Turge asked incredulously, staring at the pile of things Vaeri and I had moved from the bedroom to the hallway.

"Exactly," Vaeri nodded, ignoring the way Turge's face fell in response. "Willow can't stay in a messy bedroom after all, she would be tripping over our things every morning."

Turge gave a small smile at that, but his irritated glances at the items continued as he got to work.

"We'll get to work on adjusting all my childhood clothes for her size whilst you do that," Vaeri said, and Turge nodded distractedly as he hoisted a particularly heavy box into his arms.

For my part, I was shocked. I wasn't sure what to expect to come of my strange situation on this farm, but being given my own bedroom without question was near the bottom of my list of possible outcomes. I wondered idly what the catch would be, but made myself shake the thought from my head.

Vaeri took my hand and lead me back towards the dining room then, one of the boxes that had remained in the room in her arms before being placed down on the table.

"We should be able to get this done by tonight if we work quickly," Vaeri smiled, looking at me with her beautiful green eyes as she a absentmindedly threaded a needle.

It was my lack of hand eye coordination from my first life that cause me to speak up then, impressed. "You're good at that."

Vaeri's smile grew a little then, and she nodded. "It takes a lot of practice, but you could probably get a high level in this skill too, if you worked hard."

I found her phrasing strange, but ignored it. Instead I nodded with a look of determination, and Vaeri let of a soft chuckle as she handed me a needle and thread.

"Be careful with that, it's sharp," she warned. I actually slowed down a little at her warning and began my attempt at threading the thread though the needle's eye.

It took a few attempts, and having to remove the frayed end of the thread once, but eventually I managed it. Making the small knot was the easy part.

"Ouch!" I yelped out a moment later though, the needle sticking into my fingertip. My vision had been filled with what appeared to be a dark blue skills menu, causing me to jump.

"What the?!" I muttered, focussing on the menu.

---

Willow - Level 1 (1/3 Skill Levels Until Next Level)

Titles - None

Age - 10

Skill Points Available - 0

Skills

Sewing - Level 1

---

"What happened, Willow?" Vaeri asked with a slightly panicked tone to her voice. I pulled the needle out then absently and placed it on the table.

My eyes remained locked on the screen as Vaeri's eyes widened.

"You just had the system arrive for the first time?!" She questioned, and I nodded, snapping my vision to her. This is normal? I remember thinking.

"That's fantastic. that means we know how old you are! It shows itself for the first time on your tenth birthday!" She cheered, and I couldn't help but smile along.

"I guess," I mumbled with a slight blush. I decided then that I needed to learn more about the place I had arrived in, it was embarrassing being caught so off guard at every turn.

"Well, we haven't got anything prepared, but I suppose it can't be helped," Vaeri sighed. "We'll know for next year, at least.

That surprised me a little. It implied birthdays were less important here than in my old world, which I didn't feel the need to complain about.

My birthdays after the age of eighteen had all been depressing, anyway. I moved across the country from my family after all, and I had trouble holding down a decent group of friends.

"Anyway, that's enough excitement," Vaeri chuckled a little, "if you have any questions, feel free to ask me or Turge. Otherwise let's get this sewing done."

I nodded at that with a small smile. I had a few questions immediately, but chose to hold off on it a little.

Instead, I began practicing my sewing on a small piece of fabric I had been handed.

By the end of the evening, Vaeri had managed to finished all the work, whilst I struggled to sew a straight line. My skill still progressed to the second level for my troubles, though.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Being tucked into bed for the first time since my last childhood was a strange sensation. A pang of regret passed through me briefly as images of my old parents ran through my mind, but I shook them away.

I refused to let this opportunity go to waste because I was too busy wallowing in grief over a life I had left behind.

So, I forced myself to close my eyes, instead of cry. To hide from the regret rather than let it run its course and ruin my second chance at a worthwhile life.

----------------------------------------

"Ah, you're awake," Vaeri smiled as she placed a bowl of porridge on the table before me. "I was thinking we could go outside today, if that's alright?"

I nodded at that with a smile. I was curious about the rest of the farm, and knowing my way around would be nice.

"Then eat up and we'll both get changed before we head out," she smiled and ruffled her hand through my long, brown hair.

I ate quickly, the porridge was about as nice as that of my old world, before rushing myself to my new bedroom. Looking though the wardrobe where all my clothes had been hung, I picked out a simple pair of shorts reaching my knees and a dark grey tunic.

Leaving the room with a pair of leather boots on my feet, I made my way towards the front door, which was open with Vaeri chatting to a new person I had yet to meet.

"Ah, is this the girl?" The man said with a smile as he noticed me approach shyly. He was the most human looking person I had seen so far, with simple, short blonde hair and brown eyes. His skin was tanned, but his frame told nothing of strenuous activity.

His clothes reminded me of those worn by priests in my first life.

"Yes, Father," Vaeri nodded, moving aside and placing a hand on my back, leading me to stand in front of the man.

I avoided eye contact as he knelt down, watching me carefully.

"She doesn't seem unwell," the man said a moment later, "but let's go inside and I'll do a more thorough examination."

Vaeri agreed easily, and let the man lead their way into the dining room. As she walked beside me, she began to explain.

"This is Father Nyle, he's from Creymore," she said softly. "I wasn't expecting anyone, nevermind him, so soon, but I sent a message the night you arrived for him to send someone to examine you."

I nod at that, although the fact it was a clergyman doing my medical exam rather than a doctor was somewhat strange.

I was made to sit on the table once we made it, and the man poked and prodded for a while before nodding with a smile.

"She seems well," he nodded after some time. "But I'll triple check, since it's for you and Turge."

Then, the man's eyes began to glow a faint green as he looked me over. I froze up completely at the sight, because no matter which way I looked at it, the man was using magic. Honest to God, real life magic.

I knew it was possible that magic was real in this new world, but to see it used right in front of my face like that was incredibly surreal.

"All seems well, still," Father Nyle blinked, his eyes returning to their previous brown.

Vaeri sighed from her place beside me, "that's a relief." She smiled at me happily, "Thank you, Father."

The man smiled back and clasped his hands together, the way I had seen people pray in my old life, before bowing. "Of course, may Vatris, mother of life, guide this child."

The revelation of a different god, possibly multiple, to any I was familiar with didn't surprise me, though. Faith would have developed much differently between worlds after all.

Who was to say the gods worshiped in this new world were any less real than those worshiped in my last life, anyway?

Father Nyle didn't stay long despite Vaeri's offers, and left as quickly as he came. Once he was out of sight, Vaeri smiled down at me and took my hand gently, leading me outside with a basket carefully held in her other hand.

The farm was as big as I remembered, with fields stretching about as far as I could see. Various people worked the land, tilling the soil and watering the crops. I wasn't sure where they all came from, but upon closer inspection I saw that they weren't actual people at all, but moving mannequins of stone.

"What are these?" I asked curiously, glancing up at Vaeri. "They aren't people?"

"They're called [Stone Golems]," Vaeri explained. "Turge raises them up every morning to work the farm."

That took me off guard again. I had imagined Father Nyle was particularly impressive for knowing magic, but the orc did, too?

"Can everyone do magic?" I asked a moment later, curious of the answer. If everyone could, then crime was likely significantly more dangerous than in my past life, as well as war.

"Everyone technically has the capability to learn," Vaeri nodded, "but not everybody has the skills, and they are something that take months to even reach level one."

Idly, I pulled up my status window at that.

---

Willow - Level 1 (2/3 Skill Levels Until Next Level)

Titles - None

Age - 10

Skill Points Available - 0

Skills

Sewing - Level 2

---

"A skill, like in the system?" I wondered, and Vaeri nodded.

"Magic is split into a few skills, actually, and more advanced forms into even more." She explained, "All magic users will have [Mana Manipulation], but depending on what they've studied their other skills will differ."

"Turge has the [Earth Magic] skill, for example, which lets him use earth elemental magic." She continued. "Father Nyle has the [Holy Magic] skill, which is a little different, but lets him use holy magic."

"What's different about the [Holy Magic] skill?" I asked as we continued walking. I spotted the barn I had woken up in the day before sat at the opposite end of the grassy field we ended up in. Vaeri placed the basket she was carrying down gently before lowering herself to rest on the grass. I followed along and sat beside her as she rummaged through the basket.

"[Holy Magic] is different because not everyone has the capability of learning it," she explained, "you gain the skill by handing your very fate to a deity, by having complete trust in the divine."

That shocked me, a skill that didn't come from practice but instead trust was a peculiar idea as someone unused to the system.

After a moment of me sitting in though Vaeri pulled out a box, wrapped neatly in a checkered fabric and handed it towards me.

"For your tenth birthday," she said simply as I began carefully unwrapping the fabric, thoughts about the system forgotten easily. I had the impression birthdays weren't as important to people in this world, but I imagined the tenth would be, given what it meant for the person.

I made sure to set my expectations low for the next year, given I was still with Vaeri and Turge.

When I unwrapped the fabric, a simple wooden box remained, unclasping the little metal fixture on the seam it opened to reveal...

"A dagger?!" I exclaimed, confusion in my voice.

"Why, yes," Vaeri smiled back, "a young girl needs to learn to defend herself, even if you don't plan on using the skill for anything else."

I got the distinct impression that Vaeri had more to her than she let me see, then. The woman's eyes twinkled slightly as she watched me lift the blade out of the box, setting the container aside and examining the weapon.

"Do all girls learn about this?" I wondered out loud, taking note of the plain blade, fabric wrapped around the handle, for extra grip I assumed.

"They certainly should," Vaeri sighed, "most don't, though."

I nodded. I imagined in a world of fantasy that self defense was even more important than it was back on Earth.

Vaeri was about to stand after a few more moments, to begin our lesson I guessed, but I spoke out before she could.

"How do you know how to fight with a dagger?" I asked, and she paused a moment before humming.

"Turge and I made our living off of bloodshed," she said simply. "Before settling down in the Empire."

I put the idea of asking about this Empire, where I presumed we were, to the back of my mind for then and instead decided to ask about her employment.

"Were you in an army?" I asked. It would make sense, Turge was clearly a high level magic user, considering the number of [Stone Golem] he conjured every single day, and Vaeri have off a dangerous aura when she spoke of her past.

"It would be more accurate to say Turge was an army," Vaeri laughed at her own joke before shaking her head. "I lead a band of mercenaries, actually. Turge was a mage employed by the crown, and he decided to instead join us after meeting me."

"We got married a year ago, after a decade of mercenary work, seven years for Turge, and settled down here. The old owners were Turge's parents," she smiled as she spoke, before standing.

"Anyway, that's enough reminiscing about the past," Vaeri smiled, but the smile turned to something more sinister a moment later.

In a flash her hand flew to her belt, pulling out a dagger I hadn't even took notice of.

Then, the dagger had begun to soar towards me, and I was frozen in place. The dagger missed my face entirely, though, instead flying past my head and landing in the grass, much further away than I thought naturally possible.

I got angry then, and began to shout. "What was that for!?"

"To show you how unprepared you are," Vaeri responded, her usual kind tone replaced with that of a harsh but truthful teacher. "If anyone with the [Knife Throwing] skill wanted you dead, it would be done."

"You could have just said that!" I complained, dropping the shy persona I had adopted. It was only half fake anyway, I didnt really love social interaction, honestly.

"It wouldn't have sunk in," Vaeri shrugged. "Anyway, pick up your dagger, and try to throw it at me."

I hesitated a moment then, but did as I was told anyway. The dagger flew lazily through the air before Vaeri simply stepped to the side, as if it were little more than a fly.

This was going to be a long day, I could tell.