Chapter 3

Orion woke up with someone shaking him causing memories to come back up and causing him to freak out and pushed Mark away. Seeing his reaction made him stand up from the bed. Nearly hyperventilating Orion forced himself to relax and remember  things are different now.

“Sorry about that, your mother said I should...anyway time for work so I am leaving. Have a good day Orion”

Mark stepped back and as he left his room dodged a brown furry creature by picking up his right leg without missing a beat. Orion could have sworn he heard Mark mutter “damn cat” and he could not blame him. The cat seemed very full of itself as it jumped up and sat on his lap waiting to be petted.

“As you command” he chuckled while doing just that.

It may be just me but I don't think that guy likes being around me. Anyway one problem at a time, what was going on with that speaking rat. Being chosen for the Overlord is just crazy, I just got here!

“Orion come down stairs it's time to eat” his new mom called out from down stairs.

“Be right there” he called out

As if that was the command word the cat jumped off of him and disappeared out of his room. Walking down stairs Orion saw at the table two plates of food and his mother petting the cat.

“I see Diamond has been keeping you company, dinit you?” She scratched under Diamonds neck which made her purr.

His new mother put down a small plate next to Diamond which had its food while Orion had down next to his plate. It had scrambled eggs and sausages, without waiting he began to eat with his new mom joining him.

“There is something we have to talk about. I know you were really looking forward last week to spending the day together exploring the town but mommy has to get some work done so would you be fine playing in your room today?”

“It sounds fun!” Orion acted excited to be playing

“Thank you, I promise we will do it next week. When we are out sight seeing I will tell you some stories about me and your dad”

The three of them ate together enjoying the food and each other's company until they were finished. His new mom walked him to his room before going back into the workshop but leaving the door open. Now it was just him and Diamond and after confirming she could no longer see him Orion dropped the toys and went to the bookshelf.

“Let's learn about the world”  as he turned his gaze to the titles of the books to find one that interest him.

Wait forgot something

Orion walked away from the book shelf and went over to the door closing it

“No more rats to worry about now”

There were a number of things that interested Orion from the books above but he only pulled out three and put them on his bed. Laying there on a spread was the basis of history, leatherworking, and castles. For a time he went over what he found and found out a number of things. Firstly there town was one of a number “orbiting” the inner kingdom along the uncharted land. Along with some other information he got frankly bored with so he went to the other two books.

Look like my new mom is a critic

Inside the book about leathers were numerous  hand drawn notes with what seemed to be correct information and expanded details. Reading did not end up taking much of his time thanks to Diamond who wanted to constantly play. After one too many bites to the feet it was time for a counterattack.

“Take that!” Orion tried to grab at Diamond and just like the rat the night before completely dodged.

Getting up from the ground where he had been sitting Orion began a game of dodging deadly attacks. It went on for some time until he finally managed to dodge one of its claws.

[Dodging] Skill Acquired

After seeing itself missing an attack Diamond ran down the hallway but Orion was not done so he quickly went after her. Given his height going down the stairs forced him to slow down and also giving him the chance to listen in on his new mom and see if he had been caught. Orion was tense as he waited but after a while with no word from her he decided things were in the clear.

Orion did not know how long or how high of a level his mother was an adventure but given that she was one there could be no telling what skills she could use at anytime. He was now downstairs and saw Diamond had gotten outside so he got a drink of water then went out also.

For a backyard it was a rather large one,it had a large floor space than their home did, Trees and bushes littered the backyard.Diamond was rolling around on the ground in front of him. Looking back at the door was when Orion notice simple wooden practice swords along with simple tools such as a shovel.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“This will do”

Picking up the sword that was oversized for him forcing two hands to wield he went up to one of the trees. Orion made a practice swing that stopped just before it would hit to get a feel for the weapon in his hand.

So heavy

The next time Orion swung the blade down in front of him earning a thud when it made contact with the tree. Looking around he only saw the tall fence that was higher than he was and no one complain about the sound so he kept going. Strike after strike he made on the tree and while it was taking damage the sword was not.

Quickly Orion was out of breath and leaned on the tree to rest, he admired the light wind that was refreshing him. Distant sounds of people traveling and bartering could be heard even from where he was sitting.

Given what he had heard from the rat Orion wanted to get stronger in whatever way he could physically since there was no way he could sneak the wooden sword into his room. Thinking about last night made him increasingly fearful and made about having another reason to fear the dark. His attacks began a steady trend of more power behind them until one was much harder than the others that forced him to take a rest after.

[Sword Proficiency] Skill Acquired

[Power Attack] Skill Acquired

“Now that will be useful as long as I have enough time to build up” he noticed the time it had taken to call it forth.

Getting a rush when the pop ups came Orion was now striving for something even if his body was near to its limit. Refusing to give up and gaining an irrational hatred for trees the attacks continued without mercy.

“Looks like you had just about enough for now, how about you get some rest?”

His new mom said directly behind him without Orion ever noticing and pulling the wooden sword out of his hand.

To worried about getting caught to say anything Orion waited for her to say the first thing about it as they sat on the glass drinking water. At this point he risked not saying anything so it looked like to her he say it as nothing wrong was done.

“I saw you as soon as you got outside, did you forgot the windows right where I am working? Do you like playing with the sword?” Rachel asked already fairly sure of the answer.

“I want to be strong!” Orion proudly said while standing up and flexing his arms.

Laughing to herself about how he was acting she motioned for him to sit back down and put her arm around him.

“I can tell my strong man, how about I make you a deal? As long as you stay in the backyard you can play as much as you want. In fact sometimes me and your father will come out and play with swords with you” Rachel said waiting to see how much the liked the idea.

“Can we do it right now?” Orion asked giddily while trying to snatch back the wooden sword.

“Not so fast, right now is time for a nap” Holding the sword higher than he could reach.

Orion complained but his mother would have none it, she forced him to lay down and it was then he noticed how tried he was. Soon after he fell asleep in complete peace, it was the sounds of two people attack each other that woke him up. Opening his eyes he pushed himself up and saw Mark and his new mother sparing, mark a spear and she had a sword both of which for wooden.

“Doesn't this bring you back?” Rachel asked not giddy herself as she landed a blow on his shoulder.

“All too much, that's why I plan to not repeat the memory” with a smile on his face Mark thrusted his spear downward and yanked her legs from under her causing Rachel to fall.

Orion could tell they both seemed as tried as himself from there heavy breathing and sweat rolling down their faces. Given that is was also impossible to miss the smiles they had while looking into each other's eyes.

“Looks like we got a bit to into it and woke you up” his mother apologized while laying on the ground.

“It's fine, I wish I could have watched more” Orion was fine with what happened

“Could he always speak so well and so much?” Mark noticed as he helped Rachel up.

“No that's new, but it just means he's a special boy” his mother beamed being proud of him.

“Why are you home so early?” his mother spoke in a whisper to Mark while Orion pretended to be busy looking around.

“I am not staying, the guards got another report that a child has gone missing and they wanted us to go through the town to see if we find anyone” Mark whispered in an even quieter force.

Its those rats it has to be! But how are they managing to take away children and babies?

Given his age in this world it was clear anything he would say about talking rats, chosen ones and Overlords would be seen as childhood dreams brought on by the “real” takers of children. Eventually in order to keep himself safe Orion figured he needed to know as much of the town as possible. Since his mom was more or less watching him at all times it would have to be when the two of them went exploring the town next week.

“Say goodbye to your dad Orion, he has to go back to work” his mother told him

“Bye Mark” he said flatly

“Its dad to you” Mark corrected

“Bye Mark” Orion repeated full well knowing what he was saying.

“Well we can work on that later, bye you two” Mark gave a small wave before picking up his weapon and walked to the frontdoor.

“So you feel like trying to beat you mom?” his mother asked still full of energy.

Without saying a word Orion picked up one of the extra wooden swords and went to the same spot Mark was on while his mother went to hers.

“Ready?”  She asked while already in a fighting stance with one leg forward and one back.

Orion did not responded, he just attacked as fast as he could. Hid blows were easily deflected and once he began to slow down his mom offered him some pointers.

“Watch what I do then copy” his mother took a few steps back then turned sideways then performed a single action.

Orion copied what he had seen after a few tries then he tried to attack again to zero success. It went on for some time but eventually his mother called an end to their practice and locked the wooden weapons in the chest inside.

[Sword Techniques] Skill Acquired

He spent the rest of the day dodging diamonds attacks and reading some of the books sitting on the shelf. Orion had noticed he was growing closer with his new Mother while with Mark things stayed bad and saw no signs it would improve anytime soon.

I am getting better at defending myself

The more time Orion had the better off he would be but with what was happening around the time it sounded like they never failed to capture a child yet. Double checking to make sure both his door and window was locked Orion made sure no rats would come tonight and began the process of seeing how much sleep he would get tonight.