Chapter

Seventeen

Brin left the general store, promising himself he’d follow Perris’ advice. At least, the advice about keeping his pet alive. As for the rest? He’d try Chamylla’s way first and see where that got him.

Despite his best efforts to ignore it, Perris’ advice kept ringing around in his head. Particularly the phrase fat and lazy and small. A worm. It was like an annoying pop song. One that comes over the radio or something before you can change the channel, and even though you didn’t want to hear it the first time, it keeps tumbling around in your brain.

It was bad advice. He was sure of it. He’d gone through all the things Perris had talked about in Travin’s Bog. Terror, the feeling of worthlessness, and then the anger. Deep, slow anger that led him to building those traps, even though it didn’t really benefit him very much, and even though it may have given him away.

He’d come through all of that, but did that make him better than the children who hadn’t gone through trauma like that? Myra, Zilly, and Davi all outshined him. The only thing that made him special was the lifetime of memories inside his head.

Fat and lazy and small. A worm. That was how he’d died in his past life. This life would be different.

Fat and lazy and small. A worm. Arg! Would you stop that, brain?

Was he being lazy? He knew he wasn’t. He’d worked his butt off the first two months after he came to town. After that, well, he worked as hard as he was expected to. He’d also done a lot of playing around. But that’s what he was supposed to be doing. He was a child; Solia had said so. He had the body of a child and that made him a child.

He was more than just a child. He could be doing more.

When he got back to Hogg’s house, he’d made up his mind.

He swung the door open and said, “I want to start training my Strength.”

Hogg was standing over a big wooden box set up on the table. It was an ordinary wooden box, rectangular in shape, and completely at odds with the rest of the finely furnished living room.

“What?” asked Hogg.

“Oh, wait, first tell me how’s Marksi doing. Is that his tank?” asked Brin.

“It is. Hurry, come see. And hush,” said Hogg.

Brin tiptoed over and looked inside. He didn’t know why, but when Hogg said he was making a habitat for Marksi, he’d expected a glass tank like he’d use to keep a pet snake in his old world. Of course, glass wasn’t something you could get on short notice around here. Hogg had fashioned it out of wood.

It looked comfortable. There was a little pool, some plants for variety, and a lot of sandy loam, everything that Chamylla had told him to provide. Marksi had buried himself except for his head and the tip of his tail. The sand vibrated with the little snake’s purrs.

“He thinks he’s hiding,” said Hogg. “He thinks we can’t see him.”

Brin chuckled. It was pretty cute. “I got the stuff.”

He showed Hogg the lightly enchanted items he’d gotten from Perris and Chamylla, and they decided to start with the marbles.

Putting all three of the marbles in the middle caused it to heat up too quickly, so they kept the cooling one towards the center and the heating one on the edge, across from the pool of water. That cooled it too much, but with some more trial and error they found places for the marbles to make it just right, so that the temperature-telling marble turned a nice light blue.

Marksi was supremely interested in what they were doing. He followed the marbles around every time they moved one of them, and always rubbed his head against their fingers when they were nearby.

Once they’d finally gotten the placement just right, Marksi ruined it by scattering some sand over the cooling marble, which made the temperature marble turn a little green. They brushed it off, but Marksi did it again.

“It’s fine. He knows what temperature he likes better than us. I can’t believe he already figured out what the marbles do. You’re such a smart little guy, Marksi,” said Hogg.

“So, we’re just going to totally abandon the world-weary tough guy personality then,” said Brin.

Hogg turned his scarred face to Brin, his withering glare proving that he still had it in him. “Marksi is cute, ok? He’s damn cute. I’m man enough to admit that. Now, I could sit here and pretend my eyes don’t see what they see, but no. I refuse. Not in my own house. And if you tell anyone…”

“Please. I’m already keeping your secrets. I can add one more to the list,” said Brin.

“Good,” said Hogg. He leaned over the tank and made clicking noises while wagging his finger back and forth, grinning in delight as Marksi slithered back and forth to follow him.

“Oh, right, I had something I wanted to ask you,” said Brin.

“About building up your Strength?” said Hogg. “It’s not a bad idea.”

“Well, I was thinking. When I was in Perris’ shop, he thought I was there to buy a sword to try to grab some Achievements before my System Day. Now, I know there are Achievements that you can only earn if you fulfill their requirements before you get your System unlocked. Warbound is an example.”

“Stop right there. What you’re asking for is illegal. And it’s wrong. I’ve already told you why. It’s one of the first things I ever taught you,” said Hogg.

“I’m not asking for the requirements for some weird torture Class. I just want to know the kind of things that any kid would know. Stuff they’d get by osmosis from growing up here,” said Brin.

“Sorry, kid. There’s rules you break, and rules you don’t,” said Hogg.

“And there’s rules you bend. Can you at least tell me if I’m wasting my time with the Strength training?”

“It’s not a waste of time,” Hogg admitted.

“If I’m going to do the Strength training anyway, I should set myself a goal, don’t you think? I should pick a number. At random.”

“You’re killing me. Alright. If I were to pick a random number, I’d say go for twenty-six,” said Hogg.

“Twenty-six? Not twenty-five? Seems like it should be twenty-five,” said Brin.

“I don’t make the rules,” said Hogg.

Twenty-six was extremely doable. He’d already gained six Strength in the last four months, although four of those were from the first two months when Hogg had been working him like a dog.

He just needed seven more points of Strength and his Warbound achievement would give him the last two he needed to bring him up to twenty-six. One thing he’d learned is that Warbound rounded up to the nearest whole number; when he got to fourteen it had pushed him up to sixteen.

“That’s good to hear,” said Brin. “Thinking about it, I’m already likely to have that before my System day.”

“You don’t say,” said Hogg. “It’s almost like we know what we’re doing.”

“Ok, then, if you’re so smart, help me make a workout routine. Let’s say I want to hit that threshold as soon as possible, and maybe put my eyes on the next one above it. At fifty-two, probably? I have some ideas on how to build Strength from my old world, but first I wanted to ask what you think,” said Brin.

In his past life, Brin had spent an hour at the gym maybe two or three times a week. He’d never really bulked up, but he’d been around guys that did enough to get the general idea. Work out a lot. Eat a lot. Sleep a lot. Don’t skip leg day.

Hogg said, “There’s two ways for you to get your Strength up, as far as I can tell. First, the System will recognize differences in your natural body. Boys your age will increase their Strength just from being alive and growing up. Second, the System will reward you for training and completing feats of Strength. The important thing to keep in mind here is that the System wants big, exceptional effort, and it’s better if it’s all one task that actually has a use, rather than, say, picking up a boulder and putting it down again a thousand times.”

“I see. Then is there any way you can adjust things so that for my morning chores I get jobs that have clear beginnings and endings?”

“Everyone wants those chores,” said Hogg. “We do a rotating schedule. You get what you get. But you can still make it work for you if you put a little oomph into it.”

“Wait… is that what Davi’s doing? He’s already past twenty-six, isn’t he?” said Brin.

“I don’t really like to spill other people’s secrets,” said Hogg. “But I’d say he’s well past it.”

“Well, then I’ll do it like this…”

The next day, Brin woke up early. The town would ring a bell for the start of work at what would be eight in the morning in his world, which was an hour past dawn since they were in early autumn, so Brin woke up two hours before that and started a weight training routine. He didn’t have weights, but Hogg had some old weapons he could use. There were two big spiked maces he used as kettlebells. He used filled water jugs for dumbbells, and a couple of heavy chains worked for battle ropes.

When Marksi saw what he was doing, the little snake immediately wanted to be a part of it, though it was clear he didn’t know what was going on. Marksi imitated Brin’s movements as best he could. When Brin did push-ups, Marksi sort of lifted himself up and down. When Brin did curls, Marksi picked up a stick with his mouth and bounced up and down.

Brin couldn’t help but smile at the antics, and found himself more motivated to keep going while coaching Marksi at the same time. “Five, six, seven, eight. Good! We have two more reps; let’s do this!”

By the end, the poor little snake was panting on the ground, all drawn out like a discarded shoelace. Brin put him back in his tank with an extra berry and the enchanted copper coin as a reward.

“You did great, Marksi! We’ll do this again tomorrow,” said Brin.

Maybe he wouldn’t need to do Perris’ torture routine. Maybe Marksi would be motivated by Brin’s example and they could get stronger together.

Next he made his own breakfast. He ate six eggs and half of a chicken they’d cooked the night before, then finished it off with an entire mato, a leafy vegetable the size of a grapefruit that had a sort of sour taste, like cabbage soaked in vinegar. The locals loved it, and he was starting to get used to it, meaning he could get it down without gagging.

Breakfast was as much as he’d eaten in an entire day before, and by the end he was full to bursting, but that was one of the keys to bulking up. You had to eat way more than you thought you should, especially since he didn’t have access to things like creatine and protein shakes. The one bonus was that it wouldn’t be hard to eat clean. No added sugar, no processed food here. Well, lots of the meat was heavily preserved, but it wouldn’t be hard to get fresh meat. In a town this size, someone always had a chicken or goat for sale, not to mention the [Hunters] who would occasionally bring back seven hundred pounds of edible monster.

After breakfast he was close to the morning bell. How he knew that, he wasn’t sure, but in a world without clocks he’d sort of grown a sixth sense for when that bell was about to ring. The bottom line was that he was late.

As he stepped out the door, Marksi made a whining sound. He went back to the cage and looked in. Marksi moved flat against the wall nearest him, trying to climb out.

“Not now, Marksi! I’m going to be late,” said Brin.

Marksi whined louder.

“Ok, but if you come with me, you’ll have to stay with me the entire day,” said Brin. “There’s no going home if you get bored.”

Marksi flopped down and turned around in a circle.

“Fine!”

Brin put Marksi on his shoulders, and the snake quickly curled around his neck like a short little scarf before promptly going to sleep.

Brin was nearly late, so he ran the entire way through the forest and into town.

As soon as he crossed through the gates he got a notification.

Through training you have increased the following attribute.

Vitality +1

“Yes!”

Marksi’s heavy breathing halted, and he opened his eyes to look at Brin, worried.

“It’s good! I got stronger,” said Brin. “You know, it looks like I won’t be able to train Strength without Vitality going up as well. I wonder if I can get both of them to twenty-six.”

Marksi nodded and went back to sleep.

Brin’s job today was at the carpentry. The carpenters would cut whole tree trunks into various boards and planks with big hand-turned table saws, and from there they would go to their other workshop to be shaped into furniture and things.

The work was uneven, with lots of breaks, which Brin was grateful for. The carpenters would need the kids to move planks to the other workshop, so they’d burst into action, but then they’d sit around for half an hour waiting. Brin didn’t let Davi outwork him; no matter how tired he was he made sure to carry the same amount and just as quickly. When it came time to turn the cranks on the table saw, there was one correct speed and you’d get in trouble for turning it faster, so Davi couldn’t outwork him there either.

It occurred to him that of course the carpenters didn’t really need their help. If it took a child an hour to do a job, an adult with the relevant Class could do it in a minute. This was all for their benefit. By helping out with chores they gained attributes and got a look at the jobs they might have after their System unlocked.

Marksi woke up about halfway through the shift, but Brin cautioned him to stay on his shoulders. He couldn’t let the snake jump on the table and get cut in half by the saw. But when it was time to carry the finished planks to the other workshop, he let Marksi carry a little wood chip and slither along behind them.

Marksi placed the wood chip on top of the pile of finished wood. “That’s right. It goes right there with the rest. Thanks for helping, Marksi!”

Marksi turned around in a circle with his head high, looking very proud of himself.

Even with a cute little snake friend mixing things up, the shift felt like an eternity. His arms and legs felt like they were always on the verge of collapse, but to his surprise, they always seemed to have more to give.

When he wiped his brow after the last delivery, the System had another surprise for him.

Through training you have increased the following attribute.

Strength +1

Not bad. Two attributes in one day. Normally he was lucky to get one a week. Clearly, it paid to be extra.

He ate a big lunch, then wandered off to the crowd of children to play. Roughhousing was the last thing he wanted to do, but he was determined. He was going to do his normal routine, plus the workout. No cutting corners.

So he ran into the crowd, found the kid with the ball, and picked the ten-year-old up over his head and threw him into the other children. The ten-year-old in question couldn’t breathe because he was laughing so hard, which gave Brin the perfect opportunity to steal the ball. That lasted all of ten seconds before he went down in a dogpile, and the game was on.

There was a brief interruption when they all noticed Marksi on his neck and everyone stopped so they could ask his name, pet him, and coo at how cute he was. Marksi loved the attention and rubbed the children’s hands with his head when they petted him, purring all the while. Eventually the novelty wore off and they went back to their game.

Marksi toughed it out on Brin’s shoulders, but after ten minutes he bit a kid. It didn’t break the skin, but Brin still made him sit out the rest of the game on the sidelines.

After a while, some mothers came by to fetch their sons away, and the group broke up, to Brin’s intense relief. Again, he got a notification.

Through training you have increased the following attribute.

Will +1

It was a good day. A tortuous day, but rewarding.

Marksi was sad though. He’d been softly whimpering the entire time at having been left out of the fun.

“Tell you what, Marksi, we’ll play when we get home. Just me and you,” said Brin.

Brin picked up some groceries on the way home, to replace all of Hogg’s food he’d eaten and to prepare for all the binge eating he planned to do in the future. He bought chickens straight from the farmer, but everything else came from the general store. That meant the real general store run by a sharp-eyed [Merchant] woman, not the adventurer’s outfitter shop that Perris ran. He noticed the store sold the leather balls that the kids used, and he asked the shopkeeper if she had smaller ones. To his surprise, she did. She showed him a golf-ball-sized leather ball, and when she saw how excited Marksi got, let him have it for free. Everything together cost him half a silver. He was going through his nest egg rather quickly now. He didn’t want to have to ask Hogg for money, but soon there wouldn’t be another way around it.

Back home, Marksi couldn’t wait to try out his new toy. Brin wondered what a snake would do with a ball, but Marksi was full of ideas. He would slither along after it, bouncing it forward. He wrapped himself around it, tighter and tighter until it popped out. He flicked it with his tail, trying to see if he could get it to go straight up.

Hogg was completely fascinated and kept asking Brin if there were any other toys that Marksi might like. Brin couldn’t think of anything. He couldn’t think. It’d been the most physically difficult day he’d had since the day he’d been forced to run ten miles and then fight all those Undead Soldiers.

He tried to be a good sport and cheer Marksi on, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier until he passed out right there on the porch.

The next day he did the same routine. He woke up early and got straight into his weights routine. He was sore all over and wasn’t sure if he’d get through it, but he was surprised at how fast the soreness went away. Was this what it was like to be a kid again? In his past life when he went too hard at the gym, it usually meant a recovery day afterwards, but now his body seemed to be willing to take all the punishment and then ask for more.

He didn’t get any alerts from the System that day, but the day after that the [Millers] needed fifty bags of flour delivered across town, each of them weighing forty pounds. Even better, Davi wasn’t working with him that day, so there was no one to steal all the work. He asked the other boys to let him handle the entire thing, and they happily obliged.

That left Brin, taking the flour sacks two at a time on his shoulders, walking across town back and forth, back and forth, with Marksi riding on top of his head like a hat. Some of the people on the street gave him the side-eye, but most smiled or openly laughed at the sight.

By the end of the chore he thought he might have overdone it. His lungs were burning, and his throat was so raw from heavy panting that he was sure he’d given himself a cold. It took him an hour longer than the work shift was supposed to last, and he was so worn out that he’d have to skip playing with the kids, but it was worth it.

Through training you have increased the following attribute.

Strength +2

For the rest of the week, he kept to his routine. He didn’t get any more pop-ups, but he noticed a change when he took a rest day at the end of the week. Without any kind of notification, his Strength had gone up another point. That must’ve been the System reflecting his natural strength increase. His goal had been to get seven more points of Strength, and in one week he was past halfway there.

Two weeks later, Brin got the notification he was waiting for.

Congratulations!

You have gained an achievement.

Strong I (Common)

You have reached 26 Strength.

+10 speed with Strength-related activities. +10% Strength attribute growth.

What counted as a Strength-related activity? Wasn’t everything a Strength-related activity? He tried a few simple exercises, and nothing felt different, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t doing them faster. He hadn’t exactly clocked his times before.

He jogged around Hogg’s house a couple times, and he did feel faster than before, but honestly that could all be in his head.

The ten percent modifier was pretty cool. It was nice to know that not everything was tied to Classes and levels. Maybe if he got a Class he absolutely hated, he’d be able to sort of build his own Class by gathering all the right achievements.

He also noticed that the achievement had only said he reached 26 Strength. Nothing about reaching it before unlocking his System. Sure enough, he got another a moment later.

Congratulations!

You have gained an achievement.

Workhorse (Rare)

You work like a horse. You have earned Strong I before unlocking your System.

+1 Strength per level

This one was Rare, while Strong I had been Common. It made sense that most people got Strong I at some point, it was less common for them to get it before their System day. One Strength per level sounded really good. What would it be like if he got to Strong II before his System day?

Another thing happened on the same day. His “age” had gone up from twelve to thirteen. It was nice to know his birthday. Only one year left until he unlocked his System. He checked his status.

Information

Name: Brin isu Yambul

Age: 13

Race: Human

Class: Child of Travin’s Bog

Level: 1

Attributes

Strength: 26

Dexterity: 19

Vitality: 23

Magic: 9

Mental Control: 13

Will: 20

Titles

Survivor of Travin’s Bog: Locked

Traveler: Locked

Otherworlder: Locked

Achievements

Warbound (Epic)

You are born for war. You defeated at least 10 enemy soldiers before unlocking your System.

+10% Strength. +10% Vitality. +10% Will. +50% experience from melee combat.

Blessing of the Hidden Guardian (Rare)

You have been seen and accepted by the one who lays beneath.

Strong I (Common)

You have reached 26 Strength.

+10 speed with Strength-intensive activities. +10% Strength attribute growth.

Workhorse (Rare)

You work like a horse. You have earned Strong I before unlocking your System.

+1 Strength per level

Skills

Know What’s Real

You have the ability to understand when something you experience or remember is real, and when it is an illusion or dream.

Oaths

Oath of the Quest Survivor

You have sworn never to speak of how you became the beneficiary of a Quest