My days continued as I tried to perform magic without success.
I didn’t dare use the same amount of emotion to force it like last time.
I just tried with focus, intent, and pure will.
“Because Will I am” pun intended.
After almost a month had passed since my rather explosive success I finally succeeded.
I was lying on my stomach on the floor in the kitchen while my mom was cooking when I finally did it, I made my stuffed raccoon’s arm move (yes a raccoon, I had one in my other life as well and had managed to point toward it when my mom took me shopping two weeks ago).
I was so surprised I immediately fell over after losing control over my pitiful core muscles.
I started to giggle while thinking “I did it, no anger, no heightened emotions, just pure will, because you guessed it: WILL I FUCKING AM.” My mother turned toward me and smiled when she saw me lying there giggling before returning to the food.
“Did something change?
Status” I thought Status of William Walker Human Wizard Lvl 2 0/200 exp Strength 1 Agility 1 Intelligence 13 Constitution 1 Magic 2 Spirit 1 Unspent stat points: 1 Titles: None Passive buffs: None Active buffs: None Traits: 1.
Reborn mind and soul 2.
Fire affinity 3.
Wandlessly gifted 1% My status had not changed much but one change: “Wandlessly Gifted had gone up to 1%.
I had checked my stats every day and today it changed.
It said it would take 7 years for my channels to fully form, but it would appear that I would see upsides long before the process was done.” I did some mental calculations and realised that 7 years is 84 months meaning that each percent would take just under a month which appeared to be today.
I had not assigned my stat point, as I did not yet know if I could increase my stats with training and if that would get harder the higher my stats went.
I would assume that was at least true for physical stats.
Time continued to pass but now I could actually perform some minor magic every day.
I was exhausted almost immediately but every day I got tired a little slower.
During this time, I finally managed to sit up with support but hold my own head up (huge win).
I had given up on figuring out why my mom had no contact with anyone at all.
I figure I would just ask when I could start talking.
I had decided I wouldn’t bother delaying my first words too much since my mother seemed very lonely and needed someone to talk to, if that had to be me then I would be that for her.
Obviously I could not talk like a grown-up yet, but I figured I would pretend to be a genius and hopefully my mother would accept me.
I doubted someone of consequence would learn of my early speech since my mom was so isolated and appeared to be a muggle.
After four months my gifted self had finally done it, I could sit on my own (using my hands for balance of course).
I had also adopted a kind of hybrid crawl to get around, it was not fast, I moved around like a worm kind of, trying my best to get an early start on my gym career.
My mom still looked impressed as I went around the kitchen floor.
“Now how are you already moving around little Will, I checked babies aren’t even supposed to be able to crawl until the absolute earliest after 5 months.” To that I sat up hands in front of me and nodded.
My mom looked shocked.
Damn these nods!!!
Why is she even speaking to me like I will answer, it makes me forget I’m supposed to be a baby and now my neck muscles actually work, my body betrays me!
Oh well I had already decided I would let her know my genius.
My mother walked over and bent down in front of me.
“Did you just nod to me William?” I nodded.
“You can understand me?” I just cooed at her and giggled.
“I’m going crazy.
Of course he can’t understand me yet”.
“Phew… The human mind refusing to accept the truth in front of it, lucky me.
I can wait a little longer before revealing how much I understand.” Six months had now passed since I was reborn.
I could crawl (fast), I could honestly probably stand, but was waiting a bit with that since my mom was so attentive and might notice.
My magic was progressing much faster than my body had.
I could now lift my raccoon off the ground.
“Status” I thought Status of William Walker Human Wizard Lvl 3 0/200 exp Strength 1->2 Agility 1->2 Intelligence 13 Constitution 1->2 Magic 2->4 Spirit 1->3 Unspent stat points: 3 Titles: None Passive buffs: None Active buffs:None Traits: 1.
Reborn mind and soul 2.
Fire affinity 3.
Wandlessly gifted 7% 4.
Healthy body: you won’t get sick of natural diseases I had completed my quest Newborn human about a month ago gaining the prompt: “Congratulations you have completed the quest: Newborn human.
Reward: 1.
200 exp.
2.
Information (stats).
3.
Trait: Healthy body- you won’t get sick of natural diseases” “Infromation (stats): Stat points that are rewarded on level-up will scale with the level.” “For information on individual stats think for example: Information strength stat” “Information Strength stat” I immediately parroted the voice.
Strength measures raw physical power (lifting, carrying, punching), it it interacts directly with constitution if one strays too far from the other after reaching a certain threshold (2x the other) the body will struggle to make up the difference.
“So they interact with each other aswell is it the same for all of them?
Information Magic stat.” My mind racing with the implications Magic measures raw magical power/mana.
“It does not appear so, some stat interacts with each other while some don’t.
I mean it makes sense that strength could be limited since a body will strain under too much raw power without the build to back it up.
Let’s see if I’m right.Information stat agility” Agility measures the speed and reflexes of the body (not the mind), it it interacts directly with intelligence and constitution if one stray too far from the other two after reaching a certain threshold (3x the other) the body or mind will struggle to make up the difference.
This time I move on straight way.
“Information Intelligence stat” Intelligence measures speed of thought (processing power), learning ability and memory, it it interacts directly with agility if one stray too far from the other two after reaching a certain threshold (3x the other, this only matters after 20 points in intelligence) the body will struggle to make up the difference.
“Information Constitution stat” Constitution measures toughness of the body, disease resistance, poison resistance, and physical recovery.
“Information Spirit stat” Spirit measures mana recovery and supernatural resistance.
I had sadly not gotten any new quests despite completing both of the others, but I figured I had to trigger the quest prompts with certain actions or events, I was not too worried about that right now.
Apart from my mentioned progress around my body and magic, my voice was now under my control.
I could speak somewhat well though practice was limited so far.
My mom had been looking a bit down lately, maybe loneliness, I was not sure when or if she would return to work.
In my last life I lived in Sweden, there, mothers could stay home a long time (paid) with their children, over a year.
I was not sure about the laws in the UK, but either way she was still spending her days with me.
I decided I could not wait any longer while seeing the only person I cared about in pain.
Not when I might be able to do something about it.
I decided to give her a whole show.
I went up to the table where she sat.
With the help of my arms, I pulled myself upright in front of her, while maintaining eye contact with her and said: “Mom, look” Her jaw fell, she looked absolutely gobsmacked.
For over five seconds She just sat there looking at me without saying anything.
She didn’t even blink.
So I decided to go further.
“Mom?…
Mom looks sad.
So I help.” She just kept looking at me completely speechless, eventually she gathered herself and said.
“I’m so proud of you little Will!
I can’t believe you are both standing and talking so well at your age.” She got up and pulled me into a hug.
I decided not to let her get away with distracting me and said.
“Why sad mom?” She gathered herself again looking astonished for a few seconds.
“I’m not sad little Will, how could I be when I have such a sweet boy to hug and talk to”.
I was not sure it was the best time but I decided might as well press the genius angle a bit further and get some information while hopefully helping her deal with some stuff.
“Do I have a dad?
I see dads at park with other children” She gathered herself faster this time but I once more saw the stunned look before she gave me a sad smile.
“Your father had to go to heaven my sweet child, so he can’t come to see you even if that is what he would want most in the whole world”.
“Oh” was all I said as I went in for another hug clinging to her much harder than before.
My mother was shaking a little as I hugged her and I felt surprisingly sad, feeling the loss of a father I’ve never met, but mostly for my mother, who had to raise me, at least so far, completely alone.
I decided to try to comfort her with my supposedly genius but still limited vocabulary.
“Don’t be sad mom, I have you and you have me, we will be okay”.
She started shaking harder at that but after about a minute she pulled back, no longer crying to look at me.
“You are a very smart boy my sweet Will and you are right you and me will be just fine”.
We started talking every day not big conversation like that, but small stuff.
She corrected my speech every now and then when I decided to throw in incorrect sentences.
She seemed to be trying to figure out my limits when it came to speech and quickly followed with reading for me.
She had read before, but those were baby books with almost no text, she was now reading books for children that actually had a little substance.
After a month passed of this along with my regular training of body and magic I decided to take another step.
“Can I try reading tonight?” I asked when she picked up a book from the nightstand.
She looked at me again with surprise, but less so after the month that had passed since my talking-phase began.
She quietly pulled me into her lap before handing me the book.
It must have looked super weird for anyone looking into our bedroom that night.
A seven-month-old baby sitting with his mom on the bed with a book that was enormous in his small hands.
“This morning was not like the others, normally Billy woke up happy, liking himself and the world around him, today everything was different….” I read the first page and then looked back at my mother, she looked absolutely gobsmacked, more surprised than I had ever seen before.
I grinned at her and said.
“I watched the words as you read it last night” I knew I sounded far older than any seven-month-old had any right to, but I simply didn’t want to keep too much from my mom.
She was my mom, she clearly loved me absolutely and I didn’t want to answer her love with deceit, at least not more than I felt I absolutely had to.
“Why don’t any of the other children at the park have books with them and read there?
Is it because you play outside and read inside?” My mom pulled herself together for what had to be the hundredth time this last month and answered me.
“I’m very proud that you learned to read by watching the words as I read, in the future we can take turns reading.
As for your question: children your age don’t usually read yet.
You are a very smart boy, very special Will.
Others simply have not learned what you have yet, even most of the children that are older than you at the park.” “Ohh, so I’m different mom?
Is that bad?” I said, trying to sound a little scared.
“Nono, my boy, it is not bad at all.
Being different can be a very good thing.” I decided to take it a step further to both get more information and to maybe explain some of the level of genius I was displaying by showing her something she could attribute it to: magic.
“Mom look” I said and focused on my Miko the raccoon lying on the bed in front of us making it rise about thirty centimeters above the bed, where it hovered completely still for roughly ten seconds before I gently lowered it again.
.
Mom froze, staring at the stuffed animal, then at me, then back at the raccoon.
She looked like she was trying to figure out if she imagined it.
Her mind soon drew the conclusion that she was in fact not hallucinating.
A dozen emotions flashed across her face in rapid succession.
In full panic mode she turned to me and yelled.
I dont really try to keep them the same length, I mostly just end the chapter where I feel is right.