Notlimah
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Chapter 22: It's my birthday!
🕑 Added 2021-08-22 19:32:34 +0000 UTC"Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday Dear Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiii
Happy Birthday to me"
As I finished singing the song to myself I looked around at the rest of my family. Don't think they know the song but they are all looking astounded.
I love being a baby, I'm awesome!
They are happy with whatever I do.
I'm no Pavarotti yet, but it is fun to pretend.
Besides, it's my Birthday!
Do you think I can have a glass of wine to celebrate?
We have all gathered at my Grandpa Smit's house for a small celebration. My Grandpa and Grandma seem to be doing very well in comparison to us. Why is my dad a fisherman when we could be living like this?
They have a clock!
First time visiting their house but also first time seeing a clock since my rebirth. Technology here has been very limited, so seeing one was a bit of a shock. If they have a clock, what else do they have?
Also turns out that we are part of a larger family than I realised. There were a lot of new faces when I was born but seems like Grandpa Smit is building a small trading union with his four sons.
Aaron the blacksmith, Barric the farmer, Cephas the stonemason, Dushnah the Tanner, Karl the carpenter, Romeo the Roofer, Hunter the Butcher and Sharina the glass blower. Seems like he missed a few letters before naming Kaius.
Not only do I have a few uncles but I have a cousin or two as well. Akeen son of Aaron, Bella daughter of Borba and Chris son of Karl. They are all older than me but younger than Aleera. Probably around 5, 7 and 9 years old respectively but no one is mentioning their ages as everyone already knows everybody. We have even met them before around town but no one ever mentioned, 'Hey cousin' or at least I haven't worked out the word for that particular family relationship yet.
Anyway it is nice to see children my age. Who am I kidding?
Not them.
They clearly consider me a baby. So as they rush off to play. I am left chasing after them.
Do I want to play? Not particularly.
Do I need to play? No
Am I happy with being purposely excluded?
. . .
No I am not!
. . .
So I chased after them.
It then devolved into a game of hide and seek.
Little did they know . . . that I am . . . cheating.
Echolocation and Sense Mana makes it simple to find them as I hum a little tune following along after them. I made a little effort at pretending not to find them but it was more to act as if it wasn't absurdly easy.
After the morning of playing with the children.
We were finally corralled together and the children are sat with their parents whilst I am placed on my own in front of a small table with a table cloth.
On top of the table cloth they had laid out several items.
A book, hammer, scarf, chisel, ruler, toy boat, fishing line, coins, gold ring, pottery, doll, trowel, feather and ink.
They are sat there waiting expectantly.
Waiting to see what I would do.
Waiting to see me choose.
Waiting for me.
Hmmm
. . .
I was not going to fall for some sort of Zhuazhou trick. So I carefully and calmly walked to the table. Took one corner of the table cloth, then walked to the other corner of the table to get the other corner of the table cloth before folding it over the top of all the items.
Then without looking backwards at the adults who were looking confused with my response ran off with my presents!
They are mine now!
Plus if it is anything like Zhuazhou, I haven't made any choice about my future as I have chosen all the options.
The parents, grandparents, uncles and partners all erupted in shouted conversations after I left. But no one tried to grab what I viewed as my birthday presents.
The rest of the children ran out after me, but plenty of practicing hide and seek this morning meant that I was now very familiar with my grandparents large house and how to hide in it.
Once I had squirreled away my cheekily acquired gains I sat down to look at the most immediately useful prize.
The book!
Opening it up, it looked like a primer for children. Pictures and words graced the pages and I happily spent the next 30 minutes trying to puzzle out their meanings.
No surprise, but it was Aleera who found me.
The other children, had not considered my ability to climb up to the top of the linen cupboard a possibility, so hadn't even bothered to look. So whenever the door opened I merely needed to stay still before they closed the door and left again.
She however, took the time to check out each shelf before moving on and consequently found me.
Surprisingly, she didn't call out and joined me in my hiding place.
"Let me read it to you." she motioned me to move over
"Thanku" I replied passing her the book.
We spent the next hour, her quietly whispering the words on the page. Teaching me their sounds, meaning and more as we hid away in our grandparents house.
The cousins had ran back to tell the parents that I had left the house somehow and were dispatched to search the town.
It was time for the evening meal before we returned.
Prompted more by my stomach than any desire to put down the book.
Turned out I was right, though. Everyone had been waiting for my decision on what item to choose and having chosen them all, they were a little baffled as to who I would I become in the future.
When asked which item I liked best.
I simply responded that I liked everything.
So despite the fact that they hadn't sang me Happy Birthday, that there was no Birthday Cake and not even any presents for my Birthday, I still managed to walk away with a tablecloth full of goodies.
They were unsure how to take them away and I wasn't going to give them the opportunity.
So uninterrupted I exited the house with them holding my sisters hand and we made our way home. All the other children were keen to know how and where we had hidden as we left the parents to continue the grown up conversation about our futures without us.
Name: Kai
Level: 4
Experience: (400/1600) Health: 240/240 Stamina: 160/160 Mana: 150/150
Vitality: 24
Endurance:12
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 12
Senses: 16
Mind: 18
Clarity: 14
Magic: 15
Free Points: 30 Skills: Humming (Lv 6) Swimming (Lv 5) Singing (Lv 4) Running (Lv 1)
Skill experience: 500
No new levels or skills, no Ding! from the system but then it has only been 24 hours since I last checked so no surprise there.
Time to go home and check out today's spoils.
Slipping my sister's hand, I raced her home as dusk fell.
True Status
Level: 10
Name: Kai
Experience: 10,400/ 204,800 Age: 1 year 18 hr 9 min
Health: 1070/1070 Stamina: 470/470 Mana: 400/400 Psi: 1020
Trait: Long lived, Fast Learner,
Vitality: 107
Endurance: 19
Strength: 19
Dexterity: 19
Senses: 70
Mind: 102
Clarity: 35
Magic: 40
Free Points: 20
Skills: Time sense (LV 20) Listening (LV 20) Meditation (LV 20) Sense Mana (LV 20) Swimming (LV 20) Eavesdrop (LV 20) Memorisation (LV 20) Echolocation (LV 20) Recall (Lv20) Composition (Lv 20) Mind fortress (Lv 15) Expel Mana (Lv 20) Absorb Mana (Lv 20) Mana Drain (Lv 6) Pain tolerance (Lv 5) Humming (Lv 20) Sneak (Lv 15) Whistling (Lv 20) Singing (Lv 20) and Drumming (Lv 20) Piano (Lv 20), Violin (Lv 20), Trombone (Lv 20), Saxophone (Lv 20) Running (Lv 10), Acting (15), English (Lv 15), Spanish (Lv 15), Japanese (Lv 15), German (Lv 10), French (Lv 7) Linguistics (Lv 15) Translation (Lv 15) Multiple Minds (Lv 10), Dodge (Lv 1), Breath Control (Lv 1)
Skill experience: 0
Origin experience: 0
Combat experience: 0
Crafting experience: 0
