New World - A New Beginning

Chapter 3: Observation

Here I was, peacefully asleep in my crib, enjoying the cool serenity of the endless potentials of dreams, when I was suddenly wrenched out of the subconscious.

"Guess who's back!" yelled out a voice as I was spun around like a toy.

Oh... I see. Welcome back Dad... so great to see you again.

"Ahh!! Bruce you're going to drop him!" yelled out Jane as she peeked in to check what the commotion was about.

My mom instantly swooped me out of my dad's grasp with unparalleled precision, Bruce still spinning around thinking he was holding me. Even as a powerful adventurer... he was sometimes a little empty-headed, I thought as I burst out laughing.

A normal child would've started crying or throwing up after being spun around at the speed of a bullet, but all my parents saw was a two-year-old just laughing hysterically like he was just tickled, seemingly unscathed. They just smiled and joined me in my euphoric moment, not even questioning my bizarre attitude anymore.

We ended up going to the main market in our village as a welcome-back celebration for my father. I had never found out what it was called, but all I knew was that it was the most developed and well-known village on the outskirts of Eloria. But what intrigued me the most was that it was the final front that was used in the war against the dragonkin. Just south of here, the forbidden lands stretched across thousands upon thousands of meters.

Were they called meters here? No, I believe it was 'mels', which was their unit of measurement that the common population used in Auroria. If I remembered correctly, two mels were roughly one meter, so I just had to multiply all measurements by two and I would have a rough representation in my head.

This was the first time I had visited the main market, and I would use this opportunity to its fullest. Attached to my mother's back with a make-shift strap made of silky white cloth, I observed everything I could, taking mental notes about every minute detail.

The first thing I noticed: The absurdly high number of adventurers. Considering the rarity of binding, I had expected adventurers carrying massive weapons on their backs to be rare occurrences, but I was wrong. My first conclusion was immediate; people were still afraid. As the final frontier between civilization and the dragonkin, this place was full of adventurers who could fight if it ever came to it.

I also observed the types of items that were being sold in the multitude of little shops sprawled across the avenue. Potions, weapons, trinkets, the list went on. The market was also geared towards its intended audience: adventurers.

When we arrived back home, I found my body to be a lot more exhausted than I had expected, guess I was still a toddler, huh? I could tell my parents were also drained from the long walk, but just spending time with them was always something that lightened my conscience.

Something I felt a little guilty about was forcing my mother to carry me that entire time, so I decided it was time for a change.

I closed the book in front of me and got to work. I had been practicing a bit, but the real deal was something that I had never expected. How had I learned to do this in the real world? My center of gravity seemed completely off, and I thought it would be impossible... My body was heavy, too heavy. Every step seemed like I would fall into a bottomless abyss.

That's right, I was trying to walk. I had postponed the action for an entire year due to it possibly entailing more outdoor activities, but it seemed like there was no escaping it now. I didn't want my parents to think I was mentally or physically slow.

I mustered every muscle in my body to obey my command, and slowly but surely, it happened.

"Mama!" I called out, walking towards the door that separated the office from the living room.

"What is it honey?" she asked, walking in and stopping abruptly. "Y-You're walking Jay! Oh my god look at you, Mommy's so proud of you!"

"Jay!!! Jay!!"

I could hear a stampede approaching the office as Bruce burst into the room, flinging the door open and almost shattering it.

"You can walk! Look at you, next step, fighting training!!"

WACK

My dad sat in the corner, a massive bruise on his head as my mom picked me up.

"He's two years old, Bruce!" she said, clearly pissed off at the remark.

"But honey..." he whimpered, trying to convince her. I knew where this was going.

"I don't want to hear it Bruce Cadmium, no is no!" she commanded, stomping her foot on the ground as a wave of intense energy flowed around her.

Scary...

I was definitely tempted to learn about combat in this world, and how binders utilized the elements around them. Did they manipulate elements mid-fight? Create distance and chant? Even the process of chanting magic was unknown to me, and I felt a burning passion to find out.

Guess there's only one thing I could do.

I looked right at Jane, my expression morphing into the equivalent of a cute puppy. I exerted maximum cuteness out of my body, stars basically shining around me as I clasped my hands together, praying to my mom.

"Pweese?" I asked, making my voice even higher than it already was.

"Hmph!! Th-that's not fair!! No, no! Fight it, Jane! But, I-I guess you two could have a little bit of training..." she finally said, broken.

Success.

I looked over at my father, who just gave me a sneaky little thumbs up. Our team was unbeatable. It seemed like training a son to fight was a big thing for a father in this world, and even if it was way too early to start, both Bruce and I clearly wanted to try it out.

"I am NOT spoiling him! I just think that a two-year-old should learn self-defense... yes, of course! S-self-defense... as a toddler who can barely walk..." muttered my mother, trying to convince herself about something that made zero sense whatsoever, and she was clearly failing.

That only left one thing to really begin my training of becoming a binder, but how was I supposed to execute it? Prove to my parents that I could already sense bind around me at a level that was considered almost advanced? I wasn't sure how I was going to do that, but for now, I would just learn techniques from my father and play along with the basics of sword-fighting.

It was all a game, all something that I could already do at an expert's level, but knowledge was power, and I would not let this opportunity to learn about this world go to waste.