Chereads / Of the Stars, Sun, and Moon / Chapter 18 - Obliging an Interest

Chapter 18 - Obliging an Interest

Arc had no reason to refuse Nofafi's kindness.

After a nod of gratitude that went completely ignored, Arc went right ahead to building whatever came to mind. He started assembling the blocks for the base first, careful to leave as few spaces as possible and make it as flat as the blocks would allow. Then he slowly but surely piled on block after block in balance, trying hard to make it as tall as his little body would allow. He had few failures of course. When he was stretching to the limits of his reach from a seated position he found his coordination sharply declined. However, it was more than enough to impress Nofafi and Breda.

It should be said that by this point Ering had lost interest in the blocks, instead electing to take a nap a few feet away with her blanket covering all but her head and feet.

Seeing the contrast between the two, Nofafi couldn't help but sigh. "I wish our children were as clever as him." He made his thoughts known to his wife, who simply nodded in agreement before leaning on him.

Their children were a fairly boisterous and frankly dumb bunch.

Their eldest, Jamison, was dead set on becoming a martial artist. He would always be outside punching stuff, resulting in more than a few injuries. The most troublesome thing about him though was his temper, always challenging other kids to fights whenever he felt wronged.

Their second, Clark, wasn't much better. He wanted to lead an army when he grew. However his methods for doing so made him fairly bossy and unliked by many his age.

Their third, Moddin, was just plain lazy. He spent all day sleeping under trees outside, not even helping with chores.

For Ering they had high hopes but low expectations, but she seemed like she would be different than her rather troublesome brothers.

Arc, they found, was entirely different than their own children. He didn't act on instinct or towards his immediate pleasure, nor did he sleep as much. He clearly paid attention to them as well and understood their words. They couldn't wrap their heads around his existence. It was almost like he was possesed. They would definitely be having a talk with Jamie and Zerrin when they returned.

In the meantime they were dumbfounded by the castle he was building, unsure if they could build something like it themselves.

Arc had decided to build outwards instead of upwards. He had too many blocks and he couldn't stand up yet without a wall, not that he would do it in front of them anyway. Even he was impressed with his final result.

It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world, but with the blocks available to him he felt he had done a stellar job of it. It was a square building representing a castle that had four walls and an interior court with a tower coming out of it. The four corners also sported similar but smaller turrets. It wasn't exactly uniform, one side being a block taller than the other, but it looked roughly like how he imagined a castle should appear.

He was done testing his dexterity at this point, he had built something that required a level of precision without too much difficulty, so he fell back and took a nap. He was tired from all of his building and thinking, so he decided to play the part of the baby, at this point not worried about what the couple who were looking after him would do.

Speaking of, the couple started to discuss the case of Arc once they were convinced he was really asleep, confident that he could understand them.

"That was crazy! Are babies supposed to be like that?"

"No, definitely not. I've been all around the peninsula and I have never heard anything about a baby that smart. It would definitely be the talk of a town."

"Maybe, but surely it doesn't happen that often, could it be the case that they grow up before you get the news?"

"Unlikely. They would certainly continue to be geniuses even as they grow right? How would I possibly miss something like that? You know that I gather that sort of information for the Sect right?"

He was baffled. He had certainly never seen or heard of a kid with such ability in his life. Maybe there was some truth to his mother's words about the Blocks being the rarest toys.

"We should definitely discuss this at length with Zerrin once he arrives. Surely a man of his status and experience will know what to do." He genuinely had no answer to why Arc could do such a thing. "When do you think they'll arrive?"

"Jamie left a little over a week ago now, so I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up tomorrow." Breda once more tried to broach the subject of Arc. "Do you think he's been possessed?" It was a good question. Some of the more evil organizations of generations past were known to have ways to take control of children's bodies when their own started to grow old.

"With Jamie and Zerrin watching over him as well as HER blood in his veins? I think he might be the safest child on the peninsula, if not the world."