It was currently night as the light in the room was dim. In a certain room inside the Goldenleaf orphanage, a young baby was crawling on its own without the assistance of anyone.
'Finally!...'
After a month of training Arledge finally can crawl.
He trained hard for the past few weeks. He tried raising his legs and arms up and down over and over again until it was strong enough to carry his body.
But his body still can't handle the exercise and was immediately exhausted. He needed to rest an hour before he can train again.
He said countless to himself that he wished he wasn't reincarnated into a baby's body. He wished he was reborn into a young adolescent's body or have his original body back.
He asked the system why chose this body. But the system like it always been answered that it doesn't know and his authority was not enough. Its trashiness was frustrating him!
He had to train himself, it was okay if the system gave him talent but what he received was a total disappointment.
But why work out? He also doesn't know it as well It was an instinct he guesses. He can't do heavy work out like lifting weights for his arms and squatting for his legs he can't even lift himself what more to lift weights and for squats... what the hell I was training for when I can stand to do squats!
What he did was an exercise not stressful for his fragile body. It was simple yet effective. And was not suspicious as Victor himself didn't notice.
Victor only thought it was happy playing with its crib mobile that hangs over the crib and didn't think about adding stuff about it.
About Arledge being the adopted son of Victor, he didn't care about it at first and wanted to reject but as he was currently a baby he can't answer 'No, I don't want to be your son'.
But as the future hidden boss of this world, information is a must-have on the list. An unbeaten hidden boss can only be achieved if he was smart enough. He concluded that as long as Victor is useful and brought information to him, he will act like his normal baby.
Victor told Arledge bedtime stories every night. It was about the legend of the first Magia.
In the legend, the world was said to be filled with rampant beasts. Their vary in size some are colossal as big as mountains, some were small but terrifying, some can even be formless and unable to be beaten by physical prowess.
Chaos was everywhere as battle after battle can be seen from every corner. Volcanoes shooted magma everywhere, earthquakes and avalanches happen as they wreaked havoc.
Until one day, a god-like being descended to the world, with him the rampant beasts don't seem so violent as before, as all beast bowed themselves to him.
He was Kaspar, the first Magia. He was the one who brought peace to the world. He flew all around the world and brought peace wherever he goes to.
That was the start of His legend.
-the end-
There were many versions of the legend apparently but it was the one that people liked the most.
He was exhilarated about the legend. He gained knowledge about the world from the story.
It seems the superstition on Earth was re-created in this world. There were monsters everywhere and he also know the people who use magic is called magia! just like how you pronounce mafia.
He would like to thank Victor for telling him that story. But as time passed, as it gets repeated, it felt boring. He had already gained knowledge out of it but he can only act as enlivened as a normal baby would.
He noticed that there was a paper in the hands of Victor every morning. Coincidently, it was a newspaper! He finally found his new source of information!
He trained hard every day to get that paper and read it.
The newspaper was on the table beside the bed. It was on the top of the table. Arledge thinks he can definitely get that.
Now that he knows how to crawl, a thorough plan is needed to get that piece of paper. He sits up with his back below the headboard of the crib, with a hand on his chin he then proceeds to come up with a plan.
'...'
'Okay... My plan was simple. I will shoot out the web from my hand to the ceiling and swing near the table then briskly grab the paper. After that, I will swing back to my crib and land doing spider-man landing pose.'
What he actually meant was he will go over the other side of the bed by pulling up the barrel bolt patches on the side rail and pushing it then use the rail as a bridge to the bed and start crawling his way to the table and get the newspaper on top of it.
He did not have time to do his as Victor was about to come at any moment now. He immediately laid himself properly on the mattress.
Just as the moment he laid inside the crib, the door was opened and Victor came in with his tired look on his face.
He was tired of caring for the kids in the orphanage and his son. He had just realized how tiring it is to be a single father after experiencing it for about a month.
A day after they fought, Anna came to him and broke up with him as she said he was a liar and her trust in him plummeted the moment she felt betrayed as is her love for him.
Victor expected it and was ready for his script he said 'I understand'
It still felt awkward for them as they work in the same orphanage but it became manageable as time goes. Victor still loves Anna but he doesn't know if he can't try to hurt her feelings again. He chose to stay silent at his thoughts and kept them within himself.
"It's okay, man. Heartbreak is like a lollipop, it will get consumed as you lick it... don't know what that means but you get the idea"
Victor lay on his bed without even changing his clothes. He was tired from work today and just wanted to sleep and rest in peace.
But he suddenly heard his son say something.
He recalls the moments Arledge cheered him up every morning even though he doesn't understand what exactly his saying but he gets the feelings on it.
What Arledge wanted to say every morning is something like can you read the newspaper for me? Could you get the newspaper? etc. But what Victor gets is him cheering him up.
Victor got up from his bed to prepare a bottle of mother coconut milk. It was a fruit that contains something similar to a mother's breast milk but there is a huge difference between them.
The natural breast milk was an exclusive milk reserve for its owner that can enhance babies' bodies as they grow older while mother coconut milk is just ordinary breast milk.
Victor gave the bottle to Arledge after he was done.
Arledge gladly took it as he sipped on it.
'Time to see my coins'
He called the system and clicked on the quest tab.
[ Exclusive Quest: Learn to crawl (completed)
Rewards: 1 fragmented inferior clone, 1 system points ]