Chapter 2 - Childhood
Bryn slept the entire night, his first night of sleep in a long time.
Waking up, he realized that once again, the new world was still there. Looking around, he saw both Sylas and Freya inside the house.
"I thought my parents had work, this world might have parental leave as well..."
Sylas was preparing food for the family and Freya was folding laundry from the day before.
The day went by without problems.
Bryn couldn't do much. Sleeping and eating were his main activities.
At night, after dinner, was the first time he was able to crawl around.
Looking at Sylas and Freya, all he could think was:
"Not only I'm a baby with a terrible sense of motion, but my legs are that of a bighorn and I can't speak their language. I'll have to learn how to walk all over again... How to speak... Still, crawling already helps me to move around with those two."
The next morning, Bryn decided on a strategy to learn the language faster.
As any baby would, he planned to go after any object around the house many times in a roll. The goal was to try and recognize the words used by his new parents.
But the planning and execution were interrupted.
"Sy, It's time for us to go to work." She said.
"Yes, I'll walk you to the mansion with Bryn." The man answered.
For the first time, Bryn was about to see the land where they lived. Walking from their house to the Lord's mansion, the fauns passed by a small village. There were 9 houses and people going outside towards the mansion.
All the houses from the village were as constructed as Sylas and Freya's. The main difference was the size, here they all had a bigger living room and more windows.
As they walked by, Bryn noticed that only humans lived in the village. There were no demi-humans.
"There are very few demi-humans working for the Lord. It could mean we are rare and valuable... But judging the way we live… We are likely treated as a subspecies or as a low caste of the population."
Approaching the mansion, the figures of guards became discernible. The group was 8 people big, 2 of them bore an unmistakable resemblance to feline creatures. These sentinels possessed legs adorned with fur, mirroring the untamed allure of wildcats. Their most striking feature was their distinctive heads.
These heads, a fusion of human and wildcat attributes, crowned their slim forms. Light brown fur, adorned with darker brown stripes and interspersed with black spots. Armor covered their chests, concealing further hints of their exotic appearance. Their hands retained a human form.
Stored on their waste were daggers, while their backs supported a bow and quiver. A testament to their dual roles as both guards and hunters.
"I need to learn as much as I can about this world. Not only is my family made up of fauns, but there are also these catlike people guarding the Lord's mansion. Seeing them here reinforces my belief that leveling up is the right choice."
Sylas and Freya nodded to the guards and entered through the mansion's outside wall.
A small garden revealed itself in its circular shape. Inside, grass, trees, and flowers formed a shape resembling a wyvern. Legend has it that the patriarch got the name Wycliffe after he defeated a dragonkin in battle. Family crests are always represented as a shield with extra features. The Wycliffe received a wyvern inside as a testament to the legend and the show of their power.
The house itself was much larger than the wooden ones in the village. Crafted from sturdy stones, it stood tall with two floors. The first floor focused on receiving guests, while the second floor held the bedrooms.
Bryn could tell that by the size of the house, between 7 and 10 people could live within the main building. The adjacent structures could hold a couple more.
"From here onwards, you two can go. I must go back to the stables." Sylas said giving his wife and son a kiss of goodbye.
"Thank you, my love. We'll see each other at home." kissing him back.
As Freya and Bryn walked inside the side entrance, a maid was already waiting for them.
"You are late, Faun. The Lord's family is already up and their room is not going to clean themselves. Who do you think they are? Go on. Change your clothes and go do your job." Said the maid looking at the fauns.
"OK, Chief. I'll go change and then straight towards cleaning." Freya responded.
"What were you thinking, having another Faun here at the mansion? I swear that if the Lady wasn't going to complain, I sure would." She said as Freya walked past her.
"This is my son Bryn, Chief. He is going to be a strong Faun, you will see." Looking back, Freya answered.
"There is no such thing as a "strong Faun". I'm not sure what makes you crazier, having a child or believing that there can be a strong Faun. Hahahah." The maid disdained.
Freya only lowered her head to the chief's last words as she went to change her clothes.
It was clear to Bryn that the interaction made his mother even sadder. He didn't know Freya for long. Her expression now was something he had seen in HR meetings after an employee got humiliated.
"It appears that our house is the worst of the bunch. Also, my mom and my dad are near the bottom of the hierarchical food chain over here. What is the Lord like to have such bad people under him? Note to self, get back at that old lady."
After changing her clothes, Freya used a piece of cloth to hold Bryn on her back. He learned to control his crying and use his hands to pull her hair if he needed something. As she was walking out of the maid's room, a child close to 11 years old came running.
"Hello Freya, good morning!" He said.
Freya smiled and words were quick to follow, "Good morning, young master."
"I already told you not to call me that, I'm 11 years old. I'll be the young master when I reach adulthood at 16 !"
"As you wish, young master."
"Ahhh, forget about that. Where is he? Let me see your baby, Father told me he was born 2 days ago." coming closer to look at the young baby in her arms.
"You are right as usual, master Eamon. Here is my son, Bryn."
As Freya was crouching to show Eamon her baby, the Lady of the house interrupted.
"What do you think you are doing, Faun? Don't you dirty my son with your filth." She said.
Lowering her head and stepping back, Freya answered, "I'm sorry, my Lady. Master Eamon asked to see my newborn, I was following his wishes."
The lady pointed to the door and continued speaking while walking. "Do not talk back to me. Go and do your work. If you leave anything dirty... Or complain about the workload because of your newborn… You don't want to test my patience, Faun…"
Even before she finished speaking, Lady Isolde had left the room.
Young Eamon never understood his mother. As she left he said, "Sorry Freya, I don't understand why my mother is like that. I have to go. See you around. It was nice to meet Bryn, he looks like a good baby."
Eamon was the first son of Lord Aric and Lady Isolde. He was the first heir to the land and as such, he had studied every subject the Lord could think of. The first heir, of any noble house, has political responsibilities. They need to appear in parties, and social events and interact with other firstborns.
For that reason, Eamon was a well-cultured and educated teen.
Freya held her tiers. She knew that their life was not easy. She had endured for many years, and so had Sylas. The weight of their reality was much heavier now that Bryn was about to suffer as much as them.
The day went by without many hardships. The rooms were easy to clean, and Freya didn't have any other interaction with members of the Lord's family.
The boring and sad day Freya had couldn't be further from the truth for Bryn. His excitement got confused a few times as hunger by Freya.
"OK, I can tell that this society is a little like our medieval times, but many items are much more advanced. Not like current technology for me, but they must have amazing craftsmen or materials. Also, I saw a small library in the Lord's room as my mother was cleaning it. I need to learn how to read and write. That way, the speed I can improve our life will be much greater. If their society is close to ours, few people have an interest in reading and writing, thinking it to be useless. And for a long time, one could argue it was." Bryn thought.
Bryn wasn't one of these people. He had both a business and physics major in his previous life. He was certain that reading and writing would become strong weapons for his future here.
As they were leaving the house, Freya got called back by the Lord.
"Faun, the Lord is asking for you and your baby. He is waiting by the fire." The chief maid yelled.
"Yes, Chief."
Freya went back inside, afraid of what was about to happen. He had spoken to the Lord very few times in the past few years. When she got to the living room, he was already waiting for her. With a glass of wine in one hand, some papers over the wooden table next to him, looking at the fire and with his back turned.
Freya was afraid of interrupting whatever he was doing, but it was more of an insult to leave him waiting.
"Good evening, my Lord. The Chief's Maid said you asked for me. I'm Freya, the Faun, my Lord." she said while putting one knee down.
"Freya, is it? Sylas told me you had a baby boy. Can I see him?" The man answered.
"It would be my honor, Lord Aric. He is still young, but his eyes are strong. We call him Bryn."
"A strong name. Bring him here." He said.
Respecting and following a Lord's command was imperative and common sense. No one without a noble title had the right to dismiss a request.
Freya removed Bryn from her back and handed him to Lord Aric.
Bryn couldn't feel weirder, the man holding him was strong and big. Lord Aric had dark hair, a good beard, and a small horizontal scar under his right eye. His features were almost that of a giant compared to the other humans Bryn had seen in this new world. As the Lord pulled him closer, he looked Aric in the eyes. Those were heavy and seasoned eyes. Not the same eyes of an executive, but also the eyes of someone responsible for many people.
Looking at the baby faun, he told her, "You are right about his eyes. I hope he and Rowan grow up to be strong men."
Ecstatic to hear, "Thank you for your words, my lord. It will bring good fortune to Bryn, I'm sure about it." she said.
"You can leave now."
As Freya left the main room, the lord picked up another glass and poured some wine into it.
"Come here, Isolde. Share this wine with me." He said, looking at the door to the adjacent room.
"You treat that Faun almost as good as our guests. I'm not sure if you are deserving of my company at the moment." His wife argued.
"Faun or not, she works for us. Is there a reason to treat her any less than our other employees?" He rebutted.
"They should be thankful that we allow them to work here. It is an honor and a privilege to do our bidding. Our regular servants already feel this way, a mere Faun should prize us every day."
"Sure, my love, whatever you say. Now tell me, how is our baby boy, is Rowan growing up okay?"
"He is perfect. Currently, Eamon and Evelina are playing with him upstairs. Our daughter will become a proper woman and a good mother. Eamon, I don't have as much hope as you. He is turning soft. He treats everyone in the house as if they were nobles as well. Even telling some not to address him by his honorifics." She answered.
"It is good for Rowan to have both his siblings next to him. I'm sure Evelina will learn a lot by having a baby brother and by accompanying you, dear..."
As he turned his wine glass, Lord Aric stopped for a moment before continuing.
"About Eamon, he is still young. We must teach him everything we can for him to be ready."
"You speak as if his dream was to be a Lord like yourself. I wish that was true, as much as I wish for him to grow up and learn about our standings." She said.
"That is enough about them. Let's try and increase their siblings one more time..." He answered while pulling her to his lap.
The night was clear of clouds that day.
As Freya walked with Bryn outside towards their house, Sylas was waiting for them.
"How was your day, Frey?" He asked.
"It was hard, as I expected. Lord Aric agreed that Bryn has strong eyes. That was my only highlight. Our son is also strange, he pulled my hair many times, but almost none were about food. His goggling eyes looking at the mansion were like yours whenever we cook red meat.", her expression was tired and she instantly gave the baby to his arms.
Taking Bryn from her arms, he said. "Hahah, that's because it is his first time going there. It is good that Lord Aric had nothing against Bryn. I hope Lady Isolde one day improves the way she treats."
"That woman is the devil in human clothing. She will never improve. All she wants is for us to die. I'll never give her the satisfaction."
"You had a bad day with her today?" Sylas inquired.
With the meanest look she could muster, Freya said "She said our son is filthy."
Looking at little Bryn in his arms, Freya's eyes reflected rage.
Like that, the days went by.
One year later, the situation around the fauns was almost the same.
Sylas and Freya went to work before the sun rose and came back home after dark. The house of the fauns had meat only a few times during that year, but every time Bryn had priority over them both.
Little by little, Bryn increased his movements. Now he could crawl and was learning proper balance for walking. He learned most of the words to comprehend a conversation between his parents. Speaking was proving more difficult than anticipated, but nothing out of the ordinary.
"Mastering this damn, bighorn legs are hard. My body doesn't respond to my commands, also I don't have feet to balance off. I have these Hooves..."
Looking at young Bryn, now one-year-old, Sylas and Freya laughed, thinking he was playing.
It took one more year for Bryn to not only walk but also start trying to run.
Jordan was already in the new world and body for 2 full years. His mind still remembered everything from before. Even so, whenever someone calls Bryn, now he doesn't even think before looking.
During the last 2 years, Lord Aric was away for long periods. The job of a Lord requires him to travel a lot from city to city. Whenever he was not around, Freya had to ask many times for Bryn to behave.
Lady Isolde was no joke. As Bryn's understanding of the language improved, so did his bad feelings for her. She disrespected and abused his mother's goodwill every time she could.
Young Lord Eamon was the only one who cared about the servants and the fauns. Bryn respected the future generation of the Lord's family much more than he did the lord himself.
Lady Evelina was the spitting image of her mother, both in her appearance and her behavior. Everything her mother did, she copied. As a young girl, she used harsh words even easier than Lady Isolde. She had no idea what she was doing, but her mother looked happy, so she only got worse.
Little Rowan was now two years old, like Bryn. He learned to walk a little faster than the faun.
Apart from that, the past two years were very much the same.
Now that he could walk, Bryn was a little more confident in starting to improve his knowledge. He started asking for the library, something impossible for Freya to give him access to. In the past year, he started helping his mother clean the Lord's mansion.
"The goal is to understand their alphabet at least. I must find a way to get my hands on one book. Meanwhile, all I can do is walk and learn how to speak their language, I'll try to get my hands on anything with written words."
The routine was still the same.
Sylas took care of the animals around the land, be it the horses, cows, or sheep. The job was not very hard, but he had to be careful with the animals not to disrupt the farming activity. And being only one person, it took him the whole day to move everything as needed.
Freya had the most boring routine as one could imagine. Her days were a loop of getting yelled at by the Chief Maid, then again by Lady Isolde. The only difference was that now Young Lady Evelina also yelled. She still held her head high as an example to Bryn.
Bryn's mind was getting numb to their insults, he realized it had started long before he came to this world. Also, as a two-year-old, he couldn't do anything about it.
His goals were still the same.
Every time he looked at his reflection, he saw his body a little bigger, and hair starting to grow on his head. But the most important detail was still there.
Name - Bryn
Age - 2
Level - 1
"I must learn how to gain levels. The faster I learn how to improve my level, our situation will improve at the same speed."
Despite his determination, his level didn't rise no matter what he tried.
Almost on his third anniversary, Bryn had developed a lot since birth.
The young Faun could now talk with his parents.
During the last two, almost three years, Freya cried from happiness only a couple of times. The first was when her baby called "mama" before calling for "papa". The second time was when Bryn walked for the first time without help.
Now, the young boy was learning how to jump and run. It was getting harder to control his energy. During the day inside the Lord's mansion, Freya had to bargain with his adult side, Jordan. Inside Bryn's mind, it was clear that he needed to behave, even so, his body had a lot of energy, and he got bored too fast.
He had spent 30 full years in another world. But for the last three, all he did was learn how to speak and walk. That was challenging because of his two-year-old body, not because his mind was not sharp.
As his three years were approaching, Bryn decided to ask their parents if he could start learning.
He waited for a moment on Sunday when his mother was alone doing their laundry by the river.
Pacing side to side next to her, Freya couldn't take it anymore.
She said, "Bryn, what is it, young man?"
"Mom, can I ask you something for my birthday?" He asked.
"Of course, what would you like? As long as I can offer it to you, I'll find a way." Who wouldn't fall for those eyes? She thought.
"I would like to learn how to book Mom!"
She looked confused with his wish. "You would like what, honey?"
Bryn's vocabulary was still lacking. He could only think of words he had learned. Asking for something he never saw or heard his mother and father talking about was hard. He had thought a lot about the request, and how to do it in a way she would understand what he was saying. At the same time, he had to convey his true feelings, so she knew that he was serious.
"I want to learn how to book Mom! I saw books around the Lord's living room and bedroom. I know that if I learn how to understand what is in them and how to make them, I can help you and Father." He tried again.
"You want to learn how to read and write?" As if a light bold lit up in her head, she asked.
"Yes! I want to learn how to read and how to write!" The look of happiness in his eyes was noticeable.
Freya, confused by his request, started to ponder. Why would a three years old would ask to learn how to read or right? Those things were not necessary for the life they lived. Still, his last words, only now we're coming to her head.
"Honey, you don't need to learn how to read to help us. All you need to do is keep growing as a strong, good, and gentle faun." She said.
"As I thought. Society does not think that reading is something important for common folk. I'll have to think of ways to convince her." He thought.
But what he said was, "I agree with you, Mom, but you are not right! If I learn how to write and how to write, we can use that to leave messages for each other. We can write things to not forget about them. Every time I see a book... All I can think about is what messages are going through the head of the person who can understand it!"
"You look like you are thinking a lot about this young man... I'll speak to your father later on. Now let's go home, he should have arrived by now." She answered.