Time flies and sixth months have passed since I was born into this world.
I opened my eyes to a world that was both familiar and utterly foreign.
The memories of my previous life were a distant echo.
But enough remained for me to understand that I had been given another chance.
It took me around four months to adapt to my current situation... however using the word adapt is the wrong way to describe it.
It took me nearly a month laying in defeat to come to terms with my current situation.
This time was not without any gains, though.
The most important gain in this time was the fact that I learned to understand the language spoken by the people in my village.
This was mainly through my mothers efforts.
She would constantly ramble on about gossip in the village, along with any new exciting information.
So I learned quite a bit from her.
The second biggest gain was that I learned my name was Kael.
Through this I also learned my mother's name was Elle.
I personally found her name to be very beautiful, as it matched her well.
On the first few nights I spent in this new and foreign world.
I quickly realized that this is not the same world of technology and human innovation I once remembered.
I happened to notice this on the third night of my new baby lifestyle.
Waking from my mothers embrace at night was a common occurance, I seemed to be much hungrier than usual.
But as I woke up, I noticed the interior of our home was filled with light.
The moonlight that brightened our small shack of a home put me into a trance.
The sight that I witnessed was unforgettable.
The soft glow of the full moon filtering through the gaps in the wooden house was beyond beautiful.
The moonlight was not the stark white I had remembered, but a soothing royal blue, casting an otherworldly glow over everything it touched.
Shadows danced around the room, creating patterns that seemed almost alive.
I still don't have a clear understanding of this.
However, my mother seemed to think this is completely normal and it did not bother her at all.
Over time, it became clear to me this phenomenon only appears when there is a full moon.
I was curious, so I did my best in asking my mother about it in my broken baby speak.
She slowly explained and had a devout expression on her when she mentioned that it is the work of the Divine.
Backtracking a bit, to our living conditions, it is much better than I expected.
Having been born in the stable, I was glad that it was not our home.
Our small 'home' actually was only a half step better than the stable.
There was no 'bed'.
Instead it was a pile of hay stuffed into a animal hide lining.
There was only a few small pieces of furniture.
And we seemed to only have two sets of tablewear my mother used to eat porridge with.
Their was no restroom or sanitary customs.
The villagers including my mother used outhouses or just did it in the forest outside the village.
But in spite of all this, mymother made sure to feed me a minimum of three times per day.
It seemed my appetite was much larger than those around me. As I often heard her ask the other women if this was normal.
She also showered me with such love and care that I was nearly overwhelmed.
I didn't notice but I was also maturing a bit faster than those in my age group.
The three other boys Marie spoke about were all much smaller than myself.
My mother along with the other women seemed to think this was normal and common occurrence.
In the 4th month in this new world, was when I could begin steps on my own accord.
My mother still carried me on her back most of the time, but around our small home I wandered all there was to explore.
This also seemed to be an extraordinary feat.
My mother bragged to all of the other women in the village about this.
Going back a bit, the day after I was born my mother had to continue work the fields.
Somehow, she woke up like nothing happened after giving birth to me.
Her skin was glowing and her face looked rosy and very healthy.
I was quite shocked since I saw her expression and weariness the night before.
It seemed to have disappeared with only a single nights rest.
After she was done getting ready to leave she would wrap me on her back like a burrito.
From here, I quite a good angle to overlook and observe many things around our village.
I also quickly realized how poor and backwards the village we reside in is.
However, one thing that confused me was, why a beautiful woman like my mother was working tilling fields with rough men. Instead of being around the other women who do less physical tasks.
This question was answered very quickly when we arrived at the farmland on the outskirts of the village.
The impact she had while swinging a stone hoe, weighing roughly 10 lbs, raised multiple times more dirt than the men around us.
My gaze was filled with shock witnessing this, and my mother noticed.
She turned to check on me and confirm it was okay for her to work with me on her back.
She gave an almost knowing smirk and said,
『Kael, aren't you very shocked with that face? Don't worry, mother is very powerful! I've been like this since I was young!』
I didn't quite understand the words she was saying, so after a moment of thought.
She showed me her petite arm and gave me a small flex.
Then pointed to the sky.
After I learned how to understand the language, I realized that she was saying she was blessed with innate monstrous strength from a child.
This calmed me a bit, since I thought I was monster maturing much faster than others.
But it appears I inherited this trait from my dear mother.
Over time, I learned that she was born and raised in the village.
Her parents, my grandparents, passed away bandit raids when she was very young.
Part of me was expecting a noble backstory since her qualities were so much different than those around us.
But, my conjectures were wrong.
The mid-wife Marie who helped her give birth also raised my mother.
Marie was always around and helped me in various ways when my mother needed a break.
She would tell me stories of my mothers youth expecting me to not remember or understand, but I greedily absorbed any information I could from her.
The stories of my mother's orge-like strength did shock me for a few days...
Over a few months time, I managed to get a rough layout of the village from my mothers back.
If there was something interesting, I would do my best to make a fuss and plead my mother to show me the different things that I interested in.
I noticed many of the men's gazes were filled with an instinctual mixture of greed and lust towards my mother, but realized it as common in this enviroment.
As they saw my baby face on her back, constantly giving them dirty looks, the gazes would shift back to normal.
My mom also had quite a good relationship with all the members of the village.
Some of the wives admonished their husbands looks and came out to greet my mother.
Mostly to make small talk.
Observing other families, I learned there was an extreme shortage of food in the village.
Many of the people were malnourished and looked like they would fall over in the wind.
The 'hunting' party apparently took a large amount of the harvests.
I didn't understand this aspect yet.
Speaking about the village, the layout was disorderly.
All of the homes were roughly assembled and weary just like ours.
The only three buildings that stood out were a church, a large townhouse, and something that was similar to a blacksmith.
Near the blacksmith there was also a makeshift training ground the men in the village were using.
When I originally made a fuss over these things, my mother calmly explained these things with her oriole like voice,
『This is the village chiefs residence. He is the strongest in our village. Next to it is the chapel we offer prayer to the Divine. Priest Ramon is always in there. 』
『The last one is the blacksmithing grounds of our village. The men take their weapons for repair and maintenance. Some grumpy old man just started operating it recently.』
When I learned about the different buildings, I was curious what the word 'Divine' means to the residents here.
I still did not have a definite answer at this point.
But I learned something, we are not safe.
There would only be one reason to be training children with cold weapons.
Overall, The total amount of people in the village numbers around 200. Only about 140 of these people are able bodied adults.
The rest are children and the elderly.
It seems as if having many children is very important to the people here.
I was one of the only single child households in the village.
About the men in the village.
They are very gruff and mercenary like.
I noticed that most have scars or some type of permanent injury.
Atleast the men who do trivial tasks seem to have odd gaits or are missing an arm or leg.
During this time period, the church bell would occassionally ring.
But it was only at the end of my 3rd month here, when the village bell continuously kept ringing from the church.
My mother seemed concerned and through that a tiny panic took over my mind.
She quickly wrapped me onto her back and made haste towards the entrance of the village.
She was not the only one.
Mother noticed the concern on my face and made a quick comment to me on the way there.
『Don't worry baby Kael. Mother will show you what the commotion is. 』
The entire population of the village appeared at the entrance of the village.
It was a small run-down wooden gate, surrounded by an even more dilapidated fence.
Curiosity took hold of me as I tried to figure out what was going on.
I did my best to pick up on the muttering of those around me,
『Did the hunting party come back successful this time?』
『I hope they brought back a large harvest. I haven't eaten meat in nearly two months!』
『Mother, will father return this time? I miss him. 』
『Did they suffer any injury? I hope my husband came back alive.』
It became clear to me that the 'hunters' of our village returned.
Also in the crowd, I saw some of the people my mother spoke to me about.
Such as Priest Ramon and what appeared to be the wife of the village chief.
A busty woman exuding mature charm and an ambitious light in her eyes.
The mutterings came to a halt as the villagers squinted to see if their loved ones had returned, but more importantly that the ones they placed their hopes on brought back a prize.
As they came over the crest of a hill at the entrance to the village...
I saw a sight that left me in shock for a week.
Although at this point I was almost expecting it.
A group of around 25 men in a mixture of iron, leather, and hide armor appeared.
Some armed with one handed longswords with shields.
Some with spears.
The main group of 7 men in the front were wearing iron chestplates slowly became clearer in my vision.
They were the representation of the fighting force of our village.
In the front of the pack, becoming larger in my vision I saw a large man who stood over two meters tall.
He was hoisting a boar radiating a vicious aura, the size of a small car, on his shoulder.
Something that should have been impossible.
Both the size of the animal and the strength of the man.
When the villagers saw them return, they erupted into cheers and happiness.
However there were a few that began to break down in tears.
A few had understanding gazes towards them seemingly aware that their loved ones will never return.
I noticed that my mother was looking at me again, with a concerned expression.
Before I had realized it, my mouth formed a large 'O' shape.
Thinking I might be scared my mother said,
『Kael, did you see them? They are the hunters of our village. We rely on them for our meat and safety. 』
『Gah!』
I squeaked out a voice of excitement.
Not about the men, but specifically about the beast of a human that was in the front of the pack.
I was shocked in how that man was able to defy the common sense that was naturally ingrained in my mind.
As they approached closer and closer my shock level only increased.