The path to the top!

After being placed in his mother's arms, Alfryd was attempting to gather as much information on the world he was in with heavy frown.

"By the looks of things, I have been put into a world that is probably pre-industry. It is definitely after the Middle Ages, but before the invention of..."

Alfryd continued to try and place the time period of the world he was in for some time afterwards, but was interrupted by his new parents taking him out of the hospital after he had been dried and checked for any abnormalities.

Along their path, his mother carried him along with an amicable smile while his father began to stretch his cheeks and hoot like an ape in a bid to make Alfryd laugh, but was more disturbing than anything else.

"God I hate being a baby..." Alfryd cursed inwardly as he was forced to watch that display of tomfoolery.

Averting his gaze, he looked at the streets and buildings around him and came to a solid conclusion.

"This... Is definitely a fantasy world!" He remarked inwardly. The architecture and atmosphere reminded him heavily of the anime he used to watch, namely the isekai genre, where the protagonist was overpowered and the women had huge... personalities. However, after some intense deductive analysis he noticed one key difference between him and those anime protagonists.

He did not have a system!

No magical voice to tell him what to do, no windows and no level ups! While he had always criticised these clichés of the genre, he would much prefer it if he had them!

"It looks like rivalling god will be a harder job than I anticipated..." he lampooned, settling down into his mother's arms and relaxing in his way to their home.

The house was neither spacious nor small, and was suitable enough to support a family of 3. His biggest issue was the lack of running water and flushable toilets, something he had taken for granted in his past life but was really going to miss here.

The next few 3-4 months of his baby life were uneventful at best. As a newborn, there was very little he could do other than wail for his mother's attention and figure out how to move on his own without kneecaps. Surprisingly, walking is much more difficult before your kneecaps form.

When it came to learning the new language, Alfryd improved by leaps and bounds. With the help of picture books, the constant use of the language by his loving parents and his experience in his past life with languages, he gained a rudimentary proficiency with it and was talking in full sentences by 3 months old. This was also in part due to the fact that the pronunciation was quite similar to the Germanic languages of Earth, although the alphabet did look like the squiggles produced by a 5 year old at first. His rapid growth in language came as no small shock to his parents, however.

When he was around two months old, he had a routine of getting the hang of speaking while his parents weren't around, but one day his father caught wind of his secret lessons.

"H-Helluh.. helor.. hallo.." Alfryd sputtered, believing he was alone in the living room by the fireplace. It was only at this moment, however, that he saw his father staring at him with a look of complete shock.

"What... did you just say?" He said, walking over to Alfryd and picking him up.

"Go on. Do it again."

"H-eylow." Alfryd repeated.

"Ha... hahaha! You're a genius, kiddo!" He yelled as his expression turned to one of unending glee. "Hey, Marie! Come check this out!"

From another room, a warm yet hoarse voice called out: "What is it, Brynolf? I'm a little preoccupied."

"Alfryd is a genius!"

"Yeah, ok. Sure." She replied, sauntering around the corner and into the livening room.

"Say it again!" His father, named Brynolf, encouraged.

"hello..."

Marie looked at Alfryd with one eyebrow raised for a moment, before remarking to Brynolf, "Are babies supposed to talk at two months old?"

"Dunno! Pretty cool though! Do you think he has the talent to become a divergent?" Brynolf asked with a look of admiration.

"Uhh, too early to say. But maybe." Marie said with a wide smile.

"Wot dat?" Alfryd asked to satiate his curiosity.

"Hehe," Brynolf giggled to himself. "A divergent is someone who is strong. Really strong! When you get good at fighting, you can control things with your mind!" He explained.

Control thing with your mind? So telekenesis? He wondered, his interest piqued.

Seeing his son's confusion, Brynolf added: "I'll explain it to you when you are older." He laughed, patting Alfryd on his head and messing with the hair that was sprouting through.

Over the next 3 years, life continued onwards. When Alfryd could read, he began to obtain as much knowledge as he could about the world and its culture, unfortunately the information was quite out of date and not representative of the entire world, as paper and books were not common resources and exploration was limited.

Apparently, there are 5 major continents in this world, and the one he resided on was called Nelar. It was the smallest of the five and had one major empire, The Nalean Dominion.

Much to Alfryd's dismay, there seemed to be no information on divergents at all, which disappointed him greatly.

When Alfryd was 3 and a half, he got his first insights into the path to being a divergent through his father's work.

His father was a captain in the city guard of Lunis, also known as the city of light, as this was supposedly the first city to light the roads using street lamps. When Alfryd was 3 and a half, Brynolf allowed Alfryd to accompany him during the training at his workplace, as he was mainly a drill instructor while the city was not under threat.

Despite being Brynolf's son, Alfryd was not shown a lot of mercy. While a lot of leeway was given as he was a 3 year old, Brynolf and the other trainees did not hesitate to push him to his limits. Despite having the mind of a 35 year old, he was never athletic. And yet he was pushed to his breaking point almost every day.

While running laps, he felt as though his legs would tear apart, but the others would stand behind him and push him onwards. When doing push-ups, he felt like his arms would snap, but Brynolf was there to encourage him to do another.

Was this healthy for a 3 year old? Absolutely not. Not by Earth's standards or even this world's standards. Every single day he woke up, he would be in agony from the day before. He would feel a renewed resentment for Brynolf, who put him through this. He would despise Marie who allowed this to happen. But every time he felt like giving up, he remembered his mother. His real mother. Sitting in her bed, completely alone. Slowly wasting away as she lamented upon the death of the only person who gave her a reason to live.

Every time he remembered her, he felt a renewed strength. He ran one more lap. He did one more push up, one more squat. He went the extra mile, and he thanked Brynolf for giving him the opportunity to see his poor mother again.

He repeated this regimen for another two years, eventually coming to the point where he could keep up with the adults in a few of the exercises when they were not firing on all cylinders, which came as no small surprise.

On his fifth birthday, he woke up at 5 am sharp as per usual, but Brynolf had other plans for him this morning.

"Mornin', kiddo!" He said while sitting at the dining table, and gestured for Alfryd to take a seat.

"I got some great news for ya, bud. I've been keeping an eye on ya for the last two years or so, seein' how your handlin' the trainin' an' all that. I'll be honest, your fitness - it ain't bad. Above average I'd say. But your true strength ain't your brawn, kiddo. It's your mind." He said, pointing at his temple. "You've got willpower like I ain't never seen. Startin' today, were learnin' combat!" He said with an exuberant smile.

"That's great!" Alfryd responded with a similarly wide smile. Despite his appearance though, he was conflicted deep inside. While he had began to enjoy his gruelling training, an early sign of masochism no doubt, and had developed a yearning for battle, he felt unsure if this was the path he wanted to take.

What if there is a safer way to return home? Should he really prepare to risk his life to see his mother? Thinking about the implications, he felt a reluctance deep down inside him. He had been a computer scientist not too long ago. Did he have it in himself to take the path of battle?

Thinking over this, he remembered his father. His real father. A workaholic right into his retirement and then some, lying in his deathbed while holding Alfryd's, or rather Henry's, hand.

"Take care of your mother for me."

It was a simple request, and one that seemed so obvious at the time. Yet, it had never felt so profound as it did in that moment of hesitation.

Resolving his will, he felt that kindling if doubt fuel the flames of his yearn for battle.

He wasn't fighting for himself, he was fighting for her.

"When can I start?"