6 Infancy - Part 2

As soon as Riwall's body and soul synched, he managed to speak his first words, much to the surprise of Hellen and Erika. He played it safe and said 'mama' to Hellen's delight. But the surprises would not end with just saying 'mama'.

In the following days, Riwall spoke both Hellen's and Erika's name and a few more words. He was trying to raise their expectations of him, so in the future, they would not be so surprised when he accomplished things sooner than the other kids.

{There is no way I will not be regarded as a genius, at least till adulthood. Might as well use my time to get as stronger and smarter as possible, judging by how much my stats improved with the simulations, it seems much more straightforward to grind stats and skills the younger one is. What do you think Friday?}

{Don't you think it's too soon to start training my body? Won't that harm my physical development?}

[With me guiding your body's development such risks are completely mitigated, and if my theories about the uses of mana prove to be accurate, then you can expect to be much stronger than anyone in your age.]

{Oh, do you mind sharing these conjectures of yours?}

[Only if you command to, if you know about it, it may change the results.]

{Well, if you say so, just don't be reckless, please. Your thought process is too much dependant on my own, and I know I tend to be impulsive at times.}

A couple of weeks went by, and Riwall capped the three attributes, by the time each stat hit level 5 there was no change in his behavior, Friday theorized that a shift in personality and behavior would only happen until the person natural limit, any extra stat would only unlock a potential future change. That means that should he have a level 5 |Composure|, he would never be able to demonstrate any higher control of his emotions than the level 5 allowed. Much like when his stats were only on level 1, he was unable to behave as he did back on Earth.

{It was so simple to cap these attributes at level 10 that I'm suspecting I may not be able to rise much above others.}

[Don't say such nonsense. First, no one else can train in simulations like you did; they were so complicated that there wasn't a single instance where you noticed it was a simulation before its conclusion. Secondly, no baby can have the same level of consciousness as you.]

Friday continued.

[Whoever or whatever created the System may have put some kind of bonus to allow for kids to develop their consciousness during this phase of their lives. Should they struggle to raise some basic attributes, it's likely they would be unable to be functioning adults in the future.]

{Makes sense, but it can't be that the System is that simple, these numbers have to be something more than an indication of potential.}

[Don't rule out the possibility that the attributes may have two different effects, one internal and another external. Internally it may dictate the limits of your personality, as it is something subjective. I can only theorize about its practical effects. Externally the attributes may manifest in your interaction with the environment and other people. It may be so that you will only see its full effects if combined with some skills.]

{Well, we will gain nothing speculating about things we cannot check immediately. What do you suggest we do now?}

[Your favorite activity, physical training.]

{Ha ha ha! Imagine mom's face when she sees her one-year-old doing push-ups!}

[It may be wiser to avoid such situations. Let's stick to simple things for now. I need to check how much your attributes will progress for a variety of activities before making a training schedule.]

Much to Erika's dismay, the previously quiet and obedient toddler became a daredevil after learning how to walk. Long was gone the peaceful moments she would spend a few minutes telling stories for a baby that would sleep before the end. She now had to keep a close watch on the boy. He ran around the house doing laps around all furniture, climbing on everything, and picking up all objects he could get his hands on.

At the start, Riwall was just following Friday's instructions, but when he saw how desperate the fearless Erika would get, he found absolute joy in it. To make it funnier, he would wait for Erika to get close to him and would try to dodge.

The first few times he tried to dodge Erika, she would easily catch him. Much of his inability to escape from Erika's pursuit was because his body was too weak and clumsy, but that changed as the combination of Friday and attributes turned the tables. In just a few weeks he capped his |Stamina|, |Strength|, and |Dexterity|, making Erika sweat and use her skills to catch him.

Hellen was getting confused by the day. She came home every night to find her son sleeping soundly in his cradle while Erika was completely exasperated on a chair.

"This son of yours is a demon! He is driving me nuts!"

"Shhh! He is sleeping, Erika! You must be getting old if a one-year-old can tire you out." Hellen mockingly said while trying to hold her laughter.

"I swear Hellen, this boy is not human, today he managed to climb on the cupboard, call my name, and when I arrived, he jumped to the dining table and taunted me by showing his bun and slapping it! The worst part is that he evaded me for almost an hour. An hour!"

"HA HA HA! That's my son!" Hellen could not hold her laughter anymore, to make a veteran hunter sweat to catch you at his age was an unbelievable feat.

"Don't laugh about it! I tried to tell Edward and the other hunters the other day, and they laughed telling me to find better excuses to be tired every morning, they even spread the rumor I have been seeing someone every night!"

"Oh gods, it keeps getting better!" At this point, Hellen was having trouble breathing amidst so much laughter.

"Humpf, laugh all you want, one day it will be you in the receiving end, and me laughing. Trust me when I say it, I am a patient woman."

After so much noise, Riwall woke up and heard almost all the conversation. As much as he loved his mom, he would not deny Erika her revenge.

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{So, what's next Friday, I have all Physical Attributes, |Composure|, |Resolve|, and |Wits|, capped}

[I think we can try focusing on |Intelligence| for now, the attributes seem to be interconnected, it's just a hypothesis, but if we cap at least intelligence we may be able to get better results when trying to study mana and magic. As it's now, the System seems to be blocking my access to your mana reserves just like I couldn't improve your body at all before increasing some of your attributes.]

{So the attributes can limit even you? I wonder how do people usually develop with so many limitations.}

[There is nothing to wonder about how people develop in this world. The System seems alien only to us, remember that everyone else has grown as if the system was a part of nature itself. The existence of aether, mana, and magic defies all laws of physics that we know about, not that they do not exist here at all, because we already tested them and they still apply. But mana allows for actions that should be impossible. By Erika's stories, people can conjure giant balls of flames or raise walls of stone from the ground. No one on Earth would be able to do it without using the proper tools.]

{I know, I know. But it does not make any sense, how can a number define my behavior to such extent? This whole attribute thing is a simplification we create in games to make it fun and easier to interact with, it should not dictate how an organic being behaves.}

[There is much we don't know about yet.]

{You know what? Let's just worry about capping my attributes before worrying about magic and skills and everything else. I have a new shot in life, and I'm in a world with magic, dragons, heroes and all sort of awesome stuff. I will not waste my time worrying about things I don't have nor want any control over.}

And on that note, Riwall set on to cap his |Intelligence| attribute, utterly unaware of how impossible it was for anyone to cap his attributes.

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