Preparing

(A/N: Edited chapter)

Chapter 2: Preparing

...

I was born in a small village at the corner of the human territory. My father was a farmer, he owned a plantation of tomatoes and provided them for the whole village. So all the money in our family came from his side. My mother was more of a house-wife, she took care of me while my father worked on the field. Even if my father was sometimes strict, hitting me even when I had done something not so bad, I knew he cared about me, as I was his only son.

Not that I didn't have the impulse of punching him the first time he did hit me though...

The village was surrounded by unbelievably high walls made out of planks and bricks, making this tiny village look more like a prison. Also in every corner of the village there was a vigilance tower, probably for archers to attack enemies from the distance or to defend the village from bandits. As for how tall the wall was, it should probably be at least 14 meters high...

For such a small village to have this much security...

Looks like they really wanted to keep away whatever was on the outside world...

They even had rules like:

-All villagers must be inside their homes at night.

-Going outside the village is allowed only to the adults and just during daytime.

-The Gate must not be opened unless there's an emergency.

...

There must have been more rules, but at least they didn't mention them in all the conversations I overheard.

They also planted sunflowers all around the village, and if I remember correctly, sunflowers prevented the generation of monsters in the game, I guess it's kinda similar here?

They must be really scared from the monsters huh...

It's not like zombies are that strong either, they are just living corpses that can barely stand... right?

Maybe they are scared from the demon eyes?

Those guys are pretty tanky without good weapons, and these fellas in the village don't look like they have much to attack with, maybe some iron swords, and wooden bows, But that's it...

Sigh...

Either way, going out of the village was impossible, and it was probably gonna be impossible for a few years until I become an adult...

So basically, it was also impossible for me to start gathering resources properly because I couldn't go outside and start chopping down trees nor mining stone...

I could just gather wood from small branches and stone from small rocks scattered on the floor all around the village.

...

So... I think will have to start my journey with a wooden sword

...

Great...

It was for some reason better than the copper shortsword anyways... So no complaints.

Maybe I am hurrying a bit too much thinking on how to leave this village already.

After all it's not like I can move in this body of mine anyways, I am still a baby, and the only thing I could do right now is to barely move my head and do small baby noises.

Also, it seemed that my name in this new life was "Aspen" and not "Aeron". Not that I dislike the new name, but it certainly won't imprint fear in the hearts of my enemies when they hear my name.

Hmm... talking about imprinting fear in the hearts of my enemies...

...Maybe becoming an Evil Lord was not a bad idea?

*Knock-Knock-Knock*

While I was still lost in my imagination thinking on what to do in the future, my mother opened the door and entered the room with a smile on her face...

"Ooh Aspen~..."

Hmm?!

Oh no... The moment has arrived...!

"Time to eat~"

I've never received such humiliation, you may have thought that I enjoyed seeing the bountiful mountains of my new mother, but since the first time I saw her my mind erased all thoughts regarding incest.

Never liked it...

I'm a grown man and I know my own moralistic codes!

"Open your moooouuuth~"

...

I hate being a baby

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°

°

2 Years Later...

"Sigh..."

I sighed while looking towards the clouds in the sky with a tired face. it actually must look pretty funny to see a 2 years old brat sighing like he had many problems to deal with and is unsatisfied with his life...

But I REALLY had problems to deal with.

First take a look at this.

°

°°°°°°

Inventory

-Wood: 17.05

- Stone: 14.32

-Sand: 1.2

-Dirt: 18.93

-Kitchen knife

-Tomatoes x16

-Bread: x6

°°°°°°

°

After being born, I stayed inside that house for 1 year without being able to move. So it was pretty much a lost year... Luckily, after that I was finally able to walk and initiate the gathering of resources to become the strongest.

And what you have just seen my friend, it's the work from a whole year...

You must be wondering: Why did you collect so few things in a whole year?

And the answer is quite simple...

IT WAS SO DAMN SLOW GATHERING RESOURCES!

The branches I could pick from the ground could usually give [0.02] of wood, and depending on how large the branch was, it could give me a bit more.

The largest branch that I have found gave me [0.13] of wood...

It was so fucking slow... picking hundreds of branches every day, without rest... People were looking at me like I had mental problems...

*sniff*

I'm not crying... Just so you know...

*sniff*

But the thing doesn't ends here...

One day like any other I continued my gathering of resources and accidentally picked the last branch that was in the floor of this whole village, Then I realized that I had to wait until more branches fell from the trees for me to continue picking them...

Which meant that the process could be even slower than before...

"Sigh..."

Just remembering my suffer made me sigh in frustration...

At least I speeded up the process a little when I found some wooden planks while looking in the trash like a racoon.

The same thing applies to the pebbles on the floor, those small rocks gave me little to nothing to form even 1 stone block.

I also gathered a few meals to survive in the wild when I become and adult.

The tomatoes came from the crops my father plants every year, I took them while he was not looking.

I also took the bread everyday after having dinner. However, one time they discovered me and I was almost beaten up by my father...

So I didn't dare to do it again.

As for the knife... I took it from my neighbors, we visited them one day and while they were talking with my fathers, I secretly took the knife without being noticed.

I mean... it's not that bad okay?

I know I stole it but...

It's for my future survival, so I don't think they will mind...

...That much...

Anyways, I will pay them back the knife one day when I come back to this village.

I just hope they don't get angry.

Anyways, it's not time to cry over spilled milk...

Because today, I have finally gathered enough wood...

To make a wooden sword!

My first and probably my only weapon in a while from now on, at least until I'm able to leave this village.

So, in order to avoid being seen creating an object out of thin air, I hid in a place where no one could see me and then I opened my Player interface.

°

°°°°°°

Name: Aspen (Aeron)

[Human...]

Age: 2 (21)

Crafting available:

-Work bench

-Wood platform

°°°°°°

°

I selected the Work bench.

[This item will cost you: Wood x10]

[¿Are you sure you want to craft this item?]

[YES / NO]

I was kinda nervous because this was my first time seeing "Crafting" in real life.

But i didn't hesitate, after all that hard work i was finally able to use my powers.

1 year of picking branches and rocks just for this moment...

Finally.

I pressed YES.

...

...

That was it?

...

...

°

°°°°°°

I checked my inventory.

Wood: 7.05

- Stone: 14.32

-Sand: 1.2

-Dirt: 18.93

-Kitchen knife

-Tomatoes x16

-Bread: x6

-Work Bench

°°°°°°

°

Huh.

That was pretty lame...

No presentation?

No lights and thunder?

...

Whatever...

I placed the Work bench on the ground.

A small bench materialized in front of me, and many new objects became available in the "Crafting Options" screen now that I was standing next to the work bench.

I finally had unlocked new recipes for crafting.

°

°°°°°°

Name: Aspen (Aeron)

[Human...]

Age: 2 (21)

Crafting available:

-Wood platform

-Wooden door

-Wooden chair

-Sign

-4 Wooden fences

-Wooden sword

...

°°°°°°

°

There it is!

I selected the Wooden sword, and it's stats appeared in front of me.

°°°

[Wooden sword]

-7 Melee damage

-4% critical chance

-Fast speed

-Weak knockback

°°°

[This item will cost you: Wood x7]

[Are you sure you want to craft this item?]

[YES / NO]

Of course, I pressed YES.

As soon as the crafting ended, I checked my inventory to look for it, and there it was.

My beautiful Wooden sword.

And to my surprise it actually came with a modifier.

°°°

[Deadly] Wooden sword]

-7 Melee damage

-4% critical chance

-Fast speed

-Weak knockback

[+14% damage]

[+12% Speed]

°°°

I took it out of my inventory, and there it was.

Unlike the Game version, this one looked really awesome. The blade was incredibly sharp and had some engravings in it, making it look more stylish.

If you could ask me what impression it gave... then it could be that of a legendary weapon that has been through thousand battles.

Of course, that was not the case, it just looked really cool.

And unexpectedly it wasn't heavy.

I know that I'm twice as strong as a normal kid, but this sword wasn't small by any means, even if I was twice as strong as a normal kid, this thing should be a little heavy, right?

But it wasn't.

it was weightless.

I don't know if this wightless-thing just applies to me, the 'owner', but its still awesome...

However, my good mood dissapeared instantly when I looked at the inventory panel once again...

Sigh...

My wood disappeared completely, just [0.05] of Wood remained...

...

My 1 year hardwork...

...

"Sigh..."

Whatever, let's focus on the present. I have this precious sword now, imagine the possibilities!

Now I could fight monsters and...

Yeah... I don't think so.

I need a proper armor and proper training, if I go out like this, it's most likely that I will be killed easily.

I still don't know if this world is more similar to the normal mode or to the expert mode...

As for master mode...

I don't think miss goddess could have sent me to such a dangerous world...

Right?

Also my body is not fully developed yet, I'm still weak as hell.

Hmm...

Maybe I could ask some guards of the village to train me in swordsmanship?

Nah...

The problem is that I'm still 2 years old, they could probably not take me seriously and laugh at me...

It seems like I still have to wait until I grow up...

Damn it...

Well whatever, might as well live as a normal kid for a while.