Chapter 7: Sudden Growth And Possible Atavism?

All of the three were stupefied. They couldn't accept and comprehend what had just happened before their eyes.

Brennah broke out of her stupor and quickly kneeled down beside Bjorn. Then she cast the healing type spell again.

Bjorn's breathing slowed, and he was now out of the chaotic state.

Ornin gently helped Bjorn sit up. Ornin gave a little shake to Bjorn.

"Hey buddy? You okay?" Ornin asked Bjorn.

Bjorn weakly nodded. He was still conscious and the healing spell had helped.

"A-Are you really okay, Bjorn? Dear, look at me. Let me check you, okay?" Brennah said as she urged him to look at her and she checked his features.

Bjorn had grown up to 5 feet 2 inches. Whatever baby fat a 9 year old child had, was gone. What remained, was a still-maturing face with an angular jaw, a straight nose and grey eyes.

His body had become muscular. The shoulders had gone wider. Arms had gotten bigger, they now also reached near his knees. There was also a hint of muscle on his stomach.

All three of the adults were dumbfounded by the changes in Bjorn.

After Brennah was done examining him, she was confused.

"There's basically no abnormal effect on his body. It's as though the growth of his body was natural. The bones, muscles, joints…nothing was strained or damaged." Brennah said to the other two.

"But how can the parts of his body grow outta nowhere? That's…" Ornin was a little lost at the fact there was no lack of vitality in the boy's body.

"M-Mistress? This growth…Will it happen again when young master advances in the future? And will he grow naturally between the advancements?" Corbin asked Brennah as he thought about Bjorn's growing physique.

"I-I've no idea. This advancement itself was too sudden." Brennah uncertainly shook her head. But another thought popped into her head.

"Hey, Ornin. Is Bjorn going through atavism [1]? As we all have Giant's blood in us, did someone in Drakonfell line had done it?'

Ornin shook his head. No one in his line had done it.

Actually there was no record of his family before his grandfather. Before their family rose to the prominence, they were commoners.

Now their family had a special status, but not the noble title. Apparently, his grandfather had rejected it.

After his grandfather had managed to establish a village by himself. He had started expanding it. And that he did in times of crisis.

Therefore, the impressed king had given them the town. [2]

"Master, I think we should let young master rest a little." Corbin said as he noticed that Bjorn still looked a little tired.

Ornin and Brennah agreed. They summoned a maid to help, and asked Bjorn to rest inside.

Bjorn and the maid went inside to let Bjorn rest.

"He needs people his own age." Ornin said as they were looking at Bjorn walking away.

Corbin and Brennah looked at him.

"His growth is too fast. And he's training and studying and interacting with us, the people at work…but his thought process will take an impact if we keep him just between us.

Maybe and maybe, he'll slow down a little if he sees others? What do you think?"

Brennah frowned but nodded. That made sense and it'll be good for him to interact with other children.

"But we can't just take him to play outside now, can we? He needs a place where he can interact with his friends daily." Brennah said as she gave it more thought.

Ornin nodded.

As both mother and father were pondering, Corbin called out to them.

"Mistress, how about we send young master to Brandt, for his further training?"

Ornin and Brennah were a little surprised, but after they thought of it, that made sense. Brandt was the right person to train Bjorn.

"That's excellent! He'll be a good choice. He trains the kids of the town anyways. But what about you? You were training him until now…You don't object?" Ornin asked Corbin.

Corbin smiled and shook his head.

"Indeed, I trained him until now. And it's clear to me that young master has incredible potential. And I'm honored that I was able to train him.

But he needs to experience things with his peers to grow more and understand the world. So, naturally I've no objection."

Brennah and Ornin chuckled at that. Corbin was really a sincere and knightly personality.

"Alright! As Bjorn has advanced for the first time, Brennah, how about a grand dinner today? I'll tell Bornin and Ashley. That okay with you?" Ornin asked Brennah.

"Oh yes~ This is an occasion worth celebrating." Brennah said as she smiled and nodded.

"You're also invited Corbin, so substitute someone else, alright?" Ornin said.

"Yes, Master." Corbin said as he bowed.

Ornin and Brennah talked about the dishes they should have in their dinner, they went inside.

They needed to make preparations for the dinner and stop Chara from training in the evening, after she comes home.

The three had tacitly decided not to mention about the silhouettes they saw, as it was a too sensitive information and they weren't clear about it themselves.

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'Ugh. This fudging hurts!'

Bjorn was in pain. He was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, enduring the pain.

After he was done training, he had seen that his parents were coming towards him. He was excited, and he had thought that his mother would like how far he had gotten in his training.

He always wanted that praise from the parents. As a former 18 year old, perhaps it was a little embarrassing for him to yearn for praises like that. But he simply didn't care about that.

He would rather be embarrassed than being distant from the affection.

But suddenly, the pain had assaulted him. It was excruciating to bear it.

Something was throbbing in his body and it felt like it would have jumped out then. Fortunately nothing of that sort of happened.

Then his mind had gone blank. What he saw next, was too nonsensical. It was something like a vision.

He saw through a tall body, wielding a spear, killing giants, men and monsters. Looking down on various people who were kneeling before him-- and that's where it had stopped.

Thanks to his mother's spell, he had felt much better. He was still in pain, but hadn't shown.

But whatever changes in his body, aside from his height, he was too occupied with the pain to realize.

After taking a little nap, he felt much better.

He sat up a little, leaning on the headboard. To quench his thirst, he drank a little water, but someone abruptly barged in.

He coughed, as the water flowed down to the nose, due to the surprise he got.

"Aw brother, are you okay?" a young woman's voice sounded.

Bjorn looked up and saw that it was his sister, Chara. She was now 18 years old. She had inherited their mother's gene and perhaps looked like younger version of their mother.

As she looked at Bjorn, she stopped dead in her tracks. She was a little stupefied at the changes in his body.

"Sister?" Bjorn asked as he noticed his sister staring at him.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry. I was a little surprised when I saw you. You've really changed." She said as she walked near his bed and sat beside him.

"Oh really? I didn't notice. I was resting for a while. I guess, I'll check afterwards. Right, when did you come? And how are you?" he asked.

"Oh, it's fine. I arrived this afternoon and I'm fine." She answered.

"Well, that's a relief. How was your quest? How was adventuring in the deeper areas of the mountain range?" he asked as he always enjoyed her adventuring stories.

"Oh it was as usual. There were some weird requests given by the nearby town's alchemist company…" she then proceeded to recite the whole story.

As such they talked for a while.

"Well, now rest a little more. We're celebrating your advancement, so today we have a feast at our home. It's just family.

I'll go and ask mom if she needs extra Boar meat. You like it, don't you?" she said as she stood up.

"I do. But you don't need to go. Someone else can get it." He replied.

"How that can be? It's for my brother, of course I'll hunt it." She said as she turned towards the door.

"Oh come on, you just need a reason to go outside again. I bet Dad told you to stay put." He said as he rolled his eyes.

"I don't understand what you're talking about." She said as she waved her hands and vanished through the door.

He chuckled a little at that. He fully knew how much of an impatient individual she was. Cannot stay at one place for long. Or just will do whatever she wants.

He closed his eyes and was going to sleep, but he remembered something.

'Right. I think, the Guide will show my progress. After I advanced, there was a notification sound, I was just too distracted to notice it.

Let's check it.' He thought.

'Status'.

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Note:-

1. Atavism means to gain characteristic(s) of one's ancestors. In fantasy fiction, it is also related to abilities or physique of the said ancestor.

2. The story about it will be explained in later chapters. As it would've broken the flow of events, I didn't add it here.

Author: Shantanu Bondre (ID: Sam0207)