POV - Tad

This was absolutely incredible. I was the proud Auntie to two excitable kits. ADHD kits. Surely Ssrah would be back soon. I was just about burnt out and, checking my approximate body clock, hardly two, or three at the most, hours had passed. This was a total killer. How was I supposed to get anything done? How on earth was anyone even still sane after dealing with kids for any length of time?

I suddenly had a brand new appreciation of all that my parents had done.

I was so not ready for auntie hood.

And I was an Auntie. That was non negotiable. That’s what Mum had said. Or emoted or whatever. And so that is what it was. It probably didn’t help that it seemed that male Otto Sapiens were not given any responsibility at all. They were not suitable for leadership or any demanding responsibilities and needed to be protected and cosseted almost as much as the kits. It sounded to me that they needed a male lib movement but I wasn’t getting involved. I knew nothing. In fact it sounded quite comfortable from what little I could glean from the kits somewhat scatterbrain emoting. The females did the ruling, protecting and providing. I couldn’t work out if the males did anything at all. Well, except you know what, but then they weren’t even involved in the child rearing. That was too much responsibility and kits and pups were too precious to risk the care of a flighty male. This was sounding more and more heavenly. Where could I sign up?

Now that's not to say I wasn’t enjoying my new relationship and responsibilities.

On approaching the kits I had been greeted with two pairs of large blue eyes peering at me with little trembling bodies huddled against each other. Thankfully Ssrah had managed to communicate that she was leaving me in charge and that the kits should listen to their honorary Auntie.

There was some delay in convincing them that I was said Auntie. Especially as I tried to rename myself as Uncle. This was not wise. Uncles were not a thing. Uncles were like Uncool and males were just cool. Too cool for school and all that. And from what I could tell, otherwise useless. Hmmmm. In fact it sounded like some sort of a reverse harem set-up. I wasn’t going there thank you. No, I was fine being an Auntie. Yes, I was aware this was a complete reversal of my earlier envy. I was changing my mind. It is the prerogative of all sapient beings and I was exercising mine.

Next challenge was discovering their names. I was tempted, ever so briefly, to go Cat in the Hat and call them Thing One and Thing Two. But this would not do. No, this would not do. What would their mother say and anyway, what would we play? And I had no big box in which to pack them away. I had that surreal feeling that strangely had eluded me this entire time up until now. I was the fish in the pot. It was humbling.

And it was not a good feeling to have when trying to herd carnivorous kittens who would love to chow down on said fish in pot.

Once the two little kits had calmed down and gotten somewhat used to me I had a closer look at them both. They were the size of their full grown terrestrial namesakes, and now that they were more accustomed to my presence, full of a playful energy which simply did not stop. I was pleased my STA was so high for otherwise I am sure I may well have keeled over right then and there already.

The kit’s markings were clearly juvenile, more of a mottling than the mature stripes of an adult. This softened their look and made them especially soft, cute and cuddly.

They were not soft. Well, their fur was soft but they were little balls of muscle, with sharp bits, and they wriggled and squirmed like nothing I’d ever seen. Thankfully, my Stats were high enough, even as a level 1, to resist these Level 0 scratches.

And they both had very different temperaments. Both sisters were complete handfuls of mischief, yet the slightly larger one was a little more deliberate and destructive while the smaller one just never ever stopped moving. Well, unless she had to. I impressed upon them both the need to look to me in case of danger. They understood danger very well. This was a sad indictment on the way the System had treated them. Sapient monsters had it tough. It seemed like while the larger family grouping was a playful and close knit group, there were dangers on every side which kept numbers brutally suppressed. These small Level 0 kits were well versed in obedience when it came to danger. They were intensely aware that being out here, away from their romp, the dangers were much, much worse.

And they hadn’t earned their names yet. Well that would not do. No, I had already decided that. They needed some temporary names until they grew into their proper names. I was not going to call them One and Two.

The larger kit I named Dozer. She may take a little while to get going but once she was there there was no stopping her. Anything in her way would simply be smashed into and taken out. And then there was Scrabble. She was into everything. A bundle of energy and enthusiasm.

They named me too.

I was Baldie Auntie, Little Auntie and Silly Auntie to name a few of the emotes that came my way. I answered to all of them.

[Ding].

Ohho. A new achievement. Recognition of my new position and responsibility.

Commiserations!

You have been endowed with 2 STA Stat points

Endowment cancelled.

Stat points cannot be assigned to a capped Level.

Please proceed to a safe place and trigger Level-Up Protocols

Or not. I knew that was wishful thinking. And bother. All that hard work playing and the Stat reward going to waste. Everything had just got so busy and things had happened that I simply wasn’t prepared for. Plans had gone a bit pear shaped. I sort of figured on getting strong before starting a family.

But I wasn’t really that annoyed. Things happen when they happen. I would go with the flow. It was not like I had a schedule to keep or a deadline in conquering the System. After all, you can’t rush these things.

But there was a method in my madness.

I had deliberately put off [Cultivating] my last STA Stat point. Yes, there was a reason. It was the last one before I would reach the Cap in all three Attribute groupings. Having unlocked my Soul and Mind I was almost certain that there would be an achievement for when I unlocked my Body and completed the trifecta.

And I had delayed so that my coin tossing Swan Perk would come off cool-down. And, querying it, it was off now. Excellent. Now I just needed some quiet time for [Advanced Meditation] and [Basic Cultivation]. This could be a problem.

I thought back to my own childhood. There were no screens here to occupy the kiddies. Hmmm. That was a reasonably solid goto ruled out. And it wasn’t like I could send them down the road to the park either and I was the babysitter already. This was a conundrum.

Oh. That’s a plan. I claimed both kits’ attention. I, the mighty hunter; Auntie Tad, was going to hunt up some food. And because they had been such good little otterlets I would get their favourite take out. It was unanimous. Some sort of yellow rimmed clam. They were the best treat ever. Okay. Excellent.

I impressed upon the kits the need for them to stay inside their holt and be still and silent. They knew what to do, Silly Auntie. They scampered off up to their little hidey hole and disappeared.

I accessed the Shop. Two Yellow lipped Clams coming up. 1EXP for three. I bought six for 1EXP. Bargain. Go me.

The clams joined my little stash of goodies with a clatter.

Oh. These were quite big. Each clam was the size of a dinner plate. Ah, well. Maybe I would try clam for dinner too. New experiences all round.

I spent the next little while opening my packs of ammo and loading them into my bucket. It was a lot of fun as the heavy weight of each baseball sized shot disappeared into my bucket without increasing the weight. I loved these magic shenanigans.

Popping my new book in my backpack I attached my spade and bucket and swung it up onto my shoulders. Gathering up the clams I painstakingly stacked them up in my arms. It was very difficult to balance them. After several unsuccessful attempts I realised I would need to do two trips. Duh. That wasn’t hard. It was like less than a three minute walk at most to where the kiddos were hiding out.

And the jolly things wee’d all over me. Now I smelt of Clam juice. That would make me popular with the ladies. In all the wrong way, if these were a delicacy. I sighed. Another activity to add to my schedule. I needed to have a bath and do the washing. Household chores and kids never let up.

The kids were amazed at my prowess. I was a great and bestest Auntie. Ever.

I gave them one each. They were nearly as big as the kits. And it was their job to get it open. They set to with great gusto. And they knew what to do without instruction, grabbing a stone hammer and wedging the clam in between two rocks before bashing at it with enthusiasm. Hah. It was a competition. Leaving them to it, I checked the sky. It didn’t look like rain. It was well into the evening now so I decided to set up my campfire up here in the rubble. It wouldn’t be the comfiest but I could clear a bit of a flatter area and then the campfire should also include the holt as well.

After setting everything up to my satisfaction I sat down for my contemplations. I had built up a bit of [Tad Aspected Essence] during my healing so I could use that straightaway. I hadn’t been able to witness STA Stat upgrade so I would need to feel my way through this. I added [Delve] to my deliberations.

Three hours later and I was still trying. This wasn’t like exercising my memory or imagination. And it wasn’t like feeding Essence into my muscles or my circulation, joints and ligaments. It was like I needed to inject my Essence into my energy, my endurance. This was a difficult concept for me to grasp. Wasn’t my Essence already my energy? Surely it should just ping into place.

I tried a new thing. I tried moving while maintaining my [Basic Cultivation]. It wobbled. Steady on Tad. Encouraging myself, I dropped [Advanced Mediation] and [Delve] and strengthened my focus on [Basic Cultivation]. I carefully got to my feet.

[Basic Cultivation] settled and steadied. I figured I was finding this process so difficult because I had a lot of bonus STA already. My personal system was flooded with it. It is hard to add another cupful to an already full jar.

But it could be done. I had earned some STA points just before playing with the kiddos. I could do it again. I did a star jump. [Basic Cultivation] collapsed. I triggered it again. And again. After twenty jumps I managed to hold it for two jumps. Aha. One hundred jumps and I could hold it for five jumps before resetting. I was making progress. Five hundred jumps and I still wasn’t tired. But I could now hold it for between thirty and getting close to fifty jumps. And I could see that I was consuming my Stamina. This was excellent. I continued. And continued.

The kits had finished their repast. They had polished those clams off completely and now had little food tummies. It was exceedingly cute. They were utterly confounded by my strange behaviour. I was too focussed to try and explain. Crazy Auntie was crazy. Another name to the repertoire.

My STA was about half. I cycled in my [Imbued Essence] to reinforce it. I had over 200 [Imbued Essence] so this was going to take a while. It was a pity I did not just have the bare minimum that I needed to sacrifice. Ah well, it was just work. It's not like I would change anything. My HP was more important than an easy run. At long last I felt the last of my [Imbued Essence] cycle through my STA.

[Ding]. And I stopped jumping.

Essence Cycling Complete

You have completely cycled your Imbued Essence through your Body while exercising your Stamina.

You may sacrifice [10] [Imbued Essence] to form one STA Stat point.

Would you like to permanently embed your Essence at this time?

YES NO

Huzzah!

Congratulations; you have reached your level cap in all your Body Attribute Stats!

You have unlocked your Health.

You have been endowed with 1 Bonus Stat point in Each Body Attribute.

CONGRATULATIONS

You have been awarded the title of Paragon:

“I can do this all day.”

Steve Rogers

ACCEPT DECLINE

Fan-super-tastic.

Now to roll those dice.