With the newfound knowledge that I could affect my stats directly with my actions, I decided to see what I could do to train the others. Strength was definitely all about getting stronger. That much was obvious. Wisdom, I guessed would be from accumulated knowledge, which is why mine was so high to start. Others I couldn't even begin to figure out. Charisma? Constitution? Would I need to get sick to not get sick in the future or something?

I shook my head. In my exploration of the house, I found that Mother had a small collection of books in our room. I was unsure if I would be able to read, given my previous life's experience. I knew I could understand the language, but would the writing be the same as well? I crawled to the bookshelf to sate my curiosity. It was three levels high with few books on each level. The rest of the space held decorations that were positively not my style, at least in so much as my previous life was concerned. I picked a book from the shelf and opened it. I read the first line.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Milestone: Learn to Read

CHA +1, INT +1, WIS +1

So the letters are the same, and I recognize this one. I peeked at the cover. Of course, it's 1984.

The stat bonuses were nice, but my attention was grabbed by the fact that there were milestones in addition to the regular stat increases from working hard at something. I was of half a mind to chase after these milestones, but I was unaware of what would be considered a milestone and what wouldn't. Would learning to walk count? And if so, what about running or jumping? If reading was a milestone, would writing be the same? Those only might cover the stats I could understand a correlation with, like AGI with jumping, for example. What about the other stats like CON and END? Would those need specific conditions that were not what I would have thought to be counted as milestones? Like running a marathon raising END.

As I said, I was of half a mind to pursue these milestones but decided instead to focus on stats as well as developing ahead of the curve for things like talking or walking. That way, It'd help test my theory of what was going on while at the same time, I would also be training my other stats somewhat in the process.

The next few days were spent working towards standing. I didn't succeed as my balance was awful still. I had some advantage of knowing what to try, or, perhaps more importantly, what not to try. That would lessen the time from, say, 3 months to 1 month, but not eliminate the needed effort. I would have to continue this effort while learning more about the world somehow.

A month had passed with me learning how to stand and interacting with my parents and siblings. I hadn't learned much in that time than I had already known beforehand. I'd tried to make out a few words, but like my attempts at standing, the neural pathways in this body were just not there yet to let me move my mouth the way I wanted to. At least I'd gained one point into FIN for my efforts to stand and talk. Standing in and of itself did not seem to count as a milestone, however.

I'd tried to figure out anything I could about magic during that time, but I just ended my tests in frustration. I'd have to come back to it when I understood a bit more about what was going on.

"Hi Jame," Anna called to me, breaking my concentration. I turned to look at her and smiled as a reaction. I couldn't do much better without getting a face full of floor for my efforts.

"Aww, he smiled!" she said excitedly. She ran into another room where I heard her exclaim "Mother, he smiled!"

Heat filled my smiling cheeks. Goddamn embarrassing to be treated this way. Not that it's wrong, it just feels so strange still.

I crawled after Anna to at least see what Mother's reaction would be. Turned out to be swift. I was plucked from the floor and snuggled tightly before being showered with kisses and placed back on the floor. Mother's love was like a tornado... it came quickly and ferociously before it was gone.

Max toddled in after me and was the next recipient of that stormy love. I decided it was high time to go somewhere else. I liked my autonomy, at least in as much as I could do things myself. Secretly, though, I did enjoy these hugs and kisses, just don't tell Mother!

Two more months passed with few changes. I still followed my goals of improving my stats while no one was looking. STR, INT, and FIN all improved by 1. The INT boost came from finishing my first book, something I'd hoped for but didn't expect straight away. It would probably have diminishing returns. That hadn't stopped me from reading the books when I had time. Since I didn't really have much time, that meant it was slow going. 1984 took me a bit more than six weeks to complete.

I was able to stand easily and could walk while holding onto pieces of furniture or other people. This didn't seem to count as a milestone, either, though that was something I'd expected. It was likely to be true walking or bust. My mouth muscles were getting closer to being able to say my first real words, but I guessed there would be a few months before I could accomplish that feat.

The only issue I had now was that I was sick. It was more than a cold and I felt dreadful. Mother took care of me while Max looked on with curiosity. Anna seemed to know enough to stay away most of the time, and Father tried to keep my siblings' interactions with me to a minimum while a veritable volcano of shit leaked out for the week or so it took to recover. Recovery, it seemed, granted me a point in CON like I both guessed and feared. I did not want to have to get sick in order to be healthier. That was just a drain on the training time of all of the other stats.

It took until a week before my first birthday to hit the milestone I'd guessed at.

Milestone: Learned to Walk

AGI +1, END +1, FIN +1, STR +1

Although it was a little ahead of what the average baby was able to accomplish, I thought that I saved myself about four months crawling on the floor. Babbling out a 'mama' had gained me another milestone.

Milestone: Learned to Talk

CHA +1, INT +1

I'd racked up another CON from yet another illness, and two END from... well, I wasn't really sure.

I woke up the morning of my first birthday to yet another milestone.

Milestone: First Birthday

All Stats +1

This came as a surprise to me. I expected milestones to mostly be about new and novel things rather than the mundane march of time. However, it did make some sense. I was bigger now by a lot compared to the beginning of the year. I had a suspicion, after seeing this milestone, that being born was also another. I was unsure of why I hadn't seen the message back then if it were. either it wasn't a milestone or there were other factors to seeing these messages.

The birthday celebration was strictly a family affair. No cake to speak of, sadly, but there were some delicious solid foods that were worlds better than Mother's milk. As thanks, I pointed at Mother.

"Mama," I said. It made her very happy.

"Dada," I said to Father, tom ake sure he didn't feel left out.

"Two words, already?" Mother said somewhat shocked. I'd said my words in private to practice.

"Seems that way, Dear. Maybe it's time for him to explore the town now that he's beginning to walk and talk?"

"I think we could do that. There's a perfect opportunity at Anna's testing in two months."

I hadn't heard of this 'testing' before. Was something wrong with my sister? I pushed off these negative thoughts for now. There was no sense worrying over something far beyond my ability to figure out or ask about.

As I laid in my crib that night, I took a look at my Status.

Name: James McPherson Level: 1 Class: None

HP: 20/20

MP: 30/30

SP: 20/20

Attributes: AGI: 3 CHA: 4 CON: 5 END: 5 FIN: 6 INT: 8 STR: 5 WIS: 10 Affinities: Black: 10% Blue: 10% Green: 10% Orange: 10% Red: 10% Violet: 10% White: 10% Yellow: 10% Skills: Reading Lv1 Language Lv1