I didn’t.

Arthur took one, good, disgusted look at me, and turned back to Henry, told him it was a pleasure having him and that they should meet again some time. He had to get back to work. The fields wouldn’t plow themselves. Once Henry had left, Arthur sat down beside me(?) with a soul-wrenching sigh. He glanced once at me before beginning to monologue.

“See, kid, I don’t hate you. Allan. I just hate what you represent. You know what you represent, Allan? You represent eighteen years of misery. Eighteen years I just barely have. Eighteen years with a wife who must have slept with half the village and a kid “genius” who doesn’t even have my own colour. In fact, hating you would be a very stupid and amoral thing to do. You’re just a kid. A baby. Not even a month old. I don’t know whether we can keep you or not. But that’s a question for another day. We’ll see whether Marlene can sustain you or not,” he said solemnly before suddenly regaining his sense of anger. He gave me one last look, mainly dominated by anger and regret, yet a small trace of sorrow and love shone through like a single star on a blackened night.

I’m sure I should hate him, I mean, he did just tell me I may or may not be “not sustained”, but, you know… he just seemed so sad. It’s hard to hate someone who regrets what they do.

Wait. Gasp! Is this… Stockholm Syndrome???

Nonono. I shan’t. This man shall be my enemy! He may be my father, but he will never escape my wrath!!

“G-, gaaa…”

Wh-, what was that??

“Gaa.. Gaaaa!”

A… baby? Who, where, I-,

Oh no.

Please don’t let this be what I think it is.

“Gaaaaaaaa!!”

...I’m the orb of a baby, aren’t I.

I may have denied it in my heart, but, most definitely, I am the orb of a baby. A baby named Allan. Da heck.

Alright. Give me a sec. I’m currently alone in this room(apart from Allan), nobody is here, only me and these chickens.

Time to try some stuff out.

I know I can do things, I did “steal” a piece of that weird stalactite, so, I should be able to do more.

Keyword being “should”.

I stretched out myself. I can move. That’s good.

...what more can I do?

I wonder. If I extend myself downwards…

Can I pick up Allan?

I barely wanna try, but… here goes!

I slowly extended myself downwards. Well, more like “I-went-underneath-Allan-and-pushed-with-all-my-might”, and, well… you remember I said I was weak as a chicken? Well…

Allan went up. I lifted him around three centimetres into the air before…

Phuha!

“Gaga!”

He fell right on back.

Luckily, he was laying on a pillow of hay, so he wasn’t damaged, but…

- due to exorcising, you have gained 1 mana -

There it is again! A little row of text hanging in front of my face for three seconds while a mechanical voice tells me what is written! Perheaps… could it possible be…

Experience points?? Status?? Menu??

Game stuff?????

But why would that exist in a real life-, oh wait.

So, if I understand that voice correctly, I gain “mana” by either absorbing someone else’s or by… exercising?

Well well well. It would seem that the ultimate weakling may yet grow strong!

I hope.

Well… since I’ve got who knows how much time to do nothing…

Let’s work out!

Man, this is going to be nostalgic!

And so, for and hour and a half(or so) when nobody seemed to care about of for Allan in the least, I used him for rigerous training! Lifting his body up and down as if doing push-ups! Lifting his legs, excersicing not only myself but him as well! I found a little stick in the crib, most likely meant to be used as a plaything, and lifted it up and down like a dumbell. All and all, during the whole excersise, I gained 12 mana(meaning I have around 14 in total, then?) and, believe it, 3 exp!!

I’m not sure how exp works and if I’ll gain a level when I get god knows how many, but I think it’s safe to say that I’ve gained quite a lot during this hour and a half or so!

What interrupted my work-out-session? Well, the mother, Magdelene? Marlene? Anyhow, she burst in, tears in her eyes and cheeks flushed, and ripped Allan from the crib. He was startled awake from a nap and was just about to cry as if god was dead and we had killed him when she shoved her breast in his face.

Silence.

...I’m not going to describe any more…

Five minutes later, she puts him on her shoulder, pats his back(he burped), and sets him back down.

- Status buff: fullness achieved; Effects: Calm Lv.1, Increased Exp Lv.1, Agility -2p, Drowsiness Lv.2 -

Whoa.

I see.

Very interesting.

Allan bubbled happily before almost immediately falling asleep once more.

Sc-, scary!

What a powerful buff!

Marlene looked at me(us) with great pity before quickly leaving the room. Now I could hear how she walked down a flight of steps. Are we in an attic?...

Well, I guess…

Back to training!