Sevs thought the purpose of the training world was to make sure that your build was really suited to your real life aptitudes rather than to teach divers how to play. In order to reach the singularity and ascend the player must reach enough synchronicity with their avatar that it was more real to them than their own life. At least that was what the training guide said.

If Sevs was unable to even get past the training world with a DEX build then there was no way it was going to work overall for him. But just doing well in a main world was not enough. More than once he had been counted among the top players before getting struck with the red letters proclaiming him unsuitable for ascension.

Despite his understanding of the necessity of the tutorial processes Sevs really wished that it was skippable. The first several levels were excruciating. There were no ways to speed them up. There were no actions that could have been taken to gain extra EXP. So you were forced to wait on the passive experience where each day you received 1/360 of the next level.

Unless you were pretty unlucky it would go smoothly. You would spend your time learning how to walk and talk. These things were not nearly as hard to learn as for a newborn. But with a new, young and small body it was still odd. It was probably comparable to a person who had severe brain trauma and had to learn how to walk again. Just for everything. Your knowledge persisted but the functions to use and even organize that knowledge needed to be built again.

Sevs let out a sigh of relief as he zoomed to his new home. As long as it took, each play through of the tutorial was different. A different family and different circumstances really shook up the tone. And it made you appreciate the new world. This time around he was in an upper middle class family with both parents around. That was very lucky, having to face ending a play through early or taking a job at level 7 was never fun. Ending a play through was always unpleasant and usually excruciatingly painful.

As Sevs merged with the new avatar he felt his mind meld into the baby’s. It still took control not to panic as his memories started to get all hazy as the crystallized patterns of his mind were lost. With some mental effort he focused on the fact that it would all come back.

The avatar opened his eyes and Sevs caught the first look at his new parents. They seemed happy and pleasant enough, this could be the play through…

***

For the first couple levels there was not much to remember. Nothing notable happened. Mostly it consisted of the things babies usually do. That is to say not much. Once Sev had learned to walk things became a little more interesting.

Around that time was when his memories started to become more clear and accessible again. That was always an odd feeling. As he toddled around and explored the playpen he started to remember, who he was and why he was here.

The memories didn’t come seamlessly. His understanding was rather fuzzy. If you have ever tried to explain a complex concept to a young child you might have some idea of what the level of comprehension was.

Lucky Sevs had done this enough that the memories of what to do were pretty clear. If he performed certain actions his memory and body would develop faster. So with the determination of a stubborn child Sevs set about grinding his mental faculties.

***

“I know I should be grateful but honestly I am a little worried.”

“Your son is very special, it is normal to be concerned. There are a lot of things to worry about and it’s normal for mothers to fret. However, he is ahead of his peers right now but that might change. It’s really too early to say. Once he has more interactions with other children we will see.”

“I hear you… But it’s hard… You know, the other day I left him in the living room while making dinner and somehow he had turned the speakers on.”

“Kids do like to fiddle with things, that is pretty normal.”

“I know, but how many three year olds are listening to Mozart and sitting in the center of the carpet in a lotus position. It looked like he was meditating… I have no idea where he learned that from. Gave me the chills it did”

“Hmmmm. Now that is odd.”

“That is not the worst of it even.”

“Oh?”

“I think I saw him reading my copy of Catcher in the Rye the other day…..”

Sevs leaned away from the door. This conversation was not one that was totally new to him. It was probably time for him to tone it down a little. When he had gone too far with the exercises before it hadn’t really been a good experience. A couple times he was shipped off to some university as a prodigy. Which he was not. Just having all the knowledge but not the skill, meant that a few years into the college level curriculum he capped out. This made it easy to complete the tutorial but really only for INT builds. Once he was studied by the government. That was a play through he had ended early. With a shudder Sevs brought his attention back to the here and now.

While this dilemma was not new it was a bit earlier than normal. Either he had got more perceptive parental figures. Or the other times the System had been compensating for his INT build. Either way he would need to back off on the grinding. It was unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected.

Sevs clasped his little hands in thought. Well. Maybe. There might be another way. He was going for a change after all. Maybe he can try to use his little child-like enthusiasm to his advantage. With that Sevs began to plot. How could he convince everyone around that he was special but not in a way that would get him studied but also allow him to train?