I stared into her deep brown eyes, which reflected mine of the same color. I was glad to be old enough now to discern colors properly.
“Ya.”
I was a pervert, but a proud one. Lying? That was below me.
Mom’s eyes squinted.
“Were you worried about Mama?”
“Ya. An kurius.”
Unfortunately, my speech was still blurred due to my throat not being fully developed yet. Not that it mattered since we communicated through love anyway.
“Mama’s fine, my baby. Hmm. I told you that you shouldn’t leave the room, right? It’s wrong to disobey Mama.”
“Ya.”
“I think you need to be punished. It’s for your own good, Keon.”
“Kay.”
I wasn’t worried in the least. My mother focused and carefully approached a finger to my nose. She very slightly tapped on it, so softly I barely felt anything. Right after, she checked my reaction, looking anxious.
“Oh no… Did I punish you too hard?”
She suddenly embraced me, burying me in her cleavage.
“I’m sorry! Mama will be more careful in the future, my poor baby!”
She was lost in her delusions again, as if the “punishment” had been something terrible for me. She didn’t realize that the way she was currently squeezing me felt a hundred times more intense than her light tap on my nose. Those small details didn’t register in her mind. My mother was in a plane of existence well above these kinds of trifles.
I also didn’t have any complaints about the situation. Who would refuse the soft contact of her large boobs around their head? Certainly not me.
Just like that, I grew up quickly. My mom often hung around Libes since the two got along well. In consequence, I was often together with Dyla. It didn’t take me long to ascertain that she was just a normal toddler, and not someone reincarnated, just like all the other children in our area. If not, she was the best actor in the universe. There wasn’t a single instant her acting slipped, and no matter when and where, she acted exactly like what she was.
We grew up together, and considering my strategic advantage of being reborn, I ultimately ended up leading our duo. Since I was taking very good care of my first friend in this world, she ended up relying on me a lot. I tried hard to raise her to have a strong character, to no avail. No matter what I attempted, she was inherently timid, with a tendency to cry easily.
Eventually, we were six years old, and it was time for us to leave the “cradle”, the rooms reserved for the smaller infants. New babies had been born to take over our spots while we were old enough now to move to a different part of the cave. It wasn’t time for games anymore. Instead, we were to start receiving formal education from now on.
The new part of the grotto we were in was much larger, comprised of many rooms, still mostly on the inner layers, for protection. However, we were allowed to go outside too, probably because even the people of this time knew how important going out in the sun was.
In this area, there were many kids aged six to fifteen, the age one was considered an adult in this world. My older sister, now thirteen years old, also belonged here. She greatly rejoiced that my mother was moving in with her, giving her the chance to see her anytime she wanted to. We were assigned a large bed in one of the caves, allowing the three of us to sleep together as a family. It was a great blessing for me since I had my separate bedding as a baby and wasn’t allowed to sleep together with my mother.
On the first morning after the move, we newcomers were summoned to a specific cave. The five of our generation, two girls and three boys, assembled there, in front of a burly man with menacing muscles and an old woman. As soon as we were here, the man spoke first.
“I’m warrior Kalam, and this is elder Fevalto. Boys with me. Girls with her. Starting from today, we’re going to teach you what you need to know to become adults.”
Left without choice, Dyla reluctantly separated from me, leaving me together with the boys looking at the caveman with respect and admiration. The man nodded at us and signaled with a movement of his shin.
“You three, come with me. I’ll show you how to become great hunters who can feed the tribe.”
He left without waiting for our response, walking away with large and fast steps. We scrambled, running hurriedly behind, not willing to lose our “instructor”. We arrived in a large cave where many other children were assembled. They were all in the middle of training physically.
“Look. This is what you must do in the morning. I’ll teach you how to train your body to be able to battle the beasts outside of the cave.”
The older children looked at us with meaningful eyes, a mix of pity and disdain, typical of those who had experienced what was to come already.
And, without surprise, a grueling training regimen started. The physical exercises were of all kinds, from running around to carrying heavy rocks, maintaining a correct posture, or even training our abdominal muscles. I hated physical exercise, so I tried to learn more about what we would have to fight against outside.
“Warrior, how are the beasts outside?”
“Stop asking and run, brat! You’ll learn that in the afternoon!”
I had no choice but to obey. It didn’t take me more than two minutes before I was sweating like a pig, feeling like I was dying.
“Haaah! Haaah! Haaah! Warrior, I’m actually a shaman who can use magic…”
My protest attempt only got me a kick in the butt together with a scolding. I was forced to exercise all morning, to the very last protein in my body. When the instructor finally called for a break, I fell on the cold floor, so empty of strength that I couldn’t move a picometer.