First Awakening

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the pain and heat started to subside.

Breathing heavily, I found it challenging to keep my eyes open, and soon everything faded to black. All I could hear was the soft singing of Cinyah.

      : Status :

    : Cynrik Jetlensr:

    : Human Male:

    : Age-10 Days:

    : Soul Age-29:

    : Level: 1 :

    : Essence(XP): 0/500 :

    : Distribution: 1 Per All :

     : STATS :

    : HP 20/20 :

    : Mana 11/11 :

    : Stamina 10/10 :

    : Stat Points- 16 :

    : Strength- 2 :

    : Dexterity- 2 :

    : Agility- 2 :

    : Intelligence- 2 :

    : Vitality- 2 :

    : Mind- 26 :

    :Affinity- Dark :

If I had been awake, I would have been able to hear the System Notification that followed me passing out from exhaustion.

  -Awakening complete-

  -Inventory installed current space: 1x1 meter-

Meanwhile, in the Gods Hall.

  =This kid thinks we can't read his thoughts, HA like to see the youngling have words with me=

Odin was currently sitting on a great Viking throne, laughing about how Cynrik was cursing him.

Back on Vinestra

After my so-called awakening, time continued. Day by day slogged on in the same repetitive manner.

Drink boob milk, train eyeballs, rhythmic breathing to adjust to the planets mana, poop, eavesdrop, sleep.

The same pattern day in and out. If it weren't for my willpower, I would have gone insane, but finally, after 50 days of the same pattern, my little cycle was at long last broken.

After nearly two months, the same firey feeling I got during my awakening once again surged through my body.

But unlike the first time, this level wasn't nearly as painful.

It was as if my body had already accepted that it would grow stronger over time, and thus the pain wasn't so bad the second time around.

The surge of heat disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived. Then, no less than 5 seconds later, my System Panel forcefully popped into existence.

  -You Have Leveled Up-

The sound of that glorious monotone female voice was music to my ears.

'Two months, IT TOOK ME 2 FREAKING MONTHS. JUST TO HIT THE LEVEL TWO WHAT KIND OF SLOW ASS …whatever, I can't keep comparing life to a video game; of course, leveling would be slow as hell IRL (In the real world), System Open Status Panel.'

     : Status :

    : Cynrik Jetlensr:

    : Human Male:

    : Age-2 Months:

    : Soul Age-29:

    : Level: 2 :

    : Essence(XP): 0/2500:

    : Distribution: 1 Per All :

'MOTHER FUCKER 2500 XP TO LEVEL 3, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I ONLY GET 10 XP A DAMN DAY.] I screamed internally out of frustration. I Get that I'm just an infant, but cmon System, you could at least give me some pitty XP here.'

  -No New Quests available at this time-

'Oh, so now you're taunting me, is that how it's going to be?' I thought in disgust.

  -The System isn't a sentient being and thus is incapable of taunting the host in any way-

Its monotone voice rang out once again, with its text flowing on a newly opened notification window that was floating just to the left of my Status Panel.

Knowing there was ZERO chance of having an actual argument or conversation with the System, I decided it was best to ignore its retort.

After rolling back and forth for a moment in my crib, I kicked off my blanket and rolled onto my stomach from my back, and continued to think. 'At 10 XP a day, it's going to take me over eight months to get to level 3. Which puts me still a year away from Brandon being born.'

My small infantile hand reached up to my temple in an attempt to massage it. 'Unfortunately, the gap between us is a year and ten months, so with my current growth rate, unless something changes, I won't even be level 4 by the time Brandon comes around.'

Propping myself up on my little elbows and using my crib as a backdrop, I switched from my Status Panel to my Stats Panel.

     : STATS :

    : HP 30/30 :

    : Mana 17/17 :

    : Stamina 15/15 :

    : Stat Points- 24 :

    : Strength- 3 :

    : Dexterity- 3 :

    : Agility- 3 :

    : Intelligence- 3 :

    : Vitality- 3 :

    : Mind- 27 :

    : Affinity- Dark :

'So it's confirmed 8 free stat points for allocation per level-up, with 24 points in the bank, hehe I could quickly become a baby genius if I wanted, but that would draw too much attention. I've already been getting strange looks from both mother and father too frequently as is. Plus I have to remember this is really not a novel or game, if I suddenly show advanced cognitive abilities won't some lab kidnap me to cut me up.'

My mind flashed back to several occasions where Cinyah has caught me listening in on their conversations or overly observing my surroundings. 'If I'm not more careful, they're going to get suspicious. But, hopefully, they continue believing I'm just curious about everything.'

My thought chain came abruptly to an end as I plopped face-first onto my pillow, unintentionally. 'DAMN BABY ARMS, C'mon I've got three points in Strength and 15 Stamina; why can't I hold up my stupid head for longer than 5 minutes.'

  -Host is still only in the infant stage and has only developed for two months. Physical stats are virtually useless at this stage-

'OH FUCK YOU, SYSTEM!' I angrily shot back at the emotionless voice that startled me so badly with its reply that I almost soiled my diaper.

Over the last two months, it had started randomly answering my questions, as if it was constantly monitoring my thoughts.

While it wouldn't answer every question I posed to myself, The System would still jump in now and then to reply to the questions I would ask the void.

And so life continued, with my same monotonous day-to-day pattern.

Finally, on the 40th day after reaching level 2, I got a notification I had been waiting for since I started questing.

  -You have obtained the Tier 0 Skill: Inspect-

Hurriedly, I brought up my Skill Panel and read the description for my new, hard-earned Skill.

  -Inspect Tier 0 to 5 Occular Growth Skill-

  -An Occular skill that has been passed down through the Users Bloodline. By using this Skill, the user can view a targets System Panel

  -The information viewable is restricted to the Tier level of this Skill

  -Tier 0 – Basic Information from the targets Status Panel is Viewable

  -Tier 1- LOCKED

  -Tier 2- LOCKED

  -Tier 3- LOCKED

  -Tier 4- LOCKED

  -Tier 5- LOCKED

I thrashed my head back and forth in my crib in frustration while kicking my feet. '100 days of repeating the same stupid ass quest of looking in different directions only get me the chance to see someone's name, age, race, and level.'

  -If the Host wants to view more information, then He must continue to train his eyes.-

The System's response froze me in place. 'OI, Didn't you say you aren't sentient. That sounded pretty sentient to me.'

  -While I am not sentient, I can respond to questions posed by the Host. I am also allowed to give limited assistance.-

'TSK, limited assistance, my ass. How many times have I asked for help only to be ignored? Hell, you only answer at best 1 out of 10 questions I pose to you.'

My response was once again met by complete silence.

Waiving off the Systems choice to stay quiet, my attention drifted from my Skill Panel over to my Quest Panel, where the Occular Strengthing quest had updated.

    -Daily Quest: Occular Strengthing- Incomplete (repeatable)

     -Unavailable until Tomorrows Daily Quests-

    -As An infant, your eyes aren't strong enough to acquire the innate abilities that come from your bloodline.

    -Look Up 0/1000

    -Look Down 0/1000

     -Look Left 0/1000

    -Look Right 0/1000

    -Reward – 5 Essence (XP)

    -Secondary Reward- Upon 1000th Completion – Tier 0 Skill: Inspect will upgrade to Tier 1

    -Times Completed 100/1000

All I could do was sigh at the increase from 100 to 1000 in both completions and repetitions. 'Ten times the work and not even an increase in my XP reward, the System is stingy as always.'

Although the exercise itself was pretty easy, it was time-consuming. Not only that but caution needed to be taken every time I did it. For the sole reason that not only did it make me look ever so slightly insane to look in a single direction over and over repeatedly. But if Cinyah or Riker saw me doing it, they may confuse my little workout for a seizure or stroke. That; And it made me dizzy as hell.

Doing the quick math, I concluded that even if I completed the exercise every day, it would still take me over two years to reach the Tier 1 version of the Skill.

'Oh well. It's not like I can change any of this. All I can do is bide my time until my brother is born. Then we can get to work.'

POOT!

My facial expression went completely blank.

'Sigh, time to call Mother, man being a baby is SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS!'