“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”― Dr. Seuss

  “Who’s the girl, Lios?” Elaine asked without even giving her son the chance to doff his boots. She glanced toward the window when he shot her a questioning look.

  “Her name is Rose. I ran into her on the way back from the river.” He said honestly, taking off his boots and getting more comfortable. “Is there anything I can help with, Mom?”

  “You went to the river by yourself? Honey, you know the forest isn’t safe...” She pursed her lips as she stirred a pot that Lios smelled from the door, and boy was the aroma heavenly. A sort of potato soup with a type of meat he couldn’t identify from sight or scent alone.

  He walked up to gaze down into the pot, hanging over their fire from a hook. “I didn’t go all that far... Just past BriBri’s den, There’s nothing that dangerous this close to the town. You and dad have told me so dozens of times.” He decided not to mention the Liko bees that inhabited the woods nearby, nor the variety of low-level insects that could easily harm him or other non system enhanced folks.

  “Just because there isn’t a lot of danger doesn’t mean there is none,” his mother threw a stern glare his way. “And no, I don’t need any help just yet, just take a seat and relax. Your muscles must be aching after your hefty workout, huh?”

  He did as she said, sitting at the table and creating a mental task list for himself. Not too long after his father returned home, and Elaine served them a delicious and hearty potato soup. She served the perfect amount too, his mother was fantastic at judging how much food to make for minimal waste. The lack of refrigeration made such skills integral to a frugal family.

  After helping her cleanup she started teaching him some basic elvish, starting with some greetings and small talk. Lios took rapid notes on a few pieces of scrap paper to ensure he used the right inflections and gendering when speaking. He could already tell it would take him a long time to become proficient, much longer than it took him to get used to Joran.

  She was patient, a pretty good teacher. Lios wanted many times throughout the night to ask how she knew elvish but he restrained himself. As the years had passed, he noticed that both of his parents were a fair bit better spoken than most in Arborton, not to say that the folks that lived there were hicks or anything but there was still an obvious difference.

  He was halfway between giving into his curiosity and waiting for them to come clean themselves. Not that he expected them to. These were some things he thought about as she taught him, as the new information sank into his mind.

  Elvish and Joran were similar in the way that English and French were similar. They shared many similar words, likely having been built from similar languages, but a lot of the fundamentals were different. Sentence structure, gendering of nouns, gendering of verbs, these were different between the languages making it difficult to catch on to at first.

  The boy studied that night for many long hours; the time moving slower than molasses especially when compared to when he was committing to combat exercises. Learning a new language, while important for him in the long run based on his current plans, was tedious at best. It was something he wanted to accomplish, but not something he enjoyed doing. Learning Joran had come easily because of necessity, learning elvish was also a necessity but didn’t have the same sense of accomplishment or urgency. After all, not many elves existed in Arborton.

  He kept at it though until his mother forced him to stop. After that his head hit the pillow and he fell out of consciousness until his father rudely awakened him just before dawn. Another day, another training session for him.

  He sparred with his dad just as he had the day before, moving a bit better as his father started barking out instructions. He tried to absorb everything his father told him, but some of it slipped through the cracks. After sparring his father watched him practice for over half an hour before departing for his job.

  The rest of the day passed similarly to the day before. Lios practiced his basic techniques, worked out, played with his fox friend for a bit, and took a bath in the river much to his mother’s consternation. He wasn’t feeling rebellious per se, but he wanted to experience even a small amount of freedom. The past six years had been long for him, and now that had even a bit of freedom he would do anything to prevent it from being taken away.

  He visited to the clearing where he had stumbled upon the girl playing the lute but she wasn’t there this time. After he returned with plenty of sun still in the sky, just a few hours past midday, he helped his mother in the garden while she continued to teach him elvish. She expressed surprise at his ability to remember words from the day before and this time as they harvested ripe veggies, pulled potatoes and onions for dinner, she taught him the words for everything they were doing.

  Lios was once more a bit surprised at her proficiency with the language. He had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from asking where she learned it all. How she knew so much. She seemed to understand far more than he would expect a peasant to know this far from any major cities.

  Of course, Arborton wasn’t small by any means. With a population of well over five thousand it was quite the budding city. Its location on the edge of the Deepbloom forest made it a decent trade town between the elvish kingdom of Arwin and Jorial. Of course, most traders avoided the forest if possible, instead either hugging the coast and passing through Gildhall or trading via ships directly with the capitol, Port Airos.

  That being said, it was shocking that anyone from this town outside of the many small noble houses that took residence in the city would be so proficient in not only one but two foreign languages.

  The following weeks took a similar shape. Every day Lios would wake before dawn with his father, spar, then practice on his own and work out. He complained not a single time and completed his workouts with grace. Each day he would try to do more exercises. The first day he had completed twenty-five of each, and within three weeks he was doing one hundred of each before lunch. He could take fewer breaks, swing his sword longer, spend more time learning elvish, and spend more time with Brioche.

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  He ran into Rose a few more times. He went to check out her serene clearing every day out of curiosity, and because he wanted to listen to more music. Music was one thing he missed most, aside from the people, from his previous life. He had never been big on TV outside of some anime, and tended to stay away from social media when he could, but music was something he had listened to everyday for decades.

  The first few times he saw her were fairly far apart, she wasn’t there every day. He would announce himself simply by clearing his throat, and when she would turn her attention to him, he would sheepishly sit down. The first time this happened she looked like she was about to leave until he pleaded with her to continue. It was awkward at first but they slowly got used to each other's company.

  After the second week, on her way to said clearing she stopped to watch as he practiced behind his house. She took a different trail usually, one that was closer to her own home, but had made a point of going to the trailhead he used, after they had met up a few times. This time instead of going to her clearing she sat down with her back against the well and played her lute for him. She didn’t sing, instead she just practiced a variety of songs stopping now and then to get the notes right.

  The two of them didn’t talk all that much, they were both awkward. She was shy, and he did not know how to relate to anyone his age. But even without talking Lios thoroughly enjoyed her company, and she enjoyed his. Sometimes there was a simple comfort in being with someone who didn’t mind silence, instead preferring like-minded company.

  __________________________________________

  On the day he finally completed his assigned routine he leaped into the air and let out a hefty cheer, startling his musical observer. His mom was back at the garden and also looked up worriedly before shaking her head in amusement. She had, of course, noticed the girl too and gave him a little shit for it but hadn’t said too much. She was just happy her antisocial son was making some friends, finally.

  “Oww, why yell so loud?” Rose asked, standing up and brushing grass and dirt from her brown dress.

  “Sorry, Sorry. I just finally finished my workout, or at least reached my first goal.” Lios explained, walking over to the well to ladle some water over his head and back. The sun had been beating down on him, though it wasn’t quite summer so it was still tolerable. He was developing a decent tan though from working in the sun every day. He was developing some muscles too, but his body still looked lanky as one would expect from someone so young.

  “Oh, uhm, good job I think!” Rose responded as she packed up her things, it was still barely noon but she threw a glance back toward her house before turning back to Lios. “I think I'd better head home soon, I have some chores.”

  “Oh.. Sure, see you tomorrow then?” Lios asked hesitantly. Even though they shared few words he had come to enjoy her company, but he also didn’t want to be overbearing.

  “I don’t know yet, but I’ll keep coming when I can.” She turned toward her house and started trotting in that direction, raising a hand to wave back to Lios.

  “See ya!” He called before turning to jog over to his little river sanctuary for a bath.

  __________________________________________

  By the time he returned home, the sun was barely beginning to tilt over the top of the treeline. The air was warmer, if only just, than when he'd started his training. Lios was not looking forward to the coming months, when the sun would bear down on him like the United States bearing down on an oil deposit.

  He stepped over the threshold into his home, the smell of garlic and meat and some fruit bulldozing his nose. Garlic was a fairly common spice here as well, but wasn't always affordable, granted they grew their own so it was often present for meals. He looked at the spread on the table, confused. Scattered on the table were far more dishes than usual. A whole fish, roasted and topped with a citrusy sauce. Mashed potatoes, likely the source of the garlic smell, and a boat of gravy made with the juices of what looked like a half log of tenderloin that rested on the table on a platter. There were a few different vegetables - they normally only had one or two but Lios saw five in total - all plated separately. Steamed broccoli, green beans, corn on the cob, squash, and brussel sprouts. Past the table, on the counter in the kitchen, he saw a cake and a platter with fruits.

  “What's going on? Not that I'm complaining but what's the occasion?” Lios asked, taking his usual seat next to Ezekiel. The table only sat four, and it looked positively cramped with all the food. The scent of alcohol wafted over from his parents' breath, not a lot but enough to realize it wasn’t juice they were drinking. A quick glance located the open glass bottle on the counter.

  “Go on, Zeke! Tell him, tell our son.” Elaine practically squealed as she encouraged him. Lios had forgotten his mother could get like this when she was excited. She couldn't hold a secret, he remembered for her and his fathers anniversary she had struggled to hold in the plans for dinner and had wound up spilling them about a week in advance.

  “Lios! Great news! I’ve received a promotion!” Zeke announced before taking a sip of what looked like a dark ale from his drinking cup. It was similar to a viking drinking horn, save that the bottom was inserted into a fitted wooden block that would allow it to stand on its own on the table. For transportation, the block and the horn both had a clasp that when used would either lock or unlock the two from each other, and the horn had a strap that could be attached though it was currently not being used.

  Lios had only ever seen his father using this when drinking mead or ale, even though all the other cups in the house worked fine for it. He supposed he could understand a bit, having always made a point to use nice whiskey glasses when enjoying a fine bourbon or scotch in his past. Thinking about it made him stare off into space for a split second, reminiscing and wishing for some whiskey and a cigar, what was once a weekly tradition for himself and his brother.

  “That's excellent, father!” Lios smiled, holding up a glass of orange juice to toast with his pa.

  He grinned, tapping the side of his son's cup with his horn. “Aye! You're looking at the new vice-captain of the guards of Arborton!”

  “Did it come with a pay raise?” Lios asked idly, as Elaine poked her fork into a brussel sprout and plopped it into her mouth.

  “It did!” Ezekiel exclaimed before taking a forkful of the fish and shoveling it down his gullet.

  “I have an announcement too! Less exciting but I finished the base workout you assigned to me. All of it!” Lios looked at his parents triumphantly.

  “Lios, it's been barely a month, you needn’t lie,” his father said through a mouthful of potatoes.

  “I’m serious, I did a hundred of everything in two hours!”

  “Reeeaally? In that case I will teach you some footwork techniques tomorrow. And we can start working on the basics of spearmanship since you wanted to know more than the sword.” He smiled this time, seeing Lios was sincere. “I’m sorry for not believing you but for some men in my crew, they took over two months to get to that point.”

  “Hmm, but consider that they rarely get as much time in the day to train. That's all I have spent my time on.”

  The family talked for a while, slowly but surely making their way through the smorgasbord before them. The fish, seasoned only with salt pepper and lemon, was delicious, its skin flaky and crispy but the meat itself was soft, melting in their mouths. The tenderloin had been seared before being cooked over the fire in a cast iron pan, again seasoned with salt and pepper and garlic. Lios ate to his heart's content. There was no need for leftovers as they had no cold storage, he wasn't sure if refrigeration was yet uninvented or if they just couldn't afford the enchantments. He was a bit startled, realizing that the god hadn't stolen his knowledge of food safety. Most likely that wasn't a detriment or a large enough contribution to humanity that it didn't matter like some of the other memories did.

  He went to sleep, belly full. Ready to learn even more in the morning. Life wasn't so bad here, even if he wished for more spices and refrigeration. And air conditioning.

  There was much to miss in this magical world.

  But, already there would be much to be missed if he went back.