Looking up at my parents, I gradually let control of the darkness around me go. Deciding that my best course of action in this situation was to really channel the baby act, I reached my hands up towards my parents and made a cooing noise. At the same time, a sense of being watched looked rose up in my chest.

  Ding! Appraisal Resistance (U) Lvl 1 unlocked.

  Huh, I guess there's an appraisal skill which lets people see your status. I'm assuming that's what that watched feeling was. Truthfully, I wasn't planning on my parents finding out about my affinities just yet, but I guess it makes sense a parent would want to see what affinity their child was born with.

  "John, we #rg@ $rhef go," my mother said.

  Well, I guess I've finally figured my father's name at least now, which might be useful information in the future. Merely a few seconds after I'd been appraised, I was scooped up and ran out of the house.

  Quickly leaving the house, I got to have my first look at my new world. My family lived in what seems like a small village. It really looked like a stereotypical medieval village with small wooden cottages and a winding stone path leading towards the town center.

  The town was surrounded by short wooden palisade, with one exposed side overlooking a glistening lake. Half a dozen various boat littered the lakes surface, creating small ripples in the lakes surface. It truly was a picturesque scene; unlike anything I'd even seen on Earth.

  Unfortunately, I wasn't given much chance to take in my surroundings as we raced through the town center, no slowing down until we reached a large two storied home on the outskirts of town. My parents still rushing forward, only pausing when they came to the front door.

  Once we reached the front door, my father reached forward before pounding on the door three times and calling out.

  "Gerald, we hui&^# #$## here hief*#&."

  Ding! Lorian Common (C) has reached Level 3

  'Geez, my language skill is leveling up unbelievably quickly. I guess I really underestimated the impact of my language comprehension boost.'

  Not long after Dad knocked on the front door, the door creaked open to reveal a middle-aged man wearing what looks like a colorful bathrobe.

  "Mary, John. What *%&^ghs for you?" Gerald asked.

  "It's Oliver," Mum exclaimed. "His affinity is too *%^#& ## hjeo element manipulation."

  "Very well, come inside."

  And with that Gerald walked back inside, motioning for us to follow him. Walking through his house, I took in the insane details engraved into the walls around us depicting a singular man fighting what looks like a massive dragon. Continuing to follow Gerald further into the house we eventually came to a large, open room.

  Inside the room there was a little girl maybe one or two sitting down in the middle of the room on a colorful mat with her eyes closed, with little purple bolts of lightning crackling around her. As we entered the room, she cracked open an eye to see who it was. Seeing that Gerald wasn't alone she quickly (for a toddler) and walked over towards us.

  "This is Emily," Gerald said. "She's another child from the * who has elemental manipulation skills. We've almost got her reflexive reaction under control."

  My parents both looked at me and mum put me down onto the ground and knelt down to look me in the eyes.

  My father was the first to speak. "Okay son, you're going to have to stay here with Gerald here. Your affinity is too strong for us to look you safely. I promise we'll visit %&#^# everyday Oliver."

  Mum came forward and wrapped her arms around me with tears in her eyes. "This isn't forever Oliver, it's just until &*#&#$ #* # !@!#@$ skills."

  Mum kissed my forehead before backing away with dad and leaving me alone with Gerald and the unknown girl. After we'd heard the door close behind my parents, I felt that increasingly familiar feeling of being watched rose up again. I frowned, annoyed at being in appraised again.

  Looking at Gerald, I focused on him trying to see if I could somehow appraise him as well. I squint my eyes and focus my [Spatial Perception] onto Gerald. Eventually, I get the notification I was hoping to get.

  Ding! You've unlocked Identify (C) Level 1

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  That... That wasn't what I was expecting to unlock there. For starters I got [Identify] not [Appraisal] like I was expecting. And second of all, how the hell is Gerald 67 years old, he looks like mid to late 30's max. I will say, it was cool being able to see what affinity he had though, even if everything else is still unknown. I'm assuming that my identify is too low of a level. It is interesting however, to see that Gerald had a lava affinity. With that in mind I looked towards the little girl named Emily who was still looking at me and triggered [Identify] once more.

  It was cool to see a bit more of Emily's status compared to Gerald's. However, before I even had a chance to be able to consider her status, both of them looked at me a bit more intently. Oh shit, I forgot that you can tell when someone appraises you, I guess they can tell if you identify someone too.

  "Well, well, well, I guess little Oliver is a bit more than what meets the eye." Gerald stalked closer to me, "I couldn't see you #^*#&* @*&$ full status, which is unusual. I wonder if it's your affinity that makes you so unique."

  As Gerald slowly inched closer to me I tried to inch away but I was still restricted by my stupid baby body. Suddenly, he lunged for me, trying to grab at me. Reflectively, I activated [Blink] for the first time and appeared a few meters away from where Gerald thought I was going to be.

  "Little man, come here." And with that, Gerald lunged again, before the cooldown on [Blink] passed. I closed my eyes preparing for the worst, just before I Gerald reached me, I felt the darkness around us forming into a jagged blade, which quickly shot towards Gerald.

  I opened my eyes when I heard a thud as something hit the ground. Looking down, I saw Gerald's left arm lying detached on the ground.

  'Well, this probably didn't quite go how my parents were hoping.'

  Oliver's Status at the End of the Chapter