Chương 28: Decisions Maketh Baby

Ren kept staring at the three unspent stat points. He had delayed using them because every choice felt permanent, and permanent choices deserved more thought than a desperate baby could usually spare. Not that using them when he was struggling to even crawl would have been of any use. But now– He considered the options. Intelligence might help with mana, while Willpower might strengthen Focus under pressure.

Dexterity had already improved his control, Strength enabled him to do more physically, and Vitality might keep him alive longer. Every option offered a useful advantage. The problem was that usefulness remained abstract until danger arrived. During the last raid, Ren had gone wherever Elna carried him. He had seen whatever the crowd allowed him to see, and when the church doors broke, he had possessed little way to change his position himself.

His plans had moved adults, but his own body had remained trapped inside Elna's arms. His final attempt with mana offered no reliable answer. A surge had erupted when he reached through Mana Manipulation and grabbed every loose current available. The result had burned through him, raised Mana Manipulation, and ended with death before he could observe what the actual outcome was. Whether the burning feeling even did anything remained a mystery.

Most importantly, he was not particularly eager to repeat the result at the prospect of dying again. Mana remained an unreliable unknown. … Movement was of more immediate use, however. A stronger body could crawl farther, reach useful objects, follow people, find better sightlines, and escape places where adults believed he should remain. Even limited independence would create opportunities that better thinking alone could never provide. Ren focused on his physical attributes.

His Strength remained too low to have a big impact on his ability to move around. Dexterity was certainly helpful, it made his grip better and reactions stronger. And Vitality remained embarrassingly poor for a baby repeatedly fighting death. He considered placing every point into one attribute, then rejected the idea. His body needed enough strength to move, enough dexterity to control that movement, and enough vitality to repeat the effort. [Allocate 1 Stat Point to Strength?] Ren accepted the prompt immediately. [Strength +1] [Strength: 6] A firm tension settled through his shoulders and back. He felt as his muscles tightened around a clearer structure. And when he pressed both hands against the mattress, his chest rose more easily than before. The result was subtle but unmistakable. [Allocate 1 Stat Point to Dexterity?] Ren accepted the second prompt. [Dexterity +1] [Dexterity: 7] This change was a little stranger.

His body became easier to understand from within, and the precise movements he could make all registered more clearly. Ren opened one hand carefully, and every finger responded more eagerly. He touched his thumb against one fingertip, missed slightly, corrected the angle, and succeeded without needing another attempt. That left one final point. [Allocate 1 Stat Point to Vitality?] He confirmed the decision. [Vitality +1] [Vitality: 4] The fever remained. He had expected nothing else.

However, the heaviness inside his limbs became less oppressive. His breathing deepened naturally, and the weakness beneath his skin stopped feeling quite so absolute. He checked his available resources. [Health: 40/40] [Stamina: 41/41] Ren studied the numbers. Health had risen by ten. Stamina had climbed far more sharply, reaching forty-one. He wasn't even sure if the extra Health did anything for him when he was a wee baby, but Stamina definitely changed how much he could do and grind before getting tired.

He could spend longer moving, testing, and training instead of exhausting himself after a handful of attempts. Ren could already see how much more efficient his training could now become! Physical progress no longer had to come one exhausted effort at a time. Ren rolled onto his stomach and planted both hands beneath his shoulders. The mattress dipped under his weight, and his arms trembled before he had even pushed upward. That part remained familiar.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. What changed was how long they held. He brought one knee beneath himself, then adjusted the other without collapsing sideways. His hips still wobbled, but Athletics caught each mistake before it became a full fall. Ren crawled toward the opposite rail. The first movement came slowly and his hands and knees still needed deliberate placement. The second came more easily.

By the fourth, the rhythm became natural enough for him to reach the far side without stopping. He turned carefully and crossed back. The return trip felt even smoother! The happiness and relief that hit him at finally being able to consistently do more than just baby flails was overwhelming. He shuddered all over with newfound energy! Finally! With newfound energy, Ren continued his testing, until strain became too much for his shoulders and thighs. His breathing grew faster, but the effort remained controlled.

He stopped before the strain became too much. Ren learned by now that training until collapse would only prove that stronger babies could make stupid decisions more efficiently. After several crossings, strain gathered through Ren's shoulders and thighs. His breathing quickened, but his arms still held and his movements remained controlled. During earlier loops, comparable effort would already have left him shaking beneath the blanket.

Now he could stop, recover, and continue before exhaustion ended the entire session. Great progress! First he would conquer the crib, next the–"Why are you crawling around like that?" Tessa stood beside the crib with the wooden horse tucked beneath one arm. Her hair remained tangled from sleep, and suspicion narrowed her eyes as she watched Ren cross the mattress again. Ren stopped near the rail and looked toward the horse.

"You want me to give you this?" He slapped the mattress once. Tessa pushed the toy between the bars, but instead of placing it within reach, she set it near the opposite corner. Ren crawled toward it. Before his hand reached the carved tail, Tessa moved the horse farther away. He looked up at her.

"Well? It's just there!" Her smile revealed that she understood his annoyance perfectly. Ren resumed crawling. Tessa moved the horse whenever he approached, forcing him to turn and cross the uneven folds in the blanket. Whenever Ren rushed, one knee slid outward. Whenever he watched only the horse, his hand landed badly. He stubbornly slowed, adjusted, and kept going. Athletics helped him recover, and the increased stats helped, but the System still demanded practice.

It might have allowed for impossible progress – and Ren was pretty sure no baby should be quite that agile without some higher forces at play – but it still took its due. Not that Ren minded. Timeloop or not, without its help… He shuddered just thinking about it. Nope, better to focus on the now, train hard and grind even harder! A couple dozen crossings later, the strain gathered through Ren's shoulders and thighs.

His breathing quickened, but he still had enough control to stop before the effort turned into collapse. Tessa finally stopped moving the horse.

"You are so much faster today! And move around lots!" Ren slapped once. She studied him for several seconds, with the deepest level of suspicion only a six year old kid could manage.

"Babies shouldn't grow so fast!" Well, yes, but also apparently not? Ren refused to answer long enough for his sister to get bored of just watching.

"A-ha! I have an idea!" more ominous words had never been said.

"Let's try another game!" Tessa lifted the horse above the crib rail.

"Can you reach it from there?" … Ren didn't know, but he tried anyway. He gripped the bars, pulled, brought one foot beneath himself, then fought to place the other flat against the mattress. His left ankle folded the first time. He lowered himself, corrected it, and pushed again. His legs straightened. Ren stood. The rail carried most of his balance, but the rest belonged to him. But the System still answered. [Strength +1] [Strength: 7] [Stamina: 23/44] … Oh.

That was unexpected, but it made sense that the free stat points wouldn't just reset his progress. Good to know, and he wondered if– His sister stared at him weirdly. Tessa stopped smiling.

"You should not do that yet." Ren watched her.

"You are still very little, and babies do not stand!" She lowered the horse and glanced toward the doorway.

"If Mama sees, she will make you stop." Ren held the rail and watched her. Tessa crouched beside the crib.

"You should sit down before you fall, or Mama will get angry." His sister's fidgeting made it obvious she understood 'something was wrong' and then, in a typical childish fashion, misunderstood Elna would be angry at her for this. Ren wanted to shake his head at this, but instead he just lowered himself carefully. She sighed in relief.

When Elna returned upstairs, Ren lay beside the wooden horse while Tessa sat nearby. Elna looked between them.

"You both became very quiet."

"We were playing carefully!"

"That answer worries me." Ren grabbed the horse and made a totally ordinary baby sound. Elna smiled despite herself.

"Keep watching your brother."

"I do," Tessa said.

"He does strange things!" Ren believed her completely. He also needed her help. During the last loop, Ren had believed he understood the village. Then the horn sounded, and Elna carried him into a plan he had never known existed. The church had been waiting as a shelter while he spent weeks thinking only about the house and cellar. Hundreds of people had lived beyond the narrow piece of the village his crib, windows, and borrowed journeys allowed him to see.

Hadrik had organized defenses Ren still knew next to nothing about, and the roads beyond the village remained almost entirely outside his understanding. Much less about whatever was hiding in the forest. Many of those things he only learned about while the attack was already happening. Too late to ask better questions. Too late to change the plan. Ren could not let the next useful answer arrive after he needed it.

He still needed to learn more about how the village responded to dangers, who decided whether danger justified outside help, and which adults knew the world beyond the village. He also needed answers about the System, especially since it had already demonstrated how reluctant it was to answer those questions itself. Proactive approach was the best here. But… Ren was still just a baby. And learning every answer alone would waste another loop.

He still needed to know how the village asked for help, and why they didn't do so last loop. He could not ask Elna or Bren himself. Even with better control, his speech remained too poor for anything complicated, and random sounds would only make them guess at the wrong question. … Tessa offered a better route. His sister had understood him before, and was already catching up too. Bless her curious little heart!

She had already proven able to carry questions, bring back answers, and able to turn his helpless signals into things adults could act on. Now none of that existed between them. Ren watched her sit beside the crib with the wooden horse in her lap. She was still curious, however. And that would have to be enough.