I gave him a puzzled look. My birthday was half a year ago on the third day of the sixth month. But for some reason, I felt like he was not completely wrong. What am I forgetting? My birthday is the day when I arrived here as a newborn baby. Then again, I was not exactly born during that... oh, this sunavabitch!

"Today, you're ten years old!" Ethos stated. "Congratulations for reaching the double-digits. Do you know what that entails?"

Alarm bells began screaming inside my head. Why, why do I feel so afraid to find out the meaning behind his words? Ethos peered at me with a deep grin. At that moment, I understood. 

Those were the words King Edward gave me to warn me of something insidious. And the man behind the malice was the one standing next to me.

"You catch on quick!" he remarked. I forgot he could read my mind. I know what he's going to say but I refuse to listen. My virtual heart began thumping loudly. Subconsciously, I looked down to see my reflection. My virtual appearance took the form of my former self in Mada. Exactly the way I looked during the king's tournament. 

At the corner of my eye, I could see his lips begin to say something. Before I let that happen, I made a proclamation. "Hold on, I'm not ten years old. I've only been born two years ago. You can't expect me to fulfill your demands!"

"But your soul is ten years old, right?" He said unfazed by my sentiments. "Anyway, I've heard that you've made some attempts to directly address your readers," he sighed. "It took quite a bit of effort to conceal what I said to you from the readers and yet you've made it all go to waste." 

It's infuriating to see how nonchalant he sounds making my life out to be some stage play. Anger manifested in my voice. "Cut the bullshit, I know you brought me here to begin fulfilling your demands. But what the hell do you expect this two-year-old body to do? I don't know, sir, would you like me to crawl to the kitchen table and fetch you some cookies?" I ranted until I wrang myself breathless.

Ethos watched me amusedly. He paced about for a while until he moved towards me. "Since it's your birthday today, I would be willing to give you a grace period," he arrogantly offered. 

"How long will you give me?" I asked carrying a small amount of hope. 

"A month tops, you can start earlier if you wish," he answered.

"A month?" I exploded. "You Waka-Waka motherfucker. Your power being just a bit impressive made you into a stuck-up, prickle-dick, bitch of an old man!" 

"I believe I've been generous enough," he argued. "Everyone else only got the grace period, but you were given two years off and yet I'm still offering you a grace period. Don't get too greedy."

"Unlike them, I got reincarnated into a damn baby!" I blasted. "Besides, if you were actually powerful in any shape or form. I wouldn't be in this state right now. My goddamn home wouldn't have been destroyed by that storm!" I cried out just venting my emotions at this point.

Ethos clicked his tongue in discontent. "This is why children are so difficult to handle," he grumbled. "Oh well..." Ethos paced around before making a decision. "I'm going to get a lot of hate from our fans for doing this, but since your current incarnation is two years old. I suppose it would be unfair to make demands of you," he conceded. "Four years, that will be your grace period."

Finally, it seemed there was some room for bargaining. "If you acknowledge my current age, shouldn't I get eight-"

"Four, don't get cocky, brat." he hissed. 

"Fine, but I have one condition" I yielded. 

"What a petulant child you are," he shook his head. "What is it?"

I smiled. "Accompany me, teach me the ways of the Verse while you wait. I won't let you sleep in my head forever."

Ethos' stare bore deep into my eyes. It felt like he was testing me so I stared back at him with my eyes fully opened. Eventually, he looked away and conceded defeat. "Fine, that may help the both of us, but I won't hold back just because you're a two-year-old brat," he scowled. 

"I look forward to your tutelage," I snarked. 

"Get out of my sight," he said as he walked back into the void. The surrounding scenery began to dissipate into the darkness once again. 

I was back in the crib. My head throbbed from overstimulating my brain during my argument with Ethos. He promised to give me four more years before I have to deal with his shenanigans. It should be plenty, especially since he agreed to teach me. I remembered how King Edward used the Verse to dissolve the rocks into thin air. The thought of being able to learn this power greatly lifted my mood. Though I don't know what happened to him after he brought my soul here. I just hope that he's out there somewhere and is safe from harm. 

During these past two years, things have happened. It's just that none of them involved me. It turned out that my and Alice's family are related hence we are cousins. Alice recently won the regional Dragiu tournament which was the board game I saw them play when I first arrived. I still don't know much about the outside world since I am stuck indoors. Regarding myself, I've gotten the hang of the language here. Names are given honorifics, subtlety is dead and the body language is needlessly crude. I also stupidly tried to stand before learning to crawl, resulting in several faceplants over the years. 

The bedroom door swung open revealing my mother in a kitchen apron saying "Ouya, it's time for lunch." She dashed towards me and picked me up. I weighed around 35 pounds so it was getting increasingly difficult for her to pick me up with ease. I was brought downstairs to the dining table and saw several new faces. 

"Oh wow, he's so adorable," the two strangers exclaimed as they obsessively pat my head. Over the years, I've grown to dislike compliments. It turned out that they were neighbours from next door that had recently moved in and wanted to greet our family. With them, they had a little girl just a year older than me. She sat at the table with a booster seat and had some proper table manners, unlike a few others I observed. But little did I know, she will end up facing a journey just as difficult as mine.