A young woman peeked inside and Reece instantly played being asleep when he heard the door creaking. He would hazard a guess this person is a family member...
[Would you like to skip (2 years)?]
'Honestly, I don't care enough to deal with being an actual baby...' Reece in a heartbeat clicks on the request. In moments- Darkness... Reality felt off to his senses during it, awful. He's now a toddler before getting any bearings about it. 'Shit- that was dumb.'
[Welcome back!! You haven't missed much in those two years but very soon you'll begin proper education!] She's luckily only text in his head otherwise such a cheery voice would give him a headache with this situation. [So, before anything else, you did get another quest- oh, I almost forgot! Quests are pretty much tasks the god of each world wants and is willing to pay you for.]
`I could've guessed but ugh... Being jerked around in my state of being actually has me a bit sick.` Reece looks around and notices he's in a backyard? If you could call the free ranged area of a medieval villager house one of those... His tail swooshes for a moment as his sour mood takes hold. 'Oh, I have that...'
He looks around and takes in the nice sunny day. The air felt so fresh that he couldn't believe it for a moment. The grass was greener than he thought possible from his old experiences... The sky was so clear but when looking upwards Reece could see that there's trees touching the heavens like skyscrapers in sheer height.
"Wolfhard my boy! Is something wrong over there?" An older man with graying hair yelled over to him. His voice was a bit too booming and the pointy ears on Reece flinched at the volume.
[Oh! Bit of context for you, that's your grandfather.] She unhelpfully makes a system screen point an arrow towards him. [He's very protective and loving, excuse his yelling, you were acting weird.]
"No-no, grandpa..." Reece says almost automatically. He actually feels a bit guilty pretending to be a child, his grandchild in fact. Aw shoot, he's acting like a child doing something he shouldn't... `I hope he doesn't question me too deeply, I'm clueless on what Wolfhard was doing on autopilot.`
That grandfather's expression suddenly softens hearing Reece speaking, there's sheer joy on his face. This completely confuses Reece in this moment before the old man speaks up with a slight tear of joy.
"Wolfhard... Come here, I knew you were closer to me from storytime!" He really can't hold back any tears of joy. A stone wall crying like that... What an oddity! He speaks with an earthy resonance that easily shakes Reece's bones but his behavior right now might be his soft heart on display. "I knew your mother was wrong about you being a silent one!"
`I might not have to worry about him as I thought.` Reece relaxed while walking- more like waddling due to his current body towards the porch of his village house.
This old man wasn't big as his presence would entail but even if Reece was an adult, it could still crush him instantly. He was already regretting a bit of his arrogance from earlier. A cuddly wolf still is a beast with terrifying fangs.
"Alright, Grandpa Aurel will tell you a story I've been saving for when you can speak." He says picking up Reece when he gets closer and placing him on his lap. The rigid expression returns. "I'll share with you the story of our idols and the immortal demon king."
'Demon king? Maybe this will be helpful even.` Reece looked up at his reincarnation's grandfather with joyful eyes. It might not be the kind of reason Aurel is hoping for.
"Ahem, The tale is almost as old as the very world we live in..." Aurel gets a grim expression while speaking.
Long ago when the world trees were saplings and the Lord of Forests still wandered the lands. The Lord used to sing a grand melody that seeded plants wherever he went but this was a lonely endeavor, no beasts wandered in his woods, not even an ant.
The loneliness got to the point where a flower caught his eye and with his claw, sliced his palm allowing the primordial sap in his veins to spill on the beautiful bloom. The Mistress of Flowers was born, a beautiful maiden and muse for all the flowers in the land. Together, they'd sing a song which reached the depths of the ocean where primitive life dwelled.
They followed the melody to land and the pair decided to guide the naive souls from the murky seas. Giving raise to the little folk, the two were giants after all! The Lord was never alone, no, he always had the little ones following the life that trailed behind him. Kingdoms bloomed around the world trees he planted eons ago.
Then one day, he had a son. A baby boy he titled Vine-
Reece's blood turned cold remembering the title of his main quest. One kinda crazy fact to learn in... A children's story!? `Nobody said anything about slaying a demi-god in my first reincarnation, goddamnit.`
[Well, Demon kings are on average stronger than demi-gods of their respective world! They're threats that even the gods avoid in fear of damaging their world permanently :S] That red screen chips up to his complaints. The system was giving him the facts and that makes it even worse for him.
'So I have to aim for the top of the strongest in every world? Welp, I think it'll be tough... Thankfully, I'm just helping the hero here, right?' Reece feels a bit more confident in killing a demon king like Vine with another hero. He'll need to gather allies as well.
[Mhm! Wait, ah! Let me go check with the god who commissioned us.] The screen flashes black for a moment which surprised Reece for a moment. [Alright, the hero will be dropped into the world in about 20ish years after your reincarnation then you will get another main quest about helping them.]
'Couldve been nice to know in like a meeting with the guy instead of- Wait, oh no, I lost track of the story.` He looked up from Grandpa's lap and realized he missed a great chunk of the story. 'Crap, I zoned out when he was telling the story.'
"The Lord of Forests sulked up the heavenly tree with the wilted mistress after the greedy king's plot was stopped but the young Vine went mad at the Kobold's treachery, his divinity forsaken and his song corrupted into one that sprouts demons from the soil itself." Aurel went on with this grim expression, a normal child would shiver in fear from his pressure but Reece understood the meaning. He's trying to help him understand why monsters exist in the world to a child. "However! He didn't leave us defenseless, he incarnated the six heroes who helped stop his son from destroying a kingdom into the six primal idols who granted several bloodlines their powers and ascended heroes to patron idols as their followers." His tone shifted to an excited tone like this was triumph.
"Dad! Why are you telling him that story!?" A young woman with similar Kobold traits as him and Aurel steps out with a basket of clothes. She furrowed her eyebrows towards her father with a matching pressure as he does. Ah, So that's Reece's mother in this world. "I told you that he shouldn't learn about it at a young age even if he could speak!"
"It's okey, M-mum." Reece speaks up to hopefully break any tension. It feels awful to speak as a child and be their son. There's an inherent discomfort in pretending to be her son...
She looks at Reece with baffled eyes and with tears forming. "I lost the bet with my honey beaaar, daaaaaaang it!!"
'Did my own mother bet against me not speaking!? Huh??' Reece looks up at his mom for this world in utter confusion. His mouth just hangs open, wordless...
"Dad, Dad... What was the first person he referred to?" She moves closer to her father with a hopeful expression.
Aurel looks up at her with a smug grin which feels like a gut stab from her expression seeing it. "That's right my fang flower, he referred to ME first!"
"Nooooooo!" She says dropping her basket and to her knees. Her head cranes back as she yells towards the heavens. "I really did lose my bet.... Damnit..."
'What the hell is up with my family... Well, at least they're interesting people.' He just looks at his new mother figure. This will probably be an interesting new life.
A young man with slightly longer ears than his mother appears in the window with an evil laugh. He slides the window open with a smile aimed at his mother. "You were a fool, honey pot! I knew he'd say grandpa if you gave up so quickly."
[Wow! What a lovely family!] The system adds in as Reece realizes his new situation really will be like...