NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: His Birthday
"Taaaaaru! Squeeeeeaky!" Amelia's loud noises echoed through the house as Taurus was having some exercise alone in his parent's room. The sleeping critter jumped upon hearing the voice before dipping below the bed.
'Eh, is it already time?' Taurus wondered upon hearing her voice since she had been absent for two months while attending the academy, and living in the dorms over there.
"Ba da da baa dada!" Taurus raised his arms high and threw some gibberish the moment he saw her enter.
"Where's my little squeaky?!" She rushed at him before lifting him for a tight hug.
Thankfully he was jacked—compared to other toddlers—since he spent two months taking every chance he had to exercise.
Her squeeze no longer bothered him since his body was no longer as soft as before due to his stats and level increasing over time.
"He ba da do." He threw another bunch of gibberish before pointing at the door in response to her question.
He didn't feel like snitching on the critter since his birthday would arrive soon, bringing along the chaos and terror that could mortify it.
"Thank you, dear!" Amelia smiled brightly before letting him down to his toys and running out through the door.
He winked to Squeaky once she was out and the critter nodded its head in appreciation.
'Let's get this over within the week,' He stared at the toys below him before bringing up his status.
{Status}
[Name: Taurus Pendragon]
[Evaluation: 36 Stars]
[Level: 5 | Exp: 185/500]
[Stats]
–Health: 170/170 (Vitality * 15)
–Mana: 0/0 (Spirit * 5)
–Abyssal Force: 75/75 (Strength * 5)
–Max Physical Damage: 45 (Strength * 3)
–Max Elemental Damage: 3 (Spirit * 3)
–Max Ranged Damage: 33 (Dexterity * 3)
[Attributes]
—Unassigned Points: 20
Vitality: 9 | Spirit: 1 | Strength: 15 | Dexterity: 11
Although he was midway through the level, the toys had become unsuitable as they could no longer be considered weights to the interface.
Thankfully, the perfect solution lay around not far from him.
He started carrying the toys to the bag next to him before beginning his exercises and through trial and error, Taurus eventually found the suitable weight that triggered his trait.
During this time, Taurus considered revealing his status to his parents since his level steadily increased.
He wanted to take the chance of being a baby to be more believable and at the worst, he could act stupid and just question his parents about the notifications that came along with his trait triggering.
Knowing he couldn't speak yet, he decided to push his thoughts aside, leaving them for a while later.
The days passed as Taurus' experience increased steadily alongside his stats.
The house received some new decorations throughout the days, mostly balloons and lights to celebrate his approaching birthday.
He felt excited knowing his birthday was a few days away, and while there was a lot to excite him, meeting some of his past life friends was the one that dominated his mind the most.
He didn't really care whether they were babies, remembered him or not. Just getting the chance to see them was enough to make him happy, encouraging him to even grind harder.
Finally, his big day arrived.
Sunlight streamed into the room as he sat surrounded by his toys. The interface proudly displayed level 6, with 25 attribute points ready to spend.
His Strength had soared to 18, and Dexterity to 15. 'Time to celebrate,' he thought, the faint sound of voices and laughter pulled him from his thoughts.
The sound of footsteps approached the bedroom and soon, the door slowly opened as Theo stepped inside causing Taurus to shout in excitement.
"Baba?!" Muttering the only word he could say, Theo laughed lightly before lifting Taurus into his arms.
"Who's Baba?!" Theo questioned before pinching his bother's cheeks lightly.
"Ba da ba da!" Taurus responded before pushing his brother's hand away, making his content clear.
Unfortunately, it only ended up making his brother go further until he had enough.
Once done playing, Theo took his brother outside to the main hall filled with people.
'So many familiar faces,' Taurus thought upon arriving. All of the grandparents were present except for old man Theodore, who disliked such noisy atmospheres.
Some of his parent's friends were present with some of their family members, especially his old childhood friends, Lily and her brother, Jack.
Both were a few months older and he and their parents were naturally accompanying them.
Their father, Marquess Alaron was Edmund's lifelong friend and military comrade.
Although he was a marquess, the only thing he had was his noble title and the privilege granted to him for his military merits.
Just like Theodore Pendragon, Alaron didn't brother overseeing territories and chose a small place in the vast capital for his family to live happily.
'I'm deeply sorry, good friend…' Remembering how he abandoned Jack and disappeared in his past life, Taurus felt the sadness inside his heart leaking out.
"Heeeeelp me, you bastard!" Fortunately, Squeaky's loud shout broke his train of thought and pulled him out of the mood.
'I owe you one,' He stared at the critter getting toyed around by the girls and felt thankful since he didn't want to ruin the celebration for the ones present.
"Aw, cutie! I'm impressed you can keep your composure around others!" Sera, Alaron's wife stepped forward before taking the boy from his brother's arm, and Taurus managed to impress her by remaining quiet.
"Bo da de ba to?" Taurus mumbled, not meaning anything with his gibberish in response to her statement.
He stared at the kids abusing Squeaky on the ground, making his intentions to join easy to guess.
"Oh, honey! Let me help you get there." Sera made her way to the children and allowed him down on the floor.
A moment later, he surprised her once again by walking toward them, she found it impressive for a baby at his age.
The chatter continued while he played with the kids and the adults were having their drinks.
Eventually, the birthday cake arrived and his mother took him to it.
A single candle was placed on the cake, and his sister eventually lit it on fire with her spirit as everyone wished him a happy birthday.
"Waaaaaaa!" He shouted excitedly before raising his little arms high, looking forward to the future while deeply impressed by her control.