Friends?

I heeded my father's words and approached the boy who called out to me, when I arrived he spoke.

"Those other boys are mean, do you want to play a game?" he asked

"Sure, what's your name?"

"My name is John, what about you?"

"I'm Ingen, nice to meet you. What are we going to play?"

"Tana, it's a game where you have to keep a ball in the air, and away from your opponent, without using your hands."

After playing Tana for a while I got tired so John and I started talking

"What do you want to do when you grow up?" I asked

"I dunno, I like to play swords and go hunting so probably something with that."

"Hmm..." I pretended to be thinking for a moment "why not be an adventurer?"

"I don't think so, maybe a traveling blacksmith?"

'Not quite what I was hoping for, but this can work.' I thought, feeling a bit of guilt for manipulating him.

"That's so cool! I'm gonna be an engineer and make a flying machine." I said with youthful exuberance.

"But mages can already fly, why do they need a machine to do it for them."

"They don't, but humans can't fly so I figure they would like it."

From the direction of my house, I heard my mother shout "Dinner!" accompanied by the banging of a metal pot and ladle.

"Gotta go, John, that was my mom. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!"

I went home and set the table. A quirk about the dinner in my house was there was never any meat, not because we are poor, but simply because none of us liked it. In fact, all naturals had their tastes in food shaped by the animal their horns resembled, and all of my family are herbivores.

"So Ingen, how was playtime with your new friend?" Father asked

"It was fun, we played Tana and he said he wants to be a blacksmith."

"Haha, and sit in a forge all day? That's boring." Father said, secretly trying to dissuade his son from being a blacksmith.

"Quit teasing him Ernest, they're six, they can decide what they want to do later." Mother intersected, seeing right through her husband

"I wanna be an engineer!" I shouted too loudly

My father's face lit up "Thank the gods for this blessed child! I'm an engineer! He can continue the family business!"

'So the gods left me with my engineering knowledge, a dad who's an engineer, in a world that doesn't rely on technology. Huh... I wonder what they're getting at? At least now I have a clear goal of what I have to do.'

My mother looked mock incredulous "The family business is healing thank you very much!"

"Jordan, my sweet, beloved Jordan, with all due respect, healing is for the bedroom not the dinner table" Father replied, leaving me oblivious.

Mother smiled but looked at me and coughed "Did you make any more friends?"

"I wasn't able to make any more friends after John. They ran away."

"Aww, that's a shame, you better keep that little Johnny boy."

My parents and I continued idly chatting for a while.

********

Around my seventh birthday, my dad gave me a set of tools.

"You wanna be an engineer eh? Start tinkering now, you'll thank me later."

"Thanks, dad!" I replied

'YES! I can finally get started.'

"Thanking me now works too I guess." Father shrugged

Nothing else of consequence came of my birthday, I got assorted toys and boring stuff. So I took a whittling knife out back and started making a toy with my new tools.

'It seems my hands are shakier than they were before I was reborn, I've managed to fail at this piece three times now. I'll have to work on that if I want to make a grappling hook later.'

Father came out back to teach me how to use my new tools, but quickly realized I had already figured it out.

-------

In the house, away from Ingen:

"Seems I've graduated from Father to dad." Ernest said smugly

"Sellout." Jordan gave a mock pout

"Anyway, he is so talented, I tried to teach him about his tools and he just brushed me off 'cause he already knew everything I was telling him."

"Huh, guess he really is a full-blooded engineer." Jordan looked dejected for a moment.

A noise from the backyard startled the couple. Both Ernest and Jordan ran outside to find their soot-covered son surrounded by smoke.

-------

I was just minding my own business, making this toy, then it started to take shape without me doing anything. Then it imploded in a cloud of smoke sending soot everywhere. My parents came out of the back door just to see me covered in soot and were obviously as confused as me.

"Little jerk! Who just throws a smoke-bomb at a kid!?" I lied unconvincingly

Mother whispered "Guess he's not the prodigy you though he was" into Father's ear.

"Perhaps, how do you even disintegrate a wooden toy without fire?"

Mother came up to me and drew a rune on my chest.

"HUH?! How do you have a spirit core?! More importantly, how are you alive?!"