Spring soon became summer as I continued my training regimen. The merchant continued to be elusive but at least I was increasing my stamina. By the end of the summer, I was doing eight laps a day with my usual nap after lunch. I always wake up refreshed afterwards. Naptime was the greatest! Summer quickly became fall and I once again heard the merchant had briefly been in town and left a couple days later after he had already left. The one guy I was hoping to talk to turned out to be quite the workaholic.

I made it to 10 laps a day when fall ended and winter dumped a foot of snow overnight. It was then that I realized I had no plan for keeping up my training while cooped up in the cabin all winter. I was nearly three years old but still considered too young to be outside during the harsh winter months. I had learned in the previous winter that the reason we stay inside is because of the crazy amount of snow that accumulates, making it difficult even for the adults to make their way around the village.

It also gets very windy and very cold. I didn't understand the units of measure used in this world yet but mother made it sound like it stayed well below freezing during the winter months. All the children under the age of 16 and most of the mothers, other than the ones with jobs, stayed indoors for winter. At 16, you were considered an adult and could find a job or even leave town, though it was rare anyone actually left. The few that did had only left because they found work or got married. Even then, they only went as far as Tack. The next nearest town was several days away to the south beyond Tack. I also learned there were no towns north of Rone due to the mountains acting as a natural barrier.

On my third birthday, my parents gave me some weights. They weren't as nice as ones you could get on earth but they would do. This all came about because I was asked by my father why I had been doing so much training. When I mentioned I wanted to get stronger to prepare for the future, George seemed slightly proud and smiled as he ruffled my hair. He didn't say anything but then when my birthday arrived, he gave me the weights. They were really just a bunch of scrap metal pieces but were all about equal in weight. They came in a canvas bag which I could fill with however many I wanted. It allowed me to slowly add more over time, which was nice.

"Thanks, Father! These are great!" I was glad he was supportive. Even Mother seemed to be happy for me as she smiled while she watched.

"These are the same kind of things I had when I was a kid, though I was a bit older than you. Nothing wrong with starting early." I guess George also used weights to workout when he was a kid.

"How old were you when you started, Father?"

"I was seven or eight when I was given my own set. That was when I decided I wanted to get strong to help defend the village. My own father was a guard and was one of the strongest guys in town. I wanted to be just like him." George suddenly looked off into the distance as though remembering his past. This was the first time I had heard anything about my grandparents. Since I never met them I assumed they had died. My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to ask.

"You never mention my grandparents. Does that mean they are not around anymore?" I kind of felt bad asking but it seemed the best time to ask.

"My father died defending the village from a monster attack many years ago. Mother died a few years later when an illness spread through town." George wasn't smiling anymore. He looked like he might cry any moment. Sarah put her hand on his shoulder and George seemed to recover almost instantly. "They weren't the greatest parents in the world but they did the best they could. Even now I try to be everything my father was." He sat down on the couch and Sarah sat next to him with her arms around his shoulders.

"You are a great father, George. Your father would be proud." Sarah comforted George as she placed her head on his shoulder before looking back at me. "My parents are still around but they live in Tack. They never leave town due to their age but once you are old enough we will take you to visit them."

Turns out I did have grandparents, they just lived too far away for me to visit since I was so young. I had been told the forest was dangerous but it still seemed unreal. It's not like I would be going alone. Chalking it up to being overly cautious, I let the conversation drop. I looked back to my weights as I worked on a training plan. Being three years old, I knew I would have trouble with even the bare minimum so to avoid passing out like I did when I first started running I took all but one of the metal weights out of the bag.

My indoor training followed a similar schedule to my outdoor version. I would spend the morning running in place for a while, then did some pushups. Luckily, they were super easy since I weighed hardly anything. I limited it to ten, though. I was determined to not pass out on the floor. After pushups, I used my weight bag. Just some basic movements like bicep curls and a few other exercises. I took my usual nap after lunch, then did it all again in the afternoon. Running in place made me feel kind of dumb but I didn't want to lose all my progress.

The winter eventually ended, and I was finally able to go outside again. I moved my training outdoors once all the snow was gone. I also started bugging George about the merchant, Lee, again. I was determined to meet him and get some answers. Spring came to an end and still no word. No one seemed worried but I was getting impatient. Before long, summer and fall passed and it was winter once again. Lee had come back once and dropped off supplies but went back on the road again soon after. With how much this guy worked, I was wondering why he even bothered with our little village. Home was still home, though, so to each his own.

I turned four and spent the winter indoors again. Continued my training and waited for spring. My impatience was increasing with each passing day. It's not like I had a lot to occupy my time. Training was only a few hours a day. The rest was spent helping Sarah with household chores and was pretty boring. When spring finally arrived, I bolted out the door so fast I was surprised the door remained intact. Ok, I wasn't really that strong but it felt like it since Sarah yelled at me not to slam the door open.

Since I was four now, I was allowed a little more freedom and could leave the yard. I just had to be back for lunch. I decided to take my training to the next level by running through the village instead of around the yard. I had been into the village with George several times before when he took me to get supplies or on other errands. I waved at Glen, the owner of the general store, as I passed by. He gave me a quick wave before returning to sweeping in front of the store. It was nice to see more than the yard while running. It became my new morning routine to run through town and back home followed by some light weights. Of course, I still had my afternoon nap. Then back to running followed by more weights.

My afternoon run was usually a different route than what I took in the morning. While I always took the same route into the village every morning, I used my afternoon run to explore the rest of the area. Sarah said I could go as far as the edge of the village which was marked by a fence that went all the way around the majority of the village. Our cabin was closest to the northern edge but even still I couldn't see it from our yard. My first time out in the afternoon, I went straight to the northern edge just to see where it was. It had a great view of the northern mountains, but otherwise was just a fence. A path for the guard patrols went all the way around the inside of the fence, which made it easy to run on. I was hoping by the time winter came around again I could do an entire lap of the town, but it was a far off dream when spring started.

One day in early summer, I was on one of my random route afternoon runs and came across a group of kids. Most of them looked to be a little older. I slowed to a walk and decided to say hello. It was the first time I had seen any other kids in town. "Hello!" My greeting was met with a variety of looks from the four kids in the group. Most were just curious but the biggest kid immediately scowled.

"Who are you?" The big kid, who was probably only six or seven, was a whole head taller than me. I put my hands up in a peaceful gesture as he continued to glare at me.

"Name's Marcus. I am George's son."

"The tavern guard's kid. I have heard about you. You are always asking people questions." He said it accusingly as though asking questions was a crime.

"What's wrong with asking questions? I want to know about things. Something wrong with curiosity?" I felt my response was valid but it only made the kid glare harder. That's when I noticed he was holding the collar of another kid in the group who seemed closer to my age than to the big kid. I glared back at him.

"Unless you want me to beat you like this wimp here, I suggest you keep walking." I didn't move. Of course, I found the town bully and he was such a stereotype I nearly laughed out loud. "What's so funny? Wipe that smile off your face." Seems I stopped myself from laughing but not from smiling. Whoops.

"Sorry, I just can't believe I walked into the town bully trope. You are like a walking cliche."

"What did you call me?" The big kid let the smaller kid's collar go and started moving in my direction. It was at that moment that I realized while this guy was the bully trope, I had no way of playing the hero trope since I was just a little kid and he was much bigger than me. The last thing I remember is a fist coming at my face before everything went black.

I woke up on my back. I opened my eyes to see the blue sky and the kid being bullied from earlier standing over me. My face hurt but it was already fading. I slowly sat up as I looked around. The big kid and the other two that I assumed were his lackeys were gone. "How long was I out?"

"Not long. Maybe a minute." The boy was smaller than the big kid but not quite as small as me. I stood up and dusted off my pants.

"I am Marcus, what's your name?"

"Devon." Devon didn't seem like a big talker. He just stood there watching me as I checked myself over.

"Is that guy always such a dick?"

"Yeah, that's Drew. He is mean to all the smaller kids." Devon was a little timid but seemed like a nice kid. I must have caught them before anything happened because he didn't seem injured.

"Well, Devon, nice to meet you. You seem much nicer than those other guys. This is my first summer being able to leave the yard. What do you do for fun around here?"

"It's my first summer, too. I mean, my first where I am allowed to go on my own." Devon seemed nervous. Probably that timid personality. "Ever been to the creek? We can play there. Sometimes other kids are there. Not Drew, though. Not sure why but he stays away from the water."

"Yeah, sounds good. Lead the way."

Devon seemed to be opening up and talking a little more as he got used to me. I followed him to the creek, which flowed along through the village on the east side of the main part of town. I had noticed the creek a couple times on my run through the village but hadn't been to the spot Devon brought me yet. The creek was about 15 feet wide at this spot and moved pretty fast but was shallow, only going up to my knees at the deepest spot. I figured it would be deeper and the reason Drew didn't come here was that he couldn't swim. Didn't matter to me. I was fine not having to worry about him coming by to knock me out again.

Devon and I played in the creek for a couple hours until he said he had to go home. I wasn't sure if he just decided it was time or if he somehow knew what time it was. I decided to head home as well, running the whole way since I didn't finish earlier. I was excited to get home and tell my mother about my new friend.