Chương 6: Dealing with Trauma, Jonny Style

Almost dying was traumatic. Jonny had never felt so helpless. His would-be killer wasn't even strong. It was just a regular-ass woman, and he couldn't even begin to fight back. Of course, that wasn't his fault, since he literally couldn't control his body properly, but it still left a big impression on him. He never wanted to feel like that again. I've gotta get strong again. Even beyond just not feeling helpless again, it was something he needed to do.

Jonny understood why he couldn't stay with his parents anymore, but that didn't mean he liked it. In just a few days, he had lost everything. Sure, being a baby kinda sucked, but he would grow out of it. In the meantime, he was the son of a duke, set to inherit a castle and learn magic. Then, it turned out he couldn't actually use magic, which meant that he wouldn't be able to inherit, and then someone sent an assassin after him, and now he wasn't even the son of a duke anymore. Screw magic, he thought.

Who even needs it? I was the strongest without it once. I'll be the strongest without it again. Then I can go back and get my damn castle. He felt resolved, but sadly, his resolve meant little at the moment. Despite everything that had happened, he was still a one year old child with negative independence. As the months flew by, and Jonny got used to his new living situation, he realized that he never knew how good he had it before.

His baby skin was a lot more sensitive than expected, but he had never known because he was always wearing luxurious fabrics. Wooden furniture could have splinters in it sometimes at the orphanage, something he never had to worry about before, but that was a huge pain for his little baby fingers. And toys that he had to share with other kids were… gross. The only good things was that he was a lot less supervised than before.

Back at the ducal household, he had multiple maids with him at all times, watching his every move, but here, there were six other babies around, and only two nuns tending to them all. And since he was the best-behaved of them all, they paid him very little attention, since they constantly had to deal with the others. And that left him free to train. Well, "train" was probably a bit of a strong word for it.

In reality, he was just repeatedly standing up and getting back down to work his agility, grabbing things to improve his dexterity, and walking, running, and crawling until he was too tired to do any more to train his endurance. To the nuns, he was just an unusually active baby, but Jonny knew better. They're not gonna know what hit 'em, he thought with a smug smile. Months turned into years, and before he knew it, it was his fifth birthday.

His new fifth birthday, which was the day the nuns found him, seven days after his actual birthday.

"Happy birthday, Jonny!" The voices of dozens of children and nuns hit him all at once, and in the meantime, Jonny stared at the cake they had gotten him, practically drooling. Birthdays weren't exactly uncommon in the orphanage, but they couldn't really afford sweets for all the kids all the time, so only the birthday kids actually got to eat the cake.

And since he couldn't really get his own food, he was stuck on the lame, bland diet that the orphanage provided for its kids, and his birthday was the one day each year he could have a "cheat day" and eat something good.

"What do you wanna do this year?" asked one of the nuns. Lucy was her name.

"I'm gonna be the strongest five year old in the world!" Jonny announced, flexing his biceps. This got a good laugh out of all the nuns, as it always did. Jonny knew they didn't take his declarations seriously, but he wasn't joking at all. He was serious. And he was pretty sure he was doing well at his goal. He was stronger than most of the six and seven year olds already, and he was pretty sure he could beat the eight year olds in a fight if it really came down to it.

He had been doing pushups, situps, and even pull-ups using the dining room table as a bar every single day since he was physically able to do so. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I doubt there are any other five year olds who can do seventy eight pull-ups in a row. The nuns gave him a few more well-wishes as the other kids eyed his cake greedily, and then as soon as they gave the word, he devoured the entire thing.

He had learned his lesson about taking his time last year when Tommy managed to sneak around behind and grab a chunk with his grubby hands. Fuckin' Tommy, thought Jonny, glaring at the other boy as he slowly slid around to the side. No wonder you're getting fat. Luckily, his experience of maintaining a high maintenance calorie lifestyle in his first life lent itself well to stuffing his face.

He knew exactly how to eat quickly, making sure that no one else could touch his food, and by the time Tommy got into position, Jonny was licking his plate clean. He turned and gave Tommy a triumphantly smug look, and the other boy had the audacity to start sulking. Serves you right. As the birthday boy, Jonny was king of the orphanage that day. He didn't have to do any chores, and all the other kids were obligated to do whatever he asked them to, as long as it wasn't too ridiculous.

So, of course, he asked them all to piss off while he did his workout. The nuns tried to get him to play with the others, but they had long since gotten used to his antics, and soon gave up. Eventually, once his arms and core were too tired to do any more, it was time for cardio. And this time, he got the other kids involved. He may have been an adult, but no one was ever too old for a good old-fashioned game of tag.

An hour later, Jonny was drenched with sweat, laying on a patch of grass and staring up at the clouds. Despite his exhaustion, he was smiling. It had been a good workout. And a good birthday. As his heart calmed down and his breathing returned to normal, and he mentally prepared himself for round 2, suddenly, a shadow fell over his vision. His eyes quickly adjusted, and he looked up to see Sister Lucy standing over him with that smile she always used whenever she had something that was "good for him."

Oh no, not again.

"Hey, Jonny!" she said in a sweet voice.

"We have a special birthday present for you. You have to keep it secret from the other kids." Jonny sat up and narrowed his eyes at her.

"What kind of present?"

"It's a surprise. C'mon, follow me." Jonny was suspicious, but he couldn't imagine how a birthday present could be bad, so he followed her back inside, where she led him to the "special room." He had never been allowed inside, but now that he thought about it, on Tommy's birthday earlier that year, he had spotted the other boy getting taken into the "special room" too. Tommy had gotten out just fine, so it was probably safe. Inside was not what he had expected.

He was expecting something cool, or sinister, or at least interesting, but all he got was a library. Jonny was not big on reading, so he was incredibly disappointed by the room itself, though everything else was still intriguing. Along with Sister Lucy, there were two other nuns present, Sister Margaret and the other Sister Margaret, who were not at all related, but looked surprisingly similar. And in between the two Margarets was the Abbess herself.

Abbess Helen was an older woman, probably around seventy, though she was still fairly active. She was not an uncommon sight around St. Elena's, but she usually did not interact directly with the children too much, staying back to guide the other nuns. Jonny had only directly interacted with her a few times in his four years at the orphanage, and none of those interactions were significant, so it was unusual for her to be her waiting to talk to him.

"For centuries, the fifth birthday has been a very important occasion here in Antaria," she said.

"Have you heard the tale of our founder?" Jonny furrowed his brows, then rubbed his chin. It sounded vaguely familiar, but if he had been told the story, he wasn't paying attention at the time. He looked up at the Abbess and shrugged.

"Then make sure you pay attention, because it's important for your gift," she said with a smile.

"Five thousand years ago, the humans of this world were weak. We were barely able to survive, trapped in caves with powerful monsters all around. We were barely clinging to life. Then the nation's founder appeared.

"Even as an infant, it was obvious he was special. He never cried, was very intelligent, and was said to be speaking in complete sentences at age one. But he truly became special when he turned five, and became the first human ever to learn magic.

"It is said that the gods themselves chose to bless him with knowledge, and on his fifth birthday, he discovered the secrets of mana manipulation. He shared these with the other humans of his tribe, and through its power, they were able to fight back against the monsters encroaching on their borders. Through his might, humanity was united, and we were able to carve out regions of safety in the dangerous world.

"Ever since, it has been Antarian tradition to begin magical education on a child's fifth birthday, which makes today your lucky day! Are you ready to learn how to use magic?"