Ch: 3 Rewrite (Patreon)

Star Date: Unknown

Life on this uncharted world is fascinating; in the past six months I've lived here, many things have become clear. The planet appears to be populated by giant beasts standing on two legs, much like mine. They swarm to smaller animals that shriek in the night and clean up the mess they find; all be it reluctantly.

Boredom remains an issue as I've barely regained any of my prior strength, so keeping myself mentally stimulated remains my number one priority.

Attempts to communicate with the local inhabitants have proven fruitless. However, I will continue to try and build a dialog with them to gain their trust.

The smallest of them has been stalking me more lately, and I've grown used to his constant staring. I've noticed he prefers to watch me as I perform my workout routine in my slightly enlarged sleeping quarters. And I must keep an eye on him as he does, for he has a habit of trying to pick me up at the most inopportune times.

When he isn't grabbing me, I spend most of my time devising and utilizing various stretches and poses. My favorite I called 'sleeping baby,' but I've also come up with many others. I've also mastered rolling onto my side and recently accomplished sitting up independently without any of the giant's help.

My ability to move was still nothing like it was before I crashlanded here and was removed from my pod, but every day I grow stronger. If I'm right, I might be able to start crawling soon if I continue to push myself to the point of exhaustion.

I've tried using the walls of my prison to try standing again, but I fear my legs have atrophied after lying for so long. I flail my legs as much as possible to regain muscle, but it will be some time before I can stand using a crutch, much less without one.

The giants have noticed my activity but don't appear to see any harm in it. If anything, they take great joy in cheering me on.

Due to my increased activity, as of late, the female giant has become much more attentive. She doesn't leave me alone for long, meaning I've had much more time to interact with her.

Due to her increasing familiarity, I've learned I have a certain control over her and the other's actions. Of course, screaming is still the best way to get them to do what I want, but I've discovered that smiling and giggling can also produce fascinating results.

If I want to distract them, all I have to do is smile, and the giants essentially turn into great big piles of mush. However, doing so does come with a few drawbacks, mainly in the form of being smothered in their arms for hours on end. Though I'll reluctantly admit, I've slowly grown to like the feeling of being held.

The female still feeds me in a most undignified manner, but I've slowly become accustomed to that too. No matter how embarrassing it is, her feeding me is the only thing fueling my workout routine.

I've grown considerably, both in size and in other aspects. In fact, Computer, Status Page!

LV: 10 Experience: 338/737

Health: 90/90 Stamina: 37/66 Manna: 60/60

Vitality: 9

Endurance: 6

Strength: 5

Agility: 4

Senses: 9

Mind: 27

Magic: 6

Clarity: 8

Status Points: 90

Skills: Sense Mana (LV6), Acting (LV4), Meditation (LV3)

Damn…I cough to clear my throat… seeing my progress made me momentarily drop character.

Oh well, recording continuing.

Seeing my progress tangibly was another thing I was slowly getting used to, but it was no less a vital part of my recovery and a continued supply of mental stimulation.

Since arriving here, I've gained three skills. The first was Sense Mana which has grown as I continue to better feel the unique energy surrounding me. The second skill I gained in this world was aptly named Acting, and it played a vital role in helping me fit in among the giants.

Thirdly, I unlocked Meditation. It only made sense that I would get such a skill after being alone for much of my day. And though it didn't have any immediate benefits like sensing energy or helping me blend in, it did help me pass the time and slightly boosted Sense Mana when I used the two together. That proves skills could be synergetic and that I wasn't limited to using one at a time, a crucial thing to know.

And as my skills leveled, I noticed the benefits of doing so. For example, as Sense Mana went from level 1 to 6, I've been able to sense a greater degree of mana around me. It was like a bubble surrounded me, and as I leveled the skill, it grew slightly bigger, and the contents inside became clearer.

Unlike Sense Mana, as Acting leveled, it didn't give me a quantitative boost. Instead, as it leveled, I was better able to commit to a persona, and it even sometimes warned me that I was acting out of character. Of course, it didn't happen all the time, but I assumed the sensations would increase the higher its level rose.

Meditation was the least interesting of the three in that it just helped me focus when I was sitting still. Nothing remarkable, but again, very helpful to my current lifestyle.

I was proud of my skills and how much they've leveled, especially seeing how their growth increased my overall level. I didn't know if level 10 was high for a baby, but I was guessing it was.

The more a skill increased in level, the more experience I got, but not all skills were equal. As my three skills leveled, I tracked how much experience I received in return, leaving me to classify my skills into two categories.

Again, I had no one to ask about anything and had no idea how strong my skills were compared to others, so I categorized my skills as I saw fit. Because I got my skills relatively easily, I categorized them as Basic and Novice.

Whenever a Basic skill leveled, I got 50 experience times whatever the skill level was. So:

Basic Skills: LV1 (50xp)-> LV2 (100xp)-> LV3 (150xp)-> LV4 (200xp)

As for Sense Mana, which was my only Novice skill despite being the first one I unlocked, I got 100 experience times each level. Meaning leveling went like this:

Novice Skills: LV1 (100xp)-> LV2 (200xp)-> LV3 (300xp)-> LV4 (400xp)

The increasing amount of experience points pushed my overall level to where it is. However, though I was getting increasing amounts of experience points, each level required more and more to advance.

Level 1 only required 100exp. Level 2 took 125, 3 needed 156, and it only continued to balloon to where level 10 needed 737. I could only imagine what higher levels would require.

Further study would be needed.

Speaking of which, I needed to focus on the giant's language. Skills were all well and good, but I could only guess at most stuff without anyone to talk to.

I was never good at other languages, so if I didn't start doing the work now, I was afraid I'd never understand those taking care of me.

It may take time away from my workout routine, but I needed to spend more time around the giants. I should first at least try and gleam their names if I can. Then, if I complain enough, I can keep the female from putting me down. Hopefully, that will let me observe them closer.

I'll put my plan into action tomorrow, as it's getting late, and I'm feeling another wave of tiredness threatening to take me.

Though, before I pass out, I note we've moved on to the rainy season of my current biome. It started a month ago when I heard the rain first start pelting the thatched roof above me, and it has picked up significantly since then. The temperature is also dropping steadily; if my predictions are correct, snow should fall in less than a month.

Unnamed Captain, signing out!

**********

Update pending; it has been ten days since my last report. My previous plan has seen marginal success. I was initially afraid the female giant would be mad because I refused to be put down, but if anything, she looked happy at my increased affection.

Now that I was being carried everywhere, I've become much more spacially aware of the giant's domicile and its layout.

Their house was one big rectangle with only two bedrooms. One was where the little giant and I slept, while the other was the main bedroom. I called it the main bedroom, but it was only slightly bigger than the other room.

Across from the bedrooms was a hall storage area absolutely packed to the ceiling with dried wood. Other than that, the rest of the house was one big open room.

There were counters for cooking next to a large stone fireplace. Closeby sat two barrels used to store drinking water. And in the middle of the room was the table where the giants ate dinner together.

Other than that, the only significant furniture besides some small storage was in the corner across from the fireplace. That's where the female giant did her sewing and passed most of her time, usually with me sitting on her lap. That was where I currently was, sitting in her lap, watching her expertly patch a pair of pants.

It was interesting to see how the giants lived without modern-day amenities. One would think the house would be dirty, but it was kept surprisingly clean. The giants even changed their footwear whenever they went outside to not track in mud.

The floor was made of cut stone, and the walls consisted of thick wood planks. There were few windows, but they were all well placed to allow enough sun to illuminate the area. There was no glass in the windows; instead, each opening had a thick shutter that could be propped open and locked at night.

The kitchen had no sink as there wasn't any running water, meaning the female giant had to be highly efficient with the water they did have. There were shelves holding clay jars containing simple spices, and hanging underneath were a handful of pots and pans. Mostly pots.

Of the dinners I've participated in, I've seen the giant family eat almost nothing but soup and stews. Everything was cooked in the fireplace, where a wrought iron spit was set up.

The door to the house was massive and could swing either inward or outward. I had hoped I would be taken outside at some point, but the female giant seemed reluctant to do so with the rain and falling temperatures.

Oh, well, I was busy learning the giant's language anyway and had little time to dream of the outside world.

Thanks to the increased time I've spent with the family, I'd finally managed to decipher a handful of words and their meanings.

The larger female is addressed as “Mom” or “Momma” by the little monster but also responds to “Silvia” when addressed by the large male I rarely see. He, in return, happily responds to being called “Dad” or “Father" by the little one while addressed as "Honey" by his partner but seems to be called "Darrius" when he angers her.

"Richard" is the name of my stalker who continues to scrutinize my every move. I could be placed on the floor, and he'd be right there beside me. Resting in Mother's, I mean Silvia's lap, and you guessed it, it didn't take long for him to scamper over and poke me until I smiled or, more often, whined at him.

It was nice to finally have some names to go along with the faces I knew, but annoying I still needed to decode my own name. The three like to use what I assume are pet names or baby speak when talking about me, so it was frustratingly difficult to learn what they called me.

In fact, the only other name I've deciphered them saying was Aaliyah.

And I had yet to learn who she was, maybe a grandparent I still needed to meet?

Before I can think about the name further, Silvia puts down the pants she's finished sewing and flips me around in her lap so I can face her.

The way she stares down at me with so much love in her eyes hits me hard in the chest, and I drop my silly inner starship captain monologue.

I can admit I've started to grow attached to this new family of mine. Of course, I could still remember my previous family and would always love them deep down, but when someone shows you this much affection and caring, I’d like to see anyone resist those feelings.

As I stare, smiling, into her face, I see her enunciate the name Aaliyah as she smiles back at me. Wait a minute!

Am I Aaliyah? Is…That…My…Name!?

I notice the smile fading from mother’s face; she’s starting to look panicked.

I don't feel good. I think I'm going to throw up.

I start to breathe erratically.

Tears spill from my eyes as I slip into oblivion, mourning the loss of my manhood.

**********

Ok, I rewrote much of this chapter and added the handy picture of our heroine's house. I should have made that a long time ago.

As with the last two, please point out any grammatical mistakes if you see them. Thanks a bunch.

Side note, this chapter is 600 words longer than the original.