Curse the Mainframe! 8 The Determined Crybaby

Heading towards the crying sounds, Alec could tell that this was probably the sound of one of the kids who had ran ahead of him.

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the way that all four of them had just set off without any semblance of teamwork whatsoever, but those life lessons would come for them sooner or later.

But he couldn't ignore whoever they were. Alec didn't hate kids. He just had completely and utterly no idea how to interact with them. Though he could take a leaf from his mother's book and treat them the same as adults, something about that didn't quite sit right with him.

He had no idea why. He wasn't sure if it was because they were clearly more inexperienced as compared to the average adult, or the way their eyes widened as they stared at you, mostly uncomprehending of what you were saying, but…

Alec frowned.

The sounds of the sniffles and hiccups stuttered a little as whoever it was tried to get their emotions under control.

Alec appreciated that, even as he prayed hard that they would stop crying and move on before his tiny, though rushed, steps could bring him to them.

He really didn't have any ideas how to deal with crying children. How did he soothe them when he couldn't even comprehend why they were crying in the first place? Children were just so illogical!

Then again, he dealt with crying transmigrators. It could be too different, right? Faced with a headache-inducing situation, Alec wished that he never heard the sounds of the cries, but life didn't work that way.

Now that he heard it, he couldn't just make himself walk away. He would probably stay up at night thinking about what a horrible person he was if he did so.

Of course, the crying didn't stop by the time he made it there. It had only stifled somewhat, as if the person was trying to muffle themselves, but failing badly.

Alec sighed inwardly.

He paused a little to make sure that his expression was fine before advancing.

"Hello?"

A hiccup, as they desperately tried to compose themselves, but what composure could a child muster up whilst they were crying so aggrievedly just moments before?

Alec focused on the surrounding greenery and realized that his part of it was particularly deceptive. Whoever designed this path made it such that the ground looked even, but there was a coverage of grass over the hole.

This was likely around the time where most children started flagging, causing their awareness and caution to drop.

Alec was most certainly flagging. In fact, he was almost surprised he hadn't dropped into a dead faint from the running. This was, after all, designed for the older children. All that was keeping him going was his adult willpower, honed from dealing with the largest number of idiots around.

"Hello?" Alec called again, remarkably patiently.

"H-hello, I'm down here," came a timid voice, slightly hoarse from the earlier crying. "I tripped and fell into this hole. I can't get out."

The girl sniffled, evidently still crying, though noticeably quieter than before.

"Keep talking. I'll find you."

It was the sole girl of the group of five children, including himself. The rest were boys.

Alec carefully navigated the treacherous foliage, making sure with every step that it was indeed solid ground.

When his foot gave way slightly, Alec lay down on the ground, moving the plants out of the way.

Inside a rather steep hole, sat a little girl who had her hair tied into pigtails. With soft, brown hair and wide eyes, she looked like the epitome of cuteness. She had evidently been pampered by her parents and was utterly unprepared for the test.

She hastily rubbed off the tear tracks on her face, seemingly embarrassed at being seen crying by the younger boy. He was just a baby, but he was already stronger than her! How embarrassing.

Then, he smiled down at her, and she felt like she was looking at a softly glowing light. Despite her occasional hiccups, she couldn't help but stare at his radiant face. She felt like she was being bathed in a warm, gentle light in her time of distress.

So dazed, she didn't even know how he managed to get her out of the hole. She could briefly remember grabbing onto a vine of some sorts and climbing.

Alec eyed the little girl warily, afraid that she would suddenly start crying again. He had no immunity to crying children. In fact, he didn't even know why she stopped crying in the first place. Maybe it was his smile…? Doubtful. In the first place, the smile was born out of a drawing a complete blank on how to react.

Hidden above the two children, amongst the trees, Evin, who had been monitoring the children all the while, witnessed the entire scenario.

A glint of approval appeared in the man's eyes, then he lowered his presence again in case he got caught. There was a close shave earlier on when he had been slightly lax, so he was more cautious now.

The child of the Clan's young mistress was quite talented. Though his body was woefully weak and would likely be weaker than most of his peers had he been left alone, he was still young yet.

They would be able to mould him properly in the coming years. His mind was something that was not usually seen in young children, so full of drive and curiosity, yet having such a deep comprehension.

To be able to appear in this test already spoke of his talents, yet the elders of the Clan were being foolish. What good would making a toddler that was a scant year old do this? Were they not afraid that they would harm his foundations?

No matter what, the child was still one of the Neil Clan. What did anything else matter? Evin couldn't understand why they were being so stubborn about this. He knew that there was something that the elders were hiding about this, but even so.

Of course, it was surprising that Alecris showed such promise so early on, but instead of celebrating it, the elders were putting an even stricter watch on the boy?

It made no sense.

The boy still had Neil blood running through his veins. Was that not enough?

Evin had only seen things that he approved of in the boy thus far, but couldn't help but lament that not only was he an Every, he also had the Awakening Magitype.

Alec tugged the little girl's hand, pulling her forward. Though, should he really be saying that? After all, his physical body was much younger than her.

The two ran together, hand in hand, before Alec realized that he was slowing the girl down.

He decisively let go, pushing her forward. "Go," he said, smiling.

The girl's blue eyes widened, slightly panicked. She frowned cutely, pouting. "No!"

Alec maintained his smile, utterly baffled. No? No what? What did she not want? Did she not want to leave, did she not know the way, what? Girl, he needed more words! He wasn't a mind reader!

She stomped on the ground, crossing her arms. "I won't! You helped me, so now, I'll help you!"

Alec was still baffled. Help him with what?? Did he look like he needed help?

He reassessed how he looked. Heavy breathing, slow plodding, it did indeed appear like he needed someone's help, but he refused!

In the end, he wasn't sure how to break it to her that he didn't need help, so he could only smile at her and continue running. Hopefully, she would get the hint and move on.

But she didn't. She followed him all the way back to the starting point. In which case, Alec, who suddenly caught sight of the goal, felt his vision swim alarmingly before darkening.

Alec grit his teeth and tried to hold on, but his body just wouldn't listen to him. Sometimes, limits couldn't be overcome by sheer willpower alone. But there was still a whole round to finish before the two rounds that Teacher instructed them to run was complete.

Alec heard the girl's alarmed shout as he slumped to the ground, but he couldn't muster any strength to reassure her he was fine.

Tatiana panicked when the baby fainted, horrified. What should she do? Where were the adults?

Frantically, she looked around, looking for their Teacher, but he was nowhere to be found. The young girl bit her bottom lip, tears welling up in her eyes again. She resisted the urge to cry.

She pulled the baby into her arms, cradling him like how she saw a few mothers cradle their children. See, this was why she wanted to help earlier! He had looked like he was on the verge of fainting at any moment the longer he ran, but the glint of determination in his gentle eyes stopped her from saying anything.

Tatiana struggled as she pulled him onto her back, starting to run again. She felt like they were being monitored, so had the baby really been in any true danger, an adult would have appeared to help him, but since they hadn't that meant that they would only appear once they ran the full two rounds.

Frowning in determination, Tatiana didn't stop the tears from steaming down her face, running harder and quicker.

Chapter end

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