It had been a week since Rudy and Delphine left, Fred was back in his dungeon, this time there were 2 operating tables set up, Johan would have to remove the organ from Fred and transplant it to Matt, and Jess. Fred and Johan had made a lot of the concoctions over the last 6 months, they could last a while and Fred needed to drink once a month anyway.

It was decided that Jess would go first, it might be off-putting for her to see Matt go into a seizure, and matt’s profession resulted in him seeing all sorts of disturbing imagery.

This time due to the evolvement of the Organ, Doctor Johan didn’t have to attach it to the brain stem, and could attach it to the spine, the organ came with tendrils, while Fred’s main one, had its tendrils connected to his spine, the spare organs had it’s loosely piled up around it. Johan made an incision on Fred’s chest to remove it but for Jessica, her incision was on her back, for a multitude of reasons.

Although Fred reassured that the scar would heal over time as they evolved through the process, it was still better to hide it in case. as well there were fewer nerves on the back so she would receive less pain.

Jess lay there in silent tears making eye contact with Fred on the opposite table. He was smiling to reassure her; she was also holding her mother’s and fathers’ hands throughout the ordeal. All in all, it took 30 minutes and she finally blacked out just as the seizures started.

Johan only needed 2 minutes with a natural crystal to stitch her skin up and they took her to her room, leaving Fred on the table and matt standing over him using another nature crystal to keep his body stable while his stomach was open.

“Are you looking forward to your turn?” Fred mused.

“Haha… I wouldn’t say I’m not scared, but it’s mixed with nervousness and anticipation.” Matt wiped a little sweat off of his forehead. “How are you able to talk normally, this crystal doesn’t stop the pain?”

“I’m tricking myself into thinking it’s someone else’s problem.”

“That works?”

“It’s working now. I can’t say for sure it will work for more severe injuries.”

Half an hour after the doctor took Jess, he returned. “Are you ready Matt?”

“Erm… yeah”

“Relax, Jessica went through with it, you gonna lose to a girl,” Fred berated, trying to make him man up. Which seemed to work.

“Let’s do it.”

“That’s the spirit lad.” Johan cheered.

Matt decided to lie on his front for his operation, it would be more painful but quicker, George had come down to the Dungeon, to hold Matt, he wasn’t down here for Jessica, she required to be in an indecent dress, and therefore it wasn’t proper for George to be down here.

Matt had given Fred the Crystal, Fred was capable of doing it in the first place, it’s just that it takes more effort for him to do so in this condition.

The process went smoothly, too smoothly, as soon as Johan connected the organ matt should have gone into a seizure, but he didn’t, nothing happened.

“What happened doctor,” Fred asked.

“you’re asking me, I’m going off your description with this.”

“Hey, guys” George called them both.

“Yes,” they answered.

“Matt looks like he wants to tell you something, should I take the gag out?”

They both looked at Matt, who was looking at them,

“Yes,” Johan was the one to respond.

After George removed the gag, Matt spoke “I received a system message.”

“What does it say.”

“It says, *warning* you have received a new organ the system as identified as gene-seed, the gene-seed will be going dormant for the following reasons:

You have not reached level ten,

You have not maxed out your exp

You are not ready to ascend.

Please achieve these requirements within 7 months, any delays beyond that may be subjected to unknown problems.

You will be able to reactivate your Gene-Seed when you are ready to ascend.”

“O, what level are you now?” Johan asked

“Level 8 over halfway to level 9.”

“Good, good,” he then turned to Fred, “Any idea why he is given 7 months?”

Fred looked at Matt, “you’re 9 now, aren’t you?”

“Yes”

Fred turned back to Johan “Looks like he will be starting puberty in 7 months”

“Really, are you sure,”

“The only problems that I know of during the preliminary phase, happen when the operation is applied to someone who already started puberty.”

“O Right, well we should be able to help you Matt with levelling up.”

“What’s your maths at Matt,

“Basic level 9”

“I could write you a textbook introducing moderate and early high-level maths books. This would give you a quick boost in exp”

“Will you have the time?” Johan asked

“I wanted to write them anyway, I would just be speeding up the process up. Plus, I’m going to have a lot of free time sitting next to Jess,”

“Ok,” Johan smiled at that.

Over the two weeks, he was sitting with Jess, he had brought a table next to her bed and wrote the Moderate and early High-level maths books, luckily, he was able to memorise it off by heart, but it had Bugged him, he shouldn’t be able to do that without a photographic memory, and he knew he didn’t have that. He pondered the meaning of this for a while but couldn’t draw a conclusion.

He was sitting there when he noticed a tug on his hand, he looked over to see Jessica, beat red, looking at where he had been holding her hand. “You are finally awake?” Fred gently let go. “How are you feeling?”

“Ehm...,” she just silently nodded.

Fred chuckled, “I’ll go call your mom,” Fred didn’t see her panic a bit and reach out, as he was walking away and opened the door. “KELLY,” he shouted, but not in a panicked voice, then he walked back to her,

She was a bit relieved, she thought he was going to leave the room, after the ascension, she felt so weak and this caused her to be scared, and wanted company,

Fred realised she was scared a bit and knew it was the ascension as well, so he sat on her bed and hugged her. This startled her at first but then leaned into it. Kelly, mark, and Isabella came rushing into this scene, stunning Mark, and Kelly a little, but she had seen other displays between them, “Ooo what are you two love birds up to?” Isabella was the first to speak.

This startled Jessica and she withdrew, Fred turned around to face Isabella, “Listen hear child, we will have none of your snarky comments today, thank you.” But this just caused Isabella and Kelly to burst out laughing while bringing a chuckle from Mark.

___

Fred had no longer anything to prepare over spring for the last two weeks, as he couldn’t move forward without results first. So, he spent the remainder of his time studying, he had gotten a book on blacksmithing theories, he knew the knowledge but without practice or reading from a book, he can’t turn his knowledge into skills. Plus, it wouldn’t harm him to take notes on the differences between the two worlds. He was two thirds the way through his book and hadn’t got the skill when Rudy and Delphine arrived to pick him up for school.

“Fred,” they both came out and hugged him, and then greeted Isabella and George.

“Are you all set then?” Isabella asked.

“Yeah,” they sang in unison.

The ships had docked yesterday with the kids from the mainland, and they were staying in the Inn next to the castle for the night. With them were 50 soldiers and 20 knights, they were the first of 4 waves being sent over for the woodland incursion, all of them were wearing heavy armour, a lot looking new. This had been from one of the first batches of armour sent over. And all of Isabella’s forces were kitted out as well.

Fred’s blood was pumping when he saw them yesterday, even the adventures were preparing, adventures doubled as scouts and skirmishers during military engagements, it would be their job to mitigate and warn of threats while the soldiers dug into a strategic position. Alas, his excitement was cut short the next day when he got on the carriage for school.

___

They arrived at school a week later, “Back to the same old routine I guess,” Fred mumbled.

“Cheer up Fred, maybe we can find Normandy and kick their arse again, that Percy fella has too many teeth I say.” Rudy said

“That’s all you boys ever want to do is fight,” Delphine remarked

Fred turned to Delphine, “If I remembered right, you were the 3rd to enter the fray, and you seemed to be enjoying yourself”

Delphine blushed and turned her head “Well someone had to make sure you two weren’t making a fool of yourselves.”

“Right,” the boys said

Fred felt a sense of déjà vu about this premise but couldn’t put his mind on it.

___

Fred turned 6 in February and got another milestone achievement so decided to go over his status.

Status

Name

Frederick

????

Affinity

Lightning

11%

Fire

2%

Age

6

year

0

month

0

Day

Ascension

2

Level

7

Body

Junior

Super-Soldier

Race group

Human

Culture

Franconian

Social

F Earl/ M Duke

Bastard

Exp

9703/12800

0%

Exp Mod

260% (child)

Sub-Race

Adeptus Astartes

Assimilation 7%, *1.7 modifiers to stat points

legion trait

Legion trait

Subclass

Subclass

Subclass

Subclass

Stats

points

Condition

Health

150

14067

Stamina

150

14480

Mana

150

23651

Modifiable

Power

1037

32.08

Density

870

26.92

Dexterity

812

25.12

Vitality

890

27.54

Endurance

1271

39.32

Intellect

1927

59.62

Wisdom

1898

58.72

Free stat points: 686

Fred Grimaced, ‘these large numbers were so deceiving, it might look like a lot, but George had said a new soldier of 14-15 needs to have the bare minimum of 100k in health. The most basic of poisons do at a minimum -100hp per second, giving a recruit 15-20 minutes to look for a medic. I wouldn’t last over 3 minutes.’ Fred signed

‘Not only that, but they would also need an average of 100 condition points per stat.’

He then checked his skills

Skill list

Skill

Rank

Level

Bonus

Common words

(Spoken)

Basic – language

10/10

0

Common words

(Written)

Basic – language

10/10

0

Grammar

Moderate – language

15/20

+5 Int, Wis

Technical

High – language

7/30

+7 Int, Wis

Creative

High – language

3/30

+7 Int, Wis

Movement

Natural – Movement

40/75

+2, Pow, Den, Dex, Vit, End

Walk

Basic – Movement

20/20

+1 Pow, Den, End

Run

Beginner – Movement

25/30

+5 Pow, Den, End

Run, Weighted

Moderate – Movement

10/30

+7, Pow, Den, End

Junior Maths

Junior – maths

15/15

+3 int and wis

High maths

High – maths

9/50

+10 int and wis

Algebra

Concept – maths

5/20

+7 int and wis

Handyman

General

20/50

+1 Pow, Dex, Int, and Wis

Mana Sensitivity

General – Mana

40/50

+1 int, wis

Mana Manipulator

Basic – Mana

35/50

+2 Int

Mana Meditation

Basic – Mana

25/50

+2 Wis

Biology

General – biology

90/200

+1 Int, wis

Surgeon

High, healing – biology

10/50

+20 Int, wis

Neuro-science

high - biology

6/30

+20 Int, wis

Bio-Engineering

High – biology

16/50

+30 Int, wis

Herblore

basic – biology, alchemy

23/30

+3 Int, Wis, +6 Vit

Herblore

intermediate – biology, alchemy

11/50

+6 Int, Wis, +12 Vit

chemistry

general - chemistry

18/50

+1 Int, wis

magical reactions

Basic - chemistry, alchemy

9/50

+3 Int, Wis,

Smithing theory

Metallurgy - physics

2/50

+2 Int, Wis

Sword basic

Basic – combat

12/50

+5 Pow, +2 End, +1 Vit

Sword Technical

Technical – combat

8/50

+5 Dex, +2 End, +1 Vit

Spear basic

Basic – combat

5/50

+5 Pow, +2 End, +1 Vit

Spear Technical

Technical – combat

0/50

+5 Dex, +2 End, +1 Vit

Shield basic

Basic – combat

25/50

+5 Den, +2 End, +1 Vit

Shield Technical

Technical – combat

15/50

+5 Den, +2 End, +1 Vit

Axe basic

Basic – combat

7/50

+5 Pow, +2 End, +1 Vit

Axe Technical

Technical – combat

2/50

+5 Den, +2 End, +1 Vit

Archery basic

Basic – combat

15/50

+5 Pow, +2 End, +1 Vit

Archery Technical

Technical – combat

15/50

+5 Pow, +2 End, +1 Vit

Hammer basic

Basic – combat

10/50

+5 Pow, +2 End, +1 Vit

Hammer Technical

Technical – combat

4/50

+5 Den, +2 End, +1 Vit

___

At the two-week holiday at the end of April Fred got a letter from home,

~~~

Dear Frederick de Ansul,

I am writing to see how you have got on at school, I received your report card, and mommy is very proud of you. George isn’t happy with the fights you’ve been getting in, but as long as you are the one ‘kicking their butts’, I say go ahead. The wild Silverberry wine has been a huge hit. We are starting to rake in the gold, George is expanding the army by 40 Soldiers with this as we might be viewed as a location of strategic importance.

We have received the first batch of copper enough for two of your tubes, with a 3rd and 4th batch coming in the middle and end of May. The foreman at the Foundry made a thinner iron version so he could start making the metal balls and would be able to test their diameter, he has made 600 metal balls so far.

Do you need us to continue importing copper?

The foreman for your farm project said he had got the project off to a rocky start as the farmers were quite stubborn in their ways, however, we have managed to fix the situation, by replacing them and fining them for nearly ruining the experiment, this caused the new farmers chosen to listen.

The pontoon bridge worked, as well as your concrete, we have managed to secure the other side of the river with a port as planned, and we are expecting to make two pushes, the first to create a fort midway by the end of June and a second to construct a mining fort, by September.

George said the concrete is very good for roads, we are making one straight from Poilutonne to the mine, 15km and then the mine to the closest spot in the river 5km which would meet up with the 3rd fort this side of the river. It’s narrower there and we are going to create a fortified port there too, should the first crossing become compromised.

Lastly, they built the wall you wanted, although I’m still confused why you wanted it.

I miss you very much

From Mommy.

~~~

Fred formed a smile throughout reading this letter. He then wrote one back expressing he was missing her too, as well as thanking her for the update, and wanted the Foreman to prepare for 6 more tubes to be put into production once he came back and tested them.

___

In the spring term, Fred was put in the second class for Training and sparring, he was glad as this was more of a challenge for him although he was still besting most people and got 3rd, come the summer term the top 5 would swap with the next years bottom 5, there was no point in keeping the kids in the year bracket if they were already at the top, it wasn’t about winning but pushing yourself at school.

When he went into his first lesson at the start of summer the teacher announced the school’s tournament where we will be competing against the school in Nice, they were the Far souths comparison to this school.

Fred hadn’t heard of it before, but apparently, it was run by the king’s cousin and so the city was crown land. Normally kids from savoy, Toulouse, and the crownlands south of the capital go there while the Burgundian, the trader duchies, Normandie, and Aquitaine – his family- go to the north academy.

This year it would be their school to host the tournament, for the years ten and below, it would be 1v1, and 3v3 in each combat category, then 5v5 mix categories, and then archery.

While years ten and above would have 20v20 unit combat and 60v60 multi-unit combat war games. As well as jousting and horse archery, as year 10’s and above would start regimental and drill training.

Although most aristocrats would fight on horseback in wars, many of them may become commanders and officers, this training would give them an understanding of the infantry capabilities and limitations.