Programmer in Another World

EPISODE 2 - Stepping Stones

In a wooden cabin there lay a family of three.

"WAAHHHHHH!" the baby cries loudly inside the cabin.

"Awww. What should we name him darling?," Lexia asks.

"HOW ABOUT DAD JR.?" the man immediately replies.

She is in utter disappointment after hearing his words.

"Honey, take this seriously."

"Hehe, sorry sorry. How about Vhint Jr.?"

"Geez. You're so bad at names, Dad. That's your name."

"NO, IT'S NOT. IT HAS JUNIOR."

She sighs and looks at her child.

"Hmmm. How about..."

She thinks for a bit.

"How about Phize Gratham?"

She looks at the baby, admiring his features.

After hearing the mother's suggestion, the baby goes silent.

"DARLING! I THINK HE LIKES I-"

The baby cries cutting off any more dialogue.

"He doesn't like it. He didn't cry from my suggestion."

"Oh sheesh. He's gonna get used to it."

She proceeds to breastfeed the baby.

"Why didn't you breastfeed the baby immediately?" Vhint asks in shock.

"Hmmm. I forgot~❤️."

He grows furious at her childish answer, "THIS ISN'T A LAUGHING MATTER! WILL THE BABY BE OKAY IN YOUR HANDS?"

One year passes by, Phize is now 1 year old celebrating his first-ever birthday.

He is in a wooden crib.

"M-M-MAWMA!" the baby shouts in an attempt to call his mother.

Lexia rushes from the other room in response to her son's calling.

"PHIZE! DID YOU JUST SAY MAMA?!" she asks immediately upon arrival.

"Mawma."

She carries him in her arms.

"VHINT!" she shouts across the room.

Vhint appears where she just came from earlier.

"DID HE SAY DADDY?"

She giggles, "Nope, not even close."

"NOOOOOOO! BUT DID HE SAY MOM?"

"HE SAID MAWMA!"

"That's good news, I think?" he answers to his dismay.

"What's with that reaction?"

He approaches his son and whispers to his ears.

"Come on, say Dada, pleeeeeeassseee, for me."

"M-MAWMA!"

He becomes depressed after knowing that his son won't utter the word father or anything relating to it.

With a strong tone of arrogance, she laughs, "I guess, you can't corrupt my li'l ol' baby."

"But isn't he my baby too?"

Three years pass on, Phize has grown with the age of 4 years.

The three are at the table eating their lunches.

"Phize, say AAAH!" Lexia says holding a spoonful of food towards her son's mouth.

Phize however, does not follow his mother and remains with a closed mouth.

"Awww..."

"Let me."

He shoves a bit of rice and vegetable stew in the spoon.

He slowly brings the spoon to his son's mouth.

Phize chomps on his father's spoon and begins eating it.

"HE LOVES ME!!!" he declares after successfully feeding his son.

"NOOO! AN INDIRECT KISS!"

"Honey, sometimes, I question what's even working in that mind."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? MY HEAD WORKS JUST FINE!" she angrily replies.

A few minutes later, Phize is on the floor with an old short pencil, the wood which incases the lead is very old.

He draws something resembling a car.

Lexia who is supposedly cleaning the table looks at what Phize draws.

"Honey! Honey! Look!" as she calls out to her husband.

Vhint went outside earlier and has now gone back inside in response.

"What is it?"

"He's drawing something. Do you know what that is?"

"I don't know. It looks like some sort of machinery. I've never seen anything of the sort."

"But he hasn't seen any machinery right? THIS JUST PROVES TO SHOW THAT OUR LITTLE PHIZE IS A CREATIVE LITTLE BOYY!," she proudly praises.

"Yup, he's gonna grow up like a smart man... LIKE HIS FATHER!"

"Yeah, it seems like your definition of smart is whack..."

"HONEY!," he answers in shock.

Another year passes, Phize is now 5 years old.

"Mother, I'm going outside," he asks permission from his mother.

She looks at him in surprise, "Sure thing, Phize. Do you want me or daddy to accompany you?"

"No need mother. I can go back alone," he answers with a stern face.

He goes to the door and explores the outside.

She releases a tear and gets a little emotional from the feeling that not much time has gone by.

"He's grown up so fast."

He goes out in the woods and runs around.

While running, with his right hand, he reaches for his forehead.

"My head. What are these things that I'm seeing?"

He gets a recollection of the time he was hit by a car and as well as his memories of his former parents.

"This has been the fourth time."

"Maybe it's time to ask mommy about it?" he thinks to his head.

He goes back to the cabin and opens the door to see his mother.

"Hm? Back so early? I GUESS YOU REALLY MISS MOMMY DON'T YOU?" she aggressively says.

"Mommy..."

He asks with a worried face, "Mom do you know anything about an auto?"

Note: Auto, means car in German.

"Auto? I've never heard of anything of the sort. Where did you hear that term from?," she collectively asks.

She approaches her son, gives him a big hug, and then proceeds to carry him.

"Hup! Did your father teach you weird words again?"

"No, mommy," he replies.

"That's good! Alright, stay there, mommy has something to show you."

He decides to sit down on a chair.

A few minutes pass.

She comes back with a staff, the staff looks like it was taken out straight from an oak tree and has been smoothened out a bit but due to age, it has been a bit run-down, it forms a shape of a question mark, with a violet spherical orb at the top connecting the two.

She speaks with a soft voice, "From the blessings of those above, I cast upon thee an icy hazard, blizzard."

A gust of cold wind shoots through him.

"I'm all out of mana, so I decided to use the rest to show you this."

He shivers from the cold.

"C-C-C-Cold... B-But awesome... W-W-What was that mommy?," he curiously asked.

"Magic. One of the most important things to learn in the world. Do you wanna learn it Phize?"

"Y-Y-Yes, please. But mommy, can I start learning magic now? I'm...

He stutters while speaking.

"...intrested in learning."

"Maybe not now, but let's start learning next week, shall we? I'm all out of mana."

"How about Dada?"

She squeals, "SO CUTEE!

She pinches his cheeks.

"Your father isn't well-versed in magic, but he is, however a master of swordsmanship, he was once called, Vhint the Invincible Juggernaut, they say he's on par with the 5th in the Gracious Knights of Heaven. But those were just rumors."

"Who are they, mommy? Gracious Knights of Haven?" he curiously asks once more.

"You're quite too young for that, Phize. Maybe once you start going to school."

"Awww," he frowns in disappointment.

She pats his head in order to comfort him.

"Don't worry, you're a pretty smart kid."

"OF COURSE! I am the son of such a beautiful mother after all!" he boasts.

"AWWW! YOUU ARE JUST SO CUUUUUUUUTTE!"

Vhint opens the door.

"I BROUGHT SOME GOOD NEWS!"

"What is it honey?"

"I found a good school for Phize to enroll in, and the best part is, the school is not too far from here."

"THIS IS PERFECT!," she shouts in joy.

"Hey little champ! You ready to go to school?" he asks his son.

"OF COURSE!," he bravely responds.

"Then you better work hard! I'm rooting for you champ."

"Yessir!"

He gives a salute to his father.

A month goes by.

"I've been getting more and more memories and scenes I never saw before. What are these?" he speaks in his thoughts.

"Phize?" his mother calls.

He spaces out.

Both of them are outside near their little garden.

There are little growing bean sprouts in their garden.

"Altrew to Phize?"

Note: The term "Altrew to ___" is similar to "Earth to ___" in this world.

He snaps back to his senses.

"Oh sorry, mommy. I was just thinking about some things."

"Now watch closely," she points in front of her.

She stands up and faces their garden.

"With the spirits' guidance, spread in and out at such little amounts, water."

A magic circle surrounds Lexia's arm with a larger circle and between the two circles, there lies, some illegible writing.

Water sprays out from her hand much like a sprinkler.

He gets a flashback about a computer and him programming with Python.

"W-what are these? Programs? Why do these sound so familiar?" he questions himself in his thoughts.

"Did you see that?"

"Ah yes, mommy."

"I wonder what they mean," he speaks in his thoughts.

END OF EPISODE 2