Reincarnation

2

Tommy’s first day of training was... Rough. He hadn’t needed to fight before, and now was regretting not letting his real mother teach him self-defense. “C’mon!” The part-ender mostly human girl shouted, her voice filled with venom. “Niki,” Tommy breathed out, barely dodging the next sword coming his way, “I need a break, please, man.” Niki scoffed, her bright purple eyes held a small amount of regret before changing to disgust, “If you take a break during the fight, you're dead. Got it? The enemy won’t give you a break, nor a fighting chance.” Niki took a deep breath and continued her monolog, “For all we know, they could be the best fighters in the land.”

And that was the day Tommy started to hate evil monologues. Tommy used to find them interesting, it helped explain the plot of a story if he was lost. Now, when you're standing toe to toe with the one monologuing, it seems like a slap in the face. Like someone trying to call you stupid for not understanding something sooner. Even if Niki had a point, he still hated that fact and wished she would show him something.

The second day was more training, this time actual techniques on how to attack. He was shown the proper way to swing, block, disarm, and how to roll away from a fight. Even if Niki tended to ramble, Tommy had to admit she was a skilled fighter. “Why can’t you go in?” Tommy asked, it was around 2 at night and Tommy knew very little about fighting. Niki laughed, “He can’t kill you, that was the deal he made with your mother,” Niki’s smile faded to an unknowing face, “I remember very little of the deal, even if I was standing there. See, I’m your mother's guard,” The pink-haired girl had a small smile as she packed up for the day, “We were close, best friends with the citizens of L’manberg. She might be part ender, but she isn’t a monster. As time went on, you were born and I was meant to keep you both safe. He raided us and almost killed me and you two.” Tommy could see the tears in her eyes, he moved over and offered her a hug. Niki smiled and gladly accepted, the older shaking lightly.

Tommy wasn’t one to comfort people or show his softer side, but for Niki, he’d make an exception.

The third day was more training, Tommy was slowly getting better at attacking. The only downside was his dodging and blocking were lacking. Tommy threw his wooden sword in frustration, it broke in half from how weak it was, “I can’t do this! Why do I have to learn to dodge when I can attack and harm the other?” Niki laughed slightly, walking to the back wall and picking up a new sword for Tommy, saying, “If you can’t dodge an attack, they can land a harder hit on you. If they do that, you’re de-” “Dead.” Tommy finished, accepting the new wooden sword from the girl, “I know.” Niki sighed and looked around the old training room, an idea sparked, “What if we get out of here? We can train in the woods and I’ll show you some natural defense.” Tommy looked confused before Niki explained, “Natural defense, it’s what I call using nature as a defense against your enemy. Be it stealth or running, all counts.”

Tommy took a breath of fresh air, admiring the country around their castle. It was all made of stone brick and spruce, holding shops with weird purple fruit to tailors for dress clothing. It was all here. Tommy was allowed to bring a bit of money to buy a few things, thanks to his mother, but he had to train first.

“Alright, natural defense. Use nature to your advantage,” Niki motioned around them, “This is where you will have your battle, one of epic proportions. If you die, all those in the village will succumb to the same fate, and your mother will die to those so-called heroes.” Tommy nodded, looking back at the castle walls for a moment. “Alright, show me how it’s done,” Tommy said with a cocky smile, he’d have to learn something while out there.

Tommy was chasing after Niki, they were a few hours into their training and Niki was currently showing him the effectiveness of running. Even if she says it isn’t a weak thing to do, that everyone will have to do it at some point, he still won’t listen. Tommy stopped, he swore he heard something. Maybe Niki tripped up somewhere, now was his chance. Sprinting in the direction of the noise, he made to a lone thorn bush in a clearing, now hearing the cries of someone from inside. “That wasn’t Niki,” Tommy thought, moving slowly to the bush.

“H-help..!” A voice said Tommy’s instincts cut the bush on one corner before calling, “How deep are you in there?” The voice seemed to perk up, responding with a quick, “In the middle, I think, I just fell I don’t know how far in.” Tommy nodded, even if the kid couldn’t see it. He slowly cut the bush away, avoiding the thorns as much as he could. Finally, he found a hand and started to cut it free. Finding a body next, then the head. It was a young boy, he looked like he was partly an undead pig, and he looked terrified for a moment. Tommy sighed, saying, “Hey, it’s okay. I saved you and mean no harm.” The boy nodded, smiling as he said, “That's good! I have a family and all that, I was running from a person in a mask who wanted to take me. Punishment or something, can you point me to L’manberg?” Tommy’s eyes widened as he said, “L’manberg isn’t near here. You're close to the Ender Kingdom..” The boy seemed to understand, he was terrified, to say the least, as he stuttered out, “Y-you can point me to L’manberg, r-r-right?” Tommy shook his head, offering a hand to the boy, “Here, I’ll keep you safe with me for now, okay? And when the L'manberg warriors come by, I’ll bring you back, okay?” The boy nodded, smiling as he held his hands up, making grabby hands towards him.

Tommy was holding the young piglin, calling out to Niki. The boy seemed lost in thought, before he spoke up, “I’m Micheal. Micheal Underboo.” Tommy thought it was a weird name, to say the least, but he smiled anyway and said, “I’m Tommy Innit. Prince of the Ender kingdom.” Micheal seemed excited to see the castle, asking questions about it. Tommy stopped in sight of the castle walls and hung out.

“Tommy! There you are, I lost you.” Niki noticed the young piglin and was about to ask, until Tommy responded, “He’s a L’manberg kid. I’m going to try and return him whenever they stop by to fight.” Niki nodded, smiling at him, “Niki!” The boy said he heard stories of her.

As the time passed, the week flew by. Tommy did a few things here and there for the country he was supposed to one day rule for. Near the end of the second week, Tommy knew how to fight in a weirder way. It wasn’t the best, but he could stand his own. “Remember Tommy, I’ll be right behind you. Yell out and I’ll save your behind,” Niki laughed, Tommy had this one night left until his fight. “I won’t need it, I have your training,” Tommy faced Micheal, he got close to the boy and was sad to see him go, “Are you ready to go back to your family?” Micheal nodded, smiling brightly as he hugged Tommy’s leg. “Son, may I speak to you?” Tommy turned to the queen, smiling as he gave Micheal a quick hug before walking up to her.

“Yeah?” Tommy's smile faltered, noticing how upset she was. “I... I wanted to warn you. They are sending everyone to come and try to take our kingdom. You will be outnumbered so I’m giving you this.” The queen pulled out a blade, one made of a dark purple -almost black- ingot. She continued, “They have this metal, it’s called netherite. I wanted you to have my weapon and armor, I used it to fight a war similar to yours.” Tommy nodded, taking the blade. It wasn’t too much heavier than the stone sword, but it looked powerful. Tommy smiled and hugged the queen, accepting this life as his own.

“Thanks, mom”

[ 1439 words, longer than last chapter. The chapters are moving by quickly now, but I promise it's for plot- ]