Lazy Salvation

‘Seven times eight…

56

‘Easy.

‘Seven times nine…

…

‘What was I doing?

‘Damn it.’

‘My thoughts are slipping away before I could hold onto them…’

By now, anybody who knew Ashen would be acquainted with his almost maniacal compulsion to train and better himself, whatever the place or time.

Apparently, being a baby was not a dealbreaker.

Of course, by virtue of his baby state, the range of things he could do was not extensive, but he was not without ideas.

The first couple of months passed uneventfully. He had to wait for at least his senses to mature enough, and for his brain to develop beyond the range of a fish’s attention span.

So he ate and slept with complete diligence, and did nothing else.

And now, he saw fit to start his ‘training’.

Said training consisted of working the neural networks of his brain, including connectivity, executive functions, working memory, and sensory processing.

They said that the time when one was young was the best time to learn, since one was the most malleable then.

‘So the time when one is a baby is when one is the most malleable, right?’

Either way, Ashen wasn’t just going at it blindly here. He remembered reading an article back when he was at university about accelerated development through intensive stimulation.

The one who wrote it was probably a bit deranged, from Ashen’s point of view. He first explained the plausibility of producing a more developed brain in the long run by introducing certain games and toys to babies.

As to why it was especially targeted at babies, that was explained by how malleable the brain pathways were at this stage.

If specific pathways were used more than others, then the brain’s development would favor those pathways as it grew, making them stronger while also developing more pathways that supported their functions.

So, for example, if, hypothetically speaking, a baby learned math while still an infant, the pathways responsible for logic and problem-solving, among others, would develop abnormally.

The same logic applied to memory, pattern recognition, emotional regulation… in short, Ashen now had the opportunity to develop his brain in the direction he wanted, even if it was only a plausible method and not a tried-and-true solution.

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Of course, he couldn’t go about it willy-nilly.

That same article talked about another phenomenon that occurred during the early phases of a brain’s development.

Pruning.

Any neglected pathways in the brain that stayed unused for a long period of time risked getting cut off in favor of more frequently used ones.

So, for example, if he shut himself off completely and kept forcing his brain to solve mental calculations and logic puzzles, he would risk growing up with stunted emotions and may even turn out autistic.

Though, that was just Ashen’s assumption. Autism probably had a great range of other causes, and this may not even be one of them.

Be that as it may, playing and interacting with babies was one of the things that helped one grow up normally and experience emotions properly, despite people often not knowing why.

So Ashen did not neglect interacting with his new family.

Thankfully, his new mother did not disappoint. She never squandered a chance to pour her love and happiness into him whenever she held him, and he responded with equal eagerness.

At first, he thought that he would be quite resistant to having a new family when he already had a loving one in the real world, but it seemed that a baby’s brain wasn’t yet capable of such complex worries.

So he just embraced it.

The woman had held him in her stomach for nine months, fed him, showered him with love and care… she was as much a mother to him as Akidia.

Would it be fair to shun her just because he already had a mother? Who said he couldn’t have two? And who said that loving one was betraying the other?

Either way, Ashen decided not to complicate the matter and embraced her as a son would.

The same went for his siblings. That was right, siblings. It turned out that the family he thought was poor for living inside a cave was actually quite extensive.

It happened when he felt himself being held by new hands. At first, he thought it was his father, but the young man appeared too young to be so.

He later discovered that it was his big brother. Ashen was happy to finally have his dream of having a big brother come true, but it did not stop there.

Day after day, he was held by new hands. One big brother, one big sister, Ashen was greeted with a new face as if they were trading places each day.

And each one held him and his twin with love and indulgence.

He even saw two other babies no older than two years. And then, small kids who were also apparently his older siblings, around five years old.

‘This father of mine appears to be quite the hard worker, I see…’

Speaking of his father, the man rarely appeared, but when he did, he did not disappoint Ashen’s initial impression of this family being a great, loving one.

He looked at him with great pride and expectation, as if he was sure Ashen would grow up to be a great man one day.

It gave Ashen a fuzzy feeling, despite himself.

Aside from that, whenever he returned to the cave and was not playing with his kids, he was ‘playing’ with their mother.

Just like now…

“Ahn~♡ Ahn~♡ Ahhhnnn~~!!!”

Ashen, still inside his crib, raised his baby hands with difficulty and tried to press them over his ears.

‘Great. They’re at it again… Father, aren’t you working a bit too hard?’

At last Ashen understood how all of his siblings had come about. His father was simply insatiable. And his mother did not seem to mind in the slightest.

On the contrary, she took everything he gave her with great pleasure.

“Hnngghhh~♡ Inside~ pleaseee~”

“With pleasure, wife. Hup—”

“Ahhh…”

‘Damn it… even with new parents, some things never change…’

Finally the moans and grunts subsided, but Ashen wasn’t the least bit relieved. He knew it was only heralding another kind of torture.

“Wife. We’ve been at it for quite a while… are you hungry? Should I bring you something to eat?”

“No… I feel quite full already, thank you, husband~”

“How so? Just by how much you sweated, you ought to be at least thirsty. How about a glass of water?”

“Silly husband… I’ve been creampied by you, hehe… don’t you know that a creampie is the best tonic? It keeps you full for nine months after all~”

“Oh? Ohoho… Indeed, how silly of me.”

“Now hold me tight~”

“Naturally.”

The two continued whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears, not paying any mind to the poor baby withering in cringe by the crib.

‘Ah fuck… kill me now…’

And so, baby Ashen uttered his first swear words at the young age of one.

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