For the next two days, besides spending the usual time tending to the garden and checking up on some of her concoctions, Eris took the time to sit me down and teach me how to speak and read what was called Plainspeech; the standard human language, apparently.

I'm still not sure if it's surprising or not that it is pretty much an English analogue.

Speaking wise there were enough differences that I didn't pick it up straight away and it turned out that enough of my anatomy had changed that speaking it was a little harder than I expected. I kept getting the sounds or pronunciation wrong. I'd grown so used to the centaur language so quickly without even realising.

I got it eventually, but I was sure if I concentrated on it hard enough I could hear a strange accent whenever I spoke. And not my original Australian one, either.

Eris had a similar accent I was sure I could hear, but what was strangest was just hearing her speak another language in general. I don't know why, it just threw me off for a bit.

She caught my confused and startled expression when she first did it and laughed. "It sounds very strange doesn't it? They use their tongue far too much, I think. Still, it is the most common language so we must learn it. It makes things far easier that way."

Now, the reading on the other hand was a different story. While plainspeech may have sounded very similar to english, it definitely wasn't written like it. It took me far longer to learn how to read it then it did to speak, but knowing mostly how to speak it already made it easier.

I had a feeling that monster's might learn things many times faster than humans, though, since Eris didn't even comment on what felt like to me was an astounding speed to learn a new language in.

While I was learning, Eris decided that everyone in the house was to speak plainspeech at all times for those two days to help me learn it better. During that time I learned some interesting things.

Firstly, that Mikhael had a very bassy voice that I hadn't really noticed when speaking our language. I had a feeling it had something to do with differences in our vocal cords and lungs.

And secondly, that he had almost no accent to speak of. He spoke the language like it was his first. And maybe it was.

I had to wonder why Eris had an accent and he didn't. Maybe he was born somewhere else and moved here? I didn't know.

So I asked him.

I had been leaning against his side at the time, trying to get used to being close to him. It was still weird for me, but I was working on it.

"Dad, why do you sound different to Mum when you talk like this?"

He looks down at me. "Well, I grew up in the village you see, so everyone was speaking it around me all the time. And my father is human, so he taught me it at the same time my mother taught me our language."

I was surprised to hear that. Not the human and centaur relationship part; that was par-for-the-course with humans, really. The internet back on my old world proved that. But the fact that my dad was… would he count as half-human? Was the monster gene dominant? Fifty-fifty chance?

I wanted to know. I put on that innocent, curious face kids can do. "Does that mean you are part human?"

He laughs, lightly. "No, not exactly. It is hard to explain, but I am a full centaur."

Huh. Well ok, then. Didn't really answer what I wanted fully, but I can't really expect an in-depth explanation on monster genetics, can I.

-

It was on the morning a week after I had been… reborn? I still wasn't sure what to call it. Anyway, it was then that I learned why Eris had taken the time to teach me plainspeech the past two days. She had to head into town to sell her wares to the town's general store and trader caravans that were coming in around midday.

I wake to the sound of my mother's voice. "Nilas, time to get up."

I groan and go to roll back over, but before I can she grabs the blankets covering me and yanks them off. "Oh no. Not today. You have to get up now. We have a busy day today. Up, up, up."

Still groaning, I push myself up. "Okaaaaaay."

I find myself standing in the middle of the room blinking owlishly and pushing away the last vestiges of sleep; watching Eris go around the room opening all the windows as usual.

She seems to be a bit more rushed today then usual.

All the windows now open, she turns to me and points. "Go out and wash your face, little one. I need you awake."

Geez, ok then.

I wander into the workshop and out through the back-door, stretching as I go.

I'd been growing by years every night now, and yet I never got growth pains, miraculously. It was weird adjusting to the new limb length and body size every day, but it looks like it has slowed down finally. I figured I was around the equivalent of a twelve year old by now and I look to be the same size today as I was yesterday seeing as my shirt still fits me properly. I had woken up yesterday to find it actually fit me now. It was wonderful.

...It was getting a bit dirty, though.

I was still trying to get used to not washing properly and having a clean set of clothes every day. I mostly just wiped myself down with a wet rag of a night. My human half anyway. Good luck trying to wipe down my horse half. Tried that once.

Never again.

Sleeping with wet hair that covered most of your body is incredibly uncomfortable.

I should head down to the river to wash, soon.

Maybe Eris will let me go by myself this time…

I give my face a quick splash of water to clear our the last of the cobwebs and scrub my skin a bit, before going to head back inside.

I'm halfway through the door when Eris comes in through the opposite one. "Back outside you go. We have garden to do and then we have to get ready to go into the village."

I blink at her, taking in her words for a moment. A mixture of excitement and apprehension swirls in my gut when it finally clicks. "We are going there, today?"

She walks past me and towards the garden, and I turn to keep pace. "Mhmm. The trade caravans are coming in today, and I have my wares to sell. It is about time you saw it as well, anyway. That is were most of our herd lives, after all."

Her face screws up like she tastes something sour. "Most are good people, and it will be good for you to make friends. There are a few other foals close to your age you can meet. You might be my precious little colt, but I can't be stealing all of your attention for myself."

I wasn't sure how that was going to go. I had, had a certain immaturity back when I was human that helped me get along with kids at times, but most of the time I couldn't really stand children. They were loud, obnoxious and could be some of the most cruel little shits. Hopefully monster children were better.

I still have a feeling it's going to be really weird, though.

We get to work on the garden. I've learned enough by now that I can do the common plants myself while Eris looks after the rarer and more difficult ones. I've really started to get into this, now.

I think I might keep doing this, even after I start training and trying to level up. Who knows, it might synergize well.

Adventurers always needed potions and the like, right?

I begin to build up a mental list of stuff I'd learned so far that would be useful for adventuring as I work.

-

I load the last of the wooden chests into the cart, wiping sweat from my forehead as I let my arms have a break. God those things were heavy.

"Why do you need to take so many of these, anyway?" I turn to look at Eris. After we'd finished with the garden she'd gone and changed from her normal tunic into a light blue dress with a belt that had a number of pouches on it, and given me a new, clean tunic to put on.

"Nilas, your mother can not help that she is so very good at what she does." A cheeky grin is plastered on her face as she adjusts the harness that is strapped around her human waist and horse stomach. "If I did not make enough to sell to everyone, there would be many unhappy people who would stop buying from me."

With the cart secured and the various wares stored safely in it, we set off down the winding dirt road that lead out of the clearing.

I was pretty excited to be out and seeing things, and a little bounce begins to makes it way into my step. I knew the closer we got to the village the more anxious and sick I'd feel, but for now I was just happy to trot along and take in the sights.

Eventually, we come out of the forest and onto a wider dirt road that leads off into the distance to the left and right. In front of me just past the road is a wide open plain, though I could see more trees off in the distance. Out here in the open I could smell the dirt, the heat of the sun and the wind as it rushed across the field. I was still captivated by how different the world was when you could hear and smell everything.

We turn left and make our way down the road, the relaxed silence only disturbed by the sound of hooves on the dirt and the movement of the cart.

Some time later I begin to quietly the beat of Avicii's 'Wake Me Up'; falling back into my old habit of swaying and bobbing my body as I did. The lyrics seem fitting for my life right now.

"What are you humming there, little one?"

My heart leaps into my throat and I nearly stumble. Shit! I can't explain what it is! Think fast!

"Ah, n-nothing. Just a, uh, random tune that was in my head." Yeah, you played that off real well, Nilas. Smooth.

Eris seems to accept it, though; no suspicion visible as she smiles at me. "It sounds very nice. Very happy. Can you show me how it goes, again?"

I hesitantly hum the tune again, and after a bit Eris joins in with me.

Ok, I know I've been through a lot of weird shit this past week. But, this. This is really, really surreal. I just taught my centaur mother the tune to a pop song.

...I wonder what other songs I could introduce.

Hmm…

-

I was beginning to curse my lack of a concept of time. It was never a problem back when I readily had access to multiple devices that could tell me what time it was or how long it had been. Now, without those, I had no clue how long we'd been walking for; only that it had felt like a while.

The positive side was, the view was nice and my new body's increased, well everything really, meant that I barely even felt the effects of a walk that would have drove me to exhaustion in my last life.

I had been unfit as fuck.

Also, after we had come around a part of the road that had slowly curved right for a while, I had caught sight of the village in the not-too-far distance.

And there was the anxiety bubbling away in my stomach and making my chest tighten. Joy.

Come on, man. You've adapted to being reborn as an entirely new species. What is meeting some new people at a new place after going through that? Get it together.

The anxiety lessens after my little self pep-talk, but it's still there. I find myself unconsciously drifting closer to Eris.

Eventually, we get close enough to the village for me to be able to make out details. The first thought I have it that it really looks like your standard fantasy village. The houses I could see were wooden with thatched roofs similar to my one, but a good bit smaller. I can see people moving around, either going about their business inside or heading off from opposite sides of the village towards where the river ran close by, or towards what looked like people working fields. I can also see a decent amount of centaurs moving about, though humans definitely look like they outnumbered them.

It was very quaint, and I found myself liking it already.

Still didn't mean I was comfortable when we actually hit the outskirts of the village and people began to take notice of us. I get as close to Eris as I can without getting under her hooves.

I'm looking the other way when I feel someone take my hand, and I whip my head around to find Eris holding it and looking at me. She squeezes my hand in a comforting gesture and smiles. "It is ok, Nilas. I know you are not used to so many people, but I am right here, ok?"

I just nod and squeeze her hand back, the sickly feeling in my gut almost disappearing and a warmth spreading through my chest.

When we get close enough, people begin to call out and wave to us. Mostly to Eris, but I can still see people giving me some attention. No one stops us to talk, thankfully.

I catch the sound of laughter coming from the other side of the house we're passing by, and I look over and spot a group a children running around playing. There are even four centaur kids that look to be the same age as me, maybe a little older.

Were these the ones Eris was talking about?

As I'm watching them curiously, the one with the orange-brown hide catches sight of me and their head whips around so fast I worry they might have hurt themselves. The girl grins at me a little too wide for comfort and takes off at a gallop in my direction; drawing the attention of the other children who begin to follow.

Ugh, ok. Guess I'll have to deal with a group of excited child- And she is not slowing down. Oh no. Oh no!

I brace for impact when the girl collides with me hard enough to make us both stagger; her arms around me in a tight hug and her cheek smooshed into my face. "Hello!"

And then she has my hand and is dragging me back towards the rest of the kids, and I am so confused and Mum help!

Eris just watches with a grin and waves to me as I'm dragged away, dazed and confused.