“Eres,” Freya cut him off with a sharp word and a glare, “What do you mean you are the only one who has this Blessing.”

The room was still for a moment as Eres ran his palms across the shiny and well-rounded edge of the table. Myla’s family truly kept their house absolutely spotless, as there was no dust in any of the corners, no cobwebs in the corners and even the table itself was clean of smudges other than the ones his hands were currently making on the edge. He yanked his hands away as he realised he was marring the otherwise shiny surface.

“Eres,” Freya said, her voice softer now, “Come on. You can talk to us, alright?”

Eres saw the concern in her eyes, and even Myla looked worried, though it was spoiled slightly by the red-ringed eyes and snotty nose from her earlier tears.

“I know Freya, I know. Sorry, it's… I have spent the last month or more trying not to let anyone know about this, so it is going to take me a second,” Eres' voice was choked slightly. He still wasn’t sure talking about it now was the right choice, but he wanted to. He didn’t want to end up with no one to talk to about this Blessing he had been given.

“It all started when I went to get my Blessing at the Church. I put my hand in the bowl, just like anyone else does I guess, but then I wasn’t there any more, I was talking to a boy, who was hovering in this blank white space. He said his name was Ekros, and that he was a God.

“I know it sounds insane, but I have gone over it again and again in my head, and I don’t think it was some strange hallucination or anything. He said that he was speaking to me because my Blessing was Unique, and that only one of that type was in the world at any one time. He said I should hide it for a time until I could protect myself because people might want to exploit it, and so I have been trying to get stronger really fast cause I hate hiding it and lying, especially to people who helped me out a lot, like you Freya.”

Eres let out a long breath and slumped into the chair throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. He hadn’t mentioned memories of his previous life being one of the main reasons the God wanted to speak to him, but he figured one giant reveal was enough for today.

“There you go, that is the whole crazy story,” Eres laughed bitterly, tasting metal as he bit his lip again, “Want to try and pull some healing magic on my head Freya to make sure I’m not just cracked from the pressure of being an unwanted noble son?”

Silence followed for a good few minutes as Eres stared stubbornly at the smudges his hands had made on the table. He had wanted to share this badly enough his body felt lighter every time he exhaled, but now his brain was running around in tighter and tighter circles, tying itself up in worry and concern.

Then he felt something soft against his hand. He blinked away a few tears as he saw two different hands gripping his left hand. He hadn’t noticed the girls coming up on either side of him, too caught up in his brain. Their hands were warm on his, reassuring.

“I don’t really know you, but you seem honest and you seem worried. That seems like truth to me, anyway,” Myla muttered as she gave him a small smile.

“I know you a little better, and you aren’t one to brag or to lie, Eres. If you say that’s what happened, then I believe you,” Freya murmured, before she let out a chuckle, “Not to mention, with the amount of Divinity I shoved into you outside that gate, I think I would have pushed back any insanity, even if only temporarily.”

Eres laughed at that, grinning up at both of them.

“Ha. True enough,” He smiled, teeth bared and eyes slit as he felt the panic in his head recede, leaving only the comfort of telling people his secret, “You were so tired that you even started swearing. Are we finally gonna talk about that or…”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Freya huffed, a blush rising on her face.

“Haha, if you say so,” Eres grinned, before turning back to Myla, “Anyway, what I was saying about your Blessing is true, at least as far as I know. Obviously, I don’t know how long it would take, or what you would need to do to work up to another Hybrid Blessing, but I want you to know that if you want to change it, then I will do whatever I can to help.”

Myla stared at him intently as she slowly nodded. She sat back down, much closer now she had walked around the table. “If I don’t work to change my Blessing, will it get stronger? Will I get stronger? Or do I need to train with the weapons it wants and stuff?”

Eres paused for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain it. With memories of video games, RPG’s and mathematics from his previous life, the way he understood Blessings was as a percentage-based boost, something that got more and more valuable as the base skill improved. Explaining that without those concepts already in place proved to be slightly tricky, however. The common theory was that Blessing’s grew stronger as you did, but it was more that they just had more to amplify. Eres chewed his lip a little as he thought.

“If you stay as a Berserker, it will impact you more as you get older. Blessings don’t work in a vacuum, they magnify what we already are right? So as you grow up, and naturally get stronger, tougher and more coordinated, it will have more to work with, if that makes any sense?”, Eres paused for a second as he saw both of the girl's nodding. Apparently, this was outside of even Freya’s understanding. “That means if you train, with weapons and strength and whatever else, it will have even more to go off of. So it is kind of both. It just depends on what you want to do with it. Most people don’t use their Blessings much, they just kind of have them. A Baker or a Farmer doesn’t need a Swordsman Blessing, after all.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Eres drummed his fingers on the table, wondering something. Do Blessings get any stronger themselves? I feel like as I have learned to control Mana, my Blessing has got more in tune with it. It felt like maybe a quarter boost at first, and now it's nearly at half of the control I have again. So a growth from 25% to 50%? Not sure how I know that, it's just how the place I concentrate on the feel the Blessing feels now. The place they connected to in the Church.

The idea crashed into Eres' brain like a lightning bolt. Blessings weren’t granted by the Church, they just had a ritual that made connecting to that place easier. Maybe if he got Myla to focus on that connection, she could feel it change and grow, and make decisions from that.

From everything he had read, most people took their Blessing at face value, and only Soldiers and Adventurers, those who lived and died by their Blessing, their skill and their Magic, ever got their Blessings re-examined. But for them to know that they needed to get it checked, then there must have been a difference they noticed. Maybe those at the top or those with a lot of experience skipped the step with the Church. Maybe he could learn to teach those around him to do it too. It was an interesting possibility.

“So, why are you training then?” Myla asked, snapping Eres from his contemplation, “You said earlier that you had some sort of Master. You doing all that just cause you’re expected to, as a Noble?”

“Huh, that's a good point,” Freya mumbled, before turning her own gaze to Eres, “I got so caught up in you learning magic stupidly fast that I never really considered why you were doing it. Why are you getting stronger?

“Oh Gods, do you want to become the Head of the Family? To challenge your brother?” Freya gasped at the thought, swallowing a lump in her throat at the divide that could bring. But if that is what Master Eres wants, then I will just have to support him, she thought, her resolve forming.

“Oh sweet fuck no!” Eres spat out laughing.

Freya slumped, her previous thoughts fizzling at his response.

“No, I can’t think of anything worse than trying to deal with all the responsibilities of a Noble. My Family have made it pretty clear that they want me gone, or at least don’t really care what I do,” Eres shrugged as he saw the slightly pained look in Freya’s eyes, and the shock in Myla’s, “so I am going to do whatever I want to do, which in this instance is stupid and vaguely dangerous, hence the training.

“I want to be an Adventurer. I want to delve into dungeons, explore sub-realms and traverse portals. I want to live a life full of excitement and new experiences and hopefully help a bunch of people along the way. So killing monsters, suppressing dungeons and completing Guild and Kingdom requests seems like a good way to do that, and having a Blessing that lends itself well to that… well, feels like the world helped me make that decision.

“But, like I said, stupid and dangerous. So I am going to train into the dirt until I get kicked out of the house at 18, and then I can go and start looking into- Freya, stop looking at me like I’m an idiot.”

“Master Eres, I don’t need to explain how dangerous being an Adventurer is, do I?” Freya’s voice was icy, but Eres had to bite his tongue to hide a smile. She sounded so much more like family than any of his blood relatives, well perhaps other than Ellsa. Her care for him was touching, as much as it was perhaps misplaced, “Dungeons and fighting monsters are dangerous enough, but portals?! Only Adventurer parties of the highest rank get to clear those, and even they often have casualties!”

Myla was swinging her head between the two of them looking worried, as Eres stifled the chuckle that was rising in his chest. He shook his head slightly and smiled at Freya.

“I know Freya. Genuinely, I know. And if, over these next eight years of training, my resolve falters, and I decide to do something else, then I promise to be the first to let you say I told you so,” Eres spoke softly, but there was an edge to his voice. Not anger, but something else. Surety, perhaps. “But for now, I am going to learn how to fight, and I am going to learn how to use magic better and faster. If I could cast like an actual Mage, then today wouldn’t have ever been a problem.

“I don’t have a death wish. I just want to be strong enough to help people. What else should someone with a Defender Blessing do if not defend others?”

He watched the ice melt from Freya’s eyes, her shoulders dropping slightly as she let out a long sigh. She grumbled under her breath, before nodding at him, “Fine. I can’t stop you, but you are going to train very, very hard, and you are going to learn everything Master Brom can teach you. Spells, Fighting, and even Spirit Arts if there is time. Deal?”

“I was planning on it anyway…” Eres gulped at the look on Freya’s face, “Yep, okay, whatever you say. Deal!” He turned away from the still slightly uncomfortable look on her face to look at Myla.

“Sorry Myla, we got distracted, we were talking about your Blessing and wanting to change it. Have you had any thoughts? After the whole getting stronger as you get older and train, I mean.”

“Hmm. Sure, I’ve had some thoughts,” Myla mumbled, before looking up at both Eres and Freya, “I think, for now, I ain’t gonna change it. You said it’s pretty strong, and if I practice then maybe I can change people's minds. If not, whatever. It helped my friends out, after all, it’s probably a good thing!”

“I think that's a good way of looking at it. All Blessings can be useful, no matter how much you train it,” Eres smiled at her decision, “and if you need any help I am sure we can lend a hand. We should be able to sneak into town once every week or two at least until I am a bit older and have some more freedom anyway.

“Speaking of freedom… Freya, it is getting more than a little late. We should probably be getting back…”

“Oh no!” Freya started as she looked out the window at the sun nearing the horizon, “We need to hurry! Myla it was so lovely to meet you and we will be back to see you soon!”

In the rush to get their things together and say goodbye, Eres completely missed the smile settled on both of his friend's faces, and the grin that kept creeping up on his own.