I pace the entry hall in the orphanage, waiting for Zerrious to return.
"Sigurd? What are you doing, it's late," says Nyah as she notices that I've finally returned but hadn't moved from in front of the door.
"Zerrious is on the streets," I told her.
"He walks the streets every night on his way to learn something or other. What's different about today?"
"He isn't walking the streets, he's joined in with people on the streets. I hesitate to say gangs, but it sure seemed like it."
"You don't know it was him, plus, he's got to have a good reason. That boy doesn't do anything without purpose," she said, coming close and embracing me lightly.
"I don't know, he's young," I said into her hair, leaning into her.
"He's an adult. Let him make his decisions, we all did dumb things at some point, at least he can take care of himself if things go bad."
"I suppose you're right. I'd still like to know."
So we wait. It's not long before Zerrious makes his way inside, opening the door and walking in, hood over his eyes and long sleeves covering his Names, different from when he left in the morning. We wait another moment, expecting him to say something, but he simply nods his head subtly in my direction and moves to brush past us as if we shared a class in middle school and nothing else.
It may be that I was overreacting, this was the relationship we had. The two of us would do our own thing unless we needed anything from the other. Sometimes we would do something nice for the other, but it usually boiled down to a new song from me or a well cooked meal from him. Either way, it felt curt and a bit hurtful.
"Zerrious," I say before he gets to far past us. "I saw you today."
"I can explain," he starts, holding his hands up and facing us like wild animals.
"Then please do, we were worried sick!" That phrase was a surprise from Nyah, but I suppose she's been a mother much longer than I've known her, so it would make sense for her to have those phrases down pat.
"I saw some kids in the street, they were fighting. It was a brutal thing and I went to help, but several more came out to stop me, telling me this is how things were, like a duel. 'This stays between them' they said. Then one of the kids' sleeves ripped, and I saw a Name I had never seen before. He was a Named thief, and in time, I found out that they were all Named. I needed training, and it opened my eyes to knew Names that I hadn't thought of that I'll need to get enough. So I'm training with them for a while. Don't worry, I'm safe," Zerrious seemed to get more and more animated as he explained the Names he could get.
It made sense. "Just stay safe. Oh, I just realized, I have something I've never used before. I need to remember how to do it, hold on," I say, finally remembering the other racial trait I had been randomly given. "This will help keep me at ease." I reach out with my Mana, speaking a simple incomprehensible phrase and twisting the Mana around until it forms the mark that I push into him.
Zerrious' eyes go distant and he accepts a prompt, allowing the mark to suffuse into his soul. What looks like a Name appears on the back of his neck, although the skin shines with an almost metallic sheen that marks it as decidedly different from a Name. The sigil is a book with words being written with every passing moment. Soon it settles in, looking more like a living tattoo, even though the skin still raises slightly, more like veins than the brands of Names.
----------------------------------------
Notice!
Zerrious has been marked by Human (American) racial trait: Eyes of the Watchful Scribe. All system notices will be visible to: David (Sigurd). Zerrious' attributes will now be visible to: David (Sigurd).
----------------------------------------
I was almost relieved to finally see the system messages, even if they had nothing to do with me. Like something vital in my experience was missing and now it was filled. A mystery that Zerrious would figure out, I was sure. I felt Zerrious standing there as a sort of sixth sense, almost what I imagined birds going north would feel, an almost draw in that direction that wasn't distracting, but distinctly present.
"I'm surprised you didn't use it sooner considering we were traveling together. I would have thought you do that first day, but it's a racial thing so I didn't want to push," said Zerrious, now unable to hide his advancements from me. Not that he did, but if he got something really unsavory I would give him a stern talking to.
"You should have, I needed a sort of push to use it." Now I had two lives in the back of my mind.
Nyah smiled. "Now that you two have figured yourselves out, can we go to bed? It's never a slow day when caring for kids."
"Quite so, my love," I responded, placing my forehead against hers. A childlike smile found it's way onto her lips and she bounded off up the stairs. I followed soon after, leaving Zerrious behind. He shook his head and moved along behind us, going to his quaint room next to the kids massive living space.
The next day I eat a wonderful meal, left on the long dining table by Zerrious. The kids had been up already and had eaten likewise, a few of the younger kids stealing some potato pieces or bits of egg from my plate before I got down. I didn't mind, there was plenty to go around. After eating there wasn't much for me to do. Teaching kids music was always nice, but it had been overdone a little bit over the months I've been here.
I figured I could see Zerrious' attributes now, so might as well take a look. With a thought the dark screen appeared in my vision with numbers and descriptions.
----------------------------------------
Zerrious
Attributes:
Strength: 23%
Agility: 18%
Fortitude: 34%
Intelligence: 51%
Wisdom: 16%
Sociality: 3%
Shown as a percent above average
Names: 664
Boons: 6
Boon of Bodily Balance
Boon of Speed of Thought
Boon of Combat Clarity
Boon of Endurance
Boon of Extended Life
Boon of Strength of Will
A boon is earned for every one hundred Names earned, or if the gods have determined you deserving of a reward beyond a Name.
Skills: 678
Spells: 14
Evocation:
Fireball
Ice storm
Mana Blade
Lightning Strike
Burning Hand
Monstrous Shriek
Create Flame
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Fog Cloud
Send Message
Warding Wind
Illusion:
Disguise Self
Engulf in Shadow
Phantom Strikes
False Item
----------------------------------------
Holy hell! Over six hundred Names? That kid was far more driven than I ever thought. He must have started when he was not three years old! I was just lucky the system had auto minimized it, because that list would have been ridiculous. I didn't need to know every skill and Name he had, so I left it alone. What the spells were called were interesting, but again, I didn't pry into what they did. I assumed it would start auto minimizing after he had every magic Name he could get in this city, otherwise it would take up too much space.
Seeing these notices again made me want to see my own attributes, but I knew that would never happen. Imagine how easily I could have understood spells and skills if I had been notified of exactly what it did. Back on earth everyone wanted this game-like system in the real world, but most just assumed that magic would come with it, or that it would pop up with a snarky remark every ten minutes about something or other, but people here rarely got notices. The only times people would get a notice would be with the acquiring of a Name, skill, spell, or obvious potentially fatal disease, poison, or attack. People normally only saw twenty or so notices in their lives.
Zerrious was an obvious outlier, getting a new notice at least once a month.
Thinking about it, I was gaining skills and Names at an incredible rate too. The difference is, I grew up in a world that knew much more and only got here a few years ago so I had some catching up to do. All things considered, I was fairly average when the topic was given deeper thought.
"Oi! We don't bite, Stacy! Release! Release!" Nyah yelled from the other room, breaking me out of my thoughts with a high pitched scream to accompany her melodic southern accent. Walking into the room found me staring at a bleeding Kayden with Stacy in Nyah's arms. Stacy was grinning like she forgot she was a girl and not a shark while Nyah unfortunately seemed to be going ignored. I went to take care of Kayden, who seemed to be taking the bite well.
"Don't want infection setting in," I said as bandages and a quick Reject Toxins and Disease spell was applied. It may not have been necessary, but it would make me feel terrible if it ended up infected when something could have been done.
"Thanks," said the boy who seemed to be taking the attack surprisingly well.
"Of course," I respond with a smile. The boy ran off, going to play with some other kids or to find a toy to play with himself. There were some here, but there wasn't a ton of toys for the kids to play with. They seemed to get on just fine and were plenty happy without.
"Stacy, ya can't go bitin' people when ya get bored!" Nyah said, shaking the grinning child lightly. She chomps her teeth twice in response which seems to infuriate my fiancée as her face twisted into a hard line and she cocked her head away from the child just a bit.
It was cute, but it wasn't going to help anything. "I'll take Stacy and we'll talk it out. You go watch the other kids, I'm sure they'd love to play," I said as I swept in and stole the child right from Nyahs grasp.
"You sure? She's a right beastie she is," she responded, the anger draining from her face as quickly as water from from bath with the plug pulled.
"I'm sure I can handle it. I did manage to make it in the wilderness without you, how hard can it be." Very hard. That's how hard it could be.
"Now, why would you bite someone?" I asked her as we made our way to a corner of the house that went unused at the moment.
"I'm a shark!" she shouts in response before trying to take part of my arm off with her teeth. I regretted telling the kids about sharks at that moment.
"That doesn't make sense, how could you be a shark? You're on land."
Stacy seemed to hesitate for a moment before hardily biting my finger and saying, "I'm a land shark" around my finger. A small squeak escaped my lips before I could stop it.
"Did I ever tell you what sharks do?" I asked, making it up as I go but hoping it would solve my problem. It was a strange situation, no doubt.
"They eat people what get to close," she mutters, staring hungerly at me. That had some cannibal overtones, but that can be dealt with later.
"Why would they do that?" I lead her on, hoping that question alone would stop her.
"Because. . . They like it!" she says slowly, bouncing on her feet and lunging halfheartedly for my hand which is pulled away quickly before her sharp teeth could find purchase.
"No, it's because they have to," I tell her. How does that make sense? Why would they have to eat someone? "They have to protect the people in the sea. As a land shark you have to protect all the people on the land."
"I do?" She seemed less than thrilled at the prospect, but she wasn't clacking her teeth anymore. Improvement. Painful, lie filled improvement.
"Yes, that means you can't bite anyone, okay?" I was hoping it would at least buy me a few days before she relapsed.
"Okay, I only bite that bad people!" she yelled as she sprinted down the hall before I could react.
"Oh no."
I ran down the hall and quickly down the stairs to see Stacy sitting to the side of the room filled with children just. . . Watching. It was creepy, but it wasn't biting, so I took the win. Washing the blood off my finger didn't take long and I left it to heal without a bandage, no point in wasting resources the kids might need.
"That's impressive, you fixed her," Nyah said, coming up behind me while I muttered the incantation from Reject Toxins and Disease on the bite.
"Oh, far from it. I just narrowed her target list and gave up. You're a saint, I tell you," I respond.
"Well, now it's my turn to say far from it. I don't have any Names at all. Most consider me worthless, but these kids need me. I do what I can." I turn towards her now.
"Not a single Name?" She shook her head apprehensively. I wasn't sure why I was surprised. She had little free time, and I had seen her naked, so I should have noticed the lack of brands on her arms but it still seemed more normal to not have Names than to have them. "Do you want one?" I asked. I would be glad to teach her anything I know. Magic would be useful for her, and so would teaching, and music.
"I don't have the time for that. I don't have to be Named to be useful," she said, growing defensive.
"I didn't mean it like that, love," I said, moving closer to comfort her.
"Of course you did, everyone does! People always looked down on me because I chose to keep this place, because I chose to have no time to master any skills, because I wanted to help these kids and no one else would!" She cried then, breaking down in rage and sadness, falling into my arms even though I'm the one who made her reach this point.
"I didn't get my first Name until I was at least thirty. Names are still a little bit new to me, even after these years to grow used to them. I don't see Names, at least, not as much as most. I just figured, my life before traveling was as a teacher, so I could teach you if you would like. But you don't have to, not if you don't want to." She sniffed, her tears starting to fade.
"Really?"
"Of course," I said.
"I want to learn that one spell you use all the time when the kids get cuts or when they get sick." I figured abjuration would be the way she leaned. She's a protector, not a scholar.
"Then that one spell you shall learn, and many others to keep our kids safe," I said, putting my forehead against hers and wiping the remnants of tears from her face. The kids were mine as much as anyone's, so I claimed them as such.
Over the next month I taught her, and she acclimated better than anyone I had ever met. She earned her first Name not two weeks later, mastering Mana Storage better than I did. The others were earned in to time. A prodigy if I ever did see one.
During one of Nyahs late night training sessions I got a series of notifications.
----------------------------------------
Notice!
Zerrious has been Named by a master of his craft and has been acknowledged as his equal.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Notice!
Name gained: Minuscil (Charlatan).
Name: Minuscil is the profession Name for the following skills:
Street Fighting
Pickpocketing
Theft
Stealth
Climbing
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Notice!
Name: Minuscil is a profession Name and counts as a Name for every skill required to earn it plus one (6 total).
----------------------------------------
So Zerrious had earned his Names. That meant that we wouldn't have long until the wedding was due. Nyah stepped up preparations, setting things in motion soon after. That night Zerrious went to me to tell me to start getting the wedding set up, and I told him I already knew. I already wore the ring, something done as a proposal rather than the actual marriage which was a bond of souls and Mana. Zerrious had already agreed to hold the ceremony, having been trained by the enchanter back home years ago for this sort of thing. This was considered a sort of enchantment, even though it was markedly different, even earning it's own Name, even if it falls within an enchanters purview.
Zerrious went out to try and earn the last few magic Names, which would come with the learning and specialization of a few spells now that the basics were down. As soon as one magic was mastered the others were a matter of thinking differently while doing the somatic components of the spells. Theory was involved of course, but there was little known about how it actually worked other than being a diluted version of the Aether I had access to. In theory, Mana had to be diluted with pieces of this world in order to effect it, otherwise the effects would all occur in a higher layer that wouldn't actually change anything on the layer we reside in. Each layer is intrinsically linked, I knew that much. I figured that if an energy became to "high" it would go to another layer to stabilize. This was as much as I had guessed and it seemed to hold water.
Zerrious had the ceremony memorized, so that wouldn't be a problem. One nice thing about this world is, once you had a skill, it couldn't fade. Your ability to use the skill might, such as not enough strength to hold a hammer, but you would always know how to smith if you knew at one point. A ceremony would never be forgotten, and a pattern would never tarnish in your mind. Memories could be forgotten, and often were, but skills never would. A boon the gods made intrinsic in this world alongside Names.
Over time notices started pouring in, informing me of skills gained and spells learned. Eventually the time came for the wedding, which we had set a date for and invited everyone we could. I wanted to extend an invitation to much of Zerrious' village, but the postmen here had no idea it existed and I couldn't describe where it was well enough to matter. Plus, the forest could be dangerous, especially for the students and former students I wanted to invite.
The day came. Zerrious and I went out to party, drinking and bandying about town like teenagers. Apparently bachelor parties were one of many universal customs. The problem came with the terrible hangover my wedding day. I hadn't seen Nyah at all, a custom that was common here. One was supposed to grow apart physically to grow our souls into one. I don't know, but I got into the nicest clothes Zerrious could make and I waited, blindfolded in a clearing in the forest somewhere I hadn't seen. Another strange custom, but Nyah wanted it, so who was I to judge.
suddenly Zerrious touched my shoulder, and I knew something had started. It was a sort of reverb in the fabric of reality I constantly absorbed from like a sponge. I felt hands reach behind my head and I tilt my neck to make it easier for Nyah's feminine hands to reach the knot.
The strip of black cloth fell away from my eyes, and I was blinded by beauty and light, the perfect woman standing in front of me in a dress of electrifying blue, the color of her Mana signature just like my suit was the deep green of mine. Everything fell away for a moment, Nyah the only thing in the world worth noticing, even through the blinding light of the sun.