I wasn't crazy. When I hit precisely my third birthday the letters and weird disorganized boxes took shape, the result left me with more questions than answers. However, I was right on how it appears, only when I'm being talked to or am already apart of a conversation. However, it also can appear on its own if I am about to approach people and it's terrifying.
Let me explain. Do you ever wish you could always say the right thing at the right time and never falter? To know what to say even if you shouldn't know anything about it? The weird tables are bloody dialogue options for me to repeat like an actor. It can guess, no, it knows what I was about to say when I approach people. If I am talked to first three options appear and each holds a symbol next to it. A plus, equal sign, and a minus, or better called positive, neutral, and negative like an affinity system, though sometimes some symbols don't appear and others do multiple times.
However, there is no way for me to track my affinity with people, and when I approach people first a fourth grayed out option appears, generally of what I was going to say though there is never been a symbol next to it as of yet.
It has been three months as best as I can tell since my third birthday, and I have gotten used to seeing the giant boxes of text in my vision. Since my third birthday, I also started getting taught about the world by mama, and of course language lessons.
My mother sat across from me at the table with various scattered objects about on top, her eyes looking between them deciding which to do next. It has been a matching game of sorts, she points to an object and I try to guess the word.
She picks up on object and points to it, her red eyes looking at me expectantly.
Proving further it's real, three boxes appeared in my retina.
= - Iwana Teku = Dennuo
It seemed I wouldn't gain any affinity between these three options, though seeing the rare double symbol made me wonder if this was truly all my options? There had to be something I could say to improve someone's opinion of myself at any time right? I could think of this later and simply spoke as best I could the third option, though it came out as 'demwo' due to my lack of developed vocal chords.
My mother smiled and moved onto the next object, and another, and another. Eventually, we reached the last object on the table, a book to be precise. Once more she simply held the object up for me to answer.
- Iwana Teku + Noru =
A plus sign was next to the correct choice this time, which was the only time one appeared thus far during this session, part of me wondered why and part of me didn't care enough to bother, thus I simply gave the correct response.
If this was an innate magical talent I held in this new world, it was a bit unfair. If one used it precisely right they could easily go from commoner to noble just by saying the right thing all the time, to the right people of course. I tried to draw similarities between this dialogue system to other things I had seen, of course, the obvious connection was video games. However, there was no other menu I could trigger. After my mother put me to bed, I feigned being asleep and tried a dozen possibilities to see how 'game-like' this ability was, with no results to show for it.
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The next question was would this ability grow as I grew older? Since this ability wasn't usable until my third birthday would more features appear as time passed? Were their prerequisites? I frowned as I sat on my bed unsure. I carefully crawled out of my bed and walked to the window, pulling myself onto the small ledge to watch the outside world. This world had no electricity, thus the outside was as dark as inside save for natural light. My eyes drifted from the streets below to the stars and four moons above. It always amazed me to see those moons when I only had one moon in my previous life. Each moon bright and luminous with a different color, red, green, purple, and blue. Mama told me a story recently about the moons, of how each of them long ago were siblings in an orphanage forced to fight on opposite sides of a four-way war when they grew up. They met each other on the battlefield and ended up killing each other against each of their personal wishes. The gods took pity on them and cast their souls into the heavens to be immortalized, though the reason was unclear what exactly they did to earn this privilege. In my own opinion, the story was lackluster, though it showed this world still held common themes and tropes with my old, and it made my reality ever so slightly more comforting.
I continued to watch the scenery for a long time, till I passed out on the window sill. I woke up the following morning with a low groan and took in my surroundings. I plopped off my window sill and tiredly headed for the door. I got on my toes and turned the handle and walked into the usual large hallway. I yawned twice as I headed to and down the staircase to the dining room, where my mother was already eating breakfast delivered by a servant. Even now I found it weird to be served in my own home. It was a type of life people dreamed of in the old world, and yet it was given to me just by being reborn.
I was always a firm believer in karma, cause, and effect to be more specific, and believed in karmic reincarnation. Thus, I knew none of my actions in my old life earned me the right of this kind. If anything I deserved a rehash of my old life. I pulled one of the chairs back and crawled onto it, my eyes were barely over the table as I waited for my meal. My food came, and as I began eating my mother wiped her mouth, clearly thinking about something. She looked over to a door and sighed.
"Come in." She continued to stare at the door as an aged man walked in. Covered from head to toe in robes, wearing wirey glasses, he looked like a textbook wise man, or master mage. Immediately I could make a guess from cliches of my old world this was going to be my private teacher. My mother looked at me with a warm smile as she spoke, motioning to the new arrival.
"Arawn, this is Vendrick DuMont, he is going to be teaching you from now on." No dialogue option appeared interestingly enough, and I quickly realized why.
The elderly man coughed and gave a slight grin "Yes, yes I will be teaching you history and language among countless other subjects for the next decade, and of course most importantly testing you for Magicka training."
My eyes lit up at that last bit, magic training. It was interesting this worlds word for magic was so similar to my old.
"Now finish your food Arawn and go get dressed."
I nodded and wolfed down my food, nearly jumping off the seat, and ran up the stairs without putting my chair back properly.
"Well, that got him excited." My mother elicited a chuckle from my reaction.
"Hm, hm it usually does I find, the wonders of Magicka and mana always have a pull with children."
"Will you be testing his Magicka potential today?"
"If you wish mistress, though even if I test him today I'll be doing it again on his fifth day of birth."
My mother waved her hand dismissively. "Of course, of course. I'll leave my son in your capable hands grand magister, I hope you'll surpass my expectations."
The old man bowed, showing his status in comparison "Of course my mistress, I'll make sure your child is well taught, on my name."
"I'll hold you to that Vendrick." She sipped her drink as her eyes shown an eerie harsh and ever so cold light towards Vendrick, ever so opposite to the warm, kind gaze she showed to her only child.