At what feels like the crack of dawn, Jeffery wakes me from my sleep.

“Rise and shine! Or should I change your name to Sleepy!” He says with a loud laugh.

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I glare at the fuzzy man. How the hell is he so chipper?

With a few silent grumbles, I listen to the man, and quickly get up off the couch and do what little I need to to get ready. The two of us scarf down some stale bread, and head out the door.

I glance over to Jeffery, trying not to stare. He’s dressed totally differently than his usual garb. Instead of his plain, but durable, shirt and pants, he’s wearing a thick vest over a thin shirt that buttons closed. The vest has small stitches of yellow running through it, in a spiral design. His pants aren’t much different, a dark grey to go with his shirt’s blue.

Eventually he catches me staring, and chuckles. “Ya, I know it’s odd on me, but I can’t just go to the church in what I normally wear. Wouldn’t be proper.”

My heart sinks, and I look down at my patchwork pants, half dissolved shirt, and bare feet. Both articles of clothing are filthy, me having nowhere to wash them.

Jeffery coughs into his raised fist. “Don’t worry about yer clothes, girl. The church won’t judge a poor youngun for wearing what they got… Not the ones that matter at least.” He pats me on the back, a bit too hard. “They just expect folks like me to get all fancy, since I can afford it.”

I nod, sort of understanding what he means… But I still feel self conscious about my rags.

Don’t worry, who cares what some preachers think. They have to wear robes and stuff. Laaaame. Lotus chatters, making me smile.

Jeffery and I walk for quite a while, and we soon move into streets that are unfamiliar to me. And that’s because I’ve avoided them until now.

I glance at a massive pink crystal that floats in the center of the town, it’s light bathing the buildings close to it. My eyes shift up, along the tall, floating stone, and once again see why I avoid these streets. Built onto the crystal, is a circular stone shelf, on which more buildings sit. I’ve never been onto the next level of town, or to the third above it, and I don’t really want to. But Jeffery said the church lies on the second level. So I have no choice.

Walking deeper under the massive stone overhang, I notice large panes of something built onto its bottom. The flat surfaces glow brightly, bathing the town below in false sunlight. I guess that’s how they keep everything lit? Thanks to the devices, the light level around me doesn’t change much, no matter how far we go under the level above.

After around an hour and a half of walking, we reach the base of a large cylinder that goes straight up. The stone construct is built halfway from the edge of the overhand to the crystal in the center. Inside the building-sized stone tube, is a road that winds around the inside, going up to the next section of town.

Nerves on the fritz, I follow Jeffrey closely, and try not to think about how many tons of rock and wood and steel are hanging above me, just waiting to fall and…

No more thinking.

I repeat that phrase, over and over, as I walk up the slanted road with the smith. When we finally make it to the next level, I keep my eyes on the ground and pretend there isn’t a third above us.

“Lucky for us, the church is near to the rise here.” Jeffery says, pointing to the road we just walked up. “Should only take a few minutes to get there now.”

Without looking up, I nod. If Jeffery notices I’m tense, he doesn’t say it.

Just like the smith said, we make it to the front of the church in a little over ten minutes.

The man’s elbow nudges me gently, pulling me out of my anxiety for a moment.

“I know yer afraid of somethin, but yer wanna gonna see this, at least once.” He says confidently.

Curious about what Jeffery is talking about, I take a deep breath, and look up.

My eyes go wide at the building in front of me. White stone, polished to a shine, stretches from the false ground to the bottom of the next level of the town uninterrupted. It looks almost like it’s keeping the stone from falling onto us. Windows with colorful glass gleam from within, depicting numerous different scenes, a bloody battle, two figures in love, and some other, more abstract things I don’t understand. In the center of the building, are two massive pearlescent doors with a diamond-shaped gap at their top, which are swung wide open, welcoming in visitors. People of every description, including some clearly nonhuman people, stream in and out of the building, walking under a large crystalline sculpture that hangs in space between the doors. The visitors are carrying objects of all kinds, weapons, blinking devices, even their children.

I let out a long sigh, amazed at the sight before me.

Jeffery chuckles at my reaction. “Told ya, it’s pretty, ain’t it?” He asks with a smile.

I nod at him vigorously, a smile plastered on my face. For some reason, seeing the building made my fear of the looming rock overhead vanish. Maybe because it looks so sturdy, like it’ll hold it up, keep us safe?

Whatever the reason, my anxiety is gone, at least for now, and I’m able to confidently follow the blacksmith into the building.

The inside is almost, but not quite, as impressive as the exterior. The ceiling of the main hall we’re in stretches all the way to the top of the level, the glowing lights from outside built right into the white stone. Huge pillars assist in holding up the roof every few dozen steps, their surfaces carved in numerous different scripts. The floor we walk across is made of similar stone as the rest of the building, except for being shades of gray and black instead of white. Intricate patterns weave over the ground, never seeming to repeat.

By the time I finish drinking in everything, we’ve made it through the line to talk to someone. Sitting behind the white and black wood desk is a younger man, only a bit older than me, who flashes Jeffery a forced smile.

“What can I do for you?” The man says tiredly.

Suddenly I’m pushed forward, directly in front of the man’s desk.

“This young lady’d like to get her status checked, and to get her class.” Jeffery clearly explains, his accent slightly lighter than normal.

The receptionist stares at me blankly for a moment before turning back to the blacksmith.

“Are you vouching for her?” He asks Jeffery, who nods. “...Alright, then you need to sign this.” He hands Jeffery a large piece of paper and a pen before turning to look at me. “And you need to go down the hall behind me and go into the first room on the left. Someone will come see you shortly.” Without giving me a chance to register his words, he looks over my shoulder. “Next please!”

Jeffery pulls me out of line, and leans down next to me. “You’ll be alright, girl, just go back there and do whatever the priest says.” His face suddenly darkens. “Within reason.”

I nod, understanding the man’s meaning, before turning to stare at the long hallway behind the sitting man’s desk. Before I can get myself to budge, Jeffery gives me a little push.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Stumbling forward, I try my best to turn my stagger into a natural looking walk, and head down the hallway. It doesn’t take me long to find the door the receptionist described, which is adorned with a yellow glyph I don’t recognize.

It’s similar to the symbol for inn, but only vaguely.

Walking into the room, I see a bunch of large machines, covered in lights of all different colors. Thick cables and cords run all over the walls, leading into the ceiling or one of many small, metallic boxes attached to the walls. I make my way to an empty chair quickly, afraid I’ll somehow break something.

My body pressed into the uncomfortable seat, I try and steady my breathing.

Excited? Lotus asks, almost scaring me out of my chair.

I scowl at the girl, before eventually answering. ‘A little…’ I admit.

Me too! You think it’ll notice me?

Panic shoots through me. What if they do notice her? Will they take me away, to do experiments on us? Or… maybe something like her is common, and I just don’t know about it. Yeah, that has to be it. It has to be it.

It’ll be okay, I’ll keep us safe! She says, somehow confident.

I can’t help but smile at the girl’s bravado.

I’m startled out of my moment by a knock at the door, just before it opens.

A tall man, wearing the strange combination of long, white cloth robe and metal knight's helmet, walks into the room.

“Hello.” The person I thought to be a man says cheerfully. “I’m Lois, and I’m here to check you over and give you your class.” She says, clearly a woman. Probably.

I give a small wave.

“Ah, right. Your backer told me about you. I’ll move on then.” She says cryptically, her voice echoing behind her helmet. She walks over to one of the large machines, dislodging a glass plate from its side. Device in hand, she moves up to me, and holds it out in front of her.

The cables leading to the underside of the object begin to pulse with a gentle pink light, almost identical to the color of the gem holding us in the air. Slowly, the outline of a hand blinks into existence on the glass’ smooth surface.

“Place your hand inside the indicated spot for me.” The priestess says cheerfully.

I comply, surprised by the warmth of the tablet under my hand. For a few moments, the two of us stand in silence, staring at the device. After what feels like forever, a small green light on the edge of the glass blinks twice.

“What? Twic—” The woman starts to say, but gets cut off by a beam of pink light shooting out of the tablet.

The glowing line slowly widens, becoming a floating rectangle. And then words start to fill in the empty space, words I somehow understand.

〘〜〜〜〜〜〜〙 Chatty Human, 22, Female Classless Empowerment, Movement, and Mental Affinities. Unarmed, Short Blade and Throwing Martial Affinities. High Speed, High Temperance, Above Average Intelligence, Above Average Vitality, Otherwise Average. Blessing of Silence [Host of Lotus the Resonant] 〘〜〜〜〜〜〜〙

“What! Wha—” The woman starts to panic, but is once again cut off by the light show.

The rectangle empties of my description, and rapidly fills in with a new one.

〘〜〜〜〜〜〜〙 Lotus Symbiotic Mimic, .08, Female Novice Mutuusmancer Same Affinities as Host Extreme Vitality, High Agility, High Spirit, High Mana, High Temperance, Low Intelligence, Otherwise Average. Blessing of Resonance [Joined to Chatty the Silent] 〘〜〜〜〜〜〜〙

The priestess drops the tablet, which shatters on the tile of the floor. Pink sparks fly out of the device, dancing into the air around us. Ignoring the loss of its source, the rectangle of light slowly condenses into a single point, before solidifying into two pink marbles.

I realize what’s happening just in time to reach out and catch the glass orbs.

“M-mimic…” The priestess whispers in fear. I feel her eyes burrowing holes into me from under her shadowy visor. “You’re… you’re infested with a mimic!” She says, louder this time.

Fear shoots through my veins, freezing me in place. What does she mean? Does she mean… Lotus?

Chatty, move! Lotus yells, just before…

“MIMIC!” The woman screams from the floor, her voice much louder than it should be. “MIMIC IN ROOM TWO!”

I take the advice of my apparent infestation, and book it.

────────────

My feet pound against the tile floor as I whip past the entrance to the hall.

I don’t stop as the receptionist yells at me, I just keep moving, ignoring everything I can.

“Chatty!” I hear Jeffery yell, already distant behind me.

The columns of the church rush by as I sprint for the entrance, the once beautiful white of the church now harsh and blinding. People stare as I run, and I hear the clatter of metal behind me. I don’t dare to look back, worried it might slow me down. Just as I make it halfway to the entrance, several knights in faintly glowing blue metal armor step into the open entryway to the church, cutting me off.

I grit my teeth. Now what? My eyes frantically flit around, searching for something to help me, and then I notice something.

Hanging in the doorway is the glass mobile I saw on my way in. It’s attached to the frame of the doors by a single chain.

‘Lotus!’ I scream internally. ‘Are you able to launch your slime?’

I-I should be able to! Why? She asks, her voice scared.

‘The thing hanging in the doorway, you think you can burn through the chain holding it up?’ I ask desperately.

I-I… Maybe. It might! She says, on the verge of tears.

‘Good enough!’ I say, more hopefully than I feel.

As I point my damaged arm at the entrance, I realize that our little conversation took less than four steps. How… It doesn't matter right now!

I feel a pulling in my palm, and a wad of purple slime fires out of it with surprising force. It hisses as it flies through the air, the goo made of acid instead of the previous medicinal gel. With a wet smack, it lands directly on the chain.

‘Nice shot!’ I cheer. Lotus stays silent, but I feel her terror distantly.

Without a way to speed up the acid, I do the only thing I can, and keep running. I have to hope it cuts through in time.

Each step I take towards the knight blockade raises my tension, the fear in my heart growing each footfall. I can’t slow down, the metal of boots hitting the floor clanking right on my heels. All I can do is stare down the knights directly in my path.

Then I hear something, a quiet creaking sound, coming from above. I can’t help but smile.

With a loud crack, the chain holding up the sculpture snaps, and the glass artwork plummets. The knights in my way, with a shocking show of reflexes, jump out from under the falling ornament in time to not become crushed tin cans. Where the knights had just been, now lays a heap of broken glass and twisted metal.

I can work with that.

Seconds after the thing falls, I reach it, and do the only thing I can. I grab the metal frame of the art, ignoring the sharp glass stabbing into my hand, and vault over. I let out a hiss of pain as I land on top of the broken mobile, but jump off without stopping.

I don’t have the luxury of pain.

As soon as I land on the other side of the wreckage, and make it outside of the church, my stomach drops.

A second row of knights encircles the church, cutting me off from any of the nearby streets.

For the second time in a short while, I look desperately for an answer. But all I find are more and more knights, including the ones near my feet that are starting to get up from their panicked dive. They have every side cut off.

…Except one.

The outer edge of this level of the town, a fenced off drop to the streets below. They didn’t block that off, why would they?

Without having to ask, Lotus anticipates what I’m about to ask.

Go for it, I can break our fall.

I nod unnecessarily to my mental co-pilot, and start sprinting towards the edge.

As soon as I start moving, the knights seem to realize what I’m doing, and rush towards me. The church square is filled with the deafening sound of at least thirty fully armored men running. But they won’t make it, being too far from the edge to catch up.

Each footstep shoots rods of pain up my legs, the small shards of glass still embedded in my soles digging deeper. I ignore it the best I can, just focused on saving my life. Wounds are secondary to living.

I grab the metal railing when I reach it, pulling myself up onto it. Straddling the sideways pole, I look where I’m about to willingly throw myself. My eyes go wide, the drop is at least twenty stories.

‘Are you sure about this?’ I ask, my nerve starting to fail.

Yes. Lotus replies in a steeled tone.

Well alright then, if she’s sure. …It’s better than getting cut apart by the church I suppose.

Just as I go to throw myself off, I hear someone yell to me.

“Chatty, don’t!”

I look back, and see the familiar outline of Jeffery, running just behind the crowd of rapidly approaching knights.

All I can do in the little time I have is smile sadly at him.

And then I fall.