The ETHOS:
At first, it was rather lonely, being solitary with my thoughts.
Thanks to a certain parameter, however, two new voices are now haunting me.
It is not so lonely now, but I am also not sure if I like the changes just yet.
They talk. A lot.
-- From the journal of Solas Morningstar
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The dim light of the dawn shines through the kitchen window above my head, lighting up the earthenware pots on top of the clay fire pit. I was trying to cook some eggs for the family before they woke up, but it was harder than I remembered. I would probably attribute this to having no idea what I'm doing, as well as the two floating semi-transparent asses in my face.
I was fiddling with the blue orb necklace, watching its ocean glimmer dance across the skin of my index finger. I hold it high, catching the marble pattern inside, imitating a calm, blue fire.
"You came from this you say?" I tapped the marble a few times.
Veleirud tapped the marble himself. "Not exactly. We were hidden in a space of pitch-black, sort of floating in nothingness, when a violent pulse hit the both of us at once." He rubbed the back of his head. "Following the pulse, we found a source of light, exactly the color of this marble pattern."
A similar near-death experience to mine then. I nod, deep in thought.
"So...Velorud?" He frowned in annoyance, as I pronounced it strangely. It was unlike any name I had heard before though.
He adjusted his mask. "Vell is fine. The brute can't pronounce it either."
The topless pervert flipped him off. "Maybe tell your parents not to give you such a pain-in-the-Bundo."
A children's argument, from a mismatched pair of spirits. Feeling a headache coming on, I turned back to my eggs.
“Vell, this isn't your world then. How did you end up here?” I helplessly watch the eggshell break off into the pot mixture. I grunted in annoyance, while Vell’s white coat flitted over the kitchen window, as he perched in mid-air cross-legged, twiddling his thumbs.
“Uncertain, is all I can say. We are not in the same period, we are unaware of evidential historical records of magic, nor have I ever heard mention of a large kingdom of Ardon back in my old world. I cannot speak for Ogum, but I was in the middle of treating a patient when everything just went black. After opening my eyes, here I was”. He stopped twiddling and floated still in thought.
“Shit. I dropped a shell in.” I began my futile attempt to spoon the shell out of the pot, and Ogum placed his ghost elbow on my shoulder.
“You dropped a shell.”
Ignoring him, I focus on the prospect of different worlds. How fascinating. “Vell, what is it like back in your world? What kind of food is there? Is there cake too?”
“Are you going to pick up the shell?”
The old man scoffed, shaking his head. “One thing at a time. We have just as many questions. Why are you only asking about food?"
I rubbed my head, ears turning red. “Being bed-bound and diseased means that most of the world's cuisine was out of reach. Cakes were a luxury that my mother gave me on occasion.”
“If you use the eggshell, you can pick up the bits inside the eggs.”
I swipe at empty air, hands flying through his face. “Ogum, I will, but your face is in the way.”
He rolls off to the side, and I finally capture that rogue eggshell.
"What about you Ogum? How did you end up here?" I can finally start mixing the eggs. This is how you make scrambled eggs right?
"Not any of your business is it? We just need to help you, and then be on our way." He grumbled, turning his rear end towards me.
I focused a bit more on my mixing, a little hurt. "Help me? Why?"
Veleirud shoves Ogum out of the way. "I can answer that, instead of this rude brute. It's the reason we are haunting you now."
Now that mentions it, why did this window spirit provide two ghosts? Something completely unrelated to what I have attained so far?
"As I said before, we were held in that darkness for a long time, just like you were. Ogum was with me too at the time."
"I was thinking, who the fuck is this guy with the ugly ass beard." He smirks, flicking at the old man's grey-white facial hair. I just noticed it was misshapen a bit.
"How dare you! It was a shaving accident! Anyway, that blue fire flashed and produced a very short but clear message for the two of us."
He tapped the air twice and my blue window opened once again.
Ping. Ping. Ping.
[https://i.imgur.com/MQ0MfAs.png]
[https://i.imgur.com/miLtPes.png]
[https://i.imgur.com/Twe0ORH.png]
"... You're right. That is a very short message." They nodded in agreement.
"What, so now you're at my beck and call?" I giggle out loud and both swipe at my head.
"Fuck no. Get that shit out of your head."
"Okay, okay. So what is my ambition supposed to be then?"
"We haven't a clue. Which makes this troublesome task indeed." He points an old finger at me.
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Now I had even more questions. But before I could inquire further, I was interrupted by my mother, who had just woken up.
“Dear? Who are you talking to?” My mother walked into the kitchen area behind me, rubbing her eyes, gold-white hair strewn in a messy, starfish manner.
I patted her bird's nest down. “No one mum. Are you hungry? Wake Helos up too, before he disturbs the rest of the neighborhood.” I scoop the eggs out of the pot, slopping them into the bowls.
My mother clasps her hands together. "Are you...making breakfast for us, Sally? That is so sweet." She wipes a tear from her eye.
"Mum, can we change the nickname to something that sounds less...that?" I pleaded as she ignored me to wake up my sibling, who was finishing his last snort.
"Bless. Your mother is a fine woman." The old man strokes his chin, staring intently as my mother walks away.
"Vell, what the fuck. Don't talk about my mum like that!" I throw a bread roll at his face.
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Helos scoops a heap of scrambled eggs onto his spoon and shoves the gooey mess in his mouth. Horrid looking.
"Damn, Solas. That's not bad. They don’t taste like ass, even though you haven’t touched the firepit in forever." He grins, shoving in another spoonful.
I chuckled, flipping him off. Not my best work, in his defense. But Helos will eat anything.
"Thank you for the backhand brother, I will be sure to return the favor when you sleep."
"Worst scramble I have ever seen." Ogum tumble-rolls behind me, sneering. Ignoring him, I return to the conversation.
"Mum, what is the work situation looking like?"
Helos shoveled another spoon in. “Yeah Mum, are you still planning to work now that Solas is up and running again?”
“Yes, probably fewer hours on the fields.” She rubbed her shoulders in relief, and I felt a guilty pang zip through my gut.
"I am going to start working soon, Mother. Since you have done so much for me." My brother indignantly gestured to himself, but I just continued smiling at my mother.
She shakes her head. "No, love. You must rest since you only just recovered." Before I could protest, she immediately placed her hand on my chest, patting it lightly.
Damn. This means she is adamant. Her way of standing her ground with this gesture.
I sigh. "Maybe for one more week. I guess I can distract myself in the meantime." I flick a clump of salt at Helos, which hits the tip of his nose. "What about you Helos? How was training with Tanner today?"
He wipes his mouth with the napkin. "It's okay I guess. He has been getting more aggressive with the recruits lately though." He rubs his butt, imitating soreness.
"It's because you are viable in one year for conscription, right? Sweet old 16." I poke his bulging arms.
"Kind of looking forward to it, if I'm being honest." He grins evilly at me. "Do you want to join in on the fun? Get all that training in as well."
"Hell no. I am made of sticks. I have no intention of finding out how you got those veins for arms." He flexes his left arm in the air.
"Language!" She throws napkins at the both of us. Helos and I snicker, while she starts clearing the plates.
"Yeah, no disagreement about the sticks, fool." Ogum floats in the air on his back drifting past me with his arms on his head, armpit hair whiffing about.
I scrunch my nose and throw another napkin in his direction.
"Piss off Ogum," I whisper to the side. "Dont need you to point out when if I look scrawny."
"You good brother?"
"Yeah, I'm alright."
"So I guess you won’t be needing that healer anymore, hey mum." Helos mumbles, bits of egg falling out the corner of his mouth for the fourth time.
I know! It's great, isn't it? When I called him yesterday, the mayor said he would cancel the paperwork right away.” She claps her hands together, glad that she didn't lose a small fortune.
That's weird. ”Oh? I thought we had the contract in the house?” I inquired, poking at my eggs.
She nods at me. “We did. However, all work contracts within this town go through his residence to be safeguarded and stored.”
I raise an eyebrow. "Since when?" I had never heard of that before. I push the plate of eggs to Helos, who immediately snatches it out of my hands.
"You probably wouldn't know of it, since it was shortly after you became unwell I think."
I paused. Images of Tind’s letter flashed in the back of my mind.
Mother started to rub my back, “It’s okay I’m sure it will all work out Solas. We are both just so happy to have you back." She must have noticed that I was brooding.
She was right.
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The moon slowly replaced the sun in the sky, and I stepped onto a hill, overlooking a particular house. This one was built unlike any of the others in the village. Three stone spires rose high off the ground, decorated with windows tinted in colored glass, and a large wooden double-door entrance guarded by four men. The rest of the walls were also surrounded by a moat and guards.
I was perched on two large hills, surrounded by a clump of trees, viewing the front gate from a distance. "So I guess the only option is to infiltrate the Mayor’s residence then." I turn off [THERMOGRAPHIC VISION].
"Smart. From the bandit’s letter, it can be safe to assume that the mayor has no intention to do what he said.” Ogum nodded his head. "That's also a nifty trick you have there." He pokes at my eyes.
"Quite” responded Vell. "The question is, how do you plan on getting it back?
“Uh… can I not just sneak in and take it?”
Vell rubbed his forehead, drifting away. Ogum dropped his head back and sighed a long sigh.
“Do you have a map of the residence”
"No."
"Do you have a detail of his guard duty?"
"No."
"Do you know a single thing about stealth?"
"Uh…"
"No."
Ogum hammered his fist into his palm repeatedly.
"Babaka! Sneaking is fucking reckless then! Not to mention the way you fight sucks as well."
I put my hands on my hips. "It's not that bad. Did I not kill that Tind guy? He was a bandit as well."
Ogum threw his hands in the air.
"Luck. That's all that was! If I didn't tell you to stab him in the eye or scream to release your tension, you would have died like a deer in headlights!"
My mouth dropped open. "That voice was yours?" The pain and the violence reverberated through my head. So if it wasn't for him, I would have suffered so much more. Images of blood flashed through my head, and I started trembling without warning, my skin stinging, unabated.
"Yes, so you better show some damn ---"
I immediately dropped to my knees, head smashing into the grass floor, giving the deepest kowtow I could. "Ogum, You have my deepest gratitude. If not for you, I would have immediately wasted my second life." The shaking stopped, as I recovered my breath.
His voice softened. "As long as you understand I guess."
I hopped back up, hands by my side. "Is that why we are out here? To scout."
He raised an eyebrow. "Yes, scouting as well, but we are also here to train."
"Train?"
"Yes. As I said before, your foundation requires some more work. But it would be ideal to build you up using the rules based on this system."
"System? Is that your name for the ghost?" It sounds kind of cool.
"Unimportant, so focus up. Me and Vell have noticed that your experience points go up every time you perform activities or exercises."
"Tsk, tsk. Vell and I". Ogum shot the doctor a glare before continuing.
"Well, yes I know that much. Wait. Do you mean all activities?"
"Correct. Looking at your progress, there is an increase of about 0.01%, for every 1000 steps you took. We noted that it rose 0.1% when you cooked eggs."
That is so random. I begin jumping on the spot a few times, checking the current amount of experience accumulated.
[https://i.imgur.com/9d2c0Ws.png]
.....
.....
I continued hopping.
.....
.....
Ping!
[https://i.imgur.com/eJvwZEW.png]
Okay, so it blips up every 200 jumps or so. I quickly calculate in my head.
My mouth drops. "I am not doing 20,000 hops." I squat down to my knees and pick at the grass. "Why did I hit level 3 so quickly in a day and a half then?"
"Because those situations were once-in-a-lifetime. You walking for the first time in a decade. Life-and-death encounters. Hitting as many of those as as possible would be your best bet for improvement."
Vell nodded. "However, a majority of wildlife around here is non-hostile, consisting mostly of the oxen that pull the fields. So hunting is out of the question."
Ogum nodded. "Solas, Why are there so many damn oxen?"
"Well, They are a symbol of the western Ardonians. Head-strong, made for labor. You know, strong as an ox."
"Not very like you ey?" He smirked at me.
"That is true." I smiled at him.
Ogum scratches his head. "You changed you're tone very quickly haven't you?"
How could I not? He was my benefactor. "So what do you have planned? We can't beasts, and we have to stay put."
He spreads out a mischievous grin.
"Have you ever heard of ... Push-ups?"
To be Continued.....