The prime land of the Lei Realm was Mannea. In this extensive land was the region of Dalaa situated south of Scholomark, and among that region remained a vibrant town of Toth. Moko stood by the pole that held signs directing the traffic of men, women, and newly graduated students. Standing with him were Lorace and Serina. Their eyes peered down at the Cookie Moko held, the bits of chocolate chip shining from the afternoon sun. The sky was cloudless, glorifying the rays as spring wept through the field.
He and his friends were silent. Students hung around the town square, not too far from Moko’s ears that he could hear them laugh or cry. They were in groups where one person went up to another, embracing them as they possessed identical Systems. Others were to the contrary, only being met with pats on the back and words of encouragement.
Buildings towered over the students—Domains rightfully of their own. The scenery was a mess, with different technologies mashed together in Toth with no restraint. Through the streets, it was common to spot a Domain constructed in wood and hay. Being familiar with the town, Moko remembered that someone had a Brick as their System. It revolved around the use of old materials to produce the finest-grade bricks to make buildings. Right beside them were Domains highly advanced in technology similar to Scholomark. They constructed their buildings from Marble or Glass Systems, decking them with a higher load of advanced materials than their neighbor.
But Moko didn’t question how much the town had changed since last year’s visit. He showed no curiosity about the graduates’ futures after their momentary celebrations and showoffs. Some tossed their Systems high in the air like toys to be messed with. Moments became frequent when couples formed due to compatible Systems. Subsequent clapping and singing erupted in the town square. But near the wooden pole on the side road, Moko and his friends kept their eyes down. A minute passed with no words.
Serina lifted her Donut and pinched its surface. As she did so, her fingers grabbed a transparent light emerging from the object. She pulled her arm back, dragging the bent and folded image from the Donut. As it stretched and stretched, extracting from the System, the light grew thicker and more opaque. When the last speck of light detached itself from it, the ghostly figure hardened and became a physical form. The brown texture softened, and it formed a large dough-like ring. The illusive image transformed into a donut with pink icing on top.
She put her Donut back in her bag and presented the edible donut to Moko. She asked lightly, “Um, want a donut?”
Moko looked at the donut coated in a strawberry icing. Mute, he took the dessert and took a bite out of it. He sighed, staring back at the Cookie he held.
“Well, uh…” Lorace couldn’t find the right words. “A Cookie doesn’t sound too bad.”
Serine bumped her elbow against Lorace’s shoulder roughly. She gave him a sharp gaze. He scratched his head anxiously, averting his eyes away. She turned to Moko and gave him an upset look. “It’s not my fault, is it?”
Moko stared at Serina and shook his head desperately. “No! It’s definitely not your fault. Don’t blame it on yourself. It’s just…”
“Then how?” Serina asked. Lorace nodded, having the same question in mind. “Weren’t you studying all this time? You did stuff so you could get an Envelope. Even something close to that System would be okay. But this…? It doesn’t make sense at all.”
“No, it really doesn’t,” Lorace said. “It feels impossible to think that you ended up with something entirely different. Is there any way you could switch Systems?”
Moko shook his head. “Once you get a System, you keep it. Even if it is possible to switch, then I have to deal with the Scholomark life again, which is too late. And the Portal reveals itself one day per year.”
He grunted. “That’s too unfair.”
Silence loomed above their heads again. Moko continued eating the donut quietly. The sounds of graduates lessened. Some moved east from Toth, going to the Dain Port to travel the eastern lands within the Lei Realm. Others moved west, making their way to the Horro Port a few miles away. They were the last few remaining, yet were unable to break the suspense. Moko didn’t see this outcome, and clearly, Lorace and Serina never imagined a Cookie either.
“Anyway,” Moko said, breaking the silence. He peered at his friends and gave a slight grin. “You two should get going. I don’t want to keep you guys on hold. I’ll work things out on my end.”
“Are you sure?” Lorace asked. “If you need help, always come and visit us. I can come by to meet you sometime, too. I’ll be at Bamma. Since we don’t have phones anymore, we’ll need to communicate through paper until we develop our Systems enough.”
Serina sighed. “Okay. I’ll be at Roil. I’ll also visit after I settle! When I do, I’ll bring lots of donuts! Do you have any favorite donut flavor?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “No, you can bring me anything.” He then turned to face Lorace. “And Lorace, if either of us comes visiting, let’s go to the Knoran Realm one day. Let’s go look at some magic, because why not.”
Lorace paused. His eyes widened and a steady grin formed. He stepped up to Moko and raised his fist. “That sounds like a good idea. Let’s go one day.”
“I want to come too,” Serina insisted, stepping up with her fist and joining with Lorace’s. They watched Moko, and he looked back. He smiled and met his fist with theirs. The three hit their knuckles together and dispersed.
“When the time comes, let’s all go,” Moko said. He stepped away, guiding his body to the path leading east from Dalaa.
The two gave their final nods of agreement as they went their separate ways. Lorace went southwest to the Dain Port. Serina parted south, down to the Manaic Mountains and going her way from there. Moko waved for a long period. He watched until their figures disappeared over buildings and idle people. He was the last one to leave the town. After the overly extensive waving his friends didn’t see, he lowered his arm and his lips uncurled.
----------------------------------------
Reaching the far east of Mannea was the Horro Port. Moko felt the humid encounter of the seaport, bustling with wooden sailing ships that could deck to the dozens. Seagulls made long calls above the air as the rushing wind directed their course of flight down the sea line. The smell of freshly cut fish lingered. Flames burned inside Domains with meat roasting on top, sizzling and releasing a rich flavor of the enchanting world beneath the sea.
Turning his gaze, he watched people walking around with a Rod, a Net, a Hook, a Fish, and much more. Everything they held in their pockets or by hand was a System. Each worked distinctively, but all of them worked by the body of water. The Horro Port was a society of its own.
Moko observed a group of graduate students atop a docked ship. They leaned against the towering masts, waiting idly until the boat was ready to leave. He traversed down the pier and got on the ship with them. The ground rocked in a slow rhythm. Small waves rolled onto the shore, moving the deck with each strike. Moko brushed his sweaty forehead. The smell of salt invaded his nose, and he fanned himself from the humidity.
After a time, the ship withdrew from the Horro Port. The sails above his head unfolded, extending far and catching the wind soaring in the air. Moko looked up at the empty quarter-deck, seeing that no one was steering the wheel. Yet as the boat distanced from land, the wheel rotated and moved. It controlled itself. –This ship must be a part of someone’s Domain. His body swayed back and forth, feeling the deck he stood on rock harder.
Graduates grabbed onto the railing or the masts. A few were on the floor, catching their increasing breaths while grabbing onto their upset stomachs. Some gazed upon the distant horizon as the land of Mannea ceased to appear. Moko stood idly, watching everyone settle in as the ship they were on its way to the land of Kartha.
Rather than resting on the floor for the hours of traveling needed to take place, he grabbed his Cookie from his pocket and brought it out. He observed the object, which was as big as his hand. Moko breathed deeply and looked around to find someone. When he spotted a lone boy, just like him fidgeting with his System—a tiny Seed—he said to him, “Hey, you there.”
The boy looked up and met his gaze with Moko’s. A couple of the students looked in their direction, assuming he called them, but quickly returned to their mingling. The boy asked, “Are you calling me?”
“I just want to be certain. When your System is too far from its user, it will return one way or the other, right?”
He gave Moko a puzzled look but still nodded hesitantly. “Yes?”
“Okay, thanks,” he quickly responded while looking away. Moko grabbed onto his Cookie with a firm grip. His eyes gazed afar at the long stretch of blue water. With one swift move, he tossed his System out into the sea.
“W–what?! What are you–!” Moko heard the boy yell from behind. He watched the Cookie hurl high in the air until landing in the distance. There was a little splash as his System sank into the water.
Students shot their eyes at Moko when witnessing him throwing his System away. Whispers broke among them, but mainly the silent stare crept up behind his back. He sighed deeply, curling his hand into fists. His throat tightened and his eyes narrowed. He shouted at the clear sky, “Why a Cookie?! Are you kidding me?! I didn’t want a Cookie!”
During his mid-scream, a brief flash of white light emitted below his sight. The Cookie returned, lying on the railing’s surface with every corner and curve dry and perfect. It never got wet. The inscriptions appeared, in part with the System as a magical overlay of words with no material being inscribed with—a translucent light, a screen. The letters were colored in gold. A slight popping noise wrought in his ears as the screen emerged. It read:
(+1)
2 Cookies
The text followed Moko’s eye movement for a few seconds before fading when no kind of activity was done. The surrounding people watched, and he was aware of the looks. He heard the boy behind him trying to ask a question, but never successfully articulating it. Moko ignored him and grabbed the Cookie. Again, he tossed it far until it splashed into the distant water. To his expectancy, a few seconds later, the thing returned and idly rested on the railing. The inscriptions appeared with a slight change to the numbers, emitting a small pop noise that tingled his eardrums:
(+1)
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
3 Cookies
“Uh,” the boy said. “Wait, that’s not what… I… Why are you throwing your–”
Moko turned to face him with straight lips. The boy jumped back a bit, seeing the sharp glare written on his face. Moko then turned to see others giving their shares of concern. Their hands were half-extended, seemingly desiring action. Their mouths were open, unable to speak or comprehend his actions.
He crossed his arms and gave all of them a resolute look. He said in a mildly threatening voice, “What are you guys looking at?”
Then their faces awkwardly averted. The boy walked away, retreating to the stairway to sit down. When their eyes didn’t cross with Moko’s, he turned back to his Cookie resting on the railing. He took another deep air and grabbed his System. He threw it again, and the screen appeared with another change:
(+1)
4 Cookies
Inevitably, the students watched Moko throwing his System again and again. That was their main source of entertainment. But from behind his head, he heard someone grunting as if tossing something. Moko turned around to witness a girl on the other side of the deck who threw their System into the sea. The eyes shifted from him to her.
“Why a Broom?!” She shouted with all her might. “I wanted a Brush! They’re totally different things! Why?!”
Moko froze, watching her pant for air as her Broom appeared before their eyes. She grabbed her System and tossed it out again. Students on the ship started to speak amongst each other.
Out of the crowd, a boy left his group, getting up and running near Moko. He grabbed onto the railing and brought his System out from his pouch. With one swing, he tossed his little object out into the water. “I wanted a Quill! Why do I have a Pencil?! Why?!”
Soon enough, more people joined them. They got up from their positions and ran up to the edge of the deck. All of them tossed their Systems, giving it a good throw so they could drop into the sea. And to his surprise, the previous boy who walked away was in his own corner, throwing his Seed into the Horro Sea.
Less than a few watched as Moko started something on the ship. Whatever it was, Moko never experienced this. However, he joined with them in their outbursts. Everyone laughed as they spoke wild comments about their dreams shattered with Systems they never wished to get. Over time, Moko and others went into a little competition of who could bounce their System across the waters the most. He threw his Cookie like a disk, causing it to bounce on the water a few times before sinking. They kept throwing in any way possible as their Systems returned to the boat waiting to be tossed again. At the end of the trip, Moko produced some numbers in his System.
40 Cookies
----------------------------------------
In two hours, the ship landed at Karan Port, sailing past the Omor and Lira islands. It entered a narrow passageway between regions Hark and Krall, docking on the innermost part of Kartha. Students dispersed in all directions as they left the boat. Moko was the last to leave, sitting on the floor with sweat glistening on his neck and dampening his clothes. He got up and jumped over the railing, landing hard on the pier.
The sun passed its peak and lowered to the horizon in the east. The blue sky shifted into a sapphire hue, gradually tinting into a purple scene as the sun grew more orange. Moko set foot on land from the wharves, entering another bustling port of Domains scattered across the land. He walked on the brick floor, hearing the clattering feet of people and animals traversing down the road. The roasted scent of seafood emitted from one Domain, a little cabin as smoke rose in the air. Moko heard shells cleaving by cleavers, separating the crab meat from their armor. If Horro Port was the town of fish, Karan Port was the town of sea crawlers.
Further north of Kartha was the region of Malla. He went there on foot, taking him another hour to make it to his destination. In times of boredom, he’d toss his Cookie out far, only for it to teleport itself inside his pocket. And with each throw wrought another upward count in his System.
(+1)
41 Cookies
(+1)
42 Cookies
(+1)
43 Cookies
(+1)
44 Cookies
He made his way through the road strewn with pebbles, over hilltops, and past the colony of trees and shrubs. Upon reaching the final dirt mound, Moko noticed a sizable building silhouette in the distance. The sun set beneath the arching land and suspended the warm atmosphere with an orange shade.
Moko hiked down and neared the Domain. He went closer, and the shape of the building got sharper and more refined. There were long stretches of straight passageways connecting to one large compartment towering above every tree. Smaller compartments were scattered across the area, all joined in a singular network. A silver-white color painted the walls. Windows covered the corridors but not the large cubicle. A handful of glass panels in one compartment reached two stories high.
The entrance doors of the Domain swung wide open. They crashed onto the walls as the light from within seeped out onto the darkening land. Moko saw a small figure below the threshold with long hair swaying by the rushing wind. They shouted in a motherly voice, “Moko!”
Moko waved his hand at them, smiling as he said back, “Mom, I’m home.”
She left the building and set foot on the dirt road with her heels on. Running and running, she went up the hill to welcome Moko with open arms. Her office-like uniform made her pace slow, yet she reached and embraced him. He felt the joy spilling from her sigh of contentment and snugged hands around his back. Raising his arms, he hugged her with a warm exchange of grins.
“Moko! Welcome back,” a fatherly voice shouted from afar. Moko peered above the mother’s head and saw another person emerging from inside the Domain. With a clean beard and work attire, the father waved at him with excitement. Moko waved back while being clung to by his mother.
“You’re finally done and home,” she said, pulling away and looking at his face. “You grew so much. How is everything?”
Hearing her words, Moko chuckled nervously and scratched the side of his head. “Um, well…”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound good.” She tilted her head and gave him a half-troubled look. “Did something happen?” Her eyes widened for a moment and covered her mouth with her clasped fingers. “Don’t tell me…”
“N–no, wait,” Moko said hastily. “I do have my System. It’s just that… It’s not what you think.”
“It’s not an Envelope? What is it then?”
Moko placed his hand inside his pocket. His mother watched intently as she waited for the revelation. When he pulled out his System, he gazed at her silently. He watched her face change expressions a few times. His mouth refused to move until she responded.
“Ah,” she whispered. Her arms crossed together. “A Cookie.”
He nodded in agreement. “Yeah. A Cookie.”
“You liked sweets this whole time? You should’ve told us when you came during vacation months.”
“Mom!” He said with a flustered expression. “You know I wasn’t trying to go for this. For some reason, I just ended up with this System.”
She laughed, brushing her joke aside. “This is so unexpected. I thought something close to an Envelope would be given. This is entirely the opposite.”
“The worst part is that I only think about sweets like three times a year. Maybe the Portal misread me.”
“You know, I kind of agree. This is so random that it’s impossible. Interesting…”
“I guess I just have to live with this for the rest of my life.” He sighed.
“Well, you have to anyways,” she said, nodding. “Your Dad and I were planning a gift for you, but it seems like it wouldn’t fit with this kind of System.”
He stared at her bewilderingly. “Wait, you were planning to give me something?”
“Why, of course. Do you think we’d give you nothing after your graduation? It’s a celebratory act. Also, since you have this System, you don’t mind if I have a cookie?”
“Oh, uh, I don’t mind.” Moko lifted the Cookie. With his other hand, he pinched its surface—much like how Serina pulled out a donut from hers. As he did, he felt his fingertips grab another thing besides the surface. It was a soft fabric, almost. Retreating, a see-through hue of brown and dark spots emerged from the System. As he pulled and pulled, extracting the compact light, the figure formed itself into a cookie. The transparency thickened and caused the sweet dessert to manifest itself in a physical form. Moko had two cookies now. He handed the edible one to his mother.
“Wow! Thank you,” she said, grabbing the cookie and taking a bite out of it.
The moment the cookie got pulled from the System, his ears picked up a low humming noise. His Cookie shook in his hand, causing his eyes to peer at its surface. The screen appeared in his side view with the usual golden inscriptions. He darted his gaze at it and realized a new change to the numbers. Rather than an upward count, it decreased by a number:
(–1)
43 Cookies
“So, what does your System have?”
As she raised a question, Moko shook his head and looked in her direction. She took a bite out of the cookie, waiting for him to respond. He cleared his throat and thought for a second. But the longer he thought, the more confusing it became. “My System? It can count. Wait– What do you mean ‘what does my System have’?”
She took another small bite. “Tell me your Assets. It should appear alongside the screen that you see. I can’t see what you’re seeing, so you have to tell me.”
“Assets?” Moko repeated. He knew the term, as it was used frequently. They were possessions a user owns that make up a Domain. Assets played a role in making a Domain, but that was Moko’s only knowledge. He tilted his head. “Is it the cookie count that I’m seeing?”
The mother shook her head. “That’s the Entity count. Does that mean you don’t have Assets?”
Moko glared back down at his System. After a prolonged stare at his Cookie, the System screen emerged into view again, allowing him to see the text written in the air.
43 Cookies
“I don’t see anything other than how many cookies I have in my System,” Moko said. “Am I supposed to see other things than just that?”
When he raised his head to see his mother, he saw her press her thumb against her chin. Her eyes narrowed at Moko’s System while taking another bite at her cookie. She sighed, feeling conflicted at the sight of such a sugary dessert. She mumbled words to herself, inaudible for Moko to hear. After a period of silence, she said, “Let’s go inside. The day is ending, and you must be hungry.”
His mother turned around and went down the hill to enter her Domain. The father continued watching, looking at the two with a smile still on his face. Moko followed her but with confusion and loss. “Wait, Mom! Is this good news or bad news? I don’t know what’s happening. Am I supposed to see more things on the screen?”
Walking up to the father first, the mother traded silent words with him as his face deterred from that of joy to shock. Moko traversed down the road, seeing his parents speak in a whispering tone. When he went up to them, the two finished their conversation. The dad looked at him as a smile formed again. He made his way to Moko and gave him a big hug. Both were the same height, yet the father had more build than him.
“12 years of studying, and you ended up with a Cookie,” he said, sighing while pulling away. He wrapped his arm around Moko’s shoulder and brought him inside. “Let’s get things sorted out while you make yourself at home. We have a lot of things to talk about, but Mom will do most of the talking.”
“Oh, okay,” Moko said, feeling messy. His mind was bombarded with questions, hoping his parents would ease his state. The mother went down the corridor with him and his father following right behind. He aggressively caressed Moko’s spikey hair, seeming to enjoy the company of his son without having to go back to Scholomark again.
“And also,” the father said as he looked at Moko, “Let me have a cookie.”
Moko looked at him with a nonchalant expression. He nodded. “Uh, sure.”
With the Cookie in his hand, he used his fingers to grab onto the surface and bring out an edible cookie. Going through the same process—the light growing darker and more opaque—Moko handed the freshly extracted cookie from the System to his father. A low hum reverberated in his ear, dragging his eyes to observe another decrease in count.
(–1)
42 Cookies