Fate was somewhere with Kit, probably trying to figure out the next best move. John and Prota were busy keeping a watch over the two unconscious assassins.
“John,” Prota said after a while. “What is a level?”
“A level?”
“Mm. Prota’s [Magic] says level three now. But what is level three?”
“It’s… level three?”
John was surprised. What was with this game like system? His own system was never used for anything other than some quality of life features, like calendars or maps. The health bar system was a surprise, but then again, the him of the past had been the one to make it, so it was possible that it had other hidden features. However, one thing it wasn’t was a game like system. It wasn’t a system that gave him quests, or level ups, or rewards…
Well, there was one time. When his system had acted like a game in order to train him. But that was before his mind had been opened. Before he’d known that he was missing memories that could be reclaimed. And at that time, it hadn’t been part of the system itself. Zero had been manipulating it.
And if Zero had been manipulating it, then it wasn’t part of the system itself.
“Is that bad?” Prota said, bringing John back to the issue at hand.
“No, no, that’s good. It means you’re getting stronger.”
Prota’s eyes sparkled as she rested her head on John’s shoulder. He put his hand on her head as he continued to think.
Why a level system? Come to think of it, other things had levels in her system.
“Character profile,” he whispered.
[Character Profile: Prota Char
Gender: Female
Age: 8
Abilities: [Soul Siphon], [Soul Copy: Level 2], [Magic: Level 3] [System] [Character Profile] [Creation: Lv. 1] [Plot Armor... [Expand?]
Traits: [Character: 100%] [Anomaly]
Status: Alive]
That, too. [Anomaly]. Wasn’t that a trait unique to him, someone from the “real world?” Now that he thought about it, that wasn’t necessarily true. [Anomaly] was simply someone who didn’t belong to the [Story]. Who didn’t have an inherent role.
“Then… what does my character profile look like?”
He’d never checked. There was never any reason to. But what about now?
“...character profile,” he muttered as he looked down at himself.
Suddenly, an intense pain shot through his head. He gasped audibly, causing Prota to jolt up and look around. He heaved, on the verge of vomiting, grabbing his head as he shook violently.
He wasn’t using his abilities. What was going on? He panted as the pain subsided, clutching at his chest.
[You’re not supposed to see your own profile]
“What?” John said out loud. “Why not?”
[Dunno. Um… I can try to get past and let you take a look for a few seconds, since Prota also looked at it once. Make them count]
“Get past? Get past what? Huh?”
[■■■■■■■■]
With a sigh, John whispered the words one more time and prepared for the worst, but this time, nothing happened.
[Character Profile: John Quarta (False Identity)
Gender: Male
Age: ■■■■■■■■
Abilities: [Infinity], [Zero], [Plot Armor], [Reader’s Revelations], [Storytelling], [Determination], [Fourth Wall]... [Expand?]
Traits: [Anomaly], [Character: ■■■] [Reader: ■■■] [Writer: ■■■]
Status: Alive]
“The numbers for [Character], [Reader] and [Writer]... huh?”
Most of the things in his profile were familiar to him. His abilities, gender, status, traits… although the numbers being blacked out was strange. However, one thing bothered him.
“False identity? What does that mean?”
Was he not John? He took pride in being him, no matter how much he acted. Whenever he told Fate that he was “just John,” he was being honest. He didn’t really have a better answer.
He was John. But what if he wasn’t? Then what was his true identity?
“Hey, Prota.”
Prota’s eyes opened as he called her name.
“Do you remember the [Character Profile] ability?”
A nod.
“Can you use it on me?”
Prota looked at John and muttered something but then frowned ever so slightly.
“Um… nothing. Sorry.”
“Alright. That’s fine.”
Prota nodded and closed her eyes again, but John was left deep in thought.
The [System]. He’d always thought of it as a convenient tool, but… was it more than that? Or… maybe it wasn’t the [System] that was strange.
Maybe it was him.
With a large yawn, John got up and stretched. He was thinking too hard. He’d deal with it later, when it mattered. He looked around at the destroyed mansion, barely visible as the sun was setting in the distance.
“John,” he heard. “Washroom.”
John looked over at Prota, whose passive face seemed slightly more strained than usual. Was she resting because she was trying to hold it in?
“...now?”
“Mm.”
John hesitated, but really, would anything happen during a bathroom break?
“Go,” John nodded. “In the woods or something, maybe?”
Prota looked at John expectantly.
“Wha- no, I’m not following you. Just go, quick. I’ll wait right here, someone has to watch those guys anyways.”
Prota nodded, got up, and walked over to the forest. She quickly relieved herself, which was harder considering she was a girl, but she dealt with it and stood up.
“...?”
Someone was there. It felt like someone was watching her. Closing her eyes, she felt the mana around her, and sure enough, someone was there. That presence from earlier. The one that’d been here since the start.
What should she do? Tell John? Leave it alone? The woods were dark. Would John even be able to do anything here? Suddenly, the mana started to move. It was moving towards her. She flinched, freezing up. It was getting closer. Prota stood very still, hoping it wouldn’t notice her.
She couldn’t see anyone moving, but she could still feel the mana. Stay very, very still…
Snap.
She took a step back and stepped on a branch. The noise was light, but it was noise. The mana stopped moving.
“...!”
Prota fell to the ground as a knife flew out of nowhere, barely missing her as it cut clean through the tree behind her. Prota gulped.
“Who are you?” a female voice demanded. Prota couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
Prota didn’t respond. No, it was more like she couldn’t. It was hard enough for her to talk to normal people. How was she supposed to reply in this situation?
“Quiet one, aren’t you?”
“...”
“Fine. Then I’ll force the answer out of you myself.”
Some kind of spell must’ve been undone, because a beautiful young elf appeared, wearing a cloak. It flashed open as the woman flung out a handful of knives. Prota panicked and quickly raised a wall of ice, but it wasn’t enough. It slowed the knives down, but one of them still hit her leg, causing her to buckle down and fall.
“Hm… it might just be unlucky timing, but you saw me. You have to die.”
What should she do? Every fight, she’d been given orders. Attack. Defend. Assist. What now?
“Prota!” she heard John call out.
“Tsk!”
The woman took a good look at Prota, then vanished once more. Just a few seconds later, John emerged from the trees.
“Oh, shit. Where did she go?”
“Invisible.”
“Is she still here?”
Prota shook her head. “John… saw?”
“A little,” John admitted. “You were taking a while. I would’ve shot, but I was a little too late, so…”
Prota once again felt helpless as John picked her up and carried her to where Fate was. What was she lacking? Strength?
“Prota,” she heard John say quietly. “This isn’t something you could’ve done on your own. So just wait.”
She nodded. She would trust John.
“Hey, you guys, what’s- what happened?” Fate cried out as they walked back to the camp. He saw the cut on Prota’s cheek.
“Ambush,” John grimaced. “Prota was attacked by some kind of elf. Do you have a stalker or something? I don’t think I’ve made any elf enemies. Yet.”
“An elf?” Fate said, suddenly stiff. “What were they like?”
“Um… well, I didn’t really get a good look, but she was wearing a cloak, had some daggers or something…”
“We need to go. Now.”
“You’re still weak-”
“Now.”
John nodded. Fate wouldn’t budge on this one.
“How about them?” John said, nodding towards the mercenaries.
“We leave them tied up. As much as I hate to leave them here, our safety come first. We can report it, and hopefully someone comes to pick them up.”
“How about I just kill-”
“No. Besides, you have an idea as to who hired them, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s go.”
John nodded, and they started the trek back, leaving the ruins of the mansion behind them.
~~~
Fate, John, Prota, and Albert were in the office. Since there were only two chairs, Prota was sitting on John’s lap while Fate delivered the report. She didn’t really want to be part of the conversation, but Albert wanted all of them there.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“You were ambushed? By who?”
“We don’t know. All I saw were the mercenary symbols on them.”
“...that’s not good. Do you remember their faces?”
“Nothing of significance. We had to leave quickly. Well, there was one thing, though. They were ordered not to kill us.”
Albert nodded. “Alright, we can look into this later. So, let me get this straight. The mansion was a bait?”
“Yes. We- no, John- believed that it was set up as an impossible mission in order to lure adventurers in so that their souls could be harvested.”
Albert froze up. His eyes grew dangerous.
“Where did you hear about souls?”
Fate coughed and turned to John.
“You?” Albert said, raising an eyebrow. All of his bloodlust was focused on John, but like before, John didn’t really care.
“What? What’s so secret about souls? I learned about it on my own.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Albert roared, standing up. “Magic pertaining to souls is strictly confidential! The mere existence of souls is a well kept secret, and you’re discussing it so casually?”
“You’re the one bringing up soul magic and shit. I don’t know about that. I just know about souls. Seriously, what’s the big deal?”
Albert stared at John carefully, but John was showing no signs of joking or lying.
“Seriously, who told you about souls?”
“I told myself. Look, do you want me to tell you what I think, or no?”
Albert clenched his fists, clearly stressed out, but then finally let out a sigh as his arms dropped to his side.
“Fine. Let’s hear your theory. And you better not go yapping to anyone else, understood?”
John nodded.
“Anyways, I think the people in that mansion were harvesting souls.”
Everyone in the room stared at John. Even Fate and Prota, who knew somewhat about it, were surprised to hear John say it so confidently.
“You wanted to hear my theory, right? Then this is it. The group harvesting souls in that mansion, and the group we’ve been looking into… they’re probably the same.”
Albert looked at Fate, hoping to see that John was joking, but Fate looked like he was going along with this as well. Albert sighed again.
“What makes you say that?”
“I guessed,” John shrugged.
“You guessed?!”
“It’s a really, really good guess. Trust me.”
Albert sighed and buried his face in his hands.
“Fine. Continue. What’s the point?”
“Well, you know how powerful souls are, right?”
“...no.”
“I- you what?”
“I was only made aware of their existence. I don’t know much about them. So… I don’t know what your source is, but it better be reliable.”
Albert was accepting this rather easily. John took a breath, thanked the [Author] for a lack of quality, and continued.
“Souls… think of them as humongous mana sources. You could probably level a mountain or something with one, even if you didn’t know how to handle the energy properly.”
Albert nodded. “So you’re saying it could be weaponized?”
John shrugged. “I mean, it’s possible.”
“Kh… which might mean Last Stands.”
“Last… Stand?” John frowned.
“You don’t know what that is?”
John shook his head. “Can you explain?”
“When a magician reaches a certain level of proficiency, as long as they’re taught properly, they learn to develop something called a “Last Stand.” It’s a massive spell that uses your life as its baseline.”
“So it’s a tie of sorts. If you go down, I go down too.”
“Not exactly. There’ve been Last Stands that have healed almost incurable injuries, spells that freeze the opponent in time, or give their allies a permanent buff. It varies depending on the person, but yes, most of them end up being large scale attacks that wipe the opponent out.”
“...if they’re so large scale, then what’s stopping people from just sending people out en masse to fire these things off?”
Albert shook his head. “They’re not easy to make in the first place. To make a Final Stand requires research and proficiency in magic, so it’s not like you could just throw precious mages away like trash. It just wouldn’t work.”
John nodded. “Cool.”
He lifted Prota up and put her on the floor.
“Hey, where are you-”
“Thanks for the heads up. I’ve got some research to do. Not that I want to, but, oh well. By the way, we’re B rank now, right?”
“...that’s right. I’ll get on the paperwork.”
“Sweet. See ya.”
John nodded and walked out the door. As soon as it closed, Albert turned to Fate.
“I don’t know what to do with him,” Albert said with a heavy sigh.
“Once you get used to his oddities, he’s not that bad, sir,” Fate said.
“Do you really trust him?”
“You are the one who chose him, sir.”
“I told you to call me boss. And you can be a little less formal with me.”
“Apologies, si- boss. Habit.”
“Anyways, you really trust him? Why did you choose to listen to what he had to say?”
“...that’s a little hard to explain. Someday, maybe, you’ll experience it for yourself.”
“You’re saying that there’s something special about him?”
“Combat wise? Not really. But… his intuition is something to the point of foresight. It’s like he can see the future.”
“Do you think he can?”
Fate shook his head. “There are things he gets wrong, and his guesses are pretty generalized. Just like before, he said that “it’s possible,” so he’s not certain, but he’s guessing. I’d go with what he thinks.”
Albert sighed. “We’ve got a whole crew of oddballs here, don’t we?”
He spun around in his chair to face the map hanging on the wall behind him. He picked up a knife and threw it, pinning it to a circled dungeon on the wall.
“There’s too much going on to question him. He’s not that strong, right? We can deal with him if he’s planning on betraying us. That dungeon. In two weeks, you fellas will be checking it out.”
“...are you sure it’s the organization we’re after?”
“It might not be. But it also could be. We can’t afford to miss out oon this.”
Fate nodded. “I understand.”
~~~
“How does John know?” Prota asked.
They were back in their little room in their inn. John was busy sorting through some things, but Prota wanted to know. John’s intuition. Where did it come from?
“Know what?”
“The souls. The people. How does John always know?”
“...”
John sighed. “Well, you should learn this someday. I feel like I’ve said this before, but honestly, now that I think about it, maybe it’s a little too early for you.”
John sat on his bed and looked at Prota. “Remember what a [Reader] is?”
Prota shook her head.
“Alright, let’s go over this again. A [Reader] is just that. Someone who reads. And I’ve read a lot. So basically, if this world is a story, then I can read it to a certain extent. Most stories aren’t all that different, Prota. You can usually predict certain things if you just think hard enough.”
Prota stared at John. He was being serious.
He just… guessed? All those times he was saying he guessed. It was really just that. He was just taking information he was given and making guesses based off that. It was that simple?
“It’s really not that complicated. Trust me, a lot of stories end up doing the same thing. You start to guess things pretty easily. I can’t predict everything, obviously, if I don’t have information about certain things. But general ideas of the future? It’s not that hard.”
“So why can’t Prota?”
“Why can’t you guess like me? You just have to read more,” John shrugged. “And… you still don’t see the world as a story, right?”
Prota slowly shook her head.
“Well, don’t worry about it. It’s not like you need to. Just leave the guessing to me.”
He put his hand on her head and got up. He was about to go to the door when he felt Prota put her small hands on his, holding his hand down on her head.
“Haah… I keep forgetting about this,” John sighed quietly.
“Remind me why you hate relationships so much again?” Zero said in his mind.
“Because once I develop a relationship, the trauma lovers will have a field day,” John grumbled back. “We can’t allow the trauma lovers to thrive.”
“...alright.”
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. John looked at Prota, who shrugged.
“Hello?” John called out.
“It’s me.”
“Oh. Fate. What’s up?” John said as he opened the door.
“In two weeks, we’re going into a dungeon.”
“Are we finally looking into this group we’ve been investigating for, like, a million years?”
“It’s been a few months, but yeah. Are you ready?”
John shrugged. “Basically-”
He stopped as he remembered Prota. That was right. There was still something he had to train with her.
“Well, almost. What are you planning on doing for the next two weeks?”
“Not much,” Fate shrugged. “Just a bit of training, preparations, what not. Any advice you have to give?”
“...be prepared for something unexpected in the dungeon,” John shrugged. “Something will inevitably go sideways, and you won’t be able to anticipate it. Neither will I.”
“If we can’t anticipate it-”
“Just be ready for something. As long as we’re on guard, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Fate thought for a bit, then nodded. “Makes sense. How about you? Prota’s gonna train with Kit, so-”
“Actually,” John said, cutting Fate off. “There’s something I need to do with her.”
Prota looked at John. There was?
“You can train her? What are you going to do, give her a gun?”
“No,” John said, starting to close the door. “Don’t worry. It’s not like she’s going to get that much stronger in the next two weeks, right?”
“Well, yeah, but what can you-”
“Alright, good talk,” John smiled, closing the door.
Fate pushed it open again. “Hey. We need to talk.”
“Is it about the souls? I’m sorry, but I can’t answer that.”
“At least tell me your source. At least tell me why you know things like that.”
“I told you, I told myself. And how do you know about this, if it’s so confidential?”
“...Kit told me. It’s something the Mythics look into, but she told me never to tell anyone. Well, since it’s you, I guess it’s not that bad. You already know so much about me anyway,” he grumbled.
“Well, anyways, I wasn’t kidding. My source is myself. Use your lie detector or whatever, but really. It’s just me.”
“Fine,” Fate said after a brief moment. “I’ll see you later.”
“Haah… that guy has way too many questions. Not that I blame him,” John said, sitting on his bed. Prota followed him and jumped on, sitting right next to him.
“Hey, Prota. Are they still outside?”
“...” she shook her head no.
“Good.”
He looked at his map. The forest had various clearings, so they’d be able to use some of them pretty well. He closed his system and took a deep breath. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure if this was a good method of training. He’d been through the method he was about to use, but it hadn’t been by choice. It’d made him stronger, sure, but it was also a literal hell.
“Prota,” he said hesitantly. “I’m gonna be honest. You’re still lacking something.”
“...?”
“Experience. You’re still thinking before you attack, right? Deciding every move?”
Prota was confused. Weren’t you supposed to think before you attacked?
“No,” John said as if he’d read her mind. “Of course, that’s what most people do. But you’re struggling with important decisions when they need to be made immediately. You need your body to act before your brain.”
“Body… before brain?”
Prota didn’t get it, but she was trying to. She thought back to the way John fought. Smooth movements, reaction time that made up for his lack of speed and strength, unpredictable movements… she sort of got it.
“Of course, that’s not something you can get by training,” John explained. “Like I told Fate, something’s going to happen in the dungeon.”
Prota nodded. She still didn’t get why he thought that, but she’d trust him on this one.
“Are you ready?”
“...no,” Prota admitted. She was getting stronger, but was it enough? If Fate was taken out, could she finish things on her own?
No.
“Then there’s something we can do. I’m not all that fond of this idea, but I saw the way you were looking at Fate. You think you’re too weak, right?”
“...”
“Then let’s try it. It’ll be hard. You might not be able to do this. Are you ready?”
Prota nodded, but she was excited. What kind of training was John going to give her? She’d been through “training,” but John had never really told her it was training. The bandits, goblins, and company had all been “training,” but this was the first time John had called it training. He, too, was learning how to approach things. And Prota, too, had grown. She was prepared for failure.
So how was John going to train her in only two weeks?
Well, for starters, it wouldn’t be two weeks. It’d be much, much longer.