“I’d never even considered that was possible…” Merlin said, his eyes darted back and forth along the floor.

Charlie had never considered the possibility that he could go back to being a regular human. Orb had been by his side for the majority of their time in Aysela. Though sometimes Charlie wondered what it would be like to be a normal kid, he had come to accept the fact that his powers made him different. They felt like a part of him. But now he had a choice that could change everything.

The knights were hunting him because he presented a threat to the world in their minds. But what if he didn’t? If he was just a normal baby, wouldn’t that mean that his friends wouldn’t have to get dragged into dangerous situations all the time because of him? Richard and Mary had been forced to flee their homes and go on the run just to buy Charlie time. Merlin and Vetica both faced deadly situations in Sange, and even during the recent fight with the hex knights. If he gave up his powers, wouldn’t they be safe?

The decision was too much to handle alone. He turned to look at his companions. “What do you think I should do?” he asked.

“Baby!” Bleedy said cheerfully.

“Squeak! Squeak squeak.” Mousifer nodded his agreement from Charlie’s shoulder.

Charlie smiled. His two furry friends would stand by him regardless of his decision. It was comforting to hear that.

Vetica’s expression was serious. “If Themis can turn you back, I think you should let him. It’s the safest path for you.”

So Vetica was in favor of rejecting his powers. He looked up at Merlin, who was quiet. Not long ago, Merlin had been telling Talmot he saw a future where Charlie became a protector of humanity. Would he be disappointed if Charlie didn’t fulfill that future? If he went down a path that would ensure he would never be an enemy to humanity, even if it also meant he couldn’t be its protector. Whatever Merlin’s thoughts were on the matter, Charlie wanted to hear them. Merlin was smart, and they’d been traveling together for a while now. It was important to Charlie that he hear Merlin’s advice.

“Merlin?” he asked.

Merlin snapped out of his thoughts. He looked down and offered a faint smile. “I know you’re probably thinking about everything I said earlier, but that doesn’t matter. This is your decision, and I’ll support you no matter what. Do whatever will make you happy. This isn’t a decision you can make for anyone but yourself. You’re the one who will have to live with it. So be sure.”

Charlie looked at Themis. “If I became a human again, would I lose the ability to communicate with my thoughts?” he asked.

“If I had to guess, you’d become no different from any other child your age. You’d likely lose any memories you’ve made since gaining your powers. Unfortunately, this is unfamiliar territory for me as well. It’s definitely possible, but I can’t be sure what you’ll lose and what you’ll retain.”

Orb quietly floated beside Charlie. He hadn’t spoken since the revelation.

Charlie thought about the little girl they’d seen run out of the toy store when they’d first entered Arcadeya. It had looked like she was having fun. She’d waved to them and run off with whatever was in the small bag she’d been carrying.

She was happy.

She was happy in a way that Luc and Lyra and all the other children in Sange had a chance to be now. A chance that Charlie had been able to fight for because he had powers. Sure, the hex knights were hunting him because he was different. But how many people had he been able to save for precisely that reason? Troa, Garden, Sirra, and Sange. He’d had a hand in stopping a witch, clearing dungeons, and even fighting off cultists. If he hadn’t been there to intervene, if he hadn’t been different, how many of the people that he cared about would be dead now?

And how could he ever turn his back on Orb?

“Orb, I’m not going to leave you behind or anything,” Charlie said. Orb turned to face him, his color returning in waves.

“You shouldn’t keep your powers because of me, Charlie. It’s like Merlin said, you’re the one who has to live with this decision,” Orb said. He sounded sad.

Charlie smiled and reached out to pluck Orb out of the air. “You’re stuck with me!” he said. Charlie looked around at Merlin, Vetica, Bleedy, and Mousifer. “All of you are! As long as you wanna be! I’m keeping my powers. There are too many bad guys in the world that need their butts kicked!” he said.

Themis wore a huge grin. “I was hoping you’d say that. Then let’s get started. Zephyr, analysis.”

Merlin shook his head. “What, just like that?” he asked.

Themis raised a brow. “The hex knights have their prey within sight. They won’t just give up. Every moment that passes is one less moment of progress. If the boy is to survive in this world, greater understanding is mandatory. Power is something you develop. For the next…” Themis looked away for a moment and studied the air beside him. “Let’s say two weeks. We are going to develop that power. I want to start with a full rundown. Tell me everything.”

Orb bounced out of Charlie’s hand and into the air excitedly. “Oh, I know what’s going on here!”

Charlie looked over at him. “What?” he asked.

Orb spun in a circle and then zoomed toward Charlie’s face. “It’s a training arc!”

***

Charlie laid flat on his back on a strange bed covered in some kind of leather-like material. Themis stood over him, taking measurements and inspecting his eyes, ears, and mouth. He asked questions about Charlie’s diet. Which admittedly didn’t last long since he didn’t have one. He asked questions that Charlie could understand him needing to ask, like how dungeon integrity worked, and if he’d tested the limitations of the rock skin passive. But the researcher also asked questions that left everyone wondering if the man had lost his mind.

He shot off three of the questions in quick succession, not even giving Charlie time to process.

“How often do you clean because your toes?”

“Have you ever wanted to be an orange?”

“Where were you on the night of the murder?”

Merlin scoffed. “Excuse me, Themis, what are you taking about? Those questions are all nonsense.”

Themis shot an annoyed look at Merlin. “I need to make sure the boy is actually aware and not simply mimicking those around him. Let’s move on for now. You said the hex knight mentioned a lack of growth. Have you really not grown since coming to this world?” Themis asked.

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That was a good question. Charlie had only ever met one other baby. Though Kyo was his friend, Charlie hadn’t gotten to spend very much time with him. He had no way of knowing that he should be growing bigger by now. He just didn’t have any context or other children to compare himself to. Besides Orb and the minions, Merlin had traveled with him the longest. Charlie looked at him for an answer.

“I’ve been traveling with Charlie for a while, so maybe I just never noticed. You don’t always notice changes in people who are with you all the time. But as far as I can tell, Charlie looks exactly the same. He hasn’t put any weight on, and his onesie still fits. Though, we suspect it may have been made of rare materials from this world, in which case, it would grow with him, anyway. If I had to say one way or the other, I’d say I don’t think Charlie has grown,” Merlin said.

Themis nodded. He looked around his room, scanning for something. He hurried off to a desk and started rummaging through a drawer. Charlie sat up on the bed and looked around. He’d noticed all the strange instruments when they’d first entered the room, but he hadn’t had a chance to inspect them very much. There were tubes full of strange liquids. Green liquids, black liquids, and even orange liquids. Maybe that last one had something to do with the second of Themis’ strange questions. A concoction that could turn a person into an orange. Charlie wasn’t interested in finding out.

There was also a glass case filled with random beast parts. Feathers, fangs, blood samples, and bones neatly arranged behind the protective glass wall. It reminded Charlie of a neater version of Lusafeen’s cabin. Bleedy apparently shared the sentiment. He was already on the hunt for a stray pair of jaws, or even teeth. But Charlie didn’t see any. He turned his attention to the strange creature Themis had checked on when they first entered the room. It laid in a bed that was similar to Charlie’s, which didn’t make him feel better. Its body looked fairly human-like, except for the fact it was covered in fur. The dungeon core embedded in its chest was a bright white and was glowing brighter by the moment. He couldn’t make out how exactly the dungeon core was connected, since it was obscured by all the fur. But it was clearly partially beneath the creature’s skin. Charlie leaned in a bit too far and started to tumble forward when Vetica caught him with deft hands.

“Careful, Charlie,” she said, smiling at him.

He blushed at his carelessness. “Thanks...”

Vetica gracefully hopped up on the bed behind him and pulled Charlie back into her lap. She leaned forward so her face was next to his. Her hair tickled his neck. Charlie giggled in response and shook his head.

“Ah! Is someone ticklish?” she teased him. She reached around and tickled his sides and belly. Charlie’s laughter filled the room.

“Merlin, help!” Charlie projected in between bursts of laughter.

“If I’m helping anyone in this case, it’s going to her.” Merlin smiled.

The sound of Themis approaching brought an end to their game. The researcher had taken a set of metallic rings out of the drawer he had been digging through. He sat two down at the foot of the bed Charlie was sitting in and kept another two in his hands. Both Charlie and Vetica leaned forward in the bed to inspect the rings. “What is that?” she asked Themis.

He held a finger toward her, then turned his attention to the two rings in his hands. He held them apart, and then brought them crashing together. Like magic, one circle went through the other and they formed into a small open ball.

“Physical form, Zephyr,” Themis said. The ball of rings lit up as a green aura overtook them. The rings twitched in place for a moment and then vibrated furiously. Themis removed his hands from the rings. But they continued floating in the air. Buzzing and fluttering in excitement.

Charlie clapped his hands together in amusement. It was like a magic trick!

Orb rolled himself. “Wow, a floating circle. So original. Been there, done that. Get your own tricks, pal,” Orb said.

“Ball,” Bleedy said.

Orb spun around to face the racooneever who had climbed on top of the drawer Themis had left open and started rooting through it. “I am not jealous!” Orb shot back.

Themis quirked a brow at the floating blue dungeon core before returning his attention to the floating rings. “Perhaps a second introduction is called for. After all, they haven’t seen this form of yours yet,” Themis said.

“Of course. Hello everyone, I am Zephyr. Through the powers of these rings, I can take on a physical form. It’s extremely useful for research and amplifies the abilities of an interface. I look forward to working with you all as we strive to further understand the anomaly’s abilities.”

“Uh, you mean Charlie, right? Perhaps you should start using his name, so it sounds like you’re talking about a person and not a science experiment,” Merlin said, crossing his arms.

“My apologies. Yes, I am referring to the anomaly known as Charlie.”

Themis pursed his lips. “We’ll work on that. You were able to pick up on Zephyr’s identity as an interface fairly quickly, so I can only assume you have one of your own, Charlie. It makes sense. Your class is unique, and your dungeon core believes you are from another world. So, it’s only natural the System would give you an interface. These rings are called Caladosian rings, and they will be extremely useful to you. Consider them a gift to celebrate the fact you have chosen to understand rather than abandon your powers. To use them, all you need to do is hold them in your hands and focus on your interface. The rings and interface will do the rest.”

Charlie leaned forward to grab the rings, but they were a bit too far. Vetica reached out to help him, but before she could, Mousifer scurried off his shoulder and grabbed onto them with his mouth. He pulled them back towards Charlie until they were in reach.

“Squeak!” Mousifer said, beckoning towards the rings.

Charlie patted the little mouse on his head. “Thank you.” He picked up the rings. To his surprise, they seemed much heavier than they should be. He was able to hold them up so he could inspect them, but he got the feeling he wouldn’t be able to keep them in the air for too long on his own. He focused on his interface. It was likely Parent had been listening to everything that was going on already. “Parent, are you there?” he called out.

“Affirmative. I have no knowledge of these rings, but I can sense that what the researcher says is true. I can, in fact, fuse with them. Would you like me to merge with them?”

Charlie nodded. “Do it!”

Parent didn’t respond. The rings in Charlie’s hand started to vibrate, and a maroon aura surrounded them. Just like with Zephyr, a moment later Parent was floating in the air. Charlie bet a dungeon core would fit perfectly inside the floating rings if it really tried to squeeze in between them. It was a funny idea, clothing for a dungeon core. Or would it be closer to jewelry?

Themis clapped his hands. “Excellent! Now that both of our interfaces have physical forms, I propose Zephyr runs a deeper analysis. If my suspicions are correct, there is a systematic reason for some of the odd experiences you have. But if the System is involved, it should have made this information clear to you. Especially with an interface involved.”

Orb floated up to Themis. “Are you saying the System has been keeping information from Charlie?” he asked, trying to understand what was being implied here.

Themis eyed the floating dungeon core. “I’m saying there’s a disconnect going on. An interface is an intermediary of the System. But your interface didn’t announce itself when you first got your powers. It came much later. I believe there is a reason for that. Neither Zephyr nor I was able to find that reason when analyzing Charlie. So, I propose we analyze the interface instead. Is that okay with you, Charlie?”

Charlie turned to look Parent.

“I have no objections.”

“If Parent is okay with it, so am I,” Charlie said.

Themis nodded to Zephyr. Zephyr’s rings approached Parent. The green aura surrounding Zephyr moved forward like a cloud and encompassed the maroon covered rings that Parent inhabited.

As soon as the green cloud surround them, both sets of rings shot in opposite directions and smashed against the wall.

Charlie felt a presence. It wasn’t like the power of the Nae Glera, or the pure magic released when Koi Levi had raged against Charlie. This wasn’t the power of anyone in particular. It was like a greater force was in the room with them all of a sudden. It was like being surrounded by the essence of power itself.

System Notification

Due to the intervention of a third party, the severed connection of your interface has been restored. The System has elected to grant you full access to your interface’s capabilities. The interface known as Parent will be updated momentarily. Please wait.

System Notification

Due to unique circumstances, the System has set restrictions in place for the sake of the user. A sub-System has been created for the user. A unique development path has been created for the user. Please wait. A summary is being compiled. Summary complete.

The Unique System “Ageus” has been assigned to the user.