Somewhere else, somewhere like home_Felix, or the art of the smallest gap

It felt like an instant, even less than an instant, since he decided to go somewhere else.

And he succeeded.

He heard a huge splash first then a cooling feeling that seemed to refresh his weary being.

Delighting in this sensation, he kept his eyes closed for a few more breaths before opening them, finally.

What he saw left him frozen in wonder.

He stood in the centre of some kind of small island, not much larger than a manor, where a strange waterfall the size of a fountain seemed to flow freely. Currently standing the two feet in the pond formed by the running water who, strangely, seemed not to wet his shoes or even his clothes, he could observe the colonnades made of marble with golden veins all around him. The island was a strange assortment of flourishing vegetation and antique ruins who still mixed in a very harmonious way that talked to him deeply.

It felt like home.

Aelius took all this silently, not daring to speak as the place seems to emanate something sacred. Like a sanctuary of some sort.

For people like me.

The thought came to him very naturally even if he did not understand it clearly. What was it meaning, for people like him ? For little boys that… For big boys, he corrected himself, that lost their parents ? It felt close but not exactly right. That lost their home ? Yes,this thought felt much more correct than the previous one. But something still wasn’t fitting. The first part, he realised by giving it a little more reflection. Not only for big boys. Then for who ? Again, it was straining against this strange feeling inside him that was nudging him toward the truth. For… what ? Alright, this wasn’t the good answer but this was the good question. What special thing would he share with this place ? He didn’t know, he didn’t have many things special to himself. Aside from the flowers. This ! It was almost there ! Not all flowers, just those that brought him here.

This is a special home for the friends of the purple flowers that lost their homes.

Right. As soon as he finished thinking about it, he understood that he was right about it. That this was a right thought.

He asked himself what was the difference between a wrong thought and a right thought for an instant. But just at this moment, some bells ringed softly into his ears, as if to attract his attention, and some transparent screen appeared in front of him.

<< Welcome Aelius ! >>

<< Congratulations ! You just levelled up ! >>

Aelius was surprised. He heard about it, of course, the System was part of everyone's life since… He didn’t remember right now, but it was something that happened a long time ago. His dad told him the story when he asked why some people were able to jump over the street instead of waiting for the green light and he wasn’t. Basically, now, everyone was linked to the System from birth but you needed to wait for your first level up before being able to access it. This, he remembered. But the first level wasn’t supposed to come before you were 15 at least. Which felt like an eternity at the time so he just never bothered asking more about it.

<< You’re now level 1 ! >>

<< You unlocked access to the System Interface ! >>

<< Testing for your roots… >>

<< … >>

<< Roots identified ! >>

<< Accessing roots… Access granted. >>

[ Strength : 14% Dual (12% Impurity)]

[ Endurance : 35% Void (8% Impurity)]

[ Agility : 21% Thunder (11% Impurity)]

[ Wisdom : 55% Void (1% Impurity)]

[ Charisma : 51% Thunder (3% Impurity)]

It definitely wasn’t what he expected. There were so many numbers. And what does these “Impurity” mean ? Is he sick ? He wasn’t sure. He hoped the low number meant that he wasn’t very sick. He thought that maybe, maybe, if it was his “Roots” the names between the numbers referred to the flowers inside of him. As they were hidden deep with their roots that grew inside him. Thunder, like his father thunder, were the off-white flowers. And Void was the purple ones. Then Dual would be the intertwined ones ? It would make sense because they were far less than the other kinds of flowers and it was the smallest number.

By the time it took him to consider all this, comfortably showered by the refreshing waterfall, his roots status actualised.

[ Strength : 14% Dual (10% Impurity)]

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

[ Endurance : 35% Void (7% Impurity)]

[ Agility : 21% Thunder (9% Impurity)]

[ Wisdom : 55% Void (1% Impurity)]

[ Charisma : 51% Thunder (2% Impurity)]

Aelius blinked in surprise. It seemed like the numbers next to his Impurity, the ones that were worrying him, were decreasing ? He focused on the column for a minute or two and the status actualised once more.

[ Strength : 14% Dual (9% Impurity)]

[ Endurance : 35% Void (6% Impurity)]

[ Agility : 21% Thunder (8% Impurity)]

[ Wisdom : 55% Void (1% Impurity)]

[ Charisma : 51% Thunder (2% Impurity)]

Yes, he wasn’t mistaken, the numbers were decreasing. And it seemed that the biggest numbers were decreasing the fastest. But why ? He was doing absolutely nothing that could explain the changing numbers. And if they were on this screen, he was pretty sure that they were an important part of who he was. He felt like it at least and for what he remembered of his dad’s explanation, it seemed to go toward it. He was just standing there, staring at his panel while doing nothing else than enjoying the coolness of the water stream.

Oh. The water. Was it..?

Aelius closed his eyes, trying to go back to the flower land. It wasn’t that easy at first as his mind was quite bothered by all that was happening until he thought about following the stream drenching his soul and there he was. The whole prairie of flowers was being filled with water, just like one of those paddy fields he’s seen on a TV documentary one night where he faked falling asleep on his mom’s lap. And whenever the stream reached a place with some of the non main coloured flowers, they seemed to be uprooted and disappeared with it. A bit as if the stream was a giant vacuum cleaner. This made Aelius laugh a little. A big, big, big vacuum cleaner.

He woke up and stared at the screen, which flickers every few minutes, until it reached the number he hoped for. Disappointingly, it never came, instead of reaching “0% Impurity”, the notice turned into “Pure”. At least it seemed much better than whatever impurity meant, if he was sick he seemed to be cleaned now.

[ Strength : 14% Dual (Pure)]

[ Endurance : 35% Void (Pure)]

[ Agility : 21% Thunder (Pure)]

[ Wisdom : 55% Void (Pure)]

[ Charisma : 51% Thunder (Pure)]

It was much easier to understand now that he wasn’t flooded in numbers and that the screen stopped flickering but he wasn’t able to contemplate it for too long as a new message soon replaced it.

<< First level detected. >>

<< Activating Personal Information… >>

<< … >>

<< .. >>

<< . >>

<< Error Detected. >>

An error ? It didn’t feel right with him. Could the System even make an error in the first place ? It was his fault. He should have listened more to his dad’s explanation. He hoped the System would be able to fix his error as some anxiety began to take hold over him.

<< Experience Overflow. >>

<< Pending Resolution. >>

<< Resolution Found ! >>

<< Class Level Increased ! >>

<< Congratulations ! You just levelled up ! >>

<< Class Level reached maximum level ! >>

<< Congratulations ! Your [Noble] class reached maximum level ! >>

A lot of System notification flashed in front of him, how did he earn that much level ? It wasn’t normal at all. And why was his class Noble ? Normal people were supposed to get the [Citizen] class assigned at their first level, that he knew because one of his kindergarten friends used to flaunt in front of them that he was special because his dad was an oversea’s Baronnet and so, he will inherit the noble class unlike them. He stopped flaunting real quick when his dad divorced his mom and left them alone. It was sad but strong people shouldn’t show off to weaker ones but protect them instead. That’s what mom always said. Thinking about how his mom would not say it ever again made him concentrate on the flashing screens again while his eyes stung.

<< Your [Noble] class will now rank up ! >>

<< Reminder : List of class available will be dependant on your current location. >>

<< Current Location is : [Censored] temple of the [censored]. >>

<< Your current knowledge of your current location is insufficient. >>

<< Class availability will be reduced in consequence. >>

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He was supposed to go to middle school. Then to high school. Somewhere in early high school or in late middle school, if he was gifted, he would earn his first level up. Then he would improve his class level, go to a college for the class he wanted to get and there, he would rank up. In his cartoons, the villains are those that ranked up in weird places, got some weird classes and tried to avenge themselves. Aelius didn’t want to become a villain. And he was pretty sure that reduced class availability was a bad thing. He would have less class choice and in a place he did know nothing about, it was the expressway to villain class choices. But as his anxiety was reaching its peak, he felt like a nudge against his mind. Then a voice.

The forgotten temple of the lost.

What ? Who ? Who was talking to him ? He saw no one around ? It wasn't even truly a voice. It was more of a foreign thought that brushed him.

Forgotten as in left abandoned, with no caretaker nor caretaken. As in, no one remembers the place anymore.

Lost as in wanderer, with no place to go back nor to go toward. As in, no place to welcome them anymore.

The foreign thought felt… old. Very old. But amicable at the same time. Like the old grandpa taking time from his day to tell stories to the neighbourhood children during holidays. A calm, patient thought that took the time to precisely explain what it meant until he understood it on his own.

At this, the System reacted.

Somewhere else, somewhere like home

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