I watched, utterly nonplussed, as the scholar hurried back to her friend. That had been… really strange. Hopefully, he would be able to clear up whatever that had been about. Either way, trying to decipher it now would just be wasted effort.

I decided instead to take stock of what I had learned.

First and foremost, I was waaay out of my depth. My language was colloquially referred to as “ancient”, about as sure a sign as I could think of that none of my existing knowledge or assumptions about the world could be relied on.

There were things called “demons” which seemed like bad news, to the point where cautionary stories of them had pervaded folklore. If the demon we had seen—if, indeed, it was one—was at all typical, I could see why. If they were that dangerous, I needed more information.

There were “realms” other than this one. I wasn’t sure if that word, in elvish, had connotations beyond just meaning a nation. The way she’d used it seemed to suggest it more meant distant shores, rather than something which shared a border with this “Annaira”.

Asha had mentioned Astreia, which implied at the very least the deities were the same. Actually, I couldn’t even take that for granted, could I? The earth goddess was still Astreia, but I had to check my assumptions here. I’d ask her about the rest of the pantheon at some point. Low priority for the moment, but I’d need to know. Actually, while I was thinking about deities…

Rhaia, if you’re still around, thank you for sending me a scholar.

I had either been astronomically lucky, or there had been some divine providence at work there. I didn’t know what I’d have done if the first people I’d found had been unable to even begin to understand me.

That took me back to the things I had learned: Asha was an academic. She had clearly studied my civilization and language, and probably linguistics more broadly. Also, she clearly spoke at the speed of her thoughts. I mean, she had said “incidental linguistic similarity” instead of just calling it a homonym. Honestly, if I was speaking to someone I’d just met? I probably would have simplified it further and said “Two words that seem the same but mean different things”.

That indicated one of two things. Either the basic level of education in this time, or at least place, was significantly higher than what I was accustomed to, or Asha wasn’t very good at filtering her speech to make it more easily understood.

Or she was so socially adept that she’d discerned I would understand her and proceeded confidently onward. That seemed… less likely. Actually, hold on. How was I able to understand her so clearly? I was bright, and clearly so was she, and her language was derived from mine, and I was taking extensive notes, but even still. Was that enough to explain how quickly I was growing comfortable with Elvish?

Maybe…

I didn’t have time to keep thinking about it, as she began gently shaking Leien awake. Poor guy had only been asleep for maybe six hours by my estimate. He shot her an unimpressed glare as he sat up, and she responded with an innocent smile. When it became clear she would remain unfazed, he sighed and threw off his bedroll, mumbling “Is it urgent?”

She seemed to weigh it for a moment before responding. “No, but it is interesting, and I’d bet just as much for you as for me.”

He rummaged in his pack, pulling out the same dry ration bread I’d seen them eating before and then taking a seat on top of his bedroll and beginning to munch. He arched an eyebrow at Asha. “Alright, you’ve got me intrigued.”

“So first, let’s properly introduce you to… um…” Embarrassment washed across her face, and she cast her eyes around her at the hallway. “Do you have a name? Or something we can call you?”

I’d been wondering when she’d get to that.

I did have a name—of course I did—but I hesitated. My parents were not exactly low-profile. Alvíreánn was meticulous with its genealogies; If any of them had survived, or any number of other records, it was possible my name could be recognized. Even if it wasn’t, her familiarity with the language and culture could identify the name—and by extension, me—as Alvíreánnan.

Right now, I was the spirit of this place. Until I knew more, I’d play that role.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

What kind of names did spirits have? I truly didn’t know. I considered simply using Ilwyn, “Wolf” in Alviran, but I immediately disliked it. Wolves were amazing creatures with many admirable traits, most of which I frankly lacked.

I quickly looked in on my mama wolf. She was laying in her room, watching as her little pup ran around and sniffed at everything. He was finally getting his energy back, and it was so heartwarming to see.

Not only was I not like a wolf, I was not like someone who would call themself wolf.

Instead, I drew inspiration from my crystal.

Call me Cyan.

“Alright Cyan, this is Leien. He’s a [Cleric] of Astreia, kickass tracker on the Academy’s Wargames team, and my best friend in the whole world.” This last was said with a smile so dazzling it could only be fake, as Leien rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help but smile, though. “Leien. Cyan…” she let the pause linger dramatically, “...doesn’t have a system!”

His eyebrows shot up. “Really?” he looked over to the wall where I’d said my name, but while I was still trying to construct a response Asha continued.

“Yup! Doesn’t even know what it is.”

He patiently waited for me to write out my response.

From what Asha said, it sounds like a spellcasting language? I know of a few different ones, but none were close to as universal as she made it sound like this one is.

“See? What does that even mean?” Asha bounced excitedly. “I figured since Astreia’s one of the deities that created the System, you might have some insight here. Have you ever heard of anything like this? How does someone exist without the System? Isn’t it as old as creation itself?”

I guess she’s just always this irrepressible. Leien let her barrage of questions finish, a considering look on his face.

“I think we’ve both heard of something like this, actually. The dragon in the east?”

Asha’s mouth dropped open. “You think it doesn’t have a System?”

“It makes sense, right? A half-dozen sightings over centuries, but all of them say that [Identify] came back null. I’d wager Cyan here would do the same, if we could even target them with it. As for the rest… give me a moment.” Leien went rummaging in his pack. I’d noted an ornate codex with his equipment, but the book he pulled out and began flipping through now was older, a plain worn cover and slightly yellowed pages. It was tucked in a secondary compartment in his pack, buried enough that I’d wager it hadn’t been removed since it was packed.

Asha manifested a notebook from her pack and began scribbling furiously. It would have been easy to read it, but I refrained. I’d resort to that if it seemed necessary, but the two of them had engaged with me in seeming good faith so far, and I’d rather preserve that relationship if possible. I’d peek if I began to suspect them of hiding things or intending me harm.

Asha was staring off in thought when Leien stopped, his eyes wide. “Asha…”

“Yeah?” Her attention snapped to him. “What’ve you got there?”

“Book of rituals. I’ve got all the ones I actually use memorized, but it’s comprehensive. Like… really comprehensive.”

Asha cocked her head to the side exactly like the wolf pup. “What are you getting at here?”

“There’s an old ritual—like, one of the oldest—to grant the system to someone.”

“Wait doesn’t that have like… huge implications?”

“I mean… maybe? There are a ton of ancient rituals in here that are basically only included for completeness. I don’t know the last time someone needed to locate their own shadow, and who would spend all the time setting up and chanting a ritual to Identify something when basically everyone has the skill anyway? It might be something like that? A just-in-case for a scenario that never happens. Then again…” he looked over at the wall I’d been using. “...maybe it does.”

“Hey Cyan, how did people use magic in your memories?” Asha asked, already poised to take notes.

Hm… this seemed harmless enough to share, and definitely worth it to understand all this System talk.

They would first focus their mana into either a material such as ink or sand or, for the more proficient mages, they might be able to force the mana into shape without a conduit. Then they would construct a sigil which would contain the spell’s parameters, and finally they would trigger the spell. Especially talented mages would memorize the sigils so well that they could fully conjure a spell and cast it within moments.

Leien and Asha traded a significant look.

I take it things have changed.

“Yeahhh you could say that,” Asha said, still writing without looking at her paper. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. Are you sure you’re not a demon?”

I’m still not entirely sure I know what a demon is, so… no? But I think it’s pretty unlikely.

“Have you ever heard of a demon who spoke ancient Alviran?” Leien asked.

“No, but one summoned that long ago might.”

This conversation was quickly becoming unproductive, and speculating on my origins wasn’t what I wanted them to be doing anyway.

You mentioned that Astreia created this system. How do you know?

Leien spoke up. “The System is incredibly flexible. Some classes and skills are standard, but others are completely individualized. Sometimes, especially for classes which are aligned with the gods, these more personalized skills will have text which seems to be written by one of the gods. From these, we’ve learned that the System was created by nine of the gods. Divine-aligned classes are still offered for the other deities, but only those nine—well, eight now—ever speak through the System.”

Wait, why eight now?

Leien and Asha traded another significant look, and I got the sense whatever I was missing was common knowledge.

“The god of death died.”