And that is the end of your current Character Sheet, Chosen Emmanuel.

I stared up at the dark wooden ceiling with a vacant expression on my face.

Chosen Emmanuel? I know you can hear me. I said that is the end of your Character Sheet.

I blinked slowly, tilting my head towards Syscile. “Yeah, I can hear you. Just give me a second to process all of that. Holy shit, I never want to read that whole thing at once ever again.”

The golden book did a couple of quick bobs, Syscile’s icy voice sounding almost amused.

Indeed, and that is not even close to the worst of it. The stronger you become, the longer your Sheet will grow. You still have a couple of features left to unlock before the end of Tier One, but we will get to those when they come up.

I groaned, rolling out of bed as my brain came out of sleep mode. Don’t tell Syscile this, but I sort of dazed out halfway through the sheet. I mean seriously, how long did that take? Twenty, twenty-five minutes to listen to? Crazy. Well, as long as I didn't have to do that too frequently, it'd be okay. Certainly couldn't complain that I had too many bonuses and skills, right?

I stood and headed for the door, the floor boards squeaking. “Woo that sounds like so much fun. I’m at the end of my rope for all these numbers, Syscile. I just want to go talk to my parents, head out the door, and get down to the Guild so I can finally do some adventuring. I have a mighty need to quest!”

Syscile double bobbed again. I guess that was like her version of a chuckle?

Indeed. As you seem to already have some sort of plan in mind, I will let you lead the way, and notify you if there is something I think should have your attention.

“Cool, sounds good. Hey, do you mind staying out of the way for a second when I head out there? Let me look for a good time to properly introduce you.”

Of course, Chosen Emmanuel.

I flashed my new floating secretary a double thumbs up, then cranked open the stiff door handle and headed out into the greater part of the house.

I thought calling it a house was a bit generous, but then again, I also didn’t want to say I lived in a fricken’ shack, so house it was. My room opened up into a cramped hallway, which then led directly into the kitchen.

Our kitchen had the most furniture of any room in the house, with a total of two wall cabinets, a table that was just slightly too small, and the four chairs that were needed for Dad, Mom, me, and Dad’s books. I didn’t understand a damn word half of them said, but Dad swore up and down that he needed all of them. But that’s just how he was I guess. Even though he was kind of cool, he was also just a huge bookworm.

Speaking of Mom, Dad, and the books, everyone was already out sitting at the kitchen table. They both stood up when I walked in.

The books didn't. Rude bastards.

Mom, also known as Emma Burroughs, was [Redacted] years old, and weighed about [Super Redacted] pounds. Like I mentioned before, Dad always referred to her as ‘Condensed Sweetness’, cause that’s what she was. Her hair was a wave of soft auburn curls, cheeks plump, with an almost ever present set of dimples. Her skin was fair, unblemished. Impressively, (’Specially considering her age) she didn’t even have bags under her eyes, which shone like fiery rubies.

Even though we were dirt poor, she always managed to find some way to keep a brilliant smile on her face, along with her signature bright red lipstick. That smile kept Dad and I going for years whenever things got bad. Oh, and she made a meeeeean lemon pie. Literally heaven on a plate.

Dad, officially Noel Burroughs, was 53 years old, 195 pounds. His hair was black, curly, and thick. A scruffy goatee adorned his face, black streaked with aged silver. Crystal blue eyes stared out from under thin, dark rimmed glasses. He did have bags under his eyes, both from hard work, and from staying up until the ass crack of dawn in a book. I can’t tell you how often I’ve come out here to find him passed out on the table, book still in hand.

Dad was big, buff, and if he wanted to, could be impressively intimidating. He never wanted to though. Dude was the definition of ‘teddy bear.’ Didn’t even raise his voice when he got mad, which was almost never. Plus, I don’t even think he actually knew how to fight.

I walked over to the two of them and posed a little bit, showing off how everything fit on my new body.

“Well look at you, Mr. Cool Guy!” Mom beamed, reaching up to grab the sides of my face, then ruffling my hair. “You were handsome before, but now you’re gonna have to beat the girls off with a stick!”

I blushed, then pulled Mom’s hands off of my face. “C-Come on Mom, its embarrassing when you say stuff like that.”

Mom planted her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffing out in a pout, “What, I’m not allowed to compliment my little man?”

My blush deepened, and I put up my hands defensively. “No, you can, its just that-”

Dad cut in, barking out a laugh. “Its just that he’s a big, strong S ranker now Emma. Our little man has to keep up his image now.”

I nodded sheepishly, gesturing with my hands that Dad was right.

Mom snorted at that, shaking her head. “Hmmph! Honey, I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Even if you were the Chosen himself, you’d still be my son first. You’re about to head off on your very first adventure, and who knows when you’ll be back? If I want to make cheesy Mom comments, then I’m gonna dang well do it!”

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I sighed, deflating. This was one fight I just couldn’t win, especially since she was more right than she knew. “Alright, alright. Get it all out of your system I guess.”

Mom beamed again, nodding. “See? Much easier that way. Now, sit down, your dad and I have some things we’d like to talk to you about before you leave.”

The three of us pushed all of Dad’s dusty books to the side, then sat down at the table. I started before Mom or Dad could say anything. “Hey, so I need to introduce you guys to someone.”

They looked quizzically at me, heads tilted, eyebrows high up on their heads.

I chuckled at their expressions and waved my hand towards my bedroom. “Come on out Syscile.”

There was a short beat of nothing, then my shiny new companion floated out of the hallway and into the kitchen. She hovered right over to the table, stopping in the air by my shoulder. Mom and Dad openly gaped at her, mouths hanging open. Syscile’s cover opened, her silky cold voice ringing out loud, not just in my mind.

“Hello there. My name is Syscile. I am a Journal created by His Majesty to serve as a companion and guide for your son, Emmanuel.”

Mom and Dad looked at each other, back to Syscile, then to me. I just shrugged, giving them the shit-eating-est grin I could. “What can I say? Apparently His Majesty really liked me and decided to give me a little extra help.”

They nodded slowly, a bit stunned. Dad was the first to get it together, turning his gaze to Syscile. “Well met Syscile. Emmanuel is a good kid, and good at what he does, but he’s also a total knucklehead-”

I scoffed good naturedly. “Sorry we aren’t all geniuses like you, Dad!”

He winked at me. “See, he admits it! Thank you in advance for taking care of him.”

Mom quickly followed suit.

Syscile double bobbed, her projected voice taking on a definite tone of amusement this time. “I have already noticed. He does seem like the type to act faster than he can think. I will do my best to take care of and assist him.”

My parents both nodded, then Dad smiled wryly, nudging Mom with his elbow. “Looks like you were right on the mark about a Journal.”

She laughed, slapping his shoulder. “Hah! I told you. Looks like its your turn to make dinner for a while dear.”

“Wait, what are you guys talking about?” I asked.

They both grinned, Mom taking the lead on the explanation. “Well, after you left the house for your Trial, your father and I made a trip to the Fourth Ring to visit the Bazaar. We figured that we should get you a present, a good present, to celebrate and help you start out. Your father wanted to get you a Journal. After all, its the one item someone with a Blessing has to have. Buuuut,” She gesture to Syscile, “I thought that it’d be easy enough for you to get a Journal on your own. Clearly I was right, and clearly, Ms. Syscile will be a better help than any old book we could have ever bought would be.”

Dad disappeared under the table while Mom kept talking. “So we got you something that every Blessed should have.”

There was rummaging, then a loud *thud* and a “Ow, fuck” as Dad shimmied out from under the table. His face was half grimace, half grin as he placed the item he was holding onto the table top.

It was a small, light blue bag, made of some soft velvety material. It had a wide mouth, with two ropes on either side to cinch it shut. Besides the obviously high quality material, the bag was incredibly plain, with no extra adornments or markings of any kind.

Focus intently on the bag, while pushing mana to your eyes.

I did so, shivering as my eyes started to tingle. Man, that was weird. I stared at the bag for a second, then felt an odd sense of emptiness as the mana in my eyes suddenly drained away.

[New Ability Unlocked! Examine Lvl 1: Use magic to inspect the world around you. Examine provides detailed information about a single target. Information received is dependent on level of user, strength of Examine ability, relevant skills, and the strength of the target.] Cost: 5MP

Examine Successful.

Item Name: Clingy Safeguard Bag

-Item Class: Bag

-Item Rarity: Rare

-Item Quality: Fine (+1 Inventory Slot)

-Item Durability: 50/50

-Item Capacity: 1/6

-Added Effect:

-Provides a 50% reduction in weight for all items stored in bag.

-This item is ‘clingy’. If item is separated from wearer, it will automatically return to them after a thirty minute duration.

-This is a soul-bound item. Cannot be opened by anyone other than current owner.

-Description: A lonely little bag that always tries its hardest to stay with its owner.

-Current Owner: Emmanuel Burroughs

I stared at the bag in amazement before reaching out and grabbing it. This thing was incredible! Yeah, six items wasn’t exactly a ton. But a bag that no one else could open AND came back to me if I lost it? That’s huge. I can’t imagine a better bag for the real VIP items.

I threaded the bag through one of my belt loops for easy access, then moved around to the other side of the table to wrap Mom and Dad in a big embrace. “Thank you so much you guys. This is going to be such a big help. I don’t even want to think about how much you guys had to spend on this.”

Dad waved his hand. “Then don’t. Plus, you still got to check the inside.”

Oh, right, there was one slot filled up. I reached into the mouth of the small bag. It swallowed my hand completely. Definitely bigger on the inside. I only had to feel around for a second before I caught onto a glass bottle of some kind with an odd texture.

I pulled it out. It was a red potion in a bottle with a raised, wavy pattern over it. The bottle was stopped with a cork stamped with a bronze cap.

I Examined it. [Tier Two Lesser Potion: Instantly recover 500 hit points.]

My eyes widened. “You guys! This is expensive! I can't take it.”

Mom shot me a glare. “Oh, you’d better take it.” Then she laughed. “Honey, there is nothing I would rather spend my money on than keeping you safe. A few months of work is nothing compared to knowing you have a full heal in your back pocket for when you need it.”

I hugged them again. “Thanks you guys.”

I knew a lot of people who weren’t close to their parents, and that was fine. But I was. Yeah, Mom was a lot to deal with sometimes, and she could definitely be a little overbearing. And, even though he was so nice, Dad was also a know-it-all show off.

But they meant well. Mom just wanted the best for me, and Dad’s fountain of knowledge was incredibly useful. Plus, I’m ninety nine percent sure that if he’d never gotten me into reading, I’d be twice as dumb as I am now.

I loved my parents, and honestly, now that it was time to leave, I was having a hard time letting go. I would miss these guys. I would miss sleeping in my own bed at night, even if it was kind of ratty. I'd miss home.

Mom started sniffling softly, and I felt a tear drip onto my arm. I broke off the group hug and stepped back. “Alright I think that’s my cue to go. If I stay any longer you’re gonna get me crying too, and I don’t want to leave on that note.”

The two of them nodded, Dad smiling brightly at me, Mom at least trying to smile.

“You guys are gonna be shocked at how much I’ve grown by the next time I see you. Mom, Dad, I love you. See you later.”

With Syscile at my side, I left the only home I’d ever known, and took my first step out into my new life.