“That’s an awful accent. Why are you talking like that?” Felix asked Sam with no hint of respect in his tone. The little brat.

“What do you mean? That was my best upper-middle class New-England housewife in the 1960s. Was I unable to convey the dissatisfaction I have with my marriage and station in life? The fact that the only thing I feel able to claim ownership of is my reputation in our small town?”

“Oh… That’s what you were going for. No, I totally get it now. Yeah, super clear. And it all makes perfect sense to me. Must have been in some serious brain fog before.”

“Idiots,” Yvessa sighed and shook her head.

“Who and why?” Sarah asked them with a smile.

“These two.”

“You only gave her half the answer,” Felix whispered loudly to Yvessa and had to quickly pull his head back when she jerked her shoulder upwards.

“What’d you do to Yvessa, Sam?” Sarah asked him while crossing her hands, still smiling.

“Physically or verbally? Both?”

“How about neither?” Yvessa gave him a soft shove.

Sam gave her a thumbs up. “OK then. Just another name on the list of women who don’t want me interacting with them.”

“Is it just women allowed on that list?” Felix asked.

“Gays have their own list. You want I should add you?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“You do that,” Sarah said. “Meanwhile, let’s get going. You guys are already a little late as it is.” And she ushered them inside the hospital, leading the way into the cafeteria, which, incidentally, still retained its proper name in the building’s signage. “So how was it?” she asked after a few seconds passed. “You two didn’t give Sam a hard time or anything, right?”

“Why are you also concerned about him?” Felix asked. “We’re your friends too, you know? Don’t we also deserve a little worry?”

Sarah ignored him and looked at Sam. “Everything went fine? How far did you and Yvessa get with studying?”

“Everything was great. Don’t worry about it,” Sam reassured her. “Although we liked each other’s company so much that we barely had any time to dedicate to history. Choosing to get some pedicures instead.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. Why? Is it because of the pedicures? I’ll have you know that Felix is gay and besides, it’s the 6th century straight guys are allowed to get some beauty treatments too. Also Felix is gay.”

“Did you mention me being gay?” Felix asked.

“I did but maybe not enough—”

“See what I mean by idiots?” Yvessa asked Sarah. “It was like that all the time.”

“Look who’s acting all innocent all of a sudden,” Felix said.

“Oh, shut it.”

“Wow,” Sarah said. “You’re right. It really wasn’t Sam I should have been worried about. I left you alone with him for only a few hours and yet he managed to do so much damage. Are you proud of what you’ve done, Sam?”

“You know that I lack the self-confidence necessary to feel pride in any deed performed solely by myself. Besides, I resent the accusation that I was on anything but my best behavior when wasting these two’s last couple of hours.”

“So you didn’t study at all?”

“Yeah, we did,” Yvessa answered her. “But we’ve only managed to cover the first couple of centuries after The Emergence. Besides, Sam thinks that it’d be better for him to study by himself from the textbooks. And while their quality may be rather lacking—I’ll find out just how much before dinner—I have to agree that it will be the best solution for all of us time wise. Sam gets to study at his own pace. I don’t need to spend my free time helping him study. And most importantly, Felix can’t tag along and waste both of our time.”

“Harsh, but fair.” Felix reclined his head.

Sam clapped him on the shoulder in reassurance. “Don’t worry about it, buddy. She’s just playing hard to get. You still have a chance.” Felix threw his hand off.

“I guess that’s alright then,” Sarah said before turning to Sam. “Just remember to ask for Yvessa’s help if you happen to need it. No reason to be ashamed.”

“No can do I’m afraid. The shame’s built in. Wouldn’t prevent me from asking though, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“It is,” Sarah said. “Alright, we’re here.” She walked through the cafeteria’s open door and after looking around for a moment, she pointed at a round table next to which sat Sam’s private doctor. “There’s Maurice. Let’s quickly grab some food, no reason to keep him hanging more than necessary.” They all nodded and set to the task of making their meal before heading for Maurice’s table. Sam and Sarah, due to her coming back to him once she finished with hers, were the last to arrive. They sat down in the two empty chairs on both sides of Maurice.

“You’re right on time,” Maurice said without checking his watch and even though they totally weren’t. “I’m happy to see that you’ve already made acquaintances with Yvessa and Felix, Sam. They’ve just finished telling me that you’ve already managed to become fast friends.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it like that.” Sam cleared his throat. “Cause that’s a very formal way of talking and us young kids simply don’t roll like that. But yeah, safe to say that I’m currently the best friends of all twenty-year-olds and under sitting at this table.”

“Those of us who don’t have any other Terran friends,” Felix said with a smirk. Yvessa shot him a dirty look, but otherwise chose not to speak. She seemed a bit more timid than she just was mere minutes ago.

“So how have you been, Sam?” Maurice asked, firing the first volley in what would quickly become small talk that included the entire table except for Yvessa. It mostly consisted of Maurice taking an interest in Sam and what happened to him in the last two days, but he also made sure, almost too deliberately, to ask the other diners as to their wellbeing. Maurice finished his meal first, and besides getting out a small notebook, didn’t give any hints to the fact that he asked Sam here with ulterior motives.

That was just fine with Sam. The longer he could delay the upcoming trial, the better. Avoiding it altogether would be the best. But that was just as likely as the interrogation proving not to be a waste of Sam’s time. The facts were that Maurice was intent on getting to the bottom of what (or at the very least, one aspect of what) made Sam special and, as far as he and anyone else knew, Sam should have been all for it.

But Sam wasn’t, of course. He already knew what made him special, if not the technical reasons for his returning circumstances being different from everyone else’s. That last part, the subject of Maurice’s questioning today, the voice in his head didn’t bother explaining just yet. What Web-Web did explain was their reasoning for why Sam shouldn’t tell other people about them. And while Sam didn’t necessarily agree with their logic (agreement requires validity. Which requires appropriate knowledge for reaching said validity), he had to agree that the most prudent choice would be keeping the secret. He had nothing personal to gain from spilling the beans, having already gotten the VIP treatment from the authorities. And without any concrete information, just telling people that they were doomed wasn’t going to create any strategic benefit for the war’s conduct.

So, in order to delay even further, or just to satisfy his own curiosity, he decided that before the doctor would get to ask his questions, Sam would get to ask his. Once he finished eating, the second at the table, he cleared his throat to draw Maurice’s attention to him. “Like I said, I’m happy to talk about the whole Taken stuff. But before that, I do have a teeny tiny question if you would be so inclined.”

“There’s no reason for you to be so polite.” Maurice tapped his pen on the paper. “Is it something that you’d like to ask in privacy? Or is this environment suitable?”

“I don’t know…” Sam turned to regard Felix and Yvessa. “Will you two be able to handle my gross breach of social etiquette? Or would you rather being kept in the dark for another couple of years?”

“Just get on with it.” Felix rolled his eyes.

“What?” Sarah asked with a laugh. “What is it?”

“We got on this topic because the both of them made a big deal out of coming with me for lunch and hearing us talking about the Taken,” Sam said. “Then I made the mistake of referencing to us as three regular people who they already know, and in my case, love. But apparently, Doctor Giraud here is a bigger deal than small folk like you or me.”

“Bigger deal?” Maurice raised an eyebrow.

“On account of you being level 8 and not any higher.”

“Oh,” Sarah said, “that. You wanted to know why he still hasn’t made the patterns?”

“Patterns?” asked Yvessa while Felix turned up his head and asked, “What patterns?”

Sam pointed at one of them, then at the other. “Good questions all, very insightful. Do these patterns have to do with how a person gets to level 9 or 10?”

“Duh,” Sarah said and Maurice nodded. “Wait, you don’t know? Didn’t you guys tell him?” she asked the bewildered Felix and Yvessa.

“We didn’t know the answer to that ourself,” Felix said. “How do you know?”

“I asked? You never thought to ask anyone about it?”

“Of course we did,” Yvessa said, with a slight frown. “But we didn’t. You’re not supposed to know what the deal is until you’re close to level 8.”

“Sure, but no one actually cares about that rule. I immediately asked Maurice once I learned about this when I was like fourteen. I can’t believe you guys never asked anyone about this before.”

“And I can’t believe that this is the first time the topic came up between the three of you,” Sam said. “I have to tell you, it’s quite a coincidence.”

“Not really. What reason would we have to talk about that? It’s one of those things that everyone knows.”

“Well clearly not everyone.”

“You’re not supposed to know about that,” Felix said through gritted teeth.

“To be fair,” Maurice said, “he’s right. The passing of information to low-level persons is not only considered a social taboo of sorts but also a breach of military information security… In theory, at least. In practice, as long as you don’t publicly publish it, no one will care. And even if you do… well, the information is already available online if you look hard enough for it. But I suppose, that in certain circles, the social restriction can still hold strong. So people like Felix and Yvessa might have had the point made very clear to them that you’re not to know the answer until you are required to.”

“Well, what is the answer?” Sam asked. “You keep talking in circles about the big secret without actually divulging what it is to the rest of us plebs. It has something to do with patterns? What about them?” Fuck, I could have said talking in patterns. Although I’m not sure if that would have worked.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Very well,” Maurice said and turned to regard everyone sitting at the table one by one. Sam stared blankly at him, Yvessa shrank back, Felix nodded at him with resolve in his eyes, and Sarah just made him a motion to get it over with, which caused him to show a hint of a smile. “The bare-bones of it really aren’t all that complicated. The science itself is, but we’re not going to touch on it.

“So, the gist of it is: At level 8, or to be more exact, at some point between level 8 and 9, for each person it is a little different, your core stops being able to increase its capacity. No matter how much you’ll gather, it will stay the same size, and despite what you might have heard about the core’s quality, there really isn’t any way to improve it at this stage. Now, the details behind why that happens are still not understood, and what actually happens doesn’t matter, as you’ll be able to feel it for yourself in due time.

“What does matter is the solution that is presented for it, which everyone who wants to become a level 9 and 10 must use. Two distinct whole-body patterns. The first of which is a pattern that connects your core with your pathways, allowing them to store magical energy as well. The second pattern is very similar conceptually, and it involves connecting your newly improved pathways to the rest of your body so that your physical form will also be able to contain magic with no expenditure.” He stopped to take a sip of water and when he didn’t display any intention of speaking further, Sam figured that explanation time was over.

He looked at Felix and Yvessa, trying to determine if they were in the same boat he was in. “Yeah, I didn’t really get that. Is it because I’m an ignorant child that doesn’t know anything or did that also not make much sense to you?”

Yvessa shook her head; her temple creased in concentration.

“Not much sense, no,” Felix said. “For example, how the hell does that level 9 pattern work? The pathways are already connected to the core. Otherwise, we couldn’t use magic at all.”

Sam wagged his finger at her in agreement. “Yeah, that’s what I always thought as well. Ever since I’ve been taught that less than twenty-four hours ago. You’ve literally just Galileo’d my world-view, and it isn’t even a day old.”

“I do apologize for having done that, Sam,” Maurice said, not managing to sound even a smidge apologetic. “But there are reasons why we don’t teach this information to everyone, and they don’t have only to do with traditions or security. Because, not only is understanding what the level 9 and 10 patterns do conceptually incredibly difficult, especially at your levels. It wouldn’t be of much help to you now because applying that understanding requires knowledge that all of you are currently lacking. For your question Felix, yes, the pathways are connected to the core, but not in the way that the level 9 patterns seek to do. Making the pathways act as an extension of the core itself.”

“Wait!” Sam yelled. “So does that mean that you do store magic in your body? So if I’ll lose a hand at level 10 I’ll go down a level?”

“No. Your body or pathways don’t actually store any magic. They only serve to help your core increase its capacity.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It will when it’s time for you to make the patterns. If you must know more; the intentions of the patterns is not to make your physical attributes, your pathways and body, able to serve the same function as your core. But rather, to create a version of them that exists solely in the magical realm. In other words.” He smiled. “It has something to do with threads. We use the patterns in order to affect a change upon our magical being.”

“Yeah that still doesn’t make any sense.” Sam turned to Sarah. “Do you get it?”

“Nowhere close.” She smiled. “I got more or less the same explanation you guys did and made my peace with not getting it for the time being. For what’s it worth, I wasn’t that much more knowledgeable than you are now about magic, and my understanding hasn’t changed all that much with the knowledge I’ve gained since. And it’s actually only my technical understanding that has improved. Knowing what the patterns might look like for because we’re aiming to eliminate resistance and dissipation. It’s the conceptual understanding that I still have no clue about. I guess it really must be one of those things that you can’t understand until you experience them for yourself.”

“Really?” Sam exclaimed with mock surprise. “Well I wouldn't know a thing about that, no siree. It’s not like every day I’ve been alive in the last decade, people keep bringing up a certain something that I have no clue about and then they don’t bother explaining themselves and only that I’ll get it for myself when I try it.”

“Wow, subtle,” muttered Felix.

“Oh, get over yourself, Sam.” Yvessa waved her hand at him. “We’ve all been there. Everyone who’s ever been alive has been there or is there. You can’t explain how magic feels to a person who can’t feel magic, and no one’s born being able to sense it. At least all you have to do is spend a couple of days without it. Normal humans have to spend twelve years before they get magic.”

“Saraaaah!” Sam whined and threw his hand towards the younger Taken. “Yvessa’s being reasonable with me! Tell her she has to treat me with a velvet glove, otherwise I get offended! I’m a senior citizen I’ll have you know.” Sarah just calmly patted his hand, which made for a pretty funny picture considering the stern faced doctor framed between them. “I’m all good now.” Sam exhaled and withdrew his hand.

“That was really mean, Yvessa,” Felix whispered to her in an attempt to reignite the flames of conflict and was barely able to dodge her attempt to strike him with her elbow. Giving a sigh, she fully sat back down again and, seeing Maurice looking at her, seemed to once again deflate into the chair.

Noticing this, Sam opted to draw Maurice’s attention away. “So that covers the level 8 puzzle in general. But we’re still left with the question with which we started and that was why you’re still level 8. Sarah said that there was a reason why you still haven’t made the patterns. So, since that is your private business, I understand if you’d want me to stop live-streaming this conversation.”

“Spoiler alert,” Sarah said, “this answer does make sense, but is still not satisfying.”

Maurice raised his eyebrow at her. “Would you like to tell my circumstance then?”

“OK!” Sarah gave him a wide smile. “So basically, besides letting you reach a high level, the patterns also have some extra effects. Very important and very powerful. So, even when you know what you’re doing, picking the right pattern to imprint and the method of imprinting is a whole ordeal because you have the make the right choice for you. Maurice’s problem is that he doesn’t know what pattern he wants to do and because of that, he’d rather stay level 8 for eternity instead of making a less than perfect decision.” She turned back to Maurice. “Pretty good summary, wouldn’t you say?”

“It does manage to get the point across rather succinctly. I would just add that the reason for my indecision is being torn between either being a healer or a researcher. I would much rather be the latter, but in the case that my personal attendance in battle is somehow required in the future, I am remiss to give up the opportunity to be the former.”

“Which,” Sarah said, “he would have to do, apparently, if he went with the patterns that he really wants.”

“I get it,” said Sam, who wasn’t sure that he got it but didn’t want to let the opportunity for the joke he just thought of go to waste. “It’s like a little boy of ten years who had yet to enter puberty and has a great tenor voice, or whatever kind of voice it is they want from young boys. The boy wants to be castrated in order to preserve his extravagant opera lifestyle, but he also knows that he’s the bastard son of the current infertile monarch, who only has a male single child beside him. So he’s torn between desire and duty. He wants to stay a little boy, but in the case that he’ll become a king, he’ll have to be a man in order to fulfill his kingly role.”

Sarah laughed. “That’s a great analogy. Really spot on. The only difference being that in your case there’s a time limit before the boy has to make a decision. Which, if you ask Maurice, isn’t the case with him.”

“The war isn’t going anywhere,” Maurice said in the tone of someone who knew what he was talking about. “If something does happen in the next couple of years, which mandates that the Web would be better served by me being a healer to Rulers than a researcher. Then I would gladly take upon myself said duty and begin my path towards Rulership. But until then, there is no reason to make a hasty decision that would force me on one path only.”

“Yeah, except that according to you, you could still do research like you’re doing now if you become a healer, which means that there’s no reason for you to stay as you are now.”

“If I were to take the mantle of a healer, then in order to fulfill my role, I would have to relocate to the front, where it would be much harder for me to carry on with my research. Besides, I have told you before, were I would to fully dedicate my patterns to research, my effectiveness for the task would be greatly enhanced. I am not willing to throw that opportunity away just for the possibility that I’ll save the life of a Ruler or two. Those few lives aren’t comparable to how much good I could do for the Web were I to abandon the pursuit of combat completely. The war isn’t going to change because of something so minor as the lives of a few Rulers and as it stands currently, the entire front is more than stable.”

“Jesus Christ, don’t say that.” Sam facepalmed.

“This just in,” Felix said, “the front collapses across all worlds. Millions are dead, and billions more are going to die. Maurice Giruad has doomed all of us because of his hubris.”

“Stop that.” Yvessa pushed Felix on the shoulder. “You two are being ridiculous. Nothing bad is going to happen just because Maurice stated the truth.”

“Is it the truth?” Sam asked Sarah, trying not to let on the fact that he already had an opinion on the matter.

Sarah shrugged. “It isn’t a lie, I guess. Nowadays, the eastern front is in an even better position than it was before Shallenet. And ever since the Epiraks invaded in the east, there wasn’t much danger of a breakthrough in the west. Still, while the life of a Ruler or two might not change the fate of the war, they would definitely change the fate of thousands and thousands of lives.”

Of course, even Sarah doesn’t believe that anything bad is going to happen. Sam clenched his teeth. And now we come back to the whole discussion that I wanted to avoid. The strategic implications of telling other people about what “I know.” And since we already decided that I’m not telling anyone else just yet, this doesn’t serve any purpose but making me feel bad. Still, even if I managed to convince Maurice about the coming danger, it’s not like I know which path is best for him to take. He gave a sigh.

“See?” Sarah gestured towards him. “Sam agrees with me.”

“I do?”

She ignored him and turned to Felix and Yvessa. “What about you guys?”

“I don’t know.” Felix shrugged. “I really don’t think that we’ve any right to get involved in this.”

“Of course we do!” Yvessa said. “It’s our duty as soldiers to do everything we can in aid of the war effort. And that includes getting other people to do their utmost as well. I’m sick and tired of the complacency of some people when it comes to the war, as though it doesn’t have anything do with them.” She jerked back and lowered her head. “No offense to anyone here. I was just thinking of some of the nobles from back home.”

Maurice leaned his elbows on the table and joined his hands together. “So what choice do I have to make in order for you to say that I’m doing my ‘utmost’ for the war?”

“I… I don’t know. We don’t even understand the reason of difference between your choices, so even if I think that you should focus on research it might be because of my lack of understanding your situation. But, I still think that not making any decision is the wrong choice to make.”

Maurice nodded. “You’re right, of course. But in the absence of more information, I thought that it would be prudent, at the time when I reached level 8, to not make a decision that I might regret later. You see, I truly do not want to embark upon the path of being a combatant, but I am well aware that dire circumstances in the future might demand it from me. Therefore, I opted to leave both options available until I reached the age of forty-five. At which point, I would dedicate myself and my patterns solely to research. But, if, at any point in the next five years, there is a crisis at the front with requires me to act otherwise, I would do so without hesitation.”

Sarah shook her head, but refrained from commenting. In contrast to Yvessa, who seemed to agree with Maurice’s argument and nodded in understanding. “How long would it take you to become a Ruler?” Sam asked. “After having come to a decision?”

“It’s hard to say… It depends on how much time it would take me to gather enough to reach level 10. And then how good is my grasp on the theory behind becoming a Ruler. Still, I don’t believe it would take me more than a year to reach that point, most of which would go towards getting to level 10 rather than struggling to become a Ruler.”

“But don’t you need to know stuff about threads in order to become a Ruler? How could you know the theory without knowing about threads?”

“Are you trying to get me to divulge the pathway towards becoming a Ruler?”

“The thought hasn’t even crossed my mind,” Sam said honestly. He was focused only on the aspect of time maximization. “But thank you for reminding me that there is yet another piece of knowledge that I’m not going to be taught about until the future, when I’ll just be able to ‘get it’ for myself.”

“Actually, becoming a Ruler isn’t something that you’ll be able to easily figure out for yourself once you reach level 10,” Maurice said, letting the knowledge that he was about to expound upon the topic hang in the air for a moment or two. Sam took notice of the fact that despite their apprehension of learning stuff before they’re supposed to, both Felix and Yvessa joined Sarah in paying even more attention to Maurice’s words now that the conversation drifted to discussing Rulers. “If it was instinctual as figuring out how to use magic once a person is able to sense it, there would be a lot more Rulers than level 10s. Which, alas—or not, depending on the enemy’s forces—is not the case. Of course, you are an outlier to this convention due to being a Thread-Weaver. But I still don’t believe that becoming a Ruler will come to you as naturally as tracing comes to everyone.”

“So if threads definitely have something to do with becoming a Ruler, doesn’t your lack of understanding them, as you’ve professed to yourself, create a barrier between you and Rulership?”

“You are treading on dangerous ground, Sam. Unlike with the level 8 patterns, how to become a Ruler is a closely guarded secret. One that even I am not full privy to on account of not being level 10.”

“I’m just trying to understand how much time it would take for you to become combat ready in the case of an emergency. If you don’t know anything about threads, and you have to know a certain amount before becoming a Ruler, how can you be sure that you won’t get stuck at level 10 for a couple of years once you get there?”

“Ah. I see where your concern stems from. And that it is indeed concern and not curiosity that drives you to pursue this line of questioning. Let me assuage you of worry then. The most important part of ‘knowing about threads’ is something rather basic: simply being able to see them. That is why you are practically guaranteed to become a Ruler. In this aspect, I too am, and I say this with all humility, ahead of my peers. Normal people, be they Taken or not, are usually only able to start sensing threads at level 10. My ability to discern threads—however abysmal compared to yours—at level 8 guarantees me a good enough Threadsight at level 10 to avoid this major obstacle.”

“Good to know.” Sam leaned back in the chair. Inwardly he was wondering which path should Maurice take in order to help with the war. And whether the doctor’s own five-year deadline would come before or after Sam’s. Just another question to add to the Web-Web file. I really ought to be writing those down at this point.

There was at least one good thing to come out of this whole discussion today. Sam smiled and turned to Felix and Yvessa. “So I guess that in the end… I was sort of right.”

“No you weren’t,” Felix said. Yvessa shook her head.

“But I were.”

“No.”

“Right about what?” Sarah asked.

“Worldbuilding stuff,” Sam said. “Guessing at the lore. I’ll explain it later. Maurice seems pretty anxious to get started.”