The cafe was somewhat more crowded today than it was the last time Vlss was there. It had done well for itself in the meantime. The wooden walls had been replaced with pargeting, and it had that new decoration style going around Zeres that was rumored to come from Chandrar. Vlss thought it was too ornamental for his taste, and he much preferred Manus’s minimalist style that was in vogue when he was a boy over this new Zeresian Baroque. He knew he was in the minority for that opinion though.
“Vlss! Over here!”
Vlss turned his head away from the decoration, searching for the source of the voice. He found it in the form of a pink Drake vigorously waving her claws in the air, acting as if it had been a year since they last saw each other, instead of a month. He rolled his eyes at Seress’s antics as he walked over to the table she was sitting at.
As he sat, Seress grinned at him and asked, “Didja miss me, Vlss?”
“Every day, Seress.” He smiled at her, and she faltered.
“Wow, this is the first time I’ve heard you be emotionally vulnerable voluntarily. You’ll have to forgive me for a bit while I process this, because this is completely unexpected. Wow.” Seress sat back in her chair and shook herself a bit, then pinched her arm and winced. “Ok, so you did just do that. Why?”
“Well, it was mostly just to see how you would react,” Vlss admitted as he sniggered. “Though there was also the fact that Qwyliss has been telling me that I should be more honest with both myself and others about my feelings, even if they’re negative ones. Especially if they’re negative ones.”
“I should have expected that you were mostly doing it just to get a rise out of me,” Seress shook her head before continuing, “Still, good on you for taking Qwyliss’s advice. He has more life experience than all the rest of us put together, and doing what he says is never a bad thing. He’s a great Drake.”
Vlss frowned at that. “Speaking of great Drakes, you remember that conversation between me and Qwyliss that you crashed last month?”
“Yea, I do. Why?”
“I’ve had some more thoughts about a different aspect of Leveling since then,” Vlss answered.
Seress rolled her eyes upon hearing that. “Come on, Vlss, it’s too fucking early in the morning for this and I don’t feel like trying to debate you now. Can you at least wait until after I’ve had some coffee?”
Vlss sighed. “Fine, I’ll wait till you’ve finished your coffee.” He stood up and made for the door, noting the metal reinforcements as a new addition as he stepped outside. The weather was balmy today; monsoon season was over and the sun was shining down with full force over all of Zeres. There was that smell in the air that came after a rainfall that Vlss so loved, mostly because it was one of the simple pleasures in life that no one could ever ruin for him. He stood out on the quay for a while, letting himself be warmed up by the sun while the breeze from the port washed over him, bringing the smell of salt and petrichor with it. Vlss smiled. For a few moments, there was just him, the wind, the sun and the sea.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned, seeing Seress. She stopped upon seeing his face and remarked, “You are in a good mood today, aren’t you?”
“I suppose I am,” Vlss said, “I’ve decided that I don’t want to have our talk in the cafe, I’d like it to be out here as we walk around. Is that alright with you?”
Seress shrugged. “Sure. Where to?”
“Just along the quay and then to the city center,” Vlss replied.
“Sounds good. Let’s go.”
They walked for a bit, strolling along in silence when Seress broke it. “So what did you want to say back at the cafe?”
Vlss scratched his neck spines for a moment before he looked sheepish and admitted, “You’ll have to remind me because I can’t remember.”
“I said that Qwyliss was a great Drake and you got this look on your face like I said I was a Turnscale.”
“Right, that. For the record, I resent the accusation that I’d like you any less, even if you were a Turnscale. They’re just people like you and me, even if they do have strange preferences.”
Seress laughed. “You say the queerest things sometimes, Vlss, you know that? I’m not sure I’d react the same way if you told me you were.”
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He grinned. “Must be that old Skill I have speaking for me.”
“Oh?” Seress tilted her head as she looked at him, “You didn’t tell me about this Skill of yours.”
“I didn’t?” Vlss was surprised. “I thought I did. I never told you I had [An Outside Perspective]?”
“No, you didn’t. Is it a passive?”
“No, it’s a toggle. Ancestors, what a nightmare it’d be if it was always on,” Vlss shuddered. “Perish the thought!”
They both laughed for a bit at that. Seress sighed. “Well, that was a nice tangent, but to bring this back to what we were talking about, why do you not like the phrase Great Drake?”
“It’s less Great Drake and more just Great Anyone, Drake, Human, or Gnoll,” Vlss answered.
“Why?” Seress looked at him askance, “Don’t the legends of the Lightning Thief or the King of Destruction inspire or excite you?”
“They do, but, how do I say this?” Vlss paused as he thought about how best to express what he meant. “I suppose I just don’t like the idea of them being the people who determine the course of history. Have you heard of the Great Figure Theory of History?”
“Can’t say I have,” Seress scratched her chin. “Sounds familiar though.”
“The history of the world is but the biography of Great Figures,” Vlss held his claws up in air quotes as he said it. “I don’t agree with that viewing of history at all. I think it’s a terrible way to look at how our world has and hasn’t changed.”
“Why?” Seress asked, “It’s a mostly accurate way to look at the history of our world from the Creler Wars until now. At least, what we know of it. With levels, anyone can become a Great Figure, able to take great actions, perform amazing feats and write history in their wake.”
“And that’s why I have such an issue with the term Great Figure being used to describe anyone. Levels are the reason why we can take a Great Figure view of history and have it be mostly accurate, because the System facilitates that sort of development.”
“What do you mean?“
“Levels and Skills greatly increase someone’s personal power,” Vlss gestured at the city tower looming over them, “But it’s not reproducible. That tower was a feat of engineering accomplished by Zeres’ initial builders, but no one currently can reproduce what they did, only maintain it, and they do that imperfectly. Our world’s full of stuff like this. The King of Destruction, for all intents and purposes, is Reim, and Reim is him. When he dies, so does Reim’s prominence in Chandarian geopolitics.”
Seress thought about that for a bit. “Hmm, you’re right. His Seven are powerful, but they can’t do what he does, even if they worked together and half of them weren’t dead or missing. Reim’s done when he dies, unless he has a son or daughter that’s just as good at whatever they do as he is at war,” Seress paused. “Ah, I see the problem.”
“Right?” Vlss nodded, “Reim’s lives depend on who rules them, and they live or die by the kind of person that’s going to be. That’s an awful gamble to take for anyone, moreso when you have no control in the outcome at all. The worst part is, we glorify and tell stories about people like the King of Destruction if he manages to capture our fancy enough, so people aspiring to be Great Figures would emulate what he did and bring more war on us all. No one person should be able to decide the lives of so many, even if they were goodly and benevolent. The worst part is that those aspiring Great Figures are aided by their levels, so what should be impossible for them becomes possible with the help of the System. The King of Destruction himself would not have gotten nearly as far in his first conquest if he didn’t have the Skills he did. I suppose what I’m really trying to say is that I deeply despise the might makes right environment the System facilitates and promotes. I feel like a plaything, set dressing in the world that exists purely for the Great Figures to play around with sometimes, and I hate it. I hate it so much.”
They walked in silence for a bit while Seress unpacked what Vlss had said and tried to think of a response that was suitable. “A lot of the points you make are valid,” she started, “but honestly I believe that the world being a playground for the Great Figure is part of the beauty of living here. Those Great Figures cut a striking image for the rest of us to follow, to emulate. Heroes or villains, good or bad, there’s a simplicity to it all that’s just beautiful to see and contemplate. When you’re next to those people, you can feel yourself becoming a part of history and something greater than yourself. The chance, and the promise of levels for you to someday become one of those figures, well, I wouldn’t give that up for anything.”
Vlss looked at her, feeling something closer to melancholy than not in his heart. “I suppose that this is just one of those things we simply have to agree to disagree on. I thought you would have placed more value on the autonomy and agency of others though.”
“Agree to disagree, I suppose,” Seress said airily, “You know that I’ve only ever cared about my own agency, and I’ve not spared much thought for anyone else’s. It’s a problem for them to figure out when they need to anyway.”
Vlss sighed. “I don’t agree with that, but fine. I think that’s enough for me today. I don’t really want to discuss this any further.” They walked along the quay in silence for a while, listening to the sound of the waves and seagull cries. Vlss used the time to enjoy what he was experiencing around him in an effort to leave his current mental state. After a bit, he turned to Seress and asked, “Do you want to go back to the cafe?”
“Sorry, I’ve got plans with some other friends coming up in a few, but we should continue this next time with Qwyliss in the fray too.” Seress turned to go, then paused and turned around with a strange look on her face.
“What?” Vlss asked, “Is there bird shit on me?” He checked himself over, just in case, and found nothing.
“No, not really,” Seress said, “It’s something else.”
“What is it?”
“You should smile more,” Seress said softly, “You look beautiful when you do.”
And with that, Seress left Vlss standing alone on the quay.