Alright, okay.

I didn’t know what this was, but I could take a guess. I’m guessing that whatever this is, it was a result of whatever Grey had done to me last night. Beyond that, I was going to have to figure it out for myself.

I mean, I suppose I could go back out and ask Grey again what this was, but I was still feeling embarrassed from earlier. There’s nothing like having an old man explain to you have to work a toilet, as if you were a particularly dim toddler, to make you feel emasculated.

Was it a smart decision to try and mess around with this myself? No, not really.

Was I going to do it anyway? Yes, yes I was.

Let’s start from the top. ‘Your Soul has Awoken to Mysticality’. Was that what Grey had done to me last night? Did he somehow inject magic into my soul? Why the word ‘Mysticality’? Was that something distinct from magic? Was I going to be able to do magic now?

I admit, I was a little excited at the thought. Since I was a child, I had always been drawn to the typical swords and sorcery style fantasy. I’d always dreamed about the possibility of magic. I had grown up on stories of wizards and elves and dwarves. Although, my experiences with the latter two had been less than stellar so far.

The second line was less clear to me, though. ‘Welcome to the System’. What System was this blue box trying to tell me about? Some kind of computer system? Wherever I had ended up, it seemed like one of the sword and sorcery settings I had read about in books. But I suppose that it was possible that they had computers as well, even if I hadn’t seen one yet. I tried to inspect the mirror some more, moving my hands around the edges of it. I couldn’t find anything to suggest this was some kind of magical smart screen. It just seemed like a fairly clear mirror to me.

Finally, the last line seemed to be directly asking me a question. ‘Would you like to review your Status’, with two smaller blue boxes underneath it with the words Yes and No in them. I had little idea what it meant by Status, but I was getting tired of fruitlessly contemplating the mirror without doing anything about it.

Well, whatever.

I pressed my index finger to the blue box with the word Yes on it.

As I watched, the three lines from earlier disappeared, and more text appeared in the blue box.

Name Nathaniel Eugene Hart Titles N/A Level 1 Age 24 Sol Race Human (Precursor) Affinity Terrestrial Class N/A Professions N/A Health 100/100 Stamina 100/100 Vitality 10 Strength 10 Spirit 10 Dexterity 10 Perception 10 Intelligence 10 Wisdom 10 Free Points 0 Options [Talent Page], [Skill Page], [Profession Page]

Okay.

First of all, nobody has called me Nathaniel since I was ten years old. Second, how dare you remind me I have a middle name.

Thirdly, I did not expect Status to essentially mean RPG status. Jesus, it was like I was looking at a tabletop RPG class sheet. I had never been into tabletop RPGs, but I was at least familiar with the concept. I had always been more of a video game guy, honestly.

Looking over my “Status”, there wasn’t much in the way of an explanation. Maybe there was some way to get one? If this was a Status page straight from an RPG or an MMO, maybe there was a help function? There wasn’t a button or something I could press for that, so maybe it was verbal? I gave it a shot.

“Help!”

“Contact an admin!”

“Uh, open a ticket!”

“Customer support!”

I tried not to speak too loudly, conscious of Grey likely still in the other room. But nothing happened. The blue screen was still the same with no changes. Looking over the screen again, I came back to the last line. 'Options'. I guess these were the only way for me to interact with my Status right now. Talents, Skills, and Professions. Of the three options available to me, only one of them was accessible to me. The Skill and Profession page options were greyed out for me. That left the Talent Page if I wanted to inspect this any further.

I gave it a shot.

The Status screen changed again, wiping out everything that had already been on it. Instead, this time it rearranged itself into three distinct columns that were divided. The left column had a header titled “Racial Talents”, while the middle and right columns were titled "General Talents" and “Class Talents”. I noticed the Class column was greyed out as well, while the General column was just blank. However, there were four entries under the Racial Talents column.

Racial Talents General Talents Class Talents Hidden Amidst the Spheres: Veil your Status The Scintillant Blade: Strike the root Dream of the Infinite: Allows unshackled Aetherial growth Language Adaptation: Allows understanding and communication with all discovered sapient species

I totally understood all of this, one hundred percent.

Of the four “Racial” talents that I apparently had, two were completely vague, one was opaque, and the last was obvious. I guess that this Language Adaptation was why I could suddenly understand Grey after he had apparently ‘awoke my soul to mysticality’.

I had questions about this, and I’m guessing that Grey knew the answers. The way he had spoken to me earlier most likely meant that I was supposed to discover all of this while in the washroom. Especially considering I could only see this stuff in the mirror.

I guess it was time to go and ask him.

Giving one last glance at the mirror before I left, I tried one last command. “Close Status?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Surprisingly, that one worked. The blue box vanished from the mirror. It didn’t even leave the smaller version I had noticed in the corner of my eye from earlier.

Shaking my head, I opened the washroom door and stepped out.

……………………………………...

Entering back into what I was guessing was Grey’s bed/workroom, I saw that he hadn’t left while I was in the washroom. He was reading the book I had noticed from earlier; I suppose to pass the time. When I exited the washroom, he looked up at me and gave me a slight nod.

Closing his book and folding his hands back over it, Grey motioned to the bed and spoke. “Done with your bath, then? I believe that now is as good a time as any to continue our conversation. I’m quite sure you have questions.”

Nodding back at him, I said. “Yeah, you could say that. I have a lot of questions.”

Walking over and sitting back in the bed, I resumed my posture from earlier, clasping my hands together and leaning forward. Looking at Grey, I opened my mouth for a second and then closed it.

“So.” I started and then stopped.

“So?” Grey repeated, arching an eyebrow at me.

“So…Where am I, exactly?”

“Ah, I see.” Grey nodded. “You are presently within the house of my, shall we say, chaperon and friend, Azarus of House Savoy. This house resides in a small town that exists solely as a hub for the plantation and to support the master of the manse, Magnus of House Savoy.”

“Okay”, I began. “That’s…nice, and opens up for some other questions, but I was thinking more broadly than that.”

Grey raised an eyebrow at me again. “Very well,” He began. “This plantation is, I believe, located somewhere in the general vicinity of the southwestern portion of the Dwarven Principality of Velancia, which is located to the northwest of the Human Kingdom of Herztal. I believe that we’re not far from the Barren Forrest, which, if you’re unaware, exists as a general buffer between the two states.”

I lowered my head and clasped my hands tighter. “Broader than that.”

Grey nodded and sighed as if a suspicion of his had finally crystallized. “These two kingdoms, the largest remaining extant powers, exist on the mainland continent of this planet. That planet is named Vereden.”

I nodded, still staring at the floor, not trusting myself to speak.

It’s one thing to be surrounded by things and people you don’t understand, with the suspicion that you’re very, very far from home. It’s another thing to be told by another person you’re on another planet.

We sat in silence for a moment.

I appreciated it.

After a few minutes, Grey sighed again and put his own hand on my tightly clenched ones.

“I believe, Nathan,” Grey started compassionately. “That you are a Precursor.”

I finally raised my head to look at him. “I’m guessing you know I don’t know what that is.”

“In truth,” Grey said, leaning back into his chair. “Not many would know what a Precursor is. They’re a rare phenomenon, only seen once every few centuries. Even then, there have been long gaps in the appearance of one.”

“Alright, then what do you know about what a Precursor is?” I said to him.

“A Precursor, to the best of academic knowledge, is someone from outside the known realms. You are likely unaware of this, but the people of Vereden know of six other planets that are known to harbor life. For many, many reasons, we no longer have contact with five of them, but the point is that we know there exists life outside of our own.”

“A Precursor,” Grey continued. “Is not from any of these known planets. They are always human, even if described as a variant. They always appear randomly, somewhere upon the mainland continent of Vereden. They have no knowledge of us, nor us of them. They are always Unawoken. And they always possess strange powers, even by the standards of the System, once they are Awoken.”

“Awoken, huh,” I said softly.

“Indeed, Nathan,” Grey answered me compassionately. “By your reactions earlier, I am gathering that you have no knowledge of the System? Or even, perhaps, Mysticality in general?”

There’s that word again.

“No, I don’t,” I said, straightening back up. “Mysticality. What is that?”

“Ah,” Grey finally smiled again. “By your reaction, I can assume that you noticed the System prompts in the mirror? I did hope that you would.”

“Yeah, yeah I did,” I replied, eager for at least one thing. Even if I was on another planet, getting magical powers had to at least be a consolation prize.

“Mysticality,” Grey said, adopting a lecturing tone. “Is the general term that encompasses the tripartite supernatural structure that the sapient races can draw upon. These three parts can be defined as, roughly, Mind, Body, and Soul. The method of drawing upon the powers of the Mind and the Body can be termed as the Art of Magic, and the Art of Cultivation respectively. As Arts, these two disciplines exist as refinement tools. By practicing either Magic or Cultivation, you are essentially refining either your mind or your body into a more perfect state of existence. These two Arts can draw upon two differing energies, that are nonetheless equal in potential. These energies are Mana, for Magic, and Ki, for Cultivation.”

“Wait, you mentioned that Mysticality had three parts,” I interrupted. “You only mentioned two. What about the soul?”

“Be patient, young man,” Grey scolded me lightly. “I was getting to that. Now, as a member of the sapient races you and I have the capability to draw upon either Mana or Ki to practice Magic or Cultivation, past a certain threshold. However, these two are mutually distinct. You cannot draw upon both of them, to the best of modern understanding. The process of unlocking either Mana or Ki excludes the other. However, that does leave the Soul, does it not? What then, if Magic is the Art of the Mind, and Cultivation is the Art of the Body, is the Art of the Soul? That leads to the System.”

“The System,” Grey continued his lecture. “Is opaque to us. It is imperfect. It has flaws and inefficiencies. We have no knowledge of precisely how it came into existence, even if the precise moment of its initialization is a matter of historical record. There exist only theories about how it came to be, despite knowing that its origins must lie in a certain conflict. What is known is this. The System is a method of Soul refinement, open to all members of the sapient races. As Magic refines Mana, and the Body refines Ki, the Soul refines Aether. At the moment of its initialization, all members of the sapient races were Awoken and given the knowledge of how to Awaken the System in others, but that gift was never repeated. The System cannot be Awoken naturally, and can only be Awoken by another person. The minimum age to do so is ten years old, or the rough equivalent of that age. However, it is highly, highly recommended that you do so at that age. After age ten, it becomes progressively more difficult to Awake the System in another. The power required in order to Awaken another grows greater every year that they are Unawoken.”

Grey paused for a second to take a drink of water from a glass on the nightstand. I jerked out of the trance I had been in listening to his explanation and took the chance to ask a question of my own.

“So, that’s what you did to me last night? You Awoke the System for me? Is that why there was a huge light show? Why did it hurt so much?"

Grey set his drink back down and answered me. “Indeed. Your Awakening was perhaps the most violent I have ever personally witnessed, much less done. I do apologize about the discomfort involved, but in Awakenings as late as your own, there does tend to be an element of pain as your Soul shakes off its shackles. Normally, a child only experiences a slight pinching sensation during an Awakening. However, I have to ask. Did you perchance to look at your Racial Talents while in the washroom? Was there perhaps…anything amiss with them? Out of place characters, or missing explanations?”

I looked at him strangely and replied. “I mean, they seem fine from what I could tell? No strange characters, and they all had explanations. Though, the explanations didn’t help all that much. I can’t tell what most of them do.”

Grey sighed in apparent relief before speaking. “Thank goodness. I was worried because of how late of an Awakening yours was.”

“Uh, could something have gone wrong?”

“Yes, something could have gone wrong, very much so. Another hazard of late Awakenings is the potential for corrupted Racial Talents. I mentioned before that the System is imperfect. Well, this is one of those imperfections. In cases such as those, the talent in question could end up either simply not working in the best case, or actively hindering the owner in the worst. When that happens, the only hope for that person is to visit a specialist and pay to have the talent removed. There has never been a recorded case of a Precursor with a corrupted talent, but I didn’t wish to assume.”

I stared at Grey wide-eyed for a moment. “Well, thank fu-”

Suddenly, I could hear what must be the front door open before I heard someone start stomping through the house. Whoever had come in sounded like they were heading in our direction.

“Ah,” Grey smiled again. “That must be Azarus. Come, I’ll introduce you to him. I don’t believe you had the best introduction, but I assure you he’s quite kind in his own way.”

“Alright…” I said, somewhat skeptically. My experiences with dwarves hadn’t been great so far.

After a few moments, I saw the door handle turn and the door swing open. As it was opening, I heard that same voice from last night speaking, this time in a language I could understand.

“Grey,” what could only be Azarus said gruffly. “I finished what you asked, but are you sure this-”

When the dwarf entered the room and I saw what he had in his hand, I shot to my feet.

Noticing me, the expression on the dwarf’s face fell. “Ah,” He said. “Bugger.”

Clasped in his hand was a branding iron.