I sat on the bed wearing the blue and white robe I was given as a change of clothes. I wore it over my t-shirt and boxers since it was all they gave me. Don't tell me those miserable old men are all going commando under their robes? The thought made me shiver slightly.
No good. This isn't the time for that. Aurora - formerly known as Lil Priestess - led me to my guestroom. She introduced herself as she guided me to where I will be staying. It was medium sized with a bed, desk, wall-sized book case and chest at the foot of the bed.
While walking me here, Aurora also explained that the room I was previously in was not, in fact, a cathedral or any other kind of worship space. It was King Jonas' throne room. He said he was a "High Priest" though? I'll need to learn a lot about my new home, it seems.
I was summoned there for expediency in meeting the King but also because this Newburg Castle, as it is named, and that room in particular is a nexus of powerful magical energy. It's the only place in the kingdom of Lideralia where the summoning procedure could actually take place.
"Please rest in here for tonight, Hero Arthur. The summoning will cause extreme fatigue as your body acclimates to the existense of magical energy in Asperia. You might be hungry, but eating is not advised during this adjustment period.
Please feel free to drink the water that's been provided and to sleep as soon as you can. I will come by tomorrow to explain the details of this world after which we will have your welcome feast!"
Aurora looked at me kindly as she explained the situation before leaving.
I guess there are some differences between real life and light novels. I don't remember "adjustment periods" in any titles I've read, but I guess it only makes sense. I nodded silently as she turned and walked out the door, softly closing it behind her. She wasn't kidding. As soon as I sat down I could feel a heavy weight pressing down on my shoulders and scalp. It felt like I could barely lift my limbs, much less a pitcher of water or a glass. I am thirsty, but the whole process of filling a cup of water and drinking it is inexplicably impossible for the current me.
I leaned back and rolled my legs onto the bed as I felt the weight on my body increase with the newly added sensation of drowsiness. The sky beyond my bedroom window was dark. How long was I in the throne room? Oh well, I guess this is how I'll end my first day in this new world of Asperia.
---
My eyes snapped open. Sun streamed into my bedroom and directly onto my face as I looked around. For a second I thought everything to this point was a dream but I realized I was wearing the surprisingly comfortable robe in the room I was led to last night. I guess I really AM in a summoned world.
I sat up and glanced around the room, finally dispelling any last thoughts that I was in one of my dreams. After all, I was never a lucid dreamer - to suddenly be this conscious and embodied in a dream with this much detail is hard to imagine. Somehow, it's easier to imagine that I transmigrated instead of being stuck in a dream. Or maybe I died? I shivered thinking about that possibility, but there's nothing I can do if it was true. All I know is I am here now - laying on a fluffy bed in some random room in a castle.
One thing I will say is that the way I feel right now is..well...night and day compared to the heavy exhaustion of last night. I've never felt more refreshed, in fact. Since I'm the kind of person who normally falls asleep at a desk in front of a brightly lit computer, I rarely sleep well. Sitting in bed I felt energized. With my body completely acclimated to this new world, I felt like I could take on anything.
I slept on top of the covers last night and was unencumbered as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed on the side next to the desk. The desk was bare except for some kind of lamp and small, smart phone sized green tablet. I took the tablet in hand, feeling its cold smoothness. It looked like jade but was actually incomparably light, like some sort of plastic. A mysterious object indeed.
"This is your proofing card," Aurora explained as she guided me here last night.
"It is bonded to you and will display your talents and Gift as was demonstrated last night. It will also record any <
Aurora told me this as she handed the card over before guiding me to my room. Focus an intention? That's about as vague an instriuction as you can give! But I think I understand what she means.
Let's try it out!
I hold the proofing card and stare at its "face", imagining the information I want to see appearing on the tablet. I could feel warmth emanate from my hand and fingertips, slowly infusing the card as the symbols from last night appeared.
I looked at the symbols and slightly sigh. It was the same as last night, though this time I could see the symbols - and somehow read them - more clearly. This must be the standard auto-translation trope. It's a pretty standard ability for summoned heroes, so I didn't think much of it. Instead, I focus on the report and a final row that I didn't remember Aurora reading last night.
Name: Arthur Castro
Age: 30
Talent: Level 1
Affinities:
Strength (Earth sign): Average
Agility (Air sign): Below Average
Vitality (Water sign): Above average
Intelligence (Moon sign): Excellent
Magic Power (Fire sign): Average
Divine Gift (Jaxis sign): Machine Translation
Titles:
Summoned Hero, The Underwhelming One
I try my hardest to ignore the titles at the end of the card, focusing on the information above it. In most fantasy settings, these kinds of stats affect different aspects of a character's build. Strength is, as you would guess, related to physical power. Agility usually has to do with movement speed and mobility, though in some cases it also controls casting speed for mages. Vitality is how much health you have, whether that's in the form of a counter like HP, how much damage you take from enemies and your susceptibility to status effects like illness or poison. Intelligence and Magic power are interesting. In a lot of settings they're combined but they can also be separate like it is here. When they're split like this, one - in this case Magic Power - shows your capacity for magic energy, sometimes called mana, to cast spells. Intelligence on the other hand determines your magical aptitude to learn spells and their strength when cast.
Sitting on my bed, I let out another heavy sigh. My stats are really all over the place. If I was a character in a video game, they would tell you to delete my save and just start over. First of all, these ratings are really vague - what does average mean? Is above average the most you can get or are there higher levels, like excellent or superior? Regardless, my stats are really modest with only one stat being above average and one even being below. What's worse is that my modest stats aren't optimized well - having a high intelligence but only average magic power cancel each other out. I remember the disappointed looks on the faces of the people in the summoning chamber let night and I really can't help but agree with them.
My eye scans to the line below my stats. "Gift (Jaxis sign):Machine Translator."
According to Aurora, Jaxis is the god of knowledge and magic in this world. He - she? they? - is also my benefactor of sorts. I was summoned in his name, after all.
After seeing it last night, I wanted to see this again. I really couldn't understand what this would mean in a fantasy world. On Earth, a machine translator is a simple enough concept. In fact, I used it all the time. Using Google, Bing, or other websites I copied and pasted the text from untranslated chapters of my favorite web novels into machine translators to get a sense of the events in the chapter. The translations have gotten better over the years, it used to be that resulting translations were jumbled and barely useful. Nowadays, they're improved and read pretty smoothly but even then it's still kind of rough. But my hunger for these stories were insatiable. In fact, I actually had a bit of a reputation as a reliable source of chapter summaries (a.k.a. spoilers) for those who, like me, couldn't wait for the translation to be released.
It actually makes sense that something that I was so familiar with on Earth is somehow related to my Gift here in Asperia. It's a very web novel-like development. But what could Machine Translator possibly mean in this case? I can speak and read in whatever language is spoken here in Lideralia, an ability that was also demonstrated last night by the hero Takeru. Universal translation can't be the extent of my gift.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Thinking won't help, so there's only one thing to do. I focus on the words "Machine Translator" on the card and brought up a desire to understand it. I try to focus an intention, the same way I activated my proofing card. Since I couldn't visualize an action like I did with the card, I relied on sensations and memories. I brought up images of the machine translators I used on Earth. I thought of the text box on the machine translator on my computer. How with a click it would turn mysterious text into something I can understand. The words on the card filled my vision while I thought about the adventures I had using that text box. The joy and love it showed me through the characters and stories in my light novels. I couldn't tell but a blue glow was starting to surround my body as I focused on the feeling I had when I used machine translators on earth. "I need to know."
Know what the happened in those untranslated chapters.
Know what the jumbled mess of words mean.
Know what my Gift is in this strange, new world.
I ignore everything else around me. I didn't hear the knock on my door or Aurora's voice on the other side asking if I was awake. I didn't see the thin whisps of glowing smoke emanating from my shoulders and back, much less the blue glow emanating from my body. I didn't notice that Aurora had come in and was looking at me with a concerned look. She was yelling now, though I couldn't hear it.
Then I felt a snap. Like a rubber band that was stretched too far, I felt it along the length of my torso. It didn't hurt but I know it was an unnatural sensation.
"Hero Arthur?! What are you doing?! Stop this at once!"
"Ah, Aurora? When did you get here? Sorry, I must have been too focused on investigating my Gift...."
"Gift....? Wait, did you try to activate your Gift just now? That's impossible! A Gift is a form of ultimate magic, it's impossible for someone who is newly summoned like you to activate it."
I better not tell her about the snapping sensation.
She walked over and drew something in the air with her hand. Glowing symbols, different from what I saw on the proofing card, were left in the tracks of her fingers. She pointed at my forehead and the glowing symbols flotated towards me. I felt a warmth in my head again, similar to last night though less intense.
"I'm sorry but I must apply some recovery magic. It looks like you failed to activate your Gift after all, but I want to make sure you're okay. Geez, Hero Arthur, don't do things like this again!"
I felt sorry and looked down at my feet as she continued pointing the recovery spell at my forehead. What else can I do while being disciplined by someone half my age?
"I'm really sorry Aurora, it won't happen again. Believe me.
Also, please just call me 'Arthur' or even 'Art' from now on. 'Hero Arthur' is a little long, isn't it?"
"That's impossible! You were summoned here under the auspices of a god! You're an agent of Jaxis! A lowly priesetess like me calling you by your name would be extremely rude!"
"Ehhh....is that right? Well, just think of it as a favor to me. Being called 'hero' makes me...itchy."
I couldn't help but feeling a little ticklish every time she referred to me as "Hero Arthur."
"Mmmmmm, well, if it's a request I certainly can't deny it. I'll call you Mr. Arthur then. How about that?"
"That just makes me sound like your high-school principal!?"
"High-school? I don't know what the height of a school has to do with anything, but this is the closest compromise I can allow, Mr. Arthur. Please oblige this lowly servant." She said this while slightly bowing as she cast her spell.
Ugh...I guess it can't be helped. And at least she's not calling me "Hero" anymore.
We'll just do this slowly, shall we? After all, we're strangers - can't expect her to go against her training as a priestess over the course of one night.
"All right, I guess that's fine."
"Thank you, Mr. Arthur."
"Could you actually do me another favor?" I was watching Aurora the entire time she cast the recovery spell. I was curious about the spell she'd been casting. She waved her fingers in the air, a glow weaving into letters and a word that float in the air. It was very magical. The letters kept floating into my forehead and now I could somehow understand the word she was writing with her fingers. I guess this is the nature of magic in this world - runes and air writing. Very cool! It was also a very effective spell, I felt much calmer and the memory of the snapping sensation had long faded away.
"Yes?"
"I'm curious about the spell you're casting. 'Restia'? What does that mean? And you're writing it with different symbols than the ones on my proofing card...."
"Eh?"
Aurora's finger froze in the air above my head as I finished my question. The glowing letters disappeared abruptly as she stopped moving her hand. Sensing the weird silence I looked up at her face which for some reason was wracked with fear.
"What's the matter?! Are you okay, Aurora?"
I stand up and try to put my arm on her shoulder but she quickly pulls away.
".....You could read it?"
"Yes?"
"The runes of my spell, you could read them?"
"Well, since you've cast it several times since you came in I could read it pretty easily. 'Restia'. What does it mean?"
"STOP!!"
Aurora shrieked, a scared look in her eyes. She then started looking around nervously, keeping her voice to a whisper.
"Don't say it out loud....you must never pronounce the runes we use in our spells! Promise me this."
"I promise. But why?"
"It seems you were somehow able to activate your Gift after all - a surprising feat for a fledgling hero."
She spoke was now looking down at the floor and her voice rose in volume to a quiet tremble. It seemed like she was trying to soothe herself.
"It also seems like you have a very dangerous Gift.
You wouldn't know this, but all magic in this world is derived from the gods. We use the gods' divine language that can never be written or heard to write what must never be known.
The divine language can only be written in air, anything more permanent binds too much power than can be controlled onto our world. Even the vibrations created by speaking the runes is dangerous. That is why mages only ever learn the approximate movements to draw the runes in the air and rely on phenomena visualization to generate a spell's desired effect."
I listened to Aurora's tense explanation, thinking about the remarkable magic system in Asperia. Magic systems are usually pretty standard - spells from mana, maybe spirit summons, maybe enchanted artifacts? I've never heard of a system like this though - using a god language? Being careful with spell mediums and such. I'm starting to realize that maybe I don't know as much as I thought as a transmigrator. Aurora continued while I settled in my new sense of insecurity.
"We do not know what the runes look like once written since we commit it to memory as finger patterns, much less how they are pronounced. That and we're strictly forbidden from trying to recreate the divine language visibly, much less try to read it out loud like you just did."
"I see, I'll be more careful from now on. This IS a troublesome Gift..." I turn back to my bed, smoothing out wrinkles on the top sheet to relieve my nervous energy.
"Let me finish Mr. Arthur..."
I look back over at Aurora, who was lowering herself at the foot of my bed with a complex look in her eyes.
"This is just concerning the divine language on its own - as simple letters they have unfathomable power.
As I mentioned, all magic is derived from gods and spells are a kind of invocation of their power - a prayer if you will. What you just said out loud - which you promise not to repeat - is in fact a part of the the true name of the goddess of healing, Elimande."
A god's true name? This is getting more and more complicated.
"Her true name hasn't been spoken aloud in ove two millenia, since the end of the Age of Dark Gods and the First Dawn. That is, until now.
A god's true name must never be spoken aloud, Mr. Arthur. Thankfully, the spell I was casting is a relatively minor recovery spell, and invoked the goddess very weakly through a small portion of her true name. A more powerful spell spoken aloud could have been disastrous."
"How so?"
"Speaking a god's name binds their personal power through the divine language onto our world. There are no forces more potent in this world than the ones derived from gods. It is deadly to the caster and for anyone nearby.
The ultimate class spells that can affect an entire continent or - in some cases - the entire world are said to use the complete true names of particular gods. If you were to say that aloud it would be possible to bind gods themselves. Forcibly."
"That is to say..."
Standing up and straightening out her robe, Aurora walked towards the door. A silent unspoken command to follow her.
"Mr. Arthur, your Gift used carelessly would make you the enemy of men. Used foolishly...."
Stepping out of the door, I followed her quietly, the new found energy from waking slipping out of my fingers and toes after the explanation of my Gift.
"Used foolishly, Mr. Arthur, and your Gift would make you an enemy of the Gods."