Our little group was camped in a forest glade a week’s walk from Grenwall, or about two hour’s flight. I was in the middle of setting up my cooking setup when Ylsa walked over and started to assist. She made setting up the heavy duty metal tripod/spit and circle of stones appear effortless, which I guess, to her it was.

I strained my [Perception], wary to hear if anyone had tried following us despite me letting Raiju run as she wanted as long as it was west of the capital. I couldn’t be too careful.

I guess it’s time. I wanted to wait and see if I could do it without the extra help, but I guess now’s as good a time as any.

I pulled the spellbook Mom gave me from my pack and settled on a large rock. Flipping through the pages reminded me of when I was little. I had wanted so much to be an [Arcmage] like her. If I were being honest with myself, if it weren’t for the accident, I probably would have ended up going that route. Spellwork always came naturally to me, while bows and blades took me much longer to get used to them and I’d pushed past my physical weakness to become quite adept with both.

With a sigh, I touched the rune in the corner of the page to learn the Spell I was looking for within. I should be fine, [Summon Elemental] isn’t even really a combat Spell. It’ll be fine. As I touched the rune, I remembered the first time Mom had shown me the Spell, I couldn’t have even been ten years old and Mom wanted me to see what she could do.

She’d used [Summon Elemental Swarm], an evolution of the Spell for her opponents, but she still used [Summon Elemental] in its base form to demonstrate its versatility. While she summoned a horde of small fire elementals with her first Spell, as a ten year old I was more impressed by the forty foot tall mountain she summoned that smashed the tiny elementals in a surprising display of speed for a creature so large.

I wonder how the Spell works. Do you get to pick an option for size or is it purely based on [Skill Mastery]? I guess that would get inconvenient, wouldn’t it? The better you know the Spell, the worse it worked indoors? Nah, it’s probably a thing about how much Mana you provide.

I quickly learned how right I was.

[Learn Summon Elemental - Y/N]

I mentally tapped the yes option and, a moment later, the page glowed brightly and a new window appeared.

[Active Skills - Mastery

Skill Dominance - 26%

Summon Elemental - 99%]

That makes sense, I guess. It looks like I’ll still need a moment of insight to figure out which evolved version of the [Skill] I’ll get.

I held up a hand and spoke quietly. “[Summon Elemental].” In front of me appeared a window unlike any I’d seen before, for the second time that day. I took a closer look and all was made clear.

OK, so it looks like the slider on the right is for what percentage of my Mana I want to spend on the Spell. The selector here looks like it used to just have four options, water, fire, earth, and air, but I have the six mixes available as well, steam, mud, mist, lava, lightning, and sand. There’s also a slider to select how many elementals I want to split that Mana into, neat. Ooh, the top has a spot to save a few presets, I should work on that next time, but not now. Once I’m ready, I guess I just hit the big red button in the bottom corner that says Cast.

I turned the slider for Mana up to ninety percent and the number to twelve before selecting [Air Elemental] for my type and slamming the Cast button. My body rebelled as ninety percent of my Mana left it at all one time, but I gritted through it, it had nothing on my training with Mom as a kid. When I glanced up, I saw a dozen three foot tall bluish white elementals floating in front of me.

The one in front bowed to me before speaking in Auran. “What would you have us do, summoner?”

“Form a screen half a mile radius from this point. Unless they’re attacking, I don’t care about monsters, I just don’t want any people to be able to see or hear what I’m about to discuss. If you find anyone, please let me know.” I nodded. “Thank you, honored [Sylphs].”

I used the proper term for air elementals and used their language, not even resorting to Primordial, and it was obvious they appreciated it. “It shall be done.” The assembled elementals scattered to the winds in a swirling pattern.

“That’s quite the summoning Spell, [Summon Elemental Swarm] at such a young age? You must be a hell of a mage.” Jaegan nodded appreciatively. “I take it you’re some kind of spellblade type from your attire?”

“It’s just [Summon Elemental] actually.” I looked over and found Ylsa filling the pot with the makings for a stew. “I’m a close to mid ranged combatant, daggers and bows mostly, at least that’s where my training leads me to think I’ll end up.”

Jaegan stared hard at me. “Not with access to a Spell like that you aren’t.” When I tried to defend myself, he held up a hand to stop me. “Most caster types would kill to have a single Spell like that in their arsenal and I’m willing to bet you’ve got more you’ve learned that you aren’t using. You’ve got the makings of a hell of a spellblade, why not lean into it?”

“I have my reasons.” I turned away from him and thrust my thumbs through my belt. “I’ve got one more thing to do before I can explain to you two why we had to leave so soon.”

Behind me, I heard the clack of wood on stone. “We’re not done with this conversation, boy.”

Yeah, we are. You don’t know me, old man. I’m better off not casting Spells, or at least not in combat. Even [Summon Elemental] is dangerous for someone like me.

I walked over and checked on the stew and, even though it’d just started cooking, it smelled amazing. “This smells great.” I complimented Arya and her shoulders sagged, she’d obviously been nervous I wouldn’t like it. “Join Jaegan and I’ll be right with you two.”

“As you wish.” She bowed at the waist before making her way over to join the old man on a huge log he was using as a bench.

“Raiju, can you talk to the [Sylphs] I summoned?” I scritched between her ears.

She snorted. “Of course I can. My sire could summon a small one when I was but a pup. It wasn’t friendly, but it taught me its language and the languages of its kin.”

Got it. She can probably talk to air, sand, and lightning elementals as well. Good to know.

“Can you join the [Sylphs] in their scouting?” I rubbed the back of my neck, where the hair stood up. “Something tells me we’re being followed, but I might just be paranoid.”

All I got as an answer was her bumping her head against my leg before she darted off into the woods, not even bothering to grow to full size with how dense they were. That handled, I sighed and wandered over to join my new companions.

I took a seat on a rock a few feet from their log bench and addressed them. “I have a big ask for the pair of you, if you’ll hear me out.”

“Whatever it is, I agree, Storm-Blessed.” Ylsa clenched a fist and thumped it against her chest.

“I’ll agree… under one condition.” Jaegan’s eyes sparkled. “After I agree you have to tell me the real reason you won’t use magic in combat.” He caught me wincing and smiled. “I’m willing to bet you have some bullshit reason you’d give most people, but I want the real reason.”

Can’t say I didn’t see that coming. I guess it’s a small price to pay, despite it not being any of his damn business.

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“Agreed.” I looked up to the heavens. “System, bear witness.” I turned to look back at my companions. “I need you to swear on the System that you won’t repeat what I’m about to tell you to anyone without my express permission, including recording it in a written form.” I shot Jaegan a half-hearted glare. “Let’s say anything for the next two hours, just to be safe.”

Rather than them repeating what I’d said, surprisingly a pair of gold System windows appeared before them. Jaegan’s eyes blazed with curiosity as he flicked a finger and the word “Agreed” appeared on the other side of the window, the side facing me. I almost missed Ylsa doing the same, she did it so fast.

Where to start? I guess the beginning is as good a place as any.

“This is going to sound stupid, but do either of you know who I am?” I blushed.

“Storm-Blessed.”

“I can’t say I do, but I have a few guesses.”

I gestured for Jaegan to continue. “Hit me with those guesses, I’ll correct you where you’re wrong.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, but complied. “With your surname, I assume your father is named Neil. The only Neil I know who uses daggers and is part dwarf is Neil Ironwind, the adventurer better known as Shrike. Last I heard he was married to a Golden Elven princess, Hildegard Sunbeam, better known as Conflux. I believe you to be their son. How am I doing so far?”

“Pretty well, though Mom isn’t a princess. Technically, she’s supposed to inherit Grandpa’s ‘Defender of the Sun’ position if he ever dies, but she’s not too worried about that. As of now, they treat her with all of the deference a princess would get with none of the baggage, it’s pretty great.”

“Given your heritage, I assume you grew up around powerful people. Powerful people who all doted on you.” He held up a hand when I started to object. “The same people who trained you to become the adventurer you are today. I can see the blue steel tag around your neck.”

“I wouldn’t say they doted on me,” I grumbled, “but you’re mostly correct.”

He nodded. “Conflux’s son and the Ray of the East’s grandson would have a frightening propensity for magic. I take it that’s correct?”

“I guess I can answer your question before going too much farther, it makes sense to explain here.” I sighed. “When I was little, I wanted to follow in my mother’s footsteps more than anything.”

I started to pace. “I cast my first [Magic Missile] at two years old and my first [Elemental Bolt] less than a year later. They called me a magical prodigy and Mom did everything she could to encourage me to learn more. Do good on a test? She’d let me borrow her spellbook and look through it. Defeat one of the monsters they’d bring for me to fight? She’d show me how a particular Spell worked so I could master my two combat Spells faster.

“Everything was amazing until about fifteen years ago. I was looking through Mom’s main spellbook,” I stopped for a moment before grinning, wryly “I guess you can’t tell anyone, so I might as well explain. The only downside to Mom’s [Arcmage] Class is that it requires her to physically write any Spell she learns into a grimoire or spellbook before she can use it, even if the System says she should be able to.”

“Fascinating.” Jaegan was leaning forward, entranced by what I was saying. “I’d always wondered what the downside was for her versatility, but I’d never have guessed it to be that.”

He motioned for me to continue and Ylsa still hadn’t moved, so I did.

“Like I said, I was looking through her grimoire, the core of her power, and found a Spell she’d never told me anything about, [Comet Storm]. I was only ten, so I figured I wouldn’t be able to cast it, even with her grimoire.” I rubbed my face hard. “I was wrong, so very wrong.”

“Oh no.” Jaegan’s face drained of color. “Who died?”

“Ironically,” I barked out a laugh, “that’s the only thing that didn’t happen. When I cast [Comet Storm] inside the house, I was disappointed for a moment because nothing happened. That’s when my Mana bottomed out. Unbeknownst to me, I had just enough Mana to cast it and the Mana fatigue sent me to my knees. I knelt there, gasping for breath as the ceiling collapsed in on me. Mom’s maid, Momo, somehow imposed herself between the first comet and me and nearly died right there, but she was able to deflect it enough to survive. However, in her effort to defend me, she failed to defend Mom’s grimoire.” Tears rolled down my face.

“I heard her scream as the comet destroyed it and soon after that, I heard more screams from her as the other four comets fell through the house. That day, I nearly killed myself, my mother, and Momo because I couldn’t leave well enough the hell alone when it came to spellcraft. The following day I joined my father in the morning for dagger training and never looked back.”

“You were just a boy.” Jaegan’s voice was like summer rain, cool to soothe my red-hot self loathing. “There’s no way you could have known you’d be able to cast one of the most powerful Spells any spellcaster can access at ten years old. That you had enough Mana at that age, assuming you weren’t wearing any Mana boosting gear,” I shook my head, “is nothing short of miraculous.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s my fault.” I seethed as my shame fought back against Jaegan’s logic. “It’s my fault that my mother had to start back from nearly square one with only these Spells,” I flopped her old travel spellbook out onto my knee, “to defend herself with. If it weren’t for her being retired before I was born, I’d have driven her there in one stupid move.”

“What did your mother do once the Spell ended?”

I blinked a few times. “I don’t know. I passed out from Mana fatigue a few moments after hearing her scream a second time.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you angling at?”

“I had a son once, he was a [Mage], just like me.” His eyes grew distant. “He was so caught up with trying to outdo me that he missed the fact that I was just so damn proud of him for what he’d already done. He died fighting my nemesis, an [Androsphinx] named Stonescythe, because he thought that would finally make him better than me.” He shook his head. “All I ever wanted him to be was happy and I don’t think he ever really was.”

“How are those the same?”

“Forgive me, Storm-Blessed, but did you ever discuss what happened with your mother?” Ylsa spoke up for the first time and I shook my head in confusion. She nodded back. “Jaegan is trying to tell you that, as a parent, he knows how your mother thinks better than you do, at least as far as you go.”

There’s no way. What if they’re right? Mom hasn’t stopped pushing for me to pursue magic, far from it. Have I been suffering all this time for nothing? I mentally flogged myself. No. You and spellcraft don’t mix. They don’t know you or your mother. You’re a menace. Anything bigger than a [Magic Missile] from you is begging for disaster.

“I-I… I’ll have to think about that.” I lied. I wouldn’t be thinking about it even once if I had anything to say about it.

“Whatever you say, Arthur.” Jaegan breathed out a sigh. “Now, what were you alluding to when you got us to swear those oaths? Time’s ticking.”

I clenched my fists and took a deep breath before releasing it for a long time. “Got it, I should get to it.”

“You should.”

Jaegan ignored the daggers I stared his way.

“If you have [Analyze], please use it on me if you haven’t already done so.” I waited a few moments for Ylsa to do as I’d asked, though it was obvious Jaegan already had. “What Class do I have?”

“Starlord, it’s a legendary S-ranked Class.” The old man stroked his bare chin like he expected there to be a beard there. Ylsa merely nodded along.

Despite myself, I grinned. I didn’t know how many times I’d be able to tell someone what my real Class was until I got much stronger, strong enough to fight against the followers of the four gods who betrayed Dominus.

I mentally disabled [Status Shield]. “Check again.”

This time, Jaegan did as I asked and he and Ylsa both gaped when they saw my real Status. “I am the Chosen of Dominus, the mother and ruler of the gods, and she personally… godly?” I shook my head, “She gave me the Class of her Chosen after interviewing me. She made me into the one and only [Suzerain], a Class that has only ever existed on this world twice before.”

“That’s where the red System screen came from.” Ylsa breathed out in awe. “That’s why Storm-Runner chose you as her bondmate.” She slipped to her knees and slammed her forehead into the ground hard enough to shake the dirt under my feet. “Please, accept my fealty! My people have tales of the forgotten goddess, but her name was lost. Please let me serve you, Chosen of Dominus.”

In the back of my head, I heard Dominus’ voice like a ghost. “Accept her. She and her people are the only reason I still exist.”

Not one to piss off my goddess, I mentally accepted Ylsa’s fealty. Red and gold light exploded from us and Jaegan stared at us as we blinked the light from our eyes as her [Might], [Toughness] and [Perception] all grew by twenty percent. She stared at me with reverence when she realized what had happened.

“What are you two going on about? You’re telling me there’s a seventh goddess the world has forgotten?” For a second, it looked like he was going to argue, but after a moment’s hesitation, he beamed and took a knee. “I too offer you my fealty, [Suzerain].” The same red System message appeared and I sighed.

[Jaegan “Wallbreaker” Toretto has offered you lifelong fealty. The offer stands until Jaegan “Wallbreaker” Toretto retracts it.

Do you accept his offer of fealty? Y/N]

“In for a copper, in for a gold.” I mentally accepted and was again blinded by the red and gold light, though this time it was me and Jaegan who could see it, with Ylsa observing us with the same reverence in her eyes.

Jaegan gasped and I could tell he was looking at his Status. Somehow, I knew his [Wits], [Arcane], and [Toughness] all grew. I guessed it was part of our fealty. For a moment, I debated checking to see if I could see their whole Statuses now, but decided against it.

They’ll tell me what I need to know.

“I can’t believe it!” He yelled before starting to dance a jig. “My [Toughness] broke the Class limit! I’m not going to die of old age anytime soon!” He openly wept as he danced.

Before I could ask him what he was going on about, I felt two of my summoned [Sylphs] died less than a second apart in the direction of Grenwall.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but it appears we have company.” I drew my bow and strung it. “Two of my summons just died.” I felt another one disappear, closer to our campsite. “Now three.”

Jaegan laughed maniacally as he hefted his staff. “Leave it to me, milord. I’ll show you what the Wallbreaker can do!”