Chapter 4: The Mindscape
“THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.”
- ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
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As soon as my head hit the pillow, I found myself standing in a corridor. It was as long as I could physically see and had doors on either side, hundreds if not thousands. They were of dark, ornate wood, much like the walls, and I couldn't help but admire the impeccable craftsmanship - from the engravings that looked like vines, to the perfectly polished brass handles. As the son of a blacksmith, I could respect the cost and effort needed to make something so intricate. This whole place would have cost a lot of money, likely more than I'd have even seen in my lifetime, though I was hoping my Sainthood would change that part.
"Hello?" I shouted, taking a tentative step forward. Was teleportation magic a thing? I had either been kidnapped or was dreaming, and this was as realistic as the waking world, so I seriously doubted the latter.
"You're back! It's been nearly ten years!" I heard the voice of a little girl coming from no particular direction. This was beginning to freak me out, I'd been a Saint for less than a day and the weirdest things were always happening. "I've missed you so much, d-" Her voice suddenly stopped as I felt eyes fall on me, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, though I didn't feel like I was in danger.
"Oh. It's that time already," she said sadly. And as if someone had flipped a switch, the invisible girl's voice changed immediately, taking on a prerecorded tone.
"Greetings, Holy Saint! I am Aurora, your mental assistant. I was designed by Luminaris to help you in any way needed, whether with knowledge, magic or anything that may be needed to show his light to the world, all you have to do is ask." She didn't sound normal by any stretch of the imagination, which seemed to be very powerful in this case, but I hoped she could still answer some of my questions. As the days passed, I found myself prioritising knowledge over everything else.
"Is there any way for me to see you? Are you even human?" I asked. That shouldn't have been my most pressing question, but I lived in the now, what can I say?
"No, Your Eminence, I do not possess a corporeal form, but I'm human in the sense that your mind is still human. I reside in your [Mindscape] alone.
"So what are these rooms then?"
"Anything you want them to be: weapons rooms, libraries, even simulation rooms."
This had the potential to really help with my levelling. Opening the door to my immediate right, I peeked in and was astounded by the sight. It was a library, the size of a palace at the very least. I'd need dozens of lifetimes to even scratch the surface of the knowledge stored here. Stepping in and looking around, it took nearly 10 minutes to simply cross from one end to the other, not to mention the sheer quantity of floors. Everything was perfectly lit, despite no windows, and was made of much the same wood as the corridor. I was beginning to sense a theme among these rooms so far.
"Is there possibly a smaller library I could start at, maybe one for beginners?"
She giggled, "You're just like him, you know. Imagine the room changing to what you wish and it will obey."
"I'm just like who?"
"I'm not allowed to say, apologies. That knowledge is restricted."
Now I was a little irked. I'd been denied knowledge for most of my life, and it continued to be hidden from me even when I arrived somewhere that could actually solve my ignorance! I wouldn't take it out on Aurora, though, she was just the messenger. Instead, I'd try and channel my annoyance into something productive.
[Calm] has levelled up - Lv2 (+1)
Closing my eyes, I imagined what I wanted in a library: a crackling fire with an armchair beside it; bookshelves lining the walls; and most importantly, a much smaller area. It wasn't cramped, just cosy. Opening my eyes, the room was exactly how I'd pictured it. Except that the bookshelves were empty. Testing a theory of mine, I decided to ask:
"Aurora, can you fill the new bookshelves with books specifically on the subject of skills, free points, and attributes?"
She didn't say a word, but the bookshelves were all filled with leather-bound tomes. That proved my thought that she had access to most of the knowledge here, sort of like how a librarian will help you find a book. Again, these books looked extremely expensive. These what I'd so appropriately called 'Saint Powers' were getting better and better!
"So is this all happening within my mind? I'm guessing that my body is still sleeping?" I asked.
"Yes to both. You can come here when you sleep or [Meditate] and come out still feeling refreshed, such is the power of our god."
"Can other people enter?"
"No. Though it's thought that every Saint has a [Mindscape], so there may be some crossover between their skills if they could ever learn to trust one another. The churches keep information on their Saints to a minimum."
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Now that was interesting. Duncan had touched on the fact that there were other Saints, but we were being chased so I didn't really care at that point.
"Tell me about these other Saints."
Aurora, again, answered without hesitation, like a walking, talking encyclopaedia. "There are 6 Saints in the world at this moment, all appointed on the same day and at the same age as you. These Saints represent their respective gods, being Luminaris, Umbrael, Marina, Vulcanar, Terranus and Aerion. Although they each have their own respective cities required to unlock [Magic], the Saints often attend the 'Gallian Academy of Wizardry' at the age of 11."
That gave me a lot to think about. 'So, there are 5 others like me, dotted about the kingdom, each heading to their own city. I guess that's where the relevance of getting to Ateria comes in, that must be the divine city of Luminaris. There's bound to be a lot of competition going forward.'
"That is all correct."
I looked up in shock. 'Did she just read my mind?'
"Yes, that's another of my abilities, by the way."
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I looked up from the second book I'd read while in my [Mindscape] about free points and how to attribute them. My eyes felt no worse for wear, despite an hour of non-stop reading. The first book was introductory, but still helped to repair my severely lacking knowledge. It stated that you could only gain skills that were relevant to your specific class and level them up primarily for the purpose of acquiring free points. These free points, of which I had 7 at the moment, were a lot less complicated than I'd suspected. You just bring up your status and will them into one of your attributes to increase it. This can raise your primary stats - health, mana and stamina - or raise secondary characteristics that aren't quantified, like strength, flexibility, speed, memory etc. The only other way to get free points was through levelling up [Magic] or killing others, the latter I had no plans of doing yet. I didn't know if my status would work here, but I tried willing it into fruition anyway:
Name: Daniel Lightbringer
Age: 10
Class: Saint
Health: 100/100 | Mana: ?/? | Stamina: 78/100
Free Points: 7
Skills: [Calm] Lv2, [Pain Tolerance] Lv2, [Observe] Lv3
Spells: ?
Strength: 15
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 13
Intelligence: 22
Charisma: 7
Wisdom: 12
I decided that I didn't want to use too many of my free points right now, so I only assigned 3 to Intelligence. That left that attribute at 25 and gave me 4 free points left over. This action seemed to push something over the edge, as I received a new notification:
The light sharpens your memory, honing it into a formidable weapon.
New Skill Obtained - [Memory]
My book said that actually acquiring the skill, to begin with, was the hardest part of levelling up. Now that I had [Memory], I wanted to see how high I could level it before the night was through.
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It was a good few hours later. I could feel that the sun in the real world was just beginning to crest the horizon, meaning that Duncan was likely to wake me soon. Although he kept things from me, I did know him well enough to know that he would want to meet with his friend and be on the road before the ordinary person would even awaken. The evening had been productive, I'd managed to read about 3 more books in an attempt to patch my weak foundation. The only skill I could really level at the moment was [Memory] as the others needed people to work with. Plus, there were no books here on the skills available to a Saint. The [Magic] lists were a lot more extensive, so I'd just have to wait. Sighing, I opened my status one more time:
Name: Daniel Lightbringer
Age: 10
Class: Saint
Health: 100/100 | Mana: ?/? | Stamina: 100/100
Free Points: 10 (+3)
Skills: [Calm] Lv2, [Pain Tolerance] Lv2, [Observe] Lv3, [Memory] Lv6
Spells: ?
Strength: 15
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 13
Intelligence: 25 (+3)
Charisma: 7
Wisdom: 12
I'd gotten it to level 6! [Memory] was one of those easy skills, where you levelled it while just gaining knowledge. This allowed me to accrue more free points and I was remembering much more of the books than before.
'I wonder what level I need to get it to to give me an eidetic memory?' I thought to myself, realising what I'd done at the last second.
"The skill [Memory] will evolve into the trait 'Eidetic' at level 100. You can find more information on traits within the Mindscape."
I'd forgotten that the girl was always reading my mind. It was somewhat creepy, but Aurora had my best interests at heart, so there was nothing I could do about it. Plus, she was a veritable font of knowledge, so that was always a bonus.
Just as I'd expected, I felt myself being gently shaken awake by Duncan, who'd already packed what little he'd brought with him. As I gently opened my eyes and looked up, I also saw the man sitting in the corner of the room.
'Wait. A man sitting in the corner of the room?'