Chapter 68 – Her Inferior Majesty?

You can do this. They are just people. Just the people that are entirely responsible for your existence. Nope, stop. Just people. Matt was doing his best to get his head in the game. And apparently failing.

“Matt, we can always find another way. Perhaps a ritual would be better?” Tori said. “You have been standing here for the past 20 minutes. Everyone in the room knows we are here already.”

“No, I got this. I can do this.” He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the door, leaning forward so his body weight would force him to step in.

The inside of the room was… cozy. It reminded him of the first time he met with Tori, nice, overstuffed furniture, a happily burning fire in the hearth and general muted, warm colors all around. The only thing different was the 3 nearly demonic looking beings standing around one couch.

Matt assumed that this must be Lyrenthea. She was not quite what he expected. He was expecting the strange nearly translucent skin, filled with swirling, smoke like patterns. He expected the brilliant white hair and the strange eyes that stood in harsh contrast to everything else.

He was expecting the queen to be dressed… like a queen. He was expecting an elaborate gown, crown on her head and perhaps a scepter of some sort. Instead, what he saw was an exotically beautiful woman dressed in simple tunic and trousers. She was wearing plain and practical shoes that looked more fit for a walk in the park than on display in court.

“Matt.” She spoke, her voice clear and resonant, carrying across the room easily. Then she surprised him once more. She bowed, her torso nearly level with the floor. Her attendants followed suit, attempting to bow even deeper.

She then raised herself and the look on her face was one of overwhelming joy. The faint lines that Matt hadn’t noticed seemed to ease, melting away like they never existed. A few tears threatened to spill from the corner of her eyes.

Feeling overwhelmed, and deciding to copy what they were doing, Matt began to bow in return. “Your maje…” but Lyrenthea stepped forward, appearing before him in a blink, preventing him from bowing at all.

“Please, never bow to anyone in my court.” She said in a soft but stern voice. “Our people have a debt to you, one that can never be repaid. Despite everything, there is no gratitude or convention that you must adhere to.”

Now that she was standing in front of him, Matt noticed she was shorter than he expected. He estimated her to be around a meter fifty in height. She was slight in stature, almost but not quite fragile looking. She was completely opposite of Tori who’s stature screamed warrior.

“If you say so.” Matt said. His heart was racing, he didn’t know how to act in this situation. There was a history between them, but it wasn’t one they had live together. “It is good to finally meet you. Umm, how should I address you?”

She smiled again, gesturing him to take a seat in front of the fire. “Lyrenthea or even just Thea is fine. However, in more public settings or when speaking of me, my title or Queen Lyrenthea would be appropriate.”

“Well, I probably won’t be seeing you around in public often, if at all.” Matt said, stating the obvious in a joking tone.

She tilted her head slightly and looked at him. “You are theoretically a member of my court. As you now have a noble title, you are entitled to the position.”

“Yeah, that’s not exactly my schtick.” He laughed, trying again to break the tension. It didn’t work as Lyrenthea just looked more confused. Thankfully Tori stepped in.

“Matt here doesn’t really like the whole noble thing. Though he has seemingly no issues chatting with monarchs in a casual tone.” She said.

“What monarchs?” Matt asked confused. “The only queen I have met is Thea.”

Lyrenthea’s eyes went wide. “Matt, The Eternal Warden, Victoria, is a god queen. Indeed, Weltgan is a god king in his own but will renounce the title if he joins Tori’s pantheon in full.” She was being very careful in how she phrased things, speaking slowly and clearly.

“Oh, well then yeah. Nobility isn’t really a thing where I come from. I’m pretty sure there’s like 3 countries that all share the same monarch back on earth.” Seeing the confused looks he tried to explain. “It’s a commonwealth or something like that. It once was an empire, but the countries all gained independence at some point. Ah, just ask Tobias about it. He would probably know better.”

Tori and Lyrenthea looked at each other for a minute before turning back to Matt. “Whatever you say.” Tori said with a shrug. “So, this is a nice little meet and greet. Nothing serious going to be talked about, just a social call. No bestowing of noble ranks and lands.” She said the last part while pointing a finger at the veiled queen.

“If you insist.” Lyrenthea said before focusing fully on Matt. “Would you be so kind as to tell me of your life? I know it must seem mundane compared to the System, but I would love to know more of how you grew up.”

“Umm, sure?” Matt was feeling slightly overwhelmed. “Like what do you want to know?”

“Well, what was your home like, how do people treat each other without power over one another? Things like that. I also just want us to know each other well enough that neither of us will be surprised when one of us does something.” The veiled queen spoke quickly, clearly interested in what he had to say.

“Well, I guess I will start at the beginning then.”

“You can’t start a story in the middle.” Tori said with a snort.

“It worked for Lucas.” Mass said with a shrug. Then seeing the confusion, clarified. “George Lucas created Star Wars and started the movie franchise on episode 4.”

Tori scrunched her face then pulled out a tablet and began looking through it with impressive speed. Matt looked back to Lyrenthea, who was still staring at him intently. He had to think about how to summarize his life up to that point since he didn’t think he wouldn’t have long.

“Well, other than being adopted, I would say I had a relatively normal childhood. My adoptive parents were very kind people and I still think of them as my real parents. I knew the truth of course but it didn’t make much difference for me.” He began to pick up the pace as he found the track, he wanted to tell the story in.

“I went to school until I was 18, decided that more schooling wasn’t for me and tried to make a living. Turns out that the economy wasn’t exactly in any state to support an 18-year-old just getting started. Seeing that I was going nowhere fast, I got the bright idea to enlist in the army. I did that for a few years, meeting Tobias while I was in.

“After getting out of the army, I got into contracting for private militaries. It was pretty much the same job, but the pay was way better. While I was doing that, Tobias was finishing his schooling and making huge technological advancements. He then hired me as his private security, which is kind of how we both ended up in this mess.”

Lyrenthea was nodding along and butted in at his pause. “What of his family? I was told that your parents had passed before you came here.”

“Oh, they are still alive. We were planning to go visit them for the holidays.” Matt glanced aside. “I guess they lost their son as much as he lost his family.” He often forgot about that fact since Tobias rarely talked about it in the few months they had been in the System.

“Indeed, I feel that we owe him compensation as well.” The veiled queen said to her attendant who quickly made a note of it. “Our meddling is the reason you both are here, regardless of the precise circumstances.”

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“I have a question.” He said after she turned back to look at him and he flashed the book that Edmond had given him. “What’s with your title?”

“Oh, it’s an old tradition. It symbolizes the fact that our race has no actual divine presence, yet we have a leader. Since we are divergent from humans and native to the System, none of us can actually become gods, despite having several powerful S grades in our ranks.”

“And what does that actually mean?” Matt wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at.

“It means that the System will not seed our race outside the working planes and thus none of us can ascend. Once one of us can reach godhood, they will become the ‘monarch superior’ and the System will recognize us as a separate and individual species.” Lyrenthea said.

“Still not getting it.”

She smiled at him, the kind of smile that parents give their children when they ask silly questions. “Don’t worry just yet. You have a while before you need to make any choices and I am sure Victoria will provide you all the information you need.” She then tilted her head like a thought suddenly occurred. “Or the System will. I hear you have already spoken to the avatar.”

Matt grimaced. “Yes. I am not sure how I actually liked that experience.” Tori was nodding along in agreement, still on her tablet, looking for something. “What were my actual parents like?”

“I did not know them very well, but I did get to know them a little before they left. They were passionate and dedicated to their research and particular field of expertise. They were both ritualists by trade, hence why they volunteered for the assignment.”

“Did they know they would die?” Matt was curious about that. He couldn’t really comprehend why they would risk it all on a long shot.

The veiled queen frowned, the downturn of her lips flashing for only a moment and her voice became more somber. “Yes, they did. They were already dying but the experiment hastened the end.”

Matt leaned forward. “What do you mean dying?”

Tori was the one to answer, having put away her tablet. “They were at a wall. The threshold of their grade and could not progress any further. Rather than struggling for decades or centuries, many will find a worthy cause to hasten the end. This is like the issue I told you about with the slaves and being ‘given’ freedom. Many will stagnate on their path and eventually die. Reaching S grade is rare, let alone godhood.”

“Yet still, your parents had long lives, longer than anyone on your planet to be sure. They did leave an estate behind that is as of yet unclaimed. But that will be for another time since we are limited by the System for now.” She then switched back to asking about him. They went back and forth, chatting and getting to know each other over the course of several hours.

*****

“There isn’t mana? So, no magic at all?” Lyrenthea asked after Matt had described the general political and social climate of earth.

“Not that I know of.”

“And humans are the only race?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Well, there are legends and stories of other races like dwarves, elves and such but it’s mostly fantasy or in some religions.”

“But there are no gods. How does that work?” She asked, shooting a glance at Tori.

Matt had to pause and think about his answer. “Well, I guess it’s more faith than anything. The faithful didn’t need proof and the rest were just hopeful, I guess. I had a friend that was Norse pagan and used to tell me about their gods. Like Odin and such.” Matt said, he started slow, but built confidence as he went.

“Hmm, a powerful necromancer.” Tori said, nodding sagely from her end of the couch.

“I’m sorry. What?” Matt asked, having taken a moment to comprehend what she said.

“He is a very powerful necromancer. One of the gods that heads a pantheon of his own.”

Matt was still staring at her. “But he’s not a necromancer at least not in our lore.”

Lyrenthea decided to weigh in. “What can you tell us about him in your ‘lore’?” Matt could hear the trap in her tone. She was leading him to come to the answer from a different angle.

“Well, he went by many different names and, supposedly, he will lead an army of the fallen against the gods’ enemies. In the end days during Ragnarok or something. He takes those that died in battle… to… his.” Matt paused as he realized what he was saying. “Holy shit, he is a necromancer!”

“Yeah, and his name isn’t Odin. Well, I guess it is. Kinda?” Tori sighed. “It’s this whole identity thing he has going where he gains power from his opponents’ ignorance. He is a right bastard when it comes to trivia or other bits or knowledge.” Tori said. It was clear she had past experience with the god.

Matt was very taken aback at this infodump and was about to ask around a thousand follow-up questions of every god he knew of, but the System had other ideas. Just as he opened his mouth, a message popped up and informed him that his time was up, and he would be teleported in the next few minutes. Apparently, the system wouldn’t make him walk either and just send him directly through the portal back to Vil’ Krad.

“Looks like my time here is about up.” Matt said with a sigh, looking toward Lyrenthea. “It was nice to meet you. I am glad that we had a chance to actually talk.”

The veiled queen stood and held out her hand. The palm was glowing slightly and when Matt gave her a questioning look, she explained. “It is a small thing. I have the approval of the System and Victoria also gives her blessing.” She smiled. “Pun intended.”

Matt looked at the hand for a moment before shrugging and reaching out to touch her. The moment he made contact, the light moved from her palm to his and he felt a warmth spread up his arm and travel through his body. A moment later, a System message appeared.

Heritage Awakened.

Your latent heritage has been awakened by the veiled queen Lyrenthea. Your latent veiled power will be more accessible from now on and easier to control.

Looking at his hand, Matt had to suppress a shout of surprise. “Yeh! What’s this?”

Tori and Lyrenthea both were staring intently at him, the 2 attendants doing the same just with slack jaws. “It would appear being from outside the System has some side effects in terms of our normal appearance.” Lyrenthea said.

His hand, and likely the rest of him, was no longer the normal pale skin tone that he had his entire life. It was now partly translucent like the veiled he had seen but instead of being black in its under tones, it was a grey color. While he looked at his arm, he could see the swirling cloudy mass within and little bits of what he thought was blue but couldn’t get a good look at.

Just as he was looking around for a reflective surface, Tori summoned a small hand mirror and held it out to him. His face had also changed, not in shape but in the nature of his skin. His hair remained black, but his previously dark irises had transitioned to a very pale blue. His eyes didn’t take on the appearance of the veiled and still looked like human eyes, but the sudden color change was unsettling.

“Thankfully this isn’t just a cosmetic change.” Lyrenthea said. “You will find your aura, and by extension your domain, easier to control and likely far more powerful. I would recommend you spend some time meditating and getting accustomed to the changes before doing anything to strenuous.”

“How am I supposed to explain this to Tobias and Franklin?” Matt said, wondering if they would think he’s a doppelganger or just a really bad imposter.

“I will let their patrons know.” Tori said. “Besides, I think it looks good on you. It’s kind of a nice balance between human and veiled.” Lyrenthea and her attendants were nodding along.

Matt was still concerned but would trust her to help smooth things over. He pulled up his status sheet just to see if there were any other changes.

Name: Matt Shultz Level: 55 (E)

Race: Human-Veiled

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Strength: 276 (366)

Dexterity: 408 (545)

Endurance: 383 (495)

Constitution: 264 (352)

Perception: 281 (372)

Intelligence: 381 (492)

Wisdom: 231 (317)

Free Points: 5

Everything looked to be normal, as best he could tell. There was also something in the back of his mind telling him that things would be very different going forward and the status screen might not be showing him a full picture. It might be on those back pages that Tori mentioned.

“I am going to have to take your word for it. In the meantime, I think that my absence from the city will help mellow things out, along with the influx of new people.” Matt said.

“What do you mean absence?” Lyrenthea asked.

“I am going exploring. Maybe wandering is a better term. There has to be more out there that is just waiting to be discovered and I still need to get stronger.” Matt explained his reasons.

“I wish you the best of luck then.”

“Don’t worry, I can act as a median in case you absolutely have to get in touch.” Tori said.

Just then, a new box popped up in Matts vision and began counting down. “Well, I will see you when I see you.” He said, getting a wave from Tori and a bow from Lyrenthea. Soon he was bathed in the warm golden light and found himself standing in front of the portal on the lawn outside the Hub.

“Well, that was nice to…” Tobias began to say from Matts left before suddenly stopping. “Ok, I am not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed but is there something different with you?”

Franklin was standing there, mouth open while Venri looked like she was about to cry. “Oh, you noticed?” Matt said with as much sarcasm as he could manage.

Tobias snapped his fingers. “I know, you got a haircut.” He laughed then. “Well, let’s go have a quick meeting before you leave. I’m sure you want to get going before too long.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Franklin asked.

“Just exploring and looking for some good fights.” Matt said. “Besides, there isn’t much you need me for at the moment.”

Franklin was looking a little shocked, but Tobias just ushered them into the Hub and up to Franklins office. “Yes, yes. It’s all very sad, I’m sure. Now, how about we talk about the instruments and repeaters I’m sending with you.?” Matt just went along into what would be the longest ‘quick’ meeting of his life.