2-Otherworldly Lecture

3/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Niwut - Early morning

Doro would normally wake up shortly after sunrise to have breakfast with his parents, clean up after them as they headed off to work, and then be free to roam about. He would usually go out to join up with some of the neighborhood kids and play around until he had to be home for lunch. After eating with his parents, he would do some arithmetic and writing exercises using chalk on a slate board for an hour or two. Then, he would join his mother in her workshop to help her with some menial tasks or play around with personal projects.

As one of the Yerkan, his mother had an innate connection to clay and ceramics. Her name had started becoming famous around the industrial district over the years due to the delicate and elegant nature of her pieces, and due to the vibrant colors achieved using the glazes her husband produced. His father's workshop was deemed too dangerous for a child due to it having the kilns used to fire the ceramics, a forge, and a large counter covered with vials of strange powders alongside heavy lumps of metals and minerals.

To finish off the day, Doro would have dinner with his family and his father would test him and set some new exercises for the next day. Doro would then go to bed early, only to repeat the same general actions the next day. Today, however, was not a typical day. Today, Doro turned nine, and at noon, his life would change drastically.

Doro opened his eyes and then immediately shut them again.

Why is it so bright? did I oversleep!?

He slowly opened his eyes partway and squinted toward the source of the light. He noticed his shutters were open and his door was slightly ajar. Doro heard the sound of footsteps approaching and sat up, got his feet onto the ground, and waited for his parents to come in.

"Mornin' Doro! The sun is up and you should follow its example."

Suyum opened the door and walked into the room closely followed by Khetep.

"I'm up Mom. Thanks for making sure I didn't oversleep too much."

Doro looked up at his parents and saw they both wore large smiles on their faces. His father held a wide and shallow polished wooden box in front of him as he began speaking.

"Son, at noon you will officially turn nine and make your first Choice. I have tried to prepare you as best I could, and you have not let me down so far. When it comes to reading, writing, and arithmetic, you have met the standards I saddled you with. When it comes to academics, know that you are roughly equal to the children of the central district, only those rich enough to have full-time tutors or the naturally gifted might prove themselves significantly more adept. Your mother and I want you to head to the Imperial Complex with your head held high and know that whatever happens, we will accept you when you return. Your mother and I thought that you might feel out of place and nervous in the central district, surrounded by the well-dressed folk while wearing your usual clothing, and as you know business has been going well lately, so we have a gift for you to celebrate your birthday."

Khetep Approached Doro's bedside and put the box down.

"With this, you will not only be their equal in education, but also in appearance. Your mother will help with your hair after you put it on. Go on, open it."

Doro opened the box carefully and put the lid down to one side. The box held some deep black cloth embroidered with silvery thread that matched his hair color. He pulled out the contents to find two separate pieces of apparel. One was a Pair of black pants with silver decorative stitching along the seams. They were shaped similarly to his everyday pants, but with a narrower leg that didn't flare out as widely. The second piece was a tunic with a slit on either side and straight cuffed sleeves. Unlike the pants, it was quite heavily embroidered with a motif loosely based on rivers and waterfalls, giving the impression the silver was liquid due to the light reflecting off the shiny thread. Doro held it in front of him and inspected it.

This looks kind of like one of those long tunics characters wear in movies set in ancient china. Not exactly the same but similar enough. Feels super soft though, also hurray for straight sleeves that don't get in the way! uh? Wait, isn't this a bit too big for me?

Doro looked up with a smile and thanked his parents

"Thank you, it looks amazing! It feels super soft, what is it made of?"

Suyum's smile grew even wider as she answered.

"Behold! This is high-quality silk from Baisheng, all the way to the north of the continent. Aonghus found some durin' one of his trips to Ashrama a year ago and was kind enough to sell me enough for this outfit at cost when I told him what it would be for. Your father treated the string to give it its silvery shine, and then I worked on it a few mornings with old lady Natam, seamstress Ati's retired mother. Her eyes might be getting worse but her hands sure didn't lose their touch."

Suyum admired the stitchwork that made up the motifs she had designed for her son as he set out the clothes. Doro changed into the outfit, and as he had expected, the tunic was too long and went past his knees, and although the sleeves were straight, they were quite wide.

"I love it Mom, but I think you got some of the sizes a bit wrong."

"Nah, I heard that's how they wear it up in Baisheng, and as you grow its proportions will be more like the tunics we have around here, that's also why the sleeves are wide. Look, the cuff can be unstitched to lengthen them. I asked Natam to make it this way so that we can easily resize it, and you can keep wearing it until you become an adult. That's also why the sides are split and tied with string, so that when you grow you can keep wearing it with an undershirt."

Doro looked himself over and decided that he enjoyed this outfit as is, even though it was designed for him to grow into. He felt like he should do a flying jump kick while making some kung fu movie noises, but didn't want to rip his pants by accident before his big day and kept himself in check. He settled for putting his arms together in front of him with one hand shaped like a fist, cupped by his other hand, and gave a half bow as he had seen done in Chinese movies.

"Father, Mother, I shall go to the central district and bring honor to our family, I will endeavor to reach the greatest heights so as not to shame you and the trust you have put in me!"

Doro wore a serious look on his face that slowly broke into a grin seeing his parent's apparent confusion at his change in demeanor.

"So how was it? I thought that if I looked the part, then I should try seeing if I could act like it."

Khetep looked rather proud at the display but Suyum replied with a concerned expression.

"Yes Doro, you look like a well-dressed rich boy and you can sound like one of them, but promise me you are not gonna act like them. Not all are bad, but a lot of them are born with an easy life and don't understand what it means to be privileged. They look down on those of lower standin' than themselves because they don't understand the hardships of others. They have their own set of worries that come with privilege and sometimes it makes them forget what the common people go through, and in the worst cases, they grow to feel like they are better than others just because of who they were born as. I have made sure you are aware of how good we've got it compared to some others, even here in Boomtown. If you do well today and they sing your praises, remember this. Those who don't do as well as you might not have had the same opportunities. Don't judge someone until you know the effort they put in and the obstacles they had in their way. Sorry if things got a bit heavy but I love you and I know you will do us proud."

Suyum then gave him a peck on the forehead as she waited for his response.

"Don't worry Mom! I've got too much work to do on myself to spend my time judging how other people are doing."

Doro answered happily, somewhat missing the point. Suyum then started playing around with his shoulder-length hair. Eventually, she seemed to have settled on a plan and started to brush Doro's hair to make sure to get any knots out. She then started massaging a small amount of oil that smelled like lemongrass into his hair, giving it a nice scent and a more reflective luster. Suyum then went to fetch two black lacquered wooden sticks from her room and pulled the front half of his hair backward and into a half-bun, using the sticks to secure it. She then took out a polished bronze mirror and handed it to Doro.

Oh damn, I look pretty good! There is a certain subset of anime fangirls that might willingly risk prison time if they came across a kid like me.

"That looks pretty good, I might start wearing it like that more, keeps it out of my eyes too."

Doro smiled at his reflection while thanking his mother.

"Third bell should ring soon and the lecture starts at fourth bell. You have a bit over an hour before you need to be there, but bein' a bit early can't hurt. I made you a few surprise buns, have a couple on the way, and keep the others for lunch. Careful, one of them is really spicy, and another extremely sour."

"Thanks but did you really need to make those two if you need to warn me about them?"

Suyum just chuckled and did not attempt to defend her choices. Khetep put his hand on Doro's shoulder and looked into his eyes.

"They would just be normal buns then, not as fun. Jokes aside, do your best and we'll be waiting here for you, now off you go in case you get waylaid."

"Alright, Mom, Dad, I'm off to conquer the world!"

Doro had a wide grin on his face right until the moment his mother flicked him on the forehead.

"Ok, let me try again. I'm off. I'll try not to die."

He ducked out of the way before his mother could flick him again and dashed out of his room with his lunch in hand before shouting back.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

Doro continued on through the front door of his home and onto the streets leading to the central district. He walked through the industrial district for about ten minutes while nibbling on a couple of buns and got lucky. One had been filled with date jam and the other spiced carrot paste, leaving four buns, two of which were trapped.

I wonder if all the carrots in this world are purple or if it is just the local variety. I've only ever seen purple ones in this world as far as I can remember.

The streets around him were slowly becoming wider and collections of small buildings started giving way to larger and taller walled complexes. The canopies covering the streets shifted from the dirty greys and beiges of the industrial district into all shades of vibrant colors, some even bearing extravagant motifs. The rough sandstone buildings were replaced with ones made of smoother stones and with more intricate cemented brick layouts. There was no exact demarcation between the central district and the industrial district, but he felt as if he had definitely crossed over.

In the distance ahead of him, Doro could hear the bell tower in the imperial complex ringing third bell. A short moment later the smaller bell towers on the periphery of the central district rung closer to him. He then listened carefully and heard the bell towers in the industrial district picking up the signal.

Huh? I never realized all the bell towers worked in a relay. I guess it saves each one from needing someone to check the sundials and flipping the hourglasses on cloudy days.

The days and nights in Niwut lasted about twelve hours each, no matter the season. The sun rose around six in the morning and every hour on the hour, the bells would ring until they did so a final time at six in the afternoon when the sun dipped below the horizon. Most people started work around third bell and took a break when the sun was at its zenith, at sixth bell. They would then return to work until shortly before twelfth bell and head home.

Third bell ringing meant that Doro had one hour before he had to be at the Imperial Complex, and at the rate he was going, he would be there in another twenty minutes. Deciding that the heart of the Central District would be even more interesting, Doro kept up his pace and tried to avoid getting sidetracked.

It only took Doro fifteen minutes to make it to his destination. The crowds were less dense and the wider streets of the central district resulted in less cart traffic to slow down his progress. When he arrived at the central plaza, Doro spotted a group of children clustered around some benches in a small garden area attached to the side of the Imperial Complex.

There must be at least thirty of them. Do we all share the same birthday? Niwut has around three million inhabitants, or so I heard, I guess it's not that big a number considering. Maybe it's even a slow day.

Doro approached the garden and noticed three groups had loosely formed. The largest group consisted of seven human girls and nine human boys, dressed in clothes that were even thicker and more worn than Doro's usual getup. Many of them seemed to have come a rather long way judging by how tired some looked.

These are probably kids from the agricultural district. Most are probably from farming families. Although, the agricultural district is kind of like a collection of small villages, so maybe there are some smith kids and the such.

Doro then shifted his attention to the second group. It was made up of two Yerkan boys, four human boys, and three human girls. They looked more similar to the kids Doro was used to spending time with in the industrial district. Their clothes were slightly thinner and less worn, showing they didn't spend their days working outdoors, but some had damaged clothing, dirtied by soot. Doro didn't spend long on this group as they appeared commonplace to him.

Finally, his eyes settled on the final, and smallest, group. Two human girls, one Yerkan girl, and two human boys. They all wore high-quality clothing of different colors and fabrics. One of the human girls was wearing an inordinate amount of jewelry for her age, well any age, if Doro was going to be the judge.

Wow! I've never seen someone with a ring on every finger before, and her arms look rather dainty, can she even lift her hands with those and all her bracelets and bangles?

Doro entered the garden area and before he could head toward the industrial district group, one of the finely dressed boys waved at him.

"Oh, is that some Baisheng silk? Quite high quality I see. The string used in the embroidery is rather exquisite, and the way it catches the light makes the entire motif feel as if it were slowly flowing. Impressive!"

The other boy butted in before Doro could respond.

"Yes, that is quite a nice dress. Maybe the two of you can have a tea party while you wait."

Doro looked at the second boy and the smirk on his face confirmed that he was picking a fight. At first, Doro thought the boy had a sword at his belt, but upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a prop made of grey-painted wood. The boy then proceeded to continue speaking without waiting for a response.

"My father is a knight in service to Count Amon and one of the captains of the Niwut Guard. Too bad you two seem more interested in clothes than the sword, I had hoped to meet new sparring partners but neither of you appears to be carrying a weapon."

As the boy finished his brag, he tilted his head back and looked down at the other two haughtily. The first boy appeared to take offense and responded immediately.

"A knight you say? Correct me if I'm wrong but I do not believe that is a hereditary title. Wouldn't that mean that until you prove yourself worthy of an appointment in adulthood, you are a commoner like me? However, unlike yours, my father's estates and company are both hereditary and so my worth, and future, do not hinge on knowing how to brandish a pointy metal stick skillfully."

Doro slowly stepped away from the two boys as their argument started heating up, in order to avoid being dragged into it. He somehow found himself standing next to the three finely dressed girls.

"....and he said that if I accepted his proposal over my other suitors, he would treat me like a princess and make sure our children and I never need for anything. Then he gave me this ruby-encrusted ring. It might be weird being married to a man older than my father, but he wasn't too bad looking and if he passes his next threshold by the time I am of age, then he'll be in peak condition again."

The girl with the ring-covered hands was showing off one of her favorites while recounting the events behind its acquisition.

Man... Mom wasn't kidding, some of the rich folks of Niwut are quite something.

Doro quickly decided he would rather not get involved in this conversation either, judging by the forced smiles the two other girls were wearing whilst listening to the ring-clad girl recounting the story behind yet another of her accessories. Doro was about to try his luck out with the agricultural group but as he walked by, one of the girls in the industrial district group looked at him and spoke up.

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"Hey! Wait! Sorry if I'm wrong but you are Doro right?"

Doro blinked a few times but then he managed to place her. She was the younger sister of one of the older boys who used to join the neighborhood kids Doro played with in the mornings.

"Sarima right? Addat's little sister?"

Sarima looked pleased at being remembered and gave him a small smile.

"So you are Doro! You look amazing! Did your family move to the Central District?"

Doro could tell that she was confused by his new look and responded truthfully.

"Nah, my folks and I are still down in Boomtown, same as ever, but business has been good lately. The outfit is something my mom made with old lady Natam, and she got the cloth at cost from one of my dad's customers. A traveling merchant."

Doro thought that this would explain everything, but she still seemed somewhat confused.

"Why were the rich kids talking to you like one of their own then?"

"I guess that between my new outfit and my hairdo, they must've made a mistake. I went along with it because I wondered how the kids from their part of town were. Turns out a couple of them were quite something."

Doro and Sarima both giggled a bit as they peeked at the two rather interesting scenes being displayed by the group of kids from the central district.

"Your dad is a blacksmith, right? Are you hoping for a smithing related Choice or something different?"

Sarima pondered over her response with a pensive expression before answering.

"If I get a related choice, I can learn from my dad and help out. My brother went and chose something completely unrelated so I know my dad would like the help. The thing is, I don't hate forging. Sure it's a bit tough but Abilities can help. I'm just not sure I'm very suited for it. I can never really tell when the metal is at the right temperatures to forge or cast, and I'm not great with the heat coming out of the forge. I'd rather get a Choice that lets me take care of the storefront and deal with customers. I mean, my dad is good at making things, but selling them is not his strong point. What about you?"

Doro was surprised at how much thought she had put into this and started feeling a bit inadequate considering his chosen approach had been not to overthink it and adapt after knowing his options. He decided he needed to reevaluate his opinion of Sarima. Doro had only met her a few times when she was sent out to retrieve her brother because he'd played for too long and was late for lunch.

I always thought she was just an agreeable but timid and indoorsy girl, but she seems smarter than I'd given her credit for. Maybe the reason she didn't come out to play was that she was busy studying and helping out around the house. Her mother died when she was really young if I remember right. I'd better not bring it up.

"Honestly? I'm just hoping for a Choice that is either crafting or refining related, like my parents, but if those options aren't available I'll just pick whatever feels right."

Having some time to waste before the lecture, Doro decided to change the subject to keep the conversation going.

"If you want to work the storefront, are you also staying behind after the Choice to take some of the imperial certification exams?"

Sarima looked somewhat taken aback at his question.

"Wait, you are aiming for some of the certifications? Weren't you out with my brother and his lot every day? You do know that they need quite a bit of studying, right? Don't worry lots of people don't manage to get certifications until well into their teens."

Uh what? Is she calling me stupid, if somewhat politely?

"It is true that I usually spend a few hours with them in the morning, but I spend an equal amount of time every afternoon working on my letters and numbers. My dad has been tutoring me ever since I turned five, and he is a certified third-tier scholar. I am more than confident in achieving at least the first-tier scholar and merchant certifications."

Doro smiled, trying not to take her previous comment personally.

Not like I can really complain, I didn't know her well and had some mistaken assumptions of my own.

"Third-tier? Couldn't he get a job in the Central District then? Also, the merchant certification is one thing, but even I'm not confident I could pass the scholar certification and I study nearly all day! Is your tongue as silver as your hair?"

Instead of getting angry at being called a liar, Doro giggled inwardly for a few seconds at the turn of phrase.

"Sarima, you work all day on your own without a teacher to check on your progress and to assign new tasks. That you managed to teach yourself enough to be confident about the merchant certification is by itself worthy of praise. Yes, my dad could work in the Central District, but he would work on someone else's research and experiments, he wanted to be his own boss so he decided to start his own venture down in Boomtown. If he hadn't pushed me to learn and helped me along the way, I would probably not be ready for any certification as of now, but I got lucky. Also, nice insult!"

Sarima appeared a bit flustered, but she seemed to have cooled down a bit after having all her questions answered satisfactorily. The expression on her face suddenly shifted as she seemed to come up with an idea.

"Ah, then if you do better than me at the certifications, I can just have you teach me! You wouldn't force me to learn by myself after telling me how important being taught is? Right?"

She then proceeded to tilt her head forward a bit and looked up into Doro's eyes, her bottom lip protruding a little.

Oh wow, she's giving me the puppy eyes treatment. Even though wolves and dogs don't seem to be native to this continent, some things appear to be universal.

Doro looked Sarima over for a minute or so while thinking over his options. Unlike Doro, Sarima did not look like the typical people of the Manzat Basin. Her mother's family had been an Origin Human, that is to say, she had been from the people from the Plateau of Origin. She had the olive skin tone and softer rounded features typical of her mother's people, but not their famous wavy black hair. Instead, She had straight, bright titanium-white hair tied in a ponytail, reaching down to the small of her back, with straight bangs that reached just beneath her eyebrows.

Doro looked back at the memories of his previous life and he had to admit that folding to the whims of cute girls had been a recurring trend. Between his cousin and his best friend, both of whom had been objectively attractive young ladies and had known it, he had a history of being cajoled into doing things by the exact same methods Sarima now applied.

Weird. I don't know if it's because I haven't hit puberty yet, or that I have memories of life as an adult, but I feel absolutely no physical attraction to this cute age-appropriate girl. I don't want to commit to something that could be a huge time sink though...

As Doro was trying to reason why he should not accept her request, he noticed that a part of him was feeling guilty. After a couple of seconds, he managed to piece together why.

Damn, it would seem that even though I'm still a kid myself, when a friendly kid asks for my help, the adult part of me wants to support them...I can't catch a break...

Sarima finally reached her limit and broke out of her pose.

"I get it, you've got your own studies, and then you'll have your Choice to work on. Sorry for being a bother."

Looking dejected and apparently taking his silence as a refusal, she turned around and was about to start walking away when Doro spoke up.

"You know where my house is? I'll give you 30 minutes after breakfast every morning if you come around second bell. I'll set some tasks and exercises for you which you will bring back to me the next day so that I can make sure you understood the topic."

Doro noticed Sarima pumping her fist and saying "score!" softly under her breath before turning around with an innocent look on her face.

I heard that!

"To make things clear, during those 30 minutes we will not be friends but teacher and student. You will have to listen to my instructions. If you do not wish to do as instructed, you may end our arrangement and walk away. If you stop putting in the minimum effort I expect from you, I will put an end to your lessons. I am not interested in romance so don't expect that being a cute girl will allow you to manipulate me, or make me take it easy on you. Are we in agreement?"

Sarima started blushing and nodded her head.

"...yes."

After answering, her blush deepened as she stood there quietly, fidgeting a little.

"Uh are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you. It's not like I'll be needlessly mean or anything..."

Doro tried to calm her down, confused at her reaction, but then Sarima answered a bit hesitantly.

"Well...It is the first time a boy tells me I'm cute and asks to be my friend. I'm just a bit embarrassed is all..."

Doro stood still as a statue for a long moment while his brain tried to process what he had just heard.

What!? That's what she heard? When the hell did I say those things!?

He was about to start speaking again, to try and salvage the situation, when a tall bearded man wearing a long white robe walked into the garden. Doro looked in the man's direction at exactly the right moment to catch the sun reflecting off the man's bald head, momentarily blinding him. After blinking a few times, Doro regained his vision, but before he had the time to inspect him closely, the man began to speak.

"Greetings children! My official title is Imperial Enumerator but you may call me Scholar Atwut if that is too much of a mouthful. First things first, I'm sure some of you are nervous and have questions. That is normal as you will all only ever have one first Choice. I, however, go through this every day. Trust that I will tell you what you need to know and don't interrupt. I will leave a few minutes for questions before sixth bell, but until then follow me inside so that I can tell you a story."

Most of the children quieted down and prepared to follow the scholar but the pair of central district boys were still arguing loudly and appeared to have either ignored or failed to notice him.

"What does it matter if your purse ends up fuller than mine if any thug or brigand can easily take it off you?"

The knight's son smiled triumphantly as if convinced that this latest comeback would assure his victory. The merchant's son, however, was not out of tricks quite yet.

"If I have enough coin I can hire strong people to protect me. You do know that, basically, a knight's job consists of guarding his boss or territory for payment right?"

The knight's son's smirk crumbled at this, likely unable to find a way out of this impasse.

"Ahem! It is good to show passion boys, but whatever your goals are, they'll be easier to achieve AFTER you make your first Choice. Follow the other children's example and be quiet so as to not make my work harder than it needs to be."

The Scholar's kind smile still remained on his face but his eyes and tone betrayed that these two were beginning to try his patience. Scholar Atwut turned towards the entrance and led the children inside. They headed straight down the main corridor and into a large circular room with tiered seating surrounding a dais on which stood a lectern and a large slate board. The room looked like a cross between a lecture hall and an amphitheater. Scholar Atwut gestured toward the seating area directly facing the board and spoke.

"Children, please be seated. Fill out the front rows first."

He waited a moment for the children to settle down in their chosen seats before starting his lecture.

"Today, your helpless years are coming to an end and you will be registered as official citizens of the Empire. Akashic energy will suddenly become available to you and your lives will change greatly. However, that is not what you are here to learn about this morning. Before you go through your Choice and get registered, it is important you know some things about this world we live in and about the Empire. Some of you may already know a portion of what we are going to talk about, but for the benefit of the whole group I will assume that all of you are new to this information."

Scholar Atwut bent over and retrieved a bundle of scrolls from beneath the lectern and spread one onto the board.

"This is a map of the continent, also known as the Motherland."

The map was not very detailed and seemed to show natural features rather than territorial borders.

"First, as you can see, there is a somewhat circular mountain range in the center of the continent that surrounds a large flat expanse. Those are the Crown Mountains and the Origin Plateau. That is where the imperial capital stands. The plateau is the only place humans could originally be found, split into nomadic tribes with no access to Akashic energy. Little is known of these early people, that is until the empire was founded by Akasha the Unifier and the first generation of Blessed. Histories credit Akasha as being the first to use Brahman in its all-encompassing form, to tame the Maya. This resulted in a form of energy that living beings could easily master without being corrupted themselves. Akasha then devoted his life to research and teaching. He created the first Akashic Beacons to continuously convert Maya into Akashic energy thus giving everyone access to the Akashic network and Choices. To put it simply, at first there was the complex but stable Brahman that naturally resists change but sometimes reacts strongly towards a concept, matter, or elemental force and becomes easier to work with. The downside is that in that state it will corrupt the user over time due to its instability and chaotic nature. That state is called Maya, and it is how monsters are created from beasts, men, and other things. Akasha discovered a method using understanding derived from the Brahman to tame the Maya, removing its chaotic tendencies and making it compatible with the Brahman again. That is what we call Akashic energy and it is what fuels Abilities given out by Choices. You should know that purposefully allowing Maya to corrupt you is forbidden in the Akashic Empire. There are some methods that allow beings to use Brahman, but although not forbidden, they require very rigorous long-term training and often require expensive resources so unless you somehow end up with a Choice that specifically helps with the process, you might not want to bother with it."

A lot of the children were wearing utterly confused expressions on their faces, but a few, Doro and Sarima included, appeared to still be following, if somewhat struggling.

I wish I had something to take notes on, this is quite a lot of info and it doesn't seem like he's finished yet...

As Doro had predicted, scholar Atwut took a swig from a gourd he brought out from somewhere inside his loose robe before continuing with the lecture.

"Let us move back to the map for a little bit, as it seems the topic of energy is losing some of you. To the south of the plateau is a large desert split into two halves by a large river. That is the Duchy of Manzat, the capital of which is the city we are in right now, Niwut."

Scholar Atwut then pointed to the west of the plateau and continued.

"This here is the Duchy of Ashrama. Its center consists of fertile rolling hills and its south-western portion houses a thick jungle that gives way to a dense forest in the north, on the other side of which lies a large salt marsh. Next, north of the plateau is the Duchy of Baisheng. The southern half consists of wide fertile plains with many small rivers coming from the Crown mountains and from its northern half. The Northern half is a dense temperate forest with hundreds of small mountains creating even more numerous valleys some of which house rivers that flow into the plains."

Scholar Atwut then coughed loudly once, startling one of the farmer children who appeared to have been falling asleep.

"You look like you came from the agricultural district, so I won't take it personally, seeing you walked multiple miles in the early morning to get here, but please focus just a bit longer. The next duchy is the last and I will not cover the three vassal states too thoroughly."

Scholar Atwut then gave a little chuckle before continuing with the lecture.

"Now to the East is the Duchy of Olmani, this one is a bit more complicated. it would normally cover Both the arid plains in the north and the huge rainforest in the south but due to reasons I will not expand on, only the plains are officially part of the duchy. The rainforest has a complicated history but basically, it is treated as an extra vassal state since they have their own particular laws and were granted the right of home rule like the other three vassal states. "

Scholar Awtut took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Finally we have the vassal states. Umayer, a tribal confederation south of Manzat on the other side of the Sutai mountain range. The Breakaway Islands, an archipelago directly off the coast of Olmani, governed by a merchant republic. Finally, on the western side of the Ashraman salt marsh, only connected to the continent during low tide, are the Thermaen Highlands. They are ruled by an assembly of noble families. In practice, they are basically a collection of independent Baronies that make collective decisions instead of having a centralized ruler. The Vassal states have their own power structures but the empire has control over some of their policies and some of their laws. That concludes the topic of geography."

Finally! I got the picture but I'll probably forget the names of half the places he mentioned by tomorrow.

"Now back to the topic of energy and history for a bit and we will be done with it, try to pay attention just a bit longer."

Gahhhh....come on Doro you can do it! You've been through worse lectures before!

Doro decided that his brain needed some more fuel and tried to discretely nibble on one of the four buns he had left.

Yes! it's not trapped, spiced carrot paste again.

Whilst Doro rejoiced over his good luck he paid less attention to concealing his actions. When he looked up, he saw that scholar Atwut had paused and was looking straight at him.

"I never specified that you could not eat during the lecture, but you could at the very least offer to share some with this caring scholar who is currently working on your behalf. No?"

Scholar Atwut approached Doro and spotted the bag whence the bun had been produced.

"Scholar Atwut, my apologies but my mother made these and-"

Doro tried to warn the scholar but was interrupted by the very man he wished to save.

"Your mother eh? I can't remember the last time I had something cooked by mine. Oh wait, that's right, I'm the fifth child of a noble, my mother probably never bothered cooking anything for me. Would such a friendly-looking and finely dressed young lad, with such a caring mother, deny this old scholar something he hasn't had the chance to experience before?"

Well, he did say he was seeking "something he hadn't experienced before", which technically covers either outcome.

Doro nodded and offered the bag to the scholar.

Still, only 3 buns left and the two trapped ones remain...maybe he'll get lucky.

Scholar Atwut put his hand into the bag and randomly picked one bun. He thanked Doro and returned to the center of the dais.

"Alright moving on. Here is a simplified version. The world we live in is not the first to exist. Eons ago, nobody knows exactly how far back, the whole of reality was one complete world. That world gave birth to two sources of Maya that grew so powerful that they corrupted nearly half of the Brahman in existence each. However, the two represented opposing concepts and a balance could not be achieved. The clash between the two forces tore reality apart into pieces and exposed it to the void outside. At that point, the five most powerful entities from that world put their differences aside and knit reality back together by expending all their power, however not into one single piece. Don't worry if you don't understand everything, even we scholars are still trying to understand it."

"The Five ancients isolated the two beings in their own worlds, separating them and ending the clash of energies. They then stitched together most of what they could salvage around the source of Brahman in hopes of recreating the world in its uncorrupted state. They finally took the remaining smaller pieces and created much smaller linked universes so that they could remove themselves from the world and not become sources of corruption that would clash against one another. We live in the world that was created around the source of Brahman, and so we call it "The Growing World". I'm sure you all already know about this, but if you reach level 100, you will ascend to the celestial realms. What you might not know is that the celestial realms are the collection of small universes where the five ancients still live. The reason behind ascension is so that beings in this world can never reach the heights that would cause them to start corrupting the world to the same extent, in order to avoid this world ending like the previous one. I know that is a lot, but we are nearly done with this topic."

Scholar Atwut cleared his throat and put on a serious expression before continuing.

"The other two worlds are cut off from the source and we call them the "Waning Worlds" as they will eventually die out when they run out of energy. There are some speculations but not much is known about them. Now down to the last topic, Imperial history. I know that the next part is a chore but we will go down the list of emperors and what they are remembered for."

Scholar Atwut pulled the map down and rolled it up, replacing it with a long list of names each accompanied by a set of dates and a small representational drawing. He then took out the bun and bit into it as he began speaking on the last topic.

"So first came Akasha the Unifier. He was known for being.....HOT!"

Scholar Atwut reached for his gourd and took a huge gulp of water, draining it in the process. He tried speaking again, his voice coming out scratchy and husky as he pointed at Doro with a betrayed expression.

"Child........why!?"

Those two words were the only two he managed to let out before running out of the room as fast as his robe would permit, while screaming for someone to fetch him some water. All the other children turned to stare at Doro in shocked silence.

"Well... My mother got some spices from Ashrama and.....I tried to warn him. I guess we won't have to do the history of the emperors now though."

The children's attitude shifted as they realized Doro had just saved them from the part of the lecture even the scholar had admitted to being a chore. Each child, from the agricultural kids to the ones from the central district, proceeded to give him a slap on the back or a thumbs up depending on how far away they were seated. The group was left to their own devices for approximately thirty minutes until scholar Atwut finally returned, still wheezing slightly.

"It would seem that due to some unforeseen circumstances.."

The scholar paused and gave Doro a pointed look before continuing.

" ...we have run out of time to finish the lecture, or to go over questions. Sixth bell is about to ring and we need to head to the Akashic Beacon if we are to remain on schedule, follow me."

That is how Doro spent the final hours of his helpless years. Soon he would be able to wield Akashic energy and the thought of it was making him jubilant. He followed the group into a room at the heart of the building, in which stood a pillar with a large crystal, emitting a beam of energy straight out of a skylight in the ceiling.

Scholar Atwut sat down behind a desk off to the side.

"Form a line then touch the pillar, one after the other, with the palm of your dominant hand. Your options will be displayed by illusions that represent what you might become if you choose them. If you inspect an option, you will instinctively know its name and general purpose. Don't rush your decision. Even if it feels like you are in there for hours, only about a second will actually go by. Once you have chosen, line up in front of me so that I can register you."

The children had needed to get in line to walk through the corridor leading here and after hearing that others would take at most one second to choose, none had tried to push their way ahead as they approached in the same order they had entered.

Ok, it's nearly my turn! From this moment, my new life begins. Doro? Ben? It doesn't matter, I am me, and now I will get to see what "me" I can become!

Doro's turn had come up and he put his hand onto the crystal with determination beaming in his eyes. The world turned black for a second and then Doro stood in a white void. In front of him was a large and muscular man, dressed in fine clothing resembling a toga.

Wait, am I only getting one Choice option? Also, this doesn't look like me, what kind of choice would make me turn into that? The beard is 10/10 though.

Doro was getting confused, this wasn't what he had been told to expect. Before he could try to come up with an explanation, the man in front of him spoke up. As it turns out, he was no mere representation of an option but an actual person.

"Hello, nice to formally meet you Ben. My name is Gallius and I am one of the Ascendants of the Growing World. There are a few things that I need to tell you, the first of which is that this is a memory I attached to your soul when you reincarnated and thus I cannot react to anything you say or repeat myself if you stop paying attention."

But...but...my Choice...dammit!