The city of Bern was not overly large, but what it lacked in size it made up with sheer density. The city was mostly made up of lithe and agile Lunarians. The human race was created by the Mad God Lunaris before he Succumbed to his insanity. They were pale and had almost exclusively gray to silver eyes. The most common hair color was by far silver, but platinum blond and, more rarely, black also appeared.
Rowan thought they looked like someone had taken a Scandinavian, reduced their height to around 5 '10, and then told an artist to make them look like they were from the moon. With their God having a Lunar nature, he supposed it was thematic at least.
There were apparently an uncountable number of races on the face of Hyal’bern, – the name of this strange planet – but there were only three in the Cradle, which was the name given to the habitable land that everyone in this area lived on. A large mountain range encircled the area, keeping the mana density low, and making leveling harder. It was safer for it, however, so most were fine with the downsides.
Bern was a bit of an outlier, having a pretty decent mix of all three races. Most other cities in the Cradle were pretty racially distinct. The Elves were isolationists that preferred to keep out of the conflicts of others, and the Lunarians and Axelites had been in conflict for most of the two race’s history. A short stint of peace had led to increased immigration between their nations, but it didn’t last. The war had just sparked again a few years ago, seemingly over a trivial matter, but most seemed to accept that it was really just both nation’s emperors having a dick-measuring contest.
Apparently, the Lunarian nation, Hyal’heim, was known for its excellent and advanced magical technology, or magitech for short. The Academy and various other wizardly establishments were not just for show it would seem, as they were unmatched in magical pursuits in the whole of the Cradle.
They were simultaneously the weakest and strongest force in the Cradle, with each individual in their standing military being on average worse, but their elites being just that, elite. Unmatched. Coming from Rowan, the man who took down a fortress by himself, this may sound strange, but he thought it was irresponsible to put that much pressure on just your best forces. Apparently, he was wrong, though, because Hyal’heim was known to be on equal ground with their nemesis, the Axelite nation, Hysperion, and they had an excellent standing military.
Speaking of, If the Lunarians were Scandinavians from the moon, then the Axelites were Koreans with cloud DNA. Their skin had a slightly blue tint, and upon hearing that, Rowan thought it would make them look like they were suffocating, but they actually looked more vibrant for it. Their hair and eyes were usually a shade of blue or white, but they could be red as well. Their God, Axel, was the God of the Sky and Freedom, and they clearly took his domains and ran with them. They were natural explorers and found peace in expression and art, though they were apparently masters in warfare and their talent with crafting was second to none in the Cradle. That talent with crafting led to their infantry being the best equipped on the continent, making them truly a force to reckoned with.
Bern was made all the more vibrant for its diversity, and as it was pretty far into Hyal’heim, most ignored the war entirely. It was a hodgepodge of cultures and architecture, with the only consistency being how close everything was packed together. There were the arches and domes of the elves, colored green and red in honor of their Goddess, Elenia, right next to the brutalist buildings of the Lunarians. The Axelites were a recent addition, so they didn’t have many buildings of their own, but etchings and artistry, along with their iconic blue and sunset shades of coloring, could be found in and on many structures that they made their own.
It was like walking through a colorful whirlwind, and Rowan was enjoying it quite a bit. No one bothered with slowly walking through the streets, either running or power walking, and while at first, he thought this would lead to more accidents, the increased stats of the average citizen made that a non-issue. Even the ones without physical stats didn’t really bother with taking it slow, as they knew everyone around them could maneuver around them easily. Some accidents still happened, but no one seemed to care. They would just help each other up, and carry on with their day.
The advanced magical technology was on clear display as he looked around. Floating street lamps that looked as if they held small stars floated ten feet above street level, lighting up the city as if it was daylight even in the darkness of midnight. Not only that, but street vendors and markets were visible selling enchantments for anything. From hot water to fireballs to air conditioning, they were clearly comfortable flaunting their magical prowess.
It was wonderful taking it all in. The presence of the System had changed so much. Just one such symptom was that businesses did not really close anymore, as that would be a terrible disadvantage to all the high-level people who simply didn’t need to sleep more than two hours a night. No merchant would let a customer base that large just go, so there was a large subsection of people employed for the various night shifts of different companies. Generally, prices were also higher at night, as the people awake were much richer on average. It was marketed as a convenience fee, but really, it was a ‘high level’ tax.
Overall, looking at the city through his own eyes – as opposed to the soul window in the void area he inhabited when he was not driving – was very different. He was glad Vorn agreed to let him do this. It was true that they were a partnership now, but Vorn absolutely did not have to. Rowan was glad that his… Roommate? Mindmate? Soulmate? No, he probably wouldn’t like that last one. Anyway, he was glad that his… friend? Was open to being partners.
Rowan really needed something to call him besides ‘Vorn’ all the time. Soulmate felt like it was the most thematic, but the romantic connotations would be hard to avoid. As Rowan had never been in a romantic relationship in his life he wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but he was nearly certain that he didn’t have the capacity to feel romantic or sexual attraction. It had always been a non-factor for him. Hmm… Rowan really hoped that Vorn was similar, or they were going to need to have a few awkward talks. Might as well ask.
“Hey, Vorn?”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever been, or wanted to be in, a relationship?”
“Woah, where is this coming from? Things got very personal all of a sudden!”
“I was thinking, it would be awkward for me if you were in a relationship. We would need some ground rules.”
“Yeah, well what about you? Are you saying you’ll never try to get in a relationship?”
“Yes. I don’t have those emotions.”
“Thank. The. Gods! What are the chances that we would both be children of Idalin! I was worried that things might get awkward too! I just wasn’t blunt enough to bring it up out of nowhere.”
“Children of Idalin?”
“Ah, that's the Goddess of platonic love and companionship, and a few less wholesome things we won’t talk about. We call people who can't feel romantic attraction her children.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“This is indeed very fortunate. That means I can use the term ‘soulmate’ without any strange connotations. I refrained from using it as I thought it would make you uncomfortable.”
“Oh, me too! I had the same thoughts! Man, we really… are… soulmates. Wait for a godsdamned moment! Didn’t the System say something about our souls partially merging? Is that why we are suddenly agreeing on things?”
“I doubt it. From what I could gather from the error messages, our souls had already begun merging the moment I entered your spirit.”
“That’s probably why we’re a unique being! Souls merge when they are put in the same… soul space? We really need a solid name for that place.”
“How about just calling it our spirit when we are referring to our collective space, and calling our individual souls just that, souls.”
“That’ll work for now, but I’ll think of something better later. Anyway, when two souls are put in the same spirit, they must fully merge! Since we’re from different universes, that must mean ours were fundamentally incompatible in some way! The implications of that for our understanding of the soul are… incredible. Does that mean souls from different universes independently evolved? Or is it because you were from a dead zone? Do souls become incompatible due to external stimuli, such as a lack of mana, or is there something else we’re missing? I need to-”
“We’re here. On an unrelated note, I can see why you want to go to that wizard school now.”
“It’s called the Academy of Magical Arts & Other Immaterial Phenomena.”
“I can see why people leave the second part out.” Rowan said as he entered the Guild Hall.
The building was larger than most others surrounding it, easily three stories tall. The inside of the building itself wasn’t overly large, the entrance led into a room about the size of a typical bar. That was probably because it was a bar, though. Funny how that worked.
It wasn’t exactly packed down here, but it wasn’t dead either. There were fourteen people in an area that could comfortably hold forty.
He could see all the most iconic aspects that he had heard about from his Soulmate, too.
Hmm, that still felt weird.
‘Nothing for it, it will become less strange the more it is used.’ Rowan thought.
In the corner, there was the bounty board. It was full of both humans and beasts that were terrorizing people. That was one of the aspects that he didn’t like about this world. It had proved him wrong. When he was younger, Rowan had often fantasized about humanity having an enemy other than itself. Of course, he didn’t imagine a world without conflict at all, that would be boring, but he thought that if there were enemies other than humans, they would all band together and fight as a whole.
It was a strange dream for a child to have, but Rowan wasn’t a typical child.
A service worker quickly saw him standing there analyzing his surroundings and must have thought he was lost, as she led him up the stairs to the guild proper. As he exited the stairs and entered the main hall, he was met with a cacophony of noise and chatter. It would seem that they had some magic that kept the noise from leaking from the hall. Useful.
“I wonder if you can put that on armor…”
“What was that?”
“Oh, I was just thinking about the magic that made this room silent.”
“Oh you mean a silence enchantment? Yeah, you totally could. Putting it on an item that small would be difficult, however. It takes a journeyman enchanter to enchant clothing, and an expert to enchant armor.”
“I thought you measured competency in levels?”
“We do, a journeyman is level 50, and an expert is level 75.”
“Why the distinction?”
“Why not? I don’t know. I never looked into the etymology”
“Hello, sir. Are you looking to sign up to the Delver’s Guild?”
“Ah, yes I am.” He said in his usual monotone.
She clearly analyzed him, as her expression filled with doubt.
“Um, you're supposed to be level five before you join, but I’ve never heard of a Twin Soul before. I’m going to call the Guildmaster. Take a seat, it might be a bit before he calls you.” She finished politely.
Rowan could vaguely make out a growling in the back of his mind.
“That piece of shit!”
“Is there a reason you have it out for that random receptionist?”
“I don’t care about the receptionist! The fucking Guildmaster is the one who I despise. That motherfucker got my parents killed.”
“Ah.” Rowan grunted in understanding.
“Ah, indeed. I need to ask you a favor.”
“Anything within reason.”
“If you get strong enough – No. When you get strong enough – I need you to challenge him to a duel.”
“That seems reasonable enough. Are you sure you don’t want to do it?”
“Nah, I’ve always been a practical kinda guy, you're the better combatant. Besides, I’ll be right next to you.”
“Voran, the Guildmaster will see you now!” The receptionist called into the Hall.
Everyone in the room turned to look at him for a moment, but he was used to that kind of attention. It slid off of him like plasma munitions off a destroyer’s shield. Or at least, he thought that was how the saying went. It had been a while since he heard the civvie version.
He followed her to the third floor, which seemed to be where most of the administration took place, and followed her to the Guildmaster’s office.
“Ah, the Unique… be…ing. Vorn?”
“That is one of my names, yes.”
“What happened to you? How did this- What happened to your eyes?”
Rowan quickly looked into a window and caught his reflection. Hmm… relatively standard features for a Lunarian. Angular face, lithe build, and silver hair down to his shoulder blades. He had a shorter stature than normal at about… 5 ‘5? And, yep, orange eyes. Neon orange at that, it stuck out on his face quite a lot. They did not match the rest of his appearance in the least.
“I wasn’t aware of that cosmetic change, thank you for informing me, but as to your other question, I am not entirely sure how. All I know is that we are two and that Vorn doesn’t want to talk to you.” Rowan left out some key details that didn't feel necessary.
“And who are you then?”
“My name is Rowan. I would like to sign up to the Delver’s Guild.”
“So I heard. Is Vorn fine with that, I need to hear him say it. I can’t let you sign this without his consent.”
“He is fine with it.” Rowan said simply.
“I’m gonna need more than that, son.”
“He informed me that he didn’t wish to speak to you-” His speech stopped suddenly and he slumped slightly.
When he raised his head once more, his eyes were back to their standard silver, “I consent! Is that good enough for you?” He practically spat.
Sighing, the Guildmaster responded, “Yes, son. That’s fine.”
Voran slumped once more, before returning with orange eyes.
“That really is so strange. Well, I need to know your Class details before I can give you the go ahead, but as long as you have the stats of a level five or higher, I can’t deny you.”
“How many Attribute Points does the average level five have?” Rowan asked.
“Thirty.” The Guildmaster said. He looked at Rowan expectantly.
“Ah, then we should be fine. I have sixty.”
If the Guildmaster had been drinking, he would have done a spit take.
“WHAT!” He shouted, absolutely dumbfounded.
“Is that rare?”
“Is that rare? Is that rare!? Yes, that's rare! Okay, I’m going to need you to, well, not trust me – that would be asking too much – but at least take my advice seriously. Never tell another soul what you just told me. If the emperors heard about such a thing…” He trailed off.
“I’m going to let you into the guild, I have to, and I’m going to put your Class down as an Epic rarity Warrior Path. Okay? I really need you to be on board with this.” The Guildmaster pleaded.
“I need to talk with Vorn for a second.”
“Should I believe him?”
“Yes. He’s a dirty, incompetent, bastard, but he would never do something to put me in direct danger.”
“I agree.” Rowan nodded.
“Very well then. I will expedite the process myself. Expect your initiate card within the next half hour, I’ll send someone to deliver it to you downstairs. Here, you’ll need this, too.” He tossed them a necklace.
“That’ll disguise your status from those with higher leveled analysis skills. They’ll still know you’re a unique being, but they won’t be able to see your stats.”
Rowan caught it effortlessly, and the Guildmaster continued, “There is just one thing you can’t skip. You need to head to a Trial Dungeon before you can be fully registered. After that, you’ll have full access to all the services of the Delver’s Guild. And Vorn… I’m sorry, truly. I- I know that an apology will never be enough, but I really am so sorry.”
Before Rowan could even think about responding to that, Vorn took control and walked away.
That rat bastard! He thinks I’ll forgive him that easily? An apology can never even come close to a modicum of a fraction of what would be necessary for me to forgive him!
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” Vorn said tersely.