Chapter 81: Like a Child

  CROWN(Wryna)

  I stood very still and stared at the elder. I didn’t have to fake surprise and shock – I was actually feeling both of those things. The question had been so sudden.

  What are you?

  I didn’t know.

  | DUCK: Okay, boss, don’t panic. She used a skill on you called Memory Weft. ?

  | DUCK: It doesn’t rely on anything in the System, and doesn’t try to read your mind or intentions, so all those protections we put in place just let it right through.

  Now I finally took a breath and flicked an ear, canting my head to the side as I looked at the elder. “I am sorry… what do you mean?”

  While I said this, I was deep in the chat system. Dimly I realized I was much better at multitasking now when I really tried it. Maybe I could voluntarily split off another Terminal next time, instead of the accident Duck had been.

  | WRYNA: So what is it doing? What’s the problem? ?

  | DUCK: It lets an Aravel judge how many memories are in another elf. It can’t read them, it just looks at the presence or absence. ?

  | WRYNA: But I’m a Calen, why would she do that? ?

  | DUCK: For anyone not an Aravel, it’s a decent way of telling their rough age. For you it’s probably returning something weird.

  Great. Weird. All this took place in the time it took for me to speak to the elder, so I hadn’t gotten a reply back yet. I wondered if I could slow down time while in a Proxy. I quickly pulled up the interface, and found I could do so, to a limited degree. Fortunately, I was interrupted before I activated that option.

  | KELAS: It shows numbers jumping between two and seven lifetimes, and the age keeps changing between a few hours and a number so big it makes no sense. ?

  | DUCK: Thanks, Kelas. We can’t just spoof something now, it’s obviously an error. ?

  | WRYNA: I’m not sure people realize the System can have errors, it’s so rare. ?

  | SOLEN: No, but they do sometimes see it before a dragon names something. Maybe you can use that? ?

  | KASSARA: How old are you? ?

  | WRYNA: I’m not sure. It’s complicated. @DUCK, can you spoof the answers as ‘Unknown’ for now? I have an idea. ?

  | DUCK: On it. ?

  | WRYNA: Also let any lie detection skills work properly until I say otherwise.

  “Your lifetimes… are you an elf at all?” The elder finally managed to speak again, unaware of the frantic chatter in my interface. I dismissed the time dilation setting… here in my Proxy body, I could slow down time, but it cost me energy. It didn’t take much, but I was stingy with that. Usually. Sometimes.

  Now I had an answer ready. I dipped my tail and both ears in apology. “You can tell? I know I am Calen, but…” I hesitated, but this was deliberate. I wasn’t lying here, but it wasn’t the whole truth. That was fine. “I know Sylen can get glimpses of past lives, sometimes. I think that it’s possible for a Calen to sometimes remember one. But I’m the only one I’ve met who has remembered anything.”

  All this was true. Two of my previous companions had chosen the option to have their memories sealed in their souls, so it was absolutely possible. They also had not awakened yet, so I hadn’t met any of them. I doubted the elder was using a lie-detection the entire time, but if she were… it would detect I was telling the truth but not the entire truth.

  Which would match well for someone confronted with what was clearly a long-term secret they’d never revealed before.

  Only the guide – who was looking at me in confusion – and the elder were close enough to hear this right now. The elder looked me up and down, but the explanation caused her to relax. Or at least, relax a little. This whole mess had definitely drawn more attention than I would have liked.

  “And you sought an Aravel settlement because your own kind could not understand you?” This made the elder’s ears lift in an elven smile, though I could tell she wasn’t entirely trusting yet.

  | WRYNA: Okay, Duck, turn it all back on. ?

  | DUCK: Sure thing. I’m working on a better solution for that for next time. Sorry, I should have seen that coming. ?

  | WRYNA: Hey I designed this System and I didn’t think of it. Nothing to be ashamed of. We’ll have to be more careful. ?

  | WRYNA: This is much easier with you running Ops. ?

  | DUCK: Maybe I can visit sometime. I’m not sure if Terminals can do that, we’ll have to find out. ?

  | EYSSA: You designed the System, sister?

  I’d forgotten that the gods wouldn’t remember my explanation when they made the choice. Not that it was something I cared to keep from the gods, but I shouldn’t have been so glib about it.

  | WRYNA: It’s a long story, but yes. Don’t tell the mortals. ?

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  | KASSARA: I thought the dragons made the system. ?

  | WRYNA: Dragons name things and give out quests, like you do. The System came after them, but before the elves. That’s why the dragons aren’t a full part of the System. ?

  | KASSARA: But that would mean you are from before the elves… ?

  | WRYNA: Like I said, it’s a long story. I don’t know everything, though. I have no idea what the term ‘Weft’ is supposed to mean and what it has to do with memory. ?

  | DUCK: Yeah that confused me, too. Usually these names have a point, even if the dragons can be weird about it sometimes. ?

  | SOLEN: Weft is the part of a thread you move during weaving. I think it’s named because it detects the motion of one’s past life. ?

  | KELAS: The dragons sometimes make strange decisions. ?

  | WRYNA: Working as designed.

  “A little bit,” I finally answered the question, though it had been only a moment for the elder. “I really am wandering, and I really am a [Horizon Bearer], as I’m sure you’ve already figured out.”

  At least I had figured out how to spoof the information I wanted. That really was one of the classes I’d taken, but if anyone tried to dig deeper I made sure to hide my actual levels and stats.

  Look, I was basically god here, why would I drop down in a body that was a low level noob?

  | EYSSA: That’s strange. I just gave her a Quest to help you out, but it took effort. ?

  | WRYNA: Yeah, don’t do that. It should work fine, and I appreciate it, but Quests normally give both parties energy. They don’t work right when I’m involved because the energy is already coming from me. It’s why Tastka couldn’t accept one. ?

  | WRYNA: I guess you were busy when I warned Solen about that. ?

  | DUCK: When Wryna’s visiting like this, she has to be careful not to interfere much. ?

  | WRYNA: There’s a reason I tend to leave running the place to you and the other gods. ?

  | WRYNA: @DUCK why don’t you explain a few things to the gods here while I handle my actual task here? ?

  | DUCK: What would you do without me, boss? ?

  | WRYNA: Probably make a less sassy Terminal.

  I minimized the chat so I didn’t have to pay attention to it for a while. I needed to focus on what was going on here. I could already see the elder had paused, likely considering the Quest that Eyssa had given her. It would probably cost me a tiny fraction of a Reality Point, but it sure would make this easier. I couldn’t complain.

  “Hmm… very well.” The elder roused from her thoughtful pose. “Reyth, please see that our guest is properly bathed and fed. I will consult with the others and we will meet with her later to consider her condition.”

  My guide – apparently named Reyth – turned and gestured for me to follow. She returned my spear once we were out of the odd hallway. The entire thing had seemed more like a rushed meeting with a manager than some kind of religious audience.

  “The baths are this way.” She was helpful, but kept giving me strange looks. I tolerated it for a while so I could focus on the buildings and various enchantments around me. I activated Pattern Sense so that I could see how the various enchantments had progressed.

  It was strange. I’d invented the magic system, but the people who lived here had done so much more with it. Though not so strange as the occasional thought that I was technically just walking around in my own soul. And these elves were a part of that, so my soul was generating souls and-

  Yeah, I had a physical body right now, I could get a headache.

  I changed my train of thought and finally addressed the obviously curious Reyth. “Did you have something to ask me?”

  She visibly jerked as if stung, and her tail took on an apologetic, chastened curl. She looked back at me again with a guilty twitch on her muzzle. “I… was only wondering what it was like to be a Calen with memories. You must feel very old compared to your friends.”

  You have no idea, I thought.

  “You would be surprised,” I answered aloud, my ears lifting to show I took no offense at the question. “It isn’t like what you and the Aravel have. I have heard your memories are most fresh with your parents, then their parents, and so on. Older memories get harder to see and understand.”

  She flit an ear in agreement. “Yes, is that not how it is with you?”

  I chuckled. “Not at all. My memories are very clear, but I only have them from very long ago. None of this existed in their time.” I tapped the tip of my spear. “This was chipped and barely shaped, and we had no metal. We bathed in the river, and had never heard of dragons when we were children. I did meet several when I was older, though. My memories did, I mean.”

  She listened as she lead me into a long, low building with steam rising from one end. My Pattern Sense had already told me this was the bath house, with various types of mana coursing through it to form a flow of heated water. For this time period, it was luxurious… or would have been, on Earth. The major cities toward the bigger population centers probably had even fancier ones.

  Now she had an even more curious look, staring at me as I stripped down. “Even in my memories, I only met a dragon once. How many did your old self meet?”

  That was interesting. Even the younger dragons continued to keep to themselves, from the sound of it. Yet everyone seemed to treat the Great Game as common knowledge, now. Perhaps the remote location was a part of the lack of contact.

  But no, that didn’t make sense. The Elder Dragons were giving out Quests, too. It must be Reyth’s poor luck.

  “Five, one of them an Elder Dragon.” I took a quick look at her to see if she was surprised. If it was truly rare, she would have been shocked.

  Her tail lifted in interest, but Reyth didn’t look surprised. Impressed, yes, but not surprised. “We have none nearby, and I have lived here for many lives. I would like to see one…”

  “If you stay here every life, you never will,” I pointed out. “You Aravel are amazing, but you really tend to get stuck in one place.” I flicked my tail at her and stepped toward the baths. “Think about it.”

  I was just sinking into the water amidst several other curious sisters when my relaxing mini-vacation was interrupted.

  | DUCK: Hey boss, you might want to wrap up stuff down there by tomorrow. ?

  | WRYNA: Why, what’s up?

  My ears twitched in irritation, earning me an odd look from the curious Aravel who were not yet brave enough to ask about the ‘barbarian’ in their midst. What was it now?

  Then I froze and felt my stomach sink.

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