He tapped the Dragon-Squirrel. “Get up, I need to do this level-up thing.”
Questzy perked up and swayed like a cobra. “GreatGreat! CanRideOnShoulders? PleasePlease?”
It took Aaron a heartbeat to process the triple-speed speech. He sat up, which didn’t alter the creature’s position on him in any way. Weird. “Sure.”
“Nice! SitOnShoulder!” It scurried up his body and lay down on both shoulders, its head sticking out beside Aaron’s like the figurehead of a galley. A very inquisitive figurehead. Dragon-Squirrels? Worse than cats. Figures space would make something worse than cats. Aaron grinned at Questzy. It tilted its head.
“HearHowPlaceWorks? OrLearnBySelf?” it babbled, words firing out like a machine gun. The Watcher did mention that this thing is more than an emotional support pet. It wanted to give me more than I was allowed to get. Interesting.
“Tell me how this works.”
“FiveAttributesFivePillars. Yes?” Aaron nodded.
“FocusOnPillar. YouSeeLights. DarkLightNegative. WhitePositive. CirclesPotential.” Aaron furrowed his brows. What the hell does that mean? He focused on the closest obelisk. It held an image of him going through a rapid martial arts routine while holding weights. On the side of the pillar, three white circles burned brightly.
Aaron nodded. Checking the other onelisks, he found:
A version of himself wearing glasses in a library. Three bright points, one circle. Obviously the cognitive attribute. Kinda cliche.
A version of him running through a parkour. There were enemies and sprints that the image overcame with blurring limbs. That's almost superhuman. Speed? No, it was called Movement.
A version of him running cross-country with a backpack, doing math problems out loud. Two bright points. One blinking white circle. What is that about? Maybe it’ll become clear later. Curious that Resistance includes math problems. Maybe perform under stress?
A version of him sneaking around, looking alert. It stopped and meditated as it noticed his attention. One bright point. Two bright circles. Ok, so if I wanna become a ninja, I have to level Perception. Understood.
A version of himself smiling winningly, talking to a large crowd. He frowned. Social bullshit. The path of the demagogue. I look better than I ever have. Two bright circles. One small point blinking above. This could be related to the blinking circle.
Aaron spoke up. “Unless I’m wrong, each represents my attributes. What do the blinking circles and the small points mean?”
“ForcedTransference. IfHighestDoubleOfLowest.”
Aaron tapped a finger on his lips. No free distribution? No min-maxing? The thought unsettled him. So I have to earn every attribute. Bit by bit. System doesn’t reward planners. It rewards action.
“So I don’t get free points to distribute, I earn them somehow? Or they’re just given to me?”
“FormerTrue.”
A weird system. No one ever said reality had to follow video game logic. He glanced at the obelisks. Bet Theon knows all the tricks. Another thing for the list. No way he’s sleeping before I pick his brain.
“How do I get attributes? How did I get these?” Aaron looked at all the versions of himself.
“DeedsItemsBlessings,” Questzy rattled out, as if that explained everything.
“How can someone who reads my mind be so bad at explaining stuff?” Aaron frowned.
“PretendingNotToReadMind. NotGoodPractice. IfNotEmotionalWork.” Great, it has professional boundaries. Any boundaries at all are kinda surprising. A paw smacked into Aaron’s head.
“NoBeMean!”
Aaron sighed. Questzy’s smug smile told him that pushing further would only result in more smacks. He rolled his eyes nonetheless. Great. Now even my emotional support squirrel is abusing me. Questzy raised a paw in warning. Calm your bushy tail, Jesus. It chittered smugly.
“So, with all of this, what do I actually have to do here?” Aaron asked hesitantly. “Everything seems settled.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“WalkTouchPillarsAndAcknowledge. ThenLeave.”
Aaron nodded and walked toward the one with the nerd in the library. He felt an involuntary smile. Four points in cognition. Seems like I’m already built like a true wizard. Only the spells are missing.
Ice spread through his veins as he remembered the vision of himself slaughtering a village with fireballs. Questzy cuddled against his neck and let out a soft miau. Aaron closed his eyes. The memory pulsed—flames, screams, his own hand raised like a god of war. He forced himself to breathe. Yes, with great intelligence comes great responsibility. Or great disasters. Let’s see which one I end up with.
He touched the mirrored surface. His mirrored image nodded, and the mirror faded to black. The four points grew to fill the entire side, incandescent flames on obsidian. Aaron walked the circle, each mirrored self nodding before dissolving into black. The points on the pillars burned white-hot.
Aaron paused at the social pillar. What now? Do I—
“YesCompletTheCircle.” Professional standards my… The raised paw kept him from finishing the thought. Aaron shook his head as the grey faded the moment his fingertip met the cognitive obelisk.
Heat rushed in. Smell. Copper. Pain. Wet. He blinked into blinding color—and found himself lying in a pool of blood.
The sharp disk in his fingers was the first thing he noticed. Opening his eyes, he saw the red glow. He groaned in pleasure. This feels better than after sex.
Whispers echoed nearby. His vision focused—he was still in the amphitheatre. He heard distant whispers. Saw the structure of his bloody skin and clothes. I’ve never seen detail like this before… Guess the warranty replacement for gouged-out eyes comes with an update. Nice.
The blood didn’t just smell metallic, but richer. An odd organic note, like fresh soil after the rain, was mixed into it. He noticed the Knowing sage looming over him, his face intent on something. He has a goal. Where did that thought come from?
The sage held two crystals in his hands. One was a clear marble with a black core. The other looked like a many-sided die, its faces filled with uneven hexagons. It held a white core.
“May I?” he asked, nodding at the medallion. Aaron shrugged and grinned.
“Sure.” He held up his hand weakly. A thought crossed his mind, making him narrow his eyes. Is he… With a flash of movement, the man touched first the round, then the uneven hexagon crystal to the yellow core of Aaron’s amulet. Pressure tactics. Cheap. Aaron swallowed his irritation. Sunk cost fallacy. Not antagonistic. No tells. Maybe a cordial relationship can be built.
Aaron swallowed hard. Where was this coming from? It hit him as light flickered off the round marble. My new skill guide.
Then text appeared in the air.
Rank 1, Level 0
Cog: 4 (1) Mov: 3 Res: 2 Per: 3 (2) Soc: 3 (3)
Total: 7.5sd (99.999th/Lev)
Gains: +3 deeds, +3 items, +5 special
The man’s eyes bulged for a fraction of a second. Murmurs rose around him. Aaron ignored the ground and focused on his openly displayed attributes. These are great numbers. And they just went up. But what do they mean? I need a scale. Aaron chuckled. Seems like statistics class actually paid off.
The Knowing Sage spoke up. “Values worthy of a champion, indeed. Your blessing is worthy of the Worm Archives.” He nodded sagely. Aaron smiled at the praise. He couldn’t help himself. But the warmth in my chest is artificial—like a spotlight turned on me. Too smooth. Too timely. His jaw tightened. How is he manipulating me? Right. I got a counter-social-engineering skill guide.
“I thank you for your praise. What did the other crystal tell you?” he asked in a friendly tone. Part of him was fuming. But something held it back tight. How do I use a social skill guide? Language just works for the most part. The fighting ones feel warm or cold. I haven’t worked with the arcane meditation one. This one… How is he manipulating me?
A flash of insight came. The situation. His prior friendliness. The setup in his appearance. An amazing con. Aaron kept his face friendly with some effort. He has read that. Fuck.
“It will require some analysis. I will share the results at a later date,” the sage nodded. True. But he wants to talk to me in private.
“I’m looking forward to our next meeting then,” Aaron said. Then he felt a twitching at the back of his mind. “Honored Sage,” he added. Respecting authority figures plays into their inflated egos.
The man nodded amicably and offered Aaron a hand. Aaron began rising. I need to take it. Pettiness is worthless here. Nodding in thanks as the sage pulled him up, Aaron noticed how effortlessly the sage did it. He wasn’t engaging any muscle in his back and stood perfectly still while doing it. Poser.
“Now, you should set off towards the baths. After all, you have held up the proceedings for a quarter of a tenth cycle.”
Aaron blinked. Thirty minutes? His gut twisted. Everyone else was out in seconds. They’ve been watching me—this whole time? He glanced around. Eyes. Whispers. Judging. I gave them a show. Not good.“I was out for half an hour?”
Murmurs spread. The sage tilted his head. "I am unfamiliar with that unit of time."
Aaron clenched his teeth. The last people were out in moments. Great. I gave them a show. The Eldritch Eye’s flickering light pricked his skin—wrong, crawling, amused. He shivered. The strobes flashed faster. Then— A wet, slurping silence. Something inside him cracked.
Golden light remained. I glow. I fucking glow. Like a thrice-damned saint. A rich, feminine chuckle rolled through his mind—velvet over a blade. You just killed the rest of my anonymity, didn’t you?
Bile surged. His fists clenched.
Unglow me, you daft cunt!
It would mean the world to me if you could leave a rating or review. Thanks, you wonderful human beings.
Kyrapolis, City of Sailors
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