An Unborn Hero

The [Royal Knight] read through the report from the enchanters he'd had look over the Recorder. It was drenched with evasive and defensive language that guaranteed nothing; the document wouldn't be 'wrong', strictly speaking, even if the Recorder turned out to actually be a device to improve the kingdom's yield of carrots. But he'd expected that, given what he'd seen of the duo when they started working. That wasn't a slight against them; simply a recognition that Artefacts deserved their capitalisation.

Casting aside the 'we believes' and 'it's likely thats', the report confirmed that the pair of enchanters couldn't think of any way to fool the Recorder, and while that didn't guarantee it was impossible, it was good enough. If a pair of the kingdom's best enchanters couldn't think of a way after spending a couple of days examining the Recorder, it was unlikely their enemies—who wouldn't have ready physical access to the Recorder even if they had control of Hayedalf or someone else of his level—could do it either.

He placed the report down on top of a shorter one that he'd already read, detailing another new achievement, and called to a waiting guard outside of his office. "Please send in the [Soul Guide]."

The door opened and a priest stepped in, pushing his glasses up with his index finger as he stared at the cup of tea on the table. "Is that really necessary?" he asked.

"Necessary? Perhaps not. But useful? Certainly. This isn't an investigation in which I feel I should take anything for granted."

The [Soul Guide] sighed. "At least get me a fresh cup," he said as he took his seat. "That one looks like it's been sitting there all day."

"So, I hear you have something of substance to report?"

"I do. There was a second soul hovering around Kellela. It was tethered to her, clearly using [Astral Projection] to separate from a physical body somewhere inside of her. [Detect Evil] didn't respond to her or the second soul, nor did [Detect Hostility]. It made no aggressive actions when it became clear that I could see it, but only attempted to flee. It gave the same reaction later on when I trapped it."

"You caught it?" exclaimed the [Royal Knight], interrupting the statement.

"Only briefly. And that's where the useful parts of my information come from. When I first caught it, it had no means of resistance. It showed no signs of comprehension of any language I tried. Yet I believe it knows a language; one that I don't."

"Oh?"

"It was certainly capable of hearing people speak; I could see it react to noises. And after being trapped for a few minutes, it gained what appeared to be the [Uncontainable] sub-skill. It continued to thrash around randomly for a few seconds, but then abruptly switched to moving only in the direction of Kellela."

"You think it read the sub-skill's description?" queried the [Royal Knight] as a maid entered and replaced the cold tea with a fresh, steaming cup.

"Exactly."

"Hmm... I agree that sounds likely, but isn't a few minutes far too little to obtain a sub-skill?"

"Yes. That's my second important observation. And that wasn't all. It levelled only a few minutes later; it noticeably sped up."

"It does have a couple of achievements that boost levelling speed, but even so, that's very fast."

"Too fast. Given the resistance to my soul trap, I'd estimate an [Astral Projection] level in the low novice range. That's already utterly ridiculous even if we assume [Astral Projection] was the skill that triggered [Early Bloomer I], but a new sub-skill and a level in a handful of minutes is even more unbelievable."

"An order-of-magnitude experience multiplier, at least," agreed the [Royal Knight], doing the maths. "It's likely there's a species bonus to [Astral Projection], given its apparent dependence."

"Then [Early Bloomer I] must have come from a different skill," commented the priest, the achievement being invalidated by that sort of species bonus. It went against its spirit, after all.

The [Royal Knight] said nothing, wondering not what skill had granted [Early Bloomer I], but rather which one was responsible for [Early Bloomer II]. Rare skills usually needed a decade of training and experience. This entity had gained one within a few weeks.

That the entity didn't qualify as 'hostile' or 'evil' was reassuring, but not a complete exoneration. A foreign agent wouldn't automatically register as evil, although they would likely be detected as hostile. Someone acting out of coercion or otherwise against their own will could commit murder without ever registering as hostile or evil, though.

"One more question: why did you let it go?"

"I wasn't able to communicate. Given the tether, that left the only options as killing or releasing it. Given its lack of hostility, I lacked any justification for attacking it."

"I see. That will be all. Thank you for the report," said the [Royal Knight], dismissing the priest, who drained his cup before standing and leaving. Killing it certainly would have made things simpler, but no-one could ask a priest to break their vows. Unfortunately, skills that interacted with souls were officially the sole purview of priests. Unofficially, there were other classes that could get them, but they were generally the sort of classes that guards would execute on sight. Not exactly the sort of people he'd trust with a matter of national security.

The eyes of the [Royal Knight] strayed to another sheet of paper on the desk; a report from the guards keeping watch on Kellela's manor. The personnel rotated, but there were still six of them there, twenty-four hours a day. Not to mention how much of his own time the investigation was taking. The costs were mounting up, and the situation was distracting him from other investigations. It wasn't sustainable.

The balance of evidence had swung from mental compromise and was now pointing towards Kellela having gained a mostly harmless tag-along. Or, at least, not deliberately harmful. Healing magic had failed to dislodge it and the best doctors he could find at short notice couldn't even find it, but now they had definitive proof it was there. It appeared peaceful, but didn't even speak the local language.

It would be nice to discover what language it did speak, but there were more than enough human languages, before getting into the more esoteric things spoken, sung, howled, flashed or punched by other species. Without having any clue where to start, finding people who spoke every language would do nothing to help the mounting costs. But if he'd judged Kellela correctly, she'd certainly attempt communication herself. Why not let her put in the effort, and as a [Court Mage], she would be capable of using powerful translation magic.

His priority was the security of the capital. Since there didn't seem to be any sort of conspiracy or plotting involved, the easiest way to achieve that was for Kellela to simply go away and take her mystery passenger with her. Yes, that could be achieved by locking her up somewhere, but he'd prefer Hayedalf not to bear a grudge against the kingdom, given the vital role he played in management of the kingdom's Artefacts. Exile had a similar problem. It would be far more pleasant all around if they decided to leave on their own. He pulled the report, glancing again at the relevant sections and feeling glad he'd insisted on having someone with a listening skill stationed outside the couple's bedroom.

Karn's Vigil. Right on the border of the country, and sparsely populated thanks to the demonic forest. People were tough down there, and there was a permanent army contingent stationed. If he wanted Kellela removed somewhere she would cease to be a threat, the only better options would be foreign kingdoms, but no way would the kingdom let Hayedalf leave with her. At least down there they could both continue to have a free life together, and he could leave instructions to keep her under a more surreptitious, less manpower-intensive watch. He rang a bell to summon an aide.

"Yes, sir?"

"Inform Hayedalf that his movements are no longer restricted. I suspect his home will go up for sale shortly afterwards. Arrange for a buyer to be found immediately."

"Yes, sir."

Kellela's breath caught in her throat as her mana surged.

"Again?" asked Hayedalf, sitting next to her.

"Again," she confirmed. "Fourteenth time today. What am I supposed to do?"

"You could drain your mana?"

"No way. That's far more unpleasant than whatever this is."

"Still no idea on what 'this' is?"

"I think it's trying to cast spells, but whatever it's casting is fizzling. It feels like what would happen if I cast [Sleep] on an undead. They can't sleep, so the spell isn't applicable. The mana just gets confused and the spell fizzles out without doing anything."

"When have you ever cast anything on an undead?"

"I said 'would'. It's hypothetical."

"Well, I've got nothing. How is it using your mana?"

"Parasite, remember. It's probably taking more from me than my mana."

"Why couldn't that damn priest get it out of you?"

"Don't get mad at him. He's a follower of Gyx. They can't kill unprovoked."

"Well, we've been provoked! What if I found someone else with appropriate skills?"

Kellela thought about it, but not for long. Killing it seemed deeply wrong, for reasons she couldn't quite articulate.

"I... No, we can't. It's just a child. All it has been doing is hanging around me and learning. It hasn't hurt anyone."

"Learning, huh? Then why don't we try to explain? Next time someone's scry ward fires, try to talk to it. Teach it language. If nothing else, it can communicate with you by mucking with your mana. Once for yes, twice for no sort of thing."

"That's a good idea. It'll take some time, though. And it hasn't been out ever since that [Soul Guide] tried to talk to it. It's probably frightened."

"It'll turn back up at some point, I'm sure. It's not like we have anything else to do, stuck here like this. And you can learn [Sense Soul] while you wait."

"Yes, that would be advisable. My [Soul's Eye] is high enough level that I should be able to get it eventually, even if it's not in scope of my class."

In a spot of appropriate timing, a knock sounded on their bedroom door.

"Yes?" called Kellela.

"We've just received new instructions. Following independent confirmation of Hayedalf's claims and the report of the priest earlier, restrictions on Hayedalf's movements have been dropped. He's allowed to leave the property unsupervised. As for Kellela, you're allowed to leave the property, but you must remain under escort at all times while in the capital, and you are not permitted in any part of the upper circle except for the purpose of travelling to and from your home, nor are you allowed near any structure of defensive significance."

"While in the capital, huh?" repeated Hayedalf. "Okay, change of plan. I'm going out. You can guess where."

"Yup. Good luck."

ding

For your repeated attempts at casting, even if they were all utter failures, [Magical Girl Transformation] advances to level 3.

"At least I can train the skill, even if I don't have the correct number of limbs to cast it successfully yet," thought the hero, unaware of the effects her repeated attempts were having on her mother. "Has that priest left yet? Who did he think he was, trapping me like that and then staring like I was some sort of interesting animal doing a party trick?"

She gingerly poked her soul out once more, utilising [Stealth] to its full potential, pleased to find only a single guard in the room with her mum. She was sitting on a lounge chair, eyes closed, and wearing a frown of extreme concentration.

And then the guard said something, and Kellela opened her eyes, nodded gratefully at the guard, and stood up.

"Hey, was that me? Or was it a coincidence? I was using [Stealth], and I didn't even look straight at him!"

Alas, using [Stealth] to its full potential didn't count for much when it was only level two.

ding

For a praiseworthy attempt, even if it was as big a failure as your spellcasting, [Stealth] advances to level 3

Or level three, as the case may be. In support of their teach-the-alien-parasite-to-speak plan, Hayedalf had supplied the guards with more sensitive scry wards, and the hero had no chance of hiding from them.

Thankfully, no-one intended her harm, and Kellela simply walked up to a table on which were collections of coins. She pointed at an individual coin, and patterns of colour swirled from her mouth. She pointed at a pair of coins, and emitted a different pattern of colour.

"What the hell is she doing? And why isn't the guard reacting at all? He's just watching her blankly."

It wasn't until she reached a pile of six coins that it twigged.

"She's counting? Why? Wait, this started as soon as I came out. She's talking to me?"

The hero continued to watch. There were only piles of coins up to nine, but when Kellela reached it, she started moving coins around, adding the single coin to the pile of nine, then taking it back off and putting the individual coins next to each other, then stacking another coin on the second one.

"That must be ten, eleven and twelve," thought the hero, doing her best to follow. By the time Kellela had reached into the thirties, the hero was starting to spot patterns in the patterns, such as 'twenty-one' containing the pattern for 'one'.

And, once she passed ninety-nine, she pointed at herself, and spoke a completely different pattern of colour. The hero recognised it as something that others often used when talking to her, but that she never used herself.

"Her name! That must be her name!" thought the hero excitedly.

Then she stopped and turned back to the guard, who nodded and waved in the hero's general direction.

Kellela pointed not quite at the hero, but closely enough that it was obvious what she intended, and spoke a swirl of colour the hero had never seen before.

ding

You have received the name [μ̵̼͉̐υ̴̡̽̿σ̷̭͓̃̀τ̸͉̤̾̆ή̶͎̱͌ρ̸̤͕̏̿ι̷̬̾͜ό̸͈]

μ̵̼͉̐υ̴̡̽̿σ̷̭͓̃̀τ̸͉̤̾̆ή̶͎̱͌ρ̸̤͕̏̿ι̷̬̾͜ό̸͈ (Human)

Age: -9 months

Occupation: Hero (L)

Skills:

- Soul's Eye (U) (18/60)

>> Sense Vitality (U)

>> Sense Soul (R)

>> Sense Mana (U)

>> Sense Light (C)

>> Sense Sound (C)

- Astral Projection (U) (12/30)

>> Sure Navigation (U)

>> Uncontainable (U)

- Robust (C) (8/30)

>> Hardened Soul (R)

>> Secured Mana (U)

- Stealth (C) (3/20)

>> Camouflage Vitality (R)

- Magical Girl Transformation (R) (3/10)

Achievements:

- Early Bloomer II (R)

- First Skill (C)

- Novice (C)

- Survivor of Zarklaxxos, the Arcane Infernal (R)

- I Broke The System, And All I Got Was This Lousy Achievement (E)

- Astral Explorer I (R)