An Unbound Soul

Okay, apparently there was going to be no sleep for me tonight then. "Umm... Hello?"

No, wait, that was pointless, wasn't it? The mysterious voice, named Erryn apparently, had just responded to something I was thinking. She was reading my mind, not listening to me.

"I can hear both, child."

"Then I'm going to carry on talking out loud, if you don't mind. This is going to get too confusing otherwise."

"As you wish."

Cool. Right then. Usual strategy it was; in both combat and speech, I leant towards blunt. "What the hell is going on?"

The voice was no longer the flat and garbled pile of static that it had been in the dungeon, now containing emotion and sounding almost human, gentle and female, which I suppose matched the 'earth mother' moniker. There was a background that sounded like leaves rustling in a gentle breeze, even when she wasn't actively speaking. I could sense the mirth, like a faint laughter inside my head, as she considered that question.

"Almost? I'm uncertain whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult."

Ah crap. How was I supposed to keep my thoughts under control? I really didn't want to be accidentally insulting goddesses...

"You needn't worry, child. I am not so petty, and neither am I a goddess. But to answer your question, there are no aliens or zoo. This really is another world. The Law, that you call brainwashing, comes from me. The System was co-opted by me, but I did not originally manufacture it. Your deductions were partially correct; the purpose of the System was to restrict the progress of civilization, and it was made by the survivors of an apocalyptic war in an attempt to prevent a repeat. It failed, and the inhabitants of this world wiped themselves out once more. I stepped in to recreate the lost civilisations, what you call the seeding, and added the Law on top of the System to ensure that this time the races would endure."

Okay, that explained why the two felt a little disjointed. Nice to know I wasn't going to get sucked into a battle between two god-like entities. Speaking of god-like entities... "So if you aren't a goddess, what are you?"

"I am the world itself. The dirt and stone you walk is me. The mountains, hills and plains."

That's... How was that any different from a goddess? No, more important question. "What is it you want from me?"

"Because I am neither omnipotent nor omniscient. And I want you to experience this world and hear your views. On the world, on its inhabitants, on the Law and on me."

... And that needed you to drop an orc on my head? On Cluma's head? As that thought crossed my mind, I heard the echoes of laughter again. In what way was that orc funny?

"If I wanted to kill you simply for your immunity, I would have done so while you were still in your mother's womb. Had you taken advantage of your immunity to the Law for your own ends, I would have ended you immediately, and I would not have bothered with an orc."

Yup, really glad I wasn't that sort of person. And hang on, kill me for my immunity? So Erryn wasn't the one to summon me here, then?

"You needn't concern yourself with the safety of others, or even yourself. No-one in this world needs to fear monsters unless they deliberately step into the monsters' domain. I would have destroyed that orc rather than let it touch a single hair on the head of that catkin girl. And no, I did not summon you. I have no more idea of how you ended up here than you do."

"What do you mean, I don't need to worry about my own safety?! That orc almost killed me!"

"Did the delver who rescued you not comment that the System should not have granted you the reward that it did?"

Wait, so Erryn cheated? Also, must control my temper towards the not-quite-omnipotent planet that just threatened to end me...

"Don't get used to it. I will not do the same inside a dungeon, or against any natural monster. And I have no need to threaten you. Just like the way you feel that being exposed to the Law would end 'you' and leave a stranger in your place, I believe that this 'you' would not take an action that would cause me to intervene."

Getting a little philosophical there. But I suppose that was right; my personality wasn't one that would take advantage. I even felt guilty about telling little lies. Wait, telling little lies wasn't going to get me in trouble, was it? Argg, now I'd thought about it and given myself away! Wait, she was laughing again. I was probably safe.

"You are a strange one, child. As strange as your previous world."

Why did she keep calling me 'child'? I had a perfectly good name... And how did she know about my previous world? Oh, right, she could read my mind. Stupid me. Wait, did that mean she could read my memories too? And she was the one who... "You removed my memories of my old parents? Why?"

"I thought it would help you adjust. I redirected your feelings from your old family towards your new. It was only ever supposed to be temporary, so I'm surprised you haven't undone it by now. And... There's a slime. I've got into the habit of using descriptions rather than names due to her habit of changing hers every couple of minutes. You'll understand if you ever meet."

A slime? I'd love to ask, but Erryn was sounding downright embarrassed there. Let's not pick at that particular thread, for the sake of my not getting ended...

"As for your old world, I see things in your mind that I would never permit here, but fortunately nothing that you know how to build. Please don't spread knowledge of your weapons, but anything else is fine. With the Law, the restriction on development is less important."

Okay, no guns then. Although given the stated purpose of the System, it's probably more a case of no nuclear bombs. Wonder what floor of a dungeon I'd have to visit to find a uranium ingot in a chest.

"None of them."

Yeah, so I should hope. That was a joke... "Okay, next question. What's this quest all about? Am I still going to lose my trait if I don't complete it?"

"..."

"Hello? Are you still here?"

"Actually, in order to speak to you, I already removed it."

Whu??? I'm brainwashed now? No, I can't be, I can still think about it.

"You need not panic, Peter. I've made an exception for you in the Law. I have removed the perception block on your status. You can see it now."

Perception block? What? I quickly brought up my status.

Name: Peter

Species: Human

Class: Body Mage (Level 4/24)

Class History: [Commoner] [Apprentice Mage]

Soul Points: 1

Health: 24/24

Stamina: 43/43

Mana: 66.00/66.00

Strength: 14 (+5)

Dexterity: 16

Endurance: 15

Intelligence: 20

Wisdom: 17

Charisma: 16

Rank 1 Spells: [Minor Strength 11] [Far Step 12] [Minor Speed 12] [Minor Dexterity 12] [Minor Endurance 11] [Minor Intelligence 10] [Minor Wisdom 9] [Minor Charisma 9] [Far Reach 11] [Minor Slow 11]

Rank 2 Spells: [Strength 5] [Dexterity 5] [Endurance 4]

Rank 1 Skills: [Inspection 10] [Meditation 12] [Enlarged Mana Pool 12] [Mana Control 11] [Privacy 8] [Weapon Proficiency: Staff 12] [Basic Carpentry 9] [Basic Smithing 9] [Enlarged Stamina Pool 8] [Dismantling 4] [Concealment 3]

Rank 2 Skills: [Appraisal 9] [Enhanced Mana Recovery 6] [Greater Mana Finesse 5] [Mana Perception 2]

Traits: [Unbound Soul] [Determined Progressor] [Researcher] [Xenophilia]

Titles: [Jack of All Trades] [Victorious Underdog] [Skilled] [Survivor]

Quests: [Conquer the Dawnhold Dungeon Solo]

So [Abnormal Soul] had changed to [Unbound Soul]. Was that the inexplicable ding from yesterday?

[Unbound Soul] - (Rank 5)

"Don't mind the error. That's just what the System does when it's missing a textual description for something. Your affinity attunement and everything else is unchanged, and you still have a soul magic immunity against anything other than me."

Okay... That made the whole translation thing even stranger, but whatever. "Then the quest?"

"..."

There was a distinct air of embarrassment once more. What was it that she didn't want to admit?

"I wanted to see if you would choose to willingly submit to the Law. You had once requested as such, after your first visit to the town. To Dawnhold."

Had I? I honestly had no idea what I did or didn't say back then. I wasn't exactly thinking clearly at the time and the thought that something like the earth mother, creator of all life and the very ground I walked on, had taken anything I'd said in that state literally was horrifying.

"..."

Fortunately, it seemed she has realised her mistake, hence the embarrassment. I smiled to myself; not a goddess indeed. "You... don't really understand humans, do you?"

"Perhaps not. I just wanted to keep them, all the races, safe. But am I doing the right thing?"

A long time ago, I had considered what I should do if I could snap my fingers and free the world from its brainwashing. I never expected to actually have the opportunity. If I answered no here, could I be responsible for ending the world? If I answered yes, for condemning this world to perpetual... puppetry wasn't a fair description, but it was something that wasn't in a completely different ballpark.

Could we give them the choice? Only enforce the Law in one geographical region and let anyone who doesn't want to exist under it move out? Then Erryn would have to protect that area from the 'free' area forever. Could we loosen it a bit? Permit just a little jealousy to get a bit more competition going? It wasn't like people here had no wills of their own at all. People like Chris and Hugo managed to be downright annoying even with the Law. On top of that, I'd consider it losing myself to be subject to it now, but what about these people who were born with it? If it were removed and my freed mother went on to become a mass murderer, what would my current mother think? They would be the ones losing themselves.

In all, there was only one answer I could give right now: "I don't know."

There was a sigh on the breeze. My answer was obviously a disappointment, but not an unexpected one.

"Then please grow and explore. Discover the hidden places of this world. Meet all the races and try to understand them in a way I cannot. Then if you ever come to an answer, let me know. I've removed the failure penalty from your quest, but I think conquering the dungeon here would make for a good base for any further adventures. If you wish to talk, come to the core room of any dungeon."

Why the core room of a dungeon? But if Erryn heard me wondering, she didn't respond. The voice departed, the background sounds of rustling leaving my head. Well, that had certainly been educational.

ding

For your efforts to uncover the secrets of the world, [Researcher] awards 2 soul points.

I'd certainly been getting good mileage out of [Researcher] these last few days. Having the bloody earth mother pop up in my head and tell me things was probably cheating a bit, though. So... now I knew. Possibly. I had no guarantee that this Erryn wasn't lying, but I had no reason to disbelieve her right now. She claimed to have created all life, and to have created the Law to stop them destroying themselves. And now she was feeling insecure about having done so. Yup, I certainly wasn't going to be thinking of her as a goddess any longer.

She wanted me to get stronger purely so that I could explore the world and help fix her insecurities, one way or another. Not sure why I needed to push myself to get stronger for that, though. The world was supposed to be safe, wasn't it? Maybe there were races that lived in particularly inhospitable areas or something. Pretty sure I was still missing something here... I'd admit movement or teleportation skills would be useful, but she never mentioned them, just a generalised getting stronger.

And, of course, she could soul magic me now. That meant I could have my memories altered, my perception distorted, my mind read at any time and with no warning. Maybe I already had. I certainly already had, if I counted my previous family. I still had my soul magic, I still remembered the Law, I could still think about theft or murder. But for all I knew, there was a fifth affinity I was attuned to and had been using regularly up until yesterday.

Well, I choose to ignore the uncertainties and get on with my life. If I sat around worrying all day, I'd be hurting no-one but myself. Exploring the world was something I wanted to do anyway, so I was just going to do what I liked and enjoy myself, and as way of acknowledgement to Erryn's wishes, I would promise to take great care to not accidentally invent nukes. I'd unambiguously been given her blessing to advance civilization in other ways, though, so no need to worry about any smiting for introducing electricity.

I looked out of the window, where the sun was just starting to lighten up the horizon. If Erryn ever did pop up again, hopefully it would be at a more sensible hour.