NOVEL NEXT Chapter 013: A Introspection Into Choice
There was a single question bouncing around in my mind…
Where am I?
What was greatly worrying was the fact I was unable to even move my lips, let anything else, making that question even more imperative. I thankfully could still see however that helped little when I couldn’t recognise anything around me. Not for there not being anything of note though. If anything there was no way I would be able to forget the appearance of this place for the rest of my (hopefully) immortal life.
There was a gentle rumbling from below, along with an ever so soft rattling, which revealed that I was likely in motion on some kind of vehicle and it reminded me strongly of a memory from my past life. In order to travel across borders with “illicit merchandise” we would jump onto moving trains before hanging on till we were approaching a station to avoid getting caught. If we were lucky we’d be able to get in, there was a type of carriage that had locks which were easy to break into with minimal traces, else we would need to hang onto the side for miles in the pouring rain.
A task which was difficult for a healthy man, let alone a malnourished urchin…
Maybe I can use information like that to my advantage in the future; it would certainly make me seem like a saint if I were to help bust that operation as it continued strong even after LHO.
Thoughts for another time.
The walls themselves were a dark yet lustrous blackish-purple that conveyed wealth - especially when combined with the countless gears propped across those walls. With a rhythmic *tick* *tick* *tick*. Those gears continually turned; not all the gears were equal. Creating quite a curious scene as they all seemed to turn on their own. Each of the gears appeared to be the same colour at first however with a careful look one could tell they shifted between white & gold at just a small enough degree to not be obvious to the naked eye.
Despite the seeming disorder, all the gears worked together at the end of the day, somehow combined with the measured beats to make for a wonderfully calming scene. One which was greatly helped to the masterpiece of all those gears, a large set of clock hands that seemed to move without cause or reason, but moved on nonetheless.
Something about the entire structure just brought a new level of calm to me - although I quickly noticed that this room wasn’t one that was unlived in.
Upon some of the gears - somehow unmoving - there were pictures pristinely placed within wonderfully ornate frames. Although those pictures would hardly be what one considered fine art; looking more often than not like something a child would draw. With many of them seemingly either being done with finger painting or literal crayons.
It clearly wasn’t as if the owner of the room had no artistic taste. At the back wall (or rather the one I was made to look at) there was a dark oaken drawer with some metallic inlining in a fantastical border - in front was a desk with a winsome cloth atop the surface. Seemingly, it was a larger escritoire yet I could hardly see the other end to make sure that there were truly compartments there.
Atop those were actually several different displays which included ornate stone sundials, hour glasses utilising different grains and smaller hand held things I had no clue about. From big to small - they were all beautiful works to look at - even those I had no clue about were set upon a special angled platform to help me take in their appearance. Didn’t take a genius like myself to figure out they all likely shared a similar function.
There was even a strange set of devices - made up of two porcelain bowls - which seemed to use a steady flow of liquid to raise the level resulting in a metallic fluid. Flowing through a tiny hole at the top & into the lower bowl which had several markings upon it.
Honestly it seems like most of this stuff belongs in a museum rather than an office (inside of what may be a train in motion); an engaged break would be akin to hundreds of years of human innovation gone.
There was no sign of worry, though, as I saw no guards wandering in. Leaving me to just silently stare toward the stink of ‘incense’ (I think that’s what it is) slowly becoming ash. Even despite staring at so many time keeping devices - I had no clue how much time was passing…
Although, I also couldn’t read most of them, so that likely had something to do with it.
While staring at one of the sundials (in an attempt to decipher the connotations of the different gauges) I managed to notice those metallic gears glimmering with bright lights. They weren’t blinding, nor were they outstandingly large, yet they appeared as if dozens of little vibrant lights of different colours abruptly entered the room I was in.
Or, at least, I thought that was a decent metaphor until I literally saw dozens of little vibrant orbs of colour buzz around in front of me with glee. Leaving me quite discombobulated. I don’t recall any such creatures in exis-
Spirits?
“Indeed, these young ones are the lowest evolution of the spirits called a sprite, the most basic form that makes the foundation and majority of all life within the {Spirit World}. They are little balls of energy and emotion formed with the souls of poor children who never got a single choice within their life.” A cultured androgynous voice came from behind following the noise of a door sliding open following a steady and paced saunter.
Still it wasn’t as if I could turn around to look at them - them speaking up once more as they approached me from behind. “Hahaha you will get used to moving your body with experience; so don’t worry about it.”
… Excuse me, what?
Did I accidentally speak out loud or something?
Just when pondering this, my thoughts got interrupted as the source of my confusion strolled in front to sit upon the desk in front of me, letting me fully take in their appearance. Surprisingly their appearance was far more tame (very much fitting the voice) than I would have expected for someone owning this crazy train I was on.
Their actual face was just as androgynous as their voice - with sharp features that almost seemed to hide behind a pair of large circular lensed glasses & a warm smile that would usually seem deceiving. Despite those glasses appearing rather normal, there seemed to be a constant glare across them to hide the appearance of their eyes, lenses appearing to glow.
What helped keep their vibe was shoulder length straight hair. Coming with a curtained style fringe that hid most of their forehead, before seemingly using those glasses to help keep the hair from the front neatly tucked away. Strangely their roots appeared to be pure white with the rest being dyed a nice hazel.
All except for their two centre most hairs which weren’t swept to the side; letting them cascade down their own face with the hair strangely not ending up in their mouth as they spoke.
Even when their tan coloured blazer was completely unbuttoned they somehow managed to keep their suave aspect. Although a part of that may have been thanks to them also having a tan & white-lined paisley print waistcoat that was fully buttoned up. But that was also where the person’s outfit began becoming stranger.
A pair of leather belts travelled up from their waist to their shoulder in a diangle - with them containing countless flintlock pistols that had become partly hidden under their coat. Each pistol looked exactly the same; an intricate pattern of matte black wood base with silverish-gold detailing & innerworkings making for a very beautiful set of firearms.
“Why thank you. They were fashioned by an ally as well as a friend who is surprisingly sweet despite his rather… Disorderly conduct most of the time.” Once more they replied to my thoughts, at this point I was fairly sure that I was not actively speaking out loud, which raised a question of how they were accomplishing it. If it were the ability to read minds - this could be a huge weakness in the future…
Although I read a lot about the powers people were able to achieve thanks to LHO; it would be foolish to believe that even the largest guilds knew everything possible.
The game covered a good dozen solar systems even at the start of the game, not all of them being a fantasy setting as many were sci-fi or cultivation, yet many somewhat ended up coalescing. This was partly thanks to a uniting figure. The {Grand Pharaoh - Tyrant Dealmaker}. A mythical entity that was thought to be a mere legend in my past life - it was a crazy notion that someone could rule over those powerful npcs with enough fear to generate a steady flow of offerings from them with no rebellion in sight.
Until some managed to gain information from the nobles oro meet their servants.
They were very much real; makes me now realise they must truly be real which also means father likely has a deal with them in order to set up the game in the first place.
Either way, that galactic ruler was rumoured to have the ability to read all your past lives with a glance, it wouldn’t be unreasonable that someone else had managed yet gotten around detection. Wouldn’t be hard to do if you could literally read people's minds - apparently doppelgangers were rumoured to have the ability to read surface level thoughts just from conception which proves its effectiveness.
Wait surface level thoughts… “You are quite incorrect there - I am more similar to a collection of sprites than anything similar to a monster created by the scaleless dragon. Ah, where are my manners? I haven't introduced myself, have I?”
Such a response certainly got my eyes to widen (especially when they debonairly slid themselves onto the desk in front of me) and thankfully they didn’t keep me waiting. “I’ve been given quite a few names. A lot of those from people in similar positions to me. Yet, unlike them, I do not have a ‘True Name’ if you would…”
“I suppose you can consider me something like a representation of a crossroad that everyone should be able to approach yet many, like these little friends, are unable to…” That warm smile of theirs suddenly turned a bit melancholic as they slowly moved one hand not resting on their knee to instead reach up to play with those floating sprites. In return those little lights happily buzzed around.
“And that is also what we’ll be discussing a lot; choices.”
It was at that moment that they stood up once more to walk behind me once more - thankfully a crackling from my rear was soon joined by a rather peaceful melody that suited them well. “See we often depict our past choices as a boolean situation, there was a right answer and then there is the answer we ended up foolishly going along with, though that is a short sighted interpretation.”
Once more they strolled in front of me yet this time they seemed to have some kind of electronic cigarette in their hand which they slowly took a dab on. Chuckling as they appeared to be laughing at their own comment on choices earlier. Soon sitting down to look directly at me. That smile had managed to expunge any glumness now.
“It is a truly dangerous mindset, it isn’t bad to show introspection into either the past or future, however becoming obsessed with it is different. Like all things in life; introspection must be done with moderation as well as a realisation that we cannot know everything that could have been. For all we know the other choices could have been worse.”
This… Certainly answers none of the questions I actually have; like why am I here…
However, seeing as they were shaking their head, I expected I would soon filled in. “Suppose that would have been a good place to start hahaha. Our purpose here today is to help explore ourselves - which will usually start with how we perceive the world and any fallacies we may be able to spot then stop.”
Don’t understand how that would help me, however.
“It is a rather foolish assumption yet you are young so it’s understandable. You, yourself, should know that a spirit's power is derived from understanding. To set up a good foundation - for the time of ascension of your world - we must first allow ourselves to know about ‘you’.” Despite their rather harsh reprimand they somehow didn’t give the appearance as if they were looking down on me; instead they leaned forward with their hands clasped and elbows upon the desk.
For a while they just (appeared to) match my eyes as I let what they said sink in and… Well what they said actually made a lot of sense - from what I can tell - spirits power does rely on their own understanding so a good place to start would indeed be introspection into myself. “That is a very good mindset to have for one as young as you, many would stubbornly hold onto pride, yet I suppose this is something you may have inherited from your ‘mommy’. Which means we’ll also have to be careful of the flaws that come with that.”
After saying such, they leaned back in their arm chair. Using their arm rests as intended, however, leaning toward the left so that they could stroke their chin as they thought what to say next. “Your matriarchal family is known for bouts of… Well I suppose, to put it lightly, they are occasionally what many would refer to as rather ‘selfish’ when it comes to certain matters. The other half of your bloodline even is said to have selfishness only beaten by their greed - their ‘boss’ even refers to them by that trait. Not that that is bad.”
Based on the conflicted face it was clear, whatever they meant by that, they were trying their best to put it in a polite fashion and struggling.
“Ah I must tell you that I happen to be quite a busy person despite having you as my responsibility for the unforeseen future. So I am very sorry to tell you these sessions will likely be quite sparse.” A bitter smile was added to help convey that they didn’t feel good about not being able to regularly help me. However, I had no idea who they even were so it didn’t seem to be worth getting bothered about.
*ding**ding**ding**dong*
The clocks and such from behind all rang out at the same time. Causing ripples that shook my vision like I was staring at the surface of a once still lake - only for raindrops to awaken disorder.
“Unfortunately it appears we’re out of time; I look forward to seeing you again when we both have some free time. Though before I go, allow me to remind you that your decision not to kill is wise. It would be quite the ironic turn of events if your enemies ended up becoming your subjects.” Shaking their head as reality itself seemed to become one with the sweet abyssal embrace of sleep - which soon took me into itself.
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<< Gained {skill}.[Grasp Soul (Active)] >>
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What?
Waking up, I found myself back at our home (or rather one of them), inside my bed as the streaks of morning light pierced through the blinds. There was no sign of… Well, anything that just happened last night, nevertheless it would be foolish to consider that a dream. Especially when I apparently earned a skill just from hearing some philological analysis from that suspiciously unsuspicious person surrounded by what I can only call baby spirits.
Big B; what just happened?
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<< Answer to {query}.[“what just happened”] From {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>
<< {software}.[BITCH] Has No Valid Data Sets To Explain The Prior Event Nor On The Entity Which We Had Just Witnessed >>
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That isn’t exactly good - at least I’m slowly finding out more and more the limitations of this personalised system of mine.