The Wandering Fairy [LitRPG World-Hopping]

"This…" Soren stared blankly at the floating screen, unsure of what to make of the options. He glanced at Myrin, who was also looking at his own game window with trepidation.

"Your excellence… Are you sure about this?" He glanced up at the distant flower. "I don't feel deserving of a reward."

Upon hearing this, Soren's eyes widened in shock. Is he an idiot?!

A radiant voice echoed in their ears once more:

[Child. I admire your honor, however, the challenge that was proposed was one where all three of you competed against me in a fair trial of my own choosing. It matters not who claimed the final victory, for each of you bore its weight.]

"Listen to Her, you fool!" Cassia grumbled. "Do you know how many Vagrant Phantasms would kill just to have this opportunity? Most lose control of their Soul Weapons before they could even get close to their next Abstract Rune!

"If you squander this chance, I'll be sure to write a nasty letter to the mistress! I'll make sure she disowns you for being an incompetent apprentice!"

Ouch. Soren had forgotten just how fiery Cassia could be at times…

The Soothing Bard had no chance to soothe the situation. Eventually, he relented:

"Alright, alright! I will graciously accept this award."

"Hmph. You better." She crossed her arms and looked away.

[As for you,] the voice echoed across the mirror dimension once again. [I assume you have obtained the answers you desired?]

Cassia glanced up at the rose and smiled warmly. "Yes… Thank you for the opportunity."

[Have patience, child. You may not be able to influence the past, but the future is ripe for the taking.]

While that discussion was taking place, Soren swam to where Myrin was and glanced over at the window screen available to him.

Choose Your Second Rune!

Congratulations! You have successfully won the Mirror Game! You may now select an Abstract Rune.

Cantor's Crown - A summoner from beyond the veil.

Chef's Delight - Miracles served on a dish.

Waltz of the Unseen - Every step a lament, every turn a release of spectral sorrow.

Wordweaver - Imagery is thread, poetry is loom.

Whisperveil - Every mind adds its own note to the chorus.

Sword Summoner - Let the blades of the unfounded dance beyond the veil.

Soren was baffled. Not only were the options mostly different, Myrin also had more to choose from!

"Strange…" The Elven Songster also frowned as he glanced at Soren's options.

[There is nothing odd about this, child. Your companion's Soul Chain is much more compatible with the runes under my possession compared to you.]

"Is it because he's an elf?" Soren tilted his head slightly. He already understood that merging with a new Abstract Rune requires it to be somewhat in sync with the one currently under his possession.

However, he had assumed that because his status as a 'Fake Fairy' allowed him to participate in this exclusive Elven tradition, that their runes also had to be similar.

After all, didn't Feyscribe and Fairy Witness hold similar names?..

[Nay,] She answered. [It has to do with an Abstract Rune's Topology.]

"Topology?" Soren's frown deepened. He did remember something similar being mentioned on the results page of his Soul Dive test, but the mistress hadn't explained anything about it to him…

"Abstract Rune Topology describes how compatible a rune is with the Soul Chain it is merging with," Myrin interjected while rubbing his chin. "Though, even I am not fully aware of the specifics… There wasn't that much information about it in the library and the mistress always avoided the subject, saying that I should focus on improving my magecraft instead."

[Allow me to explain then.] The Blossom Sword Flower's voice beamed in all directions. [Have the three of you ever wondered why Mysteries in general are divided into three ranks?]

Cassia tilted her neck slightly. "You mean the distinction between Spirit Grade, Mystic Grade and Ascended Grade? Isn't it just to distinguish the power of each Mystery?"

[Yes and no.] A gentle chime threaded through Her words. [It is indeed a measure of power—but the choice to divide them was by no means arbitrary. They are in fact, a measure of one's stability as a beacon of influence.

[As you may know, you mortals utilize Soul Chains in order to contain the Abstract Rune to harness its power. However, such a method is prone to instability—the runes will yearn for their freedom. Phantasms pacify this rebellion through the spreading of the rune's influence upon the world, however, even this method will not work forever. Eventually, the inevitable will occur—the Abstract Rune will shatter the Soul Chain and will likely take control of the Phantasm's Runic Existence.]

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Myrin nodded, "Yes. That's why a second Abstract Rune is needed. By adding another rune to the Soul Chain, both will begin to keep the other in check."

Cassia sighed. "According to the mistress, this is because both runes are aware that the Phantasm only has one Runic Existence. If the Soul Chain shatters, they will both try to fight over its control."

[Indeed, child. However, there is more to this than that. Because while it is true that the Abstract Runes will decide to compete against one another, the compatibility between them is also an important factor. After all, once the merger is completed, they will both be influencing the same Astral Anima.]

"What?" The confusion on all three of their faces was palpable. "But… They are still separate runes… Wouldn't the influence they spread be different?"

[Seperate runes under the same rule.] She corrected. [The key factor in deciding how this influence is spread will always be the Runic Existence itself. Soren, you should already be aware of this.

[After all, the information your Soul Weapon presents describes this perfectly. Does it not already call you a 'Scribe'?]

What? He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Aside from the fact that the Blossom Sword Flower had already somehow obtained the information present on his Status Page without him knowing, he was much more concerned with what Her words entailed…

Status

Name: Soren Andersen

Race: ???

Age: 23

Vocation: Scribe

That was how he remembered his status page the last time he had checked.

"Vocation… Scribe…"

Could it be?... For the longest time, he had dismissed the vocation title as nothing more than flavour text—a trick the Figment of his Imagination added to make the status page feel more like a game. Most RPGs he'd played had classes to choose from, so he assumed it was just the Flame's way of mocking him…

Still, he recognized that the name held meaning for his identity as a Phantasm. After all, while he did not fully know the concepts that the Fairy Witness rune governed over, he did understand that spreading its influence demanded him to be a scribe—someone who chronicles the information around him at all times.

But with the new revelations bestowed on them by the Blossom Sword Flower, he was beginning to reconsider this notion entirely.

[It is just as you are assuming. That 'vocation' as your Soul Weapon calls it is in actuality the name of your Runic Existence.]

"The name?.." Myrin and Cassia looked at each other in confusion. It seemed even they were not fully aware of this.

[Indeed. You see, Runic Existences by their very nature are very similar to Abstract Runes. Some don't even consider differentiating them. However, there is ultimately a difference—one that is immensely important.

[A naturally born Abstract Rune holds symbolic meaning over certain concepts. For example, the Chef's Delight rune that is available for Myrin governs over the concepts of spirit cooking and miracle brewing while Whisperveil holds symbolism for mind singing and thought provocation.

[Runic Existences on the other hand do not hold such value. A Runic Existence is nothing more than the Beyond's representation of a person's soul. It does not govern over any abstract concepts. That is why they are not given a name in Scripted Runic.]

Soren rubbed his chin. "So since they are essentially hollow—runes with no inherent meaning, they instead obtain that meaning through the Abstract Runes they usurp?"

[Correct. That is how a Phantasm is born. When their Runic Existence finally obtains a name. Vagrants such as yourself forcefully extract the influence of the Abstract Runes you merge with for your own Runic Existence's benefit.

[Spirits on the other hand are not born with a Runic Existence like the mortal races. Instead, the Abstract Runes that gather together eventually shape one for themselves, forming a unifying core for the Spirit Body.]

So the process is backwards, Soren realized. Unlike living beings that are born with only the Runic Existence and no Abstract Runes to merge with, Spirits start with the Abstract Runes and must later construct their own Runic Existence…

"Then what about Sacred Treasures?" Myrin raised his hand.

[Sacred Treasures don't need to form their own Runic Existence since they take over the one that already existed within their host Phantasm. That is why they retain their original Soul Weapon form but will instead be the ones in charge of it.]

All of that made sense to Soren. Since their Runic Existences were gaining the influence from the Abstract Runes they were merged with, that would largely influence the name…

Soren's Vocation became Scribe from the influence of his Fairy Witness rune. Myrin became the Soothing Bard from the influence of his Feyscribe rune. As he thought about the implications of this, a new question came to mind:

"Does this mean that the name of my Runic Existence will change as I merge with more and more runes?"

[Correct,] the voice beamed. [However, this is where an Abstract Rune's topology becomes crucial. Runic Existences cannot withstand the instability of too many concepts, even if they're loosely related to one another. The poison of Astral Anima is a real threat…

[To prevent total collapse from happening, Phantasms instead will divide the runes they merge with into separate Soul Chains.]

"Seperate Soul Chains?.."

[Indeed. Since a Runic Existence can only handle three Abstract Runes at most, ancient Phantasms decided to group them into sets of three. Each Soul Chain will always hold three nodes at most—any more than that and the Phantasm will be corrupted by the influence each rune holds—driven to insanity.]

They all looked at each other in thought. "So that means each Soul Chain becomes its own set of concepts?.. Since Phantasms are only able to merge with nine Abstract Runes in total, that would require three Soul Chains in total—one for every three we merge with…"

[This is correct,] the Blossom Sword Flower announced. [The first Soul Chain that all of you already have is called The Foundation. The second is The Pillar, and the final one is The Capstone. Each successive Soul Chain builds upon the one before it.

[That is why selecting the proper Abstract Rune depends on its Topology. An Index of 1 means that the Abstract Rune can only merge with the first Soul Chain—The Foundation. While others hold a Topology Index of 2 which means they can only merge with The Pillar. There are even some runes that hold multiple Topologies.

[Soren—your Fairy Witness rune is one such example. It has a Topology Index of 1, 2 and 3. Meaning, it is a rune that is capable of merging with any of the three Soul Chains.]