I stared up at the ceiling as I considered Deacon’s question. “I can think of two. Well… one of them was complicated.”

  “How so?” Deacon asked, popping some kind of dried fruit into his mouth after.

  “I… think he might have killed me.” I said, remembering the sharp pain and a whispered apology. “I used to get irritable whenever I had a nightmare involving him.”

  The bard stopped chewing and stared at me, mouth agape in mild horror at the thought. “That’s awful. How is that complicated?”

  I shrugged, “I can’t explain it really. It… feels like I’ve known them a long time.” I stared at him, making sure I had eye contact. “A very long time.”

  His brow furrowed as he spun the idea around in his head a few times. “That’s not unheard of, actually. Odd, but not unheard of.”

  I blinked, “Wait, really?”

  He nodded, “Different cultures, different names. It’s Ancestral Memories here, but in Octavia it’s Reincarnation. You get word of one making a name for themselves, occasionally.”

  It was my turn to turn the thought around in my head. Could it be reincarnation? I tried to go through all the memories I’d gathered. They didn’t feel like that… “It’s not that.”

  “Other option is godhood.” He said, raising an eyebrow at me, daring me to suggest it.

  He frowned when i didn’t immediately deny the idea. “You aren’t serious.” He said with a flat tone.

  “Now hear me out…” I said holding up a hand to him. “I told you about the message I got when I woke up in the alley, right?”

  “Yes…” He said, frown deepening.

  “Based on that, I was supposed to have Admin access, whatever that was, instead of the Moderation Panel.” I said, pulling the letter up again to reference it.

  I’m sorry, Alex.

  What I did to you is unforgivable, and if you remember I wouldn’t blame you for hating me. I’m going to be selfish and hope you don’t, though. I’d like my best friend back. Even if I don’t deserve it.

  I don’t have a lot of time to write this, pretty sure they’re going to break in any minute. There are three nearby power spikes in the area surrounding the city you should wind up in, if everything worked out and you resurrected in Danielle Rosecrest’s body. Sorry about that, by the way, it was her or the guy who was bleeding out and missing an arm. The system can do a lot, but the arm would have taken longer than we had.

  Right, keeping on track. The power spikes aren’t an immediate concern, but if they aren’t taken care of, they could get worse. I’m unsure of how the problems are occurring, but it looks like the cores are taking excess energy from somewhere, and I can’t track that due to the restrictions I’ve got.

  The core AIs should be able to help diagnose the problem, if you can’t. I don’t know how much of you is there, but I’m hoping enough that your curiosity and drive will send you investigating.

  Hey, maybe you can get back at the guy who killed Danielle while you're at it. It’d be within your power.

  I couldn’t restore Admin access, but you have Moderator privileges. Read the manual if you have any questions. It can be found in the Vendal main menu. It can be accessed by thinking about it, if you forget. Just think Vendal Menu.

  Shit, alright I’m out of time, do what you do best, man. If my plan works out, I’ll send you another message. If it doesn’t… Well, it was nice knowing you.

  Melvin

  Right… the guy apparently stuck in the bug nest. Dying repeatedly. I shuddered at the thought. “Same message that pointed me at looking into the City Core. And now towards the dungeons.”

  “Oh. Shit…” He said, brows furrowing in concern. “If there is actually something wrong and you can fix it…”

  “I also don’t think god is the right term… As far as I know, I was just a human.” A human with ridiculous strength and speed. With reflexes set to respond within the nanosecond of something happening. That… might not be that human…

  “Just… a really old one?” He considered the thought.

  “That’s… also not right.” I leaned back and groaned, “This is why I hate talking about this stuff.”

  I heard Deacon let out a huff of amusement. “You talk with Toren about this?”

  I nodded and picked my glass up. “He’s helped me work through some of it. Sometimes I can even get him to tell me stories from his past.”

  “Hear anything good?” Deacon leaned in.

  “Mostly stuff from his adventuring days. Apparently, he was more of a fighter than a healer.” I shook my head, “Though you should just ask him when you see him next. I’m sure you could go bar hopping or something.”

  “You think?” Deacon said, eyebrows raising, “I might have to try that. Thanks.”

  “No… problem…” I said, hesitantly. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Deacon…”

  I didn’t get to finish my thought as the sound in the tavern resumed. I caught Elayne at the bar out of the corner of my eye and Zaion was heading towards our table. The bard waved at the elf, “Hey Zaion. Find everything okay?”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Zaion took a seat and looked between us, brow furrowing, “I am satisfied. The book stores did not have anything of interest to myself or Elayne, but we did discover that they’re all funded by the Merchant Consortium. Though, I have been informed by several shop owners that over half of the city is as well.”

  “Why are you guys here so early, anyway?” I asked, more invested in this. “And what’d you wind up buying?”

  “Oh, I got a lot of interesting items. Also a gallon of the water from the river here, which is a lot more toxic than I initially suspected. I am a little curious if there is a fungal strain that would survive off of this, like the ones they grow in sulfurous tunnels in the Flame Flower Fields.” Zaion said, tapping a jug that was tied tight to his hip. “It should be sufficiently debilitating, if the effects of the alchemist are to be believed. I may even be able to increase the potency…”

  Elayne took the seat opposit Zaion and sighed, “While you all investigated the first three shops, I knew there was an alchemical place near the other two. We did a quick look, but besides confirming half the city is run by around six or seven people, nothing to signal who Jason is working with.”

  “We could ask him.” I said before taking a long sip of my glass. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. “What? He’s an arrogant ass, he’ll probably brag if we bring it up.”

  Deacon considered it while Elayne responded, “People don’t just confess to schemes for no reason. He’s not an idiot.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her.

  Elayne hesitated. “Okay, he is, but how would you even get to him. We don’t know where he is.”

  I shrugged, not having a good answer.

  Deacon, on the other hand. “If he’s that obsessed with prestige, just talk to him at a party. He won’t miss the chance to attend, and there’s probably going to be one soon if Lord Germaine is as eager as he sounded at the Duke’s party.”

  The warrior groaned and slammed back her wooden mug. I watched as she drained the entire thing. When she finally finished and set the mug down, I asked, “Don’t like him?”

  “Not even a little. Both of his wives are horrid, and the man himself said I needed a little more meat on my bones or no one would be interested.” Her faced shifted to some form of disgust reserved for stepping in something foul and smelly.

  Zaion shook his head, “I have not seen this man or his wives, but he must be blind. Women being horrible to each other is not a new issue, however.” He nodded and took a sip from his glass of something clear. Probably water.

  It was quiet for a while, and I looked over to see Elayne had a slight flush. She excused herself and went back up to the bar with her mug. Deacon chuckled, “I don’t think anyone is ever brave enough to tell her something like that.”

  The elf sighed, “I do not see the issue. I even told Lady Danielle she is an attractive individual, but I am still not interested in her or Miss Elayne.” He turned to look at me, “Please do not kick me again, I am merely stating a fact.”

  My face was heating up and I tried to cover it with a drink while Deacon cackled with laughter.

  When we’d all calmed down and had a few more drinks, we decided it was time to discuss our next step. “So, are you two interested in following up on this with us? I think Paige is stuck with us until this starts, but you two can move on if you want.” Deacon brought up finally.

  The other two thought about it and I shrugged, “I wouldn’t mind more friends. I’ve got a mess to clean up, and you two know more about the weird stuff around me. I’ve a few thoughts on tests and wouldn’t mind some training partners.”

  Zaion nodded along, “I am not opposed to it, though I currently live in the apartments near the guild. They are affordable, but small. Is there precedent to provide housing to those who would assist you?”

  I blinked and looked over at Elayne. “You’d know better than me, at the moment. Even Deacon is fairly new.”

  Elayne seemed taken aback about being the expert here. “Uh… I don’t think it’d be outside of the realm of possibility. There’s a system enforced contract Calmar is capable of making, and Grimoire is in charge of distributing the funds where they belong.”

  “Maybe I can convince him to let you sign on as a gardener?” I said, considering it. “I wouldn’t mind you trying to make some of those alcoholic mushrooms you were talking about.”

  The elf perked up, “I think I would enjoy that a lot. My class is not really a combat one by nature, simply one I have developed combat skills for. A gardener would still be outside my class, but if you are willing to let me experiment a little, I would not be opposed.”

  “Do you like roses?” Elayne asked, “You’d likely be asked to care for them as well.”

  The man considered it before nodding. “I believe I have a skill or two that could assist in their growth and reproduction. And make them poisonous… that could be an interesting experiment in cross pollination.”

  I looked at Deacon, suddenly mildly concerned, but not willing to back down from the initial offer. I turned to the, probably safer, Elayne. “And what about you? While Grimoire is a good teacher… I’d like to actually train with someone I can hit without them putting me on the ground or giving me an immediate concussion.”

  “Wait, Grimoire’s been training you?” Elayne’s look of horror made me realize I was probably getting off easy so far. Then an evil grin spread across her face, “I’ll do it, but only if I get to watch you train against Grimoire every once in a while.”

  I gave her a flat look, “Was I really that ba-”

  “Yes.” She interrupted before I could finish. “Guarding you was a nightmare. You were constantly sneaking off, constantly talking with other nobles about those raunchy books, and you rarely listened when I told you the others were making you look like an idiot. And, you constantly tore Calmar down, who is a bit of a creep, but not a bad person.”

  “What do you mean by that? What’s wrong with Calmar?” Deacon asked, confused. “I haven’t spent much time with him.”

  Elayne held out a hand and started to count off things on her hand. “Showed up out of no where after your father confiscated a slave convoy going through his territory. Said he’d been tracking them to try and get his mother back, but he’s also a non combat class without any magic. He was far too invested in you personally for it to be healthy. Your father was really quick to adopt him into the family. And to top everything off, he’s often seen drinking himself into a stupor.”

  I winced at some of that. “I won’t deny, I’ve noticed he seems a little… invested in us being on friendlier terms now. I suspect even he doesn’t know what to think about me as I am now, especially if Grimoire told him anything about what I’ve been up to.”

  “Plus, he’s attracted to you.” Deacon added, almost as an after thought.

  I gave him a questioning look and he clarified. “I noticed it when he saw you at the manor. He was trying to hide it, but I noticed the tells right away. When Paige hugged you, the guy couldn’t take his eyes off you. There was a bit of jealousy there. He was also checking out your ass a lot whenever you were walking in front of him.”

  I blinked… “I… didn’t notice.”

  “No shit.” Deacon said, taking a sip from his mug. “And I didn’t see it as an issue, so I didn’t bring it up. I didn’t know it was a persistent behavior, however. I thought he was just noticing the changes from your stats increases. What’s your total for physical now?”

  I considered that as I added it up real quick. “145. I could bump it up to 154 and get a lot of traits, but I’d rather let my class handle it.”

  “Outdoorsman, right?” Deacon asked again.

  Elayne looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “You did all of that and don’t even have a combat class?”

  I shrugged, “Stats, skills, and traits seem more important than classes. I don’t know how it’s supposed to work, but I’m mostly just the class I am cause it gave me the bonuses I want. Like the Traction skill.”

  “Wait, Outdoorsman gives Traction? That was such a pain in the ass to train for!” Elayne exclaimed, a little louder than I was comfortable with.

  I looked around, but most people seemed to be into their own conversation. The bar had actually filled up quite a bit. “Maybe we should get out of here before talking more about that kind of thing?”

  “Why? Class information is available through the guild.” Zaion said simply. “Anyone can pay for classes and so long as you are a member or taking classes the guild library is free to use.”

  “Wait, really?” I asked, pulling out my own guild ID. “Maybe I should take a look.”