It was clear that Rex wasn't sure what to say. Then again it made sense. How would someone answer 'how was life with humans?' when it was all they knew?. 

After a long pause, the Rodenti spoke up. "Life was good. Happy. Great grandfather created clan."

Michael tilted his head. "So the dad of your grandfather created the clan?"

"What? No. Much longer than that. It was his grandfather's grandfather's grandfather."

"Then, wouldn't that make him your great great great great grandfather?" Michael asked, with Rex just staring at him as if he was going crazy.

"I think you are missing a few greats on that one," Riley pulled her cloak over her body like a blanket and got comfortable on the floor. 

Rex shrugged, "Don't count that far. Ancestor. Great grandfather only great because he was great. Powerful, strong, did many things. So great grandfather."

"Oh, my bad. I thought... never mind, please continue," the archer replied a bit awkwardly. But in a sense, none of us could blame him. The way Rex spoke about his ancestors really made it feel like it was just his great grandfather. But Rex just shook his head and returned to his story.

"Took time to be who are today. Even after getting System. Many generations before could walk with feet. Before could use hands. Many more before."

"And how long does a generation last? For Rodenti?" Riley questioned.

"Between three and five years. Some much longer but rare. My family now can live until 10."

We all exchanged glances but didn't say anything. It was the same sort of thing that happened with Wistra. One of the differences in our species that was hard to wrap our heads around. I mean, Rex was saying that an elder for him was 10 years old. But every single one of us was in our twenties. Even their eldest member would be half our age.

"And how old are you again, little man?" I asked.

"Rex 3 years old," the Rodenti said with much pride in his voice. "Many don't survive this long. Many die before becoming adults."

"Why?" Riley asked.

Rex paused. "We do. Don't already strong. Adults already powerful. Adults can level up. Adults can Remember."

And the way he said that last word felt a bit strange. As if he wasn't just speaking about recalling things. But no one else seemed to notice that. Still, I couldn't let it go.

"What do you mean by that? Remember? You are not talking about just thinking are you?"

Rex shook his head. "No no. Talks about remembering past. Real Remember."

"I'm sorry, but I still don't get it."

Rex paused and looked at me. "Can't you Remember what happened before?"

"Before when?"

"Before you born. What happened with parents. Grandparents."

We all paused and exchanged looks.

"You can access the memories of your ancestors?" Riley asked.

"Yes. Can't you?"

We shook our heads.

"Does that come from a skill?" I leaned forward.

"Yes. Called. Ancestors are everlasting. Let remember things that happened with those who came before. It means Rex can remember what happened with father, mother, grandfather, grandmother and more."

"But how? What does that make you? Essentially like a version of them?" Riley asked. 

I could understand where they were coming from. This sounded very similar to what Wistra was doing. Inheriting the memories of the previous generation. But Rex shook his head.

"Can't remember everything. Only big things. Big lessons. One was mother's mother, long time ago, almost drowned. Rex know how swim. Another ancestor, really good at earth magic. Rex follow. That's why Rex can do powerful things with weak skill."

"So you don't remember everything but you remember small pieces of information that they left behind? Like how to survive certain things or things that made them more powerful?" I tried to clarify.

Rex nodded again. "Yes, yes."

"Do you get to pick? Like what exactly do you remember?" Michael scratched his head. 

Rex shook his head but he paused and then nodded. "Not pick. But Rex can try to remember. If Rex does something ancestors did, more likely for Rex to remember."

"So there's nothing that you're forced to remember?" I asked, still worried about what that meant. 

"Always remembers. Why force?" Rex had a confused expression. 

"I don't know, but you're in the middle of something and a memory pops up. Won't you stop to see what happened?" I explained. 

The Rodenti chuckled, "Just memory. Rex doesn't freeze. Just remember."

"Does that still happens?" Michael asked.

With a nod, our little companion said, "It does. Even today. Rex working on model, remember how to build with sand. Memory from ancestor. Didn't stop me do anything. Just remember."

I was feeling a bit uneasy about that. After all, I couldn't imagine all of a sudden having a memory that I didn't have before. Something that came from someone else. It felt very invasive, even if it was just remembering that this happened. Thankfully, Rex wasn't proficient enough at understanding our facial expressions to realize what we were thinking.

It was Astrid who stepped in to change everything. 

"You like?" The Huskcarver asked. 

"Very much. Makes Rex happy. Remember how father felt when mother said wanted kids."

"Good to know you are happy."

And with that, any issues that I had with the skill slowly melted away. Sure, there was a part of me that was still bothered by it, but I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to have the skill. To be able to felt about the idea of having me. It could be a very good thing. While at the same time, if you were not someone who was wanted it could be bad. 

Maybe there were some Rodenti who were in a cycle of terrible struggle because every generation hated their offspring, which just created this compound version of generational trauma. There was no Rodenti we ever saw who was that angry. Or that upset with the world. Maybe the System was stopping those stronger feelings from seeping through. Or, they were just different enough from humans that the thought of not wanting a child never crossed their minds.

"That's really cool, little man. But what was life like, you know? What was fun?" Michael changed the topic.

"It was. Rex's chief's son. So, able to study. Rex first of class!"

"Oh, you have school too? How long does it last?"

"One full year. Long time."

I held back a chuckle. That was not even a fifth of the time that I spent teaching children just so they could have the basics. Only then they would specialize in something else.

"After learning, Rex decided to become mage. Make clan more powerful, more safe. Rex's father always happy to see children helping. Always happy with sons and daughters decisions."

"Even Rixnala?" Riley asked.

"And that's not it, yes. Sister may be angry. And don't like Rex. But sister strong. Powerful and smart. Stupid at times but smart."

We all nodded in agreement until he continued to tell us a bit more about his people. Aside from that ability to remember things from their ancestors, I couldn't see that many differences between the Rodenti and humans. With the biggest difference, aside from the ability to remember things that happened with their ancestors, being the fact that they were not very fond of farming. 

Which made sense. If a Rodenti only lived until 10, why would any of them try to grow a crop that required two or three years before it would bear fruit? Instead, they were more scavengers and hunters. But they'd learned across the years how to do those things without disturbing the environment too much. That way they wouldn't be trapped without a source of food in the location they were living at. It was very incredible to think about it, especially considering how I knew that the old world and the humans who lived there were not able to do the same.

They were also very family-oriented. Which made sense considering the Rodenti's exclusive skill. Everybody would always do their best to be nice to their families or at least have the best intentions when doing anything with them. But I wasn't entirely sure if that was a cultural thing or a consequence of the skill. 

After all, if I had the knowledge that at any point in the future my children would be able to remember what I was feeling at any given point, I would be somewhat worried pretty much all the time. Imagine if at some point, I thought that I regretted having children and then their yet to be born sister got that memory in the future. 

I don't know if they would be able to cope with that. I wasn't the one who had to worry about that kind of thing. Rex was the person who had that skill, and maybe the way he was raised was enough to solve any issues that he might be having with those kinds of thoughts.

Changing the topic, "What kind of classes do your people use to get? We only have us for reference, but I always wondered about the types of classes people can get with the System," Riley asked.

Honestly, that was a question that I should have asked before, too. But for some reason, the thought never occurred to me.

"Rodenti have many classes. Many many. Hardly ever see two Rodenti with same class. Only if part of guard."

"Guard?" Astrid asked.

Rex gave her a nod. "Yes, guard. Village guard. Get the same class, you follow the same training. Strong, helpful, but only if you are guard."

"But are classes always about fighting? Or do you see things like the builder that you got or the Tailor that Astrid got as subclasses as main classes?"

"See both. Class not just for fight. More common, yes, but not just. Magic is hard. Only tier 2. Rex was lucky. Got mage tier 1. Thanks to ancestor. But mostly various classes. Some better in city, some better in wild. All very proud. All very good."

"So to you, our classes are not weird or anything?"

Rex stared at me for a moment. "Why would classes be weird?"

"I... I don't know. I don't really have a frame of reference for this. So I was just asking."

Rex shook his head. "No no. No class weird."

We continued talking, sharing a bit about the stranger aspects of the differences between our species. For instance, the Rodenti didn't really play sports. But the game that almost every single one loved was tag. They had big competitions and things like that. 

At one point, Riley asked about the Rat King, if Rex understood what that was. But the Rodenti shook his head, saying that he had no idea about a king. The Silken Witch then explained how a Rat King is a group of rats that have their tails tangled until they are stuck in a way that they can't get free from each other. That became something that terrified our little companion. Proof of that was the fact that later that night, he woke me up.

"Rex? Is everything ok?" I asked as he shook me awake.

"Rex… scared. What if tail get's tangled?"

"There are no other Rodenti here. You can't get your tail entangled." 

"But.. What if rat comes?"

I sighed, looking at him made me think about my old students. And how they acted when they were scared. Which made me do the same thing I would do in that case "Do you want to sleep here?"

Rex nodded and quickly went under the Pelt of Frost that I was using as a blanket, and we slept together, both of us wearing the pillow hats made by Astrid.

Honestly, I wasn't opposed to doing that again. Rex's fur was surprisingly soft, and it was very cozy to sleep with him like that. Almost as if I were sleeping with a teddy bear.

When morning came, we left the mansion and continued our journey. This time, Rex was more or less aware of a possible Rodenti village nearby. We were going to go there to see if we could find more people to help with the attack on the Eater's nest. If everything went well, Rex would finally get his army, and that would allow him to be more well respected by his father. As a matter of fact, as long as he was able to be the leader of an army, it seemed like he was going to be in the running to be the next village chief. Which was something that could already happen even though he was just 3 years old.

The village that Rex seemed to know truly was where he was thinking. Just two days away from our current position. Although what we saw was not the village itself but a field where they were fighting against another force. Humans. Yet, despite the fight, no one was dying. The weapons they were using were all blunt, and every time they hit someone too hard to make them pass out, the surrounding people would stop and check their pulse before continuing to punch each other.

We stopped and watched that scene for a moment before Michael stepped forward. "Okay, I have to stop that. That's not healthy."

"Dude, you don't even know what's happening," I protested.

But he was already halfway towards the field.

"So what? They're killing each other like that."

"Not killing," Astrid added, but she was also moving together with the archer.

"I don't care if they're not killing. We need to stop this," Michael said was he walked forward.