CHAPTER 4 – GODDESS’S CHOSEN

I arrive at the masterfully carved stone balustrade. My gaze sweeps all over the surrounding scenery. The castle’s balcony is positioned a few stories higher than the usual wooden and stone buildings, creating a perfect depiction of a medieval fantasy city. I have been expecting a great sight, but laying your own eyes on a real, full of life, medieval capital is just something unspeakable.

“Beautiful…” I mutter under my breath admiring the breathtaking scenery. I take a bite of my apple while looking around.

To my left, and to what I assume is also west, a shining golden beach and a sea or an ocean are located. This capital must be a coastal city. There are a dozen piers and a few smaller docks constructed there, but a lot of the glittering beach is a free and open space, perfect for some relaxation time.

Moving my eyes more to the middle and right, I can barely spot the external walls of the town. There are a lot of buildings, and even my otherworldly self can easily differentiate between the existing districts. Close to the castle must be a noble one, since all the houses and stores have a lot fancier finishings than the ones far further. The north side resembles a mercantile area with most of the constructions visibly proclaiming they are business ones. I can also spot a huge market with a lot of colourful stands. 

To the east and more inland, there are plenty of chimneys with some of them spewing smoke of various shades, definitely representing an industrial or artisanal district. Lots of large warehouses, forges and workshops of many kinds. Unfortunately, I can’t see what is behind the castle right now, but I guess there would be more housing areas since, in front of me, they are mostly squeezed around those districts mentioned before. The whole city is designed in a circle fashion, with rings of living quarters separating bigger districts. The whole scenery is something you’d usually see in those big CGI movies, and here I am, admiring this beautiful sight.

I gaze carefully at the sun’s position. If this planet or world is orbiting at a similar speed and distance from its… double suns… it should be a few hours after noon. While I’m working my brain over the differences in time between our worlds, the Court Magician Cornelia appears at my side and also takes a peek outside.

“How long is an hour here?” turning my head to her, I ask directly without any kind of warning. She looks at me slightly surprised, but answers nonetheless.

“That’s an interesting topic for your first ever question about our world. An hour consists of 60 minutes. I believe your next question would be about them. One minute is 60 seconds and also, 24 hours make a day.” She then extends her palm and proceeds to form a small hourglass out of ice. She places it on the railing and continues. “And one minute is exactly how long it takes for this hourglass to get filled.”

We stare at it in total silence. After 60 seconds, I confirm that there won’t be any issues related to time differences. Remembering something, I check my pocket. It’s still there. My smartphone. I pull it out and try unlocking it. Still works, with most of the battery power and obviously no signal. I quickly turn on the most efficient saving mode. I don’t think I will be able to charge it here, so let’s make the best use of it as long as I can. Then, I exactly do so. I open the camera app and take a panoramic shot of the city. I look at it satisfied and turn the phone off completely.

“What was that tool? Did you do something with it when it made that weird sound?”

Obviously, my spectator has noticed it. Now, how should I explain this? I could just say magic and be done, but that would be kind of a lie.

“Hmmmm… Do you have something like Illusion Magic here?”

“Yes, we naturally do,” she answers in a calm tone.

“Then, are you able to create an illusionary picture of a view you have seen somewhere in the past?”

“If it’s supposed to be a flat picture like a painting, then even novice illusionists are able to pull that off.”

“Well then. This tool has many functions, but what I just did was basically creating a flat illusion of the scenery in front of us and then storing it inside its… records or memory, if you can imagine it having something like that. Now, as long as it’s supplied with energy, I can recall the picture at any time to look at it. And no, it wasn’t magic, it’s a mechanical tool. Saying all that, it will run out of juice in a week or two and become useless, so I decided to make good use of it while I can.”

She has been nodding during my short explanation, so I guess she did manage to follow through.

The sound of a door being opened makes us turn around. The King enters alongside the priest we have seen in the throne room. He looks at me and then at the others.

“Now then. I believe this is a better place to explain everything and answer all the questions you most likely have been wanting to ask.” 

While speaking, he moves to the fancy chair and sits down. The priest stands slightly behind him, at his right side. Since he sits facing me, I decide to stay on the balcony. The breeze is just so enjoyable and refreshing.

“You said before that we won’t be able to use our powers right now. Why? When can we then? What do we have to do to unlock them?” 

Kamil eagerly barrages the King with questions about our supposed powers. I’d rather hear about our situation first, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be playing the representative role that much longer.

The King chuckles with a smug smile on his face. “I knew you would ask about this first. Well then. Let’s begin from the start. The inhabitants of this world have been blessed with the power to quantify their strengths and weaknesses, which also helps them develop the proper talents for them. Since you were not born in this world, you do not possess it… yet. You have been marked and pulled in by the Goddess to our realm and the inkling of this power has been implanted into you. And since you are all people with great potential, we believe you will be able to use it to the fullest, towering over the common denizens.”

He then gestures over to the man standing behind him, who lowers his head.

“With the help of our Archpriest Nerphym here, we will be able to awaken this inkling.”

Kamil starts visibly fidgeting in excitement. I’m amazed he can stay this calm in front of fun things, but I guess even he knows it would be bad to fuck up in this situation.

The King continues. “Shall we proceed then?” He sees Kamil is already standing up. “Just let the Archpriest circulate his mana around your body.”

Kamil approaches Nerphym and stands in front of him with expectant eyes. All the others are also glancing at them curiously. Who wouldn’t be curious about magic?

The priest grabs his left hand and places his own over it. He closes his eyes to concentrate. A few seconds later, they are both surrounded by a golden-white aura, which starts concentrating on Kamil’s palm. After the other man steps back, the aura subsides, leaving a glowing mark on top of the boy’s palm. I can’t really see its details from this far.

“Cool!” Kamil happily announces while investigating his new, glowing tattoo. “Hey, Shino! Aren’t I now like that idiot with red hair from one of the cartoons you spoke about with Natalie? I forgot its name... Maybe I can summon spirits like him too!” He laughs while spinning in circles with his hand up in the air.

“The series is called Destiny and you are the idiot. It’s one of the biggest anime franchises around the world with many novels, comics, animated movies and games. Knowing you, even if it was possible, you would end up summoning an old farmer from the Edo period at best.” She throws a jab back at him while rolling her eyes. Natalie and Marcia chuckle at her remark. The latter one stands up next.

“My turn now! Can’t be late to the party!”

She then undergoes the same procedure, and so does everyone. After being done, they sit again in their previous spots and keep gloatingly stroking their palms in awe. The priest starts walking to me even before I can react, so I meet him in the middle. But, I don’t immediately put up my hand. I glance over others' symbols and a thought rushes through my mind.

「This thing is pretty oblivious. Wouldn’t it be bad to walk around with a flashlight attached to your palm? And even if it wasn’t glowing, a weird symbol on your hand will definitely attract some attention. We know nothing about this world yet.」

The priest noticing my visible hesitation speaks. “Is there any problem?”

“Does it have to be located on the top of your palm? I’m not going to lie, having a glowing mark in such a visible spot is just like telling everyone ‘Hey! I’m different!’. I don’t see those on any of you, so I guess it’s not something every inhabitant of this world possesses.”

The priest looks at me and then at the King, who faintly smiles.

“You are intriguing me with every single word you speak. While others quietly awakened their blessings, you first thought about possible implications. You are quite clever.”

“I disagree, Your Majesty. It was just a simple matter of connecting facts. If I was truly clever, I would have realized this even before the first person underwent the procedure.”

“I see. A humble one at that. Well, I can reassure you that this symbol, which is called the Hero Sigil, should be able to become hidden with just the will of the owner.”

And with that, I notice how Shino’s and Paul’s sigils stop glowing and after a moment fade out, leaving no trace of it behind.

「Guess I was worried for nothing.」

I give my hand to the priest and he starts channelling something through it. I can feel a warm, pulsing sensation circulate through my body and then gather in my hand. It’s refreshing. Like I have just been washed from all the accumulated fatigue and stress. The awakening ends.

I look at the top of my hand and now I can see it in full detail. The sigil looks kinda like an oversized axe with dual, long blades, reaching almost to the bottom of its handle, which ends in a diamond-shaped protrusion. The head of the axe is caved in, roundly. In this space, a double circle is placed in the centre.

「Kamil was right. It does look similar to the master’s order from Destiny.」

I try to imagine it not being there and it slowly fades out. It then appears again when I think about it showing up. Handy.

“So… what now?” This time Marcia asks a question since Kamil is too lost in admiring his own hand.

“You have now established a proper connection with our world and the Goddess. Try invoking the most basic ability, which is Status,” the King answers.

Everyone murmurs or says it loudly and again the gasps of amazement and shock fills the room.

「So now we get a system out of an RPG? Let’s see if it works with just a thought. Status. Good, at least we don’t have to use verbal commands.」

A flat, semi-transparent, navy blue window appears in front of my face, with a list of options positioned like in a menu of some game. It includes entries like Full Summary, Information, Stats or Skills. I try focusing on the very first option and the contents change.