As I haven't been posting as often, I'm going to start including a 'previously' section at the top if I'm using different characters than the previous chapter. Let me know if you think it should be longer or shorter or different somehow.

-Tas

At the end of Part 6…

Aria and Nameless have made it to the last village, Warik, which rests on the edge of the massive forest to the north of Ilos. They have a sizable lead on the rest of the champions, and haven’t seen anyone for several days. However, it is going to take two days of travel to reach the next city, so they decide to rest longer than normal and leave at dawn rather than traveling through the night like they have been to avoid the stronger enemies that roamed the grasslands they must travel through.

Nameless leaves in the middle of the night, silently disappearing from the village without a trace and began traveling towards the next town until a few hours after dawn, then found a small flattened patch of grass that was invisible for the road and settled down to sleep there.

The girl will surely be fine on her own. Best sever ties with her before I become attached. I am a loner, and she'll be better off not following the path I've set for myself. If we ever meet again I hope it won’t be at the end of my blade.

Part 10

Chapter 5: Ilos, Day 8

I awoke just before dawn, the light of the sun showing only the faintest glimmer on the horizon, having had a good night’s rest without the interruption of nightmares. Sleeping fully clothed was more or less normal at this point, though I knew it was just an excuse to not have another reminder of how much different I was now. I grabbed my quarterstaff, heading down the stairs to the common room to get the bread and water I ate at every meal.

Thankfully there were no other patrons at this hour of the morning, and seeing no one at the bar to ask about food, I followed the smells coming from the kitchen. The cook was up already as well as one of her assistants, and they looked up from kneading dough as I came through the door. Angie and… Kalinda I think.

“Why hello dear, what brings you in here so early in the morning?”

I smiled at her, “Just some bread and water Angie, I’ll be heading out soon.”

“You’re a busy young thing then. Come and sit down, the bread will be ready soon.” She replied, pulling up a stool from where it sat by the back doorway.

“Thank you.” I took the stool from her, setting it against the wall by the door and propping my quarterstaff up next to it. The stool was just tall enough that I had to jump to get myself seated on it, and I sighed a little as I settled myself on it, my feet swinging in midair. It wasn’t an abnormally large stool either, I was just that short. Thankfully my hair wasn’t long enough to get caught under me when I sat down somewhere, but if it grew any longer I would likely have that problem.

Angie went about her business as I sat there, reviewing the words of power I knew. It was important to repeat them often so I didn’t forget any from disuse. To help with this, I’d attached a brief description to each to help me remember what they did as well as the word itself. Thankfully there weren’t that many, as magic in Ilos was mostly dependent on the caster for the effect.

“Fas. Fire. Faspos. Boil. Fassir. Lightning. Pos. Water. Possir. Gather water. Res. Earth. Resde. Strengthen. Reslos. Fortify. Cir. Air. Ka. Life. Su. Spirit. Etsu. Sleep. Sures. Spirit shield. Ci. Light. Kasi. Healing light. Cires. Light barrier. Fassi. Burning light. Tu. Dark. Restu. Shadow wall. Postu. Freezing shadow.”

I’d repeated this mantra pretty much every night when I was back on Earth, but it simply hadn’t crossed my mind to do it here until now.

I focused for a moment. Speaking of magic… Ci. Tu.

Two orbs appeared before me, each about the size of a baseball, one made of the purest white light, the other of the deepest black shadow. I slowly shrank the orbs until I no longer felt the drain on my mana, signaling that I was using slightly less then I was regenerating. This was one of the easiest ways to gain experience in magic, because even if you didn’t do anything with it, just using mana to sustain a spell of an element increased your experience in that element. That it happened to be an amusing distraction when you had nothing else to do? Well that was a bonus.

The orbs spun in a lazy orbit around an arbitrary point in front of me, gradually increasing in speed until my eyes could no longer separate them. I stopped them with a thought, admiring the sharp edges the magic in Ilos operated on. There was no slowing, one second they were spinning faster than the eye could follow, the next they were unmoving, simply one thing, then the other. I split the orbs into many smaller spheres, then molded them into rings of varying size so they fit one inside the other. Arraying them so they matched up on a flat plane, I slowly started them spinning, enjoying the mental challenge of keeping track of thirteen alternating rings all rotating in different directions, seven made of light, six from shadow. One by one, starting from the smallest ring, I sped them up until they danced in a mesmerizing pattern, then began adding color. Red for the one in the center, orange for the next smallest band of light, then yellow, green, indigo, blue, and violet, a kaleidoscope of color spinning in front of me.

I looked up to see Angie and Kalinda completely mesmerized by my display. The cook held a large wooden tray with several loaves of steaming bread fresh out of the oven, having apparently forgotten she was holding them. The chorus of spinning light and shadow vanished, replaced by simple bands on my wrists.

I flushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be a distraction.”

“N-No, no, it was… Ah!” Angie seemed to realize she was still holding the freshly baked loaves and moved to set them down on the large table in the middle of the room.

“That was incredible Miss Aria! How did you do that!?” Kalinda spoke for the first time, her excitement overcoming her shyness.

I winced. “Please Kalinda, just Aria.”

“She remembered my name!” The girl gasped softly to herself.

“And was just magic, basic magic at that.” I shrugged. “Just takes a little bit of practice.”

“Can you teach me? Please?” She bubbled, pressing her hands together and staring at me with pleading in her eyes.

“Kalinda! Don’t be rude.” Angie cut in, glaring at her assistant. “Don’t mind her dear, she’s just too starstruck to remember what she’s supposed to be doing.”

“I don’t mind, really. I’d even teach you if you can set down your duties for a few minutes, it really isn’t that complicated.” I replied.

“You- You would?” The older woman asked. “But, I couldn’t find any way to repay you! I couldn’t impose like that, especially not on a champion!”

I smiled at her softly. “I’ll tell you what, you give me two of those loaves, one for each of you, and I’ll consider that fair payment.”

“But- But-“

“I get to decide what teaching is worth to me, and this time it’s two loaves of your wonderful fresh bread. Besides, I’m not even completely sure all Ilosians can make it work, so you’ll end up doing me a favor too. Now come over here.”

I waited while the two women looked at each other before shuffling over to stand in front of my stool. Looking up to meet people’s eyes was still a bit startling, but I was slowly getting used to it. “Magic works like this. Everyone has mana, an energy that you use to cast spells, that replenishes over time, much like a well. As you use more magic that well gets deeper, holding more water and filling faster. Words of power are used like buckets, retrieving the energy and giving it a shape. Finally, you use the water to accomplish a purpose by imagining what you want to do.”

Both women nodded, signaling their understanding of my hasty metaphor. Seeing that, I held out one of my tiny hands, palm up. “By imagining a small flame down to the smallest detail, I can use a word of power to make it real. Fas.”

They pulled back, startled at the tiny flame that appeared floating over my open palm, no bigger than what a candle could sustain. “Now you try. You should be able to duplicate this if you try a couple of times. Just look at the flame and try to imagine it floating over your own hand, then say fas. Don’t worry if you don’t get it on the first-“

“Fas.”

I cut myself off, smiling at the small flame hovering above Kalinda’s hand before she gasped, the break in concentration causing the fire to vanish. So it appears even a cook’s assistant in a tiny village on the edge of a forest can use magic if she knows what to do. Is it just chance that I stumbled upon someone who has the talent for it? I watched the two women silently as they exclaimed over the simple spell, and after a few minutes Angie was also able to cause a small flame to appear, though she couldn’t hold it more than a second or two in her excitement. I let my own fire go out, lowering my hand. I should test this in other villages as well. If any Ilosian can be taught magic this quickly, why haven’t they been? It would significantly bolster the defenses of any village if there were even one or two mages about, and even more so if everyone could cast a few simple spells. I know there are mages in the capitol, so why has this knowledge not spread to the populace?

“-ia? Miss Aria?”

I blinked, looking up to see the two women looking at me with concern. “Hm? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something. Say, do you have pen and pape- ah parchment? I can write down some more words of power and how to use them so you can teach the rest of the village. I’m sure you will be a lot safer from the animals and monsters around here if you can just set them on fire from a distance.”

“But we’ve no way to repay you! That would be a gift beyond value!” Angie exclaimed.

I thought for a few seconds. “Well, how about this. This involves the whole village, so I’m taking the two of you with me to go see the mayor, and if he feels the same way then he can find some way to repay me, though I'm not going to ask for anything. I'm doing this because I want to.”

“The mayor!” Kalinda squeaked.

“I’d like to, but the bread…”

“Ah, that’s right, I’ll just take Kalinda then, if you can do without her for a little while?”

“But-“

“I think I can handle it, go ahead and take her.” Angie smiled at the stuttering girl and made shooing motions with her hands. “I’ll have your bread for you when you get back Aria.”

“Angie! I can’t- the mayor- I-“

“Come along then, I’ll be leaving soon and we should do this quickly.” I said, hopping down from the stool and easily dragging the bewildered girl out the back door.

“Have fun Linda!” Angie called after us.

The horizon to the east showed the slightest glow of light, the dawn and my departure time fast approaching. I hurried Kalinda to the mayor’s house, knocking on the door with my little hand. After a short wait, the door opened to reveal an older rather rotund man by the name of Courtan, the village of Warik’s mayor.

He blinked, obviously not quite awake, but unless he slept in his clothes like I did he’d already been up when I knocked. “Ah, Aria, what can I do for you? And why is Kalinda attempting to hide behind you?”

“Well, I was doing an experiment with Angie and Kalinda, and they seemed to think a couple loaves of bread was not sufficient payment for me teaching them how to use magic. Oh, and if you have pen and parchment I would like to use them.”

“You taught Angie and Kalinda how to use magic?” He gasped.

“Yes. It’s fairly simple, so I figured all of Warik could benefit and came over here. If you have a few minutes I could probably teach you as well. I’d just have Kalinda show you, but this is all pretty sudden and somehow I doubt she’d be able to summon the concentration to do anything.” I answered, glancing at the nervous girl.

“Kalinda, both you and Angie have used magic?”

“Y-yes Mayor.”

He nodded. “Alright, thank you for coming over here. You can go back to the kitchen if you’d like.” Kalinda scurried off and the mayor stood back, holding the door for me. “Come in Aria, if you would, and we can continue this conversation over some tea.”

“While I appreciate the offer Mayor, I must leave soon, so if we could simply skip the niceties…?” I said, stepping through the door.

“Ah, I see, well then at least come and take a seat while we talk.”

I took the offered chair, a comfortable thing, though a little large for me, as Courtan moved another seat to face mine.

“I have never known Kalinda to lie, so what she has said about magic must be true. However, I find it hard to believe that the inn’s cook and her helper can now do such miraculous things as I have heard champions can do.”

“Oh they’re hardly going to be healing grievous wounds or summoning rain quite yet. They can make a small flame like this one, but that’s about it.” I replied, saying the word of power inside my head and creating the same small flame I’d used earlier in the air between us.

He started back, surprised, but then leaned forwards, examining the fire. “Amazing. And you say this is simple to learn?”

“Yes. That is why I asked for pen and parchment, so I could copy down both the words of power and how to use them to cast spells like this one.”

“For the whole village to be able to use magic… such a thing would be incredible! What are you asking of us for such a gift?”

I shrugged. “I wasn’t expecting anything for it.”

He was silent for a moment, then stood. “I see. I will fetch your pen and parchment.”

I could have asked for something, and in all practicality I should have. I could have used some of the potions and gear they have here, but… this is a chance for a new start. No one knows me or what I’m like, and people will remember if I lie to them or go back on my word. I already told Angie I wasn’t asking for anything from the mayor, so I can’t do that.

Courtan walked back in with a few pieces of rough parchment, an ink pot, and a quill, placed them on the table in front of me, and sat back down in his chair. I uncorked the inkpot and dipped the quill in it, and started writing, copying down my earlier instructions as well as all of the words of power I knew with the exception of Light and Shadow.

It was the work of minutes, even having to use an ink pot and quill, and soon enough I turned the pages so the mayor could see. He read them silently, then looked up at me. “This is it? This is the secret to using magic? It’s so… simple! A child could learn this!”

I nodded. “That’s all there is to it, though it takes a little bit to get used to the idea.”

“Give me a moment before you leave Aria, I have something I must retrieve.” Courtan said as he stood.

I glanced out the window. I should have a few minutes before Nameless leaves, and I can catch him if he tries to leave me behind. “Alright.”

Leaning back in the chair, I grimaced at the bands of light and shadow still residing on my wrists. I can’t believe I wasted so many days not doing this. I have to be better than that. No one is going to take me seriously looking like this, so I need to be able to overpower anyone I come across, and that means being as efficient as possible.

The mayor came back in, interrupting my thoughts. He was holding a small wooden box, which he set on the table and pushed towards me. “I’ve been told this is incredibly valuable, but no one will buy such a thing, so I’ve been keeping it here. Perhaps you will be able to figure out what to do with it.”

I reached out and lifted the lid, revealing what looked to be a small but wide iron bangle with nine ovular lumps encircling it at even intervals. Lifting it out, I hefted it, surprised at the weight, before tapping it with a finger bringing out its information window.

<An iron bangle. It’s much heavier than expected for an item of such size. It has no special attributes that you can ascertain.>

Standing, I slipped the bangle on my left arm, sliding it up under my sleeve until it fit snugly near my shoulder, then bowed. “I’m not sure what it is either, but there’s no telling what it may do. Thank you for the gift Mayor, but if you will excuse my rudeness, I must depart.”

“I am sorry to see you go. Thank you for all you’ve done here Aria, you and your companion have been a great boon to us.” He said, returning the bow.

I felt a smile bloom on my face. “Thank you Mayor Courtan, it was my pleasure.”

When I got back to the inn, I saw no sign of Nameless, and with the sun now peeking above the horizon, I was fairly sure he had already left.

Angie came out to meet me, holding a bag with the promised loaves of bread. “Here you are Aria, thank you again for everything, and if you are ever in the area please come back and say hello.”

I smiled. “Of course Angie, I couldn’t miss your cooking! Oh, have you seen my companion come down?”

“I haven’t, no.” She answered, shaking her head. “I’d better get back to the kitchen, no doubt Linda is ignoring the food and messing with that little flame of hers.”

“Alright, thanks Angie.”

Just to be safe, I burned time munching on one of the loaves of bread in the coolness of the morning’s light, admiring the vibrant hues of the sunrise. When the color faded and there was still no sight of my traveling companion, I opened my inventory, stored the extra food, then walked out of the village. Time to run him down.

The terrain outside the village was grassland more than anything else, though hilly enough to hide the surrounding landscape, and the smooth dirt road allowed me to accelerate to unbelievable speeds. Granted, it wasn’t that fast, but it was much faster than I had ever been able to go, even at a dead sprint, in my old body.

It was odd how different I ran now, how weirdly I moved in every action, but I was starting to get used to it. I’d been walking, fighting, and running in this new body for eight days now, and the system assist was slowly training me how to move correctly. I still had to rely on it a lot, too much really, but I’d no other choice. If I resisted this tiny female body of mine, if I struggled to walk and act like the man I was, I would likely die to some monster.

I didn’t want to. I hated, no, I loathed the way people looked at me, how they treated me, and it burned to know there was nothing I could do about it. That’s why I felt so attached to Nameless, why I needed him. He was an anchor, a connection to the real me, and I needed that right now, or this place was going to dive me insane. I was changing, even occasionally thinking of myself as Aria and not David, but I felt safe with him nearby to keep me me. As long as he was around, this was just another role in some RPG, if a bit more immersive, and I could relax.

But… can I trust him? I think so, as long as help rather than hinder, but I’m still essentially an unwanted tag-along to him. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him attempt to ditch me.

At that thought, a coldness took hold of my heart, a coldness that slowly grew as I traveled down that lonely road.

An hour passed, then two, then five, and I drove myself onwards, the knowledge that I would find him on the road dwindling, reduced to a hope, then to a dream, and even that faded as the sun began to set. A single thought pushed me forwards, repeating over and over in my head. No. Not yet. Don’t leave me yet.

The light faded and Ilos’ moon replaced its sun, a full glowing circle much bigger than Earth’s. The stars shone down on me, glittering in unfamiliar constellations, and a swath of color slowly moved across the heavens, the Tear I’d heard it called. I saw none of it. I sprinted ahead as fast as I could, as if I could run away from my fears, slowing only to kill anything that dared attack me. The landscape rushed by, each hill looking just like the next with only the twists in the road to tell them apart.

Then, cresting a high hill, I saw it in the distance. Nestled in an enormous valley, surrounded by flat land, it boasted walls of stone and torchlight from patrolling guards, its iron-reinforced gates closed to protect itself against the creatures that roamed the night, my destination, the city of Travant.

I stopped, scanning the now exposed road for any trace of my companion in the bright moonlight, but found nothing. The last trace of hope I’d held on to vanished like smoke, leaving an unsettling emptiness. He’s gone. Just like Nick. Just like Jess. Just like my mom, and dad, and sister. Just like my home and my world and my friends. Just like my gender and my body.

Just like everything and everyone I’ve ever known.

Something dripped on my hands. My vision was watery, my sight shimmering. I stared at my hands, my tiny soft hands, clutched together in my lap. I was on my knees for some reason, sitting on my heels, and I was shaking.

I’m… crying?

And as the unfamiliar heavens shone down on me in all their glory, I sat there in the middle of the road, with my head tilted back, and just let the tears stream down my face.

Alone.