I immediately summoned a heating spell to heat Arlun, it seemed that I was once again getting low on mana. If I got much lower then I’d have to stop, or risk getting into that position again. But I couldn’t exactly let Arlun die on me either. I’d have to cut costs elsewhere.There was some food left from yesterday…

Arlun stopped shivering about five minutes into the spell. Most people would have been alright in 3. This fog had clearly messed up Arlun badly, his body seemed to have lowered its degree of acceptance towards heat and was being particularly harsh on magic heat.

At least that was changing back to normal. I needed to find out why that fog had done this. Perhaps Arlun could give a clue? There clearly had been some interactions between the two of them. It took a while for Arlun to be back to normal, even longer than I had thought, but finally he was back and seemed to be regaining consciousness.

“So, do you mind telling me what happened?” I asked Arlun as soon as he was well enough to answer.

“I do not know your highness…I think I had a nightmare” Arlun said, making minor shakes of his head as he spoke.

“I doubt it. The camp was attacked by a construct of the Mind element. To be exact, you were attacked, we were just collateral damage. So, do tell me what happened.” Isaid

Arlun thus described to me a rather bewildering scene. The only motive that I could discern from it was that perhaps the fog had wanted to see Arlun’s stat sheet. The why was something I'd figure out later. Perhaps Arlun’s stat sheet could give some clues.

“Could you please show me the stat sheet?” I asked, phrasing it as a request. Politeness was never useless after all.

Arlun seemed unwilling to do such a thing. I suppose having a fake me betray him may reduce his trust in the real me.

“I can show you most of mine if you show me yours.” I said, taking a chance. Hiding the titles should keep up the ruse right?

Arlun looked surprised at the offer. Apparently, a noble showing him his skills had never occurred to him.

I took a plunge and decided to show the stat sheet first.

“Show”

Name

Alforien Arlford

Gender

Male

Species

Banmeru

Age

7 months

Class

[The Known: The Final Step]

Skills

[Otherworldly mana manipulation] [ Force of Will] [Conversion] [Meditation]

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

112

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

161

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

102

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

113

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

133

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

138

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

134

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

119

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

124

Magic Affinities

Fire[One of the greatest sources of Light and Heat in the universe, you have Greater Affinity for Fire]

97.14%

Earth[Essential for life, earth is what renders things solid, you have a Greater affinity for Earth]

99.87%

Mind[The consciousness and its relation to reality, you have Lesser affinity for Mind]

17.35%

Chaos[Everything shall be anything but what it should be, no thing shall remain as it should, you have a Lesser affinity for Chaos]

19.76%

Grandmist[The base substance that all subatomic particles are made off, you have Lesser affinity for Grandmist]

27.39%

Space [The building block of dimensions, you have an Outrageous affinity for Space

199.998%

Time[A mysterious force, you have a Minor affinity for Time]

01.15%

Will [The force that propels you through life, you have Minor affinity for Will]

9.81%

Force[The building block of Kinetic interactions, you have Minor affinity for Force

9.81%

Arlun then reciprocated by showing his.

Name

Arlun

Gender

Male

Species

Banmeru

Age

21 years

Affiliation

None

Mate

None

Skills

[Swordsmanship. Lvl 15] [Martial Combat. Lvl 21]...

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

973

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

1056

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

678

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

799

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

805

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

701

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

695

Magic[The ability to cast Magic]

101

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

1576

Magic Affinities

Fire[One of the greatest sources of Light and Heat in the universe, you have Greater Affinity for Fire]

Unknown

Earth[Essential for life, earth is what renders things solid, you have a Greater affinity for Earth]

Unknown

Mind[The consciousness and its relation to reality, you have Lesser affinity for Mind]

Unknown

Chaos[Everything shall be anything but what it should be, no thing shall remain as it should, you have a Lesser affinity for Chaos]

Unknown

Grandmist[The base substance that all subatomic particles are made off, you have Lesser affinity for Grandmist]

Unknown

Space [The building block of dimensions, you have an Outrageous affinity for Space

Unknown

Time[A mysterious force, you have a Minor affinity for Time]

Unknown

Will [The force that propels you through life, you have Minor affinity for Will]

Unknown

Force[The building block of Kinetic interactions, you have Minor affinity for Force

Unknown

“...” What was this? Did the System change on me while I wasn’t looking? Why was the sheet green? What happened to the titles? And Class? And why were the stats so low? Though I suppose it made sense that they were low. If they were higher than they wouldn’t have been threatened by my Magic.

But so low? Did the stats perhaps mean different things too? Ugh…why was the System playing with me again?

Suddenly I received a prompt from the System.

You have come in contact with an older version of the System from the Bygone Ages. You are in a special realm where the System cannot interfere. Please remove the offending hosts so the System may update their Systems. Your actions will be rewarded.

Please note that aiding them to exploit the flaws present within the older System will earn you harsh punishment.

The System was practically rude in the message. The language suggested that it was one of the System’s automated responses while the rudeness suggested that the system was just angry.

I, for one, was not too pleased by the System’s behaviour. It was not my fault that the Trial used a System from the Bygone Ages! There weren’t even records of a person encountering an older version of a System! How was I to know that this was how it would turn out?

Now I needed to make sense of the stat sheet while not letting Arlun in on the fact that I did not know anything about how his stats worked.

Arlun

Arlun was puzzled by the stat sheet that the prince had shown him, though it seemed the prince was puzzled by his too. At least that was what he presumed from the prince’s expression. The stat sheet was blue with no provision for mates and had something called a class!

Was this a system for nobles? Was this why they were always so much more powerful? A different system just for the nobles? The stats on the sheet were ridiculous for a 7 month old baby. Though it did solve his doubt that the baby would be more powerful than him at his young age, it made for a greater problem.

The baby was no normal baby. Unless all babies were as powerful as Army Captains among nobles, he was not looking at Alforien the random prince among hundreds of princes. The one he was looking at was, ‘Alforien, Crown Prince of the Kingdom’ or at least one of the main candidates for the position. And he might have just told this Crown Prince that he was a Wild Mage.

“So…you have a different system…” And there it came, the Prince had spoken…now it was time for Arlun to answer and prepare to run away. Perhaps he wouldn't have to kill the Prince and draw the ire of the Kingdom?

“So is this the reason you have not killed that noble of yours? You could not level? What is your plan now that you have?” The Prince said, strangely enough, his voice was not threatening. There seemed to be no ill intent hidden within the words. But that could easily be the prince speaking like a noble. They were experts on saying something and meaning another as far as he knew.

“Yes, your highness, I was not powerful enough before, and I doubt I am now.” Arlun replied.

“Very well…we shall have to figure out what the caster of that construct wanted but for now I think it is best to let this remain as is. Have you made any progress in learning your Magic?” The Prince asked. Was the Prince…ignoring his common origins? Or was the System just for Royals?...Arlun had heard that Princess Arianna was kind and was trying to get more rights for the common people. But this was a princess, and on the other side was a Crown Prince…Times were changing weren’t they? Guess it was time to change with them.

Moriarna Renester (Mother of MC, back in Algrea)

Moriarna looked at the old piece of parchment for the upteenth time. Many times over the millenia she had regretted making the bloody thing. Then, she had been foolish, angry, and not wise enough to know the consequences. Of all the stats the System gave, Wisdom was the least accurate. Even the System could not accurately measure how ‘wise’ a person was.

Back then she had been angry looking at the massive drop in the stat, swearing that she’d prove the System wrong. Oh how she had been proven wrong, 17,000 years later she wanted to do nothing more than to abandon the dead Empire and go to her son’s side as he went through one of the greatest Trials of his childhood.

Oh, she was watching. Most thought she was just stupid, weak, that she could not progress much. But The truth was that she had reached Grade 10 long ago, there was little to do while waiting for an heir to come along.

Contrary to rumours, she did not have many children. Only three, and only Alforien had reached the realm required to remake the Empire. Oh, if only she did not have to burden him with that nation. But royalty never had the right of choice. Especially not royalty that were to inherit Empires.

A lone tear fell from her eyes onto the parchment that said.

I, Moriarna Renester, do hereby make this vow. Come death or destruction, joy or glee, or simple life, I shall not halter in my mission. From this day forth I devote my life to one purpose and one purpose only- To resurrect the Empire I hold so dear!

Oh if only the System had imposed the restrictions on System Oaths a few minutes before…