Simone was more than a little surprised.

-So, I am to understand that you got this meta enchantment, but you don't know how? You know Rokians don't have magic right? You must have gotten it somewhere...

-Not saying it ain't so, Simone. I ate something and sure as hell there I was, thinking and magic ready. What was it? Where did it come from? I can only speculate, but the more I do so, the less convincing my theories sound, even to myself. Oh, and it was not even two days ago.

She looked at E, searching deeply: the flow of energy inside of him was stable, the air about him relaxed... He didn't seem to be lying to her. He didn't really know what had happened to him.

-Mmm. I undestand. Well, back to business. Here, let me enlarge my interface panel so you can see better into it too. This is my character sheet, as you may see: there is my name, my class and title. Underneath, is a list of stats and such. While this is all fine and good...

E got to read “Slumbering tree” under the title, “Martial Artist, Disciple of the Yellow Flame” under class and finally her full name: Simone Gemma Boule.

-The interesting part is that magic can be so much fun! If you click on the sidebar on the right, where it states RPG mode.

She did so and prompted E to do the same. On his page, under Class was just stating “Confused Trainee”, which made him smile; opening his RPG mode window, he got to see some kind of epic cinematic animated short video, with Aw-k's voice over and lastly, he landed on a panel where two very cool looking figurines of himself were flashing back at him: one had a hood on, an elegant suit and a cane, busy in the act of giving shape to a mana creature with it, while the other was clothed in some kind of armor and had two axes at the waist, a shield on the back and mana coming out of all of them. On top of it all was this statement: “Welcome to your story, mage. This is your first choice: what kind of enchanter do you wish to be?” his options were called Martial Artist and Spells' Singer.

-See? Isn't this exciting?

Simone could have been a little girl, the way she was jumping on the spot, all happy and gleaming.

-I... it... my... what? What am I supposed to do?

-Okay, first of all breath. These are just two of the options that the meta-enchantment has selected for you. In total there are four meta-classes which correspond to close range, the martial artist, mid range with the Slinger / Archer, and long to extra long range with the Shooter and Singer; all different types of mages. If you scroll right you can see the other two as well.

As E did so, other two pictures of himself appeared, one wearing a hunting hood, perching on a branch with a slingshot, aiming at something far out of the frame, while in the other he was aiming two cannons, one per arm to the himself looking at the picture. He felt a fascination toward all of them, he thought, yet there was one screaming a little more to him; he clenched his fists hard to not let it out straight away.

-Keep in mind, this are all just fighting styles for mages, not something that decides entirely of the quality of your spells. Remember I used fire magic to perform surgery, yet I am a Martial Artist. You can click on any of them to see what kind of techniques you could be learning.

E did just that: there were so many... From the magic bolts and barriers of the Singer, to the plating and auras of the Martial Artist they all looked wonderful.

For last, he checked the one he liked the most, the Slinger. His mid-range was all about covering his bullets and weapon in mana to obtain different effects, while the close combat specialized in short swords and avoidance. He was sold. He had so many ideas of himself rushing through his mind doing amazing things looking like the man in the picture he found himself salivating.

-So, when do I choose?

-We can do it immediately if you want, but I think it would be better to wait for Mr. Pope to join us, don't you?

E felt a little frown crawling on his scaly face, but he stopped it as soon as he realized it was there. It wasn't the time to act like a totally spoiled brat. That being said he had been a sentient only for about two days, yet he did have all of the faculties and brains of a young man of his age, whatever that might be.

He and Simone decided to split up and she left him in the room with Tommy, waiting for the man to wake up, while Simone would have done something on her own. Only boring adult stuff, she promised. All the time he spent waiting, E kept on looking at the suggested skills for all the different mage styles and he was in awe of those concepts: it was all so incredible. He was checking his stats and level-up page sitting on a very soft and comfortable armchair by Tommy's bed when he started groaning and coughing.

-He lives...

E jumped to his feet and slid under the bed so that Tommy could see him face to scaly face. The Rokian was smiling.

-So... you are alive.

-So, you still speak.

-A lot happened. Hi, I am apparently the first real sentient Rokian with a knack for magic. Cool, huh?

-Nice clothes, can I stand up?

-The doctor, Simone... the woman...

E stumbled a little, not really knowing how to call her and finally deciding to go for a neutral

-Madame Boule, said better not. Awesome woman, by the way. You should have a full recovery in about three days, but you can start walking already tomorrow, according to her. And she had to do two surgeries on you, one to salvage your collapsed lung and the other to fix your spine.

Tommy was feeling very groggy. In his mouth he felt the taste of a disgusting stale mix of blood and anesthetic. He wished he had to puke. Not that he wanted to vomit on the Rokian, but that might have sent the bad taste away. Tommy had to ask

-What happened to me?

-Well, turns out Samson was a real bastard.

-No shit.

-He hit you on the neck with his cane. When he did that I jumped in for stopping him from doing anything else to you. You are so welcome.

-Ah, thank you.

Tommy hurriedly slipped in

-Pssh... It was whatever. Anyway, I sang him the same spell I used on the big Tiganga today, only stronger.

-He lost it! That song is called Intimidating Croak and it makes you afraid and paranoid, so he tried to kill us, aka the merchandise, which gave Simone an excuse to kick him out. You should have seen him, he was livid, but he tried so much to apologize. Simone said his trading days are over. Oh, he wanted to sell you as spare parts or something.

-That is messed up... Hey, what is your name?

Asked Tommy realizing he didn't know anything about the little guy.

-Well, I don't really have one, but I had a dream, or something, so I decided it has to begin with an E. Since you are the closest thing to a friend I have right now, I think you should be the one deciding the name, Tommy.

-You know my name. How?

-Magic, how else? I still need a proper name though so, start thinking. Oh, and since we are already in the thanking department: thank you for not hitting me on the head the other day with the rock.

He said gingerly while clapping

-Eh... Still not sure I did the right thing there.

Tommy smiled mischievously before asking

-Are you sure I should be the one to name you? For all you know, I could be terrible at it, or name you something silly.

Tommy started coughing again and asked for some water, which E provided, together with a straw to drink it.

-Thanks.

The injured man sighed, more than breathing, a few times, then he went back to the names.

-With an E... Ether?

-Isn't that a drug? A proper name, please.

-Etrigan: I always loved that.

-Mmmm, that sounds somehow nerdy.

-Hey, is the name of an old comic book character. He was a demon...

E cut him off with a freezing look and a long, low pitched

-Neeeerd!

-Your loss.

Tommy said sourly, even though he had blushed a little.

-I told you I would have sucked at this!

But E was looking at him, waiting, all serious. He had to pick a good name.

-E... okay, quickfire then, you stop me if you like one. Edward? Ethan? Emanuel? Erik? Esteban? Evan?

-Now, These feel like proper people names.

He interrupted Tommy one more time

-I don't hate any of them. Evan or Esteban, though... I don't think I can pull those off. I'm not that manly.

Tommy snickered.

-Well, you don't really look like an Edward or an Emanuel to me.

-So, Ethan or Erik?

-Can't really say. You know what? Let's look them up on the meta-enchantment. P-c.

Tommy called, but nothing happened. His meta wasn't appearing.

-Weird, P-c is not coming up. P-c?

He tried one more time, louder, coughing a little.

-About that...

E explained to him how he had to overwrite the old meta-enchantment and why.

-Again, I am very sorry of having fiddled with your stuff, man.

-Nah, if it is better, it's alright. You know, P-c was just a hair shorter from being pointless crap in the first place, and I wasn't even the one that decide to buy it: perks of being poor, sadly. Now, Aw-k.

He called.

-Hi, I am your awakening assistant, Awesome Kitty, or Aw-k. Nice to meet you.

-Hey, aren't you nice. Aw-k, could you please search for the names Ethan and Erik and tell us what they mean?

-Sure thing, master Tommy. Ethan, Hebrew name meaning “Strong, enduring, long lived” while Erik is a Nordic name meaning “Powerful, forever ruler”.

-Tank you, hot new enchantment.

-You are very welcome, sir.

-So, what do you fancy being? A powerful ruler or a strong and long lived man?

E considered for a moment

-Both strong names but to be honest, I don't think I am someone who cares for ruling the others. Plus Rokians are not really about that... On the other hand I would love to live a long life.

-Then Ethan it is. Anything else I need to add to it? A last name?

-No, I'm good for the rest of it. Ethan R. Samhal.

-R.? What's that?

Asked Tommy squinting his eyes questioningly

-That is a secret.

-Okay, Ethan.

Out of the blue, Ethan turned his head towards the door and shouted.

-Simone! I got a name: is Ethan R. Samhal!

As he finished roaring that, someone's voice repeated the name. One would have thought it was some freaky echo, but really it was very womanly, as voices go, and it didn't sound at all like Simone. Tommy was the first to ask.

-What the heck was that?

-Magic of some sort, I think. Only, what kind?

Ethan scratched his head with his talons, feeling rather puzzled.