Chapter sixteen: my older sister

“Corentinnn!” as my aspect ceremony drew to a close, Maybelle immediately rushed into me and embraced me like a bear. Her small, childish arms wrapped around my body like a rope as she rubbed her crying face into my clothes, wiping whatever fluids came out. “Cornntnnn!” she continued to cry until her words muffled.

I would’ve liked to soothe her, but my hands were literally tied to my body by her hug. “What’s wrong sis? I’ve never seen you cry so much in your life,” I asked. Though, if I had to hazard a guess, she was likely crying for me because people were calling me mean names or something, not that I was particularly surprised or bothered. I suppose to a child this kind of thing had more impact than it really would; they’ve lived their lives by the axioms of their peers and parents, and too immature to properly interpret things in a logical manner. This in itself wasn’t a bad thing, drawing inspiration and lessons from their surroundings to form a stronger and more synthesized belief about the world around them is how our society builds upon each generation.

“But… but Corentinnn!” she continued to cry. “They said… they said that you’re…!”

My mother came over wearing a worried expression. She gently placed her hand over my head to calm me down, though I think she’s gotten the wrong person. “It’s okay, Corentin,” a small sparkle at the edge of her eyes lit up as she wiped it away. “There are many people who live lives which have nothing to do with their aspects. Especially today’s society where things have become more convenient, there are even people who haven’t tapped into their aspects in years or decades!” she explained. While these ‘aspects’ were a bigger part of life than fighting was for the people in my previous world, it was something akin to that. Perhaps it was a general trend amongst all societies of all worlds, as they advanced the need for violence reduces.

“I understand, mother,” I replied. “I’m not really that bothered by it; as long as the people around me accept me, then that’s all I need.”

“Well said,” my father too, uncharacteristically, came and nodded his head. “That’s right son. Whatever will happen, you will always be Marie’s and my child.”

“Really, you have such doting parents,” Anne, Sherry’s mother, came over and commented. She gave me a relieved chuckle and told me, “don’t sweat the small stuff. You’re you. I want you to continue being good friends with my little Sherry from here on out too. All right?” she asked of me with a wink at the end.

“Yes, it would be my pleasure!”

*

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Now then, the real problem started a few days after the ceremony. Ever since then my sister’s behaviour had become slightly awkward around me, and she was much less energetic than she was before. She still tried to put on a smile here and there, but it was obvious she was forcing herself, and I might just know the reason as to why.

There was a very convenient scouting skill in the game known as ‘Clairvoyance’, and as its name implied, it allowed me to see things from very far away. In fact, it had an almost unlimited range, however the further a place was, the more mana it consumed, though for a person like me that wasn’t much of a problem. The skill would summon a small companion which would then act as a player’s eyes – in the game it would pop up a small window and reveal distant parts of the map. The shape of the companion could also be customized with various effects – the most popular amongst the player base was either a raven or an eagle, both of which were medium all-rounders with good durability and speed. Personally, I favoured using the ‘red-eyed falcon’ which was extremely fragile, in exchange for it being very fast.

For the past few days I had it tail my sister around to see what was happening at school, and as to be expected rumours about me had already spread.

“Did you hear? Maybelle’s younger brother is a ‘null’’,” I’d often hear such things from the students, even the teachers would comment on that. In a way, my existence was much rarer than that of a Pure, in that I was the first recorded cast of an individual with no aspect – which wasn’t exactly true, but they had no way of knowing about a human aspect. The term ‘null’ was also specifically chosen for me.

“Does that mean he’s a failure?” another student would ask.

“Isn’t that what it means?”

“But doesn’t Maybelle have an Elf aspect? Maybe her brother was adopted or something.”

They weren’t exactly subtle about these rumours either, however the worst part of it was that they would sometimes take it a step too far. Insulting me in front of my sister, sometimes bullying her, taking her things; she’s become a collateral to my existence. I had tried to help out from time to time, like using my clairvoyance pet to help her find her things, or preventing the escalation of the bullying by interfering with them, and etc. Unfortunately, as the weeks went on and her torment continued, she was visibly less enthusiastic about school.

There was always the option of showing off a little bit of my powers to rid the stigma that I was a failure, however I decided to hold off on that. Even if I did that now, it wouldn’t change anything as I wasn’t yet enrolled in school so no one would notice. It was also just a rumour, as distasteful as it was, it was likely in time they’ll get bored and stop talking about it. There was also the desire to keep my stats a screet from everyone for the time being, well to be honest it was mostly just that.

For now, I decided to play the waiting game and watch over my sister’s condition through clairvoyance.