I turned towards the cell door, planning to open and step through it, but I still wasn’t quite ready and ended up staring at the wooden surface instead. The revelation we just got was a big deal, but at the same time, I had no idea what to do with the information. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should be doing something with it, however. Meanwhile, Tomar seemed way too relaxed.

‘Shouldn’t we get going?’ he asked casually.

“I... suppose? How are you so calm?”

‘Am I? Huh. Now that you mention it...’

“And I feel like I can’t think one straight thought. Something isn’t right with us.”

‘Do you think Gallas did something to us?’

“I doubt it.”

‘Hm. Should we talk about what just happened?’

“I mean... You already said it, it doesn’t change anything for now.”

‘Assuming it’s actually true.’

“Right. But... it makes sense.”

The limited amount of new information we got explained a few things about this world we hadn’t known yet, or at least it strongly hinted at explanations. Like why Arax wanted scripts. If that’s what it took to become a god, an intelligent beast would obviously be interested in it. And me being the creator of this world meant that it might not have been so weird that I found my way here—and more than once. Even the passing mention of an “Outer Realm” was interesting, as that might have very well been what the “ORLM” in “ORLMPROC” referred to. A location outside this world, possibly where I had come from, and from where I had pulled the colored flakes.

Subconsciously, I was sifting through all this new data, but I felt like a bubbling idiot on the surface. Unable to either go on after this bombshell was dropped on us, or to properly talk it through.

‘Should I take over for now?’ Tomar asked when I still didn’t make any attempts to move.

“That might be a good idea.”

Closing my eyes, I relaxed myself and waited to feel the sweet embrace of the nothingness that was the backseat, where my mind would hopefully clear up. A moment passed, and when our eyes opened again... I was still in control.

“Uh oh...”

‘It doesn’t work?’

“No... This can’t be good.”

I tried again, and once more, but nothing happened. Tomar tried to gain control from his side, but that had never worked before, and it still didn’t now.

‘Okay, that’s weird.’

“Why are you so relaxed!?” I asked, getting angry at this unknown situation and the feeling of not being in control of myself.

‘I’m working with the same information you have. What do you want to hear from me?’

“Anything! You could at least offer up a theory! You— Wait...”

As the words left my mouth, about to quote something Tomar had said to me before, a thought popped into my head. A viable explanation, though it was strange that this was happening now of all times, and so suddenly.

‘Oh. Do you think...’

“That, too, would make sense...”

I felt weirdly detached from everything that was happening around me, but I was still aware of it. And irritated by it. Tomar on the other hand turned rather quiet in the last couple minutes and wasn’t bothered by any of it. Our personalities seemed somewhat mixed up, but parts of them were also missing. If this wasn’t something Gallas had done, the only readily available theory that came to mind was the merge.

‘Calm and collected. But I don’t think like you, I don’t have any theories.’

“Irritated and confused? And I can’t quite grasp any of my thoughts... This is new... Side-effects?”

‘Right, it might be caused by the magic system. Is that what prevented the full merge before?’

I felt fear well up inside me. “But what does this mean? What will happen to us?”

‘I don’t know.’

Before this point, I had never been worried about the merge potentially happening sometime down the line. Not because it wasn’t problematic, but because it seemed like a very distant event. I was fairly certain that, so far, nothing but a few memories and maybe character traits had seeped into Tomar. At that speed, it might have taken years until we reached a point where we would actually merge with each other, leaving a lot of room to find a solution.

According to Gallas, the world’s magic system was starting up though, which might be related. Shadi’s presumed merge was also pretty quick, albeit delayed. Maybe because the system had been on standby until then. It was very much possible that the Sourcerer Calling always required an advanced kind of merge, the inactive system being the only reason this hadn’t happened to us before.

“Fuck! We couldn’t prepare for this at all. If I disappear, will you get all of my knowledge?”

‘It’s possible. That’s not how Callings typically work, but you’re not a normal Calling.’

“No... but what am I? All the knowledge you got from me so far was programming related. I guess that’s what defines me? If that’s what you’ll get, you’ll be able to go on. That’s not so bad!”

‘We could try to prevent it. How about we move you to someone else’s body?’

“That’s... not going to work, is it?”

‘No, you’re right... If the merge always happens this quickly now, or even quicker, you would merge with the next person almost immediately.’

“What else do we need to do...”

I wasn’t afraid of disappearing, even though I would’ve naturally preferred to stick around. But I wanted to know that Tomar and the others were going to be fine. He would need my knowledge to prepare for what was to come, I had just begun to tutor Riala, and then there was...

“Berla.” My heart sped up, and my breath grew heavy. “We need to go back to the temple.”

Finally, a clear thought. And a goal.

‘Sounds good.’

I finally managed to open the door and hurried out of the cell. Walking down the hallway with quick steps, I almost collided with Bren as I walked around the next corner, where he was waiting with Oryn.

“Whoa. Sorry,” I said and side-stepped them to keep walking.

From behind me I heard the confused and excited voices of the two.

“Mr. Remor! May I ask what happened?” Oryn asked.

“Huh? Tomar, do you want us to come along?” Bren inquired.

I walked another couple steps without acknowledging them, before Tomar intervened.

‘Miles, stop. Tell Bren to get Oryn to his room or something. And that we’ll talk to him once he’s settled in.’

Right... Good idea.

“Yea, come on,” I said. “Bren, you can accompany Oryn to his former quarters for now. And Oryn, we’ll get to you a bit later. Something else came up. Alright? Good.” With that, I strode on.

One thought at a time was about all I could manage, and I just wanted to get back to the temple as quickly as possible. Not knowing how long I had, I wanted to at least see the others one more time.

My steps got heavier by the minute, but I soon reached the prison’s front door and moved out into the main square, two sets of feet following after me.

***

“Berlaaa, what does sliding window mean?” Riala pleaded.

“I don’t know what windows have to do with this...” she responded with a frown.

She didn’t expect quite this many questions when she gave Riala the transcripts. Had she known this beforehand, she would’ve rather practiced writing with her. Or anything else where she had answers for the young girl. If Riala was just puzzling over these new scripts on her own, that would have been one thing, but not being able to help her understand even the notes was frustrating.

“When will Tomar be back?” Riala asked.

“It will take a little while. Why don’t you focus on that script?” Berla suggested, gesturing at the one Miles had decoded.

“But I want to understand the new ones!” she said with a frown. “It’s unfair that he just gets to understand them.”

And I find it unfair that you’re able to learn such complicated topics in a matter of days.

The adults of the group were of one mind when it came to Riala: she wasn’t normal. Regardless of what you put in front of her, given a good enough explanation, she would learn it in a heartbeat. This applied to math and Omega in particular, which she absorbed like a sponge. Since Berla was trying to further her own education, she was envious of this ability.

“You’re doing exceptionally well, considering that you don’t have his advantage,” Berla assured her.

If Miles had never landed in Tomar, this girl might have very well figured out Omega on her own at some point, of that she was sure. Though the tutoring Riala received was naturally a big help.

“Huh. And Tomar’s Calling lets him understand all this?” Hayla asked, standing close to the couch table all of a sudden. With mild curiosity, she looked down at the sheets of paper filled with scripts.

Something caught her attention, so she asked about it, Berla thought and made a mental note of it.

“Not exactly,” Berla said. “He had to learn it as well, but the Calling is helping.” She corrected Hayla based on the story Miles had already been spreading about Tomar’s Calling.

“He learned it? I didn’t know that... Impressive. One might think he has the Researcher Calling as well. And he’s a capable fighter. It’s as if he’s a Ruler, with multiple talents. I made a good choice.”

“Right...” Berla bit her lip.

“Hayla!” Riala exclaimed and held up the paper with the notes. “You know a lot, right? What does ‘sliding window’ mean?”

“In what context?” Hayla asked.

“To make text shorter!”

It stung a little that Riala asked her cousin the same question while pointing out that she knew things, but Berla couldn’t refute this observation. Fighters were hardly known for their knowledge.

“Hm... Maybe you look only at certain parts at a time,” Hayla suggested, studying the paper. “Like a window that moves around, and only ever reveals part of what lies behind the wall. It seems to me like this section of sigils expands to this previous one. And this pattern repeats itself, doesn’t it?”

The frown on Riala’s face intensified. If she could figure this out, she would catch up to Tomar immediately, and Miles would almost certainly praise her. She was determined to get it done.

“Are you learning to read sigils too?” Hayla asked Berla.

“No... This is beyond me.”

“Hm. And you can’t fight very well anymore either, right? That’s very unfortunate. I’m sorry. What are you going to do now?”

“Yes, my good days are behind me. I... I was thinking about studying and becoming a Researcher...”

“Tomar says you shouldn’t talk yourself down like that,” Riala said absentmindedly, not taking her eyes off the scripts. “You’re just as strong as Reurig!”

Berla wasn’t surprised. Tomar, or rather Miles, always tried to encourage her too, and maybe it did look like she was doing very well to them, but she knew that she wasn’t anywhere near Reurig’s level anymore. She was handling herself, but she had to put her all into every single move to keep up with the enemies they faced, and the tiniest mistake would spell doom for her. It wasn’t sustainable.

With a sad smile, she watched Riala write down notes of her own. “Thank you, Riala.”

It sounded like Berla was still able to fight, but Hayla was intrigued by her plans. “Becoming a Researcher by studying on your own? I believe that would be a first for this town. It’s an ambitious plan, I like it.”

“You think it’s possible?” Berla asked in surprise, meeting Hayla’s gaze.

“Of course. What’s going to stop you? You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for. And Lilly and Tomar will surely take care of you until then, no?”

“Yeah...” Not that I’m happy about needing help.

“You don’t look like you want that though. Hm. You could also find yourself a husband among the Rulers. Someone would definitely place value on the Calling still being in you. You know spouses often don't do much anyway.”

Objectively speaking, it wasn’t a terrible suggestion. Instead of inconveniencing her friends, Berla would take on a more traditional role, that was accepted by society, where she could still learn on the side. This wasn’t an actual option for her, of course, though Hayla’s words made her realize something.

She never liked needing help from the group, but in a way, her current life was already heading in the direction Hayla was suggesting. Miles and her might not have been married yet, or even engaged, but she had found someone who liked her, and who would do whatever he could to support her. In actuality, the entire group probably felt the same way, just like she would do anything for them.

“I think that won’t be necessary,” Berla said, smiling brightly.

Hati, who was still listening intently to everything, suddenly raised his head and looked towards the door.

“No? Alright. But if—” Hayla started, but she stopped when the door flew open and Bren stumbled inside.

“Berla! Something is wrong with Li— Tomar! We brought him to the doctor’s office, but he’s asking for you and Riala!”

He had barely finished when Berla was already jumping up and grabbed her crutches, hurrying out of the room, with Riala right behind her.