"Kinton", called the woman Tars thought was the Mayor's wife.
Mayor Kinton turned to her and paused for a moment. There must have been some unspoken meaning because he faced Tars once more and said, "Duty calls, I'm afraid. Just rest here for a moment. I'll have my daughter stay nearby, so ask Allevia if you need anything."
Before Tars could reply the Mayor turned and started walking away. Hamal let out a deep chuckle before patting him gently on the shoulder. Tars could tell that he'd held back to an enormous degree. 'That's probably how he is with children,' the weakened man grumbled in his mind.
"I'm off too, yeah? Gotta see what might need some simple repairs before they're not so simple!" With that Tars found himself seated alone in the dirt with his back against an uncomfortable wagon wheel.
Too many questions were still running through his mind so Tars decided to see what else he could find out about himself in his system menu. After looking at the same screen as before and seeing nothing different he noticed it was multiple pages and one of those pages was flashing in his mind's eye. After probing that flashing fold in the page a new section opened called 'Quests'.
-Primary Quest- Recover your memories.
Your mind and powers have been sealed behind a series of wards. Grow your body and your mind will follow, allowing more of your memories and abilities to return to you.
Reach level 10 and reacquire access to your first class.
Relearn Swords Art skills 0/2.
Relearn a Light magic skill 0/1.
Optional – Learn a life or elemental magic skill 0/1.
-Reward- Unlock the first seal.
-(Optional Reward- Carve a stronger path for your first class.)
-Secondary Quest- Lead the villagers to safety.
The village of Immica was attacked and many of its citizens fallen. Returning to rebuild is not a safe option so guide them to a place to start fresh.
Convince the villagers to follow you to the new village location.
Keep the people safe and optimistic.
Find new members along the way.
Earn the loyalty of the villagers 0/50.
-Reward- Kingdom building quest tab, Guild Hall building.
-Daily Quest- Grow in strength every day!
Start small but work your way up! Improve a stat, learn or improve a skill, try an element!
Improve stats 0/2.
Learn sword skills 0/1.
Learn elemental skills 0/1.
-Reward- Bonus stat based on daily quest completion, 100 Exp.
'Skills and stats? I don't think I'm ready to swing this sword yet. Maybe I should start with an element? It says my domain is "light", so maybe I should try a light skill?'
Tars noticed the Mayor's daughter sitting on a stool nearby and thought asking her might be better than wishing for a skill.
"Allevia, was it?" Tars asked, hoping he had her name right.
The girl turned towards him. "Yes, did you need something?"
She seemed to be nearly as tired as the others he'd seen, and she'd held a bow earlier so she must have been fighting also. There was a sadness in her eyes, one recognized as the look for when you realize you've taken a sentient life. For now, her curiosity was keeping it at bay. Tars thought he should make sure someone talked to her a little later.
"I do, I have a quest to learn an 'elemental skill', and I was wondering if you knew anything about how I could do that? Or maybe who I could talk to about it if you don't."
"Oh, are you a noble, then?" she asked hesitantly. He got the feeling she might fear nobles.
"I don't think so, I can't remember." He realized Mayor Kinton hadn't mentioned his memory loss to her. Perhaps he should have had her call her father over instead. 'Too late, now.'
"You don't remember?", she asked in confusion, her eyes squinting slightly.
"No, I don't really know much about myself. Most of what I know I've gotten from my status menu." Tars shook his head. "Otherwise, sometimes there is something that feels right or I blurt something out without knowing how I know it. As for this, I have no idea how to do my training."
She looked a bit sad and uncomfortable. Allevia obviously didn't know what to do with this information. A few seconds later she spoke again. "Well, most quests are either tied to the Gods, nobles, or guilds. So, if you aren't a noble then it's probably related to the Gods. Your coming was an answer to all of our prayers, at least!"
Then her eyes glinted with mischief. "Do you have anything in your status that mentions a God?"
Tars could tell that she was trying to get information from him, which he normally wouldn't mind, but from the way she spoke he thought it might be better to have the Mayor hear as well.
"If you can bring your father over here, I'll tell you both what I have in my status."
Allevia looked a bit disappointed, but she seemed to still be excited as she started running towards a nearby barn. Tars felt he should be careful who he trusted, he had a feeling something momentous was coming and the more he could avoid betrayal the better. Still, there was something in his mind that seemed to say he could trust these people. At least, the few he'd interacted with so far.
It was several minutes later when Allevia returned with Mayor Kinton. "Tars, my daughter said you had some information you wanted to share with us?" He was more than a little curious about this and was also wondering what Allevia had to do with it.
"Yes, I wanted to share something about my status but I'm under the impression that it might be something that shouldn't be shared too much. I trust you, and as the Mayor I'm hoping you can help me understand what it means. And as Allevia's father I hope you can make sure she doesn't reveal something that should stay hidden."
Tars couldn't help but notice Allevia's insulted look. "I apologize, Allevia, I mean no offense. I simply don't understand the rules of the world yet."
While still unhappy, she at least didn't look angry anymore. Mayor Kinton on the other hand seemed to understand perfectly. He looked at Allevia seriously until she met his eyes.
"You will tell no one what Tars says about his menu, is that understood?" the middle-aged man said sternly to his daughter.
"Yes, Father. I promise." Allevia's happiness at being able to hear the secret news was more important than not being treated as an adult, it seemed.
Kinton looked at Tars again. "She might be young, but Allevia, here, has a good head on her shoulders. You can trust her with this." The Mayor reached over and grabbed a nearby piece of firewood to sit on.
"Very well," Tars replied. He truthfully wasn't worried very much, in part due to his lack of understanding, but mostly because something inside was telling him that it wouldn't cause problems.
"I was asking Allevia if she knew of a method to train an elemental skill because I have a quest that tells me to train in that and several other things. She mentioned that quests like that are tied to Gods, nobles, and guilds. Due to my arrival and lack of memories, she believed it was related to a God."
His eyes widened slightly at the implications. Tars paused a moment to let him finish whatever he was thinking.
"She was right, those are the usual methods for quests. Sometimes there will be emergency quests related to something controlled by a God, even if we don't always know how it's related to one. With the emergency quest we received and your arrival, it is very likely you have ties to a God or Goddess. Truthfully, it isn't so hard to figure out, but no one has had the time to stop and think about it yet."
Allevia looked relieved and a little happier. If he had to guess, Tars would assume she was glad she wouldn't have to keep the secret for long. Once everyone knows then she won't be tempted to gossip. Being one of the first to know the secret was enough for her.
"So, who is it you are bound to, then?" the Mayor asked in restrained excitement.
"The only thing mentioning names, besides my own of course, is where it says Blessed One of Arthaesis…"
"You are …" before Allevia could shout anything else Kinton grabbed his daughter by the shoulder. She quickly covered her mouth, her face turning red in embarrassment. "Sorry," she whispered from behind her hand.
Mayor Kinton just sighed and shook his head. "I'm guessing you don't know who Arthaesis is, then?" After Tars shook his head Kinton nodded.
"Arthaesis, the God of Magic, governs all elements, without any restrictions. He doesn't have any particular focus on an element, and so he is weaker than, say Kondrath, God of the Flame, when it comes to fire, for example. Arthaesis was also the original creator of the system we all use for learning and leveling up our classes. All the Gods use it, but it was his creation, originally. He is also known as the God of Knowing and his stat is Mind."
Tars was paying rapt attention to the small lecture. For him this was not only information about the world, but it would directly help him with his growth.
"Being a Blessed One, means the God has a vested interest in you and will offer you quests to help you be the best you can be and in turn get the most help from you when needed. Usually, a person is offered a blessing when they accomplish something great that pertains to one of their domains. To have Arthaesis' Blessing means you either helped him in the system somehow, or more likely, you were a powerful magician who created a new type of spell."
Tars looked down as he tried to remember what he could have done to earn a blessing. Losing whatever skills he originally had hampered solving that mystery. 'Might I be able to relearn my previous skills? I keep getting hints of things I already knew, maybe if I can start a skill I will be able to complete it, even without knowing exactly how.'
Kinton continued when Tars looked up again. Allevia was just watching Tars as if he were the most amazing thing she'd seen. It was rather uncomfortable for Tars.
"Sometimes a person will be born with a Blessing. It is believed that the Gods can see a person's Fate, and if they see that person doing something beneficial to them in the future, they might Bless them from the beginning. A child will not be able to refuse a blessing, so while it helps them to grow, it is also restrictive. As such, many of the more 'Good' aligned Gods will only do it rarely."
"Your lack of memory could be considered a 'rebirth', so you may have gotten it recently or you may have had it from before you lost your memories, I can't guess which."
"I see, and what does 'Blessed One of Ospenielle' represent?"
This time neither one made a sound. The father daughter duo appeared as if they'd been bashed with a shield.
"You're a Twice Blessed!" Allevia whispered, her pitch increasing as she tried to keep her volume down. "That's …!"
"There are legends of what it would take to be 'Twice Blessed'," Mayor Kinton whispered, "but if it has ever happened it has been hidden from most of the world. This would be a dangerous secret to reveal!"
Tars and Allevia both looked at Kinton in confusion.
"I just mentioned how some Gods were seen as Good, right?" the Mayor explained. "Well, where there is good there is always 'Evil'. The Blessed ones of those Gods would stop at nothing to remove you as a potential threat. They would have no idea what your motives are or what Fate had in store for you, all they would know is you might disrupt their plans, whatever those might be."
Mayor Kinton paused a moment to let that sink in. "And while the 'Good' Gods would probably help you, not all Gods see eye to eye. There are always disagreements and we lowly mortals can't fathom their reasons."
The Mayor then looked at his daughter once more. "I'm sorry, honey. I'll need this one in a vow. This is too dangerous, not just to Tars, but for all of us."
Allevia looked at her father in shock. Tars didn't know what it meant but this 'vow' appeared serious.
Slowly she nodded her head in resignation. Kinton looked around, seemingly trying to find someone. "Umia!" he called, waving his wife over.
When she came over Mayor Kinton asked Tars to allow him to reveal the situation to Allevia's mother. Tars merely glanced at Umia before agreeing. That same pulsing feeling that he'd felt earlier when finding the quest menu happened again.
Quickly opening the menu while the other three were talking, Tars saw a quest update.
-Optional Quest-
You have a stronger sense of judgement than most, learn to distinguish between the trustworthy and the unreliable, the honest and the liars.
Find someone trustworthy 1/1
Find someone unreliable 0/1
Judge the truth 0/1
Judge a lie 0/1
-Rewards- 'Virtuous Soul'.