I opened the door to leave our room and found Walter sitting on a bench across the hall.
"Ah, good morning, my lord," he said with a smile.
"Is that...really necessary?" I asked him.
"I call Isabella my lady, it is only natural to call her husband my lord. Isabella is the First Princess. The crown Princess. That makes you the crown Prince. You're a Prince now and I must address you with respect," Walter said.
Then why call us lord and lady if we're royalty? Or is that just your thing?
"Feels a bit odd..."
"Really? I've been memorizing it all morning. I already have it down. It would be harder for me to unlearn it at this point. With me being an old man and all..."
"Fine fine. But if I forget to respond, don't blame me."
"I am quite sure that you will get used to it, my lord. Where is Isabella?"
"She's sleeping. She isn't feeling well right now."
"Ah. I see. Morning sickness, is it?"
"Morning what?"
What is this old man talking about? She's not sick, she's exhausted!
"Well, did you two...get to know each other better?" Walter said eying me suspiciously.
Well...something like that...
The night we had was very romantic and somewhat awkward for both of us.
I'd never felt so embarrassed in my entire life.
But we'd given each other our first.
And she didn't seem to mind any of it, either...
But regardless of my father never telling me how that sort of thing worked, he left me with a useful piece of advice.
For protecting a woman's dignity, of course.
"Ahem. My father taught me that a gentleman never kisses and tells," I said.
"Good man. Keep it that way. You must always protect Isabella's dignity."
"I'll keep it in mind..." I said.
"So anyway, do you know what's wrong with Isabella?" Walter asked.
"I have a fairly good idea. When I woke up, I found that my unknown skill was updated. It said something about Soul Link? Apparently, it attached itself to Isabella and now our levels are the same," I explained.
Walter simply stared vacantly.
"Mizik," he said.
"Yes, Walter?" I replied.
"Dignity aside, you don't have to sugar coat it. You're married now and it's bound to happen. I'm old, Mizik. I've been there a few times. Isabella is a grown, married woman. Also, morning sickness is something a woman feels if she's preg-"
"Stop! Please! She's not sick! And she's not pregnant...probably..." I said interrupting him.
"Probably?"
"Shut up."
"As you wish, my lord."
"Just...come into the room. Take a look at her," I said.
"I'm well aware that she's beautiful, Mizik. I helped raise her. There's no need to show off. She is decent, yes?"
"Walter!!!" I shouted.
"Very well, I'll take that as a yes," Walter said with a chuckle.
This guy is messing with me, right?
We went into the room and Isabella was exactly as I left her.
Fully dressed, messy hair, and snoring as loud as a damn dragon.
"Good heavens, what did you do to her?" Walter asked. "Actually, don't answer that."
"I wasn't going to!" I said angrily.
WHY IS HE ACTING LIKE THIS!?!?
"Joking aside, she looks perfectly content just sleeping. She was awake earlier, yes?"
"Yeah, she was so tired that she almost collapsed onto the floor. I caught her and put her back in bed. She did confirm what I told you earlier, though," I said.
"About the morning sickness?" Walter said.
"By the gods, shut up Walter!" I shouted.
Walter started laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.
I waited for him to finish and finally he answered my question.
"Sharing levels is unheard-of, Mizik. I'm sorry, but I find it rather hard to believe. I trust you aren't lying to me, though,"
"She confirmed it herself. She's level 70 now. Apparently, it also shares the other abilities of the unknown passive as well," I started.
"And those abilities are?"
"I don't know yet. It won't tell me."
"Well, this is quite the fine mess...
Although, I do hope Isabella wakes up soon..." Walter said.
"I do too. We didn't have anything planned today, but I still worry about her..." I said.
"And for the baby of course," Walter added.
"The what!?"
"Kidding! Well, perhaps you should look after her today. I'll take some time to order breakfast for the two of you. I'll bring it up. If you need anything else, let me know."
I nodded and Walter left the room.
A minute later, I sat down next to Isabella and gently combed her hair with my hand.
"I hope you're alright... Sorry for that stupid passive..." I muttered.
"Hmmm...Mizik..." Isabella mumbled.
"Isabella?" I said.
She reached up and pulled on my arm. Despite this, she continued snoring and her arm immediately fell limp.
I had a feeling of immense adoration as I stared at her. It was highly motivating.
I'll protect this world for you... Either that, or I'll die trying.
* * *
A short while later, Walter returned with breakfast. I ate as Isabella remained asleep and Walter kept an eye on her.
"Mizik, you really weren't joking about that strange skill of yours, were you?" He said.
"No, I wasn't. I could probably prove it to you if you wanted. Though, we'd need a viewer stone," I said.
The castle kept a few of them for use just in case. It was how they learned of Cassandra's abilities.
"I can acquire one to have a look if you wouldn't mind. It may also be a good idea to bring the court wizard in as well," Walter said.
"Court...wizard?" I said curiously.
I'd heard of such a role when I was younger, but had never actually seen one.
A powerful and highly experienced mage that would not only protect a King and Queen, but also ran magical experiments to advance society as a whole.
It was one such court wizard from one of the northern countries that created status magic many years ago.
The only thing I had heard of him was that he loved numbers and was completely insane.
Still, he created a highly effective system for getting stronger.
"The Albatross court wizard is also the primary advisor. He's a bit...odd...but he's a good man...mostly. His name is Alkon," Walter said.
"I may have heard of him..." I said.
The name rang a bell. I was sure I might have even seen him around the castle as well.
"Would you mind getting him?" I asked.
"Not at all. I'll take care of it," Walter said with a smile.
After that, Walter left for a while.
An hour later, he returned with an old man wearing a dark blue robe lined with gold.
"Advisor Alkon?" I asked.
"Where?" The old man said as he looked around. "Is he here?"
"He's you," Walter said.
"Of course I am! What do you take me for?" Alkon said.
"A senile old wizard that happens to be great at his job?"
"..." Alkon remained silent and looked at me.
"Hello?" I said cautiously.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"I'm Mi-"
"YOU! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT MARRIED CASSANDRA, RIGHT!?" he shouted loud enough to wake the dead.
"Wh....what!? No, that's not-"
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE COMPLETELY INSANE! THAT GIRL IS CRAZY! I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!!!" Alkon shouted again.
Luckily, Walter grabbed his collar and kept him from leaving.
"Relax, Alkon, that's Isabella, not Cassandra," Walter said.
"She's the nice one, right? Of course she is! You don't have to tell me! She's always been a sweet girl. Her husband must be a lucky guy. How is Arvild, anyway?" Alkon said.
Yeah, this guy is nuts.
"No, that's Mizik. Not Arvild. Arvild is a criminal and did not marry Isabella," Walter said.
"Oh. Then who married Isabella? Did she not get married? And who's Mizik?" Alkon said.
I let out a sigh as Walter placed his hand over his face.
"ME! I'M MIZIK! I MARRIED ISABELLA!" I shouted at him
"Why the hell do you need to shout at me!? I'm right here, I'm not deaf!" Alkon said. "Now if you don't have a good reason for dragging me over here, I'm going to return to my mice!"
"Isabella needs you to examine her. Use a viewer stone and look at her abilities," Walter said.
Suddenly Alkon narrowed his eyes.
"Is she well? She's snoring like she hasn't slept in days," he said.
"That's actually normal. Mizik believes a certain unknown skill of his may have attached itself to her and caused some issues...somehow..." Walter said.
"She's suffering from severe exhaustion. She mentioned feeling stronger before passing out earlier," I said.
Alkon looked over and placed a finger on her neck to check her pulse.
"Her heart is beating normally..." He said as he fumbled something in his pocket.
Alkon pulled out a small stone and placed Isabella's hand on it.
As the stone glowed, Alkon spoke.
"Exhaustion, you said?"
"Yes," I replied.
"You got married yesterday, right?"
"That is also correct..." I said while nodding.
"You had some pretty wild sex, didn't you?" Alkon blurted out.
My face heated up and I gritted my teeth.
"THAT IS NOT THE REASON!"
"Alright alright, no need to yell. Is it morning sickness? No no...too early for that... Not to mention, she's a Victoria. That would be awfully hard to accomplish in such a short time..." Alkon said as he placed his hand on his chin.
I heard Walter chuckling as I tried to calm myself.
"Get on with it!" I said.
As I spoke, the viewer stone flashed and Alkon let go of Isabella's hand.
After that, he walked over to me and grabbed my hand, then placed it on the stone.
"You could have asked," I said.
"Don't care," Alkon responded.
"Try to overlook him, Mizik. He's not very sociable," Walter chimed in after he finally stopped laughing.
You mean completely insane, right?
After a few moments, the viewer stone flashed and Alkon began examining it. His eyes began to glow slightly as he appeared to be reading something.
Several minutes passed.
"Hmm...you have quite the set of skills, Mizik. How did you get so strong? And don't say it was Vengeance. Magic swords cannot grant you extra skill points and yours isn't even using its full power yet," Alkon said.
"I don't know. Around two years ago, I began leveling in earnest. Every time I level up, I gain a skill point. Isabella told me that normal people only gain one every five levels though."
"That's the problem. There's an ability certain gifted people are born with that does the same thing, but it isn't here. The only thing out of the ordinary is this strange passive you have," Alkon said simply.
For some reason, he seemed completely rational all of sudden.
"How long have you had this unknown skill?" He asked.
"As far back as I can remember, it's been there. I never understood it, myself "
"Well, it seems to have certain properties of a type of magic that doesn't exist in our world. I've never seen it before. Additionally, it appears to be incomplete."
"How is it incomplete?" I asked.
"Imagine a wagon without wheels. That's what I mean. It isn't finished, you daft boy," Alkon said.
That was...needlessly harsh...
I decided to let his comment slide and pressed on.
"What I meant was: how is it incomplete?" I asked.
"There is information here that I can't read. It's in another language and also doesn't exist at the same time. Don't ask me how that works. The language isn't Avernian, either. The question marks on your skill are placeholders for a script that the status menu can't translate," Alkon explained.
"Can you tell me what the skill does?" I tried asking.
I honestly had no idea what he was talking about, so I mentally prepared myself to be insulted again.
"No. I don't know because I can't read it. Weren't you listening!? What I did determine, was that yours is the parent skill and Isabella's is something of a child variant. Hers is affected by yours in every way and is systematically identical in its effects. In short, when yours is updated, so is hers. Although...I have to wonder if the leveling aspect works in reverse. Does it sync with the highest level? Or is it specifically your level? Hmm..." he said.
"Umm...alright. What causes an update?" I asked.
"Well, the skill was completely unreadable until today, right?" Alkon asked.
I didn't like where this was going.
"Yes...but I don't think-"
"Maybe it has something to do with procreation?" Alkon said bluntly.
"I SINCERELY DOUBT THAT!" I shouted angrily.
"Why?" Alkon said curiously.
"Because this power of mine is related to the Black Ooze! I don't know how, but it's designed to combat it! Furthermore, mine and Isabella's relationship is no one's business but ours!" I said as I glared at Alkon.
"Well why didn't you say so? Walter was having fun with it so I thought I would too. Regardless, if what you say is true, then how does Isabella fit into it?" Alkon said.
"Well..."
I spent the next half an hour explaining the situation that I was dealing with to Alkon and Walter.
Everything ranging from our encounter with the Oracle, all the way to Isabella's near-death experience with the Black Ooze and how I managed to save her.
Through what we can only call 'divine intervention'.
"Amazing! This means that there may be higher powers involved with this ability of yours. However, I do not think the gods of our world are responsible. The entity known as the Creator might be the one to ask... Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that," Alkon said.
"The gods of Avernia don't say much do they?" I said.
"Not really, no. Of the five that reside over the world, we only ever hear from from two of them. Lastly, they've all been eerily silent for the last year or so... At least that's the consensus of the Kinsra Theocracy to the north. The holders of the sword: 'Faith'."
"The gods...? Have they even tried to help us get rid of the Black Ooze?" I asked.
It seemed like a good question. If they were supposed to be our gods, why weren't they protecting our...or rather their world?
"That is actually classified information... They dont want it getting out. The situation is much more dire than you believe it is, Mizik," Alkon said.
"If I have a power that can cleanse the Black Ooze, then I think I deserve to know as the Prince of Albatross," I said.
"Then the simple answer is...the gods are afraid of it. The Archpriestess of the Kinsra Theocracy cannot get into communications with the gods as she did before. She told us in secret that the gods have abandoned Avernia."
The words hit me like a ton of bricks.
Even...the gods fear it...? They abandoned us...?
"Rest easy, though. The rest of the world is doing everything it can to deal with it. However, soon we might require a more direct approach," Alkon said seriously.
"You mean me, don't you?" I said sarcastically.
"And, if the information contained in this stone is true, which it is, Isabella too. Looks like she needs to come out of retirement."
The feeling that I might be able to go adventuring with Isabella again, both comforted me and made me nervous.
If she was beside me, I felt like I could do anything. But, it also meant protecting her...and without a shield, that would be difficult...
Almost as if on cue, Isabella stopped snoring and sat straight up.
"Hmmm...why are there so many people in here...?" She asked sleepily.
"Good evening, Isabella," Alkon said despite the fact that it was clearly not even noon yet.
"What...? Did I sleep all day?" She said as she looked outside. "What's going on? The moon sure is bright..."
"Hm. Fascinating. She also seems to be in a daze-like trance. Not fully aware of herself, yet," Alkon said.
"Isabella, it's still daytime," I said. "Alkon is just messing with you."
"Oh, I know that. It's still...early in the day...the sun's position is...there... But, why is adviser Alkon in our room...? He's crazy, you know..." Isabella said.
"I'm well aware at this point," I said simply.
"Grand Examine," Alkon said as he walked over to Isabella and stared directly into her eyes.
"Hello, Alkon... Please don't conduct experiments on me without permission..." Isabella said passively as he examined her.
"I see. I truly do. Her eyes really are just like her fathers," Alkon said.
I was really getting tired of this guys antics...
"Also, it seems like her leveling limit was originally 50. Your funny skill forced her to surpass it. Her body is in severe exhaustion, currently. I recommend plenty of rest. And also if you could refrain from increasing your level for a short while, that would be best," Alkon said.
"Will that really help? I asked.
"Definitely. Especially since her mind is in a state of near meltdown from power overload. If you increase your level too much right now, she will probably die from it. As in you know...explode. Boom. Pow. Cra-"
"I get it!"
Panic suddenly started rising in my chest.
"Mizik...I dunno what he's saying... But my head hurts a lot... Like...hey... Miziiiik~! Can we cuddle...more..." Isabella suddenly started losing consciousness again and I rushed over to catch her.
I gently laid Isabella back down on the bed and moments later, she began snoring again. At the same time, she grabbed onto my shirt and wouldn't let go.
It was adorable...too much for me right now.
"Thank you, Alkon. You're weird, but helpful," I said.
"And you're a daft runt. But the pleasure is all yours. Now, if you'll excuse me, my mice need attending to," Alkon said just before standing up and walking out of the room.
"Weirdo," I said.
"He did provide useful information, though. That ability of yours is highly dangerous right now. Please leave all combat to me for the time being," Walter said.
"With pleasure."
After that, I spent pretty much the entire day in and around our room. Despite being in and out of consciousness, Isabella didn't want me to leave her arms most of the time.
Walter delivered the information to the King and Queen, then assured them that Isabella would be just fine.
I wasn't sure how long Isabella would be out of commission, but in the meantime, it seemed like I would continue my studies.
I had plans to conduct research the Black Ooze as much as I could.