As day became night, Reverend Psarea explained many things he expected I would not know or understand.
He told me that he and the townspeople here were of a race called "humans"; humans and demi-humans were two separate races. Yet there were many others, such as elves, dwarves, fairies, even demons. For some unclear reason, many humans are prejudiced against demi-humans, though Psarea suspected it originally had something to do with their naturally higher rate of stat growth. These days, some consider demi-humans to be no better than monsters.
To make matters worse, people with the Darkness affinity were often seen as evil. The affinity itself had been associated with impure acts and dark magic, and if one indulges in such things…
Fortunately, not all people were so prejudiced against demi-humans or associate the Darkness affinity with evil. UNfortunately, people with an acceptance of both were probably rare and far between.
The Reverend found it quite interesting that I was a "summon," however. Apparently, it is quite rare for a summon to be a demi-human. Yet, due to this unique combination, I would have the stat growth bonuses of both a summoned hero and a demi-human. Well, at least there was ONE thing to be happy about.
I knew he had questions for me as well, but we both knew I couldn't answer them. I could tell he was intrigued, itching to know more. However, there just wasn't anything to do about it.
Or, so I had thought.
Psarea brought a set of small, wooden blocks down from his storage area.
"These are letter blocks. If I can teach you to read, which is a skill you will most definitely need anyway, you can use these to spell out messages and replies. Sounds like a win-win, no?" He said with a pleased smile on his face.
I nodded, as it was all I could do. It seemed interesting, and I wanted to give it a try. If I got a necessary life skill out of it too, that would be a bonus!
As the weeks passed, I stayed in this cozy back room, living with Psarea. He had made room upstairs for me and even had a spare bed I could use, so I wasn't even uncomfortable. Over time, he taught me how to read the letter blocks, and I began to learn to use them to form words and brief messages. Once I became proficient enough to hold something resembling a conversation, he began asking some questions.
He started with where I came from.
With the blocks, I managed to convey how I wasn't sure where I came from or what happened before, just that I woke up in a large stone room with men in hard-looking reflective clothes with dangerous-looking tools in their hands, others in hooded robes with the occasional tool of their own, and one man in a tall, shiny chair with very colorful clothes. He explained that the men with "hard-looking reflective clothes" were probably human guards with metal armor, the hooded figures were likely mages involved in summoning me, and the man in the "shiny chair" was likely a king sitting on a throne. The "dangerous-looking tools" must have been the guards' weapons and the tools I saw a few robed figures holding, mage staffs.
"It sounds as if you were summoned right in the throne room of a castle," he mused. "Did…'they' inflict those wounds you had?"
I hesitated.
"Felt threatened," I reluctantly spelled out with the blocks, my ears dropping. "Scared."
"They felt threatened and attacked you?" he inquired, confused.
I shook my head before holding up one hand in front of my mouth as if showing off claws. Over the past few weeks, I had also learned how to use my [Simple Body Modification] skill, so the claws I had previously were absent now. I flexed my fingers gently.
Reverend Psarea picked up my subtle meaning and leaned back against the wall, sighing.
"I see. So, you woke up surrounded by what appeared to be a group of threatening humans and lashed out. And in the struggle, you were wounded."
I nodded solemnly.
He remained silent for a moment before continuing.
"There is only one kingdom I know of in the direction you arrived from, and it is quite a distance from here. In fact, I hear that kingdom fell around the time you arrived. I can only assume it was the kingdom you were summoned by. How did you make your way to Rivuné?"
I shuffled for a moment before arranging the blocks.
"I walked."
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ———
Once more, I started my day sitting on the red rug in the back room. It had been a few weeks since he had sat down with me and asked those questions.
It stung a little, not being able to hold a proper conversation. So many times, I imagined him actually hearing the words I was thinking. Sure, I could leave little notes with the blocks every once in a while, but it wasn't the same.
I sighed. If only I could just convey my thoughts directly… My bored mind flitted to another imagined scenario where I was capable of projecting my thoughts.
Just then, something…odd…happened.
[You have developed a new skill: [Telepathy].]
I blinked a few times.
Did…I hear that correctly?
I brought up my status using [Self-Analysis], something I had learned most people couldn't do. Usually, if one wanted to view their status, they had to go to the nearest checkpoint or know someone with a handheld mana reader.
Just another rare skill, I suppose.
[Status Info]
[Name: None]
[Race: Kitsune (Demi-Human)]
[Age: 10]
[Class: None]
[Level: 6] [XP until Level-Up: 538]
[Status: Curious, Excited]
[Affliction Status: None]
[Titles: Summon, Forged Soul, Child of Shadow [Suppressed], Demonic Element [Suppressed]]
[Affinities: Darkness]
[Skills]
[Passive: Night Vision, Status Masking, Identity Distortion]
[Active: Self-Analysis, Simple Body Modification, Telepathy]
[Stats]
[HP: 3125/3125]
[STA: 748/750]
[MP: 400/400]
[SP: 220]
[ATK: 1250]
[DEF: 625]
[Effects]
[Status Effects: None]
[Equipment Effects: None]
[Level Effects]
[+375 HP, +75 STA, +40 MP, +4 SP per level]
[ATK=40%HP, DEF=20%HP]
[Class Effects: None]
[Phys Stats=Hx2.5]
[Mag Stats=Hx4]