"What do I need to understand first?" Jean inquired.
"You need to know a few things, but language probably comes first. I can keep conversing with you using this spell that you've probably already noticed..." The echo in M's voice that Jean had gotten used to caught his attention again. "... but you won't be able to talk to my family or anyone else unless you know how to speak naturally."
"Why can't I just use the spell you use? I don't want to learn an entirely new language if I don't have to."
"Because this spell is a simple application of an extremely advanced concept. Almost all spellcasting I'm aware of relies on energy and its manipulation. Energy is the purest form of a spell, but it relies very heavily on logic instead of emotion or feeling, and using this spell requires first knowing how to transform energy into intent as prerequisite knowledge from which you can begin designing it."
M continued on this tangent, obviously somewhat impassioned, "Basically, the spell requires translating your intent into the energy equivalent and then creating a new form of intent from it designed specially to reorganize itself into an understandable format for the receiver. And then, of course, you have to do the same thing so that you can understand what they say, just in reverse. But even then, the spell requires that the other person is magically unguarded or provides part of the spell on their part. There are also some other times when it doesn't work, but I haven't figured out what makes it malfunction yet. I just haven't had time, and it isn't a super high priority for me because I use it so infrequently."
"I think I understand. Conceptually, at least."
"Good catch. You might understand how it works conceptually, but knowing how to actually perform the spell requires a lot more than that. Anyway, though, I would normally invite you to my study so that we can get started, but I'd like you to be clothed before you trot out in front of my wife and daughter."
Looking down, Jean noticed that he was entirely naked. His body was extremely impressive, but he would have still liked clothes.
He didn't see any amid the scattered sheets that had been strewn about from their earlier confrontation, so he was about to ask where he could get some when M seemed to read his mind and handed him a shirt and baggy trousers, that seemed to come from nowhere, with a thick band made from what felt like a fabric version of synthetic leather.
Seeing Jean's confusion at the band, M demonstrated that it was meant to be used like a belt with the fabric trousers.
"I'll let you get dressed," he said as he left the room.
Jean quickly clothed himself in the soft fabrics and soon noticed that they were extremely loose on him, almost like pajamas. It was likely M's clothing, which had probably been tailored for his body size specifically, which, although Jean had a very large body, was still larger than his.
Addressing the odd screens that weren't currently present, Jean asked, 'My stats can't be normal, right? Now that I look at my body, I'm probably several times stronger than the average person, so what's normal? Also, you need a name. I was going to call for you by name but couldn't because I realized I hadn't asked what you wanted to be called. Show me my status screen, too. There are a few other things I'm curious about.'
His status and a chat screen promptly reappeared. A message on the chat screen read: 'You're right, your stats are very certainly abnormal. They are almost all significantly above the norm. I'll add the typical range to your status screen for reference from now on. Also note that I've separated the strength stat from the physical attack stat, so they are now both visible, and I've also finished calculating your intelligence stat.'
---
Body name (name of body inhabited): You-Un
Personal Name (name recognized by you): Jean Boulinois
-
Active paths of power:
[Interface]
[Physical]
[Sociological]
[Mental]
[Spiritual]
-
Stats:
level: 0
Experience: 0/1000
HP: ~1000/1000
physical attack power: 12
Strength: 14
Defense: 8
Dexterity: 10
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 20
(Typical stat range: 2-3)
-
Attributes (approximated from best available data):
Strength: 5
Deftness: 4
Endurance: 5
Intelligence: 17
Available Attribute points: 1
(Typical attribute range: 3-4)
-
Scalar Talents (approximated from best available data):
Strength: 2
Deftness: 1.3
Endurance: 1.2
Intelligence: 9
(Typical scalar talent range: .75-1.25)
-
Talents:
Cerebral: 52
Hidden talents: 147+
Available Talent Points (scalar and non-scalar): 0
(Typical talent range (varies greatly): 5-20)
-
Skills: [Interface (-)]
Hidden skills: 34417+
---
Jean examined the window for some time, pondering a few things before asking, 'Why are they so far above the norm? This is ridiculous, honestly. It's almost like a fantasy. I haven't done anything for this, but I've still been granted an incredible gift. Many people dedicate their lives to increasing even one of these things to the limits of human ability, but I haven't done anything.'
'It's important to keep in mind that the typical range maximum is not the limit of human ability. It is just what is typical. Your strength stat, for example, while extremely impressive, is not as extreme as it appears. Considering that stronger untrained male individuals can bench press approximately 100+ pounds (45 kg), you should be capable of benching around 500 pounds (227 kg). This body probably belonged to an elite soldier of some kind before he died.'
'So, everything is vastly outside the norm, but nothing exceeds what I haven't seen on Earth.'
'That is correct.'
'It's still stupefying that I have all of this.'
'Do you have any other questions?'
'Yes, why is my HP approximated? Is it because health is complicated and trying to quantify it is difficult? And how did you find this body's name?'
'That is also correct. Some parts of your body are healthier than others, and there are many methods I could use to try to find it, so I left it as an approximated ratio. As for your second question, I'm afraid that I may be unable to provide a satisfactory answer. It is part of the information I was given when I was initialized, like the information on the other paths of power I mentioned earlier. I can't explain the source, I'm afraid, but I also found a very small portion of this body's memories alongside it, so it's possible that residual memories from this body were inherited when we inhabited it.'
'You have this body's memories!? Why didn't you tell me so sooner? That's important, damn you!'
'I didn't share earlier because not much can be done with them. Your fake description of a woman you loved was very similar to the state of the memories we have. Most are corrupted in one way or another, giving us only vague pieces of information. Very little is salvageable.'
He groaned in frustration. 'Of course, they're corrupted!' He sighed a moment later. 'No matter. We'll manage. M should be able to help us.'
'He may be able to, but I feel that we should still be cautious around him.'
'True, he does seem to have a temper.'
'It's more than that. It's only intuition, but he's still hiding things from us.'
'Like what? All of our fears were unfounded. Magic is completely normal here, so we don't have to tip-toe around it, and he seems like he wants to help us. What more could we ask for than that? He seems very kind.'
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door, and a muffled voice came through the door. "You done yet?"
"Yeah, sorry, just got distracted thinking about some things."
A string of words slipped into the chat screen before it closed. 'Call me Potestas,' it read.
A weird look came across Jean's face. He didn't know it was so egotistical, choosing the Latin word for dominion, authority, and control.
Jean opened the door to find M resting against a corner in a hall with wood framings. The hall was shaped like an 'L,' with the short leg of the 'L' opening up into a dining room, where he saw a beautiful woman, whom he assumed to be M's wife and a few others who appeared to be servants preparing for dinner.
"We'll eat in a few minutes, but we have a bit of time before that. C'mere." M gestured to indicate the long leg of the 'L' shaped hallway before leading him down it to a room on the end, which was a large office. Most of it was tidy, but the sheer volume of items in the room was a little overbearing.
Papers, maps, crystals, displays of arrays and geometric patterns, diagrams, and much more was stacked on book cases, multiple desks, and even tacked onto the walls. It seemed like most of the room was organized, and it appeared to be more so as Jean looked at it more, but it was still a lot.
M crossed the room and filed through a box that had been stashed in the corner for a while before revealing what looked to be a slate tablet and a piece of chalk and handing it to Jean.
"Here. We'll practice with this."