5 Chapter 4 - Too Many Voices

Coming out of my forge, I find myself still in the arms of my mother… resting comfortably on her chest between the giant valley she creates. If these two have a daughter… she will never drown; that's how I would describe this woman. It is also very warm where I am, and her heartbeat is a rather wonderful lullaby… if I had the ability to sleep, then I would go right back to it. Damn myself to hell for that choice, but what can you do?

"Looks like you're right back with us, huh little guy?" A rugged but soft voice comes through as I am lifted from off mom, and I am greeted by the sight of my father; a relatively nine out of ten looking demon. Long black hair in a rogue knot, and eyes as gray as the abyss; black horns that follow the curve of his skull to point upwards at the tapered end. His eyes peer at me from behind the glasses they're framed by, a soft smile played on his pale face.

"Is he okay, Zekiel?" Oh dear, it seems I worried them during my little trip into my forge… I'm gonna blame Baal for this later when I am able to…

<"Well, I mean… it's not really my fault if you think about it…"> And now voices in my head…

P: "Let's be honest Lord, it's not something new."

'Shut it, parents are talking…'

"Maybe he'll eat now? Yehai and Xihlis are already fed, so he should be hungry as well." Mother seems to be really worried that I didn't react during feeding time; so I should really…

<"Don't forget to copy one of her traits while you're feeding; can't really let this opportunity go to waste."> Thank you mr. obvious, why don't you tell me how the weather is; zero points if it's cold! <"Are we in a bad mood?">

'Maybe a little, still trying to figure things out. I also don't like people repeating things when I know what I am doing… sorry.' Having a minor mental conversation isn't really what I expected to have on my first day alive, but here we are. Mother takes me back and I get a good look at her from this vantage point; a rather beautiful woman with silver fluffy hair, and eyes of pure amethyst. Still looks tired as all hell, course it has only been two hours since our birth… poor woman had to birth triplets what am I expecting.

<"What you want to do, is the same as activating your -Keeper's Eye-, only change the flow of mana from your eye to your tongue."> Makes sense, <"It'll become instinct if you do it enough, don't worry and take it slow.">

Well, it's good to know when her nip is currently in my mouth and I am suckling; I am in a bad mood, must be having a rough day… being born. Anyway, by following the same pathways as the eye, change them to my tongue…

P: "Did you decide which trait to copy?"

'I swear to the ever loving god Cthulhu, I will smite thee! I told you to get the shit in order, what have you been doing?'

"Ow, no no baby, fangs will hurt mommy." And now I feel bad…

P: "Sorry, it should be working… I set it up like a HUD for now, and we can fix it up as we go. I'd suggest… well you already have that trait, so dunno if it stacks…"

["Most traits don't stack with themselves, no."]

P: "Then it's either; -Expanded Circuits- for increased mana, or -Enhanced Circuits- for mana regen. Since a few of our abilities use Mana, I'd suggest expanded…"

<"And since you have a Patron who has Mana in their sphere of influence, you'll get a good bonus on either one of those. I agree with the dark one, expanded is more useful at this time; and you can train for enhanced… since you will never sleep."> Thanks for the reminder… so -Expanded Circuits-, and activate the ability… intake some of the essence of the person I wish to copy from…

-=Trait of -Expanded Circuits- consumed from target -Indra Haruk-: -Hannash- shown to be included with holder that used consuming ability; -Expanded Circuits- trait given extra experience, increased from -Tier I- to -Tier II-=-

'Who the ever loving fuck was that?'

P: "…installed AI to the system? A new voice in your head? Wibbly Wobbly Bullshit?"

'I'll take fourth option of strange deity in world where that is right near scary… cause it could be true.'

<"Well… it worked, I don't remember the announcement or that voice… does this happen often to you?">

'Life and world I lived with before this one didn't have this stuff on it… so no…'

"Good baby, you slowed down; are you full?" Oh, lost concentration there for a second… do I really need to concentrate on eating; we'll never know… continuing on to feed until my stomach feel full; making sure not to bite. "Eating very well my little Zeri, fill up so you can grow big and strong. Good boy, good boy." She strokes my head, rubbing the four nubs on my forehead… wait…

"Indra, love, what's wrong? Your face just took an odd expression." Father leans closer to get a better look at what mother is fretting about…

"Didn't he only have two horn nubs a bit ago? I feel four now… and, his legs feel a bit off in the swaddle now that I'm checking." Was wondering why I felt all warm and cozy, forgot about being swaddled. Now that she mentions the odd feeling, my legs do feel… kind of hard when I rub them together?

"Well, that's interesting…" Father takes me from ma's arms, and I can see his eye blazing purple again… and the look of surprise on his face before I am unswaddled; mother's little squeak and father's grunt both being rather… noticeable as they see something wrong with my legs… "I am sure his legs did not look like that when he was born… nor did he have such talons…" I'd comment, but I didn't get a chance to see my legs before… what the fuck happened?

"Zekiel… what the fuck happened to my baby?" Good, if they ask me then I can say I got my mouth from my mother…

"Well… I was going to tell you this later…"

"Darling." Mama sounds scary…

"Alright." Father sighs softly as he sits on the bed with me in his arms; "Our sons aren't half breeds of their respective types… so Zeri isn't a half-demon."

"And?"

"Their race is listed as Nephilim. I guess since you're family is such… prolific with their mixing of blood… your mother is an angel and father is a half-dragon. I'll have to ask Runesca on this matter of what a Nephilim is…" Father takes something out of his pocket which appears to be a small orb… "Course what worries me, is that before all three had a small… well you know how I have a Wrath Variant to my race? They each have a variant as well; so Zeri is a Nephilim, Demon Variant; Awakened."

"And Yehai and Xihlis are showing..?"

"Dragon or Angel Variant, Slumbering. I don't know why Zeri awakened… but now he has four horn nubs, and his legs look like… well; what I would suspect from a half-breed that had awakened their variant."

"So this is normal?"

"I guess? I don't know a thing about Nephilim, usually a half-breed will awaken later in life, thus changing their appearance to show this. Maybe our other boys will awaken in a time." Father begins checking my legs, I guess to ensure that nothing is wrong with them… "He doesn't seem to have any discomfort…" I am then handed off to my mother, who is also kissed on the forehead; I can see the worry on her face. "Don't worry Indra, he's fine. I'll check with my mother to see if she knows anything. Just keep a look on our boys, and shout if anything changes."

"Okay, do hurry? I don't want to lose another child Zekiel."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen love. Stay calm, babies can feel their mother's emotions." Another kiss filled with affection; I can almost feel myself want to cringe… and Father leaves the room as he fiddles with the orb he took; Mother rubbing at my nubs, eliciting a coo as it feels good, a smile forming on her…

"Zeri, don't scare your mother so early in your life; I'll accept any other time, but wait a few years before giving me a heart attack…" She begins to play with my toes, which does feel ticklish, making me laugh; her smile grows more radiant; "You are very responsive; your brother's are as well, but I can feel… it might be odd… but you seem to know I am toying with you."

This goes on for a while; mom just talking to me, and playing with my legs, checking to see if I show any signs of discomfort it seems. My brothers are sleeping soundly over in their cradle… all the while the synergy ability of -Keeper's Eye- and -Guide to Life- coming together before my eyes to show a very basic looking HUD. From the basics of what a HUD shows, I can see that my Mana did jump from a rather impressive twenty-two to eighty-eight.

…

Not knowing how much time has actually passed by, father walks back into the room… followed by a much shorter woman. As I look over to her, a small window appears showing me that this is actually -Runesca Treitory- or otherwise known as my Grandmother. Same horn configuration and color as my dad, hair color similar… only with the style in a bit more of a short cut bob. Her eyes glow with a bit of unnatural light; of a deep magenta.

She pushes passed dad to come to the bed and looks at ma, before reaching over to begin rubbing her head…

"There there, you did very well. Giving birth to three boys in a day isn't the easiest feat. They're very healthy, and from what I have seen, they are just fine." Her magenta eyes then turn towards me, and from close up… it almost looks like she has no emotions if you were to just tell by her eyes. The pupils were pin points… "So this is my problem grandson? Zeriq was your name?" She leans in close to me, her left eye blazing with a magenta flame… guess it runs in the family… "Interesting…"

"What, did something change?" Ma seems to be worried about every little word now; though from Oma's look as she rubs ma's head again to calm her down;

"No no, don't worry dear, nothing is wrong with him. Just his race is a rather interesting notion to me; haven't seen a Nephilim before…" She tilts her head as it seems she begins to think; "There are roughly… four books in my library that have mention of Nephilim…" Ah I see now… both she and my father have -Eidetic Memory-, "If I am remembering properly… a Nephilim is an outcome when four bloods mix together; Human, Dragon, Demon, and Angel. It's also a rather rare occurance… thus it might explain why… before…" A tinge of sorrow passed over her face before quickly disappearing; "I don't know why you have three of them, nor why this little demon boy has awakened mere hours after being born…"

"Do those books mention anything else?" Dad takes up mother's other side, holding her shoulders… and as Oma is about to answer; the door is flung open and a rather… well… a woman crashes in and jumps almost on my mother; crying as she hugs and holds her;

"Indra, dear, is everything okay?!"

"Mother, it's okay, they were born alright."

"And there is the other link…" Oma does not seem happy to see Nana… who the little blip pops up to show her as my mother's mother; Hilda Haruk ne Mariana. "Please be careful… the eldest grandson is being squished." Well now that she mentions it… as Oma states this, Nana pulls back and looks down at me… her silver hair as fluffy as mother's, but her golden eyes shining as she squeaks;

"Oh my lord… he looks perfect, just like his mama and papa. I heard you had triplets?" As Oma points to the side table, Nana quickly hops over and begins fawning over my brothers; before she stops and looks over; "Any reason why… they look different?"

"Their race is Nephilim; and is seems Zeri awakened early… I was about to explain things, but a rather large and noisy distraction showed herself…" Yeah, seems they have some animosity… thought Nana waves her off before picking up my brothers and bringing them over; looks like they… Yehai… woke up to the noise. Xihlis is still sleeping like nothing happened; which is adorable in its own way.

"I mean… it could be because he's been in his forge and did things in there?" As she states that, I quickly go through her list of abilities to see which one ratted me out… but nothing is really giving me anything to go off of…

"And what gives you that idea? I can't see anything odd about him in that regard."

"Runa, you need to keep close attention to his abdomen; the increase in mana is apparent if you study the difference between the three boys." Nana pokes the little Yehai in the belly, showing the area where the forge is physically…

("She has you there, it's an apparent thing…")

"Hilda, you do know that it could be that he has greater mana circuitry than his siblings. He has a trait that does increase it; quite a fair few traits actually…" Seriously, I'd sweat if I wasn't a newborn… as my father's face kind of takes a… odd look…

"What do you mean, mother? He shouldn't have any traits like that? When I looked at him when he was born, nothing showed him having anything to increase the amount of mana." As Oma is about to answer, the room seems to get a little colder; as mother holds me tighter;

"Enough, he's just that amazing of a son; and his brothers will be equally as amazing in time." She turns to Oma, "What were you going to say before my mother crashed in here?" The three other people stop with the debate before mother loses it; and clearing her throat, Oma continues;

"Well… from the writings in those books; Nephilim will have one of the four racial variants as a main, then a variant of the others as a secondary and tertiary. Humans don't really have variants as our races do… makes them much easier to deal with." She looks at me closely, then tilts her head; "So he is a Demon Variant Nephilim… Wrath Demon, Patient Fallen, and Ancient Dragon." As Nana seems to begin to speak; "You might have Fallen Angel in your bloodline… and Ancient is indeed a variant of Dragon; Yehai's variant is Dragon, with it showing as Justiciar."

"So… like how the Wrath variant gives him something…"

"Yeah, Patient Fallen and Ancient Dragon give him things; we don't know what they are exactly… don't even know what his Wrath gift is… could be like his fore-fathers and be an instant Berserker, or something else." Oma rubs her face as she begins pacing around the room, the old Bear walking into the room and looking at all the serious faces;

"Is something wrong?" He looks and sounds a bit worried, coming up behind Nana, who looks up at him happily as if she hasn't seen him in a while;

"Nothing is wrong dear, just Indra being a new mother." Nana turns to mother; "Dear, they are going to be different, might as well get as much information about the difference as you can. Learn about them as they grow." Her eyes then turn to me… "And you… my little demon, do be careful not to worry people too much." And that knowing smile… how much does she know…

…

…

"So the three boys are a race that have not been seen before; am I getting that right?" Looking across from the table to Zekiel and Runesca, little Zeri in her arms as he shares the same sort of… trait as both of them. Hilda stayed in with our daughter and the other two sleeping boys; Indra needing to rest…

"That is what I said, yes…" I can't get used to these two; I know Indra loves this man… but he and his mother… the way they don't really show emotion in their eyes, and their pupils… I hope Zeri isn't the same as them. "Though this one is a bit different to the other two; awakening, seeming to have been in his forge… probably an accident which led to awakening." Runesca's hands gently rub at the boy's horn nubs, and his face… a small smile on her face; "He reminds me of Zekiel at this age… his eyes were also looking around as if he was curious of the world. His sister's weren't any different, but I wish they weren't from that bastard."

"Mother, language." Zekiel looks at his mother, as he skims a book, the woman rolling her eyes in return;

"Oh he's going to hear worse; wait until your father comes by to visit his grandkids…"

"I forget, these boys are your first grandkids?"

"Indeed, Bardi. My daughters have yet to have kids; and Zekiel is my husband's only child." She continues to play with Zeri's face,

"Well… I hope nothing goes wrong with these boys; I don't want to see Indra as hurt as she was when the girls died…"

"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to them; as long as I live." Zekiel plays with Zeri's feet, looking at the boy with the warmest face I have ever seen on the man… save for when he looks at Indra… "Though I do wonder what this one's variants will allow him to do."

"Just don't think of him as a research subject… or any of them… I know you two, and you'll both lose yourselves if you get into that mindset."

"I'd never take my grandsons as research subjects… just mild curiosities." Runesca tilts her head at the notion, as if I had said something rather odd; "They'll be a new experience, which is something I'd enjoy being around to see…" Her hand reaches into her coat pocket to pull out a sack of what I can assume is coins; and she slides it towards me, "Take this Bardi, I'd like to have a tower made in the village… so I can be closer to the kids."

"It'd be great to have an arcane specialist around, but you don't need to pay for it; we're family." She tilts her head again; "Look, I know I don't hide my… discontent about you and your son; but he makes Indra happy, and you're not that bad. We are family, and that is the first rule of my family… to the family." I slide her money back to her; "Just have your husband bring me something to drink sometimes."

"I'll remind him; but do take the coins. It will come in handy for building up your village, such as new walls." I can see where she is coming from… though she looks down away from me, as Zeri's little hand reaches towards her face; his right eye wreathed in flame like their side of the family; "Well, you can access your patron abilities it seems…"

"So can I cancel the damn witch? She annoys me more than the whole council of Freyjan when they can't decide to dig ditches." I rub my forehead, remembering the earlier debate with the council;

"No, she'll still need to come by… if not for Zeri, then for Yehai or Xihlis. And his marking haven't appeared yet, so she is still needed. I don't want to see my grandchildren looked down upon for not having marks… and if that elder says anything; I will kill him." Runesca threatens with a hint of malice in her voice; perhaps the old clod's words about her son still hit her…

…

…

All the while these adults are talking to themselves; I am setting up my HUD and other things to my liking… oh lord, this will be a task in itself. All the while I have Phil in my ear telling me about a few things of Agenai; and Beast is letting me know about what he feels about some things. Martyr is currently enjoying himself as he feels around the place…

Tyrant… we're both currently working our brain to the synapse with every fiber of our being; to try and figure out what we are to do with our time… cause we have a lot. Looking at the calendar of this world; it's to the point we're going to lose our minds if we don't have anything to do…

T: "I mean, we could always ask that one question we have…"

'Oh, you mean…'

T: "Yeah, that one."

M: "Oh, I like that question; didn't get to answer that question before."

<"I am afraid to ask what you guys are talking about…">

'Mala's ability allows us to ask three questions that we can't look up with the guide, and this question is more than likely going to be apart of that.'

["Oh, I didn't mention. Since you allowed us to walk around your forge, and this beautiful castle; I'm giving you a freebie. So technically four questions."]

<"Is that allowed?">

["My gift, my rules. Plus I feel that it's going to be a rather interesting question."]

'I mean, we were just going to ask about our… oh what's the best way to word this so it can't be lost in translation…'

T: "I can see that Solomon and Faust still run strong in our paranoia… those damn bastards.."

("Who?")

P: "King Solomon, when we knew him if our memories are to be believed; and Johann Faust. Both had ties to demonology and the unseen world; and both taught us that wording is kind."

B: "Which is another reason we dislike Fey, cause those bastards are wordy and try to outwit anyone who gets a boon. We know the tricks, but we'll have to practice for it to be proven."

<"Wait… I doubt Mala is going to do anything like that; I am sure she can make it simple…">

'If we word it, 'Please tell me my destined person.' then it can be construed as 'Anyone I am destined to come across.' where as; 'Please show me the name, location, and full status of the woman whom is tied to my soul through the red string of loved fate.' or 'Like Yrmala and Ugdralath, or Indra and Zekiel; who holds the other half of my soul.''

<"…">

["…"]

("…")

{"…could have told you it would have been something like that."}

P: "Makes perfect sense to us, again; we have been taught on the notion of 'wording is king.'"

<"Who the hell were these people?">

'Solomon was a king from the ancient past, who had a few screws loose and wrote many books on summoning and binding… other worldly beings to his whim.'

T: "Where as Johann Faust was an alchemist and necromancer; who sold his soul to… an old one… to gain these powers and knowledge."

-=Currently Processing Request=-

'And that voice is back…'

-=Unable to Process Request: Current query does not match beings on world; will set parameters, and continue to run query in background. Will respond once query is able to be answered.=-

'Bitch.'

T: "So I guess that's that, we're just gonna have to wait until she is born?"

'What's the life expectancy of a Nephilim?'

P: "A long time, let's not go into details; but a long time…"

'So we could be waiting anywhere from tomorrow to a hundred years later… Cthulhu… please; don't make me be robbin' some form of cradle.'

All the while I am debating this, and messing with my HUD; looks like OMA got up and carried me back to the room where my mother is. She's sitting in the corner and holding me while my brother's are fussed over by Nana and Ma, and the demon part of my heritage just stares down at me… a small worried smile spreading over her face…

"Runa, what's wrong dear?" Nana noticed her and seems to notice the worried look on her face; "They are healthy, and have good life lines; you don't have to worry about them living… or is it one of those things we wouldn't understand?"

"It's nothing; thoughts I've had since my little Tata was born. No matter how much you research and prepare, you will never be ready to hold a new life in your hands…" I am then held rather tight to the small body of my Oma, warm with a hint of awkward emotions; "Zeri has the most mana with a good mixture; Yehai is more physically healthy… Xihlis just seems to be a sleepy boy, and each worries me in a different way."

"Let me tell you Runa," Nana sighs before coming over to hug Oma from behind; looking down at me with her golden eyes; "You will never be prepared for anything a child does. When Indra was little, I expected a proper lady… and behold; she gives all the boys split lips and black eyes."

"Not my fault them annoying clucking cuckoos wanted to pick fights with the Jarl's daughter; to prove they were good enough to wed me no less." Ma huffs and looks like she wants to do something, but quickly realizes she is holding her babies; "Had to make myself strong so as to not have to deal with them trying to make me their trophy."

"She is her father's girl; and our sons are no different… at least my daughter has a decent partner who doesn't try to use the name for his purpose." Goody, seems there are some issues in the family that I don't want apart of… "Course what do I expect of a boy who falls in love with a woman for that reason." Nana sighs as she rubs at my little horn nub; "These two children falling in love for simple reasons gives me hope; reminds me of why I fell for Bardi, the big oaf he is."

Oh dear… the main issue with being a young child in a room full of women. I can't do anything about them starting to talk about things I really have no fucks to give. Not putting them down for their stories of true love and cuteness, but I don't want to hear it; give me information I can use…

<"Well, you're a newborn, what do you expect?">

'True… though I wonder if there's anything to do…'

T: "Could always train things, like that enhanced circuits trait…"

-=Beep=-

T/L: "Oh what now?"

-=Choices to be made. Please decide bonus for Nephilim Variants; as well as Mentality Bonuses.=-

…

…

'Okay, I am lost; Mala is this you?'

["Nope, I have no idea what this odd voice is… but you seem to have plenty of voices in your head, so are you sure it's not something you've had before?"]

T: "I'd remember a voice like this, and it seems to know things that we didn't have in the previous life… could this be a system we've heard so much about in the last life?"

'I hope not, those parasites would be annoying if they were like; 'Become strong, all you have to do is sleep with all the women!'

M: "Ew, please no. I'd rather keep to a single woman who is very cute."

-=Stay Alive=-

B: "Okay… I feel this thing is expecting something. But its language is strange, perhaps it just wants us to… live?"

<"Perhaps do what it wants for now, and not be a jackass to the voice no one knows about?">

'Sorry, that's my second language; Jackassery, Sarcasm is my third.' Anyway, it mentioned some choices… perhaps in my race menu and… oh; glowing little button with choices behind it. Glad this isn't a pay to win game, or I'd be fucked.

-=Nephilim, congrats on forcing your way through the matrix of Agenai, as you are the first of the Nephilim you will be given the choice of your variant abilities.=- Wait, I am the first? Then how are there books about the race, and such? -=Theories, and you are naturally born as Nephilim. The previous ones… were artificial, thus were not recorded in the Archives.=- Well lucky me, if I had been a few minutes late then it would be random for me…

T: "So Yehai and Xihlis will have random variant abilities then… I almost feel sorry for them, but I've looked them over. Those boys are very interesting in their own right."

'Similar to us?'

T: "Very."

Well then, that's interesting in its own way; but let's see what we have here…

-Primary Variant - Wrath Demon.

- Pure Rage Berserk

- Natural Rage Berserk

- Random Berserk Type

Well, I thought it was a chance to be a Berserker… but from the looks of it, I really have no choice but to pick a form of berserk. From the options, besides the obvious random option; Pure is one who gains more power from raging with basic downside, while Natural is more normal power with no downside to berserking.

'Do we feel lucky, cause I am not liking either of those other options.'

T: "Spin the wheel?"

'Spin the wheel!'

When I choose that option… a transparent wheel appears before my eyes… I was kidding when I said spin the wheel but if you want to do that. With a simple mental click, the wheel begins to spin on the… how many choices were there again?

P: "Way too many, this might have been a bad choice."

'When have I ever let that stop me?'

B: "Considering your choices got us killed last life, then this might be as bad as that was."

The wheel takes a few minutes before it begins to slow down; in that time the women talking… continue to talk. All of this has happened within just a few minutes, I am glad that I have something to keep my mind busy. As the wheel comes to a stop…

-Aspect of Janus

…

…

T: "Okay, I'll bite… what the absolute fuckery?"

'Philosopher, read through it while we move on… my head is starting to hurt from all of this information overload.

P: "Got it."

-Secondary Variant - Ancient Dragon

-Damage Reduction when in Awakened mode

-Mixed Elemental Breath

So we only have two options for this one… and though I do enjoy the thought of damage reduction; that mixed breath seems to be rather… interesting. On closer inspection the ability would allow me to mix together two elements I can use; and use it as a breath weapon… an amount per day equal to… so once a day for right now.

T: "Simple and to the point, and once our willpower gets better, then we can use it more often. Wonder what the other side will have…"

-Tertiary Variant - Patient Fallen

-Wings of the Fallen

-Honor Bond Tyrant

Going to ignore that winged trait with everything I have, mostly because I do not have wings in any way shape or form; we need to… no… just no. On the other hand, the Honor trait is more… odd… as it pretty much just allows one to increase their allotment of 'familiar/servant' type creatures as given by a class. That could come in handy really, so why not?

-=Selections have been made. Do have a wonderful life; unlocking all talents and abilities.=-

Wait what?

Let's just ignore the voice for now; as I am being handed off to mother again, not for feeding but I guess to pass around the younglings. Oh well, it's relaxing anyway to not really have anything to do… physically. Mentally I am still all over the place…

T: "So, should we just work on something for the time being? I think they said something about appraisal in a few days; so got time to kill."

'Yeah, that'll be for the best. Got nothing better to do anyway.'

This is going to get boring… why did I have to be awake through this whole thing damnit!