1.1.01-This town's a different town today

1.1.01-This town's a different town today

2/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Niwut - Mid-morning

(Second-Day of the First-Decan of the Fifth-month of the four thousand three hundred and fifty-third year of the Modern Akashic Calendar)

Doro was lying in bed as the morning sun filtered through his bedroom window. The young boy had gone to bed as Doro Gal Khetepsa, but that had somewhat changed overnight. Children his age did tend to change quickly, lose teeth, and grow hair where there had been none before, but whatever had happened to Doro was more profound and life-altering than even puberty could be.

Doro stirred awake but stayed silent underneath his covers with his eyes still shut, slowly leaving the most vivid dream he'd ever had.

Is something wrong with me? Why do I still remember every detail? You are meant to forget dreams quickly after waking up right?

The sound of rustling fabric and a quiet sniff brought his thoughts to a stop instantly. He tentatively opened his eyes and saw a young, brick-skinned woman sleeping. Her upper body was hunched over the foot end of his bed as she knelt on the floor.

Why is Mom sleeping here?

As those thoughts crossed his mind, the image of another woman appeared unbidden. A Dark-skinned lanky woman with a pained expression on her face. The image started becoming somewhat clearer as aftershocks of his headache reverberated throughout his head. His expression shifted into a look of sudden realization as the events of the night caught up to him.

This is strange. During my fever, I thought I was this Ben guy from a place called Earth. You're not supposed to remember fever dreams right? at least not this clearly...Also...why am I reasonably trying to figure this out and not freaking out? I'm an eight-year-old kid... and I am fairly sure someone that age should be unsettled and crying after having had a nightmare.

What gives?

Wait a minute, if I'm an eight-year-old kid, why the hell do I feel as if I have outgrown that perspective? Why do I feel dismissive of the mental stability of someone my age as if it didn't apply to me? Am I actually Ben and Doro is the illusion? Am I dreaming right now?

Doro looked at his mother, the room around him, and finally at his hands.

Nope. That is definitely my mother, Suyum. This is our home on the outskirts of Niwut. These are the hands of a child. Maybe I am going crazy from the fever after all.

Suyum shifted , put a hand behind her back, and let out a small groan as she stretched and opened her eyes. As they settled on Doro, she approached him and put her forehead against his.

"Good the fever is down. How are you feelin'?"

Silence followed for a few seconds before Doro replied with a small voice

"I am fine.....mom....thanks"

That appeared to have been enough to reassure her as Suyum proceeded to leave the room after giving him a light peck on the forehead.

Ok, Ben can't have been a dream. Why can't Ben have been a dream? I've been thinking in friggin English instead of Imperial common! I shouldn't even know what English is, since I'm fairly sure you can't just invent a whole language based on an entirely imagined culture in your sleep. Or at the very least not in a single night's worth.

Doro stayed in bed for the next few hours, trying to come to grips with his situation. How could he be both Ben and Doro? He was growing more secure in the idea that Ben was real because there was no way that yesterday's Doro had the imagination to come up with the amount of information that he was slowly recollecting. Although he'd at first thought it might have simply been a strange dream, the details he remembered were both too vivid and too plentiful for that to seem plausible. He sat there going through his newly acquired memories, trying to make sense of it all.

Alright, not much I can do about it for now. Guess I'll have to test out some of this knowledge to confirm it. If I don't want to go crazy I need to think differently. I am now neither Ben nor Doro, but an amalgam of both. I feel emotions for both of their families, have the knowledge that each had, and feel curious about the same things as they did. I am, however, In Doro's body and surrounded by the world Doro knew. I guess I'll just think of myself as Doro 2.0 and try to fit in somewhat...Worst case, if I end up being wrong, I'll just blame it on a childlike flight of fancy- And here I go again thinking about children as if they were a group I don't belong to...

What were once two separate identities were slowly transitioning into one and the hours went by as Doro felt like he was close to getting a grasp of the situation when-

GRWGLGL

Doro hopped off his bed and made for the door with all the speed he could muster whilst keeping his knees tightly locked together. He awkwardly waddled through the corridor and into the bathroom. The sounds of an epic and gruesome battle could be heard from outside, and as the battle went on, the scent of death permeated the land of porcelain. After leaving the battlefield, victorious but ashamed at the shitshow the battle had been, Doro made his way towards the kitchen to resupply his armies. As Doro reached the kitchen, a small draft unluckily picked up the aftermath of his struggle and followed him in.

Suyum, in the middle of preparing lunch, turned toward Doro with a smile as she noticed him walk in, but then her nose wrinkled and her smile took on a forced quality.

"Thank the Thermaens for comin' up with indoor plumbin'."

Suyum failed to repress a giggle as she poked fun at her son. She then motioned towards the table where a lukewarm bowl of salted boiled grains and leek awaited him.

"Your royal repast is served my Lord, may it fortify you and help you defeat the ills you are battlin'."

She then gave Doro a full-blown smile followed by a hearty laugh as he sat still, waiting for the torment to be over. As If Suyum's laugh had been a lunch bell, a short, extremely dark-skinned man with cropped silver hair walked into the room with an expectant look on his face. He then glanced at Doro slowly eating his boiled grains and the expectant look on his face seemed to turn into one of resignation.

"Boiled grains and leek? It smells....appetizing, this will definitely stick with me and give me the energy I need this afternoon, thanks Suyum!"

Doro started wincing. His father's acting skills left a lot to be desired.

"Don't be daft Khetep, Doro was sick last night so I cooked up somethin' easy to digest for him. Made somethin' with a lil' more kick for us."

Suyum then proceeded to bring out two clay bowls, filled with a thick spicy goat meat stew, and a stack of circular unleavened bread. She then picked up a little clay pot which she put next to her dish before joining them at the table.

"Have at it, it might be a bit hot. I used some Ashraman curry leaf and other spices to add a kick to the stew"

Doro looked at the stew with envy but the rich smell of the spices and the gamey nature of the goat meat was nearly enough to make his stomach revolt. He did not want his earlier battle to devolve into an all-out war, and so wisely stuck to his own fare. Beads of sweat materialized on Khetep's brow in response to the spice. He put down his dipping bread and started making conversation as he reached for the water pitcher.

"Why are you so quiet? Still unwell?"

Doro looked at his father and answered after a couple of seconds.

"Nah Dad, I'm better now."

A moment of silence passed as Khetep waited for Doro to elaborate. Doro wasn't quite sure what to add, but as he was about to try to come up with something, his mother spoke up.

"He's probably just bein' nervous 'bout tomorrow. I was so nervous the decan before my first Choice that I could barely sleep. In the end, I was so tired that after choosin', I barely had the energy to do anythin' and went straight to bed after gettin' home. Didn't get to try out my skills until I woke up the next mornin'."

Right...days are grouped in ten-day decans instead of seven-day weeks here. At least the year is still twelve months long, each just divided into three decans instead of four weeks. Makes the conversion simple.

With the events of the previous night, Doro had all but forgotten that tomorrow was his Choice Day and he couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect.

"Yeah, my first Choice, that's probably it. I wonder what options I'll get. It would be awesome if I get something to do with crafting."

Even after the whole ordeal, Doro knew crafting was still the route he wanted to take. His old self enjoyed working with his mother's ceramics and found the things people made from his father's materials wondrous. Ben's aspirations had been closer to Khetep's. He was a student of materials science and engineering. Finding new materials to improve machines and other contraptions had been his passion. He had dabbled in actually building things to test out his ideas, and all the crazy prototype demands his cousin had badgered him to build over the years had gotten him some experience and appreciation for the field of manufacturing.

And it's not like the two are mutually exclusive. Maybe I can find something that will let me do both. Like an artistic engineer? Ok, that just sounds like one of those wonky architects...

Doro started to question his identity again after noticing how verbose his train of thought had just been, filled with concepts still foreign to him the previous day.

That won't do, I decided I was both, and that's how it has to be.

As a look of resolve settled on Doro's face, his father, who seemed to have misunderstood, spoke up again.

"Ah, have you made up your mind already? Not waiting to see your options?"

Doro thought over his answer for a second before responding.

"Nah, not really. I just decided that it didn't really matter what options I end up getting. What's important is that I make the most of whatever choice I take, my actions will define who I become, not my Choice."

I mean, Choices seem awesome and magical, but at worst, I always have good old science to rely on.

Both Suyum and Khetep reacted by looking straight at their son. The silence continued as the pair wore expressions of mild shock on their faces. After an awkwardly long amount of time had passed, Suyum looked back towards Khetep.

"Honey, I never realized how amazin' we were at parentin'! Can you imagine either of us sayin' somethin' that made this much sense at his age?"

Here we go again...

Doro knew how this was going to progress, he'd seen it often enough. As he feared, his parents started openly flirting in front of him. They were so drawn into it that he may as well have already left the room. He loved his parents and was pleased that they got along, but he wondered if they really had to act like newlyweds when they had been married for close to ten years. As he went over such thoughts, his father stood up and headed back towards his workshop as his mother started clearing the table.

"Help me clear this out and then go out to breathe some fresh air. Might help settle you."

Doro nodded and began helping out. Doro found the relatively monotonous task to be a welcome distraction from the chaotic jumble of thoughts going through his mind. As time went by, and the task neared its end, Doro looked up at his mother.

"After I take a walk, can I ask you for a bit of help? there is something I would like to try making."

Suyum looked back at her son with a pensive expression before answering.

"You know what? I should be able to get most of the work I was plannin' to get done by the end of the afternoon. If you come find me around sunset, we can work on your thing until dinner since it's your dad's turn to cook tonight."

Having cleared the table, Doro went back to his room to change. He opened his closet to find a couple of loose belted tunics and a small pile of loose cloth pants. Doro chuckled a bit at the sight of the pants. Until yesterday they had seemed completely normal to him, but as he put them on today, he couldn't help but feel like he was getting into an Aladdin costume. Doro scanned his room slowly and noticed that many things he had considered usual until recently now appeared somewhat exotic to him. Many things he had taken for granted and not questioned now started to seem more interesting and deserving of scrutiny. Doro had never really wondered why his clothing was designed the way it was or cared more about the fabric than how it felt on his skin. Now, he saw the flared sleeve of his tunic and noticed three little hoops of cloth sawn on the inside, from the cuff to the shoulder. Doro knew those were added so that the sleeve could be rolled back and tied, to not get in the way of manual labor, but only now did he understand why the sleeve got gradually wider as it reached its cuff. If not for that bit of design, when rolled up the sleeves would get tighter the further you rolled them up. He could now see this was needed because the cloth used here was rather coarse and had very little elasticity.

I could get used to this! Everything I remember seems more wondrous now, almost like I'm really seeing things for the first time.

Doro was not wrong, all the new knowledge and perspective he acquired from his memories as Ben allowed him to understand and think about things more deeply. Doro hadn't been stupid, his father wouldn't have let his only son grow up to be a dunce, but he hadn't been far above average in that department. He had always been rather quick to understand things that were explained to him, but his nimble fingers and his coordination had always been his strongest points. Unlike his father, he didn't really have the spark of curiosity that causes the scientifically inclined to question things and search for ways to improve them. Like his mother, however, he had creativity and enjoyed playing around with ideas and experimenting. The sheer spectrum of his creativity had gotten him banned from cooking after the first time his parents had tasked him with making lunch. Ben had had that spark though, and it made Doro feel as if a mist was lifted. For the first time, he could truly see the world. The other reason for that change in perspective was the knowledge he had acquired. All the knowledge of a 22-year-old, modern American university student, who had focused on academic achievement most of his life, was nothing to scoff at and would be enough to change the way of thinking of any 8-year-old, even if an entire person's worth of emotions and memories hadn't come along with it.

This walk might actually be really cool, I wonder what other kinds of stuff that I never really noticed before will pop out.

Doro headed out of his home and onto the street. His family lived in Niwut, the capital city of the Duchy of Manzat in the Akashic Empire. He didn't know much about the geography of the Empire, aside from the fact that its capital was situated in the Plateau of Origin at the center of the continent and that the great river of Manzat found its source there. From there, the Great River flowed southwards, splitting the desert in two and creating the flood plains, and into the Inland Sea at the foot of the Sutai mountain range. You could find Niwut on the western shore of the inland sea at the mouth of the Great River. Densely built and metropolitan, it had grown for over three millennia and absorbed the towns that had sat between it and the western desert to become the Empire's second Great City.

Doro's family wasn't poor, but it wasn't quite rich enough to live in the bustling central district. They lived in the industrial district, a section of the city between the central district and the less affluent agricultural district, where many small workshops, refineries, and smithies made loud noises and had extremely hot fires burning all day. It wasn't a particularly nice place to live, hotter than any other part of the city, often smokey, and it was filled with sweaty people going about doing physically demanding work. However, if one would care to look deeper into it, one would find out that although the environment was inhospitable, its people were quite the opposite. Unlike in the competitive central district where great families and companies fought tooth and nail for control over the market and guarded their secrets like dragons guarding their hoards, the people of the industrial district treated each other like extended family. They banded together to survive in the harsher times and cheered when one of theirs made it big and moved on to greater things. It wasn't devoid of self-interest, of course, as who would a newly successful artisan hire if not for the capable people who supported them through their lows and celebrated their highs, but it was more than just that. The people of the industrial district tended to be dreamers who shared a passion for their respective crafts, from old smiths still trying to come up with something new to put their name down in the books instead of retiring to the agricultural district and smaller towns, to younger artisans opening their first workshops and trying to make a name for themselves, as well as all the stages in between.

Those that were content with their skills and just wanted to work for pay didn't last long there, they found better living conditions and better pay in smaller cities and towns in the Empire. Those who stayed were those who saw the value in the community. The value of having rivals and friends, helping and inspiring each other, ready to talk out any crazy idea one might have and see if it was realizable. As one could expect, this willingness to experiment and take risks also resulted in many explosions, accidents, and other types of misadventures, leading to the district's nickname, "Boomtown", and fueling stereotypes about the people of Manzat throughout the empire.

The part of Doro that used to be Ben could not help but stare at each new thing entering his field of vision as he walked down the narrow street. Grey cloth hung high above his head, forming a canopy over the street and letting rays of light through some small tears and patches where the weave was coming loose. At first, he thought they were only there to provide shade, but then he noticed their color and realized they were also there to stop soot and ash from drifting down onto the streets from all the active chimneys that sprouted from the workshop rooves.

Doro studied the people working in some of the open workshops and smithies, as well as passersby on their business. The majority of them looked somewhat like his father, and himself now that he thought about it, in that their skin was extremely dark, to the point that only under direct light could one see they were a very dark shade of brown instead of charcoal black. Their hair ranged between silvery-white and ashen gray and they had sharp and well-defined features, to the point where he thought he could have used some of the chins and noses he saw as pickaxes. Although they made up a bit over half of the people he saw, many other different types of people were present with varying shades of skin tones and hair color. Doro even started spotting quite a few people who stretched, or outright contradicted, Ben's definition of human, as befitting one of the Great Cities of the Empire.

Doro only now noted that in his memories as Ben, all other people had been Human. He had noticed earlier that in his newly reacquired memories, there were no concepts of things like the Choices and Abilities outside of fiction. Not only that but in his old world, there had not been any Akashic energy, or at least they hadn't found the means of harnessing it. On the upside, they hadn't needed to deal with Maya, the corruption it could cause, and the monsters it could create. If he didn't have his memories as Doro, he would probably be jumping for joy at magic being real and spending hours staring at one of the older smiths hammering at the white-hot metal on his anvil, bare-handed, and pinching out the ends with his fingers, but the more mundane and practical aspects of Energy had always been part of Doro's everyday life. The prospect of using it himself soon was enough to make him rather giddy though.

Doro continued his walk through the industrial district and the more he saw and thought about, the less he found himself worrying about his situation. The two perspectives were slowly fusing and his memories were getting intertwined. Without really noticing when it exactly happened, he shifted to referring to both identities as "me", and Ben's life as "my old life" by the time the sun began to move closer to the horizon.

Feeling more relaxed, Doro visually loosened up, as if a weight had been removed from his shoulders. Even with Ben's adult perspective and emotional stability, the merge had come as a shock, not only physically but also psychologically. It had increased his stress levels, scaring him and putting him in a state similar to fight or flight, but with the afternoon progressing, and seeing nothing horrible was happening, Doro finally felt some sense that things were going to be alright.

Doro skipped home whilst whistling a tune that had never been heard in this world before, not that anyone would notice considering that if there were any people who believed they knew every song ever played, they definitely wouldn't just be casually strolling around the streets of the industrial district.

Tell everybody I'm on my way....something something to see, with something something yes I'm on my way, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be!

Doro came to an immediate standstill mid-skip and nearly toppled over forward.

Crap! I don't remember the lyrics. I can't ever listen to it again or look up the lyrics. This is the most complete version of this earworm I'll probably manage to remember.

Doro's expression morphed into an annoyed frown as he realized how irksome this, and similar occurrences down the line, were going to be. He surmised that he could at least try to record important things before he forgot details over time.

Damn, I remember getting annoyed when I couldn't look up stuff because I had no internet on holiday, and that was knowing that at worst I could search something up when I got back home. I don't think this world has Google or Wikipedia........oh libraries and encyclopedias are probably a thing, although I haven't seen any before. My parents have books and I've seen bookstores, all is not lost.

Doro took two steps before his newly returned smile turned back into a frown.

Dammit! That only solves the issue for stuff from this world.....so, if I want books containing knowledge from my old world, I'd have to write them myself. I don't want to become an effin' scribe, spending all day alone in a dark room, writing until my hands cramp up for something I might be the only one to ever read. Who'd enjoy that kind of life? Guess I'll have to limit it to important things like alloy make-ups, formulae, and other things that could come in handy, and I guess maybe a few of my favorite songs just to make sure.

"Hey yer' Khetep's kid, right? Dodo? What's got ya all thoughtful like? Ye've been standing there with yer face shifting like them dunes fer the last two minutes lad"

Doro looked around to see where the voice came from, only to find a blood-red-skinned mountain of a man towering more than twice his height, even though Doro was on the taller side of the average for his age. Doro immediately recognized the man, it was easy since he had only ever spoken to one Thermal before. Due to their constitution, they needed to consume a lot more food in hotter environments, and therefore, the few who were rich enough to afford the ridiculous amount of food they needed on a daily basis in this kind of environment tended to live in the central district.

"Greetings Captain Aonghus, have your journeys been pleasant? If you are here in this part of the industrial district, would I be wrong to assume that you are on your way to my family's workshop? If so, it would be remiss of me, Doro, were I not to extend our thanks for your continuous patronage, on behalf of my family, and accompany you to our home forthwith."

Doro greeted the airship captain, trying to be as polite as possible towards his father's biggest customer, in both senses of the word, but forgot to take into account his newly improved linguistic faculties as he overshot by a mile. He wasn't speaking English but Imperial Common, and Doro had known all those words before, but didn't have much knowledge of etiquette, and hadn't known how to weave words into more than simple sentences. However, his previous life's high school English classes had been enough to allow him to express his thoughts in a much more complex manner than would be expected for a child of his current age, in either world.

"Ye stop that right now ye hear me? It's making me spine shiver! Yer making me feel as if I'm speaking to yer old man and he's shrunken from his already wee size. Didnae I speak to ye but six months past? Did yer dah feed ye a lexicon while I was away? Dispense with the formality, I've known ye since ye were but a twinkle in his eye."

Doro wasn't quite sure how to respond but tried adjusting his speech to sound closer to what he had in the past.

"My bad captain. Please don't call my dad small in front of him, he might cry when no one is looking. Also, if you've known me this long, why'd you get my name wrong?"

Doro responded, adding a bit of cheekiness to his reply, hoping it might mitigate the damage. Aonghus looked back at him and guffawed.

"He'd cry twice as hard if I told him ye said that lad. Sorry about yer name, but dinnae take it personally. The other day when I got back I realized I had forgotten it was my bastard's birthday. I quickly returned to me ship to see if any of my trade goods would do and picked up a small Ashraman tambourine. When I got to him. I gave him the gift and said I was sorry I was a day late but that I had just arrived. I kneeled and opened me arms, thinking I'd get meself a hug. In return, he slugged me in the nethers and walked off. Been giving me the cold shoulder since, which must've been hard as he's a thermal like his dah, and we tend to run hot around these parts. I think he is around yer age, he turned 9 sometime last month methinks. Ye see, turns out that I not only got the date wrong by a decan, early, but I'd forgotten I'd already given him the same gift two years ago after a similar blunder."

Doro answered without thinking it through first, getting caught up in the banterous mood.

"I'm on your son's side on this one. You really gave him the old one-two, like throwing salt in the wound after stabbing someone. That's one you might want to ask his mom about before acting next time, before he finds out and decides he needs another go at your dangly bits."

Aonghus's expression shifted to what could only be described as poorly faked shock.

"Ay lad, at first ye impress me by sounding all smart like yer dah, then ye act witty fer a bit, and now ye speak of me dangly bits? It's like one of these stories where a well-to-do lad falls on hard times and takes to the sea. Except in those stories, the changes happen over decans, nae over one conversation! Is this the effect I'm having on ye? Maybe I ought to spend less time around children lest I make their parents mad."

Doro decided that he was enjoying the banter and decided to throw Aonghus a bone.

"Don't worry Captain, it's not your fault. All the damage you could do has mostly already been done by my mom. Remember she is originally from Gallia and wears the last name of Gal. Due to their favorite swear, dangly bits might have been my first words."

"Too true lad, yer mah does have a mouth on her, that she does, and nae much filter between it and her mind."

"Ah, does she now?"

A woman's voice came from just ahead of them, and as the laws of the universe dictated, that woman just happened to be Suyum.

"I finished my work early because my cute son asked me to, and set out to find him so we could start on his project, only to find him, and my dear husband's patron, agreeing on my lack of decorum, within earshot of my neighbors? You know what I've got to say to that?"

Aonghus suddenly looked very nervous, looking as if he was about to face an army or a mighty beasts, not an unarmed woman over two feet shorter than he was. He had seen how fiery Suyum could get when she got angry, drunk, or heavens forbid, both. Doro, however, knew his mother quite well and had an inkling as to what was going to happen. As if to confirm that her son did indeed know her well, Suyum took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"BIG HAIRY JIGGLY BOLLOCKS!"

Aonghus turned beet red, or he would have were it not already his base skin tone in this weather. His expression betrayed how embarrassed he was getting over someone else being even louder and cruder than he'd feel comfortable acting on the streets, which was a decently high bar to surpass. Suyum, on the other hand, stood there with her hands on her hips and a wide smile on her face, in a full-on power pose.

"Mom, maybe don't embarrass one of Dad's biggest and oldest clients in the middle of the street, he might not dare come back next time, and where will that leave Dad?"

Suyum's power pose crumbled and her smile turned into a guilty grin.

"My bad Captain, I might have gone a bit too far with this one. How about you stay over for dinner as an apology, and you can talk business over the meal and relax?"

"Ye know, why nae? But are ye sure it's nae too much work? It takes a small mountain of food to feed one of my kind in this climate."

Aonghus replied, tentatively accepting the invitation, but Doro answered before his mother could.

"Don't worry about my mom captain, she knows it's my dad's turn to cook tonight, and that's probably why she invited you so easily. She plans on dumping any extra hassle onto him."

Rather than being offended, Suyum looked pleased by her son's answer.

"Ah see, I'm proud of you my son, you might have inherited your good father's looks, but if you can understand my schemes this well, then you got my smarts!"

At this point, Aonghus seemed close to leaving and trying his luck another day, but before a chance to make his exit could present itself, the trio arrived in front of the workshop in time to spot Khetep closing down the shop front.

"If that isn't three of my favorite people I see coming! Greetings Captain Aonghus, have your journeys been pleasant? Let me once again thank you for your continuous patronage."

Aonghus and Doro both stiffened and held back a laugh as Khetep greeted the captain with nearly the same sentence his son had used earlier. Well, at least Doro held it back, as Aonghus let out a chuckle causing a look of mild confusion to appear on Khetep's face. Deciding to let it go, Khetep continued.

"How about you stay over for dinner tonight? We can talk business over the meal and relax?"

The duo couldn't hold it in anymore and they both burst out laughing as a confused Khetep tried to calm them down. The puzzled look on Khetep's face as he attempted to understand what was going on, and tried to calm them down, had the opposite effect causing their laughter to redouble. After taking a few moments before managing to stop, the two stood there panting a little, but finally quiet again. Aonghus then decided to let his friend out of his misery.

"Dinnae worry old friend, we are nae laughing at yer expense, just amusing coincidences but matters nae. I will gladly accept yer invitation if ye'll allow me to return the favor when I return from me next trip."

Mollified, Khetep gestured toward the door and ushered them inside. In the end, Suyum helped Khetep out with the dinner preparations. Considering Aonghus ate as much as the three of them combined, and then a bit more, her help was not unwarranted. Doro sat quietly at the table as his father and Aonghus settled the delivery for his last order before talking over the purchase for his next journey.

Aonghus was originally from Thermae, in the far northwest of the continent, and he constantly traveled between there and Niwut by way of the Duchy of Ashrama. He only stayed a decan or so at each of the three capitals to sell his cargo, recuperate, restock, and depart again. He had started with one small airship a bit over 9 years ago, and in that time had grown his fleet to eight small and one large airship. Khetep had been instrumental to the success of his first trip, and thus, even now that Aonghus mostly dealt with big companies and noble houses, he still came in person to place an order with Khetep every four months or so. As the evening progressed, Aonghus started saying his farewells and prepared to leave, but signaled Doro to come close first.

"Hey lad, your dah told me yer first Choice was tomorrow. Here's a little present, use it to celebrate, cause some mischief, or experiment with whatever Abilities ye end up with, nae need to tell yer parents."

He whispered into Doro's ear and winked conspiratorially, slipping a heavy metallic coin into his hand.

"Dinnae go spending it all at once, or do as long as it's nae on something daft, or save it fer later, but I give yer Dah enough of me coin already, so do spend it on yerself or yer friends ye hear me? Next time I come, ye can keep me entertained by telling me what ye did with it."

Doro looked into his hand and gasped before closing it tightly, deftly slipping it into his pocket. Aonghus had given him an imperial gold mark, more money than Doro had ever held before, excluding the credit cards he'd had in his previous life. It was no small sum. Although it wouldn't stretch far in some of the establishments of the central district, it could pay for half a month at an average inn, meals included, or it could pay for a serviceable weapon, shield, or light armor. Doro knew his parents would try and get him things he wanted if their budget permitted, and maybe he could convince them to spend a gold mark on a big occasion like his first Choice, but they would have to approve of its use. This, however, he had freedom with. He could even go and buy a barrel of beer with it, not that he would.

"Thanks a lot, Captain, I'll try to do something interesting with it so I won't bore you with a story of how I got myself sick by spending it all on candy or something."

"Ye say that as if it would be boring. Nah, I would laugh and tease you until the lesson sank in, and that would have been a lesson learned, maybe one worth a golden mark."

Aonghus replied with a wise look he hadn't shown Doro before.

"Alas, I must depart fer I am leaving fer Ashrama soon and I want to enjoy the bed of me goddess of fortune while I still can."

With these parting words, Aonghus's figure faded into the night, seeking the comfort of his warm bed and an even warmer woman, back in the central district.

By the time Doro turned back, his parents had sneaked into their room, together, to do things Doro was actively trying not to think about. With the hour getting late, Doro headed towards his room and into his bed, exhausted from all the thinking he had done that day, and from the accumulated stress of the previous tumultuous night. Tomorrow, he would get to make his first Choice, but by the time his head lay on his pillow, even those thoughts were not enough to keep him awake. Doro slowly drifted into a deep restful sleep, a content smile on his face.