The power of words.

‘This… this isn’t good’. I read over the combat log again, but despite my wishes the information doesn’t change. Em, bless her heart, tries to put on a brave face, but all it takes is a glance to tell me how scared she really is. “Did my healing spell have any effect at all?” Her eyes light up with hope for a moment, then gloss over as she checks her status.

But then her posture changes. She draws her feet up until they are resting on her chair, her arms tightly wrapping around her knees. She lets out a long sigh, then shakes her head. “No, it’s… it’s still there on my status page, under ‘Active effects’. Take a look for yourself.” As she speaks, a notification window fills my vision.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

Emily Hill wishes to share a Notification screen with you, do you accept? (Y/N)

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I read the prompt, then immediately select yes. The window in front of me closes, swiftly replaced by another.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

Waa waaaa, you have contracted an Unknown Disease (Tier 5 Pathogen). The first symptoms of your new affliction will appear in 3H 57Min. You should strive to find a cure for this affliction, as failing to do so may have serious repercussions.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

Emily stares into the fire. Reaching out tentatively, I take her hand in my own and give it a reassuring squeeze. She looks up from the fire, surprise clear on her features, and searches my expression for a moment. The moment passes, and she turns back to the fire. But not before I feel an answering squeeze in return. ‘There’s got to be a solution to this, there has to be, the notification practically says as much. We need to find a cure, and I won’t sleep until I work out whatever the hell it is’.

Feeling resolute, and with the beginnings of a plan forming in my mind, I say, “We’re going to get through this. I swear I will do whatever it takes to cure you of this thing, on that, you have my word.”

Her voice shakes slightly as she asks, “How can you be so sure?” I open my mouth to reply, but my vision is filled with yet another prompt.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

You have sworn an Oath, and the System has borne witness. Be aware that words have power, and failure to fulfil an Oath, once sworn, will have major negative repercussions. As you were unaware of the binding nature of Oaths sworn whilst integrated with the System, the local System Custodian has deemed it appropriate to nullify your Oath. Be aware that this is a onetime courtesy, one that will not be offered to you, nor any members of your Party, again. It is highly advised that you inform the rest of your Party about Oaths, and the power of words, as soon as reasonably possible.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

Emily squeezes my hand again, drawing my attention back to her. “Sorry, got interrupted by a prompt, you should probably read this.” Rather than explain further, I focus on sharing the notification with her, and can’t help the small smile when a window pops up telling me that my notification was successfully shared. Whilst Em reads through the prompt, I slowly look around the campsite. ‘Now, where are you supposed to look when addressing what is probably some super powerful being? Fuck it, the sky’ll do’.

I look up at the stars and say, “System Custodian, thank you for what you did. I realise you probably didn’t have to, so I appreciate it.” I’m not expecting a response, so I feel a not inconsiderable amount of shock when I receive one. Unlike any other notification I have received so far, the words of this prompt hold more nuance, carrying an emotional undertone that I simply was not expecting from text. Through some magic of the System, the words somehow carry across emotional nuance. I can feel an underlying surprise in the words, as well as a trace of amusement.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

You are welcome, Traveller.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

I reconsider what I had been planning, but only for a couple of seconds. “That being said, please don’t take this the wrong way, but this is really important to me.” I turn back to Emily, who is staring at me with wide eyes, then say, “I swear I will do whatever it takes to cure you of this disease, you have my word.”

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

You have sworn an Oath, and the System has borne witness. Be aware that words have power, and failure to fulfil an Oath, once sworn, will have major negative repercussions.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

I read through the expected prompt, slightly nervous despite my firm resolve. A moment later, another pops up, conveying a deeper tinge of amusement, as well as a hint of something else that I can't quite place.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

Curious. Adam, was it? I will watch your journey with interest.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

The window closes, and I can see that Emily is gaping at me. Tears stand in the corners of her eyes, and a range of emotions flit across her face. I see shock intermingled with gratitude, a look of utter incredulity, before her expression finally settles on anger. ‘Uh-oh.’ “What were you thinking, you bloody idiot!?! That was so reckless! You were just told that if you don’t follow through, things’ll be bad for you, then you went and did it anyway!!!! UUUUUUUUURRRRG!”

“Errrrrrrrr.” I’m momentarily stunned by the outburst. Of all the reactions I had been expecting, this was certainly not one of them. Emily jumps up out of her chair, shaking her hand out of my slack grip, before standing in front of me with her hands on her hips. She looks down at me expectantly before saying, “Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

For a frustrating couple of seconds, my mouth opens and closes noiselessly as I try to think up words that just won’t come. Eventually I sigh and stand up too. Emily crosses her arms, looking up at me with a mix of irritation and defiance. In what is quickly becoming my signature move, I wrap my arms around her, drawing the irate woman into a hug.

She stiffens in my arms and glares up at me, and I have a moment to worry that this might not have been the best idea, before she sighs. Her body relaxes in my embrace, and I feel her arms wrap around me. Her head drops as she buries her head in my chest, and I hear a muffled, “This doesn’t mean I’m forgiving you.” I chuckle, then say, “But it’s a good start.” A non-committal grunt is my only response.

It’s probably a good thing that the only creature close to our campsite had already been delt with, because if something had attacked us right then, we both would have been taken completely unawares. We spent a minute in silence, simply holding each other, before she looks up at me and says, “So, are you going to tell me you plan? Because if you don’t have one, I swear to god I’ll…” She sees my grin and cuts herself off, glaring at me whilst she awaits my answer.

“Well, the plan is twofold, but both parts involve Skills. First, I’m going to see if I can learn a scanning style Skill, hopefully it’ll tell me what you have. They are super common in the books I’ve read, and that knowledge hasn’t steered me wrong so far. Second, the affinities I unlocked were Life and Water. If those don’t sound ideal for a cleanse spell, then I don’t know what is. Theres a couple of Skills that’ll help with that, but going of book knowledge again, I should be able to unlock a mana manipulation style Skill if I meditate for a bit... hopefully.”

“You don’t sound so sure,” says Em, studying my expression. “Shhhhhh, let me concentrate.” She looks slightly taken aback at my response, but I merely grin and continue staring into her eyes. The seconds pass, and she stares back at me for a time before her brows furrow in confusion. I note the smoothness of her skin, and how the flickering firelight lends her a rosy complexion.

A member of my inner menagerie, the socially graceful squirrel, is desperately trying to get my attention, apparently about some sort of faux pas I'm making? I pay it no mind and ignore the errant thought. ‘I have Skills to gain!’ Emily’s eyes dart back and forth between mine, a look of mild alarm on her face, and begins shifting in my arms slightly. Her voice catches slightly as she asks, “Errr, Adam? What are you doing?” I frown at her for breaking my concentration before saying, “I’m trying to unlock the scanning Skill, now shhhh, let me focus.”

For the next couple of minutes, I stare deep into my sister’s eyes. All this time, the socially graceful squirrel is clamouring for my attention. I stoically ignore the irritating thing, and it finally gives up, presumably to go for a smoke and settle its nerves when I idly think, “The wood must burn much redder here, Em’s looking much rosier than earlier, maybe a chemical composition thing?”

not too long after that, and my lack of progress is bugging me. ‘Maybe proximity will help?’ Lacking any better ideas, I slowly lean down towards my sister. Her eyes widen, locking onto mine, then slowly drift closed. She tilts her head back and slightly to one side, and I feel how she shifts in my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck, and pressing her body up against mine. We are mere centimetres apart when I finally get what I have been waiting for.

The notification fills my vison, and I jump back with a small “whoop”, extracting myself from the embrace. My eyes are already skimming over the text, so I totally miss Emily’s reaction. Her expression of confusion, outrage and guilt is picked up by someone else, however. Far away from our campsite, in a small room deep underground, scaly lips illuminated by the light from a monitor curve into a smirk.

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Congratulations! For your intensive study of another person, you have unlocked the following Skill:

• Analyse (Lvl 1).

For an in-depth description of this Skill, please examine your Skills tab.

For unlocking a Skill at the Novice rank, you have been awarded 50 Exp.

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For unlocking the Analyse Skill in an unconventional way, you have been offered a new Skill Quest! Skill Quests call for you to use your new Skill in unconventional ways, and, when completed, will unlock extra functionality for the Skill.

Skill Quest available: Social Analysis!

Description: For most Adventurers, Analyse is a tool to help determine the strength of hostile beings. You are not most adventurers! You have taken the first step down the path towards a Skill upgrade, but you still have a ways to go. Will you follow the path and see where it takes you?

Objectives:

• Use Analyse on other beings during social encounters (0/50).

• Hidden objective. (Hint: once was good, but how about again?) (0/5).

Rewards:

• An upgrade for your Analyse Skill.

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I have other notifications waiting, but I push them off to the side before they can fully open. ‘I really need to sit down and fiddle about with my settings, but I’ll sort that later. I’ve got the Skill I wanted, so let’s see if it shows what we’re dealing with.' Looking around the campsite, I find Emily is back in her chair. She notices me looking and glares at me for a second, before looking away with a huff.

‘What’s all that about?’ I frown at my sister’s reaction, then shrug. ‘She’s probably stressed about this whole situation, can’t say I blame her.’ “I got that skill in the end; I’m going to try it on you and see what it tells me, okay?” “Do what you want, I don’t care.” I shrug, then do exactly that. Focusing on her, I think ‘Analyse’, smiling when my mental command works.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

Analysis successful

*: This information has only been displayed as you already know the information. Your current Analyse Skill is insufficient to determine this on its own.

0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0

I sigh, shaking my head. My sister, despite feigning nonchalance, was clearly watching, as she slumps slightly at my reaction. “No dice?” “Sadly, no. That was only my first idea though, and it was only meant to find out what you had. The information might have helped, but isn’t super important in the long run,” ‘I hope.’ “It’s the next few skills that are going to be useful for curing you. I just have to learn how to consciously control my Mana, something that, before today, I never had. How hard can it be?”

She looks at me, surprised, then rolls her eyes when she realises I'm joking. “By the sounds of things, that’ll take a while. No point in keeping me company out here.” I open my mouth to argue, but Em cuts me off. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine out here. Theres only just over an hour left on my shift anyway, and if you leave Ash in there on her lonesome, she’ll get mad at both of us. Head back in, I’ll see you soon.”

I shrug, then say, “As long as you’re sure. I’m not far, so holler if you need anything, okay?” She nods in response, a small smile on her face. Waving goodnight, I make my way back to my tent before slipping inside.