A Real Life Game Status

Sigh!

Kora swivelled her body around to face Hugo who was on the other side of the room. She stopped casting her magic and the flickering flames underneath her feet calmed and faded away.

"What's wrong, my darling Hugo?" She asked. Why had he sighed so suddenly?

To any ordinary outsider, they wouldn't know that she wasn't using his real name. In fact, she wasn't using her real name, either. None of the Gods did.

It's well known in their realm that a God's real name is too dangerous to speak into existence, so they had to go by an alias instead. Even Gods who have been acquaintances for over a millennia might not ever know each other's given name.

It was simply the rule.

The only ones who get the privilege to know the real name of a God is the bearer of the name, the Giver, and their select few most trusted allies. Although, there's a special process that they are meant to go through. Among those allies, in extremely rare cases, a chosen Vessel is bestowed the name for particular purposes.

This was a piece of information that only a handful of individuals on Vedriysia know about.

Kora and Hugo, having been soul bonded for over 400 years, do indeed know each other's real names and that showed complete trust and faith in each other to never speak it out loud unless necessary.

"It's Sora." Hugo didn't need the vision pool to know what was happening, not when every living animal on Vedriysia are his eyes when he wants them to be. Perks of being the Animal God. The Flame Spirit Tiger that was curled up beside Hugo's feet lifted its head up and yawned.

"Not even a full day has passed yet and the kid's already having a crisis."

Kora raised her eyebrows in concern. "Elaborate."

The man grunted. "It's clear that he feels guilty for taking someone else's body. Should've known his thoughts would spiral... he's fragile like that, growing up the way he did, anyone would be emotionally constipated."

Kora made a chastising noise, frowning at Hugo but he continued regardless, "Maybe we should've just given him his own body, from a normal birth."

"You know that was never an option. We can't afford to-"

"-waste more time waiting for him to grow up, I know, I know. Forget I said it. Matters are pressing right now." Hugo cut her off with a brisk wave of his hand, immediately regretting what he said. He had a solemn look on his face.

Kora pursed her lips, "And anyway, I don't think he's fragile, he's just... he's just..." she saw Hugo's questioning gaze, and didn't bother finishing that sentence.

"Okay, fine. Maybe you're right. He's a gentle boy, we know that, and he'll need to build up his willpower if he wants to get far in the practice of magic. He's not exactly suited for what we want him for, but it's not his fault that his body had that condition in the first place... he couldn't have been prepared for it. But for now, what should we do? Should we open up the link and let them sort it out?"

"That might be for the best... hopefully he can talk some sense into Sora..." Hugo sighed. "I'll let the others know the situation and get the Summoners ready."

"Good." Kora pressed her red lips to Hugo's cheek sweetly, smiling in adoration at the slight pink dusting the man's cheeks. He acted all tough and cold on the exterior, upholding his reputation, but surprisingly he was the most caring out of them all.

*****

Sora was on a picnic blanket with the family on a grassy surface beside the waterfall. It was Lucas' turn to have him so he sat right by his side, feeding Sora some fruits. The scene was nice and domestic, but Sora still couldn't keep his thoughts from straying.

Unbeknownst to Sora, the past 7 years had been the worst imaginable for the Regis family. The atmosphere in the house was bleak and heavy with uncertainty, and not a single day went by where they didn't think about Sora, trapped in a cursed sleep a few hallways away.

Will today be the day he wakes up? Or what if he never woke up at all? Thoughts like these were constantly on their minds. And now that he's back, of course they'd want to be with him as much as possible, and make up for lost time.

"Honey, I've just remembered, what about Sora's status?" His mother said to his father. "He's already 16 now, so he should get one."

"Hmm," Seiki thought for a while. "I suppose we should sort that out as soon as possible. Should we go now or do you want to wait until tomorrow?"

"The day is still young, so we might as well get it over with..."

Hm?

What were they talking about? The confusion must've shown on his face, since Lancelot answered him.

"Sora, do you remember what a status is?"

Status...?

What kind of status were they referring to? He thought it was mentioned somewhere in the memories, but it was difficult to pin point. Sometimes the memories had perfect clarity, and other times, like this one, they were fuzzy and distorted. Not everything was clear.

"No," he eventually replied. "What is it?"

"A status is essentially your profile, showing your age, titles, skills and whatnot. But most importantly, it shows your levels in magic, and which areas are the strongest and weakest," Mei supplied.

Sora's eyes sparkled with intrigue.

Holy sh*t, no way. That sounds like a game status! They had real life statuses on this planet?!

"It's unknown when statuses first came into existence, but the majority of people believe it was a gift from the Creation God as a way to help regulate and assist the use of magic and other special abilities," Lucas said.

Hmm... The Creation God? Sora wondered if they were one of the 7 Gods he had met earlier.

"How do you see your status?" He asked.

"Well, there are several ways, but there are 2 main ones. You could either go to the Moon God Temple or the Adventurer's Guild. If you go to the temple, you'll only receive your status, but if you go to the guild you can obtain your adventurer card, identification and aptitude test results all at once." Lancelot replied.

"Does it matter which one you go to?"

"No, not at all. If you get your status at the temple, you can still go to the guild to get your identification card and other items later on."

Seiki nodded, "Well, Sora doesn't need any of those extra items right now, so going to Moon God Temple seems like the better option. And also, it's much closer, so we might as well take a carriage there now and we'll get there just after midday."

Persephone agreed with her husband. "The adventurer's guild is situated in the main city so it would take much longer to get there, and we're not planning on heading there just yet."

The parents wanted to wait a little longer before they took Sora out into the capital, since it was always busy and lively there. They needed to make sure the Enchanted Slumber didn't have any unknown harmful side effects first, they wouldn't want to potentially put him in danger.

The conversation went on for a bit until they eventually decided to take their leave. Only Seiki went with Sora, as there was no need for the others to come since they'll be back quickly.

They both got inside a horse carriage and after a half an hour journey they finally arrived at the foot of a relatively small mountain. There was a long staircase path leading up to the Moon God Temple.

At the very top was a large open space. In the dead centre, a towering, beautiful blue flower tree was in full bloom, and monks in navy uniformed robes were scattered around the area. There were also many local visitors, as well.

Stalls were set up on the sides where you could purchase goods and offerings for the temple. The subtle smell of herbs and incense drifted in the air as a gentle breeze flew by.

A middle aged woman stood behind one of the stalls, talking to a young teenage girl. And they... had cat ears...?

Sora tried not to audibly gasp. They were beastkin!

"You want to enroll? In your dreams!" The older lady said furiously.

"Aunt Ruo, please! Give me a chance! I've been practicing hard to get in, at least let me take the entrance exams!"

"You silly girl, Crescent Academy has no place for you there," she said patronisingly. "After your mother died, you haven't been in the right head space. Just stay home with me, there's no need to get involved with all that magic nonsense, understood?"

The girl didn't reply, instead turning around and storming down the mountain. When she swept past Sora, he saw the frustrated look on her face. Her fluffy brown cat ears were flared backwards, indicating her anger.

"Rumi!" Seeing her niece run off, Ruo sighed heavily. "That stubborn girl."