^^ Grand Pillar ^^

— Alice —

I was born in a hovel, where the local Witch-Doctor or some such pulled me from my mother, then cut my umbilical and handed me to her unceremoniously, unswaddled and bloody and covered in disgusting amniotic fluids. It had taken a few moments of hacking and coughing to puke it all up and allow me a breath of air, welcome despite the heavy scents of blood, urine, and medicines.

Then, she charged a ridiculous sum of what appeared to be four golden coins for the swift healing magic she used after I was removed from my mother.

'MAGIC. I was in a world with Magic, just like I'd asked!!! I'd succeeded in bargaining with Death to send me to a world with MAGIC this time!!!'

The language here was already foreign and odd, but she spoke a different one, I was sure of it, when she healed my mother. Then, once my mother was asleep, only then was I cleaned and properly checked for any health issues. The father seemed confused as to why I wasn't crying, as I was sure most babies would be, but I refused to debase myself for his comfort, and so I simply glared at the Healer until she frowned at me, noticing my intense glare.

Her voice made no sense, but she now spoke the same language as my father figure, and he responded, afraid and confused. After a moment, however, I felt a warmth cover my ears, and I grinned, (or attempted to; babies' face muscles were always surprisingly difficult to handle,) knowing what would come next.

'The High Ones have gifted you with a basic understanding of your new Home... use it Well.' A soft, perfectly genderless voice spoke, and suddenly the Witch-Doctor made sense, though I wasn't even listening to her anymore, instead digesting the font of new information.

'This is Vanaheim, a world more closely connected to the Legends you remember from Midgard, a world of Magic and Monsters! In this realm, humans are vastly outnumbered, and Monsters are the Dominant Species; however, there are a few non-hostile types of Monsters, such as Elves, Gnomes, and Dwarves, for starters! Humans, being by far the weakest of all races, have been gifted one advantage: each of them, if they survive to adolescence, may attempt to summon a Spirit, and use its innate ability to bolster their own bodies and magical abilities, should they possess them! Secondarily, humans and other Sapient Creatures have access to the 'Class System', which allows for the specialization of specific skills with supernatural assistance! Skills are still acquirable outside of the Class System, however they are notably less potent than skills granted by the System, which was put in place by the Administrator, that Being which you know as Death, or Deity. Do you have any more questions before this line closes permanently?'

'Yes!!! How do I do magic?!?'

'You may learn in a variety of ways. Magic is plentiful and quite common here, in Vanaheim; even Monsters can use it, at times, though theirs is very limited, in both types and complex usage, and is therefore more potent, by way of the law of universal exchange. Do you have any more questions before this line closes permanently?'

'Yes!!! What is a Spirit defined as, in this World?'

'Spirits: the Souls of Creatures that have managed to retain their Ego after their Death, but have not reincarnated yet. They populate the Higher Realms, and can sometimes be found in lower realms such as Vanaheim, Midgard, Muspelpheim, and many others besides. Of course, these are only names applied by the mortal denizens of these realms, and are only used by High Ones for the sake of mortals' ease of understanding. Do you have any more questions before this line closes permanently?'

'Yes!!! What's the best Spirit to have, and how do I get it? Is it a compatibility-type pairing, or an achievement-type?'

'The best?... that is an objective and opinion-based query, and I cannot answer it. I will instead answer the second part; How. Spirits are gained by two ways; first: the Gifting Ceremony, upon reaching Adolescence. As stated, when the human has survived until Adolescence, it is gifted with a spirit that is equal in strength and temperament to the human's soul, having as many evolutions as the soul has had Reincarnations... but Luck does play a major part in the selection of the spirit that binds itself to you, as well.'

'You said there were two ways?'

'Yes. The second way is the defeat of enemy Magical Beasts, which are reincarnated Beasts that have retained their previous life's knowledge, in the same way that you have. When they are killed, you can take their spirits, and either feed them to your own, gaining a portion of their power and abilities, or keep them as they are, in their severely weakened state, in order to bolster the variety of skills you can use. Having more than two automatically gifts you with a sub-class: Spirit Master. Of course, having the full Class: Summoner before the time of your Gifting Ceremony would manage the most agreeable outcome to that scenario. The Class Choice happens just before the Gifting, for this reason. This Line will now close permanently... Good luck, Alice Pendragon.' The voice disappeared, and the faces around me, which had been moving noticeably slower while the voice was talking to me, went back to normal speeds.

"It's entirely possible that she is Listening to the Voice of the Gods... she has very wise eyes, for a baby. I am sure she will be perfectly healthy. Bring her back immediately if she needs healing, and if Lera needs anything as well, Understood?" The Healer nodded sternly at my Father, and then looked down at me. She noticed I was still glaring, and grinned casually. "You're too small to curse me with a look, Little One, but feel free to come for me when you're older!"

My tiny, useless baby hands formed the bird on either hand, as best I could, and I flipped her off, grumbling at her irritatedly.

She raised an eyebrow, clearly not understanding the gesture but reading the intent. "Mm. Well, here you go, Tenon." She handed me to the man, and watched carefully as he fumbled me for a moment, and then managed to settle me in his arms properly.

He was a thin man, with no muscle to speak of, but gorgeous, in the face. A kind smile graced his full lips, and sparkling amber eyes glittered beneath a set of prim blonde eyebrows. His hair was long, almost down his whole back, but braided and held away from his face entirely. "Hello, Little One!!! What shall we call you, Hmm?" He grinned, revealing almost perfect, shining white teeth, with a boyish chip taken out of one of his canines.

Before I could glare at him and try to communicate that I wanted to keep my own name, a small creature climbed over his shoulder, turning so it's reptilian eyes were facing me. It crawled into his arms slowly, then laid on me, purring softly while it's long, whip-shaped tail wrapped around my body multiple times.

'Oh!!! Who are you???' I giggled and patted its head as best I could.

—

The next morning, my mother and I were allowed to return home, and I used that time, as we rode in an open cart along the dirt track, to examine the local setting, for clues as to the current level of technology.

At first, all I saw were huts and treehouses, camouflaged and hidden skillfully in the thick forest cover around us, and then we entered a small tunnel, quite suddenly. I wasn't able to turn my head very far without my new mother settling me into my swaddling blanket and murmuring to me in baby-talk, or her spirit, (a bear that appeared from smoke,) nudging me to check for injuries, so I couldn't really look around too much.

Then, almost as suddenly, we were in a well-lit room, while a large gate closed behind us. Twelve guards lounged around, chattering pleasant hellos and congratulations to both my parents. I was pleased to see that at least four of them were female, and three more were of an ambiguous figure, meaning the females of this realm could do soldiering duties without any currently visible discrimination. They all spoke together and easily, and there was no discernible awkwardness, not even when mother blew a kiss to one of the women, who blushed and rubbed her neck sheepishly while the others ribbed and elbowed her teasingly.

My attention was turned away from them when the floor shook, and the entire room began moving upward.

'An elevator? And a full-room one... close to 20m across in a circle, I'd say, room enough for quite a lot of freight or people... so they have the technology for this, but people choose to live in the jungle, with the monsters that supposedly dominate the entire world currently? Or are they outcasts? Is this a Caste System?' My mind spun a mile a minute, and then stopped as the elevator slowed to a smooth halt.

Father clicked his teeth at the heavyset animals that were pulling the cart, and we moved forward again, as a second gate opened. I got a look at the mechanism of the lift, as it lowered away, and hummed at the sight of nothing supporting it at all. 'Magic, Hmm? Terribly dangerous, relying so heavily on something like that... sets a dangerous precedent.'

Further thoughts stalled, as we entered what looked like a vast, arched dome of metal and crystal, full of buildings and bazaars and countless reptilian flying creatures, like the one that my father had as a Spirit, but slightly smaller, and less vibrantly colored. Several different domes were in view, some disconnected to this one, and I could only imagine what it looked like from the outside, but from in here, it was beautiful.

The cart approached a large stone building on the edge of the bazaar, and slowed again to a halt, making the cart-beast snort softly. Father pulled the cart into a small alcove next to the building, and then helped mother out, while she carried me close to her full chest protectively.

The door opened, and two other children rushed out, colliding into their father's legs and clamoring to see their new baby sister loudly. They seemed to have the presence of mind not to grab onto their mother, who was still weak from giving birth to me, but they were very loud.

An older woman exited behind them, and smacked their heads gently with her cane. "Enough of that! Your parents are very tired, and you know it is time for your lessons! Off with you! Your sister will be here for a very long time indeed, and so there is no rush for you to meet her!!!"

Tenon sighed gratefully as they slunk away into the house with a few sneaking backward looks. "Thank you, Vera. They behaved?" He asked, rubbing his head tiredly.

"As well as can be expected, yes... she's watching us, though? And not the slightest bit of red around the eyes and nose..." she hummed and poked my nose gently, then played with my stomach, but I just gazed at her impassively, examining her face and committing it to memory.

"She hasn't made many sounds at all since she was born, actually... the Healer said it wasn't normal, but nor was it worrisome. Some babies are simply wise beyond their years, she said." He explained, and led the two women inside, closing the door behind him.

I looked about the house, and found myself mildly amused by the layout, which was a mixture of Riad and Shop. At the middle of the shop, (as it revealed itself to be unquestionably a merchant's store that sold a variety of nice crystals and metals, though I wasn't sure what the numerical values were just yet, so I wasn't sure if they were expensive), there was a break in the ceiling, and a small pool of water, and I could see the top floor above the pool was likely the residential floor.

As I predicted, we started heading up to the second floor, and I giggled happily at the use of crystal in the ceiling, which glowed softly and created an interior ambient light, even during the day. Considering you couldn't see the sky in this dome, it was still pretty dark outside of the dwelling, so I supposed my eyes would have to adapt over time.

Then the dreaded moment came, as my parents were settling into what seemed to be their room. "So what will we name her, my love?" Tenon asked, cuddling up to her side and stroking my (annoyingly) bald head.

— four years later —

When the fourth year since my birth completed itself, I decided that enough was enough. Four years old was more than enough to be able to speak and walk, I imagined, though my own memories of that time were a bit muddled.

I walked up to my father, who was currently trying to balance his mercantile profits with expenses, and climbed up into his lap calmly. He glanced at me, and smiled a bit. "Hello, Alice, my dear. What do you need from Papa?"

I looked at his revenue and expenses paperwork, and hummed softly. "You could earn more revenue by expanding a trade route to include the two other cities in the Jungle. By tripling your revenue, while at most doubling your costs, you gain a predicted revenue stream of 133% your current, as in 1&1/3 your current profit. If costs don't reach that high, then it can be even more. The extra 100% cost of course comes from the dangers of sending goods through the jungle, and hiring guards who can move the goods without losing it. Another path would be to hire a pair of earth-Mages to work for you permanently, and send your goods underground, in protected tunnels, though I have no idea how much that would be. The Healer required four golden coins to heal mother and birth me, which I've discovered means it was worth 400 silver coins, and one silver coin will buy a family's meals for a day, but your profit margin is only 5.5 gold pieces per year, which pays for all our food and clothing and taxes, leaving only .5 gold pieces to go into savings every year, meaning you will go bankrupt if one of us gets sick or hurt. I suggest myself or one of my siblings becoming a Healer, so that that particular expense is gone, as well as having a Healer in this city, instead of out in the woods, which will be a very good revenue stream, as far as I've seen."

He stared at me for several moments, then slowly looked up at Vera, my mothers' mother, who was staring at me just as shocked as he was.

"Staring is very rude, and you should close your mouth when you look at a lady!" I commented to my father, and huffed at him.

He closed his mouth, and then chuckled softly. "When did you learn to talk, Little One?"

"It's not that difficult, I learned it all in less than a year from when I was born, but I didn't have the right vocal cords and muscles in my mouth to speak properly yet, and so I have practiced in secret. After all, it is beneath a lady to speak in baby talk, and I refuse to act in a manner which is undignified!" I explained, not exactly lying; I had learned in less than a year, (i.e. five seconds,) and I'd decided I had the proper mouth control to speak eloquently now.

He laughed softly, and patted my head, but I smacked at his hand sharply. "Enough! You will not make a mockery of me!!!" I glared at him crossly, and crossed my arms over my chest, turning away from him in a huff.

"What've you done to upset Alice, darling?" Mother yawned, kissing her husband and then kissing my head gently. She paused, and then hummed. "And was she speaking?"

"I have determined that my method of language delivery has been properly and axiomatically developed, and now I can exemplify in my speech patterns the societally held standards of propriety in my vocalizations and attitude; I have, in simpler terms, decided that I can speak now without accidentally using Baby Talk, which is horrendously embarrassing and beneath a Lady of any station, much less one of my own genial nature." I nodded, and then held out the papers that Tenon was looking at. "And I have also decided that as a member of this family, I should have a vested interest in the family business, which father is accidentally, (and through no fault of his own,) driving into the ground. I have stated and put forward to the decision-making body of this company a variety of solves and situations in which we may delete and overcome our debt and deficits, and I await a proper return sally."

She blinked slowly, taking the papers from me, and then looking briefly at them, then Father. "Honey?" She asked quietly, placing them in front of their mouths.

"I don't know, she just started talking like that!" He hissed back.

"Do you think she's alright? Do babies learn to talk that quick? The twins didn't, so..."

"I assure you, my mental development is due in no small part to my heightened intellect, which, while my brother and sister are intelligent in their own rights, and will someday make proper and perhaps great merchants, I am what is known as a 'Genius', according to your societally held beliefs as to the concept of advanced intelligences. I am an anomaly that was born more because of my brains elasticity than due to your blood or good breeding; though, the fact that the two of you are very beautiful people does bode well for me when I am fully grown." I nodded calmly.

Vera started chuckling, and over a few seconds it developed into a hearty, rolling laugh, where she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes, but more seemed to come, and there was no end in sight.

"Mother? Are you alright?" My mother asked her, confused and concerned.

She sobered a little, giggling. "Yeah, yeah... I'm just so happy that at least one of my grandchildren is a Genius like my your eldest brother was!!!" She laughed again, and picked me up, hugging me to her chest happily.

"So... this is... not unprecedented? Just rare?" Tenon asked slowly.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, it's very rare that a child is born with such an advanced mind, but there's nothing wrong with her at all." Grandma Vera nodded seriously, and bounced me on her thigh, making me giggle softly.

Hearing me giggle, they relaxed, and father cleared his throat. "So, Wait, what was that about Trade Routes?"