The coffee table had been repced by a full-length free-standing mirror, and the coffee tray with the pte of cookies had been moved off to a side table by his right.Currently, Na’at stood behind the mirror w on something while the soul was staring at the bnk blue-ish surface of the mirror. ?The process is going to be a simple one. I’ll handle all the internal ws and make sure everything is pying nice so you fit in while you handle… well… the etic side of things.?

  Fair enough.He frowned, looking over the surfabsp; So… how do I do that?

  ?First, we’ll start by race. Aetyros is positively teeming with se races to choose from! Then we’ll look at the different options those races have—?

  The races have options?He sounded surprised.

  She giggled, ?Don’t be so shocked; though I hate to use the term ‘subrace’ each race does, in fact, e with 'options’. Some more than others, admittedly.?

  He whistled, impressed by the myriad of potential options, as a form started to take shape in the mirror before him. A standard form with a single head, two arms, two legs. Nothing out of the ordinary.

  ?You i with it like one of your multi-touch touchss. So you zoom in and out, turn the figure around. All of that.? Na’at informed from behind the mirror.

  Right…He began to look at the figure before him — nothing stood out to him and, looking up, he saw in the left-hand er of the mirror’s surface was the text: HUMAN Ah, Makes seo start there.

  ?What’s that, kiddo??

  The mirror-thing … it started at human. I’m guessing because that’s what I was in my st life. I’m not so egotistical to assume ‘human’ is the ‘default’.He gave a soft snort and reached out to tap at the mirror — a color palette popped up under his fiip and he nodded: Seemed to be the standard array of skin tones he was used to. Curiosity, however, got the better of him and he used two fio ‘swipe’ to the left, w if that was how he ged the race — it was, and he smiled… for a moment. The ‘swipe’ worked, but what he saw was— it was not off-putting but it made him pause in fusion.What he saw was a rge grey regle with a darker grey ‘X’ going from er to er, crossing it out in essend when he looked up to the raame all he saw was “???”, as if the race didn’t have a name.

  Odd…He mused, flig back to the human’s page.

  ?What is, kiddo?? Na’at asked, peeking around the mirror.

  There was this race that was crossed out…

  ?Oh! That’s just unavaible right now, that’s all. And I don’t mean forbidden, just being worked on.?

  Huh. A new race… when it sounds like the world’s beeablished for some time already…

  ?Not all the gods and goddesses had a ce to design a race at the beginning so a few have it kept in their back pockets, as it were. If it’s the race I think you’re looking at it’s more a case of ‘not ready for reinators’.?

  Oooh, okie.He mused, looking over the humaion again, before swiping to the right this time. Options… Options are good…He mused as he looked at the sed race: Elf; the only difference was, of course, the ears. And, maybe, being a bit more slender but not ‘fae folk’ ‘inhuman’ thin.Drawing his hand over the text denoting the race he tapped it and a drop-down ‘menu’ appeared with three options:

  Ahnd’haAuv’haAyl’lynd’ha Huh. Iing…He selected ‘Ahnd’ha’ and then tapped the silhouetted figure for the skin toions and blinked, finding very pale colors — a very pale sort of white-grey, a mrey’ grey, and a darker grey, and three others that were a light, medium and darker blue-tinted grey.Seleg ‘Auv’ha’ gave him variations of a yelle, he guessed ‘amber’, toned skins. ‘Ayl’lynd’ha’ gave him more human-toned choices, however, ranging the simir spectrum he saw on humans. I wonder…He swiped left a baAN and tapped on the name, sure enough, a sub-menu came up that had several options. I could be half… a lot of things…

  ?If you wao, you could. Humans are… very patible with other races. Some are harder to mix than others, naturally, but you could be half- just about anything if you wanted.?

  I’ll keep that in my back pocket… erm… as it were.

  ?It’s your body, hun, do what makes you happy.? Na’at reminded him as she went back to fiddling with whatever she was fiddling with on her side of the mirror.He gave a half-itted soft grunt in his throat as he flicked the mirror back to Elf, then right again to whatever race was . DWARVESGranted, not what the mirror called them, but the somewhat wide, stocky, and strong-looking build was unmistakable. He chuckled for a moment at the thought before swiping right again and blinking in surprise. A thinner, still short, race filled the mirror’s surfaext— Halflings?

  ?Oh! No no, you don’t want to be one of them!? Na’at came around the mirror to look at what he was doing, ?Oh! Okay. Hun, you’d know this race as ‘Gnomes’ — They’re a migrant people, travelers. Some do settle down, usually when they find a pce to open a stable business. They’re mostly merts. They do sort of have that halfling ‘energy’ as you know it. But, well, transtion being what it is… there’s a small subset, or subculture, of ‘Ghat shave their beard and hide away off somewheres. They’re violent little monsters who are likely to capture arespassers. And blow themselves up with their high-pressure stills.”

  Holy crap… that sounds more like a nastier take on Goblins.

  ?No, Goblins and their reted species are just… natural creatures. They’re intelligent but not sapient. They’re like primates, in that case, kiddo. Think of a goblin like a baboon, or chimpanzee. A Hobgoblin would be, like, a mandrill maybe an utan? Orcs would be yorils.?

  Trolls and Ogres?

  ?What was that giant prehistoric ape called??

  Ahh… Gigantopithicus?

  ?That’s the one. Like that. That size and the like.?

  He did not know how it ossible but he was certain he could feel himself pale. G-Good to know. Good to know.

  ?I ’t wait til you see the fun races~!? Na’at giggled.

  Fun raaturally, this made him swipe right again for the race (like Dwarves, he kept the ‘gnomes’ in his back pocket. If they were the ‘halfling’ race, then, perhaps he might go that route. He always ‘felt’ a sort of kinship to the homey, simple life of the food-loving rabsp; Weh?!

  The word at the top of the s now was DRAGONKIN and held a bipedal figure with a slightly longer neck, a small snout or muzzle, and a tail — options he found he could ize. Half-Dragons? There’s dragons on this world?!

  ?Mhm. Several species too and it sounds like you’re looking at the Dragonkin so, I’ll expin that they’re reted tons, like chimpanzees and gorils are reted to your world’s humans. Cousins, in a way. They aren’t actual half-dragons.? She grinned; he could hear it.

  Wow…Another flick to the right and this figure was rger than the human, as stocky as the ‘dwarvee. Beastkin?

  ?Easiest way to describe them is ‘humans with several animal traits’ — just from one animal, of course. So you don’t have like ‘chimera’ beastkin.?

  Unless you have chimera…

  ?Thankfully no. I read up on those and just… yugh…?

  Huh. Alright then… moving on~Another flid he blinked. Demons?!

  ?Not the kind you’re thinking of, hun.? Na’at piped up, ?They aren’t some evil falleial race out to barter souls or tempt people to eternal damnation.? She expined, ?That is just… what they are unfortunately called. You’ll notice there’s a ratry for both Oni and Tengu as well.?

  Well, that makes sense. Oni aren’t demons. They’re supernatural, yeah but they’re sort of like Ogres. They just got lumped into ‘demons’ iern minds because ‘underworld’, or something. However, Tengu being separate from Oni is iing — Though I may be misremembering things: Tengu are their own thing, not a type of Oni… ht. They’re both yokai, that’s what it was.

  Na’at giggled, ?Quite knowledgeable. But do be careful, I will warn you now that your knowledge of folklore and myth won’t match up oo-one oyros. It might give a hand-up now and then but it won’t make you an expert. You’d have to study and learn how things work oyros for that.?

  Right, Good to know. I’d hate to be ‘wrong genre savvy’.He chuckled — He wondered how many other races there were, and their options but he didn’t want to take too long and, if he were ho with himself, as fun as it might be to be a demon, or oni, nome’ — he flicked left several times… too far, in fact, and bli the name MER at the top of the mirror noarently, Aetyros had an amphibious, or aquatic, race. He had a feeling they had a ton of options themselves.Flig his hand and shifting right, he settled bato the HUMAN option.It might be the ‘basic’ choice, but he had a feeling if he went too ‘far out there’ that he’d end up feeling dysphoric looking at a mirror Now the ‘fun’ part — ization. God knows I’ve pyed enough video games I know how this works…

  ?I do too, remember, your file~? Na’at’s teasing tone held a giggle, ?So teically you could say ‘gods’.?

  That is… ohing I’ll have to get used to, I guess. Not the multiple gods and goddesses thing but… well, you said I’m a new person, reborn. I’m a new soul from ‘clipping’ so…

  ?I see where yoing, and you’re right. The old you’s life is done. He had his faith and religion, and you will have yours. Or not. We exist, certainly, but there’s just as many reasons to not folloarticur one of us, or any of us, as there are to follow us.? Na’at came around again aly put her hands on his shoulders to fort him. She also looked over his shoulder at the mirror, and his sele, ?Oh? Human?? She asked, ?Going with half-anything??

  I holy don’t think so. Pin, basic human is all I’ve known and this will keep any sort of… feelings… from rising up any time I look in the mirror.

  ?Aw, hun. It’s okay. And, holy, this is something I should have mentioned — the city yoing to be summoned into is in a humarigdom.?

  Ah.He sighed, rubbing his ‘hands’ over his ‘face’. A very ‘human first’ attitude, is it?

  ?Unfortuhat’s ohing that permeates the multiverse, kiddo.? Na’at smiled, ?Thankfully ahing that permeates the multiverse is good souls like you willing to stand up against that sort of thing!? She nudged his shoulder, ?So~ What ya thinkin’??

  Green eyes. It’s a small ge but… I always liked green. Purple too but I think that’d just make people be weirded out at me.He began tapping at the mirror aed a vibrant green for his eye color, adding in a small golden highlight ring around the pupil for ‘panache’.

  ?If anything they’ll think you’re half something… and since I just told you about the attitude of the pce yoing into… Ah, yeah… I see why you’d keep it ‘basic’.? She admitted, leaning herself against the back of his chair, watg him fiddle with the trols; taking a skin tohat matched his inal body as close as he could remember. She smiled as she watched him go back to the eye color and see how purple would look, keeping the golden highlight. It was a bright and rich purple and the gold ‘popped’ nicely, ?That’s not a bad look, holy. And this is your body…?

  I’ll keep it there while I work on other things.He decided, moving to the hair . Ohing I know for sure is I want different hair. Wavy and thick is I could never get it long enough for the ‘cool anti-hero ponytail’.

  Na’at gave a soft snort of amusement, ?Cute~? She watched him blush, even as a spirit, and move on to the hairstyle he would, at least, start out with: bangs that swept to the sides in an ‘untidy’ manner and framed his face, ending in lih the bottom of his ears. Otherwise, the hair was straight, long, and pulled bato a simple ponytail that y low, against his ned e the bottom of his shoulder bdes, ?Not bad, kiddo.? She plimented, patting the top of his head gently.

  That was the easy part. Now the hard part… my body.He sighed, frowning as best he could as an incorporeal spirit Mostly I just want to make sure everything is, you know, even? In scale? Proportional. That’s it.

  ?I uand, hun, and I’ll help out with that. What sort of look were you wanting? Lean and lithe? Like a runner maybe? Or Hollywood A-List?? As she mentiohese options she waved her hand, and the body morphed in the mirror to follow suit; the ‘lean and lithe’ option reminded him of an anime protagonist and, while nice, sidering his life ent mostly ht it didn’t feel right.her did ‘Hollywood A-Lister’, if he were ho.

  I… want to be strong. Maybe a strongman build? Though that depends on how old I’m going to be when I’m summoned. A teen looking like those dudes who pulled buses? That’d be a bit off if you ask me.

  ?I said ‘prime’, so that includes age. I was thinking 20 or so, if that’s alright by you, kiddo.?

  He whistled. I haven’t beey in, well, that many years.He ughed, embarrassed. Well, could be worse, I could be fifteen and having to deal with puberty again.

  ?Speaking of!? Na’at perked up, ?Anything else you want to ge or tweak??

  He squirmed, blushing and coughing as he spoke. I-I th-think that the ‘factory default’ will be alright.

  ?Mh?? She peered at him, a small smile curling her dark red lips.

  Blushing he moved a certain, singur, option’s slider barely to the right, just slightly rger than ‘factory default’, as he called it. Happy?

  ?It’s your body. If you are happy with it, then I’m happy.? Na’at snickered gently, waving her hand and giving him the sort of body he might be looking for, ?How’s this? You said strongman… so you want that thick-bodied, strong-limbed look. Not a bodybuilder, who looks like his muscles are sculpted??

  Right. I read somewhere ohat a bodybuilder doesn’t really have a lot of endurance. And, well, not to be greedy, but I’d like to not just be strong, but be able to keep going. I know I ’t be quick, agile, strong, and enduring all at once…

  ?Says you.? Na’at smiled, ?You could be pretty speedy even with that barrel belly, and evehat’s not a terribly big one. As file, you’d just o train to be agile, hun.? She pointed out, waving her hand again, shifting his physique down a little and, obviously raising his speed and agility, ?And don’t fet, you have the full blessing from the Goddess of Chaos~ You’ll have some great tricks to pull out your sleeve.?

  I gotta ask: Like what exactly?He shifted, looking bad up at her curiously.

  Scratg her cheek with her pinkie-finger’s nail she smiled, ?Well, how’s the ability to speak and uand all se beings? All the nguages. Then, of course, there’s the whole ‘in your prime’ but not just that. My blessing, and boon, will boost you physically to the peak of humanity’s physical capabilities.? She smiled, ?Like one of your superheroes, I think. Not the super powerful ones. I think you’d be most like the oh ‘Captain’ in his name.?

  Well, I’m certainly not going to pin about that.

  ?And, of course, being made for the world yoing to, there’s going to be no worry about eating anything. You won’t be allergic to anything, but you won’t be able to, for example, eat pletely poisonous things.?

  …No more peppers?

  ?No, I was thinking more like drinking actual poison and surviving. I mean, you could st lohan an average humaainly, because of your body, but—?

  Oh! Okay, I get ya now. Beefed-up tolerances, yes, but not immuo poison and disease. I won’t be an ‘ultimate omnivore’ able to eat wood or metal or something like that.

  ?There you go? Na’at nodded, ?So if you wao eat, say, raw foods, or spicy peppers, you still could. As long as the raw meat or fish was and not rotten.?

  Yay, sushi is ba the menu~

  ?You’re an adorable dork, you know that?? Na’at smirked, patting his head again.

  So I’ve been told.

  ?I know from reading your file you have a thing about your memory and remembering things — so you’d have better recall, and be able to learn skills just a little quicker. Not instantly, but quicker. You’d still have to work at it, practice, and the like.?

  Good. I’d hate to have everything just hao me. I feel I’m already getting a lot of that.

  ?This will also include magid magical abilities.?

  I get to use magic?!

  ?Aetyros is a high magic world, after all. Some teology has been suppnted by a magical equivalent. But there are mages, priests, and priestesses, of all sorts. So you learn to cast fireballs or call lightning down from the sky or any other sort of thing like that.?He gave out what could only be called a ‘gremlin ugh’ of glee. ?Not only that but you’ll be attuo agio other human has that ability?

  No human huh?

  Na’at smiled, ?Yup. No human… doesn’t mean you won’t run into some other races with people who are attuo my sphere of influence.?

  Well, at least you’re being straight-forward.

  ====================

  The two spent the while talking about the world, with him asking questions and Na’at answering. He didn’t want to go down totally unprepared; however, Na’at pointed out those summoning him were expeg him to be totally unsure and uain of the world he was being pulled into. It just made sense, after all, they hadn’t sought out a higher power t them someohey were pulling ohemselves. No intervention like what was happening now.

  So it’s better if I don’t seem like I know everything.

  ?Exactly? She smiled, ?Now, let’s get back to yift.?

  You’ve already given me so much, though…

  ?That’s sweet of you but holy, that’s what’s known as the ‘basic package’, dear. This is yift, that boon I mentioned a couple times. This is your special something.?

  Oh. Dear. I don’t even know where to begin… I don’t want to be greedy, or attrauch attention…

  ?You attract attention without fshy abilities you know.? Na’at tered, ?As freedy… you have permission to be a little greedy, I think.? She giggled, tilting her head and putting a bang of hair back over her shoulder, ?Think of it as an apology for what you’re being put into, as well as a gift then?

  He sighed, shaking his head. Right. The DaiMaou, as well as other… issues… in the world. And don’t think I’m going to back out.

  ?I didn’t. But I will take this moment to remind you that you don’t have to do this. Someone else could. You aren’t beied or anything like that.?

  Sure. But… I feel like I have to. Not from obligation, or fear but… I dunno how many other souls you talked to before me and I’m not asking — but, regardless, I feel I have to do this. So I’m going to.

  ?Okay, kiddo.? She gently pced a kiss atop his head, ing an arm around.

  I think I know what I want, as the boon. I have affinity with agic, through you.

  ?Right. The only human to do so. You’ll be able to easily attuo one, maybe two other types of magic.?

  I want my boon to be an all-enpassing affinity fic types. I want to be able to cast everything — I know I’ll still have to learn and study how but…

  Na’at whistled, ?Now you’re thinking big. Done.?

  That simple, huh?

  ?Yup! Simple, to the point, easy to work with and it’ll really screw with certain jerks down on the mortal pne.?

  AH~Chaos~

  ?Bingo~? She giggled as she pced another kiss to the top of his head, ?Now, you sit back, close your eyes, a ready. I’ve got some st-miweaking to do for you… and you are about to be reborn.?

  Heh. Alright then.He did so, leaning bato the fortable seat and sighed, taking o cookie to nibble on as he did while listening to Na’at move around, hearing her dress ruffle iill and quiet room. I just had a funny thought, Na’at…

  ?And what’s that, hun?? She asked from behind the mirror.

  Well, you just keep saying I’m getting a new life, I’m being reborn. And I get it, in a way I am — just, not from birth onward.

  ?True enough. But it’s more or less the same.?

  It just kinda hit me that… wouldn’t this make you my mom?

  There was silend, after a moment, he started to worry he had said something wrong. Opening his eyes he looked at Na’at and was about to apologize when … he saw her grinning at him iurn, peeking around the mirror.

  ?Take care, son~?

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