30 – Revelations

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Igrette, it’s barely been a day since—”

“Yes, I know, and I think we should do it anyway.”

“But—”

“I also plan on having a talk with him.”

Helen pursed her lips. “I’m coming too, then.”

“You are?”

“Yes, is that so surprising?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you should know better. I’ll have the Margarets take charge for the morning. I’ll leave waking Jonny up to you.”

“Alright, then. Also, one more thing. My acquaintance responded with some notes on his research into Null Syndrome.”

“He did? What did he say?”

Igrette reached into her robes and produced a dense stack of mismatched papers. She set them on the desk, spreading them out before grabbing a smaller one off the top.

“It was a military experiment,” she said. “Some researchers saw the way those with null syndrome responded to internal mana techniques, and hoped to find a way to artificially allow them to progress to turn them into weapons against the demon hordes. The theory was that a second layer null would be the equivalent of a third layer mage. A third layer null would be able to contend with early fifth layers. If they could raise even a few of them, they would save many lives on the battlefield.”

“And these are the research notes?” asked Helen, fingering through some of the papers. “There’s quite a lot of it.”

“He sent a summary,” said Igrette. “The initial tests were successful. Nulls take to physical enhancement much better than ordinary people, and even without forming a core layer, they were able to compete with first layer mages. But none of them were able to form a core layer, and it was concluded that doing so was impossible for them. Their manabiology is simply too different. The project was terminated not long after due to failure to produce results.

“The research he sent has more details. I only understood half of it. You might have more luck than me. He also gave me the contact information of another researcher who had some eccentric, but not illogical theories about null syndrome that we can reach out to.”

“We should do that,” said Helen as she skimmed through a physical diagram with notes in the margins. “But you’re saying it’s impossible?”

“I’m not. He is. And he’s much smarter than me.”

“Then Jonny’s attempts were doomed from the beginning?”

Igrette glanced up at the ceiling in the direction where Jonny was sleeping.

“I’m not so sure about that. I think he’s definitely figured something out. I don’t know what, but I didn’t see anything like what he was doing in these notes. They mention complete inability to absorb ambient mana, and breathing techniques to improve mana channels and circulation, but nothing about doing so in areas of high ambient mana. I think Jonny is doing something different.”

“Well… I guess we’ll find out in the morning.”

“I guess so.”

Jonny woke up the next morning the same way he had not too long ago, with Igrette shaking his shoulder before the sun had even risen. He had not gotten confirmation before going to bed, but he was still half-expecting it, and when he saw her half mask staring down at him, he immediately knew what to do. She didn’t even need to speak before he nodded and silently rolled out of bed and started getting ready.

He paused a moment at the door glancing over at the empty bed where Tommy used to sleep, then continued on his way downstairs. He was surprised to find Helen waiting for him alongside Igrette. He shot the old warrior a questioning glance, but Igrette ignored it, leading them outside and into the woods.

“Helen is here because she wants to observe,” said Igrette as soon as they got behind the fence, and before Jonny could ask. “And we both want to have a talk with you.”

“A—a talk?”

“Yes,” said Helen.

This can’t be good.

“I’ve been watching you since you arrived,” continued Helen. “You’ve always been an odd child, but we’ve had many odd children in the past, so I didn’t pay it too much mind. But at this point, it’s become clear that you are… very special. You have a special gift. And it is my personally belief that special gifts like yours should be nurtured whenever possible. Having said that…”

“Who taught you to fight?” asked Igrette.

Helen shot her a glare, but then turned back to face Jonny. Jonny had actually thought about this exact situation before, because he figured he’d eventually have to tell someone, though he wasn’t entirely expecting it right then. It took him a few moments to process, but when he did, he responded with a shrug.

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“What did I tell you about shrugging?” asked Igrette.

Damn, I knew that wasn’t gonna work.

He rubbed his chin as he thought about how best to respond. He was never a good liar, and he was especially bad when he didn’t have a plausible explanation. How would he explain away being a five year old with fifteen years of fighting experience?

By telling the truth, obviously. He recognized that it was pretty far-fetched, and that they might not believe him, and that if they did, they might react badly, but he didn’t really have any better ideas. He more or less trusted them, and even if being reborn was something crazy weird, he was sure they wouldn’t react too poorly.

Plus, if they knew he was an adult, they might treat him more like an adult. More privileges, less supervision, and things like that. Maybe they’d let him arrange his own diet. The food at the orphanage was fine, but with his activity level, he needed more protein, and they simply didn’t provide enough meat. He was even willing to go out hunting for the meat on his own, if needed.

“Well…” he said. “I have memories from before I was born. I was a really good fighter.”

Helen and Igrette both looked at him in disbelief, then looked ahead. They walked in silence for a few minutes, then almost simultaneously looked back at him.

“Have you ever told anyone else about this?” asked Helen.

Jonny shook his head.

“Good,” said Igrette. “Don’t.”

“Why? Is it bad?”

“No, it’s not bad,” said Helen soothingly. “It’s just… complicated.”

“Why? Are there other people like me?”

“There have been,” replied Helen. “In the past.”

“But not for a very long time,” said Igrette. “And whenever people like you appear, it is a sign from God that change is coming.”

“Oh.”

“So for now, it’s best to keep it a secret,” said Helen. “At least, until Igrette and I can have a proper discussion.”

“Without me?”

“Without you. We will take your opinion into account of course, but we have our own duties as well. For now, why don’t you tell us what you remember about your past life?”