No doubt the institute could have built a functional still faster than a bunch of farmers. A bunch of very enthusiastic farmers, admittedly. One of whom had run to fetch Remous ten minutes into the conversation, who had started sketching out diagrams the moment he was brought up to speed. The difference may not be as great as I'd assumed...

Given that it was winter and below freezing outdoors, even freeze distillation was viable, and when I explained the concept behind that, I saw the barman grab a couple of barrels and sneak out the back. I hadn't even noticed he'd been listening to the conversation. I guess dogkin have good ears, and now asking for one of their strongest tomorrow might get some different results.

No, again, I'm forgetting magic. They have ice crystals. Who cares about the time of year?

Sure enough, the next morning, I felt [Basic Crafting] give another little twist. It now included knowledge on freeze distillation. What would happen to proper distillation once they mastered the process? Would that be classed as cooking or smithing? Will a chemistry skill pop into existence?

Completely by accident, I'd found something I could do for dad, and it had nothing to do with farming at all. He'd lamented his inability to get tipsy since advancing to rank three, and I hadn't even realised that the world didn't have spirits. I looked forward to finding out what they made in the future; I knew the principles of distillation, but had no idea how to make any drink in particular, so we weren't going to suddenly get a range of Earth's boozes.

While the villagers spent the normally quiet winter building experimental stills, I continued my trips to the Sapphire Peaks. Having a good reason to be teleporting was helpful for skill levels.

ding

Skill [Redistribute] advanced to level 6

The harpy children may have had better developed eyesight than I had at their age, but their voices left much to be desired, and they were still unable to talk. The beak and throat of a harpy baby were designed for screaming, not for enunciated speech. Their dexterity was lacking too, as they struggled with adding a pair of wings to their previous collection of limbs. Nevertheless, they were improving, and I watched on as at the tender age of twelve weeks, Tennacti successfully and comprehensibly wrote out the English alphabet.

She was still a very slow and messy writer, so I wasn't going to be able to get her full life story just yet, but it was a vast improvement on wobbly gestures and indicating yes or no. I'd had them spell out some things simply by working through the alphabet myself and having them indicate yes when I got to the correct letter, but it was such a slow process that I hadn't extracted much information.

Dirrana pouted cutely, upset at falling behind his sister, but from his own attempts, it was clear he would get there soon.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Tennacti," she wrote, rendering her new name in the English alphabet, as close as it would fit.

Wait, Erryn can't have messed with their memories like she did to me... Maybe she just misunderstood? "I mean your old name, on (Earth)."

"Not using it," she answered. "I live here now."

So it wasn't that she'd forgotten, but that she'd chosen to discard it. An interesting choice. Could I have done that, if the decision hadn't been taken from me?

"Interesting. I'm happy you're comfortable enough here for that," I replied, trying to keep my word choice relatively simple. "Is there anything you want?"

"No."

But not as simple as hers. I remembered the limitations of such a small body well, which was a large part of the reason I was spending so much time with them.

While my eyes were on Tennacti, I kept my more esoteric senses on Dirrana as he made another attempt, face scrunched up in concentration. He seemed determined not to be left behind, and I was hoping to catch the moment a stat increased with [Soul Perception]. Or if I was lucky, he might even form a new trait.

I wasn't quite that fortunate, but I did get to see something. The almost featureless crystal sphere that formed the core of the System's influence pulsated, becoming marginally less smooth, and his writing immediately became legible. It hadn't been anything like Cluma's trait evolution; the rest of his soul had shifted slightly, but not nearly to the extent of hers. My perception wasn't even good enough to tell the changes, only that there had been some.

"Did your dexterity just increase?" I asked, and he gave the signal for yes. "And if I ask you to write out your name, will you write Dirrana?" He once again signalled yes.

"(I already knew I didn't have to worry about you two completely freaking out, but I'm surprised you're taking things this well,)" I said, switching to English for the more complex sentence. "(Don't you find your situation at least a little strange?)"

The twins glanced at each other, doubtless sharing more between themselves with one look than they could share with me with an hour's writing.

"Strange, yes," wrote Tennacti. "But worrying not helpful."

"World seems fun," added Dirrana. "People nice."

Urk... If only they had any idea how nice. I'd put off mentioning the Law to them so far, mostly because I was trying to reassure them, not terrify them further. There was also a small part of me that worried they would abuse the knowledge. They seemed well behaved, but with the communication barrier, it wasn't as if I really knew them. Their reactions so far had been promising, though, and now they were both starting to communicate. While I was alone with them, this was the best chance I was going to get.

"(About why everyone is nice,)" I started nervously, sticking with English because I really didn't want to be misunderstood. "(There is a reason for that. Let me give you a bit more of this world's history.)"

I explained what I knew about the three civilisations, the creation of the System, the rise of Erryn, her creation of the Law, and her fall.

"Mother treats us well because she's forced?" wrote Tennacti.

"(I couldn't say,)" I answered. "(How her personality would change without the Law isn't something I could guess at.)"

The twins looked at each other again, this time sharing far more than a glance, before giving an almost imperceptible nod and turning back to me.

[Soul Perception] screamed. Both twins lit up like beacons, blooms of colour swelling up beneath the surface, billowing to the top, then being drawn back in. The crystal sphere of the System bathed in the chaos, expanding and shifting, looking a little more like it belonged there. The colours died away, leaving a brighter, stronger soul behind. The normal flows resumed, now a little smoother and less coarse.

In fact, a little more like mine. Or like any of the natives...

ding

Skill [Soul Perception] advanced to level 15

The change Erryn had made to the System to erode foreign souls. Had she not removed it? Then as they levelled... The chains of the Law hung a little less loosely now, but were still obviously not binding. Would that change as they levelled up? Would they lose themselves? Would it be gradual, or would they go to sleep one night and someone else would wake up in their bodies the next morning?

...That was what Erryn was planning to do to me, once. I shuddered, and the twins didn't miss it.

"What's wrong?" wrote Tennacti, just before a noise at the front door signalled the return of their mother. I chickened out and shrugged off the question without a real answer. They couldn't buy skills before their first birthday, which severely limited their ability to level up. I had time.

Time to do what, though?

"Did you two behave yourselves while I was out?" asked Tirrani on her way in. The twins didn't signal their usual yes, but wrote it instead, managing to pull proud expressions with their miniature faces.

"Wow. You wouldn't believe how jealous pretty much everyone in the nest is about you two. Not just one, but two babies that never scream at all. Babies normally only shut up when they have their mouths full. And now you're writing already," she said, gushing out her praises. And I thought Cluma's parents had it bad. Normal harpies sound like a nightmare...

"I assume that says (yes)?" she asked me quietly, to which I nodded inconspicuously. I hadn't taught her to read English, or the twins to write the local language, so there was still a communication barrier there. Still, everyone's language skills were improving. It would be nice to praise my teaching skills, but it probably had more to do with the intelligence boosting rings I forged for everyone and the diligence of my students.

Out of interest, I'd looked up what skills a [Teacher] would get during my last library visit. [Uplift] would boost the effective intelligence of students during lessons, and was certainly more practical than handing out mythril rings all over the place, but it wasn't necessary. Like me, these kids had the intelligence boost from [Abnormal Soul] too, which helped a lot.

"New trait," wrote Dirrana, holding up his paper proudly.

"He says he got a new trait," I translated. Not just him either, but I'd let them share the news.

"Me too," wrote Tirrani, looking proud. Despite being old enough to have adult children on Earth, they seemed to be quite at home acting like kids.

"Oh, and what trait was that?" asked their mum.

""[Devoted Sibling],"" they both wrote.

Another one to look up in the library. It was obvious it was something that linked them together, given the way they'd both picked it up simultaneously, but given the circumstances in which they picked it up, I was a little worried.

And that reminded me of the whole soul situation again...

I continued talking for a while longer before returning to the village, but my heart was no longer in it. I could wield soul affinity. Could I use it to break the chains? Perhaps, but given the effects soul affinity had on me, even when I was far away from my target, I'd probably kill them both in the process.

If I returned to the ark, and somehow managed to get access, could I find a big red button that turned the conversion off? What if another reincarnate came along later who wasn't well behaved, and I wanted it on? What if I was wrong about these two, and they started to take advantage? Argg, this was all well above my pay grade!

Why was I even getting worked up? They didn't know what was happening. Why did I consider them more important than, for example, Darren? I'd thought nothing of it when he was born. Even though the Law wasn't quite so visible back then, I should have thought something.

It was still winter. It was too cold to travel. It would soon be Cluma's coming of age, followed shortly by Darren's birthday. There was every excuse to bury my head in the sand and carry on like I hadn't seen anything. So, of course, like the sensible person I was, I made my plans to travel to Synklisi. It was time to pay a visit to a certain slime.