His hand hesitated at the door as a cold realization washed over him. If he actually convinced his mother that he was still alive, he would be committing to a relationship with her. At the minimum, that would mean school breaks, vacations, and holidays. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to spend time with her and he was sure she didn't want to spend time with him. He hadn’t missed her when he was at the academy, and she never wrote to him once. She had long since ceased to be a positive influence in his life. The only reason he had been planning on telling her he was alive was because of a misguided sense of duty. It was time to make smart choices.

Emboldened, he knocked.

She came to the door, with a scowl on her face and said, “What?”

“Hello?” Hugo said, “Are you Mrs. Rebane?”

“Depends on who is asking,” his mom said.

“I have news about your son. Can I come in and talk for a moment?”

She folded her arms and said, “Whatever you have to say can be said right here.”

Hugo frowned. He was trying to be nice, to spare her the shock. But if she wanted to have this conversation here, so be it. “I was your son’s climbing companion. We walked up shimmer mountain together. I got to know him pretty well. That is why I feel obligated to be the one to tell you that he died. My deepest condolences for your loss.”

“Did a monster get him? Cus the mountain guides have to pay if a monster killed him,” she said.

“Uh, no. He died during the awakening ritual. I brought you a few of his personal effects, in case you wanted a memento.”

She snatched the letters and coppers out of his hands and stared at them. She looked up and said, “Did you want a tip or something?”

“No, of course not. I...” said Hugo.

She interrupted, “Look, my good for nothing son just died and all he left me was six copper. I gotta figure out a way to make rent, not talk to strangers, alright?”

"If you need help, I can spare a few silver," Hugo said and grabbed a few coins out of Cristain's bag.

She reached out and took the money out of his hand, "Is that all you've got? Cus now I gotta find a new renter. I hate having strangers in my apartment."

Hugo didn’t say anything as she stepped back and shut the door in his face. He wasn’t conflicted anymore. Separating himself from his mother completely was the right choice. It felt liberating.

Of course, that meant he didn’t have a place to stay tonight. At least this Cristian guy wasn’t a bum. He had plenty of silver and a handful of copper, more than enough to get a room at a decent inn. In fact, he could probably afford some luxuries while he was at it. Maybe a better comb to deal with this unruly hair. Or even just a haircut. He smiled.

It was comical, really. As far as he was concerned, it was just a day and a half ago when he was deciding what to do with twenty-two platinums. Now he was happy to have a few silver. The funniest thing is that he felt like he was better off in the exchange. Things certainly had changed for him. There was certainly a lot of perspective that came with a new body.

...

The inn he was staying at that night had a mirror in the hallway and he was briefly distracted as he walked to his room. He had gone with that haircut and was surprised to see that he really looked good. That was the first time he had ever thought that. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing that he finally got some self confidence, or a bad thing that it took a whole new body to feel better about himself.

Hugo bumped his head on the door frame as was entering his room at the inn. He guessed that even with a high dexterity stat, you could still hurt yourself if you didn’t even have the instinct to get out of the way. It would take some time to get used to being taller. After he lay down, he pulled up his stat screen and stared at it. Twenty was so high. He hadn’t heard of any first year student that started with a twenty in anything.

Earlier, when he had just gotten this body, he had assumed that Cristian was just a natural talent. But that twenty. It was the same number that his dexterity had been before he was thrust into this new body. He wondered if he had somehow brought that stat along with him.

Probably not. He was just grasping at straws, trying too hard to make sense of this all. The guy had been carrying dual daggers when he tried to kill him, so it made sense that this body had always been rather dexterous. Too bad for him, he had been betrayed by Florian during the soul fight. Cristian probably would have been the one to win the fight if it wasn’t for that betrayal.

It seemed like this body was his for good. He might as well take advantage of the extra stats. He could be an amazing harvester, or a talented mage. As long as he averted the explosion at the end of the year, he would be good to go. If he didn’t want to bother with heroics, he could just leave before the end of the year and avoid the explosion entirely.

Hugo didn’t seriously consider that option. The series of explosions had looked like it took out a fourth of the city before he was flung back in time. There is no way he would feel fine just abandoning Reval to its fate.

He was fairly sure that someone had been sabotaging the city for a while. The city wall that fell and the shimmer explosions were probably related. He just needed to help the sentinels and shimmer corps figure out who was responsible.

Not that there was anything he could do tomorrow. The sabotage on the walls wasn’t for a few weeks. The attack on the shimmer mountain veins wouldn’t happen for another year. He could send letters, investigate the shimmer veins, and recruit helpers to stop that second attack. But he needed to figure out a plan to save the Reval city walls. And let the other cities know about the sabotage too.

His best bet would be to go to the academy again. It’s the only way that someone his age would gain access to the city walls. Once he was up there, he could convince them to examine the runes, maybe by pretending he wanted to choose the rune domain. It shouldn’t be hard for them to discover the problem, he knew exactly where the sabotage had occurred.

Becoming a mage is what he wanted to do with his life anyway. After he saved the city, he would just keep going to the academy. He still thought that a good education was the key to riches. A good education and the connections to the rich and powerful in the city.

The first few months of formation class would probably be a little boring, but if he was honest with himself, he could use the practice. He never got above a two in any assignment the last go around. It would be nice to be the top student for once.

Doing his first year of classes again was going to be tedious, but the idea of getting all ones was exhilarating. He wouldn’t have to study much, and Rasmus and Marta would be amazed with his knowledge. Hanna would just throw sand bags at him, no matter how well he did on the obstacle courses. Since he was forewarned about Sage Laisk’s insidious cryptozoology tests, he could study for them properly.

He wouldn’t have to study nearly as much this go around. He could go to all the parties he wanted to. He was finally going to have fun at the academy. That made him wonder, how would this body handle alcohol? Was he still a lightweight, or could he knock them down? He was a bit scared to find out.

...

The next morning started with Hugo bolting upright in bed, his heart racing. The nightmares were back, and worse this time. He shook his head, trying to ignore the panic and fear the nightmares gave him. Seeing their dead bodies again must have triggered the nightmares about the people from the ritual circle. Eventually his heartbeat slowed and he got up for the day.

The walk to the academy felt invigorating. He had a plan on how to save the city walls, and it wouldn’t even be that hard. He also had plans on how to get the most out of school, how to be popular and successful. He had one year of pre-knowledge and he planned on using every bit. He bought himself some honey crispels and walked through the city center. They were so much better when they were fresh.

Something he hadn’t planned on made him stop in his tracks. It was Sofia. She was talking with Kristofer by the fountain. Knowing why she had done everything certainly changed the way he looked at her. In fact, he felt a certain bit of responsibility towards her. She hadn’t betrayed him because she didn’t like Hugo. Her family had fallen on hard times, and she was being extorted to spy on Kristofer. She was only in this relationship because of Kristofer’s father, the Duke. He had to do something to help her out.

It occurred to him that he felt obligated to help the girl that had dumped him but not the mother that had raised him. Everything he had been taught told him that he had his priorities mixed up. He should be feeling guilty for even considering talking to Sofia when he had just told his mother that her son was dead. But there was nothing. He shook his head. What mattered was the facts, not what should be. He knew without a doubt that his mother would be fine without him, but Sofia would not.

He walked up to the couple and said, “Excuse me? Are you Sofia?”

“Uh, yes?” she said.

“Do you know a Hugo who took a trip up to Shimmer Mountain recently?” he said.

“Yes, I do. Hugo is a friend of mine,” Sofia said.

“What is this all about?” interjected Kristofer.

“I climbed the mountain with Hugo. We got to know each other very well over just a few days. He told me all about you, Sofia. Which is why I know that you should hear about what happened to him. The night before we got soulmarked, a swarm of monsters attacked us. One of the monsters broke through the guards and was headed right for me. Hugo knocked the monster out of the way, but he ended up dying in the process. I owe him my life,” Hugo said. He couldn’t help but give himself a heroic death.

Sofia put her hands to her mouth. Tears started welling up.

“I am sorry to tell you about his death like this. I know you two were close,” said Hugo.

“Damn,” Kristofer said. He put an arm around Sofia’s shoulders.

“Before he died, he asked me to pay you back for the pass up the mountain,” Hugo said and pulled out a stack of silvers. It was most of what he had in his money pouch. He would have to change some plans, but he knew that Sofia and her family really needed the money.

Sofia stared at the coins, but didn’t move to accept them. She said, “I can’t take this. I don’t even know you. This is too much. You don’t owe me anything.”

“This isn’t even enough to pay back the pass up the mountain, it’s less than a gold,” Hugo said, “I owe Hugo my life, a debt I can never repay. Please let me do this, it is the least I can do.”

Sofia reluctantly accepted the money. She didn’t even count it though, so distraught about Hugo’s death to care.

This made Hugo want to go the extra mile. Turning to Kristofer he said, “Are you Kristofer?”

“Don’t tell me you want to pay me too?” Kristofer said, “If anything I owe Hugo.”

“No, no. I was just going to offer you a bit of advice. Hugo tells me you have an overbearing father. I have one myself,” he said.

“And you want to give me advice on how to get rid of my father? No thanks, I hate the guy, but he doesn’t deserve to die,” said Kristofer.

“Woah! Where did that come from? I was just going to give you some advice about your girlfriend here. My father had my last girlfriend spying on me for him. I was going to suggest you protect her from outside influences. Either that or have her give your father bogus reports.”

“My father is bad, but I doubt he would ever approach my girlfriends,” Kristofer said angrily.

Hugo held up his hands and said, “Whatever, no need to shoot the messenger. It was just a warning about a possibility.”

Sofia looked worried about the direction the conversation was going. Hugo had brought it up so it would be easier for her to say something. But it looked like she wasn’t going to take the chance.

“Sorry I brought it up,” Hugo said. It was as much as he could do. He gave her money and planted the idea of her not spying on Kristofer anymore.

He said goodbye to both of them, and walked off towards the academy. He promised himself to send Sofia’s family some money as soon as he had enough to spare. Maybe if she wasn’t financially dependent on Kristofer’s father, she would feel comfortable telling the truth.

Hugo was curious what the academy light mages would have to say about his stats. He thought they were respectable all around, but his twenty dex would certainly be a topic of conversation.