A/N : Hey, so I meant to release this on Saturday, but then my family decided to drag me on a 20 mile long hiking trip through the Rocky Mountains... As fun as it was, I'm so goddam sore that I can't even walk so I figured I might as well write a bunch.

Chapter Two - True Name

My mind was wiped completely blank as I reached the altar. Before I could even kneel, I felt a power overcome me. A deep voice rang through my mind, “You need not kneel; not even to the Creator!” Suddenly, I felt my body being lifted off the ground by a silvery mist that was coming off of the four statues that had not moved so far.

When my body was nearly 10 feet off the ground, all seven of the statues seemed to come to life. The statues of Fire and Lightning seeming to gather strength, while the others all moved simultaneously. A silhouette appeared behind each of them; an enormous black bat, an angel of pure light, a one-eyed giant with a huge club of rock, and the largest of all; an enormous wave of water erupted turning into Leviathan. Suddenly, they all shot beams of essence at me which converged turning into a blob of all four colors as it entered my my body. Soon, it was joined by a wind sprite that flew around me playfully a couple of times.

That was when the waiting started. Ten minutes, fifteen, twenty…. nearly an hour passed before a voice that I seemed to know, yet couldn’t recognize spoke to me. “My beloved son, I cannot wait for you to rejoin us. We love you.” Another voice joined her for the last part, and the auras of fire and lightning that had been gathering suddenly broke free. Turning into a bird of fire that pierced the air with a screech, while a 15 foot tall wolf with lightning streaking from its snout to it’s tails roared. The two then rushed forward, combining into a wolf with wings stretching out from it’s back. Fire and lightning perfectly balanced within before it shrunk to a size of three feet and with one last roar passed into my chest.

Slowly, the silvery aura returned me to the ground and retracted back to the statues from which it came. The dwarf’s statue extended its hand with a piece of paper. This time, the Cardinal himself personally picked up the paper and announced with a shaky voice. “Nicholas Smith-Elenwood. The Journalist, The Demon-Mage, The Forgiven, One with Lightning, Son of Fire, Friend of Yama, Defiler of Fate. Lesser Blessings of Earth, Water, Wind, Dark, and Light. Greater Blessings of Fire and Lightning. A message is left from Fate, “Let the games commence!” A final message left from Yama, “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”

Finally, the crowd erupted in congratulations just as loud as it was for Syndra. My mom rushed to me, picking me up in a tight embrace, my dad following and hugging us both. We stood there for a while before the Cardinal tapped my dad’s shoulder and handed him the paper he had read from. I heard him quietly speaking to him, “I need to you and your son to come to my office; please join me and the Lightsbane's after everyone is finished.” My dad nodded in acknowledgement to the Cardinal before he handed me the sheet of silvery paper.

The crowd had finally stopped clapping and was attentively watching the next person. I looked down at the silvery paper now that I was no longer the center of attention. Puzzled, I turned to my mom and asked her, “Why can’t I read this?” The possessiveness in her gaze as she happily gazed at me was shocking, “What?” I asked her.

Shaking her head, my mom regained her faculties, “The status sheets are special; they are made of a power that no mortal can possibly hope to understand. Place it on your chest and let it be absorbed into you, then think status. You should be able to read it after that. The priests can read parts of the sheet using a special technique.”

I placed the sheet on my chest, and after it was absorbed I thought ‘Status!’. In front of me the silvery sheet reappeared, but this time I could read it.

The sheet covered an enormous amount of information, but I ignored it all as I stared at the first two lines…

NameNicholas Smith-ElenwoodTrue NameNicholas Freeney

I tugged on my mom’s dress to get her attention, after she looked down at me I asked, “Mom, what does true-name mean?” She stood there, staring at me as if she was frozen in place. Finally, I tugged on her dress again, asking, “Mom, are you ok?”

She wasn’t it seemed, as she fainted on the spot falling towards the ground. Thankfully, my dad had noticed something was wrong and managed to catch her. “Honey! Honey, can you hear me?” The lack of response seemed to scare him, so he turned to me and asked, “What happened?”

“I don’t know, I just asked her what true-name’s mean and then she froze up before falling.”

Little did I expect that my dad’s eyes would fly wide open, seeming to freeze in place himself. After a couple of seconds he shook his head, then stared at me in wonder for a second. Finally, he looked around to see a crowd of eyes on us. “We’re going to the Cardinal’s office, follow me.”

He strode off quickly, carrying my mother in his arms as I followed along worried about her. From behind me I heard Syndra’s father say, “Come, we need to go to the Cardinal’s office as well.”

The crowd opened before us, letting us through as my dad turned to smile at his friend wryly, “You too?”

“So it would seem.”

After that, everyone was quiet as we quickly walked through the temple. After climbing four flights of stairs, we reached an ornate hallway with two knights standing on either side of its entrance. A priest walked up to us and bowed gracefully before the knights could say anything, “The Cardinal is waiting for you, please follow me.”

Double-doors wide enough for 8 people walking side by side to fit through were flung open with unseemly haste as we arrived. The Cardinal from before opened the door, looking as if he’d sprinted the entire way back to his office, was speaking sporadically as he panted. “Welcome!” *pant* “Please, have a seat.”

My dad laid my mom down on a couch, then we all moved to chairs by the surprisingly messy desk. By the time we all managed to settle into seats, the Cardinal had finally managed to get a hold of himself. “So, I just finished watching the ceremony; you were the only two to receive more than one greater blessing and per the law, you both have to go to the City of Creation.”

“What?” My father asked surprised.

“Why? I don’t want to go!” I yelled out.

“Its simple really, humanoid beings are the weakest group on this world. If it wasn’t for the blessings of the God’s on the 8 great cities and their temples, then humans, dwarves, elves, and demons would’ve all gone extinct long ago. However, humanoids have the greatest potential for growth. It is for this reason that the gods bless us, in order to show us the proper path. In order for humanity to grow stronger, cultivation and education became compulsory. Even those with minor-blessings are compelled to cultivate at an academy. After all, with enough hard work, the Gods and Goddesses may increase their blessings.”

“The seven great academies are placed inside of each of the seven great temples, and accept anyone with at least a Blessing of their specific element. For those who received lesser blessings, they go to a preparatory school where after 5 to 10 years they are usually able to impress the gods enough to grow their potential. However, the School of Creation is located inside the Temple of Creation and it requires you to have at least a greater blessing and one blessing, or three blessings. Since both Syndra and Nicholas were blessed so highly by the gods we must insist that they be sent to the School of Creation.”

“No! I want to stay home!” I cried out, tears beginning to gather in my eyes.

My dad hugged me tightly, and spoke. “It's ok, we always knew that this was a possibility. I just didn’t realize that you would have to go all the City of Creation.”

“I’m sorry, but compulsory education and cultivation are the only reasons that we can now begin to explore this world.” Said the Cardinal.

My dad nodded and asked, “When does he have to leave?”

“I will enroll both Nicholas and Syndra tonight, the new term begins on the first of January. Convoys with protection from the church leave once every month, so he would have to leave by October to get there in time.”

“Don’t worry,” spoke Sin for the first time since they entered the room, “I will be returning to the main branch of the Lightsbane’s, I’ll bring Nicholas with us.”

“Finally done playing around with us hicks eh?” Asked my dad.

“I don’t have a choice... The only reason I was allowed to stay out this long is Syndra and now that she has to go to the school of Creation.”

“Got ya…” My dad stood up to leave, picking my mother back up.

“One last thing, the majority of those born with multiple Greater Blessings, and anyone born with multiple titles are given true-names by the Gods. These are given to those who accomplish great feats so that they will never be forgotten, forever to be known by their true-names. The Gods have made it clear that after being reborn, everyone loses their past memories and only regains them if they ascend to godhood themselves. That being the case, they look unfavorably upon those who hold grudges even after their enemies have died. Despite that, the vast majority of those with true-names hide their names just to be safe. Unfortunately, some titles are known to only be given to a small number of people, and Syndra's true-name is obvious.”

“True, only one person has been known as the Dragoness of Nyx afterall.” Said Sin.

“Thankfully, no one would dare to offend the Lightsbane’s by harming her, but Nicholas you must never reveal your true-name to anyone you do not absolutely trust. That being said, I encourage both of you to investigate your past lives. “

“I’ll make sure he’s careful.” Said my Dad.

At that point, we all left the office and the last words spoken by the Cardinal were, “Remember, be careful and you have to be at School by 9 A.M. on the First of January.”

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The next day

While we were walking out of the temple my mom regained consciousness, and started walking about. Right as she began stirring, my dad told me, “Don’t say anything about going to school out of the city until we get home. I don’t want to have to carry her all the way home.”

Thankfully, she only caught the final part of that, “Hmmph, you should be happy to be carrying someone as beautiful as me!” she said while slapping him hard.

‘Yes!’ I thought to myself, ‘Now I’m not the only one who had to spend hours walking around with a red mark on his face today!’

My Dad didn’t have to worry much because almost the instant my Mom got back on her feet, I started yawning exhaustedly. I was wondering why Syndra had been so tired as she was told she had to leave the city, but I now I realized that she’d been asleep the whole time.

“Hey!” Yelled my Mom while glaring at Dad. “He just received 7 blessings, why aren’t you carrying him!”

That’s all that I remember, because before I could be picked up I had already face-planted into the ground in complete exhaustion.

Waking up in your own bed is nice; especially when you fell asleep on a marble floor… Well, thankfully Mom is an amazing healer so my formerly broken nose was only obvious when I saw my clothes from yesterday soaking in the kitchen sink. It was way earlier than I normally wake up, so I was the only one here. I started replaying last night in my head, unwilling to accept that I had to move. “Status” I said outloud and stared at my true-name… “Why does

Nicholas Freeney sound so familiar to me?”

“Of course he’s familiar dumbass, he’s the most famous person to ever live.” Said Jack, my brother who had just come down the stairs dressed in his blood-red robes getting ready for school.

“What? I mean I recognize his name but I don’t remember what from.”

“The first thing you do when you go to school is read his journal. Only those without any blessings or a single lesser blessing who focus completely on the path of the warrior aren’t required to. But, almost all of them wind up reading it eventually.”

“Huh? Why would someone's’ journal be so important?”

“His journal is really interesting, and many people learn a lot from reading it, but it's not the journal itself that’s really important. No, Nicholas Freeney was a crazy sonofabitch who loved practical jokes. So, he wrote a long winded, multi-volume expose on his life and then built a spell so great that only a god could undo it. The spell makes it so that if anyone wants to read anything in his library then first he has to read all 11 volumes of his I-Love-Me novel. Narcissistic Ass!”

“So? Its just a library, I’m sure that you can find books like it elsewhere on the planet.”

“You know what, I’m done speaking to you until you spend at least a year at the academy. Your ignorance and stupidity just astounds me!”

“Be nice Jack!” Called my mother as she walked down the staircase. “So, you’re finally up Nicky. How’s it feel to be blessed?” She asked with a grin.

“Confusing!” I said. “I have to figure out what all of these words in the status mean, and even worse I have to move to the capital. I don’t wantta!”

“WHAT?!?!” Shouted Jack and my Mom at the same time.

“Who said that you have to move?” asked my Mom.

“The cardinal, he said that it's the law since I have two Greater Blessings I have to go school in the City of Creation.”

“WHAT?!?!” They both yelled out again.

“O Gods, why would you give such a gift to my snot-nosed little brother? You only gave me one Greater Blessing! Why Gods? Why?!?!”

At the same time as my brother was cursing his luck, my mom had started crying hysterically while shouting, “NOOOOO, My baby is too young to leave me!”

This went on for nearly a minute before my dad came downstairs, “Whats up with all the racket! You’ll wake up the whole neighborhood. Huh? Why are you still here Jack, you’ll be late for class.”

“O Shit!”

My brother started running around the house grabbing his school things, but my mother finally recovered enough to start screaming accusingly, “You knew! You knew my baby had to leave, and you didn’t say anything!” She rushed him and started pummeling his chest. My brother and I stood there amazed as lightning started coiling around her body and thunder echoed with every hit.

“Eighth rank?” Whispered my brother with a look of astonishment on his face. Even more astonishing, my dad just stood there taking blows that could’ve easily destroyed our house looking as if it didn’t even scratch him.

“Now, now honey. You’re scaring the kids.” Came his usual calm basso rumble.

“Don’t you honey me! You bastard they’re taking my son away!”

“Our son, and you knew he couldn’t study here given that he inherited your blessing!”

“I’m leaving you! I’m going with him to the City of Creation!”

“Of course you are; we all are.”

“Wait, what?”

“Jack only needs 1 more blessing to qualify for entry into the School of Creation, so you’re going to spend the next two months training him how to cultivate light and then we’re going to move there as a family. I worked it out with Sin last night, in return for a few weapons and teaching some of his clan how to smith he’ll let us stay there.”

“Oh, so I’m not losing my baby?”

“Our baby!”

Mom leaped in the air, going to give my dad her “I’m happy” hug.

While all of this was going on, my brother had finished gathering up all of his things, and was about to leave when he suddenly asked me, “Why were you so interested in Nicholas Freeney anyway? You didn’t know who he is.”

“Apparently, Nicholas Freeney is my true-name.”

Everyone froze in place. My brother’s bookbag fell to the floor, splitting open and spilling all of his gathered school things. My mom froze in mid leap, seeming to hang in mid-air for a second before gravity finally took over again, slamming her into my father who was waiting to catch her in a bear-hug, but forgot to because he was too busy staring at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked as I watched my mom collapse on the floor.

My brother was the first to recover, then he started yelling, “Stop lying! Everyone knows that he sacrificed his soul to the Overlord of Lightning.”

“Huh?”

“Jack, shut up.” said my father sternly before turning to me and saying, “There is a way you can show your status to others. You can choose what you want to show, I’ll teach you how to before we get to the academy. But, for now I want you to say Show Full Nameplate.”

“Show Full Nameplate.”

NameNicholas Smith-ElenwoodTrue NameNicholas FreeneyTitlesThe Journalist; The Demon-Mage; The Forgiven; One With Lightning; Son of Fire; Friend of Yama; Defiler of Fate

“WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (All three of them)

“How is this possible? He should’ve been destroyed, never to be reborn!” Asked my mom.

“I don’t know, but we have to keep this a secret.” Said my dad, then he pulled her away and whispered to her so softly that I could only barely make it out, “You know how crazy the church would go if they knew. He’s practically the ninth god in their eyes.”

“I know, we’ll keep this a complete secret.” She started speaking louder, “Jack, I’m sorry love but I’m going to have to modify your memory. This is too big a secret, and you’re not strong enough to protect your mind yet.”

Then, she started chanting in some wierd language and a flash of light shot across the room and into Jack’s eyes. He passed out, “Guess we’ll have to send a message to the school, he’ll be out of it all day.” She muttered.

Then, she turned to me and her face turned stern. “Now, you will tell NO ONE who you are! Also, I know you are a little mischievous and that is fine but if I catch you going crazy and falling into depravity again then I’ll kick your ass!”

“What’s depravity mean?” I asked, while scrunching my face up confusedly.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA” Dad’s laughter rocked the room as my mom facepalmed. “You’ll understand eventually… Hmm… Honey, I think we need to buy a journal for him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he has this title, “The Journalist.” and his original journal is quite famous...”

“I never thought I’d say this, but that’s a good idea!”

And that’s why I’m now forced to write in this journal every night! It’s hell! I can barely read in the first place, how should I know how to write?!?!”