Chapter 146: A World of Pain

The gate was still open, but no one was outside. The street lights were off, but thankfully the moon provided plenty of illumination. We walked to the main square and I noticed several of the houses had lights on inside. It made me wonder in which of them Vasil would be.

My eyes drifted to the biggest and tallest building by far. It dominated the square and was made out of red brick and what appeared to be sandstone for the decorative details on the triangular face in the center. I’m sure that has a name, but I’m no [Architect], so I have no idea what that would be called. It looked like a pointy roof from the front, but wasn’t a roof, alright. On the left side it had a tower with a copper spire on top. Yes, I do know what a spire is.

Since that looked like it was probably the most important building, it made sense to me that Vasil would be there. It was probably the town hall or something similar to it, so Vasil would feel right at home, considering his experience at the king’s court.

I nodded at it. “That’s where we’re going. That’s where we’ll find Vasil.”

As we walked up to the heavy wooden doors set into a pointed arch, Vitek stopped me. I was about to say something mean, but he pushed one of the doors open and bowed.

“My Lady,” he said with a big grin.

I almost rolled my eyes, but was able to control myself. He was probably trying to be nice and gentlemanly. I mean, he actually was nice and gentlemanly. Not everyone is trying to mock you, Hecate, I reminded myself.

When I entered the building I expected to see people, but there didn’t appear to be anyone around. It also didn’t look impressive. The ceilings weren’t very high and it looked pretty plain. It smelled like stone. Odd.

I heard some murmurs, and decided to follow the sound up a grand stone staircase. It led into a great hall with tall ceilings. The walls were painted white and were filled with coats of arms. Busts of people I didn’t know lined the pillars that kept up the roof. At the end of the hall, I spotted Vasil talking to Ola and Hubert.

“Hi guys,” I said, startling them.

“Lady Aurelia,” Ola and Hubert said in unison.

Vasil hopped over. “There she is. How did it go? What upgrades did you take? …why do I smell strawberries?”

I raised my finger. “Strawberry and vanilla! A side-effect of the new upgrade.”

Vasil frowned. “You used your upgrade slot to smell like strawberry and vanilla?”

“Not intentionally!”

He sighed. “What did you do, Hecate? Can you tell me what the description says?”

I opened up the description and read it aloud.

[Disguise Self - Upgraded]

Upgrade: [Zwotokapka - Flower]

Upgrade: [Chaos Seed]

Type: Active

Ever felt like your face just wasn’t doing you any favors? Now it doesn’t have to be your face! Just try to remember who you actually are.

Disguise yourself as a person. Low upkeep.

This skill is now extremely effective. Those attempting to see through your disguise are more likely to feel a sense of calm when they look at you, though there is a chance they may experience an intense sense of dread instead. Perception checks against your disguise have a higher chance to fail during sundown.

Your disguise may subtly shift to match the expectations of the observer, meaning two people who have observed you may see different things.

There is a rare chance that people looking at you may occasionally, momentarily, see your face as a cluster of blooming flowers or a void of absolute darkness. This may lead them to question their own sanity.

There is a rare chance that people looking at you will smell the faint scent of the zwotokapka flower.

There is a rare chance that objects you touch are affected by your disguise.

+23 Chaos. Scales with level.

May have other effects not listed in description. Effects are subject to change.

Vasil’s expression turned thoughtful. “Hmmm. That is very interesting. Do you only get the additional points to Chaos when the skill is active?”

“I’m not sure. Let me try it.”

I canceled my disguise and checked my stats. Yep. Chaos back to 1.

“Yeah,” I said. “When I turn it off the bonus is gone.”

“Very interesting indeed. And that is not the only interesting change to the skill.”

“I know, that zwotokapka scent thing is crazy, right? That’s the strawberry and vanilla you smelled.”

“What? No. I am sure that is because you used the chaos seed in combination with the flower Vitek mentioned.”

“How’d you guess?”

Vasil gave me a flat look. “I know you, and you just told me the description.”

“Right. So what’s so interesting then?”

“Are you certain the new text says ‘Disguise yourself as a person?’”

I double-checked just to be sure. “Yeah. Why?”

Vasil smiled. “Because the basic skill says ‘Disguise yourself as a person you have seen before.’”

“Huh,” I said.

So I was no longer limited to people I’d seen before. Or “persons”, as the System called them. I immediately wondered what the System considered a person. Especially since I could transform into any “person” I wanted now. Was a viwa a person? A bwotnik? Not that I wanted to transform into a bwotnik, of course, but it would be cool if I could.

I narrowed my eyes at Vasil. Now a frog probably didn’t count as a person, and he was technically a [Frogbag], but he was also a person, wasn’t he? A person trapped in a frog body. So while I might not be able to turn into a frog, or a [Frogbag], I might turn into him, specifically.

And didn’t companies or organizations count as persons as well? For the law, at least. Maybe not for the System.

“System?” I asked. “When do you consider someone or something a person?”

[…]

[A person is someone who is conscious, sentient, self-aware, has the ability to reason and has the capacity to communicate.]

“So… are you implying that a baby is not a person because they aren’t self-aware and don’t have the ability to reason?”

[No.]

“What about someone who is sleeping? Do they stop being a person?”

[No.]

“What about someone with brain damage or someone who is in a coma?”

[No.]

I scratched the back of my head. “Your definition of a person is a little misleading.”

[NO.]

“I don’t know. Kind of sounds like a dog or a cat could even be a person. Or a monkey.”

[You’re a monkey.]

“What? Did you just call me a monkey?”

I turned to Vasil. “I think the System just insulted me.”

“Well, you are very annoying,” Bogumir said. “I’ve never heard of the System insulting anyone, but if anyone can annoy the System into insulting them, it’s you.”

Vitek laughed. “Even the System, eh, Hecate? You are truly unique. I’m starting to like you more and more.”

"I’m not a monkey," I huffed, crossing my arms.

[You exhibit similar behavior.]

“See?! There it goes again!” I said, pointing at the text. “This is outrageous!”

You know what? I thought. I’ll show them as I activated [Disguise Self] again and tried to transform into Vasil. I felt something pull on me, as if the System itself was trying to prevent me from transforming, even though, by its own definition it should allow me to transform. I kept trying and pushing, but the System kept pulling the transformation back before it could finalize.

“Hey, System!” I finally said, annoyed. “By your own definition, Vasil is a person! Stop fighting me on this! Follow your own rules!”

“What?” Vasil asked.

“The System is not following its own rules! It’s cheating! It’s not letting me transform.”

“Hecate, what are you trying to do?”

I shook my fist at the sky. “System, my friend, you are entering a world of pain.”

[A frog is not a person.]

“You don’t let me transform into Vasil, and you’re entering a world of pain.”

[Hecate, frogs are not conscious, sentient, self-aware, have the ability to reason or have the capacity to communicate.]

“A world of pain.”

[Hecate—]

“Has the whole world gone crazy?! AM I THE ONLY ONE AROUND HERE WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE RULES? LET ME TRANSFORM!”

[A [Frogbag]—]

I summoned my revolvers and aimed them at nothing in particular, but in my mind I was aiming at the System. I activated [Clean Entry]. “YOU THINK I’M FUCKING AROUND HERE? LET ME TRANSFORM!”

As the last word left my mouth the world grew larger, expanding until I felt tiny. Everyone was suddenly looking down at me, except for Vasil—he was at eye level. Hubert and Ola looked shocked. Vitek looked amused. Kasia shook her head and laughed.

I glanced around, satisfied. “So what have you guys been up to while I was gone?”