"Where do people get names? Why do people know me as Kid? Is there any way to change it?"
"Goodness, I think that was three questions. Most people get their names from their parents. Your name... has nobody told you? Anyone who sees you can tell, not to mention that you're the dungeon boss of the Lost."
I nodded. "But why that name?"
"Well... isn't it your name?"
'Is it?'
"It's just what people called me."
"People... as in, speaking imperial?"
I nodded.
"I... see. I'm not sure if anyone knows how it's changed in a mechanical- er, that is, how it actually happens, but it is known to happen if you just... change your name. Er, sorry, that's not very helpful is it?"
I nodded again, since that was pretty much what I was asking how to do, though I felt a little bit grateful that someone actually realized it for once.
He continued explaining, "When I say change your name, I mean in every area of your life. You can request a change to your legal identification if you have some precedence for it, such as adoption or marriage. You know, a change to this."
He got out his own ID card to show me what he meant. He was a very patient old man to make sure I understood exactly what he was talking about.
"Unfortunately," he continued, "without a legal precedence or other documented proof, it's what we imperials like to call a chicken and egg situation. They fall back on Scan and similar things, which in turn is what you actually want to change."
"They do?"
No wonder Van's answer had been to learn Scan.
Of course, it wasn't necessary for someone like me, since everyone knew me as Kid just by looking at me.
"Yes, but you can change it in other areas of your life, such as introducing yourself as the other name. It may be difficult, since as a dungeon boss, everyone will know you as Kid just by looking at you..."
Didn't I just... well, you get the gist.
He continued, "But if you tell them your situation, I'm sure it could catch on. People love little stories like that."
"You said every area of my life. Should I do more things too?"
"Yes, absolutely. You're the dungeon boss of the Lost, so you could work with someone to make your own paperwork for yourself, documenting your name. You could put it on a plaque outside your room. You could wear it on jewelry. The options are pretty endless, and fortunately, you won't need to hire a Scanner just to see if it worked, since anyone could simply tell you."
"Should I... try to distance myself from Kid, by dying my hair and changing my clothes?"
"Hmm... probably not. There are Skills to fool Scan, and practicing disguises like that is what can supposedly unlock them, so it might be less effective."
'Less effective, but it sounds like something I want to do later anyway...'
"Thank you very much," I did my best to politely thank the man for all the help he'd given me.
Although libraries were public services, and I was technically helping fund it every time I bought something thanks to the imperial standard sales tax... I still felt I owed him a personal debt that went beyond such things.
Though it wasn't very clear to me how I could repay him, since volunteering to the library wasn't exactly the same as helping him.
It was quite tricky.
***
After that, I wandered through alleys until I was sure nobody was watching or following me.
Taking out my knife, I focused on the mana circulating my body.
'This will be the first time I've used Beginner this way.'
The first time I'd die outside the Lost.
There was no point in feeling nervous, but even though the Skill itself told me that it was able to save my life right now, and even let me know that I'd return beside the portal in the Lost, I still felt a bit of skepticism.
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After all, I had never actually confirmed that it worked.
What if that psychically available information was just wrong?
What if my curse trumped it, and whisked me away from this world to reincarnate in a new one? It hadn't done so in the Lost, but it wasn't as though it was a guarantee my Skill worked exactly as the dungeon's effect did.
But this was all pointless to speculate over.
It would actually be pretty funny if it didn't work. A reprieve from the usual ways I'd died, even.
So I slit my own throat.
***
RedOwl: Beginner II, huh?
Hero194: What's that?
RedOwl: Kid's unique Skill. She just died again.
OutsiderFan71: ?!
Hero194: You mean in the Lost, right?
Hero194: Like, not actually, right?
RedOwl: Yeah. Hence again.
OutsiderFan71: Ugh...
***
This time, Beginner used a lot more mana than it had used last time.
I felt drained after I was brought back beside the portal in the Lost, but I could also feel the difference in the quantities being used. It was so dizzying that my legs even buckled beneath me.
Even healing my self-imposed injury cost a significant amount more than it had in the dungeon, but that was nothing compared to the cost of transporting me there.
And after working, the Skill briefly warned me that it would no longer function on its own, but it also conveyed that it would still work. I got the vague sense it was because I was back in the Lost, and if I simply left and died a second time, it'd stick.
'So it has a cooldown...?'
Except that warning ended as quickly as it came, because...
【Kid has improved the Skill: Beginner II.】
In other words, I got the sense that it would take less mana now. Just enough that I could revive a second time. Perhaps even a third, if it had been Beginner II from the start.
'Did it really need to announce that to everyone...?'
Moreover, improving Skills was supposed to take years. Although going from I to II was the shortest and easiest jump, often viewed as significantly easier than obtaining the Skill in the first place, improving it in a matter of months usually required pretty strict training.
So... what exactly had I done to practice it...?
'These Skills are impossible to understand!'
"Are you alright, Kid?"
Ah, it was Suon. I glanced up at him and nodded.
He still helped me to my feet.
"Thanks," I muttered, feeling awkward about being helped without actually being asked.
"Well, whatever you did, congratulations! We just had a party, but you know, we ought to have another one. Maybe a smaller one this time."
"A party...?"
"Yeah. It's tradition. Every time someone gains or advances a Skill, you have a party. Usually if you're a junior in a good guild, the guild covers it. It's rough once you become a senior, because then people start expecting you to cover things."
"Um... I see... I can't really afford a big celebration though..."
"Haha! Listen to you! You're still a junior. I mean, I'm still a junior, and I'm definitely still your senior. Don't worry about it, let Van sort it out for now."
'For now...?'
Does that mean they expect me to stay with the guild until I qualified as a senior member...?
But wasn't my membership contingent on them being the ones in charge of the Lost? What if they someday just weren't?
***
Once I recovered my stamina, it was a longer trek than usual back to the cave that served as my home.
It was evening when I'd started, and night by the time I'd arrived.
Lilac and Savi were asleep, so I just ate something, changed, and went to bed too.
At least, I assumed Savi was asleep. She had her own tent, while Lilac and I shared one.
I'd say that Lilac could be surprisingly clingy in her sleep, except she was that way during the day too, so there was nothing surprising about it. Nevertheless, it was hard to say she was overly dependent, if she was able to go to bed without me.
'But maybe that was because Savi was here.'
With those sort of idle thoughts, it eventually became morning.
"Congratulations, Kid," Savi said as we had breakfast.
They were in the dungeon too when it happened, so it was logical to assume they both found out that I had advanced Beginner, and furthermore, that I had such a Skill to begin with.
"Thanks," I said a bit awkwardly.
It wasn't like I was trying to do it. Heck, I wasn't even particularly hoping or expecting it to happen. I kind of figured it probably wouldn't, since I hadn't been using it much.
"I've never heard of a Skill like that before. Well, I heard you had it, but that's about it. Since it's so rare though, you're better off keeping what it does a secret. It could even be a unique Skill."
Unique Skill was basically just what they called a Skill that very few people ever got. It wasn't a provable classification. That is, there could be a dungeon full of people with the Beginner Skill.
My personal guess was that you had to be from a beginner dungeon to qualify.
Not that I actually was, but my body did reincarnate in the Lost, so that might be enough.
But I agreed with her about keeping it a secret, regardless of how I'd gotten it. The apparently limited protection it gave me from death wasn't any good if people knew how it worked.
So I just nodded in response.
"So, are we going to celebrate? You should get those rich guys to foot the bill. You know, the guild that manages this place."
"Um..."
"Actually, hold on. That's how us Terrans do things, but what about you guys? How do they do it in the Lost?"
"I'm not sure..."
I tried to think back to Kazzim's stories, if he mentioned any customs surrounding gaining or improving a Skill.
"I think," I continued, "It was a very long time since anyone has gotten a Skill... but it used to be a mark of nobility, so there was a big celebration when someone got their first Skill, but celebrating for each advancement... would have been... seen as showing off."
"Huh. Well, if you feel that way personally, you don't have to. I can understand the sentiment. Some people feel that way back at home too, so it wouldn't even be unusual."
"Really?"
'But actually... couldn't I use this?'
With a sudden plan forming in my mind, I asked Savi a pertinent question.
"Is it really insulting if a junior pays for a meal or something like that?"
"Not at all. Really, imperials just like to celebrate our successes in life, so that's the real delimiter. Finding a promising junior is the guild's accomplishment, and that junior eventually becoming established in life, that's their own success. It's not like it's a rule, or anything. It's just how we think."
I gave her words some consideration.
Although I doubted my current life seemed successful by Terran standards, given they were a technologically enlightened society, at least in terms of logistics and wealth...
For someone who'd lived countless lifetimes subject to the whimsies of fate and chance, being able to fill my stomach and sleep comfortably were blessings.
"I think I'm successful."