Paul, or rather Varre as he was now being called, took Zarkon’s words to heart. He spent the next couple of days lying in his bed. He didn’t feel sick, but his limbs felt exhausted. As if he’d just finished an extensive training session at the gym for the first time in decades.

  This situation suited him just fine. He didn’t have to worry about any exams, essays, or anything like that anymore. He still wasn’t fully certain if everything he’s seen so far wasn’t just a dream, but he had already tried pinching himself. Several times. The food he ate also felt real.

  There was always the possibility of all this being a massive prank, but the longer it went on, the less he believed in that. It would take a lot of resources to kidnap a random student for a few days, set up this room and bring in so many actors. And for what? It’s not like anything he did so far made good content for a prank channel. It didn’t explain the accident either.

  If this was real, and he had truly been transported to another world, Varre should start thinking of ways to return home. He wasn’t too worried about that though. Not yet at least. Besides, he had no idea where to even begin. First, he’d need to fully recover and only then could he work on any investigation.

  So far he spent most of each day asleep. Every few hours, Benjamin, or one of the Zarkon’s two assistants would visit him. They’d bring fresh water and a warm meal. The first day, he only ate soups, but on the second they started bringing him some solid food. The cheese in particular was of an excellent quality. Far better than anything he had back home.

  During the meals, his guests would entertain him with conversation. He confirmed that Zarkon’s assistants were twins, named Jury and Perry. They had been studying under their teacher for about a year now, learning his craft.

  When the healer first offered his services to Benjamin, he specified that he needed exclusive access to his patients until the procedure is concluded. No servants of any kind could be allowed in. That was one of the reasons why the chamberlain was so hesitant to accept in the first place. When he finally relented and accepted Zarkon’s offer, the two men agreed on a compromise. Benjamin would remain downstairs, staying away from Varre. At the same time, all the other servants who normally took care of the household would be temporarily sent away. This is why the two twins were taking care of most of the work now.

  From the chamberlain, Varre learned that he was currently staying at a manor in the city of Westbridge. The capital city of the Logres kingdom. The current king was called Mikkel III. Duke Tymon, Varre’s father, was one of the king’s younger brothers. This meant that the former student was now officially a member of the royal family, though before Varre could get too excited at the prospect, Benjamin added that he is currently the thirteenth in line to the throne. Considering the way succession worked in Logres, his position was likely to go even further down as people above him had more children.

  Zarkon insisted on giving the prince a lot of rest, so the conversations never lasted too long. A couple times, after his guest would leave, Varre would try to get out of bed and take a short walk around the room. Each time he found himself far too weak to stand up.

  Three days passed on a slow recovery in his bed. Zarkon too visited the prince several times, performing strange esoteric checks and giving the weakened man strange tasting potions and elixirs. Finally, on the third morning, he was satisfied with the result of his work.

  “I think you are ready,” the healer said, after checking Varre’s pupils with a magnifying glass.

  “Ready for what?” the prince asked.

  He was definitely feeling better, but he was still too weak to walk around on his own. Not for lack of trying of course.

  Zarkon had a strange expression on his face. “Why, to have your talents tested of course.”

  -*-*-*-

  The next day, after a breakfast consisting of some warm sausages, a small block of cheese, and sauerkraut, a new visitor appeared in Varre’s room.

  It was a young woman, wearing a tiara, with long dark hair that fell to her shoulders. She wore a light blue dress and had a long cape that fell all the way to the ground. She walked up to the bed and curtsied.

  “Greetings my lord. I am senior mage Elvira. I was called here to perform a talent check on you,” she explained while pulling up a stool and taking a seat.

  Varre was feeling a bit better by now and was able to sit up on the bed. His back was supported by several large pillows. “Forgive me, but I am not sure if I will be able to run around any obstacle courses just yet.”

  The mage smiled at him. “Right, they told me you have amnesia. Is this a side effect of the Soulkiller plague?”

  “Apparently,” the prince replied.

  Zarkon cut in. “I believe I already explained this Elvira, but the amnesia is a side effect of my treatment.”

  The sorceress shrugged. “There aren’t that many medicines that cause total memory loss. But there’s even less treatments that cure the plague. I suppose that makes sense.”

  “Great. Well, now that you’ve finished theorizing, and judging my treatment, are you ready to begin?” the healer asked her, sharply.

  “What’s the rush? Can’t a girl get curious about the latest medical developments?” Elvira joked.

  Zarkon rolled his eyes. “Right. If I gave away my best techniques for free, then by next week, the entire guild would be running around curing everything left and right. I’d be out of a job.”

  The mage didn’t argue his point further. She reached into a pouch she carried by her side and pulled out a large stone tablet. She passed it to the prince.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Varre wasn’t sure how he would be able to hold it with his reduced strength, but he took it anyway. It was shockingly light. Elvira reached over and helped him position it correctly. It had to be held a certain length away from his face.

  The mage closed her eyes and started whispering some incantation. Then, the stone lit up with a pale blue light. Everyone else leaned over the bed to get a better look at the tablet.

  As Varre watched, the stone began filling with words. Surprisingly, he was able to read them without any problems. Then again, he was able to understand everyone else just fine. He just hadn’t found it weird until now. He looked back down at the tablet and read the information displayed.

  - - - - -

  Status:

  Varre of Logres

  Energy: 10/10

  - - - - -

  Attributes:

  Strength: 12 | 12

  Dexterity: 10 | 10

  Speed: 9 | 9

  Toughness: 11 | 11

  Power: 6 | 6

  Aura: 8 | 8

  Luck: 25 | 25

  - - - - -

  Abilities:

  Strange Mind

  - - - - -

  Varre slowly read through the text. It was a stat screen, as if from a game. He wasn’t sure what the attributes represented exactly, though he could guess at most of them. Still, why are there two numbers for each?

  Benjamin was the first to react. “My lord! Your luck! It’s… changed!”

  “It has?” the prince slowly looked from one person to the next, “is that rare?”

  “Luck is the least well understood attribute I’m afraid,” Elvira explained, “It clearly helps people, but no one is sure of what exactly it affects, or how to increase it. It just… happens to some. Often after some very unusual events.”

  “Such as surviving a deadly illness,” Zarkon suggested.

  “That could explain it,” the mage said slowly, “though I’ve never seen anyone with a score that high.”

  “This is amazing news!” Benjamin cheered, “your highness, anyone can raise their strength, toughness, or any other stat. But you have a great advantage over everyone else. One that no one will be able to compete with!”

  “True,” Elvira agreed, “I’m sure it would come in handy if you ever decided to become a professional adventurer. I can put in a good word at the mage’s guild for you if you’d like. But before that, I’m curious about that ability of yours.”

  “Strange mind?” Varre asked, “what does that do?”

  “Well, I have no idea,” the mage shrugged, “it’s your ability after all.”

  “Miss Elvira, lord Varre did not have any abilities before,” Benjamin informed her, “it must have appeared after his recovery. Or, it could be a side effect of master Zarkon’s treatment, perhaps.”

  “Oh!” Perry suddenly called out, “do you think it’s because-“

  The old healer shot her such an angry look that she immediately clamped her mouth shut.

  “Ms. Perry,” Zarkon spat out, “what do I always say about guesswork?”

  She looked extremely embarrassed, but slowly removed the hand from her face. “We need to analyze all the available evidence first.”

  “Exactly. There is no need to muddle the waters my dear,” the healer said slowly, measuring every word carefully, “if you just start throwing random ideas out there, you’ll just bring confusion into the conversation. Think, before you speak.”

  “Yes master Zarkon,” Perry said dejected, and looked down.

  “We should leave such theorizing to the experts. We have mistress Elvira here. A renowned mage. She is the one of the most knowledgeable scholars on the subject in the entire kingdom. She should be the one offering explanations and performing research when and if necessary.”

  The sorceress watched the entire exchange with a cocked eyebrow. Finally, once the healer finished his speech she spoke up. “There is no need to be so rude Zarkon. I’ve already said that I do not recognize this ability. If the girl has any ideas, then by all means, let her talk.”

  Everyone turned back to Perry. The old healer didn’t argue the point further, so she slowly began to speak. “I… just thought that if amnesia is one of the side effects of master Zarkon’s treatment, perhaps adding new skills is just another effect. After all, even I do not fully understand his techniques.”

  “Yes, that is certainly possible,” the healer admitted with a smirk, “even likely!”

  The sorceress kept her eyes peeled on the girl. “But that’s not what we were talking about. We were discussing what that ability could do.”

  “Y-you’re right mistress Elvira,” Perry stammered, “but I’m afraid I simply have no idea.”

  “You’re sure?” the mage smiled warmly, “because it sounded like you were going to suggest something before Zarkon rudely interrupted you. It’s alright. You can tell me.”

  “I’m sorry… but I don’t know,” she replied.

  “Fine, fine, I won’t press you any further,” the sorceress showed her palms defensively.

  In the corner of his eye, Varre noticed Jury patting her sister on the back.

  “Well now Elvira,” Zarkon turned to her with a smug expression, “now it’s your turn to figure out what that ability can do. I’m sure you have enough research materials at that guild of yours to find out.”

  “Oh I will,” the mage looked right at him, “it’s not every day that you find a unique ability like this.”

  Elvira stood up, curtsied towards the prince and put the stone tablet back in her pouch.

  “So? What now? No one has any idea of what this skill does?” Varre looked from one person to the next, “what about those stats? I mean attributes, or whatever, are they good? Bad?”

  “Forgive me, my lord, but I will need to do some more research first,” the mage replied, “but as to your attributes, they are perfectly adequate for someone of your stature,” she paused, “except for your luck of course. Now that’s impressive. Once you recover, come see me at the mages’ guild. It would be a great shame to let such talent go to waste.”

  Varre wanted to stand up and give the wizard a handshake, but as soon as he moved to do it, Benjamin leaned over to stop him. “My prince! Please, do not exert yourself. You must rest!”

  The patient looked at the mage with an embarrassed expression. “Well, I guess I’m not going to see you at that guild any time soon. But thank you, anyway.”

  Elvira curtsied again. “It was an honor to meet you prince Varre. I wish you a swift recovery,” she turned to leave, but stopped to look at Zarkon first, “I know you’re up to something. I will not let it go this easily.”

  The healer shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why don’t you focus on doing your own job, first.”

  The mage huffed and hurried out of the door. Benjamin quickly went after her to show her the way out of the manor.

  “So? What was that about?” Varre turned to Zarkon.

  “Forgive me for that, your highness. I… have a bit of history with Elvira. We’ve squabbled in the past over some trivial matters. Ever since then, she never liked me very much.”

  “Then why did you bring her here?”

  The healer chuckled. “It wasn’t my choice, believe me. I asked the guild to send someone over to conduct a talent check. They didn’t want to risk insulting a member of the royal family, so they sent a senior mage. Unfortunately, it happened to be her.”

  Soon, Benjamin came back into the room. “Well, now that that’s sorted. How are you feeling my lord?”

  “I’m fine. I think I can try to…” Varre turned to the side to the bed and tried to get up.

  His legs immediately started to wobble, but he managed to grab onto the bedpost and hold himself up. The chamberlain and both of Zarkon’s assistants rushed to catch him, but he held out his arm to stop them.

  “See guys? I’m fine,” Varre said.

  “My prince, I must insist you get back into bed immediately!” Benjamin yelled as he grabbed Varre’s shoulders to hold him up.

  “Alright, alright, no need to get mad,” the former student raised a hand in defense.

  The chamberlain, together with Perry and Jury put the prince back into the bed. Zarkon watched the entire exchange in silence. Once Varre was back under the covers, the healer finally spoke up.

  “I’m glad to see your recovery is going well. But there is one more thing I found out this morning.”

  “What is it?” Varre asked and looked back on Zarkon.

  “The king would like to see you. Tomorrow.”