…That was every bit as easy as I’d expected.

  “Why didn’t I think of this sooner?” I exclaim while jumping around my throne room… both watching myself and watching myself.

  Or rather, my brand new Ravona-flavored Extra Life avatar.

  My wives look on, both fascinated, but Arty a bit more than Izzy… considering our history I’m not particularly surprised, and I can’t dismiss how quickly she took to our children either.

  Although I suppose most of the mortal races are this way with their children, if not the children of others…

  And of course they are. As much of a pain in the ass my mother was, she did show me the value of a hard day’s work. I just couldn’t live up to her expectations, which shouldn’t be a surprise – nobody could! That woman was RIDICULOUS!

  …

  “Anyway, I’m doing this now. You can join me if you want,” I say from the simulacrum of myself. “Really, why exactly has nobody thought of doing this!?”

  My second first wife sighs. “Because they don’t have administrative access to it, obviously. How should they even do that?”

  “That’s… a fair point, actually. Not fair enough for me to let them do it though! This is my special privilege, I made it, I earned this.”

  “Whatever you say, dear.”

  Livvie just nods.

  …

  I can feel through our link that she wants to join me, while Izzy doesn’t. And that’s fine. But... Well.

  Screw it. I materialize another headset from thin air and toss it to her with a feeler.

  “See you on the other side,” I offer as I allow myself to sink into the sort-of simulation.

  ***

  “Sadie! It’s time to get up! Honestly, girl, you’re going to make yourself late again!”

  “Mmmm?”

  I slowly sit up from my bed with a yawn and languidly stretch, rubbing my eyes. It’s the third time mother has had to call for me after I’d turned off my alarm for another five minutes of blissful sleep… or fifteen, but who’s counting?

  “Coming,” I blearily reply through the curtain in the doorway as I slide from the sheets, dropping my silky pajamas in a heap and slipping my school uniform from the hanger on the wall.

  I’d rather just stay asleep, but mother has always told me I’d have a better future with a better understanding of… well, everything. And she’s not wrong.

  I make my way down the stairs quickly, especially for still being mostly asleep, and snatch the lunch my mother is dangling from one hand across the hallway. My escape is almost perfect – or would have been, if she hadn’t snatched my wrist at the last second.

  “Just where do you think you’re going, missy? Look at you, wrinkled, rumpled, even your hair is a mess!”

  “But moooom, I don’t care about any of that stuff and neither does anyone else!” I whine. And they don’t, either!

  With a sigh, she waves her free hand and casts a spell… words I don’t understand but still remember from the many, many times she’s used it on me.

  ‘Purify’.

  A spell she’d learned as an adventurer. As an ascendant.

  Maybe someday I’ll be an ascendant too… but even finding a spirit open to a contract is difficult to begin with and getting them to agree is even more so.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Why did she ever retire? She’s high leveled, I think… at least for this crappy town.

  I don’t let myself wonder too long. After all, I know the answer.

  It’s me.

  She quit to raise me.

  So when the spell finishes swirling around me, straightening my clothes and hair and cleaning absolutely everything – even my teeth! – I turn and give her a hug.

  “Thanks mom.”

  “Sure, sure,” she dismisses and flicks the pointed end of one of my ears affectionately making me yelp and flinch. “Go on then, your bag is by the door. Right where you left it last night, and don’t think I didn’t notice that you haven’t touched your homework.”

  “I’ll do it on break!” I blurt as I twist from her grip, something I know she deliberately lets me do. “Bye!”

  And without another word I fly out the door as she waves behind me, no doubt with that same small smile she always wears.

  …

  I’m making good time. No question, I’ll be there before the instructor, just like always.

  Almost always.

  Okay, so I’m usually late, but I won’t be today!

  Or so I think, until I turn the second-to-last corner and promptly trip over a small fox, sprawling and sending my bookbag flying, my lunch disassembling itself in the sudden flight as well.

  A loud ‘HWOOMPH’ escapes me as I impact the stone pathway face first, somehow miraculously avoiding most of the scrapes and bruises. I’d fallen enough like this that I seem to have some kind of instinct for them, but not enough for me to completely understand.

  “Yip!”

  “Hm? Hey there little guy. Watch where you’re going, okay?” I say while crawling back to my knees, definitely not blaming it for my own haste. But as I quickly gather my scattered books and papers and then stand to leave it moves to block me again, tilting its head quizzically.

  “Come on, I need to go! Yes, you’re very cute, but I’m already late! Aww, and my lunch is all over!”

  “Yip yap!”

  I sigh half defeatedly and try to step over it as text suddenly appears in my vision.

  [UNKNOWN has initiated a familiar contract. Do you accept?]

  “HEEEEH!?” I squeal, and promptly fall right back to the ground, flat on my butt and not escaping a single one of the bruises this time.

  ***

  “Wait, you’re an ascendant now? No way, I don’t believe you.”

  “Yeah Judy, it happened on the way in today!”

  Of course, I was late. To the surprise of no one, least of all Instructor Harris.

  Nobody expected, however, that I’d actually be one of them now.

  An ascendant. Someone on the path to godhood, or at least to being an adventurer, maybe even a powerful one.

  They hadn’t thought me remotely ambitious enough, and to be fair? They were right.

  Why me? I project to my familiar. Apparently we can communicate mentally like this… I wonder how it works?

  (Olive,) it projects back.

  Olive?

  (Name.)

  Your name is Olive?

  “Pay attention, Miss Vossen. Your routine tardiness is bad enough, do you really need more detention?”

  “Ack! I mean, okay? It’s when I do my homework anyway,” I answer, to the groans of my classmates and the instructor’s hand sliding down his face.

  The rest of class is a blur, although I do manage to at least pretend to pay attention. Maybe it’s the whole ascendant thing? I’m not sure. Is it the same as having a System?

  (No. Confused. Forgot? Forgot.)

  Wait, you can just read my thoughts? I don’t have to actually, uh. I don’t have to try to talk to you in my head?

  The small fox appears on my desk in a small puff of wind that would have scattered my papers to the floor… if I’d had any of them on my desk. Or, well. Even had my book open. Nobody else seems to have noticed though, either the fox or my lack of participation.

  And then it sighs. (Forgot.)

  Forgot what?

  (Yourself.)

  That… doesn’t make any sense. I’m me. Myself.

  (Status.)

  And apparently that’s all it takes for a wall of text to appear in my vision, making me yelp.

  “Miss Vossen-”

  “Sorry!” I blurt, “It startled me, that’s all!”

  The instructor raises an eyebrow. “What startled you?”

  “I mean. The fox.”

  “Fox? What fox?”

  I gesture in front of me…

  …

  …

  “You can’t see it.”

  (Her.)

  “Her.”

  “What, your System Assistant?”

  “What’s that?”

  There’s his hand on his forehead again...

  “Ascendancy. Research it. It’s not a required course here, obviously, but you should probably sign up for the elective at some point.”

  And then he puts his hands on my desk and leans menacingly. “BUT THAT IS NOT THE SUBJECT OF THIS ONE.”

  “Right!” I squeak. “Sorry!”

  Slowly shaking his head, he returns to the front of the room accompanied by the snickers of my classmates. Not that any of that is new to me… I’d wonder if I was being bullied by them all if it weren’t mostly because I was late… or not doing my homework… or sleeping in class…

  Well. I don’t know, I probably deserve it.

  …

  Nah.

  I spend the rest of the day pretending to pay attention while being thoroughly distracted thinking far, far too much about the implications of today’s changes… gods, how will mom react? I don’t think she regretted giving up adventuring… or at least she never seemed like she did, but I’ve also been told I’m not exactly aware of my surroundings.

  …

  Who told me that again?

  Eh. I don’t remember. It probably isn’t important anyway.

  “Raff,” the small fox on my desk – Olive, apparently – interjects. Not that anyone else can hear it.

  What?

  (Wake.)

  Wake?

  (Up. Wake? Wake!)

  Without another word, she leaps at my face and I flinch, reflexively trying to block the impact with my arms.

  ***

  I gasp, snapping awake on my throne to see two very concerned goddesses leaning over me, one holding the headset that I’d apparently been wearing… at some point.

  And then I blink, remembering the most recent events.

  …

  What the hells just happened?