A silence settled in the room, thick but not uncomfortable.

Then Father shifted in his seat and glanced toward the quiet figure on the other side of the couch I was sitting on. That’s right, the other me, Feyt.

You haven’t forgotten I’m here… right?

“Ahem. I imagine you must be feeling… forgotten,” he said, his tone lightening to its usual, casual bit.

I jolted upright. “N-Not at all, Your Grace!”

I didn’t expect to be addressed so directly, though.

“I… didn’t want to interrupt,” I stammered. “This is a family matter, after all…”

Hell, I wonder why they even brought me here.

Father laughed out loud like he usually did, instantly breaking the tension in the air. “Relax, Feyt. You’re here for a reason, too. We didn’t just invite you to watch.”

You sure you didn’t?

I opened my mouth slightly, unsure if I should say what I was thinking.

“You’ve done much for this family, Feyt. More than most ever have.”

“I… I’ve only done what was asked of me, Instructor,” I answered plainly.

“And you’ve done it well. Which is why we’ve decided that it’s time.”

I tilted my head.

Father reached for the wooden chest next to the unfurled scroll. I forgot it was even there for a sec. With slow, deliberate movements, he unlatched the box and opened the lid.

Inside, nestled with a dark red cushion, was a new, mint-condition scroll. Judging from the presentation, this wasn’t just a normal scroll. My mind immediately jumped to a conclusion.

“This Talent Scroll… is for you,” Father said.

I froze. Half in surprise, half in oh no, I was right.

That day, when I overheard Father buy an expensive Talent Scroll, I kinda figured it who it was for. But I didn’t want to assume, especially for something that expensive.

He could’ve bought it for a lot of other reasons. He could’ve bought it for Ranette. He could’ve bought it for an investment. Perhaps he could’ve bought it for Carine again, maybe the old scroll was gone or something.

Either way, I didn’t want to keep the idea that it was for me inside my head, since I’d be looking forward to it, and if any of those other reasons happened, I would be disappointed as hell.

But clearly, my first, self-serving guess was right all along.

My gut twisted. Not just because it was expensive, nor because I didn’t feel worthy of it. But because part of me couldn’t help thinking: What if my results match Carine’s?

Considering both bodies were mine, and we have mirroring skills in hearing and eyesight… I couldn’t help but wonder if this body has two symbols as well.

I opened my mouth to ask why… why this much money, why this much trust… and then Mother’s glare snapped me shut.

“Don’t even think of rejecting this offer, child,” she said in her usual tone. “You are to be trained personally by none other than me. It would pain me if we didn’t know your strengths and weaknesses, got it?”

I don’t know how, but Mother has a way of turning a generous blessing into a threat. But, through it all, I get what she meant. Despite spinning her words harshly, I knew this was something they gave me for my own sake, and in part, theirs as well.

“I’m still… reluctant to receive something like this,” I admitted, eyes fixed on the scroll.

“Then don’t think of it as a gift,” Father said. “Think of it as my investment in you. Isn’t that right, Carine?”

He turned to the other me, and the look in his eyes said it all: Convince the kid, will ya?

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That’s absurd, considering I’m the kid, but fine. If there was someone who could convince me of something, it’s me.

I clasped my—Carine’s—hands together. “Y-Yes, it is an investment,” I said, trying my best to keep my usual cool. “I’m sure you’re curious about your Talents, isn’t that right?”

In response to myself, I nodded. “I… guess so.” My voice was smaller than I wanted it to be. What was it from? The cringe of talking to myself? Or the fact that I just realized how close I was to myself? Either way, Father didn’t wait for me to add to my response.

“Great!” he said. “Now, how about we do the ritual now?”

He didn’t wait for me to actually agree. I guess in his mind, I already had. And, truth be told… I couldn’t bring myself to turn it down. This was something I’d wanted for years, something Mom and Dad back in the village dreamed of saving up for.

I nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Wonderful,” Father said, almost proud.

Father carefully picked up the scroll from its resting place inside the chest. Lying it gently upon the table revealed a blank, clean surface.

In Feyt’s eyes, all I could see was just a normal scroll. Really, if it wasn’t for the presentation, this could’ve passed as any other normal scroll. That made me wonder if there was a market for Talent Scroll scams.

Thankfully, Carine’s eyes revealed otherwise. The scroll, on the surface, looked normal. But I had this deep, guttural feeling that there was something about it. Almost like a colorful haze clouded the surface of the scroll.

Father pulled out a small dagger from his back pocket that was covered in a linen cloth. He wipes off the dagger’s blade with the cloth before inspecting it. Then, he nudged the handle towards me.

I slowly grabbed it, feeling its weight in my hands.

“Please extend your hand over the scroll, and gently draw out a small amount of your blood.”

I reluctantly complied and hung my open palm slightly above the scroll. Slowly, I placed the dagger’s blade onto my index finger and slowly sliced a small wound. I held my breath the entire time, but it didn’t hurt as much as I thought.

Small amounts of blood began to pool on the surface of the wound, and I gently turned my hand over to let it drop onto the scroll. As soon as the first drop of blood hit the surface, it shone brightly. It illuminated the room with an almost blinding light for a few moments, and I could hear loud cracklings in the air.

I closed my eyes to avoid the bright light, but after a few seconds, it seemed to dim down. I opened my eyes to see Mother and Father being unfazed by the light, seemingly already expecting it to happen.

The surface of the scroll still shone bright, pure white light covering it whole. It was as if a photo was being developed. I looked at it with anticipation, and so did Father. Mother feigned disinterest, but I could tell her eyes were leering their way.

Soon, the light began to shrink into the center of the scroll. Little by little, black scribblings revealed themselves at the edges of the disappearing light.

Then, when the light finally dissipates…

“N-No… There’s no way,” Father said.

“That’s… ridiculous,” Mother also said.

Their reactions were… warranted. After all, what the scroll revealed on its surface was nothing but full baloney.

Two…

Once again, there were only two symbols.

One showed a curved line that resembled the outline of an ear. The foreign words encircling it, when looked at through Carine’s eyes, told me it was “the gift for hearing”.

The other symbol?

It was, undoubtedly, the same mysterious symbol as Carine’s.

The same mysterious shape loomed on the surface of the scroll with the same type of complex pattern inside the shape. However, the edges themselves seemed to have a different pattern, and if I tried to connect the mental images inside my head, they seemed to connect... but not fully.

What... What could this possibly mean?

The foreign language inscribed on it was also different, however. Reading it, the sentence sounded... incomplete. It made no sense. But when I combined it with the one on Carine's scroll... it seemed to form something.

"The whole of all—"

It was, once again, incomplete.

What does it mean by "the whole of all"? It doesn't make sense at all!

What could I be the whole of?

“Did that merchant scam me?” Father said angrily, nearly slamming his armrests.

Even Mother stood up to take a closer look at the scroll.

Meanwhile the both of us just sat there, stunned.

As I solved a mystery about myselves... a few dozen more appeared before me.

—

The snowy street was still crowded as it was before I entered the library. Granted, I wasn’t there for a long time, forty minutes tops. Even though my cloak kept me warm, I couldn’t wait to get back home and relax by the fireplace with some hot tea.

Anyway, that was the story of how I learned of my Talents. Well, more like my Talent Symbols. Ever since that day, I have been researching various things related to Talent Symbols, especially that mysterious symbol.

I had a feeling, no, I knew for a fact, that mysterious symbol is the source of my super vision and super hearing in respective bodies. But why? Why do both of my bodies have that specific symbol?

If I could find out what it represents, perhaps I could interpret the full possibility of my Talents, but my search continued to remain fruitless.

Could it be some sort of powerful boosting symbol? The symbol doesn’t give such an impression, though. Could the symbol be related to my two-bodied situation? Seemed likely since, so far, only both of my bodies had those Talents, based on the books I read, at least.

The books I’ve read up until that point had no mention or even a theory of such a symbol. But still, I remained in a hunt for answers.

Like with Carine, Father and Mother agreed that Feyt’s scroll shouldn’t be given to scholars or others, as it may spark even worse rumors if it spreads. I only had myself to rely on to gather information about my Talents.

Another day, another disappointment. I wondered if I would even find the truth of my Talents.

But for now, I had more training to worry about.

image [https://i.imgur.com/ftefrrv.png]