Chapter 587: Chapter 580: Totally normal conversations

Another masked Avian quickly showed up to lead Speed and Sofia to a table in another room, and Sofia lost sight of the person who looked an awful lot like one of Richard’s ‘spare bodies’.

There were exquisite sculptures and paintings exposed everywhere, which made the restaurant feel almost like some kind of museum, and Sofia couldn’t help but feel like she was a bit out of place. I suppose it’s not too strange for someone like Richard to come eat here?

There were not that many guests currently eating, but Sofia recognised no one else among the various races of people busy eating and conversing on the other tables.

The masked avian led them all the way to a darker corner where a few booth-like spaces each had tables for two, which were actually on some kind of a balcony overlooking a theatre-like scene that was currently empty. Two of the five tables already had a couple seated and sharing drinks. Bringing them to the leftmost table, the avian snapped his fingers and the candles around the booth all lit up, while the chairs pulled themselves back. “Will this table be alright?”

“Yes, thank you,” Speed answered right away.

The masked avian nodded, “Have a seat, we will bring the menu shortly,” he said before he turned around and left.

Sofia and speed awkwardly sat down.

“Someone you know?” Speed asked, taking Sofia by surprise. It seemed he had noticed her looking at the potential Richard.

“Kind of? I’m not sure I’m allowed to share the details, but huh, I recognised a fellow necromancer, I suppose?” Sofia answered, uncertain about how she would even begin to explain Richard’s antics and her connection to him if she tried.

“Oh. Not some previous lover or anything like this, then?”

Sofia frowned a bit, “Are you fond of reading romance fictions? What would even be the chance of meeting someone like that here? Not to mention, did you forget the part about this also being my first date?”

“Ahah, sorry… I’m just a bit nervous, not really used to this… At all,” he apologized, pulling on the collar of his shirt a bit, and eventually undoing the uppermost button.

“Well, it’s nothing, I feel the same way, honestly… Also, are you quite sure that this is fine?” Sofia whispered, gesturing to show the surrounding restaurant and the scene below.

“Are you worried about my finances, still?” Speed asked in return.

“And about mine. There’s always a cost for free things,” Sofia told him, “and it just feels a bit weird to let you pay for everything. Especially when I’m the one who suggested the date in the first place.”

“Heh, if I just make enough good memories from tonight it’ll have been well worth the price. It’s hard to make meaningful connections when… You know…”

The avian came back with two full glasses and two velvety slates covered in glowing text. He placed the glasses in front of them and looked at Speed, “Do you need an explanation?”

“No thank you, I’ve been here before,” Speed answered.

“Very well, we wish you a pleasant evening at the lodge.” Saying this, the avian left again.

Seeing Sofia looking at the contents of her glass, Speed explained. “The drinks are free, and you do not decide what you get, supposedly it’s always good, though. As for the menu, you just trace your finger along the item you want to order and they will send it when it’s ready. The dishes change regularly so I’ve not tried any of those…”

I don’t see a price anywhere. Sofia thought, but she did not bring it up as she had already been quite insistent on the matter of money. She looked at the name of dishes one by one.

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Looking up from the menu, she asked, “Do you usually eat?”

“Yes. I’ve no choice, actually. When I said I accepted many restrictions in order to come here to the physical plane… Eating, drinking, sleeping… I need to take care of it all. It was a bit strange to get used to at first, but now it’s just everyday life.”

“Interesting, I’m the opposite, I suppose. The need to do these things has disappeared as I became stronger over the last few years. I still do them, but not quite as often.”

“Right,” Speed interjected, “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but, I meant to ask, how… How old are you, exactly?”

Sofia giggled, “You don’t need to be so apprehensive. I- I’m afraid I don’t know the answer, though. But around your age, I guess?”

“W- What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Well… I kind of just stopped counting? It just feels futile, you know. Why do I care if I’m twenty four or twenty six, when I often spend my time speaking with people older than a thousand.”

“But doesn’t the system status thing show you your age?” Speed asked as if he wasn’t certain of the answer.

“Can you see system windows?” Sofia asked in return, knowing that Gods did not have a scribe.

“If you show them it takes some effort but I can.”

“Well, there you go, then.”

Sofia opened just the top section of her status with her name, age, and class.

“Is that the locking symbol?” Speed asked with narrowed eyes as he squinted to see the system window.

“Yes. It’s been locked at twenty one for a few years now. So like I said, I’m probably twenty-four, or something around that. Certainly not thirty yet. What about you? You mentioned before you were ‘twenty-something?’ Doesn’t seem very precise either.”

Speed sighed. “Yeah, it’s a pain to explain, but my age is basically impossible to accurately keep track of… My perceived age, anyway…”

“Perceived age?”

“It’s… I don’t think I can explain it without sounding crazy.”

“You’re talking to a half-demon necromancer.”

“Right, I wanted to ask about your class… Well, one thing at a time… Basically, I can go too fast, and that kind of breaks time. Like, I’ll be running for a minute, and five minutes will have gone by somehow. So if you ask me how long I’ve lived, I’ll say about twenty years. If you ask how long it has been since I was ‘born’, though, it’s more like thirty three or thirty four, if I remember correctly.”

Sofia needed a second to process what Speed was saying. Going too fast breaks time?

Speed sighed, looking down, “See, I knew it sounds too crazy. Way to look like a lunatic…”

“No no,” Sofia dispelled his worries, “I’m inclined to believe you, actually.”

“Really?!”

“Do you even have a reason to lie?” Sofia asked, “I don’t think it even sounds that crazy. I’m someone who’s died hundreds of times, yet I’m still alive, so really some time-bending isn’t the craziest thing.” Although it does raise the question, how is Time being dead affecting this? Perhaps it’s exactly because Time is dead that going too fast is making things go awry? Speed is just movement through time so speed and time are closely related concepts…

“You died hundreds of times?” Speed repeated, incredulous.

“Well, you know. Necromancer. Being dead is not that bad as long as you don’t stay dead.”

“Yeah… I’d rather not try that, thank you very much,” Speed said, sitting further back in his chair.

“You’re a God, so I don’t even think you could try that anyway… And actually… Can I ask about how… How a god’s ‘birth’ happens? I get that the essence gathers to create the god but… How does that feel, from your perspective? Is this fine to ask?”

“I don’t mind talking about it… But I want to hear about your childhood too, then.”

“You have yourself a deal,” Sofia answered with a smile, “My childhood was terrible, though, so be ready for a mood killer.”

“Mine wasn’t particularly good either so… Where do I even start… Do you know about the godly domains?”

“I’ve been to a few.”

Speed paused for a second, “Every time you open your mouth I want to ask another ten questions,” he then cleared his throat, “So, I first gained consciousness in Speed’s domain, the previous Speed, to be precise. When a deity first forms, we inherit some of the previous god’s memories, if any, and a bunch of general knowledge from the people supplying us with our essence. It’s a lot like… Like being a huge sentient book full of stories but that doesn’t know how to read. You have memories and knowledge that aren’t yours, and you’re barely able to understand that you’re an entity separate from that. It’s truly disorienting.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Like a sentient book, huh?