Chapter 22: True names
He randomly picked out one goblin and pointed at it, "Your name will be Ron." He named it casually and turned to another one, "Your name will be Lucas." He turned to the third one, "Your name will be Gunam." He ran out of ideas before naming the third one.
But that was not the only thing he ran out of, as immediately after naming the third one, he felt a heavy wave of tiredness and weakness wash over him.
He fell to his knees and used his hands to hold himself up. He didn't know what was happening—why was he so weak all of a sudden?
[Mana 2/100]
"What the hell? How did my mana fall that low?" Aric asked. He thought about what could have caused it, and the only possible explanation was that he had named three of the goblins.
He decided that he would ask Ariel. He waited until he was able to walk again, and that took a few minutes to happen. When he got up, he headed inside. Ariel had finished cleaning up the lady.
Aric was shocked to see the lady. She had pearl-white skin, though it was now covered with several cuts. She had beautiful golden-blonde hair as well.
Ariel had used a sheet to cover her and make sure she was fine.
"Her breathing is normal. It won't be long before she wakes up," Ariel said.
"Hopefully," Aric responded and then focused on Ariel. "I named the goblins—three of them—and suddenly, I felt pretty weak. I don't know why exactly, and I thought maybe you would have an answer," Aric explained.
"You named them? Three?" she asked in shock.
"Yeah, was I not supposed to do that?" he asked.
"No, it's not about doing that. There's a whole issue behind naming any being, except for humans who are named at birth.
It's called true names. This is the name you are given—the name you are born with—and to all races aside from humans, a true name is very important," Ariel said.
"I still have a lot to ask, but why is it that humans are not part of it? That's the first important question on my mind," Aric asked.
"I don't know why, but it has always been that way. Humans have never had true names, unlike every other race in this world.
To all races, a true name is very important, but to humans, it's not," Ariel said.
Aric found that situation suspicious. Why would every race use true names, yet humans didn't? It was completely out of place.
"Now, a true name can only be given to someone by someone who is stronger than them, or by draining the essence of that person and creating their name.
That essence can help them grow stronger, evolve, and much more. That's why I was shocked when you said that you named three of them and nothing happened except for weakness," Ariel said.
"I guess I got lucky," Aric said. Then he thought of something and asked, "I have never really been named. I do have a true name. I might not be fully elf, but the elf gene is known to be far more dominant than the human gene, right? Or am I wrong?"
"Well, it's true that you seem more elf than human, so it's safe to say that you have dominant elf genes. That means you also need a true name. But your name is Aric, or did no one give you that name?" she asked.
That name was Aric's name before he came to this world. He finally understood why he didn't have a name in his memories.
"No, it's a name I gave myself. I doubt that qualifies as a true name," Aric said.
"Yes, it doesn't. Maybe along the line, you can get one. There is another way, though—a way to get your true name.
It's something I read long ago, but it's very unlikely that it has ever happened, because no one has ever said that it happened to them.
But you can try to get your name from a higher spirit. However, higher spirits are hard to communicate with, even for someone who has an affinity for spirits like you," she said.
"That sounds interesting, and it doesn't hurt to give it a try, right?" Aric asked, but his careless words came back to bite him.
[Mission: Gain your true name from a true spirit]
[Reward: 200,000 gold, 5000 EXP, level up for every skill]
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[Penalty: Death]
[Mission status: Unskippable]
[Time frame: 24 hrs]
Aric immediately panicked when he saw the mission the system gave him. He couldn't skip it, and if he failed, he would die.
He looked at Ariel, trying his best to hide his panic. "Ariel, how exactly do you get higher spirits to speak to you?" he asked.
"Uhm, the process isn't really hard. It's about trying to knock on their door to get a response and talk to them. The easiest way is to have a spirit affinity.
From what I read, meditating and causing enough disturbance in the spirit energy around you should be enough to call their presence, but you have to have a crazy good affinity for spirits.
The best time to do it is at night. That's when spirits will be most active," Ariel explained.
Aric listened to her closely and crafted a plan on what to do. He had one night to get this right or die.
"Thank you, Ariel. I'll give it a try later. Maybe I can actually get my true name," he said, forcing a smile and walking out of the building.