An Unborn Hero

Through unwavering effort, you have unlocked the [Cosplay] skill.
For consuming most of your mana in one go, [Increased Attributes] advances to level 8.

Cosplay (Uncommon)
Alteration spell created by μ̵̼͉̐υ̴̡̽̿σ̷̭͓̃̀τ̸͉̤̾̆ή̶͎̱͌ρ̸̤͕̏̿ι̷̬̾͜ό̸͈ the human. Changes the outfit worn and equipment held by the target to match that of a second target. Offers the first target instinctual hints on how the second target will behave in a given situation. Conjured items are non-functional, weapons deal no damage and armour offers no protection. Maximum duration and extent of changes increases with level, and knowledge of the second target becomes clearer.

Had Mystery had lungs, she would have been panting. As it was, her mystical vision blurred, and it took all of her effort to hover in place and not drop straight through the floor. Nevertheless, it had worked. Despite the wording of the spell, there was no restriction that required the first and second targets to be different. Once her vision had cleared sufficiently to see Kellela, she was now sporting a pink version of the dress. One that was better than the black, with the slight touches of fading removed. As an added touch, a lotus had been woven into her braids.

And she was still her proper age.

"Success!" beamed Mystery, and then immediately flopped back into her foetus to rest.

"... What?" asked Kellela, who had frozen mid step. "What the hell was that?"

"I think Mystery just managed to transform you without changing your age."

Kellela held up a hand and waved it around a bit in an ineffectual way.

"No. I can't summon my barriers, and I don't have that weird feeling of invincibility. Nor did Mystery take any of my mana."

"Well, what then? I assumed there weren't any spells to change the colour of fabric, or you would have mentioned it yesterday."

"I don't know of anything that would completely change the colour of a dress after it had been fabricated, no," answered Kellela, looking in the mirror and carefully touching the new lotus braided into her hair. "Besides, that wasn't just a colour change. I think Mystery invented an entirely new spell, just for me..."

"Well, that's sweet. But also impossible. Even I know that much; crafting a new spell is something that takes years of meditation on a subject."

"The same is true of her other transformation spell. Presumably, she performed her years of meditation in her old world."

"Hah. Could be. That's a [Hero] for you, I guess. Treating the rules of the universe as a prison to break out of, rather than, well, rules."

"In any case, shall we go and see if these old feet of ours can remember how to dance?"

Hayedalf picked out a familiar black flower from a vase on their windowsill, still attached to its thorny stem. "Yes, let's," he agreed, before placing it between his teeth and treating his wife to a shameless grin.

On a raised platform in the palace's grand hall, the [King] sat at a long table, the chairs along one side only so that everyone sitting there had a view of the full floor. On his right hand sat the [Queen], and the [Crown Prince] on his left. Younger princes occupied a few more chairs on his side, while a pair of princesses sat on the side of the [Queen]. The seat directly to her right was empty, though, a fact that hadn't gone unnoticed by the guests congregating below.

A row of knights stood behind the royal table. Or at least, people dressed in plate armour, faces hidden beneath their helms. Disguised among the real guards were the kingdom's spies and information gathers, utilising eavesdropping and lip-reading skills, appraisal skills, or simply monitoring body language.

"As expected, there's much speculation about the short notice," whispered one of them, his voice magically transmitted not just to the [King], but also the [Royal Knight], who'd been put in charge of all things Mystery related. "The prevailing theory is that we attempted to hide the existence of a [Hero], hoping to hog them completely to ourselves by marrying them to Grace and revoking the title of the [Crown Prince], despite the resulting risk of unrest. The proponents of that theory think that we picked up yesterday's monster horde in advance, concluded it would be impossible to hide, and panicked, trying to 'unveil' the [Hero] before they called out our behaviour. There's also speculation that Grace was killed in yesterday's attack."

"A reasonable theory, given the evidence they would have," nodded the [Royal Knight]. "Time to blow it to pieces."

The [King] stood, and immediately the room fell into silence. Even those facing away from him instantly knew, his [Royal Presence] skill leaving no room for doubt.

"Greetings, all who have gathered here at such short notice. I will offer an apology and explanation shortly, but first, allow me to introduce those who you have all come to meet. The party of the [Hero]."

A butler opened a door at the back of the room and the group of four stepped in, lined up in single file. For political reasons that only Grace understood, she went first, wrapped in a tight, white dress. She hadn't had any thoughts about sticking to her assigned colour, but had ended up in white anyway. It was a coincidence that she probably should have been suspicious of, had she not been so busy making up with Rose.

Kellela and Hayedalf came next, with a nervous Rose bringing up the rear. Grace had carefully drilled into her knowledge of what to expect and how she should behave, but no amount of education was a substitute for experiencing the real thing.

Quiet chatter broke out among the guests as they analysed the new information.

"That's Grace. So she's not dead..."

"Hah, give it ten years, and whatever survivors are left in this kingdom will wish she had died. Haven't they learnt anything from history?"

"But... which one is the [Hero]? There's only one male, and he's far too old."

"That's Hayedalf, the kingdom's foremost enchanter."

"An enchanter? Even if he's the best enchanter in the kingdom, it wouldn't make any sense to have him join the party of a [Hero]."

"Worse, I'm fairly sure the pink woman walking in front of him is his wife. Can't remember her name, but I know she works as a researcher of magic in Rumah Magika. Mostly does theoretical stuff. There's even less reason to want her on the front lines fighting demons than Hayedalf."

"Who's the nervous one at the end, then? She looks terrified. Think she's the [Hero]? It would explain why Grace is in the party, if the [Hero] is female."

"I can't tell; she's using an appraisal blocker. A powerful one. I can't see anything through it."

"Makes sense it's powerful, if Hayedalf is in the group."

"True. Grace is using one too, but the others aren't, and they've both got [Hero's Party Member]."

"Damn. Stuffing the hero's party with their own people, even when they blatantly aren't suited for the job."

"Don't dismiss them so quickly. They also both have [Demon Slayer II], high ranked [Monster Slayer] and [War Veteran]. Unless they're falsifying their status, they took part in yesterday's battle. A significant part, and at least one greater demon was there."

That amount of gossip and speculation was sufficient for the four to reach their positions in front of the royal's raised stage, where they stood and looked out over the assembled crowd.

The large assembled crowd.

Rose, faced with a hundred curious stares, struggled to remain standing as her knees turned to jelly. Thankfully, the undesired attention was pulled away from her by a skill-enhanced voice from behind.

"Allow me to present the [First Princess] Grace, the [Court Mage] Kellela, the [Master Enchanter] Hayedalf, and the [Apprentice Swordsman] Rose, the party members of the [Hero]. Unfortunately, I am unable to present the [Hero] herself, on account of the way she hasn't actually been born yet."

A different sort of silence spread across the room, this one deep and questioning. Disbelieving eyes wandered from the [King] over the four presented individuals, skills employed to examine body language for even the smallest muscle twitch. Any tell at all that might give away what game the kingdom of Flinel was playing.

"By way of explanation, it is well known that a [Hero] unseals memories of a previous life on another world as they age. This [Hero], however, had her full memory available from the moment of conception. She soon learnt [Astral Projection], among other skills and achievements, and started putting together a party with no guidance from us. As of yet, she doesn't even speak our language. Yet, despite her communication difficulties, the group has been active on the front lines, doing enough damage that a greater demon came after them in person, leading a horde of ten-thousand monsters. And he lost."

Few people in the room hadn't received the intelligence of Zyfyl'p's attack. They hadn't known a greater demon was there, but Kellela and Hayedalf were doing nothing to hide their status, openly displaying [Demon Slayer II]. Disbelief turned to intense suspicion. How could the pair play a part in a battle against a greater demon? How could an [Apprentice Swordsman]? The sort of monster that would grant a party [Monster Slayer V] would turn an apprentice to paste with a mere glance.

There were also frowns as those with skills for telling truth from lies failed to get even the slightest blip from anything the [King] had said. Claiming he had no hand in selecting the party members when they contained his own daughter was laughable, and the obvious conclusion was that he was defending against their skills; he was, after all, a [King]. But such an obvious, falsifiable lie made no sense, and none of the party members displayed any sort of incredulity in their body language. Perhaps Rose flickered with guilt, but it seemed personal and not part of any sort of deception. Beyond that, there was nothing.

Of course, he hadn't lied. Mystery had apparently built her party from proximity, and so the [King] had simply arranged for Grace and Mystery to spend some time together. It couldn't be counted as guidance when no-one could even talk to Mystery.

"It is our hope that these rather unique circumstances will translate into a uniquely one-sided defeat of the demon lord, and this cycle will be ended with minimal casualties and damage. At the least, there are now ten-thousand fewer monsters to invade your lands than there were yesterday."

The silence grew a little more thoughtful. Maybe even optimistic.

"So, as promised, I apologise for the short notice, but I'm sure you can all understand the need to move quickly given the rapidly evolving situation," said the [King] before sitting back down, still having not technically lied.

In the audience, Rrillandral didn't need to try very hard to separate the truth from the 'truth', leaving most of her attention to ask a more important question: where was the [Hero]? There was no sign of any astral projecting individuals in the room. But Kellela was there, which meant that, physically at least, the [Hero] was there too.

[Astral Projection] wasn't the sort of skill that could be used continuously. Rrillandral knew that. She also knew that there would be hours of feasting and dancing before Kellela left. If the [Hero] just happened to be resting, there was plenty of time to recover and use [Astral Projection] again before the end. The party weren't even accepting greetings yet; that wouldn't happen until after the first dance. So there was no reason to worry.

Nevertheless, Rrillandral was worried.

So was Rose. As the [King] had spoken, the watchers had looked for the softest target to direct their skills, and Rose was the most politically naïve of the party by far. By the end of the speech, most eyes had been on her, and they remained on her as a band started playing a simple melody in the corner.

"You're doing fine," whispered Grace. "Just remember everything I said."

Rose did remember everything she had said, and so she refrained from asking why everyone was staring. Or talking at all. Instead, she took Grace's hands as the music built up to a crescendo, and as it hit the chord that signified the first step, they began to dance.

Much to Rose's surprise, she'd found that she greatly enjoyed dancing. Less so now, with a room full of fancy people staring at her, but the private lesson with Grace had been great fun. Well, private except for the small army of maids, butlers and the other support staff that tended to build up around any member of royalty like a particularly well-dressed shell. There were parts of Grace's life that made Rose very glad she was a commoner, even if there was a maid or two she'd quite happily take home with her as long as they brought their hairdressing equipment.

She tried to put the watching eyes out of mind as she danced, her new skill offering up its aid and giving her instinctual knowledge of where and when to step. But she had to agree with Grace that the skill was... odd. [Dancing] shouldn't have been part of her occupation. Then again, her occupation was only [Apprentice Swordsman], and with the way her levels had been shooting up recently, she was almost due a class upgrade. [Sword Dancer] was a thing. Maybe she was building towards that?

And as Rose focused on the dance, with the [King] once again seated, the gossiping naturally restarted.

"Hayedalf is dancing with Kellela, and [Court Magician] would make sense if she worked at Rumah Magika. She really must be his wife."

"Why them? Do you think they're the hero's parents?"

"That's an interesting theory. It kinda assumes the [King] didn't just feed us all a pile of codswallop, though."

"Yeah, if anyone was going to fake their status to look like they'd just taken part in a large-scale battle, those two have the skills for it. It's really possible that there's a fifteen-year-old [Hero] running around somewhere, and this whole thing is a smokescreen."

"Possible, but I can't see how he could possibly keep the cover up. What happens when this supposed unborn hero is never born?"

"We need more information. A more detailed report on the events at Karn's Vigil, and some background and history of the people here. For Rose, we've got basically nothing to go on, but Kellela and Hayedalf? They're famous. We can probably get interesting information just by stopping random pedestrians in the street."

"Speaking of Rose, she's dancing with Grace. And she's dancing well. And look at that dress—it's fit for royalty! What do you think is going on there?"

"Grace is, officially, available. Given her immediate family are all up on stage, and she probably doesn't want to dance with one of her old uncles, a comrade-in-arms is a reasonable choice. But you're half right; I've seen houses that look cheaper than that dress. Not really something an [Apprentice Swordsman] should be wearing."

"Then why only half?"

"That dancing. She's a complete beginner."

"If she's a beginner, I dread to imagine what you must think of me."

"Bah. Look properly."

"Oh... I see what you mean. She's landing in the right spots, and she's got the rhythm, but her eyes are all over the place. It's not her choosing where to put her feet."

"[Dancing]. Low level, too. I doubt it's even reached the novice range. But however low level, it's not a skill an [Apprentice Swordsman] could get. They're lying about her class."

"You sure? Nothing he said triggered [Sense Deception]."

"I don't know what to say. Dolled up like a princess, but she certainly doesn't carry herself like she's used to this sort of event. A skill that's the purview of nobility or entertainers, but at a low level, and with no experience of using it. She's a contradiction. Combined with the appraisal blockers, I'm not sure what to say. A bastard child, supported but not acknowledged by a noble parent? The target of the forbidden love of the [First Princess]? With the appraisal blocker, she could well be the [Hero], despite the words of the [King]."

"Appraisal blocker or not, you can't be the only one that picked up on her [Dancing]. How do you think they would react if a rumour happened to spread around the hall suggesting that Rose is the [Hero] and the [King] is trying to suppress the information?"

"An interesting question. Shall we find out?"

Spoiler

μ̵̼͉̐υ̴̡̽̿σ̷̭͓̃̀τ̸͉̤̾̆ή̶͎̱͌ρ̸̤͕̏̿ι̷̬̾͜ό̸͈ (Human)
Age: -8 months
Occupation: Hero (L)
Skills:
- Soul's Eye (U) (32/90)
>> Sense Vitality (U)
>> Sense Soul (R)
>> Sense Mana (U)
>> Sense Light (C)
>> Sense Sound (C)
>> Pierce Illusions (U)
>> Sense Miasma (R)
>> Multi-focal (R)
- Astral Projection (U) (20/60)
>> Sure Navigation (U)
>> Uncontainable (U)
>> Tether of Will (L)
- Robust (C) (18/40)
>> Hardened Soul (R)
>> Secured Mana (U)
>> Pain Tolerance (C)
- Stealth (C) (3/20)
>> Camouflage Vitality (R)
- Magical Girl Transformation (R) (19/30)
>> Age Correction (R)
>> Gender Bending (R)
- Light (C) (9/20)
>> Heterochrome (U)
- Increased Attributes (C) (8/20)
>> Mana Storage (U)
- Investigation (C) (2/10)
- Cosplay (U) (1/10)
Achievements:
- Early Bloomer II (R)
- First Skill (C)
- Journeyman (U)
- Survivor of Zarklaxxos, the Arcane Infernal (R)
- I Broke The System, And All I Got Was This Lousy Achievement (E)
- Astral Explorer I (R)
- First Spell (C)
- I Broke The System Again, And Now The Administrators Hate Me (E)
- Spell Forger (R)
- Demon Slayer II (E)
- Monster Slayer V (E)
- Curiosity (U)
- War Veteran (U)
- Royal Audience (C)

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