Elicec

  “Ugh, what the hell? Cecile, wake up!” Elicec yelled, surprised at what he had just woken up to. His brother was lying on the floor, snoring loudly. Somehow, they had split again, and this time it wasn’t even in the soul realm.

  “Do I have to? It’s not even dawn yet. We’ve got like two more hours before the crops need me,” Cecile replied, falling right back asleep afterward.

  “Yes, you idiot, or did you not notice you were missing a pair of arms and a head somehow?” Elicec replied, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

  Somehow, Cecile could still make him laugh. Even with everything they faced together, his brother found a way to cut through it all. These were the moments Elicec questioned how much of the idiot act was just for show.

  With their soul knot gone and this new change they were experiencing, he was becoming more and more confident that they would win the competition every day. Still, that confidence was tapered down by some worries. The first real mentor he and his brother had found after leaving their home was deep in chaotic space on a desperate rescue mission for the grandson of one of his closest friends.

  He wished Mel were here with them, training for what was coming. Hell, he wished Mel would be part of it. After seeing the man in action in the Arena, he’d have loved to have him with them.

  With that line of thought came a bit of guilt, though. And even though Elicec knew he didn’t mean it in that way, it bothered him to even consider placing his needs above those of a kidnapped baby.

  “What? Oh, huh, we did split, didn’t we?” Cecile asked, finally sitting up.

  “You’d think lying on the floor might have been the first giveaway,” Elicec replied.

  “Hey, I’m not a morning person. Okay, that might not be true, but you know what I mean,” Cecile replied, taking a deep yawn and standing up.

  “There doesn’t seem to be a change to our joint class besides another soul coupling. I wish I knew how we had done it,” Elicec said after quickly pulling up the class information.

  “Huh, maybe it was a weird dream. How long do you think we are apart for this time?” Cecile asked before another yawn escaped his mouth.

  “No idea, but I kind of want to make the most of it. I figure you’re off to the fields, but I think I’m going to head to the school and see if Elody or Quarilyn has any ideas. Maybe practice some of my magic and see if that’s any different alone,” Elicec answered.

  “Gonna be a strange day, I can’t even remember the last time I didn’t grab a bit of sleep while you were busy,” Cecile replied.

  That was something Elicec hadn’t even considered. During the course of most days, each of them slept for a few hours while the other worked. It helped recharge their core energies faster. That hadn’t been the primary reason they had done that when they were younger. It just so happened to turn into a benefit as they grew and didn’t want to intrude on the other’s privacy, or more likely, uninteresting activity.

  “We’ll probably be pretty tired tonight, at least that’s what I think will happen. Assuming we make it the whole day. We could snap back together at any point, for all we know,” Elicec said, mildly worried about how that would work if it happened.

  “Wonder what that would feel like, hopefully not too painful,” Cecile added.

  “I don’t know, and I don’t want to waste the time while we have it,” Elicec said, wondering how strange he’d look in a shirt designed for two heads and four arms. He’d need to get some clothing for this in the future, but at the moment, it wasn’t his top priority.

  He wanted to savor this experience for what it was. And with that in mind, he rushed out of the bedroom while his brother was still getting ready for the day. He considered stopping by the great hall to grab some breakfast, but figured the school would have something he could snack on.

  Unlike his brother, he didn’t miss the days of sharing a home with Glorp’s family, nor did he miss living in the hall. Their new little cottage was quite to his liking. It was nestled nicely between the main greenhouses and the first open fields. That meant it was also reasonably close to Dave’s house and the cloudtree.

  Trolke had finished building it while he had been stuck in quarantine. The moment they were free from that isolation, Elicec goaded his brother to get all of their things moved in as quickly as possible. That had been the easy part.

  The alchemy lab was still a work in progress. Unlike Dave, Elicec had continued to progress his component-based casting, and that required an area to mix new creations. He stopped for a moment on his way out of the house to check over his latest experiment.

  So far, the infused carrot had been stable. Cecile had only allowed him a few of the items from the harvest to experiment on, so he was taking it very carefully. He pulled up his elemental orb and took a quick look over it before giving the carrot one more infusio

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  His training, since they had learned about the competition, had continued to pay off even if that had meant trying to hold a book in front of his face while Cecile worked farm tools for hours. He hoped there was still time to get that ninth tier unlocked, but he wouldn’t count on it. He did still have to sleep after all.

  With the infusion out of the way, he ran for the school, trying to get used to the feeling of being a singular person. His lungs felt strange. Normally, there were two heads working to pump oxygen into them. It seemed the transformation hadn’t prepared his new lungs for just a single head. He would need to work on that if they continued to remain apart.

  “Elicec?” Elody’s voice hit him the moment he was through the front doors of the school.

  “Yep, was hoping to find you. It looks like Cecile and I split again somehow. I was hoping you might have some idea what’s going on. I know it’s probably tied to our class, but what triggered it?” His words came out more at the uncontrolled speed of Cecile’s than his own.

  “Dave had mentioned the previous time this happened in the soul realm, and while I haven’t had a lot of time since to research it, I’ve done some increased reading on species with more than one soul. You understand how rare that actually is, though, correct?” Elody asked, smiling gently at him.

  “Kind of. Mel harped on how rare Twinoges or anything like us were in the Spiral,” Elicec replied. He knew there had been others before, but he wasn’t sure how many, or if they had even come from his same world.

  “Mel was entirely correct. Within the Spiral, there are four known sapient species with twin souls. Of the four, the Twinoges are the only ones that also possess a separate consciousness for each soul. The only experts on your people, besides your own people, are those who had you enslaved, and they didn’t share much information,” Elody explained.

  “Wait, but I know there were other Twinoges in the Spiral before. I’ve heard of one fighting in the Arena. What about him?” Elicec asked.

  “I have come across references to Orgo Lemoire in a few places, but his exact origins are extremely confusing. As far as I can tell, he predates your world’s integration. On top of that problem, while he’s also referenced as a Twinoge, I can’t find any reference to his brother,” Elody answered.

  Elicec hadn’t considered that. In everything he had heard, only Orgo had come up for him as well. Where was the man’s brother? Did that mean Orgo was like he and Cecile were? Did he have a way to split? That was a mystery he would need to solve.

  “I hadn’t thought of that. Do you think he was like us then?” Elicec asked?

  “I’m not sure, but let’s head down to Quarilyn’s office and do some in-depth scans. We might be able to figure something out,” Elody offered.

  “Alright, that’s pretty much why I’m here anyway. I figured I’d let Cecile have the fun. He deserves it with how much he’s put up with my training,” Elicec replied as he followed Elody down the hall, past several empty classrooms.

  Sometimes the only correct move is that of the pigeon playing a board game.

  The Lesser Used Tactical Options by Sir Lemsworth Fenil

  If you are enjoying the book, if you could follow, favorite, rate, or review it, I'd really appreciate it

  Read ahead of Royal Royal on my Patreon:

  Checkout the official