New Beginning

After a few hours of walking, my travelling companion finally stopped and let out a yawn. The hanging material at her waist resiled as she turned to me.

“Okay, I think that’s enough walking for now. We need… Well, I need to rest before I can go any further. How about we set up camp here for the night and continue in the morning, Mr. Golem?”

It had been a while since I thought of stamina or getting tired, so it nearly slipped my mind. From how relieved she looked when I nodded in agreement, I guess she must have had that on her mind for a while.

I’ll have to keep that in mind going forward. It’s not like she has a body that can walk forever, like I do. Looking at her out of breath kind of makes me appreciate this new body more.

Darkness quickly swept over the landscape as the evening shifted to night. As she set up our campsite, I gathered logs for firewood. It was quite easy; I only had to punch the trees and they came crashing down.

“Fireball.” With that simple command, a small orb of flames gathered and fell from the curve of her wooden staff. The logs caught alight and grew into a modest campfire.

Added with my Wind Manipulation, it quickly grew into a massive pile of flames. Pink strands danced over her face from the sudden explosion of wind and warmth.

“You can use magic?!” Her eyes widened. “Seriously, just what kind of creature are you?” She took a seat over a log I laid down for her and shot me a sceptical glare from the other end of the fire.

She’s really sticking with calling me that, I see. Wait a minute, I just realised I don’t know her name yet. It’s not like we have conversations, but I’d still like to know who I’m travelling with.

(Your. Name.)

“Oh, my apologies! I didn’t think it’d be necessary, but… after everything I’ve seen from you today, I can’t hold you to the same standards of a regular golem.” She chuckled.

Her hand rested over her chest, where it was nearly swallowed by the grand cleavage revealed by her top. I never knew many women in my past life, but even I could tell she was a cut above the rest.

The corners of her mouth curved as she introduced herself, “My name is Freya Lockheart, an adventuring mage from the continent of Horinn.”

Freya, what a pretty name. Not surprisingly, Freya’s really beautiful!

So she’s from Horinn? If I remember correctly, that’s the biggest continent of the four in this world. Isn’t that kind of far from where we are now?

“Ahem,” Freya cleared her throat, “So, am I going to be calling you Mr. Golem forever? Do you have a name already, or would I be lucky enough to do the honours?” The excitement on her face practically beamed forward.

I never really gave it much thought since coming to this world. Do I really want a name? There’s something kind of cool about living nameless, almost like a nomad. I gave it some more thought and realised things might get a little more confusing if I decided on that. If I’m going to be a proper adventurer, I can’t just go by Golem. I’d want people to trust me more, so a name might help.

I glanced over at the books I had set down on my side and hesitated before writing it out in the dirt for Freya to see.

(Atlas.)

Rorick's dream was his originally, but it’d be a shame to let it die with him. I wanted an exciting life, and I still plan to live that way, but what better way than as an adventurer? I’ll consider this his way of naming me and giving me a new purpose in this world. From now on, I want to be Atlas!

“That’s a pretty unique name, it suits you, little Atlas!” She smirked from across the fire.

{Name Configuration completed}

{Name has been set to <Atlas>}

{Conditions for evolution have been updated}

H-hey, that’s new! Is the system just choosing when to say important things like that? This feels way too random?! I thought it over for a second, but felt more confused than ever.

It never told me anything like that before, so it has to be because I set a name for myself…right?

The messages that appeared weren’t the result of a skill, but rather the system talking directly to me. What I noticed was that whenever I tried countering these messages, I’d get soulless, automated responses.

Why am I suddenly getting new messages about my evolution? I asked the system.

{Unable to provide information}

Just as I thought… If I had to guess, I’d say the biggest difference between before I evolved and now is the skills I've levelled and evolved. Could it be the result of evolving my Perception skill specifically?

It was just a guess, but it was the only one I had to work off of.

Well, whatever the case, I’ll have to keep an eye on that until something else comes forward.

I looked down at my stone finger that still rested in the dirt where I drew my name. I felt a fluttering tension in my chest and gripped the stone at the centre of my stone chest. 

I wonder though… What will I turn into next?