"It's quite simple," Veya began, careful straightening her left leg. I could see a part of her trousers had been burnt away, revealing an ugly red wound, similar to, yet unlike the one on her face. "It means being born in any House that is considered Lordly or above."
"Right...and what exactly is a Lordly House?" I questioned, crossing my arms and leaning back against the thick root sticking out of the ground.
"It's in the name," She replied, letting her head fall back to touch the tree she sat against. "You're born as both a Risen and a Lord. From what I know, they command a few Knightly Houses and are sworn to a Great House directly."
"So, there's a hierarchy?"
"Something like that." She shrugged, then a moment after, grimaced. "Our Clans are at the very bottom. Then it's followed by the Knightly Houses, Lordly Houses and then the Lower, Centre, and Upper Great Houses. After them, are the Noble Houses who follow the same rankings as the Great Houses, and above even them, is the Royal House."
I hummed, looking up at the dark canopy above me in thought.
'So, in three hundred years, the world has regressed back to the Victorian Era. With every person belonging to some House or Clan, that's certainly a choice.' I thought, before turning back to look at Veya.
"What makes you think I'm a high born?" I curiously asked, now having a basic understanding of the Social Hierarchy which had been implemented.
"You look like one."
I quirked an eyebrow at her answer.
"That's all you have?" I asked with some obvious disbelief. "If we're comparing physical appearances, then you look like you belong to some Great House more than I do."
Through the dark, I saw her face twitch slightly. It was certainly an interesting reaction, and one I decided I'd investigate some other time.
"I didn't mean it like that! Just-Look at your hands." She told me with a huff.
I ignored her commanding tone for now. My curiosity was running high, and for me, it took priority.
I looked down at my hands, my eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkness before I could properly see them. At first glance, they looked like normal hands, with smooth beige coloured skin, and not a mark on them.
'Ah, I see now.'
"I don't have any calluses." I said aloud, looking at the foreign hands which now belonged to me. Really, the more I looked at them, the weirder it became.
"Exactly, you've probably never had to work a day in your life. That, and well, everything about you screams aristocrat." Veya told me with a tilt of her head. It showcased her burn mark more prominently.
'I can't even imagine a world like that,' I thought, still staring at my hands. 'Everything I ever did was work, to survive and see another day. This just feels wrong.'
"Do you have any idea what House I might belong to?"
"No clue," Veya shook her head. "There are tens of thousands of Knightly and Lordly Houses, thousands of Great Houses, and hundreds of Noble Houses. Trying to find who or where you belong is like trying to look for a needle in a haystack."
"Right…it can never be so easy." I muttered, finally pushing my hands away and lifting my head. "What about the metals then? Why are you called a Mercury when you can just be referred to by your Clan?"
"No idea," She freely admitted, that same broken smirk appearing from before. "Maybe it was done to build another barrier between people, maybe it was something else. Really, only our ancestors hold the answer to such a question."
"Right, are there any other metals I should know about?" I asked, waving a hand through the air.
Veya looked at me for a moment, as if she was re-evaluating something about me, before she said, "You really don't know anything do you?"
I snorted at her question. "You've only just realised that?"
Her smirk turned into a small smile at my answer, before she shook her head and let it fall.
"We don't call them metals, to us, their simply known as Alloys." She calmly explained, as if she was teaching me, and not just answering questions. "Mercuries are at the bottom, as you already know."
I nodded, showing that I was listening. I noted how the System remained suspiciously quiet at the mention of Alloys. It was something I'd have to ask it about later, considering it had referred to itself as 'The System of Alloys' in our first meeting.
That simply couldn't be a coincidence.
"Above us—and this is following the hierarchy I told you about earlier—are the Coppers, Zincs, Tungsten's, Titanium's, Cobalt's, Irons, Silvers, Golds, and Platinum." I quickly aligned each Alloy to their respective House rank, wondering why it had become a thing in the first place.
Maybe it was as Veya had said, and it was done to create another reason to look down on others, but that seemed not only small minded but simply stupid. There must have been another reason.
'Honestly, if I could still get headaches, I would undoubtedly have one by now.'
Whilst I enjoyed learning and absorbing as much information as I possibly could, even I wasn't blind to the fact that my brain would have turned to mush without the System's interference.
"Okay, is there anything else I might need to know about the Clans and Houses?" I asked, rubbing at my eyes.
The sun had been down for a few hours now, and night had fallen quickly. After all of the excitement of the day, all I wanted to do was lay down and close my eyes to sleep.
"Oh, we haven't even truly begun yet." Veya told me, a grin on her face. Honestly, it looked like she was just enjoying my suffering. "Every Clan is in charge of something different, and all the Houses, depending on their Alloy, grant a title to their respective people, do you want to learn about them?"
"I just had to open my mouth and ask, didn't I?" I sighed, rubbing my face with too soft hands. "Alright, let's start."