Outworlder Guardian

by FallenDispair

A twist on He Who Fights With Monsters where Jason is a bit more a mature having served in the ADF(Austrailian Defense Force). Armed with military training, combat experience and personal guidance by a legendary gunman Jason will be better able to handle the harsh nature of the magical world he's found himself in. Having faced killing before and death in general, he'll be less him.

2. Chapter 2

Outworlder Guardian

I don't own anything, nor profit off this.

Authors notes: I made a change to how Jason's racial ability; Mysterious Gunslinger works. The conjured essence gun will now take up an essence ability slot and at the cost of an awakening stone.

---

Chapter 2: Essences, Explanations, Iron Rank and Apocalypse Familiar

"That was amazing!" Gary roared, coming up to slap Jason on the back. Though, nobody was able hear the lion-man over the ringing in their ears. The sheer speed and power of that last bullet nearly ruptured Jason's eardrums. It was one long tone overtaking all other noise to him, but it seems Gary's eardrums are a lot stronger than his.

Jason staggered forwards to support himself on the alter at the end of the platform. Jason yelled out much more loudly than needed, "Sorry, but I'm going to need a moment before I can hear anything. The ringing you are most likely hearing should, hopefully, dissipate in time. If not...than oops. Try a healing potion? I'm actually hoping I didn't give myself tinnitus."

With a pop in each ear, followed mercifully by the soothing release of the ringing, that hopefully won't return, Jason was finally able to hear again.

"That won't be necessary Jason," Rufus cut in. "The ringing has already stopped. Though, that was quite the loud attack your weapon made."

"Sorry mate," Jason apologize. "The downside to guns is loud noise with the potential loss of hearing. Seeing as magic is a thing here, I'm certain you can just drink a potion or cast a spell to fix that, right?"

"Yes. Either option should be able to fix hearing loss." Rufus stated matter-of-factly.

"Then all's good mate. Kind of jealous actually. Knew a bloke that went deaf due to some faulty earbuds and way too much time spent around heavy artillery. Must be nice to just magic away stuff like that." Jason whimsically commented.

"Uhh?" Rufus drawled out, not knowing how to respond to that.

Gary seemed more willing to heap on the praise now that Jason could hear it, "The way you made them disregard you as a threat by appearing weak and harmless. Feeble and helpless, even touched in the head a little. It was masterful how impotent you came across. Even after you kept escaping and killing their people, they had no respect for you as a threat whatsoever."

"Well, there is a saying where I come from about appearing weak when you are strong and appearing strong when you are weak. Some general or another. Can't really remember which one. But thanks all the same Gary," Jason replied genuinely, if not a bit exhaustedly. The strength of the coin was gone, and the backlash of two in quick succession was draining. Not even taking into account the fresh muscle tears and fractures the recoil from the shot caused throughout his arms. His mana and stamina bars had fallen to almost empty, and adrenaline was the only thing keeping him on his feet.

Now that the ringing was gone and he could hear, Jason asked, "How did you get down off that wall?"

"The magic died with him," Rufus answered. "Which was lucky, because it doesn't always work that way."

"You'd have had a right problem getting us down," Gary commented.

"How about someone get me out of this cage?" a female voice asked, impatiently. It wasn't the same voice that had been dismissing him back in the cellar. That person must have been the one whose place Jason took.

Jason staggered over to the cage, swiping the stone on top into his inventory as he took the keys out. The woman inside the cage was beautiful with strawberry blonde hair and a button nose. She was clearly unhappy, although startlingly cute when mad. As he opened up the cage and let her out, Jason wondered why these people were all so attractive.

"Thanks for the rescue," she said to Jason, tamping down her annoyance, before blasting it full force at Rufus and Gary.

"What the hell were you two doing? I had to get saved by a random homeless man!" she fired at them.

"Harsh," Jason mutters quietly to himself, but finds he can't really argue with her assessment. He does look like a homeless man in his current state. Well, a ripped homeless man. Jason could take a small measure of relief in that.

"He only seems like that," Gary defended. "It's all a cunning ruse."

Jason left the three of them talking while he wandered over to the two cult leaders' bodies. Giving a tap with his foot to the headless High Priest Darryl.

Would you like to loot [Blood Cult Leader]?

Jason gave his mental assent.

[Recovery Potion (Bronze)] has been added to your inventory.

5 [Gold Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

18 [Silver Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

276 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

341 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

471 [Lesser Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

Just like Landemere, the high priest had over a thousand coins on his person. As to where he had them stowed away, was a mystery to Jason. Possibly an inventory system like his own.

He didn't waste too much time on pondering the thought and moved to loot Cressida Vane with a tap of his finger to her headless corpse.

2 [Recovery Potions (Silver)] have been added to your inventory.

100 [Light Quintessence Gems] have been added to your inventory.

1 [Light Essence] has been added to your inventory.

1 [Suppression Collar Key (Bronze)] has been added to your inventory.

5 [Recovery Potions (Bronze)] have been added to your inventory.

12 [Gold Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

32 [Silver Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

526 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

623 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

381 [Lesser Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

The other three prisoners were still arguing about their stupidity, more like the woman was tearing into the other two, as Jason moved to the alter. It was decorated with grotesque carvings that appeared to heavily feature teeth. On top of the alter was a thick book, left open halfway through. Glancing over the text, he could only understand fragments. Having used the ritual magic skill book he took from Landemere, the knowledge it imbued him with offered some insights, but this new book was still above his head. The contents seemed to involve a more specific field of magic, operating at a higher level than the skill book allowed him to grasp.

"What have you got?" the woman asked, walking up to the alter next to him.

"Not sure," Jason replied, pushing the book in front of her. "Looks like they were trying to make something, but it's well beyond my expertise. I only found out magic exists today. I'm Jason, by the way."

She gave him an odd look before responding, "Farrah. Thanks again for the rescue."

"No worries. I was already on my way out and you guys were kind of on the way. That, and it never hurts to have some help when escaping a blood cult filled with cannibals. Can you make anything out from that book?"

She turned her attention back to the pages in front of her.

"You're right about them making something," she said, flipping through pages. "Something not very nice."

"I got that much from the context," he replied, waving his hand at the chamber around them, black stone reflecting blood-red light from below.

"Fair point," Farrah laughed.

While she continued examining the book, Jason looked around, noticing Gary and Rufus were gone.

"Where did the others go?" he asked.

"They went to check on the cultists to see if they're all dead and look for any stragglers." Farrah answered.

"A bit insulting that you guys think I can't tell if someone was dead or not, but considering that we just met, I can accept it. Besides, it is a good idea to look out for any surprises lurking around the corner. The best time to strike is when your opponent thinks they have won."

Farrah gave him a wry smile as she responded, "You've proven that to be true enough." She nodded her head to the two headless corpses on the platform for emphasis.

Looking around some more, he found a small white sack next to the alter. He picked it up and looked inside; it held a white, crystalline powder. He pinched some between his fingers.

Item: [Salt] (normal, common)

Ordinary salt (crafting material)

Effect: Common ingredient for use in cooking or magic rituals.

"Salt?" he said curiously.

"It's good for making quick and easy magic circles," Farrah explained, not looking up from the book. "A lot of ritual magicians keep some around. Myself included."

Jason tossed the sack into his inventory, never knowing when he could need it. Help add some flavor to a dish, perform a ritual, or just sell it to a restaurant in need of some more salt. If there are any restaurants in this world. There didn't seem to be anything else of interest, but he noticed that Farrah had the same iron collar as Gary and Rufus.

Jason wasn't sure if he could really trust them yet, but they've had plenty of opportunity to kill him and haven't. Hell, Rufus' display with a trowel proves he could have bested Jason before he could even summon his Malfeasance to defend himself. So, he should give them the benefit of the doubt and give them the key he got off Cressida. They did tell him how to escape his cage after all, but he'll wait until the other two show up.

Jason looked over at the stairs leading down, thinking now would be a good time to ask something that's been bothering him.

"Can I ask you something about Gary?" he asked.

"What's that?"

"Are there a lot of lion people running around, or was he cursed or something?"

Farrah looked up from the book, again giving Jason a curious gaze, "You've never seen a Leonid before?"

"I'm not local," Jason simply replied.

"That's coming across," she responded. "Leonids are a normal race you'd see anywhere in the world."

"Good to know."

She frowned curiously but turned back to the book while Jason continued to survey his surroundings. He peered over the edge, down at the crimson pit far below. It could have been his imagination, but the room seemed to be getting hotter. The sloshing noise of the blood pit below seemed louder as well. He spotted Rufus and Gary making their way back up the stairs.

"The others are coming back up," Jason informed Farrah.

"That's not good," Farrah muttered.

"That seems harsh," Jason chuckled out, figuring she was still steaming at them and wanted more space.

"No," Farrah clarified, "I mean I figured out what the cultists were up to."

"Bad?"

"Very bad," she gravely replied.

She waited for Gary and Rufus to arrive before explaining.

"No sign of any living cultists," Gary said, "and most of the wagons were still there with the heidels in their reins. But one wagon looked like it took off in rush. It seemed that a cultist in charge of the wagons must have heard Jason kill all their fellows off in the tunnel and fled."

Quest: [The Blood Feast]

Objective complete: Avoid being sacrificed 1/1.

Reward: [Blood Essence]

Optional objective complete: Save the other designated sacrifices 3/3.

Reward: [Awakening Stone of Adventure]

Quest complete.
100 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

1000 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

Jason's eyes lit up at the sight of another essence, but it wasn't the time to start going over his loot and he closed the window.

"I know what they were doing here," Farrah told Gary and Rufus.

"I'd assume some kind of summoning ritual," Rufus offered.

"More like trying to create something," Farrah corrected. "It's called a sanguine horror; an artificial creature made from alchemy, blood and things best left unmentioned."

"Sounds friendly," Gary commented.

"It's an apocalypse beast," Farrah explained. "A world ender. A hive mind made up of carrion leeches that rot your flesh as they drain you dry. It feeds on blood to multiply itself, growing in mass and power until there's nothing strong enough to stop it. Then it spreads and spreads until there's nothing left to consume."

Jason sighed out, "Of course. Nothing like a crazy cult making doomsday weapons to take over the world. It seems this world has its own versions of weapons of mass destruction and people striving to own them to further their own ambitions. Not particularly caring about who gets hurt along the way, so long as they come out on top."

"That's a fairly accurate assessment of what they must have been trying to do," Rufus agreed. "Probably having some way to control it."

"That's a big gamble with an apocalypse beast," Farrah replied. "Maybe that's possible before it gets too powerful. Until it feeds enough to grow strong it remains vulnerable."

"Still seems like there is way too high a chance of things going wrong. Not like that'd stop power hungry cultists," Jason commented.

"Speaking of which," Rufus cut in, "have you noticed it's getting hotter in here?"

"No," Farrah responded.

"Yes," Jason replied at the same time.

"It's more noticeable closer to the pool," Rufus explained.

"The smell is stronger down there too," Gary added.

"They should probably be tossing us into the blood pit by now," Rufus supplied. "Is something going wrong because we interrupted them?"

"I think we're overlooking something," Jason gravely said.

"What's that?" Farrah asked.

"Are we sure we interrupted them? They were going to throw the four of us into the pit, right?"

"Right," Rufus answered.

"Well, counting the one I knocked over when escaping my cage, plus the two Gary dropped in and the one I pushed over the edge...not even counting Cressida's daughter. That's four that may have fallen into the pit." Jason explained.

Farrah's pretty brown eyes went wide, "Oh no," she let out in horrified shock. Turing back to the alter she started madly flipping through pages of the book.

As the others waited, a screen appeared in front of Jason.

New Quest: [Sanguine Horror]

Destroy the sanguine horror before it becomes too grave a threat.

Objective: Destroy the [Sanguine Horror] 0/1.
Reward: 1 Essence.

Bonus objective: All party members survive.
Bonus Reward: 1 Awakening Stone

"Oh crap," Jason cursed.

Farrah snapped the book shut. It was a hefty tome and she tucked it under one arm, "I'm pretty sure we just finished their job for them."

"I don't think they'll appreciate it," Rufus commented in a grave tone.

"Are we the blood cult now?" Gary asked.

"We have to get down there and stop it while it's still weak," Farrah ordered.

"Will the book help?" Gary asked.

"Not at all," Farrah simply answered.

"If we have to do it, we have to do it," Rufus spoke out with determination and resolve. "Failing that, we go find someone stronger to deal with it. A lot stronger."

"Do you think Emir has arrived yet?" Gary asked hopefully.

"No," Rufus solemnly answered. "He's weeks away at best."

"Then we need to handle this ourselves," Farrah declared resolutely. "I don't trust the competence of the locals."

"This guy's alright," Garry stated, dropping a hand on Jason's shoulder that almost knocked him over, again.

"I'm not a local," Jason dryly commented.

"We need to get these collars off now," Rufus demanded while moving to Cressida's body, "We'll need our abilities to defeat this beast."

Jason held up a hand holding the key, "Already got it, mate. Here you go," offering it up to Rufus.

"Thanks. Gary, come here." Rufus replied while taking the key and moving to unshackle Gary first. It's easier to remove someone else's collar than just feeling around your own neck.

Farrah narrowed her eyes at him as some heat entered her voice, "And how long have you had the key to my collar?"

Jason quickly raised his hands in surrender, hoping to placate her anger, "Just before you got lost in that heavy tome under your arm. I was waiting for the others to join us. Honest. It's just you went right into the sanguine horror and I got distracted by the potential world ending apocalypse beast."

She seemed to accept his explanation, possibly realizing she hadn't even asked about the key herself.

Rufus barged in, having removed Gary's collar and was now starting on Farrah's, "Speaking of apocalypse beasts, you sure there's nothing in the book about how to fight it? Having our abilities is all well and good, but I'd prefer to have every edge we can get."

"No, I'm not," Farrah snapped as her collar clicked open. "I've had it for about eight minutes and it's written in a language that you haven't even heard of. So maybe there's something in there, but I'm not going to find it by randomly skimming through a few pages."

"Did you check for an index?" Gary asked while removing Rufus's collar. Rufus wisely figured that Farrah wasn't in the best of moods to remove his collar.

Farrah's eyes landed on Gary like an attack dog's.

"I guess there's no time for research," Gary muttered, heading for the stairs.

"Let's go, Rufus ordered, following after Gary.

Farrah watched them vanish down the steep staircase, then turned to the back of the book. Jason narrowed his eyes as he watched her.

"Are you checking for an index?" some humor entering his tone.

---

The three former captives pounded down the stairs as Jason followed unsteadily behind. As they went down the steep staircase, the smothering heat rose up to engulf them. The air becoming wetter and heavier until even breathing was a chore. The copper taste of blood felt like it was coating Jason's tongue. The pool was churning loudly, as if something was thrashing just below the surface. The sound echoed throughout the room, especially as they neared the base of the chamber. Near the end of the stairs Jason took one of the bronze recovery potions he looted and tipped it down his throat as they reached the bottom of the chamber.

Even though the shot he fired to kill the cult leaders didn't actually tear his arms off, there were still several stress fractures and torn muscles. With a fight on the way he'd need the help. Plus, it'll help him recover his mana faster.

Farrah saw Jason tip back the potion and threw out a hand in a warning gesture, "Jason, don't-"

The potion was already making its way down Jason's throat.

"What?" Rufus asked, as he and Gary turned around to look.

"Jason just drank a potion," Farrah answered with a grimace.

"Right after using a spirit coin?" Gary asked in disbelief.

"Is that bad?" Jason asked, his tone filled with confusion. "Actually, why didn't the potion do anything?"

The others only answered in sympathetic wincing. Moments later, his stomach was filled with cramping pains. He doubled over, felt his body desperately wanting to vomit, but unable to do so.

You have used a recovery potion while your body is flooded with residual magic.

Recovery potion had failed to take effect.

You have been afflicted with [Mana Toxin]

[Mana Toxin] (affliction, poison, magic): You cannot regain mana. Recovery item will have no effect. You will suffer damage when using mana.

Jason groaned. The initial pain passed, but now his stomach felt as awful as the time he had bad halloumi and got the worst case of food poisoning he's ever had. Brightside was, he's not spewing out of both ends like then.

"I should have thought to warn you when you didn't know how to use spirit coins," Rufus lamented. "I didn't realize you had any potions. Are you alright?"

"Honestly," Jason croaked, "it isn't going to affect me that much. I've dealt with worse than this before, and while having to fight for my life. A good life lesson about eating suspect food from a street vendor before being captured by terrorists."

Rufus nodded uncertainly, confused by most of what came out of Jason's mouth, and they turned to the giant pool of churning red liquid, Jason at the back. The space near the large doors leading out was the widest area around the pool, with most of the room having only a small lip between the edge of the red liquid and the wall. When they first entered the chamber, the pool had been churning in the middle. Now the whole thing was like a pot of water threatening to boil over, splashing red liquid over the sides.

"That can't all be blood, right?" Jason shouted over the noise.

"It isn't," Farrah called back. "Mostly it's an alchemic mixture, although there is a lot of blood in there. At least a dozen people's worth. Maybe twenty."

Jason growled softly, he was never one to like innocent blood to be spilt, he highly doubts the Blood Cult kidnapped evil people for this monstrous ritual. "There won't be anymore. We're stopping this thing here and now."

Gary laughed out joyfully, "Told you, instincts of a hero."

Rufus shared the sentiment with a pleased smile and a nod as Farrah commented, "Good. Because if we let this entity go, it will get out and start feeding on the local animals. The more if feeds, the stronger it will become. If it eats its way through a village or town, then it will get too strong for any local powers to stop it."

"We do it then," Rufus said sternly. "Farrah will blast it with everything she's got once it emerges from the pool. Gary will join me at her flanks and hit anything that get past her barrage. Jason, what kind of combat abilities do you have?"

"Usually shooting and killing things from a distance with my gun," Jason shouted. "But my mana's so low and with the toxicity going through me now, I have nothing to really offer but knifing something. And I highly doubt punching or kicking will do much to an apocalypse beast, but I will if you need me to."

"That's fine," Rufus shouted back. "Just stay back and try not to die."

Farrah's body sudden became shrouded in thick obsidian stone armor, having tossed Jason the book, seeing as he was essentially just a bystander now. Gary joined her, but instead of her armor of stone, his was made of thick and heavy dark steel plates held together with large bolts. Engraved into the surface were runes that looked to have been carved out with a blade, rough but radiating strength. Where the engravings dug into the dark metal, red forge light shone from within.

Rufus held out a hand, around which motes of golden light were gathering. The light coalesced into a sword in Rufus' hand, an elegant scimitar that seemed as much a work of art as a weapon. The hilt was a vibrant red-gold, as was the edge of the blade. The bulk of the blade was yellow-gold that shone like the sun, with red-gold inscriptions running down its graceful curve. Moreover, Jason could tell there was a deadly aura surrounding the man.

Suddenly the blood, which had been roiling like a stormy sea, went as still and serene as a sheltered pond. The roaring noise they had been shouting over immediately fell silent.

"Here we go," Rufus state, his voice an intrusion to the sudden quiet.

Ripples disturbed the edge of the pool, and something emerged from the blood, smaller than they had expected.

"Is that a leech?" Jason asked. It was the right size and shape for a leech but had a gaping tooth-ringed maw of a lamprey.

"I don't want that thing crawling up my leg," Gary shuttered out with disgust.

"I think that's an opinion we all share," Jason agreed.

A second leech crawled out, then a third. They came two at a time, then five, ten until they were spraying out like runoff from a storm drain. They piled on top of one another, forming a squirming, writing mass of blood sucking leeches.

Suddenly an explosion of light and noise erupted from Farrah's now glowing red hand. A bright stream of lava cut through the air like it was coming from a firehose, crashing into the mass of leeches. Jason's gaze was fixed on Farrah, goggle-eyed to her hands.

"Was that frigging LAVA?"

No one answered, though they all took several steps back as Farrah mumbled something and a second stream of lava blasted at the continued spewing mass of leeches. Strips of what looked like bloodied wrap tried reaching towards her, but simply dissolved into ash with the leeches.

Jason could still feel the heat on him as he staggered back some more for good measure. He heard chanting from Farrah and saw that there were several orbs of fire floating around her. Another of the cloth strips burst from the pool to grab her, but was intercepted by an orb, burning up on contact.

She stopped chanting and Jason heard a rumbling from the direction of what was left of the leech pile. It started to scatter, but a cascade of lava shot out of the ground like a geyser underneath it. Gary, Jason and Rufus backed off even further as lava splattered around the geyser before it dwindled and came to a stop.

Jason looked at the glowing hole left behind, his jaw hanging slack. The red light from the blood pool faded and died, plunging the chamber into darkness. Only the remnant glow of lava provided any illumination.

Jason commented in awe, "I don't think we were needed. Like, at all."

Rufus responded, "True, but it's always wise to assume otherwise. There are countless ways it could have gone bad." Seeing Jason's disbelieving look, added, "Farrah is very destructive, but it really drains her mana. We've had to step in many a time when she's emptied herself before finishing off the enemy."

Gary comments, "Yeah, but this time it was too weak to survive her onslaught. I was kind of expecting more from an apocalypse beast. What a disappointment that turned out to be."

"We need to get every leech!" Farrah called out while stomping down on a few stragglers with her stone boots. "It can reconstitute itself, even from one!"

Jason looked around the floor. The main mass of leeches had been incinerated, but many leeches had spilled onto the floor from its spewing out earlier. Remembering how salt can kill leeches in his world, Jason pulled out the sack of salt from his inventory and started flinging handfuls at them while Rufus and Gary stomped them underfoot. The individual leeches that were hit by salt vomited blood from their tooth-ringed mouths as they dried up and died.

Eventually there was nothing left of the leeches but blood stains and ash.

You have defeated [Sanguine Horror]

Quest: [Sanguine Horror]

Objective: Destroy sanguine horror 1/1.

Reward: [Void Essence]

Bonus Objective: All party members survive.

Bonus Reward: [Awakening Stone of the Traveler]

Quest complete.

100 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

1000 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

Jason edged forwards warily. He noticed a leech that had managed to get far enough away that it was burnt to a crisp instead of being completely annihilated. He poked it with his toe.

Would you like to loot [Sanguine Horror]?

Jason gave his mental assent.

[Awakening Stone of the Apocalypse] has been added to your inventory.

10 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

100 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

Jason looked at the listed awakening stone. Apocalypse. That didn't sound particularly good.

Seeing that Farrah and Gary released their magic armor into thin air and Rufus' sword dissapated into nothing, Jason couldn't help but wonder.

"If you can do that," Jason gestured at the sections of wall and floor melted by lava, "then how did they catch you in the first place?"

"Ambush," Rufus supplied with shame mixed with rage. "We were meant to resupply and get information from a local contact. Instead, he set us up for capture."

"We're going to go find him," Gary growled out.

"And have a sizzling conversation," Farrah added with a cold type of fury lacing her voice.

"But first," Rufus stated, "we have to get back to the Vane Estate. They still have Anisa with plans on eating her and our mission is to destroy the Blood Cult. We may have killed all the members here, but there are more at the estate."

"At least that should be more exciting than just sitting back and letting Farrah melt a bunch of leeches. And I guess we should hurry before they decide to make Anisa into breakfast." Gary replied.

"Ideally, yes," Rufus responded. "The contract did come through her church, and they might see her death as a failure on our part."

Farrah, in the meantime, held her hand out over the ground and chanted something quietly. It was a short chant, only a few words. When she was done, a large chest made of dark brown stone rose out of the ground. It didn't break through the floor, but instead rose up through it, like a ghost. Farrah pushed open the hinged, heavy lid and took out fresh clothes for herself, Gary and Rufus. They all started changing clothes, with no qualms about stripping down to their underwear in front of Jason or each other.

Jason glanced surreptitiously at the three of them. Rufus and Farrah had bodies of Olympic athletes -lean muscle filled with power of coiled springs. Very similar to his own build, but more defined and perfected than what he currently had. His stint as a drunk has caused him to lose quite a bit of his muscle, but over the last year he has regained much of his previous physique. His six-pack is back, and the love handles that were starting to form are gone, but he's still not as defined as before. Gary had a completely different build; he's so huge he made bodybuilders look like they were still under construction. His mane and leonine features completed his majestic appearance. Jason didn't know what passed for handsome in Gary's species, but he suspected Gary was it.

The most startlingly depressing difference between them and him was their ridiculously gorgeous faces. Were Rufus and Farrah looked like warrior supermodels, Jason looked like a work in progress with a face that didn't match his body. He thought back to the beautiful Cressida Vane, standing next to the ordinary-looking high priest Darryl, and was struck by the unpleasant revelation that he's the Darryl here. His shoulders slumped gloomily at the unfairness of it all. From his brother to Colonel Lancelot Grey, and now these magic warriors; he's always the plain one.

"Clothes are fine, but we need to get our gear back," Farrah complained.

"We'll get our stuff back and more once we raid the Vane Estate...taking a few valuables for all our troubles." Gary grinned out.

Watching the others change clothes reminded Jason that he had completed the quest to get a shirt. That was two cages and a shattered jaw ago. He pulled the shirt from his inventory, discovering it was a plain, white T-shirt, complete with what looked like machine stitching. Holding it out in front of him, he read the text printed on the front.

I WENT TO A MAGICAL ALTERNATE UNIVERSE AND ALL I GOT WAS VAST COSMIC POWER.

Jason shook his head as he chuckled out, "This must be what insanity feels like."

"What does it say?" Gary asked, moving up to examine the shirt.

"You can't read this?"

"It's not a language I know."

"Probably for the best," Jason replied as he pulled on the shirt with pained effort, his arms still felt like they were stuffed full of broken glass. The implications of the shirt's print were concerning to say the least. He's in a magical alternate universe, apparently. It'd make sense with everything that has happened to him lately and the magic powers he now has. Getting home is definitely going to be much harder than he ever thought possible. "You're not in Kansas anymore," he muttered solemnly to himself.

You have equipped [Starting Gear] outfit. Outfit tab has been added to your inventory.

"Outfit tab?"

"What?" Gary asked, looking at him with an odd expression.

"Nothing, never mind." Jason responded.

Jason checked his inventory, which now had a second screen he could access with a tab at the top labelled 'outfits.' He was now use to navigating the screens with a thought and opened the new section. It showed a silhouette with various slots for equipment, most of which were empty. There was also a column to the left, empty aside from two entries. The first was listed as 'starter gear,' the second as 'new outfit.'

"How does that work?" he muttered to himself.

Help: Outfits

You can designate sets of gear as outfits, allowing you to quickly switch between them. Outfits can be modified by adding or removing items from item slots. An outfit can only be equipped so long as all items in that outfit are in the inventory or already equipped.

"Huh."

He noticed the others were all watching him stare into the distance and mumble to himself.

"You alright there, Jason?" Gary asked.

"Sure," Jason replied. "Actually, now that you say it..."

He'd been pushing through on a potent mix of panic and adrenaline, falling back on his old habit of putting aside his fears and concerns until his life was no longer in danger. A survival instinct he harnessed while in combat that uses the adrenaline to keep him going despite how he feels physically and mentally. Now that the immediate threat to his life was gone and the adrenaline faded, he started crashing.

The weight of his situation: ripped from his own reality to possibly never seen his loved ones again, stuck in a magic world filled with dangers that he was never trained to deal with and is in no way equipped to handle. The pain from the mana toxicity, his torn-up arms and the exhaustion of everything washed over him. His vision was going dark and blurry as he stumbled forward, dropping to his hands and knees.

The next thing Jason knew, something was being splashed over his face.

Sputtering awake, he was helped into a sitting position and a glass bottle was shoved into his hands.

"Drink it," Farrah told him in a stern, yet caring tone. "It's just water. You can't take any potions for at least a couple of hours."

As Jason slowly sipped at his water, he looked over the icons he could see at the edge of his vision. The health silhouette showed a warning yellow all over, with a more ominous orange on his arms and midsection. The potion cooldown icons were also present but were completely greyed out. There was an icon for the mana toxin, with more than two hours listed under it.

While Jason was taking stock of his condition, the others were recovering theirs with stamina potions from the magic chest. After drinking his, Rufus made a sour face, "Oh, that was sickly. What happened to the other potions?"

"Gary chose the flavor," Farrah explained.

"I think it's nice," Gary said defensively.

"Me too," Farrah agreed. "Rufus only likes things when they're bitter."

After letting him rest a while, Gary pulled Jason easily to his feet. Jason wavered and Gary held him upright until the dizziness passed.

"Thanks," Jason said. "I've passed out... three? Four times today. Not to forget that my arms are all shredded up inside. Hurts just to move them."

"We can't use potions on you anytime soon," Farrah explained, "but once we get Anisa back, she can heal you."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get going," Jason exclaimed with a grunt of repressed pain.

They left the chamber through the huge stone doors of grotesque imagery. They passed the stripped corpses he'd left littered throughout the surprisingly long tunnel, carved directly out of the stone.

"Who made this tunnel?" Jason asked aloud. "It must have been a tough job."

"Wouldn't be that hard," Farrah answered. "Construction magic would make it a straightforward process."

She looked up and down the extensive length of the tunnel as she acknowledged, "Might have taken a while though."

They emerged from a gap that, at a distance, would have looked like a natural crevice. They were on the gentle slope of the lower portion of a mountain that tapered up to a towering height. The upper reaches were black and lifeless, while the lower portions turned to yellow stone and red earth, with patchy coverage of dry yellow grass. There were wagons outside the tunnel, wheels chocked to stop them from rolling down the slope. They had yokes for what Jason would describe as lizard monsters.

They have four legs, hooves, long bodies, scales instead of fur, and horns in the center of their two heads. Creepy two-headed lizard creatures the size of horses. Like someone put two unicorns and a lizard in 'The Fly's teleporter and this was the mixed monstrosity that came out.

"What the bloody hell are those things? Some type of creepy, mutated horses?" Jason exclaimed in shock.

"What are horses?" Gary asked.

"You've never heard of horses?"

The other three shook their heads.

"Then what are they?" Jason gestured towards the two-headed monstrosities.

"Heidels," Gary answered as if it was an obvious answer.

"Heidel?" Jason let out in confusion.

"It's a work animal, the kind you see everywhere," Gary explained. "They pull wagons, carry packs. You can ride them. I can too, but you can tell they don't like it."

"So, horses, but not horses. This worlds version of them, maybe?" Jason muttered to himself quietly.

He looked down the slope, getting a panoramic view of the land below. It was flat, dry landscape of sandy yellow and sober reds, punctuated by withering grass or spiky scrub. Every so often, a low tree with sparse foliage would jute reluctantly up from the barren earth. The sun hammered relentlessly down over all of it, but the arid air was almost pleasant after the cloying humidity of the sacrifice chamber.

Jason gives a shrug as he comments, "Well, creepy or not, I'm glad they're here to give us a lift."

Gary nodded his agreement, "I wasn't looking forward to crossing the desert on foot myself. You might not have noticed, but I'm covered in fur," talking as he moved to take the reins, sitting at the front of the closest wagon.

"I've never noticed," Farrah stated dryly.

"Come on," Rufus cut in. "They've most likely been warned about our escape and are preparing for our return. I want to hit them before they can fully ready themselves for our counterattack. Hopefully saving Anisa before they decide to use her as a hostage or kill her in spite."

Jason and Farrah followed Rufus into the back of the cloth covered back, shading them from the harsh sunlight. Gary didn't have that cover, but he was wearing loose clothing to let air flow through, along with a hood to shield him from the sun. The others were wearing more fitted clothes but didn't appear discomforted.

Looking out the flap, Jason watched the scenery as the Heidels pulled their wagon towards the Vane Estate. The climate bore no resemblance to moderate warmth and lush greenery he had experienced in the hedge maze. Even the heat had felt different there, more pleasantly warm than this unforgiven desert air. He remembered looking at the world map, warped, but not entirely different globe to the one with which he was familiar. It marked his position as being in the Kalahari Desert, which matched the terrain now before him.

"They brought us here while I was unconscious, right?" Jason asked.

"That's right," Rufus answered.

"How long was I knocked out for? This is very different from the place we were before."

Rufus and Farrah turned to look at him with curiosity, even Gary turned his head to gaze at Jason with one eye.

"The Vane Estate uses climate magic," Farrah replied. "Didn't you notice when you went there in the first place?"

"Actually, how did you get involved with all this?" Rufus asked. "Now that we have some time talk."

"Um, I think I might have been summoned," Jason answered. "Not on purpose, obviously. I went to bed last night, as far as I know, and woke up in the middle of the Vane family hedge maze. I sort of stumbled around for a bit until I found Landemere. He seemed pissed to have found out that I'm what he summoned, apparently trying for something else. He called me something that sounded specific. I don't remember what, exactly. 'Other-worlder,' maybe?"

"Outworlder?" Rufus suggested.

"Sounds right," Jason agreed. "Is that what the name suggests? Is this really a whole different world?" his voice uncertain and laced with worry.

"We've always been in this one," Rufus responded. "You'd have to tell us if it's different enough from where you came from."

Jason thought about the flying eels and leech monsters, people throwing around magic chains and streams of lava. Healing potions, reading languages he'd never seen before. The magic powers he'd used himself and the two-headed lizards pulling their wagon right now. All of it should be impossible.

"It's definitely different enough," Jason replied firmly. "My world has its share of strangeness, but this is a whole different kind of strange. Some things are weirdly the same, though. Like hedge mazes, and people named Gary. I have a cousin named Gary. Not as tall as you, Gary, but almost as hairy," he said over his shoulder towards Gary at the reins.

"He's a leonid?" Gary asked, not looking from the rough trail leading back to the manor.

"I think it's a glandular thing. We don't have leonids on my world."

"I'm not well versed in astral magic," Farrah adds. "I've heard of outworlders, but it isn't my field of expertise."

"Alternate realities maybe," Jason offered. "If that's what this is, then this world diverged from mine a very long time ago. The continents are different, but not completely. The fundamental physical laws here have some interesting addenda. My world doesn't have magic, not real magic. Or a second moon. I did see a second moon, right?"

"Your world only has one moon? That's weird," Gary commented.

---

They continued traveling through the stony desert, back towards the Vane Estate. Jason's map ability had apparently been plotting locations, even when he was unconscious. The hard ground was uneven, making the ride on the back of the wagon bumpy, but easy for the heidels to pull them along on.

There was a freshly opened water bottle in his hand, provided from Farrah's own magical storage space. The pounding heat added to his injures and mana toxicity was not helping Jason's condition. He's downed several bottles already.

Jason was grateful they were traversing over dry, hard earth instead of roving through endless sand dunes. He could easily imagine the wheels getting stuck in the sand, with them having to get out to push it free. His knowledge of African geography was limited, having only the one mission deeper in their jungle terrain, but he'd seen a documentary about Namibia's Skeleton Coast once. From what he could remember, things got very sandy there. Of course, it could be completely different in another world.

The others helped introduce him to their world as they drove along the hard, dry path.

"What I don't understand," Jason wonders, "is why I have abilities that I never had before. Is it because my world doesn't have magic, but this one does?"

"I'm not sure," Farrah replied. "I don't know much about outworlders."

"I'd never heard of them before this," Gary comments, "so don't look at me."

"I've met some before," Rufus added, prompting groans from Gary and Farrah.

"What?" Rufus asked.

"Of course you have." Gary complained.

"What's wrong with that?" Rufus asked incredulously.

"Your childhood friend is the Crown Princess of Vitesse," Farrah answered pointedly.

"This again?" Rufus asked in exasperation. "It's not my fault who my parents chose to socialize with."

"So, Rufus is a big deal?" Jason asked.

"Yes." Gary and Farrah answered at the same time as Rufus' "No."

Rufus glared at the other two before changing the subject, "I do know a little bit about outworlders. They've been pulled into our world from another one through some magical accident. Usually a summoning spell that's gone awry."

"The evil cult lady's son, Landemere," Jason supplies. "He blamed me for ruining his magic thing."

"That's how it usually works," Rufus responded. "As far as I'm aware. I'm no expert."

"Though it happens enough that there's a name for it," Jason pointed out.

"My understanding is that it's something that happens in high-magic worlds like ours," Rufus offered up. "I really don't know any more than that."

"Is there a way to get back home?" Jason asked.

"I'm not sure," Rufus admitted. "If there is, it probably involves magic well above our level, let alone yours."

Jason's head dropped and shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Jason, tell me if this sounds familiar," Rufus responds. "Do you have some kind of guide that helps you interact with our world? Something that doesn't fit in our world but does in yours. Maybe something you've heard of from a legend, or a part of your world's mythic traditions. Something that exists in your world as a story, but here has become real."

Jason thought about the video game interface he had been experiencing. The quests, inventory system, and the map he had open at that moment, even if the others couldn't see it.

"I think I know what you're talking about."

"That's something all outworlders have," Rufus explains. "It works differently for every outworlder, but whatever magic that brought them here changes them. It gives them abilities to help them adapt and survive."

"Is that why I can read languages I've never seen before?"

"And speak languages you've never spoken," Rufus added.

Jason frowned out, "Someone say something."

"You didn't even realize it, did you?" Rufus asked.

Jason focused on the sounds, rather than the words. It wasn't English or any of the languages he was force fed. He didn't know if it was more disturbing that he could speak some unknown language or that he didn't notice he was doing it.

"I have an ability," he replies, listening to the sounds he was making. "One of the effects is called language adaptation. Is that how I can speak any language and not even notice?"

"Most likely," Rufus nodded.

"That's why you sound like you learned the language from a skill book," Gary comments aloud.

"I do?"

"You do," Farrah confirmed. "There's a recognizable neutral accent and things sometimes come across as odd because of the difference in language structure. It's a giveaway, if you've seen it enough. Colloquialisms can translate very strangely."

"You're telling me that slang doesn't come across properly?" Jason asked, not exactly understanding Farrah's clinical explanation.

"Yes, that's what I said," Farrah answered with a raised eyebrow.

"You might want to stick to plain language," Rufus suggested.

"Yeah, that makes sense. A lot of slang doesn't translate properly through the languages of my world. It's most likely worse between different worlds." Jason commented.

They continued on, answering more of Jason's questions as they traversed the desert. All the more agreeable to the two-headed horror horses for pulling them along this arid, dry and hot terrain. The occasional bump being the only real discomfort of the ride thus far.

"Outworlders like you might have their advantages," Farrah explained, "but we natives have advantages of our own. Take Gary, here. Members of his leonid race are stronger and faster than us, and that's only the beginning of what leonids can do. Elves are powerful spell casters and their skill with healing magic is unparalleled."

"I forgot there are elves," Jason replied. "Some guy said he wanted to eat one."

"That's not good," Garry grimly responded.

"They're cannibals, Gary," Farrah stated dryly. "Of course, it's not good."

"What about dwarves?" Jason asked. "Gnomes? Small people who live inside hillocks?"

"I don't know what any of those things are," Gary replied in confusion. "Except for hillocks."

Rufus cut in, "We have elves, leonids like Gary, obviously, and several other races. We'll eventually be heading for a port city, so while this region is human-dominated, you'll see all kinds of people."

"Each of which have their own special gifts," Farrah takes over the explanation. "Some are there from birth, while others only show themselves once they get essences. Humans like Rufus and I are kind of like you, in a way. Our abilities differ from person to person, based on our essences. Most start out dormant, only awakening as we absorb essences."

"That's not the only things humans get, though," Gary chimed in. "Humans have their essence abilities increase faster than other races. They're kind of annoying about."

"Do I get that? I'm human right?" Jason asked hopefully.

"Um... I have some bad news," Rufus replies hesitantly. "You're an outworlder now. Not a human."

"I'm not human?"

"Not strictly, no," Rufus answered. "You might be kind of human."

"How can I be, 'kind of human'?" Jason demanded.

Rufus explains, "I met an elf outworlder before. She retained some of her race's abilities, while others were replaced by her outworlder gifts. It's possible you might still have some human abilities."

"Every race gets exactly six gifts," Farrah added. "There are ways of examining them with magic."

"I can do that myself," Jason informed.

"You can?" Farrah asked.

"Yup," Jason replied, pulling up his list of abilities.

Racial Abilities (Outworlder)

[Interface]
[Quest System]
[Inventory]
[Map]
[Astral Affinity]
[Mysterious Gunslinger]

"I have all six racial abilities already," he said. "I think these might all be outworlder abilities. Do humans normally get astral affinity?"

"Definitely not," Farrah answered firmly. "That's something celestines get."

"Celestines?" Jason uttered in confusion. "That's not something we have in my world."

"They're similar to elves and humans," Farrah explains. "One of the many new kinds of people you'll get to meet."

"As long as none of them try to eat me," Jason replied.

As they drove along Jason noticed Rufus and Farrah pull out bronze spirit coins while he sipped at his water, sagging into the bench seat in the wagon. Looking at Gary, the enormous leonid covered in fur with nothing but a hood protecting him from the desert heat.

"You don't need water?" Jason asked Gary at the reins, now pulling out a bronze coin as well.

"Gary's people require a lot more exertion than the rest of us to get tired," Rufus explained. "Another one of his racial gifts."

"Also, when you have a full set of essences, you don't need to eat or drink anymore," Gary added. "You can, of course, but it's just for pleasure."

"To actually sustain ourselves we need a concentrated source of raw magic," Rufus continued while holding up the spirit coin. "There are various ways to get it, but spirit coins are the easiest, by far."

"You're lucky I even had that water," Farrah chipped in, "because we don't need it. I just like to be prepared."

"If you're using coins," Jason responded, "what about the after-effects? Using those coins knocked it out of me."

Rufus popped the spirit coin into his mouth before replying, "It's about not going over your limit. We're bronze-rank adventurers, so a bronze coin will sustain us without stressing our bodies."

"I don't know what that means," Jason responded.

"What, bronze rank?" Gary asked.

"That, and adventurer," Jason replied. "Is that where you guys hang around in a tavern until someone hires you to kill forty gnolls in a dungeon?"

"What's a gnoll?" Gary asked, turning his head back to give Jason a raised eyebrow look.

"And why would there be forty of them in a dungeon?" Farrah added. "Is gnoll a kind of criminal?"

"There's an organization," Rufus cut in, forestalling more unhelpful questions. "It's called the Adventure Society. They give out jobs to people like us, mostly to deal with monsters that are threatening towns, villages or whatever."

"But sometimes to investigate a cult full of bloodthirsty cannibals," Garry added with a grin.

"Should you be taking your eyes off the road so often?" Jason asked.

"It's fine. There's only one path and these heidels are well trained. They won't deviate too far if left unattended for a bit." Gary said as if it was obvious and that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

"I could always take the reins, so you can enjoy having a conversation," Farrah offered.

"Nah. I'm good up here," Gary replied, turning back towards the road.

"As for bronze rank," Rufus continued, ignoring their banter, "that's related to your essence powers. Once you have all four essences, you become iron rank, and you can work your way up from there. Bronze is one rank above iron, but you can worry about that later. Reaching iron rank will fundamentally change you. Make you powerful."

"Not that powerful," Farrah corrected. "Not straight away. But you become partially resistance to attacks that don't have any magic behind them. You live on magic instead of food and water."

"But my world doesn't have any magic," Jason reminded them. "Doesn't that mean if I become iron rank or whatever and then go back home, I'd eventually run out of coins and starve?"

"You can get by on food and water," Farrah answered. "It just takes more of it, depending on how powerful you are. Some foods are better than others. Meat, sugar, anything with magical ingredients, obviously."

Jason was relieved. He could handle living on protein bars and cake. Would he be immune to getting fat?

"We owe you for getting us out of that mess," Rufus said. "We'll help you find a full set of essences."

"Well, I do have a couple of extras," Jason stated nonchalantly. "On top of the one I used, I already have enough for a full set, I think."

"Where did you get those?" Gary asked, keeping his head facing forward this time. "I thought you only arrived in this world today."

"I did," Jason tries to explain. "I just kind of... came across them."

Rufus raised a skeptical eyebrow, "You just came across them?"

"Yeah," Jason answered. "Well, one of them I got off of that Cressida lady."

"I can do an essence ritual for you," Farrah offered. "Not before we find Anisa, of course. Who did the ritual for your first essence?"

Farrah's suggestion prompted some of the ritual magic knowledge in Jason's mind the skill book had put there. Remembering something he never learned in the first place was an odd sensation, like deja vu. The new knowledge in his head told him that an essence ritual was required for a person to absorb an essence. Except, he knew from experience that wasn't always true.

"I didn't actually use a ritual," Jason informed. "I just kind of absorbed it. I think it was part of the same power that lets me speak all the languages."

"What was that like?" Gary asked, tilting his head in Jason's direction, trying to look without diverting his attention from the road. "Just straight-up absorbing it?"

"Strenuous," Jason answered with a grimace. "I passed out."

"Can I watch when you do the next one?" Farrah asked expectantly. She was looking at Jason like a scientist would at a lab rat.

"It wouldn't hurt to have someone watching out for you," Rufus supplied. "We at least owe you that much."

"I haven't even decided what I want to do. I've been too busy trying to not die," Jason replied.

"What's to think about? Who doesn't want power?" Gary asked.

"Hey look," Farrah pointed out ahead of them. "I can see it."

As the wagon crested a rise, they could see in the distance, a strange patch of green in the middle of the desert.

"We're making good time," Rufus commented. "But I'd still prefer if we picked up the pace."

"Sure, the heidels are holding up well," Gary responded with flick of his wrists, getting the heidels to run faster. A dust cloud picking up behind the wagon as it sped towards the green patch of what must be the Vane Estate.

---

The edge of the estate grounds was startling apparent; a green line of grass and trees cut across the barren browns and yellow of the desert. Like stepping into a different world, a single step took them from scorched air and unyielding earth to cool grass and a welcoming breeze.

Gary brought the wagon to a stop once passing across the line, pulling on the reins. Jason was the last one to hop out of the wagon, still not being at 100% since escaping from his cage and rescuing the others. He was somewhat replenished by the water and restful ride in the wagon.

As the others readied for combat, Jason took a closer look at the startling border between desert and garden. It was a straight line, like a border between worlds. A single step went from scorched, desert earth to springtime in an English country garden. Looking along the border, Jason spotted pillars placed periodically along the edge, white stone columns with magic symbols carved into the surface.

"Are those things making it like this in the middle of the desert?" Jason asked.

Farrah was the one to explain, "They're only part of it. It takes a large and sophisticated system to make something like this work."

"What now?" Gary asked.

"Now we sneak into the manor house," Rufus ordered. "We find Anisa and we kill everyone else."

"I like this plan," Gary said with a predatory grin. Grey light started sparkling around him, growing thicker until it formed his full set of metal armor from before.

"I hadn't noticed before due to the world ending blood leeches, but that's impressive," Jason admired the smoldering, rune covered armor. "Isn't it hot in there?"

"Heat I can handle," Gary chuckled. After seeing him, a fur covered leonid, just lounge comfortably in the desert sun without breaking a sweat, Jason believed it.

Rufus held out a hand and resummoned that beautiful red-gold sword. After Gary and Rufus called their impressive equipment, Jason looked over at Farrah expecting her to armor up too.

She gave him an 'what are you looking at' look, "My armor is made of rock remember. I'm not carrying that heavy lot around. I'm not as strong as Gary and it's not conductive to stealth."

"I'd conjure up my cloak," Jason said, "but even if I had the mana, I think it'd kill me."

"What can that cloak ability do?" Rufus asked.

"It gets bright or dark," Jason explained unenthusiastically. It's kind of lame compared to their powers. "It can also make me lighter, so I can jump from high places."

Suddenly he perked up.

"Oh, and it lets me walk on water," he added. "I haven't tried that yet, though."

"I have some magic boots that let me do that," Rufus commented with an odd amount of pride, then frowned. "At least I did, until they were taken from me. We'll get our equipment back after we've freed Anisa."

Farrah had summoned the stone chest again when they were talking and pulled out two belts with heavy pouches before sending it away. One was grey, which she handed to Gary, the other red, which she kept for herself.

"What are those?" Jason asked. He watched Farrah loop her belt into her clothes, while Gary tied it around the outside of his armor. The heavy metal suit barely seemed to impede him.

"Summoning materials," Farrah answered.

"Summoning?" Jason asked.

"You'll see soon enough. Let's stay focused on the task at hand, shall we," Rufus interjected. "We need to find a way to sneak into the manor and retrieve Anisa."

They set off through the ground. The outer areas were manicured woodlands, shaded gravel trails making their way through artfully placed trees and shrubbery. Somewhere he could hear the babbling of a stream.

"This is nice," Jason commented while appreciating the scenery, his father would have loved it.

"Indulgent," Rufus criticized. "They should be working with the surroundings instead of against them. The cost of building and maintaining all this in the middle of the desert is beyond extravagant."

"I know what you're talking about," Gary chimed in. "There's a desert city not too far from where I grew up. It has a subterranean river, and half the city is built underground around it. They use the natural landscape to their advantage. Hardly any core infrastructure requires magical upkeep."

"Is that Zartos you're talking about?" Rufus asked.

"Wait, did you just say Zardoz?" Jason asked.

"No, Zartos," Rufus said. "Is Zardoz a place in your world?"

"No, Zardoz is..." Jason searched for the best way to describe it. "Let's just say it's for the best you didn't say Zardoz."

"Have you been to Zartos, Rufus?" Gary asked.

"No, my brother told me about it," Rufus explained. "He said it was definitely worth seeing."

"Knowing your brother," Farrah commented, "he probably meant the women."

"He's not that bad," Rufus defended, prompting looks from Gary and Farrah. "He's not."

"Zartos has a large celestine community," Gary stated pointedly. "But I suppose your brother didn't tell you about that."

"He may have mentioned it," Rufus said evasively. "In passing."

"Celestines," Jason wondered. "That's another one of the races in this world, right?"

"That's right," Rufus answered. "Like elves they're famous for being attractive to human sensibilities."

"We only have humans in my world," Jason stated. "The idea of meeting whole new races is exciting."

He slapped Gary on the back, which was currently encased in metal.

"But you'll always be my first, Gary," Jason added.

"I like your attitude," Gary responded. "Humans have something of a bad reputation when it comes to other races."

"I can believe it," Jason replied. "My world only has humans and we're still awful to one another. My dad's parents came from a different country than where I grew up, so I look different from most of the people I know. People in my own country look at me like I'm a foreigner. Even the people who do look like me call me a banana."

"A banana?" Farrah asked in confusion.

"Yellow on the outside, white on the inside," Jason clarified. "My mum's name is Cheryl; why can't I listen to Pat Benatar without people turning it into a thing?"

The other three looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"I don't think any of us know what that means," Farrah replied.

"Probably for the best," Jason commented.

The cultivated woodlands were small, soon giving way to gardens of colorful flowers. The pathway continued out from the woods weaving its way through the garden beds. Beyond lay the manor house, which Jason hadn't yet seen from the outside. Like the grounds, it was in the vein of a sprawling English country house. Three stories of old stone and dozens of windows, in the old money style.

"I think that's the hedge maze over there," Jason pointed out as they made their way through the garden. "I woke up in there with no idea of where I was or what was going on."

"That's where they found you?" Gary asked.

"Nope. Got captured in an underground room while out cold in a chair. Kind of embarrassing, really." Jason answered.

"Quiet," Rufus ordered. "We could meet enemies at any point. We have no idea how many were left behind or if the cultist that ran came back from the sacrifice chamber."

They moved out from among the flowerbeds and onto the lawn in front of the manor.

"Seems quiet," Rufus stated.

"Use our summons now?" Farrah asked.

"We go quiet as we can until we find Anisa," Rufus replied. "We don't want someone deciding to make her a hostage."

Suddenly glass shattered as a person crashed through a second story window. He landed hard on the ground, but immediately scrambled up and into a sprint. He was taken aback to find four people looking at him but didn't pause as he ran.

"You think you can run from me?" a woman's voice roared from the broken window, prompting a laugh from Gary.

"I don't think we have to worry about someone taking her hostage" he chuckled out.

Three spheres of bright light erupted from the broken window, spinning around each other as they pursued the fleeing man. He was bleeding from the broken glass and limping from the fall, but still moving as fast as Jason could at full sprint. It still wasn't enough to escape the accelerating spheres of light, flashing white and gold as they unerringly pursued him.

When they caught up, the spheres started spinning around the man, firing beams of light into his body. He let out a painful cry with every beam that lanced his flesh, but he kept moving in the drive to escape. The orbs tenaciously followed his every movement, firing over and over until he dropped. His screams gave way to dead silence. The spheres vanished.

The group looked back to the broken window, in which a pretty blonde woman was now standing. She stepped out into the air, light glowing under her feet as she delicately drifted to the ground. She started walking across the lawn to meet them.

"Didn't you all say she was the healer?" Jason asked.

"That's right," Rufus answered.

"This lady here?" Jason reiterated. "The one with the death orbs."

"That's her," Farrah confirmed.

"Suddenly I'm less enthused about subjecting myself to her ministrations."

Anisa was slender, almost frail-looking, with platinum-blonde hair and pale skin. She was wearing a practical outfit of fitted pants and top, all in spotless white. Sturdy-looking cloth covered her from neck to boots, with thicker panels over vital areas. There was a belt, also white, with many small pouches and a sword at her hip. Even her boots were white, without so much as a blemishing smear of dirt. Her hair was cinched severely back into a ponytail, revealing ears that gently tapered to a point. She walked with lithe grace and absolute confidence, nodding her head in greeting.

"You got free as well," she stated, as if expecting no less. "Why is there a vagrant following you around?"

Giving Jason a second glance, Anisa asked, " Aren't you the person that tried to get us out of the cages but got your jaw broken for the filth spewing from your mouth?"

"That's me," Jason answered simply.

Jason recognized Anisa's voice from when they had all been locked up in cages. He recalled she hadn't thought much of him, even then. She looked him over, her expression suggesting her opinion hadn't improved.

"He's lucky you were there," she commented to the others. "I hope you didn't let him slow you down."

"Actually, he rescued us," Rufus corrected.

"I find that hard to believe," Anisa responded incredulously.

"It was something to see," Gary said. "He's taken a few too many blows, though. We've been dumping potions into him, but now he's suffering from mana toxicity. Any chance you could throw a healing spell his way?"

Anisa turned her gaze to Jason. With a reluctant grimace, she held a hand out in front of his face and recited a short chant.

"Let the life that has withered return to full bloom."

"I think 'withered' might be a bit harsh," Jason muttered.

A soft light started shinning from under his skin. The perpetual pain in his arms turned sharp, the now-familiar sense of magic healing, although the spell was far gentler than the potions he had consumed.

You have been affected by [Regenerate]

Your health will be restored over time.

An icon appeared in his vision relaying the remaining duration of the spell. The injury indicator in Jason's vision was still yellow and orange, but over the half-minute duration of the spell, the health silhouette all cooled to a healthy green. His arms had long felt like they were stuffed with broken glass, until the healing magic remove the pain to his great relief. He flexed his repaired arms, letting out a long, satisfied breath.

"Thanks," he said. "I can move me arms now without shocks of pain shooting through them."

"You found our gear, then," Gary commented, looking at Anisa.

Rufus, Farrah and Gary had changed clothes, but were still varying degrees of sweaty and dirty, while Anisa wasn't just geared-up but also clean. Jason looked the worst of the lot. His shirt was sweaty and smeared with trail dust, while his pants could only be described as wretched.

"They have a storeroom in the cellar complex under the manor," Anisa explained. "Most of our equipment was there, but they'd already taken some of it away. Including the dimensional bags, which is why I didn't bring it with me."

"Let's start there, then," Rufus ordered. "They didn't take my boots, did they?"

"Your boots are still there," Anisa answered, prompting relief on Rufus' face.

"Summoning time?" Gary asked.

"Go ahead," Rufus replied.

"No," Anisa countermanded. "Your summons are both too destructive. My church is seizing this estate, so I won't let you destroy it."

"Let the summons search the grounds," Rufus offered. "If that doesn't flush out any hiding cultists, nothing will."

"They'll ruin the grounds," Anisa argued.

"Priestess," Rufus leveled an unyielding gaze at Anisa, "you brought this contract to us, so I'm willing to accommodate you, but only to a degree. After what we've already gone through, I am not going to compromise the capabilities of this team to save your church from hiring a landscape gardener. Is that understood?"

Anisa's face was a picture of unwillingness, but she nodded acquiescence.

"My dad's a landscape architect," Jason chimed in. "I don't think we could get him out here, though."

"Alright," Gary rejoiced. "We'll just whip out the old summons and then pillage the manor."

"You will not," Anisa commanded.

"Come on, Rufus," Gary haggled, not bothering to appeal to the elf. "What's the point of being an Adventurer if we can't do a little looting?"

Rufus frowned.

"Any personal possessions you find, you can take," Rufus relented. "Anything that is part of the manor stays where it is. That's furniture, decorations, art, whatever. And no unnecessary damage."

He waved a finger between Gary and Farrah.

"This means you two," he clarified.

Anisa still looked like she had bitten into a lemon but didn't protest further.

"Fine," Gary yielded. "It'll be a conservative pillage."

"Not helping," Rufus grunted through clenched teeth. "Gary, Farrah, you're staying out here. Use your summons to flush out any loose cultists."

"But the loot," Gary whined.

"Maybe think about that next time you open your big mouth," Rufus chided.

"My mouth was closed," Farrah complained, drawing a scolding look from Rufus.

"Fine," she said in defeat.

"Just find any cultists still on the grounds and pick up any who make a run for it," Rufus commanded. "Anisa and I will sweep the manor, so you might get some people running out."

"What about my gear?" Gary asked.

"You can collect it once the place is clear. Do you really need your hammer now that the collar is off?"

Gary held up a fist, now encased in metal by the gauntlet of his armor.

"No," he acknowledged reluctantly.

Gary's chagrin seemed to mollify Anisa somewhat. Gary stepped away from the group and untied from his belt the pouch Farrah had given him earlier. Opening a small flap that served as a nozzle, he started pouring a grey powder from the pouch onto the ground in a circle.

"Are those iron filings?" Jason asked

"They are," Farrah confirmed. "Summonses are a little more involved than most essence abilities and require something to act as a medium. Salt circles are the most common, but plenty use other things. For Gary's ability, it's iron filings."

She patted the pouch on her own waist. "For me it's obsidian powder. We keep a good supply of both in my magic chest."

Gary finished pouring out the iron filings into a circle and return the pouch to his belt. Then he crouched down and held his hand out, which startled Jason by spontaneously bursting into flame. Unconcerned, Gary reached out and touched the circle. The iron where his finger touched almost immediately turned red and started to melt, smoke coming off the ground where the grass met the burning iron. The flame spread like burning as fuse, making its way around the circle.

Once it was a complete ring of glowing metal, complex magical patterns started appearing inside the circle. From those patterns something rose up as if emerging from the ground, but the ground remained unbroken. It was a humanoid figure, crudely hewn from ugly black iron. With it came a strong smell of ozone.

It was huge, around three meters tall. It looked ungainly and menacing, like something hammered together from leftover slabs of pig iron. In between the joints, the glow of molten metal could be seen shining from within. The head was flat and blank. The center of the torso looked to be two separate pieces of metal pushed together, the edges ridged like interlocking teeth. As he watched, its torso opened like a hideous mouth, revealing a pool of molten metal inside, radiating heat over the group before closing shut again.

"Impressed?" Gary asked Jason, having already cheered up.

"Very," Jason honestly answered. "What is it?"

"It's a foundry golem," Gary said proudly. A droplet of molten metal dripped from it, sizzling when it hit the ground.

"I understand why Anisa doesn't want it in the house," Jason muttered.

"You too?" Gary asked sadly.

Anisa gave Jason an unhappy glare. "You," she sneered, making it sound like a swear word, "may address me as Priestess."

Jason didn't care for being talked to like he was something scraped off the bottom of a boot.

"Well, you," he replied with an insolent grin, "may address me a Rakishly Handsome Jason."

"Excuse me?" Anisa choked out, barely believing what she just heard.

"You're excused," Jason said pompously, as he looked away. "Just don't let it happen again."

Anisa's eyes went wide. Rufus stepped into her path as she took an angry step forward.

"Jason, you should probably stick with Gary and Farrah," Rufus suggested.

Farrah took her turn to summon a creature. She poured out her own circle next to the ring of scorched earth that had been Gary's. Farrah's process was the same, right down to the powder melting into a red-hot ring. Instead of a golem like Gary, Farrah's summon was a pile of black and red magma with arms.

"Lava that can punch you with a fist bigger than my head," Jason mused. "Why does she get that when I just get to see in the dark?" If it wasn't for the outworlder ability that gave him a gun essence ability, he'd feel cheated.

"Well, what essence did you use?" Gary asked.

"The dark essence."

"Well, hers came from the volcano essence, so there you go."

"There's a volcano essence? That definitely sounds better than mine."

"That depends," Gary responded. "Farrah's not great when it comes to sneaking."

"That's because she has volcano powers," Jason pointed out. "Everyone else has to do the sneaking."

Gary considered that for a moment.

"That's a pretty good point," he acknowledged.

Rufus and Anisa made for the house as Gary and Farrah set out through the grounds.

"I can't believe they made us wait outside," Gary complained. As they walked, the two monstrous figures ranged ahead. Both emanated searing heat, so Gary and Farrah didn't keep them close.

"I can believe they made you wait outside," Farrah told Gary.

"Maybe we'll catch some cultists," Jason offered in the hopes to soothe Gary's feelings.

"That'd be nice," Gary said wistfully.

"How long do these summonses last?" Jason asked.

"Depends on your power level," Farrah explained. "A few hours for me and Gary."

It was around an hour later when Rufus came out to find them. He looked down the row of scorched archways cutting a straight line through the hedge maze.

"You said flush them out," Gary said defensively.

"You were unspecific as to how," Farrah added.

"Well," Jason points out, "he did point at you and say, 'no unnecessary damage, this means you,'"

"Whose side are you on?" Gary asked.

"Justice."

Farrah snorted a laugh.

"Did you actually find anyone?" she asked.

"There was one guy in some kind of storeroom," Gary answered.

"Did you get anything out of him?" Rufus asked.

"The storeroom kind of burned down with him in it," Gary lamely explained.

Rufus shook his head.

"We found a carriage shed missing a carriage," Jason spoke up helpfully. "It looked like they left in a hurry. Seems like someone raided the valuables and made a run for it, not even stopping to pick up the stuff they dropped."

"Cowards," Gary stated.

"I don't know," Jason chimed in with his opinion. "Is it really cowardice to flee from an opponent you know you can't beat. Their very best were killed at the sacrifice chamber by collared adventures, who uncollared themselves and made their way here. I'd have been shocked to find that they stayed."

"That's a good point," Rufus conceded.

Gary just grunted out, "Still seems cowardly to me."

"You just wanted to kill a few more cultists," Farrah replied.

"And you didn't?" Gary asked.

Farrah nodded her head in acknowledgement, "I was hoping to burn off some more steam by melting the pricks that captured us, but no point wasting our frustrations when no one is here to take them."

"You'll get the chance for that once we catch the man that sold us out." Rufus mollified her. "But after I get some answers."

"On that front, did you find anything?" Gary asked Rufus.

"We found a few people squirreled away. After the cultist came back alone, the lord of the manor cleared out the vault and they all took off, leaving the staff behind."

"Wasn't the lord that high priest guy?" Gary asked.

"Apparently not," Farrah assumed.

"What did you do with the cultists you caught?" Jason asked.

"We questioned them and then we killed them," Rufus explained, matter-of-factly.

"You just executed prisoners?"

"What's wrong with that?" Farrah asked.

Jason ran a hand over his face, letting out a sigh. "Did you at least confirm they were cannibals too and not just a bunch of servants?"

"Of course we did," Rufus clarified. "We don't just kill people without cause. Every member of the Blood Cult is initiated by capturing and consuming someone. They all deserved what they got."

Jason's face showed relief as he wiped his forehead. "That's a load off my mind. If they have been eating people, death is the least they deserve."

---

With their sweep through the manor house, the group completed their mission. The cultists were dead or fleeing and they found plenty of documentation pointing to the main cult.

"So, these people were only a local branch?" Jason asked as he rifled through a closet.

"That's right," Rufus answered, opening a chest of drawers. "It's called the Red Table. They're only weak in remote areas like this. Core membership takes higher-ranked adventures than us to deal with. And if we'd known Cressida Vane had hit Silver rank, we'd have prepared better, if not outright turned down the contract."

Farrah adds, "If the Adventure Society had known it would have been included in the contract. Possible bumped up to a silver rank contract. We had no way to know."

"Still, I made mistake that nearly cost us our lives. If not for Jason here." Rufus chided himself.

"You can't plan for everything Rufus. Besides, I'm certain the three of us could have taken her if we hadn't been sold out like that." Gary commented with mix cheer and anger.

They decided to remain at the manor overnight before leaving. Jason was able to explore -leaving Rufus, Farrah and Gary to talk alone- and was surprised at what he found. Rather than the medieval technology he was expecting, magic had been used to replicate amenities from indoor plumbing to lighting to refrigerators. The horrors found in the cannibals' kitchen were stuff of nightmares.

Jason was looking for clothes to replace the filthy rags his current outfit had become. The local fashion was big on loose fits, letting airflow combat the desert heat. That made it easy to find something in his size.

He put together something suitable and took a hot shower, the water flow and temperature controlled by a pair of crystals. After he stepped out feeling refreshed, he put on some of the new clothes. The top was lightweight and breathable, fully covering the arms and with a wrap-around hood to shield the head and face from the sun. Gary had worn something similar for their previous trek across the desert. The rest of the outfit was loose pants and practical desert boots. Underneath were the silkiest pair of boxer shorts he had ever encountered.

He hesitated before using purloined underwear, but he decided not to go commando when they headed back into the desert. He'd done that once before and most definitely did not enjoy the friction burn his military issue fatigues caused. As for his old clothes, only the t-shirt was salvageable. The pants and sandals were beyond saving and got thrown away.

You no longer own items belonging to the [Starter Gear] outfit. [Starter Gear] outfit has been removed from the outfit tab of your inventory.

Remembering the outfit tab, Jason played around with it, creating several outfits from the clothes he had collected. His snake-tooth dagger joined the default ensemble, along with the snakeskin belt and sheath. He put together a few extra outfits, creating more sets for them. Conveniently, items in the outfit tab didn't take up space in his main inventory slots.

The most interesting part was when he changed outfits. Switching gear-sets shrouded his body in dark mist for a brief moment, during which the old gear was returned to the inventory and the new gear appeared on his person. He switched rapidly back and forth between outfits to try it out. The dark smoke lightly tingled his skin.

Night-time found Jason laying in a bed, staring at the ceiling. He was exhausted after the strangest day of his entire life, but his mind refused to retreat into sleep. That was nothing new to him, having many sleepless nights where he just drank and screwed his way into unconsciousness. Desperate attempts to forget the horrors of his greatest failure and unceasing nightmare. The fighting, the killing, the whole event in the sacrifice chamber renewed those terrors that continue to haunt him. Shoving off the covers, he opened his inventory to throw on one of his new outfits.

The group had claimed bedrooms in a row on the top floor. A shared balcony connected all the rooms, each accessible through French doors. Jason opened his set of doors and wandered out. He rested his hands on the balustrade and looked up at the sky. In a massive field of stars, a pair of moons shone bright, one half-moon and one crescent.

"I really am in a different world."

"You're just figuring that out?" Rufus' voice came from behind.

Jason turned to see Rufus emerging from his own room. He walked over and joined Jason in leaning on the balustrade.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Jason asked.

"I'm on watch," Rufus responded. "We don't think the cultists will come back, but they've surprised us before. We're rotating turns through the night."

"Didn't want me to take a turn?" Jason inquired.

"Honestly? No."

Jason chuckled.

"Good call."

He turned his gaze back to the sky.

"So why aren't you sleeping?" Rufus asked. "I would have thought you'd be out the moment you hit the sheets."

"Everything that happened today just keeps running through my head," Jason explained. "It brought back painful memories and a part of my life I thought I left behind me. Once more ending peoples' lives and bathing these hands red."

"You were impressive today. We'd be dead if it wasn't for you."

"It didn't feel impressive. I've gotten soft and sloppy lately. Though, not nearly as bad as I was over a year ago...neck deep in drink and sex. Burying my problems as deep down as I could. But the Colonel would have disavowed me for the rubish showing I put on today. As much progress as I've made in getting better, I'm still a shell of who I once was. A part of me just wanted to curl up and surrender to death, to let go. To finally stop feeling."

"I don't believe that," Rufus replied. "I've seen a lot of adventurers. Most you can teach, but some will never have what it takes. Others..."

He patted Jason on the shoulder.

"...others take to it like it's what they were born for. I don't know who you were before, but you've got the stuff, Jason."

Jason sighed. "It doesn't feel like I've got the stuff you're talking about anymore. When I first woke up here, I had no idea of what was happening or where I was. I didn't think any of this was real. The best explanation was that I'd finally gone mad, and it was all in my head."

"You thought I was imaginary?" Rufus asked.

"By the time I met you," Jason informed, "I was past stopping to contemplate. I fell back into my honed instincts and skill to survive one deadly situation to the next."

"You certainly arrived in rough circumstances."

"Impossible circumstances, from my perspective," Jason clarified. "The fighting and killing to stay alive wasn't anything new. Even finding myself in a strange place surrounded by people wanting to kill me is something I'm used to. But everything in this place is impossible. Where I come from, there's no magic, no elves. Definitely no awesome lion-men named Gary. Monsters are just myths and metaphors. Stories we tell ourselves about the dark corners of our own nature."

"But now you believe it? That all this is real?"

Jason nodded. "Anisa gave me pause, but yeah."

"Anisa?"

"A haughty, elf girl in tight leather that doesn't hide how much she dislikes me? That's exactly the kind of thing my brain would throw out."

Rufus gave Jason a sideways look.

"Don't look at me like you don't have hang-ups," Jason said defensively.

"I didn't say a thing."

"Sure, mate. But I get it. She's real. It's all real. This experience has been too long and too coherent, even with the concussion. Any explanation that makes sense in my world doesn't fit. At least, none that I know of. Hallucinations, madness, dreams. The ability to muster even a little bit of logical detachment implies that they aren't the answer."

Jason sighed again.

"If nothing else," he continued, "there's just too much going on for me to have come up with all of it. I don't have the imagination to have thought up all this. I mean, broad strokes, maybe, but not all the little details."

"Well," Rufus replied, "now that you've accepted it, what comes next?"

"I have no idea," Jason laughed. "If I'm really here, then I guess I start looking for a way home."

"You don't seem too enthusiastic about that," Rufus commented. "You said you're a shell of what you once were, right?"

"Yeah. I don't really want to go into the details. You seem like a nice guy, but I don't really know you well enough to get into all that deep stuff."

"Understandable."

"But I'll give the cliff-notes version. My therapist always said it would be good for me to talk about these things," Jason offered. Failing to bring up how his therapist had meant for them to be close friends and family, not some guy he just met a few hours ago. "I was trained to be a solider of my country, to defend it from threats both foreign and domestic. Shortly after finishing basic, I was picked up by a legendary gunman -one of the best warriors of my world- Colonel Lancelot Grey. He gave me a crash course on his training methods; making me a better solider, a better killer."

Jason involuntarily flinched at the painful experiences. As the Colonel had always said, 'The best learned lessons are the ones you can't forget.'

"After meeting his standards," Jason continued, "I was assigned solo missions to test me while giving me real experience in combat. I messed up a lot more than I'd like to admit, but I still passed in the end."

A smile mixed with various emotions crawled up Jason's face. "That was when the Colonel teamed me up with several of his other trainees from multiple countries and backgrounds. A special until he formed to do off the books missions."

"Off the books?" Rufus said in confusion.

"Ah? Unofficial missions that our respective governments could deny that had any part of. So that if we got captured, we'd take full responsibility for our actions. Usually being marked as a mercenary group or criminals instead of loyal soldiers carrying out our orders."

"Why'd they do that?"

"There are evil individuals and organizations that are too connected to the powers of my world to be taken care of openly. The type of people that arm terrorist organizations and sell people like a commodity. Even dictators that slaughter their own people to keep them in line. Truly, the worst of the worst that made sure they couldn't be targeted by countries strong enough to destroy them through blackmail and bribes."

Jason looked over the scenery as he contemplated on those times. "On those missions with my new team we ended a lot of bad people and their organizations. Becoming close, like a second family along the way... Then, on what would end up being our last mission, we were captured."

Jason's entire demeanor became grim as kept going, "We didn't have someone help us escape, Isa- one went down fighting instead of being taken alive. Considering what they did to us afterwards...well, she had made the better choice. This is where the details stop. Just thinking about it is enough to make me sick, let alone giving words to the horror we endured."

Rufus just gave a nod of acceptance, probably having a good idea as to what happened to Jason and his team. He's been contemplating what could have happened to his own, and what nearly did.

"We eventually broke free, fighting our way out. A member of my team falling one after the other until I was left alone. Broken, laying in a pool of my own blood as I could hear more coming. I'd accepted that I was going die there and join my mates on the other side. But I'd take as many I could with me before I went."

Jason went silent as he leaned onto his forearms on the balustrade, looking down at the ground.

"Then what happened?" Rufus asked.

"Rescue arrived," Jason answered in a dead tone. "The Colonel had found out about our capture and decided to come and save us, despite the fact we were meant to be discarded. He'd slaughtered his way through at least a thousand armed men and destroyed their fortress single-handedly. If it wasn't for what I'd just lost, I'd have been amazed. But by time he got to me, I just didn't care anymore."

Few minutes of silence stretched before Jason continued, "I left the ADF...actually, I punched my way out." A sort of twisted laugh of self-deprecation left Jason. "I always took the harder path on doing things back then. Like I wanted the extra pain and unnecessary trouble. But like I said, I didn't care anymore. Pushed my family way, crawled into every bottle I could get my hands on and fucked the night away with whatever woman I could get to spend the night."

Jason straightened up as the grim pain of his past mostly fell away, a bit still lingering in his eyes. "Eventually, my very persistent older sister slapped some sense into me and helped get my life together. Fourteen months sober and holding down a steady job again. Even started to get back into shape. Quality women weren't fans of the developing beer belly and love-handles. Then poof! I wake up naked, hairless, and running from cannibals."

"Well, despite your rough arrival, it sounds like you could use a fresh beginning," Rufus offered. "I can't pretend to know what it's like to have gone through what you have, but I know there is still a person inside you, Jason, that has what it takes to be an adventurer."

"You really think so?" Jason asked uncertainly.

Rufus didn't hesitate to answer, "You fought not only to live but to save me, Farrah and Gary -people you didn't know or owed any loyalty to- despite your past suffering and all the madness you woke to in this world. That fire to do what's right hasn't been entirely snubbed out of you, Jason. You did the hard things that needed to be done to stop the bad people in your world. All to save the innocent people who didn't have the power to save themselves, right?"

Jason nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"And you didn't hesitate to do the exact same thing here in this world," Rufus pointed out. "You did the hard thing and killed those cultists and saved us. And who knows how many others. You saw what was in that kitchen. There's a larder downstairs with a cell to keep people in, and it wasn't a new cell, either. They've been doing this for a long time. If we hadn't stopped them, they'd have killed us too, and plenty more after. You have already done the hardest part of being an adventurer. Whether or not you accept it, this is what you're meant to be."

"And if I don't want to be that person anymore? The one that kills the bad guys to protect the good ones. Living with the consequences that I know can, and most likely will follow."

Rufus nodded. "That's a choice only you can make. But this a chance to leave behind the broken person you once were. To become whoever, you chose to be. Even if you choose to do nothing."

Rufus looked over at Jason, then back out at the night sky.

"I'm an adventurer," Rufus stated. "Being an adventurer can open every door, give you everything you ever wanted. Power, money, respect. Travel the world, see amazing things. Nine days out of ten, being an adventurer is the best thing you could possibly be. But on that tenth day, that's the one when you earn all the others. When you make the hard choices, when you walk through fire so no one else has to."

Rufus turned to Jason, giving him a weary smile.

"Has it made me callous?" Rufus asked. "Yes, it has. Has it cost me sleep? Absolutely. But there's a whole lot of people sleeping safe and happy tonight because of me and people like me. I can tell that you have experienced this for yourself even before you told me about it. I wouldn't begrudge you for choosing to give up making those hard choices again to live a safe and happily life like them. But think about what you did today. How, even when you didn't have to, you chose to make those hard choices and took control of a horrifying situation. The safe and happy people don't get to do that. When fate comes for them, they need people like me to stand in its way. That's fine; it's what I'm here for. But I can tell you're the type of man that wants to control your own fate instead of people like me doing it for you."

Rufus took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"I won't lie," he continued. "In this world, the only way to do that is to become an adventurer like we are. Doing so will be just has hard, if not more so, than being a soldier in yours and give you more sleepless nights like this one."

Jason thought about what Rufus said to him. Was there still a part of him that wanted to help people? Yes. He knows that is true, as it has always been. But what really scares him is that he enjoys the violence. The fighting, bloodshed and even killing bastards that deserve it. He always got a thrill when killing some entitled little shit that hurt people for profit, or just their own amusement. That's the part that he was worried about most of all. Would he become an evil person if he continued down this twisted path of killing to protect good, honest, everyday people?

Then there was the fear of losing people again, like before. It was the torturing of his friends, his family of odd balls, and their deaths that really broke Jason. Could he bare such a possibility happening again. Then again, even if he chose to live a civilian's life here -whatever that'd be in this magical world- he could still lose people to monsters -which are real here- or cultists like this and not have the power do anything about it. Also, would he still be able to find a way home without the power and means to do so?

Rufus pushed off the balustrade.

"Give it some thought," he suggested. "When you can decide which person you prefer to be, and all the consequences that come with it, maybe you'll know what to do. I'm going to patrol around a little. You've got a lot to think about."

He walked off, but Jason called out to him before he disappeared back into the manor.

"Rufus."

"Yeah?"

"If I decide to become an adventurer, what do I need to do?"

"We can teach you," he answered, "but you start by absorbing more essences. Before everything else, adventurers are strong."

---

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable doing it with everyone watching," Jason said.

It was a clear-skied morning, but the magic affecting the manor's climate dulled the scathing desert heat to a pleasant warmth. Jason, Rufus, Gary and Farrah had gathered on a terrace, sitting on some patio furniture. Most of them gathered around a picnic table in chairs, but Gary was too big for the chairs and went to find another seat.

"But you said I could watch," Farrah argued.

"Actually, you asked," Rufus clarified, "but he didn't answer either way."

"I want to watch too," Gary added. He picked up a low bench, which turned out to have been affixed to the tiled terrace. Some of the tiles came loose along with the bench. Gary looked at the damage and shrugged.

"Can you please stop destroying the place?" Rufus pleaded. "Anisa is prickly enough at the best of times."

"Compared to what we did to the hedge maze, this is nothing," Gary reasoned.

"And you somehow think that makes it better?" Rufus asked incredulously.

Gary walked back to the group and dropped the bench loudly. The legs were uneven after having been torn from the ground, but Gary was happy enough and plonked himself down. The bench loudly scraped the terrace under his weight as Rufus wearily shook his head.

"I'm part of the Magic Society," Farrah said to Gary. "My interest in seeing Jason use an essence is academic. What would you get out of it?"

"What else am I going to do?" Gary asked. "Help Anisa organize documents? No thanks."

"That probably wouldn't go well for anyone," Farrah acknowledged.

The missing member of the group, Anisa, was in the manor's main study. They had managed to dig out various letters and other records linking the occupants to the blood cult in other regions. Before they left the manor behind, she was gathering it together for use as evidence.

"You might as well stick around," Jason yielded. "I don't want anything happening to me if I pass out again. Kind of how I got captured by a guy with a shovel."

"I'm still a little surprised you got your hands on so many essences," Rufus commented in wonder. "You did say you only arrived in our world yesterday, right?"

"It was a busy day," Jason replied.

"You're not wrong there," Gary chuckled out.

"Should I be doing this on an empty stomach?" Jason asked. "I'm hungry, but I don't trust any food here. All the kitchen had was a nightmare fit only for flesh eating monsters...and cannibals. Neither of which I happen to be, thankfully."

"Sorry, but we didn't pack food," Farrah regretfully informed.

"Right, you all eat money, which definitely isn't weird. I do have some tyrannical pheasant meat. Maybe we could roast it with your fire powers."

"I love tyrannical pheasant," Gary enthused. "How did you stop it from dissolving with the rest of the monster? Do you know monster harvesting magic?"

"There's a magic for that? It's an ability I have."

"Makes sense," Rufus stated. "Outworlders all have different abilities, but they're usually all focused around giving them the tools to survive."

Farrah nodded. "Looting abilities are rare, and valuable, but far from unique."

"If you have enough essences to make a full set, you can get to iron rank," Rufus explained. "Then you can just eat some coins as well."

"A full set of essences is four, right?" Jason asked. "I've got three more, plus the one I already used. So that works out perfectly. Suspiciously so, really."

"That's actually more than you need," Farrah informed. "I keep forgetting that you really don't know anything. Once you use your third essence, a fourth one manifests itself on the spot. They're called confluence essences, because they're a result of the three essences you already have. In my case, I used the fire, earth and potent essences, which gave me the volcano essence."

"Confluence essence only manifests after three essences are used," Rufus clarifies. "You can't find a volcano essence anywhere. Even when essences manifest near a volcano, you'll usually get essences like fire and earth."

"Is that where essences come from?" Jason asked. "They just appear randomly?"

"That's right," Farrah answered. "Your world may not have any magic, but this one has it in abundance. To the point where it just starts manifesting all over the place."

"Most magic manifestations are monsters," Rufus explained. "They just appear, hopefully in the wilderness, but the magic they're made of isn't stable. Eventually they break down and dissolve back into magic. Killing them just makes it faster."

"Say you killed something that wasn't a monster but an animal," Jason mused. "A giant snake, for example. That wouldn't dissolve into a stinky cloud?"

"Exactly. Monsters frequently aren't a problem when they first manifest, but as they get closer to breaking down hey become highly aggressive. The bulk of our job as adventures is hunting them down before they reach that stage."

"How long do monsters last before they go berserk?" Jason asked.

"Depends on the rank of the monster," Farrah lectures. "Lesser monsters only last a week or two. They start so close to breaking down that they're aggressive from the moment they appear, but they aren't really a threat. An old woman with a broom can handle them. Iron rank monsters last about a month, getting aggressive in the final week or so. It goes up from there, but this is a low magic region so mostly you'll see iron rank with a smattering of bronze."

"Monsters have ranks, then?" Jason asked. "Do they use essence too?"

"No," Rufus answered. "It just means they exist within a certain power threshold. Whether an essence user or a monster, each rank has a suppressive effect on lower ranks. We're all bronze rank. If you were to fight any of us, your iron-rank abilities would have much less effect."

"You can overcome that briefly by boosting your attributes with spirit coins," Farrah added. "That only works to a degree, though, and not for very long. You have to pick your moment, because it will leave you weaker once the strength fades."

"I know all about that," Jason muttered.

"There are other manifestations of magic," Rufus continued. "They're not alive, which makes them more stable and they stick around until you use them."

"Essences," Jason supplied.

"That's the most powerful manifestation," Rufus clarified. "Also the rarest. Then there's quintessence, which is kind of like chunks of essence."

"Could you get a pile if it and use that as an essence?" Jason asked.

"Afraid not," Rufus answered.

"People have been trying to make that work for years," Farrah expanded upon. "There's always some crackpot who claims to have figured it out, but it isn't possible."

"Quintessence is still useful though," Rufus pointed out.

"It may not be as powerful as an essence," Farrah explained, "but it gets used a lot more. Ritual magic, alchemy, weapon forging."

"I make weapons and armor," Gary chimed in. "I go through quintessence by the pile. Literally, piles of it."

"We found we found a magic supply storeroom yesterday," Farrah said. "They took most of the good stuff when they left, but there was quite a lot of iron-rank quintessence left behind and even some bronze-rank, just very little."

"Nice," Gary replied.

"The last manifestation of magic is awakening stones," Rufus returned to the previous topic. "Mostly they're used to awaken essence abilities, but they can be used in various kinds of magic as well."

"Like the thing they were trying to sacrifice us to," Jason offered up. He took out four red crystals from his inventory, laying them on the table in a row. "We all had one of these in some kind of ritual bowl, wired into our cages in the chamber."

Rufus picked one up. "I wonder what kind of stone they are."

"Awakening stones of the feast," Jason informed. "All four are the same."

"They're pretty common," Farrah stated.

"I had one manifest in my kitchen when I was a kid," Gary mused, "right into a pot of soup. My dad said that's why it tasted funny, but I think he was just bad at making soup."

"They can be useful with the right essences," Rufus kept going, ignoring Gary's antidote with practiced ease. "They're common, so there's no telling what kind of ability it can give you. They'll be related to the concept of a feast, but that can manifest in any hundreds of powers."

"Thousands," Farrah corrected. "The more rare an awakening stone is, the more specific the powers."

"So rare stones are better?" Jason asked.

"Not necessarily," Rufus clarifies. "A common as muck awakening stone can give you any ability the rarest could. It just has a much higher pool of potential powers. Rare stones don't give out better abilities, just more specific ones. So, if you want a specific kind of ability, that's when you need to find yourself the right flavor of rare stone."

"There aren't any guarantees though, "Farrah added. "Even the rarest stone might not give you what you want. You should always remember that the biggest determinate of what ability you get is the essence it comes from."

"I have this blood essence," Jason said, pulling a red cube from his inventory. The slick surface looked like it was wet with blood, but it was dry and warm to the touch.

"Hardly surprising that you found a blood essence around here," Rufus commented.

"Blood is a fantastic essence," Gary exclaimed enthusiastically. "You might get a health-drain power if you use all those feast stones. Then you can be your own healer."

"Maybe," Farrah elaborates. "It could be almost anything with common stones, but blood, plus feast? The chances are decent."

"Self-healing would be useful," Rufus states, "given how hard it can be to get a healer on your team. We've struggled with that ourselves."

"What about Anisa?" Jason asked.

"Anisa is a temporary addition," Rufus explained. "It's usually just the three of us."

"Self-healing is very common with the blood essence," Farrah informed. "Don't expect much in the way of powerful attacks though," she warned. "Blood essence abilities tend to be more insidious. Bleeding, poison, that kind of thing."

"No lava cannon?" Jason asked disappointedly.

"Sadly no," Farrah chuckled out.

"But I want a lava cannon."

"You probably want your essence abilities to be more well-rounded than Farrah's," Gary said.

"Hey," Farrah complained.

"In terms of raw power, Farrah is easily the strongest of us," Rufus explained. "But that focus comes at the cost of versatility."

"She's great at blowing things up," Gary commented.

"It's true," Farrah agreed. "I am good at blowing things up."

"Which, admittedly, solves the bulk of our problems," Rufus stated. "But when overwhelming, barely-contained annihilation isn't the answer, it leaves her somewhat at a loss."

"Power is always the answer," Farrah responded with absolute conviction.

"Mass destruction sounds pretty good to me," Jason agreed, "but it doesn't seem like the blood essence would give me that. Should I use it, or use another essence instead? I do have two more."

"That's up to you," Rufus replied. "It's best to consider what other essences you have."

"Well, I've already used the dark essence," Jason informed.

"That could work," Farrah mused before Jason could bring up his other options. "A sneaky assassin type. A bit of poison here, exsanguination there."

"Just make sure you avoid the death essence," Rufus warned, the others nodding in agreement.

"Death essence?" Jason asked.

"The death essence has some powerful abilities," Gary admitted, "but they come with big drawbacks. Very few essences have side-effects, but death can produce some nasty ones."

"Remember how we explained about confluence essences?" Rufus asked.

"That's your buy three, get one free deal on essences, right?" Jason replied.

"That's right," Rufus responded. "More or less. Some confluence essences are produced by a wide variety of combinations. The death essence had a nasty habit of producing the confluence essence undeath. There are many combinations that produce it, almost all of which involve the death essence."

"Take the blood essence you have here, for example," Farrah elaborated. "Add in a death essence and pretty much anything else and the undeath essence will pop right out."

"Undeath is bad," Gary said grimly.

"The abilities in the undeath essence have a nasty habit of turning you into some kind of unliving monstrosity," Rufus informed.

"If it came along with the blood essence," Farrah continues, "you'd almost certainly get an ability that turns you into a vampire."

"Vampires are a thing?" Jason asked.

"They are," Rufus answered, "and they're bad. For one thing, they can't sustain themselves with spirit coins or even regular food anymore."

"They drink blood," Jason supplied.

"They do," Rufus confirmed. "Imagine having vast magical powers and an unquenchable thirst for blood."

"Not a combination good for public safety," Jason pointed out.

Rufus nodded. "People with the undeath essence almost always awaken a power that changes them like that. Such powers are very strong, but they all bring with them unnatural appetites."

"If that wasn't enough," Farrah added, "they can often turn normal people into monsters like them. Not with the essence powers of the original, but dangerous enough."

"Vampires turning other people into vampires," Jason mused. "It's weird how my world has myths about them while they're real in this one."

"That is weird," Gary agreed.

"Even if the undeath essence doesn't turns you into a monster," Farrah continued unbothered by Jason and Gary's byplay. "it tends to give out less than palatable abilities."

"You already said the blood essence has life-draining powers," Jason pointed out. "Less palatable than that?"

"Yes," Gary growled. "No one will mind if you drain some health out of guy that stabbed you. As long as you don't drink his blood to do it, anyway. When you raid the local cemetery, though? No one wants their dead family members shambling into town as part of your undead army."

"And that's one of the lesser evils," Farrah pointed out. "We actually all met fighting a zombie plague."

"A real zombie plague?" Jason asked. "Zombies turning other people into zombies, the whole deal?"

"The whole deal," Gary confirmed gravely. "Entire towns were burned out just to contain it. Bad business."

"None of us want to see something like that again," Farrah said with an ice-cold resolve. "If you get the undeath essence we'll kill you ourselves."

Jason looked at the expression on the faces of the others and saw they weren't joking, and he didn't blame them. Natural plagues are bad enough and if a zombie plague is anything like the movies, he'd kill himself if need be.

"Avoiding the death essence then," he muttered.

"On top of everything else," Rufus mentioned, "the Adventure Society has a list of restricted essences that pose an inherent threat to ordinary people."

"The death essence sitting at the top of that list," Gary added.

"Mostly it's combinations of essences," Rufus explained, "since the confluence essence is usually the bad one. The death essence is on the list by itself, though, because it always seems to go wrong. You need to pay attention to the restricted essences. It's impossible to get membership in the Adventure Society if you have one of them."

"And I want to be a member of this Adventure Society?" Jason asked.

"You do," Rufus confirmed emphatically.

"Okay, I also have the light and void essences. Which combination should I go with to avoid getting a restricted essence?" Jason asked.

All three of them had surprised looks on their faces.

"What? Are they restricted?" Jason asked in concern.

Rufus was the one to explain, "No, though, the void essence isn't inherently sinister and restricted, it is often in combinations that are. Most tend to toss it in with tentacle, corrupt and death essences, though nowhere as bad as death."

"The biggest shock about you having it is that it's one of the rarest essences you can find. Up there with the dimension essence. Even Rufus' family would have a hard time getting their hands on it," Gary added.

"So, that's good, right?" Jason wondered.

"It's a rare and powerful essence," Farrah elaborates, getting up, "but the problem lies with how often its confluence essence ends upon the restricted list. I'm going to check the list to see if any of the possible combinations you could make are restricted."

"Good idea," Rufus agreed.

Farrah caused her stone storage chest to rise out of the ground. It rose up through the terrace without breaking through the tiles, like it wasn't truly substantial until it had completely emerged.

She took out a stone tablet from inside the chest. It looked to be made of swirling blue and white marble, with script written across it in what looked like actual gold. Farrah touched a finger to the script and it started shifting about, the text changing in front of their eye.

"What is that?" Jason asked.

"This is called a living document," Farrah answered. "It stores large amounts of information and is connected to a central record. When the central record is updated, the information in the tablet changes. This one had the full list of every essence and essence combination known to the Magic Society."

"Is that different to the Adventure Society you mentioned?"

"Yes, but we can explain all that once we get back to civilization," Rufus insisted.

"The tablet is a lot more expensive than a paper copy of the list," Farrah explained, "but it's smaller and doesn't have to be replaced when the list is updated."

"Does it get updated a lot?" Jason asked.

"There are all kinds of essences," Farrah explained as she kept her eyes on the shifting text of the tablet. "Many of them are extremely rare. Most people go for tried and tested combinations, but there's always someone trying new things. Ah, here we are."

She found what she was looking for in the tablet and the text stopped changing about.

"Let's see, you have the dark essence, blood, light and void as well. Hmm. There are several restricted combinations using the dark, blood and void essences...this will take a moment."

After a few minutes pass, Farrah starts informing the others, "The only known combination that is restricted is the dark, blood, and void that produces the vortex confluence. The vortex confluence essence isn't restricted, just when made with blood and void essences."

"Okay, so that leaves Jason's options as dark, blood, and light or dark, light and void." Rufus stated. "What do those produce?"

Farrah tapped her fingers a few times on the tablet before responding, "None. It seems neither combination has been used before."

"So, no matter what choice is made, we won't know what Jason's confluence essence will be. All we can do now is hope they don't produce a restricted confluence essence." Rufus contemplated.

"I say you go with the one that has the void essence," Gary suggested to Jason. "It's a really powerful one, known to give abilities that affect space and time."

"Power over space and time sounds awesome," Jason exuberated.

"Only on physical reality," Farrah elaborated, "unless paired with the dimension essence. You'll mostly have abilities that that negate things or create spaces that speeds up or slows things down. Possibly a special attack that could hit with the force that warps space and time but limited to iron-rank damage and affects."

"All of which still sounds amazing," Jason states happily.

"Those are only possibilities," Rufus informs. "Overall abilities of an essence change in accordance with all the essences they are paired with, and the awakening stones used to awaken them."

"So which combination is better?" Jason asked.

"Obviously the one with the super rare void essence," Gary insisted.

"It doesn't really matter which one you choose, seeing as we have no way of knowing what your confluence essence will be." Farrah said. "Every essence ability synergizes with each other to make unique abilities. Two people with the same essence tend to have vastly different abilities depending on what combination they went with. It's why most tend to stay with known and tested combinations."

"Besides, it isn't the essence that dictates the strength of an essence user. I've been beaten by an individual with the duck essence." Rufus explained. "What it comes down to is how you use those abilities, Jason. You have some skills when facing people with that strange weapon of yours. The loud one...what'd you call it again?"

"Oh, you mean my gun," Jason manifested his Malfeasance hand cannon. "It's a type of weapon from my world. They're like really fast -like breaking the sound barrier several times over, fast- and powerful arrows. This one even has exploding magic bullets."

Farrah chimes in, "See. I've never heard of such an ability before from the dark essence. It all can vary from person-to-person based on a number of factors."

"It's not an essence ability," Jason corrected, "not entirely. It came from one of my racial abilities as an outworlder. I'll get one for each of my essences at most, apparently, at the cost of one available essence ability slots and an awakening stone."

"Really?" Farrah wondered. "I've never heard of a racial ability that awakens a specific essence ability."

"Me neither," Gary said.

"I haven't heard of such a thing as well," Rufus added. "But I do know that outworlders tend to have abilities centered around helping them survive whatever world they end up in. So, it's possible he was given an ability to give him abilities he's familiar with as an adaptation from his world to ours."

"I don't see why not," Jason mused. "A world filled with monsters and magic makes me believe that just about anything can happen. Besides, without this here magic gun I doubt I could have saved myself. Let alone you guys."

"Yeah, who cares," Gary agreed. "He gets guaranteed magic weapons from his essence abilities. That's sounds good to me. He'll need every edge he can get as an adventurer."

"That still begs the question as to how he got such an odd racial ability," Farrah exclaimed. "All race's racial abilities are different, and outworlders more so, but none of them give actual powers. Usually boosting certain abilities or changing certain aspects about your body; like leonids having greater physical strength and durability. I've even heard of racial abilities that allow someone to get more specific abilities, but nothing so guaranteed."

Gary shrugs, "Maybe a God gave him a racial gift evolution. I knew a priest that was gifted with a unique evolution that let him smite people."

"Who was he a priest of?" Farrah asked.

"God of justice," Gary answered simply.

"Hold up; you guys have gods here?" Jason aske in disbelief. "I know I said I could believe that anything can happen here, but real-life Gods?"

"Of course," Gary stated. "You don't have gods in your world?"

"We have religions," Jason said.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Gary asked.

"No," Jason answered. "No, it is not. Do your gods turn up and do things? Where people can see them?"

"Of course they do," Farrah replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anisa's a priestess. We've seen her god show up in person. Spend some time in the worship square of any good-sized city. You'll see one sooner or later."

"That must forestall a lot of theological debate," Jason commented.

"If you decide to use that void essence, you might not want to tell Anisa about it," Gary warned.

"Why not?" Jason asked.

"She's the priestess of the God of Purity," Farrah explained.

"That's not good," Jason stated.

"You have a problem with purity?" Gary asked.

"In my world, you have to keep an eye on the ones who talk about purity all the time. Leave them be and they start rounding people up into camps, getting all enthusiastic about purging the unclean."

"That does sound like something Anisa would get behind," Farrah agreed. "Her church has this idea that the essences we use change who we are, so they only like the ones they see as holy or pure. They claim other essences taint the soul."

"You say that like you think she's wrong," Jason pointed out.

"She is," Rufus agreed. "Essence abilities aren't inherently good or bad. Like a sword, they can be used to oppress or protect. The accountability isn't with the tool, but the one wielding it. The only people who advocate that essences guide our actions, instead of the other way around, are religious zealots and people looking to abdicate the responsibility for their actions."

It was clear Rufus was speaking from experience, and not a good one.

"Didn't you all just finish explaining that I need to be careful of essences changing me?" Jason asked.

"That was a warning about rare and extreme cases," Rufus clarified. "That's what the restricted list is for. But people try and claim that extends to all essences, when it simply doesn't."

"Not that Anisa would agree," Farrah added.

"Anisa is wrong, but we're getting off point here," Rufus points out. "That 'gun' of yours is centered around how you fight, right?"

Jason gives him a nod.

"From what I could tell, you used it hit vital spots in a person's body to kill them from a distance." Rufus analyzed. "But adventurers deal with monsters that don't share those same weaknesses. And you'll need to use all your abilities to become a real adventurer. All of which will require skills you don't have right now. But I can teach you."

"Now there's an offer not to refuse," Gary commented.

"Agreed," Farrah added. "Rufus' family runs one of the most exclusive prep academies for adventurers in the world. Kings go to that school. If he's willing to teach you, let him."

"We all owe you, Jason," Rufus said. "If it weren't for you, we'd be dead right now, and we aren't going to forget that. So we'll do our best to help you find your feet as an adventurer. Maybe you can eventually discover a way home."

"Thanks," Jason replied. "I guess we should do this before Anisa comes out."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Farrah informs. "I left her buried in documents in the study. I think she's going to read every piece of paper in the whole manor to make sure she doesn't miss anything."

"That's good," Jason responded, "because I have an awakening stone that seems a little questionable a well."

Jason picked up the two essences that he chose to use and stood up. He was concerned about passing out again, so he led them off the terrace and onto the grass where they all sat on the lawn.

"So how does this work?" Farrah asked.

"I just kind of do it," Jason explained simply. "I want to try something this time, though."

He held up the light essence in his hands.

"Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me when I held aloft my magic cube..."

He raised the cube above his head with one hand.

"What in the world are you doing?" Farrah asked in confusion.

"I told you, I'm trying something," Jason replied. "I didn't expect it to work, but it wouldn't be the least plausible thing I've seen in the last day."

Jason lowered his arm back down.

"I'm starting to suspect that it isn't just that you're an outworlder," Rufus mused. "I think you might be strange in any world."

---

When Jason had used the dark essence, it had turned into smoke, painfully invading his body until he passed out. The light essence instead burst into a flash of light, becoming a mass of light particles that shot into his body. It savagely burned its way into his flesh, leaving him sprawled on the ground as he endured the pain. Gritting his teeth, he managed to stave off unconsciousness. By the time the pain subsided, he was on his knees, painting. His clothes were wet with perspiration.

You have absorbed [Light Essence].
You have absorbed 2 of 4 essences.

Progress to iron rank: 50%
(2/4 essences).

[Light Essence] has bonded to your [Recovery] attribute, changing your [Recovery] from normal to [Iron 0]. Master all light essence abilities to increase your [Recovery] attribute.

You have awakened the light essence ability [Cleansing Light].
You have awakened 1 of 5 light essence abilities.

"That was interesting," Farrah commented, voice clinical. "Functionally it appears similar to how a confluence essence is absorbed, although the strain on the subject is clearly increased. Too many unanswered questions for one subject. I wish I had more of you."

"The subject has a name," Jason groaned painfully.

"I wonder if the type of essence affects the process," Farrah mused. "You said you passed out last time, yes? Perhaps subjects adapt with each event."

"The first one was definitely worse," Jason supplied. "Not that this one was a lot of fun. I'm still going to need a moment."

"What's your new ability?" Gary asked. "You should be able to feel it, right?"

As Gary suggested, the new power had engraved itself into Jason, making itself a part of him.

Ability: [Cleansing Light of Restoration] (Light)

Spell (cleanse, recovery, holy).

Base Cost: Low mana.

Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Effect (iron): Cleanse all curses, diseases, poisons and unholy afflictions from a single target. Additionally cleanse all holy afflictions if the target is an ally. Recover stamina and mana for each affliction cleansed. This ability circumvents all effects that prevent cleansing. This ability cannot be used on self.

"Looks like it's for cleansing all sorts of impediments like curses, diseases, poisons and unholy afflictions from a person," Jason answered. "Even recovers my stamina and mana for each affliction cleansed. Though, I can't use it on myself."

"Sounds like a good one if it comes with such a restriction," Gary replied. "A cleansing ability that also recovers stamina and mana is especially good when you don't have a healer with you. We go through a lot of potions."

"Yes, we do," Farrah agreed. "Though, more from physical injures, but we've had to deal with being poisoned and cursed as well as recovery our stamina and mana."

"But you have a healer," Jason pointed out.

"Anisa isn't a permanent part of the team, remember?" Rufus clarified. "This contract is for her church. They asked us to take her along, give her some field experience. Seemed like a good deal for both sides."

"Seemed?" Jason asked.

"She can be a little judgmental," Gary stated.

"Also cold," Farrah added.

"Weren't you the one calling me 'the subject' a minute ago?" Jason asked.

"Don't talk behind her back," Rufus scolded. "If you can't say it to her face, then don't say it."

"Now you're being judgmental," Gary replied.

"Gary," Rufus sighed tiredly.

"Should I use my other essence next?" Jason asked. "Or should I use some of these awakening stones to get more abilities?"

"Essences first," Farrah ordered. "Your abilities are based on the essence and stone you got them from, obviously, but also on the essences and abilities you already have. Using all your essences first means your abilities will better complement one another."

"If you awaken too may abilities before you have all your essences," Rufus added, "your abilities will lack focus. There will be more random powers that don't work as well together."

"Synergy," Jason said. "Makes sense. Another essence it is. Not quite back in shape for the next one, though. I might just lay here for a little bit."

Jason lay back on the grass while he recovered his strength. He took the chance to ask the others where they would be going once they left the manor. They told him about a city on the coast, the only city in the entire desert region.

"Alright," Jason muttered, sitting up. "I think I'm good to go again."

He sat cross-legged on the grass, the void essence in his hands.

You are able to absorb [Void Essence]

Absorb Y/N?

The purple and black cube started to expand, swirling into black empty space, until it formed a miniature dark-star in the air the size of a Gary's torso. Space seeming to bend around the black and purple sun formed around Jason. Then it started compressing until it was the size of a marble and shot into Jason's body.

A feeling of internal pressure built as it re-expanded throughout his body. The further it spread through his body, the discomfort became pain as he felt like someone was trying to crush and tear him apart. Eventually the sensation passed, the pressure giving way to relief.

You have absorbed [Void Essence].
You have absorbed 3 of 4 essences.

Progress to iron rank: 75% (3/4 essences).

[Void Essence] has bonded to your [Power] attribute, changing your [Power] from normal to [Iron 0]. Master all void essence abilities to increase you [Power] attribute.

You have awakened the void essence ability [Nova Bomb]. You have awakened 1 of 5 void essence abilities.

Ability: [Nova Bomb] (void)

Special attack (time/space explosion, large area-of-effect attack)

Cost: High mana. High stamina.

Cooldown: 10 mimutes.

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%).

Effect (iron): Hurl out a dying star that warps time and space capable of completely vaporizing weaker enemies and stagger larger more powerful foes. This attack ignores all enemy buffs, defensive spells and armor.

"That one wasn't so bad," Jason said. "I think I'm getting used to it."

"Good," Rufus replied, "because you need to do it again."

As if to punctuate Rufus' words, three shimmering, incorporeal cubes emerged from Jason's torso and started spinning around him in the air. The cubes were images of the essences he had absorbed, plainly lacking in substance. The images converged in front of Jason, interposing themselves over one another. Once the three cubes merged into one, the result was a new cube, swirling with light and shadow. The patterns shifted like thick oils mixed together.

The confluence of your essences has produced the [Genesis Essence].
This is a confluence essence that you may claim or reject. If you choose not to claim the confluence essence it will not be available to you again.

"It's like a yin-yang lava lamp," Jason commented. "What happens if I don't take it?"

"Then I slap you over the back of the head," Gary threatened.

"If you refuse your confluence essence," Rufus warned, "you can only replace it with a normal essence. I promise you that is not the way to go. Only the clergy reject the confluence essence, because their gods give them divine versions of regular essences."

Jason nodded, reaching out with both hands to grab the essence. The immaterial image became solid the moment Jason touched it. Light and shadow started streaming out, wreathing Jason in a strange mix of light and darkness. It then moved on Jason, sinking into his body. Compared to the previous essences it was uncomfortable at worst.

You have absorbed [Genesis Essence]. You have absorbed 4 of 4 essences.
Progress to iron rank: 100% (4/4 essences).

[Genesis Essence] has bonded to your [Spirit] attribute, changing your [Spirit] from normal to [Iron 0]. Master all genesis essence abilities to increase your [Spirit] attribute.

You have awakened the genesis essence ability [Restoration of Origins]. You have awakened 1 of 5 genesis essence abilities.

Ability: [Restoration of Origins] (recovery)

Special ability (recovery)
Cost: Low to extreme mana.
Cooldown: 12 hours.

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%).

Effect (iron): Restore a single target to original condition prior to recieving damage. Mana cost dependent upon targets current state in comparison to original state. This effect cannot affect dead and fully destroyed targets.

Once the essence was completely subsumed into Jason, a light started emerging from within his body. It was a strange, grey light, washing out the colors of everything it touched, from the grass to the adventurers sitting around him. They were unconcerned, Rufus smiling broadly, while Farrah laughed, and Gary clapped enthusiastically.

You have absorbed 4/4 essences.

All your attributes have reached iron rank.

You have reached iron rank.

You have gained damage reduction against normal-rank damage sources.

You have gained increased resistance to normal-rank effects.

You have gained the ability to sense auras.

You have gained the ability to sustain yourself using sources of concentrated magic.

Jason leapt to his feet. He felt like he'd just been stabbed with a huge adrenaline needle, bursting with energy. He laughed out loud, looking down at his own arms. The light was shining right through his skin.

"This feels amazing!"

The others also got to their feet.

"I feel like I could climb a mountain or something," Jason exclaimed happily. He was too caught up in the sensation of power surging through him to notice the others giving him sympathetic looks.

"Yeah, well," Gary drawled out, "just give it a moment."

"What for?" Jason asked. "Why are you all backing away?"

The light started to diminish, drawing back inside Jason's body. As it did, he experienced a rising nausea, the sensation growing and growing as he resisted the urge to throw up. But he failed. He collapsed to his hands and knees, vomit spraying out of him. Red-brown pus started oozing from his pores, staining his clothes and coating his skin in oily filth. He kept vomiting and vomiting, bloody tears pouring from his eyes.

Finally, he fell unconscious, dropping into a pool of his own body fluids. A terrifying stench was coming off of him and the others backed even further away. Even in unconsciousness, pus and vomit fought their way free of his body. The others looked on until it finally subsided.

"That was a lot," Gary commented.

"I've done a lot of essence rituals," Farrah adds, "but I've never seen anyone purge that many impurities before."

"What do you think he's been eating?" Gary asked.

"He's from another world, so there's no telling," Farrah said.

"Do you think we should have told him about this part?" Rufus asked.

"Not at all," Gary chuckled. "Did you see the look on his face? Completely worth it."

"It isn't like it would have been any different if he knew," Farrah pointed out. "We all went through it."

"And he's an outworlder," Gary added. "He didn't absorb his essences the same way we did. We couldn't be sure this would happen."

"Probably should have told him to strip down first, though," Farrah conceded. "There'll be no getting the stink out of those clothes."

"Gary," Rufus implored, "at least go drag him out of his own filth."

"You can do it, if you want," Gary replied. "I'm not going over there."

"Farrah?" Rufus asked, but she shook her head.

"If you're so concerned," Farrah responded, "then you go move him."

Rufus looked over at Jason, splayed out in the stinking puddle.

"I'm sure he'll be fine."

---

"I need a shower," Jason stated with mild disgust.

"You just had a shower," Rufus pointed out.

"Oh, we're aware," Farrah chimed in.

After waking up Jason had been fed a stamina potion and pointed in the direction of one of the manor's bathrooms. After washing away the gunk that had oozed out of the very pores of his skin, he had changed into fresh clothes. Then was grilled about his confluence essence that wasn't known by the Magic Society. He had to promise Farrah to let her examine the new essence later, on the condition that it was invasive, before she'd stop asking questions -that he had no real answers to anyways.

"What was that stuff all over me?" Jason asked.

"We told you," Farrah reiterated. "Reaching iron rank made your body advance closer to a state of perfection, which included purging your body of impurities."

"There is no way I was that impure."

"It did seem like a lot," Gary replied, wrinkling his nose. "Maybe he should have another shower."

"He still has awakening stones to use," Rufus stated, "and I want us out of here and on the trail by noon."

Jason frowned as Rufus took out a pocket watch.

"You have noon in this world?"

They explained timekeeping in their world to Jason as they went back outside. To his surprise, it seemed exactly the same as in his own. He couldn't be sure how close their hours, minutes and seconds hewed to his own world, but they were at least close.

"It's weird they're the same," Gary commented.

"Suspiciously weird," Jason added.

"What about the calendar?" Jason asked. "Is that the same too?"

The local calendar, as it turned out, was similar, but not the same. Although not as close as the time. There were twelve months of thirty days, divided up into early, mid and late stages of each season. There were five additional days that didn't count as days of the month for the solstices, the equinoxes and the new year, which was at the beginning of spring.

"It still seems strange that we keep time the exact same way across two worlds," Jason mused.

"Well, maybe someone from your world came here," Gary theorized, "saw how we do it and took it back to yours."

"Or someone brought our system here," Jason countered.

"Nah, that doesn't sound right," Gary replied.

"Are you saying your world's better than mine?" Jason asked.

"We have magic," Gary argued.

"We have the internet," Jason fired back good naturedly.

"Will you two please stop?" Rufus pleaded. "Gary, go check on Anisa. Tell her she needs to finish up in the next couple of hours."

Rufus, Farrah and Jason went back outside, the others giving Jason and his lingering smell some distance.

"Did something happen to you?" Jason asked the others.

"Like what?" Rufus asked.

"I'm not sure," Jason clarified. "I'm getting a weird vibe from the two of you. From Gary as well. It feels... I'm not sure how to describe it. Not entirely dangerous. Your power, maybe?"

Rufus laughed.

"That feeling is our auras," Rufus explained. "Now that you're iron rank, you can sense them. We're both bronze rank, and not that far from silver, so we're a lot more powerful than you. That's the danger you're sensing. You'll soon learn to differentiate strength and tell a monster from an essence user from a regular person."

"So, it's an instinctual magic warning against beings more powerful than me," Jason thought out aloud.

"Yes," Farrah confirmed, "but it isn't completely reliable. Some monsters can hide their auras. People can too, if they have an aura power."

They arrived back on the lawn outside, staying upwind of where all the Jason goo still lay in a puddle.

"You've already used an awakening stone, right?" Rufus asked. "Was it much different to using an essence?"

"It was easier," Jason explained. "You need a ritual for those as well, right?"

"You do," Farrah confirmed. "Well, not you, apparently, but everyone else. How many stones do you have?"

"Seven," Jason answered.

"Good thing you can just use them, then," Rufus commented. "Going through over a half-dozen rituals would take hours."

"Wouldn't be that bad," Farrah disagreed. "I've done a bunch of them, so I can knock them out fast."

They sat down on the soft grass and Jason took out his awakening stones, laying them out in a row.

"They were using these as part of the sacrifice ritual. Is that normal?" Jason asked.

"Sometimes awakening stones get used as part of very powerful rituals," Farrah explained. "Even essences, sometimes."

"They did make an apocalypse monster," Rufus pointed out.

"Could that thing have really wiped out the world?" Jason wondered. "Not to say it wasn't dangerous, but it didn't seem up to the task of global annihilation."

"They would have had to feed it for a long time before it became a genuine threat," Farrah clarified. "They probably intended to keep it somewhere isolated and supply it with a steady stream of victims. Killing it as soon as it emerged was like smashing an egg before it could hatch into a dangerous animal."

"Even if we hadn't," Rufus chimed in, "there are people far stronger than us that could deal with it. Even if it became truly powerful, there are diamond rank adventurers out there."

"Farrah mentioned diamond rankers before, is that the highest rank?" Jason asked.

"It is," Rufus answered, "but you don't see them very often."

"Or at all, if you're most people," Farrah added. "I've only met one because of Mr. Fancy Britches, here."

"I don't wear britches," Rufus stated.

"Rufus' grandfather is diamond rank," Farrah informed. "He's chancellor of the academy his family operates."

"Diamond rank essence users are the peak of mortal power," Rufus explained. "The Adventure Society likes to keep two or three in the biggest cities, in case a diamond rank monster shows up. That rarely happens, though, so they largely go unseen. When you're that powerful, the idea of a higher authority is laughable. Mostly, diamond rank adventurers are mysterious figures pursuing goals known only to them."

"And there aren't that many diamond rankers in any case," Farrah continued. "The only reason they exist in the numbers they do is because they live so long."

"They live longer?" Jason asked.

"All essence users age slower," Rufus informed. "At iron rank you wouldn't notice the difference, but bronze rankers can live well past a hundred. Silver rankers can double that; reach silver rank young enough and you'll look young for decades. Gold rankers live for centuries, and I'm not even sure diamond rankers can die of old age."

"They're immortal?" Jason asked.

"It's a rumor," Rufus clarified, "but a persistent one. There's kind of an unwritten rule that diamond rankers don't tell the rest of us the limits of their abilities."

"So, am I going to live a super long time now?"

"Keep raising your rank, and yes," Rufus replied.

"Wow, that's quite the bombshell," Jason exclaimed.

"What's a bombshell?" Farrah asked.

"It's a weapon that causes a great big explosion. Imagine shooting Farrah at people."

"We kind of do that already," Rufus pointed out.

"So how do I raise my rank?" Jason asked. "I want some of that sweet immortality action."

"How about we walk before we run." Rufus suggested. "You can't even properly progress towards bronze rank until you awaken every essence ability you have. That's all twenty. The first step is using those awakening stones."

Jason nodded, picked up the first stone and took a deep breath.

"Here we go."

The stone melted in his hand, sinking into his skin with little fanfare.

You have awakened the void essence ability [Energy Drain].
You have awakened 2 of 5 void essence abilities.

Ability: [Energy Drain] (void)

Special melee (drain, boon).

Base Cost: Low mana. Low stamina.

Cooldown: None.

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%).

Effect (iron): Drain small amount of health, mana and stamina from target through palm thrust, restoring your health, mana and stamina congruently to what was taken. If attack kills target it will initiate [Soul Rip] effect.

Effect [Soul Rip] (iron): upon kill this instantly replenishes 10% of your health, mana and stamina.

"That's it?" Farrah asked with an underwhelmed tone.

Jason's stomach made a large rumbling sound.

"I was pretty hungry already," he stated. "I think the stone of the feast made it worse."

"You're an essence user now. Eat a spirit coin," Rufus suggested.

Jason took an iron-rank coin from his inventory. It has the metal-grey color of iron but was actually made of crystal. Hesitantly he placed it into his mouth, where it immediately dissolved with an intense fizzing sensation. It tasted like he'd touched his tongue to a battery, tangy and energetic. He felt power flood through his body, washing away the hunger of moments before. Rufus and Farrah laughed as they watched his expressions, wide-eyed and panting.

"What's wrong with him?" Gary asked. He had left the manor through the terrace doors and approached to sit with them on the lawn.

"He just ate his first spirit coin," Rufus informed, causing Gary to chortle.

Jason shook his head to clear it. "I don't think I've ever been this awake."

Rufus picked up another awakening stone and handed it to him. Jason nodded and took it. A familiar prompt appeared as he expected.

Do you wish to use your racial ability [Mysterious Gunslinger] to consume awakening stone instead to gift you with magical gun ability?

Y/N?

Jason gave his mental assent and the awakening stone dissolved into nothing. Then his body glowed with a white light as his racial ability awoken a light essence ability.

You have awakened the light essence ability [Divinity Trace Rifle].
You have awakened 2 of 5 light essence abilities.

Divinity Trace Rifle: [Mana Rifle] (Light)

Conjuration (weapon, fusion beam)
Base cost: Moderate mana to conjure.
Cooldown: None

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%)

Effect (iron): Conjures a magical trace rifle (weapon). Fires concentrated light beam (iron rank) that inflicts sustained disrupting force damage and resonating force damage at a cost of low mana per second. Reduced damage to bronze rank and above.

Effect: Judgement

[Judgement] (stacking, holy): Sustained damage with this weapon envelops the target in a field that weakens and stuns them. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. While the field is up the target will take increased damage from all sources by a factor of 2. Prolonged exposure to [Judgement] will enact the [Penance] effect.

Effect: Penance

[Penance] (holy, transcendent damage): Targets under the effects of [Judgement] long enough are struck with a burst of transcendent damage as the [Judgement] field collapses.

Just like with the cloak and his Malfeasance revolver, Jason can feel a change within himself. He knew the power instinctively. So, with raised arms, like he was holding an invisible rifle, light energy filled the space and condensed into a white-and-gold rifle, though unlike any Jason has ever seen before. The barrel is split into two wide parts meeting down at the stock where a golden middle points out with a container of white light connecting above the trigger to create a V-shape. {Destiny 2's Divinity with the Sky/Perdition Ornament}

"Uh, Jason? What's that?" Rufus asked.

"It's another magic gun," Jason explains, "from my racial ability 'Mysterious Gunslinger' to give me a conjured gun instead of what the awakening stone would have given. This one is from my new light essence, called Divinity."

"Sounds like something that'd belong to a priest or priestess of one of the gods," Gary noted. "Best not let Anisa see that thing. She'll claim you took it from a true believer of her god Purity."

"Well, it does say it has holy effects," Jason replied. "And I'm pretty sure the only reason Cresida Vane had the light essence on her was they she stole it from Anisa. Why esle would a blood cultist have something like that on their person?"

"I think it looks beautiful," Farrah commented. "What does it do?"

"It weakens and stuns whatever I hit with sustained disruptive and resonating damage," Jason explained, "creating a field around it that will double incoming damage. Then when the field collapses it causes a burst of transcendent damage."

Gary gave a low whistle as Rufus responded, "Transcendent damage. Do you have any idea how rare that is at iron rank?"

"Well," Jason replies, "I assume it means unparalleled amount of damage that ignores defenses and resistances."

"Yes," Farrah confirmed. "The amount of damage it causes can vary on the ability and the user's power, but it does ignore rank disparity. Meaning, your iron rank attack with transcendent damage would do just as much damage to a bronze ranker like me or, in theory, even a diamond ranker as it would to an iron ranker."

"In short," Gary clarified, "it does the same amount of damage to everyone regardless of how powerful they are. It's a really good ability."

"I wouldn't let that go to your head, though," Rufus warned. "Stronger beings can take a lot more damage than even iron rank monsters. So, it'd give you an edge against monsters at your own level and a chance against bronze rankers, a slim one. You're nowhere close to being ready to deal with bronze rank monsters."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it," Jason replied. "But it's nice to know I'll have options if I run across one."

"Yes," Rufus agreed. "Good adventurers are prepared for when things go bad. And when they go bad, they tend to go really bad, really fast."

"Like getting capture by cannibals for a blood ritual to summon an apocalypse beast," Gary supplied.

"Yes," Rufus dryly said, "just like that."

Jason proceeded to continue using his awakening stones of the feast. The next one he uses his racial ability again to get another gun.

You have awakened the genesis essence ability [Izanagi's Burden].
You have awakened 2 of 5 genesis essence abilities.

Ability: [Izanagi's Burden] (Genesis)

Ability Type: Conjuration (Mana Sniper Rifle, weapon)
Base cost: Moderate mana.
Cooldown: none.

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%).

Effect (iron): Conjure a mana sniper rifle that fires transcendent rounds that ignores all defensive protections and rank disparity at a high mana cost per round. Damage amount ranges from current rank. By increasing the cost to extreme mana one shot can deal damage one rank higher than current rank.

You have awakened the light essence ability [Field of Hungry Light].
You have awakened 3 of 5 light essence abilities.

Ability: [Field of Hungry Light] (Light).

Ability type: Spell (drain, cleanse, large area-of-effect, field)
Base cost: Extreme mana. Extreme stamina.
Cooldown: 10 hours.

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%).

Effect (iron): Create a boundary field of light that drains every enemy within of heath, mana and stamina per second over a 50-meter radius. Has cumulative effect. Allies within field have all diseases, poisons and afflictions -both holy and unholy- cleansed. Allies gain increased resistance to all types of afflictions. Lasts up to 2 hours or until castor dies.

Jason had abilities before he reached iron rank, but now he could feel them within himself much more clearly. They were like hunting dogs, waiting to be unleashed at his command. Even without the descriptions Jason clearly understood the abilities he had just awoken.

"My abilities feel incomplete," Jason commented. "Like a puzzle where I don't have all the pieces."

"There's a scale," Farrah explained. "At one end of the scale is people whose abilities are individually strong. Those people don't tend to feel what you're feeling, because their powers might work together, but aren't reliant on one another."

"Those kinds of abilities are strong, but simple," Rufus added. "Farrah's abilities are like that."

"Of course, simple doesn't mean bad," Farrah defended. "Straight-forwards powers are usually the most effective solution to a problem. It's when you try to get complicated that things go wrong."

"According to people with simple powers," Gary chimed in.

Farrah stuck her tongue out at Gary.

"At the other end of the scale," Rufus continued, "are abilities that underwhelm in isolation, but used together become very dangerous. Affliction, healing, and spell caster specialists tend to fall at the end of the scale. Yours don't appear to be that specialized, so it won't feel that awkward, but won't feel entirely right until you get the full set."

"From what you've told us about your powers," Gary commented, "you seem more like a support, long distant type like archers and spell casters. Weaken the enemy and set them up for your allies to hammer them."

"My Nova Bomb is a heavy damage type ability," Jason pointed out, "and I still have three more available abilities that can come from my void essence. I might get more like that one."

"You could," Farrah replied. "But it's not entirely unheard of for even elves that have an affinity for healing and spells to get one or two special attack abilities. Even if you get lucky enough, using rare stones to better your odds of getting them, you'd still fall closer to the support type."

"The only difference would be that you could be your own support," Gary continued. "Weakening the enemy and then finish them off with one big attack. You even have a bunch of handy abilities to recover your mana and heal yourself. A one-man team, of sorts."

"Though, nowhere as good as a real team would be," Rufus warned. "Even the best of adventurers joins a team at some point."

"No one essence user can handle every situation that you can run across," Farrah added. "That's one of the reasons we formed at team."

"But that's not something for you to worry about," Gary said. "You still have more powers to awaken and should focus on getting the basics down first."

"Speaking of which," Rufus cut in, "you have three more awakening stones to get through before we leave."

Jason nodded, picking up the next stone. Unlike the awakening stones of the feast, his next awakening stone was higher rated.

Item: [Awakening Stone of Adventure] (unranked, rare)

An awakening stone filled with the spirit of adventure. (consumable, awakening stone)

Requirements: Unawakened essence ability.

Effect: Awakens an essence ability.

"With awakening stones, you said rarity doesn't make stones better, right?" Jason asked.

"No, just more specialized," Farrah specified. "And harder to find, obviously. All stones have some amount of focus, but there's no telling exactly what they'll give you. Those feast stones, for example, could have given you anything from mana-draining special attacks to conjure food to summoning flesh-eating fish. People like to have some control, so stones with desirable specialties tend to be the most expensive."

She patted Rufus on the knee. "Although when you come from a big family like Rufus here, they ship you high-rarity stones by the crate."

"There are no guarantees when it comes to awakening powers, though," Rufus clarified. "Not even with the rarest of stones. What kind of awakening stone is that one?"

"Awakening stone of adventure," Jason informed.

"Really?" Farrah said in surprise.

"Those are highly sought-after," Rufus commented. "With a mid-rarity stone, it's hard to pin down what it will give out, but it's almost always a useful utility power."

"Just having a bunch of destructive combat powers makes you less useful to a team," Gary added. "Even Farrah knows that. A few good utility powers can really help you when it comes to getting jobs, since lots of teams will be happy to have you along."

"Here we go, then," Jason said as the stone melted into his hand. His whole forearm went numb, and for a moment he could see right through it before it returned to normal.

"That was weird."

You have awakened the dark essence ability [Path of Shadows].
You have awakened 4 of 5 dark essence abilities.

Ability: [Path of Shadows] (Dark)

Special ability (dimension, teleport)
Cost: Low mana.
Cooldown: None.

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%).

Effect (iron): Teleport using shadows as a portal. You must be able to see the destination shadow.

"Teleport between shadows," Jason exclaimed with a laugh. "Now that's a proper magic power."

He looked around for a shadow to try it out on, then stopped. "Aside from this weird springtime estate thing here, we're in the middle of the desert, right?"

"That's right," Rufus replied.

"I don't recall seeing a lot of shadowy nooks in the barren desert wasteland," Jason muttered with gloom in his voice.

"It is a lot of open country," Rufus acknowledged.

A little disheartened, Jason turned to his next awakening stone.

Item: [Awakening Stone of the Traveler] (unranked, unknown)

An awakening stone containing a little light of the Traveler. (consumable, awakening stone).

Requirements: Unawakened essence ability, light essence.

Effect: Awakens an essence ability.

You have 10 unawakened essence abilities.

You are able to absorb [Awakening Stone of the Traveler]

Absorb Y/N?

"That's a first," Jason mused.

"What is?" Farrah asked.

"This awakening stone requires having the light essence to use," Jason answered.

"Really?" Rufus said in confusion. "I've never heard of an awakening stone requiring a specific essence before. They're supposed to work for all types of essences. What kind of stone is it?"

"It's an awakening stone of the Traveler," Jason responded.

"Hmm. It could be an awakening stone made by a god for the specific use with the light essence," Farrah guessed.

"It must give a good one then," Gary commented.

"Okay, here goes nothing," Jason said as the stone melted into light before forming an orb that scans him with lines of light. It was searching deep inside of him for something, most likely the light essence, before shooting into him.

You have awakened the light essence ability [Ghost] (Light).
You have awakened 4 of 5 light essence abilities.

Ability: [Ghost] (Light)

Familiar (ritual, summon)
Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health.
Cooldown: None.

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%)

Effect (iron): Summon a [Ghost] to serve as a familiar.

"So, what power did you get?" Farrah asked.

"It's a familiar power," Jason answered. "That's like a magical companion that follows you around, right?"

"That's right," Rufus confirmed. "What kind of familiar did you get?"

"I don't know," Jason replied. "It's simply called a Ghost. Are ghosts real here too?"

"There are incorporeal monsters that require certain abilities to handle," Farrah explained. "If you mean disembodied souls of the dead, then no."

"It'll probably be a familiar that is incorporeal," Gary suggested. "Familiars are always useful and even if yours can't fight, it'd make a good scout. Possibly have abilities to combat those formless monsters Farrah talked about."

"I'll help you set up the summoning ritual," Farrah offered.

"Only after he finishes using his last awakening stone," Rufus ordered. "It can take some time to prepare the summons of a familiar. It's not as simple as Farrah and Gary's summons."

"Alright. That sounds fair," Jason commented as he turned to his final awakening stone.

Item: [Awakening Stone of the Apocalypse] (unranked, legendary)

An awakening stone containing a seed of annihilation. (consumable. awakening stone).

Requirements: Unawakened essence ability.

Effect: Awakens an essence ability.

You have 9 unawakened essence abilities.

You are able to absorb [Awakening Stone of the Apocalypse]

Absorb Y/N?

"I'm a little wary if this one," Jason warned.

"What kind of stone is it?" Farrah asked.

"It's, ah... an awakening stone," Jason warily said.

"Of what?" Farrah asked once more.

"Of... well... the apocalypse."

Gary erupted into laughter, falling back on the grass. Rufus raised an eyebrow while Farrah's eyes went wide.

"Really?" Rufus asked over the top of Gary's laughter.

"Should I actually use it?" Jason asked uncertainly.

"I'm not sure," Rufus replied. "I've never heard of that one before. It does sound like trouble."

"You should consider selling it," Farrah suggested. "An awakening stone like that would get you enough to buy all the awakening stones you're going to need."

"Don't you dare!" Gary yelled, sitting back up. "You're going to use that stone!"

"Gary," Rufus admonished. "He needs to be careful with his choices. We don't know what kind of ability that stone could produce."

"A powerful one," Gary stated. "Jason, you need to grab all the power you can."

"He's already using a rare essence with a never before heard of combination, producing a new confluence essence not known to even the Magic Society." Rufus pointed out. "What if that stone unlocks some power that gets his combination on the restricted list?"

"You know they're lenient on people who discover new things," Gary argued. "They can't blame him if even they didn't know."

"It's an awakening stone of apocalypse," Rufus exclaimed. "That's a pretty big hint."

"It doesn't matter either way," Farrah cut in. "Look."

Jason's arm was a mix of black and blood red from where the awakening stone had sunken into it, before returning to a normal color.

"That was rash," Rufus stated, disapproval evident in his voice.

"Before everything else, adventurers are strong," Jason responded. "Your words. These abilities are fine, but I saw Farrah spray lava like it was shooting out of a hose. I want that kind of power."

"Yeah, you do," Gary grinned out.

"Not helping, Gary," Rufus gritted out between clinched teeth.

"No, Rufus," Gary said with a hard edge. "He's right. He needs all the power he can get, and you know it."

"There's no point arguing about what's done," Farrah pointed out. "Jason, you might as well tell us what power you got."

"Uh, it seems to be another familiar power," Jason said.

"What kind of familiar do you get from an awakening stone of the apocalypse?" Rufus asked

"Again, I'm not sure," Jason replied. "It's called a Siva Walker. Every heard of it?"

"Nope," Gary said.

"Two familiar powers," Rufus commented, "and neither are ones we've ever heard of before. I'm starting to think this has more to do with you, Jason, then just chance."

"That's fair."

"Actually, most summoned familiars tend to be unknown," Farrah corrected. "They all come from the deep astral, that we know next to nothing about."

---

An hour later, Jason was drawing a complex magical diagram in chalk on the floor of one of the manor's many rooms. They had taken out the furniture and the rugs, leaving a smooth, polished floor. Jason had been working on the diagram for some time, guided by the ritual magic knowledge inserted into his head as well as Farrah's expertise. He stopped drawing for a moment to take some powder from a nearby pouch on the floor. He sprinkled a pinch over the part of the circle he had just drawn, most of which started glowing. He rubbed out the parts that didn't glow and redrew them.

The powder was ground-down monster cores from lesser monsters. Jason had several but they were all intact, so the powder had been provided by Farrah. She was guiding him through his first magical ritual.

"Putting together a magic circle isn't as simple as knowing the right design," Farrah explained. Any time she wasn't pointing out something specific she was lecturing. "If it were that easy, I could just carry around a bunch of boards with different magic circles on them. Every time you draw a magic diagram you need to adjust for the ambient magic conditions. A weak source of congealed magic like the core of a lesser monster is a perfect way to check your work."

"There's a ritual room under the manor with a permanent circle," Jason pointed out.

"That must have been expensive," Farrah commented. "You have to design the whole room around something like that to regulate the ambient magic. Did we loot that room?"

"Wasn't much in there," Gary responded. "The most valuable stuff was set behind the walls and into the floor, so Anisa wouldn't let us touch it. It was all pretty trashed, anyway."

Jason got to his feet. "I'm done. So, am I able to do a magic ritual like this because I already have essence magic?"

"You really don't know anything about magic," Farrah said in wonder.

"Was that not clear at any point?" Jason asked.

"Alright," Farrah replied. "You understand essence magic already. Simple, instinctive, usually doesn't cost anything but your own internal reserves. External magic is the opposite. Complicated, requires extensive training-"

"Or a skill book," Jason interrupted.

"...or a skill book," Farrah acknowledged through gritted teeth. "If you're satisfied with quick and dirty knowledge."

"Don't knock quick and dirty," Gary chimed in. "All my favorite things are better quick and dirty. Or slow and dirty."

Farrah shot Gary a look as Rufus shook his while holding back a chuckle.

"Ritual magic," Farrah continued, "relies on external sources of magic. That's ambient magic, plus more concentrated sources, like quintessence or spirit coins."

Scattered all through the magic diagram Jason had drawn were small piles of light quintessence, looking like uncut gems filled with white light. There were also stacks of iron-rank spirit coins. There were a few other materials, but the largest requirement by far was the light quintessence.

Fortunately for Jason, Cressida had a lot of light quintessence on her. If he was to take a guess, they were stolen from Anisa. Also, the manor's magical supply room had more than enough materials for both his familiar summons rituals. The lord of the manor had taken most of the bronze-rank materials when he fled, but all the iron-rank material were left behind. Thankfully so, some of the materials for his Siva Walker familiar are rare. And a few Farrah never heard of but was able to swap out for combinations of large quantities of the dimension and lightning quintessences.

"External magic doesn't require you to have an essence," Farrah explained. "There are people who make careers out of learning a specialized slice of external magic."

"Like plumbers," Gary offered as an example. "They know the magic to set up running water in a building. That shower you like so much."

"Exactly," Farrah agreed. "They know just enough to do a specific job. Most of those people don't have essences and lack the proper grounding in theory. The fundamental theory is the same, whether you specialize in rituals like me, magical craftsmanship like Gary, or something like alchemy. Same basis, different applications."

"What about you?" Jason asked Rufus.

"I'm good at stabbing."

"Rufus doesn't know external magic, Farrah clarified. "His obsession is swordsmanship."

"Your skill book gave you the minimum to be considered a proper ritual magician." Farrah told Jason. "The bare minimum. That's how you awakened familiar summoning powers."

"You can only awaken that kind of essence ability if you already understand ritual magic," Gary explained. "That's why me and Farrah have summoning powers and Rufus doesn't."

"You've seen Gary and myself call up short-lived monsters," Farrah reminded Jason. "Rituals that are also essence powers tend to be-"

"Quick and dirty," Gary interrupted with a grin.

"Please stop," Farrah groaned.

"I remember when you summoned those things," Jason said. "You just kind of knocked out a circle and out they came."

"Summoning a familiar is a more elaborate ritual," Farrah clarified. "Unlike a regular summoning, you should only need it each time you go up a rank. Unless our familiar gets killed, in which case you'll have to summon it back."

"Not everyone summons their familiar," Rufus pointed out.

"That's true," Farrah agreed. "Some familiar powers act like a call, and a creature that had an affinity to that call will come and form a bond with the person. Less costly than summoning, but if that kind of familiar dies, you can't just summon it again. You need to find a whole new creature to be your familiar, which may or may not be like the one you lost."

"Let's get this thing going," Rufus ordered. "You don't want Anisa to walk in on us."

"You definitely don't" Gary agreed.

Jason stood in front of the diagram. He could feel the power inside him aching to trigger the ritual. He knew the incantation; he had known it since the moment he used the stone. He held one hand over the magic diagram. In his other hand was knife. He cleanly cut the palm of his outstretched hand, letting blood drop into the circle as he chanted.

"Let this mortal blood beckon the light of the Traveler. Answer the call and judge your future guardian. Heed my plea and bring forth the avatar of life's everlasting light."

The blood Jason had dripped on the floor started disintegrating rapidly, being replaced by pure light. It spread out over the entirety of the magic diagram, obscuring the lines and only stopping when it reached the edges.

Then the light pulled back, motes of light rising into the air. An orb of light condensed in the center of the diagram where the motes of light coalesced. In one final flash of blinding light, a floating machine entity slightly larger than a human hand came into being. It consisted of a spherical core with a single glowing "eye", which is surrounded by a "shell" of several pieces that are slightly separating and rotating around the center sphere. The shell consists of eight roughly tetrahedral segments colored white with orange highlights.

The Ghost made a mechanical sound as grides of light poured out of its eye and scanned Jason from head to foot and deep down to his soul. He could feel it analyze his very being. Then the scan stopped, and the Ghost made a positive beeping noise.

"Finally," the Ghost exclaimed, "I've found you, my Guardian."

Then the little machine of light fully separated into pieces and shot into his body in the form of light. They bonded together, forming a neural symbiosis between them. But it didn't stop there as a window popped up in front of Jason's blurring vison.

You are bonding with [Ghost] of the [Traveler].
Your body has successfully bonded with your [Ghost].

[Ghost] is attempting to bond to your soul to complete the process.

Warning: Once an entity is allowed into your soul it can never be removed.

Allow [Ghost] to bond to your soul.

Y/N?

Jason could feel the power of the Ghost's light saturating every cell of his body, and its light pressing against his soul. An indestructible part of him that nothing can breach as long as he wills it so. For a moment, he wonders if he should allow the Ghost in, it's warm and inviting light touching his soul with a gentle touch. It's waiting for him to decide, not being forceful or invasive. It has to be Jason's choice.

Jason can feel that even if he refuses to open his soul to Ghost, he'll still be bonded with it, just on a less substantial level.

Just as the Ghost starts pulling back, accepting his refusal, Jason opens up his battered and scarred soul. Having not felt anything maniacal or devious from the Ghost. His new familiar's light fills his soul with a soothing, healing power that seems to ease the old wounds that have battered it. The open wounds on his body also heal shut.

You have completely bonded with Ghost of the Traveler.
You are now infused with your Ghost on an existential level.

You gave gained the title of Guardian.

Guardian (Traveler)

Effect (boon): All light-based abilities are increased, less mana and stamina costs and have reduced cooldowns. Increased resistance to afflictions, poison and curses. You now have an active mana shield that can absorb a limited amount of damage.

"Are you okay Jason," Rufus asked.

Jason takes a deep breath, then releases it slowly, getting a feel of himself before responding, "Yeah. Actually, I haven't felt this good in years. Almost as good as when I first felt when I hit iron rank."

"Hmm. From the way that familiar merged into you, it might be a physical boosting type," Farrah commented. "Though, most familiars tend to have ways to merge with their partners to give additional boons or powers."

"Am I the only one that heard it talk?" Gary asked.

"No," Rufus answered. "I heard it too. It's extremely rare for an iron rank familiar to have the ability to talk. Most don't gain that ability until gold rank."

"Maybe it was just a spell chant it needed to finish the bonding process," Farrah suggested.

As if on cue, the Ghost seamlessly appeared out of Jason's body, it's shell rotating about as it took in its surrounding.

"Uh... G'day mate," Jason said to the floating mechanical eye familiar.

"Hello, Guardian," the Ghost replied. "Are you in need of any assistance?"

"Ah, no. And just call me Jason. What's your name?"

"Ghost," it replied simply.

"Isn't that what you are?" Jason asked. "My prompt system referred to you as a Ghost of the Traveler."

"That is correct Jason," it replied while bobbing in the air in front of him. "I am your Ghost. It is my purpose to aid you in every capacity I am capable of."

"Wow, it's really talking," Gary commented.

"Fascinating," Farrah exclaimed. "Ghost? What exactly are you capable of, if I may ask." Her curiosity getting the better of her.

It turned to face her, it's shell rotating as it's eye glowed blue before scanning Farrah just like it had Jason earlier. Farrah stepped back a step uncertainly as Gary and Rufus ready an attack. But Farrah held up a hand to gesture them off.

"Human. Female," Ghost started rattling off. "Bronze rank essence user. Essences; fire, earth, potent and volcano."

"It has an identification power," Rufus mused. "Shame that you already have an ability that lets you do that, Jason."

"Hold on, hold on," Jason waved them down. "Before we get to the questioning my new familiar part, I want to give it a proper name. Calling it Ghost would be like someone naming me human."

"You're not human," Rufus reminded him. "You're an outworlder now."

"But I was a human when I was born," Jason replied. "So, Ghost. Do you mind if I give you a name?"

It had been looking at Gary, prepared to scan him next when it turned back to face Jason and answer his question. "That's fine Guardian Jason. I've known several Ghosts that have been given names by their respective guardians. It'd be an honor to finally have a name all my own."

"Just Jason is fine. Preferred actually. There are other Guardians... actually, what are guardians? I've apparently been given that tittle."

"Guardians are those that have been chosen by a Ghost like me to be gifted with the Traveler's light," it happily explained. "All Ghosts are just pieces of the Traveler's own light. From the moment we are created we begin our never-ending search for our Guardian. Those who have the spark needed to receive the Traveler's light."

"The Traveler?" Farrah asked. "Is that a God of some kind?"

"The Traveler is an astral being that travels from one reality to another, bringing life to dead and dying worlds." Jason's Ghost explained. "As a Guardian of the Traveler it will be your job to protect life from the powers of the Darkness."

Gary laughed at that while Jason rubbed the back of his awkwardly, "Yeah, about that. I have the dark essence."

The Ghost just floated in front of Jason silently for a few seconds before responding, "I know. I am bonded to your very soul. The dark essence, though often used by the Darkness, isn't explicitly its power."

"Its?" Rufus mused. "Does that mean 'Darkness' is an entity of some kind?"

"Yes," Ghost replied matter-of-factly. "It is an astral being like the Traveler, but it works in contrast to the Traveler. The Darkness goes from one reality after another, following after the Traveler to consume the world's blessed by its light. They have been struggling against one another since the beginning of all creation. Possibly before. Even I cannot fully understand the Traveler's intentions."

"But you're a part of the Traveler," Gary pointed out. "How can you not understand it?"

"You're a part of this world, yet don't fully understand it," the Ghost replied. "Some things are just too big for lesser beings to completely understand. Even those that have come from them."

"That's a good point," Farrah agreed. "I've never met such an intelligent familiar before. Would you be opposed to conversing more on the subject of astral beings. I've vaguely heard of them before, but it's not my field of expertise."

"Whoa, there. That can wait Farrah," Jason cut in. "What I need to know, is if I'm suddenly some form of follower of this Traveler guy?"

"What'd be wrong with that?" Rufus asked. "Most people tend to follow one god or another. Usually at great benefit to themselves."

"I have a few issues with kneeing to figures of authority," Jason explained. "More so to some all-powerful, immortal god."

"Definitely a good thing Anisa isn't here," Gary chuckled. "She'd try to kill you as a blasphemer."

"That's true," Farrah agreed.

"Back to the whole, 'I am a guardian of an astral god thing.'" Jason said. "Do I have to pray to this Traveler and be all obedient. Because, and this is a fair warning, obedience isn't my thing."

"The Traveler does not communicate or demand anything from its Guardians," his Ghost explained. "Several Guardians have actually gone rouge and became warlords that oppressed entire cities of people and even turned to join the Darkness. The only requisite the Traveler has for receiving its light, its power, is having the spark of light within them, and the abilities to wield its power. What you chose to do with it is up to you."

"That sounds good, but I really wished you'd told me about that before I let you literally into my soul," Jason muttered.

"In your soul?" Gary wondered. "Is that a metaphor?"

The Ghost was the one to answer, "No. I'm completely bonded with Jason's soul. Not even the Traveler could separate us. We live and die together. Though, I am ashamed to admit that without the Traveler's presence in this universe I must rely on the power of just your light."

"Does that mean you are restricted?" Jason asked.

"Yes. Normally I'd have the ability to revive you upon dying, but at your current light-level I can only increase your resistances to impediments, rate of regeneration and strengthen your mana shield's rate of recovery. If the Traveler was here, I could give you a full set of appropriate essences. Replacing the dark and genesis essences with arc and solar. At least you have the void essence, that's something at least."

"Wait," Jason replied. "Essences can be replaced?"

"Yes," Farrah answered. "Gods have been known to replace essences for their followers."

"I'd be a bit more interested in the bringing you back from the dead power," Rufus commented. "One of the most sought-after abilities out there is the immortality power. Just about everyone attempts to get it."

"Is that what it sounds like?" Jason asked.

"Yes," Farrah confirmed. "But, only at gold rank can it bring its wielder back to life, and usually with limitations. Couldn't tell you what it does at diamond rank. No one has any idea what their powers can do, but maybe other diamond rankers."

"From what I've heard," Rufus added, "the immortality power starts off as an extremely powerful self-healing ability at iron. Growing stronger every time it ranks up, until it can bring its user back from death."

"It's most likely that your uh... Ghost there can do similar," Gary chimed in. "It'll most likely be able to bring you back from death once you hit gold rank."

"That is plausible," Jason's Ghost agreed. "The stronger your light essence becomes, the stronger I will become. But if the Traveler decides to come to this reality, I'll be empowered with its light and be able to so then. No matter your rank."

"I think you've forgotten something important, Jason," Gary brought up. "Weren't you going to name your familiar there."

"Oh! Right, kind of got lost focus with the whole interdimensional god and the ability to cheat death thing being brought up." Jason replied. "Do you have any ideas as to what you want to be called? It's your name after all."

The Ghost just floated there, its shell rotating as it looked at Jason, "No. I await your decision, Guardian."

Jason sighed, "Jason. Try your best to just call me that. Hmm. As for your name..." He rubbed his chin in one hand has thought. "Gordan. Yeah. That seems good. Nice to meet you Gordan."

The newly named Ghost's shell parted wide as it rotated and made what appeared to be a happy beeping noise. "Gordan. I like it. Thank you, Guardian Jason."

Jason groaned with defeat, giving up getting Gordan to not call him Guardian.

"Gordan?" Gary mused. "Why not something fiercer? Like... 'Eye of Doom' or something."

"What? Gordan is a great name," Jason defended. "I like the name."

"We're running out of time here," Rufus cut in. "We have another ritual to perform and less time until we need to leave."

"And greater the chance Anisa shows up," Gary added.

"I'll set up the next ritual diagram to speed things along," Farrah replied.

After getting the next diagram circle set up, with the proper piles of ingredients, and Jason had drunk a potion to refill his mana, health and stamina, he once more held one hand over the magic diagram. In his other hand the same knife. He just as cleanly as before cut the palm of his outstretched hand, letting blood drop into the circle as he chanted.

"Let this mortal blood beckon the all-devouring power of the final threshold. Answer the call and claim the offering. Heed my command and bring forth the avatar of life's annihilation to usher in my Genesis."

"Oh, using that stone was a terrific idea," Rufus commented sarcastically.

"Shush," Farrah scolded him.

Red liquid started oozing out of the floor where Jason's blood had fallen. Dark, thick and viscous, it spread out over the entirety of the magic diagram, obscuring the lines and only stopping when it reached the edges.

"Does that remind anyone of something we saw recently?" Gary asked.

Jason felt a prickling sensation spreading throughout his body. It became sharper and sharper, turning into pain as if focused on points on his arms, legs and chest. He gritted his teeth, biting back a scream of pain as blood burst out of a dozen pain points, spraying over the circle.

Rufus moved to intervene, but Farrah grabbed his arm, "Interfering now would be more dangerous than letting it happen."

Rufus turned a frustrated face to look at her but stepped back on seeing her resolute expression.

Blood sprayed out of Jason like a fountain, ripping right through his already torn up clothes, wisely having chosen to wait until after the last ritual to change. He staggered, struggling to stay upright as the blood kept spurting out of him. As the blood mixed with the pooled liquid on the floor, the obscured lines of the diagram underneath started to light up, shining red light through the liquid. The other three looked at each other as the room was filled with red light like that had suffused the ritual chamber they escaped together.

Jason stumbled as the blood finally stopped pouring out of his body. He was pale and sweaty, swaying as he struggled to avoid toppling over, but he remained on his feet. His eyes were locked on the glowing red pool in front of him.

Then the pool of liquid started to congeal into vines with small black metal pyramids that had lines of red flowing through them mixed throughout. The writhing mass of red and black started converging into a shape as it devoured all the blood, the magic diagram underneath and even part of the floor and surrounding materials. Jason watched the process with eyes foggy, standing unsteadily.

The shape formed into that of an armored metal spider the size of Gary. It had three large legs on each side, armored with the black metal of the pyramids with red veins connecting them to the legs. A cannon on its bulbous back with attached missile launchers on the side of its rotating mount. On its black armored face was a nose repeater gun and glowing red eyes the same color as the veins running throughout the machine-creature. {Splicer Walker, only smaller}

Ability: [Siva Walker] (Genesis)

Familiar (ritual, summon)
Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health.
Cooldown: None.

Current rank: Iron 0 (00%)

Effect (iron): Summon a [Siva Walker] to serve as a familiar.

"Why is it that his familiars seem to be more like crafted construct than living creatures?" Gary wondered aloud.

"It is a bit unusual," Farrah agreed, "but familiars come in every possible size, shape and composition. Some are more like monsters, other are much stranger and more unknown, coming from the astral itself."

"It'd be funny if Jason summoned another outworlder." Gary mused.

"That'd be fantastic," Farrah exclaimed. "The paper I could write on that would be the talk of the Magic Society."

As the Walker finished forming, Jason collapsed to the floor.

"He really does pass out a lot," Gary commented. "And he really goes through clothes. Wait, is that thing going to eat him?"

The Walker rambled towards Jason's unconscious body. It wasn't far, but the monstrosity moved slowly.

"It's his familiar," Farrah pointed out. "It's not going to eat him. It doesn't even look like it has a mouth."

They watched the Walker break apart into a swarm of tiny black pyramids and red vines that then converged on Jason's limp form.

"Are you sure?" Gary asked unbelievingly.

The swarm sought out the wounds where the blood had sprayed out. The black metal pieces -now tiny particles- and the red veins started disappearing as they buried themselves into the wounds.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure," Farrah answered unconvincingly.

"Is it crawling inside of him?" Gary asked.

"It's a summoned familiar," Farrah informed. "A summon familiar can temporarily disperse its body and place its spirit inside the summoner."

"Does it usually look that disturbing?" Gary asked.

"You're the one who wanted this," Rufus chided. "Farrah, what do we do with him?"

"Well..." she responded uncertainly, "he should be fine."

"He's covered in wounds," Gary pointed out. "With whatever that stuff is crawling into them."

"They won't hurt him," Farrah reiterated. "They're not even really crawling inside him. Look closely and you'll see they're actually merging into his blood. See how they're kind of melting as they push their way in?"

"I think that might be worse." Gary replied. "I mean, melted...that stuff can't be something you want in your blood, right?"

"He'll be fine," Farrah once more stated. "Probably. Every familiar give different benefits when it subsumes itself into the summoner. They can merge themselves into the hair, the skin, even the aura. His Ghost familiar Gordan merged into his soul, which is more disconcerting than this. If I remember rightly, the ones who enter the blood usually induce rapid healing. So really, he should be better than fine."

They watched as the last of the strange mechanical substance vanished into Jason's blood. The three adventurers stood over Jason, still lying unconscious and undignified on the floor.

"Is he healing?" Gary asked.

"I can't tell," Rufus replied. "There's blood over all the wounds."

"Well, wipe some off," Gary said.

"You're the one who wanted him to use that stone," Rufus reminded Gary. "You wipe some off."

"I have fur," Gary argued. "I don't want to get blood in it."

"Since when has that been a concern?" Rufus asked incredulously.

"It's a new thing," Gary explained. "I'm growing as a person, and I think you should support that. By being the one who wipes the blood off."

Farrah shook her head, pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket.

"You two are children," she admonished, wiping carefully at the blood patch on Jason's arm. Underneath was clear, unbroken skin.

"See?" she said to the others. "I told you he'd be fine. I had total confidence."

Gordan materialized out of Jason, "Forgiveness, but I was unable to act during the summoning ritual. My interference in healing Jason would have interrupted the process and caused the ritual to fail. I was also hindered in healing my Guardian as the Siva nanites bonded to his flesh."

"Nanites?" Farrah wondered. "Do you know what that familiar is, Gordan?"

"Yes. Siva is an advanced fusion of technology and magic that was created to save a dying world. But the Darkness had ravaged that world before it could be activated. Centuries later, a group of Guardians uncovered Siva in the hopes of using it to fight back agents of the Darkness, but it was under the control of a damaged intelligence called Rasputin and attacked," Gordan explained. "It breaks down all material, both organic and nonorganic, to create whatever the user desires. Entire cities fell to Siva, everything devoured and repurposed to become weapons of the Warmind Rasputin. Eventually, the group of Guardians known as the Iron Lords, the most powerful Guardians of their world, were able to seal away Siva before it ravaged the entire world. But at a great cost. Only one of them survived."

"That doesn't sound good," Gary admitted.

"You think?" Rufus harshly replied.

"Once more, centuries later, a species called the Fallen found and reopened the chamber that sealed away Siva," Gordon continued. "They weaponized Siva successfully to wage war on their enemies. They were eventually defeated and Siva once more locked away out of mortal hands. But a few of the Fallen's creations still found their way into the astral and became tools for great astral beings or subjects for study. The Siva Walker is one such example."

The Ghost proceeded to scan Jason's prone form before adding, "Thankfully, the bonding was successful and without major mutation to his body."

"Mutation?!" Rufus exclaimed. "Are you saying that familiar could have change his body?"

The question was leveled at the Ghost, but Rufus' hard, accusing gaze was purely planted on Gary. Who had the decency to flinch back and say, "Sorry."

"Yes. 99.9% of all subjects that took Siva into their bodies ended up with extensive mutations," Gordan answered. "Fortunately, the Travelers light, gifted to Jason as a Guardian through me, allowed me to control the process and minimize the mutations."

"Minimize?" Farrah said. "So, his body was still mutated?"

"Correct," Gordan answered matter-of-factly.

The three adventures shared a grave look before Rufus asked for clarification. All of them prepared to kill Jason if the mutations would turn him into a monster.

"Increased healing, boosted physical strength, and hardened skin," Gordan informed. "He'll also be able to summon Siva and use all of its functions but to a limited degree. Its power and function being limited to his current rank. He can't destroy cities like Rasputin could. Jason is just an iron rank being after all."

"But he can break down living and nonliving things to create weapons, right?" Rufus asked.

"No," Gordan replied. "This mass of Siva was already infused with a Walker tank and can only form into it, and its simple mindset is to follow its summoners orders. Though, it can turn into nanites and break down all matter to increase its own size and power. Limited to the boundary of Jason's current level of magical power and his own desires."

"So, it won't go off on an apocalyptic rampage on its own?" Farrah asked hopefully.

"Correct," Gordan answered. "Even if my Guardian ordered the Walker to do so, it lacks the power to do it."

That came to a great relief to all three of them.

"See, it all worked out just fine," Garry said. "You worry too much Rufus."

"And you don't think things through enough," Rufus argued.

"You're both right," Farrah cut in. "But we did just dodge a rather nasty arrow, Gary. A little more caution on our part going forward would be wise."