But for a Slime

* * *

Joe woke the next morning with a sense of frustration and subtle despair, a rage that simmered lightly beneath his thoughts until he suddenly felt a peace that swelled through him and he smiled, softly, remembering Gwenvair. He glanced over at her and couldn’t stifle the smile, sighing deeply in joy before rising and slipping from the room quietly.

He eagerly headed to the courtyard, hopeful of having another moment of epiphany, but found himself returned to his normal effort with little noticeable return. Still, he found himself quite enjoying the new ideas he’d gained and spent quite a bit of time diving into them, exploring and practicing them, both in his katas as well as in mental preparations.

After exhausting himself for a time on this, he sat and turned to his mana explorations, diving back into the new ways of expressing mana and tapping into it. It seemed that almost all his moments of mana preparation from the epiphany yesterday were focused on his ability to release it. Some of it was in making the process easier, others in making the release smoother, still others in allowing greater control, but all of it was purely on mana release. And he felt like that there was still so much more he could learn.

He spent a good half an hour practicing the various forms of releasing mana both individually then slowly combining them all together, gaining a whole greater than the sum of each individual part. By the end of his practice, he was finding himself quite pleased with what he was capable of, but even then, he’d already gained several ideas on what he could further do, and thus spent the rest of the time trying various options that were now readily conceivable to him now that he’d experience several new concepts.

It didn’t prove strictly fruitful, as every new idea he attempted mostly gave him quite a bit of pain. And those that didn’t, simply proved to be inferior to what he had already experienced. Still, he learned a lot, especially on what he shouldn’t do and, to some extent, why doing it those ways were rather dumb.

As he started another ‘dumb’ idea, he heard soft chatter coming from the kitchen doorway and opened his eyes, looking up to see Gwenvair coming in, leading the others. Joe smiled, a feeling a satisfied peace swelling up within him as he watched her walk in. That was a useful practice!

He stood and groaned a bit, although he did smile as he groaned, “Guess I was sitting too long! Sorry I ran out on you yesterday.”

Gwenvair smiled, pausing in her movements, “No. It’s fine. Did… everything work out?”

Joe grinned, happy as he nodded, “Yeah… it… I’m not sure, but I’m feeling a lot better.”

Gwenvair smiled as well, “I can feel it.”

Feel it? Huh… translation magic busted on this one? I guess?

Joe nodded, “Yeah. Do you want to work on your forms?”

Gwenair grinned, excited, “Definitely!”

“Great. Uh… do you mind if we talk while you practice your forms?”

Gwenvaire nodded, “Sure.”

“So… combat jobs… Just… I’ve noticed something … no… wait… just… can you give me an overview of combat jobs, first?” Don’t want to guide the conversation.

Gwenvaire glanced up at him as she settled into one of the beginner kata’s practicing simple punches and kicks, “Yes?”

“Can you give me an overview of them?”

Gwenvaire nodded, “There are… so many…”

Joe listened, and began to circle Gwenvaire, shifting an arm, ankle, or wrist slightly as she continued to punch, “And there is little I could teach you, to be honest, but there is some … common knowledge about the combat lines, but… I am uncertain how useful it will be.”

Joe quirked an eyebrow, “What does that… ok. I’m listening.”

“It is an old, old truth. Very old. None know where it comes from, but all venerate it. It’s an old poem”

Joe noticed Gwenvaire’s seriousness and quickly nodded, showing he was listening carefully.

“Eight paths of attack

Eight tracks to contact

Eight roads of variance

Eight varieties of brilliance

Thousands to dominate

Thousands to elevate

Eight to thousands, a gate

Thousands empowered by Eight”

A… poem… that… ok, that makes sense… verbal society… using chant, poetry, and song to remember … although they really don’t do as much as we did back on Earth… but… magic? Maybe? Yeah… probably magic! Don’t need verbal cues as much… I guess? That would make sense.

Joe shook his head and turned back to Gwenvaire, “Does anyone know what it means?”

Gwenvaire sighed, “The scholar’s guild has offered significant rewards to any who could find it. The rewards are now… a joke. Thousands of millenia have passed and no one has claimed it. Although… they promise also to distribute the knowledge of it, so any who has learned of it would likely not wish to reveal such power, so… but I do not know.”

Joe smirked humorously at that. Wonder if there’s interest prize on that? heh… Ooh… maybe not a topic to talk about with Kukurnal… or here. And… yeah… could understand keeping it a secret… especially if there’s some kind of ‘magic’ power to this…

“Do we know who wrote it?”

Gwenvair shook her head, “No. Although, some claim it was an old friend or acquaintance of Aelthron.”

“Was it?”

Gwenvair shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. If it was, it was one that outlived Aelthron. It was written after his death, but that is all we know.”

Joe returned his focus to Gwenvaire, “And rumors?”

Gwenvaire rolled her eyes in joking exasperation, “You and rumors!”

Joe shrugged and smiled.

She chuckled as she paused, continuing her Kata for a time, Joe also pausing to offer meaningful tips and hints. As he did so, he glanced over, surprised to see Stephliquen joining them, performing a set of vigorous stretches and Joe nodded. So… probably not from this plane… so. He glanced to Kalia and Xylarnae but neither seemed to understand what was happening, although Xylarnae seemed to be focused with avid attention. After a few moments watching Stephliquen, Xylarnae joined and began copying the statuesque Amazonian blonde in her stretches.

Joe turned back to Gwenvaire, “So, rumors?”

She nodded, “There really are not many. Some believe that the eight means jobs leading to more jobs, but…” she shrugged at that then stopped when it messed up her kata, “none understand what it might mean. There are no eight blocking the jobs. There seem to be two kinds of jobs. One kind, and most jobs are of this kind, are jobs focused around a specific weapon. The second kind is focused over a specific operation or work.”

“Operation? Work?”

“Hmm.. yes… like the horsemen, or soldier job. There are not many of these jobs… Our clan…” she paused at that, a subtle sadness radiating slightly before then pushed on through, “know of only four...”

“Huh… ok. Interesting… I’ll have to look at the available jobs… maybe a hint there? Or…”

“Possibly. Your expertise with the status is amazing.”

Joe grinned, “No expertise, really. Just a skill I have.”

“A skill?”

Joe smiled softly, “A small one. I can teach you if you wish.”

Gwenvaire’s face brightened at that, grinning, “Please?”

“Ha! Sure.” So… teach reading and writing at night?

A grunt from the side drew his attention, and he saw Xylarnae wincing in pain as she attempted to duplicate a stretch Stephliquen was doing, “No, no…wait… you’re going to kill your muscles, tendons…everything like that… try this…”

Joe began what he naturally did, and helped Xylarnae properly stretch, going through everything as she continually mimicked Stephliquen. Stephliquen needed almost no help, and even slowed to allow Xylarnae to copy her. Most of the stretches were fairly obvious, her body identical to his own, but for her measurements. There was one odd stretch she did that Joe immediately recognized as a poor option and stopped her, offering a slightly better one. She seemed surprised at first, then quickly nodded thanks trying the new one. She nodded in thanks again when she realized its superiority. It didn’t happen often, but they exchanged a couple odd exercises that both thought would be superior and Joe learned a couple things about arm stretches he hadn’t really realized. While they had no ability to converse, the two grew to respect each other a bit more.

Joe glanced over at Kalia, but she simply stared at him and did nothing and Joe turned back to the other three, offering them the help they needed. Gwenvaire continued her katas and after Stephliquen finished her own physical combat routines, Joe’s eyes narrowed. She’s… trained… quite well. Joe noticed and watched her diligently for a bit before standing and then nodding to her before beckoning. She narrowed her eyes as well before nodding her head cautiously and then he bowed.

She stared at him curiously then seemed to understand and offered her own odd movement of respect that Joe saw as a bow at the waist as well, although it had an odd twist to it where she turned her upper torso sideways, dropping an arm towards the ground and her other arm up parallel to her body down her spine. She kept her gaze on him.

He remained where he was until she stood again and when he nodded, she returned the nod. He stepped forward and offered a hard but telegraphed punch to her left shoulder. She bounced back, almost like she was on a trampoline, then settled again. Joe grinned and nodded. She grinned as well and swung a right kick at him in response.

His reaction obviously caught her by surprise, his reaction immediate as he stepped hard into the kick, catching the kick across his left forearm and bicep as he pulled his left fist up to his left shoulder and tensed, keeping it very close and parallel to his body. He caught her kick just above her knee on her lower thigh, most of the force lost from his closing.

At the same time, he ducked his head slightly and kept an eye on her right arm for any strike, although it would likely bet quite difficult as she was leaned back to counterweigh her kick. His right arm flashed in and pummeled her left side. He was kind and didn’t go for a kidney punch, pulling it a little more in and hitting straight on just below her short ribs and low enough that her tight core muscles could offer some defense if she was quick enough.

She saw his strike coming, despite her surprise, and she pulled back against his strike almost perfectly, timing it to offer just a small amount of cushion from his hit. She tried to bring her left arm forward to help protect her left side, but she’d thrown it out far to counterweigh the kick along with her lean back and there was little she could do.

She grunted with the strike and hopped back before holding up a hand and leaning over to cradle her stomach. Huh… doesn’t know about the HP yet… Wait… Epiphany struck. She’s not from here then… or her HP is nothing? She is a basic commoner… crap! Yeah… that probably zeroed out her HP totally… never mind… this is probably the first pain she’s felt… but then… how is she trained cause… I’ve never… His thoughts swirled while he watched her, but she seemed fine. The woman curled around her stomach and breathed heavily and deeply a few times before she stood back up and looked at him with a smile and a nod. She beckoned again, this time with a much more feral smile.

* * *

She knew she’d recognized him. The sense of having met him before itched at the back of her mind for the entire time, but she could not place where. Logical deduction put him as someone from the empire, obviously, but she could not see how he could have arrived on this cursed moon. Nor could she understand how he couldn’t speak with her. Some strange technology was at work here and she could not understand what it could be. The entire planet, all the moons of this gas giant, subsisted at the barest level that was virtually caveman. But to find the strange screen that had come up when the man had shown her how to, proved he was from a technologically advanced society. One of the first criminals sent here? I don’t remember any surviving… But… I know I’ve seen him before… haven’t I? In the files? I studied them well, so… maybe? But… why does he not know the language? Has it been so long? And his combat is… strange, not imperial standard. She continued sparing with him and found herself deeply enjoying it, the simplicity of it returning her to her childhood and her time in the training centers when she had first found her service to the empire would be within the martial branches.

He was good. He was very good, equal to some of the greatest imperial trainers, and she found herself pushed beyond what she was used to. He also enjoyed his combat, his smile as victorious as hers and the two fell into their combat with joyful simplicity. She found the burn of combat returning to her and called a rest, he also stepping back, but obviously still able to continue. Strong… and very… Cold sweat shuddered down through her spine suddenly. Her eye’s flicked to his bag and easily saw the logo of her empire: Qaenar ascendant before the sun. I… remember!

* * *

Joe had backed off when Stephliquen called a halt and he nodded, grinning. That was the first good fight I’ve had in a long time… that was fun! Joe turned away and looked to see Gwenvaire staring at him, a look of pride and a hint of awe on her face, and Joe smirked. Nobody’s really seen me go all out yet! Well… I guess in the dungeon boss room, but Gwenvaire wasn’t there… so…

Gwenvaire grinned brightly at his smirk and he turned back to Stephliquen. Stephliquen stared at him stiffly then quickly smiled and relaxed, nodding and Joe grimaced. Well… that was probably a bit rude. He frowned and attempted to appear apologetic before bowing his head slightly. Stephliquen seemed to take it well enough and Joe breathed a soft sigh of relief. He turned to look at Xylarnae and found her staring at him avidly as she had been before. Joe frowned a bit. Why is she staring so much? She looked up when Joe turned towards her and nodded.

“You are quite skilled.”

Joe cocked his head, “I try. Thank you.”

“Would you be willing to train me as well?”

“Certainly. Until you feel comfortable and wish to leave.”

She paused at that, “We are your slaves.”

Joe laughed, “Nah. I’m… slavery is not something I agree with at all. Your free to go and do as you wish. Just … is there something I need to do … something official?”

She looked with surprised and glanced down at his neck. Her eyes squinted for a moment before she seemed to see something and stared back up at him with some chagrin, “You… cannot free us.”

Joe frowned, “Why not?”

Xylarnae’s eyebrow rose wildly at that and turned to look at Gwenvaire. Gwenvaire frowned.

Joe found his own frown forming, “What?”

Gwenvair and Xylarnae stared at him, but did not speak, simply frozen as if in stuttering fear, and Joe frowned. What… what is happening?

* * *

Gwenvair felt the very air leave her lungs even as she burned, no yearned, to tell him. But the collar maintained its stranglehold on her, not allowing her to speak on collars or such things, not without special permission. She stared, despair quickly coming as Joe found himself lost in misunderstanding.

“What is happening?”

Gwenvair struggled to breath, unable to explain. But maybe…

“We… cannot speak…” Gwenvair couldn’t continue; couldn’t explain.

“Why not?”

His interrupting question proved enough to continue her explanation, as much as the collar wound its insidious control through her thoughts, “It is… forbidden.”

Joe’s eyes narrowed, the concern quickly replaced by a hint of anger as it throbbed through their bond, “I don’t like forbidden...” he sighed in exasperation then continued, “You don’t have to worry about forbidden things with me.”

So close! But… I …

Gwenvair shook her head in frustration, opening, then closing her mouth, unable to speak. She even attempted to raise a hand to point at her mouth and throat but her hand refused, the control of the collar to absolute. I can’t… tell you! I can’t…

Joe’s clenched his teeth, hissing, “Something’s stopping… uh… no… question. Is something stopping you?”

Gwenvair quickly nodded, “Yes,” but couldn’t continue.

* * *

Something is blocking their thoughts? That… is there…

“Is there… is someone attacking you right now?”

Gwenvair quickly shook her head and even seemed exasperated, and Joe grunted a soft curse before continuing.

“No. OK. Something…” epiphany hit, and Joe looked up with understanding, “Something you can’t talk about!”

Gwenvaire nodded again, this time with more exuberance, “Yes.”

Joe paused at that, considering as he stared at Gwenvair’s expectant gaze. Expecting… so… something I can do! So… then… she CAN talk about it if I do something… but… oh! The realization came so simply and honestly, but terrified him with its possibilities.

“Do you need permission?”

Gwenvair breathed with relief and nodding rapidly, “Yes!”

Joe grimaced, “You have my permission… wait… let’s make it even more. You have my permission to do anything you desire and want in anyway you desire at anytime you desire without an necessary request of me. You have complete freedom in everyway.”

Gwenvair’s eyes widened at that, then glistened as she finally seemed to lose her slight robotic actions that had taken over in the last few moments and threw herself into his arms, “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Joe laughed and shook his head, “There really is no need to thank me. I just… why would I have to give you permission?”

Gwenvair shook her head with some wonder as she stepped back, “Because we are your slaves. See?”

Gwenvair tilted her head to show the collar and Joe had to narrow his eyes and focused with a bit of effort before he was able to see the copper colored collar, although once he had, it became very easy for him to see. He glanced at the other three and quickly noticed their collars as well, although now he wondered for his lack of notice earlier. How did I NOT see this… that seems… He started to get lost in his musings then shook himself free. Nope… not important right now. Right now, let’s get these off.

“Well, like I said. You’re free. Let’s get these things off you.”

“And like I said to you, you cannot, Joe,” Gwenvair replied with her own exasperation.

Joe turned his gaze from the collar to Gwenvair’s eyes, “Why?”

Gwenvaire stared for a bit then sighed, “You are collared, Joe. You are also a slave. Slaves cannot free other slaves, even if they are owned by the slaved master.”

Joe’s thoughts stilled, freezing. What!?

Gwenvaire continued to speak, but Joe’s mind stuttered on a single fact. I’m… I’ve been enslaved? When… how!? What …She said… collar? That… collared… so… His hand slowly drifted up towards his neck and then he paused, hand drifting away. What was I… oh yeah! I’m enslaved? She said… collared… right? Collared? Then… His hand drifted up towards his neck then paused. Why… His hand began to drift away and his mind curdled in horrified rejection. Why am I… oh… yeah… she said collared… so… I have a… His hand returned to drift upwards and then paused, begin to drift back down again. Why… why did … Oh… she said collared… right… wait…

Cold sweat broke out over his whole body as he felt through the fog of the last few moments. He didn’t know why, but deep in the recesses of his mind, a twittering terror crawled rampantly through his hind brain and scattered down his spine like an explosive multiplying spider. His terror spike upwards and adrenaline pumped through him so wildly he struggled to keep himself in place. He didn’t understand why he was terrified, but it was so deep and mind robbing that he found himself almost scrambling away in horror. What is… she said… collared, right? So then… his hand began to drift upwards, but he immediately stopped it, a surge of horror rising as his hand went upwards. He paused it, his breath pumping as if he’d run hundreds of miles without stop. It hovered at chest level as he pondered what he was to do next. It was .. I have to do something. His mind skittered like water on a hot plate, unable to find purchase until it suddenly evaporated, the thought lost.

I can’t… remember… something is… He paused and looked at Gwenvaire, his face hardened.

“Gwenvaire. Please repeat what I say when I asked it.”

Gwenvaire’s pity had turned to one of horror, “Joe. You can’t…”

“Gwenvaire. I’m being serious.”

She shuttered in place and quickly nodded her head. He turned his thoughts inward again, but this time narrated them out loud.

“She said collared. I’m collared? A slave? Then… I have a collar,” his hand drifted up his neck and then paused, stuttering before drifting back down to his waist.

“She said that I had been collared. What does that mean… a slave? Then… is there a collar?” his hand drifted up to his before stuttering to a halt, pausing in consternation before his face clouded with confusion and his hand drifted down again.

“I’ve been… why am I speaking out loud? And …collared… but… Gwenvaire…”

He glanced towards Gwenvaire with some confusion, “I… did I say something to you, Gwenvaire? I think I asked you something. What… I.. collared…”

Gwenvaire quickly interrupted, “Yes. You said something to me. You wished me to repeat something for you.”

Joe’s confusion cleared, then realization quickly came over him while his face hardened, a vague foggy memory wafting deep in his thoughts reminding him of something he was so uncertain of but somehow still aware of it, “What?”

“You asked me to repeat what you said, then you said: ‘She said collared. I am collared? I am a slave? Than… I have a collar.’ Then you moved your hand up to your neck, I think, but it paused about half way up where you lost your thoughts, clouded by the collar. You repeated this five or six times, your mind clouding before you remembered what I said and tried again. Please do not try to touch your collar. It will only cloud and destroy your mind again. Each time can become worse. Too many times can make it… almost permanent… or cause minor permanent issues.”

Joe’s hand had already begun to travel up to his neck before he suddenly stopped when Gwenvaire explained, and rage started burning deeply within him. A rage that he’d never realized he was capable of. I am NO one’s slave! I am my OWN MASTER! You … NO one will own me! His thoughts burned with a brilliance, leaving no other thought as his rage flared. He struggled for a moment, wandering back and forth in the small back yard of the inn before clenching his teeth and turning to stare back at the other four.

“Something like yours?”

“A greater one than ours, I think. It is very hard to see yours,” Gwenvaire replied back.

“Hard? I see yours easily enough… and mine is a greater one?”

Gwenvair grimaced with distaste, “I can barely see yours only because I am putting effort into seeing it, and you are, to an extent, allowing us to see it.”

“But… then I can see yours because you are allowing me to see it?”

“Hmm… no. You can see it because you are focusing on it. If you could not before, it was because you did not wish to see it.”

Joe frowned, “Why?”

“You are the master. You can choose to see or not see it.”

“So if you … then you are not my master, so you cannot see it?”

“The collars … hide themselves, so as to not be seen by others, especially of those who may wish to help them. Those who are of greater power or authority can more easily see collars, but those who are lesser, especially if they are under the authority of the person collared… they … well, it’s almost impossible for them to see the collar.”

Joe’s frown increased, “I’m not sure I follow.”

Gwenvair nodded, “When you first came into the hall, Kilniara and I did not see your collar. Did you not wonder on that?”

Joe clenched his teeth, but ignored the mention of Kilniara and focused on the discussion.

“No… didn’t even know I was collared until now, but now that you mention it… yeah, kind of.”

“I am your queen and Kilniara is your wife under her queen. We are both under your authority. We could not see your collar as we are under you. Most others in the city likely could not see it either. The soldiers likely could, or any exceptionally powerful foreign adventurers likely could, as they are not under your authority nor beneath you in power. It is likely the reason why only Gunlan, my idiot brother, was the only one who could see it. He is likely the only one in Coushar with adequate authority or delusion to see himself as your equal, thus able to see your collar.”

Joe’s mind reeled at the thought and grimaced as he ground his teeth, “So… then,” he breathed heavily in terrified wonder as the ramifications settled in his thoughts, “You could … control an entire city… an entire clan or nation just by collaring their leader?”

Gwenvair nodded, “Exactly. Efficient and much easier.”

Joe actually recoiled at the terror that thought brought to him before turning to look at Gwenvair, “And their followers… the followers wouldn’t be able to help the leaders!?”

Gwenvair snorted and shook her head, “The followers probably wouldn’t even know the leader is collared. They wouldn’t even be able to realize or discover it.”

Joe pondered that, then looked at Gwenvair with some wonder, “Then how do you know?”

Gwenvair replied, “Gunlan shouted it out in the entire hall. Everyone knows, now.”

Joe thought on that, nodding before settling back with a bit of relief. So… can’t … can’t change what is already known… but works against letting it be known… that’s…

Sick wonder and horrifying terror writhed through Joe’s thoughts like poisonous worms, disrupting his ability to think and consider everything. He turned to look at Gwenvair once again.

“Well, let’s just make sure. You can talk about anything, do anything, think anything, and put effort in any way shape or form you think necessary or important to accomplish what you desire or think needs to be done. Does that… help?”

Gwenvair grinned at that, nodding in gratefulness, “I believe it does.”

“Good,” Joe smiled, nodding in return before continuing to the important question, “Then how do we get free?”

Gwenvair’s good mood evaporated and she shook her head, “We don’t.”

“There’s always a way, we just…”

Kalia interrupted with scoffing laughter, “No one has gotten free.”

Joe frowned and looked back at her, “No prison is full proof.”

Kalia scoffed but didn’t reply, turning away. Joe turned back to Gwenvair. She said something abou.. oh! Yeah!

You talked about… my collar being more? Or something?”

“Yes. You have a stronger collar. A greater one?”

“Hmm… yes. It seems to be silver.”

“So there are degrees of collars?”

Gwenvair nodded, and Joe quickly continued his questioning, “Why?”

“If they are too weak… strong people can easily break free,” Gwenvaire explained.

“So… it can be broken!”

Gwenvair fell silent at that, resigned and pitying, but saying nothing. Joe felt both his anger and drive twisting in not all too conducive cooperation, but both desiring freedom. Knowledge that they had differing degrees of collars spoke to power being an option, and he turned his thoughts towards that, even as his agitation writhed through his mind and pumped his heart ever faster. His anger grew, rage wildly climbing.

Joe’s adrenaline rush had not ended. It simply changed form or subdued under his curiosity. His horror had turned to rage and he struggled to contain himself, his anger slithering across him likely lightning even as his body twitched under the uncontrollable rage. His fear had calmed, knowing that he’d be able to break free in time, but this only magnified his rage. He allowed his thoughts to scatter with his rage for a time, although he kept his physical anger contained for a time before he finally calmed and turned to stare at Gwenvaire, anger now a compressed brilliant diamond at the core of his being.

“Get rid of it,” his voice returned, flat without any inflection but then he quickly calmed himself with a deep closed eye breath before looking at her once more, “Can you get rid of it?” Of course not… but she’s a noble… surely…

Gwenvaire stared, exasperation easily heard this time, “I’m... I cannot, Joe. I am sorry. I am a slave as well,” her hand waved towards her neck, but did not approach it and he saw yd. copper colored collar around her neck again. But… the nobles must have some kind of … escape hatch? Or … something. Seeing the collar and realizing there was no secret escape did nothing to calm him, and his rage skittered at the edges of his control, seeking escape. He ignored it, the cage frozen numb and incapable of releasing any emotion.

He paused, staring at her for a bit, before his lips curled into a snarl and he turned away. He stalked back and forth for a time until a voice called out, mocking.

“You can do nothing. Accept your fate. You have a platinum collar on and you cannot free yourself.”

Rage flared and he whirled on the voice, looking at the fae who’d spoken, “No. Man. Owns. Me. I am my own master and none shall ever have me.”

His voice was quiet, but the intensity silenced the mocking fae and he turned away, uncaring of how long she took to receive his message. The collar… She said… nope… drop that right there… Accept it. There is a collar. Gotta get my hands on i…

Joe fell to the ground, pain shuddering through his entire being even as he growled out in howling pain. His hands slammed into the ground and he finally released the pain that shuddered through his mind and breathed deep a few times. After a third time, he finally stood, his rage smoldering and his decision unchanged. Right… can’t touch… can’t think… His mind twinged and the pain skittered down his spine into his torso and arms again and he breathed deeply, allowing the pain to pass. He paused. No thoughts… then… no planning… but… I really … I really have an itch… gotta really scratch it… An itch… just an itch…

* * *

Gwenvaire watched on in fear as Joe fought against the collar, her worry spiking as he fell into the common loop of those who’d struggled to understand their position. He moved his hand, then lost his train of thought as the collar clouded his mind only to do so again. He repeated this several times before finally pausing and staring at her. She breathed a sigh of relief. He’s broken the loop. She’d seen some poor souls stuck for days or even weeks, unable to break free until either their exhaustion took them or their master grew annoyed with them. To see him free so quickly only gave her greater relief but then he turned to her.

“Gwenvaire. Please remember what I have said and repeat it to me later.”

Her relief turned to horror and she saw him begin again, but this time speaking out loud. It became terrifyingly clear he’d fallen to the collar once again as it clouded his mind as he struggled to fight against the loss of memory with each attempt. You need to accept… do not fight… or… He continued for another several times, his mind clouded and his words repeated over and over, changing only slightly. After a few times, he finally seemed to pull himself from his illusory cycle, lost in his thoughts and mentioned he thought he’d spoken to her. Grasping it with desperation, she used it as an excuse to break into his process, although he technically didn’t ask for it. She was certain he wouldn’t punish her on technicalities, never having been a cruel eccentric before.

She repeated the words to him, and watched as he raged, his anger erupting outwards, wrath greater than she’d ever seen before. She struggled, her calm unable to come to bear against his anger as she Heard it, thundering through their bond. Yet, in that rage, it was never directed towards her, although there was a general anger against her plane that she found baffling. Still, she pushed her calm, struggling to give him peace but only able to barely blunt his rage. And he did rage, pacing the area in utter anger as he spoke of his own mastery and how no other could own him.

Finally, he paused, and she grew calm, then concerned as she felt his rage crystalize. It hardened and turned bitterly cold. Her calm failed to meaningfully connect or engulf it, turning brittle under the incredibly cold anger and shattering. She shuddered, and retreated instead, wrapping herself and the other bonds in protection against his anger. There was little to be concerned with, as he’d still kept his rage directed inward and at the plane at large. What is there to rage against the plane?

She found the concept so alien she struggled to understand it, so delved deeper into it. The further she delved, the more incredible and alien it grew, until she came to grasp it. Then she felt her being shudder under the very arrogance of it. She could feel it deep within his bones; an idea that the world itself could be brought to heel, controlled, and made better; to be forced to a greatness no matter all others that might stand in the way. Fear coursed through her, and a subtle undercurrent of awe and anticipation.

* * *

Kalia smirked as she watched the fool base struggle against the collar. She knew of it and knew of its impregnable nature. None could defeat it. All fell before its power and there was only to accept or to die in resistance. All knew this. He found the truth of it rather cleverly, speaking his thoughts aloud so his Queen could repeat to him the memories lost to the cloud of collar before he returned to an even greater anger. It was humorous and she sighed. Her hope had been fed by the Fated one and Xylarnae had proven… inadequate. She sighed again and turned to head back to the room but then paused as the fool attempted to move a hand back to his collar. Will he never learn? We must flee this place before he takes us dow…

Shock grew slowly, rising as his hand climbed higher and higher. The clouded eyes of a mind succumbed to illusion did not return, still shrewd and thoughtful. Her shock turned to a bit of fear when his fingers reached the collar, then the hand went under, soon digging all around his neck with ease. Soon, his second hand rose with the first and was pulling and pushing at the collar with ease. How! He … cannot touch… his will is powerful enough to resist illusion? He has…

Her dismissal of the eccentric faded, and the small hope that had been crushed to see him collared flared again, despite all odds which pointed to a fate impossible to escape.

* * *

Joe scratched at his neck. Only scratching… this … something’s kind of in the way… let me pull it from my neck so I can scratch it easily… just pulling. His fingers played along the collar, continuing around the entirety of the collar feeling it cautiously. He was doing well, until about half way around, he found his mind clouding again and quickly retreated from his attempts to gain a measure of the collar. Just scratching! An itch! Just an itch! Nothing… The minding numbing drug receded but stayed just under it all and Joe knew he would lose all he’d learned if he pushed it and pulled his hand away, making sure to sigh in faux relief at scratching his itch. Right… some kind of mind reading… but not too… in depth… maybe a … huh… maybe an emotional check… still pretty pissed… maybe calm down and check again later? Gotta… relax… that… that might be… go back to ‘normal.’ Probably reset whatever watchdog is in this thing… hopefully not intelligent… that… crap… that would suck… some kind of chained spirit… maybe… but then… maybe can make a deal… both of us trapped then… so… possible?

Hey… you… in the collar…watching me. Anyone there?

Joe paused for a bit but heard nothing in reply and felt both relief and a hint of dismay. Having an intelligent being would make escape that much harder, but it also would allow him to talk, possibly bluff. There were benefits and detriments to both, but the…Oh… mana… I wonder if I could shoot…

“Aaaaahhh!” Joe screamed, slamming his hands to his head as a blinding headache erupted outwards and he fell to one knee. Several people quickly leapt to his side and he ignored them, struggling to work against the pain as it shuddered through him. Suddenly, he felt a cool waft of pain relief travel up his from his shoulder and bathe his mind in some kind of relief and he sighed. He swayed a bit before standing again.

“I’m fine… all’s good… just a bit of a headache.”

He didn’t look at anyone but stood and kept his eyes closed as he continued to work to seek relief. It continued to come, a calm steady stream from his shoulder up into his mind, and by the time he realized where it was coming from, the hand on his shoulder had removed itself and he opened his eyes to see the other four staring up at him in worry. Is… who was that? someone could…?

He stared back and forth, wondering who had … The collar… want the collar… no… don’t think… the collar! He’d gotten a massive clue with that last response. Right… really doesn’t want me to think about mana … mana… mana, mana, mana… I have magic and mana… mana points! Nothing triggered the collar at all, his mind clear and without pain and he grimaced. This is going to suck… Mana… coll… He quickly cut off as a swelling of pain and warning quickly came and he breathed deeply and calmed himself even as his neck, shoulders and head tensed right to painful levels. Right… really … mana is fine… yup… just using mana for my own us… Pain swelled again and he breathed deeply. He couldn’t even think about anything. But… such a great reaction pointed to a weakn… Pain swelled again and he immediately cut off his thoughts. Each moment was causing the pain to swell higher and the warning to arrive with more power and with increasing sharpness and speed, greatly increasing the pain and tension in his neck and shoulders. OK… time to take a break… yeah… just … normal things… so… normal… what’s normal… normal for now… we… breakfast… then dungeon… yeah… that’s normal…

He raised his hands to his neck and shoulders, massaging them even as he stretched his neck side to side. His hands shifted up to his neck, kneading it deeply before he suddenly stopped, realization hitting him but he froze his mind from thinking it. What.. how… no… don’t think… no thinking!

He froze his thoughts and simply brushed his hands across his neck, feeling only smooth skin and nothing else! But… how did… oh yeah… got an itch under the col… As soon as he thought this, a collar suddenly could be felt between his fingers, one moment there and one moment not. He breathed deeply with the horror returning and he quickly stepped up to Gwenvair side and peered down at her neck.

Gwenvair stared up at him, but did not move, frozen. And Joe quickly realized she was likely bound in her attempts as well, caught up in her own struggle with the collar that Joe had to think of an excuse for her, so he did just that.

“Gwenvair. May I caress your neck?”

As soon as he asked, her breathing returned in a stuttering mess even as a heavy blush rushed up her cheeks. No words were necessary and Gwenvair pulled her hair to the side even as she tilted her head, giving him greater access.

Since he’d given an excuse, he followed through with it, and brushed his fingers up and down her neck, barely noticing or feeling the collar but for a darkened almost invisible shadow against her skin. Almost… like a tattoo… or… even just a tan! It was incredible, and Joe felt his anger spike even as worry began to strangle his thoughts. I will not succumb to any…

His thoughts blanked and he immediately recognized the work of the collar and stopped his thoughts, turning away from dangerous ideas but growling in greater anger even as he realized what the collar was doing. He ground his teeth with some rage and kept his thoughts cautiously banal, even as he played up his retreat from dangerous rebellion.

“Why don’t we head to breakfast and then we should head back into the dungeons. Work on leveling a bit.”

Gwenvaire looked up at him and smiled, seemingly very relieved and she nodded, “That… is an excellent idea.”

Joe chuckled, a soft smirk on his face, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

“Really? Not at all?”

She smirked, “OK. A little… maybe.”

They turned back to the door but she didn’t move, “Should we… “

She pointed to the others and Joe nodded, “Yeah. We’ll bring them along. We need to get them up to some intelligence at least so they are free to move on with their lives… as best as they can.”

She nodded and turned to the others, “Are you willing?”

Xylarnae paused at that, “He will… develop us?”

“If you are willing.”

As Xylarnae considered, Kalia interjected a bit later, the typical interlude of those who had lower intelligence delaying her response.

“I am unwilling to throw myself further into the delusion that is this plane.”

Joe snorted, “Trust me. This place sucks big time, but if you want to have any kind of meaningful conversation in the future, you will want to at least get a couple base stats up.”

Kalia frowned at that and turned to look at Xylarnae. She also took some time to respond before finally nodding, “It would seem to be wise. We are here now.”

Gwenvaire nodded decisively at that and turned back in to the inn, “Then we should eat breakfast. And… we will need cloaks.”

Joe frowned, then nodded, “I have a quite a few extra. We can use those, until you guys find ones you want that match you.”

Gwenvaire nodded gratefully at that, “Thank you, Joe.”

Joe snorted, “It’s fine.”

The continued in and ordered breakfast. Joe interacted with the others well enough, Gwenvaire drawing him into the conversation as all spoke, but when he was left alone, his thoughts quickly turned dark and his bitterly cold rage would slowly surface as the meal went on longer and longer.

By the time breakfast was done, none were speaking with him, his meal long done but he brooded in silence, his eyes staring ahead deep in thought without any awareness of the others around him. When all had finished eating, Gwenvaire reached forward to lay a hand on Joe’s arm.

Joe jerked, surprised and turned to look at Gwenvaire, “Oh. Hey… sorry about that. I was a bit lost in my thoughts.”

Gwenvaire smiled a bit sadly at that but she nodded, “I understand.”

“So… head out?”

All nodded and Joe ran upstairs to bring his cloaks down. All four dug into them quickly, finding a cloak they took for themselves before Joe ran them back up the room. When they walked outside and began walking down the street, Joe’s mood lifted slightly and he glanced over at the other three and then remembered his promise to train Xylarnae.

“Oh! Xylarnae. I’m so sorry. I promised to train you, but… kinda got distracted.”

She bowed her head slightly with an odd sideways tilt, “It is understandable, eccentric.”

Joe smiled as best he could, mostly fake, “Well, still a bit rude. I apologize.”

Her smile grew, “Very polite. I thank you for your apology but you have no need to offer such to me.”

“And yet I do. In any case, thank you for your kind forgiveness.”

She smiled even brighter at that and nodded, “Then… you’re welcome.”

The conversation ended at that and Joe turned to head back to the beginners dungeon. The advanced dungeon would be better, but he had no intention of revealing his secrets of how to deal with the sparks with several unknown people. The goblins would be easy enough, and he would soon have them in a group where all could gain some experience while he and Gwenvaire fought. Gonna have to get them up… and Gwenvaire, too. Not going to deal with this stupid ‘commoners bad’ anymore. Garnedell… Joe ground his teeth and dismissed the thought, a calm wave of peace soothing his soul and he soon felt calm once again while a hand caressed a plastic card in his pocket. He even started joining in the conversation with a bit more ease.

His thoughts of Garnedell evaporated behind the soothing calm of the moment and Joe, while not exactly smiling, was able to join the conversation and they all soon arrived at the dungeon. When he arrived, he stood in line as usual, but the four women behind him in full cloaks covering them made him stand out quite a bit more. He frowned, but ignored it. As they traveled to the front of the line, the crowd around them grew quieter, and soon it was rather silent, an uncomfortable pall over the crowd. Joe ignored it and soon they were at the front of the line, the captain standing to the side while a young guard took the tax. The captain seemed bored.

When they came forward, the captain glanced up and Joe ground his teeth to deal with more bootlicking. He was surprised, however. When the captain looked up, his expression was not one of faux joy but a remorseless gloating as he came forward with an arrogance.

“Slave. Your master calls for you.”

Joe stared at the man, a roaring rage billowing up inside of him even as a weight of insane proportions slammed down upon his shoulders. Something slammed down through his spine and attempted to turn him, driving him into the depths of the city towards the inner clan holdings. Joe felt his rage erupt even further, but it failed to even leave a scratch against the weight that slammed down upon his shoulders, driving him much like a remote drone, as if his body was no longer his own and he could only watch like a passenger. This piss ant is probably doing it just to make himself look good! This little jackass captain is probably just… wait… how do I know it’s…

Immediately, the weight pressing down upon him evaporated and the rage he’d been feeling detonated without the pressure holding it at bay. His body returned to his control and he stepped forward explosively, his arm teleporting upward into the captain’s throat where he lifted the man and slammed him against the wall of the dungeon, holding him up by his neck, mana rippling up and down his arm and spine.

“I. Am. No. Man’s. Slave.”

The captain stared at him in wild fear, terror coruscating through him as Joe held him in place. The stench of urine wafted up to Joe’s nose and he grimaced in anger and disgust before quickly stepping backwards and leaving the captain crunched up against the wall of the dungeon. Joe snorted and turned away and walked to the entrance before stopping and tossing the tax to the junior guard.

“Here.”

He didn’t even look and his rage evaporated any care he had to be polite and he stomped down the stairs. After him, silenced reined, interrupted only by the quick movement of the other four chasing him down the stairs.

* * *

Gwenvaire followed after Joe in a rush, terrified to follow an eccentric so explosively angry, but simultaneously awed that he could reject the collars control, yet once again. She shivered, and rushed after him.

* * *

How? How?! Kalia’s mockery shifted to shock. How?!

* * *

Xylarnae grinned, struggling to hold in her glee. Unchained! Hahaha! Unchained!

* * *

Stephliquen stared around at the crowd, finding their silence unnerving. She paused and considered fleeing now that the others were around the corner but then grimaced, her mind quickly rejecting the idea. Not much meaning … they seem to be not too bad… And chased after them rather quickly. The collar on her neck cooled slightly.

* * *

The captain stared after the raging eccentric with utter terror. He broke the collar?! It’s… impossible! He cannot… His gaze remained stuck on the dungeon entrance. After a few moments, the soft susurrus of crowd drew his attention back to them. When he did bring his attention back, they all quickly looked away and his fear evaporated before his rage when he realized all had seen his shame.

He stood and exploded, his power erupting outwards even as everyone fled wildly, even the guards. Several failed to escape, torn asunder by the captain’s volatile Presence that wildly suppressed those around him, some unable to withstand it and collapsing under the feet of the stampeding crowd. He erupted for a few moments before fleeing to his office where he quickly cleansed himself, calling out to a random guard he saw peeping out from behind a corner.

“Sergeant! Clean up this mess now and get the line back in control! Now!”

* * *

Joe wandered into the depths of the dungeon and went straight to his normal corner. His anger rapidly cooled, especially under a spike of fear as he realized he’d almost been puppetted straight to the clan to stand before the patriarch that now claimed to own him. He didn’t know how he knew this, but there was a certainty to that knowledge that settled in the back of his mind like a weight. This thing… fear shivered through him for a bit before he quickly corralled it. Nope… not letting this thing get me. I’ve beaten it so far… and lots of weaknesses. Easy enough to dupe it… it seems… just question if … right… so… as long as … yeah… His worry spiked a bit with the knowledge that if he was in front of the Patriarch, knowing about his slave status, it would be very difficult …no… impossible… that weight was… irresistible… I wouldn’t be able to resist what the man wanted from me. Gotta… uh…

His thoughts we interrupted when a hand settled on his shoulder, a calm wave washing over him, and he glanced down to see Gwenvaire looking up at him with concern mixed with a deep pride. He snorted and smiled.

“Hi.”

Gwenvaire giggled, “Hello. Are you well?”

He sighed deeply and shook his head, “No… I hate… slavery.”

Her smile faded, “You seem to have a bad… history with it?”

“My people did. We… had a lot of slavery much like your plane does as well. But a few of the countr… clans of my plane banded together and eradicated slavery from the planet… mostly, well… at least within their clans… as best they could. There are some clans that still practice it and some… ways our own clans still… yeah, but we deeply disapprove of it and of other clans doing it, but it is their clan and we do not enfor…” He trailed off and snorted at his statement. Except for oil… haaa… and natural resources… and… any excuse… He shook his head clear and continued his statement with Gwenvaire.

“We try not to enforce our will on others… although sometimes, our leaders grow corrupt or … complacent… yeah… in this we may be a bit hypocritical… some of us of my clan. We still scream against slavery but ignore it in other places… It is … probably… yeah.”

Gwenvaire smiled, “Why do you feel the need to change the world so much?”

“If I do not, who will?”

Gwenvaire stared at him at that, surprised, “But why should you?”

Joe shrugged, “Maybe I shouldn’t, but if I want to leave the world a better place than I arrived,” Joe snorted at the literalness of the statement in this case, “then I need to do something. Doing nothing simply allows entropy to rule. Morality is as much an entropic force as energy is, except that morality is within the reach and control of any sapient.”

Gwenvaire stared at him, confusion ruling her face, “Entropy? Entropic? I…”

Joe glanced down at her and stifled his sigh, not in the mood to teach or explain and struggled to pull up a smile, “It’s OK. I’m just kind of lost in my thoughts.”

He turned back to the group and put on a fake grin, “Right. So… let’s get going. So… you are all commoners, yes?”

Gwenvaire nodded for them, although the others seemed confused, “They are new to the plane, yes.”

Joe sighed deeply, then frowned, “The system is only on this plane?”

“The system?”

“The status.”

Gwenvaire quickly nodded, “Yes. Our plane is cursed with it.”

Joe snorted. Cursed is right… but… why didn’t they… ooh… they don’t know I’m from Absence. Of course they would assume I know the other places don’t have the system. Then…

“Why?”

Gwenvaire sighed, “I… little is known, but our ancestors were… cursed.”

Joe frowned at that. That would make sense… a curse… the system is a… but there are benefits if you know how to use them… but… of course, they can’t use it… so…

Joe pondered for a bit until a sharp rejoinder interrupted his thoughts, “This place is a Loki cursed prison!”

Joe glanced up in shock, looking at Kalia, “A prison!?”

His short reply and her low intelligence left him waiting impatiently until she could reply and when she finally did, his thoughts leapt through the possibilities and ramifications like sheet lightning webbing outwards in search of ground.

“It’s a prison. Aelthron’s cradle is a prison. All those who fall into the wonderful hands of the emperor, curse his entire family, find themselves here, in the wonderful embrace of this plane, their Dao and mana points stripped from them and crippled, no longer able to gain any points nor progress in the Dao. This … abomination… of a system, as you call it, is a prison guard… a warden as much as any warden that guards these planes and this cycle.”

What… the… fuck!?! Joe’s mind burst, playing with the information, although he did find a discrepancy that left him a bit confused, with his own points and with Garnedell’s … his mind shuddered a bit and then quickly returned to his original thoughts, their importance powerful enough to pull through … having points. Something for later… but… this…

“How certain of this are you?” Joe asked Kalia carefully.

He waited with bated breath even as his thoughts swirled through the ramifications. It… makes a lot more sense now… everything is to placate the prison population… and to keep them from using it even if they learn to accept it… although Kalia seems to want to reject it completely… so new prisoners… probably primed to cripple themselves! Probably…? Yeah.. they wouldn’t even think to engage with the freakin’ warden… that’s just a BAD idea… so then… they reject it… their year runs out… and bam… level one and USELESS. Bottom of the barrel. Or… wait… Joe glanced at Gwenvaire and felt his eyebrows rising in shock when he saw her horror.

Wait… she… she doesn’t know!? Then… how long has… His breath exploded from him with the realization, horror driving from him like a gut punch even as his stomach dropped from within him and he shuttered with the understanding of it. Gwenvaire’s… a descendant… a descendant of a descendant of a descendant… The freakin’ children are living here IN THE PRISON! THIS… His thoughts were interrupted when both Kalia and Xylarnae confirmed.

“I’m absolutely certain. I was sent to this Loki cursed plane after my abomination of a trial found me guilty. I was tossed here as my punishment. This is…” Kalie trailed off, her face falling as her emotions rose up and overwhelmed her for a time before she finally pulled away, tears welling up in her eyes before she angrily dashed them away and turned away. She huffed, struggling to control herself and Joe immediately recognized her brash harsh attitude for what it was; her poor attempt to deal with a very crappy hand given to her.

“I as well, although I followed fate so… I knew, a little… The curse hasn’t… completely claimed me, yet,” Xylarnae added before she turned to Kalia and placed a hand on her shoulder although only reacting to Kalia’s obvious distress as she was unable to understand her words quite yet due to her low intelligence. In a feat of quite impressive multitasking, she turned to Joe while comforting Xylarnae, making sure to speak with Joe while expectantly waiting for Kalia’s explanation to be made clear to her mind.

“It is a prison plane… a prison cradle, actually. All know of this. It is common knowledge amongst the empire.”

Joe nodded at that and turned back to Gwenvaire. She noticed, her despair and shock breaking enough to look up at him and his rage finally melted under concern for her and stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her.

“You didn’t know.”

Gwenvaire shook her head, “I… never thought it was… possible… It was… I knew the system was bad… but I didn’t …”

“Your mom didn’t tell you?”

“I don’t think… she knew! I don’t think… any of my clan knew.”

Kalia looked up with utter bitterness, “How could they know… it is likely lost to time.”

Joe had already considered that, certain that it was simply a matter of millennia… even longer and the knowledge was simply lost to the people. A prison now simply home.

“How long?”

Kalia and Xylarnae took on a pitying look when they heard him and both glanced at each other before Xylarnae stared up at him, firmly replying, “It’s been… long. Very, very long.”

“How long?” Joe’s reply was firmer.

“It has been… greater cycles. Greater cycle upon greater cycle! It is… ancient history. I do not know what to tell you. I do not know of the past. This place is simply called the Prison. We did not know it was Aelthron’s Cradle until we arrived. It has always been… a ghost story told to warn of obedience and following the emperor. It has no name but… the Prison.”

“Greater… cycles?”

For the first time, Joe found himself confused and the recipient of the translation magic, the sphere of mana welling up around Xylarnae before suddenly forming into a singular point and piercing directly at him. Wait… what? Why am I … oh… I’m the only one that doesn’t know what it i… His mind snapped, thought immediately ended as the knowledge of what a greater cycle came to him and then the ramifications of it obliterated all thought. You can’t be… what the…

A greater cycle was a singular galactic year. The time it took for the Milky Way to rotate a single time, which equated to… two hundred and fifty million years! Two hundred and fifty million years! Then… how many…

“How many galactic years? How many?”

The mana exploded outwards once again, now translating his word back to them and the two women stared at him. Kalia replied, seemingly a bit recovered, “I don’t know. It is… ancient stories told to terrify children. I know nothing of the ancient histories. You would need to seek out historians or gods or goddesses… probably any of knowledge.”

Joe breathed, the knowledge that intelligent civilization had existed within the galaxy for … multiple galactic years… the galaxy’s civilization is at least… gotta be at least a billion years old… longer? That’s… only four galactic years… and … galactic year upon galactic year… so… gotta be more than ten, right? Twenty? Hundreds? How old is the galaxy… I never… I don’t remember learning that… how… He calmed himself and started running the numbers, only because the shock was overwhelming and he sought something to ground himself.

Four cycles to a billion… so eight is two, twelve three… twenty… that’s five billion… His calm evaporated as the numbers went up and shattered his thoughts. Maybe… three… five… more? Billion years old? How is that…

Joe’s breathing spiked as his mind struggled to wrap his mind around what it would mean, what any of it would mean for … Like it matters… Earth is far gone from me… but.. galactic wide civilization… with galactic wide travel… and billions of years! His thoughts calmed with that but the information was still so overwhelming that he found himself unable to respond and simply retreated into his thoughts while he held Gwenvaire as she dealt with her own knew understanding of her home.

Xylarnae and Kalia kindly allowed them time to deal, while Stephliquen simply stood around and waited, watching the environment with some interest before finally growing bored and simply waiting. Joe returned to awareness and noticed Stephliquen’s boredom and frowned. Right… she’s still lost…

He sighed and turned to the other two, “Thank you. It explains… so much.”

They both nodded, offering soft ‘welcomes’ in response. Joe sighed and looked down at Gwenvaire and then hugged her tight. She interrupted her thoughts and looked back up at him before smiling sadly. Joe smiled more naturally and her sadness faded a bit.

“We’ll find a way.”

Her smile turned more optimistic and she nodded softly, “Somehow, I believe you can.”

Joe laughed and turned back to Stephliquen. Right… let’s set her up and help her… then…

“Stephliquen,” Joe called and waited patiently until she responded.

She turned once she became aware of her name being called and looked at him. He nodded and pulled up his status. He stopped talking as that would mostly slow everything, nothing more. He brought up his available jobs tab then willed his status to be read by her.

As soon as his status shifted to the strange QR code alphabet, she murmured in excitement with a bit of curiosity. He then pointed to commoner. She looked up at him, a bit confused, but he then pointed at his status then her, several times. It took a bit, but she quickly caught on and flipped up her status.

Seeing it in another language threw him for a loop, and it took him flipping back to English, counting how many tabs over, then flipping back to her language to tell her how to change her tab to her available jobs tab. The effort proved pointless because she caught on quite quickly and flipped to the tab with a press of the tab, muttering a bit under her breath and cautiously pressing the tab. Hmm… different styles of user interface? Then? No… touch screen or… I wonder… He turned his thoughts back to the moment and let her see the stark difference between the two: hers barren, his littered with hundreds of jobs.

She frowned and Joe then pointed at his commoner, then pointed at hers. He pointed back and forth for a bit before changing to his current job tab, having her follow after, before pointing to the list of jobs there. He quickly pointed to her single listing, then had her flip back to the available jobs and she quickly understood.

What followed, was a mimed conversation back and forth as he pointed to a job on his available jobs tab, swapping to English when he needed to verify what he was pointing at, then pointing out the level the job needed to be before the next one was available. He showed her that commoner needed to be twenty, then metropolitan, citizen, and specialist, all twenty, before the educational line of jobs were available. With that, he was able to show the steps needed to reveal the polyglot line of jobs, going through scholar, linguist, and finally polyglot. When she saw the job, she seemed confused for a bit before nodding with understanding. When Joe went to turn off his status, she halted him and continued to look at the various jobs before her eyes suddenly widened in excitement and she pointed to the physicist job. Joe’s own grin answered her and while neither understood one another, both could revel in each other’s excitement.

A mutual laugh later, Joe then turned to her main status screen and then pointed out learning, trying to express its importance. He wasn’t sure how well he did, but she seemed to acknowledge the importance and Joe began again from the beginning, now showing his process of leveling commoner to twenty, then the other opened jobs to five then ten before continuing on through metropolitan, citizen, and specialist in a similar fashion. Explaining the math of learning with only fingers and mime proved difficult simply because the learning was multiplied by the level of the job, which multiplied the experience gained from the monster slain, which then applied to the experience per level and trying to show how all that interacted by only using fingers and mime proved daunting. How do you mime multiplication… or division? Or… Joe finally sighed and simply told Stephliquen what to do. Hopefully she gets it on her own.

With Stephliquen done, he then turned to the others, speaking quickly since there would be almost no point for any kind of exchange as their intelligence would delay the conversation.

“Right. So. If I’m going to help you, both of you need to level up your commoner job to twenty. That’s going to take you almost a month or two straight fighting without any breaks. It took me all day for a month, about… maybe a month and a half. With that, you will open up another fifteen jobs or so. Level them all to five, then all to ten, then level metropolitan to twenty. That should take only a couple weeks. It will be much faster than just getting commoner to twenty. It will take a lot of… well…” unless… hmm… I could use the teacher, professor, researcher skills… that could… “Well… I might be able to have something for that. Let me think a bit more, but anyway… What you need to do… hmm… oh!

“You need to then, level metropolitan jobs to five and ten the same as the others because metropolitan will open up a bunch of jobs you can level as well. Do NOT level baker, cook, waiter, or bartender. They are already at the max. It is simply the city version of the job.

“Your next job with be citizen. Level it to twenty straight up. It will be very fast compared to before. Do the same for the next job that becomes available: specialist. After that, you will have unlocked crafting jobs, education jobs, nobility, and, I think… grouping? Sometime? I would recommend you go to education jobs and level them all quickly as high as you can in a single day. Swap back and forth between them regularly, especially a job with the name ‘theorist’ in it. Those jobs are incredibly powerful. If you do this, you will be able to level jobs to thirty in a single day. In about four or five months, maybe faster with my help, you will be able to speak freely and not be hindered by slowness of speech.

“Gwenvaire. After they have been leveled to a decent strength, you should do the same as well. I would say swap out your mage job for the commoner and level it up. Use your dagger class for combat to fight the monsters easily and well, and level commoner. If you do so, you can all level well together. You will all have to fight, but Gwenvaire and I will be able to hold the monsters for you while you simply defend yourselves well, hitting the monster as you can.

“This plane is… evil, and it makes sense if it’s a prison. You cannot wield a weapon unless you have a job allowing you to equip it. However, we are lucky. Gwenvaire can use her dagger with her class and we have some rings to help others wield weapons as needed. I have four…” Joe trailed off with a grimace, realizing that two were in the hands of the two Acokzau, and he continued.

“I only have two right now. I’ll get another two from the goblin over there, then we’ll be set. If you have a weapon you can use, let me know. We’ll get one from the blacksmith or shop or something. You can only wield one weapon, and it sucks that is the case, but at least these rings prove useful.

“Go through the jobs, each one, at regular intervals you can level very fast, and you will be much stronger than you were before.”

Gwenvaire grimaced to hear this, unhappy, but Joe was done with fighting about commoner. It seemed people would not understand until they experienced it themselves, and in this, he was going to push. Luckily, Xylarnae and Kalia seemed uncaring about the whole issue, simply nodding.

“Oh! Yeah. And do not accept any blessing or coming of age blessing. Also, do not use cores to increase your level either. Both are… cursed. They limit future potential, destroying it.”

Gwenvaire nodded, although clearly unhappy and Joe turned to her, “Please, trust me? I did this. This is how I gained my power!”

This statement seemed to relieve Gwenvaire and she considered more carefully. Joe sighed in relief to see her patience and Xylarnae waited kindly before asking her own question.

“Then, how shall we know when and which job to change to?”

“Ask me. Or ask Gwenvaire. She will be able to answer as well, soon. Although she may need some time as I will have to teach her. But she will learn some quickly enough.”

Xylarnae nodded, “So we need commoner, metropolitan, citizen, and specialist? Then we can do the education line?”

Joe nodded, smiling brightly, “Yup! Good memory. The education line starts with educated… easy enough, then scholar and philosopher. This reveals the theorist line of jobs. They are very powerful to help you grow quickly.”

Xylarnae nodded at that, mouthing the names quietly under her breath and Joe smiled, finding her earnest sincerity a rather pleasant departure from … His thoughts shattered, memories of the others returning and he turned away. Soothing calm came almost immediately after and he took a deep breath to relax. That’s… drop it… its … forget… forget…

Gwenvaire looked up at him in concern, her hand on his shoulder and he finally turned to her, looking down at her with a soft smile, “Thanks.”

Her smile turned genuine and she nodded, “Welcome!”

Again. Xylarnae was polite enough to allow their moment before she interjected again, “Then… commoner, metropolitan, citizen, specialist, educated, scholar, and philosopher? All twenty?”

Joe raised an eyebrow at that, genuinely impressed and nodded, “Yup. All twenty. Although take a break during the first two, commoner, and metropolitan, to get as many jobs up to five, then ten so as to make it easier and faster for you to level later.”

She nodded at that, speaking quietly under her breath, “Five growths… then ten… so…then… five… then… ten? Or.. wait… how many…”

Joe noticed and quickly interjected, “Five growths, then five more before continuing on. Do all you can for five growths. When all are five levels, then do them again for another five levels.”

Xylarnae smiled happily with that, grateful, and she offered deeper bow of her head, “Many thanks, eccentric.”

Joe smiled and turned to Gwenvaire, who, while no longer unhappy, seemed to be grimly accepting of her situation. Joe nodded then turned before pausing and turning back to Gwenvaire.

“Do you want me to change your job now?”

Gwenvaire stared at him, then widened her eyes slightly, “You can… change both my jobs?”

Joe smiled, “Yup.”

Her grin grew at that, and she nodded, then turned serious before nodding again. Joe saw her serious nature and turned serious himself, changing her main job to Commoner, then changing her subjob to daggerman. However, when he did so, he found that her second job did not change, and he frowned. What? Why is her second job… He tried again and failed once more, before flipping open his status to check his logs. Even with the immediate check, he found himself scrolling up a few lines to find her entry. They spam EVERYTHING in this log… Joe sighed and turned back to the entry and frowned.

Wait… I didn’t change her main job with the subjob skill… Her job… it changed…

“Gwenvaire? Could I see your status, please?”

When her status came up with the pale blue of commoner, he grew more confused but also concerned, noticed Gwenvaire’s demeanor being quite affected. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in for a tight hug.

“Trust me. Please. This is very, very good for you, OK?”

She did her best to give him a smile, but he could tell she was faking as best as she could. He smiled back, pretending to buy her faux smile, and pointed to her current job tab. She swapped for him and as expected, she was now a commoner. However, her subjob was still Baronet. Huh… I did try.

He tried once more, watching his log, explicitly calling for her baronet job to change to seasoned daggerman and again, his log rejected it, stating he was trying to change her main job. Joe frowned for a bit then his eyes widened quickly. That… two main jobs? They get TWO main jobs? That’s…

Log Entry: (SY 55.5 – 9.31) (05:36) :: Cannot change Gwenvaire’s main job with sub job skill.

Joe quickly tried again, this time explicitly stating to use the main job change skill to change baronet to daggerman and her job quickly changed. He grinned, and looked at Gwenvaire with a brilliant smile before quickly stilling his face, her happiness still rather diminished. Right… gotta prove it to her today, then… so… let’s do this. But … two main jobs!!! Oooh!

He couldn’t really enjoy the moment, Gwenvair too upset, but he set that to the back of his thoughts for later before turning to preparing himself. He swapped to his available jobs and quickly chose his jobs. He went with partier again, seeking to make a permanent party for a larger group. He finally to leave the two new healing jobs, regen and healing mage, as well, since they really didn’t have a chance to grow that much while running through the advanced dungeon earlier. And, of course, for the last job, groom for the extra main job, that would be amazing! Sweet! So I’ll do groo… theorist as that would only make sense. I need to… I need… Joe blinked and changed his last job to theorist. He also used his free char he’d just gotten to equip researcher’s triple + learning in order to help the others. Gonna have to swap out the party every once and a while, but… yeah. Can do… Maybe leave Gwenvair out… she should already have a lot of learning with her skills… unless? No… can only group three people; me and two others. So… can swap between two groups easy enough. He sighed, then turned to the others.

“Ready?”

All nodded and Joe then prepared for the day. He did take a few moments to prepare each of them with some basic weaponry, the fae proving quite certain of her use of a sword, so Joe was more than willing to offer it to her, while Xylarnae seemed uncertain of any weapon, so Joe chose to offer her a staff, although he had to offer them some goblin rings, first, explaining their use to everyone. I’ll have to harvest the goblin king one more time today… make sure we all have a ring… lost some… Joe’s mind revolted from the thought, seeking peace.

Stephliquen proved the most difficult, not having a meaningful weapon choice and Joe frowned, considering his pile before suggesting the staff as well. He had two, the dungeon staff he gave to Xylarnae, and his spear which could transform to a staff that he could give to Stephliquen. But then frowned at trying to figure out how to explain the use of the goblin rings to Stephliqen. He grimaced and finally handed over a half staff. Stephliquen seemed annoyed, but Joe shrugged and showed his disappointment and she accepted it although with a bit of trepidation. Joe narrowed his eyes. Oh… she knows about that...

With things set up, Joe invited at least two to a group with him, Gwenvaire and Xylarnae, as he had the ability to make a group of three with his current level of partier. He then pulled a goblin and cautiously showed them all how to fight. Kalia took to it with ease, soon joining him and Gwenvaire to take down the mobs. Stephliquen came up and began punching the goblin, and Joe raised an eyebrow in surprise to see it, but didn’t dissuade her and smiled to see it. Heh… decided to not mess with the half-staff, I guess. Xylarnae proved the most cautious, gently stabbing at the beast with her staff every once in a while, being more of a distraction than any real use for the fight. Still, they took the goblin down rather quickly, and Joe quickly hit level twenty eight for his regen mage and twenty seven for his healing mage. Joe simultaneously grinned and frowned. To level so quickly made him giddy. To see that two of his jobs didn’t level the same made him deeply curious. But Joe didn’t want to waste time exploring the reasons behind the difference, and made sure to make a note of it for later.

He put that aside for later, and turned to look at how Gwenvair and Xylarnae leveled, able to compare the two. Xylarnae hit level six in a single kill, and Joe grinned at that. OK… that’s… a LOT better! Ha! That researcher… that’s… Joe glanced at Gwenvair and she shook her head, only leveling up once and he immediately realized she’d changed her job, so commoner didn’t give her level one since it wasn’t her first. Right… OK. Then… He pulled another goblin and all three quickly killed it, Joe only waiting to allow the other two to add their own attacks. When it died, he looked at Gwenvair and she stared up at him in shock.

“I… I… I think I grew four… maybe five times? I don’t… I’m not sure. I could not count it.”

Joe grinned, “Probably at least six times. Xylarnae hit level six.”

“Six,” Gwenvair breathed sofly with some shock.

Joe’s grin grew, “Could I check for you?”

Gwenvair nodded, opening her status quickly for Joe. He took a look and then nodded with a grin.

“Yup. Six levels.”

Gwenvair’s shock changed to joy and she giggled in both shock and surprise, her laughter just a bit on the manic side, “Six… six in one kill… six!”

Joe turned to pull another goblin, but then stopped. He still wasn’t exactly sure what his skill was doing, but it was impressive, whatever it was. So, he decided to at least try to dig a bit deeper. It proved pretty easy to figure out some basic stuff because he had two points of comparison.

“Hey, Xylarnae. Could I look at your log?” Joe asked as he pointed out where to press on her status to bring up the log list. He had to scroll back a good seven or eight dozen lines in order to find the last skill, a frustrating aspect of using the log system that tended to keep him away from the whole thing, and he found that she’d gotten a thousand and twenty three experience. So… how is it working… a thousand times multiplier on her one learning? If so… Gwenvair should have gotten like… level twenty or something ridiculous like that, right? I would…

Joe turned to Gwenvair instead and she pulled up her status and swapped it to the log before he even asked, and he mumbled a soft thank you as he looked at it, scrolling up another two or three or so dozen lines to find hers. Another twenty or thirty lines in the time it took to look at Xylarnae’s. Joe frowned but ignored it and looked at it quickly. Gwenvair received a thousand one hundred and fifty three for her experience from killing the goblin. Joe frowned. Hmm… then… He turned his attention to her current learning and noticed that it was ninety five. Round it to a hundred… thousand twenty five plus a hundred is a thousand one hundred twenty five… loose five… thousand one hundred twenty… but… how is it thirty six. Where did the extra eleven come from? Joe frowned and dug into her status for a time but found nothing that hinted at it and her ninety five learning boosted somehow in some way to a thousand thirty six versus Xylarnae’s one learning boosted to a thousand twenty five. It just didn’t make sense. It didn’t make any sense at all. Why or how could the multiplier affect one learning by a thousand twenty six but ninety five learning by a thousand thirty one? But they were too close and Joe felt it had to have come from somewhere else as some form of flat addition, not a multiplier, which meant Gwenvair had gained another eleven learning between Xylarnae’s first kill and Gwenvair’s second kill. Ooh! Let’s check Xylarnae’s second kill!

Xylarnae was now level eight, which meant she’d only gained around or a bit more than a thousand learning, still. He took a look at her log, searching for the second kill and found that Xylarnae had gained a thousand thirty seven for it. Oh… six learning from commoner level six, so… thousand thirty one. OK! Both got boosted another eleven learning. So… why?

Joe pondered, then quickly realized. The only other variable for their group was him, and when he looked at his jobs, he realized he’d leveled up two of his jobs, the regen and healing mage. Is that it? That easy? He quickly checked out their stats on the current job tab and found each one gave plus four to learning, with regen giving him twenty eight levels, four per level, which gave him a hundred twelve more learning and healing mage, with one less level gave him a hundred eight. The two together had netted him another two hundred twenty. But… how does two hundred twenty become eleven?

Joe pondered it for a bit, and found the answer really quite quickly. Ten percent put him at twenty two with half of that giving him five percent. And… there we go. Eleven more learning. That’s… is that what it is? Five percent of my … ooh! It didn’t base it on any of my boosts or titles! Five percent of my base learning! Nice… not amazing, but… still nice. So… Joe took a look at the title and then frowned. Three pluses… that… seems odd. Three pluses equals five percent… so then each plus is… what… one point six six ad nauseum percent each? That’s… really weird. Why would they do that?

But he counted out the math, and it came out exactly right. But no matter how the math worked, something about it seemed off and Joe found himself picking at it almost the entire rest of the day, happy to get the math of five percent right, but annoyed that his skill gave three plusses which equated to a total of five percent. Unless… the plusses mean something else? Wonder what it is? It’s just… Joe finally tabled the thought as the others were now kind of standing around waiting on him and feeling a bit guilty, he turned back to them and offered his apologies before pulling a monster, one for each group.

They continued to fight for about half the morning, the others doing well in fighting, soon growing quite comfortable with it until about half way through the morning. They seemed to start growing exhausted about half way, although Stephliquen proved quite a bit more resilient with her stamina than the others, which surprised him and made him wonder a bit. Since the others were tired, he offered them a time to rest and turned to take out the goblin king once more. This time, he was much more cautious in engaging, making sure to draw the goblin king where there were very poor weapon choices for it, and he found the fight rather disappointing, taking it out quickly and easily. He ultimately decided to use infusion to wipe it out quickly before he plundered the chest of everything. He looked at the throne and remembered the titles available, and grimaced. Right… ok…

He ran back and got them all before having everyone sit on the throne for the title. He then led them back to the corner and joined them in their morning break. Joe then relaxed, enjoying the moment of rest and enjoying teaching Gwenvair about numbers and letters. It was a good break, if very odd, as Gwenvaire and him spoke for a good thirty second conversations before one of the other three would interject with their thoughts and the two would reply to them with another conversation. Xylarnae was able to speak pretty quickly now, due to reaching level twenty in commoner already and Gwenvair had reached twenty one. Joe was rather surprised how quickly he’d become used to holding two or three conversations. Just like… His mind skittered around the memory like a jittering shard across the chalk board before ripping back onto the smooth track of his earlier thoughts. Since the two he was grouped with had hit twenty, there was no need to go further and he then swapped groups, joining the other two really quickly, both of whom had made it only to level two. He then turned back to join the conversations the other three were enjoying.

His conversations with Gwenvaire were upbeat and cheerful, which Joe found surprising with how much Gwenvaire had gone through, and he grew a bit concerned for her. The other two began to question him with ever more questions specific to the system and Joe shared a bit with them, although he was much more reserved about explaining the mechanics he’d learned. They were new and he knew little of them, despite Gwenvaire’s vouching for them. He would do well by them, get them to a semblance of some kind of strength, then walk away.

Pain vibrated through his being, and he looked away from Gwenvaire as his thoughts pulsed between a desire to connect again and the fear he’d lose it all once more. He took a deep breath and returned the conversation, Gwenvaire keen enough to catch his small lapse but he honestly didn’t care at this point. Just… help them and get rid of them. I’m … done.

They were out once again, this time Stephliquen using a staff as well, if a bit awkwardly. Joe now focused on Gwenvaire slowly taking control of the monster, focusing on helping her fight and keep it focused on her. It was much more difficult with her daggers, and Joe began to reconsider his setup. It would be better if either Kalia or Xylarnae, with their weapons, were to keep the goblin occupied, smacking it and defending against any strikes, while the others fought, but all the others were very low level. Only Gwenvaire really had the strength and reaction speed to intercept and deal with the goblin. Joe wanted to offer her a sword, but it seemed she had lost hers when her brother sold her to the slave merchant and he really only had one ‘normal’ style sword which Kalia was currently using.

Kalia proved a decent surprise, moving with obvious experience, but always reacting so slowly. Her parries and intercepts she performed to help Gwenvaire came a beat or two too slow and Joe frowned. Not just on conversations then… maybe slow reactions… or maybe just her low body stats? Hard to know… but…

Despite her slow reactions, Joe was happiest with her as it showed she had extensive combat training with her sword, using it well and dancing, oddly out of beat, but still dancing well with the goblin with excellent interaction. He could tell she was growing ever more upset, and he took a moment in the fight to speak to her.

“Kalia. I know this is frustrating, but this will resolve quickly. Focus on simply striking the goblin. Let Gwenvaire and I defend. You will soon be back to your capabilities in a bit. This system is… despicable, but there are ways to take advantage of it.”

A good half a minute or so later, she calmed and nodded, although she smiled a bit sardonically, “Thanks, eccentric. But this has stripped me of powers far vaster than this petty goblin, as you know.”

Joe frowned in agreement, “True, but when life gives you lemons… time to make lemonade.”

The mana swelled around him and erupted outward, understanding coming to her shortly after and she laughed uproariously. Huh… glad she got that… man… this mana translation system is pretty freakin’… amazing… Then he grimaced remember the fiasco with Kilniara inviting in Gwenvair and he grew bitter. Right… but still sucks!

He forced a smile and turned his attention back to her. She calmed, turning to simply stab the goblin violently. Oddly, she seemed to not really care where she hit, simply striking at any opportunity, often hitting limbs. As ineffective as it was, it still hindered the goblin and Joe didn’t really want to push her. She wasn’t exactly the most considerate of people he’d met, so he let it go. She was an excellent swordsman, from what he could see, so knew that with the return of her stats, she would be so again. It only made sense when she was operating at a hundredth of her capabilities, if her species was similar to human norms. It only took a couple monsters to greatly enhance her capabilities, and soon, she was fighting much better as she leveled up commoner into the teens rapidly before slowing and making it to twenty by the end of their day in the dungeon.

Around noon, they stopped for lunch and Joe noticed that he could now group four people. He grinned to see the new skill and went to include another of the women into the party when he paused. That’s… never mind… I’ll still have to swap between them… or… do I swap a person into and out of the party? Have a rotation where one rests and three fight with me? That… might work… maybe for tomorrow.

“Right… I can make a party of four now… so maybe we can have one person rest while the other three fight with me? We can fight non top then, and help you guys get through your base stats up pretty quick!”

The others seemed to accept it easily enough while Gwenvair seemed a bit shocked, “You can make parties?”

Joe grinned and nodded, “Yeah… don’t really talk about it, if that’s alright?”

Gwenvair quickly nodded and then Joe called an end to the day, packing up and leading everyone back out of the dungeon and up to the streets. The girls had all made level twenty in commoner, with Gwenvair hitting level twenty one. The others seemed to be rather blasé about the whole affair and only Gwenvair truly understood the shocking ramifications of punching through twenty levels of a job in a quarter of a day. She proved to be both ecstatic and just a bit manic in her joy. Any doubt she had was now long gone, excited jabbering overwhelming any of the others from talking. Xylarnae and Kalia were humored by Gwenvaire’s excitement, and a bit dismissive of the whole affair, but Joe simply smiled and felt relieved, finally happy to be able to convince at least one person to try. If anyone had been the best, it was Gwenvaire, with her already decent forty learning or so.

When they left the dungeon, Joe was actually grinning again. A sense of happiness for a job well done returning peace to him, although he still tended to escape his thoughts when he thought of… Joe shook his head and turned back to the joyful conversation between the others.

They stopped by the guild hall to eat, enjoying a decent meal before they headed out to the baths. In this, Joe led them as no one in the group knew the way as well as him since Gwenvair had only joined so late and Garnedell and… Joe clenched his jaw, anger spiking up then fading. Gwenvair laid a hand on his shoulder and he glanced down, smiling, and felt peace well through him and Joe’s grin grew, happy. Peace and happiness swept through him and his grin grew to a soft chuckle and he nodded at Gwenvair. Gwenvair, a soft worried smile on her face, relaxed and smiled back, taking her hand back from his shoulder before turning to the other two and continuing their conversation. Joe took a deep breath and led them on to the baths.

When he arrived, he slid into the water and just relaxed, floating in a happiness that settled him in a way he couldn’t understand, but found himself clinging to maybe just a bit desperately.

* * *

Gwenvair, having been there before, led them all to a private room and soon arriving at the same room she’d enjoyed with Kilniara. A hint of sadness settled upon her, but she quickly banished it, not wishing to influence Joe unduly. He’s… very fragile now… She sighed but also felt rather hopeful since while Joe was rather sensitive and naïve, easily affected by a single death, he still had a resilience that she found hopeful. It’s almost as if he’s never had a friend die… that’s… impossible, though…

Gwenvair shook herself free of the thoughts and turned back to the other three, finding the conversation with them much more easily simply because they gained level twenty in a single day. Even thinking of such a thing left her astonished and she found herself growing giddy once again but then forces herself back to the other three. Again… focus, Gwenvair. Be polite.

They all settled into their baths and soon talked with one another, Gwenvair finding the conversation enlightening and enjoyable.

* * *

Joe found himself waiting for about ten minutes before the others were done with their bath. It actually was a rather enjoyable time alone and when the others showed up, he was a bit annoyed, although didn’t show it. He stood and smiled, joining them as they all left and headed out to the inn. After they arrived, they ate quickly and retreated to the room, moving quickly as Joe noticed they all seemed a bit nervous about eating in the inn common room and so they all headed up to the room rather quickly. When they made it back up to the room, Joe was starting to grow a bit sleepy but surprisingly was doing well enough. Got up to the room fast enough before I need to sleep now, heh. Right… let’s get some more information now that the other three can speak … well… two… At least they can reply much faster now.

“Kalia? Xylarnae? Did you get a year when you came to Aelthron’s cradle?”

“A year? What year?”

Joe frowned, “When you arrived and received the welcome to Aelthron’s cradle, did you get a year to naturalize your stats to your new job?”

Kalia’s eyebrows crunched down, knitting together as she shook her head, “Again, what year? I arrived and was immediately… shackled. I could no longer think clearly or easily or reply quickly, not until the slave merchant where we were trained. There, they had some form of magic to allow us to converse easily and quickly.

Joe blinked at that with some surprise. Ooh… ok, that’s really cool! And I guess would make sense… don’t wanna waste time trying to teach if they’re thinking so slowly and you need to tr… no… focus!

“So you arrived here and immediately had your status naturalized to…” Joe trailed off noticing Kalia’s confusion and swapped to her language, “your ability to think was shackled and slowed?”

“Yes,” Kalia replied with a nod.

Joe paused at that, nodding then continued, “And you had mana points.”

“I was a late Expert, and was on the cusp of Peak Expert. I was …” Kalia paused at that and glanced over at Xylarnae who was staring at her with twinkling eyes.

Xylarnae seemed to be staring on with hero worship, and gasped out in soft wonderment, “Peak Expert… almost lord!”

Kalia turned to smile at Xylarnae’s surprised gasp and nodded before turning back to Joe and continuing, “Yes, almost an expert,” Kalia’s smile twisted to bitterness slightly before she continued, “I had many points. A new lord has about…” Kalia spoke some phrase of some kind that seemed to be delayed, her lips moving but no sound coming out even as mana swelled wildly before the point of mana shrunk into a point and shot into him. Joe blinked when he understood.

“… eighty thousand points but each level a lord grows they must attract another hundred points for a hundred levels, or ten thousand points to continue.”

Joe blinked with some respect, “So about a hundred thousand? That’s… insane.”

Gwenvair said nothing, but seemed to stare at Kalia with shock and avid adoration. Joe noticed but said nothing.

Kalia nodded, “It is… quite difficult.”

“So you gained that many?”

Kalia’s bitterness grew, “Almost as many, yes.”

“And that was from… randomly spitting out mana till you overwhelm a point and make it yours?”

Kalia nodded but added a soft chuckle, “There is a bit more nuance to it than that, but yes. But that is how all have gained their points.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… I heard that you can gift points.”

Kalia gawked at that slightly, more with mockery than honest consideration as she shook her head, “Fantasies and stories of fantasies.”

Joe frowned, “Really? You have never seen it?”

Kalia chuckled, “I have never seen it, although there is rumor of one clan who’d gained the favor of the cradles so powerfully they were granted some few points. It is more rumor and myth than any… true story. It is a legend lost to ancient time if it ever was real.”

Joe felt his eyebrows twitch even as he picked up on the subtle hint, “Points are from the cradle.”

Kalia frowned, a bit confused, “Yes? You… did not know? Although… with this plane,” she ended with seeming understanding

Joe looked up at that then grinned, “Sorry. Just musing. Huh… you too, I guess.” OK… that must be obvious information. Joe mused. Probably need to tone it down a bit. Probably already gave myself away a bit by not knowing how many points a lord had… whatever that is… hmm… but then how does that explain about Garnedell and… His mind stuttered and he breathed, hand dipping into his pocket again but Gwenvair was almost immediately by his side and he looked up at her with a smile, grateful for her concern. She nodded and turned to the other two.

“It’s very late. Maybe it’s time for sleep.”

Joe sighed at that, but nodded, “Sure, although let me teach a little reading and writing again, then we’ll head to bed. I’ll sleep in the other room. I’m… really tired. You guys have fun. I really should probably sleep. I’m drooping.”

The others offered polite goodnights, and Kalia even smiled and bowed slightly, offering her thanks. Joe grinned and shook his head, dismissing it but was too tired to really talk more on it. Gwenvair joined him for a time as he explained several more letters and writing out the whole alphabet and numbers for her. While she practiced, he made some notes about the new skills he’d gained, but found the only other thing he’d gained in partier was something called magic guide, which proved a rather depressing method of finding one another, drawing a glowing line from him towards a party member. Magic map is better… but… he shrugged and moved on.

He’d somehow gained a couple levels in theorist and made it past level forty, which had Joe confused. But… it’s all good, must have … yeah.. it’s all good! I got another cool skill! Joe dismissed the concern on that, simply grateful to have unlock a new job which Stephliquen had pointed out to him, physicist, and a new skill: char skill growth. Delving into that revealed it allowed his char skills themselves to level up. That seemed really odd, but exciting. Wrestling with the help system revealed he had to assign a ‘char:’ skill to an unassigned char, which he now had in skill theorist, but no other free skill unless he wanted to remove one of his currently used ‘char:’ skills and apply it to this char. Hmm… wrestle with that later… too tired… and want to get this data all down.

The regen and healing mage almost piqued his interest to explore, but he really needed to focus on teaching Gwenvair, so only noted his skill gains quickly. Both mages gained access to staff and wand. Both got regen and heal cut respectively, which Joe really wanted to test and explore, but restrained himself. They both gained mana control and half pain, which seemed to be some form of pain management skill. However, regen mage gained split focus – noncombat and healing mage gained combat medic. Joe immediately dismissed combat medic, despite its importance, and explored split focus – noncombat. It simply allowed the healer to maintain a secondary focus on empowering the regenerative magic. Which means… regen healer is… what… a long term healer? So… why? OK… figure it out later!

Next healing mage gained a useful if bland skill called cleanse while regen mage gained something called life friend, which was very intriguing essentially stated that he somehow had a meaningful connection with the life element. The concept of elements proved very interesting, and he made a note of that to explore for later, but found himself beginning to be overwhelmed by just how deep and varied the world was. Still, keeping it all well documented was the first step so he turned to the last two skills.

Regen mage gained its own bland but useful skill called double regen speed which Joe acknowledged but quickly moved on to the healer mages emergency suture. That had him relax immensely, a tension that immediately melted from his body that he didn’t even realize he was experiencing. But he sought out more information and found it even more gratifying, as it instantly healed a party member back to combat readiness but only regained half the person’s health. That may have been worthless, to some extent but Joe immediately felt it was essentially an insta-‘save’ button for any party member. And… it is clear that it is party… so, but still… that’s…

The last of his skills evaluated and documented, Joe turned back to Gwenvair and devoted the rest of his time on teaching until Gwenvair begged off and Joe felt on relief as he also was closing in on exhaustion rather quickly. He headed to the small room off to the side and collapsed into bed. He had to struggle to practice his skills but did so before he finally allowed himself to relax. Despite his exhaustion, he found himself a bit wired, all the new realizations for the day hammering him with spikes of adrenaline that would let him rest, so he turned to his status, searching through it for a time. As always, he went tab by tab until he reached the curses tab, then ground his teeth in a rage. There, in the upper left corner, a simple one word statement glowed: enslaved. There was no other data or other forms of information he could retrieve from it, no matter how hard he tried. It took him a long, long time to fall asleep, each moment where he would drift off cut short as a new idea hit him and he struggled to dig deeper into the system to understand the collar, slavery, curses, and how it all bound up together to control him. Absolutely nothing was returned. The system was a blank wall that blocked all efforts to seek escape. He didn’t know how many tries or questions he asked. He didn’t keep track of any of it. Rage, the driving motivator behind his efforts, was a poor record keeper. It didn’t stop him from trying. He only stopped when his exhaustion finally wrestled his rage and efforts into submission and he fell into a deep, deep sleep.

* * *

Zilnek shivered in his small box he’d taken for himself, driven a bit deeper into the maze amongst the poor. He’d long lost his bounty stolen from Joe, the cores beaten from him by street toughs who’d found out about his new found well and soon found himself being driven ever deeper and deeper into the poorer sections until he’d finally found a small horridly stench filled cul de sac, empty of any other, likely due to the stench. He shuddered from the smell when he’d found it, relieved because he was certain to have found a safe place, and disgusted, barely withholding his gag reflex. He’d fled the first time and came back two more times before finally deciding this would be his new home. Several nights of scavenging had given him the small box he now crouched in. And he shivered, cold.

* * *

Kilniara shivered in the luxury of her room. The temperature was perfect. The bedding luxuriously decadent. Her wants met without ceasing. Her life was in every way possible, perfect. And she shivered, alone, and desperate in her prayers. Please… save me. Please… I can’t… take much more of this!

* * *

Matriarch’s hands cracked and split painfully, sores forming then erasing until her HP had vanished and then simply stayed as she washed the hundreds of dishes before her. She was stoic, her face placid and still. She was in despair, her heart raging and broken.

* * *

Thamnerlum thumped through the gate to Coushar, his daughter and brother following behind. He stared at the town, an upper town in almost every way lacking any imagination in its design or construction. A terrible poorly defended pile of excrement. He grunted, and turned.

Inner city. Uppers always have the clans in the inner city. Why are they so unimaginative to think only in two dimensions and always the same from in to out… or is it internal to external. To be so foolish to neglect all angles and directions… and to only consider two when they have another so obvious one.

Thamnerlum forced himself to look upwards, the blue skies above a horror for almost every dwarf, but Thamnerlum had long conquered such fear. He’d made sure to remove that fear from all his clan as well, although his clan now only numbered three.

His short legs left him dissatisfied with his movement, as it always did when he stood amongst the skytouchers. Skytouchers always annoyed him and most other grounders, their height and long legs giving them a speed that seemed alien to them. Height rarely bothered him when he was amongst other grounders, although he could admit that likely other greater grounders would find his own height as unsettling as he found the skytouchers. They may even call me a skytoucher. He chuckled gravelly to himself.

His humor vanished when he came upon another example of upper construction and his irritation returned. Always with the wide open spaces for importance. Uppers cannot truly appreciate the grandeur of earth. Why do they seek air for importance when earth so easily … descriptive!

He stumped across plaza to the inner gate. As he came closer and closer, the uppers guarding the gate grew stiff, several of them quite a bit more skytouched even compared to other skytouched. They soon came upon the gate and he saw one of the skytouched sent at a run into the inner clan. Good… then our waiting shall not be so long as to be … irritating. Hopefully it will be… quick.

He came upon the uppers, “Patriarch. Please.”

The uppers blinked, surprised by his bluff response and his brother stepped forward, “My brother would like to seek an audience with your Patriarch, if he would be so gracious?”

The upper turned to the other guards and they shifted uncomfortably until another upper of greater status arrived. He spoke quickly.

“The Patriarch would be please to greet you. Would you be willing to arrive tomorrow? I am certain he will see you immediately on the morrow.”

“One day?”

“On the morrow, great Empowered.”

“Hmm. Acceptable”

Awaiting a single day is more than acceptable. We will find suitable place of rest for the evening and return.

“Tomorrow,” Thamnerlum growled out and turned away. Time to find an adequate inn.

* * *

He meditated upon the Daos newly arrived on the plane, now that he had time to consider it. His required duties were complete and allowed him much more time to carefully consider everything, already having delivered the new jobs and his recommendation to the capital library. He was surprised to find that there were insights that would have benefited even him, if he were still corporeal. His mind was distracted for a moment, sighing, before returning to his meditation, too interested in his discoveries to be bothered by such old realities.

* * *

Joe woke shortly after asleep, terror spiking through as the face of Garnedell, pale and blue, lolled on his shoulder as his body lay crumpled against the wall. Joe shivered, fearful and worried. Even as the fear and horror suffused through him, Gwenvair murmured next to him and a laid a hand on his shoulder and he calmed, peace washing through him like a wave even as the thoughts of Garnedell swamped under the peace and Joe shuddered while breathing deeply and finding a deeper peace. Joe found peace for a time, but couldn’t fall back to sleep, worry undermining the peace he was feeling.

Sometime in all of that, Gwenvair rolled away, turning to the side in her sleep and Joe sighed, glad that he would be less likely to bother Gwenvair. Shortly after, his worry quickly began swelling again, all his thoughts driven to the collar around his neck, and around the others. I can’t… not a good idea … this has to… His mind drifted, turning away from the collar and then he shivered with that thought. Is it twisting my thoughts away… no… that… no… not a… He forced himself up and slipped from the bed. He clothed quickly and drove himself out into the streets.

Focus… don’t lose this. The collar. It’s gotta go…where am I gonna find… His mind ran through option after option and while he did consider Kukurnal, it was late, and simultaneously felt a bit leery, he couldn’t understand why. Probably a good idea to get out of the city, too… that would get us away and keep us fro… but… Gwenvair’s family is here… yeah… probably should stay just a bit longer. We can head out at another time… we got time… Besides, how am I going to find someone to help me with this collar. I should… right… probably… gonna have to find the criminals… OK… I … I think I remember where the gang Gwenvair had set up was… I can … yeah… let’s go… A good place to start. He turned with intention, heading down a street towards the deeper parts of the city, then paused… really late at night though… don’t want to be rude and … yeah… probably too late… I should try when it’s not so late…

Joe didn’t notice, but he wandered the block surrounding the inn, walking down the street, circling the entire block only to return to the inn, even as his mind struggled to seek answers. Every once in a while, he’d turn towards a direction or consider an action, only to find himself second guessing it. Finally, after hours, he headed back to the inn and fell into a fitful sleep.