The sun was quite a sight after several days stuck in a drab temple. It wasn't as great as advertised. I would give it three stars, mostly for all the cool stuff I could steal. Well procure without paying because the people that previously owned it are dead. I suppose that is grave robbing, but it's a temple. Well, there were a few undead crypt-type locations. We could go back there and loot to our heart's content. However, since we killed the Lich, the place might crawl with untethered undead.

  Setting that aside, I just washed myself in the smooth and sweet sensation of freedom. Jenny, being the absolutely awesome chick she was, played George Michael's Freedom the moment we stepped out of the temple doors. The energetic and wild voice of George washed over me like a warm summer breeze. Compounding the glorious feeling of true freedom and the open road.

  "What happened to the forest?" Xyn saddled up beside me and pointed.

  The music abruptly ended, Jenny adding the sound effect of a record player skipping. When did she start doing that? Shaking away the thought, I cast an eye to where she was pointing. And the horror of the world beyond dawned on me. With the sight of a ravaged forest, burnt to ash. Well, I was being dramatic; only about a quarter of the forest was burnt and blackened. I could see that a good chunk of it was still intact.

  "I do not know." I shook my head vehemently before casually descending the stairs.

  "Probably all that blaze bark. Some idiot fire mage, most likely." Xyn muttered behind me, and I kept my face neutral.

  "Blazebark?" Rak questioned, following along.

  "It's this explosive sap some trees produce. They are native to Stryga as I haven't seen them anywhere else." She paused, finger to her lips. "I swear some ancient dark mage probably made these things."

  Rak just grunted, eyeing the forest warily. I tried to ignore the pair and set about our journey. One step at a time, we descended the temple stairs, landing on a dirt path I hadn't noticed before. Probably because I was running from a lot of deadly fire.

  "Let's just give the exploding magic trees a wide berth, okay." I suggested before trudging down the stairs and onto the path of adventure.

  It was just the four of us, most of our things held safely in my magic satchel. They all gawked at me when I told them how much crap I could put in that. To an outside observer, we were travelling light. When in truth we had dungeons worth of loot and supplies all jammed into my bag. Satisfied with the first step along our new adventure, I looked back to check everyone was good. Rak and Xyn were casually chatting about their plans. Jeremy was chilling on my shoulder, eager to carry on with the adventure.

  "We're going to a city, huh?" Jer asked.

  "Yep, Remoria... weird name." I commented, the city didn't ring a bell.

  I was pretty sure I was in the wrong region as none of the locations Xyn mentioned rang any bells. That being said, I was most familiar with non-human domains. Sure, there were humans, practically cattle by Earth standards and slaves at best. I suspected we were in the southern region, which meant evil vampires were further north. And this land was once their domain.

  "Hey Jer, I know this is a dumb question, but do you have a system? Or are you systemless like Rak?" I queried the feline, noticing the Garathi perking up at the mention of his name.

  Jeremy paused, scratching away at his face to rid himself of a horrible itch from what I couldn't see. "You're right, it is a dumb question... but in answer to it, I don't have a system."

  I expected that and nodded in acceptance. It truly was a dumb question; he was a cat from the void. It was unlikely he would have integrated. He did not descend from system users or take part in new system integrations. He likely utilised his abilities innately, relying on some chaos void magic his species could use.

  "Do you know magic?"

  "No, never gained an interest in mortal magic. And the stuff from home is super complicated." He sniffed, scratching his ear.

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  I nodded, taking in the new information as we continued down the dirt path. Ideas churned in my mind, threatening to take me for a ride down distraction boulevard. To get me back on track, I considered all my current projects. First, I needed to sort out my mess of a character sheet. I levelled up a lot and had a lot of system energy to rank up a few skills. Second, I needed to work on my cure for mortality, but that was a longer-term goal. Unless of course someone designed Clerks with extremely short lifespans. And now that I am away from the office, I would slowly decay and die.

  "Would you be interested in my magic?" I awkwardly suggested.

  "You don't have magic; I can smell it." He bluntly pointed out my deficiency.

  So this is what it's like now that my cat can talk. Guess it's to be expected that he would be blunt with me. He is not a pet; he is a companion from beyond known reality. Who is like a cat... literally.

  "I don't mean mana and spellcraft." Pausing, making sure I was a further distance away from eavesdroppers. "I'm talking about system magic. Do you want a system?"

  Jeremy fell quiet, hopefully absorbing my words and considering them with a clear head. Taking all the pros and cons of such a dangerous undertaking. Because it was truly uncharted territory. Integrating me was one thing, but a void being, that was a challenge.

  "Okay, sounds cool." He spoke so nonchalantly that I had to digest those words.

  "Just like that? No questions about side effects and the dangers of shoving an untested system construct into your brain." I said, absolutely flabbergasted.

  "Honestly, I would be surprised if you can even get it to work... I mean, what happens if I do my stop existing trick?" He made a valid point, which stopped me mid-answer.

  "Well, I can probably..." I stopped mid-sentence, trying desperately to come up with an answer.

  He was right; how in all the system worlds could I pull this off? My system integration was a far cry from what the gods swung. They carved the system right into a person's soul. I just tethered it to my body. Mine was an add-on, an extension of myself. While they shoved there's in all permanence.

  "Shit." I cursed, realising how difficult that was.

  "Figured it out, huh? Why do you think I never showed interest?"

  "Do you know how it works?" I asked.

  "Kind of been at the office for a while and heard a few things here and there." He scratched his ear.

  "So you know system integration plugs into your soul, right... do you have a soul?" Because my brain and mouth were connected, I said what I was thinking.

  "Sir, how dare you question my soulfulness." The bloody cat put his paw where his heart should be, looking offended.

  "Hey, I am not even sure I have a soul." The horror of that statement slowly dawned on me.

  "I wouldn't know, despite my kind being mislabelled as demons... quite a lot actually. We eldritch horrors have no interest in people's souls." He explained, and that was good to know.

  "That's good, but just raises more questions. Do I have a soul, and if I do, where do I go after death?" I asked that question only for my mind to answer.

  If the gods created me with a soul, I would return to my creator upon death. Unless I could sort out a deal with another deity. Which raised even more concerns because that meant... if I died, I would have to go back to work. The notion, the thought, the realisation struck me still. I stopped, legs unable to move, my companions concerned. It was a terrible thought.

  "Joe, what's wrong?" Xyn spoke, her voice worried.

  I ignored her, so lost in the idea of this horrid afterlife. Freedom was all I desired; I tasted it the moment I made the choice to flee the only life I had ever known. And that even in death there was no freedom only secured my desire. If I can't be free from death, then I shall grasp eternity.

  "He is just having an existential crisis; give him a minute." Jeremy explained.

  "Existential crisis?" Rak said.

  "You know when you worry about life after death. Don't you humans have an afterlife? I remember you guys harping on a lot about gods and religion."

  "I don't worship any gods." Rak harrumphed, crossing his arms in protest.

  "I was raised in a staunch Athanorian household. My dad was a worshipper of Andara, the Goddess of the Arcane." Xyn withdrew a dagger and started flipping it casually.

  I was still in a mental battle while I was half-hearing their conversation. I had stopped the group from venturing further. That was certain as the trio were now engaged in a theological debate while I was still reeling over my predicament.

  "I thought you humans worshipped the cursed system?" Rak questioned.

  "The Church of Systemology has some sway now, but they lost much of their following when Alborania fell. Now the Athanorian gods have come back into favour with the segregation of the city states." She explained.

  "You humans are strange."

  "Tell me about it, and I'm only half human." She joked.

  "Well, if the rumours are true, us spellspawn we're made from monsters and humans, so I guess we are both half-human in a way."

  The two chuckled jovially, and I just blocked them out, trying to parse my situation. This meant one and only one thing. Death is not an option. I cannot allow myself to die. The only choice is to grasp eternity; there is only choice... in eternity. With my resolve reaffirmed, I rejoined the conversation.

  "I don't really follow any gods, which makes me worried about my immortal soul." I masked my fear.

  "Don't you worry, Joey. As the Athanorians say, even heathens come to Hades." She wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and I felt reassured.

  If I died, the underworld didn't seem that bad a place. And I heard Hades was more of an associate god; he wouldn't bow to the Gaming Gods so easily. I just hope he doesn't have a deal worked out with the bosses.

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