Wyn returns to the cabin to find Neil chowing down on a spread of different foods. Stale bread, jars of fruit, some sort of leafy greens, and an assortment of nuts and dried jerky.

  “Are you alright?” he asks.

  Wyn shrugs. “Not really. But there’s no use in sitting around.”

  “Or shouting at trees,” Mirana says, snickering.

  Neil gives Mirana a disappointed look, and hands Wyn a knob of bread. “Eat; you’ll feel better.”

  Wyn accepts the bread and takes a seat on a rickety old chair. Looking around, Wyn wonders why Lothran sent them here. Is this his cabin? If that’s the case, why send them here rather than somewhere like the other side of the world?

  “So,” Neil starts, still chewing on his dried meat, “we need a plan. You said you needed to go to Edelvahn, right?”

  Wyn nods, and unlike Neil, she doesn’t speak with her mouth full.

  “Right,” Neil continues. “I think our best bet is to join you. Strength in numbers and all that.”

  “And how are we supposed to stop that Watcher from tearing us apart?” Mirana asks.

  Neil sighs. “Honestly, I don’t know. But we can’t stay here. Anything even remotely connected to Lothran is a death trap. As soon as we can, we should get moving.”

  Wyn swallows her bite of bread. “If the Watcher is as powerful as we saw, why doesn’t he teleport and destroy us?”

  “Teleportation is very rare and very complicated magic,” Mirana says. “It requires a lot of talent with the arcane, and I venture a guess that our Watcher friend isn’t that talented.”

  Neil nods in agreement. “Massive otherworldly power, but lacking the control to wield it correctly.”

  Wyn glances at Psai, who floats beside her. She thinks back to Lothran’s guidance. The Watchers can see everything; they know everything there is to know. They serve Progenitis and their interests. And Psai, regardless of his good intentions, is also an entity from the same organization. Is it wise to even talk about watchers around Psai?

  “One moment,” Wyn says. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m worried about something.” She tilts her head toward the floating orb next to her, hoping that Neil and Mirana get the message.

  “Ah, right. That,” Neil says, glancing at Psai.

  “I am uncertain what it is you are referring to. Please explain!” Psai says.

  Neil steps forward, approaching Psai. Psai, his polygonal face shifting into concern, floats backward. Neil accelerates, crossing the cabin in an instant, but Psai is just as fast. Neil swats at Psai. Though due to Psai not technically having a physical form, Neil’s hand phases through him with no resistance.

  “Please do not do that. It is quite annoying!” Psai says, his optimistic tone at odds with his words.

  Neil doesn’t listen and swats at him again. Psai floats up higher into the cabin, out of reach.

  “I do not understand. What is happening?” Psai asks.

  Neil puts his hands on his hips, glancing up and down to estimate if he can jump high enough to swat at him a third time. “Psai, can you… how do I put this nicely…”

  “Go away,” Mirana adds helpfully.

  Psai looks between them, his expression falling into deep sadness. “I am not wanted? Oh. Okay. I see. I’ll just… deactivate myself.”

  “Wait, hold on!” Wyn says. “I’ll bring you back… so long as you tell me how.”

  Psai’s mood improves. “Understood! I will add an ability to your interface allowing you to summon me back when you are ready.”

  With that, Psai poofs out of existence, and Wyn hears a soft chime in her ears.

  Ability Unlocked

  Ability: Summon Familiar — Common

  Description: Should a familiar discorporate, die, or otherwise become incapacitated, re-summon them back to Eden.

  “What the…” Wyn mutters. During the fight with The Watcher in Black, he disabled her interface. And now her interface makes no sense at all. Each time she opens up the ability, it reads differently, with different letters glitching out each time. It takes a second, but after a while she’s able to put together what the ability does.

  Ability: Summon Familiar — Common

  Description: Should a familiar discorporate, die, or otherwise become incapacitated, re-summon them back to Eden.

  Wyn turns to Mirana and Neil. “Are your interfaces all messed up too?”

  They open up their interfaces and find errors themselves. Abilities are listed in the wrong order, and many have unfamiliar letters throughout. Wyn’s character screen is now different, holding bizarre errors and unfamiliar details.

  NAME: Wyn Abulata

  RACE: Human

  STATUS: N/A

  RANK: Novice    CLASS: Spellweaver - Level 12

  Arcane ConsInitiate - Common

  ARCHETYPE: Hybrid

  SECONDARY ARCHETYPE: Control

  STATS:

  Strength: 9

  Toughness: 10

  Willpower: 14

  SECONDARY CLASS: ?????? ?? ??? ?????? - Level 8

  A

  Endurance: 8

  Awareness: 11

  Presence: 15

  Intellect: 13

  ABILITIES

  First Aid - Common

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Ability: Summon Familiar

  Refined Essentia Manipulation - Common

  Basic Insight: Common

  Illusions o - Common

  Subtle Spellcasting - Uncommon

  Spellweaving - Uncommon

  Transmute Essentia - Uncommon

  Fortify Self - Uncommon

  Arcane Tension - Uncommon

  Flickerstep - Uncommon

  Oblivion Shroud: Rare

  TITLES

  Outworlder - Common

  Improved Mage Bolt - Uncommon

  “That is… very bizarre.” Neil says.

  “Apparently my new class is my ‘Holy Light’ healing spell,” Mirana says, chuckling.

  Wyn opens and closes her broken interface a few times, trying to see if anything changes and hoping it stabilizes. It gets better over time, with more details becoming normalized, though it doesn’t quite fix itself completely.

  “It’ll resolve itself eventually,” Neil says. “Can we get back on topic?”

  Wyn nods. “Yeah. The Watcher. Now that Psai isn’t listening, I think, we can hopefully speak freely.”

  “That was easier than I thought it would be, getting rid of the orb,” Mirana says.

  Neil rubs his temples. “Yes, can we focus on making some plans?”

  Wyn nods in agreement. “I’m going to Edelvahn. I made a promise to Elara. Her, Rennick, Timnos, and Tilly are all decently skilled adventurers. They aren’t are talented as you two, but they know how to handle themselves in a fight. Especially Elara.”

  “That’s foolish.” Mirana says. “If this is a true goblin invasion, then they will be attacking Edelvahn soon. It’s the biggest Imperial stronghold in the region, and they’ve got the Dragon of Edelvahn on their side. Should the goblins get rid of him, reaching the Capital becomes much simpler. On top of that, more eyes on us is a big problem. Makes us more likely to run into a Watcher.”

  “The Dragon of Edelvahn?” Wyn asks.

  “Virtus Nijana. The region commander and an absolute beast on the battlefield. I’ve seen him fight once, and it’s something to behold.” Neil says. He looks as if he’s about to continue, but pauses, a thought occurring to him.

  Wyn has heard of Virtus before, of course. Elara mentioned him a few times while they adventured together. He was also the quest giver for the region quest that brought her into the ancient underground city below the mountain. If he really is as strong as they say, then he might even be able to stand up to the Watcher.

  Judging by the look on Neil’s face, he has the same idea.

  “We go to Edelvahn,” Neil declares. “It’s a gamble, but it should pay off. Virtus is far stronger than almost any I’ve met before. He’s the only Paragon ranked person I’ve ever seen. If anyone has a chance of going up against that Watcher bastard, it’s him.”

  “What if he decides not to help us?” Mirana asks.

  “That’s the gamble. We need him to decide fighting the Watcher will help the Empire. Then, we can fight back against Progenitis and hopefully get our way out of this mess.”

  Mirana leans forward. “Slight problem. How exactly to we convince him? Virtus is a stubborn man. It’s not like we can just waltz up to him and demand he helps us. He’ll throw us to the wolves if we do that.”

  Neil leans back, his plan evaporating in front of him. Thankfully, Wyn has an idea. She doesn’t like it, but it’s an acceptable plan.

  “Blintsy,” Wyn says.

  Neil and Mirana both groan.

  “I know. I know. And trust me, if anyone has a reason to hate that guy, it’s me. But if anyone is going to have the information we need, it’s Blintsy. He seems to know damn near everything that happens in this world and why.”

  Neil rubs his temples, a headache building. “Anything involving that man is bound to fail. It isn’t worth it.”

  “And do we have another option?” Mirana asks.

  Neil huffs, standing up from his chair. “No.”

  Mirana, taking the cue from Neil, begins packing the food and other items inside the wooden cabin into her inventory. “How do we find him?”

  Neil sighs. “Knowing him, he’ll find us.”

  30 minutes later, the trio of adventurers leaves the cabin, their inventories filled with whatever they could get their hands on. Even the stiff mattress makes its way into Neil’s inventory for use on the road.

  “Where are we?” Wyn asks.

  “Give me a minute,” Mirana says.

  Mirana begins casting a spell, holding her pendant as she mutters arcane words under her breath. Essentia gathers in the elf’s eyes, giving them a soft golden glow. She glances through their surroundings, peering through the thick trees and looking beyond the foggy mountain range and into the valley below.

  “It’s an enhanced perception spell. Lets her see for miles. Useful if you can get your hands on it,” Neil says quietly to Wyn so as not to distract Mirana.

  “Weird,” Mirana says. “We’re quite far from Lethisburg.”

  “Really?”

  “No, I’m lying to you, Neil,” Mirana says, rolling her eyes. “We’re quite a bit farther to the northwest than I would’ve expected. We’re not in the western regions of the Empire, but we are close.”

  Neil frowns. “That puts us well over a hundred miles from Edelvahn.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” Wyn says, huffing. “What’s the nearest town? Maybe we'll get lucky and find Blintsy there.”

  “If we go north, we get into some old Dwarven mines. South and West are just more mountains, and to the east I can see a small farming village.”

  “Farming village it is, let’s move.”

  Neil sets a brisk pace, just shy of a jog, as they trek down the mountain and towards the farming village. Were it not for their abilities, the journey would be nearly impossible. Every few hundred feet, they come across a steep ledge. But each of them has a short-range movement ability that allows them to traverse the harsh terrain with ease.

  Even as the sun sets, they push forward. Led by Neil and his torch, they have no issue traveling through most of the night. Only when Mirana spots something do they pause.

  “Bear,” Mirana whispers, holding up a hand.

  Neil goes straight into action, planning an attack on the bear. “Mirana, you stay behind and focus on healing. Wyn, use your illusions to distract it; pelt it with whatever damaging spells you can. I’ll get up close and personal and deal with it once it attacks.”

  Mirana shakes her head. “And what, fist fight the bear? You lost your two good swords fighting the Watcher?”

  Neil smirks, pulling a heavy mace out of his inventory. “I always bring spares.”

  Mirana groans. “Of course you do.”

  Neil steps forward, his heavy armor crunching with each step. Ahead of them, a hulking bear moves through the brush. Its enormous claws dig furrows into the ground with each step, giving them an easy trail to follow.

  A deep rumbling growl reaches their ears. Neil holds up a hand, ordering the group to stop. The bear has taken notice of them. It rears up on its hind legs, its thick, muscular body ready to attack.

  Neil points to the sky, giving Wyn the signal.

  She casts her Illusions of the Beyond ability, projecting the image of a large shadowy figure flitting between the trees. The bear’s eyes go wild, darting between Neil and the illusion. It can’t decide which is the greater threat, so it retreats through the trees to avoid a fight.

  “Shit,” Neil mutters. He hadn’t accounted for the bear retreating in his plan. Despite his ample skills as a warrior, he’s useless at range. So instead of waiting for the bear to attack, he charges forward.

  Sweat drips down Neil’s brow under his helmet as he expends a huge amount of stamina to push his body to the limit. His legs carry him far faster than should be possible. The bear, seeing that it can’t outrun the charging knight, stands its ground and swipes at Neil.

  “Dammit, Neil,” Mirana groans. She turns to face Wyn. “Change of plans. We go on the offensive.”

  Mirana leaps forward, closing the distance, with Wyn close behind. Wyn splits her focus, concentrating on the illusion spell while also conjuring improved mage bolts. Mirana, usually the reluctant healer, casts offensive spells of her own. A spear made of golden light appears, floating beside her, and with a single word of command it flies forward toward the bear, thrusting forward with stabbing strikes.

  The bear howls in pain as the spear makes contact. But it won’t go down without a fight. It charges Neil, who holds up his shield and braces his body for the impact. The bear plows through Neil with terrifying force. His shield holds, but only just. The impact drives him several feet backward, his boots carving deep furrows into the dirt as he fights to stay upright. Something cracks beneath his armor, and Neil grunts as the bear’s shoulder slams a second time into his chest. Despite the blow, his feet remain planted, stopping the bear in its tracks.

  The beast follows through, raking a massive claw across Neil’s side. Metal shrieks as the strike tears deep grooves through his armor and knocks him off balance. Neil drops to one knee with a sharp exhale, his grip loosening as the mace nearly slips from his hand.

  “Neil!” Wyn shouts.

  “I’m fine,” Neil growls, though his voice betrays him. He plants his shield again, but his arm shakes under the strain.

  Mirana swears under her breath. “Unbelievable.”

  Golden light flares around her pendant as she raises a hand. “I told you this was a lousy plan.”

  “I had it,” Neil snaps back.

  “Your injuries disagree,” Mirana retorts.

  She thrusts her hand forward, and warm light washes over Neil’s battered armor, seeping through cracked metal and into the wounds beneath. The glow sinks into him slowly, as though his body resists the magic before finally yielding. Neil inhales as the pain recedes, his posture straightening as bone and muscle knit back together.

  Mirana lowers her hand with a scowl. “Such an idiot.”

  Neil rolls his shoulder once, then tightens his grip on the mace as he rises to his feet. “Alright,” he says. “Now I’m angry.”

  Neil smirks as a look of fear enters the bear’s eyes. Usually a massive predator, tearing through the forest, the great beast understands what it means to be prey. Neil brings the spiked mace down hard on the bear’s head, nearly crushing its skull in a single blow.

  The shadowy illusion vanishes from the forest; the sheer power of Neil’s blow surprising Wyn and disrupting her concentration. Wyn, wanting her own piece of the action, launches her mage bolts at the bear, scorching its side with arcane burns.

  Between Neil’s heavy attacks, Mirana’s conjured spear, and Wyn’s blast of arcane power, the bear doesn’t stand a chance. It tries and fails to swipe at Neil to take him down, but it’s no use. After a third and final heavy blow to the skull, it howls in pain and crumbles to the ground, dead.

  Mirana and Neil exchange celebratory high-fives as they cheer.

  “Not bad!” Neil says. “You’ve gotten better with that spear, Mirana.”

  Mirana tries to hide her blush. “Uh… yeah! Thanks!”

  With a command, the bear’s corpse is looted, and Neil’s already bursting inventory gains a few more essences and a massive bear's hide as the bear fades away into dust.

  “This bear’s hide will fetch a good price. Come on, we should get to the village by morning.”