"Kurt. Kurt, wake up." A voice called to him. His eyes screwed shut for a moment. His chin hurt.

  Where was he? What had happened?

  "Why in God’s name did you take a spar so far?!" He heard someone exclaim. The voice was distant, projected away from him.

  He opened his eyes.

  Bladed Weapon Mastery has gone up by a level!

  Bladed Weapon Mastery (Adept Rank / Level 6-50)

  The skill of the user with bladed weapons, such as knives or swords—this skill determines the user's ability to attack and defend with a blade, how efficient their moves with it are, and their ability to understand another’s use of the blade.

  At the current skill level, all basic tenets of swordsmanship and knifemanship have been successfully learned and understood, paving with it the path towards true, personal mastery of the blade.

  "There you are!" Said Mila, her face looming over his and through the screen. "How are you feeling?"

  He tried to sit up. His head felt heavy, his mouth dry. A slender hand darted behind his back, keeping him from falling back.

  "Where am I?" He asked while looking around. The infirmary. Two rows of hospital beds crossed the room from one side to the other, all empty except for his and two at the other side of the room.

  "No, seriously!" Exclaimed Blair. "Just tell me what logic you were following!"

  Conrad remained silent. His forehead, wrists, and right leg were covered in bandages, and spots of gold glimmered from within them.

  "I simply," he finally said, "was testing something out."

  "You little sh—" She bit down on the word, taking a deep breath. "You are forbidden from accessing the armory until my father is back, and then we will decide your punishment.

  Conrad didn't try to refute it, not that he could have. As one of the eldest members of the order and Mr. Anderson's daughter, Blair was pretty much the highest authority in the settlement when he wasn't present. That's why he had… obeyed when she had ordered him that he give that class.

  And with that, she left, strutting out of the room, sparing him a look and a nod on her way out. She looked relieved when he nodded back.

  "Jeez," muttered Mila. "Your sister sure can be scary when she's mad."

  "Half-sister." He corrected. "But yeah, she can be. What time is it?"

  "About four," she said. "Want to go? You have already been discharged."

  "Oh, sure." Kurt turned his head to the side, looking at the other patient. "What about Conrad?"

  "Conrad," came a monotonous voice from the bed beside Conrad's. Abby’s voice "will have to stay here a little longer. He did a real number on his knee, and even my power is going to take a couple more uses before it’s back in shape. You guys can just go."

  Abby's powers were failing to work instantly? The healing powers she received through her soul's direct connection with God? Just what kind of number had Conrad done on his knee that her Manna Manifestation, rare and powerful even among the already vanishingly rare healing magics, took any time to heal?

  How close had he gotten to the point where his natural healing, and thus Abby's blessing, wouldn't be able to heal him just so he could beat Kurt?

  "Yeah, let’s go," said Mila. "You must be starving! Let’s grab something to eat."

  "Sounds like a plan." He said, hopping off the bed. "Bye, Abby. Goodbye, Conrad."

  With that, he hopped off the bed, letting Mila hold his arm for support, and they walked out of the infirmary and onto the Concrete building's sole corridor. Four doors, two at each wall, opened at their sides. To their left, the kitchen and dining hall. To their left, the storehouse and movie room. When they walked past that last one's door, Kurt saw a baker's dozen of the order's younger members sitting on the floor and watching an old cartoon movie on the projector. The supervisors of both living quarters, Marlon the Phylactery and Mary the Belili, oversaw them.

  Averting his eyes, Kurt kept walking. Five minutes later, he and Mila were in his room.

  "So, he just… broke his own leg just to beat you?" Mila asked.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  They were both back at Kurt’s room, a small pile of candy sitting between them.

  "I’m not sure he knew it would break, but he sure was willing to find out." Answered Kurt. "That guy’s got problems. Serious ones."

  "Welp, better get to some lighter stuff." She said, walking towards the game shelf beside the TV. "What’cha wanna play? Oh! What about this one?"

  "I don’t know," Kurt muttered. "It’s fun, but I don’t know if I can deal with its inventory…"

  Another screen popped up.

  No text in this one, just a red square with rows of darker squares in it.

  "Mila, could you hand me that lollipop?" He said, pointing at the pile. Slightly confused, the girl did so. Grabbing the sweet by the candy end, he pushed it against the box.

  In a moment, the lollipop had disappeared, a small caricature of it appearing in one of the boxes. When Kurt centered his gaze on it, a second screen appeared.

  Strawberry Lollipop

  Quality: Common

  A strawberry-flavored consumable made out of candy.

  Emboldened, he reached his hand for the screen, picturing the candy in it. Before he knew it, it was on his hand.

  "What the what!?" Oh, right, Mila was still in the room. "How did you do that? That was so cool!"

  "It’s part of the weird stuff that has been going on today." He answered. "This one’s new, though, but thematically it fits—"

  "Thematically?" She asked, "Is there a theme around all this?"

  He looked at her for a moment before answering.

  "I think so, yeah. It… all started when a red screen appeared before my eyes…"

  It took him about a minute to fill the girl in.

  "So you are like a video game character now?" Mila questioned.

  "I think so, yes." He answered, "Appraisal, Stats, Leveling… An inventory now. Heck, I've gotten stronger today just by throwing three punches. Even Conrad noticed."

  "Well, I mean, that’s good, isn’t it?" She asked.

  "It seems that way. But I really don’t know where any of this is coming from, and that’s eating me alive."

  "Maybe it’s you." Mila said. "Like, some inborn talent, like Abby’s healing or my Spirit Communion."

  "I… hope so, but I've got no way of knowing; that’s why I'm waiting until Mr. Anderson…"

  Heavy steps could be heard from the hall outside the room. They approached until they were right outside the door, where they stopped just before someone knocked on it.

  "There he is." Whispered Mila.

  Kurt nodded and said aloud. "Come on in!"

  The door opened, and in the threshold stood a large man, tall and broad of shoulders, with a mane of greying brown hair matched by a beard.

  Sorcerer and Chief of the Order of Myra

  Calum Anderson

  LV:56

  They stared at each other for a moment. Then Mr. Anderson talked.

  "I’ve got an important briefing to give." His voice was deep and measured. "You are part of it. Come to the living room, please."

  "Oh…" muttered Mila. "Guess I should be going then. Thanks for having me—"

  "You’re part of it too, actually. Now come, please. It’s important."

  And with that, he walked away, both children following.

  In the living room, Blair and Conrad waited for them, sitting at opposite ends of the couch.

  "As you know," Mr. Anderson said. "I’ve been tracking a certain artifact of importance. What none of you know is what I've been looking for." He turned his head to the side. "Mr. Walker, could you please explain where your gift came from?"

  Conrad woke up from his seat as if he had already been expecting the question. His knee was now completely healed. "Of course, Sir." He turned to the rest of the group. "All of you know about Gilgamesh, right?"

  "The king of Uruk?" Asked Kurt.

  "Exactly," responded Conrad. "Well, Gilgamesh once wanted to prove how powerful of a warrior he was, so his companion Enkidu and he both went on a hunt. A hunt for the land’s greatest beast: Humbaba, who guarded a sacred forest and was blessed with seven auras, each carrying a unique boon. After a brutal fight, they managed to slay the beast and, with its death, prove whatever point they had been trying to make." He explained, his face showing that he looked displeased. "With Humbaba's death, the auras were set loose, free to find new wielders. And so…cowed they had been by the demigod’s power, they went on to exclusively bond with humans, jumping from one user to the other for over 8000 years. I carry within myself the Aura of Blue, which grants inhuman speed."

  "Thank you, Mr. Walker; you may sit now." Mr. Anderson walked in front of the group. "As you’ve just heard, these auras incarnate exclusively in human hosts, and randomly at that. Some people don’t exactly adore this last condition and, in their lust for power, have devised the means to break this cycle, ripping this power from their wielders and storing them in some artifact or another. One of the auras, the Aura of Red, granter of strength, has been captured this way. Its original wielder, whoever they were, was murdered, and their gift was extracted by a coven of warlocks."

  He gave them a moment to process this information before continuing his explanation.

  "I set out to pursue them as soon as the intel got to my desk, and I managed to track them all the way to Boston before they got ahold of my presence and took measures against my tracking methods, rendering any further pursuit on my part useless. So, I came back as fast as I could, knowing of two people that would be able to track them no matter what." He tilted his head to his right. "Mila, your ability to communicate with the spirits of nature will be invaluable. The auras were originally blessings of nature, which, combined with their raw power, makes them like beacons for the spirits, at least when they aren’t bound to a host. Your job will be to trace the artifact’s rough position. " He looked to his left. "And you, Conrad. The auras were once part of the same being, and so they share an attraction to one another, an impulse to become one again. Once Mila has gotten you close enough to the artifact, you’ll feel this connection, allowing you to get its exact position."

  He stood silent for a moment. "The three of you, Mila, Kurt, and Conrad, are, if you accept, to embark on a quest to find this coven so that the DSP may deploy a team to destroy this artifact and release the Aura of Red back in its proper way towards a new host."

  New Quest Started!

  Released Strength.

  The sanctity of the Aura of Red is in peril due to the work of a coven of warlocks.

  As a member of the Order of Myra, it is your holy duty to avoid this at all costs.

  Quest objectives

  *Keep the warlock coven from exploiting the Aura of Red.

  Bonus objectives

  *Destroy the coven responsible for capturing The Aura of Red.

  *Make sure that The Aura of Red is freed and put on its proper way.

  Kurt raised his hand. "Sir? If I may ask, why am I included in this quest? You… didn't give a reason for it, as with Conrad and Mila."

  "I didn’t want to send a party of just two for such an important quest," answered Mr. Anderson simply.

  "Oh, I see…" Replied Kurt, looking down.

  "As for why I chose you in specific," he continued. "You are one of the strongest, if not the strongest, fighters in the order, and you already have experience in other, admittedly smaller, quests. You are the best choice, plain and simple."

  Kurt remained silent for a moment, processing the words of praise he had just received. Finally, he answered. "Thanks, Sir. I won’t disappoint." Suddenly, his eyes slightly widened, as if just remembering something. "Hm, Sir? Could we talk in private? It is… something important."

  Mr. Anderson took a look at Kurt. "Why don’t we go talk to my office?" He finally said. "There you can tell me what’s bothering you. "You both," he said, looking at Conrad and Mila. "Retrieve anything you need from the armory. And Mila, please retrieve Silver Demon for Kurt too." She nodded affirmatively. "Perfect. Now Kurt, shall we go?"

  They walked to the man's office and sat down. Then, for the second time that evening, Kurt got to explain.

  "That is…odd, no doubt about it. You say these occurrences are themed as a video game, right?" Asked Anderson.

  "That’s the impression I got, yes. Levels, stats, quests, and now an inventory. Every RPG, uhm, ‘role-playing game,’ I've ever played has had these elements." The boy dithered before continuing. "Is…this going to be a problem? For the quest, I mean."

  Mr. Anderson pondered on this for a moment before answering. "No, it’s fine. There is no reason to believe this phenomenon to be dangerous to either you or those around you. Both of the quests you have received, for example, are incentivizing you to commit good deeds. Plus, the nature of this skill seems designed with combat and strife in mind. We’ll be able to learn a lot more about it if you go on this quest than if you stayed here, worrying about how Mila and Conrad are doing." He looked at Kurt, as if asking if he agreed. He did, and they both knew it. "Good, now go prepare and get some rest in you. Got a flight to catch first thing tomorrow."