“Aris? May I have a word?”

  I was definitely not prepared for that. After so many monologues for Mord to use my name, it was disconcerting. Needless to say, I stopped walking toward the door and gave the aged scholar my utmost attention.

  “I am afraid that this will be our last conversation, my boy. A group of adventurers entered the dungeon some time ago and should be completing the final boss in the next day or so.”

  I was shocked to say the least. Finally, my ticket out of this place had arrived. It was useless to hide my joy. As a smile crossed my face, Mord’s turned into a frown. I quickly saw it from his perspective. He had watched my progress over the last how many years and helped me grow. I’d been the only face here in the last fifty cycles. That was almost a century ago on Earth. Also, this would take me away from this place. The only home I knew in this world was the recovery room. It would be hard, and I knew I would miss them both. My frown joined Mord’s.

  “It’s ok, my boy. Now I won’t keep you long. I know my parallel self is itching for one last session, and you probably have exploited your crafting ability to get another bauble or two from the item shelves.”

  “Ah, about that.”

  “It’s more than ok. I'll fix it once you are all out and I can reconfigure, but I'd rather you take it all than it go to these interlopers.” His normally kind voice took on an angry edge with his last word, which left me concerned.

  “Interlopers?”

  “Thank the gods you asked, rules and whatnot. Aris, I want you to hear me and hear me well. These are the worst kind of sort. I watched them like a hawk since the first room, and I care not for them at all. I do not like to think how they might treat you.” And those words made me then more concerned.

  “What should I do?” I had no idea how strong I was compared to other adventurers. I may have been superhuman, but that would mean nothing if this world were filled with them. I watched as he tried to answer and, for the first time, struggled. We never discussed dungeon rules; I just knew they existed and seemed very binding.

  “Better question, when meeting a team of adventurers in the wild, what would be the proper protocol for one such as myself?” I threw Mord a bone. I was pretty sure dungeons could lie and even give bad advice. What I wanted was the specific advice he wanted to give.

  “You are a special case, my dear boy. You have divine protection, which is commensurate with a deity’s champions and paragon. For you, that means most appraisal spells won’t work on you at least until you get to a specialist, which I doubt you would find in the wild. There are two schools of thought. Play from power or innocence. I'd say you are powerful enough for either, but only one locks out the other. You can always find ways to correct people who think you are harmless. Just consider that when you deal with people who have just waded through a maze of threats lurking around every corner.”

  I understood what he was saying. I felt the plan of a poor lost soul forming in my brain. I just hoped my mouth wouldn’t get in my way. Or the fact that these would be the first real people I’d seen in who knows how long.

  “I have a plan. I do have a question for you, though. Well, two, really.”

  “Go on.”

  “If they can assess me, what would they see, what would I look like to them?”

  I watched Mord’s eyes flash for a second. It was the same flash Vex used on me when she first intercepted my transition.

  “To the untrained eye, you would look like a normal mortal—an exceptionally handsome and fit mortal, but a mortal the same. To someone with a basic appraisal skill, spell, or even a middling scroll, they would likely only gain your race. If the spell searches for aspects, it would likely return nothing. What was your second question?” His smile was that of an approving grandfather when the child had taken a step along the desired path—the gentle guiding without being pushy.

  “How long have I been here?”

  “You will not like that answer. And though you have not aged a day, in fact, you look younger than when you arrived. It’s also important to remember,” He was stalling. That was bad. I laughed.

  “No stalling, old man. Just hit me with the number.”

  “Almost five cycles. Almost nine of your years.”

  That was a fucking gut punch. Thankfully, young Mord prepared me for those. I took a good breath.

  “That…that is a good deal of time. I feel that it was worth every second of it, though. I have learned so very much from both of you. That knowledge and the time you gave me to learn on my own is the true treasure I will take from this place.” It was probably a more philosophical answer than I was used to giving, but it was the most concise way to say how I felt. This place was a treasure beyond loot. The loot was good too.

  “Speaking of treasure, you would do well to hide all you have in the storage skill no mortal would have. More so, keep your companion hidden. I have never seen one of his color nor with his ability to hide within you. That alone is worth more than even the God-blessed blades you carry. This is all academic, of course.” He was likely breaking the rules for me. I appreciated that.

  “Mord. I will miss you. I wish your rules had let us chat as much as they let me spar with your other self. But I do appreciate all you have spoken.”

  “Thank you, my boy. Now this is something skirting those very rules. I can do it only because I don't think it will work with your abilities, but I'm curious to see what will happen.” He pulled a very rigid and flat piece of what looked like paper off the table and handed it to me. It was blank.

  “What’s this?” I stared at it for a good second before asking, and even probed it with my skills, but the best I could tell was that it was just high-quality paper.

  “At the moment, it’s nothing, just high-quality paper. Don’t destroy it, though. Just give me a moment. In a second, an illusion of a spell will appear on the paper. Just like if it were a page in a learning tome. In a dungeon, the illusion should work the same as the real thing, but our two magics are not the same. I know of no one who has your magic or even heard of it. I would be surprised if there were anyone alive who did. Let’s see what happens.” It took a second for the runes to appear on the page. I started to read them when they all sort of rushed at my face. I was paralyzed as the symbols dove into my eyes and into my brain.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Oh..ugh…ahh….fuck. A headache is what happened.” A splitting migraine was the result.

  “Oh well. It was worth a shot. It might have been helpful, too. It was the Analyze spell. It’s far better than the identify spell that most people will use.”

  My headache began to fade and I noticed the telltale flashing of my menu. I raised a hand to get Mord to wait while I looked.

  Incompatible Spell Learned! Redirecting Energies.

  Skill Upgraded

  Sense Object—> Sense Object (Perfect)

  Sense of object (Perfect) -You can focus on all the details of an object you are in contact with.

  “You were right, it was incompatible, but it worked anyway. It upgraded a Skill and added a ‘perfect’ tag to it. For whatever that means.” The headache was gone, but the lingering trace was still painful.

  “A perfect skill? At your age and spent potential… that’s….. That’s….. That’s….. absurd. Cheater!” He punctuated that last part not as reproachful but as a friend who was filled with jealous pride.

  “I take it that’s a good thing?”

  “I'd tell you all about it, but if we doddle any longer, you will miss your flight. Aris, if you ever get a skill that separates yourself into two pieces so you can better focus on each, don't take it. Unless you want to end up like this.” He raised his arms and gestured around the dungeon room.

  “I’ll ask you all about it when I come back. Might be a bit. I’ll need to find some trustworthy folk first.” I gave him a smile as I started for the door.

  I paused for a second, my hand hovering over the handle.

  “Hey, Mord, you can absorb new materials that adventurers drop in the dungeon, right?” I was hoping my combination of book memory and cues from his words were correct.

  “Yes. That’s how we dungeons get new materials. In fact, certain dungeons are cultivated for that very fact. The Endless loop in Alis………” I cut him off before he could pull me in with a lecture.

  “Good….then if I'm going to advertise this place as the best source of Mana Stone in the world, you're going to need this.” I pulled the piece that I had just created and tossed it his way. I was out the door before he could respond, but the look on his face was priceless.

  When I arrived in the training room, there was applause. Mord was giving me a slow clap.

  “That shut him up good. First time in cycles.”

  “I aim to please,” taking a bow as I said it

  “Was watching, when created?”

  “Just then. Bottomed out my mana.” I stumbled a bit as the mana crash hit me. It wasn’t the low, but the so low so fast that was the worst.

  “I’ve seen you create…takes time”

  “It did, but it only took a moment and an asston of mana to trigger the chain reaction to finally convert it.”

  “Haha….ah…ha…ha..ha….He hear that now he be stuck with puzzle on how you do. I get silence for long time. Is best present ever. Here come here must give back.” He motioned me over.

  When I approached, he told me to watch his fingers. Didn’t speak it mind you, but did the point to the eye and then to his fingers thing. I stared at his fingers for a few seconds. I could feel energy building. My new sense gave way too much clarity, and I could see Mord for the complex illusion that he really was. The magic was real, though. I watched as he cast a spell. This was my first time really seeing a spell cast. I watched the mana flow up from the ground through his body and split to go into his index finger and thumb. As the mana reached the tip of each, it changed and became different, more focused. He pulled the finger tips apart, and I could see with my regular eyes a little red spark or laser beam crossing the tiny gap he created. He released the mana before I could see more.

  “You see?”

  “Yes, what was that?”

  “You learn?”

  “No. Can you do it again?

  He had to repeat the process three more times before I caught a glimpse of the rune that formed right where the mana changed. I waved for him to repeat it. I focused on the changing mana and the rune. This time I was able to see it clearly. I was about to let him stop when I saw that the rune was duplicated on his other finger, but reversed. It was like he split the rune in half, and the light was arcing between the two halves.

  “You know Runic Magic?” I was astonished, but this got me another laugh out of Mord.

  “No…no…I know a Way. You know a way here.” He pointed at my head.

  “I know a way here, like you know rune magic here.” He pointed at his chest this time.

  “A Way is like type of magic, just like other Mord knows types of magics. Many types of magics. Many types of Ways.” He pointed into the air at various points in the air in front of his face and above his head when calling out the Ways and Magics.

  “But you. Rune Magic is true magic. Is here.” He held his hands in front of his stomach.

  “All ways and magics just shortcut ways of doing what you do. Shortcuts used so long that no one knows the real way.”

  I felt what he was saying was not only true but a fundamental truth. His references to the Ways made me realize that I had no Void-type powers, but I could feel its influence. Like a second type of magic. I wondered if, in his life, he had his Way as a skill.

  “I show you one last time and you learn, or you don’t.”

  I could take an ultimatum and a challenge. Mord had always challenged me, urging me to take that next step. This was just another step, even if it was a leap. I watched as the mana flowed and the rune formed. For the first time in what felt like forever, I was able to slow down time. I watched the runes form. Wait runes? It was two separate runes that combined into a new one for an effect. I felt the knowledge, my gray bar blinking happily.

  Combined Rune Learned!

  Rune: Spar

  Combined Rune Deconstructed

  Runes Learned!

  Rune: Mark

  Rune: Protect

  “Mord, what does that spell do?”

  “Is best for fighting. I show.” He replied with a giant worry-inducing smile.

  Mord proceeded to produce a spear. This was not a simple spear. It was not an ornate parade piece. This was a weapon of war. If I had to guess, this was his personal spear. He made the same gesture and ran his gapped fingers along the edge of the blade. The spell left a red line behind it, attached to the edge. I was comparing the runes I learned with that I was seeing when Mord ‘showed’ me the effect. I was so ingrained in thought that I almost didn’t get out of the way of the blade in time. A blade that looked sharp enough to split atoms. A concerned trill from Ink made me look down at my arm. There was a bright red mark across my arm like someone had drawn on me with an electric sharpie. The pieces all fit. This was a spell for sparing. It protected the edge of the blade from cutting and marked the opponent instead. For a master of combat, this was prime magic.

  “That is an awesome spell,” I exclaimed at him.

  “Quick, bring up blades, and we fight. Interlopers almost at final boss.” He made a hurried hand gesture, and I pulled my blades out of storage. He pulled his fingers together, and this time the light was blue. It took only a few seconds for him to coat my blades in the light. I saw many great uses for this spell in my future. We both stepped back, and then it was on.

  We came with great speed and precision. We had fought countless times before, so there was no testing each other out, no probing attacks—just pure combat. Opponents waiting to capitalize on the first mistake. I made the first one. I recovered enough to strike, but I felt the blade of the spear graze my neck.

  I could see the red gash in my aura’s sight, a lethal cut. But my eyes were fixed on the blue dot right over his heart, my blade directly behind it. A deep resounding gong filled the room, and Mord quickly reset, dismissing his spear and the marking magic, a hurried look across his face.

  “They have killed boss. Quick you go or not get chance. Go.”

  I dashed for the door handle.

  “Wait. Aris. Knife that look like hatchet. Buy it. Nothing else. Go”

  A splash of cool water later, I was in the vending room. I knew the knife well. I had dismissed it because it looked plain and was very expensive, especially for something not my style. I bought it anyway. It pretty much beggared me to do so, but I trusted Mord. I was in the vending room for two minutes tops before I teleported to the cave. I took the stairs two and three at a time, only stopping when I made it to the top. I gave myself a moment to catch my breath and change into non-conjured clothes before leaning back against the stone.

  “This is it.”

  I woke in a gray room to the sound of screaming. Screaming, angry faces, bared weapons, and a lot of blood.