The daylight started to dim, and multicolored leaves flew in the air. The once warm air slowly cooled. Luke tapped his fingers on the stone steps he sat on. He shifted his body enough that Sooty woke up.
Coo, the corvid complained.
Luke stopped the shaking and hurriedly got a hold of himself, “Sorry, Sooty,” he said. The Interface popped up with a result after a short sorting period.
[Result Found. Displaying]
Registrant name: Paul Wallace
Place of spawning: Aelon, Duchy of Elaria
Last Known Status: Alive
Redacted
[End Of Result]
“He…he’s actually here and alive.” Luke’s eyes began to well up, but he pushed it away.
Luke worried incessantly in the back of his head since he rudely appeared in the cave days ago. When he started connecting the vanishing and this world, Luke realized his dad was possibly here. But the cynic he always fought within whispered and questioned every turn.
What if his dad hadn’t come to this world? What if the vanished went to different worlds? What if his dad came here but died?
He did transfer to the middle of a cave with monsters, after all. Plenty of people would die a violent death if that happened to them. His survival wasn’t anything short of a miracle. Those infectious thoughts vanished, and his motivation increased—an energy filled Luke.
The Reaver stood up, stretched, fist pumped, and yelled, “He’s alive, my dad’s alive!”
Sylen’s city people nearby looked at him as if he were crazy, and it didn’t help Sooty had resettled on his head while he practically danced on the steps. He coughed, but the happiness didn’t leave him.
So what if random people looked at him weirdly? They could go through what he did and see if they didn’t celebrate. Luke doubted it.
Once the emotion settled down enough, he sat back on his spot. Sooty stayed wary and didn’t go back down on his shoulder. Instead, she landed beside him on a stone border next to the step Luke sat on. With the sigil still usable, he decided to look for other names of people who vanished and he cared for.
He searched his mind, and only three other names came to the forefront.
Funny how few people truly matter in life.
The first, an enlisted buddy who always had his back, who he’d take a bullet for: Josh Aldermen. The second was Kyle Williams, his lifelong best friend he grew up with, who was in the first wave to vanish. He prioritized these two, and the third person would wait.
Luke mentally sent the name Josh Aldermen to the sigil stone, and it began to search. Josh disappeared about a year and a half into the vanishing, not quite the last wave to go. Luke was glad Josh vanished when he did, as in those six months before everyone else went poof to these lands, many sensible people grouped up to survive. Modern society produced a sizable chuck of psychopaths, however.
That psychopathic chunk raided the streets and did their best to destroy the last vestiges of order; the crazies set off bombs, spread fires, committed murders, and many more unspeakable acts. As someone in the armed forces, even initially as a mechanic, Luke was forced to do things to survive he’d instead not think about.
He wasn’t that person anymore. Sooty helped bring the old Luke back—the man before the vanishing apocalypse.
Although that man never fully came home.
The Sigil Stone finished, and the Interface’s window cut off Luke’s train of thought for the better.
[Result Found]
Registrant name: Josh Alderman
Place of spawning: Academy Sapienforge, Republic of Artem
Last Known Status: Alive
Redacted
[End Of Result]
“Glad that mad lad made it. Knew he would. Josh always found a way to adapt.” Luke tapped his feet, “I’m surprised the Duchy recorded transfers that spawned in other countries. Maybe all of them shared their registry for transfers? What do you think, Sooty?”
Sooty strutted in front of him, loudly cawed, with her wings open to full display. For once, he had no idea what Sooty meant, but she seemed sure of herself. Luke thought of the following name: Kyle Williams. He forced his mind to shut up during the search process. He had enough thinking about the ruined Earth.
[Result Found]
Registrant Name: Kyle Williams
Place of spawning: Purple Bloom Village, Shattered Blade Empire
Last Known Status: Dead
Redacted
[End Of Result]
Luke blinked. He rubbed his eyes, then looked again. And again.
And again.
Sooty had grown sensitive to Luke over the year since the Reaver took her in, and Reaver’s Link only amplified that connection. With her Reaver’s sudden shift, she flapped up his shoulder and put her body against his head. She tried to play with him, using her beak to poke his nose, but the result fell flat.
Memories flashed by. Riding bikes together, throwing rocks by the usual river, snowballs in each other’s face during winter. Falling into a pile of leaves, making fun of each other for crushing on a girl, shooting the shit over a beer when they got older, but were still a little too young. All of that would never happen again.
The happiness from the previous successful results softened the blow. Luke prevented himself from flying into a rage. He practiced a mind technique to look at the result and accept it for what it was. Not how it made him feel. It had already happened, likely before he came to the tomb. There was nothing he could do.
“I’ll find where they put you to rest, Kyle. And if they didn’t, I’ll make sure they regret it.” He paused and looked at the sunset, “Shattered Blade Empire, you better not have been responsible in any capacity.”
Luke remembered Yumna’s passing comment on the empire and how its Shattered Queen had a propensity to throw more non-combat classes to their front line than the Duchy did. While Luke wouldn’t jump to conclusions, he remained suspicious.
He thought of the third name, hoping he finished on a good note. The sigil stone got to work, starting to petrify. The runes within were dimming.
[Result Found]
Registrant Name: Katie Sanders
Place Of Spawning: Iron Keep Town, Shattered Blade Empire
Last Known Status: Alive
Redacted
[End Of Result]
“Katie.” the name caused Luke’s body to heat up, but his face became unreadable. Luke couldn’t say or do anything else except stare at the status window. He felt spent from the roller coaster of emotion the sigil stone had taken him on. But his ex-girlfriend managed to cause one more loop on the tracks.
By now, he had forgiven her and moved on. She cheated on him. Of course, she swore up and down that she was drunk. She didn’t mean to—the whole nine yards. But Luke respected himself more than that. He couldn’t call himself a perfect person, but he tried to take responsibility for his actions. Something she didn’t know the meaning of.
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He overcame it years ago. Luke got moving and kept the sigil stone in his hands. The sigil began slowly cracking away, and he let it dust off in the streets as he looked for an inn. He caught sight of a familiar back with a bow. But he couldn’t place where he’d seen it before.
After he blinked, the bow-wearing person was gone. Luke shrugged and continued to scour for a decent Inn. He walked down the road, bringing him toward the city’s center. By the time he found an inn he approved of, night fell over the city. Luke headed inside and came up to a low countertop with even lower seats. He stopped, and a bell of sorts had a note that read, “Ring me.” In letters that weren’t his native alphabet.
He tapped the bell and heard a holler in the back room behind the counter. The tables around Luke were empty, and the few patrons in the inn kept to the back left corner near an opaque window.
An overweight, but giant tora woman with a gray coat of fur, kitchen clothes and an apron came out the back room. Her eyes locked on Luke immediately. She smiled, “Why, you’re a walking pile of bones. I’ll get you something to eat, then we can figure how long you want to stay.”
The tora lady returned to the kitchen before Luke could say a word. He looked down at his feet.
“Can’t say no to a free meal.” He took a table up front; Sooty jumped off his shoulder and hopped around one-half of the table. She poked the other chairs with her wings, and Luke felt like she found joy in pushing back the cushions.
Sometimes, he was jealous of how easily Sooty could entertain herself.
“Jilac Mountain Monster Quail and Hasrad crystal stalk corn,” the tora came out the kitchen and laid down the food alongside a pitcher of water with a cup, “eat first; when you’re done, come up to the counter and ring again.”
The food smelled of appetizing cooked meat and seasoned vegetables. Luke dug in and cut away a portion for Sooty. She wanted nothing to do with the meat but happily pecked at the vegetables. The Reaver and Companion pair defeated the plate of food with rapidity. Luke washed it all down with the water provided and filled it again for Sooty to drink from as she wanted.
Luke cleared the table and brought it up to the counter. He rang the bell. Sooty came back to his shoulder, picking the right one this time. The tora woman came out again, a proud sparkle in her eyes, her two muscular arms pointed out from her sides.
A young girl’s voice came from the back, “Mom, stop feeding people before they pay for a room! We’re running a business, not a charity.”
With the words out in the open, a crack formed on the tora woman’s visage. She hid it quickly, then spoke to Luke, “All fed now?” Luke nodded. “Good. How long were you thinking of staying?” She said.
As he crossed his arms, Luke said, “At least three nights, maybe more. I came to this city a few hours ago. No idea how long it’ll be before I’ve got a more stable place.”
“That’ll be three silver for three days. Breakfast each day is free, and so is the dinner I gave you. Other meals cost twenty copper.”
“More than fair,” Luke took out three silver pieces, “here.”
The tora innkeeper accepted the money and said, “Let me show you to your room. You skin and bones.”
“You can call me Luke, Ms…?”
“Sarama, no need for any missus.” She pointed her head toward the stairs, “You look like you’ve never seen a good bed in your life.” Sarama trudged up the stairs, and Luke followed. He came up to the second floor and looked around the upper tavern. The temperature was slightly cold; the hall had wooden floors and plentiful amounts of artwork on the walls. The doors all had a spherical notch and no door handle.
“Let me see your sigil stone,” she said.
Luke handed it over after retrieving it from his inventory.
“Could see that you’re a farworlder; some inns adjusted to this system after your batch came in. Something about cards and doors, a strange batch of humans, you are.” She took a crystal card from her apron pocket, “With this, the sigil stone can be temporarily matched to a notch as long as I allow it in my Interface. I’ve set it for three days to this door. Enjoy your stay.” Sarama left, slapping Luke on the back before she did so.
The Reaver inserted his sigil stone into the door’s notch. The door lit up with blue lines for a moment and swung open inside the room. He strode in, took the stone back out, and the door closed by itself.
Xera spoke the moment the door shut, “I don’t know how much longer I can do this silent thing all day, Luke. I’m trying for you, but it’s against my nature that the divine smith forged into me. A sword was made for slashing and hacking, piercing, thrusting, a wand for blasting and…”
“Alright, I get it. Tomorrow, we’ll find something more blood-pumping to do, happy?” Luke said.
“Very! Now, let us know what you saw from the sigil stone. Compass and I couldn’t say anything due to the surroundings, but we saw how you acted. No hiding or downplaying it either,” Xera said.
“Wand Sword is right on the mark, ‘spell sword.’ Spill the beans, but don’t make a total mess,” Wayfinder said.
Luke opened the window for Sooty, who flew off immediately. He felt she was antsy to explore the sky more but stayed grounded on his shoulder all day. Luke settled on the bed, which was a size larger than the previous one he slept on. The sheets were made of the same material.
He looked around the room, a blue-gray design with white trim and dark-brown wooden flooring. After a stretch, he said, “The library was simple enough; I looked into ways to find my old man. Through them, I learned about their sigil stone registry for all transfers. To my surprise, the countries must share it between each other. The time-limited sigil I bought gave me the final proof.”
“That I’m the best sword wand ever? No need for proof. I believed that without anyone telling me,” Xera said with pride.
“He’s likely talkin’ about his da, lass,” Wayfinder said.
“I...I knew that! Totally.”
“Not just him, but of course, he’s the focus. My old man spawned in the Duchy’s Aelon city and is alive. It didn’t tell me anything beyond that. I searched for others who vanished before me; one of my friends is in Artem or spawned there.”
“If they spawned in the country, they likely haven’t left it, lad. Things could’ve changed since I was last out and about, but few people cross borders in these lands. Exceptin’ the folk for trades or diplomacy.” The compass’s needle spun, “Or those with exceptional strength. They can safely travel.”
“They’d not move for war, too? With all these nobles and royalty, don’t they fight for territory? Usually did in our history,” Luke said as he set Xera to the wall across the bed.
“Why would they do that? They’re all busy with the monsters.” Xera said.
“The lass has the right of it. There might be internal conflict, but the countries didn’t fight each other when I was last out. Not openly. Too big an external threat with those god-creatures and their stooges.”
Luke came to a sink that spat out slightly colored water. He splashed water on his face, and once enough dripped off, he continued, “I checked on two others; one, my ex, was-”
“Ex what? Ex-sword?” Xera asked.
“Ex-girlfriend, Xera.”
“An ex-friend who is a girl? Aren’t friends a good thing to keep? Why get rid of one?” Xera said.
The Reaver looked at Wayfinder, “Your task is to educate Xera. Try not to talk about the birds and the bees while you’re at it.”
“You’ll owe me a favor, lad,” Wayfinder said.
“What do you even want?”
“Set me up with a lady compass. Or at least a trinket master who can oil me gears and get rid of all the rust. Being in a pond for centuries has me grinding internally.”
“I’ll see what I can do; it’s going to be a while; remind me if I forget for too long.” He looked up, and out the window, both moons were covered by thin clouds. He turned his head to Xera, “The last thing is another friend who died before I came here. We’ll have to go to the Shattered Sword Empire when we get the chance. I’ll make sure he was put to rest properly.”
Wayfinder’s voice rang, “Lad, you’ve been near-stagnate for almost two days. Remember your situation. You can’t slow your roll now.”
Luke sighed, “I wanted to relax for a few days, but you’re right. I’ll finish my last obligation by trying to join the Defier’s guild and cash in a favor to get more specific information on my dad.” He stopped himself.
“No, I changed my mind; I’ll get the information and find out where people my level go. I’m feeling too stifled with the slow growth lately, except for the bit I experienced with the monster pack on the road.”
Luke let the two artifacts make small talk with him for a while longer before he used the decently equipped bathroom and bathtub. After he washed up, Luke went through the Interface Log.
[Your companion, Sooty, has reached level 22. Acquired 2 skill points]
Luke felt that was right; back when they fought the tier 1 undead in the Night Moon Forest, the experience nearly pushed him to level twenty-one. Sooty had to be at around the same progress point as him.
[You have reached level 22. Acquired 4 skill points]
“No loot?” Luke said as he continued to search through the log. “Oh, here it is.”
[You have looted 15 silver, Mishipeshu scale pelts, an ogre’s mallet, and an undead mana crystal]
The silver became more valuable for Luke now that he lived in a society. He’d get the mallet sold and didn’t bother to look at it in greater detail. As soon as he saw uncommon and level 8, he knew it wasn’t an upgrade. At least it was money. For the pelts, he’d throw them into Sooty’s Spatial Feather until he found a blacksmith that could use them.
Luke inspected the undead mana crystal, unsure of its properties.
[Undead Mana Crystal]
Quality: Rare
A valuable crystal that occasionally drops from tier 1 undead and above. The higher the tier, the greater the density and quality of mana within. Helps in training abilities or mana techniques. Incredibly effective for pure mana-based classes or professions.
The crystallization of the death mana from an undead swordsman who failed to save his country.
“The Swordsman back in the forest was from Mercanta? I wonder what his story was. How many are like him outside the border?”
Lastly, Luke saw the stat-steal line. This always made him feel like the dangerous battles were worth it.
[You have stolen 103 HP, 15 Agility, 20 Strength, 5 Intellect]
Based on what Luke could tell, the undead must’ve been the only creature with enough intellect to enable stat steal for that category. The Mishipeshu on the road gave him a worthy chuck of agility and strength but wasn’t high enough in the Intellect stat. Fighting a pack of creatures above his level extended the range of stats he could steal. While he couldn’t sense much of a difference from the prominent stats increase, the HP increase made his body feel like it was bursting at the seams.
He was close to another unknown threshold, this time for hit points. Various thoughts swirled in Luke’s head, and he stayed up well past his intended time. Sooty still hadn’t returned, but the spiritual link between the two stayed strong.
Eventually, the chatter from Xera and Wayfinder put Luke to sleep.