Davin lay on the ground, coughing, while a large man leaned over him, "Gotta trust yur intuition, I saw ya lean inta that, so I know ya saw it comin'" the "man" offered Davin a hand and quickly pulled him to his feet. "Damn Grim, that hurt like a bitch" Davin still hunched over holding his side. "Jus be glad we ain't usin' blades, but ya gotta get used ta movin round in the leathers, less ya plan on using somthin' heavier" passing Davin a water skin.

The large man before Davin went by the moniker of Grim, he was the rogues' enforcer, his talents lay in putting the hurt on those that need it, but oddly one on one the goliath, as his race were known, was a "sweetheart" somewhere between a good ol' southern boy and a bar bouncer that would break a person in half if he needed to. The events that led to this current situation was what Davin felt, was a con, Gale had said that the next step was to try on some armor, and that was clearly how it all started. After stepping out of a locker room into a wide open room, where Gale led Davin through some mobility tests and the next thing he knew, he was being tackled by the mountain of a man that was his current trainer.

Sipping from the proffered water skin gave Davin the break he didn’t realize that he'd needed, every inch of him felt like he'd been beaten to an inch of his life, swaying some, feeling himself start to lean, he walked towards the wall "Damn Grim, you hit hard."

"Heh, nah, those are jus' love taps, I ain't even hit ya yet" cracking his oversized fists, the sound echoing in the empty room "I can if ya want me ta, I ain't against it."

Davin's eyes went wide, looking to see if he thought he could make it out of the room before Grim could make it to him "And this is how I die" taking another large swig from the water skin "but please don't".

"At least yer honest, it's always fun puttin' the hurt on some cocky tough guys that dun know the meaning a pain, but once you get more comfortable in yur armor, I may run ya through yer paces," the big man said while smiling.

Davin pulled himself off the wall, stretched, tossed back the water skin, that Grim handily caught, and shook out his limbs, "Okay, last one I have in me today" Davin took the fighting stance that Grim had been literally hammering into him over the last several hours. At that Grim tossed the water skin shifted his footing and leaped at Davin.

"You seem to get knocked unconscious a lot."

"Not by choice, the last one notwithstanding, but I don’t think I'll be out for too long, I'm pretty sure Grim knocked me out cold."

"Yes, it would seem that is the case, nothing some rest and a potion won't fix."

"Pretty sure you're right, doesn’t make it my idea of a fun time…"

"I'm sure you will look back on your time here once you leave the Bastion."

"Well here you are being ominous again, well as long as I get to explore out there, I'm sure no matter what you have me doing will be interesting."

"I can't promise anything, but I doubt that you will find it boring…"

The darkness that again had overtaken Davin began to fade, slowly swimming back to consciousness, laying in the middle of the room the group that had formed around him, chatting amongst themselves, easily catching Gale and Jes's voices and the occasional chuckle of Grim.

"No respect for the dead" Davin groaned out, trying his best to sound dejected.

"Heh, ya ain't dead, jus got the stuffin' knocked out a ya, wasn't even any blood" Grim's voice standing out among the group.

A soft hand padded his forehead with a damp cloth, Davin coming to the all too sudden realization that his head was on top of something, and it wasn’t the floor, or a pillow, opening his eyes, seeing Jes, relief on her face as the two locked eyes, she smiled.

"An look, I gotcha a pillow" Grim stated loudly and then laughed as the rag that had been on Davin's head was removed and thrown at the other trainer.

"With how often you get knocked out, I'm just hoping nothing gets knocked loose" Gale chimed in just as the damp smack of rag to flesh rang through the room.

"Well getting knocked out wasn't my plan, and I did tell him it was the last one I'd had in me today" Davin chuckled at his bad joke.

"Heh, I like this kid, he's alright, ain't no good in a fight yet, but it'll be fun getting him there" Grim lowered his hand into Davin's reach, offering to pull him up, which Davin took easily.

Once up, the sheer amount of pain that Davin was in came screaming in like an alarm, and he let out a small whimper and a cough, "yeah, nope, not gonna try to that one again." The group made their way to the infirmary, in a pleasant companionable silence, or it would have been if Gale hadn't kept taunting Davin just out of his reach.

The group had one more member for their dinner, Grim bringing a variety of wild stories from this life as well as the last, and with his in with the kitchen, they enjoyed a pie to share.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"How did you learn to hit so hard?" Davin asked while massaging some of the phantom pains that still lingered after the potion, which is so far the least favorite part of potions, the phantom pains.

"Heh, that ain't nuthin' if I really wanted to put the hurt on ya, you'd a not been able to walk away" the big man smiled widely, which sent a shiver down Davin's spine.

"While yes, I do agree with you on that, doesn’t answer my question," Davin said this more into his mug than to the group as a whole.

"Ah, I gocha, whelp, never got the feel for weapons, ya know? So I'd ended up starting off as a monk, an' I liked the physical part of it all, but the one ness with my spirit and such jus wadn't me. So, as I was looking for a better "outlet" for my need to punch people, I found myself doing a mix of stuff and jus ventually ended up helping one of the roguish types, been too long now I dun even member who, but I liked the gig, so here I am." his arms widespread as if he were presenting himself like a prize.

Nodding his head "makes sense, can't say I've had a dull time since I've been here."

Gale took that as a perfect chance "you never asked us how we ended up here".

Jes crossed her arms and nodded in agreement with him "I agree with the liar."

"Oh, fair, point, I never did, but at the same time, Gale, I figured you just liked it. Jes on the other hand I have been trying to piece it together… and I've hit the point where I'm too embarrassed to ask…." with that statement, the group had a big laugh at Gavin's expense.

That night, Davin spent a lot longer soaking in the tub, while healing potions fix the damage, they don’t do a thing for general aches and pains. Davin wished that he had some muscle relaxers, being tossed around like a bag of grain did a number on ones back, and stretching can only do so much to help. He'd done it, he'd gained the skills of a rogue, now comes the fighting like one, and based on the way Grim fought, there was a lot more to fighting than he thought, since his main interactions with combat, other than a few fights when he was a kid were completely as a spectator… it was easy to assume that he would have a long way to go. At the same time, he was honestly excited about it all, it's one thing to start the training, and it is a vastly different thing to get the proper skills. He still wanted to stick to his plan, where he tried to add ranger to his base classes and become a true explorer. When Davin returned to his room, finding that his door was slightly open, which sent his mind into a panic, there were locks on the door, but in a training hall for rogues that meant as much as a paper sail in a stormy sea. He crept forward, looking into the room, not being able to see all of the room made his already panicked heart spike, pushing the door open, it swung freely, the room empty, but for a familiar form asleep in the bed.

Davin laid next to the still sleeping form of Jes, based on how she was still dressed, that fact mildly relieving, he knew he wasn’t ready for anything serious yet, and while he did like Jes, he really wasn’t sure if that was what she was wanting, but he did consider her a friend, and being there for a friend is never a bad option, regardless of the reasoning. Davin fell asleep rather quickly after settling into his bed, he had grabbed a spare blanket and covered Jes, glad now that the beds were full sized so there was plenty of space for the two of them.

"You aren't alone… is this a good time?"

"As good of a time as any, don’t worry, nothing frisky is going on."

"Frisky?"

"Untoward, if that means what I think it means."

"Ah, okay. I see you’ve settled on your skills, that is good news."

"Oh yeah? Got a plan for me?"

"Well, you seem to have brought a lot more with you than what my original research showed."

"Oh no, what did I do now?"

"I don’t think it was you specifically, but more what the contact with your world has done, the areas outside of the Rainbow Bastion have begun to change, I sense that some of your worlds, hmmm, essence? Has leached in, and some of the staple elements of your world mixed in and there are some unexpected results."

"Unless it’s a smartphone and full 5G coverage, I'm betting it's going to be something terrifying."

"Now that, I am uncertain of, from what I can tell, things are still changing, and this will be some of the first changes that this world has seen in a millennium."

"Changing? Like things from my world are influencing here?"

"Basically, but this is good, this world was growing stagnant since most of the worlds we touch have progressed at roughly the same rate, but since yours took a drastic turn, I'm excited to see what comes next, but, that means that your dream of being a true explorer might be a truly valid one since now every map, and recourse that this world has known has changed."

"Wait, you mean that this is literally a new world? And not just to me?"

"Exactly!"

"So that should mean I won't be the last from my world, right?"

"I speculate as much because I can still feel the connection to your world, it is weak right now, but I think it will continue to grow, and I think you are why."

"Hmm, good on me then, rewriting an entire world with my oddity, new record I think."

"Ha! I can't say that I am surprised at that response. All the same, I am excited to see what this brings, your skyscrapers and planes would make an interesting addition."

"Eh, trust me, the internet and smartphones would be amazing."

"Your focus on those seems excessive…"

"They were some of the biggest things we, as humans had made since I was born, so they were a big part of my life. And, they would basically be like this, just at any time, rather than waiting till I'm asleep or unconscious."

"I could keep in touch with all of my proteges, without any conditions?"

"Assuming that they respond."

"What do you mean?"

"It kind of works like sending a letter, just in an instant with no limit as long as they are in an area that supports the system."

"Hmmm, we have some spells that do the same."

"Yes, but what about when you don’t have a caster?"

"Ah, yes that is appealing, and I could have one too?"

"If my world's influence is the same as food, and it's supported by your own power, I don’t see why not." "I will look into this, you will definitely have your work cut out for you."

The darkness once again swallowed Davin, and he settled into sleep. When Davin woke at some point in the night, he found Jes snuggled hard against him, her small horns poking him in his arm, but not painfully, after shifting so that the horns no longer pushed into his flesh, the pleasant smell that lingered on Jes that easily settled him back into sleep.

The dream that Davin had was the first he'd had in this world, memories of his wife and family, but since they were just dreams, the part that stood out was from when his son was still young, his wife had just climbed into bed after a late feeding, and snuggled into his side. The warmth pressed into his side, the soft breathing, that turned into soft snoring. While a dream it was also a memory, he had been awake the whole time his wife was out of bed, patiently waiting to shoot out of bed the moment that she called for help, and pretending to be asleep when she crawled back into bed to keep an eye on her, as well as listen in case there was crying. This moment defined a lot of the truly important events in his life. While dreams and memories flowed in Davin's mind, a single tear, a mix of joy and sorrow swelled in his eye, falling to his pillow, but a mild wave of relief settled over Davin, his breathing shifting and his body rolling to join the visitor, a calmness settling over it all.