Gabe Stepped out of the cloud prison and gave a high five to the guard, who was also made out of the clouds.
“Keep it chill Cumulon!”
The cloud-being nodded with complete resolution.
Gabe’s conversation with Jean sparked fresh excitement into Gabe’s plans. Over the last several years Gabe had been honing his skills as a solo stave fighter, defending the hard-won Xing’an Larch forest. The monster waves had been consistently difficult to handle in the region for hundreds of years. In part, this was a choice. Gold-rank fighters were in such high demand in the equatorial region that using them on silver and low-gold rank monsters felt like a waste to most.
For Gabe and those in his station, the difficulty was like walking on the edge of a knife. Every day there was the possibility to be killed by a monster that was a bad match-up to their power sets or that could overpower them with dominating blows. But that was the only way to advance. Risk for reward. Lives on the line. Grow or die.
The spice of Gabe’s life was a unique monster to kill or to perfect an albeit meaningless trick using his abilities. Like, surfing a stick being controlled with a minor telekinetic ability. He was faster on foot, but where was the fun in that? But Jean gave Gabe a sense of imagination. He was from another world, could take back bad decisions, had the most unique Essence set he had ever seen, and rejected his Confluence Essence. It was startlingly hilarious how this kid could set into the world, and accidentally make enemies of nearly everyone he ran into. He held a creepy Essence, a forbidden Essence, and a purity Essence. Even funnier, Jean asked him to break the law without even knowing it!
The Cloud Essence wasn’t a very desirable one, and it was only uncommon. But, The City in The Sky was founded by a diamond ranker that held the Cloud Essence, and every Cloud Essence found was collected and given to the diamond ranker if and when he would show up. Gabe had lived in The City in the Sky for nearly 50 years and had only seen him once. Diamond Rankers tended to leave the world they were born in behind in search of other adventures.
Gabe probably would not have caused too much trouble, but Jean had so innocently asked for a cloud essence because it felt right! That sort of dreaming was dead in this world. And Gabe would give that dream life.
First, he had to get Jean started on his path right.
*Knock, knock, knock. Gabe cracked the door with his eagerness. “I know you’re in there!”*Knock, knock, crash. “See, there you are Tigris!”
“I expect you to pay for that,” Tigris said from his couch, unmoved. “If you are here to ask me to cover for your patrols again, I’m just going to say no. I’ve paid my dues several times over, and I’ve been working on something really special with astral terraforming.”
“Say no more,” Gabe lifted a finger. “I’ve got a new student for you!”
“No.” Tigris said in monotone.
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“He’s got dual aura abilities…”
“No,” Tigris said again.
“He’s got a forbidden Essence and a Purity Essence…”
Tigris paused, “Gabe, I’ve got no time.”
“He’s an outworlder too,” Gabe said knowing it was the last nail in the coffin. He slowly let his jovial smile turn impish.
Tigris’s eyebrows lifted with those last words. “And his confluence?”
“He rejected an Essence I’ve never seen: Terrors,” Gabe said baiting his old mentor.
“That’s fascinating. How long has he been on our world?” Tigris asked, with his attention peaked.
“Two nights. I’m honestly surprised he’s made it this far.” Gabe said while sitting next to Tigris.
“Two days! And a forbidden Essence, ha! Where is he?” Tigris asked while enthused.
“I threw him in prison,” Gabe said while examining his fingernails.
Tigris’s jaw dropped. “And why might I ask would you throw a fresh disciple into our prison cells?”
“You know how I said he had dual aura abilities? Well, one of them causes a constant resonating force damage effect on those inside his aura, and his aura is freakishly large for someone who isn’t even an iron ranker. The other effect is a passive cleaning effect. It’s pretty weird too. He’ll need some serious tutelage from a pro to get him in a functional state.” Gabe said.
“I see why you came to me. This one is certainly worth my time. And if I get to study him, all the better. “ Tigris said while grabbing his coat and walking to the door.
“Sky Cell 44b!” Gabe shouted out after Tigris left the room through the broken door.
Played like a flute. Gabe waited for a few moments until Tigris was out of range. Gabe stood, walked over to a cabinet, and flash-stepped behind it into a hidden corridor.
He speedily ran through and down the winding path until he got to a cloud door set amidst the stone. He used an essence ability to level the ambient magic before he started to draw ritual circles around the door. Two minutes later the door turned to mist and fell to the ground.
Behind the door, Gabe found the cache meant to be given to the diamond ranker: a dozen cloud essences, and two dozen of each awakening stones of the sky, rain, mist, and form. Quickly, Gabe grabbed an Essence and one of each of the awakening stones and threw them in his bag. He dashed out and erased the ritual circles. The door reformed.
Gabe sat crosslegged, focused, and made a long-distance teleport back to his room a mile away. Gabe looked at the prizes for his new friend and laid back on his bed with a smile.
Nice job Gabriel Cloud-Surfer, you’ve struck again.
_______
Two Miles above, Tigris approached Jean’s Cell. His aura was abnormally large, which spoke of good potential. But moments after Tigris started to feel his aura, his shoulders slumped. This kid is guilt-ridden and depressed. That has to be dealt with first. Maybe I can encourage him? No, he’s also traumatized. He needs time. Which means I didn’t need to rush down here. I might as well meet the kid, and get him to start working things out…
_______
Jean’s meeting with Tigris was short, but it gave Jean direction. He needed to face his irresponsibility, and accept the effect of his Repent. He didn’t do or think what his memories said he did. And his God would forgive him.
Jean spent the evening meditating on his actions and on whom he was going to be in the world that he had found himself in. Night came, and Jean saw stars. Ripples of galactic waves crossed the night sky far above. The stars spun and danced like they were the espresso being dumped over iced milk.
There’s so much beauty here. There are also zombies, so I guess it balances itself out. I just don’t want to miss things like this passing me by every night. I’m going to try to live here. I’m not just going to survive. I’m going to live.
Quest Update. Fellow outworlders have saved themselves (3/6). Quest changing. Support Fellow outworlders as they attempt to fulfill their quests.
New Quest. Kill monsters. 0/100 remaining.