By this time in the conversation, I was deep into my second stein of mead, and we had been sampling more and more different plates of food. I wasn't exactly drunk, but I was certainly not sober. I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "Why not?"

Ka-Del dived into the new conversation. "So, some of the older citizens of Anopia hate talking about abilities. Apparently, it's considered rude in the higher echelons of the hierarchy. But I never cared. Beings get either five, seven, ten, or fifteen abilities. Having more abilities doesn't necessarily mean they are more powerful, just like having fewer abilities doesn't mean someone is weak. An ability's versatility and strength are far more important." I took that moment to explain my two abilities. Ka-Del looked really impressed. "Those are amazing abilities to get right after forming your core," she said. "Having abilities that directly relate to your occupation will help you progress so much quicker. But don't be surprised if not all your abilities are focused on being a Barrister unless you are super lucky."

"How do I know how many abilities I will have?" I asked.

"You will get an ultimate ability as your last one, and after you have unlocked all of your abilities, you can start forming your next state in cultivation."

"How many cultivation stages are there?" I inquired.

Ka-Del responded after taking a deep drink of her mead, "No one is entirely sure, but so far, the latest publicly known stage that someone has achieved is fourteen."

"Is it hard to progress through each stage?" I asked.

She said, "The first few apparently are not that hard, but after that, the difficulty majorly increases."

"What are all the stages?" I pressed.

"Hmm," she said, "I only know a few myself. The first is creating your mana core and getting all of your abilities. Once you complete that, you rank up to the mana vein stage, which is where I currently am. In order to progress, you have to cultivate and use your abilities. Since we are not adventurers, we need to use our abilities as often as we can while in our occupation. You can also complete quests, and they help you progress even quicker, but they are really rare for non-adventurers. After the mana vein stage, it's the mana heart stage, followed by the mana brain. The last stage in what people call the 'mana body cultivation' is forming your mana body stage. Once this happens, you create an aura, or some call it a shroud. I'm not sure what the stages are called after that because people don't like to talk about the higher stages."

We finished our meal and drinks, and as soon as I stood up, I nearly fell over. Ka-Del had to help me stay standing. She chuckled, "You are such a lightweight. You need to go home and cultivate." I just nodded my head. My vision was swimming in color, and my arm was wrapped around her shoulder. I started belting out "Ye" by Burna Boy: Oluwaburna, uh-huh, Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye.

I tried to get our hips to swing as we walked out of the restaurant, but it was obvious Ka-Del wasn't much of a dancer. I continued to sing in her ear: "This one na gbedu wey dey ja pata. Me, I no get time, I dey da pada."

She just laughed as I sang, walking me home. I poorly sang a few more songs, and we started to get a lot of onlookers, but I didn't really care; I was having a fantastic time.

We finally got to my building, and the elevator brought us straight to my floor. Ka-Del walked me to my room. Before she left, I asked her, "Do you also live in this building?" "No," she responded, "I live in an Eladrin community." She waved goodbye to me as I walked into my room.

I decided to check out my home office, and just like Ka-Del said, my library was now filled with law journals. I put my bag down on my desk, which held the case I was assigned. I walked up to my bedroom, threw off my clothes, and took a shower. As I stepped out, I realized I really needed to buy some clothes.

I decided to sit on my bed and cultivate. There was so much swirling energy in my body, so I started to push it all into my core while I opened all of my pores and let the ambient energy all around me rush into my body.

I lost track of time, but before I knew it, my alarm was going off. It was time to start my next day at work.

I quickly got ready for the day, and just like the day before, a simple breakfast was waiting for me in my kitchen. I quickly ate the food and noticed a huge difference: this food did not contain any mana. It felt wrong to eat food not infused with mana. It was strange how quickly I had gotten used to it after only one meal. Shaking it off, I walked out of my apartment, realizing I needed some money to start buying all the things that weren't provided for me. I needed to ask Zeb when my first paycheck was. Ka-Del was right; I really needed to start asking my questions. I felt like a child all over again, being thrown into this new world. I have never been afraid to ask for anything, but why had I become so scared and just went with the flow? Something happened to me when I was sent here. Why hadn't I thought about my life at all back home? Even now, I struggle to think about what my friends' names were, and my mom's face; all that came to mind was my legal career, but not any of my coworkers.

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Like lightning, I was hit with another panic attack. This time, a ringing sound filled my ears. I became light-headed and felt my body hit the ground. Sweat drenched my body, chills raced up and down my body like lightning, and pain erupted across every nerve. I felt hands touch me, I think, and voices. Someone was trying to talk to me. I couldn't understand anything they were saying. My eyes refused to work. Why couldn't I see? My vision wasn't black, but I can't explain why I couldn't see my surroundings. I felt like I was floating on air, and then I felt the suns on my skin... Wait, suns? Earth only has one sun, and just like that, my environment came racing towards me like a train at full speed. I rolled into the fetal position and threw up.

The hands were all around me, encouraging me, trying to guide me through my panic attack. They were whispering my name, but that was all I could register. All I wanted was to crawl back to my bedroom, close my eyes, and go back home. Where was home again? The panic attack hit me all over again, this time more intensely.

I was lost...

I drifted in a sea of darkness, wrapped in a freezing cold blanket...

The word "Chicago" floated in my mind. I tried to build a mental image of Chicago, a place I had lived my entire life...

It slowly came back to me. I let the mental version of myself walk down Lake Shore Drive, and took in Lake Michigan in the summer. This was my happy place. I sat there on the beach, right by Promontory Point, about a mile from my house. I was finally able to catch my breath, and I heard a voice, more of a whisper. It sounded like a man's voice, but the accent was one I had never heard before. It said, "Here, channel this mana. You are having a panic attack; this will help you calm down."

My mental sanctuary of Lake Michigan began to fade away, and I was sitting outside in front of my apartment building, back on the planet AnaKaldroo, in the capital city of Anopia, AnopieDroogoo. I felt depressed, but tears refused to come. I was surrounded by beings in black robes, none of them humans.

A large Minotaur held out their hand to me as he said, "I am Senior Barrister Malhone. This is pretty common after we are first summoned. Let's walk to the courthouse together and talk a bit."

Senior Barrister Malhone possessed a strong aura around him. It was a commanding presence that made me feel uneasy. In the back of my mind, I understood that if he imposed his will upon me, I would have no choice but to bow to it. If he demanded any answer from me, I would be compelled to comply. This realization terrified me, and at that moment, I knew I needed to get stronger; I needed to advance my cultivation. How many powerhouse monster cultivators like Malhone were out there? He wasn't even an adventurer, which meant he didn't have any combat abilities, but that didn't mean he was defenseless.

Malhone's voice was rough, sounding like a raging fire, and my mind instantly registered that this was the man trying to walk me through my panic attack. "Barrister Pavarimax, were you trying to think of your life back home?" he asked me. I looked up at him; Malhone was about four or five feet taller than me and twice as wide. All I could manage as a response was a whispered "yes."

"For some reason, I can't remember most of my life back home." His face made a peculiar expression; his cow-like lips flopped about, but his eyes seemed to be trying to offer comfort. I struggled to swallow my laughter; I was being comforted by a bull-man.

He spoke in a soothing voice, more akin to a crackling campfire than the raging inferno it was before, "As you cultivate, focus on your memories; they will come back to you. The System blocks your memories to help you assimilate to life here. It wants you to dive in headfirst, learn how to function here, and forget your old life. Most people come from worlds without magic, and the system does very little to teach you how to use it. So, it figures that if you are forced to learn in order to grow, you will take to magic much quicker. As a result, our bodies rebel, and we end up having panic attacks."

I didn't say anything as we walked down the street towards the courthouse. My body was still in pain, but learning and mastering how to cultivate instantly became my top priority. I needed to get stronger, and I needed my memory back.

I screamed in my mind “ FUCK THE SYSTEM!”

The remainder of our journey to the courthouse was enshrouded in silence, amidst the bustling throngs of people swirling around us, entering and exiting the grand edifice of justice. "Barrister Pavarimax," Senior Barrister Malhone announced, his voice cutting through the din of the crowd, "I shall visit you later today. I eagerly anticipate witnessing your contributions to our esteemed office on this, your second day of work." With those parting words, he strode away, his robes billowing behind him like the sails of a ship caught in a brisk wind.

As I navigated the corridors down to my office, I encountered other Barristers who each paused to extend their greetings. Their names seemed to float in my consciousness, ephemeral and elusive, barely registering within my befogged mind. It was Barrister Ka-Del, stationed in the office next to mine, who offered a beacon of warmth with her smile as she approached. "Hey, Julius," she whispered, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, "did we celebrate a tad too exuberantly last evening? Is that why you are tardy today?"

Her question rendered my mouth arid, and I felt as though a stone had lodged itself in my throat. "Ummm, nooo... I kind of had a panic attack on my way to work today," I managed to stammer. "I encountered Senior Barrister Malhone, and he aided me through it. How late am I?"

Ka-Del's smile softened, her hand finding mine, her warmth seeping into my very being. "You're not terribly late. Rest assured, no one will hold it against you," she assured me, her voice a soothing balm. "I'm truly sorry you endured such a trying morning. It gets better, I promise."

Offering her a grateful smile, I stepped into my sanctuary — my office. Retrieving a few volumes of the Contract Law journal from my bookshelf, along with some parchment, I resolved that the most prudent course of action was to immerse myself in work. Thus, armed with the tools of my trade, I set about the task at hand, seeking solace in the familiar embrace of legal scholarship.