Mangol Pemud groaned as he woke up in the shabby little shed he and Atreus had built together. His face and body was still sore from getting punched in the face and charged by a boar within a sadly small space of time; though he knew it would’ve healed by now if it weren't for the large amounts of alcohol he had been drinking the last couple of nights. Neither of those injuries mattered nearly as much as how visceral his sadness felt. “Atreus…” he whispered into the empty space in the bed next to him before burying his face in the blankets and screaming in grief. He felt like a child again but he just couldn’t bring himself to feel embarrassed by the fact he hadn’t left the shed except to use the outhouse or bathe in the river instead of the bath shed.

Everyone knew that it was the far more dangerous option. There were many monsters that weren’t particularly aggressive in hunting humans and preferred to avoid villages. But if they found someone as low level as Pemud alone in the woods; it would be an easy meal for the beast. Everyone knew that but no one stopped him from going. There were precious few in the village that hadn’t experienced that kind of grief before and decided to respect the distance he wanted. The times he had gone Vulwin had sent a scrying eye after him. Pemud hadn't been

offended at the intrusion of privacy since he knew Vulwin was only trying to make sure he was safe.

Pemud gripped the sheets hard as he remembered all the times he and Atreus had been laughing and splashing around in that narrow stream. Finding the parts in the river that formed shallow pools that were perfect for laying in. The moments Atreus would scare away animals and creatures way larger than him just by how loudly he could scream and how hard he could throw rocks at it. These were all fondly held memories that served only to fuel his depression in his current state. He almost didn’t hear the gentle knocks on the door. He also almost didn’t get out of bed to answer the door. Pemud slowly got his legs over the side of the bed and found the floor with his feet.

He took his time pulling on his ratty clothes and getting to the door. When he opened it he was somewhat glad to see it was Mung who was standing there, his nice hat clutched in both of his clawed hands. Mung had also been in his own funk since the Arthur situation had unfolded. Pemud rubbed at his eyes “greetings. Mung…” the goblin brewer smiled sadly and nodded “Friend.” His raspy voice was casual and somber. It was a simple greeting but it reminded Pemud how good of a friend Mung actually had been to him and Arthur. As angst filled as he was he couldn't stop himself from kneeling down and giving Mung a big hug. Mangol wrapped his scrawny half-elvish arms around the goblin and he returned the gesture with his long green gangly arms.

As they pulled away from the tender moment Pemud considered just getting back into bed without another word; Mung having confirmed his safety. Mung pulled his hat on quickly and looked up into Pemud’s eyes. “Walk with me?” The half-blood shrugged. Mangol Unenthusiastically followed Mung as they wandered the edge of the village that wasn’t on the border of the forest. Pemud kept looking over to the city with his slightly blurred vision as they slowly trudged along. He breathed deeply of the clean lukewarm air and felt just a tiny bit cleaner despite the liquor he had been funneling into his body. Everyone had explained the situation to him after Arthur had left; but he was still confused and distraught. Everyone who cared about Atreus mourned but they had no idea how to help; it made him mad at everyone around him for not being able to help him. it enraged Pemud against the very concept of magic. He was just as angry with himself for being unable to help the person he loved. He realized he had started grinding his teeth just like Atreus does.

“I’m leaving. You should come with me.” Mung said without any prelude. The words came hard and fast in the way of someone afraid to admit something but needing it out in the open. Mangol almost walked into the goblin as he turned around to address Pemud.

“W-what?” Pemud felt his throat tighten up again as he thought about what Mung had just said. He glanced over and realized that they had wandered over to the path leading straight to the city in the distance.

“You don’t mean right now, do you!?” Pemud asked in exasperation. Mung chuckled and scratched at his chest with his claws.

“No, Mangol. Soon though.” The goblin couldn’t keep a smile off his face despite the overall situation. To most people the smile goblins gave were incredibly creepy and sent some into a fight or flight response. But Pemud knew that Mung was simply someone who took every tiny blessing and held it to his chest like a godly artifact, stealing back as much joy from the word as possible.

“That guy….Arthur.” Mung’s eyes flicked around as he thought in excitement. “He gave me magic gold…more than he realized!” Pemud’s eyebrow raised.

“Where did he get enchanted gold?... I know me and Atreus never had something like that.”

Pemud’s heart ached when he said his name. Mung shook his head

“I don't care how just… I could make a new brewery now! I could live in the city!” Mung had eyes that were so dark green they appeared black in most light. But right now they were sparkling as he stared off in the direction of the city. Mangol’s jaw relaxed as he breathed in deeply. He appreciated the moment for Mung’s sake. He was watching this man’s dream come true in his own way. “I want to, but my mother’s debt is still holding me here, my friend. My passed-down debt isn’t very small either… It would take too much from your future.”

Mung looked up into Mangol’s eyes. Mung had known him for the majority of his life but had never met his parents. He had learned that Mangol’s mother had died while he was young and due to the backward laws associated with debt it was passed down unto her son. Mung shrugged “You’re the only person I can think I’d trust to run my bar…” Pemud shrugged sadly and looked both literally and metaphorically down the road. “They say the only constant is change… one day it will be possible. And we can get drunk and laugh every work day.” The half-elf smiled, the goblin smiled and looked upon the city together and day dreamed of the future.

That’s when they both noticed the far off dust cloud that was getting kicked up behind a silhouette on the horizon. It was traveling incredibly fast right along the path and directly towards them. They both stepped away from the road without a thought, survival instincts on average being very high on this Earth. They watched as the figure slowly became more clear in their vision; it was a humanoid but the sheer ripping speed it was going made it clear the level was quite high. The day-long journey on horseback was being completely circumvented by how fast the creature was going.

Mung and Mangol flinched back when a blast of wind hit them as the unknown entity was suddenly on top of them in an instant. A dust cloud followed that blinded both the goblin and half blood. They coughed and rubbed the dirt out of their eyes as the dust settled and revealed a heaving gnome of all things. He wore light silken fabrics with a rainbow of different colors; his clothes were designed somewhere between a Shakespearean stage actor and a tracksuit able to handle someone running at high speeds for long periods of time. They had vivid dark blue hair that would fade fast into a stark white as the small man got into his old age. They had a thin freckled face with handsome features that wouldn’t do badly on a stage enacting a play, though that face was currently red from exertion. Even to the inhabitants of this magical world this man was dressed and looked utterly and extravagantly weird. Sure he was as tall and almost as thin as Mung; Taller than average but Pemud couldn't help but compare his legs to the fast colorful person in front of him. His legs were almost twice as long as the gnome’s.

“Doobie! Nice to meet ya!” He exclaimed before he had even caught his breath. The gnome made eye contact with both people in front of him while sporting a big bright smile. Mung was feeling shy because he was very used to extreme racism from gnomes. But he didn’t feel the slightest bit of hostility from the brightly clothed person.

“Uh, It do be nice.” Mung replied but was too nervous to reach his hand out to shake. Pemud was still just taking in the fashion choices of the short man in front of him. Again to the goblin’s surprise the gnome laughed heartily and grabbed Mung’s clawed hand and shook it fervently. “My name is Doobie! And nice to meet you too!”

Doobie pulled a simple looking envelope from somewhere behind him and presented it to Mangol. “This is for you, good sir Pemud!”

Mangol took the letter and looked at the blank envelope back to front. “Thank you kind sir, may I ask for your surname?” He was more curious than caring about being polite at that moment. “Liekthét!” He beamed and twisted his hips and did a few squats to stretch his muscles. Mung and Pemud both exchanged a look with each other as they both had the same thought.

“Well, I’ll be going now. Enjoy your day!” Then suddenly Doobie was gone in an equally as choking dust cloud as the first one. “Do, be, Like…” Mung repeated the name back to himself with extreme confusion. Pemud opened his letter and unfolded the clean, accurately cut parchment and read it. First he saw the notary symbol that this text was transcripted instead of written from the person; which he only knew because his mother had taught him when he was young. As he got to the end of the letter he held it out to Mung who gingerly took it and read it himself, having taken the time to learn written common in his adulthood.

‘To Mangol Pemud of the Western bell village

I’m sorry that I gave you a black eye. I hope that Atreus comes back somehow. I didn’t get a chance to apologize about that either. I swear I have no idea how this happened. I’m going to try to figure out what’s going on but I might die soon because of soul-brain connection stuff. Anyway I put money aside for you so you can live more comfortably and I’ll try to help him too. Again sorry for assaulting you and about Atreus. ‘

-Arthur Tyson

Mung looked at the ledger attached to the letter proving Mangol’s newfound wealth and thus freedom. And his mouth fell open as he read the elegantly written writing that explained that Mangol Pemud possessed five hundred gold pieces retrievable upon proving one’s own identity at any bank across multiple continents. Mung looked up to see Pemud staring at the city with a scowl and a quivering lip. Pemud wished he could just scream into Arthur’s stolen face. His fists clenched up and tears streamed down his face. “I forgive you…”

______________________________________________________________________

Arthur thought for a moment that he was going to have a heart attack from the anxiety that was trying to drive a nail into his chest and stomach. He had never felt this kind of fear before and it overrode his fight or flight reflex and left him frozen as he watched the rainbow of colors roll across the walls from the shining liquid in the golden cup. As the drip slowed and stopped Casper’s yawning head passed through Arthur’s chest. They looked from the goblet and up to Arthur’s face then disappeared back into his body. This somewhat frustrated Arthur “Wait! Come back!” He scratched at his own chest for a second since he had no idea how to get Casper out of there.

He breathed deeply as he felt a warmth emanate from his chest. This calmed the frantic berserker enough for the nausea from tensing up his stomach to hit him. And the sickly sweet smell in the room almost sent him over the edge and gagged audibly.

“Nope. Not doing that. I just had a good meal…”

Arthur liked sweet things but if the scent was to somehow entice him to drink the clearly suspect liquid from the goblet; it was far from effective. He stood straight and reset his posture after a moment of silence. He still felt the discomfort but nothing had happened yet so his eyes started to wander around the room. His gaze drifted back towards the door; and the very tall middle aged lady now standing between him and it.

“Hi there!”

She greeted him with a complete lack of volume control and a huge smile and a wave. This action made Arthur literally jump out of surprise; any motion of his body being so much stronger and productive than he was used to. He had tensed so hard that just the action of his knees locking out suddenly made him hop a few inches. He unclenched his jaw as he took a step away from the new person that appeared in the room. He saw that she had a purple scarf and a dress that he at first assumed was a dyed pattern; but on second glance was actually the pelt of a massive feline expertly tanned and fashioned into a probably powerful piece of equipment. Arthur was immediately reminded of his aunt; who was the person who gave him his first cigarettes at a shockingly young age.

She had her big bright green eyes that stayed resolutely locked onto Arthur as she reached up and tilted her large brimmed hat that topped her half-brushed mess of dirty-blonde and silver streaked hair. The hat itself didn’t seem to have the tell-tale point of a mage despite the vivid purple hue. She bent her legs at the knees and did a little flourish with her free hand; doing a curtsy for the tiny man. “Nice to meet you! I’m Alayah, the head priest of this church. Though you can just call me Al, or Alie, or just Yahyah!”

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Arthur unthinkingly attempted to analyze Alayah; which resulted in a scrambled mass of system text in a vibrating blue box to appear in his vision. It also caused him to have a horrific headache that exacerbated the pain signals his fragile brain was already sending him regularly. It was there for a few prolonged seconds with a ringing noise that quickly faded out and was replaced with the laughter of Alayah.

“I’m too high of a level for you to see anything; and you still went for it!”

Arthur breathed in deeply.

“Can you help me? That’s why I came here in the first place.”

Alayah’s face immediately shifted into a state of curiosity as she deeply thought about what he just said. Arthur could almost hear the metaphorical gears screeching as they grind against each other in her head as she pondered. Then she smiled and shrugged.

“Probably not to be honest!” She said, making Arthur grind his teeth together and clench his fists. He actually stomped on the ground like a toddler to his own surprise. The anger carried him through the embarrassment and led him onward. “Why do I have a quest here then!?” It burned his throat to try to keep any expletives from escaping his lips. “I’m going to die due to brain trauma and the head of the church of madness can’t help me repair it!?” Alayah couldn't stop herself from chuckling as she bent down and patted Arthur on the head.

“If you have a quest here this is definitely the way to save yourself; don’t get so mad little lion!” Arthur understood that she probably knew better than he did about how quests worked; but he couldn’t stop himself pushing her hand away in a huff. Alayah just smiled even wider.

”Hey hey! Don’t let me ruffle your feathers!”

She laughed every word. That action made him realize just how much bigger she was than him. One of her arms was nearly as long as he was. Giants might

exist but he was pretty certain some stats just made people get huge as they leveled them up.

“Then how? The quest is still only telling me to come here and I’m here!” Alayah walked past Arthur who kept tilting his head back to keep looking up into her eyes. The head of the church stepped next to the podium and pointed at the glowing goblet of liquid.

“You weren’t planning on drinking this, right?” Alayah asked innocently as she picked up the goblet. Suddenly the ambient sense of dread spiked in Arthur once again.

“What’s in that cup?...and why are you ignoring my question?” Arthur asked nervously as Alayah looked into the cup and swirled the sweet smelling substance around. The multitude of colored lights shining off her face like a disco ball.

“A child of the god of madness I think. I’m not sure which one but I am getting a command from on-high to drink it, soooo…” she shrugged again.

“Wait, what?” Arthur said as he tried to process what she just said. He watched as Alayah tipped the goblet up to her mouth and started chugging.

Arthur’s mouth fell open and he held his open hands wide in a pose of comical exasperation. The utter weirdness of the situation overwhelmed his anxiety for a moment. Alayah gingerly set the goblet back down on the podium and clapped her hands together and looked at Arthur with a tight lipped smile. She then slowly tilted forward like a tree falling. Alayah hit the floor like a bookshelf. The sound made Arthur flinch as her face connected solidly with the stone floor and made her hat fall off and land a couple feet away from her still body.

“Are you okay there, Yahyah?” Arthur asked with wide eyes; not feeling at all confident enough to walk over and try to help her off the floor. With the shining light of the liquid now gone and the only other person there besides Casper clearly being unconscious the anxiety almost completely vanished. Arthur remembered where he was and realized that magically induced fear and paranoia makes sense for the church of madness. Arthur glanced around the room and back at the door. He reached over to the door handle slowly but as he was about to take it in his hand someone spoke. Clearly and concisely a voice that defied human traits spoke to Arthur.

“People who have the desire to catch you are surrounding the church.”

Arthur felt goosebumps run over every inch of his body as he swung his head around and saw Alayahs body still limp on the floor where she had fallen. Arthur scanned the room but saw no one. “Who’s trying to catch me?” Arthur asked as he clenched his fists. It wasn’t out of anger this time but an attempt to still the sudden shakiness that overtook his body.

“An Adventuring party. A party of four people. Each one is a higher level than you are. Each one knows what abilities you have and roughly how strong you are. You would not be able to surprise them in combat. And one is much, much faster than you are.”

The flat tone of the voice didn’t sound like a man or a woman. To Arthur it didn’t sound like a person at all. The fact that the voice didn’t come from any specific direction hurt Arthur’s brain in a way that made him want to stop thinking entirely.

“How would any of them know-”

Arthur clamped his mouth shut mid-question as he watched the body of the Alayah start to stiffly levitate off the floor. She stayed in an awkward horizontal position for a long moment until she abruptly swung her legs down so that she faced Arthur with her eyes closed. Her hands were still tightly wrapped together just like the moment she hit the ground. Her expression had changed from a tight wide smile to an expression of pure neutrality. A blank look that conveyed no emotion at all. Her eyes opened and revealed an ever-shifting spectrum of lights that shone brightly from Alayah’s possessed form.

“I know who may save you. And where you can find them. Arthur tyson. If you accept a task from my parent and I. You may meet them and save yourself.”

Arthur thought about it for a minute. Not a long minute. A part of him wanted to be indignant and refuse. But he put his continued existence above feeling annoyed at a lack of options. “What task?”

The body of Alayah controlled by someone else looked down to it’s hands. Arthur followed it’s gaze to the bottle that was suddenly in it’s grasp. It was a long teardrop shaped bottle. Instead of a simple cork the neck of the bottle had a screw design that housed a spiraling golden turnkey that seemed to be the method of opening. Inside was a glowing golden liquid.

“Take this to the man of stone. If you accept you will be granted the means to escape this building. Be given direction so that you may be led to the man of stone. Succeed in this task and you will have found the healers required to save you.”

Arthur nodded and gingerly took the bottle from what he was presuming was some kind of demi-god of this world. He looked deeply into the bottle and shook it. The surface of the liquid moved but there were no ripples. The potion stayed completely level and stable. “Huh.” Arthur breathed out and looked up into the passive face in front of him and the glowing multi-colored eyes that were sending waves of paranoia into him. Knowing it was most likely a passive effect instead of true fear the anxiety was simply becoming annoying and straining his already sore body.

“Can I go now, please?” For the first time the look on the demi-god’s stolen face shifted. Arthur immediately recognized disappointment in it’s new expression.

“Yes you may. But first Arthur Tyson. May I ask a favor of you?”

Arthur raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Getting a very negative feeling from this conversation that extended beyond the passive anxiety effect. “Yes you may…” Arthur said slowly.

“Could you be…more interesting? Express yourself more?”

Arthur scowled deeply. The demi-god grimaced in response and continued in its perfectly logical way.

“You are a representation of another universe in our own. A window into cultures unviewable before. You. Are. Important.”

Arthur gripped the neck of the bottle hard in his hand. “No I am not!” he yelled up into the face of the demi-god in front of him. They didn’t flinch even as spittle from his outburst connected with their face. He continued ranting. “You know where I worked before I woke up in fantasy land!? A gas station!” Arthur began pacing back and forth as he kept his deep scowl trained on Alaya’s possessed body. “It was already bad enough for me when I had friends! An apartment to myself!” His face was becoming more red with each word he spat out. His steps back and forth became stomps.

“More Interesting? More expressive? I’m just trying to survive right now, man! I don’t care about being entertaining to you!” Arthur ranted and raved. Tensing his arms up as he gripped the mystery potion hard enough to shatter any standard bottle. Arthur stopped and stared hard into the face of the demi-god. His blood felt like it was boiling in his veins as he watched it’s face break out into a little smile.

“What is a gas station?” The demi-god asked in a jovial tone.

Rage activated

Arthur turned the bottle around in his hand and tried smashing it over the Alayah’s possessed head. The bottle turned out to be so strong that it just clubbed the demi-god without shattering. The demi-god themself was so utterly unaffected by blows that would easily concuss people on Arthur’s current level. “This is how I feel!” Arthur clobbered the bottle against her head again with reckless abandon. “A god could never understand pain! You can’t even be hurt!” Again he swung the bottle and they just took the hit without moving.

Rage deactivated

Arthur paused mid swing as a wave of coldness overtook his emotions. For a split second nothing mattered to him. A mental fog that appeared and disappeared just as quickly. He realized what he was doing was pointless and self destructive. Arthur slowly lowered the hand with the mystery potion and awkwardly put it in his bag of holding. “Is that what dissociation feels like?” he asked himself as he remembered Marie talking about her experiences with it.

“Dissassotion is a perfect word for the feeling. I'm confused that this term doesn’t exist on this version of earth. Thank you sir Tyson.”

Arthur shrugged. “Thank you for not getting mad back at me I guess. Even though you made me mad on purpose…” The demi-god gave Arthur a warm smile.

“Do not thank me. Everything you said in anger is correct. I want to understand. I want to witness. In doing so I have accepted that you will hate me. You already hate the concept I am made from the essence of.”

Arthur tilted his head as he thought hard. “A concept?”

“I am Bored.”

Arthur nodded as he processed that information “Ohh…I do hate being bored.” he then shrugged. “But you as the embodiment of it you haven’t really done anything to make me hate you. I kinda want to like you just because you already accepted the idea that I'm just that hateful!”

Bored smiled in a way that was both sad and amused. Being the Demi-god of boredom didn’t mean creating boredom. It meant desperately finding something or someone new enough to invoke the feelings his beloved brother Novelty embodied. But Bored understood that Arthur didn’t care or have the time for such details.

“With our blessing; I believe you will be capable of escaping this place and completing this quest. Do you accept this blessing from my parent?”

Arthur presumed that by ‘parent’ Bored meant the God of Madness themselves. Arthur shrugged and pulled out a fresh cigarette to chew on the filter.

“I don’t think I have a better option. So yes I do.” Arthur said before feeling a deep sense of regret in those words even as a shiny golden text box appeared in his vision.

Curse of the Quip

A blessing and a curse from the God of Madness

You have become a fountain of culture in this world.

For this your words will be given true power.

For this you are cursed to have your words hold power over you.

Invasive Reference (Passive)

True Memory (Passive)

Reality Warping Performance (Special Action)

“No…” Arthur started to feel sick as he read the word ‘curse’ in the description. His heart felt like it was gonna stop as he read the description of the first passive in the golden text box.

Invasive Reference (Passive)

You automatically act out remembered passages or scenes from

sources of entertainment you remember.

Even if the memory itself is incomplete or lacking context.

The description was short but it filled Arthur with pure dread. Particularly the word ‘automatically’ started a feeling of panic that was completely independent of the effect the demi-god passively radiated. Arthur’s eyes widened as Alayah’s body suddenly went limp for the second time and thumped painfully into the stone floor. Bored’s slow sardonic laugh echoed out as colorful smoke erupted from her body and rose towards the ceiling.

The cigarette fell out of his mouth “No, no, no, no. Wait, wait, wait!” Arthur pleaded desperately as he swung his head back and forth to look at the wafting smoke that he knew was the demi-god taking their leave. Leaving Arthur to consider if dying was actually the better option than being given divine strength Tourette's syndrome against his will.