A short man walked up from inside the gate and called out, “What is your business at the Sojourner’s Guild?”
As one of the two guards explained about their ‘alleged’ new arrival, Tim studied the man inside the gate a little more. He was around 5’2”—certainly short enough for it to stick out. He was likely middle-aged, with a bald spot on his head and a crown of hair around it, and his attire was rather plain, consisting of a thick brown robe. He had a similar soul pouch on his belt, but it had a different insignia on it than the rabbit, even though Tim couldn’t make it out. He gave off a vibe similar to how Tim imagined a member of a Middle Ages monastic order to be.
Tim heard his name called out, and that drew him back to the conversation. The man inside was speaking to him. “So, they say that you are a new arrival. What planet are you from?”
“Earth. I’m not sure how this works. Are there multiple planets that people come from?”
The man seemed amused. “It’s always the same with you new arrivals. You all are full of questions and don’t understand that we are the ones asking the questions, but if it will shut you up… yes, there are four planets that we have identified as the homes of all sojourners over the last two and a half thousand years or so. We will tell you more, but for now, I need you to answer my questions.”
“Um… okay, this is a great deal to take in.”
“Every new arrival says the same. Now, what year was it on your homeworld when you left, and what country were you from?”
“2020, and the United States.”
“Okay, so that would make you from one of the later time periods.”
Tim was utterly confused by that. “So, you mean people come from different time periods in history?”
The brown-robed man just shook his head. “Remember, I’m interviewing you, not the other way around. Now, you are going to have to prove that you are Terran.”
Atticus said, “Is that really necessary?”
The brown-robed man raised an eyebrow at being questioned, but one of the guards said, “He’s a Patronite; don’t worry about him.”
With a chuckle, the man inside the gate said, “Ah, that makes sense. Somehow, they always seem to find the 1st gens. Well, the question is fair enough. Unfortunately, there have been spies from the different nations posing as new arrivals, and since Terra hasn’t had a new arrival this year yet, it is a particularly ripe time for such an attempt.”
While answering, the guardian of the gate watched Tim very closely. “So, time for a little bit of trivia? Our information on Terra is a bit older than you are, so hopefully, you can answer these questions. How many rings at the modern-day Olympics?”
Tim had to think, but it was pretty obvious. “Five.”
“Okay, and what are the colors of the United States flag?”
“Easy. Red, white, and blue.”
The man grinned. “Okay, one more then if those questions are too easy. What is the name of the 3rd book in the King Killer Chronicles?”
Now it was Tim’s turn to laugh. “Very funny. The Doors of Stone, but it isn’t really a book since it will never be published.”
Nodding to himself, the man said, “I am Simon of the Vale, gatekeeper of the Terran Chapter of the Sojourner’s Guild. You must say your full name and ask permission to enter. It shall be granted, and you will be taken to the book.”
“My name is Timothy Stein. May I enter?”
“Very well, but your friends will have to stay here.”
One of the guards said, “He is no friend of ours. We were tasked with bringing him to you Master Vale, and now that is done.” They both gave quick nods of the head and then turned to return to the gate.
Cecilia, on the other hand, said, “Why can’t we go with him? We are the ones who found him.”
“Only sojourners may enter the grounds. Don’t worry, he will most likely be able to meet with you in a couple of days. The testing process and council will probably keep him busy for at least two days. After that, you can just leave word here at the gate as to where he can find you,” Simon said. Even as he spoke the silver spiraled metal of the gates dissolved into a mist and then faded away.
“Atticus and Cecilia, thank you so much for your help. Please let me know where I can find you. I very much want to repay you both for your kindness.”
Atticus bowed his head. “Think nothing of it. It is our honor to serve.” Then as Simon placed his surprisingly strong grasp on Tim’s arm, both father and daughter chanted in sync: “Glory to the patrons and their chosen who sojourn amongst us.”
Simon tugged his sleeve, and Tim had no choice but to follow along with him. Behind them, the gate reformed, but he was too caught up in looking around. The path they were on was composed of perfectly fitted stones laid together with seams that could barely be discerned. Along the sides of the path were beautiful gardens, with fountains and statues dotted amongst the rose bushes and fruit trees.
“So, what is involved in this test?”
“Don’t worry, no harm will come to you. The test is something that all sojourners have undergone, even if they don’t decide to join the guild… well, unless their parents were particularly good at hiding them. Your identity will be recorded in the Book of Names, and you will be bound to this world. If you chose, you will also receive a position in the guild.
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The test is especially important for 1st gen as you were not born in this world and will have to learn about your abilities.” He paused then as if weighing up the next words he was going to say. “If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you? I don’t think I have ever seen a new arrival who is even half your age.”
Tim felt a wave of bitterness pass through him at his stolen youth. Ending up in a game world was in many ways a dream come true, but to lose most of his life in the process was enough to make him want to cry and scream in fury. “When I was on Earth, I was only twenty-seven.”
“Pardon me, I am a 3rd gen so I have never been to Earth, but it doesn’t seem likely that man under thirty would look like you.”
“I didn’t look like this until Cal-Dakota pulled me into this world.”
Simon stopped at that point and released Tim’s arm. “Those who believe that the patrons are more than a mere figment caused by the strain of transfer from another world to this world all agree that Cal-Dakota is a trickster. He is fond of jokes only he thinks are funny, but I have never heard of him causing direct harm, even in the legends of old. That is especially true of a sojourner he specifically brought over.”
“Well, there is a first time for everything. I guess I got to be the lucky one he could vent his frustrations on because I sure as heck didn’t look like this before I woke up to a blue screen.” The more Tim spoke the angrier he became. This was supremely unfair; he hadn’t done anything to deserve it. Maybe he hadn’t accomplished a lot with his life, but he certainly hadn’t gone out of his way to hurt anyone either.
He felt the anger building within him, almost like a boiling cauldron. His skin felt taut, and an unspoken scream tumbled around within his throat. Tim looked over at Simon and saw something different in his eyes. If he didn’t know better, he would have said that it was fear.
Honestly, he didn’t care because with the swell of anger came a sensation he had never known before. It was a feeling of power unlike any he had ever known. Not the power of money or the power of authority, but rather raw, unfettered power. The kind of strength that gave one control over life and death themselves.
Tim felt like his sense of self expanded out beyond his own skin. He could sense little pockets of power all around him. Power in the air, power on the ground, even power in the ground beneath him. Some of the little bubbles of power were so small that he could barely sense them, but as he pushed, he felt each one. He could almost taste a metallic taste upon his tongue as the new pockets of power entered his sphere of influence and found themselves caught within his web.
Simon was backing away from him, slowly, with faltering steps almost as though he couldn’t control his own body. The brown robe fell away from him, and beneath it was a man with a chiseled physique—not the huge bodybuilder type but more the Bruce Lee type with iron-corded definition shown in his arms. He wore a sleeveless vest of green and silver paired with snug but well-cut pants, obviously designed for ease of movement.
As Tim’s awareness expanded, he could sense Simon’s heartbeat, and the flow of pressure within his veins, even down to the muscles, was obvious. He felt as they struggled to contract and extend so their owner could take another step backward. Tim followed Simon’s gaze as he looked up, and he saw a bird fly to with ten feet but then suddenly stop in mid-air. Where Tim’s eyes saw a bird, this extra sense only felt a small pocket of power.
Simon’s arms struggled into the form of an X crossed in front of him, and a faint silver glow formed around his arms. It became obvious the man was trying to say something, but whatever it was lost to Tim. All he could hear was the rushing sound in his own ears. He felt so alive. A part of him wanted to reach out and seize all of those tiny pockets of power he felt and add them to his own.
Then he felt a much larger pocket. It was exactly where Simon was standing. The power contained in that bubble far surpassed all the others that he felt combined. He craved it; he had to have it for his own.
From the corner of his eye, Tim saw three figures rushing out of the front entrance to the large building. A man in glistening plate armor came straight at him. Tim could see Simon trying to wave the man away, but still, he charged. A shield and then a sword materialized in the man’s hands, and he charged forward until he got within about twenty feet of Tim, then he suddenly moved as though he was walking completely submerged in a river.
Tim’s mind expanded again as he became aware of another massive pocket of power. Strangely, it was exactly where the armored man now seemed frozen midstep. Tim reached out to the power, feeling its ebb and flow and how it circulated, beginning to sense that it was his to call upon. Tim wanted to be one with that power. It whispered to him.
Behind him, Tim felt more than saw or heard another pocket of power moving towards him. It was almost like someone was trying to obscure it, trying to make it less noticeable, but he felt it. Reflexively, he reached out with his mind and clamped down on it. It was slippery and not at all like the other pockets—almost as though this bubble didn’t want to be caught.
When he finally pushed with his full force, he felt it spring fully into his awareness. In the same instant, a slender feminine rogue in gray leather armor was pulled out of stealth and became visible to his eyes. She had a black steel dagger extended in a thrust, and its tip was less than a foot from Tim’s back. However, she too now seemed frozen in place.
Tim was enraptured in these new sensations; the rush of blood within his veins was intoxicating. The pockets of power he sensed all around him created a craving in him. Otherwise, he would have noticed the blood vessels in her eyes were breaking. Even the exposed skin on the back of her hand was showing spider web-like breaks in the capillaries.
From what felt like miles away but was, in reality, less than fifty feet away, he heard a voice yelling at him. With the rushing sound in his ears, the voice sounded like the indistinct squawking of an adult in a Charlie Brown cartoon. He couldn’t make out the words, but he saw a man in yellow and blue robes waving his hands vigorously. Then sparks of blue light began to dance between the man’s hands. The hair on the back of Tim’s neck started to stand up, and he glanced back over at the robed man. Tim saw he was now wreathed in flashing blue lightning.
A moment of instinctual fear passed through Tim’s mind, even though he fully caught up in the rhythm of pulsing hearts. Some primordial fight-or-flight instinct made him choose. He had nowhere to go, and these bubbles of power called out to him. He extended his left hand forward while his right hand went to the curved dagger on his belt. He began to call to the bubbles, urging them to join with him.
First, the tiniest of the bubbles in the ground beneath him began to rupture, but he didn’t get what he needed from them. Rather, the precious energy was lost to the soil. Then he reached out to the small bubbles floating in the surrounding air. Some part of his mind heard a squawk in the back of his mind, but then those bubbles ruptured too. This time a tiny surge of power flowed to him. It danced around him, and his mind expanded to possibilities as limitless as life itself.
All Tim saw next was a brilliant flash of light, and he felt the muscles of his body contract. There was a moment of resistance as the small amount of power he had gathered resisted this torrent of energy, but it raged against him. Then the resistance was gone, and he fell unconscious to the ground, his body spasming wildly like he had been struck by a Taser on overdrive.