Jax didn't know what to expect when the prompt flickered away, but whatever it was, he was sorely underwhelmed. The screen fizzled, and the earlier display of his status reappeared, with details that were almost too much to digest.

Name: Jax

Level: 0

Exp: 295,132/10

Race: Hybrid (84% Human, 15% Spiritual Protector, 1% Suffering Voidspawn)

Class: Undetermined

Attributes:

* Strength: 8

* Agility: 3

* Dexterity: 7

* Intelligence: 4

* Constitution: 3 (10)

Titles: Once Reborn, Void Runner, Boundless Soul, Bound Warrior.

Skills: Skill Crystal Absorption, Limited Telepathy.

He scanned the new information, his gaze falling to the small exclamation mark hovering in the corner of his vision. With a thought, he minimized it, revealing a list of thirty notifications. He wanted to look at them but was forced to turn his attention back to the dwarf, Gelkrin, who still stood before him, gazing at something above.

One of the large, hulking Gong behind Gelkrin moved forward, offering the dwarf a thin, slender blade—something between a carving knife and a ceremonial weapon, though much larger than any he'd seen. The Gong produced the blade from a pouch at Gelkrin’s waist, a pouch far too small to hold something of that size. Words in a language Jax didn’t recognize hovered above it. But as he focused, the letters shimmered and translated themselves.

Item: Ceremonial Seax, F Grade

Attention: As this item is bound to your patron, you must interact with it physically to understand its effects.

The notification surprised him but answered a few questions. This grading system wasn’t limited to beings; his own wetware had been identified as C-grade, whatever that meant. Now, it seemed that everything, even items, had a grade.

Gelkrin took the seax and drew it across his hand. Blood sprayed out, an impressive amount considering his small stature, but the dwarf remained unfazed. He held the blade up to the Gong, who showed... excitement? It was hard to tell, but the creature looked almost giddy, anticipating something. The blade was quickly returned to the pouch, and Jax noticed no further notifications.

Behind him, the other Gong walked over, his massive, gray figure moving with slow, deliberate strides. His name flashed above his head: Jerg, Level 5 Slave. The Gong gestured for Jax to follow, and reluctantly, he did. They walked past Gelkrin, and Jax, still somewhat dazed, took a moment to survey his surroundings.

The small dirt patch they stood on seemed oddly out of place. In the distance, a stone wall towered about twenty feet high, its heavy wooden gate reinforced with iron beams. Beyond it, through a gap in the gates, Jax could make out the bustling city, but he couldn’t distinguish any clear details from where he stood.

Turning his attention back to the ground around him, he saw a stretch of savannah, dotted with scattered trees and bushes. The grass reached up to his thighs, and in the distance, he could just make out the curve of the mountains.

A wagon caught his eye—overturned, a relic of some faraway trek. The Gong, Jerg, moved toward it, gesturing for Jax to keep up. Jax quickly fell into a jog, struggling to match the Gong's longer stride.

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As they neared the wagon, Jerg pulled a small pink crystal from the horse's pack. It was no larger than his smallest fingernail, and the prompt above it caught his attention:

Item: G Grade Crystal

Gong Language (Partial)

Price: Unknown

Jax awkwardly took the crystal from Jerg, examining it, but no answers came. After a moment of confusion, he felt the strange interface again. He reached for his waist pouch to store the crystal but realized it had no pockets—just a pouch resembling a fanny pack. Fumbling with the clasp, he swapped the crystal into his other hand, but before he could make any sense of it, the crystal simply vanished.

"Finally," Jerg's deep voice rumbled. "Can you understand me, Soft Meat?"

"Soft Meat?" Jax repeated, the words coming out awkwardly, but they almost formed themselves with a thought.

"Soft Meat," Jerg repeated, his tone not mocking, but more like a statement of fact. "Weak one. You do not understand?"

Jax shook his head, but something told him that Jerg wasn’t insulting him. There was no malice in the words, just a blunt observation. It was as though Jerg saw him as a fragile creature, weak and untested. He accepted this, choosing to move on.

"Jerg, may I ask a question?"

Jerg shook his head. "Later, soft one. The master has need of us."

Jerg made his way to the mare tied to the overturned wagon and began leading it back toward Gelkrin. Jax, now with a few hundred paces to think, took stock of his own appearance. His clothes were nothing special: rough brown pants, a simple woolen blue shirt, and a thick leather belt with a single pouch.

Unclasping the pouch, he found a hat and a pair of moccasins. He quickly donned the hat, which seemed to pulse with a faint power. As soon as he did, the world around him sharpened.

Item: Hat of the Far-Sighted

This hat cures any vision ailments on a creature. It also increases perception by 20%. If a creature’s perception is too low to warrant a stat, it sets the stat to 1. The effects disappear after use, but the hat remains.

Jax could now perceive more than just the physical world—he could feel the aura of power emanating from everything. Even Jerg, and the distant trees, radiated energy. But the most intense glow came from Gelkrin, whose aura seemed to drain Jax’s own reserves. His spiritual and void energy drained toward the dwarf in two distinct streams, one gray and one bright green, with a faint line of red threading through it.

An alert popped up in his vision:

Your contract holder is currently pulling from your energy reserves.

Energy: 69/140

Spiritual Energy: 295,132

Void Energy: 1

He read the message quickly, noting how his energy was being drained at a steady rate while in Gelkrin’s presence.

Gelkrin, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke again. "Quickly, bring the mare here."

Jerg lumbered toward him, and with the same strange authority, Gelkrin began a ritual. He drew the ceremonial seax across the horse’s neck, and the blood began to pour out, an almost surreal sight as the animal collapsed. The blood seemed to be absorbed by Gelkrin, flowing towards him with a strange, unnatural pull.

The mare, drained of life, crumpled to the ground. The ritual concluded, and Jax could feel the energy drain cease, only for another notification to flash:

Gelkrin, Level 14 Shaft Master

This creature holds the rank of faction leader, granting +3 to possible subordinates.

Faction: Gelkrin’s Thralls, 5/14 members.

Party: 5/9 members.

Faction Rank: F

Durgs name changed to Junior Conscripted Lieutenant, Level 6, as well.

Gelkrin’s demeanor shifted, and he looked at Jax, his face showing a strange blend of curiosity and discomfort.

"Jax, is it? Can you understand me?" he asked, his voice strained as if speaking in this language caused him some pain.

"I am Jax, and I can understand you," Jax replied, curious about the dwarf’s odd expression.

Gelkrin nodded, walking toward the wagon. He paused to inspect the bloodied horse and then gestured a hand over the animal’s form. A green light pulsed, and the horse's body collapsed inward, revealing a small, gray-skinned woman where the mare had once been.

“Durg, bury Samantha,” Gelkrin commanded softly.

The Gong, Durg, nodded and pulled a shovel from his pouch. Gelkrin turned to Jax and motioned for him to follow. Without a word, Jax obeyed, his curiosity growing as they moved deeper into the strange world he was now part of.