The alluring scent of coffee brought me to life. The abbey kitchen was a bit crowded with four tables and benches on one end, and the cooking table next to the hearth on the other. Pots, frying pans and a kettle rested on the mantle. Jars, crates, barrels and bags cluttered up the rest of the space. Amelia was busy cooking up oatmeal in a huge pot hanging over the fire in the hearth. Darya looked exhausted while drinking coffee with a hunk of toasted bread and butter.

By morning light, Gregor had vanished, and I wondered if he would only appear at night. I needed to set some boundaries with him, or I’d be losing half a night's rest every time. I poured myself a cup of black coffee and took a piece of bread with cheese.

“How is the orphanage doing for food?” I asked.

Amelia sighed. “With so many mouths to feed, it could always do better, but we’ll get by as we always have. The community is generous and pulls together when needed. The bear meat should last us for a bit too, thank you.”

Amelia sounded a lot less nervous than the first day when we met. Maybe she was getting used to me? I hoped I wasn’t overstaying my welcome.

“Happy to help. If there’s something else that's needed, let me know.”

I opened my status screen, and selected the option for choosing a profession. I had also considered picking [Miner] because according to Gregor, at higher expertise, it granted a limited ‘radar’ of a sort to find valuable ores. It would be just the thing for stashing gold for [Drakon’s Hoard.] However, he pointed out that I could just sell crafted wands for gold without having to set foot in the dark, smelly caves. Without a better option, I selected [Wandcrafter.]

[Congratulations on your new profession: Wandcrafter.]

[Wandcrafter Bonus unlocked: +15% damage and -15% power-up using wands you have crafted.]

[Oak Wand schematic unlocked.]

[t1] [Oak Wand]

* Quartz tip

* Oak core

* Copper wiring

* Power Crystal

The schematic showed a list of components along with an image of how to put one together like it was Ikea. The damage and power-up bonus was a pleasant surprise that Gregor failed to mention. Maybe his memory had gotten rusty? I knew all the components except the power crystal, which I hoped to find being sold at one of the shops. I was excited to get started.

Darya perked up from the table, cracked open her tired eyes. "How about a little trip to the Void?"

“Uhm, what’s it like?” I had no idea what The ‘Void’ meant, but it sounded dangerous.

“It depends on the orb, yeah? You got any preferences?”

“Uhm.”

“Maybe something warm and sunny, eh? Like a tropical island?”

“Y-Yeah, okay?” Tropical Islands sounded nice, but what was the Void about?

“We’ll open it upstairs, alright? Wouldn’t want any of the kids getting curious, you know?”

“Aha, of course.” I was out of my depth, and I knew it. Perhaps the tropical island void thingy was a dangerous area? “Let me grab my bow and arrows.”

“Sure, and I’ll bring some extra, we’ll need it.”

[Would you like to join Darya’s party?] [Yes / No]

Cautiously, I selected yes, and a miniature health and mana bar appeared next to her, surprising me. Perhaps this was going to be a hunting party? I liked the idea of that -- I needed experience and levels. Even as I went to get my gear, I could still track her general location through the walls. I wondered how many could join the group. Did it have a range? Was there an option for party chat?

When I arrived at her room on the second floor over the kitchen, Darya looked ready to go. She had extra arrows poking out of her backpack, along with a quiver and bow in hand. She searched around in a chest by the bed, and brought out a small metallic orb the size of a tangerine. It looked like it was made of bronze with etched black markings and lines criss-crossing it.

She went over to the door and closed it after me. “Ya ready?” she asked.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I nodded, yet had no idea what I was supposed to be ready for. She pushed down on a spot on the orb using her thumb. With a heavy thud, a portal materialized right in the middle of the room. I recoiled as bright light streamed from the portal into the room and I had to shield my eyes.

“A little bright, ain’t it?” she said.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but then I could see right through the portal like it was a glass pane into another world. On the other side was the bright sun, white sandy beach and palm trees. I could hear the soothing sound of the waves hitting the shore.

While I was still gawking, Darya hopped through the portal, called out to me, “Ya coming?”

I took a cautious step forward. The portal had a thick copper frame around the edges, and it stood firm and upright without swaying. The size of a bedroom door, it was wide enough for a single person. It was a wondrous sight to behold. I held my breath and walked right through the portal with a smile on my face. As soon as my bare feet hit the warm sand, a message scrolled into view.

[Time remaining: 1h:59m:55s, Portal uses remaining: 4]

I found myself on a beach facing the palm trees. I turned around and looked out over the ocean that stretched out to the horizon. Seagulls soared high above, screeching. The air carried the invigorating scent of salty ocean breezes mixed with the sweet fragrance of exotic flowers and lush vegetation.

I assumed the message meant we had two hours before we had to leave, but what would happen if we didn’t? Would we get forever stranded here? Where the hell was this anyway? Was it an actual part of the real world, or what she called, ‘The Void’? I opened my cartographer map and it showed an outline of a portion of the island, out to a mile in distance. Then another message flicked by.

[Cartographer profession has been upgraded: Minimap unlocked.]

A circle appeared in my view showing a small piece of the map around me. It had a compass with directions. It seemed that exploring new areas caused my cartographer profession to level up. I felt overwhelmed with all the new information.

Darya waved for me to follow up the beach into the shade of the palm trees. “I have done a few of these before, but with a party of five. Even then, we skipped the boss as it was too difficult. But with you here, it shouldn’t be a problem, eh?”

“There’s something I must tell you.”

“Yeah?” she said with a concerned look on her face.

From Gregor I had learned that abilities and passives took up the same number of slots as their tier. This meant a [t1] took up one slot, a [t2] took two, and so on until the highest [t5.] For slots, I had twelve of each, so I still had plenty of room to add more skills and passives. He’d mentioned being granted a choice of passives every ten levels to pick from, but otherwise they could also be learned from tomes.

Normally, an individual of my supposed ‘power’ would have all their skill and passive slots expertly set. These slots wouldn't be filled with random [t1] abilities, but rather with at least one exceptionally potent [t5] skill, complemented by defensive and support abilities to form an optimized 'build' with remarkable synergy. Additionally, they would also be level one hundred or higher, granting them points to enhance those abilities, plus an extra 500 in attribute points.

I had none of that.

My only redeeming trait was the Drakon’s Hoard, but with a stash that could vanish at any moment. These villagers were under a wrong impression about me, and that’s because the horns only reflected skill and passive slots, plus attributes. Despite my extraordinary potential, unlocking it would require a great deal of time and effort.

I had to set them straight about myself and my serious lack of power. Otherwise, it could all end in tragedy tomorrow night at the Dark Night. They probably thought they were going into battle with a massive cavalry, only to learn it’s actually a single dude on a lame donkey. Instead of saving the day, I was likely to fall flat on my face and get everyone and myself killed.

Dreading this moment, I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to let the villagers down. Worse still, Darya was going to laugh in my face, I just knew it.

“I’m only level three with three tier one skills,” I said, and waited for the inevitable look of disappointment on her face.

Yet, her look of confusion turned into a brilliant smile. “Ahh! Now I get it. You used an Orb of Renewal, didn’t ya?”

“Hmm?”

She chuckled. “Decided to throw caution to the wind, make yourself anew? That’s real ballsy. You must feel incredibly alive now, am I right?”

“Yeah?” That wasn’t what I felt. I felt genuinely relieved that I wasn’t being laughed at, or pitied.

“Didn’t learn any new powerful skills either, eh? Wanted that exciting feel of starting fresh, and then building up, and building up? Oh, the rush of it, right? That explains why you arrived almost naked.”

I nodded along. “Y-Yeah … totally.”

“All your levels, and points got set to zero, right? Though your attributes had somehow stayed quite high.”

“Oh, that’s because of one of my racials - can’t change those.” Or maybe you could? I had no idea.

“No, I get it. There’s doing it as a challenge, and then there’s being smart about it. Can’t enjoy the ride if you’re dead, am I right?”

“Exactly.” I made a mental note to ask Gregor all about the Orb of Renewal.

“Well, worry not. If you were able to kill a dire bear all by yourself, this dungeon shouldn’t be too difficult for the two of us.”

“I’m more concerned about the Dark Night.”

Darya shrugged. “It’ll be alright. They come around every month and over the years we have developed some defenses. Sometimes we lose a couple or more, but what can you do, right? Such is life out here.”

That took me by surprise. “Someone dies here every month?”

“Yep, sometimes it happens. No worries though; you'll be alright. Gotta admit, you're not what I had in mind. Wanted to get away from the other Hellbringers in Moorhaven, huh? Smart move. Let's go easy, take down a few critters, and see where we stand.”

“That’d be great.”