Adam sat around the small campfire that Finn had apparently started with one of his rings with Caius and Finn. Caius had explained that Finn was what they called an elemental manipulator with an expanded interested in dimensional magic. The rings on his hands each represented a different element with some repeating that he used more often such as fire. The others were earth, air, water, and gravity. Caius had tried to stress just how impressive the fact that he focused in multiple elements was, much to Finn’s quiet embarrassment.

Ava returned a short time later and sat next to Caius, her anger from earlier gone. Finn tossed her a fanny pack that she promptly clipped around her waist, giving an appreciative nod back to Finn. She turned toward Adam, a challenging glare on her face. “So, are you going to be our new frontliner or are we going to be stuck here with a dead weight who doesn’t know what’s going on?”

“Ava,” Caius said as if talking to a child who said something rude, “It’s not his fault he’s here. Besides, he had already pretty much killed an Eldari by the time I found him. I have a feeling he’s not going to be a dead weight for long. And you know I’m normally spot on with these things.” He glanced over at Finn with the words.

“Maybe not. But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re hung out to dry because of him. You’ve read the reports of how these trials are. During the last Kingdom Rising, only five of the Knights made it out alive and that was with teams that had worked together for years. And there’s others where the Eldari killed every Knight sent. We need to know what we’re getting ourselves into by bringing him on with us. Otherwise, we might be better just going out on our own and trying to support one of the other Kingdoms or even factions from ours. I’d rather make it back home and risk one of the other Kingdoms getting stronger than die here.”

“Ava isn’t wrong,” Finn said, his voice neutral as if he was just stating a fact. “But I think we stand more to gain from keeping him around and teaching him, even if it makes things more difficult for a while. Besides, he even came up with a fun new name for our waist secured dimensional storage devices!”

Ava stood up and faced Adam. “Do you even know what we’re doing here? Or why any of this is happening?” She asked more forcefully. It seemed her anger was flaring up again. “Or are you a spy from one of the other kingdoms?” She turned back toward Caius. “Or did that not even cross your mind?”

“He would be the luckiest spy in the world if he was one. He was about two minutes from being bled dry and doesn’t have a weapon or even shoes. I mean for goodness sakes Ava just look at him. Does he look like someone who was prepared for a trial like this?”

Ava’s face was still cold as she turned back to Adam, her brows raised as she was clearly waiting for a response to her question.

Adam looked at Finn and Caius who didn’t say anything. He figured they were probably eager to hear his answer as well. Over the past thirty minutes while they waited for Ava, they had mainly just asked him random questions about Earth. What industries did the planet specialize in? Did they fight with melee weapons, bows, or magic? They were baffled when Adam told them there weren’t healers like Ava and he had to explain the concept of hospitals and health insurance.

“I…” He paused staring back at Ava. He had never been the type to fold in front of someone’s scrutiny. It’s what made him such a good wrestler. It’s what made him defy everyone telling him he would never make it as a Navy SEAL. It’s even what got his arm broken in seventh grade when he refused to back down to a bunch of high school bullies that wouldn’t leave his brother alone.

“I honestly have no idea what’s going on here. Last thing I remember, I was on my boat and dove in the water because I saw a crystal at the bottom of the ocean. I had no idea what Primordial Energy was until about ten hours ago and to be honest I still don’t know what it is. I was dropped in this abandoned city with creatures that come from legends on my world and nearly killed… twice. I didn’t even know a person had skill slots, and honestly still don’t know what that is, and all the sudden I have something called a soul skill. I…”

The other three all stood up at once. The flood of questions that followed from all three was honestly more alarming than Ava’s cold gaze ever was. He looked at each of them, trying to get a word in but failing.

“You have a soul skill?”

“Ohh you have got to be kidding me.”

“Truly fascinating. The emergence of a soul skill. I’ve read the histories but never thought I would see one in person.”

“What does it do?”

“I feel the need to mention that it could be quite possible that our new friend Adam here is misinterpreting what he is feeling. Perhaps it is a domain skill?”

The others burst into a tirade of more questions and comments that went over Adam’s head. He stared back at them with a blank expression and put his hands up in a placating manner. Eventually the stream of questions and comments slowed to a stop until they were just standing around the fire while Caius, Ava, and Finn all examined him.

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” Adam asked eventually.

Ava raised her hands up and huffed out a breath. That drew a laugh from Finn and Caius gestured for both of them to calm down.

“A soul skill is exceedingly rare. One in a factions history, rare. There are some old writings detailing the first king of our Kingdom having a soul skill, but since then, not one has been recorded since, and that was over ten thousand years ago. It’s something that is so rare that honestly, we can’t even give you a good answer of what it means.”

“The first king being your great grandfather.” Ava murmured.

Great grandfather? Adam’s eyes widened at the implication. Did these people live for thousands of years? Does that mean his life expectancy had just greatly increased as well? Assuming he wasn’t killed in whatever this trail was that is.

“And the reason the Arconius line is still in power.” Finn said, practically vibrating with pent up excitement. “It means we get to study the emergence of a soul skill on a newly enriched planet during a Kingdom Rising. It is not an understatement to say that many would quite literally burn down Allaris for this opportunity.”

Caius gestured for Finn to calm down again. “The only advice that I can give is to tell no one else that you have such a skill, regardless of what it does. I know my uncle and the other Duke’s well, and I cannot overstate the lengths they would go to control you for their own favor.”

“Or just silence you completely.” Ava murmured.

Caius shot Ava a glare and she shrugged. “That goes for you two as well. By providence or coincidence, Adam was brought to us, and we won’t betray his trust. This secret is his and his alone to share.”

His voice was hard and cold, as if a new side of him was bleeding through. It sent a shiver down Adam’s spine. Finn hurriedly nodded, clearly just excited at the chance to study something new. Ava gave a curt nod after a few seconds.

Adam never liked being the center of attention and he felt his face flush with all of them staring at him. “I still don’t really get what the big deal about it is. Finn’s control over the elements with his rings is much more impressive to me. I mean I haven’t even done anything with the skill yet. I don’t even think I can do anything with it. I might as well just be a normal person.”

“The big deal is that you are getting an extra skill slot that the rest of the cosmos doesn’t have. While we’re all stuck with six skill slots, you conveniently get seven.” Ava said.

“And what exactly is a skill slot?” Adam asked. He was picturing a video game like interface where skills could be swapped in and out, but it couldn’t be that simple.

Ava covered her face with her hands while Finn chuckled. “It’s what allows people like us to use Primordial Energy to affect the world and ourselves. Typically, a person only has six skill slots that are… awakened, for lack of a better word, by the use of skill crystals throughout the squire stage.” Finn said.

Adam felt like the annoying kid in class who asked questions constantly, but he was finding with every answer he got he also got three new questions. “And the squire stage is what? A stage you train under someone else at?”

“It’s where a person has awakened a skill slot but hasn’t filled all of their skill slots yet.” Caius said, cutting off Ava from answering. “It’s what separates a normal person from a knight. In general, the more skill slots you have, the more Primordial Energy you are able to utilize, the more powerful you are,”

“Not to mention every surviving record of someone with a soul skill has reached the tier of King.” Ava murmured.

“And that’s different than the king of your Kingdom?” Adam asked. “Or do you have to reach the King tier to be a king… Or queen. Or however your system works. Most countries… sorry factions, on my planet don’t have Kings.”

“No, you don’t have to reach the tier of King to become the ruler, it just so happens to be the case in our home, though other factions are different.” Caius said.

“And because he is both a King and the king, he has access to more Primordial Energy, which I still don’t understand what that is by the way, but it’s supposed to make you stronger? So, the King is not only the most physically powerful person but also the most politically powerful? Seems like a recipe for a dictatorship.” Adam said.

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Ava was red faced and looked to be barely holding back a tirade of curses toward Adam’s ignorance. She looked to Caius for help.

“Okay, let’s start with the basics.” Caius said, glancing toward the increasingly exasperated Ava. “Hopefully this will clear up most of the questions you have and if not, we can always get to those later. We’re going to have a lot of time together over the next few months.”

Adam nodded. He could only go so far just winging it. Sooner or later, he would need some answers, and he was happy it was looking like he would get them sooner.

“To start, Primordial Energy is the central most unit of power in the universe. It makes up the very fabric of our reality and we, as beings infused with Primordial Energy, have access to that power that allows us to use skills and progress on the path to Kingdom. The more energy you are able to utilize, the more powerful you become.” Caius said.

“Is that what the black dust like stuff you sucked into the cannister at your belt was?” Adam asked remembering the enchanting black dust that the body had evaporated into.

Caius nodded. “A form of it. Though it’s changed. That is base form of Primordial Energy that can’t be directly used to fuel skills, but can be used for other things. It’s essentially the currency of our world.”

“The problem is, for all intents and purposes, there is only a finite amount of Primordial Energy in a Kingdom.” Finn said.

“What do you mean for all intents and purposes?” Adam asked.

Primordial Energy isn’t truly finite, but increasing at a rate so slow that it might as well be. It limits the amount of people that can ascend along the path and further creates massive conflict between Kingdoms and Factions in order to control more Primordial Energy. Also, according to the law of energy conservation, Primordial Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed which leads to a much larger economical conversation. Which is why the Primordial Energy that dissipated from the Eldari you and Caius killed earlier is still Primordial Energy, just a changed from. This doesn’t even take into account the eternal conflict with the Eldari.” Finn added.

“We can get to the Eldari later. He’s already seen them and from what Adam has mentioned they seem to have been to his planet before.” Caius said.

“Yeah. Like that’s not an ominous sign or anything. For all we know he could be one of them.” Ava said.

“You’re not a bloodthirsty beast whose goal is to eradicate the Allied Kingdoms, are you?” Finn asked?

“I don’t think so…” Adam replied. “Also I don’t know what the Allied Kingdoms are.”

“There you have it. He’s one of us.” Finn said. Which earned him an aggressive eye roll from Ava. “The Allied Kingdoms are the coalition of humans, elves, and dwarves that have banded together to fight the Eldari. You being human, are naturally one of us.”

Caius continued again, cutting off any questions Adam was about to ask about elves and dwarves. “There are six tiers along the path with the first beginning when a being learns their first skill. It triggers the change in their body infusing them with Primordial Energy and allows them the opportunity to walk the path. The tiers are based on the amount of Primordial Energy you are able to conduct through your body, beginning with squire, then Knight when you have filled all your skill slots, then Baron, Viscount, Duke, and finally King.”

“Though that’s not the only delineation between the tiers.” Finn added in.

“So, what you’re saying is that the more Primordial Energy I am able to… utilize, the more powerful I’ll become. What exactly can I do with this Primordial Energy then?”

“The possibilities are endless.” Caius said. “It’s also based on the individuals understanding of their abilities. Someone with an elemental skill like Finn but no understanding of the fundamentals of the elements themselves could be useless. Where Finn can create fire on his own, another might require an existing source of fire to manipulate.”

“There are very specific requirements to progress to the next tier and some people get stuck at bottlenecks. Otherwise, you would get idiots growing in power with no idea of how to control them.” Ava said. “It’s a recipe for disaster and in the few cases where it happens, innocent people die.”

“Alright. Simple enough so far, I guess.” Adam said. “I don’t understand how you ended up here though. Or me for that matter. There’s no such thing as Primordial Energy on my planet, at least not that I know of.”

“This is where it gets interesting.” Finn said, his voice going up an octave. “We have seen signs of a Kingdom Rising for years now. It’s what we’ve been training for. Caius, Ava, Ellis and me. Well, we were one of a few hundred potential candidates but ended up scoring the best at the academy and then absolutely waxed the other teams in the Allaris tournament. So, when the Primordial Energy reached minimal threshold and the portal was activated, we stepped on through. The dimensional forces surrounding the portal are actually quite fascinating. Taking into account the gravitational pull and sub dimensional travel…”

“Finn.” Ava pleaded, interrupting his ranting. “Please stay on topic.”

“Right. Sorry.” He said. “Anyways, when a Kingdom rises, or reaches minimal threshold of ambient Primordial Energy to support the planet, a trial of sorts opens. It’s been going on since after the second kingdom rose and no one is sure why or how it happens, only that it is a chance for the separate Kingdoms to grow their own access to more Primordial Energy in all its forms. The Eldari want to control it for their own kind as do the Allied Kingdoms for ourselves. Although there appears to be more infighting between the factions of the Allied Kingdoms even though we’re all technically part of the same coalition.”

“Finn…”

“This trial is really a battle between the Allied Kingdoms and the Eldari to see who will control access to the new Kingdom.” Finn said, ignoring Ava.

“And if a Kingdom controls the new Primordial Energy source sprouting , they also expand their access to the limited amount of Primordial Energy, increasing their own power.” Adam continued, linking the pieces. It was kind of like oil on his planet. Countless wars fought over controlling the substance that seemed to make the world turn. “I still don’t understand why a Kingdom wouldn’t just send their strongest people through if it was that important?”

“Because the new kingdom doesn’t have enough ambient Primordial Energy to sustain them yet. The source is like a newborn, so to speak. Those who require more Primordial Energy would just end up in a comatose state struggling to survive while their bodies greedily soaked up all the Primordial Energy available. This world can barely sustain knights at this point. That’s why there’s only four of us from each Faction. ” Caius said. “While there’s only three known Kingdoms, there’s many factions across each. With one Kingdom solely in Eldari control, one in our control, and one in conflict.”

“So why wouldn’t a Faction just send more people Adam asked. “Even if it was just a bunch of knights. If Primordial Energy really is that precious and the single most valuable resource, I would think that a Faction would try and steal the spots for themselves.”

“Because Primordial Energy is far too complicated for even the most brilliant minds of the cosmos to understand.” Finn said. “Not to mention the insane expenditure of Primordial Energy to open one of these portals. A single Faction could never afford to open more than one.”

“We just happen to be from the Faction of Allaris on the Kingdom of Olym which was founded by Caius’s great grandfather, the first King of our Faction. We’re from a Allied Kingdoms controlled planet, thankfully.”

“Who founded it over ten thousand years ago… and he’s your great grandfather?” Adam asked. The realization that they were only three generations removed from the man despite the ten millennium that had passed. It also wasn’t lost on him that Finn had mentioned that his planet was. “How long do people live on your world?”

“Depends on the tier. Life span gets longer with each tier as your body is able to hold more Primordial Energy. Common people only live seventy to one hundred years with each tier increasing your life span by about double.” Finn said.

Adam sat with his mouth agape at the news. If what they said was true, all he needed to do was fill his remaining skill slots and his life span would be longer than one hundred and sixty years. He was essentially a child in the grand scheme of things.

“Allaris is also the most powerful Faction on our Kingdom which is one of the main reasons we’re here and not some others. I have no doubt there are some individuals from other factions that are more talented than Finn or me that would have been more appropriate for this trial along with Caius and Ellis, but that’s not how politics work.” Ava said.

It was a lot of information at one time with obviously a lot of underlying social interplay between Factions and Kingdoms that Adam didn’t understand, but he could imagine just based off the politics of his own world. “Then what exactly is the point of this trial? I mean how do you win. If you’re not only facing the Eldari, which I assume we’ll have to eliminate completely, but other Allied Kingdoms. Is there some sort of end goal?”

Caius tensed slightly, looking at the other two who stared into the fire. “We’re not exactly sure.” He said after a few moments. “The records of the previous three trials are scattered and inconclusive. The only thing historians agree on is that each one has been different. You are correct that we will most likely have to eliminate all the Eldari, and potentially others that should be allies based on the orders their elders have given them.”

“Which is why it’s such a big deal that you took the place of Ellis. This isn’t a large-scale battlefield where one individual doesn’t mean much. It’s combat where skill level and teamwork are paramount down to every individual. One person not pulling their weight means death.” Ava interjected. “Ellis was just as skilled of a frontliner as any dwarf. And now were stuck with not only a clueless human, but one that doesn’t even have a useful defensive skill.”

“Ava.” Caius said. “You know you can’t blame Adam for being here. I doubt he wanted this any more than we did.”

“No, Caius.” Ava said, rising to her feet. “I’m not being rude or unreasonable here. We’re already in the most dangerous position possible and now our situation has only been made worse. We need answers. Maybe one of the other Allied Kingdoms or other factions of our Kingdom had something to do with this. Maybe it was an accident. But we need to know one way or the other.”

Adam nodded, wanting answers himself. He let out a deep breath and calmed himself. “Look,” he said, facing Ava directly. “I don’t know why or how I got here. That’s the honest truth. But the fact is, I am here, and there’s nothing we can do about that now. Maybe we’ll get answers and maybe we won’t, but I’ll fight as hard as any of you to get back home. I’ve been in wars, seen battle and death. I’d wager more than all of you combined, and that hasn’t stopped me yet. I won’t let this stop me either.” Adam stopped, realizing he had said a little more than he wanted as he got carried away in the moment. A stiff silence followed.

“Hell yeah, brother.” Finn said a few moments later, breaking the tension. Caius smiled and shook his head lightly and Ava seemed placated for the moment.

“There’s still something I don’t understand.” Adam said. “Why would you want to come on this trial if it was so dangerous? What’s the incentive?”

Caius looked down at the fire, lips pulled tight. Finn answered instead. “The short answer is power. These trials have historically provided astronomical opportunities. The reward is so great that the risk is worth it. What those opportunities are is hard to say while here. If we come home victorious, integrating an entire new Kingdom under the influence of our own, that would be more than worth it alone. We would be showered with riches, our families set up for generations to come.” He glanced at Caius as he spoke, as did Ava.

Adam nodded, not pressing the issue as Caius had visibly tensed. He was sure there was more to the story there. With at least a base knowledge now, he was more curious about the skill slots they were speaking of. Because who wouldn’t want crazy magical abilities that used Primordial Energy as the fuel to run it.

“Can you tell me more about these skill slots. As Ava so eloquently put it, I’m as good as useless despite my intentions. And if I want to be any help, seems like I’m going to need some of these skills.” Adam said.

“In general, each person has access to six skill slots that grant abilities. Two arm skills, two leg skills, a body skill, and a domain skill. These skill slots are granted by small crystals formed of Primordial Energy like the one we found earlier in the Eldari’s body.” Caius said, clearly relaxing in the shift in conversation. “These skills can range anywhere between summoning a weapon or armor to calling down fire from the sky, to healing or construction. The possibilities are endless.”

“You found a skill crystal?” Ava asked. Genuine excitement clear from her for the first time.

Caius nodded. “And we also killed an Eldari. Well Adam essentially killed it I just helped a little at the very end.”

“Truly auspicious.” Finn whispered.

“What does your soul skill do?” Ava asked.

It seemed the conversation had shifted rapidly again away from what Adam was truly curious about, but he was happy to go along. They had answered all of his questions, it was only right he returned the favor. “I don’t remember really… I only got to look at it for a few seconds before waking up here.”

“Just imagine you want to view your skills. A brief description will pop up before you for a small cost of Primordial Energy.” Finn supplied.

Adam took a slow breath and did as instructed. He was surprised by how intuitive it was. All it took was for him to think of skills just as Finn had directed and a list popped up in front of him. He nearly fell back in shock.

Skills:

Soul Skill: [Essence of a Primordial] Blessed by providence, or perhaps luck, you are the first of a new generation. Regardless of circumstance, you have formed a pure connection to the Primordial Energy that makes up the universe. Your pure access to energy ensures that it cannot be affected by those around you.

Arm: -

Arm: -

Body: -

Leg: -

Leg: -

Domain: -

Primordial Energy 99/100

Adam studied the text in front of him with wide eyes.

“Quick learner.” Caius noted. “What does it say?”

Adam told them, unsure whether it was a good skill or not. It seemed rather underwhelming to him, pretty much just indicating that he had access to Primordial Energy.

“Remarkable.” Finn said. “The implications. Does his use of Primordial Energy effect ours? Are we drawing from the same pool or can he access types of Primordial Energy that we can’t? I mean who knows what it means. If I could just have a few months of your time to run some test.”

“Seems pointless to me. Doesn’t make him stronger or supply any useful abilities… Seems like it just told him he can now access Primordial Energy. I got all worked up for nothing.” Ava said, mimicking Adam’s own thoughts.

“I’m sure there’s more than meets the eye.” Caius said. “How about we try and…”

Loud bangs echoed through the stone barn and the ground beneath them began to shake. A growl like grating rock emanated from the entrance to the barn. Adam turned to see what looked like a volcanic stone golem squeezing its way through the entrance to the barn. Its body circular with three stocky stone legs and four arms. It filled the eight-foot doorway, leaving just a few inches on each side as it peered in. Its chest was a churning vortex of onyx stone.

“Eldari?” Adam asked.

“No.” Ava said shooting to her feet along with the others. “That’s a Stone Sentry. We’re in deep shit.”