Minutes later.

Seven Hours since arrival.

The Lord of Tidewarren certainly was not what I would have expected or what I envisioned. He carried himself more like the stereotype of a genteel farmer than the self-entitled noble that I had expected when I first woke up and Marlie had begun her ritual script. He even kept his pace a slow lope so that I did not have to struggle to keep pace with him. It was something that had to be purposeful because I was, after all, in a version of my body I had inhabited when I was fourteen - or perhaps as it would have been when I was fourteen if I was born in this world.

Nothing passed between us as we walked, and he was silent and smiling down at the town and the countryside which could be seen from the hill the chapel sat upon. He led us towards a loping footbridge that led over a river that bisected the town and I had not noticed in my earlier travels, and then he leaned against its railing, his body language implying he wanted me to stand nearby.

So I did. Nothing he was doing was directly grating my emotions and while I was mad at the situation, I couldn’t do anything about it yet. I had to get a strong monster if I wanted to survive out in the wilderness and escape this feudal trap I seemed to be in. As much as I liked knights and samurai in fiction, this was not that. I had not been recruited of my free will, but the circumstances that brought me here.

“Why the isolated setting, Lord Darville of Tidewarren?” I questioned as soon as I came to a stop nearby, leaning against the rail myself - though that meant I could barely see over.

He chuckled for a moment, as if what I said was a very funny joke.

“Because I don’t like to let it be known when I plan to break the religious laws that hold this kingdom and world together, young Mr. Calhoun. The words that Marlie was telling you have less to do with any political need on my part, so much as they do with religious dogma. How much did you read up about the Church of Octahedron at your interface?”

He knew I had an interface - which made me wonder. Does everyone have one? Did he just guess I had one? I fidgeted and almost felt accused of something. However, I squashed the fiery emotion that was trying to smolder and decided to stick to real talk and realpolitik. Allowing emotions to dictate everything is how I had taken my first damage in this world and just as I couldn’t return home without finding my family - I couldn’t risk dying either, for all I knew it’d send me to another world connected to this in a loop of portals in the style of that show Sliders, created by dying and reincarnation until I got back to Earth.

“Only the basic blurb. The battle began before I could read much more. How did you know I have an interface?”

“Everyone has an interface.”

I gave a nod, and he continued with whatever he had planned to explain as an answer to my question.

“Firstly, I will cut the cloak and dagger stuff out right now. It is not a good way to start an association with someone that you hope to become strong. I’m an outworlder too, though unlike you, I ended up in the world at the age of four. So I know plenty about the world, Wade. That doesn’t automatically mean we’ll understand each other - there are other worlds that end up having their people end up here. Despite that, I feel like we’ll probably understand each other.”

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He was silent, watching birds and bird monsters fly in the distance for a few seconds as he gathered whatever he wanted to say.

“You’ve probably already got the assumption that The Church of the Octahedron is a major religion here, and that's true. However, it’s not the only one by a long shot, and the thing is religions aren’t like they are on Earth. Here, a sort of polytheistic, multi-polar religion scene exists and many people are firm adherents of one religion but go to the other church in town for specific problems, requests, and prayers. If I was honest, I’d say that the Church of the Octahedron has the amount of pull here that the Catholic Church had in Medieval Europe. If you break their religious dogma and they catch wind of your transgression, they’ll make the Inquisition look like nursemaids.”

He fidgeted with his hands in front of himself as we looked out over the horizon. I did too, though mine had to do with a strong sense of impatience.

“Every four years is a sacred period to them. They call it a Mooncrawl, because there’s a second moon in the orbit of this planet that moves across the horizon once every four years. Over the course of every Mooncrawl, they summon exactly one hundred and fifty-one people into the world through their religious method, and this is through a lottery which assigns every feudal lord and member of the upper nobility a number of Outworlders to adopt and take into their households. Some of them are nice and treat the outworlders like their kids, and actually fully teach them about this world and its limitations. Others use them as servants, experience farms, and shock troops. The number that each regional noble gets varies based on a lottery, and if you don’t use the allotment that you win, the churches can cause problems for you. The Octahedronites claim it has something to do with the magic that makes the world run.”

He actually spat at that. “And I don’t know about you, Wade, but I can tell a heap of manure without having to see the bull it came from. It’s about control of us the same way some lords control those reborn into this world. Fact is, if I had refused you, it wouldn’t have changed a thing. You would’ve gone to the next noble in the line, and I’d then find myself in a succession struggle - because the Church can call us unfit and allow others to challenge us in battle for our fiefdom.”

“So you’re saying I should want to punch Marlie, not you,” I grumbled, feeling angry at the situation in the same way that I was sure he probably also felt.

“No way, kid! Not her, at least! She’s just a cog in the machine and a nice lady beyond that. So no, that isn’t what I was saying. Just explaining the circumstances we are in - so I can explain why I tested you. I didn’t want some spineless brat in my fiefdom, or someone I was going to have to raise up as if I did not have my own kids and family. Any Outworlder I take into my household is going to be a partner and apprentice, not simply a servant.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Those words were more than I could have hoped for when I first arrived here, and the way he said it made me think he was being genuine. It could have been a trick, but I had spent almost an entire half-day being angry about this and worked up. I didn’t question him about his motives.

I just questioned him about the situation.

“So, if you were trying to test me, what were the results?”

“You passed obviously. Do you think healing from clerics is for free around here?” I almost thought I caught him fighting back a laugh, but I couldn’t be sure. I was too focused on myself to notice.

“Then what’s our next step? I was told you were meant to give me a monster partner of my own.”

“I am, but first we have to get through the next test.” He flashed a grin. “How are you at whittling?”