Raiden led them upstairs. The steps were carpeted and the walls were covered with portraits of battles. The paintings were something like magical GIFs, showing slowed down snippets of fighting. In one painting, a bolt of lightning would flash, revealing a frightening monster in a cave. In another, a figure in crackling, glowing armor sliced through the darkness with a sword, leaving a zigzagging trail of light.

Edgar glanced from the paintings to the tall form of Raiden ahead, knowing these were probably real events, maybe even artwork interpreted from his memories. At the top of the stairs, Edgar noticed Raiden’s gaze divert to a dark nook off to one side. It was so brief, he almost didn’t notice.

Mirai didn’t notice. She was staring at her feet with a calculating look on her face, lost in her thoughts. When they reached the top of the stairs, Edgar paused there to look to his right. A single black frame sat there. As he looked, the fiery outline of wings appeared, unfolding in the darkness.

There were more nooks like this along the hallway. Raiden didn’t pause at them all, but from the man’s subtle reactions, Edgar had a feeling these were memorials. They showed warriors with powerful skills and had a sort of nostalgia to them.

Raiden led them to a room at the end of the hall. "This room should be plenty for you two to split.”

“There’s only one bed?!” She exclaimed, indignant.

Edgar peeked into the room. “I’ll sleep on the couch, it’s fine.”

“That’s the spirit.” Raiden smiled at them, bustling them into the room. “Now look, I’ve got to get back to work. The inn is full again tonight. You’re lucky I had a spare room. The heater is broken, and it gets cold at night so I can’t rent it out.”

“Wait… what about-”

Raiden waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it, just layer up on blankets. There are plenty. Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the tavern, we’ve got a full house tonight. Come see me in the morning.”

He turned a hard glance at Mirai. "Both of you.”

Mirai groaned, rolling her eyes.

“It’s for your own good, Black Mountain is deeply unstable and we haven’t even sussed out its max level. There was a level eight rift break just last month. Speaking of which, the guilds were supposed to send a mason and a key...”

“A mason and a key?” Edgar asked, but Mirai bustled past him.

“Enough questions already, get a move on, Uncle Ray!”

She tried pushing Raiden out of the room, but she had nowhere near enough strength to move her uncle. He smiled at her as she struggled, which of course just frustrated her more.

“Goodnight! Nice meeting you, Edgar. No funny business with my Niece, I’ll know!” Then he was gone.

Edgar flinched. "Will he really watch us in our sleep?”

Mirai stomped away towards the bathroom. "Probably! Ugh, don’t come in here!”

She slammed the door to the bathroom and he heard the sound of running water inside.

He sighed, laying down on the couch and palming his face.

He heard the door of the bathroom creak open. "Uh… thanks… For saving me today. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you fight the Prince.”

Edgar glanced over at the door of the bathroom where one of Mirai’s eyes was peeking through the crack in the door.

“It’s ok. I’m just glad it worked out. I’m lucky I played so many video games in my old life.”

“Is that some sort of training?”

“You could say that, I guess.”

The bathroom door closed and Edgar wiped tiredly at his eyes.

“Oh hey, I forgot. I was thinking we should split the loot.”

The bathroom door cracked open again. "We can split whatever the imps dropped. I have a bit of it too. Just leave half of whatever you have on the bed and I’ll do the same by the couch.”

“Sure, what about the Prince?”

Mirai was quiet for a moment. "Keep it.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Keep it.”

The bathroom door closed again. Edgar glanced at his inventory, tossing three [Pile of Ash] and three [Weak Healing Potion] onto the bed—keeping three and two of each item for himself, respectively. Of the remaining fifty-six copper, he split off twenty eight and tossed this onto the bed too. The [Essence of Darkness] and ten iron coins he kept for himself.

He withdrew the [Essence of Darkness], just to look at it. It was like a small orb of blown glass, with black and purple energy undulating at its center. He stared at it for a long moment, turning it over in his hands. It was fascinating and clearly magical.

He could feel something inside him resonating with the orb and he closed his eyes, focusing on that part of himself. As he lay there looking inwards, his body sank into the couch and he slipped into a deep sleep.

***

When the morning sun drifted through the windows, Edgar rubbed his eyes and sat up. He found himself covered in three blankets, which as he removed them, he realized the room had become quite cold overnight and he clutched the blankets close to his chest. He heard a clunk as his [Essence of Darkness] dropped to the floor, but he retrieved it and stowed it away in his inventory.

Mirai lay fast asleep on the bed, also underneath a thick stack of blankets. Feeling grimy, Edgar walked over to the bathroom and fiddled with the shower for a moment, before he figured out the magical controls controlling the heat and flow of water. By the time he toweled off, Mirai was awake as well.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Morning, Mirai.”

She gave him a skeptical look. "Just cause you saved my life, doesn’t mean we’re a party. I don’t want to team up with just anybody. I don’t even know you.”

Edgar raised his hands. "Nobody said we’re a party. We’re just sharing a room so neither of us is alone. Raiden’s rules.”

She shook her head. "Right, Raiden’s rules. There’s always somebody pushing their rules on me. Let’s get some breakfast and get out of here.”

He glanced at her. "You know—Raiden’s rules or not—I wouldn’t mind having somebody who could show me the ropes a bit more. You clearly know a fair bit about how things work. Especially compared to me.”

She frowned. "The whole point in running away was to prove I can make it on my own. How can I do that if I’m dragging you along behind me?”

Edgar blinked. "You ran away?”

Mirai palmed her face. "Look, I don’t owe you my life story just because you saved me one lousy time. Let’s just get some breakfast. I’ll think about it.”

She turned away and stomped out the door. Edgar followed a healthy distance behind. As they came down the stairs, they found Raiden sitting at a booth along the wall and he waved them over. He was wearing a bright yellow shirt.

As they sat in the booth, Raiden wished them good morning and fiddled with a purple ring on his finger, producing a shirt.

Item: [Humble Shirt]

* A shirt made from scraps of cloth. It will definitely make you less naked. Bring your own pants.

* Durability: 100%

* Level Requirements: None

“A merchant passed through town this morning—finally—so I picked this up for you.”

Edgar picked up the shirt gratefully, tapping the menu to equip it. The feeling of fabric against his skin was refreshingly normal and he felt a little bit more settled with the clothes on.

He smiled at Raiden. "It’s great to have proper clothes again. What do I owe you for it?”

Raiden shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, you helped Mirai. You putting it on is enough payment for me.”

Mirai looked curious. “If we’re two hops from the edge of the Network, then the Coin should have merchants coming through every eight days. That’s what they’ve committed to, as far as I know.”

“Your Jacqueline is showing.” Raiden smiled as he ribbed her, but the smile faded. “It’s been at least thirty, and the stretch before that was even longer.”

Mirai looked shocked. “No way! I knew they were struggling to recruit—I mean, all the guilds are struggling to recruit—but, thirty days? Please tell me you’re not running low on food or water.”

“Thankfully, we can find pretty much everything we need to get by here on Black Mountain. Some of the other worlds near the edge aren’t so lucky. A lot of adventurers are taking breaks or working closer to Central until the Guilds catch up on their recruiting.”

Mirai shook her head, frowning as she tapped her fingernails impatiently on the table, clearly distraught by this news.

“Pharaoh must not be happy about that…” She muttered, then gestured at Edgar with a fork. “Did they mention it to you, by any chance?”

“Nope, not a word.”

As the conversation wound down, Raiden gently set down his silverware and let the staff clear their plates. Once the table was cleared, he looked at them both, carefully considering his words.

“Have you thought about what you want to do? Where you want to go from here?”

Mirai and Edgar glanced at each other.

Edgar nodded, turning towards Mirai. “Well, I don’t know much, which I think has become painfully obvious. I need to learn how things work, generally speaking. Skills, abilities, levels, essences—I really don’t get how any of that stuff works.”

“That’s pretty normal at level one.” Raiden leaned back in his seat. “I could help you. I’ve helped more than a few people with their leveling over the years.”

He turned to Mirai. “How about you, Mir?”

She clenched her fists. “I’m tired of doing what everybody tells me I should do! I want to help my dad—”

Mirai hesitated, glancing at Edgar. There was pain in her eyes as she looked away.

“Gah! People are always telling me what to do, what not to do, where to be, who to be with—it’s too much! I’m going crazy! You better not rat me out!”

Edgar pretended not to notice the subtle change in topic. He could tell she was being truthful, but there was something more under the surface.

Raiden sighed. "I told your father this would happen. I won’t tell you to go back and I haven’t sent a messenger to him yet. What he ultimately wants is for you to be safe, Mir.”

His look hardened. "Although, ironically, the best way to guarantee your safety is the same way you guarantee your freedom—by leveling up.”

“And for you, Edgar. The best shot you have at finding your missing friend is getting stronger. If she’s with one of the other Great Ones, that means she’s in another Empire and only high level adventurers are allowed to travel between Empires. Granted, it will be a while until you advance that much, but there’s also the Primes.”

Mirai nodded. "Oh, that’s true.”

Edgar glanced from Raiden to Mirai. "What are the Primes?”

Mirai answered. "It’s a competition that the Empires put on together every three years. Absolutely everyone watches, so if you do well there, wherever your friend is, she’ll probably hear about it.”

Edgar nodded. "Ok, that makes sense, but, like I said, I’ll need to master the basics before we jump straight to the Olympics of kicking ass.”

Mirai and Raiden shook their heads again, glancing at each other.

“Sorry, what’d I say this time?”

“Something about the Olympics? But, we get the gist… I think.”

“You really are from another world, huh?” Mirai gazed at him curiously.

“Yup! As previously established.”

Raiden glanced between the two of them. "The point I’m trying to make is that you two have the same goal. You both need to level up! Your reasons are very different, sure, but the goal is exactly the same.”

They looked at each other for a long moment.

“I’m not saying you should start a family, or anything significant, just… keep working together for now… Although, it does look like Pharaoh gave Edgar a family name.”

“I noticed that too.” Mirai huffed.

Edgar blushed. “What are you talking about, start a family? Of course I have a last name, doesn’t everybody? I think I’m missing something.”

“Ugh, Do I have to?” Mirai asked. “He’s so weird.”

“Do people have feelings in this world? I’m starting to think that’s a foreign concept too.”

Raiden smiled. Suddenly, the doors to the tavern burst open and a lizardman stepped through.

“Oi, any adventurers lurking around here? We got a rift break somewhere up the road.”

~~~~~~~~~~

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