The aperture for the water was very narrow, about the size of a Shab. That was an iron-rank one, not a bronze-rank one. There was a green rock rushing past, and then I had a flash of a wider space with a watchman or observation area, and then I was spat out into the air. The waterfall was quite high. I had a glimpse of a village, a mining operation and a small lake as I tumbled through the air.

Fortunately, I splashed down into the lake. The lake wasn't very deep, and Ardisia’s vines hit the bottom before I righted myself. She retracted her vines, and I swam for the surface. When I surfaced, I looked around. Some kids were on the shore staring at me. There was a man in a uniform running towards us. He looked like a guard or something. I extended my aura senses, and he was not iron rank yet. He had one essence, probably.

This looked like a typical village. The kids had been swimming, probably collecting water quintessence for pocket change. I started swimming toward them as the guard arrived.

“Are you alright there, stranger?” the guard yelled.

I nodded, “Yep, be with you in a minute.”

It wasn’t long before I got to where I could put my feet down and stand. The guard waded in to help me. I got to shore and sat for a bit on the beach to rest. The kids crowded around, and a couple of Kais darted out. Bat Kai flew up into a nearby tree.

“Are those your rats, mister?” asked one of the kids.

“Yes, this is Kai,” I said as one Kai came out of my hand.

“Ooh, I don’t like rats,” one of the kids said, backing off, but the others crowded around. From what I could tell, they were all human.

“Welcome to the mining village,” the guard said. “I am Hiram, and we need to do a few checks on strangers, if you don’t mind. We have had a bit of trouble with a blood cult down the road, and the mayor wants to know who is coming into the village.”

“Right, of course. I am Theo.” I fished out my Adventure Society badge for ID and passed it over. Hiram looked at it and then handed it back.

“Bronze rank adventurer, that’s good,” he said. “Are you on your own, Theo?”

“I am, yes.”

“And you came out of the Astral Space?”

“I did, yes. It was the first exit I could find.” I got to my feet.

“You are looking a bit worn there. There is an Inn in town if you want to rest up a bit,” Hiram said.

“I think I would like that, yes. This is Greenstone Territory, right?”

“It is. You didn’t pick that up from the green stone we are mining?”

“It is good to confirm.”

“Are there monsters coming, mister?” asked one of the kids.

“No, there shouldn’t be.”

That got a lot of disappointed faces from the kids. “Oooooh”

I sent a questioning look to Hiram.

“A month or two back, we had some Shabs come out, and Jason, who was with some adventurers, paid the kids to warn everybody,” he explained.

“Oh, I see. Well, having reliable people to watch for monsters and warn everybody is good. You will make good adventurers one day. Who was the first to see me?” A hand shot up. “That's good. Did you warn everybody?”

“I yelled,” she replied.

“I did hear that,” Hiram said with a chuckle.

“Well done,” I tossed her a small coin, and she got some envious looks from the other kids. “You all keep up the good work.”

“That was kind of you,” Hiram said as he escorted me to the village.

“No problem. Did the adventurers deal with the Shabs?”

“Jason and I did, actually. He had a looting power and gave me a water essence from the shab I killed.”

“That is interesting. I didn’t get the water sense in your aura, though?” I questioned.

“No, I am saving it for my granddaughter. I only have the might essence,” Hiram replied.

“That is good of you. My father gave me my first essence as well. It can give us a good start.”

“Where are you from, Theo?”

“A small logging village a long way away. Near Stillwater. If you know where that is?”

Hiram laughed, “I don’t, no.”

“I need to get to an Adventure Society with a water chamber for communications. Where would the nearest be?”

“That would be Greenstone,” he replied.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“And the nearest Temple of Death?”

Hiram gave me a funny look, “That would also be Greenstone.”

“I guess that is where I am headed then. I will stay a night, though. A bed sounds great.” We walked in silence for a while, and I looked at the desert outside of the town, the oasis that the water from the astral space created, the green stone that made up the mountain and the quarrying that was happening. “It is a beautiful spot here.”

“It is,” Hiram said

“You mine the green stone?”

“It is one of the main exports from the area. It is why we are called Greenstone.”

“What are the stone's properties?”

“It is a type of marble. Very hard. It also has properties that make it more resistant against water.”

“Do you get awakening stones from it?” I asked.

“Occasionally. I have one stored away for my granddaughter when she gets the water essence,” Hiram replied.

“You wouldn’t be willing to sell it, would you? I would be interested in one.”

“I wouldn’t be interested, no. Are you not bronze rank? You have all your essences filled.”

“I am bronze. This is for someone else. Would you be interested in exchanging the stone for another essence for your granddaughter?”

“You want to exchange an essence for an awakening stone,” he said disbelievingly.

“It is only a common essence. It is a Sand Essence. The academy I went to said you should always do the essences first and awakening stones second.”

“I just want to clarify that you do want to exchange an essence for an awakening stone. The awakening stone opens a skill, but an essence empowers an attribute and gives a skill. You know the awakening stone is only uncommon. Even the most common essence is worth much more.”

“The awakening stone is more important to me. My familiar needs it.” I said.

We arrived at the inn, and Hiram turned to face me. “If you want to do this, I will bring the stone around this evening.”

“It sounds good to me.” We shook hands, “I will see you tonight then.” I knew if I took the essence to Greenstone, I could sell it and then buy awakening stones, but I had a lot of material in my storage, including the ant eggs and chitin etc, so I was confident I had plenty of resources. Hiram’s attitude reminded me a lot of my dad, and I was happy to help him. The uncommon stone seemed to be a lot better than the generic stone armour Kai had before, so I thought this was a fine deal to make.

I went in and sorted a room for the night. I went in and raised my arch, and spent some time in meditation. This was really the first time I really felt like I was safe since I had been taken. I relaxed and let the last few weeks' events settle and the skills consolidated. Some time turned into a lot of time in meditation and I pottered around my garden.

Almost every skill went up except my Tranquil Garden. Hunters Step and Blend went up twice. The early levels were always the easiest, and the growth slowed down from midway up. It had been a very stressful time, and I'll take a while to decompress. I want to get to a temple. That is my first aim.

I went down to the common room for dinner. The only other guests were two junior priests of Purity. I only knew about Purity from the academy's Introduction to the Gods lectures, but they were stand-offish and didn’t want to talk shop.

The landlady Martha was nice. She said that the church of Purity had taken charge of the cultist property in the desert, and that was where the priests were heading. That seemed strange to me, but it wasn’t my business. Apparently, it was a big thing here as the cultists turned out to be a local aristocratic family. They had been here for generations.

“Jason taught me that these spices worked together,” Martha said. “I hope you like them.”

“They certainly smell nice,” I said, “Who is Jason?”

“The adventurers that dealt with the cult rescued him, or he rescued them, or something. Lovely man, but a bit odd.”

“Was he a chef or something?” I asked.

“He certainly knew how to cook, but he didn’t know any of our ingredients, so he was from a faraway place. Meldurn or something, he said. He went with the adventurers to Greenstone. You might see him there. Say hi from me if you do.”

“Sure. How will I recognise him?”

“Well, he was a human, and if you met him, it would be your strangest experience yet, so you will know. The adventurers he was with were all bronze rank. A huge Leonid, bigger than you, and a really dark-skinned human with no hair. I can’t remember their names, though.”

“Wait, was there a smallish, red-haired human girl with them?”

“Yeah, that’s right. She was quite the fiery character. I only remember Jason's name, though.”

“Farrah was her name if I am right. Gary was the Leonid, and Rufus was the bald man,” I said, getting excited to see them again. It was bald Rufus who stood out. If they are still in Greenstone, that would be fantastic. It sounds like they haven’t changed; they are still rescuing lost strangers. Maybe I should recommend they join the Church of the Lost and Outcast.

“That sounds about right,” said Martha as she moved on.

This was awesome. I hope they are still around. It has been almost three years since they rescued me. I wonder if they will remember me. I am now bronze, and Martha said they were still bronze, so they must be nearing Silver.

Hiram arrived after dinner and put a green awakening stone on the table in front of me. “That's the stone, Theo. Are you still keen?”

I pulled out the sand essence and placed it on the table. “Can I test the stone?”

“Sure.”

I let Kai onto the table. Hiram was fine, as he had seen Kai before, but the purity priests objected.

“Get that dirty creature off the table,” he said angrily.

“No. It is my familiar.” I said. I could tell they were both only iron rank. I actually outranked them in the religious hierarchy as well, but they didn’t want to talk to me, so they never found that out.

“It is a filthy creature, not a proper familiar. I am complaining to the landlady. She will never see another church member here. It is a filthy place.” They marched off.

I hope I haven’t spoiled things for Martha, but familiars and bonds are usually welcome everywhere.

I turned my attention to Kai. He was really keen on the stone, and I had to stop him eating it right away.

“It looks like Kai likes it. I am good if you are,” I told him.

Hiram reached over and took the essence. “Done then,” he said. “Water and Sand, my granddaughter can build me a beach to sit on.”

“You already have a beautiful one out there,” I said.

“True,” he replied. “Can I watch?”

“Sure, although there is usually not much to see.” I let Kai go, and he grabbed the stone and swallowed it whole. He stayed motionless for a minute and then started shivering, although he wasn’t cold. Then, dark green scales started to replace his fur until he was fully covered. He even had minute scales on his face. I touched them, and they felt like polished marble. It looked far superior to the chunky stone he had before. As an extra bonus, it is resistant to water attacks. Fantastic.

“Well, that is not something you see every day,” Hiram said. “Thank you, Theo. May the gods guide your future.”

“And may my goddess grant you peace.”