I am a line drawn through infinity.

I am a string stretched across all of existence.

A string that's about to snap...

A resounding Ring shakes me to the core of my Soul. An instant later - and I am once again myself.

But instead of the expected stone of the Star Tower of Deytran under my feet, there's some kind of muck. Slush, which causes my feet to slip, and I tumble headlong down a very steep slope. The clear starry night sky seems to laugh at me, instantly replaced by solid ground. If not for my Steel rank, I would've broken my neck right then and there.

The slope I'm rolling down is no less than fifty degrees steep and filled with rocks, as well as mud and gravel. On the fifth somersault, I manage to catch my balance, and from there, I slide on my back, legs stretched out in front of me. Eyes wide open, I try to make out what awaits me ahead in the night's darkness.

That was a mistake. Metallic particles instantly fill my eyes, and I taste rust on my lips. I instinctively press my palm to my chest and feel my chainmail disintegrate into dust.

Damn it!

My eyes are packed with rust. My feet hit something solid, and I am thrown almost two meters up. A somersault, with my spear serving as a balance, as well as my gymnast skills, allows me to land on my feet even while temporarily blinded. Like ice skating, I continue to slide forward, but now on my feet.

A new blow from the darkness first meets my forward-thrust spear. It allows me to react, and I take the rocky outcrop on my shoulder. The multilayered gambeson softens the blow, keeping my bones intact. I can't say the same for the spear. The distinct sound of shattered crystal tells me the Dark Obsidian tip, made from the heart of the Nend king, is broken. However, the shaft made from Tal wood is still unbroken and plaintively springs my palms.

But there was also something good in this new blow - it slowed me down. I was no longer sliding but rather sprinting forward and down, rapidly moving my feet. I ran for about ten seconds before slipping again, falling face-first into some stream.

Sliding over cold and wet stones for another ten meters, I finally stopped and, getting on all fours, dipped my face into the water. Only then did I open my bleeding eyes, immediately starting to recite the "Lesser Healing" spell. My entire body ached from numerous bruises, but the bones were intact, and my hands still gripped the travel bags and spear shaft. As my eyes began to discern something, I lifted my head from the water and, snorting loudly, got to the stream's bank.

"Our Gates are renowned for their reliability!" was the first thing I uttered, clearing my mouth of the dirt that had gotten in. "Jinxed it, the bastard!"

"It wasn't us," I heard immediately, just a step away from me.

Lifting my head, despite the rings before my eyes, I made out a familiar, albeit blurry, figure.

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"As if I could believe that!" I snapped, pretending to be indifferent about the quester standing beside me, although in reality, I was quite shaken.

"Nevertheless, it's true," a deep voice resonated above me. "We generally don't interfere."

"Sure," I muttered, pulling magic scrolls from my soaked bag and spreading them on the nearest rock. "I believe you, with all my heart..." I couldn't resist adding, "That was sarcasm, by the way."

"And yet, it's true," the quester's voice remained typically calm and indifferent. "We create conditions; we don't influence processes directly."

"And that's precisely why the Tries Portal, which worked flawlessly for a year, suddenly malfunctions and tosses me out here..." I looked around, estimating the height of the mountains looming above me, recognizing constellations from the Last Cycle, and continued, "Somewhere on the western slope of the Great Ridge, Obeorn's load of miles away from my desired destination, Deytran! And guess who I find here?" I spread my arms, emphasizing my words with the gesture.

"We're here for another reason," the quester seemed utterly indifferent to everything I was saying.

"Another reason?"

"Don't you want a reward?" Is he laughing? I thought they couldn't! Or was it just my imagination, still reeling from the dizzying fall off the nearly vertical slope?

"A reward? From you? For what?"

"You've earned a motto. Our task is complete. But if you don't want the reward, we'll leave."

"Wait!" I shouted louder than I intended. "I want the reward." The last thing I needed was for him to truly vanish, leaving me empty-handed.

"Very well."

With a wave of his glowing, translucent hand over my head, a new Mithril Entry runs through my Core: "Power of the Word!"

"You are the first of your kin to assume a Motto. Words that will define the Path, for you and your kin." This is how I understood this entry. As a reward, I gained the knowledge of three Runes: Movement, See, Victory!

"What does it mean by 'my kind'?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

"It's simple," I nevertheless heard above me, "Ain sees all of you earthlings as a new human race or, put differently, as a single kin."

"It will determine the Path of your kin," I read the entry aloud, then looked up at the quester and said bitterly, "In the past, Nate took the same motto, and he was also the first. It didn't help us much. Sure, we came, we saw, but victory? That didn't quite work out. Not at all, I'd say."

"But are you him?" The quester asked, seemingly with a hint of surprise, and these simple words silenced me.

I thought that after giving the reward, the quester would disappear, but he's still standing nearby, and I decided to push my luck a bit:

"Where is another reward?"

"For what?"

"For being the first sortudo to reach the Steel rank!"

"First?" He's definitely mocking me! "In this case, it's not you."

"So, which rank am I?" This news hits me like a blow to the back of the head. Did someone manage to surpass me?! How?!!

"Obviously, higher than thirteenth," he says, words that send a chill down my spine.

"Obviously," I reply, my voice dry.

"Little Raven, are you ready to accept a new task?" He breaks the short silence with a new question.

"Is it a general or personal one?" I ask, just to be sure.

"Personal," he replies.

"Ready!" I instantly agree.

"Assemble the runic Word of Life."

"Not the Rune of Life, but the Word?"

"That's right, the Word. You have a month."

"And the reward, I assume, is already mentioned in the task?" I can't resist the sarcastic remark.

"Among other things," the quester's calm irritates me less this time - it even feels habitual now, unlike when I think he's jesting.

"How about answering some of my questions?" As Dice once said, "Boldness is a second fortune," so I decide to put that saying to the test.

"I don't think you want to stay here to hear the answers." With those words, the quester vanishes.

As soon as his silhouette melts into the night, I notice that he had been blocking the Border Stone of Sidhe's Hidden Forest. Instinctively, I grab all my belongings, shove them into my bags, and swearing under my breath, I dart away. I slip on the wet stones but get up immediately to run as fast as I can, wanting to get as far away from the Border as possible!