Everything hurt.

Pain radiated from her chest. Blood pooled in the wound even with the bundle of fleece she’d torn from her shirt sleeve and shoved into the wound. Breathing was a sputtering, drowning hell.

They had made camp then and there on the ridge where Cass had rematerialized after her fall. Cass hadn’t been strong enough to move herself another step and Alyx, although uninjured, was just as exhausted from the skills she’d used in the rescue.

Luckily, being badly wounded didn’t affect her Focus or her ability to light a campfire with Elemental Manipulation.

With considerable effort and no shortage of pain, she’d managed to set up a campfire, roast some sweet potatoes for Alyx, and brew herself an herbal tea for her wounds. Between the accelerated healing of campgrounds and the medicinal herbs in her tea, she’d be mobile by morning.

Salos sat in her lap. He hadn’t moved more than a foot from her since she stepped out of the Wind and it didn’t seem like that was going to change anytime soon either.

He was also purring and didn’t seem to notice.

Alyx nibbled on a sweet potato, her eyes fixed on the low fire between them. Quietly, she asked, “Why did you do that earlier?”

Cass looked up from her tea. “What?”

Alyx’s free hand traced the grooves on her sword’s pommel. The firelight reflected gold in her eyes. They didn’t look up from the fire. “You threw yourself in danger for me, again. Why did you try to stop the Epherwing alone?”

“Oh, that.” Cass swirled her tea, watching the loose leaves dance in the dark liquid. “I didn’t think I was going to be grabbed if that makes a difference.”

“Really?”

“Something that big, going that fast shouldn’t be able to turn that tight.” Cass shrugged. “Or, that’s what I thought.”

“You didn’t know it was a high-dexterity monster?”

“I guess I should have guessed as much.” What else could she say? That stats didn’t really make sense to her?

Alyx shook her head.

The fire crackled quietly between them.

“Pretending I believed you,” Alyx said quietly. “Just, hypothetically, how long ago did you arrive in this world?”

Cass leaned back, staring into the dense clouds above. How long had it been now? How much time had she lost in the Deep where there was no day or night? “Probably a little over two weeks? Maybe three now?”

“Three weeks,” Alyx repeated, shaking her head.

“What?”

“And, you didn’t have any skills when you arrived?”

Cass nodded. “None. I got Identify on arrival though.”

“You arrived here, in the Valley?” Alyx asked.

Cass nodded again.

“At what level?”

“One.”

“One?”

Cass nodded.

“How are you even alive?” she muttered. Cass couldn’t help asking the same thing. Alyx stiffened and added, “Not—not that I believe you, mind you.”

“Of course,” Cass sighed.

The two ate their food in silence for another long minute.

“Where are you going next, once you are out of the Valley?” Alyx asked.

“Salos?” Cass asked. She hadn’t the first idea where they should go next.

“Hmm, there are a few options,” Salos answered in Jothi.

“He really does talk,” Alyx muttered under her breath. “That wasn’t just a hallucination from the stress…”

Salos continued like he hadn’t heard her, “But the Scholar’s Spire would be my first suggestion.”

Alyx snorted.

“What?” He sat up in Cass’s lap.

“The Scholar’s Spire?”

His fur bristled. “Yes?”

“The mythical library lost to time an Era ago?” Alyx asked.

“What?” he asked, genuinely confused.

She pursed her lips, “You aren’t serious, are you?”

“If the Scholar’s Spire has been lost, where does the Arcanum Custodia convene?” Salos demanded.

“The Arcanum what?” It was Alyx’s turn to look at him in confusion.

“What,” Salos scoffed. “Who do you think protects Avolaira?”

“Avolaira? The legendary country from the age of Gods?”

Salos fell silent, his eyes narrowing. “Are you messing with me?”

“That should be my question,” Alyx shot back.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The two glared at each other.

“It sounds like we need to get our bearings,” Cass said. “I certainly don’t know where I am and it sounds like things have changed since Salos was last in the area.”

Salos hissed, Don’t tell her that!

Cass shot him a glare, I don’t think you can hide it at this point.

He grumped to himself but settled back into Cass’s lap.

Alyx raised an eyebrow at their silent exchange but continued anyway. “If you need information, I recommend Velillia. It's the largest city in the area. It’ll have anything you need.” She coughed and looked down, “It just so happens that’s my home town and I’ll be headed in that direction too.”

“Velillia?” Salos muttered. I’ve never heard of it.

Cass pinched his ear. Be nice.

He hissed at her but didn’t say anything more.

“I’d like that, thank you,” Cass said to Alyx.

Alyx nodded and shoved another bite of sweet potato in her mouth, her eyes locking onto the fire and not looking up.

I don’t trust any of it, Salos muttered to Cass.

Why?

What is this about legends and lost libraries? How do you lose an entire Spire! A spire controlled by one of the most powerful forces in the region?

You don’t think things could have changed since you’ve been sealed? Cass asked gently.

He was growling quietly on her lap.

Salos? Cass prompted.

You have no idea what you’re suggesting, he said finally. The Custodia are the most powerful people to exist, all at the very highest levels ever reached in our Era. I’m talking 90s, Cass. They are walking natural disasters. They said jump you were already in the air before you could even consider asking how high. They wouldn’t have just misplaced their base.

We don’t know how long you’ve been sealed, Cass reminded him.

They must still exist. Quieter, he muttered, they have to.

Cass ran a hand down his back absently. But why would she lie to us about it?

He grumbled again. Because she’s a liar who can’t be trusted.

His heart wasn’t in the accusation.

Maybe things have changed, 600 years is the minimum you’ve been sealed. A lot can change in that time. In my world, Empires have risen and fallen in less.

She left it unsaid, but it was also possible it had been more than 600 years.

Empires are hardly so fragile here, he informed her. A powerful Emperor can retain power for that long on his own.

His own? Cass raised an eyebrow. One person, 600 years?

Yes? Salos said slowly. Why not?

People don’t live that long where I’m from.

What? Why not? He jolted up to look Cass in the eyes.

Why would they?

Oh, stats. Salos settled back into her lap with a knowing nod. It's an issue of Stats. You said your world does not have them.

Is there a stat that makes you immortal? Cass asked.

Not immortal, no, Salos yawned. But high vitality slows the aging process.

How much slower? Cass’s eyes were wide.

Salos shrugged. Hard to say. It is not exactly ethical to do experiments about it and I am not an expert on the subject. But under 27 you hardly see much more than 150 or so years. Depends on the race to a degree, obviously.

By 99 points of Vit, I would be surprised if natural causes killed you before you were 300. By 300 points you are looking at around 600 give or take a couple hundred to account for lifestyle and general health considerations?

After that, there are significantly fewer data points. There was a king in a previous age who supposedly lived 10,000 years. His Vitality was rumored to have been over 900.

Rulers are usually the peak of their nation’s power. For an Emperor, I would fully expect enough stats to throw a couple hundred or so into Vit. 600 years would hardly be a stretch.

Cass shook her head. This was insane. People shouldn’t live that long. Death wasn’t pretty, but it was a part of life. Old people dying was how progress happened. It limited the accumulation of wealth and power in one person’s hands. A tyrant stacking Vitality could continue their oppression for centuries.

Her Vitality was already at 16. Would she easily make it to 100 now? How high would it get before she got home? If she ever had children, would she outlive them if her Vit crept up any higher?

“How long will I live…” Cass muttered.

Salos’s ears twitched. What was that?

Just thinking about my life expectancy. You’re telling me I could easily live a couple of centuries. I wasn’t expecting that.

He snorted. What? No. None of that applies to you. You are a spirit. You don’t age.

“What!” Cass leapt up, throwing Salos from her lap in her shock.

“Calm down,” Salos ordered, stalking back over to Cass.

What do you mean I don’t age? Cass demanded.

Are you going to sit down again? Salos asked.

Salos! Cass screamed.

He yawned and settled down on a rock beside the fire. Fine, fine. But you are making your friend uncomfortable.

She glanced at Alyx. Her eyes had gone wide but her mouth was firmly shut.

Cass felt her face flush and she dropped back onto her stool. “Er, don’t mind me.”

Slowly, Alyx asked, “Everything okay?”

Cass nodded.

Salos snorted a laugh. “Our slyphid just realized she’s immortal.”

Alyx raised an eyebrow at that. “Immortal? Cass is a Spirit?”

Salos frowned. “Yes, don’t you have Identify? It clearly says she’s a slyphid.”

Alyx shook her head. “I didn’t recognize the race. I’d never heard of slyphids.”

Salos shook his head. “I know they are hardly common, but to have never heard of one?”

“I kind of thought Spirits were myths too,” Alyx said with a shrug. “Specifically, Sentient Spirits.”

He snorted. “Myths? Who do you think lives among the Myriad Realms?”

“Are you telling me that you’re from a Myriad Realm?” The skepticism was back in her voice and eyes.

“What’s a Myriad Realm?” Cass asked quietly.

Salos sighed heavily. “Most Spirits are not native to this world. Rather, they are summoned from one of the many adjacent realms of existence. Those are the Myriad Realms.”

“Is Earth one of those?” Cass asked.

Salos shrugged. “I think that is unlikely.”

“But she’s a spirit and claims to have been summoned,” Alyx interjected.

“I was human,” Cass said. “There weren’t spirits of any kind where I’m from.”

“Hence, why I suspect you aren’t from the Myriad Realms,” Salos said. “Besides, the Custodia had them pretty well mapped out. I’d never heard of one like what you described.”

Alyx shook her head. “Is this all an elaborate joke? Custodia? Avolaira? Spirits? Myriad Realms? These are fairy tales.”