Reappearing back in my living room a moment later, I patted my chest and waist where the gear that the girls had bought me had been sitting only moments before. The leather jerkin and weapon belt were gone, leaving only my sweaty clothes behind.

“Wonder if they are stored for me while I’m gone, like my phone and wallet, or if I just drop them?” I muttered. “The girls can tell me when I return, I guess. They were standing there when I was sent back after all.” Shrugging, since there wasn’t much of anything I could do, I glanced around to try and figure out what it was that I had been working on before the girls had absconded with me.

“Meal prep, that’s what I was doing…” I snapped my fingers and began to walk towards the kitchen. However, the motion made my sweat-sticky clothes peel against my skin and I winced. “Okay, wearing armor is cool but, ew. I didn’t realize how much it was making me sweat. Guess I need a shower first.”

<><><>

I’d just finished with the shower when the edges of my vision flashed a neon yellow once. Not sure what it meant, I closed my eyes and focused on the System interface to see if it was the culprit, given it was normally the one causing flashing lights in my vision.

That’s right. I was going to look at that Enhance Self power too. I reminded myself when my eyes landed on the headings in the interface. The ‘Message’ tab was flashing, so I focused on that and it dropped open a moment later.

Cariad

Hey, Liam! We just got notice that you’d returned from another summoning. Back-to-back summons to your first contract it seems? I was hoping to drop by and check in with you, to make sure you were doing okay. Are you free? My supervisor also wanted to come by and apologize for what happened.

It took a moment to figure out how to input a response. Apparently all I had to do was think ‘respond’ and then it would start entering in my thoughts.

Liam

Sure, I’m just hanging around the apartment doing meal prep for next week. Wasn’t a big trip this time, but we are planning on doing something more major tomorrow. Your supervisor is welcome if he wants to come along. You’ve been nothing but a help to me so far, I’ll make sure he knows that.

Cariad

Thanks! We’ll be there in a few minutes. Mr. Cerebaton also wanted to meet you to get a feel for what kind of person you are. He might be a bit gruff, but he’s nice.

Liam

I trust your judgment, Cari. See you guys soon.

With that taken care of, I quickly got dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt. I’d been dressing like this for awhile, since the kind of work that I did got my clothes especially grubby and tended to leave holes in the shirts. No reason to damage my good shirts when I could get a pack of ten of these for a buck each after all. It’d become a habit now, and the small handful of graphic t-shirts I had were occupying a dusty corner of my closet now.

There came a knock at my door while I was rinsing the rice that I planned to use for meal prep and I quickly dried my hands and went to open the door.

“Hey, come on in.” I said as I pulled it open. Cariad stood right outside in the hallway, without a care in the world that others might see her. She was dressed in the same style of open-necked blouse with a pencil skirt, though this time the skirt was gray and the blouse was a dark blue. She had her leather folio tucked under one arm and her long, strawberry-red hair hung behind her like a perky waterfall that curled at the tips in defiance of its own weight.

“Thank you, Liam.” Cariad said with a broad smile and stepped through into my apartment. The man that followed after her was much taller and I hadn’t noticed him standing behind Cariad at first, since he kind of blended in with the wall until he moved. “Liam, this is my supervisor, Mr. Cerebaton. Mr. Cerebaton, this is Liam Cosgrave.

“Good afternoon to you, Mr. Cosgrave.” The big man rumbled as he ducked down to get through the doorway.

He had black hair cut short in a professional style and was dressed in something that crossed over between the frock coats and noble outfits I’d seen earlier in the day with Kassandra and Rieka, and a business suit. His outfit was in a light faun color that accented his dark green skin well. Bright yellow eyes, only the one pair for Cerebaton it seemed, flashed under deep brows as he inspected me. His eight foot frame barely fit through my apartment door, though not because of his height, it was the extra two or so feet of antlers that rose like a gnarled crown over his head. Cerebaton was also wide enough that he could have easily stood in for the door itself if there came a need for such a thing. Much like Cariad, he wore a set of gloves over his hands, though his were white silk. Besides his face and neck, not a scrap of skin was exposed to the air.

“Afternoon, Mr. Cerebaton. Please, make yourselves comfortable. The couch is a bit lumpy but it does the job well enough. Not sure if the kitchen chairs will stand up to someone of your size.” I gestured to the tiny living room that was off my combination dining room/kitchen and the big man nodded slowly. He was apparently very aware of his antlers, because he kept the motion slow and sidled along to find a seat without poking a hole in the ceiling.

“You mentioned that you were doing something already, don’t let us interrupt you, Liam. We can talk while you do your meal prep. Travelers are busy people after all. May I use your table?” Cariad asked gently, a small smile on her slate-blue face.

“Sure, go ahead. Would either of you like some coffee or something? Juice? I don’t have any tea unfortunately.”

“Juice would be good.” Cerebaton grunted, shifting on the couch to try and get comfortable. The sight of a rather stern-faced green giant in a tan suit was just strange, but not the strangest thing that had happened to me lately. No, that’d be…huh. Not sure if it’d be Cari popping out of nowhere on the side of the highway or getting tackled by an affectionate dwarf lamia…I thought before shrugging and glancing towards Cariad with a raise of my eyebrows.

“Juice is fine for me as well. Though again, don’t waste any nice cups on us as they likely won't survive the encounter.” She bowed her head lightly, making her bright red hair sway before she set her folio down and opening it up.

“I’ll need to invest in some disposable cups then, especially if I get the pleasure of seeing you often. Still not sure what the whole dynamic is going to be with you being my ‘case-worker’ as it is.”

“It depends on your needs actually, Mr. Cosgrave.” Cerebaton inserted himself into the conversation deftly. “Ms. Davies is an employee of the DSR first and foremost. Her duties are fluid though. Travelers are normally assigned a case-worker to monitor them and their interactions with the System, as well as assist with any questions. Though normally a single DSR operative has several Travelers on their workload at a time. Due to your…unique situation, Ms. Davies is currently assigned to you exclusively.” The big man’s voice was a gruff rumble, but he was polite. I could see his yellow eyes dancing about the room, moving from me, to Cariad, to the hallway, back to me.

He’s wary, I wonder if he’s worried about Cariad being here. I mean, if it wasn’t for the whole ‘my touch would corrode your existence’ thing, I’d be concerned about her being around this neighborhood by herself too. Even then, I’d prefer not to risk it. No idea if someone might take a shot at her thinking she’s some kind of hallucination or monster. Enough drug addled idiots out here.

“Before we start that. Did anyone see you guys coming up here? I’d like to think that humanity is an understanding group of people, but I’m pretty sure that’s an outright lie.” I asked, fishing out a bottle of cherry juice from the fridge and filling two of the plastic travel mugs that were also company swag, remembering my conversation with Cariad with a smirk. I should start saving bottles or something too, that might help.

“No, we were unseen arriving. No need to worry about someone from your government coming to knock on your door.” Cariad replied brightly and I noticed Cerebaton’s lips turning down in a slight frown, but I was more focused on the blue-gray skinned woman at my kitchen table as I set the mug of juice down next to her.

“Not what I was worried about, though I’m glad for that part too. I don’t exactly live in the nicest area. I would rather you not have to deal with the worst of humanity if someone on a drug bender happened to see you on the stairs. You are an attractive and well dressed woman, and there are more than just drug addicts that might prey on a woman.” I said gently and Cariad gave me a warm smile in return.

“Thank you for your concern, Liam. I will keep it in mind in the future. Be reassured that I have means to defend myself should something happen. And today I was accompanied by Mr. Cerebaton as well. With him present, nothing would be a real threat.”

“I can imagine.” I laughed before walking the dozen steps to the couch where the big, green man was seated and setting the mug down in front of him. “Thank you for looking after her today. She mentioned that you wanted to apologize for what had happened to me, but it’s not necessary.”

“It is entirely necessary, Mr. Cosgrave.” Cerebaton replied gravely. His expression was quite serious, though I thought I saw approval in his eyes when he glanced towards Cariad and then back to me.

Guess I made a good impression expressing concern for his underling? I wondered silently.

“What happened to you was a disaster and something that the DSR was put into place specifically to prevent from happening. The fact that it happened anyway is nothing short of mortifying. Ms. Davies told me that you had already managed to form contract bonds with two denizens of the world you were sent to though?”

“Yes, a pair of young women who had been performing the summoning ritual. They were hoping for some kind of protective spirit, and asked for my help. That was one of the reasons that I agreed to embrace this whole ‘Traveler’ thing.” I headed back into the kitchen to finish rinsing the rice.

“And the other reasons?”

“Mostly it was for the girls’ benefit, but I can’t deny that the idea of earning magical powers hooked me hard.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“That is fair as well. And good that you have some personal motivation too. Altruism is good, but if you rely on only it to motivate yourself then it is all too easy to fall to resentment.” The big man cautioned, his gruff voice holding a note of approval.

“I wanted to ask you about your current plans too, Liam.” Cariad had finished laying out her paperwork and finally taken a sip of her juice. She hummed happily, licking her lips. “Oh this is good! Anyway, you have a supply of SP at this point. Not a lot, but you do have some. And I did see the flag on your file that the System had opened a new power to you.”

“Do you do this for all new Travelers?” I dug out the defrosted chicken breasts from the fridge then began rinsing and trimming them. I did take a minute to reflect on how odd my life was. I had two extra-dimensional entities in my house and here I was preparing chicken and rice while these two suited creatures talked about magical powers granted by dimension-hopping shopping errands. Daemons, I think Cari called them…

“No. Most Travelers are actually inducted as part of a family legacy or organization on their home planes. Earth was quarantined, as you were told before. So you wouldn’t have a point of reference for most of, if not all of, this. That and we have been seeing a sharp increase in damage to the dimensional membranes from people being yanked off their home planes for varied reasons.” Cerebaton sighed from his spot on the couch, taking a sip from the mug I’d given him delicately so he didn’t spill on his suit. “That is part of why Ms. Davies is assigned to you exclusively, for now. She will monitor and assist you as needed, while taking on smaller tasks on the side when not busy.”

“Good to know. Wasn’t sure if I was getting special treatment because I’m a human or because of the situation.”

“Sort of both, actually.” Cariad said with a nervous glance to her boss, who just nodded for her to continue. “Humans from your universe have been off the valid list of Travelers for a while. The fact the System itself granted you Traveler status without any input from the DSR means that it clearly thinks that the time has come for that to end. So we want to ensure our due diligence to be ready if more human Travelers start popping up. Not something you need to worry about though. It’s our problem to deal with, and not yours.”

“Okay. So I guess I had a question about this new power that popped up. It was called Enhance Self I think?” I paused for a moment to close my eyes and reference the interface once more to be sure. “Yea. That’s the one. It’s talking about stat points and enhancing my body, but I have no idea how all that is supposed to work. Do I just…assign points and it buffs me? How does that equate to my physical or mental health? I’ve played enough video-games that I have an idea of what the different stats mean, at least via the tomato analogy.”

“Tomato analogy?” Cerebaton asked curiously. “I know what a tomato is, but not what you mean.”

“It’s an aging Internet thing to explain your stats in a game. ‘Strength is being able to crush a tomato. Dexterity is being able to dodge a tomato. Constitution is being able to eat a bad tomato without a problem. Intelligence is knowing tomatoes are fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put a tomato into a fruit salad. While Charisma is selling a tomato based fruit salad.’” I rattled off quickly. “The stats mentioned from the interface are different, but I can guess. Fortitude is close enough to constitution that they would equate. Mental acuity sounds like intelligence to me, while willpower…well it makes sense that it is ones resistance to influence. I’m guessing charisma isn’t shown because its more about how you interact with people, rather than attractiveness?”

“An apt summary. Willpower would be your ability to resist throwing a tomato at someone you don’t like, or punching someone who threw one at you. To follow your analogy.” Cerebaton chuckled, showing off perfect teeth.

“Fair enough then. So how does it work?” I asked, getting the oven preheated and setting the chicken breasts out to be seasoned. I wonder if Kassandra likes chicken…not like I’d get a chance to bring the girls anything for a while yet. Still no sign of that transport ability Cariad mentioned. I thought while shaking the spicy lime seasoning onto them that I liked.

“Isn’t a tomato based fruit salad just salsa?” Cariad spoke up for the first time in a bit, her forehead wrinkling cutely as she thought.

“Found the bard…” I laughed, getting a confused look from both of my visitors, though Cariad waved it off after a moment to answer my question.

“The ability you mentioned is a standard one. If it’s not the first one unlocked, it’s the second. At least once the System gets adjusted to your body and the physical potential of your race. While it is hard to quantify exactly how much each point is worth, you can generally extrapolate from your personal experience what they are each ‘worth’ as far as enhancement. Be aware though that stats like strength do more than just enhance your musculature. They improve your joints and tendons too so that you can properly wield the strength.”

“It’s also important to balance your stats. Too much of one will leave you unbalanced. All the strength in the world won’t help you dodge a blow or be able to hit a target, only dexterity can do that. Fortitude is needed for both, as you will eventually be moving faster and hitting harder than your body can naturally handle. So don’t forgo fortitude either.” Cerebaton chipped in, taking another sip of his drink after rotating the mug so the dissolved portion of the lip was away from him.

“Okay, so what would you recommend then? I have around two hundred SP to spend, and I could drop it all into the Enhance Self power. I did figure out how to get Shape-Shifting to work by the way, it just takes too long and is relatively minor changes at first.” While waiting for the oven to finish heating up, I set out containers and then leaned against the counter to wait.

“Not a bad idea.” Cariad tapped her lips with the tip of one gloved finger. “Investing in your base stats is always solid. And that ability doesn’t have a mastery effect, since it’s just base enhancement.”

“You mentioned in your message to Ms. Davies that you were planning on a larger contract tomorrow. I assume your contracted summoners informed you ahead of time for something?” Cerebaton interjected, setting the now half-dissolved cup on the end-table next to him and watching me intently with those bright yellow eyes.

“Yea, the girls have a sort of…work-study thing that they have to do? They run errands and do missions for the academy they attend and are paid in mana. Apparently it forms crystals?” I shrugged helplessly. I was still a bit lost on the whole ‘mana’ thing after all. My only experience was video games and some tabletop stuff, and the systems were wildly different.

“Ah yes, one of those worlds. Some dimensions allow the body to retain a pool or reservoir of mana in the body, and others it forms physically. Mana is a strange thing in how it acts, changing its nature depending on its surroundings.” Cerebaton nodded, his antlers bobbing and nearly putting a hole in my wall. “Well, it sounds like you will have a reliable source of jobs coming in then. Smaller ones, but still steady. That will give you a good power curve on your growth. Investing in your stats and learning skills will help bridge the gap. Until you get a storage ability that is. At that point, technology becomes a concern. Do be careful to not upset the local technological landscape too much.” He said the last part with a heavy note of warning in his voice and I nodded.

“Yea, I can imagine how badly it can mess things up to add something like guns to the mix if they are still using swords and bows. Which they are.”

“Not just that, Mr. Cosgrave. You are only one of thousands of Travelers active at any given time. There are many hundreds of thousands of dimensions that are looked after by the System. The odds of you coming into conflict with another Traveler are small, but not ignorable. The DSR does not interfere in such things, our entire job revolves around ensuring the dimensional membrane remains intact and continues to keep the dimensions separate from our own native space too.”

“What Mr. Cerebaton is trying to say is more than that, it’s best to keep a low profile. While Travelers tend to leave each other alone, if you start rapidly messing with the advancement in a given world, it tends to send up a signal flare to other Travelers. And if your actions threaten their interests, conflict can occur.” Cariad broke in, her hands folded in front of her and a serious look in her eyes. Cerebaton nodded his agreement with her assessment.

“Got it, no sharing guns around. Try not to throw their technological scale out of sync.”

“That isn’t to say that you can’t give it a push. Many Travelers give civilizations a nudge. However, if you drop a stack of physics textbooks on a magical researcher? It will be rather obvious. But if you are in an area that hasn’t discovered the secrets of steel? That is easy enough to rationalize that you can lead them to it without a worry.” Cerebaton took over the conversation once more. I had a brief moment where the line from Conan: the Barbarian ran through my head about the riddle of steel, but I managed to suppress the desire to quote it.

The oven gave a sharp ding that it was done preheating and I hurried to get the chicken breasts in and cooking. The rice was simmering nicely on the stove as well, so now was the inevitable waiting point of cooking.

“I think…I might wait until after our first job to decide if I should invest in the Enhance Self power or not, if that makes sense?” I said after a moment or two of consideration. Cerebaton gave me a raised eyebrow and a questioning look, while Cariad smiled trustingly. “I need to see what they are up against. The girls are very capable themselves and my own power is something that I need to practice. A lot. Stats might help carry the difference, but I’m not sure exactly what I need.”

“Fair point. But enhancing your stats will also make things safer for you too.” Cariad cautioned, standing up from the table finally and walking over to collect the damaged remains of Cerebaton’s cup along with her own. She brushed past me to the kitchen to set them in the trash, after making sure the dregs of their juice were poured down the sink.

The daemon woman being that close to me brought with her the scent of peaches mixed with tart cherries from her drink. Peach perfume? Interesting choice… I would have been more distracted by her presence if it wasn’t for the grumpy green giant sitting on my couch still watching us, so I focused on him instead and asked a question.

“What do you think, Mr. Cerebaton?”

“I think you know what is best in this situation. Waiting or using them now is equally risky. The System rapidly applies the enhancements over the course of a few seconds, but it takes hours to days to fully realize the improvement and even longer for the body to adjust to them. Waiting is probably the best option, but only by a slight margin. The reason being this: if you greatly enhance your physical traits now, you might throw yourself off in a key moment tomorrow when your body is either more, or less, responsive than you expect.” The big man said after a moment of thought.

“Mr. Cerebaton is an active field agent when he has time, so I’d trust his word on this one.” Cariad agreed, brushing past me again to settle into her seat once more.

“Barely, Ms. Davies. Most of my time is taken up managing our office after all.” Cerebaton sighed with a level of wistfulness that surprised me. The big man had the build of a professional wrestler and the grim expression of a Marine, but his neat suit gave the vibe of a dedicated office man. Once I got past the green skin and his antlers, he had the vague feeling of a retired soldier to him, one who was itching to get back into the ‘fun stuff’.

The realization, as well as Cariad’s advice, tilted the scale in favor of his words and I nodded once.

“Okay. I’ll hold off for now. Tomorrow’s mission will give me an idea of where I need to improve and I can use the rest of the week to get used to the new stats.”

“Probably good. There are usually three things that will trigger the System offering new power sets.” Cariad shifted some of her papers around on the table before collecting one and reading off of it carefully. “First of all, your mastery of one skill will chain into opening new branches along that same tree. Second, total SP invested; since it acts as a conduit for the System to study your genetic potential. And lastly is total SP accrued, as that is a measure of how long you’ve been operating. The more you have, the longer the System has had to acclimate to you, obviously.”

“Another advantage that existing Traveler families have. Their genetics are well mapped out and they have a much better idea of what they can do.” Cerebaton tacked on before fishing into one of his pockets and producing a polished silver disc the size of my palm and glancing at it. “Ms. Davies, we need to get back to the office. I have another meeting in an hour and your shift is over already. Mr. Cosgrave, did you have anything else you wanted to ask us?” He directed the last part towards me and I shook my head, glancing at the window to see the sun already dipping under the mountains.

“Nope. Nothing worth keeping Cariad from going off duty or you from your work. Also, please just call me Liam. I’m not a formal person by nature and it feels odd to me.”

“Very well, you may address me as Cerebaton at your need. I do not bear a family name.” The big man rose to his feet like a tree shooting out of the ground in one of those time-lapse videos. “Please, contact either of us if you have further questions or need feedback. Cariad will be in touch with suggestions or if anything seems off from our side to ensure the System integration goes smoothly for you.”

“Sounds good. I hope you two have a good evening. I’ll let you know if anything comes up.” I helped Cariad gather her papers and get them packed away before I saw them to the door. Cerebaton went out first, glancing to either side after he ducked clear, with Cariad following after him. She paused to give me a smile once she was through the doorway.

“Be safe, Liam. I look forward to working with you.” She said, her second set of eyes flicking open for a moment, the electric blue iris’ startlingly pretty against her skin. I was about to respond when the oven timer went off. I glanced back at the sound instinctively, then turned to say goodbye and they were gone already. Not like, ‘I saw them heading down the stairs’ or anything.

They were just gone as if they’d never been there.