(Gavin)

The Rift is a lot quieter than I expected. This one is a strip of ground with a swirling violet nothingness surrounding it. It stretches approximately three hundred feet in length and thirty in width.

I'm currently standing near one end of it, a 'shift' in perspective barely noticeable to even my powerful eyes and perception. Other than the 'shift', it appears to just continue on the path.

I'm shirtless, my wings out and folded up behind me. The Divine were merciful enough to warn me that entering any Rift forces one into their true form – and if their true form has hidden parts, such as what I can do with my wings, they're manifested.

Mortal, a voice fills the air. How did you enter this plane?

"Through the Rift," I answer. "Duh."

Ascended Human… Gavin… ah, yes, you are Tulmis's charge, are you not?

"Is that his name?"

You don't even know his name?

"Never asked," I say. "Will you shoo? I'm waiting for the time dilation to work out for when someone walks in here. Twist said that there would be a boy of thirteen arriving shortly, were I to come here and delay you long enough."

Please don't, we don't need-

"Take it up with the two eldest Divine," I say. "Could you make yourself useful and disappear? I'm sure he'd freak out as it is, seeing you might do it more."

And the wings?

"They'll just remanifest when I leave," I shrug. "Might as well let him see them when he arrives."

The Rift Wolf sighs, then his presence behind me fades.

Several minutes later, a boy around fourteen steps into the Rift and freezes, then slowly starts looking around.

He has pitch-black hair and bright, azure eyes, and is dressed in black jeans that are tight against his legs and one of the shirts that people on Earth wear, with some sort of design on it. He's wearing sneakers.

Twist said he would come from Earth.

"Hello," I say, and he turns his gaze to me.

"Am I in Heaven?"

"You're in a Rift," I tell him. "A place that does and does not exist. They take on many forms, and this is this one's. As a Natural Rift, this one can only be entered willingly, not by accident."

"What's with your wings?" He asks. "Can you fly with them?"

"I can."

"They don't look long enough to support human flight."

I flap my wings once, flying up into the air and hovering several feet off of the ground, looking down at him.

"You are in a magical place," I tell him. "You really think 'science' matters?"

"So who are you?" He asks. "The Gatekeeper or something?"

He seems about as unfazed by this as I probably would have been, at his age.

"My name is Gavin Jakran," I answer. "I was human until not too long ago. You play video games?"

"Yeah."

"You read stories with a 'System'?"

"Sometimes."

"It exists," I tell him. "Earth doesn't have it active, and many worlds, it randomly grants people Access, while on others, it's a given for anyone born there. The world I'm from, it's a random selection based on certain requirements. So long as you meet the requirements, you will acquire Access."

"That's not random."

"Probably a translation error," I tell him. "My Skill Level for English is not too high. The more we speak, the higher it will go, and once it's around Level 4, it should be fine – there we go. Ah. Yeah, that was wrong. It's seemingly at random. I was missing a word.

"There are two important aspects," I tell him. "To the System: your Species, and your Class. Both can gain Experience. Once you bring them up to Level 25, you can take on an Advancement Quest. Once you complete it and accept the Advancement, it goes up to the next Tier. I just recently Advanced Human to the next Tier, and one of my options was quite powerful."

"Why do I feel like you're not human?" He asks. "There's this sense that-"

"Because I'm not," I explain. "Anyone below my own Species Tier will sense that. The bigger the difference in Tier, the stronger the sense. I will warn you that gaining Experience isn't easy. I have several innate buffs for various reasons, including one of my Classes, Archmage."

"Archmage?" He asks.

"It's the Fourth Tier Class," I say. "That starts with Wizard. The singular requirement to gain access to it, for one who has Access to the System, is to have entered a Natural Rift. You meet that requirement. Should you accept my offer, I will grant you Access and take you on as my student. Know that if you lie, I will know about it."

"I would never lie to someone who feels as powerful as you."

"That was a lie," I tell him, and he grins at me.

I'm going to have my hands full. He's a miniature me, isn't he?

"How old are you?" He asks.

"Eighteen."

"So it can't be too hard, can it?" He asks.

"I have a boost of more than a thousand percent," I say. "To gaining Experience while in Dungeons, with abnormally strong magical powers and a high Mana Pool. Makes it easy for me to quickly grind out Experience, when coupling on that I have a naturally good gain for Experience."

Now that I know that LUK affects not just the rarity of dropped loot, but how often one gains Experience, as well as those who are working with someone with such a high boost.

Thanks for that information, Twist, since your brother seemed to forget to mention it to me, instead letting me think the wrong thing.

"As a result," I continue. "I've exceeded the levels of anyone before me. I'm the first to ever reach a Tier IV Class, and the first to ever Advance my Species to the Second Tier. There are people who have lived for hundreds of years without doing either of those. I've met a Fairy who's lived for more than a thousand who can't breach those thresholds."

"A Fairy?" He snorts. "You really expect me to believe that they exist?"

"Formshift: Zelv."

My body morphs, changing into my Fairy Form, and I hold my pants up and stare at him.

"Yes," I say. "Fairies exist. Kid, you're in a Rift standing before a being who just radiates power. You're going to believe that Fairies don't exist?"

"I thought Fairies were tiny?" He asks. "You… look like a kid."

"Fairies look like human children," I say. "With pointed ears and glittery cheeks and sparkly wings. You're probably thinking pixies, they're about this tall, at most."

I hold two fingers around four inches apart.

"Nasty little devils," I say when he nods. "Formshift: True."

I return to my True Form and fix my pants.

"So how do you do that?" He asks.

"Formshift?" I ask, and he nods. "It's not something Humans can gain without a Divine Being granting it. Do you accept my offer of becoming my student as a Wizard, taking on that Class after gaining Access?"

"Sure," he says. "Sure beats playing video games if I can be in one."

"Death is permanent, here," I tell him. "It's not a game."

"Alright," he shrugs, then grins. "Still sounds like fun."

Yeah, I'm going to have my hands full.

"Before we go," I say. "I'm going to warn you that I'm in the middle of mending relationships between my nation and our most powerful neighbor. We'll be passing through a Divine Realm on our way back to where I was. Be quiet and respectful. The Divine like me, but that won't go the same for you."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Why do they like you?" He asks. "And what are Divine?"

"They are the Divine Beings," I tell him. "Some take on the roles of 'gods' and 'goddesses', but some just do their own thing. We'll be meeting my Patron, Nies, who has made me his Hero, and his older brother, Twist. They are the first two Divine Beings to form from existence, and can erase entire Realms with but a thought."

"So why do they like you?" He asks.

"I make things interesting," I answer honestly. "Do you agree to the terms?"

"Sure," he grins at me. "I wanna see how cool this is."

"Abuse the Access," I tell him. "And I will revoke it from you immediately, and you will lose the buffs that come with it and the Stats."

"Got it," he says, then his eyes widen. "Whoa! That's so cool!"

"What Classes do you have available?"

"It says I can take on a Primary Class and a Secondary Class," he says. "The Secondary as a 'bonus', or something."

"Indeed," I nod. "Normally, you can only take on a Secondary Class when a Primary Class reaches Level 15 or goes up a Tier, but those of us who have Wizard available can also take on a Secondary Class from the start, giving us one extra Class."

"I only have Wizard available."

"Take it."

"Already did."

Ryan Human 1 Wizard 1

Yeah, I know you did. The rest of your information is about as revealing as I expected, since there are no Secondary Classes, Titles, or Blessings.

"Show me your stats," I tell him.

"How?"

"Say 'Status'," I say. "Then focus on sharing them with me and say 'Share Status'."

"Status," he says, focusing on me. "Share Status."

Name: Ryan

Age: 13 years

Titles:

Species: Human 1 0/25

Primary Class: Wizard 1 0/25

INT: 12, AGI: 11, CHA: 10, STR: 7, CON: 7, PER: 9, LIF: 17

Mana: 18/18

From what I know, those are actually pretty decent. Judging by his skinny frame, I'm not surprised that his AGI is higher than his STR. His durability is pretty weak.

"So those are my starting stats?" He asks. "How do I compare?"

"Your 'starting Stats'," I say. "Are determined by your natural stats, though they aren't a tell of your natural stats. What stats do is boost certain things. INT boosts your ability to remember things and your magical power, as well as enable you to learn magics easier – or just period. AGI boosts your speed, CHA – this one isn't normally visible at the start for humans – boosts your charisma, or how likely people are to listen and believe you, as well as how youthful you look. STR boosts your physical strength. CON boosts your physical durability. It does other stuff, but you don't need to worry about it, as you don't have that Resource visible, and it doesn't matter unless you actually use it. PER boosts how much you can perceive from what you take in through your senses.

"Finally," I say. "We get to the important one. LIF is your natural lifespan – it's five years for every point. However, that doesn't mean you're guaranteed to live for eighty-five years, it means that, as long as nothing else kills you, you'll die a natural death between eighty-five and ninety years.

"Continuing that," I say. "It doesn't matter how young you look. I stopped aging from the sheer size of my various Stats that affect that, but were I to reach my natural lifespan, I'd still expire. Even a young person can have their heart stop without warning, after all."

"Were you to reach it?" He asks. "You make it sound like you won't."

"I won't," I answer. "I've been advised by a being that can see into the future that I'll be killed by a being beyond my power. Though I'm not sure if that still holds true after my Species Advancement, as that wasn't possible until a few minutes ago, but-"

No, it still holds true. I knew it would happen. Elder Dragons are simply that powerful.

"Never mind," I say. "He just told me that he knew the change would happen."

"How?" Ryan looks around.

"Mentally," I answer. "He can communicate directly through thought. I could, too, if I bothered unsealing my Psion Affinity and figuring out telepathic communication."

"Psion Affinity?"

"There are eleven Affinities," I nod. "Each one corresponds to a Resource. Not everyone has all of them, like me. Most only have one or two. You have four total Resources, only one of which is Awakened – Mana. Your Mana Affinity is actually pretty decent – it's normally less than 5, at start. However, since your MNA isn't showing up on your stats list, it's still 'hidden', so I'm not sure how much of your Mana is actually your Mana Affinity, and how much is Mana Power. I'm… actually not sure how to know that. Nahor?"

How do you know my name?

"Twist knew you were talking with me."

Ah. He has 18 MNA.

"How come it isn't visible?"

Probably a glitch in the System due to the uniqueness of the Wizard Class. You two are among three who came into it without having used Mana before. There. Corrected. He won't have noticed the change, though.

"Thanks, Nahor."

Please stop using my name, and I've sealed him so he can't reveal it.

"Whatever, Nahor."

He sighs.

"I'm guessing you're talking here because they can't observe?"

Basically, yeah. Stem being around is a bit annoying.

"Hopefully, whatever Twist says to him gets rid of him."

It does. Temporarily. He'll return.

I snort, then look to Ryan, who looks confused.

"Long story," I say. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure," he grins. "I wanna meet some gods!"

"I will slap you through the Rift."

He gives me a cheeky smile, then I turn and walk, the boy following me to the other side, until we step out into the valley surrounded by mountains. A lake rests in the center of the valley, a river flowing into it from each of the four cardinal directions.

At the center of the lake rests an island approximately a mile in diameter, a tower stretching thousands of feet at the center.

"I don't see any gods," Ryan looks around. "Or anyone."

"There are no Enlightened Species on this continent," I tell him. "The world is divided into eighteen Regions due to something called the Boundary of Sages. That tower there is part of what sustains it. Each Region believes it's the whole world.

"This Region," I continue the explanation. "Has long since been abandoned, for reasons unknown to the Divine I've spoken with. I could always ask Yggdrasil-"

"The World Tree from Norse mythology?"

Did I interrupt people a lot, starting out?

"No clue what the latter is," I tell him. "But I know that some of the Divine have leaked into your world's stories and tales. Yggdrasil is the World Tree, yes, but it's this world's Divine Being. Yours is Merlin."

"Merlin?" He asks. "Like from-"

"World Deities," I ignore his interruption. "Oversee a world, protect it from certain types of threats, and ensures that its people continue to live and thrive, the world lives, nature continues on, all that good stuff. He's a giant fucking tree sitting in the Fairy Kingdom. Really friendly. My patron god likes sleeping in him."

"Uh… what?"

"I haven't figured that out, myself."

I look around, breathing in the fresh air.

"There are wild animals and monsters," I look at Ryan, and he looks back to me. "But no Enlightened here. One day, I'm going to be taking over this Region for myself. I'm making an Order that promotes the advancement of magical knowledge, the sharing of it, and the nondiscrimination of Species. We will also act as a haven for those seeking freedom from abuse. Once I figure out how to destroy that damn Tower."

"Destroy it?" He asks.

I hold out a hand, summoning the Violet Dragon mixed with each Resource I have unsealed, and send it after the Tower at full force. It collides into it, then fades away.

"The damn Tower is resilient to everything I throw at it," I say. "It's made of some magic-resistant stone that can resist even the Void, and my absolute desire to destroy the Tower isn't enough. The Sages who built the eighteen Towers are pissing me off, and if I could travel through time, I'd rip their throats out and shove them up their asses."

"Uh…"

"Long story."

"Where does something like that come from?"

"Wyverns."

"Wyverns rip people's throats out and shove them up their asses?"

"Sometimes," I nod. "Especially when you agitate them. Bert was known for doing it to whatever random monster got in his way after I played with him."

"Uh…"

"Bert's a moody fucker," I say. "He didn't like me playing with him."

"What, exactly, did you do?"

"Usually?" I ask. "Dulled his scales, dumped feces or urine on him, dropped him in a pitfall trap, and other such things. It was fun, but he didn't think so."

"How long ago did you do that?"

"Before I had Access," I answer. "My friends and I harassed the wyverns all the time. Wyvern-spooking was so much fun. I might have to go do it again sometime."

"Can I join you?"

"Sure," I say. "Just don't get killed, wyverns are powerful, temperamental things. I wonder if Bert's still around."

He is.

"Nies says he is."

"Who?"

"Me," Nies appears. "Come on, back into the Divine Realm, so we can send you home."

"Why are you lying on a tiger?"

"He's lazy."

"I'm tired."

Ryan looks between the two of us, then snorts. We appear on the cliff, though there's no table or Twist around. I unmanifest my wings, then pull my tunic from my ring and pull it on, followed by my cloak.

"Alright, Nies," I say. "Send us back."

"You're really making demands of me?" Nies asks.

"I built you a shrine and got you tons of followers," I remind him.

"That won't work forever," he sighs, looking at Ryan. "Don't judge me just 'cause I'm a kid in form. I can't help it. I'm older than pretty much everything. I was around when this universe was just a floating mass of-"

His voice cuts out, his lips forming words our minds are incapable of processing.

"Nies," I say. "I think we should be going back, now."

"Right," he says, and Ryan and I appear in the restaurant, causing the guards to jump, the Princess starting.

"Princess Nina," I give her a slight bow of the head. "Forgive the delay in returning, the Divine had me meet with a new Wizard. Please don't attempt to speak with him, though, as he cannot speak our language."

"I can't understand a word of what you just said," Ryan tells me.

"That's actually what I just told her," I tell him. "Ryan, this is Princess Nina, so please, be respectful."

As if you care about respect.

Hush, Nies.

"He comes from a distant world," I inform the Princess. "So he doesn't know any languages you will. I'm lucky in knowing his. I've been tasked with teaching him magic, as he – like me – never used magic before gaining Access. He still hasn't."

"That is fine," she stands. "The ways of the Divine are mysterious to us all."

Not really. Give Nies food, and he's happy and will give you good luck in quests and adventuring. Break an oath, especially one made in his name, and he'll be unhappy. Build him an altar and a shrine, give him thousands of followers, and he'll do whatever you want for all of eternity.

"Now that you have returned," she says. "Would you like to meet my father? I am sure that the mending of relations between our lands I hear you wish to perform will have a chance at happening sooner, should you meet him now, rather than later."

"Her boobs are big," Ryan comments, and I smack him in the back of the head.

"Would he see me now?" I ask. "Or wait until later, so that he can prepare whatever it is he will prepare for our meeting?"

"Tomorrow, then," she says. "I will have someone meet you at the inn you are staying at, to escort you to the castle. I will inform him of the meeting, and he will likely agree to it, as breakfast, after word of the Divine accompanying you reaches him."

"Thank you," I give her a small bow. "And please inform him that Adrian Varkle is not an agent or Duke of Jozan. He violated the Blood Oath he swore in my presence, which has nullified any chance he had at redemption. I have already had word sent to my King to inform him of this, and Varkle is officially exiled from Jozan."

She gives me a dip of her head, then leaves, and I look down at Ryan, who's grinning at me mischievously.

I smack him in the back of the head again.