Nali waited until they were well on their way to restart the conversation. Her eyes glowed briefly, and a spell shimmered around the inside of the carriage.

Rayna frowned at the magic bubble. “Shield?”

“Privacy spell,” Nali explained. “I don’t want our escorts listening in on our conversation.”

“Is there a reason you let them kidnap us?” Rayna asked. “You know this is my third time this month? I’m getting really sick of it.”

“You’re not being kidnapped,” Nali said. “The Abbot is a friend of mine. You are accompanying me to lodge a formal complaint about your treatment at one of the temples of Eldar. And if this little spat between myself and Brother Lenqu gets me in to see my very busy friend to talk about preparations for the Chosen, why, that’s just a happy accident, isn’t it?”

Rayna blinked. “It was all an act?”

Nali shook her head. “Oh no, Brother Lenqu is probably quite convinced that you have some magical ability to force a System update. Don’t worry about him. Most of the Order of Eldar are normal people appreciating the System and its gifts, but they do have a few overzealous followers.”

“And kidnapping is one of their pastimes?” Rayna guessed.

“Forced induction into the Order is a problem that the Abbot is working on, yes.”

Rayna snorted.

“In any case, this is actually a stroke of good luck. I’ve been trying to get a face to face meeting with Esh for months now. Even before the adjusted tutorial, the people of Ember saw a new set of Chosen as a bad omen. The Order of Eldar is the best chance we have of helping you all find a place to stay.”

Rayna frowned. “Hang on, Eldar only dragged us here a few weeks ago, how come you’ve known for months?”

“Besides the decline of the System, there are always some concrete signs that he’s preparing for a tutorial. Blacksmiths, potion brewers, seamstresses and the like all get quests to start preparing items. The System can’t make anything from nothing, someone has to make all of that. Though I’m curious what self-respecting Cook had the audacity to offer that filth you called a travel ration.”

“Shouldn’t that give you an accurate headcount?” Rayna asked. “Your estimates were way off.”

Nali shook her head. “We’re only one country. My guess is that one of the other six got the bulk of the quests. We haven’t heard anything, though, which is strange. Either the other countries haven’t bothered with a count, or they may have assumed they were the only ones getting quests.”

“In other words, communication is lacking,” Rayna said.

“We used to be able to send messages through the System,” Nali said. “But that function was disabled a few years ago. It caused more havoc than it should have, given we knew it was coming.” She sighed. “I have witnessed firsthand how easy it is to bury one’s head in the sand and assume the problem will resolve itself. The willful ignorance of the world is staggering.”

New world, same problems, Rayna thought.

Nali’s privacy bubble popped, effectively ending the conversation.

They sat in silence for the rest of the trip, since it would take an hour for the skill’s cooldown to end and the trip to the capital only took forty-five minutes.

The temple in the capital was much larger than the one in Lyna. Their carriage was brought into a large courtyard that was entirely rimmed with buildings.

They were led inside by Brother Lenqu and two monks from the capital. They could be distinguished by their lighter cream colored robes and the easier demeanor they seemed to hold themselves with.

“We don’t get many folks comin’ in from out in the boonies,” one of them said.

The green eyed woman looked almost human, except for the ram’s horns growing out of her head.

“Not that we’re looking down on y’all,” the other monk, a man who was the same race as Sister Maya rushed to add. “Some of the strongest folks come from out in the middle’a nowhere. Less protection means they gotta kill all them monsters themselves, ya’know?”

Brother Lenqu sniffed. “Perhaps the two of you should work harder then?”

Rather than be offended by the man’s implications of their inadequacy, the woman smiled. “Oh, we’re workin’ on it, dontcha worry. You won’t find me wastin’ all that the System’s been givin’ us.”

Rayna ducked her head to hide a smile.

The woman winked at Rayna. “So, what’s your name? I don’t see a name tag anywhere so I’m guessin’ you’re not interested in sharin’ your level and that’s quite all right. Though if you’re plannin’ on joinin’ the order, know that some people go around showin’ off their numbers as a matter of pride.” She pointed at her own name tag. “I wear it out here to remind all the little ones that if even a ditz like me can make it to Second Ascension, so can they.”

[Shela Alane — Level 78]

[Cervinale]

Rayna had become so used to ignoring name tags that she hadn’t realized the woman had hers on display. The race sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place where she’d heard it.

“I’m Rayna,” she introduced herself. “Level 9, though my name tag’s having some technical difficulties.”

Brother Lenqu glanced nervously at Rayna. She pointedly ignored him, hoping her System issues might make him shun her altogether.

“Oh dear,” Shela clucked her tongue. “I’ve had my fair share of System problems, too. Dontcha worry, most of them clear themselves up within a few days. I’m Shela and this here is Klen.”

Rayna glanced at his name tag.

[Klen Lenal — Level 58]

[Dalian]

Brother Lenqu sniffed. “Some of us hide our name tags as a show of humility. Why would the System allow us to hide our levels if not to remind us that what happens between a player and the System is a private affair?”

“To make stuffy jerks like you happy?” Rayna muttered.

Nali pinched Rayna’s arm.

Rayna squeaked, rubbing the sore spot on her arm. “If you’re trying to shut me up, pinching is not the way to go about it.”

Klen laughed. “There ain’t nothing wrong with a smart mouth. You gotta be paying attention to rattle off a response that quick.”

“Ope, here we are,” Shela said, stopping in front of a plain door that matched the rest of the temple. “Let me just see if he’s inside.”

Shela knocked loud enough to wake the dead. “Father Esh! You got visitors! You in there?”

Brother Lenqu recoiled, looking scandalized by the display. “You call the Abbot by his first name?”

“By his own insistence,” Shela said, putting a hand on her hip. “What else are we gonna call him, Abbot Quar? I mean, we could, but it doesn’t really roll off the tongue.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The door opened and a bleary eyed man squinted at them across the threshold. He didn’t have a name tag, but Rayna was fairly sure he was the same race as Shela, based on the bulls horns growing out of his head. For a moment, she almost mistook him for a minotaur.

“Shela? What time is it?”

“Mid afternoon Father,” Shela said cheerfully. “Sorry to be wakin’ you from your nap, but Brother Lenqu here brought us some new recruits and I knew you’d be wantin’ to meet ‘em.”

“Oh?” the Abbot asked, yawning. “Why’s that.”

“‘Cause the little one’s fumin’ and Lady Emery’s bein’ all civil. It’s either a miracle or an omen, and I figured you’d be able to tell me which one.”

Father Esh blinked. “Nali?”

“Abbot Quar,” Nali said.

The man caught on to her tone and frowned at Brother Lenqu. “If you imbeciles bring me one more unwilling recruit, I will start writing the System laws on the temple walls! Rule number one: no unwilling initiates! If we’re embracing the System’s gifts, we cannot ignore the Systems ideals.”

Brother Lenqu paled. “But Abbot Quar! She forced a System update! She has to be brought into the Order so we can figure out how she did it. If we can replicate it—”

“Update?” Father Esh asked, looking confused.

“About an hour ago, Father,” Shela said.

“Where was I?” Father Esh asked, pulling up his System Menu.

“I believe you were sleeping, Father,” Shela said.

Father Esh blinked. “We have C-levels in our Character Sheets now? That is convenient. Not life changing, but a good update.” He turned back to Brother Lenqu. “If you’re done, you can leave. I will talk to Lady Emery and her student.”

Brother Lenqu looked like he wanted to argue, but he kept his mouth shut, turning on his heels and stomping away.

Father Esh sighed. “We’re never going to get through to them, are we?”

“Most of us already agree with you,” Klen said. “Those that don’t will just have to listen when you smack ‘em down.”

“Thank you, you two, for bringing this to my attention.”

Shela grinned. “Don’t mention it. You three have a nice chat.”

The two left, and Father Esh ushered Rayna and Nali inside.

“It’s a bit of a mess,” Father Esh said. “We’ve been preparing for the Chosen for weeks, and I still don’t even know where we’re going to house them all. Even if we only get ten thousand refugees, we just don’t have the space.”

The large office had a cream interior. A desk sat on one side of the room with bookshelves lining the wall behind it, and on the other side, comfortable chairs rimmed a long coffee table. Papers were strewn about on the table, a few of them lying on the floor where they had fallen off.

“Sit wherever you like,” Father Esh said. “Can I get you anything? Cookies? Tea?”

“Tea would be lovely,” Nali said, sitting down. “I’d like to introduce you to my new student and ward, Rayna.”

Rayna took a seat next to her, not sure if she was supposed to speak in this conversation. She decided it was better to let Nali take the lead.

Father Esh turned to Rayna, a broad smile on his face. “Welcome to—” He paused, his eyes widening. “You’re… a child?”

Nali laughed. “That is generally true of both wards and students.”

“Right,” Father Esh cleared his throat. “I guess I didn’t expect her to be quite so… small. You usually take in older students, do you not?”

“There’s a reason for that,” Nali said.

“And that is?” Father Esh asked, pouring her a cup of tea.

Another one of Nali’s privacy bubbles appeared, surrounding the sitting area completely. This one had a golden tint to it, and Rayna had a feeling it was stronger than the one they had used in the carriage.

“Rayna is one of the Chosen.”

Father Esh fumbled with the teapot, spilling tea all over some of his papers.

He put the pot down, looking at Rayna as if she had grown a second head. “You’re… one of the Chosen? How is that possible?”

Rayna wasn’t sure why that fact was so surprising, but then again, she was almost a month early.

“It’s a bit complicated,” she said. “The System Administrator was trying to apologize with a special feature, but accidentally got me stuck in the Obsidian Forest. I got out eventually, but seeing as my System is back up and I haven’t been teleported, I don’t think he’s paying enough attention to get me back to the tutorial.”

“And the other Chosen are like you?” he asked. He rushed to add, “We don’t usually get a preview of what to expect from the Chosen. This can really help us prepare better. Every race has a different habitat, food preferences; I haven’t managed to glean any information from the tutorial preparation quests over the last year.”

“Rayna is the only Lerian in the group,” Nali said. “The System changed her race on the way over.”

Another privacy bubble sprung up around them.

Rayna frowned at it. “Was Nali’s sound proofing not enough?”

Father Esh’s eyes widened. “Magic sight.”

“Rayna is quite the happy accident, yes,” Nali said. “We’re going to help her make use of her gifts later, but there are more pressing matters.”

“More pressing than a lost Chosen in a Lerian body who got dumped out of the tutorial a month early?” Father Esh asked incredulously. “Just what is going on up there?”

“He broke the first rule,” Nali said. “Albeit on accident.”

“He?” Father Esh seemed to be having a lot of trouble following the conversation, so Rayna took over.

“Where I’m from, there is a category of video game called isekai, in which the main characters are transported to another world, and they have to save that world from certain doom. Well, some of them are like that anyway, there are some where you’re just trying to live a normal life, but the first one is more common.

“The point is, we all thought this was make believe. We didn’t know Ember was real until we were fighting for our lives in that nightmare of a tutorial. It wasn’t until after the first week that the Administrator realized what had happened.

“He made the adjusted tutorial to keep us from impaling ourselves on the challenges that we weren’t ready for.”

“You went through the System preview, though,” Father Esh said, his brows furrowed. “Surely that helped you prepare.”

“I actually didn’t,” Rayna said. “I snuck into the initiation ceremony under a different username. Theoretically, the others had time to prepare, but they didn’t take it seriously, since they thought they were just blowing off steam after a long day at work.”

“I see…” Father Esh shook his head. “Then what of the other Chosen? Will they cooperate when they get here? A few hundred thousand people will be hard enough to house without them fighting us every step of the way.”

“Ten million,” Nali corrected.

They fell silent for a long moment, Father Esh seeming to struggle with this information.

“The Dark Age is so close,” he said quietly. “Why would he bring so many? What does he hope to gain by using the last of his Essence on new recruits?”

“Essence?” Rayna asked, raising her eyebrows. This was the first time she had heard Essence mentioned outside of her notifications.

“Energy,” Nali said. “Essence is what the System uses as energy. The two words are used interchangeably. When a monster is killed, half of the Essence gained is sent to the System’s energy reserves, the other half is converted into Experience for the player.”

Rayna opened her mouth, but Father Esh spoke first.

“Players cannot absorb Essence on their own,” he said quickly. “The System is needed to convert it into something that our bodies can handle. Similarly, the System cannot absorb the Essence without a player to slay the monster. There needs to be some connection to the creatures. This is why the player-System symbiotic relationship exists. One cannot exist without the other.”

Except Rayna could. She had absorbed Essence on her own. Wasn’t that significant? Maybe if they could figure out how she did it—

“There were people who tried to absorb Essence through other means,” Nali said, continuing the lesson. “Their bodies broke down. They couldn’t handle the energy. Whatever your thought was a second ago, don’t act on it. People will die.”

Rayna closed her mouth. She still felt like there could be some benefit to studying her abilities, but she didn’t want to put others in harm’s way. She would just have to figure them out on her own and tell Nali if she found a way to replicate it.

“Rayna should stay here,” Father Esh said out of the blue.

“Why?” Nali asked, her tone that of friendly suspicion.

“She’s obviously strong, given her abilities,” Father Esh said. “And she would have full access to the hunting grounds and the library. We could train her quickly and get her ready to defend herself within a matter of weeks. She’s what, in her late twenties?”

“How did you know?” Rayna asked, surprised at the accuracy of his guess.

“Nali doesn’t like taking in anyone under twenty. You mentioned work, so you had to be an adult. I extrapolated from there.” Father Esh looked proud of himself. “In any case, we’re better equipped to help her grow here. All you have is the Obsidian Forest, which is a death trap, even with her advantages.”

“You’re trying to steal my student?” Nali asked. “I found her fair and square.”

Father Esh grinned. “I would never dream of stealing one of your students Nali. You can stay too. You’ll have the resources to teach her, and you can use your closer proximity to the capital to arrange some meetings with the other nobles.”

“I’m focusing on the churches and temples first,” Nali said, apparently following the Abbot’s line of thinking, though Rayna wasn’t. “They’re more likely to help than the nobles.”

Father Esh shook his head. “We’re going to need everyone we can get. Even if we only get a tenth of the Chosen, that’s going to overrun us. We need systems in place to keep them off the streets and to help them grow as fast as possible. For that, we need drakas.”

Nali pursed her lips. “What do you think, Rayna?”

Rayna blinked. “Of the part about me staying here or the part about the nobles?”

“Staying here,” Nali said. “You’re an adult. What Esh is offering is good, but I won’t force you to go or stay anywhere. What would you like to do?”

Rayna gave it some serious thought. She wanted to grow as fast as possible, and the people here seemed to be of the same opinion. Even though she wouldn’t know anyone, if Nali was there, she would at least have some back up if anything went wrong.

Father Esh seemed nice enough, if a bit awkward. Not to mention, the fact that this was an offer and not a demand helped improve Rayna’s opinion of him.

“I can leave whenever I want?” she confirmed.

“Of course,” Father Esh said. “You would be a guest here. You wouldn’t even have to join the Order. What do you say?”

Rayna looked at Nali, who waited expectantly, then back at Father Esh. “I’ll stay.”

“Excellent!” Father Esh said, clapping his hands together. “I’ll see to your accommodation personally. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, Rayna.”