I coaxed Ajani to tell her story and listened intently once she started. “Over 150 days ago, many monsters came to East Bastion. I was out in the fields and saw. Deformed humans, forever cursed. Great power. We all fled and Uday went out to confront the great evil.”

“I did not see the fight. But Uday lost. The city shield was used before the great evil could get inside. Many great warriors and shamans came together. They rushed out of the city. They all died screaming. Many stayed, thinking great evil would need servants.” Ajani shook her head at this.

“But I knew. Great evil kill Uday. Great evil is a great evil. I ran from the city. Gather up crystals. When the great evil is gone. I sneak in for food. Water. Supplies. There were two others. But they died in wilderness. Now, only Ajani is left.”

“The great evil, did he give his name?” I asked.

“I do not know. I dare not get close. But his darkness and power is great. He uses new arrivals to make more and more deformed humans. Cursed beings. If I am caught, that will happen to me. I take no risks,” Ajani replied.

“I seek to build up my strength. To escape. There is only one route. Uday warned all never to go that way. Said there is great evil in that direction. West, where you came from. Now great evil has come here, I shall flee to the West,” Ajani explained.

It made sense. The Ritualist came, killed their Champion Uday, used the humans as test subjects, and was building up his power base.

“How strong was Uday, how many stats?” I asked.

“Blessings were many and great. There were whispers he had 5,000 blessings,” Ajani said and I took a moment to process that answer. This Uday had 5,000 stat points and was killed, by the Ritualist?! Someone had a serious power up. I thought back to my strength 150 days ago and how long that was after the fight with the Ritualist. Not that long.

Either this Uday was an idiot and was trapped by the Ritualist, doubtful since he ruled a city. Or, the Ritualist had another powerup. Perhaps he had discovered consumption and rushed to make high level hybrids. Of course, that was what had happened. Or he could have pulled something else out of his ass. But 5,000 stat points implied this Uday had at least 1,000 in Body and was no match.

That high a number also implied he had been around the block so to speak and knew about mental attacks and had skills. To be defeated was quite troubling. Over 5,000 stats, that was insane. The threat level of the Ritualist just soared up massively at this piece of information. Our next confrontation would not be so simple.

“East Bastion, where did that name come from?” Naran asked.

“That is the name Uday used. No one else knows. He didn’t like to talk about the past or what the great evil was to the West. I was not high up. Only small and weak. Now, I am stronger, but still weak,” Ajani replied. Having over 500 in her Body stat was not weak, but I wasn’t about to say anything after this Uday character got wiped out with his 5,000 stat points.

I frowned as the timelines didn’t match up. Uday knew of a threat to the West and said that the route Naran and I took was the only route, but the Ritualist hadn’t even been around then.

“How long as Uday been around?” I asked.

“Long time. Oldest and wisest,” Ajani said.

“Days. How many days has he been in the Systemic Lands?” I asked.

“I have been here only a year. Uday is said to be here at least six years,” Ajani replied. My heart sank. That was over 2,100 days. There had been people here before. People in Purgatory. But the city had somehow reset and all the other cities around Purgatory.

Whatever this threat Uday had initially talked about was not the Ritualist, but whatever wiped out the cities and reset them. Was it whatever was near Truth? I immediately upped the danger on whatever was out there another two levels in my mind.

“How big is the army?” Naran asked Ajani.

“Big, very big. At least one hundred great monsters,” Ajani said.

“Probably level 3 hybrids and an army of them,” I said with a long sigh.

“Turn around?” Naran asked me.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“No. I need to see this army. Ajani, what level is the store?” I asked.

“Level?”

“Rank, tier, how many upgrades?” I tried different words.

“Ah, yes, now I understand. Level 3. Uday said danger from higher level. Best to remain small, hidden,” Ajani said. Well that was news.

“Why did he want to remain small?” I asked.

“Great evil. But it still came and Uday is dead,” Ajani replied. She clearly didn’t know anything else. What I really needed was to have spoken with this Uday fellow. That was the person who had all the information and power. Of course, the Ritualist just had to go and kill him.

“Ajani, will you show us to the city?” I asked. She shook her head.

“Dangerous. Now not a good time. You must go?”

“Yes, where is the East Bastion?” I asked.

“East, keep going East. Easy to spot. Follow tree line. I have supplies here, will wait for your return. Too many people, great evil will notice,” Ajani said.

“I wish to ask something. I wish to see a drop of blood. Make sure you are human. I will go first,” I replied and slowly pulled out a dagger. And pricked my pinky on my left hand, letting a few drops hit the ground. I then set the knife in front of Ajani.

“Not easy to heal out here,” she replied.

“But a human so conveniently placed to run into us, just when we come here, with limited answers that make sense and no history,” I shook my head. “A few drops that don’t turn to dust will prove you aren’t a mimic in disguise.”

“This Ajani is leaving now,” she began to stand up.

Acid Shot x3. She was instantly drenched and Naran was already on his feet with his buster stick. I got up and watched carefully. I didn’t even need to. Ajani disappeared and the acid splattered onto the ground.

“That was unexpected,” Naran replied.

“Pfft, running into a random person at night in the wilderness is quite suspicious. She wanted us to leave and not go forward. Also the story was too self-contained. It made sense, but there wasn’t any real information. My guess was that was the Ritualist and he knows we are here. That was a delaying or bullshit tactic of some kind,” I said.

“Makes sense. You think he improved his range?” Naran asked.

“No, but a warning system of some kind. He could have found a way around the tether for all we know. That 5,000 stat point comment was also suspicious. Using years instead of days. There were no slip-ups, but the Ritualist is a master of deception,” I replied.

“Fair enough, nice catch. I didn’t even realize she might be fake,” Naran said.

“I have been waiting for the Ritualist to try that kind of nonsense ever since he used a decoy mimic. Clever of him, but you can only use traps so many times before it is obvious that everything is a trap,” I said. The Ritualist made me suspect everything, which made everything he would try useless.

“She wasn’t a monster though, she didn’t dust, but collapsed,” Naran pointed out and I frowned a that.

“Monsters have collapsed like that before, right?”

“Never that quickly. Well maybe a level 1 monster and she had a lot of Body stats. So, she wasn’t a level 1 monster. At least a level 2, or level 3. Also the way the energy shifted was weird. A bit hard to describe, but it wasn’t like a monster,” Naran said. I considered what he said for a moment before speaking.

“When a monster dies with acid on it, the acid just falls down and the dust is pushed outwards but quickly disappears. It is also dark, you sure you didn’t miss it? Not a weird type of monster?” I asked Naran.

“I thought there would be a lot of blood and guts, or a monster hidden inside of her, which was why I paying close attention,” Naran said. I ignored that he focused on the blood and guts and shook my head at that.

“Alright, so it is something new we need to watch out for. If it could have given up blood, then it would have given up blood. So that is a good way to check. But everything else was spot on. The clothing, the grunge, the movement, the speech. If I wasn’t a paranoid bastard the Ritualist would have gotten one over on us,” I said with a sigh.

I had been hoping Ajani had been a real person. She seemed nice, competent, and had decent stats. But it was all a lie. “Now what?” Naran asked.

“Now what is a great question. We change spots and then move in the morning. That way with daylight we can see things coming,” I said. Naran agreed with me, and we quickly left the area to find a new spot to camp out.

Naran took the first nap. While I struggled to keep my eyes open. I ended up walking around to keep my blood moving. Eventually it was my turn and I collapsed on the ground.

I woke up the next morning without incident and stretched out. No Heba with a read to go morning fruit and vegetable platter. I was getting soft. “Ready?” I asked Naran.

“As ready as I will ever be,” he replied as the light source was coming up just over the eastern horizon. We set off in that direction while my rested brain thought back on the conversation with the fake Ajani.

Why tell us about the Ritualist? I was missing something. Perhaps the Ritualist was using reverse phycology and trying to lure us into a trap. But Ajani was just a clue that there was a trap in the first place. She had wanted us to leave, but did the Ritualist expect me to ignore that and leave? Why not try to negotiate first?

I didn’t think he was in a bad position, but perhaps he wasn’t ready to face me? My mind kept going in circles around these questions. Ajani had wanted us to leave and take her with us. Perhaps a long term assassin of some kind? But then why not agree to escort us to the city. That was what had really got my suspicions going in the first place.

The best thing was to push on to the city and keep our eyes out for any traps. Straight East was as good as a direction as any. I doubted the fake Ajani had lied about that. Too easy to be caught out, unless there was a trap in this direction. But the only choke point would be the city itself, and I was planning to go up and over the wall, not through the gate.

After that I would play it by ear. But once I was on top of the wall, it would be easy enough to make sure the gate wasn’t a trap. Then Naran could enter, and we could easily reach the plaza. If there was something inside, Naran could easily get on top of the wall if I helped give him a boost. But getting to the store was important for supplies and getting Naran a new beat stick, for our return trip.