The city of Jayapura featured a vast mirage chamber complex that was larger and more sophisticated than the Geller family’s private chamber. The higher magical density of Jayapura meant that more advanced magical effects could be used and supported. This included potent dimensional magic that allowed the replication of vast spaces, as well as multiple, concurrently-operating chambers in the same complex.

In addition to hiring out spaces for training, It was the premier entertainment space in the city. Essence users would pit themselves against one another or illusionary challenges, all for the entertainment of a paying audience. This produced more than enough funding for the frequent upgrades and regular maintenance required of a top-tier facility.

The organisation that owned and operated the chamber had close ties with the Magic Society, Adventure Society and local government. Important for both the amenities and the revenue it provided the city, the Mirage Chamber Association enjoyed significant power and influence within Jayapura.

Rather than a dome, the mirage chamber was a flat, circular building at the edge of the Mystic Quarter. Very large, it spilled into the adjacent theatre district, which was appropriate enough. Most people came looking for entertainment, rather than to use the facilities for themselves.

“There are whole essence user teams who never become adventurers,” Hester explained as they arrived. She had met up with them after they were done at the Magic Society, leading them to the site of their evening’s entertainment. They joined the crowd likewise heading in through the large public entrances.

“They make all their money here in the arena, and use monster cores to rank up.”

“They can make enough money for that?” Belinda asked.

“They have competition leagues here at the arena,” Hester explained. “Teams facing off against one another all year, leading up to the grand championships. There are two leagues a year, in silver, bronze and iron divisions. Obviously, silver is the big draw, with the largest following and the biggest prizes.”

“No gold division?” Neil asked.

“Even with the money running through here, getting to gold rank using monster cores is a tough ask,” Hester said. “They just don’t have the numbers to make a gold division, which is why the handful of professionals successful enough stop using cores before they hit gold. Being at the peak of silver keeps them at the top of their game.”

“And because they used monster cores to get there,” Jason realised, “they’re well-past their abilities advancing through regular use and training.”

“Exactly,” Hester said. “They keep going until silver-rank longevity is no longer enough, at which point they retire and make their way to gold for the extended life span. This whole place is run by former participants who are all gold rank, now.”

“Is this common practice in big cities?” Jason asked.

“It is,” Humphrey said. “I’ve travelled to a number of large cities and seen the same thing in each.”

“Is it all PvP, or do they mix it up?” Jason asked.

“PvP?” Hester asked.

“Hot adventurer-on-adventurer action,” Jason clarified.

“There are three events, but the big one is the team-against-team arena battles,” Hester said. “They’re fast and exciting, with plenty of powers flying around. There’s also monster hunts, but they aren’t as popular. That tends to bring in competitors who are also active adventurers, but people prefer to see people go up against one another. Lastly is team conflict again, but in larger, more complex environments, with roaming monsters. It’s a slower, more complicated event that doesn’t interest the public as much. It mostly gets attention from the professional adventurer crowd.”

They went inside with the crowd but instead of the large viewing rooms for the general public, a member of the area staff took them upstairs to a private viewing box. It was a large lounge, with a front wall made of dark, impenetrable glass. Luxurious chairs and couches were arrayed in front of it and several low tables were filled with food and drinks.

“Aside from the more comfortable environs,” the staff member explained, “these private rooms differ from the public areas in that you can choose what you want to be looking at any given time. Any event, any division, any match, at your leisure. The projector is controlled from the tablet on the table there, which can also be used to order any food or drink you might want from our comprehensive selection and it will be brought right up.”

“Who do we pay for the snacks?” Neil asked her.

“All costs are included with the room,” the attendant told him.

“Then how are Clive and Belinda going to pay for them?”

“Us?” Belinda asked.

“Clearly you lost the bet,” Neil said.

“No way,” Belinda argued. “‘Mine is the shadow of death’ is way worse than the other chant.”

“You’re clearly wrong. The other one talked about killing gods. Gods!”

“It didn’t mention doing it personally. Don’t forget about that ‘final road to the end of all things’ bit.”

Clive went up to reassure the attendant, who was starting to look a little nervous.

“Don’t worry,” Clive assured her. “They’re just talking about our friend’s new familiars. We’ll be fine here; you can go.”

“Honestly,” Sophie said as she left, “The blood-drinking apocalypse beast is more sinister than either of them. I bet that incantation was the worst of the lot…”

The attendant hurried out, closing the door behind her.

“Am I mistaken,” Neil said, his eyes glued to the viewing screen, “or are these people really good. As in, really, really good.”

“They’re good,” Humphrey confirmed.

They were watching one of the iron-rank monster-hunt events, where teams would take turns hunting identical monsters in identical circumstances and be judged on their performance.

“How do you think we would stack-up against teams like this?” Clive asked.

“Poorly,” Jason said. “These people are at the top of their game in a city with a lot of game to climb over to get there. They’re obviously practised and work effectively together. My guess would be that they’re all closing in on bronze rank.”

“They are,” Hester said. “These are the best Jayapura has to offer and they are, indeed, closing in on bronze rank.”

“We’ll get there,” Humphrey said. “Training and experience, that’s all it is.”

“The only people on our team operating at this level right now,” Jason said, “are Humphrey and Neil. The rest of us have our strengths, but also critical flaws. Clive has been out of the game a long time and his power set is all about judging the circumstances and picking his moments. It’s the kind of thing only experience can improve. The same goes for Belinda but even more so, given she’s been an essence user for about an hour. She isn’t even ready for the Adventure Society field test.”

“We’ll get you there, Lindy,” Sophie assured her friend.

“Yes, we will,” Jason said. “Wexler has skills to match anyone out there but has too many abilities she hasn’t had a chance to get a handle on, yet. The same is true for all of us, to a degree. As for me, my power set doesn’t give me the margin of error Humphrey’s or Neil’s do, with armour and self-shields. I can be dropped in one hit if I get blind-sided and I’ve only been in this world half a year. I still have a lot of blind spots where the rest of you would see danger coming.”

“So, all those people who went into the astral space with us,” Clive said. “They were all this good?”

“No,” Hester said. “These people we’re watching today have already fulfilled whatever potential they had. When I was selecting people for the Reaper trials, Emir had me looking at unfulfilled potential. These people here are good, but the people who went through the trials have at least the potential to be as good or better.”

“And we beat them all,” Sophie said with satisfaction.

“That was luck,” Jason said. “Sigrid was almost as fast, and she wasn’t the only one to jump through that final ring.”

“You never told us what you saw, there at the end,” Clive said.

“Nor should he,” Hester said, her voice full of warning. “I checked-in with Emir, today, and there has been an unusual development. One of the others who reached that final stage has gone missing, along with everyone who accompanied them to Greenstone. Gone without a trace, leaving all their possessions behind.”

“Some secrets are best left dead and buried,” Jason said, “lest you be buried with them. I imagine that some of you will speculate as to the meaning of what happened. Keep that speculation to yourself, for all our sakes.”

“That mirrors the advice Emir asked me to impart,” Hester said. “I was going to wait until after we returned for the evening to tell you, but since the topic came up it seemed appropriate.”

Jason was frustrated at having no one to discuss it with, if only to act as a sounding board. As the others continued to watch the viewing screen, his mind was consumed with possibilities. If the Order of the Reaper wanted to remain secret, why would they act so blatantly? Were they preparing for a grand reappearance or were they not involved at all? If Jason wanted to kill someone who had also reached that secret last stage, the Order of the Reaper would make an intimidating, if risky patsy.

He reflected again on how in this world, the answer to every question and the solution to every problem was the same: get stronger. He had been putting off his final awakening stones for the Reaper trials and while he couldn’t be sure if the legendary stones he acquired were worth the delay, he suspected his new familiars were formidable.

He could feel them in his shadow and his aura, much as he could feel his first familiar inside his blood. They felt like power, waiting to be unleashed, and it was only the beginning. While Jason was still iron-rank, he still felt within the realms of a normal human, whatever Clive said about the strange inner workings of his body. Bronze-rank was the threshold beyond which the ordinary was left behind, surpassing even the most exceptional normal person.

The very concept of reaching those levels was bizarre and exciting. Stronger than an Olympic power-lifter and more agile than an Olympic gymnast at the same time. His perception was linked to his spirit attribute, which left him wondering what that would mean. Telescopic vision? Seeing the infrared spectrum, or hearing ultrasonic sounds?

In a world of monsters, magic, adventurers and cultists, it somehow was all acceptable. When considered within the context of his own world, it suddenly became impossible and absurd. Was there really a place for him there, anymore? Did he want it? Absently he took out the world-phoenix token, turning it over in his hands.

Knowledge told him it would take him home, but could he trust the words of the goddess? It looked very much like the Reaper token he had already used. Would it trigger another gift evolution? How was he meant to use it? The goddess told him that he lacked the faith in magic. Jason was no longer an atheist but that did not mean he was willing to jump into faith. He liked believing in things for good reason.

Sophie got up from her chair to grab some food and spotted Jason, uncharacteristically quiet as he looked at something in his hands. She crashed own next to him on the couch he was using.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” Jason said, putting the tablet away. “The future, maybe.”

The team were making their way through the streets of Jayapura, back toward Tilly’s nondescript tattoo parlour. As they floated along on their discs, the topic of discussion was postulation on the nature of Jason’s personal crest.

“I bet it’s just a picture of him with an idiotic grin and a sandwich,” Neil said.

“I think it’ll be something intimidating,” Clive said. “Look at his familiars. It’ll be all dark and spooky.”

“How is Jason in any way intimidating?” Neil asked.

“Try fighting him,” Sophie said. “I’m the only one here who’s done it for real. I had a well-executed plan, meticulous preparation and, as it turned out, a silver-ranker intervening on my behalf. Even then, it took a priest of the god of healing and an alchemist healer working together to keep me alive and he wasn’t even trying to kill me. He makes people like you think he’s an idiot because otherwise, they’d run for the hills.”

“She exaggerates,” Jason said. “I’m with Neil. I think it’s going to be sandwich-related.”

“What about you, Humphrey?” Clive asked. “You’ve known him longer than the rest of us.”

“I don’t know what his crest will be,” Humphrey said. “I suppose I can say what I want it to be.”

The others looked over at Humphrey, their interest piqued. Neil turned his eyes back to where he was going, though, when he almost drove his disc into a wall.

“What do you mean?” Sophie asked, looking between Humphrey and Jason. Humphrey’s expression was sober and thoughtful, Jason’s blank and unreadable. He had mostly stayed quiet during their guessing game.

“Jason is good at putting on masks to get what he wants,” Humphrey said. “He becomes what he needs to be to provoke the response he’s looking for, whether it’s absurd buffoon, or callous killer. I’ve seen him be friendly and approachable with ordinary people, sharp and provoking toward aristocrats. He’ll stare down silver-rankers and capitulate to his landlady. I’d like to see who he is under all that. Which parts of what he shows us is really who he is.”

The others all looked at Jason, who remained impassively silent.

“Damn,” Neil said. “That got heavy fast.”

The rest of the trip took place in awkward silence. When they reached the tattoo shop, Tilly took in the strange air over them and nodded toward the back room without saying anything.

Jason stripped off his shirt as Tilly adjusted the chair so she could work on his back. She took out a series of pots, some of which were faintly glowing, and set them out on a table, along with a set of brushes.

“You have the crest?”

Jason took the immortal crest out from his inventory. Tilly took a stick of chalk from her pocket, scrawling some symbols on it as Jason held it in place. Then she ushered him onto the chair, telling him to hold it to his chest. He did so, placing it over the sigil of his magic tattoo.

Tilly began drawing an intricate magical diagram on Jason’s back, using the brushes and paint she had set out. She would stop frequently, her face caught up in thought as if pondering what to do next. Sometimes she would make slow progress, a minute or more passing between strokes of the brush. Other times would be a fury of activity as she wildly applied whole sections, her seeming haste having no ill-effect on her precision.

Her brushes dipped into one pot after another as every part of Jason’s back was filled with tiny, precise lines and sigils. The diagram was drawn out in ordinary black, vibrant blue, shimmering silver and bright gold. Finally, she put down her brush and wheeled the table away, pulling up another one. She took out a rolled-up cloth and unfurled it on the table, revealing a dazzling array of needles. Some were silver, others, black, green, red and gold. She started pulling them out and poking them into Jason’s back, one after another. By the time she was done, Jason’s back was a forest of metal, the elaborate diagram completely obscured.

She moved away from the chair, taking out a tarp and setting it on the workshop floor.

“Get up and go stand on that,” she instructed and Jason did so.

“Now we wait,” she said.

They all stood in silence, Jason’s eyes glued to the floor. Sophie and Humphrey had their gazes locked on Jason while the others shared awkward glances. Just as the silence grew so heavy it felt like someone had to say something, there was a dull sound as a needle fell from Jason’s back and onto the tarp. It was followed by a second, third, rapidly increasing until they started cascading from his back to form a pile around his feet.

No one said anything for a moment.

“Well?” Neil asked, breaking the silence. “Turn around and let us see.”

“He sees first,” Tilly said, her tone brooking no dissent.  She took a sheet of dark glass the size of a large book, holding it behind Jason’s back for a moment, then passing to Jason to look at. He held the glass in his hands, staring for a long time at the image it had recorded from his back. Finally he nodded, handing the glass back to Tilly.

“It’s a good one,” she said, “but you don’t have to show them. You don’t have to show anyone, if you don’t want.”

“It’s fine,” Jason said, stepping carefully out of the needles at his feet. Then he turned around, allowing the others to see.

On his back was the image of a dark, empty cloak, not unlike his new familiar, Gordon. Around the cloak was a dark sky full of silver stars. Inside the cloak was an open blue sky, with a golden sun right where Gordon’s nebula eye was located, right in the middle of the chest.

“Is it shining?” Clive asked, squinting his eyes. Tilly walked over to the wall, tapping a crystal. Shutters came down over the windows and the glow-stones in the workshop dimmed to nothing. In the darkness, the only light was the faint flow of the sun and stars on Jason’s back. They softly illuminated his new crest, the silver stars highlighting the dark sky and the gold light of the sun lighting up the bright portion in the middle.

“It looks like the day, hidden in the night,” Humphrey said.

“Yep,” Sophie said. “That’s going to get you laid, alright.”