Orrin stumbled as he appeared on the road outside Dey. A few people glanced his way but he’d learned that teleportation magic wasn’t too rare.

Your Party Has Been Disbanded.

He stormed up to the line of people waiting to get through the gate.

That idiot.

The guard was checking a cart full of goats, moving them side to side as he hunted for something.

He doesn’t think about consequences. He just wants to play hero.

The guard said something to the cart driver and went back to moving the goats around.

He thinks I’m not affected by killing that guy? I’ve- the line moved up as Orrin realized he hadn’t really thought about it. I had a nightmare that night, right?

The guard was now making an adventurer take every item out of his bag. Orrin shook his head.

Still. He was out of line. I don’t butt into his life. I tried to save him from that truck; he just wasn’t paying enough attention. And if he wants to go play hero, I can figure it out myself.

Orrin stood in front of the guard.

“Business?”

“I live here,” Orrin grunted.

“Reason for leaving?”

“I was hunting dire rats for a quest.”

The guard looked Orrin over and chuckled, “All on your own?”

Orrin felt himself draw [Blood Mana] in a new way. The sun was still out in force, yet his vision felt dark. A smile crept across his face as the guard stepped back.

“All on my own.” he reached out towards the guard.

“Hurry up,” the man behind Orrin jostled him. His vision cleared.

The guard was staring wide-eyed at Orrin. Orrin blinked hard and dashed through the gate. Nobody stopped him.

Orrin ran all the way to the guild, tossed his coins for a single room on the counter, and slammed the door shut behind him

What was that?

He stared at himself in the small mirror over a sink. His eyes looked normal and the shadows he had felt earlier were gone.

I just need some sleep.

Orrin left his room the next morning and went back to Books, Books, Books! He’d spent so much time in and out of the different bookstores around Dey, the clerk recognized him instantly.

“Orrin! Welcome back, how did Daniel like that book on sword classes?”

“Hey Rick,” Orrin ignored the question. “I need to see all the books you have on vampires.”

Rick kept a professional face at the request but Orrin noted the eye twitch. “You’ve already bought our bestiaries.”

“I need more. I need to know about the weirder skills.”

Rick’s eye twitched again, “I’m not sure-“

Orrin took out 20 gold and put it on the counter. He’d learned quickly that Rick got a commission on every book sold.

“That’s for the first book.” Orrin pulled a handful out. “I’m going to leave with my arms full today.”

Rick left the counter and closed the door. He flipped the open sign to closed.

“Follow me.”

Books, Books, Books! was two stories, but Orrin had only been in the lower level. Rick took the rope off the stairs and beckoned Orrin up.

“What you’re looking for isn’t strictly illegal, but people can try to piece together requirements for those skills,” Rick explained. “So, we keep the rare ones up here.”

“I also want anything you have on mind skills.”

Rick stopped. “We have nothing like that, sir.”

“Rick, I can pay-“

“Orrin, most mind skills are illegal. We don’t keep books like that.”

Orrin kept his mouth shut. Getting in trouble was the last thing he wanted.

Rick pulled down two books from the shelves, Vampiric Data and Stake the Heart.

“These normally cost about 15 gold a piece,” Rick trailed off.

Orrin handed him another 15 gold. “The extra five is for you. As a tip.”

He turned to leave.

“Wait. Um. Listen.” Rick got in front of Orrin. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you look serious. Well, more serious that usual. And I don’t see Daniel, so...”

Orrin let the pause linger, giving him nothing.

“So- anyways. I know a guy. Well, I know of him. He’s an expert on mind magics and keeps to himself mostly but we deliver a few books to him on occasion if we come across them.”

“I’ll get you his address.” Rick turned back to his desk and scribbled something on a scrap of paper. “He might be able to help with whatever happened.”

“I didn’t say anything happened,” Orrin muttered.

Rick smiled. “You didn’t have to.”

Orrin holed himself up in his room and read the books he’d spent thousands of dollars on. Stake the Heart was useful if only in confirming that the [Vampire] class was killable. It dealt with the ways to identify a person who had taken the class or evolved another class into [Vampire]. It didn’t give specifics but Orrin could see why the book had been restricted.

Vampiric Data was dull. It was at least a hundred years old and listed every known killed Vampire the author had been able to confirm. It listed different skills witnessed and read like an insane person’s diary. However, one passage perked Orrin’s interest.

Of all the skills used by the vampyre fallen, the blood feast is the most universal. Each vampyre has some ability to turn blood to mana. Survivors mention darkness creeping in from every corner, as they lose themselves in the dark eyes of the vampyre.

That sounded suspiciously like [Blood Mana]. Had he tried to use it on that guard?

Orrin tossed the book in his [Dimension Hole] and left the guild. He walked the streets of Dey, buying snacks when he got hungry. He weighed the pros and cons of being a Vampire. It seemed every person who took the class gained slightly different abilities. Increased strength and dexterity were common, as was some shadow magic. One rumored bloodsucker could turn into a giant bat.

Imagine Daniel’s face if I could shape shift, Orrin slowed to a stop.

He had walked with no direction in mind but his feet had brought him to the address on Rick’s slip of paper. A small row of townhomes lined a treed street. The buildings seemed barely twice as wide as the doors, giving the entire road a haphazard look.

Why am I even here? He turned to leave, taking one last look at the mind mage’s home.

“Don’t stand out there all day,” the door opened a crack. “Come in and kill me. Let’s get this over with.”

Orrin looked around. Nobody else was nearby.

“Yes, I’m talking to you,” the voice continued. “Hurry up, I’m too old to wait.”

Orrin cautiously stepped up the three steps to the door and pushed in.

“Hello?”

“Don’t yell,” the voice came from further back and Orrin saw a small man move quickly from a doorframe. “I’m making some tea. Two drops of honey, right?”

Orrin felt frazzled. For the first time since landing in this world, he hesitated, unsure.

“Come in or leave, but don’t come back next week because you’ll be dead by then.”

Orrin stepped through the door and closed it. He walked down the long hallway filled with small paintings until he entered a cluttered kitchen. A shock of white hair stood up from the hunched bathrobe pouring tea into two cups.

“Sit,” the voice came again and Orrin realized it was in his head. “Of course it’s in your head. How else would I talk to you?”

The old man turned and stuck out his tongue, or at least a severed stump that had once been a tongue. He smiled merrily and put the cup of tea in front of Orrin.

“So, bad mind skill? Who sent you? Jonathan? No. Rick? That’s a first. I wonder if he could feel it. It is pressing hard against you, isn’t it? Headaches? Black-out spells? Murderous rage? Yes. Once. Sort-of. Hmm.”

“What the fuck is going on,” Orrin picked up his tea and sipped. Chamomile with honey, just like his mom made him when he was sick.

“Sorry, I could feel the aura coming off you three streets away. Thought you might be coming to kill little old me. You’re tucked into a skill of mine right now. Totally harmless unless I want it to be harmful but you seem okay so you’ll be fine.”

“You’ve hijacked my body?” But damn that tea is good.

“Thank you. I grow it myself. And yes.” It was a bit creepy watching the man smile into his tea as his voice appeared straight in Orrin’s mind. “Hijacked. Interesting word. I like it. So headaches. And what else? Depression? Anxiety? Apathy? Apathy! Strange.”

Orrin sat in silence as the man rambled. He couldn’t have been out of his fifties but the wrinkles on his face attested a hard life.

“Who are you?”

The old man’s eyebrows shot up. “Doesn’t even know who I am? What kind of mind mage is he? Not a mind mage. Utility Warder? Never heard of it.”

“Get out of my head,” Orrin growled.

The man fell back out of his chair like he’d been slapped. He stood slowly with blood running down both nostrils. The merry smile was gone and his eyes sparkled as he stood tall.

“That’s some power, kid.” The voice continued in the same timbre as before. “Be careful with that. I apologize for getting nosey but you did walk through my street.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll avoid it from now on.” Orrin tried to stand and made it halfway up before he slumped back again.

“Yes. Probably for the best. Don’t want the muckety-mucks to see us together or they’ll cry about conspiracies, and I don’t have time for that. My name is Anthony Ferandus, Tony to my friends. You can call me Anthony for now. Can I poke around a bit or do you really want to die?”

“Why do you keep saying that?” Orrin said through gritted teeth.

“What?”

“That I’m going to die?”

“Because you are. I need to look closer but I think two or more of your skills are tearing your brain apart.”

“What?”

Anthony’s voice sighed in his mind, “Look, I’m the resident mind mage expert because I can use a little telepathy and can root around in a sentient mind a little better than most. People with mind skill problems seem to be drawn to me. Either they try to kill me or I try to heal them.”

Orrin stuttered out, “Th-That’s insane.”

Anthony shrugged and grabbed a tin from his cupboard. “Cookie?”

Orrin ran through his options. There was no way he could let this guy go through his mind. He’d find out where he was from and-

“Oh, it’s active right now.”

“What?”

“Seriously, most people with some mind magic can say more than ‘what’?” Anthony complained. “You are using one of the skills right now. Or is it a spell? I can’t really tell.”

“I’m just thinking.”

“Show me your skills,” Anthony filled his cup up with more tea.

“No.”

“Ok. There’s the door. Bye.”

Orrin felt the pressure release and he stood. He started for the door and stopped.

“You’re just going to let me go?”

“I told you. You’ll be dead in a week. Two tops. And if you actually aren’t going to try and kill me, not my problem.”

Orrin sat back down slowly.

“I’ve got some ground rules,” he began.

“Me too,” Anthony shot back.

“No rooting around and reading my mind again. I’ve got secrets I’d like to keep.”

“Don’t do that force slap thing again and I’ll stay only in the guided lanes.”

“I- I don’t know what I did.”

Anthony sighed audibly, no mind projection. “Skills?” the voice asked.

Orrin pulled up his abilities and spells. He pulled [Blood Mana] out, as well as [Ward] and [Utility Ward]. Then he turned the box over to Anthony.

Anthony’s white eyebrows climbed back into his hair. Orrin was spared the ongoing commentary. He suddenly missed it.

“Where did you get [Mind Bastion]? I’ve never ever heard of this?”

Orrin thought of the walkthrough for his favorite game. You don’t have to use the underwater materia but it makes the fight easier. “Outside the lanes.”

Anthony harrumphed. “That seems to be the problem skill. I can see it lighting up right now as you try to distract yourself. It does more than just let you control your mind. You actually are numbing yourself. Great for small use but you’re just running it non-stop aren’t you?”

“I am?” Orrin stopped thinking about different nuts and greens.

“Yes, but that alone shouldn’t be enough to twist your aura up that much,” Anthony tapped his finger on his chin. He looked up, “You hid something didn’t you?”

“Just class unique spells.”

“Lie. I won’t pry, but if I don’t have all the data, you’ll be on your own.”

Orrin had just met this man and already given him more information that even Daniel probably had guessed. He couldn’t trust him with the knowledge of [Blood Mana].

“Shame and fear,” the voice said. “No. Not reading your thoughts, just emotions. I keep my word. Unless you have a skill that you will use to harm others unprovoked, I swear by my name to keep it a secret.”

“[Blood Mana],” Orrin offered the skill box.

“Oh you sweet fool,” Anthony’s face fell. “No. Not a vampire, but... You’ve been converting your own life energy to mana haven’t you? How much mana conversion have you been doing?”

Orrin started trying to do the math and stopped. “Multiple pools a day. Training non-stop. Eleven days of that.”

Anthony grimaced. “I’m going to talk. Listen carefully. I’ve never heard of [Blood Mana] outside of a vampire and they use somebody else’s blood. I’m not getting that reading off you, so your secret is safe with me. Don’t reveal that to anyone else. Later, if you survive, I’ll teach you how to rename your skill. It costs only 1 AP and you will need that. If some guard used [Identify] on you... Well, you’re still alive, that’s all that matters.

“You should be able to only use two or three mana pools a day, with mana potions. The NORMAL way to level. Anything after that, you’ll get a mana-headache, maybe pass out. Idiots who keep pushing bleed from everywhere and I do mean everywhere. At least one fool kills themselves of mana exhaustion each year.

“Your [Mind Bastion] has let you ignore the exhaustion and keep going. It also seems to make you a little dick but that could just be your regular personality. Everything has a cost though. [Mind Bastion] and [Blood Mana] would let you get around needing to rest after two or three pools. A good night rest and you’d be fine. If you turned off [Mind Bastion]. This is all guesswork but my skills make my guesses an artform.”

“So what, just turn of [Mind Bastion] and stop using too much mana?”

“NO!” Anthony yelled in his mind and tried to verbalize with his missing tongue as well. “No. I mean yes but not yet. You’ve been going too hard for too long. If you don’t turn it off, you’ll die when your body just can’t keep up with your mind. But when you turn it off, all that exhaustion is coming due.”

“So, I’ll sleep all night and be fine, right?”

“You’ll probably be hit with migraines, rolling blackouts, and more pain than you’ve ever felt. You could bleed from your eyes. You’ll vomit for sure. You’ll sleep for a few hours and then it’ll start again. If you’re really lucky, you’ll sleep longer. A few days maybe? I don’t know, I’m not a healer.”

“I am. I could heal myself and-“

“No. Listen. Any magic during your recovery could start it all over again.”

“So I need to just ride it out?”

Anthony gave a rueful smile. “Do you have someone to help? You’ll need lots of fresh water and broth. Cold, wet clothes. That sort of thing.”

“Yeah, Da-“ Orrin stopped. “No. No one.”

“Then may I welcome you to Anthony’s House for the Wayward Mind Mage. Specializing in recovery and subversion of errant mind skills. Initial evaluation is on the house but room and board is one gold a day.”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”

Anthony’s smile left his face. “We always have a choice.”

He put the cups in his small sink. “But I will see you through, if only to find out what else you are hiding from me?” he smirked over his shoulder.

“Ok. How do I turn off [Mind Bastion]?”