“Hi. I'm a friend of Red's.” Richard said the phrase to the woman working at the inn as calmly and quietly as he could. “She said she would meet up with me here?” If she doesn't know what I'm talking about, I can always just play dumb.

But it seemed she did. The woman serving drinks suddenly stopped and looked him up and down and nodded slowly. “What's your name?”

“Richard.”

“Ok. Follow me.” She led him into an empty small side room of the inn. Unlike the simple wooden tables in the rest of the inn, this table was nicer, and had nicer dishes and fancier silverware set up. She didn't say anything else until they were alone. “Someone is going to come by in a little while and talk to you. A friend of...Red's. Do you want something to eat?”

Richard nodded. He hadn't had anything but dried jerky and trail food for the past two days, and precious little of that. “How much?” Not that I know how much anything is supposed to cost, but at least I have some coins.

She shook her head. “Don't worry about it, a friend has you covered.”

Richard decided it wasn't wise to ask for more details, so he just nodded, sat down and waited. She brought out some meat stew and a chunk of plain dark bread, and a mug of ale. The food was not terribly fancy, but it was hot, and it smelled good, and Richard dug right in and started eating.

A few minutes later, a man in his 50's came into the room. “Hello. My name is Jehan Stevenson. I'm a friend of...Red's, and a priest of Ikar's. Please, don't let me interrupt your meal.”

Richard instinctively trusted the man, although he wasn't sure why. The man just had a kind face. “Is she ok?” Richard asked, while continuing to eat the stew.

The man nodded. “She is. If you don't mind, I'm going to ward this room against eavesdroppers before we discuss this any farther.”

Richard nodded, and Jehan walked around the room, tracing a finger lightly along the walls, and whispering under his breath. As soon as he had traced a line all the way around the room, there was a sudden silence; the constant background noise of talking and dishes clanking in the main room of the inn and the street sounds were suddenly gone, and suddenly the only thing Richard could hear was his own chewing.

“Ok. No one outside this room should be able to listen in on us here now. So yes, to answer your question, Evelyn is safe. She's just outside of town now, staying with friends.” He paused. “Do you know why it's dangerous for her to come into town?”

Richard nodded. “Yes, people are hunting for her, because of the whole wild magic thing.”

“And what do you think about the...whole wild magic thing?” Jehan's expression was blank, giving no hint of his emotions.

Richard hesitated, unsure of what answer Jehan was looking for, and then told him the truth. “I think that if Ikar had a problem with wild magic, then she wouldn't have been able to summon me with a wild magic spell, even as an accident.”

Jehan nodded slowly. “You, specifically, because you are...”

Richard hesitated, wondered if he was telling the man too much, but decided he might as well tell him at this point. “I am the Champion of Ikar.”

The man nodded, seeming unsurprised. “That's a pretty bold claim. There hasn't been a Champion of Ikar for decades, as far as anyone knows. Would you mind if I cast the Insight spell on you?”

Richard shook his head. “No, that's fine.”

Jehan put his finger to Richard's forehead, just like Evelyn had. “Omm lash tah insight om di di om insight om lash tah insight om di di om insight...”. It sounded like the exact same chant Evelyn had made; again, the word “insight” was in some ancient language, not the language people in this world normally spoke, but Richard understood it perfectly. A warm feeling touched the inside of Richard's brain.

“I see. Yes, you are clearly the Champion of Ikar, just like Evelyn said you were.” Jehan stood up and gave Richard a small bow. “I am at your service.”

Richard shook his head. “Please, don't do that. I haven't done anything yet.”

Jehan shook his head. “From what Evelyn told me, you've only been in this world for 3 days. She was terrified for you, thought you were helpless and vulnerable; we actually sent an adventurer I know down south into the forest to look for you. And not only did you find your way here on your own, in those 3 days, you've managed to acquire 9 skills, including 3 combat skills; by the looks of it you have probably fought in multiple battles, and it looks like you even killed something and collected a bounty on it?”

Richard coughed. “I got lucky. And I think two of those skills were ones I already had that this world recognized after I used them.”

“I think you don't understand how unusual what you've already accomplished is.” Jehan said. “Sure, you hear stories about a farm boy whose home gets attacked by orcs and somehow fights them off and after the fight gains a sword skill after 20 or 30 minutes of battle without other training and then goes off to become a hero, but really that kind of thing isn't all that common. Partly because people without skills who end up in combat usually die, but beyond that, learning skills is challenging, even in combat. I've never heard of someone learning 7 in 3 days.”

Richard paused, and thought. “Honestly, both times I ended up fighting something, I think I mostly got lucky.”

Jehan laughs. “Now that, I can believe. Champions of Ikar often get lucky.” He paused. “Do you mind telling me about your adventures after you separated from Evelyn?”

Richard told Jehan the story. Several times Jehan asked him to stop and describe things in more detail and seemed quite worried when Richard described the “warped men” aberrations he fought by the creek.

“We're going to have to make sure that area gets purified. Aberrations like that carry corruption and can spread it wherever they go. They're a huge danger.”

Richard finished the rest of his story, and Jehan nodded. “Your ability to learn skills is as exceptional as Evelyn said. I've never heard of anyone getting 3 different skill levels from a single battle before, certainly not from just throwing a couple of rocks and a dagger.”

Richard paused. “So...this might be a strange question, but...what am I supposed to do next?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do champions...do? What are they for? I mean, maybe that's a dumb question...”

Jehan shook his head. “It's not a dumb question, it's a very deep question. But it's not one I can answer.” He paused. “If history is any guide, it's likely that you will figure out for yourself what you should do, or can do, and it may be something no one else would have thought of. Every champion is different, and champions of Ikar are often...especially different.” He thought some more. “I will say that Evelyn was partly right; at the moment, you are quite vulnerable, and are probably at your greatest risk. A lot of champions have been killed right after they were named, and that goes double for otherworldly heroes. In fact, if the stories I've heard are true, it sounds like that may have happened less than a week ago, when Toran supposedly summoned a hero into the world who was killed almost immediately after the summoning”.

Richard coughed, almost choking on the stew he was eating.

“So, I think you need to decide on what you need or want to do next. And then I can give you advice and help, if you would like to have it.”

Richard nodded, and thought. What should I do next? A lot of half-formed thoughts bounced around his head.

“I have one suggestion. I saw in your status that you have an education; I presume you know how to read and write?”

Richard nodded.

“Reading and writing are skills, in this world; if you can demonstrate that you know how to do them, it should be quick to earn them both. Getting those two skills might give you another level in Human, if they're high level enough, and those two skills can also give you a class. So, to kill two birds with one stone, how about you start by writing down a list of what it is that you think you need or want to do first? Just write down anything, start thinking.” Jehan pulled out a rough piece of parchment, and a pen, and handed them to Richard.

“Ok. I can do that.” Richard often organized his thoughts by writing down lists, and this seemed like a good way to do it. Ok, what do I need to do. Short term priorities, something to get me started.

My priorities:

1. Learn the skills I need to defend myself and stay alive

More running skills? Sword fighting? ? I don't even know what else there is.

2. Get more information

Politics of this area? Monsters? Where do they come from? How does this world work? Are there laws of science here at all? Is there any earth technology I can make here? Do I even know how to make any earth technology? Spend some time thinking about this later. How can I make money in this world? Everything and anything really.

3. Magic

MAGIC No, really, MAGIC How can magic be a thing I want to learn how to do magic I really, really, really want to learn how to do magic How does magic really work, can I figure out stuff about magic people here wouldn't have thought of maybe?

4. Class?

How do I get a class? What do I need to do? What classes are there?

5. Stats

Need to get some of my stats up. Exercise I guess to raise stats? How else can I gain stats?

6. Make a long-term plan.

Save the world?

Richard paused, and thought for a second, and then wrote down one more thing.

7. Buy some shoes.

Richard handed back the scroll to Jehan, and as soon as he did, a message popped up.

Skill level confirmed: Writing (5)

Jehan read what Richard had written, and by the end of the list was laughing hysterically.

You have earned +3 humor points

Once Jehan stopped laughing, Richard asked “I probably should have written down questions about the divine class too. I just earned 3 humor points; do you get those every time you make a joke or something?”

Jehan shook his head, still chuckling. “Not really. At least, not quickly. The quick way to get divine virtue points is to use the divine virtues in a good cause, to advance your goals and the goals of Ikar. Every time you get 100 points in one of the virtues, you get a level in your divine class.”

Jehan pulled himself together, finally. “Ok. There's a couple of things here I can answer quickly. You get a class by meeting certain requirements, usually you have to train 3 or 4 specific skills up to a certain level, or 2 skills for a minor class. Sometimes there's other things you have to do as well. For example, if you wanted to become a Defensive Fighter, you would train the sword weapon skill up to about level 4, Shield Block up to about level 3, and Armor Proficiency up to level 2. When you get all that, you get the Defensive Fighter class at level 1, or maybe higher if some of those skills are really high. The only thing it costs you is that those skills no longer count towards your human experience, so it'll take you longer to get your next level in human, but most people would rather get levels in a class anyway.”

He thought for a minute. “For most people, if you want to learn a trade, say a blacksmith, you take 6 months to a year working full time as an apprentice blacksmith, training up your skills until you can unlock the class. A lot of people around here also unlock a combat class, so they can better defend themselves, but if you're training 10 hours a week in the town's militia practice, it still takes you 2 years to unlock a class like Archer or Spearman. That is, for most people. You could probably do it a great deal faster.”

Richard nodded.

“Ok. I don't know what you mean by everything on this list exactly, but the things on here seem like a good place to get started. Looking at this list, what on here do you want to do first? What do you care about the most?”

Richard hesitated, but really, he already knew the answer. He pointed to “magic”.

Jehan smiled. “I thought you would say that.” He chuckled. “Honestly, based on some historical champions of Ikar, I'm mostly just glad your first priority isn't to learn the skill 'Thrown weapon: pies.'”

Richard chuckled, although he wasn't sure if Jehan was kidding.

“Ok. So, magic. Most of the 'magic' I know are actually divine spells, which are granted by a god to his divine classes. You might get some of those from your champion class eventually, I'm not sure. But I know a few arcane magic spells as well, they're certainly useful and most people can at least learn a few basic ones if they want.”

“Like that insight spell?”

Jehan nodded. “Yes, very good. When using an arcane spell, there's usually a combination of a formal spell chant or rune or something to help give the spell shape, and the will of the caster to focus the fine details. That's the basic idea, anyway. You can try it right now, if you want.” Richard nodded, and Jehan continued. “You want me to write down what you should chant?”

Richard shook his head. “No thanks, I've heard it twice now and it's easy enough to remember.” Jehan looked surprised by that but nodded. “Can I try it now, do you mind? Is it safe?”

“Yes, it's safe, I've never heard of anyone managing to injure themselves with an insight spell. Go ahead and give it a try.”

Richard gently put a finger to Jehan's forehead, just like Jehan had done to him a few minutes earlier. Jehan nodded, and Richard started to chant.

“Omm lash tah insight om di di om insight om lash tah insight om di di om insight...”.

A few minutes later, Richard felt a warm pulse pass through his finger and into Jehan's head and saw Jehan's status sheet.

Name: Jehan Stevenson

Race: Human (?)

Classes: Blacksmith(?)

Brawler(?)

Scribe(?)

Age: 54

Strength: ?

Dexterity: ?

Constitution: ?

Endurance: ?

Intelligence: ?

Wisdom: ?

Perception: ?

Charisma: ?

HP: ?

SP: ?

MP: ?

MP Regen: ?

Divine Class: Priest of Ikar (?)

Humor: ?

Cunning: ?

High Stakes: ?

?

Special traits:

?

Skills:

?

Achievements:

?

A minute later, a few more notifications popped up for Richard:

You have learned the spell Insight (1)

By learning an arcane spell, you have revealed the hidden stats MP and MP Regen

“So, you're a brawler, huh?”

Jehan laughed. “Yes, I have some levels in that. Folly of my misspent youth. I suppose the spell worked?”

Richard nodded. “Kind of. I couldn't see much detail though, just your name and classes.”

“Still quite impressive that you could learn a spell that quickly. If you want, you can try again, and this time put a little more energy into it, see if you do it better.”

“Ok. How can I put more energy into a spell?”

Jehan looked at him. “Remember what I said before? Part of how most spells go is your will. Focus on what you want, and how you want it. The more of your will you put into it, the more potent the spell will be.”

Richard nodded, and thought. What he wanted most of all was really the same thing he always wanted. He wanted to know. He wanted to understand. He understood almost nothing about anything around him, about the universe he was in or how anything in it worked, and he needed to understand. Once he allowed it to, his curiosity burned in his mind. He needed to understand everything, from the smallest particle of matter, to the farthest star, and there were truths here that could change everything he understood about the universe. I mean…MAGIC.

That intense desire to know, to understand, burned through his brain. Curiosity had always been the strongest urge he felt in his life, often overriding common sense, and he focused on that emotion, and thought about it. I want to see classes, I want to see skills, I want to see levels, I need to understand all of this, I need more hard facts, so I can understand. He started chanting again. “Omm lash tah insight om di di om insight om lash tah insight om di di om insight...”. Richard wanted to understand more than anything, and he put all of that energy into the spell.

That was his first mistake.

His second mistake was that he was focusing so hard on his burning curiosity itself, he forgot to focus on Jehan specifically.

Richard could feel the warm energy of the spell flow down his arm and burst out through his hand, and it didn't just go to Jehan. It went...everywhere.

He could feel everyone in the inn and got a flash of insight from every one of them. Not much, usually just a name or a class, but enough for another blue box to pop up in front of his eyes. Then it was everyone on the street. Then farther. Then father. The energy from the spell spilled out, and dozens, hundreds, all flashing in front of his eyes, and it was more then he could stand. He squeezed his eyes closed, but the flashing continued. It just got faster and more painful.

The last one, he only saw for a second, but this one he remembered.

Name: ???

Race: Human (?)

Classes:

Corrupted Mage(?)

Corrupted summoner(?)

Scribe(?)

Age: ?

Strength: ?

Dexterity: ?

Constitution: ?

Endurance: ?

Intelligence: ?

Wisdom: ?

Perception: ?

Charisma: ?

HP: ?

SP: ?

MP: ?

MP Regen: ?

There was something dark and terrible about the sensation of touching this person's mind. It felt like Richard was suddenly wading through sewage. Then, worst of all, Richard felt the mind turn its focus on him, and Richard knew that that person could sense him in his mind. There was a snapping sound, like a whip, and Richard was suddenly ejected from that person's mind. The spell was broken, and everything went dark.

When Richard regained consciousness, he was lying on the floor next to his chair, and Jehan was standing over him. “I'm glad you're ok. I just did a diagnosis spell on you, and it looks like it was just mana exhaustion and maybe some spell backlash, nothing too serious. You managed to dump something like 140 mp into that insight spell.” Jehan chuckled. “You shouldn't even be able to put anywhere close to that that much mana into an insight spell, I'm not really sure how you managed it...”

“Jehan. We have a problem. I touched the minds of hundreds of people, everyone in the area probably, and someone near here has the classes “corrupted mage” and “corrupted summoner'. I'm guessing that's bad.”

Jehan nodded, his face suddenly serious. “Yes, yes, it is. Did you get their name?”

“No, just their classes, but whoever it is, I think they felt my intrusion into their mind. I think they know that someone found them.” Richard paused. “Would that be enough for someone to find me?”

Jehan looked uncertain. “Maybe. I'm not an expert on this kind of magic, but they might at least be able to feel what direction you were in. And I think mages need to have the Magic Sight skill, so if they were paying attention they could have seen your spell, even from miles away. It was...pretty unsubtle. You actually gave me a bit of a headache. If you're right, and he noticed you, he probably doesn't know exactly who you are, but might have a good guess about roughly where you are right now.”

Richard groaned. “We have to assume that corrupted summoner is going to come here and is going to try to kill anyone who might have found out his class. We need get away from here, right now. How long was I unconscious for?”

“About ten minutes, but I didn't hear anything...” Jehan suddenly stopped. “...Of course, with that ward running, I wouldn't hear anything from outside this room, would I...”

Jehan carefully opened the door to the main room of the inn, and they saw a horror show. A whole pack of warped men, with long black burned looking limbs stretched out like taffy, were tearing apart the place. It looked like most of the people had managed to flee out through the inn’s exit, but there were a few bodies on the floor between the long wooden tables and benches demonstrating that not everyone had managed to do so.

As one, the pack of abominations stopped and turned, and looked at Jehan and Richard. Eight of them were in the main room of the tavern, and there was no other way out except part them. Slowly they started shambling towards the two of them.