I felt something click inside me, like a gear that realigned into another, like two electrical wires that were suddenly connected, a current sparking between them.

[Welcome to Novazem, transient soul.]

[Solve Equation for Full System activation: 71x0+9x5-99+1212= ]

[I did it! I fixed the [Tether], got your soul fully connected! Shower me in praises and compliments!] Delta yelled. [Hurry and get your System up so you can give me a hug, damn it. I’m freaking dying over here from hug-deprivation!]

[Will I get all of my skills and Levels back when I do?] I thought.

[Yeah, they're bound to your soul - not your body,] she replied with a big smile. [All of them are still there. Answer the damn prompt so...]

[No,] I shot back.

[But why?!] She lamented.

[Not yet,] I replied mentally. It wasn't time to get my levels back, yet. I leaned towards Kliss.

“Use Identify on me now, friend," I whispered to her. "See what I am. Show the class. Tell everyone about aberrations.”

She perked up at my words.

“Now, I am here to teach you about magic. The base spell that comes with high [Intelligence] stat is [Identify]!" Kliss stood up. "I will weave it for you slowly and test it on pupil Alan. Don’t worry, Dante... it won’t hurt a bit.”

She weaved a bright, very large hexagram for [Identify] in the air with her finger and the class made eager, fascinated noises. When she was done, the hexagram flashed and the spell struck me.

“My Identify spell just told me that Dante is level zero. His Soul-spark hasn’t ignited, because his Song of the Soul hasn't been attuned by wisdom!” Kliss spoke to the class. “Just like many of you gathered here today, Dante is also eager to learn about the most dangerous of creatures of all - aberrations!"

Kliss paced around the desk I was occupying.

"Why are they more dangerous than beasts of the forest? Because they are hard to spot without using high-level Evaluation artefacts. Aberrations are ghosts, spirits, corrupted memories of beasts or even men. Things that refuse to die. They are also known as Phantoms. They find a body that’s been weakened...”

Kliss repeated the same information told to me by my mom twelve years ago. She made a pause to take a breath.

“The main mission of the Church of Equality is to make sure no demons take the bodies of unborn children. The Overseers across the Empire make all midwives disclose the level of children at birth. A phantom's skills carry over into the body it invades. Once it is inside a human, it cannot be banished by a mere hex-lantern.

"An aberration is fueled by constant hunger for souls of the living. It cannot help but bring up the level of the child, developing insidious skills. Once it feels that it is strong enough, it begins to kill. An aberration's goal is to gain absolute power. When it kills it does not make a distinction between people and beasts.

“We help the citizens of the Empire set up lanterns that keep the Phantoms away. You’re all safe from Phantoms that desire to feast on your soul as long as you stay on the lit path,” she boasted. “All of the great cities of the Empire are lit with eternal tower-beacons. The Imperial roadways are protected by a million hex-lanterns!"

She had gotten into the role of the Instructor, forgotten about me briefly as she loudly narrated.

"The Empire-wide network of beacons that keeps our people safe was built upon the orders of Empress Hallia eight hundred and forty one years ago. An aberration claimed her father’s soul in the battle of Numki - what had returned back from the war wasn’t a man, but a monster. A power-crazed ghost wearing the flesh of Emperor Gabon had nearly destroyed the Empire from within. Gabon's daughter Hallia caught him feasting on human flesh and killed him when his back was turned.”

Interesting. The Empire knew about the Astral Ocean, feared its denizens because of a historic precedent.

Kovac saw that the Overseer wasn't as scary as he thought. He felt brave enough to ask her a question too.

“O-overseer, why is it that people are unable to level up until their Soul-Song is unlocked by maths, but bugs, trees and creatures immediately start gaining levels?” He inquired.

“All creatures are touched by Equality, but humans hold a special place in her heart,” Kliss replied. “We are smarter, more dangerous than beasts. A thousand years ago, Equality saw that foolish Arch-Wizards ceaselessly fought against Arch-Mages of opposing nations, carelessly ravaging her creation. In her Divine wisdom, she took the Soul-Songs away from humanity, granting its use only to those who could pass her test of wisdom - mathematics!”

“So, Goddess Equality created the Sy… Soul-Song?” I asked, nearly calling it ‘The System’. Clearly, Kliss and others didn’t perceive the System the same way I did. I wondered if people who couldn't read had the messages sung to them or something.

“Indeed she has!” Kliss passionately declared. “Every Quest granted by it is a test from our Goddess! How can you not know this?!” Her green eyes flashed at me. “Has Instructor Wiklogg not taught you such basic facts?”

“Instructor Wiklogg hasn’t taught us anything of value!” I shouted back at her. “He’s an ignorant, abusive, vile man! If you are indeed my friend, you should dismiss him from his position.”

“Dismiss him?” Kliss blinked. Her face twitched. “And replace him with whom? Do you know anyone else in Skyisle that can read Imperial Commens? As Overseer it is my responsibility to teach the local children Imperial law and language.”

“My Great-Aunt Delta is able to read Imperial Commens,” I declared. “She knows many languages from her travels. You remember my Great-Aunt, don’t you… Overseer? She showed you her bees twelve years ago. She’s back to Skyisle!”

Kliss jolted at the name. For a brief moment pure terror flashed in her eyes.

“G-great-Aunt Delta?” She stammered. “W-well, she would have to come in for an i-interview. I have to make sure she is a good match for the position. An Instructor must know many things to qualify. Does she know mathematics well enough to teach young pupils to ignite their Soul-Spark?”

“Great-Aunt Delta’s colleague Vladislav Kerenski is a Professor of the Emerald City Academia, specializing in mathematics. He taught her everything she knows!” I announced. “I’m certain that she can teach everyone here how to unlock their Soul-Song! Professor Kerenski will help out too!"

Delta rolled her eyes at me.

"Is Professor Kerenski staying in Agamemnon?” Kliss asked.

“No, but Great-Aunt Delta will bring him with her. I’m his… apprentice.” I said with a wide grin. If Delta and I became Instructors at the Skyisle’s Church of Equality, we could uplift an entire generation, teach every pupil of Skyisle what we knew!

The Overseer’s eye twitched, her mouth opened wide. She clearly couldn't believe it - a kid from a tiny mountain village, far from the towers of Agamemnon was already somehow apprenticed to a Wizard.

"Rings of Lunaria! You never told me that you're a wizard’s apprentice!" Kovac gasped.

"It's a recent thing," I shrugged casually. “My Great-Aunt Delta introduced me to Professor Kerenski after she got back from her twelve-year pilgrimage this week! He said I have great potential.”

Kliss gulped. In her mind there were now two powerful Wizards at my back. From what I knew from Instructor Wiklogg’s lessons - Imperial Wizards protected their apprentices like their own left hand.

I thought of another question to ask her, curious to learn more about what lay beneath the Eastern edge. “What is the Valley of Death, Overseer?”

She exhaled deeply, recomposing herself. “The Valley of Death, as the people of Skyisle call it… is known as the magogenic fault 18 by the Imperial scholars. It is a deep, dangerous scar upon the mountains left more than a thousand years ago by the war between powerful warring nations.”

“Eighteen? Does this mean that there are others?” I asked.

“Indeed,” Kliss nodded. “There are hundreds of magogenic faults across the known world and they are all incredibly dangerous. You must never, ever go into the Valley of Death.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Everything in the magogenic fault 18 is corrupted, poisonous to humans - every grain of sand, every hill, every drop of water in its rivers and lakes!” She spoke darkly. “Every tree, shrub and creature is cursed. Even the air is poisoned. In the year 8038 an Imperial war-ship Titanius 441 sailed through the valley. The last message from them sent to the nearby warships were screams of horror, cries that their flesh was peeling off from their bones. The sky-ship 441 lies there still. No walls, no magisteel armor nor defense spells can stop the effulgence of death emanating from the heart of the fault.”

Invisible… touch of death? Could it be Radiation? The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

“If any of you wish to have a future, you must leave Skyisle when you reach level twenty. The curse emanating from the Valley of Death will not let you advance any further,” Kliss said with a ping of sadness in her voice. “I cannot pass Level 24 myself, but such is my solemn duty to watch over and protect the people of Skyisle, including you and your family… pupil Alan.”

Why would Radiation take away people’s ability to level up? Maybe something else was to blame?

“Is the curse getting worse?” I asked.

“Yes. The touch of death spreads. Skyisle has no future,” Kliss affirmed. “Agromancers like your mother have been finding more and more corrupted seedlings and cursed weeds contaminated with it. The wind and creatures carry the curse out of the valley. Your people have been growing weaker, fighting a losing battle against an invisible enemy for forty generations. I have been talking to the Elders and Guilds, trying to convince them to relocate. Alas, many of them reject my wisdom, refusing to abandon their homes.”

Damn it. This was bad news. I needed to build a Geiger Counter as soon as possible!

“You can’t just demand everyone to relocate?” I asked.

“I am Skyisle’s protector, not its ruler. I dispense justice, kill beasts and punish criminals. I cannot tell your people what to do. I have taken an Overseer’s Oath before I came here,” she said.

I raised an eyebrow. “What is the Overseer’s Oath?”

“A Vow to enforce the Divine Laws of Equality. To kill Aberrations wherever they appear,” she said, staring right at me, trembling ever so slightly. There was regret, sadness, despair in her eyes. She clearly didn’t want to be in Skyisle, yet she stayed here for twelve years. Did the Vow force her to stay here as Overseer?

I noted how miserable she appeared. She was tense, twisted up, broken and I finally understood her. She had two Vows on her soul - one to uphold the Imperial laws and the other to protect my family. Both of them working together had trapped her in Skyisle, bound her to this ‘cursed’ village like invisible chains.

[Excuses!] Delta growled. [Disable her and let me eat her treacherous soul, I've been starving in the deep long enough!]

“What happens if a high-level beast injures you critically?” I pried, wanting to know what would theoretically happen if Delta ate Kliss. “Who will take care of us then?”

“I send daily codes and reports to my superiors in the Empire,” Kliss replied. “If the correct code and report is not received, they will send a sky-ship. If I die, high-level Seer mages will be flown in to the Valley to find out how and why I perished. An Imperial Tribunal will be held and those responsible will be executed, be it beasts or men. Then... another, far, FAR more experienced Overseer will take over. The normal period of an Overseer’s position is four years. I care for your people, so… I will be renewing my contract for the 4th time soon…”

As she spoke, her hands trembled. She was clearly lying to me and to her Vow. She didn’t want to be here. It was my fault she was stuck in Skyisle. It was the fault of the Overseer’s Oath that she killed me. The Vows weren’t just limits. They were insidious things that grew and festered inside a person.

There was deep regret, pain in the eyes of Kliss Cessna. I had no way to help her. I had no idea, no clue how to break the Oaths upon her soul, short of killing her, bringing her back to life and leaving her soul-less. I didn’t even know if she was a prisoner of the Vows or if she really believed in the Laws of Equality.

As I contemplated things over, the Overseer demonstrated some more types of high level spells to the kids, answered a bunch of questions the answers to which I already knew and then the class ended.

Kovac shot me a look of “sucks to be you” and “sorry you’re such a dunderhead” as he left.

As the other students slowly departed, I stood up and walked to the stained glass window, looking out onto Skyisle valley.

[Delta?] I thought.

[Yeah?] The ghostly girl beside me asked.

[Go get the bees from the attic. We need to talk to Overseer Kliss, alone,] I sent. [I’ll open one of the stained glass windows after everyone’s gone to let them in. I got cleaning duties.]

[They’re still there?] She blinked.

[Yeah, one of them stung me in the neck last week, when I poked your nest with a stick,] I mentally commented.

Delta sighed sadly. She didn’t want to leave me so soon after waking me up.

I reached out and opened the blue stained glass window sticking my hand into the open air. The Infoscope flashed out of my palm like a large star, trailing shimmering tendrils behind it. She quickly vanished in the distance.

I examined my reflection in the glass. I looked older than a twelve year old boy would on Earth.

By my new assessment I looked around fourteen, or even sixteen in Earth-years. I had deep, dark shadows under my sunken silver-blue eyes. Either the days and years on Skyisle were longer, skewing my perception of a person's age or people simply aged faster due to living next to the magogenic fault. I had personally studied the affects of radiation on the Kazakh people who lived next to the Semipalatinsk Polygon. I knew that radiation could cause DNA damage, genomic instability, telomere erosion, oxidative stress, tissue inflammation and cellular senescence. Living next to the Valley of Death and whatever it contained was probably also not very healthy.

I examined the silver scar on my face in the reflection. It looked as if parts of my skin crystallized around it, turning white and transparent. I had no idea what the biological consequences of living without a soul were. It was also possible that the lack of soul plus [Cellular Decay] affliction given to me by the Rewind had catastrophically screwed up my telomeres.

Everything that seemed fantastic and overpowered at first... had a cost. Pulling chromosomes from the Astral attracted the attention of a dangerous high-level phantom. The Vows were a monkey's paw of wishes, a trap for idiots and desperate wizards, turned out to be monstrous, mind-controlling, soul-binding magical constructs. Messing with Rewind was probably aging me faster. Skyisle was besieged by phantoms and was sinking deeper into the magogenic fault with each year. Kliss said that my home had no future.

If I was still an adolescent named Dante and I was faced with these indisputable, painful facts I would probably have a breakdown right then and there... but I wasn't just Dante. I was Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski and I had conquered, halted the hands of death in another world through my vaccines... and I believed, knew in my heart that I could do it once again with magic, here in Novazem.