Teva’ryn was of no noble bloodline, but as a guardsman he had seen his fair share of luxurious mansions. Yet for all that he had seen, the upper ring of Fortram amazed him anyway.

It was the stark contrast with the lower ring that shocked him the most. The streets were undisturbed-empty here, save for the ornery metal-machines standing on almost every corner. Guarding the peace, perhaps? Large, impressive houses lined up the streets with gardens that any Sylven Lord would have been envious of. There was not a single slave in sight, but Teva’ryn would occasionally spot a skeletal abomination tending to the rich Humans’ needs.

He and Imaya looked awfully out of place, even in the tidy-clean clothes that Randel and Devi had given them. Players were free to approach the World Seed however, and so no one had the right to kick Teva’ryn and Imaya out of the upper ring—purportedly. Teva’ryn kept an eye out for trouble, just in case.

“Look! There it is,” Imaya said, skipping ahead excitedly.

Teva’ryn jogged after her, noting the increased amount of guard-machines spread around the square he had arrived to. There were eight—no, ten of the machines, sturdier than the ones Teva’ryn had seen before. In the middle of the neatly-paved square lay the object of Imaya’s interest; a large gray globe, halfway-sunk into the ground. This was heart of the city? One of the center-pieces of this planet? It was a dull hemisphere with a smooth surface, smaller than the buildings around it!

“Woah,” Imaya said, coming to a halt in front of the World Seed. “Can you feel it too, Teva’ryn?”

Indeed, Teva’ryn felt something aside from disappointment; a tugging sensation around his neck, coming from his collar. The closer he got to the World Seed, the harder it became to breathe—just enough to make him uncomfortable, but not to suffocate him. Imaya touched the World Seed and the smooth gray material rippled, swallowing her hand as if it was made out of water. It made Teva’ryn nervous, but Imaya didn’t seem to be concerned by it. She turned back to Teva’ryn with a smile.

“See you soon!”

She then pressed forward, stepping into the gray globe. Teva’ryn gulped, watching the spot Imaya disappeared at. He reached out and poked at it with a finger, making the sphere’s surface ripple a bit. He then glanced at the metal-machines behind him, feeling their sightless stare on his back. It felt as if they were judging him, comparing his bravery to that of a small Human woman. Teva’ryn squared his jaw, then plunged into the World Seed.

He was inside, yet not inside. He didn’t see Imaya—in fact, the place was empty. Green light seeped through the dome of smoke above him, like a dying sun setting behind the storm-clouds. The ink-black floor beneath Teva’ryn’s feet seemed to be endlessly deep like the Abyss, yet he was standing on solid ground. Teva’ryn shivered, quickly looking away. The last peculiar thing was a shining window in the center of this place, similar to his collar’s projection except much larger. Teva’ryn walked tentatively closer and read the text on the apparition.

Allowance

Shop

Storage

Messaging

History

It was the main page of a more complex system, that much was clear. Did it work with thoughts too, like the contraption around his neck? Teva’ryn focused on the first floating word and willed to know more about it. The shining texts suddenly flew apart, and Teva’ryn jumped back to avoid colliding with them. Eldritch magic! What had he done? The words Shop, Storage, Messaging, and History surrounded him from every direction, floating at an arm’s length. Teva’ryn swiped an arm at them, willing the sneaky eldritch lights to back off—and surprisingly, they did.

Teva’ryn cast one last wary glance at the four floating words, then turned back to the fifth one. The window containing it was largely empty; Player Allowance was written on the top, with bold green numbers informing Teva’ryn that he had 2381 credits available. Devi had warned him about this already; a thousand credits was a lot of money, but it would be gone quickly if he wanted to get anything from the Seed Shop. Teva’ryn saw no guarantee that he would receive more money as Player Allowance, so until he knew better he would try to save as much money as possible.

He mentally asked for five gold coins, five silver coins, and five copper coins, hoping that this place was able to exchange currencies. Smoke-wisps broke free from the high-domed ceiling at his request, shooting toward him—much to his distress. The unnatural smoke swirled and twisted in front of him, forming small metallic disks that floated in the air.

“Even more eldritch witchery,” Teva’ryn grumbled, forgetting himself. His voice had absolutely no echo in this empty space of smokes and mirrors.

“Hmm.”

He plucked a coin out of the air, inspecting the hornless Human head on it. Why was the head imprinted onto the metal? Humans seemed to harbor an odd fondness for impractical things.

Teva’ryn gathered the coins and put them in the pocket of his baggy legwear, then turned to locate the Shop next. This time Teva’ryn was prepared for the light-jumble as the new screen appeared in the air, but he did not expect the sheer amount of items that this screen held. There were all sorts of featured merchandise, vying for his attention like market-vendors. Teva’ryn read only a few of the headlines.

Purse of Holding – 3500 credits

Backpack of Limited Holding – 5900 credits

Explorers’ Endless Rope – 1900 credits

Some of the wares had pictures to represent how they looked like. Some pictures even moved on its own, showing how the items can be used! Teva’ryn pointed to his left, willing the list of items shift so that he could see the others. It took him some time to get the hang of giving orders to the floating lights with his mind, but soon he found some weapons.

The Vaporizer – 6950 credits

Transforming chain-sickle – 22500 credits

Trial-edged axe– 4890 credits

Trustful Sword of Destiny – 99000 credits

Just as expected; there wasn’t much Teva’ryn could afford from this place, and so he would have to buy the essentials from the people of Fortram instead. His first stop was going to be a blacksmith to see how much common-made swords cost. Surely not thousands of gold coins, did they?

Teva’ryn stepped back from the Shop window, knowing he wouldn’t find anything useful there. He considered the other screens. The Storage was probably for stashing his possessions … but he didn’t have any possessions. Teva’ryn narrowed his eyes. The Messaging glyphs were blinking like a fluttering candle-flame, and he was sure it hadn’t done that before. Was the contraption faulty, perhaps? Teva’ryn willed the Messaging screen to open.

You have 1 unread message.

Teva’ryn nodded slowly, then requested the World Seed to show him the message. Another nigh-empty screen appeared in front of him, with Imaya’s smiling face on top and a single line below it.

[Imaya] Heyyy Teva’ryn, look what I’ve found! :D So cool!

Teva’ryn blinked, taken aback by the message. Was it really from Imaya? It was written in Sylven glyphs, though it contained some strange symbols and words that didn’t make much sense. Perhaps his Messaging screen was indeed faulty, but … would it be possible to respond?

“Greetings, Imaya,” Teva’ryn spoke out loud. “Is that really you?”

Suddenly, all of what Teva’ryn had said appeared on the screen at once. Teva’ryn nodded in approval, impressed by this strange magic. He didn’t have to wait long for Imaya to message again.

[Imaya] OMG

[Imaya] This thing translated what you said!

[Imaya] Awesome! :D

[Imaya] Teva’ryn you know what this means, right? RIGHT?!

[Imaya] We can finally speak properly! <3

“Yes, we—” Teva’ryn started to reply, but more texts appeared on his screen.

[Imaya] :O That’s not the emote-icon I meant to send, sorry! :3

[Imaya] Why can’t I edit my earlier messages? *pouty-face*

[Imaya] this chat window is sooo last-decade… so lame for such a high-tech stuff

[Imaya] anyway

[Imaya] pls tell me this translates both ways

[Imaya] you can read what I write, right?

“Yes, I do,” Teva’ryn said, smiling. “I’m glad.”

There was a few heartbeats of pause before Imaya wrote again.

[Imaya] hehehe

[Imaya] I’m glad too. :)

Another brief pause.

[Imaya] sooo, did you buy anything from the Shop?

[Teva’ryn] No, I didn’t. I want to plan properly what to buy.

[Imaya] right?! me too! :3

[Imaya] there’s just so much stuff in there, and I haven’t even decided on my character build yet

[Imaya] hey

[Imaya] now that we understand each other

[Imaya] Can I ask what kind of weapon you prefer? :))

[Imaya] Is it swords? Short-swords?

[Imaya] you were really good with the one you had!

[Imaya] …until those bastards took it from you :(

[Teva’ryn] It is the Legion-issued fifth-generation broadsword I’m most familiar with. That’s the standard for guardsmen at House Ryn.

Imaya took her time to reply, during which Teva’ryn started to worry. Had he said something wrong?

[Imaya] woah! that’s so cool!

[Imaya] so you want to find a sword like that?

[Imaya] I can’t find that kind of weapon in the Shop ;((

[Teva’ryn] I don’t know yet. I’m adequate with other weapons too.

[Imaya] Oh!! Which ones?

[Teva’ryn] Are you really interested in that?

[Imaya] of course! :)

[Imaya] choosing the right weapon is suuuper important

[Imaya] I want to help you picking a good one

[Imaya] Have you thought about wielding a heavy weapon?

[Imaya] you’d have an advantage, because your arms wouldn’t tire swinging it

[Imaya] with the help of your Ability, I mean

Teva’ryn rubbed his chin. He hadn’t considered it before, but what Imaya wrote made a lot of sense; his phantasm-arms held certain advantages over regular muscle.

“It’s a good idea,” Teva’ryn said. He then began to list every weapon he had trained with, going down to the details at Imaya’s continuous insistence. She genuinely seemed to be interested in what he said, and Teva’ryn realized that he enjoyed speaking to her. He hadn’t had many meaningful conversations in a while, so this certainly felt refreshing. Although it was a shame that he couldn’t see Imaya while they talked, he could at least imagine her voice easily enough. She tended to speak a lot, and Teva’ryn had gotten used it.

[Imaya] ugh… I’m getting so hungry

[Imaya] do you want to grab something to eat? :))

[Imaya] and after that we could find a blacksmith for you

[Imaya] and I’m also thinking about visiting the City Watch… you know, to warn them about the swellers

[Teva’ryn] Yes, I agree.

[Imaya] about the City Watch?

[Imaya] or about grabbing something to eat?

[Teva’ryn] Yes.

[Imaya] well then, what are we waiting for?!!

[Imaya] I’m starving :P

[Imaya] see you outside :3

Teva’ryn stepped away from the shining-bright window he had been staring at for so long, and rubbed his eyes. It had been a peculiar experience. He had originally intended only to take some money from the World Seed, but now he could see that he might be visiting this otherworldly place more often in the future.

He walked through the veiled barrier and felt the pull in his collar as soon as he got outside. Imaya was waiting for him, widely-smiling and grabbing his arm to pull him along. She seemed to be in a much better shape than on the previous day. Teva’ryn liked seeing her cheerful.

“Let’s go back to—”

Imaya continued to chatter even though Teva’ryn didn’t understand what she was saying anymore. He didn’t mind, though. As the two of them walked toward the middle ring, Teva’ryn kept scanning their surroundings. In one of the sprawling gardens he saw something that gave him a pause; two blue-skinned men, sharing a drink by a pool. Imaya pulled him along however, and he let her.

After all, Teva’ryn’s first encounter with other Sylven had gone quite badly. House Quinn didn’t sound familiar to Teva’ryn, so it was very likely that Tengi’quinn had founded his own House in this corner of the universe. Had Teva’ryn heard about House Quinn before the Dungeon, he would have approached them willingly. He considered himself loyal to House Ryn, but his House was far from here; he had no way to contribute to their cause on this awful planet of trees and monsters. If he could make himself more useful at House Quinn, Teva’ryn would have been willing to change his name.

Not anymore. He had seen from personal-close what kind of leader the Lord of House Quinn was, and he had found him wanting. House Quinn was honorless and rapacious, like many of those offshoot Houses that were doomed to die out. It angered Teva’ryn how they treated Devi, and it angered him how they treated Humans. Perhaps it was only because Teva’ryn had spent so much time in their company, but he felt a certain amount of sympathy for them. In spite of their ugly skin-tones and oddly-colorful hair and weak physique, they were good people. Imaya was a good person. Someone worth protecting.

Teva’ryn was a guardsman at heart, currently without purpose. Almost without purpose. Imaya needed his help, and so Teva’ryn would stay by her side—for now.

Until he figured out who to pledge his loyalty to.