Learn to speak? yes, please. Where do we start? I nodded my head vigorously which elicited a chuckle from the gnome.

"eager huh? I suppose it must be hard getting around without being able to talk to people, that does tell me that you're not just some kind of smart animal, however. What are you, a gnome?" I paused for a moment thinking whether to answer him, I hadn't even considered that he'd be able to tell I was different from just this much. I should probably be more defensive but again there was just something that made me want to trust this man. I shook my head.

"Elf?" Nope.

"Dwarf?" Nah.

"Orc?" No. Wait, Orc?

"Fae?" No, my dude, I am not a fairy, how have you not guessed already? There are humans everywhere around here.

"Celestial?" his voice raised toward the end and sounded hopeful but I shook my head.

"Demonic?" This time I could tell from his voice it would not be in my favour if I said yes so I quickly shook my head once more. How many species were there that could talk?

"Beastkin?"

"Giant?"

"You're not ogre or goblin, they wouldn't come here if something happened to them. Centaur?"

"Gods forbid, you aren't a dragon are you?" NO, BUT I WISH I WAS.

This went on for a while and somehow he never mentioned human, he looked completely stumped before shrugging.

"This is going to be much easier if you can talk so let's just do this."

He walked over to me and told me to bend over. As I did, he slapped his hand directly over where my core was and light, blue this time, shot out from his palm. I panicked for a moment that I'd just let someone cast another spell on me but then a screen popped up.

Spell learned Whispering wind You may use mana to control the winds, sending a message to your target. At higher proficiency, you will be able to send multiple messages at once.

The gnome went back to his stool and sat back down. I decided I might as well sit too, not that it made much difference to me. This spell would be incredibly useful so I tested it out immediately. My mana fell by 2 points and I knew that if I thought a short message it would be received.

"Hello, thank you for your help, my name is Alex and I was a human."

Immediately he shot up, sending his stool out flying from behind him. His eyes wide and full of anger.

"You would lie to me after I try to help you?" After a moment he calmed himself, taken aback by his sudden outburst I couldn't even respond.

"It is well known that their gods do not allow the souls of humans to return to this earth, they are like the drow and the oni that way. I understand that you may be afraid and wish to fit in here with the humans but you must speak the truth, I cannot help you if you lie to me."

I reshaped my face to be that of a frown, facial expressions were no longer a subconscious thing for me, lie to him? I cast the spell again.

"I am not lying, I am a human, I was sent here by..." I realised that I could not remember the names that the god had spoke before I came to reside in my core, nor could I picture that god. In fact, the entire memory of that time was swiftly abandoning me and doing so faster now that I was thinking of it. "... A god, I think. I am not of this world."

The wide-eyed look returned to the gnome, not in anger this time but in surprise. He tapped his foot on a stone by his stool and suddenly I was lifted into the middle of the room, suspended by hundreds of ropes made of light, my mana depleted in seconds and I found myself without any control of my body. Despite the panic that was slowly blossoming within me as I realised my situation, I was still confident that this man wouldn't harm me if I didn't provoke him.

Very quickly after my mana was depleted I was submerged in complete sensory deprivation. Going from having almost complete sense over everything around me to having nothing was jarring. I was completely helpless and could do nothing but wait. I regretted my decisions up until this point and told myself that whatever happened, I would be able to overcome it.

I had no idea how long I was like that, time meant very little with no stimulus at all, not even a body or the sound of blood in your ears but eventually, I could see again. I was still bound by ropes of light and my body was one large, unresponsive metal cage but I could see once more. Then I heard a voice.

"You will forgive this. World travellers are rare and they do not always have the best of intentions. It was necessary to determine which of the thirteen you hail from."

There was a new man in the room, his voice was airy and proper and gave the impression that he was above all else. Ike was stood by the door to his store, looking like he would run at any moment. The man was an elf and stood well over 6 feet tall. He was broad and his every movement belied the strength that his muscles held, he walked almost gingerly but in doing so crossed the room in a couple of strides. He wore royal blue robes that were inlaid with gold in intricate patterns that depicted eyes and a number of animals I did not recognise.

He approached me, looking directly at my core as he did so and the ropes brought me so that I was at the level of his eyes. He did not speak or move a muscle but as he stood there staring at me a golden light, orders of magnitude brighter than the one the gnome had cast on me filled his eyes, sending a cone of light onto my core. It scoured my core and my soul, I felt my every secret laid bare to the man, memories I had long forgotten and fantasies I had never shared. He touched upon the memory of my death but as soon as he had done so, it vanished.

He did this for a number of minutes, learning every detail of my life up until this point and I knew he could hear my every thought. The feeling of ease I had from the gnome was no longer there, replaced by an all-consuming dread for this man as he laid me bare before him. When the glow left his eyes he turned to the gnome.

"You have a title, Ike?"

"umm yes, golem friend your holiness. It is new,"

"Good, it may just have saved this man's life. He speaks the truth, he is a human and is from another world. A world without magic but with many wonders. It is not one of the thirteen and I must think on what I have learned and speak with the gods. I will need to take him to the temple, perhaps even to the citadel." He turned back to me.

"You are a fortunate soul that you have committed no major crimes and that I am here. There is good in you and your theft of the metal for this body was understandable. You will need to repay them in time. I am not here for much longer but you will be staying with me whilst I beseech the gods for guidance in your fate. You will forgive these transgressions upon your person and I will warn you now that it would be unwise to try to rebel."

I could not speak but he seemed to sense my agreement with him, this was not a man that I wanted to cross and it didn't seem like I was in any serious danger. Perhaps this would be a useful learning experience.