At Uncle Grey’s instruction he produced a large pile of cottony clothes and a small heap of shorn grass. With these materials serving as the base of the arrayment, he deftly assembled an elaborate diagram with an excess amount of expelled spiritual energy.

After sending a second string of energy into the entry point the iridescent diagram suddenly expanded into a large transparent bubble. Nolan directed a heap of materials towards its centre with careful manipulation of projected inner essence, intent on preserving the contents of his spiritual space as much as possible. A few of the articles of clothing and a small mound of grass evaporated in an explosion of golden light that receded in tandem with a reduction in the size of the peculiar sphere that he had just summoned.

After using up almost all of his spiritual energy in just a few moments, Nolan sank to the grass and took a knee as if he were an exhausted athlete. He waited patiently alongside his ghostly teacher as the arrayment gradually dissipated, and once the light had completely diminished a pile of clothes sat neatly atop the soft grass.

“While they aren’t anything special, they should suffice for the time being.”

“No shit, eh…”

Nolan picked up a stylish tunic with a dip in the collar reminiscent of a T shirt with a V neck, with long flowing sleeves that would hang comfortably from the armless, vest-like robe that served as an overcoat of sorts for the outfit. He tossed the robe over his current tunic, a white garment of simple make, and was pleased with the softness of the fabric that hung low enough to tickle the bottom of his kneecaps. The simple pair of pants was shaded the dark colour of healthy pine needles, as was the tunic which was to be worn beneath the light fern-shaded green of the sleeveless robe, which was hemmed with golden threading. Lastly were two long strips of golden cloth, a belt for his pants and a thicker strip of fine fabric with which to tie the robe around his waist.

“Not bad, old man.” He smoothed his hand through his shortened hair, which had been trimmed by that maid of the Varai clan in anticipation of the ceremonies that followed the invasion of the valley. Although an entire year had passed within the glade, he had maintained the appearance of one freshly groomed, short hair on the sides and a bit longer on the top. “I’m diggin’ the look. Hold on, though. I’ve gotta go recharge in the fountain.”

Once he had replenished his spiritual energy to the required amount, he rushed back and resumed his efforts at creating the first uniforms of his so-called sect. Several hours and a handful of interesting spiritual arrayments later and he had four identical sets of robes, Sean’s a bit larger and Esteban’s barely half the size of the others. Uncle Grey had patiently guided Nolan through the process of embedding weak but useful arrayments into the clothing, low-leveled barrier, protection, and reinforcement arrayments that provided enough defensive insurance to prevent the clothes from tearing in the face of minimal force.

“What, so these are similar to talismans or something?” said Ian a he fidgeted with his new clothes. “How do you know for sure that they’ll hold up against attacks from people in the early stages of Profound Entry? Sort of seems like a stretch, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t,” Nolan said. “But the old man said they would, so they might.”

“My dear disciple, do you still not trust me?”

He and Ian were lounging within the Divine Spirit Fountain for the final time during this stay within the glade, the others off training in order to take advantage of the last fleeting moments of this world’s remarkable supply of Origin Energy.

“How can you say that when this goddamn tattoo thing is still on my arm?”

“Say what you will, but you would have died several times over if it weren’t for that compound arrayment.”

“Yeah—compound arrayment. How do I know there isn’t some other function in there that you haven’t told me about? Do you know how stressful it is to go to sleep not knowing if I’ll wake up locked away in my own mind, with you at the wheel?”

“Only when you are in danger will I ever take control of your body.”

“I don’t know, man. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…” Faced with the slight anticipation on the old man’s face, he said, “Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Uncle Grey put on a ponderous frown and then floated off to spend time with Sean and Esteban.

“See that?” Nolan said. “He’s hiding something, I swear it.”

“Of course he is. Mr. Grey’s an ancient spirit, just imagine all of the knowledge he’s been keeping to himself.”

“Yeah, and he’s also off his rocker. You ever hear him talk to himself, or just float away as if he somehow forgets what we’re talking about? Not like what happened just now, but sort of…you know what I mean.”

“He’s kind enough. I don’t see any reason not to take his advice.”

“Dude, I told you about what happened the last time I left this place. He skeeved me with some secret arrayment and it’s still on me.” Not only that, the fact remained that the old ghost had been a previous owner of the Millennial Ring, so it was likely that he still coveted the timeless treasure. To someone that had existed for countless tens of thousands of years, what was a year or two of acquaintanceship with a few children, which he undoubtedly regarded them as?

“So these arrayments,” Ian said, gesturing towards the clothes that he now wore. “Can they block weapons?”

“Maybe if someone like Esteban is attacking you. To me and you, they’re paper.” He produced a slick pair of greaves and thin but durable vambraces, quality pieces of armour that were a part of the jade-coloured set that had belonged to the deceased City Lord of Greenwall. “We’ll get you guys some armour the next chance we get. God knows how many times I’d of lost my limbs if not for these babies.”

They quieted for a moment, the light trickle of the fountain as loud as a waterfall in the stark silence of the isolated glade.

“Do you still plan on leaving today?”

“Yeah. About a week should have passed on Venara, and at this point I’m just getting frustrated thinking about how small a chance I have of finding my friend. With Sean and Esteban tagging along we can’t afford to just kick it out here, you know?”

“This…this has been crazy, Nolan. I’ll never forget this place, even if I never come back.”

“Stick with me and you’ll be around, trust.”

Nolan assembled the group at the centre of the glade about ten hours later, in the middle of the idle courtyard that served as the only indicator of civilization within this desolate realm. He enlisted the others to help him fill every empty bottle and barrel in his possession with water from the Divine Spirit Fountain, and with Uncle Grey’s help was able to cast weak but sufficient sealing arrayments on each container so as to preserve the potency of the liquid within.

The old ghost floated off to the side as everyone gathered around Nolan, each of them saying their goodbyes to the odd spirit that had earned a permanent place within their memory after all of the time that they had spent in his company.

“None of that sneaky shit this time.” Flooding the Millennial Ring with a flood of inner essence, Nolan gave the old man a thumb’s up. “I’ll see you in a while, eh!”

“I will be in touch,” the old man said, a bit of guilt stewing within the wrinkles that surrounded his slightly saddened eyes. He straightened his transparent grey robes, which were already in pristine arrangement. “Be safe, all of you. The world is a very unforgiving place.”

“You said it, gramps,” Sean sighed. “You said it…”

Nolan let the conversation die as a rush of strange energy came to life within his body, a mass of warmth building up within his chest as he continued to pour large amounts of inner essence into the ring beside his dantian.

He experienced the same fragmentation of mind that he had been subject to several times in the past, the sinking sensation that distorted his perceptions in an imperceptible way.

To his surprise he regained consciousness the moment that he appeared in the shaded underbelly of forestry where they had stood right before he had used the Millennial Ring’s abilities to transport him and the others all those months ago.

Despite the absence of clouds and the bright sun that beamed its warming rays down from the zenith of an afternoon sky, the temperature in the cluttered forest was cool and breezy. The thin game trail that they had been following was lined with tall lanes of lavender, the thick blanket of foliage that towered overhead doing well to keep the lower level of the forest locked in shadow.