Sarai watched as the interrogation began.

One of the officers walked over to the prisoner and placed an object in front of him: a tall tripod holding a white gem, placed so that everyone in the room could see it.

It was a Lie-detecting artifact.

“Identify yourself.”

The distaste on the officer’s voice was palpable. The black-robed Mage turned his head towards his questioner. For a moment, Sarai felt something pulse in the air, a dark feeling of danger.

The man’s smell changed and Sarai detected anger growing inside him. He was offended by the tone of the officer’s words.

Was the Necromancer going to attack? It shouldn’t be possible, the City’s Watch restricted the Mana Pool of any magic-using prisoners, it was standard practice. Unless they had screwed up in the procedure, the man shouldn’t be able to cast even the most basic spell.

And yet, the sensation was there.

Sarai was about to stand up and alert them when the feeling of danger was smothered, disappearing as suddenly as it had come. The smell of anger subsided but didn’t go away completely.

“Eric Rauda.”

That was all that the man said. Concise and fast. His voice wasn’t strong nor loud, yet it was heard by everyone in the room. It sounded a bit hoarse, though. The officer standing in front of glanced at the gem, it was shining with a soft blue light, so what he said was the truth.

“Can one of you get me a glass of water? I’m really thirsty and it was a rough night.”

The man who called himself Eric spoke while making vague gestures with his hand over his throat. The officer glanced at the seats of the Council, one of them nodded lightly, granting permission. The officer then signaled one of the servants in the court and a glass of water was delivered.

“Oh, thanks. What a good service.”

“What is your Class, Eric Rauda?”

“Mage.”

The prisoner gave a sardonic smile as he received the water, he drank it all in one gulp. He signaled for more and the servant poured him another full glass. He finished it slower this time, let it out a sigh when he finished. The gem was still blue.

“Your main class.”

Said the officer in an irritated tone.

“You just want me to say if I am a Necromancer, don’t you? Fine. I’ll be clear: yes, I am a Necromancer. Happy?”

The gem remained blue, as Eric kept speaking the truth. One of the members of the Council cleared her throat and spoke up.

“It seems you are aware of the situation you are in.”

Zalia Theressin, Head of the Merchants Guild in Klata. Her voice was strong and authoritative, while her face kept the façade of a professional smile. Her eyes were sharp and calculative as she studied Eric. She also glanced at the rest of the people in the room, her blue eyes analyzing them all.

To Sarai, the woman smelled of ambition, schemes, and deviousness. Not someone she would ever trust in anything except taking the most out of any deal.

Eric let out a disdainful chuckle.

“I’m not an idiot. I know what happened last night, I was at the Dungeon until I passed out, anyways. Though I do wonder why you are making this a public interrogation rather than a private one.”

He glanced down at his now empty glass of water and held it up, closing one eye as he peered inside it.

“It’s not poisoned, right? I heard there was an old practice of using poison to silence witnesses in some regions in the south.”

Eric talked in a casual tone after putting down the glass. The man seemed supremely unconcerned of his situation.

The officer gave him a cold look and signaled the servant to back away. He opened his mouth to scold Eric but was interrupted by a more authoritative voice.

“Don’t worry, we are not savages. You are not a witness, anyway. You are a suspect.”

The merchant woman spoke again, resting her chin over her clasped hands. There was a bit of amusement in her eyes, but her tone remained grave.

“Oh, really? What am I accused of?”

The shackled man tilted his head to the side, the mockery of a smile on his lips. Sarai could tell from where she sat that this man was perfectly conscious of the situation he was in, yet he was unconcerned.

Was he that confident in getting out of this? He already admitted having been in the Dungeon last night, which is where the undead came from. Could it be that he really had no involvement whatsoever in last night’s attack?

“You don’t get to ask questions, Necromancer. Limit yourself to just answer them. You are here to clarify your involvement in last night’s attack to Klata City by a horde of undead.”

Another of the members of the Council spoke up. This one was an old man with a gray beard and dark red robes. Enner Galstain, Head of the Mage’s Guild within the City. His tone wasn’t one of just scorn, it was outright resentment that filled his voice. This man hated Necromancers.

Eric shrugged nonchalantly.

“Good to know. Well then, let’s get this over with. I’m a busy man, I have real research to do, unlike some outdated old geezers whose only interest is piling coins and frivolous politics.”

Eric’s cold tone belied the raging fury and burning resentment within him, the apparent nonchalance was just a façade, Sarai was certain of it.

“We already know that you were the one ordering the undead, we checked you for recent spells while you were unconscious. You are not walking away from this, insolent scum.”

The Mages’ Guildmaster replied with distaste. There were ways to find out what the last few spells of a Mage had been, it wasn’t exactly easy, but with the resources of the Mages’ Guild and with the serious situation of undead involvement, they had carried out the tests while Eric was unconscious.

Eric answered with a mocking laugh.

“I was in the Dungeon and my spells were used to gather the undead, yes. But the attack was not exactly ordered by me. I was possessed by a Revenant. I can’t be condemned for this.”

Hushed whispers exploded in the room. Revenants were a superior type of undead, a very dangerous monster that always brought catastrophe.

“You expect us to believe such thing?”

The officer by Eric’s side spoke. Visibly shaken by the revelation. If there was a Revenant around, then the threat to the city was far from over.

“I expect you to do your job and look at the fucking gem. It’s still blue, I speak the truth.”

Every eye in the room turned to the Lie-detector artifact. There, the gem kept its soft blue color. The noise in the room grew louder as discussions started over the different groups present.

The City Lord tapped the table in front of him with two fingers. The sound was like a spell hitting everyone. The room fell quiet instantly.

“Tell us the full extent of what happened last night, Eric Rauda. The causes and consequences both, to the maximum scope of your knowledge.”

A simple sentence, yet it carried the weight and authority of the powerful Lord of Klata. He didn’t raise his voice, his tone was calm and measured, yet it felt like a command.

A roar from a beast would have been gentler than the heavy pressure behind his words.

The Necromancer seemed to struggle against something, unsure of how to respond. Then he gritted his teeth and bowed his head slightly.

“As you command, City Lord.”

Eric started to tell the events from last night, including his suspicions about the causes of the Revenant’s escape and the truth behind the undead’s attack on the city.

He wouldn't lie, but how much information he would give to the City Council was entirely up to him.

Ethan didn’t get much sleep that night.

For one, it was near dawn when he went to rest; and second, he wasn’t much tired, a brief session of meditation gave him a pleasant sensation of rest and comfort all over his body.

Deciding that he wasn’t getting asleep any time soon, Ethan took a shower.

A magic shower.

Ethan laughed at the thought. Pretty much everything Navin had given him, even much of the food and drinks, was supernatural in some way or another, but that shower was quite noticeable.

Upon the first touch, it was extremely cold, like droplets of water falling off a gigantic glacier. And yet, after the first moments of intense cold came a pleasant sensation of cleanliness and purity.

As if the water was washing away all dirtiness, removing every bit of filth in his body and cleansing even his mind. It was quite an experience, leaving Ethan feeling clean in more ways than just physical.

He wondered if this was also one of his Master’s arrangements to help him cope with depression and pain. If it was, then Navin was making a lot of things for Ethan without even mentioning them.

It was a paradoxical feeling for Ethan. It was a comforting thing, knowing that he could have someone so reliable caring for him, but it was also a bit unsettling that Navin was doing things that affected him on such deep level without consulting him first.

And yet, Ethan realized that he couldn’t complain, that would be ungrateful of him. Besides, his Master gave him a wide berth to freely choose whatever he wanted to do.

Ethan didn’t want to get in any more discussion with his teacher, especially since getting all emotional would only get him to tears. His Master wasn’t the type of person to mock him for it, but there was nothing good about yelling at someone for helping, Ethan still felt guilty about their previous discussion, if Ethan had helped someone and then that person started yelling at him instead of saying thanks, Ethan would have yelled back and maybe punched the ungrateful person; but Navin had listened calmly and then explained his actions patiently while assuring Ethan that he would always be there to help.

Ethan felt a knot in his throat at the fresh memory. Embarrassment, guilt, and self-recrimination filled his mind for a moment as the water fell over him.

“How am I even going to look at him now? He probably thinks I’m just a silly kid now.”

Ethan took a deep breath. Now that he was conscious of the magical effects of these things, he was actually a bit grateful for them, at least it helped him keep a clean mind instead of getting the blues.

Worrying about how to face his Teacher was pointless, he would have to get out and meet Navin any moment now. There was probably going to be a morning session of training, whether it would be before or after breakfast depended on his Master’s whim.

So Ethan just had to go out and deal with it. Odds were that his Master would treat him just the same, but that didn’t mean Ethan would feel the same.

After finishing his shower, Ethan brushed his teeth with the paste his Master had provided. It had a soft mint taste and a lasting effect, he suspected it was more magical than chemical, given that Ethan didn’t get morning breath after using it before going to sleep. That it came inside a tube full of arcane patterns was also an indication of the magical nature of the toothpaste.

It had a suspicious label that read ‘Lakar Cultivator.Inc’, Ethan didn’t doubt that his Teacher was capable of putting that label and brand name there just to mess with him.

He got out of the bathroom and got into a clean set of clothes, well, an unused set of clothes, as whatever magic his Master had woven into the clothes he gave Ethan made sure they never stayed dirty for long. They refreshed into their clean state every hour or so.

How that worked out was not something Ethan was in the mood to figure out or ask about.

He got into a comfortable pair of blue shorts and a gray t-shirt before opening the door outside the house that he was fairly sure was located in some separate dimension. Each time he looked out the windows it showed a different scenery.

What greeted him on the other side was the sight of his Master cooking breakfast, or rather the breakfast being made by some invisible force while Navin stood in front of the stove. Despite not needing to eat or drink, his Master sure loved to eat, even if it was supposedly just an avatar of his real self.

On a frying pan, onion and tomatoes had been sliced and eggs were being added to the mix, Navin then added a pinch of salt and used a steel spoon to scramble the eggs. Next to the ‘kitchen’, a pair of plates filled with fried plantains were on a wooden table.

Ethan looked up, taking in the sight of an elegant white fabric that made up a wide marquee that sheltered this area from the heat of the sun.

“Good morning, Ethan.”

Navin greeted him with a smile. He was wearing a vermilion T-shirt, black trousers and sandals. It seemed he had grown fond of Ethan's world style of clothes. Or it could be that he did it to give Ethan some sense of familiarity. Whatever the case, Ethan didn't mind.

“Good morning. Where are we?”

Ethan looked around. The white marquee over their heads extended for over 20 meters on each direction, but there was nothing blocking his view of their location. They were on top of some rocky formation, no sight of any settlements around.

“A bit southwest from Lauhr. Come, get some breakfast before going back. You have your date with Issima, after all. Her group will be heading to the Inn to search for you before noon, but we still got time.”

Navin replied as he turned off the fire and took the frying pan from the kitchen stove. Ethan didn’t bother asking how his Master knew that. He could be watching Lauhr City right now and Ethan wouldn’t be surprised.

“Appointment, not date. And it's with her whole group, not her alone.”

Ethan pointed out as he walked to the table. Navin divided the scrambled eggs into two equal portions and served them.

“Sure.”

His Master drawled, sounding equally disbelieving as teasing. Ethan wisely decided to not pursue that line of conversation, choosing to eat his meal instead.

Four jars appeared on the table, undoubtedly his Master’s work. One had juice, another had coffee with milk, the third had water and the last one was sealed with runes so Ethan couldn’t see what was inside, not that it mattered since that particular jar was filled with literally anything.

That last jar was enchanted to produce any beverage that one desired, and Ethan had found that it could produce a lot of drinks from his world.

He decided to drink the juice as his Master served coffee on his own cup. He took a bite of the fried plantain, enjoying the taste. It always surprised Ethan how Navin was capable of making simple cooking taste so good.

“Have you thought about where to go?”

Navin asked. He had already said that it was up to Ethan where they would go and with whom. However, there was one flaw in that masterplan.

Ethan didn’t have even the slightest idea of where to go. Besides the vague notion that there was the Desert of Death to the north and a hostile country to the west, Ethan didn’t know anything else about the geography of this world.

“Nope. Without a map, we would be going blind, anywhere except north seems the same to me. Why don’t you choose our route, Master?”

“Where would be the fun in that? If you want a map I can get one for you, and a rough idea about the locations around us, or we could take a look at the countries, they have quite different cultures.”

Ethan hummed in agreement. It was better if his Master handled that kind of stuff.

“You can scan the whole world, right?”

Ethan asked suddenly. He remembered that the first time he met Navin, he had scanned the world and taken the bodies of every person.

Couldn’t he do that here and they would have a perfect map of everything?

Ethan saw his Master hide a smile behind the cup of coffee. He narrowed his eyes.

“You won’t say that you just forgot or that you haven’t done it because ‘where would be the fun in that?’, right?”

Ethan glared reproachfully at Navin. Yet his Master was unmoved and calmly put his cup down while shaking his head.

“It’s not that. Your world was easier to scan because there were no longer any laws holding it. To make an analogy, scanning your world was like looking at a photograph, it’s easier to look at an static image and take in the details than if it were a moving video. Scanning this world would require more energy, which I’m not willing to spend unnecessarily. And yes, where would be the fun if I just planned everything for you? Pick a direction and let’s go, it’s not like there’s anything to be afraid of.”

“Hmm, if you say so. Well, I’ll think about it and decide later, alright?”

His Teacher nodded in agreement and didn’t say anything else.

They finished their breakfast in silence and Navin took away the dishes with a flick of the wrist. Ethan stood up from the table and stretched, already feeling his body processing the food.

It was a strange sensation, everyone knew that there were organs working all the time within the body carrying different functions, but it was something entirely different to actually be aware of it and feel them work.

According to the information within his mind, self-awareness was a key aspect of being a Cultivator, being conscious of the state of one’s body and mind all the time. Ordinary people let the subconscious mind handle most aspects of life, and let the organs work on their own, but a Cultivator was capable of joining the conscious mind with the subconscious, reaching a higher level of mental capability and also gained total control of their body when advancing to higher Stages.

Ethan could feel the Qi within his body moving through his organs, enhancing them and optimizing each process. Ethan wasn’t on the level to be able to notice all this at every moment, but so long as he wanted it, he could feel it.

“So, what will we do today?”

Ethan asked once he finished stretching, just that light movement already stimulated his body, making his Qi flow rise and filling him with energy.

Navin turned to look at him with a pensive expression.

“Well, I had meant to see how much you had learned during your meditative practice, but since you only ran from the monsters and baited them to their death, I haven’t been able to confirm your progress regarding fighting ability. We still got time before the Sword Dancers go pick you up, so let's make the most of the time we have.”

They walked outside and with a snap of Navin’s fingers, a huge wooden platform appeared in front of them.

“Congratulations, today will be your first sparring session.”