Waking up in a comfortable leather chair to the smell of books was not a bad way to wake up. I slowly opened my eyes to the gentle light that was perfect to read by. “I’m starting to really like my Mind Palace.” I thought as I gently stroked Simon who was in my lap like some miniature dog.

“If I’m here, I guess we survived?” I said hopefully to my tiny companion. Then I sighed and sunk deeper into the almost disturbingly comfortable chair. “This is almost comfortable enough that it’d be hard to convince myself to ever leave.” I chuckled to myself. “Besides I’m sure that the outside will suck ass.”

I held no illusions about what it would be like to wake up in the real world. “It is going to suck.” I thought with a sigh and reached out and grabbed a book at random from the closest bookshelf.

“‘Introduction to the cardiovascular system’ by: Vein Heart.” I laughed and began reading. I was rather absorbed by the book and it felt like I understood the content better than I expected, but that might just have been my imagination.

I made it a good quarter into the book when I sensed two eyes boring into me. Looking down, I saw Simon glaring at me impatiently. I only now noticed that the orange band that was typical of a Ringneck snake had turned a deep red.

“What happened to you?” I asked Simon, surprised. Simon had stayed the same in the Mind Palace even when he grew outside.

My snake didn’t respond, but he did look me dead in the eye with eyes that seemed to gleam with intelligence. ‘Very, hungry.’ He sent me and I felt a smug sensation roll off of him. I blinked. I looked at the book, then at Simon and then over at the book. I thought about staying here in this place without pain for a while longer but eventually, I reluctantly closed the book. “This is going to suck, but I can’t stay here forever.”

It was not an easy thing for me to leave the comfort of my Mind Palace, so it took far longer than what should have been necessary to ‘push’ myself back into reality. “Maybe it is called ‘Palace’ because it is a refuge of the mind?” I thought as I once more opened my eyes.

When I came to, I was greeted by a stoon roof of a well-lit room and a warm and soft bed. “Did I die and respawn in a church?” I was thoroughly confused. However, the confusion soon gave way to an unbelievably overwhelming muscle soreness that forced a grunt out of my lungs. “It felt like I have been HIT by a gym.”

Literally everything hurt. From my toes to my head, even the muscles in my hand that I didn’t know I had, hurt. Then I realized that I was wholly incapable of moving my body, even opening and closing my eyelids took a considerable effort.

“Victor, are you awake?” Said a familiar voice and soon, the beaming face of Liz appeared above me. Her wide smile might have caught me off guard had not something else done so before. “Why is her aura silvery?” I thought in wonder. “I’m sure it was colourless last time…”

“Oh the boy is awake?” Franz's voice boomed loudly in the stone building and I looked over to my right.

“Would you like me to inform your companions?” An unfamiliar voice said from somewhere beyond my feet. “Fuck I can’t even move my head to see who spoke…” I was starting to panic when Franz spoke.

“Please do.” Franz said then his unvisored face appeared next to me with a large grin. “Looks like you will be alright.” Franz said to me with a pleased nod.

“Both I and the High Priestess said so did we not?” Liz asked indignantly. “The High Priestess? What High Priestess?” I wondered.

“You human clergy say so many things that hold no water that your words alone would never be enough to assure me.” Franz started flatly and Liz growled.

“Umm… what happened?” I asked after I finally managed to get my mouth working. I then looked between the two. “Pale silver and silvery blue?.. What the fuck happened after I fell unconscious?” I was so confused by the change in the two’s auras that I almost forgot that I was practically paralyzed for the moment.

“It was amazing!” Liz told me beaming. It was like her previous scowl at Franz’s words had been but a mirage and she spoke excitedly. “When I was about to collapse from the overwhelming vileness of that ‘thing’ you lent me your strength.” Her eyes sparkled and she continued. “The burst of power shot through the barrier and the ‘thing’ was sent tumbling away with over half its body obliterated by the divine power!” She looked at me with almost disturbing adoration. “What the fuuuuuck is going on?!” I looked over at Franz trying to convey my panic.

“It truly was extraordinary.” Franz said solemnly and nodded respectfully. “Not him too!!” I screamed in my mind. Before anything could derail more the door burst open and entered the room. I was unable to see the door but I knew it was Gilana immediately anyway due to her echoing shout.

“GOLDIE!” She virtually flew into the room and in the next moment I found myself embraced by the rather brutish looking woman. Under normal circumstances I might have enjoyed a little skin ship with a well-endowed woman, however…

“..c…c-can’t b-breath…” I choked out but was not released until after a few heartbeats of the bone crushing hug.

“You stupid fishy!” She scolded me with a harsh voice. “Why are you like this?” She asked with moist eyes. “Silver…” was all my mind could think of as I drew wheezing breaths into my aching lungs. Before I could get my brain working or anyone else could manage to speak, a matronly voice filled the room.

“Oh my, how lively.” I could see all the others including Franz take a step back from me and bow.

“”High Priestess.”” They greeted her in almost perfect unison. “Okey. How about I just don’t think about it?”

“Enough of that, I’m but a humble servant of Terasta.” Spoke the High Priestess in her calm matronly voice. Then she came up right next to my bedside. She had silvery hair, a wrinkled face and murky white eyes that must have seen their last sight long ago. “Oh my.” She said as she looked down at me with what must have been unseeing eyes. “Would you mind lending an old woman you hand?” She said, smiling a bit troubled.

“Eh… Um… well, you see I would love to, High Priestess… b-but well… I can’t seem to move?” I said with more than a little stuttering and embarrassment.

“What?!” Liz was by my side in a moment and had her hand placed on my forehead with brows furrowed in concentration. Gilana looked worried and Franz looked Exasperated.

“Essence poisoning.” Franz stated with a sigh.

“Likely.” The High Priestess agreed and Gilana calmed down noticeably.

“What is that?” Liz asked, looking at the High Priestess, she was still concerned.

“It is when the body tries to absorb significantly more essence than it can handle.” The High Priestess said calmingly. “Now if you don’t mind, could I take your hand?” She said looking me dead in the eye. “How the fuck does she do that?”

“I-I don’t mind.” I answered a bit more nervously than I would have liked. The High Priestess nodded.

“Mind helping my Lizzandra?” She asked Liz with a kind smile. Liz nodded and guided the High Priestess’s hand to my own. I was surprised by how cold yet strong her hand felt. “Now relax, this won’t hurt.” She said and closed her unseeing eyes. “Is that not something people usually say when it is going to hurt a lot?” I thought, alarmed. Thankfully I was wrong.

A cold washed over me and the almost burning muscles soreness I was experiencing was significantly soothed. I couldn’t help but let out a content sigh as I felt my body relax. I still couldn’t move, and my body still hurt. But how I felt now was incomparably better than just moments ago. “It almost felt like pressing the morphine dispenser button that time I was hospitalized after the car crash.” I thought to myself as I remembered my most painful memory from my old world.

“Interesting…” The High Priestess hummed. “Please don’t cast spells on me and say ‘interesting’…” I complained in my mind. Externally I managed to keep a stiff smile on my face.

“Did you notice anything strange?” Liz asked worriedly.

“Yes, but not in a bad way.” The High Priestess looked me dead in the eye once more. “I can still feel the residual energy from the curses you spoke of now that he is awake. But, I’m more than a little surprised by the strength of Victor’s mind.” She wore a half-smiled that made me swallow a mouthful of air. “At his level, having such a strong mind is inconceivable. Any normal person should have had their will completely stolen without them even noticing it. Even more so if his level was even lower at the time.” She tapped her chin with a single finger. “But, this is undoubtable what saved him.” She smiled at me. “And since curses bind to the essence of a person it means that curses ended up being completely cleansed simply by the simple act of levelling up.” I felt sweat virtually pouring down my back as the High Priestess spoke.

“Um… what did the curses do?” I asked nervously.

“It is impossible to tell now. I would have had to see the curse itself to tell for sure.” She shook her head apologetically. “Had I examined you closer to the curse being cleared I could have gotten a better idea but with over five days since the curse was ‘purged’ from your essence I am unable to tell for sure.” She Shook her head regretfully. “W-w-wait hold on?! Five days?” I panicked on the inside but before I could ask the High Priestess continued. “What I can tell you is that the curses were targeted at your mind. Such curses generally cause the victim to become paranoid, jumping at shadows and doubting even their friend. Or, the opposite, they make you less afraid and overconfident. But those are just examples. There are curses that bend your perception causing you to be more likely to trip or miss your attacks.” She shrugged. “But all curses are insidious things, the truly strong curses can bend and twist a person into almost anything. Yet, the most adept casters of curses can do the same thing with countless lesser curses, and without the victim even knowing that it is happening at all.”

“I-I..” I didn’t know what to say. My throat felt dry and had to make an effort not to start hyperventilating when memories of the witch resurfaced. I could see Franz and Gilana looking ashamed in the corner of my eye and wanted to somehow change the subject. It took me a few moments to remember something that had surprised me a lot about the conversation.

“Um… you said it was five days since the curse was ‘purged’” I asked and looked around the room. The other wore wry expressions.

“Why yes, you have been unconscious for four and a half days.” Liz said with an apologetic smile.

“W-what? Really?” the others just nodded. “Are you telling me I have been unconscious almost half the time I have been here?..” I could help my thoughts from slipping out of my mouth.

“Oh my…” The High Priestess said with a stern expression. “You must not speak of such things so openly.” She chided me and I shook myself. Or, I tried to but in the end all I managed was a distressed expression. The High Priestess laughed. “Don’t worry about little old me, but you should be careful not to reveal your status to anyone you don’t fully trust, young Champion.” She looked into my eyes and I felt my own eye being trapped by her murky sightless eyes. After a heartbeat she spoke a bit sadly. “There are those less pious and good of heart that wouldn’t hesitate to do you harm.” I saw the other nodding. Liz had a sad expression on her face.

“Yes, you should be more careful when you are so weak.” Gilana said gently, slapping me on the shoulder.

“Yeah… I’ll work on that.” I said properly embarrassed.

“Please do.” The High Priestess nodded kindly. “For now you should rest. You should be free of the essence poisoning in a day or two but even after that I’d recommend another full day of rest.” Saying this the High Priestess took her leave.

“Tsk.” Franz clicked his tongue. “Three more days of laying about, and here I was so looking forward to continuing your training.” Franz looked at me a bit menacingly then he shrugged. “I suppose that I will simply have to make up for lost time once you are up and about gain.”

“C-could we not? I feel like I might not survive if you push me any harder…” I said remembering Franz’s beatings.

“That’ll hardly be a problem.” Franz raised an eyebrow. “Your body is far stronger now than it was five days ago.” Franz ended his sentence with a profound snort.

“I-it is?” I asked. Franz and Gilana looked at me like I was an idiot.

“Didn’t you have an ability that allowed you to see your own status?” Gilana did not sound amused.

“Oh, yes... yes I do.” I coughed slightly to hide my embarrassment.

“You are hopeless.” Gilana said with a wry smile.

“You have such an ability too?” Liz asked excitedly. I nodded and Liz suddenly broke into silent prayer. Franz just shook his head.

“Well, the High Priestess told you to rest. So let’s leave it at that for today.” He patted me on the shoulder and was about to leave.

“Well, there is just one thing…” I said looking at the three who had stepped away from my bed. “Simon is ‘very hungry’.” I said with a troubled smile. “Could I ask you to get him some meat?”

“I was under the impression that familiars didn’t need to eat?” Liz, who had been looking reluctant to leave, immediately snapped on to the conversation and moved back to my bedside. I could feel Simon disagreeing with Liz’s words.

“Well, I don’t know about any other familiars but Simon gets hungry a lot.” I wanted to shrug but, you know, I was still paralyzed.

“He sure does.” Gilana said fondly. “The cute little thing eats quite a bit for his size.” She shook her head ruefully. “I will get him some food. What kind would he prefer?”

“Eh… rich in essence and not reptilian?” I asked and waited for Simon to object or respond in any way. He didn’t. “Yeah let’s go with that.”

“Got it.” Gilana nodded and strode off purposefully.

“Well I’ll be off too then. I don’t even like being in temples to the proper gods, so being in a temple dedicated to the weird human gods makes my skin crawl.” Franz rubbed his arms exaggeratedly and walked off.

“They are not weird!” Liz growled after the dwarf. “If anything the dwarven gods that only care about material things are far stranger!” She shouted but Franz had already left the room. Liz snorted indignantly then turned to me with a smile. “I will be in the next room, if you need anything just shout. Also I will bring you some dinner later so see you then.” She bowed and practically skipped away.

“What in god's name?” I felt like I still didn’t have a clue about what was going on but I was indeed tired. No, I was exhausted. I felt my eyelids drooping and it was only with effort I managed to open my Status.

Name: Victor Lynth, lvl 14* Human(Splinter).

Essence: 2733/1200

Class: None

Title: Troll slayer.

HP: 180/180*

E: 1/185*

MP: 1/315*

Will: 1/395*

Attributes: Str: 14*, Agi: 16*, Dex:20*, Vit:18*, End:18*, Int:21*, Wis: 17, Cha:11.

Skills:

Special: Interface, Skill point system, True familiar (Simon), Sixthsense, Telekinesis

Passive: Mind 5*, Swords 3*, Mana perception 2, Dissection 2*, Mind palace 1, Bond 1*

Active: Storage 3, Soul weapon 8, Dimensional magic 3, Surpass Limits 2*

Resistances: Pain mitigation 5*, Magic resistance 3, Charm resistance 1, Curse resistance 1

Boons: Esper

Skill points: 64*

“Holy shit…” I whispered and failed to whistle. I had never learned how to do that properly. My stats had increased a bunch. “Also I know how much essence I have now? And how much I will need?.. that’s nice.” I wanted to laugh but I had a very hard time keeping my eyes open. “Am I tired because my energy, mana and will is at 1 or are they at zero because I am essence poisoned or simply becasue I’m tired?” I groaned “Doesn’t matter… I really want to sleep.” As soon as I thought that I could feel a silent complaint from Simon but it did not stop me from falling asleep.

I woke up a day later feeling somewhat refreshed, if still sluggish. Gilana had apparently fed Simon as I slept and as soon as I woke up she kept pestering me about how big he had gotten.

“I’m telling you, he doesn’t even look the same anymore!” She sounded indignant, like someone had taken away her favourite toy. Yet Simon was asleep and I didn’t feel like waking him up so I just looked at his status instead.

Name: Simon

Race: Snake familiar

Essence: 5002

Str: 12*, Dex: 16*, Agi: 13*, Vit: 15*, End: 12*, Int: 9*, Wis:10*, Cha: 3*

Skills:

Special: Flame breath, Devoured

Passive: Dark vision, Regeneration, Bond, Tremor sense

Active: Corrosive bite, Stealth

“!!!... You woot mate?!” I gaped at the text. He had grown so much stronger since I got him. “Won’t Simon end up stronger than me at this rate?.. What the hell is up with that?!” I just looked at the text dumbfounded. I especially focus on one thing that I felt really did not belong there. As I did, a new ‘window’ appeared.

*Flame breath: Breath fire.*

“Ehhhh…. What?” I shifted my focus to bond.

*Bond: Allows sharing of skills between bonded entities.

“Uh, well alright then…” I laughed and Gilana who had been observing me decided to put a stop to my apparent madness.

“What in the name of the gods are you doing?” She asked, almost disgusted.

“Being Victor?” Kiyara supplied from the chair she had claimed. The elf had recovered long before me and was already extremely tired of Yallow. I scowled at her. I was glad she was alright and her aura was a pale blue so I doubted that she hated me.

“I was looking at Simon’s stats. He has grown a lot stronger.” I said, shaking my head.

“He has just plain grown a lot.” Gilana said emphatically. I really felt like waking Simon, but I’d be less than pleased if someone woke me for such a reason.

“I’m sure he has…” I changed gears. “By the way you never told me how you managed to get both me and Kiyara back to town.” I looked at Gilana questioningly.

“We didn’t.” Gilana said with a conflicted expression. “A Guild enforcer came to collect Lizzandra. Turns out her guards, hired from The Guild, sort of abandoned her. So, The Guild sent an enforcer to guard her instead. At her former guards’ expense no less.” Gilana shuddered.

Apparently the enforcer, a gold ranker working directly for The Guild, had just shown up in the bog in the morning and had helped the other carry me and Kiyara to his personal carriage. “It would have been nice if he had shown up a bit earlier…” I had whined but I had been told that enforcers were not people that could simply be deployed on longer assignments.

Enforcers were The Guild’s policing force and there were only one or two of them per town. Even in cities like Elianor, there were only about five of them. So, deploying even one of them was not something done lightly. Which was a bit of a relief for me, as every single enforcer was at least, mid-gold ranked and every one of them were specialised in fighting.

“If people that were at least twice as strong as Franz and the others were just running about everywhere this world would be even more terrifying.”