As Asher drifted off into sleep’s sweet embrace, he felt a familiar sinking feeling. A moment later he found himself in Dolos’ domain facing towards the masked god.

“Well well well, looks like you managed to get into the good graces of some pretty influential people?” The entity snaked its way around Asher and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Eh, I don’t know much about them yet…so I’ll play everything by ear. Why is everyone speaking English on Solaris anyways? I have no issue with communication whatsoever.” Asher said, tilting his head up towards Dolos.

A chuckle escaped from the masked god. “I was wondering when you were going to notice.” Here let me show you. Two screens appeared, one on each side of Dolos facing towards Asher. On one screen he was watching a pretty intense scene from America’s favorite web-slinging hero involving a train. On the other screen he could see himself conversing with Aldren a few hours earlier. “Do you notice anything different about these scenes?”

“Not really,” other than one being clearly fake and the other being a slightly disturbing voyeuristic recording of Asher’s life “Well one is very clearly from my home world.”

Dolos snapped its fingers and suddenly the recording of him and Aldren seemed to be spewing pure gibberish and noises Asher was unfamiliar with. With another snap of Dolos’ fingers the recording returned to normal and both screens began to shrink and ultimately disappear. “I’ve given you a few abilities in order to aid with your survival on Solaris, one of these abilities is universal speech.” Dolos began to walk around Asher and a notification popped up in Asher’s eyesight.

Passive Skill: Tongue of Babel - The person with this skill has the ability to speak and understand spoken languages. This does not include coded languages or other forms of ciphered speech. The Tongue of Babel only helps with the verbal component of language, this skill does nothing for the written form.

“To make a long story short, no one you’ve spoken to in Solaris has said a word of English. What they’ve been speaking, as well as yourself, is Common tongue. There are all different types of languages in this world, but as the name suggests, Common is the accepted language for conducting business above ground. Almost all races speak Common, so it is a safe assumption to use it with pretty much everyone you encounter.”

As if to further prove his point, Asher noticed Dolos conjure up one of the small display screens he was so proud of making, and on the screen Asher could see various races cycling through the screen with each race saying a word or two in Common tongue. Before being told about this skill, Asher would’ve most likely just assumed everyone spoke the same language as him. For some reason since he now knew that a skill was basically acting as an interpreter for him, he began feeling an innate understanding for when a word being spoken was said in a different language than Common. This skill would probably become one of Asher’s most useful tools in the young boy’s repertoire for when he would finally begin to navigate the world independently. Being able to speak to someone in their mother tongue is also one of the most endearing things a person could do for another person, this was true on his home planet of Earth, and he would assume the case was the same on Solaris.

“So then what language are we currently speaking? Celestial?” Asher asked as he looked at Dolos.

“Hmm? No, idiot..we’re speaking English. Did you forget your own language after a day?” The masked figure laughed as it summoned up two ornate ivory chairs from the ground and gestured for Asher to sit in the other. “When I killed- -er- -brought you over to Solaris, I was able to peek into your mind and learn things. One of those things being English. I figured if I learned some things about you and your world, I could introduce myself to you with some of those concepts and it would put your mind at ease and make the entire process a lot smoother.”

“I don’t remember you doing anything to really comfort me. In fact you made a ton of jokes then just kind of dangled me out there to be dragon food.” Asher said, growing a little frustrated at the memory and absurdity of his introduction to Solaris.

“Well I opted out of babying you and making you comfortable. Plus a few jokes really lightens the mood around the whole “I killed you” conversation. Anyways enough with idle chit chat, I’m sure you have some business to attend to right?” The masked figure stared at Asher.

“Oh right, I’ve been meaning to check out my inventory since looting that dragon.” Asher mumbled to himself. ‘Inventory’ he thought to himself as the bag slot opened up. In the bag slot he could see that five of the slots were now taken up. He began to inspect each of the items one by one.

Dragon Scales(x15) - Monster material automatically harvested from the corpse of a freshly slain dragon. Can be used for various things such as the development of armor, production of various elixirs, and an all around rare ingredient in the world of Solaris.

Dragon Bones(x5) and Dragon Teeth(x25) had a description that was almost identical to the dragon scales so Asher just skimmed over those items. The next two items were where it got a little bit interesting.

Black Dragon Acid Sack(x1) - This is the gland of the Black Dragon which allows it to produce the extremely dangerous acid it uses for its breath attacks. Handle this item with caution.

Asher would have to do some experimentation with the acid sack but he imagined that this thing sold for a pretty penny as well. Asher had no clue how long items would continue staying fresh in his storage space so this acid sack would probably be the first on the chopping block for things that would have to get sold. The next item was the piece de resistance:

Citiad’s Legacy: This dagger - formed from the fang of Citiad, the Black Dragon, has the chance to afflict a powerfully acidic venom. Since the venom itself is a very strong acid, wounds can be expected to corrode for a short duration after impact. The owner of this dagger becomes immune to acidic damage. (Growth Item)

This concluded all of the new items that found themselves in Asher’s inventory and if he was being honest, he wasn’t disappointed. The fact that all of the items which were classified as materials, were all considered rare, meant that each of these items had a good chance at selling well. This also meant he couldn’t just sell this to any random person and let the word out that he had some high-end goods on his immediate person. All the negatives would have to be thought of later, as far as Asher was concerned…he probably had a pretty little nest egg sitting in his inventory waiting to be cashed out. He also just happened to be the adopted son of the very wealthy Chapman family, so money wasn’t exactly going to be an issue for the foreseeable future.

He’d have to ask Aldren about the items when he got the chance, but for now he’d have to get his practice in with this beast of a weapon. The obsidian colored dagger appeared in Asher’s left hand at the thought of it and he began to inspect it. The dagger did in fact have the shape of an oversized fang, it also had small streaks running through it resembling a sickly green crackle of lightning. One side of the dagger was flat and the other side opposite from it came down to a beveled razor sharp edge. Asher saw that same thin green line sit dead center of the bladed edge and ran along the full length of the blade, every millimeter of it waiting to inject its potent venom into its next unsuspecting victim.

“This thing is lethal…” Asher mumbled to himself as he poofed the dagger back into his inventory with a brief thought. In his peripheral vision he could see Dolos casually doing cartwheels and other various forms of acrobatics while the boy sat pondering things. “Okay Dolos,well it’s probably about time for me to wake up and go about my business.”

Dolos caught himself mid-cartwheel and found themself in a handstand position. “Sure that’s no problem,” the god walked on its hands towards the boy “Also, our visits are going to be put on hold for a little bit. At the very least they’re going to be less frequent. Can’t have the other gods learning about you quite yet. I’ve told you enough so you should be able to make it on your own for a while.” The god then proceeded to touch Asher on the forehead with its big toe and he felt the sinking feeling yet again as everything faded into darkness.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Young Master, it's breakfast time. The early bird catches the worm and it is unhealthy for a growing boy to stay in bed later than he needs to” the friendly voice of Wallace the butler could be heard from the other side of the door.

“I’m on the way Wallace!” Asher called back.

He quickly threw on some casual clothes and made his way downstairs. To his surprise he only found Aldren, Wallace, and a woman he’d never seen before at the table waiting for him.

“Where’s Felix and Mrs. Chapman…er Mom? Did I scare em off already?”

Aldren laughed “Felix is out training, while Mom is out in town taking care of some business, but don’t worry about them, we have our own business to attend to.” Aldren gestured towards the woman and she gave a slight bow towards Asher. The boy promptly returned a nod in acknowledgement and raised an eyebrow at Aldren.

“Who’s she?”

“It’s as I said yesterday, you’re a wanted fugitive. Alaria is an acquaintance of mine who is willing to help without asking very many questions. Her job right now is simple, she’s going to help us change your appearance a little bit, so don’t freak out when she starts.”

The woman nodded at Aldren then made her way towards Asher. Once she got closer, he could get a good look at her. She was a tanned woman with strikingly beautiful features, she had purple shoulder length hair and purple eyebrows. Her eyes were a magenta color and between the colors contrasting with each other it left for an impressive first impression. Asher doubted this woman rarely met anyone who didn’t remember her later on. She made eye contact with him and smiled. “You’re a pretty cute kid so we won’t do anything drastic. Don’t worry, this will be done in a moment.” She raised her hand over the boy’s head.

Asher felt a slight pulse of energy go into his head that slightly snaked it way down ultimately ending in his eyes. He looked towards Aldren and Wallace who were both nodding in approval.

“There, all done.” Alaria said as she retracted her hand from Asher and she looked back at Aldren. “So do you want to pay me or owe me a favor?” A devilish smile creeped across Aldren’s face and his response was so quick it almost seemed rehearsed.

“He’ll pay you back.” Nodding towards the boy as he said it.

“Deal, then I reserve the right to determine the method of payment, yes?”

“That’s fine, but he’s going to begin training soon, so don’t expect anything for a little while depending on his talent.”

Asher began to feel a sense of frustration since they were talking as if he wasn’t even in the room anymore. “Hey, hello, lady, what did you even do to me? And how much are we talking? I’m not exactly rolling in money right now.”

Alaria grabbed a mirror that was sitting on the dining table and held it up to him. His hair had been changed to a snow white and his eyes were now a blue as deep as the ocean. He looked like a totally different person but..

“I wouldn’t exactly call this blending in, if anything I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. There’s no way these colors are more natural than brown, black, or blonde.”

“The colors aren’t as common as the ones you mentioned but, they’re not exactly uncommon. Plus the drastic change in appearance is all part of the disguise” Alaria began to explain “No one is going to be looking for you when they’re keeping their eyes peeled for this.” She raised a WANTED poster with his likeness on it. Along with the picture was a brief description.

“Wanted by Chief Knight and by extension, the Duke himself: young boy between 8 and 10 years. Dark brown hair, possibly black. Hazel eyes. Possibly dangerous magic caster. Any information can be sent to any guard station within the Dukedom.”

“Son of a gun, it’s only been a day. How fast do you guys work?” Asher mumbled.

“Fast enough,” Aldren replied “Which is why this had to be taken care of first thing this morning.”

Aldren looked back towards Alaria, “The terms have been agreed on, he’ll pay you back when I’m done with him. Thanks for the help Alaria.”

“Any time Aldren, always happy to help a friend. See you later, cutie!” She waved back at Asher as Wallace escorted her out of the estate.

“Keep talking like that and I might have to act up in a couple years..” Asher thought to himself.

The door shut and Wallace promptly returned to the Chapman duo. Aldren was the one to break the silence.

“Okay, so this disguise is only partially going to help. What we really need is you out of sight for a while until the heat dies down. Posters are being put up of your likeness and I’d prefer to have you safe and out of the way for a little bit.”

“That sounds all fine and dandy, but what did you have in mind? I don’t really know anything about anything and can’t exactly poof out of here.”

“I have that taken care of as well, not only will you be out of sight, but you’ll be training. Honing a very specific skill set and you’ll learn a lot about the Dukedom and world by virtue of the training and work you’ll be doing.”

This piqued Asher’s interest. “Okay I’ll bite. What training do you have in mind?”

“It’s simple, you’re going to learn how to be a Rogue.”