“Wait, how did you know that-”

“Calm down, Rook.” Bryan waved me into silence. “There is a title section on the guild card, you need to hold your name to see it. Sorry about that.”

“Wait… why didn’t you just ask me? Did you really have to read the card yourself?”

“I had to be sure it wasn’t faulty. We know you’re new, but we never imagined you’d be that new. I’m sorry.”

His explanation made some sense. My level, along with several other things, were beyond the scope of normality for this world. It wasn’t nice, but I had given him permission. There would be time to hold a grudge later if I wanted to. For now, there was something more important to get out of the way.

I told them my story. I omitted a few details, but at least I filled in some of the blanks about my defeat of the slime queen and the date my friends should appear.

The first thing I mentioned was the most urgent, of course. If you were told that your world was about to face the brunt of two gods fighting to the death, and that it would happen not too far from the place you called home, how would you feel?

Well, they didn’t react as strongly as I had expected.

“So, we have a bit more than a week?” Claire shook her head. “Don’t worry, Rook. We’ll send out requests for help.”

“Who could help with this? You heard me when I said that two gods would fight right next to the town?”

“Calm down, Rook.” Bryan laid his hand on my shoulder. “You wouldn’t have been put here for no reason. If we bring everyone here, there is no way this so-called god would be able to win. That’s the point, right?”

“I… guess so.” He was optimistic, but how else could I treat it. If their idea didn’t work, nothing would. At that point, what would be the point of me even being here at all? “Right. If I get to level ten, maybe that will be enough. It has to be, why else would he have given me this much time?”

“That’ll be close.” John glanced at Susan before he pushed himself up. “We’ll need to work you hard, or you won’t get to ten before the end of next week. Was there anything else?”

“I guess so…”

“I had wondered how you beat a slime queen, to be fair.” Claire smiled at me. “We were confused about how you managed that. I guess another one of your strong points is ‘luck’, right?”

“I can’t blame you too much for not telling us outright.” John nudged Susan who was still silent beside him. “Go on, I know you want to ask him about the transfer-”

“Now isn’t the time for that.” Susan pushed John away and turned to me. “Thank you for sharing this with us. I know it was hard. You can tell me more about being a Marked One later.”

“Wait, Marked One?” I pushed myself up from the chair. “What do you mean by Marked One?”

“That’s what those who are transferred over get called. Marked by the gods, kind of thing?” John tilted his head to one side. “Is something up?”

“Yeah, someone attacked me in the guild. It seemed like he was testing me, and he called me ‘Marked One’ before he left…” I shivered as I remembered the close call. “Creepy guy... Had a mask, so I couldn’t see his face.”

The group turned to each other, their expressions tight as they whispered between themselves. Before my patience wore out, they turned back to me.

“Right, I’ll take you back to the guild.” Bryan grabbed my shoulder and pushed me towards the door. “You’re almost at level five, so the bits you have left should be enough.”

It was impossible for me to fight as Bryan piloted me out of the door. The others had continued their conversation unabated as we left. It looked like plans were in motion for my protection, though I wasn’t allowed to be involved at this stage.

“How do you know that?” I asked as I forced my thoughts back on track.

“It’s mostly a guess. I saw how much you processed, and I know you just got to level four. Before you get to five, the experience you get from crafting is increased.” Bryan chuckled as we walked along the street. No one made any moves to waylay us as we moved towards the guild, which helped ease the tension slightly. “You won’t have it so easy past that, but we can help you out there. We have a good plan for tomorrow, but you need to be at least level five for it to work..”

"You have a plan to fight a god?"

"Claire knows some strong people, and I have a few contacts of my own. We just need to focus on getting you past your first advancement before then."

I couldn't argue with his words. The number of people I knew in this world could be counted on one hand, so the only thing I could focus on was my own growth. We walked through the hall, up the stairs and into my room before Bryan released my shoulder. He nodded at the sack on my desk before he turned to leave the room once more.

If they can find someone to help, good. If not, I'll just have to do it by myself.

“Oh, and get a good night’s sleep. I’ll take a look around for the one who attacked you. He probably won’t pop up again today but, if he does, we’ll beat him into the dirt.” Bryan punched my shoulder. “Focus on getting to level five, we can hit up the dungeon tomorrow.”

“Oh, thanks.” I didn’t ask what he meant by dungeon, and he didn’t seem inclined to explain much further. After a quick nod, he closed the door behind him. Now that I was ready for the attacker, I should be able to put up a decent fight. Even more so if I broke through to level five before that point.

Thanks to Bryan’s hint that I was close to level five, my motivation had been renewed. It didn’t take long for me to hear the magical words once more.

**Congratulations. You have levelled up.**

The guild card confirmed it. Level five.

I’ve made it!

I pushed the euphoria down. My aim wasn’t five, it was ten. This was the halfway mark to my goal, and I had to treat it as such.

I scanned the guild card and read through the abilities section. Rose hadn’t lied when she said ‘a few’. Four new abilities shone under the ‘Active’ section, but I wasn’t put off by the small number of gained skills. Any number was better than zero, after all.

I had gained two buffs, one attack and one… utility? The buffs were easy to understand.

Strengthen (basic) - Increases Strength for user or target. Lasts five minutes, cannot be copied or duplicated. Can be combined.

Accelerate (basic) - Increases Speed for user or target. Lasts five minutes, cannot be copied or duplicated. Can be combined.

So I can make myself stronger, or faster. I can also target other people, which is helpful. The specific effects were hidden, so I couldn’t tell how much the stats would be increased by or what it would cost to use. Maybe the information would show once it had been used? I threw that aside and looked at the other two abilities.

Buffed Strike (basic) - Increases damage of next strike, additional damage added per buff on user.

So it does more damage based on buffs. It wouldn’t be a huge increase, but every little bit helps. The utility section held a menu with a few choices, which seemed to wait for my selection. My finger hovered over the options-

“Wait, let me see that. I can help you get a better option.”

My chair cracked as I leapt to my feet. Rose grinned at me from the bed as she leant back against the wall. After I had calmed myself, I gave her a stern glare.

“You took your time. What do you mean, ‘a better option’?” I threw the decision to her. I had my own thoughts, but at least now I would have a second opinion. Whether or not I could trust her was another matter, but at least she hadn’t tried to kill me.

“Seriously, I’m here to help you and that’s the thanks I get. Typical.” Rose swung her feet off the bed and jumped over to me. “Well done getting to level five. I don’t have long, so give it here.”

She pulled the card from my hand. Despite what Bryan had said, she had no issues as she read my private information. It could have been his mistake, but I was inclined to think Rose was above the rules somehow. It did back up her suggestion that she was one of the guides we were meant to meet.

“Huh, weird. You got some peculiar options here, Rook.” She passed the card back to me and threw herself back on the bed. “Choose what you want, you’ll get them all eventually. Maybe we can talk about it when you get to level ten.”

“Thanks.” I put on my most sarcastic tone before a thought flashed through my mind. “What about my inventory? Can’t you just help me access that?”

“No can do. I don’t have the power to unlock that just yet.” She shook her head. “Maybe when you get to level ten? Be happy with what you’ve got for now.”

“Thanks for the support.” I grunted before I turned back to the selections. There were three in total. Unfortunately, all I had to go on was their names, which didn’t confirm the exact use of each ability. A quick look through the book Claire had given me gave no clues, but that could have been because it was the basic edition. Whilst Rose didn’t seem to care, it could be the difference between life and death for me. Maybe I should ask Claire before I made my choice-

**Are you sure you wish to decline a Utility skill? If unselected, this option will be deleted.**

“Wait, stop!” I put the card on the table and pressed on the utility section again. The options popped up once more, which stopped my panic attack in its tracks. It would be just my luck to accidentally refuse a free gift. Rose chuckled behind me, so I guessed she knew what had just happened. I didn’t argue with her in case it would trigger the voice to remove my options. Instead, I looked them over one last time.

Transmutation, Infusion, Perception.

I had some ideas on what they might be, but nothing concrete enough to make a decision easily. Perception might increase my reactions, or it could just as easily let me see further. Infusion was even wilder in what it could mean. The only one I had some ideas on was Transmutation. Either it was a craft skill, a combat skill or a combination of the two. Either way, it would be helpful to me.

"Rose, what is the Perception skill for?"

"Something to do with scouting. It's rare, but a lot of archers see it a holy grail. It doesn't do much at close range, but you can pick out targets easier if they are far away."

"Right." I nodded and turned back to the skill selection. "What about Infusion or Transmutation."

"No idea, sorry. They should be powerful, but I have never heard of someone having those as an option."

Her words set my mind. Perception might be useful in the future, but right now I didn't have any ranged attacks. It was a risk, but I would hedge my bets on the safer of the two available options.

**You have selected Transmutation. Infusion and Perception will be unavailable until this skill is mastered.**

At least they aren’t gone for good.

I thumbed the section for my new skill and read through its description. A wide smile formed on my face as the uses of the skill became clearer.

Transmutation (basic) - User is able to change the state of non-organic material. Results vary depending on level of ability rank and mana usage.

It seemed simple, but the rank and mana usage would have to be tested. It could be a total cheat, or it could suck me dry in a heartbeat. There was no use worrying about that without at least trying it out so I picked up a nearby chunk of processed metal and focused on its shiny surface. The whole thing bubbled in my hand as its surface vibrated under my gaze. I held a clear image in my mind of what I wanted.

After around five minutes of intense concentration, I let myself relax. The misshapen lump had transformed into a sphere. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do for now. It rolled around on my hand as I turned to face Rose, a grin on my face as though I expected a reward for my intelligent decision. My face froze as I spotted the empty bed.

I sat back on the chair and picked up the sphere once more. It wasn’t clear what the first option had been, but I had to believe Rose had improved it. There was a chance I could ask her when I got to level ten, but for now, I would have to work with what I had been given.

Before I could call out my first buff skill, a surge of information slammed against the sides of my skull. It smashed through the blocks that had been built up and washed through my mind. New memories or, to be more precise, old memories worked their way down into my thoughts. One of them, in particular, pushed its way through the mire.

A memory of the man who had caused the accident on my world, the man who was one to blame for this entire situation.

The man who had killed me.

“God damn it!” I ground my teeth together. “People always betray you. I should have guessed, really. But why couldn’t he have been the one dumped here?! He’s the one that caused all of this!”