"I need an appraisal power or something," Marc mused, turning over a red inscribed rock in his palm. He had eaten the food he'd found in the goblin bags and had his fill of water; for the first time since appearing in this world, he felt relaxed.

The food in the bags had been dried meat, soft tubers and hard nuts, but anything was appetizing when you were hungry and had nothing else to eat. Maybe not the tubers, though. They tasted like ass.

He sat back against a sandworn boulder, rooting through the other contents of the bags. They were mostly uninteresting; a pair of short daggers, some fur smallclothes he'd thrown away, a flagon of some kind of foul-smelling liquid, a few knickknacks he couldn't identify, and the red stone he'd picked up.

The red stone had to be something interesting. The engravings on it and the way it glowed subtly in the dark made him sure of that.

"Wait, who am I kidding? I forgot about Voidsight."

Marc activated the Talent and took a look at the stone with it.

The stone seemed to transform under his Voidsight. His first impression was that it was alive. It looked like it was breathing as he watched it.

Closer scrutiny disabused him of that idea; it wasn't breathing. What it was actually doing was pulling in ether from the immediate area around it and expelling out a wave of...something.

He couldn't come up with a description or color for the ether it was expelling; he only knew it was ether. It seemed clear and at the same time dark.

It reminded him of his spirit but his Voidsight let him know it wasn't spirit.

The wave it expelled spread out a few feet away before he lost track of it as it blended into the expanse of energy Voidsight allowed him to see. He examined his body as the wave passed it and it didn't seem to be affecting him in any way.

Unable to find any answers, he deactivated Voidsight. He would keep the stone since it wasn't harming him.

Still, he was curious about what exactly it was doing.

He turned his attention to his status screen to spend his newly gained Essence. He winced a bit as he remembered just where the Essence had come from.

[Name: Marcus Cole ("Marc")

Tier: Tier 0

Age: 20

Race: Human

Attributes:

- Physique [T0] - Level 3(25%)

- Psyche [T0] - Level 3(0%)

- Arcana [T0] - Level 3(5%)

Forces:

- Lifeforce {Rank 0}

- Spirit {Rank 0}

- Ether {Rank 0}

Essence: 5,110 points.

Talents:

-Voidsight

-Ice Shaper

-(0/10,000 Essence)]

He had over 5,000 points left and at Level Three, 1% progress cost 80 points. A bit of mental calculation informed him that using all those points on Physique would bring it up to near 90% level completion.

He frowned at that and dumped the points in Physique all at once. Although it wouldn't get to Level Four, it was his best option. Improving his survivability was the way to go for now.

He felt a rush of energy pour out from within him and flow into every part of his body. As he took a deep breath, it felt like every cell in his body did the same in concert with him.

The energy washed through him, molding and improving every part of him, his entire body evolving bit by bit. Honestly, it felt a bit addictive. Putting in points piecemeal couldn't compare to this. He couldn't wait to feel it again.

When the flow ended, he felt lighter and stronger than he had been a minute ago. He flexed his fingers and brought up his screen again.

[Essence: 0 points.

Physique [T0] - Level 3(88.87%)]

He dismissed the screen and looked up at the sky. The night sky was clear and the desert illuminated by the purple light of the half-moon and constellations of stars. The temperature had dropped and although it wasn't too cold for now, he was going to need a fire in a few hours.

Marc was unsure of what to do next.

His hunger and thirst were sated for now. He didn't feel secure enough to sleep out in the desert. He considered going back to steal some more food from the goblins and heading far enough away that they wouldn't be able to notice any fire he built. Or maybe he could try building a covered fire in the sand so they wouldn't notice any light or smoke. He remembered reading somewhere about something like that but he had no idea how that worked.

He shook his head and decided to practice Ice Shaping while he rested.

Marc willed a needle of ice into existence within his palm. He had previously concluded that using his Talent didn't seem to expend any of the three forces within his body but somehow seemed to take something out of him when he did. He didn't know what to call it but anytime it was drained, he felt more lethargic, less motivated to action. The System didn't give any information about it but since the Talents were purely activated with his will, he called it Willpower.

Creating simple ice constructs only needed him to imagine them and they appeared. More complicated constructs, like a miniature woven basket, took much longer to create. Marc realized that the clearer the image in his mind and the more familiar he was with it, the easier and faster it was to create the construct.

Trying to create a Rubik's Cube just led to several blocks of ice glued immovably together because he had no idea how one was put together. Something about screws.

He dismissed the construct and created a basic glove before starting to add other parts to it.

He was putting the finishing touches on a rough gauntlet with jagged spikes jutting out of it when he heard loud shouts from the direction of the goblin camp.

He hurriedly stood up and hurriedly climbed up a small dune near him.

Marc could make out some figures running through the goblin camp and fighting the greenskins.

"Are they really attacking the goblins?" he muttered to himself. "Just the three of them?"

He shook his head. That was a measure of the power levels in this world. The goblins he'd been afraid to engage were being routed by only three people. They had to be way stronger than him to do that.

The question was, should he join them?

On one hand, they were killing the goblins so they were probably good guys. However, he still didn't know if they were doing it to rescue the captives or just because they wanted to farm Essence from the goblins. He didn't know anything about this world and didn't know if it would be safe to out himself as an alien.

Still, he really didn't want to stay in the desert alone for days with no readily available source of food and water and at risk of being killed by any random overpowered monster.

Wherever those humans came from, it was highly likely there was civilization, which meant available supplies. Even if it was some small town or village, he'd be fine with it. There should also be information on leveling, info on the Origin System, on what it all meant.

Marc snorted. He'd already convinced himself to follow them.

He just had to make sure they didn't find out he was an outworlder, at least until he was sure it was safe to be one.

Time to brush up on those grade school acting skills.

|||

Rezak might have enjoyed the run through the Velqav Desert if Caylon hadn't been there talking the entire time. The demon continued talking whether or not someone replied to him.

"...and then they said they wouldn't mind doing it again. Repeatedly," Caylon said. "Can you imagine that? Triplets. I was of course tempted but an ascender is not one to be tied down. I regretfully told them I couldn't settle down and was leaving the city the next day."

"But my charm was too overwhelming. They had fallen in love and were willing to get their father, the City Lord, to arrest me if I didn't stay with them," the demon continued the story, as if Rezak hadn't heard it one too many times even though they hadn't known each other for long.

Rezak gritted his teeth and counted his steps. Stay calm, he told himself.

"That was how I spent three weeks servicing those wenches. I mean, they were certainly very beautiful - enthralling, in fact - and I did live in luxury the entire time I stayed there. But I am not one to be tied down. Despite the fact that their father was a Mid-Tier One Ascender who could crush me without even thinking about it. Despite the fact that he controlled a powerful city and had contacts in several more. Despite the fact that he would have given me resources to cultivate with had I requested them. Despite all this, I left the beautiful ladies.

"I, Caylon of the Verdant Depths, am not the type of demon to live off a woman or three. I chose a time when the Lord had left the city to visit a friend. Of course, I waited a few hours to ensure it wasn't a ruse to see if I still intended to escape. I engaged in one last bout of 'wrestling' with the fine ladies," here Rezak could literally hear the wink in the demon's voice and feel the smugness rolling off of him, "and I left them unconscious - and satisfied - with my skills. I was going to regret leaving them but I had to for there were still plenty of women who hadn't..."

"Can't we just run in silence?," Rezak shouted, halting his steady run. The other two stopped with him. "Do you have to talk everytime?"

The demon shrugged. "Just trying to lighten the mood, Al'Sherda. No reason to get all agitated."

"We've heard this story a hundred times."

"Didn't know you were counting but you guys enjoy it, don't you?" Caylon replied, smirking at him.

"I don't." Rezak spat out. The story didn't even make sense. As if that could ever be the reason a demon of all beings would come to this region. More likely he had committed some atrocity of some sort and escaped to this backwater.

"Keton does, doesn't he?" the infuriating demon said.

The Emeraldine shook his head, "We're wasting time." That said, he ran, leaving them behind.

"Tch. No humor, either of you," Caylon muttered loudly, rolling his eyes. "Pretty sure the others love my stories."

Before Rezak could respond to that, he raced after Keton.

Rezak watched them go for a few seconds with clenched fists before he joined them.

I can't believe these were the only options left.

|||

The rest of their run continued with little speech from Caylon but Rezak wasn't so naive as to think it was because of him, or that it would last. Thankfully, they reached the goblin camp before truedark, when they would have had to stop their movements or risk being lost in the desert.

The goblins were as much as he had expected - the fast-breeding bastards - but, worryingly, they were also stronger than he expected. He didn't dare to extend his senses too long into the camp, but just a brief, vague scan revealed at least four presences in the upper levels of the zeroth tier. There was one presence that had seemed to be at the peak of the zeroth tier, but he hoped he was wrong.

Although, they would be able to defeat them - they were goblins, after all - they wouldn't be able to guarantee a complete, clean victory. Some goblins might escape, something he absolutely didn't want to happen. The loathsome creatures all had to die. So, as much as he might want to get right to killing the monsters, they had to come up with a plan to get all of them.

He turned to the other two with him, his mind grasping quickly for a plan of action.

"Attack?" Keton asked in a low whisper, his stance showing he was prepared for battle.

Rezak shook his head, about to explain his reasoning when Caylon ran out around the sand heap they'd been hiding behind, his dual daggers tracing a purple trail behind him.

"That... That demon!!!" Rezak cursed sharply in his mother tongue before switching to Common to address Keton. "Do your best to leave no goblin alive."

He swept his treasured sword out of its sheath and held it to the side, dashing out into the goblin camp. He just barely heard Keton say something about the captives when he encountered a goblin.

The creature was holding a flexible wooden spear, tipped with a jagged blackstone blade that seemed to shine in the moonlight. The goblin saw him coming and brought up the polearm to stab at him. Rezak dodged it with a step and opened up the goblin's stomach and neck with a vertical sweep.

Running past it, he beheaded another goblin as it was still rousing itself from sleep and, pausing slightly to stir his lifeforce, punched another with enough force to rattle its skull and liquefy its brains.

He quickly killed over half a dozen before the stronger greenskins reacted and started organizing them into a semi-coherent force, gathering them in groups.

He killed a few more stragglers before a squad of seven speargoblins came for him. Rezak halted his advance, circulating the lifeforce within his body.

The goblins came at him in an half-circle, trying to trap him between them. He had the option of retreating but he would never retreat from goblins. The goblins second from the left and right in the formation stepped forward, spears coming at him in a wide sweep, trying to lead him into the middle of the formation where the middle goblin had his spear at the ready.

Rezak slapped aside the left spear haft with his strength amplified by his lifeforce and the force of his blow sent it flying back to hit the leftmost goblin hard enough to stagger it. The other spear broke on the lifeforce-hardened cloth wrap that encircled his forearm.

A grin crept up his face as he bowled into the formation, scattering the goblins as they ineffectually tried to attack him. In no time at all, the entire squad was dead.

Rezak tore through any goblin he saw, venting his inner frustrations through slaughter. He always enjoyed letting loose like this, fighting with no care except for the death of his enemies, and had very few occasions to do so. His lifeforce flowed through his body, continually reinforcing him to perform at levels that he wouldn't be able to reach otherwise.

He almost couldn't hear anything except the rush of his blood in his veins, fast and vigorous as it was. The metallic scent - and taste - of blood hung sharply in the air and he eagerly drank it in. His lifeforce melded into his blade, letting it reap lives with singular swings of his arm. His shirt was torn in several places from a few hits that he hadn't been able to avoid or had chosen not to. Although there were quite a few injuries on his frame, none were anything more concerning than a shallow cut or bruise.

Almost too soon, he caught the attention of one of the stronger goblins and had to stop hunting the weaker ones. Its scales were painted in swirling, chaotic patterns with a pigment the goblins were known to source somehow from the desert. They probably meant something in the goblin culture but he didn't care about that.

It was naked save for a rough skirt wrapped around its waist. In both hands, it held sharpened bone daggers that dripped with a freshly applied liquid. Poison.

He would have to be careful with this one. Rezak let out a breath, briefly modifying his lifeforce reinforcement to focus more on his senses and muscles. He adjusted his grip on his sword as everything around him slowed slightly.

Light and colours grew sharply into focus and his nose filled up with the rusty tang of blood along with a host of other scents. He could now easily pick up the sound of sand shifting with every step on it. He briefly closed his eyes to get used to the slightly overwhelming sensations. It wasn't much of an handicap when his other senses helped him map out the surroundings around him.

One goblin, perhaps thinking he was distracted, ran at him, dagger raised overhead and poised to tear open his shoulder. Rezak didn't even glance at it before crushing its throat and jaw with the pommel of his sword.

Rezak's sensory powers weren't focused enough to tell the goblin's exact level but he could tell it was around his level. Still, it was a goblin. He was human. One was clearly better than the other. He was about to make the first move when the goblin did.

The greenskin started running in circles around him, even faster than he'd expected. It seemed its focus was on speed and not much on stealth like he thought. However, if he hadn't reinforced his senses, he might not have been able to track its speed. The goblin was light on its feet but he still heard the sand shift as it moved and felt the wind and pressure in the air from its passing. More importantly, he could still see it.

He raised his sword to guard his chest as the goblin suddenly moved towards him and pushed back as both daggers impacted on the blade. The goblin corkscrewed with the counterforce, spinning around to stab him in the back. Rezak dodged it, turning around as he did, his enhanced senses enabling him to duck under a sidethrust and hit the goblin in the chest.

The goblin moved with the punch, throwing itself back and then jumping in to take advantage of his awkward position but Rezak had already pushed himself back to standing position and his sword clashed several times with the goblin's twin daggers, preventing it from touching him.

At some unspoken signal, the two separated, retreating back several meters away from each other.

Rezak's face was coated in a light sheen of sweat. The exertion was not much to him but the fact he had to constantly be wary of the goblin's tricks took a toll on his mind and reflexes. Several times, the creature had tried to stab him from weird angles and once, had suddenly thrown a sac of poison at his face that he'd almost slapped aside with his sword. He had dodged it and seen it splatter and eat into the flesh of a dead goblin. Had he hit it with his sword, it would have burst in his face and ended him there.

Need to end this quickly, he thought. He still had a good amount of lifeforce left but he wasn't going to be using that. Rezak preferred to use lifeforce and had trained extensively with it. Still, it wasn't the only trick he had.

He called upon his ether, cautiously watching the goblin as it circled him, this time slowly. Other goblins watched them but none tried to interfere with the fight, the stupid creatures they were.

Ether was unwieldy and chaotic, hard to grasp and even harder to control. The energy was just so temperamental, even when it was already a part of him. Rezak didn't have the connections or talent to get access to good etheric arts or training, but he was satisfied with what he had. He was fine being a lifemage, anyway.

Still, sometimes he wished he had more talent with ether than he did. Especially in times like these. The goblin was circling him as he traced lines and arcs of energy within his body, forming a two-dimensional etheric spellform. It wasn't very complex but the wild nature of the energy made it hard to force it into the spellform.

It was a good thing the goblin didn't seem to have energy senses. It probably thought he was studying it for weaknesses just as it was for him, unaware of what he was really doing.

He traced one final arc in the spellform, closing the etheric formation and smiled. The goblin snarled at that and dashed at him but it was too late.

Rezak raised a hand and a geometric pattern of light appeared over it as he pointed it at the goblin. Too late, it tried to turn around but the way of fire that poured out of the spellform caught it in the side and it shrieked loudly as the scent of roasted meat filled the air.

Rezak's spell wasn't powerful enough to kill it in one go, partly because it had just barely dodged some of it and partly because he just wasn't proficient enough at ethercraft but that didn't matter. The goblin was nearly unconscious from the pain when Rezak's sword put it out of its misery.

The surrounding goblins stood looking at him in fear. As he stood there with his chest heaving, some of them got braver at his perceived tiredness and approached him with their weapons.

He smiled. He was fine as long as they didn't run away.