Walking out of the cage halls with Two felt like leaving a fight he’d won. Zahn walked and talked alongside a longtime warrior, a fighter between shadows and secrets who’d been happy to help him rise up and get stronger seemingly without demanding anything back. His newly improved Grimoire held sections for ‘Combat Skills’ listing his experience with the different weapon types and their specialized techniques, displaying differently from his spell pages with progress bars and percentile tracking. Seeing his physical growth reflected back on the parchment finally loosened something he didn’t know was tight just below his throat, and Zahn felt like breathing was easier than before. Knowing he’d found a friend of another Player, another Custom even, was something he hadn’t expected but reveled in the discovery. He couldn’t wait to hear about the advanced tricks and abilities he’d be picking up later on in his Class progression.

“There are always risks of course,” Two’s narration continued as they walked slowly back towards the arena. He’d been talking about how his previous Player had been growing stronger over the years. “You can easily turn a town against you by having your deeds seen in the wrong light. Even when we’re called on to solve a murder and it’s the corrupt mayor, we’re banned from ever returning after taking his head. Life’s complicated, and as long as you and your friends survive it’ll keep getting more so.”

Zahn nodded along, his steps light as he trailed alongside the master assassin. “I’ve already been kicked out of a Guild, and nobody’s really explained what went wrong. Just something about two black marks, I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Two chuckled, rubbing his hands over his dagger hilts. “I remember things like that. It’s usually part of a sabotage mission, where you chalk up Black Marks within the organization to bring down its leader. Usually someone the higher-ups already want to replace, last straw sort of thing. If you got two they’d probably try to get rid of you, and if you stayed under the Player radar they would likely make it look like an accident. Random civilian deaths are investigated by the city guard, and wanton murder is a crime.”

Zahn scratched the side of his head as he remembered the events around two months ago. “So I got kicked out of Fire Magic school because I tried casting a spell without permission. Then I got kicked out of working at a high-end shop for not being a doormat. Then they sent me on a training mission for someone else and brought me along to kill me. Sound normal to you?”

The Rogue laughed out loud, dropping a hand on the lowbie’s shoulder. “Aha, it’s a miracle you lived this long. Shopkeepers don’t tolerate their servants talking back, and yes casting magic during a lesson without permission is tantamount to attacking the instructor. It’s impossible to know what someone is going to cast until they release the spell, even if you have the sharpest eyes around you can only see the color of the magic’s school which can still be wrong.”

The Custom eyed the taller man from the side as he charged up his Mana Sight to full strength, letting him see the bright magical outlines on the man’s body and building. “You mean, it was. I have this magic sight trick, it lets me see mana and magic spells wherever they’re spinning. Their forms usually hang out in the Mana Realm, and with this you can see into it a bit. Helps to see the magic coming off of One’s super-death scythe.”

Two paused in his stroll to look at Zahn’s face intently a long moment before returning to his measured pace. “Quite the secret power. I’d just assumed that you’d already gone through the effort of adding some expensive magical customization to yourself at a major City. Most Players do, though I don’t know if there is a body modifier in the only actual City on the plateau. You should come out near a major port if you take the Seagate, but you’d need a willing captain and ship to even try.” He shrugged and examined the occupied cell they were closest to, “Just don’t go around telling everyone you can see their magic. Most folk are rather proud of their secrets, and telling them you can see right through it is bound to make you a few enemies.”

“Did Sam have any crazy modifications?” Zahn kicked a wave of mana into the ground to watch it disperse. He felt the energy leave his leg, but the warmth in his chest streamed to replace the tingling power before he could miss it. “I don’t really know what other Players do to change themselves.”

Two spun on his heel and leaned against the cage bars, ignoring the simmering short-haired cats on the other side. “Your boy Ethan, he’s changed himself to always have the same perfect hair. Sam had a number of hairstyles she could pick from using a magical hand mirror, called the damn thing second most important thing to have along. She’d done a bit to her eyes, changed the pupils to cat’s eyes and made them gold. I always loved the way they’d shine back in the dark, like a reminder she would always be there. Oh, probably the tail. She insisted it was natural, but half her underclothes weren’t made to accommodate so I never believed it.”

“Hold up,” Zahn tried to keep a straight face up against the inscrutable Two. “You’re telling me that you knew a Player named Krazy Kat who for sure used magic to give herself cat eyes and you’re just doubting if the tail is natural?”

The other man’s face remained impassive, his eyes only reflecting Zahn back at him. “She could be very persuasive. I knew her before she changed her eyes, and in her terms she was merely changing them back to how they should be.” He looked down, letting out a long sigh. “I will always miss you, K-” his lips kept moving, but Two’s words were drowned out by the most terrible noise Zahn had ever heard. With each syllable he couldn’t make out, a chorus of crashing screeching metal and rumbling smashing stones rang through the air between them. Zahn’s legs wobbled under the pressure, feeling whatever strain echo and vibrate against his mental energy web and send his eyes blurring as his vision swam.

When Two finished saying her name, Zahn found the noise and its side effects abruptly stopped. He felt as if he’d just woken up on the ground from fainting, with his entire body tingling like it’d been asleep. Looking up at Two he found the sneak still staring at his feet without a care, apparently unaware of what had just happened.

“What the fuck was that?” Zahn tried to keep his voice level, but the sudden experience left him shaky and unsteady. “You started saying something, and it was just, noise, just - I dunno, crazy loud nasty noises! What was that?” Panting at the end of his perfectly rational question, the Player grabbed the wall behind him for support as he waited for the perfectly reasonable answer.

Two glanced up and took in Zahn’s sweat-soaked face at a glance. “Oh, sorry about that. Must have been your first time. See, whenever a Player is gone for good, you can’t hear their name anymore. Specifically you, Players. If I remember the terminology correctly, your name becomes ‘censored’ as you’ve become ‘blocked’ from the world, if any of that sounds familiar.”

Zahn tried to straighten up and breathe normally, still feeling his body vibrate after that wretched noise. “You’re telling me I couldn’t hear you because it was fucking censored?”

The sneak gave him a sad smile, nodding. “Her name, if I can try again, is Krazy, followed by the number ninety-six, the word Kat, and the number seventy-seven. If I were to try and pronounce the name fully to you, you would just hear that noise again. I feel a bit numb in the mouth when I say it, but I still hear her voice clearly.”

Giving up on standing, Zahn slid to the floor and leaned against the cell as he rubbed his legs back to life. “How did she die?”

Smiling on one side, Two’s eyes found the ceiling and half-closed. “Her modifications, she kept wanting to look more like a cat. She was tracked down by hunters hired on by the Church, to bring her to a temple. They grabbed her during an ear-swapping procedure, and we kept saying her name as we planned her escape. We got to the back gate, and her friends couldn’t hear her name anymore.” Two’s eyes closed tight, as if they could keep the waters back. “She never hurt nobody who wasn’t evil, or hurting another already. She could never fall to Chaotic Evil, she would never reach into Chaos and could never summon evil to our plane. She was a good person, and those rat bastards took her anyways.” Two sniffed as he rubbed his face, regaining his composure with a rough cough turned into a laugh. “She really got the last laugh though, have to say. She got those ears, and I swear she loved flicking them around as they dragged her off. Sam loved to smile, and it reached both new ears. I swear she even died with that smile. Anything to look like a cat, her favorite animal.”

Zahn smiled at the story, trying not to dwell on the terrible loss. “Good for her. Sounds about right, trying to look like the best animal. She did good, and I bet she was proud of herself and you to the end, Two.”

The tan man’s face snapped up from his arms, eyes locked onto Zahn’s. “What did you say?” Came the whisper of a nearly closed throat.

Zahn coughed, trying to keep his cool at the jumpscare. “Ah, that she was good, ah, picked the right animal, and I’m sure she was proud of how she lived and that she got to know you. From what you’ve told me, I would have wanted to join that Party too.”

The Rogue stood up, sniffing and rubbing at his face with a sleeve. “Not everything is about you. But,” he reached down and plucked Zahn to his feet, brushing him off. “Thank you. Come along, I gather you can’t hear the Broadcasts. Ethan is looking for you.”

“It’s not that I can’t hear them,” the Custom shook himself and stepped to catch up to Two. “It’s more like they’re super faint, and they just get drowned out with all the normal background noise.”

“Background noise?” Two didn’t let him answer, already jumping topics. “So, you like cats then? I can’t recall meeting a Player who doesn’t, I wonder if it’s a people thing.”

Zahn nodded, his distraction forgotten. “Of course! Cats are the best animals, even when there’s a tiny version that wants to live with us they’re still the apex predators per weight class, taking down dozens of vermin for each one they eat. Independently feeding all the various scavengers as well as giving us love and company for the warm blankets we offer them. Really, if bigger cats could be trained like dogs or horses they’d be the perfect traveling animal.”

Two mused silently during the speech, waiting for him to finish. “So, something you should know about this world. You can. Typically, controlling an intelligent Monster pet requires specific Class skills, but as you can learn whatever someone is willing to teach you, yes. You can have an intelligent feline pet follow you around, they’re fairly common in the woodland cities.”

“Wood cities, huh,” Zahn murmured as he tried to imagine having a tame white tiger at his back, ready to run him from danger while he shot fire magic from both hands. “You mean like, cities inside trees and not just made out of wood right.”

“Hah, no you can’t put a building inside a tree,” the sneak laughed and patted his shoulder again. “But yes, there are homes and structures woven into their branches. Usually Elven, but I’ve known a number of Gnomes to live in treetops as well. You’ll want to head north of the mountain monastery to find them.”

The landmark perked another memory, making Zahn’s eyes snap over to him. “That’s right, the Capitol is south of that mountain. And you said it’s south by east of here?”

Two hummed at the ceiling as he thought out the map. “I’d say if you were to travel a few degrees south, the mountain would be straight east. It stands alone, as the only mountain north of that great stone prison called the Capitol. You can’t miss it, the flat-topped thing has buildings all up on the upper slopes and trains Monks constantly. I understand your friend Ethan went there, for some of his monastic training.”

Zahn felt something like sand falling up the back of his neck, his senses alerting him to something he didn’t understand. Nah, fuck that dude. He didn’t even bother to ask where I’d be while he played with his weights. “No way, he’s not a Monk at all. Sure, he’s good with the staff, but that’s ‘cause of his Warlock stuff. We just summoned his demon back last week, the dude’s over the moon about having his powers back.” He walked another ten steps before he realized Two wasn’t following, and turning back he found the sneak rubbing his chin and staring off at nothing. “Two?”

He blinked and shook himself, returning to the present. “Maybe you should keep that secret as well, little Player, in case you forgot it is not your own. In case you never noticed, there are neither places nor times to support the all-important Meditation that casters need every day, and that’s deliberate. We don’t employ the magical classes here, so you really should keep anyone from finding out what would evict your friend.”

Zahn felt stupid, so easily spouting off at someone he felt he could trust. “Sorry about that. Must be some kinda conflicting, knowing shit someone would want you to report and all. Please don’t, he doesn’t deserve to lose whatever his long-term quest is about me.”

Two’s eyes flashed before he worked to hide his face’s reactions. “I wouldn’t worry about that,” he answered behind a blank mask. “You have to work on yourself, in case you forgot the part about the next match coming up. It’ll be your public debut, and you have some serious training to catch up on. In addition to following the ‘monk’ in his routine you should practice holding your spells in your hands, sending mana to them as you do other things. Any time your hands aren’t busy, you should be practicing sending mana down to them and casting spells so long as your mana pool can take it.”

Zahn nodded, happy to skip past the part about him spilling secrets. “I’ll try, I have to figure out how to hold it without burning my clothes or fingers over time.”

The sneak nodded and paused, waiting a beat before making a show of looking at the Player’s empty hands. “I did mean, ‘you have a lot of training to make up for and need to practice now’ when I said any time.”

Zahn flushed, feeling his temper flicker at the other man’s tone as he held up his hand. Sucking down a deep breath and feeling his magical heat flow, the lowbie hawked a spitwad that sizzled for a moment before settling to burn merrily over his palm. The mobile little fire lit up their surroundings well, showing the surprised caged beasts and brightening much more than the normal torches they’d been passing. Two let out a sigh and straightened up, nodding at him.

“Another thing, in case it escaped your notice.” Zahn paused to face him, waiting quietly. “You aren’t limited to casting a spell the same way you learned how to. I mean both where and how, in terms of your casting. You can shoot magic from your mouth, that’s very impressive, but you can also cast from your hands in the same breath. The cost in mana is the same per outlet, and then some more for casting double, but I believe you have the energy needed in spades. Try casting from your mouth and hands, see what you can do with three streams of fire at once. I can promise you none of your leveled opponents can do that.”

Walking along with a bit of a skip, the lowbie thanked him again and made for the exit. He passed a few cages when he realized the sneak wasn’t following him anymore, and looking over his shoulder showed Zahn the long shadow he was casting had let the Rogue disappear without a trace. Shrugging and walking to the exit, he almost missed the next whispered words.

“And don’t tell anyone about your cats thing. If your boy Ethan finds out, he’s liable to make you fight an Ember Lynx just to watch you cry and lose. I’ll keep handing him hooved beasts.”

Leaving the halls, Zahn found the other Player in the same spot still swinging his weights around. Fresh from learning a half-dozen tips and tricks from a random friendly local, the Custom finally saw his fellow prisoner of the game as a bit useless in the face of his other help. He took a moment to circle the higher-leveled caster, focusing with his Mana Sight to get a better look at what the other man’s magic was doing inside. His core lit up from within, giving off its meager light through the man’s skin and randomly pulsing a tiny wave of color through the otherwise grayscale image of organs and bones nested under shifting and pulling muscle. The trickles of power through Ethan’s body did little to show his magical network or any active spells, but the pathways remained cool and dark hanging within the man’s torso.

“I really can’t express how creepy that is,” the blond started in. “Walking around me and staring is fucking off enough, but you do it with glowing magic-ass eyes. And, dude. What are you carrying fire around for? What. Do you want. Zahn?” He panted between pumps of his arms, the weights making him strain for breath as he worked.

“Yeah, something Two told me made a lot of sense. I’m trying to keep a fire going in my hand when its not busy. Speaking of training, I’m gonna go try and learn Charge from the Barbarians, my book can show me the non-magic stuff too now. What were you looking for me about?”

Ethan dropped a weighted metal bar with a huff, using the other to stretch above his head and pull the thing around in the air. “Well. A certain someone has raised a few good points, and you should really be spending the night. In our commons, I mean.” He looked to either side as if he’d be able to spot someone listening. “Someone has an idea about what they’ll see.”

Zahn smirked at the display, giving the area a brief roaming glance through mana-fueled eyes. “Nothing’s here. At least, nothing magical. And besides, if someone was able to hear you, what exactly about all that would be subtle? Nobody else lives with us, stupid. Have you two been talking all day?”

The Warlock grimaced, looking around again. “Yes,” he muttered just loud enough to hear. “He’s been in touch with me through Psychic, because demons can do that with their Masters. It’s a lot easier now that he can speak.”

“You mean, now that you think he should be able to speak,” Zahn corrected him. “It’s all about what’s in your head man, they don’t have their own shapes. I’ll see if I can skip the formal training meal this time around, I can finally tell them why I can’t pull off Rage yet.”

“Some sort of. Mental block?” Ethan returned to his pumping, mostly ignoring the other Player.

“Easier than that,” Zahn tossed back as he began to leave. “My Strength and Constitution need to be about double their current numbers to unlock them. I’ve saved the moves already, and everything I couldn’t learn from the different weapons masters before. It’s pretty tight.”

He didn’t see Ethan stare at his back and drop his weight, agape until he needed to blink again. He did hear the blond coughing and thought nothing of it as he reached the ranks of large bulky men intent on channeling their anger into combat. Something I can relate to, he considered before bothering Gardor about movement through strength.

Night fell quickly, with Zahn reconnecting with the Barbarians and demonstrating his book now held new knowledge. They worked to fill his gaps, being able to see what his skillset held and lacked allowed the experienced trainers to properly instruct him. When the hours ran out and the huge men offered to feed and host him again, he declined as politely as he could and mentioned his plans with the ‘lock. Crossing the arena as the various fighters retreated to their homes almost made him feel the nights he’d wandered and died again, before he’d made his deal to become a Gladiator.

“And what a shitty deal it was,” Zahn lamented to himself as he trotted on the sands. “Who in their right fucking mind would agree to be killed over and over? It’s not like volunteering for torture makes it hurt any less, the fuckers.” The prospect of being stabbed or crushed again didn’t bother him as much anymore, compared to the knowledge he’d be losing a full half level. He’d been stabbed and sliced and felt his bones break too many times already, just thinking of his previously mortal injuries making his whole body ache and his belly feel cold. How bout we stop dwelling on dying, stupid. He reached the doors as he finished admonishing himself, opening them wide enough to slip through and find a certain Warlock minion pair waiting.

“Took you long enough,” the little beast growled through its now-pointed teeth. “Were you canoodling them as well as the smelly zookeeper?”

“Wouldn’t make sense,” Zahn quipped back as he made his way to the remnants of revenge stew. “He’s a Rogue, if he were to stink he wouldn’t be able to hide very well. You might call him dirty, or shit-covered?”

Iengoris snorted, rubbing at his longer nose. “Just because your Perception is too low to smell him doesn’t mean he stopped smelling like the beasts he loves so much. And in fact, it’s your own lack of awareness we need to discuss, dear Custom.” The little demon sat up straight on its couch perch, coming just under Zahn’s chin.

He used the handle of his serving spoon to poke at the thing’s unformed body, prodding the bulbous belly as it jiggled. “Alright, let’s say I’m listening jelly bean.”

The imp scowled, hopping back to protect its payload. “Hey, I’d be happier with a two-meter long torso anyways. I’m limited by the standards of Imp, here. You sir, are a caster. It’s something you can’t really deny, given your obvious starting inclinations.” The gray-skinned fiend gestured a square in the air to mime a status window. “Your starting stats, you chose to min/max and dump everything you could into Willpower. Smart, if you knew what a Custom really was and what you were getting into. Sorry to say, you’ve been floundering around pretty aimlessly since then. City, Dungeon, prisoner? No no, you need to focus on your magical strengths even when you’re stuck here at testosterone point.”

Zahn wobbled his balanced fireball, rolling the ping pong mimic around his free palm. Sitting on the couch and balancing his bowl on his lap, the Player picked up his spoon and gestured with the flames. “It’s nice to know my dear friend has already told you the brunt of my game story. I’ve been stumbling around, sure. I’ve just recently upped my mental stats to where they are, and you can’t hold stupidity against me when I’m being held down by a fucking magic-ass system choking down my thoughts!” He didn’t know when he stood up, but the precious dinner bowl lay spilled on the ground. “Damnit.”

Iengoris watched as the lowbie scooped up his bowl and moved to refill it, waiting until both his hands were full again. “As I was saying. Now that you’ve, let’s say, woken up? It’s time to take your training seriously. You need to be damaging and threatening, but if what dear boy has been telling me is true, he hasn’t seen you use Meditation even once.”

Zahn scoffed, gulping down his food before his temper took another bowl from him. “Ah ‘aven’t needet to,” he insisted around a mouthful. “Mana refills too fast, no point.” Chewing the meat chunks of turkey still felt like victory, even if the pot would be empty tomorrow. I should be bringing back more kills, ran through his head as he savored the bite.

“And you’re an idiot. Possibly just ignorant, but at very least you don’t know about the other effects granted by Meditation.” The imp’s voice drew Zahn’s attention away from his meal as possibilities began to swirl in his mind. “While true, it increases your Mana Regeneration Rate significantly, that is for a purpose. When you aren’t trying to replenish depleted stocks in your gear or trinkets’ mana storage, you need to be moving your mana around your own body in specific ways. Patterns, weaves, routes that need to be made. Otherwise,” he paused and gestured, pointing at the spilled food and back up at Zahn. “Simple mistakes with magic can do a lot more than breaking something, young Custom. You need to practice, and I need to be guiding you.”