Goodie had spent the last few days in what he was told was a Sumonee Halfway house. A shelter meant to assist people like him who couldn't adapt to this world. With nothing but his nerves for company, his whole body practically vibrating with the stress he was under.

He dearly wished he could turn his brain off, the constant update of all the ways that everything could turn to shit was a constant wear on his sanity.

A knock at the iron door of his quarters causing the echo of a metallic clink to bounce around the room, having him nearly die of fright in the process.

"May I come in?" he heard Jeremy ask, his voice muffled by the steel.

Of course, you can fucking come in; Goodie wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. days of soul-crushing despair over the thought that, like the day he had been summoned, his whole life was once again coming to an end, and he was going to what? Ask him to come back later!

Goodie got control of himself as he opened the door. The look on Jeremy's face told him plenty, but it also told him nothing, leaving his imagination to fill in the gaps. Stress building with every thought that passed.

"Sorry I took so long; this whole mess is more complicated than it would appear."

"It seems the incident you ran across was a conflict between siblings, most likely the right for succession, if my guess is correct. The brother, for the moment, is in the custody of the woman you saved. The woman being the next head of the House of Seven Rivers.” Jeremy turned to him and said, “Remember that name.”

Goodie just nodded, the motion making him dizzy for some reason.

“Well, she’s grateful for your intervention, and will repay her debt, because the House of Seven Rivers always repays its debts”

He said while using air quotes for some reason.

“And that’s where we have a problem.”

He didn’t need to say why.

Goodie knew full well that the nobles didn’t kill each other.

Once she had secured her house, that arsehole brother of hers would be free to do what he wanted, and Goodie would be up shit creek.

“I’m obliged to tell you about the lady’s offer to protect you.” His face looking as if he just swallowed a lemon.

“She’s offered to take you into her household… with a magical contract.”

Jeremy just held up his hands, already knowing Goodie’s response.

Nothing was said, but he let Goodie have a moment to calm down before he continued. He then indicated that he wanted Goodie’s full attention for what he was about to say next.

Goodie’s body felt like it was vibrating. Everything was happening so fast.

“I don’t know how to soften this, so I’ll just say it. You’re going to have to leave the city.”

It took a moment for his words to sink in. Goodie’s reaction was…not calm.

"But I can't leave, you said it was dangerous out there!"

“I know that, but it’s not like you have much of a choice in the matter now is it? Besides, it’s not as if you’re powerless.”

“All I've got is a snake and goo, how exactly do I defend myself?!”

Jeremy didn't have an answer for him, so he tried to reinforce his stance.

"His sister discovered your identity in a day, so even if you started living in the sewers full time, I don't see how you could possibly hide from him for very long. Even if our lot hate the nobility, money's still money, hell, half of the adventurers in the city would sell you out for a laugh. It's almost certain that the prick will try to do something to you. So, staying here isn't an option."

“So those are my choices? I can die here, die in the forest, or become a slave!”, the anger in his voice bordering on outrage.

He wiped his eye, smearing a wetness across his face and palm. he took a deep ragged breath as he brought himself under control, body visibly shaking as he tightened every muscle, his fists clenched as if they were trying to grab hold of themselves.

For a moment he seemed settled down, only to vomit into a nearby pot-plant a second later. He really couldn't deal with stress.

Whatever Goodie had been about to say next was lost, as some internal dam burst. Tears began flowing freely from his eyes, his movements becoming frantic as he wrestled between sobbing and trying to stop himself from doing so, his voice rising to a high, nasally pitch.

Jeremy tried to think of something to say to calm him but was rendered dumb as the boy before him began wailing, finally committed to his uncontrolled sobbing. his anguish turning to the only other person in the room.

"You said, I was going to be okay! You said everything was going to be alright!"

Jeremy didn't know how to respond to his own words; while he had years of experience in dealing with the people of this world and earth, his social skills focused on management rather than counselling. Yes, the people in his care often broke down into tears, but never to this extent. Jeremy was momentarily paralyzed with the shock of not knowing what to handle the situation he had found himself in.

"Why?" Goodie asked. Though he gave no pause for an answer as again he asked "Why?" openly weeping as his world began caving in.

Jeremy did the only thing he could think of, something he had seen in a movie. He pulled him close to his chest, hugging him as a mother would, then he waited for Mr. Goodwill to cry himself out.

Barely a moment passed before he started to feel a dampness begin to spread across his chest as his shirt became stained with the boy's tears.

It was not for lack of empathy that he failed to truly sympathise for the boy, but this was a tough world. Every world was a tough world. it was also that he had noticed something about the people that came from beyond the year two-thousand. The farther into the future that they were brought from, the softer they got. Not just in body, but in mind.

When he had first arrived, Mr. Goodwill had asked him about politics; He also knew the importance of having a plan. With the boy’s odd behaviour on the first day that they had met, Jeremy had thought of him as being mature for his age. In the following months, the boy had gone on to add responsible and dedicated to his list of good qualities. Jeremy had forgotten that a child, no matter their mentality, was still a child.

Thomas Goodwill was not the youngest to be summoned, not by a long shot. But he was still a young, inexperienced person, who, with little guidance and support, had to take full control of his life, in a world he knew nothing about. A world that was far more devious and dangerous than Earth.

They stayed there for a while; The boy’s tears seemingly endless.

It must have been nearly an hour before he eventually calmed down; not completely, but enough for their conversation to continue.

After they had collected themselves together; their egos had come to an unspoken agreement to gloss over what had happened. The embarrassment of that emotional breakdown was humiliating enough, the thought of it being revealed to anyone else would haunt them both for a life time.

Jeremy sat himself in front of a small metal coffee table in the centre of the room and presented a small pouch and an even smaller box, placing them on said table. The pouch had several silver in coin. The box? A small, transparent crystal.

That’s seventeen silver and a [TITLE].

“What? on paper?” Goodie asked while sniffing. He went looking for it back in the pouch, while wondering what he would do with land if he was being kicked out of the city.

“What? No, the crystal.” Jeremy said, snapping his fingers at the box.

Goodie was confused, maybe title was like opal or something, he thought, not knowing much about gems.

“Is it valuable?” he asked.

“It’s a title!” Jeremy said, finally catching on that Goodie didn’t understand what type of title he was talking about. “In your [MENU] you have [TITLES]. That’s one of them.”

Goodie finally caught on. The embarrassment at having missed the obvious threatened to send a new wave of misery to wash over him. He tried to move on.

“You can purchase titles? Wait did she make it? Or…how?”

"Yes, I mean no, look, it's like pearls.” Jeremy said while making an incomprehensible gesture with his hands. “you know?"

“No, I don’t know.”

“You know how clams make pearls, right? Well, they get a bit of sand stuck in their throat or whatever they have, and it gets covered in snot. And that’s what pearls are, balls of clam snot.”

Goodie wasn’t sure if he was being serious or if he was trying to lighten the mood, either way, Jeremy was giving him a headache which threatened to send him back into another fit of crying. The embarrassment over that thought also threatening to do so. Though technically he never stopped, his face wet enough to dampen his sleeve when he tried to wipe it.

“I assure you I saw it on TV, anyway, it’s not important. What is, is that [TITLE]. It’s level zero! Do you know how rare that is?”

Goodie did not. He didn’t even know you could get titles like this.

“Well, they’re all rare, but low-level titles are exceedingly so. Probably easier to digest or something.”

“What?” Goodie’s instincts telling him to toss the small, translucent gem back in the box.”

“When a spiritual entity eats one of us, it has trouble digesting the [SYSTEM], and like I said. Snot.”

Both stared at the little bauble that rested on Goodie’s open palm.

“And what do you do with it?”

“You swallow it.”

Jeremy had said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. It may have been, in this world.

“It contains the [ONE IN A MILLION TALENT (level 0)] which doubles the effects of your level 0 abilities. For a summoner, that’s two starting minions.”

Goodie took a moment to think of the implications.

“I still won’t be able to survive out there on my own.” he concluded.

“You won’t be, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

Goodie stopped. The small glimmer of hope given by those words, hurting more than they helped.

Jeremy continued, “There was a group of our lot. Tired of the endless bickering with the nobles and all that, they broke away. They went and formed a settlement in the wilds beyond the borders of the other regions, so they’d have room to expand.”

“Well, once or twice a year they send a group back to recruit new blood. The city doesn’t like to mention it because there’s too few of us as it is, but there’s a waggon train forming past the north gate. And they’ll be heading off soon.”

“Heading off through monster-infested lands?” Goodie asked, already knowing the answer.

“But that’s just stuff that might kill you.” Jeremy shot back, “whereas the nobles will, Nobles they won’t have on account of being in the arse end of nowhere.”

Goodie paused to consider it, despite not having any actual choice in the matter.

“And I’m sure there’s plenty of rats and sewers for you to play with once you get there.”, Jeremy finished, trying to add some humour to the situation.