Adam heard Lianna sigh for the third time in the past thirty minutes.

“I'm working on it, it's not that easy.” he told her, frustrated.

He had been trying, for over an hour now to determine the inner workings of the lock on his right wrist. At first he wasn't sure if he could make a key for it as he wouldn't know what shape the key would need to be. With an idea, he tried manipulating his mana into the lock. The first challenge was simply finding the hole for the lock, as it was above his head and out of sight.

Once inside the lock, he was able to use his mana sense while moving the mana around. His sense was able to give him a basic idea of when and where the mana met resistance as it swirled around inside the hole. Slowly, so very slowly he was able to determine the location and position of the pins inside. It was a pretty crude lock with only three pins, but determining that much took all his concentration. Finally sure of it, he materialized the mana in what he hoped was the correct positions, forming a basic iron key inside the hole.

The shackle around his wrist clicked open, then fell to the ground as Adam's weight shifted to his left arm. Fortunately the shift allowed him to reach the floor with his feet, taking his weight off his wrists for the first time in hours. As much pain as he was in, the relief felt great.

“Ok Houdini, good job, now hurry up and get me down too,” Lianna spoke up.

“Right, sorry.”

The chain that fell to the floor with the key was connected to the same chain around his left wrist. Pulling the key within his reach, he removed it from the keyhole and inserted it into the left shackle. With another click, he was free. His full weight back on his feet, he felt a little unsteady but remained in control.

Making his way over with noticeable effort, his luck continued as the same key worked for Lianna's shackles as well. They both collapsed to the ground.

“Damn, I hate pain,” Adam grumbled

“You kinda get used to it after awhile,” she told Adam with a resigned yet sardonic tone.

“I'd rather not, thanks.”

Rubbing their wrists they stood back up knowing they had to escape before anyone came back to see them. It had been hours since they were left alone, though Adam was pretty sure it was late into the night at this point. The door to the room didn't appear to even have a lock so Adam opened it slowly, and noisily as the metal hinges squeaked.

“Fudge. I'm sure nobody heard that.” Adam whispered as Lianna stared at him with contempt.

Lianna forced her way ahead of Adam, as she looked out the door. The hallway was much darker than the room they were in, making Adam notice the room was lit up with an area of sourceless light that was centered on the ceiling.

Adam created a small point of light and had it shine as dim as possible, just enough for them to see within their direct area. He had to actively control the location of the light to make it move with them but at least they could see, kind of.

Making their way down the hallway, Lianna stayed in the lead. Coming to an intersection, they heard faint footsteps coming from around the corner not far away. Quickly finding the closest door, Lianna opened it, much more quietly then Adam had previously, and stepped inside the room. Adam followed, leaving the door open just a crack.

The footsteps approached the intersection and began heading down the hallway in the opposite direction from them. Adam gave a sigh of relief. Looking around the room they were in, he saw a few tables against the walls. Turning up the light he was able to see six tables along the three walls surrounding the door. Each was piled with various clothing, armor, weapons, bags, and items all thrown on the tables randomly. What caught his attention was various items that were obviously from Earth such as cell phones, watches, a few wallets and purses.

“How many people are here from earth?” Adam asked as quietly as he could.

“I’m not sure. I’ve seen at least three while I was here.” Lianna told him.

“Shouldn’t we save them?” Adam asked her.

“We don’t know where they are, nor how many. What if there's dozens or many more than we’d be able to sneak out of here successfully with. I know there is no way we would be able to fight our way out of here.” Lianna told him.

Adam knew she was right. If she had seen others apart from those brought into this world the same night as they were, then there could be more than just a few. He didn’t like it, but It was too risky right now.

“I will come back for them eventually. I’ll find a way to save them.” Adam told her resolutely.

“We will.” Lianna agreed.

He quickly noticed his black cloak that had been removed from him and pulled it around his shoulders. Lianna found a dagger, and a small multicoulloured wallet she found after rooting around a bit.

“You should get one of the weapons too.” Lianna quietly told him.

Looking through the weapons he tried picking up a small sword as it would have better reach than a dagger and he didn't really want to be getting too close to anyone or anything. Well to be fair, he didn't exactly want to be killing in the first place. The sword appeared to be a basic iron short sword with a blade a foot in length, and didn't weight much, maybe one to two kilograms.

There were various pieces of leather armor but they didn't want to waste too much time. After Adam lowered the brightness of his light, Lianna exited through the door and they continued down the hallway, making a right down the path the footsteps had come from. They neared a large set of double doors, which Adam assumed was the exit. As they exited the hallway, so did someone else.

A man wearing full leather armor and a sword on his waist looked at them in surprise. Before he was able to draw his sword Lianna quickly put the point of her dagger to his throat. The guard moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword and both hands into the air. Adam didn't want to get caught again, he knew he couldn't handle another round of torture. He was still aching from the first. He also didn't want the guard to die, especially not for doing his job.

Simultaneously Adam put his left hand on Lianna's with the dagger and his right hand in his pocket. He could feel her hand shaking slightly and knew she was a lot more afraid than she let on. Looking at the man in the eyes, Adam showed him a gold coin he pulled from his pocket, holding it in front of his face, Letting his light increase enough to reflect off the coin.

The guard slowly looked behind and around him, then gave a nod, a large grin on his face. Adam placed the coin in his hand as he pushed Lianna's hand down, removing the dagger from his neck. The guard turned around and slowly walked back the way he came, as he pocketed the coin.

“Quickly let's go,” Adam said motioning to the double doors.

Lianna carefully unlocked the doors which had a simple latch locking the two doors to each other, then quietly opened one of them. They both slipped through and out into the street, then they ran, or quickly hobbled away.

***

Adam and Lianna were standing outside the Inn after retrieving their bags.

“Where to now?” Lianna asked him, as he was trying to figure out just that.

Adam considered staying at the Inn for the night but didn't doubt Gerald had found out where they were staying, since he seemed to know enough about his time spent in this town.

“Ultimately, I think we have to leave town. It's too dangerous to stay. We need to know where we can go, which means we need a map of the surrounding area and as much information as we can get.” Adam told her his thoughts.

“Right. Ok. The general store I think I saw some maps, though it looks closed,” Lianna said as she looked across the street at the dark building.

Looking around Adam saw all the buildings were dark except for the Inn and one other shop. The skill shop owned by Evond had faint light coming from the windows.

“Let's see what we can find out there,” Adam pointed.

The door was unlocked and Evond looked to be sleeping at the desk just as he was last time. Adam took the moment to create six gold coins, and place them in his pocket, before walking up to Evond. With no response from the man, Adam decided to go pick up one of the skill coins. Before he was able to touch it, Evond was awake and standing with a stern look on his face, which quickly turned to a smile.

“Oh it's you, I thought you'd be dead.” Evond grinned.

“Why would you think I was dead?” he asked in response.

“Well I heard what happened with the guards slaughtering the people in the bank square and two people with your descriptions being captured and dragged off to the Enault estate. Haven't heard of anyone coming back out alive before. Was I wrong in assuming it was you?”

“Well, no. You were correct. We escaped and came here. I was hoping you could help us out?” Adam added with a tentative smile.

“I don't mind helping you out if I can do so, but tell me, any chance you were followed here?” He asked a bit worried.

“I don't believe so, but I'm not entirely sure to be honest.” He decided to be straightforward with the guy. He seemed to be genuine and trustworthy. Not that Adam was overly good at judging people. In fact he was specifically bad at understanding people, but he still wanted to trust his gut.

“Alright, just to be safe, follow me.” he said leading them into a back room after locking the shop door and shutting off the lanterns that were emitting light.

Adam sat down at a small wooden table wincing in pain as he did so, making him think something was broken. He wanted to think many things were broken but he was probably just being a wimp. He knew Lianna was probably in just as bad a state but she seemed to handle it better.

“Ok what do you think I can help with?” Evond spoke first.

“What do you know about what's going on with this Gerald Enault guy? What do you mean people don’t usually come back out alive?” Adam asked.

“There have been rumors that he has been gathering people from other worlds, apparently trying to create an army of them. It’s been noticed more when a few have managed to escape somehow, trying to get help, speaking in some unknown language. They were always caught though and never seen again. People just assumed they were killed I guess. The last one to temporarily escape was about six months ago.” Evond explained.

“I see. We're leaving town as soon as we can, before we're found and captured again. Sounds like we won’t escape a second time. I'd like as much information as you can provide to my questions. A map of the area if you have one, and any health capsules you might have would be nice.” Adam got straight to it.

“I see, well I can definitely do my best to answer your questions. I have some health capsules, but can't give them up for free of course. As for a map, I have one but I'm reluctant to depart with it. I've had it for a long time and it wasn't easy to acquire.”

“Mind if we start with the health capsules? I could use the healing now. My health is only down twenty three points but the pain is … well painful as fudge.” Adam insisted.

“Fudge? What's that?” he asked confused.

“Umm… a dessert from where I'm from,” Adam responded reluctantly.

“You have a dessert you eat that's painful? That seems unwise,” Evond continued even more confused.

Lianna started openly laughing at him, only to abruptly stop and wince, her laughs hurting her abused ribs.

“Never mind. Do you have at least two capsules for us?” He asked.

Evond went over to a large chest in the corner and after rooting through for a minute he pulled out a small case. Bringing it over to them, he opened it and placed it on the table.

“I have four weak health capsules, two moderate and one average. Both of you look completely beaten but your injuries don't look too severe, so a moderate would probably do. I can give them both to you for eighteen silver.”

“How much for all of them? Including the container to hold them?” Adam asked seeing the capsule box. It was a simple rectangular case with a hard outside and padded inside with slots for ten capsules. Which included two capsules that had a slight blue tint to them inside two of the slots.

“one gold twenty five silver I could do it for, and I'll include the two poor mana capsules ” he said after some thought.

Adam placed two gold on the table, sliding them to Evond and pulling the case towards him. He quickly passed the first moderate health capsule to Lianna, which she gratefully took, then consumed the second one himself.

Consumed Moderate Health Capsule

Health + 15

Health + 1/second for 10 seconds.

After ten seconds he was back to full health and felt no pain. Lianna also appeared to be good as new. These things really were amazing. With the healing completed, Evond returned with a bag of what Adam assumed to be seventy five silver in change, placing it on the table in front of Adam. Ignoring the bag, Adam continued with his questions now that he was no longer in agony.

“Would you mind telling me about why there are so many living in poverty, and who are injured in this town?.”

Evond stared at Adam as if he had asked a stupid question with an obvious answer. When Adam didn't say anything, Evond answered.

“All people are born with one skill or spell apart from the three mana skills. The skill you're born with can have a huge impact on having a good life, if it can be unlocked. It can provide people with strength to help grow even stronger, or provide a crafting skill that can be used to make a living. Unfortunately many are unable to unlock it themselves, especially without proper guidance, as every skill and spell can require different and more difficult criteria to unlock. They can be unlocked using experience from killing monsters, but many require a lot of experience which involves being able to kill a large quantity of creatures without any skills or spells to begin with.

Skills and spells learned from coins are unlocked to begin with and give a huge advantage to being able to fight and more easily kill for experience. They are rare and obtained from killing strong monsters and bosses in dungeons, or purchased for a price that most people can’t afford. This allows for those who are already rich to easily increase their strength and wealth, while the poor remain without any power or ability to get stronger. Wealthy families, nobles, and royalty continue to grow stronger while the rest of the people are left to make it in the world on their own with little hope to get stronger. Sadly, that is how the world works.” Evond finished looking genuinely sad.

“Why don't kings and the leaders of cities help their citizens prosper, to grow stronger as a whole?” Adam asked

“Why would they? The weaker their people are, the easier it is to control them. Besides, skill coins, the more powerful capsules and all the useful items are already difficult enough to get, if the demand was higher, they would have to share.”

“But…” Adam started but didn't continue. It would be pointless to argue that if more people had the strength to fight the powerful bosses, then that would also increase the supply of items, making them less rare. Even if Evond agreed, he couldn't do anything about it.

“I have been in the forest surrounding this town and not seen a single animal or beast. Why is that?” He asked instead.

“You’re level zero?” he simply asked

“Yes?” Adam questioning.

“Your really not from this world are you?” He asked them.

“No we’re not.” Adam admitted.

”Are people all being pulled from different worlds or just ours?” Lianna asked.

“Well I can’t be sure, but typically, from what I know of summoning magic, the caster has no control over where the person is summoned from, so likely various worlds. I could be wrong” He answered.

“I see.” Adam said.

“To get back to your question, what do any animals, any monsters need to get stronger? Experience. What does anyone at level zero have little to none of? They avoid anyone at level zero as it isn't worth the effort for no experience” Evond answered.

“That makes sense I guess.” Adam said hesitantly.

“What about me then? I’m level two, will I get attacked when we leave the town?” Lianna spoke up clearly weary.

“Yes, but if you have managed to get to level two, you should be alright as long as you're careful. Don't be loud and try not to get surrounded or attacked by too many at once. Experience is gained from killing but the lower the opponents level the less experience received. If the creature is more than five levels higher than you, they will receive no experience. Therefore nothing five levels above you should attack. Most of the monsters that will attack you around here are solo hunters anyway,” Evond reassured her.

“We have to kill monsters to gain experience so we can increase our level, but what exactly does increasing level do?” Adam asked.

“Each level increase gives you one point to increase your attributes. Allows for a larger experience pool thus allowing for higher increase in skill and spell levels. Some skills and spells have level requirements to use or increase their level as well. Some highly rare and powerful ones can require hundreds to millions of experience to do so, which you need to have the required amount in your experience pool all at once.” Evond continued

“Something I seem to be missing is that I have some attribute points myself but can't figure out how to use them or even check what my attributes are. All I know is my health, stamina and mana.”

“That's another reason to level up. As you increase in level you unlock your attribute points at specific levels. Physical attributes unlock first followed by mental. There are rumors of other things like lifespan being unlocked at very high levels but I can't be sure if it's true or not. This makes leveling up required to increase in power, even for those who receive attribute points by unlocking and increase their skills and spells without experience.”

“Is there no way to gain experience and level up without having to kill?” Adam asked.

“Completing a dungeon grants all members in a group experience for defeating the boss, which is how those with healing and non combat abilities gain levels but they are desired in a party. If you don't have a use to help complete the dungeon, I doubt anyone will let you join them.”

“Good to know.” Adam said.

“Alright, so we need to escape from here somewhere we can grow stronger and increase our skills. Have any recommendations?”

“Hunt monsters along the way to Karhu city, then if you can afford it get a useful combat spell or skill. Karhu city is close to a dungeon obelisk with high amounts of traffic. This gives a larger selection of skill and spell coins than my shop. Once you feel confident enough in your abilities, find a group to attempt a level one dungeon and continue to grow stronger. Just don't try anything beyond your capability.” Evond offered.

“Dungeon Obelisk?” Lianna asked

“It's a tall monument that allows for the instant transportation to a large amount of dungeons, as well as the four closest obelisks. It also allows for those who have previously completed dungeons to access the Avaria Dungeon up to an equal level. I would suggest against that any time soon, it has a higher difficulty even if it offers the best rewards, including items that can only be acquired from it.”

“Teleportation, interesting,” Adam said excitedly. “How far are other obelisks?”

“I’m not sure the distance but from one obelisk to another is about half a year’s travel if i remember correctly.” He told Adam.

“That is very far, I can see why most people would teleport if that’s an option. So how much for your map if you were to part with it? I will do my best to return it to you for free when I see you again.” Adam enquired wanting the map.

“Good maps are expensive and hard to come by, especially ones that cover a large scale. I will lend it to you for fifty silver, but you better bring it back.” Evond said.

Adam accepted the map Evond pulled from his chest, handing it over in a cylindrical case. They went over the map which covered a very large distance, encompassing dozens of cities and towns within it, along with many hand written notes put on the map by Evond himself. Once they established the best route to their destination, Adam gave the fifty silver for the map along with an additional ten for all the help.

Lianna and Adam headed out of the city after acquiring some food and a few additional supplies from Evond. It was still extremely dark at night when they came to the gate with two new guards standing to either side. With not a word from the guards, they left and started heading to their first destination.

They took the road leading directly away from the city, with trees along both sides. Adam created a light to help them see slightly in the darkness.

“There's no moon.” Lianna commented after looking up at the sky for a while.

“No, I've never seen one, so I don't think this planet has a moon. Only the amazing amount of stars to light up the night. With heavy cloud cover it would be completely black though.”

They were an hour down the road when Adam heard the noises of a creature for the first time since coming here. A small cat like creature with two horns protruding from its head stepped out of the trees. Though it wasn't overly large for an animal, it was big for cats he was used to. Its eyes were locked on Lianna as it approached. She had her dagger in her hand before it finished stepping out of the trees.

Adam's heart jumped when he saw the feline pounce towards her after she stumbled, tripping over nothing. He was surprised at how quickly it moved. Just before the cat made contact with her, she regained her footing and brought the dagger down on its neck, digging the blade all the way to the hilt. The creature fell to the ground dead, blood covering the ground and spraying over Lianna’s clothes.

“Ew. Not the first time I've been covered in blood in the past few days, but still so gross,”she said turning towards Adam. “These horned cats are fast and smart, but quickly act on their opponents mistakes, which makes it easy to trick them.”

“Even so, it moved so quickly I doubt I would have time to react.” Adam was still shocked that she was able to handle it so easily. “We'll have to get you cleaned up.”

Adam kept lookout while she cleaned the blood off herself using a little bit of their drinking water, and changed into a second set of clothes. She still had streaks of blood on her face and in her hair but he was sure it wasn't easy with minimal water to use.

After a couple of hours walking and two more encounters with horned cats, they were quite exhausted and made a simple camp near a river that ran along the road. The trees had begun to thin out and eventually stop as open fields appeared around them. Not that they could see anything but flat ground in the distance. Lianna used the opportunity to clean herself and her two sets of bloody clothes in the water. Then they went to sleep, both too exhausted to think about keeping watch.