Aster twisted through the alleyways and roads, when he got to the main market street he slowed down and took his time looking at all the wares. He had some gold from his years of work but he would need to figure out a way to make money while travelling. Perhaps odd jobs or maybe monster hunting could help. If he just hunted his way from town to town selling whatever he could gather then perhaps this journey wouldn’t be too bad.

The items available here didn’t seem too different from what his hometown offered though so nothing really caught his attention until some noise of a crowd down another side street made him change course to see what might have caused such a gathering.

As he entered what seemed like an open square with a stage setup at the north end and a man at a podium waving a small gavel in the air, Aster noticed some cages off to the side and a helper was bringing one at a time up on stage. It was an auction, and the cages were filled with live animals of all shapes and elements. He noticed some town guards keeping watch on the proceedings and wondered at the legality of all this.

"Just wait till later tonight, when the guards leave and this event moves indoors. That's when the *ahem* ‘helpers’ will be sold." Aster overheard a couple chatting about the auction and grimaced to himself, ‘Well it looks like this is half-legal, anyways.’

He quickly moved back towards the alley he had come from and stumbled into a portly human who let out an “Oof” before pushing Aster away from him and yelling grumpily, "Watch where you're going, peasant!"

Aster had run into this personality before and he quickly gave a low bow and replied, "Excuse me sir, my mistake."

The stranger’s bodyguards were helping to dust him off and straighten his clothes as he grumbled, "Abyss right it's your-" his voice cut off as Aster felt a thick hand clasp his shirt and pull him forward, bringing his face to the stout fellow’s eyes, “Ooh?” A cruel sneer alighted the man’s face as he inspected Aster’s Unblessed marking, “Did you just arrive in town, boy?”

Aster gave a nervous chuckle as he used his free hand to brush back his hair as he thought of some way to get out of this mess, “Hehe, yeah. I'm, uh, meeting up with my friends in a bit. So, uh, I should probably get going.” He noticed the stranger’s Earth mark over his right eye as he tried to pull away and step back but he bumped into two more bodies as the man’s guards seemed to surround him.

The human’s smile seemed to widen, showing some gold teeth, as he said, “Nice bluff but, in my vast experience, the Cursed don't have 'friends'.”

Before Aster could try to reach for his sword he felt strong hands grip around his shoulders, pinning his arms down as the man let go of his shirt.

Alert! Combat Initiated with Marco Polkin, level 13 Merchant and party!

Strength check unsuccessful. You are grappled.

“Hey, get off of-” Aster began to yell but the meaty hand grabbed his face this time, covering his mouth as it turned his head side to side as the merchant gave him an examining gaze, “A cute face and a strong body. Those odd eyes of his are a bit exotic. This kid should catch a hefty price tonight. Why don’t you men add him to the final lot?” he let go of Aster’s face and before he could help himself Aster gave out a laugh.

The bodyguards and Marco gave him a confused look as he replied, “Haa, I'm sorry. For a moment there I thought you were planning to sell me, like some kind of thing. Along with the crazy idea that I would go along without a fuss.” Using the guard’s strength to steady himself, he jumped and kicked Marco in the chest with both of his feet.

Strength check successful. You knocked down Marco.

Aster grinned as the man flailed to the ground then glanced over his shoulder at the guard, “Time to sing!” With that announcement, he elbowed the man in the solar plexus, then stomped a boot down on his right foot’s instep; this had disoriented the guard enough to loosen his grip so Aster could elbow him in the nose before swinging his fist down into the guard’s groin.

You used a technique for 10 Qi; you incapacitated Bodyguard Dylan.

Aster gave silent thanks to Ms. Bullock for teaching him that as he dislodged from the guard and drew his blood red sword in a single fluid motion, pointing the tip towards his assailants that were behind him as he stood midway down the alley. The other two guards were quick to also arm themselves, but with their magic instead of weapons.

The first guard seemed to grow huge metallic claws which freakishly reminded him of Wolverine and the second one raised a small fireball up in their hand which seemed to slowly be growing, he didn’t need to see their foreheads to figure out these two. ‘Reshing magic…’ Aster groaned mentally as he prepared to dodge the oncoming attacks but then looked down as he realized his feet weren’t obeying him.

Marco cast Entrapping Earth.

Reflex check failed; you are stuck.

Aster glanced behind him to see the merchant touching the ground with both hands and smirking at him. He rolled his eyes at his luck and muttered, “Well, resh it.” He looked back at the guards just in time to see the Fire-Blessed one hurl a watermelon-sized fireball right at his abdomen, apparently his face would get spared damage as they considered it “merchandise”. He braced himself for the impact hoping his Fire-Resistance would help but, just before it would have struck, a wall of water appeared in front of him. Aster’s eyes widened as he whispered with a bit of dread, “No!” He looked behind him again to see none other than Saelak walking down the alley towards them, dozens of sharp icicles appearing in the air around him ready to impale the would-be slavers.

Paul cast Fireball.

Alert! Seppen Saelak joined combat.

Saelak used Water Wall and nullified the damage from Fireball.

Saelak looked furious as he spoke through clenched teeth as though trying to hold back from screaming at them, “Get. Away. From. Him.”

The icicles were javelin size now and the merchant stuttered as he moved to the side of Aster where his guards stood and lay, “I-If the whelp belongs t-to you then you should keep a t-tighter leash on y-your pets!” Aster felt the earth break away from his legs.

Marco cancelled Entrapping Earth; you are no longer stuck.

The merchant kept stammering as his guards grabbed their downed comrade, “A Cursed one w-wandering alone is j-just going to end up at the Soul Auction.”

Saelak had reached Aster’s side now and glared down at him, causing the half-elf to look away a bit embarrassed, “Don't worry… he won't leave my sight again.”

Saelak canceled casting Ice Lance Flurry.

Combat ended.

As the slavers left hurriedly back towards the auction area, Aster sheathed his sword and said curtly, “Thank you.”

Saelak crossed his arms, “I'd rather have an apology.” Before Aster could object fully, as he had definitely started to, Saelak continued looking more hurt now than angry, “I can't believe you tried to ditch me like that. I thought you were my friend.”

Aster punched him lightly on the arm, “Come on, Saelak. You know I am. That's exactly why I tried so hard to make you go back home.” He began to walk back towards the market street as Saelak followed him, saying a bit softer, “Family is nothing to throw away.”

Saelak looked at him and said seriously, “That's why I won't leave you.”

Aster sighed, “I guess we are like brothers.” Saelak winced slightly though Aster couldn’t see it, “Fine. I give up.” Aster looked back towards Saelak as he continued, “Besides, it looks like my final attempt didn't work and I'll need you to play 'master' for me when we're in bigger towns” This time he did see when Saelak's face turned crimson and it took him a moment to parse through what he had said only to laugh and give him another playful punch, “Not like that, ya perv!”

Saelak’s mood seemed to lighten as Aster finally agreed to let him stay and he chuckled back, “Yeah yeah, I know. But I'm glad that you need me for once.”

Aster raised an eyebrow at that and replied seriously, “I always need you, even if I’m trying to do what’s best for you.” Saelak pinked slightly at that but a smile lit his face and Aster pulled him along, “Come on, let's go get some provisions.”

They bought a few things and stopped at an inn for the night, surprisingly Aster found much more hostility towards Unblessed here in this town and Saelak had to manage a lot of the purchases for them. Aster played the role of servant and carried their things which seemed to make them stand out and cause disruption less. Saelak actually seemed more upset by the situation than Aster did. As they retreated to their room for the night, laying in separate beds, Aster went through his logs again and when he noticed something he sat up in bed and almost shouted at his friend, “You disowned your house?!? My logs say your name is ‘Seppen Saelak’ now!”

The former-noble gave a sigh as he sat up realizing there was no escape from this conversation. “Well those rangers you left me too made it quite apparent that the only way I was going to make it into town was if they no longer had any reason to bring me home. My parents made that very aware as well with the message they left.” His vision darkened a bit remembering what the guards had said after Aster was no longer in sight. Apparently, they had thought that after a week of saying goodbye on the way to the border and a week grieving the loss of his friend on the way back home he would just accept his role as Scion and resign to his mother’s plans for him. He did not want to give her that satisfaction. “By the way, do you want to form an actual party now?”

Aster raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?” the way Saelak had said that just now made it sound like it was a system thing but he couldn’t recall anything like that.

Saelak just looked at him blankly before repeating, “A party? Like, through the system? In all your reading, how have you not heard of a party?”

Aster was a bit speechless, ‘How hadn’t he heard of a system like this before?’ he racked his brain a bit but then said, “I thought when they spoke about a party they were talking figuratively, like ‘that group of people over there’ not an actual system thing!”

Saelak gave a laugh and suddenly a small message box appeared in Aster’s field of view.

Seppen Saelak, level 17 Shimmer Knight, invited you to form a party. Would you like to join?

Aster said yes and more notifications filled his vision.

Congratulations!

You joined your first party, you can view more details in your party page within your profile system.

You gained a Title: “Party Goer”

I need living companions who follow me because they want to follow themselves— and who want to go where I want to go.

Effect: When this title is equipped, you gain +2% exp for each member of your party.

Party

Leader:

Saelak, Maker of Myths

Level 17 Shimmer Knight

Health:420/380 [+40]

Stamina:350/290 [+60]

Mana: 710/610 [+100]

Qi:48/340 [+40]

Inspiration:410/360 [+60]

Favor:165/520 [+80]

Members:

Cursed Exile Aster

Level 0

Health: 200/200

Stamina: 420/410 [+10]

Mana: 460/460

Qi: 310/310

Inspiration: 94/240

Favor: 57/290

Roles

Tank

Healer

Support

Magic Damage

Physical Damage

None

None

None

Saelak

+2% Magic Damage

Aster

+2% Physical Damage

Party Abilities

Friendly Fire

Effect: Party members are immune to spells and abilities from other party members.

Requires: 2 party members

Tundra Traveler

Effect: Party members do not suffer from cold environment damage.

Requires: an Ice Blessed party member

Mini Map

Effect: Party members can see the direction and distance from one another.

Requires: an Illusion Blessed party member

Refill

Effect: Drink containers refill over time.

Requires: a Water Blessed party member

Note: More Party Abilities may become available with more party members and their contributing levels and abilities.

This had to be the most game-like thing Aster had seen since coming to this world and he loved it. Friendly Fire? Mini Map? Awesome! He even got a boost to his damage and experience just for being in the party. The only down-side which wasn’t really a down-side was that they could see each other’s resources which, while helpful, reminded Aster about how great the divide was between him and those who were Blessed. Even though Saelak was a year younger than him, his access to the system made his stats and abilities far surpass his own, save for Dexterity which he knew the Knight neglected. He felt shame and anger at himself and his situation but tried to shake it off reminding himself just how awesome this system was. Now even if they got separated they would be able to find each other again. That thought gave Aster pause though as he asked, “Wait, how did you find me earlier?”

Saelak looked a little sheepish at that question and he looked anywhere but in Aster’s direction. “It’s, uh, one of my spells. It helped me track you.”

Aster’s eyes grew wider at that and he said, “You can scry? I thought you didn’t choose the Scryer class. Did it come with Shimmer Knight or was it something all Illusion mages get at a high enough rank? What rank are you now anyways?”

Saelak shook his head and rolled his eyes a bit as Aster started the endless stream of questions, he always got like this when they talked about magic. “It’s not really a scrying spell. It’s a location tracker spell called ‘Find Item’, I got it when my Illusion Magic reached the Initiate rank. It will show me an arrow that only I can see that points towards an item I name that’s been touched by me before.” He paused looking a bit embarrassed, “I’m just grateful that you kept my gift.”

Aster looked puzzled for a moment until he remembered his rose, ‘looks like as long as I have it then Saelak can find me.’ He actually felt a bit comforted by that after all the issues they ran into this afternoon and he smiled a bit as he replied, “I’ll make sure to keep it close then.”

Saelak couldn’t help the pink that colored his cheeks and he stammered slightly, reminding Aster of the child he first met all those years ago, “Th-that’s g-good then. Yes. well. Good night.” He quickly layed back down and rolled over to face away from Aster who smiled and wished his friend good dreams as he went to sleep.