Jarod woke in a jail cell, with a bandage wrapped around his head. The light was mercifully low, given that he probably had a concussion. Last he remembered he had a fight with a demon. He fought a demon. Jarod fought a demon and he was not quite at terms with that. Panic had dug its vile fingers into his hair and was about to start wracking him when a clear voice called out to him.

“Awake, I see.” A woman in silver and gold armor sat on the other side of the jail cell, her hair vibrant red. She leaned forward in her sturdy wooden chair. She had a handful of highly visible scars across her mouth and cheek.

“Um, morning?”

“It’s evening, actually. You’ve been out for a day, give or take.” Jarod cursed himself, his rent was due in a week and he really had to get to work today. He then thought it was silly he was worried about work when he was in a magical world.

“Well, uh, good evening?”

“I’m going to cut straight to the chase. We found you unconscious at the bottom of a black-keep with a greater demon spirit drawn into a bottle. To do that, you would need either incredible power, or a legendary artifact. You have no artifact on you, but it is also obvious you are no powerful spellcaster.”

“And what makes you say that?” Jarod felt insulted.

“You’re dressed like a prisoner.” This woman was incredibly matter of fact. Jarod looked down at his clothes, which were still the stained exercise-wear. He would rather she said pajamas.

“I don’t know where you’re going with this, to be honest.” Jarod said. He found it a bit hard to breathe here, the air was thin and the room stuffy.

“I believe you are a common thief who has managed to get way in over his head. On one hand, stealing from the cult of the Defiler isn’t frowned upon, but a thief isn’t exactly someone we want to run free without supervision. Do you see my predicament?”

“Well I can’t really say how much you’d value my word, but those cultists told me I was an artifact. Whatever that means.” As the words left Jarod’s lips, the woman in armor furrowed her brow, and she looked incredibly concerned, surprised, and slightly scared.

“Er, is it something I said?” Jarod asked. She sat still for a moment longer, to gather her thoughts. She then leaned back and pointed to the door leading out of this interrogation room.

“Behind that door is a truth priest, if you tried to lie we would all know. Tell me, who said that you were an artifact?”

“First, there was this massive man in black armor, the one with the mace. He’s the one that kidnapped me. Then, there was an older man with black eyes and white hair, and he confirmed I was an artifact. I was being brought to somewhere they called ‘the vault’ when you guys showed up.” Hearing that, the woman stood up and put her hands to the bars.

“Are you telling me Jez Kai El was not only in that black-keep, but thought you were valuable enough of an artifact to keep in his personal stash!? And how do you understand black speech!? It takes years of study! He spoke to you? You speak Caldish so naturally!” She shouted. It sounded more like a list of rhetorical questions, but Jarod didn’t know anything but to respond.

“Yes?”

She sat down. Almost exhausted by just the surprise.

“So tell me, how did you find a demon soul?”

And so, Jarod introduced himself, and explained the events to the best of his ability. From being taken from his home, to the strangers, to somehow understanding their language and hers, to the vault where he passed out. She nodded along thoughtfully.

“Well Jarod, you’re remarkably calm for what’s happened.”

“As I said, that demon was eating my memories, it’s been a day and I only have parts of my old life left. From what I can remember… It wasn’t great. Yeah, my entire worldview is shattered, but I can at least remember that I’ve always been good at keeping my wits about me.” His mother was a bit of a hippie, always teaching him her newest meditation technique that was going to change everything for her. And yet, he couldn’t remember her face, and was struggling with her name. He thinks it was a flower, red, thorny… Rose! He remembered she taught him grounding exercises. So he had made his parent’s names his grounding, even if he couldn’t remember their faces, or even had that great of a relationship with them in the first place.

“Right. I think our first step is going to be rather sudden. I’m going to need you to make a choice, and I expect to hear your answer tomorrow morning.”

“Well, what’s the choice?”

“As it stands, you are a tool.”

“That’s not very nice.” Jarod said. The woman didn’t seem to get the joke.

“-A blunt sword that needs to be sharpened, to point at our enemies. You will have to train briefly under us, to make sure your morals aren’t aligned with the forces of evil. Then your choice will come to light. Become part of our order, or set off alone.”

“If I’m going to be trained either way, why not let me wait until the time of?”

“Because this needs to be a choice of conviction. Anyone who does not purely agree with our order cannot be part of it. Of course, I will elaborate on who we are, and what we do.”

“Sounds a bit fascist if you ask me.”

“Sounds what?”

“Nevermind, can you please explain your order?”

“Well, I should properly introduce myself. My name is Kala, I am a paladin of the order of the silver sunset. Always fighting at the edge of darkness, our forces are the first line of defense against the forces of darkness. All paladins are equal rank, only below the oracle herself. Below us are priests, who are trained separately, but are a rank higher than our knights, who are above their squires, and them above the men at arms. It is our duty to fight the scourge of evil, such as the cult of the Defiler that stole you, among many others. It is not an easy life, but we seek to protect all who fall under the sun’s light.”

“Sounds, religious, do you worship a god, a member of a pantheon?”

“Aurella, the twilight lady. Goddess of protection and justice. Do you have such gods in your world?”

“It’s… complicated. And I’d rather leave it at that.”

“I expect your answer by tomorrow, of course.”

“No need, I already know my answer.”

“Ah, good conviction!”

“Well, after the training I would rather head out on my own, believe it or not. I have problems with authority.” Jarod sheepishly admitted. It’s not like it was worth trying to lie.

“Well, I appreciate your candor.” Kala didn’t seem upset. In fact, she seemed much more relaxed now.

“Can I ask a few questions?”

“Of course. I imagine you have a few.”

“Do the words ‘stats’ and ‘class’ mean anything to you?” Jarod asked. Kala chuckled.

“Of course, as much as I know day and night.”

“We don’t have these in my world, could you give me a brief rundown?”

“Well, it’s quite simple. Our stats are a measure of four rather self explanatory attributes. Strength, endurance, agility, and willpower. You can increase them by training them.”

“What about eating spirits?”

“I’ve never heard of it until you, to be honest. You see, artifacts gain power from spirits that they absorb.”

“Well, can I eat that demon spirit then? I figure it could make me pretty strong.”

“I would never let you do that. Artifacts are modified by the spirits they devour, and more powerful spirits modify the artifact more drastically. That spirit you ate earlier was weak, but anything stronger might permanently change you for the worst. That demon might completely consume your identity, even with knowing its name.”

“Good to know…”

“As for classes, after progressing your stats above the base level zero, you can choose your first class from three, fighter, rogue, and acolyte. Then as your class abilities advance, you can advance your class along the lines of your abilities. Of course, it becomes exponentially harder every time. I am the paladin class, a tier 4 class.”

“I think I kind of get it.”

“During your training, we’ll advance you to your first class. I can help you get your footing, as our creed is to help the weak, but ultimately we cannot hold your hand forever.”

“To be honest, your offer awfully generous already. Despite the jail cell.” Jarod motioned around him.

“You’re a special case, that’s why. Normally we would turn away anyone not committed to the order, but it is in our best interests to keep you from falling into the wrong hands.”

“Fair." He really didn't know whether he thought it was fair, but he desperately needed some direction right now. Kala unlocked the door to the cell and Jarod stepped out. All in all, far from the worst case scenario. His head still hurts like a hurricane, but he would manage. After feeling his soul being devoured, other pains didn't seem so bad.

She led him out of the cell past a man in white robes and a guard, then up two floors to a small lobby that led to the courtyard. As they went outdoors, the air bit him with cold. The white stone spires of this castle broke the nearby cloudline. This fortress was atop a mountain, which explained the thin air.

"Welcome, to the sunset citadel." Kala said with pride. The cold didn't seem to bother her, but Jarod was already shivering.

"Cold."

"We are in the far North, atop mount Hatask where it is always sunset. This is where we train, and where we base our operations. You are lucky we were so near, but it is worrying a black-keep had formed only a days march away."

"You keep mentioning something called a black-keep, what's so special about them?"

"The defiler himself can sculpt one in but a day, and maintains the power to do so about once a year. The cultists can travel freely between any black-keep, and to destroy one is the only way to prevent the cult from taking hold."

"What do they do?" Jarod asked. The question caught Kala off guard.

"What do they do?" Kala asked, as if to make sure she heard it right.

"Are you fighting them just because they worship the wrong god? All I saw of them was them kidnapping me, which isn't great, but then defending themselves."

"If you are worried about the moral ambiguity of it, have no fear. They practice human sacrifice, cannibalism, and provide their bodies as hosts for demons. To fight the defiler cult is one of our greatest duties."

"Ah." Good to know, Jarod thought.

"I bring you out here so that you can see our citadel, to see our might. We train to become as our citadel. Bright, immoveable, pure." She stood for a moment longer.

"Your training will have two parts, mental, and physical. You will learn our tenets, even if you do not wish to follow them. You will also train as our initiates do." She pointed towards a distant group in the courtyard, practicing some kind of sword drills.

"Are they…"

"Yes, they are in their underwear. It hones their endurance as well as their willpower, so suffer in the cold as they do." Kala stated, matter of fact. Jarod started to have second thoughts, but he doubted he could survive a trek down this mountain, even if he had gear. Fire spell be damned.

"Now come, I will show you to your lodging. You will be placed in the barracks with the other initiates. They will be briefed on your situation, but they will be in the same training regimen as you."

"Won't I be behind?"

"Only a week, this group has just arrived. Our training is intensive, so you will have your class by the end of next month, unless you’re a total failure, of course." Jarod was about to object that yes, he was in fact a failure. He was lazy, and didn't want to do this. And the thought of two and a half months really set the gravity of the situation. He wasn't going to get back home, or at least he wasn't getting home easily. Did he even want to?