The world inside the [Memoir] was peculiar since all the colours looked greyish and pale like they were missing something. Sometimes, everything even looked blurred for a few seconds, including the glass like a portal.

We were at the top of a broken tower, surrounded by a lush forest. Despite the dense trees, it was possible to see glimpses of broken buildings in the distance. And even if they were blocking most of the view, we could hear the sounds of battle echoing all over us.

I turned to Michael and the woman named Ana, who for some reason decided to follow us despite all the previous confusion. "I don't know you, but I prefer to play safe here. Let's not go too far and see what is out there, then we can come up with a plan. But first -"

Before I could finish my sentence. A man came running out from the portal. He went straight to the tower's broken wall and jumped.

Michael and Ana gasped. The three of us went and looked at the dead body splashed over the tower's entrance. Ana gave a step back, shivering, and Michael remained frozen while staring down.

I would have never killed myself, but there was no denying that suicide was an option many would consider escaping our new reality. I was still not sure how bad things were inside the [Memoir], but I was now expecting the worst.

"Like I was saying, we need to know what our runes do. Mine summons a creature that decreases one enemy strength by 10%."

Ana vomited all over the place. It took a moment for her to recover and turned her deadly gaze to me. "A man killed himself in front of us." She shivered. "How can you ignore it?"

"I can because I don't want to end like that." It was also because I was used to seeing dead people, but she didn't need to know that. The less they knew about me, the better for them.

"Ok, mine creates an axe of mana that hit a place I'm mentally aiming. It cost 10 mana, so I can shoot it ten times." Michael said, looking proud of his spell.

"It hit? You don't have to throw it?"

"If I understand it, it's automatic."

"Worth testing."

He looked at the opposite wall, narrowing his eyes like he was focusing on a specific spot. There was a slight vibration in the air around us, until out of nowhere, a dark blue, but translucent, axe appeared in the air. It flew at the wall, hitting it.

Gasping, I stared at it until the axe disappeared. I thanked the goods for my shield effect because there was almost no hint of the attack coming. At least the attack was slow, so I could probably block or avoid it.

"That's very useful. Try to save it for situations we need." I told him and turned to Ana. "And yours?"

"I don't know." She said, shrugging.

I sighed. "There is a gemstone in the hilt of your weapon. Look at it."

"Oh! It says I can raise one zombie, but only if I was the one killing the target." She muttered for a few seconds. "It cost 50 reserved mana. How do we recover our mana?"

We looked at each other, realizing that we had forgotten to ask for it. I wanted to punch myself in the face and even considered going back to ask that, but in the end, we were only going to take a look at the place.

I didn't plan to keep fighting to the point of having to use all we had. "We can figure it out later, we just need to be careful. Let's move on."

Since I still didn't know if the two would be of any help in combat, I took the lead and descended the tower's circular stair until we reached the floor. The tower's door was opened but showed too little of what was outside, making that the perfect place for an ambush.

I held my shield in front of my chest and my sword next to it. As soon as I left the tower, someone who had been at a blind spot to my right attacked me. He came at me screaming and making so much noise that his sneak attack failed. I turned fast enough to hit the right side of his head with my shield, bashing his head against the wall.

He was a human just like us, but his skin colour was also greyish and pale like the rest of the world. He was also mostly naked, except by a kilt made of the skin of humans, which included a nipple.

A second attacker came running from the woods in front of us. I felt the odd vibration in the air as a black banner materialized between us. A burst of red energy came out from it, creating a dome around us. My vision became blurred, like something dark was clouding it.

"Look out!" Ana shouted.

I jumped back. His attack still managed to gaze at my head. I felt an impact like I had been punched instead of being cut. The pain was followed by a message inside my head.

Mana shield down to 60%.

Smirking, I guessed how far he was and his overall position, then shoved my sword up, feeling it connect with something. His scream was the only confirmation I needed to know I had pierced his body. Quickly, I pushed it out and struck again.

My vision returned, revealing that the ugly man holding my sword with both hands, while snarling at me, displayed two rolls of pointed teeth. His breath smelled of putrid meat. I pushed my sword at the same time I kicked his knee, breaking it.

He fell to the ground, coughing blood. A good stomp at his head was enough to end his life.

For your display, Charon has given you five death coins.

A black leather belt the size of a closed fist appeared in front of me. It fell on the ground, making a metallic sound.

"Aron!" Michael almost shouted at my side. "Are you alright? I thought he would cut your head open."

It did occur to me that he could have shot him dead with an axe. But a real fight was a situation that froze most people unless you are prepared, so gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"We have a magic shield around us. It blocked the attack." I told him, getting down to take the bag.

"What 's that?" Ana asked me, joining us.

"I don't know," I answered her, while I undid the bag's knot. Inside it was five little golden coins with a skull engraved on one side.

Charon's Coin.

Can be traded at a god's forge.

That didn't help at all.

"Maybe you can trade it for a godly weapon?" Michael said, staring at the coin. "We are in another world, using magic, so who knows?"

I put it back in the bag, and then in my pants pocket. "Doesn't matter, the knights will probably take it."

"I hate this!" Ana said, kicking the dead man. "They didn't explain shit to us, and this is only getting more confusing."

"Yeah, let's -"

Michael held me by the shoulder. "Man, you almost died back there, how are you not panicking?"

I sighed. "Let's just say I had my share of near-death experiences."

"Were you a soldier?" Ana asked, "You know how to fight and what to do."

"I was … A bodyguard." Which was the truth, but only a part of it. "Forget about me and check the bodies. I will keep watch."

The two of them nodded and rushed to complete their task. I turned to the surrounding forest, looking for any sign of movement and wondering why the two cannibals were so close to the portal when people were coming out from it all the time. It was then that I realized that aside from the suicidal, no one came else came.

Either people had stopped entering the [Memoir] which I doubt, or the place we arrived at was random. I gave a glance at the tower. That had to be one of the worst places to have a portal to another world. The stairs were so narrow that either a group went up or down, but never at the same time.

It was easy to set an ambush and easy to siege. Our enemies could simply take cover on the trees and shoot us with spells. Since there was only one way in and out of the tower, shooting us would be a piece of cake. Unless they lacked ranged weapons and spells, which I hoped to be the case.

Michael was the first to return, giving me the [Spell Rune] that had blinded me.

Rune: Banner Of Blindness.

Tier: 1.

Type: Summon.

Mana Cost: 10 reserved mana per summon + 10 per target affected.

Effect: Summon a Banner that decreases the vision of anyone inside an area of 2 meters around the Banner. The Spell doesn’t affect the caster.

Despite it being a powerful spell, the fact it didn’t differentiate friends and foes made it hard to use outside a solo battle. Maybe it could work as a last resort to prevent the enemies from attacking my team, but even that would barely work.

“His axe only had a rune slot and was at 30% durability. I don’t think it’s worth keeping.”

“It’s probably trash.” I looked at the other body and noticed Ana was not scavenging it. “Where is she?”

Michael looked all around us. “She was here, maybe she went to see the man who jumped? Or she went back.”

“Let’s look for her, we can check the other body later.”

We went to the other side of the tower, where the remains of the suicidal were splashed all over the place. His shield was broken near his left arm, and the sword was still tied at the belt, which meant she didn’t touch it. I got down near the dead body and looked at the woods, wondering if she would enter it alone. Despite her panic attack at the summoning room, she didn't look the kind to make a bad judgment and enter the forest alone.

“She probably returned to the base, or whatever that is,” I told him, and unsheathed the sword.

Short Sword of Parry.

Durability: 45%

Rune Slot: 0/1.

Effect: Has a 5% chance of parrying an attack you would not block.

“Strange, there is no rune on this weapon”

“Maybe he gave it to someone?”

“Maybe.” I looked at the tower and then at the forest. The entrance was on the other side, so after we started to get down, we wouldn’t be able to see if someone came and looted it. But the cannibals would have seen it unless the person was one of them. On the other hand, there was no reason to put the sword back on the sheath.

I scratched my head, realizing that I was overthinking it.

“Let’s loot the other body and return.”Getting up, I found myself alone despite Michael being there a second ago. I put the shield in front of my body, and ready myself for a fight. Slowly, I repositioned myself so the tower stood at my back, preventing someone to attack me from behind, while I looked for any sign that gave away my opponent's location.

The noises of fights around me had stopped, yet, I couldn’t hear anything near me. Not even the wind. My mind rushed, trying to imagine what sort of spell had been used against Michael and Ana. It had to block the sounds made by the target, or around it. And be fast enough to make someone disappear in a matter of seconds. Maybe even more than one spell was used at the same time.

It also had been used from afar, because I didn’t feel the vibrations in the air that indicated a spell being cast. At least, assuming all spells did that.

As I found myself unable to come up with an explanation. I increased the strength on my grip, feeling my [Spell Rune] pinching my skin, which gave me an idea. Wishing for the beholder to appear, made me feel something being drained from inside my body while a creature took form in front of me.

An eye bigger than my head blinked while staring at me. It was surrounded by a thick dark purple skin that gave the impression it was burned and disfigured. Tentacles came out from its back, getting down strangling each other.

The beholder floated while staring at me. I felt it was waiting for my command, so I mentally ordered it to find my opponent, hoping his vision would be better than mine.

To my surprise, he turned and stared at a point three or four steps at my right. His eyes glowed with dark energy as his skin closed like he was narrowing his single eye to focus on something. A distant tough, like a voice, echoed inside my mind, telling me he had fulfilled the order.

So I blinked twice.

Then jumped, slashing at the point he was gazing. My sword cut something, sending a splash of blood against my face. The reality around me broke in thousands of pieces, giving place to an exact copy of the world I was in. Except for a few changes.

First, a man was eating Ana's face, who was dead on the floor, with her belly open and the entrails partially eaten.

The second was that Michael was tied to a pole. His mouth was tied with a dirtied piece of cloth. He was shouting something, but his voice was muffled.

The last was a woman right in front of me, holding the cut I had inflicted upon her face. Her hand moved too fast for me to react, holding me by my throat with enough force that it broke all my [Mana Shield] and would suffocate me in seconds.

"Mortal scum!" She shouted. "You won't prevent our return!"

I abandoned my sword, and held her arm, next I hit her elbow with my shield, breaking it, which freed me from her grasp.

She screamed and tried to attack me with her free hand, but I got down avoiding her slash, took my sword and raised it with an uppercut. Her blood splashed over me, covering my face and shoulders in gore and the same black goo that was at the summoning chamber.

I glared at the cannibal eating Ana, who was snarling at me. He made a motion like he would attack me at any moment, then stopped and looked at the forest. He kept looking at me then to the forest until he decided to flee.

Since I was too tired, I let him live another day.

For breaking free from the illusion of an Aberrant, and surviving the encounter; Charon has given you 6 death coins.

This time the coins didn't appear in front of me, but I felt my purse heavier. I ignore it, for now, to help Michael. As I freed him from the pole, he immediately got up and took the dirty cloth from his mouth.

"Thanks, man! I thought I was going to die."

"What happened to you?"

"Not sure. One moment I was looking at you, then someone hit me from the back." He looked at the dead woman. "She and the other one tied me to a pole, I think they were saving me for later."

That made me shiver.

I tried to look for my Beholder, but it was nowhere to be seen. Maybe the spell stopped working when I let go of my sword, which made sense. I looked at my sword and sighted.

"You look frustrated for someone who survived."

"I was lucky."

"What do you mean?"

"We were under an illusion. I only survived because of my Beholder."

"But you survived. Be happy for that."

I felt my scar stretching. "I don't like to feel powerless, and I hate to rely on luck. We need to get stronger or we will die a dog's death here."

"Yeah, but how? They aren't interested in making us stronger."

He had a point. One I didn't have an answer for.

"We will figure something out."

"Ok, and we do with her?" he said, pointing to Ana's dead body.

"We better leave her. The knights will probably throw her back in, and the cannibals will just unbury her for a snack."

"That 's a cold man." He said, with a reprehensive gaze. "She is human like us, and she may have a family somewhere looking for her."

He got on his knees in front of her, chanting a prayer for God to reach her soul, which sound funny since he was a stutterer. Frustrated, I took the hole of a watcher, waiting for him to finish and hoping no one else came to kill us.

"I'm done. Thanks for waiting for me."

"Yeah, but let's go. I'm sick of this place."

We took Ana’s gear and tried to loot the aberrant woman's body, who oddly didn’t have any rune on her, which made me wonder how she cast the illusion on us. Then we made our way back to the portal, only to find it was gone.

"Fuck."