I checked my status,

PHYSICAL

MENTAL

WILL

LUCK

7

8

90

60

SCIENCE 1

MATHEMATICS 1

SLEEP 1

DETECT MAGIC 1

MYSTIC ARMOR 1

FORCE SLAVE 1

NIGHTVISION 1

SUMMON DJINN 2

TIME STOP 1

AKASHIC RECORD 2

“Well, what are you going to do about our armor?” Homer asked and added, “you almost got us killed.”

“You almost got me and my brother killed. Djinn where are we?” I looked around the unfamiliar city. It was a modern city with signposts in a language I didn’t understand.

“This is the Refuge, it is for surviving civilizations. This place is safe because it is hidden from the Devourers,” replied the blue-skinned genie.

“Refuge? Why weren’t we told about this place?” Asked Homer.

Silence. It seemed my genie didn’t want to lower himself to speak with the man.

“Hmm can you take us back to Earth? Put us all outside our respective homes.”

“I cannot do that. Whoever comes to this world stays here, that is why it is safe,” said my genie. I turned to look at it. Were we trapped here?

“What about Mom, Dad, Michelle, and Anna?”

“I don’t know Danny.”

“Who controls who comes and goes here?”

“A lesser god,” said the genie.

I took inventory of what I had with me. I had a blood-stained shirt; A satchel with two spellbooks, a cell phone, and a wallet. I wondered what happened to that pouch that was with my spellbook in the first dungeon. The first thing I needed to do was to replenish my spells.

I had wanted to add to my daily spell list. I was hoping that Create Item would let me create djinn summon and control rings. My genie was powerful. I was certain that my family would be safe with those. But now it seemed I am trapped on a hidden plane of existence, a parallel world.

I looked around to see that it was morning here, the sun just started to rise. People were walking around us, some staring as they went by. Homer, who was in the street clothes they all wore underneath their armor, said, “we have to get back. We need to prepare ourselves for the horrors that are coming. People are going to die, my people are going to die!”

“Other than we have to play the cards we are dealt, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t like it any more than you do, but these are the cards we have been dealt.”

I took a deep breath as I didn’t know what to do. By now a crowd had formed. I had superhuman luck and will I thought, looking back at my character sheet. I didn’t have any of the monster spells memorized or even known.

“We need to find a place to stay where we won’t be so conspicuous. I feel like a sitting duck here,” said a young woman member of Homer’s team.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said and continued with, “genie find a cave and transport us there.”

“A cave? I was thinking more in the line of a hotel,” said the young lady as my genie vanished.

“This world, I’m sure, has a monetary system and we have no money,” I said.

“You haven’t answered me about compensation for our armor.”

The genie came back and said, “I’ve found an empty cave would you like to all go there?”

“No, I want to …” began Homer.

“Yes,” I said, and we all became smoke and vanished.

We returned to flesh at the front of a cave in the mountains. Homer grunted. It was a medium-sized cave, it had enough room to fit the fifteen of us. I cast night vision and walked the circumference of the cave and was satisfied that it was empty. I then walked outside to where the group was exercising, Danny included.

First I replenished my known spells. Then I took out the monster mage’s spellbook and began to study the first chapter. I had to reread the chapter five times, though on the sixth time I understood it. The spell was mystic robes. As the Mystic Armor protects vrs physical damage, Mystic Robes protected against magical damage. When I finally understood it, my original spell book began to glow. I opened it to find another chapter in it. It said Mystic Robes. I then used my original spellbook to memorize Mystic Robes before going on to chapter two, Steal Spellbook. When I understood the spell that allowed me to read and understand someone else’s spellbook while they were still alive. I guess the only way to understand someone else’s spellbook is to kill them. When I understood the spell my original spell book glowed and I then used it to memorize the spell. Hours had passed. The warriors did their exercises and I studied into the evening. The next spell was Soul Gem which allowed me to take a glass or a gem and put my soul into it. This reminded me of the brunette's son. I would have to track him down when I got back. I could sense others while in the gem and possess whoever I needed to. By the time it was too dark to read, I also learned Scribe Scroll and Create Item. When it was done, and I learned all the spells in the monster’s spellbook that I didn’t know, I memorized all the spells from both books, and when my original spellbook had all the spells, I decided to teach Danny Magic using the spellbook I no longer needed, and my Create Item spell. I would make it soul-bound to Danny. He would always be able to call it to him. I learned that I could also send it away to someplace safe. I also wanted to make a Djinn or Genie ring for him.

Once I finished memorizing all my spells, I checked my status.

PHYSICAL

MENTAL

WILL

LUCK

7

8

90

60

SCIENCE 1

MATHEMATICS 1

SLEEP 1

DETECT MAGIC 1

MYSTIC ARMOR 1

FORCE SLAVE 1

NIGHTVISION 1

SUMMON DJINN 2

TIME STOP 1

AKASHIC RECORD 2

MYSTIC ROBES 1

STEAL SPELLBOOK 1

SOUL GEM 1

CREATE SCROLL 1

CREATE ITEM 1

I cast Create Item and called Danny over and imbued the spellbook with Danny’s essence so only he could read and use it. He sat and began to study. I joined the warriors for exercise after memorizing Create Item again. I wanted to get stronger and learn to handle myself. I think that they accepted me mostly so that they could beat me up about their armor.

That evening while the others were in the cave around a campfire, they were all overgrown scouts so of course, they could start a fire, I cast Akashic Record and found myself in the doorway to the library of knowledge. I walked in after forming a clear desire to learn how to get home. There were once again thousands of books in this room. There was a door on each wall and a stairway going up and down. The books were all about how I could get back home.

I selected a book at random and proceeded to read it.