“Are you okay Clive?” Sania asked, leaning over me. She was clearly terrified. She was still glowing, too. All of the stimuli came back in. I closed my eyes and covered my ears, in an attempt to stop some of it. At least try to make the visual aspect of Singularity passive again.

Suddenly, Danivra’s voice entered my mind. “Clive. Stay calm and breathe. Whatever is happening to you we can work through this.”

I didn’t know where the hell she’d come from, but I couldn’t even answer. I still tried to follow her calming instructions, though. Despite my efforts, my body began to convulse again. I could feel drool pouring from the side of my mouth trickling down the side of my cheek so clearly, adding to the stimulus. A hand rested on my chest, Sania’s. It was too much. Darkness descended again.

“Clive,” came Danivra’s voice again. It was deep in my subconscious this time. Until she spoke, I hadn’t even realized I was aware.

“Danivra,” I said desperately. Clinging to her voice like a lifeline. “Help me.”

“What is wrong? Do you know why this is happening?”

“It’s all too much,” I said, fighting back a desperate, terrified sob.

“Clive, focus. What is too much?”

“I increased Perception, but I went up six levels, which increased my Singularity and upgraded it. I received the title of protector of the North too, but it comes with alerts of power fluctuations across the entire north. My mind can't take all of the information.”

“I see,” she replied thoughtfully. “The vision from the singularity, can you… turn it off?”

“I could before, but now it seems to be permanently on.”

“Okay, focus on deactivating the power and try to shut off the alerts from Your Protector title. See if you can push them down, compartmentalize them.”

“He’s good at that,” Sania said.

“Sania! You’re here.”

“I am, Clive. But listen to Danivra. She knows what she’s talking about. I just need you back with us.”

I took her advice and listened.

“When you regain consciousness, I will make sure no one but me is close to you. That should reduce the amount of Stimuli you’re under. Keep your eyes closed and cover your ears like you had done earlier. Focus on shutting off the Protector and Singularity stimulus first. Okay?”

“Okay,” I replied feeling much calmer than I had before. I hoped I could maintain it as I came back around.

The darkness lifted quickly as the flood of information crashed into the quietness like a tidal wave. I held on to the thought of shutting down the information from the Protector Title first. As a new type of menu appeared, its presence thankfully cut out all of the noise and sensations, both internal and external.

Protectorate: 180,000 Square Mile

Climate: Temperate-Tundra-Hyperborean.

Coast Line: 5,000 miles

Protector Attribute 1: Protectorate Awareness.

Your subconscious will be alerted to high energy activity that arises within your protectorate.

Active/Passive.

Protector Attribute 2: Protectorate Charge.

Instantaneous travel to any part of your protectorate. Singular mode of transportation. One outbound and Return trip within any twenty-four-hour period.

Activate

Protector Attribute 3: No level penalty will be incurred when defending your protectorate against lower leveled foes.

Passive

I heaved a huge sigh of relief at the offer of Active/Passive. I chose passive quickly. I cast my eye with a vague interest over the Protectorate information, which caused a map of the entirety of Falritas to spring up. It wasn’t detailed but it showed the entire habitable land mass was split up into five Protectorates: North south, East, West and Heart, which was the centre of the map. As fascinating as it was, I accepted that was something to pour over in more detail later.

Next, I switched my focus over to Singularity and only that information came up within a menu of its own much like the Protectorate. I wondered idly if it had always been available or if this menu had only appeared with the Singularity Upgrade.

Innate understanding of universal essence (Neuma).

1) Visual awareness: Active/Passive

2) Manipulate: (Sub-Level 5) Active. (Check in progress)

The menu didn’t have any more additional information than my stat page, but it was an interesting development. The most notable thing was that I couldn’t deactivate Visual awareness. That fact caused me to worry. I wracked my brain as to why that could be. Manipulate was Active with check in progress underneath. I had no idea what it meant. But the only option I could think of was to try and Manipulate the Nuema in the air. It was the only thing that made any sense and I had no other ideas. Of course, the next question was how. Maybe move the Neuma with force of will, like a frickin jedi or something. I took a few deep breaths. Whether they translated to my body or just my mind, they seemed to help and I dismissed the menu.

Cringing as the sensations poured back in, I was acutely aware the Protector sense had gone. It gave me a little mental breathing space to reach out with my hand. That may or may not have been necessary, but it focused my concentration as I attempted to affect the passage of the blue shimmering energy that swirled in the dim gray light.

It was as if my forward thrusting palm created a soft blast of wind clearing the area of the energy for a few moments before the space filled again.

It was a weird alert, unlike any I’d received before, but before I gave it much thought the Singularity Menu showed Passive was available to choose, which I did immediately. A wave of relief washed over me as my vision had returned to Normal and the pressure on my mind had almost completely eased. There was still more than I would have expected from thirty points into Perception, and I wondered how I would circumvent this from happening again. Would I have to invest in Intelligence more? It seemed a possible option.

Danivra came into view over me, smiling down. “You are well?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I replied, rubbing at my sore head as I got to my feet. Sania was only twenty feet away, standing silently, watching. I waved over at her and she came bounding over, in my arms within seconds.

“I’m all good,” I laughed. “That was awful.”

“It was,” Sania replied. “I was convinced you were going to die.”

I shivered at the thought of how close my mind was to packing up for good. I wondered if Constitution had stopped it from burning out completely. “Yeah, it wasn’t a good experience. How the hell are you here Danivra? And where’s Wind of the Wild? He did show up, right? I didn’t imagine that? And also, where is Stada’s body?”

“We aren’t in the same place,” Sania replied. “We fled the area and I carried you away. Wind of the Wild left when Danivra found us a couple of hours later. We’ve seen no one else.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Five, six hours,” Sania replied.” We should go join the others. The Nystiobek will want to see you as well. They were worried too.”

“They were?” I asked surprised. “I thought they were ready to kill me after I killed Stada. Is Galota okay? He looked pretty fucked up of my Ethereal Bomb.”

“He’s fine. Is that what you're calling that power?” Sania asked.

“Huh?”

“Ethereal bomb,” she prodded.

“Nah, doesn’t really roll off the tongue. Maybe spirit bomb, but… Kakarot’s already taken that.

“Kak rot?” Sania asked, confused.

“Never mind,” I said, blearily. “Let’s sort that later. By the way, thanks for coming when you sensed me in trouble, Danivra. Seriously, I don’t know what I’d do without you two.”

“I am sworn to you on multiple levels now,” Danivra replied. “If I can be there for you, I will be there for you.”

“Well, me too, with you. Our bonds work both ways.”

“Indeed,” she said simply with a smile that looked like pride. I chose not to over think it as she continued to speak. “I do hope you're going to explain the Protector title you inherited from Stada.”

“And did you allocate all of your points?” Sania asked.

“I did. Agility and Perception. Which I kinda regret, now. I chose those two because I want to stop getting hit so much.”

They both laughed. “I don’t think either of us will disagree with that,” Sania said.

“You do seem to have an uncanny ability to be hit,” Danivra added.

I waved off their teasing.

“The Protector title comes with some awesome perks.”

“Then tell us,” Sania replied. “But let's walk over to the camp and the Nystiobek while you talk. We’ll need to get moving if there’s any hope of reaching the Trullan before they're wiped out.”

We started talking as I regaled them both with the details I’d gleaned so far from my new title. “I can sense the use of powers across the north of the continent. It’s a huge area and I can kind of see the territory in my head if I focus on the area details in the Protector menu. From what I can tell, the North incorporates all of Kalabri down to and including the forsaken land. It reaches from the west coast to the east coast of the continent and includes all of Akomoka, Sarth, and around half of Vemerak. Ibeth is part of the eastern protectorate for some reason. I can see Jurien Of Erangal’s protectorate too. I hadn’t realized when we spoke to him that he was the same as Stada in that regard, and that heart meant center. There’s others to the west and south, too.”

"You can see all of that ?" Sania asked, amazed.

"I can, but, even better than that, I can teleport once a day to anywhere in those lands,” I said proudly.

Sania snorted. "You can teleport?"

"Yup. It's the power Stada used to cull all Nystiobeks. Seems pretty similar to what Wind of the wild does as well.”

Danivra watched me with rapt fascination. “I suspect Stada must have somehow attuned himself to the specific feel of a Nysti ascending. Whatever he misused it for, it will be a huge boon to us moving forward, Clive.”

“So you could go to Far Reach, now?” Sania asked.

I smiled but felt a swell of worry from the thought. “I could. But I can only travel alone.”

“You should go, then,” she said firmly. “Once you feel up to it. Make sure everyone is okay. You could even get them to meet us at the Palathi Peaks.” Her words came fast and excitedly. It was infectious and the thought of seeing Mal and Joel again, and generally just checking on our town filled me with joy. The drama of my spasming burnout was forgotten for the moment as I mulled over my options.

“I think that it would be unwise to tell them to come out.” Danivra said. “Prepare them for our arrival, yes. But they would have to fight the entire distance to the Peaks. A marching army would most likely pull ever more enemies to them and ultimately our location. We could well end up with the entire final battle for the surface of Kalabri, with us in the center.”

“When you put it like that, you make a valid point.” Sania replied. I signaled my agreement with a thumbs up.

“So, just say hi, and be ready for us if we’re coming in hot?”

“That seems like the safest option. Enter the town with care, too, Clive. In case things have changed… for the worst.

I gulped at the thought. “I’ll be careful. They better all be alright though or there will be hell to pay. I’ll see the Nystiobek first,” I said. Pointing to the mass of bodies lying around on the ground in the near distance. They were all in their bear forms, the Nanooks huge among them as they waited patiently. I didn’t blame them. Sitting on the ground looked far more comfortable as a bear. They had plenty of padding.

“That would be for the best,” Sania smirked.

“I can’t believe I beat him. Stada that is,” I said wistfully.

“It was an incredible display of power,” Sania agreed, but I sensed the hesitation in her voice.

“I know,” I said with a grimace. “I’m well aware he let me kill him. He could have turned into his bear form. He could have killed Galota easily in the time he was there. I have no idea why, but he wanted me to kill him. Didn’t he?”

Sania nodded. “It looked that way, and Wind of the Wild thought that must have been the case too. Perhaps because you helped defeat Natom and stood up for the Nystiobek, putting your own life at risk. Perhaps because Stada had just had enough. Wind of the Wild thinks that it’s a combination of those factors.”

“Well, I sure as shit don’t know what to make of it, but I’ll make damn sure the Nystiobek get to level now, and I’ll protect as many people as I can. Apart from arseholes, of course. Unless they’re arseholes I like.”

As we closed the final few feet, I found my mind going back to visiting Far Reach. It was an invigorating and unexpected development, but part of me was terrified of actually teleporting. What even happened to my body? Was it really safe?” Sure I knew Stada and Wind of the Wild did it, but I’d never done it before and I was nervous as hell.

The Nystiobek soon took my mind off those concerns. Standing and morphing into human form, they bowed in greeting as I approached.

“It is good to see you recovered, Lord Clive,” Galota said. “What you did for us was incredible and we are sorry for the pain it caused you to protect us not once, but twice.”

“Don’t sweat it, man. It was the right thing to do. I’m sorry he had to die, but I think he was ready himself. Don’t you?”

Galota nodded. “I do. But it was still a mighty feat and not one which any of us could have accomplished. The power you used was like nothing we have seen before.”

“Yeah, I struck lucky with that,” I said with a wide grin.

Galota shook his head, his eyes never leaving me, making for an intense moment. “You play down what you have done, but I see now. I am no longer a fool, Lord Clive. You have saved the entire Nystiobek race. We can flourish now like never before and defend our future in a way I never thought would be possible. You are our savior,” he said, dropping to his knees and bowing his head to the floor. The others all followed suit and I felt tendrils of their neuma reach my core as they prayed.

My mouth opened spontaneously to tell them to knock it off. I was prevented from doing so by both Danivra and Sania speaking into my mind at the same time.

“No, Clive,” Sania said.

“Do not deny them. We have discussed this already and it is their decision. Honor that, Clive. Do not belittle them.”

“I know, but it’s wrong… it feels wrong.”

“That is because you are good,” Danivra said.

“You refused them once,” Sania added. “Yet you saved them all again and more. By standing against Stada while they all crumbled, you have proven you are a man to follow. They don’t do this lightly, but they all want to do this, Clive. You are their hope for the future, and honestly, you kinda really are, too. What you did here, from going to rescue them in the first place despite all of our doubts, leading the bone giant that had them pinned down off so they could escape… I’m going to stop talking now, because… well, because you know all of this. Accept them as aspirants. Think about it, we could have a whole legion of Nanook Paladins in a year or too. Can you imagine?”

Her words did spring an image to life in my mind and I couldn’t help but fight the smile at the thought of it. I still felt a bit shitty doing it, but this was the life I was leading and secretly one day, once I was in a position too, even if that wasn’t until I was a god, I would free them all from the bonds. But right now, us all working together increased everyone’s chances of survival.

I began accepting their bonds, latching the thin tendrils to my core.