“You have 6 attributes and boons, no wait banes & boons? You also have 52 unspent skill points at level 2? Champion of Cheshire? A lot of the details are hidden by the fates. Must be something others shouldn’t see. The libraries at Desentes keep had very little information about champions other than they are the heralds of new ages. What is a Nether Monk? I’ve never heard of that class.” Armand babbled while staring into space.

“Considering you didn’t even flinch after learning my family name, I can believe you are not from here.” Armand said.

“Armand, we have another problem.” El said.

“What now?’ he said.

“I’ve been routinely trying my detect life spell since we noticed he doesn’t show up and I just got a 4th hit. Still not him though.” El replied.

“Typhus give him a dagger; he has no combat ability at the very least he can understand stick the pointy end in the thing trying to eat him.” Armand ordered as he hurried to the door.

“I don’t know what you are but if he says give you a dagger it’s a problem for another time.” Typhus said. As he handed it to Deacon it just shot out of his hand across the room.

“Quit fooling around, take the damn thing and you might want to spend your points to give you a better chance at survival.” Typhus said.

“How do I do that?” Deacon asked.

“Check your damn messages from the fates, your slate should come up. You are gonna die if you’re really this dumb.” replied Typhus. Every time Deacon tried to pick up the dagger a spark went off in his hand and it shot away from him. He could hear Elle snickering from her spot against the wall.

“He can’t hold weapons Armand; we need to think of something else. They are literally jumping out of his hand.” Elle yelled. Typhus and Armand just shook their heads. Deacon stopped grabbing for the knife and decided to check his messages.

You have 52 unspent skill points; would you like to distribute them? Yes /No

Deacon chose yes and saw the familiar stat screen from his time in the void. Since a fight was looming, he decided to dump 25 points into Strength and 25 points into speed. Leaving him with 2 points. He put one into agility and one into wisdom.

Attribute

Score

Intelligence

10

Strength

35

Speed

35

Agility

11

Wisdom

11

Luck

300

With that done he saw he had no new messages. Weird he thought there would be more, but he must have taken care of them in the box. He took his first step forward after he was done when his body started to emit a golden glow. When it subsided he felt noticeable heavier.

“He dumped a bunch of points into strength.” El called out.

“Not a bad choice.” yelled Armand. Deacon then shot forward like an arrow right into a wall.

“Looks like speed too.” El yelled.

Deacon stumbled back up to his feet as he heard a loud slam come from the door. Upon getting upright he saw a crack in the wall he just slammed into with the glint of something shiny behind it.

“You better get ready new meat. Looks like you’ll have to punch your way out of here given your phobia of weapons.” El said.

“I don’t know how.” Deacon said plainly.

“You will have to figure it out.” She said as another bang come from the door.

“Looks like the kid dumped his points into speed and strength.” Typhus whispered to Armand.

“It might save him, but he has no gear and beyond reason, can’t actually hold a weapon. I don’t like his odds, but he had enough points to tip the scales in his favor.” Armand said.

“Should have put them all into strength, then he could have made big holes in the walls we could use to get out of here.” Typhus said.

“Adding to speed will help him dodge. May be the only thing that keeps him alive.”

While the three people who found him were preparing for whatever was coming through the door, Deacon was moving the racks of weapons that were in the room into a V formation facing the door.

“If you think you can bottleneck them with those shitty racks you may have bought yourself an extra minute of life at best.” Typhus yelled.

“Open the door and step out of the way.” Deacon said.

“Are you out of you mind.” Armand said.

“Elle said there was only one. I’d like to try something.” Deacon said. Armand looked at Typhus and Typhus looked at Armand.

“This way we still have a door if more end up coming, otherwise the door breaks and we are on the run anyway.” Deacon said.

“I think I know what he wants to do, I say we give it a try.” Elle said. Armand started to back away while Typhus tried to time unbarring the door between slams. Once he got the bar up he sprinted laterally. The door burst open and a five-foot-tall lizard man with club stumbled into view as he took stock of the room a sword flew into his face with the flat end smacking off his skull. Then another, eventually there was a wall of knives, swords, cudgels, and maces that turned the lizard man into a bloody mess on the floor.

“What in the ten-hells was that!” Typhus exclaimed.

“Well I figured if weapons are always going to shoot away from my hands, if I angle it just right I could use it to hurt someone.” Deacon said. Armand kicked a bunch of low-grade weapons out of the way and closed the door again.

“Deacon, that was the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in a battle. You didn’t know what the creature was or if that would even work. Do you even realize what level that lizard man was? You have a lot to learn but you were successful. Unless you plan on walking around with racks of weapons for a one-time use move, I suggest you look into hand-to-hand fighting when we get out of here.”

Deacon took some time to really take in his surroundings. There was a dead lizard man on the floor riddled with various weapons. An elf woman that had an obvious look of disbelief on her face. A…yup he’s a dwarf, Deacon just now realized that Typhus is an actual dwarf. Like out of myth and fantasy. Shouldn’t be surprised given recent events but it is a lot to wrap your head around. He’s about five foot tall bearded and wide but unlike normal fantasy versions he’s wrapped in a dark cloak with a bandoleer of knives strapped across his chest. Typhus also has a whip curled on his hip. No, not typical at all. Now Armand has dark hair, brown eyes, and wears a combination of chain and plate for armor. He wields a sword and shield combo. Not armored enough for a knight but plenty armored for a soldier. As a desk jockey back home these are mostly fictional images and Deacon didn’t have a great depth of knowledge on them. Sure, he played some role-playing video games but nothing in depth. Think materia, buster swords, and the like.

“So I heard talk of boots earlier? Did I earn those yet? Still standing here in just a pair of pants.”

“Ty, give him the boots you know they don’t fit you. Give him the shirt while you’re at it.” Typhus did just that.

“You know I haven’t laughed so hard in a fight in a long time, the way you just held your arms out and ran forward,” Typhus breaks down into a fit of chuckling before finishing, “the weapons just flying off the shelves away from you” even more chuckling, “brings a tear to this old man’s eyes and a smile to his face.”

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, I was terrified.” Deacon said. “It has something to do with one of my Banes. I can’t imagine my future looks bright like this.” Armand secures the door and walks over followed by Elle.

“About that, you shouldn’t speak to anyone about those. Most people will get maybe a boon or two. I’ve almost never heard of anyone with banes.” Armand said while looking to Elle and Typhus for confirmation.

“Tell us about yourself. You have to understand that what we know right now is very odd and concerning. You haven’t tried to kill us or bewitch us yet, so we haven’t put you down. Its strange that you don’t show up with her spell and even stranger those weapons run away from you like rats once the cellar door opens.” Deacon took a couple of breaths to organize his thoughts.

“I’ve got some strange abilities according to my slate. Magic can’t touch me, I can’t hold a weapon, and I’m extremely lucky. I don’t know what most of this other stuff means yet.” he said.

“Lucky? That’s a new one.” remarked Elle.

“Well think about our current situation, I was latched in a box in a room adjacent to, I believe you said catacombs? But the three of you found me. You also found clothes that fit me. That is a rather long lucky streak if you ask me. I’m willing to accept that this is all real and I’m not dreaming. Where I’m from doesn’t have magic or lizard men. Well not those lizard men. Certainly not elves or dwarves.” Just then Typhus stepped into Deacons face and with the sharpest of scowls said,

“Never call me a dwarf! Never!”. Armand and Elle interposed themselves between the two to calm Typhus down.

“Ok definitely not from here. Doesn’t know not to call Deep Dwellers dwarves.” Elle said.

“Oh I am so sorry. Shit, I didn’t know.” Deacon said.

“Just give him a minute to calm down.” Armand said.

Deacon backed up and took a stroll around room. That’s when he remembered that crack in the wall. He went over to investigate it and it still had a barely shiny glint. A few stiff kicks and whacking with a chair leg later, there was hole big enough for him to poke his head and arm through. It was relatively dark but he could make out a small box abut the size of a loaf of bread. On top of it was a small book. He lifted both objects out of the now revealed alcove. While lifting the book he received a message:

You have discovered an ancient technique manual-Gate Crasher. Requirements: Level 20 War Golem Rider, a War Golem. Notice: Rule Breaker has removed the requirements for Gate Crasher. Would you like to learn Gate Crasher Yes/NO?

Deacon put the book back down for now. Confused by the message and waiting for the sound of two buses filled with fine China crashing into a brick wall to leave his ears. He proceeded to open the box. It only had three small bags in it. The first bag was filled with gold coins, the second bag was filled with gems, and the third bag was filled with engraved metal shards. The bags were no bigger than the palm of his hand and he thought this would make a nice peace offering for Typhus.

“Hey, I found these. I’d like to gift them to Typhus as an apology.” Deacon said. Everyone else looked over to him.

“You found them?” Elle said skeptically.

” What is it...I mean I’m sorry I flew off the handle. You didn’t know what you were saying. Let’s see what you got there.” Typhus proceeded to look at the bags while handing off the manual to Armand.

“Wow, this is rare Deacon. You might be able to sell this to a collector somewhere but there haven’t’ been golem riders in a long time.” He said as he handed it to Deacon. Typhus was drooling over two of the bags.

“You would seriously give these to me as an apology?” Typhus said.

“I assume its money. Yes, you can have it if you help me get out of here. I consider it an investment.” said Deacon.

“We were going to do that anyway,” Armand answered, “Typhus give him back the coin.”

“But what about the gems, he doesn’t need the gems, he wouldn’t know where to unload them.” Typhus complained. Meanwhile Elle was digging through the third bag and muttering to herself.

“What is it.?” Armand asked.

“Well, the thing is…where did you find this stuff again?” Elle asked. Deacon pointed to the alcove he uncovered in the wall. Elle dropped the bag in Armand’s hand and went over to it.

“These are Orcish marks.” Armand said. Typhus stopped greedily examining the gems and walked over to Armand.

“There haven’t been any Orcs since the purge of the underdark.” Typhus said. Just then then they all heard a rumbling and looked over to Elle. Apparently, she found a release lever and one of the walls slid open.

“That was only one hundred years ago.” Armand said.

“I know, I was there.” Typhus replied.