Dante awoke with a start, the sound of the system's error notice still ringing in his ears.

It reminded him a lot of when his computer sometimes froze up on him.

It was, most certainly, not a comforting sound to hear from the system in his head.

That wasn't the only thing that bothered him.

Everything just felt...off.

Like something that was supposed to be here was missing.

He shivered as another notice appeared.

Congratulations! Your skill, Time Sense, has leveled up! Lvl. 3...

"...Time sense? Why would that level? Could it just be a coincidence? No...maybe... Virgil!" Dante exclaimed, wishing for any answers that Virgil could give him.

He threw 100 mana into the skill, wanting Virgil to stick around for a bit.

In seconds the familiar pale figure of Virgil stood before him, clade all in black with a bit of gold embroidery.

"What seems to be the issue Dante?" Virgil asked his happy expression, falling once he saw the worry on Dante's face.

After taking a moment to explain his dream, Virgil smiled like there wasn't a single thing wrong in the world. That smile faded a bit when he heard how the dream had ended, and the notices that had come after it. Holding up a hand Virgil spoke.

"Allow me a moment to review the logs please." He said calmly, trying to reassure Dante while hiding the small bit of worry in himself.

Virgil raised his hands, several blue boxes appearing around him, his eyes darting from one box to another and back again cross-referencing all the information available.

Everything looked normal. But as he investigated he began to see what had been going on.

"Ah It would seem that you were undergoing the Patron Adoption process. Strange though that it was interrupted..." He paused as his eyes began to narrow on a bit of red text...

"Patron...adoption? Please explain that." Dante asked not quite understanding what it meant.

Virgil instantly snapped to attention, forgetting for a moment what he had been looking at.

"...Oh, it's quite simple actually. Certain individuals when they are brought into the system, are chosen by preexisting powers to be...mentored so to speak. This could be a god trying to recruit you as a follower, someone who has obtained the status of a patron, who wishes to expand their influence. Figures of great..." He paused as he remembered the red text, his eyes darting to it for a moment as he read it.

Patrons interested in specified player, Dante: *^*(*(^(^% (Oscar), Crimson King....

Patron, Crimson King, has usurped the right of adoption from Patron, (Oscar)...

Warning!

Patron, Crimson King, is identified as a Caustic entity!...

Notifying administrators...

Pend...

Instructions received!...

Speak nothing of the king to the boy!...

We will work to find the reason for the king's interest...

If there even is one...

Virgil shuddered for a moment at the power of the presence that spoke in his mind for that brief second, and then it was gone.

"...and/or terrible from throughout the history of the system." Virgil continued trying to keep his voice level and calm.

'I don't know who this Crimson King is, but if the system identifies them as Caustic, they can't be good.' He thought as he awaited the inevitable question.

The whole exchange took merely 3 seconds, Dante none the wiser.

"Any idea who wanted me? The door was...Oscar's wasn't it? It looked like it. It looked like it was in his workshop." He stated simply, whilst rubbing his chin, feeling a bit of stubble.

"Your new acquaintance, Oscar. His name is here. He's identified as a patron in the system log. It seems you managed to curry some favor with him, as I suspect at least a few others in this zone have." Virgil said with a smile, trying to put the disconcerting notices out of his mind.

"Really, Oscar is a patron?...And he wanted me? That's awesome!" Dante exclaimed with joy, casting his worries aside for the moment.

Inwardly Virgil sighed relieved, but it didn't last long.

"Wait a minute? Then why did it get...interrupted? And what does it take to be a patron?" New questions began bouncing around in Dante's head the more he thought about it.

"Perhaps the system does not consider you yet ready for what you would find beyond that door? Not yet ready to have a patron? It could be any one, or more than one, of many things that caused the error. I am certain that we can find some closure by simply going to Oscar and speaking to him. As for being a patron there is a spiritual requirement. Not necessarily that one is spiritual, though that helps. It requires one's spirit stat to have reached 10,000 to become a patron." Virgil spoke, trying to reassure Dante. Trying to keep the worry from his face.

"..and time sense?" He asked after a moment of silent contemplation.

"It is likely just a coincidence. Time sense may have grown simply due to you trying to think how long you had been asleep. Why don't you try it?" Virgil asked, trying to steer the conversation in a new direction.

Dante frowned and knitted his eyebrow.

'Try it? Try what? Thinking about how long I was asleep?' He questioned in his mind and then it came to him

~9 hours...

It was like he had always known the answer. He had asked and the answer simply was there.

'What time did I get to sleep last night?' He thought of another question.

~12 a.m.

"Well this could certainly be an interesting skill. Though it's only giving me an approximate answer. That will probably grow more accurate with time and use. Thank you Virgil. Do let me know if anything changes." Dante spoke simply as he began to put on his clothes. Something he had neglected since his abrupt awakening.

He still couldn't shake the thought that something was missing.

"That sounds like a fine plan. I will do my best Dante to keep you informed." Virgil spoke with a nod as they both felt the skill's duration elapse.

No sooner had the skill ended did Virgil vanish...

-------------

...only to reappear upon a grassy hill next to a small tree, hardly more than a sapling.

*sigh!*

Virgil sighed heavily as the worry he had held at bay began to eat away at him.

'What is going to happen...' Virgil thought to himself. Afraid to give voice to his worries lest they become more than mere worries.

He looked up to see the small world he inhabited when not summoned by Dante or his parents.

One of the three soul spaces he could access.

He beheld a large tower in the distance, about half a mile away? He had trouble estimating distances.

He knew that the tower stood 23 stories tall.

He knew each level of the stepped tower was one story because the system had told him so.

He knew it was 23 stories because he had counted them when he had first arrived here, and recounted when Dante had leveled up.

He looked upon more young trees in the distance.

The ground was soft and loamy, covered in tall green grass from one edge of this place to another.

When he had first arrived it had been mostly flat save for the tower. There had been no grass, dirt, or even plants either at that time.

Virgil lifted up a foot, taking a step, and the world raced by him.

Seven steps and he stood at the base of the tower.

One more and he stood upon its roof. He looked down for a moment at the crudely drawn map drawn up here.

'It should get better as Dante improves cartography and...He still hasn't obtained drawing. Perhaps I can push him to gain it?' Virgil thought before waving his hand in front of himself.

'That's for another time. I can just tell him when he gets here anyway.' Virgil thought before he put his train of thought aside, striding over to the edge of the tower's flat roof.

Looking down upon the world he saw a small farm house several hundred feet from the tower's base, surrounded on three sides by fields. Two seemed to be unworked land, while the third behind the house appeared to be an orchard. Complete with small trees growing in neat rows spaced more or less evenly apart.

"It is truly amazing how this small world can change so much in such a short time. With every point of spirit I have seen this place grow. Truly remarkable. I wonder what skills he shall obtain next. How will they add to this place? How shall they change it?..." Virgil paused as he looked up and touched the low hanging "Sky" of this place.

It felt smooth beneath his fingers as he traced the sky almost to its apex. Finding he was just a few inches too short to touch that point without jumping.

*Sighs*

"...I wonder how Dante will react when he sees this place."

--------

Dante patted himself down before having a thought.

"I don't have my phone! That must be what I feel is missing. No, that's still not it. Fuck it! I'll figure it out later if it's that important." He exclaimed as he made his way out the door and down the large set of stairs to the lobby of the Crystal Foot Inn. There he saw there were not many individuals present. Several simply appeared to have fallen asleep while drinking.

Making his way over to the dining area after ringing the bell, he made his order and took a seat at one of the available tables near the window. He looked out upon the smooth stone streets and watched as even in the early morning hours when the sun was barely rising the streets were still busy. A strange thought crossed his mind. He promptly summoned Virgil, there in the seat directly across the table from him appeared Virgil. Dressed in the same attire as before.

"Hey Virgil, I have a question. If this is a pocket plane, what's with the sun?" Dante spoke quickly to Virgil.

"Ah, the sun. It's an effect created by the system when it built this zone. Such is often the case in tutorial zones. For you and the people of the earth it's one sun and a 24 hour day night cycle. For others, it's never night and there are multiple sun's going across the artificial sky. These places are tuned to be more acceptable to those who are here." Virgil stated in an upbeat voice.

After thanking Virgil for the information he dismissed him with a nod as his breakfast arrived.

He looked up to thank the waitress only to see a set of pointed ears. His jaw hung open as his mind blanked.

'An elf...She is an elf.' He thought as she looked at him.

Her face was one of disdain for a second before an obviously forced smile took its place.

"Here is your meal sir. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask." The elven waitress said as she placed the plate and cup down in front of him before turning and beginning to walk away.

Dante was stunned but still managed to get out the words.

"Thank you."

To his surprise she looked back to him and nodded before continuing on her way.

Dante's eyes drifted downward towards her hips. She had a nice ass. She looked amazing.

'Maybe I should invest more into Charisma...' his thoughts were derailed when someone smacked him upside the head.

"OW Son of a...Mom!?" Dante exclaimed as he saw who had hit him.

Several people glanced up from their meals and either shook their heads or chuckled before returning to their meals.

"Stop staring at her Dante! Don't you know starring is rude." Laura exclaimed as she sat down in the booth across from him.

"...Where's dad?" He questioned, still rubbing the back of his head.

"He's ordering our food. Now your father and I...Something happened last night. We each got a new class." She said as she produced the same blue box he had seen yesterday. It showed the classes. But this time there was something new.

Classes

N/A Lvl. 13

Lady Lvl. 5

Cleric Lvl. 1

"Oh, you guys went through the Patron adoption..."

"Patron adoption?..."

Dante spoke with his mother about her class and the spell's which she had been blessed with the knowledge of.

After a minute or two Frank joined them at the table and Dante helped him with his class and told him of some of his abilities.

Neither of them were terribly strong at the moment, but the true power lay in what they could become.

---------

"Ok Dante, since you seem to know so much. What do you know about rank? Your father and I ranked up when we got our new classes." Laura spoke with a questioning look on her face.

"Rank? Do you mean skill rarity?" Dante asked a bit confused but the look on his mother's face told him they were different things.

"Virgil!" They all spoke as one without meaning to do so.

50 mana flowed from each of them and in a few seconds the seat next to Dante was filled by Virgil.

"Good morning Virgil."

"Good morning to you as well Laura, and to you as well Frank, Dante." Virgil spoke in a calm and happy voice as if he had just awakened from a pleasant nap.

"So, what can I help you with today?" Virgil asked, looking around the table.

"Virgil, what does it mean that we ranked up?" Frank chimed in. Having been in the navy at one point he was familiar with the concept of ranks but not in this context.

"Ah! Let me be the first to congratulate you on your rank up... May I access your mana once more, Dante?" Virgil asked, after a pause and looking around for a few seconds.

"Sure thing Virgil." Dante replied as he felt his mana being drawn away from him.

300 mana drained out of him as he saw the air around their booth begin to shimmer.

"There we are, this shall keep things nice and quiet. In addition to keeping away prying listeners. Now as for an explanation..."

Virgil spoke for a few minutes on how Ranks worked within the system.

In addition to the ranks/rarity of skills players also had such things for their leveling.

The requirements to rank up were quite simple as well actually. One simply needed a class and skill of a certain rank or above in order to rank up.

For example one with an uncommon skill and the Rare class Paladin could reach for rank 2 but not for rank 3. But in his father's case he had managed to jump straight from rank one to rank 3. Due to possessing a rare skill and gaining the rare Paladin class. Something rare but not unheard of in the system.

Virgil explained that when you gained certain classes, cleric, paladin, and warlock being examples. That the powers tied to your class could force the rank up if you meet the requirements. As opposed to it being a choice when and if you wished to do so.

Virgil went on to explain how ranking in most cases will lower your level. This was due to how levels were calculated. Virgil even gave them two blue boxes to examine while he continued his explanation.

Spell slots converted to mana To facilitate upcasting one need only expend additional mana until the mana expended equals the minimum required for the desired level. 1st level: 1-100 2nd level: 101-200 3rd level: 201-400 4th level: 401-800 5th level: 801-1,600 6th level: 1,601-3,200 7th level: 3,201-6,400 8th level: 6,401-12,800 9th level: 12,801-25,600 10th level: (...) 11th level: (...) 12th level: (...) Leveling exp requirements by rank Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Exp Total To next level Exp Total To next level Exp Total To next level Exp Total To next level Exp Total To next level Lvl. 1 100 100 200 200 400 400 1600 1600 6400 6400 Lvl. 2 400 300 800 600 1,600 1,200 6,400 4,800 25,600 19,200 Lvl. 3 900 500 1,800 1,000 3,600 2,000 14,400 8,000 57,600 32,000 Default: +1 to all stats on level up +2 to all stats on level ups +5 to all stats on level ups +10 to all stats on level ups +20 to all stats on level ups

Virgil gave them a brief run down of how much mana spells from D&D would cost, brushing over the seemingly blank higher level spells, before moving back to how ranks worked.

He explained that when one ranked up they would almost certainly lose levels.

He had compared it to pouring a full cup of water into a cup that was a bit bigger.

"The "water" in this instance would be your experience, and the larger "cup" would be a higher rank which would require more experience for the same level. This issue only grows worse the higher the rank you are jumping to, and the higher your level already is." He explained but Dante was too shocked by the numbers floating before him.

He couldn't imagine how hard it would be to level at rank 5.

'You would basically have to turn yourself into Rain from Delve to get any real progress in an appreciable amount of time.' he thought before chuckling to himself, a small smile appearing on his face.

"So wait a minute. If you guys ranked up then that means your levels went down right?" Dante asked his parents only for them to smile before each produced a blue box for him to read.

Classes

Naval Soldier (Unc) Lvl. 17

N/A Lvl. 3

Paladin (R) Lvl. 1

"Holy shit...Dad lost 21 levels and I didn't even notice mom lost levels."

---------------------------------------------

Dante finished his large breakfast and went back for seconds as he was still hungry.

When he got there he was surprised to see the elven woman who had been his waitress was running what he assumed was some kind of register. Though it appeared like a small floating obelisk that glowed faintly green, despite its smooth black surface.

There wasn't the only thing different this time, when he ordered another meal, smaller this time, he was asked for 5 large silver coins. Dante had not been charged for the food he ordered the previous two times so what had changed.

"Can you please tell me why you're charging me this time?" Dante asked, honestly curious. The elven woman at the counter was tall, you might say lanky, blonde, with long pointed ears. Her complexion was tanned, as if she had spent many long days in the sun. Her bust was a bit small, but as she turned to answer a question from the chef Dante got a nice view of her ass. She was, in a word, beautiful.

'Now that's a great view.' Dante thought as he smiled. The elf once more turned to answer his question.

Her voice reminded him of Galadriel from Lord of the rings. "You are being charged as you are only given 3 meals a day for the duration of your free stay, which mind you is only the first week. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you want more than that you have to purchase it yourself." The elven woman told him in a voice of boredom mixed with annoyance. Dante noticed that he seemed to stand at equal height with her.

He thought she might be grumpy because she doesn't like humans.

'Let's try to change that.' He thought. He held out his hand and clutched his hand into a fist. Then placed a small gold coin onto the counter.

"You can keep the change." The elven woman first looked at the coin and then at him in mild interest before dawning a face of indifference as she took the gold.

"Thank you for our generosity." She simply stated as Dante returned back to his window seated table. He saw that his parents had stepped outside while he had been at the counter. Looking out the window he saw them talking to a very tall...man?

Was it even a he? Dante pondered as he watched his parents talk to the clergy seeming individual whom seemed to be of the same race as Oscar.

At a glance he had thought they were talking to Oscar. But it was after a moment he saw the mans face and knew that it was someone different.

Where Oscar looked younger this man had many wrinkles. Even while he hunched, leaning heavy on his walking stick he still stood equal with his dad. He suspected if he stood up that he would be over 7 feet tall. A fair bit taller than Oscar.

It didn't take long for his food to arrive and it seemed the same elven woman was now his waitress. She refilled his soda, and walked away. Five minutes later she returned without her apron, with a plate of bacon in one hand and a bowl of salad in the other. "Is this seat taken?" Dante did not speak as his mouth was full instead he simply motioned she was free to sit, hoping she would understand.

She did.

Dante finished his mouthful of food and washed it down with some sprite. Deciding to take a small break from eating to let the food settle in his stomach he opened his status page and roads page.

Dante A. Stone

Race: Human

Class: N/A

Lvl. 23

EXP: 1,042/4,700

64 small gold

Strength

30

Resources

Total

Regen.

Constitution/Vitality

42

Health

602

(28/min)

Endurance

40

Mana

979

(12/min)

Dexterity

28

Stamina

781

(37.45/min)

Willpower

20

Road Points

17

Intellect

30

Stat Points

0

Wisdom

36

Charisma

20

Luck

35

Perception

36

Spirit

34

Soul capacity 20.1/34 Roads Planar Traveler I, 0/50 Rp: 17

'Shit...I forgot that road had opened up. I was going to try walking without roads but I suppose I can hold off on that experiment till later.' Dante thought, then after a bit more thought he put 10 points into the road.

Though most of your world has crossed planar bounds, those are the roads well traveled, the journeys expected. Lucky are you to have found, and made a favorable impression upon, one who has carved out his own small pocket of reality! +4 Luck, +2 Wis, Per, Cha...

Congratulations! Your mana has surpassed 1000! The Wizards Road II has opened to you...

The roads screen expanded a bit to make room for the new addition.

Roads Planar Traveler I, 10/50 Wizards Road II, 0/20 Rp: 7

"I wonder why I got something at 500 and 1000 mana but nothing at 500 on health or stamina." He thought aloud, not entirely meaning to have done so.

"Magic is just easier in that regard. You'll probably get something when your health or stamina gets to 1000." The elven woman spoke as she finished chewing her bit of salad.

Dante nodded thanking her for the information but not wishing to bother her further.

After a few seconds of thought he put 5 rp into the Wizards II road.

You seek out magic and yet it is already within your grasp! A wizard is one who experiments with magic in ways both known and entirely new!...

The system implores you to experiment with the spells you already know!...

+2 Wis, +2 INT, +50 mana...

'Ok, that's interesting. Why is that gold? Is it trying to give me a hint? I did want to run some experiments with Light so maybe I could do that after breakfast.' His mind paused a few seconds, awaiting a notice that didn't come.

'Damn. Guess I'm either wrong or it's not giving me more hints for this.' Thought Dante. Examining his status and stealing the occasional glance up at the elven women sitting across from him, he decided to invest all 15 points into Charisma.