The first thing that Damien felt, once he had an actual body again, was just how cold everything was. It was a strange thing to focus on, but it was something that made sense to him. After the bizarre passage of time and lack of almost any physical feeling that he had experienced in the Aether, it was nice to feel something familiar, even if it was something as unpleasant as this biting chill.

The second thing he felt was the ground beneath his back; the smooth, polished stone of a place that was ancient and sacred. Noctis had said that he would send Damien to one of his circles, but he hadn’t mentioned this one being made of stone. Then again, it probably wouldn’t have mattered whether it was made of stone or grass or pillows. The fact remained that Daniel was here, he was alive again, and he was oh so grateful to be so.

He opened his eyes eager to see where he was. At first he thought it was just nighttime, since all he saw above him was an expanse of darkness. It fit with Noctis’ aesthetic, so he wasn’t really surprised. Then he heard the odd, echoing silence all around him, and realized exactly where he was.

“Oh fucking hell, am I underground?!”

Damien’s exasperated question came out raspy, his voice itself nearly inaudible against the silence around him. Still, it was enough sound to bounce off the walls of whatever cave he was currently in, confirming his panicked suspicions. Damien did not like enclosed spaces. He enjoyed the indoors, and generally preferred them to everything else, but he did not enjoy any places that restricted his ability to move. Even though that didn’t seem to be a problem, his claustrophobia took that thought and ran with it for several seconds before he managed to get himself under control.

He sat up with a good deal of effort, his muscles new and currently untested as they were. He tried to look around for some kind of light, wanting to at least see where the hell Noctis had sent him to. This really wasn’t the introduction to Xaunis that he’d been expecting. He’d been prepared to be alone, but he hadn’t been prepared to be alone and underground.

That was when something truly strange appeared right in front of his eyes.

[System Initializing...]

“... what is that?” Damien asked in a tired voice, not nearly as scared of this thing in front of his eyes as he was at the prospect of being buried underground. The ellipses at the end of the sentence floating in front of his face came up one at a time, then disappeared again to repeat the cycle, as though it were an indicator on a loading screen. It was a light, iridescent blue that seemed to cast no light on his actual surroundings, which Damien found slightly odd. Maybe this was a part of the magic that Noctis had been talking about?

As though in answer, the sentence before him disappeared, and was replaced by another two spooling themselves out in front of him.

[System Initialization Complete]

Your [Status Screen] is now accessible.

“Well... that was bizarre.”

The words before him quickly faded from existence, leaving him in darkness once again. Still, the wording was very familiar. Status Screen... like a character status in a video game? That sounded ridiculous. But it did line up with what he had seen so far. Plus, he couldn’t have hallucinated everything he had seen so far, right? It was way too detailed, unlike the descriptions of drug highs he’d heard about in documentaries, which could be anything from mild euphoria to crazy otherworldly encounters that made no sense in the recounting. The only thing that those old anti-drug programs had really succeeded in doing at the time was boring Damien to the point that he actually considered trying drugs, but it had given him something useful after all.

“Plus, I can actually make sense of my conversation with Noctis, so that rules out getting spiked with something like acid.”

So, he decided to try out accessing his Status Screen, even if the process felt a bit awkward. “So, uh... Status?”

For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, another box appeared in his vision. One that he hadn’t been expecting.

[Help]

It appears you are attempting to access your [Status Screen] for the first time. It is understandable that you do not quite know how it works, though you seem to know the keyword. It must be said or thought with intent and purpose. Otherwise, nothing will happen when the keyword is said or thought in order to avoid inconveniencing the user.

For more helpful tips and tricks, please refer to the [Help Page] for general information on the navigation of your [System Interface]. Have a great day!

That last sentence was a bit too saccharine and cheerful for Damien’s liking, but it was still helpful nonetheless. It let him know what he had done wrong as a one-time tip. Given the tone of the message, he probably wouldn’t be using this 'Help Page' any time soon, if he could damn well help it. So, with a deep breath, a calm mind, and genuine intent this time, he said the keyword.

“Status.”

He was rewarded with the full layout of his Status Screen appearing before him with a soft, electronic ‘shing’ sound. Much to his own surprise, it really was what you would expect to find in a video game. He couldn’t help but smile as he looked it over, stats and all.

[Status]

Name: Damien Sinclair

Race: Traveler (Male)

Age: 18

Class: N/A

Level: N/A

XP: N/A

Profession: N/A

Affinity: Dormant

Stats:

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 14

Intelligence: 14

Constitution: 10

Endurance: 10

Wisdom: 10

Vitality: 9

Vigor: 10

Willpower: 11

Reaction: 15

Stat Points: 0

It was certainly strange to see it in front of him. He thought it should feel slightly dehumanizing to see his worth laid out in front of him like it was. Instead, the sight excited him. How could he improve himself from here? How long would it take? What was this Affinity thing, and how did that relate to him? And why was his race ‘Traveler’ instead of ‘Human’? He’d thought that what Noctis had said was something like a title rather than a whole other race of people.

“Guess it goes to show just how little I understand about this new world. And the universe in general,” Damien said to himself as he thought ‘Close Status.’ It worked, and the blue-tinged Status Screen winked out of existence with a soft, pixelated pop. Well, that was how that worked, at least. Now, to find a way out of this circle...

That was when he saw something blinking in the bottom right corner of his vision. Unlike the Status Screen, it was a soft amethyst coloration that reminded him immediately of Noctis and the blazing purple suns he had for eyes. He tried focusing on it for a second, and was rewarded with text unfurling itself in that same, amethyst light.

[Mark of The Night Wolf] has been fully integrated.

[Traits] have been updated.

Well... that was unusual. Probably not very common, either, given the fact that it was in an entirely different color from the normal System messages. Somewhat hesitant, Damien deliberately tried out what was likely the keyword for that particular list.

“Traits.”

[Traits]

| Font of Possibilities (Common) | Mana Well (Common) | Polyglot (Rare) | Eyes of the Night Wolf (Ancient) | Instincts of the Night Wolf (Ancient) | Mark of the Night Wolf (Legendary)

Unlike before, this list was in the normal, bluish iridescence that was typical of the System and his general Status. His last three traits, however, were all in that same, amethyst coloration, though the descriptions of what he assumed to be rarity were all in their own colorations. Common was gray, Rare was blue, Ancient was yellow, and his sole Legendary was orange. He was tempted to pull them up, to dive into them and start analyzing exactly what they were.

“Not the time,” Damien said to himself, shaking his head and closing the Traits list. “I need to find some light. Get above ground. Hopefully find some help.”

He stood, his movements gradually becoming easier as he adjusted to having flesh once more. Then, he noticed that the area around him was slowly coming into focus. Not in the sense that his eyes were adjusting to the darkness. It was more like a veil over the place itself had been pulled back, allowing him to see as though it were only a little dim instead of bathed in the blackness of night. He was, indeed, standing on smooth stone. It was the main material of a large circle he was in the direct center of, with carved, stylized runes identical to those that Noctis had used to send him here at the edge of its circumference. Ten pillars surrounded the circle, each with a different, large rune engraved into the main body, facing the circle. Then he looked down at where he was standing.

Beneath him was a stylized head of a wolf in side profile, surrounded by roiling shadows in a sharp circle. It was as large as he was tall, and reminded him immediately of the giant, galaxy-sized wolf he had seen in the Aether.

“Right. Noctis did say he was tied to this place. Just... really didn’t expect this. Do people worship him or something?”

It’d make sense. The wolf was certainly powerful enough. Damien brought his hands up to his eyes, rubbing them lightly to rid himself of any residual tiredness. And when he brought them away from his eyes, he noticed it. A mark on the back of his right hand. A stylized wolf’s head in side profile, surrounded by roiling shadows in a sharp circle. It was a smaller but identical version of the symbol he stood on at that very moment.

“Well... that’s slightly creepy.”

Though, he had to think... was this mark the reason he could see in the dark? Considering that the Mark, Eyes, and Instincts of the Night Wolf were all in purple instead of blue in his Traits list, it stood to reason that they were related in some way.

“Not the time, Damien; get your head out of your fantasies. Now is the time to focus.

“... and I’m talking to myself again. Great.”

Now, with genuine focus, Damien walked towards the edge of the circle, and took a single step over the line of stylized runes.

Quest: [Find Your Mentor] Received.

Quest: [Awakening] Received.

The suddenness of the Quests, and their associated purple colorations, threw him for a bit of a loop. Once he managed to regain his balance, Damien gave those notifications a proper look. The fact that they had both appeared the moment he’d stepped off the circle couldn’t have been a coincidence. Neither was the fact that they were both purple.

“Well, Noctis did say that he would guide me to someone who could teach me what I needed to know. Is this what he was talking about?”

Damien focused on the first Quest, opening the description.

[Find Your Mentor]

Recommended Level: N/A

Description: You have awoken in a strange place, in the middle of an underground Conduit Circle with no guide to move forward. Luckily for you, Noctis is a beast of his word, and unwilling to leave you stranded.

Objective: Follow the indicator to find your mentor and engage a Mentorship Contract with them.

Reward: Access to the [Shade Hunter] Class, 500 XP

*NOTICE* You will be unable to gain Quest Rewards until the Mentorship Contract is in effect.

Accept Quest?

Yes | No

Damien had to admit, the wording of it was confusing. A Mentorship Contract? And the fact that he couldn’t get the rewards from the Quest until the Contract was engaged suggested that there might be some hoops he’d have to jump through in order to get that done. It probably had something to do with the second Quest he’d been given. So, without further ado, he placed the first to the side, and opened the other.

[Awakening]

Recommended Level: N/A

Description: You have awoken in a strange place, in the middle of an underground Conduit Circle with no guide to move forward. But there is always a path open and ready for those who seek them.

Objective: Have a [Ceremony of Awakening] performed on you to awaken your magical potential and select an appropriate Class.

Reward: Access to Levels, access to Classes, access to Professions, 350 XP

Accept Quest?

Yes | No

The two Quests certainly made it relatively clear what needed to be done, even if Damien had no idea what some of these terms meant. Though the mention of a ‘Conduit Circle’ in both Quests he’d received suggested that was what the giant, rune-covered dais he had just stepped off of was called. He wasn’t sure whether or not it was particularly significant, but that was something he could figure out later.

He was going to accept both quests. Not only because they had likely been given to him by Noctis, and he trusted the wolf despite his terror at the beast’s true size, but because they were likely his only way out of wherever this place was. So, pulling up the first Quest to hang beside the second, he selected ‘Yes’ for both with singular thoughts.

Quest: [Find Your Mentor] Accepted.

Quest: [Awakening] Accepted.

In the corner of Damien’s vision, as his first Quest had said, was now a purple indicator arrow, pointing him where he needed to go, and a distance tracker right next to it, clocking in at just under seven hundred meters.

“I’ll just have to hope I’m not imposing on them. It’s not like I have much of a choice either way,” Damien said as he walked forward, following the indicator for a few minutes. The cold, narrow stone passageways weren’t the greatest to look at, and the temperature was not improving. He shivered as he continued onwards, crossing his arms and rubbing his shoulders to generate a bit of warmth.

“I really wish I had some fucking pants right now.”

That was when he came to the door. It wasn’t a particularly grand or opulent thing. Just smooth, dark wood with some minor decorative flourishes and a handle of similarly colored metal. But it was the first familiar thing that Damien had seen since he’d woken up in the Aether, and again on Xaunis. Without hesitation, he grabbed the door’s handle and turned it. There was a slight creak of metal, as though it hadn’t been oiled or used for a few years, before it eventually moved towards Damien. He pulled it open the rest of the way, stepping into the room, his feet meeting solid but familiar hardwood flooring.

The room itself was nothing particularly special, little more than a barracks for about six dozen people. It was long and wide, with sets of wooden bunk bed frames and corresponding chests at the foot of each. It looked similar to a room one might see in some kind of military, only this one was clearly more comfortable than what one could receive from that institution. Still, there was only one thing on Damien’s mind at the sight of those chests. And that thing was pants.

Immediately, he flipped open one of the chests and rummaged through it, quickly finding what he was looking for. The clothing was a dark, charcoal black, consisting of a sleeveless shirt and long, baggy pants that trailed down to his ankles, along with a fresh pair of boxers and, strangely enough, a pair of sturdy black combat boots with thick soles and steel toes.

“Huh. This fits me strangely well. I was sure it wouldn’t for a second there. Maybe I was seeing things?”

And Damien realized that he was talking to himself for the third time that day. Or it may well have only been the second; he really had no way to judge how much time had passed within the Aether. But it did help him think, so he indulged the impulse a little, looking out at the room as he muttered under his breath.

“Weird though. It feels like a ghost town even though there’s scarcely a trace of dust on the floors or the chests. It’s like everyone just up and left without taking anything. Why, though? It makes no sense...”

He noticed something on the chest he had taken the clothes from. The corner of it was engraved with some rune he couldn’t see the fine details of, though he could feel the grooves in the wood as he ran a finger over it. Strange. Was it some kind of privacy thing? Or perhaps a preservative measure? There was too little information to assume anything concrete, but those were his best guesses at that moment.

Damien walked to the end of the room, finding various sconces on the wall for candles to be lit. He had no lighting implements, and briefly wished he had access to fire magic. Then he remembered that he was currently able to see in the dark, and quashed that thought. He quickly found another door, and exited the room to find a hallway that was just as spotless as the barracks he had just exited. There were several doors therein, relatively even in spacing, but most of them were locked, and Damien did not have the strength to break down a door. Quite literally, it seemed.

Still, one of the doors was unlocked, and it led to something that all classic medieval castles possessed: an armory. Many of the weapons were gone from their pegs, and some of them had rusted away into either dust or hunks of jagged, bumpy iron, but there were a few that had survived without a single hint of the wear and tear of time, and looked as sharp as the day they’d been forged.

Damien looked closely at some of the weapon racks, many of which had several cracks running through them. And those cracks had definitely damaged runes that looked similar to the ones he had seen on that chest he’d gotten his clothes from. Well, that seemed to confirm one of his suspicions. That rune had definitely been a preservative measure. Still, if it had been active, and most of these weapons were rusted over...

“Exactly how long has this place been abandoned?”

A question whose answer was irrelevant to his current situation. Definitely something that he needed to look into later on, though. Damien looked at the racks and the weapons left relatively intact. They looked relatively plain, with steel blades and hilts wrapped in dark leather, at just the perfect length to be wielded by one or two hands. Many of them also looked to be of an eastern persuasion, with some blades he recognized almost instantly and others that he had no reference for. He couldn’t wield any of the larger blades that were left, immediately disqualifying things like odachi’s and claymores, and the ones with blades that were too thick for him to realistically swing with minimal practice, which cut out things like calvary sabers, scimitars, and daos. In the end, it came down to a choice of two blades. The Chinese jian, or the Japanese katana.

There were significant differences in their designs, with pros and cons for each choice. The jian, for example, was the closest of the two to a traditional longsword, with a straight, double-edged blade that came to a fine point at its end along with a solid square guard, looking as though it had come straight from the Han Dynasty, and might be considered the more balanced of the two. It had a decent length, but not so much as to be unwieldy at his height; perfect for his current needs. The katana had advantages of its own, though. It was slightly longer, with a curved blade and an obvious edge, but was clearly more inclined towards slicing and cutting rather than stabbing, sacrificing fine control for more decisive attacks.

In the end, Damien took the jian from its place on the weapon rack. He knew less about the weapon than he did about katanas, due to a general overwhelming amount of pop-culture osmosis for the admittedly impressive and pretty weapon. But the jian suited his current needs far better. Maybe later on, if he got far enough in this world, he could see how the two compared to one another.

But that was for later. Right now, he just needed to get out of this place alive.

Damien continued to wander the place, each room he entered becoming more disconcerting and strange than the last. A mess hall bereft of people, a kitchen with no chefs within, a lobby with comfortable furniture and an echoing silence of those who were there no longer. Again, his earlier comparison to a ghost town became even more apparent.

Strangely enough, there was a long, decorative mirror on one of the walls of the place. Damien found it a bit strange, until he turned to the other wall and found a similar mirror in almost the exact same spot, acting as nearly perfect symmetry. He walked up to the one closest to him, if only to get a proper look at himself for the first time since waking up.

He was different. Not in too many significant ways, but enough that he noticed. His musculature was more defined, despite his low Strength Stat, giving him the lithe and supple grace of an acrobat or a gymnast. It was a stark contrast to his skinny frame from before he’d gotten whisked into the Aether, but similar enough that his body still felt familiar, if sturdier. His skin was fair and free of blemishes, no scars on his knees or elbows from when he had been a reckless, impulsive child. But the biggest differences lay elsewhere.

His once brown hair was now a dark, almost matte black done up in a short, slightly wild cut that framed a surprisingly good-looking face that was still recognizable as Damien Sinclair. He may have turned out this way on Earth if he had actually cared about his looks and had black hair to boot. But the most staggering and significant difference of all was his eyes. His once grey, dull orbs had been replaced by those of an amethyst radiance. It was so supernatural in nature that it almost caused him to take a step back in pure shock. He brought a hand up to his face, tracing the space just beneath his eye, taking it in.

“... guess that settles it. I’m... not human, anymore.”

He couldn’t be. After all, what kind of human had eyes like these? Still, maybe it was for the best that people didn’t assume he was human. After all, he had no idea how they viewed them, or if they even existed on Xaunis. Noctis had said that some things would be familiar to him, but that was no reason to make too many assumptions. Still, the fact that swords existed, and that there were different variations of swords in this place alone, suggested that humanoids, at least, were common, so he wouldn’t seem too unusual at a glance. Probably.

Damien moved towards the exit proper, and pushed on the large, double doors with all of his meager eight points in Strength. With an echoing creak, it opened, groaning as it opened into a scene that he had not been expecting to see at the entrance of such a mysterious place.

“A sewer? Really?” he asked, exasperated as he plugged his nose to protect him from the pungent smell. “Could’ve been inside a mountain or somewhere in the wilderness, but no, someone decided to be clever. Man, this place stinks.”

As Damien moved out into the actual sewer, he was buffeted by the surprising humidity of the place. That humidity, combined with the acrid smell of what he could only assume was waste, was enough to make him feel slightly sick. Still, it was better than staying in that strange underground castle.

That was what he heard the doors shut behind him. As he turned to look, he realized that they were no longer there. In their place was a wall of smoothed-over stone that matched the rest of the sewer all around him, with grime and dampness clinging to its surface. He was tempted to see if there was a way to go back, but his indicator, and the measurement readout next to it, quickly stole his attention.

“They’re only about seventy meters away. Does that mean... is my mentor down here too?” The thought was a welcome one, and gave Damien some fresh motivation. He wasn’t sure why they were down here, but it surely couldn’t be a complete coincidence. It wouldn’t surprise him, but he’d still take a coincidental meeting over not meeting them at all.

Then, just when he was about to start heading towards where the indicator was directing him, there was an immediate pressure on his spine, as though he could feel something was watching him. Something with the intent to kill. His head turned slowly, amethyst eyes widening as his night vision gave him a full view of the monster that was behind him. It was rat-like in its appearance, especially its head, but the rest of its body looked mostly humanoid. It had overtly defined muscles, making it look like a professional weight lifter with biceps the size of watermelons, and sharp claws that were far, far too human to be anything close to what Damien knew as ‘natural.’ In the face of this new threat, Damien Sinclair did the obvious thing.

He turned, and started running like hell towards where the indicator said his mentor was.