“From what you just said you won’t necessarily be able to use our magic even with our knowledge and you can’t change your cultivation direction without becoming a commoner again. What exactly is it that you want from us?” James’ face was stern as he asked this.

He knew the answer to this question could change everything. His so far easy journey into this world may come to a sudden obstruction. In this sense, he couldn’t help question if his luck at being discovered immediately on arrival was good or bad.

Elder Gau frowned slightly, only now did he realise this junior was far more cunning and far-sighted than other mortals he’d encountered. It was apparent the Gau Clan wanted something, but most people would be blinded by the opportunity to cultivate with a powerful family Clan as a backer. They’d be blinded by their greed for power and prestige in the cultivator world.

“We want you to swear an oath to our Clan once you’ve cultivated some spirit power. You will swear your fealty to our Gau Clan and protect it should disaster ever befall it. You will serve our Clan and no other until death. In exchange, we will teach you about cultivation.” Answered the Elder.

“Should? Does that mean you’re expecting a disaster to happen to the Gau Clan? And what happens to us if we don’t show any advancement in cultivation or can’t even cultivate spirit energy at all?” James’ keen eyes squinted when he heard the Elders expectations.

“Naturally if either of those cases happens, you won’t be able to swear an oath with spirit power anyway and will be given freedom to live in the city with the same conditions mentioned earlier. Given a house, some land, and enough riches to live comfortably in the city for the rest of your mortal lifespan.” Hao responded.

‘That’s good and all, but I can already guess how ‘comfortable’ my life here would be as a commoner, especially once they’ve gotten everything they want from us. Perhaps if I can leave the city and travel to one of these Sects I can get a chance to learn about cultivation without having to swear over my life. However from what I saw on the way here and from what I’ve heard of this world, travelling between cities without any power is beyond difficult.

‘Unless I can fly at 60km/h like Hao, it would take forever to walk to another decent sized city. After all, in yesterday’s discussion Skay mentioned this planet’s circumference was half our sun’s radius, and the only reason we’ve not been crushed to death by gravity is because of some paranormal ‘natural law’.

‘If that’s the case 30km is nothing on a planet this size and cities will be separated by quite a distance. Its circumference alone is probably more than 7 or 8 times the circumference of Earth. That would be in the hundreds of thousands of kilometres.’

James scratched his head while doing some calculations, sipped some tea and then returned to his thoughts while Skay once again began to engage the Elder.

‘I know the Elder said the greater population of the planet are mortal commoners like myself, but even with that, cultivators are everywhere. Even if just conservatively 1 or 2 percent of the population is cultivators that would likely be in the billions on a planet with multiple times the living space of earth and a history of humans living here measured in the millions of years.

‘More important than that though is that anyone travelling without a cultivator is likely to be killed by these fuckin’ spirit animals or worse they could be… ‘ At this point in his rambling thoughts, he glanced at Hao mumbling something about how everyone knows what happens to the good looking ones when robbed by bandits. He then shivered, turned slightly pale and distracted himself in inner monologue again.

‘I guess I have no choice though. In the end, as much as I fear death I’d rather be dead than a slave bound to serve others by some perverse ‘natural law’ that controls my destiny. I will control my own fate!‘

Finished his thoughts, James gathered himself and began to deny the Gau Clan Elder’s request to join their Clan. He stood up and clasped his hands in a bow then started to speak.

“Senior this junior can’t…” James’ face turned white as his body suddenly tensed and stopped in mid-speech. Then his face dropped from the apologetic smile he’d just plastered on to reject Elder Gau, and his reflexive poker-face assumed its place. After but a second he threw a friendly and humble smile at the Elder and resumed his broken sentence.

“ … wait to accept your offer. I can’t speak for my companions but the opportunity to become a cultivator comes only once in a lifetime, and I most humbly accept. For that opportunity, I would give my life to the Gau Clan in the form of an oath and do my utmost for the Clan.”

Dr Skay also decided to chime in. However, he showed no humble attitude and observed no courtesies of this world remaining seated drinking tea.

“I’ll swear an oath to your Clan on the condition that you swear an oath to me. You will swear that as long as I’m bound by my oath, your Clan will provide me with any resources I request within your means to do so and to never interrupt my research.

“I don’t care for fighting, what I care about is knowledge, and as such I will swear to serve only the Clans greater good, and I will answer to no one but my own conscience and your heavenly laws, regardless of internal or external matters of your Clan.”

James had to admit this old madman knew how to bargain. Indeed a clever old fox. However, the Elder had cultivated for hundreds of years and was no slouch in negotiations of this matter. He immediately countered with new conditions. After a good half hour of bickering between the two, they settled on an agreement.

James spent this half hour taking mental notes on negotiations for future use. Having no experience in these sorts of talks he was aware that in the future he must be more careful to consider his words in discussions like these. After all, should he ever swear an oath he planned on keeping it would certainly come back to bite him in the ass.

Although James pause earlier was noticed by everyone, it was completely forgotten after the hot debating of Elder Gau and Dr Skay. James also wasn’t certain what to think of what just happened in that brief pause, but he was certain he’d get to the bottom of it all once he had the chance to leave the Gau mansion. He’d find out who was messing around with his head even it cost him his life!

After this discussion was over James noticed Skay going through a series of conflicting emotions. If James had to guess it was because he had a million new questions for Elder Gau but also wanted to start studying this ‘cultivation’ and so was battling between what he wanted to do more. Elder Gau looked somewhat relieved when Skay finally made a sigh, put down his tea and made to stand up.

“I should get some rest. When I wake up I want to see your cultivation methods.” He then turned and followed a servant away to a guest room.

Elder Gau let out an audible sigh as well when Skay finally began to leave. Shaking his head he made to stand as well.

“Little Junior you should find your lady friend and ask her what her decision will be. I’ll send someone to the courtyard outside your rooms tomorrow, and they’ll teach you how to begin your training.” He then turned and left the hall leaving James standing there being eyed by the ever present Hao.

When James noticed even the servants preparing to leave, he realised if everyone left it would just be him and flying man, standing alone in the same room. Remembering the traumatic trip to the mansion, he quickly made a bow to Hao and chased after the back of Dr Skay before Hao struck up any conversation or even worse, the servants all left.

As they reached their courtyard, James noticed Jessy sitting on a long stone seat near the slushy pond blankly staring towards the tree line of the forest. When he turned towards her, he couldn’t help but over here Skay muttering “because it’s gotta be dark-matter” as he entered his room.

As James walked towards the open courtyard, he briefly started to imagine what was happening inside that mad scientist’s head. Then just as quickly stopped when his head started spinning. ‘There’s no way of even fathoming what that madman is thinking about.’

“Oi, Jess! Jess! Jessy!“ James hurried towards her a little worried when Jessy didn’t respond at all. When he reached out a hand to shake her shoulder she jumped slightly and sharply looked at James.

“Damnit James don’t sneak up on a girl! My fuckin’ heart nearly blew a gasket.” Jessy’s agitated response came as she returned her gaze towards the forest. She spoke with a British accent that was quite amusing to here when she blew her top swearing up a storm.

Now Jessy’s language might surprise some, but to James it was par for the course. Who ever said women had to be a damsel in distress with princess-like etiquette and friendly language? As a matter of fact, Jessy was the foulest mouthed women James had ever met. Which vastly conflicted with the scene she painted quietly sitting in this tranquil garden dressed in her elegant cheongsam. Her swearing only clashed even more with her polite sounding accent.

Since this whole catastrophe started, he’d not spoken with Jessy much, but he’d always thought of her as a ‘tough gal with an iron will’. Her initial reaction in the sea-lab could be considered natural in comparison to James. After all who can say they’d be able to experience a scene littered with the broken and mangled bodies of their comrades and even approach the level of functioning let alone functioning normally.

In this case, James’ stone heart and desire to survive was his saving grace, as he never even gave his mind a chance to process the situation of his peers. Had an opportunity appeared for his brain at that time, he was of no doubt he’d be much worse off then Jessy had been.

“Jess, how’ya hold’n up?”

“I’m doing just great James. In fact, I’m fucking fantastic. I only woke up on a fucking magical world after being sucked through some fucking magic portal.” At this point, she stood up and twisted to glare at James as a malicious and furious scowl disordered her beautiful features.

“Actually, fuck you James! If you hadn’t played white knight and dragged me through some fucking fairy-gate to a place where people are fucking skipping through the air like pre-school girls, I might have had a chance to escape that fucking death trap base and go find my family or my boyfriend or anyone. But I can’t now cause everything I know is over there, and I’m fucking stuck here in fucking Mordor with you, you lifeless, dead-eyed, fucking, stone hearted, piece of shit!!”

“…” James wasn’t sure what to say at first. Then slowly his face formed a frown until at last he too stood up furiously.

“Jess what the fuck are you talken’ about! You’d rather be dead?! You see all that shit that came through with us? There was a hull pressure pump not 10 foot from where we woke up. More than just we were sucked out from the base, so it’s most likely imploded by now!

“Also, your parents are most probably dead! Did you not hear? The Holocaust, Jessy you bitch. Fucking Nuclear War. I’ll wager if we’d even managed to get off the base neither of us could go see anyone! Cause they’re all fucking DEAD you crazy cunt!” In a huff, James turned and started striding back towards his room. After a few moments of silence Jessy finally reacted as her eyes watered up.

“Wait! James! I’m sorry, James!” Jessy ran up to grab the back of James filthy jumpsuit with tears streaming down her face. With a loud sigh, James stopped. He knew he’d overreacted just now. The pressure building over the last few days and all this ‘strange shit’ and all the death. His panicking inner-self betrayed the lazy expression he always carried on his face and the moment it felt safe enough and found a trigger it exploded.

If he lacked any further self-control, he’d probably have slapped Jessy and screamed his rage into the sky like a savage. Poor Jessy most likely was suffering much the same on the inside and allowed James to be her outlet. Although she’d recovered somewhat from the experience in the lab, she’d lost far more when they came here than James or Dr Skay.

Dozens of close family and friends all gone, and worse still, she was now in a situation she couldn’t even wrap her head around. She didn’t understand enough of what’s going on to comprehend what her next step should be!

At the moment the only tie she had to Earth and the only rock to lean on was the ordinary looking man she once shared a workplace with. Although he was renowned as an ‘apathetic emotionless robot’, never showing joy or sadness in any situation she’d heard some of the stories Fatty told about James.

Outside of work, he was apparently an uncontrollable menace and godless rascal. Now this robot by day rascal by night was all that was still a certainty, and the only thing left she had to rely on.

Jessy rarely felt the need to rely on anyone, but things had changed now, and although neither she or James would ever openly admit to it, they both felt each other to be a reliable constant they needed at the moment. Even though their past relationship was all work and could be called acquaintances at best, it was all that was left.

James of course never even considered Dr Skay. After the short time they’d known one another, James was convinced Skay was a single lab accident away from ‘Mad Scientist’ status. And if he was being honest, that accident quite probably just happened. He was even slightly worried about this world of god-like cultivators now that Skay had been unleashed here.

“I’m sorry James, your right. I overreacted and … and James … I think it would be better … forget it!” Choking back a sob she returned to the seat in the garden. James knew this trick well. He had a past girlfriend who often laid down the crocodile tears with a ‘forget it’ whenever they needed attention or wanted to avoid responsibility for something.

Although James suspected Jessy’s tears were fuelled by genuine grief and sadness, he was confident the abrupt end ‘forget it’ thrown out was like a hook waiting to nab him and drag him back.

He couldn’t entirely speculate the reason, but he had a few guesses. With his eyes flashing a crafty glint he then assumed an apologetic and placating expression as he slowly turned towards Jess who was crying into her hands leaving only enough room to notice if James came back in her peripheral vision. Jessy’s eyes glittered hiding behind her hands when he began walking back. ‘Gotchya bitch!’

James shrewdly sat down next to Jess and started to rub her back with some “there there’s” and some “I’m sorry I upset you’s.” Meanwhile, his hand slowly decreased the distance towards her ass hanging over the edge of the stone seat. Jess continued to sob none the wiser until eventually her own inner thoughts on how to successfully tie this only source of comfort to herself abruptly froze when she discovered the placating had stopped and the gently rubbing hand was now suddenly squeezing her ass. Like a loaded spring she shot off the garden seat followed with an all-encompassing blush and whirled to glare angrily at James.

“You … You … You filthy rascally scumba…” Before she could finish, James jumped up with a bashful expression like a kid being caught stealing from the cookie jar then cupped his chin and started nodding his head sagely.

“You’re absolutely right Jess! Let’s forget that whole scene just now. After all, we’re the only Earthlings here in Mordor. Trapped together whether we like it or not. Now excuse me there’s something just over there I want to look at quickly.”

Jessy understood at this point that she’d been duped just so he could childishly cope a feel. Her mind spun with adjectives not meant for children which were quickly followed by her mouth spewing cusses not even adults could swallow, as she chased the already fleeing James towards the forest screaming about all the chivalrous virtues James lacked and fuming until her face was blue.

After a short time of chasing she came to realising it had grown rather dark. It was then that she noticed they were on a trail leading into the forest. Looking upwards the canopy of trees blocked out the sun, and the path back was already crowded with tree’s blocking the view of the mansion. When she turned back, James had already disappeared.

Just as she was turning back to return with a gut full of rage, a chuckle from the forest and James yelled something that set her off again. “Excellent muscle tone Jess. Hahaha, Very firm.” Remembering the scene when they first awoke in this world Jessy’s freckles which had just calmed down, once again lit up like little LED lights along with the blush illuminating her face.

“That scoundrel! Lawless son’ov’a bitch! Touching me ass twice! I’ll beat him within an inch of his life!”

With such thoughts running through her mind she irrationally continued to chase him into the forest. Jessy was one to never forgive a grudge and more importantly she’d never once allowed a man to take liberties of her she didn’t consent to.

‘The only mentally stable person to pass through to this world was a filthy pervert using a moment of weakness to molest me.’ Naturally, she glossed over the fact she was mostly feigning the moment to gather some empathy from James. What her true intentions with that gathered empathy was, only she knew. After all, Jessy’s mind was currently a twisted mess of contradictions.

It wasn’t long before she was entirely lost inside the forest. James as well was now completely lost. Both travelling in circles as they tried to follow the maze-like crisscrossing and branching paths in the woods. Without any signs or demarcating landmarks, they both unknowingly travelled deeper and deeper.

Though a forest of only a few kilometres in width and length was normally of no concern if you were to walk in a straight line for an hour or so, this forest was markedly different.

When Jessy at one point came to the same conclusion, she started running between the trees and brush trying to just walk straight out. She soon found, regardless how far she walked, she’d always just arrive on a new cobblestone path and feel even more lost than before.

What these two mortal earthlings didn’t realise, was that this forest was encompassed by a pervasive spirit energy and the entire forest, once entered, was endless in all directions and there were only three ways through or out. That was to have a Gau Clan spirit compass, which naturally they had no idea even existed, have such an overbearing spirit power that they could simply shatter the pocket-space this forest existed in or for the forest itself to let you out.

The Gau Clans back yard forest was actually a single entity. Every tree, shrub, flower and weed were interconnected beneath the ground. One primary root growing an entire forest of diverse plant life in a strange and obscured pocket-space.

If Skay were to learn of this spirit cultivating forest, he’d surely be out here digging up roots and putting questionable substances on the plant life to discover … well, everything he could naturally. If the forest were to know about its abysmal future when he did finally find out, it would probably lash out some vines and strangle these two interlopers the moment they entered.

After nearly 4 hours of walking the three suns began dimming on the horizon, and James had long since realised the discrepancy of this forest and naturally came to the conclusion that it was related to some ‘fucked up natural laws’. He only hoped that there wouldn’t be any gingerbread houses or towers with golden hair thrown out the window. He honestly couldn’t handle any of that right now and should such a thing appear he would run immediately.

“Snap! Snap! Swish!“

James nearly jumped out of his skin as the sound of twigs and branches snapping under foot was heard nearby. His head swivelled so fast the audible swishing of air was heard. James was already preparing to start sprinting when out from the trees came a young man wearing the customary anvil and hammer grey robes as he walked distractedly looking at an odd black block the size and shape of an earring box.

‘No sword on this one?’ James thought to himself as he relaxed slightly from his posture of being ready to sprint. By this time James was already associating the disciples with the sword embroidery with arrogant scum-bags. Seeing as both of the disciples with the sword pattern that he’d met looked down upon him for being a mortal it wasn’t entirely unfounded.

With an “Oi, mate!” James began approaching the distracted Gau Clan disciple.