The next morning once I had finished eating my breakfast, I finished my preparations for going to pick up the Yajashians. Tane had actually managed to make some weak Healing Potions during the night so I also made a simple belt with a couple pf pouches to put them in.

Once I had finished getting ready, I waved goodbye to Tane and headed off with my minions in tow. It was an odd feeling running through these woods again. Sure, I had been running around it while I was hunting over the past couple of weeks, but it felt different now that I was following the same route that I had taken on my way here.

I glanced behind me with a smile as my scorpion trundled along behind me with the Gel Colony on its back before looking up ahead of me at the Dragonfly as it flitted between the trees. I was a different person than I was back then. I was much stronger now and my minions were stronger as well. I knew that there were still plenty of creatures that I had to be wary of in this forest, but I was pretty confident that I would be able to escape from them if I really needed to. Not that I was anticipating running into any of them today since Tane was keeping an eye on me from home.

Sure, enough we only ran into one monster on the way to the grasslands. Tane had attempted to lead us around this thing’s territory but it must have been really hungry or something because it hunted us down and attacked us so quickly that Tane was barely able to warn us.

The monster in question looked like the hideous offspring of a spider and a sea urchin. It had a total of 12 legs that sprouted from its armored body at every angle which made it a lot more agile than I would’ve expected if Tane hadn’t been able to warn me about it. The tips of each of its legs were even sharp enough to pierce the shell of the scorpion and could bend in any direction which combined with the acid that it could secrete from small holes near the end of its legs made it quite a troublesome opponent. However, it was enemies like this that my Gel Colony excelled in fighting. Its body was largely impervious to the things acid due to its own acidic nature and its sharp legs weren’t able to do much to its jelly-like body anyway so as soon as the Gel enveloped the thing the fight was pretty much over. As its body finally stilled, I felt a wave of energy fill my body and knew that I had Levelled Up again. However instead of distributing my Stats then and there I decided to continue on towards the grasslands first. If I got there on schedule, then I should have plenty of time to deal with that sort of thing when I arrived.

Things were quiet the rest of the way through the forest and soon we arrived at the grasslands where we had decided would be the spot where the Yajashians would open their portal to. Now that we had arrived, I contacted the Admin who responded immediately.

Message from Admin-51340

Well, it looks like you made good time on your end but it’s still going to be about an hour before the Yajashians are ready to activate the portal.

“That’s fine,” I nodded. “I wanted to make sure that I got here early in case anything went wrong on their end. By the way have there been any changes?”

Message from Admin-51340

Not really. The Redians are still trying to break through the walls of the city that the Yajashians have holed themselves up in. Even with the golems and traps that the Yajashians will be leaving behind they’ll probably breach the walls not long after the Yajashians come through.

“But the Yajashians have trapped the portal, right?” I checked. “So, they shouldn’t be able to follow them through right away?”

Message from Admin-51340

Not unless something goes seriously wrong but even if that happens, they shouldn’t be able to send more than a few warriors through before the portal runs out of power. However, you should probably make some preparations just in case. Even if the worst-case scenario doesn’t happen today the portal should open in the same place next time.

“Well, I’m not sure that there are all that many preparations that I can make if you can’t confirm the exact place where the portal is going to appear,” I replied as I rubbed my chin in thought. “I guess that I could run around a bit which might make it harder for the Redians to track us down but that’s probably about it.”

Message from Admin-51340

We understand that this is difficult for you, but this is unfortunately the nature of travelling across vast distances. However, we will ask that you do everything that you can. Even if they don’t get to Edra today they will eventually.

“I will,” I agreed. “I understand that there is more at stake here than I can possibly imagine. Hell, I’m not even sure how much help I’ll actually be to the Yajashians when they arrive. After all they’re all going to be much higher Level than me and their Skills in things like hunting and construction will be much higher than mine.”

Message from Admin-51340

That they will. But all that means is that you have to learn from them so that you can become useful to them. Remember that you have the advantage of an extremely powerful Soul Aspect so you’re a bit stronger than people usually are at your Level even if your Skill Levels are a bit low.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed. “And I am looking forward to seeing what they can teach me.”

Message from Admin-51340

Well, you have some things to do before the portal opens so we’ll leave you to it for now. We’ll warn you when the portal is about to open.

“Sounds good to me,” I nodded before opening my Status Screen. My Stats were already looking pretty good as far as I could tell. Hell, my MP was so insanely high that I could cast Mana Bolt over 50 times before running out. I also had enough Control Points to summon some more Minions which was something that I absolutely had to do before the portal opened. Since I was fairly sure that my minions were going to be incredibly useful if we had to fight Redians I quickly did some calculations and worked out that I would have a little over 50 Control Points that I could use to summon more Minions if I used just 12 of my Unassigned Stat Points which would leave me with 19 Points left over.

After mulling things over I decided that I would also add 9 Stat Points to my Charisma. I had avoided investing Stat Points into Charisma up until now because it seemed like the least useful Stat available to someone who only had his own Minions and a tree for company, but things were going to be different now. After thinking about what I was going to do with the final 10 Points I decided to split them evenly between Wisdom and Agility. I decided to do this because my maximum MP was so massive, and my MP regen was lagging behind so much that it was going to take almost quarter of an hour to fully regenerate my MP and also because putting 5 points into my Agility Stat would put it over 100 which would unlock a new Aspect for me. In theory this Aspect would be quite useful to me. Less useful than something like my Aspect of Willpower but being able to move quickly was always going to be a good idea.

Once I had finished applying the points, I stopped to admire my Stats for a while. I was sure that there were plenty of Yajashians with higher Stats than mine, but I had definitely come a long way since arriving.

Status

Level 6

Exp: 3%

HP: 594/594

MP: 1507/1507

HP Regen: 48.3 per minute (+1)

MP Regen: 97.1 per minute

SP: 389/453

Essence: 156

SP Regen: 45 per minute

Control Points: 120 (50)

Str: 76 (+15/Lvl)

Agi: 102 (+16/Lvl)

Con: 89 (+11/Lvl)

End: 76 (+10/Lvl)

Tou: 85 (+12/Lvl)

Int: 217 (+45/Lvl)

Coor: 70 (+11/Lvl)

Vit: 68 (+10/Lvl)

Wis: 143 (+30/Lvl)

Will: 204 (+46/Lvl)

Per: 126 (+29/Lvl)

Cha: 75 (+12/Lvl)

Additional Growth Rate: +31 Unassigned Stat Points/Lvl. +40 MP/Lvl. MP regen increased by 1.4/min per Lvl +5 Control Points/Lvl.

Unassigned Stat Points: 0

Stats in this world might start out slow but once you started learning Skills and completing Aspects they quickly started piling up. I was really looking forward to getting all of my Stats over 100 and seeing what all of the Aspects that unlocked would give me.

Now that I had finished doing stuff like that, I started trying to make it harder for anything coming through the portal after the Yajashians. This mostly involved me tearing up the ground in a large area around me with my magic and then using my scorpion to make a series of tracks off into the distance.

While the scorpion got to work, I decided to summon two new Minions. The first Minion that I decided to summon was a Colossal Beetle. I was hoping that this Minion was going to be really bulky and able to take even more damage than my scorpion which would hopefully allow the scorpion to focus more on dealing damage and from the look of the cocoon that started to form that seemed to be correct. I also decided to summon another scorpion since that was the only thing that I could actually summon which drained my Essence total down to 76 Points.

“I really have to work out what else I can do with Essence,” I sighed as I watched the cocoons continue to grow.

As I had expected when the scorpion finally emerged from its cocoon it was approximately the same size as the one that was currently out making fake tracks for the Redians to follow and I instantly sent it out to make more. However, what surprised me was that the beetle’s cocoon was still growing. At this point the cocoon was larger than I was and didn’t look like it was going to be stopping any time soon.

“Well at least I have plenty of time to wait on you right now,” I chuckled as I placed a hand on the weirdly springing surface of the cocoon. Unfortunately, if anything went wrong then it would be the Colossal Beetle that was going to be the minion that I would sacrifice first. Of course, I would sacrifice all of them if I needed to. After all I could summon new Minions but if one of the Yajashians was killed then they wouldn’t be coming back. Unless of course there were resurrection spells but for some reason I doubted that they existed.

Eventually the beetle finally did break free of the cocoon and I took a moment to admire my new Minion. The Colossal Beetle was frankly massive and covered in dark green chitin that looked like it was several inches this. It also had antlers like a stag beetle and surprisingly weak looking mouthparts.

“Not much of an attacker, huh buddy?’ I chuckled as the thing shook the last vestiges of the cocoon from its body. “That’s okay all you have to do is protect the rest of us while we do that sort of thing for you.”

I spent the rest of the time getting use to how the beetle moved. To my surprise the thing could actually move quite quickly by using its wings to leap short distances. It was too heavy to properly fly but that surprising speed would be quite useful for intercepting attacks and I suspected that getting hit by its horns when it was moving at full speed would deal quite a lot of damage to most things.

However eventually the Admin got in contact with me again to let me know that the portal was going to be opening any minute now, so I called my Minions back and checked my weapons one last time. Sure, enough a loud roaring sound came from behind me, and I turned around to see what looked like swirling disc of blue lightning crackling into existence. As soon as the portal was a couple of meters high, several figures stepped through.

The first was a tall man wearing armor made from some sort of leather, the next was another, older man who was wearing robes and the final figure was a red-haired woman who would’ve been absolutely stunning if it wasn’t for the expression that crossed her face the moment that she laid eyes on me. I had known that I wouldn’t be accepted by all of the Yajashians right away, but I hadn’t expected any of them to look at me like I was something that they had just scraped off the bottom of their shoe the first time we met.

“So, you’re the one that Sibao sent to prepare the way for us?” the tall man asked with a small friendly looking smile.

“Sibao?” I asked as I cocked my head to one side. “Oh, you mean the Admin. Yes, that’s me.”

Upon hearing my response, the woman’s expression darkened even further which I would’ve said was impossible up until it actually happened, and she opened her mouth to say something before the older man grabbed her arm. She turned to look at him with the same furious expression on her face but to his credit the older man didn’t back down.

“Leave it Xan,” he told her firmly. “We don’t have time for this right now and besides, he doesn’t know our ways. Give him time to learn.”

“Burl is right Xan,” the taller man agreed as he walked over towards me. “My name is Drem, and these are my friends Xan and Burl. My I ask your name?”

“Pleased to meet you,” I nodded. “I’m Rick.”

“It’s good to see that Sibao was able to teach you our language,” Drem laughed. “I was a little worried there for a moment. Now, is it safe to bring our people though?”

“Of course,” I nodded. “My Minions and I have already secured the area. So, I would appreciate it if you didn’t attack them.”

“Your Minions?” he asked as he blinked at me in surprise and looked around. He turned pale when he spotted the scorpions and actually took a step back when he saw the beetle, but he soon recovered from his surprise.

“Oh?” Burl grunted. “I’ve never seen Minions like these before.”

“They’re based on creatures from my world,” I replied glancing at Xan who was looking at my Minions with a disgusted look on her face.

“You seem to have quite an impressive number of Minions for your Level Rick,” Drem said now that he’d recovered from his surprise before turning to Xan and asking her to let the rest of the refugees know that it was safe to come through the portal. The woman rolled her eyes in what I assumed was exasperation before turning around and walking back through the portal.

“Is that so?” I asked. “Sorry I’m not really familiar with the etiquette when it comes to things like this. Would it be alright with you if I asked what Level you are?”

“Of course,” Drem nodded. “I’m Level 27, Burl here is Level 31 and Xan is Level 24. You were quite right to ask first though. Normally it is taboo to just check that sort of thing without permission. A such I’m afraid that we must apologize to you for checking your own.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I shrugged. “You’re basically entrusted the lives of your people to me. I don’t blame you for being cautious.”

As I said this more figures started appearing in the portal which were quickly revealed to be a group of Yajashians leading a creature that kind of looked like a six-legged bull with antlers. This was quickly followed by a veritable stream of people and animals of all shapes and sizes. As I had expected most of the refugees seemed to be old folks and children but there were some nervous looking teenagers that were carrying weapons as well.

“Jesus,” I muttered to myself. “Looks like something out of a war documentary.”

“What was that?” Drem asked as we both continued to watch as even more people rushed through the portal and spread out among us.

“Sorry, this just reminded me of something,” I replied. “How of you are there?”

“About two hundred,” Burl replied as he shook his head sadly. “As well as some animals.”

“I know that it’s more than you were expecting,” Drem told me apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “I just hope that some of them brought some tents or something that they can use. It’s not too cold here but it can rain pretty heavily sometimes.”

“So, you’re not even prepared?” Xan asked as she stalked over towards us making me blink in surprise. There was no way that a normal person would’ve been able to hear us from that distance, but I guess that she had invested pretty heavily into her Perception Stat.

“Well, I’m terribly sorry that I’ve been trying to survive by myself on a hostile world,” I replied calmly. “It’s not like I’ve done anything like this before.”

“No one has,” Drem replied as he glared Xan. “Honestly if you’ve even got space for our wounded that would be more than we could’ve hoped for.”

“Well, I managed to make space for about 60 people to sleep with a roof over their heads,” I said. “I hope that’s enough.”

“That’s more than enough for our wounded,” Burl nodded. “Looks like almost everyone is through. Where do we go from here?”

“You see that flying creature?” I asked as I pointed at my dragonfly which was hovering a few meters away. “If you tell your people to follow it then some of us can stay behind to act as a rear-guard.”

“Sounds like a plan to me Rick,” Drem nodded before jogging over towards the largest group.

“He seems pretty young to be in charge,” I mentioned to Burl who nodded grimly in agreement.

“Unfortunately, he’s the highest-ranking officer that we have left,” the older man sighed. “Don’t worry though. He’s more capable than he looks.”

“And what’s your role in all of this?” I asked curiously.

“Me?’ Burl asked. “Well, I’m what’s known as a Keeper. It’s my job to make sure that the knowledge of our ancestors is kept safe. I also happen to be quite a good mage. Most Keepers are though we tend to avoid fighting where possible.”

“Sounds like we’ll be spending quite a bit of time together then,” I chuckled. “I’m sure that I have a lot to learn.”

“Indeed,” Burl nodded. “But I think that you’ll be a rather good student. “

“I look forward to finding out,” I agreed before turning to look at the older man seriously. Now, do you think that the Redians will manage to get through the portal today or do we have some time to prepare.”

“So Sibao told you then,” Burl sighed. “Honestly, I’m not sure. There are still a few stragglers on the other side, but the walls should hold for a few more minutes.”

“Well, if they manage to get through let my Minions engage them first,” I told him firmly. “I don’t think they’ll last long but they can at least buy us some time.”

“Don’t tell me that lad,” Burl replied nodding towards Drem who was heading back over. I noticed that Xan wasn’t with him and when I looked around, I spotted her at the front of the refugees who were following my dragonfly into the woods. “Tell him.”

I repeated my words to Drem who nodded in agreement.

“That makes sense to me,” he agreed. “And you’re right that they won’t last long. I doubt that all of them working together could even kill one Redian.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing right?” I asked while cringing internally at his brutal honesty.

“Of course,” Drem nodded. “I never meant to suggest it wasn’t. I’d also like to suggest that you go with the other but I’m guessing that you’re not going to do that?”

“Nope,” I agreed. “I know that I’m not going to be much help if even my Minions can’t defeat a single Redian by themselves, but I don’t intend on running away if you guys need me. Besides, I think that you’ll find that I’m tougher than my Level might suggest.”

“People who have managed to unlock their Soul Aspect often are,” Burl agreed making me blink in surprise.

“How did you know that I’ve unlocked my Soul Aspect?” I asked curiously.

“Well, like you said earlier; you had to survive here alone,” Burl replied with a small smile. “And that was the obvious answer as to how you were able to do so.”

“I see,” I nodded as Drem looked at me in wonder. “You are of course correct. There is no way that I would’ve lived this long if it wasn’t for my Soul Aspect.”

“I don’t mean to pry, but I take it that’s how you were able to summon so many strange creatures to act as your Minions?” Burl asked as his eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Unlocking your Soul Aspect at your age is quite impressive,” Burl told me. “There are plenty of people who never do.”

“Well from what the Admin, I mean Sibao told me the only reason that I was able to unlock it was because of the trauma that I underwent when I died back on Earth,” I replied.

“I see,” Burl nodded sagely as he kindly ignored my little slip of the tongue regarding what the Yajashians called the Admin. “It sounds like you’ve had quite a hard time.”

“Well yeah,” I nodded. “It hasn’t been particularly pleasant at times. This world is vastly different from my own.”

“Yes, Sibao told us that your world doesn’t even have access to the System,” Drem interrupted excitedly. “That must be really weird.”

“Well to me Earth is normal, and this is weird,” I pointed out with a slight chuckle at the tall young Yajashian’s enthusiasm. “But it’s not like I was completely unfamiliar with the concept of a System like this one. On Earth we had these things called ‘video games’ which were imaginary worlds which sometimes had Systems of their own that were quite similar to this one.”

“How intriguing,” Burl said before Drem could reply. “I hope that we can talk more on the subject of your world later but right now we should get ready. The last of our people are coming through right now.”

I nodded in agreement and as soon as the last of the refugees were clear of the portal, I ordered my Minions to surround it.

“Uh, could you pull your Minions back a little please?” Burl asked awkwardly. “I want to make some traps.”

“Oh, sorry,” I replied quickly as my Minions immediately started pulling back. “I didn’t even think to ask what you two were capable of.”

“It’s fine,” Burl chuckled as glowing glyphs appeared on the ground surrounding the portal which I noticed was starting to shrink. “You’ve been fighting alone or at least mostly alone for the past month. You’re not used to thinking about that sort of thing.”

“Burl is right,” Drem agreed as pulled the sword-like weapon from his back.

The large weapon looked like it was made of some sort of wood, but I knew that didn’t matter much to a Yajashian since they could shape wood in whatever way that they pleased and could probably do other things to strengthen the things that they made. After all, Tarko had used a weapon made of wood as well so I wasn’t going to underestimate Drem’s sword just because of what it’s made from.

“I take it that you’re a warrior then?” I asked and Drem nodded in agreement. “I can coat your weapon in poison if you want me to.”

“Sure,” Drem nodded. “Every little bit helps. But you sure seem to have some pretty interesting Skills huh?”

“I’m sure that I still have a lot to learn,’ I replied easily as I coated his proffered weapon with my Neurotoxin Skill. “Now I don’t know how powerful this is. I only got the Skill recently, but I’d avoid getting any on you if possible.”

“Of course,’ Drem nodded in agreement. “I’m still hoping that we won’t need to use it at all.”

“Well, the portal is almost closed,” Burl pointed out and sure enough the portal which had previously been more than large enough to drive a wagon through was now barely large enough for a man to walk through.

Unfortunately, it turned out that Burl had spoken too soon and three and a bit Redians managed to get through the portal just before it snapped shut a split second later. The Redian’s turned to look at remained of the fourth member of their group who had been unfortunate enough to be stepping through the portal when it closed leaving half of his body behind on the other side.

“Looks like you spoke two soon” Drem sighed echoing my earlier thought. “Alright, you two make sure you stay back. Especially you Rick.”

“Right,” I nodded as one of the Redians pointed at us and stepped forwards onto one of the glyphs that Burl had created which exploded with impressive force sending the large humanoid tumbling through the air. “Good luck everyone.”