It took a few hours for the Keeper of the World to open his doors. The man was obviously a Mur but his age was something more akin to a corpse rather than a normal person. He was nearly skeletal as his pigment-less skin laid flat across his bones and wings.

As it was explained to Max and Emi, the Keeper of the World was selected a birth and raised in the profession and class [Archivist]. This one man’s job was to collect information from the rest of the Mur, adding it to their ever growing collection.

As the lost race never truly died, all information deemed unimportant in daily life needed a placed to be stored. This freed up the minds of the pseudo immortals, allowing for many advantages. Something negative in a past life? It would be remembered on record. General knowledge about what type of bread was baked on what day six-hundred years ago? It was recorded.

What the [Archivist] class did was allowed the person ease of access for all records stored within the database. In this case, everything was within the Keeper of the World’s mind.

A special note could be made about the Mur. If the Keeper died prematurely, than the knowledge would only be lost forever how long it took for the person in question to revive and grow through pubescence. It would be annoying for the individual in question, as they would be forced to accept the [Archivist] class again, but as long as the cycle never ended, no information would ever be lost.

“We would like to learn about the Primordials.” Max said to the scrawny man.

The man, for what it’s worth, tried to look thoughtful. But as the seconds ticked by, and the requested memories flooded his mind, his expression broke. His face twitched before a frown took in. Next came a shudder and finally a hard, long lived breath. Searching eyes met Max’s, then the man spoke.

“There are five Primordials. The Spectator, the Mimic, the King, the Frozen, and the Dreamer. Which do you wish to know more about.”

“The King and Mimic.” Emi said.

The Keeper closed his eyes. “The King. Born of blood and royal hunger. Believe itself to own the whole of the world. Will kill anything to achieve its birthright, including Gods. The Mimic. Born of trickery and feral necessity. Believes itself to be all or anything. Its agents are territorial and often seek those of great power to kill and take their place.”

Max and Emi looked to each other. Nix was already confirmed to be a Primordial host, which would tie into the description of the Mimic. The King fit thematically with Eden, except for the blood aspect. In fact, they found it hard to believe he would be keen on taking power from blood, not unless he overcame his trauma Cresthill inflicted.

“What about the others? Sorry, we are just trying to narrow it down.”

The man nodded, and with a heavy sigh continued to speak. “The Spectator. Born of reality and the necessity to watch and learn. Believes itself to be the protector of reality, even going so far to limit its presence in all realms except the one it created itself. Does not have agents of its own, but rather proper children.

“The Frozen. Born of ice and snow. Believed to bring upon the seasons, especially winter. Searches for a way to bring upon another ice age.” The man shuddered. “Has the highest known kill count of any of the five. The Dreamer. The least seen of the Primordials. Born of slumber and dreams. The most powerful of the five, but aimless to the point of incompetence.”

Max nodded along, noting the last three were interesting but nothing stood out more than the King for Eden. He explained as much to Aquis, who was on standby, and the Keeper. Emi had come to the same conclusion, but had a thought.

“Does the King treat his people well?” She asked, hoping for something good in a sea of dreadful information.

“No.” The man said, having closed his eyes again. “The King is known to feed upon its subjects, a trait past to its agents.”

Max paused. “What is an agent, and how is it different than the King itself?”

“The Mimic, the King, and the Frozen have all been sealed away long ago by the Spectator and Dreamer working in unison. However, the beings are of such power they are still able to spread their influence. These three were come to be called Beasts and the ones they spread their power to agents or hosts.”

“And how does this power spread?”

The man searched his mind. “Unknown. Other than that the agents have to be intelligent.”

“Which implies the System is needed.” Aquis said from the side.

“Correct.”

Emi frowned. “That means Nix was a person before turning into a Doppelganger?”

The Keeper stirred at this. He held up and hand and closed his eyes, searching his endless banks of knowledge. “There is one account of a young Mur before the Culling. She knew of someone having their humanity stolen from a class and devolving into a monster… one of ice and snow.”

“What’s the Culling?”

Aquis answered this one. “The event in which all Mur were killed for the first time. Accounts of that era are few.”

Again, the Lost Lord found this history lesson incredibly interesting. While the subject matter was more than morbid, hearing about the beings that seemingly created and shaped a world was something he gawked at. But a question had been raised in his mind, something about the timelines he knew of just didn’t match.

“When did these Primordials exist? Or, I mean, when were they sealed?”

The Keeper closed his eyes again. “They were sealed long before the Culling. Long before the Gods. They were some of the first beings of this world and are thought to have created the original Gods.”

“I thought the original beings were culminations of mana? They were said be the first Gods.”

“And where do you think mana came from?”

The scope of the world, and time for that matter, flared in Max’s head. He felt as though he had a key revelation about the cosmos, or at least, a localized version of it. Mana, or something, created the Primordials. Which gave shape to the first Gods. Which then created the humanoid races and life in general… and further down the line, multiple millennium, a God, or someone more powerful, took him from Earth.

And now he was learning about the origins of Nava… again.

“Okay, back to the King. What are its agent’s tells? How can we know for sure?” Max asked.

The Keeper leaned back. “Unknown, other than in death.”

“Death?”

“All agents drop an item. In the King’s case, a crown.”

Emi and Max looked at each other. She asked. “Is the Mimic’s a bell?”

“Yes.”

A small porcelain bell materialized in Max’s palm, its silent clapper stationary. “What do they do?”

The Keeper’s eyes widened in alarm, then cooled to intrigue. He gently picked it up and Inspected it, while he did so he explained. “Each has the power to call the Beast they originate from. The seal will return them to their eternal homes, but not before they can cause mass damage and kill thousands.” He handed the bell back. “Be sure to not allow history to repeat itself.”

The small weight in Max’s hand seemed to grow exponentially. He was, in essence, holding a nuke. An item that could wipe out an area and kill all of a nation by summoning a power deemed too great for the Gods to speak about.

He quickly put it in his inventory where it would, hopefully, stay forever.

“A God said that the Eden was a host. What do you recommend for us to do?” He asked.

“Kill him. The sooner the better.” Aquis said.

The Keeper nodded. “Hosts only bring destruction.”

“What if he’s the Dreamer’s agent?”

“There has only been record of one Dreamer agent. That being was used as fodder to seal the Beasts.”

“I understand.” Max said after a moment. He didn’t like being told someone had to die. Even if that person was the reason for his sabbatical from Lesterwood and his life. Hells, before this meeting he had even come to terms that Eden had to be killed. But now? Now that he knew the history of why even the Gods wanted the man dead?

He would make it quick and painless.

“Changing the subject, what can you tell me about spirits. Specifically their marks?”

The man yawned, his eyes fluttering to stay open. Aquis intervened. “I think that is enough for today. I hope you understand.”

“Thank you for your time, Keeper of the World.” Max said, bowing along with Emi.

The elderly Mur only nodded once before sipping a warm drink. He bundled himself up in a blanket, making sure to drape them gently over his wings, and walked into the back of his home.

Aquis looked at a slice of metal, deeming its magical color correct. “The [Apothecary] should be open by now. Our [Spirit Whisperer] should be there as well.”

Emi smiled. “Lead the way” She paused before asking. “Can we get some fish on the way over?”

Max rolled his eyes, but Aquis smiled.

The potion shop was filled to the brin with oddly shaped glass vials and jars. Pinks and low blues were not uncommon for coloration of the liquids as well as sparkling and or glowing. Some had labels and small descriptions but most were simply marked with a price.

The [Apothecary] himself was a bit of a crude. He snapped at Max and Emi for causing commotion in his shop this early in the morning and practically demanded they purchase something for using up his time. Spirit vials were something the duo needed, so they didn’t feel too put off… except that spirit vials weren’t needed very much in Abyss City, so an order had to be placed.

Aquis spoke quietly. “Sorry about him. His wife died a few months ago and is still in her chrysalis.”

Max blinked a few times at the bizarre statement, along with Emi tilting her head slightly. “It’s no problem.” He said.

The bell of the store jingled and a rushed Mur stepped in, her wings fluttering wildly. She panted and took a moment to collect herself as the shopkeeper yelled at her to lay off on the extra wind she was kicking up. She apologized several times but not before a small ethereal blue cat walked through the wall.

“Ah! There you are Kicen! I was getting worried when you didn’t show up this morning!” The woman said to the cat. The cat meowed and brushed up against the [Spirt Whisperer]’s leg. “Sorry I’m late.” She said, turning her attention to Aquis. “I couldn’t find her and spent most of an hour looking.”

“It is no matter, we have only just arrived as well.” The [Water Elementalist] said. “This is Lost Lord Max and Lady Emi. You are to answer their questions to the best of your ability.”

“Of course! The name is Neshea, ask away.”

Max shifted at the direct subordination, only just now realizing the age difference between Aquis and the woman. The elder Mur’s wings were full of vibrant blues and greens, patterned and textured like silken sheets. Neshea’s were like single shade cotton coveralls.

“Thank you, Neshea. I don’t want to go into details, mainly since we don’t know much ourselves, but it seems that I have been marked by a [Spirit Master] or something similar. Can you tell if that is true?”

The spirit cat sniffed Max’s leg then meowed. Neshea said. “Yes you are. A particularly resilient one at that.”

“Okay… how do I remove it?”

“Treatment through multiple installments of potions, a specialized spell from someone stronger than I, killing the person who marked you, stretching the connection until it breaks… That’s about it.”

Max and Emi looked at each other. “How far?”

“I am unsure. Abyss City doesn’t deal with things like this. But, as an educated guess, depending on the caster’s power, I would say you being here would break it. That is, if I’m to understand you are from the original world.”

“Original world?”

Aquis jutted in. “Nava. She means Nava.” The older Mur gave the younger a warning look.

“But you said you can still feel the mark.” Emi said.

Neshea’s eyes widened. “That must be one powerful caster… um.. If that is the case, then I do not believe you to outrun the connection in Abyss City. You must go further.”

Max squinted at this and asked a question long on his mind, since the first time he visited the infinite beach. “Where exactly is the Dimension of Water? In relation to Nava, I mean.”

Aquis answered this one. “We currently are layered on top of Nava. All Dimensions are mirror worlds of Nava besides the Astral.”

“So I just have to go to the Astral? Okay, I can do that.”

All eyes spun to Max and Emi, even the shopkeeper who was doing his best not to look like he was eavesdropping. A wide range of emotions cascaded across the onlookers, most importantly being Aquis’s. The man looked thoughtful, as if someone was speaking directly into his ear.

“Stop!” The man shouted. “No question, no implied or inferred meanings. The topic of the Astral is now barred until the Lost Lord leaves.”

Max recoiled. “What? Why-“

“My Lord demands of it.”

Emi rolled her eyes at her father’s command, her partner doing the same.

“Fine.” Max turned back to the [Spirit Whisperer]. “What is the best means of protection against a spirit user?”

Neshea looked more hesitant than she did prior. She stood a bit straighter, a bit more… guarded. Whether it was that her Lord was just mentioned or the nonchalant statement that the man before her could simply step into the Astral, whatever it was, she was bothered.

The cat meowed.

Neshea translated the animal’s call. “Vials and spirit enchantments. Besides that… just don’t piss off another [Spirit Master].”

Emi frowned at the cat, sniffed at it, and retreated behind Max when it hissed in retaliation. They took this lull in the conversation to briefly talk with each other through their bond. A few moments later, Max spoke.

“What about combat? This person is following us and has already showed no remorse for randoms who get caught up in the cross fire.”

Again the cat meowed and again Neshea spoke. “Enchantments are your best bet. They act like the vials, but are on all the time. Which allows dangerous ambushes but lets you see the spirits you are being attacked with.”

“Does Abyss City sell spirit enchantments?”

“No. Those are rare. Very few even know they are able to be created. Occasionally they filter through the port, but not often.”

Max had never heard of them, which made him think that Nava didn’t have much in the way of a market. Although, that did leave some questions.

“Can I visit the other civilizations of this Dimension?”

Aquis looked distantly before speaking. “No. My Lord has forbid it.”

Emi could not hold her tongue. “Why not?” She asked the open air.

“’Because there are better places for you to go.’ My Lord said.” Aquis telephoned.

“And what place is that?” Max asked, receiving no answer from Tiodepth or the [Water Elementalist.

But he thought the silence was answer enough. The Leviathan had already barred all conversation about the Astral. Why would he break his own rules of silence. Max smiled as he saw the irony in the situation. Silence speaks volumes.

“Anything else we should know?” Neshea was asked.

The cat meowed, the woman translated. “No. Not really. Just don’t be dumb…” Neshea looked to the spirit. “No. I’m not saying that.”

The cat meowed.

“Why? Because I can’t say something like that! Are you crazy?”

Another meow.

“No. I’m not doing it.”

The cat stared at its whisperer before walking through a wall out to the street. Everyone watched it’s stand of defiance with slight amazement.

“Sorry about that, Lost Lord, Lady. I do not understand her sometimes.”

“Its… no problem.” Max said with a bit of confusion.

Neshea scrunched her lip. “I guess that is some advice. Spirits are fickle. They often live for themselves. Unless the [Spirit Master] has absolute dominance, the spirit most likely can be reasoned with.”

“That’s a nice sentiment,” He said with a bit of cynicism. “but this person has tried killing a friend already. There will be no reasoning.”

The air turned heavy at the statement, both parties eyeing each other. Aquis stepped in. “Thank you Whisperer Neshea. That is all.”

Max and Emi said their thanks and the woman left. They stayed around the [Apothecary] with Aquis, visiting shops and the like, until the vials were finished. It took a few hours and more than a fair share of haggling, but twenty spirit potions were deposited into Max’s inventory along with a few other odds and ends.

Max was glad Abyss City accepted gold as a primary form of payment. If he had to trade in raw gems or something more obscure, he would have been in trouble.

With final goodbyes to Aquis, the duo returned to Nava, specifically the twin islands they deemed their hideout. It was time to decide the immediate future.