Eli happened upon the bow they were using, and not wanting to leave weapons out he went to pick it up, and as soon as he touched, his mind was similarly flooded with all kinds of thoughts and feelings. His eyes, suddenly as sharp as a hawk, locked onto a bird, and if the arrows were close enough at hand he was sure he could pick the bird out of the sky.

This same pattern repeated with every weapon he touched. Swords, knives, axes, spears, throwing daggers, and even that Artifact Garret had. As soon as he touched them, he was a master. But as soon as they left his grip, he would lose that mastery.

The loss is what got him this time, just brushing the handle of that ax caused all the information to flood in and out at the same time. In the same way someone would be shocked if they suddenly found themselves standing on the edge of a cliff, only to be returned to where they were before. His thoughts got the better of him, and the stress of keeping his mind focused to avoid time slipping away from him meant he couldn’t even relax to calm down. It all got to be too much, and he found himself sitting on a bench near the edge of town.

Every moment he spent awake was another that he had to worry that his mind would spin out of control and do something didn’t want. Even when he spoke to his mother and father, he couldn’t even take a moment enjoy seeing them again, because if he blinked, he might freeze, or time would stop. It took all he had to tear himself away from them because he didn’t want to scare them.

He heard more footsteps approaching, with as active as he kept his mind he couldn’t help but focus on them. “You look troubled.” A faintly familiar voice said. Eli looked up to see the man from before. Now in the sunlight Eli got a full look at him, slender, but tall. A few years older then himself but with a youthful air about him, even with the stark black hair.

“I am now. What do you want?” Eli said. The man pulled the sword from his belt and tossed it, still in sheathe, on the ground in front of Eli.

“Take that, and follow me.” He said, then he started walking down the road away from Eli.

“What? Why?” Eli said, but instead of getting an answer, or even an acknowledgement, the man kept walking. Eli grumbled, but picked up the sword and followed him. The fact it was in the sheathe seemed to prevent his mind being invaded with information.

They walked, and Eli tried several more times to get an answer out of him, but he was ignored every time. They reached the edge of town, and exited out of the gates leading out into the open forest surrounding them. The man waved to the relaxed looking guard leaning on his spear, but didn’t speak. They continued farther until breaking off into the forest, and only stopping once he reached a clearing.

“Seriously, what the hell is this? Did I hurt your feelings earlier? Are you gonna take it out on me?” Eli accused, but the man only looked at him. He didn’t seem angry, but he also wasn’t happy. Not nearly as much as he seemed to be in the store.

The man raised his hand, and a grey glow radiated from his hand, space bent around him, and a dusty, grey shard of something appeared in front of him, this shard grew grew and morphed until it turned into a sword. He grabbed it with his free hand and readied himself, bracing for a fight.

“I don’t want to do this.” Eli said, but the man shook his head.

“It doesn’t really matter what you want right now.” He said.

“Can I at least know who you are before you gut me?” Eli asked.

“Alexander, my friends call me Alex. And you?” Alex said. Eli felt a strange, and almost annoying feeling rise in his chest. But when he took a moment to stop and actually think about that, he realized he smiled.

“Elias, but my friends call me Eli.” Eli said.

Then Alex rushed forward.