With a painful groan, he rolled over on the ground and pushed himself up. He was still inside the chamber where he picked up that damn stone. He touched himself all over to check for injuries but there were none. Jerome sat down cross-legged to scan himself. His perception flowed slowly through his skin, going through every muscle, and tissue of his body.

Satisfied with what he found, he stood up and looked around. The room was still the same but there was a new entrance formed on the right wall of the chamber.

“You’re a very determined human, Jerome. That’s good,” The Guardian said with a hint of respect in his voice.

“Fuck you!” Jerome retorted.

“Apologies for the pain I inflicted. It was a necessary component of the test.”

Jerome scoffed at that. “Can you say you didn’t enjoy torturing me?” he asked.

“Of course, I did,” The Guardian said shamelessly with a laugh. “It was…hilarious, ahahah!”

Jerome’s mouth dropped in shock for a moment. Then he frowned in anger. “When I lay my hands on the Fae’s secret, I’ll erase you!”

“Impossible. I am the access you need to the Fae’s inheritance.”

“That’s not gonna stop me,” Jerome remarked. “What are you anyway… some kinda artificial intelligence?”

“Quite knowledgeable of you, human—”

“You know my name. Stop calling me ‘human’. It sounds demeaning.” The knowledge that this entity was an artificial intelligence was mind-blowing, but Jerome wasn’t about to stoke his pride. And now he knew what it was like when he called others ‘kids’.

“Ahem,” The Guardian said loudly and Jerome felt his eardrums ring painfully. He glared at the walls around him not knowing where to focus his anger since The Guardian’s voice was sounding inside his head.

“As I was about to say before you interrupted me… ‘human’. I am a highly advanced creation of the Fae—”

“Yeah, it seems you inherited their arrogance and narcissism too,” Jerome butted in.

The Guardian chuckled. “You’re a feisty one, ain’t ya?”

“How the hell did you learn to speak like that?!” Jerome asked, bemused.

“Oh, I can say things that’ll knock your socks off. Your human mind is an interesting place to be.” The Guardian chuckled.

“Why…you—” 

“I won’t pry…not much at least.” The Guardian cut him off. “Though I can teach you how to keep the succubus from hurting you, and maybe even how to get your freak on with her.”

Jerome turned red at The Guardian’s words, “Ahem. You can keep her from hurting me?”

“Hm-hm.”

“Wait, why are you helping me?”

“Ah, yes!” Jerome almost felt it… him… whatever; he thought he felt him doing a pose to announce something like a herald would. “Good tidings, Jerome! You have proven yourself worthy to behold the treasures and secrets of the Fae!”

Jerome snorted in anger.

“What? Not epic enough? I could sound very much like the First Elder. Maybe even do better… I could even use his voice. Ahem—”

“Alright, alright! You proved your point!” Jerome said in frustration. He’d end up listening to an unnecessary eulogy if he didn’t stop The Guardian.

“Walk through the doorway. The secrets of the Fae await you.”

Jerome walked up to the doorway and stopped. He felt the same stirrings in him that he felt when he got to the deadend that became a door leading to the very room he was in right now. “Sure this ain’t another test or trick?”

“You think so little of me, Xerae.”

“What was that you called me?” 

“Rejoice, human! For you have taken up the mantle of the Fae and I christen you… Xerae fir Ilyrrah – Chosen of Ilyrrah!”

At that he walked through the doorway.

Jerome had only ever seen two memory crystals in his life — the one the Sovereign showed him and the one he picked up inside the chamber he just came from. Spread out in front of him and filling the new chamber to the brim were floating memory crystals. He stood stunned at the sight before him. Each crystal was grouped in sections and by color. Each section hovered in a portion of the air above ground making for a mind-numbing sight.

Is this supposed to be like a library or something? he thought curiously.

“Yes, Xerae. I gathered the knowledge of the Fae using the means left behind by my creator, Ilyrrah. Together with the knowledge he left behind, I created this library.”

“Ilyrrah…sounds feminine,” Jerome responded. He went to a section just a foot above the ground and picked up one of the stones.

“I suggest you check this one out first, Xerae.”

A crystal moved through the air from the side toward him and stopped in front of him, still hovering. Jerome took it and transmitted a smidgen of essence into it and then scanned it with his perception. The moment he did, his brain was flooded with so much information his muscles bunched up, reacting to the electrical impulses firing in his brain. He hit the floor and passed out from the pain.

Jerome groaned as he woke up a while later. “Why didn’t you warn me it’ll hurt?!”

“Hmm. Pain is a part of life, Xerae.”

Jerome glared at no one in particular. “Some day, Guardian…do you even have a name?”

“Guardian is my name.”

He sat up and closed his eyes to see what was transmitted to him. His eyes shot open a moment later and he laughed out loud. “Just like that?” he asked.

“Just like that, Xerae.”

“I can’t believe I can speak faerie now — the language of the Fae,” he said and laughed some more. Not only that, he also had a proper imagery of what the fae looked like now: tall slender beings with pale skin and pointed ears that rose at an angle, much like elves from books he’d once read on Earth. They may be long dead, but an imagery of what they looked like made it easier to understand them.

“Well, you know it. But you still have to practice. Especially the spells that came with it,” The Guardian said.

Jerome settled down and closed his eyes once again to start going through the language that had been imprinted in his mind. From time to time, he spoke the same language with The Guardian, even going as far as thinking in the language. It was brutal mind-work but he saw quick gains. The mind of a sacred artist was more evolved than that of a mortal man, and it took more to tire him out.

Time flew by and six days later, Jerome opened his eyes. With a wide grin on his face, he stood up and stretched his muscles, feeling sour everywhere. He had made great progress in studying the language and history of the Fae. They were a powerful race and prided themselves in excellence above all else.

Jerome spoke a word in faerie and a blue flame appeared beside him. The flame was no ordinary flame; it carried within it, a flicker of perception which was linked to Jerome. Just like the evolved Suzie, he didn’t need to control its every movement and it absorbed ambient essence to remain powered. 

The flame was wrapped around a core of its own that kept it burning midair — a binding, his memories provided and he smiled. He scanned the simple binding holding the flame together and keeping it burning. It was simple; it’s only function, to keep the flame burning and floating.

“A very unique choice of name for a nucleus,” he said, smiling.

“Ah,” Achilles said. “A binding is not just the core of a formation or ward, Xerae. It also contains a set of instructions from the spell used to create it. Isn’t that cool?”

“So like a simple script then,” Jerome deadpanned. 

The guardian scoffed. “It’s a lot more advanced and intricately woven than what you call scripts, softwares, or programs in your previous world.” 

He ignored the Guardian’s words which he knew were intended as a jab at him. He was having too much fun with the independent flame as it were. With a thought, the flame circled around him and then it moved to weave through the library of crystals hovering in the air. 

Jerome followed, tapping the crystals in his way with his index finger. The crystals — which the Fae called memory stones — were pushed out of the way, only to float back to their positions in the air as though attracted by some strange force. It was like moonwalking — only, the stones were the only things affected by the gravity in this case.

I’d like to learn about formations and wards, Jerome said inwardly to The Guardian.

“Of course, Xerae,” The Guardian said inside his mind. “There are memory stones that deal with all of that here. Whatever you wish to learn is accessible.”

“Access,” Jerome muttered. That’s the one thing he never had in Vorthe. Access to knowledge was just as important as knowledge if not more important.

The little flame stopped at the end of the chamber a while later and Jerome walked up to it. Looking back he observed that the chamber was a lot wider than the others he’d been in. It made sense since it was a library.

The wall where the little ball of flame stopped had a formation on it. Jerome examined it for a while, taking note of the scripts that made up its network. He now had a general idea of how formations were made. He just had to learn and he had time on his side.

Placing his hand at the center of the formation, he transmitted a little essence into it and the formation lit up with golden light. A moment later, the light flashed brightly taking Jerome away from the chamber.

Jerome appeared in the chamber where he left Csala’s body. He searched through his ring and a robe materialized in his hand. Jerome threw the robe at her while muttering a spell, and the robe flew through the air, wrapping around her the next moment.

He chuckled. “You’re gonna hate what I’m about to do to you.”

 

~~~

 

Csala was sitting on the divan Jerome had conjured into being when he had last been to his mental plane. She had been making lots of plans on how to escape her imprisonment. Every one of her plans failed woefully though. This place was an impregnable fortress. There was no going out without the owner’s permission.

“What have you been up to?” Jerome asked the moment he appeared next to her.

Csala quickly rose to her feet. “Nothing, nothing at all.”

She was a far cry from the proud and beautiful succubus she used to be. Jerome scrutinized her for a long time without blinking. Csala’s fear was palpable. She made sure not to look into his eyes for she knew not what other punishment he would think up.

“Would you like to leave this place?” he finally asked.

“Huh?” Csala thought she heard wrong. She had thought Jerome had abandoned her here. He hadn’t even reminded her of the faerie he wanted to learn. 

“I don’t like repeating myself.”

Csala looked Jerome over from head to toe. There was something different about him but she couldn’t quite place it. He was more relaxed. More sure of himself.

“Yes. I would love to leave,” she answered while bobbing her head continuously. 

“Good, but you’ll have to do something for me first.”

The next moment Csala lost control of herself as she glided toward Jerome unable to control her own avatar. Whatever this kid wanted to do, Csala knew it was going to be bad for her. Not like the last time when she could fight back. Somehow, she knew this time around, she wouldn’t be able to. Nothing had ever gone her way since he entered the mountain. She stopped right in front of Jerome, and he looked straight into her eyes. Without a word, Jerome lowered his head and kissed her.

Csala struggled. She tried summoning her psychic energy to lash out at him but nothing happened. It was as though it was locked inside her. She wanted to push him away but her limbs were dead beside her and her body refused to obey her. The next moment, her mind screamed warning bells at her. Her psychic energy began growing weaker and weaker. Jerome was siphoning her psychic energy at an unimaginable rate. If this continued, she would be turned into a vegetable.

Csala tried to struggle again but there was nothing she could do but wait for her doom. Her fate had already been decided.

Why is this happening to me? she thought. If I had just let this bastard out, I wouldn’t be in this predicament, she cried in her heart.

After a while, Jerome stopped siphoning her psychic energy and left the mental plane with Csala in tow.

 

~~~

 

Jerome spread out his perception and it stretched out for a mile and a half. His smile was brilliant on his face as he split his concentration into two. This was something he had learned while learning faerie. 

Beside him, Csala was waking up. She hadn’t used her body in a long time, so she was weak and unstable as she stood up. Jerome didn’t pay any attention to her. He just stood there as he scanned the mountain with his newly empowered perception so he could get used to it.

“Why?” she said, almost bursting into tears.

Jerome took a while before he answered her. “Would you have stood by and watched me leave? No, you’d have tied me down and abused me all you want. Shouldn’t I protect myself against an abuser?”

The way he said ‘abuser’ made her cringe back in irritation. She was not an abuser, she was a woman who turned men’s dreams into reality.

“I’m not an abuser,” She said through gritted teeth.

“And I’m not ready to argue with you, Csala,” Jerome said, his voice carrying a tone of finality in it.

Csala wasn’t moved though. She was centuries older than him and she could spank him anytime she pleased, perhaps. But there was hesitation in her eyes as she gazed at him. Jerome had his back to her, yet she did not dare to attack else something really bad happened to her. Her senses screamed at her to run away. 

Csala gulped and the sound carried throughout the chamber. She had only spent a few days in his mental plane, but it felt like years. She didn’t want to go back there.

“You may leave,” Jerome commanded. Csala stayed still for a while but finally moved. She bumped into him hard on her way out earning herself a chuckle from Jerome.

“We’re being childish now, hmm? Don’t go too far,” he called after her. Csala turned to glare at him but she couldn’t meet his eyes. Something was definitely different about him.

Jerome walked up to a wall in the chamber after Csala left and placed his hand on it. The portal array lit up on it and he vanished into thin air and appeared in the library deep in the depths of the mountain.

“Ready for your next lesson, Xerae?” A memory stone pushed out of its section and came to hover in front of Jerome.

“Sure, Guardian. I do wanna give you a befitting name though. How about…Achilles?”

“A humbling name, Xerae. I wouldn’t mind being your Achilles heel,” the Guardian’s voice resounded in Jerome’s mind with a hint of mockery.

Jerome scoffed. Damned mind-reading AI. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Are you inside me, or in this…what’s the mountain called?”

“I am everywhere, Xerae,” the Guardian said. “And I can hear your thoughts loud and clear.” Jerome flinched at that.

“It is by the will of my creator that I run this mountain — Sanctum, it is called. And it is the binding that shuffles the aliens from your world around Terra Praeta.”

“Interesting. So Terra Praeta isn’t what’s shuffling us around,” Jerome said as he sat down cross-legged. The memory stone in front of him also lowered itself to his eye level. He had gotten used to The Guardian looking down on everything and everyone that was not fae or of the fae. At least he doesn’t call me ‘human’ anymore.

“Hm-hm. True, I don’t call you human anymore. But do try your best to hide your thoughts from me. It is good practice. Sanctum’s what’s doing the shuffling, though. Ready?”

Jerome chuckled at that. He had tried to hide his thoughts deep inside his consciousness but The Guardian still got wind of them. Perhaps someday… 

“Perhaps,” The Guardian said.

Bracing himself, he took the stone hovering in front of him and poured his essence into it. This time, Jerome was prepared. He scanned the stone with his eyes closed, smiling as myriads of information were imprinted into his memory.