It was a rainy Sunday night.

Ronald O'Sullivan was returning home from the market. It was raining more than when he left home in the morning, so when returning, he was walking near the buildings to get some shelter. Even the weather was against him.

Since he was born, he had terrible luck. His father left while his mother was pregnant. When giving birth to him, she died in a dark alley, away from the busy streets and completely alone. His cries attracted some street dogs that licked him clean. Two of the dogs hollowed, and that called the attention of a passing citizen. He didn’t want to get involved in that strange situation, of a dead woman, five street dogs with two of them howling, and a crying newborn, so, he took the baby and left him wrapped in empty garbage bags in front of the nearest church. From there, the priest sent him to an orphanage where he stayed until he was 18 years old. A family eventually adopted all the other babies and children, but not him. His normal features and serious look never granted him any special attention from the visiting families.

Ronald spent some years working in several underpaid jobs, but over the past two years, he had a rented clean room, a job at a restaurant during the week and on a local market at the weekends, as a cashier. He even learned how to smile more, and that, together with his politeness, granted him the sympathy of the regular customers. Despite everything that happened to him, he didn’t think of himself as unlucky or unhappy. He always thought he was fortunate because things could be a lot worse. He could not even be alive if it weren’t for that stranger that placed him in front of the church.

He remembered that around the corner of the next building, there was an alley with a low fence that he could climb and save at least 15 minutes walk.

As soon as he made the curve to enter the alley, he fell into a hole. A bright light engulfed and blinded him.

---

 

When Ronald opened his eyes, he noticed that strangely, he was inside a cave with a high ceiling and torches on the walls. On the ground, there was a circle with some weird runes engraved on the rocky floor where Ronald was laying down, after that strange fall.

All around, it was even stranger. An old man with a big white beard and long hair, also white, was standing and looking at him. The old man was wearing a strange dark robe, and he had a staff with a rough stone on top. Around the circle, there were five men with robes, but they looked younger.

About two meters after, there were ten soldiers, with either swords or spears on their hands, with some leather brown clothes. Leaning against the nearest wall, there was a young boy of not more than 15 years old and dressed in clothes full of sparkles and frills, seated on a chair and with a servant near him, moving a big fan. That younger talked, with a nasal, irritating voice, and with a weird accent:

 

- “So, it worked! Quick, High Mage Hakal, measure him!”

 

The old man went to a chest near the young boy and brought a transparent round Sphere with three steel stands attached. He placed that weird Sphere on the ground outside the circle where Ronald was and spoke to him:

 

- “Come here, place one hand on top of this. We need to check your status and Mana.”

 

Ronald didn't move, at least, for a couple of seconds, and then he noticed the soldiers raising their weapons while looking at him. So, he got up and went near the Sphere and placed his hand on top of it. The old man looked at him and pointed to the Sphere.

 

- “Say your name and age for the records. It will then measure you.”

 

Ronald had no choice, so he did it.

 

- “I am Ronald O'Sullivan, 25 years old.”

 

The Sphere shone and became white. In the interior appeared letters and numbers, supposedly, they were about him.

 

Race - Human

Name - Ronald O'Sullivan

Age - 25

Job - World Traveller

LV - 2

ATK - 300

HP - 200

Skills - none

Hp Armor - 0

ATK Weapon - 0

Equip Intelligence - 0

Equip Wisdom - 0

             

Physical Attributes:          

Strength - 10

Quickness - 10

Body - 10

             

Mental Attributes:            

Intelligence - 10

Wisdom - 10

             

Special Attributes:           

Willpower - 10

Mana - 10

Xp - 0

 

The old man spoke in a low voice:

 

- “This is not possible! You are even weaker than a Farmer!”

The young boy shouted from his seat:

 

- “Hey, what’s his stats?”

 

The old man seemed afraid of telling him, so he checked again the letters on the Sphere. Then he turned to the young boy.

 

- “My Prince, I don’t understand, but… he is weak… even weaker than a Farmer…”

 

The young boy got up and got closer to the Sphere and after reading what was there, he shouted:

 

- “How will I grab the crown before my stupid older brother? This guy is useless!”

 

He then went to his chair again and ordered his guards:

 

- “Guards, kill them all! I don’t need a Farmer and some useless Mages!”

 

The guards approached the younger Mages, that we're looking at the old one. The old Mage spoke quickly:

 

- “My Prince, we can try again! There’s still Magic left on the Magic Circle! If we let this chance pass by, the next time that this Magic Circle will gather this kind of Magic will be in 200 years from now!”

 

The young boy raised his left hand, and the guards stopped, and he warned the old Mage:

 

- “It’s better if you don’t fail me again, or I’ll have all your heads, including your apprentices and that stupid commoner!”

 

The old Mage looked at Ronald, he seemed somewhat relieved.

 

- “Move to the side, I will perform the ritual again.”

 

Ronald looked at him and asked in a low voice:

 

- “Can’t I just go home?”

 

The old men pointed with his head to the guards. Ronald guessed it was no use, so he went to the nearby wall and seated on the floor against it.

The old Mage grabbed a bunch of papers from his pocket and the younger Mages did the same. They then said, “Magic Field, activate!”, and they threw one paper from that pile to the circle. That was weird in the eyes of Roland. The Circle on the ground shone. They then threw another paper, and they said, “Random Magical Being Summon!”. More weirdness!

In the middle of the circle appeared a small whirlpool made of light. When the whirlpool disappeared, there it was. A dog, a German Sheppard with a vest saying N.Y. K9.

The old Mage fell to his knees while mumbling:

 

- “It’s not possible, this time it’s a wolf!”

 

Ronald got up and went near the dog. He seemed friendly, despite being disoriented, so Ronald tapped his head while looking at the old Mage and smiled.

 

- “This is a dog, not a wolf. A Police dog, actually.”

 

The old Mage lowered his voice:

 

- “If you want to live, go hide and take cover.”

 

The young boy ordered from his seat:

 

- “Guards, kill them all, and also the wolf!

 

The old Mage grabbed some papers from his pocket and with a quick nod with his head to the young Mages, he threw the papers to the nearby guards.

Ronald did as he was told, he grabbed the dog by his collar and they both ran for cover. He heard some strange commands, like “Rock Ball!”, “Bottomless Hole!”, “End Life!”, “Summon Giant Spider!”, “Summon Big Rat!”.

Ronald looked from behind the rock and saw one guard being smashed and his flesh spattered on the ground by a huge ball made of rock that fell from the ceiling and rolled next to the dog, taking out some guards on its way and it got stuck against the wall near the dog’s left side.

Two guards fell inside a hole in the ground and two guards went down flat on the ground, with no reason.

Ronald saw two whirlpools appearing, and from them, emerged one big-as-a-sheep ugly spider and a rat as big as a cow! He had to grab the collar of the dog really hard because he was barking and trying to get loose. Like the police officer that he was, he was trying to get free to help everyone, against those Monsters.

Some guards pierced two young Mages, only to be both killed by the rat. The spider went straight to the young boy, cutting his head with one paw and eating it, leaving a pool of dripping blood on the floor. His servant pierced the side of the spider with the sharp end of the pole of the fan that moments ago, was giving wind to his master. The spider was badly wounded, but it still cut off the servant’s head and two guards used that opportunity and they killed the spider.

The old Mage gave a gentle smile to Ronald as if asking for forgiveness, while a guard struck his stomach by a lucky throw of a spear. The old Mage threw one last paper, saying “Sonic Blast!” and a shock wave smashed the remaining guards, along with the rat and the corridor that exited that cave.

As quickly as it started, it ended. Ronald and the dog were the only ones alive. He noticed that above everybody, there were some strange balls of light. It was white on top of the young boy, his servant, and the guards, but the Mages had blue balls. Ronald went near one ball, still holding the dog, and stupidly, touched it. The ball popped, and the light came to Ronald’s body and it seemed it was absorbed! Stranger than that, it warmed him up, and it tickled! He popped every ball.

Ronald thought it was better to change clothes because his jeans, hooded sweatshirt and snickers were a pointer that Ronald wasn’t from the same place as the dead people around, and since the only ones that didn't have holes or blood were the ones on the two guards that dropped dead with no reason, he undressed them, carefully chosen the clothes that could fit him. The more conspicuous he was, the better.

Checking the pockets of all the dead, he found several copper coins of two sizes, one smaller than the other one. There were also some coins that looked like silver, with two sizes also, and the young boy had a purse with several big and bright yellow coins. Gold, it seemed. Considering that the old Mage called him Prince, and he said something about grabbing a crown before his older brother, he probably was the younger son of some King. And since Ronald was the sole survivor, he needed to get out from that cave and disappear.

Ronald picked a sword, a dagger, and a cape, just because it looked cool. A bag from one of the younger Mages completed his outfit.

Looking at the Mages, he checked what were those papers on the middle of the circle and the ones that were still on their dead hands or spread all over the floor.

Ronald picked one of them and almost fainted. He fell to his knees, looking at the Giant Spider Card on his hands.

It really was a playing Card! On the back it was dark but, on the front, was the drawing of the same Spider that moments ago was eating the boy's head. The drawing had a brown-coloured background, and on top of the Card, there were two blue orbs like the ones that Ronald popped. And the writing on it was stranger.

 

Giant Spider - “* *

Attack - 900

Defence - 400

 

Ronald went wobbling to the place where the Big Rat died, and there was also a Card there.

 

Big Rat - * * *

Attack - 1.600

Defence - 1.000

 

There was another at the place where that weird hole in the ground appeared, but that Card had a red colour and no orbs on top of it, it had only the drawing of a hole in the ground and it was written “Bottomless Hole!“ . Ronald picked also the "Sonic Blast!" Card, that had a light blue colour with no orbs and a bunch of others from the Mages hands.

He seated on the floor, against the rock where he and the dog were hiding during that weird battle. The dog seated next to him and Ronald took that chance to take off the dog’s vest and placed it on top of his old clothes on the floor. The dog rested his head on Ronald’s leg and while Ronald was caressing the dog, he talked about his next move to see if the dog agreed with him:

 

- “Well, seems that it's just you and me, pal. We need to find another exit since that corridor over there has collapsed. And real soon, or we will run out of oxygen.”

 

Ronald guessed the dog understood him, because he barked, got up and he was smelling the hole in the wall next to them, where previously a Rock Ball was stuck. Ronald got up and picked from the floor the red Card with the drawing of a ball made of rock.

He got four piles of playing Cards. Ronald thought it was better to separate them over different pockets in his clothes, considering that they came from different owners.

He had a hunch. He went quickly to the transparent round Sphere with three steel stands attached and placed his hand on it, to see if the stats changed because of the orbs that were popped.

 

Race - Human

Name - Ronald O'Sullivan

Age - 25

Job - World Traveller

LV - 50

ATK - 7.500

HP - 5.000

Skills - none

Hp Armor - 0

ATK Weapon - 0

Equip Intelligence - 0

Equip Wisdom - 0

             

Physical Attributes:          

Strength - 10

Quickness - 10

Body - 10

             

Mental Attributes:            

Intelligence - 10

Wisdom - 10

             

Special Attributes:           

Willpower - 10

Mana - 2.500

Xp (x2) - “250

 

And then, some new letters appeared, saying, "Each XP gives 5 points to spend on Attributes. You have 1.250 points. Choose the Attributes and the number of points to allocate". It then showed just the Attributes.

 

Physical attributes:

Strength - 10

Quickness - 10

Body - 10

 

Mental Attributes:

Intelligence - 10

Wisdom - 10

 

- “I guess I'm supposed to place some points, but since I don't know the best options, I'll leave this for later.”

 

The dog smelled the Sphere, so Ronald thought it was ok to check his status.

 

- “Here boy, give me your paw. So, if you place it on top of this, and say your name...”

 

The dog was looking at Ronald, so he tried to order him, "Speak!" and the dog did a loud "Woof!". Ronald smiled, and since he looked like he was three years old, Ronald told him to speak three more times. Then, they both looked at the interior of the Sphere. Ronald didn't really think it would work, but it did.

 

Race - Dog

Name - Woof

Age - 3

Job - World Traveller

LV - 2

ATK - 300

HP - 200

Skills - none

Hp Armor - 0

ATK Weapon - 0

Equip Intelligence - 0

Equip Wisdom - 0

             

Physical Attributes:          

Strength - 10

Quickness - 10

Body - 10

             

Mental Attributes:            

Intelligence - 10

Wisdom - 10

             

Special Attributes:           

Willpower - 10

Mana - 10

Xp (x2) - 0

 

And Ronald became depressed. The dog had the same stats as he had before touching the orbs! He looked at the dog.

 

- “Well boy, you need to pop some of those orbs to get stronger. And you even received a funny name, Woof. Well, now we need to figure out a way to get out of here. Let me just grab this weird Sphere and let's go check that hole that the Rock Ball did. We need to learn what are the better Attributes for us, right?”

 

The dog didn't answer. They both went to the nearest wall and Ronald grabbed one torch.

At the hole, he put the torch in and looked through it. There was another room, but it was full of things. He entered, and the dog followed. Maybe because he liked Ronald, or he was afraid, but he didn't leave Ronald’s side.

There were some torches on the walls, so, using his, Ronald lit them all. A quick look around showed a caldron in a corner, a fireplace on a wall, some chairs, and on top of the tables, there were tubes, pipes, chests, swords, rings, necklaces, bracelets, books, small boxes with Cards inside and one small box, thinner than the others and with some engravings. There was a name inside the box under the frontal cover, that was hard to read.

 

- “Riattus. Strange name, right, Woof? Well, yours isn’t better, but still…”

 

Suddenly, Ronald heard a voice coming from somewhere near him:

 

- “Finally! I thought I would be stuck in there forever!”

 

Ronald looked around and near him, there was an ancient man, with a faint glow. He looked like a ghost, he could almost be seen through. Even the dog was looking at him with his head tilted sideways, like if trying to figure out if there was a man or not, and Ronald shook his head while screaming:

 

- “Great, now I am seeing ghosts! This day is getting better by the minute!”

 

The old ghost was stretching his arms and legs, and he then looked at Ronald.

 

- “I guess ghost is the proper way to call me. But I don’t like it. I am the Great Sage Summoner, Riattus, pleased to meet you.”

 

Ronald thought that at least he was polite.

 

- “Hello, I am Ronald O'Sullivan. And this one here, its Woof. What is a Great Sage Summoner? And, where am I?”

 

Riattus looked at him with a sad face.

 

- “I guess you are another World Traveller that was brought here against your will, right?”

 

Ronald confirmed by nodding, and he continued:

 

- “That means that at least 200 years have passed. Or even more. I’m not sure how long I was inside that Card Box.”

 

Ronald looked at the box on his hand and asked:

 

- “You were trapped in here?”

 

He smiled.

 

- “Not quite. I guess my conscience linked to that box and those Cards inside of it when I lost my physical body. It seems that my desperate attempt to escape to Earth as failed, so there’s really no way back without the help of the God of this World.”

 

Hearing that, Ronald became depressed again and said out loud all his frustrations while looking at the dog:

 

- “Seems we are trapped in here forever, Woof. So, first things first, what is a Great Sage Summoner, where am I, and why these Cards make things appear?”

 

Riattus smiled, grabbed a chair, and he tried to seat, failing miserably. It’s impossible to seat on a chair without a body. He couldn’t even grab the chair. He gave up and explained:

 

- “This World, Craddumster, is full of Magic. Real Magic. Like you read on children’s books, when you were little, I bet. Some people, like me, that have worked and levelled up with a lot of effort and work, can use those Cards you have in your hand. Considering that you also have with you a Status Sphere, I guess you already found out about Attributes. I can help you get stronger and even escaping from this room, as long as you do me one little favour.”

 

Ronald had nothing to lose, so he nodded.

 

- “I guess, as long it’s within reason.”

 

- “Take that Card Box with my name and those Cards inside with you, when you get out. Like that, I can tag along and escape from here.”

 

Ronald thought it was perfectly logical. Someone trapped inside a box like that for 200 years or more, would want to get out as fast as possible. But the day didn’t go well for Ronald, so far.

 

- “First, why were you inside that box and locked inside this weird room?”

 

Riattus looked shocked and spread his arms.

 

- “This was my perfect hideout, my Fortress of Solitude! In here, I created the most amazing Magical Cards that this World has and some that only I owned! I just made a miscalculation on my perfectly legitimate attempt for World Domination. I trusted some people greedier than me, and I was betrayed by them. A huge army of Mages fought against me outside, making me retreat to this hideout. I tried to get back to Earth, to escape this World. The explosion I thought it would happen that would blow up all of them because of the backslash of my Magic, consumed my body instead and sent my conscience to that box. I think they still died, considering that no one entered here, everything is in the same place that I left it, and nothing is missing. In the end, I won.”

 

Ronald guessed that his face betrayed him because Riattus frowned.

 

- “Why that surprised face? Wait until you reach 100 years old, living in a World that you didn’t choose to live and then judge me. I tried to make the best out of it, from all this carnage, and death, and stupidity, and I could even improve some things. When I tried to rule this World and make it evolve faster, those ungrateful bastards rebelled. But enough about me. Who brought you here?”

 

- “One High Mage called Hakal, ordered by a 15-year-old Prince. There are five Mages, ten guards and one servant dead in that room. The Prince ordered the guards to kill everyone, and the Mages fought them. Spears and swords were flying everywhere, a Big Rat, a Giant Spider, a hole in the ground, a rock ball, an explosion that sealed the entrance… you know, the usual.”

 

- “Oh, have you absorbed the Mana Orbs from them?”

 

- “That’s what they’re called? Yes, I did. I felt some warmth, and it also tickled me.”

 

Riattus smiled.

 

- “You lucky bastard! What is your level now? 500?”

 

- “No, just 50. When I appeared, I was level 2, just like Woof here.”

 

Riattus laughed a lot:

 

- “Ahahahahahah! I take it back! You’re not a lucky bastard, you are a disgrace! Ahahahah! Until now, everyone that was summoned by using that Magic Circle became at least level 40. I was level 60 when I arrived.”

 

- “Yeah, it also surprised them. That’s why they tried again, and they brought here the dog.”

 

Riattus laughed even more:

 

- “I take it all back! Ahahahah! They were the unlucky ones! They tried twice and at the second attempt, they brought a dog? Ahahahah!”

 

- “I don’t think it’s that funny.”

 

- “Sure, it is! Do you know the odds of something like that happen? And twice? Man, if you can make me laugh like this at least once a week, I won’t mind teaching you! Quick, place your hand on the Sphere, I want to see it for myself.”

 

Ronald placed the Status Sphere on top of a table and when he placed his hand over it, Riattus looked and stopped laughing.

 

- “This is truly amazing! All your Attributes are disguised, which I could only do after using some Magic equipment! You do it naturally! Since you have 1.250 points to spend, I suggest putting 100 on Strength, 50 on Quickness, 100 on Body, and the rest on each Mental. As soon as you get more points, you can place them on the Mental Attributes. Unless you want to be a Knight. But I always thought a Summoner is stronger. You just need to say the amount and the Attribute to place it.”

 

- “Ok, let me do that then.”

 

After Ronald placed the points where Riattus said, the status changed.

 

Race - Human

Name - Ronald O'Sullivan

Age - 25

Job - World Traveller

LV - 50

ATK - 7.500

HP - 5.000

Skills - none

Hp Armor - 0

ATK Weapon - 0

Equip Intelligence - 0

Equip Wisdom - 0

 

Physical Attributes:

Strength - 100

Quickness - 50

Body - 100

 

Mental Attributes:

Intelligence - 500

Wisdom - 500

 

Special Attributes:

Willpower - 500

Mana - 500

Xp (x2) - 0

 

Ronald was looking to the Sphere, puzzled by the changes.

 

- “I have a weird Job, World Traveller. And that part there, “Xp (x2) - 0”, it’s also weird.”

 

- “That Job is self-explanatory. It will always be there, along with a future Summoner Job. And the “Xp (x2) - 0”, it’s a cheat you get for coming to this World. It will help you get strong faster than everyone else. Your Mana is now 500 because your Wisdom is 500. The rest of the Mana was used to make the placement of the Attributes. Now, grab from that box all the jewellery inside of it. Two rings, two necklaces and two bracelets. Put my Card Box attached to one necklace. Those Cards inside of it are my best creations. But you don’t have enough Mana for them, so keep it hidden.”

 

Ronald opened the box he pointed out and took everything from it. The Card Box had a small ring that Ronald used to attach it to one necklace. He never enjoyed wearing jewellery, at least those were very simple.

 

- “What are these supposed to do? I must put this on?”

 

- “Put one ring on a finger of each hand. It will disguise your status. Next time that you use a Status Sphere, it doesn’t matter which hand you place on top of it, you will have the same status as a weak Farmer. Like that, you will be just another normal guy, with nothing amazing about you. The two necklaces are for protection against Magical Traps and Magical Spells, and the two bracelets multiply your Willpower and your Mana by two when needed. Put those bracelets on your forearms, under your clothes.”

 

Ronald put on everything. They would help a lot! Ronald looked at the dog, thinking he will have problems if he faces Monsters like the Spider and the Rat.

 

- “It’s a pity that you have nothing for the dog.”

 

- “Who said that I don’t? See those two scarfs over there? Put them around the dog’s neck. It will help him destroy Magical Traps and disassemble Magical Spells, the same effect of your necklaces. There’s a small rope in that table, better to use that as a leash.”

 

Ronald picked up the two scarfs and tied them one at a time, tying the rope to the scarfs and leaving it with two meters length. Woof seemed to like it. Riattus was nodding his head, and he then looked around.

 

- “I think there’s a sword somewhere that you could use, but the one you have is also good. Although I never used one. Let me see the Cards you have. I’ll help you build a deck that you can use, with the amount of Willpower and Mana that you have. Those five boxes that I have there, they all have powerful Cards, but you are too weak to use them. But keep them, you will get stronger. Normally, a person can only use Cards that are in synch with them, but because you’re a World Traveller, you can use any Card, as long as you have Mana for it. Put them inside the bag, along with the Status Sphere. Better to take the Sphere out when no one is in sight, those things are immensely expensive, and they could make some people suspicious about you.”

 

Ronald placed the six piles of Cards that were gathered from the deceased Mages. He had to place them side by side on the nearby table for Riattus to see them.

 

- “Well, you need Cards of 500 Willpower and some of 500 Mana. But with the bracelets that you now have, you can use 1.000 Willpower and 1.000 Mana. Those red Cards are Traps. The Traps can be used as long as there is Mana to spend and can be previous hidden. They normally cost 100 Mana to use but if used in a moment like Spells, the cost will double. The orange Cards are Special Traps and they can be used as long as there are Mana and Willpower to spend. They can be previously hidden, and they can negate Traps or Special Traps. They cost 200 Mana and 200 Willpower, but if used in a moment like Spells, the cost will double as well.”

 

While he was pointing those facts, Ronald was separating the Traps and the Special Cards. Riattus pointed to the blue Cards.

 

- “The Dark Blue Spells can be used in a moment and as long as there is Mana to spend. Each one cost 100 Mana. The Light Blue are Special Spells and they can be used in a moment and as long as there are Mana and Willpower to spend. They can negate Spells or Special Spells. They cost 200 Mana and 200 Willpower.”

 

So, Ronald separated those Cards by colours. Riattus pointed to the Cards that had drawings of Monsters.

 

- “Each X or Mana Orb equals 50 Mana. Meaning, this Big Rat that has three Mana Orbs, if you want to make him appear, you need to throw the Card to where you want him and say, “Summon Big Rat!”, at the cost of 150 of your Mana. Since you have 500 Mana available, you can Summon three of them that costs three Mana Orbs. But because of the Mana bracelet, you can Summon six of those Rats. But of course, you will need six Cards with the Big Rat.”

 

Ronald separated the Monsters by the number of Mana Orbs. There were also some green Cards, and Riattus was pointing at them.

 

- “Those Dark Green are Mana Spells and they can be used in a moment and they use 100 Willpower to give 200 Mana. You don’t need many of those, maybe four. The Light Green Willpower Spells can be used in a moment and they use 100 Mana to give 200 Willpower. Maybe four of them as well.”

 

Ronald took those Cards and chose four of each, as he said. But it seems Riattus had more to explain because he was still looking at the Cards.

 

- “Since you are weak, it’s better if you choose Cards that cost less. But with the bracelet, you can have four Magical Beings of 1.000 Mana and Spells and Traps with the same cost. But beware, if you spend all your Mana, you can’t use any Card and you’re doomed.”

 

- “Unless I use the Dark Green Mana Spells to exchange my Willpower for Mana, right?”

 

- “That’s right. You were listening! Maybe there’s still hope for you!”

- “Now, how can we escape from here?”

 

The old ghost pointed at a wall.

 

- “I have on that wall a loose brick. Behind it, there are three very special Cards. It was my emergency exit. It’s the “Spell Elevator”, the “High Slide”, and the “High Stairs”. Activate it by placing the “Elevator” Card on that metal board on the floor near it and the entire board will go up, and on the ceiling, there’s a hatch. Just open it and climb. You will find yourself on the top of this mountain, where we are now.”

 

- “You really thought about everything, didn’t you?”

 

- “Yeah, except the fact that a group of Mages would prefer to keep their ridiculous power, instead of improving the World. I didn’t foretell that one. I almost forgot, grab that leather one-shoulder bag on top of that chair, there are a lot of items inside that will help you, eventually.”

 

When Ronald took a hold of the bag, he thought it was weird, being so light as it was, because Riattus just told him it was full of things. A quick look to the inside answered his suspicions. Darkness, never-ending darkness. He looked at Riattus, with a questioning look.

 

- “This is what I think? A bag with a Compressed Dimension? These things exist here?”

 

Riattus shook his head.

 

- “No, I had that with me when I was summoned here. It’s the only one in this World and I never revealed to anyone what it really was. People always thought it was a normal leather bag that I always carried around. Since it has password access, no one besides me could ever make it work or take anything from the inside of it. If you put a small drop of your blood inside and say your name followed by the words, “Full Access. Password, never-ending-lone-sick!”, the bag will recognize you as the new owner. Remember, never tell this password and never explain what this bag truly is. People will try to kill you to get it.”

 

Ronald did what he said, by using a small dagger on a table to make a cut on his index finger. The blood and the words made the bag blink three times, showing that it had changed owners. Ronald showed the small belt purse that he had in an inside pocket of his leather jacket.

 

- “I had this belt purse with me when I arrived. I had to save for half a year to be able to buy it. It also has a Compressed Dimension.”

 

Riattus looked at it, puzzled.

 

- “Those things weren’t expensive on Earth, on my time.”

 

Ronald shrugged.

 

- “Well, in Arctures-One, from where I came, these weren’t too expensive, the problem was that I never had enough money. Normally, I needed money to eat, so this was a luxury that I couldn’t afford.”

 

Riattus had his mouth wide open.

 

- “No way… You were from a colony? Where was your Planet?”

 

- “In the Arcturus Solar System. I was one of the few Humans in there. At least, I think I am Human. I can be a Half-Breed of any Race with a Human, I never knew who my father and mother were. I was told by a Dwarf co-worker that I am stronger and faster than a normal Human, but I never met one, to compare with. I know that the gravity of my home planet was more than on Earth, and that could make me faster and stronger in comparison, but as I said, I really don’t know.”

 

Riattus stopped to think for a while.

 

- “I see… That planet wasn’t a colony, in my time, because of the excessive gravity off it. That can be handy because the gravity on this planet is the same as Earth. You may not need to spend points on Physical Attributes. If you told me that before, I would have told you to spend your points on the Mental Attributes, instead. Well, nothing can be done, after the points are in place. Remember to spend the next points you get, on the Mental ones, ok?”

 

Ronald nodded, and he went to the wall where the loose brick was. After he took the Cards out, he went to the top of the metal board on the floor and grabbed the dog by the scarfs, so that he didn’t run away when the elevator activated. When the Card was on the board, held in place by a small rock and he said the words, the Card brightens up, the board vibrated and it went up, in the ceiling's direction. Not too fast to be uncomfortable and not too slow to take ages to reach the high ceiling. It stopped near the top, making Ronald kneel to not hit his head, where a wooden wheel was attached to a disguised hatch. Ronald turned it anti-clockwise and pushed the hatch a little. When the sun was entering by the small gap, he looked down to Riattus.

 

- “You are not coming?”