Ash stirred from his stupor, head throbbing the pain radiating through his head he reached up and found his head bound with a makeshift bandage encrusted with dried blood. He sat up a little too quickly the blood rushing from his head and his vision swayed, he steadied himself and brought himself to the side of the bed. He made to stand but found himself coming back down onto the bed shifting the frame with a short screech.

  After a few moments the door opened and in walked Alastair, Rose and a stranger in a brown robe, he drew back his head to reveal a shaven head and face covered in runic tattoos.

  ‘I’m surprised you are up already’ Said Alastair making his way round to Ash

  ‘Up is one thing, ok is another ’Ash replied drowsily ‘Burt and the girls!, are they okay?’ he panicked

  Alastair held his friend in place as Rose dropped to her knees taking Ash’s hand.

  ‘We’re fine, Master Ash, were more concerned about you’ she looked concerned at his bandaging ‘you are either really brave or really stupid’

  ‘I like to think the two go hand in hand’ he chortled and then winced at the backlash brought on.

  ‘No they don’t’ said Alastair sternly ‘What kind of fool takes on three armed men, and one of the a magic core user?’

  ‘This guy’ Ash said pointing both his thumbs to his chest.

  ‘Please take this seriously’ Rose said ‘ They are not people you want to gain the attention of and you have certainly done that’

  ‘Well, that was the idea’ Ash remarked

  ‘What do you mean?’ Alastair interrupted

  ‘If they are focusing on the annoying waiter, they aren’t focusing on the pretty waitresses or the doting father trying to keep his daughters away whilst not giving a reason to kick off’

  ‘Kick off what?’ Alastair asked

  ‘Just kick off, you know, scrap, fight, engage in fisticuffs’ Ash smiled

  ‘But they did fight’ Argued Alastair ‘ and look at the state you are in’

  ‘Yes but I can assume that there is magical healing’ Ash gestured to the stranger ‘So I imagine I’ll be fine, the main thing is that everyone else is ok’

  ‘Apart from Barriston’s men’ the cloaked man offered

  ‘Alright, everyone that matters is ok’ Ash grinned

  The healer ran his hand over Ash’s body while a pale green light shone from his hands, the lights hue changed in some areas, his legs, his arms and his head. Ash felt relaxed as the healing mana ran over him and watched as the hue changed yellowish over a wound, as the wound healed the hue gradually changed back to its pale green.

  Ash stared with interest as the healer worked away, once the healer seemed happy of his work he stood and looked to Alastair.

  ‘I have done the best I can, his body is healed but I do have concerns about his mind’ he said

  ‘Don’t worry’ said Alastair giving the man a few coins ‘I’ve not known him very long but that seems normal’

  ‘Hey’ said Ash mocking hurt

  ‘I can’t disagree’ Rose chimed in

  ‘Et tu Rose?’ Ash feigned shock

  ‘Please don’t go back to gibberish’ said Alastair, then looked thoughtfully ‘Although thinking about it you made more sense when I couldn’t understand you’

  ‘You were speaking gibberish to me too’ replied Ash ‘ I thought it was falling out of the tree that scrambled my brain’

  ‘Have you sustained many head wounds recently?’ Asked the healer

  ‘I’m so far averaging one or more per day’ Ash said thoughtfully

  ‘Please stop’ the healer chided

  ‘I’m not going out of my way to bash my head in’ said Ash reproachfully

  ‘You kind of did last night’ said Rose

  ‘Fine, I’m fifty-fifty at the moment but it’s not all intentional’ Ash remarked

  ‘I’m going to go now’ announced the healer awkwardly and with a few thanks and nods he left the room.

  ‘I better get downstairs as well’ said rose, she gave Ash a hug and made her way out of the room.

  ‘So what did that guy do to me last night?’ Ash asked

  Alastair pulled up a stool and sat facing Ash ‘That was Samuel Barriston, he is captain of the keep of Lord Victor Renwick. What you felt last night was a magic attack, I did tell you that magic was more than lighting’

  ‘I didn’t see a stone though’ said Ash confused

  ‘No, that power comes from an absorbed stone’ Alastair said ‘ I know we covered the basics on our previous walk but an expansion may now be necessary’

  There are two ways to use and manipulate mana, one of which is runic symbols like the light stone that he had had some experience of, you power them by either channelling directly into the rune or carving them into a powered object, i.e a stone, crystal all have various capacities.

  The other way is with cores, these are much rarer and are naturally created by the world in areas of high mana density, a core unlike a stone requires you to draw mana inwards rather than pushing out, the power is then absorbed into your soul where it can grow with you and be called upon in various fashions dependant on your affinity with the core.

  For example a light core may grant you the ability to conjure a light that revolves around you or alternatively could grant you the power to shoot light beams from your eyes.

  Ash was very excited by this, as a fan of superheroes he could not wait to ‘get those cores in him’ to get super powers.

  It was explained further that everyone has a built in limitation as to how many cores they can take in.

  ‘The average being around three or four’

  ‘Given the attention you now garner I think its best we get you tooled up to defend yourself’ Alastair said

  ‘Me with magic?’ Ash gasped

  ‘Yes’ Alastair stated bluntly ‘To fight a core user with no core would be like fighting a man with a sword barehanded’

  ‘I fought two armed men barehanded last night’ remarked Ash

  ‘Yes and how did your fortunes fair against a core user?’ Alastair frowned

  ‘ I don’t quite remember, was that something he did to me with the pain’ Ash asked

  ‘No, his power is from a pain core, I need you to pay close attention to what I am about to tell you about the man you crossed last night’ Alastair got down to one knee face to face with Ash ‘I told you cores materialise where mana is dense enough to be compacted naturally’

  Ash nodded

  ‘Victor, is in the employ of the Lord of this keep, he has proclivities that I do not mind admitting scare me, imagine the kind of place you would have to be for mana to compress to create a core of pure pain’

  ‘I’m guessing it wasn’t near a babbling brook’ Ash said

  ‘Ash I am serious, this man is the Lords right hand, he operates with impunity because the lord allows it’ he shook his head ‘He is known for his creative interrogation techniques for which his lord pays handsomely and turns a blind eye to his extra-curricular activities’

  ‘And I went and put a big sign on my back saying kick me Vicky’ sighed Ash

  ‘Not quite how id put it but yes, which is why we need to get you ready for when he comes’

  Ash nodded ‘ So lets go get some magic all up in me’

  ‘You know you make it very hard to have a serious conversation’ he said

  ‘I know’ smiled Ash

  A few hours later the two left the inn saying their farewells to everybody, they didn’t have far to go as across the square was and oddly white building, that looked to be made of marble, they made their way over and found themselves seated in a small ritual room rented out from the local branch of the mages guild.

  Ash brought up his TOOL screen to look at his inventory.

  ‘I have one Shadow core, one Smoke core and one light core’ Ash declared taking them all out laying them down on the floor.

  ‘How have you got three cores tones already?’ Alastair asked

  ‘Its kind of hard to explain, but I kind of have a power already that gives me rewards for doing certain things’ Ash said hitting the end with an inflection.

  ‘But you have no cores?’ Alastair asked

  ‘Nope, just these bad boys here’ Ash beamed down

  ‘Just because its shadow and smoke doesn’t mean its necessarily bad’ Alastair chortled

  ‘No it’s just, never mind’ Ash sighed ‘ I guess translation doesn’t allow for idioms’

  Ash thought it'd be easier for him to just be able to show Alastair the TOOL system rather than try to explain it. All of a sudden a new screen popped up.

  PARTY SYSTEM

  Would you like to add Alastair Selmy to your party?

  Yes/No

  Ash mentally clicked yes and Alastair jumped backwards waving his hands in front of his face.

  ‘Calm down’ Ash said what does it say?’

  ‘It says that Ash Ashburn wishes to add me to a party and do I accept’ said Alastair not taking his eyes off the screen

  ‘Ok now press yes’ said Ash

  ‘How do I do that’ Alastair asked

  ‘Oh god its internet shopping with my Grand Nanna all over again’ he said ‘ Just think Yes, really hard’

  ‘Ok, so now what?’

  Ash reached down and picked up the Smoke stone.

  Smoke core – Item rarity – Uncommon

  Do you wish to absorb?

  Yes/No

  He held it up to Alastair who could see the same information his mouth agape.

  Ash thought about pressing yes and before he could stop the thought the screen faded away.

  ‘Erm, Al I think somethings happening?’ Ash cried out

  the core shone brightly before turning almost pitch black, the object melting in his palm, sticky liquid running down the back of his hand. Ash shook his hand and drooped it down at the floor but the liquid moved against gravity climbing up his arm, the liquid hissed and began to vaporize and spread until a cloud obscured him completely from sight.

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  For a moment there was absolute quiet as Alastair stared at the grey swirling cloud, he held a hand out and tentatively poked his finger at the spectral wall. The smoke suddenly began to suck back in on itself pulling all the grey mist to the central mass taking the shape of a hollow cowl flowing down filling out the shape of a robe.

  The hands drew up and pulled back the hood revealing Ash’s face grinning ear to ear.

  ‘Now this is cool’ he said

  TOOL SYSTEM UPDATE – NEW SCREEN UNLOCKED

  CORES

  cores absorbed

  Smoke

  Summons an ethereal cloak,

  Utility - Cloak bestows the ability to glide or fall slowly at a continuous mana cost.

  Ability - Enables the wielder to obscure himself or an area with smoke, the opacity and area is based on the mana output.

  ‘How did you do that?’ Alastair asked taking a step back

  ‘I just clicked yes ’ Ash shrugged

  ‘I’m just going to assume you hit your head again because you aren’t making any sense’ Alastair said ‘You need a ritualist to absorb cores’

  ‘I have a magic window that shows up and tells me things, it asked if I wanted to absorb the core and I guess I pressed yes ‘ Ash said with just a hint of sarcasm

  ‘Oh, well that does make more sense’ Alastair said scratching his chin

  ‘Of course it bloody does, you come from a world of ferocious rodents, goblins and insane torturers. Why wouldn’t magical floating screens that only I can see make perfect sense to you’ Ash realised he was losing his breath.

  ‘Are you alright?’ Alastair asked

  ‘Erm, no, just give me a minute I think a whole load of repressed anxiety just snuck up and hit me all at once’ Ash croaked

  ‘the cloak is very, er cool, was it?’

  Ash smiled at his friend warmly and said ‘Yes, very, very cool’

  A young woman made her way into the room, she was tall and slender, high cheekbones and pale skin, her hair was auburn with a red tinge to it tied back into a high ponytail. The thing that stuck out most for Ash in a figurative and literal sense were her pointy ears.

  ‘I am sorry sirs, the regular ritualist is unavailable at the moment so I have been brought down away from my important research to perform the most basic of our rituals’ The woman said huffily

  ‘I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience good sister’ Alastair bowed

  ‘Yes, yes very good let’s get this out of the way with, which one of you needs the ritual?’ she asked curtly

  ‘are you an elf?’ Ash asked absentmindedly

  ‘Half elf on my father’s side, I hope that isn’t going to be a problem for you’ Her face turned to a frown ‘If you want ‘pureblood’ mages you are going to have to wait and I can get back to my research’

  ‘No, no not at all, I’ve just never seen an elf before’ said Ash dreamily

  ‘Which is of no consequence to me and before you ask, no you may not touch my ears, yes they are pointy but I imagine they feel no different to your own. They are ears for the sake of the gods, I don’t know why you humans are so fascinated’

  Ash wanted to say he wasn’t going to ask but deep down he knew he was indeed going to ask.

  ‘Sorry’ Ash said ‘I’m very new to here and everything is very strange to me’

  She sighed ‘I suppose I should be sorry as well, I don’t like being pulled away from my work and I tend to get a bit tetchy. Shall we start again?’

  ‘I am Sister Nina Fellmirr of the mages guild Blackmoor chapter and I will be facilitating your core absorption ritual today’ She said now smiling warmly.

  ‘Oh I absorbed it already’ Ash said

  ‘Then why in the pits of damnation am I here if someone has already done the ritual?’ she exploded ‘That cur Stuart is going to pay if he’s dodging work again’

  ‘No sister, what he means to say is that he absorbed it himself, no ritual, no ritualist’ Alastair interrupted the tirade.

  ‘How?’ Nina asked

  ‘I’ve got screens’ Ash smiled ‘Magical screens I mean, it’ll probably make more sense if I start from the beginning. You should probably sit down,’

  As Ash began to explain everything he had experienced Nina pulled a note pad from her robe and began scribbling notes, he briefly described his world devoid of magic and instead a focus on technology, waking up in this world, his battle against the bunny and the ensuing adventure he had been on.

  Alastair sat jaw wide open aghast at Ash’s story, Nina however was feverishly scribbling in her book eyes flashing from the pad to the person in front of her with extra ordinary claims.

  ‘I thought you were going to make sense, I’ve just sat through the ramblings of a mad man, I thought you were odd but this is insanity’ said Alastair

  ‘Insane is how I would categorise it, Any questions?’ Ash said

  ‘I have around thirty-six that spring to mind at the moment, but first could you corroborate these claims?’ Nina said

  ‘Okay, a little show and tell, no problem’

  PARTY SYSTEM

  Would you like to add Nina Fellmoor to your party?

  Yes/No

  Ash nodded yes and just like Alastair her jaw dropped and she began to try to prod the screen.

  Ash smiled bringing up the shadow core with a flourish.

  The TOOL screen popped up into existence for them all.

  Shadow core – Item rarity – Uncommon

  Do you wish to absorb?

  Yes/No

  Ash mentally instructed the screen to choose yes and everyone in the room looked on as the stone burst like a balloon filled with the blackest oil, it ran up his hand under his clothes running up his neck and over his face, the shadow swirled around his eyes like a whirlpool draining inside.

  CORES

  cores absorbed

  Shadow

  Utility - Allows user to see in the dark.

  Ability - provides the user shadow gate storage, later levels will allow for teleportation.

  Ash took a deep breath, this time the experience was literally cool, the feel of the liquid over his face had given him cause to panic he fell to his knees and Alastair ran over to lift his friend to a seat.

  ‘Wow, that one took it out of me’ Ash remarked

  ‘Took what out of you?’ Asked Nina looking up excitedly

  ‘I think it’s an idiom’ said Alastair ‘It basically means that he says words we can understand but at the same time make no sense’ he smiled at Ash ‘You get used to it, I hope’

  ‘So you absorbed two cores in the same day?’ inquired Nina a while later

  ‘Yes, but please don’t make me do a third, I don’t think I’m up to it today’ Ash said wincing

  ‘And you get a description of your abilities, as in it tells you what they do before you use them?’ she continued

  ‘I guess’ Ash said

  ‘Remarkable, this opens up all new lines of study and research’ she said excitedly ‘The item identification alone could progress our categorisation and information by leaps and bounds. I have hundreds of artifacts id like you to look at...’

  ‘I don’t really want to be a magic pokedex if its all the same with you, I’m struggling to get my head around this place as it is’ Ash said

  ‘Idiom?’ Nina said looking to Alastair who responded with a nod.

  ‘So how does this usually go?’ Ash asked ‘I’m obviously doing it differently but what does it normally look like’

  ‘Do you have another core?’ Nina asked

  A circular pitch-black disc appeared in mid air and Ash reached inside and drew out another stone.

  Light core – Item rarity – Uncommon

  Do you wish to absorb?

  Yes/No

  ‘No, no, no’ Ash hurried to say.

  ‘I think I owe you a light core for the light stones I blew up’ he offered it to Alastair

  ‘Are you sure?’ Alastair said ‘The cost of those is inconsequential in comparison’

  ‘Of course, there’s no way I’m doing it again today and you’ve already done so much for me’ Ash smiled at his friend

  Nina snatched the stone and practically dragged Alastair to the centre of the room, ‘You can reminisce on your own time, let’s get this done and then I have more questions’

  Ash laughed at the look of shock on Alastair’s face as he was easily man handled by the thin framed woman.

  ‘Stand there’ she edged him to the side by his shoulders then leaned down’ core there, and we can begin’ She stood a few feet away raising her hands up fingers outstretched, her eyes rolled over a milky blue colour and slightly glowed. In the air around Alastair runes began to draw themselves in a circle surrounding him, he arched his neck looking around as they bobbed up and down like a lure on water the core elevating with them.

  The core began to glow until it hurt to look at and slowly moved towards Alastair, it did not stop when it met his chest and for a moment when it had passed through his skin Alastair’s chest was illuminated from the inside his ribcage clearly visible against the light.

  The light died down and the runes crumbled and dissipated in mid-air Ninas eyes regaining their natural chestnut brown hue.

  She pushed back her hair with her fine fingers and turned on Ash ‘So, can anyone in your party use these screens?’ she said.