M23

Morgan pushed his dread of parting with Issa aside and said, “Hey, what about your class choices?”

“I looked briefly, and I have a lot of options! Most of them are Improved!” Issa was beaming. “I’m not going to choose a class yet, though, since we’re at the end of the Crucible. I’ll get some advice from my elders back home.”

“Sounds smart, but what about our racial upgrades? Let’s drink those before we leave!” Morgan picked up the vial of refined royal jelly. “Have you ever heard of a Tundra Bee?”

“Hah, no, but the world is huge, and since the reward came from the System, there’s a good chance it’s not even from this world.”

“Ahh, yeah, good point. Well, we should sit down for this. The last time, when I ate that fruit, it knocked me on my ass.” Issa nodded, and they sat down, facing each other. They each removed the cork stoppers from their vials and then tipped the contents into their mouths. The thick jelly slid from the vials like water on wax, and the explosion of taste made both of them gasp in pleasure. From the moment Morgan swallowed the jelly, he could feel it doing something. His throat tingled, then his stomach, and then the tingling spread through his body. Before he knew it, his eyes were closed, and he felt like he was flying through swirls of colorful fog. Surprisingly, he felt like Issa was flying with him, and he could hear her laughing as they swooped in circles through the mists. Morgan reached out and held her hand and her purring laugh intensified.

Sometime later, it could have been minutes or years for all Morgan could tell, he sat up from the stone floor. He had Issa’s hand in his, and he looked over at her. She was still lying on her back with her eyes closed. Blue steam was rising from her body in a thick haze. Morgan realized he was similarly steaming. Issa looked different: her bright yellow hair had a new sheen to it, almost like it was made of impossibly fine metal strands. Her skin was a lighter, more luminous shade of blue, and she was bigger. Morgan was sure of this because her scavenged pants, which had almost fit her perfectly, now ended a good two or three inches from her feet. More than that, though, she just felt more present, more significant. Was this the aura she had spoken about with regard to him gaining stats?

“What are you staring at?” Issa’s voice was soft and purring, and her lips were turned up in a smile.

“You look incredible!”

“You’re not so bad yourself! Your hair is shining like bronze, and you look even bigger.” She sat up and openly stared at him. “Your eyes look like icy diamonds. Look at the steam coming off you! Think of all the impurities leaving your body and the improvements to your cells. That jelly was amazing!” She focused her bright yellow eyes in front of her for a second, then exclaimed, “Base 3! I gained two racial ranks! Think, Morgan, our lifespans just increased by a hundred years or more!” She laughed, leaning forward to grab Morgan in a quick hug, then stood up and bounced around, stretching her improved body.

Morgan was content to sit and watch her with a big, stupid smile on his face. Eventually, curiosity got the better of him, and he pulled up his status sheet:

Status

Name: Morgan Hall

Race: Human - Base 4

Class: Hollow Guard - Advanced

Level: 12

Core: Vortex Class - Base 2

Energy Affinity: 9.2

Energy: 640/640

Strength: 25

Vitality: 28 (30)

Dexterity: 8

Agility: 21

Intelligence: 36

Will: 25

Points Available: 0

Titles & Feats: Human Champion, First Hollow Guard, Ardeni Friend, Mark of Loyalty

Skills: System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable, Spear Mastery - Basic, Dagger Mastery - Basic, Stealthy Maneuvers - Basic, Backstab - Basic, Energy Drain - Improved, Guard Ally - Basic, Vortex Core Cultivation Drill - Basic

He’d made a lot of improvements since he had arrived on this planet. Well, since he’d been kidnapped and thrust into this world was a better way of putting it. If the Crucible was truly a place designed to give advancement opportunities, then it had worked. The problem Morgan had with it was that it had nearly killed him and Issa many times in the process. He’d seen evidence of many people having died, and he and Issa had been through hell. Regardless of his gains, Morgan didn’t feel like a big fan of the Crucible or the System that had sent him here without his consent.

“Issa, I’m going to miss you,” he said suddenly, standing up. Issa stopped stretching, and her face became serious.

“I’ll miss you too, Morgan. I’ve even been thinking of maybe not using my Token of Travel. Maybe we are in a place near my village. Let’s go out of the cave and have a look!” Issa gestured to the sunlit opening a couple of dozen yards up the slope of the cave.

“I hadn’t thought of that. Alright, let’s see!” Morgan reached out, and Issa took his hand, and together they walked toward the sunlight. As they advanced up the slope, Morgan could see more and more of the sky, and a massive moon started to come into view. The daylight was still fairly bright, so the moon wasn’t bright or well defined, but he could see that it filled a considerable portion of the sky and had massive rings around it. “Woah, I didn’t realize this planet had such a big moon.”

“Yes, that’s Thivia, the biggest moon, and it’s visible at night for half the year and during the day for the other half.” They continued to walk, and another, much smaller, moon came into view.

“What’s that moon’s name?”

“Galia, Thivia’s little sister. She moves through the sky, always right behind Thivia.” Issa’s voice was relaxed, almost dreamy sounding, and Morgan realized she was feeling the release of a lot of pent-up stress and emotional turmoil.

“You’re happy to see them again, aren’t you?” He squeezed her hand. Issa nodded, and he could see she was holding back even more emotion. When they stepped through the cave opening, Morgan knew Issa’s idea of walking back to her people wasn’t going to work. The cave opened onto a short ledge on the side of a mountain, an incredibly big mountain, judging by the vista that stretched before them.

Smaller, snow-capped mountains stretched away from them into the horizon. To their left, more mountains extended, but there was a green haze near the horizon that might be an ocean or forest; it was too hard to tell. To their right, foothills extended for dozens of miles into a dense forest that continued as far as they could see. The trees were similar to pines or evergreens back on Earth, but even from this height and distance, Morgan could tell that they were immense. They looked something like the Redwoods that had been starting to make a comeback in California when they’d left, onboard the Pioneer-9.

Morgan and Issa stood for a long while, taking in the incredible view. The air was brisk but not freezing, and Issa’s hand felt warm in his. After a time, he looked down and saw that she had tears in her eyes. “Hey, don’t worry, Issa. I’m going to find you.” He squeezed her hand.

“How, Morgan? Our world is huge, and I have no idea where your Token of Travel will take you. What if you’re on the other side of the planet?” Her voice cracked, and she angrily reached up and rubbed the tears from her eyes.

“I have an ability to sense my friends, Issa. As long as we’re on the same world, I’ll be able to feel you, and I promise: I’m going to find you.” Morgan put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes while he spoke. Issa reached up to his neck and pulled his face to hers, kissing him gently.

“You better find me, Morgan,” she said softly. Then, she reached into her pocket, closed her eyes in concentration, and disappeared.

Morgan jerked in surprise, taking a step back, and then it clicked in his head - she’d used her Token of Travel. “Not one for long goodbyes, I see.” He said wryly. He felt like he should be upset at the prospect that she was gone, but he couldn’t stop grinning at the warm feeling of her lips that still lingered on his. Just to be sure, he activated Guardian’s Senses while thinking of Issa, and he had a very faint impression of her in front of where he was standing and off to the right, thousands of miles away. Hopefully, his Token of Travel would deposit him closer than that, but if not, he’d still find a way to get to her.

Morgan took one last look around, drinking in the view of the mountains, the forest, the cobalt sky, and the moons. He inhaled a deep breath of the crisp, cold, impossibly clean air. Then, he took his Token of Travel and his spear from his pouch. He grasped the token in his left hand and the spear in his right and activated the token. His vision spiraled like he was inside a massive kaleidoscope, and then a new scene came into focus.