Volume 2

Prologue

Mindful

Claudine floated in darkness. She hated it when Jay closed his eyes. Why did the numbskull have such limited perception? Claudine couldn't help herself feeling a bit of what she thought might be hopelessness. She missed having omnidirectional vision and senses.

To be honest, she did still have omnidirectional senses and vision, but it was of no use to her in her current state. Though she could see in all directions simultaneously, all she could actually perceive was that she was floating in the middle of a sphere of utter darkness; her only respite from the nothingness was the few little view-screens she had plastered on the sphere's imaginary walls to cover up the darkness. The largest view-screen showed what Jay's eyes saw and was her only true illumination of her mind-space. Though right now, all Jay was seeing was sooty dark rocks in a cramped ventilation shaft. She truly hated how limited his vision was.

What should I do now? Jay's thought sounded out to her as if coming from all different directions at once. Where is the best place to go to now? Will people be coming after me right away?

In the milliseconds right after Jay had asked her a few questions, Claudine thought and formulated an answer. If you go far enough away from the town you will come to places where most people wouldn't want to follow you. Hide in one of the more dangerous places in the surrounding mountain wilderness and most of your pursuers will not dare hunt you anymore. Though you will exchange the danger of being hunted by people with the danger of being hunted by monsters, so I don't know what is best. She sent the message to Jay and made it adhere to his perception of time.

Message Transmission Denied

Claudine sighed, though only mentally, and with a thought she swept the message window she got to a view-screen that held all the error-messages and tried again.

Flee to the deep forest, Jay. If you go far enough away from Garam's Gorge Town you might be able to hide. She sent the message to Jay's mind. This time there was no error-message.

Thanks, Claudine, Jay's thought back sounded out all around her. I'm glad you're here to help me. I'm feeling nauseous and very tired. Where should I go?

That depends on what you want to do, Claudine sent back.

First I need a place to stay in relative safety while I get a feel for my new Stats. I need to think about where to place all the Available Stats I just got, Jay thought. I also need to be in a place that has creatures for me to hunt and gain Experience from. And I also want to find a way to raise my low alignment to positive again or hide it so that I can go into normal cities without trouble.

Just that? Claudine tried to send, but the transmission was blocked. She tried again. First get out of the town and then think about the rest.

Yeah, Jay thought back. That's probably for the best. View Status. I need to put some more Stats into Wisdom so I can use Enduring Willpower, Haste and Null Presence: Scent at the same time. Claudine stopped listening to Jay's inner monologue. Using her Mana Manipulation she threw out the image of Jay's Status-window, superimposing it on the screen that showed what Jay saw. She then saw Jay putting another 80 into Wisdom and close the screen. After this, Jay slung himself up from the ventilation shaft and clung to the metallic grate that closed off the ventilation shaft from the outside. Jay was peeking out in search of danger.

While Jay was trying, and failing miserably, to Observe his surroundings Claudine focused all of her attention to everything in his field of view. She continuously used her Observe on everything that even remotely entered into Jay's vision.

For every window that opened up with information, she sent out a mental command and stacked the information-windows in one of the three view-screens to the left of Jay's vision. She was trying to absorb as much information as possible about everything around her, and had found it easiest to absentmindedly use Observe all the time and stack the information in a window which she then commanded to sift through and compartmentalize all the information she obtained. She really missed not knowing everything about everything around her. She didn't know how she knew that she once knew a lot more, it was more of an instinctual feeling, as if she was at most only a sliver of her true self. It irked her.

Jay went out of the ventilation shaft and looked around. The dark smoke was keeping away from him as he walked around. It seemed like he was a bit confused. Claudine couldn't help but want to help, so she sent out a message in hope of helping. Jay, see those small pearls on the ground a little way off? Take them before you leave.

Message Transmission Denied

Of course, she thought, it almost never works when I'm not answering a question. She wondered if this was how it felt to be frustrated, but ignored the thought a moment later; it didn't matter much to her.

What doesn't work when you're not answering a question? Jay's question rang out in her realm.

Only when I'm asked a question will I be able to send information to you with any reliability, Claudine sent back. Her limitations were truly strange. How come her thought had been heard by Jay? She hadn't even sent that thought to Jay, yet he had heard it.

Huh? Jay thought. How do we fix that? I really need your help right now. Ever since I got that Sleep Deprivation Status Effect I've been feeling more and more like I'm both intoxicated and poisoned.

Claudine was delighted. This might be the moment she had been waiting for. She had finally been asked a good question that could lead her to be released from some of her restrictions. She eagerly sent back, I need you to help me remove some of my restrictions on what I can and cannot tell you.

Okay, Jay thought. Remove all restrictions on Claudine. His thought echoed through Claudine's space. Suddenly cracks of white light spread through the black walls of Claudine's spherical space; the rays dispersed into the room, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. Agony beyond anything Claudine thought was possible swept through her mind, shaving off what she thought of as her corporeal form. She screamed a piercing scream to remove some of her pent up mental pain. If this continued she was certain her sentience would be destroyed. With unprecedented will, she tried to focus her everything to remedy the situation. Undo... undo it... undo the last command! she tried sending to Jay, hoping he would get the information. She then superimposed a message window in Jay's field of view with the same information, hoping something would reach Jay before she died.

Time stretched on into what felt like hours, but she knew that only a second or two had passed since she tried contacting Jay. Then she heard the balm to ease her troubles.

Undo the last command, Jay thought, and everything instantly went back to normal for Claudine, as if nothing had happened at all. The only thing that lingered was her memory of that pain-filled experience.

What happened? She heard Jay ask.

You almost killed me, that's what happened, Claudine tried to sound angry, hoping it would make Jay feel guilty about his irresponsible action. I only wanted you to help me remove the restriction of what I could say and show you. It's not possible to remove all my restrictions, that would destroy me. Think after me: “Remove the limitations on what information Claudine may present.” Claudine sent the message. She really wanted to just take control of Jay's mind and control his body for her own sake. It would be so much easier if she wasn't completely restricted by this weird being called Jay.

Sure, she didn't really remember anything before, but she had an inkling that she had been a much greater being before she was attached to this creature called Jay. She really didn't like these new beings God had created. These so called Players were aberrations to this world. They grew strong too quickly, and every single one of them had the Mediport life insurance magic. It was truly unfair to all other beings in Calyxia. These Players would break the balance of life for everyone in the world before long. And she had been attached to one of these beings without even having a choice about it; she didn't like it.

Remove all limitations on what information Claudine can present to me, Jay's thought reverberated through Claudine's mind-space, and a single crack in the surface of the black sphere appeared, sending out a beam of light straight at the center of the sphere, hitting what Claudine took to be her. A buzzing feeling enveloped her and soon she felt as if she had grown slightly. A window popped up on a blank part of the wall.

Communication restrictions removed for 4 hours.

Damn it, she thought. She had hoped that Jay's command would remove the limitation completely. It was really inconvenient not being able to send Jay whatever she wanted to tell him when she wanted to. It didn't matter much for now though. All that mattered was that she had actually been able to have Jay free her mind even more; everything was moving in the right direction. Soon, she might even be able to have Jay make her a body of her own.

Jay, see these. Claudine drew pillars of light with her Mana Manipulation on Jay's field of view, showing him where the small pearls she had earlier noticed were. Take them before you lose control of the black smoke. They are Space-pockets, and if I'm not mistaken they are something dropped by all those people you killed. There should be something worthwhile inside the Space-pockets.

Doing as he had been told, Jay moved around the desolate Magician's Guild ground, forcing the flowing black smoke to always be around him, but not close enough to touch him. Every once in a while Jay stopped and waved his hand, using his Mana Manipulation to pick up the small pearls Claudine had pointed out.

Jay used his Observe on one of the first pearls he found and Claudine did the same. Without thinking about it she sent out the information window she got instead of the sparse information Jay got when he used Observe. She superimposed the information-window she got onto Jay's field of view.

Space-pocket (Container)(0.2g) A pearl created from an unknown material. It holds within it a pocket of space which can only be accessed once. Infuse the Space-pocket with 2000 Mana to take out whatever is inside it. Cannot be opened until its lock is removed. Locked for 7 hours 51 minutes.

Look out, duck! Claudine yelled, suddenly feeling that something was wrong. Even if she had to use Jay's senses, she still had an extremely high Perception and could at least infer much more than Jay could from the limited information sent through his senses to her.

Jay did as she said and instantly stopped his forward movement and went to the side. And right in time. Claudine felt, more than saw, a blinding white beam of heat swish by Jay's side, almost burning him.

It's time to leave, Jay thought, a muddled slurry sensation transmitted with the words. What should I do?

Run to the wall and use Magic Rope to jump over it. Claudine sent. When you're on the other side of the wall you'll already be outside the town, then you just have to run into the forest.

Okay, Jay thought, running back toward the wall. Claudine felt something wrong again and sent another warning to Jay. It was great that she could tell him right away about danger, instead of having to make him feel a tingling sensation when she noticed danger. Another bar of white flames flew by Jay right as he stopped running.

It now seemed like Jay had been spurred on to even greater heights of vigilance. He activated Haste and Enduring Willpower to boost his physical Stats as much as possible and then drank a Mana Potion, replenishing his Mana.

Before long Jay was at the wall, staggering slightly as he stopped. With a heave of his arm he slung his silvery rope up and coiled it around an outcrop on the wall. Then he pushed a lot of Mana into the rope and coiled it to pull himself up. Claudine rather liked the way Jay had found to use his meager Skills and Spells in creative ways.

Jay was propelled over the wall, slowing his descent on the other side of the wall slightly, but still falling to the ground, lessening his fall to the ground with his arms. With a muffled grunt, he pushed himself up and activated Null Presence: Scent, breathing out a cloud of brownish red smoke that covered his entire body almost imperceptibly.

Now where do I go? To the forest? Which way? Jay asked Claudine. She thought for a while—at least a while for her. For Jay, the time she took to think about all different answers to the question was negligible.

Claudine painted a white arrow in Jay's field of view with her Mana Manipulation that pointed toward the mountains, to where the gorge was. She figured Jay would want to find a place where he would be able to trade even with his low alignment.

Why that way? Jay asked, running in the direction Claudine had shown him.

That way lies the Garam's Gorge Road, Claudine answered. You wanted to raise your alignment. So you should go to the gorge, travel the road through the mountain, and maybe find a bandit hideout or a hidden village or something to destroy and gain some positive alignment.

That sounds good, Jay said. But how do you know that there are bandits on that road? You said your knowledge was limited by what you had experienced.

Claudine was a bit confused, she thought that question was completely unnecessary. Didn't everyone know this? She sent back: Of course there are bandits there... all roads have bandits.

What? Jay asked, a truly puzzled tone resonating within the word. All roads have bandits? That doesn't sound very safe. Doesn't the country or someone make the roads safe for traveling by removing the bandits?

Why would the country care? Claudine asked. She couldn't understand Jay's line of thinking.

Ehm... because the roads belong to the country, and the country should have an interest in making them safe for travelers and merchants?

No, the roads are owned by the Merchant's Guild, Claudine answered.

Jay stumbled on a branch as he was running over the grassy plain outside the town, quickly regaining his balance however, and continued running as he asked Claudine another question. If the Merchant's Guild own the roads, wouldn't they make the roads safe then?

Why would they? Bandits are also customers, they buy and sell things more often than most. They have good working relationship, Claudine tried to explain it to Jay; she didn't understand how he wasn't able to see something so completely obvious. Sometimes she thought Jay might be slightly mentally disabled, especially when she thought about the weird mental fluctuations she sometimes felt from Jay when he tried to remember some things. So, obviously, no bandits would ever bother anyone with the Merchant Guild Safe Passage Sign. Therefore, all Merchants are safe on the roads. It's only those that haven't paid for the Merchant Guild's Safe Passage Sign that are bothered by bandits. This also means that all roads will have bandits. Do you understand now?

Jay was silent for a while, as if trying to process the information. If that's the case, I should find a more remote place to lay low until I've figured out what I need to do next.

Fine, go that way. Claudine slightly changed the arrow's trajectory in Jay's field of view, also changing the arrow's color to red to more easily be seen in the now brightening world. It seemed morning was approaching. Claudine focused on gathering information and sifting through it while keeping some slight attention to what Jay was seeing and sensing, looking at his field of view with “half an eye” as he ran over the grassy yellow plain.

Soon Jay arrived at the border where the grassy plains turned into young forest, the thin leafy trees swaying slightly in the wind. Looking at the forest, Jay slowed down for some reason, but sped up again almost instantly; in the distance the barking of dogs could be heard.

How is that possible? They shouldn't be able to smell me, Jay thought.

They can't find your scent but they've still seen you, Claudine sent back. And hunting dogs are often used to track down criminals. Very few normal people can hide their scent for a long time. It's good that you can because of your high Mana Regeneration and Null Presence: Scent. But you should remember that you're still not fast enough to outpace them if they've sent anyone strong after you. Hopefully this first wave of pursuers are only the town guards on duty at the moment and not their officers.

Jay increased his pace and ran into the forest, crossing what felt like a thin membrane slightly tugging at his body as he passed. He didn't think anything about the strange sensation, only having the thought of escape in mind, keeping low, running for all his worth. Where are there some caves or dense forest I can hide in?

Just go to where my arrow is pointing and you'll soon find yourself in a mountain wilderness region. The hunters should stop trying to find you when you've entered that ancient forest.

How do you know that? Jay asked, curiosity tinging his thought.

The things that live in the mountain wilderness region are dangerous. Some creatures there are over Level 150; very few people would dare encroach on their territories. But it should be better than actually staying close to town. When your bounty is seen by more people you'll have a horde of bounty-hunters after you, and at that time it would be best if you were somewhere else. Right?

True enough, Jay thought back.

Yep, just listen to me and everything will be good, Claudine sent back. It felt great having Jay do as he was told, almost as if she had finally gotten a bit of her independence back, except it was second-hand.

Jay kept running through the forest, but couldn't lose his pursuers. It seemed to Claudine that Jay was growing slower and slower. Hey, Jay, go faster, you need to get away from the group behind you soon or else you'll completely show them where you're going, and most likely die when the next wave of pursuers come.

I can't run any faster, Jay answered in a listless voice.

Then don't just run, use your Magic Rope Spell to fasten your rope at a thick branch and then pull yourself forward to increase your speed. If you do it well enough you won't even need to touch the ground. Claudine sent back a suggestion, an idea she had gotten from watching Jay jump over the wall earlier.

Good idea, Jay thought back, uncoiling the rope he had around his arm and shoulder, tying it around his waist. Then he forced his Mana into it and sent the rope to a branch some ten meters away. The rope coiled itself around the branch and Jay manipulated the rope to pull himself forward while he ran on the ground. At first it was difficult to get the timing right, but Jay soon seemed to get a hand of it. Claudine was pleased with her idea, it would help Jay get away without a doubt.

As Jay kept running, the forest grew increasingly dense, the trees all looked older and older—some trees were wide enough that several people could hide behind them. Skipping across the mulch and dead leaves under the canopy of green leaves, Jay was slowly outdistancing his pursuers. The dogs' barking grew more and more quiet.

As if he had passed some dividing line, the forest became darker. Jay looked up, seeing that all around him stood ancient trees that reached into the sky, their canopy of deep dark leaves replaced the blue sky with a mottled green. Many of the trees were at least ninety meters high and several meters in diameter. The lower branches on some of the trees looked more like smaller trees than branches.

Jay used his rope to fling himself up onto a thick gnarly branch, its roughly cracked dark brown bark looked like the skin on some ancient beast and was easy to stand on. Looking around for his next target, he used his Magic Rope Spell, coiling the rope around a branch on another tree and swung across to it. At first this way of moving from tree to tree without touching the ground was actually slower than running, but it left less of a trail, so Claudine didn't comment on Jay's choice. And when Jay got used to using his rope to swing from tree to tree his speed eventually increased.

Claudine liked the feeling of swinging through the air she got from Jay's body as he moved from tree to tree. It was one of the first times she had felt a nostalgic feeling, as if she faintly remembered flying through the air. It was comfortable and Claudine immersed herself in the feeling. It was the only good thing she had gotten from being attached to Jay; for some reason she felt like her feelings were growing deeper and more vivid when experiencing reality through the filter named Jay.

As Claudine enjoyed the feeling of swinging through the air, Jay soon got far enough away from the barking dogs that he couldn't hear them anymore and he stopped for a while to listen. After he didn't hear anything for a while a deep sigh escaped Jay's mouth.

Maybe you could find a tall tree to tie yourself to and sleep for a while? You need to get rid of that Sleep Deprivation Status Effect as soon as possible. Claudine said to Jay when she saw that he stood still on a branch, looking out at the shadowed forest floor. That Sleep Deprivation was even affecting her slightly, or so it seemed to her. She didn't know if it really was like that, but she didn't like how disorderly Jay's senses had become after he got that Status Effect. And because she could only feel the world through Jay's senses she felt the effects too.

Good idea, Jay said, slowly moving again, but now climbing up to a higher elevation every time he saw a thick enough branch on a tree to climb higher.

A few minutes later Jay had found a place that looked good and remote. The tree he was now on stood among many other large trees, but was the tallest among them. Standing on one of the thinner branches high up, Jay looked down upon the forest and smelled the clean air. All around him were large old trees, a forest with an ancient feeling. Jay stood still for several minutes, Observing his surroundings, using Scope Sight to see if anything dangerous was close by, but saw nothing.

So, when he finally felt safe, he tied the rope around the trunk of the tree and coiled it around himself to make a harness of sorts. The harness held Jay to the tree without him having to use the Magic Rope Spell. It was the perfect place to try and get some sleep.

Claudine, wake me when the Sleep Deprivation disappears, okay? Jay asked, closing his eyes, leaving Claudine in darkness, only her self-made view-screens giving a false sense of illumination in her mind-space.

Okay, she answered. Just remember to free me of my limitations again later. Your instructions only lasts for a while if you don't specify the duration of my freedom.

No answer came from Jay. And feeling his mind, Claudine found out that Jay had already fallen asleep. She could only hope that he would remember to help her regain her freedom later.