Chương 3: A Friendly Meeting

"Let's make this quick, shall we?" A familiar voice said, its words cold and uncaring. Oscar opened his eyes and saw someone he didn't recognize. It was undoubtedly Friend's voice, but this was not the same being as before. Friend looked… well, he looked mostly human now. He had short, silver hair, he was unnaturally tall, but it was his eyes that freaked Oscar out.

The way his eyes stared at him, it was almost as if they were seeing through him, or like they were seeing something inside him that he wasn't aware of. Friend was wearing some very lavish dark purple robes, adorned with markings and patterns colored gold; he looked like absolute royalty.

"Friend? I hardly recognized you. Is this what you really look like?" Oscar asked.

"Was that the name I gave you? There's no need for us to continue pleasantries, its not for me. How many people arrived with you? I've been worried about the success of the summoning due to it being the first high-level spell that I've casted in a long time." Friend trailed off his rambling, lost in his own thoughts before returning his attention back to Oscar with a loud snap of his fingers.

"Answer, now."

"T-theres seven of us total. Sorry, but I have to ask… this world… it has real magic, doesn't it?" Oscar said, feeling more nervous than he could ever remember being. Friend went dead silent and just stared at Oscar. Those freakish eyes bore into him for a long second, until finally, he spoke again." Excuse me? Do we have magic? Your tone seems to be implying that the mere idea of magic is not only abnormal… but unfounded in your world. Is that true?"

"Yes? Magic isn't real where we come from, it's just used in stories and games. So when we saw a man summon a chest from the ground, right in front of us… I… it was just so insane to see!" Oscar blurted his words out, still nervous, but also a bit excited at the prospect of possibly learning spells. Friend exploded into a crude laugh that made Oscar shiver.

"I can't believe after finally finding the summoning spell that'd reach into worlds beyond mine, it pulled from a world of peasants! That's what you are, you know? A disgusting, incompetent, little fucking peasant," Friend snarled and placed his right palm face up. His hand glowed purple with some wispy shadows misting out, and he pulled out a journal with his other hand. Immediately, he began to write something down inside it. Oscar had no idea what to say or how he should react.

He was about to apologize, but Friend wasn't done yet as he dismissed the journal and continued berating him.

"No, you're all below peasants. Even a peasant would have skills that'd help with my goal. Never would I have imagined that another world would be still stuck in their Mundane Era. I have truly been in this damned prison for far too long to have not considered the possibility. No matter, I must work with what I have." Friend let out one final, curt laugh. Oscar remained silent and waited for Friend to speak again. Unable to be the one to re-initiate conversation, his mind reeled at Friend's outburst.

He had known that whoever or whatever Friend was, that it wasn't a true friend. Still, he hadn't expected this level of superiority and disdain to emit from him. Despite Friend saying that it was stuck in this weird dimensional prison, Oscar didn't know what he was capable of, and so, he was in no rush to find out what its limits were. There was also the chance that being imprisoned for so long had left Friend lacking in social skills, which would explain the rudeness. Then again… probably not.

"Go on, speak your mind. Ask one question that is plaguing you. What I have to say next requires your peasant brain to be fully unburdened," Friend said, waving his hand, granting permission to speak. While there were so many things Oscar wanted to ask, ultimately he settled on the one that would ease his fears the most.

"How are you able to appear to me, despite being confined within your weird pocket dimension prison? Are you able to spy on me at all times?" Oscar asked.

"That was two questions, but they're somewhat closely related, so I'll permit it," Friend said.

"No, I cannot spy on you. Not currently at least. The only reason why I am able to appear to you is because you're not from this world and I've forged a connection with you alone. The prison I find myself trapped in is unique in that it was created just for me. My enslavers, unfortunately, were somehow able to make it so that while confined within here, I would be unable to interact with the world of Torralgia in any capacity. Well, I'm giving them far too much credit for the spell, I think.

It was a gift to them from someone, but you don't need to know about that right now."

"So, because I'm not from here, you can freely interact with me?"

"Within a limited capacity, yes. Returning the soulstones to me will grant me more strength, I presume, and when I have all of my soul whole once again… I can finally be free of this prison," Friend said. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. For the first time, Oscar felt the grip of fear he had of Friend dissolve just a bit. Enough for him to ask one more question, which was something he really should have asked in the first place.

"Why should I do anything you ask of me? You made me suffer a terrible, painful death, and ripped me away from my friends and family." Admittedly friends was a loose term, but last night had been the closest he'd been to making real connections in a long time, so he was counting it.

"From where I'm standing, it would seem that I have all of the power. If I simply don't return your… soulstones… then I'd be keeping you weakened."

"Is that what you believe? Perhaps this a good opportunity to test a theory of mine. On your world, my curse didn't extend to you, allowing me to bring you over, but what about now that you're here on this planet? By entering this world, have you become a citizen of Torralgia, or are you seen as an infection in need of being cured? Will my skills be the remedy?" Friend asked, and loomed over Oscar, casting his dreadful shadow over him.

"[Looming Doom: Prologue]," Friend said as he placed his palm in front of Oscar's face. Foreign words of a dialect unknown to him streamed out of his hand, claiming every inch of free skin on Oscar's body. The words seared his flesh, his brain, his thoughts. When the pain became unbearable and his eyes slammed shut creating a void, he saw the words had branded themselves there as well.

The heretical words spoke to him, whispering things so incomprehensible that it was verging upon bringing him into the realm of obsession. Soon, he found that he wanted to learn this strange new language and figure out their meanings. Just as he was about to fully succumb and accept the heresy as his own truths, despite not understanding them, Friend broke the skill and recalled the words back into his hand. Oscar collapsed, gasping for air while trying to calm himself back down.

Looking at his arms and feeling his face, he saw that he was completely unscathed. Only the memory of the exchange remained to scar him.

"Now, let us move onto what's important: the soulstones," Friend said, casually dismissing the horrors he unleashed onto him.

"While one of the stones may be weakened, I have no reason to believe it's been destroyed. So, six stones still remain, but I have no clue as to where at exactly. I have ideas, but first, I need to know where you ended up. Have you stumbled upon any landmarks or perhaps a town?"

"... Burgen's Hill. We just arrived not long ago," Oscar shakily said.

"Truly? Perhaps miracles do still exist after all," Friend joyfully said.

"Burgen's Hill is named after one of the bastard"heroes" that did this to me. I bet that old bastard is holed up nearby. He has likely secluded himself, thinking it to be the proper way to protect the soulstone," Friend said.

"The former leader of the mercenary group, the Hallowed Inferno, Sir Ardeo Burgen, is likely to be the oldest and weakest of them all by now. Of course, the effects that may occur from long-term exposure to my soul are an unknown variable, so I may very well be wrong."

"So… you want me to find some old man and rob him of the stone? How sure are you that he is even near me? We literally were just dropped into this world and now you expect us to be your bloodhound and uncover what hole he decided to live in. It just seems so… impossible."

"I know this man all too well. If there was one glaring flaw he had, it'd be his love for that town. Or rather, his love for who had once lived in that town. The man is a revered hero there for what he did to save the place. Sadly for him, he failed to protect what really mattered that day. He might be at the grave he made for them. Try that, or don't, just find him."

"What if he isn't as weak as you think? If this stone is that important then he will surely put up a fight for it. A fight that we cannot win, even if he's old. None of us have any magic or any of those skills that you mentioned. What do you propose we do then?" Oscar said.

"Have you considered learning, you ape? I can't teach you how to get a class or skills, it's something everyone on this world just does. Most skills are just spoken phrases that evoke an effect, similar to magic, but more accessible. There are passive, active, aura, and many other rarer types of skills. It's a very complex subject, however, that's not to say research hasn't been done before," Friend said and conjured a book out of thin air and skimmed through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

"This report by [Scholar] Ixren states that he believes classes are linked to desire. I personally argued it was linked to perception more than desire, but as time goes on, I've found myself believing both of us to be correct. The truth likely lies in the middle, but there are fringe cases of certain individuals having the capability to bestow classes upon others. I've even stumbled upon scrolls within the Abyss capable of bestowing vitality, extra years of life and the sort!

There's all sorts of wondrous and horrific magics out there." Oscar was taken aback by the sudden history report. Friend spoke with such passion that he almost forgot how spiteful he could be. Oscar found himself wanting to desperately find out the truth about Friend. What could have turned him into the man he is today? Was he even a man?

"Were you a scholar before all of this? I'd love to read through that book if you'd allow it." He immediately knew this was the wrong thing to say. Friend recoiled in disgust, looking offended that he would ask him such a blasphemous request. His hand raised up once again, causing Oscar to flinch, but nothing came aside from the beginnings of some wispy smoke.

"No, none may touch any book, scroll, or tome if it resides within my library," Friend said.

"I think that this exchange has gone on far too long. Return to your people and seek out Sir Ardeo. I don't care how you do it, just find him and get me my damn soul back." Just like last time, Friend flicked his wrist and the ground collapsed underneath, sending Oscar back down into it's depths once more. Relief slammed into him because whatever awaited him back out in the real world was most assuredly going to be better than staying here.

Friend stood in his dimensional prison and watched as the pathetically mundane boy descended away, back into freedom. Whether or not the boy would appropriately serve his role still remained to be seen. Oscar not having a class was horrible, but perhaps there was an angle there he could work with. It just so happened that Friend was in possession of a boon that he could bestow upon the boy that'd further increase their connection.

If he stumbled upon Ardeo and came into contact with a fragment of his soul, then perhaps the connection he'd established with Oscar might grant him a window of opportunity to pass it off towards him. Then again, his skill had inflicted damage upon the boy, so he could probably just summon him again and grant the gift here. Friend shook his head. No, the timing would need to be right, as there was likely no chance he'd accept a gift from him now that he'd forsaken the friendly act.

Perhaps if the boy was on the verge of death?

"Hmm… yes, that's likely the most optimal condition," Friend said to himself, who had been the only person for so long capable of listening to his ramblings. His thoughts wandered as he began to feel an influx of severed connections strike him. They weren't as strong as the one with Oscar, not even close, but still as he'd summoned them, there was something there. One by one, a mass wave of loss began to hit him as he felt the peasants he'd summoned begin to die, or… was it something else?

Summoning forth his journal, Friend began to write numerous theories about what might be happening to his pawns aside from plain old death. After all, what else could he do aside from wait and throw his nose into his research? Soon enough Oscar would find Ardeo. Or, perhaps the old man would detect his old foe's familiar scent that'd no doubt stuck onto the boy, and then he'd seek Oscar out himself. Regardless, all he could do was wait.

Wait for Oscar to land on death's door, wait for his soul to be returned back to him, wait for those wretched six cheaters to die, and most importantly… wait for his freedom to be restored. After all, what was time to someone who had been made immortal?