Greetings, heroes __ another realm. I have summoned you __ to fight ____ great cause. _________ world and heard your ____________ besting a black dragon. I was _____ I am sorry to force this _______________you, but scrying across ______was incredibly costly, and I can't imagine __________required to _____all I can do ___this message _______I hope _____forgive me in____ and join ______righteous cause. ______great danger coming ________________I am afraid the common people are __________________in dire need ________feats and defy the odds. When you ___ world, come and find me at the _________Northsong. _____ well. I will ____ soon.

  Zig dreamed of 200 goblins all chasing him through the mines and waving scrolls over their heads. The old goblin waved a purple light and a glowing scroll flew through the air and hit Zig in the head. All the goblins started laughing in their chattering way. Zig fell over in the dream, and woke up as he fell out of bed in real life.

  The message was clearer this time. "I have summoned you". Zig was here because some strange message-sender had summoned him. His cheek was smooshed against the wooden floorboards, but he lay there thinking about the words. He had no idea what the black dragon thing was about. Though from the games he used to play with his friends, black dragons were pretty high up in the food chain. The message seemed to be warning about a "great danger coming", as if Zig could do something about. The weirdest thing was maybe he could, now he was legendary. But the Zig that was summoned? What kind of lunatic would face a great danger in a world of goblins and dragons and ask for Zig?

  He would only find answers at Northsong. Zig slowly got up, and wiped the bit of drool that was on the floor. Time to start the new day. Time to be an adventurer.

  The team met up in the morning at the guild for breakfast. Zig had some bread rolls that were fresh from the oven, along with a mug of warm milk mixed with some spices he didn't recognize. Hepp was eating a cold vegetable stew. He specifically asked for it to be cold. Zig had never related less to a person in his life. Gretta had the same bread rolls as Zig, but had a steak on the side that she cut up and stuffed the rolls with. They were eating well, especially with all the coin now filling their pouches. Zig's leftover gold from selling his clothes, and the three gold from selling the goblin staff, made them very rich for the common folk of Lancre.

  "Adventuring has high income, high expenses, and high death rate."

  Gretta said between bites of steak buns.

  "Our gold wont get any special equipment, but food and rooms to sleep in? We'll do quite well with a gold coin each."

  Hepp went to the quest board and came back waving a piece of paper.

  "I think we can do something a little less extreme than 200 goblins today."

  There were nods of approval from Zig, Gretta, the guildmaster, and several nearby tables. Hepp looked around at a frown.

  "Not much privacy here, is there?"

  "It's what makes our days interesting, lad, let us be."

  Hepp looked around trying to find who'd said that. He sighed and carried on.

  "Here. Four silver to guard a merchant who's moving house. Not the biggest pay out, but he probably just wants to deter thieves, not fight a horde of monsters. How's that?"

  Zig, Gretta, and two strangers nearby agreed that it was a good task to start with.

  The merchant's name was Hepp, and adventurer Hepp chuckled at the coincidence. Merchant Hepp looked relieved to see the three, especially seeing the bow in Hepp's hand, and the shield and hammer on Gretta. Zig holding a little rock he found on the street wasn't super inspiring, but the team as a whole was exactly what the merchant was looking for.

  Men were loading up four wagons with goods. Some were typical household things, but there were plenty of mysterious items wrapped in cloth that merchant Hepp hovered over as the men carried them to the wagons. They seemed valuable. The men doing the loading glanced at the adventurers, but there didn't seem to be any hostility. They were just doing their job. Zig tried to look menacing with his rock, until Gretta quietly told him to stop being weird. They waited by the wagons until the last of the goods had been loaded up, and the wagons set across town. All four had a donkey each pulling them. Zig looked suspiciously at their mouths, wondering if they had sharp canines like every other creature in this hostile world. They never opened their mouths though, so Zig couldn't see. He did see, he was sure, one of the donkeys wink at him. As if they knew what he was trying to do, and they wouldn't let him in on the secret. Zig stayed away from the donkeys.

  The adventurers spread out, with Gretta at the front, Zig in the middle of the wagons, and Hepp at the back. It was not bad work for four silver, just a nice stroll through the town. Zig wondered how anybody ever joined the army, if you could do this for four silver, while fighting battles gave you seven. It didn't make sense at all to him. He turned around to ask Hepp about it, and saw a man in black clothing leap out of a nearby alley, knife lifted high, aiming right for Zig. The knife was glowing an ominous blue. Zig jumped back, trying to avoid the man, and the knife didn't land in his chest. It did, however, sink into his leg, as the man made a last minute change as he saw Zig move.

  Thankful he was still holding his rock, Zig gripped it tightly and swung at the man's head. With ridiculous flexibility, the man bent out of the way, and sprang back away from the wagons. He looked at the knife, still planted in Zig's leg, nodded to himself and ran back to the alley he'd come from. Zig threw his rock, and again the man bent like a wet noodle to dodge it, then kept running. Some sort of skill? Was the man a gymnast?

  Zig wanted to run after the man, but there was a problem. There was a knife in his leg.

  "Again? It's been like a week!"

  Zig stumbled against the side of a wagon as his leg gave out. There were screams, shouts, and people running as they realized what had just happened. An attack in broad daylight. Merchant Hepp was right to worry. He kept running in circles shouting "I knew it! I knew it!"

  Zig needed to visit the healer. Again. Hepp took him, and Gretta sent a runner for her old team to come help merchant Hepp finish his move. Zig, held up by Hepp, stumbled into the healer's office. The receptionist arched an eyebrow at the return visit.

  "Ho, sirs who don't have money. Four gold for the leg. I am afraid payment is upfront for less scrupulous characters."

  The receptionist had her nose turned all the way up to indicate what she thought of the two. Zig had no time for it. He ripped the still-glowing knife out of his leg with a snarl and slammed in onto the receptionist's desk.

  "Will that do? Or do we need to get into hexes and curses again?"

  Zig, a normally very polite boy, demanded in a very angry tone. It wasn't fun, having holes in his body. He was sick of it. The receptionist glanced down at the blade, nodded to herself, and put the knife out of sight.

  "That will do. This way to the healer."

  The same man as before chuckled when he saw Zig.

  "Cover me in sheets and call me a ghost. A new favorite customer eh?"

  The man's face fell a bit when he saw the wound, as if it wasn't what he was hoping to see. Instead of touching the wound like last time, he just flicked his hand dismissively toward Zig's leg, and a white glow shot in a ray from his hand to the leg. The wound stopped bleeding, closed up, and the skin grew back over the wound in moments. A thin line was all that was left. All Zig could think was why on earth did he touch the infected wound last time? What was wrong with this man?

  He thanked the healer and walked out. Good thing he'd had the dagger. Adventuring jobs definitely weren't profitable if you needed healing each time. He didn't notice the frost covering one particular drawer in the receptionist's desk as he left.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Gretta's old team finished the escort mission, and the two teams halved the payment. So Zig wasn't in a super great mood when he saw the two silver coins that took getting stabbed to earn. And what was with that blue glow? Was he cursed in some way? Zig hoped the weird healer man took away anything like that. He looked at the other two members of his team.

  "We need a healer."

  "Again? Zig it's been less than an hour!" Hepp had never looked so much like Zig's mother.

  "No! I'm fine, I mean on the team. We need a healer so that we don't go broke and stop every quest with the first injury. Wouldn't that be a common thing for adventuring teams?"

  "For highly skilled teams, perhaps? All of Lancre only has Hemi."

  Zig looked blankly at Gretta.

  "...the guy who just healed you? Zig did you never ask his name?"

  "He touches me and I don't like the way he does it, ok?"

  Gretta sighed. "Well, he's all we got. You should see him go on holiday, the whole town tiptoes around trying not to break anything. Anyway, most adventuring teams make do with potions instead of visiting the healer."

  Zig whipped his head around to Gretta.

  "There's potions? You guys have potions? Nobody told me—let's go right now."

  Zig started hurrying off on his newly healed leg.

  "Zig, where are you going?" Gretta called out.

  "To the potions shop!" Zig shouted over his shoulder.

  "That's the wrong way!" Hepp cupped his hands to his mouth, because by now Zig was pretty far ahead of them.

  Lancre had two alchemists, and they both had shops right next to each other. Zig stood outside, remembering the same sort of thing happened back home. All the mattress stores were on the same street. Another street might have all the car dealerships. That sort of thing. It seemed to be a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Hepp had never been to an alchemist before, never having the money for it. Gretta shook her head and walked in to one of the stores.

  "Ho, Mr. Hobble!"

  "Ho, young dwarf lady! Day's brightness to you! How might Mr. Hobble serve you adventurers today? Are you here for the quest I posted, or to browse my selection?"

  Zig, bemoaning the mere two silver earned that day, compared to the prices on the shelves, brightened at that.

  "A quest? We weren't aware Mr. Hobble, but we'd gladly take you up on it. What's the mission? We're a great team, we can take on anything."

  "Anything? Oh ho ho young boy! I might just take you up on that. I've been cooking up a batch of new potions, you see, and I need some testers. I'll give you one silver for each potion you drink, and we'll see what they do."

  Mr Hobble bent behind a desk and pulled out a tray of glass vials. None of the liquids were the same color. Some glowed. Some were a dull green or brown. One was a swirling mix of colors that was mesmerizing to look at. None of them looked safe. Hepp gulped.

  "New potions, you say, Mr. Hobble? What exactly do they do?"

  Mr Hobble chuckled as if Hepp had made a fine joke.

  "I don't have a clue young boy! That's why I need some testers. Now I will promise that if anything bad happens I will spare a healing drop or two. If anything is permanent I'll give you another five silver for the trouble. Oh now, don't look like that! A boy can live well with a few silver in his belt!"

  The old man gestured at the rack of vials and asked each of them to pick one. Gretta picked one that looked like water. Hepp, hesitantly, picked a translucent blue one. Zig grabbed the one with swirling colors. The old man's eyes lit up when he saw Zig's choice, which made Zig think he had far more idea what the potions might do than he pretended.

  "Together on three?" Zig suggested.

  "Ah, just in case, please go one at a time. Just in case."

  Zig looked at Mr Hobble one more time, and downed his vial. The alchemist ambled up excitedly to Zig, pinching a cheek and looking at his hair. Zig stood there, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. The excitement faded from the man's eyes, and he patted Zig on the shoulder. He gave Zig a silver coin, and turned to Gretta as she drank her vial. It went into her mouth for about two seconds before she sprayed it all out in a fit of coughing. The old man burst into laughter.

  "Ha! Extra strong vinegar! I always put one in the testing batch. A classic, every time!"

  Gretta alternated between coughing, spitting, and staring daggers at the alchemist. He was giggling with glee, but did honor the quest and give Gretta a silver coin for her misery. They all turned to Hepp, who nervously smelled his vial to make sure it wasn't vinegar. He gave a small smile and tilted his head back, downing the blue liquid. He stood there, looking nervous, and then surprised, and then a smile spread over his face.

  "Oh, that's nice. Some kind of stamina potion?"

  The man started scribbling on a notepad, nodding as he wrote.

  "Yes, yes, stamina, mana, some vitamins, it's quite the tonic."

  "Mana? But I don't have magic."

  The man snorted. "You have skills, don't you? Where do you think that energy comes from. No wonder it works so well on you, you probably haven't even been keeping an eye on your mana levels. Where do you feel the potion working lad? Point it out to me."

  Hepp pointed to his right shoulder, his legs, and a spot to the side of his stomach. The man nodded and scribbled some more. Zig remembered his first step into this world. So much had happened, and everything had been so confusing, but he definitely remembered a strange feeling in that exact same spot. Just to the left of his stomach. A feeling of something suddenly there that wasn't there before. He was used to it now, but...

  "Mr Hobble, does mana come from here?"

  Zig pointed to the spot on his own body. The old man looked up from his notes and nodded again.

  "Yes, boy, that's your mana core. Any troubles with it? I could sell you a potion or two."

  "No, uh, nothing wrong. I just didn't know I had mana until today."

  "Everybody's got some lad, but if you know exactly where it is, you might have more than you think."

  The man raised an eyebrow at Zig. Then he picked up another vial from the test rack, and placed it in Zig's hands. Zig drank it down, and waited for something to happen. He was hoping for something more along the lines of Hepp's experience, rather than Gretta's. Like before, it was a bunch of expectant waiting that petered out into disappointment.

  "Nothing, boy? Nothing at all?"

  The man was frowning now, and gave Zig a silver coin and another vial. Zig drank that one too, and then another one. And then another one. Mr Hobble was looking miserable. None of his potions were having any effect on Zig. As he held the last vial left on the rack, Zig had a sudden sinking feeling...

  "I, hmm, I might have a skill that lets me eat and digest anything without trouble. Do you think that's messing with the...?"

  Mr Hobble kicked them out of the store.

  In the nearby town of Grimsby, a nervous group of three men went to report back to the nobleman who hired them. They met in a tavern, all four of them wearing inconspicuous clothing. Even the nobleman was dressed down, though he'd forgotten to take the gold rings off his fingers.

  "He has something with rocks. Could be spell-based, could be skills."

  One of the men spoke. He was wearing a plain brown coat, but peeking out at the edges was fine black cloth. These men really weren't very good at hiding.

  "I've seen a man deal damage like that with a hammer. He had a weapon proficiency, a heavy-blow skill, and an explosive impact skill. All at the Advanced level. All worked synergistically in a single strike. He could rip up cobblestones with a single strike. This is no ordinary kid."

  The man with rings sighed at that.

  "Looks like I'm biting off more than I can chew. Holston, why did your attacks fail?"

  Another man, with mismatched eyes of pale green and violet—something so recognizable he might as well not disguise his clothing at all—twitched at hearing the question.

  "I tried to poison him at the adventurer's guild. Nothing. I thought maybe I had spiked the wrong drink. Maybe the poison was old and not working? Nope. I lost a good servant double-checking it. I'll be charging extra for that, Jed."

  The man with the rings frowned, but Holston wasn't finished.

  "I then tried a more potent drug. At their inn this time. I thought maybe the guild had some kind of anti poison skill. Didn't work at the inn either. I searched the boy's room, couldn't find any anti-posion equipment. In fact, he didn't have anything enchanted at all. My only thought is he has some very high level poison immunity skill, but that doesn't make sense. He doesn't look like a poison expert to me. He literally fights with rocks."

  Holston turned to the man with black clothing.

  "Jetton, you took a more direct approach. What the hell happened?"

  Jetton grimaced.

  "I lost an everfrost blade, that's what happened. Planted it in his leg. The lad should be dead right now. Or at least missing a leg. Lancre's healer isn't that good. None of this makes sense."

  The last man was the only one truly blending in. He didn't have any revealing features. No rings on his hands or rich clothing underneath his traveling cloak. The only thing that might give him away was the way he moved. There was an elegance to his steps, and his boots would never make a sound, no matter what floor he stepped on. Jed turned to him.

  "What about you Jalin? Any attempt so far?"

  Jalin replied with low, smooth voice.

  "No attempt Jed. A wise man never strikes too early. Your father taught me that... I've been watching the boy. He seems ignorant and powerful in equal measure. It's easy to feign ignorance, harder to pretend you have power. The boy's a monster. I don't know how he landed in Lancre, but I would never expect someone like him in these backwaters."

  Jalin sighed, and continued in a softer voice.

  "Your father was a good man, Jed. To be lost so suddenly, in such a meaningless battle, is a true shame. But vengeance might be trickier than anticipated. I think we have to put it to rest, or someone else might get hurt."

  All three men looked down, not wanting to meet Jed's eyes. Those eyes that were still tinged with red. With madness, grief, and hate.