Hundreds of miles north and to the west, in the Lerne Diarchy:

  Gaden was startled awake, memory gone, by a door harshly opening.

  A man, followed by armed guards, entered the room.

  The guards were armed with matchlock rifles, a rarity, and this number of weapons a veritable treasure one was unlikely to encounter more than once in a lifetime. These people were obviously well-funded.

  They aimed their guns at Gaden, motioning for him to follow the unarmed man as he walked out of the room into a hallway lit by hanging lanterns.

  Gaden followed, guards walking behind. Hell of a place to walk into with no memory.

  He was led to another room, this one with grates on the floors and a table with chairs in the middle.

  The man leading him sat, and Gaden did the same, as the guards brandished their weapons, making their threat clear.

  The man spoke.

  "Hello, Gaden. My name is Aemir. Could you, please, try to give a name to your class of abilities?"

  They know my name? Gaden thought. He began to speak, to tell him that he didn't have the answer to his question, but a word appeared unbidden, in his mind.

  "Occultist." He said. "I'm an Occultist."

  Aemir sighed. "I was hoping it would be anything else. All of that work we did on you just for you to turn out to be an occultist. We might as well not have perfected your soul."

  "What?" Gaden asked. "I don't understand."

  "Your soul was nearly perfect. We had almost guaranteed a strong ability for you, but occultists all start off the same regardless, so our work is wasted."

  "I... apologize?" Gaden said, lost.

  "I should be apologizing. It isn't your fault you became a liability. I really wish it was different. Farewell." He said, gesturing at the gunmen.

  The gunmen raised their rifles, and Gaden jumped under the table.

  Aemir moved out of the way, and the gunmen threw the table aside, aiming to shoot Gaden.

  Just before the booms sounded that would sign Gaden's death, the building shook, making lanterns sway and dust fall from the ceiling.

  A momentary flash of fear appeared on the guards' faces, and Gaden took advantage of the moment. He dove for the nearest gunman, and wrestled the gun away from him, rolling back to his feet and using his momentum to leave the door before the guards could shoot.

  Realizing that the gun only held one round, he decided on negotiating with leverage. He caught up to Aemir, who was running down the hallway, before holding him as a hostage.

  The guards rushed out of the room and aimed their weapons at Gaden.

  "Stop moving or I'll kill him!" Gaden said, hoping to frighten Aemir enough to negotiate.

  "It doesn't matter if I die. All that matters is you never leaving this building." Aemir said.

  "For someone so uncaring about death, you seemed very frightened of me a few moments ago." Gaden replied.

  "Of course I don't want to die." Aemir said. "But this is more important than my life. Kill me, and die to the guards."

  "I can work for you." Gaden said. "I can become strong if you let me take from enough strong people."

  "We can't let you fight people. That's nothing more than a danger to our secrecy, with the only benefit being you potentially getting stronger. You cannot become useful without putting us in great danger. I'm sorry to say, but you will have to die here."

  He turned to the guards. "Shoot! Kill him!" Aemir said, accepting his own death.

  Suddenly, a wall behind Gaden exploded, small chunks of stone raining on Gaden and his captive.

  A man stood in the opening left by the damage.

  He held a drawn sword, with a single character engraved on the blade. He wore black clothing, and had strange boots. And he was angry.

  The blood drained from Aemir's face, and his eyes widened in fear. "It can't... It can't be him! You can't be him!" He screamed.

  The guards turned their guns toward the newcomer, immediately forgetting about Gaden.

  Gaden realized that he was in the crossfire, and prepared himself for death.

  The guards fired, and it took a moment for Gaden to realize that he was still alive.

  The stranger was suddenly standing between Gaden and the guards, boots flickering with electricity, and the discarded halves of the musket balls the guards fired were haphazardly strewn on either side of Gaden.

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  The newcomer stood, sword outstretched, as if having just cut, and the guards lowered their guns, incredulity and terror showing in equal degrees on their faces.

  "Go. You have five seconds to run." The stranger said to Aemir and the guards.

  Gaden, having released Aemir in sheer disbelief, watched as the guards and Aemir ran in terror.

  The man quietly counted, then vanished. One man ahead fell, then another. Each death had enough time in between for the ones left alive to recognize their allies' death.

  The last guard fell, and Aemir made it to the end of the hallway. The stranger was suddenly standing next to Gaden, and Aemir turned, seeing the stranger so far, relief appearing on his face as he opened the door.

  The stranger suddenly blinked, vanishing and returning just as instantly, and Aemir stopped moving, standing still.

  Gaden looked in disbelief as Aemir's two halves fell, dead the moment the stranger blinked away.

  The stranger hauled Gaden to his feet. "That was cruel." He said. "I shouldn't have given them false hope. Still," He said, sheathing his sword. "I was angry."

  "Thank you." Gaden said. "How... how did you do that?"

  "Well, I cut them."

  "Yes, but how? How did you kill them so fast and so easily? How did you cut the bullets?"

  "Ah, that. Right. Well, I'm an Occultist. I've taken the powers of a few people for my tools. This one," he said, gesturing to his boots, "is useful for speed."

  Gaden nodded.

  "You understood that easier than a normal child would. I assume you're an occultist as well?" He asked.

  Gaden bristled internally at being labelled a child. I'm nearly as tall as he is! He thought, but he kept his irritation to himself and replied.

  "Yes."

  "I guess that explains what they tried to kill you for."

  Suddenly Gaden felt a strange pressure on his mind. He was given the faint impression of a greeting, and then the sensation stopped. He stepped back in surprise, confusion evident in his movement.

  The stranger noticed, then appeared deep in thought for a moment. He nodded, then spoke.

  "He said hello to you." He stated.

  "What just happened?" Gaden asked.

  "That was my sword. He rarely talks, even less to anyone other than I. He must see something special in you."

  "Your sword?" Gaden asked, again confused.

  "I killed an architect. Now my sword talks to me." He began walking down the hallway. "At least he doesn't talk too much. I don't like constant conversation."

  "Architect?" Gaden asked, then shook his head and caught up. "So... what now?"

  "Either you come with me or you go on your own. If you go by yourself, you should be careful and move quickly. More of those people should be on their way shortly."

  Gaden considered, but put his decision off for a moment. "So what is an Architect?"

  "I'll explain more about it in the future, if you come along with me, but for now, suffice it to say that it's one of the three other ways abilities can manifest besides being an Occultist."

  "What did they mean by 'all that work they did on my soul?'" Gaden asked.

  "The ability you get is based on the shape of your soul. You get a simple shape at birth, and it's changed by your experiences in life. These people kidnap civilians, then subject them to experiments to change the shape of their soul, and then give them powers through a process that's a little too long to explain right now."

  Taking this in, Gaden realized that he had fallen behind slightly. He caught up again.

  "The thing about Occultists is we're all the same at the start. So the work they did on you doesn't matter."

  He stopped at a door on the side of the hallway.

  "The window for a safe exit on your own is nearly gone. Make the choice now." He said as he entered the room.

  Gaden thought about the choice for a moment, then followed.

  "In that case, look for files on the subjects of this place." The stranger said.

  Gaden looked around, seeing shelves and containers placed throughout the room.

  He searched for a while, until he found a page with several names and details on it.

  "I think I found it." Gaden said.

  The man walked over, and looked. "Yes, that's it."

  "Also, could I get your name? It feels a little disrespectful to just call out to you every time." Gaden said.

  "Ah, sorry. I rarely speak to people anymore, so I forget my manners. I am Omaren."

  He took the page from Gaden, and read it. "I assume your name is Gaden."

  "Yes, how did you know?"

  "This page has a list of all subjects in the past, and details their eventual fate. All of them are deemed failures besides you, which is because they didn't have time to update yours."

  Gaden nodded.

  Omaren began reading the names out. "Ikya, failure. Not powerful enough. Terminated. Yonil, failure. Not suited for battle. Terminated. Nasrem, failure. Occultist. Terminated. Seriel, failure. Extremely powerful, but unstable. Currently at large. Gaden, in progress."

  Omaren turned to Gaden. "They had already gone through four people before your turn arrived, in this building alone. I am glad that I arrived when I did, so as to prevent a fifth."

  "Thank you." Gaden said, again.

  "I'm always happy to ruin their plotting. I can leave you at a town when I pass through. I'll need to find out more about their other locations, anyway."

  "Sorry if asking this is rude, but, if possible, could I go along with you? It's not like I have anything else to go to, and helping destroy these people is a worthy goal."

  "You actually want to stay with me longer than you need to? Very well. Just don't talk too much."

  Omaren drew his sword, and held it, pointed outward. He kicked another hole in the wall, and stepped outside.

  Gaden followed, and suddenly, the blade separated into tens of smaller pieces, which then rearranged to form a small platform, connected to the hilt of the longsword with a glowing line.

  "Step onto the platform." Omaren said. Gaden did so, and the platform configured to have him sit, and then supported him.

  "Hang on." Omaren said, and the flash of electricity the colour of glowing water covered his boots once more.

  Gaden grabbed onto the platform's sides, and Omaren jumped forward. He travelled hundreds of meters in seconds. The platform carrying Gaden oved just as fast, following behind Omaren.

  Gaden almost fell off of the platform, but a few pieces adjusted to stabilize him. Eventually, a town showed in the distance, and Omaren slowed down, stopping.

  Omaren's boots stopped glowing, and he turned to Gaden. "We should walk the rest of the distance on foot. Aether users are memorable."

  Gaden nodded, taking the foreign terminology in stride. The two walked for a while, arriving at the town.

  The guards looked closely at them, but nodded them through, and Omaren and Gaden walked through the town.

  Omaren found an inn, and rented two rooms next to each other. Handing Gaden the key to one, he spoke.

  "You should rest. Having Aether abilities given to you is a difficult experience, one that you cannot ignore even if you have forgotten. I'll sleep as well, and search the town for any information in the morning."

  Omaren entered his own room, and Gaden stood there for a moment, before entering his room.

  He thought about the strange day he had experienced, the only day he remembered experiencing at all. He had apparently been kidnapped, and had tests run on him. Then, he was forcibly given powers, and when they didn't fit what the kidnappers wanted, they had tried to kill him.

  It was a strange experience, having the first person he saw want him dead. They only saw him as nothing more than an experiment, and then a failed weapon.

  Gaden resolved to ensure that the same wouldn't happen to more people than he could save, and, thinking about these things, he fell asleep.