Robin’s fingertips tingled. Perhaps it was psychosomatic; perhaps it was some side effect of interacting with the illusion magic. Whatever it was, between the strange sensation and the excitement of exploring the orrery, he had almost—almost—forgotten he was naked.

Eli had used what he knew of the various lands to direct their efforts, and Robin now had a much more in-depth idea of what the continent he stood on was like, as well as a solid idea of the three others nearest them in orbit around the sun. There were ships and sailors that braved the aethers between lands, and, if Eli were to be believed, vast monsters that swam (flew?) through them as well.

Fortunately the elvish cleric had been focused on the map when a notification sprang up before Robin’s eyes, startling him.

Congratulations! Perk Awarded: [Wayfaring Stranger]

You have beheld the entirety of the world, and seen more lands than most can dream of in their time. A bit of this wonder remains with you always to act as a guiding star.

Effect: You have an unerring sense of direction, as you always know your place in relation to the sun at the centre of Mayaser.

Perk? Similar to a peculiarity, it sounded like, but not one he was able to choose. Maybe it was like a title or an achievement? The phrasing certainly squared with that idea. Well, this one would certainly come in handy.

Robin dismissed the notification. There was so much to learn—to memorise, if he could—of the land he currently stood upon. And the wider world was apparently called Mayaser? Though the map was old, ancient even. He’d asked Eli about the cities the Sisters Sharp had told him about, but even when they managed to pull up a political overlay for the map, the nations and city names didn’t match.

He did manage to get a general idea of where Noviel was likely to be. After all, the landscape hadn’t shifted so drastically that the sorts of places cities often cropped up changed as well. Sentient beings still liked to congregate near rivers, for example. Though magic should probably shift a lot of his expectations and assumptions. If you could conjure fresh water, or teleport, rivers might become less convenient. Though that would depend how common powerful magic was.

Robin’s stomach cramped. He hissed in pain. Wow. That was sharp.

‘Hungry?’ Eli asked, glancing at Robin and the hand he held over his stomach.

‘I dunno,’ Robin answered. ‘Maybe I had too much water? Doesn’t feel like hunger.’ Because this wasn’t at all an embarrassing conversation to have, let alone while naked with a handsome stranger.

‘The clothes should be dry by now. We should probably try to sneak out and forage as much food as we can.’ Eli frowned. ‘The more we can carry, the fewer trips we’ll have to make, the fewer chances Cherry will be able to ambush us.’

Right. The demented dryad. They also needed to figure a way out of this enchanted wood.

Something teased at the back of his mind. A hint of song? He could almost hear the lyrics, whispering at the back of his mind. He frowned.

‘What?’ Eli asked. ‘You have an idea?’

‘Maybe. Not sure. Let me think about it while you get the clothes?’

Eli nodded and slipped out the door. Robin quickly stepped around the pillar and activated the central rune in the Records array. He was sorely tempted by the one marked Greater and Lesser Arcana, but he didn’t have much time and he wasn’t ready to reveal he could read the language. Hopefully the Records would have some information about this place he could use, maybe an instruction manual he could use to figure stuff out before ‘coincidentally’ ‘stumbling’ across it for Eli’s benefit.

A web appeared before him. Some sort of file organisation system? He flicked through it quickly. Checking a few, uh, files?, Robin quickly determined that moving his hands in a clockwise motion spiralled things forward in time, while counter-clockwise did the reverse.

Keeping one ear perked for Eli’s return, he swiftly dialled back as far as he could go. The first few files should have the operations information, maybe a log of why this place was built. If he was lucky.

He was and he was not. He was not lucky enough to find a simple operations manual. There were too many files, and many systems seemed to have one or more technical manuals all their own. He could read the words but he lacked most of the necessary knowledge to really understand what he was reading.

Luckier was finding the research log of the being that headed this outpost. There was a succinct outlay of mission parameters right there at the front! Whatever the people who built this place were like, physically, their minds were very ordered.

As best Robin could decipher without full context, this place was both a border outpost and something like a research station. It sounded like when these people arrived they had no idea if this was all just wilderness or if they’d encounter other sentient or sapient beings. That explained the other stations.

There had to be a search function, but for the life of him, Robin couldn’t find it. The dates were also useless for figuring out how long ago everything happened. He wasn’t at all familiar with the system.

He scanned through several more entries. The captain (as he was calling the person in his mind) detailed the complex problems of supply lines and additional funding, the implications of their early findings for the City of Novarrion—related to Noviel?—and dozens of other, smaller matters of rules and regulations and the like.

Proficiency Unlocked: Bureaucracy. All Mental Proficiencies Unlocked!

Right. That was definitely a useful skill to have in certain situations. Maybe not super useful right now, though.

Robin flicked the notification away, but not before he noticed the similarities between it and the illusory interface the tower used. Both were illusions that conveyed information. Were they related?

He considered it briefly. It didn’t feel like they were the same, for all their similarities. His interface certainly acted like something that was using advanced readings or logistics to quantify something that was more naturally occurring. Like a river had power and force, but you could build a small water wheel and output screen to display how quickly the water was running without taking all the measurements each time you wanted to know.

That would also sort of fit with the way the Sisters Sharp had talked about their abilities. None of them seemed to have an interface, though they, like him, had magic and peculiarities and proficiencies and the like.

For a quick comparison, Robin pulled up his character sheet.

ROBIN PARKER Heritage: Shadeling, Mature Profession: None Tier: 0 (Progress to Tier 1: 88%) Properties

Free Ranks Available: 1 Physical Mental Social Strength: 11 Intelligence: 17 Charisma: 15 Dexterity: 14 Cunning: 19 Manipulation: 13 Fortitude: 11 Resilience: 14 Poise: 15 Proficiencies

Free Ranks Available: 2 Physical (8/9) Mental (9/9) Social (9/9) Athletics: 1 Arcane Lore: 1 Animism: 0 Brawl: 0 Bureaucracy: 0 Deception: 5 Dodge: 4 Concentration: 1 Empathy: 1 Melee Combat: 2 Crafting: 1 Expression: 4 ??? Healing: 0 Gossip: 0 Ranged Combat: 0 Insight: 3 Intimidation: 3 Sleight of Hand: 1 Learning: 1 Persuasion: 3 Stealth: 4 Natural Wisdom: 0 Socialise: 1 Survival: 1 Perception: 4 Streetwise: 0 Peculiarities Blessing of Rhyth Tongue of the Fallen Tower Mark of the Trickster Chronicle of Infinite Visions Perks

Wayfaring Stranger

Huh. His experience bar was a lot higher than it should be. There had been the fight with the ghilded ghourds, sure, but even with the zombie animals and all, that…seemed like a lot of experience.

Then Robin remembered the Perk he had unlocked. Exploring taught a person a lot. Travel broadens one, as it were. Did you also get experience for new, well, experiences? Not just combat? If explorations and discovery also counted, that would explain a lot.

Robin felt a part of himself relax. It also meant the wouldn’t have to rush around like a murderhobo in order to develop his magic. And speaking of magic…Robin glanced over at the Greater and Lesser Arcana panel.

No. Not quite yet. He needed to check a few more of the records. There was a reason this place was abandoned and not dismantled when the research team left. He needed to see if the latest log entries said anything about that. Especially if there was a mention of Cherry.

He’d give his left pinkie for a search function at this point! Maybe. Probably not. Still.

Robin gestured in a clockwise motion and span the log all the way to its last entry. No mention of Cherry, or anything resembling a dryad, though ‘strange occurrences in the surrounding woods’ came up, as did ‘evidence of sorceries unknown’. Then the log just stopped. No discussion of withdrawal, no mention of steadily increasing attacks, nothing. Just. Done.

Ugh. Well, so much for that avenue. He wouldn’t get much more out of this without a lot more time and research. So maybe he should look elsewhere. Maybe somewhere that could teach him more about magic, for example?

He’d just closed the Records interface and taken a few steps over to assuage his curiosity when he heard Eli’s footsteps returning. Curses! Foiled again! Another time.

Robin quickstepped back to the Cartography panel and pulled the map back up. He was, to all appearances, busily trying to memorise nearby terrain features when Eli stepped back in the room wearing his clothes and carrying Robin’s trousers.

‘Clean and dry,’ he said, handing the clothes to Robin.

‘Thank you.’ Robin took them and quickly dressed, hissing as the material tugged at some of his wounds.

There was no sign of his illusory coat, and his improvised sandals were tattered and worn through to near-uselessness. Shoes. One more thing to try and find.

‘I don’t suppose there are any storage rooms in here? Or closets?’ Robin asked. Maybe he could check some of those chests in the room with the bunk beds. This place was abandoned with little notice. Surely there had to be supplies left behind, or something he could use to improvise some better footwear.

‘Ah, yes, I suppose illusory boots wouldn’t do terribly much for protecting your feet, would they?’ Eli mused.

Robin had to force himself not to react. For some reason, Eli knowing he had been using illusion for part of his clothing made him anxious. Why keep so many secrets? He’d used [Lesser Phantasm] in front of the cleric before. It was hardly a secret that he knew a few illusion spells.

But knowledge is power, and Robin held precious few cards here in this strange world. His eyes flicked to the illusory orrery floating over the Cartography panel. This very, very strange world.

‘No, no they don’t,’ he agreed.

‘I do appreciate you were kind enough to join me in the nude,’ Eli said. ‘It always feels odd when only one party is clothed in a situation like this.’

‘You get into situations like this often?’ Robin asked, mostly to cover the rising tide of crimson that threatened to overtake his cheeks.

‘Trapped in a remote location with a stranger and neither of us wearing anything save what we were born with?’ Eli shrugged. ‘Happens more than you’d think.’

‘Especially for a priest in the service of the Deity of Beauty,’ Robin hazarded. ‘I can see it coming up often as part of your devotions.’

Eli laughed, a bright, joyful sound that cut off suddenly.

‘I’m going to need to find materials for my absolution,’ he said, ‘as well as food for us to eat. I need Vané’s favour back. To help heal your wounds as well as for myself. Infection is still a concern.’ He looked a bit conflicted as he said it.

‘Yeah, considering what bit me, I’m not surprised.’ Robin winced as his wounds throbbed again. ‘What does your absolution entail, if I can ask?’

‘I need to create something of beauty. The bigger and more beautiful the better.’ Eli looked pensive.

‘I’d think you just walking around naked would count.’ The words were out before Robin even realised he’d thought the thought.

‘Flattery.’ Eli’s eyes sparkled as he caught Robin’s gaze. ‘You’re too kind.’

‘Truth is truth,’ Robin replied. He’d said it; might as well own it!

Eli laughed and held out a hand to Robin.

‘Come on. Let’s search the place and see what supplies we can find. You need something for your feet, and there’s no point in my scrounging for wood or something like that if I can use what is already here.’

Robin reached out and took Eli’s hand. This was a very, very dangerous man. He was too handsome and too charming by half. Even in his ragged clothes, he looked good enough to eat.

Focus on something else, Robin. Survival first. Maybe do something so there wasn’t quite so much distracting skin involved.

Robin conjured his coat back around him. It settled comfortably on his shoulders, it’s weight still far lighter than he expected, even knowing it was an illusion and only slightly ‘real’.

He left it open at the chest, though, and didn’t bother conjuring a shirt underneath.

No reason to be completely puritanical.