Back in my room at the Temple of Devotion, I spent an hour in deep concentration working on the Neuma around the curse. Slowly but surely, I withdrew the flow of energy that seemed to feed its development.

By the time Esbeth arrived, I had made the tendril of Neuma far thinner. Even more promising, was that it now took longer to increase back to its original volume. Which, hopefully, would give me precious time to come up with a successful countermeasure. I felt like I needed to sever the connection to the curse altogether, but right now that just seemed impossible.

Looking up to Esbeth who had waited patiently for me to collect myself, I smiled.

“I can only apologise about Kalia and her brother. There are so few people willing to take the path of the Neuma, preferring to trust in the gods. I was unaware of their practices, but rest assured, there have been Neuma Masters throughout history who have attained power to rival the gods themselves.”

“Well, that’s not ever gonna be those two dipshits,” I remarked.

Her lip curled in a slight smile. “The Mother of our Temple is familiar with the Neuma Master, Natom Hilgresh. He is currently one of the strongest people alive. If anyone can truly help you, it will be him.”

“Great, where’s he at then? I need to get going.”

“I mentioned before. He is somewhere in the Kingdom of Knuntang.

“Somewhere? That’s kinda vague.”

“He is hunted by many,” she said with a sigh. “I suppose you wouldn’t know. Neuma masters are considered extremely dangerous. The followers of many of our gods encourage their deaths. Justice and Peace for the light pantheon and for the Dark pantheon, Destruction, Desolation and War. The God of Darkness and his opposite of Light are indifferent. Only Death, and Devotion welcome them. If you travel to the capital of Knuntang, in Faray, they should be able to provide information on his whereabouts.”

“Cool, I’ll do that then. Is that all the gods there are?” I asked, intrigued by the information dump she’d given me.

“It is, yes. Each deity has an opposing deity to counterbalance their power. With Creation between them all. Though since Creation’s disappearance many years ago, Destruction has caused a great deal of trouble across Falritas. Justice, despite their faults have worked hard to….”

“Woah, woah! Hold the goddamn phone. What did you just say?” I interrupted. Hoping I’d misheard her words.

“That Destruction’s followers are causing many difficulties across the land?”

“Yeah, got that. But what did you call this land?” I asked, staring at her intently, as I tried to not start connecting dots on the fucked up dot to dot picture forming in my head.

“Falritas,” she said, concerned by my reaction. “Clive, what’s wrong?”

My heart skipped a beat, and I took a moment to think, before continuing. “In my world, my mentor. He owned the restaurant I worked in. He called the place Falritas! The demons, with the cursed knife, were looking for a recipe belonging to him. That’s why they came after me. The lying bastard was from here, wasn’t he? I always thought there was something weird about him.”

Esbeth looked perturbed. “It does sound likely that he came from here. I wonder how he managed to pass through a portal. Also…” she said, casting a curious eye on me, “Do you think we are weird here, Clive?”

“Ah! No. Apart from the demons, you’ve all been brilliant to us. Perhaps I should have said there was something different about him. Damn it, I’d love to ask him some questions right about now.”

“Maybe he’ll reappear one day,” she replied hopefully. I smiled at her.

“Maybe. I wonder how he got messed up in all this,” I said thoughtfully. “I wonder if he had anything to do with the God of Creation. Maybe it’s why he disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Yeah. Apparently, he died, but no body was ever found. There was some blood in his house, and he was just gone. Never to be seen again.”

“That’s very strange. Perhaps he found a way back here? For now, I recommend you focus on finding Natom Hilgresh, then maybe you could look for your master.”

“God, no. That crazy old coot wasn’t my master. He taught me to cook by screaming his head off at me every five minutes. I don’t even know why I put up with him for so long. Come to think of it, I’ve no idea why I liked him at all. But I did. Odd isn’t it.”

Thoughts of Hakan sent my mind swirling in reminiscence. It was a struggle to get back on track. “So this Hilgresh guy, he’s, okay?”

“The Mother said he was… difficult, eccentric even, but if you are destined to follow the path of your Neuma, then he’s the one you must speak to.”

“Point me in the right direction, then. Can you get guides and stuff around here?”

“Not really guides, but there are adventurers who travel between towns and cities looking for work. You may consider approaching one of those. They may even be of assistance with getting you outfitted for the journey.

Our temple here is not wealthy, so unfortunately, we cannot provide you with much.” She paused for a moment, appearing to mull over something. Her voice was almost meek when she continued.

“If you are desperate, I do have some money put aside. I would help you if it means you are safe.”

My heart beat a little faster at her offer of aid. That she’d put her hand in her own pocket to help me, a stranger. I already thought she was beautiful, but this gesture put her over the top in my estimation.

“Priestess. That’s unbelievably kind of you, but my friends and I came across a little money on our way here. Hopefully, we can leave a contribution to the temple of our own. It won’t be much as we’ll be journeying into unknown lands and we need gear, but we will offer something for everything you’ve already given us.”

She spoke quietly, so even Meria couldn’t hear. “Keep it. The financial overseer in any Temple of Devotion works directly for the main administration center in Baering. They take everything above a certain threshold back there and we never see it again, despite… promises. I will let the mother know of your kind and generous offer, though. Now, go and find your friends. Once you are outfitted and ready to travel, the Mother will see you.”

“You’re taking me to meet your Mother already, huh?” I grinned.

Elsbeth blushed, then acted like I hadn’t just teased her.

“She will be able to give you more instruction on how to find Natom Hilgresh.”

“Thanks, Priestess Elsbeth, you’ve saved me and my friends, and given me a chance to survive this curse,” I said intentionally using her first name. It was enough to make her look uncomfortable, her cheeks flushing again.

“I, don’t know what’s required of you as a Priestess, but once I’m healed and return here, I’d love to take you out to dinner?” Now her full face blossomed with color.

She stood up hastily. “Meria will guide you to the mother when you are ready, Clive,” she said quickly as she made for the door. “And good luck on your quest.”

Then she bolted, leaving me sitting there on the edge of the bed feeling like a right tit.

I sighed inwardly, Nothing ventured nothing gained. On the plus side, I’d be leaving here very soon. I’d lost nothing by chancing my luck.

I still felt like a tit.

I left the temple shortly after and aimed for the centre of the town, in the direction my friends had headed. The sights and sounds of Laurel helped divert my mind from replaying the events of my ill-fated attempt at romance.

It was a cool place and I’d have definitely made my way back here, if that last conversation had gone differently. Now I hoped there were other towns and cities that felt as peaceful and positive as here, while we worked out how to get back home.

I walked for a good while around the streets. Lost deep in my own thoughts. When I heard Mal’s voice.

“Oi, oi saveloy. What’re you doing round these parts? The trading districts half a mile that way,” he laughed, pointing behind him.

Turning to face them, I grinned, happy to be reunited. I noticed Daz now had a long sword attached to his hip hanging down to his ankle. His head and half his face was covered by a bulky iron helmet. He completed the ensemble with a rusty chest plate.

They didn’t exactly go with his jeans and trainers, nor his general demeanor if I was being honest. I fought hard not to laugh as the sword scabbard clipped his heel and he stumbled a little. Mal and Joel both looked exactly as I’d left them. Wrapped in the demon ninja robes, Mal suited them, smoothly closing the distance like a cat. Joel didn’t quite pull off the look as well. The combination of his broad shoulders, beer belly and unkempt beard, and energetic walk made him look more akin to a barbarian.

“Well, I’m glad you guys found me. I was in a world of my own there. Bit stupid, really, considering how life’s shaping up these days,” I replied.

“It seems safe enough everywhere we’ve been,” Mal said. “The more I see, the more I want to stay.” I noticed Joel’s expression sour a little at the statement. I didn’t have a clue what Daz was thinking with the stupid helmet on.

“Come on, Clive. Let’s show you the sights. I think we’ve scouted most of the best shops out now. You have any luck with the arm?” He asked.

“I managed to slow its progression for a longer period of time. I figured out that the curse works by converting my Neuma into that of a demon’s. I’m going to need regular pit stops to work on keeping it at bay.

The priestess seems to think that not all Neuma masters are going to be as useless as those two. The one we’re going to travel to see is apparently pretty powerful. She also suggested recruiting an adventurer to guide us.”

Daz jumped in. “Hey! We saw a bar. We were gonna check it out, but thought we’d wait for you. It had a sign saying adventurers 15% discount.”

“That’s a stroke of luck, right?” Joel chuckled. “Seems like the perfect place to find us an adventurer!”

“It is. Assuming we can afford one. It’ll increase our survivability too,” I replied.

“Seems like they’d be good to learn from, too,” Joel added. There was a round of agreement at that. We needed all the help we could get.

“So, did anyone see anything I might like? Actually, scratch that. If you helped Daz pick his stuff, I should probably go it alone.”

“What’s wrong with my stuff?” Daz asked. His outraged voice hitting a higher pitch than I expected.

I shook my head. “Dude. You can barely walk with the sword for a start. Did you pick the biggest one in the town?” I asked. I could read his expression, and yes, he did pick the biggest sword he could find.

“And you guys let him?” I asked feeling a little annoyed with them.

“I’m not his fucking mother Clive,” Mal said flatly. “If Daz wants to finally swing a big weapon about, then who am I to stop him?” He started grinning as he spoke. As were Joel and me. Daz, I think, just looked sullen and didn’t reply.

“I thought we were looking at fitting into a class? You were supposed to be the bloody healer Daz. Now you’ve decided you wanted to be a tank?”

He spun round on me, and I was surprised to see genuine anger in his eyes. “This is not a fucking game though, Clive. I just want to survive. That’s all.” He turned away, but I heard him mutter. “You bunch of wankers.” As he did.

“Daz. I’m sorry, mate. I understand why you picked what you did, but maybe we should have talked it through a little more. I mean doesn’t that sword have a strength requirement?”

“Yeah. It’s 12,” he sulked.

“And you are?”

“I don’t bloody know, do I Clive? I haven’t leveled up yet to check, have I?”

“Well, I’m not being funny mate, but I’m at twelve strength, and without wanting to sound rude, I don’t think you ‘re as strong as me.”

Daz while close to six-foot, had a pot belly and very little upper body strength. His rounded, hunched over shoulders didn’t exactly inspire confidence in his physicality. He could hold a remote control of any description like a fucking boss, though. Of that, there was no doubt.

“Thanks for trying to make me feel better about myself. I really appreciate the effort,” he replied sarcastically.

“It’s not about that, man. I just want us all to survive. If you’re gonna use it as your main weapon, then at least get some solid practice in.”

“Duh, of course I’m going to,” he snapped at me. He was obviously very sensitive on the subject, so I decided to leave it there with Daz, turning back to the others.

“So, what did you guys get. I assume you ‘re storing it all in your robes?”

“Yup. There were no clothes that came close to being as good as these, Shinobi Shozoku,” Joel said. “I would’ve liked more armor, but it was all too heavy and cumbersome. It was pretty damn expensive, too. For what it was. I’m aiming to focus on speed and movement for now, so I got a short sword,” he said pulling a far more sensible looking sword from his robes. “And a knife.” He said flashing that at me next. That’s all I got so far.

“They seem like solid choices, Joel. I only know of games, but dual wield is supposed to be tough to master. Would a shield not have been better?”

“Yup. But I couldn’t afford one, and having a dagger in my off hand is better than air.

I laughed. “Yeah, I’d have to agree. Didn’t you already have a dagger though?”

“Yeah, I did a part exchange. That dagger plus cash. Otherwise it would have been solo short sword.

“How much is all this stuff?” I asked.

“Think in silvers rather than bronze rips,” Mal said.

“Ah, not cheap then.”

“No. We had limited ourselves to a few silvers each. So we had a bit of money for other stuff.”

“What did you get?”

“Knives, and a crossbow. I can have the crossbow loaded in inventory, so I get one free shot, which I like the sound of. The knives can be thrown, too. At the minute, I’m more focusing on how I’d work with Boris. He can, and will reach an enemy far quicker than me because he’s a crazy bastard when his blood’s up. I need to make sure I can keep him alive from range.”

I nodded impressed with his thinking. Having a ranged member of our group was a good idea.

“You any good with ranged weapons?” I asked.

Mal shrugged. “Dunno. Never used one before so I’ll assume not. I figured I shouldn’t concern myself with what I can’t do, but rather on what I want to be able to do.”

“Well said mate. The only thing I can think I’d be any good with are kitchen knives! With the amount of experience I’ve had with them, I should be able to do a bit of damage,” I laughed.

“Great idea!” Daz said from my side, quickly rejoining the conversation.

“Then if our enemies decide to lie down on a table in front of you, you can finely dice them.” He seemed happy with his insult, and I was content to let him have his little victory.

“Nice one Daz, but even so, I think I’d quite like a good quality cleaver in my hand. I know how to hold it and deliver a good blow.”

“Might as well get yourself a good quality frying pan for a shield, too,” he sniggered.

“It’s not a bad idea. I reckon I could fuck somebody’s day up nicely with a cast-iron skillet. Before I buy anything, though. I want to go to this bar and find an adventurer willing to take us to the Knuntang. We at least need to know how much it’ll cost. Then I’ll know how much I can spend on gear. Who knows, they might even have some advice on what to choose.”