He made it. Tedrick was… stupefied. Was this a dream? Some afterlife?

A laugh came forward that was more felt than heard. It rang clear as a crystal bell through his mind and ears both, wonderfully entertained. The noise made him happy, in a weirdly delirious way.

He didn’t look. He knew, by some instinct, that if he did he saw something so beautiful he’d become obsessed.

As powerful fae were said to cause.

And there was no mistaking it; this was a powerful fae. They emanated a sense of power and grace, of strange, eldritch things words fell short of but the mind couldn’t stray from..

“Ah. I see why they took so long. You got a rookie, then. Didn’t have a good grip on their own strength, and simply cared too much to force you. Lucky you, outsider. A more experienced reaper would have simply tripped you through their Door, or perhaps shattered your will to pieces and walked you through. Poor soul is going to get retrained when they get back,” said the voice with a sad tsk, “So serious, those reapers. Really no fun at all, even when you sever their ties to their Knights. But I guess it’s no surprise you put up a fight. The Administrators don’t pick just anyone for this quest of theirs. And you were clever enough to choose a fae! I’m flattered, really. A humble beginning too. That’s good. If you had chosen too strong a form I’d have to put you in your place. But don’t bet on this luck too often… I’d wager it won’t happen again. Next time they’ll send someone fit for the job. Next time you die you’re going, one way or another.”

Tedrick closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, throat hoarse. The light must have refilled his energy, because it responded fine when he did his best to shape a stone flower from the earth; he was very grateful for their help… But this fae brought him back from the dead. They were powerful, and this was no small favor.

He wasn’t out of hot water yet.

The result was definitely beautiful, definitely very well made… for a rookie.

The unseen figure laughed and walked closer. He could tell by the increase in pressure. “Aww, you clever boy. Using your new gifts so well! It’s sweet. But please make no mistake, this isn’t nearly equal.” A voice whispered in his ear that made him shudder, deeply hypnotic so that he had to struggle to actually understand what they said instead of just embracing the sound and going with whatever it said.

“You owe me.”

Then they were gone. He was in the debt of a Norn. A weaver of individual fates. He knew this somewhere deep within him.

Well… Better than the alternative, he supposed. A few stories came to mind to show that it may well not be the case.

Nothing to be done about it now. He could just get strong enough to make sure when that debt got called he’d be ready to answer.

Speaking of… “Level up…?” He asked, not expecting such things to actually exist. To his surprise, a dark blue screen popped up with a simple white border, displaying:

Points remaining: 30

Tedrick stared blankly at the screen floating in front of him, running through a complex series of emotions. On the one hand, this was extremely helpful, and would do a great deal to guide his future actions. Just knowing weaknesses made a world of difference, nevermind the levels of each ability and what else he hasn’t fiddled with. Ki Illusion, for instance, could be incredibly helpful, and shapeshifting would do wonders to fix whatever little problems he came across in his form. Maybe he could even grow or shrink himself.

On the other hand… Why would these Administrators as they were called, which were by all accounts responsible for bringing him here, NOT TELL HIM ABOUT THIS?! This would have changed everything from the start! Didn’t they want some… quest… something or other?!

Shouldn’t they do their best to prepare the person they’re going through all this effort for?! He looked forward to having a word with these pricks.

Studying the list while trying to ignore his growing mass of bubbling fury, Tedrick began to think over them. “Appraise huh…?” He asked, and about jumped out of his skin when another screen popped up. Forgetting that he lost his axe to the snake, he attempted to toss it at the screen. While this didn’t have the expected result, he did, in fact, create a much smaller axe from scratch and hurl that one.

Staring at his fist as he realized he could actually make stone from nothing, he sighed.

It’s fine. It’s a good thing.

Really.

…This Administrator would regret being born.

He finally looked up at the screen, at the analysis of Advanced Appraise.