Mash woke up and didn’t remember when he passed out. Maybe his inhuman hibernation skill had thought he needed it to heal properly He felt fine now but didn’t move realizing that he was in a different location. The overhang he had been hiding behind was different now. It seemed to have opened, turning into a weird portal. Concentric circles of white light were spaced out by the blackness of the void, and in the center, there was a pure circle of the light. The light seemed infinite and all encompassing, and Mash took an unsteady step backwards. The overhang had been hundreds of feet tall, and this portal filled the entire space.

When a layer of rocks rushed downwards closing the portal, Mash gasped wondering if he had missed an opportunity. Then it quickly opened again, and he realized what he was looking at, as it moved to focus on him. It was an eye, and he instinctively trembled before the creature’s presence. Its gaze pierced him, and he felt insignificant before the creature. Taking another step backwards, he planned to run away, there was no other option. He was stopped as the ground beneath his feet trembled, the creature making a noise to speak to him.

“Stop.”

He was surprised to realize that he could understand the voice. It wasn’t in the common language that everyone spoke. The voice itself, was a deep rumbling sound and Mash felt he understood more than what the creature had said, an image flashing through his mind with the word. Instantly, he understood the significance of the creature. Unlike the snake that sounded all knowing, this creature sounded like it was beyond age, as though it knew it would live through anything. He felt an overwhelming intelligence from the voice, and a surprising amount of benevolence. He somehow understood that his inhumanity skill was making this possible.

“Sit.”

As it spoke and image passed through Mash’s mind, and he understood that it wanted to communicate with him. Refusing didn’t seem like a good option, so he took a seat, crossing his legs like he did when he was a child. Mash didn’t really know what to do after that, but it felt like the creature was waiting for a response. Trying to be respectful, he gave the creature a proper introduction.

“Hello, my name is Mash.”

He realized he didn’t know a better way to introduce himself and made a note to talk to Red about it. Thinking about her, he could feel his worry growing. More than anger or frustration at the betrayal, it was the worry for his friends that was making him tense. After he got his words out, he felt strangely relaxed as the ground rumbled again. The creature was calming him while it was communicating. He didn’t try to resist the influence, knowing that it wouldn’t work anyways.

“Hello, I am the World Carrier.”

His voice came with a series of images, and the name that Mash heard was clearly his own interpretation of the images. Its real name was something else, but it was beyond what he could comprehend or say. Instead, he saw an image of an entire world stuck on the creature’s back, with the creature itself moving the world across the void of space. As it revealed its name, the fear that was filling him drained away, letting him speak more comfortably.

“Where are you going?”

There was along pause before the creature’s response, and he worried that his question was inappropriate. Although, when its response eventually came, he assumed that it must have been thinking. An image flashed into his mind, an object that was impossibly large and floating in space. The space around it frozen, as if time itself had been stopped there. He didn’t understand what he was seeing, but the accompanying word from the creature answered his question.

“It is food. Now, why is one marked by the String of Fate here?”

He got an image of himself. Though his response only prompted more questions from Mash, and he felt compelled to ask them.

“What is the String of Fate? And what do you mean by marked?”

It was another name, that he couldn’t understand. Instead receiving a crude translation from his skill. He couldn’t place what he was talking about, that was until another image passed through his mind. It was the snake from before, the one that had gotten him his current class. It was the response to the second question that surprised him more, instead of a series of images, it gave him a rather complete response, seeming to have picked up most of the nuances of talking with him.

“Your future has been marked, the String can now observe and influence your fate.”

Its statement led Mash to another question.

“Even now? Wait can you stop it?”

His voice was trembling slightly, and he tried to perceive the mark with his mana territory. Obviously, it yielded no responses. Though he felt hopeful as he looked at the World Carrier, its rumbling seeming to be in contemplation. Well, that was the feeling that it gave off.

“I cannot remove it. Our abilities are too contradictory. I can give you my own mark. That should ward off its influence on your fate. Though its observation will linger.”

Mash didn’t know how to respond. Both because of the clarity of his response, and his own weariness. Another mark, from an unknown being could do anything to him. Though the fact that it wasn’t being forced on him, made him more confused. This being was probably better than the snake, but he couldn’t be sure that it was telling the truth. Though, it didn’t really have a reason to lie. It didn’t have a reason to help him either, so he took the risk of asking it.

“Why? I mean what would you gain?”

The ground rumbled, after he asked his question, his voice shaking as the words came out. Mash got the impression of laughter from the creature and felt his shoulders slump as he waited. The creature’s voice sounded amused at it spoke. On the other hand, he was struggling to parse the series of images that flowed through his mind. Processing each of the images, he realized what the creature was saying. Though he wasn’t left ruminating with his own thoughts, the creature cutting into his mind.

“Amusement is all I would gain. Your life is destined for chaos, and I rarely encounter humans. With my mark, I would see your life through your eyes.”

Though it sounded honest, he knew that the creature could easily influence his own mind. The offer seemed too one sided, he couldn’t understand the creature’s motivations. The opportunity to remove the snake’s influence on his future was important though. He didn’t want to be forced into another class, and it sounded like this creature’s mark would free him from its control. He wanted to be free to choose his classes again and hadn’t been able to come up with his own solution. There was obvious risk here, but the chance was too valuable.

He couldn’t bring himself to answer with words, only managing to nod. The creature didn’t change at all to his response, but he could feel its mana entering his body. He thought that it only did it that way to let him observe the process. However, it was pointless, he lost track of the mana as it entered his body. It reminded him of Luke’s techniques, and the mana vanished as it affected something deeper than his physical body. It was a technique that effected his soul, and it was too late for him to back down now.

“What class do you have?”

He asked the question, realizing that his situation couldn’t get any worse. He felt a strange feeling of confusion pass over the creature.

“A class?”

Mash didn’t know how to explain a class. Thinking through how he could even bring it up, the creature stopped him from responding. It was unnecessary, the creature having picked up the information as he thought through it. Learning from his thoughts, it responded a little amazed.

“Yes, I can see it now. It’s like the mark I just placed on you, but far more encompassing. It is melded into every part of your being. The last human who came didn’t have something like this.”

His thoughts swirled in chaos. His whole world was being shaken. If the classes were as in depth as the creature suggested, then how much could he rely on his own mind? Who created them? Who was influencing his mind? When did it start? Those were only the start of the questions that raced through his minds. It was normally a taboo to talk about the personal experiences of classes, but he would talk with the others when he got the chance. In fact, he wanted to talk to his siblings as well. That thought, and the creature’s relaxing influence, helped him calm down.

He had a million questions racing through his mind, but he needed to find the others. Hoping that they were alive, he asked the creature about them.

“I came here with some friends. Are they ok, and can you send me to them?”

The creature sent him an image, it was Red and Jill hiding in a room somewhere. He fell on his back, surprised by how much relief had flooded him. He had been so distracted by all the things in front of him, that he wasn’t prepared to feel the tension suddenly vanish. Feeling the rumbling of the creature’s laughter, he found himself laughing as well. Images flashed again as he received his answer to the other question.

“I cannot take you there, but there are creatures in the forest who can guide you. Seek them out, and they will help you.”

The image that accompanied the words, was a mess of colors and appearances, and he didn’t really know what to expect from the creatures. He could find them though and had other questions he wanted to ask at that moment. With his friends safe, he wanted to learn as much as he could and talked with the creature for almost an hour. However, his worry slowly returned, and he decided he would comeback for the creature in the future. Its mark would let him enter the dungeon, despite any restrictions.

After the discussion, he made his way back towards the forest. He learned a lot and needed to spend time meditating to organize his thoughts. The information through his whole world into chaos. The creature didn’t have a class, and merely learned how to use his mana to do things. Having tried something similar before, he knew that it could work to some degree but never realized how far someone could go. If anything, the classes seemed more like a restriction. They helped in gaining power quickly but limited a person when they got truly powerful. It seemed like they were designed that way. Even with all the information the being had, it was still limited. It couldn’t know everything about his world, and only learned of classes from the mark it placed on Mash.

He did manage to learn a lot on dungeons though. They were not small spaces as he expected, but entire other worlds. The “dungeons” as they were called, were merely pathways between the worlds. The monsters were attracted to the increased mana densities, which explained why cities suffered from more attacks than smaller villages. Wondering about how many people knew, he wanted to check with Red. The other thing he learned was that each dungeon would have someone who set the rules for it. Even his world should have someone who made the rules, the classes were proof of that. It was weird to consider his world a dungeon, but that is what it was.

With all the new information, he didn’t care as much for his vendetta against the nobles, but he didn’t immediately jump the gun again. His talk and the following meditation having done much to clear his mind. For now, he had two goals in mind, the first was to find a way to free himself from the limitations of classes. The other was to meet with whomever made them, which might provide the solution to the first. Neither changed his next steps though, and that was to get his friends and get out.