Floating in a space devoid of any detail like an infinite void of white, Nimh drifted. It was a strange sensation which left him feeling exposed. That made no sense because there was nothing here. Just endless emptiness.

Idly, he wondered if he was dreaming, which he quickly realised was a stupid thought. Of course, he was dreaming because he had obviously fallen asleep in the sewers.

Or had he?

Nimh was no stranger to falling asleep. He’d been doing it for all his life. But since his eighth birthday, he had never slept without some awareness of his surroundings. He had been trained to always have his spirit sense active, so even his in deepest of slumbers, he would be awakened if someone drew near.

But he did not feel that awareness now. He couldn’t even feel his spirit at all which made him feel…naked.

With a shiver, Nimh stared into the void. He would not panic.

“Interesting.” A voice made Nimh spin about. But nothing was there.

“Oh, I didn’t think you would hear me.” The voice continued, making Nimh spin again.

“Who is there?” he called, keeping his voice as assertive as he could.

“Oh, you poor thing.” The voice continued, ignoring his question. “Is this your first time in this realm?”

“Realm? What Realm?” Nimh felt himself answer his own question even as he spoke. The Realm of the Mind? The Realm of Thoughtful Heights?

“Interesting, not as slow as most first-timers.” The voice said, almost conversationally. “If you give me your permission; I can get you out of that little…. fragment.”

“Fragment?” Nimh said confused.

“Indeed. It’s a small portion of this Realm you have wrapped yourself in. Common security response for first-timers. Over time you can learn to pierce it, but that can take a long time.”

Nimh thought on that for a moment before voicing his agreement. The moment he acceded, the white void crumbled away and thousands of imagines blurred Nimh’s vision, leaving him temporarily blinded.

The voice chuckled as Nimh shook the daze away.

“You handled that quite well. Between you, me and the Realm, most people keep their fragments up until their minds can safely comprehend this Realm. It can take a lifetime.”

Nimh tracked the voice and found himself before a tall woman, twice his height with a figure that would drop jaws and make men drool. Nimh caught himself before he started staring and took note of what she said.

“Are you saying that was dangerous?” he asked. He thought he had managed to secure his emotions, but a red haze emanated from him, his anger taking form.

“Oh hush.” The woman responded. “If it was too much, you would have just woken up in your Realm. You would have suffered no serious damage. Now shelf your anger before it gets you into trouble you cannot wake up from.”

The open threat made Nimh’s heart grow cold and his anger vanished like smoke on the wind.

“Good.” She continued as if nothing had happened. “Now, who are you, Spirit Invader?”

“You know what I am?” he asked cautiously. He didn’t want to anger this woman.

“You carry the trace. I can see your soul has passed the veil of death and since you are here, you’ve taken another body. That only leaves dream weaver, shaman hunter or spirit invader. No offence, but you are too weak to be the other two.”

Nimh was unsure how to respond to that. “How did I come to be here?”

She shrugged. “It is not so strange to come here, though obtaining mastery is something else entirely. Your body and spirit were probably exhausted, loosening your soul bond.”

Nimh must have looked as confused as he felt because she continued.

“Right, spirit invaders. Advanced enough to conquer the frontier worlds but lacking any insight beyond basic spiritual arts and physical arts. Be at ease, it’s a hard pill to swallow accepting ignorance. Lucky you met me, right?”

Nimh digested those words before responding. “And who, if I may be forward, are you, gracious lady.”

That made the woman boom a laugh that shook Nimh to his bones.

“My name would be enough to shatter your existence. But you can just call me Friend.” She looked at him with curious eyes.

“I see,” Nimh said uncertainly. “It is good to meet you, Friend. I am known as Nimh.”

“A lie,” Friend replied lazily. “But one you tell yourself as well. Very well Nimh, I will accept your deception, but know that lying to me is not a wise decision.”

Nimh nodded and the woman slipped through the space, circling him with eyes that saw more that he could imagine.

“Is this the Realm of Thoughtful Heights?” he asked as he endured her scrutiny.

She snorted. “That is a name for this place, one I haven’t heard in a long time. You have never trained in the cognitive arts, have you?”

“No,” Nimh answered. “What other names does this place have?”

“So concerned with names, yet hiding from your own, curious man.” Her eyes flashed with green and blue as she passed, making his heart skip a beat. “This Realm has more names than there are grains of sand on a beach. But I suspect you are buying time, trying to regain your bearing. Ask what you really want to know.”

“What are you, Friend?” he asked. He felt hypnotised by her, something in him growing frail before her.

“I am a Transcendent. One who is unbound by any Realm, free to pass through them at will. Think of me as a human who has mastered the three arts to such a stage that my old world could no longer contain me and I left it for more interesting adventures.”

“That sounds…far beyond me,” Nimh admitted.

“Perhaps,” Friend said lazily, stopping her circling as she lay backwards. “You have the residue of Mesovaar on you. A world quite far from here. You must have been in the Realm of Spirit for a long time.”

Nimh wanted to ask about that but held his tongue. “You know Mesovaar?” he asked.

“Indeed. One of the first worlds conquered by the spirit invaders. A weak world, perfect for your kind to conquer. I assume you were raised in Mesaar.”

Nimh nodded and she sighed. “From Mesovaar to Uesonerah, quite the change in climate, yes?”

"Is Uesonerah the name of the world I am on?” he asked. Friend shrugged.

“We all have different names for different things. The older the name, the more it sticks. Mesovaar is old, despite being in the outer sphere of the physical realms. Not to mention the Architect took some liking to the place.”

“Architect?” Nimh asked.

Friend rolled her eyes. “You know, I broke you out of that fragment because I thought you might be interesting. But all your doing is asking questions and repeating random words that I say.” She huffed and looked into the distance.

“My apologies.’ Nimh said carefully. “I am trying to catch up. Like you said, dealing with ignorance can be problematic.”

She laughed at that. “Well, I can’t blame you. After all, the cognitive arts rule supreme in this realm and you haven’t even touched upon them. Tell you what Nimh, I will meet you here again. If you can intrigue me, I will teach you some of the cognitive arts. How does that sound?”

“That sounds too good to be true,” Nimh said honestly.

“Oh, it is.” Friend said confidently. “If you disappoint me, then I will destroy your connection to this Realm.

The Realm around Nimh shimmered, not the red anger of before, but a midnight blur streaked with gold. “That seems a bit extreme.” He said keeping his mind focused. “Am I so worthy of your time that you would go so far just because I can’t intrigue you?”

Friend looked at him, eye unreadable. “Would you contend to withstand my will, comprehend my designs, or even resist the force of my passions? No, you are a plebian who knows nothing and is nothing. Your very existence is dust to me, though even dust can inspire curiosity.” She smiled a predatory smile. “Be wary Nimh, disappointing a Transcendent can cause you great disaster.”

With that, Nimh felt a violent pull from the base of his skull. The world around him spun, once again overcoming his ability to comprehend it and his mind became blank.

When Nimh awoke, he felt surprisingly refreshed.

His mental exhaustion was gone and his body vibrated with vital energy. With relish, he stood and stretched, fully expecting his muscles to have seized up as he slept.

To his surprise, he still felt limber, as if his fight had just ended and his body was still ready for action. Frowning, he sent his spirit sense out, feeling Keira as she left the building above.

Either she had left, come back, and was leaving again, or he had only been asleep for seconds. Which was impossible, as he was fully rested.

Putting the inconsistencies of his current predicament aside, Nimh pondered over his conversation with the mysterious Friend he had just met. She terrified him in ways he had never experienced.

And that annoyed him.

He realised his entire day had annoyed him. And what annoyed him most was his own self-doubt. He had not been like this living in Mesaar. Back then, he had been confident and self-assured with his ability to get by.

His doubt likely came from being stripped of his original power, and it burned through him. Just how much of his self-confidence was tied to his power? He had no doubt he could regain, or even exceed his past accomplishments with the physical arts.

So why his doubt?

Well, coming face to face with a Transcendent didn't help.

He didn’t know, but he did know he was greatly ignorant of many things. He needed to fix that, but first and from here on, he decided it was time to act. He had to get out of his own head and start acting the part he had designated for himself.

A conqueror. Maybe even a curious scholar of his new world.

His spirit sense picked up people entering the building, E Ranks from the feel of them. Nimh observed them as they spread out through the building. After an hour of searching, they left and Nimh made his way out of the sewers and into the basement.

“Am I being hunted already?” Nimh wondered out loud. Marcus stirred in Nimh’s spirit and for the second time today, Nimh considered burning the man's spirit. It would do nothing for his advancement, but it would free him of the voyeur.

“Nimh,” Marcus called. “I think you need to start running. Those must have been Stain’s men.”

Idly, Nimh wondered if Marcus had watched them using Nimh’s spirit sense or had developed his own. Maybe Marcus would have some use if that were the case.

“No,” Nimh replied. He was not going to run away, not when there were so many looking for him.

No, this couldn’t be more perfect.