The night sky overhead brightened. Thunder roared, and rains continued to drown the earth. Apart from the occasional lightning strikes in the distant, the only other light source was emanating from a book with golden pages. Its owner had the book opened between his palms, and he was reciting an incantation. To his side, his partner stood steadfast.

“Is he casting a spell?” Erik asked. He stayed hidden in the shadow. The covering above his head kept him out of the rain. It connected the west wing of the hospital to the old building that was currently being used as a made-shift morgue.

[No]

“Okay. Any idea what he’s –

Before Erik could finish his question, a golden circle enclosed the old building with the priest and nun standing near the edge. Its rosed and converged to form a half-circle. It then vanished, returning the darkness of the night.

Joseph closed the glowing bible and walked through the barrier he had erected. A ripple – golden in colour – appeared at the point of contact. His partner did the same, causing the same kind of golden ripple. They both headed into the old building.

Erik wanted to follow them behind, but he crashed into the invisible barrier. The reaction force flung him backwards and onto the wet pavements. “Ow... What is this?”

[A barrier]

“No shit, Einstein,” Erik growled and pulled himself up.

[…]

“I mean to say Dell,” Erik stated and scolded himself silently. He should had guess it was something of a sort. His hands reached out. His palms pressed against the barrier, causing the golden ripples to appear. It was pushing against his palms. Exerting strength did not make it yield. ‘

“Damn it,” he cursed. “I didn’t expect something like this. How do I get in?”

[Sufficient force will destroy it]

“Wouldn’t that alert them?”

Erik examined the glowing barrier and estimated its radius. He noticed the rain still managed to pass through as if the barrier didn’t exist. He kicked a small rock towards the barrier. It bounced and went on its way to the other side without being hindered. The barrier didn’t even ripple.

“It keeps people out,” Erik theorized and sent a few more rocks to the other side. “No, it probably designed to keep something like me in. Shit! What do I do?”

[We can leave]

“I will call that plan B,” Erik snorted and looked at the old building as lightning flashed. He noticed a little girl with rugged blond hair looking back at him from one of the windows. In her scrawny hands was a block of gold. Darkness came momentarily before lightning flashed again. There was no one at the window.

“Creepy little girl,” Erik said and scanned the ground for anything that could be of use. Anything he found passed through the invisible barrier unhindered. He eventually resorted to himself, using his shoulders and charging momentum to try and breech the barrier.

After a handful of attempts, Erik shook his head and rubbed his shoulder. “I’m going need help.”

The airspace next to him cracked and shattered, creating a fissure large enough for a person to walk through. Purple mists swirled beyond the crack. A waypoint was formed, connecting his inner world to the outer world.

Erik looked at the waypoint thoughtfully. His eyes widened. “It couldn’t be that easy, could it?”

The waypoint was dismissed. He stared at the old building, and to his surprise, the airspace cracked and formed a new waypoint, smaller this time. It was inside the barrier. “Well, I’ll be damned. That works. Guess the barrier doesn’t account for my power, huh.”

Another thought came to his mind. “Hey Dell, what would happen if I were to enter the waypoint?”

[That is the most unwise. If the Headquarter is destroyed, you will be physically trapped]

“Thought so,” Erik said and dismissed the waypoint. Even if he wanted to risk it, there was no way to form two waypoints with just one Headquarter. There was not enough resource to build another. “Is there a way to command my unit remotely? If I could control my units without being there in person – it would be great.”

[You can issue and command any unit still exist in the outside world from within the inner realm]

“Oh,” Erik muttered. He hadn’t tested that. He quickly formed another waypoint and spat out one of his workers – his only Worker.

“What is your command, my Lord?” William asked the moment he emerged into the outside world.

Erik didn’t reply. He closed his eyes and let the abyss filled his vision. Blue illuminance emerged from the darkness, and with it the beautiful lushly grassland and the Headquarter. Another tile appeared adjacent to the first. It was another Grassland tile.

“How do I issue command to William?” Erik asked as a window appeared in front of him, showing the bird-eye view of the old building, the hospital and the surrounding area. William was standing in the dead centre with his HP, MP and SP status bar visible in the bottom panel. Commands were on the right and additional information such as equipment and consumables were on the left.

[You just need to focus on the unit you wish to command]

“Yeah, I got it,” Erik responded as an all-too familiar feeling washed over him. The screen in front of him showed him what his units could see. The greyed-out part of the screen indicated that it was not within his unit’s line of sight. The pitch-black parts of the map implied those areas were waiting to be discovered. “This is really just like a real time strategy game. No… it’s more like a dungeon crawling game!”

Erik moved William around the area with a few gestures and thoughts. William moved like a puppet without question. It even stood in the rain, unconcerned about the wetness. Its health, however, did drop due to “cold” affliction. He quickly had William returned to sheltered region.

“Wonder if I could create a waypoint on this?” Erik questioned. He mentally touched the area next to William. A menu window appeared, showing various command. Creating a waypoint was on the list. “Damn.”

[You can only create one waypoint currently]

“Oh, that’s right,” Erik responded. He already had one opened. He couldn’t open another without building another Headquarter. This was the problem with the system. Many commands and options were hidden and only appears if he met the right prerequisites.

With the waypoint closed, the option to create a waypoint appears on the list of command. He tried and found a waypoint manifested as requested. A smile immediately plastered on his face. With this method, he could stash his physical body inside the inner realm without the fear of being trapped.

There is a catch, however. At least one unit must remain in the outside world. With only one Worker at his disposal, Erik wouldn’t want to risk it. His consciousness returned to his body. He looked at the dark sky, trying to see if there a huge eyeball looking back at him. There obviously wasn’t one.

“My power is a bit of a cheat,” Erik commented and dropped his gaze. Several ideas floated in his mind regarding the overseer ability. “Or maybe everyone’s power is as flexible as mine? Lance could probably do a lot more with his fire power.”

Erik dreaded as he imagined his body combusted spontaneously, reducing to ash with a single gaze from his former best friend. “That’s too OP! How do I defend against something like that?”

[…?]

“Nothing,” Erik dismissed and shook his head and cleared his mind. “I’m just thinking too much. Say Dell, how powerful can a power get?”

[There is no limit]

“Great… to know,” Erik uttered and returned his attention to William and the old building. “All the more reasons to get allies.”

Without anymore delay, Erik returned to the hospital and looked for a place for his body to snooze while his mind preoccupied. He found a spot near the restroom. As soon as he returned to his inner world, he brought up the World-Map and issued William a move command.

William obeyed quickly and entered the old building. Inside, what William could see extended only a few meters from him. Everything else was greyed out or covered in darkness. William traversed the corridor as Erik directed. He stopped when there a couple of red circle in one room. Its interior was greyed out.

“That would be those two, Joseph and Victoria,” Erik muttered. He crept William closer to the door to see and hear what they were doing. Before the unit could listen in on the two, the door exploded into splinters. Chains erupted from within and flexed to one side. It hammered William into the wall and bounded him. A number “10” in red came out of his body and drifted away.

William just lost 10HP.

“Shit!” Erik cursed as he watched Victoria stepped out of the room. One end of the chain came from her sleeves. She no longer had her short red hair hidden away by a veil.

“Who are you?” Victoria asked.

William remained silence. He had no reason to say anything to the woman nor did he struggle to get out of the binding. He was both emotionless and expressionless, waiting for a new command while ignoring his own peril.

“Now, now, that’s no way to treat a person, Victoria,” Joseph said after he stepped out of the room and eyed Victoria. His attire was caked with dirt from the recent brawl with flying clothes. “Please let the poor man go.”

As if it was alive, the chains slowly unbind itself from its William and retreated into Victoria’s sleeves and disappeared. She gave a puff before stepping away and let Joseph handled the situation.

“I apologize for my junior,” Joseph said with a faint smile. “We didn’t expect anyone here.”

William just stood there while Erik chuckled in the inner world. His units were indistinguishable from people – that just opened a bunch of new options.

“Repeat what I say,” Erik said, “and act like you mean it.”

“What just happen? Who are you? Where did that chains come from?” William asked and acted like he would naturally.

“Ah, where are my manners. I am Joseph, and this is Victoria. We are here to exorcize a spirit on the request of the hospital,” Joseph said. “As for what you just saw, it is one of our sacred instrument. It is all I can revealed without approval from the church. Now, may I ask, who are you?”

“I’m William,” William said. He paused. “I was just looking for a place to sleep, and there was no one in this building. Did you say you are here to exorcize a spirit?”

Joseph nodded. “Yes. It is a very tricky one and managed to elude us.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” William asked.

Joseph took a long look at the man called William. He then smiled. “Your expression doesn’t seem to match up with your sincerity.” His eyes changed. “I will ask again. Who – or perhaps more correct to say, what are you?”