A few hours later, the party find themselves entering a huge cavern deep under the ruins. The rocky tunnel opens out into what Treo can only describe as a football stadium-sized cavern, roughly 200 meters diameter and with the ceiling roughly 100 meters above them. In the center of the cavern is what appears to be a large black gem suspended about 10 meters in the air.

: "Other than this huge black gem, what's this huge cavern used for?"

: "I've never heard of anything like this among the history books, have you Muri?"

: Shaking her head as she approaches the gem; "No, nothing. What is it? I can sense...something inside, but I can't get any information from my Analyze."

: "Me either. I've got a few skill points available, so should I max out my Analyze and try?"

: "Just be careful...the magic from your Analyze might trigger something if you're not careful.

Treo nods and puts more points into his Analyze skill and tries to identify the gem. Moments later, a black beam strikes Treo from the gem and the entire party is held in place as he is pulled inside the gem.

: "Hmm...I haven't seen a transmigrator on this world in centuries. I wonder what brought you here."; a deep male-sounding voice said to Treo as his mind is scanned. Moments later, Treo is released and brought back outside the gem alongside the rest of the party.

: Smacking Treo's arm, "I told you to be careful!"

: "What happened?"; she asked worriedly as Cam looked on.

: "I, Morthrul, have found you four worthy of receiving my blessing. It is good to know that in the centuries since I last led this world to peace that the great evil has not re-emerged yet...but it is coming soon...probably within the year."

: Nervously asking; "Erm...w-what are you exactly, Morthrul? All we see is this huge black gem."

: "You can think of me as the god of this world. Not the same god you know from your world, but one that was tasked with the management of this world."

: "Ah, okay. Though you are not my god, I am willing to help those in need. I hope you don't take offense."

: "None taken. Though you and Stormy are not my children, I understand you and will respect your belief in your God of Creation. As for the others...what say you?"

Cam and Muri glance at Treo and the black gem for a few moments in stunned wonder.

: "The god of this world? Erm....What do you require of us, then?"

: "Simply keep fighting evil as you see it in your daily lives. When the time comes to combat the great evil that will threaten the world again, simply call upon the power I'll grant you to defeat it. In the meantime I'd like to call upon Treo as my Paladin, and Stormy as my Cleric. There will be a substantial benefit for both of you and will not interfere with your devotion to your world's God of Creation. Would you answer this calling and help me rid this world of the great Evil?"

Treo and Stormy glance at each other for a moment before smiling, turning to face the black gem and nodding approvingly.

: "As long as you're okay with my heart and soul's commitment to God, I'm okay with being your Paladin."

: "I'm also okay with this."

: "Excellent! Then I'll pave the way for my return to the world, and update everyone's system accordingly."

The black gem begins to pulsate and soon shatters, revealing a white dragon, nearly filling the large cavern. After spreading its wings, a white ring of energy quickly radiates outward and spreads throughout the world within seconds.

Affinity System activated!

Update in progress...

Treo's Status page appears before him, showing the inclusion of a new section of information. Treo notes the changes to his Status page:

Name: Treo Display Name: Treo Level: 4 Display Level: 3 Race: Human Age: 16 Class: Paladin Display Class: Paladin Title: Paladin of Morthrul Display Title: Paladin of Morthrul Body: 50 Attack: 0 Defense: 1200 Mind: 30 Magic: 30 Magic Defense: 1200 Status Condition: Normal Skill Points: 17 Skills: Defend Other (3), Taunt (3), Analyze (10), Translate (1) Spells: Affinity: Fire (1), Water (1), Earth (10), Wind (1), Light (1), Dark (1), Space (10) Display Affinity: Earth

: "Affinity? This is new. Does anyone else see this, or is it just me?"; he asked, looking around at the others.

: "I see it, too! How about you, Muri?"

: "Yeah, same here. I wonder..."

: "The Affinity sub-system had some good and not-so-good things about it, but overall I found it quite a good part of the System. Apparently it was removed from this world after I went into hibernation. There should not have been anyone else on this world except me capable of this level of System access. I must go and investigate what happened during my slumber."

Morthrul spread its wings and magic began to form around him.

: "I'll teleport you all back to the surface and then re-seal this area. I'll leave you with the Oracle skill, an ability to communicate with me telepathically should you find yourself in need of me. Until then, farewell!"

The Dragon completed the spell it was casting and the party saw only white for a brief moment before finding themselves back on the surface, just outside the ruin. The four of them were greeted with another notice from the System:

Oracle skill unlocked

Treo focused on the new Oracle skill entry on his status page and it displayed the following:

Oracle: This skill is granted to those Morthrul the Dragon deemed worthy, allows instant communication to and from Morthrul. WARNING! For emergency usage only! Note: Don't bother me with trifling things and you will keep this skill. I eagerly await your future exploits!

: "Well, now...an emergency hotline like this will prove helpful should we find ourselves in trouble."

: "We should make our way back now and report in. I imagine the Capital is in a frenzy right now about this new world-wide System change."

: "I'll need to head back to the Academy and help them out. I imagine they're quite frantic as well."; she says as she pulls out that palm-sized orb from under her cloak again and begins chanting. A few moments later, a faint magic bubble forms around the four of them and then vanishes. They notice the surroundings have changed slightly and the trees look similar to the trees outside the Capital.

: "Let's go!"; he said as the four of them make their way out of the forest and approaches the gate to the Capital a few hundred meters away.