“Wait, are you serious? You spent half a million credits on a wand? That would have been 2 million bucks in 2020 dollars! And you don’t even now how to use it? Why? I mean, just...why?”

Eric sighed. “Care to guess how many opportunities I had to actually train with anyone? Anyone that wasn’t already in someone else’s pocket, following orders direct or implied to teach no wildcard like me who wasn’t already doomed to a substandard class, or already in someone else’s pocket?”

Sam winced. “Shit. Didn’t think of that.”

Eric nodded. “Trust me, the idea of fair play is just bullshit the System advocates sell to the noobs, to pacify the masses. Probably the one commonality all politicians in all worlds everywhere have in common. Steal from the poor and give to the rich so gracefully that the poor rubes say thank you, and couldn’t imagine a fairer system than the one they’re forced to live in.”

Samuel smirked. “In other words, the deck’s totally stacked against us.”

Eric nodded. “And we should just be thankful were allowed to even pretend it’s a fair game as the House always takes its massive cut… as opposed to just gunning us all down and taking every credit they can off our twitching corpses.”

Sam locked gazes with a cynically smiling Eric. “That’s pretty dark, even for you.”

“True. But since my idealism was seared away in an orc fire pit, I assume everyone’s playing dirty pool until I see evidence otherwise. But one truth remains. Gold and credits are king. If you have the capital, you can sway even this game to give you a fair shake. And if that means I spent millions of credits on wands, both absolute top quality standard models, and those with their own crystal charge packs... all on the off chance that I might actually find a tutor before I was forced to flee Freetown, which I didn’t, or, failing that, have the best chance of learning how to use these wands in my own if all else failed, then so be it.”

Eric smiled fondly at the sleek ruby-tipped obsidian wand now in his hand. “And it’s a good thing I did get these top of the line babies. Because if there’s anywhere that I might have even a chance of learning to manipulate fire, at least, then it’s a pocket dimension so aligned of the element of flame that peaches radiating fiery spiritual energy are on every single tree of the forest less than fifty yards away.”

Sam grinned. “You know what? That actually makes sense. And if you actually figure out how to use it...”

Eric smirked. “Then the two years of my life I was stupid enough to waste forging a blood-link to an artifact I had no business messing with won’t be completely wasted.”

Sam paled at those words. “Wait, are you serious?” His eyes practically bulged and he stumbled off his stool, nearly scalding himself in the fire when Eric summoned his blaster rifle in the blink of an eye. “Jeezus! What the hell is that thing!” He frowned thoughtfully when Eric chuckled. “Shit. That looks a hell of a lot like an M107.”

Eric smirked. “I was thinking TAC-50. But it does look an awful like an anti-material rifle, doesn’t it? Sure as shit, it will shoot a stream of superheated plasma that can sear a three inch wide hole completely through those porkers, and explode a skull like a sledgehammer hitting a watermelon. If I wasn’t wearing armor hyper-infused with the Essence of flame, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. It was pretty fucking close, anyway. He almost burned through. And if this weapon hadn’t been just a bit too heavy and bulky for even the near level 30 Goblin assassin who probably normally used it from a sniper’s rest with a bipod attachment, then sure as shit, I’d be dead.”

Eric smiled fondly at his instrument of death. “Right now, it has about 130 charges left. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to get any more, but I now sense how it works just as well as I do the summoning sigils we used. Of course, learning necromancy feels as natural as breathing to me for some bizarre reason, but figuring out how arcane crap works gave me nothing but a headache. Until suddenly I poured so much of myself into soul-linking this artifact that all the infinitely complex sigils and arcane circuit-board like components suddenly made perfect sense.”

Eric chuckled ruefully, shaking his head. “It was a rush like you wouldn’t believe, but I paid a steep fucking price for the flashes of insight. On the plus side, since it is heat-based, I think this will serve as the missing link to understanding that wand. Especially if I take the next step and soul-link the wand to me, just like I did the blaster.” Eric glared down at his wand. “Let’s just hope that my hunch is right, and that linking the wand to my soul doesn’t also cost me all my level 9 experience points and another 2 fucking years of my life.”

Sam blinked. “Steep price, my friend. But, shit, if you can summon a tactical rifle, even if it’s a magical blaster, in the blink of an eye… Shit, talk about a sweet ace in the hole! Wait, you lost a level too?”

Eric smirked. “Experience I already regained killing another just a couple of Spirit Boar. Only needed two to fill up, actually. The rest went to my core saturation.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Actually it’s the upper Dantian. Different and distinct from the Lower Dantian referred to in your cultivation manual. Which is a good thing, since I get the feeling that Classes and cultivation don’t always play well together. But if you’re gifted and know what the hell your doing, well, I’m hoping they can be used to enhance one another.”

Sam whistled. “Wouldn’t that be something. God knows we’ve done our best to figure out that manual, even if it’s a little bit beyond us.”

Eric snorted. “And for all we know, a good teacher is all it would take for us both to be safely on the cultivator’s path. Guess what this world lacks, in addition to decent System teachers?”

“Any cultivating gurus. Of course. Can’t risk the natives getting uppity and forgetting their place before we strip Earth bare of all it’s wealth,” said a suddenly cynical Sam.

Eric grinned. “Damn right. Which is why we gotta slam our heads against that cultivation manual until it finally clicks, because what fucking choice do we have? Best of all, you’re not forced to risk your life figuring out that manual like I will be, trying to master this wand. And any breakthrough we make might end up benefiting a hell of a lot more people than just ourselves.”

Sam nodded. “And that’s why my grandfather’s risking so much for that heritage library. Even if he’s forced to reveal who, and what, he really is. Because it isn’t just about him. The days of necromancers slowly gathering power from the shadows is long past. Now?” The boy chuckled. “Now we’re in the exquisitely odd position of having to take the stage, front and center, and serve as humanity’s light, for all that the shadows normally favor us.”

Eric grinned. “One bit of advice my former mentor gave that actually makes sense is that training, degrees, and cultural expectations are all well and good, but you never know who will answer destiny’s call when push comes to shove and cataclysmic events are breathing down everyone’s neck. You might find salvation from the most unexpected places, even as so called heroes and the champions everyone was counting on crumble and fall. And if that means we’re led, in part, by a centuries old lich… who better to light the way than someone who values knowledge with the experience of centuries leading the charge?”

Sam grinned. “That’s what I like about you, Eric. You’re open-minded. You look at the bigger picture, and you still care about goofball idiots like myself who don’t even have a class...”

“But do have some epic necromancy experience. And there’s no one else I’d rather have for a tutor.”

Sam winced, “Yeah, but Eric...”

Eric crossed his arms and shook his head. “You’re my teacher, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He then winked. “Because as soon as I figure out this wand, you know I’m returning the favor. And I meant what I said. Show me the basic sigils we have to put on our target once we put it in the circle, and I’ll handle all the risks and channeling. You don’t even have to be in the chamber.”

He quickly raised his hand to forestall any further protests. “And don’t worry about me hurting myself. Remember, since I’m a Classer with a Vitality way above 20, I actually have limited regeneration, so I’m not too worried about injuries or trauma. Furthermore, I’m going to keep my promise. I’ll only inject the potency of one kill into the summoning at a time, unless and until you show me how to load multiple potencies, just like the charges to my Mark II Deathblaze.”

Sam blinked at that, then smirked. “Mark II Deathblaze? That’s what you’re calling your Nova Wars blaster rifle?”

Eric smirked. “System, not me, buddy. And as long as I get to use it, the System can call it whatever it likes.”

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, that makes sense.” He gazed at Eric thoughtfully, before slowly nodding. “Alright, deal. I’ll show you the sigils you need to properly infuse one of those tuskers into a hell of a lot more than your typical zombie. Since this is you we’re talking about, let’s go all out! A proper revenant! In return, I’m counting on you to figure out how to use that fire wand without killing yourself… and if you can, teach me how to use it as well.”

Eric grinned. “Deal,” he said, giving Sam’s hand a firm shake. “Now how about we get some shut-eye? I get the feeling tomorrow’s going to be an exciting day!”