Chapter 52: Chapter 52 – The First Boundary

Chapter 52 - The First Boundary

It turned out that the ‘Tit-Faced Box Thumper’, as Jax had named it, only dropped a Grand Rank Two, which was too powerful for either Jax or me and a bit weak for Hess. She was not totally positive about it, however, Hess was of the opinion that it would have come out better had we decided not to eat some of it first. Apparently, it was something of a superstition, amongst Questers, that Gems reduce in quality if parts of the kill are missing. Probably made up by someone who was justifiably upset over the prospect of being made to eat random monsters, I assumed. In any case, there was no way to test the hypothesis without a second Thumper, and thankfully, they seemed to be in short supply.

So, with our bellies full of bland lizard meat, we made light conversation while Jax and I filled our Cores with my dwindling supply of Minor Rank Ones. Surprisingly, despite the fact that consuming Gems was so pleasant for her, Jax did not take the opportunity to make a move. But then, she was rather sensitive to my moods, and we had been through a lot that day. My newest skill was maxed out, we were all exhausted, and frankly, I was still feeling well-used from the many times we had already fooled around. Instead, she simply snuggled close to me and rested her head atop my chest, listening to me breathe as I stared up at the shifting leaves, really only patches of darkness flickering past the stars above.

“Is it really okay to be out in the open like this, what with those beetles out there?” I asked, not really directing the question at anyone. “Now that we’ve taken out that lizard?”

“Hard to say,” Hess replied from somewhere off to my left. “I don’t know if they stayed away from fear or if there was a domain at work.”

“I nay think it were a domain,” Jax put in, sleepily. “Yon beast could come and go as it pleased, well enough.”

“True,” Hess replied. “But there are many kinds of domains. As I understand it, some can forbid certain things but not others and sometimes only in one direction. There are people that can tell, you know, if they pick the skills for it. I’ve met a few who can read the signs or just feel it in different ways. It can be quite helpful.”

“I’ll bet,” I agreed absently. It certainly would be, too. Perhaps, one day, I might even fall in with some people with things like that. It would be a sight better than the rummage sale of a party I was currently running with, anyway. We got by, for sure, but we were hardly a well-oiled machine.

On the other hand, I did have a warm length of softness plastered to my side at the moment. So there were upsides.

“I think I’ll keep watch for a while,” Hess offered. “Just in case. You two go ahead and sleep.”

She did not have to ask twice.

---

When I became aware, I was standing in the middle of a room. I had no recollection of arriving there, or coming awake, or anything like that. I was just aware and in a room, where before I was not.

The walls were papered with a cheap-looking, yet pleasant wildlife pattern that you might find in an old gentleman’s club. The kind where men went to smoke cigars and drink whiskey and escape from their wives. Not the other kind. Meanwhile, the ceiling was the popcorn acoustic affair that was so emblematic of residential homes some years ago, and the flooring was made up of well-polished, if slightly warped, dark wood paneling.

From the furnishings, the room would best be described as homey. Lived-in, I suppose you would say.

There was a couch, striped in random widths and mismatched colors, positioned in front of a decently sized television, with a still-steaming cup of tea sitting on the worn coffee table between them. The T.V. was off, though, and I could not see where the remote might be.

Typical.

Otherwise, besides the couch, there was a standing artisan’s desk that an architect or some such might use and a comfortable looking recliner with black and white geometric patterns positioned next to a lightly stained wooden bookshelf. Curiously, the bookshelf only contained a single book. I left it alone.

Altogether, the room looked to have been put together by an individual who cared a great deal for comfort and practicality over… taste. To be sure, each individual piece in the room looked nice enough. It was just when you put them together… Well, that couch with that chair? And then the wallpaper? Hells, the bookshelf was a different color of wood than the floor! It was jarring, to say the least. That said, there was certainly a theme.

Bachelor. Decided and permanent bachelor.

Except for the tea cup, of course. That, somehow, still managed to look out of place. It was a small and delicate thing. Dainty and floral. The kind of thing that I would never use, if only for fear of breaking it.

Glancing over at the desk, I could tell that it had seen almost constant use. Besides the multitude of smudges and stains all over it, there were rulers, large draft crayons, bottles of ink in various fill levels and colors, and several rolled up sheafs of paper all cluttered and piled up next to one another. Besides that, there was an old CB radio set to one side that looked to have been smashed with a baseball bat. And from the wiring and the speaker carefully set to one side, it seemed to be in the process of being repaired.

The current project, held in place by a few mismatched paperweights, was being conducted on another of the oversized pieces of paper. From the faint grid lines, not quite fully erased, it was as yet unfinished. However, there was a blue rectangle, filled in with crayon, and someone was in the process of free-handing a message in the center of it with very precise, professional lettering.

Hmm… Congratulations, yada yada…

I could not be bothered with the rest, as it seemed like a preliminary design for a greeting card, although it was rather plain. But then, it was clearly unfinished. So, I decided to withhold judgment.

Curiously, just underneath the paper, there was a thick piece of cardboard held in place at the top with some masking tape. I thought, at first, that it was to prevent ink from bleeding through to the desk. However, when I lifted the bottom edge to look underneath — and I could not say why I thought to do so — there was a sizable hole in the middle of the desk.

But the hole was… empty. There was nothing there. There was no bottom of the desk, no floor. Nothing. Not even the blackness of space. Even when I reached my hand underneath and waved it around, I saw nothing. I could not even begin to describe it. Stranger still, when I squatted down to look from the other side, there was no hole.

Now that I saw a clear need for the cardboard, I carefully replaced it, and lightly smoothed the paper back into place. It would not do to disturb another person’s work.

Seeing no other reason to stay there, I turned and made for the exit. It was a simple, white interior door with a handle latch that turned and opened silently, barely disturbing the air. The hallway beyond it extended a short way to a set of double doors on the far side. Meanwhile, there were two other smaller ones set in each wall, all closed.

The wood paneling continued into the hallway, although there was a long and well-trodden rug that had been unrolled over top of it. It had been green at one point. The wallpaper had stopped at the door, and now the walls were a simple, painted off-white with a number of framed smallish paintings placed at odd and haphazard intervals. They were all familiar, too. I knew each of these paintings, though I could not recall their titles nor who might have painted them.

One interesting example was late-Romantic affair set high on the right wall. It depicted a storm at sea and a ship on the verge of sinking. The main focus of the painting, however, was of a half-stripped man being gleefully dragged under the waves as he was passionately embraced by a nude woman. It was rather lurid, actually, and though I liked it, I would not feel comfortable keeping it in my house.

What would people think?

Taking a closer look, I decided that they must have been prints, and dismissing them as simple decoration, I paid them no other mind.

Opening the door to the left, for no particular reason, I discovered a lovely little greenhouse. The glass surrounding the room was frosted, so as to obscure the view from anyone who might peer in. However, it was dark outside at the moment, so there was nothing to see, anyway.

The room itself was home to a number of bonsai trees of various sizes and description, as well as several unused decorative pots, clippers, and other miscellaneous odds and ends for gardening. Some of the trees were on little wooden tables, others on shelves, and still others were resting on the floor. Although, those seemed to be having something of a root problem, as they had spilled over the edges of their pots and were now creeping down and through the floorboards.

Each of them had a little brass label set into the pot, as if the gardener had decided to name them. And they had very strange names, like those you might give a race horse. By far, the largest of them was positioned in the center of the room. It even had a couple of large branches extending off of it, and they also had labels, attached like little sign boards swinging below them.

It was cute in a quaint sort of way. Clearly, a lot of care had been put into this room.

Glancing around, I discovered a watering can off to one side, and as the trees seemed to be rather dry at the moment, I figured that I would help out the, as yet, missing owner of this place. Starting with a couple of the newest additions, as I knew that fresh plantings were always the thirstiest, I moved around the room until I came to one of the larger specimens. However, after watering that one, the can ran out, and there did not seem to be anywhere to refill it from.

How unfortunate.

I had barely gotten to a third of them. Setting the can down where I had found it, I set off in search of a restroom or some such, resolving to return once I had found some water.

The doorway on the other side of the hall, however, was not the bathroom I had been expecting. That portal opened to something that looked like a science experiment right out of a steampunk setting. It was a large room, undecorated and unfurnished save for a pair of pedestals.

The first, situated in the center of the room, was about waist height, and featured a number of brass pipes, seemingly random and unlabeled valves, and needle indicators. What it was all meant to measure, I could not say, however atop the pedestal was a glowing ball, kept in hovering suspension just a few inches above it. Interestingly, the brightness of it seemed to be relative to my presence, as it began to shine brilliantly the closer I approached it.

I could not say why, but I had the impression that it was happy I was there.

The second pedestal looked to be in the process of being constructed, as there were several tubes and dials on the floor next to it and an open toolbox off to one side. For a moment, I considered trying to help out, but then I realized that I did not have the faintest idea what to do. So I left it alone.

Glancing about, there did not seem to be anything else of interest in the room, so with a shrug I turned about to leave. However, as I made my way to the door, the little glowing ball seemed to warble plaintively, as if it were disappointed that I was leaving so soon. Smiling, I paced back to it and gently stroked my fingers over its top as if I were petting a puppy. It fairly trilled with the attention.

Alright, little thing. I need to go find some water now. Behave yourself!

Exiting the room, I turned right and went to the double doors at the end of the hall. These were a bit fancier than the rest. Made of a natural, dark wood, they were polished to a shine and set with a pair of reflective brass latch-knobs set in opposition to one another. Grasping the right-hand knob, I twisted it open to reveal a dark room, unlit save for a single lamp set directly over a small table. Carefully approaching, so as not to trip over anything unseen, I found the light directed at a large open book.

And most curiously, words were appearing there. Watching closely, as the final bit of space was filled in, the page turned of its own accord, and the writing continued unperturbed and uninterrupted. Stranger still, the words there seemed to be describing everything that was happening as they were happening.

From my own point of view.

However, this was clearly not my handwriting. I honestly could not make heads or tails of it.

Curious now, I flipped to the beginning of the book. The text there began with ‘Below me spread a vast world of oceans…’ and it continued, as if a narrative about my life in some sort of fantasy world.

Bemused, I returned to the current page, which had since updated with my activities of the last few moments.

However, there, the narrative changed. It was as if there now appeared a message. Just for me. It read:

Sometimes, what defines us is not the paths we take, nor the people we meet, nor even the decisions we have made. Sometimes, what defines us are the paths NOT taken. In this life, for all that you are, what are you not?

After that, the writing continued, detailing my thoughts as I considered the question.

Blinking a few times in confusion at this turn of events, the book then directed me to look to the side where I might find an old-fashioned quill and ink, faintly illuminated at the edge of the light. And indeed, there it was. I was not certain if it had always been there, unnoticed, or if it had appeared just now. In any case, I understood now. I was supposed to write my reply.

But what to write? It was such a vague question. There were many things I was not. A dog. A hairbrush. Successful. The list was too long to even begin enumerating. So, with a shrug, I took the quill and dipped it into the inkwell beside it. I had never used one before, so the result was a bit sloppy. Nevertheless, in my own terrible handwriting, I scratched the words:

Returning the quill to its resting place, I looked over my own addition. I was happy with the ‘A’, as it looked fanciful, but the rest looked like a kindergartner had written it. Then, rereading the last few lines, I frowned.

Damned book is giving me lip! Terrible handwriting? Like a kindergartner?! I mean… it was accurate, but still!

Sighing, I reconsidered my answer, and nodded in satisfaction. Of all the things not to be, a slaver was pretty high on my list. Although, now that I thought about it, perhaps I should have said ‘murderer’? That would have been a little better, most likely, but it was in ink, so there was no erasing it now.

Seeing as there was nothing else for it, I turned to exit the room. I still needed to find some water, after all.

---

My eyes popped open suddenly. It was still dark out. And perhaps because of that, the dream was more clear and present than any that I had ever had. Yet, in counter to the clarity of its memory, the whole thing had been so vague. There had been a floating quality to it, particularly in my own state of mind, but that was nothing unusual for dreams. I had experienced many in a similar vein, after all. Like suddenly realizing that I was late to an exam that I was completely unaware of, only to wake up and realize that I had graduated years ago.

Frankly, I blamed my upcoming Boundary Trial. Stress always made for weird dreams.

<bing!>

Oh… Choices, huh? Okay. I guess this is happening now then.

I was not sure that I was mentally prepared for this just yet, and not for the first time, I wished for a cup of steaming coffee. And maybe a half hour to myself. But it was not to be. So, blinking the remaining sleep from my eyes, I gave my head a quick shake to clear out the cobwebs.

Still, it was odd. The message seemed similar to something I had seen during the dream. In fact, I was pretty sure that…

Oof. Uh… wow, that’s… a pretty big question.

And open-ended. Unsurprisingly. Still, there was a lot to think about. Like… what even could my class evolve into? Well, whatever I picked, I definitely wanted something that would let me shoot some…

<bing!>

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“Wait, what?” I said aloud, as a new message appeared before me. “But I didn’t say anything!”

Hess’ ever-present snoring halted briefly at my outburst before settling back into an easy slumbered breathing. It was then that I realized that her arms were once again encircling me in a death-grip. And we seemed to be tied to a tree branch with the rope web. However, I only paid that scant attention, as I was quite engrossed in reading the latest pop-up.

The Embodiment of… Squeaking in the back of my throat, my face flashed red at that line. Watcher’s hairy ass! That’s not what I wanted to be at all, you stupid… Aaargh!

How hard was it to grasp the idea of a wizard chucking fireballs while his summoned minions harry and run interference? Even a damned Necromancer would be better than this!

Still, Chosen was a little better sounding than Trainer. A little. And the bonuses seemed… okay. Well, one of them did. That one about reviving fallen lilim. That had the potential to be life saving, even if I fell unconscious because of it.

And sacrificing Command for Persuasion was a change that I was quite relieved to see. Although, functionally, they both pointed towards me getting my own way, at least Persuasion sounded less absolute. Having an air of politeness and dignity about things made the whole affair feel much less creepy.

But the fact remained that this was not at all…

<bing!>

Uhb… uhm… O-okay. Right. That.

This one was long expected, of course. The additional slot had been a topic of much discussion, and I was sure that Hess would be glad that things had progressed, at least in this regard, as promised. As for my First Lilim, that was a bit of a non-choice and a position that Jax had long claimed. So, with a mental shrug, my finger reached forward to select her, but before I had moved an inch, the next pop-up came.

Okay, again, I didn’t actually choose anything? Not that it really mattered this time.

Briefly reading through the message, the position sounded much as I had expected, not that I particularly liked the Lady referring to her as my servant. Then again, I did let her call me Master all the time, so perhaps I had it coming.

Also, interestingly, it read as if I was able to swap out the choice in the future, if I wanted. Jax would be livid when she heard that.

Alright, so what is this new ability?

Hmm… that’s kind of interesting.

Time would tell what exactly the ability would do, but it sounded like some kind of leadership thing. And that tracked with her being the ‘head’ of my lilim, so that was fine.

Not super useful in combat though.

<bing!>

I blinked a few times as the latest message interrupted my thoughts.

Oh, man… that’s… Wow, uh… Well, I would have say that probably…

<bing!>

“What?!” I shouted, startling Hess awake finally.

“Huh?” she muttered drowsily. “Donum, what are…”

“NO!” I shouted hurriedly, not sparing the time to answer her, “I am absolutely not certain of my choices!”

<bing!>

“Fucking no!” I shouted, starting to panic. “Stop! Go back!”

“Donum, what’s going on?” Hess asked in concern. “Why are you shouting?”

<bing!>

“What the fuck?!”

---

“It ain’t… all bad, Master,” Jax said, stroking my back as she hugged me to her shoulder.

My fit of rage had finally woken her up, as well. At first, she had been rather irate herself, but for the totally unrelated reason that Hess had carelessly tied her to the end of the rope and left her dangling beneath us when she had fallen off the branch during the night.

Hess had thought it was funny. Rope burns and all.

However, Jax’s irritation had been quickly discarded once my own incoherent ranting finally allowed for a semblance of meaning to seep through. And now, she was busy consoling me.

“It could be a lot worse, and besides, yer heal sounds useful.”

“Yes, my heal sounds useful,” I retorted. “And that’s what makes it so bad! Imagine if I had been allowed to pick some actual good skills!”

“I quite like The Hammer…” Hess muttered, but she wilted a bit at my glare.

“I nay understand how this could have happened,” Jax said, pulling my attention back to her. “Take a breath. Calm yerself. Explain it again.”

Sitting back, I sighed, “Look, I told you. There was this dream…” I paused, distracted by something, “What happened to your eyes?”

“What?” she replied, worriedly putting her hands to her face. But then she stopped uncertainly, realizing that she could not see them herself. “What be wrong with them?”

I frowned. Whatever I had seen was gone now. There had been some sort of light, but it was not there anymore. Leaning forward, I looked at them closely, and she naturally pulled away, tilting her head slightly in the process. “There it is again! It’s like… I think your eyes have become… reflective somehow?”

“Reflective?”

I nodded, “Yes, they seem to flash a bit. When you angle them to the light correctly. Actually, now that I look, they have a bit of a shimmer to them.”

“Do it…” she hesitated. “Do ye think they look nice?”

“Who cares?” Hess cut in. “I think this dream business is more important right now. What did you mean when you said that you didn’t have control of yourself?”

I glanced back at her briefly, annoyed. But she was right. “That’s not exactly it. It was more like the typical kind of crap that happens in dreams. Where you’re yourself, but you don’t have access to all of the memories you would normally have?”

She stared at me blankly and shook her head, “I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

“Seriously?” I asked and turned to look back at Jax. She looked just as mystified. “Neither of you have ever had a dream where… I don’t know. Like you suddenly remember that you need to be somewhere? But then you wake up and realize that that time of your life is long past?”

They both shook their heads in confusion.

“Huh… I thought that was pretty common,” I muttered softly. Then looking back at Hess, I went on, “Well, anyway, in the dream, I wasn’t aware of the fact that… I had met either of you or that I had a Class or any of it. I just… sort of waded through it in a fog.”

“Seems like a bloody sordid way of running a trial,” Jax growled.

“But why would She have asked you to make choices later?” Hess asked. “Especially once you had already made them in this dream of yours?”

“I don’t know!” I replied, splaying my hands in the air. “I don’t even know if the dream had anything to do with it! And as usual, She is mum on the subject. Damn it all…”

Jax frowned unhappily, but she held her tongue. Sometimes a good swear or two helps, after all.

Sighing into the silence, I had a thought. “Hess, you’ve been through this before. What were yours like?”

“Oh, uh…” she blushed slightly, taken aback. “I’d really…” Clearing her throat, she glanced at me furtively before going on, “I was given a task to complete. On the first one, anyway. I had to win a drinking game. Against the whole pub. I was nineteen at the time.”

“Impressive,” Jax nodded genuinely.

“It uh… took me a year to complete,” she finished. “Believe it or not, I used to be quite the lightweight. I earned quite the reputation that year.”

Wow… “Okay, then. I guess… it could have been a lot worse. It seems like you didn’t have any choice, either.”

“Oh… I had a few choices,” she admitted. “My Class, at the time, was just Tramp. I decided that I would rather be a Hedonist than a Thief. Or worse.”

“I can respect that,” I replied honestly. I would even bet that her other options would have been easier to complete, too. Dark paths usually were.

Hess gave me a slight smile in return before slapping my shoulder roughly, “Chin up. You’re no worse off than before.”

“Better than before,” Jax corrected. Wrapping her arms back around me from behind, she began nuzzling at my ear, “Much better than before…”

Hess’ eyebrow quirked up slightly, “What did you say that your Class is called now?”

“Uh… Lilim’s Chosen,” I replied, slightly distracted by the sensuous panting that was picking up next to my face.

“Mmm… that’s really…” she turned her head slightly, trying not to look at the display. But failing. “What uh… What is it supposed to…?”

“I’m not totally sure,” I replied honestly, as Jax’s fingers began to run through my hair. “She said something about… uh… being the uh…” I clicked my tongue, “Do you know? I’d really rather not say.”

“Master?” Jax breathed. “Ye smell really nice. Did I never tell ye?”

“Uh huh…” Hess swallowed once before licking her lips. “I think I’m getting the idea…”

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