Gene awoke some indeterminate amount of time later to the sound of voices outside of the tent.

  “Tent?” he thought to himself as he looked around the place. There were two bedrolls in the fairly large tent. He was trying to wrap his head around what happened when a voice outside the tent got loud. He couldn’t make out what they were saying but the sharp spike in volume was enough to tell him that people were arguing.

  He tried to sit up on his left hand and pain shot through him, reminding him of his plummet to the earth. To his surprise, it didn’t hurt as much as he thought it should. Suddenly, the voices outside the tent silenced and Gene pushed himself up once more with his right hand in fear.

  The tent flap opened, streaming light into the tent and obscuring the figure of the voice that called out to him. The only problem was he couldn’t understand what the voice was saying. The darkskin man tied back a flap of the tent and took cautious steps inside as he spoke a strange language to Gene.

  Gone was his shining armor, replaced with casual attire of cloth and leather. He smiled at Gene and chuckled, clearly saying something he thought was funny before looking from Gene to his companions outside of the tent. Gene leaned over to glance at them before looking back at the young man.

  They locked eyes and both were silent for a moment before a thought drifted from Gene’s head.

  “Oh god, he’s hot.”

  The thought reverberated out of his mind, traveling through the camp and each person stood up straight in recognition of the words. Gene realized far too late that he had projected those feelings.

  His face flushed and the young man smiled before a clatter outside of the tent drew his attention. The young man turned to yell something before taking a rolled up blanket and throwing it at a man who Gene swore had to have been a real live elf. The young man closed the tent flap with a huff before turning to Gene and sitting crossed leg across from him.

  He raised a hand to his chin, deep in thought before looking at Gene. Recognition flashed in his face before he raised a finger to his forehead and squinted. For a second, Gene thought he was making a remark about his birthmark before thinking, “Oh duh, telepathy.”

  He would’ve smacked himself in the forehead if not for his fear that he currently had a concussion. He closed his eyes and focused, extending his senses. It felt as simple as breathing. A cool sensation rippled through his mind and in his mind’s eye he saw the man before him, the women outside of the tent who sat on pins and needles, and the other man who swigged a drink from a flask.

  Gene refocused his thoughts, reaching out to the man in front of him and slowly he heard a small voice, building in volume as he forged the connection between them.

  “Testing, testing 1, 2, 3,” thought Kyrie, making Gene snort with laughter.

  “I’m not a ham radio. You don’t need to do that–Wait, I understood that,” thought Gene in reply.

  Both of their eyes shot open at the same time, Kyrie’s wider in shock.

  “You can hear me? Understand me?” he thought, squinting hard in an effort to send his thoughts to Gene.

  “Yes and…you don’t need to do that. I’m the one projecting their thoughts here,” said Gene with a smile.

  Kyrie smiled back before covering his mouth with his hand to stifle a laugh.

  “By the grace of the gods. This is the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced,” thought Kyrie. His eyes lit up in amusement before he sat up straight and cleared his throat, thinking about the sound of clearing his throat in turn. “Ahem, right, I’m Kyrie Winthrop, Warrior extraordinaire at your service.”

  Gene stifled a laugh and gave a small clap before extending a hand to shake his, saying, “I’m Gene Grey….Psychic superhero,”

  Kyrie looked at his hand for a moment, confused both at the gesture and at the words ‘Psychic superhero’.

  He took his hand and Gene shook it before thinking, “Nice to make your acquaintance.”

  Where their skin touched, a spark shot through them both. In that moment, something passed between the two of them. They felt like they could’ve shook hands forever but the moment was broken when the tent flap flew open and Winnie entered the tent with her arms folded.

  When Gene saw her he gasped, hands shooting up to his face to cover his mouth as he unconsciously thought, “She’s adorable.”

  Winnie jumped back at the sudden movement, eyes locked on Gene as she talked out the side of her mouth to Kyrie, asking what he was doing. Kyrie fell over with laughter and Gene collected himself. He could tell Kyrie was explaining what he just thought and Gene fell back on the bed roll in embarrassment.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “That’s Winifred Thistlebottom, our resident Witch. We just call her Winnie,” thought Kyrie as he spoke to Winnie, keeping two conversations going at once. “The girl out there smiling with her mouth but scowling with her eyes is my twin sister, Kyra. She’s a Cleric. And lastly, the guy sneaking a drink from his flask and trying to look disinterested is Eonis Everfall, our Ranger and longtime family friend. He used to serve in a party with my parents. Together, we’re team Silvayn”

  Gene glanced from person to person at the mental introductions and his focus fell on Kyra. Her gold eyes shined intensely as she looked at him. A cascade of gold feathers ran down the braid of braids she had slung over one shoulder. For a split second he swore he saw a frown on her face but it was gone when he blinked.

  He looked back to Kyrie, losing track of the conversation he was having with Winnie before the shouting began again.

  “Umm…what’s going on?,” thought Gene.

  Kyrie froze for a second at the question. He turned to face Gene before looking back at Winnie with pleading eyes and hurried words. The tiny woman huffed, folded her arms, and shuffled out of the tent.

  “Please don’t be offended when I say–think this, but they’re afraid of you. That spell you cast, this spell we’re using to talk, it’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen. And that’s saying a lot in Winnie’s case. I told her what you said your class was and she said it was hogwash. She knows more about magic and classes than anyone I’ve ever met and she said she’s never heard of a Psychic. You…you’re amazing.”

  Gene’s face flushed at the earnest thoughts and he let out a sharp breath to steady himself before thinking, “Oh, no, I’m sorry. This is probably confusing. I didn’t use magic. I…how do I explain this?”

  Gene thought deeply for a moment, putting his hand to his chin in contemplation. Images of spandex-clad heroes on covers and in panels flashed through his head as he struggled to come up with a way to convey what he was thinking. When Kyrie gasped, he realized he didn’t need to explain it with words.

  He looked up at him and sent a cascade of mental images flooding into his mind through the connection they shared. Kyrie’s face lit up in amazement as panels of superheroes flying into space, saving the world from creatures from the beyond, and gathering around a dinner table at their ridiculous mansion bases flashed before his eyes.

  He looked at Gene like an enraptured child before thinking, “I think I understand but how–”

  “I’m not from around here,” Gene’s thoughts cut into his before he continued. “Like, really not from anywhere you can conceive. I think technically I’m from two universes over, maybe more. I don’t know. I’m as confused as you are.”

  The two men sat quietly in front of each other as they exchanged mental stories. Only the sound of an occasional laugh exited the tent, much to the horror of the other adventures sitting around their makeshift fire.

  “This isn’t right,” groaned Winnie in a hushed tone.

  From the brief exchange she walked in on, she could tell Gene didn’t speak their language but she was being extra cautious to keep her voice low in case he could overhear and understand her through Kyrie. She grimaced and said, “I don’t like this one bit.”

  Eonis let out a long sigh, laying on the ground with his head propped up on a makeshift seat cushion. “Let it go, Winnie. They’re just talking...I assume.”

  “I will not let go of this!” snapped Winnie in a hushed tone. “I checked his status–”

  “Illegally,” interjected Eonis.

  “I checked his status and do you know what I found? Hogwash!” Winnie exclaimed loudly before getting control of herself again. “Hogwash and poppycock! You know as well as anyone else that the core ability stats are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution–”

  “Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.” Kyra and Eonis said in unison, once again cutting off Winnie’s rant.

  She growled and composed herself before continuing, “Do you know what I found within him? A blasphemous five ability stats! Might, Agility, Toughness, Awareness, and Presence. Presence! What buffoonery! His level was only listed as 8! And his class? ‘Psychic’? Nonsense! I couldn’t even see what spells he had prepared.”

  She held up air quotes when she said the word Psychic before throwing her hands up in surrender. She tired out as her rant concluded, falling onto the ground as she missed her seat and staying there from the fatigue.

  Kyra was silent. Her eyes had drifted to the tent long before Winnie got to the end of her tirade. What was Kyrie thinking? Why was her brother so foolish?

  “So, we’re at an impasse then,” she said, picking up a thread that had been dropped the moment Gene stirred.

  “No, we’re not,” said Eonis through gritted teeth. “We finished the mission we came here to do. We located the newly erected Spire. Now, we need to return and report it.”

  “Or…” began Winnie as she sat up and leaned forward conspiratorially. “We can take this one step further and raid the place before I take it down.”

  Her words hung in the air like bait but neither Eonis nor Kyra took it. They had long since tired out from arguing her down while Gene was asleep. The four of them went back and forth with Eonis and Kyra being the sensible ones while Kyrie and Winnie wanted to storm the Spire’s walls for resources and topple the structure. After Gene had cleared the place out of Forsaken with his strange power, Kyrie and Winnie thought it would be child’s play.

  Kyra and Eonis just let her speak. The group operated on a 3 to 1 voting system. If they didn’t have majority consensus on a particular course of action, it wouldn’t happen. In the years that they’d been running together, this had worked just fine until Gene landed in their laps. No one would budge on their vote and so they stood at that impasse. Or at least they did, until Kyrie exited the tent and spoke.

  “I think Gene should get a vote.”

  All eyes shot to him and gasps rang out. Kyra couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “Gene? That thing has a name? And you think it has a right to vote after the mess it made?” growled Winnie. She turned away from Kyrie sharply and folded her arms. “This would’ve been so simple if not for Gene presenting us with this dilemma.”

  Winnie hissed at his name. As much as she wanted to plunder the Spire and topple it, she didn’t want to be put in this situation. It would be one thing if it was an official sanctioned quest. This was a rogue action that both excited her at the prospect and frightened her at the implications of what their actions would mean going forward.