When they rejoined their other members Silvayn, cries of shock and horror rang out from the two seeing everyone’s injured state. They ran away to a safe distance as Kyra went to work. She rushed to heal Kyrie as he told her what had happened.

  “Praise to Aliyah,” she said as healing light flowed from her hands and into his wound. “It was a minor miracle Tir didn’t activate his bloodrage before wounding you. I..I don’t want to think about what could have happened.”

  Kyrie didn’t speak. He was still in a daze. His eyes were glued to Gene’s unresponsive form. Winnie was crowded over him, crying into his chest.

  “Kyra, you have to try again!” she yelled at her.

  Kyra flinched. “I’ve tried every recovery spell possible, Winnie. Gene’s conditions are unlike any of the ones on New Venturis. To my diagnostic spells, he appears completely healthy apart from the wounds he sustained in his fall from the heavens.”

  She felt strange admitting that she was powerless to heal someone and from how Kyrie and Winnie acted, she knew she would never understand the life debt they owed to him. She moved to comfort Winnie.

  “Look, I’ll take care of what wounds I can heal and stay with him while we travel to Taos under the cover of night,” said Kyra.

  “You should have been there.” Kyrie’s flat voice cut through the air and Kyra felt a pang of guilt before he continued. “What he did before to the Forsaken pales in comparison to what he did to the generals.”

  Winnie sat up, feebly wiping away her tears and nodding in agreement. “It’s inconceivable. He’s only level 8. He put up illusions convincing enough to affect two generals, controlled one of them. I don’t even think those are his standard abilities. All of this and he’s not even using magic.”

  “What is he using?” asked Eonis. His tone was pointed, accusatory in a way unlike him.

  He pulled back his forceful demeanor and scratched the back of his neck in concession. He was tense but Kyra understood. She was even more so.

  Night fell and Winnie performed the Cosmic Caravan ritual, calling on her pact with the Celestial Mother to pull down stars to form a glowing wagon. It would drive them just one more night’s travel away from Taos and keep them safely guarded from any creatures who hunt at night.

  They all piled into the caravan, taking up their own cabin spaces. Kyra sat with Gene, doing as she promised. She tended to him over the night, wiping his face when he began to sweat and placing a warm rag on his head when he grew too cold.

  Her hands trembled when touching him. She hadn’t told the others this, but in the moment when Gene’s attack killed all of those Forsaken and they debated what to do with him, she had scanned the Forsaken for whatever effect it was that felled them. She found nothing. No magic, no condition. It was like their minds were there and then gone the instant he struck. Back then, it frightened her enough to pray to Aliyah for an answer but she never received a reply.

  Aliyah was a goddess of light and healing. There were no ailments she couldn’t heal and yet, her silence at a prayer from one of her most devout worshippers filled Kyra with dread. What ailment could confound the goddess of healing? What power lurked inside the creature before her? Kyra couldn’t help but think Winnie’s original assessment of him was correct. He was dangerous.

  She watched him sleep for what felt like hours, nodding off once only to be awoken by his groaning.

  “Ugh this is so cliche. I can’t believe I fainted again,” said Gene, clapping a hand over his face in embarrassment before the hero system spoke to him.

  Hero System Message: You have completed your mission: Destroy the Stronghold and have earned 5 Power Points. You have completed additional objectives: Avoid capture and torture by the Dark Lord’s Generals….and….Save Kyrie, the Warrior from Tir, the Bloodrager, awarding you an additional 3 Power Points. You have used Synaptic Shock 8. Please consider purchasing this power to add to your array. You have used Mind Control 8. Please consider purchasing this power to add to your array.

  Kyra jumped with a start, plastering on a smile to cover her worries as she spoke, “You awake.”

  Her soft voice was comforting despite the dread she felt in his presence. Gene was checking himself, looking all over for the wounds she had finally healed when Winnie relented to her care. He smiled at her and gave a thanks so sincere she felt in her heart.

  Was that his projection? The thought shot through her like a loosed bolt and her smile faltered for only a second before the sounds of parting curtains behind her took her attention. Winnie pokes her head into the room and smiles.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “You sir are an interesting puzzle.” A large tome trailed behind her, feverishly scribbling notes. She climbed into the seat across from him, next to Kyra before the holy woman exhaled her stored tension and stood up.

  “She has that look in her eyes. I’ll depart to check on Kyrie.” Gene shifted in his seat and Kyra noticed, stopping for a second to say, “He’s fine. Thank you for saving him.”

  She smiled at him softly, giving a genuine thanks before leaving the room. Gene watched the curtain for a few moments, trying to get a bead on Kyra. There was a prickling sense in the back of his mind. Something was bothering her about him but for whatever reason, she was biting her tongue.

  “Now, I’ve been running some calculations,” said Winnie, starting the conversation in the middle of a thought. “You are not from here. As far away from here as possible, it seems. I want to try something”

  The book floats between them both and Winnie asks, “Can you perform the status ritual? I tried while you were….well, never mind. I just want to see what it says when you do it willingly”

  Gene looked to the book then to Winnie and back to the book before asking, “The what now?”

  She curled a brow at this question, confused at his confusion. She repeated the words slowly but Gene didn’t find any new recognition in the recitation.

  “Curious,” she whispered, scratching her chin and grinning. “So how do you know your current capabilities? How do you level up?”

  Gene frowned at this. “I’m still trying to figure all of this out, actually. I only just got my powers today.”

  “And you’re already level 8? Fascinating.” A page in the book turned and notes began to scrawl themselves as Winnie continued. “I think I have my hypothesis. You are not a part of our world, our system. You have no anima, meaning you’ll lack the ability to use magic or martial abilities, yet the power you displayed worked as if magic. Not only that, but somehow the generals weren’t able to overcome your effects. Each of them have been reported to be level 40 at minimum. Everything I’ve seen today has completely shaken the foundation of my understanding of the system.”

  Gene follows her train of thought and ponders what he knows. Isekai scenarios and rpg systems were nothing new to him but being diverted into a new world left him feeling unmoored. It was like trying to play a d20 system with a bag of d6s. Rather than trying to puzzle it out himself, he looked at Winnie and spoke.

  “It’s my system. In my world, we would play fantasy games like this. We’d tell each other stories of might and magic or mystery and horror. Each of these games have their own mechanics, their own systems down to what dice we roll to make an action. It’s clear my powers come from a superhero game.”

  Winnie just stared at him blankly, waiting for an explanation.

  “There are these illustrated books in my world, tales of people with fantastic power taking on even more fantastical enemies. Their powers are born of science, nature, genetics, and even magic in some cases but they don’t use a resource to use them. Their power usage is driven by the narrative. They do what they need to do when they need to do it to fulfill the requirements for a thrilling tale. I think what’s happening here is a clash of genres and mechanics.”

  Winnie’s eyes widened slightly but she didn’t interrupt.

  “You have spells, right? A list of spells you can draw from and a limited resource to cast them with, spell slots I’m guessing?”

  She nodded along, replying, “More or less. Every creature on New Venturis has an inborn resource known as anima. Mages are able to convert this into mana and Fighters are able to convert it to stamina. We mages prepare our spells by planning out how many mana points we wish to spend on a spell during the adventuring day, with each spell costing a different amount based on spell level. Fighters can invoke abilities in their skill tree that cost a certain amount of stamina. Of course there are outliers like at-will abilities or other class resources, but this is the basic summation of our class system. Our stat array seems to differ as well.”

  “If I had to guess, it’s the standard stat array of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma?”

  Winnie’s eyes widened even more as she let out a hushed yes.

  “That’s…surprisingly simple. Sounds a lot like some of the games I’ve played. My stats are different. I have 4 base powers, with each being rank eight, and I don’t seem to spend a resource to use them…Well, no, that’s not quite right. Do you remember what I did when Tir and Melias entered the room? I was using something the system called a Power Stunt to give myself a temporary power based on possible powers related to my archetype. I didn’t do it actively though. It felt more like a reflex to the danger we were facing. My powers, the system reacted to my will and gave me the power I was seeking in that moment. It was a rush but the aftermath….Feels like I ran a hundred mile marathon without taking a break and my head is killing me. Also weirdly, I don’t think I’m getting experience in the traditional sense. I’ve been getting something the system calls power points, one at a time. I spent one already when I couldn’t understand your language. No clue on how many I need to level up though.”

  Winnie nearly fell over from the information overload. She began to ramble and her tome flew to her. She placed her hands on the book and the scribbling speed increased. She called out numbers as she made calculations and argued with herself before finally stopping suddenly and falling back, huffing in exhaustion.

  “I’ve got it!” She jumped back up. “5 to 1, 1 to 5. Your stats, the strength of your abilities, there’s a 5 to 1 difference with the mechanics of our world. Your level 8 must be the equivalent of someone level 30, perhaps even 40? Astonishing.” Winnie’s breathless as she thinks over the implications of Gene’s abilities. “And those power stunts as you called them, I presume they’re a way to compensate for how you gain experience. My word, you and I have so much work to do.”

  Winnie’s eyes were large and full of unrepressed wonder. Gene shuddered in fear of what she meant. They continued to talk, explaining various aspects of their systems to one another.