Act I

  Walking around a temple ruined by time.

  A young man of brown hair and amber eyes.

  Was flipping through a hand size book of leather and silken paper.

  “Huh it’s more than an instruction guide.”

  It was a medium, a thing that can be used to replace the materials needed to summon a spirit.

  Thump* I closed the small book, before placing it back to its holster on my belt.

  “Sigh. . . It felt like days but. . . .”

  I didn’t finish my thoughts, as my eyes scanned through the room I was trapped in.

  It was even more ruined than that of the main hall of the temple, where that woman stole my heart.

  Thump* I pushed open the storage closet, the door crumbling into rubble.

  The room was in a mess, the pots and baskets were turned into a pile of moss covered soil.

  The bundles of cloth were just gone, leaving nothing but dust.

  The only thing intact was the stone shelves and the small chests surprisingly.

  Still age was apparent on the metal they were made out of.

  Because they had turned green in contrast to its shining sheen from a little while ago.

  I opened each of them to see that the glass bottles, fine paint brushes and other Calligraphy tools were fine.

  Seeing this I touched one of the brushes, feeling its soft and flexible bristles.

  It made me shake in excitement, my hands trembling.

  “This can work. . . Atleast with this I won’t be too poor.”

  With those words said, I took the small boxes.

  Before leaving the storage room filled with nothing else, but rubble and soil.

  It took me a moment before I reached the fountain.

  Like everything else it was now in ruins.

  The water was stagnant, dirty and mud green.

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  Still it was usable.

  With that thought I placed the three small old bronze boxes at the edge of the broken drinking fountain.

  “Alright, that should be enough water.”

  As I spoke, my [Book of Circles] opened, turning to a page that I needed.

  In that page an image of a red greedy smiling frog was drawn, it was seated on a pile of gold.

  “Lesser spirit of wealth, merchant of the pond, fire spirit that pretends to be of the water tribe.”

  I started chanting, as I felt heat inside my chest, boiling as if I just drank a deep sip of steaming coffee.

  Slowly the water in the dirty fountain started to simmer and then boil turning the dirty fountain into a clear spring.

  Croak* “Kid of the Lady of flames, what do you want?”

  A frog larger than a basket ball swam out of the clear fountain and sat on its edge.

  “Great fire spirit Flare, I want to trade these three bronze boxes and the calligraphy tools and materials inside.”

  I tried being as precise as possible or else like any other merchant.

  This spirit of wealth would swindle me out of everything, while giving me peanuts.

  Croak* “What do you want for them?”

  His question made me pause, as I thought about it, but then realized something.

  If this temple has been a ruin for ages, was the city outside of it in the same situation?

  “Great Flare, can I trade my goods for Credit? Credit that I can withdraw from you whenever I want, in the form of the currency I need.”

  Croak* The large red frog grinned at my words.

  I didn’t know why but my lips twitched, as if I made a loss in the trade.

  “Deal.” Floosh*

  In a flash of flames the frog spirit and the three boxes disappeared.

  “Augh!”

  I groaned in pain as I looked at my forearm to see a glowing red tattoo.

  It was a coin with a fancy frog head.

  “Why a tattoo? Wouldn’t a business card be enough?”

  I spoke out in shock and disbelief as the tattoo wasn’t in the book.

  The pain was intense as I felt tears on my cheeks.

  As I looked at the brand given to me by that merchant spirit.

  After that my tearing eyes went to his page in my book.

  [Flare - Merchant spirit]

  [Chant to summon]

  [Lesser spirit of wealth, merchant of the pond, fire spirit that pretends to be of the water tribe]

  [Summoning requirements]

  [Main requirement - A small pond worth of water and goods valuable enough for his attention]

  [Summoning mediums - A bowl of insects, a collection of leaves from six different plants and a coin of pure gold.]

  [Discription]

  [He is a chaotic spirit, a merchant at his very core and a proud one at that, be respectful of him or he will swindle you of everything, leaving you with stones. . . He could be generous at times, if the summoner is lucky in meeting him after he made a good deal]

  I looked at the page and then with a thought added a line and imagined a small picture on it.

  [This is his mark, he will sometimes tattoo it on his summoners, or those that makes a pact with him]

  The words wrote itself in the book and an exact copy of the tattoo inked itself into an empty space of the page.

  Act II

  In front of the entrance colonnades of the temple.

  One can see a young man wearing the white robes of a priest, with a book holstered on his leather belt.

  “It’s that white blotch again, a dream gate.”

  The words came, even before my thoughts could catch it.

  I should stop thinking aloud. . . people might think me insane.

  The thought came, as I looked at the reason spirits and mortals can travel from one dream to another.

  “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

  The quote came to me as I stepped forward, and then nothing.

  I was once again in the place the spirits call the inbetween.

  Dingg* Dingg* I looked to my smart-bracelet to see it was vibrating.

  [Main mission complete! Leave the Temple of Hestia.]

  The black panel with white text appeared in front of me.

  [Reward! An answer from the Sage of the Jade Archive]

  I looked at the panel floating as I thought about a question.

  There’s a page about this lord ranked spirit in the book of circles.

  But all it had about him was a description, with no way to contact or summon him.

  “Who gave me. . .”

  Blood filled my mouth as I stopped my question.

  DANGER. The word screamed in my head.

  My mouth was biting my lips even before I realized it.

  Is this the danger sense Lady Hestia gave me?

  Drip* My lips bled in pain as my thoughts cleared, as I tried another question this time slowly.

  “Why. . . was. . . I . . .”

  Danger! I stopped, as I felt danger before it yelled.

  This time I was able to control myself, stopping my lips from suffering another bite.

  Why would it be dangerous to ask about the reason I got summoned to this world?

  I took a moment, thinking of an important question that wouldn't get me killed.

  The idea came as I once again spoke slowly.

  “What. . .is. . .this. . .bracelet. . .helping me?”

  I asked, the last part relieved that my sense of danger did not stop me this time.

  “It is a relic of a Dream weaver. A fraction of a legacy bound to summoned Souls, that came from an isolated dream.”

  The voice sounded old and tired, his words echoed as it assaulted me from all directions.

  Yet even with the intimidating old voice I felt no fear, just curiosity of what a Dream weaver was.

  Of the term Isolated dream, was that place Earth?

  How can a dream be isolated?

  Is it true that there were others? Just like me isekaid into this world.

  “Wearing and being helped by the same bracelet. . . I’m not alone.”

  The last part left my lips as the echoing old voice disappeared, as the bracelet projected another screen.

  [Are you ready to descend Lazir?]