They navigated the rest of the way towards The Lift in silence. Mike did snake his hand out as they passed a merchant table to touch a burning orb that seemed to be made out of a lime green gemstone beneath the flame. His hand was quick enough that he didn’t get burned, letting him cast Identify as soon as he contacted it.

  Everburning Olivine

  A mineral extracted from igneous rock that combusts when exposed to mana.

  Uncommon

  Mike had thought to learn a spell by eating some of the enchantment on it, but there wasn’t one. Without the pain through his head that he had learned to associate with an increase in his knowledge, Mike knew it hadn’t worked like he wanted. The burning lump of stone was a natural item that Mike had never encountered before.

  Or as natural as something that talks about mana can be, Mike thought to himself. Damn, I really want to learn how to throw fireballs.

  Mike kept his eye out for other opportunities to sneak some knowledge, but none presented themselves. As the group drew closer to The Lift, the merchant stalls grew sparser. Mike was able to glance at the twisting machine, slowly acclimatizing himself to it. As they approach an empty platform, he was able to look at it for half a minute before he had to twist his gaze away.

  This left Mike plenty of time to study the ring around the machine. The ceiling high overhead was illuminated with the same light enchantments that were inside the Blurington compound, but most of the light originated from the brassy gears that made up The Lift. Its movement cast twisting shadows across that Mike found beautiful.

  There was a surprising variety of items for sale here. Not just the esoteric, magical items Mike expected a wizard society bazaar to have, but ones of science as well. He passed a table that had a familiar mouse and keyboard set up, though the cables from them ran the base of a twisting, spinning sphere. He didn’t have time to study it, though, since Haliard kept up their pace.

  Most of the people were in the garb of servants, with only one in ten wearing the robes of a wizard. Mike noticed that there were sets of symbols set into the arms of their robes, different bands and colors. Most also carried books tethered to their belts like a pistol in a holster. The servants didn’t have any decoration on their clothing, except the few that had pouches.

  The servants were arguing with each other over their purchases, haggling with one another, but the wizards would just point at what they wanted, and the merchant would get it for them. No words were exchanged during the entire process. The wizards also didn’t hand over money, instead they sat it down on the kiosk for the merchants to collect.

  This casual disdain and disrespect drove home Mike situation. As much as he was committed to making the best of his new situation, he was a slave to wizards in a world he couldn’t understand. That thought solidified Mike’s drive to train with the gladiators and learn magic.

  He would have to be strong enough to stand up for himself.

  “Are there any guards around?” Mike asked as they broke through the last of the kiosks. There was empty space around The Lift for everyone getting on and off, so he pitched his voice low enough that no one but Aaron would hear him.

  “Guards? No, not really. They assign escorts when there are visitors, but the rest of us don’t really need guards.”

  “Why not? Don’t people try to escape?”

  “We can’t,” Aaron replied in a whisper. He glanced back at Mike then returned his eyes to his brother. “When the wizards summon us, buy us, capture us, whatever, they bind us. There is a mark they put on each of us that keeps us acting to their will. It isn’t super powerful, but it keeps us from escaping, lying to them, not doing what they say.”

  He paused for several seconds, looking around.

  “Or fighting back.” There was a note of bitterness in his voice at this. Mike had the urge to dig more into what his new friend was feeling, but Aaron changed the topic while forcing some joviality into his voice.

  “While we’re riding the lift, I’ll fill you in on how the families of Chilt work.”

  “Thank you.” Mike smiled at his friend, knowing he was avoiding talking about the difficult past the men had gone through. He knew he couldn’t take on the burden they carried, not yet.

  The lift they were on had low benches across it, enough for all of them to sit together. At the center was a raised square, coming to waist height. Haliard placed his hand on it for several seconds before coming to join Aaron and Mike, with Julian sitting across from them. As they all sat, the platform started to rise.

  Mike draped his arm across the bench, inches from the metal of The Lift. All the benches faced away from it, so he wouldn’t have to watch the shifting and moving metal as they climbed. He did reach back while Haliard was getting seated, touching it with just the tip of his finger.

  Instantly, Mike snatched it back. The buzzing of magic he had felt before this was just a light tickle. Touching The Lift was like dipping his hand in acid. The pain lanced up to his shoulder, causing him to jerk so hard that he crashed into Aaron. All the men looked at Mike concerned, but he smiled and waved it off.

  “Just me being weird,” Mike said as he rubbed his arm. He didn’t dare try to cast Identify on the machine. “Aaron was going to tell me about how the families of Chilt are set up?”

  “Good idea, learning your new society could help out,” Haliard said. He glanced up at the ceiling, which they were slowly approaching. “We have a twenty-minute ride ahead of us, that should be a good time to get started.”

  “Mike, you understand the families, right?”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Mostly,” Mike told Aaron. “They’re made up of wizards, with servants working for them.”

  “Right. Each family has their own way of determining who heads that family, but then each head has a seat on the ruling council.”

  “And interpersonal family conflicts are settled by people like us,” Julian chimed in.

  “Right. The council runs the country, with the family’s jockeying for position within them. A challenge like we have tonight…”

  Mike let the words wash over him as he started flicking through the display before his eyes. He was confident that what they were telling him was important, but there was a new screen he had to examine. As he started to focus on the Stats page, Mike felt a moment of hesitation.

  Doesn’t everyone want an objective analysis of how good they are at life? Mike asked himself with a rueful smile.

  “Mike, are you listening?” Aaron said, catching Mike’s smile.

  “Sorry, I am.”

  “All right.” Aaron’s tone hinted that he didn’t believe Mike, but he continued. “The councils unite the family, but the family members join colleges independent of the councils. Those colleges act as ribs supporting society off the spine made up of the councils. Now, the…”

  That was enough attention. Mike was nodding, but his eyes were flickering into the display cast up before his eyes. The duration on Conjure Ally had ended, so Bandit was sent back to wherever he went. Steeling himself, Mike opened the new window.

  Stats

  Strength 2 Intelligence 3 Charisma 2

  Dexterity 2 Willpower 3 Fellowship 2

  Constitution 2 Wisdom 2 Composure 2

  Free points 3

  Is that… bad? I sure hope the average person scores two. Mike looked over the list, embarrassed. This was another facet of himself he could improve now, and Mike swore that he would. Mike had always been proud of how smart he was, so he focused on Intelligence. As he did, a new window appeared.

  Intelligence 3

  Governs memory, understanding, reasoning, imagination, correlating information and making deductions. Increases base mana pool. Next Skill: 10

  Assign Free Point? Yes/No

  “Yes,” Mike said aloud. Aaron didn’t notice this, folding the response into the explanation he was giving. The window was still open, so Mike assumed his auditory confirmation wasn’t accepted. He focused on the Yes portion of the window, and felt something shift in his mind. The blue bar in the corner of his vision grew. The empty gap was slight but started refilling as he watched.

  Mike glanced upward and saw they were swiftly approaching the ceiling. As he watched, it started to slide back, moving away from The Lift and giving them clearance. It was bizarrely organic, and Mike shivered. The flowing of the stone was almost liquid. It revealed a dozen feet of black stone, with the glinting brass light from The Lift shining off minerals caught within.

  As Mike looked away, the components of his heads up display reduced back to the basic few components. There was more to explore, so he opened his Stats back up, focusing on Strength this time.

  Strength 2

  Governs physical prowess, including the capacity to lift objects and cause physical damage. Increases maximum health and stamina. Next Skill: 10

  Assign Free Point? Yes/No

  Mike focused and a point was added to Strength. A tingle spread across his body, passing within seconds. He glanced at his arm, flexing to try and see if he could tell a difference. There was nothing yet, which almost made him spend another point there, but he wanted to be sure he was using them optimally.

  No idea when I will get more Free Points.

  The Stamina bar grew much like the mana bar had, though there was no change in his health display. Mike studied the body display but was unable to find a way to quantify how many health points he had. He shivered as he thought about how he would have to figure out what it took him to die.

  Assuming that his class would require more points in Stats related to his mind, Mike focused on Willpower. It was tied with Intelligence as his highest Stat before he started assigning points, so there had to be something of worth within it.

  Willpower 3

  Governs how strongly your character can hold onto your own mind and resist mental commands. Increases base Mana regeneration rate. Next Skill: 10

  Assign Free Point? Yes/No

  Mike’s last free point vanished away, and the tingling went through his mind again. This felt differently than the sensation he got when he increased Intelligence, but Mike couldn’t explain how. He hoped that he would get enough points to figure out the difference soon.

  I need to plan this better next time, Mike thought as the platform they were on passed through the floor. He wanted to close his eyes as the shifting, sliding stone filled the world, but he knew he needed to study the remaining stats to find out what helped where.

  Wisdom 2

  Governs alertness, interpretation of the world, and comprehension. Increases the potency of spells cast. Next Skill: 10

  With no option to assign a point, the screen closed as Mike looked away. He made sure Aaron was still talking, as he didn’t want to seem rude to the man trying to educate him. It was important information he was imparting, but Mike was too caught up in the vast expansion of his power to notice what he was being told.

  Realizing the rudeness of what he was doing wasn’t enough to make Mike stop, but it did interest him more in some of the other stats he had on the screen. He was able to determine that they were organized into categories he labeled Physical, Mental, and Social, with the last one being the most bizarre to Mike.

  He could understand how whatever power he had could change his body and mind. But changing how other people reacted to him was beyond what Mike thought was possible. Chalking it up to more magic, he examined the three stats that fell under that quickly.

  Charisma 2

  Governs how innately like-able you are. Increases Party limit. Next Skill: 10

  Fellowship 2

  Governs your ability to lead, convince, coerce, and manipulate others. Increases range of auras. Next Skill: 10

  Composure 2

  Governs your emotional fortitude, restraint, and calm. Increases benefits of auras. Next Skill: 10

  I need a Party, and I need to give them auras. Got it, I will keep an eye out for that. The little bit of information the windows had provided Mike did not answer his questions, but he could see these Stats being a benefit. He didn’t like the idea of coercing and manipulating others, but leading and convincing sounded good to him.

  Adding finding out how he put together a Party and getting an aura to his list of growing things to check out, Mike finally moved on to the remaining stats he had. The two physical ones seemed very straightforward, but the last mental one had a bit of a mystery in his eyes.

  Dexterity 2

  Governs agility, hand-eye coordination, physical speed, grace, and reflexes. Increases Stamina regeneration Next Upgrade: 10

  Constitution 2

  Governs health, well-being, general toughness and resistance. Increases Health regeneration. Next Upgrade: 10

  Wisdom 2

  Governs alertness, interpretation of the world, and comprehension. Increases the potency of spells cast. Next Skill: 10

  Spell potency wasn’t a concrete metric like Mana, Health, or Stamina. If it imparted more information when using Identify to absorb a spell, Mike needed to make it a priority. To do that, though, he needed to find out how to get more free points. The idea of all those Skills being there when he upgraded the Stat to ten got him excited. This was a world that demanded he be powerful to survive, and Mike felt he was ready to answer the call.

  Just as soon as he figured out how all the bells and whistles of his mysterious interface worked.