《How Mephistopholes Came to Know My Name》 Prologue I just stepped out of the Guild Hall when I heard a sound to my right. I turned to look and there were three young people standing there staring. ¡°Is there something I can help you with?¡± I asked. They looked at each other and then just stared for a second. Just as I was about to walk away, the boldest of the three stammered, ¡°M¡­ M... Mr. Porter? Mr. Calvin Porter?¡± I nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Cal Porter. How may I help you?¡± As I said that, I took a good look at them. I said, ¡°You¡¯re all new to the System, aren¡¯t you?¡± They all hesitantly nodded. I said, ¡°Well, then, what are your names and how may I help you?¡± The bold one stepped forward and offered his hand. He said, ¡°I¡¯m Josh and these are my friends Tim and John.¡± I shook his hand and shook hands with his friends. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, gentlemen. Is there something in particular I can help you with?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m somewhat retired from the whole adventuring thing but do keep my hand in once in a while.¡± Josh started to reply but, before he could, Tim blurted out, ¡°Is it true you were the first System user from Earth?¡± Josh looked miffed and I laughed. I said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to burst your bubble but no, I wasn¡¯t. I wasn¡¯t even in the first one hundred. Do any of you even know the history of the System and Earth?¡± They all shook their heads and looked curious. ¡°You all look like you¡¯re under level 10, right?¡±, I asked. They hesitantly nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what. Let¡¯s go into Guild bar and I¡¯ll set us up with a round or two and tell you a bit about how I became an initiate into the System and some of my adventures. What do you say?¡± I asked. Tim said, ¡°Hell yeah!¡± and they all nodded. I turned back to the Guild door and they eagerly followed. Once inside, I headed to the right and, as soon as I walked through the entry, Chuck, the bartender, called out, ¡°Hey Cal. I thought you were done for the day. Yet here you come back, and with newbies, no less.¡± I nodded to him and said, ¡°Yeah, well, you know how much of a sucker I am for helping to newer initiates and helping them to learn from my mistakes. Set us up for a round, would ya, Chuck?¡± He nodded and I led the three low levels to a booth towards the back. Once we were all seated and Chuck brought us a round, I looked carefully at each of them and said, ¡°Guys, I¡¯m more than happy to just sit here for a bit and shoot the shit. I¡¯m not exactly sure what the guild is releasing about the early days and I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be a bit of a shock to you. In other words, I¡¯m giving you an out, a free drink or two, and general bullshitting as opposed to telling you what happened when I was inducted into the system and how shit went south.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. They all paused as they were taking their first drink and looked at each other. Josh hesitated and then opened his mouth to reply. But before he could, Chuck called out from the bar, ¡°Hey Cal. Try not to scare the shit out of these newbies, huh? Once a century is more than enough to have to deal with your fallout.¡± And then he stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at me. I laughed as all three of the young initiates looked at each other with very wide eyes. I called out to Chuck, ¡°At least it wouldn¡¯t be as bad as that booze experiment you tried last month. How many did you put in the infirmary?¡± He laughed and started wiping down the bar. I looked at the kids sharing the booth with me and laughed too. I said, ¡°Ignore Chuck and his peanut gallery commentary. He just likes to stir shit when he can.¡± They all laughed and Josh said, ¡°If you wouldn¡¯t mind, sir, we would be very interested in hearing about your induction.¡± I nodded and said, ¡°Well, don¡¯t forget your drinks. I¡¯ll try not to bore you too much.¡± Chapter 1 - Faust It was the summer of my junior year of university. I was a studying Philosophy and had a strong personal interest in mysticism and magic (honestly, I think this originated from all the tabletop RPGs I played as a teen and all the PC fantasy RPGs I played in my free time). I was doing some research for a paper at the campus library when I came across a book entitled ¡°Spells from the Nether Worlds, Vol. 1.¡± I was about to continue looking for the books I needed when I noticed the author¡¯s name. Faust? ¡°How is this possible?¡± I wondered. ¡°All of his books should have been destroyed in the 15th or 16th century.¡± Out of curiosity, I pulled the tome down and went to an out-of-the-way study room to skim through it. As I sat down, I noticed something weird about the book; nowhere on its exterior were the usual markings of the library (you know how, usually, there are stamps on the closed pages or a bar code on the back or spine to identify which library it belongs to). Also, when I opened the book, the first page initially appeared to be written in an archaic language. As I stared at the page, the letters started squirming and twisting and slowly morphed into modern English. My curiosity wasimmediately piqued, and I turned to the second page. The first chapter, if that is truly what it could be called, appeared to be in Faust¡¯s own handwriting but was, again, translated into contemporary English. It told of how Faust first learned of magic by finding a set of scrolls that he claimed were written in Sumerian. He asserts to have no knowledge of the language and yet he could understand it easily. He described how, through practice and luck, he became a fair (in his own words, a ¡°marvelously masterful¡±) practitioner of the arts of magic.
(I say he was only fair because of how he describes every spell that he attempted which failed. It was never his fault. Either his mana, whatever the hell that is, changed his spell or his test subject moved or a myriad of other excuses. I also say this because of the way he wrote, especially when referring to himself. His ego shone through in the way he talked about anything to do with his life and his conduct. You know the type. They can¡¯t do any wrong and always know better than everyone else.)
This chapter also outlined how his first spells worked or failed and his opinions of why failure occurred. As I later learned, he was attempting advanced magic without bothering to learn the basics. Gee, I wonder why he had so many failures. His first spells were changing one animal into another (such as changing a frog into a sparrow) or changing one object into another. He noted that both animals or objects must be of approximately the same size and mass. One of his first experiments, which, as he described it, ¡°failed horrendously,¡± was to change a mouse into a bull. He says he wound up with a miniature cross between a dead mouse and a live cow. After this failure with a living creature, Faust said that he started experimenting on inanimate objects until he got the spell correct. The chapter went on to describe all his experiments and, as I was to soon discover, all of the failures, in graphic detail. As I read more, I realized why Faust had so many failures. He allowed his ego to get the better of him and decided he was too ¡°good¡± to learn the basics first. How he got the knowledge isn¡¯t clear but he moved straight into advanced spells that he should have waited to learn. The types of spells seemed endless: arcane, elemental, transformation, creation, summoning and controlling demons, transmutation, were some of the types listed. About this time, I noticed that it was getting late so, regrettably, I put the book in my backpack and finished gathering the books I needed for my research before the library closed. Oh yes, one more unusual thing. As I was leaving, it dawned on me that I hadn¡¯t checked out the book, but the detectors didn¡¯t go off. I then assumed that the library had no knowledge of this particular work and decided to keep it a secret until I¡¯d explored a few possibilities for myself. Later that evening, I did some work on my paper, but I couldn¡¯t get Faust¡¯s book out of my mind. In fact, the more I tried to concentrate on anything else, the more my mind wandered back to it (I soon learned why this happened and you will too). After about two hours of fighting to work on my assignment, I picked up Faust¡¯s manual again and began reading where I left off. Faust went on to note some of the demons he summoned (more like attempted to) and some of the more powerful and dangerous spells he attempted to cast. It was during this section that, abruptly, the chapter ended. This was very strange, as he stopped in mid idea about three quarters down a page. At the time, I assumed that this was when he was caught by the Inquisition and burned at the stake. After rereading the chapter, I decided to attempt some of the spells that were included in the book. To my great delight, most of the book turned out to be spells that Faust ignored. Greatly exhilarated, I immediately began preparations for casting my first spell, Arcane Missile. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I read over the spell, nothing made sense. The instructions spoke of focusing your Will and directing your mana but I never saw any descriptions of what mana is or how to use it. I have a basic grasp of what Will is but beyond that, all I got was frustrated. I decided to give up for the night and get some sleep. Maybe, after resting my overtired brain, I would work out new angles to try attacking this problem. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Later that night, as I slept, I had some wild dreams, a couple of which I woke from drenched in sweat and panting, as if I had just run a marathon. I only remember bits and pieces from any of the dreams, but I clearly remember Faust standing before me cackling and saying, ¡°Careful, foolish one.¡± Also, I remember seeing something appear to rise from Faust¡¯s tome and stalk menacingly toward me. I considered these two apparitions and came to the (foolish) conclusion that my imagination was working overtime since my discovery of this incredible book. The next day was a filled by a couple of classes and lunch with a couple friends. I was reminded of my promise to go to the campus bar the next night. I completely forgot that a local cover band was playing, and I really enjoyed their music. I took the weekend off from work to study, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about my job until next week. I¡¯m just glad I finished the general education credits and am able to focus on my major. While we were eating lunch, I attempted to talk about the tome I found. Something weird happened when I tried to bring it up, something flashed in my head and I saw that same image of Faust shaking his finger at me and saying ¡°Ah ah ah¡±. I must have had a weird look on my face because Ken asked if I was ok. I said, ¡°Yeah, just had a rough night last night. I was working on my paper too late.¡± He nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, you study way too much. You need to lighten up a little.¡± I started to reply but Tom jumped in before I could and said, ¡°Yeah, Col, lighten up. That¡¯s why Ken and I are taking coast courses this summer. So we can have a little fun.¡± I started laughing my ass off and said, ¡°You two idiots are only taking classes this summer because you had to either do that or get real jobs. Nice try.¡± You see, Tom and Ken had their parents paying for school as long as they kept their grades up, which was tough for both of the party fools. On the other hand, I had to keep up my grades or lose my scholarship, which would soon become the least of my problems. None of us were rich, which was why Tom settled for my university as opposed to one of the more prestigious universities in the area. Ken could have probably gone to any school he wanted to but decided friends were more important than location or school. Now they were both trying to coast as much as possible and just graduate. After lunch, I went to my last class and then back to my apartment. I have no idea what the class was about. All my focus was on the Faust tome and the spell I tried to cast. It was frustrating that I had no idea what I was doing. I put my phone on silent and picked up Faust¡¯s tome to start reading again. As I lifted it from my bedside table, I noticed a weird new characteristic. It appears that the tome had gained thickness since I put it down last night, but it still weighed the same. Intrigued, I decided to start paging through from the beginning. For the first time, I came across sections that weren¡¯t legible. It was almost as if a haze had settled on these sections and blurred everything within. But what weirded me out more was that, when I got to the arcane section, I found new paragraphs describing what Will and mana are. Apparently, mana is both generated by a body naturally and also generated by the environment. A person capable of using mana takes advantage of both by generating their own mana as well as absorbing the mana around them. I spent another couple hours attempting to ¡°feel¡± the mana around me or within my body but, since I had no clue what I was doing, I only frustrated myself. I decided I needed a break from all of this, so I loaded up Doom and figured killing demons for a bit before sleep would be therapeutic. Once I finished a couple of levels, I decided I needed sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. The band usually doesn¡¯t finish playing before 1AM and I know Tom and Ken are going to want to stay until we get kicked out again. Once I shut down my PC, I finished my beer, brushed my teeth, and got ready for bed. I turned on Octane, which reminded me I needed to make sure my subscription was paid up. Then I settled in bed and tried to fall asleep. Just as I was settling in to finally sleep, I started to hear static and a few tapping noises. I was about to sit up when this bright green box appeared in front of me. At first I thought I was either dreaming or had more beer than I realized. Then I heard the voice and, on the screen, words began to appear. Tap! Tap! Tap! Is this thing fucking working or did another normie pick me up? I almost fell out of bed as I jumped. ¡°Oh shit!¡± I said. ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± Oh good. You can hear me. I assume you can also see the System Box? I shouted ¡°What the fuck? Shit! I can¡¯t be drunk. Did Ken spike my beer somehow? Who or what the fuck are you?¡± Oh don¡¯t get your panties in a twist. I¡¯m just glad you aren¡¯t a normie. They¡¯re so fucking boring. Just as I was getting ready to respond, I hear a pounding on my door and ¡°Mr. Porter? Is everything okay in there?¡± ¡°Shit,¡± I thought, ¡°it¡¯s my next door neighbor, Ms. Kravitz. I guess I was louder than I realized.¡± I jump out of bed and pull on some sweatpants as she pounded again. I rushed to the door and opened it. ¡°Evening, Ms. Kravitz.¡± I said. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± She quickly looked me up and down and said, ¡°I heard yelling and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ms. Kravitz. I got a new game and got pissed off when it crashed on me. I¡¯m sorry I disturbed your sleep.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s okay, Cal. I know how much stress you¡¯re under with your studies. I was just worried about you.¡± She said. ¡°Good night.¡± I wished her a good night and closed and locked my door. As I turned to go back to bed, that fucking window popped up again and I almost freaked out again. Cool your jets, gamer boy. You aren¡¯t drunk, this isn¡¯t a dream, and you need to get your shit together so I can properly inform you about what¡¯s going on. I nodded and thought, ¡°Well, if I am going nuts, the least I can do is have fun with it before I end up in the padded room with the funny white coat.¡± I said, ¡°Okay, inform me.¡± Greetings, Inductee. I am your personalized System AI, Rodderick. You are Precursor 1376 from universe 725 and you are the 17th active Precursor of your current timeline. Before you start with your questions, would you allow me to introduce the System? Chapter 2 - The System For a minute, I just stared. ¡°The System?¡± I thought. ¡°I really must be going crazy, because I don¡¯t remember hitting my head or getting into some kind of accident. Maybe I¡¯m in a coma and this is some kind of fever dream.¡± Before I could dive further down that rabbit hole, the screen changed.
Relax, gamer boy. You aren¡¯t going crazy, haven¡¯t been drugged, and aren¡¯t in a coma. And yes, I can hear your thoughts. It makes things easier because I¡¯m supposed to advise and guide you through your induction and beyond, if you want. But I at least have to introduce you to the basics. Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. As I said before, my name is Rodderick and I¡¯m your personalized System AI. I¡¯m here to, at a minimum, introduce you to the System for your section of the multiverse. I¡¯ll be explaining how stats work and how levels and classes are gained. Just by opening me and attempting to experiment, you¡¯ve automatically gained the basic Mage class.
¡°Mage class?¡± I asked. ¡°Whoa. Wait a minute. This sounds too much like a video game. Maybe I¡¯ve been gaming too much.¡±
¡°It should,¡± says Rodderick. ¡°Where do you think the ideas for those games you¡¯ve been hooked on come from? The system has been around for millennia. It¡¯s learned a thing or two about preparing worlds for integration. Sadly, this pathetic planet fell way behind schedule and now we¡¯re trying to speed up the process, which includes customized Ais like myself to help you figure your shit out. In another couple of centuries, the System will just say ¡®Fuck it¡¯ and yank your world in, whether you humans are prepared or not.¡±
¡°Customized AI?¡± I thought. ¡°Has this creep been watching me or something?¡± ¡°So this System does what? Turn people into video game characters?¡± I asked.
¡°You could think about it that way but there¡¯s one major difference. There are no respawns, no extra lives, no phone-a-friend. If you die, poof, that¡¯s it. You¡¯re done. So keep that in mind. Now, would you like to know what¡¯s going on?¡±
I thought about what he said and noticed the glaring plot hole. So I said, ¡°Sure, but can you answer a question first.¡±
¡°No, there are no cheat codes, no god mode. If you want god mode, you have to earn it just like every other sapient being.¡±, he said. ¡°Was that your question?¡±
I laughed. I replied, ¡°No, I hate using cheat codes. What I want to know is where did the System come from? Something like this couldn¡¯t just randomly happen. Someone must have created it, right?¡± It was Rodderick¡¯s turn to laugh. It was at that moment that I realized that I was not only seeing the words appear on the screen in front of my eyes, but I was also hearing them, and his laugh, in my mind. So very cool.
He replied, ¡°Bro, don¡¯t we wish we knew. No one, not even the System, knows who created it or them or whatever. All it knows is that it came into being with one directive, integrate the section of the multiverse it¡¯s been assigned to. Develop means to enable the inhabitants of the planets that they can use to grow and protect their planet, and eventually the multiverse, from incursions from the darker dimensions, places you humans refer to as hell, or hades, or the underworld, to name a few. Beings from those dimensions are always trying to invade. So the System developed mana, a kind of mental or spiritual energy, to assist the integrated worlds in fighting off the invasions. Mana can be used to cast spells, and empower skills and objects. As planets get closer to full integration, the natural mana levels increase, allowing the general population to develop classes and skills. The Precursors, like you, are just ahead of the game. And you¡¯re needed. Incursions are starting to happen again, so we need to step this up, buddy boy.¡±
¡°Wait. Wait. Wait, dammit. Two questions that seem important, at least to me,¡± I said.
¡°Go ahead.¡±
I stated, ¡°You kinda implied that there are multiple Systems. Are there? And just what the hell do you mean incursions are starting to happen again. This has happened before? How the fuck did no one notice?¡±
¡°Well yeah, at least I assume so. The multiverse is infinite. There¡¯s no way in hell one System can successfully manage it all. It¡¯s just way too much. As for incursions happening before, damn right they have. And if Earth¡¯s precursors hadn¡¯t mostly been dicks, the integration likely would have happened a few hundred years ago. Where do you think all those fairy tales of elves, dwarves, gnomes, ogres, etc. come from? Those were Precursors from other dimensions coming over to help deal with incursions. Of course, from there, the fairy tales grew dark and gruesome, likely due to the influence of the dark dimensions.¡±
I asked, ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that trolls, ogres, orcs, goblins, they¡¯re all the good guys?¡±
He responded, ¡°Well sure, some of them, at least. Just like you stupid humans, some are good, some are really good, some are selfish, etc etc etc. Get the picture?¡±
I nodded and said, ¡°When you put it that way, I guess it makes some sense.¡±
¡°Any more questions or can I get on with the explanations? Remember, we¡¯re potentially going to be together for a long time. I can answer the unimportant questions later.¡± he asked.
I nodded and said, ¡°Nope, do carry on.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°Thanks. So where to begin? Well, I guess we¡¯ll begin with experience. You gain experience from killing incursion monsters, mana-spawned monsters, clearing dungeons, and dealing with other Precursors who go off the rails. Occasionally, System or I will give you quests, which also offer experience, along with potential stat boosts, gear, consumables, and bonus spells and skills.¡± ¡°Now on to stats. You¡¯ve played D&D so you basically already know them: Strength (STR), Dexterity(DEX), Constitution(CON), Intelligence(INT), Wisdom(WIS), and Charisma(CHA). There are also secondary stats: Endurance(End), which is (Str + Con)*2; Reflexes(Ref) which is (Dex + Int)*1.5; Perception(Prc) which is (Int + Wis)*1.5; Will which is (Int + Wis)*2; and Persuasion(Per) which is Wis + Cha. So to understand stats, baseline for humans is 1-5, with 5 in any stat being Olympian/Genius level. So an Olympic weight lifter could potentially have a 5 in their STR. Einstein definitely had a 5 in his INT. Following so far?¡±
I nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll hold my questions until you finish. That way you might answer some before I need to ask them.¡±
¡°Ooooh smart guy! Might have to tweak what the System gave you for Int after all,¡± he joked. ¡°Now, next is levels. You won¡¯t see an actual number for your experience, the System calculates all that behind the scenes, as it were. You¡¯ll see a bar that represents your level progress, so you can at least guesstimate how far you are from a new level. When you gain a new level, you¡¯ll automatically gain stat bonuses and free stats. As a mage, you¡¯ll gain two INT and two CON. Even numbered levels grant you one STR and one DEX. Odd levels grant you one WIS and one CHA. You¡¯ll also receive three free stats to place wherever you want. I will warn you to be careful with your stats. Don¡¯t min/max. Never! Period! All of your stats are important and should be balanced. While it¡¯s true that the most I can do is give you shit about it if you put yourself out of balance, I will also be the one to give you so much shit when you learn how badly you¡¯ve fucked your stats up. So pay attention to the balance. When you look at your stat sheet after I finish going over everything, you¡¯ll see you have a Rank and a Level. Ranks start with Novice, Initiate, Prestidigitator, Evoker, Mage, Thaumaturge, Master, Grandmaster are the first eight Ranks for Mages. Now, Novice is the easiest Rank. Once you hit the EXP cap for level 10, you¡¯re eligible to progress to Initiate. Rank progressions aren¡¯t automatic. Either System or I will give you a quest that you must complete to progress in Rank. If you fail, there¡¯s a three-day cooldown before you¡¯re able to receive another Rank progression quest. I guess that should lead into quests. Quests can be from me, the System, or spontaneous. Spontaneous quests are basically quests from the System that are given because you¡¯re in proximity to an event, such as a Precursor flipping their shit or an incursion. Typically, spontaneous quests happen when you¡¯re within about 1,000 feet of an event. You¡¯ll know it¡¯s a spontaneous quest because you¡¯ll immediately receive a second quest from the System with more specific objectives. Quests that the System and I give you will always be specific. Instead of, for example, kill 20 demons, it will be something like kill the level x demon leader of the incursion. Also, the rewards spontaneous quests give will be more generic. You¡¯ll get system cash, generic level-appropriate healing and mana potions, random gear, and a chance at class- and level-specific gear. The quests System and I give will always give you items and gear you need to progress. I¡¯ve mentioned rewards a few times so I should explain in detail. First, rewards include when you kill monsters and incursion participants. The System gives you an automatic look ability that doesn¡¯t count against your skill and spell lists so that you¡¯re able to reap immediate benefits from putting your life on the line. The rewards grow with the level of the opponent so everything scales, including quest rewards. System cash is spendable once Earth is fully inducted into the System or when you¡¯re able to make it to an inducted world. Also, as an active Precursor, you¡¯re given a stipend, which I will automatically convert into Earth currency and will use to pay your bills. We can¡¯t have a Precursor worrying about mundane shit like having to work when there¡¯s an incursion here or on Klathius. Klathius is almost like Earth¡¯s sister planet from another dimension. You¡¯ll be travelling there once you gain a few levels. Of course, this also means school won¡¯t be possible for you any more. I¡¯m sorry, Cal, but Precursor trumps classes. Plus, it would be difficult for you to explain constantly having to leave in the middle of class. You dropping out in favor of induction just makes more sense.¡±
¡°Wait a minute!¡± I stopped him. ¡°What do you mean I have to drop out of college? This is something I¡¯ve been working hard for since high school. And you expect me to just give it up?¡±
¡°I mean,¡± he replied, ¡°you don¡¯t have to but there¡¯s a catch. If you give all this up, I¡¯ll have to wipe your memory of everything we¡¯ve talked about tonight. And you¡¯ll have to wait and see if Earth manages to accomplish induction in your lifetime. And if it does, I guarantee you won¡¯t have as cool an AI as me and you won¡¯t get any of the benefits of being a Precursor. But yeah, the choice is, ultimately and always, yours.¡±
¡°Fuck!¡± I cursed. ¡°Why is it always an either/or situation. This fucking sucks. And I suppose I won¡¯t be able to tell anyone about what¡¯s going on. Which makes this suck even more!¡±
¡°Wait, Cal,¡± he said. ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to keep quiet about this if you choose to become a Precursor. The System and I just wanted you to understand the tome and the System and everything before you started talking about it. That¡¯s why I stopped you from saying anything at lunch. The problem with saying shit to anyone before you understand what¡¯s going on is that the rumors and conspiracy theories you potentially generate could crash the internet. Well, not really, but you get the idea.¡±
At that I hesitated. Giving up school would really suck. But at the same time, magic!!! ¡°Will I be able to show my friends anything or would I be limited to just talking about what I know?¡± I asked.
¡°Ok, I¡¯m sorry but before we proceed with this line of thought and questioning, I need to know. Calvin Porter, do you officially and formally accept a position as one of Earth-725¡¯s Precursors?¡±
Oh shit!! This is really happening. Do I accept? What the fuck will happen if I don¡¯t? How will the guys react? Is it possible to get them inducted too? Shit, there are just too many questions. So I ask, ¡°Do I have time to think about this?¡±
Rodderick responded with, ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t give you all night to think about this. If you don¡¯t accept, I really need to selectively wipe your memories, dampen your mana receptivity, and move on to another part of your multiverse to seek another mage.¡±
It may have been my imagination, which very likely was out of control right now, but I could swear that Rodderick was really uncomfortable with what he was saying. I was already leaning towards accepting this but I guess that¡¯s what made the decision for me. I can¡¯t explain why but I felt a kinship with Rodderick that I¡¯ve never felt before. I stopped him before he could say more and said, ¡°I, Calvin Porter, formally accept the class of mage and the role of Precursor for Earth-725!¡±