“Wait, I've been here before, haven't I?” Ash asked, opening her eyes and looking around. There was a familiar light peeking through the trees, and an odd sense of peace had settled over her. How had she gotten here?

  The last thing she could remember was assigning her attribute points into Constitution and selecting her class. Why was she back here? Back here, she was certain that was the correct question now. But another question was why she couldn't remember the last time she had been here while she was awake.

  What was that question she had already answered? Hadn't the man who had helped her here before told her that would be true? Her memories felt odd in her head. It was almost like a sense of nostalgia was combining with a barely remembered dream and settling in as memories she hadn't realized she was missing.

  “Just relax, human Ash. Everything will settle itself in your head in mere moments. I know it's quite confusing and unsettling to realize that memories you used to have were no longer possessed by you. But sadly, it is the only way, at least for now. In time, as you grow deeper in your connection to the Green Flame, I believe you will be able to maintain your knowledge between realms,” a voice said.

  Ash had heard that voice before. She was sure of that. Who did it belong to, though? Her brain was stuck on a memory of Santa laughing, but that couldn't be right.

  She forced herself to focus more on the figure that the voice belonged to. No, that was right. He wasn't Santa Claus. “Stalplaht?”

  “Oh, good. Your memory is really falling into place now. Welcome back, human Ash. I am glad to see that you have returned alive, and that my gifts have helped bring this about,” Stalplaht replied. A warmth radiated from his words, comforting Ash as her brain finally started to settle.

  “I think I'm your acolyte now,” Ash said, realizing the man must already have known that as soon as she said it. Hopefully, she hadn't just embarrassed herself too greatly before a god. He was a god, right? That had been what Ralph and her father were getting at, wasn’t it?

  “Yes, I believe you are, which is something we're going to have to learn how that works together. I've never really had a mortal acolyte before. I know so many of the gods are big on it, but I have had other focuses in my long existence.” He followed up his reply with a giant sweeping hug to the still slightly confused girl.

  “This is all pretty new to me, too. What does an acolyte do? Actually, I'm not used to the idea of gods being real things you can talk to and see. How does that work?” She knew there had been a million different religions on Earth before all of this, but as far as she knew, none of those gods had directly given people classes before. So, what the hell did this all mean for her?

  “I don't know, but it should be a fun journey. I do have some ideas. I think while you're here, it would be best to train you on the Green Forge itself. That power that manifested alongside being my acolyte does mean you'll need to learn the proper techniques if you want to excel at the craft.”

  “I still don't know what any of that means. I read the descriptions for the class before I selected it, and I get that the Green Flame is the energy in living things. But I don't know what that means beyond that. Is it what makes all of this System stuff work?” Her earlier befuddlement had morphed into more of an educational confusion.

  “The Green Flame is much, much more than that. And it exists everywhere, whether the System exists there or not. But I am not the correct god to give you a history lesson on the greater philosophy of reality. I've never much cared for the games of the System. Although, it seems it's become time to make my presence known. Please, human Ash, follow me, and perhaps some of your questions will become less unanswered as we work.”

  “Okay, I still don't really understand any of this,” she replied, following the man nonetheless.

  “That makes two of us. But I recommend you focus on the journey now. It will make it faster to get to our destination.”

  Why would focusing make it faster to get to their destination? But before she could voice that question, the memory of seeing the deer on her last visit flashed into her thoughts. The time it'd take her to travel to that pond and return hadn’t exactly flowed like normal. And wherever she was, certainly wasn't Earth. It was entirely possible that the same rules of physics did not apply.

  So she did exactly what Stalplaht had said to do. Focusing on her own footsteps, how they rose and fell, almost in harmony with the man she was following, there was a rhythm to their movement. With each step, a tiny bit of energy moved from her into the ground. She wasn't sure, but she could swear it had a green tint to it.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  A strange stereotypically New York-like accent interrupted her examination. “Uh, boss? That's a human behind you.”

  Ash looked up from her own feet and spotted a small black bird wearing a hat.

  She stifled a laugh. The scene now reminded her far too much of an old Looney Tunes short, and she thought it was best not to voice that. All the bird needed now was a cigar to complete her mental image of the absurdity of this.

  “I'm very aware of that, Klorn. She is my new acolyte,” Stalplaht replied.

  “Boss, you don't have acolytes. You ain't that kind of god.”

  “It appears I am now. So it is time for her to learn the forge,” Stalplaht said as he stepped to the side, giving Ash a full view of a large brown tree that was far too big to have been hidden entirely in front of him, and yet it had been.

  In the center of its trunk was a small, green fire. Several glowing coals of different colors rested at the bottom of the blaze. She couldn't understand how the tree around it was not igniting from it, but given that magic was now a reality for her, she had to accept that might be the answer.

  “This thing ain't exactly designed for flesh. You sure this is a good idea?” Klorn’s eyes flitted between Ash and the forge.

  Was the bird not made of flesh? Looking closer at the strange creature, she realized that no, he wasn't actually a bird at all. Klorn was just shaped to look like a bird, made out of some dark metal, or was it obsidian? It had been a couple of years since she'd gone through the phase of watching all the forging videos on YouTube, but the longer she looked at the bird, the more sure she became that it was something that had been crafted.

  “I don't believe she's truly made of flesh while she resides within this realm. Though she is, when she returns, to hers, which may complicate certain things, which is also why, for now, all forging will be done here. Eventually, human Ash, your body will be ready to handle the full powers the Green Flame offers, but it will be quite some time,” Stalplaht said.

  “You still haven't explained what that means. Look, I understand that this is all confusing for you as well, but you are at least used to the System and all of that stuff. This is still brand new to me in every possible way. Can you please explain what we're about to do?” Ash asked. She wanted some real, concrete answers as to what was going on.

  “What do you see when you look at the forge?” Stalplaht asked.

  “A small Green Flame burning on a bed of gems, maybe, inside of a tree?” she replied, unsure if that was what she was actually seeing, or just thought she was seeing. Then again, was there entirely a difference? She knew her brain processed everything she saw normally anyway. So how did that relate to what she was experiencing here?

  She had read a few theories about the idea that no one had ever accurately perceived the world through vision. Did that mean trying to rely on her own eyesight to truly understand what was happening around her was a mistake?

  “Good. Look closer at those gems. I want you to focus on the essence within them. It may be hard to perceive it as its own thing at first, but look beyond the shape,” Stalplaht said.

  She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing herself as much as she could before reopening them. She studied the gems, watching how the fire danced across them. Each tiny ember of flame revealed the smallest bit of radiance. Was that energy moving between the gems and the fire?

  No, there was something more there. The gems weren't gems at all. They were the energy, just condensed.

  Oh. The sudden realization hit her as she took in the deeper meaning of what she was witnessing.

  “Are those the creatures we fought on Earth?” She asked, voicing that realization.

  “See, Klorn? I told you she would be capable. You're doing great, human Ash, but no, those are not exactly the creatures you fought on Earth. They are representations I grafted together, based on what the System recorded your fights as. Each gem represents an aspect of something you have already defeated. For now, this is how we will handle your forging of the Aspects, but I do believe that one day your connection to this realm will be strong enough that you can directly forge the Aspects on Earth,” Stalplaht explained.

  “How will I use them, though, if I can't remember any of this when I'm back on Earth?” She asked, worried that this wouldn't help at all.

  “Again, it is something I'm not entirely sure of, though I believe the System will provide something once you're back in your normal world. Slowly, as your body acclimates to the energies of the Green Forge, this should all become much, much easier. Your aspects will also increase in power as this happens. I do not know how the other gods will feel about my taking of an acolyte, so it may be wise to keep that information as secret as you can for now,” Stalplaht continued.

  “Okay, so what's next?” She asked, unsure how she could keep something secret when she wouldn't be able to remember she was supposed to when she was done here.

  “Now we begin the true forging.”

  “It's never easy to say this, but before I explain everything, I need you to know that it is very treatable,” the doctor said. He had gotten down on his knee and was holding Ash's hand while he spoke in a very gentle and calming manner. Her parents were both standing behind her.

  “It's cancer, isn't it?” She asked, already suspecting. She had been so sick, and they had done so many tests. With how everyone was acting, she knew it had to be the truth.

  “It is non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Unfortunately, it is the diffuse large B-cell type, but it still has a reasonably high five-year survival rate, so we're gonna fight this,” the doctor said reassuringly. “No giving up, okay?”

  She felt her father's hand grip her shoulder strongly. “Damn right, we're going to fight this. Ash is a fighter. Where do we start?”

  “Alright. There is going to be a whole course of treatment, and the sooner we get her on it, the better. Are you ready for this, Ash?” The doctor looked at her.

  “Yes, I'll do whatever it takes.” She had so much she still wanted to do. There's no way she could die here. She wanted to see the world. She wanted to pet an animal in every country. Cancer wasn't going to stop her.

  Memories of Ashley Miller before the integration.