The elder returned from one of the tents with a side bag and sat right where he was before. He did it all nonchalantly while the others in the group shared a mix of bewilderment, joy, and doubt.

  That circle sure wasn’t like the tattoo studios I’d seen before, but I wasn’t about to complain. My concerns lay elsewhere.

  “Your bond with me… this won’t affect your role here? Like all this wind stuff…” I asked, looking directly at Tress.

  “I am free, Zach. The wind chose me to be its herald, and that’s all. I have the respect of my tribe and of others who live near us. My job is to help those we can and follow the codes like the Faceless wants. Whether I’m by your side or not, it doesn’t matter.” She spoke firmly, as if the whole concept still hadn’t dawned on me.

  “Our views on… religion, if I can call it that way, are very different. From my understanding, you’re like a priest, someone who must stay close to the ‘flock.’ At least that’s how most religions on my planet work,” I tried to explain, but before she could say anything, Elk interjected.

  “On mine, priests are the last thing you want to see. Especially if you’re hornless like me.” He was trying to lighten the mood, but that only made Mary place a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

  “What?” he asked, and she just let her head fall onto his shoulder.

  Those two were really getting along, I realized as the elder elf rummaged through his things.

  “There are other oracles in my world. Other tribes do things differently. This is my way. Do you respect it?” Her voice held no anger or challenge; it was a genuine question.

  “I do.”

  “Will you accept my bond to you?” she continued.

  “I will.”

  “So, I must proceed,” the elder chimed in, moving closer to my side. He held what seemed like a pen, red ink dripping from the tip. The thing was sharp and looked like it was made of wood. “Can you remove your armor and your upper cloth?”

  I did as requested, and he started working on it. After half an hour of searing pain and grunts, I had what looked like the shape of a flame tattooed on the upper part of my left pec.

  Looking down at it, it actually looked nice. The elder elf soaked a white cloth in water and cleaned the blood, revealing only the flame’s shape. It was badass.

  Everyone’s eyes lingered on me, but they weren’t looking at the tattoo.

  “What?” I asked, and it was Elk who replied.

  “Zach, mate… what happened to you?” His face twisted in pain as he examined the many scars on my torso. Most of them were short and thin, but I had burn marks as well. My torso wasn’t a canvas of scars, but there were definitely a lot.

  The biggest one ran from my neck straight down to the middle of my chest—the one Leo always asked about back when we worked at the office, back when I was actually ashamed of my scars. Now, I didn’t care anymore.

  “I got into some fights.” I grabbed my shirt, dressing quickly and smiling. “Everything’s all right now. I got you at my back, right?”

  “Yeah, sure,” the devil replied, trying to bring back the lighter mood.

  Next, it was Tress’s turn to be tattooed. She removed her armor, revealing a similar purple loincloth beneath it. She was less slender and more curvy than I’d thought.

  While Mary could easily be a model for a streetwear magazine, Tress, with her height and slender curves, could’ve been a Victoria’s Secret model. I didn’t stare, though. She made room for the elder elf to tattoo her, and when he finished, she put her armor back on.

  “Please, kneel,” she said, and I followed. She knelt in front of me, clasped both hands, and bowed her head. I did the same until our foreheads touched.

  “As the Faceless codes command, I’m now bound to your will and your directives. I thank you for saving my life, giving it back to you.” She was solemn, eyes closed.

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  “Should I say anything?” I muttered.

  “Just say you accept it,” she hushed.

  “I accept your bond,” I told her, and a system message instantly popped before my eyes.

  Congratulations, you earned a new Title [Bondsmith - Initiate]

  You followed the sacred codes of the myriads from Jouintr and proved your honor by bonding yourself with one myriad. This title is upgradable.

  Bond with more myriads to upgrade this Title.

  Magic +1

  The title was very similar to the one I’d gained when I defeated the Arahaktar in a duel back on the training grounds. That meant that for each race, there was an upgradable title?

  I tried to think of something common between all humans that could become an upgradable title but couldn’t find one.

  I had no time, though. Tress heaved herself up and outstretched a hand to me.

  “Time to eat, friend.” The last word sounded… different. As if she actually meant it for the first time.

  “Delaying this ritual was eating you from the inside, right?” I asked, standing next to her.

  “It was, but we needed an elder to do it. Now that me and you have an established bond, if it happens again, we can perform the bonding ritual ourselves,” she explained as we walked toward the cookfire in the middle of the tents.

  “I have no idea how to make a tattoo,” I added, and she chuckled.

  “I’ll do that, but it’s not difficult. You only need the tool and the ink. The wind will guide your hand.”

  “Like in an ouija game,” I muttered, and she ignored me. She was learning fast, quickly recognizing when I was referencing something that only existed back on Earth.

  Elk strode ahead and sat first around the cook pot. He was lean, but his hunger was unmatched. The vermilion paste was his favorite of all, so being able to eat it was making him anxious.

  “Leave some for us too,” I teased, and he smiled, grabbing a piece of the three grilled fish resting on a big leaf.

  Everything smelled great and tasted even better. In less than half an hour, we were all satisfied. The moon had already changed positions several times as we talked.

  “We saw you on the magic screen,” the elder said. “Vanir here can be quite averse to change, but he was cheering for you when you defeated that boss, Zach.” The elder pointed at the young elf, who looked down, his face red.

  It must’ve been hard to keep up the ‘strong man’ fa?ade for so long. Damn, I knew exactly how hard it was to do that on the streets. I didn’t blame the kid. In fact, I admired him for standing with his chest puffed out to protect his family.

  The other three female elves told us how they survived the training grounds, how they made an alliance with some female Arahaktar who were fierce warriors but decided to change groups when they encountered other members of their tribe after the tutorial was over.

  They mentioned the elves I killed but were quick to say they didn’t blame me.

  “That blond man… he’s a Manyfaced,” the elder looked down, shaking his head from side to side in disgust.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “It means he can’t be trusted. He’s not one person, he’s two, maybe three… and all of them are self-centered,” the elder replied as if stating the obvious, which only made me more confused.

  “Our god is pure and Faceless. We, as their creation, have only one face and strive to become more and more connected to the wind. Manyfaced myriads reject this idea and wear other faces as they see fit. They’re liars, manipulators, murderers,” Tress explained, and it all made perfect sense.

  “He’s definitely Manyfaced, and he’s coming for us as we speak,” I told them and saw the elves’ eyes twist in fear.

  “Should we arm ourselves?” Vanir, the youngest elf, asked, already placing both hands on the ground, preparing to move.

  “They’re six or seven hours away from us. They’re moving now, probably trying to find a place to rest for the night.”

  “They actually stopped,” Elk chimed in, his gaze distant, showing he was accessing his screen.

  “They’re nine. With your help, we could defeat them,” I told the elves, returning to the previous topic.

  “We can’t, son. There are more of our people lost in this forest. We need to get to them. However, we overheard your conversation before. We promise we’ll be there on the city stone day, but not before,” the elder said again.

  “So, there’s no need for us to stay longer. We need to start moving faster and with fewer stops. The sooner we arrive at the city stone, the better we can make a plan to face whoever or whatever attacks us,” I stood, wiping my clothes off.

  Elk had a piece of fish in his hand, almost reaching his mouth, and didn’t seem happy about abandoning the leftovers.

  Tress, however, followed my lead as if the Faceless itself had called to her. I smiled at her gesture and watched as a reluctant Elk was followed by Mary.

  “We thank you for your hospitality and expect to see you again in four days. We’ll create a nice settlement and overcome all this,” I looked at the elder, who rose and stood.

  “How do you humans do it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “A handshake is fine,” I told him, outstretching my hand.

  Just as I did and he followed, something moved in the corner of my eye.

  I quickly glanced at my map but saw no yellow dots.

  Something stamped on the ground—fast, too fast for the elder to notice.

  But there was nothing there. I moved to shove the elder away, but before I could, his hand was shredded, and his body fell to the side.

  Something invisible had just eaten half of his arm.