Dream invasion

"But enough of that complicated stuff. let's talk about why you are even here. I think you already partially know the reason for calling you. The great sage is dead, and someone has to follow in his footsteps or at least inherit his legacy."

"A rule that generally applies to all living beings is that they don't like the thought of fading into obscurity after they die. something has to prove that they really existed even if they themselves don't anymore. something that makes them more than a rumor whispered about in some shady back alleys or backwater villages."

"For the sage it's a little bit different. sure, he didn't want to be forgotten either but the many things he left behind would be proof of his existence either way and most of them will probably outlive even some of the oldest mortal beings who walks the lands."

"He rarely taught someone even a fraction of his knowledge and if someone wants to take a glimpse on his vast intellect, they'd have to study his artifacts."

"You know. the more I talk the more I think I'm too easily changing the topic or getting lost in some minor details. Anyway. first you will learn magic how the sage himself intended and then you can do whatever you want."

"The only thing you are required to do is, if you find an artifact of the sage that is misused or has been discarded you are going to retrieve it and decide what is going to happen to it. you can give it to someone else keep it or just destroy it for that matter."

After the explanation ended Damian looked at INT with stupefied eyes. "Isn't that a little too ambiguous. I mean what do you define as 'misused'. I don't even know what an artifact is capable of."

"I guess it's up to you what qualifies as misused. if you decide that an owner who sneezes on their artifact or doesn't Polish it on a daily basis is disrespectful to the sage's legacy you can just snag it and call it a day."

"I'd highly advice against it though. there is a mechanism in the artifact that keeps it from harming the sage himself or those who are in charge of monitoring the artifacts. so now that the sage is dead it's basically just you. but don't think it's going to be easy to get your hands on those babies."

"No one would give up a powerful artifact because of a please and thank you. most people who managed to get their grabby little fingers on something like that are powerful enough to not need them to beat your ass."

"Plus, some of them are just straight lunatics who have lost any semblance of decency and flaunt their artifacts like they have their junk hanging out. as you can imagine those people don't live long."

"By the way you don't really have to search for them specifically. that would be a mammoth task that would probably drive you insane and take a hell of a long time to boot."

"Just keep your eyes open while wandering around and see what you can find." INT seemed to have finished his explanation so Damian could finally start digesting all that information.

"That's way too much for one day. hell, I'm not even sure a week would be enough to sort out all that nonsense," he said while massaging his temples.

"I know I'm shooting myself in the foot here, but I have another question. what's with the Japanese style of this whole place," he pointed at the walls, ceiling and furniture. the only thing that didn't fit in where the armchairs and coffee table they were using.

"Oh, that. The sage was strangely enamored with old Japanese culture and designs, so he turned his home into this. I could change it, but I'd really appreciate it if you could get used to it."

"It's been this way since I can remember and I'm sure the sage would be sad if you just erased something he cherished. It's no problem to make small adjustments but please don't turn this into a medieval castle or something like that."

"Anyway, it's late now. I'm gonna show you your room and you can sleep over everything you learned today." INT led him upstairs to the first floor and showed him a room that was furnished with a futon and a short table that was turned up right and placed against the wall.

'I guess INT broke the theme with the armchairs and coffee table to give me reassurance after all that bullshit but that seems to be the end of the line.' Damien feared he wouldn't be able to get a good night rest because he never slept on a futon but as soon as his head touched the pillow his mind shut down and he fell asleep.

He woke up immediately after that but instead of lying on the futon like he had Anticipated he was floating in some kind of black space with lots of white dots in the distance that Damian could only describe as stars in the night sky.

After some looking around and yet again resigning himself to the fact that he did not understand what was going on, one of the stars seemed to get bigger and bigger.

It would probably be more appropriate to say that the Star was actually just moving closer to Damien. it stopped about a meter away from him and settled at his eye level. While staring at it Damien got the feeling like the light was staring back at him.

"You want flowers or something," Damian said as a joke but surprisingly the light answered with the tone of a middle-aged man and the energy of a sloth about to fall into hibernation.

"Why the heck would a dead person need flowers. I'm here to take a good look at you and to sort out the last things you will need to actually do something with my legacy."

"First of all, my condolences for your loss and I apologize for practically forcing this whole shabang on you even though you haven't yet recovered . I don't like leaving my legacy open for longer than necessary. There are still people in this world who could take it for themselves. I know all of them and trust most of them, but you never know when there's that much power involved."

"Sage, I presume. do you really think giving your legacy to a random stranger is any better than searching for someone to take the job yourself? I mean asfare as you know I could be a madman who Is hell bent on wiping out any lifeform that doesn't suit his fancy."

"How do you know that my grandpa died anyway? did you hear it from INT or do you just have the habit of spying on people." Even if Damian was still in a stupor from all the revelations the last day had brought, he still didn't believe that all that was promised to him came without a drawback. he was still looking for one and the man in charge was the most likely to tell him the price he had to pay.

"Watch your mouth you little runt. I have lived longer than your people count time, and I would have lived even longer if I didn't decide to sign out myself. your life experience is practically 0 and you still have the gall to criticize my decisions? Listen here you little twat and listen well."

"If you can't trust your best friend to make an important decision you left in their hands you are going to live a very, very lonely life. Even if Victor's decision was an emotional one in the end, he has seen enough madmen to know what happens if they gain any sort of power."

"As for your second question I can hear nothing outside of this artificially created space. It doesn't take a genius to notice that your mind and body are completely in the dumps. I know my friend well enough to Confidently state that he would have never in a million years dumped all of this crap on you if he had any other choice."

"He either gave it to you on his deathbed or you found it by accident and even if you had found it by accident, I doubt you would have taken the offer if you had still anything worthwhile in your old home. Did I get anything wrong, or have I hit the nail on the head?"

The next few seconds where spend in stunned silence while Damien felt like a grumpy teenager that had tried to give his grandfather a lecture about how to live his life.