The bog was serene and quiet in the early morning hours. An orange glow burst through the weeping willow trees and cattails. And the buzzing of the bayou began. Members of the guild began going about their days, training in the yard, crafting or cooking. All sorts of things.

  Violet had packed and left with Sinatra and Carlton towards the border. And Theo met with his grandmother, evidently they had some sort of mission to do. A welcomed distraction to say the least, after learning that Violet had some mysterious illness. They had not been getting along before that, but the diagnosis gave Theo confused feelings.

  On one hand, they hadn't known each other long. And she's always seemed selfish, like the fortune had said a friendship with her seemed one-sided. But, she did save his life that one time when Stelios had nearly stabbed him. But does a single good act make up for all the quips and sass?

  Theo didn't know, they hadn't said any sort of goodbyes when she left. She was likely returning to her old thieves guild.

  Theo followed his grandmother to a empty room with a round oak table with a map imprinted on it. There were blackboards and other maps pasted up around. Stacks of papers and orbs that display information when touched sat on desks off to the sides.

  "This is the war room." his grandmother said as they entered.

  "Why are we here? Can't you just tell me on the way?" Theo asked. She looked at him side-eyed; "What? No. Sometimes I forget how little you played video games... Look." she tapped her staff on the black board and a black cloud crawled across the surface.

  "It's not proper practice discuss our plans out in the open, plus- it's convenient to have an upright flat surface like this." eventually the black surface rippled and images began to play. A vibrant tropical landscape appeared. Cerulean blue waters, white sand as far as the eye could see.

  Cliffs of a white stone and green ferns and palm trees sprouted out from any even surface they could find- poofing out between the rocks and even out of the water in places.

  It was beautiful. The swamp had it's charms, but this place was a tourist destination.

  "What is this place?" Theo asked the obvious question. Samantha was lost in the images herself before he spoke.

  "It's unnamed as far as I know. The Arkai just showed us the location of it, but the maps Adun or this region have don't reach so far. Often times nations stick to their own borders, it's not like big maps don't exist. But they're rare, and vague."

  Theo was mesmerized by the images.

  "The Arkai?", Theo looked to her confused.

  "Bug people. They want us to go here and recover an artifact of theirs. Should be a cake walk, from my scrying I've only seen a goblin or two. Besides that, there are only threats even you could handle." she chuckled and slapped him on the back. He rolled his eyes. She sighed, "In any case- it's a good deal. They're very elite compared to most NPCs, like true end-game content. And they're offering aid for our cause, tit for tat."

  "How do we get there?" Theo asked, he had no idea how travel in this world worked. Could it be as simple as teleporting? They had a special portal thing, but that seemed to have a set destination.

  The Baba Yaga waved her staff and the image changed, it showed a path from the swamp, to a more arid region that had an ocean beyond it. The vision swooped over it rapidly like a jet.

  "We'll just ride a wagon. Comfortably, in style. We'll draw the least amount of attention that way. We'll set out immediately, after one more thing that is... Your form. Talking about standing out, you need to change. And I know just the form."

  Samantha led Theo from the war room and down a stairway that had many levels to it. Eventually they descended into a basement level with brick walls. It was claustrophobic, thick wooden doors reinforced with metal opened one after the other as they entered. The narrow tunnel was lined with metal doors with slits in them.

  "This is the Gulag." she said grimly, with a hint of caution.

  "You guys have a prison under the base!? How did you do all this in a few weeks?" Theo was flabbergasted. He wasn't sure how long it took to build a place like this, but he expected it took longer than that.

  His grandmother only shrugged; "Magic."

  "Come on. That's bullshit.", Theo murmured. "No, it's true. I mean, some people have essentially super powers dedicated to building after all. So long as we bring home the resources, they can craft or build whatever we need."

  Their footsteps echoed down the hall, and voices emerged from the jails. Discontented, cat-calling, asking for freedom and forgiveness.

  "Uhm, grandma... The way my [Form Change] works, I sort of 'become' the form, in a way, so...", she interrupts him; "-That's why it's perfect! You'll get a powerful form, and we'll might get some information about someone who refuses to share..."

  They came to the end of the winding hall. The metal door seemed ominous. The sconces along the walls had crystals in them that glowed orange, and the one outside this door flickered as if it was about to burn out.

  "I'd rather not grandma. Can't I turn into Shorty or something?", she only raised her eyebrows in response. And opened the jail door. Chained to a wooden stool was a man in a heavy trench coat. It was leather and very worn, a patch work of repairs had been made. His attire was like sailors or pirates. He had a short beard with a greasy mop of brown hair on his head. The glint in his eye seemed resentful, but dignified as he sat there, leaning back casually from them.

  "Feel like talking yet?" she asked. He smirked; "No. Why, is this guy your 'interrogator'?" he chuckled.

  She shook her head. "We don't do war crimes here, and besides. Torture has been proven not to work.", "Only if you're bad at it..." he said dismissively. "Just let me outta here Yaga. I won't even get revenge. Promise."

  "What did he do?" Theo asked.

  "It'd be easier to tell you what he didn't do. But... He's a servant of thieves guild, double crossed us pretty badly. And people got hurt. He's a rapist, a drunkard, murderer, and all round piece of shit." she said bitterly.

  "You flatter me Yaga. Perhaps I should share your rap-sheet too? Starting with the murder-" before he could continue she threw her staff forward and blood appeared around his mouth as wire-like stitches crawled out of his skin and sewed his mouth shut. He didn't seemed surprised or in pain. In fact, his eyes seemed to of expected it as if to say; 'Yeah. That's right.'

  Theo blanched and looked at his grandmother in a new light. She swatted Theo gently on the head with her staff- "Ignore him. We're nothing alike. Hurry up and collect his form, we're burning daylight and I'm not gettin' any younger."

  Theo stammered- he was going to ask about her past, but this wasn't the place or the time. He grabbed the man by the shoulder for a second. It was a strange feeling, the voice that told him his skills activated or that he's leveled up didn't tell him- but he felt that he had acquired a possible form.

  "Got it... I think."

  "Good, let's hit the road." Theo and his grandmother left the gulag in a hurry.

  ---

  After some 'preparation', Theo stood there in his new form. He was even dressed as a swashbuckling sailor. He scratched at his beard, he was never for them. Too much maintenance and getting used to them was a pain.

  "Why am I dressed like this? Can't I wear something a bit more comfy?", the line was strange coming from a rough voice. The way Theo spoke would make it look like a really convincing cosplay in an instant.

  "Huhm- you need to work on the way you talk. Be tougher. Like this." she puffed out her chest and started speaking in a forced masculine voice; "I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills."

  Theo laughed then tried his own, adopting a deep tone which made his forms naturally low voice even lower; "I eat an entire bowl of nails for breakfest...", his grandma scoffed and replied back in her 'tough guy' voice;

  "Yeah, so?"

  "...Without any milk."

  Samantha chuckled, "That's more like it. Add a bit of twang to it. Why don't you try your [Assimilation] skill? Might as well get a feel for it."

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Theos smile disappeared. He rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. "I don't know grandma, it's a bit strange at times. Some people are fucked up. I'd rather not with this one." he gestured to himself.

  Samantha shrugged, "Fine, but you better do a convincing 'tough guy' act. It's all apart of the plan."

  He tilted his head sideways, 'what plan?'.

  But she only twirled her staff and pointed towards a pile of rubble that sat in a type of town center like area of the guild base. "Anyways, adventure awaits!" she stomped off towards it with Theo in toe.

  The crumbled archway reassembled itself when they approached. The bits of rock levitated together forming a crude doorway. "Fancy." Theo whistled.

  "You have no idea. Exp-en-sive." she opened the door and they stepped through.

  ---

  It was a warehouse. Just a big wooden building piled high with shabby crates full of random trinkets and baubles. Lit by the familiar orange crystal wall sconces. And a smooth dirt floor.

  "Not fancy." Theo said.

  "I'm sorry it's not to your taste, 'Lord Malton'. This is just a place for the waygate, it's a front for our guild in this city." she gestured for her to follow her from the building.

  The city was bustling, the narrow streets were muddied with smelly fluids and pile of dung. There were people selling things from stalls, but the quality and hygiene of the food stuffs was ambiguous at best. Children splashed about in puddles with pearlescent swirls in them.

  Theo almost threw up in his mouth, he put a fist over his mouth as if he was about to cough.

  "You'll get used to the smell. We might as well take our time and get you acquainted with city life in this world. Classism is even a worse problem here, the devs of this place put the players experience first and decided to make the NPCs lives harder for realism." she explained as they walked. Wading through crowds of people at times.

  They were dirty, their eyes reflected a hard look. Cynical. Some people were smiling and laughing about, but it seemed like a coping mechanism more than authentic joy. Lines of clothes hung over the maze-like alleyways, cats ran across them chasing rats.

  Theo couldn't believe his eyes. So much was going on everywhere. His eyes fluttered about not searching but only reacting to all the new stimuli.

  Samantha had continued speaking; "We try to help where we can, lots of the NPCs we hire come from places like these. They might be dirty, but they're the hardest workers you'll ever meet. But you can't be a bleeding heart either, you need to be realistic when dealing with desperate or inconsolably idiotic people. The same rules apply to either group."

  A kid bumped into Theo, he grunted but just pushed him past. "Careful kid!" Theo chastised him as the boy continued running down the alley gleefully.

  His grandmother smirked and stopped, the people streamed around her like a rock in a river. "You have to remember that these people will take advantage of any goodwill you give them. So give wisely, they're crafty rats. Not that I don't love a lot a crafty rat or two -but that's what they are. Your maid friend for example."

  Theo stopped in front of her. "She was a thief not a maid but, Is there a point of this monologue?" Theo asked.

  "Where's your sword, Theo?" she said knowingly. He slapped the side of his body. Yep, no sword. The holster was there but the little metal ring that held the sword itself had been cut. "Fuck." he palmed his face in frusturation.

  His grandmother cackled. "That's right, you just need to know. 'Cause like I said, you're a nice guy Theo. But you're gullible. Capable, but too vulnerable. Toughen up!" she made a little fist and punched his chest firmly. "When a little kid bumps into you in a crowded alley, make sure he didn't rob you." she pointed over his shoulder.

  Behind them the little kid stood offering the sword with a satisfied smile. The Baba Yaga took the sword and pulled a gold coin from a small satchel on her side. She gave it to the boy who bit it lightly and gave her a thumbs up before running off.

  "You pay him to be a criminal?" Theo asked annoyed.

  She ignored him and continued her lesson- "My point is; kindness is a privilege. You are better than these people because you can afford to be, never forget that. We can hold these people accountable for their crimes, but unless someone fixes the problem causing them to be so desperate-"

  "YOU LITTLE RAT!" a man shouted, slamming a cleaver into a stall table. Various meats were hung about freshly cut. And a girl was running away- 12 at the oldest. She had a pair of horns and abnormally prominent cheekbones. A beastkin.

  Samantha sighed and stood next to Theo as they watched the butcher chase after the little girl, but his fat rotund form couldn't weave through the crowd as her small dexterous form did.

  "Rats. That's what they call them, this class of people. They call each other it too, shame each other for being slightly poorer than the other. It's madness, but it reminds me of the world I had when I was a kid."

  They walked a bit further and came to another building. It was a raucous and energetic environment, but even more so through the saloon-like doors. A wooden room, like many of the buildings. Some sections of wall were packed with clay and then whitewashed, but it was mostly wood.

  Cracked with bits of sunlight shining through, the room was lined with tables of all kinds. A hodgepodge collection of furniture, no two chairs were the same. Like they bought out a flea market of all their furniture. People sat about drinking and laughing, already so early in the morning. Didn't they have work?

  Not many people paid attention to them, but some were eying Theo with cynicism written on their faces.

  "What'll it be?" a woman said, she was aged by stress, but pretty. A silver line ran through her long brushed hair. Her arms were toned, with cut marks on them. She wore a sleeveless runic with loose threads.

  "What do you have?" Theo asked. His grandmother had given him and Violet both some money before they parted ways. He felt he had earned it with all she had put them through.

  The girl mock pretended to consider for a moment, her expression ever-stoic as she spoke; "We have beer, stronger beer... Water, and milk."

  "Ooh! I'll have milk.", some people chuckled around them. The woman's expression was unchanged; "We don't sell milk." and started filling a flagon of beer.

  His grandmother had been one of the people who chuckled- she climbed up onto a stool to sit at the bar and he did the same.

  "We're day drinking?" Theo asked as he looked down at the frothy swill. "Yep. Just a bit, I can't drink in the real-" she stopped herself and considered before continuing; "-Well... I usually can't drink. Plus, I think it's good to acclimatize you a bit before heading on." she took a healthy couple gulps from her flagon. "Ahh~ That's terrible." she smiled at him with a foam mustache.

  He hastily took a sip from his- and a shiver ran down his spine. 'Ugh.' the foamy texture wasn't entirely unpleasant, but the taste bit his tongue, and dried his throat. It was way too powerful.

  ---

  They eventually moved to another table as more people entered the bar in later hours. They mostly talked about people, how this world was different- the culture, and how he should act in public. The world wasn't like a noblehouse.

  Poverty was more common than not, and while skills and magic made life easier for the poor, it was like how technology provided basic necessities in abysmal conditions for the impoverished in their world.

  Those were the kinds of topics, but they were slogged. They didn't drink the foul fluid that could probably act as a substitute for gasoline all that quickly. But the hours went on, and his grandmother seemed intent on socializing.

  "S-so, you think people are criminals because they really need stuff?" Theo belched over his flagon. His grandmother nodded knowingly and swatted at the air- "Yep. Yeppers. So that's why when someone steals your wallet, you just steal it back. And hit them a few times. That's the culture here... Law for the people, by the people." she hiccupped.

  "Yeah, and if you see someone starring at you, just nod. It'll give you something to go off of. If he doesn't nod back, that means you'll probably have to stab him in the near future, so keep your wits about ya'!" a man slapped Theo on the back heartily. Others had joined their conversation of morality and how people conduct themselves around here.

  Drawn in by his grandmothers confident loudness and bluster like moths to a flame.

  Theo spilled a bit of his drink onto his face as he was slapped right when he had decided to take a drink. He fumbled with it and coughed.

  "Sometimes it's not about how you act but the area you're in, that's most important." the woman with a silver lock of hair said, she had warmed to them as the evening went on. She was like this towards paying customers.

  The room was full of different casual conversations like theirs, and her being the resident bartender she would chime in with different tables and joke as she brought them fresh drinks. Her stoic expression receding to a smile only slightly.

  A man with a bull face and horns- essentially a minotaur, chortled; "That's right, I'll tell you- one time I was in the dwarven quarter, and you'd think a big guy like me could handle a lil'dwarf. But I'll tell you what, one just about hurled me over their head when they got a hold of me. Strong lil' buggers. And they keep to their own, only deal with other races when they're doing business." he drank a flagon of the strong ale in one gulp.

  'Guess this world is a lot like mine.', Theo thought.

  Then he noticed arguing and looked towards his grandmother, she was on feet her starring up at a burly human man poking him in the chest; "I'll have you know, I'm here with my grandson! And when he hears about how you treated me, he'll knock you out! Theo!" she shouted.

  Theo leaned behind the minotaur man who chuckled.

  She went over and grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged Theo over. "Tell him what you told me!"

  The man looked Theo over skeptically, then smirked; "I told her that an old crone like her is better off staying home so that a fine ass can have her seat." he said matter of factly.

  Theo belched, he was nervous but there was no reason they couldn't solve this amicably.

  "Well, that sounds misogynist." he said. That line made the man and others around look as confused as Theo.

  Then the man in a flash punched him in the face. Theo clutched his face. -His eyes were tearing. He had hit that sweet spot around the nose that always made the person break out in tears. It wasn't because it hurt!

  He stumbled back and fell over a table to the ground. The table shook and a flagon wobbled over spilling onto his face. Laughter erupted.

  His grandma winced- "No Theo! You're supposed to hit him! Theo! You were supposed to *hic* hit em!"

  ---

  The night blurred on. Theo saw his feet stumbling through an alley, he was supported by the minotaur man on one side, and another person they met at the bar. Some dude that had picked up Theo when he had been punched, he was white with a mop of vibrant red hair with freckles.

  They followed a drunk Samantha as she led them to another bar she liked. The muddy alleys were slippery and Theo did NOT want to fall here. But he didn't have the tolerance any of them seemingly had, they practically dragged him along.

  "This way! Wait. Yep this way!" she half jogged as they stumbled after.

  Theo stopped to throw up between some barrels. Everyone was doing it, after all. It was probably fine.

  They burst threw the saloon doors of the next bar. "Parties here!" Samantha cheered and some of the denizens of the large room cheered too.

  They melded in with the like-minded good fellows in the bar. Samantha didn't try to get him into any more fights, she had learned her lesson. At least Theo couldn't feel his face that much. The night came in flashes, drunk conversations about anything.

  His grandmother found a kitten and began cuddling with it, but it was filthy. When Theo said so, Samantha seemed offended and held it out towards him. "What do you mean? They're self maintaining! I'd have a cat but Princess won't let me.", "You give that dog way too much dominion over your life." Theo said deadpan.

  Samantha smiled and grabbed the kittens paws and adjusted it so it was mock-standing up.

  "Yo- you don't know, I got the dank drow and the fire flow~" she moved its paws like a hiphop artists. She kissed the top of its' head and kept rapping.

  He rolled his eyes and was about to take another drink, but reconsidered. He took another look at his grandmother then decided against it. "Gra-grandma, we should probably call it a night, it's getting late."

  Theo looked around- she was gone. How long had he starred at his flagon for? Just a few minutes at most!

  *hic* he stood up uneasily. "Did you see my grandma?" Theo asked Clyde, the red head. He shook his head, he was playing dice with Lekur, -the minotaur. "Maybe she went to the bathroom."

  That was probably it. He stumbled out of the bar towards the out house. "Grandma, you in there?", "Fuck off!" an angry mans voice replied.

  Theo looked around. Then he saw her- in the light of the magical sign of the bar. She was standing at the end of the alley corner talking to a man about her age in typical linen clothes. She seemed happy, chuckling. He took her by the hand and led her down the alley.

  She was a grown woman, she could make her own decisions. Better than he right now most likely. But where was he supposed to stay? He thought. And followed after her. Hopefully they're going to a hotel. After a few turns however he had lost them. They were so spry for old people!

  He slipped and landed in the mud, which quickly caked against his face and clung to any exposed crevice on his person.

  "Ugh..." he groaned and pushed himself up. A horse whinnied nearby, which drew his attention to the trough it was drinking out of. He managed to stumble over and splash himself with the water. "Sss-sorry buddy, gotta get clean." he wiped the trench coat he wore with a loose rag that was draped over a fence nearby. The horse didn't seem to mind his presence.

  He was exhausted. And drunker than he's been in a while. He saw the pile of hay that lied deeper in the stable and made for it. He yawned and collapsed into the soft, dry pile.