The dining room was quiet. Both Ondun and Mrs. Li had, of course, recognized how oddly similar their different worlds were, but Ondun voicing it lent a certain gravity to the situation. Ondun decided to lighten the air. "Well, Mrs. Li...no matter what's going on, you've opened your home and cooked me a fine meal. I'm honored by your generosity. I sincerely hope to repay it someday soon."

  The woman smiled again. "You sound like my son. That's...that's just what he says, or so I've heard, when someone does him a good deed." She shook her head and stood. "Anyways, I will clean the dishes. Why don't you go wash up before bed?"

  Ondun raised his eyebrows. "About that...where I'm from, personal cleanliness isn't secondary; we just tend to handle it a bit differently."

  The woman nodded seriously. "Ok, come with me." She led Ondun back to his room, turned on the computer, navigated to a site that showed videos, and typed in some search terms that would teach a youngster the basics of modern cleanliness. "Watch that, then clean up."

  "Yes, ma'am. Thank you again; my apologies for lacking such basic knowledge."

  She waved him off and went to clean the dishes. He watched a video and realized that the humans here had a very hard time of things for the past few millennia. Their technology had been developed to help them keep pace with a hostile world. Now that I think about it, Ondun realized, this is the same situation the Imperials found themselves in.

  The Vroskan Empire he had spent the last few months fighting were a diverse bunch, but they all had one thing in common: they'd been born with a hereditary factor that meant they could never use magic. This led to a very insular outlook on the world that, a couple of decades ago, had soured into open aggression on the rest of Arcanis. He had been a young child when the proper invasions started, but every country that was laid low by animatic technology—powered by a rare, glowing blue liquid called Azuline that could be converted to magic power—had seen its citizens conscripted by their conquerors and used to invade other lands, especially if they had access to potent magics of their own.

  The fights in the past few weeks, before Ondun's friends fell comatose thanks to the sorcerer behind that odd voice, it had been revealed that an ancient conspiracy that the Knowing Circle had been opposing all along wasn't just behind it—they created the Empire for the express purpose of advancing their plots, not that the common soldier knew about it. The broken-down peace talks that were never going to yield anything in the first place led to the Battle of Grimald Pass. Fortunately it had ended before Sid, a tinker, ladies' man, and skilled infiltrator, had had his soul "summoned" from his body.

  Ondun shook his head to clear his thoughts. That wasn't important right now. Ondun had a habit of ruminating on his friends' plight recently. While this was justified, he had other concerns right now, like getting that sponsorship, searching the woods for whatever that Mon said was in them...and taking a shower.

  Ondun sniffed himself and recoiled. He was a bit ripe. With that in mind, he stood and went for the bathroom with his new knowledge of modern lavatory technology.

  The next day...

  "Hey! Hey! You've overslept. I'm going to charge Dr. Wusiji extra, I swear..." Ondun sat up with a concerned Mrs. Li standing over him. "Come on, move your butt. It's ten in the morning!"

  The adventurer shook off the covers. "...Mmm, my bad. Sleep...too late..." None of the Knowing Circle had ever accused Ondun of being a morning person. Mrs. Li, for her part, took it in stride. She reached into a pocket. "It's been many years since I've used this, but..." She pulled out a spray bottle and a piece of paper and turned away from Ondun, then sprayed the paper. "Here, hon, just have a sniff."

  Ondun did, started coughing copiously, and his eyes widened. "By the All-Mother, where did you get such an awful smell!? Seriously, it's like a Marbolo farted in an outhouse..." The woman just raised her eyebrow and held back some giggles. "I've never heard that expression before..." as the adventurer collected himself. He was still in his non-combat clothes. "Thanks for waking me up. Fortunately, I travel light, so I return your room to you."

  He picked up his pack, put his hand to the necklace with his Memory Gems, and embodied the Shinobi. He pulled back the hood and nodded to the woman. "I thank you again for your hospitality. I think I'll go see Dr. Wusiji now." She nodded. "It was a pleasure. When you have money, if you're ever in town and need a place to stay, just book a room through the Internet. I'll let Dr. Wusiji know to add my contact info to your phone."

  Ondun nodded, and the woman led him to the door. He gave her an Eastern bow, then waved and set off for Dr. Wusiji's laboratory.

  The walk back to the lab was quick, and Ondun quickly found himself face to face with the mad little scientist again. The man had one of those Bookstone-like devices—a smartphone, apparently—as well as an identifying card, a belt with six capture capsules in it, and a different card.

  "There you are, Ondun. Here, I was able to get you your provisional coach license, as well as a used smartphone, a basic set of capture capsules, and a bank card. This card has all your money on it and is already set up. You have 10,000 mondollars to your name. Food typically costs anywhere from 300 to 500, and capture capsules can cost 2000 for even the basic models. Medicines tend to hover around 750 to 1250. Manage it wisely."

  Ondun accepted all these things. "So, I'm not getting this for free. What's my first job?"

  Dr. Wusiji grinned brightly. "Well, I was going to have you do a survey; there's an app on your phone, Mondex.

  Simply scan mons, preferably without them seeing you, and I can have data remotely sent to me. However, since a corrupted mon has been seen in the area, I want you to track it down and capture it. I will compensate you for any capture capsules expended in the attempt. We need one alive because we need to know what causes this corruption and what, if anything, we can do to heal it. We only have the one sample thanks to you, but we need more."

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Ondun nodded. "I'm used to extended stays in the wilds. Just show me what to do to get you the information."

  Dr. Wusiji spent the next few minutes showing Ondun how to use a smartphone and what apps did what—he found Mrs. Li and Guardian Alice's contact info already saved in the general communication application—and a few practice scans of Aquepup were done, which gave Ondun some interesting information about his new companion.

  "Hmmm, growth state unusual..." Ondun said, tapping his chin. He sincerely hoped he hadn't stunted his partner's growth by facing off against all those Gloomcubs and their higher forms.

  The doctor dashed to Aquepup's side, causing the small monster to jump. He began peering over him, tapping one leg to test his reflexes, and even asking the terrified monster to open his mouth, which it did. After a few moments of this, the doctor began tapping his lip.

  "Hmm. He's grown more quickly than usual. Granted, under normal circumstances, Mons accompany teens with no combat ability, and it is known that Mons do benefit from even secondhand exposure to battles. I wonder, was your combat the catalyst? Or was it something else?"

  The doctor and Ondun just looked at each other for a moment, Ondun stunned that the doctor had precisely voiced his own thoughts. Then the doctor jumped. "ACTUALLY! That's one important thing. If you kill any Mons, that license will be revoked, which will leave you with basically no options. Also, your Aquepup will be taken away from you." The small monster whined and looked genuinely upset with this.

  "For your license to be promoted to a full license, you need to challenge and be recognized by even one city leader. Now, here in Yongqi Town, we have a leader, but...well, she's in a special position at the moment, so she can't be challenged. HOWEVER! If you follow Route 41, you can reach Xinling City. The leader there is frankly boring, so I expect you to have no trouble. However, work before play, young Ondun! Complete my survey, and you will be paid handsomely. That should be more than enough to send you on your way."

  Ondun nodded. "Very well. I will study monsters, not slay them. I'll rely on Aquepup to protect me." The monster barked and puffed itself up with pride, prancing around Ondun in a tight circle. "By the way...I was talking to Mrs. Li. Something in common between my world and yours is that named monsters seem somehow stronger. Do you know anything about this?"

  Dr. Wusiji stopped for a moment. "I have heard of that...that's fascinating. Tell you what. I'll pay you a bonus if you observe a battle with your Aquepup before naming and after so that we can put some nice, hard numbers to that thought. I don't expect any difference, because names are just words, as everyone knows. But on the off chance you're right...then your servitude—erm, research partnership—will have paid off!"

  The doctor pounded a fist into an open hand. "Yes, that's what I'm going with, especially if Alice asks."

  Ondun just looked down at Aquepup and shrugged. "I can also give you some training out in the wilds, my friend. What do you think of that?"

  "Aquepup!" Ondun nodded to his ally, then gave the odd doctor an Eastern bow. "Then, I beg your pardon. This survey is a project best started now, I think." The doctor nodded seriously. "Very well. Be safe, travel light, and if you're around the lake and a small monster tells you something important, you should probably listen because it knows what it's talking about!"

  Ondun had begun turning, but he continued the turn until he was facing the doctor again. "Wait, what?"

  "Wait, what?"

  There was an awkward pause. Ondun's eyes narrowed. "Hey, what's your relationship wi—"

  "Nope, not answering. SCIENCE!" The doctor was gone the next moment. Ondun shook his head and decided that a couple of weeks of camping out, observing monsters, and looking for some non-lethal fights for his new partner were infinitely easier than dealing with the strange academic.

  Speaking of strange academics, Ondun thought as he walked for the city gates, Aquepup proudly strutting at his side, I wonder what Aenora's up to today?

  Meanwhile, on Arcanis...

  Xin-xia had been furiously rebuilding over the past few months. Eastern humans, Garlons, and the odd Alviers were either building the odd paper and redwood buildings or chiseling blocks on more secure stone buildings when those were being erected. Humans and Draconians were standing guard, or manning the food stalls, as children pretended to be Shinobi or Samurai or Shamans.

  Aenora couldn't physically see any of this, of course, but she saw the anima, the glow and thrum of life all about her, as she materialized in the Teleptite plaza, two squadrons of Shinobi guards eyeing her every move in case of some kind of subterfuge. Eventually they relaxed. "Lady Aenora, welcome back to Xin-xia," one greeted with an Eastern bow.

  Aenora returned it. "It's good to be back, and full glad am I that your people prosper so. I had asked the young master for permission to investigate a...sensitive matter." She ended that sentence delicately, and the Shinobi nodded.

  "We understand the situation and what you're trying to do. A squad is standing by out the south gate, by the boats. We may not be able to hunt what you hunt, but we can promise you will not be disturbed in your search."

  Aenora nodded. "Has the Empire remained quiet after the battle?"

  The Shinobi nodded. "Yes. While there are Imperial cells here and there, they're biding their time for now. The defeat at Grimald Pass put a heavy dent in their morale. Our Alviers allies have reported that provincial governors have pulled back security forces for fear of insurrections, which, of course, the various' territories resistance factions are acting to capitalize on. All things considered, the Vroskans seem to be on the back foot across Saia," he said with an impressed nod, referring to the massive continent on which both Xin-xia and the Vroskan Empire were.

  Aenora nodded. "That's well, especially...given the situation. Keep your vigil, Shinobi."

  "You too, Lady Aenora. And...our hero? I know you'll get him back to us, along with all your other friends. You aren't known as the Lotus Petal Shaman for nothing." Aenora couldn't help but smile at that—she did like the epithet. She also dreaded her master learning of it. The teasing would be something to eclipse even Ondun's legend.

  With another bow, she made her way to the southern gate, where boats were moored. Fish and goods were traveling freely on the newly liberated river. A tap on her shoulder from a gauntleted hand saw her jump and turn, only for an entire squad of three Shinobi, one of whom was very familiar, to be snickering at a safe distance.

  "Lady Suzumi, by the elements, you have got to quit doing this. I'm sure your masters would chide you rightly for such an abuse of your talents." The Shinobi just giggled harder, except Suzumi. "Nonsense. This is how we keep sharp. A harmless tap here and there keeps one aware of one's surroundings." She stopped. "Especially when you're looking for something important...and especially when other odd things are happening."

  Aenora raised an eyebrow, a gesture adopted from Ondun. The woman simply held out an anima crystal that the mage couldn't help but stare at. After all, while it was physically there, it had exactly no anima charge to it whatsoever, nor elemental alignment. It was practically a void. "Miners keep finding crystals in this state. Something is going wrong. We need our friend back, immediately." the master Shinobi said, the other two stopping their merriment and adopting a much more serious mien.

  "Then we begin our search immediately, Lady Suzumi, Masters Shinobi. I know water magicks. We will not need a rower."