The rain had just stopped and the sun was shining through the clouds giving off rays of light. Gorluk looked up at the clouds. His summoning was finally done and a new world had opened up for him. He took his eyes off the sky and looked around to see if he could see his new master. A short, bright-skinned creature, with a blue robe looked at him. They were about the same size, probably a gnome, a creature Gorluk had read about on the ancient tablets in the Ether World, as it was called.

"Pleased to meet ya," the gnome said. Gorluk tried to reply, but all that came out sounded like small growls. His race was obviously not meant for talking, Gorluk thought as he followed his new master who had started walking towards the hut in the end of the valley.

"We just gotta get to the hut so I can show you to the sorcerer whom is teaching me the ways of demonology." The gnome stopped and looked at Gorluk. "Are you ready for this? We just gotta do this, then we can start our grand adventure." Gorluk nodded so the gnome could understand him. What kind of grand adventure the gnome was talking about, didn't Gorluk understand.

They had finally reached the hut. It looked a whole lot bigger up close than from where he was summoned. Gorluk's neck started to itch as he tried to look at the top. The person living here must be tall, he thought. The gnome opened the door and led the way in. "I finally managed to do it, Lance!" The gnome jumped up and down happily as the person called Lance entered the room. He was a lot taller than the gnome, this one was probably one of the humans Gorluk had read about. "That's great! I knew you'd be able to do it today," Lance said as he gave the gnome a pat on the head. Gorluk looked at the two creatures that stood before him. One of them as tall as himself and reaching the bigger one to the knee. Before Gorluk had noticed, Lance had crouched down and placed his hand on Gorluk's head. "Var'ish na'h!" Lance's hand started to glow, so did Gorluk. Lance removed his and stood up. Gorluk was still glowing a bit, but it was fading slowly. "You now possess the power to cast fireballs," lance said, "just reach out your hand and say Var'ish in your head." Gorluk looked up and Lance still a bit fuzzed after what had just happened. He did certainly feel something different about his own body. Something along the same feeling as he got when he learned something new from the other masters he had before the gnome. He reached his arm out against the round object painted with red and white circles. "Var'ish!" Gorluk felt a slight heat from his hand as fire built up and fired off when it got to a certain size. He looked down at his hands, still trying to figure out what had just happened.

"You probably remember the feeling from the other times you've been out from the Ether World with different people." Lance sat down in the chair next to the table. "The reason you can't remember anything about magic is because your skills are removed when you get a new master, that's why you have to learn everything over." Gorluk looked down at his hands again, still puzzled. "This is why you have to go together with Brim over here," Lance pointed at the gnome, "you have to join him traveling the world so you can learn more as he understands more. The more he understands, the more he'll be able to teach you." Gorluk went over to Brim who had his hand reached out, Gorluk shook hands with him without knowing what this action meant. "We should probably get some rest before we set out tomorrow," Brim said as he headed over to another room, Gorluk jogged after him.

The room had two beds prepared. "The bed over there will be yours." Gorluk grinned. He placed his hand on it. This was a new experience for him, something he didn't remember from the other masters. "Well, we have great day ahead of us, see you tomorrow." Gorluk looked at Brim who had laid down in his bed. "Good... night..." Gorluk said, surprising himself before he went to bed himself. This was certainly something he had to ask the sorcerer about the next day.


Gorluk noticed something was different. Am I back in the Ether World? Gorluk though as he looked at the new obstacles. No, I can't be. He checked everything around him. There was no purple light like he was used to from the Ether World, instead everything flashed with a yellow light, with a happy and warm feel to it. He shrugged and checked a table on his right, there was something there looking like an old book. He flipped to the first page. "Contracted demons: Gorluk."

Why is my name there? Gorluk looked puzzled as he flipped to the second page. It seemed like the book contained information about Brim, situations he might have been to and other things about him. He closed the book and looked around again. Nothing else caught his interest other than the book. He checked the book again, "Demon's handbook, the book of knowledge," he read from the front. Flipping the front cover, he could see the first page of the book. There was some sort of index, but he could only see Brim's and Gorluk's names there. What could this mean?

With a white flash, Gorluk woke up. Brim had removed the curtains of the room to let some light in, it looked like he had woken up from wherever he was. "Rise and shine, eh?" Gorluk said. His vocabulary had gotten better over night. "Ah, you can speak now!" Brim grinned as he yelled. "Lance told me about this, when the demons sleep in this world for the first time, they enter the Dream World. It's supposed to be some sort of connection to the master's head, me." Gorluk put on a facial expression that made him look confused. "So the more I'm there, the more I learn?" Gorluk asked. Brim shrugged as he turned around and headed out of the bedroom. Gorluk laid back down on the bed, still confused about it all. He couldn't remember anything like this from the other times. "He can talk now!" He heard Brim shout from the other room.

Upon entering the room, Gorluk found Brim and Lance preparing breakfast. This was nothing like his previous experiences where he had to do all the work. "You're hungry, right?" Gorluk heard from Lance. He nodded as Lance turned around to check. "I'll give you the same as I'm making for Brim." Lance said before he went back to preparing the food. Gorluk sat down by the table as he saw a book looking like the book from the Dream World, just a lot thinner. "Ah, the book," Brim said as he came up next to Gorluk. "That's just my spell book of lesser spells. The spells all mages needs to know to be classified as a mage." Brim placed the bowls of food he brought from the kitchen then sat down on the other side of the table. They all went silent for some time.

Lance was the first to break the silence. "So I heard you can talk now?" He pointed at Gorluk. "Yes," was all Gorluk replied with. "Oh, I haven't asked this before! What's your name?" Brim said, after swallowing what looked like a huge portion of food. "Gorluk," Gorluk said with a slight shake in his voice. He was still unused to talking. "I've got so many questions. Like, what is the Dream World, and why am I suddenly able to talk?" Lance walked over to the bookshelf, took one of the scrolls out, opened it and started reading.


Lance placed the scroll back into the bookshelf. "In short, the dream world is where you enter if you need knowledge Brim possesses or if you can give Brim knowledge," he said. "It's also the book of contracts and spells." As both Brim and Gorluk was confused, Lance sat down in his spot again. "You'll understand with time, both of you," he said before finishing his breakfast.

"It's about time we leave, Gorluk," Brim said after packing the last of his stuff that he needed. "Indeed it is," Lance said from the other room, "I can teach you more, but experience will only be gotten through travelling the world." Gorluk went out of Brim's bedroom and took an apple from the bowl on the table. He took a bite from it. "Don't we need food?" he said while holding the hand with the apple towards Brim. "We'll stop at the town 10 minutes from here," Brim said as he flicked his backpack up and placed his armes through the straps and walked up to the door. "It's about time we leave indeed," Gorluk said as he followed Brim out of the door. They could hear Lance shouting from the doorstep as they had walked for a bit. "Remember to visit me, Brim and Gorluk. Show me how strong and connected you've gotten!" This was the last they heard as they entered the tunnel leading to the town.