James stood in a white open space. Everywhere he looked was white.

  "I still say this looks like a giant cloud," he chuckled.

  "Avatar Template," James said to the air, and a series of screens and lists appeared before him.

  "Guide," James said next and selected the option for Otherworld Guide for 50 points.

  The creature that appeared before him was most certainly not Rocko. The creature had strong, powerful hind legs, warty skin and a wide mouth with two large black eyes staring at him. The creature looked more like a frog.

  "You are not Rocko," James stated.

  "That is correct, sir," the creature replied, "My name is Slick."

  "No offence, Slick, but I want Rocko. My previous Guide. How do I get him back."

  "I don't believe that is an option," Slick said.

  "Go find out, please. Either that or come back with your boss. I am a paying customer, and I want my original Guide back." James demanded.

  Slick looked a little flustered and then faded away. James took the time to go through the Races and select the Glrick. He was surprised to see two options, but it became apparent which one Rocko had referred to because only one of them had Astral Travelling. James bulked at the cost of 500 points for the Race, but he agreed it was the right choice when he said the Advantages.

  Slick returned a moment later with a tiny fairy. It was the only way to describe the creature, a humanoid with wings about 6 inches tall. Very pretty, if you were into that sort of thing.

  "Mr. Gleason," the creature started.

  "Senior Chief," James corrected, "Please refer to me by my rank."

  "Your Rank?" the creature paused, looking at a document, "Your Rank is 833."

  "Nevermind. Are you able to assist me with getting Rocko back?" James asked.

  "Yes, well, I am sorry to say that I cannot assist with that. When you went through the Reset, you no longer had a guide. Therefore, when you selected the Guide a second time, you got who was available." the fairy said with a smile.

  "That would also mean that Rocko was available," James countered.

  "Yes, but it would be a matter of the next in the queue. Slick here is an excellent guide, I assure you." the fairy offered.

  "How many Guides are there in the queue before Rocko appears next?" James asked.

  "Three, why do you ask?"

  "Then take 150 more points and give me Rocko," James said.

  "What? That not...? I don't think we? Oh my," the fairy whispered to Slick, who just shrugged. James was amused to note that his shrug was similar to Rocko's. "Please wait here. I will be right back," the fairy asked before fading from view.

  "Is there anything I can assist you with, sir?" Slick asked.

  "Sure. I need the following Skills." James began listing the four Skills that Rocko wanted him to pick and ensuring Astral Navigation was at level 5. With that done, he then had Slick select the three Advantages.

  By the time the fairy returned, he was halfway through his list of PSI Powers. He had used a mnemonic to help him remember the list.

  "Any luck," James asked.

  "Well, I spoke with my superiors, and they said that if you wanted Rocko back that badly, they would accept payment of 1000 gold." the fairy said with a smug look.

  "500," James countered.

  "What?" the fairy was not expecting the offer to be considered.

  "I said 500 gold. It is called haggling." James said with a grin, leaning forward to better look at the fairy.

  "I... I am not. I think I will need to ..." she started before James cut her off. "Nevermind. I will pay the 1000 gold. How do I get you the money? Is there a bank account I can deposit in or something?"

  The fairy and Slick looked at each other, confused, before Slick responded, "My manager will give the information to Rocko. He will arrange for the transfer."

  "Excellent, I will have the money available by the end. Thank you for your assistance. Nice that I won't need to spend the 150 points instead." James said, making sure the fairy understood that she was only getting the money and not the Avatar Creation Points.

  "Yes, of course, I will send him right along," she muttered before she and Slick faded. James swore that Slick winked at him before leaving.

  The progress was much slower, with James going through the list manually, looking for each of the PSI powers on his own. It was almost 30 minutes later when Rocko appeared.

  "There you are!" James cheered, patting Rocko carefully on the back.

  "Greeting, James. How may I assist you?" Rocko asked in his slow, quiet voice.

  "Please spend 30 points to upgrade the Otherworld Guide to be an Advisor," James stated. Rocko had explained that usually, the upgrade was not available until the Guide was in the Challenge, but since James had already been n the Challenge, he met the qualification. A moment later, a glow with a blue light.

  "You paid a thousand gold for me?" Rocko asked incredulously.

  "I paid for your service, Rocko. And a service that is well worth the expense. Glad to have you back." James explained.

  "Yes, well. Thank you," Rocko seemed flustered.

  "Anytime, buddy. Now can you take a look at what we have and let me know if we are missing anything."

  "Sure. A few PSI Powers are missing, but I see that you were going down the list. So I can add those for you. That is going to leave you with 40 points left. Not a waste to put them into Intelligence or even a couple of Advantages."

  James nodded and looked over the nearly finished product. The creature before him was not what he was expecting. The Avatar stood about 6 feet tall with a lean muscular body. The skin was ash grey, and its hair was as white as snow. It didn't have claws or fangs, but the sword on its hip was imposing. It looked like a rapier, with its long thin blade and point at the end. Instead of a basket hilt, it had a curved guard. The fore guard pointed down the edge, while the rear guard pointed back along the grip. The entire weapon was made from a type of dark metal. The pommel was a red crystal and looked somewhat delicate. James wasn't sure if it was worth the 100 points, but he trusted Rocko as he hadn't looked up the specifics of the weapon.

  "I did browse a little while I was waiting for you, and I did notice a couple of things that may help." James offered.

  "Of course. What did you have in mind?"

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  "Shadow Sense. It lets me see and hear from any shadow I can see. A great tool for gathering information and helps reinforce the Shadow Knight motif."

  Rocko spent a few moments reviewing the Advantage. "Sounds good. That would leave you with ten points."

  "Luck," James stated

  "Luck?" Rocko asked.

  "Yes, you can never have too much luck."

  James looked over the Character Screen and looked back at Rocko. "Are you sure about this? I told Ignatius that I was not very good with spells."

  "That is true, but if you notice, you only have one combat Power, PSI Bolt. The rest are Powers used outside of combat or even before combat. If you get into combat, I expect you to use your Glrick Sword."

  "That bolt looks like it would work very well against heavily armed creatures," James observed.

  "Yes," Rocko agreed. "The goal was to give you some versatility without compromising your skillset."

  James looked over at Rocko with a raised eyebrow, "How's that again?"

  Rocko sighed, "The group of people I worked with agreed that you would fail if you focused too much on one thing. Having a variety of ways to resolve an issue gave you the best chance of success."

  "I still see several holes here." James pointed out, "I see nothing about stealth, other than Shadow Meld, and that requires me to be stationary."

  "Your first 10 levels have been planned out, including the creatures to fight and Skills to learn. Once you get to level 20, we expect you to be as strong as a level 30 Champion. And if luck continues to be with you, no one will even know you exist until the very end."

  "How many people are you working with?" James asked.

  "Right now, eight people are working on this plan." Rocko confided.

  "I hope I don't let them down." James acknowledged.

  "I am confident you won't, James. You know what is at risk."

  "What's next?"

  "Say 'ACCEPT,' and you will be transported to your starting location. Once you are there, I will have you gain a few levels before we pick up the gear you left at the temple."

  "Sounds great. I accept." James said and promptly faded away.