Keys To The Gate 3 Direction

When Tristan presented himself at Jack's Tattoo Parlor, Jack nodded and told him to sit down as he finished an inscription for his client. Tristan looked at the tattoo that was being printed on the man's hand. It wasn't being printed using a machine, but rather, Jack was creating a symbol that resembled a hieroglyph onto a special kind of paper, that would then fly and attach itself on the man's hand when Jack flicked his finger.

"That should do it." Jack patted the shoulder of the man. "I've attached a two time use evade spell and a healing spell. Good luck."

The man nodded. "Thanks Jack. This trip is going to be a hard one, hope it goes fine."

Tristan looked up and asked. "Where are you going friend?"

The man looked at the boy then at Jack who nodded, implying it was fine. "A hidden area. My employer has begun an exploration mission." Saying that much, the man left.

Jack looked at the man leaving, then turned towards Tristan. "Let's go to the Fraudster Medium."

"Why do you call the medium a fraudster?" Tristan asked.

"Because she is unreliable and fools a lot of unsuspecting people. But she is the oldest person on this street who knows about the world much more than us." Jack said.

Soon the two reached a shop that looked like a tent made of thick cloth like material with a penguin mascot waving its arms up and down constantly. "Come."

Inside, Tristan found the tent to be poorly lit, with the exception of a table in the far corner, behind which sat an old lady with graying hair, yet very clear eyes.

"Ho... Jack, you've brought an interesting person." The old woman said mysteriously which made Jack roll his eyes. "A kid just like you, huh? Come here, boy. I'll read your fate."

Tristan walked towards the old woman who suddenly took out an 8 sided dice, keeping it on the table. Tristan, however, was completely focused on the dice, which gave him a chilling feeling of frost. Small ice crystals started developing on his forehead, which he wiped off.

The old woman was genuinely surprised. "You can sense the residual aura? Hah... you really aren't ordinary, even I'm interested in what the dice will tell about you." She then handed the dice to Tristan, who could feel the chill emanated from the dice. It seemed to be made of some kind of bone.

Jack looked confused. "The boy can sense something from that dice? It feels ordinary to me." The old woman sighed. "I can't feel the aura either. But I know what the dice is, and a person who can sense the aura of this dice is not destined to be ordinary." She looked at Tristan. "Roll the dice."

Tristan rolled it on the table, expecting the dice to come to a stop, but instead the dice began spinning like a top on one of its vertices before glowing thrice with a bright light before a laser like white light from the dice pierced his forehead.

Tristan could suddenly see a few drifting thoughts and images as well as hear a few cries which disappeared. A few thoughts remained within his head.

The old woman was shocked. "I've never seen that happen before, in my life. An unreadable projection... did the dice give you a way forward?"

Tristan nodded. "What is the Vast Expanse?"

When he asked that, both Jack and the old woman sucked in a breath. "Vast Expanse...is the guild of adventurers and mercenaries who perform missions. If you want to join them, you can register with them online."

Jack looked at Tristan. "Kid, I'll invite you to the Twilling Street Chat group, you can ask us for help or information as well as trade with us in the future."

Tristan was walking back home as he thought about the images the dice had projected within his mind. The Vast Expanse... was one of the things he saw, along with another important clue. "I need to get into Eastern University, it is going to be difficult."

Back at home, Tristan checked his phone and found himself added to the Twilling Street chat group, but he didn't interact much. Instead, he looked up the website of Vast Expanse on the dark net.

He was greeted by a registration page, through which Tristan made an anonymous account. On logging in, he found that he was graded as a level 1 account. The level restricted his access to information and missions as well. He could browse forums, but only restricted to topics marked level 1.

After reading around, Tristan realized that increasing the level depended upon either completing missions or referrals. Since Tristan did not have any referrals, he decided to check the information available to level 1 members.

The Vast Expanse was the primary source for individuals not bound to a particular group or employer. Through the level 1 information, Tristan found a lot of revelations about the nature of the world.

Earth, the normal world, was actually something known as a dimensional junction. It was a world that connected to several other different worlds since ancient times. Humans have been both guarding the access points to these other worlds, as well as exploring those worlds in pursuit of strength.

Over time the situation has become more complex as humans mingled more with other species and powers and these various species have also infiltrated earth, to an extent. Governments of the world specially focus on maintaining peace, but it is a difficult and dangerous business.

The most interesting information, however, is about the potential of humans. Humans were a species that only existed on Earth before it became a dimensional junction to other worlds. However, while humans did not initially have any power of their own, they had an incredible potential to learn and grow. Thus thousands of different professions grew around various magical processes and operations and humans found all kinds of ways to become stronger.