As I closed the viewport and turned around all the chatter came back. Villagers who hadn't got a look yet called out, questions overlapping.

  "What's out there?"

  "Is there a threat?"

  "What's the matter?"

  While guardsman who had looked were asking if we were going to form up and start attacking. I raised my hands and spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear.

  "For those who haven't seen, there's a Minotaur outside the gate. There's just one, that I can see, and it's walking towards us."

  Several voices spoke up at once guardsman and villagers alike, exclamations of the word minotaur on their lips.

  "I understand everyone's concerns, but we can't just jump to conclusions." I indicated to the looming mountain in the south. "The elves came from the mountain, and they were friendly. There's no reason for us to think this'll be any different. The minotaur came from the same direction, and it wasn't charging. It walked slow and steady like it had all the time in the world. So, I'm going out there to meet with it, if it's willing to talk."

  A few uneasy murmurs rippled through the gathered crowd. I could see the fear in their eyes, the kind that spreads faster than fire when people don’t understand what they’re facing.

  “You can’t go out there alone,” one of the guardsmen called out. “What if it attacks you!?”

  “I’ll be fine, If it wanted to attack, it would already be charging.”

  Mike pushed through the crowd toward me, his face tight with concern. “Dean, that thing has to be twice your size. You sure this is smart?”

  “Probably not,” I admitted, “but it’s the right thing to do.”

  He sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing. “Then I’m coming too.”

  “Fine, but stay behind me. We’ll see what it wants before doing anything rash.”

  The guardsman moved aside opening the gate, hands hovering near weapons but not drawing them. The air was still, heavy with the kind of silence that makes every step sound louder than it should.

  From the moment the gate began to creak open, I could feel the tension running through everyone around me. The fear was thick enough to taste, and it hit me how shaken the village really was. I couldn’t fix that in this moment, but I knew once people started leveling and growing stronger, the fear would lose its grip.

  Mike and I walked through, the gate closing behind us with a thud. The Minotaur had stopped a short distance away, watching us approach. When we got close enough that I could make out his expression, he gave a short nod. His voice carried easily, deep but calm.

  “My name’s Tharn Blackhoof,” he said. “Didn’t mean to cause a stir. I come in peace.”

  Up close, I could see how massive he really was. He towered over us. His chest broader than most doorways, his fur dark brown with streaks of ash gray. A chain of faintly glowing rings tatooed on his arm stretched from his left shoulder down to his forearm. There were seven in all, each one linked to the next. The first was filled with some kind of rune and glowed several times brighter than the rest. The others were hollow outlines, dim but clear enough to see even in daylight.

  "I'm Dean, the leader of our village, and this is Mike one of our guardsman. Did you come from the mountain? We've already met another group that said they used a waypoint there.”

  He nodded once. “Aye, from the mountain. I’m on my proving. Seven trials, seven honors. I’ve already finished one.” He tapped one thick finger against the single glowing circle on his sholder. “Six left before I can go home.”

  Mike glanced at me, brow raised. “What kind of proving?”

  Tharn’s nostrils flared in what might’ve been a quiet laugh. “The kind that decides if I’m worthy of a voice among my people. I must journey and face what comes. I must do right by others and earn my honor.”

  He looked to me, eyes steady. “I’ve no wish to fight. Just looking for a place to rest and maybe a chance to lend my axe and test its edge against the beasts that roam these parts.”

  I nodded slowly. “well your in luck. We've been working on a pillar quest to take out the beast dens in our territory.”

  Tharn gave a slightly terrifying toothy grin. “Then maybe I came to the right place.”

  I looked up at his towering figure. "I tell you what Tharn, we're having a meal soon. How about you join us for supper and we can talk more over some smoked stag."

  He let out a low pleased grumble. “I've been catching the scent of cooking meat since I reached the treeline. Rich smoke, a sweet glaze, something spiced? My stomach has been complaining at me for an hour. Supper sounds better than gold right now.”

  I turned and started back towards the gates. "Well come on then. Our village is still small but it was an open field two days ago. So I'd say we're making pretty good progress."

  Tharn nodded as he followed me to the gates. "Aye, that's to be expected in the newly integrated lands. When I stood Infront of the great waypoint node and chose my destination, I chose from the newest to be integrated into to wider multiverse. Yours was listed as having a small unamed settlement nearby. So it stood out to me being the only node on your planet with a settlement."

  I stoped dead in my tracks and turned back around. "What did you just say?"

  "What?, that I chose from the newly integrated? I know most prefer lands that have already been established, since being stripped of all your levels is never very pleasant, but I was only level 24 and hadn't even had my first temper yet."

  "No, you said that our waypoint was listed as having a settlement nearby?"

  “Aye. That is what decided it. Finding a settlement this soon after an integration is rare. Newly integrated lands offer strong chances for building a foundation, far better than settled ones.”

  I stared up at him. “So you're telling me everyone in the multiverse can see our waypoint and see that there's a settlement here?!”

  Tharn nodded, expression steady. “You worry about who may appear at your gates.”

  “yea, I have over two hundred people relying on me to keep them safe.”

  "Ah, do not fret. There are good reasons not to worry. First, not just anyone can travel here. Tell me, do you understand tempering?”

  I scratched the back of my head. “Not really.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Tharn let out a resigned rumble of a breath. “Then listen. As you gain strength, you reach thresholds. These are your tempers. The first is level twenty five, when you step into G grade. Your body and spirit will reshape, growing stronger and closer to your path. The next is level fifty at F grade. Then level one hundred at E grade. Many lose their momentum there, the chakras form a barrier that's hard to push through.”

  He continued sounding like a professor giving a lecture.. “The important part is this. The system only allows travel to planets that are no more than two classes below your grade. Your world is newly integrated and sits at low H class. As time passes, restrictions lift and your world will rise in designation. Beasts will grow stronger to match it, and higher grade travelers will be able to arrive.”

  My eyes widened. “So stronger and stronger people could just start showing up here?”

  “They could, but they will not. Most newly integrated worlds stop at high F to low E once full integration finishes. After that, only world quests can raise the designation.”

  He lifted a finger the size of a hammer handle. “This means the strongest traveler who can currently come here is level ninety nine. Anyone level one hundred or higher cannot enter.”

  Before I could respond, he added, “And until your world fully integrates, anyone who travels to any waypoint on your planet has all of their levels stripped. If a level fifty and a level ninety nine both arrive, they will both stand as level one, keeping only their F grade temper. This remains true until integration completes.”

  He snorted. “Even if your world is one day from completion and sits as a low E class planet, a level two hundred fool who just reached D grade would still arrive as level one if they came. That is why most avoid newly integrated worlds unless they lack a temper, as I do.”

  I frowned. “Alright, but doesn’t that mean they will all come flooding in once it is integrated?”

  “Many will, yes. But after integration, restrictions tighten. You will only be able to travel to worlds that match your grade, unless the system grants you a travel token as a reward. And those tokens grant access only to higher worlds, not lower ones.”

  I nodded slowly, letting the pieces fall into place. “So the strongest threat I’ll ever have to deal with here will match whatever class our planet ends up at once integration is complete.”

  “Aye. The worst you face will be what your world becomes, not what comes from outside. And judging by the system messages I received when I arrived, your integration finishes in five years, when your gravity reaches the full strength of its new normal.”

  Five years. The number echoed in my mind. It was both a deadline and a promise.

  I drew a long breath and let it out slow. “Then I guess we better make the most of the time we’ve got.”

  Tharn inclined his head in approval. “Wise. Strength is built long before enemies arrive.”

  “Speaking of strength,” mike said, turning toward the gate, “Im starving. I think I can feel my strength slowly draining away Already.”

  The Minotaur patted his stomach. "A sentiment I share. Let us taste this stag you've spoke of ”

  As we approached the gate I looked over my shoulder at Tharn. "Hey, just a heads up, my people have never seen anyone like you before. So... They may be slightly trepidatious of your presence at first."

  "I won't harm anyone. If they're uneasy, let them watch and see my character for what it is."

  "All I could ask for." I said as I stoped at the gate.

  Then I raised my voice and gave a quick knock. "Open up. Our new friend Tharn is gonna join us for supper."

  The view port opened up and I could see Reyna's wide eyes looking up at Tharn from within. "Uh... Are you sure Dean?"

  "Yes," I said with a chuckle. "open the gate."

  Besides I was confident that if tharn did go berserk, the guard and I could take him. But nothing about him felt hostile towards us. More curious than anything else.

  As the gates opened and we walked inside there were a mix of expressions that greeted us. Most were fearful but some were amazement and excitement. Almost all the villagers were gathered, so I spoke up for them to hear.

  "Everybody this is Tharn." I indicated to the giant Minotaur next to me. "He's going to be joining us for supper and possibly helping with the pillar quest to clear out the beast dens. I want you all to treat him with your best hospitality."

  To his credit Tharn gave a wave and a smile. "I'm pleased to meet you all."

  There was a beat of silence where you could hear a pin drop. Then bubba yelled from the front porch of the restaurant.

  "You bringin' him to eat or just stare at him? This here stag's hotter than a sinner at Sunday service! Y'all come eat!"

  Tharn tilted his head, looking down at me with one raised brow. “He's a strange one. Explain this Sunday service. Does it involve burning sinners?”

  I chuckled. “He's definitely a character. Sunday service was a religious gathering on Earth where followers of Christ came together to worship.”

  Tharn nodded thoughtfully. “So, a local god then. The multiverse has no shortage of divine beings. I've never heard of one who roasts his faithful during weekly ceremonies though. Sounds unpleasant.”

  “That's not what he meant,” I said, laughing. “It's just an expression. I can explain the rest over food.”

  Tharn extended an arm toward the building. “Lead the way then. Better to learn about gods on a full stomach.”

  The moment we stepped inside Bubba’s Smokehouse, the smell nearly knocked me over. I felt like one of those old cartoons being led by their nose. Bubba stood over a counter lined with carved stag cuts, grinning like he held the keys to paradise. Noreen ladled a creamy dish into some bowls, humming along to a country tune that seamed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

  Tharn lowered himself onto a bench that creaked under his weight. He eyed the platter they sat in front of him as if it were some long-lost treasure. When he finally took a bite, I could see bubba and Noreen watching to see his reaction. The Minotaur closed his eyes, jaw chewing through the meat with slow appreciation.

  “This is worthy prey,” he said at last. “Flesh that fought hard tastes better. Smoke gives it memory. And 5% to constitution. Good. Very good.”

  Bubba puffed out his chest. “That’s what I like to hear. You keep bringin’ beasts like that home, dean, and I’ll feed this whole village ‘til kingdom come.”

  Tharn glanced my way. “He has odd speech, but his spirit is strong.”

  “He’s from the South,” I whispered. “It’s kind of a… regional buff.”

  Tharn nodded seriously, then forked another pile of meat into his mouth. “A regional buff. I see.”

  Across the table a few villagers choked trying not to laugh.

  Then I took my first bite, loosing myself in the sweet and smokey juices that filled my mouth. For a moment I could could have swore I felt the presence of the stage standing next to me before it was gone. Then as I swallowed it down I felt a warmth spread through my body before a system message popped up.

  I checked my status screen and a timer appeared next to my constitution stat counting down 24 hours. "Best BBQ ever." I whispered to myself as I took another bite.

  After a few more bites, Tharn tapped the wooden table. “You spoke earlier of your god. This Christ. Tell me. Does he rule in blood or wisdom?”

  I set my fork down, surprised by the bluntness. “He was believed to have died for others. Peace instead of violence. Mercy instead of domination. Or, well, that was the idea anyway. Not everyone followed it well.”

  Tharn considered this, chewing a slow thoughtful mouthful. “Strange. Where I come from, gods rule by proof. They bless those who earn strength and silence those who pretend to have it.”

  “And what god does your tribe worship?” I asked.

  Tharn swallowed, straightened, and rested a heavy hand on his chest. “We honor the Seven Trials. Not gods who sit above, but rather the paths we walk. Each trial is a mark of virtue. A Minotaur earns adulthood by completing them. Only then may he be recognized among his tribe, and given a name worth carving.”

  He lifted his forearm, the glowing circles faint in the mana lamp lit room. “I have marked but one.”

  Noreen, who'd been hovering nearby, leaned forward a bit, curiosity bright in her eyes. “What does the glowing one mean, sugar?”

  “Strength without cruelty.” Tharn answered, his tone quiet but proud. “One who uses strength to shield, not torment.”

  I raised my brows. “So you earned that one already.”

  “Aye. During my youth herds fell under attack by a fire-touched bear. I was small then, not even old enough to lift a training axe. But I stood between the cubs and the beast. Foolish, perhaps, yet I lived and the cubs did not die. The system carved my first mark shortly after. One bright circle. One proof.”

  He lowered his arm. “To finish the Seven, I must travel, survive, and act in ways that honor my path. When the last circle shines, I may return home as a warrior, not a child.”

  “So you came here to finish those?” I asked.

  Tharn grinned, teeth sharp but expression friendly. “I came to challenge beasts, test my will, and see if this new world has worthy prey. If I earn my circles along the way, then the ancestors will watch with pride.”

  Bubba slapped a fresh platter down in front of him. “Well then eat up, big fella. Didn't you say you're helpin' us clear out that pillar quest tomorrow? If that ain’t honorable work, I don’t know what is.”

  Tharn took another slow, appreciative bite. “Tomorrow we hunt. Tonight we feast.”