Inside the Manor

Up until that very moment, John Newman’s brain had kind of fallen behind in processing speed. Things had just gone so fast to completely upturn what he considered to be “normal” that he’d honestly been busy with simply trying to keep up. But to wake up with impossible powers and then discover that there was apparently some sort of secret society of magical people tended to do that to a guy.

But when John met the old butler's gaze and looked through the large doors now open… his chest suddenly tightened. It was in that instant that it all suddenly felt very real, and potentially very dangerous. His mother had no idea where he currently was. As far as John knew, anything could happen after he walked through that door and became effectively trapped with these people he didn’t really know anything about.

With quickened breath, John stepped forward. He was in far too deep to turn back now, especially since he had no means to actually leave the estate grounds on his own. So he followed after the butler through the door. But after just a few steps, the older man disappeared into thin air. And it was as John himself passed through the doorway that a pop-up told him why.

Enter Barrier?
Yes/No

With a final glance around, John hesitantly selected yes. And in the blink of an eye, the space
around him shifted as another screen popped into view.

Barrier Entered!
Barrier Owner: Unknown
Current Occupants: Unknown

Well then, that direct lack of actionable information wasn’t concerning. Nope, totally not concerning at all. It totally wasn’t a sign of the total power discrepancy between himself and whoever had created this Barrier, if Moira being able to force her way into the one he made back at the school was indicative of anything.

But after he dismissed the screen, John looked around. And his eyes widened as he took in the inside of the mansion. It was huge, like, stupidly huge.

John had once thought that his family had been lucky enough to live in a fairly big, multi-story home. But now his house felt like a cardboard box meant to fit in a mailbox, compared to just the first… at what point could you even call it a “room” anymore? Because if he just had to take a guess, the square footage of this first room alone was larger than that of his entire house, which included the front and backyards.

The floor was polished to the point where it might as well have been a mirror. Marble was everywhere in the form of columns, busts, and all sorts of decorative pieces. The statues in particular, which were evenly spaced out, were in the shape of all sorts of depictions. Though rather than individual figures, they seemed to be more of specific scenes?

One was of a monster that was obviously a dragon, with a knight in full plate armor driving a sword into its skull. Another statue was of a knight with a half-broken sword raised into the air with one hand, and the head of what looked like some kind of horned demon in the other hand. And then a third was a knight, this time without a helmet to reveal the statue was a woman with flowing hair, on her knees with her hands clasped in prayer.

He looked at the base of the last statue, but there was no plaque or inscription that he could see. However, from directly behind him, there was a sudden voice that made him flinch slightly.
“That’s one of the previous Shield Wardens,” Moira said with a nod, after having also appeared inside the Barrier just moments ago. John glanced between her and the statue.

“Uhh, a Shield Warden? I’m guessing that’s an important title?” he asked. Since that’s what it sounded like, but he couldn’t know for sure. The redhead gave him an odd look, but then her expression shifted into a mix of surprise and embarrassment.

“Oh! You really don’t know?”

John blinked in turn. “No? It’s like I said before: I just got these powers this morning when I woke up. I had no idea that these Barriers were a thing, or that knights killing dragons were actually real,” he said as he gestured toward that statue in particular.

Before Moira could respond to that, the sound of a clearing throat drew their attention. The old butler was still just a few paces ahead and had a closed fist held in front of his mouth.
“Forgive my interruption of your conversation, Mistress. But Lord Brighton is expecting the young Sir. It would be rude to keep him waiting longer than necessary.”

Moira’s cheeks reddened a bit. “Sorry, of course.” She turned to John. “Please go ahead and follow Reginald upstairs to my father’s office. He’ll be able to sort out whether your story’s true, and then we can go from there.”

With a nod, John continued to follow the butler, whose name was apparently Reginald. A part of him still wondered what kind of information Observe would show for either him or Moira. But he had no idea whether his Skill would be detectable to those who were also part of this magical world, or how they would react if he tried. So no matter how curious he was, it just didn’t sound like it was worth the potential risk of offending them while he was already in the lion’s den.

The rest of the manor was just as awe-inspiring as the entrance. A double set of curved stairs led to the second floor. And John now felt that there had to be some sort of space-warping shenanigans going on. Because while the mansion had appeared big enough from the outside, it was very quickly becoming apparent to him that it was even larger on the inside.

Or actually… was this necessarily even the same building? Or because this was inside a Barrier, was it more like an alternate reality that didn’t necessarily have to match the real world? To remind himself, he pulled back up the description of his Create Barrier Skill as they went up the stairs.

Description: Conjures a space that acts as an identical copy of the local area, layered over the mundane world. This space exists for as long as the creator remains inside or chooses to keep it open, and is under your control by default. You may customize the size of the Barrier’s dimensions, but such modifications increase the MP cost required.

So his version, at least, did explicitly say that it was an identical copy that was created. However, it was still only at Level 1. Which meant it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to assume that at a higher Level, it would become capable of more.

As they turned into a hallway filled with various doors, John noted something. For however many people were in the building and how big it was, he wasn’t really hearing anything. Nor had he seen anyone else so far. Curious, and feeling a bit awkward about the silence, the young man decided to bring it up.

“Hmm, the various activities that occur require soundproofing to not distract those who engage in more delicate work. As for the others, I am only at liberty to say that they are currently busy with their own tasks,” Reginald answered.

John supposed that was as much of an answer as he was going to get. From there they just walked as he looked down at the carpeted flooring, his head entering the clouds and not really paying much attention to the additional decor they passed by. But before the newly resumed silence could stretch on for very long, they came to a stop at one of the rooms.

From the outside, it didn’t appear to be any different from the others. Each door had a small, bronze plaque with something inscribed on it. They had walked by too quickly for John to really get a good look at the other ones, since despite his old appearance, the butler was quite the power walker. For the one they stopped at, however, it read: Lord Brighton.

Reginald rapidly knocked on the door three times, and took a step back. After a couple of moments, there was a click, and the door slightly opened inward on its own.

“Please, go on in,” the butler said with a small nod toward John. The Gamer nodded back, but really felt the butterflies in his stomach now as he grabbed the door handle and swung it open all the way. And as soon as he took a couple of steps inside and let go of the handle, he saw Reginald grab it from the corner of his eye, and close it behind him.

“Mr. Newman, or would you prefer just John? Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable.”

John faced the man inside the office. Sat behind a large oak desk, Lord Brighton was an admittedly handsome man. With rugged features, red hair mixed with bits of grey, and a neatly trimmed beard. He was also dressed handsomely, wearing a suit that John could only assume was worth more than anything he could ever imagine paying, if the rest of what he’d seen so far was anything to go by.

“Just John is fine, thank you,” he said as he took the seat opposite from the older man as gestured. Lord Brighton had an easy-going smile, but when John looked into his eyes, there was an intensity about them that gave him goosebumps.

“I see, then John, let me get straight to business. The report I received this morning was intriguing, but unfortunately quite brief. So please…” Lord Brighton leaned back, “tell me your version of events from the top, in as much detail as you can.”