The damp cavern was filled to the brim with life as countless beasts, and other kinds of monsters congregated. There were bears, wolves, insects, birds with even elementals, and plant-based lifeforms present.
William made his way through the crowd as the monsters regarded him, but none attacked. Not that they were not threats, for every single one of them was at least at level 150, with a few approaching the peak of D-grade.
He had just returned from his trip, and the three days of travel, as well as the one day of talking with Ms. Kim, had not been pleasant. William had believed understanding his origin would help. But he still didn’t get it.
The Judge had been strong, but he was still just human. Not like him . He saw those damn eyes in his dreams every time he closed his eyes; constant visions haunted him day and night, and nothing he did seemed to help. If he didn’t know better, he would think he was cursed…
Nevermore had been a good escape. Five whole years just spent practicing his karmic magic in the cities in between the dungeon layers, years just fighting and improving his skills. Yet when he returned and wanted to ask his master if he was finally strong enough… he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
The question would mean he either had to fight or realized he still wasn’t able to win. Neither option was one he wanted, so Ms. Kim had suggested he try to understand what he was afraid of. Apparently, a direct investigation was not what she had meant, but it had worked well, and it wasn’t like he had just randomly decided on doing it as he did.
His master had approved and even recommended his approach.
Walking through the cavern, he soon reached its end as he stood before an underground pool of water. They were more than a hundred kilometers beneath the surface of the earth, below one of the independent cities William indirectly controlled.
Standing before the pool, he waited a few moments as William felt the approaching aura. All the beasts around him lowered themselves as he also felt the pressure mount as he gritted his teeth. Yet he was less affected than the others, as while what was approaching was a monster… he had felt worse.
The water before him rippled as a form emerged. A translucent being surrounded by wiggling tendrils extended all throughout the cavern the moment it appeared, the air heavy with mana. More accurately, space mana. [Planeshifting Jellyfish – lvl ???]
It was a massive jellyfish with its tendrils hundreds of meters long, even if its own main body was no more than a few meters across. Furthermore, its form looked everchanging as it almost folded in upon itself, seemingly halfway between two dimensions.
A voice echoed in William’s mind as the powerful monster spoke to him:
“News do you bring, Disciple of Eversmile?”
The voice couldn’t be determined to be male or female, as the pitch changed with every word. The words themselves were telepathically transmitted but oddly made the air vibrate as odd sounds echoed throughout the cavern.
William was the only one who still stood unmoved before the form as he answered. “The cities still grow, and the Pylons grow with them. So while a beast horde could topple even some of the more powerful ones, it is not worth it at the current stage. Not before they’ve had more time to grow more. If it ever becomes worth the risk.”
“Humans will destroy us if we do not destroy them first,” the jellyfish insisted, space itself vibrating as William felt its anger.
“Can they? Do you really have any reason to fear humans? I am one of the most powerful humans on the planet, and am I a threat? Humans are only a threat if you force them to view you as one… in which case they will band together and become far more dangerous,” William explained for what felt like the twentieth time.
“Hence we wait. We have to wait. We grow as they grow. We prepare, so we will be ready.”
“Exactly,” William agreed. “For now, patience is the best decision. Has your Patron relayed anything new?”
“Patience… are also their words. So we wait… what do you need from me, Disciple?” it finally asked, getting to the crux of it.
The jellyfish was an odd creature, William not quite able to determine how intelligent it truly was. Or maybe it just had a thought process too far removed from humans. Either way, one thing was absolutely clear… when it came to space magic, it was a genius.
William pulled a small disc of metal out of his hand as he injected some mana into it and threw it into the air. It had barely left his hand as it was teleported away to who-knows-where by the jellyfish.
“I need transportation to the city of Sanctdomo, the largest of the human settlements on the planet, home to tens of millions of my kind and some of the most influential leaders,” William explained.
Without any more words, the jellyfish began its magic. The mana density in the cavern spiked even more as William felt the movements of space mana. Then, out of the water, a stone platform more than thirty meters across rose with an incredibly intricate magic circle carved upon it. It was one William had used several times before, most recently to travel to Skyggen, and five years or so ago, to do what no human faction could.
Teleported out of the 93rd universe.
The jellyfish was not only a powerful being but it had also been blessed by a god William did not know anything of. All he knew was that it was one of the best space mages on the planet and fully capable of not only teleporting him to nearly anywhere on the planet using the magic circle it had created but also to other universes. Maybe even planets.
“Dangerous?” it asked him as William floated towards the platform.
“Yes,” he just answered. And it was the truth too. While Sanctdomo didn’t have the most powerful individuals on the planet, it was still the most dangerous city. The Holy Church had truly mastered the turtle strategy, and their rituals and the insane defensive measure could prove lethal to even the jellyfish.
To even a fully-fledged C-rank monster.
But they would still be in deep trouble if the jellyfish could leave the ocean. The cavern he was in currently was linked to the ocean through a deep net of tunnels, allowing the C-rank to get inland somewhat, but it couldn’t go further than the cave they were in. Not yet, at least.
William wasn’t certain of all the details, but it had something to do with their pledge to gain power so quickly. They had all gained power through powerful natural treasures, and they also needed to fully defend and consume those treasures to stabilize their own power.
This didn’t mean these beings were without contest, for there was more than one C-grade even in the immediate area. The jellyfish would only come by sparingly and swiftly teleport back if its domain was threatened, meaning it honestly couldn’t go too far.
Stepping on the platform, William motioned to the jellyfish as he felt the space surrounding him begin to change. The metal disc he had given earlier included the coordinates of a place close to Sanctdomo, given to him by another smaller gathering of beasts also working with them.
His goal in Sanctdomo was to scout the city and talk to the Augur – that Jacob guy. It would be a bit awkward considering their last meeting had resulted in William killing him, but something told him the religious fanatic didn’t care much. He was still going to apologize, though.
Most beast and other monster factions and gatherings did not actually desire any conflict with human settlements – at least the smarter ones didn’t. They instead wanted access to what the humans could supply and craft and potentially enter some rudimentary form of diplomacy or at least trade.
Now, why was William involved in all this? Truthfully, he had no fucking clue; he was just following what his master Eversmile had guided him to do. Ms. Kim had also supported it as it forced him to converse and have non-violent relations with other creatures.
Ah, but he did have some personal reasons to go too. Jacob had known him before the system and could be a good source of information. Additionally, he had learned some interesting things from the parents of the yellow-eyed monster. The monster did have enemies of the past, ones who had a high likelihood of still being alive. Ones who had been close to him once upon a time and betrayed him.
Apparently, during the monster’s younger days, there was a girlfriend named Madeline and a friend named Andrew. William did not know if these two would provide useful information, but their karmic connection had to still exist even if they didn’t. Worst case, their memories, and impressions could be useful.
The only problem was that William had no idea where these people were, and his master had an odd approach to everything involving him . He would offer no actual help or useful advice but only subtle guidance, making William do everything himself. With advice from Ms. Kim, of course.
But if anyone could find them, it would be the Augur and the Holy Church.
Finally, he felt the magic around him stabilize as space mana rose to a crescendo. He nodded towards the jellyfish, and in a flash, the mana enveloped him as he was whisked away.
--
Mothers often asked their children questions they would prefer not to answer, and Jake’s was no exception. He had tried many different strategies to avoid answering them in the past, and through trial and error, he had identified the most effective one as misdirection.
This was the moment Jake truly regretted not bringing along Sylphie, as she was a master at attracting attention. However, now he would have to get on something else as it was the type of conversation he always felt uncomfortable with and wanted to avoid.
Staring at him from across the table, Caleb’s grin was larger than ever as their mother expectedly looked at Jake for an answer. Even his dad looked on with a raised eyebrow with interest, with Maja just smiling.
“Nope,” Jake answered as he quickly tried to change the subject. “But I did manage to become great friends with a family of magical hawks and very close to their child who I partly helped raise.”
It was a complete slam dunk.
“Hawks?” Maja asked with interest, Jake taking full advantage of her love for animals.
“Yeah, the first one I met is a guy called Hawkie, and then, later on, I met his mate Mystie,” Jake began but was promptly cut off.
“Was that their actual names?” Maja asked inquisitively.
Jake took a moment to consider before he answered. “They’ve never had any others, so of course.”
“Jake named them,” Caleb, that goddamn traitor, said. “He was also the one who decided to name the city Haven because he has no creativity and wanted the most generic one he could possibly get on.”
“Says the one who named his city Skyggen,” Jake shot back. “What does that even mean? You even did it twice!”
“Not my sole decision,” Caleb answered. “Also, it’s better.”
“Neither was it my sole decision to name it Haven,” Jake defended himself.
“But… Hawkie? Really?” Maja came in, shaking her head. “You seriously named a hawk Hawkie… but why did you name the other one Mystie?”
Deciding to come clean, Jake muttered. “Because she’s a Mystsong Hawk…”
He heard his dad chuckle from across the table as the judgemental gazes drilled into him.
“How about their chick? Did you also have sole discretion on the naming there?”
“He named it Sylphie,” Caleb butted in once more.
“Oh, that’s a pretty good name and not that weird” Maja nodded in approval.
“For sure! Wait, what was Sylphie’s race again?” his damn brother asked as he looked at Jake, that damn smile still on his lips.
“It’s a hawk, duh,” Jake answered
“A what hawk?”
“A Sylphian Hawk…”
“Jake…” his mother said, looking at him with disappointment. “Names are important and not just something you give out on a whim.”
“Like you named me after a vodka brand?” Jake asked, attempting to wrest back control in the losing battle.
“It was whiskey,” his dad commented with a big smile. “And real quality stuff too.”
“There were other reasons,” his mom said, giving his dad a stern gaze. “And even if it was true, then two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“So, I heard Sylphie was in that system event with the rest of you?” Maja asked, finally changing the topic away from how much his entire side of the family sucked at giving names. He gave her a mental thumbs up. Nice save!
“Yeah, Sylphie was there with the rest of us,” Jake nodded.
“How did you come to meet those hawks anyway?” his mom asked.
“Oh, it was just when I had gotten my wings…”
He narrated how he had met Hawkie and been taught how to fly. How they had gone to the sky island to fight together and explore, and slowly grown more powerful together. He told of the time Hawkie brought him to his mate, getting a few comments from his dad about overprotective mothers.
Jake narrated how he had helped Mystie and Hawkie with the magical ritual and how he cared for the egg together with her parents for a good while before it hatched. They all laughed when he gave anecdotes of her shenanigans when she was very young and how much of a clutz she was in the early days. She still was, but less so.
The Union Oath he skipped over, only saying that he and Sylphie had a special bond. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell them, but that he believed it would be best not to. In fact, he skimped on a lot of details, and based on how little they knew of many things, Jake was certain Caleb also didn’t share many intricacies.
He also understood why and agreed. It was incredibly risky to let them know any of his secrets, the entire scenario of William proof of it. Even if he trusted his parents, he didn’t trust that no one would try and take advantage of them.
Something like the Minotaur Mindchief was also proof of this. With powerful mental magic, it could warp his perception of reality and even make him think the minotaur was his comrade for a moment. He could imagine what an even more powerful entity could do to even weaker people. Maybe someone could even walk in and impersonate him without them noticing. It was just a risk he wasn’t willing to take.
“You need to bring her next time,” Maja said after he finished.
“I will next time if possible,” Jake agreed, “and I will for sure after the teleportation circle is done. But she is busy fighting and growing stronger. A real go-getter that one.”
“I guess you two get along as you’re also quite a fighter,” his dad said, oddly approving. “It’s also good to see all that archery becoming useful.”
“I think many regret not having picked up some martial art or something,” Jake said with a nod.
“Just don’t get into too many unnecessary fights,” his mother said with a worried voice. “Especially not with other people…”
“It’s fine. Jake only fights people who pick a fight with him first,” Caleb defended Jake, making him believe his little brother was on his side again.
But it was all deceit.
“Jake only takes the initiative when beating up old people.”
More judgemental gazes were turned to him, and Jake didn’t even try to defend himself. Instead, he just looked at his dear little brother.
“Hey, Caleb… now that I’m here, wouldn’t it be a great time for some healthy sparring?” he said with a big toothy smile. “I promise to go easy on you!”
Jake wouldn’t go easy on him.