—

  Ryan was dangling by his feet with what he assumed were bungee cords. His hands were tied up with a rough hood covering his face. He squirmed trying to brute force the ropes. They held despite his strength.

  “He’s awake! Seffara! He’s awake!”

  “Milock you rat! Get me out of here.”

  Something hit him and broke. Ryan could feel the impact but it didn’t hurt. Sticky fluid trickled down from the impact. Was he naked? No, he had his boxers on. Then the smell hit him.

  “Was that an egg?”

  “Yup!”

  Another hit him. Ryan had no warning from his [Dangersense], not even the lesser variant. He tried to latch it towards where Milock’s voice had come from, but apparently he didn’t have enough control over his skill for something so harmless.

  [Dangersense] did trigger when the familiar sound of stomping metal boots hit the walkway of the warehouse. Another egg hit his lower abdomen. Awfully close to his own personal eggs.

  “Good work rookie.” Seffara praised Milock, “Now Ryan, another lesson to remember. Just because the Trial System doesn’t tell you your body is getting injured doesn’t mean it’s not in danger. So you should be very careful how you leave it.”

  “I left my body in safe hands! How was I supposed to know Seffara the Sapphire–”

  An egg smashed into his face. He’d had enough, Ryan summoned his soulsword and spun the blade to cut the bindings on his arms, or at least he tried to. The blade scraped uselessly on the fabric holding his arm. His soulsword not making any headroom on the ropes.

  “What? You think someone that’s trying to kidnap you wouldn’t have restraints designed for adventurers?”

  Another egg smashed into his face. He heard cheering from a woman’s voice nearby.

  “Yes!”

  “You too Clara?!”

  The sticky egg was penetrating the mask, making it harder for him to breathe. He really had enough. Ryan bounced on the bungee cord, vertically throwing himself upwards and slashing at the rope that was keeping him dangled by the legs. His sword sliced through the rope. His body started to fall.

  [Partial Acceleration]

  He righted himself in midair, a miracle of superhuman skill considering all his limbs were tied up. He got ready to land on the ground–

  Only to have the softest landing he’d had since he became an adventurer. He sank into the landing, reoriented himself and tried to undo his bindings. The ground shifted next to him as a hand undid his bindings and ripped off his hood.

  Ryan landed on a pile of feathers. A lot of which was sticking to his egg covered body.

  Ryan laughed, trying to be as casual as he could about it. Then he immediately went to give Seffara a big hug.

  She dunked his head into the feathers.

  –

  “Ahhh nonono! I only threw one egg! Milo got you with two!”

  “Milo’s had his hug now come here.”

  In any other situation a half naked man chasing a woman while she screamed would have been something to call the police over. Seffara thought it was a good lesson for the duo. Don’t haze people if you can't deal with the aftermath.

  Milock surprisingly had taken his hug in stride, saying it was ‘worth it’. She was a little surprised with the runt. His turnaround in attitude after Ryan’s reveal of having only one life was surprising. She had been certain there’d be more problems there.

  Barry had been wise enough not to join in on the hazing. Not wise enough to realize that Ryan would hug him anyway. The feathered orc was still scowling.

  “Alright, get it over with already or I’m dunking you in water.”

  Ryan stopped letting Clara keep her distance and sped up. For a normal person it probably looked like a blur. It startled the poor girl that had been shrieking in jest. Clara froze like a deer in the headlights as she was physically exposed to the power of a realm three superhuman.

  Ryan seemed oblivious to the look of discomfort, then blush from Clara as he used her clothes to wipe his body. He took a step back then saw the look on her face then finally looked embarrassed.

  “Sorry.”

  Seffara shook her head. “Still a rookie.”

  –

  “More secrets?”

  Seffara asked with a judging eyebrow. Ryan threw up his hands in frustration. He had told the trio most of what had happened in The Realm, Ryan had just left out the parts with the Obsidian sect, only mentioning that some people from the Adventurer’s Guild were helping him with circulatory training.

  “I told you most of the important stuff, this is sort of important but not–you know, world ending. It doesn’t have anything to do with me and it’s not my secret to tell. Just give me some trust on this one”

  Ryan was mostly looking at Milock, who actually seemed calm and unbothered.

  Milock just shrugged. “It’s fine, I get it.”

  It sounded genuine. He wasn’t sure how to take that. Ryan looked at the others and most of them weren’t pushing either. It was amazing how much trust being truthful could get you.

  Only Seffara seemed doubtful. She turned to the orc next to her.

  “I don’t know if he’s earned the right yet, Barry?”

  The orc just scratched at a tusk, “I don’t want to be a hypocrite,” Barry said, referencing the secret he had kept from Seffara. He turned to Ryan, “It’s up to you now, I won’t treat you like a rookie anymore. You’ve proven yourself enough for that.”

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  “Huh, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me Barry.”

  The orc grunted, “This time Milock’s found something earth shattering. Well, realm shattering if my guess is right. Milock?”

  Barry turned to Milock, his friend shifted and took out something from his pocket–a piece of paper? They hadn’t brought any electronic devices into the silence bubble for the debrief. Milock handed the folded paper to Ryan and he unfolded it.

  Ryan hadn’t expected much, after all, with the great revelations about the Manager, The Realm’s future invasion, and everything else that had happened, what could Milock have found that could be Realm shattering news?

  Ryan froze as he stared at the printout. A sense of dread washing over him.

  In his hands was a printout of an old tabloid article, on it was a photo of a young adventurer recognizable by most people in the world. A human with mixed features, tanned, almost impossibly handsome and wearing [Mage] robes.

  Gamar the mad.

  The terrorist villain that had single-handedly ended the superhero generation. He was telekinetically lifting a young half elf girl in the air. She was grinning while making a superhuman pose. Floating in the air like she always did.

  She was just a child in the photo but it was unmistakable. That was Gamielle.

  The article’s title?

  T

  When Gamielle appeared as a half elf to him she shared some features with the Witch Tyrant. She had the same eyes and lips as her mother. Now though? Ryan could see resemblance with Gamar. Her eyebrows and chin…

  “That’s her isn’t it?”

  Barry’s question knocked him out of his thoughts. Ryan nodded gravely.

  “She’s a lot younger in this photo but that’s definitely her,” Ryan turned to Milock, trying to keep the horror out of his voice, “How did you find this?”

  Milock just shrugged, “I’ve been looking up stuff from the superhero generation for you. Since you’re doing the villain thing and all. It’s not that hidden. Gamielle’s not on any website, but Gamar’s daughter used to be talked about often back then. I just connected the dots. Most people think she hid away under witness protection.”

  Ryan had never looked up Gamielle’s name, nor had he thought about the connection between Gamar and Gamielle.

  Clara interrupted his thoughts.

  “I mean if that’s really her and she’s on Earth. Then that means she’s not just a Legendary skill right?”

  “No.”

  Unless the Witch Tyrant had learned her Legend before any other Tyrant it couldn’t be a skill she could use on Earth. Hell, even if it was supposed to be part of her skill, he couldn’t imagine something like a Legendary illusion skill coming with a as part of its function.

  Now he was remembering every interaction with Gamielle. She was a cheeky imp half the time but there had always been an undercurrent of melancholy. He’d thought it was because of how she was being forced to do her mother’s bidding.

  But what if it wasn’t just that.

  Ryan shook his head.

  “I would bet anything that the girl in the picture is dead and the Gamielle I’ve been talking to is the Witch Tyrant’s skill.”

  Barry was a little confused by Ryan’s tone.

  “You knew?”

  “I didn’t know about her being Gamar’s daughter, but I had a few guesses about Gamielle. The Witch Tyrant wouldn’t let a skill have so much control over her powers. Not unless she wanted it to… Gamielle’s also been dropping hints.”

  Ryan didn’t say. That was why the sect leader had looked so horrified in his earlier outburst.

  It meant the Witch Tyrant really did have a daughter. Gamielle had said that his guess she was a fragment of the Witch Tyrant’s skill was half right in Ulverra.

  “So… uhm what does that mean?” Clara asked.

  The table was silent as they stared at Ryan. Nobody was comfortable talking about this. Hell, even he wasn’t comfortable talking about this.

  Ryan took a deep breath. He’d figure out what to do later but he needed to reassure his friends.

  “It doesn’t change anything. Gamielle wants me to know so it should be safe but Milock, don’t look up her name at all. Just pretend this conversation never happened.”

  The Witch Tyrant could and did reach across the internet and hex people. Not even other [Witches] could explain how she did it, but it was a fact that you insulted the Witch Tyrant online. Ryan was pretty sure his friends would be safe, but this information made his neck crawl and his stomach sink.

  The dots lined up, and it painted a terrible picture.

  Did Gamielle’s death make him go mad? The Witch Tyrant going into seclusion and becoming bitter. How the hell did Gamielle even die with an all seeing [Witch] around?

  How many of the Obsidian Sect knew?

  Too many questions, all landmines. Ryan’s mind darted ahead, trying to figure out exactly how this was useful, and why Gamielle wanted him to find this out.

  They called the after action report there.

  –

  Ryan breathed in and out, pouring his aura out and encasing it into his right arm. In The Realm, every movement of his aura was like trying to shove a mountain. On Earth? It was like a stream from a tap. Easy to circulate, he first tried to make it spread like his veins, then decided it felt off.

  Following his instincts he shifted it into a symbol of infinity. A figure eight. That was easier. His aura flowed at his fist and back into his arm, moving continuously and picking up pace. It would build momentum and he had a feeling it would be stupidly powerful.

  He also had a feeling it wouldn’t be right. It would be powerful, it would build momentum. Then the infinite pump of his Epic would shatter his arm completely.

  A loud slurp of juice interrupted his thoughts.

  Ryan wasn’t sure what to expect at his display of ancient circulatory techniques. These were techniques that had been overlooked and refined by the Witch’s daughter and a prodigious sect leader. Being unimpressed wasn’t something he expected. Milock slurped at his juice, typing away on his laptop while Clara was busy trying to talk Barry’s ear off.

  Only Seffara seemed remotely interested in what he was doing.

  “What’s the difference between this and regular energy control practice?”

  “I’m trying to prep my arm by pumping aura through energy channels in my arm. Burning out my mana channels and qi channels with aura while figuring out the right way to push my aura through them.”

  “Quite a few do this just before their class upgrade. I’m not seeing anything different other than that you’re using aura for it.”

  Ryan blinked. “I… guess?”

  Seffara lifted his injured arm, eying it weirdly, “I’ve seen other energy isolations, mana isolation for the head, qi specializations for the abdomen or heart. It doesn’t seem too different to me. Regular adventurers get full support from the Guild with specialists if they want to do something like this.”

  “That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

  “Probably because the Guild keeps that information under NDA. Huh, those specialist Realmers always did seem a little weird.”

  Seffara gave him a questioning look that he ignored. Ryan was realizing that perhaps he wasn’t getting special treatment. Maybe it was offered to literally everyone that was caught going for a unique advancement. It was probably why the Obsidian sect was located so close to Sector Four. The sect could help those going through a class upgrade, and in return they would get research results from talented adventurers.

  It was likely a win-win for everyone involved.

  Actually… given what he was told. Especially given the advice on how adventurers should just follow their intuition. The Obsidian Sect probably benefited more in the long run.

  Trial and error. Ryan closed his eyes and tried out another technique, this time he was imagining his aura pulsing through the veins in his right arm. Like the roots of a grand tree, he pushed his aura through his arm and his hands became the roots.

  It felt good.

  This would give him more precision with the extension of his aura. On the other hand? His aura was manifesting at the edge of his fingertips and controlling all those root extensions would be a pain.

  Ryan also had a feeling that his Epic wouldn’t cooperate with so many aura roots either.

  Damn. Another path that felt right and also wrong. Ryan went through to the next exercise in his list.

  Clara’s voice cut through his concentration like a sharp knife through butter.

  “I’m not sure why you thought this would be interesting for us Ryan. All we see is you closing your eyes and sometimes clenching your fist.”

  Ryan was offended for the Obsidian Sect.

  “This is energy control, just more advanced. It’s realm four stuff. I’m skipping stages here! Back me up Milo.”

  Milok just gave him an amused look over his laptop, “You kinda look like you’re just taking a huge shit.”

  Clara giggled, “Eww, I mean, I didn’t want to say it but Milo is right.”

  Ryan flipped both of them off and went back to experimenting with different circulatory paths. The other path was imagining your aura being shoved through bone, more dense and… did he really look like he was constipated?

  Ryan’s superhuman ears picked up a giggle and just like that his focus was shattered.

  He opened his eyes to glare at his friends. Neither were even looking at him. Clara was looking over Milock’s laptop and pointing at something.

  Somehow, being ignored entirely was even worse.

  Ryan sighed and tried to focus again. Another giggle and a cat’s meow came from the direction of Milock’s laptop. He narrowed his eyes at the source of his inability to focus.

  “Clara didn’t you just start work or something? Did you get time off?”

  The newest employee of a swanky new restaurant blinked, then her eyes went wide.

  “Ahhhhhhh SeffaraIneedtoborrowyourjetI’msorryIgottagobye.”

  The girl sprinted back to the manor, presumably to pick up her stuff from her room. All four of them watched her go and shook their heads. Ryan looked over at Seffara.

  “Seffara, how much does your jet cost to fly?”

  “Probably more than what she makes in a month. Don’t worry, I’m keeping a tab and I’ll be charging you for it.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “Life never is.”

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