Nether Feast - Chapter 6

Once the food got there, nothing else mattered. I picked at my food at the beginning until I better understood what I liked. Once I knew, I kept the waiter busy bringing me orders of every kind of meat they had. There was meat from farm fed beasts and also monsters from the tower available. Interesting enough, monster meat, with a few exceptions, went for a premium. As for the cost, I couldn’t have cared less. I didn’t fear the Grayson Tower and could make another trip there if my funds got too low.

I sat in a corner of the high-end restaurant on the bottom floor of the inn I was staying at. Instead of worn wooden tables and uneven chairs, everything there seemed to be painted white. The floors, ceiling, and walls were not alone in this. The tablecloths almost had their own glow, and if I wasn’t mistaken, the wood of the chairs wasn’t actually stained or painted, but natural. Its darker tinted veins were a wonder to look at.

When I’d first sat down, I couldn’t help but notice how underdressed I was compared to the rest of the guests. Most wore dark colored coats over light colored tunics with a fine assortment of jewelry. The women wore similar clothing, but their coats were smaller and stopped just above the waist. Their skirts came in a variety of designs, often with multiple layers with alluring slits up the side of the leg. Even those were modest, and the skirts generally rested just below the knee. As for me, I worn a simple robe, and as clean as it was on the outside, I still hadn’t bathed. I wasn’t even sure what shape my hair was in. Most of my recent past haircuts had come during battle when it was sliced apart or ripped out.

Once the food got there, nothing else mattered. I picked at my food at the beginning until I better understood what I liked. Once I knew, I kept the waiter busy brining me orders of every kind of meat they had. There was meat from farm fed beasts and also monsters from the tower available. Interesting enough, monster meat, with a few exceptions, went for a premium. As for the cost, I couldn’t have cared less. I didn’t fear the Grayson Tower and could make another trip there if my funds got too low.

It wasn’t long before people were outright watching me. Before, it had just been uncomfortable glances at the underdressed young man in the corner. I did my best to use my fork and not rub sauce all over my face. It only took me a moment to realize it was the amount I was eating that was gaining the most attention. After an hour, I still wasn’t satisfied. It had been too long since I’d eaten anything for pleasure, so I continued to eat.

After eating of every meat dish they had, I finally felt I’d ate my full. Leaning back, I was careful not to make too drastic of movements so as not to break my chair. I was rather proud of the control I showed over my strength as I made use of the fork and knife. After paying two full gold for the meal, I was escorted to a hot bath they had prepared for me.

Walking into the washroom that had two copper tubs with only one filled with steaming water, I closed the door behind me and began to strip. Stopping before the tub, I was almost afraid to try out the water. I had an extremely high heat resistance and I feared the water would feel lukewarm at best. I still remembered the feeling of a hot bath for my youth. If I’d lost the ability to enjoy such a simple pleasure, it would be rather depressing.

I dipped my toe in first, then the rest of my foot. As if I’d been holding it in for the last century, I let out a deep sigh and quickly lowered the rest of myself in. It was pure bliss. It seemed the ability to withstand extreme temperatures hadn’t numbed me to lesser ones. Such an experience was almost equal to eating for the first time in a century.

For the next half hour I just sat there and let the accumulation of filth and death melt off of me. When I started to scrub with the bar of soup they’d provided, it was like I was peeling off layers of skin with every stroke.

When I finally exited the bath an hour later, I examined the skin of my hands and arms, before looking over the rest of my body. I was like chiseled stone that had been polished to a clear sheen. It wasn’t natural, at least for humans. Finding a standing mirror in the corner, I took in my full visage. I was pasty white and in need of sun, but I didn’t look bad overall. It was only under close scrutiny that I’d seem unnatural.

Taking a robe that was provided for me free of charge with the bath, I wrapped it around myself before turning my attention to my hair. It was dirty blond, almost brown. As for the shape it was in, I wasn’t sure such a mess could be described with words. No two strands looked to be the same length and there were chunks missing in random places. So a haircut was on my top of the list of things to do.

I got to my room and immediately got in bed. I sunk right in. The mattress must have been stuffed with down. The sheets were woven cotton and were cool against my legs. I found myself rubbing them back and forth, enjoying the feeling. Closing my eyes, sleep didn’t come. But I still had the best rest of my life.

My mind was still as active as ever, and I thought of how the day had gone. I’d only killed two lesser demons. It was such a change of pace that it didn’t feel real. All I had to do was reach out with my sixth sense and I could observe the world around me. The people. The place. I was really here.

I remembered back to the guards who’d stopped me. It concerned me that among my first thoughts were whether I should kill them or not, but I hadn’t. After a century of nothing but killing, it surprised me that I was able to turn it off. A normal human would be greatly traumatized by the experience I’d been through, but I felt calm, and at peace. Was it because of my ridiculous stats? My Intelligence and Wisdom were probably unmatched by all but a few. It was possible they were helping me stay sane. That, or I was just tired of killing.

It was so easy. I could sense the entire city. If I wanted to kill everyone I could do it in an instant. But I didn’t want that. Why?

If I became angry and lost control, that’s all it would take. If I so desired, not only could I take the lives over everyone in Grayson, but I could leave the city in such a state that not even rubble would remain. The tower, which was not of this world, would likely take a bit more effort, but I had no doubt I could render it into the same state.

The only reason the people around me were still alive was because I was choosing to restrain myself. Did that make me a monster, or would losing control make it so? I was suddenly thankful for not being able to sleep. A single nightmare and I could wake up to find tens of thousands of people dead.

No, I wasn’t a monster, and wouldn’t let myself become one. What was the point of killing such people anyway? They were weak and posed me no possible threat to me. They couldn’t even wield a weapon capable of harming more than the hair of my head. In one sense, I understood why the highest ranked demons looked upon humanity as they did. These people possessed the strength of bugs. They were so very weak. I had no desire to force them into submission or rule over them as the demons did. None.

Laughter sprang from me, originating from the very core of my being. It was true. I really wasn’t like the Netherspawn. At least not entirely. That didn’t explain how I’d survived, and even thrived, until reaching the very peak of the demonic path to power. That reminded me of the title I’d been given. The Human Who Feasts on the Netherplane. Though I doubted anyone else would understand it. The most obvious interpretation was that I had gone to the Netherplane and ate something while there. But I knew better. I wasn’t given such a title because I had a lunch in a certain location. The location itself was my food. I had feasted on the Netherplane, not in it. It was a realm carefully paired like a dinner banquet and I had eaten in excess. It’s beast, monsters, and people were all choice delicacies. I’d even tasted of a lord of that realm with the same willingness that any demon might. Perhaps I’d concluded too soon. I was a monster…

***

I went with a short soldier’s cut since it was the only style possible for my hair in the shape that it was in. I rubbed the top of my head feeling the strange sensation of running my fingers through clean, well-kept hair.

Once again, I arrived at the same market I’d visited the previous day. Now that I was in my blue mage’s robes and looked presentable, I entered through the front door to find a wide open floor the size of a warehouse with numerous displays throughout the room. It was obviously stocked with goods from the Grayson Tower, and for adventurers that were headed there.

It was like I was a young man again who was in awe with the world and all its possibilities. I’d been in such places in my youth, but my career as an adventurer had only begun and I never had the funds to procure any of the wonders available for sale. For the first hour, I just explored, looking at everything.

Most of the goods were broken up by department. Warrior and melee specialty goods took up half of the floor. The other half was for mage sub-classes. Most people specialized more and more the higher they advanced. I’d obviously been kept from such opportunities in my time away, but now that I was free, I could do or practice most anything I wanted. Melee specialties weren’t even off limits. With my stats from the bonuses from my Demon Lord’s Body, I wouldn’t be lacking. But I wasn’t sure I needed to specialize at all. At my level, starting out with basic melee skills would take decades to make them worth the effort. Maybe if I could find a master that could just help me further hone my swordsmanship...

As for gear, my inventory was filled with armories worth of weapons and armor of all shapes and sizes that were many ranks above anything I’d find here. That realization was a bit disappointing, but I still enjoyed browsing.

A person’s inventory was a natural thing that everyone unlocked at the age of twelve. It started as a small cubeular space that someone could store things in. From there, it grew with your level and power. At my level, I could store the corpses of multiple adult dragons and still have room to spare.

As for the mage specific items, there were a few things that were of great value to to me even now. Their weapons and armor fit into the same category as the warrior specific gear, and was mostly useless to me even with the buffs they provided. What was +20 to Strength or Intelligence when you had over 5,000 in said stat if the gear was likely to fall apart in the first fight. It was the one time use and storage items that caught my attention. I purchased a box of one hundred portal scrolls that would allow me to travel to specific locations. It was mainly for convenience, because if I really wanted to get someplace fast, there were a few places on the continent I couldn’t get in a few minutes without damaging the terrain significantly.

Another thing I purchases liberally were clothes. I didn’t restrict myself to mage robes either. Rogue and acrobat gear was tight so it wouldn’t snag on things. I still didn’t think it would last long if I had to go all out, but as long as I didn’t end up fighting naked I’d be happy. That made me request a lot of shorts and knee high pants of the best materials to try out. If I was going to wear anything, it would probably be one of the armor sets I got from Kiafer. Such things wouldn’t be necessary often in this realm though. I even picked out a few coats and tunics with matching pants and cloth shoes similar to the ones I’d seen people wearing during dinner last night.

My greatest find were the bags of preservation. They were an inventory items designed to preserve food and drink. I didn’t just buy one, but three.

Much of the high tier beast and demon meat I still had in my inventory didn’t go bad, but many of the things I found I enjoyed eating last night would.

At my asking, a red headed attendant with freckles and a nose that turned up when she smiled guided me to the second floor where I came face to face with culinary heaven. I was probably taking that thought too far, but it was a floor full of food. After a hundred years of going without, it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.

I liked cheese and it could last a long time even without the bags of preservation, so I purchased it by the wheel. Cured meats and sausages came next. I filled up like a coinsure with a waistline the size of a house. Then I came to drinks. I had my doubts, so I purchases a bottle of the strongest alcohol they had and undid the cork. I downed the entire bottle in a few large gulps. Not only did I not enjoy the taste, but I was completely immune to his effects. I’d never been drunk before anyway, so it’s not like it was something I’d miss.

The girl looked at me with her dainty eyes nearly bulging out of her head.

“High constitution,” I said with a shrug.

With that, I ruled out any alcoholic beverages except for a few wines that were said to taste good. They would also last a long time, which I appreciated. Then I came to a wall of bottled monster blood, and I observed the girl’s reaction, or lack of one, when she explained they were flavored to improve the taste while leaving the blood’s buff giving ability.

I stood there blinking at her, unbelieving that adventurers who hadn’t been thrown into the Netherworld unwillingly would actually drink the stuff. When I asked her how they tasted, she pointed me to a one that possessed troll blood that gave a temporary boost to health regeneration and said it was her favorite. I found myself staring once again.

In the end, I purchased one bottle of each of them. Even if the items on the first floor would fall apart and leave their buffs ineffective, these temporary buff, or traits, I’d used before. I knew how helpful they could be. They weren’t at the level of an adolescent dragon, but some of the buffs were fairly unique. They’d be fun to play around with at least.

I found myself with only a hundred gold in credit left when my attendant asked if I’d like to see the third floor. I wasn’t in a hurry, so I loaded my new bags of preservation first and placed them in my inventory before following her up one more flight of stairs.

There was an obvious distinction between the clientele on the first two floors and the third. Where the first two were designed to serve the adventurers to the tower, the third was unashamedly aimed at the rich and nobility. There were vases, and intricately carved furniture. The walls were lined with paintings and artwork. I made a conscious decision to put my arms around my back like an actual child, afraid I might accidently knock something over.

My attendant was kind enough even to give me a tour though I could tell that she noticed I felt a little out of place. When we reached the back of the room, there was a counter that ran the length of the wall. Jewelry was laid out behind glass casing. There were quite a few people there browsing and all of them were dressed like the well to do restaurant guests from last night. All except one.

A man in polished mail with a dark red vest and faintly weathered cloak with golden tassels draping from shoulder to neck stood there holding his helmet and discussing something with an attendant. The attendant I recognized as one of the men that had carried out one of my money bags after selling the mana crystal.

When the attendant’s eyes fell upon me, they lit up. “Ahh, here he is, captain. The young man who sold us the mana crystal last night.”

I tensed up as everyone browsing suddenly turned their attention on me. I gave the lot of them an uneasy grin. It was at least better than the one sided smirk I’d given yesterday.

“Well done, son,” the captain said, giving me a squeeze on the shoulder, or at least trying to. Even without flexing I was too solid for him to move. He gave me a peculiar look, which I tried to laugh off, but my laugh was worse than my grin. “Such a good find…” He continued but trailed off. “You’re awfully young for an adventurer aren’t you?”

He stepped back, which I immediately recognized as a nonthreatening way to give himself enough room to draw his sword if he needed to.

Before he even said the words, I new this was going to be inconvenience. My mind immediately turned to the thought of killing him, but that would leave numerous witnesses. Killing them as well wouldn’t be difficult, but would it be enough? Wiping out Grayson would be the easiest method to ridding myself of the problem. I shook my head as if trying to rid myself of the thought. I was determined to prove to myself that I wasn’t a monster. No inconvenience was worth taking a man’s life.

“I get that a lot. I’m much older than I looked,” I replied.

“I see. I hate to be rude, but would you please show me your status screen? There are monsters that are capable of disguising themselves as human. You can never be too safe.”

At the man’s words, everyone including the red head that had been serving me took a step back.

I came to the quick conclusion that showing the man my status screen wasn’t a good idea. Not only would it give away my stats and level, which I wanted to keep secret, he’d see my title, The Human Who Feasts on the Netherplane. Even if my status still listed me as human, I couldn’t imagine that he’d respond well.

Giving the man an empathetic look, I replied. “You’re welcome to use any observation or identity abilities on me, Captain, but I’m not going to show you my status sheet. There are certain things I wish to keep private. I hope you understand.”

His hand found the grip of his sword. “I am Captain Challies, in charge of keep the citizens of this fair city safe. You have my word that I will keep what I see to myself unless, of course, it will endanger the lives of the people I serve. Please reconsider.”

I took a moment to observe the man, really observe him. I saw nothing that showed me that he wasn’t being earnest. If what he said was true, that there were monsters that disguised themselves as human, I couldn’t blame him for acting this way.

“Is there any other way, Captain Challies? Anyone with an advanced identification spell or something? I don’t want to make your job difficult, but I will not compromise on this. If necessary, I will even let you escort me out of town and be on my way.”

He was shaking his head before I even finished. “It is possible to disguise one’s identity, and I will not be responsible for releasing a monster into the world.” His sword began to inch out of its sheath.

Scratching the back of my head, I replied. “Then what comes next?”

“Captain,” came a voice from across the room. “Perhaps, I could be of some assistance?”

Giving the newcomer a sideways glance, I found an elderly man in a gentleman’s coat and tunic. The only thing that stood out about him was his pointy white beard and wizen staff in his hand. I second guessed his actual age. Despite the white of his beard, his lack of wrinkles and strong build placed him as a man in his prime. My sixth sense gave me a slight surprise. He was easily the highest level person in the room besides myself. I’d place him in the early level 80s if I had to guess.

“Minister Leighton, welcome,” the captain side with a bow of his head. “If you wouldn’t mind, please.” He stepped back but kept his hand on the grip of his sword.

I bowed my head as well and addressed him. “Minster Leighton, of the Adventure’s Guild?”

“Yes, youngster,” he said genially, stopping just outside of an arm’s reach. He was tall. A palm’s breadth taller than me. “I have that identification spell you’re requesting. Although I warn you, it’s a first realm spell and there’s little that will remain private

I was suddenly second guessing my request. It was an assumption of mine that such low level magic wouldn’t be able to see my status, but I could be wrong.

He held out his hand. “Please hand me your adventurer’s card, and I should be able to take care of any mix ups in a few moments.”

My adventure’s card? I thought back to all those years ago when I’d first become an adventurer. There was a card then as well. One I’d been proud to be the owner of. Pulling it out would certainly reveal much about me, but at the same time, if his identification spell required it then there was no way he’d be able to see as much information as I feared he would. I was now interested to find out exactly how this would play out. If it was just my age that was revealed, that wouldn’t be too much of a bother. People would just think I’m stranger than they already do. Fine.

“Okay, but it’s a little out of date.”

For the first time in more than a century, I pulled out a card similar to the one that listed my story credit, except this one was sky blue and in the shape of a kite shield. I placed it in the minister’s palm.

He took it with a kindly expression, then looked at what had been handed him and his countenance fell. His eyes darted to me, then back to the card. He seemed like he wanted to say more, but instead, he focused and said. “I’m casting the spell now.”

I felt the mana leap from his hand into the card. As it did, a tendril appeared, leading from the card to me. The man nodded his head a moment before his eyes began scanning an invisible panel only he could see. He stared at it longer than he probably needed to.

“A little out of date…” The man mumbled to himself. “Everything looks good here. If you wouldn’t mind following me to the guild, young Ailen. I’ll help you get your card updated so that you can present it to over-eager guard captains in the future as a means to identify yourself.”

Glancing back at Captain Challies, I watched him fully sheath his sword before giving a firm nod. “Please, excuse my insistence.”

“No need,” I replied, before facing the man that had saved me from the inconvenience. “Thank you, minister.”

“My pleasure. This way,” he said, motioning for me to follow. He left without another word, and I was sure to stick with him.

As we exited the building, the streets were busy. His pace was easy enough to follow, though it might have kept me on my toes if I was really as young as I looked. It wasn’t long until I saw the adventurer’s guild in the distance. It looked like a lodge in appearance except the logs used in its construction were from shaman redwoods, trees with a trunk ten meters in diameter that could grow more than a hundred meters high. The guild building was only two stories tall, so the trees used had been cut and trimmed. It made the building a fortress of thick wood.

Instead of going through the front door, he led me down a backstreet that had little foot traffic. There was a door of red that the seemed to be painted as a warning. The minister pulled out a large golden key, slipped it in the lock, and turned. Pulling the door open, it wasn’t an entrance on the other side, but a portal.

“Without one of a couple keys, opening this door reveals a storage room we use for drop-offs. With it though, it’s a convenient way to get to the second floor without being stopped by inquisitive adventurers,” he said with a snicker. “Come.”

He stepped in first, and I followed behind. An instant later, I was in an office of sorts with intricate runes covering the ceiling and walls. There was a large desk made of the same shaman redwood as the guildhall itself. The minister walked toward his desk, so I took a moment to admire the room further.

There were a few pillowed chairs with similar ornate carvings I’d seen in the nice restaurant. It was the bookshelf that took up the lower half of the wall to my left that caught my attention. So many books on magic… He was using the top of the bookcase as a work area of sorts. There were numerous books and scrolls open. I spied multiple pages with magic circles containing hundreds of runes around their edges and laid out in artful designed within their borders.

“If you are guiltless, forgive me,” the minster suddenly said.

I glanced over to see him standing behind his desk with his wizen staff leaning against it. He lifted a necklace of gold with an earthy gem from his neck. As he removed it, his magic aura exploded outward like a bomb.

Twisting my head to the side, I gave him a closer look. He’d been hiding his true power with an item? From what I could feel with sixth sense, he’d entered the first realm and was nearing the third. Not only was he the most powerful person in town, but he’d surpassed everyone else many times over. It made me wonder how many old monsters were in this city, or the tower for that matter, that were also hiding their true strength… Immediately I was interested in getting my hands on something like his necklace. I could hide my aura, but that was something lower-level adventurers couldn’t do. The higher the level, the more you could hide it, so without any of my aura slipping through I was basically giving away that I was a high-level adventurer to those that knew what to look for.

As the minister grabbed ahold of his staff, the room responded to his action. A barrier of sorts activated, trapping us in the room together. A second spell that seemed to come from the floor wrapped me in its power. It didn’t hurt, or even restrain me. Instead I felt tingly all over.

“What is this, Minister Leighton?” I said with more interest than concern.

The man’s shoulder length white hair flared outward under the influence of his aura. He pointed his staff at me as he began to speak. “Your name. Your adventurer’s card. You will answer my questions and you might yet still live.”

I groaned internally. I was afraid something like this would happen. “Look, I’m not sure what you saw, but I have no intention of causing trouble here. I just wanted a hot bath and a hot meal. I’ll move on if—”

“I only care about one things. Do the names Melony and Phillip mean anything to you?”

At the mention of two people from my original party that was wiped out by the lesser netherspawn, I froze.

Seeing my reaction, he took it as my answer. “So it’s true. You age and the limited quests notated as completed on your card fits the description of a member of their party from when they disappeared. Your name just further confirmed my suspicions. Answer now. Are you a demon that has taken Ailen’s form?”

I found it impossible to continue looking at the man standing before me, so I dropped my gaze to the floor. “You must be… After all this time, I didn’t think anyone would still be alive.”

“Is that why you choose now to come here? You thought everyone who cared would be gone and you’d get away with your crime?” With each word, the pressure in the room increased. “A father never forgets,” he growled.

It was too unbelievable. To think someone who knew Phillip and Melony was still alive, who knew of me. Their father. I forced myself to remember that day. To remember their last words, and the screams. I remembered the carnage, and then a miracle happened. A single tear fell down the right side of my face. I wiped if off of my cheek and stared at it for the longest time.

The man across the room must have had partial doubt in seeing my response, for he waited until I spoke. “We were on the second floor of the tower when three lesser netherspawn that shouldn’t have been there came at us. We put up a bit of a fight at first, but… They opened a portal to the Netherplane when we were giving them a harder time than they expected. I tried to protect them, but I couldn’t. They fought well and didn’t suffer for long. Using Fireball at point blank range allowed me to kill two of the lesser demons. I fought the last one injured and low on mana. I would’ve died myself, except I was able to use mana drain and heal through my injuries. Can you tell me? Did Arusha make it out alive?”

The pressure from the man’s aura stopped all at once. I glanced up to see the father of my dead friends seemingly age before my eyes. He leaned his staff against his desk and sat down in his chair. His spirit seemed to have gone out of him.

The minister spoke in barely a whisper. “When we weren’t able to retrieve the bodies, I thought they’d been taken, you all had been taken, as slaves, or food. To know that they died in battle. At least that gives me a little peace. And yes. Arusha made it out alive. She’s alive and well to this day with more grandchildren than she knows what to do with…”

I didn’t move from where I stood. My mind wandered to those dark days so many decades ago. The only light was that Arusha had truly made it out alive and had lived a good life. It was a few minutes before he spoke again. “I’m sorry for putting you through this Ailen. After their mother died half a century back, I had nothing else so I took up the mantle of minister of the adventure guild here in hope of one day finding out more. That, or growing strong enough to take on the top levels of the tower itself to get revenge on the demon’s that dwell there. I can’t image what you’ve been through. How did you ever survive?”

“I…” I began, but stopped myself, remembering my intention of hidings who I was, but then it dawned on me. That was a decision I’d made when I’d believed I was returning to a world mostly unknown to me and where I was unknown. If there were people that knew me, then that changed everything. It had been my desire to rest without having to bother with anything for a time that had led me to make such a decision. Besides, what was I afraid of? The minister was obviously the most powerful person in this area as far as I could tell, and compared to the power I possessed, he was but a larger than normal bug barking underfoot.

“As soon as I survived the first fight, more demons came. If it wasn’t for my ability to drain mana and heal myself, I never would’ve survived the first few moments there, let alone weeks, months, and… decades. Demon blood got in my open wounds, then I had no other choice but to keep fight to drain more mana so that I could continue to heal myself. After enough time, my body adapted. It was going without food that was the hardest part, even harder than going without sleep, but I found that if I drank the blood of the demons I killed, and ate from them, my stamina would recover enough that I could survive without having to sleep.” Once I started my story, I couldn’t stop until I had told it to its completion. There was much detail I left out, but it was an honest telling, and I didn’t hide anything from him.

When I finally stopped speaking, hours had passed. The minister had only seemed partially interested in my story at first, but the more he listened, the more he seemed to recover some semblance of his spirit. By the end, he was leaning forward in his seat in veritable fascination.

“What level did you reach before returning to this realm?” He asked. Seeing my hesitation, he held up both hands. “Sorry. I’m already forgetting your run in with Captain Challies and why you are here. Forgive me for asking.”

I thought for a moment before coming to a decision. Pulling up my status screen, I spun it around and showed him.

Status

Title: The Human Who Feasts on the Netherplane

Name: Ailen Reaver

Class: Mage

Trait: Demon Subjugation (Unique)

Level: 931 (Ninth Realm)

Health: 5.3 Million

Mana: 5.9 Million

Stamina: 13.8 Trillion

Strength: 5,211

Agility: 4,674

Constitution: 5,675

Intelligence: 6,006

Wisdom: 5,131

His face seemed to stretch to an unnatural length as he almost climbed atop his desk to get a closer look. I stepped closer so that he wouldn’t have to do such a thing.

“By all things sacred,” he said, before plopping back in his chair. “You’re a monster.”

I put away my status screen and turned away.

He called out to me. “Stop, Ailen. You did what you had to do, and I for one am grateful you’ve been able to return. Melony and Phillip would be proud that their sacrifices gave you an opportunity to live.”

At his words, I hesitantly turned back.

“What do you plan on doing now?” he asked, coming around his desk.

“Originally, I just wanted to get something to eat and have a hot bath. I haven’t planned beyond that.”

“Then let an old man help you get your bearings. I’ve kept track of your family, and Arusha, after what happened. Would you be interested in getting in contact with them, or would you prefer not to after all this time?”

My heart thundered in my chest. “My parents?”

“Dead, I’m afraid,” he replied as he walked over to the corner of his bookshelf and bent down, grabbing a book. “But.” He flipped through several pages before coming to rest on page half filled with handwritten text. “Here it is. Yes, your sister is still alive and well.”

“I… Minster Leighton, I think you’re mistaken. I don’t have a sister.”

“Oh no. I’m not mistaken. Your parents were devastated when you went missing and your sister was an unexpected surprise that came later. She was born after your disappearance. They found joy in their later days because of her. Her and their many grandchildren. And great grandchildren.”

That brought a smile to my face. “When did they pass away?”

He looked off into the distance as he considered my question before responding. “Thirty years ago now.”

“I see. Thank you for telling me. My sister, is she in good health?”

He chuckled heartily. “Healthy? After growing up with stories of her brother the great adventurer, she decided to follow in your footsteps. She has your talent as well. She’s one of the fastest advancing mages of this age. I think she’s in the fourth realm now… Yes, that must be right.” He flipped back a few pages in his book, then tapped the page when he found what he was looking for. “Fourth realm it is. Just as with anyone that has advanced so quickly, she has kept her youthful appearance.” He gave me a scrutinizing look before continuing. “Though not to the extreme you have.”

It was my turn to be struck by bewilderment. I had a sister, and she was powerful mage. Should I go see her, or would staying away be for the best?

“If I might be so bold, I suggest you go. The situation with Arusha is different, but your sister is a strong woman who would very much like to learn that her brother is alive. She can be of great help to you. As well-kept together as you might seem at this moment, I find it difficult to believe that all of you has returned from that forsaken realm unscathed.” He pointed to his temple to indicate the mind. He was saying that he thought that my mind, at least in part, was still stuck in the Netherplane. “For your own sake, go. I’ll write a letter of introduction.”

I suspected he was right. “Thank you.”

Before I left the minister’s office, I had a letter and new adventurer’s card in hand. It was getting late, so he told me to meet him downstairs in the guildhall in the morning. There was no real hurry to go introduce myself to my sister that I’d never met, so I agreed.

That night, I laid in bed with my eyes closed for the second night in a row. Sleep was impossible, but I felt a sense of quiet that was such a distant experience it might as well have been new. My thoughts turned to my family. When Krissy had told me how much time had passed, I believed there’d be nothing left for me. Instead, I found my parents had left a legacy, and there was a place I might belong. I wouldn’t dare assume that to be the case, but even if I had to watch from a distance, there was still something I had to protect.

As for Arusha, just knowing she was well and happy was enough for me. My existence would do little more than complicate things for her, and there was no way I’d expect her to give up a husband of more than half a century for some guy she’d been fond of in her youth.

The warning of the Demon Lord Kiafer rung in my head. Demon’s even stronger than my rival had designs on this realm. He’d suggested that I get stronger. My family, if they were willing and able, needed to get stronger as well. Then I remembered the tower a few kilometers away. It was one of many such towers in this world that might contain resources I could use. And what of Minister Leighton? I’d also help him if I could. When I’d arrived back in this world, I felt like a vessel adrift without real purpose, but now I had a vague heading.