Chapter 27

The four of us sat in a circle on the bed in my room. We had locked the front door, not sure why we needed to do that, though. We were in silence for quite a while. They must have felt betrayed by me hiding such a big secret.

“Umm…”

Solicea and Maya waited, not saying a single thing.

“Ugh…”

I looked for the proper words, struggling. I was about to force something out when Emori stood up.

“I have a confession to make.” She clenched her fist, bringing the attention to her. “I, too, came from Fortis’ world. We knew each other in that life, even if we’re not close back then.”

Her revealing it came as a shock to me, but the other two didn’t react.

“...”

“...”

Apparently, Emori wasn’t expecting this reaction. She sat back down, covering her face, the bed shaking as she sat.

Suddenly, Solicea stifled. “Pfft.”

“...” Maya glared at her.

“What? I think that’s enough.”

“Sigh. You’re a back actress.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Huh?” The two of us stared at them. Solicea began laughing, while Maya shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay, then? Knowing you came from another world doesn’t really change anything, does it? Why are you two acting like that?”

Solicea began laughing louder, rolling on the bed. “You two should have seen your faces! You were so tense on the way back!”

“Well, I mean, isn’t it supposed to be a big thing?”

Maya shook her head at my statement. “It’s whatever. If you decided to not speak about it, that means you’re uncomfortable talking about it. Not like we can force you.”

“It does make sense considering all the things you did. I mean, level 100? Who trains that much?”

“I mean, Maya is also high-level.”

“I'm a dragon. And even then, you were already high level by the time I met you. Safe to say, I was the one that discovered your talent.” Maya nodded with a weird sense of pride.

“More like I'm the one that discovered you.” I was the one that shot her down, not the other way around.

“But I was the one that flew to that village.”

“You're lost, remember?”

“It's intentional.”

“Whatever…”

“Hey, Fortis, tell us about your world,” Solicea urged. We didn't really have anything to do at the moment, so I began my little story.

•••

“And that's how I ended up here.”

“So even back there you were quite skilled,” Solicea murmured. I told them mostly about my world. The technology, the games, the lack of magic. I also told them about how Asytelar chose me to bring me into this world, and how I ended up here. I of course, hid the less pleasant parts of my life.

“You're not going to mention that part?” Emori nudge my sides.

“I have no idea what you're talking about…” I looked away, trying to stop her from prying for more.

“Still, I wasn't expecting that crow to be so important,” Emori muttered.

“Me neither.”

“This… Asytelar has been alive for how long? Is she not human?”

There were many not-human races in this world. Like dragons, some of them had longer livespans.

“I don't know, but I won't be surprised if she isn't.”

She did manage to transfer her consciousness into a crow. Even if she's a human, she's not a regular one.

“Isn't it pretty impressive to be able to move between worlds like that, though? I wonder if there is magic that can allow us to go to Earth…” Solicea tilted her head.

“I want to see what this other world is like.” Maya nodded.

“Maybe we can ask her when we have time. We have the demon king to focus on, though.”

The field trip could wait. I would be lying if I wasn't the least bit curious on what Earth looked like after all these years, but at the same time, going now of all times would be risky.

That is also assuming there was a spell that could let us go there and back unchanged. I wouldn't want to be turned into a crow upon my return, nor am I particularly excited about living my baby years once more.

“Yeah…”

“But all the things you just said, they’re about your past world, right? How about your own life? What kind of adventures did you go on?” Maya peered closer, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Umm… about that… My past life isn’t adventurous at all.”

“Does that mean, had you been born in a different world, you might be a nobody?” Solicea asked.

I could only react with a shrug. “I guess?”

It was hard to deny that had this been a different world, my life would be very different. The fact that I recognized this world, and that I was given the responsibility to protect it, pushed me to get better. Coupled with a loving family and great friends, I could only come this far because of the people around me.

I strengthened my resolve to protect that very family.

“Whatever the demon king throws at us, we’ll be able to endure it if we’re together.”

“How did we get to that?” Solicea asked. “But yeah. Worrying won’t get us anything. We should do some preparations while we can.”

“Like what?”

“Weapon maintenance, for example.” Solicea stood up, leaving the room. “Let’s meet in ten minutes.”

The girls all left the room. I prepared my wands for the next part of this journey.

•••

After we were done preparing, we teleported to the Wolves’ base. We brought all our weapons. My four wands, Emori’s light wand, Maya’s golden musket, and Solicea’s spear.

Amira was out on a mission when we arrived, so was Mister Vorak. Regus, who happened to have a bit of free time, accompanied us to the base’s blacksmith.

During the journey, I still fell that bit of awkwardness. I had just revealed something big, but the others shrugged it off. I preferred it this way, wouldn't want any big trouble coming up as the demon king approached.

“Any news on the demon king?” I asked Regus who stood next to me. We have handed over our weapons, and now we're waiting for them to be fixed.

“None so far. There are people stationed in the dungeons, though.”

A few hours had passed since the symbols’ opening, so I have to wonder if we're truly facing the demon king’s return, or if this is a sign of something else.

I couldn't think of any other reasons, however.

Emori came up to me, carrying the four wands in her hands. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” I examined it. The magic stones on its tip had been replaced with new ones. Since magic stones worked similar to a battery, they needed to be replaced after extensive use.

My old ones still have some energy in them, but I didn't want to take any risks. It was the first time I replaced the stones, and the Wolves were kind enough to let us do our maintenance for free.

“You want to try those out?” Regus asked the others. Both Emori’s and Solicea’s magic stone had also been replaced, while Maya’s musket underwent basic maintenance.

“That's a good idea,” Solicea said. Regus then led us to the training field, where he took out a training dummy. One by one, we entered the Duel Shield he set up and tested our weapons, making sure everything was working as expected. I even got a chance to do some more quad-casting practice, although the spells I used remained the same.

Emori also tested White Void, making sure it was working properly. Seeing her, some Wolves who weren't on a mission gathered around, watching.

After that, we did some light sparring. Unlike Amira, the people that fought us didn't go all out, as we were there more for a warm up than actual combat training.

By the time the sun began setting in the west, we returned to our manor for a good night's rest.