Hello again fellow fanfiction writers and readers. Another week another chapter, sorry this on is short but it feels like time skips should be chapter by chapter so as to not confuse the person reading. Anyway soon we will be getting to Rudeus teaching Eris but before that happens Rudeus has a few things to sort out in his home town.
To guest about your comment: I want to introduce my own bullshit characters to add some more layers to the story, most people reading this story have already read the novels so I wanted to bring something new to the table that will shake up the board so to say. Also if life was a breeze for his third life then that would become boring really quickly, life is about success and struggle, growing from it, and becoming a better person because of his failures. Also Orsted always treated Rudeus like his equal, calling him a comrade instead of a subordinate, so I don't see allot of reason for Rudeus to prove he is Orsted's equal.
To 321jaz: Yes Eris will become better at magic but nowhere close to Sylphy. I felt like the novels made Sylphy a side character in the later chapters and I was saddened by that. That being said Eris is my favorite out of all of Rudeus's women that he has been with so I want to give them a good story together. As for saving Eris's family….. well that goes into spoiler territory for how I intend the story to go but that is when I will introduce the new character so you can look forward to that.
Any day now the snow was about to fall. It was only a matter of time as the air began to grow cold and anyone could see their breath become frost in the air. Night was fast approaching as Paul went inside to be greeted by his perfect son.
His son.
Rudeus never cried, complained, or argued with Paul, and he was a genius in every sense of the word. Paul continued to feel insecure around him. Rudeus knew this, his father was seeing himself as insignificant around his own son.
'Maybe him and I should hang out together, just the two of us, maybe go fishing, or hike a mountain, just him and me. Yeah that would be nice.' Rudeus thought.
Before night fell and as they were eating dinner there was a knock on the door.
"Hey mister, it's Hollow, I've come bearing presents." The voice of a little girl called out.
Everyone froze at the table, not moving for a second. Paul was the first to get up and retrieve his sword, Lilia also had one but she wasn't much good in a fight because of her injuries. Zenith was already preparing an incantation of intermediate fire and she would release it at a moments notice.
Paul opened the door and saw Hollow sitting on several crates, it's smile never losing its creepy aura.
"What do you want monster?" Paul said, his sword raised.
"Monster? Is that how you will respond to the person that saved you and your family? Like I said I come bearing gifts, and I also have information on who sent those mercenaries after you." Hollow said, a look of pain briefly altering the shape of the smile.
"The information I appreciate but why the gifts? What is in them?"
"Winter is coming, and while there aren't any undead monsters that will come to people in the night, the cold is its own monster. I come bearing gifts of coat, fur, insolation, dried meat, and windows that will trap heat while pushing the cold out."
"We do not require gifts." Paul said stubbornly.
"Your people do mister, and while you may be prepared many are wondering how they will survive this coming winter or if they will scrape through in this valley you watch over." Hollow said sternly.
Paul hesitated but after a moment sheathed his sword. "Thank you for your kindness, now what of this information you have."
"The man who created the contract was a high ranking member of the Asura nobles, no one related to you mister but I'm narrowing down the list as I go. Most likely it is someone close to the king."
"Why?"
"I don't know mister, that's the reason why investigations exist, either way he or she hasn't made another contract. Whoever did contract Death Row noticed the band of mercenaries didn't come back and they don't know what opponent they are up against so they will bide their time and lick his or her wounds. Either way, nobles have more pressing matters to attend to so this hardly takes a priority for them."
"Why are you telling us this now? You don't yet know who sent those mercenaries even though you may have narrowed down the list. Why not wait until you have found the person and then tell us."
"Reports need to be made to ensure a feeling of progress. Also since it was starting to get cold I thought a shipment of supplies would be nice as a present."
With that Hollow flew off into the night with Rudeus making a slight grin.
The real purpose behind this visit was to anonymously give Sylphy some more gifts like actual windows and warmer clothes for the approaching weather. She could heat up the air with fire and wind magic but that magic would be cut off when she went to sleep or stopped fueling the magic with her mana. By doing this her family would be comfortable and well fed.
Rudeus knew that her and her family would refuse if it was given by Rudeus himself in person. Once a gift was given a feeling of debt was owed.
Hollow had purchased the supplies including the pigs and cows using silver inside the city of Roa, Eris's birthplace and one of the larger cities in the Asura kingdom. How Hollow obtained the silver was using chemistry, he had figured out how to make silver or in other words Ag47, the atomic symbol for silver. He shaped the silver into Asuran currency. Gold would have been far too suspicious as counterfeit currency and so Hollow forged something less suspicious.
Things that were far too complicated for Rudeus to make using chemistry like leather, medicine, and food Hollow purchased with the silver, still no one would want to purchase from a scary creature like Hollow so it wrapped itself completely in a cloak. Walking was difficult instead of floating for Hollow since its muscles hadn't been used before but it managed.
Then Hollow changed it's vocal cords to sound like a deep man. Which was too be expected from a person that stood above anyone in a crowd. Purchasing supplies had not been without suspicion, after all who wouldn't be suspicious of a seven-foot-tall cloaked figure. But things went relativity well.
Hollow placed the magical teleportation circle in the city sewage system underground, away from prying eyes. The circle wasn't just placed in any part of the sewage system. It was in one of the main sewer water distribution networks, this way Hollow have access to every corner of the city underground without much effort. The room was made was just for the teleportation circle and some storage. Rudeus would expand his room as his base of operations to prepare for the teleportation calamity when he was hired by the Boreas royal family to train their youngest daughter Eris.
"Let's see, what do I have to do next?" Hollow said walking around the marketplace, going through a shopping list.
Then its leg bumped into something.
"Why are you so tall!?" A little voice yelled at Hollow.
It looked down in shock and saw a young girl, she looked like she was six or seven, her hair was a crimson red and so were her eyes. There was a woman next to her, a tall beast woman with a skimpy outfit and well defined muscles, she however was on guard and had a hand on her sword, ready to strike the tall figure down if it made a move to attack the little girl. Hollow looked at them both in complete shock.
'Eris and Ghislaine?' Hollow thought, hesitating for a brief moment.
Eris was dressed in a medium thick winter coat, her hood pulled back as she stared up at hollow with her arms folded in her traditional stance. Ghislaine was dressed in her normal attire.
Thinking quickly the monster responded behind the cloak.
"I studied really hard and I worked with the sword even harder, I also ate healthy." Hollow said raising a finger, literally trying to make a point. A corny and untrue point, but if it inspired the young lady Eris then she would work based off that.
"Is that how you got all those bandages on your arms, from sword fighting?"
"Something like that."
"What sword rank are you?"
Even though Eris couldn't read or write at this age she had committed to memory the various sword ranks and valued people off of that ranking.
"I don't know, most of what I learned was based off of survival in the demon continent."
"WOW! That's so cool!" Eris said pumping her fists. "I've heard the demon continent is really dangerous, you must be really strong, I would love to see you fight again Ghislaine to see how strong you are."
Hollow held up its hands. "Unfortunately I have other things to attend to."
"What could be more important than fighting?" Eris said angrily, she had a very simple mind.
"Food, shelter, clothing, warmth, and security. With the cold approaching I am working on supplying a local village that Paul Greyrat watches over."
"You know him?" Ghislaine asked, her ears twitching.
"Who is this Paul Greyrat Ghislaine?" Eris asked.
"He was a fellow swordsman in our old adventuring group, I could tell you about it sometime." Ghislaine said. "Regardless, I thank you stranger for helping Paul and his village."
Ghislaine outstretched her hand and Hollow excepted it, shaking her hand. She didn't mind the boney fingers or recoil from the size of its sharp fingernails. She was a simple minded woman too so something like this she didn't care about unless she identified it as a threat.
"What is your name?" Eris said.
"Hollow." The creature said bowing to the young lady.
"No last name?"
Hollow shook its head.
"Well it was okay meeting you I suppose Hollow. My name is Eris Boreas Greyrat, if you are ever in this city again, I would like to hear about some of your adventures."
"It would be my pleasure." Hollow said waving as it walked away.
'Phew…that was close." Hollow thought breathing a sigh of relief. It still made Rudeus's heart flutter when he saw Eris knowing the woman she could become. A truly fierce warrior with an iron will.
Hollow got back to its errands. Going over inventory and then teleporting the supplies to its home in the mountain. Waiting until dark when it would approach Paul with the status report and give the supplies to be distributed.
Other than that the teleportation checkpoint in Roa was now complete. From there numerous disturb magical circles would be made as a barrier and a safeguard to protect from the teleportation event.
The next night Rudeus looked at the resting place of Hollow. He walked down the hallways into the empty storage room. A large disruption circle was placed on every side of the square room in case of disaster. There was one last thing to do.
"I hope this works." Rudeus said.
Rudeus emptied a bag filled with hundreds of gems, all of them he had made using stones by the riverbed. They fell about the floor in a clutter and Rudeus got to work. Using gravitational magic he made them spiral around each other in a spherical shape, closing the distance between each stone, heat, speed, and momentum fused together making the gem look like a geode with thousands of reflective surfaces. From there he forced a sizable portion of his mana into the gems. They grew brighter and brighter but before it could burst Rudeus sealed the geode with a metal outer layer of tungsten, one of the strongest metals known to man. It grew red hot but then, gradually, it had cooled down and it was possible for Rudeus to touch.
His work had paid off. He felt the mana inside being contained and stable. Rudeus then inlayed several copper circles infused with his blood around the ball of tungsten. It glowed, a positive response was formed. The next was his ring. He made it using tungsten as well and inlayed a single red gem. It acted as the push or pull of his mana, he could put energy into the ring that would send the mana to the battery, or it would draw mana from the battery when he desired it.
Essentially Rudeus had created a bank to safely store his mana when he needed it, by doing this he could continue to grow. The final safeguard was putting a magical detection circle inside of the battery that would warn him when the battery was reaching it's max capacity of mana. The tungsten surface would weaken and the circle would detect that change, signaling his red ring, making it blink. By doing this he wouldn't pore more mana than was needed and he wouldn't destroy the battery.
He would repeat this process dozens of times if needed to store more and more batteries. Connecting them all together so that way he would have a practically limitless pool of mana to draw from.
Putting the Ring on his right middle finger he teleported back to his home.
Later on throughout the days distribution of supplies were already going smoothly, Rudeus helped in anyway that he could. Paul and Rawls (Sylphy's father) had a good friendship develop overtime, they went as a team to take care of the monster population in the woods and enjoyed each others friendship. They were loading several wagons full of crates to give to the people.
Paul refused to take any of the goods, he and his family were already prepared for the cold. Rawls initially refused but Paul insisted.
Sylphy and Rudeus were looking at the activity while trying to help out here and there. There was only so much two tiny children could do to help in this situation but it felt wrong to stare at this from the sidelines.
Lilia and Zenith were in charge of the inventory and organization of the supplies. It was more than enough supplies for the people in the village but they wanted to make sure they distributed the goods fairly so other people wouldn't get envious if things were unfair. After that point Paul and Rawls distributed the supplies.
'Sylphy will be well fed and warm for the winter, this is good.' Rudeus thought smiling at the girl sitting with him on the house's porch.
"Rudi what are you thinking about?" Sylphy looked at the young boy curiously.
Rudeus shook his head. "Nothing, I'm just thinking about how cute you look." Sylphy turned away quickly and covered her face in embarrassment, if Rudeus pored water on her head he was sure it would evaporate instantly from the heat of her blushing.
Rudeus and Sylphy left after that, playing out in the fields. Most of the day was just comprised of the family figuring out how distribute supplies. Paul and Rawls would return after nightfall, ready to repeat the same process the next day until all the supplies were distributed.
In the meantime the two children would practice more of their magic together. Sylphy had already learned voiceless incantations to intermediate levels of magic, she could do each individual spell but using two spells at the same time was proving difficult for her.
"Stop for a second Sylphy, try patting your head with one hand and rubbing your stomach with your other hand."
Sylphy seemed puzzled for a second but complied.
"Like this?" She said, it was awkward for her at first but it quickly became a steady movement. It was incredibly adorable. "You're not trying to make fun of me Rudi are you?"
Rudeus shook his head.
"No, think of yourself patting your head as applying fire magic, and you rubbing your stomach as using wind magic, now when you infuse the two together it will let you leap off the ground with more force than using either one of them. Link the two feelings together and release the mana through your fingertips."
"Okay I will try." Sylphy said pumping her fists.
She was a fast learner. It only took a few minutes for her to learn how to do it. She cast fire and wind magic out of the same hand.
"Now what Rudi?"
"Cast it out of your feet instead of your hands, let's go onto some gravel first, I don't want to burn the ground."
"And what then?" Sylphy said sounding a little nervous.
"We are going to try jumping really high in the air. If you fall I will catch you so don't worry and trust me." Rudeus. "I will demonstrate first and then I want to see you try it."
Sylphy nodded as she waited on Rudeus's example.
Rudeus closed his eyes and focused. Compared to gravity magic using fire and wind magic to copy the attempt of flight or going up in the air really high was a crude form of flight. Still, Sylphy would have to grasp this before she could attempt Gravity magic like Rudeus could. An airplane wasn't made by controlling gravity after all, it was made with thrust, drag, and lift. Properties that Rudeus would teach Sylphy so she could fly too.
He did a slow build up of air and fire focusing on the heels of his feet. He released it in a big burst and shot himself up into the air. Sylphy gasped in amazement at the sight while she observed a safe distance away. Rudeus didn't fly but fell back down, one lesson at a time was required to keep from overwhelming Sylphy with instruction. As he fell back down he used a gradual release of wind and fire to slow his decent until he landed safely back on the ground.
Sylphy ran over to Rudeus.
"That was amazing Rudi!" She said smiling at him. Still a look of doubt covered her face as she hesitated wither or not she could replicate that move. It was like watching someone pull vault for the first time and being told you were next in line to replicate that same move.
"You seem a little nervous to do what I just did so let's practice a little. I want you to float off the ground using the magic I just showed you. Flight can be achieved when you condense the fire and wind around your feet generating thrust, so if you spread it out you won't fly but instead hover above the ground."
Sylphy nodded and practiced it. She almost landed on her face for a few times because she lost balance but Rudeus caught her every time. After a few more attempts she was able to float by herself.
"Good, do what I told you and quickly compress the air, fly up into the air with your magic."
"I'm scared Rudi!"
"I know you are scared, but I know you can do it if you put your mind to it." Rudeus said. If he let her stop now he was worried she would be too scared to try the move again. This required encouragement.
Sylphy closed her eyes and focused on the flame and wind around her feet. After taking a deep breath in and out she opened them and shot upwards.
"You did it Sylphy!" Rudeus said clapping and jumping in the air with her.
She laughed but then quickly saw the ground was fast approaching her. She reached out to Rudeus in fear and he took her in his arms as he cast the same wind and fire magic to slowly descend back to the ground. Even if she didn't do the whole thing it was still a great amount of progress.
"That was amazing Sylphy!" Rudeus said as he hugged her. She hugged him back as the both laughed together. Sylphy thanked him and then kept trying.
It didn't take any time at all for her to replicate the decent back down that Rudeus had demonstrated, Rudeus was with her the whole time incase she was in danger, going back up with her and going back down.
"Thank you Rudi for showing me!" Sylphy said.
It was getting dark now and Rudeus would have to return home otherwise Zenith would start to worry.
"Can you make it back safely Sylphy?"
She nodded and she did something incredibly unexpected of her character. She kissed Rudeus on the cheek!
He touched the spot that she had kissed as he was completely baffled by her behavior. The Sylphy that Rudeus had known would never do something so bold but he still loved that she was brave enough to do that.
Before he could respond Sylphy smiled, blushing and looking down at the ground.
"Goodnight Rudi…. I will see you later." With that Sylphy turned around and took off down the road.
"See…. You…. Later. Sylphiette." Rudeus said in a daze. He was falling in love with this Sylphy all over again.
Give comments and questions. I shall answer them in the next chapter. See you all soon!
Hello again all readers out there. Hope your weekend is going well. This one is the largest chapter I have made so far so I hope you enjoy it!
To XaiGRS and Uqihana: I'm glad you thought it was sweet. I'm going to make Rudeus a little less perverted until he gets older, the whole Pedophilia thing really made my skin crawl a bit so if you or anyone else reading this wants sexy moments when Rudeus is older as well as all his other love interests let me know. But that will be for later.
To 321Jaz: Yes the women in his life will be more involved but when it comes to objects of land or species I like to stick to source material so I don't really know if I could write anything that involves entire unknown continents. Still I will keep your idea in mind, thank you for the input.
To meshaaja1: Yes allot of people feel empty right now, as more people feel empty I hope they will find my fanfiction and gain some happiness from it, that includes you.
With that being said enjoy this chapter!
Once again Hollow arrived with presents. It was quick and didn't leave room for discussion, there was no second attempt on Rudeus's life from Hitogami so he wouldn't act out of turn too much in the start of this time line.
Hitogami's biggest weakness, other than his ego, was when someone knew he was meddling in his tricks then they could make a move or alter the future. Hitogami could only see his own future 50 years ahead of time and when someone had different intentions on their path of life then the future would change. Most likely Hitogami saw Rudeus as an absolute powerhouse smashing his little chess game with Orsted but Rudeus changed his objective to simply become stronger and stop the teleportation event. For this reason the future would temporarily change.
Think of it like you are seeing a car in front of you, it is signaling to change lanes to go to the right cutting you off, but all of a sudden it signals the other way and moves to the left allowing you to continue on your own path. This is what Hitogami was seeing.
The man god was a control freak so he would try and keep things neat and orderly. Rudeus switching his mind to turn right to go on the path to Orsted, and he suddenly turned left instead removing himself from the board, disappearing from Hitogami's future. This made the man god believe his attempt on Rudeus's life was a successful scare tactic and he would resume focus on his apostles, insuring the Asura kingdom would have the right setup of nobility and leaders to foresee it's collapse.
Rudeus in the meantime would avoid any apostles until he bumped into Orsted. Hitogami couldn't see the dragon god or any affiliated with Orsted crowned as his comrade with the bracelet of the dragon crest. If Rudeus was summoned to the dream realm while he slept, meeting the man god, he would pretend to not know him, continuing the illusion that he was an overpowered naïve child.
If Rudeus made a preemptive move then Hitogami would see him as a threat and interfere in his life with even more assassination attempts. Rudeus would have a hard time if he went up against a sword king, Demon king, or someone above that level as they acted as Hitogami's apostle. But he had ways to win against people like that, still, there existed the possibility that Rudeus could fall to someone on that level. He didn't want to take that risk until everything was in the clear to step forward.
Speaking of stepping forward his preparations after an entire year had grown as well. Disruption magic circles were enough to stop king class magic but it still wasn't at a God level. Absorption magic was also successful. Rudeus would use his battery as a vacuum to absorb the mana from another object containing mana. If it was a similar design to the ring around Rudeus's finger then it would begin to send and store energy in the battery. However Rudeus wanted to use this option as a last resort against the teleportation event because it could overload the battery releasing all of the mana it tried to contain. Even if it could contain the amount of energy the speed at which it would flood into the battery would be dangerous. Like being given the challenge to eat a weeks worth of food in one hour.
On other matters Sylphy was still working on flight, it was incredibly difficult for her and it felt like she hit a huge road block, still she had allot of time to grow looking into the future. At the very least she could increase her movement speed and side step with fire and wind. She allowed the wind to flow with her as her movements became fluid almost as if she was a dancer and the air was her partner, then when she needed to do a quick movement she used fire magic to speed up an attack. She was poor with a sword and preferred a dagger, Rudeus figured she should begin to learn how to use a weapon. When she pared the dagger with her magic it became an effective and deadly combination. They continued to play and work together for days on end, enjoying each others company.
Then winter came again like so many other winters before it. However this particular winter felt rather cold for a very specific reason. It was the winter that Lilia would confess she was pregnant. Rudeus had felt the air become more dense and he knew Paul had been seduced by Lilia. Rudeus looked down on Paul a little bit in his second life because he cheated, but Rudeus cheated too and he regretted every second of it, regardless both him and his father were forgiven and Rudeus would see to it that Paul was forgiven in this life too. He had been practicing his script for a while now, still, practice was different then a performance.
The day happened. Zenith had been vomiting and feeling tired for over a month now so they summoned the village doctor who unsurprisingly had diagnosed her as pregnant. Norn would be born in the next 8 months. Originally Rudeus in his second life was thinking of all the possibilities of having a sibling and being a mature big brother for once but he knew the path Norn would take if he was unable to stop the mana calamity, he would insure she lived a life that was safe where she never got to see a depressed, drunken Paul.
A month later the big problem came.
"I'm sorry. I'm Pregnant." Lilia said when the family had gathered for dinner. She stood eyes half closed devoid of emotion as she bowed at a 45 degree angle in the most sincere apology she could give.
Everyone feels the atmosphere change as all the heads in the room turn to Paul. The man at the tables face was twisted in guilt and embarrassment.
Zenith looks at her husband full of suspicion. She was in a stage of denial, then when the truth was revealed anger would come out.
"I'm sorry it's probably mine." Paul said bowing in apology.
And then came the anger. Zenith stood up and raised her hand, slapping her husband across the face. He sulked out of the room and practically hid in the corner of another part of the house, he could still hear the conversation but he was too ashamed to be near his wife. Rudeus could give Paul some sympathy, at least he came clean.
Zenith sat down with Lilia as the young boy staired at them from the sidelines, watching the conversation closely and waiting for his signal to drop in.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Zenith said sitting down at the table, on the other side of the table was Lilia, still looking down and acting coldly, the pain was clear in her eyes though. She was trying to keep it together.
"Please allow me to quit this Job after you have given birth Madam, I owe it to you to at least assist in that as payment for your kindness and generosity, being a maid in service to this household for so long."
It was a difficult decision for Zenith, she didn't want to make a choice, she shouldn't of had to deal with this problem to begin with. But still, here they were.
"What about your child?"
"I plan to raise him or her in my hometown after I have given birth in the Fedoa region." Lilia said, she was gripping her sleeves at this point, the fabric was beginning to tear from the sharpness of her nails and the pressure she put on them, trying to hold every emotion together.
Her hometown was further up north in the Asura kingdom, it wasn't a bad journey for normal travelers, it took about a month on a horse. Rudeus however knew that the risk of death or injury increased with such a fragile being as a baby, and the mother would need time to recover after childbirth, a road trip would be the last thing any sane person would want for a new mother.
"But honey….. that's really…" Paul began to speak, lifting his head up from his corner of shame.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Zenith shouts, Paul retreats back into his corner like a whimpering puppy.
'Lilia for whatever reason has avoided me in my third life too. Maybe she was just the silent type until she opened up to people. I have after all been way less pervy then my second life! The only indication she got that I was a pervert was the pair of panties I still managed to snatch from Roxy's clothes.' Rudeus thought. He took a deep breath and entered the room.
"Mama, I can get two siblings or more now? Why is this bad?" Rudeus said as innocently as he could.
Zenith responded coldly trying to restrain herself from snapping at her son. She was like a coiled wolf with teeth bared, she wanted to bite anyone that came near her or spoke out of turn.
"That's because Lilia and your father have done something that's not allowed." Zenith said after she had collected herself.
Now the bargaining stage of began in the five stages of grief.
"But it feels like Lilia is the one taking the most punishment from this. She shouldn't be suffering, she couldn't refuse Paul." Rudeus said.
"What?" Zenith said looking at her son in a stunned face.
'I'm sorry Paul, I know this is a lie but this is to protect Lilia.' Rudeus thought gripping his fist in determination.
"Earlier, a few weeks ago, when I went to have a late night snack I passed by Lilia's room. I heard father saying, spread your legs and don't say anything. Moan silently and hold in your screams of pleasure as I give your soul the extasy it deserves." Rudeus said.
'Good grief that sounded a little too much like fifty shades of grey.' Rudeus scolded himself.
"Wait what?! Rudeus what are you saying…." Paul began to speak out.
The Judge banged her gavel as hard as she could, the accused would remain silent.
"Lilia is what Rudeus said true?" The witness had been called to the stand by the judge, the judges gaze giving a glimpse of hope, hoping that all could be forgiven.
"No, that kind of thing is….." Lilia wavered a little bit, she was smart and was beginning to grasp the situation. Understanding the contempt of court at play.
'And now, for my finisher move.' Rudeus smiled for a brief second.
"Mama, Lilia isn't in the wrong." Rudeus said, holding onto his mothers arm, gripping it with reassurance.
Slowly, but gradually, she reached the fourth stage, depression, but it was quickly followed by acceptance. She had reached her conclusion and the verdict was given. The witness was not guilty, the accused was deemed the culprit and would be charged for his crimes.
Still Rudeus wanted to make a point to Zenith later that night to make sure she understood that Rudeus was just trying to keep the family together.
Lilia was forgiven, Paul would have to sleep downstairs on the hardwood tonight though.
The maid holds both of the hands to her face as tears of relief begin to flow. Before Rudeus goes to clarify the situation to his mother he has to make a major change in the course of events.
"Lilia…. When you are finished crying please look at me." Rudeus had gotten serious now, looking at her with the eyes that didn't belong on a six year old child.
After she had regained her composure she looked at the young boy. Startled by his eyes of maturity.
"What I have done for you, I am repaying you for all your kindness and care as a maid, and as a friend, now as family. If you still feel like you owe me anything I would accept your service as a maid when I start my own family. But do NOT. And promise me you will NOT. Raise your child to be a servant as well, I want them to lead their own life, find their own happiness, and not put the priorities of others before their own ambitions. Promise me this." Rudeus said holding her hands with his tiny ones.
Spoiler alert so ignore this these bold letters if you want. The reason why I am making Rudeus take this course of action is because Aisha (Lilia's daughter to be) falls in love with Rudeus's first son while she is a maid working for their family. So think Daenerys Targaryen and John Snow level of incest even though this time Rudeus's family knows they are committing incest. So this is why I am making Rudeus do this.
"I promise Lord Rudeus." Lilia said after overcoming her shock, she bowed down and knelt before him. Making it her sincere promise. "Thank you for saving me."
Rudeus hugged the maid and she returned the hug. Holding onto her for a second. Before he went upstairs he walked over to Paul who was trying to make himself comfortable on the hardwood, at least he got to sleep on that and not outside, he might freeze to death if he was told to by Zenith.
"Dad, I know it's not your fault, you do share part of the blame but you took the full force of the guilt. I love you dad, but I love Lilia and Zenith too, so please understand I did what I did because I didn't want Lilia to leave us." Rudeus said patting him on the shoulder.
To Paul it felt like if Rudeus left the house then Rudeus would turn around before he left and say something like, "You are the man of the house now Paul." He was already more mature than anyone in the family.
"I understand Rudeus." Paul began to cry but Rudeus hugged him.
"Hey what do you say tomorrow you and me go for a hike in the mountains, I know it is cold right now, but I feel like you and me need a moment together, just father and son. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah…. That sounds great son." The man was beginning to shake.
'There are moments that I never got to share in my first or second life, moments that every child should have, the love and admiration of a father, the warmth and sweet smile of a mother, and the guidance from both of them. Plus I want them to see my children in the future, Paul and Zenith will spoil them like any proper grandparent should. Yeah, those moments I never got to experience. I will experience them now.'
Rudeus stood up and left Lilia and his father to collect their feelings while he approached the final member of the family. Zenith was in the master bedroom as she laid down on the bed, looking aimlessly at the flickering candlelight by the bedside. She had reached a point of acceptance but she was emotionally drained. Maybe now was a good time to leave her alone. No, this had to be brought to attention.
"Mother, excuse me."
Rudeus leaned against the bedframe sitting on the hardwood floor. Zenith reached down from above the bed and cupped Rudeus's cheek in her soft hand as she rubbed her fingers along the side of his face. The purest form of motherly affection.
"Rudeus, you lied didn't you?" Zenith wasn't dense. Based on both Paul and Lilia's denial she had figured it out.
"Yes mom, I know you tried to teach me that lying was bad, but there are good lies too, lies that are needed to protect others. I don't want Lilia to make such a dangerous trip, she could easily die. I know you knew that and so I wanted to help all of you. You don't have to forgive father, but I feel like you should help Lilia, she has been so kind to me. And I hope we can all look past this as a learning point, becoming a stronger family altogether."
"Yes Rudeus…. But it still hurts."
"I know, I can see that. I love you mother." Rudeus said holding her hand in his as they both enjoyed a mother and son moment in a night filled with stress. Rudeus stayed by her side until she fell asleep and he blew out the candle. Going back to his room he still had some more work to do.
He took on the form of Hollow in the cave and continued work on the cave system.
Rudeus had been able to summon multiple books on electronics, his manipulation of matter had improved to such an extent that he had made electric light bulbs, soon he would transfer over to LED but those were a little bit more complicated.
Light bulbs of course had a glass exterior which was easy enough to make using fire and wind magic with some fine sand. Inside the light bulb would be a twisted wire of tungsten, then he filled the space with argon, a gas that would slow the heat distribution rate to an absolute crawl in the light bulb. Light bulbs worked with a combination of electric principle and chemistry. The light was created by sending a current through the tungsten wire, making it glow with heat, then argon would stabilize the bulb and the heat it contained keeping it from burning out or the glass from cracking. At the end of the light bulb would be a copper end to send the current through. Rudeus could light the light bulb by sending a current through it using electric magic.
Then Rudeus created a room that would transfer some of the mana into electricity. This room was directly connected to his battery which was safely contained. It would gradually use up the energy as long as the device was activated to use electronic devices such as light bulbs.
"I can expand entire cities and country sides using my batteries and light bulbs. Mana can be given from any sorcerer or someone with enough mana, then electricity will be created and distributed to the various demanding circuits. I can create a new age in this world." Hollow said.
Still that was for later, for now this was just a renovation in the cave system and was far more effective than the previous lighting system.
'Thinking on it now, I'm curious if this world is just another version of earth in the same time, one of infinite earths like that being my friend described, who was the embodiment of everyone. If that is the case then there is a point to be made about people. When someone wishes to become stronger, and magic is nonexistent for them then they will wish to grow physically, if they cannot run as fast as a lion or strike as strong as an elephant then they will develop tools to compensate. Intelligence gave way to invention, invention gradually opened the world up to science, and science allowed a weak race of humans to become the most dominant race in my first life. Mana in this world might be seen as a gift but it can also be seen as a crutch. It won't allow the constant need for expansion of things like medicine and development of weapons to defend a country from other nations.' Rudeus thought. He was getting a little bit philosophical about the people in this world, still. The world he came from would be able to kill most people in this world using things like guns, even someone like Orsted would probably die to something like a railgun.
'Weapons huh.' His rock bullet mimicked a bullet but it wasn't exactly like it. His rock bullet required a little bit of a build up and wasn't as strong as something like a hollow point bullet or a bullet made out of depleted uranium. Still he didn't want to introduce something so deadly if that technology fell into the wrong hands. There were many sides to science, but one of the darker sides was how fragile the world became with something like the atom bomb.
'Still, If I research weaponry from my old world I will be able to personally use it against stronger opponents, maybe I should research some options and then come up with weapon designs.' And so Rudeus summoned several books on guns. Such as their history, evolution, blueprints, designs, attachments.
Guns were a simple matter of combustion paired with chemistry, while physics was the dictator for how deadly the weapon would be. The inner mechanism was an example or engineering. The bullet was based on the fundamentals of chemistry. Paired together they gradually grew in efficiency over centuries. It took awhile to take off. Bows were faster to shoot, and more precise if given in the hands of an expert, still, a bullet would cut through a piece of amor during the mid-evil times and that was what proved it's efficiency in battle.
It seemed that the more Rudeus read in the books the more it seemed like the only purpose for most inventions was for humans to find new and more effective methods to kill each other. But that was looking at history from a sinical side and not one of an un-biased perspective.
After a few hours he stopped his research and focused again on chemistry. Rudeus had now gotten to the point of creating osmium, the densest metal known to man. It was twice as dense as lead and was harder than even something as strong as a diamond, it could also withstand compression better than any other element. Funny enough Osmium was 1000 times rarer than gold but still not as expensive, perhaps this was due to the status of gold and its symbolist for royalty.
For the reason of it being able to handle compression better than any other element so far Rudeus also found another use for it, making a more advanced battery. The silver blue metal was formed into pearl sized crystals and then fused together once again forming its reflective surface by the thousands much like his previous battery. When Rudeus touched this element however it only glowed a little bit when he poured mana into it. The was a much better result than his first battery.
It took a hell of allot more energy to make this battery though. It took him 3 months to complete the thing, a single pearl making him fall into unconsciousness from mana exhaustion. The next day was two, and then two to four the next day, and so on. In comparison it would take an entire college of magicians potentially decades to do what he just did in 3 months.
He completed it much like how he had done with the first battery, covering it in a layer of tungsten as protection, although at this point the osmium was stronger than the tungsten but still it acted as a safeguard nonetheless. Then with the blood infused copper circles the battery was complete. It was so dense though that a ping pong ball weighed about as much as professional bowling ball. The battery itself was about the size of a small child so it would be a challenge for even someone like the demon lord of immortality Badigadi to lift such an object. Still Rudeus could lift it using gravity magic.
His library also had undergone a lot of work due to the upgrade to his summoning room. It was now able to copy hundreds of materials without issue. He went through trial and error on it and it had taken many attempts, still mana alteration and atom manipulation had basically given him creative mode over his surroundings, speeding up the process of building something exponentially. Now his library was filled with thousands of books, action figures like Dragonball Z, Gundam, and Sailor Moon, along with some of his other favorite anime.
In the corner of the library he looked and saw the thing that he broke. It was a tv with a Nintendo console connected to it. He wanted to play a little after humoring the idea but as soon as he picked up the controller his hands stopped.
'No….. you were like this, and you wasted your life, the years passed by, and you wasted it. You won't do this Rudeus. YOU WON'T DO THIS!' He told himself over and over again. Being a loser for 34 years, being a complete sack of shit. This thing he had created in this world reminded him of all those moments of pain. He threw the thing as hard as he could and it shattered, making it look like something you would see in the junkyard.
Now that he looked at the corner it did look a little messy. He made a pedestal and a display case for it. Placing it in the center of the room. He made a plaque for it titled "Never again." He wouldn't return to that world of perpetual stagnation. He would become something greater than anyone had ever seen, and returning to something from his first life wouldn't accomplish that.
"What's wrong Rudi, is everything okay?" Sylphy looked over at her best friend.
Over the course of many months Rudeus had continued his study while at the same time enjoying weekend campouts with his father, they even got to kill monsters now and again together in the forests while fishing at other periods. Their bond as father and son had grown stronger.
However today was the day to say goodbye to Sylphy. She wasn't going to like it but the time had come to ask Paul tonight about getting a job so Rudeus could afford tuition for both Sylphy and the young boy.
"Yeah Sylphy everything is fine. It's just things seem to be slowing down a bit and I'm still not growing fast enough in my magic, I don't feel like this town has allot left to offer me." He did this while he held out his hand and water manifested from it, forming small balls of water and floating up in the air.
That of course was a lie, Rudeus had plenty to work on but he was at a point now that he needed to go teach Eris, unfortunately that involved breaking Sylphy's heart a little bit, she was going to stop seeing her first friend for awhile.
Sylphy didn't say anything for a second and then leapt on him, pushing the young boy onto the soft grass. It was like she was trying to trap him to keep him from leaving, like holding onto a kitten to keep the small creature from sprinting away.
"Please don't leave Rudi, you are my one and only friend, I can't live without you." She began to sob after that as she held onto him. Tears fell down on Rudeus's face.
The boy hugged her back and stroked her hair. Waiting until she calmed down.
Once she had stopped crying he spoke to her again, talking right beside her while looking up at the beautiful sky.
"Sylphy, Roxy, the person who taught me magic told me she learned her abilities at the magical university in the north, passed the red dragons upper jaw and in the Ranoa kingdoms capital Sharin. We can go there together, you and me. Sylphy I don't want us to stop growing but we need money to afford to go there. I'm going to ask Paul to get me a job but it probably won't be here. So, wait for me Sylphy, and while you wait never stop growing."
Her best friend looked at her with eyes of kindness and love as he stroked the side of her cheek. She sniffed holding back a second wave of tears.
"Okay Rudi, I promise."
Rudeus smiled at her.
He returned home and asked Paul for a job, as well paying as possible to pay for tuition into the magical university. After a few moments of thought Paul agreed.
For the next few days he would spend most of his time with three people, his two sisters Aisha and Norn who were almost always crying since they were newborns, and Sylphy where Rudeus and her shared precious moments together playing and practicing magic.
Then the day came.
"Hey Rudeus! Come on it's time for practice!" Paul shouted while Rudeus was helping Lilia do and fold the laundry after it had had time to dry outside. Rudeus got up and thanked Lilia for her time, they had had allot of fun conversations together after she started to open up to the young man. Sylphy stepped in and helped Lilia while at the same time sneaking a glance or two at Rudeus, trying to be discreet so Rudeus wouldn't notice she was looking at him.
Rudeus got into a fighting stance with his wooden sword in hand and they began. Paul had adapted to allot of Rudeus's movements and predicted them. They became better at sword fighting together.
Then a carriage pulled up. A large woman stepped out. It was Ghislaine.
"Good to see you Ghislaine, it feels like it had been forever." Paul said taking a quick peak at her rack. He really was a scumbag.
Zenith came outside holding Norn and Aisha in her arms, she passed Aisha over to Lilia as Zenith greeted Ghislaine.
"Ghislaine! Hi, we have missed you." Zenith smiled happily at the large beast woman.
"Yeah." Ghislaine was always a woman of short words as well as short temper if she was called muscle brains. She looked down the small baby that was nestled in Zenith's arms. "That your kid?"
"Yes! Her name is Norn, she is Rudeus's younger sister and this is Lilia's daughter Aisha."
"Who is the father?" Ghislaine said looking at Paul with a glare, she suspected the answer right away.
Paul ignored the question with a laugh and then looked at Rudeus.
"Rudeus, if I told you that you would have to stay away from Sylphy for awhile, would you refuse?"
Sylphy looked at him with concern in her eyes. If Rudeus responded with a no then that might break her heart.
"Obviously I would refuse if I had to choose." Rudeus said and Sylphy smiled at him.
"Thought so." And with that Paul picked up Rudeus and threw him to the other side of the house's courtyard. It was a good enough distance for Rudeus to ready himself.
Paul launched himself forward with his wooden sword ready to strike Rudeus but the boy was ready and shot himself up in the air using wind and fire while at the same time firing a fireball down at his father. He struck the fireball with the wooden sword dispersing the fireball but didn't notice the large jet of water that Rudeus summoned directly behind the fireball, it crashed into Paul. He was struck back giving Rudeus enough time to descend back down to the ground.
"Can't we talk this over father?"
"I know if I try to talk to you, you will just find a way to talk yourself out of it." Paul said launching himself forward again.
He slashed but Rudeus blocked the sword with his forearm. Normally this would have broken a child's arm but his forearm was covered in a shiny black material. What Paul didn't know was that Rudeus had found away to manipulate the carbon in the outer layer of skin, making it almost indestructible, his bones were reinforced as well so they did not break.
Before Paul could do a follow through with another attack Rudeus opened his palm and hit Paul directly in the nose, given Rudeus's height the strike was at a perfect 45 degree angle. Paul's nose broke and he stumbled back in pain.
"If you are going to avoid talking about it with violence then I shall respond in kind father until I get you to yield."
But then a hand stopped Rudeus from going any further. It was Sylphy, she had somehow gotten behind him, probably using wind magic to increase her movement speed as she hugged him from behind in an effort to stop him from continuing the fight. While Paul was the one who started the fight it was clear Rudeus would continue to whittle him down until he yielded.
"Please Rudi, don't hurt your dad. He loves you." Sylphy began to sniff a little bit. Rudeus stopped, turning around and hugged her looking up at the sky deep in thought. Then he turned to his father.
"You are using your connections with the Boreas Greyrat family to get me a job, most likely as a teacher right father?"
Paul looked up in shock at his son while Zenith cast healing magic on her husband as his nose was fixed back into place and the blood from his nostrils crawled back into itself.
"Yeah…..how did you know?"
"Ghislaine is currently in service to the Boreas branch as both a bodyguard and sword instructor to Eris Greyrat. Given our families history it would be bad if our branch of the Greyrat family was public like a bodyguard so it would be fair to assume that wouldn't be my job. I have a great deal of knowledge in the various areas of study so it would be befitting of me to teach someone." Rudeus stated.
"How do you know about Ghislaine?" Zenith said.
"Hollow told me one day."
"I would appreciate it if you stay away from that monster." Her motherly instincts kicked in.
"We owe that monster our lives, I feel like the least I could do is listen to it."
Ghislaine didn't say anything although her ears flicked when she heard Hollows name, it was clear she wanted to talk more about the creature.
"Regardless, dad, I'm sorry for misunderstanding. However I do have one request, just one, for making me leave."
"No need to apologize son, I started the fight. What is it?" Paul said getting on his knees. He felt like shit right now getting humiliated.
"I love you all, and teaching someone takes sometime. So, if I cannot make it back in time I want you to visit me for my 10th birthday, I want Sylphy to come too." Rudeus said smiling at Paul.
"Yeah Rudeus…. I promise." Paul said faintly smiled. Rudeus hugged his father.
"Dad, you and me still need to hangout some more, just the two of us could probably defeat a dragon when I get older. You have raised a strong son, so stop beating yourself up over it. And if you feel weak, train, grow stronger. Become a saint class in all the schools of the sword, or just do what you do best, protect this family. I am counting on you dad."
Paul began to tear up and Rudeus embraced him some more before he said goodbye to Zenith and Lilia. Sylphy was the last one.
She had a look of resolve in her eyes but they were still sad that her best friend was leaving for several years. Rudeus softly raked his hands through her hair and he kissed her forehead. She blushed but returned the kiss with an embrace.
"I will see you all soon, and Sylphy, the next time those bullies come at you, kick the shit out of them for me. Okay?"
"You got it Rudi!" Sylphy said laughing.
And with that Rudeus got in the carriage and was off. Waving goodbye to his family, he would see them again, he would make sure of it.
Post questions and requests in the reviews of this fanfiction and I will respond in the next chapter. Love you guys!
Hello again fellow fanfictioners and readers alike. Glad to give you another chapter this week. So Rudeus is finally going to meet Eris and some things will change, hope you enjoy them. Soon he will get to work on preparing for the magical calamity.
To Guest: So happy you love the story! And I have a goal to write 1000 words a day so every week I should update, send me a message if you want me to write in some extra content though.
To Uqihana: With the story so far I can do separate story lines for other characters but I won't label it from their point of view. Rather I will label who is thinking or what character I will be focusing on for the chapter. As for POV I want characters to keep their own journals which will be encouraged by Rudeus, that way a POV is possible as we read each characters diary. I really like the POV given by Eris which explains how much she loves Rudeus and why she wanted to leave him to go on a journey, that felt more like something you would read in a diary which would fit in perfectly with this fanfiction.
To 321Jaz: Thanks for your devotion to this fanfiction its allot of fun responding to you every chapter. As for Rudeus and his Wives, Polygamy for me is a very personal topic so I can't imagine writing it (my mother is Mormon while my dad is an Atheist, I was bullied allot for the rumors that Mormons were for polygamy so I don't like to be reminded of my past) Rudeus will find a way to be with his three goddesses however and the solution will be provided by the new character coming up after the teleportation event.
To XaiGRS: Hope you like the divergent. If there is anything else you would like me to change in the original plot I'm open to ideas.
To Icecreampapa: Glad you laughed at that. I will put a few more jokes in. The new character I'm writing will crack jokes left and right, think of him like a Deadpool in this universe so I hope you and the rest of the readers enjoy him.
To Kronos: Thanks for the correction. :-)
With that enjoy this next chapter! And I will see you all again hopefully by next week.
"You sure are polite and understanding to be Paul's son huh." Ghislaine said. She was laying down on the opposite side of the carriage facing Rudeus.
"You are kind to say that." Rudeus said thanking her. Damn her rack was still as beautiful as ever, and the muscles made her look like a beautiful statue of chiseled marble.
"Read this letter to me, I can't read it." Ghislaine said throwing him a letter. "Paul intended to knock you out and have you read this later when you woke up, but since you beat him I would guess most of the letter is what you already know."
Rudeus opened the letter and skimmed through it. Ghislaine looked like she wanted to comment on the fact that Paul's own 7 year old son kicked his ass but that was irrelevant to the conversation at hand.
"It calls you muscle brained allot."
"WHAT was that!" Ghislaine stood up smashing part of her head through the roof of the carriage.
"It was a joke madam Ghislaine, only a joke." Rudeus said holding his hands up trying to calm her down while he laughed. She sighed and sat back down.
"What about this Hollow person do you know? Do not lie to me or hold back any information." Ghislaine said, she lowered herself down looking dead into Rudeus's eyes. Much like any of the beast race they had a spectacular sense of smell. Because of this they could tell a persons emotions, hormones, and with someone as skilled as her she could also detect lies if the person wasn't in control of said emotions.
'I'm worried if I tell her the truth then she will disrupt some of my plans, still, she is a trustworthy person, that much I know for certain. However, it wouldn't hurt to have a little extra insurance, she may have instincts but she isn't the brightest person outside of sword fighting. I can play that to my advantage.' Rudeus thought.
"Before I tell you anything, please promise you will not tell another soul about what I know about Hollow. And before you ask, the creature is a trustworthy person, it saved my family from an assassination attempt and has brought supplies during the winter time for the people of this village, it is allot like a guardian angel so please, do not share this information I am about to tell you unless I give you permission." Rudeus said.
"You have my word." Ghislaine said instantly.
Rudeus sighed in relief, if she hesitated in her response, he would have told her he was going to place a curse on her that would stop the words from coming out of her mouth or prevent her from writing what she knew. All Rudeus had to do was take something like a small ring she was wearing or a earing and infuse his desire into it while at the same time creating several small magical circles. But because of her instant reply he didn't have to do so.
"Hollow is me." Rudeus said, putting on the eyes that didn't fit a young boy like him.
"That makes no sense, he was a thin giant. You are not." Ghislaine said, although her default emotion didn't change.
"A few years ago I discovered a new branch of magic I called alteration magic, it allows me to manipulate my surroundings even down to something as complicated as muscles, bone, or skin. Most magicians can do some simple forms of alteration magic like a rock wall but a living being is far more complex. Do you understand so far?"
"Yeah, so you turn into this creature?" Ghislaine said nodding.
Rudeus shook his head.
"No, I created Hollow using my own blood, as well as the flesh and bones of several livestock as I was gradually shaping a new being. Hollow is me, and I am Hollow, after much experimentation I found a way to link my soul to the creature I created. You know how you can use your mana to create an aura right? And from that aura you surround your body condensing it making an invisible suit of armor for yourself otherwise known as a touki?"
Ghislaine nodded her head. "Yeah, anyone going beyond an advanced swordsman rank has to learn how to make a touki or the concept before they can advance any further."
"Well I do the opposite, for whatever reason I cannot make a touki yet however I can expand my aura, I can cover many landscapes with it. Because of that I control Hollow and see through it's eyes using my own soul to control it. I've gotten better at controlling my own body while at the same time controlling Hollows as well."
"Why even create Hollow in the first place?"
"Allot of people can be intimidated by the power I possess so I want to put on the appearance of an innocent child for now while Hollow is free to use as much power as I give it along with running errands and protecting my family."
Ghislaine so far had a neutral face on her, she was a calm person when she was curious or when she was intent on listening to information.
"I knew you were Hollow, if you had lied to me or tried to stay away from the topic I would have turned the carriage around and sent you back to Paul." Ghislaine said confessing what she knew.
"How did you know?" Rudeus asked stunned.
Instead of telling him she flipped up her eyepatch, it wasn't a battle injury but a different colored eye, it was green in color and had an unusually shaped pupil.
"This is my demon eye, when you were Hollow and you first met lady Eris and me I could feel part of your mana even without lifting up my eyepatch. The light coming from you was blinding when you turned around as Hollow and I flipped up my eyepatch. I did the same thing while you were distracted fighting Paul. You have the same color and brightness of Hollow, because of that I guessed you somehow were the same person."
'Guess she isn't as dense as I thought she was.' Rudeus chastised himself for underestimating the beast woman.
"Something else I wanted to ask you about is I could also see mana in a mountain leaking out, it was even bigger than your mana but had the same color, it was like a star was buried underneath a mountainside."
'So she can even see my batteries? Her demon eye is one hell of a thing.'
"If I was to hold in all of my mana inside my body I could very well die, when I first touched a wand it exploded and so I was worried my body would do the same thing. Do you know what a bank is?"
Ghislaine shook her head.
"It's allot like when you have a bag of coins and hide it instead of carrying it on your person. Instead of hiding it you give the money to someone else who secures it in a vault and when you want to withdraw money you go back to them and they will give you the amount you ask for."
Ghislaine nodded at his simple explanation. It wasn't the whole truth and banks were allot more complex than that with the federal reserve, IOUs, credit cards, loans, interest rates, debt, and legal matters but as long as Rudeus kept it simple she would understand.
"So how did you figure out how to store you power?"
"I created a gem that could store my mana and then I coated it in a solid ball of metal, after that point I covered the metal in magical circles that allow me to have a direct link to the object, I can store or draw mana from the battery without any issue using this ring." Rudeus said holding up the ring for Ghislaine to see.
She nodded and stopped talking. Her curiosity satisfied as she looked out the window watching the landscape gradually pass by. Rudeus didn't have anything else to say unless she asked and so he laid down on the carriage and fell asleep.
A few days went by, Rudeus and Ghislaine would have some casual conversation from time to time but nothing like the interrogation she gave him when they first got in the carriage. Then the day came as Rudeus looked out and saw the city of Roa. Its walls standing tall and the red rooftops of the many buildings standing out like a scarlet gem. In the center of the city stood the castle of the Boreas family which overlooked the land. Rudeus gulped with anticipation, he wasn't looking forward to the bruises he would have to endure from Eris but it was inevitable.
When they entered the gate Rudeus and Ghislaine got out of the carriage and got to walking, they had something to eat at a local pub and after a moment of relaxation and stretching they got back to walking to the castle. The guards opened the gate knowing the Sword King Ghislaine and didn't mind Rudeus walking right behind her.
"You are going to meet Philip Greyrat in a few moments, the mayor of this city and the father of Eris. Please wait in here until he comes." Ghislaine said opening a door into a mid sized dining room. There was a large fireplace on the left of the room with both a dining table on the far side of the room and a coffee table with several wooden chairs closest to the door and the fireplace. Rudeus sat down on one of the wooden chairs and a beast woman dressed as a maid pored Rudeus a cup of wine. Ghislaine leaned on one of the sides of the walls waiting.
Rudeus took a sip and smiled at the scent of alcohol with berries, the wine was bitter but it also had a nice aftertaste of sweetness. A good combination.
Philip then entered. The man himself always put on a smile but it was clear to Rudeus now that it was out of curtesy. His eyes were slits like a scheming Japanese businessman who looked down on everyone else. In terms of physical appearance the man was average built with brown hair and he wore a nobles button up suit.
Rudeus stood up in respect and bowed.
"Hello. I am Philip Boreas Greyrat, you must be Rudeus." Philip said smiling down at the young boy. "However in a proper noble greeting you step back with your right foot, make a circle with you left hand putting it on your side, reach with your right and drop it down in an arch when you bow. A twenty degree angle is fine and not a forty five degree one for the bow."
"Like this?" Rudeus said copying the instructions.
"Yes that's not bad, please be seated now." Philip sat down from the table opposite of Rudeus as a glass of wine was pored for him as well.
"So how much did your father tell you about this job position?" Philip began the interview.
"He said that if I teach a young lady here then you will pay for my tuition in the university of magic as well as one other person."
"Is that all?" Philip said, a look of concern cast over his face.
"Yes."
"Good grief, well that is Paul for you and even though him and I get older I guess some things haven't changed. Come, I will show you my daughter and then I will let you decide if you still want to teach her."
Even though Rudeus had seen Eris before as Hollow he knew her attitude towards him would be difficult. And not to mention the incoming punches that he would have to endure. Still, he couldn't wait to see that intense gaze once again.
They walked together, Rudeus walking behind Philip while Ghislaine, the head butler, and the maid followed closely behind, it was like having a small audience to witness the awaiting chaos to come.
"I hear you are quite a skilled mage already." Philip said.
"My master deserves all the credit." Rudeus said humbly.
"You also have your fathers charm too, I hope you don't use it to seduce my daughter." Paul said jokingly but with a serious tone hinted as well.
"You know I'm only seven right?" Rudeus said chuckling nervously.
"Well in case Paul hasn't told you, my daughter can be quite challenging at times, but I will try you out since Paul asked me too."
"I appreciate your generosity."
"Think you can handle this?" Paul asked, almost as if he was saying, it's not to late to turn back now, the monster lays on the other side of that door, you must be brave for coming this far but you can flee and no one would blame you.
Rudeus nodded and they entered. Then he saw her. Her back was turned to him as a maid finished tying up her dress. The raid haired girl turned around slowly to face the young boy.
'No matter if its my first, second, or third life. The first word I could always use to describe her would be intense.' Rudeus gripped his hands together as he walked forward, his eyes remaining in contact with hers.
"I'm Rudeus Greyrat it is a pleasure to meet you, if you will accept me then I will be your tutor."
Eris folded her arms.
"What is a little kid supposed to teach me?"
'The very definition of a Tsundere.' He chuckled in fear.
"I don't believe age is relevant in this situation."
"You don't get to disagree with me." Her voice rose and got angrier with each syllable.
"I just did."
Rudeus knew what was going to happen next. She slapped him across the face.
"You're cheeky, do you even know who you are dealing with."
Instead of responding to her, he slapped her across the face, not hard like she did but it still left enough of a mark to leave a patch of red. She quietly gasped in a moment of shock, no one had done that to her before. Everyone else in the room had their eyes widen and their breathing stopped for a second, it was like the air froze around them.
"Now do you understand what it feels like when someone hits….." Before Rudeus could speak other word his face humbly greeted a fist that collided with his left cheek.
'Hello fist of Eris how are you doing today? Oh I'm just fine cheek-kun now I'm going to beat the shit out of you for slapping my master, how dare you cheek-kun!' Rudeus thought having an internal dialogue with his cheek and her fist. Meanwhile he was sprawled out on the ground from that punch as Eris leapt on top of him like a wild animal about to bite his neck and tear out his jugular vein.
And then he did something that got her to stop. He started to laugh and smile. The adults in the room stood in bewilderment at this point wondering what the hell was going on, this kid was a little kinky freak they probably thought.
"So you have finally learned your lesson?" Eris said folder her arms with a smug look on her face while still laying on top of him.
"No, no, my lady. It's just I have never met someone so energetic. I must say it reminds me of how much a waifuable Tsundere you really are."
"I don't know what either of those words mean."
"Eris Greyrat, I will teach you to speak more with your words instead of your fists, and I will love you forever."Rudeus said in Japanese.
Before she could respond Rudeus used wind magic to blow her away. He stood up but before she could jump on him again and continue to punch him Rudeus used wind underneath his feet to send himself flying over the heads of the adults and out the door as he continued to run.
Her anger was running wild and all she saw was bloodlust. She chased him down the hallways but he was always out of reach, soon he found a few good hiding spots until she got pissed off and stomped away.
Later in the day Philip, one of the other butlers, and Rudeus met back in the dining room.
"So what do you think of my lady Eris?" Philip said chuckling to himself.
"I have never met such an energetic and intense lady before."
"Hahaha normally other tutors didn't use those words to describe my daughter. But you sure have your way with expression don't you?"
"While I appreciate the compliment flattery is a little too much for me. Now if you will hear me out I do have an idea for getting Eris to respect me."
"Oh? Please do tell." Philip said leaning in while listening intently.
Rudeus kept taking glances at the butler, knowing what would happen, still this would be a good learning lesson for Eris and it needed to happen, Rudeus didn't look forward to it though.
That night Rudeus placed another magical circle underneath his bedside. There were now three circles that would all transport him back to the cave system. The one underneath his bed back home in the countryside, the one in the sewage system underneath Roa, and now the one underneath his bedside in Roa. He teleported to the cave, taking Hollow with him, and then teleporting back to his bedside in an instant. He did this so he didn't have to expand his aura, it was less strenuous after all.
Hollow nodded at Rudeus while the boy controlled the monster. Hollow would be laying down in the sewage system encased in its secondary ice coffin until it was needed, with that Rudeus returned to his body. Waiting for the inevitable he closed his eyes, calming his breathing as he focused on the wind blowing outside the walls of the castle. This would be the first time he has slept in 7 years, the rest of the time had all been from him exhausting his magic. It wouldn't be peaceful, but it was a checkpoint.
When he woke up he stretched and found himself in rope bindings while he was laying down in a wooden crate that was nailed shut. Rudeus focused on the nails in the box and made them vibrate, turning them into a hot bubbling liquid. He picked up the top of the lid and forced the metal to cool back down by slowing down the atoms in the iron nails. Putting the lid down carefully he looked at his surroundings. It wasn't the same dungeon as in his second life? Strange.
However something else felt off. His head was numb and his blood felt thick, he was drugged. For all he knew he could have been asleep for a few days.
Rudeus walked over to the box next to his own and he opened up the crate using the same method of escape. Eris laid inside sound asleep, she really looked like an angel when she slept. Rudeus tapped her shoulder and she woke up after several prods.
"ehhh… ehhh?" She began to stir but then her eyes flashed open and she was about to proclaim in a load voice as to what the hell was going on but her voice was stopped by Rudeus's hand.
"Stay quite and listen, we have been kidnapped, if we make noise our kidnappers will most likely come and shut us up. Now let me get you out of those bindings."
With Rudeus's other free hand he burned through them but as soon as he took his hand off of her mouth she punched him in the face.
"How dare you touch me!" Eris shouted loudly. Then she rushed over to the wooden cell door pounding on it with both fists. "Ghislaine! Ghislaine! Can you hear me! Open the door this instant!"
The door opened quickly and the cell door hit her across the face causing her forehead to blead. She quickly stepped back as she held onto her head.
A large overweight muscular overweight thug stepped into the cell room as he looked down at the young lady. He had sword strapped to his left side, was bald with several scars onto of his head and on his fists. He was the traditional thug in any anime.
"I don't know who you are but you are dead."
"What the fuck did you say to me?" The man growled as he slowly walked towards her.
Rudeus closed his eyes and heard the sounds and vibrations that proceeded as the man continually punched or kicked her. Whenever she tried to fight back or get up she was beaten down again. Rudeus gripped his fist together as his palms began to bleed. He wanted nothing more than to kill this thug but she had to learn her lesson otherwise she would become a spoiled brat. But after one more punch Rudeus couldn't take it anymore. He got up and punched the man across the face cracking the mans lip and drawing a line of blood.
"Leave her alone!" Rudeus shouted….. and it was at this moment, that Rudeus knew…. He fucked up.
What followed was like the beating that every man gave themselves after finishing no nut November successfully. However unlike this it involved more blood, chipped teeth, and gasping for air with cracked ribs. The man gave the same prescription to Rudeus that the thug had given to Eris. Once Rudeus quit moving but was still breathing between spurts of blood with each breath the man stopped. Exiting out of the room and locking the door behind him.
Pain like this wasn't much, Rudeus had experienced allot more like getting his arm chopped off twice, being stabbed through the chest etc. Rudeus healed himself with alteration magic, he still couldn't use healing magic without chanting but alteration just involved him putting the puzzle pieces of his body back together. His blood crawled back to him, his missing teeth went back into their sockets, and his ribs fused back together. After a moment of breathing in and out to see if his ribs were in the right place he checked himself over and was in a normal condition.
He let the man beat him, if he resisted using magic then that would teach Eris that violence was the answer, and yet somehow in Rudeus's second life she still thought that violence was the answer in most occasions. He would have to work extra hard to get her to use her intellect.
Then walking over he inspected Eris. She had a few broken fingers and teeth. Blood was coming out of her mouth.
"You'll regret this, I'll tell grandfather." Eris whispered, her eyes however lacked emotion. This was a brief breath of resistance but it was clear she felt like shit.
Rudeus placed a hand on the small of her back and began healing magic.
"Let this divine power be rich and nourishing, offering those whose strength has been lost the strength to rise again. Healing." Light began to envelope the room as her body began to be healed. Her missing teeth grew back and her wounds were closed. She got up slowly.
Rudeus felt bad in his second life forcing her hand to promise that she would remain quite. But he was curious to see if Eris would behave in this different circumstance by healing her all the way instead of partially.
"Listen to me, we cannot fight them, they will beat us up again. So our goal is to get out of here and then get to Ghislaine or better yet get you home. Promise me something though, you have to keep your voice down. Follow my lead, and we will make it out of this alive." Rudeus whispered.
"I don't have to take orders from you…." Eris began to raise her voice but Rudeus slapped her across the face.
"Do you promise to remain quite and I promise you will make it out of this alive." Rudeus said again looking into her eyes.
After a moment of thought Eris folded her arms in her typical Tsundere manner.
"I." Eris began to yell but stopped herself. "I promise…" Finishing that sentence with a whisper.
Footsteps echoed on the other side of the door as the steps got louder and louder. More people were coming.
Stretching out his hand Rudeus cast a rock wall over the door.
"HEY IT WON'T OPEN!" Another thugs voice shouted.
Rudeus took Eris's hand and made a huge rock bullet penetrating through the cell window. The bars on the window turned into shredded metal with the force of the bullet and Rudeus ran out with Eris.
They ran and swerved in between the building in a random direction.
"Why are we going in a random direction?" Eris asked running alongside him.
"So they will lose our trail, then we will hide and wait. After a few minutes we will find out where we are and how far away Roa is. If we go in a straight line then they might be able to predict where we go."
Rudeus had a good understanding of the streets, they weren't the streets of Roa, they were in a different smaller city a few days ride from the city they were kidnapped from.
They waited in a back alley for some more time to pass.
"Since we've gotten this far we're safe now!" Eris shouted. Rudeus sighed and faced her.
"I though you promised to stay quite until we got you home." The boy said looking at her disappointed.
"Why do you think I would be obligated to keep a promise like that?"
Rudeus shrugged and began walking. Eris followed him but when he heard her footsteps he stopped moving and looked back at her.
"What? Aren't you going to take me home?" Eris said looking at him with her arms folded.
"I promised to bring you home alive if you would behave yourself. If you can't do that then I am not obligated to bring you home. That is fair as fair will get so feel free to find your own way home."
Eris snorted with pride as she folded her arms but lifted her chin. Rudeus was almost around the corner and out of her view then she heard horses galloping in the streets, echoing reaching her ears. She panicked and ran back to the boy.
"I'm….. I'm sorry. I will lower my voice." Eris whispered in a voice of defeat. Rudeus was her only hope to getting home.
The galloping got louder, it was going to reach them. Rudeus grabbed Eris carrying her and used wind magic to make himself and her fly upwards onto the roof which overlooked the city roads below. Two men on horse back passed. One of the men was the thug that beet up Eris and Rudeus, the other man must have been his accomplice.
Eris was shivering, the stress was getting to her. Then a hand squeezed hers.
"Eris, you are keeping your promise right now so I will keep mine. You will make it home, that is an absolute." Rudeus said looking into her eyes with eyes of determination.
She didn't saw anything but it was clear she was amazed at the strength he had.
'I will have to convince her that she isn't a burden to me, and that she will come to me about her feelings. It was my greatest mistake, never considering her feelings. In the future diary that was given to me by my future self, Eris never got to express how she really felt. She died in my arms bleeding out. I will help her in communication.' When Rudeus looked at her, all he was reminded of was the chance to start over again with her, a culmination of pain and love twisted his heart. 'This time Eris, you will be happy, and no sorrow or despair will be in your heart.'
Read volume 16 chapter 1 & 2 of the webnovel if you want to learn about Rudeus's alternate timeline. It brought me to tears.
They continued to move in a random pattern towards the carriage highway. Rudeus made sure to not be noticed by the guards. Less witnesses meant less leads for the kidnappers.
"Eris take a look at this."
"What, the words?" Eris said looking up at them.
"Yeah, we are in a city called Wheden, we are currently two towns over from Roa. According to this we will have to change coaches twice before we can reach the city of Roa."
"We don't have any money though." Eris said.
"I do." Rudeus said holding up a bag of coins.
"Where did you get that from?"
"I swiped it from the man who beat us up while he was beating me."
In reality Rudeus created the bag and several coins as counterfeit but if it influenced Eris to learn even more about intelligence and currency than that would work for him. Not only that Rudeus would lead by example and show Eris the importance of reading among other things and let Ghislaine tell Eris her many adventuring stories on when she was in a rut because she couldn't read, write, or do math.
"We will have just enough to make it back to Roa." Rudeus said.
"It looked like a pretty good sized bag though."
"That may look the case but what do we need to get back to Roa?"
"Why are you asking me?" Eris looked a little offended that she was given the task to think.
"I won't be with you all the time, you have to think of these things naturally in order to make rational thought."
Eris held up her fingers and counted in her head before she formulated her reply.
"We need a carriage to make it back home."
"Correct, what else? It will take us a day or two to get back."
"In that case…hmmmmm why can't you answer for me?" Eris got a little pissed off when told to think but still kept her voice down.
"I haven't been hired by your family because you didn't take a liking to me, I am only obligated to bring you home because you are keeping your promise. And life won't get easier, it will just get harder. You need to be strong and knowledgeable in order to survive."
Eris looked down, she had been pouting several times over the course of their escape. He couldn't blame her, anyone would feel inferior when someone younger than them was better at something.
'Even at an age so young she has always had an inferiority complex. I need to find a way to work on that with her but if I do it now it will be too much information for her right now.' Rudeus thought sadly.
"Instead of telling you I will show you. I will get you back home but make sure to pay attention to the details of the trip and how I do it."
"Ok…okay." Eris said again.
'Perhaps I should let Eris beat me up a few times while sparring and our practice with wooden swords. That might get her confidence back a little bit. Yeah I can do that…..wait…..did I enjoy her stepping on me!? Am I a masochist?' Rudeus shook his head at his rogue thoughts getting back to the task on hand.
Soon a carriage pulled up and would wait thirty minutes before departing, Rudeus and Eris were the first to board and they paid the carriage driver, a few more people with either letters, food, or other goods arrived and also sat in the carriage. After a few moments they were off. It would be a few hours ride however there was enough space for Eris to lay down and nap, the slightest noise woke her though and a carriage ride wasn't like going on a nice paved road on a trip to the beach. It was bumpy so she never got allot of sleep but Rudeus stroked her hair until she calmed down while he let her use his lap as a pillow. The rest of the people in the carriage thought it was incredibly adorable as they smiled and tried to stay silent so they wouldn't wake the young lady.
'Last time around we were in a village that was a few hours away from Roa but not this far. It must have something to do with fate, those with a strong fate will make firm decisions, while some miniscule things could change and little details might be altered by those without strong fates like Orsted said. Our kidnappers chose to drug us instead of letting us sleep until we woke up giving them an extra day on the kidnapping attempt.'
'Things aren't written in stone and while Orsted dealt with people with a strong fate those without a fate would be easily able to change something large if pushed in the right direction by Hitogami. And even when people weren't under his influence the future isn't predetermined as millions of possibilities exist. For this reason even though I know allot more about this world I should still be prepared for the unknown.' The mathematical prediction for the future had become more convoluted. And Rudeus felt he would need to keep his guard up more and more.
Looking in the distance he saw the next town ahead. A checkpoint was now reached.
"Lady Eris, Lady Eris please wake up." Rudeus said nudging the girl laying down on his lap.
She jumped up and looked around nervously.
"What is it?" She asked still on guard.
"We have arrived at the next town. We are one more stop away from Roa but we will rest here for the night. Are you hungry?"
As if on cue her stomach began to growl, Rudeus laughed and she was so embarrassed that she punched his arm hard. He rubbed the part of his arm knowing that it would form a bruise but he didn't care, it was fun teasing her like this.
Getting out of the carriage the next one that would transport them to Roa was due in the morning. So for now they could have a solid meal or two and some rest. He felt like spoiling her for her good behavior though.
"Wait here Eris, I will be back in a few moments with some food." Eris nodded with concern knowing that she would be alone but she kept it to herself. She always kept her insecurities to herself.
When Rudeus left the room he found a private place behind the back of an alley and pulled out a piece of paper. This was only a two times use magical circle for teleporting to his cave system. Rudeus activated it and went into the mansion below the mountain. Entering his summoning room to the other world he placed his hands on the pedestal that was facing the stack of magically inscribed plates. The gears in the walls began to turn as the pedestal glowed and the mechanical arms organized the plates to fit the criteria that Rudeus desired. By the time the spell was done two bowls of Pork Ramen were laying before him. He smiled. This was allot more complicated than summoning or copying a simple book. Every ingredient had to be copied down to the very atom and Rudeus did it. He then made some forks and spoons since Eris wouldn't know how to use chopsticks, still, it would be nice to introduce the utensil to this world.
The whole process only took five minutes and Rudeus returned with the bowls of ramen back to the inn. He knocked on the door and asked Eris to open it. After a moment she opened it and Rudeus came in magically making a small set of chairs as well as a table. Rudeus heated the ramen with fire magic making the broth smell encompass the room.
"I've never seen a meal like that but it smells delicious. What's in it?" Eris asked. Her fears fading away as she was entranced by Rudeus's earth magic to make furniture out of thin air and bring a meal she had never seen before.
"The thing you are smelling is broth, made from the bones of various animals, the white stringy stuff you are seeing are noodles made from dough, and some pig for the meat along with some shredded vegetables."
"Where did you get it?"
"That's a secret." Rudeus said winking. "But I wanted to ease your mind after we have been experiencing such a stressful trip. I also wanted to reward you for keeping your promise."
"I thought my reward was getting back home." Eris said. Good, she was thinking.
"It is, but consider this a bonus." Rudeus said smiling.
They enjoyed the meal, mostly in silence but from time to time Eris asked the occasional question. Rudeus answered all of them politely and then proceeded back to eating. By the time they were done they went to bed.
The stress got to Eris again as she heard a shout in the night or footsteps passing by. She would get circles underneath her eyes if she continued stressing but Rudeus couldn't blame her. It was a restless night for her.
It was around 1 am, the carriage would leave at 8am and they would need some sleep. After the sixth time Eris woke up Rudeus sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened at first.
'To think one of the strongest and most terrifying woman in this world will settle for a man like me.' Rudeus thought smiling to himself.
After a few more moments Rudeus extended his hand and all the noise outside stopped.
"What did you do?"
"I changed the condensation of the air surrounding the wall, noise is caused by vibrations in the air, if I change the thickness of the air or reverse the frequency of the noise then you won't hear anything. I want you to sleep peacefully, I will stay awake with you."
Eris looked at him amazed.
"Can you teach me?"
"When we get back to your home, I will do my best Lady Eris." Rudeus said smiling down at her as she laid her head on the stale straw pillow.
"Just Eris is fine." The young girl said quietly giving her approval.
Rudeus was stunned, he didn't expect her approval so soon. In his second life she said that like she was struggling to say it while standing in her iconic Tsundere fashion.
The boy grabbed his heart.
'Shit this isn't good.' All Rudeus heard was his heart racing and the peaceful breathing of the young girl next to him.
'Was it always this quick for me to fall for someone?' The boy sat up with his back leaning against the bedstand as he stared up at the ceiling awaiting the oncoming morning.
Comment in the reviews and I will respond in the next chapter. Allot of your comments give me great ways to change the story and honestly this fanfiction would be allot more boring without your feedback. Originally I wanted Rudeus to just crush anyone in his way but now it is getting allot thicker in terms of both story line and plot points so keep those ideas rolling! Thanks again for all your support guys.