Chapter 115: A Difference of Time

Kara woke up with a jolt. She let out a reluctant sigh as she distanced herself from Luna. The pale-skinned Luna tried to reach for Kara’s warm body again only to settle for a pillow. The Fairy most certainly did not have her newly added power under control, and still reaching out at night and sending a pleasurable bit of Mana on instinct.

Stretching and deciding she wasn’t going to be able to sleep anyways, the Wolfkin looked over to where Rainer had vanished just half a day ago.

At that time, she wasn’t in any state to go back to sleep and had rushed to gather the rest of the party, only to discover what they already knew; there was nothing to do.

None of them understood Rainer’s means of teleportation let alone where he could be or how to help him.

With Luna leading the mood, no one seemed that worried about Rainer, apart from Kara. It wasn’t that they didn’t care, Luna likely did above all else. It was that no one could believe he wouldn’t return just fine.

Feeling like she was the weird one among them for stressing out over a giant Devil hand grabbing Rainer, Kara did what she could to busy herself. She talked to Laneth about any means of teaching Rainer’s apprentice to learn to read faster, only to discover the Fae had several language skill orbs tucked away for visiting diplomats. Something they always had made and prepared back when they weren’t shut off from the rest of the world.

It wasn’t hard for Laneth’s father to acquire one, as they were essentially stored away at this point. There would still be a bit of a learning curve with reading as Lilia had never done it before, but the knowledge would be there. That, and Rainer would have to convert any reading material to the Fae Language, but Kara ventured it was better than teaching her to read from scratch.

Otherwise, the Half-Demon delved into her training more than before. Doing her best to level her Aura body enchantments and bring her new class to level 25. It left her to head back to sleep after half a day, having missed most of the night before.

Kara got off the bed and took the glassy blue orb out of her spatial ring. Skill orbs were incredibly rare and sometimes given as rewards from dungeons. According to Laneth, the Fae had discovered a way to preserve an empty orb and later fill it with a skill. But doing it with anything other than languages proved a challenge for the magic they used.

And they consumed the skill of the donator, taking a level 10 of the [Fae Language] to a level 4 skill orb.

She looked at it fondly, knowing how much Rainer would love to study it before giving it to Lilia.

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Her thoughts, however, were interrupted.

--

Gunthar sat in meditation as he always did in the halls between all their rooms. A small portion of his mind reserved for [Soul Detection]. An act that would tire out even the strongest of mortal men mattered not to the undead.

Several presences entered the range.

Gunthar sat up and seeing no one where he sensed the Souls, now rushing to the front of the door to Kara and Luna’s room, went into a dead sprint.

His body shifted as his bones hardened and grew a few feet. The illusory form of a [Devil Lord] appeared only for a moment before his hand covered in an [Aura Blade] stabbed towards one of the Souls he sensed.

A wave of fear erupted out, inadvertently canceling all six of the Fae’s glamours.

Gunthar’s hand entered straight through the heart of one of the Fae, as his momentum carried them both through the wall.

A wolf's howl shook the whole mansion as Kara shifted in an instant. Luna, waking up startled and covering herself with a magical construction, then lashed out with her flame at a [Grand Fae Assassin]. The blue-haired Fairy did not even have a moment to scream as the over fueled Sacred Faerie Fire consumed him and the magic that made him.

But the attack was not over yet.

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--

As the Void rushed past Rainer, he suddenly realized he wasn’t going to make it. He could feel it now, the protection the Fae had over their realm. Inconsequential for a shorter jump made from loose space. But now, just the smallest addition added up to a huge change.

His trips through the Void up until now had been all but instant. Only his higher Intelligence letting him glimpse the omnipresent Void. Even more after his recent advancements. And yet with the now grand distance he crossed, barreling towards a protective barrier, it felt an eternity.

With all his will, he used [Void Sense] in every direction imaginable. Searching, grasping, wanting, to find even the slightest sign of a closer destination.

Propelling himself and Amer with the last of his Mana and Void Will, he diverted slightly from his goal and yet landed in an entirely different world.

--

An open field of grass showed two different scenes. In one scene was a newly made [Harbinger] gripping his head as he grimaced in pain.

In another was a one-armed man with a beard of white hair and tentacles rolling around and laughing.

“If your beds are half as soft as this strange fuzzy ground, it was a trade well worth it,” Amer said to Rainer amidst his laughter, completely ignoring the fact Rainer was kneeling on the ground.

It took only a minute or so for Rainer to regain himself as he recovered from overextending his Void abilities. Long since burning through his Void Will. He had, over the course of the month with Amer, learned his acquirement of Void Will meant he could not only apply that resource to [Void-walking] but also cast it with purely his mind. No different than when he first used [Void Call].

It was a comforting thought. To know that even if his magic was entirely sealed he wasn’t powerless.

And now, with his head still in severe pain, Rainer knew even if he tried to finish the rush home now he may be more of a burden than help. His lack of Mana certainly wouldn’t be an asset. That and his Familiar Bond painted a new and confusing picture.

“So, who the hell was that?” Rainer asked, recalling Amer’s mentions of the Void Lords as not particularly strong by themselves.

“Void Lord Aurora. Or so I think. I can’t imagine anyone other than the higher ranked Void Lords being that strong. And only one is a young woman. Well, not young like you. She had attacked me in a rage after you disappeared into the Abyssal Dungeon. I think she assumed you to be switching classes rather than taking a Trial and planned to attack the moment you did. Thankfully, I was able to teleport myself away. Am I to assume she still lives?”

“She does.”

“Then that confirms it. The last attack you sent at her…” Amer shook his head at the memory of it. Not sure whether to be more impressed with the woman who somehow survived it or the man who fired it.

“Fledging Void Lord, the Devil Kings claimed you as. Serves them right to have died! Still for someone of her rank to bother coming to the Abyssal Plane from her own far lovelier plane…”

Rainer grimaced. Wondering if simply rejecting the gift of the Void being would have been enough to attract such attention. Or if his desire not to lose Void Will and subsequently steal it had caused this. But no matter. It wouldn’t do to regret his actions now.

“You should really practice with that [Acting] skill of yours. I need not even ask if you knew why she had been after you.”

Following a self-deprecating laugh, Rainer answered, “Let’s just say not all my powers of the Void are fairly gained.”

“A True Devil then.”

Rainer now noticed Amer’s missing left arm again.

“What?” He asked, seeing where the [Archon]’s attention lay, “You think trapping someone as powerful as she came cheap?”

Rainer understood immediately. Blood Magic. He would offer to heal the arm once he figured out a better healing spell, but knew better. True Sacrifices were not simple things to heal, causing a scar on the very Soul of its caster. Even Amer’s Avatar magic wouldn’t let his second body have a functioning left arm. He had already lost three fingers on that same arm to blood magic before.

Rainer recalled a minor mention in one of the Blood magic books from Nalmar’s secret library. Likely something redacted from Sun Elf history. It wouldn’t do for the dark magic hating kingdom to idolize a user of it.

One of their once greatest heroes, who fought back invaders from another world so long ago, was an Aura user and a practitioner of Blood Magic. One by one he sacrificed each of his five major senses, winning important battles until he was left as an invalid. He in his last battle fought toward victory and his death through his Aura alone. Eventually sacrificing himself in his entirety to deal a crippling blow.

Not even the Sun Elf’s most powerful healing experts and magic were able to do anything for him.

Rainer felt that a spell version of [Arcane Invigoration] may fare better, but saw no reason to get the Devil’s hopes up. If anything, the future prospect of unrestricted blood magic use only motivated the [Archon] further to develop a healing spell. Not that he’d test a true sacrifice any time…ever.

Any reservations, however, of Rainer bringing the Devil back to his world were lost. Some of Amer’s talk on Blood Magic had Rainer hesitating to go through with his side of the bargain toward the end.

But he owed him too much to pull such a thing, even just to leave him wherever the hell this world was. Rainer sighed, now only waiting for his Mana to recover. He glanced across the open grass field, wondering if he’d ever see this world again.

From the side Amer watched the [Archon] sink into thought and knew he made the right choice. In the month he spent with the young man, he figured out quite a bit about him. Even as they told stories to one another the [Archon]’s tight-lipped nature over details didn’t help to hide Rainer’s own true nature. And Amer made sure to mention his desire not to bother lying since they could discern them.

Of course, withholding information was different than lying, and yet even still, the [Archon] likely told more of himself than he would normally.

And so Amer knew how the Mage would react to such a large sacrifice. To even just saving his life. There was not even a doubt the [Archon] would try to take Amer with him to another world after that fight. That, and he had saved his little dragon by default as well. An infatuation he still had no understanding of, but nonetheless existed.

Though in reality, the situation wasn’t so heroic. He had prepared the sacrifice not for Rainer but to escape with his own life. But when Rainer had reappeared from the Trial, Amer managed to get away unscathed at that exact moment with nothing more than a teleport. Something the Void lord would have blocked had she not been distracted.

But he had miscalculated. The sacrifice was in no position to be stopped. And with him already realizing that he had likely signed his death warrant by simply associating with the Mage there was only one real choice; Use the sacrifice to save Rainer and, in turn, himself.

Amer knew he gained a lifelong ally, whether he wanted him or not. Sure, he enjoyed the young man’s company, but not enough to risk so much without a gain in return. The [Archon] had told him too of the tier 2 level 25 Dungeon he planned to visit. And a Devil’s abilities with Miasma only extended to Aura, so he wasn’t particularly weaker here than on the planes.

Though the concept of a round world still bothered him.

Devils had a dual relationship with Dungeons. If a Devil followed the path of his racial class, he was free from taking Trials and could use other means, some similar to monsters, to advance. But the moment he ranked up to a [Devil Lord], he could no longer access dungeons nor change his class.

Alternatively, Amer choosing a path of classes was free to enter dungeons.

After a long while of thought, the [Archon] finally spoke again.

“Thank you.”

Amer nodded, saying nothing else.

“Get ready to leave in about an hour, this isn’t the world I was aiming for. The moment I have enough Mana to jump home we’re gone. Though it seems I may have jumped the gun with the Trial…”

“What do you mean?” Amer asked, ignoring the slight shiver that went through his body at the prospect of this being not the world Rainer was aiming for. The idea that Rainer could miss when traveling between worlds, Amer along with him, was disconcerting.

“I ran to the Trial because I was sure my companions back home were in danger. Remember I told you about the time difference? Well, just a few minutes here and…”

Rainer looked out across the grassy plain and wondered how concern quickly turned to joy.

More time passed, as Rainer let his Mana recover. Neither Luna’s nor Gunthar’s bonds showed anything of concern, and were in fact the opposite even still. He let himself recover a bit more in light of this, not wanting to chance bouncing off, or worse, against the protection of the Fae Realm.

Before Rainer’s final Void-walk to home Amertiyus posed a question.

“Anything I should know, besides the need to hide my appearance once we leave this Fae Realm of yours?”

Rainer rubbed the month-long beard on his chin as he thought it over. The beard was decent enough, the new texture of his far darker hair gave him quite the texture improvement. [Arcane Invigoration] in Rainer’s mind may have played a role in making it grow a bit more than it should have. Thinking to make a tradition, he opted to let Luna’s fire handle it. With a knife and his high Constitution, the task wasn’t hard; he did not even need to be careful.

Realizing that was nowhere near the goal of Amer’s question he finally responded with what he thought as a good idea.

“Resident Devil Expert for the Arcane Order. That’s what we’ll tell the Fae. As for the language barrier, I’ll think about it.”

Amer raised a white eyebrow at the [Archon]. He had told him of his “genius” Arcane Order idea. How anyone believed an Order of powerful mages would trust the brash and reckless 20-year-old in a diplomat-like position was beyond him. But he could agree, power often had a way of distorting reason. He couldn’t imagine anyone would actually be brave enough to call him out on it, given how the [Archon] spoke of the power of the Fae in relation to his own.

The Devil gave a sigh as the now recovered Mage placed a hand on his shoulder. And with all the belief he could muster, hoped the [Archon]’s act of missing wasn’t a regular occurrence.

The pair vanished moments later.