They discussed their plans for a bit longer, which mostly involved planning out the various nobles they'd contact and in what order, planning their path through the Elven Kingdom. Once they had that hammered out, Chris sent Dichonius and Jo back to the City and connected Ver'varia to his world, then the five of them made their way back into town with a few bags full of resources. "Alright, you head back to your shop and we'll pop in to help you pack up tonight." Chris told Ver'varia as they walked into town. "Shouldn't take too long, and we can leave tomorrow or the day after."

"Tomorrow?!?" Ver'varia exclaimed. "But- that- isn't that a bit soon?"

Chris cocked his head at her. "No? Why would we delay any longer than we have to? The sooner we start, the sooner we can handle you-know-who."

Ver'varia grimaced. "I- I suppose that's fair. Then I shall see you tonight."

"Yup. See you then." Chris nodded.

Ver'varia split off while the four of them made their way back to the inn. The moment they walked inside, Victoria let out an oof as a small woman barreled into her. "Uh… hey, Cece… everything okay?" Victoria asked, patting the small woman's back.

Cecelia looked up with eyes raw from crying. "I thought- I thought you weren't coming back."

Victoria frowned. "Why would you-" She cut off, her eyes widening. "Ah, shit, I forgot about the bond! Sorry, you must have been terrified when it broke."

Cecelia nodded with a sniff. "I- I thought you were abandoning me."

Victoria sighed. "We wouldn't do that. We just- I ended up switching bodies and I forgot about our bond in the process. I should have warned you about what was going to happen."

"It- it's okay. I'm just- I'm glad you're back." Cecelia replied as she tightened her grip on Victoria. "Are- are you going to remake the bond?"

Victoria paused. "We could, or you could just connect to Chris's world now. It's pretty much the same thing, but you get a lot more benefits out of it."

Cecelia blinked. "You- don't want to be bonded to me anymore?"

"I- just don't think it's necessary anymore?" Victoria replied hesitantly, wondering why she seemed disappointed. "The only reason we used the bond in the first place was because we didn't have Chris. His world is more effective in every way."

"But-" Cecelia began hesitantly, not sure how to express what she was feeling. Her bond with Victoria had felt… comfortable. To know that at any point she could call on her to talk or to pull her to her side… it was a level of security and companionship she'd never felt before. She wasn't sure she was ready to give it up.

Andrew shook his head. "Victoria, I think you're missing what the Bond is about. Yes, we should absolutely connect Cecelia to Chris's world to keep her safe, but the Bond is more about a deep connection between two people. All the other effects are sort of… incidental. Pretty sure she just wants to keep that. I mean, I wouldn't be happy giving up any of my Bonds."

"That's because you're dating both of them." Victoria frowned.

"Which just goes to show how intimate the connection is!" Andrew retorted.

"Your bonds are World fuckery, for sure. Not sure it's a good idea to use them as an example of how bonds are supposed to work." Greg pointed out.

Andrew grimaced. "Fine, but I still maintain that Bonds are more about the relationship than any benefits derived from them."

Victoria frowned at him before turning to Cecelia. "Is that what you're worried about? Losing our… connection?" Cecelia hesitated before nodding slightly. Victoria smiled, placing a hand on her head. "Well… I don't see why we can't make another bond. But you still need to be connected to Chris's world too."

"Okay." Cecelia nodded, before glancing at the other's, focusing on Chris. "Chris?"

Chris waved. "Nice to meet you. They didn't tell me they'd picked up anyone other than Ver'varia, but I'd be happy to connect you to my world." He paused. "Then again, I'd be happy to connect anyone to my world… My end goal is to have everyone connected to it. Or dead."

Victoria rolled her eyes as Cecelia glanced at her nervously. "He means people like Jer'tunal, who are bad enough that they don't deserve to be connected to his world. It isn't some ultimatum where you either join his world or die."

"But anyone who isn't connected to my world will die." Chris interjected. "It will just be time that kills them, not me."

"Your world isn't the only way to be immortal, Chris." Andrew pointed out. "For example, the Bonded. Or Immortals."

Chris waved dismissively. "All things end eventually."

"Wouldn't that include your world?" Victoria raised an eyebrow at him. "Which would mean that everyone will die whether they're connected to your world or not."

"I never said they wouldn't." Chris shrugged. "I just said they'd die if they aren't connected to my world."

"If they die either way, then what's the point?" Victoria rolled her eyes.

"That everyone will either be connected to my world or dead?" Chris cocked his head, grinning slightly. "I don't think it's that difficult a concept."

"But- ugh, fuck it." Victoria shook her head.

*

Chris connected Cecelia to his world and Andrew renewed the bond between her and Victoria, then after a short meal, they all went to Ver'varia's shop to help her pack up. "Why have you brought a slave?" Ver'varia asked with a frown, glancing at Cecelia who hid behind Victoria.

"What did we just say about being racist?" Greg rolled his eyes.

Ver'varia glared at him. "I'm not being racist, she is literally a slave. I've seen her dozens of times working at the guard barracks. They've even sent her to fetch orders from my shop a few times."

"Her name is Cecelia and we… liberated her when we first arrived due to her ability letting her catch a conversation that would have raised more than a few awkward questions." Victoria explained, giving Ver'varia a firm look.

Ver'varia raised an eyebrow. "You people really aren't that good at this infiltration thing, are you?"

Victoria coughed. "We… could be better."

"Hey now, the situation with Cecelia could have been avoided, but I'm maintaining that running into you was just bad luck. The only way to avoid it would be to stop being myself, which I refuse to do." Greg interjected.

Ver'varia pinched the bridge of her nose. "That is- the point of infiltration is to pretend to be someone you aren't and hiding who you are so people don't discover you!"

Greg paused. "Well if you're going to be all logical about it, sure."

"I think I may have identified the problem." Chris commented.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"Oh, shut up. You couldn't pretend to be normal to save your life!" Greg retorted.

Chris's demeanor shifted in an instant. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, friend." He grinned, shooting Greg a wink, before snapping back to normal. "I can draw on the mentality of anyone my world has analyzed."

Andrew shuddered. "Now that is disturbing."

Chris frowned. "Why does everyone say that? Everyone always seems so put off by how weird I am, and then the moment I'm not, they hate it."

"It's because people can't flip their mentality at the drop of a hat!" Andrew retorted, before pausing as he remembered he could do exactly that by manipulating his cores… "Damn it." He grumbled.

"Gotta say, going from angry to depressed like that doesn't exactly help your point." Greg commented.

Andrew sighed. "I just remembered an ability I haven't been using for a while, which allows me to adjust my mentality using different cores. So I'm a hypocrite."

"No, all you said was that people can't flip their mentality at the drop of a hat." Chris pointed out. "That's true, but we're something a bit more than just people."

Andrew grimaced. "Yeah, that doesn't exactly make me feel better."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Okay, before Andrew goes into a depressive episode, how about we get to packing? You know, the thing we came here to do?"

"I'm not going to get depressed!" Andrew protested. "I just don't like being reminded how far from normal I am."

Chris created a copy of Ver'varia's shop in the town in his world, opening a few portals and calling a few subordinates over to help move everything over. "You people are ridiculous." Ver'varia muttered, looking around the exact copy of her shop that was slowly being filled.

Chris grinned. "I put a Coreforging studio in the basement for when you start learning from Jo and there's a large back room for all your forging equipment. Let me know if there are any tools you want and we can see about making them for you."

"Thank you." Ver'varia sighed. Dichonius was right. It was really just better to accept these things and go with it. With the help of Chris's subordinates, getting Ver'varia's shop moved into his world only took a few hours, and then another hour or so to get her living space moved as well. "I'm going to miss this place." Ver'varia muttered, trailing her hand along the bare counter.

"We literally just moved everything into an exact copy." Greg pointed out, raising an eyebrow at her.

Ver'varia shook her head. "It isn't about the building… I've spent decades in this town, laying low, only rarely making anything better than generic trash!" She growled, before taking a deep breath to calm down. "But it was my home. I have so many memories here! So many friends… I know I need to move on, but… I'm going to miss it." She finished with a sigh.

"Maybe you can come back someday. I mean, after we handle Jer'tunal, you can do whatever you want." Chris shrugged.

"Maybe…" Ver'varia muttered, before letting out a sigh. If one thing was for certain, it was that she was in for a lot of change in the future. She was going to have to get used to it.

*

The next morning they checked out of the inn and headed to Ver'varia's shop to 'pick her up', before heading towards the town gate. "Halt!" A man in a uniform that was not the town guards called as they approached the gate.

"Yes?" Ver'varia asked, turning to the man with a frown. What was a Royal Army captain doing here and why would he be interested in them?

The captain walked up to them, looking Andrew, Chris, Greg, and Victoria over. "Yes, you four will do fine. Come with me." He ordered, waving for them to follow.

"May I ask what business the good captain has with my companions?" Ver'varia asked tentatively.

"They've been drafted." The captain stated simply. "The Royal army is creating a division composed solely of those with peak or near peak physiques, such as your companions. If you weren't so close to being a cultivator, we would have drafted you as well. A pity."

"Drafted?" Andrew blinked.

"You can't just pull us off the street and force us to serve in the army!" Victoria protested.

"I can and am." The captain retorted with a glare, snapping his fingers to call four soldiers over. "Your recruitment has been mandated by the King himself. You will be taken to Fort Ley'winton, trained, and deployed as the King sees fit, or you will be executed. Understood?"

"Oh, I'd like to see you try." Greg chuckled, his pupils turning vaguely reptilian for a moment, before Andrew smacked him upside the head.

"Forgive my cousin, he has a tendency to speak before he thinks." Andrew apologized to the captain with a bow. "We would be honored to serve the crown." He then turned to Ver'varia. "I apologize, but you'll have to continue without us. I wish you well, and I hope to see you again further down the road. Until then."

Ver'varia expression twisted as she let out a sigh. "I hate to lose such promising business partners but I can't contend with the King's command. I wish you luck, and I shall see you further down the road."

Andrew smiled, before turning back to the captain. "Please, lead the way."

The captain nodded. "Right, this way. You'll be required to take the Oath of Service, and then you'll be heading to Ley'winton with the next group this afternoon." Ver'varia grimaced slightly as the four of them walked away, before continuing out the gate.

The captain led the four of them into the barracks, handing them each an ability core and a slip of paper. "Here is the Oath. Repeat it exactly as written." He ordered.

The other three hesitated for a moment before Chris stepped forward. "I'll go first." He offered, quickly dragging the knowledge of the Elven language and how to make oaths from Ver'varia's mind. "I- oh shit." Chris blinked, turning to the others. "I need to use my real name, but I can't use my real name."

The captain blinked. "Eh?"

"You don't need to use your real name." Greg shook his head. "Watch." He placed the core against his forehead. "I, Commander Meatball Spaghettipants, swear to never compliment Andrew on his quick thinking in going along with the draft, and also to not chastise Chris for ruining it not five seconds later." The core dissolved as the oath took hold. "See? It isn't like there's some force out there fact checking the name you use. All that matters is that you believe the name you use accurately identifies who you are."

"Commander Meatball Spaghettipants? Really?" Victoria raised an eyebrow at him.

Greg grinned. "The spaghettiest."

"In my defense, I only learned how oaths work a few moments ago." Chris sighed. "Maybe if any of you knew how to read Elvish, we could have pulled this off."

"We've been working on it, but it takes more than a week to learn a whole new language." Andrew grumbled. "You know, for most people."

"Stop ignoring us!" The captain roared, wondering who these crazy people were and how they were so calm while surrounded with swords at their necks.

"Sir! We are in the middle of something!" Greg snapped, shooting a glare at him.

"Actually, I think we're done." Chris commented. "Though, I doubt he's going to enjoy our attention. They never do."

Greg chuckled. "True."

"Who are you people!?!" The captain demanded.

"Do we actually have a good answer for that yet, or just the usual bullshit?" Andrew asked.

"We don't exactly fit into any of the common categories." Victoria sighed.

"I keep telling you people, we should go with demonic gods!" Greg insisted. "It gets the idea across while still leaving us enough wiggle room to do whatever the fuck we want!" He glanced around as the soldiers took a step back. "See? No one knows what an Eternal is, but everyone knows they don't want to fuck with a demonic god." Greg chuckled.

"But I don't want to be a demonic god." Andrew groaned.

"Honestly, it might be time to just accept it." Victoria grimaced. "We- if you poke me one more fucking time, I will twist your mind like a pretzel!" She snapped at a particularly nervous soldier who's shaking was jabbing the tip of his sword into her back over and over.

The captain growled. "They're bluffing! Throw them into the holding cells and I'll decide what to do with them later!" He ordered.

A glint flashed in Greg's eye as smoke billowed out and formed around his arm, a giant clawed hand shooting out and slamming the captain back into the wall. "You think we're bluffing? The only thing keeping me from killing all of you is the fact that… Well, you actually don't seem like bad guys, just products of a horrible ruler. Once we depose Jer'tunal, I'm sure you guys will turn out to be great! Or at least just the normal amount of shitty." He turned to the soldier behind him as the sword he'd thrusted straight through his chest dissolved inside him, the tip clattering to the floor as the soldier staggered back clutching the lower half in shock. "Thanks for reinforcing my point." He added with a wink.

Andrew sighed, shaking his head. "We should just go. Maybe try to infiltrate the army some other time."

"Probably shouldn't just tell everyone that, but yeah, let's get out of here." Victoria agreed, shooting another glare a private McShakeyhands.

"What are they going to do? Stop us?" Andrew shrugged. "Though… maybe we don't bring Greg."

"Hey!" Greg protested. Andrew just raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed. "Okay yeah, that's probably smart."

Chris opened a portal. "Alright, let's go." He turned to the soldiers as Victoria and Andrew headed through. "If you don't feel like serving Jer'tunal anymore, feel free to follow. Pretty sure we can make whatever oaths you've taken meaningless."

Greg's Dragon arm dissolved back into smoke, letting the captain slump to the ground with a groan. "Someone may want to check on him… may have hit him a bit harder than I meant to." Greg commented before heading through the portal himself.

"I'll leave this open for a bit." Chris added, before walking through himself. The soldiers glanced between the captain and the portal nervously, no one making a move until the portal winked out about five minutes later, and even then it was only a medic moving to check on the captain. None of them were sure what just happened, but they knew they needed to report it to someone.