Brock had to admit, after warping through space twice now, he wasn’t too big a fan of the shadow variety. The sensation was akin to him plummeting as the darkness finally consumed them and the solid flooring beneath just simply… disappeared.

Different shades of black fluttered past him as he fell, and idly, he even noticed it was several degrees colder than it had been when they’d left. Over to his side, he could see the barest traces of the woman, mostly just an outline and vague details, the rest being obscured by the complete lack of light even though she was less than a meter away.

Then, there was a moment where Brock felt resistance. And suddenly, he was falling through the shadows and into a room. The only difference was… he was falling… upwards?

As his feet finally crested the realm of shadows, he instantly felt solid footing appear beneath him and Brock stumbled forward, his vision spinning from the abrupt disorientation. A delicate hand grabbed his shoulder from behind and held him in place, preventing him from face planting into the ground.

Brock finally noticed the strange pedestal beneath them as his stirring sight settled. It was a simple platform of marble, various stylized patterns engraved into it. Many lights shone overhead from dozens of angles, casting a slew of shadows onto the platform as their light was stopped dead against the ivory pillars surrounding them.

A… teleportation hub?

Furrowing his brows, Brock glanced up and around him, eying the positions of the lights and pillars and noting how they all worked in concert to bathe the area in as much shadow as possible. He thought it was all a bit much for just one person – namely the one who was now kneeling beside him for whatever reason – so Brock felt he had reason to believe she wasn’t the only one with a shadow teleportation type power.

He scratched the growing stubble on his chin. We need a teleporter. I’m tired of fucking walkin-.

“I see you’re quite enamored with our architecture?”

Brock froze for the briefest of moments before he turned his attention directly ahead and laid his eyes on the crowd of people standing before them. He was somewhat concerned that he hadn’t sensed any of their auras, but a quick remembrance that his own aura was depleted was enough for him to pin the reason on that.

A quick check showed that his aura senses were indeed dulled.

An elderly man stood at the front of them all – ‘them’ being a few dozen men and women with hands resting on the swords sheathed at their waists – with his arms clasped behind his back. His appearance seemed to passively demand respect and ooze power. Brock currently was unable to estimate his level off aura alone, but he knew this guy wasn’t at all a pushover.

His voice was somewhat delicate as it reached his ears, albeit undoubtedly marred by the rasp of old age, “Mio, this is him?”

Seeing as Brock didn’t respond, the elderly man looked to the woman kneeling beside him and she nodded, her eyes never leaving the ground, “Yes, Patriarch.”

Brock raised his brows as he noticed several people in the crowd glaring at him furiously. What for, he had no idea. The ‘Patriarch’, as he seemed to be called, smiled softly and nodded to her in thanks. He motioned for ‘Mio’ to rise, and somehow, she knew he had made the motion without even looking.

To say Brock was confused right now would be an understatement.

“Brock Carter. Sister of Jane Carter. That is who you claim to be?” The man in question stiffened as he realized he was now once more the focus of this encounter, and he nodded slowly, careful as to not aggravate his throbbing headache.

He shrugged, “I think so?”

A powerful aura enveloped him the next second, and although Brock’s first instinct was to muster his own to fight back, he realized he didn’t have anything left to actually fight with. It didn’t matter in the end anyway, as he quickly found that the aura wasn’t trying to oppress him, just search. Most likely, the man suspected him to be a Skin Walker.

He felt it roam over to the woman next, or ‘Mio’ apparently, and after a few seconds, the Patriarch retracted it entirely and bowed to them in thanks. Or more specifically him. It seemed that while this was regular procedure, the guy felt bad about doing it to an outsider.

“I apologize for the intrusive nature of my aura.” Brock could practically feel the shock in the room as the many people gathered, mostly those he pinned as being of Japanese descent. Well, that and also their mouths were gaping wide open. It was a rather amusing sight.

“Patriarch you don’t-” “He is not wort-” “Please! Raise your he-” Various voices all spoke at once, practically pleading for the Patriarch to show something other than common decency. He could tell the man didn’t exactly appreciate being disallowed it by the way his face hardened, but he broke the bow, nonetheless. Brock didn’t really mind anyway and stepped off the pedestal.

Brock gestured to the doorway blocked off by the crowd, “So… can I go now?”

The Patriarch stepped forward to meet him and smiled apologetically for earlier, “I appreciate your eagerness, but if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to brief you on the… matter in my humble ab-”

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Brock waved him off and twisted around, gesturing for Mio to come with him with his head, “Thanks mate, but there’s no time. She’ll just guide me to where I need to go.”

Mio’s face portrayed no emotion aside from boredom, even as the eyes of everyone present fell on her, some scalding. Brock was impressed. The gazes soon shifted to him, and they rose to furious intensity. He had nothing against these people or their apparent hierarchy of respect nor the leader himself. He actually seemed like quite a nice guy. It was just that right now, he really didn’t have all that much time.

The Patriarch didn’t respond to the dismissal, visually or verbally, his expression remaining impassive, and he gestured behind him for the crowd to part. They did so, albeit after a few seconds of hesitance, and Brock sauntered past them, Mio in tow. He nodded his thanks to the elderly man, and he responded in ki-

“You. How… how dare you!”

Brock looked down in shock at the person that had barred off his path forward, “Huh?”

He was a short dude, shorter than even Brock himself who was only around 5’7” or 5’8” – couldn’t remember – and he found himself looking down at him slightly. It was oddly consoling to know he wasn’t one of the shortest men he knew. This guy here was.

“Huh? HUH?! That’s all you have to say!?” Looking around, Brock could see that many people were feeling the same way, although the confrontation made them appear rather uncomfortable. Even the Patriarch was watching on, although he seemed more like he was fed up with this shit than anything else, “You disrespect our honorable Patriarch, and you think you can just wander off?!”

This seemed to rouse something within the others, and they began cheering the imbecile on. The lines on the Patriarch’s face became tight and Brock came to a realization.

They… don’t know that Jane is missing?

Well. It was either that or they were just dumbest people he’d ever met. Mostly, it was based off the fact that they didn’t feel the same sense of panic and urgency that he felt with Mio. If they knew their future leader was currently captured, would they be wasting time like this?

He also noted how they had initially seemed to be warring internally between the defense of their Patriarch’s honor and that of disrespecting Jane’s brother. Brock was rather clear on which side won out.

“Yeah, basically.” Brock used his scarred forearm to push the guy aside and he kept walking. Mio walked through the man, hitting him in the shoulder and almost knocking him over as he regained his balance. She appeared to enjoy doing so greatly. The man seemed to be stunned for a second at how easily he was written off, and he growled, his aura billowing out the next mome-

“That’s enough.” The Patriarch’s voice came out low and soft, yet it reached the ears of every man and woman present effortlessly. With reluctance, the idiot retracted his aura and stood down, stepping back among his peers and letting Brock leave without fanfare. He felt the guy’s gaze traced on his back.

Shaking his head, Brock sighed and skipped down the steps. Mio clicked her tongue, “That idiot was right, you know? You should’ve been more respectful to our Patriarch. He might mean nothing to you, but he means everything to all of us.”

“You didn’t seem all that mad.” He countered.

Mio sighed. It was weary, “Unlike those idiots, I don’t need to get angry in someone else’s stead. If the Patriarch wanted to react to what you did, he would have.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Brock glanced to the side and met the woman’s eyes. They stayed steadfast and held his own. He broke the staring contest first after a couple seconds, afraid of falling down the stairs during his inattention, “Yeah, well I’m sorry about what happened. I’ll apologize later. We just need to get Jane first.”

“I’ve already wasted enough time as is.” He added, looking around at the budding constructions, traditional Japanese architecture and plethora of ponds and streams that ran through the area.

Mio snorted, “Then what did I say? You should have left those people to die. I didn’t think you’d be able to save them like that, but still. How are you going to save your sister when you’re depleted like you are? You can’t even use your Techniques without your aura.”

Brock licked his lips and didn’t deign to respond to the matter, mostly because he couldn’t use his Augments either. Instead, he only shook his head slowly, “Just lead the way.”

**

“Patriarch… he was being disrespectful to you…” one annoyed ‘guy’ settled up beside his adored leader as they watched the outsider travel through the town from the archway. He simply didn’t understand why he would let someone like that place a smear on his honor.

Whether he was the brother of the young Matriarch or not, he would let no one disrespect their leader.

The elderly man sighed. It was a weary noise, one of exhaustion and worry, “There are some things more important than honor in this world. Right now… is not the time to fight.”

Guy nodded sagely at his Patriarch’s words. He supposed he was right. Family. Friends. Those he cared about. He would shed his honor at a moment’s notice to protect them. He understood the feeling. Just what could make their powerful Patriarch feel the same way he wondered? He didn’t ask, however, as he was merely just one of the many.

He had the means of a warrior, and while he didn’t think himself half bad at combat, he didn’t exactly enjoy it either. The blood, the guts, the injuries. It was just not worth the effort in his opinion. Of course, he had never voiced those concerns to anyone other than his wife, but still.

In fact, as of recent, he had taken up a hand in assisting the construction efforts of the city, however large it now needed to be. There were other projects in the town, such as working on renewable energy to power their electronics and trying to contact other population centers through radio, although they weren’t exactly his expertise.

Guy had always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father. He had been a clansman first and foremost, they both were, but the man had also been an architect. In fact, he had helped build the entirety of the original estate that they were now building atop of.

He thought it was a fitting homage to his old man to be part of the second coming of it all. He respected the Patriarch immensely for everything he had done for the community both pre-System and post-System, but his father was something else. He respected that man more than anyone, dare he say more than their leader himself.

It was too bad that he had died of cancer a few years back.

Guy was shocked from his sorrowful memories as a firm hand gripped his shoulder and comforted him, “Your father was a great man, and he would be proud of the man you have become, Asahi.”

“How did you…” Asahi Sato, once known by no one as Guy, stared in disbelief. How did he know?

The Patriarch smiled tenderly, “I remember the expression on your face. Your father used to make the exact same one.”

A comfortable silence brewed between them, and finally the Patriarch opened his mouth once more, “You may challenge that man to a spar when he returns, if you must.”

“Be warned, however. He is strong.”

“I will win in your name Patriarch.” Asahi bowed.

It was the barest noise, but he swore he heard the elderly man sigh.