Part 1.

After leaving East Brein, the intended destination was a small settlement located on a peninsula that was north of the midway point between West and East Brein. Between here and there, was another large swathe of mostly empty plains. Using the occasional hill to get a good view of the distance between them, they spent the next five days walking through the wilderness.

One thing that Alex had noticed was that the days were becoming colder than when he had first arrived. “Heading further north as we get closer to winter is usually not the right move.” If this had been back on earth this would have been a valid concern, however, this was not Earth and the way that this world worked was quite different due to a couple of different factors.

Given that this world revolved around another larger world, the changes in the seasons were based on the distance that the primary planet was from the star, not based on the relation of the axis. This meant that regardless of where you were in the world, everyone experienced the same season at the same time. There would be no escape from the cold by moving closer to the equator like back on Earth. Alex, however, had yet to realize this fact.

“It should be only another four or five hours till the Landing,” Odwun said, recalling how his previous trip had gone. It had taken the elves eight days to make the trip from Eldgrin’s Landing to the area around East Brein in their journey. They had chosen to avoid as many centers of population as possible and had rested a few kilometers outside of town before moving past it entirely the next day and crossing the river.

“I see, then we can stop here and rest for the day. It is getting dark already, and we shouldn’t approach the town at night.” With that, Alex raised a hand and a small multi-room cabin appeared on the ground near them. He let out a huff as he opened the door for the other two.

“Had this been a month ago, I don’t think I could have built something half this size. I gained so much power killing the Shadow Lord, then there were the soldiers in Dortmin. I should keep that information to myself.”

It was amazing the amount of power killing humans gave him. He couldn’t imagine that it was a well-known thing, but it made sense why monsters would target them. They were… filling. He remembered how good it felt after each kill and how hard it was to keep that euphoric feeling hidden, masked behind an uncaring and unkind face. It was luckily not impossible thanks to his rage for the capture of his loved one. Still, had that mask broken for a second everyone who was there would have thought him some kind of raging psychopath.

Still, the growth was truly incredible. If he were to have his status read at a church now, they would assume that there was some monumental error, that is if the numbers in that book went that high. If he fought against the Shadow Lord this time… no, to call that a fight would be wrong, it would be like an infant fighting a fully trained and well-equipped special ops soldier, completely one-sided.

Now it took less out of him to build a house of whatever material he wanted than it had to create the staff that Evona used when she casts magic. He had grown so much more powerful so quickly that there were times he found it difficult to keep it contained, like when he got upset. He was experimenting with limiters, internal barriers on his excess mana reserves that would keep it contained. As for issues dealing with his physical strength, there were none. It wasn’t as if someone was just going to unwittingly break coffee mugs because they had been training non-stop, you would have to be a real fool to not be able to estimate the simplest amount of force needed to pick up common everyday objects, and Alex was not a fool.

“Oh, this is lovely.”

“Indeed, much more comfortable than sleeping on the hard ground.”

“I guess elves in this world aren’t crazy about nature?”

“It is not that we do not appreciate nature, but we are a civilized people. Are the elves in your world barbarians who walk around naked and take baths in the dirt?”

“Don’t have elves in my… in my old world. Only in fairy tales.”

Odwun made a surprised expression, even his ears seemed to point up, before then drooping. Being told that your kind simply didn’t exist except for in made-up stories would be startling for anyone to hear. Lili seemed to be interested at first but then decided that maybe it was better off not knowing about the existence of her species in a different world.

“All right guys, grab a room and rest up for the night. Tomorrow we will head into the town and see about traveling across the sea.”

“Where are you going?” asked Lili.

“I need to talk to someone about something.”

“Okay then. I’ll prepare dinner for when you get back.” She replied cheerfully.

Alex simply took a deep breath and gulped down, holding back any desire to choke on the oversized breath. He then smiled at Lili and said, “All good, had my dinner right there.”

It wasn’t a lie, perse, food in this world was used to help replace missing mana, the lifeforce of all living creatures. Because of Alex’s ability, he could simply take in the ambient mana found within the air. Food was a comfort, it generally tasted well and would fill his stomach, meaning that eating was merely for sensational purposes and not for actual practicality.

He also couldn’t take it if the trope showed up with Lili. It would be worse this time, considering all the practice she had done with Evona and Aururia.

“That can’t have tasted very good!” she shot back at him.

“Didn’t taste like anything. Bye.” He responded as he disappeared.

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Part 2.

The temperature had dropped quite a bit on top of the mountain. Alex wasn’t normally someone who got cold easily, lovers of the past had often referred to him as a “personal heater”, but even so, this high up and with the wind, he could feel his body shivering. “Would a barrier with a layer of fire magic in it work?” He immediately felt warm and toasty, like sitting next to the fireplace on a cold winter night.

He then sat down with his back against the natural stone wall of the mountainside. This was the closest he had been to his new home in the past week, and part of him wanted to go down and see the mother of his future child, but he had come here for a reason. It was the only place he could think of to be able to have some alone time with another very important individual in his new life.

“You there? Silly question…”

“It is. I am always here.” The voice that rang clearly through his mind was Vathsvala’s.

“I know. I am still unsure if that is a good thing or not.”

“You would miss me if I wasn’t here, and you know it.”

“Hmm… maybe.”

“So… What does the ‘Great Alex’ wish of me today?”

“Where should I build my first city?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind, it was a terrible joke anyway. Have you found anything about our targets?”

“Right, well there is worrying news coming from the Sandsea, a sudden rise in the slavery market. There was a surge of power coming from the Aquaria, but I nor any of my devotees could gain any clarification from what caused it. Then in Agerdoria, it is still more of the same, though I agree with you that the likelihood of that child being a Demon Lord is getting smaller and smaller by the day. I am sorry for summoning you based on unconfirmed reports.”

“I see. You know I am not holding it against you, plus it wasn’t you that did it, it was the people of this world. Anything on the Beastmen’s country?”

“I still feel bad, regardless. Do you still hate them for it? Even with all the good that is going on around you. Congratulations on the baby by the way.” At the end, her voice sounded depressed.

“Thanks… I haven’t fully come to terms with it. If I am being honest. It is kind of like the first time all over again, ya know? In this world, there is probably no way to tell what gender it is going to be, so it will be a surprise, just like last time. Sumire didn’t want to know ahead of time, she said that the surprise was part of the fun. It was torture for me though! I hate surprises! But at the same time, there was a certain magic that came with finding out the first time I held her small body in my hands. It was the life we had created.”

There was a long pause. Vathsvala had no words to say. She was the goddess of life for an entire world, guiding the old through reincarnation and ushering the new to their new vessels was her primary task, but that didn’t mean she had ever created life herself. She had used magic, materials of the earth, and the wishes of the first walker to create all the creatures that currently walked within the light, but that didn’t make her their mother, and even if it had, that would mean all her children were now long since dead, having rejoined the cycle, a few times over for some.

Instead, she chose to let Alex bask in his moment of recollection. The guilt of the actions that had led to this point was a painful mark on her existence as a goddess and she was finding it impossible to forgive herself for it.

“To answer your question about whether I hate the people that summoned me… I wouldn’t say that I hate them, but I don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive them for it. How would you even start to forgive someone for tearing your family apart? Though in the end, what choice do I have other than to work with them? So, it is better to keep the relationship amicable, they aren’t the first people that I haven’t liked that I am stuck working with.”

“You seem to like their princess enough, and even the young girl’s maid is sweet with you.” There was a soft girlish tone in her voice that made her sound more like a young teenager rather than however millennia she actually was.

“I won’t deny that they have my attention, but at the same time, I must wonder if it is really okay. All these relationships are a bit too much. I am used to only being with a single person, currently, there is Evona and Lili, and adding in two more… honestly scares me. Oh! Are you sure you didn’t give me some ability that attracts noble women?”

“Hahaha… I am the goddess of life, not love. That is just the natural attraction to a strong and confident man. Can you blame them?”

“You don’t say…” He chuckled softly at the confirmation that he in fact hadn’t been blessed, or cursed depending on the point of view, with the ability to attract women of this world.

“As for the real reason, I came here…” He lifted a hand as he spoke, putting up a powerful barrier around the area. He then focused his mind, imagining the image of Vathsvala and, “You there?”

“Yes. I was surprised when you just disappeared suddenly. Where did you go, I can’t see you from here.” She said, looking down on the globe in her mysterious dimension-breaking space that she had shared with Alex for a year’s worth of god time.

“I haven’t moved anywhere, just put up a barrier, and it appears to have worked.”

“You are in the same place, but it just looks like it always does, just rocks and snow!”

“Good to know! So, it is a camouflage barrier, I was worried that it would blot out the area instead, which would make it even more suspicious. All right then, give me another minute and I have another surprise for you.”

He went quiet for even longer this time, If he wanted to make this experiment work, he needed the utmost concentration. Evona sat patiently and quietly, though her seat, the incredulously comfortable sofa that was in her space, felt like it was made of a million little sharp pricks, all piercing her rear.

When was the last time a god had been surprised? While they weren’t omniscient and could only see what they looked at or learn what their believers had told them in prayer, they had been around long enough by now to know how the world functioned. Even in a far away in another world, beings could not escape the cycle of history, doomed to repeat itself till the end of time. Yet here was a man that had surprised a god, being able to shield himself from the piercing gaze that was a god’s eyes. To add to that, he apparently had another surprise in store for her. While the first was something completely new to her, the second proved to be frustrating. Being told that you have a surprise coming cuts down on the surprise factor but builds up the suspense. You find yourself stuck in an endless loop of guessing, going through a list of possibilities. Yet, even if you manage to guess it correctly, you will never know if you are right until it is finally revealed. Suffice it to say, the suspense of being “surprised” again was maddening for the goddess.

“Okay, I am done with it. Now, I want you to reach out to me, through the barrier.”

What he was requesting was essentially possession. The five gods could not walk the planet as themselves, they would require the use of a host, if they did they would consume too much of the element which they governed, leading to a great imbalance in the world, possibly destroying it. While the gods of the four elements could make use of their elements to achieve this goal. There was a story of Hyppodimo appearing as a giant comprised of water leading to the founding of Aquaria in that location, or the legend Finora showing up as a blazing bird soaring through the sky over Kyogo and then them constructing a large bronze tower to mark the occasion.

Vathsvala was the goddess of life, the maintainer of the cycle, there was no element that she could manipulate in order to achieve the same result. If she wanted to come down, she would need to possess a body, one with life in it. The reason she never did so was that it would likely kill the host, meaning she had not once set foot on the world since life had begun, fearing she would snuff out all life if she did. This had been a discussion that the two of them had during their time together when Alex asked what she knew of the world, and then only was given a rather superficial answer.

“Are you sure about this? I don’t know what will happen.”

“Trust me will you! How often am I wrong about anything?”

“You know, you are talking to a god! You’re getting too smart for your own good. Ah! I feel you.”

“Yeah, same. It is nice and warm. Okay now here you go…”

Alex placed his hand on a figure in front of him. It was cold, mostly due to the temperature at this time of the year and at this altitude, but also something which lacked any warmth of its own. He began pushing her presence from where he could feel her in his body, down his arm, and into the figure. Slowly, a warm feeling between the two began to build.

“What is this?”

“Something that I realized I could make. It is still working progress though.”

The process was done. For the first time since history was recorded, Vathsvala was on the surface of the planet. Part of her consciousness was housed in a homunculus created by Alex. The body was a creation using his ability, the core, imitating the existence of life that was needed for her to inhabit it, was like what a monster would normally have. The mana was his, but it was attuned to match hers, which he had done while directing her mana into the creation. There were still some finer details that needed to be worked out for the next time, but that was okay since this was only a test drive. It was entirely possible that this didn’t work, and she burned up the body at any minute, they were stuffing a god into a human body after all.

“How does it feel? Anything feel off?”

“No… it is…” She was finding it hard to speak, not because there was anything wrong, but simply overwhelmed by the fact that she was where she found herself. “Is this what the ground feels like? I had forgotten. The air… it is cold!”

The fact that she could feel proved that the body was working well, and the receptors and nerve endings were intact. He could tell by her actions, her head bobbing up and her eyes focusing on him that sight was a go too.

“What about your sense of smell and taste?” He switched over from mental communication to vocal. Testing her ability to hear and respond.

At first, she seemed to want to answer but hesitated and stuttered before finally choking out a sound from inside her throat.

“I-I… I sm-smell a… man that has… been walking all day and needs a bath!” She quickly got the hang of using her vocal cords inside the foreign body.

“She seems to have no problem hearing, talking, and smelling…” he thought as he positioned his nose next to his pit, checking for a possible offensive odor.

“Yup, can hear you perfectly.” She said in his head with a giggle.

He had no escape from her now.

“As for taste… let’s find out.”

The body moved forward, pressing itself against his chest. There honestly wasn’t much to flaunt. It was nothing more than a test product and looked nothing like the real Vathsvala. It was designed to be androgynous and had no actual sex. This made her attempt to try and arouse him slightly pathetic when compared to what the real thing looked like. It was like a soft board being pressed against him, and she was smaller than the original, so when she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, she couldn’t quite reach and tried to play off the attempt with an awkward move by sliding her hands down along his arms then wrapping them around his waist. It was incredibly weird for the both of them and they were both thankful that the barrier was up to shield this moment from the rest of the universe.

Doing his best to not laugh, he picked her up in his arms and performed the iconic princess carry. It was obviously her first time being in this kind of situation as her reaction was to let out a surprised yelp and then wrap her arms around his neck to situate herself.

“I hope you are ready.”

“Ready for what?” she asked in a shaky voice.

He didn’t answer her question and simply began to walk forward. Once they came up to the cliff edge he stepped forward. Her initial reaction was to squeeze tightly around his neck in an attempt to prepare herself for the plummet that was to come. But the fall never came, when she opened her eyes, she saw that the mountainside was getting farther away and the world around them was growing wider.

“How long has it been since you have seen this?” he asked her.

They had climbed slightly further up in the air than they had been when they were on the cliff and were able to see over to the other side of the world’s highest mountain range. What they saw around them was an ever-stretching landscape of the world. Trees from the forest below spread from north to south, as far as the eye could see. To the west and from what they could see on the east side of the mountains, gently rolling hills of the plains covered a majority of the continent. Beyond that to the west, just on the edge of what sight allowed in the light given by the great planet above them, was the western sea, the widest expanse of water in the world.

“How long? Never have I seen a view like this in all my years.”

is a natural emotion to be the person that is present for another person’s first time for anything, especially if that person is someone you have deep feelings for. So, when she said that this was the first time for her, he couldn’t help the big smile that appeared on his face.

“What is with that look?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You look like a kid with that smirk on your face.”

“Speak for yourself, short stuff.”

“I’m only like this because you made me this way!”

“HAHAHA!

“What is so funny?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Nothing…nothing, I just missed this,” he said wiping a tear from his eye. “We spent a whole year together, twenty-four-seven, uninterrupted or whatever… You can’t help but grow attached to the other person you spend that much time with, or you grow to hate them.”

“And you…”

“You know more about me than anyone else, I even learned new things about myself while we were together. While I’ll admit there are times when it would be nice to have my privacy back, I am happy we still have that connection. In the end, it isn’t the same as being with you physically, thanks for coming.”

She pressed herself closer to him, enjoying the warmth that could only be found in another person’s body. They had most definitely grown close during the year that they had spent together, as god and mortal, as teacher and student, as man and woman, and as friends. They had never crossed any lines, there was little time for such things as Alex’s efforts were completely dedicated to his studies of language, culture, history, training, and any other thing he thought he may need in the world below. But that didn’t mean that there were never any shared glances, extended touches between the two, or unnecessary laughs at Alex’s terrible jokes. They were partners that couldn’t ever be, which is why when he found love with Evona and Lili, she was happy for him and jealous of them. But that didn’t matter anymore, for all the love the two of them got, all the embraces, the kisses, for all the things that she endured watching through the eyes and the mind of Alex, none of them ever got anything like this. A dance, through the sky on a starry night, with the light that was being reflected off the planet above them was the brightest. This was called romance, and she relished it.

“Are you okay? You have a big smile on your face… with that look, it is kind of mischievous.”

“Shh… don’t ruin it.” Giving his neck, which was wrapped in her arms, a gentle squeeze and passing into a world of imagination, a world of just the two of them. “I don’t mind not ever going back.”

“Well, that will be difficult,” he said, breaking her immersion. She had said without realizing that she was speaking aloud. Of course, she had to go back, she had an important task to do, and without her, there would be no cycle, and there would be no new life in the world. Well, the reality was that Yggdrasil did most of the work, she just sort of managed the whole process, only to step in when there was a crisis, meaning that the last time she had to do her job was nearly six hundred years ago after the burning, when the great tree had to be brought back. Other than that, it was boring until Alex arrived.

“I know I have a job to do. I must go back.”

“No, I am not talking about that. The body is starting to decay.”

“WHA!?” she gasped.

“I told you; it was a test. I am still working it all out. This one wasn’t made to house you permanently. Still, the fact that it housed the power of a god for as long as it did is impressive for a first attempt.”

“Wha…what do I do!?” she was panicking in his arms.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” He said to her softly. “Do the same thing as when you entered the body. Use me as a go-between and return to your body. Just be gentle, not too much at once.” He smirked at his remark.

The transfer back was quick and easy. When she had fully evacuated the body, it burned up into ash, spent from housing the power of a god. Alex watched as his creation turned into nothing and a loneliness built up in his chest. He wondered how long it had been since he had gotten used to having people around him and thoughts of darker days began to flood back. He came back too before he allowed them to swallow him up and looked up to the sky.

“Did you get back okay?”

“Yeah, it is all fine.”

“Does everything still fit?”

“You know, your jokes are still terrible.”

“Ha-ha! I’ll take that as a yes then!”

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Part 3.

After she had fully transferred back to the god realm, Alex lifted his barrier around him. Had there been anyone below that just happened to be looking up, they would have seen a speck-sized human floating alone in the sky. Well, not floating, but standing on an invisible platform he had constructed, not that they would have been able to tell the difference though.

“Have you heard about the war?”

“I figured it would be coming after what I was told in Dortmin. When will it begin?”

“Hard to say exactly. My followers have been praying about it. Sadly, it seems I will be busy soon.”

“Then I guess it is good that we did this now, hehe…” It was a weak laugh; she didn’t have to read his mind to know that the thought of war made him uncomfortable.

“Will you join?”

“Are the odds that bad for Faustus?”

“No, I just assumed with you and the girls…”

He paused for a second. The thought of both Giazel and Eline being victims of war made him even more uncomfortable. If the situation called for it, he would teleport back to the capital and spirit them away, against their wishes if he had to.

“The capital…” He turned toward the south. Faustus was too far away to be able to see from where he was, the light that he could see in the distance south belonged to Dortmin, not that he was particularly close to it, but that was just how high up he was.

Yet, he stared hard, imagining the image of the large thick walls of the great bastion that was Faustus. Memories of the girls strolling through the town together. Hordin, the stone-faced leader and dotting father, he would likely be grateful for Alex taking his daughter away from the dangers of war. Holdebark, the goliath of man, after he realized the strength that came from slaying other humans, Alex now understood just why that man could be so powerful. Then Roy, the man who gave his all to ensure a future for the world. While he may have died believing a lie, Alex had every intention to find the source of the world’s evils and destroy it.

“Hordin is a ruler, it is his job to protect his people. He could have sent some kind of message asking for help if he thought that he needed it, but he hasn’t. He must have some kind of plan.”

“What if you had gotten a message… would you have gone?”

“No.”

“Not even if Eline or Giazel were the ones asking?”

“I am sure you already know what I would do. You can read my thoughts after all. Plus, this is Hordin’s war, he is the one that picked the fight. If he got outside help, even if they won, it wouldn’t be his victory, and the people would know that.”

“You don’t think he wouldn’t ask if it meant protecting his people?”

“That is his job. Mine is to save the world remember. Plus, I don’t belong in a war.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Hmm…” The reality of having someone able to read your thoughts meant that there was no way to organize them, so he chose his words to make sure that she understood clearly what he was about to say.

“Your world and mine are very different. This world, which is now my world too I guess, has things that you would never see in my old one. Magic, non-human civilizations, magic… It is the world that fantasy writers only ever dream up. Yet, even here on the other side of the universe, humans are still the same. Our greed and desire for power lead to the suffering of the people that are under us.”

He paused, images of wars throughout history flashing in his mind. Humans with sticks, then spears, crossbows then muskets to more advanced firearms. Images of cavalry followed by tanks then helicopters and jets. Wood galleys, caravels, battleships, destroyers, submarines to aircraft carriers. Finally, explosions and unmanned vehicles raining missiles from the sky, and mushroom clouds blooming over the land.

“This world has magic, which can do great and terrible things, but my world doesn’t… to fill that gap we had science. Technological advancements made throughout our history, spurred on by our desire to kill ourselves more efficiently. We had other advancements too, in things like medicine, but that pales in comparison to what the clinic in Faustus can do, at least when I left it did. The most prolific killers were massive bombs… umm, things that exploded. They could be dropped on cities, wiping them and the surrounding area out completely. But that wasn’t even the worst part. What came after was the silent killer. The air that you breathed was poisonous, but it didn’t matter even if you held your breath, what was in it would simply seep through your skin and infect you. Particles in the air called radiation.”

Images played in his mind of old war documentaries, citizens being treated in hospitals, their skin red and covered in discolored splotches, some missing limbs, these were the ones lucky enough to survive. Men, women, and children were crying and people in cumbersome suits treated them between fits of vomiting or spasms of muscles that could no longer control.

“The scariest part… these are the weapons that weren’t outlawed. We had the capacity to create weapons so foul, that humanity joined together to ban them from use in war, calling them crimes against humanity. War itself should be that crime.”

She was quiet, unsure of how to respond to the brutality that came with what Alex referred to as “human nature”.

“Did you ever…”

“Nope, never served, never was a victim. I had the luxury of being born in the most powerful country. I had family that did serve, but I wasn’t one for authority, so it never was a path I looked at. Won’t say I had an easy life, but it isn’t like I was living out on the streets as an orphaned child either. I understood that and was grateful for it, but that doesn’t change the fact that we as humans, as a species, given the chance are capable of incredible acts of brutality.”

He returned to the mountainside before he continued.

“You ask why I don’t want to get involved in a war, didn’t I just create a vessel that housed the power of a god? It may have only been for a few minutes, but imagine the power that requires. A vessel that could fit a god’s power into it. It would be one thing if you were starting at zero and you grew into it, but no, I created something that could wrap around it and hold it at bay. If I turned that power around and used it on an army, what do you think would happen? I could, and if necessary, would wipe them out to a man. As dangerous and as deadly as technology can be, it has limitations on how it can be built and utilized, magic circumvents many of those limitations, or at least, greatly reduces them. If I felt it was necessary, I could wipe out an entire army before they ever knew what was happening, like a bomb exploding overhead. I could win the war in a day, but would that actually save more lives?”

She didn’t have an answer for him, choosing instead to remain quiet.

“It is obvious, I am not afraid to kill when it is necessary, but the question is, how much more of it can I take? I am human, at least I think I still am. I do my best to justify it to myself, it helps me sleep, but can I really justify mass murder on that scale and still come out okay on the other end?”

“What about simply displaying your power? You could use that as a deterrent against invasion.”

“Would that work? Or would they simply call me the new demon lord and start trying to summon more people to this world? No… it is better that I focus on my journey and finish this. Find the people responsible for the problems and end them. During that time, I will build up more power to ensure that no enemy can stand against me.”

“But… when do you stop?” she asked.

“Only when all your enemies are defeated.”

“How will you know?”

“You never really know, so you always stay prepared for the next fight, even when life is peaceful. I think that was Vegetius who taught us that, but I am sure he wasn’t the first to come up with it.”

“Alex… I…”

“You’re partly responsible for this, you know… So that means you have to see this through to the end with me. If I am ever going too far, you have to stop me, doesn’t matter how you do it. I am already setting things in motion so that everything can be fine without me.”

“I can’t promise…”

“I wasn’t looking for a promise, it wasn’t a request, it was an order. If I look like I have lost myself entirely, do whatever is within your power to stop me, otherwise, I may not just stop at a single army.”

There was a long silence between the two, there were no words to be said. The rollercoaster of emotions she had been on ended abruptly while being hung mid-barrel roll. She had been the happiest she could remember herself being in the longest time, but then, the heaviness of a conversation regarding the morality of the person summoned to be the hero of the world, and how he viewed his kinds penchant for violence, and just how human he really was if that was the case. Maybe that is why he viewed humans that way to begin with, so he didn’t feel so alien.

“I understand, I will do what I can.”

“I know. The look in your eyes when you saw this world told me that. You genuinely love this world; it is your world after all. You want to protect it, which is why you were so deadest on the hero defeating the demon lord, after a few rumors. As long as you are there, the conscious in my ear, I should be fine though. Now, it is time I head back, otherwise, Lili will worry. Worst case scenario, she comes looking.”

“That does sound like something she would do.”

He gave a head nod instead of a verbal agreement to her statement and then ported back to the small house on the northern reaches of the continent, next to the landing where there should be a ship to sail them to their destination.

There was a warmth coming from inside the house. There was light illuminating from the inside and the sounds of Odwun and Lili talking in the common area could be heard from outside.

“He is late.”

“Ah… yeah.”

“That isn’t like you. You seemed upset when he left.”

“It is nothing. He is a big man; he can take care of himself.”

“Are you okay? You seem off.”

“I am fine! A-OK! Don’t need to worry about me.” She shot back at him.

“Odwun, this is because you haven’t spent time around women that get jealous.” Alex had ported into the living room behind Lili, who was on the sofa, a long brown boxy-shaped piece of furniture that more than matched the chair that Odwun was seated in. “They get like this when they get upset because you happen to spend too much time with another woman. Even if that time is work-related.”

She shot back around and locked eyes with him. “Was all of that time only related to business, or was there pleasure mixed in as well?”

“I won’t deny it was pleasurable to see her.” He said with a grin.

“You saw her!?”

“I did.”

“What else?”

“Embraced her.” Lili’s eyes twitched and her face soured. Had she not been as pretty as she was, it would have been an unpleasant sight, but it seemed impossible, even when she made the attempt, to diminish her natural beauty.

“What else…?”

“Nothing really. We talked about some things, and when it was time, she left. I’m not sure what you are so worried about.” He replied jokingly.

Her response was to get up and storm out of the room with a huff, upset by his choice to not take the situation seriously. Instead, he seemed to be stringing her along, enjoying her discomfort. For someone that apparently loved her so much, it was rather cruel, at least that is what she thought.

When she was gone from the room, Alex changed his demeanor. His shoulders sagged and a tired look came over his face as he plopped down on the sofa that she had once occupied.

“Ugh… I’m exhausted.”

“What was all that about?” Asked the Elf. He couldn’t understand why the human would intentionally upset the girl.

“Just a little play… though I am sure that I will pay for it later. Just needed something to take the edge off. Plus, this way she will ask fewer questions… or will there be more? Did I go about this the wrong way, shit...”

“I still don’t fully understand.”

“What do you know about love?”

“Not much I am afraid.”

“Figures… Ah, sorry, didn’t mean for it to come out that way.” He raised a hand, flashing an apologetic wave at the elf. “She is jealous because of the competition, the competition which doesn’t really exist.”

“It didn’t seem like she was all that upset with you and Evona’s relationship back in the forest?”

“Is that who she told you I was going to go see?”

“Uh… no I just assumed so. She wouldn’t give me a clear answer. I simply thought, who else could it be but her? She is the soon-to-be-mother of your child after all. How many women exactly are you currently engaged with?”

The word engaged made Alex drop his head. He had been getting used to the fact that there were so many women vying for affection, but he still hadn’t figured out exactly how it would all play out. Just being in a relationship with one was often complicated enough, another person’s emotions, hopes, dreams, desires… they were all complex things that when you are in a relationship you work on together, but now he had five women all interested in him, with two of them not even knowing about the other three. Then there was the fact that he had only traveled in a small portion of the world so far, just how many more would he have to fend off, and how many of those that he couldn’t, would find their way into his heart?

“Two humans, an elf, a Beastmen, and a god. What is next a dwarf?” The image of a very short, stout girl with pigtails and a pickaxe in hand came to his mind. When she turned around, her face was covered in a majestic curly beard. It was an image that caused Alex to quiver. “Do dwarven women actually have beards? Has that ever been determined?”

“Alex? Sir?” asked Odwun gently, bringing the man back from his trip into arguably the darker recesses of his mind.

“Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought. Right, who I was visiting… Nope, it wasn’t Evona. This person is much farther and closer than Evona, both figuratively and literally. No matter how hard anyone tried, no one could ever come between us, and I think that is what Lili is jealous of.”

“To think you had someone even closer to you than your wife?”

“Uh… well, yeah… I did call her my wife, I guess. But no, this person is the one person in the world that I have spent the most time with and who knows me the best. She will always answer when I call and is an ever-present guide, keeping me from straying too far from the path.”

“You can call to her… from here?”

“Ah, yeah. She will always answer too. If she didn’t that would be terrible news for the world.”

----------------------------------------

Part 4.

There was a harsh chill in the air and their breath was visible. Two men were standing on battlements of the inner walls of the capital of the one man’s domain. He was looking older by the day, and any color that may have once been in his hair was now drained. He still retained his stoic appearance, yet exhaustion was slowly beginning to set it. The other man towered well overhead his superior, his muscles which would normally be visible to show his outstanding warrior’s prowess, were now covered under a heavy coat. To his side, a large heavy axe laid head down, with his hand firmly around the shaft.

“When will they be ready?” asked the shorter man.

“When you order them to be, they will be.”

“Holdebark. I am asking for your opinion.”

“Then my response is, some will never be ready, while others are over-prepared. Overall, you simply need to give the order and the men will head out.”

It was the vaguest response possible, compounding Hordin’s worries. The days when the army was full of professional soldiers were gone. The peace that had been brought on by the alliance had led to many years of peace, and that led to an army of undisciplined soldiers. There were those that took it seriously, those were the men that had taken it upon themselves to willingly join the military and had since been instructed by Holdebark and his officers. The remaining soldiers were fresh recruits, jumping at the bonus money being offered for enlistment, money that their families could use to help support them better than their presence could. These new soldiers didn’t want to fight in a war, only bound by the money that they had accepted and the fear of what would happen if they had to repay such a sum. This also meant that they would be the ones going into battle first, the rabble to bog down the empire’s more elite soldiers before the better-trained soldiers would come and drop the hammer.

“What are our chances of surviving this war?”

“With the church behaving so suspiciously, winning this war…”

“I didn’t ask about winning. I am being realistic, not hopeful. Do you think we can survive a war where we are surrounded?”

“It is hard to say. The church doesn’t have a professional army, but they do have a lot of money, meaning it will be easy to hire one. Then there is the Empire. They have the most elite army in the world. Surviving is possible, the problem will be the cost.”

“Hmm…”

“It probably isn’t too late. You could always send a messenger to the Empire, offering your daughter in exchange for an alliance.”

“Not to that monster in human skin.”

“Then why not ask for his help? He is engaged to your daughter after all.”

“After what happened in Dortmin, I worry if he is the same man as before.”

“That is why we should ask him though. If he has that much power now, he could win this war on his own.”

“What would that make us then? If we cannot protect our own lands with our own two hands. No, I would only ask for his help if the situation were truly dire. Even then it would be to take my daughter away from this, to protect her from the penalty of defeat.”

Both men imagined what would happen to the people, those they cared for, and even the faces of people they didn’t know flashed across their minds. Images of men being brutally beaten and executed, women raped and killed, children bound in chains, to be forced into slavery for the remainder of their lives, the entire city of Faustus and its defiant history up in flames, a victim of a father’s wish to protect his daughter.

“Then let us fight well and ensure that we win the war.” Said the giant, slamming the head of his axe on the stones below him.

“Indeed. We will march to Southwall in three days. Get them prepared for it.”

“Yes, sire.” He said, bowing low enough that his head came below his rulers.

“I shall retire to my quarters then. If something dire comes up, that is where I will be.”

Holdebark’s stance didn’t change, he simply bobbed his torso showing that he had acknowledged his ruler’s last statement.

On his way back to his room, he was stopped by a pair of young women. One was a rather thin, but beautiful girl with shoulder-length blond hair, and large blue eyes that lacked no sense of hope in an otherwise difficult time. The other was a maid, her maid, she too had blond hair, which was done up and tucked under her cap, otherwise, it would have been down to her waist, and made working a difficult task. Unlike the younger girl, she wore a stern look, hiding her own worries for fear that they would, like her hair, get in the way of her duties to the young mistress.

“Father, I assume you will be heading out to Southwall soon?”

“Ah yes, that is the case. I and the army will be going in a few days.”

“Then I should accompany you.”

“No, it would be safer here for you. Southwall is the frontline.”

“Is anywhere really safe right now?” she asked him in a dainty voice that did well to hide the reality of the question she was asking him.

“Maybe I should call and ask him to take her… no, to take both of them away.” He thought while peering down at his child with tired eyes.

“Father?”

“Ah, sorry. I would very much prefer you to stay here.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for the morale of the soldiers to see the family unified though? If they that the princess is traveling with them, it should boost their confidence in their chances of winning. It could prove to lessen the gap between our soldiers and the Empires.”

She finished with the kindest, most devilishly cute smile that screamed to Hordin that this was less of a discussion and more of her simply informing him of her plans. It wasn’t beyond him to order his guards to lock her up in her room until this was all over, but if things did turn out poorly in the end, the last thing he wanted to do was to be remembered for being a heavy-handed parent, and there being nothing but a feeling of resentment between them. Southwall was the frontline, but next to Faustus itself, it was the most heavily fortified city under his command. It should be defensible enough to protect her, not like the battle was actually going to take place at the city, to begin with. No, the major fighting should take place near the roadway at the southern tip of the great forest, miles away from the city.

“You are right. Please be prepared to leave in a few days.”

“Thank you, father.” She said with a curtsy.

He returned her gesture with a smile and a nod before his face returned to a more serious state.

“Ah, Giazel. I have gotten word from your father. He is okay. There has been an agreement of no contest among the electors. He is still the chairman. They are still allied with us and are making their preparations.”

“Thank you for this news.” She said with a bow. Her voice threatened to break, but she put on her best act and kept it together.

Her family was in Methloda, her father headed the council, and her mother was in charge of a union of workers that comprised half of the business owners in the city, effectively making her family one of the most financially powerful families in the world. Her older brother oversaw their networks, and Giazel’s big sister was a traveling ambassador cutting new deals with the other kingdoms of the world. Giazel’s role was to be information gathering, but she was still in the middle of the agreement that her family had with the Principality. Serving as the young lady’s lady-in-waiting. At first, it was merely a job, but now they had become good friends, and the thought of returning to her family was becoming less appealing.

“Of course, if I get any updates, I will let you know as soon as possible. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, my eyes are feeling rather heavy. Good night and sweet dreams.”

He carried on down the hall toward his royal chambers, leaving the two girls alone in the hall.

“You are playing a gamble, mistress.”

“Everything is a gamble.”

“But throwing yourself into danger in the hopes that he will come and rescue you-“

“Not just rescue me. When he comes and he finds the city in danger, I will request… not beg him if needed, to protect the people. He would not reject a wish from his fiancé, would he?”

Eline had heard the news that came out of Dortmin, courtesy of Hanz. The power and ruthlessness displayed during the attack on the castle startled Eline at first, but she knew just how bad of a person Platz was and assumed that that level of brutality must have been warranted. Then came the bad news, Lili had transformed into a beautiful woman with far more maturity than the young princess had. Hanz had been rather explicit in his description of the girl. Lastly, there was a name that she recognized but had no knowledge of the person it belonged to. Evona. There was a relationship between her and Alex, according to Hanz, a close one.

“Doesn’t she know that I am supposed to be the first wife, and Giazel is second? What are these women thinking interfering?”

She was so annoyed by the news that she had thrown her cup in Hanz’s face. Even now, she found herself grinding her teeth.

“My lady, your health.” Giazel reminded her.

“I am fine. Getting Alex to come and rescue the people will also be a good chance for me to ask him some very important questions.” She turned as she finished her statement and began heading to her quarters.

As they walked Giazel couldn’t help but feel sorry for Alex. He had gotten mixed up with such a high-maintenance woman. When they did see each other again, she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms. Of course, there would be others, when they had been walking down the roads on their trip to town, Alex was turning heads without him even realizing it. There was an odd level of attraction that women of this world had toward him, it was otherworldly. It wouldn’t be weird if just a few of those women would turn his head. She didn’t mind, as long as she got the same level of affection as the others did. Proof that the princess still had some growing to do as a woman.

“My lady, be gentle with your questions. Remember, when that time comes, he would have just worked hard to save you and the people. He will be a hero, and it will look bad if you interrogate him after his heroism.”

“Ah, your right. Maybe I should bring him into my quarters and ask him after a bit of intimacy. It will be hard for him to refuse at that point. He would have been awarded first after all. Yes, I’ll do it just like that! Thank you Giazel!” she said, hurrying along the hallway.

“I am sorry, Alex!”