The first thing I see is Beryl curled up on the ground. I quickly rush over and try to assist her in any way I can.

The only thing I can do is take the burden myself or try and give relief with my healing.

I don't see a way for Beryl to ever live comfortably in this climate. She hails from an environment so heated that it would cause normal humans to die within minutes.

I use a combination of [Martyr] and [Heal Anything]. I overlooked that Beryl is still an adolescent. Even if her royal nature makes her innately stronger than her peers of the same race, she has never experienced pain, thanks to my skills.

The sense of discomfort and pain is different from what I'm expecting. It's like the air around me is slowly poisoning me. I can't explain this strange feeling. It's like my mana is sluggish and is rejecting the surroundings.

If I recall correctly, my little buddy Rob required or still requires a specific type of mana and only substituted that with becoming my tamed creature. I'm trying to think about monsters breaking free from fractures and how they act since that's what I'm doing if I try to bring Beryl with me.

It's hard to focus while enduring this condition. I no longer want to bear Beryl's burdens, so I pick up Beryl and leave the mansion. Once back in the scorching fracture, the feeling of discomfort is gone.

Beryl is still young, and even with my limited knowledge of monsters breaking through fractures, I don't recall reports of adolescents reported as part of the hoard. It sounds cruel, but unless Beryl grows up or becomes unique enough to become my tamed beast, she can't travel any further with me.

I'm confident if a singular antlion takes over the entire fracture's antlion population, she'll be unique enough for the system.

"Beryl."

*Click Click*

"You must do something for me, and you can't refuse."

*Click Click!*

"Become a great antlion queen. I'm sure it's in your genes to rule over those below you, just like another beast I know."

*Click Click?*

"You can't come with me."

*Click Click!*

"I'll come back and visit when I can. I can even take you with me if the situation permits. If there is a way that you could safely come with me, then I wouldn't have given you this mission."

*...*

"You can keep the crystal. I'll go get it for you in a moment."

*...*

After dragging the crystal out of my manor, I look at Beryl. She hasn't moved an inch. I want to spend a few more moments with her, but before I can walk over to her, the fracture's exit vibrates.

I'm sure Beryl will be fine. I trained her as much as possible, and she still has a few antlions to guard her. Not to mention what will happen when she consumes that giant crystal.

Not taking any risks, I approach the fracture's exit and take one last look behind my back at Beryl, who still hasn't moved an inch. I don't know of its stoicism or that she can't comprehend what's happening.

I step through the exit. It disappears, leaving Beryl in the dark rotting corpse of the worm.

~

Usually, leaving or entering a fracture is supposed to be instantaneous, but for some reason, it felt like I lagged for half a second before arriving back on my home planet. I expect to leave the feeling of sand and the smell of rotting meat to the safety of dirt and grass along with the fresh forest air, but that's not the case.

My feet hit hardwood floors, and my skin tingles against the air-conditioned air. I hear the sounds of a television playing the local news, but I tune it out as I look around my surroundings.

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The massive rock the monkey king was sitting on as a throne is behind me, split into many pieces but still loosely placed together in its original shape.

Sunlight streams into the room via the massive ground-to-ceiling windows that make up most of one of the walls. I see a kitchen with too many ovens neatly tucked away in a corner. A tree is growing in this place, leading upwards to higher floors.

I don't see the antlion I threw into the fracture's exit, so either it got away, or someone dealt with it. My initial examination of the room takes a few seconds before I realize the couches that face the television aren't bare.

A hairy man with a prehensile tail is lazily sitting on the couch eating the remains of the antlion as he watches the news. He's not wearing his garish hat or weird armor, but I'm positive that's my 'brother.'

"Hey-"

I cut myself short. The last memory I had with Hoo Hee Haa Hoo was him slumped in a chair when 'we' 'met' his god. I don't know if the brotherhood he imposed on me is still going since I declined his god's advances.

Hoo flips out from the sofa and lands with his back to me before turning around dramatically.

"My brother! You live! It has been many days since our untimely departure! Tell me what happened after I kicked you in the gonads!"

I take a moment to look at him, he doesn't seem hostile to me at all, but we both have a few questions.

~

We both recapped what happened during the month I was stuck in that fracture. I tried to be vague about how I got there, but it's all for naught since Hoo is aware his god was the cause.

"Sorry about that. There's not much I can do about my race's patron god, and I'm too deep to even consider changing religions. Anyway, pretty ballsy of you to look god in the eye and turn him down."

He then told me after he woke up in his god's presence, he was sent through a random portal and was stuck in a rock. He had to break his way through, which destroyed his throne. My tamed beasts were accusatory of him, mostly Duchess, since she's the only one who can communicate 'verbally.'

He definitely skimmed over some information, but I didn't press him.

After convincing them that he was at fault as much as I was, they'd calm down enough to listen to his story. They concluded that an entrance to a fracture must be somewhere in the remains of the rocks, so they picked up the pieces and moved out of the forest.

It was Duchess' idea since I'd have to be somewhere in the capital anyways. I don't know if I should be happy that she'd trust me enough to escape a fracture in the time it would take before the competition happened or disappointed that I probably missed the first one or two weeks already.

Also, we're in Hoo's penthouse in the capital.

"If you had such a nice place to live, why were you living in the forest?"

"Why not."

"..."

"...alright. I'll speak honestly. It has something to do with a task regarding my clan involving that destroyed boulder behind you and the diplomatic immunity I get by being in the human lands."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it too much. I'll tell you about it the next time we drink together. It's one of those stories."

"You haven't mentioned that my tamed beasts are injured or in danger, so where are they."

They should know that I'm 'topside' since [Unique Servitude] tells my tamed beasts about my location at all times. They must not be here, or I would already have been greeted by them.

"They're with your family, I think. Probably."

"Probably?"

"Yeah, they made me find out where your school thing is supposed to be, then the snake told me that they're going to stay with their master's sister or something."

"..."

"Do you want a ride over there?"

"Let me freshen up first."

~

Nail clippers and scissors don't work on me anymore, so I use my novelty one-damage knife to trim myself after getting out of the shower. Hoo has an enchanted washing machine, so my clothes are prim and proper.

My gi is still heavily stained with my blood. All the machine did was spread the stains around, so the entire article of clothing was a consistent dark color. I'm sure it'll be fine.

I leave the penthouse and meet Hoo down the street. I must be in a fancy part of the capital since all the buildings around here are tall and expensive. I can see skyscrapers and blimps in the distance.

I pass by a group of people wearing fancy enchanted clothes as I enter the back seat of Hoo's car. Hoo isn't driving me anywhere. He apparently has a driver.

"So, what do you do to have a penthouse and a personal driver?"

"Rich parents."

"Oh."

I accidentally lock eyes with the driver in the car's rearview mirror while trying to look around. He's an older gentleman wearing a tuxedo and driving gloves. I don't break eye contact until the driver puts his attention on the road. Something strange about him is that he's missing both his ears.

I stare out the window, looking at the people walking down the streets. Many people of different species make up the capital, but most are humans. Almost everyone is wearing some armor or carrying some cold weapon.

Every once in a while, I spot what must be somebody's tame beast moving down the streets. It's not common, but the way most people aren't fazed by their existence is foreign to me. I guess I don't have to be worried about weird looks if I go on walks with my tamed beasts, although I didn't care about that anyways.

I see advertisements for various products endorsed by famous people with high ranks. I don't think I can name a single ranker that wasn't from my grandfather's era. Most of them are extremely good-looking. I wonder if looks are a qualification for getting a high rank or if it just helps with brand deals.

Never mind. I spotted an ugly ranker on a billboard advertising sausages. Now I'm hungry. When was the last time I ate something that didn't come with a carapace?

I pull my phone from my pocket. I haven't had a chance to charge it, but I should still be fine. I turned it off to save battery a few days into getting stuck in that fracture.

This phone is durable, waterproof, and doesn't need to be charged often. The only drawback is that it doesn't have apps or an internet connection.

I power on my phone and am instantly bombarded with notifications about missed calls and unanswered texts.

"It's good to see that my brother is popular."

I ignore the monkey next to me and start skimming over the texts.

Everyone in my contacts has tried to contact me over the past month. Even Charlie. I wonder if his family is still holding him hostage. Maybe I should look into that eventually.

I continue scrolling through my messages as I ask Hoo a question.

"Hey, Hoo. What do you know about the Greenbacks?"

"Who?"

"The Greenbacks, rich and powerful family apparently."

"No, I mean, who do you mean by who?"

"Isn't your name Hoo Hee Haa Hoo? So just by shortening it, your name would be Hoo?"

"Ah, that makes sense. But that way is if you just cut my first name in half. You see, Ell, my family name is Haa Hoo meaning great climbers, and my given name is Hoo Hee meaning valiant warrior. Those meanings don't work individually. My native language is very complex."

"So your name is valiant warrior great climbers?"

"More like a valiant warrior who happens to be a great climber."

He gives a toothy smile.