0042 Little and Big Surprises
"Aaagh! What a terrible headache! Someone bring me a glass of water?".
^"What terrible nightmares! What the fuck are this bunch of people I've never seen? And those weird places?"^.
"Shit! Where's my water? Aargh! Ooh no!".
Ronan woke up with a troubled mind, thinking he was home after a night of nightmares, no one responded to his request and when he tried to get up, he fell off the stone table, hitting his body hard on the floor.
The darkness of the underground salon in conjunction with the silence did nothing to help Ronan's reorientation, he tried to recognize where he was, but his mind is cluttered with memories that apparently aren't his.
"Where I am? Is there someone here?".
Feeling several light pains all over his body, Ronan gets up leaning on the table beside him, noticing a slight breeze a little cooler passing by, he walks towards the possible air intake.
Groping along the way, he managed to reach the corridor and with that he was approaching the better lit place.
"Hey! Someone out there?".
At the fork in the corridor, he looked to the darker side and then the better lit side and continued on toward the stairs.
Seeing better, his steps became faster and confident, he climbed the stairs looking up at the sky which now contained masses of thick, scattered clouds, but once he reached the ground floor, he was surprised and scared to see the scene of destruction of the shed and some bodies lying in various places.
"Shit! What happened here?"
^"Has the goods already been delivered? I thought the hired guild wouldn't arrive until next week! Church men! But they're dead...
... Why would anyone abandon me here? Who left me here?"^.
Walking bewildered around the place, Ronan found some of the goods destroyed and this brought him another conflict of events in his memories, he couldn't remember what day it was.
And when he saw some church men killed and organized as if they were being prepared to be buried or to have their bodies rescued, he became desperate to realize that he was abandoned in the midst of all the confusion.
He looked at himself, he noticed the torn and bloodstained clothes, near his feet, a head seemed to be looking at him, it was the head of an old man with messy and scattered hair, with a mocking gaze looking at him, his restlessness rose with a great touch of horror.
"Aaaah! That face! He's one of the people from my nightmare! What the fuck is this? The Maycon family's house is nearby!!! I need to meet someone I know!!".
Filled with terror and insecurity, Ronan ran to Maycon's house, anxious to know what happened to him and everyone else.
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*"You mean you guys lived in a secret region before you came here?"*.
*"What do you mean by Secret Region?"*.
*"Oh Till, here in the empire they don't use the name Secret Region, they call it Inheritance or Dungeon, right?"*.
Inside the inn's dining hall, Alex and Helena told a short version of what happened to them, little Till imagined that the two lived inside a Secret Region, and this seemed to make sense to the others sitting at the table with them.
Oliver sensed Alex and Helena's doubt, so he thought the doubt came from the name Till used about the Secret Region, which is why he joined the conversation by commenting on the Inheritance and Dungeon.
*"Dungeons? Full of dangers? Monsters? Traps and treasures?"*.
*"I think... So?"*.
*"Uurh! No... Pay no attention to Alex... But no, we don't come from a Inheritancr, Dungeon or Secret Region, whatever that means..."*.
Alex was surprised and excited to hear about the Dungeons, but Helena wanted to better understand the situation and maybe find a way home, and these powerful people seemed trustworthy, so she wanted to clear things up as much as possible.
*"Interesting... You described to us a phenomenon that is very similar to when people are forcibly expelled from a Secret Region...
... It doesn't matter the name, but what you described, maybe you recognize it by another name..."*.
*"Ooouth! In the Orient oouth! They call it the Secret Realm or Land of the Ancestors oouth!"*.
*"Go take a shower Alisha, before you drown in your drink!!"*.
Oliver was thoughtful by Helena's response, and Elene tried to reevaluate the information to look for a connection point to help the two lost.
At the end of the table, a woman did not stop drinking, her body is thin and very slender, her hair is black, short and spiked in all sides, a long-brimmed hat is on the table beside her, and her clothes are a victorian dress shirt style without much detail.
Alisha is her name, and interested in the tablemates who had been drinking with her for the last few minutes, she also wanted to help, but was soon kicked off the table by Elene.
Going up the stairs of the inn and going to one of the rooms, Alisha passed a man coming down and got all excited.
*"Ulriiichh! Let's drink!"*.
His scream caught the attention of everyone who soon looked towards the stairs, a man with long brown and graying hair, he has several wrinkles on his face evidencing his age a little advanced, wearing a red robe, he stopped his descent down the stairs when he was called by the apparently altered woman.
Ulrich's eyes widened, and he used the corner of his eye to look at the table where Elene and the others were sitting, Elene who saw the scene stood up and shook her head negatively several times, making it clear to Ulrich what answer he should say to Alisha.
*"Alisha, we have to leave at dawn...
... But if you go take a shower, I promise to have a few drinks with you..."*.
*"Ooouth! Yees!"*.
Smiling awkwardly, the man continued to descend while Alisha went upstairs to the happy bedroom, when he reached the table, he looked down scratching his face avoiding looking in the eyes of Elene who was staring at him with an irritated look.
*"Well, I kind of overheard you guys talking, as you just heard, my name is Ulrich...
... I think maybe you two are from a place the ancients called Heaven, Purgatory, or simply the Kingdom of the Gods...
... These names are rarely used these days, but if you come from a place that has never had contact with the real world, it could be that you come from a realm of some god lost in time..."*.
Ulrich, still looking at the table, calmly took a glass and filled it with drink, he started to tell his theory making Alex and Helena widen their eyes looking at each other in surprise, Elene took a deep breath beside them and relaxed as she sat back down and with that, Ulrich took a big swig of his drink, smiled and looked around at everyone at the table.
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*"It all seems interesting, but I really don't think it's our case..."*.
*"The reality is that no matter what your case is, you want to go home right?"*.
Hearing Alex's answer, Ulrich didn't let them get discouraged and asked the right question to get the two's attention.
*"Yes sir Ulrich, but if we don't even know how we got here..."*.
*"Don't worry about that...
... How about if both of you try to become stronger? In the meantime, I can search about all of the Lost Realms, looking for a clue as to where you might have come from..."*.
*"That's it Uncle Ulrich! Then when the time comes, we can invade their kingdom and beat up whoever was responsible for kicking you two out of the house!"*.
Ulrich's proposal made Alex anxious, he really really wanted to learn some cool magics and about these magical devices, Helena wasn't very confident, but knowing they would have help made her feel more relieved, she took a big gulp of the drink in her hands and looked at Ulrich determinedly.
*"It would help us if someone explained what these places are that you all mentioned..."*.
*"Since I'm from the empire and you two ended up here, I can start telling you about the people's point of view here..."*.
Oliver wanted to answer Alex's question, for him, a long-lost Inheritance of the Empire could mean a big change taking place in the next few months, so he told the meaning of Inheritance and Dungeon.
*"Secret Region is not much different from an Inheritance, the main difference I can highlight is that the Secret Region is controlled by a large Organization...
... Here in the empire the church hijacks all Inheritances, but in other nations, they become a Secret Region, where a group builds a big city or an entire country, some of these regions are rich in some raw material, and this drives the economy of the entire north of the continent...
... The Secret Realms or Land of the Ancestors are even more similar to the Inheritance context, the nations of Arttuer and Mahohito call them that, in both nations, these historic places are open to the public and everyone knows about them, but to get in you just have to pay or pass a test they call an aptitude test, intelligence test, strength test or whatever other nonsense...
... As for Heaven, Purgatory, Kingdom of the Gods and other things along those lines, Ulrich is the best at explaining it..."*.
When Oliver finished explaining Inheritances and Dungeons, Elene started explaining about Secret Region, Secret Realm and Land of the Ancestors, she summarized the explanation using some of what Oliver had already told, and then she left the last explanation for Ulrich who was already refilling his drink again.
*"There really isn't much difference with what Oliver and Elene said...
... But both Heaven, Purgatory and Kingdom of the Gods are exactly what they mean, a place where the gods rule and take care...
... And Lost Realms are any of those places, but they lost direct contact with the real world for many centuries..."*.
*"Wait! Wait! Real gods?"*.
*"Well, yes, after all I am a demigod..."*.
Ulrich's explanation came as a shocking surprise to Helena and Alex, Helena still wanted to ask if what she heard was really what she heard, and Ulrich once again surprised them.
*"Do you say gods and demigods just because you have these powers, or because you can create a whole world with everything along with all life and so on?"*.
*"Coof! Cof! Cof! The place where you two came from seems to have a lot of influence from the empire...
... We call ourselves gods and demigods because we manage to be part of nature and its fury as one, so yes, it's for our power, but not only that, it's in our blood to be able to tame that power...
... Gods who create the world, life and nature, this is something of this Sigredio church...
... And is that all the more reason to think that you came from a Lost Realm here in the Empire, perhaps one of the first Kingdoms the church formed?"*.
Alex's question caused Ulrich to choke on his drink, but everyone was surprised to find people from a Lost Kingdom, even more a Kingdom belonging to the Sigredio church, Oliver was the most affected, as he is a native of the empire.
*"You two came from a Lost Kingdom, along with several others that the church took away, and a few more people the Witches kidnapped, not to mention those who fled... I think you two better get out of the empire...
... I need to warn the guild, I believe the south is going to war..."*.
Oliver ended up dumping all the worries that came into his mind and not even the festive atmosphere of the streets took away the serious look on everyone's faces, including little Till.
*"But where would we go?"*.
Pahk!
*"Both can come with us!"*.
Alisha, now freshly showered and wearing a black robe, hit her empty wooden cup down on the table, and when everyone heard her response in inviting Alex and Helena, everyone smiled and raised their cups in the air, causing Alex and Helena, who were a little shy, to raise their cups together.
*"Very well, I'll make a report to the guild, we can't let innocent people suffer in yet another war..."*.
*"Wait Oliver, I'll go with you, I'll write a report to my guild too..."*.
*"It is decided, as I am a Gold Hat level member of The Gentlemen's Guild, I appoint Alex and Helena as Guild members, now you two are the Hatless...
... Work hard and get stronger to get back to your homes..."*.
Oliver and Elene went up to their bedrooms to prepare their reports, and Ulrich named Alex and Helena as guild members, Alex's smile froze at the name of the guild, and Helena became despondent again.
*"Helena, my new friend, why are you discouraged? Come drink some more with me..."*.
Alisha offered Helena another cup of drink, and Alex felt he should do something to help Helena, at least they needed to stay together and grow together, Helena couldn't be left behind.
*"Eergh... Is there any skill or magic that involves some biological knowledge or something like that?"*.
Helena frowned upon hearing Alex's question, she quickly realized what his intention was, but before she thought it was bad, she realized that maybe if there really was some magic involving her interests, she would actually feel happier.
Thinking about it, she thanked Alex with her eyes, and Alex, seeing Helena's gaze, flushed her face and took another sip of her drink to hide her shyness.
*"Biological? What does that mean?"*.
*"In other words, who studies animals, plants, their bodies, species and things like that..."*.
*"Yes, the Green Path is more focused on plants, trees, and some species of animals...
... The Crimson Path is more about the lineage of some predator species, knowing how their bodies work and stuff like that...
... The Brown Path is about the same as these two, but they are focused on mystical beasts, legendary and almost unknown animals...
... And there is also the Black Path, only that there is not much knowledge about this Path yet, and those who study about it say that it is something alive."*.
Ulrich didn't know the meaning of 'Biological', but Helena became excited with the hope of something that could exist in that sense, and wanted to clarify the question in a simpler way, with which Ulrich responded positively making her smile.
*"I'm not very interested in plants, but maybe predatory animals and these mystical beasts might be interesting for me to study..."*.
*"Well, anyway, we don't have anyone on the team that practices the Green Path, and about the Brown Path, we can look for someone when we get back to the guild..."*.
Helena was getting more excited, but realizing that there would be no one at the moment to teach something of interest to her, it made her look dejected again, especially when she saw Ulrich stop to take another sip of his drink in a carefree way.
*"... As for the Crimson Path..."*.
*"Meeow! Do you like felines, dear?"*.
When Ulrich quoted about the Crimson Path, he pointed his head to Alisha at the end of the table, and as soon as Helena got excited again, she heard the meow and looked at Alisha who now looked like a cat woman, making both Helena and Alex widen their eyes in surprise.
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Among the old and dry trees, a being made of smoke about 30 centimeters high, floated among the branches with its hideous face smiling happily.
As he approached the dirt road, the being made of smoke was startled to see a group of twenty men running towards the mountain caves, hiding behind a tree, he disintegrated in the air.
A little way away from that spot, sitting in the branches of a tree, Oscar opened his eyes, the grayish glint in his eyes maked his appearance even more supernatural.
"The annoying uncles are coming this way!".
Descending from the tree, Oscar looked around for another place to hide, and from there, he chose to hide close to the precipice, there was a hollow tree leaning towards the precipice in a lower part of the place where he was.
"Ha ha ha, if they find me here, I can still jump to escape... But it's going to suck to go all the way back to play with Little Bone again...".
Entering the hollow tree, its interior was completely in the dark, but whoever passed by would be able to see the pair of glowing gray eyes in the middle of the darkness.
In less than a minute, the group of twenty men arrived, during their conversations they transformed into human beasts, and jumped off the precipice.
"Wow! Now the game will be good!
If I had known that uncles liked to play, I would have brought them along with me when I saw that white light...".
Oscar jumped out of the tree, and watched the men run along the precipice wall, then he stretched his hands high, and from his hands, a gray fire began to burn.
Waving his hands in the air, the fire turned to smoke, and when a good amount of smoke had gathered in the air, Oscar pointed to the other side of the precipice, and the smoke began to wander and spread as if a strong wind had blown it away.
"Ready... Let the fun continue!".
Clapping both hands together as if cleaning up the mess, Oscar flashed an anxious smile, he couldn't wait to reappear in the caves and shake things up.
As he prepared to sit down, he saw the point of light in the sky projecting several cones of light denouncing the position of the men running along the pecipice wall, from afar, they didn't look the least bit happy about it.
Smiling, Oscar sat at the foot of a tree and closed his eyes, but within minutes, he opened his eyes again and stared in surprise at the precipice wall.
"Oh no!".
The place where people were hanging exploded in white light, and the whole area just collapsed, rocks flew all over the place as it was detached from the wall, knocking everything over the precipice.