Lakshman spent the remainder of the day in peace, keeping a low profile so as to not attraction anyone’s attention because of the happy mood he was in. He did, however, slip sometimes by forming a grin on his face, causing people like Vikram, Fred, and Maxwell to ask him out of concern. While quickly diverting their attention away, he decided to keep his composure by concentrating on the villain that had escaped capture and was masquerading as a fellow human right before everyone’s eyes.
Mike Druken was formerly introduced as a high achiever with incredible talent by the Second Prince, and it automatically earned him a good name amongst his peers. Lakshman, on the other hand, knew he was really the alien that had attacked them a week ago and was the reason that made a portion of the city disappear from the planet surface. He was so cunning and convincing in his character that even Lakshman was nearly fooled by it, but the truth was inevitable when it revealed the alien’s true colors when the Solaris Hero used Elemental Sight.
He watched the alien in disguise chatting cheerfully with his fellow classmates and laughing happily with them.
“He’s got guts to be amongst his enemies and smile like that,” commented Asura inside of Lakshman’s head, sounding impressed.
“He’s so easily mixing with the others that it’s hard to imagine that he was an alien at all,” thought Lakshman in a disbelieving voice. Then he reasoned by thinking, “but then again, he’s very skilled in his magic skills. Isn’t that right, Asura?”
The last time he fought him, he only witnessed a portion of the alien’s powers but did not know how strong he truly was. As such, he asked of Asura’s opinion since his past-self had experience of battling against him in a hard-fought battle. The fact that Asura had called it a ‘hard-fought’ battle made Lakshman treat the alien with extreme caution.
“Well… He’s good; very good if I have to admit,” admitted Asura grudgingly. “While the magic he used were in a strange tongue, the words were sharp, and there were times he demonstrated Voiceless Magic and Wordless Activation.”
“Wordless Activation?!” Lakshman asked inside his mind, feeling incredulous from finding something unexpected. “So, he can basically do what Lagron can do?”
“Well, if it comes to comparing Lagron and him, I’d say Lagron is way better,” stated Asura, causing Lakshman to feel confused. “However, note that is only because Lagron fights in straight up battles, but this alien is different. He’s a dangerous being on a different level because he’s cunning, ruthless, and doesn’t have the honor of treating his enemies with respect.”
“I see. Basically, he would use whatever means necessary to reach the end goal,” thought Lakshman, feeling that he was getting a better understanding of the alien. “For the sake of their purpose or mission, they’d risk even the lives of their comrades. That’s… unbelievable.”
He finished his sentence heavily while letting out a sigh in disbelief at the revelation. Never in his life did he dream that he would come across a person that was, in a way, similar to the Calamity Titan as witnessed in their previous battle. The Calamity Titan had been trying various methods in destroying him, his beloved family, and everyone else that were under his protection. As such, the Solaris Hero understood just what kind of dangerous being he was up against.
“Can’t make careless mistakes around him,” he muttered under his breath, eying Mike cautiously.
As if sensing a pair of eyes on him, Mike turned to face in his direction and smiled generally at him. To everyone, it appeared exactly like that but Lakshman knew the smile was simply a mask to hide the sinister smile that he was directly only at him. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and he smirked before turning his attention back to his classmates. Lakshman dropped his eyesight and sighed in resignation as he understood the message the alien had sent him.
“Do your best.”
“Such arrogance,” said Asura angrily inside his mind. “The audacity to say something like that… to me…!”
“Drop it,” replied Lakshman in a weary voice. “Instead, let’s worry about what I must do tonight.”
“Oh. Right. There’s that,” said Asura, his mind diverting at the sudden mention of the meeting scheduled between Lakshman and Raze in the evening.
The Solaris Hero smiled a little at the anticipation of his meeting and concentrated on learning from his lessons. Like that, he was able to spend the rest of the day in peace.
***
Evening arrived and everyone had their dinner before they headed into their rooms and shut their doors, locking them with voice commands. When the Nine Heroes of Legends began living there, they were worried that the security might malfunction and allow trespassers to break in, but Bolten had reassured them that it was safe.
“Unlike the regular system used to maintain each room, the security of the rooms was enhanced with triple layered protection scheme that allows only the registered person, with their signature biodata to lock and unlock the rooms,” he had explained patiently for them to understand.
He smiled when everyone looked thoroughly confused and simply said, “I can guarantee that it’s safe.”
With his guarantee to rely on, everyone had begun relying on the security of the voice commands on a daily basis. They also felt safe with the Royal Guards positioned around the castle at all times, who changed shifts without anyone’s notice for a tight protection.
On that evening, while everyone was inside their bedrooms, there was one person that had sneaked out of his bedroom without the notice of anyone in the vicinity. Rather than sneak, it was more like he had come out of the hiding as his other self-inside the room transformed into a particle of light and it flew out through the door and merged into him again.
“I was worried whether Doppler might work or not, but I’m glad it worked,” thought Lakshman with a smile on his face.
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Earlier, when everyone was busily talking to one another, he had silently cast Doppler without their notice and hid in the shadows while completely hiding his presence. After making sure the corridor was clear, and that the Royal Guards were in their designated locations, he came out of the hiding and deactivated Doppler effect.
Having memories of his copy having checked the time, he knew he better get going towards his destination. As such, he placed a hand on his chest and muttered the Emperor Ranked Barrier Magic Spells, “Silencer. Hidden.”
He felt a strange warmth comfort him on all sides and knew the magic had successfully taken effect. Finally, wide awake and determined to do his best, he headed towards the place that he and Raze agreed to meet at. He passed the Royal Guards without them even noticing him passing by, as they continued to speak to one another in low voices to not create any unnecessary disturbances as voices tend to echo in the silent corridors of the castle.
“It feels like it’s been a really long time since I sneaked out like this,” muttered Lakshman with a smile on his face.
“Yes,” said Asura, agreeing with him, and he searched through the memories of the lives that came after him. “The first time you did this was during the fourth reincarnation when you went out at night to visit some ladies—!”
“Okay! Stop!” Lakshman said quickly, his face turning red with embarrassment as he too remembered that past. “I don’t want to be reminded of that part of my history.”
“Well, what can I say? You were quite the lover-boy at that time,” said Asura in a mysterious voice, causing Lakshman to clench his fists tightly in irritation.
Of all the memories of his past that he retained, that was the one incarnation that he truly disliked the most. He was always going out a night, was a playboy with the girls, and it made him extremely shameful. With the way he currently was with his strong principles and firm ideologies, such a casual act of treating a woman like a commodity was enough to make him hate that part of his past life.
“You don’t have to be so angry, you know? It’s all in the past now,” said Asura in a soft voice, realizing his mistake of unnecessarily bringing up such a bad memory.
“Didn’t you hear what Engraut said? It’s my stupid decisions in my past that made me never meet my wives, who were obviously reincarnating like me but were never drawn to be because of the kind of trash I was back then,” said Lakshman with great anger in his voice. “While I do accept that I and my past are the same, I can never forgive myself for what I’ve done, with or without the influence of the Twisted!”
Asura remained silent for a moment as he thought about how to divert the subject that he now regretted bringing up. It suddenly made him wonder whether he had taken over the role that the Decisive Player had once placed in nurturing Lakshman into being the way he currently was.
“Well, on the bright side, you’re not really hitting any random girl; it’s your wife you’re meeting now,” said Asura in a bright voice, trying his best to redirect his current self’s attention. “It’s even more interesting since she herself requested this meeting this late.”
Lakshman breathed a sigh as he relaxed and replied, “Yes, although, I don’t expect anything major to happen.”
“Why are you being so rigid, Lakshman? She’s your wife! Enjoy your time with her!” Asura said in a firm voice.
“I’ll enjoy our company together, and I’ll slowly get closer to her, but I will not touch her because she’s not my wife yet,” replied Lakshman in an equally firm voice.
Asura sighed as he knew they would return to the same old argument and also knew it would not end so easily. Thus, he became silent and watched as his current-self walked alone in the castle before reaching the courtyard.
“Here we are,” muttered Lakshman, an air of anticipation slowly emanating from him.
He turned around and looked up at the castle walls and noticed that a light on the top of the window. As he focused his vision to the top window, he smiled in happiness upon finding Raze standing outside with a simple dress while wearing the same mask over her face. Despite the hindrance of the mask, Lakshman found the sight of her standing there in the window and the light fanning out from her room to be very beautiful.
As he was mesmerized by the sight, Asura coughed inside his mind and said, “Don’t forget what you’re here for.”
Coming to his senses, Lakshman smiled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
“Hi, Raze!” He called without thinking and, at the same time, he waved his at her to catch her attention.
The moment the words left him, he realized his mistake and began glancing around in extreme nervousness, like a thief fearing capture.
“You still got Silencer and Hidden active,” reminded Asura in a flat voice. Upon learning that, Lakshman breathed a sigh in relief and heard his past-self say in his mind, “Stop panicking so much. Relax. You’re not a thief.”
“I know that but… it’s still unnerving to be here this late and meet my future wife without anyone’s notice,” said Lakshman with an embarrassed look on his face. “Wouldn’t you be like this?”
“Of course not!” Asura replied in a firm voice without the slightest bit of hesitation. “I would blast through the front door and take her away! That’s what I’ll do!”
His statement made Lakshman chuckle and think, “Yes. You most certainly would do that. Anyway…” He activated Telepathy spell and spoke directly to Raze by thinking, “Hello, Raze.”
At the top window of the castle, Raze jumped in surprise upon suddenly hearing a familiar voice greet her inside her mind. She began glancing around and, seeing this from the ground, Lakshman smiled and spoke telepathically to her.
“It’s me. Lakshman. I’m below.”
Upon hearing that, she looked down and could make out a figure waving up at her, making her realize who it was. In the momentary excitement, she forgot all about her situation and was prepared to call out to him with a greeting of her own. Luckily, Lakshman caught the movement and realized in an instant what she was about to do and quickly reacted by expanding his Silencer barrier to cover both him and her inside its coverage.
“Hi, Lucky!” She greeted enthusiastically. “You finally came. I was starting to think you might’ve forgotten all about it.”
He shook his head adamantly and replied, “Of course not! I would never forget a promise I made with you!”
There was a moment of silence in which Lakshman looked up, wondering whether he said something wrong. He did not know that his words had stung her in the chest and made her blush behind the mask covering her face.
“S-So then,” she began awkwardly, “will you join me here?”
“I’d love to but…?” He asked and looked up and down at the height separating them both from each other.
Noticing him glancing around at his surroundings, she giggled and said, “If you walk towards the side, you’ll find a corridor with a staircase at the end of it. Use it to reach the top, and I’ll let you in.”
Her cheerful statement left him feeling puzzled, and he asked out of curiosity, “Okay. That’s well and good, but… just to make sure I don’t miss anything but… that corridor is filled with Royal Guards?”
“That’s right,” she replied while nodding her head.
“And it takes quite a while to reach the top?”
“Yes.”
“And it’s protected by strong magic?”
“You’re absolutely correct!” She replied, sounding amazed. “How did you know all that?”
He could only laugh in exasperation and reply, “I can only assume the worst considering the place you’re living in.” Then he became serious and said, “Well, there’s only one way up,” and he kicked off the ground to fly towards her.
As he soared to meet her in the window outside her room, she seemed to be very surprised by his sudden movement. It became evident of her surprise when she next spoke to him in awe.
“T-That’s right… You can fly… I forgot that small detail. My bad.”
Even though she made it seem as though she was finding it hilarious, he sensed the sadness emanating from her body. It was evident that she longed to fly through the sky but was not able to due to restrictions in her technology and powers. This made him wonder for a moment before deciding to act on impulse as it felt like the right thing to do.
So, he extended his hand towards her and asked, “Do you want to fly?”