For the following days, both Astra and Mewtwo fall into a routine. They continue to explore the caves in the morning, slowly lightning and securing more and more of the tunnels. Then they return to the dungeon to challenge the trial again.
After the first few times, they realize the amount of reward is more like a lottery than a set number. Diamonds still drop every times, but their number oscillate between 2 and 20. Still trials after trials, they gather the much needed ressources.
they hold off making anything that may require the diamonds until they have enough, for fear of needing to remake them later. Astra only decided to forgo that risk for the two rings only due to their immediate utility.
However, beyond the barrier, time continues, albeit at a slower pace. And someone finally returns to his home.
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Hans is giddy. Yes, he had to burn his fast heal ability on his first week. Yes, he also had to delay his return. But what he saw. Oh what he saw. Aster, returned stronger than ever. A new challenge that may only grow. New gods have joined the fray. The current master of their prison has been challenged, and the newcomers seems ready to play ball. The world is changing, and Hans Senah cannot be happier to see it.
Their little champion is weak, but can already take on third year raids and come out... unscathed? Now that assumption is uncertain. Hans saw how the cyborg? Android? Freak? Freak. He saw how the freak champion was able to shrug off his own punches. Hans may have only returned four days ago, but thanks to his preparations, he is already as strong as he was during the tenth year of his last life. The only reason he could not save up more was because he still needed to grow stronger then.
And yet, Aster... no, the freak... what was the name he called himself? Ast... Asty? Astry? Astra! Yes little Astra took a punch meant to spear through him, but only ended with a bent stomach. Beautiful. Absurd. Fantastic! And not a drop of blood, or oil, or whatever coursed through his veins. And he was merely a week into this world. He survived a Praetor on his second day. Granted, the crimson moron must not have taken the pair seriously, but still, a Praetor is supposed to be the one year filter that reset those unable to grow fast enough.
And the legend. The first! Never seen before. He cannot wait to question one of his closest friend about it.
And that time will arrive soon, for on the eve of his fifth day of this new life, Hans has finally reached the great fortress of Lodehaunt, the home of the institution he founded, the Hunters.
He still remembers, partly, when he founded the entire thing. Their goal was simple. Organize in parties and hunt down any living, or unliving creatures. Provide for those that could no longer fight, and protect those that needed it. Recreate society,. Ah, such grand, and stupid ideals. They tried so hard, yet soon, the Dark god made his intentions clear. When it was discovered that the soul tokens of someone could be recovered upon death, all ties broke down, and all they had striven to work for turned into a battle royale for who would gather the most tokens. Some tried at the time to ally with pokemons, but the Dark God was a sadistic one. You would need to sacrifice your own growth for theirs. Soon, the true Hunters eradicated most trainers, claiming their tokens and disposing of their pokemons. Ah, the olden days. When Lodehaunt was naught but a single village, but now...
Now Lodehaunt is the grandest and most active city on the Farist continent.
Hans stops some distance away to admire his home. Standing with is back against a large mountain range, the city sprawls forward. Great walls of thick black stone encircle it. Men and women can be seen standing upon the walls battlements, looking out for any city raids or invasions. He can see the crude ballistas have finally been assembled. Seeing them still there reassures him. That is not too advanced for He above.
Beyond the wall, smoke rise from many a home's chimney. He can see the citizen mingle among the locals. At the back partly merged with the cliff wall that is Devaste Peak, stands what can only be described as an hybrid between manor and Gothic cathedral. four belfry towers rises from the sides of the building in a semi-circle configuration, and crenelations crisscross every sides of the roof. It had taken decades to build, and had only been achieved earlier during a previous life. Such an opulent waste of ressources, yet it was a symbol. One that inspires all hunters. Achieve greatness, and you too may dine within the Grand Hall of the Hunters. The man responsible for its construction had sadly not returned after his last death, and had been declared finalized.
Satisfied with his sight-seeing, Hans resumes his walk through the empty plain surrounding Lodehaunt.
As he approaches the gate, a woman wearing a red scarf walks solemnly out. Hans nods respectfully to her as she passes him, and she barely acknowledge the gesture. Her face is set in grim determination. A monthly raid. Never an easy one. But Hans appreciates a hunter who has the guts to face it willingly. Should she survive, she may enter the Hall with honors.
Letting the woman out of his thoughs, he returns his attention to the gate. A pair of guards stand before them, clad in a mishmash of armor pieces. Leather, iron and mail cover them in partial way, letting one see the more casual clothes beneath.
One is busy stopping what appears to be a group of freshly arrived abductees, or maybe spawn roamers? He can never tell with those vultures. He despise these types of abductees, but cannot really blame them. It is easier to prey on these freshly returned or first arrivals than any of the horrors that roam beyond the Arrival Plains. Whichever ways one choses, it always ends in a difficult crossroad at some point. Either grow strong fast enough, or die for the amusement of He above.
He shakes his head as he reach the gate. The guard not occupied by the group gives him a bored one-over, and return to his default sentry pose, only to look at Hans once more. His stance becomes rigid and far more professional. The other does not notices it, too absorbed in his argument with the group.
"And we keep telling you, we have information that is vital! We went through the Grey peaks just to come here! We have to see the Hunter Lord! So let us in!" One of the men of the group argues. Dark skin, muscles, a bruiser.
"And again, none of you are hunters, so either give me the intel, and if it's good, I'll put a good word for you, or fuck off with whatever bullshit you have- Hey! You think you can just walk in like that." The Guard still notices Hans attempt to enter, and grabs the man by the shoulder.
The hand turns into a mess of bones and fractured flesh in a second and the guard screams in pain.
"Haw recent?" Hans asks, looking at the older, more seasoned guard.
"A week and a half." The second guard answers, his face turning pale.
"Rank?"
"Lower C."
"Not ah huge loss then." His right hand blur, and the guard's head turns to a red mist. "Send someone for tha helmet, we cannot have gotten ta many still."
"Yes Lord Hunter." The guard nods.
"Now, ya bunch wanted to see me, well here I am, now speak? What sort of vital information do ya have?"
The group of four is silent for a moment. Then one with glasses speaks. How does one remains with his glasses for so long, he does not know. Maybe a mage? "We... we saw a legend lord hunter. A legend has appeared upon the plane."
Hans almost vaporizes the group the moment the kid-looking man says his piece. "Yeah, I'm aware. Anything else? And don't mention his friend, met them already."
Silence follows. "Then return to ya carrions. Your kind ain't welcome here." Hans sends them a death glare, and the group cowers.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
They quickly run away, going back toward the direction of the Arrival Plain. Hans nods to the remaining guard. The guard signals someone on top of the battlements, and soon enough, a horn sound throughout the fortress. Hans moves aside and watch as a dozen rabid wolves passes him, followed by groups of men and women, all as fast as their wolves, all screaming for blood and the hunt. Let the hunters hunt.
Once the hunting parties has passed, he enters the fortress proper. Nothing has changed. He has been gone for three and a half week, and nothing has changed. A good sign in his opinion. Lodehaunt is one of the most advanced city on the continent. Once a village, but thanks to the help of an abductee having chosen the summoner route, the entire place was upgraded to a massive fortress city throughout the many cycles of the man. The villagers still live among the hunters, but no longer as free as they once were. Not slave, Dark God forbid, but closer than one may think. Prisoners for their own good.
He can see a blacksmith working tirelessly, as a short line of hunters waiting to trade hard earned soul coins, emeralds and metals for armor. The diamond badge at the villager belt denotes the mastery of his craft.
No new houses, so still below, or barely at population capacity. He continues through the main road, toward the Gothic styled mansion standing at odd at the back of the city. That summoner had some strange taste. Still, he knows who will be within.
He reach the large dark wooden doors and push them. The large atrium beyond is empty. A man enters from a side door and stops when he notices Hans.
The man's physique is the polar opposite to Hans'. The man can only be described as a mountain. His leather tunic barely seems to be able to contains his bulging ebony skin. Black dreadlocks move with his head as he turns to lock eyes with Hans.
"Brother?" He whispers, almost not believing it.
"Brother!" Hans exclaims, opening his arms wide.
"BROTHER!" Jack N'ganda shouts in joy, rushing the final flight to take his blood brother in a crushing hug. "Finally!"
Hans returns the brotherly hug, and once he is released, both brothers clasp their arms. "You have missed much!" Jack cheerfully exclaims.
"Have I?" Hans curiosity skyrockets. "Did my stunt work at least?"
"Work? Hans, they are still recovering! The League is broken right now! They might not even see the new year!"
"And ya did not capitalize on that?"
"Sheila tried..." Jack expression turns grim.
"Don't tell me..."
"She forgot her raid. They managed to hurt her enough." Jack declares, his eyes looking down. His hands tremble in pain and anger.
"HOW! Their champion was a moron! Even with a team of what they call pseudo-legendary, he barely managed to old against me!" Hans explodes. "The only reason I died was because I was OLD!"
Sheila, his third in command, and lover in this forsaken place, had been reset, again! Which keyword will she have forgotten this time?
"He had more, and his lieutenants used them, She killed a few, and those she did not she hurt badly enough, but... she had to retreat, and then her raid started, and we did not get to her in time."
"Hold on, where were ya?"
"Trying to catch up to her."
"She went... ALONE?" Hans is flabbergasted by Jack's explanation.
"Yep."
Hans is left speechless. He had warned her, so, so SO often that her recklessness was what always got her killed. Again and again, he had tried tor wean that habit from her, and yet again, it had claimed her. "Send someone to retrieve her."
"Way ahead of you brother." Jack reassures Hans "She still has not returned yet." He adds.
The man, however, worries. "How long after me did she go?"
"Two days after you, we tried to keep your departure from her."
Hans sighs in relief. This is still within the time-frame of rebirth then. His own rebirth had happened at about the medium range of time between death and rebirth.
"In other news, something weird was spotted close to Aster's old sanctuary."
"Really now?" Hans fakes interest, almost certain as to what Jack is about to share.
"Yeah, well, since you always send your echo to Hound's Den, you have to be aware of the mutt's passing." Jack almost spit at the mention of one of Aster's old teammate.
"Correct." Hans icily replies. As much as he hates Aster and his beasts, they deserve respect for their achievements.
"Well, someone claimed Aster's journal form him. A weird cyborg man. Old Gayle swears he looks like Aster, but..."
"He does, in some ways."
"Ah, of course you met him." Jack sounds a bit disappointed with that realization. "Then you know of the legend."
"I do." Hans confirms, "did you ask our local expert?"
"Yeah, Ronald almost had a heart attack when we described it. At first he though we were describing something called a Mew, rumored to be the common ancestor of all pokemons." Jack clarifies, "Follow me, I have most of the information in my office."
Hans nods and both men start make their way to the second in command office. Most of the hunters they meet in the corridors offer deferential nods to Jack, then a more respectful one when they realize who the pale man following their temporary leader is. They quickly clear the way after that, rushing to other places to spread the news of Hans return.
Soon the pair find themselves before a door decorated with a vulpine skull. One of Jack proudest catch. The delphox skull still has fire within its skull.
Within is a large office, with many more morbid decoration.
A set of bone armor stands at one side, its parts clearly assembled from pokemon bones. Multiple trophies lay upon the chamber many shelves. Skulls, entire skeletons, but also weapons, armor parts, heads, even an arm ending in a hand with meter long sharp nails. Above the desk, set atop of the window behind, a massive drake skull look down upon the chair. Jack's greatest pride, one he never managed to reiterate. The falling of an elder fire dragon. The very act that made the man into Hand second in command. And although many would dare to claim what he defeated was a wyvern and not a dragon, the fact still stand that he defeated the beast, and none ever managed to do it, not even himself after he returned.
"Here," Jack says as he takes a few pieces of parchment form his desk. "Mewtwo, psychic type, second last of the kanto dex, whatever that means. Artificial pokemon, made to be a killing machine meant only for death and destruction. From what Ronald told us, he supposedly killed the team of scientists that made him, destroyed their lab and then made a gigantic castle to lure trainers to their doom. That's it for the legend, in more immediately applicable info, it's a psychic type specialized in special attack, with great speed and decent defenses to back it up, so mage-like with mind altering attacks. It can learn a pretty big variety of moves, except for fairy ones. It can fly, and can supposedly mega-evolve."
"Hum, a rather annoying one to appear first, especially along the possible reincarnation of Aster. His team was already a pain to deal with without a legend, but now he has one? We need to keep an eye on them."
"That would be the second bit of strange information brother." Jack declares, "The magical forest sanctuary has flickered."
Hans opens his eyes wide at that. After Princess had chased him away, he had decided to return here as quickly as he could, as he was in no way ready to contend with her. He had tried before, at his peak, Dark one knew he had tried. But Princess had reached such heights after Aster's many lives that Hans decided it would be better to let her exist within her forest rather than risk a reset just to remove her. The presence of Aster's Sanctuary did not help either. How the man had come upon such an artefact still baffled the Lord Hunter. They had yet to find one for Lodehaunt.
"Is... Is it down?" He asks, hopeful and worried all the same.
"No, it just flickered, and when it returned... it was different."
"Different How? Did ya send some mages to inspect it?" Hans asks in frustration.
"We did, the lucky ones simply exploded. The others ripped their own eyes out and screamed of being seen over and over again before we had to kill them. We lost some good men trying to inspect it." Jack deplores. "That new Sanctuary does have a good thing going for it though."
"What?" What could this new Sanctuary that killed any that inspected it have going for it?
"We can traverse it. One of our scout saw the flicker and attempted to enter. He ended up on the other side without having to go through the forest." Jack declares with glee.
"So... the way is open once more. Did Princess grow tired of our invasion attempts? Interesting." Hans muses, "Anything else?"
"Well, both the cyborg and the legend entered the forest with Princess as their guide, so we know where they are. We also know they did not exit it yet."
Hans made some quick calculations. If he met Astra just after his second week raid, then that means he has been in the Sanctuary for about a day now. His next raid would happen in about four and a half day from now. That would leave him enough time to prepare a little surprise for the little champion.
"Princess will evict him when his time comes. Prepare a party to hunt a legend. Tell them to wait AFTER his raid. Tell them The Lord Hunter will open a seat at his table for all of them should they succeed."
"Really now? Why not try to support the raid? We done it before."
"His presence offenses the Dark Lord greatly." Hans simply says.
Jack eyes grow wide in realization. "That Praetor rumor was not just a rumor then."
"No, My echo saw its corpse. That was his welcome to the Ezian Planes."
"Ah, I'll get some of our best then. Now should we go announce your return?"
"It is time is it not?" Hans agrees, "But let us make the party a short one, I am still far too weak to my liking."
"Only you would claim so after returning as strong as you are." With a hearty laugh, Jack leads Hans out of his office. Leaving behind the sketches of Mewtwo as well as a quick one of Astra. Already notes litters both forms. Possible weaknesses, potential strengths. Hidden weapons. One note states the potential for unusual storage, pointing straight at Astra's left hand.
The Hunters are gathering, and soon, their new prey shall fall.
Unaware of this, our heroes have finally gathered enough diamonds to advance further toward the making of the marble of many realities.
Beyond the Ezian plane, the eyes of gods look down with rapt hunger at what will happen next. And Eziakophael simmers in anger at the duo devious use of the Trio's gifts.
Already he knows what will await them once they exit their little Sanctuary.