Kairos took a long look at the situation with thoughts running in his mind. He quickly pieced the things together, the gnomes must have heard of the arrangement with the dwarven king and are openly targeting him.

If he understood what ‘friend of the dwarves’ meant he will be astonished that the gnomes are still making trouble because it is very possible that a war between the two species may start.

Even without knowing that, Kairos is confident that with the avaricious nature of the gnomes they won’t move without assured of gaining some sort of benefit.

After the audience with the dwarven king, it is clear that the selling of brews had been monopolised, so it wasn’t strange that they are blocking the brewery.

Instead, it is the timing of them making trouble that is curious. No doubt they estimated he had failed to find whatever he wanted given that he only had ten days instead of thirty days with their books, and now they are ready to give him another offer.

Kairos smiled.

The last time they had tried gambling magical eggs with him. What will they be doing this time?

Speaking of which, those magical eggs they won felt special. Once there is a chance, he plans to hatch them.

Kairos went towards the inn where Relestia should be at while his mind runs through the things he had studied.

While avoiding the things in his way, his expressions kept changing. Sometimes his brows are furrowed as though he met a hard problem, and at times a warm smile on his lips that made others look twice.

At the same time, a strange purplish energy suffused his fingers. The first time it fizzled out. The second attempt, the purplish energy stopped suddenly and Kairos spit out a mouthful of blood. The third try exploded and sent him hurling sideways into a random building.

He picked himself up as though nothing happened and continued his way. The commotion he caused made a few people nearby look over curiously. They speechlessly looked at him continuing his way disregarding the debris on him hair.

On his hand, the purple energy flickered to life again. This time, it shot out violently and a hole was left in the pavement.

Someone following behind twisted an ankle and fell cursing loudly. Kairos did not seem to notice.

This way he continued experimenting and after a dozen tries, he finally reached the inn and the courtyard where where Relestia, Leo, and Linda are staying.

He knocked on the door until Leo opened it. He stared at Kairos as if the latter is trying to sell them something.

“Another door-to-door merchant?” Leo asked uncertainly.

“…..”

“We don’t really need anything right now.”

After a moment of silence, looking at Kairos not leaving Leo’s expressions changed and then he said, “Ah, are you seeking for alms? Give me a moment, I will get..."

Before the guy finished, Relestia bounced over and flew into his arms.

Leo rubbed his eyes and looked again at the man Relestia is hugging. A haggard-looking young man with deep sunken bloodshot eyes, unkempt hair, and unshaven chin.

Even at second glance he looks like either a raggedly good-looking salesman or a walking monk.

Honestly, after a week of gruelling efforts to flip the books and scrolls, to be looking better than a hobo, Kairos is already considerably striking. He feels that for this he have to be thankful to his father. Back when times were especially hard Vouno’s good looks was what saved him, because aunties that were his father’s ex-classmates will frequently appear with small gifts.

Of course, he had bathed and changed before coming back to the city, but what happened on the way was enough to make his complexion pale.

The spell Kairos wanted to cast had ultimately failed.

In the end, he is still lacking in talent.

Given his rather solid foundation of knowledge, if it is rudimentary spells he can still learn to use it rather quickly, but for everything else Kairos is not much better than the average mage.

There are exceptions, however. He seemed to be able to wield the holy element magic taught by Aisa almost instantly regardless which Circle the spell was from, and in lesser effect, he pick up life magic exceptionally quickly as well.

This time, however, he wanted to cast a wide-area surveillance spell covering the entire city. He even found the perfect spell for that; an energy-efficient magic possible to be maintained over long periods.

It is a circle five spell that should be considerably easy, and as the creator of the spell himself, Kairos did not fail due to a lack of understanding.

Unlike cultivation arts that are exceptionally complex and often deadly when there are mistakes, spells are significantly straight forward – at least for Kairos – and comparably safe.

The reason for this is the nature of magic. Magic are like mathematical formulas. If a spell’s logic is correct, it will work, if it is wrong the mana input and magic output will not equate.

After all, the body is but a medium for mana to flow through. Even the mana core is but a processing device.

The reason Kairos’ spellcasting failed is his inability to control the energy well enough to follow through the magic formula. Considering he has a Mana Core, it is not an exaggeration to claim that his skills is at the level of an apprentice mage.

Talent-wise, above average, skill-wise, a complete fledging.

It took Leo a while looking at the princess, before he whispered in disbelief, “K-Kairos? You’re back!”

Linda, hearing Kairos’ name, came out running. Even before they saw her, the pitty pattering of her little feet already announced who is coming.

“Big Brother! You’re back!”

The little girl jumped onto Kairos’ leg and started climbing up.

Relestia, still nuzzled in his bosom moved slightly to the side for the little one.

Linda finally reached his chest level when she looked up at Kairos’ face. The little girl immediately squealed, “Big brother!? Why are you looking like this? You need to sleep more okay?”

Kairos scratched his head. Come to think about it, he had not slept for the past ten days.

He brushed a finger against his chin. The scruffy stubble that is still developing turned into dust with a simple grooming spell.

He immediately looked far more presentable than before, but his gaunt appearance remained as before.

If he had his Ki, just a single rotation around his meridian channels according to the Origin Cultivation Method will restore the brightness to his skin.

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Kairos pat Linda on her head gently. At the same time, his other hand hovered above Relestia’s head. He hesitated on touching her but the princess grabbed his arm and pulled it to her soft smooth hair.

At once, a radiant smile appeared on Kairos’ face then he gently held Relestia closer.

The girl, now squashed against him, looked at his eyes with shock and delight.

Kairos had recently became aware of his feelings towards the princess, and amidst the duties and burdens he carried, he struggled to understand this strange new emotion.

However, he quickly embraced what he felt when he set his eyes upon her, and without a single word spoken, she had understood his acceptance.

It was love at first sight for the young couple.

No, Kairos did not believe that there is such a thing as love at first sight. After all, love is a strong word and it cannot occur without first understanding the other person.

So can two person fall in love the moment they met? The answer, Kairos thinks, is no.

If you don’t know the person, there is nothing to love.

When you just met someone, all you have is what you see and visuals stands for very little over the years.

Therefore at the time when he met Relestia, Kairos felt that there was instant attraction because she was pleasing to the eye. No, perhaps it was a little more than that because strangely it was as if he had chosen her before he even met her.

But for Relestia, it was far more than that, for she had heard of him long before she saw him.

What is love? Fondness? Chemistry? Like-mindedness?

Love simplified is basically understanding and acceptance.

Perhaps true love is adoring another despite fully knowing the person, but who can claim to know someone perfectly when we don’t understand ourselves?

That is why everyone can only make clumsy attempts at love.

It is the same for Kairos.

Despite being able to see through cryptic ancient texts, he had no clue about his own heart.

But he knows for certain, he had fallen in love with Relestia. The girl had wormed into his world and took an irreplaceable spot.

Carrying Linda with his left hand, and holding Relestia’s with his right hand, Kairos expression turned serious.

“We need a change of plans,” he said softly.

Leo and the others sensing the solemnity quickly went to a private meeting room while Linda waited outside patiently.

Once they are seated, Kairos started without delay, “Leo, you might have guessed the identity of Relestia and I. We came from another world called Gaia.”

He looked at Leo. The man, while surprised, was not overly so. Relestia only had a small smile on her lips that is very so slightly quivering. It’s obvious that she is not listening, her eyes kept drifting to Kairos’ hand.

After some hesitation, Leo replied to Kairos, “I had my guesses. The recently decimated castle was up the road where we first met. In that case, the two of you are the missing heroes?”

Kairos smiled saying, “It’s us, but we weren’t summoned like the other heroes…”

After saying so, he continued explaining how a magical accident brought him here and thereafter proceeded to answer Leo who had great interest in Gaia.

When the man heard about Ki and Cultivation Leo entered a state of shock and looked at Kairos dumbly.

After much time, he jumped up from his seat excitedly, “Can I also learn Cultivation?”

Kairos sighed, “Unfortunately, this world does not have Heavenly Energies.”

“What are those? In fact, what is cultivation?”

Kairos thought a little about it and answered, “They are wild elements found in nature. The composition of Heavenly Energies in different location varies. By the sea there will be concentrated Wind, Water, and Earth elements, at a volcano, there will be stronger Fire, Metal, and Earth elements. There are places where the amalgamation is more balanced which towns and cities are built.

Each person is born with different elemental affinities, usually talented in one area while moderate in the rest.

Cultivation Methods are made to compliment such differences to draw the Heavenly Energies in, filter out the elements needed, and harass its power.”

Leo, never encountering Heavenly Energies before, could not fully comprehend it, “You mentioned that Axis does not have Heavenly Energies, but we have volcanos and seas here as well.”

Kairos blinked a few times, then uttered a word that Leo had never heard before, “Runes.”

“There are elemental energies in the Axis,” he conceded, “I’ve seen them in spells, but those are harnessed from the mana in the air. You should know that the source of mana comes from the life force of all living things, while Heavenly Energies comes from runes.

This world seemed to be lacking in mana compared to Gaia, and almost completely devoid of runes. By my estimation, there is a serious problem with this world.”

Overrun with monsters, ever-expanding dungeons, exceptionally weak mana despite being filled with creatures of all sorts, there is definitely a major issue on the Axis Mundi.

This world should be a realm lower than Gaia.

Even within the Mortal realms there are differences. A lower realm means that the world is extinguishing and nearly depleted of energy, or that it is far from the centre of the multiverse and the existing energies are of lower class therefore higher energy forms like runes does not exist.

Hearing this, Leo became quiet. Without Heavenly Energies, a higher energy form, it is impossible for him to cultivate.

After thinking on it a little while, the man asked with piqued interest, “I suppose you are planning to return to Gaia then? Can you take Linda and me?”

When Kairos was introducing Gaia, he explained that the goal of cultivation is to become an immortal and eventually a celestial being. There will be longer and longer life span as one cultivates while one slowly becomes impervious to most illnesses.

Such a thing is truly attractive to most people.

As expected, Kairos nodded to Leo but he still asked, “Are you certain?”

Thinking for a short while, Leo nodded firmly. After experiencing the years of drifting around to search for a doctor for Linda, Leo found himself wayward. Meeting Kairos had opened up his world and noticing how much Linda likes him had set his thoughts in stone to follow this young chap.

By duty, Kairos is his benefactor whom he owes much and hopes to repay. By benefit, the allure of cultivation is enough reason. By passion, he had developed a love for cooking, and Leo can hardly find a better teacher than Kairos.

Looking at Leo’s determined face, Kairos hesitated before saying, “Originally our plan was only to return home.”

Leo looked at him with shock. Kairos did say at the start that he had a change of plans. If it wasn’t to return home then what is it?

Kairos laughed quietly, “Although there were many fond memories and we made plenty of friends, we have too many enemies, both here and back in Gaia. To return home peacefully was wishful thinking on my part.”

He considered to avoid direct confrontation with the major superpowers in this world, but while Kairos wanted to a non-violent outcome, they aren’t as willing.

He looked at Relestia. The affection in his eyes no longer clouded, and he offered a hand to the princess.

She blushed terribly, but held his hand firmly.

Nothing was said. Words aren’t needed in this moment.

The look in each other’s eyes was enough.

Kairos is gravely wounded, Relestia is possessed by a devil, and the two are in a hostile world away from home.

Everything is uncertain, and now they are taking a step towards the unknown, but regardless of what lies ahead they will face it together.

Along the way, they may make mistakes or stumble, but the young couple held steady by the fact that they aren’t alone anymore.

Relestia took in a small breath as if to steady herself, and then she asked, “Kai… what do you plan to do?”

Kairos looked at her and smiled, “We are in danger ever since we landed in Axis Mundi. The human lords that planned their hero summoning will never let us out of sight. At first I thought that by giving the dwarves enough benefits they can help us gain more time, but seeing the gnomes overrun the town today had changed my mind.”

Relestia and Leo both went quiet.

Kairos continued, “At first, I thought we should sneak away quietly before trouble seeks us. In fact, that is still an option now.”

He looked at Relestia and smiled, “However, there are some things worth fighting for. Even if we avoid danger now, the Jarls will continue to hunt us, the elves and gnomes’ stance are unclear as well, and back at Gaia we still have enemies.

There are two paths ahead of us now. Avoid trouble, gather strength, and return to Gaia quickly. Leo, if we can find a safe passage home, you and Linda can come with us.

Or, instead, we can crush everyone in our paths and take over.”

Relestia did not say anything. She is familiar enough with Kairos to know he wouldn’t make those suggestions lightly.

Leo, however, was stammering when he asked, “W-what do you mean by crushing everyone in our paths, and just what are you intending to take over?”

“Ah, I forgot to explain that I have already finished reading all of the books and scrolls on Aura Arts, Herbalism, and Magic. It would take less time to master the skills from the texts if I have an opponent. Preferably if the person is strong enough to threaten me.”

A monster!

In just ten days, Kairos had finished reading what should have taken years. This ability is beyond genius to reach monstrous levels.

Leo and Relestia had no doubt that Kairos spoke the truth. The three fields he studied included their histories, notes from different masters, amd apprentice, intermediate, and advance textbooks. From what Leo understand about Aura Arts, there are more than a thousand of such books. If it is similar for herbalism and spellbooks, the boy had studied over three thousand books in such a short time.

Without waiting for the two, Kairos continued, “If we avoid all hostility, we can buy enough time to return to Gaia but I’m not eager to go down this path. It will take too long to gain enough strength to deal with the coming strife we will face. At that time we might lose even more if we don’t risk it now.

Since the gnomes are so thoughtfully offering to be my opponent, I can make use of them to grow quickly. After that, we can deal with the elves, the humans, and anyone else that plan to attack us. Instead of fleeing to the elven kingdoms clandestinely to find out if the way home truly lies with defeating the elf king Veritus, I want to meet the leaders of this world on equal grounds.

Let’s setup a branch of the Snowdrifts here in the dwarven city.”