“Looks very intriguing.” Aiden turned his hand one way, then the other. “Also makes me look deadly.”

“There is nothing intriguing about it,” Valdan said with a frown. “We should be talking to [Mages], [Alchemists]. Anyone with a class that loves researching.”

Aiden cocked a brow. “[Necromancers]?”

“If they’ll be able to help, yes,” Valdan answered without missing a beat.

Elaswit sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “How are you not worried?”

They’d returned to the palace a few hours ago. Aiden had worn a coat with long sleeves to hide his hand and Elaswit had given him a pair of her hand gloves. They hadn’t received a welcome assembly on their return. Their carriage had simply rolled onto the palace grounds, and they had made their exit while the servants that had returned with them packed their things into the palace.

While Elaswit had wanted them to meet with her father immediately, they’d been informed that King Brandis was actually not around at the moment. As for where he had gone, no one they’d met had the knowledge.

Elaswit and Valdan weren’t worried, so Aiden figured it was nothing to be bothered by. Besides, he was very much aware of the fact Monarchs were known to leave their castles for the purpose of training, and by training he didn’t mean practicing their skills, he meant hunting monsters fitting for their level.

With the absence of King Brandis, and no requirement to see Queen Brandis, Aiden had retired to his room, greeted by different maids along the way with dour expressions and carefully avoiding eyes.

Somewhere between having a bath and having a meal, Aiden was feeling a bit normal again. On the ride to the palace, he had played the unbothered nineteen-year-old for Valdan and Elaswit while his mind had run rampant regarding what had happened to him.

Alone, he could finally allow his mind and body to go through the motions. Surprisingly, there turned out to be nothing to go through. Either his pretense for Valdan and the princess had lasted so long that he had just simply adopted the behavior by default, or he really wasn’t bothered by the fact that he now had one black hand.

He wasn’t sure which one it was.

It wasn’t until midday that Valdan came knocking on his door. Valdan had strolled into the room and simply done the surprising thing of plopping himself down on Aiden’s bed.

Aiden had opened his mouth to say something, found that he really had nothing to say, then closed it without saying anything.

Not long after Valdan’s arrival, there’d been another knock on his door. To his grandest surprise, he’d found Elaswit waiting for him.

There had been a silent moment between all three of them where they waited for him to say something. In the end, he’d said something. Apparently, it wasn’t necessarily the right thing.

Aiden looked at Elaswit. “How am I not worried?” he asked, repeating her question.

“Yes,” she said with a nod.

“Because what has happened has happened,” he answered, hoping Elaswit showing up to his room wasn’t going to be a new thing, not that it really mattered.

“You’ve got a black hand, Aiden,” Valdan said, sitting down at the edge of Aiden’s bed. “I don’t know of anybody coming out of a teleport with a black hand.”

“And you were holding something in your hand before it turned black,” Elaswit said.

Aiden’s mind went to the [Spatial Crack] and the tentacle he had caught before it had stabbed him in the face. He wondered if he’d somehow brought back a piece of it with him.

That sounded like a very dangerous situation. There was also the fact that he didn’t gain any levels despite killing—or sealing—one. But that wasn’t really a worry. You stopped gaining levels at level forty-nine no matter what you did. The only way to gain that extra level that put you in level fifty was by attaining your manifesting skill.

“Did you see where it went?” Aiden asked the princess.

Elaswit nodded. “It just evaporated like dust in the wind.”

Dust in the wind, Aiden thought. There was almost something poetic about that.

When they teleported, they turned into dust in the wind the moment they hit the other world. The [Spatial Cracks] also turned into dust in the wind when they hit this world.

“But you’re sure you’re alright?” Valdan said. “No issues whatsoever.”

Aiden nodded. “I did learn something, though.”

“About the hand?” Valdan’s brows furrowed suspiciously. “I don’t think you’ve had enough time to go to the library, Aiden.”

There was something in the look he gave Aiden. It said that the library was not a fitting lie for an excuse for how he knew what he was about to tell them. More interestingly was the fact that it sounded as if Valdan was telling him to pick better lies and not complaining about the fact that he was lying.

Aiden almost laughed at that. Valdan was becoming more like Zen when it came to dealing with him, only older and more serious.

You should tell him about your past life.

Aiden almost laughed at the thought as he answered himself.

No.

There was no reason for him to, and it wasn’t as if it was something that weighed down on him so heavily that he had to tell someone. The only reason he wanted to tell Ted was because he hoped it would convince Ted to listen to him and follow him.

Ultimately, however, there was really no need to tell anyone anything. Besides, Aiden wouldn’t really have to worry about Ted gaining the title of [Demon King] for another four years or so. And even if things changed because of his presence, he doubted Ted was suddenly going to gain the title in eight months.

He had time. Time to get strong enough to become a force to be reckoned with.

“Not the library,” Aiden said, answering Valdan’s question. “Just something I noticed after we got back. You’ve got the [Detect] skill, right?”

Valdan nodded slowly, suspiciously.

Elaswit raised a hand like a student in class. “I’ve got it, too.”

Aiden looked at her. She gave him a very hopeful look. She clearly wanted to be a part of whatever it was that he was about to involve Valdan in.

“Alright,” Aiden sighed. “Gather round kids, let uncle Aiden show you all something neat.”

Valdan and Elaswit shared a look.

“He knows we’re both older than him, right?” Elaswit said as she got up from her seat and approached Aiden.

Valdan got up from the bed. “Ignore it. He calls everyone a child when the moment strikes him. I think it has something to do with his mood and what the person is doing. Sometimes I worry that he would call the King’s advisor a child in the spur of the moment.”

Elaswit shivered visibly at that and looked at Aiden. “Please don’t do that. That man’s already terrifying as it is.”

You’ve got no idea, Aiden thought. He also wondered if the [Sage] would have an idea of what was happening to him.

When Elaswit and Valdan were standing in front of him, Aiden raised his hand, holding up his right forearm—his black forearm.

“Use [Detect] on it,” he said.

“You do understand that it might not work, right?” Elaswit said. “You’re at a higher level than I am and the same level as Sir Valdan.”

Aiden shook off her worry. “Don’t worry about it. It will work.”

“Did it grant you a skill or something?” Valdan asked, knowing that using the [Detect] skill on any part of a person would grant you insight into their personal detail upon success. “You can just tell us what it is. Or is it like an infection?”

Aiden shook his head. “No skill or infection or anything like that…” he paused, thoughtful. “Well, not entirely, but that’s not the point I’m making here. I’m sure something will turn up eventually, but this whole thing is about focusing on my arm and using [Detect].”

Valdan sighed and Aiden felt a prickling sensation on the surface of the arm. He’d learnt a trick with the arm earlier on but using it right now was going to go against his current plan.

“What the—” Elaswit frowned. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Ever the composed one, Valdan simply took his eyes off Aiden’s arm and looked him in the eye. “Can you feel the arm?”

Aiden nodded. To prove his point, he flexed his grip a few times. “Still my arm. So, what did you guys see?”

“It says that I cannot use the skill on this thing,” Elaswit said.

That surprised Aiden. “It called my arm a thing?”

Elaswit nodded.

Valdan was also surprised. “I don’t think any one has ever had their interface call anything a thing. A being, an object, a tool, an item. Never a thing, though.”

Aiden shook his head. “Your interface is just plain rude.”

“It’s the same interface everyone uses,” Elaswit pouted.

“What about you?” Aiden asked Valdan.

The Knight folded his arms. “It’s unknown. Just a bunch of question marks.”

Aiden nodded. “That’s the exact same thing I got. I think whatever happened to my arm, your world no longer identifies it as human. I think your world now sees my arm as some kind of tool.”

Elaswit paled. “You’ve lost your arm?”

“Nope. I’ve still got my arm.” Aiden flexed his grip once more. “Still works fine. I can use it for delicate purposes even.”

“That’s good.” Elaswit sighed. “I think it would’ve been a problem if you couldn’t use it as well as you used to.”

Aiden was a little puzzled. “Why?”

Elaswit looked at him as if it was a confusing question. “I don’t know about you but it is very annoying to learn how to start using your weak arm just because you’ve lost function in your dominant arm. Had to do that once as a kid and it wasn’t fun at all.”

Valdan made a sound that drew her attention.

“What?” she asked.

“That,” Valdan said, “is Lord Lacheart’s weak arm.”

Elaswit turned a surprised look on Aiden. “You’re right-handed?”

Aiden nodded.

“But I saw you use your left hand in the cave,” she blurted. “I’m sure I did. And you only used your left hand when you dueled with Belle.” She looked at Valdan. “You saw it, too, didn’t you?”

“I used both hands in the cave, princess,” Aiden said.

Valdan nodded in confirmation. “Lord Valdan is ambidextrous, princess. However, his right arm is his dominant arm.”

Elaswit looked between the both of them before shaking her head as if dismissing the topic. “Alright, that’s good to know. But it still doesn’t really answer the important question. What are we going to do about it?”

“I’ll just wing it.” Aiden shrugged. “It’s not a problem until it’s a problem.”

“Good point,” Valdan answered. “What about your skills? Does it affect them?”

Aiden shook his head. He’d tried a few weavings since they’d returned, and they all worked well. [Walking Canvas] worked well, too. But now that Valdan was asking, Aiden felt he needed more attacking enchantments.

He was arguably one of the few combat classes without at least one long range skill. There were a few enchantments he knew of, and ways to manipulate enchantments to make them long range, but what happened if he got caught up in the same situation again?

What he needed was a single projectile enchantment. For that he would have to sit and think, scour his knowledge of enchantments as hard as he could. He knew there were enchantments that he’d paid so little attention to in his past life that he couldn’t just remember them on the fly.

As for the long range enchantments he knew right now, they were only accessible after level hundred. And the only reason he remembered them so easily was because they were a small part of his most used enchantments. He had been in the level two hundreds for at least a year, after all.

Aiden paused when he realized that Valdan and Elaswit were giving him an odd look.

“What?” he asked.

“You know what happened to you,” Elaswit said. “Which doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’m confused,” he said honestly.

“She’s saying that it doesn’t make sense that you know what happened to you,” Valdan explained.

Aiden cocked a brow at him. “Yeah, I got that part. I’m asking where this is coming from.”

“It doesn’t make sense because teleportation on the scale we use is too disorienting,” Elaswit said. “There is no way you’d have to cohesive mind to figure it out. Unless…”

“Unless?”

“Unless by the virtue of how you arrived here, you have developed an immunity to the disorientation, which has left you with this side effect you experience,” Valdan said.

“It would make some kind of sense,” Elaswit mused. “Perhaps we get disoriented which prevents us from instinctively fighting whatever it is that the teleportation is doing to our body.”

“And by that logic, having a cohesive mind makes you fight against it,” Valdan said. “Which leads to such a side effect. It does not make complete sense but it’s a start for a theory.”

Aiden looked between the both of them. “What are you? Mages with spatial specialization?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You have to admit, Lord Lacheart,” Valdan said. “You know something.”

Aiden sighed and took a seat on the chair close to the reading desk. “And why do the both of you say so?”

“Because there are three kinds of people who go through something and come out as unbothered as you are,” Valdan said.

Aiden tilted his head to the side, urging him to continue.

“The first are those that know what has happened to them but not how it happened,” Valdan said. “The second have no idea what has happened to them but know how it happened…”

“Let me guess,” Aiden interrupted. “And the last know what has happened to them and how it has happened to them.”

“Yes.”

Aiden stroked his jaw with his normal hand. “That leaves us with the only group that really panics. Those that have no idea what has happened to them or how it happened to them. The known unknown, the unknown known, the known known and the unknown unknown.”

Elaswit smiled slightly, despite herself. “You can put it like that.”

Aiden held up his hand and turned it one way and the other. “The problem is this. Everyone fears the unknown. However, they all forget that even while you fear it, you should be curious of it. You need fear and curiosity to evolve from the unknown.”

“What are you saying?” Elaswit asked.

“I’m saying that I’m more curious than terrified, princess.” Aiden looked at Valdan. “And you’re right. I fall into the category of one of the three. I fall under those who don’t know what has happened but know how it happened.”

“So how did it happen?” Valdan asked.

Aiden shrugged, dropping his hand. “I teleported.”

Valdan groaned.

“Hear me out,” Aiden said quickly. “The first time I teleported, I appeared on the other side with abysmal stamina and mana, and my health was at two percent.”

“By the gods! Aiden!” Valdan scolded him. “Two percent! And you still went through it again?”

“It was a logical risk,” Aiden said easily.

“Logical how?!” Valdan snapped. “Logical that you could die and no one would care?”

It was rude of Aiden but he cocked a brow at the knight and spoke before he could stop himself. “I have a brother, Sir Valdan. Someone would care. But that is not the point. It was a logical risk because if I survived the first one, I could survive the second one on account of the fact that I was significantly stronger than the first time. And I was right.”

Elaswit folded her arms. In a reluctant voice, she said, “He kind of turned out right.”

Valdan gave her an incredulous look. “You are in support of this?”

“Not in support, he was just right. He didn’t need a stamina or mana potion this time.”

Aiden’s attention went straight to the crystalized dimensional mana stashed away somewhere in the room at the mention of not needing a mana potion. He would have to do something about that. It had reduced in size but that wasn’t very surprising.

“Also,” he said, interjecting with a raised finger. “I came back with more health than last time. So, I was right.”

Valdan groaned. “I can’t believe this.”

“But yes,” Aiden conceded. “It was reckless of me, and I really shouldn’t have done that.”

Valdan’s eyes softened but his annoyance wasn’t gone. “You shouldn’t have.”

He stomped all the way back to the bed and flopped down on it with his back.

Elaswit chuckled. “I’ve never seen him this way before.”

“I’ve never been this way in the palace before,” Valdan grumbled. “I swear the kid’s going to give me a heart attack.”

It was funny because people didn’t have medical issues when they gained their class on Nastild. Although there were cases of certain kinds of illnesses, even if not very common, on the human side of Nastild.

It was very rare, but just as humans had their class evolution, there were microorganisms that had unfortunately evolved as well. But they were so rare that kingdoms could go through one or two Monarchs before recording a case of illness in someone with a class.

It was also rare on the non-human side of Nastild but not as rare as it was here. There were also monsters with venoms and the likes that could cause you to die of a heart attack if you weren’t strong enough.

“For now, I’ll settle for giving you a headache,” Aiden said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Ha ha,” Valdan said sarcastically. “Good luck with that.”

“Anyway,” Aiden turned to Elaswit. “Any idea when your father will be back?”

“Why? In a hurry to meet him already?” she asked.

“No.” Aiden shook his head. “He sent my colleagues out on a mission. I assume that the sooner I get to meet him, the sooner I get to go on that mission and meet my brother.”

“Mother said that he’ll be back in a few hours.” Elaswit shook her head. “I wish my brother missed me as much as you miss yours.”

“Believe me, Princess. I do not miss my brother. I merely have business with him.”

Elaswit chuckled. “There’s nothing to be shy about, Lord Lacheart. It is a nice thing to miss one’s only family.”

Aiden said nothing in response. He simply shook his head and looked down at his blackened arm.

He would have to find out more about it. If the [Sage] saw it and had nothing to offer, Aiden would have to figure it out as he went. For now, he had learned two things about it. Two fun things.

“Just out of curiosity,” Valdan placed his hands behind his head, using them as a sort of pillow. “Did anyone notice the maids and butlers?”

Elaswit turned to him. “What do you mean?”

“They all seemed shifty.”

“Subdued,” Aiden said.

“Worried,” Valdan added.

“What are we doing?” Elaswit looked from Aiden to Valdan then back. “Completing each other’s sentences?”

“Pay Lord Lacheart little attention, princess,” Valdan said casually. “But I am serious. Am I the only one who noticed it?”

Aiden shook his head. “You are not.”

“I didn’t notice it,” Elaswit pointed out, she sounded as if she felt left out of the conversation somehow. “They just bowed whenever I passed, like they always do.”

“That much is understandable,” Valdan said. “The reason I’m pointing it out is because I think something might have happened in the palace while we were gone. I just don’t know what, yet. An evening in the barracks will tell me, though.”

Aiden’s attention moved straight to his memories of his past life. A lot of things had changed because of him in this life, but if he was absent from the palace and something had happened, what were the chances that it would still have happened even with his presence in his past life.

What else happened during our time here? He wondered.

He hated to admit it but his memory of the things that had happened during his time in the palace that had nothing to do with him was a little spotty. Back then he hadn’t been able to pay much attention to anything apart from how weak he’d been in comparison to Ted and what he could do to grow.

There had been that time a maid had been so nice to him that he’d thought she was hitting on him. He’d done nothing about it because he was a teenager in a strange new world, and he was in no hurry to be jumping to conclusions about how a girl felt about him. He also had his weakness as an [Enchanter] to deal with.

There was also that time the first prince, Derenet, slapped the younger prince.

King Brandis had proceeded to punish Derenet for it. It had been an issue in the palace that had been talked about for a very long time.

But that wasn’t until we came back from the cannibal village, Aiden mused.

And just like that, another thought snapped into place. It was a memory of shifty maids, scared out of their minds. They were all worried and cautious. Services in the palace had taken a downturn.

It can’t be happening now, though, Aiden thought. Right?

That had also happened after they had returned from the village, not before. Back then, no one had known the source of the problem. At least Aiden hadn’t known it, and no one claimed to have known it. But now that he thought about it, knowing what he knew, the culprit was very obvious.

“I’m just saying,” Valdan said. “They look really…”

“Scared,” Aiden finished for him.

Valdan nodded. “Terrified is the word I would use.”

Aiden had only ever seen the palace servants this scared twice in his past life. One was years in the future when Ted had become the [Demon King] and the servants had been scared of Aiden due to his status as Ted’s brother.

The other was just after their encounter in the cannibal village…

… When servants were being murdered.

…

Their time in Aiden’s room didn’t last very long after the conversation about the maids. Elaswit and Valdan just lounged around, not really saying anything or doing anything.

If Aiden didn’t know better, they looked like people who hung out at their friend’s room back in school just because for some reason they liked the place or they liked hanging out around their friend.

The sun was making its final descent, plunging the world in an orange glow when someone knocked on Aiden’s door.

Elaswit looked at Aiden surprised. “Expecting a guest?”

“What do you think?” Aiden walked up to the door. “Who is it?”

“Uhm… maid, Lord Lacheart,” came the response.

Elaswit gave him a teasing look. “Do we have another Vanisi in the palace?”

“The maid that had a crush on him?” Valdan asked.

“I’d say it was more than a crush,” Elaswit laughed. “I’d say she really wanted him to ruffle her sheets.”

“It’s good that you can laugh about it now,” Aiden said, placing a finger on his enchanted lock and channeling a touch of mana into it. “Back at the mana the idea of it always made you frown.”

Elaswit looked away. “It was merely unbecoming when it was a possibility. It might sound rude of me but your status is well above frolicking with a maid.”

But not above frolicking with the daughter of a lord, Aiden almost joked. But something told him that he wasn’t stupid enough to utter the words, so he didn’t.

The moment the door opened, Aiden was met with the sight of a maid. She had large blonde curls for the hair on her head and soft blue eyes.

She bowed quickly and darted off as if he had some kind of contagious disease. However, the moment she was gone, Aiden realized why she’d been in a hurry to disappear.

Left in her place was a young boy in shorts and a shirt. The shorts had two straps attached to it that went over the boy’s shoulders to hold them up.

Valdan got up from the bed and walked up to Aiden. “Who is…”

His words died in his mouth at the sight.

Aiden folded his arms and waited, staring down at the boy.

Hands behind his back, the boy gave Aiden a respectful bow. It was low enough that Aiden noticed that the boy had something in his hands.

When the bow was done, the boy held his hands out to Aiden. He had a fish that was still live in his hands. It was twitching.

“A gift,” the boy said, unsure.

Aiden’s brows furrowed and Valdan seemed to pale.

“Why a fish?” Aiden asked. There was an odd part of him that felt like he knew the answer. If that part was right, then he would be worried.

The boy looked away, shy. “Lord Lacheart the older said that I should be nice to you the next time I was to meet you.”

Shit.

Ted had already met the boy in this life. That was definitely years earlier than he was supposed to.

Unless he’d already met him by this time in his past life and had just never said anything about it.

Aiden frowned at himself. For a regressor you know almost nothing.

His lack of knowledge was becoming irksome.

Elaswit pulled the door wider so that she could look. “Why would your brother want you to have a live fish? Do you people eat your fish alive where you come from?”

Aiden reached down and took the fish. That the boy’s father was an important demon general that had served Ted as the [Demon King] did not mean that the boy was a terrible person.

There was no need to judge the boy for what his father had done or what the boy was.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the fish. “I’ll be sure to take good care of it.”

Elaswit cocked a brow at Aiden, she only looked slightly disturbed while Valdan looked very worried.

“Your brother’s friends with the advisor’s paige?” she asked.

“My brother’s friends with anything that breathes and can communicate.” Aiden returned his attention to the boy. “Let’s hear it.”

The boy nodded. “I am to bring you to the king’s study. Your presence has been requested.”

“Alright then,” Aiden gestured down the hallway, if his blackened arm bothered the boy, the boy didn’t show it. “Lead the way.”

The boy turned and led the way and they followed. The journey was quick, and they walked a step behind the boy. Actually, it was more than a step behind the boy.

“Is there a reason you look like that?” Aiden asked Valdan as they walked.

His expression was so stern that it would be easy to believe that he was walking into a battlefield.

“There is only one person that can command a person of my title,” Valdan said.

Aiden knew that he meant the title of [Knight of the Crown].

“And that’s the king,” he said.

Valdan nodded. “But there’s also this kid.”

Elaswit chuckled. “We learnt from the moment the boy arrived in the castle that you do not disobey the instructions you bring.”

“Well you seem chill about it,” Aiden said as they took a turn down another hallway and walked past two maids whose mouths had clamped shut so hard that it was obvious that they’d been gossiping.

“I’m a princess,” Elaswit said easily. “It takes a lot to terrify me in my father’s palace.”

“What about you, Valdan?” Aiden asked.

“A [Knight of the Crown] disobeyed the boy once,” he said. “She was a powerful knight.”

“And?” Aiden urged.

“And nothing,” Valdan said. “Two nights later she was found dead from a mugging in some useless alley.”

That was definitely ominous.

“What level was she?” Aiden asked.

“A hundred and sixty-one.” Valdan shivered visibly and lowered his voice. “Talking to the kid ever since has been like walking on thin ice. Luckily, no one has ever reported that the boy had requested anything outlandish.”

“He could walk into the kitchen and other for a meal fit for ten people and the chefs would rush to it,” Elaswit said. “But he doesn’t do it. The only instructions he gives are the messages my dad sends. But if my dad is sending him, then you best believe it is of the utmost importance.”

“People don’t really like coming across him,” Valdan whispered. “It usually doesn’t bode well.”

Aiden almost felt sorry for the boy. There was no way this entire fear people had for him didn’t isolate him.

“Well, he’s just a kid, Valdan. You should try treating him like one every now and then.” Aiden picked up his pace until he was walking next to the boy. Valdan and Elaswit followed easily. “And princess, are you sure you should be here?”

“We are going to see my dad,” she said. “And no one said anything about him wanting to see only you.”

The boy looked up at the three of them and Aiden gave him an easy smile. The boy said nothing, returning his attention to the path in front of him.

They were at the king’s study before long.

When they arrived, the king’s announcer looked at them as if he was looking at the impossible.

The boy turned when they got there and left.

“What?” Aiden asked the man.

The man shook his head. “It’s nothing,” he said. “It’s just that the people the boy brings are usually three steps behind him, like he’s got some kind of infectious disease.”

“Oh, that,” Aiden made an unbothered gesture with his hand. “Sir Valdan was just having a fun conversation with the boy about the mysteries of living fish as a gift.”

Valdan’s face turned a blank and Aiden remembered that he had a living fish that was probably dead now lying on the ground somewhere in his room.

Very unhygienic.

“Sir Knight, Princess.” The announcer bowed. “A pleasure to see you today.”

With that, he opened the door to the study, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

A moment later, he opened it again and stepped out. “The King will see all three of you.”

The King’s study was exactly the same when they walked in. They took a few steps into the room as the announcer closed the door behind them, following Valdan’s lead. When they were at a point that was arguably the center of the room, Valdan took a knee.

Aiden and Elaswit followed.

“My king,” Valdan greeted.

Brandis let out a tired sigh. “Sir Valdan, I will be happy if you did not teach my daughter the bad habit of kneeling before me when we are alone.”

Valdan bristled slightly, like a soldier scolded by his superior officer. “My deepest apologies, my king.”

Brandis groaned and ran a hand down his face. “Always serious, this one. You may rise.”

“Because you’re the one scolding him,” Elaswit pointed out as she stood up.

“I am always reminding him to be free whenever he is in the study,” Brandis complained. “But it’s like pouring water on a rock. Nothing comes of it.” His eyes shifted over to Aiden. “Lord Lacheart.”

Aiden bowed his head. “Your grace.”

“How was your travel?”

“Fruitful.”

Aiden watched Brandis’ eyes move towards his blackened hand.

“Is that cause for concern?” Brandis asked.

Aiden moved the hand, acknowledging the fact that he knew what the king was talking about. “For now, no.”

“And who is going to tell me how it happened?”

“Teleportation,” Elaswit said quickly. “And I would ask that Lord Lacheart be banned from using the teleportation centers going forward. I believe teleportation has a bad effect on him.”

Brandis’ brows furrowed at that as Aiden did his best to contain his frown.

“Is this true, Lord Lacheart?” Brandis asked.

“It is easier with each teleportation, your grace,” Aiden said.

Brandis sighed. “Can we disperse with the whole your grace and my king thing. If you have to refer to me in our conversation, I’d rather you use sir or something.”

Aiden and Valdan shared a look.

“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.

Brandis pressed his lips in a thin line. “So terribly in sync. Why am I not surprised? Now, about this effect. Valdan, tell me about it.”

And Valdan did.

He spoke of the bleeding and the drop in life stats. Valdan spoke slowly and simply, choosing his every word carefully. He was very articulate and missed nothing in the way of details.

When he was done talking, Brandis was nodding in understanding.

“Is it safe to say that the encounter is making you stronger or that it has less of an effect on you the stronger you get, Lord Lacheart?” Brandis asked.

“Less of an effect, sir,” Aiden answered.

“And would you say you can teleport again?”

“Yes, sir.”

Brandis nodded. “While that is good to know, I have come to the conclusion that you will no longer be using the teleportation center until we better understand what is happening to you.”

Aiden bowed. “Understandable, your grace.”

“Good,” Brandis’ gaze went back to his hand. “And what has happened to your hand?”

“We do not know,” Aiden answered. “Only that it was like this when I returned from the teleportation back. For now, there is nothing significantly odd about it—”

“Except that my interface calls it a thing when I use the detect skill on it,” Elaswit was quick to add.

Aiden understood that she was only doing her duty as the daughter of the king and maybe looking out for him, but right now she felt very much like a snitch.

She gave him an apologetic look as if she was doing something he didn’t like for his own good.

Aiden swallowed his dissatisfaction with her presence, reminding himself that unlike Valdan, she was not an active part of his life in the palace.

Brandis stroked his beard. “I see. Elaswit, love.”

“Yes, father.”

“You are dismissed.”

Elaswit paused. “I’m dismissed?”

“Yes, darling. Please see to your maids and your mother. Your mother tells me that in your absence they’ve been quite lax in their duties.”

Elaswit frowned in dissatisfaction but did not disobey. She gave her father a bow at the waist and took her exit.

“Sometimes I wonder which is more difficult,” Brandis said when she was gone. “Being a father or being a king.”

No one gave him an answer.

“So,” he leaned forward, arms rested on his desk. “I have heard a few things about your time in the manor.” His voice took on a deeper baritone than usual. “A trip to a cave, my daughter going missing, the Mage Radiant, a very terrifyingly described duel, and a [Saint]. It seems like you’ve been busy, Lord Lacheart.”

“Nothing of my choosing, your grace,” Aiden said, slightly worried.

“It matters not.” There was something ominous about Brandis’ tone. “Tell me everything. Then we will speak of your hand… and your friends. But before that, now that my daughter is gone, is there anything else you would like to share about your hand, a benefit perhaps that might guide me better in my decision regarding your subjection to teleportation magic?”

Aiden nodded. This was one of the two fun things he’d found out about the arm. Normally, he would’ve kept it a secret, but with the [Sage] lurking around, there was no point to it since it was also part of his personal detail.

But what made it truly interesting was the fact that it had given him something that humans on this side of Nastild did not normally possess.

“Yes, your grace,” Aiden answered, drawing a surprised look from Valdan.

“And what is this benefit?” Brandis asked.

“I cannot say if it is a benefit,” Aiden began. “But a new category has been added to my personal detail.”

Brandis interlocked his fingers in front of his face. “That is worrying. And what category have you been granted.”

Aiden couldn’t help but stare at the new category, and what he’d been granted. He’d only known of one way of gaining the category as a human, and that was by having the [Enemy of the Order] fuse the [Heart of Nosrath] with you.

So his current situation—just like ending up in a different world during a teleportation—was entirely out of his expectations. The category and what it brought with it ,however, was as worrying as it was intriguing.

[Trait]

[Spatial Crack (Lvl 49)]

An anomalous disruption in reality. You have gone through space and have been corrupted by its touch. You have ventured where none should and survived.

[Effect: Spatial affinity]

[Effect: Skill pending…]

“I have gained the category [Trait], your grace.”