“Back!”

Aiden spun, hands weaving a quick sign. His interface flashed quickly.

You have used [Enchantment of Lesser Speed]

Then he darted away, blitzed through the distance so that the swords came down on nothing. When he came to a stop, it was amidst a small cloud of dust.

He gave Valdan an incredulous look. “What was I supposed to do with 'back'? They were coming at me from all sides.”

Valdan shrugged. “I called out the most fatal attack.”

“That was a distraction and you know it.”

Drax was panting hard. “And you still managed to escape it.”

Beside him Letto dropped to sit down on the ground. They’d been sparring for an hour straight and Aiden was impressed with their growth. Anita dropped her shortsword and joined Letto on the ground.

“Can’t believe the clone didn’t work,” she muttered.

Aiden held his hands in front of him. The effect of the enchantment was still flowing through him. Speed remained in his muscles, waiting for him to make a move. With normal enchantments, there was a trigger to them, an off-switch of sorts. All you had to do was cut of your flow of mana to the enchanted item and it would seize as long as it was not the kind of item with an area of effect function.

For Aiden, however, [Enchanted Weave] did not work the same way. So he had to be careful of which enchantments he used and when. Valdan said there were skills like that but as the mastery increased, he would learn how to deactivate it.

Aiden really hoped so. The last thing he wanted to do was use a lightning enchantment and be unable to turn it off when his enemy decided to turn up with a bucket of water.

The wooden sword he’d used was chipped and cracked, suffered under the weight of all the blows he’d had to parry and defend. He tossed it aside.

“Can someone tell me why Ted hasn’t been joining us these past few days?” Anita asked.

It had been a week since the ball, a week since Aiden suggested Drax and Anita be added to his training with Valdan.

At first, the Knight had simply gotten them other soldiers that could help with their training, but today was their first time sparring against Aiden.

As for Ted, Aiden could still remember how the conversation had gone. Ted had turned him down politely. As eager as he was to get strong, he wasn’t that eager.

“He’s not interested,” Drax said. “He was nice about it, though.’

“And Sam?” she asked.

Aiden didn’t remember inviting Sam.

“I don’t remember inviting Sam,” he said.

Letto gave Aiden an awkward look. “I did. But he refused. I think he really doesn’t like you.”

I don’t like him, too.

“Ever figured that there might be a—” Aiden cut himself off with a deep breath as the speed slowly ebbed from his body.

He felt it the moment it was all gone. As for inviting Sam, Letto hadn’t done anything wrong. Not entirely. Yes, it was not his place to extend the invitation without Aiden’s permission, but Letto was often everybody’s friend. He always wanted to be.

But that wasn’t Aiden. And try as he could, he wasn’t willing to help Sam get as much power as he wanted. It didn’t matter how much of the future he changed.

Drax would be an enemy of Ted if Ted became the Demon King but he was still a good person. What Sam became was a far cry from a good person. Call him biased, but Aiden couldn’t shake it.

And I’d kill him again if he tries to walk that path.

Aiden ran a tired hand through his hair and checked his [Life] stats.

[Life]

[Health 100%], [Stamina 42%], [Mana 15 %]

He still had a long way to go with his enchantments. The mana requirement for each enchantment when he used [Enchanted Weave] was almost double the mana requirements for activating an enchanted item. Which meant he had to work with lesser enchantments when using the class skill and support it with enchanted items.

“How exactly does that clone skill work?” Letto was asking Anita as Aiden checked his stats.

“It’s an effect of the [Doppleganger] class,” she answered.

Aiden turned away from the group as Drax’s attention went to Anita’s explanation. Taking a stroll in Valdan’s direction, he pulled up his interface.

[Name - Aiden Lacheart]

[Species- Human]

[Age – 19]

[Class- Weaver Lvl 14]

[Class Skill]

[Enchanted Weave (Mastery 12.20%)], [Walking Canvas (Mastery 08.00%)], [Locked (Mastery 0.00%)(U)]

[Affiliation]

[Kingdom of Bandiv].

[Title]

[Goblin Slayer], [Defier].

[Skill]

[Tongue of the Visitor (Mastery 100%)], [Basic Swordsmanship (Mastery 57.03%)], [Unarmed combat (Mastery 42.90%)], [Resilience (Mastery 50.03%)], [Mana manipulation (Mastery 21.03%)], [Keen eye (Mastery 99.99%)], [Basic Enchant (Mastery 45.04%)], [Dagger-wield (Mastery 14.33%)], [Quiet movement (Mastery 64.00%)], [Light steps (Mastery 89.19%)], [Awareness (Mastery 100.00%)].

[Stats]

[Dexterity 6], [Agility 5], [Mana 7], [Speed 8], [Perception 6], [Strength 3].

[Life]

[Health 100%], [Stamina 42%], [Mana 16 %]

“Sir Valdan, I need you to do me a favor,” he said as he approached the knight.

“And what would that be, Lord Lacheart?”

“Throw something at me when I—”

Something flashed at him, quick as a whip, and Aiden ducked away from it. His eyes followed it and found that the item was small, almost unnoticeable. A small pebble.

He stared at Valdan mouth agape. “What was that for?”

“Was it not what you wanted?” Valdan asked casually. “You wanted me to throw something at you when you least expect it.”

“Yes, but…”

“Did you expect it?”

Aiden frowned. “No.”

“Then I believe I have done you a favor. Did it suffice?”

Aiden was already looking at the notification in front of him.

[Congratulations!]

[You have gained perfect mastery!]

[Keen Sight (Mastery 100.00%)]

“Yea,” he answered.

Valdan nodded. “Then you’re welcome.”

With that, he glanced over at the others. They remained conversing.

[Foundational skill with perfect mastery detected.]

[Multiple foundational skills with perfect mastery detected.]

[Congratulations!]

[You have achieved perfect mastery in the necessary foundational skills.]

You have gained skill [Detect (Mastery 02.10%)].

He pulled up his skills once more.

[Skill]

[Tongue of the Visitor (Mastery 100%)], [Basic Swordsmanship (Mastery 57.03%)], [Unarmed combat (Mastery 42.90%)], [Resilience (Mastery 50.03%)], [Mana manipulation (Mastery 21.03%)], [Detect (Mastery 02.10%)], [Basic Enchant (Mastery 45.04%)], [Dagger-wield (Mastery 14.33%)], [Quiet movement (Mastery 64.00%)], [Light steps (Mastery 89.19%)].

Now that he had the basic detection skill, he was one step closer to leaving the palace. [Keen Sight] and [Awareness] were now simply a part of him, passive benefits of the [Detect] skill. Once he got [Quiet movement] and [Light steps] to perfect mastery, he would get the [Stealth] skill.

Then whether Brandis likes it or not, I’m out of here.

He spared one glance at Drax, Letto and Anita. They may or may not be fine in the end but that was not his problem right now. They had two to three years before the chaos kicked in. After all, there would be stray demons lurking around before the Demon king.

“Hey, Aiden!” Anita hollered at him.

He folded his arms, still standing beside Valdan. “What’s up?”

“Did you hear about the mock battle the king is setting up?” she asked. “It’s like us against Derrick’s team.”

“I did.”

“You know you’re on our team, right?”

Aiden had been giving it a lot of thought and he’d already made a decision on the mock battle. He was currently the highest level among them as far as he knew and there were still some of them that hadn’t gotten to level 10 yet. Letto being one of them. After his encounter with Jang Su, another part of the timeline had changed.

Brandis had changed his plans.

The first thing the king had done was have both groups go out under supervision and start working on their levels. Most of them were already close to level 10 so it hadn’t been too time consuming.

Aiden had paid attention to almost none of it. His only interest was in Drax and Ted. True to what he knew, Drax unlocked the [Knight] class which gave him superior mastery over sword and shield. Ted unlocked the [Summoner] class which gave him mana affinity and tilted his [Charisma] skill towards monsters of certain kinds along with human beings. Those remained the same as they had been in Aiden's past timeline.

Aiden turned to Valdan.

Before he could say anything, the Knight shook his head. “You will not be participating in the battle.”

“Does that mean…”

“Yes,” Valdan nodded. “The king has granted your request. He has given you leave to explore beyond the capital city. To the South, as you requested.”

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

Valdan put his hand to the hip of his shield and a small enchantment engraving came alive in the softest blue. His hand dipped into it and pulled out a rolled up parchment. The parchment was held together by a piece of twine that was sealed with the engraving of the king.

Valdan handed it over to Aiden, and he took it but didn’t open it. In the past week, he'd discovered that more time spent in the palace while waiting for their first quest was simply a waste of time. So he'd switched up his plan a little, moved his destinations around.

“In there is a letter to the Naranoff house,” Valdan said. “They will be your host for the duration of the time you will spend there. Also, you have been granted clearance, by that letter, to use the teleportation center.”

“What of my request for a companion?”

“All you have to do is pick a companion of your choice. The letter accounts for a plus one. So anyone will suffice as long as they agree.”

Aiden looked down at the parchment.

You have used skill [Detect].

…

Item: [Royal Decree]

King Bandis the fourth has penned a royal decree instructing that the wielder of this decree [Lord Aiden Lacheart] be granted all necessary requirements and extended hospitality by House Naranoff. This is to be extended to any plus 1 of his choosing at [Lord Aiden Lacheart’s] discretion. Refusal will be seen as disobedience to the crown.

The [Detect] skill was amazing. Official documents like this possessed some level of interaction with the system. As such, he didn’t have to open it to know its contents as long as he possessed the [Detect] skill.

If this had been penned by someone without an official position sanctioned by the system or someone that was not a scribe, the best the skill would’ve gotten him was probably that it was a rolled up piece of paper. At a higher mastery it would’ve gotten him more. And if whoever penned it in an official capacity had chosen to place a secrecy enchantment on it, it would’ve gotten him less.

Aiden tapped the paper against his hand in thought. Now he just had to speak with his plus one.

“When will we be leaving?” Valdan asked with what seemed like a reluctant tone.

Aiden blinked. “You’re coming with me?”

Valdan paused. “Am I not?”

“Why would you be?” Aiden gestured at the other three people seated on the ground. “You’ve got your work cut out for you while I’m away.”

Valdan’s helmeted head tweaked downwards.

“I thought…” he muttered, letting his words trail off.

Aiden cocked a brow realizing what was happening. “You thought you were my plus one?”

Valdan nodded.

Aiden chuckled, then patted Valdan on the arm. “Oh, good friend. As much as I would love to go with you, I had someone else in mind. Besides, if I take you, who would train these children?”

“We heard that!” Anita shouted over the distance.

Valdan looked from her to Aiden. “Isn’t she older than you?”

Aiden shrugged. “They’re all older than me. I think I’m the youngest of all the summoned.”

Valdan disagreed. “You’re nineteen. I’m sure there is one of you that’s eighteen.”

Aiden had no idea who that was. The youngest Aiden remembered was Letto, and the boy was older than him by a few months.

“Anyway,” Aiden said. “Someone has to teach them.”

“They can be returned to their respective teachers.” Valdan folded his arms, there was something petulant about the stance. “Private sessions were only meant for you, Lord Lacheart.”

Aiden stroked his jaw. “I see.”

“And what exactly do you see, Lord Lacheart?”

“That you actually want to come with me.”

“Wait… what?”

“It’s alright,” Aiden laughed, slapping the armored arm once more. “I’ll see if there’s anything I can do about it. I just thought you wouldn't be interested in leaving the capital that's why I didn't plan for it. I honestly thought you'd like to remain as close to the king as possible.”

Valdan looked down at his arm where Aiden had patted him, then at Aiden.

“It is not that I want to come with you or not. It is simply that I was under the assumption that I would be coming with you, seeing as I handle all your tutorship.”

“You don’t handle my magical lessons.”

“You do not study magic, Lord Lacheart. You do not have the affinity for it.”

Aiden looked at the knight through narrowed lids. “Touché.”

Valdan shrugged and looked away. “Merely stating a fact, Lord Lacheart.”

“Well, I learn enchantments and you don’t play a part in that, so there.” Aiden stuck his tongue at him, surprising even himself with the childish behavior. He still wasn’t over the fact that two lifetimes and he still couldn’t learn magic. “Anyway, if my plus one refuses, I’ll consider having you for my plus one as long as you have no problem with it. We can practice my French while we are at the portal.”

“French?” Valdan asked, confused. “What is that?”

“The language of love, Sir Valdan,” Aiden said, then started making his way for the exit. “The language of love.”

Now he needed to speak with Ted. The mock battle would be useless to him. The time Ted would use to prepare for the battle would be better spent preparing for the rest of their stay in Nastild.

Besides, he needed to get them ready for the first quest the king had for them. After all, nobody had known the town had actually been cannibalistic and he wasn’t going to go giving out information that would put him under more suspicion than he already was.

The fact that Brandis was yet to summon him regarding how he had the information he had on the Nel Quan envoys when he, the king, didn’t have it, was still troubling Aiden.

…

“What do you mean you don’t want to come?”

Ted was lying down on Aiden’s bed, playing with what looked like a small fire breathing lizard. It had green scales and the head of a bearded dragon. It was also as long as Aiden’s forearm.

Ted ran a finger along the top of its head and it spat out a tiny gust of flame.

“Do you know that the flame lizard has the potential to grow as large as a horse?” Ted said, still rubbing its head.

“And a jepat can use its feces like fired projectiles. It is their preferred way of combat against smaller opponents.” Aiden came and sat beside Ted on the bed. The flame lizard hissed at him and he smacked it on the head with the parchment to deter it from any unruly behavior.

The summoned creature scurried away from him, moved closer to Ted.

Ted gave him a look. “Isn’t that document supposed to be important?”

“It is, but aren’t you supposed to be happy to leave the palace?”

Ted rubbed the creature’s head once more before it slowly started dissipating into smoke. Ted waited until it was completely gone.

“Three minutes,” he noted with a frown. “Too short.”

“What level are you?” Aiden asked, genuinely curious.

So early into being a summoner, three minutes for a summoned creature was a good number.

Rather than answer, Ted waved his hand as if casting a spell and an icon appeared above his head.

[Theodore Lacheart—Summoner (Level 15)]

Aiden just stared.

He had a lot to say about what he was looking at. An entire book worth. But his mouth was momentarily too stunned to speak.

He’d literally gone through a small army of goblins and killed a Goblin Shaman. He was level 14.

In your defense you’re supposed to be level 17.

It was a logical excuse but it still didn’t make sense. And he’d been thinking not very long ago that he had the highest level amongst all of them.

I guess pride always comes before a fall.

Still, that was that and this was this. Aiden brought them back to the conversation at hand.

“You still haven’t told me why you won’t come with me,” Aiden said.

“That’s because I like the palace, and the people, and where I am.” Ted made a gesture with a finger and a geometric sign appeared in the air then burst into smoke. “Also, there’s a small mock battle Brandis is setting up and I really, really want to whoop Derrick’s ass.”

When the smoke cleared out, there was a massive spider on the bed. It was one-foot-tall and almost three feet wide on account of its long and thin arachnid legs.

It turned, multiple eyes looking around as if it had no idea where it was. Ted gave it a friendly wave when it looked at him.

“I also made friends I’ll miss if I go,” Ted continued as the spider slowly crawled up to him. “So you go. I’ll be fine.”

Aiden was a little stuck on the sight of a spider cuddling his brother’s face as if it was a totally normal thing as he got up from the bed.

One of the things Aiden had been hoping for was to use their time on the road to explain his situation to Ted. They’d spent enough time together since coming here, and while their bond was not as strong as it had been in his previous life, it was strong enough.

At least Ted would ask questions but wouldn’t discard him as someone with a mental case. But that plan was now a bust.

“Alright,” Aiden conceded with a sigh. “But how about we take a stroll outside the castle walls before I go.”

Apart from the goblin hunt they hadn’t been outside the castle walls together. If they wouldn’t travel together, then this was his chance to explain to Ted.

Ted looked at him, squinted in thought. Then he hummed thoughtfully. It was as if he was considering a reason for going out. As if he knew all the reasons they would spend time together outside the palace and was weighing if he was interested.

In the end, his answer was simple and nonchalant.

“Nope.”

Aiden halted his steps towards the door and turned. “What?”

Ted turned and laid on his back. “Nope.”

He popped the word enthusiastically as the spider took its time climbing on top of him. The sight gave Aiden a very wrong feeling. He didn’t know if Ted liked spiders.

“Why not?” he asked, then pointed at the spider. “And that’s creepy.”

Ted raised his hand and scratched the spider behind its head.

“It is?” His face was thoughtful and his hand paused mid-scratch before continuing. “I guess it is. But I’m a summoner, summoned animals are quite literally my arsenal. I can’t say I won’t summon a snake because most people find it terrifying. Or a spider because it’s a bug. If it works, I’ll use it.”

Aiden saw the sense in that. Besides, he only pointed out how creepy it was because it was creepy.

And the spider isn’t what’s creepy, it’s that he’s treating it like a dog.

“You didn’t answer my question, though.”

Ted moved his hand from the spider’s head and it dropped its body on top of him, nuzzling its head against his chest.

“Aida,” Ted said, unbothered by the spider. “We’ve spent every evening together hanging out for the past month. I know it’s good that we’re getting closer because God knows we were a mess back on earth, but we can’t hang out all the time. Apart from the ball and when you went for that your contract you told me about, when last did we spend an evening apart?”

Never.

Every evening they ate their dinner and Aiden and Ted just hung out in their room. Most of the time they didn’t even do a lot of talking. They were just present.

“Judging by the look on your face, you have the answer to that question.” Ted’s head was hanging over the edge of the bed so that he looked at Aiden upside down. “Which means that I’ve spent all my evenings and nights with you. Now you might enjoy hunting for power and going to bed, but I enjoy female company and getting laid. It might make me sound like some kind of sleaze but I haven’t gotten laid in two months.”

Aiden raised a finger while wanting to say something, then dropped it. What was he going to say?

“Do you need the evening to yourself?” he asked in the end. “I can always spend the night in your room if you think my room would be better.”

Ted cocked a brow. “What?”

“I thought you wanted to get laid tonight. Nastild doesn’t have protection but there are actually enchantments that help with that whole thing. Or you can always pu—”

“Don’t make this awkward, brother,” Ted sighed, interrupting him. “We are not going to talk about the birds and the bees as if we’re both virgins. I know for a fact that you are not, and in case you don’t know, I am not. No one’s getting laid tonight. Anita and I are just hanging out. That’s all.”

Aiden heard everything but was more focused on something else.

“What’s it doing?” he asked.

Ted looked at the spider on his chest. It had four legs pressed against the sides of its head.

“It’s emotionally linked to me,” he answered. “It’s a summoner thing. I guess since I really didn’t want to hear what you were saying it really doesn’t want to hear what you were saying. Since I was going to cover my ears, it covered the side of its head where there would be ears if it was my head. You know, for someone who spends a lot of time in the library, you really know nothing about summoning.”

Aiden knew a few things about summoning. And that level of connection didn’t show up until around level 50 when a manifesting class skill was gained.

Maybe that’s why he grew so fast, Aiden thought. His class was already a powerful version of itself from the beginning.

Aiden conceded with a sigh, then opened the door.

“Where are you going?” Ted asked.

“Out,” he answered. “I need a breath of fresh air that’s not palace air.”

He also needed to talk to Valdan about being a plus one since Ted wasn’t going. Since the trip was in two days, they’d need some time to get set.

Maybe not Valdan, but Aiden definitely needed some time to pack.

…

Queen Rue Brandis sat quietly in her chamber, sewing.

The space was large and simple. Blue walls served as a backdrop to a room with a simple desk and a simple chair. There was a massive rug with the design of a nettlek with its six cute and furry limbs and big round eyes and its fluffy body.

Rue Brandis wasn’t one for the dragon designs the palace knew and loved all the time.

The light in her room was dim, the bulbs that littered the walls to grant illumination turned off. Her only source of light was from a candle that sat atop what was supposed to be her reading table. But she wasn’t a reader like her husband so she guessed it could just be called a table.

“Come in,” she called.

The door to the room opened. Her guest peeped inside the room as if expecting to see someone else before entering and closing the door behind her.

“I’ve told you to stop doing that, mother,” her daughter, Elaswit, chided her softly. “It scares the maids. Even if your class allows you feel every living thing around you, wait for the person to knock.”

Queen Rue paused her activity and looked up at her daughter with a fond smile. Everyone said Elaswit looked a lot like her and she agreed. The only part of her that she’d gotten from her father were her amber eyes and her strong ability to be very uninterested in the kingdom’s politics.

Elaswit was very much like Brandis in the problem solving department, give her a weapon and point her towards the problem. It was a simpler solution than silver tongues and false smiles.

Elaswit locked the door behind her and took a sit on one of the chairs, eyes on the piece of cloth on her mother’s lap.

“What’s that?” she asked.

Rue raised the cloth up for her daughter to see. It was thick and beige and so far she had sewn a geometric design into it.

Elaswit cocked her head to the side trying to make heads of the design.

“Is that an enchantment of… nope.” She shrugged. “Got no idea what that is.”

Rue turned the embroidery to look at it, then paused. “Oh, I got the lenal inversion wrong.”

She folded up the embroidery then placed her thread and needles on the table.

“Sorry about that,” she said. “Still trying to get that life enchantment working.”

“No, mother, there’s already a healing enchantment,” her daughter disagreed. “What you’re trying to do is create a life enchantment. I know you’re a powerful enchanter with a life affinity but people don’t invent enchantments. You know that.”

Rue sighed. Only a powerful enchanter could birth a strong child with no sense of adventure. Sometimes she blamed how she’d raised Elaswit and her other children for the way they were. Her and Brandis were taking a different approach for their third child, and at sixteen, not yet blessed with his own interface, he was already dreaming big.

He was the one that gave her the idea she was currently using for her attempt at creating a life enchantment. Very much unlike her daughter.

Elaswit sat before her with her hair worn down. It was brown as her mother’s and long, and she moved it so that it fell down one side of her shoulder. She was not as pretty as Yul Kwen from the Nel Quan kingdom, but she was plenty beautiful.

And Rue did not believe it was a mother’s bias.

“You were the one that called me, mother,” Elaswit said after a moment of being stared at. “And if you want me to go talk to some pompous Lord’s child to dissuade him from making some stupid decision, then the answer is no. I’m still getting stupid letters from the Darnwis boy in the west. What makes him think you can court a self-respecting woman with letters thought up and written by your scribe?”

“It is about a young Lord—”

“Nope,” Elaswit interrupted her mother, rising from her chair. “Not doing this. Young Lords are the worst lords.”

Rue sighed. Her daughter was often impatient and she had no idea where she got it from.

“Sit child,” she said softly. “Before I enchant you into a cripple for the duration of this conversation.”

Elaswit froze.

She looked at her mother with part worry and part disbelief. “You can’t do that… right? There aren’t enchantments for that… right?”

Rue laughed.

How she loved her kids and their various reactions. Derenet, her first, wouldn’t dream of cutting their conversation short in such a way, and their last would simply think of what enchantment would counter the possibility of a crippling enchantment.

“You have no idea what an enchanter of my level can do,” Rue told her daughter with a fond smile.

Elaswit frowned. She had realized it was a joke and a cautioning at the same time.

“And what level is that, mother?”

Rue cleaned her lap of left over threads. “Lower than your father’s and significantly higher than yours. Now take a seat so I can tell you about what I require of you.”

Elaswit’s frown never left her face but she took her sit.

“Now,” Rue sat forward. “What do you know about the young Lord Aiden Lacheart?”