_________________________________________

Leo

Leo was standing over Slessi, regret and sadness hammering at his heart as he looked down at her deceased body. After he attempted to kneel down to get rid of her collar, he was pulled away from her lifeless corpse and lifted in front of a figure completely made of black smoke. The shade's eyes shone through the darkness that enveloped them, and blazed as a brilliantly bright blue glow.

He tried to scream, but the sound of bone snapping brought him into another setting.

Elaria was on her knees crying over Glia, and the shade was standing right behind her. It slowly turned its head to regard him, before snapping its fingers, and the two selarin were both engulfed in flames. They became ash within seconds as he futilely ran to save them, but another snapping of bone brought him somewhere else.

The human was now standing in the inn, laying on his back next to Kesl, who was crying as his niece's lifeless corpses were off to the side. Another snap pulled him away before he could process any more of his situation.

Fel was in front of the shade, kneeling down as she shook with terror, her hands and tail missing as she cried. Again, he attempted to help, but was just pulled into the next horrific scene where he was floating next to Vesta and Sel, who's heads twisted around when they didn't respond to the shade.

The shade walked up to him while he screamed in a pained rage, but it simply cocked its head before another snap popped him somewhere else.

Leo was in a crowd of faceless mages, looking up as all of his friends and loved ones floated helplessly above the gate, while Fel was in a crater just in front of it. He tried to push desperately through the crowd, but when he finally got through, every one above was gone and Fel was a metal statue.

Dropping to his hands and knees, Leo wailed in anguish as the shade walked up to him, the malevolent black mist trailing behind it. He looked up at his tormentor, all the will to fight having left him. The shade knelt down to his eye level, and the smoke pulled away from it to reveal his own face.

His other self sighed, shook their head, and then snapped their fingers.

…

Leo woke up back at the inn, laying in bed with Fel as she held him close to her chest. He was shivering in a cold sweat, as she softly ran one hand across his back and the other through his hair.

Only after he began to rapidly calm down, adrenalin falling in equal measure, did he start to recognize the situation. “I guess it was too much for me to hope that your little pep talk and a bit of fun would magically heal all that mental damage…” He joked with a morbid undertone, his voice a little shaky from the horrifying nightmare.

Fel tightened her embrace, and tilted his head back to look down into his eyes. “It's more than I ever got. But yeah, It's going to take some time for you to fully come to terms with it.” She reassured as she continued to stroke a soothing hand through his hair.

Leo's own eyes softened as they drifted off within Fel's, the light catching on them as he could make out his reflection. “How did you manage it?” He asked with a deep unease, concerned with how his mirror dealt with something like this.

His summoner let out a half hearted laugh, practically oozing self pity. “Alcohol, ugly crying, and a whole lotta sex. Definitely not the best remedy, but I made due.” She admitted with a slight apprehension overshadowing her attempt at levity.

The human chuckled sympathetically, appreciating her trying to distract him. “Don't know about the first two, but that last one definitely relieved some stress.” He shifted up to be completely eye level with Fel and gave her a light kiss. “And thanks for at least softening the blow, even though my emotions and subconsciousness are going to be fucking with me for god knows how long.”

Fel giggled, the pleasant sound making him reflexively smile. “You're welcome, but you should know that I wanted it just as badly. I just wish I could walk right, I basically had to crawl to the bathroom a few hours ago.” She remarked while smirking at her own misfortune.

Shaking his head, he pulled away from her embrace. “Well, at least my nickname has a new meaning, gonna have to come up with something for you at some point.” He playfully teased while taking a deep breath as he sat up right to stretch his arms.

Sitting upright alongside him, Fel pulled back her silky smooth silvery strands of hair. “Good luck with that.” She paused to give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Well my dear paper dragon, mind assisting me in washing off as well as helping me go upstairs? I'm starting to get a little hungry, and I don't want to slip in the shower, or fall on my face trying to get to the dining area.”

With much of the aftermath to deal with today, he was going to take the little pleasures where he could get them. Which is why he tossed off the sheets and used magic to help him bridal-carry Fel to the shower, who very much enjoyed it, as she snuggled into his chest like the spot was made for her.

…

When they finally freshened up and headed up stairs, everyone else was already there, apart from Allis who said she would leave early to the base. The forgetful human immediately noticed the looks that they were getting and realized that, yet again, he forgot to cast a sound spell.

He closed his eyes and scowled at the ceiling for a moment. ‘I swear to god, I will enchant every door in the inn when I get the chance…’

After setting Fel down at Glia's table, he tried to see if he could do anything about her legs. He winced at the injury, and again attempted to slowly regrow them with magic a number of ways, but the spell failed every time.

‘It seems that only a general understanding of anatomy isn't enough to help the spell go through. It might be that I also need to read up on selarin physiology, but the information here would probably be too primitive to help with this, and I know for a fact that there aren't any books on full scale cellular regeneration just lying around…’

A resigned and deeply dejected sigh escaped his lips, before he lifted himself up from kneeling in front of her injury. “Sorry Glia, but it seems I'll have to come up with something else so you can walk again. Maybe enchanted wooden legs? I could make them fully customizable… Internal storage… Survival systems… Hmm… Would that be alri-” He was cut short by a very excited shout.

“Magic legs?! Hell yeah!” The black scaled selarin yelled with a child-like smile spreading across her face while pumping a fist in the air.

Leo was taken aback for a moment, but chuckled at the display. “Glad you're excited, but it might take a few weeks, since I have a lot of other stuff on my plate.”

The selarin nodded in understanding, the scales on her head glinting as they caught the light, which only contrasted heavily with the dull and burnt ones around her thighs. “That's fine. The town needs you way more than me at the moment, so take your time.” She paused to show a very smug and slightly lustful smile. “Now tell me about how you slew a dragon.” His first thought was about Rak, but her expression told him exactly what dragon she meant.

“I'm sure my conquest can fill you in on the details…” He tilted his head toward Fel and smirked, the conquest in question rolling her eyes with a slight scoff, but the smile on her face betrayed her own amusement.

Leo left the two and stepped over to Sciesch and Kessa's table, wanting to know what the guild might do given the current situation. Sciesch avoided eye contact as he approached, and seemed a little irritated while she somehow blushed through her crimson complexion. Kessa meanwhile, was eyeing him with what appeared like both intrigue and a little trepidation.

“I'm guessing you heard as well…?” He remarked with an exhausted sigh.

Kessa snorted, her chest bouncing slightly at the sharp movement. “Kesl told us about the sound spell you usually use, but even if you did, the faint tremors that everyone felt through the walls would have caused us all to go check up on you two anyway.”

‘Right, I increased my strength...’ - “Okay, but what's up with you?” He asked the restless looking tiefling directly.

Sciesch pouted while she used a fork to pick at her breakfast, seemingly unaware of how she should eat her butter toasted grilled cheese sandwich. “You said that you'd get to her after me, so when I heard all that last night...”

Confusion racked his mind while he tried to process that there was now a fucking queue. “Ah… Uh… Sorry? I'll make it up to you later, promise.” He reassured the sullen tiefling, utterly unsure how else to resolve…that.

Sciesch's tail swayed as she perked up a little. “Alright. So, did you need something?”

He took a seat at the table, shifting the back of his cloak to the side as he sat. “I wanted to know what the guild might do with how things are at the moment, now that word is spreading about who I am. I have a few guesses, but I'd rather hear from people that actually work for them.”

Kessa furrowed her brow as she folded her arms underneath her breasts, making them rise in a very provocative manner. “Well, since the purge of Telnar failed, they would start demanding reparations from Selaria. They lost a lot of coin here, plus with you no longer hiding, they would probably condemn Selaria to get on your good side, maybe even start increasing prices to punish them or something.”

The summon raised an eyebrow at that. “Really? I mean, I know that they want more of the crap that I can make, but would they really go that far?”

Sciesch nodded in agreement with Kessa, while she thoughtfully twirled some of her hair. “Knowing how pissed the guild was when they were locked out of the Archive, I wouldn't be surprised if they pull out of Selaria all together. They would bend over backwards to get anything you can make.” She finished before taking a bite out of her sandwich, eliciting a small little moan of delight as her tail wagged happily.

The fact that he was so valued now made him realize that he was going to be treated like a chess piece by other political powers. “If that's the case then I'll make sure to take full advantage of their generosity while I can, before I cut ties. I get a strong feeling that they aren't much of a bleeding heart, you know with the whole slavery thing.”

Kessas visage became somber. “Right, Slessi…”

The name struck a cord deep within him as an image of the selarin's lifeless body flashed across his mind, and he let out a pained breath as he abruptly got up from the table. “I guess I'll see you later. I've gotta talk with a few more people before heading out to check in at the base to see what I can do to help the town.” He said before taking his leave for the bar, where Elaria was talking to Kesl and his nieces.

Kesl directed a somber looking smile toward him as he approached, but then his expression twisted into a slight frown. “So, you enjoy yourself? I hope my bed was comfy.” The mountain of a man remarked in irritation as he tapped his dulled claw like nails on the bar top.

The comparatively tiny man arched a brow at the now very uncomfortable situation he found himself in. “It was…soft.” He responded while guiltily avoiding direct eye contact with his physically intimidating friend.

Vissa and Tissa couldn't suppress their amusement, as the two brightly colored selarins giggled uncontrollably at the situation. “Come on Kesl, who else could say that a dragon got fucked silly on their bed.” Vissa remarked with a hand on her mouth, trying futilely to suppress her enjoyment at the pair's expense.

‘It seems like I'm not the only one finding enjoyment where they can…’

Kesl sighed disappointedly while he stared down at Leo, his expression seemingly resigned to the fact that there was nothing else for it. “I guess, but that won't stop me from burning it later. Anyway, sorry for keeping you up Elaria, here's the food for you and Glia.”

Elaria thanked Kesl as she grabbed the large breakfast tray, before giving Leo a stern look. “I haven't forgotten about how you requested, again. I'd pull you away now to talk about it, but I have a feeling that Fel would want to join in as well. So I'll be waiting at the table with her and Glia.” She chastised before walking back to Glia's table.

Leo coughed awkwardly. “Sorry about the bed, explains why there was a bit more furniture in there…” He grew a little more concerned. “Also, I wanted to check up on you guys and see how you're holding up.”

Kesl rubbed the back of his neck, the muscles of his forearm bulging slightly beneath his dark green scales. “Eh, the bed's just a little thing, not really that bad, especially since you saved us. As for how I'm holding up? Well I'm pissed, but I am not gonna let some sick sleeves plague my thoughts, I would just be letting them hurt me from the grave.” He declared with a firm resolve.

Leo gave the green giant a comforting smile before he turned to leave, but slowed his pace when he heard Vissa blurt out a very predictable request. “Hey Leo, wanna fuck?” She asked, which prompted Kesl to slap the red scaled selarin upside their head.

An exasperated sigh left him as he raised a thumbs up over his shoulders while continuing toward his destination. “Sure, I'll add you to the list. But if your sister wants a piece, then I'm taking you both as a pair.” He answered while continuing to walk away, hearing the squealing delight of the two selarins behind him, as well as a very audible facepalm from Kesl.

When he finally returned to Glia's table, he overheard Elaria talking to Fel. “And that's pretty much the issue with him.” Elaria finished with a hand rubbing her temple, while Leo took a seat at the table and was fully aware of exactly what the two were talking about.

Fel shrunk in a bit, as she sheepishly scratched at her horns. “That's definitely an issue, but I think that also might have come from my own desires...” She admitted, while everyone around the table cocked their heads and let out a confused and simultaneous. “What?”

The dragoness sighed as she straightened up to explain. “Not many people know this, but we dragons are one to one. So in terms of emotional commitment we mostly bond with a single partner, but due to a combination of our males having such long cooldown periods and females having insanely low fertility, we treat sex as just a casual outlet for stress. And here's where my selfish desire comes in… I think I wanted someone who surpassed those deficiencies, while being committed to me alone.”

Elaria gave Fel a sympathetic look. “I can't fault you for that. It's basically every woman's small fantasy to have a man all to themselves, but in actuality it's just not practical or all that stable. The issue with Leo is that he constantly seeks my permission, when it's just sex. Since his world has no deficiencies, the culture he came from treats sex in a completely different way when it comes to relationships. And I've tried to look at it from his perspective and it's fucked, especially with their birth rates. Like how are you even going to have the time for sex if you're just two parents with more than three or four children, and then risk even more children to take care of when you give in, it's no wonder they value it differently!” She finished with incredulity, the green scales on her face scrunching up in irritation.

Fel looked at him with abject pity, which made him frown at the expression due to feeling as if he was being looked at like a mistreated animal.

“Hey, I'm getting better, I even have a list now!” He remarked defensively, assured in his openness on the topic, but mentally baffled that he was even in this kind of situation.

Elaria deadpanned at him. “Fucks sake, you shouldn't even need one. Just take the woman wherever you can find a private space, not every encounter needs to be scheduled on a bed, especially since you can go more than once in a day.”

Fel nodded in agreement. “Leo, with how you are, it would annoy any woman to ask constantly. For us it would be like asking permission to drink alcohol. You're an adult so of course you can. Please don't think about it too much and just let loose, and I know your holding back, because if I was transported to a world of mostly horned up males, then I would want to fuck every good lay that I'd have time for.”

Leo opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words to defend himself, knowing that Fel would just see past his excuses, so he just threw up his hands in defeat. “You know what? Fine, fuck it. Next time I'll just bend someone over a table when we're alone.” He paused to let out an exasperated sigh.

“Since that issue has been thoroughly beaten into me, I'd like to talk about my feelings for Fel, because I definitely would like more than just something physical with her. Now that I've accepted that we're so alike, I can't help but be drawn to her. I wouldn't openly admit this before, but she's beautiful, smart, funny, kind, and stubborn in a way that drives me crazy. In a good way.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The woman in question became slightly sheepish, a faint blush arising from her cheeks while she started shifting in her seat and fiddling with her small and delicate looking hands. “Yeah, I feel the same way. Even though I know it's a bit messed up that I kinda just pulled out what would be the perfect man for myself, I still want to ask to be a part of your relationship, because if I'm going to do this, then I want to do this right.”

Elaria's head swayed between the two in mild consideration, before she leaned forward in her chair to prop her head up with a fist. “Sure, I don't mind you joining at all. In fact, you two are so similar that it feels almost redundant for you to ask.” She paused to let a sly smile show through. “It's like I get to be with a female version of Leo too.” She finished playfully.

Fel scoffed, closed her eyes, and tilted her head up in mock condescension. “This isn't his world, so if anything, he's a male version of me.” She ended with a smile that betrayed her ribbing display.

Leo thought about retorting, but instead he got up, walked over to Fel, picked her up into another bridal carry, and brought her into a deep and passionate kiss. “And that is what I mean about driving me crazy.” He remarked after the loving kiss, and Fel went beet red, but smiled warmly as she snuggled up to him in his arms.

Elaria seemed to have slumped a bit at the openly affectionate display, which didn't escape Leo's notice. Shifting Fel to be perched on one arm, his magic making the effort trivial, he pulled Elaria onto his other arm and gave her the same passion filled kiss. “Just because you're abstaining from the physical, doesn't mean I'm leaving you out of the emotional.” He told the blushing selarin, who was about to speak, but was cut off by Fel leaning over and passionately kissing her too.

Leo arched a surprised brow, and a smirk played across his face at the now very flustered woman. “And don't forget, I'm part of this relationship now too.” Fel reminded her after breaking the kiss.

The pleasant and emotion filled moment was ruined by a single comment from their silent spectator.

“So if you two are so alike, wouldn't you be like, fucking your self?” Glia questioned curiously, which resulted in the three immediately deadpanning at her.

…

After breakfast, Leo and Fel left to check in with Vesta and Sel to see if they could help in any way they could, while Elaria stayed with Glia back at the inn.

When they arrived at the base, they were met with makeshift triage tents scattered all over the wide street outside, and busy bodies were speeding in and out of the main building.

Since Leo and Fel revealed themselves to the world already, neither of them cared about wearing disguises or keeping their level of magic hidden anymore. As the both of them flew down to land near the front of the base, everyone within view slowed down or froze for a moment at the sight of them.

As they walked past a few of the tents, Leo noticed some other races besides selarin that were mixed into the number of injured. Elves, dwarves, a tall four armed amazon, and a group of short large eyed cyclops caught his eye before he entered the building.

Walking into the war room they headed toward the main table, where Vesta and Sel were giving out orders.

Leo was going to be as brief as possible in interacting with the two, not wanting to hold them up from their duties. “Vesta, Sel, what's the extent of the damage, and is there anything you'd need us for?”

Vesta handed a selarin some papers, then turned to address him, and he noticed that she had a few bandages over her shoulder and collarbone, though her arm didn't seem to be broken, so it was probably some medicinal treatment. “Casualties are at two thousand and still counting, we estimate the number to be somewhere between four and five when we've finished combing the town, but we can only hope for less. As for structural damage, Sel?” She prompted her to take over, as she turned to address a few other selarins.

Sel paused what she was doing to lift her head up from the slightly scattered paperwork on the table, before continuing where Vesta left off. “Most of it is aesthetic, aside from the two buildings that were damaged from the dragon fight, as well as the roof on the local guild branch that's missing for some reason.”

Leo guiltily broke eye contact, which didn't escape Sel's notice, as she closed her eyes and let out an exasperated breath. “That's that mystery solved I guess. Well, as for what you can do. We need healers, messengers, or a strong arm to help with digging a pit for all the bodies. We would start burning, but then we would need to find all that wood to help fuel it, and as you may have noticed, selarins prefer to work with stone.”

Fel stepped forward to address Sel, who reflexively took a step back and prompted Leo to note that she was still more afraid of her even after seeing him literally rip a dragon's wings off. “I'll start helping the injured.” The dragoness paused to address him. “Allis could probably use my help, but I think you should go assist with the bodies, given how you can alter terrain in an instant.”

The summon gave her a resolved nod. “Alright, I'll go do that real quick, then come back to help with the injured.” He turned to Sel. “Also, could you spare some time to talk later today? I still need to speak with you about a position that I think you'd be good at.”

…

When the human flew out to the mass grave site, he saw about a hundred people digging and handling the bodies, stacking them up in a long deep hole.

Something about the whole way the dead were being buried got under his skin, and so he went over how many could be given their own space to lay as he looked out over the field. Seeing that there was just enough space for what he wanted to do, he began casting a spell that would dig out two hundred, six foot deep graves that were spaced out by a foot. He used his magic to pull away the bodies from the previous hole, as well as many from the massive pile, and laid out two hundred of the dead in each grave, then filled them back up.

He frowned deeply upon seeing the long row of unmarked graves, so he pulled up a fifty foot smooth pillar of stone out of the ground and cut it into two hundred blank tombstones to place over the graves.

Looking between the two hundred graves and the rest of the two thousand dead that were already found, he felt an indescribable sadness hollow him out as he set to repeat the process twenty five more times.

Swiftly done, Leo flew down to the crowd below, the mass of people having stopped their work to watch him do in seconds what would take them weeks straight if they wanted to give everyone a proper burial. He needed to tell the one in charge of the effort that he left half of them unfilled for those who were yet unfound, so all they would need to do is place the body and fill the hole.

The woman started to cry and thank him deeply, as well as many of the other people there, because now all their close friends and family who were killed would get to have a proper grave. Her reaction broke his heart in two separate directions, proud of helping them, but guilt ridden with not having stopped the massacre in the first place.

He truly didn't feel like he deserved such thanks.

The internally conflicted man gazed out onto the field, and felt that something was missing, something that didn't quite seem to pay proper respects. He realized what it was after staring at the blank tombstones, and set to cast one more spell to pull a hundred foot long, seven foot high, thick and smooth cut stone wall out of the ground.

He told the woman in charge that since the graves themselves were unmarked, due to either the bodies being mutilated beyond recognition or there being little time to go over every one they found, then people could chisel their names into the wall.

The woman was so over taken with emotions that she hugged Leo in complete disregard for the magical power he displayed, crying her thanks into his shoulder. He stayed at the gravesite for a few minutes to comfort the woman and oversee the effort, before leaving to help Fel and Allis with the injured.

A mournful and guilty pain ate at him on his way back, causing him to close his eyes and confront it. ‘No, this wasn't your fault. They attacked without even being aware of me or Fel, so that would have been their response anyway… But maybe if I didn't speed up Yez’s plan… No, don't do that. I can't get stuck in the past even if it is my fault, I need to learn from it and do better. I will not let another massacre like this ever happen again.’

…

Leo met up with an exhausted looking Allis when he arrived back at the base, the serpentine resting on a bench while drinking some mana filled water, having already healed nearly a hundred people. He noted her somber and mournful visage, a deep sadness showing around her eyes.

“How are you holding up? I didn't get the chance to check in with you at the inn.” He probed while he took a seat next to her, wanting to take some time to comfort her.

Allis's hood drooped while she stared at the cup in her hands. “Not good… I lost someone I was becoming close friends with… Watched her get killed right in front of me, and I just can't seem to shake the sight out of my mind.” She responded a little shakily, and he shifted closer to wrap an arm around her shoulder.

The selarin leaned further into his comforting hold, tearing up as she began to tell Leo about the herbalist. He silently listened with the occasional encouraging comment, because sometimes that's just what people needed when experiencing a loss. When she was done, he told her about the monument that he created at the grave site, and that she should place her friend's name there if no one else does.

A faint smile crossed her lips, seeming better than before, but still understandably shaken. “Thank you for just listening. you're a good man.” She finished by giving him a peck on the cheek.

“It was my pleasure to help, and if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask. I'll be glad to listen.” He told her before heading off to help Fel with healing as many people as they could.

About two hundred people needed his aid, mainly those in critical condition or thought to be lost causes. If they were back on earth, many of these people would have been in hours of surgery with no guarantee, but he managed to heal everyone he attended due to his understanding of general physiology being a lot more in depth, and magic being a hell of a drug.

As a consequence of playing magic medic, he got to learn a few new things from idly chatting with his patients. One thing that stuck was that on the other side of the mountain was a main elven trade route, and that his estate was situated at the base of said mountain. The rough trade route connected to a large river that connected to a whole host of fresh water shipping lanes, and the massive network was the backbone of elven travel and trade.

Although he could easily punch a building-sized hole through the mountain, it would more than likely escalate things with the dwarves if he went out of his way to accommodate the elves. The smartest thing to do would be to let them both expend the effort to invest in Telnar, as opposed to showing favoritism.

But he knew that it was only a stalling tactic, and that trying to play neutral Switzerland would eventually fall apart the moment either one decided to take a swing at Telnar. The main problem was sustaining that neutrality for as long as possible, which meant politics, and he hated politics.

Fortunately he possibly had someone who might fit the bill.

…

After a few hours of healing, when it seemed like his assistance was no longer needed, he went to have that talk with Sel.

The selarin was still going over paperwork next to Vesta, while giving out the occasional order, but the frequency of the busy bodies definitely slowed down from this morning. “Sel, could I speak with you in private for a minute?” He asked the somewhat occupied woman, his choice only being reinforced by how she seemed in her element.

“Even I can guess it's important, but I'm busy right now, so to save you some time I'm not interested if it doesn't let me help Telnar directly.” She responded tiredly, only sparing him a cursory glance before returning to her work.

“Is being in charge of Telnar direct enough?” He propositioned smugly after casting a sound barrier around the both of them.

An audible snap of wood sounded as she broke her pencil, while the dull yellow scales on her head creased from her brow arching way up. “Wait, what? Do you mean like an assistant, or advisor?” She questioned as the work in front of her was seemingly forgotten.

“No, I mean in charge of Telnar, as in all of the town, and all of the surrounding territories. I think the position was called lord, but since we're independent it's probably closer to royalty now.” He answered very casually, and very bluntly.

“Why?” She stared at him in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

The human cocked his head, taking a moment to think before responding. “Going to assume that it's a general question you're asking, so let me try to hit all the points. First reasons pretty simple, managing piles of paperwork and everyone else's problems is the last fucking thing I'd ever want to do. Secondly is that you have your moral compass on straight, because you seem to genuinely care for this town and its people. And lastly, you are probably the most qualified. You've been in charge of the guard here for what I assume to be years if not at least a decade or two, so you know it's problems and it's people better than anyone else I could find. All in all, if you say no then I might be shit out of luck on finding anyone more perfect for the role. So what do you say?” He finished his explanation to a still somewhat disbelieving woman, leaving out the part on how her willingness to help Elaria had bolstered his opinion of her.

Sel looked to be deep in thought for a few moments before answering. “Alright, I'll do it, but I don't want the position to be seen as luxurious or decadent as nobility, much less royalty. I want to have the job be seen as being a service to the town and its people, I don't want the next person after me to start abusing their power after I'm gone.” She stated with a layer of conviction, which caught him a little off guard, but his face lit up at the declaration.

“Oh I can help you with that, but only after things start to settle down a bit, then I'll introduce you to the wonderfully bureaucratic world of democracy.” He remarked with a chuckle, but was pulled out of the moment by a tap on his shoulder.

The summon released his sound barrier as he turned to see Vesta, who wore a confused expression. “I didn't want to interrupt, but some of my troops found something that you might want to check out.”

…

A tinge of excitement and curiosity was going through his mind as he flew toward the mystery object's location. ‘Hmm, if it's floating and they use it for transportation, then it could have some complicated float system, it's not like they know what gravity is. But why is it made out of metal? Maybe it's just the base, so it could support heavier objects. Wait, why would it be box shaped? That doesn't sound like a very appealing thing to travel in for a spoiled noble. Eh, I'm all most-’ His thoughts halted when a very strange and very modern looking object came into view.

The soaring human cocked his head while squinting at the thing, unsure if what he was seeing was actually real or not. “Is… Is that a magic bus?” He muttered in utter confusion.

Landing next to the large and rusted metal bus, he simply stared at it in both fascination and bewilderment. ‘This…isn't from this era.’ He thought while inspecting the floating curiosity.

It looked like a large windowless coach bus, being about forty feet in length, twelve in height, and entirely covered in a layer of rust that would make any smith sick at the sight of it. It seemed like it had landing gears, or stubs from what would be the wheels, as there were eight metal spikes that were positioned where there would be. The strangest thing is that it was actually floating, which halted all other observations, as the modern look of the vehicle meant only one thing.

‘This might actually use gravity, and if it uses gravity… Then it must have a mana rune!’ The thought excitedly pushed him past the befuddled soldiers who were standing guard over it.

The interior was gutted and lavishly decorated with sofas, silken threads, carpets and more. He rolled his eyes at the sight, noting that this was more like what he was expecting. Looking at the driver's seat, he saw some runes underneath the frame of the steering wheel, causing him to furrow his brow at the rusted metal circle.

‘The hell is this thing made of to survive for- Fuck, probably at least a few hundred thousand years.’ It was amazing that the enchantments even worked with all this rust.

Feeling out the mana connections led him to the center of the bus, where there seemed to be a decently large interconnected system. He casually flung the carpet out of the way, revealing a rusted hatch, which he eagerly set to prying open with mana enhanced strength.

It was the equivalent to an engine compartment, and it did not disappoint. A few dozen large runes were neatly scattered about the cabinet-sized space, and he was immensely pleased that all the connections were very organized and easily inferred.

The burgeoning mage took out his journal and flipped to the back, where he had a list of translated runes, and immediately he saw that one of the larger ones was the gravity rune. Touching the rune, he felt several connections to it, but he ignored any that were only attached to the gravity rune, because both the mana and gravity rune would have connections to the control system up front, which narrowed his prize down to three other runes.

Placing a hand on each of the other three runes, he felt out the connections between them. Upon seeing them all connected, he thought about how he would simplify a way to use mana on gravity in a rune system.

“Wave, layer, mana, and push would be the main controls, so…” He muttered as he created the small runes to swiftly eliminate the last two, and a wide smile appeared on his face as he found his prize.

The elated man thoughtlessly removed all the connections from it and then cut out the plate it was on. “At least those sick fucks left something of value behind. There is a lot I could do with-”

The bus around him started to shake violently.

“Uh oh.” His eyes went wide and his gut sank, realizing that he did a very stupid thing.

The spooked human bolted out of the bus, pulling the two gaurds with him as he flew a few hundred meters away from his newest major fuck up. He stopped to put up a large mana shield around them all, and hoped that the people of whatever era the bus came from created some kind of failsafe against a complete idiot pulling out the main stabilizer. The bus continued to shake more violently, but then stopped and gave off a happy little chime before it flung itself into the sky, completely blinking out of sight within seconds.

Issue out of sight and out of mind, he directed his attention to the rune in his hand and narrowed his eyes at it. “Right, nothing to stabilize the gravity rune, so it flew up just like my pipe… Whelp, at least I got the impo-” A loud explosion could be heard from up above, a massive wave of force separating some of the clouds.

The startled human looked at the rune in his hand, then up at the parted clouds, then back to the rune, then at the soldiers who were staring at him with their mouths agape. “Carry on...” He said with a poorly practiced salute, right before rocketing off back to the town.

…

Shelving the bus incident for a later date, Leo went back to helping out around Telnar. After a few hours of assisting those he could, he returned to the inn to turn in for the day, as well as getting some dinner. Upon walking into the inn, he saw everyone gathered around a table, chatting amongst themselves while some were enjoying a meal.

A slightly content smile crossed over his face as he walked toward the group, recalling everything he went through since being brought to this new world. Nearly dying in the woods, meeting Elaria, learning magic, becoming insanely rich, helping out the inn, fighting Fel, becoming leader of a rebellion, the rage at the massacre, stepping out into the open, and all the new friends and loved ones that were made along the way. He went through one hell of a short journey, one that was definitely still not over. And it wasn't all bad either, some of them were enjoyable experiences.

Lower half entered the chat :

Lower half : ‘Especially the sex!’

Lower half left the chat :

Leo chuckled as he took a seat between Elaria and Fel, as the first question he asked when arriving at this fantasy world finally got its answer.

‘You know, I think I am where I'm supposed to be, despite all my small exploits’

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