Alex felt bad for the waiter, who was berated for entirely too long. While he didn’t feel the need to step in himself, he found it odd that none of the Peacekeepers stepped in to make Rylan back off.

Is it because he’s Elana’s brother?

When the man had his fill, and the tension in the room had built to a peak, Rylan excused himself and said he needed to go get entirely new clothes. The waiter hung his head low and walked into the kitchen.

The buzz around the room after the large man left was filled with gossip and speculation over what had happened. Sam let out a breath after the situation was over, and Alex placed a hand on his head to ruffle his hair.

Annoying, huh?

“Scary,” Sam sent back.

You want to hang out with Val?

“Here?”

Sure. Why not? The people here are all Awakened, and he’s probably stronger than everyone here.

Sam smiled and nodded energetically.

Alright, Val. Come on out. Don’t eat anything unless Sam or I give it to you. Got it? You’ll be in big trouble if you do.

The mana wyrm flew out from his hiding spot on Alex’s arm, where he’d been using an illusion to blend in. He soared up and did several loops around the ceiling before making a lap or two around their table. Sam laughed and reached his hand out to the flying companion.

Some attention was drawn to their group due to Valtherion’s excitement. Mark and Sarah perked up at Val’s appearance. After interacting with the companion over the last few days in the apartment, they had come to love his energy and mannerisms. Mark was convinced that the wyrm was part dog and doubled down once Alex made the comparison to a pug with his large black, round eyes.

A short time later, more familiar faces appeared at their table. John Riley and Ian approached and said hello to Alex while introducing themselves to everyone else. Alex was glad to see them both doing well but could tell that John was upset by something. He mentioned later that the red-headed woman in his party passed away during a Rift the week before.

Even though they weren’t that close, Alex felt for the man. He was friendly and clearly cared about his team, which had been obvious to Alex since they’d first met. When he looked at Ian, he noticed the younger man was more serious than the last time he’d seen him and carried himself differently. He now had a scar across the bottom of his jaw that came up an inch onto his chin.

That must have been a tough fight.

Alex’s own face itched as he looked at Ian’s scar. As the conversation continued, he opened up and Alex did see some of the same brotherly goofiness he’d seen between Ian and John. The two seemed to relax even further as Olivia rejoined the group.

After doing a few laps at Elana’s side, she was able to take a break for a while. “Hey, John. Hey, Ian. What’s up?”

“Hey, not much. Glad to see our favorite bookworm, here, hasn’t gone and turned into monster food.” John gestured at Alex and winked. “How’s work?”

“It’s good, everyone’s in a pretty good mood. Elana is tense though, this whole thing tomorrow is really stressing her out.”

“The thing with Taker?”

“That’s the streamer?” Mark asked, finding an easy entry into the conversation.

“Yeah, she’s worried that it’ll go really wrong and that it’s going to give the Hunters Association more ammunition to crack down on private groups like ours or normal people trying to enter Rifts.”

“I still don’t even get how it’s gonna work,” Ian said. “Doesn’t he get that electronics don’t work in Rifts?”

Olivia shrugged. “I’m sure a ton of people have told him. He’s said on his stream that they have something prepared specifically to help the cameras work inside, which is why so many people are excited to watch his stream. Elana has had several members of the Guild try to reach out and offer help, but he’s cut off almost all communication other than his streams.” She rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know; he just keeps saying that he’s got the location of a remote Rift, and only he and his camera crew are going to go in. Everyone else can, ‘enjoy the show.’”

She had only been back with the group for a few minutes when Rylan made his appearance at the top of the stairs in a new set of clothes. Olivia groaned and rolled her eyes.

The large man made a scene of everything he did as if he loved the eyes and attention on him. There was a difference to him, though, as he descended the main set of stairs. Rather than a menace, he seemed like an enigmatic noble greeting his court. There was an odd sort of gravity that interested people. He greeted a group of three other large men, and they walked over to a table that had been reserved for them.

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Despite the fact that he’d just so clearly been a complete asshole to one of the working staff, Alex noted that the party seemed to grow livelier around Rylan now that he was in a good mood. Several other smaller groups approached the man and his friends as they lounged, sharing drinks and jokes.

Alex took the time to inspect the man with his normal vision. He had long blonde hair and a perfectly defined jawline. He had broad shoulders and large muscles, which Alex guessed was partially good genetics and partially due to a high Strength stat. He was now dressed in well-fitted, athletic leisure clothes and wore a gold chain around his neck. Through his left eye, Alex could tell that there was mana coming from two of his rings as well.

Enchanted items?

“Why are you guys letting him act however he wants?” Alex asked, watching Rylan closely.

Olivia sighed and covered her face. “It’s stupid politics. He’s Elana’s brother, but it also came out recently that he’s been the one providing most of the Guild’s reliable information about the System. He doesn’t write the articles, but he pays someone else to and has been keeping it a secret for a while now. When it came out that Rylan was the one to provide all of the useful information on the System, Rifts, and classes, he gained a ton of popularity. Or at least, people want to get close to him to learn more about his skills and how he got so much information. I doubt anyone actually likes the oaf.”

Alex nodded along.

Now I’m sure he has access to a high-rarity Rift. If it’s got a sentient race in there, like the sects, then they likely gave him the information. The question is, why hasn’t he shared the Rift with the guild or even his sister?

“And honestly, even if it weren’t for that, there are several Moderators who do like him. They want to try and bring him on to the team as a Peacekeeper because he’s apparently really strong. Ugh, I’d hate to work with him.”

“Yeah, I don’t feel like giving power to that dude is a smart decision,” Mark mumbled.

Alex watched him for a few more minutes but lost interest. He reminded Alex of the council members who threw their weight around, even though they didn’t have the power to back it up. The difference was that Rylan did have physical power over most people in the Guild, and it looked like he enjoyed lording it over people.

One of his conversations with Eura echoed in his head as he said aloud, “Not all power is physical.”

“I miss Eura,” Sam said.

Alex ruffled Sam’s hair again, and the boy scowled at him before fixing his hair and glancing nervously at Olivia.

I miss him, too. He was always so calm and strong.

“That’s true,” Olivia responded. “But in this case, he really does have physical power. It doesn’t help that some of our higher Peacekeepers have gone more of a mage route than a fighter route.”

“Why does that matter?” Alex asked.

She looked at him strangely. “You haven’t heard? Everyone has been talking nonstop about how much better it is to be a physical fighter compared to being a mage.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Since you get health and a generally stronger burst of power early, a lot of the warriors are leveling fastest of all the groups.”

“I guess that makes sense. What about healers?”

“Healers?” She blew air from her lips. “Almost nonexistent. I know a lot of the Recruiters have been trying to hang around the hospitals to see if any pop up, but there have barely been any. Those who do usually get scooped up quickly.”

Sam stiffened imperceptibly to his side and grabbed the back of his sleeve.

Val flew down and greeted Olivia with a head butt before continuing to do laps.

“Anyway. Rylan definitely perpetuates that idea, flexing his high-level and fighter class on anyone that butts heads with him. Even if the Peacekeepers wanted to step in, it would be hard to subdue the man. Elana is normally the one who has to reign him in, and that’s just because they’re close. She’s not any kind of combat match for him.”

Hearing the discussion of immediate power reminded Alex of his talks with Eura about structured and unstructured magic. He knew that immediate power wasn’t everything, but it could make the difference of living long enough to gain power down the road. After seeing Eura’s power and getting a better perspective on just how weak they were on Earth, he felt that it wasn’t at all surprising that people believed physical fighters using skills were stronger than most mages.

“You’re stronger than him.”

Alex just smiled and turned to Sam, only for the boy’s eyes to widen, and Alex looked over his shoulder to see Rylan approaching their group. Alex pulled his mana in a bit tighter on reflex.

Oh, joy. Can’t he just stay over in his corner? God, I hate bullies.

“Olivia, my sister’s favorite Peacekeeper,” Rylan said, using the term in a clearly mocking tone.

“Rylan, my boss’s favorite headache.” Olivia answer. She had a tight smile on her face but didn’t seem concerned to Alex.

Rylan made an ‘oooh’ sound, clearly enjoying the banter.

He probably thinks that she’s flirting with him, not insulting him to his face.

Alex forced down a smile and turned his back to their conversation. He knelt down in front of Sam. The short teenager was already looking at the loud man with slightly widened eyes. Alex put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him from the kneeling position.

Sam. You’re okay, buddy. This is very different from before. You’re safe with me. I promise.

Sam nodded in return and sent back the feelings of hesitant confidence.

Alex made sure to keep eye contact with the boy for a few seconds before nodding happily.

Good.

From his spot, Alex stood and looked at Mark and Sarah. The two were clearly uncomfortable after seeing the scene Rylan had made earlier and didn’t want to draw his attention to them.

Valtherion, sensing the mood, swooped down and did a loop around Rylan’s head. A large, meaty hand swiped through the air, though it wasn’t even close to hitting the agile mana wyrm.

“Friend?”

Haha, no. We call someone like him a prick. Say it with me, Val.

“Prick!” Val said in time with Alex.

This time, he couldn’t suppress his smile, and it seemed to show through his mask. Rylan reacted to his confusion and embarrassment with anger.

“What is that thing? You brought a monster with you?”

“Knock it off, Rylan. You know it’s a bonded companion. Stop looking for a fight,” Olivia said lazily.

His mock outrage turned to a smile then. “But I like to fight. Besides, I only came over because Jason saw that there was someone using magic over here.”

Maybe he’s not an idiot, then. He did that to see if I’d take the bait.

Rylan stepped forward, likely expecting Alex to move back. But Alex stayed where he was and let the man invade his personal space. He was a few inches taller than Alex but shorter than Mark.

At the thought of his protective friend, Alex looked at Mark who looked as if he were going to leap across the table any moment now. Mark wasn’t paying attention, but Sarah was looking right at him. Alex gave a small shake of his head, and she seemed to get the message. She placed a hand on Mark’s arm to calm him down.

“Hey, don’t look over at them. You and I are talking now.”

Alex smiled, “Okay. Sure. Let’s talk.”