Jake laid Kiki down on the ground as he waited for one of Eric's people to return. The fight had finished over an hour ago, and within that hour, Jake had managed to get a good distance from that place, even running into a group from Eric's party. It took the man another hour before he returned with what looked to be the same ship that the crazy Venetian took. It landed not far from Jake, when ten people ran out of it and straight for Jake, each wearing black tactical gear and their weapons drawn, looking for threats.
“Sir, we have been informed of the situation and are here to transport you to the closest teleportation sites Sir Alric set up. There are healers on standby waiting for you on the other side." One of the men with a red cross on his arm picked up Kiki and took her to the ship, followed by everyone else. Jake, including even his human handbag, came along for the ride. An hour later, the ship was hovering over the town of Shepparton as they waited for clearance to land at the old aerodrome, now turned military base. The ship slowly descended over the field, its thrusters swivelling down as it closed with the ground, dust and fire swirling in the air, until finally a hard thud was felt throughout the ship and the roaring engines went silent as the doors opened up and the group departed all at once, the medic taking Kiki while the rest took up defensive positions. Jake was the last to leave the ship, other than the pilot and the two men who were now questioning Jake's captive. Jake didn't know why he even took the lady, nor could he remember why he even came back to Earth. There were only two things going through his head, repeating like a broken record: one was the loss of the only person he loved and trusted, and the other was the fact he couldn't help Kiki. Even after he found her, he didn't have potions, as that was the domain of his wife, and all his healing powers were mostly based on healing himself. This left Jake with only being able to watch as one of his friends slowly died in front of him. But what was really hurting him was the fact he couldn't even think of a way to fix this shortcoming. Jake was realising his skills were aligning with a certain path, and it was a path of self-reliance. As Jake walked towards what looked to be a gymnasium, he pondered over his new epiphany, and it left Jake with some hard decisions to make about what he was going to do.
The moment Jake entered the building, his eyes opened wide as the walls, floor, and ceiling were covered with red glowing runes and what looked a lot like magic circles from an anime. The moment they entered, every rune activated, flooding the room with light. Then Jake's body demineralised from his feet up. Jake felt as though he was being ripped apart atomby atom, and once that feeling faded, he felt as though he was drifting in the endless void until finally he arrived at his destination, but it wasn't as Jake thought it was since it felt as though he was in that void for hours. Jake got the idea that he was headed to another solar system, but no, he was still on Earth, and not only that, he was at the meeting hall in his first territorial claim. Alric stood there watching as people rushed over to look after Kiki. Jake, on the other hand, walked up to the giant of a man.
“How did you know I needed help? I thought you were working on things in the other territories.”
“I just got a bad feeling. So I came over to this world and began finding out what had happened. Once I learned of Lady Kiki, I began working on setting up a teleportation system; so far, there are only two gates online and one destination. While working on the destination pad, I realised I was unable to fulfil my original plan to connect all the territories. Sir, may I ask where Jayne is? I don't sense her within the territory; is she in space or on a mission somewhere?”
Jake's expression went from a false smile to its true state of sadness and anger.
“Is something wrong, sir?”
“Yes, something's really wrong; my wife was abducted by some fucken dragon.”
“Lady Everval was taken, and you said it was a dragon. I've never heard of that species before. Do you know if they are close to your territory? Maybe we can—”
“Not a fucken chance there; not even within the system's domain.”
“System's domain? What is that?”
“This system that's been fucking us over.” Jake pulled out a book and threw it over to the man. “Is the fucken kid from this bullshit. At least that's what I believe, and I guess the power they are talking about in the book is actually a method to collect potential from other people.” Jake opened his arms wide. “This is the point of it all; we have been feeding the kid our potential so he can be more than the cripple from the story. But what I don't get is why all those people that climbed the tower keep joining him; they must know what will happen to them.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Am I right to say there is a level of power higher than gods?”
“Yes, there has to be. But I'm not even sure that the grades are even counted like that; it could all just be a holdover from the system. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to vent like that.”
“No, that's fine; I could use the distraction,” Alric said.
“What's wrong? Is it something I can help with?” Jake asked, hoping the answer was no.
“Actually, I think you can help with one of my problems. There's been a lot of territorial incisions lately. I would like you to use the teleportation circle with a few of my inscribers to set up locations for quick response teams to use.”
“How about, while we're at it, we set up some outposts at the sites?” Five said from Jake's shoulder.
“That's actually a good idea,” Jake saidmockingly.
“What do you mean by that? I have good ideas all the time. Say, just yesterday, I came up with a perfect sandwich.”
“How did you make a sandwich?”
“I never said I made it; it was just an idea, but I tell you, even just the idea made my mouth salivate.”
“Fuck you! I haven't tasted anything good for years, and you're talking about sandwiches. The last thing I ate was some meat on a stick,” Jake said with disgust in his voice.
“Alright, you two, I think that's enough. And Jake, you shouldn't be lowering yourself this way. What if people see you arguing like this?”
“So what if people see him?” Five said with some irritation.
“He is the lord of this land, and he needs to set an example.”
“And is it up to you what example he sets? As I see it, you all have been putting so much on him; he needs an outlet, and if that's a silly argument, good. What do you want, Jake?”
Jake thought for a bit, then
said, “I'm not in charge here, and I don't care what people think of me. If they think I'm unhinged, so be it. I'm just going to do what I want, and as for setting an example, I really don't care. I will be setting off on a journey out into the universe soon, so if you have anything you need from me, you better ask.”
“Sir, do you think that's wise? You have a bounty. How are you going to hide that?” Alric said.
“That's something I'm going to leave up to you to find an answer for. All I know is I can't stay here any longer if I want to grow.”
“Sir, I don't like this, but you are right; you won't be able to grow here. I will see what I can find about hiding that bounty for you. I must ask, sir, can you take your human form?”
“No.”
“Then we will need something for that as well. I'll ask Harry if he can find something.”
“Harry? What's he doing now?”
“He's setting up a training post in a neighbouring solar system.”
“Interesting. I think that should be my first stop.”
“That might just work out well for us,” Alric said.
Darkness started to fall over the city as night approached. The city had grown once again, now with tall skyscrapers taking up the centre district, while in the outer districts, the skyscrapers gave way to apartment complexes and construction zones. Jake and Five were wandering the streets as streetlights ignited the night. People travelled mostly by foot around the city, but some had scooter-like objects which they used to zip from place to place, delivering items and letters to people.
“Must be some kind of mail service.”
Jake turned around a corner to a street bathed in red light. Under the red light, people were staggering from one building to the next, some with ladies of the night and some with men wrapped around their arms.
“Are these people selling themselves?” Five asked.
“Don't worry about it, they know what they're doing, and without outlets like this, your society will fail before it even has a chance to start,” Alric said from behind them.
Five spun around, startled by the abrupt entrance of the man.
“You scared the crap out of me, glowie man.”
“Sorry, little fox. I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to explain this area.”
“I'm not so foolish to think this kind of thing wouldn't be happening, nor am I stupid enough to think I could stop it. Actually, I might just see if I can find myself a drink or two,” Jake said as he walked deeper into the red-light district, followed by Five. They came across a double-storey building fashioned in an old Japanese style. There were even ladies in kimonos greeting people as they entered; the sign on the door said ‘House of the Pink Blossom’. Jake turned to Five.
“What do you reckon? This one looks a lot cleaner than the others, don't you think?”
Looking back at the inns they passed on the way here, each one looked as if no one took the time to clean up after themselves, and even the ladies of the night were covered in filth.
“I've got to agree with you on this one,” Five said as he moved closer to the door.
“Welcome to the House of the Pink Blossom. We provide a wide range of services in our establishment and have a range of food and beverages we hope will suit your needs. Please enter,” one of the ladies said as she gestured for them to enter. As Jake approached the entrance, an old man hit Jake with his shoulder as he barged past, pushing him to the ground.
“Get out of here; we don't need your filth sullying this place. Go back to where you came from,” the bald old wrinkly man grumped before looking over at the two ladies at the door. “Miss Hikari and the lovely Miss Keiko, it's been so long since I've seen you. By the way, you shouldn't let people like him in here; what do you think your boss would say if she saw him inside?”
“Yes, sir, we apologise for our mistake; please head on in,” Miss Hikaru said. Then she turned to Jake and Five. “I'm sorry for that, sir; please enter, everyone is welcome here. But we will warn you that the House of the Pink Blossom does not allow violence within its premises.” The lady looked down at where Jake was standing; a white line was marked at the entrance, a foot from where he was standing.