On second thought, Xavier was right. As Daniel absorbed more of the ribs, grinding through his taste buds. Upon observing everyone's reaction to the meal, easily aligned with his train of thought.

“This is the dining I would've found out downtown,” Helda commented, tossing the vacant bone into her mini trash beside the edge of the table, adjacent to Rebecca's feet.

Rebecca drank her cup of soda. “I knew you cooked but not what I was expecting.”

Daniel was about to be replete after devouring twelve heavy ribs. “Took me at least six different times to accomplish this dish within three months. First time was as dry as ever. But like the stairs, it slowly gets better each time.”

Mother Elaine wiped her mouth. “I remember you were able to enjoy it despite being insanely dry. You're a decomposer.”

Xavier stared back, implying the brief fuss earlier. “Maybe it's not solely me but you too.”

“Uh-uh. You are half misjudged. He's respectful while you are just barbaric who could care less about common table etiquette, no matter where you go.” Alyssa refuted, pointing her fingers at Xavier’s face. “So, you're inexcusable.”

Stomp!

“Can we move on?! I was looking forward to catching up on things. Save the banter for later!”

Daniel nodded while pushing his empty plate to the side. “She’s right. There will be time for foodie debates and businesses. Since the entire table is present, let’s move on. We all now need to figure out what's next.” He gestured to Alyssa.

“Give me a second,” Alyssa replied in a gentle tone, seemingly calmed down.

The table turned silent as they patiently waited for her to finish her meal. They continued their meals, and Daniel lingered on his seat, quietly exhaling and inhaling when he sensed discomfort inside beneath his lungs. It was touching his bottom ribs and diaphragm.

Blub…blub…blurp.

He placed both hands on his forehead, rubbing to where sweat secreted as his body temperature escalated. Ouch! This is very bad. I don’t know if I can hold it much longer. He guided his eyes around the space and gilded upwards like a bird. Flying to the heights near up to the ceiling, he flew to the spot relative to where Liam wandered off. Abrupt descent, landing hard on his boots. The echo within his throat felt pressuring from in his stomach, blowing up to his throat.

Daniel was mentally calm with a slight break, but he angled his head a little downward to alleviate the force, and a counter-reaction came out of nowhere gushing into his mouth. He identified the dust-colored strands of air, striking the edges of his lips and the oral cavity right along his facial cheeks. His eyes involuntarily widen comparable to pulling the eyelid, exposing the eyeballs completely. He clenched both of his fists and simultaneously flexed his torso.

ROAR!!

An upsurge of blue energy departed his mouth blasting right at the concrete floor in front of him at approximately fifty feet. Crumbs of concrete and scraps of steel coming from a layer underneath the concrete floor flew up and hovered over the beam. Daniel couldn’t stop it as the action was exactly vomiting but replaced with qi. The discomfort progressively dwindled with time, and Daniel witnessed the crater grow wider and wider to the point beyond his peripherals. Somebody make this stop!

Tap.

His eyes could only move. It was directed to his left after feeling the tap on his shoulder.

“Hold still!” Alyssa said, summoning her cloak. She deployed her hybrid of a spear and sword. Daniel saw her left arm protrude through the darkness underneath her cloak, commanding her sword. With the spearlike blade, it faced back at Daniel and generated yellow qi, outlining the blade.

Woah…woah. Let’s not get hasty now.

Her sword with yellow energy caused the area to vibrate and shake violently. Before a blink, the sword deployed a slash in the shape of a wide letter C at the swiping gesture of her left index finger. The curve came on a strike, and Daniel mentally braced himself against the attack.

The move was not pleasant at all, but his body didn't crash as when he first got the taste of qi in his body. For that, Daniel was grateful the body paid off from the long physical work. He knew it as he could still process his mind and the immense brightness coming from Alyssa’s sword started dimming. He felt Alyssa’s grip eased from his shoulders. Long and behold, what laid upon him was a magnificent measure, accounting for the power he generated. That ain’t all from me, was it?

Daniel puffed all out from the deep ends of his lungs. “Was this all me?”

Alyssa strode back to the table and stopped. Her cloak was dissipating glitter as she turned back at him. “Has Xavier trained you anything specific-wise?”

“Was it enough? After two times dealing with me.”

She firmly responded with a little gesture. “You’re one dangerous man I’ve ever had to deal with. I assume you aren’t prepared to deal with cases like this.”

“You know I wasn’t in control?”

“Of course, we all have to go through this at least once to get the gist of it. In addition, I was expecting for it to initiate around when we all are already back at my home, Kriegshan.”

“Kriegshan, I’ll remember that,” Daniel replied in an attentive tone.

“Come on Temperman, we are already holding back time.” She smiled, heading back first followed by the twirling hair flicked as she moved her head.

Daniel headshaked after hearing the nickname again. Just let it be. He thought as he began moving away from the fan-shaped crater.

12.2

Wiping the table clean, Daniel waited as Alyssa spewed showering water from her palm. She let it easily sprinkle across the laminated wood surface. Next, she exerted her fingers outward repeatedly, creating a force of air. The air would then spread out, covering the entire table.

The water is receding. Daniel leveled his head down right along the table, viewing the layers of water shrinking at each second. She, therefore, gave him the nod, and he wiped it in one sweep, leaving no droplets on the table. He eyed the trash can which was quite a distance, and Xavier was at the spot about to burn up the garbage with his crimson-themed katana. Hence, Daniel went for a jump and crumbled the rag before pitched right at the pile of trash. The throw was enough to inflict fire due to the rapid increase in speed. “Hey, Xavier, incoming!”

Xavier slightly nudged back before the scorching ball of cloth struck the trash in the large bin. In response, he unsheathed his crimson katana and pulled a downward slash with a touch of the flames. The katana ejected a vertical line of fire, enveloping the entire piles of trash. Unintentionally, it took the trash bin with it. In as little as ten seconds, the entire waste disintegrated with no remnants left behind.

“Ruining my moment, but thanks!” Xavier yelled.

Daniel descended backward to the living area. “My pleasure!”

He walked to the sofa where others rested. Daniel then sat down with Alyssa beside him. Liam was on the floor lying on the rug with the pillow partially holding his head up. Rebecca was on her armchair with the brace positioning her sore left arm evenly, making her comfortable. Helda, on the other hand, was sitting on a separate sofa, legs crossed, and scrolled through her phone with a grunt on her face as her jaws tensed up. Mother Elaine was partially eyes closed, going through a mild food coma and a slight fatigue from being nearly mortally wounded despite it having healed.

“Finally, time to explain after hours of constant back and forth. Anyway to note off, what happened to Daniel earlier was earlier than I expected. I would have been more prepared after we arrived at Kriegshan but oh well. Thank goodness that the damage over there wasn’t catastrophic.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Daniel has a question in mind. He never really got the premise of the other world before Alyssa’s arrival. A vague sense of appearance and difference of cuisines. He and Mother Elaine were never told an actual explanation of it. Only when Alyssa mentioned Kriegshan did, the prospect started building up. “You know. I’ve been thinking. Xavier never told me or Mother Elaine about why you and him are even here. In addition, he recognized those wound marks on her while in the operating room. I need to understand what has happened. What do you have to say?”

Mother Elaine leaned up, rubbing her eyes to counteract the food coma fatigue. “I want to know too. I was caught off guard and with the house burned down, I thought it was over followed by the heavy slash.”

Alyssa sighed as a sign of knowing what she was referring to. “There was an event connected to that, and I’m trying to investigate why. To this day, I got no answer.”

“What event?” Mother Elaine and Rebecca simultaneously said.

Xavier landed on the rug, barely missing Liam’s leg. For someone who was usually quiet, howled loudly for almost getting his leg crushed. Xavier apologized as he leaned towards the empty side of the couch where Helda was on the opposite side.

“God damn it, Xavier. As always…Back to where I was.” Alyssa faced Daniel. “Remember during the day you got attacked at the venue?”

What? Man, what a day that was. Daniel rubbed his left shoulder where the scar was still there. “That scar is still there. It doesn’t hurt anymore, but it’s permanent. Why? What do you know about them?”

“Those three men that abruptly attacked you were mind-controlled by one of our enemies. When that failed, that same enemy waited for the right time which was when y’all were in the hospital. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t near the area at the time it happened.” She looked at Mother Elaine to her left. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

Mother Elaine’s right gripped on the arm brace, pushing her upward. She leaned closer to Alyssa and Daniel. “Nah, don't blame yourself, young one. Me being alive is already that bastard’s failure,” She responded optimistically. “But, I'm curious. Do you have proof for that?”

Alyssa opened her left hand flat out. Light encircled the center of her palm, immediately summoning a perfect folded blank paper. “Is this the one?” She unfolded the paper, revealing it fully right in front of her.

“You’re ok?” Daniel asked, noticing Mother Elaine frozen. Her lower jaw dropped without moving for a moment, and she dropped abruptly to her seat. Initially showing signs of her, her expression completely changed in a flash into more anger and blurting to the person on the paper photo.

Mother Elaine pointed aggressively, almost wanting to seize the paper. “That bastard! I want a payback by chopping his fucking arms!”

Alyssa jerked her back towards the seat, not expecting her change of mood. “Woah, okay okay. Sorry, I need this for later.” The paper disappeared from her hand.

Daniel saw a glimpse of it. He got the idea of who might have organized the whole ordeal. “He might have failed to reach the outcome but the whole plan was very outlined. I mean I got sidetracked at the venue when I’m usually aware, and the man stabbed me in the back. Mother Elaine getting ambushed, costing my primary home.” He directed the attention to Mother Elaine. “She knew that I’m that type of person before, which was at least a couple years ago before accepting the position of Chief.”

Mother Elaine nodded in reply. Rebecca too, shared the same opinion, revealing her past where she graduated from the same university at the same time as Daniel and was in a Kung Fu sports team. She implied that was likely where he developed his attentiveness to his surroundings. A little shame that Daniel became more loose due to his former job. He originally thought of that for a little while but embraced it at the end. It relieved his mental stress and was internally more adaptable to seek happiness as a result.

“Is he the reason why we have to come with you back to Kriegshan?”

“Right on. Luckily, you have trained enough based on my personal assessment of you. However, I’m concerned about Helda and Rebecca. Have they experienced anything?”

The two denied ever doing so. “Is that a bad thing?” Helda asked, putting her phone down.

Alyssa faintly sighed. “Well. Kriegshan is still under an ongoing war. Our world, Raal to be exact. Kriegshan is just one of the nations involved. Just like Earth has a hundred-ninety-five countries on seven continents, Raal has twenty-three on eight continents and is much more mysterious and curious. While Earth, in my opinion, was very manageable.”

That sounds totally bizarre and less tamed if putting that into perspective. “That’s like comparing us to an ant.” Daniel wondered.

Alyssa wobbled her head with a head tilt, almost wanting to break a smile. “Fair. Fair analogy. But to break it to you, if my math is right the whole surface area of Earth can fit almost fifty-two United States. However, it’s triple. So that would be around a hundred fifty-six United States.”

What in the actual fuck. Daniel was baffled, exchanging eyes between Helda, Mother Elaine, Rebecca, and Liam as if it sounded bullshit.

In return, Alyssa hands up, doubling down on it. Upon her statement, a barrage of bolts of red lightning summoned next to the area where Xavier burned the trash earlier. One strand each second struck at the same spot left and right.

“She’s not lying, you know.” The reverberation of the voice is across all furniture and surfaces of the underground base. Upon hearing his voice, all of the lights flashed off, pitching blackout. Subsequently, an illuminating red beam of light wider than his own aura Light-Pillars summoned top down. The lights flickered back on, and what appeared to be a brawny man in a silhouette with the presence of a berserker in flames sauntered out of the red beam.

“Dad?!” Alyssa exclaimed. She stood from the sofa, observing her father breaking through his own qi.

Daniel saw her breathing rapidly and held her mouth in. Must be a while since they had last seen each other. He reflected on her reaction, not understanding much of the emotions shared between parents and children in terms of during adulthood. Despite being around people often for his former career, he understood that environment but not for himself, so he only relied on the factual experiences of others for better comprehension. Maybe this could be the opportunity where he gains insight on such trivial matters.

“That’s your father?” Mother Elaine said, standing beside Alyssa.

Daniel sensed a whiff of movement blowing in his face. Crap, he’s coming. He flashed a step away from the sofa, teleporting right near the trash. The red beam dissipated along with bolts of lightning within its vicinity. He was right. The father, now standing beside the sofa supposedly stared at where Daniel should have been, and his silhouette dispersed similar to how Xavier introduced himself on the driveway. His katana was hidden within his overcoat that he had changed right after the damaging mouth blast he unintentionally inflicted. Instead, he has a t-shirt underneath tucked into his pants with the same tactical belt.

“So, you are that boy…already surprised me.” Alyssa’s father said. He flashed away again, now directly in front of Daniel who was unfazed by the presence. “Name kid?”

“Daniel…Vaillant.” Daniel replied. He watched carefully as Alyssa’s father was doing a visual inspection from his eyes observing top and bottom.

He looked quite young to be considered Alyssa’s father, assuming she appeared the same age as Daniel. Almost mistakenly be called a brother rather than a father. But the gray hair at his temples and visible scar as he tilted his head, aged him a bit. Around the scar on the left lateral of his nose, a couple wrinkle lines masked the outline. With those features revealed, Daniel changed perception, thinking he was around his early fifties despite the rest of his appearance being more youthful.

“Hmm, you’re not the zhanshi I would expect.” He responded. “I’m Zhengyu, pleasure meeting you.”

Nice but intimidating. Daniel quietly nodded, and Alyssa interrupted his train of thought.

“Dad, why are you here?”

Zhengyu went up to her. “I wish I had time for reunions, but too much time has passed and I went out searching for you. It’s been more than half a year, Alyssa.”

“No…I’ve only been here briefly for more than a month!” Alyssa gasped, unfathomed when her father told her.

Time dilation. A huge gap if it’s consistent with the time frame. How much more fantastical can it go? Daniel braced for what was coming forward and overheard the conversation with Zhengyu and Alyssa as he returned to the living area.

Alyssa was showing her deep concern through her tone. “How’s mother, everyone?! Home?”

Zhengyu felt down. “As of right now, home is being decimated by the Gales. They are trying to take our town, but the frontlines are holding them back when I was about to depart, arriving here.”

“Can we go now?!” Alyssa held Zhengyu’s shoulder like a demanding child.

Daniel who was standing silently, listening carefully to the dialogue. He then thought of his truck, flashed to the driver’s seat, and checked the mileage remaining. The digital instrument panel flashed a little over eight hundred miles left due to being on the highway. He pulled the door open, exiting out of his Ford pickup. “I need confirmation, but does Raal or Kriegshan have gasoline?!”

“The what?”

“Fuel for farming or machines!”

“Oh, yes! Why?”

Daniel pointed with his thumb at his pickup truck. “Because I’m bringing my vehicle over. It could bring some use of transport.”

“That’s a vehicle?” Zhengyu’s downed face turned to excitement and flashed a step to the front of the truck. He gave the same attention as he was observing Daniel. “We never have this form of transportation. Are those the seats?” He glanced through the window.

So, they don’t have these in Raal. I guess the ones with no such qi if they exist, still go by foot or horses. “Yep. Tell me does Raal have ordinary humans with no powerful amounts of qi? If they do, what transport do they operate on?”

“Either strolling or horses on land.”

“I see…Anyway, I don’t want to hold back longer. Are we supposed to leave now?”

Zhengyu gestured to Alyssa and others to get in. He summoned red lightning bolts, shutting off the underground’s power. The pickup truck automatically switched on its lights, shining around the area enough for the group to see.

Daniel realized the lack of seats. “There are six of us, so one has to go on the truck bed.”