The Seed nestled within the Mariticide Vintaric turned out to be quiet a common one. It was a spiky ball of blades that shined softly in the night. Victor had hoped for something rarer, but the Vintaric hadn’t displayed any interesting powers besides the typical. Guess they can’t all be winners.

What did catch him off-guard was that no one approached the Seed. He looked towards Amadeus and Lillie, but it seemed they were waiting for him.

“So… what is it?” Amadeus asked him.

“Bladebody Edge. Turns you into a porcupine. You can create edges all over your body with it,” Victor told him.

“Any downsides?” Lillie chimed in.

“You have to be careful with your nails. Makes them much sharper,” Victor looked down towards her hands, “Might be good for you actually.”

But Lillie shook her head.

“Amadeus can have it,” she said.

“Don’t want it either. Less I think about those things skewering me, the better,” Amadeus replied.

“They’re not going to… It’s a good Seed guys,” Victor reasoned.

“We’ll find other ones. Why don’t you take it?” Lillie offered.

“We’re starved for opportunities here, you understand, right?”

“Doesn’t seem like it to me. I don’t think I’ve gone a day without seeing a new one. I can wait another,” Amadeus said.

What kind of stupid- Oh. Now that he thought back to the start, Victor had been leading them to Seeds much more often. That must’ve been why they trusted him with it so much.

“Ah, fine,” Victor conceded. A third Seed wouldn’t hurt him, especially if it’d all go away the next loop through.

He touched the sharpened Seed, scratching himself a little as he took it into his being. Immediately, he could feel a third source of power inside of him, and he relished the notifications that came along with it.

[Seed Integrated: Bladebody Edge]

[Ability Unlocked: Unlock Metallize]

[Ability Unlocked: Popclaw]

[Ability Unlocked: Instant Pop]

He felt the change in his hands. His fingernails sharpened, taking on a sheen not unlike that of iron.

Without another word, Victor looked up the abilities in his screen’s view.

[[Popclaw]: (Requirement: None) You gain the ability to temporarily create blades on your body. These blades pop out from wherever you want and their speed, length, sharpness and hardness depends on your metallize stat. You can also retract them at will.

Mariticide Vintarics are the only known sources of this ability, and only so when they finish off their mate. I always found it saddening, that they had to sacrifice so much to gain this strength.]

Confirming the ability for himself was a relief, since Victor had only heard about the Seed in the past. But there was one other thing that he wanted to check.

[[Instant Pop]: (Requirement: Timewalker’s Origin) Your Popclaw ability works much quicker, and the blades pop out near instantaneously.]

And there he found what he’d been seeking. A synergy. Victor smiled beside himself and stowed the notification.

“Does it work?” Lillie asked him.

As a display, Victor opened his palm and willed the ability into existence. In almost an instant, half a foot long piece of metal elongated from his palm, and Amadeus jerked back.

“Agh! That could’ve gotten my eye!” he complained.

“Sorry, Am, didn’t expect it to be that fast,” Victor said.

“What gives? It wasn’t like that for the Vintaric,” Lillie looked with a concentrated expression, like she was examining him.

“It said it was a Synergy with my other Seed.”

“The size-changing one?” Lillie asked.

“Yup,” Victor lied through his teeth.

“…Guess it makes sense…” Lillie muttered to herself.

The three of them departed from the corpse of the Vintaric and returned to their car. Victor felt bad about leaving the Mustang alone in the desert but he didn’t have a choice. The terrain on the other side of the Gate wasn’t made with vehicles in mind, which meant they’d have to take on foot.

“Did you guys grab everything you need?” Victor asked his friends.

“Just about!” Amadeus replied from the trunk. Once he slammed it shut, Victor gave one last pat to the Mustang before taking to the Gate.

****

Popping out of the other side, the first thing Victor heard was exclamations of awe. Amadeus and Lillie’s mouth hung open at the scenery around them, and Victor couldn’t blame them for it.

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A deep red sky extended beyond them into the horizon filled with clouds. Exotic looking birds and other winged creatures flew in patterns around them. There were large purple stalks all around them, much like that of bamboo. Victor had heard a few people try it before, and the taste had been described as bitter and unappealing.

Beyond the stalks, there was other foliage and the shadow of mountains in the background. It was as damning sight, like something one might see out of a painting or comic.

“What… is this place,” Amadeus asked.

“Deltani Plains. It may look good, but that doesn’t mean we can stay here. Come on you two, let’s go,” Victor urged the two of them.

They started stepping through the grassy plains yet with their eyes still affixed to the surroundings. The trek through the other world took them a long time, but Victor thought he knew the right direction. The usual markings Wielders in his past life had used hadn’t been made yet, and ten years made a difference in how the terrain shaped itself.

But Victor did his best, and surprisingly Lillie came in handy. She could spot the landmarks from further away than he could. After an hour or so on the same trek, Victor was growing more certain that his path was the correct one.

Just a few more days, and I’ll save you. Please stay safe until then, he hoped in his heart as he dug an elbow into the dirt. They were climbing up a steep hill, and his blades helped him crest it more easily.

Lillie was below him, using her light barriers to give herself handholds. Over the past few days, she’d grown a lot more proficient with shaping them. It was still a crude design, but better than her last ones.

Amadeus was the one suffering the most. So much so that Victor had to tie a rope between him and the other man.

“Pull me up!” Amadeus asked, tugging the rope.

“Come on, Am, don’t you feel any stronger than before?” Victor asked him, incredulous. Despite his grumblings, he still gestured over to Lillie, who made some more barriers for him to use as foot stops.

He placed his feet inside and pulled on the rope, slowly dragging Amadeus through the dirty slope.

“Wait, you’ve been getting strength boosts?” Amadeus asked in reply.

“You haven’t?” Victor said.

“I didn’t even know those were possible…” Lillie muttered under her breath as she went past the both of them and climbed atop the hill.

“Woah…” Lillie said as she finally reached it.

“Woah? What did you find?” Amadeus asked as he tried to pull himself up faster.

“Don’t spoil the sight for him,” Victor told her as he finally grabbed onto Amadeus’ arms and pulled him up to his position. The two of them separated and reached the top separately.

“Woah…” Amadeus repeated.

The forest had cut off abruptly ahead. The trees thinned to reveal a mountain range with what looked like hundreds of Gates scattered about. It was lower in number than Victor knew in his previous life, but the sight of them were unmistakable.

Stones ranging from pebbles to large boulders dotted the path up to the mountain range, and cracks ran along the solid ground ahead of them. it was a dry land that greeted them, but no less eye-catching than the ones before.

“It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it?... Too bad there’s probably a bunch of monsters waiting beside those Gates to get us.” Victor told the rest of them. it soured the mood but Victor didn’t have it in him to bear another sightseeing session.

“Come on, and faster this time. We don’t want to attract any attention,” he told them. Lillie nodded along but Amadeus stayed put with his eyes squinting.

“Guys, they’re back…” Amadeus said, pointing to one of the large boulders ahead of them.

“Whose back?” Victor asked.

“The balloons.”

Victor tried to find what Amadeus was seeing, but he couldn’t find a hint of movement. Slowly, he crouched down and picked up one of the rocks. He chucked it while infusing it with enlargement, and it grew to the size of a fist before crumbling against the boulder.

In reaction, something soft, round and red jumped out from behind the boulder and started quivering on the ground. It shook from head to toe and covered its head with its hands like a scared animal.

“Wait! Please! Do not attack!” the creature begged in a squeaky voice, and Victor sighed. Of all the monsters he could encounter, the one he’d wanted the least was one of the balloons.

He held up a fist and started walking over to the monster cautiously as a blade popped up over his knuckles.

“Who are you and where are the rest of your allies?” Victor asked the balloon animal.

The monster looked up at him for half a moment before placing its hands over its head again. A coward, then.

“I-I’m a harmless Altesian, please! P-put that blade away, would you?!” it begged him.

“Vic, are you sure this is a monster?” Lillie asked, coming up to him. “He doesn’t look armed at all.”

“I am not! So if you would ask your brutish friend to stop, I would be grateful!” the Altesian begged, and Victor’s urge to run it through increased.

“You were planning an ambush, weren’t you? I should stab you just for that!” Victor said, scraping the blade across the ground.

“I was hiding! Hiding, I swear! I didn’t know there would be anyone— let alone humans— this way!” The Altesian shivered in reply.

“I don’t think he’s lying,” Amadeus admitted. “If he were planning an ambush, we’d have seen them by now.”

“And you believe this thing?”

“Look at the thing, Vic. It’d be like fighting a volleyball,” Amadeus said, looking at the quivering mass before him.

Victor reluctantly let go of the blade and crouched down low towards the Altesian.

“You said you were hiding from something. What was it?” he asked.

“I-it was those Daughters of Mara! Nasty, nasty group! They came into our village and forced us to work for them!” The Altesian told him.

“That’s awful,” Lillie said with a grimace.

“It is!”

“And where is this village of yours?” Victor asked.

The little Altesian dusted himself off before pointing eastwards. Its little gesture made Amadeus chuckle just a bit.

“Over there!”

“Alright then.”

Victor stood up and dusted his hands together before taking a turn. Opposite to where the Altesian pointed.

“Come on, guys, we don’t want to get caught by the Daughters.”

“Wait wait wait!” The little Altesian barked at them. “Where are you going?”

“Away. From that.”

“B-but! My village is in danger. Can you not help?” the Altesian asked.

“A monster’s problem is a monster’s, not mine,” Victor replied.

He started taking a few more steps before he realized the others weren’t following suit.

“Lillie. Amadeus. What are you two thinking?” Victor asked.

“The little guy sounds like he needs help, Vic,” Amadeus argued.

“He’s a monster. The less of them in here, the better for us out there!” he pointed towards the Gate they’d come out of.

“Maybe he could give us something in return?” Lillie tried sweetening the deal.

“Yes! We could! Our village dug up many Seeds. You can have them if you save us!” The Altesian replied.

Victor groaned in reply.

“Are you two sure about this? The monsters who took over his village aren’t the easiest to mess with. They don’t fight with their fists; they fight by tricking your mind.”

“You don’t need to fear! We won’t take them on head on, Mr. Vic!” the little Altesian said excitedly. “Our village had a good ally. He helped us find those Seeds. If we free him, he can help defend it against the Daughters!”

“And both of you are sure about this?” Victor asked them.

“Free Seeds?” Amadeus said. Victor knew that was only second in his mind.

There was no changing the man’s mind when he set upon something. He was a bleeding heart through and through. Victor knew that. He was more surprised to see Lillie agreeing after her last encounter with the little things.

“You’re one little persuasive monster, aren’t you?” Victor asked.

“Huh?”

“Fine, we’ll do it. But those Seeds better be worth it.”

The Altesian bounced with happiness at that. Frankly, it was an embarrassing sight.

“What’s your name anyway, little fella?” Lillie asked crouching down next to him. the Altesian puffed up its chest with renewed confidence and spoke it aloud.

“I am Qeeny of Pepin village!”