‘’Awesome!’’ Ethan exclaimed in awe and absentmindedly walked toward the human-shaped calamity. He touched it with his hand to feel its rough surface. It was made of rock but somehow much heavier and resilient. A punch from this fellow wasn’t something he wished to personally experience. Without removing his hand, he turned to the guy with the lab coat and demanded, ‘’Show me what it can do.’’

The guy chuckled wryly. ‘’Who are you again?’’

‘’Oh, right. I’m Ethan. And you are?’’

‘’Abraham. I don’t seem to remember you. Did you join our humble group recently?’’

‘’I’m from Earth, dude. Didn’t you program your biochip to warn you when others appeared? And I didn’t join the band, I’m just here for a short visit.’’

‘’Ah, a fellow earthman! No wonder, they wouldn’t let others come down so easily,’’ Abraham commented. ‘’And I don’t have such a program. Why would I bother to track where the others at?’’

Ethan looked at him with an amused smile. The ones who didn’t know him were often interesting people, usually obsessed with their own thing. They didn’t give a flying fuck about VR players or social media. ‘’I don’t know. I thought that was the first thing everybody would do,’’ he said before clapping his hands, ‘’Anyway, it’s showtime, Abraham! Show me what these monsters are capable of!’’

‘’Alright. Do you prefer a jump of a foot or a slow walk with the danger of falling down any moment?’’

‘’Seriously?’’

‘’Uh-huh. They’re just prototypes. I have shit loads of work to make them adequate.’’

‘’Damn it.’’ Ethan threw a look of pity at the future overlords of destruction.

‘’Well, I can give you some food for thought, though,’’ Abraham said mysteriously, lifting his chin to gaze profoundly at the… wall. ‘’Imagine. An army of Rune Golems in the numbers of thousands, all of them have the best mobility and reflexes, all the while they are individually controlled by Ani with efficiency as the priority. Martial arts, teamwork, and strategy, all come from Ani while we only give basic orders like attack or retreat. The damaged ones get carried back where they heal by the atmospheric mana and return to the front lines once again. A self-sufficient and unstoppable army!’’ At the end of the speech, he was already standing with his arms wide open.

Without caring about the sophistry, Ethan imagined as he also looked at the wall. It seemed to work as he got excited once again. ‘’Can you make Ani control them?! How close are you?’’

‘’A few years? Decades?’’ Abraham shrugged casually and sat again. ‘’Depends on my skill in runes, as well as the capital.’’

‘’So you’re a runesmith. Michelle said–’’

Someone knocked on the door.

‘’Abraham is that Sam? I’m starving already. Why is he fooling around with you?’’

First, the soft feminine voice reached them, then the girl in the green robe that well matched her eyes. It was Rachel who looked even better than the last time Ethan saw her.

‘’Ethan!’’ she exclaimed with big eyes and immediately went for a hug. ‘’Thank god! You are alive!’’

Surprised by the dramatic reception, Ethan awkwardly patted her back. ‘’Uh, yeah. I’m glad you’re alive as well.’’

Releasing her hug, she looked at him with hope. ‘’Do you have news on Vince and Wu?’’

‘’No, nothing yet,’’ he replied, grimacing. ‘’If we can’t find them in Mirasatra or the Union, I don’t know where else we can look.’’

‘’Don’t worry too much. Even if we can’t find them, I’m sure they will be okay,’’ she said, forcing a smile.

‘’Unless they end up in the ocean,’’ Abraham offered. ‘’Or an active volcano. Or–’’

‘’Yeah, we got the idea pal,’’ Ethan said with a wry smile.

‘’Looks like you already know how he is,’’ Rachel said, glaring at Abraham. ‘’What were you guys talking about, anyway?’’

‘’Cool stuff,’’ Ethan replied.

‘’Important stuff,’’ Abraham corrected.

‘’Tomato tomahto.’’ Ethan waved his hand before turning to Rachel. ‘’Actually, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. How about you show me your lab? I have some cooked food in my storage as well.’’

‘’S-Sure. It’s just the next door.’’

‘’That’s fine,’’ he said, then added for Abraham. ‘’I’ll be back with many more questions, especially about runes.’’

‘’I’ll be here to answer everything,’’ Abraham assured with a nod. ‘’If they are fun.’’

As Rachel led the way, Ethan was surprised at how he trusted her so quickly. Originally, he was planning to ask Pete about her and maybe do some investigation to see what she was up to so far. But the warm welcome took him by surprise and he found her concerns genuine. If he was mistaken, there was no one but himself to blame.

Her lab was much more organized than Abraham's. Half of the walls were full of shelves with different herbs on them, all labeled with both names and numbers. There were two linear desks with cauldrons, test tubes, boiling flasks, and funnels on them.

She led him to another small table crammed with books, located on top of a large fluffy carpet. Where Abraham's lab looked like a shelter for a terrorist bomber, this one felt like a cozy hobby room.

‘’Nice place,’’ Ethan commented.

‘’Thanks,’’ she replied as she opened some space on the table. ‘’What did you want to talk about?’’

He helped her with the table and fetched his last batch of cooked food. Nothing fancy but thankfully, he always saved the best kinds for the last as a habit. ‘’I heard you have a high-tier master in the city. How is that going? Is she any good?’’

‘’Good? She is amazing! Actually, after learning how popular she is, I kinda feel guilty for fooling her.’’

‘’How so?’’

‘’Well, I actually tricked her with the help of Ani,’’ she said with a guilty look and dug into the food. ‘’I was working in an alchemist shop at that time and she borrowed one of our workshops to try an experimental low-grade elixir. I was in charge of herbs, so as she tried different things, I kept bringing different herbs and picking up the leftovers. Thanks to Ani I was able to tell what the most reasonable amount would be, and if it didn’t work, what to try next. With a few suggestions, I saved her a lot of time and herbs. That’s how I ended up as her disciple.’’

‘’Impressive. And it’s not like she hired you as an assistant. I’m sure she saw more in you since she made you her disciple.’’ He hesitated a bit but decided to get on with it. ‘’The reason I’m asking about her is that I have some ingredients for a high-grade elixir. But if someone at tier-7 with a big influence like her tries to rob me blind, there isn’t much I could do. Do you think I can trust her?’’

‘’Of course! She isn’t a person like that. That influence you talked about comes with a lot of good references. For decades, she built herself a good reputation, why would she destroy it now? Not to mention, it’d be me who introduced you to her. She might not even ask for a fee.’’ Rachel said with fervor, clearly much fond of her new teacher. ‘’What ingredient do you have? If it was a low-grade elixir, I’d have done it myself as well. Maybe even a mid-grade one, if it’s not too complicated.’’

‘’Aether Bloom.’’

She blinked at him a few times as she proceeded. ‘’...Yeah. Let’s go with master Ruth. And she probably would demand a fee but I might make it halved or so.’’

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

‘’That’s fine. Oh, I have two flowers. Do you know how much she would ask for? And how long would it take?’’

‘’Two flowers…’’ She shook her head to sober up. ‘’At most two or three days. As for the fee, it should be 20-25 mana stones for each of them, but as I said, I’m sure she’ll make a good discount if it was me who asked.’’

‘’Nice. Thanks a lot. Once I sold one of them, I’ll make it up for you.’’

‘’You better! That’s like 500 mana stones at the very least,’’ she said with a grin.

Ethan grinned as well. ‘’Honestly, I plan to sell it in Mirasatra. Heard that it might go up to a thousand in an auction there. Though there is someone else who has a share, I’ll still end up with 500.’’

‘’You’re going to Mirasatra too?’’ Rachel asked as her eyes lit up. ‘’I was trying to convince master Ruth. There is no way she is leaving Niamaris for good, but she said, a trip for a year sounds good. Will you come with our group?’’

‘’Not sure. There is something I must do, I can’t dwell here too much. If you guys will go in 2 weeks, I might follow. If not, I’ll go first and meet you there when you arrived.’’

‘’I think they were saying a month or two, but you should speak with Leo to be sure.’’

They ate their meals and spoke about more casual things like magic, esoteric elixirs, and the scary mantis who was moping around in the corner of the room.

Ethan spent his days with his fellow earthlings. After settling in a hotel, he hung out with Michelle and Rachel, but mostly he was with Abraham. There was always something interesting when he talked with that guy. He learned that if he were to try stealing from the big shops in the Ehrendil, it wouldn't end up well for him. It turned out, there were alarm-like runes and those were the only cheap ones. The expensive ones -which he had no doubt Dragon’s Trove had those- copied the thief's mana signature, like a fingerprint, and even if the thief somehow managed to escape, the moment they went near that shop, the rune would warn the owners. If he or she managed to steal something important, the owner would give the mana signature to every free city along with a bounty.

Of course, like everything, there were ways to go around the runes, or even trick them. Abraham was still inexperienced on the subject, but at least he knew what the right questions were and where to look. Ethan learned many things and he was glad that he didn’t do anything stupid before.

He also got his armors, exactly the same design but one completely black and another crimson that gets darker at the joints. The only reason for the colors was his wish for some variety, and he liked them very much. 10 mana stones for each of them was a well-deserved price because they were both top-notch. Sadly, he couldn’t get an auto repair rune on them, because he learned from Abraham that the auto repair known to others was completely different from his cloak. The item must’ve been fed with the user’s mana, it took much longer to fix them, and the price of the rune was sky high. Only rich brats enjoyed this feature, and they used it just to show off.

His special request from Audrey was still going on its test drives. He occasionally dropped by to help her, and it looked like it would be done in a few days. It wasn’t anything important, but he was still eager to try it out.

Three days passed since he arrived in the city, and inside the bomber shelter, Ethan was watching Abraham’s work intently, his hands were on the table with his chin resting on top of them.

‘19 more biochip users have entered a thousand-mile radius.’

His eyes lit up, but he didn’t move. ‘’Looks like the hunt is over. People are returning,’’ he murmured.

‘’Who cares?’’ Abraham said without lifting his head, drawing with focus and precise hand movements.

‘’Certainly not you.’’

It didn’t take long for the group to reach the base. Ethan left Beet with Abraham and went upstairs to greet Pete. For some reason, both Beet and Abraham were getting along quite well. Beet was rather shy around Evelyn who was adoring him, but he loved to mess with Abraham who always ignored him. In the end, they kept messing with each other until it got competitive. However, they both seemed to enjoy it, and likely kept scores for the mischiefs.

Almost a hundred people were gathered inside the mansion, celebrating the successful hunt and the new tier-3s. With a glance, he was able to tell there were two tier-4s and almost 50 tier-3s. Most of them, including the tier-4s, were locals. Still, to be able to build a mercenary band that strong in less than a year was nothing to scoff at.

And the man who did it was standing in the middle, laughing and chatting with the crowd. He stood out among them without even doing anything. His rippling muscles were noticeable despite the thick armor, and even the bloodstains on his short blond hair somehow gave him a heroic image.

As Ethan got closer, many noticed and started to watch, the lively scene became quiet.

Leo also noticed this and threw a curious look at him before giving a warm smile that didn’t reach his eyes. ‘’Ethan.’’

‘’Leo.’’ Ethan copied the smile, and did the worst thing possible to a megalomaniac; ignored him.

Without anything else, he turned to greet Pete who was close by. Patting his shoulder, ‘’Already tier-3! Congrats!’’ he said, this time with a sincere smile.

The nervous Pete flashed a goofy smile. ‘’Thanks. I heard you were in Niamaris but didn’t know you were here already.’’

‘’I was in the basement. Great guy, you’re hiding there,’’ he said, a little stiff as everyone was watching him. ‘’You up for a drink? We have a lot to catch up on, it’s been months.’’

‘’S-Sure. I know a place c-close to here. But I can’t stay long, I was planning to rest,’’ Pete said and added in a low voice, ‘’Alisha is waiting at home. She’ll kill me if I spend the night drinking.’’

Ethan laughed aloud. ‘’I knew you had it in you. Come now, it’s just a drink or two. I’ll drop you at your house afterward.’’

They left the mansion and the crowd got noisy once again. A few whispers even reached his ears.

‘’So the rumors were true? Leo, Ethan, and Wu were in a love triangle?’’

‘’Seems like it. Didn’t you see how tense they were?’’

The corner of Ethan’s eye twitched but he did nothing to correct them. He knew by experience that would only make them more certain.

Pete led the way and in a short walk, they arrived at a small pub. There were not many customers since it was still afternoon but the place wasn’t bad at all. The walls had graffiti-like paintings, the tables were low and stylish, and everybody sat on the ground, where there was a synthetic chimney with a silky texture. Including the bartender, there were four workers, all monster-blood female foxes, possibly siblings.

‘’Would you look at that?’’ Ethan said, clicking his tongue and gazing around. ‘’And here I’m spending my days in the basement with Abraham.’’

‘’When it came to establishments, Ehrendil couldn’t compare with Niamaris,’’ Pete said as he sat at the corner table. ‘’We can visit many other places. You’ll be here for a while, no?’’

‘’Sure. I’ll be here for a week or two,’’ Ethan replied, sitting in front of him, and started picking on him with a smile. ‘’So? How was your hunting trip? Did they give you the nickname Butcher already, or do I have to start it myself?’’

In a relaxed mood, they chatted for about an hour before Pete was drunk enough to keep talking about Alisha. Oddly enough, even the advancement of his skill was related to her. According to Pete, the song she sang with her mesmerizing voice -while doing the dishes- made him advance his skill to rank 2.

Ethan was getting ready to bring the guy to his lover but noticed a small figure with a flat cap coming toward him. When the waitress questioned the kid, he raised his hand and called it over. ‘’He is with me.’’

Billy came to their table and sat next to Ethan. ‘’Is it safe to speak?’’

Opening [Void Mute], he smiled. ‘’It is now.’’

‘’Who is this little one?’’ Pete asked.

‘’I’m Billy.’’

‘’He was doing some errands for me. Let’s see what he got.’’

Billy took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Ethan. ‘’Both Renna and Leyla were doing okay. I don’t think there is something important in the letter Renna wrote, but I think there is something else you should be worried about.’’ This time, he fetched a scroll from his belt and gave it to him cautiously.

Ethan opened it curiously and burst out a laugh. After a good laugh, he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes and showed it to Pete with giggles. It was a wanted poster. The image was Ethan with his arms wide open like he was the ruler of the universe, while his face portrayed utter disdain for all the living. The price was 100 mana stones and they wanted him alive.

‘’E-Ethan s-stop laughing. This is serious,’’ Pete whispered, already sobering up. ‘’It won’t take long for this to s-spread to all the free cities. What are you going to do?’’

‘’No, no. You don’t understand,’’ he said, barely holding himself. ‘’Look at my name. They’ve written Voidwalker. Man, Eve would laugh her ass off, if she saw this.’’

‘’Ethan!’’ Pete scowled.

‘’Okay, okay. I get it,’’ he said, raising his hands to surrender. ‘’Looks like I can’t stay here for long. I’ll be more low-key from now on and leave the city either tomorrow or the day after.’’

Pete sighed, getting more serious every second. ‘’What did you do anyway? Can’t we resolve this peacefully?’’

‘’I’ll tell you all about it. First, let me pay our hard worker what he deserves,’’ he said, handing four mana stones to Billy. ‘’You’re not bad at all, kid. Do you have anything else for me?’’

Billy took it excitedly. ‘’Just some street rumors. The young lord of McGregor’s had returned from an expedition. He–’’

Ethan lifted his hand to stop him because someone breached his [Void Mute] easily. When he looked toward the door, he saw that Leo was standing with a smug face, next to a well-dressed middle-aged man with an apathetic face. Only after seeing Leo’s mocking wink, he understood what the bastard did. He swallowed his curses and used [Blink] immediately, without even caring about the direction.

The man also blinked right after him. It was a good thing that he didn’t go after Pete or Billy, but whenever Ethan blinked, he was always right behind him.

When he finally stopped the man spoke in a leisurely way. ‘’Ah, so soon? I thought you'd give me a good tour of Niamaris. It had been years since I traveled these streets.’’

Suddenly, it clicked. The man wasn’t using [Blink], instead he was somehow touching Ethan from afar, without disturbing the skill. He was actually leaching his teleports effortlessly, and even if Ethan used all his mana and appeared more than two miles away, he would be just behind him.

‘’It’s alright. What comes next is more enjoyable, anyway,’’ the man said, and a feeling showed itself in his eyes for the first time; malice. ‘’The subject is regret. Tell me. How familiar are you?’’