It was halfway through the next day when his advancement happened. Hector was cultivating in his bedroom, so he didn't have any witnesses to his awkward collapse. Other than the omnipresent System, of course. This time Hector was out cold for almost a full day from the shock of it.

When he came back to himself, his domain felt as good as new. As usual, his reserves were bone dry. He grabbed a meal with Darius and Riley and then went to work restoring his energy. He'd given away two of the three remaining bottles of uncut spirits and used the last one to speed up his breakthrough. The only method of rapidly replenishing his reserves available to him on Union Central was through his externality. After spending the past few months on Aes, he felt starved for choices.

At least it wasn't wasted time. He needed to work his externality aperture to strengthen it to its new limit after advancing. Hector hadn't gotten very far when he heard a knock at his door. He sensed a level eight soul waiting in the common area.

"Matthias? I haven't seen you in a good while."

The owner of the building studied Hector. "You're catching up to me."

"I've got a while to go before you have to worry about that." Hector responded with a joke, but he had to admit to himself that the man spoke truth.

"I have been cultivating for almost four decades, Hector. Slow and steady, as I thought best. You've blown through level five and six in such a short time. I know you've taken many foolish risks to advance as you have. None of those put you in the ground yet, so I have to conclude you are hard to kill. At the very least you're not the hollow spear that Volithur was."

Hector considered the other man. "I know you refuse to use resources. But what is your stance on cultivating in special locations?"

"Are you speaking of the cosmic chamber you rebuilt for Esther?"

"No. I'm talking about cultivating on Aes."

"A war zone?"

"A world with open rifts spewing chaos into the air. The rune walls of the Strongholds filters out the miasma, creating an ideal environment for those of us who inherited from Volithur." Hector pointed at his head. "Transforming chaos on the mental band is easy. You get the cosmic energy and an incredible workout of your aperture. You can use your domain as well, but that one takes a lot more effort to figure out." He didn't bother telling Matthias about miasma. The man wasn't a risk taker and Hector suspected he would come across as utterly deranged if he revealed his experiments.

For several moments, Matthias didn't react in any way. Finally, he shook his head. "Aes is a war zone. Even hiding on one of the military bases carries more risk than I like. The soldiers may object to the presence of a random Xian. No, Hector. If you live long enough to surpass me, then I will celebrate your good fortune. My path may be wiser, but it is undeniably less slower."

"I would argue that refusing to take resources isn't efficient at all. It's just stubbornness."

Matthias frowned. "You may be right. I wanted to do something considered impossible and become a lord without them. Maybe I should take what advantages I can to speed my advancement to level ten. I'll have to think on that before making a decision."

Hector laughed. "You're so cautious."

"I learned caution from the recklessness of Volithur. How did you miss that lesson?"

"That's not what the memories taught me." His smile faded. "I learned not to act from hate."

Matthias turned away from Hector abruptly. He casually lifted a sleeve to his cheek, no doubt to scrub away a spot of moisture. "I found the world of New Mart a few years ago. A branch of the Shaocheth family is still there. They're all disinherited now, so they don't call themselves the fifth household any longer. I visit from time to time and force Lydia to entertain me. You remember Lydia."

Of course he recalled the young genius of the family who had once delayed Volithur's marriage. "I take far more joy in learning she never made it to Tian than I should."

"I'd say an appropriate amount of joy. She's still a total bitch. The main difference is that she is in her sixties instead of her teens. She's level six but the hollowest spear you've ever met." Matthias suddenly grinned. "What do you say, Hector? Would you like to drop in unannounced to annoy some disinherited nobles? Without the Lord General's reputation protecting them, they kiss the hand of anyone strong who comes to visit."

"Isn't traveling to New Mart a little risky for your sensibilities?"

Matthias laughed. "I'm not a coward, Hector. I'm calculated. The fact is that New Mart was largely abandoned by the Xian after hostilities with the Jinn ended. The lords found all sorts of ways to justify their presence there back in the day, but in the end it was just a conspicuous display of wealth and strength. One that stopped making sense without foreign enemies to intimidate. The current battlefield of the Amaratti is on Tian, where they can gain resources and territory."

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That claim tracked with what he'd experienced in Stein. "So you just drop by for visits?"

"I pretend to be a traveling merchant. Which I am, I suppose. I'll ask for prices on various goods, look displeased, then stay for dinner and make them entertain me. It's so very petty, Hector, but I remember a number of the older ones being quite horrible. What do you say? Want to impose on the remnants of the fifth household?"

This seemed in the opposite direction as not acting from hate. Hector certainly didn't think lording it over Lydia would be very magnanimou. At the same time, he was dying to know what had become of Volithur's old home. "I suppose I would like to see the place. But I'm not going to belittle anyone."

"Your loss, Hector. I have appropriate garb for the world ready in my suite. We can dress and leave immediately." Matthias rubbed his hands together in excitement. Hector suspected this impromptu trip would be the highlight of the man's entire month.

They changed clothes and Matthias traveled them to the outskirts of a familiar town, not far from the wall surrounding the palace grounds. Hector was hit with a wave of powerful nostalgia. He remembered so many days here, good and bad. There were victories and defeats. There was love and hate. It was a formative setting for a youth that wasn't actually his.

Yet Hector could not accept that the heritage of those misbegotten memories did not belong to him. He had the insight. He drank the platinum elixir. He saved the life of Darius. Whether or not others remembered being Volithur, was Hector not the true heir? No doubt everyone felt similar possessiveness over their dream counterpart. It wasn't like reading a story or watching a movie. It was a whole other life downloaded into the mind.

He glanced down a familiar alley. "Do you think Thassily is still alive?"

"Still running the distillery," Matthias said. "Doesn't drink, though. His family threatened to leave him over the matter and he cleaned up his act. Thassily became a doting grandfather, shrewd businessman, and hobbyist gardener. He beat his demons."

Hector felt a weight he'd never known he carried lift off him. Thassily had perhaps been the truest friend Volithur ever had. Someone who went through the same nightmare abduction and callous wardship, and loyally kept dangerous secrets. Based on the last encounter in the memories, Hector assumed Thassily another soul lost to the repercussions of the Lord General's games. Yet the man had broken free of the cycle of hate.

A different psychological pressure replaced it when they entered the palace grounds through a passage in the wall that stood unguarded in the present era. They walked past a dilapidated structure that once was the barracks and now was halfway towards becoming a ruin due to neglect. Sheep wandered the grounds. The once immaculate pyramidal palace had its lower levels tangled in runaway ivy.

The previously proud estate had lost its former glory. The decline didn't inspire any pleasure in him. Hector wanted to see the home he remembered with his own eyes, not this sorry facsimile. He wanted to see lines of soldiers drilling under the watchful eye of the Sergeant. He wanted to smell the hearty lunchtime meal being carried to the barracks. He wanted to enter the majestic palace. He wanted to visit the library where so much happened.

All of those desires were eviscerated by the realization that the place in his memories no longer existed. It had been replaced by this pathetic impostor. There would be no walk down memory lane here. Matthias responded much differently than him. "How low they have fallen, Hector. Volithur's revenge came about even if he couldn't be the one to administer it."

A single guard stood at the entrance to the palace. He bowed low as they approached. "Are you expected by the family, masters?"

Matthias flicked his wrist in a dismissive gesture. "I saw no reason to send advance notice. Bring me someone who can quote prices for trade of commodities. I believe you have a passable lounge area. Escort us there."

The guard didn't hesitate to admit them to the building he was supposed to be protecting. Hector felt dirty participating in the charade. Lording it over those weaker than him was exactly the type of act that conflicted with his virtues. Having experienced being on the other side, he could never enjoy the role of master even if Matthias was living it up. Perhaps the difference was one of age and upbringing. Hector was mature and his personality largely set when the dreams came. He wasn't some young punk who would respond to being bullied by wishing for a reversal of roles.

The lounge looked as different as the rest of the place. It made sense that the furniture from four decades earlier had been replaced. The crystal chandelier, gold trim, and beautiful harp were all missing in action. In places, he could see where sconce fixtures had been improperly removed and caused nasty scars in the wood. Hector could only conclude that the family had raided their own house for items to sell over the years.

A couple members of the family were present when they arrived. Most fled immediately. Of those brave souls who remained, one dared approach. It was a young man who shared a vague resemblance to Ulysses, the kind boy who taught Volithur the proper way to cultivate with his aura.

"Greetings to you, masters. Do you have any stories to tell?"

Matthias, until now overbearing in his dealings, softened his tone. "I am a merchant by trade. All my stories are of negotiating deals and making deliveries."

The boy's excitement faded. Hector cleared his throat. "I have a story or two that might interest you. I spent some time among the Coalition Army."

As Hector spun a dramatized version of traveling with War Barge Kevin and the Sage of Conflagration, his audience steadily grew. Those who lingered beyond the door drifted back inside to listen eagerly to the tale of an entire world going up in a single explosion. Rodrick once claimed the story would get a lot of mileage. He hadn't been wrong.

When they begged to hear more, Hector began to tell about the Reconquest of Aes. He glossed over some of the details but didn't distort the essential facts. The youths listened with rapt attention to the lost cause that the patriots of humanity refused to abandon. He could tell that resonated with them. How could it not, given their family's circumstances being what they were? All of the best days were in the past and the future promised to them was a struggle to slow the inevitable decline. The only difference was that the Reconquest was so much more romantic than a struggle to balance ledgers. Battling monsters alongside exotic forms of humanity. Mourning comrades and swearing to continue the fight.

Those listening, young and old alike, were utterly silent as they hung on every word.

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