The sun was low in the sky. Midday had come as quickly as it tended to and was now on the decline. Evening gazed in from around the corner, peeking, waiting, an ever-patient herald to the usurper that was the night.

Aiden turned his head skyward, allowed himself to bask in the soft touch of the evening sun. He rode his jepat in slow strides. His legs ached a little but did not hurt. They were certainly not numb either.

To his left, Ted rode quietly, eyes staring off into the distance as if lost in half-remembrance. He'd been like that for the past two days now, often falling into silent moments of thought or loud moments of silence.

Aiden had asked if he was alright on two different occasions. On each occasion, Ted's answer had been something along the lines of how he was pondering on his becoming unbecoming.

To the average person, it was nothing but gibberish. In truth, it was nothing but gibberish. But Aiden understood his brother to an extent. Gibberish was Ted's version of poetry and philosophy. Whatever was truly on his mind, he was thinking very deeply about it.

They were only a lonely dirt road, jepats trudging forward casually as they gave the time to the creatures to catch their breaths and rest their feet to whatever extent that they could with a stroll.

Not too far into the distance, cresting just over a large hill, the town they sought was settled in, awaiting their arrival. On one side of them was nothing but trees as far as the eye could see. On the other side was a plateau of grassland with the occasional yellow flowers that reminded anyone from Earth of sunflowers. They were, ironically, moonflowers. When the moon was high in the sky, they captured its light and shone something beautiful. A deep yet soft blue that had a way of reminding even the most heartless of the beauty of the world.

Ted looked behind them for a brief moment. Aiden followed his gaze to Valdan and Fjord, who followed quietly at their back. Ted waved awkwardly, and Valdan returned it with a slight touch of confusion.

Fjord returned the wave awkwardly.

Aiden could see it in the boy's eyes. He had developed a healthy amount of fear for Ted ever since Aiden's fight with him.

"I really shouldn't have let the familiar throw him into a tree," Ted muttered, returning his attention to the road in front of them.

Aiden nodded, doing the same. "Definitely didn't help."

"But I made sure it wasn't hard enough to harm him," Ted muttered. "I swear he and Valdan were perfectly safe."

Aiden nodded absently. He understood what Ted was saying, but sometimes things happened. Fjord had all but fallen asleep on his jepat last night. Aiden had suggested setting up camp for the night, and while everyone had agreed, it hadn't taken him long to catch how fidgety Fjord was. For the half-hour that they were settled, the boy was worse than a skittish jepat, jumping at every sound while giving Ted barely concealed half-glances.

So Aiden had made a poor excuse about how they needed to make time, and how that was the reason he was changing his mind.

Fjord had never moved so quickly to mount his jepat.

"I feel really bad," Ted muttered. "The kid's terrified of me."

"Really not his fault," Aiden said. "You can be terrifying."

"I take it I was terrifying when I was… you know." Ted made a vague gesture with his hand as if trying to find the word to best codify what he wanted to say. "You know what I mean."

"I do," Aiden replied with a smile. "And yes, you were terrifying."

Ted lowered his head slightly.

Ted had brought up their conversation about him becoming the [Demon King] at least twice since they'd had it, and Aiden had been more than happy to shed more light on it. Now that it was no longer a secret that he was keeping from Ted, he realized how stupid he had been to have kept it for so long.

He told himself that he'd had his reasons, but that was not enough to conceal his stupidity.

"We can always talk more about it if you want," he told Ted. "It's not some kind of anathema."

Ted smiled weakly. "I don't want to risk them finding out. What are you going to tell Valdan?"

"Nothing." Aiden shrugged. "There's nothing to tell."

Ted gave him a look. "Isn't that kind of another stupid decision?"

"Perhaps," Aiden agreed. "But if I tell him about the other time line and he asks enough questions, I'd have to tell him more, which will lead to you. If I tell him, then I definitely have to lie to him about a lot of things. I'd rather not tell him than have to start lying."

"Wait." Ted paused. "You guys weren't friends in that other timeline?"

Aiden rolled his eyes. "You know the new rule, Ted. If we are going to talk so plainly about it, the least we can do is put up a solitude enchantment or an enchantment of silence."

"And what will you say if they ask what we're keeping secret?"

"Tasha," Aiden answered easily. "Nothing as awkward as anger between brothers over a woman."

Ted fished into his pocket and pulled out a flat rock. It was one of those simple rocks, the kind that broke in two if you applied enough force. He had four of them, created and given to him by Aiden.

With a sigh, he channeled mana into the rock, and an engraving for the enchantment of lesser silence lit up on the surface. Aiden cocked a brow at it. He actually hadn't expected Ted to use the enchantment.

Ted, on his part, stared at the air in front of him.

"Why does it read as an enchantment of lesser silence?" he asked.

"Because it's the weak variation of the enchantment," Aiden answered.

Ted gave him an odd look. "Then shouldn't it be a lesser enchantment of silence?"

"Lesser enchantments are different from lesser variations," Aiden corrected. "A lesser enchantment is used by something the world calls lesser beings."

"Like jepats?" Ted rubbed his jepat on its neck.

Aiden shook his head. "Nope. There are actual species that are referred to as lesser beings."

"Kinda racist, don't you think?"

"Maybe. But only if you're calling the interface racist. I think they are actual lesser beings for some reason."

"Oh." Ted paused. "I've got a question, but only if you're willing to answer."

Aiden shrugged. "Go for it."

"Did you ever get to forgive me for Tasha?"

"Honestly?" Aiden looked up in thought, really thought about it. "No."

Ted's jaw dropped. "Dude, it was eleven years."

Aiden chuckled. "It was, wasn't it?"

"Who holds a grudge for eleven years?"

"There's no grudge, Ted."

"Then how do you explain not forgiving me?"

"These things just happen." Aiden sighed. "Life happened. More important things than some irrelevant grudge came up. I fought for my life, tried to survive." He gestured at Ted. "You became the Anti-christ. Life happened and the whole thing just kind of became unimportant. I didn't forgive you because I just kind of forgot about the whole thing. I…" he shrugged. "I moved on."

Ted paused. "Oh."

A touch of silence settled between them as they drew closer to the city. Ted did not dispel the enchantment, so Aiden knew that more was coming.

It wasn't long before Ted spoke again.

"What about now?" he asked. "Like, really think about it. Do you think you can—"

"Jesus Christ! I forgive you, Ted," Aiden groaned. "From the bottom of my heart, I forgive you. I don't think I can ever…"

His words trailed off at the sight of Ted's wide grin.

Ted wiggled his eyebrows at him. "You love me," he teased.

"I swear, you should've been the one to date her," Aiden muttered.

"Why?" Ted asked, voice suddenly curious. "Was she that bad?"

Aiden shook his head. "I actually had enough time to think about that, and she wasn't. Apart from trying to jump your bones, she was a nice enough girlfriend. If anything, I might've been smothering her."

Ted bobbed his head from side to side in contemplation. "She was your only friend. I don't think her remaining your only friend when you two started dating counts as smothering."

"Me neither," Aiden agreed. "But the wider world could've seen it that way. And she could have seen it that way, too. But it's all in the past now."

They were close to the town now, close enough that Aiden could make out the two guards standing at the gate. They wore light armor and stood armed just as lightly. One held a spear that looked like something a beginning adventurer would use. The other had his sword at his waist.

"So you're really not going to tell Valdan about the whole time travel thing?" Ted asked.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter." Aiden stroked the head of his jepat absently, and the creature let out a low rumble. "He wasn't my friend in it."

"But what was he in it?"

Aiden shook his head. "Someone unimportant. He didn't leave any impact strong enough for me to know him or for him to be registered in any important archives."

Ted looked behind them. "A nobody now becomes a somebody. Life."

"Yeah," Aiden muttered, taking in the guards. "Life."

"Lord Lacheart," Valdan called out from behind, surprising Aiden.

Aiden slowed his jepat until Valdan slipped into their bubble of silence. Ted slowed, too, waiting.

"Lord Lacheart?" Aiden asked, raising a brow.

Valdan shrugged. "You are a Lord."

"That you are," Ted said.

Aiden sighed, then looked at the guards. In the bubble of silence, the guards would no longer be able to hear them.

"You did it so that the guards think I'm some traveling lord from some unknown land, didn't you?" he said.

"It makes things easier," Valdan answered. "However, have you noticed anything?"

Aiden nodded while Ted looked from him to Valdan.

"Notice what?" Ted asked.

"We were on the main road to the town for hours," Aiden said. "From when the sun was high to now that the sun is low."

"I'm still with you so far," Ted confirmed.

"But did you also notice how we were the only ones on the road?"

Aiden watched the realization dawn on Ted.

"That is kind of suspicious," he said. "But it can happen sometimes, right?"

Aiden nodded. "Sometimes. But hours without running into anyone on the road? Something's afoot, and the town is aware of it, too. At least, they suspect it."

"Lord Lacheart?"

Ted and Aiden turned back at the same time to find Fjord waiting patiently on his jepat outside the still active bubble of enchantment.

Aiden motioned for him to enter inside. With a nudge, Fjord's jepat carried him into the bubble while the guards eyed their little group.

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"What's up?" Ted asked.

Fjord shook his head with a sheepish smile. "Nothing. I just didn't want to be left out. The guards were beginning to look at me funny."

"Now they're looking at us funny," Ted pointed out.

"I see," Valdan muttered before turning his attention back to Aiden. "What do you think is wrong?"

Aiden gave it a quick thought. Towns were not suddenly so isolated like this. And even if they were, the soldiers rarely ever worried unless it was for a very long period of time.

Normally, soldiers guarding towns would be happy to receive guests if not for any other reason than for the fact that visitors to towns tended to pay fees for entry. It meant money for the town, which was also money that they could skim off the top.

These soldiers didn't look happy to see them. If anything, they looked worried.

"I heard a rumor from one of my contacts," Aiden said, glancing at the piece of rock in Ted's hand and confirming that the enchantment was still active. "I cannot say it was a nice piece of information."

Valdan frowned. "War?"

Aiden nodded. "But not in Dentis."

"Then where?"

"Nel Quan," Aiden answered. "They believe that war is brewing in its general direction. Dentis isn't very far from Nel Quan."

"It's actually out of the way," Valdan said. "You wouldn't expect someone to sack the town on their way to Nel Quan."

"Unless it poses a strategic advantage," Ted said.

Aiden paused to look at him.

"What?" Ted shrugged. "Any half-brain that played simulation games knows this."

"You didn't play simulation games."

"I dated a girl that did for a while, though."

Aiden raised a brow. "Dated?"

"Alright, alright," Ted sighed. "I got into a bit of a situationship with a girl whose younger brother played them."

"I thought you said it was the girl that played them," Valdan said.

"I embellished a little. Sue me." Ted rubbed the neck of his jepat to calm it down even though it wasn't jittery. "All I'm saying is that if it's a strategic position, they'll take it."

They'll take it. Aiden was sure of it.

Zen had lost his home town that he never spoke about. If Zen was here, then Dentis was most definitely a part of this war.

"It would be madness to take it," Valdan muttered. He sounded confused. "Nobody wants to have the Immortal knocking on their door."

Fjord and Ted looked up at him. Ahead of them the guards at the gate were getting antsy.

"The Immortal?" Ted asked. "That's a badass name."

"A badass person, too," Aiden said. Why would the Immortal come here?

"You know the Immortal?" Valdan asked. "I am surprised."

"My contacts have told me of him," Aiden replied simply, gaining a very discreet look from Ted.

"Then your contacts are kind," Valdan said. "Regardless, if there is to be a battle here, then we best get your companion and leave as quickly as we can. We are in no position to be fighting other people's battles."

Aiden agreed.

…

The guards hadn't been a problem. The entrance fee had been reasonable by all accounts, even if a little too high. It was as if the town had chosen to increase it as a deterrent, something to dissuade people from coming in. At the same time, they chose not to make it unreasonable so that they didn't outrightly drive everyone away.

They knew something was in the air, feared it even. But they weren't sure.

Aiden, Valdan, Ted, and Fjord dismounted from their jepats. They walked the seemingly quiet streets of Dentis, guiding their steeds by their reins. Valdan looked around, taking in the security of the town. He watched how those armed within the city moved. He watched their eyes, their steps. He watched for signs of their panic.

Ted kept his eyes wandering about. From simple apothecaries to a very limited number of children running around and playing. He took notice of the dirt road and the stacks of hay seemingly abandoned on carts. He smiled when the children smiled back and kept a simple enough expression when the adults looked at him.

There was suspicion on everyone's face. Were the new visitors actual guests or threats, their expressions seemed to say.

Fjord had the eyes of a poacher. Like Valdan, he watched the guards as well as the people. Unlike Valdan, he watched purses and looked out for the fancifully dressed. There was no individual that met the criteria of the latter.

Aiden kept his attention more discreet. He noticed how the children laughed and played. There was always a touch of hesitation in their laughter, as if there was something behind their hearts that had them wondering if they were allowed to laugh. It said a lot about how the adults felt if the children could feel their anxiety.

A child bumped headfirst into Aiden and Aiden stopped his charge with a gentle hand to his shoulder. He came to a stop and squatted in front of the child. She was a young girl, no more than seven. She had bright brown eyes and a smudge of dirt on her rosy cheek. He would've cleaned the dirt if he didn't notice how all the adults came to an abrupt pause.

All eyes were suddenly on him. It was the way with decent adults. They always looked out for the children, especially during times of uncertain troubles.

The girl smiled up at him, revealing a chipped tooth.

"Sorry, mister," she apologized.

Aiden rubbed her hair jovially, offering up a smile of his own. "It's fine, dear. But it's not good to run around if your eyes can't follow your legs."

The girl paused, puzzled for a moment.

"Look first," Aiden explained. "Run second."

The child brightened back up, smiling wider. "Look first," she repeated. "Run second."

Aiden nodded. "My turn. Do you know anyone called Zen or Uncle Zen?"

"Big brother Zen!" The girl perked up in excitement. "Are you friends with Big brother Zen?"

Her excitement had been loud enough that if there was an adult not paying attention, they were paying attention now.

It increased the weight of just how dreary the town currently was. The lack of active merchants. The lack of people moving about in laughter and enjoyment. Chances were that the children still roaming the streets in fun probably had stubborn parents who refused to be cowed by the uncertain possibility of danger in the air.

Aiden nodded uncertainly. "I would not say that we are friends," he answered the girl. It was always odd lying to a child. "But I do have a job for him."

The girl's excitement grew. "Big brother Zen is looking for a job. I'll take you to him."

Valdan stepped up to Aiden, towering over his squatting form.

"Lord Lacheartt," he said slowly, intentionally.

Aiden understood. You did not spend too long talking to a child in a town like this at a time like this.

"How about you just point in the direction of the house," he told the girl. "Then you can go play with your friends."

The girl paused to think about it. In the time that she spent thinking, three adults had begun approaching them. They were still far away, but Aiden was beginning to worry. A fight didn't bother him, but he didn't want his first impression with Zen to be that of a bad guy.

"Okay," the girl decided, finally. Then she pointed.

The adults stopped abruptly, each of them following the direction of the girl's finger. Aiden nodded in thanks.

"I'll be sure to tell big brother Zen that you said hi," he told her, raising his voice loud enough to be heard by eavesdroppers but still be low enough to be used for a conversation.

He was less of a threat if the adults knew where he was going. People trusted children more than they trusted adults. If his words did not leave the girl confused, then she corroborated his story of going to Zen. If she looked confused, then the adults would know that he was lying.

The girl smiled then waved as she left him.

Aiden watched the adults around relax just a little and stood back up.

Valdan moved in closer. "You did that on purpose."

"Stopping the girl?" Aiden shook his head. "No. But letting everyone know where we are going? Yes. It makes us less of a threat."

"Crowd control," Ted said, coming closer. "You're getting better at curtailing the crowd than me."

Fjord was the only one with nothing to say.

Despite their little engagement with the child, the remaining walk to Zen's home was not any less dreary. Eyes still followed them. Adults still watched them. The number of children around did not increase with each step.

Whoever was in charge of the battle strategy for Mba-Chukwu was allowing the city to eat itself alive with the possibility of anticipation. Not knowing was already winning one part of the battle for them.

They stopped three more times to ask for directions. They didn't ask the kids this time, opting to ask the adults. It was safer than stopping random children to ask for directions.

Each adult they asked had a skeptical look to offer before asking what he wanted with the 'Juvenile twins.' Aiden didn't remember Zen being a twin. And his sister was supposed to be clearly younger, so there was that.

He was beginning to worry that Zen had in fact lost his twin brother and just never talked about him.

Each adult was left to have a conversation with Valdan or Fjord. It bought into the narrative that Valdan was peddling by calling Aiden a lord. It was understandable if a lord stooped to speak with a child who ran into him. With adults that were beneath him, however, it was more likely that he would have his servant or bodyguard have the conversation.

Each question was met with the same answer. Valdan or Fjord told them that their lord had a task for Zen, a job that would take only a few hours, half a day at the most. Fjord was conversational and fun when he spoke, reducing some of the tension in the people he spoke to.

One thing all the adults had in common before giving him better specifics on how to find Zen was their comment on how Zen really needed a job instead of playing around with the children and stressing the town.

They made Zen sound like a bum. The fact that they mentioned his sister and no other twin had Aiden wondering if the sister was, in fact, the twin.

When they arrived at their destination, the sun had already completed its descent and the moon had taken its place in the sky. Stars littered the world above with too little light to see by.

A few homes set out sources of light to illuminate the streets but there weren't a lot of them. Some set out orbs that shone the gentle yellow color of the sun while some set out protected candles or simple lanterns that dangled from hooks fastened to the walls of their homes.

The unison of the same light color spoke of a spoken or an unspoken rule among the community.

The first thing Aiden noted about Zen's home as they approached was the absence of children around the house. For someone known for spending his time playing with children, Aiden wasn't sure how to feel about the absence of children. Still, he attributed it to the time of day.

The second, more concerning thing, that he noted was the man in a simple cloak standing off to the side. He stood with folded arms and sharp eyes. From the distance, Aiden could not make out the color of the man's eyes, but his skin tone was clear in the darkness of the night amidst its scattered streetlights.

Aiden moved the reins of his jepat over to Valdan and bumped into him as if by accident when he took it.

"Man in the cloak," he whispered casually.

Valdan made no sign of paying attention. "I see him."

"His skin," Aiden pointed out. "Black as night."

"Is this a racism thing?" Ted asked. "Just to be sure."

Valdan gave him a confused look. "What's that?"

Ted paused. "You guys don't have racism?"

"They don't," Aiden answered, to Valdan, he added: "Racism is the act of judging someone negatively just by the color of their skin."

"Oh," Fjord said in realization. "That's stupid. You can't tell anything about a person by the color of their skin. But you can tell a lot about them by the language they speak."

Racism wasn't a thing on this side of Nastild, but they had their own unreasonable form.

Ted looked confused.

"That guy," Aiden continued, drawing the conversation back to point. "If he tries to stop me from entering the house, don't interfere. If he tries to come in while I'm inside, don't interfere, just find a way to let me know."

"What's wrong with him?" Ted asked.

"He's the only dark-skinned man in the entire town," Aiden said. "And the town is hovering on the edge of being attacked."

"Spy," Valdan said, turning his mouth away in case the man could read his lips.

Aiden was more interested in the reason the man was perched beside Zen's home.

Free of the reins to his jepat, Aiden strolled up to the front door. He made sure his steps were casual. Men who were accustomed to fighting and lived in its embrace had a way they walked, it was in their gait. Every step and action told you his history if you paid enough attention. Aiden eliminated every touch of it. He walked with a laid-back demeanor, dropping all sense of control and affecting the haughtiness of a lord.

He kept his attention on the cloaked man until he was at the front door. The man watched him but did nothing.

At the door, Aiden rapped his knuckles against it, hard. He made sure it was loud enough to be heard. In the silence of the night, it seemed to echo through the streets.

Then he waited, and listened.

It was a while before the door was opened to him. In the slight illumination cast by street lanterns and orbs, the light half-illuminated the face of the woman who opened the door.

Aiden's jaw dropped.

She was beautiful. There was no other word with which he could describe her more aptly. Pink lips, grey eyes rimmed by a slight touch of amber, perfect lashes.

The only thing that tainted her beauty was the fear in her eyes.

"How may I help you?" she asked, barely keeping the tremor from her voice.

Controlled lord or haughty lord? Aiden wondered. Which would best serve his interests?

He came to a conclusion immediately. Whatever led to the fear in her eyes, if it had something to do with the cloaked man, then he would have to talk his way into their home.

Haughty, it is.

"I am here for Zen," he barked in a haughty tone. "And as a Lord I will not be kept waiting out in the filthy dark!"

"My lord," the woman began very quickly. "If you would just wait I while I'm sure that we can—"

Excuses, Aiden thought.

Without wasting any more time, he barged into the house, throwing the door wide open and shoving the lady into the house.

"YOU WILL NOT BAR MY WAY!" he declared.

Barely a step into the house, he took note of everything around him. The first person he saw was Zen, at least a younger terrified version of his old friend. He sat at a small round table. Beside him was a man around Aiden's age. His skin was dark, but he was handsome enough.

The room was illuminated by candlelight that left dancing shadows all over the place. There was another chair beside the man, unoccupied. A man in a cloak stood off to the side, next to a wall. His eyes settled on Aiden with disinterest.

The final thing of notice was a flash of steel that came swinging through the air from the corner of Aiden's eye. He stepped in its direction as he pushed the lady to the side. The hand wielding the weapon slammed into him instead of the weapon and Aiden slammed the door closed with a kick.

Catching the arm mid-swing, he turned and threw the assailant. Instead of having a man fly over him, he was caught trying to throw something as sturdy as a brick wall.

He restrategized immediately. Turning away from the man, he leapt back, reaching into his pockets and flinging an enchanted item.

If Mba-chukwu was truly coming for the town, then it was in his best interest to assume that every opponent was steel-boned, which meant normal forms of combat would be near useless against them.

The man caught the orb before it struck his face and darted forward.

Around them, nobody moved, choosing to watch the outcome.

Just before the man reached Aiden, the orb exploded in his face and his entire head was set ablaze.

He staggered back, beating against his head with his unarmed hand but didn't let out as much as a sound of pain.

The room froze then, the only sign of life in the man beating on his own face.

Aiden turned, took in the attention of the young man still seated next to Zen in his casual authority and the man standing next to the wall, now alert.

He brought his hands together.

[You have used Class skill Enchanted Weave]

…

[You have used Weave of Lesser Strength]

…

[Dimensional mana detected]

…

[Weave of Lesser Strength is now Weave of Lesser Void Strength]

With the steel-boned, you could never be too careful. After all, the first criterion for gaining the trait was to first be above level seventy.

No one moved, still. Instead, the man sitting next to Zen spoke.

"What is your business here, young lord?" he asked with a brogue that marked him for having spent time in mba-chukwu.

"I'm here for Zen and his sister," he said. "I have business with them."

"They have business with me."

Aiden looked from a scared but confused Zen to his sister.

Both of them hesitated before shaking their heads at the same time. If it bothered the young man, he did not show it. Instead, he sighed and got to his feet.

"Every member of the town will die tonight," he said as if tired. "What's one more random lord?"

"Death comes to us all," Aiden said in response, his eyes going to the man whose face was no longer burning. "Even the steel-boned."

That got a response out of all three men in the room.

All of them erupted in a cacophony of action. Spears manifested out of nowhere. In the blink of an eye, Aiden was moving, too. He ducked a strike and the wall behind him shattered from a burst of wind from the spear.

He rolled along the ground and came up on the other side with his sword in hand already swinging. He parried another spear strike and kicked a random leg out from under its own by the shin. Spinning, his sword slapped another spear aside and he threw his body into an incoming assailant.

Somewhere in the room he heard a table fall over followed by the sound of breaking glass. Outside he heard Valdan's voice but couldn't make out what he was saying before the sound of metals clashing rang out.

Turning his head to the side, he evaded a stab and grabbed the spear by the haft just below the blade and moved to stab its wielder.

His sword had barely completed its path when the ground shook beneath his feet and an explosion erupted outside with enough force to shake the world.

Just my luck, he thought as he dodged a kick to the face, forcing him to release the spear in his hold.

The spear he had been holding belonged to the only man in the room who had spoken.

The man looked in the direction of the explosion, disregarding Aiden.

Aiden's frown deepened.

He had chosen to enter Dentis just when the attack on the town decided to happen.

Just my fucking luck.

All three assailants attacked him again and Aiden prepared himself for more than just a fight.

He prepared himself for a war.

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