Lan watched the last fragments of the troll drift away and felt nothing at that moment. He wasn’t proud when the mote of experience floated towards him or when he felt the heat of levelling up. In fact, with everything happening, he had forgotten about that part until it began.

  [Level Up]

  [Attributes.]

  [Strength: 17 > 19]

  |Body: 17 > 19

  |Mind: 17 > 19

  |Dexterity: 17 > 19

  |Perception: 17 > 19

  [Charisma: 17> 19]

  [Hp 120 > 140]

  [Mp 120 > 140]

  With his mana recharged, Lan ran like a blur when he could move, picking up the troll’s axe before taking off the tuning bell and sending Tyr ahead as he sprinted towards the rendezvous point. He didn’t know if the hounds had a way of knowing Gregor was dead, and he wasn’t planning on waiting to find out.

  Tyr reached the limit of their Wisp Walk, and Lan followed, the world falling away behind him at the same time as the town walls grew before him.

  [Mp 140 > 100]

  With the shattering of crystal and a cry from one guard and then the other, Lan kicked off the air, scaling over and pushing off the roof as Tyr raced ahead to start the link again.

  [Mp 100 > 60]

  Another Wisp Walk put the town far behind them as Lan twisted in the air, testing the weight of the axe before readying it so when Tyr sent him an impression of the cliff and called to him, he answered and buried the axe in the head of the first hound as he appeared, startling the others into jumping back from Seras and Luna as Lan flipped over the axe and used the momentum to launch it into another hound before it could land.

  [Mp 60 > 20]

  ‘Sorry, I’m late.’ Lan said, dropping beside Seras, who had been shielding Luna with her body. It was only then that the two looked at him.

  ‘Took you long enough.’ Seras breathed as she looked at him with eyes as wide as Luna’s.

  Lan laughed before Tyr sent an alert, ‘give me a moment,’ he said before activating his shield and catching the hound that had jumped at him in the jaw before lancing it through the neck.

  Two more hounds lept at Lan, and he Wisp Walked up, poured ice on his sword and dropped before slashing the two of them. One more came at him, and Lan reversed his sword spear, knocking the hound’s head up before lancing it.

  ‘Lan.’ Seras said, but Lan only raised a hand to stop her as he downed a mana potion and slipped the tuning bell back on just as Tyr found the crow flying above them.

  [Mp 20 > 140]

  In a blink, Lan appeared behind it and slashed it. Dropping to the ground, Lan looked at the scrying stone and found it had turned grey, no longer showing what the crow had seen.

  [Mp 140 > 135]

  With a sigh, Lan turned to face Seras and Luna, only to be speared to the ground as Luna jumped at him,

  ‘Lan!’ she shouted, wrapping her arms around his neck. ‘You’re here!’

  ‘Of course I am. I said I would be, didn’t I?’ Lan smiled as Luna’s eyes widened, but she blinked her tears away as she noticed the blood on his face.

  ‘You’re hurt.’ She whimpered.

  ‘Nah,’ Lan said, wiping away the dried blood from the corner of his mouth. ‘just a lucky shot.’ He lied. Although his lungs still felt like sandpaper, he could at least breathe now.

  ‘You… how? I was sure you would live, but the fact that you are here.’ Seras stopped before looking at Lan closer. ‘You did it, didn’t you? You killed Gregor.’

  ‘Yeah, it took me longer than I would have liked.’ Lan shrugged as Seras just looked at him for a long moment before she burst out laughing. A laugh that was full and light, sounding completely free.

  ‘You are the oddest man I have ever known, Landrin Cross, and I am glad that I met you.’ she said, helping him up.

  ‘I aim to please.’ Lan smiled as he rose to his feet and noticed the claw marks that had cut and ripped through Seras’s sleeve. ‘How bad is it?’ he asked, reaching for her arm, which Seras let him take.

  ‘Just a scratch, after the b… Wolfram gave his life for us. The rest just toyed with us.’ Seras said as she looked sadly at the older man’s body. Wolfram lay with blood staining the front of his clothes, with a Hell hound lying next to him. At the entrance of the path to the cliff lay two more hounds; Both had smoking burnt holes in their bodies.

  Walking over, Lan crouched next to Wolfram as he placed his cane back in his hand before closing the man’s eyes.

  ‘Thank you.’ Lan said. ‘Although I wish you hadn’t needed to mean your promise.’

  [Lan. They are coming.] the voice said as the air picked up, and a star appeared at the tip of the cliff.

  The star grew and elongated into the eye of a needle with a black core as Lan moved to Seras and Luna, putting the two behind him as he drew Spell Thief.

  Space ripped in two momentarily as the star erupted into a large golden gateway.

  Staying behind him, Seras picked Luna up, seeming to have the same idea as Lan, even if they had done all this to meet with these people. He didn’t see a reason to let his guard down just yet.

  And those on the other side seemed to have the same thought, as the first person to appear wore full ornate red and gold armour. Moving like a stalking hunter, the person scanned the cliff with an odd staff braced against his shoulder before landing on Lan and the others.

  ‘They’re here!’ the man in the armour called back into the gate in a tone similar to the clear neutral accent of a high academic, only a lot more genteel in delivery.

  Lan shifted his sight and had to blink to ensure he wasn’t seeing things. The man didn’t have just one mana pool in his chest like he should if he could use magic; he had mana pools in both gauntlets, his greaves and his helmet, all connected to a larger mana pool in his chest, in a way Lan had never seen before as if they were all living parts of him.

  Next to come through the gate was a large man in armour that was odder than the first man’s. Both arms were covered in thick, heavy-looking armour, but the man’s chest and face were bare, aside from a hood attached to his shoulder armour. More than that was his weapon, a large single-headed axe that looked to have small metal teeth where the blade should be. Teeth that, even as the man swaggered out with it on his shoulder, moved and hummed. He also didn’t have a drop of mana but enough health that Lan couldn’t see the man through his shifted sight.

  The next person left Lan, thinking he should look away as the young woman floated out of the light in a form-fitting outfit like Cassandra’s, but only more so. All over the outfit were veins of purple light, the same colour as the orbs floating around her. Around her wrists and ankles were rings made of the same light that seemed to be what was allowing her to float. She was also pink. But Lan wanted to look away because the longer he looked at her, the more she would look like one of the women in his life.

  First, Leah, followed by Olivia, Lily, and Cali. Lan looked away.

  Last looked to be a young woman in a dress similar to the robe-like dresses worn by those in Shirada; only the sleeves were not attached to the dress, something he knew would not have gone down well in Shirada, and Lan couldn’t work out how they stayed on, but what stood out the most was the large ornate smiling fox mask.

  Shifting his sight for the last time, Lan found another that didn’t seem to have that much mana of their own, but the large blue spectral fox wrapped around the young woman was overflowing with mana. With a start, the fox noticed Lan looking at it and smiled before flying to get a better look at him before returning to its master to whisper in her ear.

  Lan didn’t know how, but he was sure the sharp look the young woman had turned on him had come with a frown even though he couldn’t see her face.

  ‘Hello there!’ the armoured man chirped before looking down and seeing Wolfram. ‘Good heavens, is that you, Wolfram!’ The armoured man called. ‘Not very sporting to go and die on the job. Come on now, up my boy.’ the armoured man added as he walked over and placed a hand on the butler’s chest. With a pulse of power, Wolfram just sat up with a gasp as he pulled air into his lungs.

  Luna yelped, and Seras moved closer to Lan, who finally looked away from the gemstones in the man’s armour. Each of the mana pools the man had seemed to be within the gems adorning his armour, the same type of stone that was now glowing in Wolfram’s chest.

  ‘Oh dear, how truly shameful, My Lord.’ Wolfram wheezed.

  ‘Wolfram!’ Lan laughed, helping the older man to his feet. ‘How?’

  ‘Ah, young master.’ The somehow returned butler smiled and coughed. ‘It is good to see you safe. I trust your fight went well?’

  ‘Me?’ Lan laughed again. ‘I’m not the one who just got better from bleeding out.’

  Wolfram laughed. ‘ah, forgive me for not sharing sooner.’ He started before pausing and looking at the armoured man.

  ‘Wolfram bears a shard of my power. This not only allows him to draw on that power, but it also allows me to do what I just did.’ the armoured man said before Lan watched as the red helmet pulled away from his face in a way both organic and mechanical, almost like the workings on his shield arm only far more alive to reveal a man younger than his voice, looking to both be in his forty’s and ageless at the same time with a trim silver beard and hair. Along with eyes that did not belong to a human. Ancient glowing red eyes smiled at him good-naturedly with more warmth than many people he knew.

  Still trying to understand what he had seen, Lan jumped as the pink-skinned woman appeared before him.

  ‘Hello Lan! My name is Nova.’ she said with an otherworldly radiant smile as she approached his face.

  ‘How di-‘ Lan started as she moved even closer to him.

  ‘Wow, I have never seen eyes like those before,’ she added, then cupped his cheeks, her face shifting back to Leah’s.

  ‘How did-.’ Lan tried again.

  ‘-did I know your name?’ she smiled as she pulled away. ‘Don’t worry, I am not reading your mind. I can see the strands of Mystica that make up the world’s Veil and how others caused the strands to shift and ripple.’ She added, waving her hand about his head. ‘Here is your life,’ her hand moved to his chest. ‘Your past and your potential. There are so many strands gathered around you. They are drawn to you. The world bends to your will, or… at least it can... it wants to.’ She breathed, almost losing herself with every word as she looked deep into his eyes. ‘all you must do is…’ she started before blinking quickly as she reached out for his face again, her eyes refocusing on him. ‘She waits… for you. She will fight until you find her… only you can save her, for you are her destined one. All will be answered when you say her name. Fly with her. Answer the call, oh child of light, weaver of paths, bearer of two s…’

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  ‘Nova, What did we say about personal space?’ the large man with the axe called over as he crouched next to one of the hellhounds and started to skin it.

  ‘Oops, I did it again.’ she laughed shyly before flying off to chase Tyr through the air.

  [Not exactly the professional escort, is this? I thought she was going somewhere with that] the voice sighed, and Lan couldn’t help but agree. By the end, it felt like the odd woman had been speaking into his mind and what she had said. “She waits.” Lan guessed that could only be the Tear of Creation, but the other stuff. Why would he be naming or flying with the Tear?

  ‘Sorry about that.’ The armoured man said, stepping forward and offering Lan his hand. ‘Lan. Now that Nova has given you the all-clear, I think introductions are in order. I am Maxwell Sirius Lockheart, the third.’

  Lan shook his head and looked to Seras and Luna, finding the two watching him before raising his hand. ‘Landrin Cross… the first.’ He shrugged to be safe in case it mattered to the odd man.

  ‘Cross?’ Maxwell said before getting as close to him as Nova had.

  ‘Personal space.’ The other man called, although Maxwell seemed distracted as he shook his head.

  ‘No, couldn’t be.’ He laughed. ‘No way that devil could be in this world too. Right, you have already met Novadina, and the young man currently with his hands in entrails is Connor,’ he pointed to the short-haired man who gave Lan a bloody two-fingered salute before returning to work. ‘And the charming young lady in the fox mask is Lady Rin.’

  ‘Stop talking to the NPC, ’ Lady Rin said as she walked past the two of them and took Seras and Luna aside.

  ‘NPC?’ Lan raised an eyebrow at Maxwell, who grimmest. ‘You seemed to be up on everything going on, yes?’

  As an answer, Lan thought of a little experiment, and he reached into the Other World Chest, getting his answer as Maxwell’s eyes grew wide with recognition, and Connor looked over and Whistled.

  ‘You…’ Maxwell started.

  ‘I am a descendant of a Summoned Hero.’

  ‘Nova, did you see this in the strands?’ Maxwell looked over Lan’s shoulder at the woman braiding Luna’s hair.

  ‘Huh? Oh yeah.’ Nova grinned.

  ‘Good Lord, woman, warn a man next time.’ He sighed before giving Lan a cryptic look, almost as if he was deciding to say something or not, before clearly changing the subject by returning to the first one. ‘The term she used is a bad habit she picked up from her last group, a nasty lot of Out Worlders that call themselves the Guild and their members Players. Whether they believe it or not, the members of the Guild treat those of this world as nothing more than characters in some elaborate game and any Outworlder that does not play along with it as enemies. She doesn’t mean anything by it. It’s just something that slips out when she is upset or someone calls her a Summoned Hero, funny enough.’ Maxwell seemed to add to himself.

  Lan frowned at that. ‘A game?’

  ‘Yes, it seems that the original leader of that group had come from a world where they played games that worked like this world’s magic. Of course, that man didn’t last long as the leader. Who would have known that gathering a group of bloodthirsty murderers would not make for the most loyal of companions.’ just from the man’s tone, Lan knew he didn’t believe it for a moment, but Lan saw a chance for more information.

  ‘And do you believe that?’

  Maxwell smiled. ‘I have met too many people from too many worlds to think this is the only fake world. Plus, this world’s magic is only a little different from my world’s. No, but there is no need to worry about that lot. They cannot reach this land quickly enough to make the trip worth it. And they seem focused enough on us for the moment.’

  ‘Is Luna safe with you?’ Lan asked outright, caring little for tact at that moment. Even still, Maxwell smiled.

  ‘I said they were focused on us. I never said we were focused on them.’ the odd man’s smile deepened as his eyes glowed with an ancient and powerful light.

  ‘I didn’t think there would be fighting between the Summoned… Otherworlders.’ Lan stated as much to the voice as he tried to wrap his head around everything. Even for him, who had learned to process information quickly, all this was too much. And each new bit of informant had a hundred more questions that would only side-track them.

  And then there was the idea of people who saw his world as a game. The very idea of those people seemed more alien to Lan than the Otherworlders around him, and it bothered him more in some ways than the Young Master.

  ‘There is a difference between wanting to find those lost like us and wholesale murder and worse just because you feel you have a right to it. Summoned Hero or Otherworlders, whatever you want to call us, we are all still just people, some good and some bad.

  Lan nodded. That sounded a lot like the same thing the Guildmaster and he had come to. This brought Lan to the thought of whether he should tell them about the Young Master… even if he were asking them to inadvertently help the people who trapped them in this world, at the end of the day, they would have just as rough a time if the young master managed his plan. But what if. What if discovering about the Young Master leads them to believe he may have a way out of this world? Nothing he had seen made Lan think that was a real chance, but what if?

  But before Lan could decide, he heard Luna cry out and turned to find her being pulled from Seras’s arms by Lady Rin.

  ‘What do you think you are doing!’ Seras snapped as she reached for Luna, grabbing her arm.

  ‘You have done your part. We will look after her from now on.’ Lady Rin said coldly as Luna turned pale.

  ‘She is not going anywhere without me.’ Seras challenged.

  ‘Don’t worry.’ Lady Rin countered coolly, ‘We will keep our word and take you from this land, but that is as far as you go with us.’

  If Lan had only just met Seras, he would have wondered if she would have taken a deal like that to be able to save Luna and pass off the responsibility, but he knew she wouldn’t even before Seras grabbed Lady Rin by the shoulder. ‘you must not have heard me. She stays with me.’ Seras said with a challenge burning behind her eyes that Lady Rin was more than happy to meet as Nova flew around them, unsure what to do.

  ‘Why is she changing the deal now?’ Lan asked over his shoulder to Maxwell, who wore a look of sour resignation.

  ‘Now? I don’t know.’ He said before looking at the young woman. ‘There is no reason to part them, Lady Rin.’ He tried even as Lan could see in his eyes that he would go with whatever she decided.

  ‘Do you want to bring someone from Leeto back to Heart Home?’ Lady Rin challenged before looking at Seras’ hand on her shoulder. Faster than any of them could process, the fox Lan had seen in his shifted sight appeared and lashed Seras with its tail, sending her flying through the air and towards the cliff edge.

  ‘Seras!’ Lan shouted as Luna cried, and the world raced past him as he Wisp Walked. Appearing with his back to the screaming Seras, Lan kicked the air to help him turn around just that little bit faster, catching her the moment he did. ‘Are you-’

  [Mp 135 > 130]

  ‘Don’t worry about me, protect Luna.’ Seras gritted her teeth, surprisingly unfazed by the hit or almost being thrown off a cliff.

  With a nod, Lan looked down and found Lady Rin walking to the portal as Luna fought to break away, all while Maxwell looked to be trying to walk and talk her out of what she was doing.

  Lan wasn’t going to wait and see if Maxwell’s efforts would work as he kicked off the air, hitting the ground and rolling to drop Seras before Wisp Walking again the moment she was safe, leaving him still rolling in the air as he appeared and twisted into a three-point landing between the Outworlders and the gate.

  [Mp 130 > 125]

  ‘You’re not going anywhere!’ he said, wondering how things had gotten out of hand so fast.

  ‘Let’s all just take a moment here to think.’ Maxwell tried before Lan heard a sound wholly new to him, like the buzzing of a giant hornet repeatedly stinging a block of iron, just as Tyr sent an alert. Lan Wisp walked into the air as Connor’s odd axe passed through where he had been.

  ‘Connor! What are you doing.’ Maxwell shouted as the large man shrugged.

  ‘What? It’s set to slow. I was only going to pop his health. I was trying to knock the fight out of him before it could escalate.’

  ‘Too late.’ Lan hissed as he dropped down behind the large Outworlder and kicked him in the head, sending him flying as he shot towards Lady Rin and Luna.

  ‘No!’ Maxwell called as his helmet regrew around his head, and he raised the staff.

  Suddenly, Tyr sent an impression, and Lan moved to react, only to find nothing above him as pain ripped through his body, Silver Wind slipping from him at the same time. [Mp 125 > 115]

  More pain followed another alert, yet Lan could not see it as he threw his body into rolling out of the way of a ball of purple magic from a hurt-looking Nova.

  [Mp 115 > 105]

  Right, there were four of them. Lan told himself as Connor returned, appearing right in front of Lan, his axe roaring as he swung at Lan’s shoulder.

  The air filled with an agonizing ear-piercing shriek as Spell Thief met the spinning axe, and even though the clash lasted only a moment, Lan felt like he had just stopped a hundred attacks. And Spell Thief looked like it had taken a hundred attacks, as even though there was no damage to the odd blade, the point of impact had turned white hot.

  Connor swung again, and Lan Wisp Walked into the air as Tyr sent him an impression of an attack from Nova that turned into chains as it hit the ground.

  [Mp 105 > 100]

  Again came the pain he couldn’t see and more mana loss.

  [Mp 100 > 90]

  Then, Connor jumped up at Lan with such blinding speed that Lan almost thought he had teleported.

  ‘What by the Light was that.’ Lan asked as he flipped backwards, making Connor miss him.

  [I… I don’t know. I didn’t sense any magic or an ability. That was just raw strength.]

  Lan didn’t like the sound of that. The amount of stats into strength and agility one would need to move like that without abilities would put him in the high hundreds.

  Nova sent another ball of magic, making Lan have to push off the air and turn and twist as if kicking off a wall to try and get out of the way, and even though he just managed it, it left him with his back to the ground as Connor jumped at him again.

  Instead of Wisp Walking away, Lan rolled upwards, managing to stay out of the reach of the Summoned Hero until he reached the apex of his jump. Then Lan broke from his roll and brought his heel down on the man’s head, spiking him to the ground, and although it bought him some breathing room, Lan was sure he had just broken his heel with that kick, meaning the man’s resilience was also through the roof, but it was enough as Lan Wisp Walked in front of Lady Rin, ready to Take Luna from her, when he felt something press against the back of his head.

  [Mp 90 > 85]

  ‘Don’t move, my boy. Even with that ability, you can’t dodge a bullet.’

  Whether he was fast or not, it didn’t matter at that moment as Nova, seeing the chance to bring an end to all of this, sent a blast of purple magic that opened up to entomb Lan, or at least it would have if he didn’t Wisp Walk, leaving it to hit and wrap up Maxwell.

  [Mp 85 > 80]

  From the air, Lan watched Maxwell hit the ground and start to rip his way through the magic binding him as Connor lept at Lan again. Lan turned, the buzzing axe clipping hair strands before Connor tried to grab him as he passed, but Lan planted both his feet in the man’s chest, pushing them away.

  Tyr sent another Alert as more pain he couldn’t see ripped through him like something was burning his soul.

  [Mp 80 > 75]

  This wasn’t good. Whatever was being done to him was leeching his mana, and Lan didn’t think he would have enough time for a mana potion if he stopped moving.

  Just then, Lan noticed that Seras was not only back on her feet but was wrestling with Lady Rin while Luna tried to stop them.

  ‘Damn.’ Lan hissed. He needed to end this, but he wasn’t sure if he had done anything.

  Tyr sent an alert, but only this time. Looking at Seras and Lady Rin, he remembered something—the fox. As fast as he could, Lan shifted his sight and saw the fox approaching him. He was faster as he wisp-walked right up to it and punched it. Lan felt no impact, but the Silver Wind connected with the fox, who yelped and flew towards the ground, hitting it as Lady Rin flinched and the gate started to warp.

  [Mp 75 > 70]

  ‘The Gate!’ Lady Rin shouted as Lan Wisped to Seras and Luna, but as he reached out to them, something small and incredibly fast shot past his hand with a crack followed by a boom from the weapon Maxwell had levelled at him.

  [Mp 70 > 65]

  Lan Wisp Walked behind Maxwell but found the barrel pointed in his face.

  [Mp 65 > 60]

  Lan blinked out of the world only to appear before Maxwall’s weapon trained on him again, along with Connor, who aimed a punch at Lan’s head.

  [Mp 60 > 55]

  Lan managed to disappear, but another projectile shot past his face, close enough to cut his cheek, followed by Balls of purple magic and Connor, ready to spike him to the ground.

  [Mp 55 > 50]

  Lan rolled, and Wisp Walked around to find himself in the same position repeatedly. The only thing keeping him in the fight was his already battle-charged muscles and reflexes, along with Tyr and the Voice feeding the position and attacks of the Summoned Heroes to him, but it wasn’t looking good. There just wasn’t an opening; he was going to lose, and yet, even though he knew this, Lan couldn’t stop fighting. Burning more of his mana as he fought the moment-to-moment battle of staying in the fight.

  [Mp 50 > 45] [Mp 45 > 40] [Mp 40 > 35] [Mp 35 > 30]

  Lan heard Luna crying for them to stop, and chancingly looking at them, he found Seras and Lady Rin rolling on the ground.

  Luna cried for them to stop again, and Lan felt something snap in him.

  [Mp 30 > 25 > 15 > 0]

  With a roar, Lan Wisp Walked, but the moment he appeared, he Walked again, linking three Wisp Walks so fast that he ran in a circle around Maxwell, time no longer holding dominion over him as the world slowed, the man losing Lan long enough for him to appear with his sword at the man’s throat.

  ‘Call them off.’ Lan ordered, and Connor’s axe stopped inches from his neck, but Lan couldn’t care as he willed Maxwell to see the resolve in his eyes.

  ‘I am afraid I can’t do that, just as they can not order me to do anything.’ Maxwell said regretfully.

  ‘I won’t let you take her from me!’ both turned as they heard Seras’s voice.

  ‘Get off me! You Leeto rat, I will not let you use her as a pawn.’

  Just then, Lan noticed Luna standing on her own and looking between him and Seras, her breaths fast and quick, tears rolling into gems before her eyes began to glow a pale blue.

  ‘I said stop!’ Luna cried, her words coming to life as a column of blue light surrounded her, her hair turning crystalline blue a moment before pillars of crystal erupted from the ground from the light, sneaking towards them, forming walls that pushed both Seras and Lady Rin and himself and the others apart, ending the fighting over her.

  As if remembering why they were all there, the fight seemed to leave all of them as they watched Luna run into Seras’s arms.

  ‘I think we let ourselves get a little carried away.’ Maxwell said, and Lan couldn’t help but agree.

  ‘What are you doing!’ Lady Rin demanded. ‘She is from Leeto. It’s because of people like her that you are here.’ She added, but as Luna hugged Seras, Lady Rin knew she had lost.

  For a moment, Seras seemed taken aback by the intensity of Luna’s bond with her, hesitating as if something was holding her back before whatever it was broke, and she returned the hug with even more enthusiasm.