“Sounds like a good enough plan. Better than what we’ve been doing anyways.”

Without any apparent hesitation, Jill made her opinion known. Mash stared at her skeptically but found himself agreeing. He was already inclined to agree to the proposal, but didn’t want to add any input until the others could.

“Why? How could you trust him so easily?”

Red was not satisfied with Jill’s response, her tone making it evident that she wanted an explanation. Jill had been one of the angriest with Leah’s betrayal, and it did seem a little strange. However, Red didn’t actually disagree with Jill, merely trying to find her justification. Shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, Jill answered Red’s questions.

“I don’t know for certain, but I don’t want to distrust every person I meet. Ivarin seemed trustworthy, and never gave us any reason to believe otherwise. Sure, the stuff with Leah and Ellis was shitty, but we can’t stop trusting people just because we’ve been betrayed. Trust me on that…”

Seeming to remember something from her past, her voice trailed off as she stopped speaking. Mash didn’t really know what to say, but saw Red put a comforting hand gently on Jill’s shoulder. It seemed to snap Jill back from her memories, but she didn’t continue speaking. Instead, she just sat there quietly, and Red filled the silence with her own thoughts.

“I don’t disagree, plus, he has no reason to do anything of the like. But how bout we ask to leave tomorrow and spend the rest of the day relaxing and exploring the town.”

Nobody disagreed, they all wanted to explore the town more, and enjoy another night here. Luke didn’t talk much but agreed, and Mash told them of how they could meet with his siblings. Slightly scared of showing his siblings what he had become, he figured having others with him would help him get through the encounter. With a course of action decided, they went to talk to Ivarin. He agreed, not minding the delay. For him, it would only take seconds to complete the teleportation. With that done, they went to explore the town.

The rest of their day had gone peacefully. Nothing particularly eventful happened, and he was surprisingly relieved to have a normal day. He was able to relax, eat what he wanted and wander aimlessly. He found a park to rest in, reminding him of his favorite park from back home. He met up with the others before nightfall, each of them needing some time to themselves. Perhaps, he had been rushing things a bit.

There was genuine value in just enjoying a place, even if it felt a little wrong. With Priscilla, he could now tell when the class was influencing his thoughts. At least, when the effect was the strongest. His addiction to training, to moving forward was an effect of his class. He didn’t understand why it would be there for his current class but guessed that it might be an effect of having had the Runner class. Remembering the past, he realized that it was after he got the class that training and improving became important to him. He couldn’t really remember what he was like before, having been too young to form an identity. Although with Priscilla now in his head, she was able to tell him when his thoughts were shifting unnaturally. Hopefully, it wasn’t too late to become something he wanted, rather than one he was led towards.

Having nothing to do was both a blessing and a curse. It had let him get some much-needed relaxation and perspective on how he had been operating. Although that same perspective showed him how little identity he had right now, having spent so much time on getting stronger he never really explored anything else. He figured he could worry about it when he was older, when his life span was a lot longer, but that seemed so far away now. He had time, taking the occasional breaks wouldn’t slow him down that much. Not to mention, he was probably the youngest person at his current level. Well, he would see his siblings soon, and would spend some time with them.

Eventually, the day came to an end, and they found their ways back to the inn, back to the luxurious room. They slept late again, having spent ample time enjoying the night again. Finding it rather hard to sleep, his excitement making him want to bounce around, Mash meditated instead. His skill could make him relax, to push back some of the worries he had.

He woke up early though, still a little giddy from the prospect of meeting his siblings. They wouldn’t be hard to find, although seeing them might prove to be more difficult. Both had managed to earn important positions; his sister was coddled by the kingdom. His brother likely a leader among the knights now. He might have already gotten his next class advancement. Wondering what came after sentinel, he realized that his brother might have really become a hero. However, Mash thought that he would reject the class for something else. Still, it would be interesting to see where they were now.

After waking up the others, they headed down to meet Ivarin. As soon as they saw him, he waved them over.

“Are you all ready to go?”

He sounded strangely excited, and Mash reflexively looked towards Visha. Ivarin had some peculiar habits and inclinations, talking to him last night had done more to reveal that. Visha would often explain things when their group couldn’t understand what Ivarin was thinking.

“He’s just excited to show you his teleportation ability. Not to mention, we sponsored you guys at the guild. It’s not a big deal and you shouldn’t worry about it too much; we have sponsored a lot of teams before.”

Visha sounded casual, in perfect control of her voice. While Mash did think that she was being honest, he also guessed that there was a reward for them. Either way, they were already receiving their help, getting more of it didn’t matter.

“We are ready to go.”

Cutting into the conversation, Jill spoke eagerly. Seeming overly excited, the others nodded along. Mash didn’t feel their excitement, instead his worry about meeting his family was growing. He had the mask on for now, but he would take it off when he met them.

“You clearly want to meet them, so why act so hesitant?”

He felt the voice in his mind, Priscilla asking him to explain his human tendencies. She had been doing that more over the past few days. Claiming that his distress would affect her own mind, and she might be able to help manage his thoughts if she understood him better. She could read his thoughts if she wanted, but he had requested that she inform him before doing so. He did the same, even though she didn’t require it. It felt wrong to continue to let her invade his thoughts, and for him to do the same to her. He didn’t answer her, still hesitant about the idea of letting a monster manage his thoughts that way. Maybe in emergencies he would allow it, but not for things like this.

Explaining only how much he felt comfortable with, his thoughts were interrupted as Ivarin led them to a back room. It wasn’t small, easily able to fit three or four times as many people. Other than a few lights, there was nothing in the room, the flooring left smooth and empty without any obstructions.

“I am going to drop you off outside of the capital. There is a space designated for such skills. You should be able to make it to the capital easily, just look for the walls.”

Ivarin explained a few things to them, and then invoked his spell. Mash didn’t know why but he expected something to happen to him. For his body to feel strangely different, though there was no special feeling. Like Jill’s skill, he was simply shifted to the location, without feeling anything. The only way he could even tell that the magic was being used was his mana territory. With it he had been able to see Ivarin’s mana envelop their group. Then it was gone, and so was the inn.

They were in a wide empty space, hundreds of feet of forest cleared out and sectioned into divisions. Tiny fences sprouted from the ground, indicating each division. Small and wooden, the fences wouldn’t stop any creatures, or even get in the way of walking. It was meant to section the space off for teleportation; you didn’t want to teleport into another group of people. It wasn’t necessarily harmful, but it would cause a bunch of people to crash into one another. Essentially, who ever was there first would shove whoever was arriving to the side. It wasn’t painful just unexpected.

The grass was well kept, and the forest around them only had short trees. As Ivarin had said, the most noticeable thing in view was the capital’s walls. Several people were already walking towards them, but he just stared for a second. The walls were extremely tall and could be seen from a great distance. He was sure that it would take several minutes to get there.

“It is not bigger than the World Carrier. Though I doubt any human creations could compare to its majesty.”

Priscilla sent him an image of how she perceived the creature, and he found himself agreeing with her. Apparently, she had been atop its back for a long time, and still had not scoured its full size. Then he remembered that there had been another creature which attempted to eat the World Carrier. The images really did make the walls seem less impressive, and he started moving.

He was the first to start heading towards the capital, the others still taking in the sight. Stopping, he waved his hands at them, and they finally started making their way towards the capital. It was a long walk, and they passed several large groups of people and many carriages. A lot of people were heading to the capital, and he wondered if this was normal or if there was something going on. No one bothered them, though he did notice a few kids pointing out his appearance. It was probably because of his mask, though he was relieved to see that they didn’t seem scared.

His mask looked like it was made from snakeskin, black scales covering its outside. The strangest part was probably the empty white shapes where he looked through. Others couldn’t see his eyes beneath, and the mismatching shapes seemed to be the only interesting aspect of the mask. He vaguely heard one of the children ask their mother if he was blind, and he realized that it might appear like that to some. It was funny to think about, since he didn’t need his eyes to see close distances, his mana territory was able to give him vision of his surroundings

They eventually arrived at the gates, which were a lot smaller and more intricate than he expected. It was big enough to allow several wagons through simultaneously, but was still a little smaller than the beastmen gates. Not to mention, they were not as unique either, made from a simple wood, it hung open and he could see that it was operated by a magical contraption. There was a relatively long line, but it moved quickly, several knights working to let people in. They were only in line for an hour or so, mostly just talking about what they would do once inside.

First, they would find an inn, then Mash would send letters or something to let his family know that he was there. They could visit them after doing that. He told the others that his siblings were important, but only Jill knew about what classes they had when they left for the capital. It had been a big deal among the human communities. When Red heard that they were important, she insisted that he needed to do this if he wanted to meet with them. Reluctantly, he agreed with her assessment.

They got to the front and were approached by a single knight. He or she was wearing a full set of armor, and Mash couldn’t make out any details about them. The knight’s armor was an immaculate combination of silver and blue, no markings blemishing the embelin at the center of their chest. It was a blue tiger roaring, the symbol of the Kingdom itself.

“Welcome. State your reason for entering the town, and any connections you have within.”

Once they spoke, Mash could make out that they were male. Their voice was deep and gravelly, and it made him want to clear his throat. Mash responded, him being the only person with connection to the town.

“We are adventurers and are here to visit the guild. I have some family in the town, my brother Arthur is a knight, and my sister Luna is a priestess.”

Trying to avoid a scene, he avoided using their titles. It didn’t work, the knight jumping slightly when he heard their names. He seemed to panic a little, before beckoning over another knight. They moved a bit away from the group, before having a small conversation. Then the new knight spoke to them.

“What is your name?”

This knight was female, not that it mattered. He reluctantly gave them his name, and one of the knights ran off. His name was unique, his parents having shortened the middle name of one of his grandparents. Since it was shortened, it ended up becoming rather strange, and others could most likely identify him from it. The other knight, the female one told them to remain here. Apparently, Arthur had made an order that if Mash were ever to arrive to let him know. The others were staring at Mash speculatively, even Jill not understanding the situation. Well, it seemed like he would be meeting his brother sooner than expected. That thought was both relieving and terrifying.