The 13th Princess of Zan growled as she left the temporary tent to get some fresh air. They had set themselves up farther north, careful to avoid any tracking magic. With some simple information gathering, they decided the Demonlands was the easiest place to hide. And the safest to gather information. How this race survived being so hated by the rest of the world was beyond her.

They had eventually worked their way up to capturing an advisor of a ‘Demon Prince’, whatever that silly title meant. A prince without a kingdom, how pointless. And the information only shocked her further. There were no known 3rd Tiers on this world. No explanation for how her Uncle was captured.

The risen Dungeon was apparently the first of its rank in recorded history and these people were long used to dying unrequited at level 24. Dying to 3rd Tier monsters that was, whenever they reached the end of their lifespan and decided to enter more dangerous areas in an attempt to surpass their level limits.

She too learned about the Arcanist. [Archon] Nvos. One who apparently had fought with several Demon Princes to protect his mate. And now apparently used that same power to capture her royal Uncle. She would have thought it lunacy to consider a 2nd Tier capturing him, but Arcanists were lunatics after all. She briefly shivered, hoping irrationally none had heard her errant thought. There were few things in the universe to fear more than the Divines, and they were one of them. Divines at least needed a great enough reason to interfere personally.

Only that he was impossibly Human kept her from deeming this planet as hopeless.

And a Half-Demon… The one he was protecting... The concept was disturbing. While her Empire lacked knowledge of the specific race, they knew of others like them. Those with racial classes and abilities deemed too powerful to benefit from Dungeons, at least that was the popular theory why they couldn’t enter. Another was that having ‘Monster-type’ inherited classes prevented it. A hybrid that ignored such things…

Of course, just because a race was strong, didn’t mean its strongest individuals were anything special. Though the Soul-stealing Demon Prince raised her hackles. Such beings were not to be trifled with. And then there were the cursed lands at both North and South, the Dragon Isles plagued by roaming distorted Souls of Dragons, and the 3rd Tier Monsters that existed… This planet was a strange place. And she had little doubt its past self was glorious. Dragons of all things...

And now so very ripe for the taking. She had already contacted home, recognizing that it was better to accept the reward for discovery than foolishly trying to take more for herself. Already forces were gathering. It would be only a few months, shorter if she supplied resources on her end for the [World Portal], that an army would descend upon this world.

Oh, how she waited for the day.

Heading back to the forested and monster-covered plane with his Avatar, Rainer used the [Cosmic Map] to head elsewhere, before flying towards the [Soul Mark]. The fact they left it on meant they likely hoped to meet him again. Or his method of implanting was more effective than he originally thought. Both scenarios had their advantages.

He had planned to explore this plane a bit more by himself, but he had seen their predicament with [Void Seer] ahead of time. How could he let such an opportunity pass up? Not to mention that Rainer himself wouldn’t just watch someone neutral, or perhaps friendly if he squinted enough, to him die if he had the power to easily stop it.

He Void-walked far above them. With [Arcane Revelation] he looked over the scene below him. Some abomination clearly in the 3rd Tier fought with the 3rd Tier Magus of before and the Nature’s Walkers. The sheer amount of Aura being thrown around likely prevented any normal means of teleportation and therefore escape. A common scene involving 3rd Tier Monsters and what made them so dangerous beyond their strength, intelligence, and often unreasonable speed for their size.

Should he save them with [Void-walking], or should he try and kill the Monster? Both would endear the group to him to a certain degree, but the latter would also put a hefty amount of fear in them. Which to choose? Only saving them might be for the best, as he didn’t want them to be on guard against him.

Rainer shook his head at the thought. He didn’t want to grow up to be a manipulative old man thinking over how to save someone so he could benefit more and push his bottom line. What was the point of power if he couldn’t do what he wanted? He would kill the monster because he wanted to. And that was that. He had plenty of others to scheme for him. His mind was best saved for Magic.

He watched the fight as he waited for the best moment. This was his Avatar after all, so if he failed with [Blade of the Void] it was unlikely any other attacks would get through. The 2nd Tiers below acted as support, pinning down the monster with a constantly changing gravity, and a variety of root-based attacks. Though they mostly acted as annoyances to the Aura-filled beast.

The feathered and winged raptor, the size of a three story building, ignored them almost completely as its long, snake-like head attacked the floating Magus. Said Magus fought back with what Rainer believed to be some sort of ranged Spatial blade—with a strength not too far from his [Arcane Blade]. Of course, with the power of the 3rd Tier that wasn’t a surprise. Beyond that, he messed with space in a variety of ways and tried to attack the Monster’s Soul directly.

Rainer watched and waited for the perfect moment. It was when the Monster overextended with a bite that he powered up [Arcane Awakening], and Void-walked in. [Arcane Awakening: Surge] activated as a deadly and darker than night blade formed in his hand. Unlike other Monsters before it, this raptor seemed to have realized the danger, moving its neck as best it could from the blade and readying a counter attack.

Unfortunately for it, its attempt at dodging was blocked by the 3rd Tier Magus, as he poured much of his Mana into solidifying space in a strange way and increasing gravity to keep the Monster still. The beast was helpless as the blade cut through an Aura so condensed it bent reality around it.

The headless raptor stumbled around, destroying the house next to it, before collapsing in a lifeless heap. The reality destroying properties of the blade kept it from bleeding from the wound for at least several seconds.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Rainer said and then cringed slightly when their looks of gratitude and awe were replaced with confusion.

“Arcanist,” the 3rd Tier Magus started, “it is good to see you again. Perhaps we should go somewhere safer before talking,” he said, before wrapping the entire Monster’s body in magic and sucking it into the Spatial Ring on his finger.

Rainer nearly blinded himself as he looked at that ring on his finger. It was an even more complex enchantment than the Dimensional Ring, if far lesser in quality. It seemed to push the limit of size for a spatial ring.

“Let’s.”

It seemed that wasn’t their only home as the 3rd Tier Magus, who introduced himself as Locklar, teleported everyone to what seemed to be a small village. It was a few moments later Rainer found himself headed underground—passing through an incredibly powerful illusion—and the question of where the civilization on this plane was quickly became answered.

Rainer couldn’t keep his jaw from dropping as he looked upwards, an artificial sky shining over this city of trees and crystalline structures. A mixture of Humans and Nature Elves dotted the place, all of them bowing to Locklar as they headed inwards.

“Was your earlier statement the truth?” Locklar asked, paying no attention to others around them as they walked deeper into the sprawling city.

It was now Rainer noticed the slightest touch of magic within most of the Humans they saw. Impure then?

“That I met you here by accident? That was a joke.”

The Magus stared at him for a while before chuckling.

“So that’s what that incomprehensible statement meant. Still, your translation magic is impressive. I was referring to your claims when we first met.”

“I don’t make a habit of lying,” Rainer lied, “What I said was the truth,” and then told the truth.

“Well then, let’s discuss Magic.”

Rainer sat in the room he was given, looking at the chest of potions and the scrolls being brought in by servants. In exchange for the monster’s body, he had gotten their collection of magic, all of the 6th Tier and below. Locklar went to discuss with others, whether he might trade for anything higher, leaving Rainer with the female party leader of the Nature’s Walkers.

He got the feeling they were more impressed with his ability to teleport within a 3rd Tier Monster’s range then anything else. He didn’t mind the misconception that he teleported at all.

“What do you know of the Order of the Elements?” Rainer asked, knowing from Fai’Etah that they were a group well-known in the planes. Though it was a big assumption that this plane was anywhere near that grouping. He wanted to ask Fai’Etah more details, but given how deep they were in the Forbidden Lands, he didn’t want to just drop in, only to find out the Curse that deep had some more severe consequences.

“What everyone else knows,” was the unintentionally unhelpful answer given.

“Where can I find them?”

“In the City of Wealth. They have a base where they often sell their services from.”

“Where might I find that?” Rainer asked, again wondering at the non-helpful answer.

It seemed she finally understood the extent of his lack of knowledge and explained further.

“A Divinity of Wealth known as Arthemtor established a city with his followers and created a plane to host it. Every so often he’ll open portals on a variety of nearby planes and even some distant planets to allow visitors, often sending [Priest]s ahead of time to gather people and send the message. So long as you are below the 3rd Tier, passage is free of cost.”

Rainer was well aware that normal methods of world travel depended on the strength of one's Soul. He learned from Zan-Lan that transporting a 3rd Tier like him wasn’t cheap and that even regular teleportation over long distances became slightly more diffcult. He wondered if [Void-traveling] shared a similar constraint, but Talvara said no. But whether that was because the strength of 3rd Tier Void Lords was too strong to notice or that this form of travel was irrelevant to Soul strength wasn’t known.

He couldn’t help but be excited at the prospect of such a city, even if it was tainted by the Divine. Holding his judgement for later, he wondered how he’d get there.

“Is there going to be a portal here anytime soon?”

“You are in luck. Six years from now one will be opened.”

Rainer sighed, wondering what part of that was lucky. Maybe he could get someone else to donate knowledge of the city to his [Cosmic Map]?

His attention was drawn back to his main body as someone requested help.