Around the same time Liam wandered into the woods, Lady Luna opened up the next spell book on her list to study. Or, rather, she generated an astral projection of it while floating around her tent in her nearly transparent dream form. Her physical body remained asleep within arm’s reach. The semi-transparent book floating in front of her looked exactly like the one she had leafed through at the capitol library a few months earlier.

Before she could begin reading it, she felt the tingling sensation that warned her of something crossing through to outside the danger line she set up. Curious as to why someone would wander that far from the main camp, she hovered through the tent wall and then floated toward the woods, all the while looking very much like a ghost.

Eventually, she found the man sitting by a fire and recognized him as the man named Liam. The orange glow of the flames shivered and twitched over the surroundings, casting long, eerie shadows deep into the woods. Both the man’s and his beastly companion’s eyes reflected the warm glimmer of the flame. Something about them gave off an aura of mystery and intrigue.

She didn’t know much about the man aside from the beguiling golden gleam of his eyes and the fact that he somehow tamed an enormous Greater Woolf which was currently lying next to him. To her surprise, the beast raised its head and looked straight at her, though it visibly recognized her and lowered its head again. Meanwhile, the man starting talking to himself. In fact, it sounded like he was having a conversation with a being she could not see or hear. Curiosity motivated her to listen to the entire thing.

Meanwhile, Liam stopped prodding the flames to speak with the old ghost of a man who called out to him. “Hey, you old geezer. I was wondering how long you would stay asleep.”

‘So, you going to answer my question? How long’ve I been out?’

“It’s been about two weeks or so,” Liam answered while rising from his makeshift seat to search for more firewood. Dry leaves crunched under his weight with each step through the woods.

‘Oh, not bad. I see you still haven’t learned how to use mana yet, though.’

“Well, a lot’s going on. Haven’t earned enough points for the skill,” Liam replied in an attempt to justify himself.

‘Well, hurry it up. I’ll be able to wake up more if I can eat your mana.’

“The hell is wrong with you, old man?”

‘Didn’t want to mince my words.’

“If you eat mana, why did you eat my rabbit meat that one time?”

‘Because it had mana in it, just like every other living thing born in this world,’ Noctis answered, blatantly mocking Liam’s lack of the unfamiliar flow of power. The tone in the old ghost’s voice implied an attempt at delivering the statement in good humor, but it ended up rather condescending instead.

Clicking his tongue, Liam decided to change the subject. “Anyway, I’ve got questions for you again.” While speaking, he noticed a berry bush only a few steps away. Upon closer inspection, he concluded it to be a raspberry bush. Without hesitation, he picked a handful of the small red berries and carried them back to the fire along with a handful of dry sticks.

‘Of course you have questions... What if I don’t feel like answering them? We could always just have a normal conversation for once, you know?’

“Asking questions is a normal conversation. Now, first of all, I heard a few people mention a Deity War recently. Is that referring to the war your people got involved in?” Liam asked as he popped a couple berries into his mouth. They tasted far sweeter than he recalled, but he hadn’t eaten any for years, so he figured it must be normal.

‘Is that what they’re calling it?’ Noctis asked, momentarily trailing off into thought before saying, ‘Possibly the same war, though it’s not like any of us were actually gods. Wars always get named Post Facto either way.’

Raising a brow, Liam thought to himself, Isn’t that Latin? Did that exist here? Suddenly, a notification screen appeared before him, interrupting the thought.

You have been poisoned. Body is attempting corrective measures.

“You’ve got to be shitting me…” Liam mumbled to himself as he stared down at the bumpy red berries in his hand. Just in case, he held the berries toward his companion and asked, “Scath, can you tell if these are poisonous?”

The Direwolf sniffed the berries and immediately growled. That was all Liam needed to know. As a precaution, he checked the berries more closely. Although almost exactly like raspberries in every way, they lacked the little hairs they should have had. He immediately tossed the berries into the woods and grimaced. He made a mental note to study the wild plants of this world as soon as possible.

‘Quite the little blunder there, Liam,’ Noctis said, chuckling ever so slightly.

“If you aren’t worried, then I assume I’ll be fine.”

‘Sure, but your stomach certainly won’t feel like it in a few hours. And, just a thought, but are you okay with that woman over there listening in on everything?’

“Hmm?” Liam snapped his head around in different directions but saw no one. For a moment, he wondered if the old geezer tried to pull the wool over his eyes. But, for good measure, he looked at Scath and asked, “Is someone nearby?”

The beast slowly nodded and pointed his nose in the direction of the camp. Following the Direwolf’s gaze, Liam fixed his eyes on the forest and scanned the trees for the person. He cast away the thought that it could be Nora since she would have simply walked up and hugged him from behind or something. As a precaution, he called out, “If you’re friendly, show yourself!”

A few tense moments passed. Liam reached for his sword, but his hand stopped halfway when a ghostly figure peeked through a tree trunk. The sudden appearance of the nearly transparent and noticeably feminine face caught him off guard even though he did not fear ghosts.

“Uh… hello?” the woman awkwardly greeted while waving with a ghostly hand. Her voice sounded familiar but the strange airy resonance in it threw Liam off. He only recognized her once she floated into full view.

Maintaining his guard due to the unfamiliar situation, Liam asked, “Aren’t you that Luna person? What’s with the ghostly appearance?”

“It’s a skill that lets me stay awake even when I sleep,” Luna answered as she floated toward the fire.

Liam glanced at Scath, but the beast seemed rather content to let her approach. Trusting the Direwolf’s instincts, he allowed himself to relax his guard.

‘Who’s she? Can she help you restart my clan?’ Noctis asked.

Ignoring the question, Liam internally rolled his eyes at the old bastard. Instead, he asked Luna, “What brings you out here, then?”

“I get warning signals whenever someone enters or leaves the camp. Just thought I’d make sure there were no problems. What about you?”

“That’s a fairly useful skill as well…” Liam muttered as he glanced at his overly calloused fingertips in disdain. A very small part of him felt jealous of this woman’s otherworldly abilities even though he knew it would never suit his style of fighting, or even just his life in general. Then, in answer to her question, he vaguely said, “I came out here because I needed some air.”

“But there is a fire pit already set up at camp,” Luna muttered, visibly confused by his actions.

“You know, you’re about as lacking in tact as the elf.”

“Wow… can’t say I’ve ever been compared to her in that aspect before…”

“Well, since you found out I’m just getting some air, you may as well go back and do… whatever it is you would do in such a form.”

“I use it to study while my body sleeps,” she replied using a defensive tone.

Briefly, Liam raised a brow at her supposed dedication to learning even though she had already attained a high position. His impression of her rose, albeit slightly.

“Before I go,” Luna continued, “who were you speaking to? It was like you were having a conversation with yourself, but it was rather cryptic.”

Liam groaned. This was exactly the question he wanted to avoid if at all possible, especially from a learned person.

“Is it a spirit? Iloryn said she thought you probably had some sort of connection to spirits.”

“Something like that,” Liam conceded, knowing he wouldn’t be able to rid himself of the woman without giving her something to latch onto.

Nodding to herself, Luna muttered, “Mmm… interesting, quite interesting.”

Liam sighed and prodded the fire again. A few sparks popped into the air, hissing as they slowly drifted back down. Contrary to his hopes, the woman remained hovering by his fire.

“May I ask you something?” she asked.

“Depends.”

“Most of Ekram’s men are former soldiers. I was curious if you were one as well since I didn’t recognize you like some of the others.”

“Not sure I’d say we’re on friendly enough terms for such questions.”

“I’d say we are acquaintances, at least,” Luna muttered. She rubbed her chin while speaking, which looked rather strange in her current ghostly form.

This time around, Liam outwardly rolled his eyes. “Fine. I was a soldier, did a lot of fighting, became a prisoner of war, got freed, nearly got kicked out afterward due to disorderly conduct, then they covered it all up and told me to do combat training instead because of the dire situation. Some strange shit happened, and now I’m here. Happy?”

The woman blinked. Small facial movements displayed her difficulty in trying to process everything he just said. Honestly, it was the first time he ever bothered to put everything into words since arriving in this world, perhaps longer. In the past, several people told him to do it, but it never really changed anything. Now, though, he could feel some sort of relief at narrowing down his experiences so much.

“That’s… a bit more than I expected…” Luna quietly mentioned.

Liam shrugged. “You asked.”

“I did…”

Well, if she’s going to bother me either way, may as try well pull some info from her, Liam thought. With that in mind, he asked, “Will there be an evacuation in Crey as well?”

“Probably. It’s one of two places the Zhulisians could attack next.”

“There’s nothing really worthwhile there, though. I don’t see how it would be worth it to waste their forces taking it.”

“True, but the other city isn’t much better. The only thing that would make it worth it for them to come here is if they avoided destroying the cornfields to the north.”

“Will there be a draft?”

“Draft?” Luna asked, tilting her semi-transparent head.

“Forced enlistment,” he clarified.

“Oh, that. Officially, only members of the various guilds can be ‘drafted’ as you call it.”

Good thing I never joined one… Liam thought.

“Truly is a crazy situation, though…” Luna muttered. Then, raising her gaze toward the stars and moons, she added, “In fact, the entirety of the last fortnight has been rather hard to believe.”

Almost inadvertently, Liam recalled the insanity he experienced until now and mumbled, “If only you knew, lady...”

“Hmm? Knew what?”

“How long the last two weeks have been,” he instantly answered. A brief notification of his deceit skill kicking in popped up, though he dismissed it as unnecessary.

“Oh, I see…”

Silence fell between them. Only the crackling flames and chirping crickets filled the void. A short glance toward the woman revealed to Liam that she was trying rather hard to think of something else to ask. Although he did not know if she wanted to fill the quiet by talking or to learn more about him, he said, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to be left alone for a little while. If you really want to talk to me another time, it shouldn’t be hard to find me.”

A momentary sigh slipped between her semi-transparent lips. Conceding to his wishes, she said, “Very well. I suppose we will speak another time.”

With that, she hovered back toward the camp. Liam remained silent for a while since he couldn’t be sure that she actually left. However, his suspicions abated when Noctis said, ‘Looks like she’s gone. Seemed like a woman of character.’

“Just so you know, I’ve already got a woman.”

‘Oh? You’re a rather quick operator, eh? I must not have woken up while she was around, then. Can’t hurt to have another, though.’

“They aren’t a commodity, you old geezer.”

‘Hmm. I suppose my urgings could come across as such. I wonder what my wife would have said…’

Before Liam could retort, another notification appeared.

Your body overcame poisoning due to previous genetic modifications.

Minor Poison Resistance Skill added.

Other possible skills undiscovered.

“What the hell? Genetic modifications?”

‘Seems the system gave you a message?’

Brows furrowed to the point of wrinkling his forehead, Liam answered, “Yeah… Supposedly, my body overcame the poison due to genetic modifications, but I don’t recall receiving any such thing.”

‘Well, your guess is as good as mine. I have no idea what that means.’

“I suppose I’ll have to contact that other bastard to see if he knows anything…” Liam muttered while pulling up his friend list. A few new names were listed, though he temporarily ignored it for the time being. Upon mentally singling out Sanguis’ name, a few options popped up this time around, call, message, and SOS. The last one caused Liam to raise a brow. Yet again, he found something else he needed to figure out the purpose of. For now, though, he chose the call function. As before, a screen appeared which reminded him of some sort of social video call. Unfortunately, it vanished a few moments later and a message appeared instead.

Sorry, Liam. Can’t answer right now. I’ll reply as soon as possible.

Liam groaned and rolled his eyes. Of course the first time trying to contact the supposed deity after a warning he might not answer would fail. Since he now had nothing else to do, he decided to simply relax by the fire until sunrise.