He stared up at the distant moons, one large and vibrant, the other less luminescent—more like the moon that he’d known on Earth—and a fraction of the size. One of the few redeeming factors of Venara was how amazingly bright the night skies became once they hovered over a clear and cloudless atmosphere. There were always at least two strips of aurora-like lights far out in the recesses of space, sometimes as many as six, with so many stars—various shades of reds, blues, violets, greens and pinks—visible that the entire skyscape appeared as if it were one gigantic and dazzling Lite-Brite.

The guys I fought earlier. How strong were they?

Both were at the seventh level of Integration.

The seventh? Although he might be able to keep up with them for a couple of minutes, it was highly likely that they were capable of using movement skills. Why hadn’t they just killed him? The words of the one named Rane repeated throughout his mind. He’s just mad that he had to let you beat on him to appease our master’s curiosity.

Hadn’t the other one said that the fact he’d caught their master’s attention meant he was doomed to meet some terrible end? Motherfuck. It’s like everywhere I go someone wants to kill me for no reason.

That’s how it is for most of us, I’m afraid. Look what happened to me.

Wait, when you were talking about this ‘master’ you said that I shouldn’t get involved with him ‘again.’ Are you saying I’ve met him before?

Within your spatial bag sits two black medicinal pellets, half of the amount given to you by… Other two are with Nyla… Before… H…s.

Uncle Grey? Are you there? Uncle Grey!

Nolan ran a hand through his slightly shaggy hair, which he kept healthy and clean by washing it in Divine Spirit Fountain water on a daily basis. Goddamn it. With a harrowing journey through the final stretch of the Dragon’s Tail still in his future, losing Uncle Grey’s wisdom and input was a terrible loss to the group.

Touching a hand to his spatial bag two black beads suddenly appeared in his left hand, each giving off a sinister aura that reminded him of the many nameless graveyards that he had passed during his travels throughout the continent, lifeless and dreary. Something clicked in his mind the moment that he produced the pellets. The presence of disciples within Malben, their collusion with the deceased Count Algrave, the disappearance of women all throughout the valley and the mysterious pellet that they had supposedly been sacrificed in order to create.

He thought back to the man that had saved him and Nyla from an elder of the Bloodhand Sect on the day that they returned to Venara from the realm of the Millennial Ring in the aftermath of Jason’s murder, and then the battle between them and the disciples that had tracked them down after he’d killed those boys back in Redfox Village.

That floating man, the master of those guys I fought and the Red Mountain King. Could there be a connection? That guy couldn’t have been part of the sect— He recalled the elder’s dying words, or his attempt at speaking. It had seemed as if he’d known his killer, as Nolan was positive that his last enunciations had been an attempt at uttering a name. There’s no way. Why would he kill another member of his sect to save me and Nyla?

He stared at the black beads that sat within his palm, suddenly conscious of the main reason why the residents of Malben had chosen to rise up and overthrow their new rulers.

Sick to his stomach, Nolan surrounded the pellets with a small box of spiritual energy and dropped a snapfire bean inside. He filled the box with condensed Origin Energy from the surroundings and then sealed it off before igniting the bean with a snap of his fingers and a rush of his will, at which point a tiny explosion took place within the box that incinerated the contents in a matter of moments.

Taking care not to disturb the others, he cleared his mind and swallowed down his last dragonshade pellet, his mind set on breaking through to the sixth level of Profound Entry. This time around the medium-grade medicinal pellet remained active for five days on end, during which time he was forced to stop at several instances in order to steady the energies within him. His breakthrough to the sixth level came late into the third day, his mind swelling from the sudden increase in mental awareness and his physique tense from pervasive toughening. As he was now there was a good chance that he’d manage most of the walk between the glade where Uncle Grey resided and the one where he had obtained the Tranquil Void Step, which were roughly a hundred and fifty metres apart.

Ian’s cultivation stabilized at the seventh level of Integration, just barely at its earliest phase. He praised Nolan as the beneficiary of his life for nearly ten minutes before hurrying to assimilate the energies that he had absorbed. That he had achieved more breakthroughs than Nolan was only natural considering the difference in their cultivation bases, as his reached far beyond the realm of its surface stage. If he and Ian were to engage in a serious battle with the two young men from before then there was no telling who would emerge victorious.

Sean and Esteban were now at the third level of the Profound Entry stage, though their foundations were very unstable. Unlike when Nolan was at their level, they would have a difficult time in a fight against somebody at the third level of Integration. Even somebody at the first level had a high chance of taking their lives in a one-on-one confrontation, as they lacked both offensive and movement martial skills in addition to the fact that they were completely untrained in the realm of arrayment practitioners. Due to the core cultivation method that they practiced and the fact that they had spent so much time within the Divine Spirit Fountain, there was no doubt that they held a high amount of potential when it came to the arts of spiritual arrayments, though Nolan hadn’t expected the two of them to come into their spiritual spaces for quite some time and thus hadn’t bothered to replicate any of Uncle Grey’s lessons.

Nolan and Ian secretly agreed to have the other two take care of any demonic beasts that might have the misfortune to cross paths with them once they resumed their journey, for their companions had little to no experience in engaging in actual combat, especially in a fight with their lives at stake.

The group set off for Scane in search of Benn, who had assumed the position of temporary leader of Malben among a council of village heads and town officials that had formed in the aftermath of the uprising. They found him in Talen Village, the man’s honest face staring idly into the table that he sat at upon one of the only chairs that remained intact within his home.

“He knows we’re here,” said Nolan from outside of the house, Benn’s disconsolate figure visible in the kitchen beyond the shuttered vestibule. “Let’s just go in.”

Benn stood up as they entered his home, his face taking on a polite countenance as he greeted them with a bow. Before he could speak his eyebrows flew up and he shifted his stare to Sean and Esteban. “Dear gods, it was you two? How did you make so many breakthroughs in such a short amount of time?”

His confusion was understandable considering that most people invested years into making a single breakthrough. Only those with incredible aptitudes for cultivation or members of the wealthiest and most influential families possessed the resources necessary to make consecutive breakthroughs without risk of damaging one’s inner essence channels from energy destabilization.

“Wouldn’t have been possible without those herbs you gave Nolan,” said Sean with a modest shrug. “We’re just lucky he knew how to put ‘em to use.”

“You’re versed in the arts of alchemy?”

“I know a little bit, but honestly I’m pretty much a noob.”

“I see… Ah, please come sit down. I’m sure that I’ve still got a sofa in tact within the living room.”

“Benn,” said Nolan once everyone had taken their seats. “About the people that were taken. I’m assuming you’ve heard about what Algrave’s people told us before we went off to cultivate.”

The man nodded, his face gaunt and of a lacking pallor. “If you’re wondering how I’m holding up then you need not concern yourself. You and your friends have done enough for me—for everyone in Malben. Our wellbeing is no longer of your concern.”

“What will you do now?”

“I will remain in the valley and help set things back in order. Once that’s done then I might try my luck somewhere else in the Dragon’s Tail. I don’t know how much longer I can live in this house, this valley. Everything I own reminds me of my sweet Florinda and our darling Gwen. I can’t… I can’t…”

The four of them watched the young man sob in silence, all of them aware of how much he had aged since they had first met him. His black hair and his ever-paling face seemed thinner, the dark crescents beneath his eyes more prominent.

Bearing witness to the kind-hearted man’s sorrow gave new life to the bubbling hatred that Nolan held for the Bloodhand Sect, his malice having subsided slightly in recent months due to the distracting turn of events that saw him far from their evil influences, or so he’d thought up until recently.

“The mountains are dangerous. You wouldn’t make it far out there, not alone.” Nolan waved off Benn’s apologies as the man struggled to collect himself. “Listen, a few months ago I was granted some land in the Three-River Valley, right near the River Straight.”

“That’s the shortest of the three rivers,” said Ian. “My sister and I are pretty much his only neighbours.”

“The Three-River Valley is one of the largest independent states in this region of the Dragon’s Tail. How did you manage to…?” Benn shook his head with a depreciating smirk. “No, even if it is there you would still be considered a remarkable young man.”

“Aw shucks. Well, I’m not trying to brag. The reason I’m bringing it up is because I’m trying to tell you that if you ever need a place to go, I could really use somebody with experience to help me run the village that I’m going to found.”

“I—you would let me live on your land?”

“You and anybody else willing to make the journey. You’re not alone in this, man. There are thousands of people in this valley that went through similar shit as you did. You’re all welcome on my land. Hell, you can even join my sect if you want.” He produced one of the few remaining talismans that Elder Sanae had given him and imprinted his aura onto it with an isolated injection of inner essence. “Here. If you do end up going there then look for the Varai clan and tell them that Ian and his friend Nolan sent you. The Great Elder of the clan’s name is Sanae, so speak to her if you can and try to hand her this.”

“Will they truly accept me? I’ve heard that there is a great barrier arrayment around the valley that prevents even the most dangerous demonic beasts from stepping foot on their soil. I fear that I wouldn’t be able to meet a single soul let alone this elder you speak of.”

“The valley’s passed their Settler Edict and should now be in a state of expansion. There’ll be guards along the border to spot any migrants, just like the last time we opened up our borders.”

Benn stared at the talisman in his hands, his hesitant expression betraying an awareness of the price that the paper slip would fetch simply for its practical purposes let alone the social significance that it represented. His breaths grew heavy as the moments drifted by until a helpless laugh eventually left his lips.

“Never would I have imagined that such a selfless sect existed in this world. Clearly the herbs that my grandparents left me were more valuable than I was aware, but that hardly covers a fraction of the good deeds that you lot have done for me and my countrymen. I’m not sure how to express my thanks, but know that I will never forget this kindness.”

Whoa man you don’t have to bow.” Nolan pushed Benn back to an upright position, though when he thought about it the man’s actions weren’t as exaggerated as he had initially perceived them. Nothing could change the fact that he and Ian had killed hundreds of people on behalf of their employers. “Anyway, we’re going to hit the ol’ dusty trail. Do me a favour and take care of those two girls that we found in those dungeons, would you?”

“The Otherworlders?” Benn stepped forward and grasped Nolan’s hand in a show of sincerity. “We already intend to treat them with the utmost respect. Those poor women, I can only imagine what they must be feeling. To awaken in another world and then wind up imprisoned by a tyrant, even I can muster up a tear of sympathy, and I’ve not many tears left to me.”

Thinking of his initial days in Venara he couldn’t help but ponder over the different circumstances that everyone from Earth had been faced with at the onset of the Interspatial Migration. After everything he’d been through it was extremely difficult to view his personal circumstances as anything but the most favourable of outcomes in comparison to everyone else from his home world.

“Here.” He produced three barrels of Divine Spirit Fountain water, unfettered at the loss of a trio of containers because he had dozens more in his possession. “One for each of the girls and one for you. They should be able to reach the first level of Body Nourishment if they drink this within two weeks. As for you, you’ll probably have a couple of minor breakthroughs and gain a bit of spiritual sensitivity.”

“T—this is…”

“A secret is what it is.”

“Thank you so much, truly. We are all forever in your debt.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Nolan and his friends turned to go.

“We will meet again someday,” said Benn. “And when we do, let us hope that it will be during a time of peace.”

“Hundred percent. Take care of yourself Benn.”

Other farewells followed, the group separating before long as Nolan and the others sped northward through the valley with the anticipation of travel tickling at their stomachs. Sean and Esteban were elated with their newfound agility, both unaccustomed to their current physiques and so looking quite foolish with frequent stumbles and unsteady footfalls. The more they moved the less awkward their movements became, though it would take a while before they acclimated to their new capabilities.

They had stopped in this obscure valley in order to resupply and ask around about any communities that might coincide with their path to the Northern Wilderness. Who would have thought that they would end up liberating a small state from a mysterious tyrant, and that they would walk away with an untold amount of riches taken from dozens of nobles and powerful cultivators?

Eyeing the open skies as he and the others approached the treeline at the northern end of the valley Nolan hoped that the rest of their journey to Frostport would prove boring and uneventful. He was growing tired of risking his life on a daily basis.