Aina saw her Master laugh heartily and shake his head towards her.

Good, that meant there was nothing to worry about. He turned to look at Aina’s mother, who was glaring at him in reproach for laughing. Though there was no real anger there.

“That transformation was something Mekhos himself came up with. It is his own path and not the original manner in which that Cultivation Art worked. Your own version will work in a different way, it will take the direction you take it to, Maria.”

He smiled and tapped her hand in reassurance. That seemed to be enough to get rid of the pretense of anger in her glare. Her mother was never someone who was angry for long.

“Alright, I trust you. How did you get his Cultivation Art, by the way? Aren’t they highly guarded secrets?”

Oh, that was a good question. Master had been very stern on the subject of keeping the secret of their Cultivation Art from everyone else, one of the rare occasions that Aina had seen her teacher with such a serious face.

Whatever method was used by Mekhos, it was something powerful enough to take him into the Ninth Stage, a Divinity standing in the Heavens, so it would be a fiercely protected treasure.

“It’s not Mekhos’s Cultivation Art that I have, is the one from which Mekhos developed his own method. It’s an important difference because it means your techniques will share a root with Mekhos’ techniques but will develop in different directions. I obtained this from the ruins of an old realm, which might have been Mekhos's original world or at least one very close.”

“Master, can Cultivation Arts be altered?”

Aina saw her teacher’s eyes lit up at the question and decisively affirm with his head.

“Of course. Just as techniques, methods, and arts are created, they can also be modified, improved, and discarded in order to further advance. It is not only a possibility, it’s almost an inevitability. Each practitioner inputs their own comprehensions when practicing any craft or art, and thus develops it, when they pass that knowledge to the next generation, it will be different from when it first came to them. That's how every art and science evolve, by building up in the accumulated work of many predecessors, each making it a little bit better before passing the torch to the next generation.”

There was a glimmer in her Master’s eyes when he spoke. He always had that kind of expression when he talked about subjects he enjoyed. He always sounded pleased when asked questions, he would then provide answers and nudge them a bit towards making more questions and even coming up with answers of their own.

Her mother seemed to have thought of something, and when she spoke it was with a bit of a worried expression.

“Navin, how can one tell if a world is natural or artificial? Would there be any signs?”

“Well, there are some things that can be seen by someone with enough power. It’s also possible to take a natural world and modify it, this is far more common than creating one anew.”

Even after hearing her Master’s answer, her mother seemed to still be troubled about something. She was softly chewing her lower lip as she thought about something. Aina knew that her mother only did that when she was worried.

“Are you worried that this world might be artificial? Don’t be. This is a natural world, although it has been manipulated and influenced by outside forces. The Classes and Skills that the people here have are proof of it. You said the people here call it ‘The World Hierarchy’, right? Natural and unmodified worlds don’t have Systems such as this.”

Her mother nodded and relaxed a bit. Now it was time for Aina to ask a new question.

“They don’t have Classes in other worlds, Master?”

Aina thought it was weird. Everyone in the world had Classes and Skills that assisted them, it was a fact of life. Some Classes were mundane and helped with little things, while others were very powerful and were possessed by people who were very important in the world. Each Class would grant different types of Skills, and more powerful Classes had both more specialized Skills and Skills with a broader scope and greater effects. No one really knew how The Hierarchy first came to be, as far as they knew it was an intrinsic part of their world. It was the ever-present force that was in every person and that evaluated them to reward them with suitable Classes. The Hierarchy assigned the Classes, and thus it was what determined the natural and social order of the world.

People said that doing specific things would make one gain a certain Class, and by performing deeds or training while in possession of that Class, Skills would be acquired.

Now Aina wondered. Her Master had called himself an Immortal Cultivator and Ascender, but those weren’t Classes, Aina hadn’t gained a [Cultivator] Class either. If anything, despite gaining great power and enhancing her body in many ways, Aina hadn’t gained any new Skills or Classes, while her mother was gaining levels and Skills like crazy during this past week, which was strange.

But Aina had gained something when her Master had passed to her his Cultivation Art.

Two things in fact: her Cultivation Core and the Wonderful Symbol that contained the information of her Master’s Legacy. Both of which she could feel within herself each time she moved her Qi or used a technique.

That was another thing, her techniques were not Skills. Even if they were very similar to what Skills would be like. Aina also knew that her Master classified the levels of power for people in eleven different Stages, which seemed to correspond to the Class Tiers, although as far as Aina and her mother knew there were only up to Third Tier Classes in their world. Though admittedly there was much that the two of them didn’t know, since they had never visited the bigger cities of the Kingdom nor had they received high-level education.

But if the information in the Wonderful Symbol could be trusted –and Aina had no doubt that it could– then people with a Fourth Tier Class, or Practitioners of the Fourth Stage as her teacher would call them, could not live in her world and would ascend to a higher world that could house them.

However, what would happen if other worlds didn’t have a Hierarchy and Classes like the ones in her world? What would happen to those people then?

“Only worlds from the Fifth Stage and below have Systems like this one. And even then, not all of them will have a System, such things are artificially placed by either one powerful entity or a group of relatively weaker beings, whatever the case, they need to be at least of the Seventh Stage. Placing a System in a world has both advantages and disadvantages, but it is usually done to gain control of the inhabitants of that world. In most cases, their Skills are only usable in their homeworld or other worlds that are part of the same System. Worlds with Systems can be used as training grounds, pools of resources or recruiting bases for armies for the people in higher worlds to find talented individuals, which could then be granted the ability to keep their Classes and Skills despite leaving their original world. Powerhouses of higher worlds tend to make grand plans that involve entire worlds in them, so the purpose of this System in your world could really be anything.”

“Then what about our world? Is it controlled by some gods?”

Before he answered, Aina noticed that her teacher was glancing at something slightly to the side, reading something that only he could see.

“The System in your world, this ‘Hierarchy’, was created dozens of thousands of years ago. It was done by a group, but I don’t know yet exactly who they were or if they are still alive. However, this System doesn’t alter people’s minds, so you are not directly controlled by any outside entity. Also, it’s worth noticing that some of the restrictions previously placed on this world have disappeared during this week and more will continue to disappear in the near future.”

“Why?”

Had something changed in the world? Aina saw her teacher’s expression change a bit, he hesitated before answering her question.

“Changes are occurring across all the Cosmos right now. Some are good, some are bad. Overall, it will be beneficial for the Cosmos and its people, but it will be a terrible and arduous process to get there. It’s going to be a challenge for the higher worlds to maintain order, but once the period of turmoil passes, the entire Cosmos will enter a new age of freedom and prosperity. The reason for this is… a bit complex to explain. The most straightforward explanation is that an ancient restriction that had been placed eons ago has been removed, but it was done in a very violent manner. Many Powerhouses are dead, including Gods and the leaders of the most influential groups in the Cosmos, so the social structure of the Cosmos has drastically changed too. But the most important thing is that the worlds and races that were linked to Divinities that died have suffered great damage. It’s a Cataclysm, even if mitigated and held at bay.”

Hearing his words, Aina’s mother frowned and hesitantly asked a question using a single word.

“War?”

The answer was a solemn nod in affirmation.

“After two centuries of constant strife, the war ended a bit over a week ago. I will explain it to you both, but I don’t think now it’s a good time for it. It’s… a hard subject.”

Her mother placed one hand over his and gave him an understanding nod.

“We will wait.”

“Thank you.”

He smiled and raised the book titled ‘Worlds: Made and Born’ once again to drive the conversation away from that subject. Aina agreed with her mother, if it wasn’t something that he wanted to talk about, there was no need to press the subject.

The affairs of deities and other worlds were distant things that did not enter Aina’s concerns.

“Do you girls want to keep reading it? Or should we do something else?”

Mother and daughter looked at each other for a single moment before looking at him at the same time and speaking in a chorus.

“Let’s keep reading.”

“Alright. This book is very interesting and has a lot of information, the authors have written treatises on many other subjects, so you can check those in the future too. Which reminds me… tomorrow night, I will show you both one theory of the origin of the Cosmos. My own version of it.”

Aina nearly jumped from the couch when she heard him say that. The origin of the cosmos? The origin of everything? He saw how excited she was about it and raised a hand to signal her to wait and be calm.

“It is not an absolute truth, but it is very important that you both learn about it, it will be useful in your Cultivation. Especially for you Aina, because our Cultivation Art is based on this interpretation of the origin and evolution of the Cosmos. I expect it to be a very productive lesson.”

“Why not tonight, Master?”

“You have both already seen intense things today when you glimpsed at the creation of four worlds. that’s enough food for thought. Luckily, the rest of the book doesn’t have such shocking sights like the one before nor any more Intents left by other Powerhouses, so we can keep reading without overburdening you. Take your time to meditate about these things, there’s no need to rush, okay?”

She figured that he was right, well, he usually was anyways. The images imprinted by the Intent of four Gods was not something simple. Aina was already doubting that she would sleep tonight, she would probably have to practice a session of meditation soon.

She could already feel the Symbol within her mind prompting her to it. After all, meditation was the preferred method for Cultivators to consolidate their knowledge.

“Okay.”

“As you say, Navin.”

Aina and her mother agreed. From the window, Aina could see the hills darkening and the cold breeze of the night softly mowing the top of the trees in the distance. It was already dark, but still early. Many clouds were gathering in the sky; it probably would rain again tonight.

But here within her new home, Aina thought that even if there was the fiercest storm outside, she and her mother would be safe and warm.

Her teacher seemed to think of something and turned to her mother.

“Maria, are there any empanadas left?”

Aina saw a little twinkle in her mother’s eye as she replied with a smile.

“Oh? Still hungry? I made a lot, so there are many left, but they are still uncooked. Wait a bit, I won’t take long.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do it. I’m just going to send a few to my Fourth Disciple. I’m sure he will like them.”

Aina’s mother was about to stand up but her teacher stopped her. She seemed a bit disappointed not to be given the chance to bring more food, which Aina thought was funny.

“How are you going to send him the food?”

Her mother raised a questioning eyebrow. Aina saw her Master smile and she knew the answer he would give, so she answered at the same time he did.

“Magic.”

Laughingly, he stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. Aina saw her mother hesitate but she stood up to go after him.

“Hm? I told you not to worry about it, Maria. I will do it, you can relax.”

“These are meals I prepared. I have a duty as a chef to see them through. I will cook them.”

The two started a silly discussion about why the other should take it easy and let them cook the food. Aina supposed adults could have friendly disagreements on silly things too.

And with the two of them on the kitchen, they would probably end up cooking more food and in a couple of hours, Aina could get some light snacks.

With those happy thoughts, Aina pulled the Lightning Candy out of her pocket and unwrapped it. Feeling the electric flavor in her mouth furthered her good mood.

She made herself comfortable in the couch and took the book, distractedly opening it once again. Projections flew out and showed her more about the things that awaited them in other worlds.

Ethan woke up to the lingering smell of food in the room.

He had been very tired after using that spell/miracle that his Master had provided. So he had fallen asleep in the chair where he was sitting. He should have asked for a room with a bed, but at the moment he just hadn’t cared about such things.

How many hours had he been asleep? He had felt very tired but he didn’t think it was too bad. At least he had done a good thing when healing those people. Ethan turned his head to take a look around.

The room was illuminated by some lamps on the walls, casting a tinge of orange to the room. From an open window, he could see that it was already night, the sky was clear and full of shining stars.

Ethan saw the Sword Dancers sitting on a nearby table finishing a meal. They were eating some kind of rice, it seemed it was dinner time.

Ethan felt his stomach agree with a soft grumble. He gently rubbed at his face to get rid of the sleepiness and wondered if he had some food left inside his Spatial Ring. He had lots of snacks and candies, as well as boxes of cereal and other consumables, but he didn’t have any properly prepared meal. Which, now that he thought about it, was an underuse of his Spatial Ring. He should have hamburgers or pizzas stored in there.

After all, things did not decay when inside a Spatial Ring since it was a pocket dimension either with time running slowly or completely stopped. Ethan decided that he would get a few meals and save them for future cases like this or emergencies.

Ethan briefly considered asking Issima’s group for food but opted for eating one of the snacks in his Spatial Ring instead. With a mere move of his intention, his mind connected to the ring and envisaged the contents of the artifact.

At that moment, he felt something warm inside the ring calling for him. That had never happened before. There were a wooden box and two bottles tied together inside the ring which Ethan was certain hadn’t been there the last time he checked.

There was only one guilty party in this mystery.

Sure enough, on the cover of the box was a small grey card with a written message. Ethan picked it up and read it.

Well, now he had a hot meal. Ethan saved the card in his Spatial Ring and opened what he now knew to be a lunch box. It was separated into one large section and two small sections. There were twelve dumplings neatly placed in rows on the large section along with a few folded napkins and a plastic fork, while on the two small sections there were fried slices of potato and a salad.

Uh, this looks good.

Ethan praised the aesthetics of the meal before opening one of the bottles and found there was juice inside it. He took a sip and found it was sweet, then used a napkin to grab one of the baked dumplings.

It tasted great. Either he was very hungry or whoever was the mother of his fellow apprentice was a very skilled chef. Probably a bit of both, he thought, but most likely it was the latter.

“Hey, you are awake!”

A voice came from nearby. Ethan turned his head while still chewing on the bit of pastry and chicken inside his mouth.

Issima stood up along with the rest of her friends, they put the dishes on a pile and walked towards Ethan. He took a mouthful of juice to wash down the food. Carina looked at the box full of food and the bottles with a frown.

“Where did you get that?”

“He is a Mage from another world, whatever he does, I won’t get surprised anymore.”

Qasim replied her with a resigned look. His companions let out small laughs at his comment. The dark-haired young man was a bit taciturn but he seemed to be in a good mood now.

“My Master left it here for me.”

They all frowned in confusion when they heard Ethan’s answer and looked at each other. Ethan grimaced and mentally chastised himself for not being careful with his actions.

Ugh, I shouldn’t have said that.

His Master had moved the thing inside Ethan’s Spatial Ring without even Ethan noticing, so of course none of them had noticed either. Ethan blamed his sleepiness for the slip of the tongue, then realized he probably shouldn’t have used his Spatial Ring in the first place either.

“Never mind that, how long was I asleep?”

“A few hours.”

Taus, the oldest of the young group replied. The group sat at the same table as Ethan as he continued to hungrily devour his food.

“Anything happened while I was sleeping?”

“Well, apart from the initial commotion, not really. The Watch is going around the city hunting down the escaped prisoner and his comrades, but they had no luck so far. His Highness’ group left long ago to coordinate things with the Hunters.”

Issima replied from the other side of the table, she was wearing the robe he had gifted her over a grey tunic and red baggy pants. Ethan was eating his third empanada when he noticed they were all giving him strange gazes. He stared back at them.

“What?”

They hesitated until Taus cleared his throat and spoke hesitantly.

“Ethan, do you realize what you did today?”

“What do you mean?”

Ethan was no idiot; he knew that what he had done had caused quite a stir in the city. But he didn’t know exactly how much of a reaction it would cause. Maybe something big had happened while he was sleeping.

“All the healers in the city are causing a ruckus, demanding to know the identity of the Master Healer who performed such grand spell. Not only them, many other people have tried to enter the City Hall looking for you, even the guards assigned to this place had to be replaced by the Prince’s own retinue to avoid incidents.”

Taus’ deep voice sounded very serious. Ethan could easily imagine what would happen in his world if such a thing happened there. Even if the situation wouldn’t be so critical as back home due to this world actually having magic of its own, none of the people here could do something on the same scale as the kind of spell Ethan had cast with his Master’s help.

This type of reaction from the people was something his teacher had warned him about.

“What should I do, then?”

“For now, stay here. The Elder should be back soon.”

Ethan nodded to Taus’ words and focused on his food. The fried potato slices were crispy with a soft interior and had a nice salty flavor, while the salad was fresh and some kind of vinaigrette had been used to give it a nice spicy touch.

Ethan continued eating as the others discussed what had happened in the recent hours and speculated about what was to come. Taus was thought that the spies would still be inside the city, while Qarim argued that they might have fled the city during the initial confusion. Carina was worried about the war that would come, while Issima said that Thaliss would send some experienced fighters but not be overly involved.

They were excited in their debate, speculating about what the reactions of other countries would be. It seemed Feld-Ehia was not exactly a liked country in this continent, but they were very strong and still have plenty of commercial allies overseas.

Having nothing to contribute to the conversation as he had no information about the countries, Ethan ate mostly in silence, only making polite inquiries here and there but in general just listening to what the others said.

They all agreed that this attack meant war. It would have been such due to attacking an outpost city bordering the Desert of Death, but Feld-Ehian soldiers had put in risk the life of a member of Sahbadian royalty, so a retaliation must be carried out.

However, Issima had argued and convinced the others that the first stages of the conflict would be a defensive war, since gathering soldiers and supplies for a campaign was not an immediate matter and they also had to check what the stance of the other countries would be in this conflict. The presence or lack of allies changed a lot of things. Worse yet, there was something about a woman they called ‘the Strategos’ who was apparently a General and Strategist of high command in Feld-Ehia, she was a very powerful and talented individual and, according to Issima, it was necessary to have at least two Generals deployed in the field to match her.

None of them were particularly happy about the war, but neither were they particularly surprised nor afraid; it seemed this was something that was a long time coming. Apparently, there had been some turmoil in the continent about 15 years ago, at the end of which the current Strategos had risen, that war had caused great damages to every country, but Feld-Ehia had focused on other manners during the past decade, like stabilizing their economy and replenishing their crops.

But not once had any country stopped strengthening their armies. They were expecting this to happen eventually and the time had come. The group of youngsters was convinced that Rillosa, the southernmost country of this continent, would be an ally of Sahbadia while Formabisia would most likely be an enemy with perhaps a few spots of rebels. Formabisia had been subjugated by Feld-Ehia only a few years ago, after all.

The countries overseas were harder for them to know, so they hesitated in making many statements. The group unanimously agreed that Oz, an island territory southeast from Sahbadia, would not involve itself in the war since it was mostly a pacific state; however, Oz was the home of the greatest practitioners of magic in this world and housed the Academy, the largest institution of higher learning in this world and was the place that trained the best Mages. So while Oz and the Academy would probably not officially participate in the conflict, the graduates and members of the Academy would likely do.

War was a lucrative business for powerful Mages to work as mercenaries and would provide the chance for them to test their most destructive sorceries.

The remaining three countries were Seau, that apparently had commercial deals with whoever they pleased and were the culture that originated the katanas that Issima wielded though she called those ‘Seau Blades’, and the two countries that shared the Verdun Continent, Payari and Ilsan, but none of them had much information about those countries.

By the time Ethan had finished his meal, the group was telling stories about some Corsairs that operated mostly on the western side of the continent. There was a light knock on the door and Edek came in. The Elder looked at the youths with an amused expression.

“You kids seem very animated. Ethan, I’m glad to see you awake and well, did the spell left you any aftereffect?”

“Just a bit of tiredness, but I’m fine now, thank you for your concern.”

Edek simply nodded in response and took a seat. Ethan felt a bit strange having five people sitting across from him on the table. Edek glanced at the young Sword Dancers before addressing Ethan again.

“I assume they told you what’s going on in the city?”

“What they knew. They said you would have more concrete information, Elder.”

“Good. You should spend the night here in the City Hall, His Highness Amir has made the arrangements. They can send someone to retrieve your belongings from the Inn too.”

“Ah, please don’t worry about it.”

There was no need for them to do that. Ethan had paid for his stay at the Inn already from the money he got from selling a couple of monster’s corpses, and he had no baggage in there since all his possessions were carried by him in the Spatial Ring.

Edek frowned.

“Ethan, you can’t let your belongings there. You will need your clothes and money, I heard some say you have a spear of high quality too. Though I understand you might want to retrieve your possessions yourself, it’s safer and less troublesome if an envoy handles the task.”

“It’s not that.”

Ethan hesitated a bit but figured that it was already too late to worry about hiding the things he could do. He touched the empty lunch box with a finger and moved it to his Spatial Ring. One second the object had been there and the next it hadn’t.

To his credit, Qasim managed to keep a calm face with only a twitch of his left eye while everyone except Edek had a baffled expression.

“I keep all my belonging with me. There’s nothing mine in the Inn and I already paid the coins for my stay. I will be leaving this city soon anyways.”

While they seemed very curious about how Ethan could take things with him and where that box had gone, his last sentence caught Edek’s attention.

“Have you decided then? Will you be joining us in our journey back to Thaliss or will you go your own way? I can’t promise there won’t be some issues with you learning one of our secrets, but the majority of Elders will be grateful for the discovery. I can at least guarantee your safety and good accommodation during your stay.”

“How far is Thaliss from here?”

“A few weeks away if take a ride with a caravan, we could arrive faster if we secure personal mounts but it would be riskier.”

Safety in numbers, then. It made sense, a large group of people traveling together would advance slower than a small group, but they would have the necessary goods and share the burden of supplies and protection.

Ethan hadn’t decided yet whether to join them. He was curious about the culture of Thaliss and was becoming friends with Issima, Taus, Qasim, and Carina, but he was aware that he might get into a bothersome mess if he went with them to meet the Elders of the Assembly. Still, he guessed it was kind of the responsible thing to do, to be open and honest about the things he had seen in the Dance of Four Forms.

His Master had outright stated that he didn’t care whatever Ethan chose, and would go along with his decision. Still, if Ethan went with them, he would have to explain a lot of things to the group, more about his origins and about his Master. On the other hand, they already knew that he was from another world, and traveling with them he could learn more about this world in a more straightforward manner. Ethan supposed he could still keep training with his Master while traveling with the group, but what his teacher would say to them was up to him; if he went and revealed himself as a God it would be more troublesome, but Ethan didn’t think he would do that.

Still, Ethan felt that he shouldn't go with them right now, so he made his decision.

“I consulted with my Master this morning, and he left the decision in my hands. I will accept your offer to go to Thaliss, but not now; I will continue traveling with my Master for a few more weeks before meeting you there.”

It was hard to put into words why he didn’t go with them now. It was just a feeling. Ethan looked out the window and saw a little crimson bird perching there. Was his teacher influencing him? No, it wasn’t that. This was Ethan’s own inner feelings, he was certain of it. He just couldn't determine exactly what this strange feeling was about.

Ethan returned his gaze to Edek and saw him nod with a serious expression.

“I won’t pressure you on this. In fact, I thought you might say that, so I prepared this.”

Edek opened the bag on his hip and fished out a scroll. Was that a bag of holding? The scroll seemed too big for the bag to not even have a slight deformation when having it inside.

“This is an introduction letter and permit of entrance to Thaliss, bearing my seal for authentication. This will let you enter without issue to Thaliss and enable you to find me at the Konal Clan residence. We will be waiting for you.”

He presented the scroll to Ethan, it was made of a thick paper. Papyrus, or some equivalent of it in this world. Ethan took it but didn’t open it; in the middle of the scroll was the seal impression on red wax depicting a stylized sword with its empty scabbard next to two coins.

Sword and scabbard are two sides of the same coin?

“Thank you, Elder.”

The scroll disappeared as Ethan moved it to the Spatial Ring. Ethan noticed that every one of the Sword Dancers was looking towards the window.

No, Ethan thought with a wry smile, not the window, but the phoenix perching there.

“Uhm, Ethan… that is a Phoenix, right? Is it related to you? I think I saw it underground before.”

Issima’s voice sounded as if she was doubting her own words. Even if she had already seen this same bird in the underground arena when Ethan had shown her the dance he discovered, it seemed that seeing a Phoenix was still shocking.

Ethan looked to his teacher who for some unfathomable reason had decided to take that form and perch at the window instead of walking into the room like a normal person.

But that was his Master, far be it from him to do something remotely ordinary.

The Phoenix’s blue eyes gave Ethan a reproachful glance but did not hide the glitter of playfulness in them. Ethan let out a sigh.

“Yes, that’s a Phoenix, and something more. Reached this point, I guess there’s not much trouble with telling you. Let me introduce you to my Master, Navin Lakar.”

Ethan gestured towards the bird in the window, hoping with all his strength that he didn’t look like an idiot or a crazy person to the group of wide-eyed Sword Dancers.

Perched on the window, the Phoenix raised a wing and waved it thrice as if saluting them.

Then Ethan saw the bird turn around, jump out and fly away into the night sky.

That bastard...