(Alex, 17)

The horde of ogres and corrupted exit the forest a few minutes after we begin waiting, the ogre lord and the other powerful ones directly in front of where the Slayers and I are standing. Captain Enlin wasn't kidding when he told me it was around twenty-three feet tall. It's a freaking giant.

I can tell the ogre lord gives some people pause, especially the normal guards, who've likely never expected such a thing, even if they were told about it. Even a few Slayers hesitate, but they recover quickly and attack with the rest of us.

As with Captain Enlin, I target the ogre lord, which moves faster than the other ogres, striking with its fists, casting spells of curse and earth and water. Captain Enlin was right, and the monster taunts us. I shut it out, focusing on my battlefield awareness while maintaining my enhancement spells on myself and the sword.

While these weapons might work better against normal ogres, an ogre lord is a much different entity, and the magically-enhanced mithril blades are barely cutting into this bastard. As I jump backwards to avoid another blast of murky water, I twist and sever the head of a corrupted boar, then land and launch myself at the ogre lord once more.

Just as I draw close again, the ogre lord suddenly lashes out, and I don't manage to move in time, taking the fist to my chest. I grunt as I'm flung backwards, the wind knocked out of me. Landing on the ground, I groan as I inhale. If it weren't for my wyvern armor and enhancement spells, I'd probably be dead right now.

Sitting up, I focus on my magic. One more protection won't hurt things, but I have to be careful on how I use it. Drawing on a similar technique to the aural sheath, I create it, only within me this time, the aural sheath a part of my body rather than wrapped around it.

It's a technique Jason hasn't brought up, but no doubt remembers. He's the one who invented it, after all. At least, I think Nolan invented it. He was definitely the one who introduced the rest of us to it. Jason probably has it active at all times, and only used the aural sheath during the training so that others wouldn't be suspicious of something.

With the aural infusion active, I throw myself back into the fight. I can worry about my defense a little less, now, and so increase my offense, summoning my leviathan construct to aid me. The ogre lord manages a few more blows on me, but only the physical attacks really have an effect due to the impact.

As the stronger monsters are taken out, the Royal Slayers begin assisting us against the ogre lord, until Captain Enlin calls for them to assist the normies. That leaves just me and him battling against it, and the ogre lord seems to be winning.

"Captain!" I call to him with my mind once I'm sure he's not in danger of harm if he falters, which he does for a moment. "There ain't a way we can best this thing without my pulling out something a heck of a lot more powerful!"

"Don't!" He responds. "You run the risk of doing far too much damage to civilian things and Varilsy!"

Frustrated, I resume the fight. I need to pull out something a lot more powerful. We ain't going to win if I don't. We need Jason or Niko or one of the Sages here. We could probably call out a Sage, but I know the kingdom wants to handle this internally. That means we have to fight it this way.

Well, and the Sages might all be too busy, maybe they were contacted.

A memory returns to me, a spear I wielded as Quinn. That could do the trick, but it's not in a dimensional storage attached to me. Where would it be?

The temple. The underwater temple. It has to be there.

"Captain Enlin!" I call out again. "How long do you think ya could hold this off without me?"

"Why?" He asks.

"Is there a reason the Sages aren't here?"

"Other than the two in the city," he answers. "There are the two in the northern mountains, who are busy protecting those places. Then there are the other three, who are tied up with ogres attacking other regions."

"This isn't limited to here?" I ask.

"No, it's not," he answers. "There are more than twenty cities and towns under attack. We'd have a lot more forces here for us if that weren't the case."

Something is shady about this whole thing.

"Captain Enlin," I say. "I have a weapon which can help us cover the distance between ogre lords and where I'm at now that's not going to do what my stronger weapons can do. However, I need to retrieve it from where it was hidden in my last life. It might take me an hour to retrieve, though. I'll only grab it if ya can hold out that long."

"Go!" He calls. "I'll see if we can't get an other Magus out here!"

"Try for Niko!" I say. "Other than Jason, he's the strongest. I know he's not Varilan by blood, but he is meant to live here now. Princess Lina will probably come with him if they're together when called. They'd likely be able to claim they're going on a date and they can just gate out of the city, meaning that no one will see what's going on."

They put up an illusion over the gate to prevent civilians looking out from seeing the fighting, a good idea in my opinion.

"Will do!" He responds, then hollers. "Slayers! To me! Alex – go!"

I nod, then focus my mind as I exit the fight, retreating back towards the wall, where I can concentrate more. I haven't been there in this life, so teleportation is the way to go. After assessing the distance, I shape together the spell and activate it, only to find it failing.

Looking back at the walls, I realize my mistake. The walls' wards against teleportation extends for two hundred and fifty yards past them. That's part of why the walls are freaking massive.

Turning back to the horde, I charge forward, jumping over corrupted and weaving through ogres, and doing the swapped version of that as well. The lesser monsters are like butter to my blade, and while I don't kill most I pass by, I do injure them. The horde seems to be bigger than the estimate we received, I'm betting there are a lot more than a thousand ogres and five times that in corrupted.

A few times, I do stop for longer, to kill something or save someone's life, but my main goal is getting out of the range of the wards and well-past the horde.

I make it past the horde, a few ogres and corrupted following me. Once I feel I'm a safe distance away, I stop and fight, slaying the two ogres and six corrupted that chose to make chase.

I check to make sure nothing else is following, then clean my blade with water magic and sheathe it as I release my enhancements and aural infusion, then begin to focus, gauging the distance. The underwater temple is something I've thought about before, so I know the rough distance to it.

Once my spell takes shape, I activate it, sending a quick prayer up to the King and Queen of the Gods I didn't screw up the estimate too much.

As soon as my surroundings change, I let out several curses, because I find myself dropping right into a lake. With how close I appeared to it, I wasn't able to catch myself in time. For a few moments, I tread water, then I perform the necessary spells to exit the water. Taking off my gear, I use water magic to draw the water away before I send everything into my spatial storage. I strip down and do the same thing, then allow myself to sink back into the lake.

After shaping together the spell necessary for breathing underwater, I dive down and begin to swim towards its center, keeping my eyes open. A few fish swim by me, unbothered by the presence of a person.

That, or they can sense it is me who is here.

This lake rests in the northwestern portion of Varil, and using a teleport spell to cover a couple hundred miles in one jump at my power level took a heck of a lot of mana, but I've plenty left. I just hope I can sustain all of the spells with my mental stamina long enough to retrieve my spear.

It takes me a couple of minutes to reach the temple, a building of dark blue stone situated at the bottom of the lake. Just to see it, I have to manifest orbs of light as well. This lake is nearly four hundred feet deep.

When I draw within one hundred feet of the temple, a form appears before me, swimming from out of my range of sight. Long, sleek, and elegant, the blue-green scales of the leviathan shimmer lightly in my light, the great beast's grey eyes fixing on me. If my estimate is correct, he is nearly three hundred feet in length.

Good thing this lake is more than two miles at its narrowest.

"State the reason for your passage, new one," the leviathan asks.

"New one?" I ask.

"Yes," the leviathan answers. "You are not of those who worship the Great Leviathan. At least, not of those who are of here. When those who live on the surface wish to visit, they are always accompanied by those who stay in the temple. State your identity, new one, and your purpose of coming here. Otherwise, I will devour you."

"I would probably give ya indigestion," I tell him. "I am immortal."

"Gods are nothing to us," he answers. "And you are no god."

"Ya can see my soul, yes?" I ask.

The leviathan continues to look at me, though I can tell it's looking at my soul now, rather than simply this mortal form of mine. When its large eyes widen, I know it has realized who I am.

"That soul," it murmurs into my mind. "You are the Great Leviathan, taken mortal form once more."

"I am," I answer. "I have come to retrieve the spear which I left behind. It is needed for the mortals above once more."

The leviathan moves to the side, and I continue my trip down to the temple. It seems some of the humans here live down here? How? The entire temple is flooded. I know Jason mentioned that a leviathan from our old lives had changed humans to live underwater, but I doubt that would have happened twice. Mermaids and mermen created by a leviathan in one place are one thing, but in two, by two separate ones?

What would be the odds of that?

I reach the temple and swim into it, finding the place illuminated by glowing crystals. There are also a few people here, and they all look human, though with similar builds. Builds meant for swimmers, which tells me a fair bit. They all have black hair and blue-green eyes as well, though their skin is pale, quite likely from never being in the sun.

They all give me curious glances, but I ignore their gazes as I continue swimming forward, making my way towards the central chamber. When I reach it, I enter, and the sight of waits within momentarily stuns me.

More than four dozen people have formed a semi-circle in front of the spear, which hovers above an altar at the back of the room. Their hands are clasped in prayer, eyes closed. Young and old, child and elder, male and female.

There's a whole religion here. And it's based around my spear.

The spear itself is made of isivinite, with an even blend of purple and grey along the shaft and tip, patterned so that the grey resembles waves among a sea of violet. Several more memories flow back to me upon seeing my ancient weapon.

A boy of thirteen stands in front of the altar, looking up at it. Everyone else stops their prayer, then the elder closest to the boy rises.

"Make the attempt," he tells the boy, his voice echoing through the room, even if it was spoken with his mind.

An adaptation which took place over thousands of years, no doubt. They don't speak through their mouths down here, so their magics adjusted and turned the telepathic spells which were used into an innate way of communication.

The boy gives the elder a nervous glance, then looks at me for a moment, frowning slightly before he turns to the altar once more. I suppose he's a man, if he's thirteen. This might even be their version of the coming-of-age ritual, whatever 'the attempt' means.

What it is becomes evident a moment later, when the boy floats up and attempts to take the spear. He manages to put both hands on the spear and pull it away from the altar, but everyone seems disappointed.

"It seems," the elder tells him. "That you are not his returned form. One day, he shall return."

The boy nods and returns the spear to the altar, and I realize what they're doing. They're testing at the coming-of-age ceremony the spear's reaction to people. They believe there will be some sort of sign if the one who takes the spear is the reincarnation of the Great Leviathan – of Magus Quinn.

"Welcome, visitor," the elder turns to me, and most of those in the room do. "It is not often our protector, a servant of the Great Leviathan himself, allows a foreigner to enter our sacred home."

His words are not suspicious or accusing, merely curious.

"We spoke, and he allowed me through after examining my soul," I answer, making sure to project my words to all in the room. "I came for the spear, though I had no knowledge that there was a society here."

"The spear," the elder says. "Is a part of our people, foreigner. Only the next life of its owner may wield it once more."

He gestures to the mural on the wall behind it, which I take notice of for the first time. A brown-haired, brown-eyed man around twenty or twenty-one stands, wielding the spear as he slays great monsters of the sea. The spear in the mural was painted with a different type of paint than the rest, causing it to shimmer slightly, as if it were glowing.

That reminds me, this temple is actually connected to the ocean. Do they know about that connection? Or are they unaware of it? The scene depicted was from when I slayed the monsters in the passage between this lake and the ocean, and the temple was built intentionally to act as a stop, to prevent the monsters from making it into this lake.

"Only its true master," the elder tells me. "May take it. The leviathan may have allowed you here, foreigner, but he will not allow you to take the spear. We are here to wait for its owner to return and bring us to enlightenment. It is the teachings and ways he left behind for us to find which we follow, and-"

"I'm going to stop you there," I swim closer to him and stop there. "It doesn't hurt to try, does it?"

"No, it does not," he answers. "However, only a child of the sea may be his next life."

"Ya are in a lake."

"A lake connected to the great sea," he responds. "We make the trip once a year to the great sea, to visit the temple at the other end and pay our respects to him there as well."

So they do know about the passage, then. Huh. I don't remember building a second temple, but I guess I will once I turn grey and start to become more Quinn than I am now.

I turn my attention to my ancient spear, then reach forward and grab it. As I pull it from above the alter, it begins to glow with a faint, blue-green light. The lake-folk here gasp at that, and I have to try hard not to roll my eyes at that. It's… a cliché of ancient tales, and from stories and stuff I'd seen on Earth.

But I suppose that secluded cultures like these, who have built up their own beliefs and are devout to them, would be surprised and shocked by such a thing.

"Not all children of the sea," I summon a leviathan construct, which begins to swim through the room, much to the amazement to the worshipers within. "Are born of those who live within them. The sea is not a birthplace alone, but a mindset, a way of life, a form of power. I have returned only because my spear was needed. One day, I may return. Goodbye."

I dismiss my construct and exit the temple, the leviathan outside giving me a bow of its head as I swim straight up. The only reason I expected it to take me as long as I said was because I was expecting a few monsters to have taken up residence.

Not an entire group of people who worship me. That's both amazing and disturbing, especially since I know they formed after we departed this world last time, unlike Niko's culture.

I'm still trying to get over the shock the Magus Benjamin created a society which has lasted for more than three thousand years. That's just plain impressive, and another reminder of why he's more terrifying than Magus Quinn was.

Once I reach the surface of the lake, I exit it and pull my clothes and gear back on, then fly off the lake and land on the shore, away from one of the villages bordering it. Focusing my mind, I gauge the distance once more, then teleport back to Varil.

I'm a fair ways off from the fighting, and rush back into it, stabbing and slashing with my spear. Anytime it pierces something, it emits a blade of water matching its own blade, which travels forward a little at high speed, cutting just as well as the spear itself.

The spear's true power comes out underwater, but it works well here, too. It's nowhere near as powerful as my Magus Sword, and with how the mimicked blades function, there's no risk to the environment. The secondary attack draws on my mana and triggers automatically when the spear pierces something solid, and the water blade, while moving fast, only lasts a short distance.

Not enough to punch all the way through a corrupted or ogre, meaning that I can even stab at something with someone on the other side and not risk hurting them.

The water, however, moves at a high speed, much like what I can do when I wrap it around someone's neck in a fight on the streets. Enough to rip flesh from bone.

With the material of the spear, it's also sharp enough to cut through all of the monsters, meaning the spell triggers with every strike of the blade that connects. I make it back to the ogre lord in no time, finding no other Magi here.

"Oi!" I call. "Ya ugly brute! Are ya ready to die?"

Okay, maybe that was a cliché, too, but who the heck cares? Two large teleports so close together has wiped me out, so I want to get this over with now.

My call did the trick, and the ogre looks at me. I rush forward, jabbing with the spear. Part of the training at the Royal Knight University involves learning how to use spears, so I'm not unfamiliar with them.

The ogre lord does his best to stop my attacks, but his barriers are pierced by my spear, which only results in the blades of water cutting into him. I cut through his spells as well, my spear dealing with them.

With my greater speed, I'm able to keep up an assault with the isivinite weapon. The ogre lord starts backing up as I attack, unable to keep up with the onslaught of attacks that actually hurt. I continue my strikes, stabbing and piercing and slicing, not giving it a chance to rest. Even the slightest nick against it turns into a large injury.

I take out its right arm first. Then its left leg. Then its right leg. Then I continue to attack until the opportunity to drive my spear into its chest comes, and I do so, the spear and the watery blade piercing clean through its heart.

I twist the spear, then withdraw it, the sharp back of the blade ensuring an easy pull.

"Told ya I needed something a heck of a lot more powerful," I tell Captain Enlin, then sweep my gaze across the battlefield. "Let's get this cleaned up."

The speed at which I was able to kill the ogre lord comes the difference between a mithril weapon and an isivinite one. Though a mithril weapon may be considered a superior weapon in normal terms, isivinite goes far beyond that.

The Slayers and I throw ourselves into the fight with our all. I focus on saving those who need it or assisting normal guards and the few Royal Guards who need it, while the Slayers begin slaughtering the ogres and corrupted with a renewed vigor.

The rest of the fight takes less than ten minutes, and by the time it's over, we're all covered in blood. Were it not for my spear, enhancements, and the Slayers knowing a weaker version of the enhancement technique, the fight would still be going on.

"What is that weapon?" Captain Enlin asks as I rejoin him. "That's isivinite."

"A weapon," I answer. "Intended on slaying monsters underwater. What you saw here was much, much weaker than the full power of the spear."

"Is it a weapon of the King of Knowledge?" He asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "I forgot about it until we were fighting. Honestly expected to need to kill a bunch of monsters to get it, but it was protected by a leviathan who let me have it once he realized who I was."

"Alright," he says. "We'll leave the decomposition to the Royal Guards, let's head back to our headquarters and get cleaned up. Alex, you come with us."

"Yes, sir."

I follow him to the wagons we used to exit. They were protected by a barrier spell, so they weren't damaged in the fighting. We board them up, then ride back into the city, and I can see people staring out the gate as it opens, the illusion dispelled.

"Did ya contact anyone?" I ask.

"I tried," he answers. "But it seems Prince Niko and Princess Lina were in Mar, and Prince Jacob had already left to assist the Royal Slayers in another district in protecting a town. I'm assuming the rest were either unavailable or unreachable."

"Okay," I say.

We eventually arrive at another barracks, and I follow the Slayers to the showers, stripping off my gear and just dropping it with everyone else's bloody clothes. We head into the showers and scrub ourselves clean, then dry ourselves off and put on some fresh clothes. Our blood clothes are missing.

"Where did they go?" I ask.

"We have a few apprentices around the place," a Slayer I only just met before the fight explains. "They take care of our gear and stuff. They'll clean it up and return it to us, though it might take a little longer for the spear, they're probably going to spend a little time being fascinated by the isivinite. It's not something you see every day."

"Yeah, I guess not," I answer.

"Come on," one of the others tells me, beckoning for me to follow her. "Let's head down to the dining hall, you must be as starved as we probably are."

"Yeah, I am," I grin, then follow her and some of the others to the dining hall.

There are a few younger servants moving around, putting food and drink in front of the Slayers as soon as they're seated. It's a lot of food, and the smell of the cooked meat makes my stomach rumble. I tear into it with as much gusto as the Slayers, everyone talking about the fight.

No one knows what happened, nor why the ogres planned such a huge attack. More than twenty towns and cities attacked out of nowhere, and everyone had the same amount of time to prepare for it. How did the hordes get so close without anyone noticing?

How did hordes so large form? Where did they come from?

According to one of the slayers, who appears to be in his forties, something similar happened around twenty years ago, back when he was freshly graduated from the Royal Knight University. Back then, however, the ogres didn't have ogre lords leading the hordes, and they were seen approaching from much further away.

We talk it over, and as we do, a lot of us come to the conclusion that the ogre lords used teleport spells to make the trip. But where did the hordes come from? Surely people would have noticed if ogres and corrupted suddenly began disappearing, which means they weren't pulling from the area. But there also weren't reports of greater ogre and corrupted activity, so it's not like they were here in Varil.

It's quite the mystery, and everyone agrees it needs looking into, but no one knows exactly how. Did they come from the Unwild Lands? From the mountains? There are plenty of possibilities as to what happened.

After we eat, I train with the Slayers for a bit, just until my clothes, gear, and spear are returned. I send everything into my spatial storage, then start to head out.

"Alex," Captain Enlin approaches me, and I turn to face him. "I wanted to inform you that, by royal order, your participation in the defense of Varil has released you from the rest of the punishment. Your remaining hours of guard duty and number of ogre hunts required have been released."

"The ogre hunts, I can understand," I say. "Considering how many I killed there, but the guard hours? That ain't making sense. It's a punishment for crimes made."

Only as I say that do I realize that a few others had drawn near, and no doubt heard my words.

"Yes," he nods. "However, the situation is a bit unique, Alex. You performed an act in defense of the city of Varilsy against an army of monsters. As such, that's a greater service than guard duty would manage. That is why His Majesty sent me a notice before the fight informing me that should you participate fully, you would be relieved of the issues."

"Erm," I say. "Some of the others are here."

"Everyone already knew," one of the Slayers tells me, and I give Captain Enlin an annoyed look. "It's not his fault, Alex. A student joining us isn't a normal thing. Everyone figured out pretty fast you were here under royal orders, likely for some crime you committed. We never said anything since you've always seemed a decent man."

"Alright," I sigh, then address Captain Enlin. "So I take it my time as your subordinate is at an end, then?"

"Yes," he answers. "All Royal Slayers are required to have a degree from the Royal Knight University or Royal Magic University, so you will not be able to join us until after you graduate, if you do wish to join the Royal Slayers after your, ah, one time assisting us."

"I do," I laugh, then remember something. "I thought you said not all Royal Slayers went to university?"

"Did I?" He raises an eyebrow. "That can't be right. The regulations dictate a requirement to attend and graduate from S-Class in the Royal Knight University or Royal Magic University. Well, Alex, I wish you a good day, and I'm sure we'll see each other around."

"Thanks," I say, then bid the others a good day before leaving.

As I walk back to the mansion, I think over what he said. How could some of them be members of the Royal Slayers if they never went to university? Despite what he said, I know that he told me some of them hadn't been. At least, I think that's what he said.

Then again, I remember him also saying that all Royal Slayers were S-Class students, so maybe I remember things wrong.

But what about the way he reacted to what I said? There was something off about his tone. And he used the word 'assisting'. He said I had assisted them.

I stop walking as I come to a realization. Even if I remembered what he said wrong, there is a way to join the Royal Slayers without graduating from university. Him saying 'assisting' was probably part of him trying to hint at it to me, but the rest of his hinting was thrown out the window when I spoke from a misremembered memory.

Immediately upon realizing that, I turn and start walking in the direction of the nearest warp crystal. The university's library no doubt has the information regarding the Royal Slayers, so I'm going to look into every book they have there regarding them until I find the secret way of joining the Slayers before graduating from university.

Yeah, I might not like Prince Jacob and Princess Lina, but I did enjoy my time with them. They're a friendly lot, and even if they ain't my crew, I still like them. I'd wanted to be a Slayer before my punishment, anyway.

So if there's a way to help them more, then I am definitely going to do it.