Rowan hurtled through the white void uncontrollably, thinking back to the circumstances that led to the situation he was in now.

In his final clash against the rogue mage who he once called his friend, Rowan finally managed to unlock the secrets within the legendary sword Gladius and obtain power beyond anything he could have ever dreamed of! However, who could have imagined that the power held within the killing blow would be so massive that it would tear a hole through the realm's boundaries, ending the life of his "friend" as well as sending himself into a limbo between realms?

Rowan had already considered ending his own life. The threat to his home and all the realms was already over, and he had confidence in his still-living friends to take care of everything. He could not sense any mana or divine energy either, so there was no option to cultivate the strength necessary to break free from this place. Still, he clung on to the faint sliver of hope that he would eventually collide with the boundaries of another realm and obtain the chance either to return home or to begin a new life.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, a force began pulling at him! Immediately after, he felt the familiar tug of a new realm's laws weighing down on him. Rowan was overjoyed.

"A foreign realm, and so soon! Thank the heavens, I was preparing myself for at least a thousand years of meditation. To think that less than a day would pass..."

The laws of this foreign realm began to settle around him. He was soon able to tell up from down, and a portal opened up before him, signifying the end of his trip through the white void. Rowan stepped through the portal, preparing himself for danger just in case.

He did not expect what happened next.

Within a natural formation of 500m rock spires covered in patches of grass and vines and rock bridges connecting the spires in various locations.

A man with short, spiky black hair was traversing one of these rock bridges before he suddenly stopped.

And plopped down into the lotus position.

"Time to eat!! Man, I'm famished," shouted the man to no one in particular.

Just as he brought out his lunch and started digging in, a portal crackling with energy opened up in front of him.

"Mmph? Mwll, diff fudd bwhee innerefding (Well, this should be interesting)," mumbled the man through a mouthful of food.

As he stepped through the portal, Rowan began to survey his immediate surroundings. Or at least, that was what he would have done had he not come face-to-face with someone else.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, the man looked fairly remarkable. He was wearing a smooth, ovoid mask painted over with a symmetrical pattern. This pattern was formed by a sideways 'S' dividing the mask from left to right, with the upper half colored yellow and the bottom half colored purple. A small, opposite-colored circle was apparent within each half, on the areas where the eyes were meant to peer out from the mask. A similar pattern followed suit in the middle of his upper wear, this one was split into four 'sections' and had the addition of black and white colors.

The symmetrical color pattern continued for the man's clothes. He wore long, silken robes with the right half colored black and the left half colored white. His pants were somewhat baggy, the ends stuffed inside his socks. The color alternated sides with each attire, from the robes, to the pants, socks, and finally shoes. Overall, it gave him the appearance of a sage wearing two different sets of the same clothing.

This masked sage was grasping a rectangular box of food in one gloved hand, and two sticks in the other. However, the contents of the box were... peculiar. It contained what looked to be an assortment of vegetables, meat, and a mass of maggots.

"Perhaps this sage is one who lives off the land," he thought. "A respectable approach to life, but the sheer amount of critters this person managed to gather is quite... impressive."

While pondering the appearance of the eccentric in front of him, the sage finished chewing the bulge of food in his mouth, which led to another point of curiosity for Rowan: "...Why is he eating with a mask on?"

After swallowing, the sage lifted the hand that was holding onto his meal and waved it side-to-side, palm facing Rowan.

"Hey there!"

Rowan assumed this must have been the greeting of the locals. Although it could not be compared to the barbaric lifestyles of ogres and goblins, he still felt it to be a bit lacking. Besides that point, Rowan felt relieved hearing the sage speak in his own tongue. He decided to return it in kind.

"Hail there!"

A moment of silence passed with only the sound of wind blowing past from the high altitude. Suddenly, much to Rowan's surprise, the sage burst into hysterical laughter.

"AHAAAAAA-HAHAHAHA!! Wha-?! What was that?! 'Hail there', HAH!"

Rowan was utterly flabbergasted at this reaction. Even Exalts would not dare to breathe too loudly in front of him! If anyone happened to be watching this exchange, they would have been absolutely stunned at the audacity which this mortal had just displayed towards someone who could wipe him out with a mere thought!

However, as one who had reached the Arbiter level of power, Rowan would not lower himself to kill a mere mortal. Anyone who would lower themselves to kill someone far beneath them in strength might lose a bit of face, but they could not be blamed. This universe was one where the strong determined right from wrong, after all!

Turning his attention away from the raucous sage, Rowan began to carry out what he originally sought out to do, spreading out his divine sense to observe the realm he had arrived in.

Immediately apparent were the sun and moon both hanging in the skies. Unusually, they did not seem to move at all, resulting in their respective 'territories' consisting of scorching hot desert and magma filled terrain to snow covered taigas and glacial mountains. These environmental extremes gradually became less severe as one moved away from either of these celestial bodies, resulting in temperate climates in the area between. Within this area also contained a spectrum of its own, with one end containing flourishing plant life and emanating an aura of exuberance and the other end containing a mass of... glowing buildings?

Rowan had never seen anything quite like it. They appeared to be brimming with energy, and yet, he could not sense auras of power radiating out from these monolithic structures. Lifeforms could be seen bustling about within this location, giving him the impression that this place was actually a type of city! In fact, he could detect lifeforms all over! Even within the supposedly inhospitable areas spotted earlier, he found that civilization had managed to establish stable footholds, though none were nearly as impressive as the aforementioned glowing city.

What shocked him the most about this realm however, was just how small it was! Everything used to describe these lands beforehand all took place within what seemed to be a vast crater-like depression of around two thousand kilometers end-to-end. Beyond this 'crater' and the atmospheric 'bubble' formed above, Rowan could sense nothing; the realm simply ended at that point!

As Rowan contemplated the implications of encountering what appeared to be a flat world for the first time, the sage soon began to calm his excessive chortling.

"Hah! Hoo~, sorry 'bout that. The name's Jin Sook, nice ta' see ya!" The man named Jin set down his meal and rose to his feet, extending an open hand toward Rowan in a friendly gesture.

"Rowan." He saw no reason to grant this ignorant mortal the benefit of knowing his surname.

"Just Rowan, eh?" Jin lowered his hand after his attempt at cordiality was ignored. "Well hey, listen. I feel kinda bad leaving an impression like that on a guy I just met. So howsabout I treat you to some lunch? My treat!"

Ignorant though he was, the mortal certainly seemed kind enough. Rowan was curious about the sort of cuisine he might encounter in this foreign realm, though he held off on any sort of expectations. Nothing found on such a lowly plane could possibly compare to the alluring flavor of Skypeak Dragon flesh, after all. He decided that returning home was not something that needed to be rushed however, and chose instead to explore this tiny realm which he found contained only mana and not divine energy.

"Very well. Lead the way."

Rowan suddenly felt a pulling sensation, something he recognized as teleportation after having experienced it so many times back home. As the portal made at the beginning of all this closed and the two vanished into thin air, it was as though nothing had transpired just now.

When Rowan re-appeared, he felt as though he had entered a completely different realm. He had been transported into the glowing city, and while Rowan still believed that nothing in this tiny world could have impressed him, this place most certainly felt like an exception.

It was a starless night, yet there were still a multitude of lifeforms varying in shape and size traversing the city's infrastructure. They ranged from plant-like creatures with prehensile vines to hulking, rotund mammals with stumpy appendages. Snaking its way in between buildings were moving roads of differing speeds, allowing pedestrians to travel at the speed which they prefer. The design of the buildings themselves were rather puzzling, as they seemed to lack any glass to see through. Standing at an average height of 100m, the lack of decor on these rectangular buildings granted them a monolithic feeling that could not be understated. On the other hand, the ground level was comparatively flourishing with life and culture. Concession stands were handing out sweets, meats, and even toys to the eager children playing within the park behind Rowan, while everywhere else around him were stores with multiple pictures of what they sold scrolling horizontally across their fronts. What appeared to be floating panels of glass were seen whizzing around, sometimes hovering in front of civilians as the panels were touched or talked to by them. Almost anywhere within the city that was not in use, however, emanated a faint, pale-blue glow, giving it an almost ethereal appearance.

Jin was already proceeding ahead of him to one of the moving roads, swinging his arm over his head in a gesture signifying to follow. "Come on! I'll take you to one of my favorite restaurants!"

"Hm," Rowan responded nonchalantly. He was already losing interest in tasting the local cuisine after being presented with the city's peculiarity. For instance, the aforementioned levitating panels, moving roads, and glowing infrastructure were all phenomena that normally required some form of enchantments to be possible. And yet, Rowan could sense not sense any magical nor divine aura from these objects at all!

Rowan pondered over these points of interest as he walked towards the moving road that Jin went on. However...

"Eh?!" Rowan suddenly tripped as he tried to plant his foot onto the moving road, landing firmly on his rear.

"AHAAAAAAH-HAHAHAHAHA! You're a pretty funny guy, y'know that?!" Shouted Jin from off in the distance.

Before Rowan could react to Jin's repeated affront, he heard a feminine voice call out to him.

"Are you alright?" The owner of the voice offered a hand to help him up.

"My thanks. It is good to see that there are well-mannered individuals here..." Rowan tapered off as he accepted the bipedal reptilian's act of kindness. However, it was not her appearance which had caused the lapse in his reply, but the fact that as soon as he stood up, she wandered off to rejoin her friend! Such an indignity, but Rowan felt it beneath him to be concerned over the fleeting behavior of these mortals, and so he continued onward.

The rest of the journey was rather uneventful for Rowan. Around him were children playing on the moving roads, their mothers keeping a close watch on them, with some being scolded for running onto the faster ones without their permission. As for the rest of the road's occupants, they were like any other pedestrian walking and conversing with their companions. A scattered few were talking at floating panels, and others were ducking and weaving between lifeforms in a hurry to get somewhere within the city.

After a couple of minutes, he caught up to Jin who was already standing off to the side of the road waving at him. Rowan had noticed on the way here that, strangely enough, the doors were made of glass in this city. They stood several meters tall and wide to accommodate the larger civilians, but the most bizarre feature he had observed about these glass doors was that they slid off to the side upon someone's approach.

"Heh-hey, look who's finally here!" Ignoring the slightly exasperated look on Rowan's face, Jin carried on walking to their destination.

"Here we are! Hungry? Welcome to The Fish Market!"

Rowan took a closer look at the supposed fish market in front of him. Peering through the glass doors, he saw absolutely nothing resembling a market. Jin clapped him on the shoulder after an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

"...Yeah, don't mind that. It's just a name. Any-who!"

Almost reluctantly so, Rowan followed after Jin in entering the restaurant. Once again, he felt contempt building up for the jarring behavior of this 'sage', but he chose to put Jin's actions behind him as he once again began to anticipate what the locale had to offer.

Somewhere within the city. A metallic avian lifeform with a grey and red color scheme was observing a screen within a brightly lit room showing Rowan and Jin as they ventured toward The Fish Market.

"...What do you think?"

"HE WILL LEAVE. LIKE ALL OTHERS BEFORE HIM."

Behind her was a massive, spherical machine with a luminous, crystalline yellow 'eye' in the center. An array of wires, cords, and cables varying greatly in size were connected to it, suspending it in the air.

"Seems logical, considering how they all just want to go home." The avian's head turned around, her tone becoming more casual. "Sure you don't want to take up his offer?"

A rumbling noise could be heard from the machine.

"Hm, alright then. Hey Sen! How about you?"

There was a drone with a dimly glowing, spherical red 'eye' hovering in front of an array of monitors. It made a 'pip' sound in response to the inquiry.

"Haha, alright Sen, calm your excitement," The avian spoke sarcastically, but the drone she was referring to was left unfazed by her remark.

After a flash of light, they both vanished, leaving behind only the machine and an ambient humming from the monitors.

Suddenly, a blast of wind blew at Rowan! In an instant, he spread out his divine sense in an attempt to find the foolish mage that dared to cast a wind spell at him. His search came up short when he discovered that the culprit was a just a long metal bar, with a hole that ran nearly its entire length. It was located above and behind the doors, steadily unleashing a constant gust of air.

Maintaining his composure to avoid further ridicule from Jin, he stepped past the doorway. The air within the restaurant was pleasantly cool and dry. Various patrons were scattered throughout the place, enjoying a myriad of different dining environments; square lots of differing sizes meant for accommodating customers that required more or less space dotted the scene in front of Rowan. They ranged from grassy plains to wooden floorboards to lily covered ponds, all filled with consumers that matched their particular demographic. Some murk-dwelling, amphibian-looking creatures were seen finishing their meal and leaving, while the swamp area they were in shifted into a smooth, black metallic surface. Rowan could not help but marvel at this. A restaurant that terraformed itself to provide its diners with the best possible setting to eat in? Utterly unthinkable!

"Pretty neat huh? C'mon! My people are over there!" Once again, Rowan was beckoned by Jin to follow. As they strolled past a group eating in a sandy desert biome, Rowan began to feel a sense of foreboding as he glanced at what they were eating. His fears were confirmed at the sight of the contents of the table he was being led to, which resembled a dining booth on white tiled floor.

"Well, look who it is, HAH!"

"Little late, wouldn't you agree? For someone so fond of food, the fact that you weren't here to greet me with a mouthful of sushi has left me feeling rather disappointed."

Jin took a seat on one side, gesturing at his companion to do the same. "Heh, sorry 'bout that! Was just showin' a new friend around."

Tearing his eyes away from the congregation of 'maggots' that was rapidly becoming evident as one of the staple foods in this realm, Rowan took the liberty of examining Jin's group of friends as he took his place next to him.

The one who had spoken first with a guttural voice was a heavyset bipedal creature of steel. His mouth appeared to be two serrated edges that fit together perfectly, while the top of his head had a plate of whitish armor that extended somewhat over his face, giving it an appearance reminiscent of a flat cap. Adorned with two conical horns, a robust tail, and blue sclera (or were they just large irises?), this lifeform would have given Rowan the impression that he had frost dragon lineage if it were not for the metallic constitution and the lack of wings.

The somewhat chipper sounding second one looked like, for lack of a better term, a big metal bird. She twitched her head constantly to view the people she conversed with, either due to her yellow eyes being located on the sides of her head or because of her likeness to avians. The head itself looked like one long helmet with a crest protruding off near the back of it. Besides the stark red metallic feathers of her wings, she shared a similar grey-white color scheme as the 'steel dragon'.

"Exercising prudence is not one of Jin's strengths. The whole of the machine community can testify as such."

"Pffh~"

"Zzz~"

A vaguely almond-shaped chunk of floating grey metal roughly the size of a head addressed Jin with an almost monotone, androgynous voice. The last two sitting at the table were the only humans that Rowan had encountered thus far in this realm, aside from the bothersome oaf he had run into in the beginning. Their hair reached past their shoulders in length, with one colored a shade between blue and sky blue, and the other a light shade of turquoise. The latter sporting green hair was resting her head on its side with her arm wrapped beneath it, while the former bore a slightly amused countenance in the wake of Jin's arrival. Both of them looked fairly attractive, with perfect complexions, though the blue-haired one had a slightly jagged vertical scar that disabled the use of her right eye.

"Hey don't worry 'bout it, lemme just make up for the lost time!" Jin proceeded to rapidly toss the colorful "sushi" into his mouth piece by piece, making a single smacking noise each time. This foolhardy action of stuffing one's cheeks appeared to be carried out with comedic intent, as the rest of the table's occupants broke out into wry expressions. However, Rowan was far more interested in what sort of enchantment allowed it all to pass through his mask without any sort of visible fluctuations.

Besides a few curt greetings, Rowan was otherwise left out of their conversation. He pieced together that the natives were not very open to outsiders, further evidenced by the earlier female lifeform that paid him little mind. This did not bother him much. After all, as an alien to these people, being able to keep to oneself was already enough.

Instead, he began to plan on how to return home. The most obvious solution due to this realm's lack of divine energy was to train to become a mage. His earlier accomplishments as an Arbiter would expedite his ability to advance on the path of magic, so the only limiting factors were the abundance of mana as well as the confined space within this world. Some of the more powerful runic formations stretched across tens of thousands of kilometers in length, while this realm only supported two thousand, with most of it already occupied by its residents. Since the power needed to tear through the realm of Sanctuary required Rowan's power to reach the Arbiter level, he suspected he would need to reach at least the level of Greater Mage Exalt in order to pierce through the boundaries of this tiny realm. To raise himself this far, he believed he would need hundreds of thousands of years of long, arduous, and ultimately boring training. It could have been cut in half if there were suitable mentors around, but he felt he would be lucky to find even a Bishop. He may have only a couple thousand years left to live after all of this, but he would treasure every single moment he had catching up with friends and family as they all spent their final days together.

He was brought out of his reverie when a new arrival approached the table, just in time to witness the 'steel dragon' slam the table and make an exasperated cry of distress at a joke Jin made relating to "nuts and bolts". A grey-skinned, four-armed individual delivered another heaping platter of "sushi" before noticing Rowan. "Ah, another one eh? Looks medieval."

"'Another one'? There have been others before myself who have wound up here through accident?" Rowan asked before he jumped to conclusions based on a remark that may not even be related to his current predica-

"For sure! Lost count, but I just know there've been over twenty 'I tore a hole through the fabric of reality' folk that came through these parts. None of’em stick around for more than a day. Heck, I could count on one hand the number of times any fella spent longer than an hour here before we just sent them back home!" The individual spoke in a manner that betrayed a hint of minor annoyance, but that was hardly the point that registered to Rowan.

This entire time, Rowan was holding back from punishing these mortals for their brazen disrespect because he believed that it would be ages before he could return home. Establishing an unfavorable reputation with the natives and living with it for a hundred millennia would have made for an unpleasant experience.

Having learned that these natives had a way to send him home, he dropped all pretense of courtesy and respect and proceeded to unleash his aura, suppressed down to that of a Lesser Exalt. His attempt at intimidation appeared to work, seeing the rest of the table's occupants turning their heads to stare at him, faces frozen in shock or anger. He prepared to make his demands.

Are you serious?!

Unbeknownst to Rowan, the supposedly bewildered were having a conversation with each other in their minds regarding the rabble-rouser splashing his aura around so callously.

You heard me. I'm gonna bring the guy in.

But why? We've encountered dozens of their kind already. All of them share the same aspects: Low cultural diversity, hardly any sense of equality, a "might makes right" mentality...

Avy, we're one to talk about "equality" when all we've done is treat them like inconveniences without even trying to integrate them into our society.

Tch, always the optimist...

Jin. The floating grey chunk of metal joined in Jin and the metal bird’s exchange. Ideal interactions place ethics at the forefront of consideration. Yet, pragmatism takes precedence in a majority of situations. Even in enlightened biological species, their subconscious decisions maintain a certain tendency to be swayed by the degree of practicality of-

So it's too much of a hassle.

Correct.

I mean, c'mon Jin, one of them even tried to mind control me! That was just flat-out disrespectful.

I'm not forcing you guys to bear the burden for me! If you guys don't like the guy after everything, you can continue ignoring him. It's not something to fault you over.

What?! But-

Let it go Avy, Jin's not gonna change his mind. It was at this moment that the blue-haired female spoke up. But there's something I need to ask. Why do you care so much about one of these drifters, Jin?

Oh, that's easy! See, I made fun of the guy a lot from start to now, and I wanted to make it up to the guy by letting him join us!

A moment of stunned silence.

Look, I don't feel very good making fun of somebody I just met, okay? Just doesn't sit well with me.

Ha~, such a simpleton... You could have just not made fun of him, did that ever occur to you?

Avy, come now. Your life wouldn't be half as exciting without Jin around to shake things up a bit.

I know, I know. Sometimes I feel like a masochist with how willingly I put up with him.

Hey!

Pffh~

Well, now that that's settled, I'm curious to see how you'll convince Ron... Rowan? Rowan over there to stay.

HAH! The 'steel dragon' decided to pitch in the conversation now that the negative atmosphere had cleared up. Have some faith in my buddy Jin! He'll mellow down the lil' upstart there, no sweat!

Heh, any of you coulda done this easy y'know.

Whole thing was your idea. Not our problem.

Ehhh...

Back in the physical world, only a second had passed since Rowan unleashed his aura. The waiter was the only one who appeared unaffected, as he seemed to be experienced in this regard. He made a welcoming gesture with his two right arms toward the table's occupants before walking away to attend to other customers.

Rowan somewhat regretted having to do this, but he would rather not waste any more time than he had to. He had family and friends waiting for him, after all.

"I will only ask this once. Return me to whence I came, or there will be... consequences."

"Well, technically that was a demand and not a question-"

With a wave of his hand, he sent out a wave of divine energy to send that irritating mortal Jin flying. Rowan felt a bit of satisfaction at being able to put such an annoying person in his place after having to bear with his antics all this time.

However, rather than the scene of a person being flung through the air, he saw Jin sitting calmly with his companions snickering a little at his earlier correction. Not only that, but he realized that his Divine Core was being blocked!

"What did you do?!" He shouted, visibly shaken by this turn of events.

"Jammed that ball-lookin' thing you have in there," Jin said with a shrug.

Rowan was confused. What did a fruit spread have to do with blocking off his Divine Core?

No matter. His body was that of an Arbiter's. He believed that whatever magic they used to accomplish something so profound as to disable his Divine Core would have to be supported by an equally profound formation, which was probably what those strange monolithic buildings outside were for. However, that would not take away his absurd innate strength as a Warrior.

So it was no wonder that it came as a surprise when he tried to exert his physical superiority by smashing the table and only succeeding in vibrating the table slightly.

"How...?" For the first time since entering this realm, Rowan actually felt a sort of primeval fear that wreaked havoc on his deepest survival instincts. He now truly felt his life was completely at the mercy of another, which quelled his sense of pride and made him think on how he could salvage his reputation from his earlier brash treatment towards these people.

"Let me just take a wild guess here, let me know if I'm wrong. You're someone who's reached the apex of power in their world, or something like that, right?"

"...Yes."

"And you probably think that this is some pre-established formation that gives us the advantage over you while you're here, right?

"...Yes?" Rowan was somewhat confused. These mortals could not seriously be implying that they were all powerful enough to suppress him alone.

Wow, they really are all surprisingly similar.

Told you.

He saw Jin turning his head over to the metal bird for a moment before switching his attention back to him. "We don't really care much about what you just tried to pull here. It's to be expected, after all. However, we'd like to offer you two choices.

"The first," he stated. "We return you home and wipe your memory of ever coming to our world. Plain and simple."

That sounded... oddly convenient. Rowan was fairly certain that there was a catch, but there was still the second option to consider.

"And the second?" he continued.

Rowan held his breath, waiting to hear it.

...And kept waiting. He began to wonder if he was supposed to respond.

*Bap* "Ah." Jin was lightly punched by the blue-haired woman, eliciting a slightly surprised sound from him.

"You don't need to pause that long, dangit Jin!" Followed up by the metal bird jokingly berating him.

Their casual, lighthearted behavior did little to ease Rowan. There was still the possibility that they had quick tempers, and he did not wish to test that theory by breaking their moods.

"And the second!" Jin spit out rapidly before returning to the prior solemn tone. "Is you stay here, and we teach you the fundamentals."

He had no idea what Jin was talking about. "Fundamentals of what?"

Oh crap, did we have a better name for it?

Just go with it.

Ehhhh...

Once again, Rowan saw Jin twist his head to glance at the metal bird and back. He started to wonder if they were communicating discreetly without him knowing, though their held-back laughter seemed to suggest they were mocking him instead.

"The fundamentals of the multiverse! Or, for your convenience, we'll call it the fundamentals of power. There's no catch by the way! No contract, no leash, no nothing; anytime you want to leave, we’ll let you leave."

These people wanted to teach Rowan their ways? It all sounded rather tempting, but he would much rather return home instead. And yet...

"While you think on your decision, consider this. You know now that there are multiple worlds out there, worlds like this that have incomprehensible techniques or methods that leave you helpless to fight back. Not only that, but it is possible for them to reach your own home world. Intentionally or by accident, therein lies a very real threat that you and those you love can all be killed through the unfortunate circumstance that one of these 'visitors' happen upon your world.

"Of course, as catastrophic as that might be, it is also extremely unlikely! Don't want to make it seem like you have no choice in the matter at all, y'know. So what'll it be, Row?"

Way to lay it on thick, Jin.

Hey! I'm not usually the one who handles this recruiting stuff, alright?

Pffh~

Those words summed up his fears perfectly. As simple as it would be to leave it all behind, he could not doubt the fact that there was indeed a danger which would constantly be looming over his homeland. No matter how minuscule the chance of it was, if his home ever became threatened by a force well outside of its capabilities, he would never be able to forgive himself for allowing it to happen.

The choice was simple then.

As he saw eyes filled with anticipation all around him (with the exception of the pair belonging to the one that was still asleep), he deeply bowed. "Very well, I will stay and learn from you. Please take care of me."

While bowing, he began to wonder if the natives even understood the concept of bowing. He knew that their traditions and customs were vastly different, and though he was only here to learn their so-called 'fundamentals of power', it would not do to leave a bad impression on them like what he did just before. It was a daunting task to try and adopt their conventions, and thinking about how difficult and humiliating it can get with someone like Jin around to constantly ridicule him for it made him sigh mentally.

"Here's to the newest member of Regis!" Exclaimed the 'steel dragon', as they all raised their drinks into the air.

"Well," he thought. "At least this is one tradition I am familiar with."

*Clink*