Shu smiled at the girl. She looked insanely appealing right now. The way her lips were lightly parted in a slight pant, the way her eyes glistened and shined. The way her red hair fell in a wild tangle about her neck and chest.

He reached up to remove the doublet.

Seeing how the spell affected Milly and Max, he'd taken the opportunity to quickly slip out of the robes while they were passed out on the ground. Although he had removed the Empyrean vestiges of darkness to seem less imposing and to better blend in with the adventurers again, he was also glad that they weren't soiled. It wouldn't do to meet Caia and the others like he was right now.

They might ask whose bodily fluids were occupying the place of honor on the front of his doublet and he'd rather not explain this particular meeting. He wasn't sure he could, either.

”Wa-wait, hold on a moment.” The redheaded warrior said, hastily getting to her feet. He froze, standing completely still as if under a paralysis spell.

Shu was tall for his age, but this was still a childs body. The warrior girl Milly was about a head taller than him and her breasts were at best a B cup, though to Shu that did nothing but increase her appeal. Milly swallowed audibly and turned her gaze from him.

”I mean uh... go on then.” She was fun to mess with too, like Fiona. He thought they bore an uncanny resemblance to each other but he vastly preferred Milly.

He considered this payback from before, although he couldn't fathom why she would feel any form of embarrassment over seeing a naked boys chest. There was nothing there for her to see.

Picking out a dark blue doublet with shades of purple embroidery, he put it on and readied himself for a public appearance by fishing out the glasses he had worn when first meeting Caia's group. Their only use was to hide the unusual color of his eyes, but they also gave off a faint scent of enchantment illusion magic.

Next phase, move it.

”Done.” He said to Milly, who still had her back turned to him. Max sat up quietly, his dazed eyes swivelling back and forth between Milly and him. ”What... happen?” he asked in a thin and cute voice with a strange german sounding accent.

This was the first time Shu had heard the boy speak. Actually he looked more like a girl than a boy with his rose-tinted lips, soft round face and long blonde hair. He would be a good candidate to star in his personalized version of Boku No pico. Shu quickly shook himself.

”Hello Max, just teleported us outta there. Going to eat with my friends. Wanna come?”

Max hesitated for a moment before nodding. It was good that Shu had practiced his casual speech a little.

He still felt odd though. Talking like he did in Edge online would make him hard to understand for these people who did not know the slang and the lingo of such an online community. A decade of gaming had seen a slew of strange expressions crop up and enter their language... and his old guild mates talked funny too.

Some of them even roleplayed their characters with full immersion, basically talking like they imagined fantasy characters would. Their efforts mostly amounted to a weird mish-mash of old shakespearean English and modern speak, littered thusly with mine ornamentatious phrasings of yore for thine amusement, sayeth he... stuff like that.

”We should go then. It's no use loitering around in a dark, dank back alley unless absolutely necessary, especially when food awaits! ” Shu continued, grinning at Milly and Max as he walked towards the street opening up ahead.

”Under what circumstances would you consider it necessary then?” Milly asked, following behind him. She looked rather dashing with the leather armor and sword. The little boy following behind her looked like her charge. She was like a private guard for a wealthy noble.

It really was strange what a few articles of clothing could do to a woman and a boy. Just a few moments ago they had been wearing rags and now? The impression one got from them was completely different.

”Miss Milly, isn't it obvious?” He asked, rounding the corner and seamlessly merging into the small crowd of people that flowed past outside. Most of them were occupied with the stands littered about, or hurrying to and fro the various taverns, which in outer Xuberanth were rather numerous.

”Not to me it isn't. Please do enlighten me, little demon.” He looked back to find Milly smiling at him. She had grabbed Max's hand and held it like she was his parent or something.

He waited for them, and Milly sidled up to him, her eyes glinting mischivously. He couldn't believe this change that had come over her, but he liked it.

”Little demon?” He asked as Milly began walking in tandem with him, dragging a confused boy behind her like a doll. For some reason their steps matched, and he resisted the urge to laugh out loud. Men parted before them as they walked, heading in the direction of the inn where Caias group was staying.

”Uhm, you. Little demon.” Milly said, her cheeks flushed red. ”Anyway don't dodge the question!”

”Fine then, Miss Milly. The first reason to loiter in such a place is of course if you wish to partake in illicit activities.”

”Such as?” She asked him with a lighthearted smirk upon her rosy lips.

Taking a deep breath and fixing Milly with a grin of his own, Shu replied:

”Such as purloining goods from unsuspecting travellers or engaging in solicited copulatious activities involving perspicatiously flailing merchants and the grotesque gyrations of their massive corpuses as they struggle like stranded whales to satisfy their beastly urges, of course.”

Milly froze, gaping at him. She sputtered, trying to suppress laughter as her face got redder and redder. Finally she erupted. ”Puhahahah. Of course? Of course? You're fucking insane, you know that?”

”Small doses of insanity, taken in moderation may bring about surprising benefits.” Shu replied, still riding the wave. Talking with Milly like this was almost like bantering with his old mates when they were raiding a dungeon or something. That nostalgic feeling sobered him up a bit and he did a double take on Milly. She wasn't bad.

”Now even I have no idea what you're talking about, but clearly you're not just a little bit insane. I was right after all.” Milly said just as they entered another section of Xuberanth where street lanterns flickered every few feet, and most people wore adventurers armor or magical robes. Within a few steps Shu had already noticed several guild signs and banners, so he knew that he was in the right Area of town.

”Right about what?” He asked her.

”About you being mad, of course.” Milly replied. Just as the words left her mouth, Shu spotted a few adventurers walking toward them with determination shining in their eyes. Seeing their grim and resolute expressions and that familiar sadistic glint in their eyes, Shu caught Milly's hand and made her look at him.

”Listen Millsy. You're an adventurer escorting a noble to a guild party from Ouroboros. Got it?” Shu said, flicking his gaze to Max and back. Milly looked at Shu curiously, raising an eyebrow when he said Ouroboros, but she nodded her acknowledgement.

”Try not to make trouble.” Just as he had finished whispering to Milly, the first man arrived before them and soon after, the rest of his cronies joined him. Stopping before Shu's group, a tall man in chainmail armor crossed his arms over his chest. A mace and a one-handed axe hung from his belt.

”And what's that then?” The man said, flicking his head disdainfully in Shu's direction. He had a thin face and a grating, unpleasant voice. Behind him, a woman wearing mage robes of blue stepped up. ”A child wearing enchanted glasses? Tima you should stop this stupid witch-hunt already.” The woman replied, frowning at her companion.

A dwarf came up beside the woman then. ”Aye, aye. They be gone from here if they ain't slaves. Look at him, he be wearing a fine doublet and everythin. No slave be wearing that kind of fancy getup.” The dwarf shot them an apologetic look as he spoke.

”Look closely.” Tima said, and his two companions did so, squinting at Shu. Their facial expressions changed at once. ”See? If not for me we would've missed this little piss ant.”

At his side, Milly clenched her fists but Shu lay a calming hand on her fist. He did not speak, for doing so would undermine Milly's position as the party leader. Realizing this, Milly stepped forward.

”I'm currently working. Guild Commision to bring these two to Ouroboros here in Xuberanth.” Milly said.

At the mention of Ouroboros, the tall man leading the bunch shifted nervously, but unfortunately he was not so easily dissuaded.

”And were you aware of that one masquerading among us?” Tima asked. Milly just nodded stiffly. Tima gripped the mace hanging from his belt tightly, and his companions readied themselves too. Around him Shu noted that people were stopping to look at them. It seemed no matter what world it was, a commotion would attract the attention of people hoping to see something interesting, like an aggressive adventurer bashing in the skull of a young girl and two boys perhaps. Milly rested a hand on the pummel of her sheathed bastard sword, glaring at the three adventurers.

”I don't see whats wrong with him being here with me. I'm escorting a noble,” Milly said, nodding in Max's direction, ”and this one here. I was payed to do this so...” She narrowed her eyes at the men.

Shu was impressed by her once more. A few moments ago she had been weeping in a dark alley, and now she had bounced back and was probably stronger for it too. He was a little worried about the attention they were gathering though. Men and women from many different guilds were steadily flocking to the commotion, standing in a circle around the group and closing off avenues of escape.

Tima sneered. ”So you mean to say you're a willing accomplice then? Isn't it against the law? The king would surely pay handsomely for that one. Pretty little fucker, and I heard the king likes them young ones.” Tima said, smiling and unclipping the mace from his belt. Shu sighed. So it was going to be like that then.

He looked over to Tima's companions who were scowling at him. Milly gripped the hilt of her sword.

”Don't.” She warned, but Tima just smiled arrogantly, clutching the mace in one hand and undoing the strap for his axe with the other.

”Just give him to me. I don't want to ruin your pretty little face.”

”Oy, bash 'er a good one T.” Someone from the crowd called, and voices echoed throughout the adventurers quarter. ”Can you handle him?” Shu asked. He had to keep a low profile.

This was the Azure kingdom and Xuberanth where Lisa was staying. Revealing himself would be counter-productive.

Milly nodded, and Tima who had overheard the exchange, scoffed. ”Come on then, arrogant little miss wannabe fighter.” Milly drew her sword from its sheath, and Shu caught a whisper on the wind.

His eyebrows rose. ”Lament of the fallen? This sword is?” He muttered.

Shu hadn't meant to give her that sword, but he didn't really care either. It was an interesting blade though. The blade of the General of the Blue Wind. Milly seemed to have heard the sorrowful whisper on the wind too, and her eyebrows rose. But before she could do anything else the tall adventurer Tima attacked.

Shu cringed a little as he watched the Mace heading straight for Milly's head. He wanted to interfere, but he restrained himself.

Milly's sword flashed, and a clang ran out as she directly blocked the mace swing. Tima was a bit shocked that the sword did not break or her arm falter, but he still whipped his axe around the side to catch Milly in the flank. She twisted out of the way and stepped back, narrowing her eyes at Tima.

”You're better than I thought girlie.” Shu watched Tima's companions for any signs that they were joining in, but for now they looked content to let their stupid leader fight. Milly raised the bastard sword over her head and yelled. ”Yaah!” As she struck down.

Lament of the fallen flashed with a blue light and Tima raised his mace to block as he simultaneously brought the axe around again aiming for Milly's flank. Lament of the fallen sheared straight through the mace as if cutting through butter. Neither Tima nor Milly was prepared for this, so they both momentarily lost their balance, yet Milly somehow managed to whip Lament of the fallen over to her side to block Tima's wild axe swing. The axe slammed into her and although she blocked it, she stumbled and fell to the ground.

So did Tima though. Shu narrowed his eyes at the robed woman around whom swirled tendrils of mana, as if she was preparing a spell. The dwarf hefted his axe, jumping infront of Tima and raising it to strike at the still downed Milly.

She tried to bring her sword up to block, but Shu would not leave her survival to chance.

Even if she somehow managed to block from a downed position, she was still in a disadvantageous situation. The dwarfs axe wooshed through the air, but Shu moved first. He kept his hands down by his side and used chantless magic to lessen suspicions. Only the slight movement of his little finger and the mana emanations would give him away, but he had no time to further mask himself. Milly's survival came first.

[Air Hammer]

[Telekinesis]

[Mana barrier]

[Mana absorbtion circle]

[Mind blast]

An invisible air hammer smashed into the dwarf blasting him back, but before he could move even a few steps Shu caught him with Telekinesis and then quickly let go again. As the dwarf fell to the ground unconscious, the robed woman let out a choked sound as a blue mana barrier shimmered around her. Then a circle of magical symbols appeared below her. The spell she had been about to cast fizzled into nothing as the mana was sucked into the formation, and she too fell unconscious with a telekinetic mind blast on top of the sudden mana fizzle.

All of this had taken less than a second to execute, and but the mere movement of his little finger.

The boistrous crowd had suddenly gone completely quiet.

Shu realized from the beginning that these guys were low level posers. In addition to the trouble he would get in for killing someone openly like this, he really did not feel like it. He'd murdered too many people already, and although they deserved to die it still left Shu feeling dirty somehow.

Compared to the sins of the slaver bastards who dared lay their hands on Lisa, it seemed silly that these people should lose their lives over something as retarded as this confrontation. Tima, confused and scared, scrambled to his feet at the same time as Milly.

”What? Guards! Murder! Murder!” He started screaming when he saw his two unconscious companions and adventurers in the crowd stirred too, some preparing weapons while others turned to run.

A few of the stronger ones looked over at Shu, raising a curious eyebrow. Shu sighed, preparing to teleport himself and his two newly acquired friends out of this mess.

”What in the bloody hell is going on here?” A loud voice bellowed. Shu saw a familiar towering figure with a huge battleaxe strapped to his back, making his way through the crowd.

Upon seeing who it was, the crowd reluctantly split before Brock, whose face changed from angry puzzlement to sudden recognition upon seeing Shu. He smiled, raising a hand towards Brock.

”Hey, you big womanizer. How've you been?” Shu called.

Brock returned the smile, but raised an eyebrow at the unconscious dwarf and mage, and the shaking Tima who even now clutched the shaft of his broken mace.

”Fine, but what the hell do you mean womanizer? And whats that lying on the ground over there?” Brock said, gesturing to the downed adventurers.

”Just a few pieces of trash, don't mind them. ” Shu said, moving forward to greet his friend, shaking the mans hand. From outside it must've looked absurd. A gigantic barbarian shaking the small and fragile hand of a 12 year old boy.

And yet this is the scene that greeted the adventurers who had stopped to watch the fight or otherwise been attracted by the commotion. Shu supposed it was fine, but they had gotten their entertainment and it was time for them to go away.

”Don't give me that,” Shu said. ”I saw the way you looked at Fiona. You have a thing for her, don't ya?” Brock scrunched up his face.

”Don't know what you're talking about.” Brock replied, his eyes flicking to Milly who stood behind Shu still gripping the sword.

”Mildred? What are you doing here?” Brock asked, looking over Shu's shoulder. ”Huh, Mildred?” Shu muttered. Behind him, Milly turned up her nose and stamped the ground angrily. ”Uncle, you will NOT call me that. Especially not here... but.... it's already too late.” She looked over at Shu.

”Ohoho.” Brock rumbled. To be honest, Shu was a little bit surprised that Brock didn't go Arrgh jaaah, and flex his muscles.

”I don't know how you and the boy found each other, but this is certainly strange. Amusing, but strange.” Milly flushed bright red as Brock spoke and Shu had a hard time comprehending the words that had just been said. Uncle? Was Milly related to Brock in some way? What the hell was going on.

”This is neither the time nor place for such a discussion.” Shu said. He left Brocks side, walking past Milly, who seemed a bit out of it, and took Max's hand.

”Come on Max, let's go eat. You're hungry right?” Shu said. The blonde boys hand shook a bit as he held it, but somehow Max was calming down.

”Yes, Hungry.” He whispered.

”Show's over, piss off.” Brock bellowed, waving a huge arm at the crowd of adventurers. To Shu's relief, the crowd finally dispersed. ”I'm glad these people recognize your authority. This is so troublesome.” Shu complained, dragging max up to meet Brock.

”And who's this little fella?” Brock rumbled.

”Ich bin Max.” The blonde boy said, Surprising Shu when he inclined his head towards Brock. ”And I'm Brock. Nice to meet you boy.” Having finished the greetings and the ordeal with the overly zealous adventurers, the group made its way down the street until Shu came upon the Ouroboros guild house.

It was quite recognizable, and atleast twice as large as the other guild houses around here. A sign with a snake biting its own tail hung outside the double doors, and the place itself gave off a wild west kind of feel. Upon seeing that symbol, Shu was once again reminded of his lost friend Hymbon... Just what the hell happened a thousand years ago?

Shu pushed through the door behind Brock, Max and Milly following behind him. She had gone quiet as soon as he had encountered Brock and that was no good. Milly seemed to be a free spirited girl. Her being pent up like this seemed unnatural.

The inside was surprisingly empty. There was no bartender, only a few scattered groups of adventurers tending to themselves. Their armor and weapons looked a touch above the low standards of this world, which Shu assumed must mean that these were A rank adventurers like Caia's group or maybe S ranked groups, though in truth he had no idea.

It was just that anything less would be a disgrace to the name of Ouroboros and his old friend. They noted Brocks arrival but said nothing even though Shu's black horn was clearly exposed in the light. Another plus in favour of Ouroboros then. A large blackboard hung over the bar and was visible to all. On it, Shu saw something reminiscent of a GMOTD and beneath it were various requests tagged on.

Now that he studied the atmosphere closer, this seemed to be a more serious and work oriented place than most other adventurers guilds, but to him that was not necessarily a bad thing.

This didn't seem like the place to get food though. The gathered adventurers were discussing business or playing cards while downing hard liquour. Two thief-like adventurers were playing knuckles and bones in the corner, stacks of gold and silver stacked precariously on their table as money continuously exchanged hands.

”Through here.” Brock said, waving the group through. So this was where the bar was. In Shu's mind, one couldn't have this kind of stereotypical adventurer's guild house without a bar and some guys and gals brawling and laughing as they downed mugs of beer, but perhaps his vision of such a guild house had been influenced by a certain anime.

There were no Lucy or Natsu like characters here at the moment though.

A few had started drinking at the bar, and the rest of Ouroboros 7, with the exception of Caia, sat at a corner table chatting. They all raised their hands in salute. ”Hey Brock, I see you found something after all.” Trevor called. Unusual for the robin hood guy to speak, but Shu noted the empty bottles on the table.

”Ah well, just kinda stumbled upon him and Mildre- I mean Milly was with him, would ya believe it.” Brock replied.

”Enough o' that shit, come over and drink already. ” Fiona said. Shu noticed Milly shuffling nervously behind him, eyeing Fiona and the other Ouroboros members with wide eyes.

They brought over another table, connecting it to the first. Then Max, Milly and Shu sat themselves down. Soon after, Caia returned, servants with food in-tow. When she saw Shu, she just raised her eyebrows a little and sent the servants off to get more food.

”Why am I not surprised to see you here.” Caia said in greeting as she sat directly across from Shu, smiling at him.

”Hey, what's that supposed to mean?” Shu asked half in jest. He thought he knew where this was going, and didn't really want to talk about it.

”Oh nothing. Just that I should've known you'd be here, given what has just happened...”

”What ye mean?” Fiona asked right before a burp burst from her mouth like an explosion.

”You haven't heard cause you're all busy drinking your tits off, but the Chain Emporium has fallen.” Caia said calmly. Despite her softly spoken words, it seemed most people in the room heard, turning to look over at her with wide eyes.

”You're taking the piss.” Fiona replied.

”No, I did that earlier in the outhouse. Right now I am out of piss. You're probably bursting though...” Caia said.

”So that thing Brock was going to check out, was that? That warehouse belonged to the chain emporium and it fell?” Trevor asked. Caia nodded.

”Not just that, the Chain Emporium is gone. I received a message from my mother a moment ago. She said that the Chain Emporium's HQ in the capital went up in flames not more than 30 minutes ago. Apparently it was quite a spectacular sight. The king has already made his move aswell.” Caia explained.

”If that woman's on the move then it be serious indeed.” Fiona said. She seemed to have sobered up somewhat at the news. Shu knew this would be awkward, so he tried changing the topic.

”What about Lisa?” Shu asked.

Heads turned to look at him. Were they judging him? To be honest, he could not blame them if they thought badly of him after what he'd done to seperate from Lisa.

”She's fine. She just enrolled in Xuberanth Royal Academy, so she should be at her dorm if all things went well.” Caia replied. That woman alone, knew a bit more about Shu than the others and thus opted to judge him less harshly.

With a start, Caia noticed Max and Milly and their hungry expressions. ”Oh right, dig in everyone.” She said, motioning to the platters of food that the serving maids had brought. They were filled with steaming porkchops, and fine-looking cuts of meat, potatoes, some strange green sauce and various other dishes. Max immediately started shovelling food into his face, and so did Milly.

Just as Shu reached out to fork a piece of pork onto his plate, Milly leaned in and whispered in his ear: ”Please don't tell them about me... that I was a slave.” Shu nodded. ”No problem.” He replied.

Shu ate in silence for awhile as the adventurers talked and laughed and slammed down empty mugs for refill.

Milly and Max were likewise quiet, although Brock and Max exchanged a couple words and a short laugh here and there. Apparently the two had good rapor with each other.

Shu though... His mind was elsewhere, as he kept wondering what Lisa was up to. Was she doing well?

He wanted to go to her again, see her just to confirm that she was fine. Wait, perhaps he should try attending the Royal Academy? He did lack knowledge, and the common sense of this world differed drastically from the time he played Edge Online. This world was real. A living, breathing world that had evolved and changed for a thousand years.

Of course things would be drastically different, but what Shu wondered most of all was about the dungeons and raids and the mobs in general. Where had all the higher level monsters gone?

Were the dungeons full, did monsters respawn in them? What about the end-game raids like the pits of hellfire, sanctuary of the mad scarab king and so on. Those areas were huge, mostly located underground and isolated completely from the overworld. Shu was curious about this.

Maybe higher leveled monsters existed in those places? It was definitely possible given how huge those underground raid dungeons were.

Yes, to gain common sense and acquire more knowledge about the world in general, he should attend the Royal Academy as a student. Atleast that was his reasoning behind his desire to attend.

In truth, he felt compelled to try it out. Would it not be fun? He hadn't really enjoyed the school life in his old world... not like those 21st century kids had. He kind of wanted to experience school life as a kid once more, although he knew it could never quite be the way he wanted it to, he would still have Lisa... if she even wanted to see him.

”What's wrong Shu?” Caia asked, the perceptive woman picking up on his sudden unease. Perhaps the way he was biting his lower lip gave her a clue as to his anxiety level.

”Could you... could you tell me more about this Xuberanth Royal Academy which Lisa is attending?” Shu asked.

To that, he received a knowing smile and a nod from Caia.