Author - Thank you for reading.

Chapters will come out every 1-2 days, 3 tops from now on. If things go well on my end and I’m in the mood, double releases. (Also I was working on school projects and people keep getting fired at work, really annoying.)

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After finishing my departure preparations, I evaluated the current situation of my colleagues to ensure they will be well while I’m away.

Abra and her son Neil are living a happy life as Abra controls a lavish tailoring business with many apprentices that will eventually make branch buildings in other locations. Soon I suspect her to be one of the most successful people in the area that doesn’t contain any personal fighting strength.

Neil as well made an astounding recovery and is a leading figure toward his peers. I haven't seen the guy frown at all since he was finally able to perform a few fighting techniques and magic. His earnest efforts dazzled many people, especially when they heard about his past from him himself. The guy doesn’t see his past situation as something to be ashamed of, but something to overcome. I can't help but respect him as well.

Tammy and her father Khan are now managing a new adventurers guild that is backed by the city rather than being a stand alone force with no order. The previous guild was governed by a separate party based in a location I haven't ventured to yet. People who don't want to be tied down to guard Bergan or any other city can freely use the guilds facilities to make contributions to the city and other locations they are branched at.

The two had no problems setting everything up as their prior experience with the former regulations of the traditional guild was often something they didn’t agree with. After revamping the guild with their own ideas, certain requirements and restrictions were changed to encompass a larger scale of tasks one could take and do since the guild is technically a freelance work office for the city.

This provided many jobs for people as the tasks can range from many various jobs ensuring that as long as people put in some effort, they can eat well. Many residence of the outer district, or slums as it is commonly called, took a liking to the guild they opened making it grow into a very formidable and trustworthy establishment.

Regarding Beth; early on when things started to settle down in Birgen a little over a year ago, I had a few personal sessions with her and taught her many different things while learning more about her. After understanding her resentment for not being able to fight back against a lot of misfortunes she experienced, I decided to help her reach new heights in strength by focusing my [Magic Hands] to help her break her current limiters at a higher rate.

She was uncomfortable with the method at first as she didn’t believe getting a massage would really help her but couldn’t deny the visible benefits as time passed.

I learned that the skill progression of [Magic hands] is different from other skills. The mystery of why the novice stage (0/100-24/100 rank of proficiency) was so overpowered regarding its uses at a low level was that each stage focuses on different aspects of the skill. The novice stage focused on the influential capability I had on objects and people based on familiarity, the target, and skill level. The strength of the item or person can influence how fast I can affect them, though progression falls to a standstill for people I treat if they don't train.

Intermediate (25/100 - 49/100) seems to change how fast the effects take place. The table regarding its effects is inclined toward what it focuses on until it reaches the next advancement. I won't know the changes until I reach the advanced stage, but given my current rate of progress being already at Mastery 38/100, it shouldn't take too long at this rate.

I taught Beth a lot about about battle tactics, weak points on the body, survival skills, and first aid. Her proficiency to learn everything was very good since I helped her body adapt to everything like a sponge in water. As a gift to congratulate her efforts, I gifted her my [Imperitus Blade] that I improved with the [Versilian ore] and upgrades to the enchantment runes. Since it no longer improved my [Blade Utility] I adopted the use of a variant Glaive weapon that I had Rust prepare based on a few designs I requested as I later converted it inter a higher grade weapon.

As Beth’s mental capacity was improved, her contemplation regarding her past seemed to differ as she understood that she was indeed not the same helpless person. I can't say her confidence is unshakable, but she is a capable leader now and is in charge of the main military alongside that militaristic sub-chosen. The two work very well together and already made notable achievements in military affairs.

Shirley seems to have left her shell for the most part as she runs the most well known restaurant in Birgen. She gained an appreciation for cooking as she enjoyed the smiles people had when they ate good food. Her business outstripped Abra’s by a long shot as the strict standards for the food provided was highly received. All the cities under my control have one of her restaurants that function similarly to the one that used to exist in the destroyed city of Tarthus. The only difference being the size of the building being bigger and the variety of foods being more plentiful as she asked me for my input.

Her business success aside, I know for a fact that she planted some strange ideas in Illis. The girl trains her magic diligently when I’m busy and endlessly tries to get as much attention from me as she can when I’m not. The girl knows my schedule by heart since I don't usually train or research endlessly since time for rest is a necessity to grow properly. Shirley was exposed when Illis spilled the beans when she mentioned some of the things her mom said when she was too excited and didn’t pay attention.

The ideas Shirley has regarding relationships...are rather dangerous. Thankfully, my understanding of my [Connected] trait improved. I can apparently repress troublesome or dangerous emotions if I catch it early on, so I kept Illis from gaining a severe case of infatuation. She still endlessly cares for me as her other emotions toward me are too far along for me to do anything about it. But at least I can keep her mentally stable and capable of thinking about things other than me. Although, her desire to get strong enough to follow me when I visit the area is a bit worrisome.

These matters aside, Layla decided to remain in Birgen and eventually seek out other members of our race when she gets stronger. The fight with Ward and Wynet showed her a lot about how little strength she really held as she couldn't do much beside protect herself. She wasn’t going to leave any time soon, and from the looks of it, planned on setting off when I scheduled myself to return to this area.

The schedule being that I was going to venture toward Puerial's home, stopping at Concord to finish of the Concord sect along the way before making a sweep back up to this location to head toward other populated areas not under my control. This area is particularly remote as the areas to the west are occupied by a long strip of jagged mountains while the east will eventually lead to an extremely large and hazardous area of forests with dense mana with large amounts of high level monsters. I suspect it to be where the fairy came from.

The South stretches down along the mountains for a fairly long distance as it eventually condenses into forested areas that are seldom explored due to the large string of people never returning. There are people that appear from there saying they arrived from the other side of the forest, but this was a low minority that included Belle and her team. Due to checking various slaver routes and reports, elves are more commonly captured here, and Puerial mentioned trying to get herbs in a location similar to this.

Me finding the guys who caught her is also what confirmed my initial findings. What happened to them was also determined by Puerial...who decided to make them impotent and forced to work in the pleasure district. The woman are all confirmed criminals with no redeemable qualities as people, they were also ‘treated’ to remove scars and make them more appealing before sending them to various locations to reflect on their life choices. Entertainment being low, I need to provide people with methods to relieve themselves as recreational activities can only go so far in this type of world. As such, Puerial’s choice was interesting considering the fact that her former captors were notorious for selling ‘used’ products most of the time. Puerial was indeed fortunate at the time.

The current plan is to venture South to eventually get to Puerial’s home which seems to be pretty far. As communication between villages and small towns are nonexistent, using the old map of the area as reference, my group will sweep past known locations were inhabitants should live and add them to my control range. As making slave collars are a simple thing to me, I can capture and enslave bandits and the like to be sent here for their new careers. Eventually I will reinforce any surviving villages with protection and resources based on their conditions.

Even if this sounds like a time consuming job, my current abilities makes building houses, walls, establishing guards using criminals and other things very easy. It only takes time if I go into details with decorations and enchantments or try to actually manage people. I’ll just go about it with my own methods regardless if their is some sort of protest as it's too much of a hassle trying to placate people’s worries.

Besides, the people in this city stopped running away in fear of me already and often greet me with stiff smiles...I find it more amusing than sad.

Well they only ended up like this after some catkin toddler clung to my leg when her traveling merchant parents weren't paying attention. Jeez, everyone thought I was going to kill her or something. This made the parents plead for mercy with tears seeing everyone's reaction and hearing their comments about me. What am I some type of demon.

I just picked up the toddler and handed her back to them as she started crying saying something about a flower. Her meaning was very obvious to me, and her parents didn’t help when they suddenly started sniffing me. Though me just walking away seemed to surprise the onlookers, I just ignored the event as it wasn’t the first time. Since then their guard around me wasn’t so severe and over time ended up how it is now.

As everyone started to settle down, Belle endeavored to follow me, Shiro and Puerial since she wanted to gain a broader range of experiences and get revenge. Ward and Wynet opted to recover their strength and teach suitable people after making a few tomes with various incantations that I took the pleasure of reading. They hope to follow the original ideals they held from their former group before being mind controlled. Capable magic users are hard to come by in this area aside from elven settlements from what I heard. The two said their group were based to the north past were the mountains stop blocking travel to the west.

Thorough investigation of its distance put it in a very far and remote location. It will be a long while before I get anywhere near there, so the thought of it was pushed aside for now.

In the end, everyone seemed to have finally settled into a decent life style. The sub-chosen are also a very welcomed influence that are now based in the various cities to manage. Though I can’t help but sigh at how useless the other main-chosen are besides Aeria. The original plan for us was to consolidate our strength in this ‘relatively’ safe region before spreading out across this vast world.

This plan was utterly ruined by Neran who has gathered Jason, Serious, and Ren into a group that has yet to show me anything worthy of praise. At the very least they finally started gathering up various abilities to at least help them. I have little hope for them though since they wasted so much time.

Aeria however managed to reverse the situation in the city she almost liberated using the things I taught her. The city itself is placed past the forest to the south, but I have no intention of heading there since she seems capable enough to handle that area. My main objective is fulfilling my promise with Puerial before heading North.

Puerial herself has also grown a lot more concerned with matters regarding her home after I reared her mind to always reflect upon the things she hears. The naivety she usually showed has slowly been replaced by a highly contemplative individual. Unfortunately for people who don't know this, she keeps it hidden with a whimsical nature. She seldom reveals a serious expression around others except for who she trusts.

The main reason she keeps that aloof atmosphere, while before it was natural, is to guard herself and fool possible enemies. Her mental growth was truly astonishing. The only time she doesn’t have her guard up and reveals her usual playful self is when we are alone or with close friends.

Shiro as well made an admirable effort to grow stronger as she dispatches enemies with clever tactics rather than pushing through with her strength alone. Her prowess is now to the point where I no longer need to instruct her when we fight. My main concern is that she has developed a strong guard mentality. Without regard to her own feelings, she follows my orders without question.

Her loyalty is too strong in my personal opinion. Regardless, I detect she is very happy standing by me so I can't find any leeway to change her behavior. Trying to force her only makes her depressed. Hopefully she will become more independent later on.

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It is just before dawn as I gaze at the three before me. Goodbye’s were already said as everyone else slumbers at their respective homes. The preparations for our departure is done.

“Are you three ready?” (Kuro)

“Un.” (Shiro)

“No problem~” (Puerial)

“Yea.” (Belle)

“Then, let's not waste anymore time.” (Kuro)

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A/N: Things should be picking up speed again now.

Equipment and stuff will be shown in the next chapter.