I sat down on the ground expecting a long and serious talk. Leon’s lack of a smile pointed to that very clearly. I had only known him for about a day but I had gotten a hold on his personality. I just hoped it wasn’t something bad. I’m sick of the disaster which follows me.

“I want you to come with me.” (Leon)

Leon repeated himself. I still didn’t know where he wanted me to go with him or why but I decided to listen to him. It might be in my best interests to not let this guy operate by himself. If he dies. I’ll lose out on my source of information. But before that I needed to know more.

“I need more than just that you know.” (Kenos)

He nodded once. He really looked incredibly serious. Like his life depends on this conversation. Like he was taking a gamble. I don’t know what he wanted but it must be something important to him.

“Do you know about the human kingdom south of here?” (Leon)

I nodded to confirm. I knew a bit too much for my own comfort. I knew both the dark and the light. Maybe I’m being too dramatic about it. I hadn’t even spent a month there. But at the same time I had seen all the corruption it had to offer. I had seen the slaves that were treated as nothing more but toys by a man who was called a noble. Just thinking about it makes me want to stab something which would bleed to relieve my stress.

A “noble”. If you think about the word it is in fact an incredibly beautiful term showcasing what the mindset of the medieval nobles should have been but instead what do we get? We get a man who buys the lives of others and breaks them for his own pleasure. I hope he’s enjoying the torture he’s being put through right now. Just like what he would have done if he had my power I laid him to rest in the most terrible way I could think of, offering him an eternal torment he could not refuse I the process.

And then what of the king? A joke. He was a complete idiot. The only reason he had sat upon the throne was because those around him thought him to be easier to manipulate than his older brother who was the rightful heir and his younger brother who had somehow learned basic human decency. And they were right. The country suffered for it but they didn‘t care. They were filling up their pockets with gold so what did they care that their citizens were miserable? Utter trash. The whole kingdom.

“Then did you know that their king was assassinated?” (Leon)

I was snapped out of my disgust by Leon continuing his questions. It seemed like I was getting more questions than answers which slightly annoyed me. At least I was still human enough to get annoyed by something so trivial. Oh wait… maybe that’s a bad thing. I still nodded my head to confirm once more.

“Now the important question. How much do you know about how the clans operate?” (Leon)

I still don’t see where this is going. Why was he questioning me? Shouldn’t this be the other way around? I sighed to get rid of the negatives inside of me and started explaining what I knew.

“I know little in the ways of the beastkin. Unlike the elves, if you keep documents then they are not open to the public. Either that or you don’t keep many in the first place. All I know is that the Beastlands are separated into territories for the different clans.” (Kenos)

I explained my genuine lack of knowledge on the matter. The beastkin didn’t really strike me as the types of guys to leave meticulous written records. A lot of countries did it mindlessly as if it was the obvious better way of running a country. But there wasn’t a country in the Beastlands. There were only clans. Clans that each had their own views and ways of thinking.

“Then you know most of it. The only difference is that there’s now actually a system for the clans to make united decisions. We call it The Council. It’s basically where the leaders of all participating clans gather to make a decision together. Sometimes trough reason, others through vote and others through force.” (Leon)

I was starting to slightly see where this was going. Only slightly though. I still didn’t see the whole picture. One side of me was annoyed about Leon not just getting to the point but another enjoyed staying in the dark and trying to connect the dots into something that would make sense of the situation.

“And the place I need you o come with me to is this very Council.” (Leon)

Well that was just like how I had guessed. It wasn’t that hard to guess either. I don’t know though why he wants me to go or why he trusts me to go with him. And those two were important to know… at least for me. I can’t trust someone who I can’t understand.

“So am I to assume that you are the leader of your clan?” (Kenos)

Leon nodded. I see. That left the question of why the hell he was sent here as the leader of his clan but I guess that wasn’t too important. There could have been a whole plethora of reasons for why he was sent here. Or hell he might have decided to come here himself, knowing him.

“The Council will gather in the united city of Tunik which is located around a week away from here.” (Leon)

A united city? Now this was interesting. The beastkin clans came together to make a city for all of them. It’s a bit too good to be true really. I’m sure the whole thing has its own set of problems which I’m gonna find out about.

“And why do you want me with you? What do you expect from me and why do you trust me to do it?” (Kenos)

“Because you’re the strongest person in this camp. I want you there as my protector as I suspect some people might not be happy with me. You see some people don’t quite like me as a leader.” Geez I wonder why? “As for why I trust you, it’s simple. You’ve only been in this camp a day. You’re an outsider and you’ve proven not to care for either humans or beastkin. You only care about yourself and the people close to you. Ironically a person like that is much easier to trust than someone completely loyal and never questioning your orders.” (Leon)

True. I could understand what he meant. Back in my days of world domination I much more enjoyed meeting with some mercenaries to discuss the terms of their contract than let’s say a loyal commander of mine who was visibly kissing up to me. Well… until mercenaries realized that if I was to succeed in whatever I was planning they might not have a job anymore. Idiots. Did they really think I hadn’t thought about it? So many lives wasted because they couldn’t understand that I had thought absolutely everything through. I shook these feelings of regret off while I thought about it from another hand. If I refused this I could regret it. If this guy’s bodyguards was incompetent or happens to be someone on the enemy’s side he’ll die. And if he dies. I won’t be able to get information on Kate. And I couldn’t have that.

“Okay I understand. When are we leaving?” (Kenos)

Some of the tension on Leon’s face visibly dissipated after that. He seemed glad to have me on his side.

“Tomorrow. It’s an emergency calling after all. We’re supposed to get there as soon as possible.” (Leon)

I nodded and got up. I would have to get ready and get the girls some… means of protecting themselves. Though I did have the full intention of protecting them there was no reason to not make them something which would allow them to more easily do so themselves. I didn’t want to make them dependent on me. I wanted to make myself depend on them… maybe that was a little too high of a goal?

When I got to the house the girls greeted me before I sat down. They were still reading out of the textbooks I had made for them and I apologized that today I wouldn’t be able to help them as I had something else to do. I started applying all the knowledge I had, both from my previous world and this one for one thing… weapon manufacturing.

First I needed one thing. A breath… no not like a break or a breath of fresh air or anything. I needed a breath of magic. Or in this case a breath of void. That was the name for something created through an incredibly high concentration of an energy in one point. It can be a simple breath of magic but breaths of fire, wind, and so on existed as well. There were some exceptions but I don’t need to go into it in too many details as I would be creating a breath of void… or I would be checking if it was possible at least.

I started gathering void in front of me. Before long I realized it was distracting for the girls so I apologized and moved to the unfurnished room from before. I created a simple couch on which I sat and a worktable in front of me before once again concentrating on gathering the void and compressing it as much as possible before letting go. Too little concentration of it would prove a failure but the more I put in the better. So I kept at it. I kept compressing void into a simple spherical shape. It took me an hour to feel my limit in compressing anymore so I shaped it and let it go resulting in a small sphere big enough to fit in the palm of my hand falling on the table. I then proceeded to compress three more. The whole process took a total of four hours. Unlike with the healing where I improved each time I did it this seemed to be the genuine limit of what I could create at the moment.

I picked one of the four and started the next phase of the weapon creation. So I started forming a sword of void around it, with it being in the middle of the guard. I didn’t finish it though and let it be immaterial for a bit longer. I only made the shape. What I did form was a small needle in my hand. I concentrated void energy to the tip of said needle and used it to write on the breath of void. In a language only few people on this continent can understand. The runic language used in enchanting.

The runes I wrote were “Activate” “Trigger” “Mana”, before surrounding those in a circle and forming another circle to close them off from the rest which was “Release” “Harmful” “Energy” “Controlled” “Blade”. Then I formed part of the hilt and guard of the sword. The breath of the void was contained in the middle of the guard but it wasn’t visible from the outside of the sword. On the inside of the part which was supposed to be both the hilt and guard which were only one part since with my ability I had no reason to make them separate, I wrote the rune “Durable” further increasing the durability of this already seemingly indestructible metal I had created. I then formed the blade and connected it to the other part. The enchantment also seemed to flow into it as soon as the two parts became one. I also left a mechanism in the blade but I’ll leave for Lily as a surprise.

I picked up the next breath and started forming a bracelet around it. Only it had a bit of a special mechanism. On a few parts of the mechanism I wrote “Move” “Unlock” “Trigger” “Mana”. On the breath I wrote “Small” “Delay” surrounded by two circles I then wrote “Activate” “Trigger” “Mana” barred from the next part by another circle, the next part being “Form” “Needle” “Coat” “Death” “Poison”.

You already knew where I was going with that one right? I picked up the next. I formed a staff from void metal around it and on the breath I wrote “Expend” “Energy” “Help” “Spellcasting”. I didn’t use a second circle for that. On the staff itself I wrote “Conduct” “Mana” “Help” “Spellcasting”. Simple enough.

I grabbed the last one and wondered what I should make from this one... After debating for a bit I decided to just make another bracelet for Cel as well. She was a mage but maybe she would be in a situation where magic could not be used. I also enchanted both the bracelets with the word “Fit” before I left.

I showed the weapons to Lily and Cel. First I handed the sword to Lily.

“I mean it’s a great sword and all but I don’t see how you were just making these the whole time. It took you five hours. Last time you made my sword it took you a few seconds.” (Lily)

I only smirked to that. She was in for a big surprise.

“Try pouring some mana into it.” (Kenos)

She seemed a bit confused but did as I asked. As she poured mana into it the blade opened up releasing void energy from the spaces which formed an edge for the sword. Void steel was sharp… but not as sharp as something which literally denied existence. Lily was so surprised that she dropped it and the sword embedded itself in the floor which was the only thing in this house not made out of void. The only thing sticking out of the floor now was the hilt but when Lily bent down to pick it up she found no resistance when taking it out at all.

“Holy… Shit… What have you created” (Lily)

I laughed at her reaction. I couldn’t help it. This girl really was funny. I told her to insert mana again and as she did the sword once again closed. Satisfied she replaced the sword at her waist with the new one.

“Okay Cel next. Let’s go out though. Trying out spells inside the house isn’t something I would like” (Kenos)

Cel nodded to me with a look filled with expectations. We left the house but I didn’t stop there. We left through the north gate. The guards didn’t stop me this time and only looked at me with awe. They might have seen my “shell” being carried in yesterday. They opened the gate when I asked them to though. Seems they might have gained a bit of respect for me. Only after we were half an hour away from the camp did I hand the staff t Cel and urged her to try casting a spell she liked.

Cel happily obliged, grabbing the staff from me, she started chanting for a simple dark sphere which would normally be a low-tier darkness spell. What formed though was not by any means a low-tier spell. The sphere which was usually supposed to be around the size of the head of a child it was now the size of a full-grown human. As Cel released it out of surprise it ate through everything it came in contact with until it became small and disappeared. In total it traveled around a hundred meters toppling trees and eating through rocks in its way.

Cel just stood with a dumbfounded expression while I once again laughed and Lily joining in this time. As a last I handed both of them the two bracelets and told them that they contained a near infinite ammunition and a deadly poison. Though I didn’t know how deadly the poison would be… well we decided to judge it based on the other items... On the way back we ran into a group of monsters. Four aqua wolves which were pretty dangerous in the C-rank and from B to A-rank when in big packs and with an alpha. Fortunately there were only three of them so I urged the two to test out the poison. The wolves were circling around us cautiously but as the two girls clumsily aimed their bracelets at two of them they seemed to sense danger.

One of them managed to jump and dodge the small needle which was released from the bracelets but the other was hit and… well what can I say? Instant death? That’s pretty much it. Since the poison was successfully tested I just beheaded the other two wolves as Lily pouted because she was the one who missed and I patted Cel’s head which she enjoyed greatly.

Now we were ready. We returned to camp as I explained that we would be leaving soon… maybe… maybe if I had noticed how unnatural the relief on Leon’s face was back then… maybe if I had noticed that the tension wasn’t because he was afraid of the other chiefs… maybe things would have gone differently… maybe I would have… no… never mind... Looking back is only an excuse to not move forward.