Mash’s return to the mountain city was pleasant. He enjoyed talking with Lisa, and they spent pretty much the whole journey talking about their classes. Mash almost revealed things about the others’ classes, but Priscilla stopped him from doing that. It happened more than once. Now that the mountain was in sight, the conversation shifted toward his portals and what would happen in the city. Jorg and the others had joined for that discussion. Not that there was much to talk about. His portal would essentially open a door straight to the capital. Like that they strolled into the city, already prepared to empty it of all its inhabitants.

Their reentry this time wasn’t through one of the narrow hallways. There was a much larger underground passageway that took them near the center of the city. He hadn’t noticed it before as it was literally hidden by the city’s streets. The stone had to be physically moved aside to let them walk up and into the city. For such a well-protected city, he had not had any trouble getting around them. This time, he just walked in, though the city was not quite the same anymore.

The city hadn’t remained idle during their journey, and Mash saw smoke coming from many parts of the city. Buildings had obviously been raided, and the central three buildings had been uprooted. All that remained of the Slavery was a mass of bricks. The very ground around it was littered with coins and gems. Not one person had even tried to pick them up, and Mash felt the same. That money was tainted as could be.

The Colosseum and auction house were similarly in tatters, though he had never actually scoped either building out. And now he never would, not that he really wanted to either. The army’s arrival into the city didn’t go unnoticed, and Mash rushed to open his portal. He knew that the army wouldn’t stay grouped for very long, and he wanted to get his brother and the general here as soon as possible. They had already let him know that they were ready, so Mash only had to open the portal.

The wooden arch grew from the ground as Lisa went to find out what had happened within the city. Darkness filled the archway for a second before revealing the dungeon. The first thing Mash saw was Arthur and the woman with white hair speaking to one another. General Irkish was standing with them, but she was looking straight at him when the portal opened. She had somehow noticed the portal before it had fully appeared. The wooden archway was fairly obvious, but he knew that it didn’t form in the same way on the other side. While it took a few seconds to grow fully for him, it would just suddenly appear to the people here. It didn’t grow from the ground it just popped into the dungeon.

The general still knew though and stared at him with an expression that made Mash quickly step aside. He hid behind the arch, glad that the portal didn’t function both ways. Thus, he waved Jorg and the rest through the portal, choosing to use them to avoid speaking with Irkish. Whatever she had in mind, he was sure he would owe the kingdom something for all of this. It wasn’t that he would avoid taking responsibility for it. Rather he just didn’t want to do it right away.

It worked as Jorg approached the Irkish. She wasn’t hard to identify, plus she was a famous general and Jorg was a military man. He would probably know any significant power in the other kingdoms. Mash let him take the general’s attention, and he tried to slink to the back of the growing crowd. More and more people were gathering around the portal as the remaining guards led them through. People kept glancing at him. Somehow everyone seemed to know exactly who he was, and Mash saw more than a few people bow or nod to him. Some even dropped to their knees in a strange prayer. Mash pretended not to see them and let his eyes scan the broken city.

“You can’t avoid what you are.”

The voice was soft and breathy. A whisper from someone trying to sound mysterious. At first, he thought it was Jill, but realized with some alarm that this person hadn’t teleported. Rather they had moved impossibly quickly. So fast that even his senses were slightly delayed in identifying the person. He tried not to let it show, but his shoulders twitched from his surprise.

“Hello, I’m Mash, and you are?”

The white-haired woman walked beside him. He tried to act composed but it was just an act. He knew who she was and was well aware of the fact that she could kill him. Especially now, while he wasn’t in any of his forms. Her voice carried to him, and he could tell that it wasn’t going anywhere else.

“Hmm, I assumed you would know. However, I am Whitney. Now, it’s my turn to ask you a question. Who marked you?”

Mash didn’t even react to the question. The composed act was maintained by a moment of ignorance. He didn’t understand it at first, but then his mind processed each word more carefully. Once it clicked, he turned inward in panic. Priscilla should know if there had been some kind of skill or magic used on him.

[How does she know about them?]

[Not them, she only mentioned a single. And I believe she is inclined to answer your question if you ask. She clearly volunteered herself for this conversation.]

He took the advice in stride and decided to ask openly. Although he gave her an answer, revealing the mark that he thought she could detect. The World Carrier’s mark had been designed to hide him, so he doubted she was able to notice that one.

“I got it from this snake thing. It was a curse. Now you, how do you know about the mark, and are you marked?”

She sighed a little, her face revealing her dissatisfaction.

“That was two questions, though I guess we are done with the game. No one ever plays it properly. Does no one know how to properly trade questions anymore?”

Despite how cold and silent she had been before; Whitney was none of those things now. She was overly dramatic and played into the stories he had heard earlier. He had to believe it was an act but let her play it out as he waited for an answer.

“And you have stopped listening. I guess the adopted daughter of a dragon can’t compare to someone who is part dragon. To answer your question, I also have a mark. One of its functions is to find others with them. Does your mark not let you do the same?”

Mash missed a step as he listened to her words. He didn’t fall but stopped and stared at the woman’s back as she took another step forward. Then she performed a grand twirl, even though she didn’t have any loose clothing or hair to sway with the gesture. He ignored the pointless display and stammered out his question.

“Wait! What do you mean by part dragon? And how would you even know that?”

He could’ve denied it, but it was probably pointless. Nobody would guess something like that. She didn’t really need to answer either. The obvious one was that her class was related to dragons somehow. That gave some credence to the rumors.

“I’m assuming that was rhetorical. If not, the answer is my class.”

She said it with a smug look of satisfaction. Whitney seemed to enjoy controlling the conversation which Mash decidedly didn’t like. He didn’t care for the implicit power dynamic that comes from an exchange like this and would rather just get the answer for his questions. He very much wished he was talking to Lisa instead. Although he wanted to know more and tried to press the woman for more information.

“What class is that? Or just the skill if you don’t want to tell me that.”

Whitney stared at Mash. She seemed most unprepared for a direct question like that. Classes and skills were usually private things, not that Mash cared much for that tradition. In his mind, it was dumb and would cause more confusion in the long run. Although, he had to admit that there was some advantage to keeping some secrets. This scrutiny just seemed excessive though. The name of the class didn’t reveal that much.

“My class is Chimeric Vagabond.”

He stepped up to her and spoke in a slightly quieter voice, even if he didn’t see it as the biggest secret there was no reason to let anyone that was passing by hear them.

“Fine. My class is called Dragon’s Fang. Now, how are you part dragon? What did you do to earn that ability?”

She didn’t lower her voice, but her strange sound manipulation was still active. Somehow, she was speaking only to him, and it wasn’t magical. Well, it didn’t utilize any mana that he could detect. Her gaze had shifted too. When she asked her questions, she said with a hint of desperation. It was a desire that she had probably been chasing her whole life. Mash felt like telling her that he ate part of a dragon would be a mistake. Especially, if she had been marked by a dragon. He could imagine the snake giving him a chunk of its flesh in some kind of ruse to make his life harder.

“I’m a chimera. I mean that literally, my class turned me into one. As for how I got it, I kind of just ate a bunch of monsters.”

“How though? Was it from your mark?”

She was quick to ask another question. Mash considered it for a second and wondered if his class was a product of his mark and not the dragon flesh. He had assumed that was the reason, but maybe it had been the snake that had forced him into the class. It was a possibility.

“Maybe? Also, who gave you your mark? Was it your dragon?”

“Not my dragon. My father. But no, they did not give me the mark. I received it from a very intelligent spider.”

That was a sufficiently vague and mysterious answer. Which also told him absolutely nothing relevant to the marks other than there was some grand spider somewhere.

“Ok, what does having a mark even mean? I was just given mine randomly.”

Finally, he said something that caught her off guard.

“Seriously? Well, that is cruel. The marks do more than you think. They make it more likely for you to get more unique classes and skills. It affects those who spend a considerable amount of time around you as well. As far as I was told, it is meant to mark champions, kings, and leaders.”

“Why?”

After hearing what the mark did, he didn’t understand why they would be given. What did those beings gain from giving someone else power?

“I don’t know. I have done some suspicions and did some research, but I want to hear what you think first.”

Mash weighed getting some answers with some of the secrets he thought he knew. Ultimately, it was the fact that neither really knew the truth that made him decide to share what he knew. Thus began a rather long explanation about what he thought of the world owners and what their purpose was.