Mash sat with the four people he had fought, along with everyone else, and they all tried to understand what had happened. The necromancer, or Valeria, was proving to be quite knowledgeable on all things related to classes. Which, when you considered her age, made a lot of sense. She was old, very old, and so was Luke apparently. Mash still struggled to wrap his head around that one.

“So, you are the same person that was alive back then? You just came back and lost your memories?”

Luke nodded, his response was short and answered little.

“Something like that, though there is a bit more to my reincarnation then just that.”

Mash hesitated with his response but decided to just ask his question regardless.

“And you’re okay with that, becoming someone else?”

It might be an offensive question, but he didn’t seem to mind it.

“You are missing the point of the skill. I was always one person.”

Luke sounded more content now, and certainly looked like it with Valeria leaning against his shoulder. He was sitting on the ground, and she still leaned on him as if she lacked the strength to support herself. Which Mash knew to be untrue. He was fairly certain she was the strongest person here, and it probably wasn’t close. This woman was probably a ridiculously high level considering how long she had been protecting this island.

Valeria caught his glance, and she spoke up from beside Luke.

“Can we move on to the more relevant topic, what do we do now, with them?”

She spoke, gesturing to Toroken and the others who stood around. They were poking each other and themselves like they couldn’t believe what had just happened. Mash couldn’t blame them. He had revived them, a little. The ‘little’ in this case being the fact they lost their levels and classes and were basically newborns. Only Toroken seemed mostly unchanged, as most of his power came from the fact that he was a dragon. The other undead had lost what was probably decades of work and effort and were now functionally useless. Especially when it came to something like defending the island.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I guess you got to find some other kind of protection.”

Valeria waved away Mash’s concern.

“With you, and my restoration, I doubt we will need much more protection.”

Mash actually managed to stop a snarky comment, though Jill said it plainly from beside him.

“Isn’t that what you thought last time? At least that was what Luke made it sound like.”

Valeria laughed at the response, a sound that seemed to contrast with the stories about her. Although, Mash had already assumed most of those would be false. There were probably similar stories of him going around at this point. The necromancer wasn’t fazed by the question though and responded with confidence.

“You are right, though I am much stronger now, and Mash here is quite an annoying enemy to make. I doubt many rulers would openly want to fight him regardless of what he does. His aspects are simply too chaotic to risk. I certainly wouldn’t want to fight him. What if I lost my class? The other rulers are even bigger cowards than me.”

Whenever Valeria mentioned the other rulers, her eyes narrowed, and her smile grew a bit more hostile. The way she spoke, she sounded like she wanted them to try something. That statement settled the matter, and Red brought up another concern she had.

“What of these now living people? Most are famous, some are considered heroes, and one is even a dragon.”

Valeria seemed weirdly affectionate toward Red and stared at her creepily whenever she spoke. Red noticed, and her voice sounded a bit strained now. Mash spoke to save Red from the creepy gaze.

“Yeah, I told Ythass about Toroken. Ythass said someone was going to come check on it.”

Valeria’s catlike ears perked up at Ythass’s name.

“You know a dragon personally? Interesting, however I imagine that the dragons will be curious to see the validity of your skill. There has never been a skill that could bring someone back to life without serious consequences before. Normally, you just get undead, or half undead abomination. I can tell you through experience, that tends to ruin peoples’ lives and classes.”

The last part of her statement was clearly directed toward Red, who turned away at the comment. Mash wasn’t sure what to think about that. Red’s class wasn’t that bad, was it? He thought that it sounded a little cruel and depressing, but it wasn’t bad. Mash’s own class had its issues, not the least of which was his long life. Mash shook his head, not wanting to worry about what he would be like in the distant future. Although the things Luke had said earlier lingered in his head. Mash would be alive long past everyone else, alone. Mash forcibly pushed those thoughts away; he couldn’t dwell on that inevitability.

Toroken who was laying on the ground in his dragon form, spoke up from beside them. He was like a small hill with how his copper scales seemed to blend in with the dirt stains of the fight.

“My people will not discover much. They would need to bring an ancient drake, one of the white to look into this life.”

His voice was a deep rumble, and Mash realized that it sounded like the dragon was breathless. Right, the dragon along with the rest of the people were remembering how to breathe and stuff. Years of being undead had left them unable to do some basic things. Well, they would probably adjust quickly.

“Your aspect is strange; how does it work exactly?”

Valeria brought attention back to Mash as she eyed him carefully. Mash rolled his eyes and responded as he had done several times already.

“It’s change. It changes things including itself.”

Mash noticed several people staring at him as he made the gesture. His friends were especially focused. He had finally seen what his ‘natural’ state was, and it was admittedly odd.

His hair now looked bleached white, and nothing could stick to it. For all that he was covered in dirt and blood, his hair remained an unblemished white. His eyes had changed too. His irises used to be like a snake, somewhat triangular in shape. They had returned to the round shape of a human, but he appeared to lack pupils. Now, his eyes appeared like white voids placed into the deepest darkness. Like the light at the end of the tunnel, they seemed to draw people into them. Even he felt a little transfixed upon seeing them in his reflection. The strange scaley pattern to his skin, and the rainbow light that leaked from between it was almost invisible, unless the light touched it in the right way. It was something that made people look twice, or thrice, or more considering all the glances he was getting.

Valeria sighed, her voice carrying her unsatisfaction with that response.

“So, you say, but you should have some idea of its limitations.”

Mash said nothing, and Luke moved the conversation to another matter.

“We must go and get the beastmen. They have been gathering for this journey, at least those willing to come here.”

Red and Lisa traded a look at that statement, and Lisa was the one to speak up.

“This island is too small. Most beastmen seem eager to find a new home and meet their new god, even if it means coming here. Even with Mash’s actions.”

Luke, Valeria, and the black-furred beastman from before smiled. Luke shrugged making Valeria’s head bounce on his shoulder.

“We can make the island bigger.”

“Or you could just go to Mash’s world.”

Jill’s comment was unnecessary. Mash had already made that suggestion several times, but Luke maintained that it was a bad idea. Although Luke wasn’t alone anymore, Valeria jolted upright at the statement.

“What’s this about another world?”

Mash and Jill instantly recognized the opportunity. It wasn’t like Mash was trying to populate his world or anything, he just thought it would be a much easier and safer solution. Thus began a short explanation of Mash’s world, and who and what currently lived in it. At the end of it all, Valeria turned to Luke and gripped his shoulders. She forced him to meet her gaze before speaking very slowly as if to a petulant child.

“Why would you refuse that?”

Jill nodded her head behind Valeria, and Luke shrunk back a little. He stammered out a response and didn’t have the same confidence as before.

“Well, I didn’t want to be in such an unstable place, and Mash himself has done something unforgivable.”

The way Luke avoided the statement directly made Mash sigh. He was about to explain, but Valeria didn’t seem to care and snorted with her response.

“You mean like making an undead? Or perhaps forcibly manipulating a person’s soul?”

Luke raised his hands placatingly.

“You were in a different situation. It is not the same thing.”

“Yes, it is. Now, apologize to him and ask to use his world.”

Valeria wasn’t listening to Luke at all. Mash was more than a little pleased to see Luke squirm under her gaze. Although, he was a little annoyed by how much Luke had changed recently. It felt like he was a different person, again. Luke turned toward Mash. The two locked gazes, and Luke spoke softly.

“I’m sorry. I was too harsh on you, and I’m sorry.”

Mash could’ve played it up or asked for more, but it was enough. Even after everything Mash didn’t want to lose a friend. Valeria didn’t think so, and grabbed the back of Luke’s head, and pushed it into the ground. Luke couldn’t match her strength and in an instant was awkwardly bowing to Mash. Mash sighed loudly before responding.

“Yeah, it’s fine. But seriously, don’t do it again.”

Mash said that and glanced at Jill. She nodded indicating that she wouldn’t do it either. He would trust them. Valeria nodded.

“Now that that’s out of the way, let me see this world of yours.”

He was about to agree but detected something at the edge of his domain. Someone was approaching the island. He couldn’t make out colors, but it was clear to him that the new person was an elf. She had long pointed ears that were very recognizable.

“We have a visitor.”

Valeria rose to her feet abruptly, her hands beginning to glow with a faint purple glow. Mash called out to her quickly.

“Stop! I don’t think they’re here for a fight.”

Valeria didn’t seem to listen, but Luke grabbed her hand and she hesitated. She seemed especially jumpy about intruders, and Mash wondered just how long she had been defending this place. It made Toroken’s reaction earlier make a lot more sense. They have probably had their fair share of betrayal and lies. Red rested a hand on Mash’s shoulder and asked him a quick question.

“How do you know?”

He responded just as fast.

“They’re waving a white flag. Oh, and she’s an elf.”

“How do you know it’s white?”

Red’s next question made Mash pause. How did he know that? His domain wouldn’t reveal color directly.

“I think it’s the mana of the flag that’s white.”

He didn’t know how someone changed the color of mana, nor how this elf knew to do that, but he was interested in meeting her now. This elf had somehow known exactly how to manipulate his domain, and he wanted to know how.