First off huge thanks to the fanbase of mushokutensei on reddit for helping explain why teleportation magic is taboo, specific thanks to Grapefruitwhiskey for adding in some unique theories. I was able to put some more depth into this chapter because of their contribution. I'm hip_davinci on Reddit if anyone wants to ask questions about the story or something like that to me feel free.
And now to the responses.
To SkinnyA: I am full of surprises it would seem hahaha. You guys keep me going and keep me writing faster and faster. And yes I love when people see Rudeus from their perspective and some will discover just how powerful he is.
To Shadow Joestar: Yes :-) his birthday party will be filled with moments of tenderness, along with moments of jealousy and laughter.
To 321Jaz: Glad you loved the PoV they will be infrequent though so that way we will treasure them more. Think of the PoV as kind of like a checkpoint much like how the light novels did things. Sylphy's hair color I will answer later. Lastly involving intimate stories I will write some stuff but that will be later in the story.
To Zairyo: Eris will handle it about as well as shirtless Chris Hemsworth throwing an autographed book of fifty shades of grey into the live audience of the Ellen DeGeneres show. There will be blood. I'm overstating it for comedy sake but you get the picture.
To Uqihana: Yes Sylphy is so pure!
To XaiGRS: Glad to see you on the subreddit for Jobless Reincarnation. It made me smile so much when I saw your review. Sorry to keep you waiting but I bet you wouldn't be waiting this shortly.
To Rollingfire: WOW! This is allot to unpack and I love it! I never expected such passion from you guys about this story and it means the world to me. And to answer your concern, no, the PoVs will not be too common but more like checkpoints giving an update on their lives or how Rudeus is affecting the world from their perspective. But a full disclosure there will be some side stories later on so I hope you don't mind that involve Philip and his wife as well as Sauros, still these chapters will also include Rudeus. Also you aren't misinterpreting smut. I can write lemon for this fanfiction and I have written it for other peoples fanfictions too but like I told 321jaz it won't happen until later when Rudeus has fully matured again. You make a good point too about Rudeus and Ghislaine forming the same relationship as he had with either Lilia or Aisha where they helped him around his house and aided him in his expansion of wealth, maybe Ghislaine can help in that too. Lastly it means everything to me that you believe this is one of the best quality written stories :'-) Glad to have a fan like you.
Icecreampapa: Since it is going to be a while until his 10th birthday because there is the trial arch I am writing, yeah! I can do a PoV for his birthday. We all know how Rudeus will react on his birthday but how others react is the fun juicy part. Also I am not from Canada even though I consider myself quite polite and I love the cold. I'm actually from Washington state and later on in my life about 5 years ago I moved down to Texas.
To doubleblade759: Glad I can scratch that itch. I think I'm scratching allot of peoples itches TBH based on the wonderful feedback I'm getting.
And without any more delay enjoy the chapter!
"Fuck, sometime is wrong. Something is very, very wrong." A man confessed while he crouched down looking at the floor of his plain of existence, there was no floor itself, just a void which was covered by a dense white fog. The being looked all around him and saw only emptiness in the white space.
"Ahhh fuck what the hell is going on!? I can't see anything clearly!?"
"Master, it has been so long and I have told you all of the recent events that have happened up until now. What do you need from me? Do you need me to be your eyes?" Another voice said fearfully.
The Man God turned around and saw a much more obese man than himself.
"Darius, I cannot see the world. Well, I can see it, but there is something interfering with it. I'm positive it's not Orsted but it is someone else, someone who has a connection to the void. The world to me looks like I'm underwater, everything is blurry, and I can't see clearly in front of myself when I look down on the world. It's been that way for a few years now. It took all of my focus just to get you here to talk to you."
"I am honored that you tried so hard to talk to me, your loyal servant." Darius said bowing. "Do you think the family that you told me to assassinate could have caused this?"
"No. Rudeus Greyrat cannot reach my world as of yet and he could make a powerful ally if turned so I command you not to kill him, it was a mistake acting out of fear telling you to assassinate him and now he has the advantage where he knows you were the one who hired Clive to kill his family and the one who hired Narum to kidnap Eris Greyrat. If we make another move against him he will most likely kill you without a moments hesitation, the head of the Notos branch Philemon Greyrat might also try to assassinate Philip and Rudeus when they come to the capital. They are on their way to you because of your fuck up with attempting to turn that Eris girl into your sex slave so be mindful of that."
"So what should I do when it comes to him, to this Rudeus fellow?" Darius needed to redeem himself in the eyes of his god. He had made his god incredibly angry because of his actions so he would do whatever necessary to win Hitogami's favor again.
"Show your belly and pray he doesn't rip out your organs. Before my view of your world became a blur he had created a monstrosity he called Hollow, he connects his soul to the creature somehow and controls it. That thing can wipe out a continent if it wants to so pray no one attempts to kill Rudeus or he will blame you for it and at that point you are good as fucked."
Darius shivered as he looked down at his hands picturing himself trying to hold his own organs from spilling out of his fat belly. "I am pleased you care about my life so much." He said out of fear.
"Let's cut the bullshit I have only a little more time to speak to you, even now my connection with you dwindles and I have two instructions. Reinstate your spy network and double it, it used to be that I was the perfect insight for your goals but now I am crippled from this, this fucking thing, for now a collaboration of human spies will be necessary. Secondly hire several high class mages to scout out magical phenomena, it could be that something in the world is interfering with my own realm of existence. Our priority is finding out what is clouding my vision and eliminating it." Hitogami said, he remained pissed off throughout the whole command.
"Of course my god." Darius said as he gradually faded away back into the world of the living.
Hitogami stood up as he looked into the white sky.
"Who the fuck are you?! Show yourself you coward! You dare interferer with my plans!? I will fucking end you!" He screamed but his voice only echoed back at him.
He held his palms to his face. "Am I…. am I no longer alone in my own plain of existence?" He whispered. If this feeling of his was true for the first time in his life he understood what it felt like to have someone looking at him from the shadows, and he was terrified.
'Today is the day.' Rudeus thought as he packed his bags. So began the journey towards the Capital of the Asura kingdom. Rudeus would also attempt to get into contact with princess Arial and try to make her join his side although she was still a young girl so if he got support from her bodyguards she would go along with their example.
He looked at the carriage party in front of him. Philip had requested a full party of guards to accompany him even though Ghislaine could wipe out a battalion herself and Rudeus could wipe out a mountain. Still, better safe than sorry.
Narum Pincer was safely secured in a separate carriage where he was bound. Meanwhile Hollow would be taking the lead a days trip ahead clearing the path of potential dangers or assassination attempts. The trip would take several days much like how it had been with Buena village however much of the trip would be spent in court and political proceedings that would take an estimated three months.
"Do you really have to go?" Eris asked with her arms folded in protest as Rudeus handed his backpack of materials and supplies to one of the guards to put in his carriage which he and Ghislaine would travel in.
"Yeah, It was my suggestion that we do this so it would be wrong to stay behind while your father does all the hard work." Rudeus said smiling at her.
"Well I promise to get stronger when you come back." Eris said outstretching her arm and flexing her bicep. It was an adorable gesture but she would indeed have impressive biceps when she got older.
'I can't wait to for her to allow me to use her arm as a pillow in this life.' Rudeus thought to himself smiling. 'Oh that's right.'
"I almost forgot to give this to you Eris." Rudeus said smiling at her passing her a small booklet.
"What is this?" Eris said taking it.
"It's a book that I made for you, it's instructions on how to make and use silent spellcasting. It describes the theory behind it, the feeling, and then the casting. I'm sorry I couldn't practice it with you in person but I'm sure that you will get the hang of it if you practice." Rudeus said.
She beamed at him and hugged him. 'This is unexpected.' Rudeus thought. It was a nice pleasant surprise and he returned the hug. Although he felt the death glare that Sauros Greyrat was giving him from here. He looked up on one of the balconies and he saw the older lord folding his arms, not furious, but giving a terrifying stare all the same that anyone would lay a hand on his granddaughter.
Rudeus smiled and was the first to let got from the embrace.
"I will write letters, they may be sloppy compared to your writing but I will try my best."
"I know you will." Rudeus gave her a thumbs up as Philip shouted out to Rudeus to get in his designated carriage. Per Rudeus's request Ghislaine and the boy would be up front ahead of Philip while his elite guard were in the rear and Philip was in the center party protected from both sides. In truth Rudeus's suggested this formation so Ghislaine and Rudeus could talk in private.
"You planned this quite well." Ghislaine staid starting the conversation as the carriage departed.
"It wasn't my intention at first to do this but I figured it would be best to take action when the opportunity revealed itself." Rudeus said lying back and looking up in the carriage.
"And I take it that you also have other motives while we are in the capital?"
Rudeus nodded. "I plan to set up a third base of operations other than the two placed in my hometown of Buena and City of Roa. Teleportation magic however is impossible within the city so long as their sewage network remains intact, the whole thing is one giant magical circle coded to prevent teleportation so I will need my base to be outside of the city."
"Who placed the circle there?" Ghislaine asked.
"Most likely made a few centuries ago by followers of the Millis faith. They believe teleportation magic is taboo."
"Why?"
"Teleportation magic was originally banned by Perugius because people could gain access to his sky castle though that method of transportation. Overtime I believe he spread misinformation that teleportation magic destroyed the original host body of the one teleporting and simply made a copy of the individual on the other side when the spell was complete making many fear and outright make teleportation magic illegal. Within the Millis region teleportation magic is almost as feared and hated at the Superds."
"I see." Ghislaine said nodding.
"Add into the fact assassination attempts can be far more successful or war tactics can change dramatically from such a gamechanger. But a huge downside of teleportation would be transportation of goods which would radically change supply chains and could outright be destroyed by such advancements. Anyone with power in their current field of trade such as shipment of food or supplies by carriage or ship would be utterly useless. For reasons like this those who know how to use teleportation magic do not share the knowledge and those that know of its existence are usually of some high ranking position and keep it a secret to retain their power or because they fear it like the Millis religion."
"How do you know all this?" She said cocking her hand to the side.
"That's a secret. For now take this as a lesson, history is told by the winners and those with power will do anything to keep it, even if it means the suffering of others." Rudeus said pointing a finger at Ghislaine.
"So what else do you think is a lie about this world?"
Rudeus sat back in his seat for a minute contemplating his response.
"The belief that the Superds are evil. So far all I have been told about them is that they will eat me in my sleep or something along those lines. I asked Roxy about them and she told me that during the Laplace war they turned against their fellow demons, slaughtering all who were in their line of sight including the women and children, even going as far as to dismember babies in their cribs."
"Why do you not believe that?"
"Because so far no one has given me a valid reason for the Superds actions. Even if they turned against their fellow comrades I don't see any gain from it. Maybe they just fell into a fit of insanity, or were cursed in some manner. Either way I take superstition with a hint of disbelief even from someone as precious as my goddess Roxy."
"Ho, you sure do put your teacher on a pedestal don't you?" Ghislaine said cracking a coy grin.
"No, not a pedestal, a shrine." Rudeus said cupping his hands together making it look like he was praying to the heavens.
At that point Ghislaine was a little creeped out at the level of weeb she just witness but she tried to change the subject while she still had the chance.
"Where is Hollow?"
"It is a good hour ahead from here. So far I have killed 21 monsters since we got in the carriage."
"You have gotten quite good at multitasking." Ghislaine complimented but Rudeus looked down at his hands and frowned.
"Something feels different lately. I'm barely reaching out to the creature to control it but sometimes it feels like the thing is on autopilot. I can still control it, but yet it feels like it's body is moving on its own. I'm still giving it my mana to fly around and kill monsters so we are safe and in the clear while we travel, but still it is unnerving. Like a hand that compulsively twitches without you giving the command. And this hand can do absolutely brutal things."
"Phrasing." Ghislaine chuckled.
Rudeus looked up at her in shock for a moment. 'Did she seriously just crack a sex joke.'
"Oh what? Just because you think I'm a stone cold swordswoman that doesn't mean I can swipe a piece of low hanging fruit like that." Ghislaine smirked.
Rudeus folded his arms and smiled.
"Well I like that side of you, bring it out more often."
"How bold of you to tell me what to do." Ghislaine laughed with him as they continued down the road.
For now Rudeus pushed his concern about Hollow to the back of his mind as they continued down the road talking along the way and laughing as well. Ghislaine liked to tell of her adventuring stories too which sometimes he had to cut short because of the times Paul would make a move on her and take a bath with her under the moonlight or something like that.
Then as they entered more forested areas the corpses of the monsters Rudeus spoke of revealed themselves. Philip commanded the caravan to stop as he got out and discussed things with Ghislaine. He was… unnerved by the sight of the corpses to say the least. Many of their bodies were strewn about, one of corpses was a centipede creature that was easily as long as 20 men if they stood one after the other on top of each other. What made Philip concerned wasn't that, it was the fact that 30 rows of trees were also cut down by such an attack effectively deforesting a good portion of land. Such an attack even made the elite guards look around nervously for such a creature that would have caused this.
Hollow did this feat with a combination of water and alteration magic. Diamonds were a formation of carbon atoms, all Rudeus had to do was form the atoms in the correct order and he could make the crystalized stone. Diamonds are the hardest natural materiel in the world, but that simply means it could resist allot of deformation, it's toughness however was fragile compared to steel so while it would cut well the attack Hollow used could only be used once, it took allot of energy to create a strike like that.
While using water magic he formed a long sword which rotated the shards of diamond around and around, effectively making a diamond chainsaw. The blade was so effective and long when Hollow threw it forward that it didn't just cut the intended target it half, it kept going, and it went through stone and wood until the spell dissipated.
To put the sharpness of the blade into perspective a human blood cells width is normally in-between 6,000 to 8,000 nanometers. A diamond can get as sharp as 40 nanometers. This thing could literally perform surgery at the cellular level.
Rudeus used Hollow to do all this to experiment with new spells and combination of said spells. Gravity was useful to enhance an attack but Alteration was the pinnacle of possibility when it came to applicational usage at least as far as Rudeus could tell.
Another example of this was when a monster charged at Hollow, it looked like a minotaur but it had four arms and eyes. Instead of using the famous Quagmire technique to turn the ground into a mud trap Hollow covered the area just underneath the grass with a green liquid called Manganese Heptoxide its formula being Mn2O7 Hollow created a small pocket beneath the earth and formed sulfuric acid H2SO4 and then added on top of the acid potassium permanganate KMnO4.
The chemical concoction rapidly decomposed and when it did it became highly unstable. Organic flesh would burn and anything that was a liquid would explode. When it came to the minotaur like monster it suddenly fell into the patch of ground where its lower torso instantly began to burn as the beast screamed out in pain, as soon as the chemical burned away the flesh and made contact with the blood from the creature it lit up like a Christmas tree as its entire body exploded outward as chunks of its flesh and blood caked the trees and the leaves.
"Well that was graphic." Hollow said as it continued to search and destroy more creatures hiding in the forest.
When science and magic were paired together the sandbox of life became a little bit larger for Rudeus to play in.
Ghislaine convinced Philip that Hollow was on their side and they continued forward into the forest.
"Your friend sure does seem to enjoy its work." Ghislaine said grimly. "Why can't you just kill them normally instead of so grotesquely, sure I'm use to these kind of scenes but Philip only knows comfort and the perks of nobility."
"This isn't just random killing, it's experimentation. The world is broken down into basic fundamentals of elements and when I control those elements they allow for limitless potential. Did you know your body has approximately 7x10^27 atoms in your body."
"You haven't taught me this level of math yet. What is this 7 multiplied by 10 to the power of 27?"
"It is multiplying ten times ten twenty seven times and then putting a seven at the front of it."
Rudeus pulled out a pen and paper and put a seven in the front followed by twenty seven zeros.
"These things called atoms are the basic building blocks of everything, they can be linked together to form different properties."
"You are making my head hurt a little." Ghislaine said rubbing her temples.
"It's kind of hard to grasp I will admit, but here I will show you."
Rudeus outstretched his hand as a ball of shimmering mirror like metal formed and began to grow, its surface was so polished that Ghislaine could see herself in it. Rudeus then shaped the ball into a cube that fit in the palm of his hand. He then tossed the cube to Ghislaine. She grabbed it and inspected every side tossing it up and down feeling the weight.
"It's very light compared to iron or steel." Ghislaine said observing.
"Exactly. This element is called aluminum. It's properties are that it is lightweight compared to some other metals and it is easy to warp and reform. They can be used to create goblets, silverware, or just about any shape you want. It is like the clay of metals. However since it is so easy to distort it shouldn't be used for something meant to be difficult to break such as a knife or plate of armor."
She nodded at this. It was simple enough for her to understand.
"That's enough about atoms though, I feel like my head might break if you keep talking about something so complex." Ghislaine said.
"I understand. In other matters Hollow has cleared a days worth of area by now. I will rest so I can take the first nights watch while you sleep."
Ghislaine nodded and Rudeus laid down on the carriage closing his eyes. Instead of falling asleep he focused once again on his magnum opus using Hollow. He had been working on the project during his nightly activities, the final result would be as large as the Fittoa region itself and have dozens of layers of complexity. His project in preparation for the teleportation event took all his strength these past three months as he soon faded away into unconsciousness once again, there was no rest for the wicked or the hardworking it would seem.
The nights watch began shortly after Rudeus woke up from his blissful oblivion. He stretched as his muscles ached but it was just a reminder that he was alive. Getting out of the carriage while grabbing his backpack he looked and saw some of the soldiers huddled around a fire. Ghislaine was standing guard next to Philips tent on the other side of the encampment as she looked at Rudeus and he looked at her.
Officially some of the guards would keep first watch during the night and rotate out but Rudeus would enjoy the peace and quite of the night, it certainly beat just sitting in the carriage all day. Ghislaine nodded at Rudeus and he nodded at her as he flew up into the air when the guards were not looking. Rudeus would patrol the area for the night and do so every night until they reached the capital.
The night was beautiful as Rudeus soared above the clouds looking down below. He was looking for any lights nearing his encampment which would indicate an approaching party, potentially being a threat to Philip. Being able to fly allowed Rudeus to be an excellent lookout.
Normally during the days of Dead End with Eris and Ruijerd the Superd would be excellent at nights watch, his third ruby eye acting as a radar against anything living. The man barely needed any sleep but would push himself too much to protect the children that he was watching over as he guided them back to Roa from all the way on the other side of the world.
'I wonder if I can make my own artificial Superd ruby? I can use it to detect life for hundreds of meters.' Rudeus thought to himself as he shot above the clouds.
Demon eyes were a treasured ability in this world and hard to get, however they varied in rarity depending upon the complexity of the eye. Ghislaine had the most common one out of the twelve other magic demon eyes, her magic eye was kept underneath her eyepatch because for her it was too much information at once when used all the time, it was like if a person could see in infrared and normal vision at the same time. However it was useful to deduce that Rudeus and Hollow were the same person.
Rudeus was given an eye of foresight by the immortal demon empress Kishirika Kishirisu after Rudeus had given the small looking, scantily dressed girl some food and she rewarded him with his eye to see into the future by a few seconds. He was given this in his previous life while trying to figure out how to cross the narrow sea and consequentially using his eye of foresight, had saved a smugglers life from a potted plant falling on his head from a second story window which could have killed him. This allowed Rudeus to smuggle Ruijerd, Eris, and the boy across because of the life dept the smuggler owed him.
'Can I make manipulate my own eyes to replicate a demon eye? I can probably change the lenses in my eyes to create something similar to clairvoyant eyes. Still it wouldn't be as effective. I could see for miles like a hawk does but clairvoyant eyes change the perspective of the user, not enhancing their vision like a telescope. And eyes are fragile… I should experiment on Hollow before I try something like that on myself.' Thoughts like that plagued Rudeus's mind while he flew aimlessly through the clouds as he looked down below.
Rudeus decided to take a break and he outstretched his hand creating condensed water vapor holding the cloud up with gravity magic. The end result was a cloud he could sit on. He threw his backpack onto the cloud as he sat down next to it and reached into his bag pulling out a cup of instant ramen he created using his mechanism kept in the mountainside near Buena village.
He heated up some water and poured it into the ramen bowl after cracking open the top. Pulling out a pair of chopsticks he slapped them together between his hands.
"Itadakimasu (Thank you for the meal in Japanese)" He said while closing his eyes.
'I wonder how amazed people would be if all their hard work to grow the flour, to raise the cattle, and to cultivate the vegetables would be if they knew their meal would be served to someone in another parallel world?' Rudeus humored as he slurped up the noodles.
"Ahhhhh so good!" He shouted out as he shifted himself from side to side in excitement at the flavor. He had been eating food like this during his evening excursions and experiments after he was done with sword practice with Eris. Still he could not get over how good the food tasted. It was absolutely divine.
As he ate he pulled out a manga. Soul Eater vol 1. It was a fun story to pass the time, filled with some fan service here and there of a witch who was in reality a big breasted cat girl as she threw herself on a particular white haired boy with red eyes. He smiled as he read, a moment that he would love to share with someone else.
Nanahoshi had for the most part been solely focused on making it back home to Japan. Rudeus tried to share references with her but there was too much of a generation gap that it was difficult for him. She also never initiated in conversation that wasn't involving her work so making references was one sided and died quickly once Rudeus saw that she wasn't interested in talking about such things. And while he truly did love all of his wives he could never share moments of childhood memories with them from his childhood. Reading and laughing about manga and various anime would just confuse them.
'I kind of understand how Nanahoshi feels a little bit, being more connected to my previous world has made me feel kind of… alone… in this one. It's not that I'm not alone but it is like being in a different country where there is such a large cultural divide I cannot relate to people and they can't relate to me. Maybe that is why she was so distant and the reason why she loved the bath I built and modeled to look as close to Japans culture as possible.' He thought while he took grabbed a slice of beef from the ramen and chewed on the nostalgic texture of the meat.
He took another look down below him and only saw the torches in the distance of the encampment he came from. It was not likely that there would be any attack tonight. Still he would check every minute or so while he continued his reading just to make sure. He then pulled out an old DVD player and put a CD in.
'If I'm doing something as enchanting as sitting on a cloud while eating ramen and reading a manga I might as well play some appropriate music for this moment.' Rudeus thought as he pressed play.
The song Inochi No Namae began to play from the award winning movie Spirited Away by Studio Ghibli. He rocked his legs back and forth which hung over the edge of the cloud as he listened to the pure harmony of the piano that had its own magical charm complimenting the melody.
He looked up at the stary sky.
'According to infinity there are an infinite number of worlds. In one of them is mine, the world I am reaching into and grabbing all these things from in my old life. And there are also worlds that Ghibli created, worlds of pure imagination and wonder where a girl trying to free her parents rides on a train that travels on a great peaceful ocean in the world of the spirits, and another world where a mechanical castle moves and flies in the sky that is powered by a living fire spirit. What joys it would be to see worlds like those for myself.'
Rudeus continued to read multiple chapters in the manga but then moved onto more books about Biology and human physiology in an attempt to get better at healing magic. Soon morning came and after cleaning up Rudeus descended back down into the encampment.
Philip and Ghislaine were just beginning to wake up as Rudeus both greeted them with a good morning. They had some breakfast together which was just plain oatmeal, it was easy to store and had a long date until it expired which made it a perfect meal for travel.
"I hope there wasn't anything eventful last night." Philip said as he finished off his bottle of water which Rudeus promptly refilled with his magic.
"No sir it wasn't. I patrolled ahead as well since your guards were keeping watch and todays trip will be free of monsters." Rudeus said smiling at the man.
"Very good. It brings allot of peace to my mind that I have a saint class water mage and a king class swordswoman with me on this trip." Philip said smiling.
"Oh course." Ghislaine said promptly nodding, she was very formal around her boss.
The second day wasn't any different and neither was the third. It was a cycle of habit where Rudeus would use up his magic using Hollow throughout the day as he both experimented on monsters ahead and at the same time continued working on his ultimate project. Soon he fell into a state of unconsciousness while Ghislaine remained alert during the day. During the night Rudeus would watch from above on a cloud at signs of other people approaching while continuing to read through one manga series after another.
On the fourth night of their travels Rudeus saw a light that was approaching, a good distance from where Ghislaine, Philip, and his men were outposted for the night. He got up and stretched, then finishing off the last of his instant ramen he headed down toward the torch light.
Instead of catching them by surprise he decided to do the unexpected and see if they were friendly or foe.
'I've been using Hollow too often, I want to see this myself.' Rudeus thought begrudgingly. He landed a few minutes ahead of the approaching party so that way they wouldn't see him until they cast their torch light on the boy.
'Come to think of it, it would be kind of creepy right now being a small boy in the middle of the forest that is infested with monsters and all manner of heathens. Meh I'm sure they will overlook it, if anything they will be suspicious.'
Rudeus waited, and waited, he twitched at the anticipation.
Soon the party saw him. They were thirty armored men on horseback holding no flag and bearing no sigil some carried staffs while others carried swords. Rudeus walked towards them without a care in the world.
"Hold!" The one in front shouted using his horse to trot in front of the boy.
"Evening gentlemen." Rudeus said smiling up at then.
"What is a small boy like you doing in these woods at this hour?" The soldier asked.
"I am Rudeus Greyrat and was just scouting ahead for Philip Greyrat." Rudeus said pointing in the exact opposite direction of the camp. If this was an assassination attempt and the soldiers lied to him then Rudeus didn't want to lead the soldiers straight to Philips camp.
The soldier looked down at the kid, his eyes showed no emotion. "I see, sorry about this kid." He then reached for his sword and pulled it out attempting to strike Rudeus down but the child side stepped out of the path of the sword and kicked back as he retreated to gain ground.
'Well they aren't lying about their intentions.' He thought. And in that moment he thought of a plan, a spontaneous plan, it wasn't brilliant but it would allow his movement to be unhindered these next few months. He shot up into the air a good hundred meters directly above the men in a matter of seconds, then he outstretched his hands creating a brilliant fire that shined like a blue star in his palms. 'I'm a bit annoyed at the constant interruptions to my plans so I do this to cease those interruptions but for the men down below I will try to make this as painless as possible.'
Ghislaine was just about to wrap up for the night. Rudeus had been on his nights watch for an hour now so it was a good transition. She got up from her seat and left for her tent to go to bed.
Then the night lit up. It was like the sun rose up again in the distance several miles from their current position however unlike the golden light of the sun this light was a blinding blue color. It cast a shadow over all the trees and Ghislaine had to outstretch her hand to keep herself from going temporarily blind. The guards surrounding the camp also covered their eyes. After a brief moment the light subsided.
Seconds pasted. 1….2…..3…..4…..5….6…..7…..8. Everyone continued to stand still. No one dared breath as they listened for any sign of danger.
After 100 seconds it hit.
BOOM.
The shockwave hit like a battering ram that struck the encampment. Leaves were cast aside like confetti and branches were ripped out from the trees as the pillars of wood creaked and moaned trying to stay up using their roots barriered deep beneath the earth to remain standing with every ounce of strength they had. The horses bucked but were tied down so they couldn't escape. Philip scrambled out from his now collapsed tent.
"What is going on?" Philip shouted.
"Don't know, wait here." Ghislaine commanded calmly as she climbed on top of a nearby tree and started leaping from branch to branch like an agile wolf in the night until she reached one of the highest reaching trees which provided a good viewpoint for the beast woman to see what happened.
"What the fuck?" She whispered in terror at the sight before her.
A two hour run from her position was a giant crater that was bathed in scorched earth, it was like a patch of hell was formed on this world and all that remained was a desolate wasteland of fire and brimstone. The crater itself was the size of a city, and it was so deep it was like a giant hammer had struck the earth and smashed the landscape beneath it.
Ghislaine reported what she saw when she descended down to Philip. They decided to pack up and set out immediately making an emergency run out of the forest. Traveling was dangerous at night but Rudeus had already said he cleared a days worth of monsters ahead of them so they could cross that distance if they hurried. They would also leave cut out markings on the trees behind so if Rudeus came back to the now packed up camp he could track them down.
The horses looked eager to leave too as they took off toward the capital. Ghislaine looked back.
"Be safe Rudeus. I pray you are still alive."
Meanwhile Rudeus floated above them. He sighed. He was beginning to regret this already but Ghislaine could protect Philip by herself while Rudeus worked in the shadows to uncover more truth that would help with the trail. But more importantly this would free up more time to work on his prevention of the magical calamity and his failsafe's if he failed. He would still reveal the answer that he was alive to Ghislaine but keep it a secret to everyone else. That way he could come out as a big reveal and testify as the nail in the coffin against Darius. He would have to come up with a good reason for the large crater in the landscape later and why it had taken him so long to arrive in the capital but that could wait for now.
On another note he had already found the floating red sphere that had two rings orbiting around it which was the source of power for the teleportation event. It was such a size that he could wrap his arms around it but he could tell it was slowly growing. The orb itself was a 3 hours ride on horseback from the city of Roa and was floating in the middle of the first layer of atmosphere known as the troposphere. For whatever reason he couldn't interfere with it and yet it continued to grow. He tried to use disruption magic on it the moment he found it however it grew ever so slightly, he stopped out of fear that it would grow some more.
It was clear Rudeus would have some more research to do and time was critical. That was why he committed to his spontaneous idea.
'I hope I didn't make a huge mistake.' Rudeus thought biting his lip as he flew towards the capital.
Post reviews and critiques and I will respond to you guys next chapter. With your encouragement I just can't stop writing! Might take awhile to do another chapter but you never know. My fingers have a will of their own at this point.