Hello again so sorry for the wait! Work at my job has been going splendidly but it is allot of hours. Lets get into this chapter and have some fun but first lets get to answering some comments!
To Marco377: I'm happy you enjoy the story so far, sorry to introduce the broken character but I wanted to add a different path in the plot since Rudeus would breeze through in defeating Hitogami or for that matter just come up with some better results but very similar to his first time around in the six sided world. As such Perseus will be more of an anti-hero, a bit in the grey in terms of morality and character. He has a dark past and allot to reveal to Rudeus as to who he actually is so I hope you enjoy it.
To Guest: Thanks for your advice about Tungsten! I made some corrections and adding in an extra layer of depth to the amor. Also the cosmic beings will take a spotlight but not in a story breaking way, at least that is not me intention. If this disengages you from the story I am sorry, but to each there own and I will respect your opinion either way.
To SkinnyA: Glad to hear from you again! I hope to make more and more chapters. But between going to the gym twice a day and working a ten hour shift everyday life can get pretty packed hahaha.
To Octo1661: I am so flattered and proud that my story is being recommended by other people! I am truly honored. And yeah to address your fears I have read many Isekai and realize the difference between generic ones and actual good ones. The main character must have relatable issues and genuine struggle, and their power must either have limiters or they must be rational in their style of fighting so it's not over the top. I intend for Perseus to be the latter, while yes he is incredibly OP I will not make fights with him a snap of the finger and bam the problem is solved, that would get boring really quickly.
To Guest 2: It comes across you are just here to shit on my story to shit on my story. I don't think I should have to apologize to you and your comments because of the generally well received feedback I have gotten from my fanfiction.
To Guest 3: Yes eventually I intend for that to happen. Hope you look forward to it.
To Guest 4: Nope this fanfic isn't abandoned, thanks for the comment, it made me anxious to make another chapter.
To Mastermacer780, Dinamo, and Mistalenny: So happy you're enjoying the story!
To Bolonius916: Wow a binge read that's crazy that you like my fanfiction that much, I'm honored. Glad you like Perseus, I know allot of people don't like change or unknown additions to stories we grew to have a passion for but I knew an addition was necessary to add some tension. Otherwise Rudeus would have steamrolled his second reincarnation and squashed Hitogami. And you did a good job with your review, keep reviewing it helps allot in my opinion to see how well a chapter is received.
Thusly enjoy this chapter my friends.
The wind blew calmly as fall began to approach, beautiful leaves of red and yellow blew through the air and soon more leaves would follow as the weather continued to get colder. Rudeus grasped one flicking it back and forth between his fingertips observing the delicate leaf, letting go a moment later allowing it to join its friends in the wind as they danced together across the countryside.
Today was the day. More specifically Eris's 10th birthday. Rudeus had already made the necessary preparations to train her in dancing, she was flawless at this point after she linked together dancing and swordplay. She would probably do well with a combination of Sword God and Water God styles for fighting in this loop now. He even wondered if it was necessary to go to her party because of the prep work that had been done in her favor… no… The version of her that Rudeus had spent so many years with had confessed to him while they slept together one night as Husband and Wife that this dance was the moment that Eris had fallen in love with Rudeus. Or at the very least began to truly like him. Meaning this dance was critical that Rudeus attend the party.
Regardless Rudeus kind of wished that he had just practiced with Eris regularly so that way he could swoop in and save her from embarrassment when she failed with the other boys when they danced together but he didn't want to do that. Like he told himself when he first started this loop, there would be no mistakes.
To that end his main goal was to stop the teleportation event. Which would ultimately mean Ariel would become Queen, Paul wouldn't have to try and save Zenith from the Labyrinth, and countless lives would be saved including Eris's family. Today though instead of long hours of work would be one of enjoyment and a moment to take a brief pause and take in the atmosphere.
He tried to put on a smile as the young boy got up and walked back into his cave. He brushed his fingertips along the hallways that he constructed reminiscing on all of the knowledge that he had gained and the powers that he had obtained. Going from mastering all of the magics and then expanding beyond them to a point he was able to manipulate the very structure of molecules and the patterns they assumed. Rudeus reached the room he desired, the teleportation chamber.
So far he had set up 7 teleportation circles all of which were near major cities hidden underground much like Rudeus's second life when he was working alongside Orsted. The circles were placed to go to Buena village, Roa, and Capital Ars in the Asuran Kingdom. Then there was one teleportation circle that led to the outskirts of the magical university in the Ranoa Kingdom, and another placed in the holy land of the swords. Shiron Kingdom and the Holy Millis Kingdom quickly followed. Those took a day to get to with Rudeus going the speed of sound but it was hardly any issue. The next things on the list were the Demon continent and the Begaritt continent.
All of this was in preparation to both help Orsted and to help Rudeus get back to the Asuran Kingdom if the teleportation incident couldn't be stopped.
On another note the magical armor that Rudeus was constructing, the mark IV, was not progressing as he planned. He cursed himself for thinking of such simple metals like tungsten would be enough to create a strong armor. Pure tungsten, whenever Rudeus tested a plate of the armor would easily break. When he studied more about the properties of tungsten he found the answer.
"Seems I need to know allot more about metals and their uses." He said as he continued to read through a diagram of metals.
Tungsten was hard, but that in and of itself did not mean that it was a good armor. Hardness, according to the book, refers to how much tension the object can withstand before it breaks. But brittleness referred to the amount of spontaneous shock the metal could endure before it would break. In other words a tungsten drill bit can go through steel like butter, but a tungsten bullet if shot would shatter because of the shock it experienced when it impacted with a plate of steel.
The book gave the brief summary of the properties of metals overall and how they were defined.
Yield Strength measures the lowest stress required to result in permanent deformation. Titanium has the highest strength to density ratio and pound for pound would be stronger than tungsten. High yield strength according to the book was and still is used on earth for industrial purposes.
"Material engineering is required for this." Rudeus said as his fingers lightly tapped on his chin.
Compressive strength measures the amount of force a metal can take from all sides before showing defection. Examples of objects able to retain a high amount of compressive strength were skulls and submarines. Skulls were thin compared to the rest of the human skeleton but they had a high compressive strength because of the spherical structure. Submarines were also designed with that in mind to evenly distribute the pressure that the ocean would inflict on the vessel.
"I shouldn't make the metal purely solid, I can make tiny pockets that are spherical which will act as braces and will be able to evenly displace the force of an attack." Rudeus made summaries based on what he was learning as he continued to write down his research notes.
Tensile strength measures the amount of pulling stress that will cause defections.
Rudeus shook his head at this, it was quite the enigma to try and make the strongest armor in the world and yet try to make it like a rubber band which would be able to snap back into shape with even the heaviest of impacts.
"Maybe if I fill the small pockets I create with some sort of elastic material, that would allow the armor to maintain its form even if it was shattered, then I could just come in and repair it with the magic circles that Cliff put in the Mark 1." Rudeus said writing down another sub note.
More research would need to be done to find a suitable metal that would be the least brittle but maintain its hardness. Rudeus considered heat treatment much like what samurai swords went through along with many medieval weapons of war. But that would only get him so far.
Impact strength measured the amount of impact energy would cause a fracture
Mangalloy, also called manganese steel is a steel containing 13% manganese on average and a 0.8 to 1.25% carbon mixture. Once it was in it's hardened state it would have both a high impact and high abrasion resistance. It's endurance to impact at the most would last ten times longer than traditional steel.
As he continued to research he was continually amazed at how far the human race on Earth had advanced in technology to understand that metals had so many properties.
'This just proves my point that the species of this world rely too much on magic to truly understand the fundamental principals that make the world work. A touki, or fighting spirit, reinforces the users blade but if people knew how to combine carbon with steel at the perfect ratio then they would ultimately form a better product. When enhanced with their touki this would yield a better result overall.' Rudeus thought.
He put away the last book in his bookshelf of references to metal and armors. So far he had collected over 200 books in relation to the subjects and there was still more material to learn.
Rudeus looked back at his blueprints for the armor and scribbled in some more notes before heading to the teleportation circle that would connect him to his bedroom in Roa. He didn't want to take the other teleportation circle to the cities sewage lines, he would smell bad for Eris's birthday party if he chose to go that route.
The bedroom circle itself was risky to teleport to but Rudeus knew the routine that the maids went through and he knew the window of time he would have to safely return to Roa without being noticed.
A bright flash later and he was once again in his humble bed room.
"So this is what you have been doing all this time." A familiar voice said behind him.
Rudeus quickly turned around and saw Ghislaine leaning against one of the walls of his bedroom.
The boy didn't say anything, only standing still.
'Damn it, I should have taken the teleportation sewer line!' Rudeus cursed himself. He preferred to keep things a secret but thank goodness it was Ghislaine instead of someone like Philip. If it had been Eris's father he would constantly harass the boy to play an advantage with the teleportation magic against Roa's adversaries. That wasn't even Rudeus's goal to begin with.
Then Rudeus noticed something. Ghislaine was holding her hand over her eyepatch as she grimaced in pain, she was also looking away from Rudeus.
"Ghislaine is something wrong with your magic eye?" Rudeus asked. He wanted to walk over to her and try to comfort her but she was already acting stern to begin with when Rudeus returned to his bedroom, he didn't want to anger her by avoiding the inevitable main topic of discussion. But still, he was concerned for his friend.
She shook her head at his question. "Whenever I look at you now its like looking directly into the sun, and there is another star, farther away somewhere, but I can still feel it. Regardless it's painful to look at you now. Whenever you are whisked away that sun suddenly disappears and I can still see it but it's farther away, that's how I know you have been up to something."
Rudeus thought for a second and then looked up at Ghislaine. He reached out and held her hand knowing of the solution to end her discomfort.
Magic eyes were fueled by an individuals mana and those that could not control magic eyes to the precise level normally wore an eyepatch. Therefore the solution was to remove the mana from the magic eye kind of like covering a magnifying glass with paint.
"Come with me Ghislaine. I know how to help."
Rudeus touched the magical circle while holding Ghislaine's hand and the two were teleported back to where the boy had come from.
"Where are we?" Ghislaine asked as they walked throughout the hallways of the underground facility.
"A place I created on the side of the mountain near Buena Village. I made these rooms a few years ago for research and solitude purposes." Rudeus explained. Ghislaine looked around as she and the young boy passed by many rooms.
She then stopped walking forcing Rudeus to halt with her. He look up and she was looking sternly at him despite a serious amount of pain written on her face, her hand was still on her magic eye, it must feel like someone was poring hot peppers onto her eyes. Despite this she had something to say before they continued.
"It's not my place to ask this many questions but I need some answers Rudeus. Tell me what you know. A normal kid, wouldn't be able to achieve the things that you have and do the things you do at such a young age." Ghislaine said, her voice was cold and Rudeus saw that she had her hand on her sword. It remained sheathed but Rudeus knew she was fast enough to cut him down faster than he could react at this distance.
He looked up at her and she was glaring back at him.
"I'm not Laplace." Rudeus said firmly.
"How can I know that? You have a vast amount of mana and know things that a normal child would not." Ghislaine retorted, from her perspective it made sense to Rudeus that she would come to this suspicion that he was in fact Laplace. Forming a mutual alliance with Philip to gain political power and intel all while secretly working to overthrow and destroy humanity from the inside, starting with the largest human country in the world.
Rudeus had no choice but to share his secrets to alleviate her concerns. Anything else would just sound like an excuse and Ghislaine could smell dishonesty, she was an excellent lie detector. However despite her being a lie detector as a member of the beast race doubts still clouded her judgement, in order to remove this doubt Rudeus needed to spill the beans.
The boy took a deep breath to compose the secret he was about to confess, "I am Rudeus Greyrat, but I am also a reincarnation as well. I have lived this life before, and now in a linier way of speaking I have travelled back in time and been reborn to live life once again in this world. Now can you please let me heal your eye?"
She hesitated for a few moments. She knew he wasn't lying but she still had her doubts.
"When you heal me I want you to tell me everything."
Rudeus nodded and took her hand again leading her to his library.
When they arrived he floated up in the air and started scrounging through his notes on the various shelved. He had kept several copies of simple barrier, absorption and mana disruption circles just incase he needed something quickly.
Two circles fused together would all that would be required for her condition. A disturb mana circle and a absorption mana circle.
When the two were placed inside of her eyepatch it would function like what she originally had used the eyepatch for to block herself from seeing concentrations of mana. The absorption circle would fuel the disruption of the mana inside of her demon eye, obtaining the main source of mana from Ghislaine and the surrounding area preventing her from seeing anything through that eye until she lifted the eyepatch. The draw of mana was miniscule and would barely be noticeable so all in all everything would be normal for the beast woman as it had once been.
Cliff in Rudeus's previous life would probably have taken weeks to come up with something far more advanced, imbuing the spell perfectly into the fabric making it seamless but regardless the results would be the same either way.
Rudeus walked back over to Ghislaine who was observing her surrounding and eyeing the several sets of display cases that the boy had made containing various fun artifacts from Earth.
She handed him her eyepatch without complaint and he got to work. Thirty minutes later the product was finished and Rudeus presented the piece of cloth back to the woman. The only noticeable change was a faint magical circle laced into the fabric of the eyepatch.
When the woman put back on her eyepatch her facial expressions relaxed instantly showing that the spell was a success.
"Thank you Rudeus." Her smile was genuine as she looked down on the boy. Then her smile shifted to once of seriousness as she glared at the boy not allowing him to escape the conversation to follow. "Now tell me everything. You don't have to get into specifics but I want to know what kind of secrets you are hiding."
Rudeus gulped. Her stare was terrifying despite him having far more power contained within him than her.
He coughed to clear his throat and began to tell his story. About the mana calamity to come and how many in the Fetoa region would be teleported away to far off countries if his projects were not successful. How in his previous life, he and Eris had been teleported to the demon continent and cared for by a member of the Superd race named Ruijerd Superdia. How Rudeus had later on moved to the university of magic after taking Eris back to Asura. Then confronting the Dragon God Orsted and losing epically, later joining sides with him to work to overthrow Hitogami.
Under normal circumstances he would have left out anything regarding information on Hitogami or Orsted as to not hint at the Man God discovering Rudeus's allegiances. But thanks to this mysterious being that was coming for Rudeus this greatly helped in allowing the boy to share what he knew to Ghislaine when the opportunity presented itself.
Throughout most of his explanation she made a question here and there but for the most part remained quiet, similar to how Rudeus explained his previous, previous life to his little sister Aisha. The only difference being was that Aisha was an absolute genius when it came to the mind, so Rudeus wondered how Ghislaine was interpreting the conversation he was having with her now.
When all was said and done she took several minutes to digest all that he had spoken of, which had taken the better part of an hour to explain. He wanted to drink a glass of water after all the talking he did.
She then suddenly got up. "I understand. You are an ally."
Rudeus smiled at the beast woman. It would appear as if anything he said she placed parts of his story into the category of friend or foe. When the vote was counted Rudeus appeared to be a good person in her mind and that was what she went with.
'I envy her for such simple thinking sometimes. The same thing with Eris. They are narrowminded but that allows them to make quick decisions based upon experience and instincts.'
They began to walk back through the halls toward the teleportation circle in order to not miss Eris's birthday party.
"So you are a reincarnated person huh? The only people I've heard could do that are Laplace and Kishirika." Ghislaine said casually.
Rudeus stopped walking and she turned back to look at him with curiosity as to why he stopped.
"I didn't know you were aware that those two demons both possessing those abilities. Tell me Ghislaine, have you secretly been reading behind my back?" Rudeus had a proud smirk plastered over his face at this point amused with the idea that the beast woman had read history books behind his back.
She scratched the back of her ear as she looked away at the boy in embarrassment.
"Oh please. Eris has been harassing me to read books to her in secret to really impress you when you think you give her a tough assignment in reading and she aces it. Not only that she has also begun to read by herself. She's gotten bored of my adventure stories it would seem and ever since she finished reading that series you gave her called Game of Thrones she has been itching to find more material to read in terms of adventures."
Rudeus was left in shock at her words. 'Eris is developing a love of reading!' He thought with excitement. He would definitely give her a hug when the opportunity presented itself, already mentally accepting the punches that were bound to follow.
He of course couldn't resist teasing Ghislaine at the new revelation but overall he complimented her efforts.
They then teleported back to Rudeus's room and the two parted ways to get dressed for the party to come.
While in his room of the mansion Rudeus got ready. His hair groomed back while he wore a grey suit with fashion that signified an esteemed young noble. He had to admit he looked quite cute in the getup.
"Let's go make Eris's day." Rudeus said smiling briefly staring at his reflection. He gave himself a thumbs up and walked into the hallway toward the main hall where guests would start arriving. To make this day special Rudeus changed some things on the menu.
Sugar was hard to come by so many deserts and things like it weren't as delicious as the food back on Earth so Rudeus asked Philip if people would be allowed to contribute to the food and gifts at the party. Philip wanted to be a good host but he allowed it when Rudeus just mentioned he personally wanted to contribute to the event.
And so, a few days before the event even started, Rudeus set about gathering the proper recipes from Earth as well as many of the necessary ingredients to prepare the food. Cakes, brownies, sweets of every kind would be prepared. Rudeus knew Ghislaine loved meat so he prepared a whole pig which he smoked for a whole 6 hours before he exhausted his mana the night before. He also prepared cow and chicken along with many other assorted foods.
As for the gift he had prepared he wanted to give Eris everything in the world but his gift he knew would have to be something sword related, not the large heavy swords she would be used to but something that she would still carry with her for a long time. She also wouldn't enjoy anything too complicated so Rudeus chose to go with a bowie knife design which was a midsized blade in-between a sword and a dagger. The pummel of the blade had a small Ruby on it which would amplify her magical abilities, furthermore she didn't have to touch the blade in order for the ruby to enhance her magic. As long as she had it at her side then her mana would be multiplied where she would have to use very little magic in order to use a powerful spell. Now that she could use silent spellcasting her combat abilities increased greatly in terms of versatility. But Rudeus knew she would still prefer to use the sword which was why Rudeus settled on a secondary weapon to help with her magic. He hoped she liked it. The final touch on it was that Ghislaine had agreed to give her ring to Eris as well, at her consent Rudeus engraved a magical teleportation circle into the ring and the dagger. That way if her ever lost the dagger and still wore the ring she would summon it to her aid by shouting the word for dagger in Japanese which was Tanken.
Before Rudeus departed to the party he placed the danger underneath her bed which was wrapped in white paper with a large red ribbon on top along with the instructions of how to use the dagger.
With that done Rudeus stepped into the great hall and saw all the maids and butlers hurrying to make everything as perfect as could be. They were also preparing the presentation of the food Rudeus had previously made.
"I must say you didn't need to contribute so much to this event." Philip said stepping beside the boy as they both watched the work being done in front of them.
"I am simply helping Eris in every regard without exception." Rudeus said smiling softly while he watched 2 butlers push a cart carrying the pig. One of the hind legs was taken off as per Rudeus's instruction and would be privately given to Ghislaine, she was sure to enjoy the snack. The smell alone of honey smoked ham made Rudeus's mouth water.
"Speaking of the young lady, does she need any help to prepare?" Rudeus asked looking up at the mayor but the man just smiled back down at the boy.
"Wanting to catch my Daughter as she dresses? My my Rudeus how perverted you are." Philip said coyly. Rudeus bit his bottom lip in anger, he hated Philips jests which were starting to become more and more common. It would soon be proposed to the boy that Eris be given to Rudeus, the young boy hated that memory of letting his lust consume his vision and almost touching Eris without her consent. He was scum.
Rudeus chose to remain silent and look ahead at the grand hall, not choosing to indulge Philip any more. But that just seemed to amuse the mayor even more.
Soon guests from every part of the Asura kingdom began to enter. The hall got gradually got more lively after that point as the nobles greeted each other. Philip disappeared to make sure Eris was presentable when Edona was done with helping dress the birthday girl.
Many of the nobles brought their sons along with the desire to gain favor with the Boreas branch. They were mostly young and middle aged men with good upbringings and little struggle. The age gap was not such an issue in this world as it was back on Earth. Many people here would easily be labelled statutory rapists but Rudeus tried his best to not let the law of the world he had previously occupied make him look down on what the people of this culture considered normal.
He couldn't be too judgmental either way, he was scum too like the rest of them.
'Labeling myself scum. I used to hate myself for it but now for the most part I accept that and move forward. This truly must be what self-actualization feels like. At the very most I am a pervert.' Rudeus thought smiling softly at his own thoughts of mild self-degradation.
Neither Roxy, Eris, or Sylphy minded Rudeus being a pervert at heart. If anything the biggest pervert was Eris once she embraced her sexual cravings and tasted every part of Rudeus making the man feel like a timid maiden being forced down by her master. And as it turned out Rudeus now and again enjoyed being dominated but he never told Eris that, she would jump on him out in the middle of the street if he confessed that little kink to her back in their previous life.
All of a sudden Rudeus's thoughts were interrupted as Sauros entered the party. People quickly cleared a path for the man as they knew they would be trampled down if they didn't move out of the way of the intimidating Greyrat and his cane. Eris moved in a semi graceful walk behind her Grandfather, to her right was her father and her to her left her mother. They all were like a frame presenting their young daughter to the party before them.
As for Eris herself she was dressed in white and red which complimented her features perfectly. Like blood and snow. Her dress was for the most part white and wasn't too large or bulky, this would allow her movements to be fluid without hindrance. She wasn't wearing a corset though but that was fine, she probably argued to do away with the piece to make her waist smaller to aid in her flexibility, and besides her bust hadn't even started to develop enough to show off that side of her like her mother. The lining of the dress was decorated with red roses, petals and thorny vines. That part Rudeus had a hand in to signal to the other men in the room that while she was a rose, she had thorns and she wasn't afraid to draw blood. Maybe Rudeus was overthinking the design but he couldn't resist adding in a little bit off poetic symbolism.
Sauros stopped at one of the edges of the party so he could announce his speech to the whole assembly. All the maids, butlers, and accompanying royalty were near the outer walls and tables of the room, no one went to the center which was where the main event would be held. Eris's dance with the children and men of nobility.
In this loop Rudeus had made up his mind to not jump in unless Eris needed an aid much like in the first incarnation. He doubted she would fail this time around though. She knew the rhythm and flow of the dance to the point she was as good as Rudeus and her balance was as skilled as the average ballerina or ice skater. She wouldn't fail.
"Those who desire favor of the Boreas branch and courtship of my daughter send your sons forward! Dance with her and impress your fellow nobility with your grace and confidence! That is an order!" Sauros bellowed like a general at that last sentence.
'Sir yes sir.' Rudeus thought sarcastically.
Eris walked passed her Grandfather at those words and stepped briskly and nervously toward the center of the room where she waited for the first of the nobility to be brave enough to make a move. She looked around and saw Rudeus and he saw how nervous she was, he only smiled softly at her at which she blushed a little and looked away.
The first person was a boy that appeared to be about two years older than Eris. Not much of an age gap there compared to some of the other potential suiters.
He held out his hand and made a somewhat flamboyant bow toward the young girl.
She took his hand without a word and the orchestra in the back of the room began to play.
She didn't fail and neither did the boy. When the song was complete the boy was panting a little but Eris looked the same as when she had started. The assembly clapped but not uncontrollably, it was more of a formal applause. Sauros, Philip, and Hilda did not clap which made the young noble disappointed that he failed in his courtship but his father patted him on the back proud of his son for being the first to try in the courtship out of the other members in the party, it showed bravery apparently.
'What a good father.' Rudeus smiled impressed by the boy's courage.
The next person followed, then the next, soon the middle aged nobles tried to dance with Eris but she was still on the short side for the dance to look graceful.
Rudeus looked down at his glass of wine wishing he could have a little bit of fun dancing with her. He swirled the drink around not drinking it, he wasn't really in the mood. The music finished as the noble Eris was done dancing with walked back into the assembly. Rudeus heard a brisk walk and saw Eris approaching him.
He put his glass down to give her his full attention.
"May I have this dance." Eris said politely, extending her hand as she curtsied. It was a perfect curtsy and the whole assembly began to murmur and whisper their confusion. This was not tradition.
Rudeus looked around and saw Philip smiling while Sauros held in a smirk, Hilda had her eyebrow raised at her daughters actions but did not voice her distain. Rudeus looked back at Eris and took her hand. She smiled and led him to the center of the room, the music resumed the same song it had so many times before.
Immediately Rudeus noticed the difference between this dance he was having with her now and the ones before with the other nobility.
'It's like when someone is doing a popular dance. Like the YMCA or the Chicken dance but they put their whole heart and soul into it right? Well that was what Eris is doing. Not the chicken dance I can't possibly imagine that, and it would make me burst into laughter seeing such a sight but regardless the passion was equivalent. A professional dancer and a dancer enveloped in passion danced differently, the professional dancer might know the moves perfectly and yet he cannot captivate the audience. Eris was this way before but now she let the music consume her as she dances with me. It was like we are the perfect duet as we continue to exchange hands and rotated our feet and hips to match the flow of the music.' Rudeus thought as he continued to match the pace of the young girl in front of her. It was clear to him now that he was special to her, no communication was necessary for that.
When the dance finished a moment of pause followed but a single set of clapping hands could be heard. It was Sauros. Soon everyone was clapping at the sight they had witnessed.
Eris looked over at him smiling with glee, a single bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as she grinned at Rudeus. He couldn't help but smile back at her. Sauros lifted them both up booming with laughter as the crowd erupted into applause, the nobles were at least good losers, or at most good at hiding their distain.
The second part of the party followed. The feast and along with dancing as the orchestra played various songs. Ghislaine got her pork leg after which she left the room to gorge down on it. Eris was engaged in conversation with her Grandfather, mostly getting praise from him along with some of the other members of the party.
Thusly Rudeus was left alone to enjoy some of the fruits of his labor. Mainly cake. Vanilla with strawberries flavoring which wasn't too bad.
He was in the hallway sitting on one of the benches so he could eat in peace while still being able to witness some of the scenery going on.
"The cake is a lie, at least I think that's what our mutual friend would say probably. Enjoying yourself?" A familiar female voice said in Japanese. Rudeus's eyes flashed open as he looked upon Elizabeth. The same woman that had previously taken him to the nightmare world.
She raised one of her hands up in defense. In her other hand was a slice of the vanilla cake that Rudeus had contributed to the party.
"Relax I'm not here to kidnap you or anything. I just wanted a slice of cake." She said raising the cake as if to make herself look innocent.
Rudeus swallowed and then retorted "Are you here to run some tests or do I have to turn you into a potato?"
She cracked a smile. "Oh nice, you get the portal reference."
"What are you doing here. I thought you were going to stay out of my life?" Rudeus was quick to get to the point, he still didn't trust or like this Elizabeth lady.
"Yeah sorry. But I wanted to let you know what our friend has been up to, he is taking quite a number of detours." She stated while taking a bite of her cake. Her eyes squinted as she wriggled back and forth fully enveloped in the sweet flavor of the pastry accompanied by the tart taste of the strawberry.
"Detours as in he is no longer interested in meeting me. Because that would be a huge relief."
She only shook her head in response. "Did you know one of the hardest things about being an interdimensional traveler is not getting involved. Beings like Uatu from Earth-616 or more commonly called the Watcher do not involve themselves because of their superiors' orders or punishment. The only time they get involved is when multiple universes in their central finite curves are at risk of destruction.
Our mutual friend is different. If he sees Romeo about to drink a deadly poison before Juliette wakes up he will stop Romeo from dying. As such whenever he sees one of your timelines lead toward tragedy and failure of defeating the one you guys call Man God or Hitogami he intervenes, like stopping a fatal punch from the fighting god from hitting you or killing the Hydra that killed your father before it can kill you. He can't help himself I suppose. It's partly why I am alive to today, he saved me from succumbing to brain injury and blood loss after I was beaten with a wrench multiple times in a city buried at the bottom of the ocean."
"How many of my universes has he intervened with now?" Rudeus was a little intrigued at this point. He didn't like the idea of having a guardian angel too often. If people lived a cushy life they would never grow, like how Rudeus lived off of his fathers earnings back in his first life. Being a shut in had it's benefits but also weaknesses for those very reasons. Hardships were necessary to grow, this applied to everyone even if life had to be cruel sometimes. If it was not this way people would not grow to appreciate life.
"56 so far and counting, and I know you might not like him involving himself but it's like when a saint sees a beggar on the side of the street, they can't help but give them some food or shelter. He started by visiting your grave. But that was more out of him paying his respects than actually intervening in a world shifting event."
"Wait what? Tell me everything you know." Rudeus was concerned for his family at this point. If this man had dared harm a hair on Roxy or Sylphy's head the world would quake with his anger.
So she started by explaining how the multiverse was organized. As time continued multiple universes identical to the ones next to them would be organized next to another. It was rather poetic in a way. From utter chaos like the quantum world to the scale of atoms everything on the smallest scale appeared to be an utter mess and yet it stayed consistent to the same laws of physics. The multiverse was no different. A jumble of stars and galaxies that looked random from an individuals perspective who occupied one of the galaxies would see only randomization but when they were outside of the observable universe all the galaxies would just look like one star. And next to it was another star identical to it. Patterns of universes immerged at that point.
She further went on to explain that the universes adjacent to each other were identical, and from there oddities and abnormalities arose from time to time but for the most part remained consistent.
Beyond the multiverse were the central finite curves with was dividing a section of the multi-verse from the rest of itself. And if that curve was destroyed then it would be like removing the walls of a castle, this would allow the interdimensional beings on the outside to enter what was previously inaccessible to them. It turns out there are many layers to infinite.
"If you are concerned about your family relax. He only hurt the person called Alek, didn't even touch Orsted or any of your family." Rudeus sighed in relief but now his deep concern was made reality that he had in fact taken the cowards route and at the last moment refused to accept death and instead take Infinites offer to restart life again.
Then something else hit him. "Wait does this mean Orsted… You know?"
She snapped her fingers understanding where he was leading her to think. "Oh yeah that Orsted guy. You could call him an interdimensional traveler too. But he isn't one really, he thinks he is a time traveler but in reality he is just leaping over to another identical universe that is 200 years in the past. And that is why his mana takes so long to regenerate. A huge portion of his mana is dedicated to just hopping from one universe to the next."
Rudeus gripped the edge of his seat, his knuckles turned white as he bit his lip in anger. This meant that the Orsted Rudeus had known lost against Hitogami more than 100 times and those versions of Hitogami were the victor.
"If it brings you any comfort your version of Orsted in your previous life has a very good chance of winning against Hitogami because of your efforts, I suppose you can also make that happen in this loop if you choose." She took the last bite of her cake and finishing off the contents on the plate. "Or you can figure out how to leave this six-sided world and get back over to the one you left behind."
"Wait what do you mean!? I can see Roxy and Sylphy again?" Rudeus stood up staring the woman dead in her eyes. She didn't meet his gaze as she just pulled out and dopened up a little pocket book and wrote down a few notes. Rudeus looked down and saw what she was writing down was the time and what the event was.
It read "Met abnormal Rudeus again. Explained to him situation. Side note, grab some more cake before leaving." She then closed the notebook and looked at him.
"Sorry, one can get easily get lost in the multiverse if they don't keep a record of their travels. As for your question all I will say is this, it is the key to obtaining interdimensional travel through the six sided world and how our mutual friend got access to travelling throughout dimensions. When presented with the option to choose absolute control or absolute freedom you cannot choose, you are only given the path that will bring you the most happiness. How you get there is for you to figure out."
"Stop with the cryptic bullshit." Rudeus tried to grab her shirt to make her answer more directly but a bright flash flooded his eyes and his hands grasped empty air. Just like that she was gone again. Rudeus checked his room immediately after and was relieved she didn't kidnap him or put him in an alternate world. But still, the knowledge that she had instilled upon is mind made his head spin.
'I'm such a coward. I shouldn't have accepted Infinities offer.' Rudeus hugged himself as he sat down in his bed.
See you all soon! Feel free to leave a comment and review and if you have any requests feel free.