"Yo."

I'm asleep, in this dreamlike world once more. I turn around to see the mosaic-faced fucker giving me a blank stare. Might as well get this over with.

"It's been a bit. What do you want?" I almost growled. It's been more than a month since I last saw him, almost right after I traveled back to this time. Not that I missed him.

"You've made things a lot more complicated in the worst way possible." Hitogami answered, ignoring my tone.

I grinned at his frustrations for a moment before my mouth thinned into a line again. "Might it be because of what I've done this past month?" I asked, feigning ignorance. Meeting Perugius, Going to the Begaritt continent, these things should not have happened yet to him, or at all, for that matter.

"Yes, and no." He started. "Something definitely happened to you when you.. Reversed time, though."

What? This is new, certainly. He was only ever this serious when talking about The Dragon God.

Taking my silence for another moment to speak, he continued. "My eyes can see the future, and the destinies of everyone who's soul I look at, excluding Orsted's because of his curses. Naturally, I'm also able to see yours.

You had a strong destiny, though one I could still steer in my favor. That's no longer something that is as possible, however."

What?

He seemed to sense my confusion from a mile away. "Your destiny has become something else entirely; it's no longer something I can simply look at and deal with. When I look at your soul, I see who-knows-how-many different destinies at once. Interfering doesn't do anything about it. You've become an entirely unpredictable existence, somehow."

He turns away, muttering something about headaches and migraines, I didn't care enough about it to listen to the details.

Other than that, I'm not sure how I should feel about this.

On one hand; it's a good thing. It means I can move more freely, and Hitogami will have to put in even more effort to do something about me, though even then it may never even work out in his favor.

On the other hand, It's terrifying. Who knows what becomes of me in the end..? So much as just a thrown stone could change everything for me now, for better or for worse, and everything in-between.

"You really should just die.."

His murmuring brought me out of my thoughts, but before I could respond, the dreamlike world faded along with my vision.

…

When I awoke, I was met with a rock ceiling standing over my body, illuminated by the light from the outside. What is over me was a makeshift cave I made using earth magic that I've made for the night, but now it has served its purpose.

We've been traveling on the continent for 7 days now. A week's worth of time back on Earth.

I got up, put on my clothing that was previously on the sandy surface of the Begaritt continent – I should've made an actual stand for them, especially my gray robe – and walked out of the cave, where I found Almanfi standing before me.

Does he even sleep? Do spirits sleep at all?

"Are you ready to go, Rudeus Greyrat?" He asked me as soon as he noticed my presence outside the cave. Despite his patience and respectfulness towards me, as an individual that Perugius decided to aid, he still wanted to be done and over with this as quickly as possible.

So did I, for that matter.

I nodded, and we were on our journey once more.

…

We may be moving far too quickly to call it much of a journey, really.

The first time around, it took a solid month and a half to reach the city with Elinalise. Though still fairly formidable, I was less experienced compared to the current me. Granted, with the help of Teleportation circles at the time, it was still pretty fast.

Ah, wait, Elinalise is supposed to be searching for me right now, right? I probably just made her life just a little bit harder right now.

..I can focus on that later.

Back to the point; right now, I technically wasn't a (chronologically) 50 year old man from another world reincarnated into this one as a 16 year old boy anymore. I was an old man in the body of a 13 year old child now. Along with that, I had a companion with me that had capabilities comparable to a Sword King, and we were both able to move much faster than any normal person.

In summary; we were able to turn what was originally a month and a half journey into a 20 day expedition.

We dealt with any monsters that attacked us with incredible ease this time around. Griffons were shot down. Succubus were slaughtered efficiently. Phalanx Ants, by far the most annoying, were annihilated.

Overall, the experience was something new. I almost thought I was going easy on them the first time around with how simple it was.

Have I really become that strong..?

It's jarring to think about, really. If only I was this strong before..

Besides that, we've arrived at The Labyrinth City of Rapan now. The enormous rib cage of a behemoth looming over the town comfortably, previously slain by the North God Kalman II. I wonder if it'll ever just magically break and destroy the town under it.

Other than that; the city was surrounded by various labyrinths, the rib cage transformed the town from a small oasis to an alluring vacation trip for adventurers of all kinds. A get-rich-quick scheme more guaranteed than any guide you'll find on the internet, if there wasn't a possibility of death constantly existing over you when you ventured into it.

"We've arrived." Almanfi spoke by my side, before looking down at me. "I will be waiting by the labyrinth you stated your mother was in."

Before I could get a word out, he was gone in a flash of light.

"Okay.." I muttered, to no one in particular. I had some money on me, and much more time to spare than I initially thought I would 20 days prior.

…

"Ten shinsa."

"Eight."

"What?"

"Eight shinsa."

A grumble. "Nine."

A grin. "Deal!"

I was getting better gear for this mission. While I'll never replace the gray robe (despite the hole in the back of it), everything else warrants a temporary makeover for now.

I handed him the coins–Shinsa, as was the currency in this continent–and he handed me armor. My skill set in haggling and competence in the Fighting God Tongue was rusty, but not something I necessarily have to worry about for that matter.

I took the armor, and walked away from the small shop. Perhaps, if I annoyed him more, I could've gotten a better deal, but this'll have to do.

I entered an inn I bought for the night, the same one Paul and his party stayed in when they were saving Zenith. I put the armor on quickly. It was evening at this point, I've kept Almanfi waiting for a few hours now.

I looked on the bed to see a book there. There were a few things I bought that weren't necessarily important. One of them was a diary.

I was actually a little scared at first to even touch one again, really. The last one had nothing good in it to share, this one might as well just be the same.

It didn't help that it looked exactly like the one from my previous life, minus the carving and my signature.

Regardless, I still bought it.

I took it, along with a quill and some ink, before sitting down at a desk by the bed. I placed the notebook down, opening it to the first page.

I almost expected to see Japanese letters there, my handwriting telling me the latest news, but there was nothing there. Just a blank page with nothing on it.

I didn't know how to feel about that. I started writing though.

It's been almost two months since I've traveled to the past.

I'm not sure how much of the future I've changed at this point, whether it's good or bad now, or if I did at all.

Hitogami might've been lying to me about the whole future and destiny thing to throw me off track, but I'm still not entirely sure.

Besides that, I'll be heading off to the Teleportation Labyrinth tomorrow to save my mother. I'm not sure what else I'll do after.

There are things I'll have to do differently, and things I'll have to do again. I'm not sure what to do right now, what I should do and do not. I'll just focus on saving my mother right now, and killing Hitogami, before my hair turns gray.

I miss my family.

It was far more gloomy and stoic than my first entry in my first diary. No notes to accompany it, nothing great or jovial written down. But it was enough for me, at least.

I went to sleep, thinking about my wives, and my mother.

–

Yeah, hey. It's me, the author.

So, first off, sorry for the much shorter chapter. I had different ideas for this and decided to throw them away when I actually started writing it. Writing this Rudeus is also just a little difficult in general, because I really have to find a strange balance between cold 'n distant and light-hearted and playful if I wanna stay as true as I can to this character. I fear that the pacing might be a little too fast, though, as well.

Other than that, there were also problems that halted the time to write and edit these chapters, but they should be solved for at least a while. No promises though.

With all that said, thanks for reading.