"Dear, if you would, please spend this time with Melty. I'm sure talk of Heroes and such would bore her to no end," he said with a false smile on his face as he turned to his wife who, looking concerned, nodded. It was obvious by her face that Melty saw through the lie as well, but she didn't argue, instead moving to the door with her mother, the pair exiting the room, and the door slamming shut heavily behind them.

Taking a moment to breath after they left, bracing himself, Aultcray in his tunic went around the room and pushed against seemingly random things, rearranging books, a pot, and a few other things, before closing the curtains, and even adjusting them just so, before a feeling of weight slammed down onto me. This room was now sealed, as even the light from behind the curtains went dark, and the King finally turned back to me with a heavy sigh.

"I knew this time was near. I was not ignorant of the growth your companions had shown, but had hoped it would not be until after the next Wave that I would have to answer these questions," he said, sounding…old. The man had a bit of gravel in his voice at the best of times, but at these words he just…rattled a bit, as he finally pulled a pair of chairs out of the corner of the room, and set them down, motioning for me to take one, while he took the other.

We sat there for what was probably only half a minute, but the weight in the air, and the sheer force of Aultcray's presence seemed to drag this out, as he was obviously trying to find words for something he didn't know quite how to phrase. Finally, he rubbed his chin, and turned to me, a dark lookin his eyes.

"You, the ritual for the Slave Seal. You had to participate in it to bind those three beastmen to you, the brothers, correct?" he asked, and I nodded slowly, that question already giving me some clue as to why he was reluctant to speak of it.

"Good, then I don't need to explain all of what goes into it," he said, sighing again, this time in relief, as he sat up a bit straighter, meeting my gaze, as he did so.

"The Slave Seal, as you might guess from that question, has some relationship with the ritual of Level Break, and it does. That relationship is that the former is a derivative of the latter," he said, and then flexed his arm. Suddenly something 'slid' out of space between us, and I was shocked to find the Vassal Staff in his hand, looking quite a bit sleeker than it had back when Motoyasu had bonded to it.

"The Church's Hourglass, the object that allows us to level and to break the first Level Cap asks for nothing for its gifts, serving only as a warning of the dangers that asail our world once many generations apart," he begins as he holds up the Vassal Staff, running his fingers over the smooth shaft of the thing.

"But to go farther requires much more…unique circumstances, one every wielder of a Vassal Weapon is told when we reach the second Cap ourselves," he continues, striking the floor with the butt of his, and then murmuring something. He casts a spell, and shockingly, the effect is to create a window, similar to my system messages, but a bit more ornate, with text that my translation ability helpfully reads.

'Congratulations Resident of this World, you have reached a plateau of power for your people and area. The Status Magic maintaining it cannot allow you to grow beyond this limit without endangering your body in normal circumstances, as you might already know. However, you have attuned to one of Weapons born from Our Creations, and thus, may grow to whatever heights you wish.'

'Should you desire to give this gift to others, it is simple. Have them shed blood on your weapon and draw the symbol below with it on the surface. Be warned, however, such will bind the two of you, as the Weapons like yours cannot have many wielders. Your will, and theirs, will be part of this, and wills are curious things. If yours is greater than theirs, you will have command of them, but the opposite is true as well.'

'Go Forth, Brave Adventurer. Slay the Demons born from the space between worlds, and gather their power. This world is connected, and must be protected until the Promised Time.' The message then showed a symbol beneath itself, one I recognized as similar, though not the exact same, as what was drawn in the slave seal. This was less ornate, with far fewer curves and the like.

"As you can see, there is a reason that, without our needing to agree to it, none who attune to the power of the Vassal Weapons have let out the secret of this power," he offered, and I had to agree. Aultcray, his brother over in Faubury, the former King of Siltvelt, all three were known to be attuned, all three of high level, and not one had allowed others to know how to do this.

That was because all three were warriors born, and knew that the moment others learned of this secret, the attuned would have no rest. If they alone could allow someone to attain that sort of power, they'd be hounded day and night by the Adventurer's Guild, but the Church, by any random noble who wanted to expand their power. The royals might be able to keep the wolves at bay for a while, but even they would not forever be safe.

Worse, the idea of making yourself open to someone else. None of the Vassal Weapon users we'd heard of were weak willed, at least from the descriptions of them. But that will had come at a cost. They couldn't trust anyone, not really, and to open themselves like this, perhaps even opening others to the danger, should the system extend the contract to anyone who was linked to the weapon was…extreme.

"Obviously, someone let the secret slip at some point, otherwise the Slave Seal wouldn't exist," I opined, and he nodded.

"Indeed. I don't know who, or win, but someone in the past allowed it out. And there were discoveries made to allow the seal to operate in a way that it would not rebound on its master, allowing absolute control of the other person. I…my brother and I once speculated that it might work with our Weapons to break the limit. I would not ask it of any of my men, not when they have come so close to such a power," he said.

It made sense too. Melromarc was a country that, depending on when he gained the message, would have been locked in combat with a foe. I had little doubt the King of Siltvelt had felt the same, and as such, neither would risk it. That was when I realized his statement left open a possibility, and I looked at him, as he nodded without me asking the question aloud, reading it on my face.

"My brother attempted it. Once, and only once. He informed me that the result was…less than satisfactory. The Seal burned away the excess bits of itself, allowing only the base, and as such, he used his power to slay the one whom he was using it on, a soldier of his army of many years, but Faubrey is not known as a country that breed loyalty," he said with a dark chuckle, as he turned the weapon over in his hands.

"I have to wonder why, if you, your brother, and presumably the former King of Siltvelt all got this message…why didn't Ren when he hit the level cap?" I asked, and this seemed to bring Aultcray up short, as his expression was shocked for a moment, before it got contemplative, as he waved his staff, and brought up more magical screens.

"I have no way to speculate, so let us check for differences. While you cannot show me the screens you see, I invite you to view my own, and see if any indication can be found," he said, spinning the screens, of which there were three, around, and pushing them towards me. The images floated gently in the air, and with a thought, I brought up my own, and positioned my head to overlay the screen in my view with his.

Stat screen was the same, which was to be expected. It gave our basic stats, and after boggling a bit at the King's power, he could have bodied the four of us, indicating perhaps he SHOULD have taken the field with us in the Waves, were he not the head of a nation and thus having no time for such, and needing to defend his capital just in case one of the holes drifted over it.

The second page was spells and skills, and while it looked slightly different, that was due to the fact that his only listed spells. And it was quite the list too. The man knew ones in every variety, rather than keeping to the ones he was most potent in, as most magic users did, and the levels listed by some of them spoke of a many who was equal parts warrior, healer, and even a bit of farmer in there, if the level of a spell for crop growing was any indication.

The third page was interesting. It was an inventory system. Like, it had a 'paper doll' outline of Aultcray, and listed the gear he was wearing. Better, it listed all the abilities given by them. Looking through my own, I didn't see anything in mine that was the same, and wondered if it was an effect specific to the Vassal Staff or some such. Coming to no conclusion about that, I closed my menu, and turned to the man.

"I thank you for sharing that with me. It must not be easy, to bare yourself out like that to someone to anyone, especially someone who is, still, only a stranger," I said, bowing my head slightly to him. Aultcray, banishing the windows, smiled warmly at me.

"I'll admit, I was tempted to alter some of what you saw, but…you and your fellows have earned my trust. When I shoved him away, Sir Naofumi still did his best to protect my people. Sir Motoysau, his actions spared my dau…the Adventurer Myne, much as she deserved her fate. And Sir Ren and yourself have been hunting things that have been hurting this land for ages beyond counting," he said, smiling warmly, his eyes showing it was not a false smile either.

"I, of course, ask that you keep my status information private, and impress upon your companions that the ritual to break the second cap is not to be shared unless absolutely necessary," he said, looking at me very seriously. I nod. It is the sort of thing the Guild would love to have, and yet…it was also the sort of thing that would be useless for them in reality, which explained why it was given at some point in the past and likely 'encouraged' to be lost.

"I believe, on hearing what the ritual entails, my fellow Heroes and our Companions can be convinced to swear to secrecy in what you have shared," I said, bowing my head to the man, before we rose to our feet, and I offered him my hand. Looking confused for just a second, he smiled, and then grabbed it with his own, shaking it.

"Thank you, your Majesty. I know we might not always agree, but you have done much to help us on this journey, and I hope that, going forward, we will continue to be in this together," I said, being diplomatic. After all, he'd been as much a hindrance as a help, more so in Naofumi's case, but with his daughter departed, and his attitude shifted, it was hopeful that we could have a cordial relationship.

"Of course, Lord Bowman," he said with a knowing smile. We then left the room, walking to the 'sitting room' where mother and daughter were waiting. There, I let the family time continue for a bit, as I sipped on the coffee like drink, while they had tea, figuring there was no rush to get back yet, and that their reunion days before had been fraught with all sorts of interruptions and business.

It took almost five hours, the sun already well into the afternoon, and slowly making its way into evening, before Princess Melty bid her parents goodbye. It probably didn't help that I was apparently snoring after falling asleep in the comfortable chair I'd been sitting in. Apologizing, we got up to leave, with me deciding to set a new return point, surreptitiously, just outside the Royal Family's wing of the castle, just in case.

A moment later, we were off, consumed in golden light, and landing back on the steps outside the Count's residence in Cal Mira. Instantly, we knew something was wrong, as there was the sound of raised voices, and the sky overhead was stained blood red. This was not the color of the setting sun, but by this point, easily recognized as the power of a Wave striking the world, though only three of the 'holes' were visible in the sky.