Ning, Ely, Blue, and Night arrived on earth, on the same island where Ning had previously been when he killed Stryxus.
It was nighttime, there was no sun to light up the world around them, not that they needed it anyway.
"Are we here?" Ely asked as she looked around. All worlds looked the same with the difference usually being the people living in it, so Ely couldn't really tell if they had in fact come back to earth.
"Yes, we are here," Ning said as he looked around. "How do you guys feel? Any uncomfortable feelings? The Qi here is not as strong, so…"
"No, I feel fine. I don't really have any problem," Ely said. "The Qi is indeed quite thin, so it may take a lot of time to cultivate if I ever do use it up, but I don't think I will have to, will I?"
"No," Ning said. "Especially since you are physically very strong as well." He looked at his two beasts as well. "And you two?"
"I'm fine, master," Blue said.
"I feel fine as well," Night said.
"Great," Ning said. "Now, take your human form if you can, which you should."
The two beasts nodded and slowly changed into their human form. Blue changed into the bare-chested, blue-haired, blue-eyed champion of the fighting arena where he had remained for the longest time before Ning took him back.
Night changed to a young man with a black robe and long black hair that seemed to light up in a fire at the ends. His pupils were pitch black, while his face was stark white, giving him a deathly look.
Ning dabbed out the fires on his shoulders with no damage to his own hand. "Don't keep these fires around you. They are dangerous. These people here are mostly mortals, so you have to be careful," he said.
"I'll keep that in mind, master," Night said.
"Also, make sure to remember the rules I taught you all. It is very important that you stay in line here so you don't get out of line," Ning said.
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"What happens if we get out of line? Are there people here strong enough to stop us?" Blue asked.
"No, but it will cause me a headache, that's for sure," Ning said. "Just don't hurt people unless they are trying to hurt you back," Ning said.
He turned around to find Ely with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. Ning was a little surprised. "Honey? Why are you crying?" he asked.
Ely quickly wiped the tears off her face. "I just saw my brother," she said. "I can't believe he really is still alive."
Ning couldn't help but smile when hearing that. "Wanna go meet him?" he asked.
"No, not right now," she said. "He seems to be busy with his guild work. I will go meet him once it is tomorrow for him."
"That works too," Ning said. "Then let us go visit my family first."
Ning didn't even have to teleport with them. All 3 of them could fly with him and arrive in Korea in less than 10 minutes.
It was evening time in South Korea at the moment, so it was just the right time to go back home.
They were so fast in the sky that South Korea's aerospace defense didn't even realize they had entered. They were systems put in place to warn against super-fast missiles, and the four of them were able to avoid it.
Ning flew over to his Uncle's house and landed in front of it. He rang the doorbell and walked inside just as people were starting to walk out.
"Brother?" Jung-Hee couldn't help but get excited when he saw him. "Are you back?"
"Jung-Hee, how has it been?" Ning said as he walked in. Ely, Night, and Blue walked in as well, a little curious about how Ning's family would be.
"Brother, I've missed you!" Jung-Hee cried and ran in front to hug him. But Ning stopped him before he got too close and patted his shoulders instead.
"I'm sure you've only missed the mana stones you could get from me," he said.
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"N-no way. I really did miss you," Jung-Hee said, but it was clear he wasn't trying to hide the fact that it was really the mana stones that he wanted.
He looked behind him and saw the 3 foreigners. His eyes fell on all 3 of them, ending on Ely. "Gasp! Wait, is she?"
"Yes," Ning said. "Let's go in. I will introduce her to everyone."
"Yes," Jung-Hee said. "Sister-in-law, please come in."
Ely smiled and said "Thank you" in perfect Korean, surprising Jung-Hee.
"Woah, you can speak such good Korean. Are you sure you're foreign?" Jung-Hee couldn't help but ask.
"I'm certain I am," Ely said.
Ning continued walking in and saw Hi-Ah, who was coming out to check on just who had come for her brother to shout this much.
"Oh, cousin. You're back?" Hi-Ah said with a surprised face. "When did you come back?"
"10 minutes ago," Ning said. "And I've brought people."
"Hmm?" she looked behind him to see the 3 people. "Jung-Hee, it's cold out here. Don't go on talking out here."
"Oh, sorry," he said. "Please come in."
All of them entered the house, and Ning could already hear the cartoon playing in the TV.
Saphandra realized that Ning had come back as well and couldn't help but shout. "Ning!"
Ning turned around to look at her and Sorlus who were on the couch together. "Hey! I'm back you guys," he said.
Jung-Hee went to call his father, and along with him their Grandmother. In less than a minute, everyone in the house was gathered.
"Everyone, this is Elenora Rigot, my wife," Ning spoke out loud to introduce her.
Ely walked forward and bowed a little to greet everyone. "Hello, I'm Elenora. You can call me Ely. I'm very pleased to have finally met you all," she said.
They all remained quiet for a second before Ning's Uncle spoke. "Welcome to the family, child."
Ning's grandmother asked many different questions to Ely about who she was, where she was from, and many other things.
She and Ning had planned this for a literal hundred years, so there was no question out there that could stump them.
Except one did come up.
"When will I get to see my Great-grandchildren?" the old woman asked.
Ning coughed suddenly, and Ely found it hard to hold in her chuckle. "Grandma, that's not something you should be asking so suddenly," he said.
"That's right, mother. Don't go asking the kids something like that. They are still very young," the Uncle said.
"Young? What young? I had you when I was only 22, and they are way older than that," the old woman said.
"Don't compare the old times to today. Let the kids decide what they want for themselves," the Uncle said. "Don't listen to her. Do what you want."
Ning gave a wry smile and said nothing else. Just then, Hi-Ah nudged him to get his attention, which was something he absolutely wanted from this situation.
"What?" Ning asked as she turned around.
"Something is happening there," she pointed towards the other corner of the room where the only two blue-haired and blue-eyed people were having a staring contest at each other.
One was tall and buff, while the other was small and a child. However, that didn't stop the two from glaring at each other.
"Oh, of course, that would happen." Dragons were proud creatures after all.
"Sorlus, don't try to pick a fight with Blue. You'll lose," Ning said.
"Hehe, listen to master, little brat. You are weaker than me. Call me big brother from now on," Blue said.
"Tsk!" Sorlus clicked his tongue and turned away to leave.
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"Wait, I said call me big brother. Don't just leave like that," Blue said before following behind Sorlus.
Ning sighed. "Can you check on them? Make sure they don't fight because of their ego?" he asked Saphandra.
Saphandra sighed. "Sure," she said and flew away.
Night sat on the couch, curiously watching the flashing images on the screen which was the cartoon that the spirit and dragon had left playing.
He had no idea what he was looking at, but he was absolutely entranced by it.
Hi-Ah nudged Ning again. "Cousin, our rooms are full. We don't have any more place for all these people," she said.
"Oh, it's fine," Ning said. "The other two don't sleep at all."
"Oh," Hi-Ah was surprised. She looked towards Night and got suspicious. "Wait, are they… similar to Sorlus?"
Ning smiled and nodded. "Not exactly, but in a way."
She couldn't believe it at all. "Where do you find these people?" she asked.
"I found them long ago, and I only just went back to get them," Ning said. "Speaking of which, I've been away for nearly 2 months, so why are you still living here? I would've thought that at least you or your brother would be living in a new house."
"We've tried looking for one, but the housing market is insanely pricey. You can't get a piece of land to build a house on without having to sell your soul to get it," she said with a sigh. "We've been fine here anyway, so I didn't bother looking for any after the first few days."
Ning sighed when he heard that. "Fine, I will go look for a good one soon. It won't really matter what it costs anyway," he said.
He reached into his storage space and pulled out two mana stones before handing it over to the two of them. "I'm sure you were waiting for this, so have them.
Hi-Ah's eyes shined when she finally saw it again. "Thank you," she said, but her eyes weren't even looking at Ning anymore. Her entire focus was on the mana stone.
Jung-Hee was the same. He was completely entranced by the mana stone and didn't even say anything.
The last stone, along with the technique that Ning had provided them with had helped the two brothers and sisters go beyond what they could've reached in the next 5 years had they taken the normal trajectory in life.
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However, now, Hi-Ah was an S-ranked Mage, and her brother was also on the very of becoming an S-ranked Mage.
Going from D-rank to S-rank in just 2 months was something Jung-Hee could have never thought of in his entire life.
"Well, I will have to go and make more for dinner now, so just sit around and—"
"Let's just order some takeout for today, father," Jung-Hee said. "It's too late to make anything anyway."
"It's alright," Ning said. "We ate before we came."
"But you have to eat something," Uncle said. "We can't let a daughter who has come home for the first time go to sleep without feeding her anything."
"Well," Ning didn't know what to say.
"Alright, Jung-Hee. Order some takeouts," the Uncle said.
"Okay," Jung-Hee said and pulled out his phone.
"But only for you and your sister. We will feed Ning and daughter-in-law today," the uncle said.
Jung-Hee shrugged. Takeouts were tastier anyway to him.
"I will go put on dinner," the Uncle said and stood up to leave.
"Let me help you, Uncle," Ely said.
"No, no, sit. You don't have to do anything," the Uncle said.
"Why not? Am I not a daughter of this home?" she asked.
The uncle had no retort. "Alright, fine. Come help me in the kitchen," he said and continued. Ely went after him.
"Well, I've already eaten, so I'm going to sleep," his grandmother said and left as well.
After they were gone, Ning turned to Hi-Ah and called her closer. "Tell me, what has happened in the time I was gone?" he asked.
"Well… many things have happened, but I suppose you want the biggest news first," she said.
"Which is?" Ning asked.
"Another SS-ranked dungeon has formed in Germany a month ago," she said. "Until now, many have entered, but none have managed to leave."
Another SS-ranked Dungeon? Well, that's bad," Ning thought.
"Can't you just enter and destroy it?" Hi-Ah asked.
"I can, but…" Ning sighed. Even if he ignored the political situation of the world where he wouldn't be allowed to enter a country's dungeon on a whim, there was still the problem with the Constellations.
He didn't know what the 'good' constellations would do, but certainly, the 'bad' ones would get angry at him for destroying another dungeon of such power.
They had been waiting for the dungeon to develop so that they could show themselves to the world and gain some recognition. If he took that away from them, then the angry constellations would come to attack him.
As a lone fighter, he would not be able to fight against all of them at all.
'I will have to be careful,' he thought to himself.
"How many have entered exactly?" Ning asked.
"Let me check," Hi-Ah said and pulled out her phone. "20 A-ranked hunters and 3 S-ranked hunters."
"What? Why the hell would they send such weaklings?" Ning was angry to hear the news.
"Apparently none of the Apostles are accepting the task at all. They are all refusing to enter, even when offered a lot of money," she said.
"Dammit, their constellations must have let them know how dangerous it is," Ning said to himself.
"Constellations?" Hi-Ah asked with a confused look.
"Nothing, you don't have to think about it," Ning said.
As he tried to think of something to do, his Uncle came out and told him that the food was ready.
Ning stopped thinking about it for now and went to have his dinner. He talked with his uncle over dinner too and sneakily checked his mage tier.
'3rd tier, huh?' he thought. That wasn't that bad considering he had barely awakened as one before.
'3rd tier… that's B-rank equivalent?' he thought to himself. What people wouldn't do to have the same speed in mana cultivation as his uncle.
His Uncle asked many different questions to Ely, constantly trying to learn more about her.
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Ning was glad that they had practiced everything previously, or they would definitely be struggling at the moment.
"Where did you hold the wedding? In China or France?" the Uncle asked.
"Nowhere," Ning said. "We never officially got married."
"What? No way, not even a court marriage?" his uncle asked in surprise.
"No, not even that," Ning said. "We never wanted it, so please don't suggest it."
"But…"
"With the world the way it is now, we couldn't afford to at the time," Ning said. "So many years have passed that we don't want it anymore."
"Well, let's not say no right away," Ely said from the side. "Who knows? Maybe we change our minds someday."
"Will we?" Ning asked.
"I might," Ely said.
"Fine, we will have it after I no longer have to worry about the earth," he said.
The two of them continued eating alongside his uncle, and after they were done, his Uncle sent the two of them away.
Ning walked out to the living room to find the two brothers and sister just starting to have some fried chicken.
"That's all you're going to eat?" Ning asked.
"This is the best stuff, brother," Jung-Hee said.
"I know, I ate that a lot when I was in Nulwurn," he said. "They only had fish there, so it was heavenly to have some chicken."
"Oh, where is Nulwurn? Sounds European. Is that where sister-in-law is from?" he asked.
"No, Ely is from France," Ning said. "Nulwurn is well…"
"Nulwurn is where Ning and I and Talon went after we were abducted by Genesis," Saphandra said from the side.
"What? Abducted?" Jung-Hee cried out in surprise.
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"Saph!" Ning gave a disappointed look.
"What?" Saphandra asked. "You should just tell them already. It will be easier."
"Sigh, just go watch TV or something," Ning said.
"No, I want to talk with miss Ely here. I want to know why you would go so far just to return to her," she said.
"Fine, talk with her," Ning said and sat down beside the two siblings as he took a piece from the little brother's place.
Jung-Hee tried to object, but Ning was already biting onto it before he could say anything.
"She sounds jealous," Hi-Ah said softly so that Sphandra who had moved far away couldn't hear at all.
"She's not," Ning said.
"I trust my eyes," Hi-Ah said. "Anyway, what's his deal? He hasn't talked ever since coming here. He's just been watching TV all along."
"Who, Night? He's just shy. You can go talk to him and he will talk with you. He's the silent type after all," Ning said.
Jung-Hee looked at his cousin and softly asked, "Why is his name Night?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Ning asked.
"I mean, what sort of parent would name their kid Night? Wouldn't most want to call them something related to day or something related to the sun and moon?" Jung-Hee asked.
"But Night is a nice name," Ning said.
"I don't think it is," Jung-Hee said. "Whoever came up with it wasn't thinking straight."
Ning gave a blank look. "No, it's a nice name," he said.
Hi-Ah looked at him with an awkward look on her face. "Uh… did you give him that name by any chance?" she asked.
"Of course," Ning said.
"And… what about Blue?" she asked.
"I came up with his name as well. Don't you dare tell me that's a bad name," Ning said.
"Ahem, no no, that's a g-good name, brother," Jung-Hee said. "Especially Sorlus's name. That's the best one for sure."
Ning looked at them blankly again. "That's his actual name," he said. "I didn't give him any."
The two siblings didn't know what to say anymore. "Oh, look brother. This piece of meat looks tasty, do you want it? I bet you'll love it," Jung-Hee said and pushed a piece next to Ning.
Ning instead gave an angry look. "Just you two wait, I will come up with a name to call the both of you. Then you will see."
None of the cultivators needed any sleep at all. So after everyone went to their rooms, Ning and the rest sat around watching TV to learn various things.
At some point Ely asked for a phone, so Ning created one that worked better than any out there. She remained on the phone for the rest of the night after that.
Early morning, as the others started walking out of their room, Ning finally decided to tell some people that he was back.
He asked his system for a skill that could emulate phone calls by sending and receiving them from anywhere in the world and used that to call the director.
"Who is this?" the director answer the call with clear hesitation in his voice.
"Oh, hey director Sung. It's me, Ning. I called to let you know that I'm back," Ning said.
"Wait, Ning? You're back?" he asked with a tone of surprise. "Can you come to meet me today? I have a few things to talk about with you."
"Sure, I will come by the office around 10 or 11," he said. "See you then."
Ning ended the call and turned to Ely. "When do we go visit your brother?" he asked.
"Uh, what time is it right now in France?" she asked.
"Uhh... like 1 or 2 in the night," he said.
"Okay, then let's go around 6 hours later then," Ning said. He turned towards Saphandra and asked, "Hey, can you take Blue and Night out into the city today to see around? I need them to get used to earth as fast as they can."
"Sure," Saphandra said. "I haven't been out in a while. Sorlus just doesn't want to go out at all."
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The other family members got down and talked for a while as well. Hi-Ah had successfully become an S-ranked mage, so she had been scouted by the various different guilds.
Since she no longer had to worry about her family or even herself, she had stopped worrying about what would happen if she joined a guild, and had just joined the best one.
In the place they were at, the White Devil guild was definitely the best one.
Jung-Hee still hadn't revealed the fact that he was also improving his rank. He wanted to hide it until he had successfully become an S-ranked mage himself.
He sat around the kitchen table for breakfast with Ely by his side. His uncle, his cousins, and his grandmother also sat down. However, there was no space for the other 3 in the kitchen at all.
"Go back, you guys don't have to eat," Ning said and turned around the beasts. "Saphandra will take you to the restaurants later, you can try out different stuff there."
Night and Blue didn't mind not eating, but Sorlus was used to eating, so he still grabbed his breakfast and went to the living room to eat.
"What are you going to do today? I heard you on the phone, but shouldn't you be resting after returning from a long journey?" his Uncle asked.
"Don't worry about me Uncle. I'm not tired at all. As for today, I plan on going house hunting. While this place is good, I need to find my own place too. One that is massive enough to house everyone," he said.
"That's not a bad idea. You two need some privacy yourselves," his Uncle said. "Although, don't try to find one in the city. They will rip you off badly. Find one outside of the city. Those are the best places."
"I will consider that, uncle," he said.
There really wasn't anything he needed to consider, however. He had already found a few choices, so all he had to do was go around with Ely and choose the best one.
After finishing their breakfast, Hi-Ah and Jung-Hee had to leave for their job.
"Wait for us, we will come with you too," Ning said. He and Ely changed to casual earth clothing and got into the back seat of the car that Ning had left behind so long ago.
Hi-Ah drove the car and the 4 of them made their way to the city.
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Ning's first stop was a place just outside of the city. He got off the car and turned to Hi-Ah. "Find Kim Min-Soo and tell her I'm back and I'm willing to negotiate any contract if she still wants to," he said.
Hi-Ah nodded and left.
Ning walked with Ely the rest of the way which was about 200 meters far away from the main highway.
"There, that plot of land. We can buy that," he said.
"Hmm, that's quite a lot of land for Earth," she said. "Why is that empty?"
"Same reason why any of it is empty really. The Dungeon break killed a lot of people, including the farmers who used to farm this land. Because of that, many farmlands are completely open for grabs," he said.
"I see," Ely said.
The plot of land was about 4500 meters square in area with about 45 meters in width and 100 meters in length.
"This isn't so bad, but it's not that close to any sort of road," Ely said. "There should be better ones for sure."
"The road isn't that much of a problem for us anyway, although now that I look at it, this area isn't that visually pleasing at all. Hopefully, the next one will be better," Ning said.
"Yeah, let's go check out the next one," Ely said.
The two of them teleported away from their current location, arriving at another location that was just outside of the city, separated by a large river.
The plot of land was right next to the river and was completely barren.
"Ooh, this one is much better," Ely said. "Hmm, although it looks a little small."
"Yeah, it's only 3800 meters square in area," Ning said. "It's much smaller than the earlier one. Although, it does have a good view."
"Come on," Ely said. "Let's go check the other ones."
Ning nodded and the two of them teleported again.
Ning and Ely went around looking at the various places where they could build a home for themselves.
In the end, they decided upon a piece of land to the south of Daegu that was surrounded by a lake on two sides. It was a little further from the city than they would want, but they could always just have a bit more road leading up there.
Once deciding on where they were going to build their house, Ning needed to visit Director Sung.
He and Ely teleported to Seoul, arriving a little away from the Department of Dungeon Defense. Ely looked around the city gleefully while Ning went directly to meet the director.
"Do you want to stay out here or go in with me to the meeting?" he asked her. "It might not be very fun inside."
"Let's go inside. I want to see how it all is," she said.
"Sure, then let's go," Ning said and took her.
He arrived in front of the assistant for the director and told her he was there for the meeting. The girl, knowing who he was now after his last barge-in, quickly let the director know about it.
Ely walked with Ning, going into the room alongside him. The assistant wanted to stop her, but since she was with Ning, she didn't dare say anything. She didn't want to anger an Apostle after all.
Ning opened the door and entered, only to see that it wasn't just the director that was there.
"Young Ning, you are here. I've been waiting for you," the director said and stood up to greet him.
Ning nodded and looked at the other two that were in the room. "I didn't expect brother Lee and Sister Soo-Yun to be here as well," he said. "It's been a while."
"It has been a while indeed," Lee said.
"I didn't expect you to just disappear like that," Soo-Yun said.
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Unlike Apostles Bak, Park, and Kim, both Lee and Soo-Yun were from the Seoul district, so they were able to come here to meet him.
Lee looked more respectful now than he was before his small mock battle with Ning. As for Soo-Yun, she didn't dare use her charming skills on him at all.
After Ning walked in, Ely walked in as well. "I hope you don't mind that I brought her over as well," he said. "My wife wanted to see what sort of things happen in these meetings."
The director was surprised, and so were the other two.
"Your wife?" the director asked. "I didn't realize you were married."
"Of course, you didn't," Ning said. "I never told you at all."
Lee stood up to greet her quickly. "Hello, I am Lee Kwon-Yu. Leader and Apostle of the Frost Empire guild," he introduced himself.
"Hello, I'm Elenora," Ely said. "I do not have any title such as yourself."
"I'm Ja Soo-Yun from the Silver Star guild. Pleased to meet you," Soo-Yun introduced herself simply.
"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you too," she said with a wide smile.
"Miss Elenora, Please sit," the director got out from behind his desk. "I'm Sung Han-Sum, director of the Dungeon Defense department. May I ask what your nationality is? You don't look Korean or Chinese."
"I was born in France," Ely said. "Although I'm not sure if I can say that I'm of that nationality right now."
"Ah, I see. You're in a similar situation as Ning then," he said. He let the two of them sit and got behind his desk to sit down.
"Wait, so are we going to talk confidential information in front of a civilian?" Lee asked with a curious look. "I don't mean any disrespect, miss Elenora."
"No, of course not," Ely said. "I just wanted to come here is all."
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"It doesn't really matter though," Ning said. "I'm going to tell her everything in the end anyway. This just removes the trouble for me."
"Sigh, I suppose I will have to let this one slide then," the director said. There was no way he was going to argue with Ning on any matter that would make him see them unfavorably.
"So, what was it that you wanted to see me for?" Ning asked.
"Right, I've been trying to contact you for so long," he said. "We have received a request for help."
"For help?" Ning asked.
"I'm sure you know what has been happening in Germany right now, right?" he asked. "The German government has requested your help in getting rid of the SS-ranked dungeon that they have.
"They asked for me?" Ning asked with a surprised look on his face. "How did they even know about me in the first place?"
"Ahem, they… they were asking for help from anywhere they could, and we happened to let them know that you had destroyed one before. After that, they have been asking us to lend you over to them. Is that… a problem?" the director asked.
"It's… complicated," Ning said. "I'll think about it. And… there goes my privacy."
Ely looked surprised when she heard him speak that way. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"The vultures are back," he said, looking at the two Apostles, who didn't understand what was happening.
"Will you sit here for a while? I need to go talk with them for a bit," he said.
"Okay," Ely said worriedly, not understanding what was happening at all.
Ning stood up and walked towards Lee with massive strides, surprising and intimidating Lee into standing up and trying to back away. "Uhh.. Brother Ning, is something wrong?" he asked while cowering backward.
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to hurt you," Ning said. He grabbed onto his shoulder and his System started working.
Using the energy in Lee, Ning was able to find a connection directly to Lee's god. After finding him, he teleported away.
He arrived in a white space with almost nothing around him except for some bumps in on the floor. He sat on one of them and look ahead at the Constellation that sat down as well.
"So, you must be Noraxis."
Noraxis was a dark, demonic figure with two horns coming out of a head that had a whirling abyss inside of him. His fingers were 5 tentacles, each of which dropped black flakes from them continuously
The black flakes fell to the floor and turned into nothing but black smoke that dissipated into the air.
"How did you find me?" the Constellation asked in an archaic voice that seemed to come from far away even though he was right in front of Ning.
"You've let your powers around, so it is easy to find you," Ning said. "Can you call Yemis here? And Helus, Graves, and Thaluxus if you can."
"What reason do I have to call them here?" the Constellation asked. "To kill us all as you did to Stryxus?"
"Do you think I can kill you all?" Ning asked with a creepy smile on his face.
"I don't know what you can do. I don't even know what you are," the Constellation said.
"Then, do you think I'm here to kill you?" Ning asked.
Noraxis paused. He wasn't sure about that anymore. "What are you here for then?" he asked.
"To stop you and the rest from constantly staring at me," Ning said. "I hate it when you do nothing but state at me as if you're trying to figure out what I am."
"We are," the Constellation said. "You are an anomaly that we have never seen or heard of before. We thought that you were a normal system user, but then you killed Stryxus, so you can't be a system user after all."
"Well, can you stop trying to figure it out then?" Ning asked. "Even if you don't want to, at least stop paying attention to me. Your stares prick like thorns and I hate when that happens."
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"Is that it?" Noraxis asked. "Is that what you are here for?"
"That was what prompted me to come here, but now that I'm here, I have another plan," Ning said. "As I said before, can you call the other 4 Constellations too?"
Noraxis thought for a moment and accepted the request. He sent an invitation to the four constellations that Ning had named and a moment later, they were all there.
Yemis was the one that had appointed the speedy Park as her Apostle. She was a humanoid figure with everything human except for her eyes, chest, and back.
She had demonic crimson eyes that were 3 pairs each instead of one. Her chest had nothing demonic, but it was fully open and one could see a beating heart inside of it. As for her back, there was a bat wing, like most demons did.
Helus was the Constellation behind the Sorcerer apostle Bak. He was a half-human, half-squid, with his head and legs belonging to that of a squid. He looked unnerving for sure and even vomited out constant black Ink that marred the floor black.
Graves had a rotting face and his body was full of holes through which one could see through. There were snakes and worms that constantly moved in and out of holes, giving him a creepy feeling than the rest of them. He was the Constellation behind Soo-Yun.
Thalaxus was the White Devil behind Kim Min-Soo. He had a goat's skull with horns on his head while the rest of his body was a skeleton.
They all stood by each other and looked at Ning with concern.
"Looks like a few of us are here at least," Ning said.
"What do you want?" Yemis asked.
"What did you call us here for?" Helus asked as well.
"We should get rid of him and be done with," Graves said hurriedly. He was the one here that was most afraid of Ning.
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"If he could, he would have killed us already. I don't think he can fight the 5 of us if we work together," Thalaxus said.
Ning smiled. "Do you want to test that hypothesis of yours?" he asked.
Thalaxus stepped back a little in fear. The one thing that all Constellations wanted was to have more energy and grow stronger by living in the minds of as many as they could.
The one thing that all of them hated was the thought of dying. The thought of inexistence. The thought of disappearing without anyone else with the same thought and memory to be born again.
Constellations were born from others, so they were the ones that feared for their own lives the most. As such, they were also the ones that would go to any length if it meant their longer survival.
No number of death was too much, and no atrocities were too far. These were the ones that made themselves the gods of whoever they could find, and if that didn't work, they would destroy them and move on to someone else.
Ning looked at the 5 of them and prepared his own escape route. Teleporting was impossible from this space, so he would have to open a portal instead. However, the problem with portals was that anyone could enter after he left it behind.
Ning sighed and spoke, "I'm not going to kill you. I'm here to give you an opportunity to have your influence back in Korea," he said.
The 5 constellations got curious after hearing that. "What do you mean?" Thalaxus asked.
"Let me ask a question first," Ning said. "If the people on earth were to all die, would that benefit you in any way at all?"
"No," Noraxis said. "We need them to live so we can continue to live off of their memories."
"Then, are you doing anything to stop them from dying?" he asked.
"We created the Apostles," Thalaxus said.
"And gave them a whole lot of knowledge," Yemis said.
"That's good," Ning said. "But what about the other Constellations that are waiting for the apocalypse to arrive and the whole world to be turned upside down?"
"What will you do when they will destroy the world, and people will remember you as the one that failed?" Ning said. "And what will you do as you fade off of their memories, replaced by the other ones?"
That is unlikely to happen," Graves said with a raspy voice that was more whispering than actually speaking. "We have more of us on our side. When the world does get overturned by monsters, we will emerge victorious in the end with the Apostles we have gathered."
"And what about the millions, even hundreds of millions of people that will die in the end because of the monsters? Are you willing to let so many thoughts, so many minds just disappear?"
"A small sacrifice that we're willing to make," Noraxis said.
"That's a small sacrifice to you?" Ning asked, anger visible in his eyes. He knew he hated these Constellations for what they did, but he didn't know he would hate them so openly.
"Hundreds of millions of people is nothing to you?" Ning asked.
"We only care about our own survival," the squid-faced Helus said. His tentacles slopped around the ground, moving unnaturally.
"What if you could save those lives from disappearing? Wouldn't you rather have so many more people thinking about you?" Ning asked.
"But they will die when the monsters attack," Thalaxus said. "We cannot stop that."
"Why not?" Ning asked.
"Stopping the monsters ourselves means that we place ourselves against the others who have been waiting for that moment. They will attack us," Graves said.
"And you are worried about being attacked?" Ning asked. "Aren't there like 90 of you against mere 45 others? You outnumber them 2 to 1."
"Yes, but there is a chance we may die when fighting the others. We cannot afford that," Yemis said.
"You are cowards," Ning said. "You have the number and yet you fear them. Fight and emerge victorious. You will be remembered far more than doing any of this."
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The Constellations thought about it, but it was clear that they weren't giving it the serious thought it deserved.
"Fine, if you don't want to fight them when the Apocalypse happens, then I have a better idea," Ning said. "How about stopping the Apocalypse from happening altogether? What do you think?"
"How do you plan on doing that?" Thalaxus asked.
"By destroying every single dungeon in this world," Ning said. "What do you say?"
The Constellations quickly shook their head. "No, we cannot accept this. We need those dungeons as the source of fear that makes humans look up to the Apostles we have chosen. Without those, they will forget about us soon enough."
Ning frowned. They weren't wrong about that. There was no reason for them to help him clear the dungeons when it meant they came out worse than they started in the situation.
"Fine then," Ning said. "Not all dungeons, just the ones that are SS-ranked. What do you say?"
The Constellations looked at one another to make a decision. "What do we get out of that," they asked.
Ning smiled. "Exactly what you want," he said.
"What do you mean?" they asked him with an unsure voice.
"Every time I destroy the dungeon, I will make sure to say that I was able to do it due to the powers vested in me by the 5 of you. Humanity will soon do nothing but praise you for making me an Apostle," he said. "How does that work for you?"
Ning had learned from Hi-Ah that people were already calling him an Apostle because of all the feats he had been able to accomplish. No normal human being should have that sort of power otherwise.
Since that was the case, he had decided to play along with it, and right now, that made the most sense.
"I get to go around doing what I want without people questioning me, and you get to make a name for yourself, far more than what your apostles can," Ning said. "How's that for an alliance?"
"That sounds… good," Noraxis said. "I don't see how this helps you though."
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"How does it not?" Ning asked. "All I want is peace in my world. Destroying those dungeons makes me feel safe."
Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Having 5 constellations behind him helped keep some others off of him just out of fear of having all of them get mixed into any sort of conflict.
These constellations hated conflicts, so even with the tiniest bit of chance there being a threat of losing their life, they would back off.
"Does that answer your question?" Ning asked. "Unlike you four, I don't have anything to gain, and neither do I want anything like you. All I care about is protecting the people of my world. The question now is, do you accept my offer to work together so you can start getting benefits from what I do?"
"I accepted," Graves said without any more consideration. "I won't do anything else to help you. I won't fight any battles that may come your way."
Ning grunted a little. "Fine, what about the rest of you?" he asked.
"I… see nothing wrong with this," Helus said. "I accept as well.
"I would like to reap the benefits of what I haven't sowed as well," Yemis said, blinking her 6 eyes.
"I see no downside on this for me, so I would like to accept as well," Thalaxus said.
"I shall join you in this as well," Noraxis said.
"Great, we are all in this together then," Ning said. "I will start using your name starting now."
He stood up to leave. "Also, stop staring okay? All of you. I don't like it. If you want to talk, just contact me. I can come anytime you want. See ya."
Ning opened a portal and teleported away from this separated space to arrive back inside the director's room.
"Where did you go?" Ely asked with a curious look on her face.
"To talk with a few gods," Ning said and turned towards the director. "I have some good news."
"Oh, what's that?" the director asked.
"Contact the German Government, I will be destroying their SS-ranked dungeon, just as they want."
Ning went around the city of Seoul with Ely. He went to some restaurants and had some delicious meals.
Ely was lacking some clothes, and she didn't want Ning to make any for her. She wanted the feeling of finding new things while shopping, so the two of them went on a shopping spree.
"When do we get our house ready?" Ely asked while going through some clothes.
"As soon as the director speeds up the land transfer. We should be getting the land within the next 2 days, and then I can make the house in less than a day. It's just a bunch of design work anyway. The system will do the rest," Ning said.
"Let me know about the design. I want to create some artifacts integrated into the house," Ely said.
"Sure, that works too," Ning said.
They spent nearly 5 hours in the city of Seoul before returning to their uncle's house.
"Blue, Night, Sorlus, Saph, you guys want to go on an adventure?" Ning asked.
"Yes, master. I've been bored sitting here for the last 2 months," Sorlus said, almost pleadingly.
"Ooh, another Dungeon? Let's go," Saphandra said happily.
Blue and Night had only heard about the dungeon and had never seen its inside, so they were very curious about it as well.
"Alright, let's go."
The 6 of them teleported at once and arrived at the southern side of Berlin, Germany. The Dungeon department was set up near a river in the north of Potsdam, so Ning and the rest had to walk there.
Ely looked around at the different men and women that spoke a language that she did not understand at all.
"Oh, this is weird," she said to herself. It had been a very, very long time since she had heard a language she did not understand at all.
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Even Korean was something she learned by herself through Ning's help, so she had never experienced it beforehand at all.
He touched a small necklace that was hidden in her clothes and activated it. Suddenly, she could hear everything around her and understood it perfectly.
At the same time, the other 3 beasts did the same as well.
Saphandra was the only one that did not need this as the System directly translated anything and everything Ning heard for her.
"You guys been to Germany before?" Ning asked Sorlus and Saphandra.
"No, this is my first time," Saphandra said. "We never left the house after all."
"Great, this is my first time as well," Ning said. "What about you Ely?"
"I may have come here before, but I was very small at the time," she said. "I don't even have a memory of it, despite what you gave me."
"Hmm, well, let's treat this as your first time as well," Ning said.
They arrived at the German Dungeon Department headquarters and walked inside.
The place here looked more sophisticated than anything in South Korea. It was definitely more expensive for sure.
He walked on top of the marble floor and arrived in front of a receptionist. "Hello, I'm here to meet the Director of this place," he said.
"I'm sorry sir, the department hasn't opened just yet. Please wait for an hour or two," she said.
"Oh? Is the director not here? I thought he would have arrived given that he was notified of my visit," Ning said.
The woman looked up curiously. "The director has come, but he won't be see— AH!" she screamed suddenly as she realized who she was looking at. "Are you… the Apostles Ning?" she asked.
Ning smiled. "I am, and I'm here to meet the director."
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"I'm so sorry for not recognizing you. Please, forgive me. I will notify the director right away," she said and was already on the phone.
A moment later, hurried footsteps came from the hallway to the right as many figures, all important for sure, walked out with surprised looks.
"Apostle Ning, welcome," one of the men said. "I am the director of this dungeon."
A translator tried to translate his words, but Ning stopped him.
"Hello," he said and shook his hand. "Thank you for welcoming me."
The director was a little surprised and smiled. "I didn't know you knew German," he said.
"I know many things," Ning said.
The director smiled in response. He was a short and bald man, but he was definitely not a nobody. From the handshake alone, Ning could tell that he was at least an A-ranked hunter in terms of strength.
He quickly introduced everyone to Ning and Ning shook hands with everyone too. There were ministers, generals, and even 3 Apostles that had come to see him and talk with him.
"I'm sorry you had to come here by yourself. How did you come here though? I had people stationed at the airport for your arrival. I wasn't made aware that you had landed already," he said.
"Oh, I didn't come within any vehicle. I have better methods myself," Ning said.
"I see, please let's go talk in my office," the director said. Everyone around him was incredibly respectful to Ning, not out of tradition, but as a necessity.
Since Ning was most likely their only solution to the current predicament, they couldn't afford to offend him at all.
"You guys want to stay outside for a while? I will be right back," Ning said.
"Sure, go inside. I don't think there's much for us to do there anyway," Ely said and sent him away.
Ning walked along with the director and ministers and many important governmental figures.
Ning arrived at their office which was a long room with a long table. Ning was made to sit on the longer side of the table, while the director sat opposite to him.
"Thank you for coming here," the director said. "You have no idea what it means to us now that you have accepted our offer."
"Of course," Ning said. "I'm sorry for not coming earlier. I could have saved some life from being wasted. Unfortunately, I was busy and didn't know about this until now."
"It is unfortunate," the director said. "But as they say, it's better late than never."
Ning spoke for a few more minutes, confirming the terms of his aid.
He was to receive a good chunk of money for removing the SS-ranked dungeon, but anything he got from inside there, except the dungeon boss's core would be their property.
Ning agreed easily as there wasn't much need for SS-ranked mana stones for him anyway. He had some other plan for that himself.
The Apostles there tried to talk with him, but Ning kept asking for them to come with him to the dungeon, so they stopped talking with him.
Ning was slightly rude to them partly because he didn't want to be friends with them at all, and partly because their constellations were staring at him and he was getting annoyed.
"Now that everything has been finalized, I will go clear the dungeon," Ning said and stood up to leave.
"Yes, let's go," the director said and took him along.
Once out, Ning met up with Ely and the rest. When the director realized that Ely and the other two were going to go along with Ning, he was surprised.
"Who are these people exactly?" the director asked. He tried to figure out if these were the apostles from Korea, but as far as he knew, they were some people else.
"These are my family," Ning said. "This is my wife, and these three are someone I adopted."
"Oh, I didn't realize you had brought your wife and children along," the director said with a weird look on his face.
Sorlus was young enough that he could be adopted by Ning, but no matter how he looked at it, there was no way either Night or Blue could be Ning's children at all.
At best, he looked 30 years old.
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"I will have rooms reserved for them in a hotel while you clear the dungeon," the director said and looked towards his assistant to give the order.
However, before he could do it, Ning shook his head. "I can't let you do that," Ning said. "I brought them here so they can enter the dungeon with me. They have been excited about it since I told them about it a few hours ago."
"What?" the director couldn't help but shout in surprise. He wondered if Ning was an idiot for sending his family to danger. Especially in a place like an SS-ranked Dungeon.
"Are you sure, Apostle Ning?" the director asked. "It could be very dangerous."
"Haha! Don't worry. Such a thing is easy for me. I have the power of 5 gods on my side after all," he said with a proud expression on his face.
"What? 5 gods?" one of the apostles not far away shouted in surprise.
"Ye, 5," Ning said. "Yemis, Thalaxus, Graves, Noraxis, and Helus are the 5 gods that are helping me today."
He was doing his part of making the 5 constellations popular so they would be enticed to continue keeping their alliance with each other, without the thought of betrayal ever crossing their head.
Later, he would spread the news through some interviews as well and maybe even help remove those mana circuit problems from many that were still unconscious.
'I should try and improve my mana too,' Ning thought. As of now, he was only a Tier 5 mage. He needed to be tier 8 for removing the mana poisoning permanently.
The director was still surprised, perhaps far more so even as he realized what it meant to be blessed by 5 gods at once. He could see why Ning was as strong as he was said to be.
They drove about half an hour before appearing inside the city of Berlin in an area that was not as populated.
It used to be the most populated place in the entire city, but after the dungeon break, many people died, and thus not many chose to live here.
Now, the place was mostly barren, the dungeon given a wide perimeter so no human could enter again.
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Ning could see that there was nearly a kilometer of radius around the dungeon. It looked like it had gotten worse after the dungeon had turned to an SS-ranked dungeon.
They all arrived outside the dungeon gate and Ning got ready to enter. He stood in front of it with everyone and looked towards the director.
"I do not know how long this will take me. It is supposed to take a very long, so you might have to wait a while. I suggest you go back and have others tell you when we are out," Ning told him.
The director nodded. "I will leave after you are all in," he said.
"Alright, let's go," Ning said and walked through the gate with all 3 of them.
He, Ely, Blue, Night, and Sorlus arrived in an entirely new place. Saphandra flew out of Sorlus' clothes which she had been hiding inside this entire time and looked around her.
"What the hell is this place?" she asked.
They arrived in a dark place with a dark fog covering everything, not even letting them see anything. The black fog visually impaired every single one of them there, including Ning.
"I… can't see anything," Blue said. "Night, is this you?"
"No, not me," Night said. His divine sense spread from him and covered a massive area, only to be surprised that he couldn't find anything.
"There's nothing here," Ely said in surprise as well. Even she couldn't see anything but flat land with her god-like senses.
Sorlus frowned a little. "Master… I sense evil," he said.
Ning nodded. This much darkness, especially this thick and black fog, it was definitely from some dark magic that had been used in this place.
"What exactly is going on here?" Saphandra asked. "Can you guys even see any monsters to fight?"
"No," Night said. "There is nothing to fight."
"Was Sorlus' dungeon like this too?" Ely asked Ning.
"No, this is different," Ning said. "But, I do believe I know what's going on. If my theory is correct, we will find our foe not far from us."
Ely and the rest didn't understand what Ning meant. "We will find our foe soon?" she asked. "But I can't see anything."
"You're not looking properly," Ning said. "Either way, since our foe is waiting for us to arrive, let us make them wait a little longer."
Ning sat down on the ground and closed his eyes.
"Master?" Blue called with a weird expression on his face. "Are you tired?"
"No, I'm trying to cultivate," Ning said.
"Here?" he couldn't help but ask. "But there's barely any Qi. We have to use our own Qi to fight. There's nothing to cultivate."
"I'm not cultivating Qi," Ning said. "I'm cultivating Mana. I want to improve my mage tier so I can use more useful magic spells."
"Hmm, this might be the right place to do so," Ely said and sat down next to him. "To be honest, I haven't gotten the time to rest properly since we came back. I want to just sit back and relax."
"Here," Ning said and brought out something. He created a few beds for all of them to lie down in. It felt quite weird to lie down in a place that reeked of evil, but what else could they do while waiting for Ning to be done with whatever he was doing?
Ning took out an SS-ranked mana stone and started devouring the mana in it to advance himself. Just a single one was enough for him to reach Tier 6.
The rest simply talked and waited while Ning did so.
Time passed slowly, but none of them cared. Every single one of them was used to spending a large amount of time doing basically nothing.
There were a couple of times that Sorlus and Blue tried to get into a fight to figure out who was the better water dragon, but thankfully Ely was there to keep the two in order.
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Ning finally stopped a few hours later after finishing absorbing 3 different SS-ranked mana stones. He was Tier 6 by now and had made considerable advancement towards Tier 7. Just 2 more tiers were all he needed, but the tier 7 to tier 8 journey would take a lot of time.
'I'll need to find a way for that,' Ning thought. He hoped to be able to do that by killing many Tier 7 or as the humans called it 'SSS-ranked' monsters.
Ning didn't get the last SSS-ranked mana stone from the monster he fought since he ended up becoming its master. However, this time around, he was certain that he had no plan on becoming the master of anything like this.
"Let's go," Ning said and stood up.
The bed they were all standing on vanished, and the group began their journey toward the center of the dungeon.
"Light of Holy Grace," Ning said softly with his left hand pointed in front of him. In that very moment, a bright yellow flash of light shot out from his hand that pushed away the dark miasma that was blocking everyone's vision.
When it went away, Ning and the rest could finally see ahead of them, not that there was anything to look at exactly.
Or so they thought.
Blue took a few too many steps and suddenly the ground in front of them started making some sort of sound. "What's that?" he shouted in wonder. He wasn't worried in the slightest bit.
A hand pushed its way out of the ground as the dirt separated. The group looked at the hand and instantly realized what they were looking at.
"A Skeleton? Ew!" Saphandra said. She was the first one to react out of every one of them, even Blue.
She used her powers and both pushed and pulled the skeleton. She pushed its front side and pulled its back side.
Essentially, she crushed the skeleton with its own body, destroying it to pieces. Those pieces tried to move, but they weren't strong at all.
Soon enough, they stopped moving as the spell that animated them stopped working as well.
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"Skeletons? We're going to fight Skeletons?" Saphandra asked.
"Yes," Ning said. "Although, hmm… that's a problem."
"What's the problem?" Ely asked. She couldn't see anything that could be considered a problem at all.
"Look at this," he said as he scattered around the skeletons. "It's not here."
"There's no mana stone," Sorlus was the first to realize.
"Hmm, that makes sense though, doesn't it?" it's like a puppet, puppeteered by some sort of corpse slaver," Ely said.
"Yeah, and that's problematic… slightly," Ning said. "I won't get any SS-ranked mana stone. If everything we fight ends up becoming a summon or reanimated skeleton, then we might have a bad time. And I promised the German government I would give them everything."
"Don't worry, we will figure something out," Ely said. "Besides, what's there to worry about? We're doing them a favor so they will have to accept whatever we tell them anyway."
"Yeah, I know," Ning said with a sigh. "But I don't want to go down that route. I don't want to antagonize the countries or I would have to fight them to even try and enter their SS-ranked dungeons afterward.
"As I said, we'll figure out something," Ely said. "We should continue moving."
Ning nodded. He had no other choice.
Skeletons popped from the ground one after another. Ning wasn't sure if the skeletons were prepared to jump out of the dirt in their presence or if the boss at the center was using its magic every single time.
Whatever it was, Ning and the rest were new fighting skeletons, and those were incredibly easy to destroy.
The first variation came with a skeleton with a sword and shield. It didn't know how to use it, but it was fighting. Then came ones with bows and arrows, daggers, and hammers. There was even one that could use some magic.
Then came the Death Knights, skeletal monsters that were fully clad in armor, and rode the skeleton horses.
Sorlus destroyed them with a single water spell.
"Let's go meet the boss."
Ning and the rest of them arrived at the center of the field where nothing was there. However, a moment later, a coffin lifted itself out of the ground and flew overhead.
"Who dares tread inside my realm?" a raspy, evil voice spoke in a language that only Ning and Sorlus could understand. The rest of them had to rely on their translation skills in their artifact to get it secondhand.
Ning looked at the monster that had appeared in front of them.
It was a floating humanoid body that had its clothes wrapped in a cloth that was furthermore wrapped around in chains. Various magic circles were drawn on its leg, but from the look of it they were no longer working.
The figure wore a blue mantle that was completely torn up in most places ad only covered up to its chest. Its stomach and arms were visible and to everyone's surprise, they were skeletal arms.
Its head was a half-rotten human head, with bones being visible through some of the cheeks. Its eyes were nowhere to be found, and instead, it was glowing a crimson red.
The figure held a black skull that seemed to have some immense amount of power.
"I knew it!" Ning said with a wide smile. "A Death Lich. Which one of you wants to fight it?"
They all looked at the beasts. Saphandra looked a little disgusted and didn't want to fight it at all. Ning wasn't even sure if she could. Mana was far stronger than Spiritual energy after all.
"I can give it a try," Blue said and walked forward.
Seeing this, Sorlus had to show off as well. "No, I will fight it," he said and walked forward.
The two started quarreling as to who got to fight and neither of them actually started fighting. However, seeing as the two had moved towards it, the death lich moved.
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Suddenly, the black skull on its hand opened up and a terrifying screech left its mouth. Nearly everyone had to hold their ears to ward off the sound and even that didn't help.
Sorlus was the only one affected in the group for some reason, but the most he was feeling was slight dizziness. "Urgh! I hated that," he said.
"Are you okay?" Ely asked Sorlus. "What was that?"
"It's attacking our souls," Ning said. "You three have a strong soul so you weren't affected. Meanwhile, Saphandra and I don't really have any souls, so we are also fine. In the end, Sorlus is the only one that took some damage, but he's too strong to be hurt the same way a normal mage would be."
"That must be it," Sorlus said. "My head aches slightly, but I'm fine."
"Alright, Sorlus, step back. I don't know if you are strong enough to face it or not, but it won't be an easy match for you. Whether you like it or not, you are one of the weakest of the group after all."
Blue gave a wide grin that screamed 'I'm better than you towards Sorlus. Sorlus grumbled and went backward.
"Alright, Blue, go take it ou—"
"No, wait! I want to fight it," Ely said and moved forward. "Can I fight it?"
"Of course, sister Ely. Please go ahead," Blue said.
"Are you sure, honey? You're too strong for this fight," Ning said.
"I know," Ely said as she reached into her storage amulet and brought out something. "But I have a few artifacts that I've been wanting to test out for a while. Let's see how good this work."
The Death Lich moved again. Its left hand grabbed on top of the skull on its right hand, and together they pointed it into the sky.
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The skull opened its mouth again and this time ie shot something into the sky.
"Be careful, it's attacking you," Ning told Ely.
"It's fine," Ely said, not giving much thought to the attack that was going to fall on her at any second. Instead, she planted something firmly onto the ground and propped it out.
Ning looked at the camera like equipment and almost even thought it was one. Except, Ely opened the front of the artifact and there was nothing but a giant hole.
Ely grabbed it by two sides and just like a camera lens, a long tube popped out from the front.
Like lightning, something flashed from the sky and struck the ground right where Ely was, destroying everything in a small radius. However, when the light disappeared, not a hair on her head had been touched.
"Well, I hope this works," he said and poured Qi into the artifact. Suddenly, the tube at the front glowed and something shot out of it, just like a cannon.
A massive Qi blast shot from the front and struck the lich right where it stood. The world shook at the attack and even Blue and Night had to step back in surprise.
The power was just too much with it.
"It must have all been decimated," Saphandra couldn't help but say.
"I don't see how anything could have survived that—" Ely's words stopped in her mouth when she saw something still floating in the air, even after her cannon had attacked it.
"No way!" she shouted in surprise. "How can that monster still be alive after taking an attack from my— oh wait, it's just Ning. Honey, what are you doing?"
Ning floated in front fo the mostly destroyed lich. "You should have told me if you were going to destroy it so suddenly. You nearly destroyed the mana core hidden in it too," he said. He turned around and looked at the remaining body of the lich.
His hand reached into its chest and pulled out the SSS-ranked mana stone. When the lich's dead body fell to the ground, it dissipated in flakes of darkness and a portal appeared right in front of them.
Now that they had cleared the dungeon, they were free to leave.
So, one by one, all of them walked out of the portal, arriving back in Berlin where Ning could see the director just turning around to leave.
Ning and the rest appeared outside the dungeon.
The german director looked at them with confused eyes and opened his mouth to ask something, but then he saw something else instead that made it stuck open as he looked in shock.
Ning felt the change as well and saw what was happening behind him.
The entire white swirl of energy that was the dungeon gate suddenly shook and then collapsed, disappearing in wisps of energy that almost made it look like it was an illusion.
However, many had gone in beforehand and thus they knew that the dungeon was real. This was to say that their seeing the current dungeon meant that the dungeon had truly disappeared.
The director was shocked, but not for the reason Ning believed it was. The director had always known that the moment the dungeon was cleared, it would collapse.
The thing that had surprised him the most had been the speed at which it was cleared.
Ning looked to the sky to see where the sun was and then down towards the people that were still standing around. Ely and the rest noticed it too and couldn't help but be surprised.
Even the stoic Night showed a bit of emotion at this moment as he hadn't expected this to happen.
After all, from what they had learned from Ning, the opposite was supposed to have happened.
"How long were we in?" Ning asked the director.
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"5, Maybe 10 seconds," the director said, trying to hide his shock. "Did you really clear it in just 10 seconds?"
"No, it took some time," Ning said. "We spent nearly half a day inside, and it seemed that translated to nothing out here. The last dungeon I was in was the opposite, so it seems not all dungeons follow the same flow of time."
Ning would have to remember that the next time, or... he could just ask the system to tell him. He should probably do that starting now.
"So it is really gone?" the director asked. "No chance of the dungeon appearing again?"
"Yes, it is gone," Ning said. "Also, I have a small bad news."
"Wh-what bad news?" the director got ready to be disappointed.
"Let's talk elsewhere, away from prying eyes," Ning said while looking at the few people that were gathered around.
"Oh, yes. Please, come with me," the director said, taking Ning and Ely to a large SUV. With a few other important figures, the SUV was quickly full, making Night, Blue, and Sorlus have to move to another vehicle.
However, before they could go in, Ning's voice stopped them. "You guys go have fun. You don't have to come with us," he said. "After this, we'll be going to France for a while so make use of your free time to see the city."
The three beasts accepted and with Saphandra at the lead, they left the dungeon area on foot. They could have flown away, but Ning told them to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
The director wasn't happy with this after he was notified in the SUV since letting people so valuable alone was not what he wanted, but he respected Ning's choice and let the three be.
What else could he even do? Deny the person who just cleared an SS-ranked dungeon by himself? He might have been heavily stressed the past 2 months, but that hadn't made him go senile.
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"So, what is this bad news?" the director asked.
Ning told him about the dungeon. The director was surprised that a dungeon with plant monsters had turned into one with a Death lich and skeletons inside. He could swear that he had heard about it being able to change somewhere before, but it wasn't in the forefront of his thoughts, so he hadn't thought of it.
"Was it strong?" the director asked.
"Relative to who you sent before, very. I doubt anyone could have survived it," he said. "I even suspect that they were turned into skeletons to fight for the lich."
"I see," the director said. He had half hoped for the people to still be alive, but they had all but confirmed those people's death. Now that the dungeon was gone, their funerals would have to be held.
"Well, time moved fast in there, so it must have been years since they entered. They would've died due to the lack of food even if they hadn't had to fight the lich itself," the director said.
"Yes," Ning said. "And here is the worst part. Since it was a lich, its summons were monsters without any mana, as such we weren't able to harvest any mana stone, aside from the lich's itself."
Ning pulled out the mana core he had acquired from the lich. "This is what I got, only this," he said. "What should we do in this case?"
The director hesitated a bit. Ning hadn't truly broken the deal, but it still felt bad for the director to give him what he had asked for without getting the same worth in return.
Besides, he was suspecting that Ning was lying as well. It wasn't impossible to have a dungeon where only the boss had a mana stone, but they were incredibly rare. He had to keep that in mind too.
"How about this," Ning said instead. "Since I couldn't bring you anything but get rid of the dungeon, pay me what you think is a fair price. How does that sound?"
"Are you sure? It was on us for not thinking of the possibility," the director said.
"I know, but I feel bad for you guys not getting anything. I wish to give you some leeway so we can keep the relationship good. Please decide what you wish to do on your own," Ning said. "For now, I have some things to do in France, so I will have to get moving."
"In France?" the director asked curiously. "Would you like us to book you a private jet?"
Ning smiled. "No need," he said. He grabbed Ely's hand and said, "Goodbye."
Suddenly, he and Ely disappeared from the van, surprising the director and everyone else in it.
Ning and Ely arrived on the outskirts of Nantes city in France. They arrived alongside an abandoned alleyway and walked out with hands still holding each other.
As soon as they were out, Ning could see the river Loire across from them. Seeing that gave him an idea of where to go.
However, as he was about to move, he noticed that Ely wasn't moving at all. He turned around to see that she was staring at the river with wide eyes, which were starting to get misty with tears.
"You okay, honey?" Ning asked her.
Ely's hands shivered a little before she got a hold of herself. "Yes," she said, wiping her years. "I just got emotional. I remembered seeing this river all the time when I was stuck in my room, and the memory overwhelmed me a little."
Ning noticed her slightly trembling hands and held them together tightly. "You must be nervous," he said.
"I am," Ely said truthfully. It had been ages since she had seen her brother, so just the thought of seeing him caused her to get nervous all of a sudden.
What would he think when he saw her sister that was supposed to be dead? How would she explain it to him? Should she even explain it? Many thoughts swarmed her head, making it hard to think properly.
Ning patted her hand and squeezed it tightly. "It's all okay," he said. "I'm here with you."
Ely took a deep breath and smiled. "Thank you," she said. "Let's go, I think I remember my way home."
Ning let Ely take the lead since it was her hometown after all. Even if it was thousands of years ago for her.
She remembered mostly, but it had still been over a decade since her memory, so things had changed. The dungeon breaks had especially changed it quite a lot.
Ning helped her through a few turns, but she was still able to remember most of it. Finally, she arrived in front of a tall apartment building and stood there silently for a second.
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"This is it," she said. "This is where I used to live. He's still here, right?"
"Yes, he still lives in your same old apartment," Ning said.
Ely took a deep breath and looked at the metal panel on the side with apartment numbers. She remembered the apartment she lived in and pressed the button.
She could hear the buzzing all the way up from the 15th floor and if she were to use her divine sense, she could even see her brother, but she found it hard to do that right now.
She buzzed again, and this time she got an answer.
"Who is this?" the voice asked.
Ely took a sharp breath when hearing her brother's voice. She tried to speak but found it hard to make any sound. Still, she forced herself to speak.
"This is Chase, right?" she asked.
"Yes, I am Chase. Who are you?" he asked.
"Chase, it's me, Claire," Ely said.
The voice paused for a second. "I don't know any Claire," he said.
"No, it's me, Claire, your sister," Ely said. "Brother, it's me."
The voice paused again for a second and this time spoke with an angry tone to it. "Is this some sort of sick joke? My sister is dead and has been for many years," he said. "I don't know how you found that out, but please leave."
Chase left, leaving Ely in a stunned state, unable to do anything.
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Ning saw that and sighed, "you expected this, didn't you?" he asked. "He doesn't believe you, he has no reason to. Do you have anything you can tell him to make him remember?"
"I… maybe," Ely said, forcing back the tears. She buzzed in again and waited for her brother to answer.
It took nearly 3 buzzes before Chase answered again, "What?" he asked with a sharp voice.
"Do you remember my 7th birthday?" Ely asked.
"What?" Chase was confused. "What are you tal—"
"We were poor since father had just passed away, and mother was sick that day. She couldn't go out to get anything for us and you had to stay with her the entire time. I was starting to think my birthday would pass away without any celebration. I was sad."
"But right before midnight, you surprised me with a strawberry cake. It was small and you told me you asked the people from the bakery to give it to you since they were going to throw it anyway. We didn't have candles, so you stuck a matchstick on the small cake and lit it."
"I remember the smile on my face when I blew it," Ely said. "Do you remember that, Chase? That is one of the happiest memory I have of my childhood, and a memory of just how much you loved me and cared about me."
Ely waited for a bit, but it didn't look like her brother was going to speak at all. However, he suddenly spoke again, his voice barely containing his involuntary tremblings.
"H-how do you know that? No one but my sister and I should know that," he said. He was too shocked to ask anything else.
"That's because it's me, Claire," Ely said. "It's your sister."
"But… but my sister died," Chase said.
"Yes, and I was born again. I reincarnated," Ely said.
"That's… not possible!" Chase said. "How can someone come back to life?"
"The whole world breaks with gods giving powers to everyone, and you think reincarnation is not possible? I know you are hardheaded, brother but please think a little," Ely said.
Chase took a deep breath, loud enough that he could be heard from the intercom. "If you really are my sister, reborn or not, you should know the combination to our door's lock," he said.
The gate buzzed and opened up. "Come up and enter, I will wait for you," he said.
The speaker crackled as it was shut off and Ely looked at the open front gate. "Let's go in."
Ning arrived in front of the door to Ely's old apartment, with Ely trailing a few meters behind. She had tears in her eyes that she was desperately trying to hold back, but her emotions were getting the best of her.
Ning knocked on the door and stepped aside, letting Ely go in front of him.
The door opened slowly to reveal a man in his late 20s. He had a head full of hair, although some of them had gone gray. His beard was rough and it looked like he hadn't cut it in a few days at least.
He was wearing a thin-rimmed spectacle and was wearing a pair of sweatshirts and pants.
He looked at Ely, someone who obviously looked about the same age as him, and frowned.
"Are you really Claire?" the man asked.
"Brother!" Ely said as tears rolled down her eyes. "It's really me, Claire."
She had proved herself through the story she had said a minute ago through the intercom, but Chase still found it hard to believe.
How could he? His sister who had died about 7 years ago had apparently come back to life somehow and she was nearly old as him. That shouldn't be possible at all.
Ely moved and hugged her brother suddenly. Chase tried to dodge, but she was too quick for him.
"I'm so happy to see you again, brother. I'm so happy," she said.
Ning watched from the side with a small smile on his face. He had thought he would no longer be affected by seeing people get reunited after what he had done 100 years ago, but somehow it was still getting to him.
"I-I can't believe it. Are you really our Claire?" Chase couldn't help but ask again.
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"Yes," Ely said. "Although my name is Elenora right now. I no longer go by Claire," she said. "I've lived a different life after I was reincarnated after all."
"I can't believe it," Chase said. "I'm still finding it hard to process. But you know the story. No one else is supposed to know about it."
"It really is me, brother," she said. "I'm sorry for not coming earlier. I was in an entirely different place and wasn't aware that you would still be alive."
Ely finally stopped hugging her brother and wiped her tears. "Oh yes, I forgot to introduce you. This is Ning, my husband," she said while calling for Ning to come right by her.
Ning walked forward and held out his hand. "Hello, brother-in-law," he said with a smile.
Chase gave a weird look when he saw Ning, almost as if he should have known him from somewhere, but he couldn't think of anything clearly at the moment so he ignored it.
He shook his hands and nodded. "You can call me Chase," he said. "Uhh… come on in. I will get you some coffee or tea, whatever you like."
"Anything works for me," Ning said.
"Same for me," Ely said.
Chase stopped and turned around towards Ely. "What would Claire choose?" he asked.
Ely smiled a little and asked, "Are you still trying to figure out if I'm lying or not?" she asked. "Claire wouldn't choose anything. My illness meant I couldn't consume caffeine so I had to stick with water or milk. But I'm no longer ill, so I can drink anything."
Chase smiled when he heard that. "I'm starting to believe that you might just be my little sister," he said.
While Chase went to prepare some coffee, Ely walked around the house and looked at the various things that had changed in the time she had been missing, and the things that had remained the same.
She went to her old room and saw that it was neatly tidied up. There were a dozen or so DVD cases to the side for all the old movies she used to watch on a loop, most of them were cartoon movies from her childhood.
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She popped open the box and saw the disc inside. "You haven't thrown out any of my old movies?" she asked loudly.
Chase, who had been trying to make sense of whatever the hell was happening to him right now, walked out of the kitchen and arrived at her little sister's room. There, he saw an excited Ely checking through the various boxes.
"So you know about this too," he said. "Which one was Claire's favorite?"
Ely smiled and picked up one of the boxes with a dark-skinned man next to a blue genie. "This one of course," she said.
"Why is that?" her brother asked, fully knowing the answer already.
"This was the first DVD you brought for me to watch after I couldn't leave the house," she said. "Also the song about seeing the world stuck with me as something that would be my only wish if I could ever have one fulfilled. But you already knew that."
Chase looked slightly shocked. "Are you truly Claire? I still can't believe it," he said.
"You don't have to believe me right now. I'm back, and I'll be here for a long time. You can gradually believe it when you can," she said. "You should go check the coffee now, it's about to spill."
"Hm? Oh crap!" Chase quickly ran back to the kitchen and closed the stove right before the coffee overflowed.
Ely walked by the kitchen and looked at the state. "You make coffee on a stovetop?" she asked. "You haven't bought one of those fancy artifacts, I mean devices that make coffee for you?" she asked.
"I can't," Chase said while he poured the coffee into 3 white, ceramic cups. "I'm a little low on money."
"Low?" Ely asked. "Are you still having trouble with money? I thought that would change since you are an A-ranked hunter."
"It's not that I don't earn enough," he said. "I just have too much debt to pay."
Ely felt a tinge of pain in her heart when she heard that. "Was that… because of me?"
"I wouldn't say it was because of you, but yeah. Turned out mother had incurred a lot of debt to be able to keep up with your treatment," Chase said. "I only learned about it 4 years ago when people kept looking for mother for her missing payments."
"However, by then… mother had already…" Chase couldn't continue.
Ely gave a blank look and nodded. "I heard she died in a dungeon break," she said. "Was… was her final moment painless?"
"She was coming home from work when the monsters attacked. As far as I know, it was quick."
Ely took a deep breath when she heard that. "That's good," she said.
Chase brought out the tray full of coffee, and Ely found a picture of herself. "Honey look, this is what I looked like before," she said, showing her photo to Ning.
"Oh wow, you were cute," Ning said. "Cuter than you are right now."
Ely pouted and kicked him in the leg. "Stop joking," she said. She sat on the couch next to Ning and looked at her own pictures, reminiscing about the days from her past from a very, very long time ago.
She had lived many lifetimes worth of years since then, but the vivid memory Ning had given her helped in making her first one, one of the better ones in her mind.
"So, tell me more," Chase said as he sat down opposite them on a stool. "What was your life like? How did you two meet? Where were you this entire time?"
Ely looked at Ning, "Can I?" she asked.
Ning shrugged. "Your choice," he said.
Ely nodded and sighed a little. "This might seem a little surprising, but technically, I am an alien right now," she said.
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Chase nearly dropped his cup of coffee. "You're a what? An Alien? What does that mean?" he asked.
"When I died, I was reincarnated into a different planet," she said. "That was where I was raised and lived for a long time before I met him. After we met, we fell in love and got together. Then… stuff happened, but to keep it short, he told me that you were still alive back here due to how slow time moved on earth compared to the other planet. So, I decided to come back and see you."
Chase nodded as he listened to everything he said and then suddenly started shaking his head sideways. "I didn't get a single thing you just said," he said. "You come from another planet? And you age faster there? How old are you even?"
"Well… don't be shocked, but currently, I am about 3 thousand years old."
This time Chase actually dropped his coffee. However, before it could hit the ground, Ely caught it with her Qi, along with all the coffee that had spilled, and placed it all back in the cup before floating it next to her brother.
"Also, I'm a cultivator. It's similar to being a mage but only stronger," she said.
Chase's hands shook as he tried to grab the cup floating in front of him. He grabbed it, but he still dropped it.
"Y-y-you are an alien," he said. "Then… d-did you somehow get my sister's memory? Wh-why are you here?" he asked.
Ely sighed. The progress was starting to regress a little. "Brother, come on. Don't be like this," she said. "I came all the way from another galaxy just so I can meet you again, and you act like I'm trying to abduct you or something."
Chase took a deep breath. "Are you?" he asked.
"No!" Ely said with an exaggerated expression. "It's alright. You're still in shock."
Chase wiped his brows and breathed audibly. "So are you Claire or not? I'm still unsure," he said.
"I am," Ely said. "I was just reborn far away."
Chase nodded when he heard that and took a deep breath. "I see," he said. "I need a drink."
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"This early?" Ely asked as she looked around for a clock, before finding one on the wall next to her. "It's 9 in the morning.
"Huh? 9?" Chase turned around to look at the clock as well. "Oh no, I'm late. I need to hurry to the dungeon quickly."
"You're going to the guild?" Ely asked. "On a day like today?"
"I'm sorry," Chase said. "It's a very important dungeon run. If I do well in it, I can be promoted to the main A-rank team for the guild and will get to go in better dungeon runs. I will also earn more."
He was about to leave but hesitated for a second. "Please understand," he said.
"Go on, Chase," Ning said. "We get it."
Ely nodded in the end and Chase left to get dressed. He came back in a suit and pants that made him look almost professional. Almost because there were creases all over the place, making him look quite bad in it.
"You should iron your clothes," Ely said as she moved her palm. Her Qi moved through his clothes, magically ironing out any creases and rough spots.
"Thank you," Chase said mindlessly before moving to grab his keys and wallet from the drawer next to the wall.
He turned around and looked at the two with a hesitant expression. "What will you two be doing? Will you stay here until I come back?" he said, while his eyes darted towards the clock every single time.
Ning got curious. "When is this dungeon run supposed to start?" he asked.
"In… 10 minutes," he said. "It's supposed to start around 9:15. I'm sorry I must leave right now. Please stick around, or don't. Do whatever you want. I will be back by 1 o'clock in the afternoon so we can talk again then."
"Sure," Ely said.
"Do you need me to take you? You seem to be in a hurry," Ning said.
Chase turned around. "On what?" he asked. He then got a little closer and asked, "You're not going to take me on a spaceship, are you?"
Ning chuckled when he heard Chase being worried. Ely couldn't help but chuckle as well. "He does have a spaceship. Do you want to use that?" she asked.
Chase gave a dry laugh, unsure if they were joking or not.
"Don't worry, that's not what I was suggesting," Ning said. "My transportation medium is faster than anything you can find in any part of the world."
"And it is not a spaceship?" Chase asked again.
"No," Ning said as he stood up. Ely did so as well and walked up next to Chase. Chase tried to step back a little, but Ning grabbed his arm before he could do so.
Ely grabbed onto Ning's shoulders and the next moment they disappeared.
To Chase, he was in his apartment at one moment, and in the next, he was somewhere outside.
The warded his eyes against the blinding sun for a second as his pupils dilated to let enough light in for him to not wince. It took a few seconds and he put down his hands and finally looked around.
His face showed a sign of shock when he saw that he was in front of the dungeon where he was supposed to meet his guild members.
"H-how did we get here?" he asked.
"Teleportation," Ning said simply.
Chase was surprised when he heard that, but it wasn't any more surprising or shocking than anything else that was happening today. "Did we appear here suddenly?" he asked while he looked around at the people that went past them. "How do they not see us?"
"They do," Ning said. "I've just put a slight anti-perception veil on us, so they won't be looking at us."
"Anti… what?"
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"Anti-perception veil," Ning said. "It makes people not want to focus on you when they look towards you. It's a simple skill I learned recently."
"I… see," Chase said. He hadn't understood what Ning had said at all.
"Alright, before you go," Ning said as he brought out a bracelet. Chase was only wondering what it was when Ning suddenly placed it on the man's wrist.
Chase got a little worried and tried to take it off, but it wasn't coming off. He tried it again, but no matter what he did, it wasn't coming off.
"What did you do? What is this?" he asked angrily— as angry as one could get in the face of aliens.
"Don't worry about it. It won't harm you or anything," Ning said. "It just makes you unable to tell anyone about us. You see, we do have to remain a little careful."
Ely looked at Ning with a knowing look and Ning simply shrugged. He didn't want to tell the guy that it was to protect him from any threat and let him know if he was in danger where even the bracelet couldn't save him.
Ning felt that telling this to someone who was so afraid would only make them more afraid and untrusting of their words. Instead, telling half truth that could be accepted was the better way to go.
"Hey Chase, you're finally here. The leader is asking for us all to gather inside." A girl rushed out the gate and called him.
"Oh, hello Anna. I'm coming," he said before slowly turning towards Ning and Ely. "So, uh… will I see you guys later?"
"Of course," Ely said. "Your sister is back home. You won't get to be away from me for long enough."
Chase gulped a bit and nodded before leaving.
Ning smiled a bit and looked at him walk off. "Do you think he likes her? His voice definitely changed a little when he saw her," he said.
"I don't know," Ely said. "He was pretty afraid of us. Maybe he thought she would be in trouble for seeing us."
Ely's own voice was getting a little higher as well. Ning hugged her with one arm and consoled her a bit. "It's alright. He'll understand in a day or two," he said. "Just wait for him to realize that his dead sister is truly back home again."
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Ely nodded and wiped what little tears she had been holding back this entire time.
"Also, your brother must've been way too shocked," Ning said. "He didn't recognize me at all."
"Are you really that recognizable though?" Ely asked. "I'm starting to doubt it. Maybe they have just heard about you and have never actually seen you."
"I suppose that might be it as well," Ning said. "So, where to next? I don't think he'll be out for quite some time."
"Let's just go back to the apartment. I want to spend some time in my old home," Ely said.
Together, the two of them returned to the apartment. Ning sat down on the couch and let Ely roam through the room, looking at the many things that were the same and the many things that were different.
A few minutes later, Ning heard Ely sob again. She was inside a room that wasn't being used for anything but hoarding whatever was unneeded to Chase. Ning walked in and saw a small portrait at the top of a young woman with an infant in her arms and another small boy by her side.
There was a man that looked similar to Chase in those pictures, and they all looked happy.
"Is this your mother's room?" Ning asked her.
Ely nodded and continued crying.
Thousands of years would take away the love one felt for one's family. Ning had been sad after hundreds of thousands of years. Compared to that, Ely's time was minuscule.
He let her cry as he thought that was the right thing to do.
After crying for a while, Ely went to her old bedroom and put on her favorite movie in the DVD player that was in there.
The player didn't work, so Ning had to fix it quickly before the movie started playing again.
Together, the two of them spent the next few hours watching the movie in silence, interrupted occasionally by a few giggles here and there.
Ning and Ely were on their 2nd movie when the door to the apartment slammed open suddenly.
"He's back," Ning said.
"Why is he so sweaty? Oh, he must have had to walk all the way back because he didn't take his car," Ely said.
"Oh, right," Ning said. "I should have remembered."
Ning got out of bed and walked outside. "I'm sorry, Chase. I should have come to get y—"
"IT'S YOU!" Chase shouted suddenly.
"I'm what?" Ning asked curiously.
"It's you, the Apostle Ning. It's you, isn't it?" Chase asked. He fished through his pocket and pulled out a smartphone before showing the screen to Ning. "This is you, right?"
Ning looked closely and saw a news headline with a small picture next to it. The news read of how he had closed the SS-rank dungeon in Germany today, and how he had the power of 5 gods behind him.
"Oh, yes. That is me," Ning said with a smile.
"Y-y-you! How are you an Apostle? You're an alien," Chase said.
"Yes," Ning said. "And Aliens can't be an Apostle? Is there a rule like that?"
"That's…" Chase tried to come up with an argument, but nothing he could think would make sense to be used in the current talk.
"Also, you shouldn't keep calling your sister and brother-in-law aliens. That's quite rude, you know?" Ning said with his arms crossed. "We were both from the earth in our previous lives anyway."
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"What?" Chase asked with an incredible look on his face.
"Oh, did I not mention it before? I reincarnated too, just like your sister," Ning said. "Come on, we can sit and talk."
The dazed Chase sat by the couch and Ning talked with him for a while. Ely also came out and sat on his other side, telling Chase various things as well.
Chase was still too dumbfounded to understand everything, but he at least got the gist of it all.
They talked for a while before Chase went off to cook something to eat. Once he was back with food, Ning asked a question he had been meaning to ask since he met the man.
"Do you think you can migrate to Korea with us?" he asked. "I'm going to build a massive house there with various facilities, and I'm sure you can make use of it too."
"G-go to Korea?" Chase asked. "You want me to move to Korea?"
"Yes, brother," Ely said. "It will be easier to keep track of you and meet you every day."
"But… France is my home. I can't leave France. I don't even know Korean. Living there will be hard," Chase said. Clearly, he was reluctant and Ning didn't want to force him.
"Well, if you don't want to, then we can't force you," Ning said. "However… in that case, we might have to create some magic circles so Ely can teleport around the world easily."
"Why teleport? I can just fly here. Won't even take me 5 minutes," Ely said.
Chase took a deep breath when he heard that. "Your spaceships are that fast?" he asked. Ely couldn't help but chuckle when she heard that.
"You might not need it, but it's still easier. It will also help Jung-Hee and Hi-Ah go around the world easily. I want them to see the outside world," Ning said.
"Okay, how do you make a magic circle?" Ely asked. "Is it like formations?"
"Kinda," Ning said. "It's about the same difficulty, but of course, the symbols in the circle do different things. Maybe I should have the government start using it as well. As far as I know, none of them have any idea on what it does."
"No one was taught about it, were they?" Ely asked. "Everyone only knows what the Constellation tells them. If they don't want to divulge some information, what can the humans do?"
"You're right," Ning said. "I should go share this information with the government right away."
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Ning called the number for the director back in Korea. The number rang for a few seconds before it was picked up.
"Ning? What's going on?" the director picked up his phone.
"Oh, Director Sung. I was hoping we could talk about something very important right now," Ning said.
"Right now?" the director asked while checking his watch. "It's 9 o clock. Can't it wait until you return from Germany? I'm back home."
"Oh," Ning said as he looked around. "My apologies. I forgot about the time difference. I'll contact you once I'm back from France tomorrow."
"Okay, see you tomo— Wait, did you say France? Weren't you in Germ—"
Ning ended the call and turned around to see a slightly angry Ely.
"Uh… what's wrong?" he asked.
"Why are you so impulsive?" she said. "Stop doing whatever comes to your mind first. Think a little."
"Oh, uh… okay," Ning said.
"Geez, you did the same thing back in the director's office in Korea as well. You left me there alone and went god knows where," she said.
"Yes, yes, honey. I get it. I'll think a little more," Ning said. "Look, your brother is getting worried. You should drop it."
Ely sighed and said nothing else.
"So, back on topic. Since Chase doesn't want to come with us, I will make a magic circle in a few days that will connect one of the rooms in this apartment to one of the rooms in our new house," Ning said.
"We'll have a house ready by then?" Ely asked.
"I can do it with a snap of a finger," Ning said. "We can have our house whenever we want. Although, you should let me know what additions you want to do. I will have to integrate those into the blueprint that I'm preparing with the system. Once the director gets our land passed, I will make our house there."
Ely nodded. "I'll work on it tonight," she said.
"Good," Ning said. "Let's spend some time with your brother today. We will have to go back to Korea a little after midnight."
Around 10 pm at night, Chase retreated to his room and Ning decided to make a magic circle there right away.
He found a small closet that wasn't being used except for storing some very old items and quickly renovated it to become able to house about 3 people at once. Then, on the floor of the closet, he drew the magic circle.
Ning didn't know much about Magic circles, except for a few ideas on how they worked. He hadn't had the time to learn them as extensively as he had for Summoning Circles back in Nulwurn, so he instead asked the system to give him the exact design of the circle.
He could use chalk to draw the circle, but he decided to go with something that would last a little longer. He dipped a brush into the small jug full of paint and started drawing the magic circle.
He could've asked the system to have it drawn, but using his own hands made him feel better when the results eventually showed themselves.
"You sure you don't need any help?" Ely asked.
"No, I'm fine," Ning said and continued with his magic circle. Ely watched from the side as Ning finished making it within the hour.
The magic circle was a giant circle with a 5-pointed star on it. There were multiple inner circles that separated the region around the 5-pointed star creating gaps where one could draw various symbols.
The circles were the base design that denoted the tier of the magic circle based on how many were being used. The symbols determined the intent of the circle itself.
"Alright, its done," Ning said as he walked out of the closet and looked at the magic circle ready in it.
"So… we can teleport now?" she asked. "Well… probably not. For the sake of safety, it's better if we don't use it as it is. Without a properly receiving magic circle, it will end up teleporting us in a small radius around the target location, which I've set to be our house."
Ely nodded as she heard that. "How large is the radius without a receiving magic circle? It sounds like it's usable if it's not too large."
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"It's… about 200 meters I think," he said. "Give or take a couple of dozen."
"Oh, that's not too bad. I thought it would teleport you hundreds of kilometers away for some reason," Ely said. "Our house has that much land, does it not?"
"Yes it does, but you're not thinking it clearly," Ning said. "I said it teleports us in a 200-meter radius, but you keep thinking about it in two dimensions."
Ely gave a confused look for a second before realizing what he meant. "I see," she said. "So there is a chance we will appear high in the air, or… deep underground."
"Yes," Ning said.
"Can't you change that? Make it so it's always the same height?" she asked.
"I can, but I will need a lot larger space to put those symbols in it. As it is now, there is not nearly enough space for anything other than the general location," Ning said. "Most of it is covered by symbols that attract mana on its own so that you won't have to have a source to run it passively while receiving people."
"But it won't help people teleport? They will have to use their own mana?" Ely asked.
"That's the plan," he said. "That's the best I could do anyway."
"I suppose that's not too bad," she said. "Except for 4 of us."
Ning chuckled a little. "Saphandra won't absorb any mana, but that won't be the same for you three. At the very least, it won't be the same for you," he said. "With time, your body will adapt to the energy and find a way to make use of it. You will be able to use mana."
Although he wasn't able to tell how long that would take. The mana did not originate from earth to begin with anyway.
'It's alright even if it takes a few years,' he thought.
"Alright, let's go back," Ning said.
"I want to use that magic circle," she said.
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"Uh, sure. Come into the closet then," Ning said and took her in. He closed the closet door from the outside and poured mana onto the circle on the ground.
Suddenly, the circle lit up with bluish-white light and spatial forces enveloped the two of them. In the next moment, they disappeared.
When they reappeared, they found themselves about 3 meters above the tallest tree in the land where they were going to have their house built.
"Good," Ely said. "I was a bit worried that we would appear underground. I didn't want to change my clothes just yet.
"Well, you might have to, it's already another day here," Ning said.
"Yeah, I suppose," Ely said. "Oh right, here." She handed him something small which Ning took and looked through.
It was a bunch of artifacts that she had invented herself with the help of her system, which would aid their house a lot.
She wanted it to be added to the building that Ning was going to have to make very soon.
"I'll see what I can do about it," Ning said. "I might just even make the house today itself."
"Right away?" Ely asked, looking at the area. "There's so much to clean up still."
"I can do that," Ning said.
"You don't have to," Ely said. "I can have Night, Blue, and Sorlus help me clear up this place. When you return, just make the house itself."
"I suppose that works too," Ning said.
Ely nodded and reached out with her divine sense to find the three beasts back at home. They had already returned from Germany.
She called them all to come to help her and within a few minute, they were all there. Ning gave a small idea of which places to clear up and which to leave and they started working on it.
As for Ning himself, he left for his meeting with the director regarding the magic circles.
Hey director Sung, it's been a while!" Ning said as he walked into the director's office.
"Been a while? But we only just met yesterday," the old man said.
"Huh? Oh right," Ning said as he shook his head. "I forgot. I've been awake for 2 days since we last met, so it has been a while for me."
"You haven't slept for 2 days? How?" the man couldn't help but ask.
"No need to worry about that," Ning said. "Anyway, did Germany contact you regarding the dungeon clearance?"
"Oh yes, they did. They are very thankful to you for that," the director said. "They have transferred your payment over, which we've put in your account."
"Hm, that's good," Ning said. "Also, what about my land transfer? Is it in my name yet? My people are already clearing it up."
"It has been started, but we had to wait for you to show up for the signature and thumbprints. Once you sign them, the land is yours."
"Great," Ning said and sat down on the couch by the wall. "So, about what I wanted to talk with you about."
"Yes?" the director got curious. "What was it that made you contact us?"
"I want to teach you guys or at least some of you guys about Magic circles," he said.
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"Magic circles?" the old man gave a confused look. "What's that?"
"It's a circle that can be drawn, which when activated through mana can do certain things," Ning said. "Uh… imagine it like programming, but with magic."
The old man was still a bit confused. "I don't think I understand what exactly you are talking about," he said.
"Hmm, let's… see…" he looked around the room and quickly walked up to the director's desk. He took a pen and a small blank notepad and started drawing on them.
The director was curious, so he looked at the drawing as well. Ning took half a minute to finish the drawing and tore off a small piece of a different paper and placed it on top of the circle he had drawn.
"What is this?" the old man couldn't help but ask. He was more plagued by confusion than curiosity at this point.
"You can use mana right?" Ning asked. He could sense the old man's A-rank in mana usage, so it was almost unnecessary to even ask.
"Yes, I can," the old man said. "What about it?"
"Use your mana on that drawing I just made," Ning said.
"Use… my mana?" the old man asked. He had never done that before. The only time he ever used mana was to use spells, but using mana by itself was not a concept he was familiar with.
"Just focus on it. Think of the energy in your body leaving through your hands and you're more or less there already," Ning said.
The old man was still confused, but he did as asked. He took a deep breath and thought of sending his mana out through his palm and into the piece of drawing on the paper.
Suddenly, he sensed something leaving his body. At the next moment, a gust of wind blew out of the drawing, blowing away the small piece of paper that was on it.
"What?" the old man asked with an incredible look on his face. "Where did the air come from?"
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"From the circle," Ning said as he pointed at the circle on the paper. "You can point it towards yourself and see how well it sends out air. Be sure to not let the paper fold. It must be as flat as possible for maximum usability."
The old man was way too curious to not follow Ning's orders. He took the paper and placed it on his palm so as to not have it blow itself away.
Then he used his mana.
The paper suddenly blew out air, surprising him and making the clothes flap crazily. The old man felt the hand holding the paper be pushed back as well.
He used his free hand to try and block the air, and in doing so cut off the mana input into the circle, turning it off.
The air stopped blowing and everything was back to normal.
The man heaved a few deep breaths as he stared into nowhere for the entire time. "How… how does this work?" he asked.
"You can use the circles to have it do everything you can possibly think of," Ning said. "You can even use high-grade spells if you know the design of the circle. It is basically a replacement for spells not used by humans. So long as one knows the design, anyone can become any type of mage."
The old man didn't smile learning this, instead, he feared. He couldn't imagine this in the hand of the public. Especially those that might have some nefarious intents.
If anyone could use the circles, anyone could use it, and if anyone could use it, finding criminals would be a nightmare.
"You… are you planning on teaching us this?" the old man asked.
"No," Ning said. "I'm planning on teaching everyone this."
"No!" the old man said. "You cannot teach it to the public. This has to be very confidential knowledge and not everyone should know this."
Ning chuckled. "Relax, when I said everyone, I mean every country," he said. "Also, I won't teach them everything. I will just teach them about the existence of the magic circle and give them a few designs. I will not be teaching anyone everything."
"Oh, how about just teaching Korea?" the man asked. "You don't have to teach the whole world. Or even if you do, it can be taught a bit later."
Ning shook his head. "Humanity is at a peril right now and you still think about improving your own country?" he asked. "I thought I made it clear before, I don't care about any of the countries, not China, not Korea, nothing. All I'm doing here is helping the world fight back against these invaders. If not for that, you wouldn't even be seeing me right now."
Sorry, you're right. I shouldn't be thinking this way," the director apologized. "So, what should we do? What should I do?"
"Your first task is to find out who else can know about this, and at the same time contact every country on earth and tell them you have this information. Once you're all there, I will reveal this information, and you can all use it however you want to," Ning said.
"Got it," the director said. "It will take at least a day to contact them all, maybe even more."
"Take your time," Ning said. "I have some stuff of my own to do. Once I'm done, I will teach them all."
Now that he was done talking, Ning got out of the department of dungeon defense. However, before he could find a slightly uncrowded place to teleport away, someone came up to him.
He looked to the side and was surprised to see Lee standing in front of him.
"Hey, brother Lee. What's up?" Ning asked.
"Is it true?" Lee asked.
"You will have to be more specific," Ning said.
"Our gods. Are you really empowered by 5 of them?" he asked.
Ning smiled a bit. "What do you think?" he asked.
Lee became solemn for a moment before saying. "My god has only ever taken me in as his Apostle, and he prides himself in that. He says how others disperse their powers into weaker beings and ends up having weaker followers, which is why he despises having multiple apostles under him," he said. "So, tell me, are you really telling the truth?"
Ning thought for a bit. "If you do know your god so well, why don't you ask him?" he asked. "Surely the apostle he prides in can get an answer or two from him, right?"
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Lee frowned a bit but otherwise said nothing in retort. "If you're not going to say it then it's alright. I didn't come here expecting an answer anyway. I was just… surprised," he said.
"Well then, see you later," Ning said and walked away.
He went over to the place where the deeds to his land were. An employee there showed him the way and gave him the file to sign on. Ning signed the place and left his thumbprints as well.
Once done, he was now officially an owner of land in Korea.
He took the deed and went back to his uncle's place.
His uncle and grandmother were beyond happy to see that he now had his own land. They were truly very proud of him and started saying how much they wished his mother and father were here to see it all.
In some ways, Ning wanted that too. However, it had been way too long for him without them, so he was fine even without them.
He was about to go back to Ely when his Uncle stopped him.
"Hi-Ah told me to tell you about meeting her guild master. Apparently, you said you would but then disappeared?" his Uncle said.
"Kim Min-Soo? Oh right, I completely forgot," Ning said. "I was supposed to meet with her yesterday, but the Germany job took away my attention. Thank you for the information, Uncle. I will go there right away."
"Also, both Hi-Ah and Jung-Hee will likely be staying at my place, so you will have to make your own meal," Ning said. "I will send Saphandra and a few others back, so you most likely won't be out of company anyway."
"It's fine, we will be fine without them," his uncle said. "But… your place? You only got the land right?"
"Oh, there's a house there already," Ning said. "I simply got the house along with the land."
"Oh, I see," his Uncle said. "I would love to see the house."
"Not yet," Ning said. "We need to do some furnishing, which is why I'm taking the two with me. Once it is done in a day or two, I'll take both you and grandmother there to stay with me for a while."
"I would love that," his uncle said.
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Ning left the house and went over to the White Devil guild. He didn't even bother with the reception and directly teleported to the top floor where he knew Kim Min-Soo was alone.
He knocked on the door.
"Who?" her voice came from inside.
"It's me, Ning," he said and waited.
The door opened with a sudden jerk and the girl inside stared at him with a confused look. "No one told me you were here," she said.
"That's because no one knows it yet," Ning said. "I didn't want to bother with the other folks."
She gave him a weird look before stepping aside. "Come on in."
Ning walked in and sat on the sofa in a comfortable stance while she went over to her desk close to the window and shuffled through something.
A few seconds later, she brought out a file and threw it softly on the table in between them.
Ning looked down at the file and asked, "What's this?"
"This is what you came for, didn't you?" she asked. "Your contract. I… assume that you still want to join the guild."
"Yes," Ning said. "That is why I came."
He took the file and flipped it around a bit. His eyes moved through the file at incredible speed, reading through every bit of information on it.
"I see," he said. "I'm fine with most of these things, except I won't involve myself in these team-building exercises. My time is way too valuable for this."
Kim shrugged. "That's just there for formality's sake. We put that in every contract. You don't have to join," she said.
"Well, if that's the case, then I am okay with this," he said and signed it before Kim could say anything else. She wanted to negotiate his salary and see if he liked it or not, but for some reason, he wasn't bothered by it at all.
"So… are we done here?"
:)
