36 A little sibling time...

While their guests were busy exploring what modern technology in the house could offer, Aliester helped Aria clear out and wash the dishes.

"This is really odd." Aria was the first to break the awkward silence.

"What seems to be odd?" he asked.

"We were born as twins. But after you died and transmigrated, you became a cousin from my previous life." Aria explained while getting the suds of the plate and handing it to Aliester.

"Our family has gotten complicated, right?" he chuckled as he wiped the plate his sister handed.

The girl nodded. "So, what should I call you?"

"You can still call me brother or bro or Aris, since it is shorter." he replied. "I had decided to go by Aliester's name so that the Verbenians won't get confused."

"Ok… That seems to make sense."

"But you know, regardless of my appearance and name… it does not change the fact that I am your elder brother." Aliester said while emphasizing the elder brother part.

"You really have to emphasize that!" Aria pouted. "And now, I could no longer argue back that you are merely a few minutes older, since the young duke was four years older than the princess."

"I can finally exercise my full big brother power. So you have to obey me!" He bragged while putting the plates on their respective racks.

The girl responded by trying to kick his shin. "You wish!"

"Hey! Careful!" he avoided her kick just in time. Good thing she did not kick him while he was still holding the dishes or else they would have a lot of shards to clean.

"You have changed bro!" Aria commented.

"You mean I no longer looked like you?"

Aria shook her head. "Not that… I am not only talking about your looks and physique. You did develop faster reflexes since you manage to dodge my kick."

"but the huge change is your personality." She pointed out.

But, of course, he had changed.

He then blurted out. "Getting sucked into another realm, confronting monsters and being imprisoned would surely make a person change."

"You actually got that kind of fantasy like adventure?!" she exclaimed but stopped short.

"According to the princess memories, it is a world of magic with monsters and other creatures. So, having an adventure like that is to be expected." She mumbled.

"Yeah… it was like an RPG." Aliester affirmed. "You got to defeat monsters and avoid traps." He then tried persuading her to go back to Lamiales.

"No matter how much I like playing games. You won't convince me to go back there." She bit back. "well… unless you have a concrete plan, you know…"

His sister is right. Going there unprepared is tantamount to suicide.

By the time, the siblings were finished washing the dishes, they checked what the trio were up to.

Blaze and Daxton were looking at the Hausen's sword collection while the mage was fascinated by books displayed on the shelves.

"Can you understand what is written?" Aliester asked the mage.

"No. but I am curious of some of the symbols and pentagrams in this book." He held out one of the oldest books in Aegis' collection.

There were insignias and circles that were drawn on some pages. "the sigils were similar to the ones used in the other realm.

Aliester stared at the manuscript and asked Zarame. [are these circles from Lamiales?]

[answer: analyzing item…]

after a few minutes, Zarame replied. [circles are similar but the spell may not work if casted in this realm. You may have it tested out if you are in Lamiales.]

"Maybe it is just a coincidence." Aliester told the mage. He was a bit puzzled why those illustrations were similar to those in the other realm. And yet they won't be able to use it here.

Zarame suddenly spoke to him. [Fahren does not work the same way like Lamiales. This world has very little mana. And since this realm is governed by science and technology, magic is considered as fragments of imagination.]

'I see.'

[That is only a theory. You can try experimenting if you wish. Low levels spells were cast by Conrad when you fought that nightshade, so casting spells here is possible.]

Aliester's conversation with Zarame got cut, his twin's suggestion caught his attention.

Aria, who approached Blaze and Daxton said something which was quite unexpected. "Why don't you change jobs?"

"Huh?" they all stared blankly at her.

"Quit being a royal and a knight and become a shadow like me. You may use the skill to overthrow Lobelia."

They looked at each other with doubt.

Aria continued. "You guys already had skills in fighting to begin with, so it will be easy. We only need to work on few areas... stealth, agility and tricks."

Aliester grabbed his twin and hissed in Linden tongue. {What in the world are you doing? Are you trying to recruit them to be spies or assassins?}

{It may be advantageous, you know. After all, they have to deal with that devious witch.} she argued back.

"Maybe, we should try and learn Linden language first. I want to know what the two of you are talking about." The mage cut in.

Aria stomped on Aliester's foot. Aliester would like to stop her but due to her attack, his focus shifted on his aching toes.

"This brat!" he could feel veins popping out his temple. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to stop her when she tried persuading them to train as shadows.

And worse, the other boys agreed with her, just in case they needed to infiltrate enemies' camp.

"I think it is worth a shot." Blaze encouraged. "Plus, it will give us time to plan and recuperate for the mission to help the Enclave."

Aliester got no choice but let them decide for themselves.

"Why don't you watch it so that you can learn more about this realm-technology, fighting styles and strategies?" Aria led them to the living room where the television was placed.

"Watch?" the mage asked.

Aliester who had gotten over the pain on his toes smirked. He then turned the television on.

As soon as the television was on and the people appeared, Blaze went near it and inspected the device.

"What is this contraption? How did that person go into this box?" he asked.

"This is a television. People in this realm use this for entertainment. We can watch shows from different parts of the world and from different genres." Aliester explained as he selected a historical movie about ninjas from a streaming site.

"So these are the products of technology from this realm. "Smiling, Conrad muttered to himself. "And they don't even need to use magic at all."