70 Form

Gaius: "Jim!"

In the audience hall, Gaius was ecstatic to have the first Brave back. Suzuki was a talented fighter and far ahead of what anyone else his age would be, but Jim was a one-man army, comparing the two could be said to be wholly unfair.

The monsters had become more organized and appeared in greater numbers over the last few years. They now fled when the situation was unfavorable instead of stubbornly fighting to the death, they targeted weak areas of defense instead of rushing in head first.

These changes were too sudden and unexpected, hundreds of years passed with all monsters displaying the same behavior, methods to deal with them were well-established. It took too long to cope, the country was basically crippled now and would have been wiped out if not for the magnificent stone men that Jim had left behind. However, the stone men were limited in number and amassing monster horde would eventually come, the loyal countrymen that stayed were basically waiting for an inevitable death.

Jim: "Yeah, I'm back. We have a lot to talk about, but first, can you lend me a warehouse?"

Gaius: "A warehouse? Very well, may I ask what you will be using it for?"

Jim: "I think you'll like it, how about following to see?"

Gaius recalled the enormous food stockpile that had appeared the last time Jim had requested access to a warehouse, he became excited wondering what would be placed inside this time.

Jim pulled out a slab of stone along with a knife and began carving, to the puzzled looks of the onlookers. A few minutes later, he placed the formation plate down, then activated it. Pulling out a Jing Flower, he tossed it onto the plate, the flower suddenly vanished. 'Alright, it worked!'

Jim checked with detection, the flower had landed in the western section of his city to the north.

Jim: "Alright, It's complete."

Talia: "Huh? You threw a flower and it vanished. What's the use of that?"

Jim: "It didn't vanish, it moved."

Talia: "Moved? To where?"

Jim: "We were there earlier."

Talia: "You mean...!"

Nodding, Jim began to explain.

Jim: "This is called a Transfer Array, it will allow anyone to instantly move to another place. Gaius, I'll have to trouble you to post guards on this end and the other. In the worst case, this would allow an enemy to infiltrate another city easily after seizing the first. Hit this spot here to turn it off, only myself and Celes are able to turn it back on."

Celes: "I can?"

Jim: "It requires Qi to function, I think we're the only two cultivators in this world, so..."

Gaius: "What is a cultivator?"

Jim: "That would take too long to fully explain, suffice to say your daughter will be growing far stronger from now on."

Gaius: "Is there a limit to the usage of this Transfer Array?"

Jim: "It should work several hundred times before Celes or myself need to fix it. You can use it for people, cargo, anything you'd like. I'll set up more in the future if you want them."

Gaius was nearly shivering in anticipation, the benefits were massive, far more than a single warehouse filled with goods.

Jim: "Well, Talia wanted to talk to you. Celes, would you join me to wander around town?"

Celes: "Yes!"

The two left to go on a date, Talia and Gaius went to speak in private. Suzuki was left standing there.

Suzuki: "Um..what am I supposed to do?"

Walking through the streets, Jim treated Celes to some food from the nearby stalls. There weren't many people to be seen in the streets, it seems many had fled to the west in order to evade the monster horde. Amgula still wasn't to the level of a ghost town though, businesses were still open, pedestrians could be seen, it just wasn't bustling.

Eventually, they found themselves outside Derek's smithy, it had been remodelled since Jim had last been here. He wanted to go inside and chat, but when he had learned from Derek before, he looked like an average middle aged man. Now he was a handsome youth, it would feel awkward. Jim didn't want to keep changing his appearance repeatedly, he had heard of spies developing mental problems after needing to change their identities repeatedly. Jim knew his skills helped, but he still had a fear of his mind worsening.

'Is hiding really the best option? There's a constant stress of being found out. I'm starting to lose confidence in myself again, my shoulders are slumped.' Jim stood there absorbed in his thoughts for several minutes. He was afraid, the mistrust Talia and the other elves in the scouting party had shown him had taken a larger toll that he thought it had. He began to feel more and more like the time when he was powerless, before the system. Unable to speak up or look others in the eye, fearful of the glances of others, he had kept his head down to avoid conflict.

A feeling of uneasiness crept up within himself. 'Alright, I've decided. I'm just going to be this from now on, no more changing my skin color or face to fit in. If others can't accept me, fuck 'em.' Jim let go of his divinity-induced form change, he had become sparkling gold again. Four additional arms burst out, ripping apart his shirt.

Celes: "Master? Is something wrong?"

Jim: "No, I just came to a decision."

Jim felt a weight lift off his mind, he felt really good. 'I need to distinguish confidence from hubris. Getting too full of myself like that time with Karna will be disastrous.' Putting an arm around Celes' shoulder, they continued walking.