Chapter 1 Part 3

"So, what is your plan, young master?" Beau asks.

"Gross, don't call me that. Just call me Christopher. I'm fine with that." Christopher says. "I need to make a quick stop at my estate. I don't want to leave Jasyn with nothing if he returns while I'm gone. He needs to know I'm ok."

"Alright then. Lead on." Beauregard says.

"Dime, please tell Heather and Haider that I'll be with them in three weeks. I need to take care of something first." Christopher says.

"What is it you need to do?" Beau asks.

"I've been in this country for quite a while now. Yet I haven't had the chance to do any research n stuff. I want to know everything that was kept from the people of the empire. First, the five gods, and their, unpronounceable names." Christopher says.

"Unpronounceable? Isn't the Mountain God's name Sapphire?" Beau says, looking up to the sky.

Christopher stops in his tracks and slowly turns to the Marquis. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Beau staggers back, shocked by Christophers sudden halt. "N-no, why? What is it in Stocaea?"

"I honestly dont fucking remember. Something stupid. I'm not even sure if it's even possible to pronounce." Christopher says.

"Ah. Is it one of those Welsh words that they seem to be so obsessed with?" Beau asks.

"Yeah. Yeah it is. What are the other names? The Demon God n' such." Christopher asks, resuming towards Geovana's Grand Library.

"Let's see, so we have The Mountain God, Sapphire, The Mother, Tiamet. And The Father, Tallifik." Beau starts.

"Why do I get the feeling that my Narrator's name is similar to that?" Christopher asks himself.

(Narrator) My name is Tariku. My father Tallifik mentioned it a while back. Actually, back when Nebulon decided to infiltrate my R.O.I.M.P. How aggravating.

(Nebulon) Love you too, grandson.

"Then we have The Demon God, Ajattara. Finally The Mountain God, Trevena." Beau says.

"That sounds way more natural than what I was taught in Stocaea." Christopher comments.

"Any other questions while we're on the subject?" Beau asks.

"Nah, I'll just read about them in the library. Now, I'll be pretty much living there over the next two weeks. It would be a great help if you could supply our food, oh and the three that's guarding me till Jasyn returns as well, if that's ok." Christopher says.

Speaking of which, the guards in question approach Christopher and the Marquis and salute. One by one, each one of them introduces themselves. I won't be repeating them, we probably won't ever see them again anyway.

"Yeah I don't care who you guys are. You won't be here for long. As soon as Jasyn gets back you'll be doing your usual duties." Christopher says. He realises his attitude towards them a moment later. "Sorry, old habits. This will be an easy job for you guys. You're replacing my personal guard till he returns from his visit back home."

"No need to apologise, we expected you to be much harsher. I enjoyed your match against that other Human during the festival." A guard says.

"You're not easy to recognise though. Your hair is a different colour, and your outfit has changed. But no-one could ever forget you. You're iconic in your own right." The only female in the trio adds.

"Your cold and logical demeanour is really cool!" The final one says.

"Keep it professional, in public you need to be on high alert. Especially with someone with as many enemies as Christopher here." Beau says.

"Well, I'm not too sure about that. From the empire, sure. But from Maranus, not so much." Christopher says.

"That Demon from the tournament is someone you'll need to pay close attention to though. Do not take the demi-kin so lightly." Beau comments.

"That's true." Christopher ponders. "Put that aside for now. I doubt anything will come after me, but be vigilant nonetheless. I'm heading to the library for a while."

(Narrator) Cue the two week reading montage!

…

(Nebulon) How are you supposed to do a montage when this is a book, a text in the R.O.I.M.P?

(Narrator) I'm going to murder you. STOP CONTRADICTING ME!!!

(Nebulon) Ssspicaay!

…

(Narrator) *Breathes deeply* Yes dipshit, I already know I don't have the ability to breathe, don't even try me… What was I going to say? I don't remember.

…

(Narrator) Ugh. Fine, let's just do a boring timeskip again.

"Phew, that was fun. It's a little ironic that the final book I decided to read was called 'The Book No-one Can Read'. It was only written in Arabic, not exactly an unknown language. If otherworlders didn't spread the knowledge, that would make it unreadable." Christopher says, slamming the dusty book closed.

"I'm pretty sure you're the only person dedicated enough to learn that language Christopher. Besides, we could be getting some of the words wrong. It's one thing to read about a language. But actually studying it is another thing entirely. You'll need a teacher, which is impossible, literally." Beau says, barely awake next to him.

Christopher ignores the marquis, possibly unintentionally. He stretches his arms and turns his hips to the side. He spins to look at a fast asleep Jasyn, lying on a sofa near him.

"It's a good thing he doesn't need to be on high alert all the time. I don't want him to be stressed like that." Christopher says, placing his chin on the back of his chair.

"It's a nice job. He gets to protect his boyfriend, and gets paid for it. He deserves a rest." Beau says.

"Maybe I shouldn't bring him with us." Christopher says.

"Hell be fine. He's tougher than you're giving him credit for. He may not be magically strong, but his durability and strength are remarkable. He gives some of the Nekojin a run for their money." Beau responds.

"He did kinda hold his own against Heddwyn." Christopher says.

"Impressive indeed. Not many people are able to stand against him." Beau complements.

"Jasyn still lost, spectacularly in fact. My dad is just on another level, in terms of both physical strength and combat experience." Christopher says.

"It's only expected. Heddwyn has made a name for himself everywhere when he was a younger man. It takes a truly formidable adventurer to do that." Beau says.

(Narrator) What a truly redundant conversation. We know all this.

(Nebulon) Does it matter? Just because someone else is talking about his father, does that mean he's supposed to ignore them or something. This is reality, it's not supposed to be constantly engaging. Plus, it's a nice reminder just how powerful Heddwyn actually is.

"I think it would be good to leave today. It shouldn't take us more than a week to get to Mt. Mininan to meet up with the others. Dime will let them know when I set off and my exact location so we shouldn't be waiting for them." Christopher says, getting up to gently wake Jasyn up from his slumber.

Jasyn opens his eyes with a groan. "Is everything ok?" he says, sitting up.

"All good, I'm hoping to make way for King Shavik's request in about an hour or two. Did you prepare everything?" Christopher asks.

"Thanks to the ring you gave me, Dime should have everything we could possibly need. Food, shelter, spare clothes, water, potions…oh and those gifts you plan to give your siblings." Jasyn says.

"Perfect…Dime, how are my finances looking?" Christopher asks.

(Dime) After paying taxes for residency from both of your properties for the next three months, you are sitting at a comfortable 24 Platinum, 56 Gold, 16 Silver, and 95 Copper.

"I'm genuinely so jealous of you. Managing stuff like that is so simple for you, where I'm spending a huge chunk of my time making sure everything's good myself." Beau groans.

"I'd be willing to give you your own Dime…for the right price of course." Christopher says smugly.

"I'll pass. As much as I'm complaining, I actually like doing it." Beau says.

"If you have nothing you need to do Marquis, we can get going now. There's no point in wasting any time just sitting around." Jasyn says, standing up and stretching. He grabs his sword, tying the sheath around his waist.

"I have my affairs in order. We can leave at everyone's earliest convenience." The Marquis replies.

Christopher gets handed his mages staff by Dime and he casts a gate spell in front of them. "Unfortunately this is as far as I can take us, but this should shave off a half days worth of travel."

"Hold on a fucking second, that's like thirty miles. You can cast gate magic over such a massive distance?!" Beau yells, his voice cracking from the shock.

"It's not like I've been sitting on my ass all this time. My limit used to be about a mile, but that was kinda useless so…I improved it." Christopher casually says.

(Nebulon) Only Christopher would be so casual when it comes to improving a spell thirty fold.

(Narrator) It's only a matter of time until he sees me at this point.

(Nebulon) I dunno, he's more streamlining the process' rather than actually Increasing his strength. I doubt his attack spells have improved much. I think he's going strictly for support rather than the frontline.

(Narrator) That's right, he's been working on his mana capacity a ton, I'd say he's about a fifth of what Heather was back at the tournament. I have no doubt she's learning to harness her power more, as well as increasing her capacity too.

(Nebulon) Looks like Haider is gonna need to do some catching up again if that's the case. He always seems to lag behind the other two.

…

(Narrator) Damn it!...We we're talking for so long they already went through the gate…looks like I'll need to catch up to them. It's gonna take me a while.