I got busy with my work, the proofreader (Editor?) Kialandi also got busy with exams.
I"ve also gotten bored with the MC"s slow progress, he"s got a ton of books now, surely he can start making breakthroughs..
This chapter was written with 80% guilt, 20% inspiration, 0% proofreading.
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Had an interesting dream.
Was complaining to my brother how nothing made sense, and as he lead me into this pyramid he asked me a question. If you are a G.o.d that cannot die, what happens if someone builds a giant pyramid on you designed to collapse? How long does it take for you to escape?
"Um. I can"t escape?" I stated the obvious.
"But you are immortal" he refuted.
"Ah" I slowly nodded. Then I came to a realization.
"Wait. That means I"m a G.o.d? Is that why we are breaking into here? Is that why the building is trying to collapse? Are we breaking out another G.o.d?"
"Obviously" he rolled his eyes.
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I was a little puzzled over what had happened, I didn"t mind the achievement system and even found it amusing in its own way. But that framing achievement?.. How did it know he was framed?
Or to phase the question better, how did it know the results of the framing?
That was another thing I was puzzled about, I"m not as stupid as to think I did a great job on the framing. Infact, I botched it. They should have suspected him only in the worst case scenario, forget about calling him the one who was the mastermind. So just what happened to make them think so?
Did I get some help? That figure I saw on the roof?
I corrected my course a couple of times as I flew, pausing only once to change my clothes from black robes high in the darkness. I didn"t really want to land on the ground not knowing whats below me, nor did I want to summon a torchlight that would be seen for miles around.
Finally I reached the city walls, flying over them I rapidly descended and quietly landed in an abandoned street. Causally looking about, I walked to the inn and jiggled the handle. Locked.
I should"ve expected as much, but it didn"t bother me much. In my clothes I didn"t feel cold, and I didn"t need to sleep. Turning away and moving down the road, I eventually settled down inside a dark alley with a book and torchlight and began to read.
Time pa.s.sed, the sun rose.
Getting up from the cold ground, I stretched and slipped the book back inside my inventory, dismissing the torchlight as I left the alley and jiggled the inn"s handle again. It opened smoothly. Taking it as invitation, I stepped inside.
The aged innkeeper had a view of the door and when he noticed me he gave a small nod "Morning".
He then frowned slightly, "You didn"t get locked out did you? You should have banged on the door, I would have unlocked it for you"
I shook my head "Don"t worry about it, I had another place to sleep. You don"t mind if I wait in here for my friends to get up do you?"
He shrugged, "If that"s the case.. And sure, I don"t mind. Did you want to talk?"
"Sure" I smiled.
People moved through the inn, people leaving and some returning. The innkeeper disappeared at times, checking on the rooms people vacated. This inn didn"t have a kitchen when I checked, so if I got hungry I"d need to go to some other place.
Finally at midday the others began to come down, Rob first and half an hour later Mark. Another hour pa.s.sed before Josh came down and after waiting for a hour for Kira we finally headed out to eat something. When we returned Kira still hadn"t woken up as we waited for her on the long bench.
We talked as we waited, my questions to Rob were about the way magic worked for him while their questions to me were about the magical world back at home. I lied, I told them stories about objects that didn"t exist, places I"d been to and my initial experiments with magic. I had to make a lot of things up and I"m fairly sure my story contradicted itself more than a few times. But if they noticed it, they didn"t comment.
Kira finally came downstairs and after greeting us went outside to get herself something to eat, we didn"t follow as it was starting to get hot and we wanted to stay in the shade just a bit longer.
Finally Kira returned, chewing on a loaf of bread as she entered the inn.
Rob sighed, "We should probably get going then"
As everyone headed upstairs to grab their packs, I waited behind and pulled out my pack the moment no one was looking and settled it down next to me.
Rob was the first to return, and as we waited he asked me a question curiously, "Where did you sleep?"
"In another room?" I suggested, as if it was obvious. The innkeeper met my eyes, frowned a little and turned away.
He might not approve that I lied to them, but its easier than telling them the truth.. Infinitely easier.
The day pa.s.sed uneventfully as we walked down the role, the others seemingly having accepted I wasn"t going to run away and my own desire to run somewhat.. Gone. I didn"t think it was fair to run away from them, but I was going to need to do something.
Night came and we camped, I stayed awake and continued to read as the others slept. A dazzling array of torchlights surrounding the camp preventing anything from approaching unseen.
"Did you stay up all night?" Kira asked the next morning and I shrugged, "The mana in the air is intoxicating. If the mana on the earth was like a breath of air in an ocean, the mana here is pure oxygen. My body can"t help but absorb it all"
"Huh"
It was mid-afternoon as we pa.s.sed through another town that we heard the news on the palace, that it had been attacked. As the others concernedly pressed for more information I quietly hung back as I listened.
To put it shortly, a rouge mage had attacked the palace, killed guards through the hallways as he approached the mage"s quarters. Used a highlevel spell to fly, then ripped the tower off its surroundings.
Overestimating his power, the enemy mage lost control while flying above the city. Sending both him and the tower crashing to the ground.
I felt a small chill at that, it was obviously not what had happened. Someone had to be helping me deliberately. It could be that someone else attacked in the same night as me, similar plan perhaps. Different goals.
But this timing..
No. I don"t accept it.
Their actions couldn"t have been planned. I didn"t give anyone warning, I didn"t waste time the moment I found a chance. I invaded their palace, someone had to be there already with their own separate plan.
It worked out great for me, but I don"t think they achieved their goals.
The news about the palace seemed to hit the others hard, when I suggested getting a move on they voted against it, citing reasons such as killing the mood and the like.
I really didn"t see the problem, why would they have a problem with this? They didn"t know those people, wasn"t there themselves. Infact, they only stayed at the palace for almost a week! Hardly enough time to get attached!
Look at me! You see me regretting the damage done? The people I"ve.. Disarmed? No. I didn"t know them, and I don"t care to. And here you are, worrying over something that you were not personally part of.
I didn"t voice my opinions, but I silently disapproved of their decision. Making me wonder yet again if I should leave them behind.
We stayed the night, and after my urging we left the same morning.
"Just why do you want to get there so fast?" Rob asked curiously as I grimaced slightly.
"I just want to get this over with" I offered a half-excuse, Rob looked dissatisfied with the answer, but he wisely didn"t press.
"We should be leaving the borders in a few days" he offered conversationally as my mood brightened a little. That would mean real action, real fights.
The same afternoon we took a break, sitting inside a small groove of trees with our packs set to the side. The others talked among themselves as we rested and ate food. Then finally Rob turned to me.
"Hey Jon, we were wondering. Just how strong is your magic here?"
I looked at him, they looked at me and the air was silent and full of expectancy. They had been dancing around this topic for ages, waiting for me to bring it up or to demonstrate. But should I show them?
They could probably connect what happened at the palace if I demonstrated my control over gravity, they didn"t know who was behind it, just that the person was identified as an rouge mage. They also seemed to take the attack on the palace personally..
I do feel as if I could trust them with my secret, how strong I am. But I also think they would feel betrayed, like I intentionally tried to keep them in the dark.
But that was minor when I take my last consideration into mind, I want to travel faster than this. This walking, its mind numbing. I already had an idea of transforming a carriage, wagon or similar into something we could ride on. Faster travel, less effort. More time for me to finish up in this world.
You may think that I thought through this instantly, but really it was an awkward few seconds of silence.
"You already know I can use floating lights?" I asked, half as a question. Seeing them nod, I continued "I can control hundreds of those"
Rob"s eyes opened wide as he looked at me, the others also seemed impressed but only Rob seemed to understand just how impressive it was.
"Guys" he swallowed, "I can barely control eight lights, and its draining".
Kira frowned as she looked at him, then stared at me. "Wait so.." she trailed off.. Leaving the obvious unsaid.
"I don"t have that much spells related to light though" I shrugged, "I"m getting better at understanding how it goes. But I"m not at the level I can do what I want. Its really just limited to bright lights floating around, or a flashlight kind of thing"
Mark grinned, "That"s still impressive though. What about your gravity magic?"
Ah right, they know about that..
"Well.. I scratched my head, "I could easily lift everyone here and not even notice the strain"
They stared at me with wide eyes, Kira"s face splitting into a grin as she stared shocked at me. Then she scowled.
"You can fly can"t you" she accused.
"Uh" I stuttered, a little lost at words. I didn"t really like the way this seemed to be going.. The way she seemed to be accusing me..
"We didn"t have to walk did we" she glared at me. I silently felt relieved, she didn"t go where I thought she would.
"Wait, the palace attack?.." Rob suddenly spoke, staring at me with a heavy expression as I felt a small heart attack.
As soon as Rob said that, the others seemed to come to the same conclusion as they stared at me with expressions that grew heavy and sober, narrowed eyes as they stared at me.
"Yes I can fly" I admitted, and as Kira angrily began to open her mouth I interjected "But I didn"t attack the palace"
"I did fly over there to steal a few books, and I did break into their library. But I definitely didn"t kill anyone, and I definitely didn"t destroy the tower. That was someone else"
I lied to them, my expression pleading with them to believe me.
Achievement: If I can"t trust you, who can I trust?Lie to your own comrades!
Rewarded with acting experience
SkillActingLevel5 [0%]Believability of your behavior improves by 15%
Silently I cursed at the window, now is not the time.
"I guess I believe you" Kira frowned, staring into my eyes as I fought the instinct to look away. With a hurt expression on her face she slowly continued "You really should have told us about this though.."
"We would have listened, maybe not helped but.. You hide secrets from us?"
Her expression was of betrayal as she looked at me. With a tight pained smile she asked "Do you not trust us?"
What do I say to convince them? Can I convince them? I wanted to think further, but I had the nasty feeling that if I waited a second more. I would lose them.
"I thought you would treat me like an outsider" I half confessed, half of the truth being exposed. "That if you knew how good my magic was here, you would act like I"m not one of you"
Josh scoffed, "That"s stupid. We would"ve treated you just the same, we tried to make them teach you like they were teaching us didn"t we?"
"Yeah.. But.."
Kira scrunched her face for a moment, seeming to struggle for a moment before she then abruptly came to a decision.
"You are being stupid" she huffed, "Stop moping and just show us how strong your magic is"
Her sudden reversal caught me off guard, leaving me blinking and staring at her in stupefied silence.
"Well?" she crossed her arms, glaring at me.
"Its not just my magic.. I"m also physically stronger.." They"d find out this later..
"Yeah? How strong" she challenged, almost scathingly. She"s not going insane is she?
Facing a nearby tree, I took a look at the others as they watched me apathetically. Our relations had grown a little strange, and Kira seemed to be.. Challenging me to scare her off? Was that it?
With a small catch my breath, I swung my fist putting my strength into it, sending it towards the tree trunk in a show of unrestrained strength. This might hurt I belatedly realized..
The ground seemed to shudder as the trunk caved in, splinters flying out as my fist smashed through the trunk. It hurt, but it feel almost like I was punching a boxing bag.
After a seconds silence, I yanked my fist back out as another shower of splinters flew out with it, the skin looked a little reddened and it was kinda sticky. But I definitely wasn"t hurt.
Then there was a loud crack as slowly the tree began to topple. The trunk was by no means weak, it was a fullgrown tree. And yet, with one punch. I made the tree topple.
I"m not even sure I hit it ideally, I mean. It would"ve looked nicer if I punched out the trunk cleanly without my fist sinking in.. Maybe I used too much strength or something?
The ground shuddered again as the trunk hit the dirt, forcing the sticks and leaves to jump an inch.
Turning around to face the others I could see expressions of awe, disbelief. Kira no longer seemed to be angry or anything of the sort, she now had a funny look on her face, brow twisted in confusion as if she couldn"t believe what had happened.
Should I bring up my inventory? It seems like a good moment, they"ll barely even question me as they"re a bit too shocked.
Though again.. I"ve already shown a fair bit, and I don"t actually need them to know about my inventory. There"s no real value to it.
Crossing my arms and settling a smug look on my face, I grinned at them.
"Yeah, I"m strong"