The sky was a clean and crisp turqoise, with puffy white clouds leasurely drifting past above.

The cave-like tomb in which Shu had first opened his eyes to this world, was built into the side of a small mountain. He saw that it was but one of many in a curling spine of mountains.

Below him stretched a huge green forest of northern pine trees that gave him an impression of raw, undomesticated wilderness. It looked like the kind of deep fantasy forest in which you'd find barefooted waternymphs playing by the side of a babbling brook, and colonies of faeries leaving trails of colorful dust in their wake as they flutter about.

Hedgewitches with hodgepodges and what does the fox say? Oh hey it's the lady of the lake, magic mirror on the wall... Where the hell had he landed himself this time?

The air was clean and the sun like a warm blanket draped gently over his face. It was simply divine. He had a hard time convincing himself that he was inside of a game, but how could he be anywhere else? If this was reality, he had just slaughtered those knights in cold blood, yet he felt no remorse or guilt for his actions. Should he? Killing them felt just like when you killed players in the game.

But... these sensations... this was so real.

Did it truly make a difference if this beautiful and vivid world of mountains and forests was fake? Shu sucked in another lungful of healing mountain air and rejoiced. From now on, he should think of this as a real world. Since he still couldn't quite convince himself that this was real and not some strange delusion, he decided to just play it off the cuff as though he were a roleplayer.

There'd been loads of roleplayers in Edge. People who liked to make a living by owning taverns and inns or becoming merchants and immersing themselves in the world as though they were truly a part of it. On that account, he didn't even have to try. He already felt like he was a part of this world. Like this was his reality.

One of the first things Shu discovered after emerging from the tomb, was that he needed to bind up his hair. It whipped about in the wind, making it hard for him to see. He'd never really had long hair before, so this was a new experience for him.

His current hairdo reached all the way down past his shoulders to the small of his back, so it certainly qualified as long. It was a silken mess of black, smooth and shiny. The kind of hair one would find in a shampoo commercial.

If he put on a dress, maybe he could be mistaken for a girl? He grinned at the thought, and Admiral Ackbar shouted "It's a trap." inside his head.

After he secured his hair in a loose ponytail, he glanced over at the still nervous Lisa girl, smiled and motioned towards the dusty trail that snaked its way down the mountain, disappearing into the deep green of the pine forest below them. Hoofprints marred the trail, indicating that the knights came quite aways on horseback just to track this girl down. Shu cocked his head and glanced over at Lisa again.

"The knights had horses. Even so, you managed to run all the way out here before they caught up to you?" He asked, studying her for a reaction.

It looked like this little girl had suffered much at the hands of others, so he wasn't expecting much of a reply. He still tried though. Perhaps he could be the one to pry a gleaming pearl from its hiding place within a protective shell?

Lisa shook her head. "Slave. Escaped. Knights chase." She said, the words forced from trembling lips. Her small hands clenched the hem of her skirt in a white knuckled grip, shaking uncontrollably. He patted Lisa on her head in an awkward attempt to comfort her, causing her to freeze. However, after a few pats, she closed her eyes and relaxed, tears flowing silently down her face.

"It's alright now. The knights won't hurt you any more. Look." Shu said, gesturing to the beautiful scene of nature that spread before them. Lisa raised her eyes and stared at the horizon.

"Out there, hundreds of different lands exist. I''m sure that we can find a nice place somewhere. A kingdom without slavery and all that crap." Lisa still looked uncertain, so he continued. "If for some reason such a place doesn't exist, or we can't find it, I'll just make us one." He said, grinning. Lisa's eyes widened and she turned to stare into his eyes, seeming to gather her courage.

"Just who are you? To be able to take out a squad of knights like that..." Lisa asked almost in a whisper. He shrugged.

"I'm Shugireth Darkstar. I used to be a guild leader but... then I took an arrow to the knee. In any case the items back there all belonged to my guild."

"Can we go? To your guild... base?" Lisa asked in a small voice. He shook his head.

"As far as I'm aware, you're looking at what's left of the guild. Me. Alone." As Shu said that, he got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was alone. Seperated from his friends and guildmates... He would never see them again.

Lisa, seeing his long gaze looked up at him. "I'm sorry." She said sincerely.

"It's nothing. I should be the one saying that. Ah but let's forget all that sad stuff! What do you say little princess? Shall we go? Adventure awaits!" Lisa studied him with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing, but no words escaped from those heartshaped lips. He smiled and nodded, gently clapping her on the shoulder before turning to the trail.

The two of them descended the long and dusty path, their aim the hallowed deep green of the valley below.

They walked for about two hours before they even entered the fringes of the great pine forest and he tried to get the girl to talk to him. He was partially successful. Although he was kind of awkward, so was she. Could this be what you'd call a kindred spirit?

But no, Lisa had a legitimate reason to be the way she was. To be a slave... such a horrendous thing. What must it be like to live like that day in and day out? Suffering under the heavyhanded abuse of a beastly master? He shuddered.

Some time later, after finally breaking the perimeter of the great forest, Shu felt a tug on his face. "Why are you smiling?" Lisa asked him. She had loosened up to him a little bit during their walk and talk, but was still a quiet and shy person at heart.

"This smile is because of the smell. Can't you smell it? This delicious and clean scent of pines. It makes you feel so alive." He definitely sounded like an old man. That realization elicited a quiet chuckle from him, which just served to further discombobulate his little companion. Lisa opted to not respond to his comment. Perhaps she had decided that this weird Shu person she was with was a little bit off his rocker.

After another hour of trekking through the forest, they came upon a river crossing. The river itself rushed down from the mountains, frothing with white foam. He heard the sound of rocks churning in the powerful stream, which mingled with birdsong to create a meditative and peaceful atmosphere.

The river was wide, but since they had been following an established path, there was naturally also a bridge across. Shu was a bit surprised at the size and scale of the world. They had been walking all day and had barely made any progress. He could of course use teleports to travel much faster, but what was the point of that?

Besides, recklessly using space magic might catch the attention of high level mages, if any were looking. Space magic had a tendency to cause noticable ripples whenever used, and depending on the strength of the magic, the ripples could sometimes extend several kilometers in every direction.

The ripples were subtle, but a skilled space magic user could pick them up and use various mathematical and magical principles to narrow in on the person using the teleports. He felt it wise to not reveal his presence and abilities carelessly, given how he might've already become a fugitive after his run-in with the knights. It depended on what those knights reported to their higher ups.

After crossing the river, they walked deeper into the forest for a time, the clean air serving to cleanse his muddled brain. That strange pressure was almost gone now, and his thoughts were nearly his own again. Soon enough, night time approached and the forest grew darker around them.

In the twilight, Shu thought he saw smoke rising to the sky ahead of them. He almost smacked his forehead. He should've made camp a little earlier.

"A campfire?" He exclaimed, surprising Lisa. "The knights? No it couldn't be them. They should've made it much farther since they had horses, so who?" he muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

Lisa also looked towards the rising smoke. As he watched her, she shrank in on herself, making herself small and pathetic. She looked like a beaten dog.

"Don't do that Lisa. Straighten your back and stop looking down. Meet people head on. You're with me now, so you don't have to worry about a thing. If they're bad people, I'll protect you."

"We.. we're going?" she asked nervously, clearly apprehensive. He nodded. "Night will be here soon and we have to make camp. Since those guys are camping here, we should go check if they are friends or foes. Otherwise, our two camps will end up close together and there's the risk that they could sneak attack us during the night."

He wasn't worried about getting caught unawares, since his magic would prevent such an ambush. Still, protocol was protocol. Just because he could do something, did not mean he should, or that it was the correct action to take. One step down the road of carelessness could quickly send him snowballing, and soon you'd have your tailbone repeatedly violated as you slid down the stairs into the territory of tomfoolery and careless mistakes.

He rested a hand on Lisa's shoulder to reassure the girl that everything would be fine. Squeezing gently, he gave her a smile he hoped looked comforting. "Let's go see what kind of people we'll meet out here in the middle of nowhere. Ohoho, an exciting new encounter, this little me is excited." He said, trying to sound funny so that Lisa would lose her tension. She tried to return his smile, but it looked forced, her lips twitching. A leprechaun had probably stolen his funny bone. He intended to get it back sometime.

[Invisibility]

[Aura Suppression]

[Noise cancellation]

Shu cast a few spells to hide his presence, and snuck up to the tree-line to take a look at the people sitting round the campfire.

Just as he reached the tree-line and hid himself behind a trunk, raucous laughter drifted to him from the small campsite.

Five people sat around a blazing fire. The one who had just laughed so loudly and obnoxiously was a huge hulk of a man who was currently sharpening a two handed axe with a whetstone. He wore furs, a few leather straps and little else to cover his bulging Arnold Swarzenegger muscles. A barbarian? He had to be atleast 2 meters tall, probably quite a bit taller than that actually. Any moment now, he'd go "Get daun, get avay!" "Get to the choppa!" "Arrrrgh".

Next to Conan the Barbarian sat a woman in white clerics robes, her hands folded in her lap. She looked young and dignified, with bronze skin and an elegant nose peeking out from beneath her white hood.

Next to the priestly woman sat a small man with a bow, clad in green and brown camouflage. He reminded Shu of robin hood. The next person in the party was a strong looking woman with a sword strapped to her belt. Her red hair was double-braided and bound with strips of leather, and her face was overrun by freckles. There was a large shield resting against a tree near her. She reminded him a little of that celtic queen. Surely her name wasn't Maeve or Boudica.

When he leveled his discerning gaze at the last person, their eyes met and he held back a curse.

This robed figure was obviously a mage of some kind. The robes were dark green with golden threaded embroidery depicting life-like leaves and vines. The person was tall, but not as tall as the barbarian. Suddenly, the figure raised its hands and removed the hood to reveal pale blonde hair and a pair of long elf ears. A female high elf? She still looked over at where Shu was hidden, her gaze fixed and intense, as if she knew he was there. Had she been able to feel the space ripple that invisibility produced?

That was highly unlikely. Compared with something like teleportation, Invisibility did not cause much of a ripple outside of a very short radius, as it merely distorted the space around the body of the caster and did not travel to a a seperate location. Thus, nobody should've been able to pick up on the ripples from his invisibility spell and yet he had somehow caught her attention.

Only a truly high level master specializing in such magic would be sensitive enough to feel that something was off... Someone like old bastard Brestad, his only non guildmate friend in Edge. To be discovered this easily made him feel a little worried. What if everyone in this world was high level and he was just a noob? But the knights had been extremely weak, so he was a little confused.

The others duly noted the elfs caution, their voices dying down as they readied their weapons, scanning the tree-line cautiously. Not good. Shu had no intentions of stirring up trouble if he could avoid it. Quickly, he teleported to Lisa's position, appearing just behind her. He reached out a hand and cupped it over her mouth to keep her from squealing.

Lisa started, letting out a little scream. Thankfully, the sound was muted by his hand. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Easy, It's me." After that, Lisa seemed to relax, almost collapsing into him. She looked up at him with moist eyes and said, "Jeez, don't.. don't do that."

"Sorry. The guys up ahead might have noticed me so I came back here quickly to make sure you were alright." Shu detected a trace of wonder in his own voice as he said this.

No low level player would be able to detect his stealth magic in Edge Online. It didn't matter if all they specialized in was stealth magic, it was simply impossible. Yet that high elf... If she was high level, Lisa might be in danger.

"We have to go greet them before they grow too wary of us. If in doubt, just follow my lead." Shu gathered his confidence and strode towards their camp, Lisa following close behind, almost clinging to him. He made sure to keep Lisa close at all times, just to be sure she was safe. In truth, he wanted to cast protection magic on both of them, but that had its problems.

He would rely on his reactions should something go awry.

It really was weird that that high elf could detect him. He had assumed that the rules were similar to Edge online since he could cast magic, but perhaps the rules were different somehow?

Since the elf hadn't pursued him, perhaps she wasn't adept at space magic after all? Or maybe she was just being cautious of an ambush. Glancing over at Lisa, he motioned for a halt, reaching into the black box to retrieve a pair of glasses. Nothing fancy, just small round ones like a scholar might wear.They were enchanted to blur chosen features, in this case all they would do was hide his abnormal eyes. Lisa had seemed rather disturbed and shocked by his eyes when they first met.

He supposed that it was a normal reaction to such weird eyes. He wouldn't have made them like that if he had known it would be this troublesome, but long years of gaming had distorted his common sense somewhat.

In edge, weird eye colors was the least of it. Logic defying beasts and monsters casually roamed about, quite often walking down cobbled streets holding a bag of shopping. He'd lived in such a world for over 5 years in a non-stop dive, special immersion medical VR capsule. Even before that, the time he'd spent in Edge... was alot.

He was just pocketing the guild chest and preparing to approach their camp, when he suddenly felt a ripple in the space around him. Looking back, he saw the form of the tall high elf woman in the green dress extending a hand toward them. Shu narrowed his eyes at the woman, but she didn't seem to have any bad intentions towards them.

In fact, her face was filled more with pity than aggression.

"Sleep." She intoned silently, and a green mist flowed towards them. As soon as the mist rolled over Lisa, she fainted quietly, slowly and harmlessly falling to the ground.

Shu watched the approach of the green mist, pondering the best approach to take. He didn't have much time though, so he decided to just go with it. When the green mist washed over him, he felt a slight drowsiness but nothing more. His resistance to magic was considerable. That combined with his level was enough to make this kind of sleeping mist trivial, but Shu was still surprised at its effectiveness. For it to make him drowsy would mean that it was a truly powerful spell and that the woman before him was no push-over.

Shu closed his eyes and pretended to faint, falling to the ground slowly in what he hoped was a convincing imitation of what Lisa had done. As he fell, he silently cast a few spells so that he could keep track of everything even with his eyes closed.

[Motion Sense]

[Gaze of the inquisitor]

[Circle of Perception]

After the two of them fell, she clapped her hands and called out. "Alright, it's done." The four other members of the party entered Shu's circle of perception. He could clearly distinguish their auras due to the gaze of the inquisitor.

"Carry the kids to the camp. Brock you take the boy, I'll take the girl." He was a little annoyed when he felt the big barbarian man approaching, but alas he endured the Swarzenegger. Most of his attention was focused on Lisa. If even one of these people made any attempt to harm her... well, they wouldn't even know how they died. Shu felt himself shudder as he was picked up by Conan the barbarian. The man did not stink too much of sweat though, so atleast there was that.

"What do you think these kids were doing out ere' in de middle of nowhere Caia?" the big man rumbled.

"I know not. They're very well dressed for children wandering the wilds. Perhaps they're nobles who got attacked by bandits and lost their entourage?"

"Hmm," Brock rumbled. "I don't know. How can kids like them survive even day out here? This is the old hunting grounds of the Blue Wind. Although we and the knights routinely prune this area's monsters, there are still the wild wolves, bears and those bloodthirsty thistle boars..."

Shu saw Caia smiling through his Gaze of the inquisitor. "How indeed. How indeed." Caia said. Shu felt her gaze lingering on him, and worried that she'd remove his glasses or touch his ring. But no. All she did was study him as they walked, while tenderly carrying the sleeping Lisa. Through the gaze of the inquisitor, he saw the Caia woman thumbing through Lisa's hair.

From outside it looked as though she was just stroking Lisa's head, but in actuality she was feeling Lisa's horns. Shu struggled to keep from tensing up too much, focusing his magic on her even more. The Caia womans gaze returned to him, and she smiled once more.

"Brock, have you noticed anything strange about these kids? Beside the fact that they seem to be well-dressed nobles without a scratch on them, appearing in the middle of the blue wilds with no guide, no weapons and no food supplies."

"Now that you mention it... that hair is too fucking long for a boy, don't you think? And that delicate face... Could he be a girl dressed as a boy? Hmm, possible I guess. " Brock rumbled. He cringed inwardly, hoping that Brock wouldn't get any funny ideas. The horror of being violated by an Arnold clone as he said "Arrr ja, ja, arrrgh," was enough to make a cat cry.

"Anything else?" Caia said with a sigh. Shu got the distinct feeling that this woman had picked up on something, but it wasn't that surprising since it was she who had somehow managed to detect him. She was probably the most dangerous individual in this party.

"Eh? What the fuck? There's a black horn on this kids head..." Brock exclaimed.

"This girl has two horns, and they aren't black but more of a brownish hue, the same color as her hair." Caia said.

"Demonkin eh? Who'd have thought we'd run into demonkin out here of all places. Escaped slaves? But those clothes...nobles? But I didn't think there were any noble demons left." Brock said.

Shu could feel that they were nearly at the campsite now, so he tried to keep his composure a little longer.

However, if these people dared to harm a hair on Lisa's head, he would rip their skulls out through their asses, fold them into bloody balls of flesh and bone with telekinesis, then skewer their remains on a long stick and have a golgag eat them like a snack.

Easy now.This isn't the black downs. Lisa will be fine. Just pay attention.

"Remember those knights we met on the road earlier?" Caia said. "They didn't even stop to greet us. At first I thought it was because of Fiffy, but now..." Brock said.

"Right. They were in an awful hurry for some reason." Caia continued. "I gather that they might've been looking for something or hurrying back to file a report, don't you think? There's no other reason why a kings squad on patrol, would be in such a hurry to return to the capital."

Shu felt himself being squeezed in Brocks arms, "You mean to tell me that those mother fuckers..." Brock said. Shu couldn't help but tense slightly at that aggressive and hateful tone.

"That's right." Caia said. "They really have gone too far this time, If indeed they were hunting these children. Though that doesn't explain their hasty, almost panicky retreat." Caia said offhand, once more glancing over at Shu.

"Damn right they've gone too far." Brock said, and Shu could feel the man shaking with rage.

"That mad bastard has already hunted and captured most of the demonkin with the help of the Empire's elite troops. All thats left now is a lucky few that are still free, or alive even." Shu felt Brocks gaze land on him and Lisa.

"He won't be king much longer. The Empire will soon swallow these lands." Caia commented off hand, as if she didn't really care.

"Won't mean much for us Adventurers. The Empire has no strict regulations to impose on us, so it'll be business as usual." Brock said. "I doubt they would ever resort to a draft to bolster their numbers. They don't need to since they are more than strong enough by themselves. Secondly, they don't really want to antagonize the adventurer's guild. That would severely limit their income in the long run." Brock said.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Careful meatloaf. You're starting to sound smart again, Fiona might fall for you." Caia said, smiling and Brock grunted.

"Like hells I will." Another woman said.

"Alright we're here." Caia said, as if she was speaking for Shu's benefit. He felt himself being gently lowered unto a blanket and heard Lisa being layed down next to him. Her limp hand grazed his own, and Lisa let out a small groan in her sleep, closing her hand around his and gripping it tightly. That small act alone was enough to pierce his heart. The warm and fuzzy feeling shocked Shu a little.

He hadn't felt that before. Not ever. For a second, he thought it was some sort of healing magic, but that couln't be right. Maybe it was some weird racial instinct to protect his own kind? He truly had no idea.

Caia went over to stand infront of them. Shu felt her steadfast gaze as she studied him closely. She then raised her hand, pointing it towards them. "What be ye doing Caia?" It was the red-haired warrior woman. There was a melodic lilt to her voice, and she sounded vaguely scottish and also Irish, but also not. What a strange blend of accents.

"Sleep." Caia intoned. Then she turned to face the other woman. "Just making sure." She said with an innocent smile. "Isn't it kind of overkill against kids, even if they be demons.That spell is draining too. Why go through the trouble?"

"Rather than risking them attacking us or running away out of fear, I thought it best to be as gentle as possible. Besides, if I don't even have enough mana to sustain a few sleeping mists, then I can't call myself our party leader can I?" Caia replied.

The red haired woman mused for a moment, then said. "Well, it seems te have worked alright. They don't be running anywhere."

Caia made a motion that looked like a handsign, but it was hard to distinguish with his magic sight alone. After that, there was complete silence in the camp.

Nobody said a word. They all just froze and waited. It was as if the world had been put on hold.

Shu also waited, and waited, but still they did not move. What the fuck was this? It really mindfucked him, since he was already unsure about the metaphysics of this world. Was it real or a dream, was this inside a game or was this a real world somewhere? Had he been reincarn.... oh shit.

The red button had asked him if he wanted to reincarnate. It hadn't said anything about spawning into a game world. But if that were the case then what the hell was with the weird and buggy character creation process? Shu's head hurt and he wanted to yell out in frustration at the frozen shapes that almost seemed to mock him. Caia let out a low sigh.

"Alright, you can stop pretending now." She said, turning her gaze towards him. After all it was as he had thought... this woman...

Silently, he rose to his feet, running a hand across his doublet to uncrinkle it and to make sure no remnants of Arnold clung to it.

This caused both Brock and the red haired woman to stare at him with wide eyes. These two had just seen Caia recast her strong sleeping spell on him, so of course they were surprised. As party members, they should have a good understanding of each others strengths and weaknesses, otherwise they weren't much of a party. Their teamwork was probably passable.

Shu didn't say a word. Instead, he narrowed his eyes behind the glasses that concealed his unnatural eyes. Caia smiled. "What kind of enchantment's on those glasses? I can't see past it at all, so it must be strong." Caia said.

Those words seemed to shock Brock and the red haired woman even more than Shu's resistance to her sleep spell. Perhaps this womans forté was enchantments and buffs? She had been quite good with space magic though, so maybe she was an all-rounder?

After staring at them for awhile without speaking, Caia finally reacted, sighing. "As you can see, we don't mean you any harm. The fact that you didn't counter-attack after I cast sleeping magic on the girl proves that you too, don't harbour aggressive feelings towards us. Am I wrong?" Caia said, and the members of the party all tensed at her words.

It was good that they were ready to fight at a moments notice. He concluded that these people were wise to the ways of the world to some degree.

Perhaps he should stick with them for a little while to see if he could get some information out of them. He was after all, severely starved of intel and it might prove good to have other travelling companions.

Shu cleared his throat, and all eyes in the camp fell onto him. "We just saw your campfire and came to investigate. We don't want trouble." He said clearly.

"Told ye the fire would give us away." The red haired woman grumbled, eyeing Brock sourly. "Oh just shut up Fiona, the only thing this far out are beasts and monsters... and those two, apparently... but other than that we should've been good." Brock said. At that, the woman harumphed. Shu raised an eyebrow at this exchange.

"I'm Caia and the big guy over there is Brock. The feisty redhead is Fiona, our Vanguard and the little guy with the bow is Trevor. He's married to Vorna, the priest. Together, we are Ouroboros Team 7, an A rank party working with the adventurer's guild and as the name of our party implies, we're also affiliated with Ouroboros." Caia said, smiling as she gestured to each of her party members.

Shu couldn't help it when his face contorted into an expression of surprise for a moment. "Ouroboros huh." Shu said to himself, scratching his chin but finding no stubble there, which was a weird sensation.

He still wasn't used to this child body he'd inadvertently chosen for himself. The thought of it still made him a bit uncomfortable.

The party of 5 studied him closely, the question clear in their eyes. Should he have reacted differently? He wasn't sure he could.

After all, it was supremely strange that that name would appear all of a sudden. The only guild that had been able to compete with Pandemonium throughout the later stages of Edge Online had been Ouroboros. There had been only one rival guild. One.

And only a single person outside of Pandemonium whom Shu could truly call friend and rival, a man nearly as strong as he was. The only guy he could get some good sparring practice with apart from his guild mates. If there was even a sliver of a chance that he could meet up with that man in this strange world, then he would take it without hesitation.

"You wouldn't happen to know someone called Hymbon Brestad, would you?" Shu said, deciding to just ask them straight out instead of playing word games. If things went south he could always just grab Lisa and teleflicker away.

When they heard this name, all five of them opened their mouthes in shock. "How... How do you know the name of the honored ancestor, The first Guild master? No one but the inner circle of our guild is supposed to know..." Caia said. The shock was evident on her face, but she somehow gathered herself before the rest of her companions, swallowing her saliva before reorganizing herself.

"What do you mean honored ancestor? Are you talking about Breddy?" Shu asked. He was feeling more and more ill at ease. This simply could not be a coincidence. How could there be two people with a name as strange as Hymbon Brestad? The guild name was the same aswell.

The dumbfounded adventurers all glanced to Caia, shock and uncertainty on faces that had moments before displayed nonchalance and confidence.

"Hymbon Brestad is the founder and first guild master of our great Ouroboros guild." Caia began."More than a millenium ago, he founded Ouroboros and with his leadership nothing under the sun, moon and stars could be compared to the glory of our Ouroboros guild." Cocking her head slightly, Caia studied shu with an absent look in her eyes.

"There was only one guild that stood above ours in those ancient times, and that guild is naught but myths and legends. Their achievements are so ridiculously unbelievable that many think them fabrications from the age of legends. After all, how can one guild defeat 20 top tier guilds in a single continuous battle? Or conquer kingdoms and empires like they are nothing but the footnotes of history?

Even so, our records state that even the honored ancestor Hymbon Brestad respected this guild. There are numerous references in our records and all of them point towards this guild being Ouroboros' rival in ancient times. What's more, the honored ancestor seems to have been great friends with that person." Caia said, again looking over at him with that strange gaze from before. Shu cocked his head.

Why did she suddenly rattle this off? Was this her attempt at answering his question? She was strangely perceptive. A little too perceptive, he thought.

Hearing all this, Shu felt a little awkward. The red haired woman, Fiona, shuffled around behind Caia looking like she wanted to explode. "Caia!" She finally shouted. "Why are you telling all this to an outsider?" Fiona yelled. "An outsider kid we just met, of all things!" Brock held up a hand to stop the womans tirade, giving her a look as if to say, because she's Caia?

There was a groan beside Shu. Was Lisa waking up already? She must have high resistance to sleep magic, or maybe that Fiona womans supersonic howling skill was just too great?

Caia ignored Fiona's outburst, continuing to stare at Shu with contemplative eyes.

"That person?" Shu prompted, a strange feeling churned in his stomach at this moment. He had a feeling he knew exactly to whom she was referring. All of this made it feel as though he was the victim of a practical joke.

Seeing that he was going to die, the nurses at the hospital injected him with some drugs that fucked him up and then left him waste away in his delusion? The only other option was one which Shu also didn't particularly like. Mayhap some God or Goddess had brought him to this world?

He didn't like the idea of being a puppet in a play, his actions the entertainment of celestial beings. What kind of coincidence was it that he would meet a party from Ouroboros right after leaving the cave? It felt a little contrived, and Shu thought for a moment, what if some sort of external force had set him up? Not nurses, but a god? Did such a thing exist? He shook his head to clear it, resisting the urge to bite down hard on his own tongue in frustration.

"Hymbon once referred to that person as, and I quote, 'The Godlike General of Pandemonium, the bloody commander of the Black Downs. The only bastard who has ever been able to outmaneuver me.' But we do not know the name of this person." Caia explained calmly.

"And Fiffy, as for why I am telling him all of this... Ah first let's sit! We're all standing around here like eyeless gorgons. It is unsightly for seasoned adventurers like us to behave this way."

Caia sighed, seating herself on a stump near the fire. Although the woman had introduced herself and her party, Shu had yet to give his name and there was a reason for it. Perhaps it had been passed down to these people through whatever records were kept of Breddy in their guild archives, and Shu wasn't sure he was ready to reveal his existence to the world when he didn't even know anything about it.

The others followed Caia's lead and also lowered their posteriors back down on their respective stumps. Shu approached them tentatively, standing near the fire and facing the five adventurers. It looked like Caia was about to say something, but Shu held up a hand, silencing her and also focusing all gazes on him again.

He took out the guild chest from his pocket, located a small black stool with three legs within, took it out and sat down on it, folding his small child hands in his lap and staring at the fire for a moment. It crackled and popped wonderfully, courtesy of pines, no doubt.

Throughout all of this, it looked like the adventurer's eyes would pop out of their heads at any moment. Brocks mouth hung open like a gaping maw, inviting poor unsuspecting insects to enter the chasm and fly to their doom. This was all part of a strategy. If you had something that you did not want someone to find out about you, simply direct their attention towards something less significant, yet still interesting enough to keep their mind ensnared.

"Item box? No it can't be... how can a little kid possess an ancient grade legendary item?" Caia asked, breaking the long and awkward silence. Shu shook his head. "It's not an item box, but I guess you're not that far off the mark." He said mysteriously, leaving a faint smile on his upturned lips.

Their interest was good. This meant they would be less likely to suspect his identity. Leaving the mystery of the black box for them to ponder, he shifted on the black stool and fixed them with a questioning gaze.

"What were you saying about you telling me all of this?" Shu asked. As he said this, he noticed that the Fiona woman began writhing about again. It was fun. You could clearly see every emotion on her face, as she struggled to contain herself. "Aye, do tell us why ye be divulging our secrets to some outsider kiddo Caia. No matter how weird he may may be." Fiona said, controlling her voice this time.

"Several reasons." Caia said, stopping Fiona from saying more though it looked like the redhead wanted to continue her rant.

"First of all, that time at the camp when I detected a presence? That was the medallion my mother gave me, warning me about the presence of incredibly high level magic nearby. My mother said that if the medallion ever activated, I should retreat immediately. This medallion only lights up when someone uses a substantial power, and yet there was absolutely nothing near us. I saw nothing, I heard nothing, and my mana sense circle wasn't reacting either. Yet the medallion suddenly went all haywire. I've never seen it act like that before, so I knew something was up. This was why I had all of you on red alert back then."

The adventurers glanced at Shu and back to Caia several times, but none of them said anything.

In the background, a cute little moan from a sleeping girl could be heard, as she tossed and turned in her sleep. Shu hoped that Lisa wasn't having a nightmare, but that she dreamt of fluffy unicorns and rivers of honey. Given what she'd been through though, the chances of her having a good dream was probably near zilch. Should he go wake her after all? He absentmindedly rubbed the silken fabric of his doublet between two pale marble-like fingers as he considered just getting up and reviving Lisa.

"The second reason was that when I teleported behind them, he detected me immediately even though I had my stealth magic activated. When our eyes met, I felt a shiver run down my spine kind of like when my mom gets angry..." Caia's elegant face drew together in a momentary frown as she shook herself from the grasp of uncomfortable remembrances, apparently.

"You can call me Shu, by the way. And the girl's name is Athelisa."

Caia nodded. It turned out that cautiousness had once again been a wise choice. What if these people knew his name from those ancient guild records of theirs and connected the dots right off the bat?

He wasn't sure what kind of reception he would receive if he revealed himself as the Master of Pandemonium. Until he had more intel, he'd rather keep a low profile so that he could explore this world with a more carefree attitude and not worry about someone targeting him or those around him with too much fervor.

It wasn't wise to needlessly reveal ones cards. It was substantially safer for Lisa too, if she was going to stick to him. If his opponents knew his power, they could try to kidnap her and use her as a bargaining chip in a confrontation with him and he did not like that one bit.

A strange thought occured to him. Had that girl already become a weakness for him? Why did he feel as though he had to protect her no matter what? A compulsion from the bastard that sent him here? No, Shu shook his head. What was there to be ungrateful for? He was going to avail himself of the mortal coil in any case, so regardless of what this was, it could only be an improvement compared to the alternative of just expiring without a second wind.

The lack of information was a little disconcerting though, but other than that, he'd been given a second lease on life in this world. It was almost too good to be true.

"Well, I saw that even though you narrowed your eyes at me, you didn't attack.

At that moment, I felt like I had no options left so I ended up acting out my original plan and casting sleep on you guys. The spell worked fine on the girl. I felt my mana enter her normally. However, when my mana came into contact with Shu it felt like my mana crashed into a solid wall." Caia shivered visibly, and Shu noted the goosebumps on her arms.

"I don't know if I should say..." she said, clearly hesitating.

"Say what?" Fiona prompted. Shu nodded. He wasn't sure what Caia was going to say, but whatever it was didn't have anything to do with discovering that he was the Master of Pandemonium.

These people didn't seem to be bad. In addition, they bore the name of Ouroboros. That alone entitled them to a modicum of respect from him.

Shu didn't mind trusting them slightly either, especially because this Caia woman was an unusually competent and perceptive woman. A group with such an intelligent leader seemed good to befriend. After all, the thing Shu lacked the most right now besides intel about the world, were allies. Alot of people underestimated the power of allies, but as a Guild leader, how could he not know of it?

"Only about 10% of my mana slipped through his body. It felt like my mana squeezed through the cracks of a great wall." As Caia said that, Vorna the only other magic user present, shifted nervously beside Trevor and shot Shu a wary glance.

"That's not what made me truly cautious though. When my mana entered Shu's body, I felt that my power was like a tiny drop in the ocean beside his. My tiny little droplet of mana was immediately swallowed by an unfathomably great ocean of power." Caia couldn't contain her tremors this time, and the other adventurer's looked disturbed aswell.

"I thought, I don't even have the right to look this person in the eye, and I'm the next in line for head of my Tribe. I'm the daughter of the purple handed witch, for crying out loud!" Caia cleared her throat, her cheeks flushed a pale pink. She was quite beautiful, he had to admit. "So when you fell down from my magic, I was so surprised I nearly fell down aswell. Of course I realized soon after that you were pretending." Caia said.

"Then why the hell did ye shoot off yer mouth like that? What if..." Fiona continued, apparently voicing their hidden concern. What if Brock had said something Shu didn't like and he had annihilated them? He thought it was a valid concern. If he was a more triggerhappy individual, he might've pre-emptively removed them from existence like with the knights. However, the adventurers had not outright expressed their resentment of him like the knights had, and so he had given them a chance.

Vorna's face was paler than the rest. She clearly understood Caia's metaphor about a drop in the ocean, much more so than the others since they weren't magic users. Shu sighed inwardly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I talked because, if Shu wanted to kill us, all he would need to do would be to wave his hand like he was swatting flies. Brock, how would you like to fight a mountain? What about the Spine of Illubriel? Fiona, what do you think would happen if you faced an ant? The outcome would be a foregone conclusion. Am I wrong Shu?" She asked, looking over at him, her face still flushed red as she clenched her hands, her eyes sparkling slightly. She looked a bit like an excited child, which was a decidedly odd look for an attractive blonde haired elven woman.

Frowning, Shu clenched his hands and took a deep breath. Caia was taking this a little bit too far. He had not expected her to voice such things, but apparently she had no reservations. Of course, she was probably correct, but that didn't mean he had to like the fact that she had exposed a bit of his power to the others. He'd given her permission with that nod though, so he could only blame himself for this slip up. Shu would have to remember it so that he did not make this careless mistake again in the future. Now, he sought to remedy the situation. He did not want these people to be wary of him, lest the act of obtaining valid information from them would become alot harder.

"I think you're overestimating me too much. Even if I'm lucky to have been born with a talent for magic, and this demonic body, I'm still just Shu, not some almighty sage. You guys are definitely mistaken about my power level." He said, smiling amiably and spreading his hands as if to say, see? I'm just a harmless kid.

Caia seemed to catch on quickly, and hurriedly said. ”That's right! How can someone have that much mana, right Vorna? It must've been because Shu has a high resistance to sleep magic that I misjudged his level of power. After all, I'm not very good at sensing that sort of thing.” Caia eyed Brock, who despite looking like that, was still a rather intelligent man.

”Right, let's calm our tits. Just because this kid has some magic resistance, you shouldn't jump to conclusions about his strength in battle.” Brock said.

”What Brock said is true.” Shu said. ”You cannot judge someone merely by skimming the surface layer of their being.” he added. Caia's face blanched at this, but the others didn't seem to catch his insinuation. They merely nodded with both relief and joy, and Shu could tell they wanted to laugh at themselves for their stupidity in believing a child capable of exterminating them.

Still... a child. Being a child was a bit of a drag, but perhaps it had its advantages aswell. Such as pre-emptively lowering peoples guards. Not that his plans included taking advantage of such a thing. There were certain limits, and besides, he did not need such an advantage when dealing with people.

”Putting that aside, can you guys stop calling me kid already?” Shu asked.

At this, Brock slapped his bulging thighs with a huge hamfist, letting out a bellowing, almost beastly laugh. ”Kid, even if you say that...” Brock replied, grinning.

”It's true that you don't talk like a child your age would.” Vorna said.

It was the first time he'd heard the woman speak. Her voice was gentle and soothing, like rolling ocean waves. She somehow exuded a sense of calmness and reassurance. Perhaps it had to do with her profession as a priest? Shu wondered briefly what kind of God she worshipped.

It couldn't be the AI, right? Shu wanted to laugh at such a ridiculous idea, but suppressed the urge. He didn't want to appear too mentally unhinged infront of people he'd just met.

”Vorna knows what she's talking about,” Trevor said. ”She's got that orphanage thing on the side, remember?” Trevor said. Those two were quiet, unassuming people, but when they spoke they backed each other up like it was natural. As long as it didn't go too far and they ended up finishing each others sentences, he could appreciate that kind of coordination. It would assist them in battle.

"I see that you get the point though.” Caia said. "I wanted to show him that we weren't malicious bandits, which was why I asked Brock if he had noticed anything strange about them. I wanted Shu to be at ease with us and relax his guard a little."

In the background, Lisa stirred, rubbing drowsily at her eyes and yawning with a cute little sound. Hnng, so defenseless!

Shu stood immediately after noticing that Lisa was waking up, causing all the other adventurers to stand aswell. Laughing, he waved a hand in dismissal, hurrying over to kneel at Lisa's side. He placed one of his hands on her forehead. She didn't have a fever. Good. She was likely to be less fogbrained then.

"Lisa are you awake? It's okay to take it easy, everything's fine." Shu said, trying to sound comforting. He tapped into his cousin and big brother experience and smiled down at her.

"Fine?" she asked, her voice dry and a little hoarse, as if she was coming out of anesthesia, which in a sense, she was. "Yeah, the people at the campfire are friendly."

"Friend... ly?" she croaked. Shu smiled and nodded in the affirmative, procuring a waterskin for her from his black box. She drank with quiet gulps, holding the waterskin betwixt her small delicate digits as if she were holding a flute.

Shu noted the adventurer's watching his every move as though they were looking at an exotic animal exhibit at a zoo. Was his behaviour really that strange? Or perhaps it was his so-called item box with which they were concerned? It didn't really matter though. Lisa mattered.

When she had emptied the waterskin, Lisa rubbed the sleep out of her eyes for good, looking over at the campfire. Sighting the adventurers, Lisa's eyes widened in fear so Shu placed a comforting hand on her small shoulders.

"Easy. They won't hurt you. They're good guys, right?" Shu said, and the adventurer's hurriedly nodded. "Of course. We won't hurt you guys." Caia said with a calm voice.

Then continued, "Your name is Lisa? I'm really sorry about the sleeping spell just now, I hope you're okay?"

"Sleeping spell?" Lisa asked in a whisper, looking up at Shu.

He answered in a similarly hushed tone, bending down to whisper in her ear. "That woman's name is Caia. She cast a sleeping spell on us to try and capture us peacefully. She was afraid we would run away, but actually she just wanted to be friends with us." Lisa's body tensed at the word capture, but she relaxed again when she heard the word friends.

"Did Shu also get hit by the spell and fall asleep?” Lisa asked drowsily. Shu resisted the urge to brush a hand against her cheeks. What the hell was wrong with him?

”No, I said I would protect you, remember? It would be hard to protect you if I was asleep right?” Shu smiled. At this, Lisa finally seemed to relax somewhat.

When they were done exchanging whispers, Caia bowed elegantly towards Shu and Lisa, giving off an air of formal elegance. "Shu and Athelisa, We of Ouroboros Team 7 invite you to share in our campfire. Won't you come over?" The woman asked.

What was with her sudden formality? Perhaps it was her way of showing courtesy to them. Elven customs from Edge online were fricking strange. The developers really had a hell of a time designing the forest of morning glories, within which resided elves whose skin had a distinctly pinkish hue.

Just the name of the forest alone made him want to cringe and smile at the same time.

Lisa clung nervously to his arm, and half hid behind him. "Of course we'd love to share in your fire, if you don't mind." Shu replied amiably.

He and Lisa made their way over to the fire. "Actually, we were just about to pop some rations when you guys suddenly showed up.” Brock said, throwing a smile their way. Shu could feel Lisa's grip on his arm tighten a little. ”Keep your gaffer shut Brock. You're scaring her.” Fiona said playfully, a lazy grin playing across her freckled face.

When they reached the fire, Lisa looked at the small black three-legged stool then up at him. Shu smiled at the perceptive girl and then clapped his hands.

"Alright then, I'll let you guys eat something good as an apology for imposing on you like this. Please treat it as a token of my sincerity, when I say that I hope to make friends like you in the future!" Shu said, bowing his head to the adventurers. Better safe than sorry where formalities were concerned.

After that, the atmosphere at the campfire became noticably less tense. He shook hands with Brock and exchanged formal greetings with the party, and Caia took a huge liking to Lisa, eyeing her like one would a delicious treat. If Shu hadn't known better, he would've almost thought that Caia was a lolicon, what with the way she gazed with googly eyes at Lisa. But honestly speaking, he couldn't really blame the woman since Lisa was really adorable. That cute natural pout of her heartshaped lips almost drove him to madness every time he looked at her. As a kid, Shu had watched a documentary about strange old customs, and one part of the program was about self-flagellating monks. Whipping yourself bloody with brances had seemed completely daft at the time, but as he looked over at Lisa, at that insanely adorable little face of hers, Shu thought he understood self-flagellation a little better.

Night fell, and the occasional hooting of owls echoed through the forest, accompanied by the crickets incessantly grinding away. So it was that Shu passed his first night in this new and strange world at a campfire, relaxing with a bunch of grizzled adventurers and a little demon girl who was too damn cute for her own good.

Some time after they'd gotten better acquainted, Shu brought out alcohol, which Brock and Fiona approved of. He also procured sausages that they put on sticks and roasted over the crackling flames. As the sausages sizzled and smoke from the campfire climbed into the night, Shu smiled to himself.

Somehow, this tense meeting had transformed, becoming another experience he could treasure. He would forever remember the sharp smell of smoke mixed with sizzling, popping sausages and cold beer, accompanied by raucous laughter and the flickering light of the campfire's flame in the night.

At the end of the day, he'd finally managed to convince Caia and the others that he wasn't a monster. He would invariably still end up being viewed by them as some sort of anomaly. A strong and enigmatic character, but not a dangerous monster nor an existence that they had to fear. This was good.

Shu did not desire glory nor fame since he'd had his fill of those things in Edge online. But had he ever enjoyed a relaxed existence? Always, he was worrying about this or that and tending to guild matters. Every day, it was another fight, another raid, battle or dungeon crawl.

There was the occasional party too, but his had been a busy, stressful existence, full of endlessly grinding like a madman to keep ahead in the game. Add to that the fact that he had to manage the monstrosity that was Pandemonium, and its many eccentric and powerful members and he hadn't really had much time to do anything else besides the serious stuff.

The thought of his old companions tempered his mood somewhat, but looking over at Lisa and the adventurers, he had hope. A hope that he might sometime in the future be able to fill that empty void inside of him, carved out by the absence of his comrades and friends.

Right here, right now at this campfire, with the the pleasantly stinging scent of smoke clinging to his clothes, Shu felt unfettered. It was as though he had been relieved of a great burden. Instead of the endless pressure, he now felt an extreme desire to unhurriedly explore this world, make friends and enjoy himself like the normal players had done when they played.

Of course, he wasn't naive enough to think that his days would be filled with endless laughter. The wheel would have to balance itself out somehow. The existence of slavery and racism in this world, was proof enough that this wasn't some sort of utopia in which he could just carelessly exist. But he would think of a way to tackle those things later, when the time was right and he had more information.

Smiling lazily, Shu gazed up at the unfamiliar night sky and its unknown constellations, wondering where this adventure would take him.