Chapter 918 - Easy to forget sometimes (Patreon)

“I will go and meet with someone from Derick’s circle to make sure he gets the information. You don't have to come,” Tess says once we are both further away.

Realizing she is doing this because she knows I dislike these kinds of things, I nod gratefully.

“If needed, send me a ping through my mark, and I will come to help,” I tell her.

“I will,” Tess answers, and I watch her leave.

As I begin to walk, a person who had been hiding in the shadows pushes herself closer to me and starts walking by my side.

Ruby takes off her mask, which is now useless anyway, without the array that used to surround the mansion. She isn't even using her Handler identity, instead, she has her red hair, yellow eyes with patterns, and real appearance on display.

Of course, I realize the implications of it.

“Not hiding anymore?” I ask.

“It was fun while it lasted, with all these aliases and identities. I quite enjoyed having people talk to me without all that bowing and all that crap.” She smiles and waves toward the sky, aiming that smile at someone who is likely watching us now. “You don't have to worry about the consequences. I will deal with them.”

“What do I owe you?”

“There will be a Beyond event soon. I want you to participate and give its reward to me. But you can also refuse, and I honestly won't mind. Me revealing my identity and helping you will put even more pressure on you. So as much as I'm helping you deal with the consequences, it might also cause you trouble and force you to grow stronger, which is in line with what I want.”

“Consequences,” I say.

“Consequences,” she repeats.

“I don't mind. I will give you that reward. Just let me know when I need to be back for the event.”

“We have a deal then. And now, a small piece of information and something that is part of my job as your Handler, be careful with the 12th floor. It's not as simple as you currently think.” With those words, she is gone, warping away in the manner she usually does.

For a few moments, I try to find any signs of her departure, but her control is just way too perfect. I find nothing I can track or learn from.

As I continue to walk through the city, I don't even bother hiding or avoiding people, nor do I make any theatrical declarations. I have always thought that your actions speak louder than your words. Rumors spread very quickly here. In a few days, almost everyone will know what happened, and Talon, along with other people from the Primordial Knights, will make sure the context behind it spreads too.

If he is as smart as I think, Talon is likely already proving to the information guilds that he was in the mansion when it happened, possibly by showing a mask and selling the information.

I don't mind that at all. I also don't mind that it will offer some protection to people from Earth. If there are powerful S ranks in Beyond, guilds and attendees always think twice before messing with attendees from that person's planet.

That is just how things work and always will. Even if you know you are in the right, and even if you are mostly sure that the S rank wouldn't care, you still think twice. But that only applies if you realize the attendees are from that S rank's planet.

During the rest of the night, I visit the shops where I placed my orders one by one. I pick up books, mana stones with information, conductive materials, and interesting items. There is also a huge order of vials made of many different materials, where I plan to test storing manasol to see how the materials interfere with each other.

When I am done with all of it, plenty of hours still remain before the end of my one day Beyond stay token. I teleport to my room in the headquarters of the guild, which is where I have been sending all the items.

Catching sight of myself in the mirror, I get rid of the suit and leave it outside to be cleaned, then take a shower before putting on my usual clothes.

I am about to move to my bed to rest and train when I feel a tug on the mark I placed on Tess. A quick scan locates her near the entrance to the Primordial Knights' headquarters.

A single teleport brings me out through the [Weave] I built over the guild. Greeting the guard, I exit outside where she sits on a bench nearby, already dressed in Earth clothes, an oversized black hoodie and blue leggings.

When I sit next to her, she sniffs before saying, “You will have to tell me where you bought that shower gel, soap, or whatever you used. It smells nice.”

“I have multiple boxes of that soap in the corner of my room, so I will take some back to the 12th floor.”

“Deal,” she nods, and together we catch sight of Talon walking down the street. He hasn't noticed us yet, but he is walking in the guild's direction.

“I spoke to one of Derick's friends here in Beyond. He will pass the information to him.” Tess says.

“I see.” I nod, and in silence we wait until Talon comes close enough.

He has that smile on his rugged yet handsome face. Most of all, he reminds me of Aragorn from the movies.

"All went as intended?" I ask as he reaches us. I push closer to Tess so he can sit beside me, leaving the three of us squeezed onto the small bench.

It makes him slightly nervous, but he remains sitting down on the bench anyway as he says, “I visited all five of the biggest information guilds and sold the information to each of them. I also stopped in a few bars where I threw in a few bits of information and misinformation.”

“Are there rumors spreading already?” Tess asks him.

“Obviously there are,” he confirms. “Handler Virek isn't the most powerful Champion there is, but still, he is a Champion. Making him run away will cause quite an uproar. It already reminded people what you did on the 5th floor, too.” Out of nowhere, he looks directly at me. “Is it true your Handler is the Ruler of Greed?”

“It seems like it.”

“She stopped hiding it?” Tess asks me curiously.

“Something about having to deal with the consequences, and in exchange, it will put more pressure on me. I will also win an upcoming Beyond event for her,” I explain simply to her.

Talon looks back and forth between us, absorbing the information. He isn't dumb, he knows there is a line he cannot cross, and I am confident he will respect it.

“The next time you negotiate your salary, tell the Vice Guildmaster that I said to double it for you,” I tell him.

His eyes widen, but he doesn't question it and energetically nods in agreement.

As our Beyond stay token wears off, both Tess and I return to the 12th floor, bringing all the materials, food, and even the soap as promised.

Tess splits off from me, likely to go inform the others about how everything ended, while I begin to sort through the piles of items we might need to improve thought acceleration. There is a small part of my mind that the entire time has had a single job: to constantly recite to itself all the information I gathered from the way Lissandra used her thought acceleration. I already shared all of that with Sophie, but I go over it again and again in combination with our current schematics.

Meanwhile, the rest of me thinks of the Ruler of Greed and what having her as a Handler might signify. For a long while, she has just been Ruby to me, but that doesn't apply to the others.

The Ruler of Greed rarely takes wards or serves as a Handler, though who actually knows for sure? It is possible she has had more wards than people ever suspected, simply by using her other identities that weren't revealed, unlike my case.

She is a disciple of Lissandra Hawthorne, someone people often call The Absolute. I often just glance over that fact, but Ruby spent decades, maybe hundreds of years, being trained by that woman.

Ruby also became a Ruler at an unusually young age, all things considered, and has held that title until now, making her currently either the third or fourth strongest Ruler, and one of the oldest.

It was she who, through her power and schemes, made the other Rulers cooperate with her and replaced the previous version of the tutorial with what it is now. Even now, it remains one of the greatest feats I have heard of. I cannot even begin to fathom how something like that could even be possible, or how much system access, planning, and knowledge it would require.

And that isn't even her main focus. The Ruler of Greed specializes in combat, and right now, she’s the greatest battle mage known to the system.

Her battle against an Ancient Dragon, her escape from the Timeless Void's trap, her face-off against the gods, the destruction of the powerful planet known as Veridia caused by a single attack launched by her, the war she single-handedly launched against the Aurate Consortium when it rebelled against its task, her daring expedition into the depths of a wyvern nest and escape from dozens of wyverns, and her ownership of the Staff of the Forgotten Incantation, one of the ten most powerful items in the universe.

Those are just a few examples among many. She is simply that ridiculous.

It is easy to forget sometimes.

Packing up all the items, I notice Kindred around the train, so I boost myself high into the air. For a bit, I float there motionlessly, spinning around to take in the destroyed landscape of this far stretching, grass covered flatland.

Then I turn back to the volcano and the enormous skeleton there, flying toward where we scheduled our meeting. The first person I meet is Izzy near the door, and I know she is still angry at me for calling her a moody, stupid teenager or something similar.

Noticing me, she turns her head away and prepares to stomp off somewhere else, but I grab her and pull her into a hug.

She struggles to get out and hits me a few times, but it completely lacks true effort.

“I meant it, but I'm sorry for calling you a dumb teenager,” I tell her.

Only then does she look up, allowing me to see her green eyes. “Just how lame is that apology?” she says as she stares up at me.

“At least it's an honest one.”

Izzy looks away, saying, “I'm sorry, too,” but only very, very quietly.

As she pushes to get away, I let go of her so she can walk away. Noodle coils around her shoulder and, with his six eyes, looks toward me with a polite nod, which I return.

Everyone else is gathered around as well, but the mood is still a bit cautious, as if most of them don't know how to behave, or maybe they feel bad about being rowdy or bantering with each other.

“We did all we could,” Tess says simply, addressing everyone in the room. “But let's get stronger and make sure it won't happen to any of us, or anyone we might care about.”

She reaches out and offers me a hand, which I grab, letting her lead me to the middle of the room where she makes me sit on a stool and places a towel on my shoulders. I know it was my idea and that it will make drawing inscriptions simpler, but that doesn't make it any easier.

“Now then, who wants to shave Nathaniel's head?” Tess asks, much to the surprise of the others and to Lily's complaints.

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