The world around me clears quickly. This time the space mana was kinder to me, it didn’t feel strange like when I was sent to that death dungeon. The flow was as natural as always, even just as fast as I remember.
When I open my eyes, I find myself in an unexpected environment. There are trees and nature around me, what stands out is the falling snow and the thin layer covering the treetops and the ground around me.
“How much time do you think has passed? It was impossible to calculate time properly inside the dungeon, we don’t even know if time flowed the same outside.” Glia asks me.
“I hope not much, it will be a problem if I spent months inside that dungeon. I’m sure many people would have gone crazy.” My family would probably worry a lot about me, but they would manage somehow, I can’t say the same about the girls.
Brendu will be the most tormented, she will blame herself for my disappearance, I’m sure of it. She was “in charge of me” while we are together.
I let out a long sigh, I have no way to communicate with her right now. Since I only went out for some simple shopping, I didn’t bring any long-distance communication device, I must first find some kind of civilization and look for a way back.
When I prepare to leave by flying, I feel two people enter the range of my Personal World, they are not alone, they are fighting monsters. My body reacts before my mind, I already used my teleportation ability before thinking about the situation.
I feel Glia let out a tired sigh. “You say you don’t want to be a hero, yet you always end up doing the opposite.” I can feel a bit of pride in her words and a slight laugh.
“I can’t ignore situations like this, you know me.” I just shrug as I appear in the middle of the people being chased.
They are not the only ones, I can feel more approaching from one side. They are fighting their own battles, but they are giving everything to finish quickly. All of them are elderly… they must be over 65, and there is a teenager around 12.
My appearance makes all six monsters stop in place. “Glia, please.” I send a mental message to my little sister, she appears, causing panic among all the humans.
I use my gravity to send the monsters that are farther away toward Glia, the other elders are confused when their opponents are thrown away like simple bags. All the monsters are grade 3, I could kill thousands of them if I wanted.
The elders are sapphire rank and the boy is emerald, two of them are injured, particularly one has several deep wounds on his body. This elder was escaping while protecting the boy.
“Let me help you with the injuries.” When I speak, they finally look at me, they were focused on Glia the entire time.
“Thank you…” The elder replies awkwardly.
My death mana is handled with extreme care, eliminating all the negative energy from the monsters inside his body, and my life mana acts quickly, healing his wounds. Even I am surprised by the healing speed, my connection with these supreme affinities has grown during my time in the dungeon and thanks to the earring.
Once the deepest wounds are healed, the other humans approach, there are four elders and the teenager in total. I begin healing without asking anything, the elderly woman who just arrived looks surprised at first, but once she understands my intentions, a kind smile forms on her face.
“You can finish them.” I send a mental message to Glia.
She has been playing with the monsters for a couple of minutes. We wanted to check if there were more nearby or if anything strange would happen, but in the end it was only them.
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“Thank you for helping us, young man.” The elderly woman I just healed thanks me on behalf of everyone. The rest bow deeply, the teenager almost bends at a ninety-degree angle.
“Don’t worry, I was just passing by.” I give my best smile. I am very weak when it comes to elders and children, I couldn’t let them die.
Glia approaches, making the elders tense again, the only one with a face of admiration is the teenager. “This is Glia, she is like my family, even if she looks rough with that feline face, she is very kind and gentle.” I receive a hit of Imra from Glia, which I completely ignore.
Glia drops the monster cores in front of them, the teenager almost runs to grab them but is stopped by one of the elders.
This time another elder speaks. “We cannot take them, you saved us.” His dry and deep voice makes him sound like a strict teacher.
“I don’t need them, grade 3 cores are useless to me. Think of it as a trade, I need information to know where I am.” I sigh and put on my best sad expression to make it believable.
“I was traveling in a caravan between cities, we were attacked by several powerful monsters, I had to flee for days to stay safe and wandered for more days until I finally found you. I am completely lost.” When I look up, I see their expressions of compassion and some sadness, my act worked.
“Don’t be rude to our savior, Malcom.” Another elder nudges him.
“Old opportunist…” I hear Malcom whisper to his friend.
In the end, they all introduce themselves; the elderly woman is Marceline, the teenager is Cipe, and the elders are Wedy, Portad, and Malcom. They all seem to be good people, I haven’t felt any bad intentions from any of them, I have been testing them with my Imra, slowly breaking their defenses. I haven’t sensed any malice.
“By the way, I’m Emago.” I say a random name. My story is that I don’t know much about geography, my father is a man with some money, he sent me to close a deal with his partners, and along the way we were attacked, my guards probably died.
On the way back to their village, I learned several things, they didn’t hide anything. I don’t know if it is because of fear of Glia, respect for their savior, or simply because there is no point in hiding it.
This place is a territory not controlled by empires or kingdoms, there are many cases like this. That happens when the territory has nothing valuable to offer, if there are no gains, they leave it as it is. Technically, its governor has a status similar to a baron, viscount, or count depending on the size.
They are usually near the borders of territories, trade is common due to proximity, I’m not sure how their economy works, but on certain occasions they can participate in political matters of kingdoms or empires.
Calling it “participate” is too much, they are only invited to give their opinion if their territory is involved, but in the end they cannot do anything if the king or emperor makes a decision. At least in recent years there have been no reports of negative actions against these small “abandoned” territories.
The elders run an orphanage/asylum, only elderly people, several children, and a few teenagers live there, those who decided to stay and contribute to the only family they have ever had.
Hearing their story made my heart shrink, they need the cores to keep the heating running during winter, that is why they must hunt, it is also their only stable source of income. I saw how they quickly dismantled the reindeer-like monsters, several parts are sellable and others edible after processing.
“I’m going into your cube, I don’t want to cause a commotion in the village. I’ll take a long nap, if you need me, call me.” Glia hides in my cube, she is still tired from the dungeon. I understand her, my body is not fully recovered either.
When Glia disappears, the elders are surprised. “Where did Glia go? I wanted to play a bit more with her.” Cipe asks me.
“She is tired, she needs to rest.” I answer the teenager. I take out some candy from my dimensional bracelet. I offer him one, he hesitates at first, his look says: I’m not a child. In the end, he can’t resist, he unwraps it and eats it in one second.
I notice the elders’ envious looks, when I offer them some, they don’t hesitate, they take them immediately. I use my Imra to give a large bag of sweets to Marceline, she will know how to distribute them among the children. We don’t make eye contact, but thanks to my Personal World I see her give a quick bow.
“There is a small room in our asylum if you want to stay.” Malcom, with his strict teacher voice, offers me.
“If it’s not too much trouble… but I won’t take it for free, when we arrive, gather everyone, tonight I will provide dinner.” All the elders try to say something at once, I raise my hand before they can speak. “I won’t take no for an answer, don’t see me as a savior, but as a friend, let’s celebrate our friendship and think about the children.” I can see their conflicted expressions, but in the end they accept.
“Welcome to Zairo village, Emago.” Wedy says. I notice a strange atmosphere around us.