He was not happy. Ever since Jacky came back home, his father had been distant toward him. The news had already spread long before he even arrived. His father had sent Jacky adventuring to gain more experience outside. Jacky was his oldest son, after all, the heir of House Landa. Everyone had high expectations of him, but he came back home as a disappointment.
Every staff member in the family mansion avoided him as much as possible, and he knew they looked at him with pitying eyes behind his back. Even his brothers were distant, probably thinking they now had a chance to be the next family head. Those sly bastards. The last three months in the family mansion were hell for Jacky, but he knew this was not even close to the price he should have paid for what he had done. If not for his father and the family reputation he had built over the years, he would have been either executed or imprisoned for life by now. Like his past companions.
He was summoned by his father for the first time in months. His father's study was as luxurious as he remembered, well-lit by the newly trending yellow light orbs that allowed his father to read and write without any discomfort. The fine leather couches and the embroidered oak desk were warmly lit by the fireplace on the right-side wall. His father, Edward Sigeberht Landa, sat in his chair behind the desk, assessing the story he had just heard while Jacky nervously stood in front of it.
He wanted to hear the whole story from Jacky's mouth, and Jacky told everything that happened before and after the Silver Dragon incident without missing any detail. There was no point in hiding any information. The event was hard to forget, and Jacky had already decided to accept any punishment. His father had been silent since then, making Jacky even more nervous. Then, he finally spoke.
"So, you are saying you saw the Vandenberg girl with a middle-aged man, and they slew the monster that seriously injured your party." His voice was not as mad as Jacky expected. Had he not known his father, Jacky might have thought he was excited.
"Actually, she slew the monster alone. The man only gave her advice and protected us. He even treated some of our wounds." Jacky unintentionally touched his chest. The recent wound still itched from time to time.
"If I remember correctly, he was the same man who humiliated you in front of a crowd and broke your sword. The sword I got for you." That was more like him. His father's sarcastic and disparaging voice.
"Yes, father," he answered.
"Moreover, you shamelessly accepted his help and let him go after all he had done to you. Is this how I raised you?"
"I have nothing to say." Silence was the best choice here for Jacky.
His father lost himself in thought again, making Jacky wait for him to speak. Who knew what he was scheming this time? Their position and reputation in the kingdom were earned and maintained by those schemes. Jacky knew it, but never appreciated it.
"Did you know what that Vandenberg girl did a little more than a year ago, Jacky?"
"No, father."
"She ran away from home." His father's eyes glowed with excitement this time; Jacky was sure of it. "And you saw her in the Northern region with her lover."
"I don't think so." Lovers? Where did that come from? "He was more like a mentor…"
"Enough! You can leave now; I got what I needed."
Jacky stood where he was for a moment. Was this it? He expected a lot of scolding and punishment on the way here. He needed to be scolded. He needed to be punished. How could he gain his pride back without redemption? How could he forgive himself?
"Father, about the Dragon incident, I am truly…"
"I said enough!" His father's eyes said it all. He was not interested in how Jacky felt or what he thought about the situation. "I will overlook this 'Dragon incident' of yours because you gave me something valuable. Something to use against those Vandenbergs, one of the King's favorites. Now leave; I have letters to send."
Power. That was what his father was interested in most. Everything was an opportunity to get more power for himself. Was everything just another part of his schemes? How could he be this heartless? How could he treat everyone as his playthings? Even his own son.
These were the questions Jacky wanted to ask his father, but he never had the courage to do so. He suppressed his pent-up feelings and left without saying a word.
***
The first light of the day hit Elise in the eyes. A bare foot poked her shoulder. She couldn't understand where she was for a moment. She lay on a bed of wild grass, the sounds of various animals echoing all around. After waking up to the rumblings of the ground or thunderclaps for months, it was a nice experience. It had been months since she last woke up to such a peaceful environment.
She opened her eyes and looked up. Daylight filled the dense forest. She never thought she could miss the sunlight this much. Last night, they had come through the Gate they used previously and returned to the Realm where she was born.
Her eyes slowly got used to the sunlight, and she saw an unknown man standing over her. She immediately flipped backward and took a stance to draw her sword if necessary. She had slept hugging her sword for situations exactly like this. Her back hit a tree because she backed off a little too much with her first move. Right, the gravity was lower in this Realm.
She looked at the man in front of her and tried to assess the situation, but recognized him from his strange clothing. It was made of randomly layered strips of cloth, resembling various-sized rags. Elise watched the strips move around and change shape a couple of times. It was an interesting piece of equipment she wanted to learn more about, but at that moment, she only had one question.
"What the hell happened to your beard?"
The Traveler had a messy beard ever since they started traveling together. It gave him a more mature and experienced appearance, but now a man in his mid-to-late twenties was looking at her. He was the Traveler, Elise knew that, but the sudden environmental change had left her mind groggy after waking up. There was no way to mistake his ever-changing, colorful eyes.
"Good morning to you, too."
He wore his usual playful smile, but it seemed a little strange to Elise without the beard. Realizing she still had her guard up, she relaxed.
"Good morning..." she said with a flush of shame. "And sorry for the extreme reaction. I was just... not expecting it, I guess."
"I thought you were afraid of my face for a second. You hurt my feelings, you know," he said with a dramatic tone and gesture. "I have an apprentice now; I need to look sharp to be a good example. Come on, let's have breakfast and be on our way."
They headed back to her home. She was not a fan of it, but the Traveler insisted she needed to resolve her past quarrels to travel freely. She headed home to start her journey without any regrets.
After hunting some deserted monsters and finding nothing else to do in the previous Realm, the Traveler grabbed her by the shoulder and took a step forward. Before Elise could even realize what was happening, they stood in front of the cylindrical dark stone—the Gate to the Malargo Forest from which they had originally come. They had traveled months' worth of distance in an instant.
Passing through the Gate, she barely stopped herself from hugging the trees and the soft forest ground. It was good to be back in a familiar environment. She breathed in the clean air deeply. Even in its deepest parts, the Malargo Forest was still much better than that dark and gloomy place.
Last night, Elise had her best sleep in months. The warm fire the Traveler created acted like a fireplace, keeping her safe from the deadly cold of the Malargo Forest. After an eventful awakening, they had breakfast and continued on their way. It was the perfect time to ask the questions lingering in her mind.
"So, you said you just destabilized his core. But how exactly?"
Elise was still curious about how the Traveler had defeated the Demon. The last thing she remembered was a machine glowing with Energy, with the Demon in the middle of it. The Traveler explained she had passed out due to the high Energy density in the area. He had blocked most of it for her, but the remaining Energy was still too much for her body to handle.
They were on their way to the town of Rihona, or at least what remained of it. Passing through the Malargo Forest once again after months, the normally monster-filled woods were entirely empty because of the Traveler. He led the way through the dense forest, and Elise was surprisingly keeping up with him.
This terrain had its difficulties, but compared to that rough and rocky Realm, it was nothing. She never thought the difference in gravity would affect her this much. Now that she was back in her Realm, she felt as light as a feather. Her movements were more fluid than ever.
"The power he tried to control was too much for a normal creature to handle. He sure had a well-trained Energy core, and he supported his Energy flow with his skin enchantments. If I weren't there, he could have pulled it off with more time. But unfortunately for him, he had to rush it, and the whole process was already hanging by a thread, so I just disturbed it a little."
He explained everything casually, but something had been off about him since that fight, and he tried to cover it up. His behavior remained the same, but his face gave it away. It was not about the beard, as Elise first thought. From time to time, she caught a dark expression on his face. He seemed troubled and engrossed at these times. When he realized it, he quickly gathered himself.
"What was that power? How did he get his hands on it?" Every time the Traveler explained something about Energy, more questions popped into her head. The topic was a bottomless pit.
"I didn't have time to take a closer look, but it felt like raw Energy. The kind that was all over the place in the whole Realm." He raised his right hand in front of Elise as they walked. Energy started to condense in his palm; he did it slowly for her to catch on.
"Usually, Energy doesn't remain raw for long. It changes the characteristics of its surroundings or changes itself based on them." The condensed Energy in his palm rapidly changed shape and color. "Most of those characteristics are already categorized and closely examined by researchers, but that's an advanced topic; even I don't know the exact depth of it."
"So, how was there so much of it in that realm?" Elise watched the demonstration closely. A topic he didn't even know thoroughly. That was a first. She could see the change, but also tried to feel it with Energy. It was not easy to tell the difference. Yes, they were different, but how exactly?
"There is only one way to encounter raw Energy. It has to leak from the space between Realms." He dismissed the Energy in his hand. "First, I thought it was because of the incompletion of the realm; it isn't that rare. But when we got closer to that machine, I understood the cause."
The space between Realms? Every explanation led to another question. She needed to write some of them down.
"He either opened his own Gate or used an already manifested one to draw and store raw Energy. In that unstable Realm, it shouldn't be that hard."
"Wait! Can anyone just open a Gate like that?"
"Of course not. It requires a tremendous amount of Energy to open, and much more to maintain." He stopped walking and pointed to a location in front of them. "Watch carefully."
The Energy started to condense once again in front of them, but it was unlike the other examples. It was way too complicated for her. There was no visual change, but she could feel it. She felt like the sun was in front of her, without the heat or light.
Suddenly, the space in front of them distorted toward the center. It was a strange experience. She could see the other side, but the air wrinkled like a piece of cloth. Energy rushed out from the center.
"This is just a simple crack made by me. Thankfully, this Realm already has a lot of cracks. I told you about them before, the Blessings and such," the Traveler continued his lecture. "Can you feel the raw Energy, and how it immediately converts into different varieties of itself?"
Elise focused as he said, but as soon as she opened her mind to it, a raging headache followed. She did not expect it to be this chaotic. Energy gushed out and collided wildly with the surroundings, exploding and transforming. She could not keep up with it.
Her focus shattered into pieces. It was too much for her. She unintentionally closed her eyes, but it had nothing to do with sight. She couldn't gather her focus to resist the chaotic senses rushing into her mind. She almost gave up, until her senses faded and disappeared.
Elise opened her eyes. She held her head with both hands. The Traveler stood in front of her, with no trace of the space distortion. She needed to catch her breath, but she also had questions.
"Why was it so different than the other Realm? You said that was raw Energy, too."
The Traveler looked back at where the distorted space was. "The Realm we visited was also a materialized space, like all the other Realms. So, the Energy had already adapted to that space. Yes, it was still raw and wild, but Energy tends to resonate with its surroundings.
"This one just now came from a place that has not materialized. It is hard to explain and harder to understand without feeling it personally, but you aren't even close to being ready yet."
He saw her unsatisfied look, then added, "The Energy tried to materialize, but the material also tried to be Energized. That is why all that chaos happened. Is this enough explanation for you?" His voice was filled with sarcasm.
Elise was eager to learn more but decided not to push it, answering him with a nod. She was beginning to figure out the Traveler's behavior and gestures. When he decided on something, insisting was useless. There was still so much to learn, drawing her in more as she went deeper.
"You look fine enough; let's keep going. We are close." He turned and started walking. "Don't let it bother you; everything has its time. You've barely grasped the first steps of distributing Energy within your body. External Arts like these are way above that." He increased his walking speed when he finished speaking.
That was how he was. If you took the time to work harder, you could overcome everything. Giving up was not an option. She rushed to keep up with him, eager to learn more.