Lohan woke up to the visual of a bunch of strangers' upside-down faces staring at her like she was a unique specimen. She had immediately thought to break free from the rope around her foot, but Reoloy had stopped her.
Looking at the boy now, he seemed oddly relaxed. She would even argue that he seemed happy.
"Who are you?" a young man—dressed in bizarre armour—asked, glaring bloody murder at Reoloy.
He wasn't the only one. Among the fifteen that surrounded them, there were eight men and seven women. Though "men" and "women" were a stretch. At best, the oldest member would have been nineteen.
Reoloy raised his hands, smiling in an attempt to disarm their captors, but it only served to enrage the men more.
"My name is Reoloy," he introduced himself, nervously laughing at the unfriendly expressions. "This is Lohan."
He nudged her somewhat roughly, shooting a pointed look.
"...Hello."
Reoloy turned back, smiling at the leader of the group.
"As you can see, we're friendly people."
The man frowned, adjusting his helmet. That was the only piece of attire they wore that was entirely solid. The rest was material that seemed metallic yet moved like cloth.
As rare as it was, when foreigners normally made landfall on Cardana, they immediately expressed surprise or curiosity at their military uniforms. Reoloy, however, had breezed past it. Like it was something normal to him.
"Why did you come here?" a woman asked casually, which seemed to irk the man. "How did you even get here? There was no boat at the shore."
Reoloy's smile broke into an outright grin, causing Lohan to shrink back, remembering when he'd looked like that at the prospect of being chased by a giant whale.
"We were dropped here by the Guardian of the Sea and Sky," he replied playfully.
He recalled that the title was how the Cardanians referred to Nameless.
Instantly, the words brought about the reaction he expected. They froze up before lashing out and pointing their weapons at him.
'Mana spears?' he mused, slightly intrigued at seeing the real thing. 'They're pretty cool, can't lie.'
"You think you can just come here and do as you please using the great guardian's name?"
Reoloy rolled his eyes, seeing the similarities between them and the artificial being they worshipped. He wondered if Nameless had rubbed off on them in some way.
'RON said no one had ever seen Nameless,' he thought. 'Not even the player did.'
He was snapped out of it when another girl stepped forward. She took off her helmet, letting her blond braided ponytail loose. She looked about their age, but the way the others—including the older ones—reacted made it clear that she was important.
Reoloy didn't recognise her. Previously, the few times he had come this way to get Luvarne, there were only three characters of general importance. The head of Cardana's militia, its Chieftain, and the retired blacksmith who got you to go after the Regalia in the first place.
He did think she bore a striking resemblance to one of them...
"Avron," she said, addressing the man at the lead. "We don't get to judge for ourselves whether his claims are true or not."
"I know, but—!"
She stepped on his sandaled foot, causing him to yelp and jump in pain.
"You didn't even follow proper protocol on dressing appropriately for deployment..."
She paused, the air around her becoming threatening.
"What do you think will happen when the Chieftain finds out that you broke the rules twice?"
Reoloy couldn't help but be impressed at how she took control of the situation. If he were any more careless, he would have applauded right then and there.
"You didn't answer Amali's other question?" the blonde asked, looking squarely at him.
The reincarnator looked confused before glancing at the girl from earlier, who gestured that they were referring to her.
"Ah, right," he said flippantly, in part because he hadn't actually wanted to answer. "Our purpose is something I only want to discuss with a specific person."
The blonde's eyes narrowed.
"And who is that?"
Reoloy smiled. "Do you want to see something interesting?"
That seemed to catch the girl off guard.
"Huh?"
Reoloy's glove shifted into its claw form, and he cut himself loose, falling onto the ground in a heap.
"That was unfortunate," he said, rubbing his back. He looked at the spears being pointed at him once again, shaking his head. "Can we relax with that already? Tell your sniper to calm down, too."
The Cardanians' eyes widened.
"Let me talk to your Chieftain," he continued, staring into the blonde's violet eyes. "And this next set of days will be the most interesting of your whole life."
---
"What in the world is all this?!"
Reoloy watched as Lohan stood by a window, gawking at the sight of the advanced technology that existed all over the "town". Without her reaction, he would have probably forgotten that the rest of Pandora wasn't on this level of advancement. At least, until they left.
"Calm down," he told her, pulling her back toward her seat. "We're still prisoners, you know?"
That immediately served to dampen Lohan's mood.
"Oh..." she muttered, looking down at the aspectual bindings around her wrists. "Right."
She snapped her head, turning to Reoloy for instructions. She reasoned that he must have known they would be brought here like this, which meant he had a next step.
Reoloy noticed her expression and gave his own look of confusion.
Lohan faltered. "...What's the plan?"
His look of confusion only deepened.
"Plan?" he asked incredulously. "You can't get through here with a plan."
"Then what are we going to do?!"
Reoloy paused, crossing his arms and reclining his head.
"Be yourself."
"Hmm?"
"Be yourself," he repeated plainly. "That's all you need to do."
The doors opened, and a mass delegation of seasoned veterans of the militia stepped in, posturing that they were to be their escort to the "trial".
Reoloy scoffed at the over-the-top display, shrugging his shoulders as they tried to take off his glove relic but failed to do so.
They were then led down hallways with glimmering holographic lights lining the sides and centre of the path. And, even the potted plants seemed to mesh with the technology, blending nature and science in a strange unity. He had to admit it did look amazing in real life. The whole place did. His sense of wonder was just suspended until he reached his first target.
Finally, they arrived at some massive futuristic doors.
Reoloy stared up at them, comparing the design to the one he knew. He noted it was kind of different, but pushed it aside as they opened up to a massive hall with hovering chairs framing the walkway to the Chieftain's seat.
The tall, helmeted man beside him nudged him forward, and for a moment, he thought he caught a glimpse of red hair.
His eyebrow rose, but he quickly fixed his expression while fighting off the urge to show his amusement plainly.
'Well, isn't that interesting?'
Reoloy was stopped just in front of the man who sat in the same type of seating as everyone else, yet wore clothes that singled him out from the rest. They didn't do robes and the usual fancy presentation around here, so instead, it was more casual dress pants and shirts.
The Chieftain was a man seemingly in his early forties. He wore a long-sleeved plain white shirt and a pair of similarly white pants, topped off with a grey trench coat that was adorned with violet angular shape designs. His deep violet hair was of moderate length and was unkempt, giving him a wild look.
Lohan struggled to look directly in the man's eyes. Reoloy could understand. He was a very imposing figure. Plus, unlike him, Lohan could sense energies. She could probably feel the Chieftain's overflowing ki—especially as a ki user herself.
They sat Reoloy on a hovering chair of his own before seating Lohan just a couple of paces behind him. He nodded at her reassuringly, seemingly easing some of her nerves.
"So you're the boy the guardian brought?" the Chieftain asked, staring at him with disinterest. "How did you do it?"
The surrounding crowd broke into a murmur over the vague question, none of them understanding what it meant.
Reoloy did, however.
He smirked. "I told him what he wanted to hear."
The quiet chatter continued until all of a sudden, a purple glow erupted around the Chieftain, shocking everyone. In response, Lohan's own ki blazed around her as she prepared to step up for Reoloy, but she was quickly and easily apprehended by the redhead soldier from earlier.
'With only one hand?!' she thought in disbelief.
The Chieftain briefly spared a glance at the commotion before refocusing on Reoloy, who remained completely calm.
"You're suggesting you tricked a great being?" he asked sternly.
The boy stared with a bored expression.
"I didn't trick him," he said. "I'm going to fulfil my promise to him."
He sighed, maintaining his casualness.
"Like I said earlier, I just told him what he wanted to hear."
The man gazed coldly at the boy, and the teen gazed back. If it wasn't for his lack of evident power, the onlookers would have sworn that Reoloy was having an energy clash against the Chieftain.
Silence hung over the room for a good few minutes. A great deal of tension building, and just waiting for the right trigger to explode.
And then—
The two laughed.
The sharp air dispersed just like that.
People in the hall watched in confusion over the sight they were beholding. They found it quite disconcerting, even. The Chieftain never laughed. Not even with his own siblings. But here he was having a hearty good time with a random child that just moments ago he looked poised to kill.
"I like you," he said, extending a hand.
Reoloy took the hand, shaking it firmly.
"I figured you would."
Internally, Reoloy eased. He was happy to confirm that character traits did indeed persist in this new world. This was his easiest challenge yet because of it. It proved that he could deal with someone he "knew", even if there were some minor variations.
'Him releasing his ki was new...' he thought, shooting a glance at Lohan. 'But having her here with me paid off.'
"You're welcome to stay in Cardana," the Chieftain started. "But I'm told you're seeking more."
He paused, looking to what seemed to be his advisors. They seemed to be vehemently trying to dissuade him from whatever he was going to do next.
"Say it freely," he said, causing mass dejection. "What do you want?"
This was it.
The reincarnator steeled his resolve, his face reflecting the change.
"I want to meet Gordoi."
Silence.
In the crowd, the blonde from earlier straightened.
"That means..." the Chieftain said slowly. "You're seeking entrance then?"
"That's right."
The man sighed, resting a hand atop his head in exasperation.
"You really are a bold one," he said, a faint smile forming. "Okay. If you can convince him, I won't intervene."
Others moved to challenge the notion, but were silenced by a simple glance from their leader. He shook his head, gesturing for them to allow things to take their course.
Reoloy bowed. "Thank you!"
---
In place of the rundown shack Reoloy had expected, stood a thriving smithy. Its forge clearly still active from the grey smoke that bellowed out from above.
"That's not right..."
Lohan shot him a curious look.
"What is?" she asked, strangely calm after the events that had transpired not long ago.
"It's nothing..." Reoloy replied, shaking his head. "Let's go in."
Opening the doors, they were immediately greeted with state-of-the-art weapons and armour, as well as the facility itself being far above the standard of your classic fantasy smithy.
"Good afternoon," a tall, muscular man greeted. "How can I help you?"
He had wild, long, blond hair that reached his mid-back. He wore nothing except some grey, baggy pants and an apron made from another odd material. He held gloves of the same material in his hands, signalling that he was either coming from or about to go to work.
Reoloy froze, staring at him with evident confusion.
"Hello?" the blacksmith said, trying to catch his attention.
"Umm..."
He snapped his fingers in the boy's face.
Lohan looked on in confusion and slight embarrassment.
"Reoloy," she called, grabbing him by his shoulders and frantically shaking him.
Finally, he snapped out of it. He gave the man a once-over, his mind still running through all his reference points.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked.