Path of the Slayer B3 64. Scenic Tours & Origin Returns

We went off the beaten route after leaving behind the Crossroads Citadel Realm.

I hadn’t bothered looking at the Realm Verse Compass. My connection to the ancestral roots was far stronger now. My untapped potential as a nomad had expanded, leading us on a more scenic tour across the Realm Verse.

While also avoiding ambushes.

I didn’t like the idea of fighting while Locked at Level 101. That would be a waste of potential gains.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” asked our escort, a single Demigod Assassin tasked with protecting us from murderous Demigods who could bear some negative karma.

He remained out of sight while my party traversed a ridgeline overlooking a Rank 4 Realm filled with golden volcanoes. Frothing gold sprays shot upward into the skyline. Runny orange, purple, and red horizons colored the skies in all directions except for a halo filled with a starry nebula above our heads. 

Grimmy had completely lost her knightly bearing and acted like a kid with enough prompting from Doomie. The two girls kept frolicking, bouncing about, and pointing at all the interesting views. 

Thumper conducted breathing exercises and active meditation for reasons that were personal but obvious: practicing control over his wild Bloodlines. Merlin’s nose was stuffed between the pages of various tomes we’d picked up from the Crossroads Citadel Realm. Some ranged from advanced forms of the basics while others tapped into more esoteric spells and wizardry.

Other than watching the sights, I watched over my party. Then I looked back where the hidden Demigod Assassin trailed after us.

“We’re going the right way,” I said. “We’ll be there just in time.”

“Alright, if you say so. I’m still getting paid whether or not you make it, so whatever.” Our escort stayed mostly out of our business as we continued traversing the Realms in a roundabout manner. I kept looking for the right spot, but nothing jumped at me just yet. It didn’t take long for the girls to make a game of it.

“Are we there yet?” Grimmy asked, bobbing around me while Doomie thrust her fingers at the latest vista.

Floating islands riding on white, fluffy seas made of clouds surrounded us. Rainbow bridges arched overhead as angelic monsters peered down at us from the branches of massive trees flying on drifts of land and cloud. Multiple suns beamed across the expansive blue, and the air was crisp and cool, though it would’ve frozen the flesh of a lesser being.

The five of us hopped, flew, and glided from island drift to island drift. Only on the longer stretches across the cloud sea that Merlin would bring out his Epic Dragon Gunship, now 300 feet long and 100 feet wide with massive sails that flapped like thunder. If not that, Merlin used his telekinetic flight spell. Or Doomie would do the honors by changing sizes and flapping across the larger gaps with us riding on her head.

“Are we there yet?” Grimmy asked, running laps around the rest of the party as Doomie scrambled to catch her.

Our latest Realm surrounded us with myriad crystals of many colors. It was all one massive tunnel going backward and forward, but at a far larger dimension. The crystal formations could be as small as the tip of a pinkie or as large as mountains. Being that it was a Rank 4 Realm, the difficulty of traversing through the worldly tunnel wasn’t a big problem for us. Even while moving casually, our foot speed was far faster than it had been when we were Young Pathwalkers.

I imagined even at Level 101, I would look like a blurring streak to me at Level 100. The difference was that large, making an Epic Rank 4 Challenge Realm a nonissue even when half of its crystals would activate an environmental trap.

The red crystals burst into searing hot shards. Certain blue crystals erupted into shrouds of glacial frost. Yellow crystals would emit sudden thunderbolts. And other trap crystals would release other effects – Merlin’s favorite were the purple gravity crystals.

I collected a few things here and there along the way.

“Are we there yet?” Grimmy asked, her words coming out distorted while swimming in circles with Doomie.

“We’re not far,” I responded, my words traveling through the water with minimum distortion.

The Underwater Realm was an interesting break from the norm. There was nothing but water everywhere. Trying to surface would take us too far from the next Realm Portal, and being closer to the floor of the seemingly endless ocean brought about more unique vistas.

Colorful coral formations, glowing stalks of plant-like sea life, and bewildering strange creatures populated the area we passed over. We had multiple means of travel, but we all found it novel to set our Personal Parameters and Path Energy on thrusting us where we wanted to go. I had mine set to jettison water and energy from my feet.

The expense was minimal.

The novelty was long-lasting.

Thumper turned his head for the first time in hours while jetting through the water with his legs crossed, hands on his knees. It was hard not to laugh while he was focused on training his Bloodlines internally, but that slight change from him caught all of our attention.

A nearly imperceptible monster moved quickly upon us, avoiding a large part of our perception. That wasn’t easy. My Domain reached half a mile in all directions by itself.

“I got it,” Merlin said, flicking a hand toward the threat.

A notification warned of a Rank 5 Portal Boss, but I barely minded it much. I watched Merlin use his Master Cantrip: Magic Shield Spell Cast. But with a twist.

A nearly imperceptible purple glint surrounded the round dome he placed between the threat and us. He timed it just when the Portal Boss shot a cutting water jet at us. The master gravity shield sucked the attack into its crushing orbit.

Ever patient, Merlin waited until the monster darted in one direction before casting another Master Cantrip: Telekinetic Grab Spell Cast.

Through the water, a titanic fist appeared and caught the Portal Boss like it was a small minnow. The grip on Merlin’s power tightened, and the Portal Boss stopped thrashing, on the verge of being crushed, only for the master grab to release its hold.

Bloodied and bruised, the Portal Boss watched us warily. We continued our course through the underwater depths. It didn’t pursue us any further.

“Two more realms before the Grand Generational Passing,” I said, stopping in front of a steely World Portal. I hesitated. The familiar oval doorway shimmered in front of me. “Here I was thinking we’ll run into my old Hell Realm. Instead … I got played.”

Merlin snapped his face from his book, his finger pushing his spectacles upward. “Huh? What’s that? We aren’t going into this all casually cocky?”

Thumper moved up and examined the World Portal with me. “Supreme Sovereign Imperial Realm, Rank 7, Uncommon Quality.”

“I usually call it the Supreme Sovereign Empire. That’s what everybody calls it there. But yeah, that’s the proper name,” I muttered.

Grimmy and Doomie stopped playing in the background. The half-gob bounded up next to me, her big yellow eyes looking up and down at the portal. “This is your home, Master Arden?”

“Not a home. Just a place I grew up in.”

Doomie watched me curiously.

I urged her and the others onward. “Alright, let’s go. It’s part of the journey.”

My party and our Demigod escort entered the World Portal. While in the gap between Realms, I used the Dragon Princess Crest. The System shunted aside the option to land in a reception area. Instead, we landed where it all started.

Our Personal Parameters adjusted our overwhelming power automatically. Even then, we stuck out like beacons. So, I went a step further. I entered the oneness state, becoming more congruent with the environment. I signaled for the others to stay out of oneness just in case.

“Just hang back a bit and be wary of your power,” I said, before approaching the wrought-iron gate to Lady Tiffany’s Home For Misfortunate Children.

The guard looking out from between the bars on the other side shook with fright. “Please, sir, whatever it is–”

I cut him off. “It’s me, Rudolf. It’s Arden, the greatest adventurer the empire will ever miss.”

Rudolf was a blond, blue-eyed, and pale imperial in his fifties. But the way he lit up with a big smile made it seem like I was his own kid coming back.

“Arden, my boy! It’s good to see you! And you’ve grown so much! My goodness.” He glanced past me and looked at the more obvious standouts. His mortal nervousness returned. Not his fault. He was only Rank 2. “Gosh, you Rank 5s are something else, huh? And isn’t that a, uh, goblin there?”

“I’m a half-goblin. And I’m cute.” Grimmy activated her Little Sister Charm and sparkled with extra adorableness.

Rudolf swooned. I glowered at Grimmy to get her to stop. When I looked back at the old guard, he was shaking his head before refocusing on me.

I smiled. “Don’t worry about us causing trouble. We’ll be in and out.”

Rudolf straightened up. “Oh! Please come in. I’ll let Lady Tiffany know you’re here!”

He ushered us in, treating me somewhat normally, while snapping bows toward my party. His eyes bulged at the sight of Doomie. The nomad avatar fluttered her wings and swung her tail with thrill.

I had to send him off with a pat on the back when he nearly lost his wits. I nearly forgot Doomie was see-through and mostly a shady outline. Her weight of doom was still there, even if heavily reduced.

Lady Tiffany greeted me in the parlor with an affectionate hug that caught me off guard. I actually stiffened a little, flashbacks of her being stern and scary resurfacing. I ignored the snickers from behind me as the old woman smiled at me before looking warily at my party.

“They’re my friends,” I said. “Really good friends. We’re all quite strong together.”

She let out a breath like all of her worries were melting away. “There was a horrid half-giant who was here asking about you. And I heard our poor misaligned boy Royce was murdered. And so many bad things had happened.”

“I understand, ma’am. It’s okay. Those bad folks are gone. And things are alright now. I’m alright.”

I spent half an hour reassuring her I would be okay and didn’t need any squirreled away funds from the orphanage. As we spoke, I looked over at the cluster of nomad children peeking around the open doorway to get a look at me and my friends in the parlor.

I waved at them, and instead of shrieking and running off, they waved back. My ancestral roots shifted positively at that. Then the time for me to go arrived, and with one last hug, with Lady Tiffany shedding a few tears, she and Rudolf and most of the children saw us off.

“What’s wrong, Merlin?” I asked. “Were you expecting something different?”

Green eyes narrowing behind round spectacles, the dwelf wizard kept looking back at the street leading to the orphanage. “I was really expecting a secret ninja academy underneath the orphanage.”

“Let it go, dude. Arden’s not the Ninja King,” Thumper muttered.

Grimmy giggled into her hands. Doomie pantomimed the same expression.

Our next destination had me walking up to the Steel Blitz Adventurer Guild. The metal steps rang dimly in my ears after so many hours spent hammering and reshaping higher Ranked metal. Behind us, the city of metal smithies and exports kept at work with a weak moan. It didn’t sound so impressive to me anymore.

“You all better listen to me. We once had a Rank 0 bronze adventurer in the guild who didn’t know how to quit. Ended up as goblin logs down the sewers. Don’t be that guy. Find your Epiphany and Rank Up quickly. It’s really that simple,” said a bronze adventurer, the same slacker I knew from back when we were newly badged tin adventurers.

“He’s not exactly wrong even if he’s factually wrong,” I said, passing next to a group of googly eyed and bushy tailed tin adventurers.

The bronze slacker opened and closed his mouth as he and the tins gawked at us. Their attention veered toward the more obvious standouts of our standouts – Grimmy and Doomie.

The bronze slacker pulled at his sword. Grimmy’s friendly smile dropped.

The air became sharp and filled with edges as Grimmy shifted reality and pressed upon the mortals.

The bronze slacker let go of his sword. Grimmy withdrew her threatening power.

I entered the guild with my party, and an elf turned to rush me.