Mistaken for a Returnee

Aldritch and Sulika walked at a casual pace through the crowded streets of Auris.

The giant was interested in the people around him; the way they walked, talked, and interacted with each other.

It was such a surreal experience to go from being completely and totally alone, to just one of who knew how many thousands - and he loved it.

There was love put into each and every building he passed, so no two felt the same despite being constructed from the same materials.

Every building was decorated to the tastes of their owners; some were sporting exuberant colors that caught the eye and prodded the imagination. Other buildings were 'plain' in color but had some other remarkable features to draw in customers; displayed artwork, food stalls, live demonstrations, and more.

Add it all together, and it gave the city a feeling of barely controlled chaos that Aldritch couldn't help but adore.

Sulika watched Aldritch explore the city with his eyes and wondered what thoughts were running through his head.

His eyes continuously moved from one side of the street to the other, reminding her of a child in a candy store. It was clear he wanted to look at everything, but didn't know what to look at first.

Sulika thought this trait of his was quite cute.

She wanted to ask him about his life, and what he experienced on the other side of the portal… Unfortunately, they'd wasted enough time already. The discussion they'd had earlier, while helpful for explaining things, didn't exactly set them off on a good start to an already stress filled day.

Sulika only hoped the rest of the day would be easier on her nerves.

They came to a stop near the front stairs of the Hunters guild, and Sulika looked up at Aldritch -.who was looking towards the highest floor of the guild. "Everything alright?" She asked after a moment.

"Of course." He said, turning to face her. Whatever he'd been looking at had brought a smirk to his face.

She wondered if he'd be honest with her if she asked but decided against it. She didn't know when Edward would get to work, but she needed to speak to the guild master before he submitted those letters… Unless she was already too late?

Technically speaking, the workday for the average guild member started a couple of hours ago.

"Want me to come in with you?" Aldritch asked, he didn't mind pushing his own task list back a few hours if it'd help her.

She smiled slightly and shook her head. "I'm fine, just a bit more nervous than I thought I'd be. Haven't really had a reason to speak to the guild master in a long time."

The guild master spent most of the year out of the guild hall; either negotiating dungeon rights with other guilds, diving into new dungeons for preliminary inspections, or going deep into the main line to speak directly to the gods.

The man was so busy she could only recall a handful of occasions where she'd actually spoken to him. For all she knew, he could be a complete asshole and not give her the time of day.

"You'll be fine. But hey, if he gives you a hard time about something, just shout my name. Wherever I am, I'll come sort him out."

"What did you mean by that?" She asked with a hint of nervous apprehension in her voice.

"I'll have a talk with him."

"A talk?" She repeated, watching him through narrowed eyes. "Is this 'talk' going to involve violence?"

"Not unless he swings first." Aldritch laughed. "Now, stop stalling and get in there. You're wasting daylight." He said and lightly shoved her towards the stairs. "Have faith in yourself and just go for it."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who-" Sulika stopped herself and sighed. "No, you're right. Standing around and winding myself up isn't going to help." She took a breath to steady herself and looked up at Aldritch. "Wish me luck?"

"May your shield withstand your enemy's mightiest blow without a scratch, and may your hammer crush his skull in a single strike." He replied, smiling down at her.

The phrase was the standard 'good luck' charm of the warriors of Than Kaldur.

To have your shield avoid damage after a strong blow was considered the epitome of luck, since the shield was essentially the lifeline of the common infantry soldier. And to have your enemy die to a single blow means all of your strength and skill reaches their peak at that moment, resulting in the best possible outcome for a soldier.

"She's neither a dwarf, nor a Blackshield. It's doubtful she'll understand the sentiment behind that statement." Oakairo reminded him.

"Ah…" Aldritch trailed off. He saw the confused expression on Sulika's face and realized Oakairo was right. "I apologize. The translation for that was 'Good Luck'." He said and briefly explained the significance behind the phrase.

Sulika understood once it was explained to her, but it just drove home that Aldritch really was a dwarf.

It was easy to forget due to his size.

"Alright," She nodded and climbed the stairs towards the door. "Have fun wandering the city- Or whatever it is you end up doing." She said before pulling the door on heading inside.

Aldritch watched her head inside with a smile on his face - that instantly fell away when the door closed behind her.

"You do realize you're treating her and the elf like a pair of children, right?" Oakairo asked while Aldritch started walking. "You never showed this much concern for the soldiers under your command. What's going through your mind?"

"That may have been the problem... What if I had paid more attention to the people under my command- would they have lived? If I was a better commander, would Kaz and Thozza have still betrayed us?" Aldritch asked while passing through the crowd of people without an ounce of hesitation.

He observed the people as he walked; Men, women, and children alike were scanned using Wisdom of the Great Sage.

He'd noticed something while using the spell on Sulika; the people he'd healed after the Ogre attack had responded normally; a diagnostic screen with their age, vitals, and abnormalities being the standard results for such a scan.

But Sulika was different.

Why had he seen her stats when he didn't see anyone else's?

"Are you using them as a stand-in for the soldiers you failed?" Oakairo asked, not bothering to soften his words.

"That's not my intention. I know them, and nothing I do now can change that. I won't let the mistakes of the past repeat themselves here."

Aldritch paused his inspection on a three-foot-tall girl with waist length purple hair. Her ash-colored skin made the dark robe she was wearing appear black, though Aldritch believed it was actually some flavor of blue. She was using a five-foot long staff as a walking stick, though the rest of her outfit suggested that wasn't all it was used for.

Walking to her right was a four-foot-tall, green-skinned man with a hawkish nose. His gray hair, wrinkled skin, and tired eyes were clear indicators of his advanced age- Yet he wore a reddish-orange chainmail shirt and had a large hammer strapped to his back.

Aldritch focused Wisdom of the Great Sage on the girl first.

"Interesting. She has the status screen too. What makes her different from the hundred and forty-seven others I've scanned?" Aldritch watched the gnome woman for a moment more before switching his target to the green-skinned man.

"He also has a status screen. How odd… I wonder if the others are like me, and do not possess the system? I assumed everyone here was connected to it. If that's not the case, then what are the criteria? What gives one person access to the system, yet holds it back from someone else?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"There are a few possibilities I can think of: could be genetics? Maybe a common ancestor or event?"

"A common ancestor between Sulika, the gnome, and the goblin?"

"Hrm- Fair point. That also means the common event is unlikely… Unless it was the act of traveling through the portal?"

"I don't think that's it either; Aside from my not having one. Many of our men followed demons through their portals, and they never came back with a system. No, it has to be something from this planet causing it."

"Well, there's also the possibility that only those chosen by the god who designed the system can receive it."

"... No, no that doesn't make any sense either. The creator of the system was brilliant, yes, but they also held no love for their creation. Why would they continue to interface with something they couldn't wait to be rid of?"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again; you cannot judge the people of this world by the standards of our world. Who's to say they didn't love their creation?"

"I do." His reply was instant, surprising even Oakairo. "I know how hard it must've been to create the system. How much time did it take to complete? How many resources must they have poured into it? How much mana did they burn just to create the first prototype? The calculations alone would require a level of determination I can scarcely fathom. You don't just make something like that and then not put your mark on it. No, something happened to make them lose their love for the system."

"Alright, let's say you're right- Not saying you are, but let's have a thought experiment about what if you are… If the creator isn't using the system, who is?" The question caused Aldritch to stop dead in his tracks while he thought it over.

"I don't think it's the devils." He replied after a moment and resumed walking. "Divine magic is notoriously toxic to devils and demons, and the system is powered exclusively by Divine magic. A devil would be killed the moment it was installed onto them."

"So, you're thinking it's the other Iolaran gods?"

"They're the only ones who make sense. Do gods rent domains from other gods?"

"Not in my experience." Oakairo laughed. But his laugh wasn't out of amusement, it was a dark, hate filled laugh.

"Right, almost forgot. The gods of Mag Ársa were the reason the planet was at war with itself for a thousand years."

"Hey, don't lump me in with those hatchlings. My siblings and I weren't involved with any of those stupid wars. I mean, really, who fights over a rock?"

"Forgive my insolence, my lord. But aren't there more than a few legends of you melting entire cities because someone stole from your hoard?"

"It was one city- and trust me, they had it coming." Oakairo muttered.

"Ah, my apologies then." Aldritch replied, not bothering to hide his amusement.

Despite what Oakairo would have Sulika and Faeyra believe, Aldritch knew the true nature of the God of Pride. In his prime, Oakairo was a force of nature that couldn't be stopped by anything, or anyone.

He was the literal embodiment of destruction.

Even if he didn't personally take action, his very existence drove people to act upon the aspects he represented.

His siblings were similar- though none of the dragons went out and purposely caused trouble, there was a reason they were dubbed the twelve dragons of chaos and order…

Aldritch cleared his throat. "Back to the topic at hand. Let's say you were an Iolaran god. Why would you want to use the system? How would it benefit you?"

"Hm… Well, I suppose it would be a decent way to strengthen my followers. Even if it cost me some power to do so, it would at least ensure they wouldn't get killed by a random wolf-"

"Wait, why would it cost you any power? Shouldn't it be powered by the mana of the planet?" Aldritch asked. Something about this was scratching at his brain; he knew it didn't sound correct, but he couldn't place his finger on why it sounded so- so… Wrong.

"Because it's powered by divine magic, right? That's what you said. Divine magic implies a god is fueling it. So, naturally, I assumed I would be the one powering it since I was benefiting from it."

Like a bolt of lightning hitting him, Aldritch realized why his understanding of the system sounded so incorrect.

It's because it was.

He'd assumed the system was created and put into use by a single god… But what if it wasn't?

Anyone smart enough to design the system, would also be smart enough to tie it into the ley lines of the planet. Doing so would ensure it remained powered, your followers would keep the benefits, and you wouldn't need to use your own power to keep it operational.

Granted, you wouldn't personally benefit from it this way, but it would also cost you nothing.

"What if it was designed to be flawed?" Aldritch muttered after a moment.

He looked to the skyline of the city to check his direction, and the sight of tall warehouses and industrial buildings confirmed he was still heading towards the area Sulika referred to as the 'Aerial docks.'.

"Why would the creator of the system do something like that? Seems like an awful lot of work just to intentionally screw it up."

"It is a waste, and I can only think of one reason someone would throw away all the time, effort, and resources needed to make something as complex as the system."

"Revenge." The word sent a rush of excitement through the bond Aldritch and Oakairo shared.

Aldritch felt his fists tighten to a white-knuckled grip, and he nodded.

Yes, they both knew the lengths they'd go to punish the ones responsible for taking everything from them. And if Aldritch considered everything he knew about the system, it wasn't a perfect fit, but there were a few things leading towards that conclusion.

So, that brought up another question; Who was the system creator trying to take revenge on, and why?

"We need to find a library or something. There's bound to be a book of legends, or something related to the gods… But we'll do that later, I think we're here." Aldritch said after coming to a stop beside a large statue.

He took a minute to absorb the sights, sounds, and smells of the area.

The aerial docks were a marvel of engineering; built on the southern tip of Azuris island, the docks were the only part of the city not surrounded by walls. It was a vast, wooden construction in the shape of a crescent moon that wrapped around the tip of the island and extended a few thousand feet away from the city.

He could see a massive hole in the center of the docks that had a diameter of at least four-hundred feet.

Eight thirty-foot tall stone pillars were built around the rim of the hole and from a distance, it looked as if each one had been reinforced to hell and back.

Try as he might, Aldritch couldn't understand the purpose of any of it- and that excited him.

Leaving the hole aside for the moment. The rest of the dock was even more fascinating than Aldritch originally imagined.

For starters, Aldritch was curious about the way the city imported and exported goods, and the answer was actually quite obvious to anyone who just looked towards the sky.

A loud Whoosh drew Aldritch's attention to a spot just thirty feet from him.

Seven workers in orange vests stood in a circle, while a trio of wagons waited a dozen or so feet away. The six adult plains dragons responsible for pulling the three wagons showed little interest in the goings on around them- two of them weren't even awake.

Aldritch noticed the workers looking at something above them, and tilted his head to investigate- His first thought was that it was a big balloon floating fifty-feet above them; the object was horizontally split between two colors, the top half being a blindingly bright yellow, and the bottom a storm cloud gray.

It looked a bit like the hot air balloons a group of gnomes invented during the latter half of the demon war, but something about it was off.

The gnomes had used a combination of fire elementals and some kind of oil-based solution to feed a flame beneath the balloon to achieve flight.

Yet Aldritch could see none of that here.

In fact, there wasn't anything beneath the 'balloon' at all- Aldritch raised an eyebrow at the sight of a rope falling from the top of the balloon, then another, and another. Before long, a total of eight ropes dangled from the top of the 'balloon'.

The workers jumped into action, grabbing the ropes and carefully backing away while pulling it to the ground… "It's a pufferfish!" Oakairo exclaimed, his excitement brought a slight smile to Aldritch's face.

The creature being pulled to the ground in front of them was an extremely large pufferfish.

Aldritch noted the thick harness wrapped around its body, and around its fins was the thing allowing it to be used as a means of transportation; a dozen or so pouches dangled from the harness, most of which were stuffed to the point of overflowing with parcels both big and small.

And it wasn't just the one. Now that he knew what to look for, he saw dozens of other pufferfish being unloaded by workers all over the place.

Once they got the pufferfish to the ground, Aldritch saw something else he'd never seen before.

A Caitsith with dark yellow fur was standing on the pufferfish's back.

Aldritch could see it was wearing a pair of leather pants, knee-high leather boots, and a pair of leather gloves that covered its entire hand.

Aldritch couldn't see how high the gloves went, since they disappeared beneath the sleeves of the thick yellow jacket it was wearing.

Atop its head sat a fuzzy hat that covered the top of its head, while two extra pieces of fabric hung down to frame the Caitsith's face.

The Caitsith noticed Aldritch watching and waved excitedly.

With a wide smile plastered across its feline face, the caitsith agilely leapt from the Pufferfish's back, passed over the workers heads, and landed smoothly in a crouch behind them.

Aldritch watched the Caitsith stand to its full height of four-foot-six and activated Wisdom of the Great Sage while it began walking towards him.

The Caitsith approached Aldritch and offered its paw for Aldritch to shake. "Howdy." It said, its voice full of exuberance and an eagerness Aldritch couldn't understand. "Name's Haru. Pleased to meetcha, Aldritch!"

Aldritch stared at the amusing little cat person for a second before extending his hand and returning the gesture. "How'd you know my name?"

"Zarud's a drinking buddy of mine, and he told me what you looked like. There aren't too many red-haired giants in Auris, so I figured my odds were pretty good." Haru laughed. "Once I get everything offloaded, I'll be off to meet up with him. Wanna come along?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I have some things to take care of before I'm done." Aldritch replied. "Ah, I'd appreciate it if you pass along a message to Zarud, Sulika wanted to speak to him."

"S'pose I can do that." Haru shrugged while smiling. "Well, if you change your mind, we're meeting at the Odd Hawk. It was nice meeting you!" Haru said before running off.

Aldritch watched the cat person for a few more seconds before asking, "If they use pufferfish to transport goods- What else do you think we'll see if we wander around long enough?"

"Good question. Let's find out."