Otherworldly Trials [LITRPG Adventure]

"Okay, I think I'm starting to get the picture now."

Alissa eventually said after an awkward time passed within her household. Zeke would be honest and say that they might have gone a bit too far in someone's own home.

Still, it had been a very long time since they watched any good television. It was as though a dam holding in their repressed lazy couch side had finally burst and was released into the world.

But once the episode ended, Zeke and the others apologized to the staggered homeowner and explained what happened. After a bit of time explaining, and of course introducing the Mind Construct made Familiar to Alissa, she got the gist of everything, nodding her head profusely.

"Once again, I'm just amazed at the things you do," Alissa said, though her tone didn't show any actual praise. If anything, it sounded haggard and tired. "At this point, you might as well figure out a way to create a new form of energy that would destroy our very fabric of common sense. If you are, can you at least let me know beforehand?"

"I'll do what I can," Zeke chuckled nervously. He wasn't even sure if that was even a joke. He felt like he was on top of the world just by recreating the television series he longed to see.

Ignoring him, Alissa turned to the pupper eagerly watching her from below. His tail swished excitedly, as though awaiting what to do next.

"So, a familiar that can work as a mind construct. Such a thing is normally pretty expensive, and even nobles are wary of getting these things due to potential risks of mental damage. Considering you're the same as usual, that never happened."

"You mean someone else created a mind construct familiar that can exist in the real world?" Mikella asked, sounding more confused than surprised. "Guess it's not all that unique."

"Oh, not by a long shot," Alissa shook her head. "I meant to say that it's expensive to get either of the two, let alone together. And you were right that someone did try doing that–they ended up getting their heads to explode. I think I read a report on that at least a few times in the past decade or so. Some people can get desperate, you see, wanting to raise their skills without actually working for them and letting their constructs do the rest."

Everyone around her easily paled after hearing that, and each one turned to Zeke, who looked slightly aghast at the news.

If Zeke wasn't careful and hadn't drank Lyle's potion in time, he might actually be one of those very people without even realizing it. Now that was scarier than dealing with any powerful tower bosses.

"Still… to think such an advanced Mind Construct can do such things…"

Strangely, Alissa kept staring at Tir with such an inquisitive look that it made the dog hung his head back. His tail stopped swishing, and instead he looked as though he faced a powerful predator sizing him up.

"Normally Mind Constructs are limited inside their creator's mind, only helping them as a mental aid to run certain things while they focus on anything else. A familiar can help them on the physical side, doing menial tasks and other chores the owner tasked them to do. But with Tir, you can show your mind in a sense, allowing everyone else to see what you thought about with Tir's abilities… What else can he do, if I may ask?"

Zeke took a moment to figure out what she meant by that. That was pretty much everything Tir could do. He can help Zeke with complicated thought patterns in a matter of seconds, as well as project everything with his mind as the core generator by using the barrier as a sort of screen projector.

But wouldn't that mean that Tir can do something else?

"Tir, can you stay inside of my mind?"

"Okay."

Before Zeke could explain any further, Tir easily agreed and suddenly vanished from everyone's sight. Their eyes widened, suddenly finding the dog disappearing into nothingness the moment he responded in everyone's minds.

"Tir disappeared!" Clara shouted, sounding concerned as she tried to look over the living room to find any traces of Tir.

"He's fine," Zeke said, his own eyes widened. However, he was staring at a distance as he spoke. "He's actually here; in my mind."

And he was right. Tir was just sitting excitedly in the corner of his mind, looking at him with those big ol' eyes of his again. He even yipped at him, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as though he was excited to be in this new home of his.

"He's just chillin' like a villain in my cranium," Zeke muttered, shaking his head. "Alright, you can come out now."

Just like before, Tir disappeared from the corner of his vision, and like before, he just appeared right in front of everyone, still in the same position as before.

"That was fun!" Tir said, his tail swishing again. "It was so spacious in there, I could run forever!"

"Hey," Zeke said, hearing the snickering coming from behind him. He knew it was none other than the damn fox in the room.

"Now that was impressive," Alissa said. "With that, you don't have to worry about him constantly being by your side. That's already a better benefit than what a normal familiar can do."

"Yeah," Tir responded this time. "And I can split up too!"

Zeke looked at him this time. "Wait, for real?"

"Yep!" Tir nodded, already going off to explain as that became Zeke's go-to ever since Tir was born. "Though I got a limit, I can split up as many times as you have thoughts in your head. Though if you picked the other choice besides Iron Parallel Thought, I could split up into hundreds or thousands…"

"Yeah, I don't want that either way," Zeke shivered, answering immediately. "That's the sort of thing I wanted to avoid."

"True, true," Tir relented. "And you have better focus because of that too. Want me to do it anyways? I wanna know how many times exactly I can do it!"

"Sure, go right ahead."

Zeke agreed, and as soon as he did so, there were now two Tirs. Then three, then four…

Eventually, twelve Tirs were just chilling around the living room, each one making their own seated positions or just laying on their sides like the dogs they were. Clara and Janet decided to take the chance and grab each Tir for themselves, brushing their fur and cuddling with them with excited shrills. Even Lyle wasn't immune as he eagerly brushed the top of Tir's head with a silly smile on his face.

"Zeke, you can easily make a service out of this," Mikella, meanwhile, had that glint in her eyes that spoke of a quick money-making scheme to which he'll just let her be on that one.

Of course, Alissa stared in wonder at all of the Tirs surrounding her home. And even better than that, none of them would leave behind any scent or hair behind like a normal dog would. They were all constructs, not actually real, even if they were physically so. They couldn't shed anything even if they wanted to.

Then, Ali suddenly asked a question that stumped Zeke a little.

"Zeke, can you… lend a Tir away?"

He wondered about that, turning to Alissa who in turn looked at him with that piercing gaze of hers. He wasn't sure what she intended to do, but now that she asked, his own mind started making assumptions of whether he can do exactly that.

"Tir," Zeke asked, getting one of the Tirs to look at him. Whether it was real or not, it didn't matter. To Zeke, they could all be real or fake at once. "Can you… go into another person's mind?"

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"Oh, I don't think I can do that," Tir said, actually giving it a thought that Zeke actually noticed. And he just as quickly got a result. "If I, your Mind Construct, enter into another person's mind, it's like pouring one liquid source into another liquid source. Even if the liquid is the same, each one came with different properties, and mixing them together would just jumble everything up. I feel like I can extend myself that far, but I don't think it's a good idea. Not unless it doesn't matter if they have a normal life afterwards."

Zeke immediately shelved that idea into the back of his mind, or rather, into the personal world of Tir to keep for later. He certainly wouldn't want to mess with that, even if he gained the ability to do so.

"So you can't be with another person," Zeke said, but Tir shook his head emphatically.

"No, if you're talking about separating from you, I believe I can. It really depends on how far you're willing to let me go."

"Oh, really?" Zeke asked, his eyes widened. "Do you know how far you can go without me?"

"I'm not sure," Tir tilted his head quizically. "I have to see and find out. I only just got born, you know."

Zeke had to give Tir that one. He kept forgetting that no matter how capable Tir is, he was still just freshly born into this world.

That's when he noticed Ali's stare became a bit hungry. Her eyes widened at Tir, as though she was eyeing a prize that she had sought for years on end. Then, she turned that gaze onto Zeke, and it actually made him shiver worse than being gazed at by a Master.

She quickly approached him and placed her hands on his shoulders, keeping him locked in place with such a look that it made him stand straight. Everyone else just stood quietly as Alissa stared at Zeke, uttering the words that were practically a plead from her very soul.

"Zeke, lend me Tir for my work. I beg of you."

Zeke just didn't have it in his heart to refuse her request.

…..

Tomorrow arrived quicker than anyone expected. After getting their rest, Zeke returned to train with the otherworlders in full blast, ready and able to train them to his heart's content now that he was relieved of his headaches.

All the while, Tir stayed in his mind, making sure to keep himself hidden from the others for the sole purpose of not wanting to make things complicated. He felt that the otherworlders weren't ready for something as advanced as Tir, but eventually, Zeke planned on letting them know about Tir's capabilities.

Of course, the Tir he had was just one of the Tirs. The other Tir was with Alissa as she requested, apparently asking for his help regarding her work. As a liaison, her duty is to be a Lord's assistant, and considering how huge Arcelot is, her job is everlasting and filled with tons of issues to work on.

It can range from working out deals with other folks, meeting and representing the Lord when he was not available, to even standing side by side with the nobles for various projects. There were so many for just one liaison that Alissa was practically swamped with work every day.

That's where she hoped that Tir was capable of handling her workload. Of course, Zeke was worried whether Alissa was alright sharing that kind of work with Tir, which in short, was connected to Zeke mentally.

She didn't mind at all. Most of her workload was basically keeping notes on everything that's going on in the city, and ensuring that nothing went wrong when handling each note, which can consist of whole cabinets' worth of important documents that could be rated as classified works. More importantly, as an otherworlder, it would actually be good for Tir to know what's going on in the city without actually venturing out. With Alissa there, she had every right to go into every part of the city, using Tir as a sort of familiar for her to take on for her tedious work.

Eventually, when late morning came around, Alissa arrived where the otherworlders were doing their training. It was a rare sight for everyone to see her this early, considering that she was often busy with work until the late hours of the day.

And even more surprising, almost disturbingly so, she had a big smile on her face that could rival Valorie's own bubbly smile. She carried Tir around like a precious commodity, the dog himself wagging his tail with as much vigor as Alissa herself. When they saw her approach with that natural grin, everyone rightfully became wary as they approached her.

"Ali…?" Zeke asked, worried for Ali's mental sanity at this point. "You look… happy."

"More than happy," Ali said, even her tone sounding elevated. "Tir is amazing! He handled every single part of my workload with ease! All I had to do was explain the process and he took everything in like a sponge! Zeke, what you have here is a treasure that people would literally kill for!"

Zeke just nodded to her words, sounding so enthusiastic that he was worried that Alissa might actually try and buy Tir off from him. Not that he would ever sell him–first off, he had no way of actually getting rid of him. And more importantly, he didn't want to.

"Just so you know, he's with us," Mikella said with an easy grin. "If you want him, you're gonna have to pay a pretty coin for him."

"I'm not stupid enough to try and get Tir from you," Ali shook her head. "With everything going on, Tir is just lessening my workload. You guys need him more than I do, actually."

"How so?" Janet asked, the Journeymen otherworlders surrounding Ali at this point while the weaker otherworlders stayed to train. "You make it sound like it's getting bad for us out there."

"Because it is," Ali said, her smile disappearing. It was as though the news that she brought finally took her down from Cloud 9 as she continued. "There are rumors circulating around the city… rumors that otherworlders have invaded our world and are planning on taking over."

Everyone stood stock still, hearing the news like a bombshell dropping by their feet. The mood turned tense as the sounds of otherworlders from behind them howled into the air as they raised their skill levels as much as they could.

"What do you mean by rumors?" Zeke asked, finally breaking the tense silence. "Are you saying people know about us now?"

"How?" Mikella stepped up, her eyes turning sharp. "How did they know? Who told them?"

"Who else?" Ali shrugged. "The ones who took down Hamil."

"The nobles."

Mikella growled, the word now becoming like a curse for everyone around them. Zeke really started to wonder whether there was any purpose to them even being allowed to do what they do.

With their influence, they probably spread the truth about otherworlders, using their own version of the truth. Worse yet, it was the truth they pried out of killing their good friend Hamill, and a longtime comrade of Saang and Kote. After the tower, Saang and Kote rightfully took time off to grieve for him, so they haven't seen how they were faring lately.

Granted, they were busy on their own end with dozens of otherworlders to take care of, so it was a mess to deal with for everyone.

But to hear that the truth they pried out of Hamil's death, circumventing the contract they put up with the use of a skill that, according to Arcelot, is a forbidden skill that should be notified and locked up to avoid being exploited for precisely these situations.

The nobles, of course, managed to get someone like that, and used them to kill their friend. Then, they tried to enter the tower and slaughter the otherworlders that couldn't even fight back. And now they were spreading rumors that otherworlders were the real monsters.

"What are they getting out of this?" Lyle asked, his mirthful tone completely gone. "I don't understand what they stand to gain by badmouthing us. We don't plan on invading anything, or even doing anything to these people."

"But you understand that this will limit your movements in the future, right?" Ali asked, getting Lyle to frown at the words. "That's what they intend. They don't know why you're here, but they do know that you need to get around to get anything done. That also includes finding other towers should one arrive."

"In other words, don't try and get more otherworlders and just leave them to die," Janet said, her fingers clasping into the air as though wanting to get her knife out. "And then they plan on using that against us and making us do as they say."

"That's my gist of things as well," Ali said, turning to Tir who had jumped to the ground and sat on his hindlegs, showing neither excitement nor hints of being upset. "Tir, do you mind explaining what you learned so far."

"Okay," Tir nodded. "With Ali's permission, I was granted access to a lot of areas in the city using my clones. I found out, unfortunately, that I can't go invisible, but I'm really small so I can get around tight places and nobody can find me. Then I listen to everyone talking and take all the information to the Tir that's with Ali, giving her the rundown. Around 60% of the population in the areas I was at talked about the rumors, but don't really care about it."

As Tir explained, he even helped by creating a screen to show the example using mana strands. The strands were easy to make with a decent level in Mana Manipulation, so Tir could draw a really good diagram of a pie graph, showing exactly that 60% of those of the 'neutral' area that he just explained.

"The 20% here are those that are worried about it, and are asking several questions more about the otherworlders. 10% believe in the rumors and think the otherworlders are dangerous and should be put down. And the rest of the 10% are several groups that are either interested in the otherworlders, believe them to be worth a good amount if sold as slaves, and wondering what kind of world they lived in. Stuff like that."

"That's…" Zeke took a moment to gather this information in. "That didn't sound as bad as I thought it would be."

"You mean the part about taking us in as slaves? That doesn't sound bad to you?" Janet asked, raising a brow at Zeke.

"Compared to everything else, yeah," Zeke shrugged, not really worried about that part.

"To be fair, I'm more worried about that 10% that wants to kill us," Lyle added, getting Zeke to point at him with a nod.

"It's like those stupid city surveys they show on TV back in the old world," Mikella shook her head. "Except the topic is about us."

"What? Was my search stupid?" Tir asked, picking up her words as his ears drooped.

"No, no, sweetie, that's not what I meant," Mikella instantly backpedaled, kneeling down and brushing Tir's head. "You did such a great job! Now we know what to look out for thanks to you."

Seeing Tir beaming at the praise, Zeke turned to Alissa who nodded at him.

"I'll let Cronus know about this. But what do you plan on telling the otherworlders? You want to let them in on this?"

"...Yeah, I think that's fair to them," Zeke said. "No point in disguising the truth to them. They need to know. It's just gonna be a pain in the ass."