Under a different sky, things are still the same

Selie was a proud member of the Pitcoro race, or at least that was how her parent defined themselves; they were mostly peaceful and lived a nomadic lifestyle roaming into the great plains and mountains of the part of the world humans called demon race territory.

Of course, they were fierce warriors if push came to shove, like when having to face humans or monsters alike, but overall they tended to avoid conflict if possible.

When she was born and then first heard the world associated with humans in his race she knew what to fear and for sure she made her parents check outside their tent if there were humans.

When she matured she felt these were bedtime stories to scare children like she was; to make them behave and not leave their tent, and be eaten by monsters.

She now knew she was wrong, humans did exist and were a league of monsters in their own right.

Monsters did kill for hunger basically, but humans were not about hunger, they killed only if confronted with weapons, but raped and plundered pretty much because they were Humans and them Pictoro.

Many warriors died fighting to their last breath against the humans while women and children tried to escape, to no avail.

Humans were monsters with cunning, and many were taken prisoners, divided for no apparent reason, and taken away from where they lived.

They called her among others demon, a spy but she did not understand what those words were about; but she understood that too once she was brought to Etgas along with the meaning of slavery.

She tried to rebel against the orders she was given but the magic the humans knew was able to punish her, to force her and rob her of the freedom to act outside of their orders.

Then that horrible monster came, the so-called human hero; human… that thing could not be called a human, to begin with, it was an outright monster.

That thing was able to free her of magic, on a simple whim, and then bound her in shackles of fear and doubt.

She had felt the spirit of many humans while she was a prisoner, none was so warped, or filled with that lingering sense of dread.

It was a maelstrom of pure chaos and destruction; a natural whirlpool of power that swallowed anything around, unbound and given the shape of a human.

Even now that he was naked and harmless she couldn't help but tremble at the mere thought of the sensation she felt when he focused his spirit.

It reminded her of the time she saw a dragon flying in his majestic and terrifying form up into the skies of Arcvelia.

The power she felt that day was strength and majesty most pure, radiating all around to show the very pinnacle of Arcvelia.

That thing that laughed at her, mocking her and her resolve, was a maelstrom of power, something that was consuming the very soul of Arcvelia.

"I AM SERIOUS! I WILL KILL YOU!"

She shouted, as to encourage herself and make a stronger point on the fact that she took the risk of stealing that from the table for a reason, after all.

That man that named himself Thirteen laughed shaking his head, finally managing to put together a sentence while still chuckling from time to time.

"No, whelp, you are not serious. Had you been serious you'd be done with it by now, and became a hero."

She didn't understand what he meant but the very fact that it assumed that she could by any chance serve mankind as a hero irked her.

"I am a Pictoro! I am not a human, I cannot be a hero!"

The man laughed still shaking his head and showed the heinous mark that he had on his right paw.

"Well, I don't know the general rules around these parts, since I am not from your world and this much should be clear whelp. Now you see rules are a tiny weeny bit different from where I am from; if this thing was brought here as it is supposed to be, this little curse will carry over to you, Pictoro or not."

He said as it was like a matter of fact, and well she could believe he was not from that world, there was no way a being able to generate such disturbance could be from her world.

"No matter then if it does happen I will kill myself, better off dead than returning into slavery! Or worse, become a hero!"

The man laughed still, shaking his head he showed his left arm; she didn't comprehend at first then she saw them as her eyes undoubtedly widened to the sight.

There was a scary amount of scars focused into the inner part of that arm around the wrist only partially covered by a complex tattoo that enveloped his whole forearm from the wrist down to the elbow.

"Don't you think I tried that? " He asked " You see a hero can't die, no matter what until they complete their task. "

He scratched his left temple moving his long wet hair, clearly pondering on something and revealing the third tattoo on his left shoulder, a circle surrounded by curved lines with a strange symbol made of smaller lines upon it: a tilted cross and three vertical lines following it.

"Yet some do say that you're a hero after you died at least once, to save somebody possibly in a way that doesn't allow for resurrection."

"Resurrection? Do you mean to become undead? Who on his right mind would want ...wait, you… you are deceiving me! And besides, stop calling me a whelp! I am a full-fledged adult! I am three years old! You can't fool me!"

The man appeared sincerely amused, and also a bit curious; he put down the hand he held up as he gestured with both showing his palms to her as to point her out.

"See that's exactly what I need you for. Princess Sinalta for example said to me that I could be resurrected if I were to fall. Of course, I did believe her right? Why would she put me in harm's way? She would care for her o so precious hero right?

See I don't doubt several people put their life on the line gladly to call a total mating stranger to their world. By the way, how do you Pictoro things call this world?"

"We call it Arcvelia, and we are not things but I don't understand, why would a human lie to a human?"

She said almost putting down the knife both for the stress of having to keep a tense posture and for the confusion, the human hero gave no signs of wanting to disarm or harm her in any way, simply grinning.

"See? Told you that you weren't about killing me, sadly. Anyway, Humans do lie and cheat each other. Why? Because that's why. Fill a reason, whatever you may find funny, functional, or otherwise. Why do Pictoro lie?"

"Pictoro don't lie!" She protested to which the man laughed aloud messing with his long wet hair as he plunged back into the water to re-emerge coughing a little before saying.

"Come on girl, spare me the charming story. Any living being with a spark of intelligence will lie, at one point. To save himself, to spare a loved one suffering, or well just because it's fun to prank somebody. It is not necessary to have any ill will to lie. "

"So you do lie, how can I believe you?" Asked the irritated girl.

He simply grinned from ear to ear, yet his eyes were now devoid of emotion even under his deep beard it was an expression creepy to the point that although the room was hot and damp she felt a chill down her spine.

"Now that's a good question. You can't know, so basically you have to assume I lie, while I am telling the truth. So you can only verify along the way. "

While still holding the knife tight in her right hand Selie raised her other hand and with her long black nails, she scratched her head gently moving her white mane, with a dumbfounded expression.

"I don't understand, how can one both lie and tell the truth? "

The man laughed a little then he looked at the ceiling from where hanged one of those needlessly complex things humans used for lighting that provided most of the light in the room.

He raised his wet beard with his right hand showing a magic mark identical to the one that marked her neck now, then went back to look at her.

"I don't know if I can make a reasonable argument with this thing filtering every mating world I use. If I sound too weird stop me or kill me." He smiled " Stop me by killing me, that would be ideal, anyway I digress. So this ... world name is Edvigla" and he was stopped by her stomping her hoof on the floor, yet he smugly smiled at her.

"You see, you lie even trying to explain yourself. This world is called Arcvelia!"

Said Selie, clearly irritated only to see him raise his right hand its index finger pointing at the ceiling; she couldn't fathom what that meant.

She thought of course to a diversion or a way to call his power, yet she felt no threat or his spirit rising to alter nature.

"What are you doing?"

She resorted to asking, in the end surrendering once again to the whim of that man; she was utterly confused in the end, she couldn't deny the fact that she was freed without being freed so there was the smallest of chance he knew what he was saying.

"Asking for permission to speak, o wise one. "

He chucked, then he simply gestured weirdly with his hands as to shuffle his deck of cards without actually having it.

"Humans call this world Edvigla, "Said thirteen

"Yeah, so what? It doesn't mean that this world is called so" quickly rebutted Selie

"And what does make you so certain the world is called Arcvelia?" Said the man simply smiling again

"Have ever you seen the sky, Thirteen? There is a bow of light in the day, a sail of stars in the night hence Arcvelia" said Selie.

"Like I said today is the first day I walk on this world.

Yet I am pretty sure humans here do have a pretty little story about why this world is called Edvigla.

But I'll lay it down more clearly for you.

So let us say I am from this world, by saying it's called Edvigla I am telling you that my family, friends, and mentors always called it so, all my life.

At the same time, you say the same, by calling it Arcvelia; so you are telling the truth to your knowledge, but to my knowledge you are lying, the same would of course apply to me.

I am quite sure there is simply dirt, rock, grass, and water pretty much anywhere civilization is not involved.

Yet there is no place where the true name of this world is inscribed.

And even if there was indeed a name chosen by a God and inscribed into its very own creation, it is not a given said god is revered everywhere the same.

On the contrary, I am pretty much sure there are humans, cursing the name of your god, and there are some of your kin that curse the name of the human god.

Hence, unless you are willing to gather knowledge and listen there will be only war and petty squabble about who's more right, until none is left standing."

Selie blinked quite frequently with a dumbfounded expression before telling

"Wait you're not from this world right? How can you be so certain? Was it like this from where you came?"

The man laughed a little " Similar. I mean I am not much of a historian, so all I know is it is simply called Earth or Gaia now.

I am aware of course that other civilizations may have at some point a word for our world or the part they lived in, yet they were either conquered or vanquished altogether."

He simply shrugged to the surprised Selie " So this is an easy example of how I can lie and tell the truth at the same time.

A simple matter of perception; there are other instances of course, like with different levels of knowledge but this was the easiest one to explain that came to my mind."

Selie frowned raising her little nose and revealing sheep-shaped long nostrils "I don't understand, I mean I sort of do, it's … can it even be considered lying?"

"you told me I was lying earlier, did you not?"

Said thirteen showing the palm of his hands to her

"It is a known effect and has a proper name where I am from; don't think it could be translated here. It is a" and the magic failed to translate whatever word he was using.

"So let me get this if you die and get killed the one that kills you get to be a hero, no question asked? Don't you fear to die?"

Thirteen laughed a little then replied

"Death is mercy. There are worse things than dying, did you not experience that feeling while being a slave?"

"I simply hoped the demon king and his army would free me eventually"

Answered Selie making thirteen lose his smile for the first time since she entered the room.

"Oh, you're one of those.

I see, well charming as it may be I am starting to feel dizzy, so choose: you test how much an adult you are by having me show myself naked to you or kill me or well you exit the room and give back that knife to that man behind you that should by now be very annoyed of our charade."

Selie turned only to see an old butler that simply smiled showed her his empty and gloved hand.

She shivered, as old and frail that man looked she didn't even felt his presence in the room until Thirteen announced him.

"You…" she growled turning to thirteen "you better keep your word."

Thirteen sighed "you know what maybe means right? I need the knowledge to tell for sure"

Selie glared at the butler and gave back the knife before trotting out the bathroom; she didn't exactly expect it not to be discovered, but to be allowed to act freely in the human world was a new feeling.

- now what? -

Sighed Thirteen as he looked at the old man pointing the knife at him with a deep glare.

"So ya weren't a guard after all?

Killed in the bathroom by the butler with a knife.

Now that would make for the most predictable kind of ending for a thriller."

Said thirteen as he raised slowly his flabby and fat body from the water and came out of the pool of water.

"Not quite, sir Thirteen, I was merely testing you. Master Etgas will be quite entertained by the results. May I inquire as to what magic was engraved on your left arm, sir?"

Thirteen raised an eyebrow and then he remembered some of his early conversation with Etgas "wait, I thought the tattoo was about having a magic cast on you, you mean that…"

Thirteen narrowed his eyes

"No of course you mean that this could unleash magic as well; you wouldn't be so much on your guard otherwise. In my world, this is a sign of allegiance not magical in nature.

I don't know if it has power now but if it had one power, it would be about falling down buildings without damage I guess.

This one is the only symbol magical in nature I don on my skin."

He tapped on the crimson and black symbol of a scythe on the back of his hand

"well, that and the nice gift of the princess that allows me to understand you of course. "

The old man lowered his guard

"now how do I get myself dry I don't wanna dirty master Etgas towel by mistake if you do catch my drift"

Pointed out Thirteen to which the butler simply pointed his gloves at him, a magical crest shone on them to his gesture.

Thirteen was surrounded by a hot gentle wind that dried his body and hair almost instantly.

"I was told by master Etgas to help you sir since it is unlikely you know how to use daily magic"

explained the butler

"We will also provide new clothing for you, the things you had were in such a bad shape that no magic could recover them, we are sorry"

Thirteen shrugged "Don't be sorry it's not like I was attached to my clothes"

he proceeded to pick back his deck of cards

"How did you manage to get something my size, by the way? It's not like I had measurements done"

The butler simply replied with a matter-of-factly tone

"Regarding that, sir, what you'll wear tonight is a traditional robe sir, ill-designed clothing for such an occasion but it is the only thing that we have that could fit someone of your build. A tailor will be called and your clothes will be made accordingly to the latest fashion "

Thirteen smiled a little "I don't want clothes to the latest fashion thou." He pointed out, only to be rebutted "That is unacceptable Sir, master Etgas informed me of your let's say unusual circumstances, and that her royal highness Sinalta Arges Lesta herself gave him the responsibility to instruct you, sir, of our customs. You will also need to meet a barber sir"

Thirteen puffed his plump checks and snorted out loud "I do hope I won't need to have my hair and beard kept short"

The butler for the first time showed a human emotion by raising an eyebrow "No sir, why would you think so? It is not uncommon to have long hair or beard here, it just needs proper care, sir."

Thirteen laughed "Long live fantasy worlds then, I only need to find myself a pipe and tobacco to smoke but well I do hope this get translated"

The butler simply replied "It has been translated correctly, sir. I will inform master Etgas you want to have a pipe carved. I do hope some of the scented herbs we smoke here will be to your liking"

- scented herbs?- It was his turn now to raise an eyebrow at the thoughts -oh well It was translated properly I guess I can't pretend they do have the same process of working we have back home. -

He shrugged and he moved to dress with some help from the butler since he wasn't really practical with how the tunic had to be worn.

Etgas was waiting, sat at the head of the table when Selie made her way into the small dining room.

Apart from the long table put in the middle of the room, that occupied three-quarters of the room in length and the many chairs surrounding it was a room devoid of furniture.

The walls were showing the wood they were made of and a full row of servants with enchanted bracers and chokers in full view was simply standing on attention as an almost immobile wall decoration on all four walls and guarding the doors.

Some were holding a candelabra to light the room although there were no candles on them; the light came from a small stone encased into metal support that had been masterfully bent and shaped accordingly.

Other servants with better clothing and concealed bracers and chokers circled the room correcting postures here and there with short-handled whips, giving stern commentary to the younger.

The lights of some stones flickered, Etgas sighed as he noticed.

"By my will, those whose light will fade switch the magic tool left, exit the room and go to the artisan barracks to get your dinner, you are to be dismissed from the servant course."

Selie stopped looking at those who executed the order and then looked at Etgas quite curious the simple question reflected in her so unnatural eyes.

"They don't have what it takes to be a noble servant, that's all there is. Now to see you here means you returned the knife to Lodija"

Selie shrugged looking at him "So, Etgas, where am I supposed to sit?" asked the girl, even if all the seats at the table were empty it was, of course, the best course of action for her all things considered.

Some of the common sense he had hammered into her actually stuck, making him smile.

"If it was a normal occasion you wouldn't even be in the room girl, you'd be the last to eat in the house, given any scrap left after the last servant was fed. Stand, for now, I need to see what Thirteen would want."

Selie stared at him as he was to stab him now, but refrained knowing full well what that man was capable of.

"Is… Thirteen human?"

The question made Etgas raise an eyebrow, then he answered.

"If I had to judge on skin tone, eye, and hair color alone I'd say no, he's a tribal of the north. Lesser beings shaped like us but fit to be slaves, at best, like the dark-skinned nomads that roam the deserts. But he was called by magic, so he has to be a hero...a human. Whatever the world means in the hellhole he's from. "

Selie scratched her curved horns with both of her hands instinctively moving her head as to headbutt the air.

"To agree with you… I thought it wasn't possible."

Commented the clearly irked beast girl, as she pouted; the conversation couldn't move further since Lodija and Thirteen made their entrance.

Thirteen donned a simple and elegant black tunic that somehow made him look like a pregnant woman with maternity clothing had it not been for his long beard and hair.

The man frowned as he looked puzzled at the rows of people acting as wall art, while Lodja moved to the left side of Etgas kneeling as he whispered in his Ear.

"My lord I acted as instructed, either he didn't felt my killing intent or wasn't impressed by it, same goes for magic though he has much more than me that I can tell at a glance. He joked at me by saying to find my attempts as ending the thrill. Also, he asked for a pipe for smoking, I think he means the normal stuff and not the drugs "

Etgas sighed "Thanks Lodja" he then raised his voice.

"Is the setting not to your liking, Thirteen? This is where I train debt slaves to become noble's servants, as such it's a room always ready to serve food and accommodate for breakfast, dinner or lunch. If you'd wish we can move to the real dining room and not this replica, but since you are training it would be better to be here."

Thirteen shrugged "Charming, so noble have people as furniture? You'd better train them naked, never know if the urge will arise."

He simply and slowly sat at the other end of the table, the seat creaking dangerously under his weight.

"And you o noble sage of the beast tribe of whatever care to explain why you didn't claim your throne?" he asked smiling to Selie.

Some giggles rose from the human walls followed by the hissing of some whips, the impact of leather and naked skin, and the muffled whines of pain.

Thirteen raised an eyebrow looking at one of the wall-standing people he could see hit by the whip after giggling.

"Well I didn't think I would find someone to understand my humor with this magic cast on me, but here they are. Anyway, I have two simple why?"

Said thirteen pointing at the whip and at the girl standing as to imply what he was asking about.

"As for the girl, would you really so lightly invite a demon to your table?

And for them, well they are supposed to not laugh while on formal duty, that would make the owner look bad.

It's a matter of discipline, many nobles are involved in the army, they have ranks, and commend at the least small battalions of men and women, they train soldiers for war.

If they are seen unable to reign in their servants they lose face as unit leaders or trainers.

Of course, not all nobles require such devotion, but beggars can't be choosers, they do need the training if they are to be sold to a noble that will require it and they need it beforehand.

This should tell you of course why they will serve with clothing on, nobles are well-mannered folks you know?"

Thirteen smiled as he pulled off his trademark deck of cards out of his pocket and shuffled them "Endless possibilities in an endless stream of combinations, such as the nature of all life. " he said as he dealt a card on the table, a magic circle of sorts was inscribed on the face of the card, surrounded by clouds on witch an angel, a winged cow, a winged lion, and eagle, rested each writing on a book of sorts.

There was a sphinx with a sword drawn on top of the magic circle, a snake on the left and what seemed a dog beast-man on the right, and a tilted cross stood above, on the exact center of the card as to mark it, like the writings down below.

Thirteen smiled "yet each possibility chosen may bar another, any combination is unstable, unsuitable, or plain impossible. That is to say that everything has consequences, some consequences we may be able to foresee simply because we're exposed to them day in, day out. "

He picked two cards, a tower split at the top by lighting besieged by fire as people fled it and that skeleton that wielded the scythe and put them together on the table.

"Of course if we look too much at those possibilities that are all too evident for their tragedy our eyes become clouded with fear, our heart closed by prejudice, and we might not see other options that are still on the table."

He said as he showed the fourth card, an angel in front of a lake, with two cups in his hands, a stream of water running from a cup to the other in an unnatural fashion.

He then put the card covered face down, rightmost next to the other revealing the magical circle depicted on the back of the card, very different from the one in the first card he'd shown.

"Before you sit down, and we can finally eat, could you tell us your name?" he asked Selie, she frowned answering "Selie is my name, why do you care now of all times? You got many occasions to ask"

Thirteen picked up the cards upon the table shuffling them back into the deck that he placed upon his right.

"I don't dine with strangers, Selie." was his answer, before looking at Etgas "So please tell me there's even food ready here"

Etgas nodded pointing to a seat near Thirteen on the side of the table Selie was already on.

"Sit there then. Lodja, you may begin the service. "

The old servant simply nodded and calmly pointed to some woman and men that made the temporary decoration of the walls and moved away from the room with them; following suit.

"So those are a sample of the magic tools you spoke me about Etgas?" Asked Thirteen pointing out to one of the metal candelabra.

Etgas nodded as he explained while keeping a certain composture

"A tool that anyone with magic can use in this case, it's a bit impractical to lit a room with those, but it's a good measure of one's mana pool. If they can keep it lit for what it takes to serve a meal they do have enough to train it to perform day-to-day spells like that Lodja used or to operate a magic stone that generates heat or water."

Thirteen scratched his neck

"If I recall what you said without mana you either faint or die, I get it.

It would be annoying to have a high death count in one's own house just to take a bath.

One thing does it happen that noble require specifically let's say female servant that has not enough mana to serve outside of bed?"

Etgas raised an eyebrow, as usual, he couldn't follow exactly where he wanted to lead him.

"Well not really, while, as I told you, polygamy is allowed, no noble would want to risk having his blood mixed with that of a commoner.

Besides, there's the brothel, although usually, we send the woman or man over in an inconspicuous carriage the noble provides along with clothes.

From the head butler to the last of the kitchen scullions any noble's servant is expected to be able to use magic."

While they spoke finally Lodja came with the food upon silver serving trays, there was a soup-like dish in steaming bowls, a dish with some richly garnished meat and what resembled sushi, or at least vaguely remembered cured fish with some side sauce.

There were also some fresh fruits and vegetables although Thirteen seemed troubled at their sight, probably because he couldn't recognize any of them.

Lodja stood like protocol demanded, and announced "Cesio traditional noppe, followed by cockatrice teriyaki and shallow water shark shabu shabu, with fresh Nashi, Ringos, Horenso, and Komatsuna."

Thirteen coughed "wait wait, you have sharks in shallow water and cockatrices?" he asked visibly shaken.

Etgas nodded smiling to see him react like a common man for once.

"Well yeah, they say that one hero managed to tame the cockatrices and showed how to raise both them and the shallow water sharks, amongst other monsters we use in toils war and as staple foods. "

Thirteen appeared baffled but simply nodded as he was served by the servants, after Etgas, and before Selie.

Etgas clapped his hands in front of himself "We tank the goddess for these gifts and the heroes of old for preserving them and allowing us to know their taste."

Thirteen smiled impishly and with his left hand, he proceeded to tap the middle of his forehead, the middle of his thorax, the left, and then the right shoulder before clapping his hands and proceeding to eat.

Selie made no signs for her own.

Both Selie and him showed to be picky eaters, Selie ate the serving of meat and fish, avoiding the soup entirely but asking and eating more vegetables and fruits.

Thirteen was more focused on the soup and meat avoiding fish, fruits, and vegetables entirely, and his appetite wasn't ravenous as Etgas expected.

He ate four people shares but considering how he ate that was barely two people worth of food, quantity-wise.

Thirteen being the one who was served the most soup noticed one of the servants showed him a little shining rod that he put inside the food before serving.

Then he drank a spoonful of soup, awaiting a moment before serving a new portion.

"Poison testing with silver? And with their life… you're serious?"

He asked looking at Etgas, surprising him now

"Well yeah, it's a custom in noble's court to have poison testing done, I am surprised that you figured that the rod was silver. Do you know metals well?"

Thirteen giggled "Not really, but I know stuff, like silver being used as poison testing, being in a sense poison itself."

Etgas frowned at his declaration "Wait, silver is poisonous in your world, are we talking about the same metal?"

Thirteen nodded shrugging at the same time

"Yeah, it's not lethal but turns your skin blue. Nobles that ate with silverware and silver plates in fear of poison turned slowly blue, needing to conceal such feature with heavy makeup. There was even a saying nobles had blue blood for that."

Etgas rested his head upon his left arm he firmly planted on the table, clearly mulling before asking "is there an antidote?"

Thirteen shook his head in the negative "no, not in our world, our healers deemed the effect permanent."

Eventually, the dinner ended with no other major accident, and Etgas rose first from the table and clapped again "by my will you are free from your previous orders, you may eat and drink and speak after we leave. "

"Etgas can somebody point me to the garden of the mansion?" asked Thirteen

"Come" Said Etgas "I have questions about your world. Slav… I mean Selie, you have to follow us. Without stealing tableware items, this time around you are not to be armed."

Etgas started moving followed by Thirteen and Selie "She is not to be armed even if I bring her to war?" asked the man

"Yeah, even if. Also well she has to work on her table manner if she is to be seated at an official table. Lunch is not a buffet they say, you're supposed to eat each and everything you're served. Or at least give it a bite as a sign of appreciation"

Said Etgas as he moved, making Thirteen laugh a little "well remember me to accept an invitation to buffets only if I ever become someone."

Etgas sighed shaking his head "yeah I'll inform the princess, but you will need to have the manners hammered down when the matter of war will be under control. Also slav… I mean Selie, you will take a course to hold the cutlery properly or have something crafted for your use carried over by Thirteen."

Thirteen laughed a little before setting foot in the small fenced garden that adorned Etgas home, he then looked up at the sky.

The sun had set in the meantime Thirteen had his bath, settled and they had dinner so now a literal stream of star crossed the sky boxed by the inner walls of the building.

The greenish moon was nowhere to be seen from inside the inner court, but one could see a small waxing red moon to the east and a waning white moon to the west of the stream.

A brighter star piece crossed the sky a little out of the star stream but following it.

"Here comes a shepherd" commented Thirteen "One small step for a man, huh Huston?"

Etgas frowned a little then sighed "A friend of yours you left on your world? I was wondering, how in the world you're from"

Thirteen laughed "No not really a friend, Huston is well … complicated. Let's say it's a town, people here explore what's beyond the sky"

Etgas and Selie both looked at him with uncertain eyes, but Etgas was the first to speak. "You people thread into the kingdom of gods with impunity?"

Thirteen laughed even harder, shaking his head " Don't know about ya but I haven't still met a God."

Etgas sighed "I do hope the princess doesn't bring you to the leader of the temple of the goddess church. You'd be put to the doors for saying stuff like that. You'd be banned from receiving any healing assistance."

Thirteen shuffled the deck of cards he was bringing with himself "So I will have to be on my best behavior with them it seems. This too could prove to be interesting."

He smiled evilly then asked: "You had questions right?"

"Yeah. Like if there's a war going on, where you are"

Thirteen frowned "In my world, you mean? Conventional, unconventional, hidden, and in plain sight, you only have to choose your pick, why?"

Etgas sighed "The hero is usually called from a peaceful world, being reported of wanting a peaceful life."

Thirteen laughed a little then he pointed at the stars above "We are in peace. Here, looking at a small portion of the sky, but what if you were to look from up above? You might as well say that in this world there's only war. "

Etgas and Selie both frowned at Thirteen declarations, but Etgas was the first to speak "A matter of perspective like you love to say. Then I will change my question, did you participate in war, Thirteen?"

The man smiled, clearly amused by the question, shuffling his deck back and forth.

"You ask me if I know war if I fought. But of course, I played the little orderly soldier in thousands of wars, I played the great decorated commander with the order to conquer. I fought against all odds for Kaer Morhen, against the forces of the wild hunt, I held the line as treacherous forces menaced the very holy throne of Terra and the rule of the one true emperor, and you ask me if I know war. I am a hunter, I am war and death incarnate, by the emperor's will I know no fear."

Thirteen looked at them and impishly gave half a smile, chuckling as he tapped soundly on his round belly that produced a sound similar to that of a drum.

"Well maybe it was before this one came in, but I guess I still have it somewhere, just don't make me call it back. "

Still chuckling he slowly turned around in the direction of the house as he sang with a raunch rough voice.

"Look out new world, here I come. Brave, intrepid, and awesome … the first step is a place with no goats to sleep! "

Eerily laughing Thirteen went back inside, followed by a servant Etgas instructed with a simple gesture, in the end, he was right to prepare a room in advance as Thirteen was bathing.

"Human, you think he said the truth ?" Was a question the dumbfounded Selie pointing her eyes on Etgas.

"Only the Gods know, slave. I think we should get to a naming basis just in case. Better not poke a sleeping dragon, right? Besides the part of not knowing fear checks out."

The beast girl frowned in that curious way that made her raise her tiny nose, as she sniffed the air in front of her almost headbutting it with her horns.

"The assassin you sent to the bath? I felt his killing intent from the passage, you mean that he was unfazed by that? That's insane!"

Etgas nodded "Yeah you'd think he's insane, right?

How many days did It take for you to get used to our ways?

How many times you were punished for being out of place?

He figured out his place and worth in less than half a day, he showed to be able to perform complex calculations without trouble.

He managed to convey the fact that the translation magic is not working well enough and worse he broke an already working magic with nothing but words.

I'm not an expert on the field but I am pretty sure this will cause a major uproar once it spreads.

You'd think that's bad enough right? Well, worse still he's able to read people, with or without those cards of his.

I don't say he's able to completely mind read; only he's able to push you where you think in a way he can predict with a freaking good accuracy.

And yeah that implies he's a manipulator, at the least, he played us both and the princess like a fiddle, to some extent."

Selie sighed "I don't understand. That's too difficult to grasp, you humans are complicated!" she pouted

Etgas laughed shaking his head

"Well, it seems I have to do a little crash course on humans to two people now. But, before you get yourself killed let's review rules ok?"

While the two were chatting outside, straightening things, Thirteen was brought to his room.

It was a very good room by Cesio's standard, but for him, it was rustic at best; in his world in the end a whole house made out of wood was totally anachronistic.

There was a big sturdy bed, wide enough to house three people the width of Thirteen, so it was humongous occupying most of the room.

There was a chest in front of the bed, and a pair of closets to the sides; having had the time he discovered to his dismay that the chest was empty, and the wardrobes full with furs and wholly blankets Thirteen had resolved to store his clothes there remaining naked.

It was more about not bearing the heat more tan exhibitionism, there was a window and of course, he had opened it but it wasn't enough.

The wall was high enough to hide him from right below his breasts, but even if it didn't he couldn't care less, in the end, he was trying all the magic he knew in succession.

Had he been born in Japan he'd been called an otaku, a shut-in whose time was majorly invested in anime.

He had a broader spectrum of interests but still had the same obsession with games, books, and television media.

So he had been trying any and all magic he could recall of, to no avail of course; nothing of what he remembered seemed to work, including the spells specific to that tattoo on his right hand.

-Right so that's what status or scan alike abilities are all about, you get up to speed on what you can or cannot do. The problem being it ain't working either. -

He sighed as he looked to his deck of tarots he spread on the bed, all card faces being blank no exception.

-Only thing that changed is that after all. It normally has four suits, but I pulled five different faces.

This one had coins, but I pulled both coins and pentacles, but I kind of get why; being pentacles open to a less material interpretation in a sense magical.

The fact I don't get is why five?

There should be one for each element, fire, water, earth, and air.

Worse still why my cards became total blanks the moment I left them now?

I mean with that fella with the weird wig the image remained clear even if I left it alone…-

He scratched his right temple with his left hand massaging his forehead in the process, as he puffed, quite pissed.

"The hell do ya want from me God, I should be in a nice and warm hut of fire into the city of Dis, like all of your so hated fortune-tellers heretics right?"

He muttered half-voiced hoping to receive some sort of answer, to no avail at all.

All he could hear was some muffled talking sound from down below, the movements of servants in the house, and the sound of night insects and animals he was not sure of recognizing.

- come on... usually, the average Joe get to cleave mountains with a swing of the sword or have enough power to level a fucking country with a spell, and I get a bugged deck of cards… wait the heroes are from Japan, could it be that wu-xing thing? It was Chinese If I don't recall wrong.-

It was a possibility worth a try, in the end, he knew a couple of things, mainly meditation stuff he used to get in control of his demons.

He had a good memory for stuff even with the condition he had, and in the end, he tried everything he had to fight the illness that struck him to regain a semblance of control, and meditating helped.

He gathered his cards and formed the five symbols for fire, earth, metal, water, and wood and placed himself in the center of them.

- I sure hope it's not the eight trigram stuff instead I ain't willing to recreate an ancient binary code.-

He sat slowly with great difficulty, assuming a lotus position with a lot of effort and helping himself with his arms.

"Good lord, I am ten stone too heavy to do this stuff if it pleases you please, please let it work"

And he closed his eyes recovering control over his ragged breathing and concentrating as he relaxed.

This wasn't exactly his first meditation, he felt free, he felt good, bad, like flying but this one was a first.

He felt top-down, the touch of water on the sole of his naked feet.

He opened his eyes, and frowned, even for him that sight was totally nonsensical.

- great I fell asleep and I'm dreaming.-

He was walking upside down on a sea on which he could see only his reflection, and as he looked at it he felt he was back to a normal plane, yet still walking on water.

He smiled and looked around and there was an island on that sea where there was nothing at all just a moment before, and on that island, there was an enormous tree that reflected itself into the water.

The island was barely wide enough to house the tree, and one could see the reflection of the mighty plant and its branches.

Thirteen could not see the end of the branches or the end of the roots of the tree, but among the branches he could see an enormous ball of fire, irradiating light.

In the reflected image, however, amongst the branches, there was a pool of swirling darkness that pulsated at the same time as the sphere of fire.

"Yddrasill huh yet, there's an aspect of the tarots, and five elements… I can breathe, right? No, wait that's seven elements, If I don't consider my soul that is..."

He pondered half voice as he walked around the scene, walking upon that endless unbound ocean.

"So I am supposed to be the hanged man now, to stand seven days and seven nights like Odin in search for the wisdom of the runes sacrificing myself onto myself. "

He sighed shaking his head.

"I sacrifice. Now what, God's hand rises? "

There was no reaction from the tree or the sea for that matter, thirteen sighed.

"Well yeah, figures.

But a sacrifice I was made to make, already.

I have lost my games, my streaming series, my online friends… and well my job for what matters.

For what?

To be here and to fucking clean this fucking mess with what exactly?

How the hell I am supposed to face a fucking demon god or whatever if it shoots me in the face with a dragon?

I am not stronger than I was, nor faster than I was, nor slimmer, and oh wonder I am a person that seems unable to wilfully use magic in a frigging magic world for argument's sake!

I feel no longer emotions, well I still feel anger I suppose, and sadness because yeah it has to be hell. I don't even feel those as I used to!

How the fuck I am supposed to ... "

As he was going about rambling and venting his frustration and anger he felt a voice, it was Etgas.

"THIRTEEN COME TO YOUR SENSES PLEASE! I BEG YOU!"

As he opened his eyes he saw it, his cards were floating around him, neatly aligned in a row the mark on their back was shining ever brightly.

Thirteen smiled as he noticed there was a person in the room knocked out cold, with a knife near his hand.

He had never seen him, nor among Etgas' servants, nor it was one of the princess', but well he was dressed like a ninja straight out of an anime.

"What's up doc?" He smiled impishly looking at Etgas "trying to kill a hare?"

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR JOKES THIRTEEN! STOP IT! STOP IT NOW! EMPTY YOUR MIND! YOU ARE UNLEASHING TOO MUCH POWER! YOU ARE GONNA KILL EVERYONE WHEN THAT POWER GOES WILD! "

Thirteen smiled "then I just don't make it go wild right? "

he extended his right and left hands and the cards quickly returned to his right hand reshaping the deck.

"well, can you please stop shouting now Etgas? I am getting a little hurt. I was just meditating. "

Etgas frowned "Meditating? You were meditating?! NAKED!? You gathered enough magic power to level the city to rubble you…"

Etgas barely restrained himself from outright insulting him, out of fear or out of education; he made a deep, heavy breath before continuing

"Listen, please don't. Just don't meditate, don't try to use magic… just wait that you are with a mage instructor that can testify for you that you are in fact in control of whatever you're doing. You have a tremendous amount of mana do you remember that part?"

Thirteen chuckled "Yeah I remember, but Etgas, I might as well had got an ocean if I don't learn how to control it, I might as well have nothing. And what about the assassins? Did I kill him by simply meditating and controlling my flow?"

He smiled looking at the slaver with victorious eyes, the slaver sighed.

"I will try to calm things up you, please until I do, don't do things, is that understood? "

Thirteen nodded and placed himself in the bed covering himself with the linen sheets.

"I will try to sleep, don't disturb me further. "

And even if he had said and feigned just that, he remained awake for the longest time he managed, before surrendering himself to sleep.