Time lost

- Oh... Well then.

I reply.

- What?! Four and a half years?!

-To be precise. 4 years, 7 months, 12 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds.

- How did it take that long? I thought we were gone for a month at best.

- You must have gone through the second layer to get to the third layer. You must have slept there longer than you thought.

- But... How?

- That is the nature of the second layer in the realm of Hou, the realm of ignorance.

Aktor puts in.

- So we were gone for four and a half years. What happened during that?

- Well, the demons have become more active in the continent of Ehstos, the continent we are in. Before you left they were only active in the Arutos continent, the continent nearest to the Isle of Dia, the home of demons in the overworld.

I ask.

- What do you mean active?

- They have started to convert more people into demons. In some places it seems to be quite aggressive. Thankfully they have not started a full blown war.

- Can we do anything about it?

- There is going to be some talks between the representatives of the united front of Ehstos and the representatives of the movement of demonication. The United front of Ehstos is the united force of all the countries in Ehstos.

- So we should go there.

Aktor states.

- To do what exactly? We aren't in any position to make decisions for the entire continent. We are just two hillbillies with sharp metal. Two traveling mercenaries. Just nobodies.

- But we have to do something.

- Why? Our job isn't to solve every crisis that we come across. The fact that we resolved the issue concerning random creatures appearing randomly at random places was completely optional. Sure, we helped a lot of people, but it isn't our job.

- But...

- And what would you do if you went to the talks? Start to tell the demons that they are wrong because the things they are doing are bad. In their eyes they are doing a great thing. Sure, some of them might be aggressive, but every faction has those. Think for a second before you act.

I'm speechless. Aktor did not want to investigate the situation.

- I'm going there to see what is going to happen first and then act. If the talks are resolved peacefully, no matter what is decided, then I will do nothing. If the talks turn to fighting, then I will do the only thing I know how to do, fight.

- Can I tag along?

- Sure you can if you want. It's your choice. Perhaps we see Lex there. Or perhaps he doesn't care enough what happens. Let's call him first.

- Sure.

I activate the ring.

- You sure took your time. What took you so long?

- Aktor's soul got transported into the realm of ignorance. I went there to help him out.

- That explains the time it took for you to contact me. You could have told me before you went in there. Then what did the guardian find out?

- My soul has the fragment of the original power of soul. And Aktor killed me once.

- Your soul has WHAT!? I thought the original power of the soul disappeared long ago. Why do you... No, nevermind. It might be a pure chance.

- So you know of the original powers too. I thought that was supposed to be lost knowledge.

- Well, I am old. And I spend most of my life doing research on many things. I'm bound to know these kinds of things. Don't go telling anyone else about this. I heard that the original powers wanted to be forgotten.

- I had a feeling that was the case. So anyways, would you know when and where are the talks held between the representatives of both united front of Ehstos and the movement of demonication?

- I do. But how do you know about them? Wait, let me guess. The guardian told you.

- That's right.

- The talks will be held a week from now in the desert country Hiék in the capital city of Ost. It is the southernmost country in Ehstos. And also one of the largest.

- So now we are going to the desert. I'm intrigued, but also a bit annoyed.

- I can teleport you near the capital, so you don't have to worry about traveling.

- What should we do in the meantime?

Aktor puts in.

- Maybe we should train you here a bit.

- Agreed. Since we now know that you possess a fragment of the original power of soul, we might find out that you possess some of the abilities that she had.

I ask.

- What powers do they have?

- It was told that she could bring parted souls back to their original bodies. Though it may not heal the body, it is something normal healers can't do.

- That sounds useful. I also need to learn healing magic to make it extra useful.

- And while she didn't use this often, she could put part of her soul into an object, making it more durable and do the task it was meant to do easier. You might learn to put part of your soul into a sword to make it somewhat sharper and durable. Perhaps you could make something like a temporary enchantment to the sword like making it affect people at a longer range. The possibilities are endless.

- I will try that out too. Though it is only for a week.

- Fantastic! The guardian can guide you with those. In the meantime I will try and find other things that you might be able to do.

- Fine, but shouldn't you prepare for the talks also?

- I won't be participating. The official ruler of Taican is the king. Though he really wanted me to go, I won't bother myself with this matter.

- For some reason, I'm not surprised.

- In the future I will contact you if I find something else you could use. But next time I contact you, it will be when the talks happen. Bye.

- Bye. So what do you think about this Siel'Kel?

He answers.

- I will do my absolute best to guide you to master these powers. Aktor can be our test subject.

- Of course it's me. Can I trust you that my soul won't leave this realm?

- I will make sure it won't go far. Also we need to make some injuries so be prepared.

- I will risk an arm and a leg, if that is what it takes. I just trust you that I will be leaving this place with the same number of limbs.

- Don't worry. You are better than me at being a training partner, when he needs to learn to put part of his soul to the sword.

- Sparing is what I'm good at. Now I can go all out since there is perhaps the world's best healer helping us.

- That is true. My job is to guard this place, but I also can heal your wounds.

- Then why won't we start? Let's spar.

- Wait. First I need to train him how to cast his soul to the sword.

- Right.

Siel'Kel tells me the technique. It sounds simpler than it is, so it takes me a couple of tries to do it right. The part of my soul doesn't seem to stay in the sword when I'm not concentrating. Siel'Kel tells me that unless I specifically put my soul in the sword with the intention of it staying there, it won't stay in the sword or any other object. Siel'Kel also recommended I don't do that with anything, as my soul is limited, unlike the original owner of this fragment.

With a couple more tries, I manage to get a hang of it and we start sparing. He said he will only go all out if I want him to, so I asked if we could keep this in simple training. I told him that I would gradually wish to increase the difficulty. It was quite rough even if he wasn't serious.

I got a couple of cuts during the training so I trained my healing magic. During this healing, Aktor and Siel'Kel told me some tips on how I could improve. Aktor told me how to physically improve and Siel'Kel told me how to improve my technique with the soul transferring. I improved quite a lot during these couple of days.

And after a couple of days, we started learning about calling souls back to their bodies. Siel'Kel told me that I could technically call a soul to an object, but that I shouldn't do that unless the person was willing. Siel'Kel told me that if I did it without permission, it would be closer to the practice of necromancy. Siel'Kel told me that the art of necromancy would be easier for me than others, but that the original owner of the fragment would not have wanted it to be used in that kind of way.

Aktor's soul had to get out many times before I could manage to pull it through. It was so difficult to do. It was like trying to put a vortex through a needle underwater. The magic all around me would interfere with the process, but I would need to do it with possible worse surroundings. With a many tries, I finally got to put his soul back to his body. Now I needed to learn how to heal simultaneously while trying to put his soul back to his body. I already feel sorry for Aktor on this one.

It took a long time for me to finally get the general idea behind it, and it took even more to actually utilize it. After finally managing to heal simultaneously while recalling the soul back, now was the time to learn the magic required to heal a missing limb. Of course, we first did this without trying to recall his soul back at the same time. Poor Aktor.

Couple of days later I got the hang of it. And now I was able to recall the soul back to its original body while healing it. I actually managed to create a new spell, kind of. And now we are ready for the trip to Ost.

But first I must try to challenge Aktor to a serious duel. He told me that if I could win, he would give me his spear as a price. He must be confident. Siel'Kel transfers our souls to a different realm to fight all out. It told me that it was in its pocket realm.

And there we stood. Face to face. My heart was pounding. I could feel something pumping through my veins.

- I will be on the defensive for two minutes and I won't move a step from here, after that I will do my best to destroy you. Starting now.

I rush straight to him with a strike of my sword. He countered it. I tried to cast magic while I was swinging my sword but he keeps moving his spear at the speed I have never seen. I keep swinging my sword and casting magic but none seem to work. I even try to use my new soul transfer and even this doesn't work. He is just so fast.

Minute has passed and I haven't gotten a single scratch on him.

Minute and a half has passed and still nothing. I put everything on my swings.

Ten seconds left still no progress. I try to go beyond my normal speed and keep swinging.

- Five... Four... Three... Two and one. Zero, here I come.

With a blink of an eye, I see my hand cut off. And before I could process what happened my whole body was in pieces. So much pain and I could no longer scream. And a moment passed and I was standing again in the same place I left in the real world. I had a problem breathing for a second. Then I finally calmed down a bit and Aktor started talking.

- Seems like you won't be getting my spear.

- I was nowhere close to getting it.

- Perhaps one day you can get it, I'm open to a challenge every once in a while. I look forward to a day when our match takes longer than three minutes.

- Are you always going to do that two minutes thing?

- Of course. It wouldn't be fun otherwise.

- I see. Now shall we go?

- I'm ready.

Then Lex teleports us near the Ost. Apparently it is good to come through the gate. When we were teleported I could see a tall wall and a sea. It looks like a well guarded and big port city.

There seems to be armies surrounding the city. Must be the militaries of other nations. It sure looks like we are ready for war.

We try to step in the city but we are stopped by the guards. One of the guards asked us our reason for a visit. Aktor tells them.

- We are here to meet with the red ruby. We are also here to witness the talks between the united front of Ehstos and the movement of demonication.

- Do you have any papers?

Aktor shows them some weird necklaces.

- I see. We will let you pass. Welcome to the oasis of Hiék, the city of Ost.

- Thank you. And may the great sun be kind to you.

The guards let us pass and we moved inside the city.

- What was that?

- What was what?

- The necklace. Why did they let us pass after showing that necklace?

- You see, I once saved tha child of the crimson ruby. She is the ruler of this land and her child is known as red ruby. As a thanks I got this necklace that lets me move anywhere in this country with the authority of the crimson ruby.

- So you are friends with another powerful person. Great. What is next?

- I actually once slept with the crimson ruby and apparently she is willing to offer the red ruby's hand in marriage.

-...

- So... Yeah... I have some ties to this place.

- Tell me, is there anything else you are willing to tell me?

- Not at the moment.

- So there might be in the future. Great.

- The time with the crimson ruby was partly not in my control as she literally could snap my neck with a thought. She is a lizard folk who is more on the humanoid side and uses blood magic.

- Partly huh? Well any other sleeping experience?

- Well... Now that you mentioned it, I did sleep with great spirits once.

- Spirits? There were multiple?

- Both at the same time and separate. With male spirit and a female spirit.

- I suddenly feel like I don't want to know anymore about your adventures. Let's change the subject. Where are we headed? Towards that big palace?

- Correct. Though I'm not looking forward to it.

- Suddenly, I'm not looking forward to it either.