Connections

Alfie took the time to find a good tree to sit under before starting his reading. This was the first step that would be preceded by many. 

It wasn't a thick book by any means, only going up to about 100 pages or so. But each page was worth 100x its weight in gold to Alfie. 

The tiny particles that Alfie sensed in the air and in himself were indeed spiritual energy. That hypothesis was confirmed, but just as one question ended, another followed. 

How was he able to manipulate such tiny particles?

The first step relied on the fact that he could detect its presence, without a clear feeling for the spiritual energy around him the later steps were impossible. 

The second step was to control a single particle? That felt a little odd to Alfie since during his first attempt he managed to control a copious amount of energy. 

Reading ahead, the book mentioned no other step. It seemed that sensing and then controlling were the only steps. 

From the context clues, it seemed that practicing these two steps should've taken an extensive amount of time. 

While the first 10 pages introduced the steps, the later 90 or so pages only consisted of tips, tricks, and personal anecdotes from the author. 

Considering that Alfie could already control a larger amount of energy in less time than listed as the minimum for 'graduation' he didn't find any more use for the book. 

Albeit a bit disappointed, he got enough information to make the book worth it. 

The only thing that surprised him was the average time required to 'graduate' from the book. 

30 days. It took the average Lord 30 days to 'graduate' from the book. While the fact he stood massively above that statistic made him feel proud it didn't take him long to calm himself.

He wasn't aiming to be above average, no he was aiming for the top. While he might have beaten the majority, he knew nothing about the elite who were his real competition. 

From the reaction of Ivory, who he now knew was a prominent person before his death it was apparent that an organization was backing up the body Alfie resided in. 

Despite searching through his pocket space Alfie felt he hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of just how much wealth he possessed. 

Alfie had to consider the fact that at some point he would have to exit this parallel world that contained his kingdom and return to the main universe. 

Unlike Gaia where his body had no past connections, this one most certainly did. For the time being he wanted to delay his return as much as possible. 

To be quite frank he didn't even know the name of the person whose body he took over. 

Instead of them, Alfie now stood in their place. This person most certainly had a family, friends, and perhaps even a lover that was awaiting them.

The most simple course of action was to pretend to be this new body of sorts. But that felt wrong in all cases. 

Alfie remembered reading about a species of birds that did something similar. Instead of laying nests and raising their young, they'd simply lay their eggs inside another bird's nest. 

Once the little chicks hatched, the imposter would kill the bird's real hatchlings, leaving only itself. 

Having only one chick left, the mother bird would solely focus on raising the imposter. Unaware that she was feeding the thing that had killed her real offspring. 

It felt awfully similar to Alfie's situation. Although he carried with him the same face, the same features, and the body, he was without a doubt an imposter. 

He held no memories, no connections, no genuine feelings for the people who knew this body. 

But in the end what other choice did he have but to pretend. He could not end his journey here, not when so much was at stake. 

Selfish as it may be, this was his chance. In this body, he held immense wealth, and immense privileges that would raise him to stardom. 

In the end, Alfie decided to stop thinking about it. He was starting to spiral and that was the last thing a leader needed to do. 

Looking around, his subjects were hard at work gathering supplies and had even built the framework for houses. 

Standing near the workers was Fawn. She was practically Alfie's right-hand man when dealing with his subjects. 

Although they had only known each other for a couple hours, she had made her stance as being a key figure to Alfie. 

From the advice she gave earlier, she seemed to know a thing or two about being a Lord so he decided to ask her about the general customs of leaving to and fro from this world. 

"For the first 30 days, you can't leave my lord. The world won't allow it. Usually, though, people don't mind because at the end of the month, there's always a wave of monsters that try to destroy the lord's kingdom." Fawn explained. 

"A monster invasion? Why?" Alfie asked.

"Well, it's been going on since the first ever lord but most people think it's because of the sudden emergence of people." Fawn went on. 

"Imagine if you lived in a town with people you knew for years, then suddenly some alien teleports in the middle of town claiming it as their land." 

"They begin destroying people's houses, to build their own and eventually they begin teleporting even more aliens until they gain so much land and numbers it becomes a threat." 

"When that happens, usually a more intelligent monster or elite will lead a group of them to attack. Back in the day, it was seen as the final challenge before you were officially a lord. Nowadays though they've got whole tutorials on how to pass the monster wave." 

"With how much information out there, the fatality of the first month has lowered to only 10%." 

"Still 10% huh?" Alfie commented. 

"Yeah, there's always variables and sometimes people get unlucky. It doesn't happen often though so you don't have to worry my lord." Fawn assured. 

Alfie thanked Fawn before returning back to the tree he was sitting under. 

Luckily for him, he had a month before he had to come into contact with the outside world. Only a month remained before he'd be confronted by this body's connections. 

"Got something on your mind huh. If it's about your talent I wouldn't worry about it." Ivory called out from above. 

"Nah nothing like that. I'm confident in my talent to lead, it's something else." Alfie dismissed. 

Ivory looked confused before asking, "Just how much of your memories did you lose, my man?" 

"Give or take all of it." Alfie lied. 

Ivory sighed, "No wonder why. I'm not talking about your talent to lead dumbass. I'm talking about your lord's talent." 

"Wanna actually explain what that fuck that means." Alfie grumbled. 

"Ah, my bad man," Ivory replied. 

"Nah, it's. Don't worry about it. I've just got a lot on my mind." Alfie explained. 

"A lord's talent is basically a guaranteed ability. Like for example some people can get a fire talent. Gives them the powers to control fire, and stuff like that." Ivory explained. 

Alfie raised his eyebrows before asking, "How come I haven't gotten mine yet?" 

Ivory grinned, "Getting a bit ahead of yourself but I'll explain. Gather enough spiritual energy inside your body, then compress it into a solid. Once you do that you'll automatically know your talent and its rank." 

Alfie noted it down in his mind, stating "Sounds simple enough. Thanks, man." 

"Anyway, what's up with you? I only left for an hour and your whole moods gone to piss." Ivory commented. 

Alfie looked up towards Ivory who was sitting on a tree branch. He contemplated before residing in his first subordinate. 

"I've got no memories, no nothing. I don't know how I'll face my 'parents' or whoever's waiting for me." Alfie said. 

"Why not just come clean. Lyings is the worst thing you could do. If you admit you've lost your memories I don't see why they wouldn't support you." Ivory advised. 

"I wish it was that simple," Alfie whispered to himself. 

"You're not telling me everything huh." Ivory confronted. 

"Is it that obvious?" Alfie asked. 

"You don't work well under stress huh," Ivory commented. 

"Usually I'm a bit better, but it's been a long day.." Alfie admitted. 

Seeing Alfie's genuineness, Ivory decided to drop down from the tree branch and land in front of Alfie before taking a seat.

 "I know you know about my past. Was a bit rude, I'll tell you, but I allowed it. Why don't you return the favor and tell me about yours?" Ivory grinned.