Vol. 7 - Power - Chapter 18 (Patreon)

Thomas looked at Selena for a moment and then nodded. He saw no reason to not speak with her. Besides, he was curious to see if she would finally come clean with him about who she really was. He was only aware of her real identity thanks to the upgrade his 'All Seeing Eyes' received. Of course, there were other things she might want to talk about so he was curious and happily followed behind her as she led him to her room.

Thomas, Snowlily, and Selena all entered her room in the inn. It was no different from any other room. Nothing personal was left in the room so even though it was her room it wasn't 'her' room. Once the door was closed behind them, Selena took on a more determined look. With a wave of her hand she pulled some familiar-looking candles out of her inventory and sent them to the four corners of the room. The candles were quickly and easily ignited with a simple fire spell. It might not be an element she excelled at but like Thomas, she had 'Elemental Magic [Life]' from the academy to give her fire magic a boost.

Once the four candles were lit the air between them shimmered as a magical barrier was brought into being. Seeing the familiar barrier caused Thomas to smile as he remembered her simple lessons on using Unholy Magic back at the academy. For some reason, he found the magical barrier soothing. As if he could finally go all out without having to worry about anything. He stopped reminiscing when Selena turned to face him. He could see that she was determined to talk to him about something and it seemed to be serious. Looking closely he could also tell that she seemed a little nervous.

Selena took a deep breath and looked Thomas in the eyes, "Some of the things I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room. I need you to give me your word that you will tell no one of this conversation without my permission."

Seeing no issue with that, Thomas nodded, "You have my word."

He glanced down at Snowlilly sitting next to him. She looked up to match his gaze for a moment before nodding her head. Although she couldn't speak in a language he could understand that didn't mean that others couldn't understand her. Seeing the two agree to her request, Selena let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She straightened her shoulders and looked directly into Thomas's eyes, "I am Selena Von Reykhoten, Princess of the kingdom for as long as my father maintains his rule."

After speaking she carefully observed Thomas's reaction. She expected to see at least a little shock or surprise from her statement. Instead, all she saw was his usual unconcerned look as if he was waiting for her to tell him something he didn't already know. Silence filled the room and was quickly becoming awkward as Selena just stared at Thomas waiting for some sort of reaction. Feeling the awkwardness increasing, Thomas finally spoke up, "That it?"

Selena froze as her mind came to a grinding halt. He knew? How did he know? She was very careful about revealing information about herself. He should have known she was a noble but not much else! What gave her away? She shuddered slightly, she had underestimated him! She carefully focused on Thomas as she asked, "How did you know?"

Instead of replying verbally, he lit his eyes up letting them glow blue. The light of his eyes somewhat lit up the dim room. Selena stared at his glowing eyes and swallowed nervously. It was those eyes again. Every time they looked at her she felt exposed, almost naked. As she stared at his eyes, Thomas spoke, "Though I don't know everything they can do, I do know that very little can hide from my sight."

Selena's whole body trembled under his sharp gaze. She believed him. The feeling of his eyes looking at her like that was more than enough for her to believe that he could see right through her. Still, she couldn't help asking, "What do you see?"

"Selena Von Reykhoten, Half-Demon/Human, Low King Class power."

Selena's entire body tensed up. Her first instinct was a desire to kill Thomas where he stood. What he knew could destroy not just her but her entire family and everything they'd been working toward. His knowledge was a threat on a scale she couldn't even fully calculate. However, she wasn't an idiot who would give in to her impulses and instincts. Thomas was an immortal, killing him right now would just annoy or piss him off and for sure turn him into her enemy. It took her some time to reign in her emotions.

Meanwhile, while Selena was going through her internal crisis, Thomas was watching her closely with his 'All Seeing Eyes' still active and discovered something he found interesting. He could see her emotional state! It appeared beneath her power rating in his vision and flashed through several different emotions rather quickly. Fear, Anger, Murderous Intention, and more flashed by rapidly until she calmed down and he could no longer see her emotional state. It seemed to only work when the emotion was intense. When he saw that she was no longer freaking out he spoke in a calm and honest tone, "Your race doesn't matter to me. Technically I think I'm half demon myself so it's really not a big deal to me. Frankly, I'm pretty much the opposite of racist. I don't care what race anyone is. It's only individuals that I can grow to hate, not their race."

After he finished speaking he briefly saw 'Shocked' display as her emotion before it quickly vanished. Selena had good control over her emotions so it was hard for his eyes to easily get a read on her. She stared at Thomas for a moment as she tried to get a read on him. His casual laid-back attitude was still on full display lending credence to his words. She let out a soft sigh of relief before giving him an accepting nod, "I'm glad to hear that."

She took another deep breath to keep herself calm. Given what he knew about her and his lack of care, she felt that this next bit of information would be likewise easily accepted, "I'm sure that where you immortals come from you have important political figures. I'm also pretty sure that they have bodyguards to protect them from malcontents."

She watched Thomas closely and saw him lightly nodding his head. Feeling reaffirmed in her decision, she continued, "Well, like them I have bodyguards of my own. They're here, in the city, to guard and protect me from harm."

Seeing the 'Aha!' look on Thomas's face made her blank for a moment. Thomas took that moment to speak, "I thought it was weird that you didn't have any guards with you. So they're shadows or something?"

Selena was done with being shocked and just nodded her head. It seemed like nothing she had to say could surprise Thomas. He just didn't seem bothered by anything. Was that the unique perspective of an immortal? Selena was sort of right. If she had any idea of the kinds of lives that Thomas had lived and the worlds or galaxies he had lived them in, she would be shocked senseless. Slowly a small smile curved Selena's lips, "So I take it you have no problem with them joining us for my protection?"

Thomas shook his head, "Nope, no problem at all. Anything else?"

Selena stared at Thomas before shaking her head, "No, that was it."

While speaking to Thomas, Selena swore to give Aria a raise for providing good advice. Clearly coming clean with Thomas was the right decision. Thomas nodded and decided to add something to the conversation, "I had a thought. I think we should all sign contracts to protect each other's secrets. Back in Ulvstad, I signed a  magical contract with Rock that would remove the knowledge of my techniques from his mind if he broke the contract. We should sign something similar to protect our secrets. What do you think?"

Selena thought about it for a bit before she nodded. They both had secrets that needed to be protected. Having some real insurance to protect their interests was not a bad idea at all. Seeing her agreement, Thomas smiled, "Good. I'll leave getting the contracts to you. I've still got a lot of work to do before we head into the dungeon. I also want to visit the auction house. I meant to go today but got carried away with my work and forgot. I'll put visiting it off until I'm done."

Selena got curious and gave Thomas a somewhat coquettish smile, "So what did you make that got you so distracted?"

Thomas gave her an impish smile, "You'll find out when we enter the dungeon." He leaned closer and lowered his voice to speak conspiratorially to her, "It's going to blow your mind when you see it."

Now Selena was truly curious about what he was making. She didn't have a clear understanding of his crafting abilities but she did know he wouldn't make anything subpar. She'd seen him purify a mana crystal and make a powerful ring with just his bare hands and a few minutes of effort. What could he make if he sat down and actually put some effort into his work? She was really looking forward to seeing what he came up with.

With their conversation done, Selena snuffed out the candles and faced Thomas, "Thanks for the conversation. I'll get the contracts written up tomorrow."

Thomas nodded and turned to open the door, "Make sure to get one for Lexiana as well."

With everything covered, he left Selena's room and made his way to his own room. He went through his nightly ritual of dumping the majority of his mana into his Inventory ability. He got comfortable with Snowlily before the two of them drifted off to sleep.

Thomas opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself in a familiar area. He hadn't seen this place since just after he left Ulvstad to begin his journey. Frankly, he didn't expect to see it again in the middle of the city. He was certain that this place left traces and could be tracked by knowledgable people, yet here he was. He looked over the stalactites and stalagmites filling the cave, like sharpened teeth ready to devour flesh. He looked around the dark cave with a small smile on his lips. His last visit here had been quite embarrassing for his 'host'.

"We meet again Nephilim. I told you I would be back."

Thomas arched an eyebrow as he heard the voice in the dark. Last time the voice had been unique. This time it sounded like a beautiful woman's voice. A very distinct difference that caused Thomas to sneer. Trying to seduce him with a pretty voice? How many heaven-defying beauties had he met in other games? Important female characters in games were almost always gorgeous women that could drive the lust in men and lead to world-shaking wars. Still sneering with contempt, Thomas spoke up, "Alright. Let's get this over with. What do you want this time?"

"I've come to make you an offer that I hope you will find appealing."

Thomas couldn't help grinning as he asked mockingly, "What? No threats this time?"

The voice cleared its throat, "Erm. No. No threats this time. Just a genuine offer."

"I'm listening."

In a somewhat overexcited tone, the voice spoke, "We've thought about what you said before and believe we can give you things you can't find anywhere else."

"Go on."

Thomas could clearly hear the excitement in the tone of the disembodied voice. He could imagine it jumping up and down like an excited kid as it spoke, "We have access to rare crafting materials that we would be more than happy to give you access to if you join us. No one else can give you access to the items we have!"

Thomas rubbed his chin as he pondered aloud, "Interesting. But what do you want in return? No such thing as a free lunch."

The excitement the voice was displaying seemed to go even higher as it practically squealed in delight, "We want you to join us! To lead our armies! To rise up and become the most powerful warlord to ever walk the earth! We will give you armies of minions to command! Land to control! Conquer the world and make everything ours!"

Thomas crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side as if he was actually thinking over the offer. Really, he didn't need to think about it at all. The voice remained silent but Thomas could feel the anticipation radiating off of it. As if it was certain he would accept. After all, what kind of mortal could resist wielding that much power? Thomas let the silence build for a bit before simply uttering two words that decimated the voices' excitement.

"No thanks."

Time seemed to freeze for a moment before the voice spoke again, "W... what?"

"No thanks. Way too much work. Commanding armies, dealing with logistics, conquering places, all that pointless fighting? No thanks."

The voice felt like it was having a mental breakdown. It started to speak in a stuttering voice, "B... but..."

"No buts. Seriously. I just like making and selling cool items to people. Running a kingdom? Please, I'd never have the time to pick up a blacksmithing hammer again! I don't want to spend all day sitting on a throne issuing orders and listening to advisors giving me advice on what I should do. I'd be much happier with a small place filled with tools and forges so I could spend all day hammering out swords and other weapons and armor. Being a king is boring and goddamned annoying."

"So... you just want to squander your potential and be a lowly blacksmith?! Inconceivable! All that power! All that potential! WASTED! WHY?! Is this some sort of sick joke?! Are the gods just teasing me?! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The voice howled in rage and anger at being played with by fate. The perfect leader, the perfect being to lead their army wanted to be a simple goddamn blacksmith? It had no idea what was going on anymore. It even began to doubt its own sanity and the sanity of Thomas. This made no sense to it. This was not how things were supposed to go! The Nephilim was supposed to choose a side to lead one side in battle. Yet this piece of shit wanted to beat metal with a hammer! FUCK!

Unaware of the existential crisis the voice was going through, Thomas spoke up, "Look. I'd be more than happy to make a deal that involves me making weapons, armor, potions, or whatever else you'd like. For an appropriate fee of course."

Silence. There was no reply. No sounds at all as Thomas stood inside the cave and waited patiently for a time. Growing bored he spoke up again, "Hello? You still there?"

"I hate my life."