Aghanim's Rubick Chapter 26:

Chapter 26: It was one thing to know that Lucifer was an ancient Demon, it was another thing entirely to realise that she paid close attent

Chapter 26:

It was one thing to know that Lucifer was an ancient Demon, it was another thing entirely to realise that she paid close attention to events occurring outside of the Demonic Realm. According to her, my power put me among the top of the world. At my current level, I was either stronger than my opponent or they were far above me, with hardly any existing in the space between.

She said my instincts would warn me when I was facing one who could kill me, a feeling that would be impossible to miss. I had my doubts, as apparently my ‘bestie’ Milim was the second strongest being that Lucifer was aware of, and I felt no such thing from the pink-haired menace. Did that mean I have never felt her going all out? Or were my instincts somehow broken in a way Lucifer did not anticipate?

I didn’t know.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter, my path forward was the same regardless. Study magic, unlock its secrets and grow powerful enough that I had no one to fear.

Thankfully, my experiment with the rock before our conversation gave me a place to start. My ability to freeze objects in space worked through a very clear mechanism. Control and manipulation of the space surrounding the object, refusing to let it move through the area under my control. It made sense, the Void was a separate dimension after all, so the ability to manipulate space explained my ability to access it.

I didn’t know why it appeared to be the same Void that several heroes from Dota used, but rather than be disappointed by the lack of novelty I was grateful. It gave me ideas of how to advance this aspect of my magic even further.

Much like my study of lightning magic that turned into my mastery over plasma, I would decipher the mechanics behind the abilities I remember and make them my own.

My current target? Astral Step.

Moving from one point to another in instant and devastating anything in between? That would be very useful if I could control the distance. More importantly, it would let me decipher how to attack with the Void directly, something that has thus far eluded me.

I stepped into a portal I opened in front of me, opening another one directly in front of the one I entered, I arrived at the other side of the clearing.

“Seven feet, my Lord.” Lucifer called out, causing me to sigh.

“If there was a pattern, it would have been five.” I spoke, causing the demoness nodded.

She placed down the pen she had been using, one of Susuru’s inventions, cupping her chin in thought, “Hmm. It seems that the distance travelled is completely random… Or perhaps?”

“You have an idea?” I asked, intrigued.

“It was just a thought my Lord. I wondered whether there could be unseen movement in the realm through which you travel which determines the distance travelled. You can accurately pinpoint beacons you leave behind, correct? That means that your position there should map in some way onto our world.” She spoke, raising two of her hands, “If you entry point is fixed, then perhaps the drift in the exit point could be due to not leaving at a fixed point in the Void.”

She closed one of her fists, indicating out current reality, before sliding her open palm forward, demonstrating what she meant.

“You are saying that the coordinates on the other side change independently from my movement?” I spoke, crossing my arms in thought, “I see… That reminds me of something.”

“My Lord?” She asked, head tilted.

“There was someone I knew of who had similar abilities to my own, one of his favourite sayings was ‘Moving without Travelling.’. I wonder whether that was a clue.”

I opened two portals, in the same configuration as before, before attempting to move them instead of myself. I passed through them, arriving at the other end and looking towards my research assistant.

“6 feet, Lord Rubick.” She spoke, picking up her pen and writing it down.

“Good, now lets try to go back.” I spoke, doing the same thing in the exact opposite direction.

“6 feet!” She exclaimed, “We will need to make sure, but that is the first time we got such a consistent result.

I grinned at her enthusiasm, noticing the sun just barely reaching the horizon behind her shoulder, sighing as I did.

“Just as we make some progress, our time runs out.” Lucifer looked behind her, then back to me and nodded.

“You are right. You did state that you would be back before dinner is served.” She agreed, causing me to laugh.

“Despite being King, I feel as if Hanako has more power than I do.” I shook my head ruefully, “Over my own time, at least.”

“You have expressed a desire to maintain harmonious relations, My Lord. This is a consequence of that.” She had a small smile as she pointed that out to me, before it faded and a serious look replaced it, “My Lord.”

I realised that whatever she had to say it was important, so I fixed her with my full attention, “Yes, Lucifer?”

She took in a deep breath, “If you truly wish to advance further into your magical research, I know of someone who wishes to enter your service who would of be great assistance to you.”

“You don’t seem that enthusiastic about the prospect.” I observed.

“I am not, yet I promised them that I would inform you of their desire to serve.” She spoke, looking away, “We do not get along. For uncounted years now, we have been in a state of conflict or preparing for the next conflict. It was in charge of a piece of territory that was of strategic importance to my realm and refused to move.”

“So they are an old enemy. Yet they wish to serve the same master as you?” I was intrigued, “I assume that they are a Demon, like yourself?”

“Yes, my Lord. An Ancient demon, like myself. They are called Noir.” She confirmed, “I do not know why, but they have been observing you for some time. It was how I was alerted to your existence.”

“I see.” I hummed, “Then I guess I better look into Demon summoning. I should at least hear them out, ignoring an old and powerful Demon such as them seems like it would end poorly.”

“I agree my Lord. I shall share with you all I know.” She nodded along with my words, “I am sorry for waiting so long to bring this to your attention.”

“Please don’t apologise.” I raised my hand, “I understand your feelings on the matter. Thank you for informing me of this, no matter how late you feel it is.”

She smiled, a true, beautiful thing, “You are too kind, my Lord.”

---ARARAR---

Susuru grinned as he took in the city. It was the largest settlement he had come across in this world so far, though to be fair that wasn’t really saying much. Dwargon could be bigger, he supposed, but the majority of the buildings were underground and built into the mountain, so its size was not as visually striking as this settlement before him.

Notice: Lura is larger and has more inhabitants than the main city of Dwargon.

The voice of Raphael spoke into his head

Well, there you had it. To be fair, the place was surrounded by what looked to be fertile farmlands, that would make supporting a larger population easier than it would be otherwise. Of course, the lands that he could see from his perch on top of the hill would not be enough to support the city alone, meaning it likely traded for the rest of the food and supplies it needed. That excited him, his mind already looking forward to seeing what deals he could make for Claszureme while he was here.

Notice: It is unlikely that Englassia would accept any agreement with Monsters, unless the exchange is heavily in their favour.

He slumped at that. It was logical and made sense, but he didn’t have to like it. Rubick ran a tight ship and he did his best to integrate Monsters and humans as much as he could, but centuries of stigma was not easily changed.

In fact, that was the reason he was in disguise right now, as a Female adventurer that was part of Fuze-san’s guild. With his build, attempting to pass as male would only make people ask where his parents were. It was frustrating, but he could deal with it for the sake of his mission. It allowed him to get a letter of recommendation from the Guild Leader, to show to his own boss, which would hopefully give him the clout needed to look for Shizu and her students.

After he had gained the letter from Fuze, he had ridden Ranga all the way to the city that housed the headquarters of the Free Guild. It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time, Ranga eating up the miles and arriving at their destination in a matter of days.

Susuru knew that the wolf was the fastest amongst his kind, but to cross the better part of a continent so quickly… Claszureme’s cavalry unit was basically a force projector by themselves.

“Ranga.” He spoke, causing the wolf to snap to attention, “Hide in my shadow for now.”

“Understood, Susuru-sama!” He panted, jumping into the air and darkening as he melded with the slime’s shadow.

Susuru confirmed that he had all that he needed from the bags in the correct places, only having one last concern, “Raphael, are you sure that we can fool the Monster Detecting wards surrounding the city?”

Easily. By restricting the expulsion of magicules and redirecting your excess into your Stomach, there should be nothing for the wards to detect.

Susuru furrowed his brow, “That sounds like a major weakness. Will our own wards have such a gap?”

Answer: No. Hanako is aware of the flaw and will compensate, asking advice from Rubick if needed.

Well, that’s alright then.

Time to go meet a real life Grand Guild Master!

As he took a single step down the hill, intending to join the queue waiting to enter the city, he was interrupted by screaming. Head snapping towards the sound, he saw the tail end of the convey outside the gates pointing and panicking to something behind him. He looked up just as the sound of massive wings sounded out, a Wyvern braving the city to feast on the creatures drawing all those wagons.

It zeroed in on one in particular, which had yet to reach the relative safety of the city walls. Its scales gleamed dangerously as it pulled into dive, descending on the defenceless cart.

‘Oh no you don’t.’ Susuru thought, eyes narrowing as he sprinted, easily overtaking the overgrown lizard and preparing to leap into the air to meet it, ‘Not on my watch!’

He jumped, sword leaving its sheathe and flowing in an arcing motion before returning to its home. The Wyvern plummeted out of the sky in his wake, falling to the ground in four pieces. Susuru had landed lightly on his feet and turned around to meet the shocked gazes of all the people outside city just in time for the first guards to arrive, their response time impressive for the force they had mustered on such short notice.

Most of them stood gawking at the beast, its head and wings separated cleanly from its body, but their leader stepped forward, sword pointed down by at the ready.

“Identify yourself.” He spoke, voice tense.

“Susuru, adventurer. I am here to deliver a letter to the Grand Master of the Free Guild.” Susuru spoke, smiling brightly at them.

Which caused several of them to blush and look away.

God damn it Raphael, let him look like an actual man, being this beautiful was uncomfortable!

...Negative.

He hated his Skill sometimes.

---ARARAR---

“Ohoho, think nothing of it, Lady Susuru!” Gard Mjollmile chortled, the veritable feast spread between them the topic of their discussion, “I could hardly let my beautiful saviour go unrewarded, even if she did have important business! My pride as a merchant would not allow a debt to fester!”

“I wasn’t attempting to save you in particular, just stop the Wyvern from harming anyone.” Susuru shifted, uncomfortable.

“Nonetheless! I was the one in most danger, at risk of losing my life or even worse, my merchandise!” The boisterous merchant sent him a wink at that, revealing the jest, “Such an action must be repaid, even if a mere meal, no matter the quality, seems like a poor attempt to do so.”

“Well…” Susuru wanted to deny the debt once more, but then suddenly had inspiration strike him, His thoughts from before resurfacing, “If you wish to repay your debt, then I have a way for you to do so. You might even profit from the experience.”

“Oho, now here is a woman who knows my language. Profit, you say?” He stroked his moustache, naked greed entering his eyes.

“Yes. You see, I serve a powerful Lord, one who has created a nation through his strength within the boundary of the Jura Forest.” Susuru explained, causing Mjollmile to still, “He intends to offer safe passage for merchants throughout the entirety of the Forest, although the plan was still in the early stages when I left.”

“I see, yes indeed, with a new trade route through Jura, profits would indeed be on the table.” The merchant smiled, before a nervous look entered his eyes, “Lady Susuru, I apologise for my presumptuousness, but the information networks of merchants are not something to be underestimated. This new nation within Jura, it is ruled by a Monster, one of frightening power. Are you perhaps…?”

He trailed off as Susuru placed a finger against his lips, smiling at the man, “That is why it would clear your debt to me, Mjollmile. If that is what it takes to gain enough of your trust to take the risk then-”

“I understand.” The Merchant nodded, “Lady Susuru, let me tell you something. There are many types of Merchants in this world, those that play it safe, those that gamble recklessly and those that pride themselves in their calculation above all else. However, we all know the one, fundamental truth.”

He raised a mug, toasting an imaginary crowd, “No true profit is ever without risk.”

Susuru smiled, raising his own mug, “Then it’s settled, you will take the chance?”

“Indeed! If my saviour gives me her word that it will be safe, then I could hardly call myself a man, much less a businessman, if I did not believe her.” Susuru felt relieved at his answer, moving forward to clink his mug against the other man’s.

“Great. We were struggling to figure out how to start. I need to stay in Lura for quite a while as I have business to attend to here, but I would feel better if I could guide you to our lands and make sure you arrive safely. Would you be able to meet me in Blumund? I am friends with the guild master there, so it would make a good spot to wait.”

“You know Fuze?” The merchant’s eyes widened, before he let out a big belly laugh, “Old coot has been holding out on me, if he knew even half of what you’ve been telling me. To answer your question My Lady, Blumund is my main base of operations. I would be glad to return to work and await your arrival. Just ask Fuze, he will guide you right to me when it is time.”

Susuru smiled, “Then it is settled.”

“To risk and profit!” Gard yelled, raising his mug again.

“To new partnerships.” He accepted the offered toast, “May they be profitable for us both.”

The containers clinked together, marking the end of Susuru’s arrival in Lura.

Now, he needed to see if he could find Shizu.