Gabriel barely slept a couple of hours, not because of the monsters; they did not show up at all, while the Spirits took turns to stand in guard. No. It was because he was excited like a kid at the thought of going back home. At the idea of saying to his mother that everything was alright. That he was alive, and that he would… What? What would he do?

After the initial excitement, that thought was the one that kept him for the whole night. What would he do once he got back home? Would he go back to work at the restaurant? With his newfound power? He would break tableware and bend metal as if they were made of tofu. Well, maybe not yet, but would he resist the temptation of activating Skills? And what about Liz? Where would he hide her? She was too big to go unnoticed, and with those frills, she had just developed? He wasn’t sure if she would ever pass as a proper lizard. He wasn’t sure if there were creatures like her now. People would want to study her; it would just bring trouble. But even if she was, what about her freedom? He would never have the heart to keep her hidden somewhere to keep her from the people.

He could never allow himself to keep her constrained in some small space. She was free; she had to be free, she was part of him.

Oh, Wakan Tanka… I want to come back here once I’ve fixed things with mom, don’t I?

His necessities required him to stay in Alter, and his heart was not lying to him. Gabriel did really wish to go back home, yes. But only to fix things with his mother, not to remain.

This is gonna be one major problem. I wonder if Gaia’s family would help in making her transfer over here with her… Nah… Would they? Gabriel thought, looking at the girl preparing to leave.

They had already eaten, and after doing their business and washing by a little well in the ground that Gaia had filled with water, they would leave.

My mother would never leave her restaurant for going to “another world.” And there are so many logistical problems even if we had to maintain it while living across worlds. Gabriel shook his head. He would have just to tell his mother that he would be leaving and that he would come to see her every once in a while.

“Before I forget,” Gaia interrupted his train of thoughts. “I have something for you. I would have given it to you when we eventually met at the Rapids… back then, I could only think you would become an all-powerful entity as long as you unlocked your Skills first, so I had waited to give you these.” Saying so, the girl took out a backpack from inside her thigh satchel.

The backpack seemed to be made of regular leather. Its style was quite fancy. It was small enough not to take too much space when put on his back, and other than a regular pocket, it had a smaller pocket on its face. However, appearances could be deceiving, so the first thing Gabriel did was Analyze it.

 

Series X - Skyrel Bag
Status	Unbound
Type	Bag of holding
Grade	Very Rare (Upgradable)
Main Category	Utilities
Sub-Category I	Armor
Materials	Dragon Leather, Dimensional Stag Hide
Resources	Mana (1 per use)
Enchantments	Element Resistance All - 1 Damage Resistance All - 1 Space Nullifier - 2 Weight Nullifier - 2
Capacity	21/100
Durability	24.999/24.999

 

Seeing it, Darte arched his eyebrows and shook his head.

“Wow...,” Olivia exclaimed.

Gabriel pretty much understood how the Enhancements Resistances worked and could be counted. 1 meant 25% reduction, 2 meant 50%, and so on up to nullifying it entirely or absorbing it maybe. Yet he had no idea what it would entail for the nullifier, maybe the inverted? Space and Weight halved by 50%?

Giving it to Gabriel, Gaia had a big satisfied smile on her face.

“This is a… gift for you. Then I’ve got your ManaCard, with I.D. It is tied to a bank account in The Cradle.” She took something else from her satchel. A card exactly like the one Olivia used, this one though, was Golden, and it too looked rather fancy.

Gabriel had a smile. He knew her tastes now.

“You have to bind them both,” she added, handing them to him.

“Well, I don’t know what to say. That bag looks fine, and I bet I would have needed an I.D. sooner or later,” before he could even finish. Darte interjected.

“I’d say thank you. That bag is a Skyrel; it costs a fortune. And since it’s Gaia, we’re talking about… that Card is probably full.”

Gabriel didn’t know what full meant, nor how much Bank processed Mana was really worth in terms of money. However, he ignored the mean boy’s comment and instead planted his eyes right into those of the girl. Giving her his most fascinating smile, which really didn’t amount to much, but said, “I’m sorry for lashing out yesterday…” he turned to the others as well, “It has been a long… series of events, for me. I had and still have no idea what it is I’m even doing. However, tonight I’ve realized that though I need to go find my mother and show her that I’m still doing fine… I understand that I can’t go back to my old life. It’s simply impossible. So I’m planning on returning here and keeping on doing whatever the hell I was doing. Damn, maybe even finding out what it is that I should do.”

Darte smirked. Olivia smiled, and Gaia let out a sigh of relief.

“Can I bind them, then?” He asked.

“Yes. Though the Card is already partially bound to you, I had to take a few drops of blood to have it imprinted at you. But don’t worry. There’s no trace of it. I made sure no one could track you through it. The Cradle Bank allows us at least that level of partiality,” answered Gaia.

Although Gabriel had no idea what that meant, he nodded in gratitude.

He took the bag and confirmed the Binding, then Analyzed the Card.

 

ManaCard
Status	Unbound
I.D.	Gabriel Walker, Human, Male, 0+, 5-9
Family or Sponsor	The Den, Reeves-Waterfront
Issuer	The Cradle Bank
Type	Mana Holder
Grade	Epic
Main Category	Utilities
Sub-Category I	Mana Charger
Materials	Adamantite, Mythril
Resources	None
Enchantments	ManaHold - 3
Funds	100.000/100.000

 

Woah… are those my blood type and height? It's kinda scary, but, oh well.

He bound the card as well.

"Anything I have to know, specifically?" He asked, referring to the bag.

"Well, I didn't know what you preferred, so I went with the most sought after product. You can place inside of it all that passes through its mouth. As long as it stretches or folds, it can enter it. On the front, there is a smaller pocket for fast retrieval. You just place your hand in there and wish for its content to come out, then you grab it. Again it must be small enough to pass through it. Obviously, the pocket stretches to almost three times its width, so you could put even a regular greatsword in there. If you want to deposit something, you do the opposite. If it doesn't enter the small pocket, you can place it from the bigger one. Lastly, every time you do one of these things, Mana takes 1 point from you. Oh, and of course, it doesn't store food, or more correctly, it does, but we're not inside a videogame. So it rots if it's kept inside for long." Gaia was almost ecstatic through the whole explanation.

"My satchel is a Skyler too, and these are the best Bag of Holding Mana can buy. Hope it fits you well."

"I believe it will, Gaia Waterfront, thank you." Gabriel realized that the girl in front of him could have been a fanatic. I hope she's not gonna do anything drastic.

Once he had enough time to do his things. Gabriel placed his used bag and ManaCard inside of it, and a mental image of the interior of the bag told him of its content. Other than them, there now were: what felt like a tent for camping. A sleeping bag… a pack of toilet paper… condoms? A towel, a set of tableware, one of dinnerware, a frying pan… Man… There's everything in here. It seemed that every object consumed 1 space, no matter its size. The fork consumed 1 just as the much bigger foldable tent did. Magic...

"Wow, Gaia… you've thought of… well, literally everything. You'll definitely make a man happy," he joked, noticing the immediate blush and shift of eye contact from him.

"If we're ready, let's depart. Get close to me and join hands," ordered Gaia, her attitude, once again, turning to one that had known command for long.

Once she said that their Spirits joined in their bodies. So Gabriel instructed Liz to join him with Spirit Assimilation. But he had a doubt in his mind. He couldn't talk for the others because he hadn't seen them use their Third Spirit Tier, but he remembered now that Gaia fused with her wolf with Spirit Form. He clearly recalled encountering her as a wolf the first time they met. Now, he imagined that to be Spirit Form, but could it have been just Crystal he saved? If that wasn't so, then she might have defeated a challenge and killed a Boss herself. However, time will tell, and if it didn't, he would ask directly.

She took out the marble-looking stone and placed it on the ground at the center of the circle their bodies had made.

As she joined hands with the other, she closed her eyes. Gabriel started seeing the Mana emitting for her. It was silver-colored. He had no idea what idea she was tainting the Mana with, but it soon reached the stone on the ground, which in turn started releasing a silver haze. The silver myst started moving in a circle as if trying to make a little tornado.

The circling current of silver wind started getting wider and wider until it engulfed them. Then it was pain, excruciating pain as if he was being burned alive. But it only lasted for a second.

The next thing he knew, Gabriel was kneeling on the ground, in the middle of the same plains from which he had reached after he had 'passed' the test.

"What happened?" Asked Darte. Like him, the other didn't look troubled at all, although they were confused.

"It's Gabriel," Olivia answered, "It's like I thought. His lack of correctly placed Tethers disturbs the correct working of the Leystone, although, we should be close by."

"That was awful," Gabriel said, fighting to keep what he had just eaten in his stomach.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't certain it would happen like this, but there was a chance. But don't worry, I think we're roughly an hour from it," said Gaia.

"No. I'm not talking about that. It's already a marvel that things like this are even doable. I was talking about the feeling. It felt like being burned alive. Just like it happened when I was admitted to the test and when I got here once again."

"What? I'm- I'm sorry! I didn't know it would hurt you!" Gaia said, a disturbance visible in her expression.

"Oh. Come one, don't make that face. I've grown used to pain… It's no big deal…" he said, winking at Olivia.

"You are terrible," she answered, shaking her head but with a smug smile.

"Alright. Let's move, enough with the frivolities. People might be looking for us, and there are Tier 4 Monsters around," it was Darte.

They all nodded, and with Gaia leading the way, they headed toward the sun.

Throughout the journey, Gabriel had mostly his head high up in the sky. It was clear of clouds, and the transparent planets were entirely visible.

"How come I can only see them from here? I don't remember seeing them anywhere else?" He asked, pointing at the sky.

"You can't see the planets everywhere," clarified Gaia, "They are only visible where the connection to the ley lines are strong. Like in the Verdant Plains, here. We're at the center of the territory of The Den. From here, you can reach four different planets. The one with the most stable connection is the Earth, though. That is why humans mostly inhabit The Den and the Infinite Forest, which is part of it."

"If it is such a central hub of connection with Earth, why are there no construction, shouldn't there be a city here? Or something?"

Darte was the first to answer, "The monster's presence is too strong. If buildings were to be raised, it would mean having more shadows, and more shadows mean more monsters. It's unfeasible."

"Then why isn't The Cradle flooding with monsters?"

"Though it is a city without natural light. Monsters would never be strong enough to spawn inside of Mother Yggdrasil. Not only is it a form of life in and of itself. Its powers are far too great for that to happen," Gaia.

"So many things to know…"

When they reached the place where the Leystone stood, Gabriel knew another bought of intense pain was waiting for him. But without discouraging, he placed his hand on top of it, following Gaia's instruction. Doing so, he was presented with a mental image. A silver highway appeared in the sky. It seemed to open in four smaller roads at a certain point; however, only one was accessible, the one leading to Earth.

Gaia explained, "I'll be the first. Just wish for yourself to reach Earth. You'll automatically appear in our house-garden. Your Spirit will be entirely drained in the process. Another warning, Earth is poor in Mana, so it will regenerate at a tenth of your capacity. Be scarce with its use. However, Life, Energy, and Spirit work just fine."

She inhaled sharply. "See you soon."

As she said that, her body caught spontaneously on fire and was eaten by it in a second. Gabriel didn't even have time to react.

"What the fuck!?" Was his reaction.

Darte chuckled. "It's fine. It happened before too. You didn't notice, probably because you felt it. Anyway. I'm second." And with another blaze of fire, he disappeared too, however weird, Gabriel could feel no heat from that.

"Go, I'll be the last, just for precaution," Olivia said.

"Oli…" Gabriel took that moment where only the two of them were present to say something only for her to hear, "I'm sorry. For having lashed out at you and judged you. None of what happened was really your fault. Somehow I can understand the hate you brood, though mine was directed at the heavens for taking my Father and Sister too soon. But don't let yourself be consumed by it. It isn't worth it." Gabriel didn't wait for an answer from her. He welcomed the pain.

The next few seconds were filled with silver and a sense of abandonment. The next moment he was gasping in the middle of the forest, silver haze everywhere around him, but a few distinct shapes were waiting for him.

Right away, he could recognize Gaia and Darte. However, there were more, a weird old man full of energy, and behind the two guards dressed in full black.

By the time he got up, Olivia had materialized near him.

The elder man chuckled, "So these are the troublemakers. You were really a pain in my tight and well-toned ass. Had my nephews go crazy over you."

"Always a pleasure to be recognized. I'm sure you know my name, sir. But with whom am I speaking?" As he thought, he saw Olivia bowing.

"Just call me, Elder," he answered with a smug smile.

"Alright. May I go see my mother now?"

At that, the elder expression grew halfway between sorry.

Oh, no. No, no, no!

"I'm sorry, Gabriel. We've placed guards by her, constantly. But the night of four days ago, right after the Priests attack on Kanceldom. Our bodyguards have been killed, and the Priests have taken your mother. The good news is that she's most probably alive. If they just wanted to kill her, they would have already done so, in a much less flashy way. The bad news is, we don't know why they have taken her. Info about your persona should be nonexistent."

"I'm sorry Gabe… this is new for me too." Gaia's face was distressed, to say the least.

Gabriel wanted to let himself descend all the way through the earth and disappeared inside its crust.

This was bound to happen. He knew it the moment since he understood that something so special and weird had happened to him.

"I-I need to see for myself. Take me home."

Without trying to discourage him, the Elder obliged right away.

Time slipped by as they left the forest and headed to the outside, the place where he had once stopped with Rain Season's truck to deliver the pizzas. Waiting for them were two entirely black sedans. Gaia, Olive, and Gabriel got inside of one; Darte and the elder on another. Then four security men and women joined each and two drivers on the front.

At the speed they were going, it only took twenty minutes to reach Gabriel's restaurant. On top of which their house was located. It had taken a forty minutes trip for him to reach Gaia's place from his restaurant. But he didn't know the way, at first, and he had to respect the speed limit. These cars didn't.

Once they reached the place. However, it was clear before leaving the cars that the police had been there before descending. The elder got into his car.

"Before you leave," he started, "there are things you should know. First, circumstances… had us fake your death. It was the only possible explanation, both to not let your mother be consumed by the useless hope of seeing you once more in case you didn't make it out, know that at the time we had no idea who you really were."

Before he had finished, Gabriel was surprised to find himself having to gobble down a growl.

"Second… and this is where it really starts to become… unusual. Your mother was Tethered." Everyone in the car was surprised.

"Wait. What?" He asked, understanding what that implied only by half.

"Your mother was level 19, Gabriel. But she has no idea of Alter at all. She did not know she was, and from the reaction I'm getting from reading your Spirit, neither did you."

If Gabriel had not been entirely baffled when he first ended up in Alter, well, he was now.