They say that journeys are where one meets their enemies and best friends. I still remember that day fondly. The day I met Nigel, Daniel and Evan; three of my best friends as much as I’d like to exclude Evan. 

It was on a very cloudy afternoon. Yes, not the best time to meet people you’ll share a thousand memories with, but it couldn’t be helped. It was Boltz, the terrible place that brought me so many bad memories. Meeting dear and caring Nigel, bright Daniel and even pesky Evan there erased its terrible image in my mind somewhat. After all, it was their birthplace and also Blitz’s so I’m willing to forgive that place to a certain extent for how inhospitable it was during that time. 

Anyway, I was having a very bad day. Scratch that! It was a very bad month! I was starving, needed rest and the damn telecircle to Sizburn. If not for that fateful encounter that day, I wouldn’t have met my co-swordsman, the trusty shielder who protected us on multiple occasions or the one who forced lazy Karshena to hate the idea of relationships even more out of pity for the poor guy who wanted to get rich by marrying royalty. Her decision saved his life but anyway, today isn’t about Karshena and her father. It is about the three brothers. 

After flying for an hour and half without finding the magic circle and not being able to fly any higher because of Blitz’s pesky siblings, I noticed three men and thought to ask for directions. 

When I flew even lower, readying to land, I saw them in their entirety. Trusty old Nigel was in front, followed by the other two. His blue eyes, chestnut-colored hair and bronzed skin tone were the first things I noticed when I came down. He was built like a very tall and muscly bear. His presence was unforgettable; so gentle and calming. Even though we still didn’t know each other, the soft smile he showed me when I landed put me at ease. He looked like the dependable big brother type, so I had no hesitation at all interacting with him moments later. 

His two brothers, Daniel and Evan, behind him, looked at me with questioning expressions the moment I landed, wondering what I wanted. Evan looked especially on edge, showing me a threatening expression as he looked at me. He didn’t keep it for long though when Nigel knocked him on the head and he screamed, “Augh!” after being hit. He looked like he wanted to complain but Nigel was having none of that. 

Evan stood there, glaring at me with his dark eyes, acting like he was looking down at the ground, his black hair as dark as night with bangs covering his face as he stared daggers at me. He looked especially unhappy and as he glared at me, Daniel laughed at him and Nigel rolled his eyes. 

“Pfft! I’m sorry! Please don’t mind my brother!” He barely managed to stop laughing at his brother to say. Daniel looked at me and said with a smile. It was a bright one. 

“Haha, yes! Sorry for our brother! He tends to be on edge whenever a stranger approaches us. He’s an assassin class, you see. Instincts and such, you get it!” I nodded to Nigel’s words. He tried to justify his brother’s glare as he also laughed at Evan who glared even more at me. That gave me a harder time getting along with him compared to the others after that. 

Out of the three brothers, Daniel was the most eye-catching and good-looking. He had short golden blond hair, purple eyes and a light brown skin tone with a built physique. He was also the tallest of his brothers, around over 2.1 meters tall, followed by Nigel who almost at 2 meters and Evan at a measly 1.8 meters. Damn, even he was taller than I was. Evan had the darkest skin tone out of all three of them. He had skin the shade of almond. They all looked so different, yet if not for their faces that looked slightly identical, one would wonder just how these three were related. 

After the two brothers had their laugh, they introduced themselves and so did Evan who didn’t want anything to do with me. I also introduced myself as Dave, of course because of circumstances. 

“So, what are you doing here, Dave?” Nigel asked, his brothers nodding in agreement to his question. From what they knew, people rarely visited their home world because of how hostile it was to outsiders. They were very curious about what a C-class adventurer like me who wasn’t an inhabitant of Boltz was doing there that they all raised their guards. Was l perhaps there to create trouble? 

I tensed up after they raised their guards around me. I didn’t like the atmosphere that had suddenly built up, so I told them the truth. 

“I came here to train! I came here over a month ago to temper my body with the lightning for lightning resistance and to find a lightning bolt who was willing to be my companion.” 

After I answered, the atmosphere disappeared, and they sighed in relief. I’d later learn that the reason for their hostility were the thunderbeast eggs, more on that later. 

“I see! So, you’re heading home now, right? Now be on your way and leave us alone!” Evan shooed at me to go my way. Nigel, as expected, knocked his silly brother on the head again and he went quiet as he glared at me with ‘I hate you’ vibes coming from him. 

“Um, that’s where the problem is.” I twiddled my thumbs with an awkward smile. “You see, I came here with my teacher via teleportation but then he left without telling me about the telecircle out of this world, so I’m stuck here.” I felt so embarrassed, a bit dejected as well as I explained my situation. Evan laughed at me, as expected. It was then and there that my opinion of him compared to the other two became that of the annoying, cheeky character but alas, he was going to add more titles to himself later. 

“So, where are you heading? You should know that this world is connected to one other and that is...” 

“Nephavion!” Nigel and I said in unison. 

“Oh, so we’re both heading to the same place! What a coincidence!” He showed his cheerful smile to me for the first time. I was happy to witness the first sign of warmth since coming to the place that almost broke me. Even in the cruel place that is Boltz, a warm light like Nigel could be born. I regained some vigor and asked them what they were doing on Boltz. 

“We’re B-class adventurers! An Assassin, a Swordsman and a Shielder who seek to travel a thousand journeys, defeat monsters and make it rich!” Evan practically yelled with enthusiasm; the first time I’d seen him look happy since I came along. His cheeks were reddened, and his breathing quickened. I couldn’t tell why but that didn’t bother me much at the time. 

“Oh, I see! I’m an adventurer as well; a C-class adventurer. I hope we get along in the future.” 

“Likewise, but first, we have to get you home, Dave! We know where the telecircle is. If you don’t mind, why don’t you tag along with us?” Nigel smiled gently. I nodded immediately, agreeing to travel with them until we reached our destination. His request touched my heart and really, I didn’t have much a choice, so I hastily agreed to Nigel’s request and left with them, and I’m glad that I did. 

I followed the nice bear who sincerely called me Dave the entire time we walked. Now that I think about it, back then, I felt a bit guilty and ashamed that I introduced myself as Dave because it felt like I was lying to a big brother but luckily, everything eventually came to light, and they forgave me. 

As we talked, I got to know more about the brothers and from how slick Evan sounded, he gave me this strange feeling that he was a womanizer. The others were fine as Nigel continued to ooze off ‘gentle big brother’ vibes and Daniel, ‘confident and dependable brother’ vibes. Evan though, continued to be the brash, annoying brother who got knocked on the head with every rude word he said. Even though they looked like people in their mid-twenties, they acted like three teenage brothers and that put me at ease. I wondered if this was how I’d act too if I had siblings. 

They told me a lot of stuff, like how the reason for the telecircle’s one destination being Nephavion was because Boltz was so underdeveloped and inhospitable that it was much harder for living beings to form there compared to other places. 

I’d later learn that the entire world itself was a prison of sorts where its inhabitants stayed until they were matured enough to leave but that is irrelevant to today’s story. All that’s important is that because of them, I could find my way back home that day. 

We continued to chat on the way, and it took three hours to reach the teleporter even though we could have an hour earlier because, apart from Evan, none of the others were affinized with wind magic, so after I came down, we walked the entire way. The three seemed to know their way around this dark place and I followed them. 

Now that I think about it, why did I trust them so blindly back then when I didn’t even know them? It was probably because of Nigel. If he told me to walk into a pitch-black hole, saying that it’d lead me to Nephavion, I’d have done so without hesitation. That was how much of an impression he’d made on me in the short time we’d been together. He was so caring and brotherly that I blindly trusted him and whew, how lucky I was that he was a good person. 

I followed the three, continuing to engage in small talk without revealing too much. Yes, my messed-up mind could still do that much even in the state that I was that it surprised me. I didn’t reveal much because, um, Demon Lord, and I was getting used to lying since even the Spirit of the World approved of it. We talked while heading for the circle and I had a lot of fun. They were easy to talk to, especially Nigel and Daniel. Like I said, Evan gave off the air of ‘annoying and brash flirt’ and that made it hard to talk at first but after a few adventuring journeys together, I got over it, although he was indeed an untrustworthy flirt until that ‘fortune-telling event’. 

After we found the telecircle, we used it to go to Sizburn and when we got there, we split ways, promising to meet each other again. They had been so fun that I found it impossible to not meet with them again. Luckily, they thought the same as I did, and it didn’t get awkward at all. I promised to contact them and soon, I did just that when I called them during mine and the others’ dungeon adventure. Shortly after that, Allan, Silva and Valeria got them to officially join our party for very different reasons. Claude also agreed to them joining our company and soon, we became friends in and out of the Demon Lord’s castle, though, it scared the poor fellas for a while at the beginning. 

Speaking of Claude, how did he react when I got back home after the hell that was that month, well except fulfilling my goals and meeting those three, of course? 

He showed no sympathy, regret or worry about him not telling me about the telecircle at all and went on rambling about how I should raise Blitz well and blah, blah, blah. Really, all I needed to do was feed him magic power and watch him grow as I interacted with him. It wasn't going to be hard, I thought. I was a bit furious about his nonchalant behavior, but I was willing to forgive it because that was the day, I met dear Nigel and his brothers and also, I got a big placation feast. The Demon Lord also unlocked the seven other treasure vaults for me. Everyone did their best to placate my anger, including the spirit who’d left me in my time of need. She gave me the skills, [Pain Resistance - Low], [Sleep Resistance - Low] and [Hunger Resistance - Low] as reward for being unsupportive when I needed it. 

Oh, and when I came back, I found out that Allan and Shalia were getting along strangely well, which was good. I almost thought that the girl had finally gotten over me and moved on to someone else but unfortunately, that wasn’t it. Great minds think alike, especially if they’re both witches specializing in the same fields. They were getting along because of potions, alchemy and spells, not for love and romance. A shame, but then again... ah, never mind!