"A flying castle," I murmured as I glanced around, fascinated yet scared by the idea. I shouldn't have. The idea of several thousand tons of rock and marble flying through the air was not a concept I couldn't understand.

Just a big — well, huge — magical helicopter; nothing against the miracle of taking me to a different world, or somehow rewriting my whole biology.

Maybe it was why it scared me. Teleporting to a different world was something mystical, an event that I couldn't even begin to comprehend. A flying castle that probably weighed as much as an aircraft carrier … was the kind of miracle that I could understand, both in terms of strategic deterrence, and the amount of sheer force that was required to keep it floating.

Enough to make me feel stirrings of cold, calculated fear, the kind that I hadn't felt even when I was a young man, and found myself as the target of the majority of the underworld due to a chain of unfortunate circumstances.

"No despair," I muttered as I turned my attention to my surroundings. I didn't have the luxury of throwing a pity party. I turned my attention to the castle once more, but this time, focusing on the details rather than the concept.

The first thing I noticed was some kind of energy field that surrounded the castle almost a quarter of a mile away from the castle itself. It wasn't always visible, flaring occasionally at different intensities, in different shades of purple. For the first few repeats, I failed to see the reason for it flaring up, but then, I noticed a large, winged shadow bursting through the clouds, too fast for me to get a glimpse of the darkness concealing it.

It slammed against the shield, only for its wings to freeze, disappearing as quickly as it arrived.

"Dangerous world," I murmured, not for a second considering that that winged thing was a peaceful creature going around its business. Instead, I focused on examining how the shield reacted — and it flared fully, across the whole surface, giving me a clue about the other flares as well.

The castle was constantly under attack. Maybe it was more like an aircraft carrier than I had given it credit for.

Then, as I peered into the darkness, another notification appeared in my view.

[Stat Potential Awakened: Perception

Accept / Reject]

It was a pity I didn't trust my summoners as far as I could throw them, I considered even as I accepted the notification that popped into my sight, but the names were promising enough, so I still accepted.

After watching the chaos for a while, I turned my attention back to the castle itself. A large, tall building, with thick walls made of some kind of stone, pure white and glowing. It created an imposing sight, and the number of balconies it had around the upper levels suggested that they were more interested in making an impression than actual security.

They clearly trusted their magical measures enough not to have any concerns.

Then, I focused on examining the layout, in case it might be useful. I was currently on the penultimate floor, with only one, imposing-looking floor above me, but it was decorated with two huge, imposing towers, several hundred feet tall, positioned at the two corners I could see from the balcony. I assumed the other two corners had identical towers as well.

The soft, purple glow they let out just before the appearance of the shield suggested that they might not be purely decorative.

I wondered why they didn't care much about the risk of me throwing myself down and ruining all their efforts, but discovering the answer didn't take long. When I tried to reach out, my fingers hit against some kind of force field, invisible, but just as solid.

Maybe the balconies weren't as big of a security risk as I had first assumed.

I continued examining, but with no movement from outside, that was all I was able to learn. I left the balcony, my mind already on the next destination. With the stairs going both sides, I could go upstairs, or downstairs.

At first, I wanted to check the upstairs, curious if I could learn something from the towers, but that attempt was quick to fail. Several steps, I came across a huge gate, blocking the way, with no clear way to open up.

Downstairs, it was. The towers looked impressive, and likely contained many mysteries, but I knew too little to ever dig into those mysteries. Downstairs promised to be less dangerous — especially if I could come across the rest of the crowd that was present in my summoning.

Maybe I could come across a few chatty servants, enough to dig into their general attitude.

Unfortunately, that little ploy ended up prematurely. The moment I was halfway, I was noticed by an armored soldier — one of the five that was waiting at the other end of the stairs, their stances suggesting that their presence was neither coincidental, nor temporary.

They were sitting in a circle before I had arrived, and when I saw them, they were already pulling their helmets on and jumping to their feet, their movement far too smooth for people wearing bulky-looking armor.

I noticed someone pushing a bunch of cards with his feet to a shadowy corner.

"Is there something I could help you with, great hero?" the soldier said, his voice clear despite the imposing helmet he was wearing. Too clear to impediment the derision in his tone. To his credit, it was subtle, almost impossible to notice, but I had spent half my life dealing with politicians — like anyone else dealing with darker aspects of the world — and I was too experienced in that attitude to miss it.

It certainly contrasted with the title of the great hero. I wondered whether it was just my age and unimposing looks, or the fact that I was a 'hero'.

As he delivered his line, the other four shifted slightly, not too dissimilar to a bouncer preparing to cut off an unruly customer.

I had a feeling that they wouldn't allow me to walk around unaccompanied.

"No, I just came here to see the brave men that were responsible for protecting me, and show my respects," I answered, doing my best to sound fawning as I examined their armor — which was, luckily, fancy enough to make such a move justified.

They lacked the magical attraction of the paintings, but still, the silver-like metal, decorated aggressively with other metals to make them look more decorative than functional, was enough to look impressive.

"I see, it's a great honor for us, great hero, but why did Lord Toross choose not to accompany you," he said as he looked at me. This time, as he asked the question, the same pressure accompanied his words — though much less intense than Toross, let alone rivaling the suffocating weight of Falael's orders.

I wondered if it was just the seriousness he treated it — as Falael had already displayed the ability to vary the pressure based on the importance — or if it was a lack of capability.

Hopefully the second, but it was difficult to truly guess.

I turned to look upstairs, roughly the same direction as his room was, and shuffled in discomfort, doing my best to reflect second-hand embarrassment. "He was … busy, and he saw no problem for me walking alone," I said, implying that he was busy with drinking to bother accompanying me.

Certainly true.

"I see, commander is busy as always," the warrior said, his voice too bitter to be a casual comment. I struggled to hold my smirk in control. The arguments between Falael and Toross already showed that it was not exactly a cohesive force, but the unhappy attitude of their subordinates toward them was even better.

Nothing I could use immediately, but knowing their existence gave me hope. Maybe I could use them to my benefit before we arrived at our destination. "It's hard to handle a long journey," I said.

"Yes, a week away from the capital is far too long for our exalted commander," whispered one of the other soldiers, mumbling loud enough to be audible to everyone. He was interrupted by a pointed cough, but his grumbling gave me some idea about the time we would travel.

At most a week if he was talking about the time they stayed away, though it might be as short as two days if they were talking about the full travel time, and the summoning ritual took some time…

Either way, that meant I needed to act fast to understand better. Toross already displayed the ability to assess my stats, though limited, and I would have loved to know if there was a chance the capital could get a more detailed breakdown of my stats, maybe the numbers.

I had a feeling that revealing my ability to ignore their magical brainwashing wouldn't come across very well, and the soldiers represented the quickest, and possibly only, chance for me to understand how the world worked before I could arrive at their location.

Now, a little excuse to stay. Luckily, the little card game they had been playing gave me the opportunity.

"Would you mind if I joined you guys for the game?" I said, pointing at the cards that they were playing. "I'm having trouble sleeping," I said.

"I don't think it's appropriate," the first soldier, the one that looked like the leader of the other spoke, just a hint of panic.

"Why, it's not like it's forbidden, right?" I said innocently, their shuffling confirming that it was definitely something frowned upon.

"Of course not," one of the soldiers said, far too intensely to deliver an innocent statement. "But I'm sure the commander is waiting for you to return."

"He can always come to visit if he feels so, can't he?" I said. "Come on guys, a little game to pass a sleepless night. A little favor for a … what do you guys call me … a great hero, isn't too much, right?" I paused as they looked at each other. "Maybe we could even put some money on the game if you are alright with extending some credit for me. I should be able to make some money once I receive my position."

"I don't think —" their leader started, clearly about to reject, only to be stopped by a few pointed coughs coming from his soldiers, clearly tempted by the promise of gambling with a total beginner. "I don't think there's any harm," he changed his words, though his distaste obvious, preferring not to deal with any potential trouble, but didn't want to confront the others about it.

Greed for the win. As always…