Our trip has actually been rather peaceful so far, and we're more than halfway into the day. There are three carriages in the group, one wagon, twenty-four civilians, the original eight guards, five additional fighters, Terrence, and myself. Originally, it was going to be two carriages, eleven civilians, the eight fighters from Irene's group, Terrence, and myself.

Then people found out that an [Archon] was going to be escorting the group there before returning. Another thirteen civilians and five fighters agreed to come along to check on family in the other town or to stay there with their family. The wagon has some extra supplies in it, along with people who don't fit in the carriages.

As for the guards, everyone but myself is walking alongside the carriages, keeping a watch out. I'm laying on one of the carriages, relaxing and tanning in just my shorts and the key amulet, my hands under my head with my tunic as a pillow. My boots are up here with me, while my pack is beside Terrence's in the wagon.

At least, relaxing is what the people down below think I'm doing.

+0.4% Experience!

"The [Archon]'s power has got to his head," I hear someone say. "He's not even guarding us, he's asleep!"

"You don't know that," someone says.

"You can tell by his breathing that he's fallen asleep!" The first person says. "He's way too relaxed! And here I was, thinking we'd actually had protection."

+9.7% Experience! You have gained a Level!

"We do have protection," a third person says. "Haven't you noticed that we haven't had any monsters approach us since entering the rocky area? The presence of the [Archon] must be scaring them off."

"Be quiet, you guys," someone else says. "Your voices are up and the [Archon] might hear you. Did you see the wyvern that he brought in? I don't want to be on his bad side."

It's not my bad side they need to worry about. They're right that they're loud enough for me to hear, though. What they need to worry about is talking loudly enough that their voices are echoing off the cliffs and rocks that we're passing through at the moment.

Monsters are hearing them and sneaking their way closer.

Several booms sound out in the distance, but not too distant. Then there's a rumbling as the ground shakes, some of the horses spooking. Their drivers keep them under control, and the carriages and wagon don't tip or fall.

+9.7% Experience! +9.9% Experience! +9.4% Experience! +10.3% Experience! +9.6% Experience! +9.7% Experience! +9.8% Experience! +10.1% Experience! +9.8% Experience! +9.4% Experience! +10.2% Experience! +9.4% Experience! +9.7% Experience! +9.3% Experience! +10.1% Experience! +9.7% Experience! You have gained a Level!

Looks like everything wasn't killed quickly enough to count as one batch, but all sixteen of them did die. Shame it wasn't all in one group, I guess I was trying too hard not to cause a rockslide. As it is, that [Air Bomb] still caused some, if the distant rumbles are any indication.

"What was that?" One of the guards asks.

"That was you not keeping your voices down," I use the wind to carry my voice to them.

[Words of Wind] learned!

Shush.

"Please refrain from being noisy," I say. "The louder you are, the more your voice echoes around. The more your voice echoes around, the more that monsters will hear you and approach. Considering we're ten feet from falling off a cliff, this isn't a spot you want to be fighting in. As it is, I had to reinforce the ground beneath us with my magic due to having caused too much shaking. If I hadn't acted quickly, we'd have fallen."

There's quiet for a few moments after I speak.

"Monsters caused that rumbling and quakes?" One of the guards asks, his voice much quieter now.

"No," I answer. "That was the concussion from my [Air Bomb] being a little bit more effective on the area than I expected it to be."

"Your [Air Bomb]?" Someone asks. "You haven't been casting any spells."

"He has," another guard responds. "If you'd been using those ears and that Perception of yours, you'd have heard them shooting out. He's regularly sending out air spells. At a guess, I'd say he's using light magic to conceal them. Monsters will have a harder time fending off a spell they only hear coming, and only if they're perceptive enough to notice the faint sound of it pass through the air."

Since most of my air spells are shot pretty fast, they do make a sound as they pass through the air. Not much of one, though, since the bolts are parting the air rather than punching through it. That [Air Bomb] was a little bit noisier than them, but not by much.

"A modified version of [Light Cloak], yes," I say. "Using it to conceal their appearance mostly for your sake, though. I've been killing several monsters a minute almost since we entered this area. Far more than while we were just traveling, and don't forget that you did get to kill some monsters on the way here."

"Not many," one of the complaining guards says.

"Sure," I say. "Because most of them were stronger than you. I kill everything I detect for the first time, and if I gain more than 1% Experience from it, I continue to kill all of those. If I gain less than that, I let through others of the same type. So far, I've only killed a single thing that has given me less than 1% Experience since we entered this area. It's probably for the best that I continue to kill everything until we aren't at risk of falling off a cliff during a fight."

+17% Experience!

…that one took three hits to kill. It's a definite "kill before it gets close" if I detect any more of that beast with my [Air Scan].

"Now," I say. "Please keep your voice down. I can't continue to monitor the areas if I put up a barrier that prevents your noisiness from echoing around."

The guard huffs, but quiets down. It takes us three more hours to exit the area full of rocks and cliffs, and the trail takes us directly into a forest after, nothing between the two. Another two hours pass before the group stops, and several of the guards set up a perimeter as a few others begin preparing food for the entire group.

This isn't a process that goes quickly. They're actually making dinner, not just a quick snack. I help out by killing a deer with my magic and then using wind magic to carry it to the group.

"Jeez!" Someone exclaims. "Can you please not sneak a dead deer up on us?"

"Sorry," I chuckle. "Didn't mean to startle you. Use that to help out with dinner."

"Thanks," they say.

Children play, adults talk, and guards check their equipment as dinner is prepared. A few of them travel a small bit away from our temporary camp in order to hunt a few beasts for Experience, so I make sure to let live any I sense that are within their ability range.

Irene jumps up onto the carriage I'm relaxing on, and I sit up to face her.

"I heard a few stories about you," Irene tells me as she takes a seat. "Some people said you were from this world, but [Archon]s are always summoned."

She wants to know about the lie.

"My story is a complicated one," I tell her. "And I cleared up at the guild that I was, indeed, summoned. I guess it didn't spread around fully, or some people didn't believe it. Improv is a habit of mine, and I couldn't resist when I was asked."

"Improv?" She asks. "You're an actor?"

"A little bit of one," I nod. "Though I haven't really let out my flair for the dramatic since arriving here."

"[Archon]s are always summoned in a time of need," she says. "That means there will be a great danger to us, doesn't it?"

"Maztlit is the one who summons [Archon]s to deal with dangers," I tell her. "And he told me that while he did summon one, they're on another continent. I wasn't brought here to deal with a danger beyond your means – though there is one coming. It's why I agreed with your group leaving today."

"There's one showing up near there?" She asks.

"Yes," I nod. "I don't know when it will, or what it is, but it's coming soon. If Maztlit had known about it, I'm sure he'd have summoned an [Archon] to the area. But he didn't know of it, so he didn't do that."

Which makes me wonder if my arrival influenced the threat. Maztlit has summoned multiple [Archon]s at once before, so it's possible for him to do so. Do the rules dictate he can only summon them to one area per time?

If not, then he wasn't aware of the threat here. It's either that or the threat isn't powerful enough for him to be allowed to, even if my gut is right and it can destroy all of the kingdoms here.

"Are you sure of this?" She asks.

"I spoke with him after my Rank Advancement Trial," I tell her. "Outside of the Trial. As a god, he's bound into not saying certain things, but he told me enough."

"So if he wasn't who summoned you," she says. "And he is the one who normally does and normally sends them home, how did you get here? And are you unable to go home? Or is Maztlit waiting until after things have calmed down to send you home?"

"He's unable to," I tell her. "The gods are powerful, but their range is limited. They are gods of this world, so they can only influence and use their power up to a certain distance from this world. My world is much further than he can reach."

"Oh," she says. "So you're unable to return home?"

"I'm able to return home," I tell her. "I actually know the spell to. At the moment, it's not stable enough for me to sustain while I pass through, so I'm working on improving that. Reaching Level 200 should give me enough Mana for me to be able to pay the cost for keeping it open long enough as well."

"So you are leaving once you can, then," she says.

"I'm staying until at least the threat is gone," I tell her. "Even if I'm able to leave before then."

"Thank you," she says. "Though now I worry for all the people there. Will you alone be enough?"

"We don't know," I admit. "But we have two Tier IV Rankers who will be there, and possibly a third if he responds to Silvia's request. Silvia has also sent a request to the capital to pull in as many Rankers and high-Level Tier IIs and Tier IIIs as possible. So even if I'm unable to handle it alone, I will have plenty of backup."

Though if I'm unable to handle it, there's little chance anyone else could even harm it. Their main purpose will be to deal with any other monsters that may show up or form during the battle.

"Thank you," Irene asks. "And I do apologize for what was said earlier."

"Don't worry about it," I tell her. "It's natural to have doubts. I may be an [Archon], but I'm also only sixteen, and I look it. To them, they saw no threats and the supposed [Archon] just relaxing. If there weren't doubts, I'd have been surprised."

Irene nods a little, then stands.

"How long until we arrive?" I ask.

"It's nearly seven now," she says. "And we'll have another hour before camp is broken down, so I'm still optimistic about arriving before midnight."

"Okay," I say. "I'll probably not be needed once we're closer to town, but I'll maintain watch until then."

"Thank you," she says, then jumps off the carriage.

I return to mentally reviewing the [World Gate] spell. This spell is far more complex than any other that I know, and I don't actually know all aspects of it. Magic isn't a "you need to know every little detail to cast it" kind of thing. It's not science. Because of that, it's possible to cast a spell even without knowing all of the magical components to it.

In addition to watching out for and slaying monsters on the way here, I've also been examining this spell. I'm pretty certain I've managed to improve its stability a little bit, and will know for certain once I try it again and see if I receive a notice informing me of the spell's improvement. Most of the trip, however, I've been focused on another thing.

Looking at every aspect of the spell, determining what each of them does, and seeing if any of them help with something. I found the answer to my question, too.

[World Gate] has an inherent protection on it. This isn't just a dimensional spell, it has many other aspects woven into it. Diseases cannot pass through it, so just opening the gate won't allow any to travel between worlds. There's no threat to the people of this world or mine when I open it to test things.

It doesn't seem to affect diseases inside of people, though, which brings up another question. Did the summoning I go through 'lock' any Earth diseases so that they can't spread here, and shield me from any Yggril ones? Or is something else at play here?

Another 'way of how the world works' wouldn't be out of the question. A protection inherent to those from other worlds, to shield them from harm and another to shield the world from harm. At least, harm from diseases and other types of illnesses.

If I see Maztlit again, I'm going to ask him. I might need to visit the Shrine of Illusions for that, though.

Screw that no-flight rule. I'm an [Archon], I'll fly if I want to. Even if the gods put in a rule saying I can't, I'm going to find a loophole.

A commotion catches my attention, and I chuckle when I realize it's just Terrence playing with some of the kids. The children were getting bored, so he decided he was going to entertain them a little and wrestle around with the three young boys making this trip. Both of the girls here are watching the fight instead of joining in.

Terrence would make a great father. He knows how to handle kids, and knows how to adapt to a different child's wants and needs. It took him no effort to figure out the kind of wrestling these boys need, which is different from the kind the twins need.

Will he adopt, once he's older and has settled down?

The thought of Terrence adopting makes me think of him with a hundred little boys running around, and that makes me chuckle. I can see him doing that. It would probably take more than that to wrestle him down, too.

Dinner is served a few minutes after Terrence starts playing with the kids, and after, everything is cleaned up, civilians pack back into the carriages, and the journey resumes. It's rather uneventful, and monsters start to become weaker within an hour. I start letting more of them through, enough for Terrence to get his Experience and the guards to get some in as well.

Fortunately, I don't need to actually interfere beyond that, no one nearly dying because I let in something too strong.

We leave the forest after another hour, the sky above us once again. As I predicted earlier, the sky is covered in clouds. A few people have conjured up fire to light the way, and I decide to help out as promised, sending a bright [Light Orb] up above us. This was a bit more difficult while in the forest, but I suppose I could have made several and placed them alongside the carriages.

"It's a bit chilly," Terrence says as he lightly lands on the roof of the carriage. "Might want to change into something warmer."

He has a change of my clothes with him, and I accept them from him and cast a [Light Cloak] around so that I can change without being seen by others.

"I don't know about you," Terrence tells me as I start changing. "But I'm tired. Today's been pretty exhausting. I've only ever had to be this active a couple of times."

"I'm in agreement, there," I say. "We're almost to the town."

"Yeah," Terrence looks ahead of us, where the town is visible in the distance. "Almost there, and after accepting our payment, we're heading back to Silvia's."

"Yup," I say. "And in the morning, we're going to your real home. I take it you aren't looking forward to that?"

"I'm not," he sighs. "I really don't want to face my family. They're probably going to be upset at me for running away, and I know there's going to be words given by others."

It's a good thing I cast a [Wind Barrier] around us when I cast the [Light Cloak]. The barrier even touches the roof of the carriage, ensuring that those under us can't hear us.

"You could always make something up," I tell him as I slip on my tunic.

"Tell them what?" He asks as I sit beside him. "That I ran away because I hate the way I'm looked at and treated, even if it's accepted that I'm blessed by the gods because I'm a Tier IV who shouldn't exist in two respects? And they'd know I'm lying, Reid. They'd hear it in my breath and my heartbeat, they'd catch it in my microexpressions."

"A powerful cosmic force drew an [Archon] to another world," I tell him. "To this world, and you just happened to be right where he showed up. You can still say you ran away from home – but that it may have been an act of the gods or something greater which influenced it, so that you could be there for the [Archon] who was coming."

Terrence is quiet in response to that, probably thinking over how likely his family and the nobles around would buy the story.

"Can you tell me about your family?" I ask. "I have bits and pieces, but I don't know the actual makeup."

"There are my parents," he tells me. "Well, my father and my step-mother. Father is the king, and he's an air-water affinity. Mother is an air-earth affinity. My birth mother was a fire-earth affinity. I have two older brothers who are both air-water affinities, and a younger brother, who's air, water, and earth. There are… some rumors that the younger one will be named heir over the eldest brother because he's a Tier III."

His family consists of Tier IIs and Tier IIIs. It can be hereditary, then? Or was that actual chance which caused it? Then again, it could have also been the gods or something interfering to ensure it.

"But not you, a Tier IV."

"I'm a bastard," he shrugs. "I don't have that right. But… there is actually a faction that supports me as the next king. They're part of why I ran away."

"Because just that support has made you enemies."

"Yeah," he nods. "My brothers are twenty-two, nineteen, and thirteen, by the way."

"Every three years, huh?"

"I was a mistake and my younger brother was a surprise," he tells me. "Only Alexander and Richard were intended."

Terrence snorts, though it sounds like a sad snort.

"Sometimes, I think the gods made me and Elijah just to mess with my parents."

"Well," I say. "I'm glad you're the first person I ran into here, Terre. You're a good friend, and I'm happy to have met you."

He's quiet for several moments, then he touches me on the arm. I look at him, and he leans in and gives me a kiss. It's… a huge surprise to me, but I decide immediately to return it. His tail swishes against the roof of the carriage, then he quickly pulls away, face turning crimson.

"Sorry," he mutters. "That was… I know you said-"

"It's fine," I lean against him.

We're quiet for a few moments. That was a nice kiss, and while I don't plan on actually dating him anytime soon, I know he did it impulsively. He's been wanting to for awhile, and the way he was feeling at the moment, he probably couldn't resist it. I also kind of gave in a little and returned the kiss, so I can't fully blame him for that, either.

"How easily do you think you'll be able to convince your father to let me bring people over?" I ask.

"Pretty easily," he answers. "The message from Silvia should be there by now, and I wouldn't be surprised if she told him to expect you to show up."

"Alright," I say. "You should probably hop back down to resume your walk. If anyone asks, we were discussing something relating to Silvia."

"Alright," he says, and I release my [Wind Barrier] and [Light Illusion].

Terrence jumps off the roof of the carriage, landing lightly on his feet, and I continue monitoring the area. These fields have been mostly dealt with by people from the town, so there isn't much of a threat here and we can see monsters coming from a distance.

Soon enough, we reach the town and are admitted inside without issue, and we check in with the local Adventurer's Guild. Irene has to confirm the completion first, so we need to wait for her to do that before we can receive our payment.

"Good luck," Irene tells us once everything is taken care of.

"You as well," I tell her. "Stay safe."

I place a hand on Terrence's shoulder, then teleport us to the Silvia's clearing.

"Look what we found," I tell Terrence. "A pair of boys, up way past their bedtimes."

The twins look at us in surprise and horror at being caught. They're roughhousing in the pond, and considering it is midnight, they're definitely supposed to be in bed.

"What do you think their punishment should be?" I ask Terrence.

"A spanking for every minute past bedtime they've been up."

"No!" The twins squeal, hurrying out of the pond. "No spankings!"

"Okay," I say. "Then let's all go wash up. Terrence and I will scrub your backs and do your hair. And in the morning, let us sleep in, we're both kind of exhausted from the trip and we'll need our energy for tomorrow's plans."

"Okay!"