Free Web NovelChapter 2: I’m Cooked
The quest notification hung in the air in front of him as if it was waiting for applause.
[Main Quest: Breed Peace Among The Races.]
Julius stared at it, reading it twice just to be sure he wasn’t seeing things.
Breed Peace? he thought.
[Correct.]
He was going to have a word with whoever designed this system later.
Julius desperately tried to recall what he had heard from his brother who read books where a character was pulled into a different world.
He remembered his brother mentioning something called truck kun and a system which gave powers but he had no idea what those meant or how they worked.
He never understood what his brother enjoyed in those books but standing here now, looking at the interface, he wished he had listened to what his brother would have called ’elite ball knowledge’.
He turned his attention back to the council to confirm something
"I have some questions."
"Please go ahead," Maeva replied.
"Can you see this?" He gestured to the multiple screens floating in the air that he assumed only he could see.
"No, what is it?" she answered with a puzzled expression. The olive-skinned man with the tusks who Julius came to recognize as an orc made a sound similar to a chuckle.
"Oh nothing, I must be seeing things." He answered.
That confirmed his assumptions. Only he could see the system. Onto the next question. freewebnovel.cσ๓
"How many races are in the world?"
The council exchanged an uncertain look. The scaled one replied this time.
"We are not sure, most of us live in the village and the rest of us are from the Free Cities." His voice was coarse and dry.
"The Free Cities?" Julius asked.
"Yes, it is about a three day journey from here. Mixed population." The scaled one replied. Julius filed that for later.
"Does the term ’breed peace’ mean anything to you?"
Their hesitation to answer was telling. "Not really..." Maeva tried to choose her words carefully. "The academy in the free city may have information on this."
Julius wasn’t satisfied with that answer.
He looked up to the ceiling of the crypt. "And the goddess came up with all these?"
"Yes, she is ancient and wise," the scaled one answered.
"Oh I’m sure she is."
The Orc laughed this time. The others ignored him, most likely used to his antics. Another quiet observation Julius filed away. At least someone was finding humour in this.
He spent the next hour asking questions while the council answered most of them. The ones they didn’t answer were deflected back with the experience of people versed in politics.
What he learned:
The races were scattered across the continent. Some of them were actively hostile to at least two of the others. Three of them were in open conflict. The Lycans, wolf beastkin and the Drakin fought over border territory where the Howling Plains met the Dragon Peaks —
"Lycan and Drakin?" Julius asked.
"Yes," Maeva answered, slightly irritated at the interruption.
The Giants and Dwarves were locked in a labor dispute that had been building for two centuries. The Dark Elves and High Elves carried a grudge against each other. One of them, the Fae — many had not heard from in years. The scaled councillor said this with the tone of someone who considered this a personal achievement.
The group was a village council. No political leverage. No resources beyond what they had individually scraped together to fund the summoning as directed by the goddess Keltune.
The result was Julius.
He thought about Vincent. About the look on his brother’s face when he finally explained where he had been.
He would never let him live it down and he’d have no choice but to take it. But before that could happen, he had to get home.
That was the only thing that mattered. Everything else was secondary.
For now the first thing he needed was a place he could stay. The crypt was not an option.
"I need somewhere to stay." He paused. "Somewhere in neutral territory."
"The Free Cities," the scaled councillor said. "Central. Mixed population."
"That works." He looked at the system interface which had been patiently waiting this entire time. Wondering who built it. A new pop up answered his question.
[I built Myself.]
[My name is Iris. I have been waiting for a host for some time. I have opinions about the wait but I will share them later.]
[Path Progression: Architect — Builder (Tier 1) active.]
[Main Quest: Breed Peace Among The Races.]
[Iris’s note: This is going to be fun]
Julius read the last line twice.
"Did you just add a personal note to a quest notification?"
[Yes.]
"Is that standard?"
[It is now.]
He was going to have many words with this system.
He became aware of being watched.
Not by the council, they were still arranged in their positions looking at him like he was crazy. The other kind of watching. The kind that came from someone who had decided to form an opinion about you and was still in the process of forming it.
He turned.
The demon woman was still leaning against the wall where she had been since he arrived. She had not moved or spoken since he arrived.
She had watched the entire proceeding in silence. She was watching him now with those ember eyes that held doubt and curiosity.
"You haven’t introduced yourself," Julius said.
"No," she agreed. "I haven’t."
He noted the attitude and said nothing about it, opting to introduce himself instead. "My name’s Julius, Julius McKnight." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
She pushed off the wall, moving like someone who was accustomed to rooms paying attention when she moved through them. "I am Zara. I represent House Aestir as an observer."
The system flashed a pop up above her.
[Zara | High Demon]
"Observer. House Aestir." Julius wondered. "You’re not with them?"
"No, I am not. I make a habit of being present at things people consider not worth attending."
She looked at him with the direct assessment of someone who was used to evaluating problems and had not yet decided which category he belonged in. "You are not what I expected."
"What did you expect?"
"Something more impressive."
Julius considered this, not bothered to reply. He didn’t have anything to prove to her.
She turned back to the council. "I will monitor the situation as directed from a distance."
"Of course," Maeva said, with the tone of someone who had expected exactly this and was relieved it wasn’t worse.
Zara walked toward the exit without looking at him. At the threshold she stopped.
"The Free Cities are three days east," she said, still not looking at him. "Try not to die before you get there. It would make this entire exercise pointless."
She left.
Julius looked at the space where she had been standing.
[Iris’s note: Demons held humans in low regard and are primarily interested in what benefits their race.]
[She came anyway.]
[Make of that what you will.]
Julius made exactly what Iris intended him to make of it. He filed that away too.
He turned back to the council.
"I’m going to need supplies."
The council produced what they had. A rusted dagger that warranted three tetanus shots, a pouch with some copper coins and food with water enough to last half a day.
"This is everything?"
"We spent everything else on the summoning," Maeva said.
He picked the dagger carefully with his fingers.
I’m cooked.
