- Luvarne's Interior -
Reoloy's training initiative had inadvertently led him to explore more of the warship's facilities.
Aside from an excessive—in his own opinion—twelve training rooms, the ship also had research and engineering bays, one of which he stood in now.
[The user does not possess sufficient authority to access these contents]
"Of course I don't..." he muttered, dismissing the grey screen.
His attention shifted to the rows of tanks lining the chamber, each containing creatures suspended within blue liquid.
That answered one question.
'So this was where the naturally occurring monsters had gone.'
Walking further down the aisles, he discovered that every beast Luvarne had ever created was also being preserved here in one form or another.
Every single one, except Romas. He had made sure to keep him somewhere much closer to home.
Reoloy eventually stopped before a particularly extravagant container and let out a low whistle of appreciation.
"So this is Nameless..." he said, taking in the sea guardian's overwhelming majesty. "Luvarne has a unique imagination, alright. It looks kind of familiar, though..."
His mind flashed back to the scaly, vaguely horse-like statue in the command room.
"Ah," he said, giving a slow nod. "It didn't exactly do you justice."
Part of him felt excited that he had an inventory of monsters to call upon, but his enthusiasm was curbed by the fact that he was extremely restricted even in that, for the time being.
The only redeeming factor was that it was better than in the game.
Back then, there had only been an option to summon five mediocre creatures at a time and an egregious cooldown, so the feature was essentially useless. At least here, he could eventually deploy them all to their fullest potential as he pleased.
"For the time being, however," Reoloy mused aloud, small intricately crafted spheres orbiting around his wrist under the guidance of his casis, "I need to find a replacement for the numbers advantage."
The thought that came to mind reminded him of the same dilemma he'd faced before deciding whether to pursue the warship.
Would it interfere with the protagonist's path or not?
That had been the biggest point of contention.
He stared at the spinning spheres for a moment longer, then added rotation to each individual ball.
"Hmm... I mean, compared to Luvarne, that's nothing. I might as well."
Resummoning the system interface, he navigated it to the turtle-shaped ship's map, locked onto six targets and closed his eyes.
"Move us to the command centre."
---
Reoloy reappeared in the Master's Seat in a flash of silver, accompanied by several additional flickers around the upper section of what had once been the Ruins' Central Room.
"Hello—"
He was cut off as Graham rushed at him, fist cocked back, only to be teleported back to his original position.
A pile of boxes then dropped onto him, telekinetically destabilised by Reoloy's wave of a hand.
"You made me waste one of my daily spatial transfers..." he muttered, restarting the rotation around his wrist. "And interrupted my focus. That's rude."
Selene shook her head, immediately understanding that he had done it deliberately just to flex his authority in front of Hugo and Cisco, and solidify his position.
'This version of him might be more dangerous than the one at the facility,' she mused, watching the boys' reactions unfold exactly as she expected.
The reincarnator leaned back, quietly relishing the sense of control.
It was a new ship. Same crew—with additions. And a new absolute chain of command.
Though he didn't care to entertain it for much longer. Playing dictator wasn't what he looked forward to in this world.
"I'm giving you the option to leave at our next stop."
"What?" Hugo, Graham, and Cisco asked in unison.
"Next stop?" Laurencia echoed a beat later.
Reoloy nodded. "The capital."
He then pointed toward the only two girls among the Cube fugitives before looking the others dead in the eye.
"They've already agreed to stick with me wherever I go, basically."
He paused, reconsidering his own words.
"...Pretty weird for that one now that I think about it, but help is help."
His gaze then shifted toward Laurencia.
"She and I still have a few things to smooth over, so she's going to the end destination of this journey with us."
He looked back at the remaining three.
"That leaves you."
The air around him almost seemed to grow more regal, his posture unconsciously demanding respect... until Lohan plopped herself onto the armrest and shoved him halfway out of the chair.
Seemingly used to her by now, Reoloy didn't even bat an eye.
"So, like I said," he continued. "You can leave if you want. We arrive on the afternoon two days from now."
"...What if we run into the Hunting Dogs out there?" Cisco asked quietly.
Reoloy blinked at him.
"Well, I got you away from them once and even carried you as far as I could," he replied matter-of-factly. "Isn't that more than enough?"
"I told you it was a mistake," Selene chimed in, pointedly looking at Graham and Hugo in particular. "When that sea monster attacked us, and I told you he survived, you should've started preparing your sales pitches."
"How come you don't resent her?!" Hugo snapped, offering no response to the pinkette herself. "She was just as involved in what happened as we were!"
"Not really," Selene refuted mockingly. "I didn't break his ribs or stab his legs."
The brunet lunged at her, only to find himself displaced by another flash of silver.
Turning slowly toward Reoloy, he was met with a look of irritation.
"Make me waste another one," the reincarnator said. "I dare you."
Silence settled.
He sighed. "The reason she's different from you... is the same one you're alive today."
Cisco, having been the only one to have been awake and present at the time, recalled the sight of Selene's mana art in preparation before he was struck unconscious.
'She leveraged her power,' the lime-green-haired boy quickly concluded. 'Which means...'
"What even—?" Hugo blurted.
"We're not friends here," he said, before Lohan pinched his cheek. "Most of us aren't friends here. It only makes sense that we approach all of this accordingly. I don't trust you, and I don't have any leash strong enough to make you behave. So why would I keep you around, let alone force you to stay?"
A leaf-green mana, feeble but noticeable, drew his attention to his right.
"I want to stay," Cisco said firmly.
Reoloy gave him a brief once-over before looking away again.
"Doesn't mean I'll let you."
"I'm a sensor. I can be useful."
"I might not be one, but under certain circumstances, my senses are good enough."
"But that's not all sensors are good for."
That made Reoloy pause.
He turned back, briefly guiding his spheres into his gloved palm.
'He knows about that?' Reoloy thought, surprised. 'Was Cube just telling these kids everything?'
"If you let me stick around, I promise I'll help you with whatever it is you'll be doing," Cisco added quickly. "If you want me to swear loyalty, I will. Just let me stay..."
"Slow down with all that," Reoloy groaned, scratching the back of his head. "Fine. A use case for you just popped up."
Hugo gaped before snapping upright.
"If you'll accept him," he said. "It only makes sense to take me too!"
Patterns flickered into Reoloy's eyes as he glanced at him.
"Hoh? Berserk?" he muttered, catching the brawler off guard. "So that's why you lose your shit as you get stronger."
'What was that?' Hugo and Graham both questioned as Reoloy immediately shifted to the latter.
"What about you—?" Reoloy started, then froze.
A flash of understanding crossed his face, then he stood up.
"I changed my mind," he said with an excited smile. "Hugo, you can screw off. Graham, you're staying."
The ashen-haired teen went from stunned to recoiled in the span of five seconds, spitting to the side.
"I wasn't going to beg you," he barked. "And I sure as hell won't bow and accept your orders now!"
"Is that so?" Reoloy asked lightly. "Then what about this..."
---
- Cardana's Open Air Training Fields -
In what had now become the standard for the militia's youth members, any news surrounding Reoloy spread faster than anything else.
Before he had even gotten comfortable enough to settle into his basic training gear, a small crowd of the teens had formed.
"Do you guys have nothing better to do...?"
"No, not really," Amali replied almost instantly. "I was bothering this guy before, but even he had to come see this when we heard."
Avron cleared his throat, while Reoloy shot him a look that clearly said, You too?
"How did you even find out we were fighting?"
"Lavere told us."
The reincarnator turned to the blonde, and she simply pointed at Lohan.
"...Ah," he muttered, shaking his head. "Since you're here, Amali, remove the seals on this guy's wrists."
"You sure?" she asked, hanging upside down from a branch. "Not to doubt you, Mister Big Shot, but this seems pretty careless."
Reoloy didn't fault her concern. In everyone's eyes, Graham possessed a perceivable amount of mana—though it was sealed at the moment—while his newly attained casis didn't even register to them at all.
"I have a plan."
"You always seem to," Roy said, stepping into view. "It tends to get hectic every time, though."
"But doesn't it always work out?" Reoloy retorted, tossing his spheres in the air.
"What are those?" the black-red-haired ki user asked, following the motion.
"Random marbles he's been using to train casis control," Lavere answered, visibly faintly annoyed. "He refuses to explain the significance."
Reoloy sighed. "Firstly, they're not marbles."
He watched as Amali peeled indigo markings off of Graham, the seals dissolving as if they were ink being erased.
"And secondly, watch this, and you'll understand."
The two boys stared each other down as Laurencia strolled between them, glancing at both.
Despite her best efforts to maintain composure and poise, she was visibly more excited to watch a fight than anyone else present.
In fact, she very unsubtly giggled just imagining the violence.
"What the hell is wrong with her?"
"We don't know," Lohan, Selene, and Cisco replied in unison.
"The terms of the fight were understood, correct?" the merchant asked both combatants. "No killing blows." She especially stared at Graham. "And the winner takes the loser as a slave."
All the Cardanians' eyes drifted to Reoloy.
"Not my idea, by the way!" he quickly defended himself.
"The match is over when the other side gives up or falls unconscious," Laurencia continued smoothly. "Now... who's up to make a bet?"
Everyone glanced at each other while Lohan shook her head.
"I would move if I were you," Reoloy said, just as a blade of white mana zipped past Laurencia's face toward him.
At the same time Laurencia scrambled back, Reoloy casually brushed the blade aside with his gloved hand, his eyes fixed on his opponent blankly.
Graham manifested another blade from his right elbow, drawing it with his left hand and immediately running in for a close-quarters fight.
Reoloy seemingly allowed it, not bothering to make any moves and simply leaning back when a swing at his neck finally arrived.
"Hey! No lethal moves!" Laurencia shouted, before quickly settling down after catching a glance from the ship's owner. 'Is he serious?'
The white swords burned hot enough to heat the air they cut through, yet Reoloy brushed past them without much reaction.
Then, stepping forward, he casually tripped the blade mana art user.
"This is more disappointing than I thought it would be," Reoloy sighed. "You're using that ability all wrong."
"What... would you know?" Graham grunted, launching a flying blade.
Reoloy sidestepped it and casually walked around the grey-haired teen.
"More than you, clearly," he said calmly. "Alright, since we're here, I'll re-educate you a bit."
Graham shifted into a dual-blade extension stance, but froze mid-motion, arms still raised.
"Swords are actually inconvenient," Reoloy started. "Even if you extend their range, you can't change the direction of the attack without swinging."
He strolled right up to him.
"But if you can't swing... what happens then?"
Reoloy drove a punch into the other teen's face, sending him rocketing into the treeline.
As Graham rose, steadying himself in shock, he watched his opponent stroll closer—green trails of power drifting from Reoloy's eyes.
For a moment, he hesitated.
Then Stephan's cold face flashed in his mind, rage igniting in his chest as the image superimposed itself over the approaching Reoloy.
Before he could properly launch his next attack, one of Reoloy's training spheres floated into his field of vision.
"Dodge."
Then a massive explosion tore across the field.