I was seated in my conference room, and the ten members of the Ash Guard were standing around the room.

"So. Explain what happened."

Carlos looked around the room for a bit, then began talking.

"Well Elder Z—"

"No. From the beginning. How did you even find yourselves with Elder Zal?"

He paused and began anew.

"We aren't stupid. The writing was on the wall. There were thousands of your people out there who now joined the Clan you are in charge of. Every single one of them is stronger than us, and to take it a step further, they are more familiar with you, your abilities, your standing, and the Multiverse as a whole.

"Our positions as members of the Ash Guard were not firm. That's something Elder Zal noticed, and when she came to pick up Frian and Lirian, the offer of training was given to us as well. We took it immediately.

"From there, every single one of us was immediately teleported to a small island—with an active volcano on it. It took every bit of Qi and energy we had just to not burn to death, and that was the environment Elder Zal wanted us to train in.

"It was fine for a while, until the next step in the process called for fighting the dreadful things that dwelled within the lava inside the volcano. Which called for throwing us in it. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we would die if we went in there.

"Shit, all of us knew. We were barely surviving just existing outside, and now we had to go fight in the lava? We would die.

"Once that was brought up to Elder Zal, she very sternly explained that if we weren't willing to risk death in training, then we would not last in our roles as your guards. That this war we just fought was light, and there will be many more of them in the future.

"And after seeing our hesitation… she recommended switching careers. Being personal guards to an Infernal Patriarch was one where we needed to become best friends with death. Something all of us had once come to terms with in our previous careers—but this is different.

"Jumping into a pool of lava that would be guaranteed to kill us all for the sake of training—that should apparently be our norm. And the hesitance we showed ended up with us being teleported back. That's everything."

First of all… they went to a volcanic island. Part of me is jealous. Why wasn't I invited? And where even is it? I need to figure that out.

Next—well, there's nothing much else to say. Elder Zal explained it enough.

"I see. Then this is simple. You know the requirement, you know what the situation is, and you know what will be asked of you. And most of all, you know that your positions are not technically needed anymore.

"Vrusha is standing guard outside my door. He is a Nascent Soul Cultivator. I no longer have a need for Qi Refinement Cultivators. So, the question is: if you can no longer serve as my guards, then what is it you want to do? I am willing to work with you.

"Perhaps you can be guards for Richard. Perhaps you can be a separate elite force that I use for other things.

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"Perhaps I terminate your contracts, and you all go on about your lives. Take a couple of hours and think about it. Think very clearly about where you all want to go with your lives. And I mean very carefully.

"Because this is the last time where hesitation and indecision will be accepted. If you come back and tell me that you want to tie your ships to mine, then that is how they will remain. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

They left, and I called Vrusha in.

"How are you?"

"I'm alright, Patriarch. Thank you."

"What was your job back home, Vrusha?"

"I worked as a dedicated sparring partner for the local Clan Patriarch."

Huh. A sparring partner as a job. I didn't know that was a thing. Interesting.

"What do you want to do, Vrusha? Do you want to continue your previous job? Do you have other goals in life? Do you want to continue being my personal guard? And feel free to answer exactly whatever it is you're thinking.

"If you want to do something else, then let it be known and I'll try to make it happen."

Vrusha seemed to think about it for all of one second before responding.

"Serving as your guard would bring me no greater joy, Patriarch."

Hm. Well, that's not really the answer I'm looking for.

"Are you sure, Vrusha? You gotta have some other goals and aspirations in life than being a guard."

This he paused to think about for a bit more than just one second.

"You were raised on this planet, right, Patriarch?"

"Yep. Never left."

Well, I guess I technically have if you count the Tutorial.

"Then you are likely a little unaware of how Infernal Patriarchs and Matriarchs are viewed by the rest of us, Patriarch.

"To put it simply: you are akin to gods to the rest of us. Back home, they are… they are beings we would never imagine even being in the presence of. It is suffocating. But not one of repulsion, Patriarch.

"It is reverence.

"We have no kings. We have no queens. There isn't a president, there isn't a council, there isn't a vote—there isn't anything. Just the Sovareth. Any one of them could command any Infernal not already under the banner of another, and there isn't a single Infernal in existence that would disrespect you without risking the wrath of the Eternal Flame.

"That is who you are, Patriarch.

"And there is no greater honor than being the personal guard to someone of your station. It is a position that is looked at back home with great respect.

"So again, Patriarch. It would bring me no greater joy to serve as your guard."

Well. Not really much I can say to that. Except for that word he used. Haven't heard that one before.

"I see… what is a Sovareth?"

"You, Patriarch. The head of the Clan."

Oh, isn't that neat.

"Well then, Vrusha, if that's what you want, then you have it. Consider yourself the head of my personal guard. I'll leave it to you to fill out the squad. No more than 20 people, and I expect an elite force.

"Understood?"

"Yes, Patriarch."

•••

The Infernal District is rather nice. It was quite literally on the border of that massive scar in the ground, and it kind of reminded me of the outposts from the Tutorial.

The main difference was that it was bigger in scale and made out of stone. A lot more homes, places to eat, a smithy, a potion shop, and a massive training area. There were already quite a few of them there sparring and whatnot.

I looked on for a moment before following Lidaz into the main building in the center of the district.

Once we made it in, I was directed to a large office.

"This is your office, Patriarch."

How nice of them.

I leaned my current spear up against the wall and sat down.

"Good job on the district, Lidaz."

"Thank you, Patriarch."

"Alright. Minerals. What do we have?"

"A number of different deposits have been found, Patriarch. Gold, iron, a few other different metals we haven't identified, but the most prominent find so far is a sprit deposit."

Ah, I read about that in one of the books, and I believe Greja once mentioned them to me.

That's where sprit stones come from. Basically little crystals that contain pure and concentrated Qi.

"When can we start mining?"

"Unfortunately, we do not have the proper tools to begin yet, so it will be some time."

Hm.

"Are those the type of tools that would be acquirable in a different universe?"

"Should be, Patriarch."

"Alright. Continue the search for more metals. I need the strongest one we can find.

"Ah—and send some people to do some scouting. I need to know who else is on this continent and what's around it.

"You have a month."

"Yes, Patriarch."

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