"Do you understand why I don't want them here? This is my home. I don't want the worst parts of Volithur's memories haunting me here."

Hector had apologized several times already, so he opted not to repeat that again. "You can't really believe Zara was a bad memory. She took down Lydia in front of the family council and taught us how to be a porter. And at the risk of being inappropriate, she looks a lot better through my eyes than she did through those of a kid."

Matthias looked like he was about to explode into another tirade, but then he paused. "She does look rather more attractive than I recall. That is besides the point, though! She's a Lord now!"

"The cafe has level six meat."

"I don't use resources, Hector. That's my whole thing. I'm climbing to the heights of power on my own without any benefits derived from Tian. I don't need the money from the cafe, either. I only have a ten percent share of their profits. I'm considering leaving my own building for the duration of Zara's stay here. Their presence is pushing me out of my home!"

Hector made a show of bowing. "Allow me to make it up to you."

"How? Are you going to convince them to leave?"

"I'm afraid they are going to remain here for several months. But I do have some things I can offer you. First, I recently learned a secret technique for training the domain that is better than anything you have ever encountered. I will teach that to you as an apology."

The heat in Matthias faded a tad. "I will of course accept, but that does not help my situation."

"I have a remedy for that. Do you remember what I told you about cultivating chaos on Aes? Lord Zara and Dorian won't be there to bother you. Just endless opportunities to rapidly improve your mental and domain apertures."

Matthias began to pace back and forth, rubbing his chin with one hand. "The Reconquest seems unlikely to allow me to sit on their base without contributing to their mission."

"We can get you a deal where you only leave the Stronghold in the company of the Sage of Purification. The influence of her realm has synergy with our insight. They are also extremely protective of her, so you would be as safe as possible outside the rune wall. And if you change your mind, you can always just leave."

After a moment, Matthias turned to Hector. "I have been jealous of your rapid growth."

"Let me send a message to Reconquest leadership on your behalf."

"You may," Matthias said.

There was some more venting after that, but eventually Hector escaped. At his request, the System agreed to handle the negotiations for Matthias' entrance into the Reconquest while he concentrated on restoring his energy reserves. In return, he agreed to begin moving Users to Stronghold Alpha following his lunch with Riley the next day.

He worked through the night again, making a note to himself that he should schedule actual sleep soon so that he didn't discover firsthand the reason it was recommended not to abuse the One Minute Nap Technique. Having recently fled the orca, though, he was a bit low in his reserves.

Survey Results

Type: Xian

Level: 7

Body: 5.9

Mind: 6.1

Aura: 4.8

Domain: 5.5

Energy Reserves: 22%

Otherwise his statistics were looking better – ignoring the fact that he missed out on the blessings from previous advancements that would allow him to reach level ten. Best not to dwell on that, though. When morning arrived, Hector went for breakfast at the cafe and ran into Darius.

It took only a few minutes for the eunuch to sense that Hector's domain had drastically improved, so the two of them retired back to their floor to go over the new technique. Darius hammered on Riley's door until she emerged, whereupon they secluded themselves in Hector's room for a lesson that lasted all the way to lunchtime.

Hector covered both the Sweaty Fire Technique for domain training and the less impressive Reverse Priming Technique for aura training. His students made acceptable progress. Just before they left to eat, Hector broke the bad news that none of them would be able to reach level ten. From the way his two friends reacted to what he considered devastating news, he might as well have told them that they were never going to become the Emperor of Zing.

Riley was the first to speak. "Hector… why would we ever expect to be Lords some day?"

"Your optimism has always been naive," Darius added.

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Their casual acceptance led Hector to question if he'd been childish to assume he would one day reach the heights of power. Just because he received an overpowered insight didn't mean he possessed everything necessary to become one of the premier existences in the multiverse. Assuming otherwise… well, back on Earth he never assumed he was destined to become a CEO or president of the country. He understood that managing the warehouse and getting paid almost a quarter of a million dollars annually was probably the peak of his career potential.

Over lunch, the three of them turned to more pleasant topics. For the most part, at least. Hector revealed his distress over the fact that Isabel had convinced people he wasn't funny. His friends sympathized with him, but also made him doubt his optimistic self-assessment when Darius insisted that all three of them had fully functional senses of humor. Then Riley agreed with that claim, throwing Hector into the realization that he might be lame.

As he thought on it, Riley wasn't very funny. She was warm, bubbly, and occasionally insightful, but not quick-witted or possessed of comedic timing. Darius… well, Darius was Darius. Who did Hector joke around with, even? His dad, back in the day. But Terry Thoreaux always joked around with everyone and made them feel like they were every bit as hilarious as he was. In more recent times, Rover Fred and the titan brothers Ajax and Nestor joked around with Hector. Looking on those interactions, it seemed more like a case of friends getting along well together.

Of all the crises to have, this was certainly the least critical. The multiverse could be ending in the next couple of years and for some reason Hector found himself gut punched by the realization that people didn't appreciate his sense of humor. He was just the fit guy who worked hard. More recently, he was also uptight about following his moral code and possibly questing for an insight improvement.

Eventually Darius dragged him out of his funk by complaining about the way their visitor Lord Zara kept looking at him. He was somewhat concerned that she had seen him fight in the tournament and might have lost money when he disappeared.

"Oh, shit," Hector said. "You don't know who Zara is?"

Darius shrugged. "Some stuffy Amaratti Lord, obviously."

"Zara Shaocheth is the daughter of the Lord General."

Darius flinched.

"And also the person who trained Volithur to be a porter."

Darius shook his head. "I cannot be bothered with any of that."

"Darius… you have his appearance."

The meaning behind Hector's words finally penetrated. Darius snarled and pushed away the mostly empty plate before him. "Have you told her anything?"

"No, Darius, I wouldn't do that to you. But Zara isn't dumb. She must see the resemblance. She knows whose memories I have. It's not a huge leap."

As Darius sat stewing in silence, Riley asked the obvious question. "Why does Zara know him?"

Though the question was directed at Hector, the eunuch answered himself. "Because Hector inherited the memories of my damned father."

Riley's eyes grew wide. "But you hate your father."

"It's not Hector's fault. He did not choose to remember the traitor." Darius stared at the table, tears glimmering in his eyes.

Riley slid her chair closer and put an arm around the man. "You don't need those people, Darius. We're your family now."

The heartfelt words of Riley seemed to miss the point. Darius didn't miss his parents. He despised them. Her assurance was a need of her own that she misattributed. Darius, though, leaned into the woman to accept the comfort she offered.

If there was anything in his life he could be proud of, other than the Coalition Army arriving in time to avert certain doom for Earth, it was the transformation of his two closest friends. He wasn't there for most of the work they'd done, but he was not shy about claiming the credit for placing them on their current trajectories. Darius would be dead without his intervention. Riley would still be at the brothel being further buried in debt. They weren't paragons of mental health by any means, but they were growing. Just like he was.

Hector cleared his throat. "You know, Riley, you might have done well for yourself in the tournament we were in."

"You told me that Jasmine won it all," Darius said.

"She did. Girl power, right?"

Riley snorted. "I don't even like fighting. Just chaos bolts."

Darius looked down at the woman at his side with a softness Hector had never seen from the eunuch. "Riley would not be so foolish as to be caught in such a trap."

"Right! I'm smarter than that, Hector!"

As a smile spread over his face, Hector decided he didn't care so much if he was able to make a crowd laugh. So long as he could improve the mood of the people closest to him, he was doing good enough. After all, wasn't the real lesson to be learned from Terry Thoreaux that he made everyone around him feel like they were brilliant? Hector always felt overshadowed by the humor of his father, but that wasn't the real talent – bringing happiness was what mattered.

Hector felt a pang of regret when it was time for him to leave. He had an appointment to pick up the System's Users, though. He would play whatever tiny part he had in protecting the multiverse. Even if it isolated him from his chosen family.

The trip to the Users took quite a while. There was a taxi ride, followed by an overnight trip on a train. Then he rode on a bus for several hours. Finally, he jogged back country roads along a route designated by the System until he arrived at a dilapidated country manor. The stables and barn were half-collapsed, the spring house covered in moss, and the dirt drive was thoroughly grown over.

Only the main house looked halfway presentable. It was three stories tall, freshly white washed, and boasted several young adults on its wraparound porch. They watched Hector's approach with great interest. In fact, more appeared from inside the house, joining the watchers until the rickety porch looked in danger of collapse.

"I'm supposed to announce myself," he said when he was in earshot.

By name.

"Oh, that makes sense. Hector Thoreaux."

Glances were exchanged between the youths. Finally, one of their number, a young woman with an overworked jaw that looked like she chewed tobacco, worked up the nerve to ask a question. "Someone tell you to say that?"

"I think all of you know that the System sent me."

The woman nodded. "Had to be sure. Can't spill secrets to a level seven Xian."

"I appreciate your discretion. Before I start transporting you over to Aes, I want to make sure everyone is capable, aware of the danger, and choosing to do this of their own will."

A chubby boy laughed. "System said he was obsessed with doing the right thing."

"We're all ready to give our lives for humanity," the first woman said. "Don't doubt it for one second. We ain't Xian to duck out on our duty to our fellow humans."

"You didn't tell me they would be such… pleasant personalities," Hector said.

In my defense, if I filtered the population to exclude candidates based on bigotry, my candidate pool would be severely limited.

"Well, let's get a move on."

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