Deadworld Isekai

“Wait… who the hell is this guy?” Lucy asked.

Matt was still reeling a bit, but his small friend had finally managed to snap out of her shock and went directly back to fully Lucy levels of Luciness almost immediately. The only hint Matt had that she wasn’t entirely shocked out of any good sense was that she wasn’t trying to hit the guy.

“Well, again, I’m Leel. The fourth adoptive son of The Cavelar of Ammai, holder of the Star of the South…”

“No, no, I get that. I…” Lucy took a breath. “I got the name. Just, what is this guy doing here? HOW is he here? Do we have to hit him with Matt’s shovel? That kind of thing.”

“Oh, heavens. Yes, I see. Well, as you might suspect, I was brought to this…” He glanced out dispassionately at the wasteland outside the doors, paused, and sniffed. “This charming world by the system, who claimed some sort of global overlord of great evil had bent the planet to his dark will, even going so far as to lead the dungeons themselves into rebellion.”

Lucy blanched momentarily. “Well, it’s just us, so…”

“Really just you?” Leel’s eyes widened. “I’ve begun to sense the system might have been a bit… enthusiastic about its description of this planet’s threat, given that your friend has yet to gather himself, but I’m surprised to find it wasn’t exaggerating on that one point. I had taken the 'every soul but them' portion of things as a bit of overstatement if I’m being honest. By the way, is he all right?”

“He’s fine, he just hasn’t actually heard another flesh-and-blood person talk in a while. The last guy just came in here and started attacking. He’s probably just a bit wigged out.”

A thought suddenly hit Lucy like a truck, something she should have noticed before.

“WAIT A SECOND. WAIT. HOW CAN YOU SEE ME?”

Lucy’s screaming snapped Matt out of it, and sent him spinning through a rapid mental review of a bunch of stuff he had just heard. “Wait, you can see her? How?” His voice wasn't a screech like Lucy's, but it was close.

“The shocked man returns! It’s quite nice to meet you, sir. I’m Leel.”

“Yes, thank you. You've said it three… never mind. How can you see her?”

The man shrugged. “Not quite how I thought your question priorities would pan out, but happy to be of service.” He lifted his hand up to his chest, where a simple metal star hung. “I already mentioned that I was the bearer of the star of the south, yes?”

“Yes, you mentioned it. Twice, I think.”

“Well, this is it. The star of the south, a bound guardian of great experience and knowledge, passed down through four generations of reincarnators, if you can call batches of souls drawn across realms as generations. I’m the fourth holder, which I always thought was amusing, since I am, after all, the fourth adoptive son…”

Lucy cut in. “Of the Cavelar of Ammai, yes. We caught that bit. What in the hell is a bound guardian? How does it help you see me?”

The man blinked. “Well, of course, I can see you because I can see what the guardian sees, by the nature of the enchantments laid down on the star. Surely, you know of this, being a guardian yourself?”

Matt glanced sidelong at Lucy, who caught his confused look and made a “wait, we’ll talk about this later” sort of hand motion at him.

“No, I don’t,” she responded.

The man brought his palm up to his forehead and lightly smacked his own skull. “Oh, of course you don’t. The only inhabitants, after all. Well, I can see you, quite well. As if you were real. By the way, you simply must tell me how this whole alone-in-the-world situation came to be. I’ve simply never heard anything like it.”

Both Matt and Lucy had started to pick up hints that Leel wasn't in a rush to fight. Lucy glanced at Matt, subtly tapping him in for his turn herding the distracted aristocrat.

“We promise we will tell you anything you’d like to know in a bit, but for now, could you please continue on about the bound guardian part of things?” Matt said.

“Oh, yes. Everything in order, very good focus there, sir. Well, it’s just as it sounds. A guardian caught by an arcane spell, and bound to an item of some kind in a more useful and permanent form.”

“Wait…” Matt was trying to wrap his head around this. “Why not just leave them unbound?”

The man literally sputtered at the thought.

“Unbound? Like a peasant?”

Lucy was nonplussed. “Yeah. Like a peasant.”

“Well, there’s any number of reasons why not. The restriction of at most one generation of knowledge, for one, is non-optimal to say the least. The transfer of information is faster this way as well. More complete. It far outweighs the inconvenience of the jewelry, at least.”

“And how does the guardian feel about it? Being bound to a necklace for 300 years seems like a lot.” Lucy asked.

“300 years, for four generations? My, someone really is from the provinces. On my world, madam, magic is quite developed. A lifespan of 300 years is considered a medium age. This particular amulet has over 1500 years of experience packed away.” He patted it affectionately. “I really am quite honored to have been allowed to carry it.”

“That doesn’t really answer the question.”

“It doesn’t? Oh, no, I suppose not. The will of the guardian hardly matters, as that’s the first thing to go during the binding process. I can assure you the spirit’s performance isn’t compromised in the least, and it’s a great deal more responsive than with less complete enchantments I’ve seen. Or,” Leel rolled his eyes. “I know at least one less affluent reincarnator who couldn’t dismiss his guardian at all. It's a horrid thing. Always interrupting.” He glanced askance at Lucy, not bothering to disguise his amused disdain.

Matt glanced nervously down at Lucy, who looked about three seconds from having actual smoke come out of her ears. As offensive as the words coming out of the guy's mouth, he was communicating and providing information. They had hundreds of questions they could ask, and a fight to avoid if at all possible. Everything about this guy screamed, “magic user” at Matt, and magic was something he had no experience with. For all he knew, the wizard could end him with a thought. He had to get Lucy calmed down, at least for now.

“Leel, would you mind if we stepped away for a moment? I’d like to talk to my guardian for a moment if you don’t mind. You could… walk around the grounds, if you like?”

“Oh, certainly. I’d imagine you have a bit of conversational strategizing to do. Yes, I’ll be fine for a moment, I assure you.”

Matt walked away, thankful Lucy was tethered to him and, if he read her face correctly, struggling to find the right obscenities to scream at their visitor. He ducked into the Museum's plinth room, closing the doors most of the way to afford them some privacy.

“Lucy…”

“Matt, we have to nuke this guy. He’s an asshole. Please hit him with your shovel. Please.”

“I get it. He’s the worst.”

“He’s worse than the worst, Matt. He’s a literal slave owner. The system lets you order me around, but, you don’t. It makes you feel bad. This guy seems like he’d walk over a pile of babies to keep his shoes dry in the rain. Shovel him, Matt. I’m begging you.”

“Right, I don’t…” Matt lowered his voice, hoping the man outside still couldn’t hear them. “I don’t like him much either. But we need to figure out why he’s here, and we have to see if we can get him to go away without actually having to fight him. If you forgot, I’m not exactly in full battle-mode right now.”

Lucy was about to retort, then stopped. It seemed like she had forgotten that detail in her anger. “Fine. But we need to figure this out quick. I can hold my temper for a while, but I am NOT making long-term promises here, Matt. And I’m not talking to this asshole anymore.”

“That’s fine. I actually get the sense he’d prefer that.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better, Matt.”

They emerged from the room to find the man poking at the soil with his staff.

“This is quite odd soil, you know. Obviously of magical origin, but not a speck of mana in it. Quite odd, really.”

“Yeah, we’ve had some hints of that. Something in the air, I suppose.”

“Well enough explained. We can’t talk about soil all day. You had promised me a bit of an explanation about how you found yourself in this predicament, I recall.”

Matt caught hold of all the questions on their way to his mouth and tamped them down. He had promised, and, for what it was worth, “let this guy know the system is playing dirty” was actually pretty high on his list of priorities. He launched into as concise of an explanation as he could, including his reincarnation, his arrival on an already-dead Gaia, and the system’s eventual treachery. As much as he could, he hid the subject of his own Gaian authority. He had no idea how the stranger would react to it.

Eventually, he reached the end of the story, letting Leel know that he was the second invader they had encountered, and dropped subtle, non-aggressive hints that things hadn’t gone so well for the first. Leel seemed unperturbed by that, making Matt once again hopeful that his overall non-aggression would translate to an actual lack of conflict.

“I see. Quite the story, really. The system isn’t very well trusted on my world, either, although it’s more known for its sloth than anything else. Your story wouldn’t be quite so surprising except for the scope. I’ve heard of things somewhat like this, but not so very MUCH like this, if you follow.”

“Yeah, it’s been a ride, for sure.”

“It’s really too bad you didn't pick up a magic class of some kind. With proper guidance, of course.” He tapped his necklace. “I know at least a dozen that would have absolutely trivialized survival on this world.” He screwed up his face, considering for a moment. “Well, once they were somewhat advanced from beginner levels, that is. I suppose considering that, a more initially usable class was in order.”

That was an understatement. Matt was about a half-day from being in serious trouble from dehydration when he chose his class. As much complexity as it had added to his life, his Survivor class had been the reason he was alive in the first place. He was thankful. But still, he regretted not picking up something with at least some magic. Even a weak area-of-effect spell would have helped him dozens of times.

Leel noticed the complex expression on Matt’s face, and having caught his breath from his last paragraph, he launched directly into another. “I suppose for the dungeons at your level, you haven’t even encountered proper magic. Would you like to see some?”

Matt hadn’t wanted to ask, but if the offer was on the table, he’d take it, if for no other reason than to gather information about who he was facing. He nodded. “Absolutely.”

“I’d love to show you. But first, if you don’t mind, let's head outside and let me get some distance from you. This sort of thing can be dangerous, you know.”

Matt appreciated it, actually. Whatever this person did had a fair chance of startling him, and he didn’t want to jump scare his way into a fight. As Leel walked briskly away, Matt called after him. “Hey, I appreciate this, by the way. I mean, you not coming out swinging like the last guy, and talking this out instead of fighting. And making sure we don’t get hurt by your magic. It’s nice.”

The man moved surprisingly quickly, much faster than he had seemed like he was moving at first. By the time Matt finished talking, he was thirty or forty meters away, far enough that he had to raise his voice a bit to respond.

“Oh, I’m glad for the conversation as well. But I do think there’s been a few misunderstandings I’d like to rectify.” Suddenly, the man’s hand caught on fire. It seemed expected. He didn’t jerk away from it, at least. “First, You shouldn’t take all conversation as a necessarily peaceful thing, even if it is friendly. It’s abstractly pleasant, you see, just good manners. It’s a civilized thing, even when in a situation that's not exactly civil.”

Matt’s stomach dropped. This wasn’t going how he had hoped.

“The second is that I didn’t pull back for your safety, I pulled back for mine. Distance helps a mage, you see. Peasants tend to have pitchforks, and all that.”