Master Of None



Even though the whalers had already checked him, Walker felt that he was being bothered much more than normal. But it was mostly because of the people who had darted from the crowd nearby when he finally walked out of the healer's examination tent. 

"You finally came back! I have so many things to show you!" Lias had been faster than both Walker's father and mother. She had sprinted when she heard that they would be using teleportation of all things to make it home. But even more, she had been getting stronger and stronger lately because of her hard work making top of the line clothing. 

The rune sewn clothes had become an art form in Genesis. Yet, the leader of that was one of the youngest seamstresses ever. Her imagination had been able to bring together rune formations that rune carvers would struggle to carve. But what really had brought things to another level was when Lisa had brought in rune carvers to tell her how to make runes!

"I have seven new employees and two more shops that I just opened! I even hired rune carvers to help make new runes for my fabric designs!" The flexibility that came with fabric and string was where the rune designs flourished. They Were not stone or two dimensional. They were a flexible and moving thing. 

"I should have known that you would steal the show when I was gone." Walker was glad to hear the familiar voice. He had started to forget how happy he was when he had his family closer to him. "How has the city been? Anyone causing any trouble?" 

"You know how it is, guards are guarding. But now I have a lot more young ones to teach. Apparently, they all take my class to meet the father of some hero. Then they realize that they need to learn how to be real guards." Walker's father had ended up as one of the most popular guards to learn from in the past months. Therefore he had changed professions in a way. 

"And you should know your father well enough to know that he brings the entire guard squad of trainees down to eat where I have my own cooks learning my recipes. To think that when the other races came here that they would be bringing ingredients and other things that helped give buffs to others. Now we are cooking herbs that should be in potions, in to our normal food." 

The joking and laughter as they all showed off what had been happening while Walker was away made him feel that he had missed too much. Everything was very interesting and he didn't know if he would have enough time to be able to enjoy it all before he had to focus on the growing problems he would be facing in the corrupted mana. 

Similar scenes were happening with the others as they met family, friends, and even a few of their stronger supporters within their race. Alma being one of them who had been surrounded by elves the moment she returned. She had been in constant communication with the forest elf queen's underlings. Now they would have a real meeting and she would be busier than ever before. 

The same would be said for Scylla who was met with an entire guard of demi-human soldiers under king Roricks orders. Then there was Leon who had already been called on by his father, the current king of the merfolk. Therefore, the three would be busy in the same aspects for some time. 

What caught Walker's attention right away were the things that he overheard as some of the soldiers met with their families or higher ups. Whispers of monsters going wild or people facing harder battles had already been heard. Walker knew about these. That was until he heard the term, corrupted monsters. 

"Should I even try and ask what's been going on since I was away with the monsters?" Walker looked at his parents and little sister only to see that they were somewhat unwilling to say anything. They knew that he would be busier if they told him anything. 

"I think that Midnight is looking to say hello to you now that she already said something to me." Clara's voice was loud enough to make Walker turn around. She had somehow managed to capture Midnight's attention while Walker spoke to his family. 

In a single leap, Midnight tackled Lisa then jumped to do the same to Walker's mother and father in greeting. It was only natural that they were very happy to see her as well. They understood that Onyx had rushed towards the abyssal and heavenly serpents to check on them. They did not fault him for that. He was growing up too. But Midnight had wanted to see all three of them just as much as Walker. They were her family too. 

"I wish we could say that you coming home was the end of a journey and it was time for a long vacation." Clara sounded sad that she was going to be asking Walker to do more. Especially since she had watched him stand out and create his own path without needing her to guide the party whatsoever. 

"Unfortunately, it appears that the corrupted floating city you sent information about is not the only thing corrupted. There are monsters that have shown terrifying signs of corruption." Clara handed a folder to Walker. She had carried these reports all the way from the adventurer's guild and wanted for them to teleport. She knew that Walker's fight against these corrupted monsters would spur everyone to help fight them even more. 

"There are some monsters that we knew would be acting up because of their natural lifecycle. But then there are monsters such as the horned rabbits which suddenly begin attacking one another. We isolated one such horned rabbit and found its fur had turned blood red due to the mana within it going wild. We could not purify it, and in its madness, it managed to harm more powerful adventurers than it should be able to." 

"Worse off yet, when it was left alone, it perished because the blood color was its body rejecting the mana within it. The corrupted mana made it bleed and perish unless it could maintain nutrition. They completely lose the ability to eat plants and go after anything alive. Their species or not. That is the corrupted monster we have issues with."

"I had a bad feeling that we would hear more issues coming to light, but the corrupted mana is spreading somehow?" Walker was unsure how this was possible. The corrupted city should be the only palace that is affected by the corrupted mana. 

"The theory is that all mana is in some sort of balance. Therefore, the balance was broken a long time ago and because it is not being enhanced, that it is affecting others. It is like an illness that is spreading through mana. Mana is everywhere so anyone or anything could be affected." Clara pointed out a few more documents that had been researched. 

"We will need to work faster. I assume that the world has issued a lot of quests and that the adventurer's guild is documenting it all?" Walker saw Clara nod. "Then we should use that as our guide. The world's will is odd and makes no sense, but it pushes us towards the right flow of mana. That I know for sure." 

With this new threat on his plate, Walker looked at his family enjoying the reunion. He took a deep breath and decided to grab the party and get them together before they all went their separate ways. Then they could get to work where they needed to. "I will get everyone together. We will have a meeting of representatives tomorrow afternoon." This was the best plan for now. 

"I will see you then. A few more faces had joined since the heads of every guild will be represented now. We have grown since you were away." Clara pointed out the addition to the adventurer's guild building that Walker could see from where he stood. It would be a very interesting sight seeing journey when he took that morning walk. 

"I look forward to seeing it all. But for now, I am going to enjoy some time eating with my family." Walker headed back toward everyone. He knew he would call the party together in a  few moments. But letting them all enjoy these moments or reunion were worth much more. Especially since the reunions would be the fuel to stand tall. To be able to stand above the pressure of evil that was trying to corrupt the world they lived in. They could take their stand a little later after they had let the weight off their hearts. 

….

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