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"... This is it then… From here on out, it\'s the real deal." Dale said as he focused on the creature

"Before you send me away like last time, however, I wanted to confirm something."

Dale thought of the Jade Tablet and the Oath he never took, he wondered if things would remain the same or if he would still be a hassle to others.

One of the reasons Roger had Dale go to South America was for exposition, with him being officially pulled to \'their side\', people wouldn\'t be as cautious of him anymore.

However, Dale had no intention of leaving again, at least not to South America.

He wanted to be near his family as much as possible, and because of this, he remained a liability for others.

If he possessed so much power while being completely outside the Oath\'s restrictions, people would fear and be worried about his actions and decisions.

And although it would be later proven he wouldn\'t need to be bound by the Oath, it would still paint a scene for others to enjoy and relax.

Not only that, he would still be an ordinary person from the \'eyes\' of the Oath, preventing Roger and many others from sharing what they knew with him, slowing down his progress even further.

His memories were still there, but was the Oath?

"The Oath…"

/Move…/

Before he could complete his sentence, the creature\'s fingers danced in unison as multiple strange runes formed in the air.

They coiled together, forming letters so complex one would wonder if they weren\'t scribbles…

However, amidst their slow formation, Dale noticed familiar engravings…

Those runes, he had seen them before, they were the same ones he saw on the Tablet.

/Push…/

With a simple push of its hand, the creature pushed the runes onto Dale, having them crack into millions of pieces as they scattered in the void.

Like confetti falling onto the ground, the bright specks of light vanished right in front of his eyes as their sheen was engulfed by the dark.

"..."

\'Weird…\'

Dale looked around, waiting for something to happen, but in the end, nothing changed.

At least, he felt no different from before.

"So uh… Is it done?"

/Silence/

The being did not reply.

\'As mysterious as ever… I wonder who or what this guy is… If it\'s a guy anyway…\'

This creature, the so-called, True Ruler. Well... That was who Dale believed it to be...

What was its identity? What role did it play in this mess? What were its goals and how was it performing them?

There were still too many questions, and he knew none of them would be answered, this creature was not interested in idle chat.

But for the sake of convention, Dale decided to refer to it as the Empty Ruler due to its unusual envryoment.

"I guess this is where we say our goodbyes." Dale said out loud as he raised his head to face the creature once more

"Before you send me away, can you direct me to the shop? Guess I\'ll need to make some purchases again... Although I imagine you already know that." \'I don\'t quite remember everything I bought but I do remember some things…\'

\'I bought mostly Skill Books for the sake of study, and although I\'ve read many of them, enough for me to classify them in usefulness, they\'re still valuable enough for me. So it would be a waste to lose the chance to acquire them once more.\'

\'As for the rest, such as theory/history books, even if I already read them once, it doesn\'t mean they lost their value, regardless if I learned something meaningful or not.\'

\'Someone will find them useful one day, be it now or years later... In fact, it may be worthy it to acquire more such books, given the nature of what will happen in the next two months.\'

\'It would be wise to acquire equivalent information to prepare further, although that implies I\'ll have to give up on some Skill Books, which isn\'t the end of the world.\'

\'Soon enough, many Skill Books will hit the market, likely coming straight from the Event, I could acquire some of them and make up for this "loss".\'

/Grunt…/

As he thought about what to do, an unexpected gurgling noise echoed in the void, and the Ruler momentarily moved its body to the side.

"Hm?..."

Dale heard the noise as well, and he seemingly moved his head, following the Ruler\'s movements.

But no matter how much he looked, he only saw darkness and emptiness.

\'Is something there?...\' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

/Move…/

Quickly following that, with its large hand, the Ruler reached towards the horizon, \'pulling\' it closer to itself.

/RIP!/

A feeling of nausea quickly took hold of Dale\'s stomach as he remembered what was about to happen...

"Urg! Not this again…!"

Both the space and the ground rippled chaotically as the void was forcibly torn apart, causing an array of lights to gush violently from within, momentarily blinding Dale even though he raised his hands to protect his burnt-out eyes.

After a while, the light receded, and an image appeared in the ripped space, like the screen of a cellphone.

The image was a bit wobbly and turbid, making it hard for one to identify it, but Dale recognized the sight… The smell of leather and metal, stone and crystals, books and much more...

The old wood and potions, swords and helmets, cloaks and daggers, all pilled up together under the sound of ticking clocks and other objects too complicated to explain in a few words.

It was Babylon\'s shop.

/Move…/

"Wah?!"

The Ruler moved its arm again, this time, taking hold of Dale before he even had the chance react, forcibly throwing him inside the hole as he exclaimed in confusion.

From his perspective, Dale felt an immense increase in pressure as his organs were subjected to several Gs of acceleration in the blink of an eye.

/THROW!/

/THUD!/

/CLINK!/

"OUCH!"

Like a piece of garbage, Dale was thrown inside the ruptured hole, piercing through the air as he traveled dimensions, falling on the floor of the shop where he slid across its smooth surface, eventually hitting his head against the bottom of the counter, causing a dense metallic ball to fall atop his head, which led him to hold it in pain as he got up from the ground, silently screaming as he tried to keep his cool.

"Arg... Shit…" He said out loud as he massaged his nape

\'What happened? This didn\'t happen last time... It\'s almost as if it was in a hurry...\'

The more he thought about it the greater his confusion became, and with it, the greater his fear.

The possible ramifications of what this situation signified were heavy, possibly too grand for him to entertain them fully yet.

In the end, while touching his head, he got up from the ground, focusing on what was at hand.

/Swoop!/

As he did so, the portal before him closed as it spiraled into itself, vanishing as the space around him healed back into its ideal, stable shape.

As he processed what just happened, Dale had the idea to check the time, and as he remembered, Babylon had already closed, it had been around half an hour or so since then to be precise. Like before, there were dozens of messages from Ermin and also some other friends.

It was to no surprise, but for a moment, Dale thought he was late...

"I almost forgot about this… I promised to sit down and talk with them, but due to the special event I lost the chance to do so… They were a little upset with me, to say the least."

Touching his head in a mix of frustration and confusion, Dale realized he was now wearing his helmet, which led him to feel one of the strongest \'deja-vu\' events he ever had.

\'I\'m really doing everything again, aren\'t I?… This is trippy...\' He thought as a smile formed on his face

\'Maybe, all deja-vu moments I felt before were because I kept reliving the same moments of my life but was unable to fully remember them?... Alright, that\'s enough for today.\'

With a loud sigh, he walked to the counter, his steps were heavy, but firm.

He knew where he was heading now, done were the days he walked ahead without guidance, he knew what to do, at least for now...

"This time… I now know what my final reward is… It\'s amusing to a certain degree..."

\'I cursed that creature more than once for it not giving me a reward, I feel bad.\'

\'But who would think I would be back here… Fate truly is mysterious.\'

\'I wonder what\'ll cook up for me now? Things won\'t go down the same way as before.\'

\'Man… This is…\'

\'Really exciting!\'

Dale\'s expression twisted into a grin, it was hard to put into words how great he felt right now.

It was time for a new chapter in his life, to face this new world on his own terms.

He wouldn\'t let it get the best of him.

If it was war it wanted, that is what he\'ll give it!

\'All of those challenges... Those moments I felt fear...\'

\'I\'ll conquer them all.\'

"Sir?..."

"Eh?"

Realizing he was clenching his fist in front of the shop clerk, Dale\'s enthusiasm was quickly squashed as he coughed awkwardly in embarrassment.

Well... One step at a time.

Notes