I fell, hitting the floor with a thud. I stared up at Max Stallone, my mind already feeling through his. I stopped almost as soon as I looked. His anger and desire were connected to his feelings of shock and helplessness, which were in turn connected to extremely disturbing memories.
"Blast," I cursed out loud. I had no desire to feel sympathy for the little weasel, but now I did. I got up, towering over him. I had apparently made myself a little bigger without realizing it.
"Come here, you moron," I growled at him, my bass shaking the building ever so slightly. Looks like I need to tone down my voice some more. Internally, I could feel the world adjusting me to suit it more, and then System resetting me. I told System to ignore the changes for now and just keep a record so that I can undo them if I wanted.
Max came up to me, quivering in rage and fear. Poor boy. He was just so angry! I had thought him just sadistic before. I took him by his arm and dragged him before the principal.
"Excuse me, sir," I plopped Max into a chair. "Please have a talk with this boy about appropriate methods to vent. I would say ask his father to do it, but he's a piece of cow excrement. While you're at it, he needs a councilor and a social worker. Thanks!" A little mental pressure to flip his response set from responding to a student to responding to authority, and the principal turned his gaze towards Max.
"Out with it, Mr. Stallone. Explain this." A little mental tugging on Max to open up, and this problem should be resolved handily.
I stopped back in the hallway, watching everyone else watch me. I took stock. The world's restrictions meant that I was unable to bend space, and the only reason I got back at all was due to the spatial tear. Interestingly, my theory about how time worked held up, and no time had passed in my world since I fell through the rift in space. Being a monotheist, it made me wonder about the True Divine Being, the Originator. Would there not be a time sync with that singular perspective?
There world's restrictions also affected magical and mental abilities. I felt no mana, and my mental powers were limited to suggestions, prodding, and thought/memory dives. My physical invulnerability and strength were limited to surviving bullets and gamma radiation and smashing concrete. Nothing was too difficult to function without, and I could feel that it was more that the nature of space here was different than a Law restriction that made it difficult to manipulate space. It was the difference between swirling loose Lego blocks and trying to reassemble a built Lego house. I could do it, but I had to figure out the trick.
I cleared my throat. "What's the problem fellas?" They had been watching in a rather creepy fashion. I don't think any of them had blinked since I stepped out!
Jessica stepped forward. "When did you get strong enough to lift up two hundred pound guys with one hand? Why is Mr Smead listening to you?"
I realized that the crowd was composed of the nerd clique. They had noticed my inhuman abilities, as they were always looking out for proof of the supernatural. I grinned. I was not one who enjoyed lying, and I was gonna make their day.
"That's simple, guys. I was isekaied. Max pushed me through a rift in time and space right here," and I walked over and pointed at the remnants of the rift. I frowned at the them, then used my thumb and forefinger to pinch and smooth the remnants of the rift until it was gone. "And there we go. No more weaknesses in the fabric of Reality here."
The group behind me was still. "So he was summoned. Not one of us, who long for such things, but the most relaxed guy in the world," Robert muttered. "Why, world, why?!" There were noises in agreement from the people around him.
The bell rang, and the nerds reluctantly drifted off towards class. "Don't leave school until after lunch," Jessica demanded. She marched up to me and poked me in the chest. "We need to know what happened." I nodded. I had plans for them before I left.
I went to class. Mr. Hodge was our geometry teacher, and was very good at his job. Even the slowest of us were at least taking notes to study from for later. I watched the lecture and notes being written out, and thought about what to do next. I was wondering if the other returned heroes had formed an organization, or if they were doing their own thing as a disparate group.
A loudspeaker request into the classroom demanded I go to the principal's office. I picked up my knapsack, waved to the clearly annoyed Mr. Hodge, and ambled over. I noticed the level 99 waiting patiently outside the office door and nodded to him amiably. Always nice to see a fellow Hero.
I walked into the office without paying attention to the secretary, who was so wrapped up in her Spider Solitaire game that she didn't even notice me. Inside were two more level 99 Heroes. A glance out of the window showed me that there were an additional two more level 99s in the parking lot. Good. An organization would be easier to deal with than talking to multiple Heroes.
One of the Heroes before me had cultivated some Truth mana while she was summoned, while the other had an affinity to Morality mana, a rather dubious energy to cultivate. I asked System if it had any more information on his specialty.
"He can determine what is necessary to affect someone's morality and change their ways, as well as have some minor influence on one's mental processes. He is restricted from anything else in your world, aside from his natural strength, speed, durability, and immortality." I thought about that. Seemed sensible enough.
I held out my hand to the Truth affinity Hero, Megan Foks, and then the Morality affinity Hero, Dave Sturn. The principal was asleep. "Nice to meet you guys. To sum up, no, I was not one of those Heroes that sides with the Demon King or goes crazy and kills everyone as brutally as possible. I actually ended my mission with minimal loss of life on both sides of the conflict."
"Furthermore, I state that I have no intention or desire to harm the mortals of this world. I actually came back to see if the Reality of this world was breaking apart from the various spatial rifts. I have spatial sense and manipulation powers that I intend to employ towards that end." That should cover any of the questions they came to ask.
Megan looked intrigued, and Dave looked exasperated. "We actually came to see if you wanted to join our group. We already knew from your school reputation that you aren't malevolent. As to Reality falling apart, well, that is kind of our thing." Apparently, I jumped the gun a little too much. Awkward.
I cleared my throat. "Anyways. Your group, what does it do and why should I join it over the other Immortal guilds?"
Dave looked relieved that we got to point. I sensed that his Morality manipulations were trying to affect me mentally, but man this dude was blunt. I wasn't offended, as that would make me a hypocrite. I am not fond of hypocrisy. Besides, his pre-Ascension manipulations were pathetic, especially considering the restrictions he operated under.
"We call our group the Menders," said Dave. "We are the ones who go around and smooth out all the rifts in the space time that Hero summoning always causes. There is something about the nature of our native reality that does not lend itself towards the smooth transfer of individuals." It was also so that no time would pass, but I kept silent on my theories.
"What about the others?" I asked. "Surely there are those bent on world peace, or other such worthy endeavors." Did Megan not notice that the principal had woken up? No matter. She was too busy glaring at Dave for his breach of etiquette anyways.
Dave shrunk back from glare and sighed. "There are five other guilds." Before he could continue, the man from the waiting room, Alan Focks, wandered in. I focused a little more intently on him, and System popped his details into my head. He was Megan's brother, and had picked up mind control powers during his Hero stint. The only drawback to them was that he had to rely on an internal pool of mana that refilled slowly from the Possibility generated by his soul, as there was no loose ambient mana in our world.
Alan wandered over to the principal and tapped him on his head, putting him back to sleep. He turned to Dave, pulling a pad and pen out of is pockets. "It's a breach of the Pact to try to pressure him without all guild representatives making their case. In line with Section 4 of the recruitment articles, here is your ticketed fine of ten thousand dollars. Please pay within 30 days." He wandered out of the office.
Dave looked at the ticket, looking like he wanted to tear it up, and then shook himself, getting himself under control. Megan patted his head. "You were warned last time, honey. You have no one to blame but yourself."
I smiled at that. Apparently, our Morality cultivator had questionable morals. It made sense, as he was internalizing all aspects of Morality, even the ones that said killing was only freeing the soul from the bonds of the flesh. It balanced out with the ones that abhorred killing, and Dave was literally made stronger by the conflict of morals within him, though the fluctuations made him do some questionable things without thinking about it too hard.
"Back to your introduction of the various Guilds..." I prompted.