Edward's soul was ejected from the mysterious face and I could finally relax my body. I'd been forcing down the rising urge to try and go in there to change how things went. An idiotic notion since it was just a vision from the past but I still couldn't entirely shake it off.
Meanwhile, Edward was waking up from the trance he'd been in. I could see bewilderment in his eyes. Seeing a fight between two godlike existences for the first time was a lot to process, especially when your own power was still in its infancy.
"What was that?"
"That was the raven god beast fighting and killing the dragon god of fire. I hope you paid attention and committed the fight to memory."
"Paid attention to what?"
"To the raven god beast's fighting style of course! You should be able to feel the blood raven in your mind. It represents your connection to the raven god beast's bloodline and allows you to learn its innate abilities. Sadly, it appears to be necessary for you to comprehend them yourself. All I can do is tell you the general principles that are behind them."
"It has innate abilities?"
"What do you think those little copies of blood were. Or do you think it's normal to be able to harm someone by attacking their shadow?"
"No, but aren't those just spells?"
"Does it make a difference? Innate abilities are simply spells that can be learned naturally and without a few inherent problems. I could use a spell to do the same, in fact, that is how many spells are created but it would be more difficult for me to do so."
"So what do I do now?"
"Ask fewer questions. Most things should come naturally when you keep progressing in the technique I gave you. Your second transformation is far off so you can worry about that later. For now, I'll be having a meeting in the morning at 6:00 with a few of my acquaintances. I'll leave the arrangements to you."
"Should I prepare some refreshments?"
"No, just have someone guide them to my room when they arrive."
"How can we tell if it's them?"
"Who else comes to your mansion at such an ungodly hour to attend a meeting?"
"I understand. Leave everything to me!"
Having taken care of the reception I return to my room to get some sleep. The night was relatively peaceful and I woke up at 5:30 when I felt a presence approach the mansion. Five minutes later a knock sounded from my door.
"Master, your guest has arrived."
"Enter."
Edward opened my door with a subservient expression on his face and let Aurelia enter. Smirking like a cat she strolled in with light steps. After Aurelia had entered, Edward bowed deeply and closed the door behind her.
"Quite an adorable mansion you have here. I feel like a princess when I'm here."
"You seem awfully quirky today. Did you forget that we were ordered to restrain our presence as to not attract the government's attention?"
"No need to worry, Yellow has disabled all their equipment for 24 hours to make sure our meeting isn't interrupted."
She looked around the plain room a few times before she spoke again.
"So what have you been up to during the last few days? I can tell you've got yourself a capable subordinate who already completed the first transformation."
"You know, the usual. Descended into a lower realm, thought it was pretty okay, found out it's one of the worst picks I could make, and nearly got too involved to quit."
"Let me guess you've got a matriarchal realm this time."
"Primordial jungle with matriarchal tribes that is currently invaded by a patriarchal empire from another realm."
"Oh, that's rough. I have it far better, a good old kingdom and I already have possession of a whole merchant guild."
"Aurelia, we aren't supposed to get too involved until her Majesty has decided that we will stay."
"But the offer was far too good to pass up! I got the whole merchant guild and the former owner's daughter all for winning just one fight. And damn that daughter is a beauty!"
"What's her age?"
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said..."
"How old is she, Aurelia?"
"Age is just a number!"
"And pain is just a feeling."
"People are considered adults at 14 in that kingdom so..."
"Please tell me you don't have plans to bed a 14-year-old girl."
"No, she's 17 and her birthday isn't far off."
"Why didn't you say that from the beginning!"
"Why did you even ask? Do you question my moral integrity?"
"Yes!"
"Let's change the topic."
At 5:50 Red arrived, Rose came in five minutes later. We exchanged some pleasantries and waited for the others to arrive. The moment the clock struck six her Majesty and Yellow entered together. Now, all were present.
"Now shall we begin the meeting to discuss our future proceedings? Abel, what's your take on it?"
"Your Majesty, based on our current situation I believe we are faced with two choices. Firstly, we can retreat from this world since we have achieved our former objective. We have researched the lower realms quite thoroughly and will be able to deal with it should a world with such a feature appear in our territory.
"Our second choice is to stay and conquer this world. This in turn will lead to an inevitable fight with the light alliance once they break the seal and reenter this world. Such a conflict will be very destructive but I am sure we can achieve better results than last time where we only joined towards the end.
"If we were to take this world as ours's we would be the only ones in possession of the workings of the lower realms. Additionally, the number of resources in this world in manifold more than others due to its unique design with the lower realms."
"Thank you for the adequate summary of our situation but I'd also like to know which option you would suggest we take."