Takeshi wandered the small cabin, taking in his new surroundings. The living room was modestly furnished with a worn, slightly lumpy couch draped in a strange green animal fur. He couldn't identify what kind of creature it came from, but its texture was both rugged and soft.
Just a few steps away sat a fireplace, its blackened logs reduced to faintly smouldering charcoal. The lingering, smoky scent of burnt wood wasn't unpleasant—it reminded Takeshi of winters spent in Hokkaido.
He paused, inhaling deeply. Memories of snowstorms and cozy evenings with his grandparents flooded his mind. Back then, they'd huddle around a fire, and his grandmother would patiently teach him how to knit.
He used to despise the activity as a restless child, always seeking something more exciting. But over time, he grew fond of it, finding peace in the rhythmic motion of the needles. A small smile flickered across his lips before fading, replaced by a twinge of melancholy.
Shaking off thoughts of the past that seemed to cling onto him like stubborn hooks, he raised his eyes to a picture frame over the fireplace, it detailed a little girl and a middle aged woman with wrinkles. 'Mollie and her mother or maybe her grandmother I'm guessing'
Overall there wasn't anything too notable and he moved on with his exploration towards the kitchen.
The kitchen was practical and straightforward, with all the essentials. A stove and oven powered by a floating fire mana stone occupied one corner, while a refrigerator emanating a faint chill from its icy mana stone counterpart stood nearby. The cabinets were well-stocked with herbs, spices, pots, pans, and neatly arranged cutlery.
Moving on, he inspected the bedroom he'd been offered. Like the other rooms, it was simple and unremarkable. A single bed with plain linens, a closet, a wooden desk, and a small window completed the space.
Mollie's room was across the hall, but Takeshi didn't even glance toward it. He wasn't the type to invade someone's personal space without a good reason, plus the situation didn't constitute him taking such for now.
After a brief five-minute survey of the cabin's layout, Takeshi settled on the living room couch, pulling out The Encyclopedia of Ender. The section on "Foreign Demons." had piqued his interest since earlier in the library and now was as good a time as any to satiate his curiosity.
Flipping to the relevant chapter, he began to read. 'Lets see what this is all about'
-xxx-xxx-
30 minutes later.
"Hey, the shower's free now," Mollie's voice broke through his focus.
Takeshi blinked, startled. He looked up to see Mollie standing beside him, her hair wrapped in a towel and another towel draped around her lean frame. Her damp skin carried the sharp, clean scent of lime.
Her figure was undeniably attractive but in Takeshi's eyes, it wasn't just a matter of being way older than her but his preferences didn't align.
He preferred someone taller, muscular and towering over him. So, his gaze remained steady, unbothered, as he closed the book and used the attached fabric strip to mark his place.
"Do you have any spare clothes I can borrow?" he asked, his tone neutral.
"Oh, yeah I forgot you lost your luggage right?" Mollie snapped her fingers as she disappeared into her room. Moments later, she returned with a neatly folded black T shirt and a pair of jeans.
"These used to belong to my grandfather. But he's been gone for decades so I'm sure he would've liked it if it were to be worn instead of being left unused, the size should fit you."
"Thanks." Takeshi accepted the clothes with a small nod, along with a towel Mollie had tucked underneath. He rose from the couch and made his way to the bathroom as he mulled over what he had learnt from his reading.
The bathroom was small but functional, with a tub, a simple sink, a shower head and a mirror. Takeshi quickly undressed, tossing his dirty clothes into a corner.
As he stepped under the shower, he let the warm water drench him, washing away the grime of the day. The lime shampoo on the shelf was the only option, so he used it . A pumice stone sat in the corner, which he used to scrub himself clean before rinsing thoroughly.
Once finished, he filled the tub with lukewarm water, letting it rise nearly to the brim. Sliding into the bath, he let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. But his thoughts soon drifted back to the book he'd been reading.
Foreign Demons. Otherworlders. Freaks not from this dimension. True monsters. Whatever you want to call them, they share one undeniable trait: they don't belong here. These beings are outsiders—entities from realms beyond Ender.
Takeshi found the opening sentence interesting as his guess earlier in the library solidified what this section of the book was going to be about.
The author, Heather Kashic, described how foreigners like himself came from a variety of worlds, some with magic, some without. Regardless of their origins, all foreigners were bestowed with a "Foreign Blessing" upon arriving in Ender—a miraculous power unique to each individual. Unlike the "Racial Blessings," which only one person per race could possess at any given time, Foreign Blessings were unpredictable and varied greatly.
Takeshi's own blessing—a modifiable forcefield that could transform into barriers of his design—reflected his self-serving nature, something he wasn't ashamed to admit.
He couldn't help with sigh with relief when he got to this part, since blessings come in all shapes and sizes it would make identifying foreigners extremely hard unless they out themselves or did something out of the norm.
Another passage detailed the strange, shared experiences of those transported to Ender. Every foreigner reported seeing a massive, unblinking eye in the sky just before arriving. Theories about this eye were rampant, but none were conclusive.
One theory that had a lot of heads nodding was where the speaker hypothesised that while it may not be conclusive since there are a lot of races in Ender and it's many realms but that the number of Racial Blessing Holders and Foreign Blessing Holders usually are similar in numbers or close to it.
Giving rise to thoughts about why that is the case, was this meant as a way to counter and balance the blessing holders of Ender, if so why was that the case? After that it was just more speculation on top of another as no one really knew anything.
But it wasn't just the origins or blessings that Takeshi was interested about, but the opinions on Foreigners, which he would find weren't too friendly.
One foreigner named Genip Filer enslaved multiple races from behind the scenes with a mind based blessing and waged countless wars that created oceans of blood and tragedy, eventually though he was killed by a Necromancer who had been scheming and making use of the situation.
Another, Jasmine Abdul, had created an exponentially expanding forest that consumed everything in its path, forcing the elven race to burn it to the ground with the help of a crimson dragon.
But the most infamous foreigner was Adalin Quinn, known as "The Blood Moon." Her blood-based blessing had allowed her to massacre thousands of races and wipe out hundreds of realms inside of Ender. The Death Archive—an organisation that recorded such atrocities—ranked her as the 51st greatest mass murderer in history. The sheer scale of her destruction was incomprehensible to Takeshi.
She slaughtered so many that five thousand zeros would be a low ball estimate of the total death count.
And yet, she wasn't even the worst. The number-one spot belonged to Evos Briede Wilinder, a demon who unleashed a millennium-long curse that plunged Ender and the outside realms into darkness.
'How big is this world?' Takeshim wondered, his mind reeling. 'How can anyone survive in a place like this?'
The reading enlightened not only of how incomprehensibly of a behemoth of a world he was dumped into but how terrifying it was. Who's to say that he won't just die the next day or minute while in the bath when such bullshit like destruction was possible and you couldn't even complain unless you somehow survived it.
It truly put into perspective how insignificant he and many others were, he was just luckier than the average because he got a blessing.
The book painted a terrifying picture of Ender—a world where survival was a constant struggle, and power often led to devastation. Takeshi's resolve hardened. He refused to be another nameless victim in this incomprehensibly vast and dangerous world.
He revised the information in his head and brainstormed ways to navigate the world he was in now that he truly got a better idea of it.
"Hey! You good in there?" Mollie's voice snapped him back to reality. "You've been in there for almost an hour!"
"Yeah, I'm fine! Just got lost in my thoughts. I'll be out in five!" he called back, realising how much time had passed.
Draining the tub, Takeshi dried himself off and dressed in the oversized T-shirt and jeans Mollie had lent him. When he stepped out, Mollie was waiting with a raised eyebrow.
"You sure took your time," she remarked.
"Just thinking about what I read," he admitted with a shrug.
"That thick encyclopaedia? Must've been interesting."
"It was… enlightening, to say the least," Takeshi replied, his tone more serious than he intended.
Mollie's expression softened. "Well, try not to get too lost in your head next time. I don't want to find you drowned in the tub like some wrinkled old prune."
"Haha, don't worry. I'll keep track of the time," he replied with a small chuckle.
"Good. Anyway, are you up for helping me in the slaughterhouse later? I kept some of the wolves from the hunt for my inventory."
"Sure. I've got some experience," Takeshi replied.
"Great. I'll see you in a few hours," Mollie said with a nod before disappearing into the kitchen.
Hours later, the two of them approached the shed behind the cabin. Takeshi wrinkled his nose as the metallic tang of blood hung heavy in the air.