Universe's End

It was a day later when Rory finally dragged himself back into familiar glades of shock yellow and electric blue, a presence landing upon him all but instantly as he appeared.

Tier Eight… Must be the Khan.

Rather than enter the mini-Ehkorrus, Rory waited further out, his arms folded over each other, as minutes later Apostlos appeared, jogging over with concern on his face.

"Are you okay?" They were the first words out of his mouth, causing the corners of Rory's mouth to quirk up with a half-smile.

"You think something like that would have been enough to do me in?" Rory asked, puffing his chest out like a preening peacock.

"Uh, yeah? Is that a trick question?"

"Bah, never mind," Rory snorted, instantly deflated. "To call it a close fight would have been lying, but I was able to make my escape as promised."

"You were hitting it with serious firepower," Apostolos said, pointing out the obvious.

"Yeah, wonderful," Rory said, rolling his eyes. "I burnt through ten percent of his life force; it only cost me just about every single weapon I've made since I hit tier seven, hell, even some from late tier six."

"What do you mean?" Apostolos asked, looking confused.

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know," Rory said, forgetting that the only one who would have known about this bit of discovery would have been Zoey. "Long story short, you can break the physical bonds of an item if you've got the intent nailed down, alongside an understanding of the item's conception to begin with. It's damn inefficient as a form of fighting, though. Remember, seven decades worth of items, poof, gone in minutes."

"Sorry," Apostolos said, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Why are you apologizing?" Rory laughed. All things considered, he was in a good mood. He'd known that he needed some spring cleaning of his inventory, and while it wasn't exactly the fashion he would have expected, his inventory was finally clean. "It was my idea to go that deep into its territory. I made a gamble that the Khan wouldn't notice us, or wouldn't care enough to get personally involved. Probably could have been more discreet, but ehh, it's whatever at this point. What I really care about is if you got the goods out."

"The hive? Yeah, the contents are safely within an Isolation barrier."

"Great," Rory said, grinning. "Going to be doing some serious experimenting with it."

"Mad science?"

"Mad pseudoscience," Rory corrected. "None of this is technically science by the definition."

Apostolos shook his head after a moment, trying his best to look like a stern adult but failing as his lips twitched in amusement. "I'm not sure what I gained from this entire debacle."

"Oh, come now, it wasn't a debacle," Rory said. "And you benefited from breaking the norm, you directly invaded the heartland of a tier eight Territory Alpha. That's got to add some gas to your ascension progress for at least a few months compared to your normal activities."

"But I didn't do anything,"

"Sure, little if any direct ascension energy was gained on your end," Rory said. "But what matters is the significance. Remember, Significance breeds Ascension, not the other way around."

"Hmm," Apostolos muttered, a contemplative expression on his face, before he shook his head a moment later. "If you say so. Anyway, tomorrow, come through to my home."

"A specific reason why?"

"My family is having our weekly dinner. Violet and I, of course, will be there. More importantly, our children and our grandchildren will be there. It's time you finally met them."

Suddenly feeling more nervous than when he'd been facing down a Tier Eight Territory Alpha, Rory began to fidget.

"You sure? What if they don't like me?" Rory asked, sounding like an anxious prepubescent boy.

"Are you a child, or the Lord Founder?" Apostolos rolled his eyes, punching his shoulder lightly. "My family is your family."

Leaving it on that note, Apostolos turned around, taking three steps before pausing.

"I've got some things to settle; I'm meeting with the current head of the Adventurer's Guild."

"We've got an Adventurer's Guild?"

"Yes, yes, we do," Apostolos said with a sigh. "Try not to go battle any more tier eights, would you?"

"Aye-Aye, Boss Man," Rory barked, bringing his hand up to his forehead in a crisp, mock salute.

Shaking his head, Apostolos left, muttering under his breath as Rory stifled an amused chuckle.

Christ, trying to play it cool like it wasn't apparent that he must have been waiting around for me to get back.

Watching him make his way to the teleportation temple, Rory finally dusted himself off, a habit of decades.

Right, time to find this isolation barrier.

Uncertain where exactly to look, Rory shrugged to himself, wandering into the midst of the miniature village. Within a minute, a rather frazzled-looking woman of barely five feet tall appeared.

"Lord Founder," The woman said, bringing her fists together in the salute that Rory still had no context for.

"Sasha," Rory inclined his head, recalling her name with perfect clarity, forcing himself to remember. "Thanks for taking time out of what must be a busy day."

"Oh, no, it's an honor!" Sasha said, shaking her hands and head. "Also, as soon as you were spotted wandering, word got sent to me rather quickly."

"Uh-huh," Rory nodded, mind already moving on to the prospective project. "So, question: Isolation Barriers. Where would I find them?"

"Oh, you must be after the item that the Chief Protector brought. We were informed that you managed to lead a successful raid against an antagonistic Khan, tier eight, and it still couldn't stop you!"

Err, right, let's move on with this.

"Well, yes, but that's a minor point," Rory said, waving it off.

What's that look for?

Her eyes only widened further, but not wanting to deal with it, he finally sighed.

"The Isolation Barrier?"

"Oh, right!" The woman clapped her hands as if she'd been jostled out of a reverie. "Follow me."

Doing exactly that, Rory was led to a building that looked much the same as the other buildings. It was only when he stepped inside that he noticed how thick the walls were. There wasn't much to see inside the building, just a collection of closed-off spaces with heavily locked doors. Leading him to the furthest door within the building, Sasha gave a quick wave at the door.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"In there, our maximum-security barrier. Bound Circle with a Grade A integrity rating."

"Thanks."

What's an integrity rating? Did they make that up, or did Eon come up with that?

Curious, Rory pushed the door open, the heavy door sliding open for him without a hint of resistance. Glancing back, he saw the woman still standing there.

"Uhm, you don't have to wait on me. You can go back to doing... whatever you were doing."

The woman bowed, of all things, before scurrying off.

Well, that was uncomfortable.

Putting it aside, Rory turned around, taking in the room. It was rather plain, a bound circle surrounded by runes, and a desk pushed off in a corner. Inside the bound circle was what could have been mistaken for a large sack with six spindly legs, a thick tube jutting out from the sack as well.

"My little precious," Rory whistled at the monster that appeared as if it were frozen in place.