Arthur walked through the Territory of Blood, Gaia once again resting upon his shoulders. He pointed out where everything used to be and how the vampire's takeover had changed things. Some streets were entirely different, while others still maintained a semblance of their former charm.

  Finally, he came upon his former house.

  “We left the place untouched out of respect for you. A reminder of our mistakes,” Lestor explained.

  Artur let the empty platitudes wash over him, in one ear and out of the other. Where his house had once stood now resided a pile of rubble, tinged red from the Bloodbeast's initial explosion.

  Alyssia whistled appreciatively. "These vampires really did a number on your house, didn’t they. Remind me to call them whenever I want a demolition job done.”

  Iris approached the pile of rubble, trance-like in her gait. Her eyes were trained forward, but Arthur could tell she was looking somewhere far away. “I saw this place for the first time four years ago. When I came to Earth, it was the first place I sought out. Propriety prevented me from just letting myself in. Now, I’ll never get to see it.”

  “I think you're being a little dramatic, Iris,” Arthur chuckled. “These houses are a dime a dozen. The construction company that made it built thousands of them across the US.

  Iris smiled sadly. “But it was your home, wasn’t it. How much did you struggle to make it yours? You would have been content to spend the rest of your days here, wouldn't you?”

  Arthur couldn’t find the words to reply to such a poignant statement. Alyssia, thankfully, never suffered from such a problem. “He’s got a magic house now, Iris. He can make a perfect replica of his old one if you want to see it so badly.”

  Iris sighed. “I guess I’m just sentimental. I wanted to see the real thing.”

  Alyssia snorted. “Your fault for being such a goody two-shoes. I broke in and scooped out the house before I officially visited Arthur.”

  Now that was certainly news to him. He raised a questioning eyebrow at the alverin who didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. “What?” she replied. “I didn’t even know you properly at the time. There were fifty-fifty odds that you were a powerful noble scion role-playing a talented commoner. Those types always have a screw house.”

  Artur shook his head wryly. “Let's just get this over and done with. I’ve only got eight minutes left before my body shuts down.”

  Lestor’s eyes widened in surprise at the admission of weakness, though he didn’t say anything. Poor guy's probably regretting agreeing to my conditions so quickly. Arthur had no idea how The House of The End would interact with The Territory of Blood. Was his Soul Splinter strong enough to contest the natural Territory's influence? Would it coexist or be subsumed?

  Going by size alone, he was outmatched. His Soul Splinter covered 81 square miles as opposed to the Territory of Blood, which he suspected was nearing 300. He wasn’t sure what boons the Territory granted the vampires, but he was pretty sure he had it beat there at least. After all, Earth was still a Tier 1 planet, and as such, couldn’t support a higher-tier Territory. The House of the End, on the other hand, possessed an ether density nearing peak tier 4.

  With no reason to delay, Arthur reached into his soul and pulled on his Soul Splinter. Getting it to eject one of its remaining seeds was intuitive, and slowly but surely, he could feel something emerge. It was like a mirage, a holographic replica of what his house usually looked like that manifested in his palm. Arthur instinctively raised his right arm to help hold it before remembering that his hand was still missing. Walking into the ruins of his old home, Arthur planted the seed onto the ground.

  The results were expected and immediate. Like a drain had been unplugged, all the ether in a thousand miles began flowing into the seed. The Territory of Blood resisted the pull for a second before it, too, began to supply its energy. Lestor watched the scene play out, a frown of distaste on his face.

  Finally, four minutes later, the energy drain ceased. In place of the seed, his new home stood. It looked nearly identical to its replica on Haadran, only this one had a slightly rural feel to it, foliage and vines covering a large portion of its walls. Arthur sighed in relief when the timer counting down his lease on consciousness disappeared. He'd succeeded.

  Arthur ignored the incredulous spluttering from Lestor and let the increased ether density wash over him. It soaked into his skin, suffused his flesh and revitalised his bones. Arthur grinned. "It's good to be home."

  ~~~

  The day following Arthur's return to Earth was incredibly hectic. Now that the Originator's name had been cleared. Everyone was in a rush to get back into his good books. He'd received hundreds of gifts, many of them from politicians who'd called for him to turn himself in when the Origin Hunt was first declared.

  Now that the ether density in the vampire's Territory had risen, they were preparing the ritual to bring their Blood Ancestor over, a man by the name Alphonse Nightshade, who he'd learned was level 327. He was powerful enough that Arthur was wary of facing him, even with the advantages his house gave him, at least until his beast form trait came off cooldown. Arthur was browsing through the System store when the door to his makeshift office burst open. He already knew who it was—it was impossible not to when someone entered the bounds of his house.

  Ayesha Murker grinned at him. "Long time no see, partner."

  Arthur chuckled. "We did make a business deal, didn't we? It feels like years have passed since. How has Earth been treating you?"

  Ayesha huffed and dropped into a chair that manifested beneath her. "The last two weeks have been the busiest in my entire life, no thanks to a certain someone. There is a silver lining to all the chaos you've caused, though. All the forces trying to establish themselves on Earth have backed off now. You got rid of all my competitors for me, which means you technically fulfilled the role I hired you for, even if you didn't lift a finger."

  Arthur smiled. "I always aim to please. At least now I don't have to feel guilty about taking the dragon core off your hands. I always felt a little bad that I'd swindled you."

  Ayesha groaned. "Yeah, I got into a lot of trouble for that. My dad went ballistic when he found out what I'd done. He's changed his tune now, though. My brother's getting all the shit instead, and I've turned back into his 'darling daughter' that was always gonna be a great businesswoman."

  Ayesha's father sounded like a prick, though the affectionate tone of her voice suggested he wasn't all bad, just a little too profit-focused. Arthur wouldn't blame the man. He'd go crazy too if Gaia gave away a dragon core to a random stranger she just met.

  "I didn't come here just to catch up with you, though," Ayesha said, pulling a letter out of her storage ring. "While you were off adventuring on Haadran, you received some mail from your friend Elizabeth, the gravity mage."

  "Liz wrote to me," Arthur said, his mood immediately lightening.

  "Yeah, your friend's been making a name for herself. The girl's a monster in her own right. If rumours are to be believed, and there are far too many to deny, then she's conquered 7 academy-owned Loci, setting new records for 3 of them. She'd also learned three concepts to late mastery and is working on her first Law, all before reaching level 200."

  Ayesha shook her head in disbelief. "Honestly, if it weren't for you and the Lich, this planet would have become a prime zone for scouting, if only for the off chance someone with Elizabeth's talent was discovered again. The damn girl has a dormant bloodline. You know how freaking rare those are."

  Arthur listened with rapt attention as Ayesha continued to describe Elizabeth's exploits. He'd never seen the woman so animated before. It seemed the stress of dealing with all her competitors had been grating on her more than he'd realised. Hearing about how great his childhood friend was doing was great, though he struggled to reconcile the Elizabeth of his memories with the badass mage Ayesha was describing.

  It was at that moment that an epiphany struck him. This was the safest Arthur would be in a while. The secrets of his existence had been aired out, and he'd been allowed to continue his life in the realm of the living. There was no longer any reason for him to avoid his old friends, though he wondered if they wanted anything to do with him anymore. Ayesha seemed to read the expression on his face, and her excitement died down.

  "I have some bad news for you too, Arthur," she said quietly.

  Arthur felt a pit open up in his stomach.

  "The assassins you spared went after Mathew during their hunt."

  The air in his Territory suddenly became suffocating, hundreds of vampires shivering as dread washed over them.

  "Don't worry, he's still alive," Ayesha said, raising her hands. "Next time, I should probably lead with that. They hurt him pretty bad, though, and it granted him a very, very, rare title. Rare enough that it gained him the attention of Larthorn."

  Arthur recognised the name. He was the one who'd been selected to oversee the Origin Hunt.

  "Larthorn granted him the opportunity to dive into a magic orb he'd found while excavating. Not sure exactly what it is, but apparently completing the test inside it will grant you a powerful skill. Interestingly enough, that orb is the exact reason Larthorn came to Earth and got caught up in all your chaos. You can see what I'm getting at, right?"

  Arthur nodded. "One coincidence we can brush off. Two, and we have a pattern."

  "I'll get Iris to look into it, but I think this opponent's out of her league."

  "Don't," Arthur said, unclenching his jaw. He hadn't even realised he'd had it tensed for the past minute. He recalled the advice Ezrial had given him.

  "What do you mean? Are we going to do nothing?"

  Arthur nodded. "This is all just speculation now. We have no concrete facts. Whatever she might have you believe, The Weaver is no god. She might be responsible for some of this, but my gut's telling me we're jumping at shadows here. Sometimes, reality weaves stories more unbelievable than fiction."

  Arthur cracked his neck. "If this indeed is Lady Makora's game, though, I will teach her in time how grave a mistake she made. Hell, Wovan's been pestering me to eat her ever since we met. There's only room for one Weaver in this universe, and last time I checked, Makora isn't an Ender."

  Links to the audiobooks.

  Etherious: Originator

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  Here

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  Patreon is available with access to 8 advanced chapters.