This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange - Chapter 559

Chapter 559: Chapter 559: “We Were Gone for How Long?”
Soon enough all of their team members, including Malzahir had regrouped in a private room. Not only to say their goodbyes but also to exchange information.

After all, when they had left the Empire, the Abyss was a real threat to everyday life. Not to mention that even before the Abyss there were terrorist attacks and a secret organization kidnapping civilians to experiment on.

With the turmoil and unrest in the Empire seeming to grow daily, one could only imagine how many major events had occurred since they were gone.

After all, they had been stuck in that relic for several months, right?

“Actually no,” Zareth said upon questioning from Lina about how the Empire has changed since they were gone for months. “According to the staff I spoke with, It took us between 5-7 days to travel each way due to variables in our travel time, and we had been away for only 20 days in total.”

…?

’20 days…that makes absolutely no sense.’

Everyone else must have also looked equally confused because Zareth elaborated. “It can be easily confirmed once you go back so there’s no reason to lie. But it seems that despite all of the time we experienced inside of the relic, only about a—maybe not even that long—has passed in reality. Which in a sense is reasonable, thousands of years had passed since those ruins were built and yet we were still able to find relatively intact objects that only lacked a charge. Considering that the ultimate goal of the ruins seems to be the preservation of various species and their heritage, it seems like a large amount of energy in that relic was used to slow down the passing of time. However, due to the weakening of various sigils, the effect is likely not as good as when they were first made, but it has still slowed down the passage of time by seemingly around 15 to 20 times.”

Silence. Likely to fill the awkwardness and perk everyone up, Zareth tried to alleviate the atmosphere, “The Order is considering opening it up as a new training ground. The time difference would accelerate the supply of high-level forces to the Empire. Not to mention, since only three weeks had passed in reality, you all can more easily get back to your normal lives.”

Kain exchanged a glance with Serena and said under his breath to her, “I guess this means we’ve lost any hope of breaking the record for the biggest ranking drop in school history.”

When they’d first begun the mission, they’d still had around 2 and a half months until the next Re-ranking.

Now they were finding out that only 20 days had passed. Meaning that they still had more than a month—1 month and 3 weeks specifically—to prepare for the re-ranking they’d thought was already a done deal.

A look of schadenfreude appeared on Kain’s face, “My apologies in advance for having to be downgraded to the rank 2 position” He said while giving Serena an obnoxious pat on the shoulder in faux comfort. After all, he was now a full level higher than her and, by the time of the re-ranking, aimed to have most, if not all, of his contracts breakthrough. For the first time ever, he was the stronger party if one only looked at the cultivation level.

Serena merely rolled her eyes while slapping away the hand trying to ‘comfort’ her.

However, despite Kain’s wishes she didn’t look worried at all.

“Since 3 weeks had passed, there have been a couple of major events but not too much has changed. You can find out what interests you when you all head back home.”

Zareth’s summary seemed to mark the end of the conversation, and one by one, people began shifting, stretching, mentally preparing to return to their own paths.

“Well…” Pete said, standing up and stretching his large body. They’d only been back a day and his form was already much chubbier than when they’d first arrived. “It was a nightmare. But thanks for not letting me die, I guess.”

“Same,” Lina added, arms crossed but lips twitching into a sad smile, likely thinking about Jamie. “It was awful, but… not the worst crew I’ve run with.”

Zareth gave a slight bow. “I’ll be submitting a full report to the Order. Hopefully, we can work together again—”

“Ahem,” Kain cut in. “I think it’s a little soon to be discussing going on another mission.” Not to mention they were in separate divisions. A mission requiring both the Pathfinders and Starchasers again can’t be easy…Kain naturally had little desire to work with him again.

Sensing this, Zareth smirked faintly, unoffended.

As the farewells began in earnest, Malzahir gave everyone a crooked, tired smile. “Don’t take this the wrong way…but I hope I never have to see any of you again.” He said in stuttering but relatively fluent Imperial tongue.

Pete gave him a mock salute. “None taken. I don’t particularly enjoy being thrown up on.”

Now that Kain thought about it, Malzahir had been right behind Pete when they’d first teleported, and Pete’s shirt did seem to have been changed…

Malzahir muttered. *”Teleportation should be illegal.”*

Eventually, the trio peeled off from the rest. Malzahir was soon led away by an assistant from the teleportation bureau to wait for them at the departure area since he wasn’t permitted to wander around. Meanwhile, Kain and Serena made use of their newly acquired credits to purchase what they needed.

They moved efficiently.

Materials were sorted into categories. Bea, having evolved, no longer required anything. Aegis and Queen, however, did.

Thankfully, as a red dragon, Vauleth was likely not yet close to a bottleneck, although much of his profile had been weirdly censored, so Kain couldn’t be 100% sure.

They met Malzahir again in the same waiting chamber they’d used after their first arrival. He looked a little less uneasy at being alone in an unfamiliar place—less pale, slightly less twitchy—than when they’d first arrived. When he saw them, he perked up.

Soon enough, the final clearances were given. The runes activated, the silver circle lit beneath their feet, and a familiar sense of warping displacement overtook them all.

And when it cleared—they were back. Back in Dark Moon City

They were home.

“blarrrrrggghhhhhh!”

Unfortunately, the happy moment was ruined by the sensation of something smelly, warm and wet suddenly hitting his back.