Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 525 And thus, the Story starts...

1 HOUR LATER.

With the effects of the paralysis still intact on their bodies, Alex, Alina and Queen Mother had no choice but to stay still. It was only when one more hour has passed by that they regained their ability to move.

"Sigh... speaking from my mouth does feel much better compared to mind talking. It stretches all the things that needs to be stretched..." These were the first words that Alex uttered after he bolted up from his spot. "Of course mind talking it also fine, but that’s already too boring for me..."

"..."

Alex looked like he had already adapted to everything around him, making him look like the same, confident Alex that his allies were used to see.

In his eyes however, some tinges of tension could be seen, which was undoubtedly caused by his current dilemma.

"I’m hungry again." Alina muttered from the back as she patted her skirts and blouse. She seemed to be not that worried about their current situation, which might have been caused by her desire to eat more.

This attitude by Alina was just ignored by Alex, as there was no changing it already.

"..." Queen Mother on the other hand was only silent, with her not talking at all even at this point. She appeared to be a little... out of it, with her joints looked like they were stiffened from lack of use, and her elegant gait from before replaced by erratic, unsightly trembles.

These movements made Queen Mother look more like a robot that a sentient being, a sight that made her allies frown.

"Professor Frances, I think you should stay close to Queen Mother for now. Her act of turning herself into her original form seemed to have some backlash to her, specifically in her mental faculties." Alex said, pushing the professor towards the robotic tree woman. "With our expertise, you’re the one who can help her out the most...."

"What? I have to babysit someone again? Sigh, you’re making me look like a support character here!" The professor said, with her face having an unwilling look placed on it. "When can I even have my action? I am supposed to build an army, not rule a small group of monsters and take care of sick people!"

"Don’t be that salty, professor. Queen Mother’s backlash could only last around a few days, so there’s not a lot of time wasted there." Seeing the professor’s disinterest, Alex could only sigh as he tried to persuade her. "As for your army, don’t worry about that. Now that we are here in this world, you can pretty much take everything and use it to your whims! So just be patient, and that army of yours will be created too!"

"...."

Alex’s persuasion seemed to have worked, as Professor Frances began pulling Queen Mother along with her. However, Professor Frances suddenly said something to Alex at this point, which made the latter look at her awkwardly.

"....You’re saying that this world can make me have my fearsome army? Fine, I believe you. But how can you make that happen, when you can’t even get out of this house?" Professor Frances said, with her right arm slung over Queen Mother’s exposed shoulder. "When I talked to you earlier, you said that you have a plan regarding our situation. Where’s that plan then?"

"....Just wait and see, Professor Frances. I will eventually get out of this house, but before that, I must see someone else come out first." Alex replied succinctly as he seemed to be unfazed by Professor Frances’ barbed comment. "As long as that woman comes out of her house, then my plan can start to unravel..."

"That woman? Are you... referring to that bit- Delia?" Upon hearing Alex’s reply, the hungry Alina was sucked in by Alex’s words, prompting her to talk to him with irritation. "Alex, I thought you were done with that woman. Why are you waiting for her then?"

"!!!"

Alina was clenching her fists as she said these words, with her suppressed Dark Magic suddenly coming out in full force from her body.

"Hong~"

Her Dark Magic, which Alina had already improved up to the Fifth Stage, has created a menacing creature that began glaring at Alex in full force.

This creature’s size and appearance made it look like a being of nightmares, with only the monsters of the Abyss Realm looking worse. Its body made it look like it was about to die and rot at the same time, a sight that is not really that pretty to anyone.

"..."

Such kind of monster was glaring at Alex now, with the latter only silent as if the monster staring at him was no big deal at all.

"..." Alex did not cower or step back from the glare that he received. Instead, he chose to stare back at the creature, with his eyes adapting an extremely mocking look.

"..."

"..."

"...."

This action by Alex seemed to have surprised the creature a little, although this surprise was buried quickly by all the negative emotions that existed in the creature’s body. This allowed the creature to stabilize itself, allowing it to glare at Alex again.

Alex of course did not hold back on his staring, which resulted on a stare-off that could last forever.

"...."

The stare-off between Alex and the creature started to become so long, that in the end, Alina was forced to talk to the two already.

"Alex, that b*** already said that she will kill you when she is given a chance. Since she said that to you, then you must not try befriending Delia anymore!" Alina shouted, with her creature shaking greatly just at the mention of Delia’s name. "In the end, she will always be up to no good against you!"

"...."

In face of the clearly pissed Alina, Alex began to sweat a little as he realized that the innate dislike between Alina and Delia was much more deep-seated than he expected.

Alex just mentioned Delia’s name, and Alina was already acting like this! What more could happen if these two would see each other again? Will a bloody battle happen?

"Tsk, I am not sure why, but I think those Divine Sensory Organs are doing something to mess with Alina and Delia’s heads..." Alex thought to himself somberly as he smiled in front of Alina. "Those things were the ones that Delia and Alina have in common, so these organs must be the reason for their behaviors! But why would these organs make these two like that?"

Since he still had no answer to this question, Alex placed the matter about the Divine Sensory Organs at the back of his mind. For now, he still has a woman to calm down.

"..."

Alex tried to make himself look as amiable as possible at this point, in a hope to quell Alina’s unleashed wrath.

This seemed to have worked, as Alina suddenly dispelled her dark magic away.

"...."

As the nightmare creature disappeared and the darkness of the whole room began to subside, Alex decided to continue talking in order to placate Alina.

"Alina, I am not planning to team up with Delia. I was just... trying to see what she will do in this situation. That is all." Alex said sincerely, with him grabbing the woman’s hands tenderly. He made sure to caress them as he talked, which he coupled with some sweet words that he had prepared for situations like this.

In no time at all, Alina’s hardened face was softened by Alex’s actions, making her anger from earlier look like it did not exist. What was only left was her usual stoic face, which was now dyed by a little blush on her cheeks.

"...If that is what you plan, then fine, I have no problem with that. But if you ever try to make that woman talk to me again, you will be the first one that I will smack." Alex’s sweet notions was able to make Alina calm down, but she was still adamant about not getting near to Delia. "Do you understand that, Alex?"

"I understand." Alex replied quickly while nodding his head. "So, you said that you’re hungry? Hehe, let me coo-"

"Hey hooman! I can see a Rookie Traveler leaving his house! Come here, quick! Watch this!" Out of nowhere, the silent fairy Asteria suddenly shouted these words, which made Alex almost jump up from surprise. "What are you waiting for hooman? If you want to know what happens when a Rookie Traveler leaves his house, then this is your chance to know!"

After saying these, the small fairy suddenly grabbed Alex’s hair, pulling them along with her as she attempted to drag Alex away. Such actions made Alex almost curse out again.

"The hell are you saying? You saw a Rookie Traveler leaving his house right now? Where the hell did you even see a Rookie Traveler leaving his house? You’re not even outside the house yet!" Alex muttered in complaint as he rubbed the side of his ears rapidly. He was somewhat unhappy at this point, especially when he saw that Asteria was still doing her best to pull his hair.

"Are you stupid, hooman? You’re asking how I saw a Traveler leaving now? Hmph, ,I just watched it through the window!" Asteria panted as she pointed her feet towards the windows that were gathered around the walls. "Oh my goodness, don’t tell me you didn’t even think of that? Those windows are transparent, you know. If you look through them, you can see the outside..."

"..." This answer by Asteria made feel Alex somewhat embarrassed, as he realized that the fairy actually had a point.

"Since this is a house, of course it will have a window that I can use to look outside. Ugh, that’s just common sense, and I did not even think of it? Sigh, I must have been getting rusty now..." Alex thought as he did his best to keep his embarrassment in. "Tsk, this fairy will surely use this to make me feel ashamed in the future..."

These thoughts made Alex shake his head wryly, as he knew that someone like Asteria will not be letting go of opportunities to call out Alex. Such case was happening now, although Alex was not interested on taking part of this farce again.

With a grace similar to that of a gymnast, Alex quickly moved his body as he decided to approach the windows around him. More specifically, he has decided to approach the window nearest to Asteria.

This window just looked like any other window. It was made of glass and it appeared to be fragile. However, a series of runes were etched on its edges, which seemed to have made the window turn stronger.

This appearance of the mirror made Alex feel fond of it, although that was not the reason that he chose it.

Since this window was the one that Asteria was looking at earlier, then this must have been also the window where she saw the departing Rookie Travelers. So if Alex wants to see what happens to this Rookie Traveler, then he must look through this window too.

"...."

Seeing that Asteria did not stop him from his approach, Alex hastened his movements, allowing him to reach the window in just two steps.

Once he arrived, Alex quickly focused his attention on the window’s body, which was transparent enough to show the happenings just outside his house.