Galaxy's First Ruler

8 June 2021

Leavenworth, USA

The morning chill that Aldrich had been acquainted with throughout his life felt a little foreign.

Aldrich looked at the same old Guo Antique Shop sign, but he wasn't the same as before. In the distance, he saw Boomie waving his hand towards him. Aldrich took off his mask and put it in the Inventory. Before going back home, he needed a pleasant talk with Boomie. A change of clothes would be like cream on the cake.

"I brought you a set of clothes. You can't just show up looking like this, can you?"

There wasn't any talk of what, why, and when between Aldrich and Boomie. It almost felt like Aldrich had never been missing. After changing his clothes, Aldrich took out the Items from the briefcase and fed them to the Shadow Homunculus. Aldrich was quite pleased with the way Boomie's mouth had gaped at the sight of the squirming shadow.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Boomie, poking Aldrich's shadow from afar like lighting a cracker.

"It's an Item. It can eat other Items."

"Oh! so those were Items. Man! I think, only you can afford an Item that has such an extravagant appetite."

Aldrich briefly told him about the year-long dream and how he woke up. He also told him about the events that had happened in both of the Dungeons. But he left behind anything related to that place of Darkness and Shared Vision. Aldrich believed he knew little of these things as of now. It would be stupid to let others get involved in them. Especially those who he cared about.

"I knew if anyone could survive an event like the Night, it would be you. That's why I kept coming back to the mountains hoping to chance upon you."

"What's with you and Edmond?" Aldrich asked.

Aldrich heard Boomie sighing and knew that something must have driven him to tie up with a figure like that. As far as he knew, Boomie would never work for anyone, especially who he had not known of at all. And yet he got to know that Boomie was a major figure in the Blazing Royals Guild. Major enough to let him do as he pleases.

"Ah fuck! It all started with the first Random-Allocation. I was with Edmund and Matsumoto Sho there. And to tell you the truth, I was quite frustrated as I couldn't find you that week. So when I saw Edmund, I thought he would have an idea about how to bring you back. Hah! But I was wrong."

"Who were the others?"

Aldrich saw Boomie raising his eyebrows, not expecting this question.

"I thought you would ask, how strong are Edmund and Sho? Anyway, it was a girl named Annie, a brilliant Healer. And a guy named Logan, an Assassin type. Haven't met both of them ever since. We almost lost Annie in that Dungeon."

Aldrich remembered the details and put together the pieces of the puzzle. Aldrich wasn't concerned with how strong whoever was. If no one would try to force him to walk on a path he didn't want to, then Aldrich was more than happy to keep him to himself. But there was one thing that had troubled Aldrich about Boomie. He had his guesses about it, but he still felt the need to ask.

"Did you hear anything from the Government or the Guild? Are there any issues?"

"Haha! Al, you won't believe it. The old-timers thought I was there to kill you and earn myself some merits or something like that."

'As I thought.'

Aldrich looked at Boomie's Stats and thought about what must have led him to have this kind of Strength and Skills. There was no way the authorities would lose this kind of force over an unclear matter. Aldrich had got a good idea by now how well a country treats the top Dreamers. Just by looking at the privileges given to that Finola, he was sure that nothing unexpected would happen to Boomie. But he was still quite taken aback by the unnatural Stats compared to the others he had seen so far.

[…

Record of Boomie

Status: Healthy

Level: 18

HP: 810/810

SP: 965/965

MP: 296/296

Rank: Rare

Class: Frenzied Warrior, Blood Berserker

Title: One against Hundred

Attributes -->

Strength: 50

Defence: 60

Agility: 45

Vitality: 30

Perception: 20

Correspondence: 12

Active Skills -->

1. Battle Frenzy

2. Stamina Leech

3. Damage Absorption

4. Blood Rush

Passive Skills -->

1. Bloodlust

2. Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat Proficiency

3. Beginner Pole Proficiency

...]

Boomie's Stats immediately reminded Aldrich of the Crawler he had just dealt with. But aside from the accumulated Skills and Attributes, Aldrich wasn't surprised to see Boomie's Class. Aldrich made sure there wasn't anything wrong with Boomie's Skills and Title and took 3 Cigarettes out of the Inventory.

"Keep them with you. They can't help much, now that you are of Rare rank. But still, they are better than the Common Health Potion available."

Aldrich unequipped the Items and handed them to Boomie, who after checking out their data became serious.

"These are not randomly obtained Items. It's most probably a reward for Boss's level Quests."

"Oh! Our little Boomie is drawing inferences and pretty well at that."

The embarrassing smile washed away all the build-up seriousness on Boomie's face. Aldrich waited for Boomie to tell him the last thing he must have waited till now to do so.

"I am leaving the Guild. Let us make our Guild."

Aldrich sighed. Boomie was still Boomie.

"No. I want you to remain there until I figure out a few things."

Aldrich saw the ugly expression on Boomie's face, but this wasn't the moment of consolation. He put a hand on Boomie's shoulder and said, "Wait for my call. The time is not right yet."

There were many things that Aldrich needed to clear out before letting out his identity, if ever. Aldrich said goodbye to Boomie and walked back home. For some time, Aldrich wanted to forget about the Dungeons and the Crawlers. For some time, he just wanted to go back to being the same lazy Aldrich Guo. But the morning chill was yet to show any sign of warmth in remembrance.

Aldrich rang the bell and thought of what to say to his parents. He wetted his dry throat and a rueful smile came upon his face. His eyes became blurry and his nose felt itchy. Aldrich traced back the distant memories, but except for a few scenes of darkness, he couldn't remember anything. The Class Generalist helped him remember the knowledge he had accumulated but not anything else. He put his hand against the door with his head drooped down and looked at his feet.

"I... I can't even recall their faces."

Aldrich got rid of the air of melancholy around him as the door opened with a creaking sound. Aldrich saw the old smiling face of her mother and walked in.

"Mom, you didn't need to wait for me."

"Humph! Take a bath first, then we will talk about anything else."

"Ok, give me a few minutes."

Aldrich walked towards his room when the words from Mrs. Guo rooted him to the place.

"Son, you feel different."

Thousands of years of realization, mastering the Laws and facing the horrors against all odds. And yet, his heart couldn't help but ask the question.

Would the price be worth it?