Re-Awakening: I Became a Pay To Win Boss Monster

Marlen stared at him for a few moments before letting out a sigh.

"Non-negotiable?"

"Of course not," Rael replied flatly. "If you want to survive, I need to know everything. Otherwise, I might make a giant mistake that will get all of us killed."

He narrowed his eyes.

"And before you get some funny ideas, just know that I can detect all lies. So it's in your best interest to be truthful," Rael added.

Marlen clicked his tongue. "Very well... do you truly wish to know?"

Rael nodded.

"Alright..." Marlen leaned back in his seat. "So you know how the Depths are a lawless place, right?"

"I wouldn't say lawless. The people seemed pretty civilized the last time I was there," Rael replied flatly.

"No, I mean as in the world laws. It's lacking them," Marlen corrected himself. "It lacks a few of the fundamental world laws that allow things like artificial magic to function... so, for example."

He reached into his inventory and took out some kind of quill.

Then, he began drawing a magic circle in the sky.

In the very next moment, a faint flame appeared in the place of the magic circle.

"This is the Law of Magic," Marlen replied. "Artificial magic, I might add. It's the kind scholars study and build theories around. Are you still with me?"

"Hmm... so you're saying because the Depths don't have any set laws, artificial magic doesn't work?" Rael commented. "So what about the Law of Death or something, if you die, do you respawn?"

"Nope. Shut up now," Marlen said flatly. "The role of the monsters in each of the continents is to represent an absolute law. The continent where I lived... I believe the Beast represented the Law of Death. As for the basic laws, each monster had the same ones which made it a bit easier for me."

He cleared his throat.

"Basically, he's like the grim reaper. He goes down, kills those who need to die, and comes back up," Marlen explained. "The other continents have something similar, and life in each one is different from the last."

Rael nodded, his interest rising.

So since the inner void, or rather, the Depths, didn't have laws, there were overpowered people who played the part of the law itself.

It was an interesting concept, though he didn't exactly know why they had to do any of that.

Still, he continued listening.

"So basically... each law is moderated. Meaning even the Law of Magic, which I had invested all my time and effort into so deeply, was nothing but a sham," Marlen grumbled. "The Law of Magic was broken because none of the monsters there truly cared about it."

"I studied for centuries and used the basic laws of each continent to craft my own artificial magic, and I believe you can guess what I did next, right?" Marlen asked.

Rael tilted his head. "So you used artificial magic to escape? All this… just to study real magic?"

"Indeed," Marlen replied. "Before I entered the Depths, I was an Archmage. I had knowledge of the arcane, and I was very proficient in other magical matters, but one day, the Depths took that all away from me. I spent centuries pouring everything I had into that magic, only to realize it meant nothing in a place where laws didn't even exist... but after a very long time, I escaped."

He straightened his back and let out a chuckle.

"So here I am, hiding like a rat so the monsters from the Depths don't come looking to kill me. Ironic, right?"

A moment of silence ensued, but it was soon broken by Zafira.

"Not at all... I believe I'm starting to get the bigger picture here. And I'm pretty sure you won't have to worry about being killed by them," she said. "The friend Rael made is none other than the daughter of the Beast who governs over the Law of Death... so naturally, you'll be able to work something out."

"On that note," Rael chimed in, "what kind of magic did you use exactly? You said normal artificial magic didn't work, so you created your own."

Marlen let out a sigh.

"Blood magic. It was based on the fundamentals of all the magic I'd studied, but with slight differences," he added. "I could channel my ideas of actual artificial magic through live blood, so I was able to simulate the Law of Magic, create a teleportation circle, and connect it to the closest one I could."

Rael raised a brow. "It's almost like you knew you'd be kidnapped."

"Not necessarily," Marlen replied with a shake of his head. "I used to travel between places a lot, so I had a few teleportation circles scattered across the worlds I visited. It just so happened that the Dralgur Continent had a few shiny relics in the past, so I collected them and used them to open the Ancient Portal and return home."

Rael's head spun with everything he'd just heard.

"The Ancient Portal leads to your home world...?"

"Mhm." Marlen nodded. "It's extremely large, probably ten times the size of the world where I found those relics. It's basically a gateway to a higher world, if that makes sense."

"But why collect the relics and not just... teleport out?" Zafira asked, puzzled. "You were able to teleport out of the Depths, so why not—"

"There was nothing blocking me from teleporting into the continent, but there was something blocking me from teleporting out," he replied flatly. "Anyhow... I've explained myself, so I'd really like to speed this along now."

"How long can you stay in this shop?" Rael asked.

"As long as I want, I suppose, but life here isn't very exciting since I don't know anybody," Marlen replied. "But I can wait as long as you want me to, if that's what you're getting at."

Rael nodded.

"I'll contact you after my friend comes back."

With that, Rael stood up, and so did Zafira.

The two began walking toward the exit, but that was when Marlen cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"So about that libido nuke... are you still interested?"

"..."

"..."