Another Stupid Isekai

I slacked a bit as we were going home and stayed at the backline, looking for a good excuse to get away from the group. I guess I was lucky because it literally found me before I was able to spot it by myself.

It came in form of a muscular black man in a tank top, which left his shredded arms on full display. There were only a couple of people in the city center because most either went straight to the arena to watch or were sitting in pubs or even their own homes, watching the event n TV. Still, a few decided to hand around, and almost all of those people couldn’t ignore that guy, as he headed straight towards me. His name was Nil Sanders.

I was stunned, looking at him. For the rest, it took a moment to register him too. I stopped. My family did the same moment later.

– What the hell are you doing here? – I asked him.

He smiled at me, showcasing the rows of his perfectly white teeth.

– Guys couldn’t take it anymore so we decided to open a portal back – he said after getting close enough to just say it while not alarming everybody around us.

After all, it was still quite confidential info.

– So you didn’t get the fruit? – I asked, lowering my voice.

He nodded.

– We would need another couple of years – he confessed. – At first, it was easy, but when we got the seventh upgrade we had to invest more in ourselves to even think about hunting, and that slowed everything down significantly. What about you, did you get it?

– Yeah – I said shortly, then I turned towards my family. – I’m gonna grab a beer with Nil. Why don’t you guys go ahead without me?

– We have a bar in the basement – Celestine pointed out.

Tihana just shrugged her shoulders.

– Yes, but I haven’t been out in ages – I said to her.

She smiled at me.

– Fine – she said, but there was this weird tone in her voice.

Then she left. I rolled my eyes, while Nil had to fight with the massive smile on his face to not open his head in half.

– Shut up – I hissed at him observing my family getting away from us.

– It’s just funny, man – he said.

– Yeah, whatever. Let’s grab that beer – I responded.

He then waved his hand in a gesture directing me towards the local he probably just came out of. There was a busy place there, with large windows, and tables next to them. A good observation point if somebody wished to watch the city center, and that’s probably why he chose it.

Most people crowded around the massive TV handing on the wall above the counter and watching the tournament.

We got inside, got two glasses of pale ale, and sat down away from everybody else, but one of those windows.

– I fucking hope that you’d didn’t open that portal somewhere where people can see it – I said finally.

I was holding those words for a while, since I didn’t want anybody to hear them, and we had some people around us throughout the whole time before actually sitting down. Plus in the local we had the crowd adding some noise. Not to mention the loud-ass TV.

– Relax. I opened in a place, where only a few have access, and we already made sure to have it protected twenty-four-seven – he stated.

– Good. Put some barriers around it. If you can’t then I’ll do it. We don’t need some randoms going there, or even worse – I responded.

– Worse? – he asked, a bit surprised.

I shook my head.

– Nothing. A little trouble in the paradise, but we are dealing with it – I told him.

– Ok. So… What about the fruit? What did it do to you? – he asked giving me this excited smile.

– Just made me stronger than I used to be. No new power or anything like that… – for a moment I hesitated because the ‘Unknown Void skill’ got on my mind. In the end, I decided to keep it for myself. – I think it’s a more physical thing.

He shrugged his shoulders.

– Ok. At least I know what to expect. So… Why just the two of us here? Why not the bar in your house? That sounded a bit fishy to me – he pointed out with a smile.

– Cause I wanted to ditch them, but no word to anybody about that – I told him.

– Why? – he asked, keeping the smile up.

– It’s nothing – I responded, already having a Will sniffing around in my mind, which was something annoying. – No big deal. Anyway… Good to see you. How was it? Did you get stronger? And all of the other usual questions I should ask.

He chuckled.

– I did. Everybody did. Actually, we made a lot of progress the past year, because we decided to give up on upgrading the device, just hunt for ourselves, and then open the portal. By the way, how long since you’ve returned? – he raised his eyebrows.

– Just a few weeks. Even for me, it was a pain in the ass job. I actually retreat from consuming the fruit… I should have kept the city and gotten another seed, to then upgrade the second city with the crystals from the first one. It would have been faster in the long run – I explained.

– That’s something we also thought about. That’s also the reason I was looking for you the moment I learned you returned. I wanted to know about the fruit, but then I heard about the event, so I stayed away, hoping to catch you when you will go back home – he said.

– So… when did you return? – I asked.

– A few hours ago. This morning – he said.

We talked some more about the stuff that happened to him, and the stuff which happened to me. Eventually, I started looking more and more at the window because I was checking if Luis Martinez didn’t show his ass. He didn’t, unfortunately.

Even after we finished talking, I stayed to look for him. This time, though with a more discreet approach.