After a brief but polite greeting, Mayra escorted him out of the room. They entered a short, semi-cylindrical corridor. The interior had white walls and a neat, slightly worn wooden floor. There were rows of benches on either side, and at the other end, opposite the door he had entered, were another two doors, between which stood a huge statue.

  “Please wait a moment. Someone will come for you, sir. Well, actually… Since you’re going to join us, we don’t need to be so formal, so let me rephrase that. Someone will come get you.” said Mayra, smiling encouragingly and pointing to the right row of benches. Although the smile looked genuine, Orion couldn’t help but consider the possibility that it was put on to prevent him from changing his mind and running away. However, at that thought, he remembered Zaiah, who had told him that people within the Guild generally treat each other friendly.

  “Thanks. In that case…” Orion replied with his usual formula, saying to call him Ori, and then mirrored the smile. If her gesture was sincere, the woman will simply assume he was sincere too and won’t sweat about it. But if she was trying to achieve something with it, she’s most likely wondering what he meant now, so checkmate, because he didn’t mean anything! However, there was a third option. If he overinterpreted all that, then he was just smiling like an idiot… so, here too, everything’s in check.

  He took a deep breath and sat down on the bench to his right, feeling his nerves slowly getting the better of him. Despite making a definitive decision, he still felt uneasy. Somewhere in the back of his head, he felt like he was about to get caught again just to be experimented on.

  After some time, he was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a door opening, but it came from the left. An unknown person entered the room, led once again by Mayra.

  “Please wait a moment. Someone will come for you, ma’am.” she said, pointing to the left row of benches, and then left. Orion noticed that this time she didn’t continue or take on such a friendly appearance, and the feeling emanating from her was also a bit colder. So he concluded that the guest who was brought in probably wasn’t here to join the Guild.

  The person Mayra brought was of a race he hadn’t seen before, but in a way, she reminded Orion of Olympia, being a humanoid bird. Her feathers were completely black. Her head and significantly more massive beak resembled a raven’s. Much larger wings made it seem as if she were capable of flight, but her feet, unlike Olympia’s, were most likely human, judging by the shape of the shoes she was wearing.

  And although the owl woman he knew was usually seen in battle attire, this woman’s clothing suggested a profession unrelated to combat, instead resembling a messenger’s robes somewhat. Most of it was covered by a dark navy coat adorned with embroidered cloud patterns in bright, contrasting colors, but as she moved, Orion could also see a shiny black blouse and a long skirt. She emitted a rather complex aura that he couldn’t quite associate with anything specific, as if it were composed of many subtle aspects blending.

  The raven woman, noticing his gaze, tilted her head, making her even more birdlike. Not wanting to stare too long, Orion simply nodded in greeting and turned his gaze to the statue, which also intrigued him. It depicted a giant, muscular man. He stood upright, hands in front of him, resting on a chest-length weapon that resembled a mace but with blades extended from the tip to the handle.

  His torso was bare, and he wore a leather covering with a fur trim around his hips. The statue, in its detail, showed skin decorated with hundreds of scars. When Orion’s gaze fell on the head of the immortalized man, he saw a mostly human face, but it had a pair of protruding fangs under the lower lip, similar to those of Eyharnis, only much larger. His short, messy hair suggested he most likely didn’t bother combing it. The man’s stone eyes vividly portrayed his determination in countless battles and the losses he suffered along the way.

  “Are you joining the Guild or filing a request?” he heard the question. Although the raven woman was definitely its author, Orion instinctively glanced around the room, considering the completely mismatched voice. It was melodic and delicate, carrying a certain curiosity within it.

  “Uhm.” he uttered, needing a moment to register the meaning of the question. “I’m joining.”

  The woman’s large eyes widened slightly when she heard the answer.

  ”Oh, really?” she said in a raised voice. “I’ve always been curious, what makes someone want to join? How is it with you?”

  “I… Uh… It’s kinda complicated.”

  “Oh, yes, yes. I’m sorry, it’s none of my business. I’m sure you’d like to meditate or do some of the other things that adventurers do. So I won’t take up your time. Thank you.”

  Orion, a little confused about the reason for the thanks, noticed that the woman pulled out a roll from her inventory. When she unfolded it in a horizontal position, he realized that it was most likely a variant of the scroll, so it looked like she was reading something. He didn’t mind answering, but he’d need a moment to even put it into words. Why was he really joining? Would she understand if he just said that he felt he had to? That that’s the way it was supposed to be? That a person should act like that?

  Once again, he was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a door opening, this time coming from the right. There was also another voice coming from the room, actually the voices of people who were having a lively discussion. Although it sounded more like a fight. The young man standing at the door looked at the document he was holding. He was wearing loose gray robes, under which dark gray pants were visible. He had a dark green scarf wrapped around his neck, which hung loosely over his graphite-colored vest embroidered with silver patterns. Rounded eyes and unkempt brown hair spoke volumes about his lifestyle.

  “I’m sorry, mate. Looks like our meeting’s gonna be a little late.” he said with visible shame in his eyes, pointing slightly to the interior of the room, from which the sounds of a quarrel were coming. Then he walked up to him, and in his hand appeared a shiny brown pyramid, which he then handed to Orion. “So as not to waste your time, please check this. It’s the story of the founder of the Guild. We’d like to hear your thoughts later.”

  “Sure… no problem.” he said, taking the item.

  The man then apologized to the woman too, saying that someone would come and take care of her as soon as possible. Then, sighing, he went back to where he came from.

  Orion looked at the woman for a moment and was surprised by the universality of the expression she had, one he probably had himself as well. Even though she didn’t have a human face, he recognized the awkwardness of witnessing a mean client that the Guild officials had to deal with.

  Then he turned his attention to the pyramid he had been given. On its bottom, there was a round indentation with a fingerprint pattern painted on it. By simply tapping on it, he saw a notification in front of him.

  [The object attempts to engage the user in the simulation. Harmfulness has been confirmed to be absent.

  Do you accept?

  Y/N]

  ***

  Orion hovered in the air above the primitively constructed camp. His clothes were being tossed about by violent gusts of wind, which also caused the chaotic flapping of the hides covering the tents and the ubiquitous presence of clouds of sand that obscured visibility. The land here was barren. Only occasionally could you see tiny plants struggling to survive, desperately trying to hold their roots in the gray, cracked soil, and even rarer trees resembling thin bamboo sticks.

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  The green, at least the one of vegetable origin, was not present below, but there was an abundance of that color above his head. However, the green skies here had nothing to do with the calming feelings that the color evoked on Earth. The clouds here were filled with acid and toxic gases. Just as Earth’s sky was limiting due to the impossibility of flight, here it guaranteed death.

  The little pyramid that was responsible for this view apparently had several built-in functions. One of them was intention-based activation, which meant he didn’t have to compromise himself with his negative mana control ability. The second function was world simulation, allowing him to observe events from a fixed perspective, and the third was the introduction of some information into his mind.

  Thanks to this information, he knew he was observing the V’Vaar tribe, which originated on one of the planets of the first universe.

  Beside the sounds of the wind blowing, in the distance he heard numerous shouts and laughter coming from the tusked mouths of green-skinned, humanoid creatures, who cheered others on during numerous fights. Below him, however, was the largest tent, from the interior of which a single woman’s scream could be heard.

  When it fell silent, another volley of shouts erupted.

  The chief’s first descendant was born.

  His position, however, did not guarantee him any privileges or special treatment. Like all newborns, he was dragged out of the tent and thrown onto the sand.

  With his umbilical cord still dragging behind him, the baby, covered in blood and birth fluids, crawled on the ground and sand. It was bigger than a typical human newborn. The limbs were more formed, and the muscles were already bulging beneath the green skin. Even though he had just won his first war, there was no time for a break. There was no peace.

  After crawling a few meters, the newborn was trying to get up. His first attempts ended in numerous falls. He tripped over his own umbilical cord more than once. More than once he lost his balance on still unstable legs. But his direction was clear. A single sticking-out sapling.

  An unsteady gait quickly turned into an attempt at running. The newborn tried different ways to move. Once he ran on his feet, and once he supported himself with his hands, like a wild animal.

  Orion spotted movement beneath him. Another green-skinned man came out of the tent. This one was bigger than the others. His robes, decorated with thick black fur and hanging with tusks and skulls, clearly indicated his position. A large axe was strapped to his back. He was carrying a primitive cage with a dog-sized creature inside. It was a bit like a rat, with longer limbs, bald, wrinkled skin and sharp fangs.

  The man threw the cage and kicked it, instantly breaking it. The creature, stunned by the sudden fall, was brought to obedience by another kick. Immediately, it set off in pursuit of the child.

  The newborn, reaching the sapling, threw himself on it. He saw what was coming, so he spared no effort. When attempts to break it failed, he grabbed the base with his teeth and, growling loudly, bit down. Struggling desperately, he bit off a piece of bark. Then another and another. When his time was up, shouting, he grabbed the top again and pulled. Due to the weight of the small body and the damaged base, the plant gave up and broke.

  Rolling with a long stick in his hands, he tried to regain his balance as quickly as possible. The creature was already leaping towards his throat, but the sharp, ragged end of the plant stopped it in flight, painfully piercing its stomach. The beast hitting nothing but air fell on its back. But the newborn didn’t wait. He struck again, charging the creature even deeper. Then, imitating the beast itself, he threw himself down its throat and bit it.

  His name was inspired by the growl he made while fighting. Karr V’Vaar Har’ghar has just finished his second war.

  Time sped up, slowing down just to show Orion individual scenes. It was through them that he learned what kind of race the Har’ghar were. Fighting was their reason for existence. Even in their mothers’ wombs, they took everything for themselves and treated nutrients as spoils of war. They could reproduce both with other races and by impregnating their own women. In the case of insemination by Har’ghar, there was no way for a woman of another race to survive.

  However, if the mother was also a Har’ghar, she was then at war. It was either her or the child. Karr was born from just such a pregnancy. The chief believed that if the child put up a hard fight from the start, it would become stronger.

  Of the several Har’ghar tribes, the V’Vaar were the most bloodthirsty. The other races living on this planet knew perfectly well that when Har’ghar met, there was only escape or death. Biologically adapted to war, they were stronger than anything they encountered on their path.

  Orion watched them attack the village of humanoid creatures.

  Karr was already the size of a grown man. He led a group that, amidst screams, raped, tortured, and murdered. He was just standing over the female whose legs he had severed. Another Har’ghar would have killed her by now or played with her for a while until she died in agony. In this condition, a child wouldn’t even have a chance to fight their first battle. Karr, however, just stared, frozen in place. It wasn’t the blade that stopped him , nor the raging flames of burning houses. He was stopped by the sight of a dying woman. The sight of life suffering.

  He was the only one who came back from the raid.

  He was declared a failure and covered in shame, allowing weaker races to massacre members of his team. But he did not correct them, nor did he explain himself. He didn’t speak at all.

  The next scene showed the interior of the tent, dimly lit by a burning torch, and the imposing silhouette of the sleeping chief. A man entered and approached the bed with a determined stride. The blade barely met any resistance as it cut through the throat. The leader, bulging, broke out of bed and tried to fight but was stopped. When he saw his killer, a shock appeared in his eyes, quickly replaced by anger.

  “We is pests.” Karr said to his dying father.

  His crime was quickly exposed, but he didn’t stop his crusade. After his father, it was the turn of his younger brothers and then other representatives of the V’Vaar tribe. When they were already at the brink of destruction, he moved against other tribes.

  The greatest traitor. The father killer. The war criminal. Karr held many such titles. That didn’t stop his iron will to slaughter all the Har’ghar. That was the only way to save other lives.

  Days, years, and decades; or their equivalents passed. Being just one person, he had to hide and plan, approaching each fight cautiously. The wounds adorning his body had long surpassed the healthy skin in terms of surface area.

  But he fought.

  He fought when he had no strength.

  He fought when the System came.

  He fought when the paths to other worlds were opened.

  Orion’s perspective shifted, now showing what Karr saw.

  Hundreds, thousands of green-skinned corpses, bleeding red blood.

  The next scene showed him hidden in the crown of the trees. He observed the village and the people living there. When the war horns sounded, panic seized the place.

  A wave of Har’ghar was approaching with an eternal intent to murder, and he moved to stand in their way. He fought a whole army alone. Although his power was whispered about with fear, increasingly dangerous wounds appeared on his body. Opponents fell dismembered under the blade of his axe, but his strength was waning.

  When the blade was heading straight for his face, it was stopped. To his surprise, he noticed that several people had joined him. A new surge of energy made him grip the handle tighter, and with a shout, he pressed on.

  “What’s your name?” asked the one-eyed man wielding two sharp rapiers. His breathing was still heavy, and he was leaning against a stone, not caring that he was lying on corpses.

  “I no have name, anymore. Thrown away.”

  The next scenes showed how he was hailed as a hero among the people. Although he was still haunted by occasional distrustful glances, he never paid attention to them. Now, another weapon was attached to his back to clearly convey that he had abandoned the typical Har’ghar traditions.

  The sound of clinking tankards and loud laughter accompanied a rather unusual scene. The long-eared woman was shouting something at the man holding his hands up in a defensive gesture. Another man with an eye patch took a sip of alcohol, and the green-skinned giant chuckled at the lovers’ quarrel.

  A sharp gust of wind brought with it rain and the smell of iron and blood. Once Karr V’Vaar Har’ghar, now the nameless leader of the mercenary team, wept over the body of his friend.

  A cloudy day mirrored his feelings as he stood over the tombstone, adorned with two rapiers. However, he couldn’t afford to let grief hold him back for too long.

  Scene by scene, Orion witnessed new friendships, lost bonds, joy and sorrow. The green-skinned man depicted in these scenes never gave up his purpose.

  A group of many species sat around the firecamp. This world has recently undergone many changes, accompanied by bloody racial wars. However, their reputation for strength and close friendship made it clear that they were opposed to the fighting. They traveled all over the planet, resolving conflicts and advocating friendship and peace.

  “What will you do when all this is over?” the girl, who was more than three times shorter than him, asked.

  “I will start… organization.” he said. “Must protect life.”