Ethan had returned from Death, not once, but twice. He had been killed twice, and every time he died, he went back to that accursed clearing.
What was this strange phenomenon? He had no idea what to call it, but he would get to the bottom of it... later. The first and foremost priority was still to find a way to get back home.
Ethan was certain that his family had no hand in his teleportation to Alapur. Setting aside the fact that it simply wasn't possible, his family had no reason to send him. He had incurred the wrath of no one.
Ethan had spent years of tiresome effort trying to get everyone's approval; he had it. There was no reason to send him here. Vakuma had no way of getting to Alapur for a thousand years, and if they had suddenly developed one...
They wouldn't send him, uninformed at the very least. Ethan chose to set the circumstances of his appearance here and focus on the more important issues.
The first, how the fuck does he get back home?
He had no idea how big Alapur was. He had a little knowledge of the languages spoken in the frontier kingdoms and their empire. He had no idea of the culture here. He did not know magic; he had no idea about the system of their nobility. What even was the norm here?
He had nothing. Nothing. For the first time in his life, Ethan felt truly helpless. He clutched his head, almost tearing his beautiful hair from his skull, but managed to contain himself at the last second.
Ethan took a few deep breaths and muttered to himself.
"It's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay."
He used a bit of Ki to refresh himself, giving himself a jolt, something he would never do, considering his small reserves. However, it allowed Ethan to calm down, it allowed him to think things clearly.
'First, the things I do know...'
He was currently in the Principality of Miniac, the furthest nation there was. The only thing behind the Principality was the Forest of the God of Beasts and the Hulez Mountain range. This entire area was a holy ground for the Demi-humans.
'I should be pretty safe here, the Rakaru Family doesn't have a lot of battles with the Beastly Aris; we mainly dealt with the Sanctum Dragonis. No one should know my face here, but just in case, I'll wear a helmet.'
He was lucky here, Igimo was friendly and willing to help, he would learn as many languages as he could from that man, and then go. He would have to stay in this village for quite a while. He would have to learn many things, learn the surroundings from Igimo, and find a way to survive.
But what after that? How was he supposed to go back home? Integrate himself into Alapur, the very continent that had invaded Vakuma for a thousand years? The continent that had killed millions of Vakumans and turned even more into slaves? Do this and become a part of the army sent to invade his home?
He'd have too, that was the only way. But even getting there would be so, so hard. Ethan was stuck, but there was a way out, as far as he could see. Although it was long and arduous.
He had a way to get back home... and even if there wasn't, he'd have to make one. There was no damn way he was going to let his stupid sister or one of his cousins take what was his; the Rakaru heir was still him, even if he was tens of thousands of miles away from home.
"I'm going back home, no matter what."
Ethan declared, steeling his resolve. And at that moment, the door opened. However, it wasn't Igimo that had entered.