God of Nothing

"Uhhh, sorry, master." An apologetic Brandon said as he led the group. There were tears in his eyes, presumably because of the conversation they just had. It looked like Lacey or someone was transmitting their thoughts through the brooch during their conversation. Aleph, still held onto by his other disciples, braced himself for what was about to happen.

Brandon piled on, threatening to drop all of them onto the hole he dug. Aleph endured, even summoning some mana to help him withstand it.

In truth, this much affection felt quite pleasant.

"I had to pick up a few strays on the way."

Brandon pulled away with the rest of them, jabbing a finger at the random group of people that followed him into the well.

The people who went with him were Tom, James and Lily, who were showing a couple of people the message on the epigraph. Andrew and his little brother were there too, the kid that kept giving them food back at Kyrios.

Sheila and Shae were a bit away from the group, having already been to the sanctum beforehand. They were walking up to him, abit reserved for some reason.

Aleph ran up to them both and scooped them off of their feet. He couldn't see them last night, but these two were dearly missed.

"Hello, children. Hahaha, my, how you've grown!" Aleph, still feeling giddy for some reason, laughed as he pulled the twins off their feet and spun them around. Behind him, he used his gauntlets to plug up the hole on the ground so the newcomers didn't feel uncomfortable. These people were basically family, but he thought that maybe they shouldn't see the corpse of his dead wife just yet.

""heeheehee!"" They squealed as Aleph spun them around even faster, their cute little faces turning red from all the laughing. Aleph had to set them down soon afterward, finally feeling hunger set in.

"Have you both eaten?"

"No, mister. Ray volunteered to cook today, but he's… hmph!" Shae looked over his shoulder over the group behind him.

"Hiik!" Aleph couldn't see what sort of expression it was, but judging from Rayse's reaction, he felt lucky.

"Nevermind him, come inside and have a meal."

Aleph looked over to the house just as Jodi entered it. She looked dead tired, dragging her body through like a zombie looking for people to eat. It seems that at this moment, his sanctum didn't have as much to offer to her as the food on the table.

So he carried the twins, one on his shoulders, and the other in his arms, towards the house to have a meal. On the way, he beckoned Tom and the others over as well. Soon, the little table in his house was surrounded by a boisterous group, picking whichever food they wanted from the feast before them.

They hardly talked while eating, mostly owing to a lot of them being famished. The children were especially ravenous; watching them eat was a delight.

The adults were quite subdued, though. Aleph thought it was because his sanctum just had that effect on people, but it didn't seem like it affected Rayse, for example. He spoke with Jodi at length about his new spear. Aleph had already sent her plans in advance, and so had already begun making the pieces required.

After finishing their meals, each group dispersed to various places around the sanctum. That left Aleph alone with Andrew, who took it upon himself to clean up after everyone. Aleph took that opportunity to speak to him regarding the future.

"Andrew," he said. "May we speak?"

Gulp. He could hear him swallow something in his throat before addressing him. He immediately stopped what he was doing to rejoin him at the table.

"Of course, Lord Aleph. How may I help you?"

"Actually, I was wondering the opposite. How has everyone settled?"

"Oh, sir, please. Don't concern yourself with our wellbeing. We're getting on fine thanks to Mayor Tom and his helpers."

"Hmmm, I see… And have you given thought to my proposal? Our settlement could use a couple people." Aleph said.

"Ah, yes. I still need to speak with everyone, but I think they'll agree. Like it or not, we've tied our fates with yours, my Lord." Andrew answered with a sheepish smile.

"...Even with what you've learned here?"

"Sir… It may be presumptuous of me, but your identity probably won't discourage the rest of us."

That surprised Aleph, but he decided to test his resolve.

"The enemy will aim after me, Andrew. We will depart to the frontlines in a few days, but we recently found out that the enemy knows of this place. Noone can enter here without my permission, and I could close this place down if needed, but if they can find a way to force open this place, they can come to our settlement. Tom and the others know the risks of staying here, and I believe your people must know this, too.

Andrew scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable with talking about this. Due to a lot of the older ones on the wall dying from Deceit's ambush, those who were left had nominated him to represent them. In a lot of ways, it's such a heavy burden to carry for someone barely older than his own disciples. He started slowly, a bit more hesitant this time.

"To everyone from home, you and your disciples are the only reason we're still alive in the first place. Even before the fight, Jean was saying– Ah."

The young man quickly shifted the topic, clearly uncomfortable in speaking about the fallen.

"A-anyway, we'd much rather be under you than any old landlord. God knows, even before they tried to abandon us, our previous mayor's treatment of us wasn't very good."

Time seemed to stretch after that, and eventually, Andrew stood to continue his work. Aleph sighed at the finality of the move. It looked like from Andrew's perspective, nothing more needed to be said.

So Aleph stood up, joining him near the sink. He took one of the cleaned dishes and dried it with a rag. The youth looked at him for a second, before his hand moved once again. Aleph had never seen anyone wash dishes with such intensity before.

The pair worked like that for a while until the tense atmosphere in the room melted into a serene one.

__________________________________

The days passed by without incident. Rayse and his friends spent it mostly by helping create homes for the Kyrios folk. Or as Tom liked to call them, 'new citizens of Alephton'.

"Hikhikhik."

Rayse had to snicker at the name. He didn't think Tom was serious when he first heard it, but now he was convinced that the only reason that old man kept the name was because of how his master reacted to it.

Everyone in town said it affectionately, though, so eventually the name just stuck. That didn't mean it stopped being funny for Rayse, though.

In truth, he didn't really help as much as his friends did. As much as most people did, if he were really honest. As it stood, he was the only one who couldn't use magic in the entire town, so even with physical strength that surpassed everyone there, there was little he could actually do.

So he spent every idle time honing his spearmanship.

With eyes closed, he traced an arc from an image in his head. Even going at a fraction of the speed, he was finding it very difficult. Each strike seemed straightforward, but when doing it slowly, he could see how each minute movement could flow into countless others. It was a style that bordered on insanity, each dip in stance, each swaying of the tip, each adjustment on the spear grip a chance for the attack to become something new. Rayse's own skill seemed preordained in comparison. Time escaped him as he recreated the battle between his master and the demon king, absorbing all that he could. Not from his master this time, but from the enemy.

"That's her spear." A voice said from… somewhere. Rayse's eyes snapped open, reflexively turning and almost decapitating whoever disturbed him.

"Watch where you point that thing! Seriously…" Brandon said.

"Oh, sorry Bran." Rayse said, resetting his stance before stabbing his practice spear into the ground.

"What's up? Need me for anything?"

"Hmmm? Nah, not really. Everyone's gone back home, so I went to see what you were up to."

Rayse looked around in surprise at the news. Yes, without him noticing, the orange twilight had begun to bathe the settlement. Most of the homes they made had been inhabited now, but it seemed like the entire town had gone inside. Rayse sniffed the air, appreciating the smells of dozens of family dinners, before remembering he had his own to feed back at home.

"Oh, dang, that's right! I gotta make dinner for the kids, so I gotta go!"

"Wait a sec, Ray." Brandon called out. Rayse turned back to see his friend taking one of the old Harbinger cleavers from the shed.

"How about a little spar before you go? No magic so it'll be quick. What do you say?" He offered.

"Practicing forms is fine, but you still gotta put it into practice to see if it works or not." He took a stance without waiting for a response as his lips curled up into a smile.

"It has been a while since I kicked your ass… Alright." Rayse settled into a stance of his own. 

"Hmmm? That looks off."

His current stance wasn't quite like Lost's, but not quite what his master taught him, either. Rayse just shook his head and goaded his friend.

"Don't worry about it, man. Come at me."

"Loser cooks dinner?"

"Oohhh, you're on!" Brandon charged. He started with an overhead slash, one that Rayse quickly sidestepped. He turned with the step, flailing his spear outwards.

Brandon shuffled his feet to the other side of his massive weapon, using its flat edge as a shield. The spear tip skated across its surface, unleashing sparks that ran all across the metal. Brandon angled his weapon, guiding the thrust to just narrowly miss his head. Then, Rayse's blood ran cold as his friend turned the blade, deflecting his spear completely. 

Brandon slashed upwards, causing Rayse to relent. The wind from the attack almost grazed him, but the air current from it came with a little bit of pain. Brandon followed that with a thrust of his own. The cleaver had no pointed edge, but with his weapon still extended, Rayse had no means of defending.

Irritated, Rayse pushed the oncoming mass of metal, redirecting it down into the ground. Then, he stomped right on the spine.

"Tsk! Why, you–!" An irritated Brandon shouted, but Rayse didn't relent.

He adjusted the grip on his spear, moving his hand closer to the blade. He tucked the shaft under his arm, stabbing instead as if he were wielding a dagger with a shorter handle.

Crrrack!

He was going to stop right before he actually stabbed his friend, but the reality was different. Brandon let go of his blade, hitting him with an uppercut from below. Rayse tried to block, but Brandon's strike  broke right through the shaft. He flinched, waiting for the blow that never came. Instead, Brandon's palm settled right on his heart.

They both breathed heavy for some time, until Brandon beamed. They both knew he had won this exchange. 

"That last attack was tricky. Could have lost if I wasn't so awesome." He said excitedly, giving his friend some good natured ribbing.

"Yeah, yeah. So, you're joining us for dinner?"

"Yeap. Hey, where's master anyway?"

"Isn't he still with Jodi? They've been cooking up something big for the past couple weeks. Heck, I live with him and I hardly ever see him."

"Still!? Cmon, let's drag those two out for some dinner, at least. Go ahead and get started on it while I go fetch them."

They chatted until they were right at Aleph's doorstep. Brandon ran out back to fetch Aleph, leaving Rayse alone to stew in defeat. He didn't feel bad about the loss, though. On the contrary, he felt refreshed.

He lost the spar, true, but he didn't feel bad. He only lost because his practice spear had a wooden handle. In a real fight, things would be different. In a real fight, he would be adjusting the size of his spear at that moment, allowing him to strike fast enough for the stab to be fatal.

He lost, but he felt he still gained something. For Rayse, if it were a real fight, he would have Unbreakable.