Jake looked through the drawers, trying to find anything suitable as his mom stood at the door. He had never been a fan of his mom’s tendency to buy clothes, as she had a horrible habit of not really remembering what size people were, but in this one instance, that came in handy as Jake quickly found a T-shirt and jeans that seemed about his size.

“I told you there would be something for you,” Debra said in an almost proud tone.

“Not sure you should be bragging about buying things in the wrong size for Dad or Caleb,” Jake smiled and shook his head before shooing her out of the room so he could change.

It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Jake didn’t own any normal clothing. He had his armor, a few party outfits he used at the Order, and some more clothing that really didn’t fit with a modern setting. With that in mind, Jake had decided to raid a drawer with clothing no one used, finding his current outfit that fit nicely after putting it on.

Looking at a mirror in the room, Jake felt like he looked weird.

Since when did looking normal become weird, and looking weird become normal? Jake questioned. In the multiverse, people really just wore whatever, and finding people walking down the street in full plate armor, or armor obviously made from a dead beast, was considered entirely ordinary. Not to mention polymorphed monsters that didn’t even need equipment with enchantments, making them wear even weirder stuff at times.

Jake did still look a bit off, though. He had undoubtedly changed physically after the system arrived and with a few evolutions under his belt, but nothing was as notable as his eyes. While he hadn’t exactly tested it, he was pretty sure they glowed in the dark now, or at least reflected light like the eyes of a cat, and if he tried to evaluate them objectively, they did make Jake look a bit… he wanted to say dangerous, but volatile was probably more accurate.

Wearing sunglasses was one option, but one Jake quickly dismissed. Firstly, because wearing sunglasses inside makes you look like an idiot or a blind person, and secondly, because his nephew would definitely end up seeing his eyes at some point anyway, so there was no need to hide them.

Exiting the room in his average outfit, his mom waited on the other side and looked at him from top to bottom, stopping when she reached his feet. “You’re still wearing those old boots? According to Caleb, you should be doing pretty well for yourself, so couldn’t you get some new ones? They certainly look like they have seen better days…”

“These are the best boots in the multiverse, and I will hear no objections to that statement,” Jake said with a tone of utmost certainly. He wasn’t really joking, either. Finding awesome mythical rarity boots like this wasn’t exactly commonplace.

“Alright, not going to argue with you, but you should look into buying some product to treat the leather,” Debra still insisted.

“I doubt it would work,” Jake shook his head. “They haven’t changed appearance no matter what’s happened to them.”

“If you say so,” his mom finally gave up as the two of them walked into the living room to wait for Caleb and Maja. Jake could already see them next door, preparing to leave.

“Look at him; not wearing dark clothes and looking all grim,” Jake’s Dad said the moment Jake entered the living room. He had to admit that the blue t-shirt with what he was pretty sure was the logo of some company printed on it did make him look much less serious and grim than usual.

“I’ll have you know cloaks and leather armor are quite fashionable,” Jake defended himself as he took a seat at the dining table.

His Dad didn’t say anything but just looked at the projector that was playing what looked a lot like a TV show of some kind. Except it was clearly one made after the system arrived, making Jake look at it with interest. It was a show about a tailor struggling with finding enough materials because a merchant union had recently moved in and increased the prices, but oh wait, a new shop just opened up on the street with a blacksmith who refuses to back down to the evil merchant’s demands…

“You look like it’s your first time watching a TV show,” his Dad commented.

“It is my first time watching one produced after the system… not gonna lie, I didn’t even know it was a thing,” Jake readily admitted. Then again, all Paths were viable, so maybe stuff like this was too… though he had a hard time seeing how one could take acting to a particularly high grade. Like, what would the difference between a D-grade and a B-grade actor really be? Straight-up polymorphing into other people? That seemed more shapeshifter-y, though…

“There aren’t that many, but some people are trying to bring back a feeling of normalcy, and producing things like these is part of that,” his mom added. “Not to say there isn’t an entertainment industry, they just don’t really do produced shows like this. A lot are recording and showing off spars, hunts, or creating lessons in certain professions and selling those.”

“Interesting,” Jake said. Recordings like these were pretty easy to make, and many were freely sold back in the Order, but most of the time it was done with the purpose of teaching and not entertainment. Sure, the teachers who were also entertaining were the ones who did best, but the primary objective was still to impart knowledge.

As Jake was watching the show, Maja, Caleb, and Adam finally arrived. He looked toward the door just before they knocked, and his mom got up with a smile. “You two just stay here while I go let them in.”

“Alright,” Jake nodded, his Dad just letting out a low grunt.

In the entrance area, he saw Debra open the door as he heard them greet each other. It was pretty clear that they visited often, which really wasn’t a surprise considering they were neighbors.

The four of them quickly made their way toward the living room, and Jake felt nervous but tried to look as non-intimidating and normal as he could. The first one to come into the living room was Maja, who smiled brightly when she saw Jake.

“Jake, so good to finally see you again!” she said as Jake got up and she came over for a light hug before pulling away. “It has been years! You really need to visit more often; I’m getting tired of hearing about your exploits second-hand from Caleb.”

“I know, I know,” Jake said apologetically as he looked over her shoulder and saw the three others enter. Caleb looked… calm. A lot calmer than he had in the get-together of all the people who placed on the Leaderboards. While he hadn’t really shown it much, Jake could really see now how tense he had been then, and it was great to see him more relaxed.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Finally, he laid eyes on the newest addition to their family – at least if one talked about the humans in it. Adam looked as one would expect of a kid, and he stared at Jake with big eyes. He really reminded Jake of when Caleb was young.

“This is Uncle Jake,” Maja said as she introduced Jake to his nephew. Caleb helped by pushing the little guy forward.

“Hey there,” Jake said with a smile as he squatted down.

The kid stared at him for a moment, as Jake felt a bit uncomfortable but tried to not let it show. After what felt like forever, Adam finally spoke:

“Your eyes are weird.”

“Adam, that’s not nice,” Maja said in a scolding tone, as Jake just chuckled and shook his head.

“My eyes are weird, aren’t they?” Jake just confirmed. “Why, don’t you like them?”

“They’re cool…” he muttered shyly, much to the relief of Jake.

Jake didn’t really know how to deal with kids. It wasn’t that he particularly disliked kids, only when they were annoying or disruptive; he just didn’t really know how to act around them. It didn’t help that he had zero experience with kids of any age. The system had surely also changed things, as based on what his mom had briefly mentioned before he went to grab some more normal clothes, kids seemed a lot smarter these days. Adam had been able to speak a lot earlier than usual, as an example, though physically he didn’t seem older than Jake would expect.

“You might not remember Uncle Jake as he was away just like Dad, but he visited when you were little,” Maja said as she walked over to Adam.

Adam seemed interested in that as he stared up at Jake. “Does that mean you’re super strong like Dad?”

Jake was a bit taken aback as he smiled. “I’m the strongest.”

“Even stronger than Dad?” Adam asked with wide eyes.

Caleb’s gaze bore into Jake as he stared at him with eyes that looked like they could kill, making Jake consider his answer carefully. “Your Dad and I don’t fight, but we’re both super strong. Strong people like us shouldn’t fight without a good reason, right?”

That answer seemed to satisfy Adam’s curiosity, as Caleb also threw Jake a thankful look. Jake got it. Flexing in front of his son would be a bit too much, and what kid didn’t want to believe that their Dad was the strongest in the world?

Anyway, with that, the introduction Jake had been so nervous about was over, with the kid seemingly not caring overly much the second his grandma brought out some treats. It was almost anticlimactic, but honestly… kids were probably a lot simpler than Jake believed, they were definitely easily distracted.

Standing next to Caleb, he saw his brother with a content smile on his face as Jake sent him a telepathic message. “How are you holding up?”

Caleb threw him a look as he hid a sigh. “It’s been hard. I missed more than three of his most important years being away in Nevermore. What’s more, for me, fifty passed… it’s like I’ve been away an entire lifetime. It will take a bit to adapt before I really feel like I’m back. Adam will also need some time. I… I’m not even sure he recognized me when I walked through the door after I returned.”

Jake put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder as he gave it a light squeeze of encouragement. He wasn’t going to pretend to understand how Caleb felt. To be away from your kid for so long had to be hard for both parties, and no one could pretend fifty years was a short time, even if Caleb could live for thousands at the very least as a C-grade. One had to remember all of them were still very young in a multiversal context, and he was pretty sure Caleb had spent less time than Jake in time-dilation, meaning Nevermore had more likely than not been more than half of Caleb’s entire life.

His brother threw him a thankful look, and the two of them just stood there and watched Adam talking with their mother as Maja unpacked a bag with some toys in it. Meanwhile, Jake and Caleb’s Dad looked at the projection of the TV show with one eye while keeping an eye on Adam with the other.

If one took a snapshot of this scene, they could almost be confused for an entirely normal family.

Maybe visiting home once in a while isn’t all that bad…

The Sword Saint had done much to divest himself from being involved in the internal politics of the Noboru Clan. He had put distance between them, but no matter what he did, they still recognized him as their Patriarch, and he realized there was nothing he could do about that and simply accepted the role. With that, he needed to, at the very least, understand the situation of the clan, if not for anything else but his role as a member of the World Council.

Upon his return from Nevermore, he was naturally swarmed by people who wanted to know of his exploits, and to update him on the happenings of the planet over the last few years. Something he gladly accepted, as he heard all that had happened during his absence, and it genuinely surprised him.

He had half-expected something major to happen during this time, but everything had just been calm. What happened instead was the rapid expansion of all human settlements, the development of technology, and the growth of the overall power of the planet. All the assistance their small rock floating through space received due to Jake was overwhelming, and while most of it was centralized in and around Haven, the Noboru Clan also benefitted greatly, as it was well-known the Sword Saint was a comrade of the Chosen, and also someone carrying the Divine Blessing of Aeon, making him a person of interest in his own right.

The clan did have one issue, though.

Vampires.

In the multiverse, they were not a very popular race, and the Sword Saint understood why. The clan had been forced to set up an entire system to allow the vampires to exist there, and donations of blood were a requirement.

One had to remember the massive downside of vampirism after Sanguine died, requiring them to consume life energy in the form of blood to regenerate their health. They had no other ways to truly regenerate it, and things like healing spells could only temporarily help. To make matters more complicated, the most effective blood was that of the race they turned into a vampire from, or at least a similar one. In other words, others of the enlightened races.

Ah, and then there was the problem of vampires entering a blood frenzy if starved for too long or injured badly. All in all, vampires were an incredibly problematic race, and that was before one considered the fact that the Risen, Holy Church, and a few other factions openly had kill orders out on any vampire, wanting to wipe the race from the multiverse.

The Sword Saint was fully aware that the only reason they were accepted in any way on Earth was because of Jake and his identity as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. The Order of the Malefic Viper was the only large faction that officially had vampires in it, and that was only possible because of the Primordial at the helm. The open support for vampires displayed was also apparent, especially after the Order had even been so bold as to bring a vampire to the post-Nevermore political meetings. For the Viper’s Chosen to also be accepting of vampires was only to be expected; thus, no one dared openly bother the clan.

Miyamoto also had to admit that vampires were powerful. For their level, they tended to be superior to humans in combat. This primarily stemmed from them only having either a class or a profession, and most of the vampires went with a class. Combined with their racial skills and the often-seen high level of synergy between their class and race, their high combat prowess shouldn’t be that surprising.

While sitting in his own courtyard meditating, the Sword Saint was interrupted as a person approached his residence. Opening his eyes, he waved his hand as the gates swung open, revealing a familiar face. It was one of his many grandchildren and one of those who had chosen to embrace vampirism.

“You looked disturbed,” the Sword Saint asked when he saw the look on his face.

“Greetings, Patriarch,” his grandson bowed. “I apologize for the disturbance; however-“

He proceeded to explain that he had recently taken part in an attempted raid on a frost wyvern and how it had ended in their utter failure. But, the most important part came at the end, as he explained the cause for urgency:

“The life tokens of those frozen are still intact, meaning the wyvern must have captured them. This may be presumptuous, but we have none capable of fighting this beast, so if the Patriarch would-“

“Very well,” the Sword Saint agreed as he stood up, understanding the concern. “I shall head out immediately.”