His weightless body, surrounded by the open sky, descended toward the ground.
The wind whistled in his ears while his cloak flared in the wind.
His eyes went down to what awaited him further down, the exhilarating thrill of the free fall slowly fading.
He could see the ground where he stood moments ago, right where he would land.
Like a hammer, his heartbeat picked up the pace as he could see the scenery changing from the open skies to the towering sky-scrapers.
He saw the windows scrolling down in a blur as he fell between the building.
In a flash, a golden magic circle opened mid-air, catching him half-way through.
As he fell through the circle, it fixed itself to his waist like a halo he wore.
His speed gradually slowed down, as if he had been hand picked and laid back down on the ground.
The street was mostly empty, besides some dungeon runners standing around accompanied by a man with golden hair who was right in the middle of the street.
That's…
Alexander recognized him.
Sunder.
His multiple earrings and golden made him stand out among the people around.
He was holding Fae's arms in her back while she fought hard to undo his grasp on her.
The dungeon runners previously fighting him earlier were all further behind, watching the scene unfold.
Alexander's feet touched the ground like a feather in the wind, the magic circle breaking in a cloud of golden dust.
"Alexander!" said Sunder, smiling.
He finally let go of his hat, never happier to feel the ground under him once more.
"Could you tell her to relax?" said Sunder.
He could feel her worried gaze beyond her mask.
He slightly nodded, sharing a gaze only she could understand.
Sunder let her go, she quickly rejoined Alexander's side as he slowly advanced toward Sunder.
"You finally came back!" said Sunder.
Alexander nodded, the eyes covering his body still erratically looking around.
"I did…" he replied, his attention on the accumulating amount of dungeon runners around.
Sunder stepped closer, hand halfway to Alexander's shoulder—until Fae moved between them, silently blocking his path.
"It's okay," whispered Alexander to Fae.
She looked back at him, then stood aside after a short moment.
Instead of going for his shoulder, Sunder came in for a hug, tightly holding Alexander while slapping his back.
"This man made it out of his inner path huh?! Look at you! One of us, now!"
Alexander frowned while awkwardly letting the moment happen, as rigid as a wall.
Sunder then broke away, turning toward the other dungeon runners behind him.
"See! It's him! It's Alexander!" he shouted.
Alexander could see their frowning expressions, paired with their heads shaking from left to right.
It wasn't disgust or a misunderstanding. He could read it on their faces: disagreement.
Sunder turned back to Alexander.
"We knew you would be coming back, I think they just didn't recognize you."
Alexander looked at them again, unsure if that was all there was.
"When you left, I made sure everyone knew you'd be coming back eventually. I think they didn't expect the long white hair and those eyes… Your inner path really did a number on you, huh?"
He then slapped Alexander's shoulder while laughing.
"Alright everyone! Thanks for coming, you can leave now!" he shouted back.
The dungeon runners turned to each other with a look of uncertainty.
"Chop chop! Go go go!" he said again.
Dragging their feet, they all ultimately turned around and walked away.
"Alright! I guess we should go somewhere…" said Sunder.
He then extended his hand toward Alexander again, his finger reaching for one of the eyes on his cloak, which promptly closed to re-open somewhere else.
Sunder's face lit up like a kid with a new toy, Alexander still unsure how to react.
"What's the meaning of all this?" said Alexander.
"We'll talk somewhere else. But first, you might want to 'turn off' all of this," said Sunder while waving his finger around Alexander's multiple eyes.
—
"Welcome to my Guild's HQ!" said Sunder.
Alexander slowly walked through the living room.
It looked a lot more like a library, with bookshelves everywhere. It was messy and dusty, with no clear organization anywhere.
Lone pages covered the ground, with opened bottles of ink laying here and there.
In the middle of the room was a couch, where Sunder let himself fall.
The living room connected to a bedroom, which Alexander could tell from the obstructed view, wasn't any better than the living room.
"This is just your apartment," said Alexander.
"Yeah, it serves many purposes."
Sunder then pointed toward the couch in front of his, inviting Alexander to sit down.
He did, while Fae stood behind him, staring at Sunder.
Alexander's serious expression barely made a dent in Sunder's smile. His frown only deepened.
"Don't be so upset," said Sunder.
Sunder then leaned closer, his face suddenly serious.
"This spell you have activated, stop it," said Sunder.
His tone was commanding, unlike the joyful one he had moments ago.
Alexander turned the Witness of all Paths off, his eyes going back to their normal shape.
The world went back to normal, his head felt lighter while every little detail stopped flooding his mind.
Sunder got up, and laid a hand on Alexander's chest, where his mark remained.
"Good."
The sudden tone shift took Alexander by surprise, he could feel Fae on edge.
Sunder sat back down, sighing.
"Cultist."
Sunder could see Alexander's face shift at the slight mention of that word.
"You told me, before you left, that you wanted to become a dungeon runner like your father. Is that still the case?" asked Sunder.
Alexander nodded.
"Then you better get used to that word. Surely, by now, you've felt the presence lurking behind your powers. What's looking through your gaze, when you activate your spells."
"There's no—"
"—But there is," cut Sunder.
He then pointed at Fae.
"Who's this?" he asked.
Alexander looked at his companion once more, before answering.
"Fae is the name I gave her," said Alexander.
Sunder smiled, "A nice name. But she reeks of the entity's influence."