Walking through the massive double doors. Raymond felt every single past worry he had dissapear in an instant.
He even briefly contemplated just staying in this dimension rather then going back to Earth!
'No! This world is going to end in like 20 something years! What the hell am I thinking!'
Slapping himself, he got a confused look from Ellen which he swiftly ignored.
Following Rayez into his office he patiently sat down on the office chair. His feet dangling from the chair meant for adults.
With Rayez sitting on the other side of the desk. Raymond felt a bit of nostalgia.
'Isnt this like my interview for when I first applied to my job?'
Slapping himself again, he got a chuckle out of Rayez.
"Hehe, its not a dream Raymond. From now on you really will be living in this mansion. Naturally there a few conditions though."
"Ill do anything sir! I'll mow all your lawns and even mop the floors if needed!"
"First off don't call me sir, its too formal and I don't like that. You also don't need to mop any floors I already have enough cleaners as is."
Cocking his head sideways, he asked with a confused expression.
"Then what am I supposed to do then s-mister?"
"Well for starters, do you know what awakening potential is?"
'Ive been observing this world for years now just to write my novel. I know more about it then you do!'
Tch. Did he think Raymond was some kind of dumb child who didn't know left and right?
Awakening potential was something every human had, measured from a scale of 1-100. The test would allow the persons theoretical peak strength to be recorded. The test could only measure the potential for children aged 10-16. Which was why then ten year age benchmark was much more significant.
Most humans would typically be around 20 or so. With a power level consisting if Unranked to G and then all the way to S rank. Humans with a awakening potential of 20 would at best reach the G+ rank. With every ten on the potential scale, the theoretical maximum potential strength would increase with one letter.
So 20 is G+, 30 would be F+, 40 would be E+ and so on until 90 being the fabled S rank.
At 90 however, it was while different ball game. Anyone with a potential score of 90 was basically guaranteed to reach the S- rank minimum. With each extra number however the strength levels would increase greatly.
Ellen would soon awaken a potential score of 96 higher then her fathers 92. Zachary would be born with a potential score of 7. Naturally however his cheat system would carry him until he became the only persom to ever have a score of 100.
Even Raymond's own system didn't give him any bogus cheats like that! He had to work hard for each if his levels by killing mobs, learning and discovering new magic!
Well, with Raymond now. Zachary would become known as the second most talented person ever. If Zachary was a 100 then Raymond would be somewhere in the 200 mark!
Naturally such a score was impossible to achieve in this world. So he hid his mana so it would appear as somewhere around 104.
"Well, lets just say that your potential score is very high. You have the potential to reach S rank Raymond. "
"Wow! Really? I can become as strong as all if those awakened?"
Having to act as a child was really tiresome. Each sentence made him cringe on the inside.
"Yes, which is why I have a deal for you. I want you to become my daughters guard. Her shadow if you will. You will accompany her every where and do everything she says. You will become her protector, butler and friend. You'll need to sign a contract but is that okay with you?"
"Yes si-mister! As long as you feed me I'll do anything mister!"
"Alright then, here sign this. I'm not an evil person so there won't bee any loopholes or what not."
Handing him a pen and a paper be seemingly procured out of nowhere. He patiently waited as Raymond read through the contract.
After a while, Raymond nodded. Rayez was a man of his word after all. The contract simply outlined his duties. He was to protect Ellen from any dangers and serve as a friend for her.
He would not be allowed to harm or do anything which acts against her interest. In exchange he would be given numerous resources to become stronger and reach the S rank.
'Wait I know I came up with this plan but why an I becoming a personal guard for someone? ME the great Raymond! '
At least, it was for his favourite character or favourite person I guess?
Holding the pen shakily, he wrote his name as messing as he could before handing it back to him.
Seeing his hand writing, he raised an eyebrow.
"Before that however, it seems you need to learn how to write properly first."
...
"Congratulations, your plan worked. Now what do you plan to do for these next few years? "
After signing the contract, Raymond had been brought to Ellen so the two could familiarise themselves with each other.
Leaning back on one of her beanbags, he relaxed himself into it's softness.
"Now? Now I just relax for the next ten years or so until I regain enough strength to leave this dimension and return. I just need to play guard dog for you for a little bit. Not that you'll need it. I mean you're a regressor! Go do your own thing and start getting stronger already! "
"Unfortunately,it's quite hard for a not even ten year old to do certain things. Like going outside to find any natural treasures or investing in the stock market. Just giving you all those resources was already a massive pain"
She pursed her lips, while it might have looked cool if she was still an adult. Now it just made her look even more cute.
"Well then just relax a little then. It's going to be your tenth birthday soon so everyone will be able to celebrate your amazing potential score of 96."
"Ive been meaning to ask, how do you know so much about me actually? Scratch that, who or what even are you?"
"Hmmm, I guess I should have at least introduced myself huh? Lets see, my name is Raymond Vance. I'm a dimension hopper if you will. I like to travel between different dimensions. This world being one of them. "
Dimension hopper. This was a term Raymond coined himself because as far as he was aware. He was the only one that existed.
"Anyways, in one of the dimensions that I usually live in. I write novels as a side gig in order to earn money. That novel naturally being about this dimension. "
She didn't say anything for a while. Likely processing the absolute explosion of information he dropped.
"Anyways since I finished writing that novel based on you guys after you all defeated the demon king. I was feeling a bit sentimental you see, so I decided to visit this dimension one last time to say goodbye. But then when I arrived, it was all destroyed and then well I managed to find you. "
Even more silence. After a while she finally seemed to finish processing what he said and asked him.
"Who's the main character? Is it Zachary? Also how strong are you to be able to remind time so far back? And also writing a novel based on us? Thats seriously creepy behavior. "
"Hey it's not my fault you guys were so interesting! I felt like it was a shame that your story wasn't being shared and besides you wouldn't even know if I didnt tell you this right now! "
When she put it like that, he did seem like a creep.
Raymond slunk into his beanbag even more then he already was to the point he was practically lying down.
"Also yes, Zachary was the main character and if you're wondering. At my peak strength I could probably solo that little Demon king you all struggled so hard on no sweat at all. "
Although Raymond was unaware of the Demon Kings strength, seeing how the entire group struggled to kill him Raymond felt reasonably confident in his estimate.
"You said you're weakened, how long until you've fully recovered? You mentioned sonething about monsters as well. As one of the price that I would have to pay for turning back time. "
Finally, an actually important question!
"Almost 22 years to fully recover my strength but even now I can feel some of it returning slowly. As for the monsters... "
He sat upright. What he was about to say was something that caused even him danger back when he first rewound time on a large scale. Knowledge he had gained after risking his life.
"Lets just say that in the multiverse, some things really dont like it when you mess with time on too large of a scale. These crazy eldritch monsters get sent after you. With me rewinding time for an entire dimension like yours, the backlash would probably be way bigger. In this case, me and you will be targets by monsters for basically forever. Including your memory wiping punishment. Your future is not looking so good even if you defeated the Demon King and Him. "
"... If I die will these monsters continue attacking this dimension? How strong are they? When will they attack us? "
"If you die then they stop attacking this dimension, they only want to punish the ones guilty. As far as I remember, the weakest ones I've ever faced were roughly equivalent to a quarter of a peak Zachary so around the SS- rank? And I don't know about that last one. "
She stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders shaking him back and forth. Her face had a look which would make even the scariest of dogs run away.
"What do you mean you dont know?! You're telling me SS- rank monsters could just attack us at any moment now?! "
"C-calm down relax!!"
It was hard for him to speak with how hard she was shaking him. After a while she finally seemed to calm down and sat back down in her beanbag opposite Raymond's.
"Urghhh, howw woud I knooow. I ddont doo stuv likke thiss ovten.
he felt dizzy from hard he had been shook. Once more cursing his weakened status effect.
After a while, he finally recovered and continued his previous sentence.
" But it should take a while for then to come probably? Last time I only rewound time by a few months on a continent and it took nearly a decade or so before I got attacked. So maybe longer then that in this case? "
He sighed, something it seemed like he had been doing a lot lately. Even with his life secured for the next few years. These years would be a test of his will power like never ever before.