"Tend to him damnit! If the Grand Mage dies we can't send them back!"
My surroundings had shifted, one moment I was in a café with my friends, the second, I was amongst other people in a giant hall with the smell of something burning.
I spun my head slightly as I looked around. The first to catch my eyes were two people wearing what looked like camouflage and tending to a person lying on the floor. A person who, at second glance, had smoke coming off them.
'I guess that's where the burning smell is coming from...'
My macabre sense of humour tuned in as I tried to make light of the panic-inducing situation.
When I examined the room further, I noticed our entire friend group was there along with 8 others in our immediate vicinity.
It was strange and rather disorienting, but none of us were outwardly panicking.
Perhaps it was my visible confusion or the fact that all of us looked confused, but a person in full plate armour spoke up.
"I apologise on behalf of our Mages but they have cast a calming field here. It's not effective with severe pain but does help with mild panic. I personally do not like my mind being messed with, pleasant or not. Please forgive us."
They then bowed at the waist.
"You shouldn't be bowing, Captain."
I turned my attention to a man I could only describe as a professor. He wore a lab coat that almost touched the floor along with some goggles resting on his forehead. It was so jarring that I was able to feel the calming field's effect on my mind when it calmed my heart rate and a cooling feeling caressed my body and mind.
"Isn't this 'calming field' more of a body-wide thing than just a mind thing?"
My gaze switched to the new speaker, a tall man amongst our group of 12, Blond hair, eyes like lightning and shirtless. Before I could ask why, his question was answered by the man in a coat.
"Why are you... no, doesn't matter. Yes, the calming field does have an effect on the body but mostly on the mind due to that being where, to our knowledge, panic begins."
"I see. It makes sense, our world doesn't have much Biological knowledge due to the heavy focus on Magic and Cultivation. Being Summoned was certainly a... disorienting experience, but I wish to learn more while I am here."
That made me raise an eyebrow.
"While you are here?"
"Yes, even if this world cannot send me back to my home world, I do not doubt my world's experts will find me one day. Summons happen to our world rather easily due to the spacetime being more fractured than others' spacetime."
"How intriguing, I do believe it will take them much longer than that but the reason why will come with the package of information we will be giving you."
"But-"
"Your Majesty, I believe we should allow them a moment in their rooms with the information packages. It will allow them to adjust a little so our conversations will go better."
A person I didn't even notice speaks from behind me.
"Yes, perhaps that will be for the best."
My dormant instincts awoke and SCREAMED at me. I had spun so fast that I almost got whiplash. The man that came into my view had an aged crown on his head that made my mind hurt just looking at it. His robes were made of the best silk I had ever seen but that was not the scariest of it.
No.
It was the way he looked disinterested and aloof as if nothing could harm him. He scared me in other ways I could not describe easily as well.
He looked lazy with his one leg on the other, chin supported by his hand, but nothing about him screamed lazy or lackadaisical.
"Go ahead and remove the field, we'll let them go to their assign-"
"YOU WILL NOT DO SUCH A THI-"
The sudden shout was interrupted by a cough and the sound of blood splattering on the ground. Our attention was dragged to the man that was being treated since the moment we arrived. It took a few minutes for him to settle and recover from the intense shout but when he did he continued.
"Your Majesty and Mr Sternstine, please remember what the Aspects told us during the Cataclysm."
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"What the Aspects told us? Ah yes, about the Gravity Value increasing by an unliveable number was it?"
"Yes, your Majesty, yes."
He then took another moment to sit up before continuing once more.
"If I may, could I ask for the Gravity Value of your worlds?"
Here, I and my friend group were confused. I had a hunch the man meant the Gravity of Earth, which was 9.81m/s or something.
"27", "32", "56", "I believe it was 49 the last I heard."
The four who were standing by themselves gave their answers before the other group of four spoke.
"81"
A whistle came from the shirtless man.
"Wow. Isn't that on the higher end of, wait, what Tier is the world you come from."
"Still One. We haven't been introduced to the Universe as a whole much. The barrier only dropped two or three Millenia ago."
"Woah, One? I thought it'd be Two... you learn something new every day. Anyways, that's really high for a Tier 1 World isn't it? 81... dang."
I turned towards Mr Sternstine to see his reaction only to see him smirking slightly.
He turned towards me and spoke.
"And what of your world?"
I scratched the back of my neck and looked at the others. Their hesitance made me speak up for us.
"Well... we don't know. It sounds like this, barrier, hasn't dropped yet. We haven't met any aliens... other races other than our own and the Animals on our planet."
Mr Sternstine, the King, and literally everyone else stared at us as if we were the most amazing specimen they had ever seen. It made me uncomfortable and the person that they called Your Majesty coughed to grab everyone's attention.
"Do not worry then, it simply means you will need to get a much larger data package. As for Gravity Value, it is based off the field of gravity inherent to every planet. We have specific methods to check it before sending people from a similar Gravity Value planet down to the surface."
Kayode, our group's resident physicist and weeb of the group spoke up.
"Do higher Gravity Value planet natives have their own gravitational field on lower planets? Or is it just a matter of difference in density?"
"It is a mix of both. The bodies of races from planets with a higher Gravity Value are much, much more dense. Same with the materials on said planet and the plant life and so on. But I digress, you'll learn all this in the information package. Let us begin by giving you those packages and start the physical conditioning so you can survive here."
He gestured with his hand and some of the armored people left to, presumably, go grab the information packages.
"Anyway, we can use this same machine to check on a person's Gravity Value."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Grand Mage waved someone over before speaking in a low tone.
That woman then came over and made a triangle with her hands before she started chanting in a low, rhythmic tone. This continued for a while before smoke began to rise from her hands and form a number.
"9.81 Huh. Not bad for an Unawakened world. So, Phobos, how long will they all need to adapt?"
The Grand Mage, Phobos, then sat there for a while before speaking.
"Around 5 to 6 years if we are lax. At the earliest we could have them adapted by 7 to 9 months if we were extremely harsh. Blessings could also shorten the time drastically so we should probably tell the representatives to return and tell the other Kings."
"What about asking the Aspects?"
"We could, but we do not have any suitable offerings after summoning them. We could market it as an experiment, perhaps Hephaestus would-"
"Impossible."
The doors opened to a man walking in with the same armored people who left the room.
"Hephaestus is a mad genius. If we were to ask for his blessing in specific, we could get anything from 'Heightened Fertility', to something like 'Perfect Eyes'. The Aspect of Curiosity or, even better, The Aspect of Efficiency would be a better option."
'Too many people, too many names, too many terms. Fuck, my brain is going to short-circuit.'
I tuned out the conversation for a while, I needed a break so I simply shut down my hearing and closed my eyes. It was too much, too soon.
----------------------------------------
I saw Dwight close his eyes and recognise it as him shutting down, he never did handle too much information well. I didn't think he'd last this long, maybe interest in the topic has something to do with it? A thought for another time.
I turned my gaze back towards the newcomer and the Knight lookalikes.
"I understand the Aspect of Efficiency but why the Aspect of Curiosity?"
The King spoke and I hear his peculiar voice again. It sounded like he's tired yet energetic at the same time, it confused me to no end. The newcomer answers in his strangely peaceful yet violent voice.
"As far as we know, Aspects cannot access Worlds hidden by the Barriers no? I have no doubt that while the Aspect of Curiosity has at least seen a World barrier drop, a grand event that must be. Seeing the residents of a World before the barrier drops, however, should be rare enough to intrigue them no?"
"A valid point. Make preparations, we'll see if we can convince them both."
The newcomer left without us ever getting his name. Some of the knight lookalikes followed him after they put down the boxes they were carrying.
The next to speak was Phobos, the Grand Mage. His voice is what you'd expect an old veteran to have, aged but cautious.
"Captain, if you could set up the information packets along the edge for them, they can get started on reading them."
I then decided to speak up.
"If I may, Your Majesty, I have a few questions."
The King turned to me with narrowed eyes before relaxing them and nodding.
"The first question is more of a fact check, am I right in assuming that the reason we need to adapt is because we'll be crushed to death in an instant if we attempt to leave this?"
He nods.
"The second, why would it take 5 to 6 years for us to adapt?"
"Because of how high our gravity value is. What's the next question?"
"What will we do to adapt to said gravity value?"
"We'll lighten the effect of this barrier and let you adapt to the new weight before lightening it again, we'll do this until you've adapted. Any more questions?"
"One more, if I may."
He nodded once more.
"How high is the gravity value exactly?"
He moved his hand to his chin and looked up, most likely in recollection.
"The recorded value after the first Evolution was Vo. 600,000 G."
Jaws dropped.
A man with what looked like lightning under his skin spoke up from a meter or so behind me.
"600,000? On the first Evolution? May I be rude and ask you swear on the Aspects?"
"I swear on the Aspects that the Value of Gravity was 600,000 after our World's first Evolution. You might not believe me even if I swear on the Aspects after I tell you the second though."
"By the Aspects... what value could shake me after hearing a 1st Stage World could have a 600,000 Gravity Value?"
The King smirked. A smug face like none I had ever seen before. A proud smile that spoke volumes. His next words made Dwight, who had started to listen again, pass out cold.
"100 Trillion."