The guide states that universal laws are enforced by the rescue corps but can also be enforced by local enforcers based on culture. So vigilantism doesn't necessarily exist here.

The universal law states that every entity has the right to live,speak, and protect freely and Ordis law mostly states that theft,slavery,unwarranted assault,destruction of property and murder are against the law.

The use of magic increases the sentencing of the crime.

The Unwarranted assault part is what caught my attention the most, apparently some species fight as a greeting or socially.

And many political positions can be acquired by right of conquest.

Though you can still get fined for disturbances and such.

On the topic of fines, currency has a universal standard so that it can be used in most realms.

Most things are bought with gold,silver,iron,copper,gems, or mana crystals. Normally in the shape of coins but that's not required.

If you're using a foreign currency, the weight and purity of the material determines the value.

Taxes are paid at checkpoints as a service fee for transportation.

Overall the realms have more freedom than the US in 1950 and Ordis is the center of it all.

‘Oh apparently there IS a god, many in fact.’ I thought, reaching for my camelbak and taking a sip.The two main gods are monjåi and raja, who are the split consciousness of Sol.

Each realm has a leading god who rules over it…Except terra?

‘Wow god actually did abandon us.’I huffed a light laugh.

The reality was that no lord had claimed or wanted the magicless ‘death’ world.

Which was honestly fair.

But that also meant that technically any deity could claim the world, surely someone would want to OWN A WHOLE DIMENSION.

Unfortunately the guide didn’t go into detail on the matter. My tail twitched with irritation as I searched the guide for more info.

I huffed and sat back,soaking in the information. I ran a hand through my hair, it was a lot to take in.

Well at least I know I'm not stuck here. The guide clearly stated that both public gates, rifts,high magic and artifacts could take me home and bring me back here.

Though gates are a one way trip to terra due to the lack of ambient mana.

‘Though that might change.’I thought hopefully. According to the guild,many entities create mana as a byproduct of literally existing and some need it to live. Though some create more than others. Terra just doesn't have those creatures yet.

The sound of the door opening snapped my attention to the present.

It was officer Ragnam with a wooden cup.

“How are you doing?” he asked, placing the cup in front of me. If he noticed my missing wings he said nothing.

“I’m doing as well as possible given the circumstances.” I responded, taking the cup and inspecting it.

It looked like water. Smelled like water as well,though overly sterilized.

Taking a sip,it tasted like water but with a flavor similar to a ‘flavorless’ electrolyte powder and had a certain fizziness to it.

I wrinkled my nose at it.

Officer Ragnam, noticing my reaction, said.”Yep, recovery aids never go down easy.”

‘A recovery aid?’ I forcibly relaxed my face. That explains the sterile taste.

“Thanks..” I say, taking another hesitant sip of the aid. And the officer nods standing up to leave again.

“Your Free to leave whenever you're ready, don’t mind the other gawking when you do.”

“Wait, what do you mean by gawking?” But the officer had already left.

Huffing and exasperated breath, I placed my bug out on the table. Rummaging through it, I pulled out one of the shirts I had packed for my original trip and my sewing kit.

What can I say , bootcamp habits die hard.

It was a simple light green t-shirt, but it needed modifications to avoid… accidents with my new limbs that may appear at any time.

I grabbed one of the fabric pencils and after some consideration, traced two twelve inch lines about four inches from the mid seams.

Perfect.

I grabbed one of my knives,made sure it was clean and cut down the lines from inside the shirt.

Good now to clean up the edges.

Grabbing a needle and thread, I folded the seams inward and stitched a running stitch along the cuts to prevent further fraying.

It looked well made, intentional and unless inspected closely, the modification wouldn’t be noticed as otherwise.

In total it took about 15 minutes to complete.

I quickly changed from the torn white T-shirt to the Light green one. It felt nice to get out of, as the white shirt was noticeably moist and stained orange from the salagators.

As I stood and on a hunch ,I flexed where I could still feel my wings. I once again heard a noticeable pop, similar to the sound of cracking your back, and the wings slid through the premade holes.

Now that I could see them, they were the same color as my hair,golden blond with darker blond highlights. Surprisingly there were quite a bit of younger feathers. Not quite fully fletched.

Packing everything up, I slung the bag over my wings and secured it. I kept some of the glow stones in my pocket.

Taking a deep breath, I mentally prepared myself to leave the room. My tail twitched anxiously and I pulled my wings over my shoulders in a comforting way.

Pushing open the door, I could see a few rows of desks. I spotted the elf from before at one along with a few others, several were humanoid but others not so. They seemed to be doing paperwork. I stepped out hoping to not draw attention, looking for the exit.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I only made it 3 steps before one that looked like a cat/goat version of a centaur saw me.

“Um..hi?” I said nervously. The cat/goat’s ears perked up and in an excited tone half shouted.

“GREAT SOL, Hello!” gathering the others attention, the cat/goat proceeded to JUMP OVER the desk without touching it and rushed over.

Reasonably startled, I stepped back. Wings puffed and arms raised open handed.

To their credit,the cat/goat did slow down a bit allowing me to calm down a bit and reanalyze the situation.

‘I'm not in danger, he’s just..’over enthusiastic’ to meet me. Like an excited puppy.’ The comparison brought a small smile to my face.

“I’m Kion and I have so many questions! What's it like on Terra? Is it true Magic Doesn't exist there? How do things work without magic?How do you have magic if you come from a death world?” he asked at the speed of sound, it was actually kind of dizzying. If i didn’t have nephews just as hyper it would have been impossible to answer. I raised my hand to his ..Snout to signal him to stop.

“Woah, slow down.. Kion was it? I’m Alex, I don’t really know how to describe Terra as a whole..there’s legends and concepts of magic but I’ve never seen it in practice. Without magic we just make things that work around physics.What’s a death world?” I think I covered all his questions…

Wait he said I have magic. That’s going in the mental filing cabinet.

One of the officers that looked like the personification of sleep paralysis but friendlier, halted their paperwork to say.

“Kion, how would someone, who’s never been in contact with magic,know what a death world is? I apologize for him, he's still in training.” they said ever so slightly exasperatedly.

It was almost as if their emotions were radiating off them. I could Feel the ‘I’m surrounded by Idiots’ energy.

“Oh no it’s fine, he actually reminds me a bit of my nephews,but they're both significantly younger.” I said with a good natured chuff. That caught their attention.

“So you're a pack creature?” asked the officer. I tilted my head.

“I guess so, I've never heard it worded like that before though. But back to the question.

What Is a Death world?” Kion jumped at the opportunity to answer.

“A Death world is an unstable realm, one the council has marked too dangerous to travel to.-” My Heart stutters at that, would I be able to get home? “-Though don’t worry, the council won't keep you from going. You may need to learn return magic though. I don’t know of any public portals that go there…” Kion trailed off seemingly lost in thought. Suddenly the atmosphere seemed thicker. Many of the officers pointedly looked away.

“How difficult is it to learn Return magic?” I was careful to watch my tone. The dream demon answered.

“It’s like the difference between swimming across a vast river or using a bridge . Of course there’s places where the waters may be shallow and it will be easier with experience but it can be dangerous to do so.”they answered smartly, yet slightly grim.

They..They didn’t believe I could do it.

“Good thing I’ve always been a good swimmer. Where would I learn return magic? ” I asked, grinning. The officer seemed to flinch at the show of teeth.

“Kenhil would be best, the fair folk don’t normally do things for free but they have public resources that are sure to help you.” They said, grabbing a scroll from their desk.

“Here, if you go to the public gate at the central plaza you can travel to Mahlin, there you will find the city of Kenhil. Did you find anything in the labyrinth that you might be able to sell? you’ll need to pay for the toll to get through.” They asked, handing me the scroll(which turned out to be a map).

After a moment of consideration and a mental inventory I decided.

“I think so.. Take a look at these.” I pulled out some of the glowing stones from my pocket. Purple, blue, and red all shining beautifully.

There was a moment of silence before chaos. The officer I was speaking to grabbed one of the purple stones. They were all talking over each other. One of the questions I was able to make out was.

“Is it real?!” which was weird, why wouldn’t it be real?

Apparently all the commotion gained the attention of Officer Ragham. I felt his words before I registered that it was him speaking.

“FOR THE HONOR OF THE REALMS, HAVE ORDER!” he sounded from the doorway of a back office. He marched forward,grabbing the stone and inspected it before handing it back to me.

“It’s real, Where Did you find it?” he asked, significantly calmer. I swallowed, suddenly nervous.

“I was attacked by a creature in the caverns, I thought the stones could help me light the way, and I thought they were pretty.” I said shifting my weight from one leg to the other.

A light snort was received in response.

“Pretty indeed, this one specifically is from the Baykok crystal serpent, most creatures can barely see the light it emits. Tell me ,what color does this appear to you?”

“It’s purple, Why?” I asked.

“No reason,I was just curious . It appears to be a clear blue to me.” he states, as he wrote something down.

“Say, I'd be willing to buy the Baykok crystals from you. The Rescues corps uses them to manufacture equipment for sterilizing medical supplies.You could sell the other crystals in town at the market.”he said, grabbing a blank piece of parchment from one of the desks.

“That would be great actually.” Even if he shorted me here, it's better than walking out with nothing. Ragnam writes down some …Numbers? And labeling them.

Market price, he’s calculating the market price of the stones.

It’s a different(read:overcomplicated) formula than what I saw in school but it’s the same values.

Now if only i knew how much a silver talon was worth.

Well no time like the present.

“So, for reference, what could I buy with a talon?”Officer Ragnam was too focused on the numbers to hear me but one of the officers picked up the slack.

“You could buy a cheap mana communicator, a few nights at an inn, most local gate fees, simple medical fees, things like that.” This officer looked more akin to a deer, if deer were mossy green with flowers growing out of their fur.

I was about to ask another question when Ragnam called me over.

“How many Baykok Crystals do you have?” he asked looking up from the paper.

“Hold on, give me a moment.” I said, shrugging off my backpack and digging for the rest of the crystals.I had only killed the one purple one so i still only had 9 Baykok crystals, the rest stayed in my backpack.

One after another I placed the stones on the desk, with each stone the room grew more quiet. Officer Ragnam stayed unfazed and continued his work. Documenting and weighing each stone. After what seemed like an eternity he finally lifted his head.

“You got quite the good hall here, how’s 10 talon and 6 iron bits for the lot.” That seemed like a lot of cash for some rocks but I wasn't about to correct him on what I don't know.

“Sounds good to me…” I said hesitantly, Slinging my bag back over my wings and securing it.

“Great, I'll get you your silver and send you on your way.” he stated as he marched to the back office.

He didn’t take long as he appeared once again with a fabric pouch with a drawstring top. The small jiggling from the pouch gave away its contents.

Officer Ragnam handed me the pouch and placed a hand on my back, guiding me forward while I checked the contents of the bag just to be sure.

He guided me to a set of clear glass doors and opened one for me.

Well maintained stone walls, wooden scaffolding and clay tiles for miles. That's what I saw as I stepped outside. The rescue corps station was set higher than much of the city before me.

It was so different from what I'm used to. The second floor of most buildings held their own shops and paths seemed layered on top of each other.

A grunt from beside me regained my attention.Oh i've been standing here staring.

“Thanks for your help.” I said, still entrapped in the scenery .

“No need, it's my job.”Officer Ragnam stated calmly as he turned to head back into the station.

‘I guess that means I should take my leave.’ I thought as I started into the city, Ordis was it?

I could have sworn I heard a “May meili guide your path.” as I took those first steps.

In a way it reminded me of a bee hive except nothing was crowded or crammed together. Someone twice my height could fit inside some of the stores, though some I'd need to duck to get into.Many beings of all different shapes and sizes walked past me. They all looked so captivating but I must stay focused.

Checking the map I was given, I was surprised to see that some of the names didn’t automatically translate.

‘Maybe the spell was only for basic words?

No, that doesn't make sense, I could understand more complicated words just fine spoken. Luckily ‘public transport’ is clearly marked on the map.’

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a squeak from an alley.

Curious, I peered into the alleyway and to my surprise I could see the little ferret person I had helped earlier. I stepped further into the alleyway but aborted before i got far.

It seemed as if they weren’t alone.

Two insect-like creatures.

..No they were defendantly speaking, Beings creeped closer towards the back of the alley.

They were larger than the ferret but smaller than me and looked similar to a mantis but without the wings.

But wait there is someone else guarding the ferret from these two. A mid Black haired, tan skin, humanoid being with pointed ears and those trademark wings you would see in a fairytale movie. Blue at the base that faded to a glowing gold.

She was standing ready to fight and wings buzzing like a wasp’s before they strike.

She... reminded me of my little sister.

I could feel the pricking of my neck hairs and a cold wash over my shoulders at the thought.

Our eyes met and I knew she knew that I wasn't going to leave them here.