“Let me begin with that. I already sent a message to Rune to let him know you 2 arrived, so I’m sure he’ll not remain ignorant about you and ignore my message, but as for when he’ll reply… I can’t say, so just wait patiently and focus on your own life,” Utopia started to explain a few things to the 2 still confused twin little brothers of Rune from a holographic screen.
“Also, you two aren’t the first family members of the Undecided to arrive in the Endless, but you’re the first for which your responsible family member is too far away to even theoretically come back quickly. So don’t expect to see him anytime soon,” he subtly informed them of the reality of the situation without telling them the whys.
Rune was away, very very far away, unreachable unless in very short random timeframes, and even receiving a reply would take days at best or weeks at worst.
That’s what the two brothers understood.
“So now that this is out of the way. The first thing you need to do is wait at the exit of the landing zone structure,” Utopia told the two the first weird step, quickly clarifying it as he continued to explain, “Once you’re there, I’ll come to fetch you and we’ll use the teleportation network to go somewhere less crowded and more suitable for your first steps.”
“It’s a place your brother participated in building and that I’m currently managing with a few friends. It’s primarily dedicated to catering for a lot of Ether Law training-related fields. There you’ll be given a place to get used to the Endless and receive a comprehensive course on how to live here. Are you still following me?”
“Yes,” Miri replied.
“Yup,” Miro copied.
“Perfect. You 2 are still tier 1 entities, right? Before we start talking about your path, build, or profession, you need to reach tier 2, so just go with the flow for now and keep your mind open for everything you see. Any questions? I’ll depart now if you don’t.”
Like lightning, he had explained everything, and not really having the time to process everything, none of the two had any questions that came to their mind. So Utopia soon hung up, leaving the two brothers to themselves.
Not having the time to talk to each other, the feed was cut off and Miro faced the handsome blond man again.
“Do you need anything else?” He asked with the same smile he had from the moment he was first seen.
“Nothing else, thank you,” Miro thanked him.
“In this case, your guidance is finished,” he waved to the door, “Follow the red arrows to exit this place. A way for Utopia Fanaru to find you has already been issued, so you don’t need to worry about being left behind. Have a pleasant journey.”
Standing up from his chair, Miro thanked him again before bidding him goodbye and exiting the office room.
Following the very obvious red arrows, he ended up on a new vertical corridor much less populated than the one he used to come here.
People were using it, from his sides, above and below, and he could see that it was in fact a lot once he took into account all the surroundings his 500 meters perception allowed him to see.
He didn’t know precisely what the landing zone structure looked like, but he knew it was a cube in surface area, he read about it. So linking what he was seeing to the four faces of this cube wasn’t hard.
‘Is it really the most optimized structure? It seems weird… But at the same time, there are just so many new restraints I need to know about.’
As architecture was his main professional knowledge, he couldn’t help but think about it a lot, knowing it didn’t matter anyway. He just found it fascinating.
Flying up, he was bit by bit joined by a great mass of people that had the same objective as him: Exiting the place.
A few minutes was all it took for him to reach the end of the corridor, and this time, it was truly the end of his automated journey. Signs and panels existed, but none indicated anything relevant to his situation.
‘So now I just wait to be picked up by a stranger? It seems that the Ether Law really wants all my expectations to be destroyed in under a day of arriving here.’
Despite feeling rebellious inside, he found himself in a nice place by getting out of the main flow of people who, unlike him, didn’t need to wait here.
‘I can’t even contact Miri to meet up, I also didn’t get a time to know when he’ll arrive…’
And then.
After sitting down for a few minutes, from nowhere, Utopia and Miri appeared in front of him as if by teleportation.
“Let’s go little Miro,” the rululu simply announced, then put one of his arms around his waist.
The stranger he got to talk with only a few minutes prior actually put one of his arms around his waist like they had known each other for weeks.
From there for the two brothers, their perception and brain slash spirit processing speed weren’t enough to follow or see where they were going precisely.
The only thing they could somewhat see was a big black cube behind them getting smaller and smaller.
Infusing energy into his voice to make sure the one holding him heard, one of the two brothers asked, “What specialization are you using? I don’t see any momentum matrix-”
“Hehehe, it’s amazing, right? It’s commonly known as the dancing warrior path, the name of the core specialization is momentum dance,” Utopia jovially explained, “And what I’m doing right now, that’s a very inefficient way of using it. But it does the job so whatever.”
Through the intended disruptive momentum transmission of his momentum dance specialization, he was using his own momentum to make the two tier 1 go at his own momentum-based speed.
“We’re there.”
‘Already?! No, I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s completely normal to put the transportation infrastructures close to a major transit hub. What does the teleportation network look like though?’
It didn’t take long for Miro to get his answer as the world slowly stopped being a blur, allowing his perception to properly see again.
Then it was his sight that became fully operational.
“That’s a major teleportation node if you’re wondering, it’s named the Landing node for reasons too obvious for me to say,” Utopia introduced to them what the big sky-piercing tower was.
None of the two newcomers would have guessed it was anything but a tourist attraction if he didn’t say it. It was after all just a colored glass tower with lots of complex patterns for the untrained eyes.
As their speed was only slowed and not stopped, the glass tower became bigger and bigger, until finally, they arrived at its base.
And there were lots of people, again.
However, Utopia didn’t seem to care and before the two began to process facts like how he reached them in such a short time when what they were seeing was obviously a waiting line, they took off and started ascending.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The ground disappeared instantly for the two with a perception of only 500 meters, and the next moment, the 3 landed and Utopia’s grips on the two finally relaxed.
There were not lots of people anymore. There were only a few dozen.
Appraising glances were sent their way, but it seemed that they were authorized to land here as no one reacted.
“Is it a tier 4 entrance?” Miri asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
But the answer he received didn’t help as much as he hoped it would, “Among other things, yes.”
“A VIP entrance then?” He persisted.
There was no answer as they just continued walking at around 5 meters per second.
“Sigh…” Then Utopia finally sighed, he had made his own deductions, “He didn’t tell you much, did he? It’s totally like him to do that,” he appeared slightly exasperated but had a content smile.
The two brothers didn’t say anything, waiting for him to clarify what he was trying to say.
“I’ll take the job then, at least the start. But first, let’s teleport. Then we’ll walk leisurely while I explain a few things about your big brother.”
As a major teleportation node, the landing node was tens of kilometers wide, but much of the actual node was used as logistics to properly use the 2 core parts: The space beacon, receiving people, and the space piercer, sending people.
The names were taken from the respective specializations needed to make teleportation operational. The IGS didn’t have a miraculous solution, so they went for the most optimized one used everywhere else.
After walking a few kilometers, they passed through a checkpoint where patrollers made sure they could pass through, which they easily solved once Utopia’s identity was verified.
Next, it all went fast.
Utopia approached a waiting space piercer and said, “Undecided minor node please.”
Without saying anything, the spacer piercer indicated the three to step onto the glass platform and grabbed a metallic pipe that crackled with ether from Miro’s perception.
‘We don’t need to pay, we don’t need to wait, that’s clearly a VIP zone. But tier 4 shouldn’t be that rare anymore… And we’re going to a node called Undecided…’
Stopping him from thinking further, a sudden discomfort and nausea hit him. He instantly felt his knees go soft and fell on the floor, unable to even use momentum to remain standing.
“Stand up, it’s over,” a voice called to him, and before he realized it, he was back in control and stood up automatically.
The quietness found in the VIP area of the landing node was nowhere to be found. They had arrived at a gigantic common area where people sporadically appeared from nothing.
“Follow me, the park is only a few kilometers away.”
‘The park? We’re going to a park?’
Vacating the area at a reasonably fast pace, the world that had been filled with people, sounds, smells, and massive structures had all but disappeared.
Looking behind him, Miro saw a very different tower from the one hosting the landing node. This one was a lot more unassuming and could host a lot less traffic, but it was perfectly integrated into the surrounding forest that had been kept as it was.
What was also very different was the overall relaxed atmosphere. Groups of people talked about a myriad of subjects he could only half understand, the wide dirt road was lined up with only simple signs giving simple indications…
It was a totally different world from the one he and his brother glimpsed at, at the exit of the landing zone structure and at the Landing node.
Looking at the favorable environment, Utopia started speaking, “Don’t think the situation at the landing zone was something normal. And stop wearing this stern and serious expression, they don’t fit the cute twin little brothers Rune talked about in the past.”
As the conversation had finally started and the other party seemed open for something at a casual level, Miri also started speaking, “It’s completely normal. You’re the one that’s being a bit too friendly, is it normal for rululus to act like that?”
“Ah, so direct, you’re nothing like Rune on that side. And I don’t act a bit too friendly,” Utopia smiled widely, “I am a bit too friendly! I’m also only a few years older than you! So we can totally talk like friends do.”
“Why is the node named Undecided node?” Miro interjected with the most urgent question in his mind.
“Because the IGS is a capitalistic society, and as long as you have money in a capitalistic society, you can do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t break the law,” he held his head high and silently boasted shamelessly about being a true capitalist.
“So… The Undecided adventurer’s group has lots of money?” Miro concluded and asked at the same time.
Utopia, however, seemed really taken aback by this question, as if his whole understanding of the situation had been upset, “Okay, let me ask this question first. When did Rune last send you a message?”
As he asked the question, Miro took it upon himself to answer, “Hu… A few years ago? His last message was one where he said he became tier 4 and had a lot of plans?”
“Okay, okay,” Utopia repeated while nodding repeatedly as if it all suddenly made sense before starting to laugh out loud, “Hahaha! Then Rune probably simply forgot about you! Sending a message back home was probably on his infinite to-do list! Hahaha! Thank you, I’ll make sure to use this fact as leverage in the future.”
“What can make him forget about something like that for years? He wasn’t living in the wilderness during all that time or something like that, right? Or did something big happen in the meantime?” More curious than anything else, Miro just continued trying to understand.
“Don’t take it personally, that’s just how it is,” but Utopia stopped his curiosity, “Ask your brother when he’s available, it’s not my place to explain how his life is. Anyway, we stopped at the Undecided adventurer’s group having lots of money, so let me continue from there. First, it’s the Undecided company that has lots of money, and the Undecided are the founders…”
For the two brothers, just knowing their big brother they had not seen for years had become a tier 4 entity when he sent his last message had already been good news, but what Utopia described couldn’t be described as just “good news” anymore.
Somehow, somewhat, their big brother and his friends had all become nouveau riche. And it wasn’t thanks to speculation, luck, or something like that but ability, knowledge, specialization, and a pioneer advantage.
“That’s why he would have you out of the prospect school system. I don’t know what you want to become, but as you have a direct family tie to Rune, and only the Undecided have a say in the company, you can pretty much ask for investments about anything and it’ll be accepted.”
How should the brothers react? What reaction can you possibly have when you suddenly learn your big brother that hadn’t given news for years has become someone a bit too high on the social hierarchy?
“Now do the math yourself, Undecided company sponsored a lot of money for the teleportation network initiative. We prefer stability over growth. Blablabla. If you’re interested, check it online once I give you a pair of connected lenses. Or do you have other preferences? The market is expanding a bit too quickly so I’m not updated on the latest online tools available.”
“Hehe, so we need to check online to see what’s available, while not having access to it. That’s pure genius,” Miri understood what Utopia said in a very objective way and found it funny enough to say it.
“Ah, no need to fiddle with the details, just go with the flow. I know your family background thanks to Rune, and as much as you think being rich will change your life… Well, now that we’re under the Ether Law, it’s all about reaching a higher tier and being comfy doing it, it’s all there is,” half-serious half-guiding words escaped Utopia’s mouth.
“So being rich doesn’t change your life? First time I hear that. If the Ether Law hadn’t changed things, I’m completely sure I would have found a quiet corner of the Universe and settled down there playing games and browsing the net forever,” brutally honest, Miri continued on his objective criticism of the situation.
“Same,” Miro echoed, feeling like what his brother said was the honest truth.
Nonetheless, under the barrage of very realistic honesty, Utopia kept smiling in understanding, “Who am I to judge?”
With very slight, nearly invisible fluctuations of energy the two brothers couldn’t hope to see or sense, the handsome rululu seemed to transform.
His white and gold suit didn’t change in appearance, but it started to radiate a certain aura that neophytes uninitiated to the world of intent creation couldn’t make sense of.
“I’m just a tier 4 belonging to the top of the IGS after all. Your journey hasn’t even started yet, your knowledge base is inexistent at best, full of misunderstanding at worst. Between what is said on the board and what happens in reality, that’s where you are.”
The aura wasn’t offensive or pressuring, it was light, friendly, and pure, making the two tier 1 listen and not daring to interrupt.
“It’s your luck to have Rune as your big brother. He found his calling by luck and effort and became something of a master in it, but even then, he stopped making long-term plans a long time ago.”
The aura started to recede after he finished his piece. And neither of the brothers had even realized what happened was unnatural and artificial.
“I don’t know what you want to do yet, but don’t fall into the opulence effect. Check online if you don’t know what it is. Maybe wait to have a call with him? You’ll be more sensible to what he says compared to the words of a stranger.”
“How old are you, Utopia?” Miro asked as he now wanted a precise number after listening to those words from someone who claimed to be close in age but was so far above.
“I encountered Rune for the first time when I was 15 years old, at that time, you two were 14, and now you are 20 or 21 while I am 22. Rune is 29, soon to be 30 if I didn’t mess up. Am I right?”
“Yes…” Observing the precise numbers, Miro stopped trying to justify their difference.
“Don’t be so down, hehehe. Look forward, that’s the foundation of the Undecided company, the Undecided training park!”