“We can’t always get what we want,” said Alfonso.

I patted the dust off my green military jacket. “But I’m allowed to say it’s getting on my nerves, no? We’ve been at war for what fifty years? And they want us to keep fighting and working like slaves without supplies nor co-workers.”

“Well, it’s fine for you. You’ve been at this for two centuries. I’m sure you don’t need assistance.” Alfonso patted my back, “Look, you’re assigned to a type-M/22 world next. It could be worse. Think of it as a vacation.”

I nodded, “It might be the easiest type of world to deal with; however, it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Can’t you retire after one last job?”

Alfonso laughed, “I’m good. Sleeping in forest at my age is too much. Perhaps if we weren’t in a perpetual war the government might grant me a new body, however, with things as they are I’ll be lucky if I get more than a few grams of chocolate a week in my rations.”

I turned back around and look at the dense forest “At least if they let us stay in one world for longer, we could seize more assets.” I swatted away a few mosquitos which were getting a bit too close. Even with blood pumped full of nano-machines, getting one in the eyes wasn’t pleasant. I turned back to check the teleportation device connected to ten old and dirty generators, half buried in the red earth.

In the background gun shots harmonized with the screams of monkeys and people. I turned around once again, and my corneal implant highlighted five men coming in our direction belonging to the rebel group we scammed into providing us cobalt and diamonds.

“You know how it is. If we stayed in a single world, we’d get attached to it. Well, I doubt you would. However, those of us who don’t have mental situations letting us commit a crime heinous enough to be sentenced to memory loss and three hundred years in prison.”

I ignored the last part, although I was still the same person. The incidents which led me to commit that crime had disappeared. Perhaps that’s why they decided to assign me to such a dirty job. I turned to Alfonso, and asked, “So what are you going to do during retirement?” to change the topic.

Alfonso kept his eyes on the formation that would send him back home. “Maybe write. There isn’t any men’s club left in the third colony ship. The property price keeps skyrocketing, and most of us end up leaving for colonial planets. And you know full well I’m not spending my final days on a farm harvesting wheat.” He crouched down to get a better look at his teleportation device. “I wouldn’t mind painting the scenery of the different worlds we’ve visited, but I doubt paint can still be bought. Anyhow, I’ll send you a message, it shouldn’t cost you more than one hundred mana points to summon it.” Alfonso touched the metal tubing which acted as the interdimensional teleportation device. “Good luck and stay safe. I don’t know what you did to deserve this faith; however, you’re a good friend so survive.” He disappeared along with the device.

When I turned around to make sure the rebels couldn’t see me, my vision blurred slightly. There wasn’t time for this. The blinding white light of the teleportation device indicated that it was time to leave. I touched its cold metal rim. And the miners town where the people who mined cobalt for pennies on the pound faded into the void.

#

I appeared in the other world crouched down in the same position. However, instead of the red Congolese earth, the soil was a pale brown. I looked up and discovered that I was in a loosely forested area. The heat wasn’t all too different than what I had felt in the Congolese jungle; however, a cool and salty breeze replaced the suffocating humidity of the tropics.

Although this wasn’t the best place to appear in a new world. There were worst possibilities, such as in the middle of a town or atop the tallest mountain peak. At least the teleportation device only made sure that the user was teleported to a habitable area. Although I’m sure if it weren’t for the ministry of magic’s low budget, they could improve it. For some reason the people had always been more fascinated into ether than magic or electricity.

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For now, I made sure all my gadgets functioned properly as per standard protocol. I opened my brain implants interface which monitored everything on my person. First the nano-machines, they were in the green. Next my corneal implant, they were in the green. My skin pigmentation modifier, in the green. After that came the brain implant itself, in the green. And finally came the most important part to a type-M/22 world, the status screen, and the hero’s blessings.

Orion Dandillon, Grade 1, Lvl. 1/10

Exp (0/500)

Grade 1/10 lightning mage (Combat type class)

Intelligence

Resistance

Endurance

Strength

Agility

Perception

Charisma

Mana

30

15

15

18

18

20

30

100

Jobs (0/3):

Level 1 lightning mage skills and spells:

* Fast step (increase speed in relation to your agility).

* Numbing field (your body and weapons can be encased in a thin electric film which disables those who come in contact with it).

* Magic Hero’s blessing (Exp gain x10, job acquisition speed x10, intrinsic understanding of magic skills, spells, and all humanoid languages)

* Heroic charisma (+1 charisma per level gain)

I let out a sigh in relief. The nightmare scenario of being sent to a type-M world without the hero’s blessing was truly a cosmic horror for any IRC worker. Even with our increased bone, and muscle strength due to genetic engineering, it couldn’t be compared to magic, or skills gained through the system.

I opened my brown leather suitcase which I had gotten in the previous world, took out a brown tunic, put away my Congolese military fatigues, and buried the suitcase under a thin layer of earth. If someone from this world discovered it in a few weeks, or a few years, it didn’t matter. I was here to seize weapons, not to worry about any future alien conspiracies.

For now, I started walking towards what was probably the sea as searched for the source of the salty breeze. The trees weren’t very tall nor densely packed. Scrubs and bushes populated the forest floor. I walked up to a tree and broke off a branch. It would work well as a walking stick and a weapon.

For three hours I walked, and for three hours I hadn’t seen a bird in the sky, nor a rat on the ground. Only after another two did my corneal implants create a red dot in the corner of my vision. I slowly approached it. Hopefully, it was small game I could hunt to gain some experience points, if not I needed to run. That’s when I found a lynx sitting in the shade of a three-meter-tall rock. I turned 360 degrees to let my implant check for any nearby signs of life, thankfully it didn’t find anything.

I applied the numbing field on my walking stick. It drained 10 mana points. I got into sprinters position, pushed off my right foot and with the aid of the fast step skill went from 0 to 30 km/h in two seconds. I didn’t pay attention to my mana and ran straight into the lynx, stick pointed towards its flank. When the lynx heard me and stood up to act, it was already too late. The stick had pierced its lungs, and my experience points increase by one hundred.

The ten times increase in experience points gain really did wonders. Next, I checked my mana. It had decreased by sixty points. I tried taking another step with the fast step skill activated and I lost 10 mana points. It was a rather expensive skill, however, if used properly it was incredibly good, especially when it would level up.

Soon after I found four black birds perched on a small tree. The branches proliferated in a manner similar to a bush. Birds and bees ate the tree’s red berries, and its white flowers’ nectar.

I took a rock the size of a fist, got into a baseball throw position, and with the use of quick steps threw the rock towards a bird. The bird exploded under the force of a one hundred- and fifty-kilometres fast ball. The other birds screeched, flapped their wings, and escaped into the sky. I checked my experience points. It had increased by ten. Birds weren’t an ideal target; however, they could get me a level or two.

Since the sun had started to set, I decided it would be wise to set up camp. I went ahead and collected a few dead branches, and leaves which would work as tinder. After lighting a fire, I found larger branches and impaled them into the ground to serve as a makeshift fence. When the fire had burned for a few hours, I spread the ash around the fence and inside my residence to limit the number of insects which would invade the area at night. Next, I found a few coniferous plants with large leaves and used them as bedding.

As night arrived, I lay down on the soil of another foreign world, it wasn’t soft, nor was it welcoming; however, it was more welcoming than my home, yet I could only stare up into the night sky and wish to see the stars and nebula's from my room’s porthole.