The unexpected visitor let his body drop from the side of the cliff and fell face first, belly-flopping on the ground but immediately bouncing back and safely landing on his feet. A portion of the floor under him was damaged by the impact of his skull.

He had his gaze fixed on me, patiently waiting for my answers to his questions.

“I’m John Doe, Patriarch of the Gamma Perimeter. I crossed a strange expanse in search of the Last Harbour, in order to travel to the Otherlands,” I briefly explained.

He brightened up at my words.

“I see! Are you a Legion? No, you aren’t. How did you manage to traverse the Fractal Space? I once stepped inside it for a few seconds and returned a few decades later. But it doesn’t seem to be the case for you, it’s interesting, extremely interesting! Are you a descendant of the Blue? No, you don’t have their smell, although you have a unique scent. Then, how…”

“Can you show me the way?” I asked while he continued talking.

“... could your time be so, oh, sure, come this way”

The talkative man turned around and started running along the quartzy beach. I followed after him, keeping up with his rapid pace. He ran like Tobias, barely scratching the surface with his feet. As a matter of fact, the levels of strength of the two appeared to be quite similar, although Tobias still probably held the advantage.

The man continued to spew out words even while we ran side by side, but at our current velocity, the sounds he emitted had no hope of reaching my ears. Not that I was particularly keen on listening to him. Nevertheless, he seemed content enough, as he appeared to be answering his own questions.

After a while, a peculiarity started rising from behind the horizon. Although there were many words one could use to describe it, only the simplest one that came to my mind was appropriate.

It was a hole. A gigantic spherical hole filling up the entire sky, with boundaries so sharply defined that space itself seemed to end there. On the other side of the hole, a vastness, host to the most disparate images the cosmos could offer. Stars, galaxies, celestial spheres and roads of lights, images of horrors beyond comprehension and of dead worlds. Everything imaginable and not. Numerous rings of black ivory, big enough to encircle it, were around it, their function if any, unknown to me.

“Curious sight, am I right? There is always something to see there, I never tire of watching it, and I’ve been doing it for a looong time,” my guide spoke after we had slowed down.

We had almost reached our destination. Although it was still not visible, it was impossible not to perceive all the presences located there. I tried to count them, but my senses were still not sharp enough. I could tell there were more than a hundred, every single one of them comparable in strength to the Atriarchs of the other side.

I would have put myself on guard if I hadn’t already been ready by sheer nature. The place I was going to was home to a force altogether powerful enough to erase numerous civilizations if not entire biospheres and planets. A single mature archuman was an existence the strongest beings needed to be wary of, an entire population was a cataclysm ready to unleash itself.

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The cliff disappeared and the ground became levelled with the sea. No longer hidden by anything, the seaside town born under the shade of the hole in the sky came into my sight. It was improper to call it a town, as it was just a region covered in dishevelled buildings, mounds of metals and crates scattered all around. Water vapour continuously flowed out of a few cubes of concrete covered in cracks.

The sea in front of the town was actually in a liquid state, as the presence of the hole had an effect on its surroundings, such as an increment in temperature and a more perceptible movement of the air. Not only that, gravity appeared to behave quite erratically in close proximity to the hole, judging by the fluttering of waves and the pillars of water which at times rose a few metres towards the sky.

A few of these effects appeared to be strengthened by the numerous obsidian statues scattered around, which behaved similarly to the Pillars of the Perimeters, keeping mana at bay. The androgynous people the statues depicted were writhing in pain, their faces distorted by unbearable suffering.

It was quite clear what those statues were: simply an unfortunate experiment of the Black; but I didn’t give it too much thought. Even if I wanted to, there was nothing to be done, as everything had ended a long time ago. No sign of any kind came from those statues.

I could even hear some noises coming from the town, of people talking with each other and living their daily life, although their voices were not strong enough to understand what they were saying or doing, because of the muffling effect of mana.

The man turned towards me with a smile.

“A couple of tips before entering town. If there is something you like laying around, just take it. There is lots of stuff laying around.

If you wish to fight with someone, feel free to do so, although it’s better if you ask them before starting. If possible, fight away from the coast, so as not to break the buildings. The cleaning up can be a real bother.

Lastly, ships are more strictly regulated, as there is not enough of them for everyone. If you want to take one, just ask if anybody is using it and if someone is, discuss it with them or search for another. People around here are quite sensitive when it regards the ships, so if you become a problem we will all gang up on you and rip you apart.

Is everything clear?” he finished speaking still with the same genuine smile plastered on his face.

His demeanour was friendly. He spoke politely as he meant no threat. He only informed me of how things worked around here.

“Yes,” I answered with a nod.

“Good then. Let me call the others, everyone will certainly be curious about you”

He walked forward, took a big breath and then he shouted. The air exploded and the ground rumbled at the shockwave that originated from his lungs. The quartz cracked and fragments flew all around. The rising air pressure burst my eardrums, showing the power behind the shout. I remained deaf for a few moments before my ears returned to their pristine state.

After a few seconds of peace and quiet, the ground started to vibrate. The inhabitants of the town had started to move and like an unstoppable wave, they rapidly converged towards our position. I stayed fixed where I was, as I felt no hostility coming from the visitors, nor I had anywhere to go or hide.

I was immediately surrounded by at least three hundred people, each one of them an adult archuman and most of them strong enough to compare with Tobias and the likes. They came in a variety of forms and ages. Some appeared to be just a little bit older than me while others had their heads and faces covered in white hair and beards.

Nevertheless, their appearance was simple aesthetic and not a true gauge of their seniority. I could vaguely tell by gazing at them, recognizing some who externally appeared to be in their thirties as being much older than others who appeared to be in their sixties.

They looked at me silently, some with curiosity, others quite disinterested. A few weren’t even looking at me and had seemingly been brought here against their will by the wave of people.

We remained like that for some time, exchanging gazes while trying to examine the other. I decided to break the ice.

“I want to borrow a ship,” I said.

A roar erupted from the crowd.