Arthur stood before the giant, yellow smiling face. It floated in the blackness of the void, an entity in stark defiance of consistent physics. The creature was a smooth, flat disc, completely 2 dimensional, except that its eyes were a pool of blackness, seeming to have depth, and when it opened the black line of its mouth to reveal the inside it was contoured and rounded. The disc was impossibly thin - Arthur suspected that if viewed straight from the side it wouldn’t be visible at all - but when its mouth was open it had depth, almost as if it was just a two dimensional gateway into another world.

The space around them wasn’t dark. Arthur could see. But it was all shades of black, and deep, near black blues, purples, and perhaps red. There was a measurable depth around him, though like a thick fog it would move further away from him as he moved.

“Congratulations, on completing your first world. Not everyone did,” the smiling face said, a wide smile on it.

“Thank you,” Arthur said. He was uncertain of the protocol here. How were you supposed to deal with a higher being straight out of some Neoplatonic - or Gnostic - ontological hierarchy. What’s the proper level of deference when dealing with a god-like entity? It had never asked him to drop to his knees and offer up worship. But there was something that surprised him about what it said. “What do you mean not everyone did?”

“One of the others did not. They overestimated their powers and fought with Acnologia. They did not win. We were pleasantly surprised that 9 made it through the first world. It is significantly more dangerous than later worlds would be. We will have to begin the Winnowing immediately.”

“The winnowing?”

“The Winnowing,” Arthur could hear the capitalization in the smiley face’s voice, “The Winnowing is how we cut down the number of jumpers. Those who are not sufficiently entertaining will be dropped. So Arthur, do remember to provide entertainment.”

Its black ‘lips’ spread wide, its eyes dilating and stretching into great, black pools. It was a predatory gaze which sent shivers down Arthur’s spine in a way that Acnologia himself never had. The Dragon King had been powerful enough that he’d not have won one on one and he knew it. But the smiley face was the source of every drop of power he had. What its limits were, or even if it had limits, he didn’t know.

“And when you cut down these numbers?”

“You already know that. We send them home. Time will resume for all of them when the final jumper ends their chain.”

Arthur swallowed dryly. He should have remembered that, but that smile had unnerved him, and he had had to ask. Being sent home first would be a large disadvantage in the final accounting when all the jumpers were placed back onto Earth together. He still had no idea what sort of people the others were, but power reveals a person’s faults. He didn’t have enough faith in humanity to think that out of 10 god beings the benevolent ones would easily stop the power mad ones.

“I can show you how they met their end.” The smiling face didn’t wait for him to answer. Suddenly the void was changed into blue skies. Minerva and Selene vanished from behind Arthur, even as his awareness of his own body disappeared. He had awareness of a body. But it was not his.

It was big and the power he could feel from it was familiar but far more intense. He could feel wings, a tail, and clawed limbs. It was a dragon’s body. And it was strong. In raw power at least it was greater than his strength when using Takeover to assume a fully draconic form. It didn’t matter if it was physical strength or raw magical power; it was strong. He wasn’t in control of it, though. He was just a passenger.

One riding straight towards a familiar sight. Acnologia was in the distance, and the dragon he was riding in was launching a variety of spells in quick succession towards the Dragon King. It wasn’t Dragon Slayer Magic. It was about as effective against Acnologia as splashing him with water. But it got the Dragon King’s attention.

Arthur could feel the sheer intensity of the magical power they were throwing at Acnologia, firing it hard onto him. And Acnologia met it with a roar. There was a split instant of hesitation. His mouth was beginning to open, readying to consume the blast. They were analyzing the magic of the roar. It was similar to his Archive, but it wasn’t the same. The information received was much less. But he could feel his flows of magic trying to automatically align themselves towards Acnologia’s blast. It was Copy Magic. And it was top end skill with it.

He felt teleport magic wrap around him and transport him. It was well done. Good. Expert even. But the base magic was inferior to it was not up to the level one needed to face off against Acnologia.

He felt them roar, a blast of lightning, one which would tear through mountains. It was a danger to Acnologia. If the Dragon King didn’t react fast enough to catch it in his mouth and swallow it down. But Arthur could feel the grin on the lips of the body he was riding in. They’d just learned to eat Magic. Not given elements but magic in general.

It was a long, dragged out thing. Acnologia flew and weaved around the battlefield. They spent their magical energy in roars and blasts. The landscape was being melted away. But after a third consumption of his roar, Acnologia didn’t roar again. He focused only on closing into melee. A roar hit his back, it hurt him, Arthur could see it. But it didn’t bring down the Dragon King.

The battle kept going longer and longer. And then Acnologia roared. He did it mid dodge, his roar missing them wildly and hitting the ground beneath, raising up a cloud of dust from what wasn’t vaporized completely by his blast. Arthur could feel the frantic sweeping of the head of the one he was riding in. They were straining their senses - mundane and magical - to find Acnologia. But Acnologia’s magical signature had disappeared.

And then teeth sank into the spine of the dragon he was riding in. They tried to use healing magic to fix it as they fell and a dragon’s claw pressed onto his head, before a roar severed his neck.

Arthur snapped from the vision then. The smiley face was still in front of him.

“What was that,” Minerva gasped behind him.

“A glimpse of failure,” the smiley face said, “And a reminder against overconfidence.”

“Arthur beat Acnologia,” Selene said in a venomous tone. Arthur knew her well enough to know that she was trying to hide the fear she’d felt. She had spent centuries trying to avoid that fate, working to hide from Acnologia. Showing her that failure hadn’t done anything informative. It had just been sadistic cruelty.

His arm wrapped around her shoulder. “We beat him,” he said looking at her. He wanted to strike the smiling face creature. His free hand had clenched tight into a fist, squeezing till his knuckles were white. She was his wife. You don’t do that to a man’s wife in front of him.

“And you should do your best to figure out why you did and they didn’t.”

“They tried to do it alone. Arthur brought in help,” Minerva said.

“Maybe. But Arthur, what do you have to say about it?”

“You shouldn’t have shown that to them,” Arthur said. He could feel Selene trembling a little in his arms, even as she broke away to stand proud and tall. The fear was still there in the way her body was tensed. But she had her pride and his protective instinct had ruffled it.

“Because of her trauma related to the dragon king… Oh I guess I shouldn’t have. Still, why did they die there?”

“I’m fine,” Selene said in a cold, icy, angry tone. “And it’s obvious. I’m certain Arthur understands why they failed.”

The smiley face vibrated side to side, as if it was on a head that was shaking. “No. Your reasoning is incomplete.”

“What do you know about my reasoning?” Selene snapped back.

“You were thinking that she fought and acted like a human not a dragon, and that she hadn’t bothered learning how to actually fight along with mastering her magic, and that’s not wrong. But it’s not a complete answer.” Selene flinched. “I can see your thoughts. It’s as simple as that. My comprehension isn’t complete, but I am improving,” the smiling face said.

Arthur tried to remember the fight. To get his head back to it and not the anger he was feeling. He understood Selene’s reasoning - she hadn’t been wrong with her certainty that he had understood that. The fight had been sloppy. Over reliant on use of magic and raw power. The dragon hadn’t moved right in a fight, and their reflexes had been slow. Their magic had also been second rate. “They weren’t properly prepared,” Arthur said.

“I will let you think about it.”

Arthur groaned as his brows furrowed. And then the lights turned on in his mind. They weren’t using Takeover Magic. They’d really been a dragon. It wasn’t Dragon Slayer Magic. They’d bought being a dragon straight from the purchase document. Because the others had a stipend of points to purchase things at the start. Probably had the sheer magical power too.

“They just appeared powerful enough to get Acnologia’s immediate attention, not giving themselves a chance to build up power enough to survive him before fighting him.”

“Acceptable answer,” the smiley face said. “She chose to drop in, without memories or background in the world like yourself. She ran into one of the troubles. How a world looks from the outside doesn’t always provide a full perspective. And power sufficient to overturn the world may quickly cause changes in it.”

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Arthur nodded. He had to guess it was a warning against making waves too quickly and too overtly. Though then again it might be an attempt to get him to take a background in the world. He’d have to think carefully about what the smiley face and its mysterious employers were actually trying to tell him here.

“And I believe it’s time to provide you with your information on the next world.”

Arthur winced as he felt information pouring into his mind. The HUD with which he interfaced with his bounties and the ‘jump document’ was pushed into the forefront of his mind, as a second document loaded side by side with the first.

“Once you enter the next world it will be impossible to access Fairy Tail’s jump document. Before you enter the next world you will need to select your race and background, as well as if you are importing Selene and Minerva.”

“Importing?” Arthur asked, as the option was pulled into focus before him. “What happens to them if I don’t import them?”

“Nothing. Failing bounties which provide them with CP of their own they will be unable to make purchases. Even with those they would lack a race and origin, simply appearing in the world as if they had dropped in, though they would not possess the discounts and free benefits available to a drop in. They will not be harmed by the choice, but I believe you can see it is a cost effective transaction.”

It cost him points to import. But it would give Selene and Minerva each several times the cost of importing them both. It was a trade off between empowering himself, and empowering them. From a resource allotment point of view there was the fact that he went home when he died not when they did, and that concentrating power in himself was almost certainly a valid strategy. Three people who each got half power each world would fall behind 1 person who got full power; though it was not a halving of his own gain. If he gained as much as he had with Fairy Tail it was a drop in the bucket.

“You are unlikely to gain as much. At least unless they are kind and favorable with granting additional new bounties for you,” the smiley face creature said. “I see that did not deter you.”

“They’re my friends.” That was the crux of the matter. When things came to an end he didn’t want to leave them vulnerable.

“In that case I hope all three of you make the most of your potential purchases here.”

Arthur was looking. Like with Fairy Tail races cost points. Unlike with Fairy Tail the backgrounds were not merely thematic. Each one had discounted perks associated with it, and some had costs. What he chose would have more long term effects than just not having background memories. And unlike before he actually had a choice in his species. And it was one which would matter, after all it was Seven Deadly Sins. It’d been a long time since he read that manga. He’d never even read the start of its sequel series, but it’d had humans, fairies, giants, demons, and angels. And each one had different powers and capabilities. And each one had a cost associated with it.

Minerva flinched when suddenly an overlay ran across her vision. No. It was across her mind’s eye. It was still sinking into her head what she’d really agreed to when she had decided to follow Arthur to another world. She’d been warned. He’d used his Archive to illustrate his ‘heads up display’ for her previously. She recognized it for what it was. But that had been less real than this.

She was a spatial mage. She was good at recognizing spatial magic. She’d been completely unable to use her Territory magic here. It wasn’t like there was no ethernano. It wasn’t like there was some spell blocking it. It was like there wasn’t space. It was weird. And it had left her for the most part silent and unnerved throughout.

But now she was beginning to get information to make decisions about her future.

“What exactly does it mean if we ‘drop in’ or not?” She asked.

“If you drop-in you will appear in the world in question without any past within it. If you do not you will be merged into it, with a proper history and memories of your life in the world.”

“Memories?” She asked.

“Similar to when you channel the dead,” the yellow and black face-creature said. “It is not as strong of an effect. They are another you instead of another life entirely. But it would be similar to keeping a spirit channeled for a decade.”

Minerva’s hands tightened a little. There were advantages to the memories she could call up from the dead - ever since her father’s little experiment with lost magic - but it was dangerous. She had learned to maintain the balance of her being when doing so, though. The question was how well it would work over the course of a decade.

“As I said it would not be nearly as strong of an effect.The intention would not be to make you not be you. While some of the backgrounds may influence you in certain ways, you will still remember who you are, and what you desired. You may however find yourself possessing connections new to your new life in this world. Friends, family, even loved ones.”

Minerva scowled a little. The idea of being made to live an alternative life was still unsettling. But she had spent much of the last few years training and learning to handle spirit channeling. She looked along the list of options, and then she raised her head. “What about these races? How will they change me? What is this world like?”

“If you select one you will be given an altered body to fit the race. You will be able to return to being human, or in Selene’s case, a dragon. Once this world is finished you will be able to enter that race’s form, return to the one of the current world, as well as human. Or in Selene’s case a dragon. So if you select demon you will gain the powers of a demon, similarly fairy will allow you to transform back into a fairy, and vampire will let you become a vampire in the future. The process is slower than say Takeover Magic but you won’t have to worry about overlapping enchantments and direct magic interactions. As for the last question, I am not allowed to say. Arthur however should have some familiarity.” The smiling creature answered calmly.

Arthur breathed deeply. “It’s been a while,” He said. “It was a manga. A sort of picture book…”

Minerva rolled her eyes. “I know what a manga is.”

“Sorry. It was pretty similar to Fairy Tail, I found and read it as Fairy Tail was winding down, but it wasn’t as good and I was sort of aging out of the demographic so I don’t remember it as well. And while both had sequels, I only ever read Fairy Tail’s, and I don’t remember how FT went in the manga too well now, and it’s been like 15 years now since I read it or something like that so my memory of it is limited.” Arthur breathed in and out. “Still it takes place in Lyonesse? Or… Was that the Jack Vance novels I never read? Logres? No… Logres was Arthur’s kingdom in some old versions of Arthurian legend, this was one of the neighboring ones.” He shook his head. “It takes place in Britain, a little before the era of Camelot. The characters included some of the parents of the knights of the round, like Ban was Lancelot’s dad, and the muscular sun guy was a giant who fought Gawaine once and shared the same super power as Gawaine.”

“Your kingdom?” Minerva asked with a confused look on her face.

“No, King Arthur…” Arthur’s hand moved to his face, and he lowered his head. “In my home world there’s an old legend about a king named Arthur. He’s your basic legendary Good King” Minerva nodded. “The manga took place in a version of the legend. And… this is really a tangent. Sorry. As for the world itself it falls in the genre of shonen action.”

“Shonen action?”

“It was a manga intended for about 13 year old boys, and lots of fighting. You have knights with magical power, pretty much mages. The Seven Deadly Sins are an elite group of knights who have been framed and exiled for… reasons. The initial villains are a pair of knights trying to take over the country but actually they’re working to release the Ten Commandments who are a group of ancient demons. Who are pretty much the same as knights but with a lot more power. Well they also each had a gimmick power.”

“Gimmick power?”

“Each of them had an absolute effect. Like lie in front of them and you turn to stone, immunity to any blows made in anger, or turn your back on them and they get to control your mind. All regardless of relative power levels.”

“Power levels?”

“How much magical power people had. Or magical power, physical fitness, and spirit or willpower I forget. It mattered early on where if someone was a thousand stronger - or well about double - than the other they didn’t have a chance against them, but later on being 50,000 or 100,000 stronger and several times more powerful didn’t mean anything, so I can’t say how much that really mattered other than theoretically it overcomes magical defenses and stuff.”

Minerva nodded slowly. “What about fairies, vampires, giants, and goddesses?”

“Fairies are smaller than people, they have wings and can fly… or was that only the kings? They’re small, and gifted with magical stealth. Attuned to forests. I think they have illusion magic too. Giants are big, several times taller than humans and have earth/stone manipulation magic. Vampires are near extinct. They drink blood, and are more powerful at night. Goddesses like demons are a lot stronger than humans, but they fly and have holy powers instead of dark powers.”

Minerva nodded along still listening. “And a holy knight?”

“Mage. More sword focused but combat mage.”

“I see,” She said and for a moment things went silent.

“So what happens in this world? What are the events going on?”

Arthur breathed deep. “The Seven Deadly Sins are a group of elite knights in exile due to I think they were framed by a coup for attempting a coup. The coup leaders are tyrannically ruling. That only lasts a little while before the Seven Deadly Sins stop them. But really they’re trying to release the Ten Commandments and allow the demons which were sealed in their own realm out to normal reality to terrorize things. They’re stopped, but it doesn’t matter because the seal was already broken anyway. The 10 commandments get out. They fight a bit. Then the seal is completely broken. The demons invade. There’s a war, the angels get involved but they’re bad guys too, but it really followed … Dang it, I can't remember the main character’s name. It followed the leader of the Sins, and prince of the demons, and his love story with the reincarnated angel princess. Stuff happens. There’s brother drama in the Ten Commandments with his 2 brothers, but one is actually an archangel who was imbued with demonic power. Stuff happens, many of the ten commandments betray, and then there’s a big battle between the two demon princes, and that leads to a battle with the demon king, who is beaten and then they have to fight and defeat the goddess too, I think… See the leader of the Sins and his love interest are both cursed by the demon king and goddess because they wanted peace and not to enslave humanity. Then the battles result in the revival of Chaos the primordial goddess, who gives her power to Arthur. That’s king Arthur. Who goes on to recreate Camelot that was destroyed, and voila a new golden age. Except the sequel takes place in the next generation and I think he’s the bad guy; sort of like in Thomas Mallory’s La Morte d’Arthur. Or well Arthur is ostensibly the good guy in that but… I’m getting tangential again. From what I heard in the sequel he was the bad guy, but I never read it to say for certain.”

There was a moment of silence then, and the smiley face grinned wider. “Now, if you’d look at the bounties, and please fill in your origin and any last purchases from the prior world.”

Arthur looked at the document. Immortality was on offer. Merlin’s magical talent of Infinity - the one that was so powerful that it had scared the Demon King and Supreme Goddess - was available. His emergency reserve held enough to purchase it flat out if he wanted.

Looking back at Fairy Tail there was one thing he’d like to get. If he took For My Friends his abilities alongside Minerva and Selene would skyrocket. But it would mean less for new abilities. He turned his mind’s eye to the bounty board, looking over the options and the rewards. How likely was he to make up what he spent?