A rift in space opens and I step through it. I look around, “I wasn’t off this time.” Even though It’s been over a million years since the stabilization and unification of time and space, called by magical scientists The Unification. Traveling between dimensions is finicky at best. It’s always annoying to discover that you ended up lightyears from your intended destination.
Still, I shouldn’t complain, you could count one hand the number of people who can do something like this, and I doubt that anyone but me can do it as easily. Most people that travel between universes do so by accident.
I look at my surroundings I’m in an alleyway in a capital city. Surprisingly it seems that it’s occupied by both demons and humans. 90% of worlds I’ve visited have either one of them extinct or they are at war with each other. Intelligent life will always find a reason to fight.
I see someone walk by and I scan his brain. I instantly learn the language. That’s the problem about dimensional travel is every world has a different language. I learn this place is called Freedom City, how original.
Still, I didn’t come here for mere mortals and their stupid city names. This universe has am an extremely large amount of Gods, a staggering amount of them. There are at least a billion Gods. Out of everywhere I’ve traveled, this is the highest number I’ve found, maybe I can find a hint of what I’m looking for here. Still, considering the multiverse is infinite, there are probably an infinite number of worlds with even more gods than this.
I conjure a few spells, “Mana density is far above average, 50% more. But that’s a side-effect, not a cause.” I cast a different and more complicated spell. “Hm, this world is really close to the origin of The Unification. But that still doesn’t....” Then I find it, in front of me a holographic book, that only I can see, appears. The title says “The Immortal Writing.”
I smile. “No wonder, they preserved The Immortal Writings.” I open the book and turn to about half way. Page 1782 of the table of contents, in the middle of the page the words “Ascending to Godhood for Dummies” are written. Ever since The Unification, The Immortal Writings disappeared. The writing existed in chaos but The Unification turned that chaos into order, as a result the writing disappeared. However, there are some worlds that wrote the writing in physical form to preserve it.
This world is even more of an exception, not only did they write it all down but they used a new spell to give everyone the ability to see it. As long as anyone is strong enough they can learn how to ascend and become a god. As a result, there are a lot of gods.
I’m startled awake from my thoughts by the sound of coins hitting the floor. I look around and see someone in lavish clothing walk away. By my feet are a few gold coins. I try to hold my laughter. He thought I was a beggar, I don’t blame him, any mortal would think I’m wearing bandages. I’m wrapped in what looks like faded gray bandages that cover my whole body. According to the memories I scanned, there is a non-contagious disease that causing people to bleed randomly. It’s curable but expensive, so people without the money would wrap themselves in bandages to stop the bleeding.
What that rich man didn’t realize was that these “rags” are made from a species of dragon that’s special silky skin change temperature according to the temperature outside. If it’s cold the skin heats, if it’s hot the skin cools. I could throw it into a star and it wouldn’t burn. I only killed that thing after a week long fight of stamina. That, and the dragon didn’t take me seriously so when it’s defenses lowered I used my strongest attack as a finishing move.
I pick up the coins, they are made from real gold. I melt them down with some fire magic and create a thumbnail sized gold nugget. Gold is the universal currency. No matter where you go you can buy with gold. But coins are worthless.
I use my mana sense to scan this planet. I surprised to find that there is a place that contains over 100 gods and by the look of it, it’s a bar. I instantly teleport to some trees nearby, it’s in the middle of a forest that covers a quarter of the world. Only someone with considerable strength could find this place.
With a quick more detailed scan I check for any traps. But no, it looks like any other bar you could find. I shrug and walk in, I hear a ringing sound as the door hits a bell. It’s just a normal bell, well, except for the fact that a nuclear explosion couldn’t destroy it.
I feel dozens of mana senses scanning me. I intentionally made myself seem weaker than I really am. I hate being treating like royalty. I walk to the bartender, the strongest person here other than me. I sit down on a bar stool and he looks at me with a smile. “What can I get you, I just got some fermented earth dragon souls and, although expensive, I could get you some purified elder griffon blood.”
I’m tempted for the griffon blood but I’m not here for drinks. “What kind of rules does this place have? What can I ask and what can’t I ask?”
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The bartender continues to smile. “You can ask anything you want. However, some answers will cost you. As for the rules, no killing or I will kill you. You can fight all you want but death matches take place outside. Also if you break anything, you will pay for it.”
I nod my head, standard rules but it’s always good to check. “How do the immortal writings still exist in this universe?”
“I take it you're not from here,” he replies. “Interesting, although not uncommon.”
“Not uncommon?” I ask surprised. Does he mean that a lot of people accidentally travel here?
The bartender smiles and taps his finger on the table. Realizing what he wants I pull out a thumb-sized piece of heart iron. Heart iron is an extremely condensed piece of iron that is used for god tiered weapons and armor, or as a currency. They are formed in the heart of planets so it’s very difficult to get them. Still, it’s not exactly rare, there are thousands of planets in every galaxy, so it’s become a common currency throughout the multiverse.
The bartender doesn’t seem to surprise and pockets it. “A thousand years before the disappearance of the immortal writings an eccentric high god decided to copy everything. He wanted the ability to edit it and write notes. He created a powerful spell for that purpose. However, after the writing disappeared he removed his additions and gave it to everyone in the universe. Still, he couldn’t compare to The Immortal who spread his writings all across time and space, so it was only spread through this universe.”
‘Interesting’ I think to myself. “Why did you say it wasn’t uncommon for people to travel to this dimension?”
He taps his finger again and I give him some more heart iron. “Just like before The Unification, everyone can access a guide to becoming a god. However, this isn’t all good. Gods are people to tremendous power that have the ability to control the laws of the multiverse. Before The Unification space worked differently, every universe had a membrane around it preventing outsiders from entering. Because of this, and the fact that space magic didn’t exist, space was much more stable than it is today.
“However, now that all membranes have been destroyed and any god can teleport. Space is less stable than any point in the history of the multiverse. This universe even more so, the number of gods are making it incredibly easy for even a weak mage to stumble into here. To be honest this universe is slowly falling apart.”
The bartender sighs but continues. “Most of the gods don’t care, most gods will be dead before that happens.”
“I wouldn’t be the first time,” I reply. “When I discovered this place noticed the fabric of space was weaker but I didn’t think it was such a big problem. The destruction of a universe, now that is something I would like to see.”
The bartender looks surprised. “You're saying there have been other universes that have collapsed?”
I nod, “In the infinite multiverse universes fall apart every day for one reason of another. I often wonder if it’s just the next step in The Unification. Who knows, in a few million years even mortals might be able to travel across the multiverse.”
I place another heart iron on the counter. “Why do you run a bar here, why do you have a bar at all.”
He pushes the iron back. “I’ll tell you that for free. The reason is, because I can, because I want to, and why not. There is no other reason. There are so many gods in this universe that I never run out of customers.”
“I heard worst motives,” I say, “And I admire a man with a passion.” I cast a few more detection spells when nobody's watching. Space is destabilizing, the universe will dissipate within a few thousand years. I look around the bar, everyone here is strong enough to destroy a city with a finger. Yet only I will live long enough to see the destruction of everything.
That is my curse, my curse of immortality. I’m cursed to wander the multiverse forever, while everyone I know dies around me. Before me, there was only one person with this curse and he was called The Immortal. He left his mark in his writings hundreds of thousands of pages of research on magic, science, and mortality.
I’ve read every word backwards and forwards yet nothing is helpful to me. So I wander to nowhere to find a way to die.
I rest my head on the counter and think back to when I gained my immortality. It was the day of The Unification, I studied the way time and space moved. Using a powerful spell I ripped a hole in the universe and watched as another universe collided with mine. I watch everything around me collapsed and I gained enlightenment and time and space. Using all my power I attempted to preserve my life as everything around me was destroyed. It worked but not how I was expecting. I created something like a black hole and absorbed the residual energy of the collision.
As my body was ripping apart from the tremendous energy and a white haired man appeared in front of me and touched my forehead. He told me this. “As a reward for being the first to completely master time and space and solidify your core soul, I will save your life. I look forward to your accomplishments.” Then he disappeared and I never saw him again.
Years later I realized who he was. He was the man who The Immortal said never to trust. The man who The Immortal hated above all else. He was the reason The Immortal became Immortal, and now, because of him, I’m immortal too. He allowed me to finish absorbing the collision energy, in my soul I now have the infinite power of two whole universes.
They say energy can’t be created or destroyed. I use my energy all the time every day in the form of life force and mana. Yet now have an unconscious affinity with the multiverse, the multiverse will refill my mana and life force faster than I can use it. I can’t die, I’ve destroyed my body to the atomic level yet it grows back. The only way for me to die is for the whole multiverse to be destroyed. But I have a feeling the one who did this to me wouldn’t be so happy about me destroying everything.
I feel someone tap my shoulder, it’s the bartender. “You’ve been staring at that wall for a long time now. Do you want to talk about something.” I look at him, he has the expression of a concerned father.
I laugh and say standing up, “nothing you could help my with.”
“Oh don’t be like that, you sound like an interesting guy.”
I shake my head, “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. No one ever does, no one ever will.” I turn around and start walking to the door.
“Hey,” the bartender says. “Where are you going, you just got here.”
I pause for a second but continue walking. “Someone like me like me has nowhere to go, yet I keep searching and searching for what I need. Time and space is meaningless, I can only take what I can carry and my memories as I journey.”
“Someone like you?” he asks just as I reach the door. “Who are you?”
I take a step outside and say. “Just a wanderer, trying to die.”