This place, despite the decoration, is alright. I don't have room to complain anyway, my home has been blasted into oblivion and I'm still Credit-less. I'm staying in the DimShop for the time being since I'm not tired and the others seem eager to go into a Breach again despite the recent events.
"What do you think of this place?" Avryl asks me.
"It's alright, we can't afford to be too picky," I reply with a shrug. Our last base of operation is little more than a pile of rubble now, so anything is better than nothing.
"You've said earlier that these two CMA idiots have destroyed your home. is that true?" the Artificer says as she sits down into an intricate chair with a fierce battle scene engraved into it.
I nod, "It's true. These bastards tried to intimidate me by creating a massive spell fueled by Mana Crystals. I bluffed them, and they tried to stop it, but they lost control of the magic. As a result, my home is now a suspiciously clean crater."
"Sword," the barbarian says with an understanding tone.
"Do not worry, Ian!" Yoshiko sits near us. "I can lend you the next room, for the time being, so you can get back on your feet."
"Thanks. That's nice of you," I say with a wry smile. I can buy pretty much any house I want now that I have MERTICORE, but it will take time and a ton of paperwork. I could go to a hotel, but nothing beats a free room. It isn't like I could leave in the first place. I have Ley Line cards, but I don't have a Terminal, so I can't look up how to operate the Gates.
"By the way, do you know how much a Terminal cost?" I ask Avryl. I need another one, preferably one without a tracking enchantment on it. I brace myself in advance. Terminals must cost a lot of money.
"It depends, you can get one for as little as one hundred Credits for the most basic model." The Artificer says, "Then the more features you want the more expensive it gets. But you should avoid certain brands, their products are nice-looking but very overpriced."
Okay, so the magical world also has Apple.
"Alright, then what would you recommend? You seem to know your stuff," I say to the Artificer. "I would like a Terminal that has as many privacy features as possible."
Being tracked with my Terminal once is more than enough. I don't want a powerful wizard to track me down and kill me in a dark alley because he thought I looked at him funny.
"I know of a few; we could go shopping later if you want." She says with a smile. A genuine normal smile this time, not the one she made when I destroyed all those creatures in the Breach.
"Sure," I reply before looking at the ceiling. "Do we have any news on the Manatronic machine? Is anyone interested?"
Avryl smirks, "I put it on auction, see for yourself." She says as she shows me the screen of her bronze Terminal.
My jaw drops on the floor at the ridiculous current bid. I do a quick calculation in my head, "That's two and a half million Credits for each of us!" I exclaim.
"The smell of such a rare artifact will attract the richest merchants of the land, we just have to wait and see how much they will offer for such a fine object!" Yoshiko says with a smirk.
I nod, this is going to help me tremendously.
"By the way, Ian." Yoshiko turns towards me. "I don't mean to pry, but are you perhaps a newcomer to this fantastical world?"
"What gave it away?" I say as I lean on the wall while secretly appreciating the fact that it doesn't turn into a pile of dust.
"I see," she nods slowly. "To be frank, you act like a fresh sea serpent that has been forcefully taken from its natural habitat."
So, a fish out of the water.
"I was more or less brought into this whole thing because of the CMA bastards that made a mess." I declare. That's not a lie, this whole thing could have been avoided if they acted like reasonable people instead of trying to turn my brain into mush almost as soon as they saw me.
But now that should hopefully be the last time I hear about the Farsight twins.
If I believe it enough, then it'll become true...right?
Of course, I avoid mentioning MERTICORE. I don't want to attract any more attention than I have to. This system could make me very powerful if I play my cards right. But MERTICORE can't do a lot compared to a regular Mana user for the time being.
"I see... Well, welcome abroad Ian, if you have any questions, we will answer them." Yoshiko says with a smile.
"Thanks, that's nice of you," I tell her my honest feelings. The more I learn about the magical world and the more questions I have. Having the help of the experienced Alpha Team will certainly make it a lot easier for me.
"I can't help but notice that your weapons look very similar to what we have on our planet. But with far more destructive power," Avryl says while breathing heavily once she glances at my weapons. "Yoshiko and I come from the same planet, as luck would have it." She adds once she regains her composure. So that means that Sword isn't from Earth; it doesn't surprise me.
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"I also come from Earth," I say.
"Which one?" Yoshiko perks up.
I scratch the back of my head, "I didn't know that there was more than one.” In hindsight, it's obvious that there would be identical names for the same thing. From what I've gathered, this place is the crossroad for a ton of different places and even dimensions. But that would also mean that the same word could have a very different meaning depending on who you say it to.
That's a problem waiting to happen, isn't it? I bet if I say 'hello' to a human-looking wizard down the street, then there is a good chance that I could have declared war or insulted his parents. I relax a bit once I remember that I have the-
Wait a second.
I destroyed my Terminal, so I should not be able to talk to the members of the Alpha Team, right? That completely slipped my mind.
"Fair enough," Avryl says. "I can check for you if you want." The Artificer, oblivious to my sudden internal crisis, says. "I have something on my Terminal for that. It's very basic, but at least it could help you determine where you are from. It is essential information if you want to use the Ley Line Gates. Unless you have other means of teleporting around."
I shake my head in response, and Avryl points her Terminal at me. The device beeps, and she glances at the result.
"I can't believe it," she says with wide-open eyes. "We're actually from the same Earth!" she shows me the results. My home planet is designated as Earth#2458. That looks more like a user name than the planet name, but I guess it is easier to manage this way.
At least that explains why I can speak with the members of the Alpha Team.
"Where are you from?" Avryl asks. "I'm from England, Yoshiko is from Japan."
"I'm an American," I reply. "That reminds me that my translation app was on my Terminal, a Terminal that was destroyed."
"I can see why it is a problem. Especially here." Yoshiko nods. "Don't worry, Avryl knows a lot of sellers that understand our variation of English. You should not be too troubled if you need to buy something in an emergency. But you must buy a dedicated translating device once you can afford one. And look for a modular one, the cheapest translators are often loaded with a certain bank of languages, and the devices are not able to be updated or evolve."
I thank her for the tip, I would have bought the cheapest one if I was left to my own devices. Not that money will be much of an issue after the waffle iron is sold. But it is better to be smart when it comes to spending money.
"Nevertheless, we still have work to do." The Japanese woman says. "We still have a bunch of Breaches to explore, so does anyone have any questions?"
"What about the Manatronic machine? It's not a good idea to leave it without heavy protection considering how much it's worth." I say.
"You're right, but don't worry about it. Sword will keep it into his spatial bag; that will limit what we can bring back but that shouldn't be too much of an issue." The leader of the team replies. "Is everyone ready?"
We all nod, so Yoshiko points her finger at the ceiling before pointing it at the door, "Onward, my brave warriors! May we find glory and riches in the unholy residences of abominations!"
I sigh as we step out of the new base of operation. The creaky stairs are as annoying as ever, and Lucille waves at us before packing some shelves with tasteless trinkets. I honestly wonder if her shop is profitable. With an infinite number of people, then I guess there's at least a couple of them with the same proclivities as Yoshiko.
Avryl leads us into dark alleyways, as usual. "By the way," I ask to pass the time, and also because I'm curious. "I never heard about Breaches before, but that seems to be somewhat commonplace here. And don't we risk running into other Breach Divers?"
" 'Tis because this place is at the crossroads of fate; an equidistant connection between heaven and hell," Yoshiko explains.
I nod, it makes a lot of sense now... I turn towards Avryl, who sighs at the antics of our eccentric leader.
"She means that the DimShop is between a lot of dimensions at once, so Breaches are quite numerous here." The Artificer explains. "They are quite rare in normal dimensions."
I thank her for her explanation. That makes more sense, but it isn't reassuring to know that the very fabric of reality is so unstable that random portals can open anywhere.
"Here we are," Avryl says, and this time we are in front of a coffee shop. The place looks fancy, even if I can no longer read whatever is written on the sign above the door. We open the glass door, which causes a bell to ring. A waitress greets us, but I can't understand a single word she's saying. I really need to get my hands on a translator as soon as possible. We sit near the door; Yoshiko leans forward once the waitress leaves us alone.
"The Breach is nearby, probably there." She points at a wall with paintings depicting alien landscapes hanging on it.
Avryl nods, "My sensors can only give us a rough idea of where the Breach is, so Yoshiko guides us since she can more or less feel the disturbances in the space around us." She explains. I glance at the self-proclaimed demon slayer; she is more capable than she looks.
"So how do we enter the Breach without causing a commotion? I think people would freak out if we suddenly sunk into a wall."
Avryl shrugs, "Not really, that's a regular sight in the DimShop. The other clients will think that we are using a teleportation spell or something similar. It's usually seen as bad manners to teleport inside a shop, but that depends on who you ask."
Do we just walk in then?
A group of heavily armored people suddenly enter the shop. They look like they were ripped out of a fantasy game. Their thick armor is made of opaque green glass that shimmers slightly and they all carry a double-bladed sword. The edges of the weapons are made with the same materials as the armor. A red engraved gem is embossed into the handle of the weapons.
One of them pulls out a stone tablet from their belt, the device beeps as they walk around.
"Sword," the barbarian mutters. He narrows his eyes as he follows the movements of the group that seems to walk around randomly. One of them tosses a coin pouch to the waitress before scanning the rest of the clientele. They barely pay attention to us, but they are clearly on high alert.
"You were asking about other members of our noble profession," Yoshiko whispers. "These are the Knights of The Black Forest, an accursed band of roving imbeciles." She says.
I size up the group still bumbling around the room. They should be about my size, but the armor makes it hard to guess properly. Their heads are protected with a helmet that wouldn't look out of place on a medieval knight, only a slit at eye level allows them to look around.
My hand slides over my pistol. I can guess that the Alpha Team is not on good terms with those Knights, so maybe-
"Hark! What doth has crossed my eyes!" a knight with a red streak on his helmet suddenly points at Yoshiko.
His way of speaking with an unnaturally deep voice makes me shudder. Don't tell me that- I shake my head; It is impossible…right?
Yoshiko stands up, "Halt! You forsaken knights have no business with this Demon Slayer!" she exclaims as she points at the knight. Avryl is hiding her face in her palm while a couple of clients eye us with a disapproving expression.
" 'Tis heresy to spread such falsehood! Your band of dirty mercenaries is no match for our knightly order! Explain this instant the reasons for your presence in this establishment!" he says while looking down on us. The other knights have already gathered behind him and- Are they flexing?
Yes, they fucking are.
Fuck my life.