Albert froze as he entered the space. Tori had explained what was going on, but it still didn't prepare him for the sudden warping of reality from one step to the next. He took a deep breath before continuing deeper into the space, followed by Maurice and Peter, the head of the Hunters Guild. Tori waved them over to their seats. “You're the last ones here, so take a look at these pamphlets and let us know when you're ready to start.”
Albert nodded, looking over the pamphlet, his expression twisting as he read. “This is going to be a problem.” He groaned.
“At least it's in the dormitories… barely anyone uses them anyway.” Peter muttered. Unless someone was desperate, it was better to find a house or a room at a tavern than use the guild dorms.
“It's in the dormitories for now.” Maurice pointed out. “It could consume your entire headquarters in a matter of months, depending on how quickly Tori and the others grow. But I suppose that's what we're all here to discuss, yes?”
“Pretty much.” Chris agreed. “Though it's also important to make sure all the entities with access to the portal are on the same page in terms of how to actually use the portal.”
Maurice nodded. “Of course. We wouldn't want to find ourselves inundated with a horde of Multiversal immigrants, now would we?”
Greg clicked his tongue. “Damn, there goes my plan.”
Tori rolled her eyes. “Let's start with who actually has access. Our portal is situated in the Hunters Guild in the city of Tyverus, under the rule of Marquez Albert Tyverus of Farova.”
“Ours is in the middle of a spaceship stranded on a wild, mana-warped planet.” Greg offered. “We don't have much of a government at the moment, but the Archmage is pretty much in charge.”
“I'm involved with two portals, one of which is in a mansion in New Zealand on a version of Earth owned by my grandfather Arose, one of the original Bonded, while the other is in an apartment in Nobilis, the capital of the entire noble race, home of the Noble Emperor, who is supposedly the strongest person in the world, at least on the noble side.” Andrew added.
“And our portal is in the Maze, outside a foxkin clan, which is a subset of the Kin Empire, and so far has been nothing but hostile. Additionally, the Maze is currently being invaded by the elves and the doppelgangers, which are powerful surface races that wish to take humanity hostage so they can force me to fight for them. And of course, we have humanity, which controls the City, which is situated below the Maze and is where I live. I'm also a member of the Scouts, one of the City's military branches.” Chris explained.
“It sounds like our first priority should be securing your end of this portal.” Ertemis commented.
“Probably, but the good news is the people in his reality are pretty weak.” Andrew replied. “Me and Mei could probably handle anything they threw at us on our own. The main issue is that we can only deal with them once they come inside, since our power doesn't carry over to the other realities.”
“We're working on getting stronger so we can handle it ourselves, but it isn't exactly a quick process.” Chris added. “Plus we're more focused on evacuating the City at the moment, but we can discuss that later. Our first priority is securing this space. Any volunteers?”
“Our forces will need to be stationed around the portal in any case, in order to keep civilians from stumbling into it. It wouldn't be much trouble to handle security inside as well.” Elder Barry offered.
Peter nodded. “The situation is similar on our end.”
Justin hesitated. “I- believe the situation for us would be the same as well.”
The Archmage shook her head. “I can maintain a presence here, but our forces will be focused on ensuring the survival of our people for now.”
“So the Bonded and the Cultivators will handle security for now, with the tentative inclusion of the forces from Nobilis.” Chris summed up. “Is there anything anyone would like to add?”
“We'll need a system to determine which force takes priority in which situation.” Albert commented. “We don't want our people to die because one force charged while another set up an ambush and the third retreated.”
Elder Barry frowned. “I don't think it would be wise to split our forces. There will inevitably be times where we will be forced to work together, and if it is the first time our forces do so, then it will create complications.”
Albert shook his head. “I wasn't suggesting we keep our forces separate. I meant we need a system to determine who has the final say in a given situation.”
“Shouldn't it just go to whoever's reality you're dealing with?” Greg pointed out. “They're the ones who’re going to have the best idea of what's actually going on, right? Use a Beast to deal with a Beast problem and a Cultivator to deal with a Cultivator problem.”
“But what about the realities that lack a contributing force?” Albert retorted.
Greg paused. “Well… maybe they shouldn't? I mean, the people from the City and the ship aren't really in a position to provide guards, but they should at least be able to send someone who can tell people whether or not something is a problem, right? Like an ambassador or something, you know?”
“That makes sense strategically, but tactically you still need someone to make split second decisions in the moment, when discussion isn't a possibility.” Beth explained. “You can't have three different people making three different decisions in that moment, and putting someone with little to no knowledge of the forces they're commanding in charge is a recipe for disaster. I think the best case scenario would be if we could select a single commander who would serve under a council of strategists from each reality.”
“And how would we select this commander?” Elder Barry asked.
“We could have every reality send a few candidates, then pit them against each other to see who's best.” Tori offered. “We'd need some kind of tactical game for them to play though…”
Chris glanced at Beth. “You think Gaia could put something together?”
“Probably?” Beth agreed. “As long as Matt didn't put in some stupid rule where she's not allowed to run any game but the Maze.”
“I don't think he'd do that…” Chris muttered. “But we can figure the specifics out later. Does everyone agree to a council of strategists with a commander determined by whatever competition we come up with?”
Albert grimaced. “I'm not sure I'm comfortable choosing the person in charge of protecting our realities based on a game.”
“What if it's a very realistic game?” Chris asked, raising an eyebrow. “So realistic it's difficult to distinguish between it and real life?”
Albert paused. “Like some sort of illusion formation?”
“If an illusion formation creates a reality that is completely fake yet feels real, then yes, just like that.” Chris shrugged. “It can provide a realistic experience without needing to worry about anyone actually getting hurt.”
“That- sounds like an effective selection method then.” Albert agreed, everyone else nodding as well.
“Alright then. The next topic is how everyone wants to actually use this portal.” Chris continued. “Are we letting people move through it? Are we trading with each other? Are we helping each other with our problems? Or are we just going to ignore it as much as possible?”
“Is it even possible to help each other?” Belinda asked skeptically. “Our power doesn't transfer between realities. Even if someone did want to come to our reality to assist us, they wouldn't be an asset, they'd be another civilian we'd need to protect, and we have enough of those already.”
“In general, yes. Sending an army across realities probably isn't going to help anyone. However, that may not be the case individually.” Narita interjected. “Abilities that are relatively unimpressive in one reality could make a huge difference in another. Though that is dependent on whether or not they can reach a state where they are capable of actually using those abilities, which isn't always possible.”
Andrew nodded. “Right, for example, Chris says you guys are trying to evacuate the City, right? Well, we have an entire clan whose ability allows them to create portals between dimensions. It takes some set up and we'd need to figure out a way to get them strong enough to actually use the ability, but it could get you all out of there without having to worry about how you're going to get Chris enough minions to support all the portals you need.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Elder Barry frowned. “This is true, but I'm not sure how many Tigers would be willing to risk themselves like that to help strangers in another reality.”
“That's why we're here, isn't it?” Andrew retorted. “To figure out what people need and what needs to be done to get it to them, right? I'm not suggesting we help them for free, I'm letting them know what's possible so they can figure out what they can do to make it happen. Like, for example, the fact that connecting to Chris could let the Bond extend indefinitely using his portals, letting us travel as far away from the base camps as we want.”
Elder Barry blinked. “How so?”
“Well, Chris's thing lets him create portals around the people connected to him, so if both the Beast and the human connect to him, they can open portals to each other, keeping the Bond as if they were only a few inches away as the Beast travels wherever it wants.” Andrew explained.
“I'd need to strengthen my space to pull it off, but apparently energy is pretty abundant in your reality, so it shouldn't take too much to grow it to a decent level.” Chris confirmed. “Though there is the whole issue of me potentially controlling you to worry about, so it probably isn't for everyone.”
“And that was just an example.” Andrew added. “In their reality, everyone has a different ability, so the odds of them having one that could help us out is pretty high. Particularly if you're looking at individual Tigers.”
Elder Barry nodded thoughtfully. “I see…”
“Also, if it helps, I can keep the human side of any Tigers you send in my space while they send their Beast side out, so they won't even really be at risk.” Chris pointed out.
Elder Barry paused. “That does help, yes. Though we would still need to discuss the specifics before we move forward.”
David grinned. “We'll have our people contact your people.”
“How exactly would we regain our power in another reality?” Peter asked curiously. “I know the conversion basically turns us into a native, but if we choose suppression, are we permanently suppressed or can we release our suppression somehow?”
“Good question!” Greg clapped. “We have no idea! This portal has existed for literally an hour, my dude.”
Narita coughed. “I can't be certain, since as Greg said this is all very new, but there is a suppression that travelers experience as well which can be released by engaging with that reality's power system, regaining a similar amount of power as you would have gained if you'd actually been a part of that system.”
Tori frowned. “How would that work in a reality like mine? You need to acquire and meditate on Runes to grow, which you can't do unless you're a Cultivator.”
Narita frowned. “I can't be certain, since this may only be true for travelers, but a reality must provide a way for us to release our suppression, though it doesn't necessarily have to make it easy. In fact, the general rule is that the more power you bring into a reality, the more difficult it will make things for you, which is why I usually focus on growing within the reality, only bringing a few minor utility abilities with me.”
“Wait, you can do both?” Peter asked, sounding slightly excited.
“Travelers can. But given the fact that you are offered a choice, I believe this portal only allows one or the other.” Narita replied.
“I can probably confirm that.” Andrew added. “Her core looks like a core wrapped up in another core, which is probably her original plus whatever shell the reality gave her when she arrived. That doesn't happen here. But again, this whole thing is just about an hour old, so I'm mostly just guessing.”
Peter nodded, sighing slightly. “Fair enough. It just would have been nice to have access to multiple power systems, instead of having to choose just one.”
Greg chuckled. “Yeah, that is nice. Hey, who knows? Maybe you can aim for becoming a traveler in one of these realities! Then you can choose two!”
Narita rolled her eyes. “Greg, please don't encourage people to attempt the impossible. It only ends up getting them killed.”
“Well that's just blatantly false.” Greg retorted. “Someone has to end up as the traveler, right? Therefore it doesn't get at least one person killed.”
Narita sighed. “No, it gets all of them killed. Realities reject those who solely pursue significance, using them as stepping stones for others. That's why I haven't, and won't, tell Travis about any of this. Significance is something that must arise naturally, not something that can be forced.”
“Oh.” Greg glanced at Peter. “Sorry dude, guess you're out of luck.”
Peter grinned back. “Oh, I think I'm already lucky enough. This portal… just the fact that it would allow me to remove my cultivation and start over would be enough to celebrate, but the ability to change to a power system that would allow me to grow without being limited by whatever Runes I happen to be lucky enough to receive… it's more than I could have ever hoped for! The moment I find a decent replacement I'm setting off to explore the Multiverse!”
Albert frowned at him, but Maurice looked thoughtful. “That is an interesting idea…”
Albert whirled on him. “You want to abandon our people too?!?”
“No! No, of course not!” Maurice shook his head vehemently. “No, I was referring to using this portal to reset our cultivation! Could you imagine how far we could go if we began again as fresh Cultivators, with all our current knowledge and experiences?!? We could be dual-cores! Possibly even tri-cores! We could reset over and over until we got it right!”
Albert froze, eyes widening as he realized the potential hidden within this portal, first in shock, then in horror as he realized what people would do to gain access to it. People would cross oceans to reach the portal! Mono-cores would swarm to the town, with no small amount of dual-cores behind them! Sects would fight wars over it so they could use it to strengthen their disciples! Albert shuddered. If he wasn't completely invested in working with the Hidden Blades before, he was now. The only chance they had to prevent being overrun was by becoming so powerful that no one would dare come against them, and the only way that was happening any time soon was through the Hidden Blades. At least, it was the only way that wouldn't result in his lands being torn apart as the Hidden Blades attempted to wrest control of the portal away from them. Particularly since the only place they could reasonably resist the sect was inside the portal.
Arose raised an eyebrow as he sensed Albert's raging emotions. “I take it you don't see this as good news.”
Albert shook his head. “No. There is too much potential here, and it isn't something my people are equipped to hold. Not without- assistance.”
“Inside or outside?” Greg asked.
Albert blinked. “Outside? It isn't assistance you can provide, if that's what you're asking. We'll need to deal with the powers in our reality.”
Tori grimaced as she went through a similar thought process. “I think it might help if we made it clear there would be resistance inside if outside assistance refused to work with us.” She glanced at Tiffany. “Don't you agree?”
“It might be the only way they would even consider working with you.” Tiffany muttered, her thoughts more focused on whether she should reset or not. “The only way people with power would consider those without is if there were consequences for not.”
David snorted. “Good to see that doesn't change between realities. Though you don't really need to add the ‘with power’ part. The only way people consider anyone is if there are consequences to not.”
Cathryn frowned at him. “Maybe in your reality, but in ours there are plenty of people who do things for others simply because they care.”
David smirked slightly. “But isn't there an innate consequence in caring? If you care about someone and you see they're suffering, it wouldn't feel good to not help them, right?”
Cathryn blinked. “No, but- that's not the same thing!”
“Sure it is!” David chuckled. “But why are you arguing? Would you prefer a reality where people do things for no reason? Where an interaction could end with a punch just as easily as a kiss? No, the fact that people have underlying motivations is a good thing. It's what keeps things stable, predictable, and why we can be certain that if we give whatever force they're dealing with enough reason to work with them, they'll actually do it. And that's why the rare individual who doesn't is so terrifying. The worst thing a person can be is unpredictable.”
Cathryn just looked lost, Andrew stepping in with a cough to save her. “Well, is there anything else we need to deal with?”
“My people are in a tenuous situation, but we're still taking stock so there's no immediate requests we can make.” The Archmage replied.
Andrew nodded. “Right, then I think we've dealt with everything that needed to be dealt with immediately, so how about we call it and deal with the rest once everyone has had time to assemble some proper representatives, and not just the first people we could find?”
Arose smiled. “I believe that's something we can all agree to. If only just so we can take some time to… process all this. It isn't every day you discover your grandson is a Multiversal god, after all.” More than a few looks were exchanged at that as everyone began to agree. Necessity had allowed them to focus, but it was starting to sink in that their realities had been fundamentally altered today. Literally. It was going to take some time to process that.