In the dead quiet of the underground hall, only periodic sounds of water drops falling from the ceiling could be heard. The two stared at each other, divided by the stone platform serving the role of a crafter table.
“Will I be able to leave this place?”
“Yes, of course, I don’t run a hotel here as you may see. I will need you to pay me back for what you destroyed, but as long as you will help me with some things and allow me to check up on how you develop I will be reasonable.”
“Thank you then, let’s leave that part for last when I’ll hopefully know more about what I’m signing up for. I also wanted to thank you for healing me, I am honestly amazed with how well I feel and quickly I got better.”
“No problem, I count that as being even. My race feeds on pollution and biological poison and what you managed to grow within you was quite a treat, healing you after it also only cost me some energy. Your body was still in the process of awakening so it was constantly rebuilding and improving. I only supplied some energy and helped to guide it. Also, it wasn’t all that quick, you were asleep for 3 days.”
“Jesus, I’m in so much trouble. I don’t even know how long I’ve been here. Any ideas?”
“Time dilation on this level of sewers is equal to 1.5 of the real world. Every hour outside is 1,5 hours in here. With how long you were asleep and from the traces of lamps destroyed, plus giving you a day or two at the beginning I would shoot you spent here 11/12 days. A bit over a week in the outside world.”
“Wait, there is time dilation?”
“Oh yes, it is quite normal, the bigger the concentration of magic, the more development and time the space experiences. The bottom levels of the Canals are, from what I was told, experiencing 6 times the time flow of the surface. Also, creating time vaults within your domains is normal, when a family sets up their own sphere of influence and if they are rich enough to allow it they create their own time flow within that sphere. They have more time to train, run their business, or simply enjoy their life.”
“Huh, freaky, I honestly expected it to be super complex, as I understand space magic isn’t that tough from what I can gather?”
“You would be correct, Space, Time, and Mind magic are really easy when it comes to basics and almost impossible when it comes to advanced stuff. Creation of your own domain or pocket space bound to an item is basic knowledge. Bound to you or a powerful enough power source it's self-sustaining. Now, forcing those same effects on a large scale, or trying to mess with the flow of time or rules of space, now that’s beyond me and most alive on Earth.”
“Again, you specified on Earth, are there other planets that were inhabited by us? Can They be reached?”
“Hohoho, we did not inhabit other plants, yes, there are thousands if not millions of planets, moons, planes, worlds, and a myriad of other options hosting fauna, flora, and other forms of life your mind couldn’t even dream of. Earth is one of the younger ones, occupied around 14 thousand years ago by an expedition force trying to create a resource world. It is possible to travel between realms and worlds through Portals and Gates. Actually, a lot of them are still around.”
“Wow, wild, not to be racist or speciest but were your kind native, or did your fore…parents travel here?”
“Don’t worry, and no, we are not native. My predecessors and their brood came after the first expedition, after they heard of how much water and minerals this world possesses. Baseline humans were actually the original dominant species on the surface, that and some Cored Reptilians Swarm but that got taken care of with a quick plague. Almost all got killed and the rest became independent and as such, pose no threat.”
“Ok, reptilians, ok… Not going to touch that one. The German offspring told me the Normals are bred as cattle to be harvested, want to elaborate on that? Also, how in the fuck is the world divided by a veil of magic?!”
“Ehhh, typical for one of them to frame it like that. He was kind of correct, but not fully. Around 300 years ago standard time, after the Old Wars came to an end, The Crusades of the Old Gods were concluded the world at large decided to cut off from the Normals. Before, all shared space and our kind ruled over, that’s how myths and legends came to be. When the industrial revolution started and the world population boomed, to limit the chances of rapid mutation of life we separated. All the magic produced by thought and life gets absorbed through the veil. We claim all benefits while allowing the Normals to live more freely, somewhat self-governing. They produce the energy that lets this world thrive, enriching the real soil and life while they are left mostly alone, no longer under our direct rule. The magic spell itself was an ingenious planet-wide reality trap, self-sustaining on magic it gathers, and self-repairing. When something in the magic-filled world is destroyed, naturally it rebuilds to its base copy from the magicless one. That’s why both are so similar. Exception is places where magic is contained or extra focused, like the sewers or mansions and domains of families. Also, naturally existing treasure troves and paradises.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“That sounds… convoluted but logical. But why give up all that power when you could have both?”
“Easy, beyond the veil the magic density is so pitiful most must use their own reservoirs of energy, and those run out. Plus, it became a bother. Why take care of something that could take care of itself while still retaining the influence and the benefits?”
“Fair enough, so, want to tell me why are you treating me like a human and the Nazi boy saw me as scum?”
“Not all are the same, young one, just as not all wanted to give up their direct rule. All around the world, even now, battles between the old families are being fought using mortals. It is simply cheaper that way. Magical creatures have a harder time producing offspring so every loss of one is much more painful than even the loss of hundreds of mortals. Add to that a power fantasy and a bit of fanaticism and you get the Second World War. Most of us are content with being the silent rulers, we crave no validation of those beneath us.”
“Hmm, I still feel mortal so that doesn’t sound that good to me but I will not argue with you, I lack the knowledge to do so. Could you tell me something about what am I? And what my abilities are? How will my life change?”
“Smart of you to remain calm, a cool head is one that stays connected to the shoulders. To be completely honest with you, I am not sure. You are a bit of an anomaly, for several reasons at that. Natural awakening isn’t really a thing anymore, we have those who seek the potential to replenish the lower caste, but for one to survive the conjunction of both realities without any support or preparation is extremely rare. Unheard of even. To add to that, your …Kind, something common across all races and worlds of the universe yet unpredictable.”
“Great, nothing better than being special.”
“That sarcasm is well deserved, the amber giants have a better feel for bloodlines than I do, and if he was correct you are quite the unfortunate one. Those born in the claws of Void are damned from birth. Even not awakened your influence over those less rigid laws of reality robs you and those near you of luck, happiness, and anything positive as that requires energy of some kind. And you consume that, distort it, and twist it until it unwinds into nothing. The good news is, now you have a way to control most of that, being aware of the influence, as you already know, you can guide it and shape it. The bad news is, now that you flooded your being so much those effects will start consuming you from inside, and if you lose control, you can expect reality to be quite angry with you.”
“Great, UnLucky Luke strikes again.”
“Hah, quite apt. There is some good news though, you still have access, and what’s even more surprising, control over magical energies. As I said, not full control, but control nonetheless. That brings some benefits, in your case it will prolong your struggle in life. Your lifespan will increase exponentially with the amount of magical energies your body incorporates. The Void puts enough strain on your body to force magical regeneration of it. Basically, your physical attributes will naturally mutate with time to be stronger and more resilient. With some training, you may be able to form some basic spell constructs. The way you form magic right now is by instinct mostly and you can manifest without much precision, work on that…”
“Something wrong?”
“Yes, it relates to your Void powers. As you already felt, they come with a price. You seem like a good kid so I will be direct. Don’t use them, suppress them as much as you can, and never, and I mean never let them overtake you. Kill yourself before they take over. The havoc you could bring if they got out of control would be disastrous for us and the Mortals alike. It would shred your soul, keeping it in a stasis of constant, unending agony until something killed your vessel. After that, it will only get worse for you. I understand that they call to you, yearn to be released but you must suppress it. Vent them as often as possible and strengthen your body and mind to overpower and overgrow them.”
“Ehhhh, nothing could ever go easily.”
“I have somewhere some basic introduction into energy shaping and history for kids in here, I’ll give it to you to read when you will be leaving. Any other questions?”
A moment of silence passed. That amount of information was a lot to take in. Different worlds, a second history to the world. At least, for now, he was somewhat safe. He had to go back to his world, to fix things up, and to plan out what was next. But debts came first, they always come first.
“OK, thank you for that, for everything you did. For now, I don’t even know what more I could ask about. So, let’s get down to business. What can I do for you?”
A smile slowly crept across the old man's face, leaning on his human arms he inched closer across the desk.
“Now, that is the question I was waiting for.”