When Micheal fizzled into reality, he was in front of a large building the size of a modern house from his world. He assumed it was a house. The stone ground beneath it was raised by a few feet, giving the house a grand feeling. The roof was wide and sloped downward, curving upward when it reached the wall. It was thatched from grass and reeds and had a layer of wood beneath it. Cherry blossoms were raining down their pink petals. He looked the other way and saw a village of houses similar to the one he was standing in front of just down the hill. As Micheal went to open the sliding paper door, a man opened it faster than should've been possible. The man, wearing a greyish kimono and sandals, bowed to him.
His man-bun bobbed a little as he bowed and said, “Welcome to Shogun Noryki!”
“Oh, uh, hello mister,” Micheal said, worried about the etiquette of this world.
“Are you here for training, young realmwalker?” the man asked.
“Um, well, I guess I have no idea how to use this sword I have,” Micheal told the strange man.
“Then come in. Please, come in. But take off your shoes,” The man beckoned him inside.
Micheal walked into the man’s sparsely furnished house, making sure to take his shoes off before doing so.
“Now you may sit while I make tea,” the man said.
Micheal sat down while the man made his way to his kitchen. “So you want swords training?” the man asked, filling a kettle with water.
“I guess so. Your offer of training was unexpected,” Micheal said.
“So you don’t want swords training? You have very very powerful sword,” the man said, putting the kettle on his stove.
“Who even are you?” Micheal asked.
“Here they call me... the Shogun,” he said, shooting a glance at Micheal as he paused mid-tea-making.
“Wait, so if you’re called the Shogun, and this town is called Shogun Noryki, then would this be your town?” Micheal asked the man.
“Shogun Noryki is not town. It is realm.” The Shogun handed Micheal a cup of tea and sat across from him.
Micheal almost dropped his tea from the shock. “Does that mean the whole world is yours?!” Micheal exclaimed.
“I am only person from Shogun Noryki. Come. I train you in swords.” The Shogun opened a paper door and walked outside.
Micheal followed the Shogun outside, closing the door behind him. The backyard was more of a garden, with exotic plants and more beautiful cherry blossoms. It was quite the sight. A stone path at the back led up the hill the Shogun’s house sat atop. They walked onto an area of scattered cobblestones near the center of the garden.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” There was a katana lying on the cobbles.
“Not yet important. Swords training important.” The Shogun kicked a katana into the air, catching it when it fell. “Are you ready for swords training?”
“I guess.” Micheal unsheathed the Divine Blade. “All this thing really is, is the hilt though.”
“No. You have simply yet to look inside yourself. Believe in the blade and it come to you,” the Shogun told him.
“Ok.” Micheal pushed forth his willpower into the sword. A golden light appeared out of it in the vague shape of a blade, with sparks spilling out where the light met the hilt.
“I did it! I have a blade now!” Micheal exclaimed. The light shimmered a little before disappearing. “Where did it go?”
“Your excitement too much emotion. Calm summons blade. Be calm and find blade inside you. True blade Angelfire,” the Shogun said.
Micheal pushed forth his willpower once again. He took deep breaths, and stood as still as he could, still excited about having a blade. The golden light appeared again, and the sparks were more stable than before. Not too long after, the sparks caught, and the golden light erupted into Angelfire.
“So now we spar right?” Micheal asked.
“Yes.”
The Shogun swung at Micheal with supernatural speed, his body a blur that Micheal could barely keep track of. He parried with his Angelfire blade, somehow blocking the Shogun’s attack.
“You are fast,” The Shogun said quickly.
“How are you so fast?” Micheal asked.
“Many years training. Most cannot compare.” The Shogun swung again, blurring his body and coming up behind Micheal. Micheal swiftly turned around and parried again.
“All defense may work sometimes. Use offense and defense better option.” The Shogun jumped five feet back and stood perfectly still, one leg raised into the air. “Show me your offense.”
Micheal ran at him, using his increased speed to charge the Shogun. Yellow streaks began to trace his previous path as he made his way toward the Shogun. He swung his blade towards the Shogun’s stomach. The Shogun jumped out of the way faster than Micheal could’ve hit him, landing on the leg that wasn’t being held up. He now held up his other leg.
“Ugh. Why are you so fast?” Micheal asked, annoyed.
“I am the Shogun—protector of the land. I have trained to be the strongest and fastest there is. Now come again,” He responded.
Micheal swung his oddly heavy blade at the Shogun. He simply jumped over Micheal’s low swing.
“You must work harder for your abilities to shine truly.” His simple statements continued annoying Micheal.
Micheal’s focus waned and the Angelfire disappeared, the golden light returning. The blade lightened in his hands and he swung with renewed energy. A harsh downward strike came at the Shogun, but he still managed to jump to the side. Micheal lightened his blade again, making it thinner and sharper, and swung hard from the right. The Shogun backed away, and Micheal felt the need to raise his hand. When he raised his hand towards the Shogun a jagged metal shard came out of his palm and shot towards the Shogun. Part of the Shogun’s kimono was snagged, pinning him to a bamboo stalk, the jagged metal keeping the cloth above his shoulder in place. He dropped his katana in shock.
“Whoa. I didn’t know I could even do that,” Micheal beamed. He looked down at his palm and there wasn’t even a scratch.
“Sword magic strong. You do good. Not many hit,” the Shogun said.
The Shogun walked forward, and the piece of his kimono that Micheal pinned to the bamboo stalk was torn off. He picked up his dropped katana and walked over to Micheal. The Shogun put his hand on Micheal’s shoulder momentarily and said, “Good work. Your training begin now. That was only test. Come inside. Rest. We have much work.”
“Wait my training hasn’t started yet?!”
“No.” He walked back into his house and left it at that.
Micheal stood there for a few moments before deciding to explore the trail that went up the hill. As soon as he passed through the cut-out section of bamboo, it was like he was in another world. The bamboo surrounding the one-man-wide path looked as if it would reach the sky. The path itself was simple dirt, but it maintained much better than some of the sidewalks of his world. He walked along, enjoying the beauty of this realm compared to others. The sun beat down on his skin, but not in a bad way; the warmth was enjoyable for him. He trekked up to the top of the hill, making his way to an ancient structure slowly entering his field of view. Ruins of something that seemed to be made of quartz were scattered about the small grassy hilltop, with unfamiliar runes written upon them.
“Welcome to the top,” the Shogun said, somehow appearing in front of Micheal.
“Wait what?! How did you make it here before me?!” Micheal exclaimed, questions filling his mind.
“I am fast.” The Shogun’s simple words caused Micheal’s eye to twitch in annoyance.
“Ugghhhh, why do you explain everything so vaguely?” Micheal whined.
“Explanation not important now. Only training is. And maybe portal,” the Shogun continued the simplicity to his words, much to Micheal’s irritation.
“What do you mean portal?” Micheal asked, “How does it work?”
The Shogun gestured vaguely to the ruins scattered about.
“Is it a puzzle? Does it take things through it that can’t realmwalk on their own?” Micheal pestered the Shogun, not noticing his disappearance.
“Wait where’d you go? You didn’t even answer any of my questions,” Micheal exclaimed when he realized the Shogun was no longer beside him.
The Shogun’s invisible form watched from the nearby rock he stayed perched on, laughing silently at Micheal. He continued to watch as Micheal sat down right next to him, Micheal resting his head on his fists. So far, Micheal was failing his second test. But then Micheal stood up. The Shogun leaped into a tree as Micheal’s eyes glowed a faint yellow. The symbols’ meanings were somehow translated into his mind, instantly known. Sigils of space, capable of crossing dimensional borders. He knew that this structure was the portal the Shogun had mentioned. He watched as a translucent yellow frame of the previous state of the portal appeared before him and he knew what he must do. He got right to work.
* * *
He spent three uneventful, arduous days moving the giant quartz-like slabs. When he had finally finished, there was a single piece missing. It didn’t appear in the yellow form his mind still showed. He looked around briefly and a human form sitting in a tree caught his gleaming yellow eyes, the same translucent yellow as the frame of the ruins.
“Who’s there?” Micheal called out, staring right at the figure
The figure leaped out of the tree, landing on the space where a ruined block had once been. Micheal now recognized the mysterious figure as the Shogun. He was wearing a sash now, lined with small quartz stones, each with a unique symbol.
“You are looking for the final piece, yes?” the Shogun asked.
“Yeah, I am. My weird yellow vision thing isn’t showing what it should be,” Micheal said, the glow fading from his eyes.
“Many years have passed since portal used last. Many pieces recovered. My belief this one last used,” the Shogun handed Micheal a domino-sized quartz piece off of his sash.
Micheal took the small stone tablet and slowly placed it in the slot that remained. The runes covering the portal stones slowly began glowing with white light before fading out again. He slowly drew his power, yellow light coalescing in his hands, and pressed his palms onto either side of the domino-sized piece. The portal slowly began to glow again, the light tinted slightly yellow now. A dot appeared in the center of the ruin’s space and grew into a swirling vortex. It quickly filled the inner space of the ancient structure, a gateway of purple replacing the air. Micheal started to walk towards it, mesmerized by the magic. The portal fizzled out when he got close to it, disappearing back into nothingness. The tile the Shogun had given Micheal popped out of place, and the Shogun caught it.
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He sniffed the tile, sensing the magic within, and said “Something blocking portal.”
“No duh,” Micheal said. “Why else would it not work?”
“Portal could be broken. Your power could have tainted portal magic. Could be lot of things,” the Shogun said.
“I didn’t know that was possible,” Michael said.
“It is. We should leave portal be. Continue training. Come.” The Shogun walked back down the hill, and Micheal followed.
**The next day**
Micheal stood up and stretched in the sparsely furnished guest room the Shogun had given him. He walked down the hallway, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. When he made it to the large room that made up most of the Shogun’s house, he sat down on a small cushion and waited for the Shogun. When he walked in, he wore a similar outfit to what he had been wearing the previous days.
Was that the only thing he had to wear? Does he have no variety? Micheal thought.
“You want tea?” The Shogun said sleepily.
“Sure,” Micheal yawned, hunched over on his cushion.
“Then I go grab leaves,” the Shogun said before walking outside.
Micheal collapsed on the small cushion, tired from three straight days of work fueled entirely by the blade. Micheal had begun dosing when the Shogun came back inside.
“Sun shine well today,” he said. “I collected good leaves because you are guest.”
“Good leaves?” Micheal yawned again. “Was the tea we had before not made from good leaves?”
“Those just leaves. These are good leaves,” the Shogun responded.
“Ok then,” Micheal said.
Micheal began drifting off again when he was startled awake by a sudden whistle followed by the Shogun saying, “Tea ready now. Get cup, come drink.”
Micheal forced his weary body to get off the cushion, wobbling as he stood. He shuffled over to the expensive-looking counter, opened a cabinet, and grabbed an expensive-looking ceramic cup. He held his cup towards the Shogun, gesturing for him to fill it. The Shogun poured tea into the porcelain cup Micheal held before filling his own.
“You want go train?” The Shogun asked after a sip of tea.
“No, I was thinking about exploring the town,” Micheal said, the sleep disappearing from his voice.
“Interesting. Go now. Come back for training later,” the Shogun said.
Micheal took his time finishing his tea. Outside, it was almost noon when he left the Shogun’s house. He walked carefully down the hill toward the small town. All the buildings had similar exteriors to the Shogun’s house, and Micheal found it a nice change of pace from his world, where buildings were bland, lacking the natural feel these houses gave. Small children were playing in the dirt path streets and adults were buying food and trinkets from market stalls that lined the side of those streets. Micheal approached one of the smaller stalls, which was selling plants.
“Hey there! I haven’t seen you around here before, are you new?” the vendor said enthusiastically. She was on the smaller side for a young woman, with salt and pepper hair and soft brown eyes. She wore a loose-fitting, faded green shirt and a sleeveless jacket of a similar but darker color.
“Uh, I guess? I’ve been here for a few days but I spent most of them on top of the hill,” Micheal responded.
“Has anyone shown you around? The Shogun doesn’t do tours of his world, which I think doesn’t make sense, but I do tours! I do them for free too,” the vendor stated.
“No, I think I’ll be able to find anything I need on my own,” Micheal responded.
“Ok, come by if you need anything! Oh right, I totally forgot. My name is Daisy,” she said enthusiastically, reaching her hand out for a handshake.
Micheal shook the girl's hand. “Nice to meet you,” Micheal said politely.
“Nice to meet you too, Mr…?” She began, trailing off when she realized she didn’t know his name.
“My name is Micheal,” he told her.
“That’s a nice name. Has the Shogun given you a place yet?” Daisy asked. Micheal could practically feel her enthusiasm floating around her.
“No, and I didn’t think that I would get one,” Micheal responded.
“Everyone gets their own place if they stick around long enough! Come on let's go find one! There’s always someone building homes around here,” she said enthusiastically, muttering the last part. She smiled and stood up, revealing herself to be just over five feet tall.
“Ok then. I guess we can look for one,” Micheal said.
“Where are you from mister?” Daisy asked, stepping out from behind her stall, revealing light green shorts.
“Another world.”
“No shit. The only guy known to be from this world is the Shogun.”
“Oh. I don’t know what my world’s name is. Where are you from?”
“I dunno. I’m part overlord so I could be from nowhere or everywhere or just a few places. I definitely have the energy of a realm with were-pandas though,” Daisy’s enthusiastic nature continued to shine.
“What makes you think that?” Micheal asked.
“Do you really not know anything about the multiverse? How new to this are you?” Daisy asked.
“A magic sword has been yanking me around for the last week, why should I know anything about the multiverse?” Micheal said, anger barely beginning to show in his eyes.
“Oh sorry Micheal,” Daisy said, toning her enthusiasm down a bit. “You wanna learn stuff?”
“Not at the moment. Let’s focus on finding me a place to stay,” Micheal said.
“Ok! C’mon then.” Daisy’s energetic mood revived, and she grabbed Micheal’s hand and pulled him toward the end of the street.
Micheal followed Daisy down the street until she stopped in front of a house that looked like all the others.
“So, what do you think?” Daisy asked.
“It looks like all the others,” Micheal stated.
“Yeah, they all look the same. Anyway, what do you think?” Daisy asked again.
“It’s nice?” Micheal said, testing the answer.
“I think you're right, it does look pretty nice,” Daisy mused.
“So how does it become mine?” Micheal asked.
“Oh right. Probably should’ve told you that earlier. All you have to do is talk with the builder, which most of the time I do for people, and then put a personal belonging inside!” Daisy said.
“I don’t have any personal belongings,” Micheal said.
“Huh? How? Do you just not have any because you never wanted any?” Daisy blasted Micheal with questions.
“I was on the run for the past week or two, keeping the magic sword safe, so I didn’t exactly get to bring anything with me,” Micheal said.
“Ooooooooh that makes sense. And you don’t have any help racked up yet so you can’t buy anything.. Well then, why don’t you take a free plant?”
“A free plant?” Micheal questioned.
“Yeah. From my store. I’ll give you one for free,” Daisy said.
“Do you have succulents?” Micheal asked.
“Hmm. I think so. I’ll go grab one,” Daisy said. “Wait. Why do you want a succulent?”
“To remind me of home,” Micheal said.
“Why don’t you go back?” Daisy asked.
“I don’t want to,” Micheal said.
Daisy walked off to grab a succulent from her stall, leaving Micheal standing in front of the house. Micheal knocked on the door. Nobody answered. Micheal slowly opened the door and walked inside. There were no furnishings whatsoever, but there wasn’t a spec of dust in sight.
“Hello?” Micheal called.
There was no response.
“Hellooo?” Micheal called.
There was still no response.
“Is there literally nobody in here?” Micheal yelled.
A hole opened in the ground, leading to what seemed to be the void. Micheal looked down, staring into the endless black expanse. A man crawled out of it, wearing a brown jacket with several rips, a white shirt with a few bloodstains on it and several rips, a red tie hanging loosely around his neck, black pants that were probably being held together back magic, and perfectly maintained black dress shoes. He was the palest man Micheal had ever seen. One of his arms hung much, much lower than his other, bones showing through on multiple limbs. One of his eyes was falling out, and his jaw was dislocated. He stood up and the hole closed, leaving the ground as it was before.
“Geez man, give a guy some time to use his powers,” the man said, “I think it takes a lot longer since I’m undead, but I think that’s also how I gained my powers.”
“Are you ok?” Micheal asked.
“Boy, I have already died. There is no way for me not to be fine,” the man stated firmly. “I’m Howard,” he said, extending a hand.
“I’m Micheal,” he said, shaking Howard’s hand. Micheal moved to pull his hand away and accidentally ripped off Howard’s. “Oh, oh god. I am so sorry. Here let me help put it back on,” Micheal said, fumbling with Howard’s hand.
“Don’t worry. It happens practically every time someone shakes my hand. Could you please give me my hand back though? It’s hard to find hands that fit,” Howard said, reaching out to take his hand back.
“Oh, ok then. Here you go,” Micheal handed Howard his hand back.
Howard promptly reattached his hand before making a new hole leading to the abyss.
“Wait! I was supposed to talk to you about, well, I don’t know what I was supposed to talk to you about,” Micheal exclaimed.
“Did we not talk just talk?” Howard questioned.
“Well, I guess we did,” Micheal muttered.
“I’ll see you around then kid,” Howard said before letting himself fall into the hole.
“That was weird,” Micheal said under his breath.
The door burst open as Daisy entered the house. “Helloooo,” she said cheerfully.
“Oh hi Daisy,” Micheal said.
“I brought your plant for you,” she said before looking at the ground. “I see you’ve met Howard. I don’t think he sticks around very much.”
“What do you mean ‘sticks around’?” Micheal asked.
“Well, everyone here but the Shogun is a realmwalker. So Howard isn’t around a lot. Most of the people here are retired though. I’m not!” Daisy said cheerfully.
“Retired?” Micheal said.
“If you ever feel done with realmwalking and stuff the Shogun’ll let you settle down here,” Daisy said.
“Ok.”
Daisy handed Micheal his plant. He walked over to the corner of the room and set the plant down. It was a type that Micheal was sure didn’t exist back on Daearra. It was as if a painter was in the process of painting it, but accidentally spilled their palette over it, giving it an interesting look with various colors. The smell was already wafting through the room, something like lavender, but sweeter. When he turned back to the doorway, Daisy had left. Micheal put his hands on his hips and proudly looked around the room. The only thing in it was the plant, and it would need a lot of work, but it was his, and he was proud of it. He noticed a door, leading to another barren room. This room had stairs, which he promptly followed to the second floor. The stairs continued going up, presumably to the roof, but Micheal wanted to explore this floor. The room he just entered was empty, except for the stairs and a doorway. He walked to the other room and found what was the only piece of furniture in the house. A bed. The only things in the house were a bed and his plant. There was also a window. It had a beautiful view of the mountain-filled horizon and the fields that spanned the distance to them. Micheal had found a home. It wasn’t much, but it was his.
Micheal left his new home. He walked back up the hill, out of the small town, and up to the Shogun’s house. He slowly opened the sliding paper door, walking into the large room.
“Hello?” Micheal called.
There was no response. He must be sleeping, Micheal thought. He walked down the hall and entered the second door on the right. Before when he had looked in this room, there had been only a single cushion and a block of wood to furnish the room. Now, the Shogun sat on the cushion and burned incense sat on the wooden block.
“You interrupt my meditation. Why?” said the Shogun.
“I came back for training,” Micheal explained.
“Not time for training yet. Take this. Explore other worlds. Let me continue my meditation. Must be constant for three days,” The Shogun said, handing him a new one of the domino-like tablets.
“Put this in portal. It not bad. I think. Works. I tested,” the Shogun said.
“So you’re kicking me out?” Micheal asked, taking the small token.
“No, I feel you hunger for adventure, and Shogun Noryki does not have any. I made it safe, but safety can be same as boredom,” the Shogun mused.
“So you’re kicking me out,” Micheal said.
“Yes,” the Shogun said jokingly. “You always welcome, as long as you not monster who wants destroy what people built.”
Micheal tucked the small token into his pocket, and walked out of the room, leaving the Shogun to his meditation. He walked down the short hallway to the common room, and then out into the backyard. He practiced his aim with his metal shard blast for a few minutes before feeling he was ready for whatever came next. He walked up the hill, taking the trail at a calming pace unlike the many times when there was no time for sightseeing, or rest, slowly making his way to the portal, tiring himself out. He breathed a sigh of relief when the quartz archway came into view, covered with utterly alien symbols that he knew every intricacy of meaning. He slotted the token into the archway like slotting a dollar into a vending machine. He didn’t need to force his power into it this time, the portal springing to life on its own. Micheal threw up his arm to protect his eyes from the pure, blinding white energy that filled the portal frame, and Micheal knew that this was where the Shogun wanted him to go and that it felt like a place where he would find the excitement of adventure, a place that would get his blood pumping, although hopefully not pumping out of his body. Some part of the realm seemed to resonate on the same frequency as some part of him, and it was an enjoyable feeling. He didn’t know how wrong he would turn out to be.
He stepped through the gleaming white portal and exited to a realm he had yet to know. As soon as he was completely through the portal snapped shut, leaving him stuck on that world until the sword randomly activates its realmwalking abilities or he figures out how to activate them on his own.