The hooded man grabs my hand and I hell pull him up. He is younger, with a thick brown beard and scruffy hair. "I don’t mean to scare you, but I am well aware you are not of this world." His eyes full with fright.
"How…" he starts.
"Two of the people behind me are in your exact situation. I can empathize with you, but my predicament is slightly different. Either way, I’m offering you a way back to your home. I am curious though… were you directly warped here, or was your soul placed in a new vessel?"
"All I remember is I was talking with my friends in my school and some sort of gateway opened up beneath me. Then I found myself here." He reminisces.
"I see. Well, if you wish, I have the capability of returning you to your home dimension. By the way, pardon my rudeness, but what is your name?" I ask.
"It’s Jack," he says. He looks behind me to my three companions. "Is that…" His eyes fall on Ican. "Is that the legendary divine beast? I just took a mission to hunt you!"
"Guilty," jests Ican. Jack looks shocked that he can talk.
"Indeed, he is also in your situation. I—" Before I can finish my sentence, I notice there are many people running outside the window, all in one direction. "Our conversation may have to be put on hold for a moment." All five of us walk outside to see the commotion. A large gathering of bandits are riding through the streets, killing anyone that gets in their way. They all appear to be of the same race, with green skin and some sort of tusks. Orcs? Thanks, Lord of the Rings. As they get closer to us, I place my hand on my primal cutter. Before I draw it, a flat line of light appears in the air and all of the orcs are instantaneously decapitated.
Standing in the center of the pile of bodies is an average-built woman with flowing blue hair and white-golden armor. As she approaches us, she shouts, "Fear not, citizens! I have arrived!" Cowering people come out from their hiding spots and applaud with great enthusiasm.
As we turn back to return to the bar, I feel a grip on my shoulder. It is the woman, who has a suspicious look in her eye. "Say, traveler," she says. "Where are you from?"
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"You wouldn’t believe me if I told you." I notice her hand is gripping her sword.
"What are you? I’m sensing some sort of dark aura coming from you." Impossible… can she sense my flux without my goggles of revealing?
"Take your hand off me, please." She grins.
"You filthy demon. You’re the one who killed the Voice of God, aren’t you? It told me it was going to fight a powerful enemy just before the world’s magic stopped working." She says.
"If it’s any consolation, I’m also the one that fixed it. I’m sure everyone has noticed that since yesterday all of your skills and magic is working again." She gets angry now.
"Bastard… I’ll kill you, demon!" She jumps backwards.
I can contain my sheer annoyance no longer. "Are… are you a fucking dumbass or something? Why is everyone I’ve come across on my travels such an arrogant, stuck up piece of shit asshole? First it was the goddamn Royal Guard, who attacked me for no reason! Then it was the fucking mercenary team that wanted revenge for the Royal Guard! Then a literal fucking god tried to kick my ass and almost won because of the same Royal Guard! Now, as I’m just walking back to this bar to have a civil conversation, my ass gets jumped by some two-bit self-centered narcissistic hero who thinks she’s doing something by challenging me! Jesus Christ! Can I not pass by a single fucking town without drawing the wrath of an entire fucking country for ONCE?"
Everyone, including the heroine, drops their jaws at my rant. My four companions slowly back into the bar, sensing the incoming danger. "If you bother me again, I will throw your ass into fucking space."
As I turn around to walk back to the bar, I hear her unsheathe her blade. Are you kidding me? I use my time stopping spell focus to freeze time, dig a hole big enough to fit her, place her in it, and re-cover the hole. When time resumes, she becomes shocked. "What the— what did you do? Get me out of here!" The only thing sticking out of the ground is her face. I can see she tries to struggle and free herself from the ground. I laugh heartily before returning to the bar.
----------------------------------------
"Sorry about that." I can sense the awkward tension in the room. "Jack, what I do is travel from dimension to dimension, looking for people like you to free and gods to steal the souls of. I am close to having a sufficient power source for my gate to Heaven. Will you join us?"
"There’s more dimensions than this? I guess it makes sense… well, what about good gods? Do you kill them?"
"Jack, I have not yet met a single good god throughout the four dimensions I have traveled through. If I find one, I can promise you I will not touch them." He seems satisfied with this answer.
"Sure then, I’ll join you guys. I don’t have anything better to do."
"Very well, then. Let us waste no time. We have things to do."