I step out of the Flux Rift into the unknown dimension with my companions. I am surprised to find myself in a forest. Thank God this place has a sun. The Cultists look as amazed as I am relived to finally be out of that damned wasteland, and I imagine it’s so significant for them after being stuck in it for countless years.
"Fan out and look for civilization," I say. "Right now our goal is to find clues to see if anyone here practices dimensional magic. Any information on Heaven would be nice too." This whole mission is honestly a gamble. Who’s to say any dimension besides the "real world" and the Emptiness even know of God? "Meet back at this location in one week." Out of the corner of my eye, I see a strong signature of Humanus (Human, Humanity) Essentia hiding behind a tree. It seems someone is watching us. The signature vanished and I hear the eavesdropper run off before I can reach the tree. I decide our presence being known is inconsequential.
As I traverse this world, I notice it is remarkably similar to my own. Could it be this is what Earth looks like in every dimension? As I ponder this, I see a wild animal resembling a bear on my charted course, although my Goggles of Revealing inform me it is some sort of innately magical entity through the strong Praecantatio (Magic, Mystic) Essentia aura it emits. The goggles also reveal it is not a sentient entity, so I decide it will be the perfect test subject for one of the spells I developed. I reach into my pouch and pull out a spell focus. I socket the focus into my gauntlet and will the spell to take effect. A massively hot stream of fire shoots out of the palm and immolates the bear-like creature before it even senses my presence. I should stop doing that. I’m sure I could find a use for the parts of magical animals in my study. I make a mental note to develop an item transport system when I return to the Emptiness before continuing on my search.
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After about half a day of walking, I finally see some sort of settlement. I increase my pace in anticipation. This will have been the first time I speak with a sentient entity besides the Crimson Cultists in almost two months. As I near the gates, I am filled with silent joy as I see guards running out to meet me. Thank God they’re humans. I was worried in a sea of infinite dimensions that there would be a very high chance I encountered some horrible tentacle monstrosity race instead. The gate opens and several armed guards run out. "Halt!" They shout with ferocity, but I can detect a twinge of fear in their voices. I can hardly blame them. "State your business here!”
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"I am looking for practitioners of trans-dimensional magic. Do any live here?" The guards now visibly show their fear by flinching at my voice. I suppose it is quite deep and intimidating. The guards nervously look at one another, their spears still pointed at me. Suddenly, I hear an almost cartoonishly arrogant voice coming from behind them.
"Is this guy bothering you?" The figure steps out, revealing itself. It is a slim female figure clad in what I assume is iron armor. "Personally, I don’t believe that’s what your looking for. This man is clearly trying to steal and intimidate us!"
"…Are you fucking stupid? I wasn’t even planning on going inside."
The arrogant warrior’s face contorts in anger. "I’ll make you regret those words!" She lunges at me with her sword and utters something I can’t hear. Suddenly, three spectral copies of her sword appear behind her and start flying towards me at incredible speed. I brace myself for the attack. Shit…
The blades dissipate the second they make contact with my runic shielding. I was worried about that? The woman stands there dumbfounded for a moment. "My turn." I walk up to her and plunge my fist through her stomach. It shoots out her back with a sickening hurch. She gasps for air for a moment before falling limp. What the hell was her problem?
One of the guards shout, "He killed the Royal Knight!" His voice is full of pure terror. I stand there dumbfounded for a brief moment.
"She attacked me for no reason and you’re afraid of me? What the hell is wrong with you people?" Suddenly I am being shot at from the towers by archers. The arrows are harmlessly reflected by my runic shielding. "You guys are insane. Since you’re clearly harmless I will give you this one chance to just answer my question." Suddenly I hear another voice originate from behind the soldiers.
"Stand down!" The archers stop firing and the soldiers quickly clear a path in the center. Walking across the path they have created I see a large-built man in a green overcoat and some sort of naval cap approaching me. "Welcome to the town. Sorry about all of that."