I sit in my study. It has been one month since we returned from our expedition, and I have made great strides in the areas of Thaumaturgy and soul manipulation. I have created two new artifacts that will greatly assist me: The Motus (Movement, Motion) Essentia Harness, which, when field by Vis, will allow me to fly, and the Boots of the Traveler, which will allow me to travel at speeds that nearly octuple the maximum speed of a normal human. I have also begun constructing what I call the Curative Vat, which will allow me to incorporate biology into my thaumaturgical studies. Finally, with the knowledge the Aninomicon granted me, I have spent hours in deep meditation to develop a technique I call the Doombolt. I cast energy from my doomed soul, and the congealed pulse directly harms the soul of the target. I can get so much more powerful if I just take a living soul to study…

The Warp is getting worse. In response to this, I upped the potency of the Grinning Mask to suppress it tenfold. I also laced it with void metal. The upgrade should stop any attempts to magically control my mind. Though the enemies I encountered during the first excursion were weak, I cannot arrogantly except the same thing to be the case every time we explore another dimension.

I hear someone enter my room. It is Leviticus. "My lord, we are prepared for our next excursion into another reality."

"Very good. Are the Praetors on standby?"

"They are," he replies. "All we’re waiting for is for you to choose a rift and open it." I nod in understanding. I stand up from my chair. And walk outside to meet the Praetors.

"Let us waste no more time then."

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The cultists and I step out from the rift. "Same goal as before. Ask about summoning magic and Heaven. Keep an eye out for strange books, too." They nod in compliance as we all begin walking in our own directions.

This dimension is similar to the last, except this time the rift led us to the top of a stony plateau. I don’t expect to see anyone out here. Progress is much quicker this time due to the Boots of the Traveler. I travel about four hours; the size of this plateau is truly astonishing. As I travel, I make note of a cave to the East. I nearly dismiss it when I notice there’s a faint glow coming from inside. Creatures capable of conversing, perhaps? I readjust my route to the cave.

It appeared far away, but because of the boots I reach it very quickly. As I near I notice it’s more of a glorified foxhole than a cave. I’m pretty sure I can see the back wall. I notice two other things in the cave: the first are multiple cages hanging from the ceiling that appeared to hold sleeping humanoids. The second thing was a gargantuan sleeping creature I recognize as a dragon. If this thing is as arrogant as that Royal Knight, we’re going to have a problem. I shout to it, stirring its slumber.

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"Excuse me, do you know where the nearest civilization is?" The wyrm’s eyes shoot open and gravitate towards me. It slowly gets up and puffs smoke from its nostrils. It’s red in color and about the height of seven grown adult men.

"Human, you dare trespass upon this sacred ground? Leave now or I will annihilate you!" This again? The humanoids in the cages have all woken up at this point and are staring at us.

"Would you relax? All I did was ask a simple question. Clearly you’re intelligent enough to speak, so are you really telling me you’re too stupid to know where the nearest civilization is?” I say this as kind of a half joke. Clearly I am the only one who interprets it as such, as the caged humanoids gasp and the dragon’s eyes grow wide with anger.

The wyrm makes a guttural roaring sound as I observe a massive flow of Vis begin to flow around it. A massive sphere of green fire forms above the dragon, and with a flick of its neck it comes hurtling towards me. Come on…

I get in a defensive stance as the fireball hits me head on. I can feel the heat, but my runic shielding prevents any damage from coming through. The dragon looks slightly confused at this result. The humanoids now observe the fight with much more interest.

"This is the second time in a month I’ve been attacked for no reason! Is everyone body but me in this universe out of their minds?" I socket a spell focus into my gauntlet. The dragon seems to sense the imminent danger. It chants something I cannot hear as my consciousness is suddenly ripped from my body and placed in some sort of astral realm, covered in stars all around.

"Fool! You have angered me greatly. Your measly human soul has no chance of withstanding an attack from my noble dragon soul!" I look to the source of the sound; there stands the dragon, but now infinitely larger than its true form. Damn…

The dragon’s soul shifts as a beam of pure energy is shot from its mouth. I brace for the worst possible outcome, but to my surprise the blast does not harm me. "Impossible! No pathetic human can withstand a direct soul attack from a dragon!"

"You underestimate humans. Let me show you what we are truly capable of." When I say this, several malformed thin beams shoot out of my soul and curve to pierce thread dragon’s. It screams in agony as its soul is slowly infected by the same purple hue mine is and it shrinks into nothingness.

I am awoken back in reality. I infer no time has truly passed as everything is as it was. The dragon flops in front of me, dead. Is everyone in all of creation this much of an asshole?