image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/6ac64c7f-40d1-4d39-b035-81a000bce00a/0_1.png]
----------------------------------------
New Reality: 23 February 1525, Northern Italy.
"By the way, that thing you trashed around was my rifle," Salvatore said after they returned inside the French camp. "A priceless antique… In my world, that is, here it's news."
"Oh, man, so sorry… I thought—"
"Never mind, keep it… It was fated you two meet and bash heads together. Ask Leo to repair it, with his new powers, it should be easy." Stopping all of a sudden after hearing a buzz, Salvatore his smartphone, scrolling through some messages, as Ardent noticed, impolitely peeking over the man's shoulder. "Good news from our base! About a thousand people had received the System. My past influence is probably the cause. We have to get going as soon as possible."
"You have factories, Salvatore?" Francis asked.
"Where do think those weapons came from?"
"I want to vi—"
"I promise you will visit it in due time. But for now, you must reach Paris safely and work to change your country for the better. Preferably without printing the communist manifesto."
"Bummer…" Francis sulked. "What about Das Kapital?" his expression got lively again.
"Nope. We'll stick with common sense. Compromises are hated, but always the best."
"True, true," Francis said, paying only partial attention. "We must work on that… Excuse me, I see my comrades from the lumpenproletariat… I'll tell them some nice words of encouragement. It's not their fault… it's all mine…"
The king beelined toward a group of tents and various caravans camped near the Mirabello brick castle. The cooks and prostitutes lived there, and everyone was now out and bitching about the orders to prepare for leaving.
Gosh! That's no sixteen-year girl, Ardent cringed, seeing in broad daylight one of the whores he often visited. Candles and makeup are a prostitute's best friends.
Francis was supposed to have a few mistresses, in his entourage, however, he was now kissing every lady of the night's hands and the cheeks of all the cooks.
"They would have died."
"Huh?" Ardent jerked, surprised by Salvatore's voice.
"The cooks and the prostitutes. D'Ávalos would have attacked here first, believing the king was in the castle. All those poor souls would have been mercilessly slaughtered… just for fun."
"Ew," Ardent grimaced. "That's horrible. Those Spaniards are beasts. My late adoptive father's mercenary company had a tight code of honor. Kill everyone but the cooks and prostitutes."
"I'm happy you've received a good education from an enlightened gentleman," Salvatore sighed. "Not, let's have a word in private."
Pulling the condottiere a little apart from the troops now standing at the ready, guarding the walls that in the main history line were left unguarded, Salvatore looked into the young man's eyes.
"What?" Ardent felt uneasy and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"You have to make your mind, and fast. Are you in? Fully in? Do you want to join us?"
"Like a fellow conspirator?"
"Yes. Helping the System spread, making this reality a better place. We act as a whole, but each of us has separate projects, and the rest help. You did a good job today, but if you want to join our group… we're democratic. We vote, and—"
"What about this: if you like my ideas, you help me with them, and if your ideas look nice, I do the same?" the condottiere interjected.
"It's a genius plan," Salvatore rolled his eyes. "Very well, but keep in mind that you'll have to be reasonable from now on."
"Hey, what do you know? That's my middle name," Ardent gave him a thumbs up.
"Hahaha… you're something, kid… OK. Here's a secret. We can travel to distant locations. I specialize in Space Magic. Now let's see who volunteers to babysit Francis."
----------------------------------------
New Reality: 23 February 1525, in the mountains of Te Waipounamu Island.
Ardent, Salvatore, Donnie, and Leo left in the dark of the late evening. After retreating to the northern woods of the sizeable private park—where Francis should have been made prisoner the next day—Salvatore pulled on a golden chain he wore around his neck, extracting an intricate amulet from underneath his shirt. He mumbled a few words, the amulet shone, and all of a sudden, a ring of light appeared on the ground, inscribed with strange characters, of the sort that Ardent could swear didn't belong in a normal alphabet.
Total blackness and lack of noise descended on them the next second. And disorientation. There was no up or down, nothing. The absolute silence hurt their ears and the absence of light their eyes. And then, they appeared in another place, the exit feeling like a heavy slap on the head. The daylight was bright and Ardent wobbled on his feet; he closed his eyelids tight and tripped on something.
"Watch your step," Salvatore groaned, catching the youngster by the elbow. Ardent had stepped on his toes.
"Where are we?" the condottiere looked around.
The place was beautiful. Unspoiled was the word that came first to his mind. A large valley with majestic forests and mountains all around, a small city, perfectly ordered on both sides of a crystalline brook, with large avenues, and tall buildings made of wood and stone. Nothing like the filth of the towns he was used to.
"… and it took me a year and a half to get here," Salvatore's voice pulled him out of his daydream.
"Say again?"
"The main reality of the future calls this place New Zealand. I guess that name is now history… hahaha… sorry for the pun. The locals call it Te Waipounamu. It's in the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite part of the Earth. It's late summer here."
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"You know Earth is round and seasons are reversed in the South, right?" Leonardo asked, with the tone of a teacher checking on some rascal who didn't pay attention in class.
"Of course," Ardent protested. "My adoptive father was cultured, he taught me—"
"And that it circles the Sun?"
"No way!" the younger man gasped, covering his mouth with both his hands, like an old lady after hearing some incredible gossip.
"Enough talking, now come," the man from the future pulled Ardent by the elbow. "I will introduce you to the village's chief."
While the village lacked any fortifications, there were earthworks and guard towers around the valley and on the ridge of the hills. Patrols of men and women dressed in skirts and sleeveless shirts walked around the village, armed with long wooden clubs, their upper end shaped like an axe. Elaborate tattoos ran on their skin, fascinating the condottiere.
"The Māori are fierce warriors. I approached a tribe and made a mutually beneficial deal," Salvatore said while walking.
"Good morning, honorable friend," an elderly man approached. He and Salvatore leaned forward, touching the tips of their noses and foreheads together.
"Good morning, Chief Rangi," Salvatore said. "This young warrior," the man gestured toward the condottiere, "is Ardent, our new partner… he proved at the same time useful and a pain in the ass."
"Hahaha…" the chief bellowed, jerking his head back. "Like always, Salvatore, you attract the most curious people…"
"Starting with you, my friend. Starting with you…" Salvatore threw a slap on the elder's shoulder. "Did anything out of the ordinary happen recently?"
"The spirits visited us," Rangi nodded. "Almost all our adult men and women got powers."
"Did you?"
"I did," the chief bowed his head. "I'm a Priest, as always, only with the voice of the spirits talking in my head."
"Good. Please help Leonardo write a list of who got classes, and which ones exactly."
The Priest and Leo nodded at each other and went away together. Salvatore stared into nothingness, lost in thoughts, for a moment, then sat on a bench, such objects being placed where the views over the mountains were better.
"I'll go check on my projects," Donatello said. With brisk steps, he aimed for one of the large buildings.
Ardent sat next to Salvatore, and they stood there, in silence, admiring the mountains. No mind-reading ability was needed to know what the man from the future thought. He was exhausted emotionally. Decades of work had come to fruition, yet unexpectedly; not that Ardent understood the plan in the first place.
"Creating a new reality is only the first step," Salvatore said without looking at the condottiere. "The next task is to spread the System."
"Why is that not automatic? Like, you get exposed to mana and—."
"In the right context, it is… This iteration was made for a more… discreet approach. It needs time. It's a… let me search for a proper word… a sort of a personal Artificial Intelligence Symbiote? That, and at the same time a sort of vaccine against Wild Magic intoxication and Dark Magic corruption… but spreading like a virus… How could I explain so you understand?" Salvatore grabbed his chin, furrowing his brow.
"It's a sophisticated thing," Ardent proposed.
"Brilliant. Let's stick with that. At first, it will spread through karmic contact. If we greatly affect someone's fate, and that person has an affinity for magic or martial skills, there is a… I think it's thirty percent, let me check my notes," Salvatore looked at his phone. "…Sorry, only about a thirteen percent chance they'll be able to get the System. There are also the Fate Points, which do the same, but with a hundred percent success.
"In time, the Awakened numbers will grow, and the System will spread planet-wide, touching everybody. In my reality, children carry a lesser form, learn about spells and skills in schools, and then, at their coming of age, they'll have a choice from several classes. Sages guide the children in their orientation, and places of power help their awakening. The problem here is…" Salvatore paused.
"Let me guess: we don't have enough people to spread the System?" Ardent asked.
"I fear so, yes. With fewer of us, the Wild Magic users could become predominant."
"Why is that bad?" Ardent asked.
"It's a roll of dice… Wild Magic realms are not better than your old world. Struggles for power, rich and poor, violence… plus the monsters and the dungeons. And that's the winning lottery ticket."
Ardent frowned, without wording his question.
"There's worse," Salvatore said. "Some people go mad after getting used to Wild Magic, they become evil warlords, mass murderers... The System guarantees a more peaceful civilization. Always keep in mind that we fight for a better livelihood for all humankind."
Salvatore was now looking into Ardent's eyes. The younger man knew the other faulted him for his impulsiveness, for killing Francis. He shut his eyelids A brief flash of memories hit. A big fire, people screaming. The Turks laughing. Him, crying, along with other babies… He shook his head.
"You're wrong…"
"Sorry?"
"Remember how the protestants and the Catholics hate each other? But… pfff… this translator in my brain makes me say weird words… I speak Italian, what language are you hearing?"
"Italian, with a heavy foreign accent. The Translator doesn't override our communications if we can understand each other. Look, kid, you were going to say something you think is important, right?"
"Sure. Look, I've seen a thing or two while fighting around. It's not being a catholic or protestant that makes people good or bad, it's their personal choices. Why should magic be different? We don't have to fight all wild magic users, just the bad ones. Let's ally with the good magic users, against the latter ones. We work together."
"Tolerance!" Salvatore jumped on his feet. "Religious and Magical… It could work… Simple, but effective. You're smart, kid."
"Stop calling me kid," Ardent groaned, starting to feel irritated.
"I'm two hundred years old," the man from the future stated with a bland voice. "I'll call you a kid at any hour of the day or night I wish."
"Suit yourself, grandpops," Ardent smirked. "Do people your age still have boners in the morning?"
"Or maybe not… Ardent it is." Letting the condottiere be, Salvatore started to walk back and forth, mumbling to himself. "Who would have thought…"
Then, the wizard's voice became too low to be heard, and the younger man looked around at the buildings, the mountains, and the people. On the opposite side of a square, Leonardo had put together a sort of a bureau, writing in a ledger, with scores of people waiting in line to speak to him. The pleasant morning light, and the warmth, made him feel a little sleepy, but he fought against the torpor. At some point, a strange detail hit him: the pleasant aromas in the air.
"What's this perfume?" he asked. "Flowers?"
"Sorry?" Salvatore stopped from his erratic behavior. "Ah… No, it's just the cleanness. Sewage, garbage disposal, and people bathing… oh, sorry, I didn't mean to be offensive."
"It's OK," Ardent said, sniffing his armpits, then grimacing. "I do bathe once a week, so you know. But now that you mentioned, I could use a hot bath..."
"That's refreshing news. I'll show you our public baths later, and tell you about a marvelous invention, deodorant. A question." Salvatore leaned to reach eye contact with the condottiere. "If you need to spread your forces around, but can't, what do you do?"
"You move fast, taking out the enemy piece by piece, like that guy I read about on the smart-ass phene, Napoliown… Wait!" Ardent gasped, widening his eyes. "You can travel through those magic things, right? This is it."
"I'm happy you're a fast learner," Salvatore nodded. "Took me ages with Donatello. Yes, moving fast could solve our problems. We put together a rapid intervention force and I'll make it go wherever it's needed."
"Say, about your abilities, the traveling stuff. Can you go anywhere?"
Salvatore shook his head. "I mainly go to places where I hid portals. It's also possible to return to a place I left before a full day passes… I have short-range abilities that allow me to teleport within sight range. And last but not least, I'm attuned to your Smartphones and could travel to you, as long you accept it. There's a setting—"
"Dude, you sure talk a lot. I meant where can you go?" Ardent asked again.
Salvatore started counting on his fingers. "Rome, Paris, Constantinople, Vienna, Lisbon, Vijayanagar, Beijing, Kyoto, and several smaller towns I use if I want to maintain a more careful approach. Like Trieste, or Prague, if I want to travel into Austria or Venice more discreetly. Now with the branching, I'd better start building more permanent portals around as soon as possible."
"Trieste? That's excellent!" Ardent rubbed his hands. "You were saying about a tour?"