image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/8d7708f9-5121-4fcd-bf32-8298ad816ae5/0_3.png]

----------------------------------------

New Reality: 23 February 1525, in the mountains of Te Waipounamu Island.

"Can we make something else?" Ardent inquired. In front of his eyes, long lines of tables and various machines manned by people of various origins, inside a well-lighted workshop an acre-wide. It was the third factory they visited, after one making antibiotics and vaccines, and another for food processing, and it assembled rifles.

"Yes," Leonardo said. "With my new Techno-telekinetic powers, I can put together a new line of production in no time. Tell me what you want, I'll make it happen, and power level in the process."

"The System awards more XP for doing class-related things," Salvatore added.

Ardent threw an inquisitive look at the Genius, noticing he had increased in level, from five to nine, in no time. "I'll tell you my idea after we finish the tour. The information inside the phene is fantastic"

"Phone," Salvatore said. "But it's more than that. It's a tablet with a quantum processor. Usually, the System offers information freely, on its core worlds, the tablet is meant to compensate for that in non-System Realms. Keep in mind that—"

"Thank you," Ardent patted the man's shoulder, to make him shut up. A true blabbermouth… he thought.

They exited the premises, and Leonardo pointed at a hill. Three oblongue objects floated leisurely above it. "Another of my projects. Airships. They fly using Hydro… a gas… fumes lighter than air. Very flammable, but with a little alchemy, I will soon make Helium. That's safer. Let's talk over a pizza or something, I'm hungry."

"So you guys weren't able to use magic before today?" Ardent asked as they were walking back toward the village.

"Salvatore and Donnie did."

"Barely. My Mana recovery was abysmal," the man from the future said. "Doing magic is possible on main realities, but with much difficulty. Now, back to the matter at hand. Each of my friends has a pet project. Leo is about new tech and spreading science and education. Donnie is into making vaccines and antibiotics and wants to start distributing them in South America before the next epidemic wipes out millions."

"What's Mickey into?" Ardent asked.

"Mickey…" Salvatore sighed, followed by Leonardo. "He'll go to Germany with a 'peace force'," he made air quotes, "to save the last revolted peasants and keep the nobles in check. Mickey's is as—"

"Nuts," Leonardo interjected, spitting on the ground.

"—enthusiastic as Francis is. Hates the nobles with a passion."

"Because he thinks art, and mostly his art, should belong in a museum, to be enjoyed by everyone, not only the rich," Leo added. "Culture to the masses, that's his credo."

"And Ralphy?"

"Raph," Salvatore corrected him. "His dream is to found his own Ninja school. He trained first in a Japanese school, then with the Māori, mixing unorthodox techniques in a thing he calls—"

"Finally, food! Let's eat," Leonardo exclaimed.

They had reached the cantina, where Ardent found out there was an option between Italian, Indian, and Chinese food. Salvatore chose the Chinese, Leo a pizza, seconded by the condottiere, who was curious about it. Joining the group, Donnie went for Indian but took it to go.

"Sorry I'm not joining you, but I have to check if the moas and the geese are fed properly," the latter said. "Saving their species helps a lot with the biodiversity."

"What does that mean, you can fuck them or something?" Ardent asked candidly.

"It means nature," Donatello hissed. "If you kill everything that moves, nature suffers and you'll have nothing to eat."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"Sorry, honest question," Ardent shrugged. "There's a legend in our parts about shepherds fucking their sheep and the poor creatures giving birth to were-rams. Like werewolves, only they headbutt you instead of biting."

"Fascinating culture," Salvatore said with a sigh. From his attitude, he was about to bang his head on the table. Donatello, on the other hand, went away with a simple groan. Leonardo was covering his mouth with his hand, giggling loudly.

"Nice place you have here," Ardent said. They were seated on a large terrace, with tables arranged under umbrellas, and the view of the mountains was splendid.

"So, what will be your project?" Salvatore asked.

"I was thinking of freeing the Balkans from the Turks," Ardent said.

"No surprise there… And how? Killing every single one of them?" Salvatore leaned toward the younger man, scrutinizing him.

"Dude, you think I'm a monster?" the young man protested, waving a pizza slice in the air as he gesticulated, dripping tomato sauce all over the checkered tablecloth.

"The average medieval man is a monster by my world's standards," Salvatore countered. 'So?"

"True," Ardent said pensively, staring into nothingness after putting the food back on the plate. "No, man, I'm not going to kill everyone… I… had this discussion before, with my adoptive father… the one who rescued me from the Turks. Revenge won't bring my family back, only make other people suffer… That would bring me no joy… A kid is a kid, a woman is a woman… I never… you know…"

"Raped—"

"Or killed them…" Ardent nodded slowly, his voice choking. "But I never spared any Turkish soldier either, when I had the chance to kill them… Now, thinking back, I'm a little sad… Who knows, maybe they had kids too… families… I want to be kinder from now on. Just stop the Turks from raiding us to spare other families the pain I went through…"

"It's a good approach," Salvatore nodded. "Overall, the two main threats to this world's stability, at this moment, are the Spaniards and the Turks. If we tone them down, we have a chance to make this into a nice cozy alternate reality."

"Uhuh…The food is excellent," Ardent said, taking another slice of pizza.

"Wait to taste the desert," Leonardo said. "We have ice cream. Italian ice cream."

"Why don't you bring us some, Leo, since you mentioned it," Salvatore said.

"Hey, I'm not your butler. Why don't you ask the kid–"

"Dude, I don't even know what ice cream is," Ardent protested. "Don't they have waiters here?"

"It's a self-service, haven't you noticed? The cooks can do only so much work. And Mickey unionized them," the Italian whispered the last words. Ardent kept staring. "Fine, I'll bring you some," Growling, Leonardo pushed his hands on the table, getting up.

"Show me your tablet," Salvatore beckoned with his fingers.

"The what?" Ardent asked.

"The device. Smartphone, whatever you want to call it."

"Err… OK?" Ardent said, searching for the item in his shoulder bag. "You want it back?"

"We have plenty, I'll give each of you ten to gift to your friends and allies. If they get classes, that is, normals can't use them. Now, I'll install an app that allows you to see the locations of portals I previously made, and use them."

"I won't be disintegrated or something, right?" Ardent asked sheepishly.

"Not a chance. Learn to use the app, and don't tell the others I gave it to you." Salvatore took the screen and started to press the screen, scrolling through menus and options.

"You don't trust them?" Ardent asked.

"They don't trust you. They already have the app. Keep the phone on you at all times. If you have trouble using it, just speak out your question. And don't forget, it's a spatial storage as well. Ten slots, various dimensions, train to use it, it's important. Adding the trunk, you have quite a bit of space."

"If you say so…" Ardent sighed. Using the smartphone has been quite intuitive, so far, but after hearing Salvatore, he feared it would become more complicated. "What about abilities, any suggestions on what should I take?"

Salvatore made a wry face. "That's not for me to say, do your research. There are thousands. Search them by school, the tablet should help you with that. My only advice is to never buy common or uncommon stuff. Those can be learned naturally."

"Ah, like the skills I got from the start… What happens with APs and Tokens when I'm at max level?"

"Both stop coming and you can't raise your stats anymore. It's not a punishment, it's about—"

"I know, it's about our limits."

"—safety. It stops you from going mad or burning. Fate Points are going on, but their uses will be more limited. We'll continue later, here comes Leo with the ice cream."

"You'll never guess who got a class!" Leonardo announced as he approached.

"Who?" Salvatore asked.

"Just got a message from Raph, he's in Rome," Leo delayed the answer, giving each a cup of ice cream.

"What the fuck!" Salvatore yelled. "He was supposed to babysit Francis!"

"We're talking Raph here. He, I quote," Leonardo said, taking his smartphone from his pocket and reading from the screen. "'Wanted to see how far I can Shadow Jump, and one thing led to another. Since I was here, I checked on a commission I took'—that means a painting—'and bumped into Clement. Guess what? Poor guy was waving his hands in front of his eyes, thinking he was going mad. I stopped to say hi, and one thing led to another—he repeats himself a lot," Leo sighed. "I'll show him the ropes and catch up with Francis later.' End of message."

"We have to go to Rome ASAP," Salvatore said, gobbling his ice cream in a hurry, half-rising from the chair.

"Who's Clement?" Ardent asked, trying to speed up eating the delicious dessert.

"The Pope," Salvatore rolled his eyes, looking heavenward and kneading his fingers in a prayer-like gesture.