Tom decided to test the waters immediately and strode straight to the door. It was time to gain some more information. Nevertheless, he paused for a moment before going through.
There was always a certain excitement, the feeling of the great unknown that was fun to savour. He wondered what the lobby was going to be like. Once he went through the door, would it be to a grandiose castle, a roughhouse adventurer-style pub from the stories, or an idyllic landscape like the place where April sent him to do battle? Despite his extensive experience, he was at a loss at what he was about to see. Guessing the desires and thought patterns of a GODDESS was beyond a mortal. There was even the possibility of a more exotic presentation of the lobby, with every individual person getting a unique, tailored construction.
He bit his lip, then laughing at himself he opened the door and strode through the rippling portal on the other side.
He was teleported instantly. He could feel the change in the ground under his feet, a shift in the ambient noise. He froze and glanced around, slightly perplexed.
The world he found himself in was nothing like what he had expected. The sky was stretching infinitely far above him, and it was the same with the horizons, but what he knew was the habitable area wasn’t what he had been anticipating.
His feet stood upon a cushioning blue dense ground cover made up of lots of little leaves. The air temperature around him was almost perfect. There was slight, but pleasant radiant heat from the sun combining wonderfully with a cooling, but not cold breeze. However, that pleasant environment was just for the area where he stood.
DEUS had clearly chosen a lobby space filled with lots of micro-habitats. Close enough for him to reach out and touch was one of the invisible walls that demarcated the different areas. On his side, it was warm and pleasant. Curiosity got the better of him, and he thrust his hand through the pane of energy that separated him from the hellish winter. His hand felt the swirling snow and the tugging breeze. The temperature stung, and when he drew his fingers back, the snowflakes that were clinging to him melted rapidly. Tom watched the environment carefully. None of the snow or wind had breached the barrier directly. It was a swirling blizzard that was completely accessible, but also absolutely cut off from the temperate environment that he was in.
He wanted to jump through and see what would happen, but he resisted the impulse in order to glance around more curiously. Twenty metres in front of him there were pools of magma that looked hot; unlike the blizzard, this was an environment that would be rapidly deadly as opposed to merely briefly uncomfortable. From where he stood, he could see seven different water domains. Only two were steaming, but at least one pool had large ice blocks in it. Adjacent to the magnum was an area filled with what looked like swirling embers.
It all made a lot of sense: if you drew in people from everywhere, you needed a variety of environments to house them. He finished his little spin, and then focused on what mattered. A short distance away with his feet on the same blue not quite grass was the pot plant from the contender contest. Its vines were currently stretched out to expand it to three times its usual size, and Tom got the impression of a country bumpkin gaping, mouth open, at the sky-scrapers in a modern city. The magic that had allowed him to interpret body language in the contender’s circle was clearly active here as well. Tom couldn’t blame it for its over-the-top reaction. He kind of felt like doing it, too. The environment was spectacular, extraordinarily magical while remaining practical. Most of the specific terrains exited to a large, central paved area with a big boulder in the middle; those that didn’t appeared to have portals that probably served the same purpose.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Excuse me…”
Tom jerked around in surprise at the unexpected voice. A creature had appeared between him and the blizzard. It might have stepped out of the storm, but Tom suspected it had teleported, because there was snow on it or evidence of it having melted off either. The creature was roughly humanoid and seemed to be a golem. While it was sculptured to look like a human, none of its features were quite right. Besides, it was extraordinarily weathered, like a marble statue that had been left outside for a couple of hundred years.
“Um… yes,” Tom answered cautiously.
“I’m your assigned guide.”
There was an abrupt whistle and then a crash as the thing he was talking to exploded. A sticky, wet substance splashed outwards. It splattered everywhere apart from on him, he realised when he checked his clothes. Then he stared at what had done the damage. It, too, was perfectly clean. It was a heavy stone the size of a beach ball that had apparently squished the construct which had been his assigned guide. The fact it was perfectly clean spoke to high-levelled, directed magic. Briefly, Tom searched his surroundings to see if there was anyone noticeably watching him. Then he glanced down in disgust at the liquid that had gone everywhere. His now thoroughly in-operatable guide, despite its appearance, had clearly never been a golem…. Perhaps, it was a magical construct or exotic summon of some type - Tom didn’t have the knowledge to tell.
The stone moved slightly, and Tom tensed up.
The rock opened its eyes. “Apologies for the dramatics. They get a bit icky when cannonballed, but I had to act fast so you wouldn’t be subjected to them. The constructs are dumb and super annoying if you’re forced to interact with them. This way, you’re saved. Now, am I correct in assuming that this is your first time here? You’re a recruit for the child one bucket, right?”
He stared at the creature in shock, momentarily unable to get his brain around the incongruity of the moment.
“Is that right? Are you in the child one bucket? Hey there? Are you listening? Or are you one of those creatures that think really slowly? Do I need to give you more time?”
“No, I’m fine. I was just surprised. Yes, I’m in child bucket one. I’m trying to work out how everything around here works.”
“Great. I once inducted a stone elemental. It was so slow” The rock winked at him. “Let’s go. I have things to show you.”
It hadn’t moved, but Tom staggered as a massive weight landed on his shoulders; then it shifted to his back and proceeded to shove him forward. It was as though multiple bouncers had their thick, meaty hands against his back, pushing. Being rock-handled in a way that he could not resist, he was herded toward the large central area that he had already identified. The rock rolled smoothly next to him, even though it should not have been possible due to its irregular shape.
He was forced out of the blue ground covered area and made to step onto the hard stone floor. The temperature was suddenly perfect, and, given the starting biome had felt tailored for him, he wasn’t sure how this area suited him more.
But somehow, being here felt even better than in his original starting spot.
The stone person groaned in relief. “Much, much better. I don’t know how you exist in somewhere so cold.”
“What did you mean?” Tom looked pointedly at the blue covered ground. “That temperature was near perfect.”
“Oh, I know. People are always shoved into their most suitable biome. But this can be your first lesson. Not everyone likes the environment at the same temperature as you do. This central area is the only exception. This has such magic that everyone experiences their optimal conditions. It’s the place where we can chat with each other without any party suffering. I don’t know why the whole place wasn’t like that, but you know, that’s just GODs being GODs. Just give me a moment. I need to save your fellow inductee.”