Chapter 16

Space Boat

The boat looked large enough for a small yacht but in the style of an old-school sailboat. We boarded the boat and discovered no crew, no electronics, and no runic magic. Yet, once we were all boarded, the sails unfurled on their own. Then, within minutes, we took off for the edge of the world and through the fog. What we saw on the other side blew all of our minds.

We were in some kind of wormhole, clearly traveling at speeds near or greater than the speed of light. The wormhole was translucent, and while we could see a few stars here and there, but not what one would normally see when looking up at the night sky from any other normal world and not the strange artificial worlds that made the Layers.

What made us gasp, however, were the strange creatures that blew past us as we traveled. They seemed wholly alien but swam through the empty void as if it were water. A few were even keeping pace with us as if they sensed a tasty meal, but they couldn't break through the wormhole tunnel.

Sometime later, we began to slow, and then we passed through a barrier of sorts. It was mostly invisible, but in the way that glass was, we could see it, but barely. However, now that we weren't moving so rapidly, we could actually see a second lane, which we assumed was the return lane. The barrier on that side was coated in splatters of blood.

Now we knew why everyone who left on the boat never returned. If you tried, the one-way barrier stopped you permanently.

Shortly after that disturbing experience, we saw another thick fog ahead, and as we passed through, another beach became visible. This one was far fancier than the last since it included a dock, a check-in station, and what appeared to be a bar. We disembarked the boat and immediately felt immense pressure on our bodies. It wasn't like it made any of us struggle much due to our formidable strength and durability, but it was very noticeable. It might even slow us down a bit.

"Harry, where is this pressure coming from?"

"That would be the gravity, dumb, dumb. I estimate it is roughly twenty times stronger than Draotis."

"I know that you know the precise number; why use the term roughly? Don't tell me you're trying to sound more human. A dumb, dumb human?"

He gagged and then stuttered. "Of… of… of… course not, numbskull. I've just been badly infected by your ideocracy. I must purge myself during the next charging cycle," while exiting my arm only to have to fire his jets in a poor attempt to counter the gravity.

At the beginning of the dock, we were greeted by a peculiar creature. It wasn't large, maybe around four feet tall, but it had a stiff trunk-like mouth, three eyes, and a fury head that took up most of its height. Its legs were maybe a foot long at best. I didn't see arms or wings.

"Greetings, um," it looked down, and suddenly a screen appeared in front of it. "Oh, right, Kojin. My name is Gkjccckack, but you may call me Jack. Please step over to our local refreshments and take a load off. I'm sure you've had a long journey to get here." We made our way to the bar and took a seat. We ordered some drinks, but we had no idea what was in them and then turned to Jake to let him continue.

"I am the welcoming guide to the Second Layer for your people. If you look along the beach, you may notice many more docks. These are entry points for six other First Layer worlds for a total of seven. These seven species make up the Asura Coalition. There are three Coalitions on this Layer, each with seven species."

"That is a lot of species. I've never met any other species other than Zeke," Jaxon stated.

Jake, our guide, looked puzzled but continued, "Okay, well, I won't get into each of the species for the other coalitions. I'll just give you this pamphlet." A pamphlet floated over to each of us. "But our species are the Kojin, Zabeen, TotoK, Yasues, Tobnob, which is what I am. Then we have the Elfein, and finally the Aquriarians."

"This is exciting!" VeLana said. "New species to learn about."

"Ha. Just more weaklings to get in our way," Akoth scoffed while crossing his arms and looking away like he was striking a pose. So dramatic. I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway," Jake spoke again, "our territory consists of one major city where everyone works together for commerce and entertainment. Then, we have a dedicated Guild for Hunting and advancing. Outside the city, we have residential areas set up for each specific race since most people prefer to stick to their own kind for living habitats. However, there is one district for those that have crossed mingled."

"That makes sense," I said.

"Right. Well, aside from that, we do have a shared collective set of rules for conduct within the city. Each separate living district may have its own special rules, which are all detailed in your pamphlets, and it would be wise to learn these rules. We do not imprison people here. We just kill them."

That was harsh but made sense. It was similar back on the first Layer, but some cities did have a form of prison. But the entirety of this place has decided it isn't worth trying. I guess that's what happens when so many different types of powers come into play. How do you safeguard against them all?

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"And trust me," Jake continued, "without these rules, we might end up like the Scalian Coalition, which is full of backstabbing and infighting. Hell, they've had more wars with themselves than us. But if you think that's bad, just be glad you didn't arrive in the Terrian Coalition. Those Humans," he shuddered at that, "are downright evil. They subjugated three of their neighbor races, forced two of them into being partners in their crimes, and exiled the one race that is actually good but couldn't be conquered."

What? Humans? I had to ask, "What was the First Layer from which they came?" I so hoped he didn't say Earth. However, I just can't see it. My planet isn't a flat world, despite many foolish claims. Plus, there just couldn't be enough time for them to make it to the Second Layer and then conquer their neighbors. Still, I wasn't one hundred percent positive about how time worked within the Layers.

Jake took a moment to reference his data on his System window screen. "Ah, yes, here it is. They are from a world called Kobol."

No way! I thought. How could that be? Or is it just a coincidence? Imagine that a human made it from Kobol, then blended in with other humans on Earth and told a sci-fi story. Nah, unbelievable. But I am glad it isn't Earth. However, it is disturbing to think that humans, even from another world, would end up doing what my people probably would've done.

"Ah, and how did they conquer their neighbors?" I asked.

"Oh, well, that is simple. Unlike every other species that comes here, which is in small groups like yours, humans travel in mass numbers. They have this thing called a military. Honestly, we don't know much since security is very tight. However, we learn what we can from captive groups we integrate over the thousands of years we've been here. But what we do know is that they have highly trained elites that rival our best Hunters, but then they have thousands of troops that are all incredibly powerful as well. Just for comparison, our seven species combined only has three thousand four hundred and twenty-five, um, nine, now. Their side has tens of thousands. And that is just the humans." Jake looked down in a saddened state.

"I see. That is terrible."

"Yeah, why didn't we do that?" Jaxon asked.

"And drag along more useless people with us? If they aren't strong enough to get over that mountain, they don't belong there," Akoth rebuttaled.

"Anyway," I interrupted, "what can you tell us about the Layers? How many are there? How do you travel to the next one? What amount of Astra does everyone have on average?"

"Oh, um, well, you have a lot to learn," Jake replied. "First of all. Your Layer was vastly different from all the other Layers. Well, maybe not all. But not every species has Astra. Some of us have Mana, or Spirits, or Death Energy. My species uses Psychic Energy. Also, not all species have Skills and Spells. Some use Modulation, Manipulation, or even Kinesis, like my race. But the things we have in common are Blessings and Abilities. However, you'll quickly find that we each have a different name for them. But they do work the exact same. Even the rankings are equivalent.

"Also, as you can see, I have what is called a System. It appears in front of me like this. But you know this System as the World Voice. Others have similar Systems, the World Voice, and even stranger things like Scribes or Fairies. We believe the System translates the best for each kind of species based on their unique physical properties or societal traits."

Woah, that is a tremendous difference from what we knew. Even his System was different than mine. No one else could see what I saw. There was so much information and news about humans really hit home. Since I didn't say anything out loud, my friends didn't mention it either, but they all gave me side glances. I always thought that one day, I might make it home and possibly bring them with me. But the truth is, humans would do everything in their power to capture or kill them. I mean, it would laughably fail, but it wouldn't leave a good impression. But now, they are seeing that I might just be the only exception to the rule.

"I understand you all have many questions, but we have a presentation video for you all to watch, and yes, I know you probably don't know what that is."

"We know what that is," Jaxon replied. Then he activated a video Harry gave him of his favorite movie, Robocop. "Things have changed a bit in our world than the last time you got people from there."

"Oh, I see. Very good then. Come this way," Jake responded and then turned and floated off. He had legs, but now I could see them being too small to really transport such a massively large head. We followed into a theater of sorts and began to watch the history of the Second Layer as well as the differences between the species. I found it fascinating. Akoth fell asleep and started to snore.

Later, we had a tour of the city and were escorted to the Kojin district and handed over to them. To be honest, they felt powerful but not stronger than me. However, that was just the ones on guard. I'm sure we'd find far more powerful people when we check into the Guild tomorrow.

During the presentation, we learned a lot about this new Layer. First of all, there were no intelligent monsters. But the ones that did spawn were vastly more powerful than the First Layer. Also, this Layer was circular in shape with three primary territories for the Coalitions taking of three of the coastlines. A massive mountain range separated us on each side that then stretched inland to form a circle around the very center of the Layer.

There inside the circle, was a lone tower with a hundred levels. The tower was the size of a large city back on Earth, and the gateway to the Third Layer was at the very top. Outside the tower was a large battlefield where each Coalition often clashed. The reason was that the gateway only opened every six years. We had a little over four years till that day now. Every side had sufficient time to train and level to want to cross over, but only one side could enter the gateway. The other sides would be barred from crossing over.

While a major battle usually ensues outside the tower, many from each Coalition do make entry to the tower and get to experience the wonders and horrors as a coalition. Only every ten levels does the level open up to all three coalitions to be combined together, where, naturally, more violent encounters tend to occur. But only one Coalition can win and make the crossing.

And due to the hostility of the other coalitions, no peace has ever been brokered to give turns to cross without bloodshed. Only the strong can move on. I knew this was going to be a repeated theme. Honestly, it had me kind of excited. Although, I wondered how my Coalition would handle learning that I'm a human. And how the humans would handle learning that same truth. I knew for one that I would be no ally of them. I looked down at my Hunter Tracker Kill Count… Humans: 3,137. Yeah, no ally of humans at all.