It is supposed to be night. Let’s see if I can make faces with clouds. No. I lack the artistic talent for that. Or I don’t remember whom I am trying to depict well enough. In theory I could look. I have taken her corpse into my storage space. It seemed more dignified that clearing out a freezer. Simply burying here didn’t seem right either.
In a certain sense I failed. I cannot deny that I have been unable to return to her what made life worth living to her. Was that my fault? I haven’t caused it. But if I had not told her about those people, she would never have been sent on a futile chase.
I have the power. I need to look for a way out.
I take to the air. Something about this has made walking the earth like a peasant repugnant to me.
I soar. Is that what we all should do? Gain the freedom of the sky and see the insignificance of earhly life with our own eyes? Well, perhaps, but not if you can feel your mana and stamina drain, like a shower stall used for the very first time. Can I make an updraft? Yes. Does it help much? No, I am not much of a glider. These insect wings are made for flitting around like a dragonfly on amphetamines.
And rightly so, I am not a peasant to provide power to an activity as mundane as locomotion. I have magical powers. Bock’s Car#3 and a rope solve the issue of propulsion.
I want to go to the edge. It is just awesome to think that reality ends at a literal edge. That turns out to be an exaggeration. It does not abruptly end. It sort of fades out. That results in a negative effect on my ability to fly, which is based on magic, as those wings could not keep me aloft due to the cube/square issue, and also my faithful servant. I get down in one of my less elegant landings. I can live with that. Standing partially in the realm of myth and magic is even better than standing right at an edge. In fact there are shapes even farther away. Something that is invisible to the mundane aspect of my vision, yet leaves traces on the magical part. Frankly, I am not ready to go much closer to the end of the universe. Preserving the didnity of the ruler of the realm is not identical to reckless action. If the basic magic that my metabolism is running on now fails, I’ll probably not survive.
I have to admit the I literally stumbled over the essence. Are you ready to tell me that you would have not let being able to watch the fabric of the multiverse distract you? Being made aware of an opportunity to reward my faithful vassals, I walk slower to observe my immediate surroundings to not overlook more treasure. There is a nice harvest to be had in the borderlands of reality.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
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I have walked a bit. The edge of the next territory is a sharp line. I dimly see drifts of snow on a ground broken up into slabs, as if mud had dried. Putting my hand against the barrier I can feel the ability to make a claim to it. But I am not going to do at so far out that my abilities don’t work. This means tracking further inland.
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I am flying over an icy land. Can I find other people? I feel an obligation towards the less fortunate. I would need to extend refuge in my realm to them. Or are those anomalies?
I gigantic furry shape explodes upwards from the ground to swallow Bock’s Car#3. Only the length of the rope saves me from an undignified end as fodder to an entity looking liked a horned snow-white badger. It having given up stealth to strike I find myself confronted with a silver rank aura. If this thing can fly, I will die. A quick teleport makes sure that even a silver rank leap is not high enough to catch me. What now? I cannot fight a silver rank entity. There is no shame in admitting that. I fly back towards the border. I would like to just overfly it, but that carries a risk I cannot allow myself to suffer. My person is a guarantee of the safety of the people that depend on me. I cannot fly all the way back to the border without rest. I am far less efficient in flight than my servant who has met a valorous demise in the maw of that dastardly horned giant ice badger. I will need to rest and I have no idea whether the land ahead would allow me to land.
The anomaly can run as fast as I can fly, even while I am adding the occasional teleport to my advance. That is a problem. That is a most serious problem. Fighting this thing is out of the question. I am safe for now, but I will be forced into a hopeless fight within a few minutes. I change course to outward. If I can neither run nor fight, the time for scaring my enemy has come.
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Yes, that does work. It has become slower. Unfortunately my teleport ability very clearly has already stopped working. I absolutely can feel that. Hence my speed disadvantage has worsened. I take out the grenades and throw one at that thing. It is stupid enough to snatch it out of the air. That produces a giant belch.
There is one last hill to crest. I go into a dive. I need to get to the other side before it gets there. My teleport is unavailable, so flight it is. I make it. The anomality leaps. [Eternal Moment] lets me jink. It is horrible to see something slowly, but visibly move under that power. The environment does the job. The anomaly is on a ballistic path to a land beyond the bounds of reality. I remember to trigger my looting ability. Nice. Time to return to base. Defending your people is the noblest of pursuits.