T his magic... Is he from an Imperial System?
Niarrah thought about that possibility, staring into the blue fire blazing in the monster’s eyes. Instant summons were only possible by using artifacts, and she knew for sure that no such artifact could be found in the Royal dungeons.
From ancient times, all servers were classified as either Royal, Imperial, or Divine. A system included a number of same-type servers connected via a network of teleports.
Each server had only one teleport that could be used to travel to other servers that looked like a giant arch made of unknown, stone-like material, and absorbed a crazy amount of mental energy. Known as the Great Gates, they differed from ordinary teleports not only in covering distances of hundreds of millions of parsecs in a matter of minutes, but also in having been constructed by the Admins themselves.
Just as the Great Gates were used by players to travel between servers, the System Gates allowed travel between systems.
But even despite the teleportation network looking so simple and convenient, a journey from a Royal System to an Imperial one was near impossible because of the tremendous amount of energy required to open the Gate. That was why even the same-class systems were virtually isolated from each other.
“So, will we discuss a plan, or do you need more proof?”
The indifferent voice of her opponent jerked Niarrah back to reality. Clenching her teeth, she shook her head.
Although she’d never admit it, the stranger’s power intimidated her. But that wasn’t the only reason for her backing down. If she crossed him, someone so powerful, he could kill not only her but also her family.
The corners of Raven’s lips twitched as he patted Kharses’s bony head. The girl seemed startled, but he couldn’t tell for sure what had frightened her the most. Was it his pet, the ease with which he had summoned it, or just the suddenness of the whole thing?
It didn’t matter. He had achieved the desired effect.
“Good.” Nodding, he dismissed Kharses. But before telling her the plan, he asked: “May I know what server you play on?”
“I don’t think you’ve ever heard of it,” she evaded, probably to keep herself and her family safe from him. “Why do you need me, anyway? I doubt that someone like you can’t kill a Tortoise without help.”
Raven frowned at her dodging the question. He had assumed that she’d do it, but he was still annoyed that she did. He’d have to try asking her again later.
“Maybe you’re right. But things happen. It might be too strong for me or I may not be able to find it. If we split up and look for it, we can find it much faster and I’ll be on my way. Since we won’t be attacking each other, we can focus on the Tortoise.”
Niarrah listened, blade still at the ready, pondering over why anyone would give up a reward that valuable. Coming up with no plausible explanation, she decided to keep her guard up. Even if he was much stronger, she’d be damned if she made herself easy prey.
She nodded.
“Okay, let’s assume that what you’re saying is correct. How will we let each other know if we find the Tortoise?”
“I thought about it... Give me a moment.”
He was thinking about giving her the Calliota Beads. However, before using them, he had to know how large the new map was. Jumping up, he activated the Second Form of Wings and soared over the glade.
Having taken a good look at his surroundings, he sighed, disappointed.
Why did I think it’d be otherwise?
The forest stretched as far as the eye could see, which meant that the Beads wouldn’t be particularly useful. Still, he gave the girl one pair once he came down and explained to her how to use them.
Surprisingly, she didn’t seem amazed by his Wings. Little did Raven know that Niarrah had seen many flying non-magical creatures before.
“Found anything?”
“Not yet.” After a pause, he looked up at her and muttered: “I’d better try it.”
Saying that, he sent her a friend request — and sighed with disappointment.
You cannot create a party.
No connection.
“Of-fucking-course.”
Niarrah, who was getting tired of waiting — and not particularly happy about the stranger being near her — offered him another solution.
“How about we just go our separate ways?”
“I’ve thought about it. But what if the monster is too strong?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. All we’re doing now is wasting time.”
“Fine.” He could see no other viable solution. No signal flares or long-range spells he could use. “Then I’ll go this way.”
He walked off to the right of the altar and soon disappeared among the trees.
Niarrah stood silent for several minutes. Then she took out the Beads and threw them away before heading off in the opposite direction. According to the stranger, the communication artifact could be useful but, having no Identification to make sure, she’d rather not take his word for it. For all she knew, he could use it to spy on her.
Shortly after, Raven, unsuspecting of how little he was trusted, faced a more serious problem. Trying to use Leap, he got a system message.
You cannot use skills operating on the principles you do not understand outside the Cradle.
He frowned at the familiar word, wondering what meaning it could have in this context.
Outside the Cradle. Could the Cradle stand for Earth? But I used Wings without problem...
And then he remembered the hard process of obtaining Wings and learning how to use them. He definitely knew how they worked. Still, the realization that he couldn’t say the same about most of his other skills was depressing.
Leap isn’t just a dash forward. It must operate on principles of fucking space magic or something... How the fuck am I supposed to understand what never existed in my world?
He looked down at his feet. Did that mean that all his knowledge and skills were now useless? Upon learning the truth about Ascension, he used to hope that this game was his chance for survival in the future, but now this belief was shaken.
But Wings are magic, too! Then why...? Wait. Could it be not about the magic energy but about the physical principles the skills use?
Leaving this problem to his future self, he focused on his current task. Although many of his skills were now unavailable, he still had his dagger, his sword, his scrolls, and Kharses. He’d figure something out.