Many worlds existed in my local multiverse, a vast number of them being important and impactful.
A much larger number being meaningless and nameless, like this one.
Periodically, if I deem the state of the Cardinal world's peace to be stable, I go on long trips to these inconsequential worlds.
It's become a habit at this point.
Most of the time, the worlds were a miss. Nothing particularly interesting about them.
Some didn't even have intelligent life, which was usually a bummer…
But once in a while, I came across ones like this one. Rich culture and just the right amount of conflict to soothe my thrill seeking soul.
Not to mention the people. Interesting environments give rise to interesting people.
One such example was the boy I was watching, Kellen, who had just bluffed himself to victory in a mage's duel.
The way the thing played out was quite amusing.
His opponent was a talented kid who enjoyed utilizing the Iron magic of the Jan'Tep.
Iron was an element that had no visible or audible effects, it was the equivalent of imposing your will upon something, most effectively, the human body.
Your self image was very very important when casting Iron magic. The boy, Tennat, used this to his advantage unknowingly.
I'm sure it was the reason he had won against the bandaged boy, Panahsi, despite being less talented.
Kellen was aware of this, and used it to his advantage.
Tennat had used a standard iron spell called the Gut sword, which isn't really a sword…much more sinister, actually. This spell allowed you to twist an opponent's internal organs, using it required the caster to shield his own organs at the same time to avoid a backlash.
Kellen endured this attack with a confident smile on his face. His fingers were held up in the shapes needed to cast the same sword and shield spell Tennat was using.
Tennat grew confused at his opponent's apparent unconcern, he then squeezed harder with his own shield spell in his moment of self doubt.
The match had gone on for almost three minutes before Tennat had screamed out his desire to yield. His own shield spell had almost compressed his internal organs into mush.
"I don't know a lick about Jan'Tep magic but even I can see this kid got balls on him." My unplanned companion, an apparently Daroman woman named Ferius Parfax, commented as if she saw through Kellen's little ruse.
"What are you talking about?" I feigned ignorance.
"Do I look like that much of an idiot?" She clicked her tongue.
Seems like she saw through me…haha…
I ignored her and watched as Kellen basked in the disbelief of his fellow initiates, surely he was feeling on top of the world right now.
But it seems the little ball of blond hair and talent he had for a sister wouldn't let it last.
"Kellen cheated." She interrupted the old man who had just finished declaring Kellen the winner.
"Young lady, I can tolerate you being here because of your father but I will not let you interru-" The old man attempted to nip the problem in the bud, probably out of some sense of pity for the poor kid.
But he couldn't stand up to the heat of the girls pride.
"He obviously cheated! Kellen, I knew you would pull some trick like this." She shouted before reprimanding her brother.
I straightened my back and stretched my limbs as the fiasco in the distance continued.
"Nasty little girl, that one." Ferius commented.
"Shalla, I was there. I felt your brother's will inside me." Tennat placed his hand on her shoulder and tried to pacify her.
"Oh shut up. Kellen didn't cast any spells, he managed to turn yours back on you because you're an idiot." She insulted the boy without hesitation.
"Shalla, please leave." Kellen begged his sister.
"But I'm not lying am I?" She challenged.
Kellen was out of options, his eyes wandered the Oasis as if searching for someone to help him.
His guilt couldn't be more obvious..
"Look, it's not that hard. You just haven't tried hard enough." The girl continued.
She's one of those types huh…
People like her are fairly common, they believe that if anyone fails, it's their fault and their fault alone.
'You just didn't study enough.'
'You're lazy, that's why.'
They tended to be self absorbed, selfish people.
But I could see the love she had for her brother, she just had a twisted way of showing it.
Shalla stepped in front of Kellen…and immediately cast the Gut sword on him.
Nobody moved as the boy collapsed in pain, his sister's voice yelling at him to 'push through it'
My senses told me that only a few seconds would pass before his heart stopped.
"He's gonna die." Ferius said, her tone dark.
"Nah, he won't." I adjusted my clothes, albeit it was unnecessary.
"How do you kn….." I couldn't catch her full sentence as I was already out of earshot.
Gasps echoed around the Oasis as all the initiates couldn't digest what they were seeing.
I had appeared in front of Shalla, directly blocking the line of sight required to cast the Gut sword.
"Why don't you calm down kid?" I said to her dismissively as I inspected Kellen, who had curled up in pain, tears flowing from his eyes.
"Wait - what!? Who are you?!" She was startled by my sudden presence, and I could see her face twist as the shock morphed into anger.
"Just calm down, can't you see you're about to kill him?" I was getting a bit agitated, why were kids this mean these days?
I touched Kellen's forehead with my index and middle finger, trying to ease his pain by soothing his mind.
"Get your hands away from him!" Shalla seemed to have interpreted my actions as malicious, how ironic.
"Stranger, I appreciate your help but it is not your place to interfere in matters of the Jan'Tep." The old man, Osia'Phest, had finally snapped out of the daze he'd fallen into.
I ignored them both, retracting my fingers as Kellen's breathing evened out.
"Can you stand?" I asked him.
"I said stay away from him." Shalla challenged me again, her voice imbued with magic.
Kellen struggled on the ground for a few seconds before he wobbled to his feet.
"Of course I can stand, I've been doing it for fifteen years." He joked, trying to cover up his embarrassment.
"Nice joke kid." I smiled, still ignoring the girl about to go ballistic behind me.
"Hoh." I muttered instinctively as I felt her will try to invade me.
"What…?" I turned to see a look of incredulity plastered onto her. Her fingers were in the position to cast the Gut sword.
Why does everyone like this spell…?
"You're using magic against me?" I tilted my head in a show of curiosity.
"Wha…how? You don't have a shield spell…you're not even Jan'Tep." The idea of her spell failing was so outlandish that she froze when it actually happened.
"Who are you?" Kellen asked from behind me, he was probably in as much shock as his sister.
Osia'Phest made no move, his expression was stiff but hopeful. As if he already had a way to end this whole problem.
"What is going on here?" A thick voice asked from behind the wall of initiates gaping at the scene.
The Jan'Tep teenagers parted like water, making way for the man who spoke.
He didn't have a huge build, just like most Jan'Tep men, his black hair shifted slightly under the influence of the breeze.
I looked around to see everyone had stopped moving.
'Well, mostly everyone….' My eyes caught Ferius Parfax leisurely approaching Kellen from behind.
That woman is pretty carefree huh.
"You. State your name and your reasons for why you considered it a good idea to intrude on the affairs of the Jan'Tep." He nodded at me, not even bothering to introduce himself first.
In that case, I'm not gonna make things easy for you.
.
.
My body felt heavy and painful, just what one would expect when my heart almost stopped.
I was barely standing right now, and would have liked very much to just collapse to the ground then and there, but my pride kept me standing.
I had already shamed myself by being outed as a cheater, I can't be shamed further by passing out here.
Especially not when my father had arrived at the scene.
Ke'heops, head of the house of Ke was one of the most feared and respected mages among the ranks of the Lords Magi, a rank only reached by sparking all your bands and significant contribution to the Jan'Tep's wellbeing.
Everywhere he went within this town, he was afforded respect, it was the normal thing to do.
That was why it was so shocking when the mysterious stranger gave such a reply.
"I refuse." He said, I felt like he was a man at this point.
My father arched an eyebrow, surprised by the blatant refusal to cooperate.
If Ke'heops was in a certain place, he commanded all the attention and the awe, it was a recurring phenomena. But today, his spotlight seemed to have been sliced in half. The blue haired man seemed to have a similar aura of power, no...it seemed even greater.
"What more do I expect from an outsider? You have proven what you are worth." My father said with no visible emotion on his face.
"Oh please. You haven't stated your own name yet you ask for mine? I wonder who's the rude one here." The person waved his hand dismissively, his tone was nonchalant, mocking.
I looked around at my fellow initiates who couldn't wrap their heads around what was happening. It was too outlandish.
Shalla was gritting her teeth, it was the first time someone had so blatantly challenged a man she put on a pedestal.
It was like watching two leaders engage in a staring contest, the air felt charged as my father scrutinized the effeminate man.
"Very well. My name is Ke'heops, head of the house of Ke, Lord magus of the Jan'Tep." For the first time in my life, I witnessed my father give in to another person who wasn't my mother.
"Not so hard was it? Very well, my name is Rimuru Tempest, head of the house of Tempest and uh…"
It was obvious to anyone that this person, Rimuru, wasn't taking any of this seriously.
"That's enough. We have gotten that out of the way, state your purpose." My father seemed to be getting annoyed, annoyed enough to show signs so openly.
"Well, the blonde over there thought it was a good idea to murder this little bundle of sarcasm and cunning and in my infinite benevolence, I stopped her." He nodded towards Shalla as he ruffled my hair with his hands.
I found this very embarrassing but couldn't muster up the energy to shake him off, all of said energy being used to keep myself from eating Oasis sand.
My father's eyes narrowed at me, then at Shalla in displeasure.
"Your concern is appreciated, but it would be appropriate for you to leave the matters of the Jan'Tep to the Jan'Tep from now on." My father attempted to end the conversation right there, I could see the clench in his jaw that signified he was by no means happy with the spectacle his children had caused.
"Maybe when you guys get good enough at handling your own matters, I will." Rimuru's voice grew heavy and serious, his eyes were fixed on me, a familiar emotion present within them.
"Don't look at me like that.." I whispered under my breath.
"What was that?" Rimuru asked.
I inhaled sharply before looking him in the eyes.
"Don't look at me with those eyes, it's displeasing." I spat out with all my energy.
He seemed to realize what I meant and looked back at my father who was still contemplating on how to respond to Rimuru's slight against the entirety of our people.
I looked at the ground as the world faded around me, the noises blended into each other and became a single mass of cacophonous stimuli.
I felt my eyes dampen as tears threatened to spill out of them.
'There it was again….that look..I didn't ask for this, it's not my fault I suck at magic. I hate it when people look at me with pity, it's like an affirmation of my failure, like everyone had already accepted the fact that I would never wield the high magics.'
I pushed back at the tears, determined not to cry in the presence of strangers and my friends.
"Feisty kid." An unfamiliar voice said behind me, I slowly turned to it's source to meet a red haired woman in a frontiersman hat smirking at me.
"Who are yo…" I tried to speak but my voice faded as I felt my body finally give in to the exhaustion and physical damage I had suffered.
"Typical Jan'Tep." I heard her mutter as she caught me mid fall. And from then onwards, it was all black.
.
.
"How did I even get here….?" I muttered aloud, still confused about the sequence of events.
The Kellen kid had passed out in Ferius' arms, his father had taken him from her before marching off in anger.
I had tried to follow but was stopped by what I recognised as a palace guard.
It appeared I'd been summoned by the Jan'Tep clan prince, their equivalent of a monarch.
I found this very interesting, considering the Jan'Tep are self absorbed people who never took interest in those outside of their little magical society.
There was also the fact that I had been here for only a day, and caused a commotion only an hour ago.
All this hinted at one thing.
The door slid open, letting in a man who was obviously too old to be alive.
I inspected the frail but alert man closely.
"Is life that precious to you that you hang onto it so closely." I said as the man settled down into the seat opposite me. His body and soul were firmly tied down to the mortal plane with layer upon layer of different spells. All of his bodily functions were facilitated by magic.
"Hmph. A being like you wouldn't understand." He snorted.
I could feel my face stretching as a smile appeared on it.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked coyly.
"I sensed it the moment you stepped foot in here. You're not normal, and I won't waste my time pretending you are." His voice was raspy and coarse, very unpleasant to listen to.
"So? Now that you've pointed that out, what are you going to do?" I leaned my face on my propped up hand.
The old man sighed.
"If all things went as I wanted, this town would be mourning me right now and deliberating over who would take my place."
How interesting…
"And what's stopping you? Go on, die." I prompted him to state his intentions, albeit a little more confrontational than necessary.
"Isn't it obvious? At the same time an Argosi wanderer appears, an anomaly like you shows up. These are ominous signs."
My interest was piqued.
"Argosi wanderer?" I hadn't heard about these people.
"Meddlesome people who go around the world painting cards. They believe that they can chart the future course of history by making cards out of people who seem important."
Are these people just glorified gamblers?
"I don't get it, painting cards?" What was the point of doing something so time consuming?
"That's irrelevant, the main issue remains. Where there's an Argosi, there's trouble."
I think the old man doesn't like gamblers..
I chuckled at my own joke, making the old man raise an eyebrow.
"I'm assuming the Argosi is that Ferius woman, right?" I composed myself, not wanting the old man to accidentally die of annoyance.
"Indeed. That being said, it's time to get to the real reason of why I summoned you here. What are you? And what are your plans for my people?" The lights around me flickered suspiciously, the wind picked up and I could feel the air heat up.
"Your intimidation is useless, so I'd stop if I were you." I summoned a juice box from my imaginary space, taking a sip out of it.
His eyes widened in awe at my little display of spatial manipulation.
"My apologies."
"To answer your question, I am not your enemy. Well, it depends actually. If your people turn out to be even more rotten than they appear on the surface, I just might wipe them out."
I dismissed the now empty juice box, then straightened my back.
The clan prince's eyes met mine, and I could see he was firmly in the grasp of fear.
But he calmed down soon after.
"I see now. You must be some kind of enforcer sent by the heavens to punish us for our sins, it's about time."
Uh….I'm really just on vacation though…but sure man. It's not like I didn't get where he got that impression from.
He stood up and turned, making his way out of the room.
"Your very existence is ominous, terrifyingly so. But with what you are, I'm sure you shall soon come in contact with much darker things. Be careful and don't be swallowed. I'll be leaving now, my life has gone on too long to be worrying about the true living." Leaving behind scary sounding words, he left me alone in the room.
Moments later, I felt his soul dissipate into nothingness.
Darker things?
What a joke.
My eyes glowed as I observed what lay just beyond this world's material plane.
Shadows writhed in front of me, it was a realm filled with darkness and evil. It also contained a vast amount of information. There were numerous points at which the darkness bled into the material world, one being in this town itself.
I could feel it reach out to me, as if aware that I was observing it.
I waved my hand and deleted the tendrils that had managed to grab hold of me.
"Yeah right, we'll see about that."
.
.