《Speechless》 1 Nothing makes sense The older woman at the information desk, Darlene, directed me to the english language section. I was looking for material for a paper on the influence of the English language on the development of other languages throuought history. The relevant material was in a separate room. Clever architecture, each major section had it''s own room and central reading/study space for optimal sound isolation. It''s what I liked so much about this particular library. I opened the door, a standard wooden frame with a large glass window in the middle. The door was more glass than wood really. This just added greater confusion when the area I stepped into was not at all the room I so clearly saw on the other side of the glass. I tried to exit out of reflex, but there was no more door. The second thing I noticed was the smell. I was most definitely in a restroom of some sort a very dirty one. This was extremely dissorienting. It took me a few seconds to look around an assess the situation. The room was all hardwood. There were a few stalls, and none of the stalls had doors. The toilets were large holes lined with some type of glazed stoneware or ceramic. These were definitely primitive forms of the classic squat roilet one might find in Japan, Peru, or Turkey. The sink was a large trough with several taps for water. Each seemed to use a simple lever for on and off. This was all very strange. "What the hell?" I attempted to say. No words came out, at least not any that sounded like what a sound should sound like. Instead the air seemed to vibrate silently with the words as if trying to comprehend them and give an answer. Then my suspicions were confirmed when an actual answer was given. I was not ready. So in order, there was indeed a Hell, this was not it, this was a restroom in the public square of a town called Uluunquetin in the province of Farahatnan under rule of the empire of Viti. This was not earth, neither was it in the same directional flow of time-space. I had done the impossible. "Holy shit.". . . I should have known better. . . It was exactly what I ''said''. It felt amazing. I had never felt such pleasure in my entire life. Once it was over, I noticed tears of ecstatic joy pouring down my face. I didn''t care that the noises I made were extremely undignified. Nothing else mattered in the light of what I just experienced. It no longer mattered that I was in this crazy and unrealistic situation. The only thing that mattered is that I had just experienced a true holy shit. I only wish two things could have been different in that moment: that I would have been squated over one of the holes instead of standing fully clothed, and that someone hadn''t walked in the second legs gave out and I collapsed to my knees out of overwhealming joy and gratefulness. "Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!" The woman screamed and then collapsed. I didn''t even need to guess why. It was the smell. The divine excrement that I was siting in had the most overpoweringly glorious fragrance I had ever encountered. Surely mortals were not made to experience this. It was intoxicating to the senses. This was nothing like a turd should be. It defied all logic. The odor was so overpowering that it was actually removing the stench from the restroom and superimposing itself. The air was becoming cleaner. Everything felt magical and surreal. The woman''s eyes eventually rolled back into her skull, and she fainted. I on the other hand felt myself begining to feel a transformation.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. This thing had just passed through my intestines and my body had absorbed some of whatever divine essence this thing contained. I was also sitting in it with full skin contact. I was never one to take hard drugs, but I enjoyed the occasional whiskey or cigar. Mind altering effects were not a foreign concept to me, but I was tripping so hard that I could not even imagine any amount of earth drugs could approach what I was experiencing. I could fill my blood veins with pure THC and ecstasy and still not come close to what this was doing to me. My senses were expanding. My mind was sharpening. My body was being invigorated. I felt powerful and energized like never before. I felt limitless. Surely this must be what it feels like to be a god. I don''t know how long I sat there, but eventually whatever was happening to me finished happening. I got up and ''spoke'' with arrogant confidence this time. I couldn''t help but feel confident. It almost felt like an obligation. I was limitless! I was a god! "CLEAN!" the word that was not a word shook my surroundings while keeping things perfectly still, and there was no time taken to decipher the word. In that very moment I and everything remotely within the sound of my voice became pristine according to my understanding of the word. Then everything went black. It was a lesson in pride that I will never forget.
Elsewhere. "Yeah, I was just taking a dump and I promise you it was the strangest feeling. My turd dissapeared inside my bowels without ever exiting my butthole! Somebody stole my poop! Who the heck would steal a poop? What kind of pervert would even think to do such a thing? It''s the most irresponsible and frivolous use of magic I could even imagine! Poop stealing! What have we come to that the new generation of holy beings is resorting to stealing poop from others'' bowels? This isn''t right!" Said Yoche to his brother. He was very worried about what this might mean that there was such a deviant among the divine beings. Just the thought made his tail curl.
Earth Soon Emil would be declared missing. After several years and not the slightest hint as to whatmay have happened to him, he was declared dead. The library in question became a place of great suspicion and even superstition from that day forward.
Uluunquetin, public women''s restroom Avita recovered first. She immediately noticed that all her senses were sharper and clearer. It was especially so with her sense of smell, but there was a significant improvement in all her sensory abilities. It helped her notice that the formerly dirty restroom was now pristine, and so was she, so was everything. She did not even hear the sound of insects. It was bizarre. She saw the cause of the craziness unconcious in front of her. He looked different than she remembered when she first opened the door and was assulted by that overpowering fragrance. He was much better looking, definitely the most attractive human being she had ever seen. His skin and hair were perfect. She examined him almost like one would examine a horse or hunting dog with little restraint. As a guard, inspections were common for her, and her curiosity was abounding. His teeth were perfect, truly perfect. His body even had a mild fragrance that was really rather wonderful, so wonderful that she wondered if she could bottle it. This was a truly strange man. In keeping with her duty, she carried him out and toward the guard station for questioning. Outside, there were a multitude of people unconcious and on the ground. The mystical fragrance must have gotten them when she opened the door. She would make sure to report all of this and get her fellow guards down here. The young man was oddly easy to cary. Normally she would have definitely worked up a sweat carrying such a weight this distance, but she felt she could do that again before even breathing heavily. Something was different. She got the feeling a lot would be different after today. 2 What does this mean? I would wake up in the guard station after having water splashed in my face. The first thing on my mind was my hunger and desire to sleep. I was seated on a chair with a woman and man in front of me. They began speaking in a language I had no ability to comprehend. It didn''t even sound familiar. I realized a few things with my newly enhanced mind. I could do magic simply by speaking it. In fact, that was all I could do. My words no longer worked as a means of communication between people. I could comunicate only with fundamental nature of the world. This had to change, and I knew how to change it. I also knew that I had limits. I learned that lesson well. But I felt like I had enough energy for something basic. I remember feeling most drained when the universe was interpreting my vague communication, so I would try being as precise as possible, hopefully my idea would work and this wouldn''t be a case of more words equalling more cost. If I was wrong, I would try to think of some other method of efficiency. "I am to gain in the instant this sentence is complete full and permanent skill and understanding in using the writen and spoken languages of this world such that I might be able to communicate well with the inhabitants of this world who use spoken and written language." I thought it out as well as seemed appropriate and hoped for the best. In the instant I was done, it was exactly as I said. This confirmed a few things. First is that precision was in fact significantly more efficient. Now that I new what the drain felt like, I could be certain that I felt almost no drain at all after that meticulously crafted sentence. Second is that I was definitely not on Earth or even an alternate version of my same planet. With the "full" knowledge of the languages came the knowledge of the origins of each language. Worthy of note is that several of the languages are not human, some are not even possible to use with human vocal chords. Yes, in that moment my vocal chords were altered. I could now make just about any sound I could imagine. I could even harmonize with myself. This was becoming a stranger experience every passing moment. Ah, what of the two guards? Well, they stared at me speechless and wide eyed. I had clearly done something shocking. "What is so shocking?" I asked as innocently as I could. There was no reply. This was trouble. I was breaking too many social rules without realizing. I needed to restart and better assess my situation. I also needed to make sure I could safely get out of this. This language magic isn''t exactly instant. "Sleep for one minute" I said as quickly as I could. And with two thumps they collapsed. I acted quickly. "You both and everyone in this universe who has seen me, heard me, or gained any knowledge of my existence will forget my existence completely at the end of this sentence. I am to be safely, comfortably, and instantly transported by the end of this sentence to the nearest safe, private, and comfortably habitable location where I won''t be discovered." And this is how I ended up roughly 1km underground in the great underground fortress city of the ancient race of Halagan, the ancestors of the the many humanoid races that inhabit this world.
I looked around to find myself in a room entirely made of smooth stone. I could see because there was some very very dim near-ultraviolet and near-infrared light coming from alternating strips in the ceiling. I had never seen lighting like this. It looked painted on to the ceiling or like the stone itself was glowing. I took a moment to just appreciate my location. I seemed to be in a luxurious bedroom. I went over to the perfectly made bed and sat on it. It was dusty. It was also amazingly soft and comfortable. This was the most perfect bed I had ever sat upon. I immediately laid down and did a little magic. It was really amazing to me that all this was even happening. I definitely thought more than a few times that this was all some crazy dream or that I had gone insane or any number of things. But I also knew that none of those trains of thought were useful to me. They didn''t lead to any reasonable course of action because they only worked under the assumption that I was nomlonger capable of proper reason. So I would assume all this is real because it was my only real option. "This room shal be cleaned as well as possible while only taking up to half of my capacity before the point at which I would be too tired to remain awake." I didn''t yet know well enough what kind of other worldly germs might exist to be specific enough. So general statements were definitely the way to go here, but I also didn''t want to affect more than just this room or drain myself too much.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. To my delight, that worked rather well. The bed was now the most comfortable and cleanest bed I had ever used. This was amazing. Before moving on, I decided to enact a bit of ensurance while also experementing with the way I worded things. I would begin by acting like I was speaking to an inteligent being, and that being was the one performing the magic. The fact I could get answers to quesrions made this seem appropriate. "Cause my body to be completely immune to all types of harm and violation." Other than a significant amount of energy being drained, there was nothing noticable that happened. I fell asleep quickly after that.
I would wake up some time later completely starving and extremely thirsty. Like an idiot, I let my curiosity and excitement get ahead of me. "Let there be set on a normal sized plate on the floor a foot away from this bed food that is both delicious to my taste and optimally nutritious to my body, and a couple inches away from the plate let there be a 40oz, upright, glass bottle filled with pure water." While small, the drain of energy was still painful to endure in my condition. I would soon see about fixing that. The food that appeared was beyond description. Apparently "optimally nutritious" was taken much more seriously than I ever imagined. But I get ahead of myself. It was a small leaf, yes, a small leaf, probably the most perfect leaf to ever exist. I did not recognize the shape, and the colour was almost impossible to properly tell in this strange lighting, but it was crystaline. That eas clear. The leaf was mildly transparent and seemed to swirl internally. It had no fragrance. It was soft and smooth to the touch. It was rather unassuming considering what this strange world might have come up with to give me. I first drank the water. At least I knew what to expect with that. Then I decided to trust my wording and eat the leaf. I was too hungry to just leave it there. Delicious was such an understatement. It eas practically an insult. No words could describe this. It was perfect in every way I never knew I wanted. For an unknown amount of time, I was lost in the flavour. It could have been days or seconds. I didn''t care. That flavour overpowered every thought in my mind. This was a perfect moment. At some point I did regain a sense of myself and realised that I felt even better than I did after the toilet incident the other day. I felt truly at peace. I had to know. "What did I just eat?" And then came the shock of the answer. I had eaten the very first leaf sprouted from a seed of a tree of divine life. With further questioning about this particular tree, I found that every leaf of this tree is great for food and especially the fruit, but the very first leaf is something special that helps the seed absorb cosmic and primal energies from the universe as efficiently and quickly as possible in it''s initial growth stages. If the leaf is removed, the tree dies before it ever has a chance. On the plus side, my body would now absorb these universal energies just like this crazy tree. I would likely never grow tired from magic again. . . It was a bit overwhealming. With all this, I was honestly scared of the power I had. Magic shouldn''t be this powerful. This is broken, completely broken. "What is this language?" I should have expected it. All the signs were there. In this reality modern, standard English was the programing language of the universe. Why did the universe have such a thing? That should be obvious. I was inside a virtual reality program so advanced that it was an actual universe. I wasn''t using magic. I was communicating with the infinitely intelligent operating system for the universe in it''s native language. The being that could create such a thing would have to be both powerful and intelligent beyond my ability to ever comprehend. It''s probably some 5th or 6th dimensional being, and this entire universe is the equivalent of Nario 64 to it. I wasn''t really ready to face the world after learning all this, so I went back to sleep on the nice bed and triedto forget what my life had become. 3 Adjusting I spent an unknown amount of time in that room. Just learning and coming to accept what I learned. I learned the names and characteristics of every sapient species on the planet: Human, Svartalf, Fae, Elgar, Choy, Duhein, Intar, and the Lonkotnok. Humans are as one might imagine, human. Svartalf are a short race of very dark skinned elf-like people. They live in cave systems of their own design. They are like humanoid ants and even have a queen-centric social structure. They are some of the nest craftsmen in existence. Their technical expertise is second to none. Fae are also something one might expect. They are basically elves, prettier, taller, faster, stronger, and ageless versions of humanity. Their only faults are the extremely low fertility and their tendency toward emotional detachment from reality. They are the greatest storytellers and artists around. Despite misconceptions here and there, they are not immortal. They simply have very long life spans and do not show signs of ageing after reaching their peak adult condition around the age of 25. Elgar are humans on steroids, kind of like orcs from videogames or whatever. They are larger, stronger, more aggressive humans. They tend toward slightly diminished inteligence, but their sheer physical might makes up for it. They have a pretty healthy society with simple rules of might makes right, and they all seem to respect that simple dynamic. Choy are where things get interesting. They are dragonoids. They are people with scales, claws, fangs, a tail, and functional wings. They even have horns and can spit a volatile chemical mixture from their mouths due to special glands in their neck in to create a fiery burst that reaches a temperature of 300 C. They are the most magically capable of the various races, but suffer from even greater infertility than the Fae. Other than that they seemed to me to be the obviously most superior race. I wanted to meet one. Yes, magic. That was an interesting discovery. What I was using was not magic. I was doing something far more potent. I was speaking to the fundamental substance of the universe. Magic in this world was oddly simple and generic. It was heavily systematized, but still pretty basic. There is a form of primal enery that exists everywhere and can be harnessed by either having a natural talent, by consuming a special awakening elixir, by a magic ritual performed by other magicians, etc. Turns out that when I ate that amazing leaf, I unlocked my own ability to perform magic. Not only did I unlock it, but I was now probably the most magically talented person alive. . . Yup. That was a lot to take in. I was learning a lot and learning it very quickly. Moving on. . . Duhein are where things became strange. I didn''t think there would be non-humanoid sapients. Duhein are giant, amphibious squids. It was the best description I could manage. The overall shape was quite different, but the concept was the same. They could even camoflauge like an octopus. The Duhein are the rulers of the deep and pretty much monopolize the fishing business. They are extremely industrious as a species. Somehow they are all just good at doing business. Their society is the most economically powerful of any species on the planet. Intar are really big. They are six legged and almost elephant-like. They are like longer wooly mamoths, except that they are hairless. They have several trunks, two that are especially large and powerful, more so than even an earth elephant, and two that are smaller and more delicate. Each trunk ends with four prongs for precise manipulations. No tusks though. They do have four eyes, two in front of their face, and one on either side. They could live for very very long periods of time, not ageless like the elves, but they could live six or seven times a human lifespan. The Lonkotnok are definitely the most unusual. They are crystal people. Yup, they are living crystals. So the very first one came about looooong loooong ago, and wandered the planet for millenia before eventually being shattered and destroyed by a joint group of Intar and Halagan. The first Lonkotnok was massive, truly enormous, and the pieces were many. The shards were scattered about, and some were kept as trophies. From some of these shards, new lonkotnok began to grow. The growing process is quite slow before the point at which they are sapient and mobile. These new lonkotnok were of a much more mild temperment than their predecessor and kept to themselves for ages. As time passed, they developed a tradition of pruning in which they would regulate their maximum size. It was discovered that while greater size lent itself to greater cognitive function, it also gave diminishing returns after a certain point and would begin leading to increased insanity. Considering the size of the first, it had passed the critical point long before it was destroyed. The lonkotnok are not very numerous, as it takes a great deal of time for a lonkotnok seed crystal to grow to a size that is large enough to be considered sapient. They are friendly with all species, and are by far the most chill species on the planet. They don''t need any food or water. The ancient Halagan people would study the lokotnok crystal structure for over a millennia in an attempt to use the crystals. It was eventually discovered that when small enough, before the crystals exhibitlife signs, the crystals could be magically programmed to continually cast a specific magic. This led to a new age in technology for the halagan race. But like all great societies, they tore themselves apart. They eventually got into genetic experimentation, and this is how the humans, svartalf, fae, elgar, and choy came to be. Nobody remembers what the original Halagan people looked like except for one or two lonkotnok that hid well enough and survived the mad crystal harvesting the Halagan inflicted upon their race at that time. There are only about five hundred lonkotnok active at the moment, and it will likely be a very long time before they even have a thousand members.
Feeling slightly guilty at the thought of a baby tree dying because of the leaf I ate, I spawned a new one with specific wording so that it would be spontaneously generated and assembled instead of taking an existing leaf from some unknown location. I didn''t actually know what mechanism was used last time, but I felt the need to specify. It was just as delicious as I remember, except I realise now part of the initial euphoria was my body awakening to the sensation of absorbing and assimilating a new form of energy. This time around it was less of a shock to my system, but it was still amazing. I decided at this moment that I could not be satisfied with any other food and would only eat these leaves for the rest of my life. They had ruined me for all other food.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I was actually so obsessed that I did something rather impulsive. I discovered that these leaves had no specific name, so I named them after myself. Emil leaves. Yup, the power is going to my head. I was already naming things after myself as if I discovered them. I felt very imperialistic. That didn''t stop me from going even further. "Grant to me an innate and intuitive ability to rapidly and easily generate Emil Leaves at a location one millimeter away from the center of the palms of my hands without cost to myself or using prexisting energy or material but that each such leaf would be a completely new creation." Yes, I did just attempt to give myself the ability to create something from nothing. . . The crazy thing is that it worked. It wasn''t even hard to do. In fact, it worked so well that I started thinking that I ought to get rid of this ability lest it drive me insane. Humans aren''t equiped to handle such power. "Can I go back to the world where I was born?" This was by far the most draining question I had asked. I consumed leaves at breakneck pace to just stay conscious. And my reward for asking this question was simply that I did not have the appropriate system access to get the answer to that question. It turns out that I was using the equivalent of a guest account and needed admin priviledges to get further information. It was worth a shot, but then the panic and anxiety started. "I''m never getting out of here." I said this same phrase in at least 17 different languages, just so I could hear myself say it. I hadn''t heard my own voice in a long time. It was surreal being able to speak for the first time and having my first actual words in this world be in a language that is not my mother tongue. I felt like I was going insane, and like a proper insane person, I acted without thinking of the consequences. [Make me sane and well emotionally adjusted to my circumstances!] And that was that. It''s not supposed to be that easy. Nothing is supposed to be this easy. But here I was, calm and at peace with my life. . . It was time to change a few things. I realized I did not like having this much power. Sure, some things about it were really nice, but I felt there were more positives than negatives. I did not want to be a god. I definitely still wanted some measure of power but not this much. This was roo much power for anyone. I could erase every living thing from the universe with a single sentence. I didn''t want that kind of responsibility. I now had the emotional capacity to handle it, but I didn''t want to handle it. It was time to learn magic.
[Give me all the practical and theoretical knowledge and skill pertaining to magic that has ever been known by the inhabitants of this world and the mental ability to easily sort through it and make skillful choices based on that knowledge.] It was too easy, none of that ''my head felt like it was splitting as knowlegde rushed int my brain''. One moment I was clueless. The next moment I was the world''s foremost magic expert. I immediately noticed several areas where there were unanswered questions that researchers had been searching to find the answers for quite some time with little progress. Obviously, this made me curious. Being a child of the internet in my home word, I was accustomed to getting all my answers quickly with Guugle. This was no different. I was still me. [Give me the full and perfect answer to every unanswered question about magic that has ever been asked by the magic users of this world.] This was a lot. It was a lot more than I expected. Some of the questions had really far reaching answers that if they knew the answer would revolutionize the entire modern system. At this point, I did not want to know any more. I felt like I knew more than I even wanted to know about this. It is strange how without putting in the effort to search out the answers and really investing myself in the study, the knowledge I learned was boring to me. It was a strange realization. So I did another thing. . . [Make me genuinely interested in magic such that I would enjoy using it and learning about it.] If I was going to live as a magic user, I was going to like it. So it works like this. Cosmic energy enters the body. The body takes that cosmic energy and either uses it directly to enact an effect on the world or uses it to manipulate the larger, ambient flow of energy to effect the world. The second is a good bit more difficult but has much more potential. As for how one manipulates the energy in the first place, it would be pointless to explain unless one could feel it. It''s like explaining how to use an insect antenna. If you don''t have one, the explanation is pointless. There are no incantations or fancy hand signs involved, even though some do make motions or noises when they use magic. After learning all this, I gave myself a few cheats, nothing too extravagant, but enough so that I would always have the magical advantage. [Give me the perfect ability to sense everything within a 1km radius of the center point between my eyes.] This was even better than I thought it would be. It not only gave me the sense, but I could focus effortlessly on as many or as few things as I wanted. I could also block out certain things or chose to sense only a single atom at a time. Turns out ''perfect'' really means perfect. Best of all is the ability to completely percieve the flow of normally imperceptible cosmic energy. [Cosmic energy that is the fuel for magic is from now on and retroactively known and referred to as mana.] Yup, just had to mold the world a little more in my own perception of what ought to be. I would soon be ridding myself of this ability anyway, so a few little things shouldn''t matter too much. Nobody would even really notice the change since all records and memories have been changed to conform to the new reality. For my second cheat ability I decided to do something defensive. I may have gone a bit overboard with it, but I wouldn''t change it. [I shall only be effected by that which I desire to effect me to the degree in which I desire to be effected.] And that is how I became immortal. The universe would be in a constant state of adjusting itself to accommodate me. By this point I was seriously questioning if it was wise to go any further. I decided I would ask a few more questions before deciding, but I did not want to know too much either. I wanted to know just enough to live well. I decided on three pieces of information, the geography of the planet, knowledge of any sapient species besides those on this planet, and basic cultural things so that I would not be a walking offense to everyone. The geography thing was much more revealing than I thought it would be. This planet was full of various pocket dimensions and secret underground cities, floating castles, portals to other levels of reality, etc. It was baffling. I never expected such a complex place could even exist. Not only that, but it was also very very large. This planet was probably twice the surface area of earth. Whoever designed this place was really bored. I made sure that my understanding of the world also included the territory through all the portals and within all the pocket dimensions. It was enormous. The second question had a very interesting answer as well. There were indeed other intelligent societies in other worlds, many of them, so many that it was shocking. They were all too far away to matter, but the knowledge of the galactic fairy empire sent chills down my spine. They were lightyears ahead in both magic and technology compared to the imhabitants of this planet. They had taken full control of an entire galaxy and were already harnessing the energy of their supermassive black hole. Their queen is perhaps the most intimidating figure I had ever learned about. Once again, they were too far away to matter. The question of culture extended to every culture in the universe. . . I sat down motionless for a long time before eating some of my patented Emil leaves and going to sleep. I was done for the day, so very done. I had learned more in a few hours than an entire civilization learns over hundreds of years. I decided I was getting out of this solitary confinement as soon as I finished my nap. 4 New in town I would wake up well rested. Honestly it was the best sleep I ever had. Upon waking up I realized that I was starting to really miss my friends and family. I missed class of all things. I missed Anisia. I was just starting to get close to her, and I think she liked me as much as I liked her. Damn. Damn damn damn. Deep breaths. . . I took some time to feel things out and properly lament the loss of my old life. For all intents and purposes, I had died. My mom had just lost her son. To an entire world, Emil Schmidt was dead. I took a bit of time to imagine my funeral. The thought quickly fizzled out when it occured to me that for all intents and purposes they were all dead to me as well. I had permanently lost everyone I ever knew. It felt strange because of the nature of the separation, and the sheer vastness of what was going on in my thoughts and emotions really helped me keep everything in a rwmarkably balanced perspective. Yet still, a loss is a loss. I took a moment of silence to feel grateful for each and every person I had ever met and could remember. It was a pretty sober time. I don''t know how long I sat there in my thoughts. I didn''t even know if it was day or night. My basic cultural knowledge let me know how time was measured, and it was oddly similar to earth time. The standard day was longer, and that threw everything off, but the basic structure was was the same. Just take all our standard time measurements and increase them by a factor of 1.23341143001. Other than that, months all had exactly thirty days. Everything else was the same. No leap years though, and no daylight savings time. But yeah, remarkably similar. After my little emo party I started considering things I could do with magic but were far too inconvenient. One thing that came to mind is the ability to create pocket dimensions for storage. It was a familiar idea, and I could totally go for it, but I did not want to. I knew I would regret taking advantage of this while I could, so I made some minor adjustments before erasing the knowledge of the english language from my mind. [Grant me the perfect ability to easily and intuitively create from nothing anything that I have sensed such that I would not be able to use this ability to invent new types of substances or items that I have not previously encountered but that I could limitlesly replicate anything I have encountered with my senses.] To make it look like magic, I also gave myself an appropriately inverse ability. [Grant me the ability to erase from existence anything within my radius of perception.] And with that I decided that I was powerful enough. I definitely did not want to be any more deadly than I already was. But I did want to be more mobile yet not toooo mobile. I could of course use teleportation magic, but some areas would be shielded against teleportation with the right warding technology. I wanted something that could not be obstructed but also would not be too crazy. [Give me the ability to easily and instantly teleport myself to any geographical location which has at some time entered my radius of perception.] This would let me return here whenever I wish. This room was actually a good example of a place protected from magical teleportation. Without my cheat, I could have never entered this place. Everything else I would do with magic or other typical means, and if it could not be done even with all my abilities, then it clearly did not need to be done. Ah, but I did make one minor tweak. . . I am not ashamed of it, but it perhaps reaveals that I am growing rather addicted to Emil leaves. [Let it be that the Emil leaves I create with my Emil leaf creation ability are always perfectly delicious to my taste buds and that I never get addicted to the flavour.] Just to be safe I added. [I am to be cured of any current addictions and made immune to addiction.] I could see tendencies within myself that were better to stop now while I could. Someone with my level of power could become very dangerous with an addiction to anything. It was a scary and sobering realization to find out in that very moment I had been slowly growing addicted to my own power.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Ok, I have had enough. Time to start a new life on Yuenao!" There were several names for the planet, but the ancient Halagan name for it was Yuenao. I decided that would be what I would call it. More than that, I decided to set the ancient Halagan language as my original native tongue. It fit that there were no living persons with a full knowledge of the language. Only a very small group of historic scholars even knew a few words and gramatical rules. There was very little writing that survived from that time over thirteen thousand years ago. Amazingly, this bed survived. Now that is some serious quality. I would certainly be duplicating this bed whenever I needed one.
There was a lot of thought put into this. I would replace all my knowledge and memory of the English language with the ancient Halagan language and remember that as English instead. I would also remove my memories of my initial entrance into this world. I was the only one who remembered it at this point, and it would be for the best if nobody remembered. I could get a fresh start. Everything would be great. To explain my new abilities and knowledge of the world, I invented a story that my initial arrival was actually in this very room and that upon appearing here I touched a fancy looking crystal that gave me all my new knowledge and abilities and then forced me into a sleep. I wouldn''t even need to create a crystal as I would just assume it miraculously vanished when I woke up. That would do it. But first, I would try one last thing. [Give me the ability to return to Earth.] There was almost no drain of energy at all, which let me know the response I got took almost no processing. [Denied. Priviledges are insufficient.] At least I tried. I pretty much expected this, but I had to be absolutely sure. It''s time to live a new life.
I awoke to see the crystal gone. I was in shock at all the knowledge that now filled my mind. It was amazing that a single brain could even hold this much information. The crystal must have enhanced my mind in addition to giving me godlike powers. It didn''t make sense that any of this was even possible. I could only think that the same force responsible for bringing me here created that crystal. None of the inhabitants of this world would have been able to make such a thing. Or at least that is what my new knowledge would have me believe. I took a moment to let this all sink in. I was odlly calm and accepting of reality in this moment. This crystal had changed me in more ways than were readily apparent. Even my body looked different. I still looked like myself, but I was turned into an idealized version at the pinnacle of health. I had an urge to leave this place, but first I wanted to test something. I made a leaf. It was absolutely beautiful. It was even more delicious than it was beautiful. It epwas trully perfect. I cried tears of joy. I also spend an unknown amount of time just rolling in leaves and eating. It was the most fun I had ever had in my life. Eventually I did stop, eventually. It was a perfect moment, and suddenly I felt like everything would be ok. This would be a great experience. I was ready to face the world. I dug upward through the ceiling for a short distance before my perception covered the surface. Luckily I was only about a kilometer deep and did not have to dig very far upward. I took a deep breath and teleported in the middle of the town square. I could immediately tell something was wrong. A woman screamed. I looked down. I was naked. "Shit!" Apparently my teleportation only applied to myself. This was a big oversight. I immediately created clothes for myself identical to the clothes I was previously wearing. It was too late. I already made a bad first impression. I teleported back to the room underground and made sure to erase my clothes so that I wasn''t leaving stuff every time I teleported. I threw myself onto the bed and groaned. That was not what I had planned. 5 The fifth chapter Somewhere "I am not joking, mother. My sprout is gone! Someone stole it!" The divine dragon insisted. "And how exactly was it stolen when I know you are always watching that thing with one of your heads?" His mother was suspicious of this story. It might have been a trick to get more seeds from her. It wouldn''t be the first time someone tried that. "I don''t know! It doesn''t make any sense. I was looking right at it. There was no magic, no anything. In a single moment it was just gone and only the Emil. The pod was still there, but it obviously died because it had it''s Emil removed." The young divine dragon was very frustrated. "If I do a time check and find you are lying to me, you are in great trouble." The mother dragon popped one of her heads through a portal that entered her son''s garden. She casted the necessary magic to peer back in time to the point where the leaf dissapeared and was baffled when she saw exactly what her son described. She even saw the horrified shock on his face when the leaf he was so happy about dissapeared in an instant. It didn''t make sense. There was nothing unusual that could have possibly caused this to happen, and she would know. No one had better senses than she did. Some were equal to her, but no one was better. She was sure of it. What she was seeing was an impossibility. "Ok, I''ll give you another seed." She acquiesced to her son. "Hopefully this does not happen again." "Thanks! I''ll be extra extra EXTRA careful this time!" And he would be. This dragon would one day grow to be the greatest gardener among the divine beings.
In the town of Uluunquetin "Am I going crazy, or did that just happen?" Avita said aloud to her fellow town guard. "I don''t know. Depends on what you saw." Answered Vitor. "Don''t even start. I''m being serious. Did a naked man just apear in the town square, instantly create strange clothes on his body, and then vanish as quickly as he arrived.? Answer seriously, or I''ll hit you." Avita was not in the mood to play. "Wow. Harsh. Yes, I''m pretty sure that is what just happened. What is the procedure for this?" Vitor felt a bit intimidated. He had fought Avita before in their morning training. She was merciless. "We tell Captain Klees. You stay here. Keep watch. Calm people down. Don''t let strange rumors spread. I''ll go." And with that she was off. Things were strange. First she wakes up next to Vitor on the floor without knowing why either of them are there. That still bothered her. Shewoke up with all her senses enhanced somehow and her skin noticably clearer and smoother. There was also the thing with the public restrooom and all it''s surrounding area being mysteriously clean. She had never seen anything so clean. It was freakish. And now a naked man teleports into the town square just to put clothes on and vanish. He did say something, but she could not recognise the language. What happned to the town where nothing ever happens?
In the buried fortress city of Imamar This place is pretty amazing. I walked through the long abandoned tunnels and chambers of this place for a few hours. It was facinating to explore. I was given basic knowlege about this place from the crystal, but that was nothing compared to seeing it myself. I cleaned everything I could. The place was pretty dirty. I teleported around quickly to get a full scope of the place with my new area sense and then decided that this place would be my residence. It had everything. This place was a complete city. I would make the central palace my personal spot. Interesting to note is the lights. Turns out the place was set to night mode. I turned on day mode once finding the control panel and the view was amazing. The entire ceiling was something like a magical LED wall. It was amazing. A soft rainbow of colours swirled and flowed gently overhead. It was incredible. It also showed the true colours of everything around me. The royal chamber bed was even better than the previous bed. It was over twice as large and somehow even more comfortable. I of cource examined it with my sense, but just because I could see the molecular structure and material properties, did not mean I could understand them. Materials science was not included in the knowledge the crystal gave me. It was pretty amazing that the beds were not magic. They were just really really really well made. I decided to develop a game plan for how I would introduce myself to the world. I would first make myself invisible so that I could position myself in the right place at the right time. I wouldn''t just pop into existence in the middle of a crowded area. That was a stupid idea. This time I would pass myself as a foreign noble. There were pleanty of fancy clothes in the palace to choose. I picked something that looked like travel garb but also spoke of status. I would call myself Ruler Emil. Sounds awful. It seems full of myself. . . Oh well. I would get used to it. The title had to be appropriate to my status. With my level of power and my recent claim on a territory the size of a very large city. The title of Ruler wasonly appropriate. I was the ruler of Imamar.
In the town of Uluunquetin It had been a few hours of just wandering around invisibly observing life. I realized quickly that I would be the perfect voyeur but didn''t want to do that. So I filtered out all the naughty stuff from my perception. I will admit I did not do this immediately. I spent more than a few seconds admiring the work of art that was Hyevnur, the blacksmith''s wife. That was probably the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and I had gotten a veeeeery good look. I doubted I would forget her any time soon. I started feeling guilty when I saw her and her husband being all lovey dovey and cute. It was really beautiful what they had, and I felt like I was violating that. So I stopped all my voyeurism. It was strange how easy that was, far too easy. I didn''t even regret it for a moment. I just made up my mind and stopped.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. That did get me thinking about my own romantic future. Whatever I might have potentially had with Anisia was gone forever. I hadn''t really taken much time to think about getting with someone from this world, but I sure was thinking about it now. In fact, it dominated my thoughts. I was a straight 21 year old man plagued wit hormones. I could not help myself but think about marriage to a girl from another world. Some cultures here even allowed or encouraged polygamy. I considered it but decided that was definitely not for me. One woman was more than enough. I did not want to be outnumbered in my own home. I had no illusions as to what more than one woman actually meant. It meant trouble. I wanted deep emotional connection, not just sex. I had had just sex. I didn''t like it. The sex itself felt great, but it was really dissatisfying. It felt emotionally draining. She only wanted me for one thing, and I just liked having someone who gave me any kind of attention. It worked just fine until I actually grew a pair and decided that I wanted more for my life. I wouldn''t settle for sex this time around. I wanted a companion, a best friend, someone who would go through all the shit of life with me and be fine because we are together. I wanted to fill the loneliness and not just cover it up. Before I knew it my former plan was gone, and I found myself scouting out the single ladies in my age bracket. I even teleported to some of the surrounding towns. I spent much more time doing this than I ever intended. My mind was set, and I was on a mission. I would find my perfect woman! Easier said than done. The issue was not so much being able to find an attractive, single woman that had a good personality. The issue was me. I didn''t know what to say. I figured ''hello, I come from another planet'' was not the most appealing introduction. But how would I introduce myself? If I was really going to portray myself as a foreign ruler, then it made no sense for me to even be in such a place looking for a woman. I had to start slow. I had ro become part of the community and get recognition first. I can''t just pop into existance with no relatives, no relations of any kind, and no reputation or history that could be verified and expect a woman to think I am exactly what she is missing in her life. I decided to once again rework my plan. Why would a foreign ruler even be here in this town? Would I be up front about the location of my territory? I needed good answers to these questions. I needed a story that would hold up against questioning. I took some time to work it out.
I figured it out. I restored the portal gate that connected Imamar to the surface. Fortunately I had the necessary knowledge and magical skill to do so. To get back normally required a magical ''key'' that would usually be in the form of a ring or pendant. Once in range, the key would allow one to teleport in at will to designated ''landing pads''. My story would be that I was the last surviving member of the Halagan race who had been living in secret for several thousand years till we dwindled to just myself. I would say I just lost the last of my family a few days ago and felt it was about time to join the rest of the world. My excuse for never trying to do so before would be because I was respecting the traditions of my family, but that with their death the weight of tradition seemed to lose it''s meaning. Yup, that was my story. It was a bit weak, but it would have to do. I would attempt to improvise the rest as necessary. It helped that I actually had lost my family just recently. . . I should commemorate them in the Halagan tradition of magical disintegration. There was a particular ritual that took some time to set up but eas really spectacular. It caused matter to dissolve into pure mana and rejoin the flow of the cosmos. Yeah, mana is the fundamental substance of everything here. It''s kind of cool. It is a spectacular visual display and lasts about twenty minutes on average. That would actually be the best possible way to start my story. I''ll have the funeral and just use random materials instead of bodies. That will attract attention and questions. I will be ''honest'' and sincere in the fact of just losing my family, and as the only living speaker of my language on this planet, I have as much a claim to the legacy as anyone. Then I realized I need to change my appearance. I look too human. I needed to look like something human-ish but not quite. I would use magic to reshape myself. It was pretty interesting how similar humans could be. Even in this magic world, plastic surgery was a huge industry. The difference with magic is that things like actually giving ones self bigger breasts or a different face was far more intricate. I only knew as much biology as pertained to this field of biological magic and the little I remembered from my university classes. Fortunately that as enough. With my perception I noticed I was not exactly a standard human anymore. I figured it was the leaves. I was much more physically healthy and robust than a human could ever be. I was also somehow prettier. It was hard to describe. My features were slightly better proportioned. My muscles filled out better, etc. It was strange to notice. I would take this a step further and make myself something like a hybrid between Fae and Elgar. This meant increasing my height quite a bit. I could fortunately just spawn in raw material by my broken powers and use magic to mold myself into some kind of large and rugged elf man. It was really strange and took a long time to get everything looking and working just right, but I did it. Nobody knew that the Halagan race actually looked more like goblins than humans. They had strange ideas of what would be the ideal version of themselves, and split into several different factions of aesthetic. There were originally many more variants. Some were merfolk. Conflict of interest whittled the variants downto what we have today. I was glad that I managed to keep my face almost the same while looking just barely different enough to be recognised as slightly Elgar or slightly Fae. This would work. I was convinced. I was also pretty excited because I thought I looked really cool. I celebrated by eating a few leaves. Ah, bliss. Running through the forest laughing was so wonderful. Everything was wonderful. I think I scared quite a few animals. Doesn''t matter. Life was great. Of all my abilities, this leaf thing was definitely the best.
In the woods near Uluunquetin The way the light sparkled and swirled was mesmerizing. It was like rising steam but also fire and electricity and smoke and sparks and fireworks all combined and flowing seamlessly. I decided at that moment that this was how I would commemorate the dead from that point onward. I used duplicates of my own body molded with magic to look like my family. I even put one of myself as I originally looked to remember that this was really the end. It was a while before anyone got near. The magic did more than just a light show, it was musical the way it cracked, hissed, popped, whistled and boomed. It shook the air and the very space. Surely this was very very noticable. Eventually I saw my plan working. It was not ideal, but it was a start. It''s like everything before this was a prologue, and now the real story was starting. "Make yourself known, worker of strange magic! We defend these lands and demand an answer for your actions here!" It was a significant assembly of guards with blades drawn. Time to test my skills of diplomacy. 6 Greetings. "Be at peace. I am performing the traditional funeral rite of my people. I am honouring my family that has passed. My name is Emil Schmidt." I decided to keep things formal and straight forward but also clearly unintimidated. I don''t know how well they believed my acting, but hopefully it was good enough. "What business do you have in this region, and who are your people?" The response came hard and fast from the leader in front. He was a tough looking guy in his late thirties or early forties. "My people are no more. I am the last living member of the Halagan race. This ceremony is for the last of my family. I lost them only a day ago." "Vull shit!" One of the guards was getting really upset at the thought that I was taking them for fools. The captain remained calm and proceded with standard questioning. "Excuse my companion, but you should understand that we would require some evidence of your claims. It has been too long since anyone has seen a Halagan. Would you give some evidence?" The captain had a very no-nonsense look about him. "I do have evidence." And I did. In my wandering, I had found the master key to the the fortress city. It was no longer working, but I fixed it easily enough as well as all the enchantments in the city itself. It was honestly a lot of work but not nearly as much as it would have been if the Halagan were not so great at building long lasting enchantments. The repairs I made were many, but they were also all rather minor and trivial except the reconstruction of the teleport network and the repair for many of the golems. Yep, magic robot servants. These dudes had it good. Once I fixed one of each type of golem, I just erased the broken ones and duplicated the fixed ones. OMy powers were really too convenient. I did the same with the way stations. I just had to give each a different designation, and my work was done. I showed my very regal looking ring to the guard and said "This is the key to the last city of my people. I can take you there in this very moment. It is a teleport access and the only means of entrance. It is how I arrived here only short distance to the surface. My city lies deep beneath your very feet." I was guessing this is the part where he asks me to come along so that he can present me to his lord. The situation suddenly became bigger than he was authorised to handle. "These are interesting claims that I don''t have the authority to verify. If you would be willing, we will have you come to meet our lord. If you are unwilling, we would still have you come with us. I do hope tou were sincere in your words of peace. We do not intend harm on those who wish peace, but we would also not let go of caution." The man was set like iron. Nothing seemed to phase him despite the reactions his men, and one woman, had to my words. "I would go willingly. It is not by accident I have exposed myself after so many years in hiding."
They led me to the city in the midst of them two men in front and two behind with a v-formation of five in front. The Captain, named Klees, marched beside me. I noticed during the relatively short walk to the town that my appearance was not exactly the most inviting. I looked too dangerous. I was two-hundred and ten centimeters of solid muscle. I may have tried too hard to look cool without thinking about how others would react. I had never been one to ''size up'' another guy, but that may have been part of my upbringing. I knew other guys were constantly physically comparing themselves. It honestly did occur to me that general racism and predjudice toward the unfamiliar might be a problem, but I was optimistic. So far it was only a lot of suspicious looks and two or three of the guards being overly jumpy and tense when I made the slightest movement. One was clearly ready to stab me at a moment''s notice. It was pretty uncomfortabe. We were stopped at a point, and two guards went ahead to deliver news of the situation. Within the hour one could hear the marching of many bodies in armor. They were not dressed like knights, but there were arm guards, shin guards, and breastplates. Every piece of armor the lord''s personal guard wore was enchanted to enhance the strength of the material. All the swords had minor enchantments interfere with magic upon contact. This would let them more easily break enchanted items. It was pretty basic, but solid equipment set for a town this size. It would be strange to expect more. The lord himself was an imposing man. He had the typical magically-altered features of the ruling class. It was the trend to have a particular markings of raised or indented skin on the forehead to symbolise one''s forehead. It was almost like a scar but much cleaner and intentional in appearance. Royalty would additionally have their ear lobes pointed. These distinguishing modifications were restricted to the noble class, and anyone caught forging such markings on commoners would be severely punished. The Lord was also taller than average, almost as tall as myself. This was also artificial. So was my own height, but I thought I did a better job with my own modifications than whoever did the lord''s alteration. Mine was not noticable to my own inspection. With the lord, the modifications were indeed noticable if one looked at the cells and mollecular alignment on his bones. But of course I was the only one who would notice such things. "I greet the lord of these lands. I am Emil Schmidt, the last of the Halagan race and ruler of it''s last city, Imamar. I come desiring peace." I gave the appropriate gesture for one noble greeting another of similar status, a downward bend at the neck with arms straight down at the sides. The lord was not surprised at what I said due to being previously informed by his men. "I am Lord of Uluunquetin, Edgar Svali. I greet you, Emil Schmidt of Imamar. I am told you have some proof of your strange claims. I would see this proof before discussing further." He seemed pretty insistent.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I produced a necklace key and held it out. "This is a key. It allows one instant transport to the city of Imamar. The activation is quick and free from discomfort. One might go and return as quickly as one might skip a stone over water. It requires no mana and activates simply by intent. I would offer to demonstrate if allowed." "Do so. I would first see this before having one of my men test it." With that, the guards backed away from me a bit, and with a thought I was gone in typical magic fashion. After a couple seconds I reappeared exactly where I was before to the surprise of many. Teleportation was not a common magic, and it usually required a lengthy process for the few who could perform it. I held out the pendant again. "It is safe. I assure you." Edgar looked to one of his men and said. "You go and return quickly. If you delay, we will assume the worst." His man then walked forward and took the pendant from my hand. In a few seconds he was gone. There was a palpably tense moment in which no one made a noise. Then suddenly he was back, and had a look of wonder on his face. He handed the pendant to his lord and said. It is as he says. This takes one to a place unlike any I have seen. The place was deserted of life from what I could see." Lord Edgar contemplated these words. "Is there a method to travel as a group?" He directed the question to me. "There is." I replied. "With the appropriate key, one might bring a group of up to five others with them at a time. This is accomplished by physical contact with the one in possesion of the key as well as the intent to bring those whom the keyholder is touching." I was overjoyed at how smoothly this was going. It was a good thing I dissabled the locks on the keys. Normally these would be tied to a particular individual and remain unusable to anyone else without recieving the unlock sequence from the original holder.
Imamar The Lord and his men were led on a brief tour by myself. I made very clear that with myself as the last survivor, I had no secrets to hide and sought full cooperation with the inhabitants of the lands directly over my city. "These here are the metal worker pits." I gestured to a large area with huge industrial equipment for the shaping of metal. Some things like lathes and presses were recognizable to me, but much of it was foreign to my understanding. In the previous world and in this world, I was no craftsman. I could use a hammer, a ruler, and an electric drill. That was about it. Even with my strangely vast magical knowledge, I only knew how to apply the necessary magic to create certain magical tools. I did not know anything about the non-magical aspects of crafting. There were a lot of unusually shaped anviles that I am sure had some very practical purpose, but I did not spend too much time going into any detailed explanation. I could read the smithing manuals in the library at a later time. It still amazed me that the library was not completely eroded. The preservation techniques of the Halagan people were definitely the most advanced. To bad they could not preserve their society as well as their literature. I led the group to all the major places of commercial, academic, and military significance as well as showing the residential and recreational space. The library was the point of greatest excitement for Lord Edgar. "There is a great wealth here from which my territory may benefit. I would discuss terms sooner rather than later. The value of this city is even greater than I imagined. I would propose a full merger of territory and offer you to join as a member of my family. I have one yet unwed daughter I would offer you in marriage and giveyou right to succession of my title. She has some skill in magic and a good face by the standard of a human. I would send for her and have you meet. If she is not to your liking or if you would perhaps not wish to join with a human, we may renegotiate new terms. This seems the most direct course of action to me with the least amount of complication. What say you?" The offer caught me off guard. I was completely aware that this had the potential to come up due to my understanding of the culture, but I did not actually expect it enough to prepare myself emotionally to have a man offer his daughter to me in full seriousness. I responded after some hesitation. "I do not have objection to being with a human woman. I would meet with your daughter before agreeing to marriage. A full merger seems good to me. I do propose a new name for the city joined from two, Svalishmidt, from your name and my own. I believe it would only be appropriate to have a new name going forward. The change this would bring would birth something far different than either of our cities." Edgar thought over my words for only a second before confirming his agreement. "I believe you speak correctly. This undertaking would indeed create something new. I approve this new name. We should return to the surface and discuss more tomorrow. It is late, and I need to sleep. You are quite the surprise, Lord Emil. If you are sincere, I suspect this is the beginning of something great in the Empire of Viti. We ought to proceed with caution and not be too hasty. I bid you reside with me in my home. You shall be an honoured guest to our town. What would it take to get some of your golems to the surface? Is transport an option? They seem exceptionally useful as servants and guards. They need no sleep. And do not require feeding. Golems are an exceedingly rare thing in our province. I have only seen golems in the capital and in the home of High Lord Farahatnan, and they were far less numerous than the ones here." I responded as any benevolent owner of a golem army might respond. The level of respect and awe I was getting from the lord and his men was somewhat thrilling. I had never been in a position like this before. It was seriously hitting me that the magnitude of what I was undertaking was far far beyond anything I had experience to deal with. I would still charge forward and learn along the way. Too late to stop now. "The golems can be moved easily. Each golem has the key enchantment and can move freely to the surface and back to any of the docks. They were designed such to be an easily deployed militant force that might move rapidly about a battlefield using the teleport function of the city and outmaneuver any opposing force. They still have this capability. Eventually I would teach you how to command the golems, but you are correct. It s late, and sleep befits us.
The Lord''s Manor Things proceeded as one might expect. I was treated well by servants and fed food that would have probably tasted delicious to me if my sense of taste had not been warped by the magical leaves. Everything felt tasteless and bland, like eating food with the flavour equivalent of paper or cork. And yes, I did replace the mattress before falling asleep. 7 Strong Independant Woman Svalischmidt It had been little over a week since Lord Emil had become part of the daily life of the town. Everywhere he went, he was a spectacle. The children would all stare and people would whisper to one another. There were rumors of all kinds. Some rumors claimed that he had worked some ancient magic to take hold of Lord Edgar''s mind. Some claimed he was an invaider from another dimension. (Ironically somewhat true-ish). Some claimed that the Halagan had never fallen from power and that they had been ruling behind the scenes in secret for millenia but were now tired of hiding and sending out a single representative as a test before fully revealing themselves as the puppetmasters of the world. Due to his striking appearance and stature ''other'' rumors of the more sexually charged nature naturally sprouted as well. It did not escape many that this Lord Emil was powerful, wealthy, physically striking in appearance, and unwed. What perhaps caught the most attention is that Lord Emil was unrestrained to typical noble convention. While he did spend much time with the Svali family negotiating and planning for the future of this new city, he spent just as much time out and about mingling with the townfolk. He would even make modifications to the town as he wandered. The roads had never been in such good condition since the day they were first laid. He also began going out into the fields and farms and using some strange magic to improve the soil and the health of the animals. It was the most mysterious and awe inspiring thing almost anyone in the town had ever seen. Magic was well known in the empire, but nothing like this. While he definitely displayed more mana than should ever be allowed for a single person, it was not until he transformed the farms that the Town trully welcomed him. It was dramatic. Before that he was a strange foreigner that could not be explained. But once his strangeness was of direct and dramatic economic value to the majority of the townfolk, suspicion began to fall quickly. There were of course still some who worried that this was just the beginig before they were enslaved or worse by the alien invader, but most had a genuine respect for this Lord Emil Schmidt. And it had only been ten days since finding him performing a burial rite using strange and brilliant magic. It helped greatly that this Lord Emil never forgot a name or face or even a single detail about a person he had met. Every interaction felt personal, every purchase at the market, every conversation in the pub over a beer, every casual greeting, every playful interaction with the children in the streets, every question about what the residents hoped would become of their newly expanded city. It also helped that every household now had a single golem servant to do basic chores and tedius manual labor. It was an extreme shock when on the eighth day of Lord Emil''s appearance, the town was flooded with golems. It turns out Lord Edgar had several in his own house as workers for nearly a week before deciding that it would be fit for each home to have one since they were in such abundance. The standard of living in the city now known as Svalischmidt had risen so dramatically that people were feeling whiplash. On the 12th day after Lord Emil''s arrival, Lady Esplemel Svali returned from her business in the Farahatnan city capitol. She was apparently summoned by her father to be given to Lord Emil as a bride. Information traveled fast a,ong the town guard. This was a rather startling rumor for several reasons. The reason most note worthy to me was that our Lady was first and foremoast a lady of ambition. She was driven and competitive in a way rarely seen. She excelled in her magic in such a way that was very rare around these parts. Lord Edgar had some modest magical ability, but his daughter was an order of magnitude more capable so much, in fact, that she was deemed a national military asset after passing the relevant examinations and given class-1 mlitary standard physical enhancement to make her stronger, faster, and more resilient to harm. The Empire valued their skilled magicians and did not want them dying before there full usefulness was up. In exchange, she would be required to serve the interests of the crown whenever requested. This mandatory enlisting of all the most capable magic workers is part of what made the empire such a formidable force. It was even treated as a positive status symbol instead of the well compensated slavery that it actually was. It was not discussed in polite company, but more than one newly enlisted mage without direct connection to a noble family had been forcefully requested to perform duties that did not at all relate to national security or even remotely within the realm of their magical field of study and expertise. Best not to say anymore than that. Our Lady is fortunate to come from nobility and likely did not suffer such treatment despite her obvious physical charms. While not as impressive as her magical skill, she was widely regarded as quite beautiful. There was actually a theory that seemed to hold some weight that high levels of mana and even the regular movement of mana throughought a body would gradually change one''s appearance to look more healthy and well proportioned. It did not seem coincidental that the most powerful mages in the empire were all people with unusually well crafted features, and it was also not overlooked that if one was particulary good looking, it was likely that they had at least a very minor natural ability with magic. The study of the topic is inconclusive, but most reaserchers agree there is some degree of correlation, though the exact nature of the correlation is mysterious. Lady Esplemel was just one more example that reinforced the stereotype. Speaking of good looks and powerful magic. It was becoming apparent to nearly everyone at this point that Lord Emil was not merely a member of some ancient version of mankind. He was superior in almost every conceivable way. He was handsome in a way that made me more uncomfortable than attracted. A man of his stature should not be so beautiful to behold. It was strange to the point of going past the point of interest and straight into confusion. I found my mind questioning the perfection of his appearance more than admiring it. It should not be possible. Even more strange is that he seemed to have nearly endless mana. He was regularly seen casting magic that would exhaust an entire team of ten highly competent magicians from the capitol without tiring. It seemed that even with the wild displays of magic he had shown while remodeling and repairing the town, he was still not fully exerting himself. It was also clear that Lord Emil was far stronger than he appeared, and he appeared to me like the strongest man I had ever seen. I had heard rumors of him helping move extremely heavy objects while offering help at the stables and the smithy. And Lady Esplemel would meet him today. Something about her that was well known is how she turned down every potential suitor that did not meet her demands for herself. She has lofty goals, such that she would not marry into any family until achieving a certain level of status for herself. This was not for the reason of being independant as many would assume, but actually because she was aiming for a bigger fish. Normally someone of such minor nobility would not be able to marry much higher than their own social class, so she endevoured to raise her social class by her own merits. And it was working. With her company and her recognition as a class-1 military standard mage, she was already getting offers from suitors of families notably higher in status than the offers she was getting previously. But still it did not meet her standards. She wanted to marry well enough that she would bring her family and entire town into prominence by a single action and then spend the rest of her life pursuing her magical and business interests without the pressure for a certain measure of success. Plus, the monetary backing from such a family would help her greatly on her endeavours. Lord Edgar knew well of his daughter''s plans and even encouraged her. That he still insisted on this joining of houses meant he considered Lord Emil to be a more advantageous connection than any other offer his daughter might potentially aquire elsewhere. The carriage arrived in the afternoon. She had two horses, And two servant guards who alternated as driver. I was on task to escort her to the manor. She sparked conversation with me as I walked beside the carriage. "Hello, Avita. It has been some time. Is your family well?" She spoke evenly and with measured tone. She was never one to give away much in her speech. "Yes, my lady. They are as well as they have ever been. Thank you for your concern." It was not a strange thing in this somewhat small town that everyone knew everyone. "I must say I almost did not recognize the town. A great many changes have taken place. I do not recall my father having the wealth to make quite so many changes in such a brief period of time. It is trully astounding. I can only assume Lord Emil has had some hand in this. There is no way so many golems could have appeared otherwise. I never imagined I would see golems doing farmwork. They seem perplexingly common."Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "You are correct. The streets, roads, walls, farms, and golems are all the doing of Lord Emil. And the golems are indeed common. Each household was gifted one. Your own household as a great deal more doing all sorts of work." "Trully amazing. My father kept much more hidden about this stranger than I imagined. Tell me your thoughts on this Lord Emil. My father revealed very little in his letter only that he has the potential to transform the future of our family in trully remarkable ways. At this point I must as least concede that, but I would hear your thoughts." "You should know he is not human. He claims to be the last remaining of the ancient Halagan, the very same ones from myth and legend. From what I have seen, I believe him. He is not human of a member of any other race I know of. His magic alone is greater than any one person should ever be able to weild. I believe you shall be quite surprised upon seeing him. His appearance is quite striking. It is beyond what words may suffice. Over the past 12 days since he arrived, he has won over the affection of the town with his magic. The fields are producing more. The birds are laying more. He has even cured the sick, all of them. Even those thought to be at the end of their life have regained some measure of their youth. He works magic in ways I have only heard of in legend, and he has helped wherever he has seen need without demanding anything in return. I sometimes do not believe he is real. He is beyond my understanding." "Thank you, Avita. This is mildly alarming information you have given me. If this is true, I fail to understand why someone of such power would be here in this small town. I must take some time to think on these things and prepare myself." "Yes, my lady." And we continued on to the manor with Lady Esplemel making small talk about current events apart from Lord Emil. Even though she hid it well, I could tell she was nervous after out conversation. There was something fearsome about meeting someone so capable, even if it was known they had no malintention toward you.
Svalischmidt Manor I was meeting the Lord''s daughter today. I tried not to think about it too much. I was not required to marry her. I was just meeting her. It felt so strange to be at the center of a courtship custom from a culture different from the one I grew up in. I knew how to behave, but it was still a foreign experience. As soon as she neared the manor, I sensed her. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she was very very pretty. That eased one of my fears, but then brought up completely new ones. I was out of my depth. I had dated two women in my life. One in highschool, and one while I was getting my associates degree. I did not seriously consider marriage with either. This first meeting would be one where marriage was the first consideration. It was a completely different dynamic. In the back of my mind I knew the real reason for this was to put some sort of leash on me. The Lord wanted to tie our fate together by some means so that I would be less likely to betray him. It all made sense from his perspective. This was he easiest way for him to benefit without constantly feeling like he needs to look over his shoulder, and if I had come from the same culture, this would be the same for me. But unfortunately, I had grown up under far different circumstances, and this was a very emotionally stirring moment for me. If I agreed, I would be marrying this girl within the month. That was a terrifying thought. I definitely wanted a wife. . .eventually, but I was not so sure I wanted one right now and I was not so sure I wanted this particular woman. I determined to ask her for her personal thoughts on all this. That would help immensely in deciding this. I was not one to hope for a soul mate or whatever one might call it. I just wanted someone I could be friends with who would put in the same amount of commitment that I would. I would delay this process as much as I could to get a good measure of Esplemel. I had learned her name during my few days of acclimating to the town. Lord Edgar made sure to make her seem very appealing in his descriptions, a beautiful, talented, and very hard working woman that would be sure to be the perfect partner to anyone lucky enough. I would expect nothing less from a father trying to get his daughter married.
She was extremely composed. It made me seem extremely awkward in comparison. "So you trust your father''s judgement in my ability to benefit the territory, but other than political and financial benefit, is there nothing else you desire in a husband? Excuse my foreign ways, but I would like you to get some personal benefit out of any potential union and not merely benefit to your house. I believe a marriage ought to be a much more substantial union that merely business and child-making." I tried to get more out of her. She had been far too reserved for my taste. I could not quite get a feel for her. "I suppose I should speak frankly then. I am an ambitious woman, Lord Emil. This you should already know, but my ambition extends beyond my noble house and the land of my forebearers. I have a company, recently started, making sonic reinforcement and transmition systems. I want to seize my own power. I am a remarkably accomplished mage when cnsidering the quality of training I have had acces to outside the capitol region. Perhaps my greatest hindrance throughout the years has been funding. Since you seem to be interested, I would request full funding of all I endevour in magic and with the growing of my company. I understand you are not well connected, and that is perhaps a great understatement. My father has led me to believe that despite this you possess great wealth, am I correct?" I nodded. "Far more than I could ever find use for in several lifetimes. . . And that is perhaps a very great understatement." This gave her pause as she considered me seriously while looking into my eyes. "But we still speak of money and power. Allow me to divert our discussion. I don''t mean to sound naive, but what I would like most of all is a friend. Please try to understand that as one recently deprived of every person I ever knew and having thrusted myself into a society not my own, I crave one thing and only one thing, a true companion I can trust. I have many secrets, and I do not wish to live my life without having someone I can be completely open toward. I have no concerns for what political or economic benefit you or your family might provide me. Surely you have realised by now that I have sufficient power to claim this town and even the entire province as my own. Truthfully, that is not all. I could claim the entire empire if I so desired. I don''t. Empires hold no appeal to me. I did not choose to join hands with your father for any reason except that I wanted to be part of a community. And perhaps I only wanted to be part of a community so that I might find for myself one person with whom I might me much more. I intend to commit myself completely to my wife, and I want to know if you intend to be the type of wife who commits herself completely. I intend to live a very very very long life, and I have the means to extend the life of whomever I choose. Believe me at your own discretion. I just don''t want to be lonely. Loneliness is my greatest enemy. It always has been." I sat back in my chair and waited. The reply came after an extended moment of silence. "You were more frank than I was prepared for. You have given me very much to consider. Forgive me for requiring some time to consider your words. I appreciate your honesty and do not wish to respond without the appropriate consideration. You speak grave things, Lord Emil." She restored her poker face faster than I expected, but I could see the neurons firing in her brain with such intensity that it was amazing to me. She really was cnsidering what I said very intently. I decided to end our meeting here. I had revealed more than I first intended, but I felt like this small taste was necessary for her to decide if she really wanted to attatch herself so someone like me. We excused ourselves and went our separate ways. We told her father that we needed some more time and were contemplating some very important and private information. This was unordinary, but everything about me was unordinary, so Lord Edgar went along with it.
It was the very next day that Eplemel suggested we take a long walk and discuss more deeply about our lives. I told her about my relationships with my family members as well as my previous romantic relationships. I had things slightly modified to fit with the Halagan story I was going with, but the bulk of what I said was true. She in turn told me about her own relationships with her family members as well as significant childhood experiences and mentors that left a significant mark on her. It turns out that her primary instructor in magic was her father''s aunt''s husband, Lord Igbon Nastun, a current leader of the magical community in their province and a class-2 mage of the empire. It was he that taught Lord Edgar his limited magic many years ago, and he was currently grooming Esplemel as a potential successor along with two other students, all of whom have achieved class-1 status. Learning more about eachother and our goals and fears was really enjoyable. . . And then everything went to shit.
In a moment, and without any explanation or warning, I found myself afloat in an endless void. I was not alone. All around were about 52000 different versions of myself. Many looked almost identical to what I looked like back on earth, and others looked even more severely modified than myself. Before I even had the opportunity to attempt to figure out my situation, I was made aware. I heard no voice, and I saw no glowing box of text. I simply knew information that I did not know previously.
Among 52000 iterations, your adaptation value ranks 13,118th. You have provided a total of 11 unique data points for evaluation before entering a 100% predictability sequence. You are granted persistence priviledge. An elimination target shall be selected for you to subsume. Iteration 22223 has been selected. Integration optimised. Complete.
And as soon as it begun, it was over, and everything had changed. 8 Who am I? For a moment, I considered my situation to make sure I was understanding what just happened as well as possible. There was quite a bit of information made known to me in an infinitely small moment. First, I am now in a completely different universe from where I had been just a moment ago. Second, this universe did not exist until just a moment ago about the same time I entered into it, yet somehow it has a history going back far enough that several galaxies have had time to form, merge with other galaxies, and eventually die as they become blackholes so massive that they destabilize and actually explode in what is known in this universe as a dark pulse. It is by far the most energetic phenomenon that has ever occurred. The last one was 77013 Vitian stellar orbits ago. Vitian happens to be the planet I am on. I am aware of every thing that happened in two different versions of myself. One version was given the ability of absolute speech. The other was given the ability ob absolute travel, he could go anywhere. That version of myself traveled to a realm of supreme sexual bliss and then traveled to an alternate version of that realm where he was it''s absolute ruler and then kept traveling to greater and greater realms of pleasure till he was moving through reality at infinite speed and lost himself in the euphoria of hyperdimensional pleasure. The other version of myself was extremely boring in comparrison but at least retained his sanity. I can also remember both of my past lives before being transported into whatever this is and gaining abilities that no one ought to have. Everything has reset for me but not exactly. I am not either of my previous versions, but I am definitely closer to the version of myself that gained the absolute speech ability. The planet and universe I am in is also far faaaar closer to the world where that version of me existed and not the infinite abyss of imeasurable pleasure that my other self experienced. It is an indescribable thing to know what infinite pleasure is like and to also feel no particular yearning for it. It is worth noting what my current abilities are. I have an adjusted derivative of previous abilities. 1) I have remembered the absolute language and once again have basically infinite power to do anything except go back to either of the two versions of my original world. I can''t even recreate a copy of earth or anything too close to it. This limit seems very purposeful, and I don''t like it. I also still have no ability to gain information on the mastermind behind all of this or affect that entity in any way. I will chose not to dwell on what I can''t do anything about. 2) My mind is stable in a way that is really impressive to me. My emotions and sensations might inform my decisions, but they don''t control me. I no longer have involuntairy responses to things like fear, anger, pleasure, pain, or sadness. I am free to choose my response to even things like shock and surprise. It''s perhaps the thing that is most fascinating to me of all the abilities I have. In a way I never have before, I feel confident and in control of myself. 3) I can still make those wonderful wooonderful leaves, but they are slightly different due to this being a different type of reality, but they are just as good as the revious ones. These leaves are perfectly black and absorb all electromagnetic waves so that they simply look like a hole in reality. The name of the tree they come from is "The First life". It is thought to be the first ever form of life in this particular universe, and all currently existing life forms in some way derive from it. The shape of the "leaf" is probably closest to that of a lilly pad it is a flat circle with a stalk extending from the middle of one side. The "leaves" can apparently be any size from about as big as a small coin to something like eleven kilometers in diameter. The First Life is an organism which is entirely made of this same simple structure. There are no other parts it is just circle and stalk. More stalks can grow from any location on the First Life. This allows for an almost shocking amount of variety in overall shape of First Lives. The largest known specimen of The First Life ever discovered and thought to be the very first First Life is shaped like a giant chain of stalks and circles. Each stalk grows from the middle of a circle in a straight line. Each circle is about five kilometers in diameter and each stalk about thirty seven meters in diameter and a length of something like four kilometers. This chain extends for about 33.04 million lightyears and is arranged roughly like a coiled spring with a diameter of about 39700 lightyears per loop. To the societies aware of it''s existence, it is a sacred thing and highly venerated. There is actually a society of what might be considered "divine" beings who actually live on what has been named "Origin". This is off topic though. 4) My thoughts are obviously being distracted by the abundance of new information I have. And that is my fourth ability. I still have all the memories of both previous lives and both previous lives on Earth, including the massive abount of knowledge I gave myself in one of my previous "versions". In his hybrid version of myself I have information on this universe that is actually somewhat different from the type of information I had of the previous. I know every form of code or language used in this universe. I know of evey species that has ever existed as far as the name in each language to which the species is known and actually has a name, physical appearance, habitat, rough population estimate, and very general details about behavior. This world does have it''s own unique forms of technology and what might be considered the equivalent of magic, and I do have a full knowledge of both but only so far as has been discovered andimplemented on this planet. It is a lot, but not nearly that of what I was subjected to previously. It is really a shame that pretty much all of what I knew is useless here, but I don''t think I care enough at this point to do anything about it. My knowledge of my current planet, Vitian is much more thorough, but not excessively so. I have the entire map of the planet perfectly memorised along with political and ecological information on different areas. In regards to the current city I am in, my knowledge is even more thorough. I know every name, when each structure was built and buy whom, I know detailed information about the economics of the city and the trends of fashion as well as popular rumors and topics of conversation and controversy. It is my first day here, and I have a history.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. As far as the inhabitants know, I am a benevolent immortal who has been living here for the past 607 years. I helped turn the small village into the proud city it now is. It is a strange thing having strong opinions on the way people are raising their kids in this city when I know I have not actually met anyone yet. What is going on, and what am I? Am I even real? That is the real question, and suspiciously my power refuses to give me the answer to those two questions no matter how I word it. I don''t want to think about that right now. 5) My species here on Vitian is something called Udue-kikino-eme in the native tongue of the people here in the city of Laragar. There is no direct way to translate the meaning into English, but it can be roughly translated as "One who is so without care that he has forgotten how to die." That is about as close to a translation of the meaning as I can get. My kind has different names in different cultures, but that is irrelevant. One name basically the same as the term in that language used to refer to an elderly person. I find that almost as funny as my favourite, Poopoo-oop. Not only is the name hilarious for a reason that only makes sense to me, but the meaning is basically "fake baby" because our appearance is always youthfull, but we almost never are. Sooo yeah, pretty hilarious. I''m a poopoo-oop. I''m a lyric in a Kanye West song. So details, I am immortal. I have a body that is perpetually perfect. The amount of effort needed to damage my body in any way is pretty ridiculous. It would take a 20mm armor piercing round just to scratch me. I am durable toward all physical, chemical, "magical", and whatever other types of damage exist. I am not really completely immune to anything, but let it suffice that even if something did hurt me, I could regenerate my entire body from just a hand or a rib bone in less than a minute. I look mostly human except for being 232cm tall and having a body that is unnaturally well proportioned and muscular. My skin looks almost like human skin from a distance, but on close inspection one would see that I my skin is actually perfectly smooth and hairless in a way that does not really make sense to me. Even when I bend my elbow the skin does not wrinkle in the slightest. It has a strange level of elasticity that I don''t really know what to compare to. At least I have hair on my head and eyebrows, no facial hair though. I could fix that. . . But I think I prefer a clean shaven look to be honest. I can always add a beard later. As far as anyone knows, no one knows the origin of my species. There are not many, only about 63000, and most live on one of the moons, Itaka. I am the only known Poopoo-oop (gotta love that name) in the entire Tubletenu Empire. 6) That is not all. I am not just an average Poop! And that short-form is not original to me, that is the actual modern convention among the Ibenurti people, a humanoid species that is basically the equivalent of Beast from the X-men series. They are blue-furred humanoids with a mixture of feline and ape features. They are one of the more advanced societies on the planet. Anyway, I have consumed First Life, not actually, but yet the history is there. I remember it while knowing the event is artificial, but somehow no more artificiL than anything else that seems to be happening. . . Not thinking about it. Not thinking about it. Most are unnaware, but comming into direct contact with First Life has different effects on different creatures. On my particular species, regular physical contact has no effect, but consuming it causes a transformation of sorts. The first and most obvious is the darkening of my skin compared to other poops. The average poop is a moderate shade of brown. . . Yeah. . . Moving on. I am black, and I don''t mean black like a really dark brown. I mean black like charcoal and dirty engine grease. That is only a side effect. The primary effect is that I absorb electromagnetic energy as a natural metabolic function. The second change is that I can absorb mana not just ambiently but directly pulling it from objects or creatures I touch. It is a rather creepy ability. Poop mana manipulation is already pretty great. Mine is better. It also is the new source of my super-vision. It is a similar but slightly diminished version of my previous ability to perfectly see all wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. I have no plans to change that. There really was no benefit to being able to see as well as I could back in the other world. It was cool at first but got old very fast. Besides my death touch, super-sight, improved mana control, and a basic enhancement all around of abilities that reeeally did not need to be enhanced, the final ability is one that almost does not seem to fit unless the particular biology is understood. I understand it, but It is complex enough I never want the chore of explaining it. I can absorb reality. This is hard to describe. I can absorb objects and even creatures into myself that are a greater mass than I am. I can also dispense what I have absorbed. This is not limited to matter. It applies to everything. I can even absorb and dispense space-time. I won''t go into explanation, but I can move faster than anyone ever needs to. I can also absorb a moment and carry it into the future. The science behind it is pretty interesting if one can understand the underlying principles. That is pretty much it as far as abilities. Different in a lot of ways, but also enough similarities that I can see the logical connections between what was and what is. I decide to do something to make myself at home in this reality. "On this planet the Ibenurti language is the only spoken language, and always has been. All speaking beings in this planetary system speak it. Written languages remain diverse. My knowledge and memories are adjusted to acomodate this change." Yup, as my first omnipotent act upon this universe I made poop official, an inside joke just for me.