Chapter 10:

Cort watched with bated breath as the hooded figure shattered the pillar of light apart.

Though the light was gone, he did not lose any interest at all and simply stayed rooted as he witnessed sights he had never seen before. The first wonder was the appearance of the transparent old man, who he thought to be a mere projection at first.

‘I’m having difficulty gauging the technological level of this place. On one end, they seem to lack any weapons more intricate than a crossbow yet on another, they have the ability to create long-lasting projections. And that’s not even factoring whatever gadget the kid used.’

As Cort thought of these matters, the conflict between the two sides raged on as the old man broke attack after attack effortlessly.

‘The pageantry is pretty but is there really a need for it?’ Cort continued to struggle with his thoughts.

Suddenly he leaped from his location as he made a frantic dash towards the nearest tree branch.

“Nice reflexes, kid.”

Where he once stood, the same transparent old man from before now sat.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Cort felt the chills making their way down his spine.

“Who I am is not important, rather it is who you are that is.”

Cort aimed his gun at the old man. “I repeat. Who are you? And what is your objective?”

“That’s quite a toy you got there, an epic grade weapon will directly place anyone at low-mid rank. That coupled with your decent speed makes you a solid mid-tier fighter.” The old man said as he fiddled with a black bag.

Cort felt his shoulders and sides hurriedly, only to confirm the worst. His bag was no longer on his person. The grip around his gun tightened as he felt himself coil up to strike.

In opposition to his tensed behavior, the old man was the perfect representation of relaxed. A lazy smile and curious eyes were donned on his face as he rummaged through the bag.

“Oh? What's this?” He asked as he pulled out an odd-looking object.

“A flash grenade.”

“A what?”

“Pull that little ring out.”

“This one?” The old man asked as he looped his finger around the ring before pulling it.

Seconds pass as the two of them watched the bomb.

“Nothing happ-”

A bright flash of light exploded forth before an ear-piercing explosion followed up.

During this time Cort did not stay still as he bounced from one tree branch to another. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he analyzed the situation properly. First things first, the old man was strong. So strong Cort doubted whether he was human. Every instinct in his body told him to avoid a fight, and thus he chose to run away.

“Hey kid, wait up, that was quite some toy as well, Are you perhaps a noble from Mach?” The old man’s voice was that of a teasing tone.

The old man said as he floated towards Cort at extreme speeds while carrying his bag. “What else do you got in here?”

Cort, having discovered how futile the situation was, twisted his body mid-air as he aimed towards the old man. Time slowed as his finger wrapped around the trigger. Three loud bangs rang out.

The old man remained smiling, even as a bullet passed through his forehead, heart, and right knee. He looked unharmed.

Cort stopped running as he saw this scene. Both of them stood facing each other quietly for a minute.

“Are you finally willing to listen?”

Cort sighed as he sat down. “Speak.”

The old man sat down with his back against the tree’s main trunk. He eyed Cort mysteriously “You seem oddly calm. Are there spirits in your world too boyo?”

“My world?” Cort resisted going along with the old man’s flow and picked out the part of the sentence that interested him the most.

“Yes, your world. What is it called?”

Cort thought of all the different meanings that question could hold. But after a bit of thinking, he decided to cut to the chase. “Where am I?”

“Himmel.”

“Himmel?”

“Yes.”

“Which continent is that in?”

“Not continent, think bigger.”

“Stop playing games with me old man and shoot straight, I’m tired of this vague talk.”

“You are currently on the sister planet of your world. A world where Origin is abundant and magic is childsplay. A world where this-” The old man shook Cort’s bag. “Is basically useless.” He threw the bag at Cort.

Cort caught the bag as he processed the old man’s words. “What nonsense is this” But as he began to recall all the events he had witnessed tonight he began to doubt himself.

“Look, I don’t have a lot of time here. So let’s do this” The old man snapped his fingers.

Cort flinched at the sound and lifted his gun up reflexively. But soon he was surprised to learn that his body no longer listened to his orders. He panicked slightly as he began to try and move even the slightest of motions. ‘Drugs?’ He thought as he tried to wiggle his fingers. ‘When?’

“Well? Impressive isn’t it Granted I did not use any origin so it can’t be considered a bona fide spell but still it should be enough to convince you.” The old man said as he floated towards Cort.

Cort said nothing as he finally managed to regain a bit of cool. “Nice trick. Let me guess, drugs? Something that alters my perception of time maybe?”.

“Drugs huh… does that explain this.” The old man lifted his hand slightly and hovered it beneath a falling leaf.

‘Wait. No, it’s not falling.’ Cort stared at the leaf with mystified eyes. No longer being attached to the branch, one would think that the leaf would be making its way down. But no, it simply hovered there unbothered by gravity. It was then that he realized another fact, his surroundings were too quiet. His eyes darted from place to place as he attempted to make sense of the situation. But the longer he looked, the more confused he became. Nothing moved, fluttered, or twitched. All was still, all was silent. He felt trapped within a photograph.

“Good, it seems you’ve noticed.”

Cort opened his mouth to reply but found that it too was frozen in place.

“So here is the deal. You are in a new world vastly different than your own. Let alone the magic you can’t even speak any of its languages. Have you considered how we’ve been talking this entire time?”

Cort’s spinning mind stopped abruptly at the question, thinking back. He did not understand any of the other people he met along the way and yet this old man was perfectly clear. ‘We are not speaking the same language though.’ Cort knew intuitively. He focused on the old man’s next words.

“Of course when you reach my level of strength, languages lose their meaning but still, not everyone is as stron-”

‘No his words do not belong to any language I know.’ Cort continued to ponder on this mysterious sensation and his mind began to wonder.

“Not to mention, you’ve got no money or resources of any kind. I mean sure you can hunt, but do you really want to eat bear meat?”

The old man paused “Sorry I’m rambling. Point is I’ll help with all of that and in return, you just have to do one thing.” He snapped his fingers again as life reentered the world. The previously frozen leaf now gracefully fell upon the old man’s hand.

Cort said nothing for a while as he reflected on the previous one-sided conversation.

“What is it that you need me to do?”

“It simple, think of it as a long term escort quest.”

“Escort quest?”

“Yes, you just have to protect someone.”

“Who?”

“You’ll meet him later, he is a good kid.”

Cort closed his eyes “How much time do I have to think?”

“Not long, two minutes.”

Cort nodded.

‘Do I really want to start working for someone else the moment I left Root?’

“You said this was a different world. If so, is it so easy to crossover that I did so while unconscious?”

“Easy? No, not at all. As for how you got here, I’m not too sure myself, but I am sure you’re not from this world from one simple thing.”

“And what is that?”

“You don’t have a drop of origin in your soul, in fact, your sea is totally empty.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain later, for now just know that it is supremely difficult to move between worlds.”

‘Well, that’s good to know.’ He thought as he caressed the scar behind his neck.’

Once more closing his eyes, he began to think.

Exactly two minutes pass.

“Let’s do it this way, I’ll work with you for now but I get to leave the deal whenever I want during the following seven days.”

Cort expected some haggling from the old man, but he surprisingly agreed easily.

“OK, so what’s the plan?”

The old man smiled brightly as he began to explain.

…………………………………………

“Damned old man.” Cort thought as he hurriedly made his way through the forest.

‘She’s really fast.’ He remarked as he looked behind himself. A veritable tornado viciously made its way towards him at roaring speeds, and at the center of that tornado, a woman stood solemnly with fury-lit eyes. The hazy emerald glow surrounding her reminded Cort of the stories he was told at Root. She reminded him of the gods and goddesses from the times of old.

Cort twisted around as he aimed his handgun at the said goddess. Two consecutive shots sounded out but to no avail. Like a fish in water, she skirted past the bullets with all the grace in the world. Lifting her arm up slightly she slashed forward as a current of air barreled its way towards him.

Sending power to his legs, he grunted as he heavily vaulted off the treetops and into the ground. The branch he once stood upon now lay decapitated form its tree beside him. But he did not pause and he continued to make his way towards his goal.

‘A minute more and I’ll reach it.’ He gritted his teeth as he began to feel gusts of wind buffet against his back. ‘She’s close.’

Sticking a hand into his now more noticeably lighter bag he pulled out a familiar object.

Triste finally caught up to him just as she finished her casting “{Fetters}!”

Cort felt something strike against his back as emerald chains started materializing around his feet.

“So this is magic, huh?” Despite the unfamiliar situation, he still kept his cool. ‘Though this will prove to be a problem.’ He said as he felt his speed slow down. Roughly grasping the item in his hand, he tore a piece of it off with his mouth all while aiming the gun towards the woman once more.

The three bullets he sent were in waste as she hastily moved around them with frighting efficiency. Cort praised her as he noticed a lack of excess motion to her movements. Each and every action was well thought out and executed to perfection.

But the last item he threw proved solid as it squarely hit the ground beneath him.

‘8 seconds.’ He thought, as the chains finally reached his knees leading to him falling. But he expected that as he pulled another gun out of his bag. This gun had two long barrels that lay parallel next to each other.

Praying he remembered to reload the gun, he squeezed the trigger just as the magician was about to let loose another sharp gust of wind.

A deafening sound ensued as a barrage of bullets made their way towards her. At this close of a range, he knew it was nigh impossible to dodge all of them.

‘6 seconds.’

And his theory proved true as she made no effort to dodge, instead, she frantically began to mumble something before ending with a powerful sound “{Encase}!”

A green sphere covered her entire being as the bullets drew ever closer. Miraculously the sphere successfully did its job as it just barely stopped them from progressing. Though this did come at a price as cracks started to form around the shield, particularly near the locations where the bullets made contact with it.

‘3 seconds.’

Testing a theory out, he raised his handgun again and shot twice towards a certain crack. But she did not stay still as she waved her arm releasing a biting torrent of wind in his direction.

‘2 seconds.’

The torrent of wind felt like a blade strike as slashed across his chest, his vest was torn to shreds and blood seeped from his wounds.

As for the magician, while the sphere did block the first bullet, it broke under the second’s pressure. Yet all this proved useless as she merely dodged to the side.

‘1 second’

She approached fast, and in less than a second, she was right in front of him with her hand reaching for his chest. With a clawed hand, she scraped across his wounds as he yelled in pain.

Cort knew she was angry. All her attacks were distance-based, yet she kept drawing closer. What was the point of that if not to personally inflict pain? He wondered whether it was him shooting her friend or the thought of a lowly magic-less kid keeping pace with her that angered her the most. Deciding he did not care he laughed derisively.

“Bang!” He screamed into her ears as he closed his eyes.

For the second time tonight, a flash grenade’s brilliance lit the forest up as a deafening sound dizzied all those near enough to hear.

Triste retreated with surprise as she covered her eyes. The ringing in her ears confused her senses even more. Unintentionally she began to funnel most of her origin towards the barrier to reinforce it, but nothing struck it.

Seconds pass as she began to regain her senses. Looking all around her, she found no clue of the boy. Angered she began to cast another spell “{Spread}” A soft current of wind unfurled with her at the center. Turning towards a specific direction, her eyes grew cold. “{Sprint}” She dashed forwards with the aid of the wind. Her origin neared depletion, yet she did not care, the only thought to linger within her mind was the face of Amy as she stood clutching her chest.

Within seconds she came into contact with her pray, only to find him sitting on a rock while panting.

“My… Turn.” He spoke words she did not understand.

…………………………………………