I was currently flying deeper and deeper into the strange continent I was now calling home. I sped over countless meters of land with tremendous ease.
As I did I began to think back and recount what I knew about the person I had just today learned that I was: a strange sort of non-human almost superhero-like being. So far what I knew could be broken down into different, basic topics.
The first topic was my powers. So far I mostly appeared to possess what could be considered "basic" superpowers. I was super strong, though I still lacked clear evidence of that, almost unbelievably fast, and I could fly. The decidedly less "basic" powers I possessed included what could be omnilingualism, and the ability to talk to animals, both of which were extremely handy powers.
There were also powers that I supposedly had that the notes in my home were decided were worth keeping a secret, for now anyway. That decision annoyed me, but I had enough information to be able to speculate about the nature of those mysterious powers.
At least some of my powers were shaped or perhaps just influenced by belief. I was believed to be a demigod of heroism and health, which meant that it was likely I had supernatural healing abilities, even if I hadn't actually tried using them just yet. I... wasn't sure how to use such strange powers, but my mind was filled with an awareness that I could probably use them if I dared to try.
The second topic was the matter of my species. I was a deity-like creature capable of being empowered by two things: the beliefs of my followers, and by defeating enemies. Under other circumstances, I'd be skeptical of such a weird idea but... the events of the past day had given me ample evidence of both of those strange ideas. I should pursue more evidence of that idea, but for now operating under the assumption that there was some truth to the idea wasn't probably the best move.
The third topic was related to the first two. It was the topic of how I ought to behave moving forward. I needed to be conscious of the powers I sought to obtain and master, as well as how my rather strange species could be perceived while contemplating my behavior. If I acted, I needed to act with purpose. Even now.
Every interaction, especially ones that left strong impressions, was a chance to increase in power. I needed to internalize that and act with deliberation every single time I made a move. If I was clever, especially now in the beginning when virtually no one knew who I was, then I could swiftly gain considerable power and influence.
At the moment I was zipping through the air above the odd and mysterious new continent I was living on. This wasn't a careless act on my part either, I was flying with purpose. I was making my way towards a strange sight: a plume of smoke against an otherwise clear night's sky. The smoke, set from what I now knew, now sensed, was an intentionally created fire, indicated human or perhaps humanoid activity in this part of the continent.
I needed to investigate the locals. For now, I had designated them as the enemies of the people who had summoned me, and in doing marked them as my enemies, and so I had a duty to investigate and research them. I could do what very few, if any, of my people could do. I could travel stealthily and so I was being brave and giving myself space to test and push myself.
As I continued to zip across the night's sky, traveling at speeds that easily exceeded the speed of sound, I closed in on the plume of smoke. When I was a few kilometers from it, the small village where it was coming out of, popped into view. My lips curled into a dark smile as I finally laid eyes on the first foreign settlement I'd ever seen in this world.
I had been flying close to the ground up until this point. I wasn't near enough to the ground to deal damage to it due to my flying, but I was definitely visible to anyone who looked at the ground of the grassy plain I was currently flying over. I quickly chose to change that.
I gazed at the night's sky and appreciated its darkness. I was perfectly capable of seeing in this darkness, something that when I unconsciously noticed it earlier chalked up to my enhanced biology, but I suspected that this planet's humans might not have been. Multiple plumes of smoke rose into the air above the small village, and I could dimly see the faint glow of various fires lighting different spots around the small settlement.
I twisted and reoriented myself in mid-air and shot straight-upwards at the same frightening speed that I had flown to this part of the region surrounding my new home. I quickly began to rise high into the air, rising higher into the than the plumes of smoke lazily rose.
When I was high enough in the air I flew forward until the smoke clouds were obscuring me from the view of anyone who may have had the power to magically peer into darkness but might not have had a separate power to gaze through clouds of smoke. In this odd spot, I was protected from all sorts of view, and almost subconsciously I knew that I'd be able to listen to conversations in the village from where I was floating.
It was only when I was hidden behind an odd blanket of smoke that I relaxed and slowed myself down. As I allowed myself to slow enough that time "returned" to normal, noises began to flood my ears. Countless noises.
The world beneath me was a noisy place. Even dozens of meters in the air my ears were almost immediately assaulted by the barrage of noises I was suddenly forced to endure, due to the kindness I showed in slowing myself down enough that I was on par with the average Earth human in terms of speed and ways they perceived the world around them.
Hundreds of voices abruptly filled my ears. The voices belonged to the natives of this region. Their words were automatically translated in my head and I could hear both public chanting and private conversations. I silently listened to the assorted words being spoken in the village beneath me. The words that were the easiest for me to hear appeared to be part of a public address being given to the village by someone with some authority.
"We must strive to honor her sacrifice. The knowledge that she was chosen by the dragon fills me with great sorrow, but she willingly went with so as to protect us all from the foul beasts' wrath!" A voice proclaimed, speaking boldly to an entire crowd of people. I knew because just as I heard the voice I also heard the mournful cries of some of the locals.
This felt like an adventure hook to me, and that made me smile. There was something incredibly video-game-like about the whole thing that was almost charming. Some girl, or perhaps some woman, being kidnapped by a dragon was certainly the sort of thing that was interesting to me and indeed made me want to act. And what was more intriguing was that these figures weren't the only people discussing the apparent sacrifice of this person.
"Nadri... My precious daughter..." One voice, far from the others, said mournfully. The voice belonged to an elderly man.
"Is there truly nothing we can do? No figure we can turn too, to overcome this... This dragon?" A much younger voice asked, fear and hope competing to be heard coming from him. The elderly man fell silent and contemplated his words for a moment. When he spoke nearly a minute had passed.
"It would take the intervention of someone like the Ackatrayelu, the sun-soul, to defeat a full-grown dragon. Only he could be so powerful." The elderly man told the other person he was confiding in. I audibly laughed when I heard him say that, as the instant those words left his lips I knew that I was going to go and act.
A creature called "The sun-soul" was surely a powerful type of being, and having a chance to impersonate one as the new kind of creature that I was meant that I could in all likelihood gain new powers. This was the sort of opportunity that was perfect for my new self.
"I've been praying to him for the last day, but I suspect that if my prayers were deemed sufficient then he would have appeared publicly before Nadri was taken away from us. The odds of such a powerful spirit intervening now... Well, it just won't happen." The elderly voice told the younger one, sorrow audible in it.
"Well... Maybe I'll go to the cavern. It's not far from here. If I go maybe I can make it in time!" The younger voice said, seemingly refusing to accept the recent string of events. A silence fell over the pair, one which lasted for several moments before the elderly voice spoke again.
"Magnus... Nadri's sacrifice is already hard enough for me. You are just a boy, your 'intervention' would only infuriate the dragon in the cavern and cause it to devour Nadri and everyone else. There are other young people in the cavern, working to appease the dragon and the Toreans. Your actions would only cause mayhem, and result in your death, Nadri's death, and the deaths of dozens of other people from here." The elderly figure stated, bluntly.
I heard "Magnus" hiss in anger, and chuckled. I had heard enough, and so I closed my eyes and began to focus. As I closed my eyes the words I could hear raised in volume and the range of my hearing was increased as well.
The sounds of distant voices began to register in my ears. I heard the sounds of plants rustling, of animals sleeping, eating, hunting, and even mating, in the distance. And when I had spent perhaps three minutes with my eyes closed I began to hear faint voices.
The voices echoed strangely as if they were in a cave somewhere in the distance. I heard them speak in two incredibly distinct languages, but both were translated in my head. They muttered about a dragon, and about the young woman they had brought to said dragon. It was enough for me to act on, and so I opened my eyes and turned in the general direction of the voices.
I shot across the sky, moving at a considerable speed but not moving so blindly fast that time froze. I did this so that I could continue to listen to the voices in the cavern and more easily locate it. As I closed in on the voices the green plain of the area I was in gave way to a number of stony hills where I could see various natural holes of assorted depths, and I wondered what sort of natural wealth could be found by those skilled and brave enough to go into them.
Eventually, the strange destination I was flying towards began to be visible in the distance. As I flew deeper and deeper into the continent, away from the coast where my allies had settled, a vast mountain became visible in the distance. I was flying towards it and the voices were becoming clearer.
The mountainside was dotted with holes that allowed anyone entry into the mountain itself. Some of these holes were protected by small guard towers made of wood and staffed by well-armed and well-armored figures who were clothed in what, in my eyes anyway, looked like medieval light armor and carried practical-looking bows.
They also wore the metal masks that the would-have-been assassins I had defeated earlier today wore, which was incredibly fascinating to me. I focused on one particular cave entrance, due to what I could hear the guards stationed there talking about.
The guards lined up on the watchtowers were the "Toreans" that had been mentioned by the elderly man whose daughter had been kidnapped. I could hear their voices and how they laughed when it came to the thought of feeding the young woman they had seemingly ordered to be sacrificed to the dragon that lived in the cave they were guarding.
Before I got close enough to be seen or heard in the gloom of night I again twisted in mid-air and redirected myself upward, into the sky. I flew high up, so high that the oddity of my figure blocking out the natural light of the stars would be small enough that it wouldn't draw unwanted attention my way. I wanted to take a second to think about how to continue my approach from here.
I knew that if I didn't act now there was a chance that the woman I had come here to rescue might die at the hands, or fangs, of the dragon. It made this a time-sensitive mission. I also, thanks to my immense sensory range, had gathered the information I needed to gather before planning my move. The final step I needed to do was figure out how I planned to save Nadri.
I was fast enough that I perform a stealthy rescue, but that put the other people from her village in danger. I could also brute force my way through this, and put my superpowers to use. That strategy was more violent, but it also bought me an almost assuredly great amount of power as dozens of these "Toreans" stood between myself and Nadri. I hovered in mid-air, smiling, as I began to chuckle and uttered a few words.
"I suppose they've left me no choice." I said before I sprang into action, not hesitating and experiencing no fear. I dashed through the air and towards the guard tower in front of the most direct pathway to Nadri, her people, and the dragon I had come here to face.