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A new world,
Since leaving behind the previous base, I found many peculiar phenomenons. Strangely enough the plants seem rather normal? Well although they are different than the ones recorded in the archives, they do remind me of the rainforests, which once grew on earth, untouched by civilisation. The path we take also reminds me of a tribal civilisation, it is totally unusable for logistics, maybe I expected too much of the civilisations on this planet. Well back to the plants, I even observed them under the microscope and nothing, no strange ability's or the reinforced cell activity I could observe with the presence of magic. I do have a theory though, maybe it is about will. Magic advances your spirit and mind while using it frequently, but I think the other way around is also true. Without ever being able to use my magic before, I still had a considerably bigger amount of it than Leonard. While he could cast his spell barley once, when I begun I even had a bit of it left after using it for the first time. So if you can strengthen your magic by strengthening your will, will you be able to use magic If you have none?
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The next weeks were rather uneventful. I did learn a few things, such as the constant need for a light source, preferable fire since it reduced the likelihood of an arrack by a large margin.
Another noteworthy detail was that there was a 30 hours circle with the first fifteen hours of day, and the second fifteen hours of night. apparently that never changed, although i reckon that it must be different when you move into another part of the continent.
Both i and Leonardo refrained from actively speaking about our past, a tactical agreement of sorts. But what i did find out was, that he apparently was in search for an old project of the empire he somehow came to know about, and as I was also interested in the civilization I agreed to come along.
But what we spend the most time with was magic.
And our progress was astonishing, well mostly his.
My guide seemed to have a talent in magic, or he was very suited for the spell.
I don't know which is more important jet, and to establish more fundamental rules I would need a larger sample size, which whoever ruled over humanity probably wouldn't find all to good.
But I did learn allot of the structure of spells, or at least low level spells.
Since casting my own first magic allot of the problems i previously had just vanished, as before learning magic in the bubble was like learning how to cook without ever tasting or even seeing food in your life.
The only problem lied in a serious food shortage.
Leonard was equipped with enough food for the journey, but i was servery lacking food. Well with the small weight and space limit I had when I came out of the bubble, the choice was hard. But seriously, would you rather pick a can of food that lasts one meal or a desert eagle specificity produced and modified by the international agency for trans dimensional travel or IATDT.
.Seriously
their tech was at the top of the world. And the weapons were custom made by the smartest heads on earth to be as efficient as
possible for the mission. How could I abandon something like that for a mere ration.
In retrospect quit idiotic, i thought I could hunt but nothing. Apparently to live in this world the animals had to one up their survival skills, which was bad for me.
The sole two things that shed light in this darkness was the fact that Leonard was adapt at securing food from the surroundings like roots and smaller animals, which I wouldn't have even considered to eat.
Other than this was the fact that we would be arriving at the main road this evening, and if my guide was to be trusted, we could trade some food with other merchants if we come across any.
For that purpose, and to familiarize myself with it, I started wearing a dark cloak and leather boots.
It was exactly these small things that further enforced my notion of changing this world, seriously how could anyone wear such unpractical clothes that were devoid of any of the small energetic ingenuities that made our live just a little bit easier.
I was confronted with issues I didn't even know existed.
I quickly ignored all the useless thoughts as we approached a light in the dark.
And then suddenly the forest surrounding us vanished as we stepped onto a magnificent road.
The road was broad and sleight, looking at it gave one the feeling of staring into infinity.
Both sides of the road were lighted up by strong yellow light sources that looked like miniature suns, probably to scare of the beasts.
I was curious about how they accomplished this.
Then on second glance I noticed another curious detail. The road was old.
Extremely so, probably more than a thousand years, but even then it didn't have any holes or uneven parts. The only sign telling of this was the wear on the seamlessly mended stones of which the road was build out.
It was probably the first time in my life that I had a serous sense of respect for this world.
Before I was subconsciously looking down on everything around us, belittling their progress, their achievements.
It sent cold shivers up and down my spine, there it was the proof of how much there was in this world to learn to
"Hey, I know that the roads here are interesting and you were not outside before, but is it interesting enough to die for? Because I have the feeling that you will rather starve than move on your own."
He had a fair point, I would have more than enough time to look at this technical master work while we walk on it.
As such we resumed our journey, which for the most part was not so much different.
The road completely empty, the last two days we did not encounter even a single person. And it was a little too quiet, as if the world stood still in fear.
I stopped, now that I think about it, wasn't this the sign that something is going wrong. i just never noticed as the Bubble was similarly silent.
"Hey, Leonard. Don't you also think that it is a little too quiet, we haven't met a single soul on such a large road."
He turned at me, amusement clearly showing on his face.
"Wasn't it you who complained about it being far to noisy out here all the time?" After taking a small pause and seeing no reaction from me he continued, as if I would give him that satisfaction.
"Look the animals are always quiet" Lowering his voice he stated "They fear the purging sunlight, We all do." "As for the wanderers and merchants, the worship of light is said to search for someone and it seems the situation is even more dire than what i heard if even these madmen don't dear to take the road."
Isn't this you know, bad for us? Well in the worst case, did I have a small nuclear bomb of the third generation with me. Not big enough to blow up a megacity, but it did have quite the power.
The only problem lied in getting out alive myself, as I had no launcher. These things were too big and clumsy to take with me.
"But don t worry" Leonard continued, unaware of my thoughts."We come from far, well I but you are exotic enough to pass for one . As such, we should not get under too much suspicion as we have no connection to this place at all. The worship of light is violent, brutal, and unforgiving but at least they are fair."