And thus, they reappeared.
David steadied himself and opened his eyes when that annoying nausea disappeared. Unexpectedly, he had been rather lucky, as many of his fellow Earthlings crouched on the floor and vomited.
He raised his eyebrows a single time and moved on to observing Gomorrah, the Upside-Down Tower. The group of three hundred Federation Earthlings had landed on a stone platform engraved with various esoteric and intricate symbols that did not resemble any known earth language, if not for a character that looked a lot like the letter 'p'.
Perhaps because the tower was upside-down, no sun would illuminate this place at noontime or nighttime, only when the sun shone at a certain angle during the sunset. To say that this sight was shocking to David would be an underestimation. Normally, when one raised one's head, one expected to see a blue sky. Instead, on Gomorrah, he could see the true Otherworld.
It turned out Gomorrah orbited higher than he thought. While he could barely see the curvature of the planet, the green and continental landmasses and blue seas were in clear view. At the corner of his vision, there was even a large…black hole in the middle of a continent.
"What's that?" David noticed he wasn't the only one to perceive it. He would ask the person Nimrod advised him to visit later.
"Earthlings."
The masked wizard beckoned to the group once again. Except now, he removed the mask and cast in clear view the old, wise face underneath.
"Welcome to Gomorrah!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd. David also felt compelled to cheer, although he was never the kind for meaningless celebration. Likely one of the wizard's antics, as was his awfully loud voice.
"I know, I know you're very excited to explore on your own and don't want to listen to an old man give speeches…be patient with me, alright?" The old wizard tilted his lips upwards for a smile, but his wrinkles only folded further.
"When will we get magic?" A young man from amidst the crowd pointed to the wizard, followed by the affirmative cheers of the mob.
"Be patient with this old man, alright?" The harmless wizard swung his wand in the air, and the man suddenly reached for his mouth.
It seemed he couldn't open his mouth no matter how much he tried or struggled. David sucked in a breath. Underneath the wrinkles, perhaps an indomitable and terrifying wizard awaited.
"Earthlings, follow my lead!"
"To Yog-Sothoth, Lord of Supreme Knowledge. To Cthulhu, Lord of the Dreamers. To the Color, Lord of the Senses and Consciousness. To Azatoth, Placenta of the Universe."
David repeated the wizard's every word. The chant didn't do anything, until he pronounced the last syllable. As if a switch had been flicked, David sensed great peace and great enlightenment, a sentiment of freedom and serenity.
This sense only lasted a second, as his reality returned to…reality.
Not everything, however.
In front of David now hovered a block of text. Organized into rows and columns and written in English, it stated the following:
(David Bergstein)
Race: Human
Physique: F
Agility: F
Dexterity: E-
Intelligence: D
Magic: F-
Luck: C
"You should all see it, right? This old man sees no more, but can still see it. If any of you don't have it, come see me later."
The Earthlings gazed at the air as if madmen, but they were all busy discovering their new senses. Because he had lost focus on the real world, when David came to his senses, he discovered that he stared at a lady, and she had done the same.
They exchanged glances for a second before they drifted their gazes elsewhere.
"I'll let you all explore your settings later. By the way, this old man thinks that chant is too long for regular use, you can just chant initialisms instead: YCCA to close your settings and open them back up."
Convenient.
"Now, onto the important stuff. Your sigil will have quite a bit of information, but I'll get you to date on the fundamentals."
'Oh great, fundamentals,' Hopefully there were no mind-readers in this place.
"As you may know, Gomorrah is a training tower that runs for 49 days where we will…train you…for your experiences on the Otherworld," The old man gestured and danced as he spoke.
'Oh great, this man has a knack for theatrics,'
David shouldn't have jinxed it.
With a wave of his wand, mist gathered around him and formed the outline of a human. A robotic, artificial voice came out of the humanoid illusion, "Oh, but great wizard Sahul, how will one train combat masters in 49 days?"
The old wizard cleared his throat and replied, "For four days of the week, all Earthlings will gather at the stone platform for special training. Then, we've been generous at Gomorrah: you have access to various gyms and training equipment, along with plenty of free food and comfortable beds that shouldn't be used for anything other than sleeping, this old man would advise."
The crowd sneered collectively.
"Oh, and last but not least, we have gifts for you in your rooms…Check your sigils."
With that, the old wizard clapped twice to call them off, and turned around to leave.
"That's it, this is Gomorrah? I heard they treated us like gods in here." A man nearby nudged at his back and asked him.
'That would be a catastrophic mistake.'
"I think he didn't reveal all of the amenities yet…check your sigil," David flashed a smile at the man. Spoiled brats.
If he had the chance to be here, he didn't mind feasting on matzo and sleeping on straw for the entire duration of his stay.
Gomorrah looked large enough that he didn't feel like he could explore it all in forty-nine days. Not on his own.
The crowd dispersed, all traveling and exploring a respective direction. David thought it more sensible to speak to Nimrod's friend first, as they likely knew more about this place than he could find out on his own.
'Who should I ask?'
David searched around for any unusual people.
There.
The stone platform stood on a wide boulevard. On one end of the boulevard, there was an outdoor bar, and on the wooden seats of the bar, a familiar figure sat.
"Sir Sahul?" David called politely.
"Huh?" The old wizard turned around and revealed his hands full of a mug that reeked of strong liquor. David's nostrils twitched, but he didn't show his disgust to the wizard.
"One of the Earthlings, huh? One thing this old man has to admit, Gomorrah's free alcohol is a good business choice!" Sahul the wizard made small talk.
"Sit down, boy!"
David assented, and a male bartender greeted him, "What shall I get you?"
He didn't want any alcohol. However, Sahul's stare made him deeply uncomfortable, and he figured the old drunkard would take badly to his refusal to drink.
"…I'll get a ginger ale."
"Lightweight, huh?" Sahul chuckled.
"Definitely."
"So, boy, how are you finding Gomorrah?"
"I didn't have the time t-
"This old man has been delegated here every year for the past decade, and let me tell you, this place produces stories unlike any other."
Oh great, the wizard didn't intend to listen to him at all, but only to tell his stories.
"The time that woman, the Vice Guildmaster, what's her name…? Ah! Selena. She was a young girl back then, in the prime of her youth, and she was the first, since Paul Greyhound, to enter this place with all of her settings at D Rank!"
"Then she challenged Berthelot the drunkard…"
Stop this.
"After victory, she got the attention of the prince of Shaba…"
David glanced at his empty cup.
"You know, this old ma-
"Sir Sahul, I apologize. My sponsor has put me under serious time constraints and I need to move, can I ask you something?"
The old wizard nodded vigorously, "Of course! This old man is here for that. I will give you your reply, not a word less or more."
Of course, he will.
"Do you know where I can find an individual named Amran, Sir Sahul?"
The talkative wizard went silent at his inquiry.
'Uh-oh?'
"I don't understand why you'd want to speak to a woman of Kasdim, but if you need to-
"I need to."
The old wizard nodded.
He grabbed a golden sigil from underneath his robes and fidgeted around with it. "Bring your sigil closer, boy."
David did as he was told.
"You'll find the location marked on your map."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
"Oh, and…" Sahul called the leaving David.
The boy's indomitable stare and iron eyes as he turned around to face him shook Sahul. Those were the eyes of his talented predecessors: Greyhound, Selena, Yerzog, Cinlau, Ahmed…
"Good luck in the Otherworld."
"Thank you, Sir Sahul."