Chapter 2 - The Situation So Far

The little girl's eyes moved from the smoking rifle in Fane's hands to the corpse lying at his feet. The pool of blood was steadily growing, enough that it began to flow around Fane's boots. The child stood there with a blank expression, the scene before her too terrible to process.

Fane didn't know how to react.

He'd made the right decision, but he couldn't explain himself to a child. So, he stood there frozen, unable to pull himself away or shake off the uneasy feeling.

After what felt like an eternity, the little girl's parents finally came to get their child. She still showed a blank expression as her mother wrapped her up in her arms. Her father came too, ushering them away from the gruesome scene.

Fane shook his head to bring himself back to reality. Women and children all around were still wailing in horror after seeing such a terrible death, so he removed his cloak to cover the body. The cloak was tattered and torn, some parts of the dead man remaining visible beneath the cloth, yet it didn't matter too much. What was done was done and nothing more would improve the current situation...

The next few hours were especially taxing for Fane. He had to make sure the cave was safe, with no more surprises tagging along in the civilian's cargo. All the while, the people would cast hateful glares in his direction since he had to rummage through their personal belongings. Obviously it was impolite, but Fane wouldn't rest until he ensured there wasn't a second threat lying dormant somewhere in the camp.

Many of the civilians wanted to protest against his invasion of their privacy, but they didn't have the guts to directly confront an infamous . The people would glare at him behind his back, but whenever he met their gaze, they would quickly look away. Perhaps he seemed more intimidating while wearing the hemet...

When he was done handling the event's aftermath, he made his way back to the cave's entrance to rest. Fane sighed heavily as he sat down by the entrance to the cave once more. This event had been rather unpleasant. It might be good not to dwell on it.

With a thought, he opened his AI's spatial inventory and threw in the broken crystal that was once the crimson mass of bloodthirsty tentacles. Upon entering his inventory, the AI automatically identified it and its name appeared among the list of stored items.

[ Adept Construct - Bloodvine (Broken) ]

'As I thought. An was behind this.'

Taking it out again, he turned the crystal over in his hands, partially studying it while quietly thinking to himself about other matters. In an attempt to take his mind off things, he looked at the starry sky and reflected on how much he had changed since being summoned here.

He, like many others, was brought to this world against his will.

There were three worlds from which people were summoned. Each followed their own unique paths of development, resulting in starkly contrasting societies. The inhabitants of each world lived entirely unaware of the existence of the others until now, previously being isolated by the boundaries of their respective realities. Upon arrival, individuals from each of these worlds found themselves gifted with new abilities and marked with one of three corresponding titles.

The were citizens of an interstellar civilization which had long since left their overpopulated homeworld behind. Strangely enough, the summonees from this civilization all came from Astros Prime, a distant planet recently colonized just a few generations ago. Astros Prime was situated at the very edge of explored space, making it the very frontier of exploration and discovery. This also made its settlers a group of experienced survivors.

The were the denizens of Prismos Arcadia, a world whose technological advancement took a route focused around crystaline structures and their interactions with mysterious energies. Fane couldn't help but think of these people as wizards and mages. While they didn't wear pointy, wide-brimmed hats, many employed robes and staffs. They could even perform magic-like feats, such as forming a mass of liquid fire from nothing and hurling it at their opponents.

The from Caelstrus were essentially weakened gods enshrouded in mystery. Rumor had it that they all had some kind of memory loss and had been dormant deities until their summoning. Now, they sought answers about themselves, the nature of their dormancy and the fate of their home.

These three groups were each given a tool for progression by the unknown entity that brought them all here. Each tool did roughly the same thing, but was special to the advancement methods of each world.

The woke up with an AI implanted directly into their brains. However, there were no scars, so it was unknown what kind of hardware the AI used and how it got there. As far as anyone could tell, there was no underlying network among different users, making each unexpectedly isolated from the others. Each AI was entirely personal.

The were each given a master crystal said to be sentient. The core of the crystal was small and could be woven into clothing or embedded into something like a staff, but as the improved, the master crystal would grow alongside them. Often times, the master crystal's growth would manifest as additional shards which would float nearby like a cloud of gems.

The were a bit different. Each was given a tome that supposedly contained details about their own history, nature and achievements. Being gods, the viewed these tomes as their own holy text. However, each page was somehow sealed and couldn't be read until the made the necessary progress as a condition.

Fane kept toying with the broken construct gem, turning it over in his hands while remaining lost in thought.

...

This was a peculiar world. The locals didn't seem to understand the concept of other worlds existing besides their own, so this place had no name. Therefore, those who were summoned here simply called this world "The Nexus".

There were many strange things about the Nexus, but the most notable oddity would probably be the world's design. The surface looked perfectly normal with many different biomes, nature flourishing in most places. But the world underground was a massive, shifting labyrinth as vast and unpredictable as the shattered mind of a mad god. Each passage teemed with unpredictable, hostile life and concealed valuable resources for every kind of otherworlder.

It appeared that this world functioned like a clockwork machine, its secrets concealed in the constantly shifting labyrinth deep underground. Fane speculated that whatever had brought him here might lie below, perhaps even at the world's core. Some of the other shared his belief, but there were few opportunities to converse with the others in the current situation.

Fane felt the tinge of annoyance while thinking about his poor luck. If only he had started off in any country besides this one. 

When Fane was summoned to this world, fate led him to land in the Kellioran Empire. Initially, the government paid little attention to the , but that changed swiftly. Witnessing the remarkable abilities of the otherworlders, the Kellioran government attempted to forcefully conscript them for their war efforts. Naturally, the wanted nothing to do with it and sought to leave Kelliora entirely, resulting in a mass exodus.

Fearing this incredible asset might fall into the hands of their enemies, Kelliora hastily decided to eliminate the escaping . It was a foolish act, one born of desperation.

The ensuing conflict descended into a harrowing torrent of bloodshed. The government, desperate to maintain control, clashed heavily with the opposing , but ultimately stood no chance against them. The fought viciously, cutting a bloody path straight through their enemies and escaped with a newfound hatred for Kelliora.

Now, only a small portion of the remained in this country, taking pity on its war-ravaged citizens. They still refused to fight unless necessary, choosing to only serve as defensive escorts for citizens. But despite their assistance, they were still seen only as monsters.

The conflict had caused serious friction, fueling rumors that spread like wildfire, painting all as heartless monsters. Few citizens expressed gratitude, and the government's entitlement only worsened the situation. Prospects of acceptance only dwindled as time went on.

There was no future for the here. Fane was already among the last of his kind in this country and at the end of this mission, he would leave too.