After many hours of non-stop sprinting and parkour inside the dark cave world Sedia and Magnius had finally arrived at another gate.
The world on the other was in stark contrast to the dark cave world they were currently in. There were massive trees, forest-like. But the ground was covered in what seemed like tropical plants. It was an unseamly mess and fusion of jungle and orderly wood. Dark green with vibrant green.
It seemed... off but also just right.
"I should warn you. I'm not going to use my fire magic, at all while we're travelling through here. If I set the place on fire I'm not going to be able to stop it from spreading. I would probably survive that, but I doubt you would. If we ever get into a fight with a beast you're on your own."
Magnius nodded at her.
"Good."
Sedia stepped through the gate with Magnius and once again he was assaulted by the change in environment. The air was a lot lighter and some of the weight on his shoulders lifted. It seemed the gravity was less strong in the world, while the oxygen was more plentiful-- most likely because of the abundant of plantlife.
"Follow me closely. There are carnivorous plants around here that will ensnare and dissolve you in an instant. If you follow my footsteps exactly you should be able to avoid them."
Sedia pulled her long hair up and fastened it into a bun on top of her head. Her head comically resembled a pyre, with her red hair and the flames on top.
"Why not stop the flames in your hair. What if you catch something on fire?"
"If I stop burning my hair I'll suffer from Magic Overload within minutes. The entire forest will burn down. Now stop talking and follow me."
Sedia began moving again, jumping from tree to tree and leaping over shrub and plantlife. Magnius followed behind her diligently.
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Hours later they were setting up camp in one of the massive trees above the forest. Sedia informed Magnius they were well on schedule and should arrive at the proper gate within two days. He decided to ask some questions on where exactly they were heading.
"The world we're heading has a surprisingly head density of newborn spirits. You probably don't have to stay longer than half a year in there if you're lucky."
"Half a year?" Magnius was surprised by the amount of time this expedition would span. He didn't mind it, as the prospect of staying inside of a gate for months excited him to no end, but he was still surprised.
"What did you expect? Unbound spirits are pretty rare, you know. And they have to find you, its not like you can encounter one whenever you want. Its all a game of chance. Just hope that you're lucky and you don't have to stay longer than a year."
"Hope that I don't have to stay a year? Not we?"
Sedia laughed at him. "You don't seriously think I'm spending months on end baby-sitting you? I'm dropping you off there and then I'm leaving. I'll come back every 6 months or so."
"..."
Magnius layed on his back and peered at the sky throught the thick foliage. Some stars were barely bright enough to pierce through the leaves and branches of the large trees.
What truly was the world on another side of the gate?
Was a gate merely a transportation method between the stars? Was he currently on a different planet? Or was the world on the other side of a gate a different version of the same the reality?
Magnius had pondered these questions quite often, laying awake. What were gates? Everyone knew the story.
Less than 300 years ago humanity had lived peacefully and blissfully on a singular world. The planet 'Earth'. And then the gates appeared, suddenly connecting earth with an infinite number of worlds similar to it to some degree. But why? And how?
Humanity had not lost all of its knowledge after migrating through the gates to find a new world. They still knew about space, the stars and celestial bodies. Numerous theories had appeared that gates were simply acting 'wormholes' that transferred one between these celestial bodies.
But there were just as many hypotheses that gates connected different realities, and that humans simply stepped onto another 'Earth' when they entered a gate.
But none of these theories held any proof. That was all they were. Theories and hypotheses-- Educated guesses.
Magnius wondered if he would ever find the truth about gates.
And thats when he realized he could. He was a hunter-- A pioneer. If he wanted to know truth, all he had to do was travel through gates until he found the answer.
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The moment morning light broke through the foliage Sedia and Magnius were moving again. They continued on the first few hours with no interruptions nor conversation until a great rumble could be felt throughout the forest floor.
The earth wailed and shuddered as the sound of a large impact could be heard and felt from a distance. Sedia grinned wildly.
"This is perfect. We're going in that direction." Sedia headed off towards the direction the sound had originated from, Magnius following behind her. His heart thumped in his ears from excitement.
"That's a magic beast." Sedia landed on a thick branch and pointed down at the forest floor. Her eyes glowed. "I'm sure you can figure out what variety of spirit its bound to."
Down on the forest floor was a small beast, extremely common, a Strylid. It seemed to be alone but Strylids always traveled in packs. Its centipede-like body curled in on itself as it made a gesture towards a mountain of sand and rubble. A massive crater could be observed off to the side. Was it bound to an earth spirit?
The sand shifted and a massive plant dug itself out. One of the carnivorous plant species? A plant leaf similar to that of a venus fly-trap appeared and spit green mucus at the strylid.
The strylid once again made a gesture and the ground in front of it rumbled up into a solid wall of earth and stone. The wall blocked the ball of mucus and fell towards the massive plant, crushing it.
Sedia whistled. "Must be bound to at least a major rank spirit. That's pretty rare for small monsters like that. Impressive, right?"
Magnius was speechless. The small monster had been capable of completely overpowering what would ordinarily be considered its natural predator. And not only that, the creativity it had displayed in its use of magic was something Magnius would never have expected. Magic beasts were incomparably powerful compared to their normal counter parts.
The magic beast Strylid made a clicking sound and removed the earthen wal from the crushed carnivorous plant. Soon after, a pack of strylids trickled out of the underbrush, preparing to feast on the dead plant.
"Let's move on." Sedia began moving back towards the way the came. Still taking in the spectacle Magnius had just seen, he turned and followed distracted.
He understood why Sedia told him to be careful around Magic beasts a lot more, now. While he was sure he could defeat that Magic beast Strylid from just now, he definitely wouldn't be able to do it without suffering some damages.
What if a large beast like the Kuolema Orvis was bound to a spirit? They would be a near unstoppable opponent.
Magnius became hopelessly excited. He was stronger than a Kuolema Orvis. How strong would he be, once he himself was bound to a spirit?
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A day later a different gate came into view.
"Nice, we made it a day early. Now head in there so I can go back home."
"Not even a goodbye?"
"Do you want one?"
Magnius frowned at her.
He jumped down to the forest floor and approached the gate. This one felt a bit different. The mana density on the other side seemed to be much greater than the world he was now. The sky seemed dark and speckled with stars. The stars seemed to be the only sources of light.
What was strange was that the stars seemed to be reflected on the ground. Perhaps it was water. It reflected the sky perfectly like a clean mirror, giving the world an uncanny feeling.
"Why's it so dark in there?" Magnius turned around and asked Sedia.
But she was already gone when he turned around, the branch that she had been standing on was empty.
Magnius sighed.
"Well, then."
Excitement bubbled up within him as he stepped through the gate.