Daniel was woken up early in the morning and unceremoniously led down the cobblestone street by several draconians. A quick question of where exactly he was being led to was promptly answered by the closest draconian who pointed towards a towering building not too far in the distance.
It was extravagant like most of the buildings surrounding it, but whereas the neighboring building went too far with their decor this one seemed to have chosen a more utilitarian path.
Heavy steel doors glimmered with ever shifting runes, and dozens of heavily armored draconians stood guard right outside the building.
"This is where we house our gateway to the human city. We conduct trade with them occasionally, and this is the only portal we have that can put you directly inside their walls. It's heavily regulated, and very expensive to use. So we won't be sending a message of your arrival beforehand. you're going to have to do some explaining when you get to the other side."
Daniel nodded at her answer and let them lead him inside the building and through its winding halls. The mix between eccentricity and utilitarianism seemed to be in constant battle throughout the architecture, with anything to do with defense or efficiency being streamlined while any blank space in between was crammed full of carvings, statues and precious metals.
It didn't take the small group long to reach a large room that was completely devoid of any eccentricities, with cold metal making up the walls, ceiling and floor. Runes danced upon the walls and periodically left them to swim through the air, and sitting in the middle of the room next to a shimmering golden portal was an old draconian. His scales were cracked, and their color faded, but more importantly he wasn't wearing a shirt and Daniel could count at least ten tattoos covering his body.
Two gold, four silver and four iron.
This was likely one of the most powerful people in this town, and if they had him guarding a teleporter, he was either the one keeping the entire facility running, or necessity called for a guard nearing the level of Anton.
"Hail there esteemed guest, come closer. The rest of you may take your leave."
The draconians that had led Daniel promptly turned and left, and a second later the steel door slid shut behind them with a metallic clang.
"So you're the one that got Alexander all in a huff," the draconian beamed. "It's much better than him moping about, just waiting for his chance to go on another one of his hunts."
"I suppose it is," Daniel shrugged as he made his way deeper into the room.
The draconian stood and began to tinker with the portal, and while the image on the other side was still quite blurry, Daniel could see it rapidly shifting between locations.
"I am Iliad, though I'm not truly someone worth remembering."
Daniel nodded as the draconian continued to work, "Well nice to meet you, regardless."
"I normally wouldn't introduce myself, but I wanted to personally thank you for giving Lord Alexander somebody to talk to. He gets in such a rut when he doesn't have anything to do. Especially this close to a new blood moon."
"You really don't need to thank me," Daniel said as he approached the portal. "I didn't really do anything."
"And sometimes, that's enough," Iliad said as the portal finally stabilized. "Be careful in that city of yours. While my people are marred by the dragon of greed, humans are not so far behind us."
Daniel nodded and took a few steps closer to the portal, where he could swear that he felt air around it caressing him. It was similar to when he entered and left Limbo, but different at the same time. It was more abrasive, less defined, rigid.
But lacking a better option Daniel took a deep breath, steeled himself, said a polite goodby to Iliad and stepped into the portal.
The second he stepped through the shimmering gold of the portal the stable scene before him seemed to almost warp, and in the shifting space, amidst the rapidly changing scenery Daniel could make out a beautiful woman with bright red hair wearing a scarlet dress with trace patches of white spread throughout it. The colors seemed to constantly be in flux, with the red chasing the white across the cloth in an unending pursuit to consume it.
She didn't look upset or happy as she stared toward Daniel. She just had a look of indifference plastered across her face, but it hurt to look at her. It was like staring directly into the sun, but instead of harsh rays of light, he was being assaulted with waves upon waves of pure physical malice pouring out of the woman.
Through squinted eyes Daniel watched her as his eyes turned bloodshot and his surroundings continued to warp, and it was only after she sent a glare at him that the portal stopped trying to pull him in every direction and actually settled on where to throw him out at.
Seconds later the shifting space surrounding Daniel abruptly stabilized, and he was greeted by several men yelling for him to put his hands where they could see them and to get down on the floor, but Daniel couldn't hear any of it. His heart was racing, and he was struggling to catch his breath. His whole body hurt, and he abruptly collapsed onto the ground.
He felt like a newborn fawn staring down a voracious wolf, and every moment that passed left him more and more tattered. His heart beat faster, his eyes grew more bloodshot and his body shook like he was having a seizure.
'Am I going to die?' Daniel's mind raced. 'From being glared at?'
The bizarreness of the situation was almost comical as Daniel felt his mind degrading. Rationally, he knew it wasn't a simple glare that was doing this to him. It had to be the blood filled aura she'd exuded. It was like he'd stared into an endless anger, but at the same time, it'd been hollow.
The anger had no meat, it was deep and it was real, but there was no reason behind it. Beneath the surface was nothing tangible, and Daneil had stared deep into that nothingness. That was when a unsettling thought struck Daniel.
'Maybe it's only this bad because I expect it to be this bad. My status as a traveler may be dragging me down right now.'
But realizing that didn't do a thing to help Daniel's situation. Belief was seeing, and Daneil was seeing the ramifications of looking at the Goddess of Blood first hand. That by itself made it significantly harder to discard.
Daniel's mind was filled with panic, and it took a conscious effort to try and rein it back in so he could even begin to focus on finding a solution. It was impossibly hard, and his mind kept slipping back to his mental image of the goddess. Of her malice, and the abyss within it. Of the blood, freely flowing in her dress. Of the depths with-"
Daniel's mind was driven awake as pain erupted in his leg, and when he looked down he found his father's knife plunged deep into his flesh. Daniel's shaky fingers tightly gripped the blade, as a fragment of stability returned to Daniel's mind.
It was a miracle that he'd been able to hold onto the knife without dropping it, let alone have enough wherewithal to actually use it.
And he wasn't about to let the chance slip. Daniel clung to the rapidly fading stability in his mind like a drowning man to a lifeboat as he searched for a solution, and when he found one that may actually work he almost cried with relief.
With a mental thought Daneil activated his second card, Foundation of One, and targeted his own brain.
Clarity, it flowed into Daniel's mind like a roaring rapid and Daniel felt his body's situation improve rapidly. His shaking stilled, and his breathing grew normal, but most importantly Daniel could look at the memory of the Blood Goddess's malice with a feeling of cold indifference.
What had he been so concerned over? A hollow woman's anger, her rage? Reason and emotion were the building blocks of emotion and she'd shown neither. Why should he fear that, besides…
"That wasn't her emotion," Daniel said to nobody in particular.
Daniel stood from where he'd lain on the ground, his leg protesting in pain. Several dozen guards had surrounded him as blood trailed down his leg and pooled onto the floor. They looked scared, almost entranced, which confused Daniel. What did they have to fear from a weakened man with a knife in his leg? It looked like if he didn't speak soon they were going to attack him as the tension rose, so he quickly tried to defuse the situation.
"Hello, I am Daniel Clay, user of a legend and under the protection of Anton. Your boss. If one of you has a healing card, I'd appreciate some assistance," Daniel said gesturing towards his leg.
Not a single one moved to help him, and Daniel's eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Did none of you hear me? I am the user of Flicker Between Worlds, and if one of you doesn't respond to me right now, I will be leaving. Regardless of what you do to try and stop me."
That seemed to snap a few of the guards out from their funk, and it was one of the larger, more heavily armored ones that spoke up.
"Gods above, where did you just come from?"
Daniel glanced from the guard and over towards the portal, "I came from the draconian settlement near the Riese."
"Are they-," the guard looked towards the portal, "-still alive?"
"Last I checked. Now, my leg?"
That seemed to fully rouse the guard from his stupor, and he quickly moved amongst the other guards to rouse them as well. Only after that was done for a singular guard finally move to heal Daniel's wound. Though with a far greater amount of reluctance than Daniel would have liked.