Nate stepped purposefully out of the portal, followed quickly by Kiri and Frick. The beauty of the place between universes was still fresh in his mind and he would have preferred to spend some time dwelling on it and the artistic themes he could explore by using it as a backdrop.

Unfortunately such musings would need to wait until they had figured out, at the very least, where they were. Arikanvil had called it a feeder world for the Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent who were a powerful faction within the Heartlands. And that was it. That was all the purple bastard of a True Divine had told them. Nate suspected that Arikanvil had intentionally withheld any other information, hoping to use it as a bargaining chip to trigger Reciprocity and demand a third task from them.

The God of Space had underestimated Nate’s willingness to figure it all out on his own. As for Kiri, well, Nate suspected that she would’ve rather spat on the True Divine than broker any more deals with him.

Instead, they found themselves on some strange new world with a loose connection to their destination where they would be expected to somehow obtain an incredibly rare Divine Artifact. Worse, said artifact was in the possession of a Greater Divine. Nate was already wondering if they would need to steal it or if they had another option.

Luckily, there was someone he could ask.

“Do you want us to actually get our hands on the artifact?”

So long as you carry some of my Divine Energy within you, you are required to fulfil Reciprocity. The balance must be maintained. Do you understand?

“You want us to get the two artifacts, then remove our Class Cores and deny them to Arikanvil.”

Correct.

Nate nodded to himself. Technically by continuing to follow through and obtaining the artifacts Arikanvil had requested, they were abiding by Reciprocity. However, once they succeeded at improving their Divine Vessels to the point where they wouldn’t be reducing their current power, they could remove their Class Cores. That was contingent on accruing enough debt with The System that Reciprocity for their early growth would be balanced. Fortunately getting the artifacts was also what The System wanted.

“Any advice on how to get our hands on the Lesser Divine Spatial Spirit?”

A competition approaches. Make your way to the world called Serpent’s Wing. Any more information will reduce my debt to you.

Nate stopped asking The System directly and turned to Kiri. She was looking over the lands surrounding them and Nate joined her. Expansive farms stretched over land so flat he suspected it had been shaped. A yellow, wheat-like plant grew in ordered rows with a few farmhouses interspersed among the fields. Those same houses seemed solidly built and for the first time, Nate noted a few people watching them from the nearest farmhouse. They looked like elves to him, but with shorter ears than Evindal had.

Beyond the rolling farmlands was a city that loomed in the distance. Its grey stone walls were tall and the buildings beyond them even taller, some stretching high into the afternoon sky. The architecture was different to the medieval styles of Galle, with glass and metal in abundance. Still, no skyscrapers waited for them. Nate’s first thought was that they weren’t as architecturally advanced as Earth had been, though he acknowledged it might have been an aesthetic choice.

Nate would’ve called the ambient mana of the world only a little better than Helmfirth if he couldn’t sense the huge mana gathering arrays beneath the farmlands. Those same arrays were sending the mana gathered towards the city in the distance.

“Plan?” Kiri asked.

“We need to make our way to Serpent’s Wing,” answered Nate.

He noted Kiri’s confused look and continued, “I suspect it’s one of the core worlds of the Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent. Apparently they are going to hold a competition and we should enter.”

Kiri’s eyes narrowed before she shrugged, “Good enough for me. What do you want to do about them?”

Nate followed her gaze and saw that a group was flying out over the city walls. They flew on what looked like a few small skiffs, a pennant flapping in the wind. Nate counted twenty people aboard the small boats.

He debated releasing Wulfgar and Jemima from his Regalia but held off. They needed to get from this world to another one. That was likely going to require them to pay for transit, since Nate had no idea where he was going just yet. Paying for the two of them would be far cheaper than paying for all four of them. Smuggling was back on the menu and Nate couldn’t help but notice how many times he had worked with or been a smuggler. The answer was four times, which given he’d only been off Earth for just over two years, felt like a lot.

The skiffs grew closer at an incredibly quick rate before swooping down to hover above the farmlands. The lead ship, however, made landfall. From the ship, warriors wearing grey and blue armour disembarked, weapons and wands drawn as they fanned out forming a semi-circle around the pair. Nate simply waited, confident that his barrier could withstand their initial attacks if they chose violence as their preferred form of diplomacy. He suspected it wouldn’t come to that though, as two men in far more ornate armour disembarked from the landed skiff.

Of the pair, the taller man looked regal, a thin silver circlet sitting upon tight, dark, curly hair. He possessed the same short elf-tipped ears as Nate had seen on most elves since coming to the Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent. In addition, Nate sensed at least one Divine artifact on the man, albeit a weak one as far as he was concerned. The regal one’s dark chocolate eyes swept over the pair of them before he looked at the elf who Nate assumed was his assistant.

The shorter one of the pair had matching eyes but black hair held back in a topknot with the sides of his head shaved. From him a pulse of mana washed outwards, sliding over Nate and Kiri and was quickly rebuffed as it failed to scan their Class Cores or Souls. Nate raised an eyebrow while Kiri next to him bared her teeth, not quite enough for the threat to be obvious.

The short-one looked shocked for a moment before speaking. Nate had wondered if his Divine Translation Spell would work and when he heard the words, he knew it had. While he could understand the language it clearly wasn’t one he had heard or spoken before. Nonetheless, he had no issues with leaning on the spell to help with communication.

“May I ask for your names?”

Understanding was only the first thing Nate noticed. The second was the pressure of Reciprocity. This man was not a Lesser Divine. In fact, he doubted he was a Divine at all. The same was not true for the regal one of the pair. Nate wasn’t sure what it was, but something about the man gave Nate the sense of Divinity. He would explore such feelings later.

The short-one whispered something to the regal-one who waved him off and looked over the pair of them with calculating eyes.

“My assistant believes you both to be Lesser Divinities. Is that true?”

Before they could answer he continued, “Don’t answer. I feel no pressure from The System, so it must be true. I am Custodian Varantir and you are within my Principality. What brings you here?”

“We’re just passing through on our way to Serpent’s Wing,” explained Nate, noting how the guards had all lowered their weapons when it was confirmed they were Lesser Divinities.

He guessed they were aware of the fact that so long as they didn’t attack, they couldn’t be harmed. The same was not true of Custodian Varantir. The man had looked uncomfortable the moment he seemed to realise he was outnumbered two to one. Not that Nate thought that it would take more than one of them to deal with the man should it come to blows, but he was hoping for a simpler resolution. Like some directions.

“In fact, we got a little lost in the last portal jump and were hoping for directions to the nearest portal that can get us to our destination.”

Nate paused for a second before giving Varantir a pointed look, “You do have portals on this world, right?”

Varantir seemed to shake off his concern visibly before grunting, “Of course we do. You can get a portal from my city to Jungpo, the World Capital. From there you can get off world, assuming you can pay. Though looking at your equipment, I doubt that will be an issue. Might I have your names?”

“Nathaniel Weber, Disciple of the Risen Sun Sect,” answered Nate, blatantly lying as he made up a sect. He just hoped Ankh’Aris wouldn’t be annoyed with him for basing it on Luci.

“Kiri Beaufoy, Disciple of the Risen Sun Sect,” added Kiri with a small smirk.

Varantir nodded seriously, “Given your equipment, would I be correct in assuming you are both Prime Seeds of the Risen Sun Sect.”

Nate was just going to nod, not entirely sure what the term meant, but that was when Frick decided to pipe up.

“They are not only Prime Seeds, but direct Disciples of the Grandmaster of the Risen Sun Sect. Their eyes have seen the wonders of his private sanctuary. Their ears have heard the whispers of his infinite wisdom and not shattered at the truths within. Abase yourself before their might, mere Custodian!”

Varantir’s eyes had grown wider and wider as Frick continued, right up until Kiri kicked Frick into the distance. Nate smiled slightly and could sense Frick’s amusement through the Familiar Contract.

“Ignore our butler. He can get a little ahead of himself. You may just consider us lost travelers in need of directions,” explained Kiri.

“No, no. I… it is an honour to host such esteemed guests. I can throw a dinner for you this evening then make sure you are sent to Jungpo first thing in the morning.”

It took effort for Nate not to frown at the man's effusiveness. He was a Lesser Divine after all. Shouldn’t he have had a bit more of a backbone?

“We’re in something of a hurry,” Nate explained. “Though the offer is well received, we’d rather make our way directly to Jungpo.”

“Of course. Of course. If you’re headed for Serpent’s Wing and are Prime Seeds, I assume you go to compete in the upcoming World Reaping?” asked Varantir, clearly wheedling for information.

“We do,” answered Nate, though he wasn’t sure if that was the case. The System had mentioned a competition. It hadn’t named it. He’d have to see when they got there.

“Bought entry or competing in the entry tournament?” pressed Varantir.

Kiri’s glare had the man reaching for his sword in fear.

“Apologies. I overstep myself. If you are competitors in the World Reaping then I shall look forward to watching your performance and perhaps this one will learn a thing or two that might aid his own development. Come. If you are in a hurry I will take you to the portal myself. It should be morning in Jungpo and so you shall find little to prevent you from continuing on your journey.”

Nate and Kiri found themselves quickly ushered onto the landed skiff alongside Varantir and his assistant. Frick chose that moment to reappear, now dressed in his black and white butlers outfit, which he took the time to straighten with blue clawed fingers.

The flight was a short one and within minutes they were arriving before a circular enchanted slab of stone that was crisscrossed with black stone arches. Nate took a moment to appreciate the design and consider options for incorporating some of the features into his own designs. Ultimately though, he considered their design inferior to his own. Not because it wouldn’t work or anything like that, but because from what he could tell, the enchanted modules that allowed the portal to change its destination were overwrought.

In his own designs, the shifting of destination required far less space in the overall rune. Whether the difference was due to poor design or simply the difference between runecraft and enchanting, he would probably never know.

Varantir quickly had a number of what Nate assumed to be Mythic mages or enchanters running from their posts and shifting the enchantment into a new configuration. Then, a large flow of mana was released from beneath them, Nate sensing the blue-white energy snaking up out of the ground and through the Sigils and mana pipelines. A moment later the portal appeared, and without missing a step, Nate bid his farewell before stepping through, followed immediately by Kiri.

The first thing he noticed on the other side was the ambient mana density. Higher than Helmfirth. Much higher, even if it was still notably less than the Wild Realm. The second thing he noticed were the skyscrapers in the distance, a city to rival those of Earth. The third thing he noticed was the elven looking man asking them to ‘get the Nine Hells off the portal platform’.

With a smile Nate complied. A new adventure was just starting.

*************

Varantir finally turned to Mathwin as the portal winked out of existence.

“You paid the cost for their portal, my Lord? Why?” whined Mathwin.

“What could you tell me about them?” Varantir asked his bound servant.

“They looked like humans, my Lord. The black armour on the female felt heavy, like it was drinking in the light. As for the male, he… seemed dismissive of us.”

“They were both wearing Divine Artifacts, Mathwin. Both of them. The black armour looked like a wyvern’s scales to me and I don’t think it was a Lesser artifact. Those two were every bit as dangerous as they looked and I suspect at least partially telling the truth. I have never heard of the Risen Sun Sect, but there are plenty of small but powerful Sects that I have never heard of. It was better for everyone involved to see them on their way as quickly as possible. Besides, if they were telling the truth, we’ll see soon enough. The World Reaping entry tournament starts in two months and the World Reaping itself four months after that. If they really are competitors then we will see them on the videos.”

“And if they were telling the truth, my Lord, what will you do then?”

“The only smart thing to do after witnessing their equipment and attitudes, Mathwin. I’ll place bets on them to make it into the top fifty of course.”

Mathwin nodded, “A wise decision, my Lord.”

Varantir kept the last bit of information he had gleaned to himself. While the wyvern scale armour had felt heavy with destruction and was powerful, too powerful, for a Lesser Divine to be worn so casually, it was clearly the weaker of the two. While Varantir couldn’t describe the feeling the robe Nathaniel had worn had given him, he had gotten a sense of the depthlessness, as though the robe itself wished to spread its wings and swallow the world.

He shivered one last time and moved to return to his palace. A drink was in order. A few of them. And thanks to the Seven Heavens that he had not offended the young scions.