IM1: Chapter #1 (Patreon)

The problem with traveling across dimensions was that flesh and bone had never been designed to withstand the energy that passed through the void between worlds. By the time that Thorn tumbled out of the dimensional tunnel, he felt like he had been flattened, minced, and boiled as every ounce of mana had been squeezed out of him. His first breath sent mana flooding into his body and to his surprise, he found himself completely whole. The first thing he did as he sat up was look around for Akira and Hati who had accompanied him.

There had been no problem with the initial ascension, but just over halfway through the journey, a tremendous force had cut across the dimensional tunnel, breaking it open and sending Thorn and his friends tumbling through the void. Feeling the tearing force that seized him as he fell into the darkness, Thorn had grabbed onto Hati, pulling the giant wolf close even as he felt Akira’s claws gripping onto his shoulder tightly. Instinctively surrounding himself with mana, Thorn could sense the destructive force from the darkness eating away at him. Just before his mana had run out, that force appeared again, ripping apart the darkness and throwing him and his friends into a new world.

[Master!]

Hearing Akira’s voice in his head, Thorn turned his head and saw her bounding out of the undergrowth, her three tails waving behind her. Akira was only two feet tall, but her fluffy red fur made her look larger. Flickering red flame appeared beneath her paws as she jumped through the air, using them as small platforms to get up to Thorn’s shoulder.

“Where is Hati?”

[He is about a mile south of us.]

“How did he get separated so far?” Thorn asked, looking around at the dark jungle.

[I’m not sure. What was that? It was like someone grabbed us and threw us out of the tunnel.] Akira said, using one of her tails to steady herself as Thorn stood up to his full, eight foot, nine inch height.

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who felt that way,” Thorn said, shuddering slightly as he recalled the feeling of utter helplessness. “Let’s meet up with Hati and try to figure out where we are.”

Trying to circulate his mana through his body, Thorn felt sluggish, as if his mana was running into resistance. Frowning, he took a step forward, only to freeze when his foot hit the ground.

[Master, what is wrong?] Akira asked, looking at him curiously from her spot on his shoulder.

“Um, I meant to teleport, but it, uh, didn’t work.”

[Do you mean Earth Step?]

“Yeah. Titan’s Step, actually,” Thorn said, his face still covered in a frown as he tried it again.

Sending mana spinning through his body, Thorn tried to activate his ability, but instead of warping forward, like he intended, the mana arrived at his feet and stalled, causing the ability to fail.

[Um, master?]

“Yes?” Thorn said, distracted by his failing mana.

[Um, Hati is coming this way.]

“Oh, good.”

[Really fast. Like, really, really fast.]

“Even better, we can connect with him.]

[But there are other things coming too. Much bigger things.]

“Great,” Thorn said, still focused on understanding why his mana was not working. “Wait. Did you say bigger than Hati?”

Hearing a noise, Thorn looked up just in time to see a giant wolf burst out of the jungle, running full tilt toward him. Dark fur and silver eyes that looked like full moons hanging in the sky stared at Thorn as Hati’s warm, rich voice sounded urgently in Thorn’s mind.

[Run!]

Seconds later, a crashing sound rang out as two more creatures burst from between the trees. Thick scaled legs carried them out of the jungle and long talons crushed the underbrush as they chased Hati down. To Thorn they looked like the pictures of raptors that he had seen in his textbooks growing up, just a hundred times as large. Stretching out his hand, he tried to equip his tetsubo, only to grasp air as he remembered that he no longer had an inventory. Diving to the side as one of the giant raptors pounced, he rolled through the leaves and dirt before popping up and taking Hati’s advice.

His long strides carried him further than the average person, but despite his height, he was dwarfed by the monsters that chased them, and as he wove his way through the large trees, he was forced to dodge their huge feet. It had been a long time since Thorn had needed to run from anything, and it took him a moment to adjust. He had not figured out why his mana was not working, but he knew that without it, the chances of him surviving being chomped on by the dinosaurs chasing him was next to zero. His only consolation was that the jungle was thick enough that the huge raptors were having trouble with the trees.

Like a black shadow, Hati slipped between the tree trunks, his massive body fitting through spaces that should have been impossible. Grumbling to himself that it wasn’t fair that the giant wolf seemed to be able to use his mana still, Thorn dodged past a tree and vaulted a rock, never slowing down for a second. Just like his mana, his awareness seemed to be trapped in his body, unable to help him navigate through the thick foliage, but thankfully his reflexes were still as sharp as ever, letting him keep just ahead of the monsters chasing after them.

Crashing through a tree, one of the raptors let out a roar and slowed down slightly, turning its head to sniff the air. With an answering roar the other raptor slowed down as well, allowing Hati and Thorn to gain some distance. Rather than feeling happy, however, Thorn and Hati shared a concerned look. The only reason that giant monsters like the raptors chasing after them would slow down is that they were entering the hunting grounds of an even stronger predator.

“Hati, my awareness is not working,” Thorn said, catching up to the giant wolf. “Can you sense anything?”

[Yes,] Hati said, his eyes darting around as they ran. [But nothing concrete. It almost smells like…]

[Master! There is a giant ape above us!”]

The air shook as a roar thundered above their heads and a massive ape that was easily thirty feet tall dropped out the air, smashing into the jungle floor. Short, spiky fur covered the monstrous ape and its four bloodshot eyes glared at the two raptors. Despite the fact that they were nearly the same size as the ape, the raptors were clearly wary of the muscular monster and they slowed to a stop, hissing fiercely. That only served to enrage the monstrous ape even further and it let out another roar as it launched itself at the two raptors, its huge fists swinging.

Exchanging a glance, Thorn and Hati decided not to stick around to find out how the fight was going to turn out and bolted into the jungle, trying to put as much distance between them and the giant creatures as possible. Behind them they could hear the roars and shrieks of the raptors and giant ape. Racing ahead, Hati suddenly turned his head and looked into the jungle before changing directions.

[This way!]

Following Hati, they soon came to a crack that was barely big enough for Thorn to squeeze through. After staring at the darkness for a second, Thorn entered the cave, turning his broad shoulders sideways to try and fit through. As he scraped against the earth, Thorn had the strangest sense of incongruity, almost as if he was encountering something new for the first time. Entering the larger space that Hati had sensed deeper in the hill, Thorn instinctively tried to seal the crack they had just passed through, but once again, his mana failed to mobilize.

“Something is wrong,” Thorn mumbled, confused.

[You mean apart from the giant monsters?] Hati said with a low growl.

Staring down at his hands, Thorn felt his sluggish mana and nodded.

“Yeah. My mana is not working properly. And the Stone Heart seems to have stopped functioning. My Earth Control is gone.”

[Not gone, suppressed.] a quiet, clipped voice said in Thorn’s mind.

“Eve!”

[Quiet. Reserves too low to talk. This world lacks an overlay. Manufacturing a personal overlay. Entering slumber mode after system initialization.]

Fading away, Eve’s voice fell silent and then a familiar sound rang in Thorn’s ear.

*ding*

[System initializing.]

Thousands of numbers and symbols flashed across Thorn’s vision, moving too fast for even his prodigious mind to keep up with. For a brief second, he missed having infinite processing capability, but before he could dwell on it, Eve’s soft voice spoke again, this time sounding much more mechanical.

[Loading personalized profile.]

[Converting existing Titles into backgrounds.]

[Dragon Hunter, Wolfsbane, and Tusk Breaker have become the background Legendary Monster Hunter.]

[Hero, Gladiator, and Inheritor have become the background Hero of the People.]

[First King of the Iron Moon Kingdom, and Stone King, Lord of Earth have become the background Ruler of Angoril.]

[Friend of the Earth, Baptized by Mana, and High Mage Keadore’s Apprentice have become the background Genius Earth Mage.]

[Standardizing existing stats.]

[Creating Physique.]

[Creating Presence.]

[Creating Intellect.]

[Converting existing abilities to suit the system.]

[Eliminating duplicate and triplicate entries.]

[Rewriting mana paths.]

[Loading Status.]

*ding*

[Recalibration complete. New standards set using existing information. Be aware that the system will require further calibration as more data samples are acquired.]

[Mana use has been reestablished, upgrades are in progress.]

“Upgrades?” Thorn muttered, his eyes still fixed on the entirely unfamiliar status window that had popped up in front of him.

[Primary upgrade: Mana paths]

[Time until mana paths are upgraded: 103 minutes]

[Mana density in this world is significantly higher than mana density in Angoril. Attempts to use lower density mana may result in failure of spells. Natural abilities are not affected. I am in the process of condensing your mana to equal the density of the ambient mana.]

[Are you okay?] Hati asked, his head tilting to the side as he stared at Thorn.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m getting a lot of information at the moment and I’m having some trouble processing it.”

[Information? Where are you getting information from?]

“Eve. She is rebuilding the system to suit this new world.”

Lifting his head so fast he nearly slammed it into the ceiling, Hati stared at Thorn in shock.

[You brought the world spirit with you! What will happen to Angoril?]

“Not the actual world spirit,” Thorn replied, still distracted. “More like a copy of it. Hold on, let me try something.”

Stretching out his hand to touch the earthen wall, Thorn closed his eyes and began to sense the earth elemental energy in the soil. As he tried to understand why it felt so foreign to him, Eve’s voice echoed in his head, clearing up some of the mystery.

[Composition of higher worlds appears to be different in several substantive ways. First, higher ambient mana density. Second, greater concentration of elemental energy combined with tighter bonds between disparate elements. Third, lack of manipulatable magical overlay. Combined, these three differences make it significantly harder to exert control over the world.]

“You mean that what I am sensing in the soil is a mixture of earth energy and other types of energy that are bonded really closely together, making it appear like a different sort of earth energy?”

[That is… correct enough,] Eve’s voice said, with only a slight hesitation.

“Okay, so how do I get my earth control ability back?”

[Develop a sufficient understanding of the composition of the soil and determining how the earth attributed mana is integrating with each element will grant you the type of control you possessed in Angoril. I am in the process of assessing it, and expect to be finished around the time that your mana paths are upgraded.]

“Then in the meantime, explain why I am seeing stats all of a sudden. Nova Terra did not have stats, or at least, the stats it had were not visible.”

[Because this world lacks a magical overlay, I thought that it would be easier for you to quantify your own abilities if you had one. However, in doing so, I took the liberty of making some adjustments in order to more fully develop the system and to bring it closer in line to what I am observing in this world. This led to the development of three attributes, each of which is the average of three traits. Physique is the measure of your body. It is broken down into strength, dexterity, and quickness. Together they determine how much force you can apply, how precisely, and how quickly. Presence might be considered your social or interpersonal abilities, and includes charm or how naturally likable you are, empathy, or your ability to understand others, and intimidation which is a measure of how much fear you elicit in others. Finally, we have intellect, which is the measure of your mind. Intellect is broken down into wits, perception and resilience, which catalog your ability to reason, observe, and withstand stress respectively. Please note, that your stats do not reflect my abilities, but only your own, as combining my abilities with yours would have rendered measurement pointless as the gulf between our mental faculties is too vast to quantify meaningfully.]