*Zoom*

Teleported in and walked in the same direction as usual. I hope she’s still doing well, and that she won’t be too scared if I do end up lashing out a little bit…

“Is it that time already?” She commented hearing my footsteps. She waited in the same place as usual with a smile on her. I came here a bit earlier than usual with the sun still setting and the world not consumed by darkness just yet.

“Heh. I’m just getting a bit impatient is all. Why won’t I try to see someone I want to fast if I can help it?” I said while feeling like my face has relaxed a bit. I smile for her and she looks happy seeing it. 

“Fair point” She replied smiling. I walked over to her and sat by her side. A heart-to-heart moment. Just two of us right now. As the sun began setting and the world slowly lost its light.

“Now then… Let’s talk” I said to start things off. I have my own issues that I do want to talk about… but if possible I don’t want to suddenly bring it up, that’ll make me seem like I’m baiting pity, though I’m uncertain as to if she’ll see it that way or not. She's nice and understanding, if a bit deprecating as well.

“Hmm… Well… You do seem a bit eager today, or something along those line” She commented. Guess I still haven’t got that sorted out.

“Ah. I did go out and did some pretty exhausting things so to say. I’m in need of some relaxation right now, preferably around someone like you” I said while trying to put up my regular front. I mean I would’ve said that regardless I feel like, but this time the situation is slightly different.

“I see… So… Yeah, I was thinking about a few things myself as well… From the looks of it it doesn’t seem like you should’ve been aware of anything… odd right me right? How did it come to that?” She asked. Quite a curious mind isn’t she. I guess I could tell her that… in a very vague term, no way she could understand everything in a single setting with zero context.

“Hmm… to keep a long story short. I was but one of many who are no longer dependent or even aware of magic, however I discovered it by accident, and it all started from there” I began recounting my story. While true the context is left out entirely.

“And what led you here?” She asked, sounding her interest very clearly. 

“It was actually by chance. You see the world is massive is it not? And that leads to room for some unusual things to happen, to put it mildly” I responded not getting quite to the point just yet.

“Unusual… like what?” She muttered.

“Summoning” I uttered a single word that left her confused and in disbelief. Is such a thing a wide spread knowledge or is it just only her? Regardless it seems that she has some idea of what that means.

“Summoning? As in… the spell?” She asked, hoping for me to clarify my answer. She certainly sounds more than just confused.

“Indeed” I replied. It’s good that she catches quickly so I don’t have to explain too much. She looks intrigued suddenly. She’s certainly an excitable fella with a curious mind.

“When did this happen?” She asked, clearly wanting to know more. 

“It’s about… a few months ago from my perspective. I got roped into a conflict that does not concern this land, and I came out victorious. As you can imagine in such a time I came across more than a few bizarre cases… In fact I would consider you mild in comparison” I more or less answered her question in its entirety, if not to how we got here in the first place. I don’t think I should fully explain why I’m here if I can help it. No one would be crazy enough to tell them unprompted would they?

“I see… Summoning… as in into a different world or land?” She asked. So she is even aware of that. Should I be honest about it? I don’t see why I shouldn’t.

“Yeah. From a different world altogether, different world and time” I answered honestly. How would she react to that? At least she seems pretty excited, if trying to keep a cool facade.

“You’re from a different world? That… Hmm…” She muttered and kept pondering on the implication of that. Guess she’s trying to think of something to say and ask, considering how big of a deal this is.

“Well you can continue to ponder on it. Probably lots of things going through your head” I replied… I feel like I forget about the whole just burning down part of the castle bit… Let’s stop thinking about that and continue, that’s why I came here early in the first place.

“Hmm… Well I heard a lot about the whole other worlds theory and whatnot… Wait… If you have been to a different world before then… What is your world? It’s this one right?” She began pondering on the whole deal of being in a different world. I don’t think many people really thought about the whole going back part, either in fiction or real life. Still if I say any more then it could easily confuse her further… Well she might be insistent about it so might as well explain it, would’ve been an annoying waste of time if that turns out to be the case.

“No this is not my homeworld” I said those words and she looks even more lost in thoughts. Considering what I just said no doubt she began thinking about the piece of the puzzles that are missing.

“Wait… Then… How does that connect to you being here? Did you… Huh?” She asked slightly incomprehensibly as she’s unable to come up with a definitive response.

“I’ll answer that there’s no need to worry” I said before she began panicking from the sheer absurdity of my life that she’s trying to figure out, and this is without the weirdest part. She looks a bit relieved at what I said so that’s good.

“I got summoned to a different world than mine, and of course after I came out on top I went back home. It is much harder to travel to a different world without some sort of ritual or catalyst on the other end to anchor you there, but it is possible. Anyway continuing on, I return to my homeworld, go back in time to… do things, came back, go back again way into the past, help some poor sod caught in a game or something, go back to the present day, and now here I am being summoned the second time” That’s the whole story in a nutshell. I mean with it not including the very beginning and important part of this whole tale, I don’t think anyone would dared to explain it if they were in my shoes.

“Go back in time and places… You can travel through time!?” She picked up on a pretty interesting point it seems. Considering that doing such a thing is comparable to breaking reality itself… of course it’s not as if it would allow me to just break everything in half, not like I’m the only one who can do this.

“Yeah? Why?” I asked, perhaps playing a bit of a clueless character right now.

“That’s… completely absurd isn’t it?” She asked, looking almost fearful. I can understand why, it’s pretty much one of the most broken abilities that could exist. Still there are limitations to them so it’s not by far the most worrisome ability to exist in one’s reservoir, but she doesn’t know that.

“Perhaps” I replied nonchalantly being fully aware of how it works, at least the fundamentals.

“W-Wait! Before that! Is there any way to prove it?” She asked, suddenly turning skeptical, then again such an ability will no doubt raise some eyebrows, but how am I supposed to prove it? There’s a way to do it obviously but there’s no way I could prove it to her without going to and greeting her in the past, either that or forcibly bringing her along to the past as well, but that’ll cost a large amount of energy, and probably will left us stuck in the past for days if she wants us to go back extremely far.

“Of course there is. The way to prove it is one of two ways. Either you tell me your history and let me go back to that time to greet you, perhaps with a trust password or two, or you let me forcibly bring you to the past as well, neither option are particularly easy to do, due to either of us” I explained how this can be done, and it’s doubtful that she’s willing to go through with either. Her face clearly showed some hesitation when I explained it with a straight face, showing my experience on the matter.

“Y-Yeah that would be hard… But how would I…” She muttered to herself. No doubt this whole deal is hard to believe, and considering her fondness for me so early on she probably doesn't want to doubt me now and continues to doubt the absurd claim. Perhaps if I… Hmm… Perhaps just a location she knows about and probably could spot the difference? That would be an easy way to do it if we were to go with the second option.

“Perhaps if we go back in time only a few weeks at most, then I could show it to you and back here. Anywhere in particular that you can easily spot the difference? We are to go into the past. After all, going into the future would be quite the dilemma, I don’t recommend it” I asked so we can potentially get this over with quickly. Hopefully she can come up with something.

“Back in the past… I can’t… there’s not really anywhere that I could…” She pondered to herself. Anything else that I came up with? Perhaps...

“Some sort of lost relic? Any keepsake gone forever and never seen again?” I suggested. Some sort of lost item that she’s aware of, knows that it should be in the same place, and that it’s just flat out gone or completely destroyed with no way of recovering. Time travel allows someone to recover that thing that should be gone for good. Of course there is a bit of confusion of the whole process, as one’s own displacement of their lost item is what caused them to be lost in the first place, even if they aren’t aware of it. I believe there’s a few stories and games that tackle the topic but I’m not entirely certain, something about replacing them with a substitute.

“Lost relic… Huh… There… actually is” She answered. That’s good, otherwise I don’t think I could come up with any more suggestions.

“Ah. Thank goodness. What is this item exactly?” I asked, feeling a bit curious as well as relieved. I believe this will actually clue me in a bit of her history, but I doubt it’s much if she can talk about it.

“It’s a family heirloom… It’s really not something I want to talk about… It should be in the underground of the royal palace before it simply disappeared with no trace left whatsoever” She began recounting something she clearly isn’t too happy about, considering it’s a story of loss. It disappeared without a trace is it? Well isn’t this just awful, and rather peculiar.

“Care to explain its shape or when it has gone missing?” I asked just to be certain. If one of the phenomenon of time travel applied here then it really doesn’t matter, but just to be certain and to play along I have to say it. 

“It looks like a regular medal really.  If I remember correctly… I think it’s gold in color and some sort of swirly symbol on it? I don’t quite remember anything past that, and it’s been years already” She answered. Well I think that’s good enough information for me to go to the right time and place… It would be quite difficult to travel back to the time that you never been in, but if my assumption is correct that shouldn’t be an issue. I just need to concentrate a bit and try to ignore concepts of time only moving forward… 

“Alright. Then it’s time for me to prove it to you” I said as I concentrated. Closing my eyes and thinking back, back in time… To go back where no one could… The location, the royal palace. The time, several years ago…

*Zoom*

 

.̸͇̖̰̆̃.̴̲̰͖̊͆-̵̺̓́̄.̵͙̑̂̈́ ̶͉̎́.̵̝̓-̸̤̮́͜.̸͚̯͍̈ ̵̗̟̋́̓-̸̳̄̀͠-̵̙̰̔̌-̴͉̠̓̈́̀ ̵̨̝͗͑̍-̵̢͈̑̈́̍ͅ-̸̩̣̱͐ ̶̧̓.̴͔̳͌͠.̷͎́.̶̝̊̀̽.̶̞̿̐.̸̳͐̈́.̵̧̼̜̆̚.̶̧̣̺̓̈́ ̴̨̘̱̿̒-̷̩̞̰̂͒͐.̸̦̥̓̇̕͜ ̶̩̣̈́͒-̵̬̼̿̇-̴̗͋̎̚-̴͉̒ ̷̹̱̆̏.̷̤̭̓-̵̺̅́͘-̸̛̳̠̱ ̵̡̭͖̓.̸̘̔͋.̵̦̺̄.̵͈̗́̈́.̸͉̎̅̎.̴͖̙͔̈́͊.̷̗̭̈.̸͎̋̇͌ ̴̺͗̅̾-̴̭̀̌̉͜ ̷̡͇̈́͐̀-̷̲̩͝-̷̻͎̅̄͂-̶̛̦̗͕̆͑ ̴͖̇̄.̶͇͔̖̑̈́.̷͉̀.̸͙̰̯͗͑͝.̸̤͚̀.̶̜̖̊.̴̭͊.̶̰̜͆̒̈́ ̶̨̦͎̈.̵̧̖̤̄͝-̴̣͌͋̒-̷̞͒-̷̥̝̟̍̌-̴̠̤͂ ̷̡̗̳́.̵͚͙̭́̽.̷͔̐̂.̶̧̢̒͛.̴͙̱̜̊̽̋-̷͉̳͈̒͒ ̶͖̦̅̇.̵̘͉̈́̄̾.̷̛͍͙̬.̴͎̊.̴̢̈͌̂-̷͖̘͔̽̽̌ ̵̼͈͛́.̴̬̟̿͋̋.̷͓̀-̴̪͍͎̈́̕-̶̺͇̍͂-̵͙̤̐̀̿ ̴̣̭̾̈́̾.̵͙̔.̷̱̖͎̂͐.̷̻͚̻̅̅̐.̸͙̋̈.̴͕͇̏.̵̻̲͈̆.̸̖̭̽̐̇ ̷̢̤͖̌̆̂-̷͖͖̜͛.̷̧̜̦́̿͠.̸̗̭̈́ ̸̞̘͌.̸̲͒̆̒-̴͎̲͌ ̵̨̲̻̆͐̏-̸̪́͝͝.̵͓̒͌͠-̷̘͛̍̃-̸͔͠ ̷̦̼̘͝.̴̣̱̠̍.̴̜̹̑͆.̶͙͙͗̕ ̸̣͎̈́̑̓.̵͚͍̙͋̌.̸̧̋.̵̫̫̘͑.̷̳̎.̵̧͎̆͜.̶̹̯̬̈̚.̸̛̼̤̐͠ ̸͍̄̾.̷̬͔͌.̵̯͙̘̀̓͘ ̸̗̘̎-̸̝̪̗̌͌.̴̉ͅ ̴̳̫̙̈́.̴̳͖̀́̅ͅ.̵̽͜.̵͎̞͂͆̀͜.̵̗̊.̵̼̃͐͘.̶̢̘̌.̶̭̰͚͊͑ ̴̤̽̉̄-̶̼̠̄̓̾ ̸̠̪̀͊̿.̸̜̦͕͋̀.̷̢͎̜́.̴͎́͆.̵̰͇͛̽ ̷̦͙̈͘.̸͕̜̭̾̏͆ ̷̖̉͋͌.̸̗̦̞̓̓.̷̪͉̅͒͠ͅ.̴̺͌͑.̶̢̛̆.̷̂̅ͅ.̷͓̾̏.̴͖͗̓̒ ̷͓͝.̴̳̹̋̽͜-̴̬̫̺͂̂̊-̷͚͇̭̄.̵̩͑ ̷̳̯̀.̵̨͇͋-̷̬̒̈́ ̷͙̪͐̇.̴̝̈͗̂.̶̦͖̃͑.̷̬̋ ̸̧̇̿-̸̑̀̀͜ ̵̼̀̀͐.̴̘͈͆-̸̣̼̒̽̏.̵̥͓̓-̶̘̰͊͠.̸̳͙̰̓̀-̸̻̀͆ ̷͙͍͍̌.̶͙̫̓.̶̯̰͂.̵̤̊̚͘.̸̜̲̻͝.̴̩̍.̵̣̰̚.̵̨̼̟͂͛̑ ̶̧͓̪̈́͒͝.̸̢̦̅̆̋-̶̳̩̭͒̂̕.̴̨̫̱̌͐.̴̡̼̭̿͝ ̶̥̯͑͜-̷̙͈̠́̔̏-̴͎̈-̶̥̄̀ ̶̬̯͂͂-̸̨̺̃ͅ.̵̨͎͂͝-̴͔͒́.̸̟̎ ̷̳̓̓.̸͕̾͝-̶͇̑ ̵̖̮̓-̵̳͎̜̌̑͒ ̵͎̬̏̈́.̴̩͚̿͠.̴̲̭̄̀ ̵̹͐̀̃-̴̞̎̔͠-̵̮͈͖͒̋̽-̷͔̟͌̕ ̷̜̇͊͠-̵͌ͅ.̸̻̠̌͒̍ ̶̼̽͒.̶̧͈̜̋.̵͇̌͜.̸̻̍.̷͙̥̆́͐͜.̶̘͇͈͗̓͝.̴̨̫̤̎͌̔.̸̰̫̈́ ̸̩̝̑͛̂-̷͍̫͑ͅ.̵̜͚͗.̶̙̔ ̴̡̮͊̄.̸̧̡̞͛̌̐.̷̥̃̏ ̵͓̓͌.̷̭͗̀.̸͉̩̳́͋̍.̵͚̺̫͒̅͠ ̸̙̀͐.̶̨̱̉-̴̣̯̣̒̚-̵̝̼̹̈͂̿.̴̛̘̾͑͜ ̷͙̔.̷͇̭̕-̸͎̦̊́.̶̙̖̈́.̴̱̖͚͂ ̸̗̚.̸̖͖̞̎͋-̷͎́̑̊ ̷̙̝̥̄͐̈́-̶̢̞͆ͅ.̶̹́͊-̵̠̟̈̕ͅ.̵̹͈̑̀ ̵̯̉.̷̨̘͓́ ̶̝̭̀̿-̴̯̐̿͠-̶̞̖̑ ̷̫͒.̴̺̼͛̋̕ ̶͚̲̦̄-̷̦̤̏.̶͚̀̌ ̸̦͙̈́̎-̴̩̻̟̐̇́ ̵͙̏.̸̳͒̎.̷̡̰͚̐.̸̜̓́.̷͈̅͑.̵̨̹̞͒͒͂.̶͉̬͇̿͝.̸͕͇̀̔̓ ̶̛͈̳͋-̶̦̱̖͐̓̊.̶̻̩̎̚͝.̸͕̈́͗̕ ̵͎̿̏.̴̳̺̀͘ ̴̝͗̔-̷͕̣̋ ̴͇͎̕.̶̠͉̈̊͊ ̴̨̲̮͛͐̕-̸͙͚͓̋͂.̶͎̭̗̓͗͑-̴̦͖̾͊̈́.̶̡̜̯̅͌́ ̵͕͋͒̕-̴͍͌͒̕ͅ ̷̲̿.̴̘̮̥̔̀͋ ̵̜̉̓͜ͅ-̸̨̰̮͋̈́.̶̢̺͈͐̓̕.̴̘̅̔ ̷͇̆̎̓.̵͉̠̈́-̸̗̳͈̀.̵̲̼͙̀̔̆-̴̙͝͝.̵̛̺̪̩̈́-̵̾ͅ

 

Now then… where am I? I think this is… one of the castle’s turrets or whatever it’s called. Seems no one is here. Now how should I go about this? If my assumption is correct I could go absolutely insane and it wouldn’t matter, at least in theory. Still I don’t think I should try anything more than necessary. I just need to get the swirly medal and get back.

Covering myself with my cloak just in case.

*Leap*

Jumping back down and to the ground. If her words are correct then there should be something underground, perhaps I could blast through here and find out if that’s the case?

“Halt! Who are you! How did you get here! State your intention!” Suddenly a few soldiers surrounded me before I even got to test my theory.

“Sorry boys, no time to talk” I said, completely dismissing them before I began flying up and causing them to react in terror.

*Float*

Lifting my arm up and conjuring a giant drill of darkness and wind, I cause a scene that can only be described as… well rather ominous.

*Throw*

Before anyone else could even begin comprehending this I already threw the spear down into the ground.

*Drill*

The hole created massive and could easily fit many people. It’s a large pit. Well time to see if my theory is correct... Ah… Indeed it is. There’s a passage underground, let’s see where it leads. 

*Sprint*

This place is rather badly lit and extremely tasteless in its decor. Good thing I don’t have to deal with this for long. To think such a place exists under an elegant looking caste, then again it’s really not that surprising just from experience alone. Now where is that medal? Is it perhaps...

*Boom*

Here? Behind all these rubbles that I created, is it here perhaps?... Wait what am I doing? It’s probably a magic artifact if it’s so revered, I should be able to detect it, that would’ve been a whole lot easier.

Let’s try it… detecting mana isn’t too hard so finding it shouldn’t be a problem… Ah, it’s right over there, just on the other side of the room I turned into rubble, a secret room it seems like… are those footsteps I heard? Seems to be.

“Halt!” People who I am not interested in said. I have no time for them. Bring out one of my swords from nowhere and ready for some slicing.

*Swing* *Slice* *Crash*

“Wha!?” Other people looked on in completely disbelief as I sliced the secret door out of the way. Or rather I actually missed it by a bit and look more like a mess than it should’ve been.

Let’s see what’s on the other side…

“Haaa!” Someone said while trying to attack me while my back is turned.

*Grab* *Lift*

“Uhigh…” He let out a pained cry. From the looks of it with that little stunt no one even dared to approach me. I guess people in this time are not exactly brave, at least most of them don't seem that way.

*Throw* *Crash*

Let’s ignore them, they’re none of my business. Just let them continue to fear, as that means they can’t do anything.

Oho… now that’s a medal if I ever saw one. It’s brimmed with magic power, some sort of mana battery from the looks of it, as if it doesn't seem to have any rune on it whatsoever and just some random swirly scribble.

I grabbed it and ready to leave, but of course these people won’t let me, and I need some time to prepare to go back. Do I really have to do this or should I just skedaddle before they can try anything… yeah seems like a wise decision.

I just silently make a mad dash for it. Going back the route I came for while jumping over any crowded area. After I get back to the pit I also take a leap and jump back to the surface as well. Of course this is far from the end of it, I need to get out of this area in general as well, which is easy enough.

*Fly*

Just fly away and forget about my problems. That’ll solve it. Let’s land at the plain just outside the kingdom, let’s land here.

I landed down and all is well. No one is nearby. Alright, let’s get ready to go back. It feels uncomfortable to go back in time like this, feels like it could easily cause something to go wrong even if that shouldn’t be possible, or at least the chance of it being nearly nonexistent.

Well that won’t be a problem anymore once I get back. It’s way easier going back since I have the sense of time and place memorized, it’s a very fresh memory after all… Time to concentrate and let my soul guide me back… to the time and place where I should be…

*Zoom*