Touya either came from a utopic paradise or a mind-controlling slaving country like the Zabulen Empire.

"There's no magic in my original world," Touya confessed, and all the comrades stared at him confusedly, making him cower a bit. "Nothing… nothing like the things I've seen here."

It also wasn't lost on me how he said "original" instead of "home."

"Perhaps they don't view separate magic from science," I casually guessed.

"What's 'science'?" Forfta innocently asked, and Lanaa's curious red eyes made me believe she wanted to ask the same question.

Amusingly, Ussun seemed to want to answer but lacked the vocabulary to explain himself, then, even more amusingly, it was Bo-Aung who first spoke, "Science is the study of nature and natural phenomenons, while magic is the study of these same phenomenons resulting from interaction with mana."

"'Mana'?" Ussun and I spoke in unison.

Bo-Aung looked around, but nobody knew what that word meant. "Haven't you guys ever detected mana? A magical particle that allows living beings to violate the laws of physics?" He confusedly asked.

"There are magical particles and energies that fuel magic, but there's a wide variety of them, and none of them are called mana," I replied categorically.

And he smiled as he found a way out. "Perhaps they have a common ancestor, mana, the purest form of magical energy."

Since nobody had anything to add, I decided to let it go, "I'll give you this one."

 

Bo-Aung's world seemed to be very scientifically evolved, even more so than Zabulen, but they sorely lacked creativity in the way they used magic.

"So, you don't know how to use melee weapons?" Forfta inquired, and the soldiers looked at him a bit warily, their respect for him steadily dropping.

"I know how to use a big knife to shank people," he charismatically replied, managing to prevent further loss of standing. "I mean, there was no need for swords since everyone had ranged weapons, and the only reason you'd ever engage someone in melee was because you had lost your own weapon and needed to steal one from the enemy, so we learned a lot about wrestling."

"That's a queer martial art," one of the soldiers blurted accusingly.

"Sthrirta's chains would break on your hands if you wrestled with another male human," a second soldier cautioned him.

"Whose chains?" I reflexively asked.

"The Divine Guide Sthrirta's Anchor," Forfta solemnly replied.

Oh, great, another judgmental reality-parasite.

"Well, I can always learn the sword," Bo-Aung deftly deflected with a forced smile. At least he was wise enough to avoid offending the fanatics further, if that wasn't Bedama influencing his actions.

 

Lanaa told of her wandering tribe of nomads who lived in the White Forest. It was seemingly a scary, extremely dangerous place where, without her barrier, they'd be overrun by monstrous beings in a single night. She was only one of the dozen Barrier-Masters, so her tribe would go on without her.

Initially, I felt bad about her since she only ever knew about this "White Forest," but her bright and curious attitude quickly grew on me. She was like Pepeda, and such a precious mind needed to be protected.

 

Ussun was a studious apprentice of the Pisac Academy, but he only knew about the rest of his world through books.

"Your city reminds me of the Central Islands," Forfta reminisced with a wry smile. "It's a beautiful place with green forests, the endless sea, crystalline lakes, and a colorful land, but it's too damn hot, and the sun burned my skin."

I refuse to go to such an accursed wilderness. They don't even have the decency to tame their own sun! My skin isn't prepared to be attacked by wild heat.

But then he continued, blissfully unaware of my disagreement, "We'll have to visit it one day" -I curse your joviality that makes it so difficult to dislike you!- "because the Kendriiey's Empire capital is over there, and it's besieged by the Infernals."

"Wait, what, the capital?" I blurted out in dumbfoundedness.

And he waved my concern away, "The capital has enough supplies to last a decade, and the Infernals lack the raw power to break through the Grand Light Barrier or even enter the Eye of the Storm."

It's just like Zabulen. The sun-worshipers actually tried to take one of our cities before, but they eventually gave up after a few years when they couldn't even make a dent on the protective domes.

"So, we have a few decades before we have to fight the Infernals?" Bo-Aung solemnly asked, the cheeky smile from before was now fully gone.

"The Empire won't let you stall that long," King Brapersn replied stoically.

"Is your Kingdom under the control of this Empire?" I cautiously asked, then I hastily added, "Your Highness."

He gently shook his head, making his mane-like hair wave. "It isn't, but once you leave our lands, you'll answer to the Empire."

So we're just living weapons being gifted to the bigger dick in the brothel.

 

Triana was a sort of law enforcer for her people. More on the "kill criminals" kind than the "upholder of justice" kind. She was also very reticent, so the conversation quickly moved past her.

Helg, on the other hand, endlessly boasted about the beings she had hunted, though at least it gave me enough time to actually finish eating.

As the alcohol went to their heads, the raucous laughter of the soldiers became increasingly grating to my ears.

"What about your world, Farnezian, why did you live underground?" Forfta suddenly asked.

I wiped my mouth with a shoddy napkin and started the history lesson, "The God of the Sun was an insufferable snob that sniffed his own shit because it was perfumed-…"

"What a colorful language," Forfta commented with a wry smile.

"…-so we killed him," I casually revealed with a small smile.

"What?!" A soldier exclaimed reflexively while the others stared dumbfoundedly.

I simply grinned perversely as I blabbered on, "The sun-masochists didn't like it, of course, so they tried to hunt us down, but then we learned how to make our own sun, one that didn't burn your skin just because you were out too long, or dried the land just because it didn't want to go away. We didn't care anymore for the surface, so we retreated to dark caves, then erected our towns and protective domes."

"How do you kill a God?" Touya suddenly asked. The fact that this was what he was most interested in gave me some hope for his future.

I shrugged and smirked. "I don't know, I wasn't there, but the people over here might know since I'm almost sure I felt some faint Eschatological energies about."

"Escha-… what?!" Forfta squeaked, completely baffled.

Now I assumed a scholarly tone. "Eschatology is a complex thing. The Gods control the fate of their subordinate species, and once you end their Divine Existence, things… go messy, especially the After Life, which leaks not only the dead God's power, but also Eschatological energies."

He looked at me oddly, as if I was talking complete nonsense, though at least my "comrades" seemed interested in my words.

"And you felt… such energies?" Forfta hesitantly asked.

I nodded casually. "I felt only a very faint wisp, but it's like getting a whiff of shit, it's so disgusting it's hard to mistake it."

"Let's leave such a topic for the Seers to ponder upon," King Brapersn cut our conversation short.

 

After a few more drinks, a group of women wearing thin, ornate white robes lined with gold suddenly entered the room. In the middle of them, a beautiful, stern, pale, and pink-haired mature woman wearing golden jewels stiffly walked as the women behind her held her dress to prevent it from dragging on the floor. This revealed her muscular legs, which made me salivate as she reminded me of Lisita and Ashdaia. The red crown on her head matched Brapersn's, and so it told me who she really was.

The King stood and smiled as he waited for his Queen to be brought to him. She also smiled back, but it was forced, and her eyes seemed almost out of focus from tiredness.

If I could touch her without losing my head, I'd bet she was recovering from overusing her life-force, trading years of her life for some sort of power, and I had a good guess where she used it.

The royal maids gave way, and Brapersn received his wife with a tight hug.

"The Queen has recovered!" The maids announced, then the King helped his wife sit down in her throne.

"The Queen is the one who summoned all of you," Forfta quietly informed me, confirming my guess.

Blah, blah, blah, formalities, blah, blah, blah. We stood, we bowed, we introduced ourselves again, and repeated what we had said about our past professions. Brakallr, the Queen, watched us with interest, but her exhaustion was still obvious. She was very fair to the eye, though, so I didn't mind staring at the beautiful mature woman while Helg droned on.

Once everyone had said their piece, the Queen extended her hand, and my glasses gave me a warning that a spell was being cast. I was so surprised by it I instinctively tried to activate the enchantments within my body only to curse and shiver in fear as I realized once again how vulnerable I was.

As my body was hit by a small pulse of magical power, a ball of black, ethereal slime surged from the Queen's hand, then it glowed as magical power appeared from simply nowhere and enveloped the slime.

After a second, the glow waned, revealing an adorable white wolf pup, showing how my wariness was wholly unnecessary.

Obsessed with white, I see.

The pup jumped energetically off her hand and ran towards us, then jumped up on the chair and then on the table. It gave each of us a sharp, intelligent glance, then its demeanor changed and it started to pant like a good little doggie.

The Queen had just "summoned" something, I believed, and she seemed to have the same amount of control over it as the average mage would have over a familiar. The ease and speed with which she summoned it made me very envious, though.

Her powerful, low voice caused a burst of blood to fill my cock, "This wolf is my emissary, so show it the respect it deserves as it shall accompany you throughout your journey. I'm able to channel some of my power through it, so also think of it as a small aid."

"We will, your Highness," Touya politely replied and bowed, to my surprise. The comrades followed, so I was also forced to bow.

My enhanced ears caught the maids whispering in a language I didn't know. It sounded similar to the names of the locals, unlike the blabber that we were speaking, so I was sure it was their native tongue. Unfortunately, my "Gift" didn't allow me to understand their barbaric grunting.

King Brapersn clapped his large hands, creating an annoyingly loud sound that broke the Queen's charm upon me. "Now that you're all fed, let's start the examination of your abilities," he commanded, and the maids obeyed.

From under the dress of each maid, a small monkey came out, their eyes showing the intelligence of a familiar. They grabbed the plates and jugs with their little hands and darted out of the hall with impressive balance, then the maids tipped the tables, quickly folded them, and rested them against the wall. Finally, the chairs were lined on both sides of the hall, and we were told to sit on one side, but the summoned wolf regrettably decided to sit on Touya's lap instead of mine.

I've fucked more wolves than I can count! Why didn't you choose me?!

Then the maids lined up in front of us and took a shit… I mean, prayed, or whatever stupid ritual they did to activate their Thaumaturgic powers. Like last time, a light flew out of their foreheads and entered our bodies, though this time it seemed to clear our minds and blood from the copious amount of alcohol we drank.

Pff… I can do that with [Transfer].

Once every single person was completely sober again, Brapersn clapped again, annoying my ears, and a few moments later another door opened. This time, a dozen men came in, and they were obviously not locals.

They all wore ornate shiny metal armor with gold and silver trimmings, but the lack of fur made me question its utility. They were all darker-skinned and had a more rounded facial structure, but I found the natives to be more beautiful than them. The lack of women among their numbers was also disappointing.

The tallest man, the only one with a beard, took a step forward and announced, "We're the Holy Knights from the Holy Kendriiey Empire. We're here to train, protect, and judge you, in that order of priority."

I'm almost there, please shove harder the word "Holy" anywhere you can. You're so obnoxious I nearly orgasmed from hate.

The stiff expression from the royals and the feudal lords made me think that they didn't agree with certain things the Ken-Knights had said.

"I'm Silver Senior Nishpa, and my comrades are all Silver Feather Holy Knights. Now, let's start the examination," the leader Knight continued, then immediately pointed to Bo-Aung. "Say your name and your combat experience."

Once again Bo-Aung introduced himself, then explained, "I know how to fight with long knives, but my specialty was in ranged combat, though I lack the tools I used to fight here."

"How many men have you killed?" Nishpa interrogated him.

Bo-Aung smirked. "I can't say for sure since our medicine was very advanced, but I'm certain that a handful died by me."

Only "a handful"…? I killed more than "a handful" slaves by accident!

Nishpa's lips subtly curved into a smile. "Hm… good. You'll spar with one of my men. Do you know any combat spells?"

"Nope," Bo-Aung hummed, trying his best to keep from grinning disrespectfully, but Nishpa still didn't sound pleased with his tone.

One of the Holy Knights took off his armor, revealing a rather fit body, but Bo-Aung had more muscle. It seemed that Bo-Aung and I had a height advantage over everybody here.

Bo-Aung warmed up while he waited for the Knight, then a long dagger was given to him and his opponent.

"Sharp knives?" Bo-Aung warily questioned with a frown as he ran his finger along the edge.

"As long as you don't decapitate someone, we're prepared to deal with any wound," Nishpa assured him.

"Alright…" Bo-Aung shrugged.

The two faced each other, and while Bo-Aung seemed confident, the Knight had nothing but deadly seriousness in his eyes. At first, I didn't think very deeply about this, but later on, I started to believe that the knight truly wanted to kill the summoned black man. You never know with these zealous Thaumaturges what they're really thinking.

They cautiously circled around each other for a moment, then advanced at the same time.

I expected a bloody knife fight, as it always happened in the Zabulen's Arenas, but after pushing away the Knight's dagger with his own, Bo-Aung grabbed the Knight's wrist and disarmed him, then Bo-Aung's legs clamped around the Knight's neck, and in the next second, he had his face pressed against the floor, screaming in pain as Bo-Aung twisted his arm.

"Stop!" Nishpa barked, and Bo-Aung released his opponent.

The defeated man held his arm while gritting his teeth in pain, then another Knight took a shit… I mean, prayed to the Gods or whatever, and healed his arm.

Nishpa praised him with restraint, "That was good, Bo-Aung, but our main weapons are the spear and the bow, with other polearms coming in after, so you'll have to learn new weapons to be useful to us." -Bo-Aung's smile soured a bit, but he still smiled- "Do you know any sort of magic?"

"Without my weapons? No. I was just a soldier who did covert ops." Bo-Aung shrugged, but the Knights didn't look pleased, especially the one who had just kissed the dirty floor.

"Reveal his soul," Nishpa glanced at one of his Knights and commanded him.

The Knight walked to Bo-Aung and pulled out a necklace with a small anchor from under his armor, then he gripped the chains tight and started taking a big, fat dump.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and straightened his back as he spoke out loud, "Bedama, your gaze is required. Reveal to us his past, his present, and his future. Grant us a single moment where we can see the truth…" -Praying for Bedama while holding, what I assume is, an icon of Sthrirtha? What kind of pious nonsense is this?- "Bedama, fulfill your duty… [reveal his soul]." The knight's last words sounded muffled to me, yet I could still perfectly understand what he had said. Thaumaturgy is truly nonsensical.

The Knight released Sthrirta's Anchor and extended his hand, then my glasses warned me of a spell being cast surprisingly a lot later than I'd expected, and a chain of light suddenly burst out of his palm. It quickly wrapped around Bo-Aung's neck, then the hall's ceiling was illuminated by a red holographic representation of Bo-Aung's veins.

"Bi-Uid is within you!" The Holy Knights shouted, including Forfta, then the chain of light disappeared along with the hologram.

Bo-Aung looked at the Imperial Knights with visible expectation in his expression. "So? What does that mean?" He eagerly asked. Aside from the initial surprise, Bo-Aung seemed extremely calm for someone whose neck was just chained by a divine spell, eerily so.

Nishpa's tone was completely neutral as he answered, "Bu-Uid is within you, so you need to allow it to guide you. If you follow this path, then you have the potential to become an elite among us." Though his words were encouraging, his expression was thoroughly unimpressed.