Chapter 4: The Future

Wind shot across the grassy plain. It rushed through long grass, outstretched fingertips, and hair alike. Sen stretched his arms as far as he could and embraced the feeling. Above them, large birds with three tails flew high in the sky in search of food. The sun shone brightly upon them, as glorious as ever, radiating the natural magic that emanates from it each day and lights the world.

That wasn’t the sun he’d come to see, but it was a pleasant reminder that he’d finally come closer to the dream he’d been chasing for a lifetime. “This is it,” he whispered. He couldn’t reach out and touch his goal yet, but he could see that magic had evolved. The threads shot out in new and unusual ways. New spells, new pathways, and even types of magic that hadn’t existed in his own time. The world had progressed a lot in a thousand years, and now it was time to catch up to the magicians of today.

He had so much to explore.

His belongings were scattered all around them. He’d have to find a way to repair his broken Temporal Space, but in the meantime, he could create one that would act purely as storage, even if he couldn’t enter it as he could his previous one. “Temporal World Maxim,” he said. The remaining magic essence spheres in his possession shattered, sacrificed to fuel the spell. The world formed within a portal, and he spread his mana throughout the grassy plain to enshroud his belongings. Portals opened below each of them, and they disappeared.

[It appears we have moved through space, in addition to time. We are not in the same location as we were when we left.]

“Tutor, can you detect any powerful opponents?” he asked.

[Information is limited at this time. I will need to collect data and analyze the world before I can fulfill a request such as that. Also, there’s something you should see.]

His status box appeared.

Name: Sen Locke

Rank: ??

Level: ??

Strength: 0 (?? while under the effects of Mana Aggression)

Speed: 0 (?? while under the effects of Mana Encapsulation)

Magic: ??

Constitution: 0 (?? while under the effects of Mana Protection)

Mana Points: 999,999,999+

Sen frowned. “What’s going on?”

[It appears we’ll need to collect a combat sample to compare your abilities to the people of this time. Finding one or more individuals with magic capabilities from this time period should allow me to calibrate your status properly.]

That was fine with him. He needed to test the strength of this new world. Searching for worthy opponents and gathering data for Tutor would allow him to address their needs all at once. Their goals were in alignment.

Speaking of other magicians…

He looked over at his companions; Mori cradled Ilm in his arms. She was still asleep. He wondered about that, even if she’d been asleep wherever she was, all the action should’ve woken her up. Though, admittedly, he was one to talk. He’d slept through a hundred years of time travel himself.

“Mori, is she alright?” he asked.

Mori nodded slowly. “I didn’t have any experience with this spell; it was successful, but her constitution is…frail. She often needs to rest for a while, and sleeps deeply when she does.”

Mori wasn’t talking about the stat, her body was weaker than it should be.

Sen nodded. “As long as she’s stable, I’ll take a look at her in a moment. Let me get a bearing on our surroundings first.” He turned and focused on a chain of spells. “Temporary Flight-Prolonged-Maxim.” He added a modifier and a maximizer this time. He needed to fly a little longer than temporarily, and the maxim modifier would enhance both the original spell and the modifier adding power to both.

“Magic Scan Maxim. Eyesight Enhance Maxim. Telescope Maxim. Sense Civilization Maxim.” With his enhancements in place, Sen looked up and shot straight into the sky. His clothes rippled in the wind. A few of the birds cawed in surprise and veered away from him, thinking he was a predator of some sort, or maybe a territorial bird much larger than they were. Regardless, they gave him a wide berth.

His magic felt as great as it always had, so whatever calibration Tutor needed to do hadn’t been a reflection of weakening power. Satisfied, he turned to survey his surroundings.

To the east, Sen spotted a great mountain range that stretched across the horizon like an ocean. There was little life or greenery, and though he sensed magic in this direction, its sources were rare and scattered. It would be unwise to start his search here.

To the south, he saw a desert. But only after pushing both his enhanced eyesight and telescope spell to their limits. The stretch of green plains molded into a forest, and many small towns along the way, but at the edge of his enhanced vision, the desert dominated the south. There was magic, plenty of it, but honestly, Sen wasn’t the biggest fan of sand unless it was on a beach. He’d settle for it if no other options remained, but hoped that wasn’t the case.

To the west, closer than both the mountains and the desert, there was an impressive body of water. While traveling overseas might interest him normally, he found little purpose in it when he’d just arrived here. They’d traveled across time and space; there was no reason to leave land he hadn’t had the chance to properly explore yet. Though he’d keep the beach in mind if he ever needed a vacation.

An explosion rang out, and Sen immediately let his visual enhancements fade. The sound had come from the north, and as soon as he’d heard it, he knew he’d go investigate. So, why ruin the surprise?

He plummeted through the air, feeling his Mana Protection hybrid stat slide into place. When he landed, the soft patch of grass became a crater. He jumped out of it and shot over to Mori and Ilm. “Mori, we need to…”

He remembered his promise to fix Ilm. Sen knelt beside Mori and looked at her. He got a better look at the painted lines on her neck she’d drawn to match Mori’s. Sen would apply actual protective markings later, but for now, he just needed to get her on her feet. Though Mori had technically been the one to create her, he’d done it under Sen’s authority. Therefore, Sen could alter her without needing to cast fresh magic. He’d fix her with magical authority alone. “Ilm wake and be whole.” Mana shot from his body and rushed toward her.

Ilm shot up, scrambling to find her feet. “What’s going on?” she asked. Her eyes met Mori’s, and the wild expression on her face calmed a bit. She turned to look at Sen and froze. “You made another replica? You promised I could make the next one!” She frowned at Mori.

Sen made a mental note to restrict their ability to keep creating new versions of themselves. Eventually they’d have too many mouths to feed, and honestly, seeing the girl version of him was a bit unsettling already.

“Actually, this is the Master. Master Sen,” Mori informed her.

Ilm’s eyes grew wide, and she looked at Sen as if she were in the presence of a king. She threw herself to the ground and bowed.

He laughed. “Float.”

Ilm looked up from her bow and realized she was several feet off the ground. “What…I…what?” she asked.

She stuck her legs out, and he allowed the spell to dissipate. “No need to bow, Ilm. Now, everyone, there’s something interesting in that direction and I don’t wanna miss it. So let’s get going.”

Sen took to the skies again, reactivating his extended float technique. He turned at the sound of shouting and looked over his shoulder. Mori floated after him, dragging Ilm along through the sky. She was not a fan. He’d need to impart some additional magical knowledge to her when he had the chance. Flying was incredible, but he understood it might be a bit unsettling to do it under someone else’s power.

Below, the grassy landscape turned into a blur. As they went further and further, they passed farms and countryside homes. To his surprise, the three-tailed birds had decided he wasn’t a threat. A flock of them now flew behind him and his companions, taking advantage of the draft they created. Sen chuckled at that.

As they flew, he stretched his senses to see if he could perceive any of the tomeseekers, or even Xanadrell, but caught no hint of either. He’d released the tomeseekers into the world hundreds of years ago. He’d added an evolution modifier to the spell, so it was possible their form had changed. But even then, he should still be able to sense them. He’d worry about that later. As for Xanadrell, he’d been at the level of a King-class mage from his creation; there was no reason to worry about him. Though he wondered whether it was distance, or something else, that kept him from locating the beings presence.

It didn’t take them long to find the source of the commotion. An enormous creature was staring down a group of humans.

“Greater Invisibility.” Sen and his party quickly disappeared into the air, now perceptible only to one another. “Observe from above, keep Ilm out of the fight,” Sen instructed.

“Of course,” Mori said.

“Hey, can we maybe wait on the ground instead?” Ilm asked, covering her mouth. She hung from the hand Mori held her cloak up with.

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Sen descended. “Tutor.”

[The creature is an intelligent Bone Ghoul Giant. It appears to be in conflict with these humans.]

Sen nodded. The Bone Ghoul Giant was as tall as the town’s buildings. The creature’s face was a mask of bone with two holes for its eyes. It carried a tree trunk twice its length as a club and stared down men who appeared to be farmers. They wielded pitchforks and shovels. This was going to be a massacre. Still, they weren’t running in terror, so Sen was curious. He leaned against the wall of a house. What would they do here? He’d intervene before things got bad, but it wouldn’t hurt to watch it play out a little.

“Humans, where is cow?” The creature bellowed.

One of the farmers, a younger man, looked around. “Where is he?” he asked. “He was supposed to be here by now.”

The others shook their heads; others took a few steps back as if thinking about running. Were they waiting for someone?

An older farmer stepped forward. “No more.” The other members of the crowd looked at him nervously. The old farmer had a long, thick, grey beard and a wide-brimmed hat. “We work hard for what we have. Yet, someone always wants to come and take it. Bandits. Wild animals. Monsters. Now you demand we bring you a cow once a week as tribute. We’re sick of it, and we won’t stand for it anymore.”

Sen tilted his head. “Every week?”

[Bone ghoul giants eat a large meal once per month as a survival mechanism.]

He was already aware of that. He turned and mixed mana into his voice so his words would reach Mori’s ears alone. “Mori, I want you and Ilm to go investigate. Look for the creature’s den and report in if you find anything strange.”

“At once.” It wouldn’t take Mori long at all. He had tracking spells for this, and with his speed, it would only take a few minutes for him to report it.

The bone ghoul giant shook his head as if he finally understood what the farmer was saying. “No give cow?” he asked.

“No give cow!” the farmer confirmed. “We’ll never give you anything again, and we’ve hired someone to make sure of it.”

Movement. Sen cocked a brow as a flash of black erupted from one of the houses. A man clad in a full-body black outfit flew through the air directly toward the creature. He wielded a katana.

“Face the strength of Klaw of the Kuran clan! Fireball Maxim!” the man said.

Sen shot straight up, his attention piqued. In his time, his unique maximizer was something only he was capable of pulling off. There were other maximizers, of course. He’d even taught Diablo how to develop one, but in the past, anytime he’d tried to teach his personal maximizer to another person, it killed them. It’s how Mori had gotten so adept with resurrection magic.

The Bone Ghoul Giant turned in a panic and swung the tree trunk. It met the fireball, and both the magic and the tree exploded. Klaw Kuran wasn’t finished though; he shot through debris and swung his sword, ready to decapitate the creature.

[I cannot yet perceive his level, but he’s the equivalent of a knight class fighter.]

Now, that was surprising. A knight class was level 30 in his day. Its modern-day counterpart could use the Maxim ability? Was this man a prodigy or—

The katana shattered when it met the neck of the giant. The creature reached out and grabbed the man out of the air. It frowned after inspecting him.