The blue sky parted, allowing the sun to cast its glow on the landscape. I stepped onto the outer walls and stared at the land, swallowing quietly.
"...I wonder how long it will take for the land to fully recover."
While the sky was blue, the damage the land had sustained over the years was quite substantial. It was going to take at least a few years for the land to fully recover.
From the charred, withered trees to the cracked and shattered earth...
The land outside the walls was a no man's land
Thud.
Jumping down the walls, I walked forward without a care.
The eting had ended a few hours ago and in the end, so sort of competition was agreed.
I barely paid any attention to the situation before excusing myself.
Everyone was allowed a bit of ti to rest and roam freely in the anti. The competition was set to be in two days so I had ti.
With permission from the Head Elder, I decided to venture out of the walls of the city.
It was only when I was far enough from the city that I heard a familiar squelching sound coming from beneath .
Squelch~
A root erged shortly after, gradually taking shape as a small owl that perched beside my shoulder.
"You're here, human."
The reason why I had decided to move out of the city walls was because Owl-Mighty had called for .
"What exactly did you call for?"
"....There's sothing that I noticed not far from here."
"Oh?"
What exactly did it notice?
'Should I check it out?'
I did have quite a bit of ti. In all honesty, it wouldn't hurt to check it out. It was just going to be myself so I wasn't worried about anything happening to . Especially since Owl- Mighty was with .
We were talking about a Destroyer Ranked creature...
Fwap-
Jumping away from my shoulder, Owl-Mighty's figure unfurled into a gigantic tree that stood tall over the surroundings.
The process took no longer than a few seconds, starting from several thick roots manifesting from the ground beneath and shooting up towards the sky as blood-red leaves manifested shortly after, rustling in the air.
I stood in a daze for a brief mont before asking,
"Why did you turn into your true form?"
"....It will be faster this way."
So it said but I found it hard to believe that a tree could be fast.
Nonetheless, I didn't question Owl-Mighty and just let one of its roots clamp my body and bring toward its inner body.
Squelch~
As darkness clouded my vision, I saw Owl-Mighty's figure shrink, and soon an eerie silence enveloped my surroundings.
Breaking the silence was a strange sound that made frown.
It felt similar to a shoveling sound...
'Wait, are we traveling underground?'
That's when it hit .
"Ah..."
So that's why Owl-Mighty chose to use its real body.
This indeed seed like an efficient ans of transportation. No longer questioning the situation, I looked around the darkness that surrounded and decided to close my eyes.
"Hey, Owl-Mighty..."
"Yes?"
"...Wake up when we're there."
"Okay."
It had been a while since I had gotten a good night's sleep.
Following everything that had happened to recently, the mont I closed my eyes, I fell into a peaceful slumber.
*
"Wake up-!" Owl-Mighty's voice bood in my ears, startling awake instantly.
"Uh?!"
My eyes snapped open, and I found myself lying on the ground. The sky above was no longer the sa shade of blue as before; it had turned gray, with a familiar white sun hovering in the distance. Tall, jagged peaks pierced the horizon, the pale light from the sun casting a faint
glow over them.
An oppressive, dry air entered my lungs as I took a deep breath and realization dawned on rather quickly.
"Wait, is this the Mirror Dinsion?!"
I snapped my eyes towards my right shoulder when Owl-Mighty stood in its owl form.
".... Why would you bring here?!"
Shooting up, I hurriedly patted my clothes clean and grew alert.
Every pore on my body seed to have closed down from the harsh environnt around .
"Don't worry, I'm here. There will be no monster nearby."
"That's not what I'm worried about..."
In fact, the monsters were the last thing I was worried about.
"No, before any of that, why did you bring here? What do you want to show ?"
"It's close by."
"Where?"
I looked around . All I saw were the faraway peaks and the scorched land. There was
nothing worth looking at.
"It's in front of you."
"In front of ...?"
I found myself looking at Owl-Mighty weirdly.
'Did Owl-Mighty lose its mind while it wasn't with ?'
Now that I thought about it, most strong people I knew had a few screws loose.
Unfazed by my reaction, Owl-Mighty nudged its head forward.
"Touch the space in front of you."
"Hm?"
Though I was confused, I did as Owl-Mighty asked and pressed my hand forward.
"?!"
It was then that I sensed it- a faint disturbance as an invisible ripple ford in the air before . The ripple expanded outward, spreading across every corner of my vision until it traced the outline of an imnse do. The do seed to be massive, with no end in sight and as I wondered exactly what was happening, my right arm started to glow.
"Uh?"
Before I could process the situation, my hand fell forward and an invisible power sucked
into the do.
Swoosh-
I didn't even have the ti to scream before my vision shifted and my vision turned white.
Thump!
I fell face-first to the ground and hastily rubbed my face before propping myself back up. As I opened my eyes, a blinding light pierced through my vision, forcing to squint as I quickly
glanced around.
It took a few minutes to fully adjust to the light and when I did, I finally managed to focus
on my surroundings.
'Where is this...?'
All I saw was white. No, I could also see the corners and edges of what appeared to be a small room.
Room?
Clank-
The space before seed to shift, and a section of the white wall slid apart, revealing the
outline of a door. Monts later, a figure stepped through.
"My, my..."
I found myself dazed at the appearance of the man in front of as I quickly looked at him up
and down before holding my breath.
He was dressed in tall, slender brown pants, a white T-shirt, and a long jacket that nearly
reached the top of his legs. His circular-frad glasses perched on his nose, and his brown
hair was neatly combed.
With a thin smile, he looked up and down before settling his gaze on my arm which was
still glowing.
"Inverted Sky?"
He pinched his chin, and his next words made understand my situation. "It's been a while since we got soone coming from that far. Well, judging from your face,
you also don't seem to have co here in the past but since you were allowed in, it must an
that you're more than qualified to enter."
The man held the door for . "Well, it doesn't matter to . If you would...
His instructions were clear, and while I was still utterly confused about what was happening, I
managed to remain composed and stood up. After which, under the gaze of the strange man
that I just t, I made my way for the door.
Clank!
As soon as I stepped through the door, a long white corridor stretched out before . Looking
up, I saw lights above that seed strangely familiar. They were long and narrow, producing
a bright white light.
That...
My heart pressed at my throat.
"You seem rather calm despite coming here for the first ti. Usually when we have new
people enter they all look extrely surprised by everything."
"...I am surprised."
I really was.
"Hm, why doesn't it seem like you are?"
"My face tends to be rather stoic."
"I see."
With a simple smile, the man led forward.
Tak, tak-
Our steps ech I loudly within the corridor as we both kept quiet. It was good this way since
my mind was going on overdrive as I tried to understand my current situation. I already had a
pretty good idea given the few hints and clues that I received.
'...I must be in so sort of base? One where those from the four organizations within each Empire
reside.'
Or sothing of the sort.
The fact that my leaf glowed and granted access right after was the most significant clue
The man's following words were also enough of a hint and my heart started to speed up
further.
Taking short, yet unnoticeable breaths, I forced my mind to calm down further.
I wanted to silently curse Owl-Mighty for suddenly bringing here without any preparations, but given that it wasn't present with , it was clear that only those with the
emblem could enter.
"We're almost here."
Lost in thought, I didn't even realize that we had reached the end of the corridor, and when I
looked up, I saw the man from before lift his glasses with his finger.
He smiled faintly the mont our eyes t. Pressing his hand against the white door behind , he started to speak.
"There's not a lot of rules in this place, but there are a few that you must follow as... the
environnt here is quite different from what you're used to." Different? As in...?
"You must always walk on the pedestrian street. Only cross the road when you see white
stripes on the road or when the light is green. Please don't use your powers within this place or you will be imdiately detained."
My breathing unknowingly grew faster upon hearing his words.
"If you do get detained, depending on the cri, things might get quite troubling for you.
Especially since the since governor Dreamist is quite strict with his judgnt."
He went on with the rules.
"No killing, no drinking in public, no vandalizing, no..."
He went on and on about the rules, but by then, I had already stopped focusing on his words.
I thought back to the familiar lights and things I picked up on the way, and an idea ford in
my mind. An idea that I almost refused to believe.
This...
It couldn't be that...
Clank-
As the door by the end of the hall opened, the man's soft voice reached my ears.
"Welco to the Citadel."
"The land of the true inhabitants of this world."
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