Shards of Old

As we stepped past the opening that was formed in the middle of the air, we found ourselves in a very strange city.

Well, I say strange, but it was more like it was… normal.

Too normal. Modern. With cars. And people walking about their daily business.

It didn’t look familiar to me, but that wasn’t too much of an accomplishment: I didn’t really care much about traveling, nor did I have time for that.

One thing that looked different about the place was that it looked… more advanced.

And I don’t mean futuristic… What does that even mean?

No, it was just rich, I think.

Businesses, sporting a very wide array of differently shaped solar panels and glass roofs were brightly lit with neon signs, large glass panels showing the goods for others to see, often with large screens filled with ads…

Well, that never changes.

While the streets were busy, it seemed like no one had noticed our arrival.

I am uncertain if on purpose or just by sheer chance, he managed to open the doorway to a spot that was decently secluded: some strange and seemingly one-way alleyway.

After leaving the portal he immediately closed it, swiping at it with his hand.

And, started sprinting.

Avoiding people like it was his job he went right towards the direction where the larger buildings were, I assume the city center.

While people started noticing, most of them didn’t care. Those who did just looked at him like he was just yet another maniac.

A very fitting description, I might add.

He finally reached some kind of skyscraper.

I couldn’t read the name of whatever was that building supposed to be, but that was because of him being fast and not me being slow or weakened.

Honestly, that was very intriguing.

Since we were back among the more advanced technology, I expected for my abilities to be weakened. Or his. And yet, nothing was happening. Hell, I was feeling as I did before, maybe even better… but that last part was most likely because of me slowly healing, not because of the change of the environment.

Well, I shouldn’t be surprised. I was already shown that the old rules that were supposedly dictating how magic and technology interacted with each other were completely wrong. This was just another confirmation that wherever I knew had to be outdated.

Mike barged in, not paying attention to anything. Walked right past a bewildered receptionist who immediately noticed that something was not right and stepped back, pressing some kind of button next to her desk…

Ah.

The silent alarm.

Yeah, that was to be expected.

Who the hell just walks in like that? What, did he think he owned the place?

He didn't care at all. Just walked right past her and planted himself next to an elevator, intently mashing the “call” button, tapping his foot impatiently.

Soon, the elevator came.

But not empty.

Of course, the alarm. Unsurprisingly, the receptionist had called him in and with his supposed transport arrived four armed men, who looked intimidating. Sporting guns and tactical gear they immediately pointed their assault rifles at his chest.

-Freeze!

I was really hoping that they knew what they were doing…

Both sides.

Mike to know better and not antagonize everyone in his close proximity…

Although that was most likely pointless.

And them… to know better and have some contingency planned in case of an anomaly appearing…

Anomaly like him. Like us.

I was disappointed in both.

Of course, his next sentence was not going to be very polite…

-Fuck off. I am here to see your boss.

Of course. Not only try to intimidate them, now you want us to instantly get exiled, even if we haven’t done anything illegal.

That much.

…

Yet…

-Boss is not accepting any guests - said one of the guards.

-And especially ones who look like you… - finished another one.

-Damn. I don’t care. Take me there.

I think they were starting to lose patience.

His attitude wasn't really giving him an upper hand…

-Listen here, buddy - said one of the security with a very unfriendly tone. - You either leave now, on your own, or we help you do it. So be a good creature and leave willingly.

-I am not leaving till I see your boss.

-And I said. He. Is. Not. Accepting. Guests.

He reinforced his point by poking his chest with his weapon with every word spoken.

I think he once tapped a bit too hard and was taken aback for a moment, hearing as his body was definitely not fleshy.

-Damn golems… want to do our job for us, huh?

“Golems”?

That’s a new name.

-Listen here, fleshlight. You either get the boss, or I do it myself. Without any other detours and all.

I think calling him fleshlight triggered him quite a bit.

I mean, what the fuck was he doing, invading some building was one thing, but the sudden change of demeanor and straight up insults?

That was literally like I was watching a completely different person!

Hm.

Was that even possible…?

I mean, sure, I assumed that he had already assimilated many people and turned them into mana, but…

Was that really it?

And it wasn’t just the case of it being a singular instance. I can think of many times when the actions were inconsistent… hell, the personality was completely off-putting and different from what you’d consider “the usual”...

And not only in him.

To be honest, I’ve been seeing those patterns in every single person that were even a little bit connected to the Origin Crystal… Or, more specifically, our Origin Crystal.

Me, him, For, the rest… it was all the story of inconsistencies and overall mixed bag of everything you could think of.

It honestly felt like it was just me being bad at reading people quite often, but at a certain point you’d think that it was just too much.

While considering that, the main reason for my sudden thoughts was right now still arguing with the random dude.

And I think they were being fed up with him.

-Okay. I am done with this. If you won’t leave by your own volition, I will have to eject you forcefully.

-Try it. See how that works out for you.

-I am not stupid. I know how you golems work. Now…

He actually really seemed like he knew his stuff. Or, at least knew about our ability to absorb stuff.

First thing he did was pull out a pair of leather gloves from his pocket and put them on…

They looked… a bit unusual.

It wasn’t just a way to hide his hands, no. Those were straight up weapons.

The outer part of the leather was studded, with metal boluses all over it.

While unexpected, it also felt magical for some reason…

Wasn’t that just going to literally go against what it was for? Wouldn’t the enhancement, whatever it might be, just get absorbed the moment he touches him…?

I was going to soon find out, because he was about to forcefully remove Mike from the building, or at least attempt to. Judging by his face, I don’t think he’s going to even try and comply…

I was thinkin that he’ll just attempt to grab him and lead him out, but that was not what happened.

Instead, the guard gripped his gun harder and… pressed a button on the side?

Yeah, I am not a gun specialist, or even an enthusiast, but I am pretty sure guns that I used to know didn’t have the physical buttons on the side of the grip like that.

Was that just a very strangely placed safety…?

Definitely not.

The moment he pressed the button, the gun immediately lit up. And I don’t mean only literally, it just went and filled with mana, draining mana from the gloves towards it…

So that’s what those were for…

But wouldn’t it be simpler to just directly give mana…?

What am I even talking about, it’s not like it matters. After all, if this thing was magical, it only meant food for him.

For both of us.

I think he had a similar thought, because he chuckled.

-Ha. You think this toy is going to stop me? Scratch that, even do me any harm? Be my guest then, go for it. Shoot.

I don’t need to add that his taunting was pointless and stupid…

It’s not like any half-decent guard would even try discharging a weapon towards a civilian like that…

Well, it was a very annoying civilian, sure, the one who would definitely be better not existing, but what can you do?

And powerful, of course.

I am sure they just…

I got interrupted with the sound of a gunshot.

My first thought was that we were on the wrong continent.

Then I remembered that we kind of got transported here a bit unconventionally, so we could be anywhere in the world.

And who knows how the world had changed during my absence…

Anyway, Mike was not amused.

As to be expected. Even if that was some combo of both magic and regular gunfire, it wouldn’t leave a scratch on a crystal like his…

But it did.

Mike looked down in surprise.

Right where his shoulder was, he was now sporting a rather large scar.

-That was a warning shot. Next one will go towards your head.

Behind him, his “reinforcements” were now in the process of repeating what he just did: they were putting on the gloves and infusing their weapons.

Hm.

They were a lot more prepared than I was giving to them.

But that and the numbers was the only thing going for them.

I say “only”, but it was still quite a bit.

The moment the shot rang out, the whole corridor got filled with countless other guards, sporting similar gear and promptly aiming at him.

-That’s not how this works - said Mike. - I am here to see your boss and no amount of weaponry is going to change that.

While his voice was calm and collected as usual, I could tell it was an act.

From the outside it most likely was perfectly hidden, but I could tell.

He was afraid.

I was part of him, so there was no mistaking it. The many layers of “defense”, this whole confidence, it was fake. Being a literal insider had its perks.

But, even though he was scared, he was not letting off.

-So you’re going to make it hard like that, huh? - he asked.

Some of the security had taken it as a threat and locked in with their weapons even more, but that’s not what he meant.

He… started being annoying. Even more, that is.

He started thinking.

-I am pretty sure that if you now “extract” me, you will later regret it down the line.

Another sentence that could be perceived as a threat.

In multiple ways even.

-Well, I am not going to be the one who has to tell him that I let the one who was responsible for the certain mission to leave. Hell, I might even sell the resources I found to someone else…

And… he started walking away…?

I have to say, that was a crazy plan, even in my book.

Sure, he might have been telling the truth, but so what? Like anyone’s going to believe him.

But, it seemed like he failed.

They just… let him leave, watching as he was leaving the premises.

He clearly was taking a few looks behind him to check how they would react, but they only hurried him out.

Pff. Plan failed. What now?

It seemed like nothing at first.

He just left the building and started walking away from where he came.

But the moment he turned the corner, he stopped and instead looked back towards the building.

The fuck was he trying to do now?

He looked up, towards the higher floor of the building.

Was he thinking about climbing?

It was the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard about, but clearly he was staring towards the open window on… I’d say third floor.

I mean, if you were desperate you COULD get there if you use…

But, before I was even able to finish the thought, he jumped.

He straight up jumped.

I should’ve known he was going to be even more stupid than I was.

But, it at least confirmed one thing: his body was still enhanced just as it was before.

Effortlessly, he managed to clear all the floors and even managed to overshoot the target a little bit. Honestly, his precision was impressive. It definitely was not the first time he was doing a maneuver like that.

When we reached the window and I managed to collect myself I took a better look at the room we arrived in.

I sort of expected for it to be full of guards or something, but we were alone.

It seemed like it was just some kind of small office, completely devoid of human presence… besides one thing: one the doors was slightly ajar.

He wasn’t really paying attention to anything and just straight up marched through it.

Talk about confidence.

A bit of misplaced confidence in fact.

The moment he opened the door, he stood face to face with someone, who was absolutely stunned to see someone there.

I mean, we were coming out of a dead end essentially, to them it looked like we appeared out of thin air.

And we kind of did.

The poor soul in question was just a janitor.

And today was his unlucky day.

The moment Mike realized that he was not alone, he immediately launched a spell at him.

A ring of stone materialized out of thin air and shot towards the guy, pinning him by the neck to the opposite wall.

He didn’t even manage to get out a squeak before all the air got knocked out of him as he slammed against the wall, and the spell binding him spread to his face, encasing it completely and then spreading towards his whole body.

A moment or two later, there was now a new decoration on the wall in the shape of a human.

Effective. Albeit… not stealthy.

Besides the “statue” that he left behind, the spell was not quiet: the noise of a rock slamming against the wall had definitely alerted someone.

Mike noticed that and was not going to stand idle.

He took a deep breath and…

Slammed his face into the wall.