Chapter 24: Strange Places

Every child in Komen has heard the story. It’s well known, but easily dismissed.

Long ago, before recorded history, Komen was an entirely human realm.

And then, out of nowhere, a group of mythical beings covered in armor appeared over the central continent.

With their powers, they tore holes in the sky above the central continent.

These holes were later revealed to be pathways from which realms of nonhuman beings could be reached.

Giant-near feral humanoids, short beings with ample body hair and rippling muscles, fae with beautiful faces paired with butterfly wings, and pointy-eared, long-lived elves.

It is through the shared study and observation of one another’s lands that the pieces make themselves a greater whole.

Though there are lingering differences and issues, the story children are told is one of harmony and the ushering of a golden age for all involved.

And the fabled armored individuals are hailed as beings with immense foresight and intelligence. Their benevolence is said to know no bounds.

But then again, it is just a bedtime story.

–

Solomon sat up abruptly and screamed.

His body was wrapped in a thick layer of sweat. Tremors plagued every part of his body.

As soon as he inhaled, he felt the sickness coming.

Solomon rolled over and evacuated the contents of his stomach immediately.

Blood ran from his nose and mixed with his spilled bile.

Solomon had not felt weakness like this even when he was a skinny wretch digging through street garbage.

As Solomon’s vision regained some clarity, he brought a hand to his nose and pulled it away.

His blood was a strange metallic obsidian color.

As soon as he saw it, he was instantly reminded of the dark, horrible armor that hijacked his body and sent him on a rampage.

Memories threatened to well up. He instinctively stuffed them back down.

Solomon instinctively tried to circulate his internal energy to help with the sickness and nausea, but to sobering results.

His entire cultivation base was gone. Everything that he had worked so hard for, had fled from him without him even being aware that it had happened.

Again, Solomon felt memories threaten to resurface. He promptly ignored them, and looked around the room he had woken up in.

Once he started paying attention, he was baffled as to how he hadn’t noticed any of this before.

Everything he laid his eyes on was white and gold colored.

His room was shaped like a simple dome, roughly 900 square feet of space.

There were no lamps or candles inside. The light sources came from the strange glyphs embedded in the walls.

They emitted a soft orange glow that gave the room a warm atmosphere.

When Solomon stood up, the glyphs increased the intensity of their light. Their glow became a more illuminating white color.

Solomon spotted the door on the far side of the room. He started to walk towards it before realizing that he felt unnaturally breezy.

“…Great.”

Solomon scoured the room for anything that he could find to cover himself.

There was furniture in the room with Solomon. But no dressers or closets.

He grew frustrated with looking and simply ripped away sheets from his bed to wrap around himself.

When he was at least somewhat decent, Solomon went to the door and prepared to throw his body into it; expecting it to be locked.

As soon as he began his charge, the door vanished and his momentum carried him outside.

“H-Holy shit…”

Solomon was baffled by the scene in front of him.

He stood on a glistening marble walkway. White pillars held up an exalted ceiling, painted with depictions of an ancient story.

A railing on the left side of the hall protects those from falling from an incredible height.

Beyond the boundary, a sea of thick, fluffy clouds seemed to glow from the light of a vibrant arc-shaped moon and the distant constellations that surround it.

Candles light the hallway walls; hanging at around Solomon’s feet.

Between his awe at his surroundings and his anxiety over being in an unfamiliar place, Solomon hadn’t had any time to think about the fact that his body was larger than he remembered it being.

Solomon walked over to the railing and reached his hand past.

He passed his fingers over the clouds and marveled at the feeling. For the moment, his disbelief clouded every other negative feeling in his mind and body.

Thud, thud, thud…

Solomon regained control of himself and remembered that he was still very much naked in a hostile place.

His body wasn’t in any condition to fight. His cultivation was gone. He didn’t even have a weapon.

As he heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming closer, he knew he had to make a decision.

Ultimately, it was his need for answers that made him plant his feet and ball his fists.

When the approaching figure came around the corner, he realized just how foolish his choice was.

What approached him was not a man or an inhuman. It was a metal giant over fifteen feet tall.

Its body was comprised of a glistening emerald green stone paired with sleek silver accents to bond it all together.

Solomon recognized the fabled material, but he had only seen it in pictures before.

’Orichalcum…’

When the metal giant reached Solomon, he was baffled to see the creature suddenly get down on one knee in front of him.

“Honored greetings to the last of the Great Ones. I am an automaton belonging to The Great Alchemist of the High House of Aegis. Welcome home.”

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