“You really must have been lost in the dungeon, or maybe even out in the wild lands to not have heard about TMI. It’s been all the buzz for the past few months. Tad’s Magical Inventory. We have a contact, got our hands on some of his goods, you see. The company supplies magical items of all sorts, and not just weapons, but things that make life easier for us normal people.”

  She paused, noticing our puzzled expressions, and added with a grin, “You’ll see soon enough what that means. It’s a true wonder.”

  I was about to ask how much to rent the two rooms for a week when I realized that I didn’t have any clue about the local currency. The Heavens operated on credits, and I doubted those would fly here. Selena must have read me, because she pulled several precious gems from her spatial storage and took over the negotiation.

  She explained that we were from far away and hadn’t yet had a chance to obtain any of the local money, asking if she could pay with a couple of the gemstones in her upturned hand. The woman waved a dismissive hand as if to say to think nothing of it. “Oh my stars, certainly! And where are my manners? My name is Merca Chat, and this is my inn. But I’d be careful flashing around that type of wealth, even if you are adventurers. How about this. Give me that diamond and I’ll hold it until you can exchange some of the others for coin, then I’ll give it back to you. We’ll consider your rooms rented for a full week.

  “Normally that would be two gold, six silvers for the larger of the two, and one gold, nine silvers for the smaller, so you have some idea of the price. Breakfast and dinner are included. Drinks other than what’s on tap are extra, and lunch is extra. We have a strict no fighting policy, and while you don’t look like the type to be up to trouble, I tell everyone the same, so there’s no confusion.”

  Selena handed over the gem, and we were provided with two keys and directions to the rooms. Merca apologized for not being able to show us personally, but said that the kitchen would fall apart if she didn’t get back to it.

  We bid her farewell and headed up the stairs. This world was already looking interesting, but I couldn’t wait for the privacy of a room. The constantly flashing notifications were giving me a headache.

  Chapter Three: Review

  Samvek paused at the door beside ours, key turning in his hand. Selena dropped Samvek’s disguise the moment he stepped inside. “I’ll be glad to have my own room,” he said, giving me a sidelong look that was half amusement, half warning. “I like to sleep in silence, not listen to the sound of two lovebirds discovering new harmonies.”

  Selena smirked, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “I’ll try to keep him from singing.”

  Samvek’s tail flicked once, his grin showing a trace of fang. “You’d better. If not, I might relocate to another inn.”

  She chuckled. “That second one sounded interesting. But you can’t be sour just because Talia isn’t here.”

  He frowned.

  “Fine, fine. That was in poor taste. I’m sorry, truly. All these emotions are new to me, so I got a bit carried away. But you are a true ally, Samvek, so I would never intend to cause you offense. Will you forgive me?”

  He grunted and gave a nod before shutting his door with deliberate finality. The quiet click of the latch was as close to affection as he ever showed.

  She looked over at me and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.” I kissed her, putting an end to the matter. Samvek would get over it, and soon we’d be planning how to get back to our own portion of the multiverse.

  Our own room was on the corner. It was larger than I expected. The air smelled faintly of polished wood and lavender soap. A single magical lamp rested on a carved stand beside the bed, its light pulsing in slow rhythm, brightening or dimming in response to motion. A second, larger lamp was set into the ceiling, its glow diffused through frosted crystal. When it brightened, the walls caught the light and shimmered softly, the veins in the stained wood shifting like grain under water. Neither of them gave me the feeling of magitech, and when I managed to Identify them, the information I got was limited.

  Magical Lamp, Fey System style

  The bed was broad, easily king-sized, with thick quilts folded at the foot and clean white sheets that carried a trace of heat from some minor enchantment. Across from it, a small round table occupied the space near the window, four chairs tucked neatly beneath it. The carpet was dense and soft beneath my boots, patterned in muted gold and violet, echoing the same colors as the curtains that framed a view of the street below.

  The adjoining chamber served as a small bedroom, likely intended for an attendant or guard. Its door stood half-open, revealing a narrow cot and a chest against the far wall. The bath lay opposite. When I stepped through its arched doorway, I found the floor tiled in a mosaic of sea-green and cream. A deep porcelain tub sat along the wall, large enough for two, its bronze fixtures etched with runes that shimmered faintly. To the side stood a tall enclosure made of thick glass panes, presumably the magical shower.

  A soft hum of contained mana resonated within it, the sound of power waiting to be called. Identify was no more successful at telling me anything about it than it had been with the lamp. There was no mana circuitry or runes woven together to mark this as magitech. This felt like a much rawer version of magic, and truthfully, the more I let my mind dwell on it, the more I found my excitement bubbling up inside of me.

  Selena ran her fingers along the wood paneling, her expression thoughtful. “Simple,” she said, “but well made. I like it.”

  “So do I.” I loosened my shoulders and took in the room one more time. It wasn’t luxury. It was comfortable, purposeful, and, more importantly, ours, at least for the week. “I know we aren’t married yet, but this is sort of like a honeymoon before the wedding. It feels nice not to have the weight of the world on me.”

  “Are you saying we should play hooky, ignore our responsibilities, and focus on exploration rather than return?”

  I shrugged. “How about for now, we sit down and view our notifications? I know you must have a few. I’m starting to see spots dancing in my vision from how insistently some of these are beeping in my mind.”

  “Way to not answer me, but I’ll take that as a firm maybe. For what it’s worth, as far as I’m concerned, the Heavens can do without us for a few months, maybe even a few years. I think this world could be fun, from what I’ve seen of it so far.”

  It was interesting to see the scion of a peak family so dismissive of her duties. I’d never seen this side of Selena, at least not this front-and-center. I liked it.

  She sat on the bed, leaned back, and crossed her legs. I was positive she was messing with me, trying to distract me, but I called upon my bloated Will stat to save the day and sat down at the table to go through my notifications.

  There were a ton of them. I started at the top.

  You were temporarily severed from the system, but have been restored to full functionality. Analysis is incomplete, but initial investigation reveals that you have maintained full access to all abilities, spells, traits, titles, and your class core. Your occupation remains intact, and access has been increased in response to the actions of another Architect.

  Strive to show yourself worthy of this investment.

  That notification, along with several others, had appeared the instant before I’d stepped through the portal. Right now, my connection to the system felt distant, just as Urg felt distant. I never would have thought I’d miss it, but it was like a background noise I’d become accustomed to. Its absence was deafening.

  Rather than worry about that, I moved on to a pair of notifications regarding quest completions.

  You have completed Greater Together—Find another Architect of the System and share what you have learned about your occupation, while learning what they know. This quest must be completed within 250 years.

  For completing it much more quickly than expected and as compensation for the attack upon your person, you are granted one boon. This boon must be claimed while under the Heavens and constitutes a wish that may encompass, with practical limits, anything requiring up to one year of power output from a single midsized star.

  A boon, huh? It wasn’t of any immediate benefit, and as we currently weren’t under the Heavens I couldn’t use it to wish us back to Earth, but there was no doubt in my mind that I would make it home someday. When I did, it would be a nice perk to have.

  You have completed the Save Galen quest. You are also awarded credit for saving other divine, ascendant, and legendary-tier assets, but you did not save the Voice.

  Rewards:

  Temporal Mana Crystal 10,000/10,000 mana: This crystal contains pure temporal mana and can be used to augment your temporal affinity. This Crystal will slowly recharge from ambient mana.

  Life Mana Crystal 10,000/10,000 mana: This crystal contains pure life mana that has been attuned to your cultivator’s core, and can be used to enhance your cultivation ability through careful application. This Crystal will slowly recharge from ambient mana.

  Potion of Clarity (Legendary) x3

  Potion of XP Acceleration (Legendary) x3

  Cracked Spacetime Gem (Ascendant):

  This is a highly unstable item and should only ever be taken out of spatial storage for limited periods of time. It could discharge at any time, and significant pressure placed on it will greatly increase the odds of this happening. The resulting disruption has the potential to damage or perhaps even kill an ascendant-tier being, but the collateral damage is difficult to predict. It could be nominal, or it could destroy a world.

  Those rewards weren’t bad at all. It reminded me that I already had a Potion of Clarity, which had been recommended to me by Lana with little explanation. That one had only been rare tier, so I’d thrown it into Save for Winter for a rainy… err… snowy day.

  I took the time to examine one. It looked like a standard test tube, clear and capped with a wax seal that had a magical signature built into it. The fluid inside was so clear that even with my Perception, I had to shake it and shift it several times to notice it at all.

  Potion of Clarity (Legendary): This potion expands the mind and perceptions, creating a perfect state of mind for completing highly complex operations or expanding organic skills. It will not alter the actual flow of time, but with radically increased Mind and Perception stats, the world will slow to a crawl.

  Connections will come easier, and intentionally forming habits and creating muscle memory will become simple.

  +20,000 to Mind and Perception added to your base stats. Mental Buffer included to prevent unconsciousness or insanity.

  Duration: Three hours, but you may not leave the planet you are on, nor may the potion be consumed in space, the Void, the astral plane, or any similar metaphysical location.

  I was far more interested now that I had the complete definition, but I couldn’t linger on it. There were still two more notifications, and a bunch of items I needed to inspect.

  You have struck the final blow on the dragon goddess, Tiamat. While the majority of the damage was caused by the Voice and Nicosandumas, you still earned significant XP for killing the soul of a god and primordial. XP alone is not sufficient for this feat, but will be applied once you return to the Heavens.

  That was confusing. Did it mean that by absorbing the dragon dust, I’d killed her soul? That hadn’t been my intention, but apparently there were forces at work here that I wasn’t privy to.

  You have acquired two new titles.

  Dragon Slayer (Legendary): All dragons, dragonkin, and ascendant or greater tier beings will know that you have slain a dragon. Because the title is Dragon Slayer rather than Dragon Butcher, they will know you have achieved a clean kill. Some dragons may still take offense.

  As a result of this title, you gain the active ability Prismatic Scale. Each scale can last for up to sixty minutes but may be destroyed sooner dependent upon damage taken. Each scale may be used once per day. Whenever a scale is triggered, a haze will appear around you, and you will appear to be surrounded by a barrier of dragon scales, the effects of which will be determined by their color.

  White Scale: Complete resistance to cold related effects, including the vacuum of space. Absorbs negative status conditions and converts them into positive effects.

  Black Scale: Complete resistance to any type of caustic effect. Absorbs poisons, diseases, and curses, converting them into positive effects.

  Green Scale: Complete resistance to any gas or poison, regardless of form. Absorbs air pressure and can create a vacuum around the user.

  Blue Scale: Complete resistance to illusions and any light- or electricity-based attacks, as well as the ability to bypass such fields. Absorbs similar effects and can then project them outward.

  Red Scale: Complete resistance to any type of heat or related effects. Absorbs auras and can use what is taken to enhance the user’s own aura, with a small chance of causing the absorbed properties to become permanent.

  I wanted to leap for joy, until I realized I still had a second title to get to.

  God Slayer (Ascendant): All beings of neutral or worse disposition to you will feel anxious around you, if you will it. Ascendant tiers or higher will recognize you as a serious threat. Divine-tier beings will know what the title is and that it was justifiably acquired.

  Beyond the emotions generated, which should not be underestimated, you gain a fraction of divine essence. Your lifespan is effectively tripled. This benefit will pass on to any genetic offspring you have. Aging effects will be slowed by 300%.

  I was less excited about that title, as my life was already going to be longer than I knew what to do with, but I shelved that thought when I looked at Selena. More life meant more wife.

  My mind went back to the scales. They were clearly powerful tools, and while I didn’t know when I’d need them, I expected I’d know when the time came. As for God Slayer, even the descriptions told me not to underestimate it.

  I still needed to look at my Perception, which had crossed a threshold. Then I needed to figure out what to do with the soul gems and dragon dust, and maybe get a closer look at that Lilly Band. But as soon as I set the gems on the small table, Selena started sighing to get my attention. Her efforts succeeded spectacularly. She rolled onto her side and gave me a look that almost made me throw up a force barrier by instinct. “Are you going to sit around playing with your rocks all day, then?”

  I knew an invitation when I heard one and made a mental commitment to myself. I would still make every attempt to get us back to Earth as quickly as possible, but I was going to make the most of my time on this world, and would not let responsibilities on the other side of the multiverse weigh me down. There was much to learn, and fun to be had. Hopefully, the next couple hours would include a little of both.

  Chapter Four: Clear Mind

  I lay back, not exactly gasping for breath but definitely feeling like I’d exerted myself. There were many kinds of exertion—the heat of battle or that sweat you worked up at the gym, for instance. But I was absolutely positive that there was no exertion quite so pleasant as the one I was feeling at that moment.

  Exploring this new relationship with Selena was going to be fun, and we were only at the beginning of a very long life together. With that in mind, we’d both agreed to get a couple hours of sleep before we headed out and about. It wasn’t necessary, but she’d already settled into a steady, rhythmic breathing indicative of sleep.

  Her head was resting on my chest, and I wouldn’t have moved it for anything short of a monster attack. I let the tension drain from me. Perhaps this time away from Earth was a reward of its own. Still, I couldn’t quite bring myself to relax yet. There were more issues I needed to figure out.

  The mana here seemed to move marginally more easily with time. My senses, both internal and external, were pretty refined, so I was confident that I was moving the mana more smoothly than I had been when we’d first arrived. It wasn’t a huge leap, but we hadn’t been here long. At this rate, it would take less than a week to fully adapt to this place.

  But as I focused on the mana, I found something I hadn’t expected. I was tempted to call it chaos mana, but it felt different from what I’d experienced in the Hell System. There, the chaos mana felt like a byproduct. But the mana here felt like it had purpose, and maybe even an intent behind it.

  The chaos felt less scattered, less entropic. More like the unpredictability of life, and the way small mutations could bring about greater adaptability. It held an unmistakable element of growth. The more I felt it, the more I enjoyed what I was feeling. There was a pleasantness about it. I sensed a freedom here I didn’t get from the Heavens.

  Shaking my head, I realized that speculation was pointless. I needed to find someone here I could speak to.

  All idle thoughts fled my mind when I caught a swirl of color out of the corner of my eye. I whipped my head to the side, trying to track it while still being careful not to wake Selena. Whatever I’d seen was gone, but then I saw a different flash of color on the other side of us. This was starting to bother me.

  I moved as slowly and gently as I could, trying not to disturb the sleeping beauty. She complained about me getting up, saying that I was taking her warmth away, but pulled the blanket up over her head, making her own little cocoon.

  I moved around the room. I kept getting those little flickers, but they only appeared in my peripheral vision. It happened again and again. No matter how quickly I turned, I could never see the source. I did, however, manage to narrow it down to the vicinity of a couple of items in the room. The first was around the magical lamp, and the other was the bathroom. I expected the latter had something to do with the magical shower.

  When I studied the lamp again, Identify still didn’t want to give me anything useful, but I finally got it to elaborate after a solid five seconds of focus.

  Magical Lamp (rare equivalent)

  Can produce light sufficient to fill an entire room. It can also be dimmed or brightened by adjusting the knobs.