Chapter 690 The Weird People
The transition through the portal was instant, but the impact was jarring. One momen they were surrounded by the ethereal glow and feeling of Elf Magic and the next, they were plunged into a world unlike anything they had ever seen in their lives before.
Aerchon and Sylra landed first in this world. They tumbling onto a metal platform slick with rain. Around them, the city stretched into the sky.
They saw towers of steel and glass piercing the clouds with their edges glowing with neon lights. Strange glowing symbols flashed across massive light boards on the buildings, displaying unfamiliar languages and moving images.
The air was thick with smoke, the scent of oil and burning metal clashing with the cold humidity of the rain-soaked streets below.
Sylra crouched low and sharpen her instinct as her emerald eyes darted around. "By the gods… what is this place?" she muttered.
Aerchon rose to his feet and adjusting his grip on his sword. He had expected something foreign but this was beyond his imagination.
The sky was not dark with stars but glowing with strange lights that made his eyes hurt and the roads below were filled with massive machines that roared as they sped past.
"This is no world of nature," he said, his voice tight. "It is a world of steel and iron, and lights."
On the other side of the city, Saeldir, Vael, and Arlyn found themselves inside a narrow alleyway. The walls were covered in strange glowing markings, pulsing with an eerie blue light.
Pipes ran along the edges and hissing with steam. The ground beneath them was not earth or stone but something hard and cold, littered with metallic debris.
Saeldir took a slow breath, his fingers tracing a glowing lines on the walls. He realized it, what is on these wall were runes. The Magic in this place was different — faint, distorted by something unnatural.
"This world is drowning in artificial power. I can feel the Magic here but its not pure," he murmured. Continue reading on empire
Vael, still clutching his bow, looked upward. The sky was blocked by towering structures, and flickering signs cast shifting colors over his face. "How do people live here?" he wondered aloud. "Where is the forest? The rivers?"
Arlyn had already unsheathed one of his blades, his sharp gaze scanning for threats. He could hear distant voices, strange sounds unlike anything back home.
"We need to regroup," he said firmly. "If we're separated here, we're become more vulnerable."
They had landed in a world of machines and neon, a place that pulsed with energy unknown to them. The air smelled of metal and electricity, the hum of unseen forces vibrating through the very ground.
For the first time in their lives, they felt like intruders in a world far beyond their understanding and as if its not bad enough, they are separated now.
Saeldir exhaled slowly, his fingers tightening around his staff as his eyes flickered with faint Magical energy.
"Use your camouflage Magic now," he commanded in a hushed tone. "We need to blend in until we understand this world better and gather information."
Vael and Arlyn nodded then closing their eyes as they concentrated. The three of them channeled their Magic, weaving it around their bodies to blend into their surroundings.
But something was wrong.
The Magic resisted them. It did not flow as easily as it should. Instead of seamlessly melting into the environment their forms flickered and distorted. The energy of this world, the artificial hum of unseen forces, clashed with their pure Magic. The air vibrated at a different frequency making it harder for their enchantments to take hold.
Saeldir clenched his jaw. He could feel the distortion interfering with his spell. His usual control over Magic felt sluggish as if something in this world was pushing back against him.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he adjusted the flow of energy, forcing the camouflage to stabilize.
It took nearly five minutes for them to fully vanish and finally, their forms blending into the neon-lit alley.
"Five minutes," Saeldir muttered with a grimace. "Usually this will only taken a few seconds with high-level camouflage Magic."
Arlyn wiped a thin sheen of sweat from his brow, clearly frustrated. "This place is unnatural. It doesn't just look different, its Magic and overall energy also feels different."
Vael flexed his fingers, adjusting to the lingering discomfort. "If even our simplest Magic is being affected like this, we need to be careful. We can't afford to waste more time."
Saeldir nodded, his expression dark. "Agreed. Let's move."
They slipped out of the alley and stepping cautiously onto the wide street beyond.
And there, before them, was a sight that made their stomachs churn.
The machines they had glimpsed from the alley were no simple carriages or constructs — they were monstrous things, roaring down the roads on wheels that glowed like molten fire.
Some of them floated above the ground entirely, humming with energy that crackled in the air. The people walking along the streets were even more unsettling.
Many of them were no longer fully human.
Some had mechanical arms with exposed wires and metal plating. Others had glowing metal eyes, their faces partially replaced with metal masks.
One figure walked past them with a completely artificial leg, the joints clicking with every step. Another had a metallic spine running along his back, cables snaking out from beneath his clothes like eerie tendrils.
Vael swallowed hard. "By the gods… What are these people?"
Arlyn's fingers hovered near the hilt of his blade, his expression tense. "They look like they've been altered by some disturbing metal works."
Saeldir who always the scholar, observed the bizarre mix of flesh and metal with narrowed eyes.
"This is not Magic," he murmured. "At least, not as we know it. They've fused their bodies with something else."
A cold unease settled over them.
They had stepped into a world not just of steel and neon, but one where the very nature of life itself had been twisted into something unrecognizable.
The three Elves began to move around this people.
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