Nihility [ Isekai • Dragon Evolution ]

[ Next to the wagon attacked by bandits ]

"What do you think?" Said the commander to one of the guards he had brought to investigate the warning a group of hunters had passed to the gate guards.

"It certainly looks like a monster attack, but not a normal one" The guard said, then pointed to the sliced bodies and the one with the mangled neck.

"Usually monsters eat what they kill, yet we see perfect preserved corpses. I mean, as preserved as you can when they are this mangled"

"What about the wagon?"

"It's clean, boss" Another guard said from inside the wagon. "I would say this was a normal robbery gone wrong judging by the bodies with sword slashes on some of the bodies"

"I can see that, but there's only bandits dead. Where are the owners of the wagon and their guard?" The commander asked, but only received shrugs and "we don't know" as answer. He sighed.

"This will be a hell of a headache" He said, eyeing the bandits killed by swords and then the four who were killed by magic and the other by what looked like a mouth filled with very sharp teeth.

"They still have the money they robbed, so we can safely assume the owners didn't finish them off and then died for some reason. The tracks are also weird. What does it mean there are two different sets of footprints coming from the same direction and then vanishing?"

After another round of shrugs, the commander gave the order for them to go back towards the city.

"Send someone to bring the wagon in for a closer inspection. And increase the rounds in the area. Inform those leaving of the danger and issue a quest in the hunter's guild"

"Aye, commander!" Every guard shouted their understanding and went to work. The commander, meanwhile, just walked to the city again, already tired from the amount of paperwork he would have to put to the city lord.

I was lying down on the bed of the inn the guard at the city gate told me about. The bed was awful compared to Henry's, but was better than the nothing at all from the week I stayed with the kobolds.

I knew I needed to find my friends, the problem I was facing was how to find them. I didn't know if I could just arrive at a place like a library and ask the librarian there "Hey, do you know anything about summoning rituals?". Maybe it would have something for me, maybe not. Though, I might have a starting point already. I knew the name of the ritual.

[Spatial tier ritual magic, Theo's Bridge]

So I had just to look for it, or for this guy Theo, whoever he is… Why did I suddenly feel something watching me? It's gone now, was just my mind playing tricks on me? Probably.

I still had a little over four hours before dinner, which if it is anything close to the quality difference between Henry's bed and this one, I wasn't that thrilled to taste it.

Shaking my head, I got up and walked out of the inn, asking the attendant for where the portal plaza was, she gave me a suspicious glance, as if I had asked the most obvious question in the world before answering me that it was located in the middle of the city.

I walked back to the main street, retracing my steps from coming here so I wouldn't get lost, and then followed it towards the middle of the city, where I could see a large manor next to it. If my medieval education, which is mostly none, serves me right, that is the lord's manor, the one controlling the city, like a mayor, or more like a dictator I think… Whatever, it's not like I was an actual citizen.

As I walked, I felt it before I even saw it. Like a vibration on the world around me. It was a different sensation from the sotobro waves, the ones made by time manipulation and the like I could easily feel by being an Ouroboros dragon, even if it was somewhat muted by being transformed. Still, it was a similar sensation, but instead of the waves being on the timeline itself, they felt more local, inside reality.

When I saw the building from where these vibrations were being generated I understood. In the middle of the city, in a large open plaza was a circular building with a lot of doors and many people walking in and out of it. Some of the doors had names on top of them. I knew this was the portal plaza the guard had told me about, and in turn, the vibrations I felt were the portals themselves. I was feeling space. It was faint, just like when I started to feel the sotobro waves as if the world itself was holding its breath.

I decided not to enter for now. I still wanted to investigate other things before checking it out.

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Looking around, I saw another large building that resembled a small mall from São Paulo, where I once lived. The quantity of people walking in and out, and mainly their clothes, told me this was the guild society that the guard told me about as well.

I entered it and was surprised at how large it was. It had an open floor architecture and what looked like small shops on the sides, with benches and tables following the middle of the building. My comparison to it being a small mall was quite on point. I could even see a small food court on the other side of the place.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shove to the side as a giant of a man shoved me with his arms.

"Get out of the way. Dumb brat" He said before walking towards one of the what looked like shops.

I just shook my head and began to walk. I looked over at what I thought were shops but found out by reading the names next to the door to those places that they were entrances for the different guilds this place had. I could see a "Hunters Guild", "Gatherers Guild", "Merchants Guild", "Tailors Guild" and more. There were at least fifteen guilds just on the first floor, and this place actually had two floors.

I walked around until I saw a guild that caught my attention, it was the mages guild. If anybody had information about the summoning ritual I bet it was them. And so, I walked inside the guild, finding myself being hit by a sweet aroma that definitely wasn't out there. Looking at the door I could see faint magic runes glowing in the frame which I assumed was to keep outside smells out and inside smells in.

"Hey, kid. How can I help?" I heard a male voice coming from behind me. Turning around I saw an elf with long robes filled with inscriptions that could make my head dizzy if I looked too much at it. He only lacked the wooden staff, the beard and the pointy hat to be a classical book wizard.

"Um. Hi" I said. "I'm trying to find some information about a ritual"

"A ritual?" He asked, then I nodded. "Rituals aren't that common nowadays. What are you looking for?"

Not common? I thought a fantasy world would be filled with rituals, as it clearly has magic.

"Something that summons someone from another place to where you are" I tried to be vague. I didn't know whether this type of ritual was protected information or not.

"Oh. Are you trying to become a tamer? I do know some summoning magic that can summon the tamed monster to you"

"Ehm… Not exactly"

"You're not trying to become a tamer? Just so you know, summoning magic only works on contracted creatures"

"I…"

"If you want me to help you, you're going to have to tell me what you want, kid" He said.

"...Fine" I relented. If I wanted information I would need to just ask for it. I wasn't good at beating around the bush, so might as well just go straight ahead. "I need information about a ritual called "Theo's Bridge""

The elf's eyes moved up and down, examining me, then he turned and started to walk towards the back of the guild.

"Follow me" He said.

I followed him as he passed through what looked like a small coffee shop, with even a barista there. He paused for a moment to tell the other man behind the counter that he would be leaving for a few minutes and if anybody came to just serve them and ask for them to wait. The barista, who was human, just nodded and went back to doing something behind the counter while the elf just moved his hands for me to follow him.

He entered a simple door on one of the corners of the place and the moment I passed through it the world felt like it had twisted twice over and I fell to my knees while whatever was in my stomach came rushing out of me as I vomited on the floor.

The elf, hearing that I fell, turned to look at me and when he saw the state I was in, rushed towards me, trying to help me stand while offering water he took out of somewhere I didn't see. I accepted and began drinking it. The worst had passed, but was still feeling like the world was slowly spinning around me and at the same time it was like it was thin? I didn't know how to explain.

"Are you okay? What happened?" The elf asked, concerned.

"I…Am, I think. I just became dizzy all of a sudden when I passed through the door" I answered.

"The door?" The elf got up and went towards the door, sticking his hand out and then his head. "There's nothing wrong with it. It's just an expanded space so we don't take too much space from the building"

[An expanded space is a fold in space created by mages or those with the proper skill to increase the space inside a place, effectively creating a room that is bigger on the inside than the outside]

I understood. I crossed this fold in space and because of my sensitivity to it it was too much for me… What an awful thing to have, if this is what happens if people have a high sensitivity to space energy why have any spell that manipulates space?

After a few minutes, I recovered enough to be able to stand up.

"Sorry about this. I can clean it if you want it" I offered. I had dirtied the floor, after all. It was only fair. But the elf just sighed and waved his hand.

"I'll take care of it later, don't worry. Now, come, have a seat here" He said and moved to a large table with a couple pairs of chairs on each side. I sat on one side and he sat on the other one.

"Now. While I will say that I won't be able to help you with this ritual, I must ask. Why do you want to know about it, and more importantly, how do you know about it?"

"I see… It is as I thought" Something classified.

"Huh?"

"Nothing…About the questions. I don't really know how to explain it to you, or even if I should"

He squinted at me, trying to read me.

"Let's make this a trade, then. I will tell you the information you want IF you tell me how you know about it" He said, giving the impression he wouldn't back down from this. I would need to tell the truth if I wanted to know more about where my friends were.

I sighed, then nodded. "I guess it's fair… Very well… I know about it because I'm a victim of it"

He blinked. "What?"