The First Legendary Beast Master

The portal between the Mortal and Immortal Realms was a shimmering blue oval, different from the portals that moved around the world, where you could see the other side through the opening.

The Immortal who did not give off that odd sense of Divine Energy passed through first, and Karl followed, holding Dana's hand so that they couldn't be separated by some simple trickery like redirecting the portal after the first of them entered.

That didn't appear to be necessary, as the Immortal was waiting on the other side, standing at the bottom of a set of white marble stairs, next to what could only be a Dragon God Temple, given the carvings of the various Deities on the stone pillars that held up the front face of the building.

That was a good sign, as far as Karl was concerned, as the Dragon Gods had been quite good to him in the past.

If this was where they were going to do their basic training as Immortals, it would essentially make them Acolytes, and Karl could live with that status, as he knew that there was a clear path to grow out of it.

However, when the second man stepped through the portal, they didn't turn to walk up the steps of the Temple, they turned to walk down the street, while the Immortal stepped beside Karl to explain the situation in more detail.

"I believe that you could make it as an Acolyte, but your Dana isn't a Cleric or Avatar type Class, not even a dragon of any sort.

So, we will bring you to our training grounds, and you can adapt to life in the Immortal Realms there.

The first thing that you're going to need to do it to learn how to form an Immortal Spirit, the core skill to using Immortal Energy. It shouldn't be too hard with your powers, and you come from a World with a System, so you might be able to do it naturally, or to purchase the skill directly and save all the time and hard work."

Dana nodded. "I do have a skill designed to help me build an Immortal Spirit."

"As do I. It shouldn't take long before I have the skill mastered, and then we should be able to move out of the stabilization phase of Immortality, right?" Karl asked.

"That is true. But building a reputation and power base here takes time. The Immortals rarely do anything in a hurry, and they can be notoriously hard to move from their stationary way of thinking about the world.

They have mostly been doing the same things for so long now that any disruptive force becomes a personal threat to them."

Dana frowned. "I had suspected as much, from the information that I could gather, but doesn't that mean that a pair of fast growing young Immortals is going to attract all the wrong sorts of attention?"

The Immortal with the Divine Energy signature shrugged. "That's likely true, but there is a fine line between threat and protege. If you manage to impress some of the older Immortals, they will speak up and look out for you."

"That sounds reasonable. I still feel like there is some sort of catch here, but I'll follow your lead," she agreed.

"The System here is similar to the one that you grew up with, and as it's also from the World Dragon, there should be a chance that your old System will continue to progress, though possibly in a new direction. One which will better fit the Immortal world." The other man added.

"That would be interesting. I heard that there were as many sorts of systems as there were worlds under the guidance of the World Dragon. But I had never thought about what it might mean to move from one to the other, where things were done differently.

As long as the System functions don't become inactive entirely, I don't think we will have too many issues.

We have learned most of the skills through the System, and I don't reacall what it might mean to stop having access. We should remember the skills, I would assume, but some things do become impossible on our world while it is in recession." Karl explained.

"That does not happen here, but in this world the System Classes are based around your Fundamental Rule. Perhaps it's a difference between your world, where skills define the system, and Immortality, where understanding defines power.

The location we will head to first is mostly populated by young adults.

Tell me, as I can't determine it through your disguise without using a bone age testing device or spell, how old are you and what is your actual species?"

Dana smiled in anticipation of his response. "We are both mostly human, and not yet twenty years old."

The Immortal who had Divine Energy on him gently sniffed at her hair, then at Karl's clothes.

"No, nobody will believe that you're human anymore. Can you change back? There are plenty of Immortals who appear human in this world, so it's easier to blend in as one, or as a beast eared hybrid, than as that fully furry for that Karl is in.

Do you have other transformations?"

Dana nodded. "I can be a beast eared foxkin or I can return to human form. It's just that I get a lot of bonuses from the skill that transforms me, so there isn't a good reason to change back."

"I'm the same way. I haven't looked like a human in a long time, but I should still have the ability to transform back."

The Immortal made a "get on with it" gesture, and both of them shifted, with Dana returning to a fox eared form, while Karl turned back to human, only to find that he really didn't look to human anymore.

With all the Constitution skills that he had gained, and the events that had changed and upgraded his body, he appeared much more muscular than he had been before, perhaps more Dwarven, as he was still shorter than average.

He also had a most impressive beard, and when he looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes were void black.