The Runic Alchemist

"A whole different world full of humans.." Worldscribe muttered as if she still couldn't believe it. The highswords all had similar reactions as her. They were the oldest people in their world and had roamed the whole continent. They even knew about the island civilisations so an entire city never before seen must be a hard thing to swallow for them.

"That city!" Lumi said excitedly. "That wonderful city! It was the biggest thing I have ever seen.."

Damian smiled. "Yeah, it's one of the biggest in this time period. It's called London."

"London.." Lumi whispered, a spark in her eyes.

"How do you know this place? What even is this place?" Lifewarden asked, looking at Damian.

He did not answer, though, and simply said, "If you wish to go back to that snow village, I can open the waygate to Heather. It's a place.. a safe place for now. That should be good enough."

Lifewarden looked into his eyes for a few seconds, then nodded, accepting his simple reply.

"Safe place? Such a large city should have many powerful warriors, right? How are we safe here?" Silverspell asked.

Damian looked at him, then at the others, and said, "This world does not know about mana.. They don't have status here. They are all mundanes."

The weight of the revelation was heavy—at least on those who could understand what it meant to be in a world where magic did not exist. The others, less scholarly, could only imagine what it was like to be the strongest people in a world of millions of humans. Damian did not like some of the looks he saw, so he added,

"This whole world is under my protection. If even a single human dies, I will kill the person responsible without asking a single question. And be assured—no matter where you hide, I can find you."

Many gulped hard, including some highswords. His aura pressed down on them, an oppressiveness unlike anything they had felt before. He may have been a second-ranker, but he was now a top-notch aura master, and his stats (Presence, Life Energy) rivaled those of third-rankers. And all that was before he brought out his sacrium mana cubes and overwhelming knowledge of spells.

"We are guests here. Behave like one." Damian withdrew his aura, leaving them with that one last line.

Sam was the first to break the oppressive silence, putting his hand on Damian's shoulder with a smile—helping to ease the tension among those frightened by Damian's show of power.

"So.. What's the plan? We camp in the woods here?"

Damian let his expression return to normal and answered in his usual voice, "No, we won't hide. We've already made a massive impact on this world's history just by coming here. The king must have already launched a search party to look for us. We go bearing gifts—if they don't let us stay for a while, we try another city. Or we just grab common clothes and live among them without them knowing."

"Yes, that would be a better choice than just hiding in the forest. Hopefully, they'll have nicer food than just fruits and meat.." Worldscribe added.

Damian nodded, then looked at Evrin and Reize.

"Evrin, Reize.. do you mind staying in the Dreamlight for a while? As I said, only humans exist in this world. Seeing you guys could bring unpredictable reactions from them. I'm really sorry—it's just for the initial meeting. I'll bring you around later."

Both smiled at him. He had just demonstrated his overwhelming strength—if he ordered them to comply, they would simply accept it without question. But the Damian they knew would never do that. Even though it wasn't his fault, he still apologized for treating them differently due to their appearances and the situation at hand.

Damian and the others spent some time preparing, deciding who would go and what to wear. They dressed in their best attire. Damian took Sam, Sariel, Alex, and Maelor with him, along with Einar, Lucian, Grace, Lumi, and Amy. And, of course, all the highswords—except Shesha.

Damian specifically insisted that Mindseer accompany them, just in case negotiations took a turn for the worse. It shouldn't come to that, though. If Damian demonstrated the power gap between them and extended a friendly hand, they shouldn't make enemies of them. Pistols and cannons wouldn't hurt most of them, but it still wouldn't be pleasant to have hundreds of rounds fired at them.

Once again, Damian piloted the Dreamlight, the noise of full power wind runes and mechanical wings announcing their arrival. He didn't fly directly into the city; instead, he landed on the outskirts, letting them come to him.

Soon, they were surrounded by red-and-white-uniformed soldiers, all carrying muskets. Some of them were higher-ranked officers with pistols at their waists, all wearing hardened soldier expressions.

Following them came a group of bearded, highly dressed officials, along with civilians in fancy clothing. A small group of them stepped forward, moving cautiously toward Damian and his group, stopping beside the Dreamlight. The ship's entrance was open, mechanical steps extending behind them.

They halted 15 meters away. Seven or eight men, a few among them in civilian clothes.

Damian and his group also moved to meet them halfway. Both sides eyed each other, sizing the other up.

Then one of the uniformed officers spoke up.

"You arrived in our kingdom in a vessel that defies reason. Who are you, and by what magic do you fly?"

Another man, dressed like a general, added, "Is this some French trick? A war machine sent to spy on England?"

A mustached officer in a pristine white uniform spoke next, his tone hard. "If such a craft can sail the sky, it can be turned to the service of the Royal Navy. You will explain how it works."

The two civilians among them, however, were staring curiously at the steel ship. When the others were done speaking, one of them finally asked,

"Not magic, surely! But a science unknown to us. Tell me, sir, does your vessel rely on electrical forces.. or some unseen air current?"