It didn't take me long to get back to Alimony. The real challenge wasn't the trip home—it was figuring out how the hell to drag seven dead Zoomponies back without a bag of holding. These weren't your run-of-the-mill horses either. Each one stood taller than me—and I'm not exactly petite. To make matters worse, Julius had wanted the bodies mostly intact. My enthusiasm in the field… well, let's just say "intact" wasn't in the cards. Every single one was missing something important. Limbs. Heads. Chunks of ribcage. You name it. But hey, seven's still seven. Julius can Frankenstein something out of it. Probably.
Eventually, I hacked a solution together: hollowed out the trunk of a massive tree and stuffed the corpses inside. Picture a rolling meat barrel of gore. It was as disgusting as it sounds.
So when I finally trundled into Alimony with my grisly cargo, people noticed. The town was used to blood and adventurer nonsense—being on the edge of the Wildlands does that to you—but a tree leaking enough gore to equal twenty human bodies? Yeah, that drew stares. And gags. And probably a few trauma scars. The smell alone could peel paint.
Tom spotted me first, clutching his nose like the smell had personally betrayed him.
"You're back already? …Wait. Are those… Zoomponies?"
"Yup." I gave the trunk a proud pat. "Collect all seven, summon Shenron. Make a wish."
Tom pinched the bridge of his nose, giving me that "please don't make this worse" look. "Just… get that into storage before someone faints. The smell's already making people sick."
Yeah, yeah, I thought, and here I was hoping for a quiet, uneventful return. I shifted the tree on my shoulder, trying not to drip blood onto the cobblestones. "Sorry about the early return," I said aloud. "Didn't plan on giving the city a second blackout and a blood-scented welcome back."
He let out a long sigh. "Nobody's ever caught Zoomponies before. This… this is a lot."
"Trust me, I know," I admitted, and couldn't help a little grimace. They're… a little worse for wear. "And, uh, they didn't come back in perfect condition."
Tom pinched the bridge of his nose like I was personally assaulting his olfactory nerves. "Just… get that thing into storage before someone faints. Please." Tom just shook his head, muttering something about the city council filing complaints if this keeps up.
I gave a small, crooked grin. Yeah, I know. Sorry, everyone. "I'll get them stored. I promise."
Julius, as always, was bouncing with excitement the moment I returned. His eyes practically glowed when I revealed my haul. Without a second thought, he plunged into the gore, robes already soaked with guts and blood—honestly, he looked more like a barbarian than I did. He sifted through the body parts with unrestrained glee, muttering notes and observations as if decency were optional.
I cleared my throat. "Uh… sorry about the missing bits. I know you wanted them intact, but… this is the best I could manage."
Julius barely looked up. "Nonsense! This is more than fine. Plenty of material here. Really, these bodies are perfect for what I need."
I glanced around at the mess and muttered under my breath, Sorry, Alimony. Again. I promise I didn't mean for your lamps to die and for half the city to gag in unison.
After finally calming him down and getting the Zoomponies stashed in storage, Julius summoned a few of his academy colleagues to help with documentation. They arrived in a flurry of robes, scrolls, and clipboards.
There was Marvin, a thin, twitchy man with spectacles perpetually sliding down his nose. "Fascinating!" he squeaked. "The tissue elasticity… it's remarkable! I could… oh, be careful with that leg… yes, that one!"
Next, Sophronia, a tall woman whose hair was tied in an impossibly neat bun, scanned the pile with a detached, clinical eye. "We'll need precise measurements of the horn curvature and hoof density. This could redefine spatial locomotion studies."
And finally, Eldric, a burly mage with a permanent scowl, muttered as he jotted notes. "If you think this is gross, wait until you see what I dissected last week. This is practically pastoral."
I leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "Pastoral. Right. Sure. Totally reassuring."
Julius practically waded into the pile outside, laughing at how much fun it was. "Remember, folks, biology is only part of the picture. The magical cores and mana absorption patterns—this is where the real gold lies."
Marvin squealed as he gently poked a warped hoof. "The mana traces! They're… pulsing! It's alive!"
Sophronia raised an eyebrow. "Alive isn't quite the term I'd use… but it's unprecedented for a terrestrial species to exhibit such… spatial interference."
Eldric grunted. "I still maintain it's just a glorified horse with a magic headache. But hey, looks like I'm outnumbered."
I muttered under my breath again, Yeah, outnumbered by nerds in robes. That's a real battlefield of its own.
Julius nodded at his team, eyes gleaming. "Perfect! This collaboration will push our studies further than ever. John, you have no idea how important this is."
I gave a small, guilty shrug. "Yeah… important. For science. Definitely science. And if anyone in Alimony starts gagging outside the lab… uh… that's on me. Sorry."
While Julius and his friends buried themselves in the Zoompony aftermath, I finally let myself collapse. It had been a long time since I'd taken a hit that bad, and even the strongest man alive needs rest. A real bed—soft mattress, actual pillows—felt almost foreign after so many nights on stone and dirt. The moment it held me, sleep came without a fight.
Morning came. The noise from Julius and his colleagues had finally faded, replaced by the quiet clink of a cup in the kitchen. The smell from the carnage had dissipated. Julius was there, drinking coffee. Coffee. One of life's small mercies. I never cared much for it back on Earth, but here… it's something familiar. Something that actually tastes like home.
Because the truth is, food here doesn't. Oh, it fills the belly well enough, but the flavors are all just slightly wrong—too sharp, too earthy, too strange for my tongue to ever forget I don't belong. Even the bread tastes like it was made by someone who only heard rumors about wheat. But coffee? Coffee's the same. Bitter, grounding, real. Every sip is like a lifeline, reminding me of a world I'm terrified of forgetting.
And then, just as quickly, the reminder cuts the other way. Because no matter how comforting the taste, I'm not home. Not even close. The people here resemble me enough at a glance, but when I really look, the differences sharpen. Their bodies are leaner, built for endurance. Eleven pairs of ribs instead of twelve. Faces shaped by angles I don't recognize. Even their skin—flawless, untouched by acne, while mine feels like it's always been a battlefield.
It's the kind of thing that gnaws at me in quiet moments like this. We're close, but not the same. Just different enough that every reflection, every crowd, reminds me I'm an outsider. A stranger in a world that doesn't belong to me.
"Good morning," Julius greeted calmly. Despite not having slept, his eyes were lively. His colleagues were scattered across the room, sleeping in awkward heaps.
"How was it?" I asked.
"It's fantastic." He lifted his cup, savoring another sip. "This is the kind of thing you could write papers about. We can build runes, sure—but formations that occur naturally, inside living creatures? That's something else. Something rare."
A lull followed, the kind of pause that stretches when both people are turning the same thought over in their heads. I searched for the right words, then asked the only question that mattered.
"So… is it possible?"
He smiled. "I think it is. We won't be certain until we engrave the runes on you, but the odds are high. There's still a lot to figure out—how to shut the runes off when you don't want them, who has the skill to actually engrave them, how to—"
"Julius." I cut him off with a smile. "Thank you. For giving me a path forward."
He scratched at his cheek, awkward as always when faced with sincerity. For all his sharp edges, he never knew what to do with a real compliment. Which is exactly why I gave him one.
"Well, just doing my job. I'm a researcher, after all." He exhaled. "But it'll take time. I'll need you here—we'll need samples from your body. I'll call you when we're ready."
And so, the city of Alimony was doomed to a few more days of blackout. I made the most of it. A chance to live, even briefly, like a human among humans. Stay in civilization for more than a few minutes. That's why I treasure these short visits, even if the locals aren't thrilled about me overstaying my welcome. It's why I especially love talking to Tom and Julius. Talking to them reminds me that no man is an island. Truer words were never spoken.
Ever since I discovered my… condition, I've thrown myself into the dungeons with reckless abandon. Most of my time was spent alone in the wilderness, being pummeled black and blue, and coming back hungrier and stronger than before.
I wasn't always this strong, by the way. When I first arrived, I was barely as strong as a local teenager. Back on Earth, I was a city kid with zero survival skills. Here, people fight monsters daily, do hard labor, and generally live in a world where physics doesn't really apply. Push yourself, and strength is only limited by effort. Somehow, it came easier to me. The mana coursing through my body probably helps, but we still don't know exactly why I took off so fast. A mix of stubbornness, bad instincts, and pure luck, I'd guess.
I have to admit, there's a certain thrill in coming back from near death, battered and broken, only to feel stronger than before.
You have no idea how many times I made Julius furious for coming back nearly dead, and he has to fix me back up. Sometimes I come back with my organs spilling out. Take a guess how we found out I have no Nanteon.
Back then, I wasn't nearly as strong as I am now. We stumbled through trial and error—mostly error. Honestly, it's a miracle I'm still breathing.
Now, I get to enjoy life a little. I took a proper shower, soaked in the bathhouse, bought food and drinks that didn't come straight from the wild. Delicious. I even danced a little, talked to people, shared a few laughs. Some locals—clearly impressed by my feats—invited me to their homes. I politely declined. Not yet. Goals first. Affairs of the heart? Maybe later. Or maybe never.
I chatted with people of all ages and walks of life. While most grumbled about the blackout, the older folks seemed to appreciate it. Apparently, the stars look better without all the magic lights blazing. Who knew?
After more drinks, a little laughter, and a fair bit of people-watching, I returned to Julius' place. Nap time in Alimony is earlier when I'm around. With the city's magic lights off, darkness arrives fast. Candles become precious again—I'm sure the wax merchants send me a silent thank-you every time I show up.
On the third day, Julius called. We were ready.
Julius led me to what most people would politely call "the shady side of town." And by shady, I don't mean criminal—just poor. The kind of place the government "can't afford" to fix, which really means they can't be bothered.
Our destination was a shop called Sigil Skinworks, tucked into an underground corner where the streets pulsed with live rock music. Pretty sure I'd been here the other night. Scratch that—definitely, since half the people hanging around outside greeted me like an old drinking buddy.
Julius, of course, didn't acknowledge any of it. He pushed open the heavy door and walked inside with his usual stone-faced calm.
The shop itself was quieter, though the muffled echo of guitars and drums still seeped through the walls. Lamps and candles lit the room—no windows, for obvious reasons. (Also probably my fault.) The walls were plastered with sketches and pinned-up sheets of runic patterns. Not just designs, but actual artistry, layered on top of each other in organized chaos. The air was cool, faintly metallic, and sterile enough that I half-expected a doctor to walk out in scrubs.
Instead, Julius waved me over. "John. This is Areva Dhorn. She'll be working on you today."
What I saw stopped me cold.
What I saw was a woman absolutely covered in ink. Legs, arms, neck, face—if skin was real estate, she'd leased out every square inch to a tattoo artist. Add in the piercings, and she looked like someone who'd walked out of a cyberpunk club and straight into a fantasy novel.
Damn, she even has cool body mods like horns and black scleras! Even her skin is pale white. Damn, she even has long ass fingers, and a black tail! Those are some really cool body mods. Wait, that tail is moving. Now that I think about it, those probably aren't-
"No, these aren't body mods." she said flatly, her voice cutting through my thoughts. "I'm an Infernal."
My jaw dropped. "Wait—you can read minds?"
"No. But you were staring at me like a starving wolf. First time seeing one of us?"
"Yeah."
"Not shocked. We only came to this continent recently."
"Where were you before?"
She leveled me with a stare. "Not on this continent."
Deadpan delivery, zero inflection. I liked her instantly. My girlfriend would've liked her even more—tattoos, piercings, killer aesthetic. Not to mention, she has a thing for hot women. (Still a mystery how I managed to bag her, considering she's basically a lesbian with a boyfriend exception.)
Areva cut in, her tone brisk. "Anyway. My shop's been blacked out for three days thanks to you. Let's get this done so I can get back to business."
I turned to Julius, blinking. "Wait—she's the one carving me up?"
"Yes," Julius said simply. "She's the only person I know remotely qualified. Areva studied at the Academy with me—graduated a few years earlier, with a Master's in Applied Glyphcraft. Wrote her thesis on Principles of Mana Flow in the Abyssal Dimension."
He glanced at her with something close to respect. "More importantly, she's a skilled tattoo artist. Which makes her uniquely capable of doing this right—educated enough to understand the theory, and artistic enough to actually pull it off."
I looked at her again, this time with a new kind of respect. Not that I thought less of her before—but, come on, she ran a shop underground in the "bad" part of town. On Earth, that would've screamed sketchy. Tattoo shops back home were usually in well-lit, trendy districts, charging premium rates to bored rich kids.
Still, some things didn't change across worlds. The rock music outside was proof of that.
And tattoos? Tattoos were always expensive. The kind of art you wore on your skin forever didn't come cheap.
"I've looked at the diagrams," she said while pulling on her gloves and arranging her tools. "Interesting stuff. Reversed flow. But we'll have to account for the noise from the ambient mana, because that's what will power these, not your own reserves. And since you don't have a Nanteon, you won't be able to consciously switch them on or off. Once a rune is complete, it stays on. And trust me—you don't want that, unless you're looking to permanently warp the space around you. Luckily, we found a workaround."
"And that is?"
"We don't complete the rune. More specifically, we imprint two halves on different body parts. Bring those parts together, and—click. The rune completes and activates."
"Ingenious. Where are you going to put it?"
"Since the materials you brought are from an Equus Aetheris—"
"Zoompony."
"—then the spell you'll receive will reflect that nature. Which means the best placement is your legs. One half will run through your knee and thigh, the other down your shin and calf."
"Great. So when I bend my knee, it'll activate?"
"Correct. Now the real question—left or right?" she asked, gesturing for me to lie back on the reclining bed as she prepped the area.
I thought about it. I'd always wanted a tattoo on my left leg back on Earth, but never had the money for it.
Naturally, I chose the right.
"Right leg."
"Right leg it is." She nodded, pulling out a straight razor to shave the area clean. Then she paused, flashing a grin. "Oh, and one last thing."
"What?"
"My normal devices aren't working—thanks to someone here—so we're doing this the old-fashioned way." She held up a piece of bone tipped with a needle in one hand and a small wooden tapper in the other.
…Oh, fuck.
"This is going to take a while," she said.
I'm in for a painful ride.
It took sixteen hours. Multiple breaks. Mostly Areva's—manual tools take their toll, and her wrist was screaming for rest. Me? Sure, it hurt, but pain and I are old acquaintances. My job was just to sit there, endure, and try not to get in the way. The real effort came from them: Areva with the artistry, Julius with the materials.
And this wasn't ordinary ink. Not even close. The "ink" had to be brewed fresh, a volatile cocktail of Zoompony blood, powdered cores, and other components whose names I couldn't pronounce. Julius fussed endlessly over the mixture, muttering about ratios and consistencies while the shop filled with the rhythmic tap-tap-tap of Areva's tools.
By the end, we were all spent. Areva slumped in her chair, Julius poured drinks with shaky hands, and my leg… my leg carried something historic. The design was beautiful—runic lines sharp as blades, flowing from thigh to knee, then from shin to calf, waiting for that one moment when both halves would meet. Not flashy, not ornamental—just purpose made manifest in ink.
"Well?" I asked, lowering myself off the bed. "How is it?"
"We won't know until you complete the rune," Areva said. "Probably best to test it outside the—"
I accidentally bent my knee as I was getting off the bed.
The world fractured. Distance bent like glass under heat. The space between one breath and the next stretched, warped, then collapsed. In an instant, the bed was gone behind me, and I was standing across the room, heart hammering in my chest.
"-city," Areva finished, flat as stone.
We all froze. Then the silence broke.
"It works!"
"It actually works!"
"Do you understand? The papers we can write—Reverse Flow Runic Applications in Vacuum Environments—this changes everything!"
"It works," I whispered, more to myself than anyone else.
And then the room dissolved into laughter, shouts, even tears. To them, it was a milestone in magical theory. To me, it was the first step toward going home.
I might not understand magic. But in that moment, I was standing inside it.
And after all this time, stranded in a world of sorcery, I finally had some of my own.