Chapter 51: First Step
Supper was uneventful. They both ate in silence, each in their own thoughts. Smiling Devil had devised a way to eat despite having only one functioning side of his face. He ate slowly, in small bits, till he was satiated, refusing any form of help from Zephyr. Not that Zephyr was particular about it in the first place. He had only asked once out of courtesy after their initial agreement.
Thinking back to how Smiling Devil had reneged on their agreement just a few days later left a sour taste in his mouth. That was the cause of their constant hiding.
Credit to Smiling Devil— he had actually explained quite a few things about what had happened and how they got here.
It boiled down to accessing origin. Of all universes, theirs was supreme, simply because they could harness the secrets of origin naturally. Every other universe was considered a step lower because of this fact. It may seem like a small detail, but this was what allowed natives of their universe to tread in other worlds freely without any repercussions. The same could not be said about residents of other universes. Their bodies would slowly erode under the influence of cosmic incongruity as the new universe rejected them.
There were methods to delay the erosion, but it simply added some time to the inevitable. Low energy universes were the worst of all. They had no universe a step down to explore, fated to live in theirs forever.
One could imagine how sought after the natives of the supreme universe were to these lower grade worlds, even those just a step below— like the Grand Abyssal World of High Demons. This was why inter-dimensional traveling was strictly regulated on their world. The various governments had tight hold on any and every movement between worlds in their domains. And above that were the Oathbound. Their history predated any of the current kingdoms, their power ever-present but unseen. People could only speculate at the depth of their power, but they had never had any reason to display anything more than necessary... at least in the current era.
Their organization authorized the exploration of new worlds, entrusting the task to their dedicated Inquisitors. The rigorous procedure involved meticulously ensuring each world’s safety and grading its suitability prior to the noble houses’ acquisition.
In essence, there was no room for any inhabitant of their universe to tread into any other without proper procedures... officially. Until now.
They were in a Grade 3 world in a high energy universe, and Zephyr, who was the only fully capable one, was just a Tier 1, albeit generally more powerful than any Tier 1 here could be.
Smiling Devil estimated the power cap here to be equivalent to a Tier 6 from their world at most. That was still plenty powerful. Enough to kill them both easily. But such people would be far and between. Probably old fogies at their death beds.
If that was the only thing to note, then it would’ve been simple. Stay low-key and you’re good. But no. There was also appearance. The people here all looked different. Like some hybrid between a reptile and a human. The same went for every other creature, domestic and wild. They all had scales to varying degrees, with the general consensus being the lesser the scales, the more magical talent.